FINAL PREPARATION FOR

THE FINAL OUTPOURING AND RAPTURE

CHAPTER ONE

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<Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.

And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

And he saith unto me, 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.

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.> (Revelation 19:7-10).

I want to dwell upon the subject of “Final Preparation for The Final Outpouring and Rapture”. This will be a very straightforward message. It is true that we must have full obedience to the Word of God, to entitle us to the Token, the Fullness of God, the Outpouring of the Holy Spirit. But then this is bringing us right up to the final preparation. I do not know how many realize what is God’s requirement for the Rapture. You know that there are millions today around the world that are looking for the Rapture. When we had belonged to organizations we thought that all that we had to do was to accept the Lord Jesus Christ, get baptized and the Rapture will come for us any day. We left many millions behind, with the same conception. Many that came to the message think that they just have to accept Elijah the prophet, believe the message, worship the Lord Jesus Christ and they will go in the Rapture, but we have better understanding today.

I clearly state from the Bible and from the Message of the Hour that God’s requirement for the Rapture is perfection. It sounds very hard, yes, and the disciples of old would have asked: “Who can receive such a saying?” God’s requirement for the Rapture is perfection. There are many scriptures to support that.

Ephesians 4:11-15 <And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ. >

The five fold ministry was given for the perfecting of the saints, and in Matthew 5:48 <Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.>

Now that is a serious requirement and right now, brethren, I fail. Every one of us fail. If this Rapture will take place today as much as millions are looking for the Rapture, and people who follow the message believe that they will go in the Rapture and leave all organizational church members behind, they are not qualified. There is not one perfect, no not one. But perfection is required to go in the Rapture and that is clearly stated by the Word of God and the message of the hour. Woe be unto me and woe be unto you if we do not meet the requirement of God, to go in this Rapture.

But we have great hope. The one that made such a requirement has given us a plan of how to attain to perfection. Yes, we are all imperfect people, born the wrong way, lived the wrong way, we served sin and up to now, after hearing the Word of God, we are still trying to overcome many things in our lives, but perfection is required. Yes, but this is a wonderful scripture, it gives great hope and that is “let us rejoice and be glad, for the marriage of the Lamb is come and his wife hath made herself ready.” She attained to her required perfection. That is the only thing that God will accept and that is perfection.

Now common sense could tell us that if we are to dwell with a perfect God, we ought to be perfect sons and daughters of God, because we are going to a perfect kingdom. There would not be any imperfection in that kingdom. All imperfections were cast out of heaven one time, and imperfection was cast out from the Garden of Eden and since that time man is trying to be perfect and the Bible said in the book of Hebrews that the law made nothing perfect.

Then our Lord Jesus Christ came to show us the way of perfection and He demanded of us and commanded us to “be ye perfect”, and then over in the New Testament the apostle Paul said the five fold ministry is set for the perfecting of the saints and then later in the New Testament, it is written that Christ is coming for a church without spot or without wrinkle.

Ephesians 5:27 <That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.>

I John 3:2 <Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.>

There would not be any wrinkle; there would not be one spot. All that could reveal is perfection. So it is perfection, plus perfection and we are going to live in a perfect kingdom, with a perfect God, perfect angels, then we must be a perfect people. Oh my! We cannot think on that perfect kingdom too much today. I often like to think upon it. A man would not have to correct his wife one day, parents would not have to correct their children, pastors would not have to correct the brethren, not one day. Perfection, not one sickness, not a mistake.

Here we are full of mistakes and faults; we must be buffeted. Do you know how much beating a child receives before it can mature into something useful? Plenty beating, plenty rebukes, that is because of our imperfection, but let us rejoice and be glad for the Marriage of the Lamb is come and his wife hath made herself ready. The prophet of God spoke about that, he said, “If you notice that the wife hath made herself ready.” He said, “She had to overcome something.” God did not take her and put her through a pipe imperfect and then she came out the next side perfect. He said, “No.” He said, it was perfection.

THE CHURCH HAS TO MAKE HERSELF READY

Quote W.M.B.: E-27 and we know that those that are going to make up that bride is going to be His church, and they're going to appear before Him without spot or wrinkle. And they have the material on earth now to make themselves ready. If you notice, it said, "She has made herself ready." So many says, "If the Lord will take this evil spirit from me, from drinking, or from gambling, or from lying, or stealing, I'll serve Him." But that's up to you. You got to do something too. "They that overcome shall inherit all things," they that overcome. You have power to do it, but you must be willing to lay it down. See? She has made herself ready. I like that Word.

You see, God could not push us through a little pipe, pull us out on the other end, and then say, "Blessed is he that overcometh." You had nothing to overcome; He just pushed you through. But you've got to make decisions for yourself. I have to make decisions for myself. In doing that, we show our faith and respects to God. (Marriage Of The Lamb 62-0121e).

GOD’S REQUIREMENT FOR THE RAPTURE IS PERFECTION

NOTHING CAN ENTER THERE WITHOUT PERFECT LOVE – THE HOLY GHOST

Quote W.M.B.: 21-4 And I heard a voice then that spoke to me that was in the room, said, "This is what you preached was the Holy Ghost. This is perfect love. And nothing can enter here without it." I am more determined than ever in my life that it takes perfect love to enter there. (Rejected King 60-0515m).

CHURCH TO COME TO PERFECTION – THEN RESURRECTION & RAPTURE

Quote: 53-1 You get it? These people who died in here are depending and waiting on us. So this church has got to come to perfection in order to bring the resurrection, and they're… souls under the altar, waiting for this church to come to its perfection…And up here when the pyramid Cap does come…the Body of Christ will have to be honed… It'll have to be so perfectly like Christ till when He comes, He and that ministry will fit right smack together. Then will come the rapture, the going home. (Stature Of A Perfect Man 62-1014m).

HOLY GHOST INTO THE CHURCH FOR ADOPTION & RAPTURING GRACE

Quote: 155 What is the Holy Ghost? God in you. What's It for? To continue His work among His people; to bring His church together; to bring a church to a place in this day, far beyond the Lutheran, Methodist, and Pentecostal, into a place to a adoption and a rapturing grace, that when this part of the church, when the Spirit moves into this church here, it'll just raise. And it'll bring forth… all of the redeemed that's touched that Spirit. (What Holy Ghost Was Given For 59-1217).

ANOTHER SURGE OF THE SPIRIT INTO THE CHURCH FOR RAPTURING FAITH

Quote: 23 I'm looking for a time of a break forth of the Spirit of God in these last days that we're now living in, for another surge of the Holy Spirit into the Church for a rapturing faith, just before it comes. (The Token 63-1128e).

BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT INTO THE BRIDE FOR RAPTURING GRACE

Quote: 15-1 That's the reason I do believe that when that Bride is called out and elected and set in the Book of Life, there'll come a sound from heaven that'll take such a baptism of the Holy Spirit into that Bride that'll take Her from the earth in a rapturing grace. God promised it. (Three Kinds Of Believers 63-1124e).

SEVEN THUNDERS FOR RAPTURING FAITH

Quote: 128-2 {75} And then there's coming forth seven mysterious thunders that's not even written at all. That's right. And I believe that through those seven thunders will be revealed in the last days in order to get the Bride together for rapturing faith; because what we got right now, we wouldn't be able to do it. There's something we've got to step farther; we can't have enough faith for Divine healing hardly. We've got to have enough faith to be changed in a moment and be swept up out of this earth. (The First Seal 63-0318).

GOT TO HAVE A FAITH THAT WILL CHANGE & QUICKEN THIS BODY

Quote: 79 I truly believe, before the church can have the rapture, it's got to have rapturing faith. We can't even have faith for Divine healing, let alone rapturing faith. Got to have a faith that'll change and quicken this body, and be taken away. (Israel At Kadesh Barnea 53-0328).

NINE SPIRITUAL GIFTS MOVING IN THE CHURCH – THEN THE RAPTURE

Quote: E-15 And O God, grant today, that when we can all come together, and see all those nine spiritual gifts moving through the Church, operating the whole Church Body. Then we'll have the rapture…If we can't have faith for Divine healing, how we going to have faith for rapturing faith? The Church has got a ways to go yet. (I Perceive You Are A Prophet 53-0614e).

ONE MORE GREAT MOVE OF THE SPIRIT FOR RAPTURING FAITH

Quote: 177 These people are hungering. They're thirsting. Lord, years I've wanted to see this happen, maybe it will. Just once more, Lord, one more great move of the Spirit. One more time, Lord, and the Church might receive the

rapturing faith to go in. (Once More 63-1117).

WAITING ON CHURCH TO COME TO PERFECT FAITH FOR THE RAPTURE

Quote: 184 This is coming into that Third Pull!... This is just starting to bloom now…I'm working out something; it's taking this charge of faith…to kinda raise faith in a bracket where you've never noticed it that way before. Not a faith, but a perfect faith, built it up in here…We're coming now to the perfection, because the people has to come to this in order for the rapture. That's what's holding it away right now, is waiting for that church to come into that perfect raptured faith. I'm looking for it. (Perfect Faith 63-0825e).

You have to overcome something. That means that you have to surrender your will, desire perfection and make a sacrifice. Now it is a hard thing to give up the wrong things and to give up certain habits in our lives. But it takes a sacrifice and why many people are going through the tribulation and unto hell, is that they are not willing to make that sacrifice. In every church age it says, unto him that overcometh. In other words, you have to do something with it. That means you have to surrender your will, you have to make a sacrifice, you have to put something into it. That is why the Bible said; work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. You got to work at it. You just cannot sit there and say, “If I am predestinated then I will be saved at the end of the road.” No sir! There are other scriptures that tell you to make your calling and election sure.

If God is a perfect God and is telling imperfect people to be perfect, then of course that God in His grace and mercy must give them a plan to attain to that perfection. Otherwise He would not be fair. That will be a very unwise thing. But our God is a wise God. Yes, and the Bride hath made herself ready. The Prophet of God said that the church must come to perfection to bring the resurrection, and to go in the Rapture. ‘Stature of a Perfect Man.’ The very title is saying something.

Now, there are people with all the fears, with all the doubts and all the imperfection that we experience, that will be perfected, because it is prophesy, in the Book of Revelation. The Bride hath made herself ready. There are two groups spoken of in Matthew 25: 1-6. One group called the wise virgins, this is the wife of Christ that made herself ready. She was prepared to meet the Bridegroom. So there was another group that did not make herself ready and she was caught in her unpreparedness. Unpreparedness is a terrible thing, brethren. Unpreparedness is full of disappointments and more than that, it is full of sicknesses, it is full of troubles and even death. Unpreparedness causes a lot of people to die. We see that played out with the foolish virgins. They were unprepared, they heard the same things like the wise virgins, and they were unprepared. So in being unprepared, there is much disappointment and Jesus said that they were left out and there shall be weeping, and wailing and gnashing of teeth. That is how our Lord described the disappointment that followed unpreparedness.

E.O.D.H. CONTENTION: BRIDE NOT READY FOR

THE RAPTURE

All our efforts here this morning are to be made ready. All my efforts and all the efforts of the ministers are to be made ready. Malachi 4:5-6; that man suffered like no other human being, and he loved life above all upon the earth. The effort was to prepare a Bride that will be perfect. At the end of the road he laid the foundation, but was not successful in preparing that Bride.

THE BRIDE ISN’T PERFECT BUT THE BRIDEGROOM IS PERFECT

Quote W.M. B.: 17-4 Sister Collins…dreamed a dream of being here at the church, and there was a wedding fixing to take place. And when she did, she saw the bridegroom come in perfect, but the bride wasn't very perfect, yet it was the bride. Now, that's the church…the Bride isn't perfect, but the Bridegroom is perfect. The Bride is not perfect yet. (Is this the Sign of the End Sir 62-1230e).

The Bride today is yet imperfect, the church. “The Bride is not ready for the Rapture” is my contention and our contention who believe E.O.D.H., who believe the revelation of Brother Branham’s message. Our contention around the world, with all that we sent out on tapes and books, is that the Bride is not yet ready for the Rapture. She is not qualified.

Yes, there are certain demands in the message that we must meet and that even sounds impossible. The prophet of God said, “Nothing shall enter there without perfect love.” The voice of the Lord told him that. He said, “Nothing shall enter there without perfect love.” People around the message claim to have perfect love. That is hypocrisy. Beloved, I do not have perfect love; you do not have Perfect Love. Perfect love will love your enemies. Perfect love will give your life for your brethren. I do not have perfect love and Jesus said, “Blessed are they that are poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.” Be honest with yourself, be honest with God.

There is a final preparation. I am coming-up to something here to simplify this. We established on E.O.D.H. book fourteen that without the Token nobody goes in the Rapture. That is a whole message in itself called the Token, where the Prophet of God emphasized that we will receive the Token or we will perish. That means you will go through the tribulation and possibly unto hell, if you miss this Token that is coming, the Outpouring of the Holy Spirit. That was fully established in book fourteen, and it challenges the world.

But this here is a little higher. It is true that the Token, Outpouring prepares the Bride for the Rapture. That is the only thing that the Lord will accept, is the Token, Outpouring, Capstone, Fullness of God, the Love of God, Charity. It is the only thing that God will accept for a man to go in the Rapture. But listen to this; there is a preparation for the Token. This is the next emphasis that I am laying here.

We established that there is an Outpouring coming and without that Outpouring nobody could go in the Rapture. But friends, I am laying emphasis here this morning, and have done that in the past, that in order to receive this great Token and Outpouring of the Spirit, you must be prepared to receive that Token. You must be prepared. It is true that full obedience to the Word of God entitles you to the Holy Spirit, the Token.

Quote W.M.B.: 116 Full obedience to the full Word of God entitles us to the Token. No other way is there that you can ever be entitled to the Token until you fully obey the Word. (The Token. 64-0208).

But then, what is this preparation for the Token? There must be a preparation for it. Now you saw the film of the greatest televangelist in the world, recently. All those people with pants and shorts. Sinners, claim to be receiving the Holy Ghost. Now but I am saying this morning; there is a preparation for the Token and the simplicity of it throughout the message of the prophet is justification, sanctification, and then comes the Baptism of the Holy Spirit or the Outpouring of the Holy Spirit. It is a total impossibility for those people to be receiving the Baptism of the Holy Spirit like the Day of Pentecost on Benny Hinn’s platform. It is the most disgraceful scene, disgraceful and embarrassing.

I have preached some messages on ‘Pentecostalism.’ “Pentecostalism, one hundred years, from 1906 to 2006.” It showed the fanaticism and the cream of the crop of that blessing that fell in 1906. It touched a lot of things; E.O.D.H. Book 13.

There is a final preparation that you and I must make to receive this Token. It is true that the Prophet of God said on the Token message that “You will receive it or perish.” Yes. We have that knowledge; we believe that. But then, the preparation that is to be made to receive that Token, is most important, even more than knowing that the Token is required for the Rapture. Final preparation was established by Brother Branham. If Brother Branham preached such a message called ‘The Token’ and he established, in no uncertain terms that we must receive the Token or perish. There must be somewhere in his message where he established the Plan of God to receive it. We are acquainted with it, but I preach in such a manner like nobody knows anything and that is to catch the children’s attention. While I am preaching they had been playing. That is one of the best way of teaching.

GOD’S PLAN FOR PERFECTION ESTABLISHED

BY WILLIAM BRANHAM

What I am going to establish this morning, as the preparation for receiving the Token, the Capstone, is irrefutable. Let me say this humbly that I challenge the world, I challenge every message preacher upon the earth to disprove what I am saying and if you cannot disprove what I am saying then repent and believe it and start getting prepared for the Token, for the Holy Ghost will be poured out. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, what is promised to us is going to come. Look back to the scripture and see that there was a group of people that was unprepared called the foolish virgins. The foolish virgins are right now under this message and they have a certain attitude and their attitude is that “I know the message as anybody and nobody could tell me what to do and what to believe.” Somebody is going to tell you what to believe or you are going through the tribulation, and let me tie that down in the scripture. God set a five-fold ministry for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, until we all come to perfection. You better find a member of that five-fold ministry in order to tell you how to become perfect. Sit under that ministry, shut up and listen to the Word of God and humble your proud heart. That is the only way that you are going in the Rapture. That is the only way that you are coming to perfection. You got to contact a member of the five fold ministry, because they hold the keys to perfection.

Now all your intellectualism of studying the message cannot perfect you. We have a bunch of computer preachers, they could quote this and quote that, and punch up this and punch up that, but they have no revelation on the message. You say, “Well, I could quote Brother Branham from beginning to end.” I know a man who quoted Moses one time from beginning to end, and at the end of the day he made a golden calf and caused Israel to backslide. After a while the Lord killed him. So now you could quote intellectually and you could bring a lot of things out and though you have knowledge to understand all mysteries and have not what I am talking about, the Token, Charity, the Capstone, you have become as sounding brass and a tingling cymbal. In other words, you are like a tambourine, and that is what we have, a lot of tambourine preachers behind the pulpit. They do not know what to tell the people.

The prophet of God laid down the plan and the program of God to become perfect, preachers in this message and the whole message world have ignored the instructions of Brother Branham. You say, “Preacher, come to the point. What is this thing that Brother Branham laid down in the message? What is the plan of God laid down by the prophet to become perfect? ” Beloved, almost everybody that follows this message has it drawn up in their church, as well as us and it has just become a good picture. The plan that God gave to William Branham to be prepared for the Token is right here in this pyramid picture, that people do not even observe again. They got so accustomed. Every church has one like that. Yes, but that is the Plan of God right there for perfection. The preachers just preach that out of habit: Faith, Virtue, Knowledge, Temperance, Patience, Godliness, Brotherly Kindness, Capstone. Now how could they correctly preach that and still claim to have the Outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and claim to have the Capstone in certain churches? Though Brother Branham separated the Capstone from the Body, they joined it and each one of them claimed that they have the Capstone ministry. They preach that they have the Capstone ministry. A lot of people arose and claimed to have the Capstone.

Now I am laying emphasis that those who have forgotten the message of the prophet preached in 1963 entitled, ‘The Stature of a Perfect Man’, may be reminded. Now if you want to become perfect you have to find out what is the stature of it, and how to get into that stature. Now I will tell you this, friend, the man who preached that was in that stature. There was a man who had everything in the pyramid: Faith, Virtue, Knowledge, Temperance, Patience, Godliness, Brotherly Kindness. He had the article of Pentecost. I say boldly that William Branham had perfect love, and if you doubt that read the book called, ‘Eleventh Commandment.’

Quote W.M.B: E-46 That bull took towards me as hard as he could. And when he got to about six or eight feet of me, I wasn't a bit more afraid than I am standing right here. "Perfect love casts out all fear." (Love 56-0726).

Quote: E-32 And there I seen that bull coming…and he was making for me to kill me… but Divine love begin to come…In the Name of Jesus Christ go back and lay down…No fear. I wasn't a bit more afraid than I would be with Brother Neville setting right here. Just the fear of holy love in my heart… It created an atmosphere. When that bull run right into that atmosphere, not over ten feet from him, he stopped and throwed his feet out…What is it? When Divine love is projected, sovereign grace takes over at that time. (Divine Love 560826).

Quote: E-24 I said to those little hornets; …Now, in the Name of Jesus Christ, our Creator, go back into your house; I won't bother you anymore." And… them hornets all taken single file, and flew around me, and went right straight back into the nest while I was standing there. That's right. Oh, it was God. You see, but before it happened I had to love. (Divine Love 57-0305).

Brother Branham said it was perfect love in him that stopped the killer bull, it was the perfect love of God that sent the bees back into their nest, and it was perfect love that crippled the maniac. Now there was a man with perfect love. Yes, and when Brother Branham went up into the heavenlies, the voice of the Lord told him, “Nothing shall enter here without perfect love.”

Friends, do not get your ideas crisscrossed. This is the requirement for the end time Bride. Do not let the Methodist Age or so called Pentecostal Age, the Lutheran age or the Middle Ages bother you in the least. They are coming up under a different agreement with God. What makes the difference with the Bride here in the end time is that she is not going to die and go to the dust. We got to be living, that while this Rapture takes place, we got to have so much power in order to change this mortal into immortality and we must have enough speed to break the law of gravity, and pass every rocket that man made and enter the seventh dimension.

As certainly as there is a preparation for the Rapture, there is a preparation for the Outpouring of the Holy Spirit. If I do not say a word again, you are looking at the preparation for the Token right here this morning, on that diagram from faith right up to brotherly kindness and that Love of God over there is the Capstone, it is perfect love. Notice what it says “Love”. Nothing shall enter there without the Capstone then? Nothing shall enter there without the Capstone. So what is required? In other parts of the message the prophet of God said that you must be a perfect church to go in the Rapture. We must have perfect love (21-4 Rejected King 60-0515m). We must have perfect faith (184 Perfect Faith 63-0825e), we must have rapturing grace (155 What Holy Ghost Was Given For 59-1217; 43 Israel At The Red Sea 1 53-0326; 15-1 Three Kinds Of Believers 63-1124e), which I call perfect grace. ‘The sons of God must be manifested (19 Adoption 60-0522e). There must be a super church. (19-4 Spoken Word Original Seed 62-0318e).’ It is all summed up in the coming Capstone. Friends, all these requirements that seem to be so impossible is summed up in another Outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

Now I am going to let Brother Branham teach us this morning, how to attain to the Token, attain to that Outpouring of the Holy Spirit, attain to the Capstone, attain to perfect love, all one and the same under different terminologies. So this was not the Prophet’s idea. Sometime the pyramid confuses people. Let us put that aside a little bit. People say, “I do not understand the pyramid.” That pyramid teaching, Brother Branham only used that as an imaginary picture to preach unto us the qualifications that we must have before receiving the Outpouring of the Spirit. That pyramid is not in the Bible. But, a preacher sometimes makes a drawing because a drawing is worth a thousand words, and the Holy Spirit moved Brother Branham to put these qualities that we must have in the pyramid, that the people may be able to understand that. But the pyramid has nothing to do with that, as far as doctrine is concerned, but it has its application, and it has its application from the days of Enoch and it has its application in the city that is coming down, but to say that I have to become the pyramid to go in the Rapture, now that could take away your thoughts. You say that is Branham’s idea. Now that drawing is Branham’s idea, but the qualities that he marked down in the pyramid are scriptural. Before the Prophet of God could tell us what he told us on stature of a perfect man, it had to be in the Bible.

Alright, let me put this very sweetly and very nicely where you will understand. There was a man called Peter and he was given the Keys to the Kingdom. The Kingdom is Outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Peter had the keys, in other words, the know-hows to lead the people to the Outpouring of the Holy Spirit. After a certain time the ignorant and unlearned fisherman asked somebody to write for him and said, “Write this over here, I will sign my name under it and I am laying down here the plan of God for a man to receive perfect love, which is Charity.” That was laying there in the Bible. When this prophet of God, Elijah came by, him having to open up the mysteries in the end time. This was an article here, that the Holy Spirit led him too.

Quote W.M.B.: 6-4 I didn't expect to draw this skeleton, but the other day I was with some precious friends of mine…I think I scared them all away when I got to shouting up there in the woods…That's what come to me on a message that I was going to speak on, and how the rest of it tied right into it. (Stature Of A Perfect Man 62-1014m).

He went down to the forest. He said, “Lord, what will you have for your children today? Give me something.” And then the Holy Spirit came, he was leaning against a tree, and the Holy Spirit came and gave him this message and referred him to II Peter 1. In there, II Peter 1: 1-8 laid down the Plan of God, how you and I must be prepared to receive perfect love, to receive perfection. There are different stages. Forget the image there, forget the imaginary picture. It is right here in the Bible. When Peter wrote this here in the Bible, he never said anything about a pyramid, never drew a pyramid, he just put the virtues. So the Prophet of God pulled the virtues out of the scripture that Peter laid down, that you must have and he placed them into a pyramid to form an imaginary picture, and to say many things. I love the diagram of the pyramid, it is symbolic.

II Peter 1: 1-4 <Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature of Christ…>

Brother Peter’s whole setting is speaking of the divine nature of Christ. This divine nature of Christ qualified Him to become the tabernacle of God, and Peter is trying to give us the secret of what qualified Jesus to become the temple, the tabernacle, or the body of God, where God could come and live. I believe that is simple. Now if that was the qualification for God to come and dwell in His first son, it is the qualification for the end time Bride.

II Peter 1:4 <Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.>

In other words, this divine nature is going to come to you after you repent. After you have escaped the corruption that is in the world. You are justified and you are sanctified.

II Peter 1:5-7 <And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. > Charity is divine love. That fits first Corinthians 13. That is why the prophet of God on the Headstone placed “love and Holy Spirit”, because that is Charity.

II Peter 1:8 <For if these things be in you…>

This divine nature of Christ.

<…and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.>

You would not be a barren church; you would not be an unfruitful church if these things be in you.

II Peter 1:9-10 <But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall.>

There is a place that the church could reach that you will never fall and that is if you put on those virtues you will never fall. That means that you have reached to perfection.

II Peter 1:11 <For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you

abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.>

Beloved, the only way to enter the Kingdom of God is to put on the Divine Nature of Jesus Christ, for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you, yes, to enter the Kingdom of God.

John 3:5 <…Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.>

Brother Peter is laying down the plan of God to bring you into the Kingdom of God, which is none other than the Outpouring of the Holy Spirit and more.

In order to be qualified for the Outpouring of the Holy Spirit you must have these virtues. If you are not children; as long as you have crossed the age of accountability, you are going through the tribulation and your mother and father are going to leave you here. Young or old, rich or poor, smart or stupid, pretty or ugly. You must have this Token, you must have this Outpouring, you must have that Capstone to go in the Rapture. If you have not made up your mind to pay the price to be prepared for the Token, pray that you die now, because that tribulation is going to be sore. I will prefer to bury you, than to know that you are left out from that Rapture, where there shall be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. Pray that you die. If you intend to slumber down in your Laodicean condition, could hear a message like yesterday’s and hear a message like “Full obedience” and hear this message this morning, it does not mean anything to you and it does not move your spirit, to do better and to stop sleeping in church. That goes for pastor’s wives, song leader’s wives, old or young. I believe we ought to be respectful to the Spirit, if you feel sleep is coming upon you, get up from where you are, go wash your face or stand outside. It is total disrespect for you to be sleeping in the House of God under this kind of anointing. That is irreverence. I do not think anybody is sleeping this morning.

SEVEN VIRTUES QUALIFIED JESUS

But children, little ones; what I am saying is that Jesus had seven great qualities that were perfect, and in order for God to come inside of Him, after thirty years upon the earth, at the banks of Jordan, Jesus had to grow into this stature. You say, “Jesus had to grow into that stature, preacher?” The Bible said,

Hebrews 2:10 <For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. >

So now Jesus grew into this stature. The first thing: faith, then virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness and then at the banks of Jordan after thirty years preachers, after thirty years then came the Love of God down in Him, in the form of the Baptism of the Holy Ghost.

Somebody may say that the Outpouring is taking long or that God is keeping back the Outpouring. God is not keeping back the Outpouring. It is you and I that are keeping it back, because we have to put on those virtues in order to qualify for the Outpouring. The Lord is more anxious to send this Outpouring to us, than we really want it. Brethren, believe this little preacher, tiny tots, even the aged. You would never go in the Rapture until you receive what is coming called the Outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the Fullness of God, or the Token and in order to receive that Token, that Outpouring, you must be qualified and what I am telling you here this morning is the qualification to receive that Outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

Do you think I am joking? Do you think this ministry is some kind of a joking ministry, where you will just come in here and be a church member and attend church and say, “I go to church” and not be desperate? The Prophet of God said on ‘Desperation’, you will be desperate or perish, just after he preached the message called ‘The Token’. He said, you will be desperate or perish. I do not believe he was joking.

Quote W.M.B.: 99 Oh, church, rise and shake yourself. Pinch your conscience; wake yourself up in this hour. We must be desperate or perish. There's coming forth something from the Lord. I know it as THUS SAITH THE LORD. There's coming forth something, and we better get desperate. It's between life and death. It'll pass through us and we won't see it. (Desperation 63-0901e).

Listen that was one of the first messages I ever read and I never took it lightly. It drove me into the wilderness to talk to God. I vowed, “God you have to come and talk to me otherwise I will die here, and they will bury me. I want that article to go in the Rapture. If you seek him with all your heart, you shall surely find him. He did come and that is why I am here after my fortieth year, trying to woo you to that promise of God.

Deuteronomy 4:29 <But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.>

SEVEN VIRTUES – FINAL PREPARATION

This is what I am calling ‘The Final Preparation’. There was a holiness message that was given to us that we must obey and that deals with preparation. It is preparation for the Token, but these virtues here are the final preparation for the Token, for the Outpouring, for the Capstone, for the Love of God, for the Kingdom of God. These virtues are not just put here to make a Branham’s picture; little fellows, that is not a Branham’s picture but this is coming from the Bible over here. Brother Branham borrowed this message from Peter who was the man with the keys to the Kingdom. Now, Peter knew better than anybody how to tell people to get Perfect Love and he wrote it in II Peter 1: 1-8 what you have to put on and why you have to put them on in order to come to Perfect Love, which is Charity, and he outlined seven virtues. Every little child should have a diagram like that in their Bible. Children, this is sweet.

The seven virtues inside the diagram are what were inside of Jesus and that is why He was so sweet, that is why He had so much love, that is why He had so much power, that is why He raised the dead, that is why He healed the sick, that is why at the banks of Jordan a voice came down and said, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased to dwell in.”

Quote W.M.B.: E-30 God spoke from the heavens. John saw Him coming in the form a dove, and said, "This is My beloved Son in Whom I'm pleased to dwell." The right translation… is, "In whom I am pleased to dwell in." (Jesus Christ The Same 55-0806).

Listen, the only thing that will please God to dwell in the end time Bride, is that She must have those same virtues that Jesus had. The day that He is pleased with you and I, when He looks down and sees those virtues inside of us, He will say, “This is my beloved Bride in whom I’m well pleased to dwell in.” And it had been already prophesied that we will make it. “His wife hath made Herself ready.”

Beloved, your struggles in this nasty world against lust, and against sin and against everything is not in vain, children. We got to overcome. The first thing that we got to overcome is ourselves, our own thoughts, our own minds, our own attitudes and the lust that is embedded inside of us. And you are not going to be pushed through a pipe and come out whole on the other side. Listen, though you want the thing badly you have to say, “I sacrifice it for Jesus.” And mean it from your heart.

While Jesus was growing up He was a regular man and was tempted in all points as we were yet without sin, and in His prayer in John 17, He said,

John 17:19 <And for their sakes I sanctify myself...>

And young men, we must have that testimony, “I sanctify myself because I want Eternal Life.” Little sister, “I sanctify myself. If I don’t get a husband, if I don’t get a wife I sanctify myself. Eternal life is more important than a wife, than a husband, than money and riches.” My God, but isn’t this sweet, brethren?

Peter who had known Jesus, and had a revelation and had the keys to the Kingdom, the man knew what was in Jesus and what it is that pleases the Almighty. Something stirs down on the inside when I see the Word of God so plainly before us. If those virtues were the things that qualified our Lord and pleased God to come down inside of Jesus we got to have them, we must have them and these are those seven virtues. Now, watch something, like Brother Chandler rightly said, “Watch, there are eight qualities.” Now watch something and see how that works. There are seven qualities: faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness and brotherly kindness. That’s seven, but the eighth quality is what the seven qualify you for. Do you understand what I am saying? The qualification is the seven virtues and they qualify you for the Capstone, which is Jesus, which is God, which is the Outpouring of the Holy Spirit and which is the Fullness. So, the eighth quality is not necessarily a virtue but it’s God coming down into the virtues, it is the God that is so pleased to come down and indwell you, because you possess these virtues. Now, that is what we’re talking about.

Now so these virtues that qualified our Lord, for God to say, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased to dwell in.” This is the only thing that will please God in this end time. Not those women in pants on Benny Hinn’s stage, not that demonic power that is throwing down the people. My God, it’s a disgrace! And they said that is the cream of Pentecostalism.

I will start quoting the prophet and let him teach us a little. Elijah, Malachi 4: 5-6, the man that was chosen of God to reveal the mysteries in the end time, he went back and saw how Peter used the Keys to instruct the people to receive the Love of God. Brother Branham borrowed those Keys. So now, Brother Branham was sent in the end time to build a perfect Bride for Christ. Without that prophet there would not be a perfect Bride and without the opening of the Seals there would not be a perfect Bride. We could not fulfill the requirement of God. We were a helpless people and God sent a prophet and I want to show you in his own words now, how to be prepared for the Capstone. I challenge the world upon this doctrine. There is not a living human being that could refute what I am saying without refuting the prophet; he will have to be an idiot to claim to have the Capstone and bypass the prophet. I am reading these quotations from one book: ‘Stature of a Perfect Man’. The prophet is going to tell us in this message how to become perfect.

MISSION OF MALACHI 4:5-6

SENT TO BUILD DWELLING PLACE

Quote W.M.B.: 27-5 Were not building an organization. I'm not here this morning to build an organization. Christ never sent me to build an organizations. Christ sent me to build individuals to the statue of Jesus Christ that they might be the power house...?... dwelling place of His Spirit by His Word (Uh-huh.)--by His Word. See? Build up the individual to that place, not build an organization to a greater denomination, but build the individual to sons and daughters of God. That's the idea.

The prophet of God said that he was sent to build individuals into the stature of Jesus Christ that they might become power houses and not only that, but they might become sons and daughters of God in the endtime. Now I am asking the message world, where are these power houses and where are these manifested sons and daughters of God? They are no where to be seen, then they missed the plan that was given by the prophet, they ignored the plan that was given by the prophet and they swept it under the carpet and they are jumping up every day around the world, thinking that the Rapture is going to come at any moment and carry them away. They are liars and deceivers. If the Rapture is to take place presently nobody is going, including this church. According to the message of the hour we must become perfect, we must have Perfect Love and there must be a Perfect Church and a Super Church otherwise we’ll go nowhere. But I’m telling you something, friends, the Holy Ghost will be poured out.

Now, right here the prophet was given a commission to build sons and daughters into power houses. Do you want to tell me that around this message we have power houses? When you talk about power houses you’re talking about Peter, James, John and Brother Paul where the very shadow of those men healed the people. We are talking about the Bride on the day of Pentecost. We have power houses in the message of intellectualism, a bunch of television lovers and a bunch of preachers and people on the sports field.

I am asking, who is continuing the ministry of Christ in power, signs and wonders? And don’t tell me he did not mean that. Right here he said,

Quote W.M.B.: 14-1 Jesus said, "At that day you'll know that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me, I in you, and you in Me." See? Know how that God is in His church. The church is now supposed to be taking the place of Christ, carrying on His ministry. "He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also. Yet a little while, and the world seeth Me no more; yet you shall see Me for I will be with you, even in you to the end of the world." There it is: carrying on His work.

How to carry on the works of Christ? You must do greater works than Jesus done. What happen to these dead people around the message? How could a man settle for something dead and think that message believers are going in the Rapture from the sports field, and women ruling over men and children are their oppressors?

<As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them.> Isaiah 3:12

They have gone back on the holiness message: high heel shoes, short dresses, tight dresses and all kinds of immoralities. They have not fulfilled the abc’s much less to have the seven virtues, and then they explained away the seven virtues. They say that the seven virtues are the seven thunders. So as long as they have the seven thunders heresy that’s the virtues. You’re a lying hypocrite, deceiving God’s people throughout the world. The seven virtues are the divine nature of Christ. Now, hear how stupid that doctrine is. You’re talking about a stupid doctrine. The seven thunders were not written in the Bible. If the seven virtues are the seven thunders then Peter wrote it down. Boy, I tell you, this is madness! The seven thunders were not written in the Book and if the seven thunders are the seven virtues then Peter wrote it here, and then in 1962 Brother Branham preached it. So then they are saying that Brother Branham was confused because in 1963 he said, “It was not revealed to me.” The seven thunders are not the seven virtues. The seven virtues are the divine nature of Christ, which we must have in order to go in the Rapture and also receive the Capstone. We will listen to our prophet. He was not confused.

He said he was sent to build a tabernacle for God. He borrowed Brother Peter’s blue print that was given to him by Almighty God.

KEY UNLOCKS THE WAY TO BECOME A TABERNACLE FOR GOD

Quote W.M.B.: 11-5 Faith holds the key, that unlocks Christ to the people, reveals it. So today we're going to try to take that same key to unlock the way to become a virtuous Christian in the stature of God, that--and be a living Tabernacle for the living God to dwell in”.

Isn’t that wonderful? He said, there is a certain key, and Peter had the Key. He said, faith is the Key and “I’m going to take that Key now and unlock something to you, I’m going to unlock Christ, I’m going to reveal something to you.” This Key now is going to show how to become a virtuous Christian and how to come in to the Stature of a Perfect Man and be a living tabernacle for God to dwell in. There is only one way for Christ to come and live in your tabernacle and that is to follow this blue print that was given by Peter and established by William Branham. Outside of what I am saying here today you are going through the tribulation. To deny what I am saying and not apply this as Brother Branham said it, you are a candidate for the tribulation and to end up in the foolish virgins bunch. That is why the foolish virgins ended up where she ended up, even because she denied this teaching of Malachi 4:5-6, swept it under the carpet and brought over their Pentecostalism from 1906, thinking that they have this great article of the Love of God. Some of them will tell you that they have perfect love and perfect faith but then hate me and hate E.O.D.H. You’re a Judas. Do you have perfect love? If I am your enemy, love your enemy. Bruce is your enemy, love your enemy.

GOD DWELLS IN THE STATURE OF A MAN

Quote W.M.B.: 14-3 God dwells in the statue of a man, reflecting Himself into that being: perfect worship, God in us, being His Tabernacle, God manifesting.

Quote: 15-1 Then there came One which was the perfection of God. It was God among us. And since that time He has reflected Himself in His church this side of Calvary. So you see, we're all trying to get to this dwelling place, Tabernacle of the Living God.

The purpose of God for Brother Branham was to build men and women into the Stature of Jesus Christ. He himself was built up into the stature of a perfect man and he laid down a plan here and told us that there is a certain key to it. Alright! He said that key is faith. Now, little boys, there are seven virtues that Peter laid down and these seven virtues Jesus possessed and these seven virtues Brother Branham possessed. Let me stop there to put that into the minds of the children. Brother Branham possessed faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness and brotherly kindness and Brother Branham had Perfect Love. Is anybody going to make the Rapture without that? Impossible! And the man who had the goods laid down the plan, and he laid down the plan right here in ‘Stature of a Perfect Man’ and he said, get that otherwise you’re not going in the Rapture. He said, get the Token otherwise you’re not going in the Rapture. I don’t want to make this a long, formal teaching, brethren, but I have to go through these things briefly to edify you and to defeat the enemy. Yes. The first item is faith. Let us deal a little bit with the item of faith and see what that is.

FAITH - BORN AGAIN

Quote W.M.B.: 17-2 Well, now that's the way it is trying to manufacture Christianity. You can't do it. The first thing you've got to do is be borned again. You've got to be changed. See? And when you're changed, you become a new creation. Now, you're getting right now. See? Now, you don't have to worry about the feathers; it'll take care of itself when you're borned again. Yes, sir.

Faith is the foundation for all the other of virtues.

Quote W.M.B.: 18-2 Notice: you must be borned again. And when you're born again, you can't be born again without having faith. That's right. So, you see on my chart here, I got the very foundation. Faith is the foundation of all of it.

Quote: 20-2 And now, faith does the rest of it; faith does the rest. So you must have faith for a foundation. All Christianity, all you are, all you'll ever be, is based upon faith in the Word.

My God! Faith will produce all the rest of it. You don’t have to worry about the feathers. So you must have faith for a foundation. All Christianity, all you are, all you'll ever be, is based upon faith in the Word.

Quote W.M.B.: 22-3 What is the foundation of Christianity? Faith in the Word of God. That's your foundation. Then you begin to grow. Then you start. You begin to add to this foundation.

The prophet of God was laying emphasis upon this faith. He said that faith, here at the bottom of the pyramid, is to be born again because you cannot be born again without faith. Do you see where he put the New Birth? There are false teachers that say that the New Birth and the Baptism of the Holy Ghost are one and the same. I am saying that the born again experience is at the bottom of the pyramid, yes, and the Outpouring, the Fullness, the Love of God is on top of the pyramid. That is Brother Branham’s teaching. That is where the deception is laying.

BORN OF THE SPIRIT THEN BAPTIZED INTO THE BODY

Quote W.M.B.: 35 I teach and believe, and believe can sufficiently prove by the Scripture, that you're borned of the Spirit and then baptized into the Body by the Holy Spirit. (You Must Be Born Again 61-1231m).

NEW BIRTH & HOLY GHOST BAPTISM – A DIFFERENT THING ALTOGETHER

Quote: E-56 "He that hearth My words, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath Everlasting Life." That makes you a new creature…Then after you've did that, then by one Spirit we're baptized into the Body of power and service.

He never said you'll receive new birth after the Holy Ghost come upon you. Said, "You shall receive power after the Holy Ghost come upon you," a different thing altogether: not new birth, but new power. You're borned again by believing. You believe to Eternal Life. But you're baptized with the Holy Ghost until power, power for service. (Mark Of The Beast 56-0715).

THE NEW BIRTH ISN’T THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST

Quote: 269-363 When you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you then have the new birth. When you believe on the Lord, you receive a new thought, a new life, but it isn't the baptism of the Holy Ghost. See? You've got the new birth when you believe; you've got Eternal Life. It's a gift of God that's give to you through sovereign grace by accepting the gift that God is giving to you. See? "He that heareth My Words and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath Eternal Life, has Everlasting Life"; that's the new birth. You're converted; it means you're turned around.

But the baptism of the Holy Spirit puts you into the body of Christ, subject to the gifts for service… (I Corinthians 12)... You have to be baptized into the body to possess one of these gifts. They come with the body. (Qa. Hebrews Part 2 57-1002).

PEOPLE SAY THE HOLY GHOST BAPTISM IS THE NEW BIRTH – THAT’S WRONG

Quote: 37 And the new birth, as people talks that the baptism of the Holy Ghost is the new birth. Now, that's wrong. The baptism of the Holy Ghost is different from the new birth. The new birth is when you're born again. But the Holy Ghost is when power comes into that birth for service. That's exact. See?

The Holy Ghost is--baptized into the Holy Ghost. (Countdown 62-0909m).

BEING BORN AGAIN IS NOT THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST

Quote: 117 I don't believe in being borned again is the baptism of the Holy Ghost. It is not the baptism of the Holy Ghost; it's being reborn again. We're reborn by the Blood…life cell comes from the Blood. You're baptized by the Holy Ghost into the body, but you're born by the Blood. Absolutely. You're born by the blood of your father. I'm borned again by the Blood of my Father, and by our Father, Christ. Yes, sir. (Influence Of Another 62-1013).

I DON’T KNOW ANYBODY THAT TEACHES IT LIKE THIS

Quote: 114 And borned again does not necessarily mean now that you got the Holy Ghost. Now, remember. Now, many teach that. "I don't know anybody that teaches it like this," as old Brother Arganbright said the other night from the pulpit here. See? But new birth is not the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The Scripture doesn't support it, I don't think (See?), to my way of seeing it. See? (Key To The Door 62-1007).

I NEVER THOUGHT THERE WAS A PERSON BELIEVED LIKE ME

Quote: 129 I never thought there was a person believed that like me till this morning, I heard Charles Fuller as I was going down. He believes too, that the new birth is not the baptism of the Holy Ghost. The new birth is being born. The Holy Ghost is the baptism. See? (Why Against Organized Religion 62-1111e).

BORN AGAIN BY HAVING FAITH – THAT’S BIRTH

THAT’S NOT APPLIED TO THE HOLY GHOST BAPTISM

Quote: 38 You have the new birth by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. See? By having faith and accepting Him as your Saviour, that's birth (See?), because you've passed from death unto Life. Now, if you want to back that up, take St. John 5:24, "He that heareth My Words and believeth on Him that sent Me, has Everlasting Life." See, he's got Life because he believes. And that same group had to go to Pentecost to be baptized with the Holy Ghost. Exact.

Holy Ghost is power for service. So when talk like you got to be born again, and applying that to the Holy Ghost, many of the Methodists and so forth are wrong there. It cannot. It just won't cope to the Scripture here. You get the thing sideways. It's got to take it the way the Scripture's got it placed out here. See? And the Holy Spirit is a... "You shall receive the new birth after this"? What? No. "You shall receive power (Acts 1:8) after this the Holy Ghost is come upon you." See? And they'd already believed to Eternal Life, and so forth, but they had to have the Holy Ghost for power. "You shall be witnesses unto Me after the Holy Ghost is come upon you," because the Holy Ghost is a witness of the resurrection, showing that you have become an adult in Christ. (Countdown 62-0909m).

Let us just stay here for a few minutes since this is so important. Now, he said, the first thing that you must lay down is faith: that’s the foundation to build the house upon. It’s a tabernacle that you are building for God to come down and dwell. The first thing is that you must be born again and you got to be born again by faith. Faith in what? Faith in the Word of God. Let us see if we could understand that in the scripture.

Jesus told us a parable, he said, there was a foolish man that was going to build a house and a wise man was going to build a house. And the foolish man built his house upon sand: interpretations, he got his birth in denomination, he built his house upon false thunders and he claimed to be born again in so-called Pentecost. Sand, it’s going to sink, and when the storm came it blew down the man’s house. If you have a denominational birth, or a birth under Vin Dayal, or a birth under Coleman, under Gan, under Santiago, under Dr. Frank or Ben Howard, there is coming a storm that is going to blow away your house. It’s the same thing like the foolish and the wise virgins. So now the wise man built his house upon a Rock! Let us see if we could find out what is that Rock in the Bible.

Matthew 16:13- 18 <…Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?

And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.

He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?

And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.>

So the wise man-the wise virgins, got born again by having a revelation of the Son of Man. But this Rock foundation which is faith gets you born again at the bottom of the pyramid.

Let me settle your minds, children, by the words of the prophet. He said, once that foundation is laid you don’t have to bother about the feathers. The feathers in type are virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness and brotherly kindness.

FIRST GET BORN AGAIN – CHANGED – DON’T WORRY ABOUT THE FEATHERS

Quote W.M.B.: 17-2 Could you imagine an old buzzard trying to have a couple of dove feathers, say, "Looky here. See, I'm a dove." See? Why we all know he's a buzzard. See, see? That's all. We can tell that he's a buzzard.

Well, now that's the way it is trying to manufacture Christianity. You can't do it. The first thing you've got to do is be borned again. You've got to be changed. See? And when you're changed, you become a new creation. Now, you're getting right now. See? Now, you don't have to worry about the feathers; it'll take care of itself when you're borned again. Yes, sir.

Quote: 16-2 It's like a mule trying to manufacture wool, trying to be a sheep when he's a wolf--oh, he's a mule. You see, he can't manufacture wool. He can't do it. Wool is a gift to a sheep, not to a mule. He might try to act like a sheep, but he's still a mule. See? So you say, "I can eat like a sheep; I can do this like a sheep," and no matter what you can do, you've got to be a sheep in order to have wool.

And let me stop here a minute. The sheep doesn't manufacture wool. He has wool, because he is a sheep…And when you're a Christian, you just bear the fruit of the Spirit. You don't manufacture it. You don't try to make it up. You just try--make yourself something that you're not. You just become what you're supposed to be, and then it takes care of itself.

A mule doesn’t bear wool because it’s a mule. And that is what we were. In our evil nature we were mules. He said, A black bird cannot take peacock feathers and put them on the outside and say, “I am a peacock.” The nature has got to be changed.

You cannot take a hog and give him a good bath and then call him a sheep. No! He said, a sheep does not manufacture wool, it bears wool, but the mule might try to manufacture wool, but the sheep bears wool.

Beloved, listen to me! Oh God, this is great hope. Once you start seeing that revelation that God sent today, the Son of Man, you could relax because a sheep cannot help but bear wool. If I get born again I must put on virtue, I must put on knowledge, I must put on temperance, I must put on patience, I must put on godliness, I must put on brotherly kindness and I must get the Love of God! So take your hand from under your jaw, and stop wondering ‘How am I going to put on these virtues, Brother Bruce? How am I going to put on this knowledge?’ You don’t have to bother about it. What you have to bother about right now is surrendering your heart and enter the presence of God. Do you know how you come to that faith? By what I taught you yesterday, by surrendering your life and living in His presence then you will get born again in that realm. You say, “Brother Bruce, I taught that was a prayer message.” No beloved. It’s an all kind of things message. Don’t you realize in the presence of the Lord is the fullness of joy and at His right hand pleasures forever more? That is where you get born again. What I told you yesterday is to yield your vessel and come to the Lord, talk to Him like a Father, tell him that you want to go in the Rapture but you are very undone, and you are not sure that you are even born again and stay in that presence of God. He alone could give you the born again experience and then the presence of the Lord will go through your system and He will just bring a change. The born again experience is a change of nature. Only God could have changed Nebuchadnezzar into an ox, and only God could have changed the ox back into a king. Yes. My God, I love it! It is the truth. Brethren, listen, do you want to get born again, do you want to put on those virtues? Just come to the presence of the Lord and surrender. Don’t walk in here half an hour or one hour after service starts. You have to mean business with God, you have to become desperate with God and stay in that presence. You say, “I don’t understand that Brother Bruce.”

Luke 1:34-35 <…How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

… The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee

shall be called the Son of God. >

She was given a supernatural birth, without denominational seeds. She was given a spoken Word birth, and that is how you get that spoken Word Birth: come to the presence of the Lord, let the Holy Spirit overshadow you and all that you are hearing about Son of Man, the coming of the Lord, comes into your mind and it is in your mental faith and that mental faith wants overshadowing, and as you go to prayer and you let the Holy Ghost overshadow you in the presence of the Lord, the Lord will reveal it to you and turn your mental faith to spiritual revelation. You are born again. When you are born again you’ll have one ambition. The formality is gone, the figuring out is gone, the skepticism is gone, your figuring out, if this Word is true or if the preacher that’s preaching is false or true is gone, because faith is born in you. If you’re a skeptic of the Word the prophet of God said, forget it. You’re just a skeptic and you’re not ready for this. God can’t give you that faith because you’re a skeptic.

SKEPTICISM

Quote W.M.B.: 18-2 Notice: you must be borned again… you can't be born again without having faith. That's right…"He that cometh to God must believe that He is, and a Rewarder of those that diligently seek Him."… And when you are a skeptic of the Bible, when you're skeptic of the Word being right, you just might as well stay back until first you believe it.

What is sin? Unbelief. There's only two elements that controls the human being. That's either doubt or faith, one or the other. You're possessed of one that dominates your life. Just depends on how much faith you have, how high you can rise. But first it's got to be faith. (Stature Of A Perfect Man 62-1014m).

He said, the first thing that you must settle in your mind is that the Word is right, the message is right, you have heard the truth and we are standing on that ground. Why would you assemble from yesterday, beloved, and come back last night and assemble whole day again today? Faith! Faith is the key. Alright! Now brethren, you have a revelation of the message of the prophet of God, right then and there you are anointed in your soul; the Holy Ghost comes down inside of you. Now, you’re in communication with the Lord.

So, this is the nature of Christ that we are trying to put on. Faith is to be born again, it is the foundation and it is the key. Once you get that faith and you are born again the worries of perfection are over. That doesn’t mean to say that you could go and do what you want. I tell you! You’re looking for trouble because you’re a born son of God and every son that He receiveth He is going to chasten and He is going to try him. You’re talking about a beating! My! I don’t want that. Yes sir! It’s a terrible thing and when the Lord puts His hands upon you it is very heavy. A little pride in you, a little this and little that, you will be surprised to know the big hand that drops on your back. So now, the foundation for Christianity is to believe in what you are hearing, believe the Bible, believe the message otherwise forget it. If you don’t have faith and you’re a skeptic to the Word of God and you’re still wondering if this is true and if this is a cult, go drink rum, cuss, smoke and gamble and when you realize that you are a sinner come back. It will be better for you than being a make-believer, yet to do those things are wrong.

Now friends, as long as you get born again, the other virtues are automatic. Do you like that word? Automatic! Do you know that the sheep bears wool automatically? Do you know that the mango tree bears mangoes automatically? Do you know that the tamarind tree bears tamarinds automatically? And do you know that the serpent seed bears hatred, and malice, and murder, and grudge, and bitterness and unforgiveness automatically? We have the picture over there with Cain and we have the picture there with Judas. It’s an automatic thing. And Jesus was born right; He did not have to bother about those virtues. He became perfect by the things which He suffered. He had to go through that certain process and as He continued in life He had virtue, He had knowledge and confounded the doctors. He was a nice and an obedient child. Virtue! Now, all these things were building up within thirty years. Some may say, “I’m tired of waiting for this Outpouring. I’m tired.” Jesus waited thirty years and He was the sinless Son of God, what about you a sinful fellow? What about all that lust inside of you? Do you think that God is coming down to seal all that inside of you? You nasty fellow, go and fast and pray, get the nasty thing out of you. Then you want to quarrel with God about why He is taking so long to bring the Token. He isn’t taking long, but it’s you that are keeping back the promise. Now let us hear what he said about virtue.

VIRTUE

Quote W.M.B.: 23-4 Now, here's what we do. What's the first thing? Have faith and be borned again; that's laying the foundation. Then after we lay the foundation, secondly, you add to your foundation. "Add to your faith," Peter said here… First you have faith, then you add virtue to your faith. This is the next column. First pour your foundation: faith. Then to your faith add virtue.

VIRTUE IS STRENGTH

Quote: 24-3 if virtue went from Him to heal the woman that was sick, He's expecting the same virtue in His church, because He was our Example. And if He had virtue to give to the people, He expects us to have virtue to give to the people. And what is virtue? "Virtue" is "strength, power." Some of them don't even believe in power of God. They say, "That's passed. Only thing you have to do is just put your name on the book. Be sprinkled or poured, or baptized, or whatevermore, and that's all you have to do. “but Peter said here, "Add virtue."

He said, virtue is strength, virtue is an odor. If you are truly born again, you will put on the virtues. You’re not going to manufacture this. No! “Well I have to behave real good and I have to show my Christianity; I got to give away something sometimes.” But inside of you is selfishness. That is not virtue. He said, virtue is something that you have to give out. The flowers have honey, that’s the virtue of the flowers. It draws the butterfly and it draws the birds. He drew the example of Reverent Mr. Lily.

VIRTUE – REVEREND MR. LILY

Quote W.M.B.: 24-5 I preached a sermon about twenty years ago, I guess, on Reverend Mr. Lily, Lily, the pastor. Took it from the text to where Jesus said, "Consider the lilies how they neither toil or spin, yet I say unto you, Solomon in all of his glory is not arrayed like one."

Look at the lily. It comes from way down in the muck; and every minute of the day it has to be drawing from the earth. See? And what does it do with this virtue that it draws? It gives it out. It makes a beautiful sight for the admirer. It opens up itself for honey, for the bee to come and get his part.

Virtue is an odor and you’re giving out something. In other words, your life is giving out something. I’m sure there are people here whose lives are giving out something. Something is happening to us and we are growing, people suffered, they paid the price and you admire them. It’s virtue. They are giving out virtue. He said, when you give out virtue people look at you and see your unselfishness. You must have it before you give it out. Your unselfishness will be reflected. You’re reflecting something that edifies another man. It attracts the sinner. Has anybody ever come to you and say, “Brother, thank you for your life, thank you for your sacrifice, thank you for your forgiveness and your loving heart? ” Then, that is virtue, that could forget all offences, forgive and be the same person tomorrow. That is odor. That is virtue. Jesus manifested virtue.

John 8:10-11 <…Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?

…Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more. >

That is virtue, odor. How could a person like that turn back and sin? <…go, and sin no more. >

That virtue will bring that bird to the honey. The next thing there is knowledge.

PERFECT KNOWLEDGE

Quote W.M.B.: 25-1 Yes, sir. He's got it. The church has it. The church of the living God is built up into this perfect man of the knowledge of Christ.

HOLY GHOST - HEAVEN-BORN KNOWLEDGE

Quote: 28-2 you've got to have these things. And the only way you'll ever be able to have them is to have heaven-born knowledge. And heaven-born

knowledge will vindicate the Word.

Quote: 28-6 I believe in genuine Holy Ghost knowledge. Holy Ghost knowledge will always punctuate the Word with, "Amen." When you get these things that seem to contradict themselves in the Bible, you set down and study it, and prayerfully like that; and the first thing you know, the Holy Spirit begins to move in. After while you see it ties together, and there you got it. See? That's knowledge.

Quote: 30-1 All right, now, knowledge. Now, not worldly knowledge, but it's heavenly knowledge. And heavenly knowledge, when God is the fountain of all knowledge, and God is the Word, then if you've got heavenly knowledge, you believe the Word, and you reason anything by the Word.

Now, brethren, knowledge is the knowledge of Christ and you understand the Word of God. If you’re born again God has given you understanding, you have knowledge and that is what we have today. Now, these heretics outside there today and people that follow heretics lack knowledge.

Hosea 4:6 <My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…>

Beloved, the Lord has blessed us. I could put any false prophet before this congregation and let them preach. God has imparted knowledge to you. So, you are not so poor after all, you are just humble. That is what it is. But we are growing; we have knowledge to know, that is not the Holy Ghost on Benny Hinn but a dirty ghost. We have knowledge to know that we must put on the virtues before we get the Capstone. All this is knowledge. God has given us heaven-born knowledge.

TEMPERANCE - CONTROL YOUR TONGUE

Quote W.M.B.: 33-4 Temperance doesn't mean: stop drinking alcohol here either. No, no. Temperance doesn't mean alcoholic cure, not in this case. This is Bible temperance, Holy Spirit temperance. That's just one of the lust of the flesh. But we're talking about Holy Spirit temperance. That means how to control your tongue, not be a tattler; how to control your temper, not fly off every time anybody speaks cross to you. Oh, my. Boy, a lot of us are going to fall off 'fore we get started, aren't we? See? Then we wonder why God's not in His church doing miracles and things that He used to do.

Temperance! Temperance is control. You don’t gossip, you don’t get into cliques and you control your temper. That is temperance

PATIENCE

Quote W.M.B.: 35-4 Then after that, fourthly, you want to add patience to your faith. "If you got faith, it worketh patience," the Bible said. See? So this is patience. Now, that's the next thing that's going to build this statue. You know, God's got real material in His building. See how short we are, brethren? See, see? See why, where we're at? Yes, sir. See, we have glory; you have shouts, and things, because we got faith; but when we come down to these things here, God can't build us into that statue. See? He can't--He can't make us up to that kind of a place. We got all these other things we fall and slide off with it. See? He can't build His church.

Patience! Patience is heaven-born patience. How do we get this patience? The trial of your faith giveth patience. Do you see that you have to go back to the foundation? He said, faith worketh patience; patience with one another; patience will cause you to wait on the Outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

Luke 21:19 <In your patience possess ye your souls.>

Patience will cause you to wait on the Outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Anybody that says that he has patience and denies the Outpouring of the Holy Spirit is not even born again.

FAITH WORKETH PATIENCE

Quote: 35-5 Patience with what? What kind of patience? First thing is have patience with God. If you've got real genuine faith, you'll have real genuine patience, because faith worketh patience. When God says anything, you believe it. That's all. You got patience. Say, "Well, I asked Him last night to heal me, and I'm just as sick this morning." Oh my, what patience. God told Abraham, and twenty-five years later there wasn't even one sign; he still believed it. He was patient with God.

Put Him always before you. Let Him be the next crossing thing. You can't cross Him, so just keep Him before you. "He said so, and I'm... It's going to happen." See? Keep Him before you. That's right.

PATIENCE WITH ONE ANOTHER

Quote: 40-3 And we should have patience with one another too. See? One time, we get so much impatient with one anothers. We think we got to be like Moses. Moses had patience with the people. Look at--that's what caused them not to go over. See, if you're trying to do something... Like I've tried to get this message over to the Tabernacle, to see that each member of the Tabernacle becomes this. It's hard to do. I've tried to have patience; this is thirty-three years (See?), have patience. Women still bob their hair still just the same. But just have patience; just have patience, wait. Have to. If you ain't got it, don't try to build on to this down here. Have patience.

PATIENCE TO WAIT ON OUTPOURING.

Quote: 42-3 Talk about patience; how about the Pentecostal people? As long as they've got the commission, "Wait until. (See?) Wait until you're endued with power." "How long?" "It ain't no question how long it will be." They just got the answer: "Wait until."

They went up there and said, "All right, boys, maybe in fifteen minutes now the Holy Spirit's going to be on us, and we're going to have our ministry." Fifteen minutes passed: nobody. One day passed, no... Two, three, four, five, six, seven... Some of them might've said, "Hey, don't you think we already got it?" "No, no, no, no." That's right. "You better come on out, boys."

Devil said, "You know you've already got what you want. Go on and start your ministry." "No, no, we ain't got it yet, because He said, 'There will come a--what would take place in the last days. With stammering lips and other tongues will I speak to this people, and this is the rest, that I said,'" See? Isaiah 28:19 said... This is--this is it. You'll get it when... "Why, we'll know when it comes. We'll know when it comes. We'll know it. It's promised of the Father." There they waited nine days, and then on the tenth day... Now, you're there. They had patience to wait.

GODLINESS - PERFECTION

Quote: 43-4 But if you've got genuine faith, then put genuine virtue to it, then genuine knowledge, then genuine temperance, then genuine patience…add godliness. Oh, my. Godliness to be added... What does godliness mean?... we found it in a dictionary. "Godliness" means "to be like God."

Matthew 5:48 <Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.>

And that godliness is perfection and it ties in to Ephesians 4: 11-15.

PERFECTING OF SAINTS

Quote W.M.B.: 44-1 Ephesians 4 and begin with the 12th verse. All right, let's begin up here at the 11th verse. And he gave some apostles; and some, prophets;... (Remember last night: don't try to take the other man's office. See?)... and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and some teachers;

For the perfecting of... (God... Does it read like that? The perfecting of what? Saints. Who are the saints? The sanctified ones, the ones who started from down here.)... perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry:... (The ministry of Jesus Christ)... for the edifying of the body of Christ: (For the edifying, building it up, edifying...)

till we all come into the unity of the faith, and the knowledge of the Son of God, into the perfect man,... (Unto the assurance, oh, my.)... unto the measure of the statue of the fulness of Christ:

Do you see that the Bible doesn’t lie? Over there in Peter, and look over here in Ephesians 4. He said, “The five fold ministry is set there for the edification of the Body of Christ, the perfecting of the saints, until we come unto the full stature of Jesus Christ.”

BROTHERLY LOVE – CARE, LOVE FORGIVENESS

Quote W.M.B.: 45-3 All right. Coming in to perfection now... All right. Then sixthly, let's add, the Bible said here, adding brotherly love--brotherly kindness. Now, that's a good one. Right here, the sixth one--seventh. All right, adding brotherly kindness. All right. When we get to that, brotherly kindness, put yourself in his place on the matter. Now, you say, "My brother sinned against me," said Peter, "Shall I forgive him?" He said, "Seven times a day?"

He said, "Seventy times seven." See, brotherly kindness. Now, you see, if a brother's all out of tune, don't be impatient with him. See? No. See? Be kind to him. Go anyhow.

What is brotherly love? Alright! The great test of brotherly love is to put yourself in the place of another man when he is going through his trials and sufferings. Not only that but the great test is if you can forgive your brother seventy times seven. That is what the prophet explained here.

W.M.B. VIRTUES MANIFESTED – LOVE CHARITY

Quote W.M.B.: 45-5 Somebody said not long ago, said, "How can you believe these things the way you do and still go to the Assemblies of God, and the Oneness, all the rest of them? Well, see, brotherly kindness (See?), hoping someday. See? Patience with him (See?), temperance, enduring with him, knowledge to understand what he believes. And remember, it's in his heart. That's what it is; virtue in yourself to let it go out with kindness, meekness to him; having faith that someday God will bring him in. See? Brotherly kindness, the seventh thing. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. See? Seven things.

CHARITY- CAPPING STONE

Quote W.M. B.: 45-5 Then... Now, you're coming. Next thing then add charity, which is love. That's the capping stone. One of these days in the church.

Plain like that! Charity is the bond of perfection. That is what the Bible declares. This ties down the whole thing. After you put on the seven virtues: faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness and brotherly kindness now you have an article called Charity. If you want to find out what is Charity just read I Corinthians 13 and it tells you all about Charity. Alright! It’s a perfect article.

I Corinthians 13:4-8 <Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;

Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;

Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

Charity never faileth: but whether [there be] prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether [there be] knowledge, it shall vanish away.>

PERFECT CHURCH - CAPSTONE CAP IT OFF

Quote W.M.B.: 47-1 Now, in building the virtue, building this monument, building this statue (See?), it starts off and the foundation that's on faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness. Now, what's it do? Then they're waiting for the Headstone which is love; for God is love, and He controls, and He is the Strength of every one of these things. Yes, sir. Right in here. Right in here. See, I got in between all these works in here, and here there's little waves coming. What is that? The Holy Ghost coming down through Christ (See?), Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is above all this, welding this together, building a what? A perfect church for the capstone to cap it off. What's it been done again? It's manifested through seven church ages and seven church messengers.

Now that capstone comes down to seal the virtues. Charity, which is the capstone, comes to seal the virtues, energize the virtues, put power into the virtues and make it work perfectly.

VIRTUES - SEALED IN YOU

Quote W.M. B.:48-1 Then Peter here says first (seven things) faith, virtue (See, coming up), knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly love, and brotherly kindness and then the love of God, the Holy Ghost. Christ in the Person of the Holy Ghost comes upon you in the true baptism of the Holy Ghost, and you got all these virtues sealed in you, then God lives in a tabernacle called the building, the living Tabernacle of the living God's dwelling place.

48-2 When a man possesses these kind of things, then the Holy Ghost comes upon him. No matter, you might speak with tongues; you might impersonate any gift that God's got. You might do that, but until these virtues here go into you, you're still off the real true foundation of faith. But when these virtues grow in, as you added that to that, then you are a living monument. You are a living, moving idol.

Quote: 48-5 But when we, not in a imaginary way, but prostrate ourselves before a living God, a living virtue, a living knowledge, a living patience, a living godliness, a living power, coming by the living God makes a living man a living image, the statue of God, what's He doing? The same things that Jesus did, walking the same way He walked, doing the same things He did; because it's not an imaginary thing. There's a reality that proves it.

A BODY THAT GOD CAN DWELL IN

Quote: 49-3 Now, that is the house that God dwells in, not a building with a big bell on top of it and a high steeple (See?), but, "a body has Thou prepared Me," a body that God can dwell in, God can walk in, God can see in, God can talk in, God can work in (Amen.), living instrumentality of God. God walking on two feet in you. Glory. "The footsteps of the righteous is ordered of God," God walking in you, for ye are written epistles, read of all men. And if the Life that's in Christ be in you, you'll bear the Life that Christ bore.

Now, do you see friends? After you put on those virtues and God comes down in you, you become His feet, you become His eyes, you become His ears, and God is walking on two feet upon the earth in you as living instrumentalities of God. He said, you are no longer controlling yourself. He said, it’s the head that’s controlling the body.

VIRTUES THEN HEAD CONTROLS YOU

Quote W.M. B.: 50-2 If you die, you take the blood out of a man. You embalm him. Trouble of it is, a lot of them never got embalmed. See? You take the blood out of a man, he's gone. Then the only thing you can do is put another blood back in him if he's going to live again; you took his blood out. And now we put the Blood of Jesus Christ in. See? And that brings the faith of Jesus Christ, the virtue of Jesus Christ, the knowledge of Jesus Christ, the temperance of Jesus Christ, the patience of Jesus Christ, the godliness of Jesus Christ, the brotherly kindness of Jesus Christ, and the love of God which is Jesus Christ. He's the Head that controls you. And your feet is the foundation, faith. Amen. Controlled by the Head, takes the people...?... There you are. There is the perfect man of God when he possesses these virtues.

My head controls my body. Take off my head and my body will lose control. Alright! And that is what happened to all the people in message and so-called Christianity, they don’t have the Capstone and they are doing what they want too. But then, when that Head comes It is going to direct us.

WHEN COMPLETED CHURCH FOR RAPTURE

Quote W.M.B.: 50-4 And this "being," when it's completed, is the church of God going to rapture. And this "being," when completed is a servant of God in the church of God that's going in the rapture. Glory. See what I mean? There you are. There's the full thing.

Quote: 51-1 Then the whole statue of your being is governed and controlled by these things. But it cannot be completely controlled till it completely possesses these qualities.

That is why there is so much confusion in the message today, because the Capstone has not yet come to the Bride, and when that Capstone comes upon the Bride, he said, this is the church that is going in the Rapture. Are you convinced that you must have that to go in Rapture? [Congregation says, “Amen!”] That’s what the prophet said. How could they tell me that they are going to leave us and go in the Rapture? No! We will leave them.

CAPSTONE SEALS YOU INTO KINGDOM

Quote W.M. B.:51-5 You're sealed. A seal shows on both sides. Whether you're going or coming, they see the seal just the same. There you are. See? When a man or woman possess this, then the Capstone comes down and seals them into the Kingdom of God which is the Holy Ghost.

Then the Word, coming from here, manifests Itself through each one of these beings (See?), and makes its complete being a tabernacle of the living God, a walking, living example of Christianity.

What Christ was, these people are, because His Life is in here; they are in Christ, and their life is dead and hid in Christ through God, and sealed in there by the Holy Ghost: I Corinthians 12. That's right. See? You reckon yourself dead. Then you're born of faith, then virtue, and these other things that's added to you till you're a perfect living image of God.

THEN WILL COME THE RAPTURE

Quote W.M.B.: 53-1 When the pyramid Cap does come, the pyramid itself, the Body of Christ will have to be honed, not only just some creed, or doctrine, or something we've come through. It'll have to be so perfectly like Christ till when He comes, He and that ministry will fit right smack together. Then will come the rapture, the going home.

There will be no Rapture whatsoever without the Capstone coming. There will be no Capstone coming upon you until you possess those seven virtues. No seven virtues will grow in you until you’re born again. So as you live in the presence of God, as you come to church, and so yield your vessel and surrender your life, as certainly as you were born again by faith, virtue is actually born in you.

SEVEN VIRTUES BIRTHED INTO YOU

Quote W.M. B.:39-5 Then to my faith, I add virtue, godly virtue. Then to my virtue, I add knowledge of the Word. To my knowledge I add temperance self-control…I'm climbing up the ladder now. See? I've added virtue, knowledge, temperance; now I've got to add patience. I still ain't got the Holy Ghost. Then after I add patience, I add godliness. You know what that is? …Let that not be a put-on…It's a birth. I've been birthed into this, into this, into this, into this, into this, into this, into this, and then the love of God, Christ, comes down and seals all that up in me for service. See? Then what does He do when He gives me the Holy Ghost? (Blasphemous Names 62-1104m).

Now, if you slouch down and you want to become a Laodicean church member and you have that birth down inside of you, He is going to hit you hard because perfection comes by suffering. Yes. He will hit you hard, He may cause you to lose your business, cause a child to die, cause some persecution, stir up your wife against you, stir up the children against you and then when you fall into that travail, you will say, “I have to draw closer to the Lord. I don’t understand what is happening.” And then you come into the presence of the Lord virtue is born, knowledge is born, temperance is born, patience is born, when you know what you suffered, then you could be kind to your brother, when he is going through his trial. You are getting in shape. So now this is the unit that goes in the Rapture.

Brother Branham took up this same topic one month after on the message called ‘Blasphemous Names’ and he was trying to explain a little more to the people.

BLASPHEMOUS NAMES 62-1104M

VIRTUES BEFORE SEAL OF GOD

Quote W.M. B.:16-1 Now, these things here absolutely must be in the Christian before the Holy Ghost ever seals them, before this comes down on top and makes a complete unit.

SOON THE HOLY GHOST BEING POURED OUT WILL SEAL THE CHURCH

Quote: 20-3 The saints are sleeping, waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting (See?) on till this age, but soon the Holy Ghost, being poured out from Christ, will come and will seal up the Church, then the Church will be raptured. It'll be a complete unit of God, a Bride for Christ, who will be the head of all things.

MANIFEST GIFTS - NOT INDICATIONS OF HAVING HOLY SPIRIT

Quote W.M. B.: 20-5 Now, I shunned saying this a few days ago, thinking that the church would be spiritual enough to catch it (and maybe I better turn this tape off right now, 'cause I don't want it to get out amongst brethren.); but you could speak with tongues, you could shout, you could dance, you could cast out devils, do anything you want to, and still not have the Holy Ghost.

Didn't them disciples come back rejoicing and shouting because the devils was subject unto them? And Jesus... Right among them was Judas? Did not Jesus say in that day, when He come, that "Many will come to Me and say, 'Lord have not I cast out devils and in Your Name done mighty works,' and I'll say, 'Depart from Me, you workers of iniquity, I didn't know you.'" Those things are not indications of the Holy Spirit. By their fruit you shall know them.

He said the Holy Ghost is being poured out now but then there comes a shower and when that shower comes it is going to seal all those virtues in you and then the Rapture will come.

GIFTS WITHOUT VIRTUE - STUMBLEBLOCK – NOT ACCEPTED BY GOD

Quote W.M.B.: 21-2 Now, you say, "Brother Branham, should we speak with tongues?" Absolutely, that's gifts of God. But those gifts of God without these virtues in them, makes a stumbleblock to the unbeliever. It's not accepted by God. This has to be first. And when you have faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, and brotherly love, then the Holy Ghost comes down and seals you as a unit, as same as He seals the church ages as a unit. The way He makes His Bride is the way He makes His individual: made out of the same material, like Eve was made out of Adam, a rib from the side. Here is the things that you have to have first. You can't impersonate them; you can't imitate them; they've got to be God sent and God borned. Imitation only causes confusion.

It's like I said: Could you imagine seeing a buzzard, setting there with a dove feather stuck in his wings, say, "See, I'm a dove." See? He's not a dove, he's a buzzard, vulture.

Could you imagine a blackbird with a peacock feather in his wings and saying, "See...?" That's something that he stuck in. But it has to come from the inside out, and produces Christianity. God, by the power of the Holy Spirit...

VIRTUES THEN CAPSTONE BAPTISM

Quote: 22-3 And now, as in the individuals, these virtues and things are (knowledge and temperance)--is added to our faith, then when the Capstone comes, the Holy spirit cements it together; There's the baptism of the Holy Spirit. That's why it's so short today.

VIRTUES IN YOU – THEN GOD SEALS YOU

Quote W.M. B.: 25-4 Now, when Jesus had been obedient, Jesus to God, God placed Him positionally: "This is Him." Now, when the member is born by the Holy Ghost into the family of God and has proven to have these virtues in him, that God can see virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, brotherly kindness, and godliness in him, then God seals him or places him. And there, that's when you see the sons and daughters of God.

VIRTUES – THEN ADOPTED AND SEALED BY HOLY SPIRIT

Quote: 26-1 Your own life proves you haven't got it, Until this is there

and God has adopted you and sealed you by the Holy Ghost into His kingdom... Then there's no getting out of it. You are eternally secure. "…Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby all you and your godly virtues are sealed until the day of redemption."

VIRTUES SEALED IN YOU WHEN BAPTIZED BY THE HOLY GHOST

Quote: 33-2 The beast, churches, called churches, they are not churches. Let me be sure that's on record. They are not churches; they are lodges; people join them. But you cannot join the Church of the living God. You're borned into It by the baptism of the Holy Ghost. And when you're baptized with the Holy Ghost, these virtues are sealed in you by the Holy Ghost; and therefore, "He that's born of God does not commit sin." He cannot. There you are.

There we are. Thank you for your patience. This will challenge the

world and put the people of God who loves God into desperation. I do believe that. So may the Lord bless your hearts and let us bow our heads for a moment of prayer. Amen!

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