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Chapter 9 Who is William Branham? Balance in the scriptures and in the message is the key to wisdom and understanding. Therefore, we thought to bring a sermon to balance the one in which we majored on the human side of our beloved prophet. We are well aware of God's Word that says in I Chr. 16:21-22, "He suffered no man to do them wrong. Yea, He reproved Kings for their sakes, saying, touch not Mine anointed and do My prophets no harm." In the preceding scripture we see the respect that God demands us to pay, not only the office of a prophet, but the prophet himself. With all our heart we do respect both the man and his office. Nevertheless, our deep concern has been that some have made Brother Branham their example. Dear Bride, we have one example, the Lord Jesus Christ, and He is the WORD. We follow Brother Branham as he followed the Word. To do different is to make him an idol. In bringing the world the Last Day Message, Brother William Branham had been urged forward by the Spirit of God, and had been carried beyond himself. He had by no means purposed to take the position that God raised him to. He was but an instrument in the hands of infinite power, as God revealed Himself through human flesh. To God be the glory. He had stated, "I had rather face God as a quitter than as one who caused the people to think more of a man than they should." And he did at one time quit the ministry for this reason. Nevertheless, God's plan cannot be changed, and he was compelled to finish the work God had called him to do. True Christianity was to be found in God's prophet William Branham, in that he received the WORD of God as the great treasure house of inspired truth, and the final test of all inspiration. So must the Bride continue to give the Word it's proper place. Some are rejecting the fundamental principle of the message, which is the WORD of God as the all sufficient rule of faith and practice. Some, without realizing it perhaps, are following the man William Branham. By their acts of setting aside the great detector of error and falsehood, God's Word, the way is opened for error of all kinds. If God's prophet had what could be called a number one doctrine it was "BACK TO THE WORD". He constantly persuaded the people that their faith ought to be founded on the Oracles of Holy Writ. A favorite phrase of his was, "You cannot add one word nor take one away." Fearlessly did Brother Branham defend the Gospel from the attacks that came from ever quarter. The Word of God in his mouth proved itself a mighty weapon in every conflict. With the Word that had been revealed to him, he warred against every man-made teaching. Even the rational philosophy of the great trained scholars lay broken and twisted before this one with a seventh grade education. The painful ignorance of some highly educated ministers has been made apparent as their arguments are met by the simple revealed Word. The true doctrines, as taught by Brother Branham, have not caused any evil in the land, but throughout the world today people are charging him with the flagrant error now being taught by some supposed followers of the message. The work was not Brother Branham's, but God's, and God will not allow it to be corrupted by superstition or fanaticism. Men who disregard the Word for their own impressions and feelings will yet learn that to fight the Word is to loose all. The fruits of these men soon become apparent when the minds of the people are diverted from the Word, or else prejudiced against it. Some men who are thinking themselves competent to lead the people succeed only in bringing them to the brink of disaster. To leave the Word is disaster, regardless of what man's message you are following. The opposition of the world and the denominational systems had not caused the true followers of the message so great concern and distress, as we now experience from the professed friends of it. From these professed friends have risen it's worst enemies. The great truths that God wanted to reveal in their simplicity, and that in the past have brought peace to troubled hearts, have now been made the cause of confusion in many places. We do have denominations within our ranks. The generality of these men who are teaching error are men of hasty and violent temper, who while claiming to be especially illuminated from heaven, will not endure the slightest contradiction, or even the kindest correction. Taking upon themselves supreme authority, they demand everyone to acknowledge their claims, and that without question. May God in His mercy protect us from teachers who know not how to be humble and repentant themselves, and who forget that reform should begin first with themselves. Some of these men are ambitious to obtain position, influence, and money and are not willing to be second to anyone. The work of heaven should not be degraded by being classed with some of the fanaticism being taught today. How often are censure and reproach cast upon God's true servants because they stand on the Word. Often men who have left the Word, substituting their own thoughts and feelings, or the thoughts and feelings and life styles of others, are given high seats of authority in our beloved message. These men are praised and flattered, while those who accept no authority but scripture are left to stand alone under suspicion and distrust. Under the guise of the End-time Message, some are leading the people to follow their own impressions and traditions of the Elders rather than yield obedience to the Word of God. They are diverting the minds of the people from the scriptures. May God be merciful and help us. Returning to the title of our sermon, we ask the question, "Who was the man William Branham?" God has not failed to reveal to us the great and high position he held. It is the opinion of this writer that there has been none higher bestowed on sex-born men. His was the office of a major Word prophet, but his ministry did not stop there. It reached to a higher place yet. His was the return ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. His high calling was to fulfill the scriptures in Luke 17:22-30. He was the flesh and blood man that God chose and ordained to reproduce "The Son of Man Ministry" at the end of the last church age. He was to do the same works that our Lord did. This in fact is the very heart of the message. QUOTE: ONE IN A MILLION, PAGE 2, "And He (Jesus) is supposed to, according to scripture, return to us in these last days in this type of ministry. (The ministry of Christ reproduced in a prophet.) That will be after the baptism of the Spirit and speaking in tongues, and divine healing and these things. The capping of the Pentecostal message is what we are speaking of. THIS MINISTRY OF CHRIST HIMSELF IMPERSONATED AMONG THE PEOPLE, WITH THE VERY SAME THINGS THAT HE DID WHEN HE WAS HERE ON EARTH. (End quote) QUOTE: GOD'S PROVIDED PLACE OF WORSHIP, PAGE 25, "But He promised just before the coming of the end-time, the world would get like it was in Sodom, when a man came down in human form, three of them, two angels and God Himself. That was God. The Bible said it was. Now he came down and manifested Himself there, by turning His back to the tent where Sarah was, and told Abraham what Sarah was thinking in the tent. Is that right? Now Jesus Himself said, "At that day when the Son of Man is being revealed", in other words "THE SON OF MAN", THE MINISTRY OF JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF. (End quote) Here he made reference to Luke 17 which tells of the return of the SON OF MAN MINISTRY just before rapture. Who was William Branham? He was the man that fulfilled these scriptures. QUOTE: GOD'S PROVIDED PLACE OF WORSHIP, PAGE 32, "Hallelujah! I challenge this whole audience, in the name of Jesus Christ! If you could, if.....your conscience, don't let it be seared with unbelief, don't let it be frustrated. Can't you see the Son of Man in the form of a prophetic message, returning back again in His Church, in prophecy, revealing Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever? ITS NEVER BEEN DONE THROUGH THE AGE, TILL THIS TIME. See? There is the proof of it. (End quote) What an honor bestowed on a human being, to be chosen to have the same ministry as Christ Himself. True, the Bride is scheduled to do the same works as her Lord, that is to say all but the discernment, where the prophet knew the thoughts and intents of the hearts. This was the super sign given to one man in our age. This sign was given to distinguish the End-time Messenger from all others. By this sign God would show His Bride who it was He was speaking through. QUOTE: PERSEVERANCE, PAGE 38, "Now is there any ministers (here)? This is all right Brother Vick? Is there any ministers here Brethren? Now I'm laying hands on these people. I don't want these people to go (away) and say "Brother Branham did this." See? I'm just your brother. Your pastor has just as much right to pray for the sick as I do. HE MIGHT NOT HAVE THIS GIFT, (Gift of knowing the secrets of the heart.) NO HE HASN'T, SEE? THERE IS ONLY ONE OF THEM IN THE WORLD AT A TIME. That's exactly what the Bible said, see. That's right. (End quote) Who was William Branham? How high was his office? So high that only one man at a time, in the whole world, had the exact ministry of Jesus Christ, and Brother William Branham was that man for our age. A study of Luke 17: 22-30 will help us understand the preceding statements by the prophet, and furnish proof of the high exalted place he held in God's plan for our age. Luke 17:22, "And He said unto His disciples, the days will come when you shall desire to see one of the days of THE SON OF MAN and ye shall not see it." Here our Lord was telling His disciples, and us, that His ministry as THE SON OF MAN was about to end. He would be crucified and the Church would go through the Dark Ages. Men would desire to see a true manifestation of the Son of Man, but they would have to wait until God's time for it to reappear on earth. It would be almost 2000 years before such a ministry as He had displayed would again be manifested. It could not come in Martin Luther's day, nor Wesley's day, and not even in the age of the Pentecostals. According to the scriptures, it had to wait until the cup of iniquity was filled, as had happened in the days of Noah and Lot. (Lk. 17:26 & 28) QUOTE: QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS, JEFF. 11-26-1960, "That's the reason that all these great mysteries could not be given to Luther, could not be given to Wesley, could not be given to the age that has just passed by us, the Pentecostal Age. Why? It wasn't time. They were begotten. (They were God's children, but they could only do their allotted part.) Now the person of Christ Himself, the Son of Man, you understand? REVEALING HIMSELF IN HUMAN FLESH. (In a last day prophet) Luke 17:23, "And they shall say to you, see here, or see there. Go not after them, nor follow them." In other words, many will rise up showing signs, wonders, and miracles in the years after I am gone. But do not follow them. They will be off the Word; they will be FALSE ANOINTED ONES. Luke 17:24, "For as the lightening that lighteneth out of the one part under Heaven, shineth unto the other part under Heaven, so shall also the Son of Man be in His day." The Lord speaking to the end-time Bride and saying, "You won't have to wonder who it is that will have THE SON OF MAN MINISTRY." His works will go around the world as lightening. It will not be done in a corner. I will give you a SUPER SIGN in that day. This man will be able to read your thoughts and know the secrets of your hearts. When one appears with this sign, you will know that I have given him a message for My Bride. He will have the true revelation of my Word, and no man or devil will cause him to deviate from it. That is not to say that God would deprive Brother Branham of having his own thoughts and ideas. He did have them, even as you and I. But, the Bride will know the difference by taking every statement to the Word. She will not rely on human wisdom, but will check every man's thoughts with the Word. Luke 17:25, "But first must He suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation." Jesus would suffer many things at the hands of the Jewish Church, and be rejected as Messiah. Luke 17:26, "And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the SON OF MAN." The church ages would roll by until the world reached the same place of evil as it had in Noah's day. It would be ripe for destruction again. But, because of God's great mercy, He would hold back the curse (fire) by sending His prophet Elijah with the Son of Man Ministry. (Mal. 4:6) This ministry would attract the Bride and turn her heart back to the hearts of the Pentecostal Fathers. Being thus turned, their faithfulness and loyalty would divert the curse until the last Bride member was in and perfected for the rapture. Luke 17:27, "They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage until the day that Noe entered the ark and the flood came and destroyed them all." The world is once again indulging themselves in food and drink, ignoring God's teaching about fasting. They are ignoring marriage and divorce laws, marring wives with living husbands and etc. Luke 17: 28, "Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot, they did eat they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded." Lot lived in a city of evil sex perverts and sodomites. So has America sunk to this level, building bigger barns, buying more things of the world, but naked in the spirit. Luke 17:29, "But in the same day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from Heaven and destroyed them all." Lot was a type of the foolish virgins who will be saved out of tribulation.The fire cannot destroy the world until the end of the great tribulation, and after the foolish virgins have been saved by giving their lives for their testimony. But after this has been accomplished, the fire will fall and prepare the earth for the 1000 year reign of Christ and His Bride. Therefore, Jesus said that the same day Lot left Sodom the fire fell, letting us know that when the last foolish virgin, along with the 144,000 Jews, have been saved out of tribulation, the fire will once again fall. In answering the question, "Who was William Branham?", let us look at him in other scriptures. Rev. 1:1, "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto Him to show unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass. And He sent and signified it (showed it) by His Angel unto His servant John." Please notice what the preceding scripture says. God gave Jesus Christ Revelations. Jesus was to show these revelations unto the servants of God. How does the scriptures say that Jesus gave these mighty truths to God's servants? (Read it above.) He sent an ANGEL to John the Revelator. This angel showed them to John, and John wrote them in a book. (The Bible) We know that the word angel means messenger. We know that there are Heavenly Messengers and also Earthly Messengers, but out prophet said that Heavenly Angels were not ordained to preach the Gospel. But in our preceding scripture we see an Angel Messenger preaching the Gospel on earth to John. How does the scripture say that the Word of the Lord comes to the people? Amos 3:7, "Surely the Lord God will do NOTHING, but (or except) He revealeth His secrets unto His servants the prophets." We present to you then the scriptural fact that this angel of Rev. 1:1 had to be a prophet, on the grounds that he was revealing God's secrets to John, who was not a prophet, but a scribe. The Word of God confirms this in two places. Rev. 19:9, "And he saith unto me (That is the Angel that was giving John the Book of Revelation was saying to him.), "Write, blessed are they which are called unto the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, these are the true sayings of God." (Prophets have "Thus saith the Lord.") Verse 10, "And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, "See thou do it not. I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy." This angel declared himself to be a fellow-servant of John. But notice also that he said, "The testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy." This angel was giving John the testimony of Jesus, and it takes a prophet to give "Thus saith the Lord Jesus." Therefore, the angel of Revelation 1:1 was a human prophet. To further prove this we go to Rev.22:9 and hear this Angel himself declare to John that he was, in fact, a prophet. Rev. 22:8-9, "And I John saw these things and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to WORSHIP before the feet of THE ANGEL which showed me these things." Verse 9, "Then saith he unto me, see thou do it not, for I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this Book, worship God." The question then arises, "Who was this prophet?" In answering, I would ask another question! Who was the prophet who was to come in the end-time and reveal "The Mystery of God?" Who was it that was to gather up all the loose ends that had been left hanging through the Church Ages? It was the seventh angel, the angel of Rev. 10:7, William Branham. He was to finish all the mysteries. How could this seventh angel finish all the mysteries except he be a prophet? We do know that the first church age messenger, and the last, were prophets. Brother Paul and Brother William Branham were these two prophets. Paul preached the full revelation 2000 years ago, and William Branham restored these revelations in our age. We are saying that these two prophets had the full revelation and that it must have been one of them that gave the whole book of Revelation to John the Scribe. (Not in their flesh bodies, but in their theophanies, which were created before the foundation of the world.) In preaching the church ages, Brother Branham said concerning this angel, "We do not know who this angel was------but we know it was a prophet------It might have been Elijah." (A man with Elijah's spirit upon him.) (Found in Revelation of Jesus Christ, page 25) Then when he preached the Seals, QUOTE: SEAL BOOK, PAGE 360, he said, "See? Now, the Book (of Revelation) was so important, it is the Word of God. Now watch! And when the Word of God is brought forth it's got to be brought by the prophet, because that's who the Word comes to-------it's got to come to this seer that we're expecting to arrive. Now notice, Rev. 10:1-7 ------- Now watch. Isn't the prophet that we're looking to come, some man ANOINTED WITH THE SPIRIT OF ELIJAH? It won't be Elijah of course, but it will be a man like that will come down, and his very ministry is to send, to restore back to this fallen people, through these denominational twists, back to the original faith of the father.---------I can't say no more about it, because that's it." (End quote) In preaching the Church Ages, he said, "This angel MIGHT have been Elijah." But after the Seals were opened he said, "We are looking for that Angel Messenger to come, and he WILL HAVE the spirit of Elijah on him." Paul did not have the spirit of Elijah on him, but Brother William Branham did. Therefore, we believe the angel of Rev.1:1 to be the theophany body of our Brother, William Branham, come to earth to reveal the Book of Revelation to John. We believe him to be one of the "seven spirits before the throne of God" in Rev. 1:4. We believe he was one of the "seven stars in the hand of Jesus Christ" as seen in Rev.1:16. He was the "angel messenger to the Laodicean Church Age." (See Rev. 3:14.) He was the angel of Rev. 10:7 who would "preach and finish the mysteries of God." He was the angel of Rev. 18:4 that cried out in this end-time, "Come out of her my people-----." Who was William Branham? Was he great? He was a mighty prophet mentioned in the Bible in more places than we have room to mention here. At the same time we would do well to remember what he himself instructed us to remember when he spoke to our precious Brother, Pearry Green, and said, "Brother Green, don't you ever forget that I am a Kentuckian." The Bride will not forget that he was a Kentuckian. Neither will we forget that he was a Kentuckian through whose flesh body THE SON OF MAN was revealed to us in this age. |
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