Evidences

September 2016

Introduction

Since the fall in the Garden of Eden, man has within himself a great insecurity.  The fear of rejection by God and by man is inherent in all of mankind.  One of the greatest human needs is the need to feel important, to feel accepted, to feel significant.

 

Why is it that when a person is praised or honored or gets the attention that it can cause a feeling of insecurity to rise up in the others?  This is a consequence of the fall in the Garden of Eden.  The feeling that if someone else is lifted up then it lowers our own worth is a product of the fall.  Or why is it that when a person starts a new endeavor, others can feel insecure and have the feeling that “maybe I should do that too”?  This insecurity is a product of the fall.

 

So many things in fallen mankind can be traced back to this basic human need, the need to feel significant.  For example, a person may believe that he has received a “new deep revelation” from God.  This gives him a feeling of importance.  He feels that he is special because God has chosen to use him.  But the origin of this may in reality go back to his trying to satisfy his deep human need to feel significant.

Shame

Shame in a person makes him feel that he has no worth, that he is unlovable, that he is rejected.  Shame is a “black hole” within the heart of man that causes a person to endlessly pull in all things that give him a “shot” of significance.  Shame causes people to continue to look for proofs that they have worth.  If other people receive honor and praise, that stimulates the shame in the heart of man, making him feel of less worth and spurring him on to try to do something to alleviate that feeling of worthlessness.

 

People try to fill this “black hole” in many different ways.  Most if not all of these ways involve comparing oneself with others.  If one has a better house, a better car, a better job, is more popular than others, has greater accomplishments than others, is more zealous than others, receives more honor than others, is smarter than others, etc., he feels better about himself.  In lowering others he feels better about himself.

 

Others resort to using drugs or alcohol or end up with other addictions as a result of trying to alleviate their inner sense of shame.

 

Religious people also have their ways of trying to fill their “black holes” of shame.  Some may try to work up excitement in order for them to feel that they are “where it is at”.  Others devote themselves to doing great works for God to give themselves a sense of importance and significance.  Some may even resort to accessing a true gift or the true anointing of the Holy Ghost to empower their works in order to give themselves an evidence that they are accepted with God.  These religious works may even be done out of the deepest of sincerity:

 

GOD'S.ONLY.PROVIDED.PLACE.OF.WORSHIP_  SHP.LA  V-7 N-4  SUNDAY_  65-1128M

82  Cain was just as religious as Abel was. They both built altars. They both loved God. They both made sacrifices. They both worshipped. They both paid tithe. They both done everything just alike. But Abel, by faith, which is the revelation, the Word of God revealed, made plain, showed out, and vindicated... Glory! Cain made an offering, but God didn't vindicate it. God required worship, and Cain made the offering; but God didn't vindicate it. But by the true channel...

You say, "Well, my church is It. My..."

Wait just a minute. God interprets His Own Word by Its terms that Its spoke in. See? Cain said, "I am religious. I am a lover of my Maker. I offer to Thee this fine altar. I offer to You this sacrifice. I built all these things up, Lord, because I love You." Abel said the same thing. Now, it's the one that's vindicated, the one that's proven. And God come down and received Abel's sacrifice, because by revelation he had struck the true channel of God that was accepted.

 

Anything that is done out of the motive of wanting to have an evidence, even if it is being done unconsciously, is a “Cain’s offering” that will be rejected by God.

 

This shows how deceptive the conditions will be at the end time:

 

MATTHEW 24:24

24  For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if [it were] possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

Evidences

Because the fear of rejection came in as a consequence of the fall, the need for a person to have an evidence that he is accepted by God also came in as a consequence of the fall.

 

An evidence is a person’s basis for belief.  An evidence is used to show that something is true.  It is what a person points back to to prove to himself and to others that what he is believing is in fact the truth.

 

An evidence is what a person offers up to God as his reason for acceptance:

 

MATTHEW 7:22-23

22  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

23  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

 

In the above Scripture we can see that these people were offering up to God an evidence of why they should be accepted by God: “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?”.  The fact that they had done these things apparently had been their evidence to themselves that they were in the will of God.  But we see that this “Cain’s offering” was rejected by God.

 

A similar Scripture is shown below:

 

LUKE 13:24-27

24  Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.

25  When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are:

26  Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets.

27  But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all [ye] workers of iniquity.

 

To these people, their evidence for acceptance had been “We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets”.  But they too were rejected by God.  They too must have been offering up a “Cain’s offering” to God.

 

Even more deceptive was the fact that these people had done works by the true anointing of the Holy Ghost.  They were “false anointed ones” - false people anointed with the true Holy Ghost which enabled them to do true Holy Ghost works.  This is a very serious topic.  Wrong evidences can be very deceiving.  Only the very Elect will not be deceived:

 

MATTHEW 24:24

24  For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if [it were] possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

 

Ethics, page 48, by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

On the contrary, precisely when the action arises from the purest motives, when the most pious and selfless deeds are performed, the danger is especially great that this is the ungodly antithesis to the will of God which resembles the will of God to the point of being entirely indistinguishable from it, but which springs from a man’s own knowledge of good and evil, from his disunion with God.  There can be an honest profession of faith in Christ and discipleship of Christ with all its consequences, and these may be rejected by Christ Himself with the words: “I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matt. 7.23).  That this is possible is a dark enigma which has its basis in the stolen likeness of man to God, but it is, nevertheless, a fact which Jesus and St. Paul took into account.

 

We shall see that what a person uses as his evidence is actually his offering to God for acceptance.  There is only one of two offerings that a person can offer to God - this was established at the very beginning:  “Abel’s offering” or “Cain’s offering”.  One is accepted, the other is rejected.  The topic of Evidences is what will be covered in this article.

 

It is recommended to first read the articles The Soul Change and Our Two Identities before reading this article, as this article builds upon the thoughts presented in those two articles.

The Fall in the Garden of Eden

GENESIS 2:9

9  And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

 

GENESIS 2:16-17

16  And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

17  But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

GENESIS 2:25

25  And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

GENESIS 3:8-10

8  And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

9  And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where [art] thou?

10  And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I [was] naked; and I hid myself.

GENESIS 3:22-24

22   And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:

23  Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.

24  So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

 

Before the fall in the Garden of Eden, Adam walked with God in the cool of the day.  Adam did not even have the concept of being rejected by God.  He had no thought that God could ever not love him.  He only knew the God that loved him and accepted him.  He knew only God.  God alone was Adam’s Origin, the Root from which all sprang:

 

SATAN'S.EDEN_  JEFF.IN  V-2 N-20  SUNDAY_  65-0829

19-3  They were holily veiled. They were safe in God's pavilion. They were alive. They had no death around them. Hallelujah. They had perfect love one for the other, perfect Life forever. They had perfect love, perfect understanding of the love of God. They had God's Word and kept It. And they were alive and safe in God's Eden with no death at all around.

 

Since Adam before the fall had no concept or even the thought of being rejected by God, there was never a need in him to look back at his life and to judge it in order that he would know the “good” that he was doing so that he could feel accepted by God.  He knew nothing of the concept of not being accepted by God. He knew nothing of judging in himself what was good or evil.  God alone was the Origin of that knowledge.

 

But when Adam and Eve fell and ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, man became an origin within himself.  He now became a source within himself of defining what was good and what was evil.  He became like God, but against God, knowing good and evil:

 

GENESIS 3:22-24

22   And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil:

 

Adam, in becoming an origin (a god) within himself, became aware that he was “naked”.  Instead of knowing himself only in God, he now knew himself in the possibility of being either good or evil.  He now became a judge of himself and consequently of others.

 

With this new knowledge came in the consequent feelings of insecurity, fear, and shame.  Since Adam now thought of himself as having the possibility of being evil, he now thought of himself as having the possibility of being rejected by God because of his being evil.  Adam now needed an evidence that he was not evil in order to take away his fear of rejection, for he now feared rejection by God:

 

GENESIS 3:6-10

6  And when the woman saw that the tree [was] good for food, and that it [was] pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make [one] wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

7  And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they [were] naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

8  And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

9  And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where [art] thou?

10  And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I [was] naked; and I hid myself.

 

Adam and Eve made fig leaves for themselves to try to cover what they were ashamed of.  They did this because they were afraid that if they confessed their sin to God that He would reject them.  They did not believe in God’s love for them.  They therefore tried to hide their sin from God.  These fig leaves were the first man-made action to try to deal with their sin.  It was an action motivated by fear of rejection by God.  These fig leaves were the first religion:

 

CONFERENCES_  TUCSON.AZ  SATURDAY_  63-0608

E-51  And when men is told of their error, instead of trying to come back and say, "Father, I'm wrong, forgive me," they still hide behind the fig leaves. Fig leaves is what they sewed together themselves. And they tried to... The word "religion" means "a covering." And they tried to make themself a handmade covering. And man hasn't changed yet today.

 

Since Adam now had the fear of being rejected by God, the need for an evidence arose whereby he would have an assurance that he would not be rejected by God.  And thus was born in all of mankind the need for evidences.

The Two Offerings

GENESIS 3:21

21  Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.

GENESIS 4:3-10

3  And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.

4  And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:

5  But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.

6  And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?

7  If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee [shall be] his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

8  And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.

9  And the LORD said unto Cain, Where [is] Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: [Am] I my brother's keeper?

10  And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.

 

HEBREWS 11:4

4  By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.

 

When Adam sinned, his first attempt to get right with God was to make himself fig leaves – something that he could do to try to cover himself.  But God showed right from the beginning what His provided way back to Him was.  It was through the shed blood of an innocent one (a lamb) that man could get back into fellowship with God.  The innocent substitute took the sinner’s place.  This is seen in the fact that God clothed them with animal skins.  This shows that God had to have sacrificed an animal to produce these skins:

 

LAW_  CHICAGO.IL  SATURDAY_  55-0115

E-38  Then I want you to notice. Adam to show the strain of man, as soon as Adam realized that he had sinned, instead of coming out and confessing it, you know what he done? He run and hid. And that's the way man does today. That's the way individual's do today. They run and hide from God instead of coming, confessing their sins. That's what men ought to do everywhere now, is come and confess their sins instead of trying to hide it. Don't you believe it?

But what is it? A strain. They still do it. Notice. Then God going through the garden of Eden hollering, "Adam, Adam, where art thou..." What took place? Adam hid. Although he had made himself an apron that he'd put on to stand before God, it wouldn't work when he stood before God.

Now, God in order to get Adam back to Himself again so He could talk to him, God went out and got some skins and made aprons. Is that right? Now, if He got skin, something died to get skin. See, it had to be substitutionary. Something had to substitute the guilty man's place. And that was that lamb that He killed out there was Christ Jesus, speaking in a figure. And there He brought the lamb skins, throwed them back into the bushes, and Adam and Eve put them on. Here they come out to stand before Father God.

 

SIR.WE.WOULD.SEE.JESUS_  PORT.ALBERNI.BC  TUESDAY_  62-0724

E-25  Look, so you'll not misunderstand it. In the garden of Eden, when man first sinned and disassociated, cut himself off from God, fellowship with God... Now, he tried to make hisself a religion. He sewed some leaves together to cover hisself up. But his manmade religion wouldn't work. And God made a decision of the offering of blood. He killed some animals, took the skins and covered them up.

Now, that was God's decision in the garden of Eden to save man and to fellowship with man through the shed blood of an innocent being. And He's never changed it.

 

Now as Cain and Abel grew older, Adam no doubt had talked to both of them about the fall in the Garden of Eden and of God’s provided way to restore Adam back to fellowship with God.

 

But though Cain and Abel had heard the same words, only Abel was able to get the revelation of what he had heard (faith is revelation of God’s Word):

 

HEBREWS 11:4a

4a  By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain,

 

SEED.OF.DISCREPANCY_  PHOENIX.AZ  V-12 N-5  MONDAY_  65-0118

61  Judas and Jesus was just exactly a figure of Cain and Abel. For as Judas was religious, so was Cain religious. Cain built an altar; he made a sacrifice; he worshipped God; he was just as sincere in it as the other one was. But, you see, he didn't have the revelation of what the Word was. He thought it was Adam and Eve had eat some apples or some fruit. And Cain... Abel by revelation knowed that was wrong; it was the blood that brought them out, and he offered a lamb. And God testified his offering was right.

 

Abel offered up the life of an innocent one (a lamb) in order to be accepted with God.  He did not offer up anything of himself.  He had no righteousness of his own.  He had no need to look at his life and judge it, for his life had nothing to do with what he was offering to God (a lamb).  His whole offering was a substitute.  He had no need to know “the good” that he had done.  It was irrelevant, for his whole righteousness was his substitute.  His substitute took his place.

 

But Cain could not get the revelation of this.  It was not in him to get it.  He was not elect.  He felt that he had to have some goodness in himself, some righteousness of his own, something that he could do.  To put it in the terms of today, Cain did not believe that salvation was Christ alone, but he thought that it was Christ AND works:

 

293-3 PHILADELPHIAN.CHURCH.AGE  -  CHURCH.AGE.BOOK CPT.8

Now works are fine, but they don't save you. They don't make you perfect. It is Christ or perish. And it is not even Christ AND works. It is Christ alone. This age began the years of Arminianism that does not believe in Christ as the REALITY. It does not sing of "Nothing but the Blood," for it sings of "Nothing but the blood AND my own conduct". Now I believe in good conduct. If you are saved you will do righteously. We have already gone over that. But let me tell you now, salvation is NOT Jesus PLUS. It is Jesus ALONE. SALVATION IS OF THE LORD. From start to finish it is all GOD.

[Note: the capitalization in the above quote is Brother Branham’s]

 

GOD'S.PROVIDED.PLACE.OF.WORSHIP_  LA.CA  65-0425

29  He also has two covenants. He had a covenant with Adam, the first man on earth. And that covenant was on conditions, "If you do so-and-so, I'll do so-and-so." Adam would had something to do in order to keep this covenant alive before God. He had to walk in God's ways, keeping all of His Word, not breaking one Word.

But then He made another covenant; that was with Abraham. This covenant was not on conditions, but was unconditionally. God gave the covenant to Abraham, no strings tied to it at all: unconditional, not, "I will," "I have. I've already done it."

And that's the law that Christians must live by. Is not what we do ourself, but what He has done for us. Christ has already been sacrificed, not He will be; He has been. It's a finished product. He lived, died, rose again, ascended into heaven, has come back in the form of the Holy Ghost. So it's a finished work with God. Christ, knowing no sin, became my sin; that I might stand in His place, He took my place. I was in Him at Calvary when He died. There I must die with Him to live. Because the law of sin and death is in the body, you have to die to be reconciled to Him.

 

The religious Jews of the Apostle Paul’s time had this same condition:

 

ROMANS 10:2-3

2  For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.

3  For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.

 

Cain no doubt compared himself with Abel which strengthened his good feeling about himself as he saw how Abel was essentially doing nothing.  He judged himself as good and his brother as evil.  What good that he saw in himself, strengthened by his comparison of himself with his brother Abel, was his proof to himself that he was righteous.  It was his evidence.  It is what he offered up to God for his acceptance.  It was his “Cain’s offering”.

 

So we can see that the following terms have the following relationship:

 

Our EVIDENCE   =   Our OFFERING to God for acceptance   =   Our RIGHTEOUSNESS

 

The two offerings that man offers up to God can be defined as follows:

 

Cain’s Offering   => Fruit, expression (works) that the person has judged makes him

                                  acceptable with God

Abel’s Offering => The Blood of the Lamb, a Substitute, God’s Election of us (total grace)

 

Note that weeds are much more “fruitful” than wheat, especially at the harvest time (the time period that we are in now).  Remember that the “false anointed ones” at the end time can also bear true Holy Ghost works (e.g., Balaam, Judas), yet the people themselves are false.  These works in their life, even powered by the true Holy Ghost, are part of what the false church offers up as their evidence (their “Cain’s offering”) that they are righteous.

 

A person offering up to God “Cain’s offering” is offering up his own righteousness for his acceptance.  He is offering up to God Christ AND works:

 

ROMANS 10:3

3  For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.

 

A person offering up to God “Abel’s offering” is offering up the Work of Christ at Calvary alone as his righteousness, which we shall see later is offering up to God God’s election of us (which was by total grace).

 

In the below quote you can see that God’s original plan for Israel was for them to walk by grace, but then they wanted to have something that they could do themselves (they wanted to offer a Cain’s offering):

 

PARADOX.A_  PHOENIX.AZ  V-19 N-1  SUNDAY_  65-0117

71  Now, they were baptized, repented and were baptized, and come out to walk in a new life, in a new land, in a new journey, amongst new people, and the hand of God upon them. But it finally come to a place in this walk that they had, that they was not satisfied with their walk of grace. They had to come to something that they could do themselves.

Now, that's where people think today of Divine healing, or some any other work of grace of God, that there's something that you have to do. You, there's nothing you have to do but believe, just believe God.

And they, if they would've continued on... The promise wasn't given them under the law. The promise was given before the law, without any conditions to it, "I have given you this land; go on over into it." But before they got to that promise, they decided there was something they must do themselves.

And, that, we still find that among human beings. We're prone to be that way, "There's something we've got to do." We feel that, that we've got to have something into it also.

You do have something into it; that's your surrender of your own will, your own ideas to the will and idea of Almighty God, and it's finished. That's all there is. Just take His promise, don't think of nothing else. Walk by it, and God does the rest of it.

 

When God rejected Cain’s offering but accepted Abel’s offering, Cain was very angry and finally slew his brother.  Cain had talked with Abel, and no doubt within their conversations Cain’s evidence had been struck at.  Whenever a person’s evidence is struck it can bring forth very hostile reactions as that is striking at his very foundation for security.  For example, the people rose up and stoned Stephen in the Book of Acts when he so convincingly destroyed their evidence.

 

Cain slaying Abel is the end result of those that offer Cain’s offering.  It will end in their anger towards others that they have compared themselves with and were self-righteous over.

 

These two offerings have been offered all down through history.  Those offering “Cain’s offering” are judges of good and evil, knowing the “good” that they have done (it is the tree of knowledge of good and evil), whereas those offering “Abel’s offering” know nothing of the good that they have done (it is the Tree of Life) because their eyes are only on their Sacrifice because that Sacrifice is their only offering to God for their righteousness (salvation is not Christ AND works, it is Christ alone).

 

The two offerings can be seen clearly in the following Scripture:

 

LUKE 18:10-14

10  Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.

11  The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men [are], extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.

12  I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.

13  And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as [his] eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

14  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified [rather] than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

 

The above Scripture shows clearly the two offerings being offered.  The Pharisee (Cain) offers up his good works (fruit) to God.  He compares himself with the publican and thus feels good about himself.  He knows the “good” that he has done and offers it up to God.  The publican (Abel) however offered nothing of himself.  He looked to God alone for His mercy.  God was his all, his only means of acceptance.  The publican’s “offering” was accepted, whereas the Cain’s offering of the Pharisee was rejected.  These two offerings are being offered yet today.

 

MATTHEW 7:22-23

22  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

23  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

 

The people in the above Scripture are being rejected by God.  They are offering a Cain’s offering to God for their acceptance.  They offer the good works (fruits) that they knew about that had been accomplished in and through them.  Their evidence that they were right with God was the fact that they, by even the true anointing of the Holy Ghost, did supernatural works that only God could do (“in thy name have cast out devils”).  This shows how deceptive the end times will be.  Only the elect will not be deceived:

 

380-1 RESUME.OF.THE.AGES  -  CHURCH.AGE.BOOK CPT.10

Thus at this very moment we are in the complete fulfillment of Matthew 24:24 "insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect." And who is it that shall attempt to deceive the very elect? Why, the spirit of antichrist in the "false anointed ones" of this last day. These false ones have already come in "Jesus' Name" claiming that they have been anointed of God for the last day. They are the false Messiahs (anointed ones). They claim that they are prophets. But are they one with the Word? Never. They have added to it or taken from it. No one denies that the Spirit of God manifesting in gifts is upon them. But like Balaam they all have their programs, make their appeal for money, exercise gifts, but deny the Word or by-pass it for fear that a controversy might diminish their chances for greater gain. Yet they preach salvation and deliverance through the power of God, just like Judas, with a ministry imparted by Christ. But because they are wrong seed, consequently they have a wrong spirit motivating them. Religious? Oh my! They outshine the elect in effort and zeal, but it is Laodicean, not of Christ, for it looks for big crowds, big programs and startling signs amongst them. They preach the second coming of Christ, but deny the advent of the prophet-messenger, though in power and signs and true revelation he eclipses them all. Ah yes, this false spirit that in the last day is so close to the real, can be distinguished only by its deviation from the Word, and whenever it is caught in being anti-Word, it falls back on the one argument we have already shown to be false: "We get results, don't we? We have to be of God."

 

The very fact that these false believers even knew about the works that they were doing shows that it was a Cain’s offering.  Remember that it is called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  The fact that they even knew of the “good” that they had done shows that there was something wrong, for God’s Life is automatically, unconsciously lived.

The Automatic Life

MATTHEW 25:31-40

31  When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:

32  And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth [his] sheep from the goats:

33  And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

34  Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

35  For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

36  Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

37  Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed [thee]? or thirsty, and gave [thee] drink?

38  When saw we thee a stranger, and took [thee] in? or naked, and clothed [thee]?

39  Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

40  And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done [it] unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done [it] unto me.

 

THAT.DAY.ON.CALVARY_  JEFF.IN  V-2 N-5  SUNDAY_  60-0925

16-1  Jesus said at that day He would separate the people like the sheep and the goats, and He would say to the goats, "Stand on the left side," and to the sheep, "Stand on the right side." And He said to the goats, "Depart from Me, because I was hungry and you didn't feed Me. I was in prison, and you did not visit Me. I was naked, and you clothed Me not. I was thirsty, and you gave Me no drink. I was sick, and you didn't visit Me. So depart from Me." And on the sheep, He said, "I was hungry and you fed Me. I was naked and you give Me clothing. I was sick and you ministered to Me." And notice, don't fail to get this, church. Keep this in your heart forever. It was so unconsciously done. The people don't do it for a line of duty. A man that gives you something or other because he ought to do it, a man that feeds you because he ought to do it, he's got a selfish idea. It should be your very life, your very action.

16-2  It was so surprising to these sheep that they said, "Lord, when were You hungry and we wouldn't feed You? When were You hungry, and we fed You? When were You naked, and we give You clothes? When were You thirsty, and we give You drink? When were You sick, and we ministered to You?" It was so automatically, out of love, it's just their life lived in them.

God, let the people see what Calvary did for us. So automatically, "When were You, Lord. We never knew that."

Look what Jesus turned and said, "Insomuch as you have done unto these, you did it unto Me." Unselfish life, not the second thought, not to think about it; but you are so dead to the things of this world, and so alive in Christ, and so walking on the highway, that these things are just an automatic thing. You just do it.

16-5  Now, I say, "When the Lord would--the Lord want me to do that." It's not that. You're just part of Him. His Spirit's in you, and you act the way He acted. Do get it. "There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof is the way of death. Not all that saith Lord, Lord, shall enter in, but they that do the will of My Father," just from their hearts, just freely.

Now, that day at Calvary paid that price so we could be that way. Not say, "You know, widow Jones one time was... She was out of coal, and I went and bought her some coal. Uh, I tell you, I seen a brother that needed a suit of clothes, and I went and got him a suit of clothes. Bless God, I'm a Christian." Oh, my, you selfish, poor, miserable person, you are hypocrites. Don't let the right hand know what the left's a-doing, nor the left know what the right's a-doing.

Just so automatically dead in Christ till you do it anyhow. It's your nature; it's your makeup. You do it anyhow. It's just the life that lives in you. You're completely yielded to that Spirit, and It just lives Itself in you.

17-2  Oh, you feel that blessed Spirit, that life, "Not me that liveth," said Paul, "but Christ liveth in me." Just so automatic...

"Well, I tell you, Brother Branham. We are Christians here. We help these people. We help them people." Oh, my, shame on you. That's not Christianity. Christianity is just automatically got a--it's to be done. And you just forget about, all about... Go do it.

Christ just completely surrendered His Life to God. He gave Hisself as a public Servant to the people. He gave His Life freely. He didn't have to do it. He didn't begrudgingly do it. He didn't say, "Now, brother, you all ought to think a whole lot of Me, because I come to die for you." He never said a word about it. He died anyhow, because it was God in Him. It's God in you. It's God in me that makes us look at others.

17-5  Sheep on one side. One of them will say, "Well, Lord, I did this, and, Lord, I did that."

He said, "Depart from Me, you workers of iniquity, I never even knew you."

If the church can ever come to those fundamental facts, that it's not something you try to do, you work yourself up to do; it's something that's born in you.

17-8  Forgive me, my Pentecostal friends. I am Pentecostal, but my Pentecostal friends has got to a spot to where there has to be a lot of fast music, beating of some bands, or clapping hands, or tambourines to bring up a shout. That's only emotions. They play the bands before they go to battle to get people in the emotion of battle. I believe in music. I believe in clapping of hands, but I believe in these things. That's exactly true. We ought to have that, but you have left the great things undone...?... that self-sacrifice Life that God lives in you, automatically doing that which is right, because it's right: just going on, don't even think nothing about it, just living it. Then watch... You see what's going on, you just--you don't--you're on the highway. That's what Calvary meant to you: on the highway--opened up that day for you.

 

Adam before the fall did not judge his life in order that he might know the good that he was doing.  There was no need to.  He had no concept of being “bad”, of having no worth.  He only knew himself as being a part of God.  He only knew all things in God.  He just lived who he was with no thought about it (he had “no thoughts coming”).

 

It was after the fall of man that Adam, now having the fear of rejection, needed to look at his life and judge it in order to try to know that he was “good” so that he could feel that he was accepted by God.  It was only after the fall that Adam compared himself with others in order to see if he was “measuring up”, for if he was doing better than someone else it made him feel good about himself.

God’s Deliverance: God’s Work at Calvary!

Praise God that Calvary gave us the deliverance from this death march!  Calvary made the way back for us so that now we can eat from the Tree of Life.  We can be free from the never-ending bondage of judging ourselves and trying to be “good enough” so that we can feel accepted with God.  We are set free now to offer Abel’s offering which is God’s election of us, God’s Own Life:

 

102-2 EPHESIAN.CHURCH.AGE  -  CHURCH.AGE.BOOK CPT.3

And when Satan had brought about that which was necessary to the purpose of God, then man could not get to the Tree Of Life in the garden. Certainly not. It wasn't time. But an animal (animal had caused the fall had it not? let animal life be shed) was taken and his blood shed and then God had communion with man again. Then there was to come a day when God would appear in flesh, and by means of His humiliation He would restore fallen man and make him a partaker of that Life Eternal. Once you see this, you can understand the serpent seed and know that it was no apple Eve ate. No, it was the degradation of humanity by intermingling the seed.

 

We have been redeemed (bought back) to the Garden of Eden condition again, the way that it was before the fall.  God’s Own Life (Zoe) is now in us by the New Birth.  Since the perfect Sacrifice, the Lamb of God, has died for us, the Life that was IN the Blood (Zoe, God’s Own Life) has come back into the believer, killing his old soul.  Our New Soul IS the very Life of God.  Our offering to God for acceptance is what He has done for us (electing us).  It is ALL GOD:

 

JEHOVAH.JIREH.1_  LOUISVILLE.MS  THURSDAY_  64-0402

E-11  [Referring to Abraham] But one day God called him. That's what made the difference, when God made the call. And that's the way it is to any life. It takes God. It isn't what you do; it's what God does. See? You say, "I sought God; I sought God." You're mistaken. No man seeks God; God seeks the man. See? It's not you seeking God; it's God seeking you. Jesus said, "You haven't chose me; but I chose you." See?

So you're chose before the foundation of the world, or you wasn't chose at all. He just come to redeem that name. And all whose names were not on that Lamb's Book of Life before the foundation of the world is the only ones going to be there anyhow. See? You were chose in Him before the foundation of the world. When the Lamb was chosen, then you were chosen with Him, before the foundation... And you're, as I said last night, an attribute of God's thinking. They... That's the only way you can be eternal and only form of Eternal Life. There's only one form of Eternal Life, and that's God. So that's all. He is the one that's eternal.

 

JEHOVAH.JIREH.1_  LOUISVILLE.MS  THURSDAY_  64-0402

E-25  Another thing I want you to notice here in the 12th chapter, that the covenant was altogether unconditional. It was not any strings attached to it. "I have." Not "If you..." Wasn't no "ifs" to it. "I have already done it." He give Abraham the covenant unconditionally.

And now, you know in the Adamic covenant, it was "If you don't touch this tree, then I'll do so-and-so. But if you do, then I'll have to do so-and-so." See? That had law attached to it. But in this covenant, "I have already made you a father of many nations." And He's already... It's all unconditional. The covenant is purely grace, just absolutely grace.

Only thing they had to do to maintain this covenant was stay, and abide in the land. And every blessing went with the covenant was with them. Only thing they had to do was stay in that land. Now, we find out, when they went down in Egypt they lost their blessing, but not their covenant. The covenant was still there. They lost the blessing but not their covenant, because their covenant was grace unconditionally.

 

Abel offered up the blood of an innocent one (a lamb).  But we offer up the Blood of God.  But it is not the chemical of the Blood, for it is now the Life that was IN the Blood that came back upon the believer.  But “the Life that was IN the Blood that came back upon the believer” is the definition of what the New Birth is.  The New Birth is the soul change that quickened an Elect Seed of God that was in us.  And that elect Seed of God was TOTALLY there by election, an act of the pure grace (unmerited, unconditional love) of God.

 

Therefore, offering Abel’s offering is offering the Blood of Christ which is offering the Life that was IN the Blood which is our New Soul which is only there because GOD elected us.  Abel’s offering therefore is offering to God what God has done for us.  It is ALL GOD:

 

293-3 PHILADELPHIAN.CHURCH.AGE  -  CHURCH.AGE.BOOK CPT.8

Now works are fine, but they don't save you. They don't make you perfect. It is Christ or perish. And it is not even Christ AND works. It is Christ alone.

 

QUESTIONS.AND.ANSWERS_  JEFF.IN  COD  SUNDAY_  64-0823E

1004-50  The same thing repeats. That's the evidence of the Holy Ghost, when God reveals to you and you see it, THUS SAITH THE LORD and accept it. Not what you are, what you was, or nothing about it, it's what God has done for you now. There's the evidence.

 

CHRIST.IS.THE.MYSTERY_  JEFF.IN  SUNDAY_  63-0728

63-1  The Church is the Blood of Christ by the Spirit, because the Life is in the blood. That's the baptism of the Holy Ghost that baptizes us into His Body, that recognizes only His Body, His flesh, His Word. Denomination won't ever touch that; it's a revelation. She knows it. So did Eve know it; but she fell; but this one knows it and won't fall. She's ordained to. Hallelujah. She's ordained to not fall. She won't fail. She's predestinated to it. "Blessed is the man who God will not impute sin." You ministers know what I'm speaking of when there's a couple dozen of you setting here. See? "Blessed is the man who God will not impute sin"--David.

 

"Blessed is the man who God will not impute sin." => Our New Soul

Freedom from Having the Need to Know

The true revelation of God’s redemption frees a person from even having the need to know the “good” that he has done.

 

Why do people feel that they need to know the good that they have done?  They feel this way because they still know themselves in the possibility of being either good or evil, of being either accepted or rejected by God, and therefore they need to judge their lives so that they can come to the conclusion that they are “good” in order to not feel that they will be rejected by God.

 

People “coming to the conclusion that they are good” involves them judging themselves as well as comparing themselves with others.  If a person is better than someone else, it makes him feel better about himself.  Therefore to judge and to be critical of another person is a way to lift yourself up in comparison to help you to feel more strongly that you are “good”.

 

But the work of Calvary has set us free from all of that.  The New Birth killed that old soul in us and quickened in us the New Soul.  That New Soul IS the very Life of Christ, the Life that was in the Blood.  That New Soul is the Token.  It is the real us.  We literally ARE the very righteousness of God in Christ in the Soul realm (which is the real us).  Therefore there is no longer a NEED to judge our lives to know whether we are good or evil.  We ARE the very righteousness of God in Christ.  There is no possibility of us being evil in our Soul realm.  There is no longer any more tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  We are now eating and living by the Tree of Life:

 

I JOHN 3:9

9  Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

 

ROMANS 8:1

1  [There is] therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

 

What is the Bride’s offering to God?  We offer to God His election of us, which was ALL HIM.  We offer to God what HE has done for us by pure unmerited election!  It is all Him!  We offer to God His choosing (election) of us.  It is all GRACE (unmerited, unconditional love).  There is no need to look back at our lives and to judge it, for we need no evidence.  Our “evidence” is Him.  What He has done for us is our offering.  His sacrifice released the Life that was in the Blood and gave us the New Birth, the soul change.  That New Soul in us is His Life in us which IS the real us!  We are the very righteousness of God in Christ:

 

31-1 REVELATION.OF.JESUS.CHRIST  -  CHURCH.AGE.BOOK CPT.1

No man knows the things of God save the Spirit of God and he to whom the Spirit of God reveals them. We need to call on God for revelation more than anything else in the world. We have accepted the Bible, we have accepted the great truths of it, but it still is not real to most people because the revelation by the Spirit is not there. The Word has not been quickened. The Bible says in II Corinthians 5:21 that we have become the righteousness of God by our union with Jesus Christ. Did you get it? It says that WE ARE THE VERY RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD HIMSELF by being IN CHRIST. It says that He (Jesus) became SIN for us. It does not say He became sinful, but became SIN for us that by our union with Him we might become the RIGHTEOUSNESS of God. If we accept the fact (and we must) that He literally became SIN for us by His substitution for us, then we must also accept the fact that we by our union with Him have become the VERY RIGHTEOUSNESS of God. To reject one is to reject the other. To accept the one is to accept the other. Now we know the Bible says that. It can't be denied. But the revelation of it is missing. It is not real to the majority of God's children. It is just a good verse in the Bible. But we need to have it made ALIVE to us. That will take revelation.

[Note: the capitalization in the above quote is Brother Branham’s]

The Contradiction of Trying to Know If the Life of Christ Is Living in You

Remember that the evil tree is called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  It is a tree whereby one tries to know the good that he has done so that he can offer that “good” up to God as an evidence.  To know the good that one has done involves that person looking back at his experience and making a judgment.

 

But all of these things are forbidden by the Scriptures because knowing good and evil, trying to be good to be accepted, judging, etc., were all products of the fall.  Through Christ’s redemptive work at Calvary we are restored back to the pre-fallen condition of the Garden of Eden where Adam walked with God and knew only the God that loved Him.  The flaming sword of the Cherubims that was guarding the Tree of Life has now been sheathed and we are now eating from that Tree of Life.  Now we can understand the deep meaning and significance of the following Scriptures:

 

MATTHEW 7:1-2

1  Judge not, that ye be not judged.

2  For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

 

LUKE 6:37

37  Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:

 

I CORINTHIANS 4:3-4

3  But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man's judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self.

4  For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord.

 

MATTHEW 6:2-4

2  Therefore when thou doest [thine] alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

3  But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:

4  That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

 

Those that are offering Cain’s offering look back at their life and try to know the good that they have done.  They need to know this because this is their fruit offering to God.  It is part of what makes them feel good about themselves.  It is their righteousness.

 

But those that are offering Abel’s offering only offer up the Blood of the Sacrifice which is the Life of the Sacrifice which is the Holy Ghost which is our New Soul!  We offer up only the Blood of the Lamb, God’s election of us, and therefore there is no need to try to know the good that we have done.  It is irrelevant.

The Contradiction

Since the real Life of Christ is an automatic, unconsciously done Life, then it is a contradiction to try to look back and see if you are living that automatic Life.  If you could see it, then it is no longer the automatic Life being lived out of you unconsciously because you would know (would be conscious) of it!

 

Therefore the very fact of seeing that you are living the Life of Christ means that you really are NOT living it, because if you can see it it is not the automatic Life of Christ living in you.

 

So those that are trying to find in their life an evidence of “fruit” to offer up as a source for their acceptance will never find it, because if you ever know the good that you are doing that “good” must not be the Life of Christ because if it was you would not know that you were doing it!

 

But the work of Calvary sets us free from this endless death march.  The elect strive to keep their eyes only on their Sacrifice and to never look back to see if there is any “good” that they are doing.

 

The following quote is from a member of the Bride of Christ of the Pentecostal age (Frank Bartleman).  You can see in his deep experience with God his rejection of the offering of Cain’s offering:

 

Azusa Street, page 60, by Frank Bartleman

“In my own case I came to abhor myself.  I begged the Lord to drop a curtain so close behind me on my past that it would hit my heels.  He told me to forget every good deed as though it had never occurred, as soon as it was accomplished, and go forward again as though I had never accomplished anything for Him, lest my good works become a snare to me.”

 

Watchman Nee speaks about the same principles of offering only Abel’s offering in his book The Normal Christian Life:

 

The Normal Christian Life, pages 13-15, by Watchman Nee

No! A clear conscience is never based upon our attainment; it can only be based on the work of the Lord Jesus in the shedding of His Blood.

      I may be mistaken, but I feel very strongly that some of us are thinking in terms such

as these: “Today I have been a little more careful; today I have been doing a little better; this morning I have been reading the Word of God in a warmer way, so today I can pray

better”!  Or again, “Today I have had a little difficulty with the family; I began the day feeling very gloomy and depressed; I am not feeling too bright now; it seems there must

be something wrong; therefore the way is not clear for me to approach God.”

      What, after all, is your basis of approach to God? Do you come to Him on the uncertain ground of your feeling, the feeling that you may have achieved something for God today? Or is your approach based on something far more secure, namely, the fact that the Blood has been shed, and that God looks on that Blood and is satisfied? Of course, were it conceivably possible for the Blood to suffer any change, the basis of your approach to God might be less trustworthy. But the Blood has never changed and never will. Your approach to God is therefore always in boldness; and that boldness is yours through the Blood and never through your personal attainment. Whatever be your measure of attainment today or yesterday or the day before, as soon as you make a conscious move into the Most Holy Place, immediately you have to take your stand upon the safe and only ground of the shed Blood. Whether you have had a good day or a bad day, whether you have consciously sinned or not, your basis of approach is always the same -- the Blood of Christ.  God’s acceptance of that Blood is the ground upon which you may enter, and there is no other.

Fact, Faith, and Experience

Watchman Nee gave the following illustration in his book The Normal Christian Life:

 

The Normal Christian Life, pages 71-72, by Watchman Nee

You probably know the illustration of Fact, Faith, and Experience walking along the top of a wall. Fact walked steadily on, turning neither to right nor left and never looking behind. Faith followed, and all went well so long as he kept his eyes focused upon Fact; but as soon as he became concerned about Experience and turned to see how he was getting on, he lost his balance and tumbled off the wall, and poor old Experience fell down after him.

 

Whenever the Christian turns back to look at his experience, he is in for a fall because that is turning back to the ways of Cain’s offering, trying to judge and to know the fruit that you are bearing.  Perhaps this is why God was angry with David for his numbering of the children of Israel.  David wanted to know.  But God’s Life in the Christian is automatic.  We keep our eyes totally on Him (Fact).

 

PHILIPPIANS 3:13-14

13  Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but [this] one thing [I do], forgetting those things which are behind  [Experience], and reaching forth unto those things which are before  [Fact],

14  I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

The Story of Hannah

I SAMUEL 1:1-28

1  Now there was a certain man of Ramathaimzophim, of mount Ephraim, and his name [was] Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephrathite:

2  And he had two wives; the name of the one [was] Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah: and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.

3  And this man went up out of his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the LORD of hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the LORD, [were] there.

4  And when the time was that Elkanah offered, he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and her daughters, portions:

5  But unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion; for he loved Hannah: but the LORD had shut up her womb.

6  And her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because the LORD had shut up her womb.

7  And [as] he did so year by year, when she went up to the house of the LORD, so she provoked her; therefore she wept, and did not eat.

8  Then said Elkanah her husband to her, Hannah, why weepest thou? and why eatest thou not? and why is thy heart grieved? [am] not I better to thee than ten sons?

9  So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest sat upon a seat by a post of the temple of the LORD.

10  And she [was] in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the LORD, and wept sore.

11  And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.

12  And it came to pass, as she continued praying before the LORD, that Eli marked her mouth.

13  Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: therefore Eli thought she had been drunken.

14  And Eli said unto her, How long wilt thou be drunken? put away thy wine from thee.

15  And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I [am] a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the LORD.

16  Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial: for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto.

17    Then Eli answered and said, Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant [thee] thy petition that thou hast asked of him.

18  And she said, Let thine handmaid find grace in thy sight. So the woman went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more [sad].

19  And they rose up in the morning early, and worshipped before the LORD, and returned, and came to their house to Ramah: and Elkanah knew Hannah his wife; and the LORD remembered her.

20  Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was come about after Hannah had conceived, that she bare a son, and called his name Samuel, [saying], Because I have asked him of the LORD.

21  And the man Elkanah, and all his house, went up to offer unto the LORD the yearly sacrifice, and his vow.

22  But Hannah went not up; for she said unto her husband, [I will not go up] until the child be weaned, and [then] I will bring him, that he may appear before the LORD, and there abide for ever.

23  And Elkanah her husband said unto her, Do what seemeth thee good; tarry until thou have weaned him; only the LORD establish his word. So the woman abode, and gave her son suck until she weaned him.

24  And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bullocks, and one ephah of flour, and a bottle of wine, and brought him unto the house of the LORD in Shiloh: and the child [was] young.

25  And they slew a bullock, and brought the child to Eli.

26  And she said, Oh my lord, [as] thy soul liveth, my lord, I [am] the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto the LORD.

27  For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition which I asked of him:

28  Therefore also I have lent him to the LORD; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the LORD. And he worshipped the LORD there.

 

The story of Hannah is a beautiful example of the two offerings being offered since the Garden of Eden and of how God deals with His elect.  He will not permit His elect to offer Cain’s offering.

 

As are many women of the Old Testament, Hannah was a type of the Bride.  The characters in this story of Hannah were types or “shadows” of the following:

 

Person          Types Out

Elkanah     -  God

Hannah     -  Bride

Peninnah  -  False church (make believers, false anointed ones)

 

Notice that both Hannah and Peninnah had a relationship with Elkanah (God).  But God had that special love for Hannah (the Bride).

 

Peninnah had children (expressions of Elkanah, fruit) but Hannah had none because the Lord had shut up her womb.  Peninnah, like Cain, used her children for herself as an evidence and provoked Hannah.  She was self-righteous, comparing herself with Hannah and feeling better about herself because she had outward expressions of Elkanah whereas Hannah did not.

 

Hannah was sad.  She too wanted children (outward manifestations of her relationship with Elkanah), but for the wrong motive.  She wanted children so that she too could use it for herself as an evidence so that when she compared herself with Peninnah she would not feel so bad.  But God would not allow this.  What God was wanting first of all in Hannah was for her to have CHARACTER:

 

117-1 SMYRNAEAN.CHURCH.AGE  -  CHURCH.AGE.BOOK CPT.4

Unless we suffer with Him we cannot reign with Him. You have to suffer to reign. The reason for this is that character simply is never made without suffering. Character is a VICTORY, not a gift. A man without character can't reign because power apart from character is Satanic. But power with character is fit to rule. And since He wants us to share even His throne on the same basis that He overcame and is set down in His Father's throne, then we have to overcome to sit with Him. And the little temporary suffering we go through now is not worthy to be compared to the tremendous glory that will be revealed in us when He comes. Oh, what treasures are laid up for those who are willing to enter into His kingdom through much tribulation.

[Note: the capitalization in the above quote is Brother Branham’s]

 

351-3 LAODICEAN.CHURCH.AGE  -  CHURCH.AGE.BOOK CPT.9

"You had better come before it is too late," saith the Lord, "and buy of Me gold tried in the fire and then you will be truly rich." Are we getting it? Listen to me, "Naked (physically) we came into the world, but naked (spiritually) we will NOT leave it." Oh no, we are going to take something with us. What that something is, is ALL we can take with us, nothing less and nothing more. So we had better be real careful now to see that we take something that will make us right before God. So, then, what will we take with us? We will take our CHARACTER, brother, that is what we will take with us. Now what kind of character will you take with you? Will it be like HIS Whose character was molded by suffering in the fiery furnace of affliction, or will it be the softness of this character-less Laodicean people? It is up to each one of us, for in that day every man will bear his own burden.

[Note: the capitalization in the above quote is Brother Branham’s]

 

Hannah was not content with the fact that she was the loved one of Elkanah.  Elkanah’s love for her was not enough.  She still wanted something outside of Elkanah, children, for an evidence to give herself security.

 

Elkanah said to her, “[am] not I better to thee than ten sons?”  “Am not I better to thee than what your ten senses can perceive? (body: see,  taste,  feel,  smell, hear; spirit: memory, imagination, reasoning, conscience, affection).  Why is my love for you not satisfying enough?  Why do you need something more?”

 

But when Hannah got to the place of CHARACTER, when she had died out to wanting to have a son for herself to be used as an evidence and as a means to be able to boast back to Peninnah,  then God gave her the son.  When she had gotten to the place that when whatever son (expression) she would have would go TOTALLY back to the Lord and not be used for herself, then she was at the place where God could give her that outward expression.  This place of character is what God was looking for.  That is what is beautiful to God:

 

GOD.IN.SIMPLICITY_  JEFF.IN  SUNDAY_  63-0317M

3-2  May it be a consecrated place to our Lord, a consecrated people, for no matter how beautiful the structure is (that we certainly do appreciate), the beauty of the church is the character of the people. I trust it'll always be a house of God of beauty.

 

The character that had been developing in Hannah was expressed in her humble reaction to Eli (Eli being God’s delegated authority in her day) when he spoke to her, rebuking her incorrectly.  It was after this, after Hannah’s right reaction, that God blessed her with a son (the outward expression).

 

So we see that for the Elect, God will not let them offer Cain’s offering.  He deals with them in such a way as to get them to the place of character where they will not use God’s expression in their lives for themselves.  God may even need to give His Elect a “thorn in the flesh” to help them to stay humble, to keep them from offering Cain’s offering:

 

II CORINTHIANS 12:7-9

7  And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.

8  For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.

9  And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

 

At this time the Bride is ripening in the presence of the Son, dying out to wanting to have God’s expression in their lives to use as an evidence.  For the Bride at this time, it is a time of character development.  The Grain is getting to be a golden color as it ripens in the presence of the Son:

 

351-1 LAODICEAN.CHURCH.AGE  -  CHURCH.AGE.BOOK CPT.9

The gold of God is a Christ-like character produced in the fiery furnace of affliction. That is the right kind of gold.

 

However, the weeds (the Peninnahs) at this time are flourishing.  They are out there with many “children”, full of outward expression and zeal, being excited, but like Peninnah they are not the elect of God.

 

This is the time period that we are in.  It is the Third Pull time, the harvest time, the quiet time, the time of ripening.

Abraham and Isaac

As was seen in the lives of Hannah and Peninnah, this same pattern can be seen in the lives of Sarah and Hagar.  Hagar, typing out the false church (the weeds), was going to have a son (Ishmael) while Sarah was not.  Hagar was self-righteous about  it, and despised Sarah:

 

GENESIS 16:3-4

3  And Sarai Abram's wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.

4  And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.

 

But finally after twenty-five years Abraham and Sarah received the promised son (Isaac) which was an outward expression of the promise.  Isaac was the evidence that the complete promise (that Abraham would be the father of many nations by a son through Sarah) would be fulfilled.

 

But then God called Abraham to sacrifice Isaac as an offering to the Lord.  He was calling Abraham to let go of having any evidence that God’s promise would be fulfilled.  He was calling Abraham to have all of his satisfaction in God alone.  He was calling Abraham to relinquish any aspect of Cain’s offering:

 

PATRIARCH.ABRAHAM.THE_  BAKF.CA  V-22 N-7  FRIDAY_  64-0207

9  We find out at twenty-five years later, no children. And still, God was faithful to keep His promise to Abraham for Abraham believed God. The little boy came on the scene, little Isaac.

Then after little Isaac had come on the scene, then we find out that God gave him a double test. He said, "This child..." After being now about a hundred and fifteen years old or twenty, Abraham was, He said, "Now, I want you to take this, your only son, and take him up to the mountain that I will show you, and there offer him up on this mountain for a sacrifice." In other words, destroy every evidence that he had that the promise would be fulfilled. That's taking away all the natural things.

And Abraham said, "I received him as one from the dead, and I'm fully persuaded that He's able to raise him up from the dead."

That's the people now, the seed of Abraham, because He raised us from the dead. We were dead in sin and trespasses, and He Who is able to change my mind, change my thoughts, change my nature, change me all over, He can do as He pleases. Whatever He says, I believe it's the truth, and every seed of Abraham believes the same thing.

 

This is how God deals with his Elect, calling them to die out to any form of Cain’s offering.

The Evidence of the Holy Ghost

Because of the need in fallen mankind to have an evidence to feel that they are accepted with God, the age-old question “what is the evidence of having the Holy Ghost (i.e., of having the New Birth)” has been a question that has plagued the saints all down through the church ages.

 

The reason people want this evidence stems back to the fear of rejection which came in way back there in the Garden of Eden.

 

The church world has come up with many different evidences to try to give themselves security.  The Baptists say that “once saved, always saved”.  They say that when a person believes he is born again.  The Pentecostals say that the initial evidence of having received the Holy Ghost is that you spoke with tongues.  Holiness churches teach that the evidence is the sanctified life that you live.  There are so many different definitions out there of evidences, all stemming from mankind’s need to have some proof for their security.

 

Before the Seals were opened Brother Branham taught that the evidence of having the Holy Ghost was the fruit of the Spirit (note the date of the following quote):

 

QUESTIONS.AND.ANSWERS_  JEFF.IN  COD  61-0112

524-84  The--the evidence that you've got the Holy Ghost is the life that you live. See? "By their fruits you shall know them." And the fruit of the Spirit is not, nowhere in the Scripture found, speaking in tongues. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, faith, long-suffering, goodness, meekness, gentleness, patience. See, now, that is the fruit. That's what you find on the tree to tell what kind of a tree it is.

 

This kind of an evidence fell right in line with Cain’s offering.  This evidence would cause a person to be continually judging his life to see if the fruit of the Spirit was there, which is exactly what Cain’s offering is all about.

 

But the contradiction of this is that if you are knowing the good that you are doing, then the Life is not being lived out of you automatically and unconsciously which therefore shows that that “good” that you know that you are doing is NOT the Life of Christ!

 

But after the Seven Seals were opened, God corrected Brother Branham about this.  The evidence of receiving the Holy Ghost now turned into an Abel’s offering, ALL of what God did for us:

 

BROKEN.CISTERNS_  JEFF.IN  64-0726E

66  He said, "What would you think would be a evidence?"  I said, "The most perfect evidence I can think of is love." And so we got to talking on that. And then I thought, "That sounded pretty good." So I just held that: If a man's got love. But one day the Lord in a vision straightened me out, and He said that the evidence of the Spirit was those who could receive the Word, neither love nor speaking in tongues, but it's receiving the Word.

68  And then Dr. Vayle was saying to me that that is Scriptural. He said, "Because in John 14 Jesus said, 'When He, the Holy Ghost is come upon you, He will reveal these things to you that I've taught you, and will show you things to come.'" So there is the genuine evidence of the Holy Ghost. He's never told me anything wrong yet. That it is; the evidence of the Holy Ghost is he who can believe the Word, who can receive It.

 

QUESTIONS.AND.ANSWERS_  JEFF.IN  COD  SUNDAY_  64-0823E

1002-44  Now, that's no evidence of the Holy Ghost. See? You can't rely upon that. You can't rely upon the fruit of the Spirit, because the first fruit of the Spirit is love. And the Christian Science exercise more love than anybody I know of, and they even deny Jesus Christ being Divine. See? There's only one evidence of the Holy Spirit that I know of, and that is a genuine faith in the promised Word of the hour.

 

154-3 SMYRNAEAN.CHURCH.AGE  -  CHURCH.AGE.BOOK CPT.4

Way back there, too far back for the human mind to grasp, the Eternal God with eternal thoughts, thought and decreed, "JACOB HAVE I LOVED, BUT ESAU HAVE I HATED, (Romans 9:13) AND NEITHER WAS BORN, AND NEITHER HAD DONE GOOD OR EVIL." See, it was the THOUGHT, and then that thought became expressed, and God bought back Jacob, because Jacob alone was SEED. Jacob, alone had the seed; that is why he had respect to the birthright and covenant of God. If you are true seed, you will hear that Word; the Spirit will baptize you into the body of Christ, filling you and empowering you, and you will receive the Word for your day and age. See how clear the true evidence becomes when the Word is revealed to you?

[Note: the capitalization in the above quote is Brother Branham’s]

 

169-3 PERGAMEAN.CHURCH.AGE  -  CHURCH.AGE.BOOK CPT.5

The evidence of receiving the Holy Ghost today is just the same as it was back in the day of our Lord. It is receiving the Word of truth for the day in which you live. Jesus never did stress the importance of the Works as He did the Word. He knew that if the people got the WORD the works would follow. That is Bible.

 

After the Seals were opened, Brother Branham destroyed every evidence that a Cain’s offering could use:

 

GOD.IDENTIFIED.BY.CHARACTERISTICS_  BEAUMONT.TX  64-0311

68  Today, Luther said, "When you believe, you've got It." The Methodist say, "When you shout, you got It." The Pentecostal said, "When you spoke in tongues, you had It." We find all that wrong. Some of them said, "The fruit of the Spirit's got It." And it's wrong. The only evidence is, is when the a-vindication, when God Himself identifies Himself in the promised Word of the hour. There it is.

 

DOES.GOD.CHANGE.HIS.MIND_  LA.CA  V-18 N-4  TUESDAY_  65-0427

24  Just as Cain and Abel, they also came together in a clash. And them being brothers, and both of them of the same mother, Eve. And we find that they--they realized that they were mortal, and they had been put out of Life, out of the garden of Life. And they both was trying to find a way to get back in there. And if you noticed, both boys was very religious. Cain was just as religious as Abel was. And they both built altars, otherwise, a church. They both made sacrifice. They both prayed. And they--they served God, both of them, but one of them served Him wrong.

Now, you see, you can be ever so sincere and yet be wrong. You can be wrong. "There is a way that seemeth right, but the end thereof is the ways of death."

Now, we--we see that this was so true with Cain and Abel.

 

Even the works of the true Holy Ghost Brother Branham destroyed as an evidence when he preached the message The Anointed Ones at the End Time.  Balaam and Judas Iscariot had true Holy Ghost works, yet they themselves were false.

 

The Apostle Paul also destroyed every evidence that a Cain’s offering could use:

 

I CORINTHIANS 13:1-3

1  Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become [as] sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

2  And though I have [the gift of] prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.

3  And though I bestow all my goods to feed [the poor], and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

 

Notice how that after the Seals were opened the evidence became all what God has done for us.  It is all God.  It is all His election of us, which was by total grace (unmerited, unconditional love).  Our evidence is His election of us.

 

Our Abel’s offering to God is the Blood of the Sacrifice, which the Blood is now the Life that was in the Blood which is the Holy Ghost which is the Token which is our New Soul!  Our offering to God is what He has done for us, His by-total-grace election of us.

 

Below is an interview that Brother Branham had with Sister Bruce before he preached the message The Masterpiece.  Notice that Sister Bruce is dealing with the age-old issue of wanting an evidence to know that she has received the Holy Ghost:

 

INTERVIEW.OF.SISTER.BRUCE_  JEFF.IN  SUNDAY_  64-0705M

E-1  [The following is a personal interview Brother Branham had with Sister Bruce during the song service preceding the Message, "Masterpiece." He refers to this interview (while preaching), in paragraph 57 of "The Masterpiece"--Ed.]

...?... I visit you in the hospital that...?... I prayed constantly God wouldn't let you die, 'cause you're a value to the church. Now, I know you. I know you're going to be all right, Sister Bruce. I believe that with all my heart.

[Sister Bruce says, "Brother Branham, most of all, I want the experience that I been sealed in the Holy Ghost. And if God will reveal it to your heart..."]

I believe, with all my heart that you are a real borned again believer, Sister Bruce. How could that Spirit be...?... when you get sick you get weary. And you're a nervous-type person.

[Sister Bruce says, "Yes."]

And--and you get things on your mind (See?), little bitty things. It just keeps building up both ways. You'll get somebody on your heart you want to pray for them, get up and pray for them. You can't rest till you get that person prayed for. That's you.

Then take it on the other side. Satan maybe might present something that you... And not this way. See? That you... The--the God... You--you're a nature. And God works. And Satan works. Then when Satan tries to make you believe that you're not... See? You keep building this, "Maybe this might..." See? Don't look at yourself, Sister Bruce. Remember.

E-2  I'm fixing to pray for you. I'm not worthy of that. I think, "What would I do if Jesus Christ was setting here now?" and, well, "what would He do if He was setting here?" He'd lay His hands upon you and with His great faith (See?), you'd get well.

Well now, I think, "Well, I'm a sinner; I'm not Him." But I come to represent Him. Must, remember, me being a sinner and before God, I'm not a sinner, neither are you; we got a Blood Sacrifice laying there. God don't even see us. He hears our voice, but He sees the Blood of Christ. That's it. See? He sees the Blood of His Own Son. It's our voice, Christ's Blood, and it's Christ that's talking through us to God; so therefore, we're not sinners no more. We are Christians. I believe you to be a genuine Christian woman.

E-3  I remember the thing... [Sister Bruce says, "I make so many mistakes, and I fail so many times."--Ed.]

That's why Christ had to die, so that you with your mistakes wouldn't be 'lotted to you. See? He took your mistakes. Your desire in your heart is to serve Him. [Sister Bruce says, "Yes."]

All right. That's what He died for, so that you could serve Him. See? Not... Your mistakes are not looked--not allotted to you. See? He is your Propitiation. See? He is your Sin-offering. Your sins are not known. You're not a sinner before God. Christ took your sins and became you, 'cause your desire is to serve Him.

E-4  [Sister Bruce says, "But I've never had an experience that I have been filled with the Holy Ghost, that I could put my foot on."]

All right. Notice this. Ordinarily, a human being is born in sin, shaped in iniquity, come to the world speaking lies. That's the nature of a human being. [Sister Bruce says, "Yes."]

That was your nature. It change once. But what changed it? ["Christ."] There you are, sister. See? That's it.

"He that heareth My Words and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath Eternal Life, and shall not come to the judgment; but hath (past tense) passed from death to Life." Saint John 5:24, Jesus speaking. See?

So you--you're--you're a Christian, Sister Bruce. I've watched your life. I've watched you under vision, and I know you're a Christian. See? Not one speck of... See, I am your shepherd, as it was... [Sister Bruce says, "Yes."] Somebody's got to be. See? If there was any doubt in my mind, if I thought you was--something was wrong, I'd tell you, Sister Bruce.

[“I believe that."]

But if there's anything wrong in your experience, anything wrong between you and God, as far as I know anything about it, Sister Bruce (See?) there's not one. We're going to pray.

E-5  [Sister Bruce says, "'Course, I'm going to die unless God undertakes for my heart."]

You're not going to die, I don't think, Sister Bruce. If it is, it's hid from me.

Dear God, this little woman has constantly, constantly done good. She has tried, like Dorcas of old. And now, she's getting to this time of her heart's very bad. But did not Your Word that we put our whole soul and life in, say, that all things will work together for good to them that loves You? Then it must be that You're working something that we know nothing about. It's all for the good, for she loves You.

Now, to the great Shepherd over all of us, the Lord Jesus Christ, and in His Name, I lay my hands upon my sister. May the God Who made her and brought her to this earth, may His Spirit that sealed her away from the things of the world to be Your servant, may It heal her sick body and make her completely well, for we need her in the service, Lord. I commit her to You with this prayer of faith, my hands laying upon her to identify myself with the prayer, and to say to this mountain, "In the Name of Jesus Christ, be moved," that our sister may live to the Kingdom of God and for the glory of God.

 

Notice in the above interview that Brother Branham is saying that he believes that she already has the Holy Ghost, yet this sister is doubting it because she is looking for some type of an evidence.  This is the quandary that true believers can get into.  The fact of the matter is that there is no particular evidence – satan can impersonate just about anything that can be expressed (supernatural works (Judas, Balaam), holy living (the Pharisees), fruits of the Spirit (Christian Science), knowledge of the Word, etc.), but satan cannot BE the Holy Ghost.  Satan cannot be elect:

 

DESPERATION_  JEFF.IN  V-4 N-1  SUNDAY_  63-0901E

21  And the devil can impersonate any of those things. But he cannot be the Holy Ghost. See? He can impersonate these gifts, but he can't be the Holy Ghost. And the Holy Ghost is the Token that the Blood's been applied, because It follows the Blood all the way from the Book of Redemption.

 

The Holy Ghost is the Token which is the Life that was in the Blood which is our New Soul.  Satan cannot be That.  And the evidence of that New Soul is that we have an ear to hear, that we have an Elect Seed of God that heard and received the Word for our day:

 

QUESTIONS.AND.ANSWERS_  JEFF.IN  COD  SUNDAY_  64-0823E

1004-50  The same thing repeats. That's the evidence of the Holy Ghost, when God reveals to you and you see it, THUS SAITH THE LORD and accept it. Not what you are, what you was, or nothing about it, it's what God has done for you now. There's the evidence.

Total Honesty with Ourselves

LUKE 8:15

15  But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep [it], and bring forth fruit with patience.

 

When a person is totally offering Abel’s offering (the Blood of Christ ALONE as his righteousness), he is able to be totally honest about the sin that is in his members:

 

ROMANS 7:16-18

16  If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that [it is] good.

17  Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

18  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but [how] to perform that which is good I find not.

 

Why would people be afraid to face the sin in themselves unless they are still wanting to have some righteousness of their own, unless they are still offering Cain’s offering, unless they are still offering Christ AND works?:

 

293-3 PHILADELPHIAN.CHURCH.AGE  -  CHURCH.AGE.BOOK CPT.8

But now Christ having appeared in the flesh, and by the shedding of His own blood has put away sin and by that offering of Himself has made us perfect. The Jews would not take that. But what about that Philadelphian Age, and, yes, the other ages, too? Did they really accept this reality in Christ? No sir. Even though Luther brought the truth of justification, the Romish Church, and its eastern counterpart, the Orthodox Church, still clung to works. Now works are fine, but they don't save you. They don't make you perfect. It is Christ or perish. And it is not even Christ AND works. It is Christ alone. This age began the years of Arminianism that does not believe in Christ as the REALITY. It does not sing of "Nothing but the Blood," for it sings of "Nothing but the blood AND my own conduct". Now I believe in good conduct. If you are saved you will do righteously. We have already gone over that. But let me tell you now, salvation is NOT Jesus PLUS. It is Jesus ALONE. SALVATION IS OF THE LORD. From start to finish it is all GOD. Let His life be in me. Let it be His blood that cleanses me. Let it be His Spirit that fills me. Let it be His Word in my heart and mouth. Let it be His stripes that heal me. Let it be Jesus, and Jesus Alone. Not by works of righteousness which I have done. No sir. Christ is my life. Amen.

 

If people are afraid to face the sin in themselves, it must be because they still feel that their works have something to do with their acceptance with God.  Why else would they be afraid unless they are still trying to have at least some righteousness of their own?    This is Cain’s offering, making salvation Jesus PLUS works.

 

So one of the practical outworkings of truly offering Abel’s offering, offering ONLY the Blood of Christ as your righteousness, is the fact that you can be totally honest with yourself and the sin that is in you (that is, in your flesh).   The practical outworking of this revelation will also be the dying out to trying to look good before others.  Christ is my all in all.  He is my life, my righteousness.

The Magnifying of the Law

When Jesus came, he magnified the law.  The Old Testament said “thou shalt not commit adultery”.  Then Jesus magnified the law:

 

MATTHEW 5:27-28

27  Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:

28  But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

 

Brother Branham magnified the law even more:

 

WORLD.IS.FALLING.APART_  NY.NY  V-18 N-10  FRIDAY_  63-1115

133  Jesus said, "Whosoever looketh upon a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." And if you present yourself like that, you're a cause of it. That's exactly. Though you be innocent yourself, you presented yourself to that sinner like that. When he answers for it, you'll be the one to be guilty. Oh, get you some clothes and cover up, and act like ladies. That's right.

 

Then the Holy Ghost in us magnifies the law even more:

 

HEBREWS 4:12

12  For the word of God [is] quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and [is] a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

 

Why all of this magnification of the law?  This is because God wants His Bride to die out to offering anything of a Cain’s offering.  There is no way that any of us can fulfill the law, especially when it is magnified!  But since we are offering Abel’s offering, the Blood of Christ ALONE as our righteousness, then we can be totally honest about the sin that is in us because that sin that is in us has no connection whatsoever with our acceptance before God:

 

ROMANS 7:18

18  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but [how] to perform that which is good I find not.

 

ROMANS 7:24-25

24  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

25  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

 

STANDING.IN.THE.GAP_  JEFF.IN  V-6 N-7  SUNDAY_  63-0623M

53  (Now, I'm preaching to myself in this.) Could we stand and see a human being that's blind, physically blind, and know that he's walking over a cliff... Could we in our--our sta--state of mind, that we're in this morning, could we stand and see a blind man walk over a cliff, blind, and not try to warn him? It would be... There would be so cruel. We would be so indifferent in our heart. Could you imagine, a person getting so indifferent that he could almost laugh and see a blind man (that cannot see and can't help hisself) deliberately walk over a cliff? That would be a--a bad thing... do nothing about it...

54  Well, to my brethren, world over, I want to make this confession. I--I humbly say it, that that's just about what I was doing or fixing to do.

 

The process of the Rapture is the putting off of our flesh, being honest about the sin in it, not identifying with it, confessing it, rejecting it, mortifying it.  This is fulfilling what Brother Branham said was the zeal that God is looking for in this day.  The zeal to cry, “I AM WRONG”:

 

355-3 LAODICEAN.CHURCH.AGE  -  CHURCH.AGE.BOOK CPT.9

"Be zealous and repent." Now this false church has zeal; make no mistake about that. Her zeal has literally been that of the Jews, John 2:17, "The zeal of thine house hath eaten Me up." But it is a wrong zeal. It is for the house of their own building. It is for their own creeds, dogmas, organizations, their own righteousness. They have put the Word out for their own ideas. They deposed the Holy Ghost and made men into leaders. They have put aside Eternal Life as a Person, and make it good works, or even church conformity rather than good works.

But God is calling for another zeal. It is the zeal to cry "I AM WRONG".

[Note: the capitalization in the above quote is Brother Branham’s]

 

Offering Abel’s offering, the ability of which has been restored back in this day, enables us to be a part of the Rapture.  Christ alone is our righteousness, therefore I can put off this “old coat”.

 

The ability to be able to cry “I AM WRONG” is part of the Third Pull, the Life that cannot be impersonated.  This is so because people if they want to can always justify themselves by some line of reasoning, even using the Word of God to do so.  But the Elect have the supernatural ability to be able to lay down their lives as Christ did and are able to say “I am wrong”.

The Bride Is Capable of Any Sin (except one)

One of the things that may have hindered a person from being totally honest with himself is the thought that there are certain sins that a born again person would never do, and if they ever would be guilty of such it would show that they were not born again.  However, this concept is not true.  If you have broken one part of the Law, you are guilty of breaking the whole Law:

 

JAMES 2:10

10  For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one [point], he is guilty of all.

 

The truth of the matter is that a Bride member is capable of doing ANY sin (except blasphemy of the Holy Ghost which is the unpardonable sin).  Any evil that we have ever not done is because of the grace of God to us.  It is NOT because we have some ability or righteousness of our own.  The more mature a person is in their walk with God, the more they know this to be a fact.  God works this knowledge into a person’s experience with Him.

 

The more a person has walked with God, the less and less self-righteous and judgmental they will be.  As the old saying goes, “There but for the grace of God go I”.  This statement is the absolute truth.  The more mature a person is in Christ, the more they know this to be a fact:

 

Life Together, page 118, by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Anybody who lives beneath the Cross and who has discerned in the Cross of Jesus the utter wickedness of all men and of his own heart will find there is no sin that can ever be alien to him.

Anybody who has once been horrified by the dreadfulness of his own sin that nailed Jesus to the Cross will no longer be horrified by even the rankest sins of a brother. 

 

The Normal Christian Life, pages 19-20, by Watchman Nee

      Now the reason why we so readily accept his accusations is that we are still hoping to have some righteousness of our own.  The ground of our expectation is wrong. Satan has succeeded in making us look in the wrong direction.  Thereby he wins his point, rendering us ineffective.  But if we have learned to put no confidence in the flesh, we shall not wonder if we sin, for the very nature of the flesh is to sin. Do you understand what I mean? It is because we have not come to appreciate our true nature and to see how helpless we are that we still have some expectation in ourselves, with the result that, when Satan comes along and accuses us, we go down under it.

     God is well able to deal with our sins; but He cannot deal with a man under accusation, because such a man is not trusting in the Blood.  The Blood speaks in his favor, but he is listening instead to Satan. Christ is our Advocate, but we, the accused, side with the accuser.  We have not recognized that we are unworthy of anything but death; that, as we shall shortly see, we are only fit to be crucified anyway.  We have not recognized that it is God alone that can answer the accuser, and that in the precious Blood He has already done so.

     Our salvation lies in looking away to the Lord Jesus and in seeing that the Blood of the Lamb has met the whole situation created by our sins and has answered it.  That is the sure foundation on which we stand. Never should we try to answer Satan with our good conduct but always with the Blood. Yes, we are sinful, but, praise God!  The Blood cleanses us from every sin.

 

We ought to be able to say in our lowest state after our worst failures, “I am just as righteous now as I ever have or will be – Christ is my TOTAL righteousness”.  This is offering Abel’s offering – offering the Blood of Christ ALONE for your righteousness (not offering Christ AND works).

Our Motive – Why Do We Feel Bad When We Fail?

When a person fails and feels bad about it, that person needs to examine what his motive is behind why he feels bad about his failure.

 

If he feels bad about his failure because he has been trying to offer a Cain’s offering to God and is failing at it, then that is the wrong motive for feeling bad.

 

A person who has Christ alone as his righteousness feels bad when he fails because he has failed at fulfilling his heart’s desire.  He does NOT feel bad because he fears rejection by God or feels less worthy before God.

 

In the midst of his failure, a person offering the Blood of Christ alone as his righteousness can say, “I thank you God that right now I am just as righteous as I ever have or will be”.  He can say this because Christ alone is his righteousness (not Christ AND works).  If we do not feel that we can say this after or in the midst of a failure, then we still need to die out to that part of ourselves that still wants to offer a Cain’s offering to God.

 

We battle to overcome the “black dog” in us so that our Soul can be expressed, but we do not do this for an evidence.  We do this because that is a natural consequence of having a New Nature (the New Birth).  We already know who the real us is, our New Soul, which is the Life of God, which is the real us.  We want That to be expressed.

The Process That God Wants for His Life to Be Expressed

We know that God’s outward anointing on a person will produce the works of Christ.  In the following picture, the red represents the outward anointing of the Holy Ghost upon a person (that person being either a true or a false believer):

That outward anointing will produce the works of Christ, because it is the anointing of the true Holy Ghost.

 

Note that the “false anointed ones” can have this outward anointing of the Holy Ghost upon them and thereby produce Holy Ghost works:

 

MATTHEW 5:45

45  That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

 

But what the “false anointed ones” cannot produce is the Life of Christ flowing out from the inside, from a New Soul (for they have no New Soul).  The “false anointed ones” cannot manifest the Life of Christ from within.

The Life of Christ can only come out from the Soul of a true believer through a process of character development, i.e., through a process of the breaking of the “outer man” (the flesh and spirit realms):

So this is the Third Pull Life that cannot be impersonated: the Life of Christ breaking out from within a person (his New Soul) and finally reaching the surface to be seen.


The Life of Christ breaking out from the Soul through the flesh and spirit realms in order to be seen and expressed is like lava breaking out through the earth’s mantle and crust to be seen by the world:

 

SIXTH.SEAL.THE_  JEFF.IN  SATURDAY_  63-0323

440-2  Brother, the earthquake burst open, and the stars shake; volcanics will come forth, and the earth will renew itself. New lava will break forth from the center of the earth, and she'll crumble all around and around and around when she spins out in yonder.

PHILIPPIANS 2:12, 13

12  … work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of [his] good pleasure.

And what does that breaking out process produce?  Character.

 

The “false anointed ones” can only produce works of Christ from an outward anointing, therefore no brokenness, no character development takes place.

 

Peninnah (the false church) had expressions of Elkanah (God), but no character.  To speak in terms of this day, Peninnah was outwardly anointed to be able to produce the expressions of Elkanah, but because there was no breaking process involved, consequently there was no character.

 

But Hannah (the Bride) only had expressions of Elkanah through a process of character development.  God would not permit it any other way (“the Lord had shut up her womb”, I Samuel 1:5).

 

Beauty to God is character:

 

GOD.IN.SIMPLICITY_  JEFF.IN  SUNDAY_  63-0317M

3-2  … the beauty of the church is the character of the people.

 

and character comes through the brokenness that we experience through our trials as we die to ourselves.  This brokenness in the true believer makes the way for the “Lava” of the Life of Christ (Zoe) from the New Soul to flow out to be seen and to give Life to others.  Since the Life from the Soul comes out through brokenness, that Power is accompanied by character:

 

117-1 SMYRNAEAN.CHURCH.AGE  -  CHURCH.AGE.BOOK CPT.4

The reason for this is that character simply is never made without suffering. Character is a VICTORY, not a gift. A man without character can't reign because power apart from character is Satanic. But power with character is fit to rule. And since He wants us to share even His throne on the same basis that He overcame and is set down in His Father's throne, then we have to overcome to sit with Him. And the little temporary suffering we go through now is not worthy to be compared to the tremendous glory that will be revealed in us when He comes. Oh, what treasures are laid up for those who are willing to enter into His kingdom through much tribulation.

 

Though even a true believer can have the outward anointing of the Holy Ghost and produce Holy Ghost works, what God really wants is the brokenness of the outer man (the flesh and spirit realms) to occur so that the Anointing will come out from the inside (from the New Soul).  This is the process of character development and the consequent display of the Life of Christ in character.

 

The following Scriptures show the truth of the Life of Christ being displayed through the process of brokenness releasing the inward “Lava” of the Life of Christ from the New Soul:

 

PSALMS 51:17

17  The sacrifices of God [are] a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

JAMES 4:6

6  But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

 

MATTHEW 16:25

25  For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

 

II CORINTHIANS 4:11

11  For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.

 

I CORINTHIANS 15:31

31  I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

 

When the outward man (the flesh) is broken, the Life of Christ from within ( the “Lava”) can flow out from the Soul.  Examples of this brokenness and the subsequent outflowing of the Life of character can be seen in the Scriptures:

 

David => “Let him alone, God told him to do it” (David let God bring

                         him back to the throne in God’s time)

Jesus => “He made Himself of no reputation”

                  When he healed people => “tell no one about it”

                  He healed only a certain man at the pool of Bethesda

                 “A bruised reed shall he not break”

Woman => “Truth, Lord” (when Jesus called her a dog)

Us => “if smitten on one cheek, turn to him the other also”

            “he that takes your coat, give him your cloak also”

The Works of Faith

Since the Life of Christ is automatic and the believer does not know the good that he does, then what is the meaning of “faith without works is dead” as spoken of in the Book of James?  Brother Branham explained this topic of Faith and Works very clearly in his message Works Is Faith Expressed:

 

WORKS.IS.FAITH.EXPRESSED_  SHREVEPORT.LA  V-7 N-1  FRIDAY_  65-1126

86  Now, the two men that were talking on faith: Paul justified Abraham by what God saw in Abraham; but James justified Abraham by what man saw in--in Abraham.

See, now, James said, "He's justified by his works."

Paul said, "He's justified by faith."

But, see, Abraham believed God; that's what God saw in him; he believed It. But then when he went to acting as though it was already done, that's what man saw in him.

And that's the same as it is to us, because our works express what faith we have. But if we're afraid to act on what we believe, then we do not believe it. See, you've got to believe it.

91  Abraham's works was expressing his faith he had in God's promise. Now, Abraham, remember he was ninety years old--a hundred years old, and Sarah was ninety years old. And now they were well stricken in age, past child bearing, had been for many, many years. And they'd lived together as husband and wife since they were young and no children. But yet, God told him when he was seventy-five years old and Sarah sixty-five, "You're going to have a baby." And he believed God's promise. He believed it. Now, see, he made ready everything for this baby. See, that's what God saw, when he believed God; and man saw what he did to express what he believed. And that's the same thing that works tonight, the same way it is with us.

It had been revealed to him. See, it had been revealed to him, so he believed it so, and was acting as though it had already took place.

Now, let's just stop there just a minute. Sometimes we misunderstand this. People gets emotion, and they try to work on emotion. That won't work.

 

Abraham’s works that man saw were just the automatic life that Abraham lived because he believed what God told him.  Abraham was not thinking in his mind, “I need to do these outward actions because that is how a person that believes God would act”.  No, he had “no thoughts coming”.  Because he had faith (what God saw), his actions (what man saw) were automatic.  Abraham did not think about trying to act like what he did, that is just what he did.  It was automatically, unconsciously done.

 

James is pointing out that real faith will have an outward expression of works that man can see, but the works that man can see are not what the believer sees.  The believer knows nothing about those works.  A believer’s eyes are only on the FAITH that God has given him.

 

These are the true works of God – the automatic life that other men may see, but that the believer does not see.  The believer does not NEED to see his works, because he is not offering those works up for acceptance.  His vision is only filled with faith.

 

Everything that a believer does should be by faith.  A believer should not make a judgment of what “good works” would be and then go out and try to produce them.  That would be dead works, a Cain’s offering.  A believer should only act by faith.  If something is not done by faith, then it is not pleasing to God:

 

HEBREWS 11:6

6  But without faith [it is] impossible to please [him]: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and [that] he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

 

ROMANS 14:23

23  And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because [he eateth] not of faith: for whatsoever [is] not of faith is sin.

 

One time a Baptist minister was critical of Brother Branham because he was judging Brother Branham for not being more active in the field:

 

RESPECTS_  JEFF.IN  V-13 N-4  SUNDAY_  61-1015E

99  Baptist minister wrote me a letter a couple days ago from up here. Oh, if he didn't rake me over the coals, he said, "A guy that's as lazy as you are, a ministry that would be equal to Elijah, the prophets," he said, "and then to see you setting around home, doing nothing..."

So Billy is acting as secretary at the time; he wrote him a letter back. And then he just thought, "Well, I believe I'll just answer him," he said. But he thought he better let me read it before he answered it. But it had a lot of diplomacy in it. He said, "Now, this is not my dad; this is me." Said, "You just said that daddy had a ministry like that of Elijah." And said, "You said he set down on a creek bank somewhere with a fishing pole in his hand, or up in the mountains with a rifle in his hand." Said, "What will you say about Elijah when he set three years by the side of a brook?" Said, "Don't you know that they're led by the Spirit of God to do what they're doing?" See, everybody wants to run it their own way. But man must be led by the Spirit of God, and you must give it respects. That's all.

 

This Baptist minister was judging Brother Branham based on his reasoning (his judgments) of good and evil.  But no matter how it looked to others or to himself, Brother Branham only acted when he had faith:

 

172-3 PERGAMEAN.CHURCH.AGE  -  CHURCH.AGE.BOOK CPT.5

[From when Brother Branham was told to “pick up his pen and write”]

Those in the bride do only His will. No one can make them do otherwise. They have 'thus saith the Lord' or they keep still. They know that it has to be God in them doing the works, fulfilling His own Word. He did not complete all His work while in His earthly ministry so now He works in and through the bride.

What Is Our Source of Significance?

The believers’ source of significance is the fact that we are a part of Him.  We are complete in Him:

COLOSSIANS 2:10

10  And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:

 

God has made every one of us special.  We are a unique, unreplaceable part of the Body of Christ.  That makes each member of the Body of Christ very significant.  No one can take your place:

 

VOICE.OF.THE.SIGN_  BEAUMONT.TX  FRIDAY_  64-0313

E-9  There's no one can take your place, your peculiarity. How often I have wondered how I would like to take Oral Roberts' place, how I would like to take Billy Graham's place, somebody like that, or like Billy Graham, go speak to a audience of people, call sinners to the altar, forget it, go home, not have to stand there and wrestle against... I cannot be Billy Graham, but neither can Billy Graham be me. We are both... I cannot be Oral Roberts; Oral Roberts cannot be me.

You're each one set in God's economy just for its place. One fasts all the time and communes with God, while another casts out devils because this one's fasting. But it's the whole body of Christ working together, the unity. When we see these denominational barriers breaking us up, that's what hurts my heart. See? Because that's the thing that separates us. We are one. There's no big people among us, no great people among us. We're all the same. We're children of God.

There's only One great among us, and that's Christ. We must recognize Him. And if we seek honor one from another, we can't have faith, because we're having faith in one another. We got to have faith in Christ. He is the One among us that we must have faith in, and then, faith in what He's doing and has give to us.

E-10  Now, no one could take Moses' place. No matter how much you run, and how much you try to get away from it, yet, God knows what He's doing. He knowed just what He had to take and make out of Moses. These things had to happen. Now, watch. No one could take his place.

 

IDENTIFICATION_  TULARE.CA  V-22 N-14  SUNDAY_  64-0216

108  A lady asked me, coming down the road the other day from up here, she said... It's Florence Shakarian, Brother Demos's sister, Sister Williams and them, setting in the car. She said, "Brother Branham, I fast, and fast, and fast, and still I can't cast out devils."

I said, "You wasn't born to do such. Your duty is fast. The Holy Spirit's working on somebody else out there for that." You don't know the place.

If we had time we'd teach those things in long meetings, how if one person's burdened like this for something over here. You don't know... You don't... It's not for you to know. It's Him doing it. You're just submissive to your call. Always line it up with the Scriptures, see if it's right or not.

 

The Body of Christ: A Reality, pages 44-45, by Watchman Nee

     Never for a moment think that because the grace you have received is so insignificant you therefore have no place in the church. As long as you are a member, you have a definite function. There is no one having the life of God who is not a member of the body of Christ, and no member is so small as to have no function of his own. The less than the least of the members still has his function in the body, and that particular function cannot be replaced by any other member. No matter how tiny is that function, no one else can substitute it.

     Not even the greatest function in the body can stand in for the smallest one: none can take the place of the other: you cannot be a substitute for me, nor can I be a substitute for you. Oh, if we could see this we would leap for joy!

 

We need to pray to God for revelation on the above quotes so that these facts would be made real to us.  Knowing and walking in the reality of who we are will set us free from shame:

 

CHRIST.IS.THE.MYSTERY_  JEFF.IN  V-3 N-7  SUNDAY_  63-0728

37-4  Oh, if the Church only knew its position. It will one day. Then, the rapture will go when it knows what it is.

 

The more we walk in the revelation that we are a part of the Body of Christ, the less we will have insecurity when God chooses to use any particular member of that Body, because the truth of the matter is that what God has done through any member of the Body is what God has done through the Body.  The unit of identity is the Body.

 

For example, in the natural realm, if a person wins a race, we do not think “that person’s legs won the race.”  No, we think “that person won the race”.  If a person wins an arm wrestling contest, we do not think “that person’s arm won the contest.”  No, we think “that person won the contest.”  Whatever any member does is what the Body does.  Therefore, whatever God has done through any member of the Body is in reality what God has done through all of us, for we are one:

 

I CORINTHIANS 12:12

12  For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also [is] Christ.

 

JOHN 17:20-23

20  Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;

21  That they all may be one; as thou, Father, [art] in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

22  And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:

23  I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

 

The more we can walk in this understanding, the deeper will become our love for one another.

Love for One Another

One of the natural outworkings of offering Abel’s offering (Christ alone being our righteousness) is that we look at others in the Body the same way.  Their identity in our eyes is Christ.  We look at and believe in the real them (their perfect Soul).  This will produce the love of Christ expressing in the Body:

 

COLOSSIANS 3:12-15

12  Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;

13  Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also [do] ye.

14  And above all these things [put on] charity, which is the bond of perfectness.

15  And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.

 

DESPERATION_  JEFF.IN  SUNDAY_  63-0901E

76  Notice what the Bible said here also in James 16-5:16, said, "If... Confessing our faults (getting right, making ready for it)... Confess our faults one to another." Having no--no faults... ask people to pray for you, confessing our faults one to another and praying one for the other... There you are. With love--love that I got confidence, I can confess to you my wrong. You can confess to me your wrong; I love you well enough that I will pray for you and you pray for me; and will stay with it with an effectual, fervent prayer until it's answered. That's--that's desperation. That's what we should have all the time.

 

GOD'S.ONLY.PROVIDED.PLACE.OF.WORSHIP_  SHP.LA  V-7 N-4  SUNDAY_  65-1128M

40  I believe the church is begin to hear the message, and beginning to understand. But, friends, listen, we've got to lay in the Presence of the Son; we've got to be ripened. Our--our faith isn't ripe. Intellectually we're hearing the message that God has give us, and seeing the signs that He showed us, and proving it by the Bible as that; but, oh, how the church needs to lay in His Presence till it tenders up, you know, and gets sweet in the Spirit so that it can bathe down. Sometimes in speaking the message, you get harsh, have to break it in like that, because you've got to clinch a nail to make it hold. But when the church once gets it, the Elected is called out and separated then in the Presence of God, I know it'll be something like the people was there when it takes its rapture.

 

What Brother Branham saw there when he went beyond the curtain of time was perfect Love expressed:

 

REJECTED.KING_  JEFF.IN  V-2 N-23  SUNDAY_  60-0515M

21-4  And I heard a voice then that spoke to me that was in the room, said, "This is what you preached was the Holy Ghost. This is perfect love. And nothing can enter here without it." I am more determined than ever in my life that it takes perfect love to enter there. There was no jealousy. There was no tiredness. There was no death. Sickness could never in there. Mortality could never make you old, and the--they could not cry. It was just one joy, "Oh, my precious brother."

In Summary

God’s great Mystery has been again revealed in this day.  The opening of the Seven Seals restored back to us the revelation of God’s great work of Redemption, God’s great purpose for creation, God’s great Mystery, whereby we can once again offer up to God a pure Abel’s offering of the Blood of Christ, Jesus Christ alone being our righteousness.

 

Since the Church is the Blood of Christ by the Spirit, what we are offering up to God is His by- total-grace election of us.  It is all God, all what He did for us, all His work of grace (unmerited, unconditional love) in electing us.

 

Not only do we know who we really are in this day, but we know who one another is.  We are one Body, His Bride.  We can truly love one another in the true meaning of that phrase, because we know that just as Christ alone is our righteousness, so is Christ alone our brothers’ and our sisters’ righteousness.  We identify them with That, because the real them is in fact That (Christ).

 

GOD'S.ONLY.PROVIDED.PLACE.OF.WORSHIP_  SHP.LA  V-7 N-4  SUNDAY_  65-1128M

40  But when the church once gets it, the Elected is called out and separated then in the Presence of God, I know it'll be something like the people was there when it takes its rapture.

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