DEWITT
TABERNACLE TEACHING SERIES
CONTINUATION
OF
THE
BOOK OF REVELATION
AS REVEALED TO
THE
PROPHET WILLIAM BRANHAM (NO. 4)
By
C.W. Wood
October
2007
NOTE: Please study this sermon in connection with our previous sermons on
THE BOOK OF REVELATION. The study is a continued series of sermons. This sermon
takes up where the September 2007 sermon ends.
Just
what did it mean to our precious Brother, when he came face to face with his own
Theophany? Can we see that if there had been any doubts in his mind concerning
his Eternal destination, that seeing himself in a Supernatural Body would have
erased these doubts forever? I do not say the doubts were there, but we can know
that this was God’s own confirmation to His Prophet that he was an eternal
being. What would it mean to you and me, if we should suddenly meet a
supernatural angel that bore the image of our own physical body? We do
understand that all Bride members have a Theophany, and we take that by faith,
but what if God would show our other body to us? Can we understand why Br.
Branham said, “Oh, you don’t know what this has meant to me?”
As we
finish our reading of the second chapter of Revelation, we see the angelic body
of Brother William Branham giving to John the Revelator, a Message to be written
down for all seven of the Church Age Messengers, as they would appear on Earth
in their respective ages. You and I are now living in the time when all seven of
these Messengers have appeared on Earth and preached their Messages. This
includes the Seventh Messenger, the Prophet, William Branham, whose work it was
to bring out all the mysteries that had previously been hidden under Seven
Seals. God’s method of doing this was to send the Theophany Body of each
Church Age Messenger, one day at a time, to minister to Brother Branham in the
little room at
These
Angels that appeared to the Prophet in the room were the same ones who had come
down with the Lord Jesus on
In
studying about the Seven Messengers who were to receive the Seven Messages given
to John the Revelator, our Prophet, William Branham was given the revelation of
who these seven men were. Through the study of past Church history, God revealed
to Br. Branham who the man was for each Church Age. It was the one who most
closely followed God in that particular Age, and who was the most used of God.
After the Messenger for the First Church Age was established, the Apostle Paul,
then in each age afterwards it was the man whose ministry most closely followed
Paul’s. By this method, the names of the seven were revealed to Br. Branham as
follows:
The
The
The
The
The
And
last, The Seventh Church Age - Our Prophet,
William Branham.
The First
Messenger, Paul, was a Major Prophet,
as well as the Last Messenger, Br. William Branham. Those in between were
Reformers, but greatly used of God.
In studying Rev.
2 and Rev. 3, we see another very needful Revelation. In the Message that
was given to each Angel Messenger for the people of his age, we notice that the
promises made to those of each Age were to the OVERCOMERS. This being true, it
behooves us to know what our God considers to be an overcomer! Perhaps some are
overcomers who do not realize it and need to be encouraged.
An overcomer is
not one whose faith has raised him to a level where he no longer experiences
failures. Neither is it one who has been able to keep God’s Holy Law Standard
perfectly! Only One did that, the Lord Jesus Christ, who was our Perfect
Sacrifice. Overcomers are not people who never feel
discouraged. They feel the fiery darts of the enemy the same as others, but
they resist the lies of Satan with, “It
is written.” An overcomer is one who has the Holy Ghost in him who causes
him to stand back up after each failure, receiving forgiveness, and continuing
on the path of duty. An overcomer is one who understands that he has been chosen
of God to suffer blow after blow in his flesh body, so as to end up crucified
with his Lord, even as the Apostle Paul.
As Paul was
assigned a Devil to buffet him, so has all Bride members been assigned one.
Overcomers understand that it was God who assigned him and not Lucifer!
Therefore, they know that all things work together for their good, and they rule
Satan out of their lives, as far as him being able to hinder them in any way.
They know that a life that is, by faith, turned over to their God, cannot be
disrupted by the enemy. They have had a revelation that our God is using the
enemy to perfect His Bride. An
over-comer knows that Satan is no longer a free-moral agent, having lost his
power to choose when he was put out of Heaven. We know that Satan can only move
as he is ordered by our Lord. This knowledge removes all fear of him from their
hearts. They need have no fear at all as long as they maintain their obedience
to the Lord. Even when they fail, all that is required is repentance, receiving
forgiveness by faith, and then moving forward again.
And it is to
this group of people in every age that God made His promises. Not a perfect
people in their flesh, but a people with a perfect attitude of heart toward
their Lord. God looketh on the heart and judges us by what is there. The Prophet
declared that God watches the heart, even as the Scripture says.
In Revelation
4, John the Revelator saw, “A door
opened in Heaven, and the first Voice he heard was as it were of a Trumpet
talking with me, which said, “Come up hither, and I will shew thee things
which must be hereafter.” As he looked, John saw a Throne set in Heaven,
and One sat on the Throne.” It was the Lord Himself that John saw. Verse 4,
“And round about the Throne was four and twenty seats, and upon the
seats I saw four and twenty Elders sitting, clothed in white rainment, and they
had on their heads crowns of gold.”
We will pause here
to point out a very interesting Revelation. When John saw these Twenty-four
Elders, he was actually seeing himself in his Theophany Body! The twenty-four
persons that he saw were the twelve Old Testament Patriarchs and the twelve New
Testament Apostles, therefore, when he looked in Heaven, he was seeing himself
as one of the twenty-four persons. We bring this out to show that it was not
unscriptural when our Prophet, William Branham, saw himself on
In Rev. 4:5,
there is another Revelation that needs our attention, “…
and there were Seven Lamps of fire burning before the Throne, which are
the seven Spirits of God.” Bible scholars know that our God is not a
seven-spirited God. He is One Spirit, One Person who operates in three offices. Eph.
4:4-5, “There is one body and one
spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling. One God and Father of
all, who is above all, and through all and in all.” Many scriptures teach
One God, One Person in the God-head. So, who are these Seven-Spirits before the
Throne of God? Only living creatures have spirits. They are typed in the Old
Testament by the Seven Lamps on the Candlestick (Ex. 37:17-23).
I pray that by
now we understand that the Seven Angels that came down on
QUOTE: THE
REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST, PAGE 667, “Now, “The Voice of the Throne.”
Notice in this Throne, “before the Throne was seven stars,” the Voice
of the stars. “Voices,” you see. There was more in Revelation 4 here, or 5,
we find out, “And out of the Throne proceeded lightning, thunders, and
voices.” Not one voice;
“voices,” plural. What is it? God speaking to the church, reflecting Himself
through the seven Spirits. When the true anointed of God speaks, it’s the
Voice of God! To reject It is to remove the candlestick. See? “Voices,” the
Voice of the Seven Church Ages (over here in the corner), the voices speaking
with thunder and lightning.” (End quote)
QUOTE: THE
REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST, PAGE 672, “Thrones, lightnings….What?
“Seven Lamps,” or lamps, or seven stars, called “seven Spirits,” meaning
the mani…..seven manifestations of the Holy Spirit of the Seven Church Ages at
the Seven Seats of Mercy for the people. Here they are: seven
seats, seven churches, seven stars, seven
manifestations, seven Spirits, Seven Lamps. Oh, my, how God is so perfect” (End quote)
Saying the
Seven Lamps and the Seven Spirits or Seven Messengers are one and the same!
Notice in this
statement, the Prophet said, “What is it? God speaking to the Church,
reflecting Himself through the Seven Spirits. The Seven Spirits were the seven
Theophany Bodies of the Seven Church Age Messengers. Brother Branham said,
“When the true anointed of God speaks, it’s the Voice of God.” Then he
said, “It’s the Voice of the Seven Church Ages.” (The voices of the Seven
Church Age Messengers)
QUOTE: THE
REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST, PAGE 668, “Now, “Voices,” the voices of
the seven trumpets, there was voices of the seven stars, seven messengers. But
now watch here: (He is going to show us that the center stem of the lamp stand
was also a Messenger.)
“.
. .and Seven Lamps . . before the throne,
which are the seven Spirits of God.”
“Seven
Lamps.” Let’s draw a little bit here, the Throne, the holy place, the
congregation. And right here was (one, two, three, four, five, six, seven) seven
stars, Seven Lamps, seven messengers, seven Spirits; not altogether meaning that
God is in seven Spirits, but “seven manifestations of the same Holy Spirit.”
Where’s the
Holy Spirit? Here at the Throne, shining out in each church age. This church age
is reflecting back this a-way, the voices of God, Jesus Christ, the same
yesterday, today, and forever. See, seven, there was “voices” “And Seven
Lamps on fire,” seven Spirits, “which are the seven Spirits of God.” (End
quote)
Notice how the
Prophet ties the Seven Stars, and the Seven Lamps, and the Seven Messengers, and
the Seven Spirits all together. Notice that there were Seven Lamps that
represented the Seven Church Age Messengers. In other words, the Seven
Candlesticks represented Seven Messengers, not just Six
Messengers and Christ as the center stem! No! There were Seven Messengers
and then Christ on the Throne. We have eight persons represented here.
Seven Messengers in the lampstand, with the center stem also being a Messenger,
a major prophet, and then Christ is on the Throne. It’s a matter of simple
arithmetic – seven plus one equals eight!
I said we would
tie the Seven Spirits together with the Seven Candlesticks, and we know that the
Seven Spirits were the Seven Church Age Messengers, but more than that, we will
also tie the Seven Stars mentioned in Rev. 1:16, together with the
candlesticks and the Seven Spirits. They are all the same. Now, the Revelation
that this writer believes he is seeing is that the main stem of the candlestick
is not Jesus Christ as we have previously thought, but rather it represents the
major
It does not
take any great mind-shaking Revelation to see that the seven lighted
candlesticks represent the Seven Church Age Messengers. The Prophet clearly
taught this truth, and we can read in the Word itself, that the Seven
Stars are the angels of the Seven Churches (Rev. 1:20)! If it be true that
the Seven Stars, the Seven Spirits, and the Seven Church Age Messengers are all
the same, then to say that Jesus is the center stem of the lamp stand would only
leave six church age messengers, but we know that there were seven.
In Rev.
25:37, we read, “And thou shalt make the Seven Lamps thereof: and they shall light the
lamps thereof, that they may give light over against it.”
Please notice here
in the Scripture that they were to “light
the Seven Lamps!” Now if Jesus was the center stem of the lamp stand, then
He did not need to be lighted. He was already “The Light of the World!” But
truth is, there were Seven Lamps that needed to be lit, and they represent the
Seven Church Age Messengers, not just six of them!
Let’s read Ex.
37:17-23, “And he made the candlestick [of] pure gold: [of] beaten work made he
the candlestick; his shaft, and his branch, his bowls, his knops, and his
flowers, were of the same:
18 And six branches going out of the sides thereof; three branches of the
candlestick out of the one side thereof, and three branches of the candlestick
out of the other side thereof:
19 Three bowls made after the fashion of almonds in one branch, a knop
and a flower; and three bowls made like almonds in another branch, a knop and a
flower: so throughout the six branches going out of the candlestick.
20
And in the candlestick [were] four bowls made like almonds, his knops, and his
flowers:
21
And a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the
same, and a knop under two branches of the same, according to the six branches
going out of it.
22
Their knops and their branches were of the same: all of it [was] one beaten work
[of] pure gold.
23
And he made his Seven Lamps, and his snuffers, and his snuffdishes, [of] pure
gold.”
Notice in these
verses, the Scripture mentions six branches, three out of each side of
the lamp, and those six needed to be lit, but so did the center one
need to be lit.
Six plus one
makes Seven Lamps of fire. There had to be seven fires burning on the lamp stand
to be a proper type of the Seven Church Age Messengers. Now, let me quote a
Scripture that tells us that the Seven Lamps of fire, burning before the Throne,
were the Seven Spirits of God. And we already know that the Seven Spirits of God
represented the Seven Church Age Messengers.
Rev. 4:5,
“And out of the throne preceded
lightnings, and thunderings and voices: and there were Seven Lamps of fire
burning before the throne, which are the Seven Spirits of God (or the Seven
Church Age Messengers).” Can we see it? If the Seven Lamps of fire were the seven
Spirits of God (which we know were the Seven Church Age Messengers, then Jesus
was not one of the seven! He was much higher than the Messengers He sent. He was
already the Light of the World!
One last
Scripture to show that if Jesus was the center stem of the lamp stand, then He
would not have needed to be lit, but the Scripture says all seven of the
lamps needed to be lit.
Num. 8:1-3,
“And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
2 Speak unto Aaron, and say unto him, When thou lightest the lamps, the
Seven Lamps shall give light over against the candlestick.
3 And Aaron did so; he lighted the lamps thereof over against the
candlestick, as the Lord commanded Moses.”
We will repeat the
statement of the Prophet on page 668 of THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST.
It is very important to the teaching on the Lamp-stand. He says the Seven Lamps of fire are the same as the Seven Church Age Messengers
QUOTE:
THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST, PAGE 668, “Seven Lamps.” Let’s draw a little bit here, the
Throne, the holy place, the congregation. And right here
was (one, two, three, four, five, six, seven) seven stars, Seven Lamps, seven
messengers, seven Spirits; not altogether meaning that God is in seven Spirits,
but “seven manifestations of the same Holy Spirit.”
Where’s
the Holy Spirit? Here at the Throne, shining out in each church age. This
church age is reflecting back this a-way, the voices of God, Jesus Christ
the same yesterday, today, and forever. See, seven, there was “voices.” And
Seven Lamps on fire,” seven Spirits, “which are the seven Spirits of God.”
(End quote)
The
Seven Spirits of God are the Seven Lamps of Fire or the Seven Church Age
Messengers
Why preach this
Revelation when we know it will be very controversial among Message Believers?
Are we trying to stir up strife? No! Our motive is to show how great in God’s
mind is His Prophet William Branham! It is to cause us to pay close attention to
his message, knowing he was the main stem of the lamp stand who would tie all
the loose ends together, as he received the revelation from God! As the Prophet
once said, “Study hard before you reject the teaching.” Amen!
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