The Seven Church Ages

You can find this sermon at ChurchAges.net

1 ...blessed Lord Jesus. And it's with great anticipations that I look forward to this nights of service, trusting that somehow, in some way, that our Heavenly Father will smile His blessing to us. And ever so often I get an opportunity to get in to have these services here in the church, with the group, you little group that ... the members here of the church, and the visitors, of course.

2 And this was not announced. It was just a regular Wednesday night prayer meeting. And I said, "Maybe tonight we'd find out whether we're coming back." And I thought if we'd taken it over, maybe and announced it for the next week, why, it would... We can't seat too many people here.
And these type of services, if God willing, is not directed to the... It's directed to the church, for the benefit of the church, where we feel that it's so greatly needed at the time everywhere, for the edifying of the body of Christ. And now, this, in teaching... I've had healing services for eight years, straight; and then, teaching ... it's going to be kind of something new.

3 And I was thinking this afternoon when I opened the Bible, after being very busy through the day, I thought, Well, I told the people I'd teach on The Seven Church Ages, maybe, if the Lord willing. I got to reading, and just got that ... real happy, when I started reading it. And I thought, Well, I can take all that in one night, in an hour.
So, I didn't know what the Holy Spirit would have us to do. We don't try to set anything. It's just, "If it be Thy will, Lord," see. That's the best. And then, if it be the will of the Lord, I'd like to teach tonight on The Church Ages, and tomorrow night on The Mark Of The Beast, and the next night on The Seal Of God.

4 And then, Saturday, as my brother, janitor, was just telling me today; he said, "If they had it Saturday night and Sunday morning, usually, when the strangers come in to our midst, why, the church would be very dirty, and so forth."
So they suggested just have Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, and Sunday morning, Sunday night. And I said, "Well, that would be perfectly all right, as far as I was concerned."
So then we'll try, and if the Lord willing, we'll have it Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, Sunday morning, and Sunday night. And perhaps, Sunday night we may have a baptismal service, as people has already been asking about being baptized. And so now...

5 And we'll try, every night, and begin just on time, at seven-thirty. I get to the platform by eight o'clock. We ought to be evacuated from the tabernacle by nine-thirty the, Lord willing, so that you... I know you work, and we have respect to that.

6 And now, these little messages out of the book of Revelations are directed to the church. And I wish everyone would bear this in mind: that they're not directed towards anybody's religion, or any other motive; only just, to the best of my knowledge, to the reading and explaining of the Word of God, see. It's not put through any selfish motive, or it's not directed towards anybody, any individual, or anybody's church, anybody's religion.

7 And the reason that I like to teach on this revelation here at the tabernacle, being my own church, why, I just feel like I'm home. And I just, you know, kind of give my sheep the kind of diet that I thought they needed, you know.
People sometimes have to put a little salt in when the alfalfa is a little moldy, you know. It might hurt the sheep if you don't. So once in a while, when maybe the alfalfa gets a little moldy around the church and little differences come up, so I think a little salt, kind of, is a savor. Don't you think so? It kind of keeps them from getting sick.

8 So now we pray that God will bless us in these efforts. And how many... Just feeling, just as men and women, like we are, I would like to look into that, tomorrow night, on, "What is the mark of the beast?" There's so much about it in the Bible. "Who has it? Who will have it?"

9 And then, the next... There's coming a time where that's going to be. And I don't know, it may be now. We'll look and see. That there's going to be only two classes of people on the earth, and one is going to be marked with the devil, and the other one the mark of God. And I think that if we're nearing into that time, we better kind of go to looking around, find out what that thing is, because it certainly isn't going to come in only as some great big something. The Bible said it would slip in so easy that it would deceive the very elect if it was possible. So we will try, if God willing, to look through it, tomorrow night. Now, that's just the best of my...
Now, bring your Bible along, and your pencil and paper, and you want to take down Scriptures. And you just don't think that's just exactly right, write me a little note and put it on for the next night.

10 I remember staying a year and six months in this book of Revelation, in the tabernacle here. That's what I like. In teaching... I just love teaching. Oh, my! I think it's wonderful. It gives the basis, and settles the church.
In preaching... Now, there is some people that are preachers. They can pick up the Word, with inspiration, and sway it out there in places. That's watering the seeds that the teacher has taught, see. Now, you got to put some seed in, first, and then water it. And the watering comes from the preaching of the Word.
There's a great, vast difference between a teacher and a preacher, see. It's two different gifts of the Spirit, altogether---two different gifts. And I humbly say this, but, I haven't a gift of either.

11 But mine, as of usual, is praying for the sick. That's what the Lord called me to do. And then, in this time, it gives a relaxation of my mind, to study on something different, not having divine healing services; just teaching the Word. And, oh, we get along pretty good here. I remember, you put up with me for a long time, about twelve years around here, on it.
And I used to say, not meaning it for a joke, but the teaching is so rough, I said, "It's just like a fellow going to the table and eating the cornbread and beans." Now, it's good for you, but you get a little tired of it, once in a while. You might have something on the side, some ice cream and cake, once in a while, but it kind of balance up the diet. But the good old-fashioned stuff will stick with you pretty good, and at least, it gives you some starter.

12 Now, in this it's to my humble belief that we are living in the closing days of the world's history. I want to make that real clear. Now, I could be wrong. I don't know. No one else knows. Jesus said, "Not even the Angels of heaven would know." He didn't know Himself. He said, "That's only by the Father, is the only One Who knows." But it's sure and authentic that He is returning. And I just can't see anything else left but the coming of the Lord.
When, I look and see... The nation is broke. I see politics broke. I see the homes broke. I see the church broke. Now, there's just nothing else can mend it, but God, that's all, 'cause they have nothing else. The morals of the nation is broke. And the political parties are broken; where we trusted so much in our politics, they are broke.
And some great fellow in England, not long ago, said, "Well, democracy was all sails and no anchor." That said, "There'd come a time that they'd be on soap boxes, electioneering." Well, that's true. But he didn't think of his own beloved House of Lords, how it was a lot of sails and no anchor, too. It flew away, also.
And every kingdom of this world will be broke to pieces. Jesus Christ will rule and reign. So there's...
My hopes is built on nothing less
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness;
All around my soul gives way,
He is all my hope and stay.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand,
All other grounds is sinking sand.

13 Oh, how I wish now we were starting in for about a twenty-months' teaching service, so you could get into the book of Revelations and tie it in with Daniel, the great visions.
How many is left, in the little flock here, that used to remember when I had the old chart across here? I know Brother Head was, and we had several of you here when they had the old chart.
Now the book of Revelation, how it's made up. And Daniel ties in with it. Isaiah ties in with it. All the Old Testament ties in with it. And it's the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ---the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ.
And then, in there, there's seven churches, seven plagues, seven seals, seven trumpets. Now, a trumpet represents war; a seal, a mystery unfolded; and a plague is what follows every war.
And by God's help, and with the book of history, I can prove to you that we're living at the seventh trumpet, for the seventh plague, and the seventh seal to be opened, and the seventh vial to be poured out.

14 When the sixth one sounds... We will get on that maybe this evening, on Friday night. When the First World War, why that sixth trumpet sounded according---exactly according---to the time God spoke of it. Exactly, geographically, following the seal before that. And when the mystery was revealed in there, for the Baptism of the Holy Ghost; and the people then, how the church did not move up; and those who were moving refused to walk in light, and went back. And the plague was opened at that time, and poured out upon the earth, which was influenza, that killed all the people as it did, the thousands times thousands.
And then coming down into this last age, where we are here. And just come and listen what the Lord has to say about it, in His Word. And that isn't my makeup. I'll just be reading it like a newspaper, right out of the Word of God. So, this is His direct revelation to the church, to the church; the Revelation of Jesus Christ, to the church.

15 Now, before we speak to Him ... or, speak of His writing, let us bow our heads and speak to Him just a moment in a word of prayer.
Our kind Heavenly Father, as we solemnly bow our heads to the dust, whence we were taken and shall return someday if Thou does tarry, we bow in humility, to ask that You will be near us tonight, to bless us. I can lay back the pages of this Bible, but there is no man that's able to open the book or to loose the seals thereof. And it's written in here, "He that takes out of this, shall be taken out of---his part---of the book of life; and who adds to it, the plagues of God will be poured out upon him."
Father, realizing, as mortal men and women sitting here tonight, knowing that we're an eternity-bound people. God, may the Holy Spirit come, the Writer of this Bible, and open up these pages to us. And may Thy humble, unprofitable servant preach as a dying man to dying men, as if this would be the last service I'd ever have this side of eternity, the last night we'd ever gather together. And may every one of the laity act tonight as if this was their last sermon they'd ever hear. God, take away all folly. Make us sincere, knowing that we must answer at the judgment of God, someday. And our attitude towards Him and His Word now, will determine our eternal destination.
So Father, with trembling hearts, we come to Thee, and ask: Let the Lord Jesus, in the form of the Holy Spirit, take the Word of God, tonight, and give it to every heart, as we have need. For we ask it in His name. Amen.

16 It just may seem a little strange to me, for a few moments now, in trying to start opening up a subject to teach, because it's always been on divine healing for the last few years, and not on prophecy, by no means, and then go right into a prayer line.
But now, tonight, we want to get the background of the book that we're asking God to open for us, that's the book of The Revelation of Jesus Christ.

17 This book was wrote about AD 96, according to the writers, and it was John the beloved.
And he had this vision on the isle of Patmos, an isle in the Aegean Sea, about sixteen miles, or something, around it, in circumference; a real rocky place full of serpents, and so forth. Where the Roman nation used it as an Alcatraz, as we would have it today; a place of exile of criminals that the government could not control.
And this book was wrote by the last one of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, believed to be the beloved that leaned on His bosom after the resurrection. He said, "What is it to thee if he tarries till I come?" John died an old man. Every one of the martyrs sealed their testimony with their own blood.

18 John... His destiny was met like this: He was caught, and boiled in a vat of grease for twenty-four hours, of hot boiling grease, and without any harm coming to him. And they put him on the isle, as commonly believed, as a witch: "He bewitched the grease so it wouldn't burn him," they said. 'Course, it was the power of God. You can't boil the Holy Spirit out of a man. Why! So they tried to boil it out of him, but God wouldn't permit it. And He had a work for him to do. And until God was finished with His man, there's nothing in the world can bother him. That's all.

19 Now, John being old... They are told by historians, that he was brought to the church to preach. And he was so old, the only thing he would say, was, "Little children, love one another."
I tell you, that's a very good thing to preach on. "Little children, love one another." As I get older in the ministry now, and about in my twenty-first year, I think, all the time as I go along, that this... The more I think of the Lord Jesus, the more I begin to find out that it's love that covers the whole thing. "The love of God, shed abroad in our heart by the Holy Spirit."

20 Now, we'll just read a few verses here, to get started, and then we'll go right into the teaching of the church. And then try to bring it to a place, if God willing, in this much time that I have, to get it over to where we can get in to where we can pick up, The Mark Of The Beast, for tomorrow night.
Now, this is to the church. Now, I'm going to try to get, at least, the church of Ephesus, the first church, and the last church that we're living in now, the church of the Laodicean, now.
The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent his angel and signified ... sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:
Now, the Scripture gives us a start here. It is a revelation... Or, the word revelation means "something that's revealed." "The Revelation of Jesus Christ," given to John. And an Angel was sent to bear record, or to signify of it.
And he bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of the things which he saw.
Blessed is he that readeth... (How many would like to have a blessing? Then, read it! See, "He that readeth.") Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of the prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.
In other words, not, the time at hand, then, but, the time is at hand, when they see this Word being completed, when the complete Revelation.

21 When God started off, like an artist drawing a picture of something, He begins to fill in His parts. You can begin to see it shape up. And as you begin at the first of the book of Revelation, you see Jesus Christ begin to come into the picture. And at the last of it, you see Him complete, seated with His church, glorified; all the days of sin and trouble and temptations are over, and Christ is seated with His church, in the great Heavens above.

22 All right, 4th verse. Listen. "John to the churches..." Now, this is John speaking. First, was God introducing the Revelation of Jesus Christ. Second:
John to the ... churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before God.

23 Oh, if we just had a blackboard here now, to get the drawing, a little, see: "the seven Spirits which are before God."
Now, to save a little time, and believing that I ... knowing that I wouldn't misquote anything, for nothing in the world. And if you get a little doubt about it, jot it down and then ask me, and I'll give you the Scripture for it. And now, as we have to hurry to get into this, to press for time.

24 Now, "the seven spirits that are before God." These seven spirits was represented as the seven spirits that would be sent forth for the seven church ages---"seven spirits before God." We could pick up in the Old Testament, and pick it out there, if we just had time.
And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us...
I just look at John and get all wound up there ... or, when he... He just goes to speaking. He said:
To him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
And hath made us kings and priests unto God ... his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
"Has made us priests and kings unto God." "Us" is plural. Not "made me priest and a king;" but "made us," the church.
Now, he's addressing these seven churches, where seven church ages.
Now, he said, "Dominion and glory be to Him for ever and ever."
"Has made us priests." Did you ever know what a priest is, what his office is? A priest is to make sacrifice, to make intercession. And over in Hebrews, it said that we, the church, is a royal priesthood, "A royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people," see. "A holy nation, peculiar people, royal priesthood." "Offering (Here it is now) ... offering spiritual sacrifices"; every man and woman that comes to God enters into the veil.

25 In the Old Testament, there was only... There was a veil that hung between the holy place and the Holiest of holy. Only Aaron, alone, was to go in there, once a year. But every man that became a priest could have a bite ... or, a taste, of the original manna that Moses and Aaron picked up the first day the manna begin to fall from Heaven. When they crossed the river of Jordan...
The enemies was killed, behind them. And the next day they went out, and all over the ground, laid little wafers. God rained it down out of Heaven. They called it "manna," tasted like honey. And people were just supposed to pick up enough to last them for that one day. If they kept it over, it contaminated.
And God told Moses and Aaron to go out and pick up several omerfuls of it, great baskets, and take it into ... by the ark, the holy place.
And there, that, every time after that generation, that every generation following that one (as long as that Levitical priesthood would last, I suppose.), that every man that was eligible to become a priest, when he was ordained a priest, he had the perfect right to receive a mouthful of the original manna. Think of it. What a privilege that the men thought they would have, when a man knowed he was coming into the priesthood! He was going to get a mouthful of supernatural baked, supernatural stirred up, supernatural food that came from God out of Heaven, that had been kept supernaturally.
The whole ministry is the supernatural. How can people ever say that they are Christians, and deny the supernatural? I don't know how they do it, myself. Look, by the supernatural! He got a swallow of the supernatural, as soon as he become a priest.

26 What a beautiful type of now, that every person... Them days, they had to be born in a certain lineage, a Levite, before they become a priest, but now it's "whosoever will, let him come," see. And as soon as they come, though, they must... A birth is considered in it, also. "You must be born again." And every man or a woman that's born again, of the Spirit of God, has a right for the (this day) the manna. This manna is the Holy Spirit.

27 When Peter ... after they'd come out of the great confusion, and the cowardliness had got away from them, and the Lord was blessing them, and the Holy Spirit fell at the day of Pentecost. They went out into the streets and begin screaming, and acting like crazy people, for insomuch that the people all thought they were drunk. "Say, I wonder what we're going to do about that?" Even the religious world then, thought those people were drunk.
And listen, my Catholic friend, the blessed virgin Mary was with them. And if she couldn't get to heaven until she went up there and got a taste of something that made her act like a drunk woman, how are you going to get there anything less than that? But she received something. "A hundred and twenty, with the women, Mary Magdalene and those," and went out into the street, acting like drunk people, staggering. Till the real (if you'll pardon the expression), the sophisticated church of that day said, "Look at them! That shows what they are. They're all full of new wine."

28 That's what it was. Now, listen, Peter said... Then they begin to say, said, "You men of Jerusalem, you that dwell in Judea, let this be known unto you, and hearken to my words. These are not drunk." I'm talking about the Ephesian church here now, see, see. All the first church age. He said, "These are not drunk, as you suppose. This is the third hour of the day; the saloons are not even open. This is the third hour of the day." He said, "But this is that which was spoke of by the prophet Joel. It's written in your own Bible. In your own Bible, this is written, that this thing will take place. Why," said, "you ought to have knowed this, you teachers."

29 Well, could it be, just as the church was brought in under that demonstration, and the same demonstration promised for the last days, can't you point back and say, "This is what was spoken of?" See? There you are. And the outside world doesn't know nothing about it; it's foolishness to them. Now, they said...
He said, "Looky here." And they said now, when they heard this... He told them how that they had crucified Jesus. And every time...
You can get forgiveness for crucifying Jesus. You can get forgiveness for taking His name in vain. "But who speaks against the Holy Ghost will never be forgiven him, in this world or the world to come." We're in the last day, so be careful. Walk humbly. Have a contrite, broken spirit; a humble heart, willing to let the Holy Spirit lead you. Amen. All right. Oh, my!

30 Here they are, they're all up there, just the people acting like... They was cowards, a few hours before; closed up in the upper room. But when the Holy Spirit come upon them, filled their hearts, out into the streets! I don't imagine they were... They were not doing things that was wrong. They were out there rejoicing and praising God, in such a way that there was a manifestation. They were just not out there fussing with one another now, whether they were Methodist or Baptist, whether they were Pharisees or Sadducees. They were out there rejoicing because that they had got a taste of Heaven in their soul. God had give them the spiritual manna.

31 Now, as God poured out the manna there in the natural, and it lasted as long as they were in the journey; a beautiful type. In the day they entered the promised land, the manna ceased.
And on the day of Pentecost, the same thing.
Look at Pentecost, to Moses. They looked back and they seen the enemy was dead. Miriam grabbed a tambourine, begin to beat it, and scream, and dance, and run down the bank. The women followed her, doing the same thing. And Moses threw up his hands, and sang in the Spirit.
At Pentecost, the women come out, staggering, and jumping, and dancing, and carrying on. Peter stood up in the midst of them, and said, "You men of Judea, and you that dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known unto you, and hearken to my words. For these are not drunk, as you suppose, seeing it's the third hour of the day. This is that which was spoken of by the prophet Joel, 'It shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh, your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; upon My handmaids, and maidservants will I pour out of My Spirit; and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heavens above, and in the earth below; pillars of fire, and vapor, and smoke. And it shall come to pass, before the great and terrible day of the Lord shall come, that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.'" On and on he went, preaching.

32 And when they heard this, they listened. Said, "Look at that fellow! Where did he get this education?" Some of them said, "He can't even write his own name." The Bible said, "He was an ignorant and unlearned man. What school is he from?" "None." "Well, how did this ever come about? How did this ever happen?" They took heed, said, "Well, say, that man is really quoting Scripture. And we never heard it like that before," see.
He said, "Repent, every one of you, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins, and you shall receive the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, your children, to them that's far off, and as many as the Lord our God shall call." In other words: This manna blessing that's fallen here, like it did the manna back there, is going to be for this generation, the next generation, the next generation, to Jeffersonville, Indiana, and to the utmost parts of the world.
And the same Holy Spirit that fell then, falls now, same results, same thing, same people. See what I mean? Just perfect!

33 Notice, "I will give unto him ... He that overcomes, I will give him the bread of life." He said that to one of the churches. "And he will not thirst no more, neither shall he hunger no more. He'll never thirst no more." If a man ever once... Here it is; get the jacket tightened up tight. If a man or a woman ever truly once receives the Holy Spirit, you'll never be able to move him no more. He knows where he's at. You may come with isms and everything. He will walk right straight through them. "He will never thirst no more." He knows just exactly who his Maker is, never be confused. Don't bother him; he moves right on.
"I will give to him of the bread of life, and he will never hunger no more, neither will he thirst anymore." "And the tree which is in the midst of the paradise of God, and he'll eat from, see---the tree." Which, the tree was Christ Jesus, see. And Christ Jesus, being dead, and come back in the form of the Holy Spirit, so He's here, and the manna that's eaten in the church.
Notice, behold... The 6th verse:
And he has made us priests and kings unto God...
"Spiritual priesthood; royal nation; spiritual offering." What is it now? "Spiritual sacrifices, that is," quoting the Scripture "that is, the fruits of our lips, giving praise to His name." Now, what kind of a what? "A spiritual sacrifice."

34 Now, now we might as well get started right here. Notice: a good place to start from.
When a little confusion comes in the church, you don't run over to one side and pout now. If you are, you sure ain't a priest. See, you pray through. "Spiritual sacrifice, the fruits of our lips giving praise to His name." See what I mean?
"Well," you say, "I just don't feel like going to church." But you're a priest. It's your duty. You've got to be there.
"Well, I just don't feel like taking a part in the service." You're a priest, "making a sacrifice, a spiritual sacrifice." Not giving somebody some hand-me-down, as they call it today; that's all good, I have nothing against it. Not going to get somebody to come to church; that's all good, I have nothing against it. But it's you, you making the spiritual sacrifice, "the fruits of your lips giving praise to His name."
When you see the time coming that everybody blaspheming and saying these things, and doing things wrong, what do you do, walk away? You're supposed to stand there with spiritual sacrifice, saying, "'The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from all sin,' makes me a new creature in Christ Jesus."
"You're crazy, fellow!"
"According to what you say. It's all right. But to me, 'It's the power of God unto salvation.' I believe it," see.
Now, you say you believe in divine healing? "Oh, uh, I don't believe... Better ask our pastor."
What do you think about it? You're the priest now. You're the guy. Say, "Yes, sir! I believe it, because God's Word says it's so!" Do you believe in the baptism of the Holy Spirit? "Yes, sir!" How do you know? "I've received it." Amen. A spiritual blessing! The Holy Spirit that fell on the apostles, the same Holy Spirit falls now.
You say, "Just for the apostles?" We'll settle that in a little while, see whether it was or not.

35 All right, "A spiritual priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices."
Now, now the 8th verse of ... the 7th.
Behold, he cometh with clouds...

36 Now, let me stop here just a moment. "Clouds," doesn't mean that He's coming on a big thunderhead.
As mama, bless her heart, she's sitting here somewhere. When I was a little boy, she used to sit and tell me, said, "He is coming on great big clouds; going to raise someday, and God is going to come.
Now, the "clouds" that He is coming in... If we just had the time to get all this back, and get the real background of the whole thing! Now, the "cloud" He's coming in, is not a cloud like a thunderhead. But it's "a cloud of glory," He is coming in, see, see.
Now, when Jesus was overshadowed by God, on Mount Transfiguration, "clouds overshadowed Him and His raiment," see. And when Elijah would come down, a cloud come down and received him up. Not a pillar of fire, not... I mean, not a thunderhead, but, a cloud of glory.

37 His great, glorious presence shall strike the earth. "He cometh in clouds." Oh, I love that! "Clouds!" There will be wave after wave of His glory will come across the earth, and the resurrection of the saints shall come. When that blessed Holy Spirit that's lived in their hearts, and they died, with their corpse laying there, and the tear stains over their cheeks, and things like that, they're placed out here in a graveyard. A great wave of that same Spirit, and a "whoossh," wave after wave!
"He that was last will be first, and he that was first will be last." How can it be that way? That's the order of the resurrection. I won't know nobody in the generation before me, or the generation after me. I'll know those in the generation of this. And every generation will come, successionally, like as it went down. "They which were last will be first." Sure, it has to be, see. I'll know my people. The next fellow my dad, will know his people; his grandfather, his people, on down like that.
Wave after wave, after wave, after wave, and the saints arising from everywhere! Won't that be wonderful? Amen. That makes the old people feel young again. Yes. Now, notice closely. All right.
...comes in the clouds; and every eye shall see him (no matter how far back they died; they'll still see Him), and they also which pierced him: and all the kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.

38 John just had to holler, "Amen!" That's, "So be it! Let it be that way!"
I am Alpha and Omega...
Now, Alpha is the "A" in the Greek alphabet. Omega is the "Z" in the Greek alphabet. Now, in other words, if it was translated today, "I am A to Z." Now, who else is this? "I am the first; I am the last. I am from A to Z."

39 Wish we had time to get in on the Deity of Christ, right now, which would be very appropriate at this time---the Deity.
So days, when so many people are trying to make Him just a teacher, just a philosopher, or merely a prophet. He was God. He's either God or the biggest deceiver the world has ever had. If He was a prophet, His blood was a man. If He was a teacher, an educator, His blood was a man.
He was God, and His blood was divine. Almighty God overshadowed the virgin Mary and created a blood cell in her womb that brought forth the Son, Christ Jesus. And God condescended and lived in that body, God (Emmanuel), made flesh among us; take away the sins.

40 When God made His first man, He made him in His own image, which was a spirit man, in Genesis 1:26. All right. Then there was no man to till the soil, after He had done made man, male and female. We'll get into that, after a while, with the "seven stars." And just... But He made him both male and female, back there in the beginning, that's right, "in His own image." And God is a Spirit.
And then, Genesis 2, there was no man to till the soil, so God put him in the flesh; made man, not in His image, but out of the dust of the earth, (that's right); give him a hand like a monkey, and a foot like a bear, or whatever, (I don't know), but He give him five senses to contact his earthly home. And then that man sinned.
And God came down and was made man, to take away the sin of men, (amen) redeeming!
I am Alpha and Omega...

41 I looked at Him over here in Revelations the 4th chapter. When John turned to see this voice again, what was speaking to him, "He was sitting upon a throne, and a rainbow was over His head." And the rainbow has got seven perfect colors, and these seven perfect colors represented the seven church ages. That's right, again. And what was it? Here it is. Brother, now this is fresh. Look, seven perfect colors, seven! And a rainbow represents a covenant.
God gave Noah the rainbow, first, as a covenant. And those elements are still in the earth, as God's promise before him; when it rains, he sees the bow. He said, "I will never destroy it with water no more."

42 And then he looked upon Jesus, had seven rainbow colors above Him; He was in this, which was God's covenant. And He was standing in the midst of seven golden candlesticks. "And He was to look upon as jasper and sardine stone." Jasper was Reuben, and sardine stone was Benjamin; that was the first and the last of the patriarchs. "Alpha and Omega; the Beginning and the Ending." And the seven rainbow colors, seven church ages, the covenant with Him, in the seven golden candlesticks or the seven stars. Oh, what a picture, if we get to it after a while, maybe, the Lord willing. All right.
Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending saith the Lord, which is, which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
Who is He? What's this the revelation of? Jesus Christ. And here He is, not a prophet. Here He is, the Almighty, God manifested; the Alpha, Omega. "I'm from A to Z. I'm He that was, which is, and shall come. I am the Almighty." Pretty clear, isn't it? No chance of controversy there. "Lord, which was, which is, and shall come, the Almighty."

43 Now, John speaks. Listen.
I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God...
(Say, could you imagine a man being put in a place like that, for the Word of God? Yes.)
...for the word of God, and ...the testimony of Jesus Christ.

44 He was exiled out there for preaching the Word to a religious people. That's what the Word says. Isn't it? He was out there for preaching; exiled, excommunicated from the church, from society, from all the world. Amen. But he wasn't excommunicated from the One who loved him and washed him in His own blood. He was with His presence in the isle called Patmos, "for the Word of God's sake."
I wonder how many preachers today would go? Gets down to even going to do a little something, a little something, get upset; we get so disturbed about it. And here this man had been boiled in grease for twenty-four hours, and throwed out on the isle of Patmos, and the Lord was still with him.
I just like that old song they used to sing, "If Jesus goes with me, I will go anywhere." We sing it, but I wonder if we really mean it. To my honest opinion, it won't be too long till you're going to be given a chance to prove it, so you better be really sure. Check up, take inventory, see if everything is just right.

45 Now, just how ... just getting started here now. John answers, and he said he was "in the isle of Patmos, for the Word of God, and testimony."
I was in the Spirit ... (I like that.) I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day ... (Speaking of another day, now; to my Advent friends, which we're sure to get into it, after a while. All right.) in the Spirit on the Lord's day (got in the Spirit), and I heard behind me a great voice of a trumpet,

46 Let's not leave these symbols now. We're basing up now, so we know what we're talking about when I get over here. See what we're going to speak about, "Who is it? What is this Fellow? What's the Revelation of Jesus Christ? Who is He, anyhow? How did it come? What does it mean to me?" See if it means anything to you, see. "See what it takes place there, to me." Notice.
I was in the Spirit...

47 No matter how saintly you are, how godly you are, how much of a minister or lay member, whatever you are, you'll never be able to get anywhere with God till you get in the Spirit. That's right. I don't mean get in emotion. I mean get in the Spirit, see. See, you get in emotion, do anything. But when you get in the Spirit, you see things. That's right.

48 I can imagine old Elijah, the old prophet, down there that day when Ahab's son, them, had made an alliance with some unbelievers, and Jehoshaphat had joined in with them. And he went out in the desert for seven days, and didn't fetch any compass. For just seven days, enough to take care of them for seven days; didn't consult the Lord; just went on out, anyhow.
Isn't that just like people? "Oh, I'll tell you, if that's a better job, I'll just quit this church and go over to that one." Now, you better consult the Lord about that, find out what it is.
Went out there and found out they got in trouble. The water supply got cut off. That's what's the matter with the churches today: Going around doing a lot of things you don't consult the Lord about, and your supply is getting cut off. You wonder why you're not get the blessings you used to get, and the power of God working among you, maybe the supply line has been cut. You know, when you get out, water...

49 I get into the desert sometime, out there in Arizona. And I notice that every little old bush on that desert is harmful; it'll stick you. Every time you get against it, it'll stick you. Because it doesn't have enough water to take care of it, stickers come out for a defense.
You come back up here, or up in Oregon or somewhere where it rains all the time, and every one of them same kind of bushes hasn't got a sticker on them. See, the water keeps them soft.
And that's what's the matter with the church. When you get all dried up and shackled up, and everything, you get so cold and formal and indifferent, you don't get any spiritual blessing, then your heart gets all filled up and full of indignation and wrath, and everybody, "Oh, I'll get even with him. I'll get even with her. I'll quit the church." Just a bunch of stickers living in a desert.
All right. What you need is some good old-fashioned Holy-Spirit water rained down upon you, soften up that old corn heart. Amen.

50 I'm not trying to clown. I'm trying to get this to you. Brother, you're going to find out, if you take the mark of the beast, where you're going to be standing. And you're absolutely helpless and hopeless when you do it. There is no remission for it. You can never get out of it. That's right. You can do it by the wink of your eye, nearly, see, so be careful. Now, here it is. Will give unto him... Notice, the desert...

51 I said, the waters, how that the waters had kept them soft. That's what we do today: get in the Spirit. John said, "I was in the Spirit."
When Elijah out there on the desert, they come down. Jehoshaphat said, "Let's go down and consult the prophet." They went down in front of the prophet.
Well, now, he got up his righteous indignation. He looks over to that fellow, and he said, "Why don't you go to your mother's god? Why don't you go back to your own, old, cold, formal church? Why did you come to me for, when you got in trouble?" That wasn't a very good thing to say, but that's just so much word that meant that. "Why did you come down to me? Why don't you go to your mother's god? You all have those big fine churches, and all those fine-fed priests, and so forth, back there. Go on back and ask them about it. Why do you come down here to me?" Whew! My! He kind of got all stuffed up, sure enough, didn't he? He said, "If it wasn't that I respected the presence of that godly man, Jehoshaphat; I wouldn't even look at you." Oh, my, what a condition that prophet got into! Now, he's all in that kind of fix.
He said, "Well, bring me a minstrel." Some people don't believe in music in the church. But he said, "Bring me a minstrel." And when the minstrel begin to play some good old hymn, Nearer My God To Thee---whatever you want to call it, I don't know. When the minstrel begin to play, the Spirit of God got on the prophet. And when the Spirit got on him, he got in a vision; he begin to see things.
You have to get the Spirit of God. You say, "I can't understand how people can say, 'Amen.'" Get the Spirit once. That's right.
I can't see how they stand at the baseball game and beat one another on the back, and holler and hoop, and pull the hats down and carry on. Seems like crazy, to me. "Well," you say "you're not a very good baseball fiend." I'm just about as much...
How about you, as a Christian? All right. That's right. You've got to get into the Spirit of it.

52 That's the way it is when you used to go to dances. I don't believe you'd go now. Surely not. But if you used to go, they'd have to play up the hoop-up music, and beat the bands and beat the drums, and do every kind of a thing there was about it; and the women run out there, half naked and everything else, and dance on the floors, and things; get you in the spirit to dance. Well, that's right; you get in the spirit of it. It's the spirit of the devil. Glad you said, "Amen," because it's the truth. I'll prove it by the Bible. That's right. All right.
Say, "Well, I don't believe that, brother."
Well, it ain't what you say, or what I think; it's what God's Word says. That's what settles it. That's the final word. Yes, sir. He said, "If you love the world, or the things of the world, love of God is not even in you." That's right. And you remember the little, old woman taught her daughter to tap dance, and things like that, and went down there and danced before the king, and required the head of John the Baptist; seventy of her children died as prostitutes and on gallows. You can see what it does like that.
Moses' mother stayed home, and kept him, and taught him the Word of the Lord, you see what happened to him and his. Through him come out Abraham, and so forth, and on down.
All right, just depends on what you want to do. You're a free moral agent; you act on whatever you desire to act upon. Right. God has put before men, like the Garden of Eden, the tree of life or the tree of death. You make your choice, see. Whatever your soul is charmed for, that's what you'll eat. Notice, now. And they were...

53 I want to read this again now. He was in the Spirit. The Spirit come upon him. He begin to see things. Now, watch.
I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard ... I got in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a great voice of a trumpet,
"Trumpet." Trumpet is "an announcement." Gabriel, at the coming of the Lord, shall sound the trump of God. This was God's trumpet blowing. In other words, He is fixing to announce the eternal destination of the world. A trumpet! What is it? "Get ready. I'm going to give you the revelation of Jesus Christ, to give to the church. I will speak to you, what will be the destination of the world, for those who receive, and those who reject."
A trumpet of God. "Attention!" Every man, when the trumpet blows, he grabs his sword and stands to a place ... attention. The trumpet!
Paul said, "If the trumpet give the uncertain sound, who shall prepare for war?"

54 That's the way it is today. Oh, brother, when I look around and see all these cold, formal, indifferent churches, and things like that, "having a form of godliness, and denying the power thereof." how can a man prepare himself? Giving an uncertain sound!
Say, "Well, now, I will join the churches. I will go over and try the Methodist, or the Baptist, or the Lutheran, or the Pentecostals. I'll do something. I'll make some kind of a move." Oh, that's not it.
"Except a man be born again." I don't care if he's Methodist, Baptist, Pentecostal, or whatever he is, you got to be born again; you'll not enter the kingdom. Amen.

55 Look, "Voice of a trumpet, saying unto me, 'I am Alpha and Omega.'"
The first thing now, He introduces here, "The I am, the First and the Last." The first thing, when the trumpet of God sounded out, he turned. And He said, "I'm Alpha and Omega. I'm from A to Z. I'm all of it now. Stand and listen to Me a while." All right.
... the first and the last... What thou seest, write in a book ... (that's this book we're reading) and send it unto the...
Where? Addressed specifically. Where about, back to the age? No. "To the church." To the church! Notice.
... What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia...
Which, was a type of the church.

56 Now, we'll get into that, in a few minutes, showing how the Old Testament typed up in seven ages. Seven ages ... or, seven churches set here in Asia, which the Bible plainly teaches, which was a shadow, or a type of the seven church ages that was coming. And by God's help, and with the Bible, they prove that every church age landed just exactly where it said it would, just exactly where the Bible said it would. And we're at the end of the last church age.
And go back in the Old Testament, pick up Daniel's dream, and showed in the vision of a Gentile kingdom, how that he saw an image standing; with a head of gold, breast of silver, and thighs of brass, and feet and legs of iron and clay. And showed how every one of those kingdoms have succeeded one another, just exactly the way the Bible said. And look, the head of gold, Babylon; Medes and Persia, Greek; and the Roman empire; and the Roman empire broke up into ten kingdoms, eastern and western Rome, and so forth. And in there, there was iron and clay, and they wouldn't mix together; Protestant and Catholicism under the same Gentile domination. And he said that even to try to break one another's power they would intermarry with one another---just exactly what they're doing today, exactly.

57 And that kingdom in the days of those kings. The God of Heaven cut a stone out of the mountain, without hands, that smote this image in the feet and broke all the Gentile kingdoms down. And the kingdom of Christ ruled and reigned, and growed, and covered the earth and the sea and the sky. The Gentile kingdoms faded away like trash, like the husk on a thrashing floor in the summertime. What a picture that we're living in! That's true.
And today, you see Catholic and Protestant marrying among one another, trying to break the power down; raise your children, have to promise to raise them this way or that way. We'll get into it, after a bit, in a few nights. Notice that how it is, and how (the other) the strong, the iron dominated over the other, broke it to pieces and shattered it away.
But the Lamb came and stood! And the holy people in that day ... and how that that Roman power went through every nation. There's not another power in the world, and only one way it can go through, is through Catholicism, the Catholic church, into all the world, breaking out in there. It's a marvelous, great picture here.
Now, to you Protestants, just keep your shoes on, 'cause, brother, you're right with it. And I can prove it by God's Word, you're right into it just as big as the rest of them.

58 Now, watch now, "The First and the Last. What you see, write in a book." Now, He said unto him: "Write this in a book, and send it to the churches, which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and to Sardis, and Pergamos, and so forth, and Philadelphia, and Laodicean."
Now, we'll stop there, just a moment or two, just see how much time I got, 'cause I want to get to this last keynote here, on Ephesus, and pull it over to Laodicean, and see if we're not patterned up in the same church, see. See if we're not living in this day.

59 Oh, church of the living God, rise and shine. Look. You don't realize. I wish I had some kind of a shock that I could give you, some way. I wish the Holy Spirit would come in His great power and move you to a place that you would grab this Bible and say, "Let me look into this!" When you see:
Nations are breaking, Israel awaking,
The signs that the Bible foretold;
Gentile days numbered, with horrors
encumbered
"Return, O dispersed, to your own."
(That's right.)
The day of redemption is near,
Men's hearts are failing for fear;
Be filled with God's Spirit,
Your lamps trimmed and clear,
Look up, your redemption is near!
That's right. Oh, what a day! "Write, and send it to the churches."

60 Now, just as Israel come in in its beauty, back in the beginning under Abraham, come on down through the patriarchs. And in the day of Ahab it went into the dark ages, the darkest age that the church seen. Went out of there... And in that time, how that Ahab married Jezebel, brought idolatry into the orthodox church.
The same thing, that Protestantism married Romanism in the fifteen hundred years of Dark Ages, in the Pergamos church and it come out with idolatry, under the form of Christianity, going on out into lukewarm age that's coming on before us. And we're in it right now. We're in the lukewarm age.

61 You don't believe it? Now, I'm going to sit down on you people out in the other churches. You're a lukewarm age and your evangelists are crossing the earth, around the earth, preaching things like that; you're getting nowhere. You're hollering... You Baptists are hollering: "A million more in '44." What have you got when you got them? Just got a bunch of sinners come in, with their names on the book (that's right), say they belong to the Baptist church. Not only that, but the others, Methodists, Campbellites, and the whole thing, just as formal and indifferent. Billy Graham had that, "Thirty thousand converts," he said, "in six weeks..." And six weeks later he couldn't find thirty. Why? Why? They never got nothing, to start with. Just a bunch of sinners went in, put their name on the book, under the spell of revival.
He said, "The kingdom of Heaven is like one pitched the net in the sea, and when he brought forth, he had everything": He had turtles; he had crawfish; he had terrapins; he had spiders; he had water bugs; he had serpents. Right. But in there, he had some fish, also.
When a man preaches a revival under the power and demonstration of the Holy Spirit, the net is drawed around the people. That's right. But, if he's a bug to begin with, he's a bug at the end of the revival.
If he's a water spider, the first thing you know, he'll go looking around, saying, "I don't believe in this old stuff anyhow," and pop off back to the water.
If he's a snake, he will say, "I told you about it," and away he'll go. He was a snake, to begin with. His nature was. And he'll never be nothing else until that nature is changed.

62 A man can't join church, or get all emotional worked up, or anything else, and become a Christian. It's got to be a solid birth of the Spirit; sincerely dying out, crying out, laying there till he's dead in Christ. Remember: life can only come out of death.
A grain of corn, if it abides, it abides alone, it'll never mean no more than that one grain of corn. "Except a corn of wheat fall in the earth, it abides alone." But when it falls there, it rots, contaminates, and out of that midst of corruption comes the germ of life that gives it life and produces more.
Except the church will be born again, die out to their creeds and theologies, and so forth, and be born anew of the Spirit of God, it'll be an old, cold, formal, ungodly, indifferent. Amen. That's right. That's old-fashioned, sassafras preaching, but it'll save you, brother. That's right. It'll keep you when the storms are blowing hard. Get rooted and grounded. Get all the dirt scraped off before you pour your concrete; notice, that's right, and the anchor rods down good and tight. Oh, brother, what a day that we're living in: formal, indifferent church age! Yes, sir.
"To the seven churches," said, "send this message."

63 Now, in that church age, they begin to come in; they wedded into idolatry. They do the same thing now; they come in, doing the same thing. And out of that, come in formal Christianity, begin to fading away until they're getting down to the last church age.
Now, the modern church, which we call "the denomination." We holiness people, you know, we call them, "the modern," and they go out there and they start in their revival, too. You say, "They're not getting anywhere."

64 But now wait just a minute. What have we got? Got nothing, no more than they got. That's exactly right. As long as we fuss and stew and carry on among one another, we still walk as men; until a man can get down at the altar and get right with God, till he can overlook little things and move on like a Christian ought to. Pot can't call kettle black. Right. Don't holler at them. Let's clean our own steps first.
Excuse us, strangers; I'm giving the church a little Gospel spanking now. That's right. It's exactly what you need.
"Oh," you say, "we got it." And get up there and beat the piano as hard as it can go, and a bunch of drums, and run up-and-down the floor, and go out and fuss with your neighbor. Have you got anything? Uh-huh. No, sir. The only thing we got is a lukewarm. As long as the music is running, we're running. When the music stops, we stop. Brother, don't call the other fellow something; let's look around at your own door first. Amen.
I tell you we need an old-fashioned revival like they used to have down in the country, when they lay on their face all night long. Not to carry on, but with real godly sorrow. And not go back to the altar and stay, but go out and make it right with the neighbors they'd made it wrong with, and get straightened up. You know that's right. Scorching, but, brother, it'll help you. That's right. You've got to know that, my friend. Yes, sir.

65 Lukewarm: That's a horrible condition for the church to be in. If you don't watch it, Branham Tabernacle has got in that same sway. Listen, you know these things. It's been taught, year after year, after year, after year, over this platform, warning you of these things coming. When, the Bible said there'd be a time they'd go from east and the west, and north and south, trying to find the true Word of God, and fail to find it. You'd better get anchored, where you know where you're standing.

66 But when a man is once born again; not emotionally worked up, not some enthusiasm, not by putting his name on a church book, not by joining the biggest church in the city; but when he's actually cried through, and begged, with tears in his eyes, until God has forgiven his sins, cleansed his soul from a life of sin, and filled him with the Holy Spirit, with such love, and godly, till he takes them old tire tools back he stole from the neighbors, and goes and makes up to these things, and lives godly before man. We will never have a revival in this country till we have that.
Judgment begins at the house of God, by the Word of God. Amen. Not a textbook, but the Bible. Not what some church teaches their theology, but what God says. Then you'll have a revival where great powers, and wonders, and signs, and miracles, and everything else, will take place.

67 We're lukewarm. Because we're lukewarm in this age, God said, "I will spew you from My mouth." This church age will be rejected. There will be a remnant out of it, that'll be saved. So better mark yourself right good, to find out if you're in that remnant now. We'll get into it in a minute, if God willing. Just notice now.
And I turned to see the voice that spake unto me. And being turned, look, I saw seven golden candlesticks; (or, "lamp stands," the Greek says.)
Now, that's the first translation, 'cause they didn't have the candles; and they had the little lamp stands. Now, the seven golden candlesticks, we call them.

68 Now, in the holy place, where the shewbread; and many of you clergymen understand. And you people here at the tabernacle, being taught with a good teacher here, you know these things.
The seven golden candlesticks, they had little lamps on top of them, that burnt oil. Over in Zechariah, where he saw the vision, I believe it was, and he saw the wild olive tree and the tame olive tree; the Jew and the Gentile, way before the dispensation of the Gentile. They had golden censors, and both of these golden censors run into this one candlestick here that furnished oil for all the lamps. And he couldn't understand how these things was; the wild olive tree and the tame olive tree. And the tame olive tree, of course, was broke off, and the wild olive tree grafted into it.
And that oil to the lamp... Oil represents the Holy Spirit, always. We'll get in that, on the Mark Of The Beast, Friday night. Notice, but this oil represents Holy Spirit. That's why we anoint the sick with oil, is because it represents the Holy Spirit.
The Bible said, in Revelations the 6th chapter, when the plague went through, he said, "A measure of wheat for a penny and two measures of barley for a penny; but don't hurt My wine and My oil." Wish we was going to take Revelations on through, for a few weeks, and get into that, who that wine and oil is. "See that you hurt not My wine and My oil! Don't you come near it." Amen.

69 Now, notice these golden candlesticks. This oil poured into these candlesticks. Now, the oil was what was put in the lamp, to burn. Now, Aaron was... It was his duty to light these lamps. And these lamps had to be lit. Hold it on now. Look. Keep reverent, and listen. These lamps had to be lit by the fire that God had lit. (Aaron's sons went in with some strange fire and God slew them in the door; that's right, strange fire.) The fire that God started!

70 And watch. Now, the candlesticks run in an arch. Here was one candlestick, two, three, four (way up), five, six, seven, like this. Now, those golden candlesticks here, as he says in a few minutes...
Let's read a little farther, maybe we'll get it. And listen what he said now. All right. "And His head..." I believe I've got ahead of the 12th verse there, "Seven golden candlesticks." 13th verse:
And in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks one like ... the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.
His head was as ... his hair was as white as wool, ... white as snow; and his eyes were ... flames of fire;

71 Now, let's stop there just a minute, 'cause we can't leave that picture there just like that. Look at these candlesticks standing here now. Now, those candlesticks, as we'll find a little later, represents the seven church ages. They represent Ephesus, Pergamos, and on down to Philadelphia, and on over to the Laodicean; seven church ages.
And each one of these little candlesticks had a little cruse of oil sitting there, and this oil burnt on this candle. Now, when one candle was lit by the fire of God, they taken that candle and lit the other one, then set it down; and lit the other one; and one lit off the other one, off the other one, off the other one, till the last candle. Notice: same oil!

72 Now, these seven church ages, begin with Ephesus, Thyatira, Pergamos, and on through. And the Holy Spirit, which is the oil of God, fell on the church at the beginning, in Ephesus, the Ephesian church, which was the church of grace. You Baptist ought to holler "amen" there. And then on the church of grace, which in Ephesus, and the Ephesian letter sets us out, who we was before the foundation of the world. It fell there, and they received the Holy Spirit.
But wait a minute, my Baptist brother. How did they receive it? How did they get it? By joining the church? Never. They got it by the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. You say, "Yes, Brother Branham, that's right." What happened to you when it fell on you?
Notice, the same fire that burnt the oil there, in Ephesus, burnt it in Thyatira; the same fire burnt there, burnt in Pergamos; burnt on down through, to the Laodicean church age. The same Holy Spirit, lit by the same God, by the same fire. And the fire that fell on Pentecost has lit the candle, the church, through every age, right on down now.

73 But the trouble of it is, we Baptists, we Methodists, we are way back up here, trying to take some historical thing, and here goes the church down here. That's right. That's where we're left behind. Every church, when it started, there wasn't...
Look at Luther, in the first reformation. What a revival---Luther! Look, I've got his textbook at home. How that that man shook under the power of God! How he believed in divine healing, accepted it himself; believed in the power of God, even so much, till he spoke in tongues---Martin Luther. That's exactly right. Martin Luther spoke with tongues.

74 And then the next age come down, John Wesley. John Wesley done the same thing. When he was preaching, he said, "What are these words that I mutter, unknown to myself?" That's right, speaking with tongues; believed in divine healing. And when he come to America, the churches here treated him like they do the holy-rollers today; they put him out, in churches. And they preached the Gospel out there, and fell under the power of God, until they laid on the floor, all night at a time.
And John Wesley's own textbook, that I got at home now, of where he was riding a horse one day, to pray for a woman that was sick, and the horse fell and broke its leg. And he got off the horse, and took a cruse of oil and anointed the horse with oil and got on him and rode away. Same fire burning there!
But you've got it down to a ritualistic form of something, and the Holy Ghost is moving on. Right. That's right.

75 And in the Methodist church, "They got something wrong with them," their book said. "They got some jerks." And they would start to walk, and they would jerk and jump and act like that, in their tent meetings and things---the Methodists. Why, brother, if John Wesley could rise on the scene, he'd be so ashamed of you, he'd deny you; unless he'd give you a good Gospel whipping with the Gospel that he preached.
I stood not long ago by the shrine where they turned them hounds loose that day when he was preaching the new birth, and so forth, and that. And the high Church of England turned them dogs loose on him. And he said, "The sun will not fall on your head three times, till he calls for me to pray for him." And he did; and died. That's right. Sure.

76 That's what we need today. We need that kind of Methodist.
We need another Baptist like John Smith who stayed in the room and agonized with God and prayed all night in such a way till his eyes was swollen so bad at morning, his wife would lead him to the table to eat.
Oh, what do we do today? Stand out on the corner with a cigarette in our mouth---and a deacon in the church---and go down and act ... to picture shows, and watch television all night; and stay away from church; smoke, drink, gamble, and run to horse races, and call ourself Baptist. All tommyrot!
What we need today is an old-fashioned, God-sent, Holy-Ghost revival. Amen. I don't mean... I ain't trying to get you to get excited. I know you're not excited. But, brother, that's the truth. Trying to get the point to you. It's the truth is what we need. All right.

77 Now, that's the Bible. That's what the Spirit said, see. "The candlesticks." All right. Now, the 13th verse.
And in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks one like ... the Son of man ... (What? One like Him. Who was this? His bride. One like Him. Watch how it was.) clothed with a garment down to the foot...
The holiness of Jesus Christ covering her. "Has washed us from our sins, with His own blood." All right.
... girded about the paps (not a man; a woman) with a golden girdle.
The Gospel that held the power and glory of God over the body of Christ! Oh, what a beautiful picture we got here under consideration! Looky here:
... down to the foot, and a girt about the paps with a golden girdle.
His head and his hair was white as wool ... white as snow (righteousness, holiness: white speaks of); and his eyes like flames of fire; (Looks right through it!)
Don't try to hide from Him. He knows who you are, where you are, and what you done. Yes, sir. He sees everything. Oh, God...
We got just a few minutes left, to get to this other church age, if we can. Notice.
And his feet were like fine brass...

78 Brass always is "judgment"; you know, the brazen altar, and the brass serpent, and so forth. Brass speaks of judgment. His feet, then: The church of Jesus Christ is set upon divine judgment. Christ dying in our stead, the Just One paying our judgment up there before God, and died there as a sinner on the cross, and His soul ascended into hell. And God, not suffering His holy One to see corruption, raised Him up on the third day, for our justification; who sits at His right hand now, a High Priest can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; which shall return in like manner as He went into Heaven, to receive a glorious church that's made Herself ready, blood-washed and second-born. What a ... what a vision! Amen. All right. "Like fine brass," or... Now watch.
And his ... And his feet was like ... fine brass, as if they had been burned in a furnace (that's: All the dross taken out); and his voice the voice of many waters.

79 Watch, it's the church speaking to Him now: "waters." Revelations 17:15, said waters means "thickness and multitudes of people." Now, "His voice," or this Being that was standing there looking like this, Christ in His church, as bride and Christ being one, like husband and wife is one; the church and Christ being molded together with one Person, the same Holy Spirit.
And the things that Christ did, the church does also. Do you see it? That beautiful church there in holiness, in power, in majesty, with seeing visions, signs, wonders. Everything just like He did, here it is on earth; giving all praise to God, saying, "I can do nothing except the Father shows Me; but He showed Me, and here it is." And we come see these things go to taking place.
Now, Christ, molded into one. "And the voice of many waters, many people." Not just the one; it was the whole church, the seven churches molded together in one great ransomed body of the Lord. The Methodists, the Baptists, the Presbyterian, all that's born again with the Holy Ghost, speaking with the power of God, that's the body. That's the body.
And he had in his right

80 ("Right." Everything in the Bible has a meaning to it, see.) ... in his right hand seven stars (now He's a King): and out of his mouth goes a sharp two-edged sword: and his countenance was like unto the sun shining in his strength.
Now, "Out of His mouth goes a sharp two-edged sword," out of the mouth of this standing there, Christ and the church as one. "In His hand He held seven stars." You'll see in a few minutes; I want to get to it, let the Bible just speak what it was. It was the seven ministers, one minister to each age of these Seven Church Ages, come out, hold them in His right hand. Amen. There He is. There's seven angels, seven messengers, one to each church. Get it?
There, He's standing there, "And out of His mouth goes a sharp two-edged sword." What is a two-edged sword? Hebrews the 4th chapter, said, "The Word of God is sharper, more powerful than a two-edged sword, even going to the marrow of the bone, and a discerner of the thoughts of the mind." All right.
And when I saw him, I fell on my ... I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand on me, saying... Fear not; I am the first and the last:
I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and I have the keys of hell and ... death. (That's Jesus. Now, watch.)
Write these things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and these things which shall be hereafter; (All right.)
And the mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, are ... hand ... and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are seven angels of the seven churches...

81 Hmm! Hold that. "Seven angels are seven ministers of the seven churches." There was a church of the leader of Ephesus. Now, if God would permit, and we'd continue on with this, and not take the mark of the beast, I can show you every one of them, right down to this last age, which we was; show you the Philadelphian church, which was the Methodist, John Wesley; show you the church Thyatira, immediately after Pergamos; which was Martin Luther, and go right on down the age, and show each one of them that come and brought the message, established the message in the earth.
And right down to the last message today (that's right), where God sent an angel from Heaven, vindicated His servant, and sent a Message forth to everyone. This will not be a church. It'll not be an organization in this last day. 'Cause, God has laid the organization on the shelf, and all of you are aware of that. And wait till we get through tomorrow night, on The Mark Of The Beast, and see where your church is at, see, and your organizations.
Now, watch the churches.
And the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches. (They are the churches.)
And "the stars," which, He's holding each star. Now, look. Could we just stop a minute? I know I've got about twelve minutes to go here and I want to get to this chapter right here, read it through, if nothing else. I want to get this to you. A star was the minister, and a minister anointed with a Spirit from above.

82 Do you realize that you represent a star in Heaven, and every star in Heaven represents you? Did you know God told Abraham that his seed would be like the stars of the Heaven? First they were the dust of the earth, and then in the resurrection they were the stars of Heaven, innumerable. Did you realize that?
Did you know Jesus was the Bright and Morning Star, the greatest Star of all the stars of Heaven? Oh, hallelujah! When I think of it, my soul leaps for joy. There He is! There in His likeness, in His presence, we shall be seated someday, (hallelujah), when the things of this earth has passed away.

83 Listen, another Scripture comes to me. Daniel said... When He said "Clothed..." When he seen this Angel come down, with a rainbow over His head; put one foot on the land, and one on the sea; and held up His hands, and swore by Him that lives from ever and ever. When those seven voices uttered their... The seven thunders uttered their voices. He said, "Seal it; not known until the last day. He said, "But the time this mystery of God should be finished, when these will be revealed to the church; and swore by Him that lives forever and ever, that time should be no more."
Listen what He said there then. He said, "Go thy way, Daniel, shut up the book." See? "For thou shall rest, and you shall stand in the last days, in your lot. But many of those who turn many to righteousness shall outshine the stars, forever and forever."
There you are, "stars," those seven ministers. Seven ministers, through seven church ages, which consists of two thousand years.
From the first two-thousand years, the antediluvian destruction; second two-thousand years, the first coming of Christ; the third two-thousand years, the sixth, is the second coming of Christ; and the Millennium, and the end, the seventh-day rest.

84 "Unto the church..." Oh, will you bear with me just a few minutes longer? And I don't want to wear you out, but I will read right fast now. "Unto the angel..." Now, watch, He's addressing this directly now. And we'll go over to Pergamos and get the last of it then... I mean, to the Laodicean, and then we'll close. Tomorrow night we'll pick up from here, on The Mark Of The Beast.
Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus ... (the first)

85 Now, watch, when Jesus was standing with His hands out. Here is a little thing I don't want to leave out, to you. Hear it. Watch it. He is standing in the midst (that's the middle) of the seven golden candlesticks.
Now, if I was standing here, and the candlesticks arched around, here on my one hand is where I got it out, and here is another one, in the sign of the cross, 'cause it was through the cross that brought the church.
Here He is standing; and a rainbow over His head, as a covenant. "I've made My covenant with the church, through Abraham, through his seed, all that's called."

86 My brother, the other night, receiving Christ, he said, "Don't ever push me, Bill." Said, "When God speaks to me..."
I said, "You can't come until He calls you."
"No man can come to Me except My Father calls." Somebody does something else, pulls you up, that's somebody else, though when God speaks, you'll come, see. That's right. Standing there... "No man can come except My Father draws him."

87 There He is standing there, "to look upon as jasper and sardine stone, the first and the last," Benjamin and Reuben, all the twelve patriarchs. And how, the Bible, every bit just dovetails right straight together like that, everything perfect! Notice as He's standing there, to look upon now, watch what takes place. He said He was "Alpha and Omega," He was "the beginning and the ending. He which was, and which is, and shall come." He had in His right hand, now, the seven stars.

88 Now, here He started off with Ephesus, and He begins to light the candlestick. He lit it there. Then the next age, we find out, the next church age, it begins to dim out; the next church age dims a little more; until the fourth church age, the fifteen hundred years of dark ages. And around 500, 1500, along in there, it begin to get so dark until they was way up, and it almost went out.
And notice, each one of those church ages, He said, "You have not denied My name. You have not denied My name. You have not denied My name." But when He comes out on the other side of the dark ages, said, "Thou has a name that thou livest, and are dead." She had organized. She took up another, false name.
Watch tomorrow night what the antichrist is. He's got a false baptism, making you believe it's the Baptism of the Holy Ghost. He's got a false water baptism, (yes, sir), which ain't even Scriptural. He's got all them things, just enough to impersonate, to be cunning and slick.
Watch where it comes out of. Right there is where it started, right in there; comes out on this other side over here.
Then He said, "You have just a little light"---Luther. Then along come Wesley, and how it was in his age. It begin to brighten up. Then, from between that age and the last age, He set an open door. He set an open door for those who would come in.
Then He said, "She went on off into lukewarm condition." And He spurt it from His mouth. Took the remnant, and the resurrection come, and away He went with it. That's right.

89 There He is, standing in the Seven Golden Candlesticks. Now:
Unto the ... church of Ephesus write; These things write, these things which saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;
I know thy works ... (Remember, you're not forgotten.) I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience, and ... thou canst not bear them which are evil...

90 And we just put up with anything that's evil, and call it religion. "Oh, well, they go... We go to church. We're as good as the rest of the fellows." Go right home, and stay home on Wednesday night and watch the television, the very pits of hell. That's right. And go right out and listen at the picture show, to the drive-in. It's too hot to go to the show ... to the church; and even the preacher closes up, through the midst of the summer. You say, "It's too hot to go to church." It's not be too bad to go to hell, brother. You'll go, some of these days, where it's hotter than that. You better listen.
How can you? Brother, you couldn't make a dove eat a dead horse if you had to. He couldn't do it. His nature is different. A dove ain't got no gall. He can't digest it.
And a man that's born again of the Spirit of God, cannot eat those things. He can't tolerate it. It's out of his mind. He can't do it. He can't.
You know it. Birds of a feather flock together. And today, the world and the church is so much alike, you... They talk alike, they drink alike, they smoke alike, they cuss alike, they dress alike, they act alike. And you can't tell a one from the other, and yet you're supposed to be sealed by the Holy Spirit. That's awful strong, brother, but I tell you, it'll give you life.

91 There was a fellow, one time, went up to a bunch of preachers, where they had a seminary, called the school of prophets. And one of them said, "Put on the big pot now. We're going to have some dinner." Said, "Elijah come up, a man that's really got a double portion."
So one of the fellows went out to pick some peas, and he got a lapful of green gourds and put them in the pot, and begin to boil it up. Why, they started eating. They said, "There's death in the pot." That's just about like some of these seminaries could cook up, too. That's right. Said, "There's death in the pot."
Elijah said, "Wait a minute; we'll take care of that." He goes and gets a handful of meal, and throws it in, so that changed things. Meal, the meal-offering, "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever," burr-ground the same, for the meal-offering, and it made the difference.
... can't stand them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say that they are preachers, or apostles, and they are not, and has found them to be liars:
That's what He said; I never said it. I'm just quoting Him. But you know what God requires? God requires the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, or you're lost.

92 And a man off here with a couple of DDD's, and LD's, and PhD's, and Bachelor's Degree, and everything else behind that, and sometime know no more about God than nothing. That's true. Brother, that don't mean anything. But a whole world say, "But our minister is a doctor of divinity." Oh, mercy! That don't have no more to do with God than taking a drink of water; not as much. That's right. God don't care how many PhD's, or DD's. And you know what the Bible calls... Now, this is not a joke, 'cause I don't believe in telling them. But the Bible calls DD, "dead dog." That's exactly what the Bible said it was, "dead dog." All right, so, they can't bark. So then, all right.
And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake...

93 Oh, I want to grind that in, 'cause you're going to get that in a few nights, God willing.
... has labored, and has not fainted.
"You stayed right with it." All right. Notice.
Nevertheless I have some things against thee...
Now, here is where I have to leave off now, for a little bit, till I get this right here so we can catch it tomorrow night.
... have a few things against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.

94 What's the matter with the tabernacle? A man ought to be able to say, when you meet a man, "Is your Christian experiences... When was it the dearest to you?" You ought to be able to say, "Right now!"
"Well, my best experience was back when I first got the baptism of the Holy Spirit, when I come..."
Just say, "Oh, brother, you've fallen from grace." That's right. Look, "...hast left thy first love," showing that they had something in the beginning, and has left it.
"Not he that beginneth; but he that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved." "Not all that saith, 'Lord, Lord,' but the one that doeth the will of My Father." Oh, let me just let that soak just a few minutes. I was talking fast tonight, anyhow, so let us let that soak just a few minutes, see. "He that doeth the will of My Father." "He that endureth to the end. He that endureth!"
If somebody say, "I believe he, that guy, is an old hypocrite."
"Well, if you think that about me, I will leave church. I won't have no more to do with it." All right, there you are, see. Shows what you're made out of. Brother, if it was a wheat to begin with, it'll be a wheat at the end. You just never stayed long enough down here. You never made the thing right. That's right.
Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen...
Go back and remember when you used to have the experience where you wouldn't talk about nobody. Anything went wrong in the church, you didn't sit on your neighbor's steps over there and talk about the church, and talk about everybody else, fly loose and go join another church. No, you stayed right there, patiently and prayed it out, and God brought it on through, see.
Remember from whence thou art fallen, and repent ... (You know what "repent" means, don't you?) and do thy first works...
Go back and get your first experience. Do the things you did in the beginning. "Go up to the altar and make it right with God," in other words. That's right.
... do thy first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and I will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.
Uh-huh, "If you don't, you'll have a broke-up church, and gone to pieces, 'less thou repent.

95 But this thou..." Oh, now here we come. Hold tight. Listen close. Keep your ecclesiastical vest on now, and take your umbrella down. Listen.
But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate.
"You hate the deeds of a Nicolaitane." Now, watch. What was "deeds" in Ephesus, in the next church age was a "doctrine." We're going to pick that up, tomorrow night, "the Nicolaitane."
And he that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
Now, the next ... the next verse starts in with the Smyrnean church.

96 Now, "Nicolaitane," that's where we're going to start with, tomorrow night, taken out of Revelation 13. The Nicolaitane priesthood, how it begin right there in Ephesus. And that's where that church age failed, in three hundred years of its existence. Before it went out of existence, the Nicolaitanes begin to start up a doctrine, a priesthood of brethren.
And then, the first, it come from Nicolas, which was one of the apos... one of the... In Acts the 6th chapter, I believe, and the 5th verse, where he went and chose out the deacons. And they took this one, which was Nicolas there, and started from there and called it the Nicolaitane, and begin to organize a priesthood. And from there it become deeds, what they were doing, saying these things on confessions, and so forth. And then it become a "doctrine" over here, and went into Babylon. And ended up down here, at the last time, with all Christianity wrapped around it; just a little remnant to be saved out of it. Watch and see what it is, tomorrow night, if God being willing.

97 Oh, my dear brother, my dear sister! To Him that's able to keep you from falling, to Him that's able to hold your heart in grace, may He shed His blessings upon you. May you never forget that we're living in the last days of the last church age, where it's predicted to be a lukewarm church age, just halfhearted about it. And stop being halfhearted! Really come to Christ, with all your heart.
I ain't telling you what church to join. That don't have... God will never ask you that in the judgment. No, sir. He don't care what church you belong.
He wants you; it's an individual. And you must be born again and receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, or you're gone, see. You're just playing church, you're just impersonating, until you actually have an experience of being born again.
And now, Him that stood there, and the seven golden candlesticks, through the seven church ages; and the same Holy Spirit that lit the church there, lights it over here.
Now, there's been impersonators in that church, and this the Nicolaitanes there, and all down through every church age, impersonators, till it gets down here till it's just got the one great big conglomeration of organization. And God kicks the whole thing out, and takes a remnant of the people to glory.

98 May the Lord bless you. This is kind of rough, friends, but it's good. It'll help you and keep you from falling. Now, don't go around, say, "Brother Branham throwed off on my church." It wasn't meant for any church. It was only meant to you as an individual.
If you belong to the Baptist church, then you be a real Holy-Ghost-filled Baptist. If you belong to the Methodist church, be a real Holy-Ghost-filled Methodist, whatever it is. And you'll not be an indebtedment; you'll be a credit to any church, or any neighborhood, for the glory of God.
May the Lord bless you now, while we stand, if you will.

99 Dear Master of life, after reading Your Word, we stand in awe. Realizing that some day this reading tonight will be... We'll hear it on the tape recording, as it was, at the day of judgment. What are we going to do about it? Seeing that we're living in this last age, darkness everywhere, what a time! See the coming of the Lord, signs appearing, "great tidal waves roaring; men's hearts failing; fear, perplexed of time; distress between the nations."
Many say, "Oh, I've heard that for years." But did not the Scripture say they would say that, "There is no difference in the time than when our fathers fell asleep?" Not knowing that we're right on the threshold. He may come before morning.
And, Father, what day or what hour, do we know, that this little brittle threads of life we're walking on will break from beneath us. Our poor souls will hang yonder in the balance, on the Word of God, and our attitudes of what we have heard and read.
It behooves us, Lord, to stop now and check ourselves. And while men and women, boys or girls, standing here in this little audience, tonight, sane and sound, may they think deeply just now. And if they have not yet been born again, may they purpose in their heart right now: "I will never eat or drink until You fill me with the same manna that You filled them with at the day of Pentecost. Until the world becomes dead, and everything secondarily but Thee, My Lord, and the love for everything else will fade. But take all the love of the world from me, and let me from this day be wholly Thine." Grant it, Lord.
Be with the people as they go to their homes. Remember the needy, O God, the poor in our land, the poor in spirit, those that are hungering.
God, raise up ministers, everywhere. Fill them with the Holy Spirit, and send them forth, preaching, Lord, like firebrands. We don't know what hour... We only pass this way once. We're only mortal once, and thanks be to God for that. But the next life... We'll not preach the Gospel in the next life that is to come; but we will rejoice in the Gospel, with them of the ages who has accepted it; with the Head Captain, our Lord Jesus who is all worthy, and all praise be to Him for ever and ever. Amen.

100 God bless you. Turn and shake hands with each other, while we sing Blest Be The Tie That Binds.
Blest be the tie that binds
Our hearts in Christian love;
The fellowship of kindred minds
Is like to that above.
Before our Father's throne,
Now, shake hands with each other. It's just ten minutes, the time, for the lights now is on relay. You all shake hands, go home, rejoice, and come back tomorrow night. At seven-thirty, exactly, we'll begin the service, God willing. How wonderful! (The lights on relay? Ten minutes, the time? They have only ten minutes to get out of the building? Do you know what this all means?)