When I'm not speaking with you, I pastor a tiny assembly we call Bible Believers' Church. When I'm not preaching, I manage our Website on the Net. If you're connected to the Internet, please visit . Here's one of the many excellent questions we've had from believers out in cyber space:
"Was the Flood of Noah's day a universal or purely a local flood?"
God redeems this earth the same way He redeems His people. Its a three-fold process. First, we're justified by grace through faith. Then to show faith is real, baptized in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. Second, we're sanctified by the blood of Jesus, separating from sin to live according to His Word. Finally we're baptized by the Holy Ghost and Fire, or born-again, when faith in the present Truth makes our lives written epistles of what Jesus is doing now.
Water, blood and spirit are required for a natural birth. Without all three the baby is still-born. Likewise all three are required for the Spiritual, or new birth.
Earth was baptized in Noah's Flood, typing justification by faith. It was sanctified when the blood of Christ dropped on it, and will receive its baptism with the Holy Ghost after the Millennium, when the Holy Fire of God will annihilate everything contrary to Him, and flames will shoot thousands of miles into space.
Now in answering the question as to whether Noah's Flood was local or universal we find Peter describes the Flood as earth's baptism. Baptism is not sprinkling or pouring, it's a total immersion which would be impossible were the Flood local. Likewise, if you've been sprinkled or poured instead of wholly immersed under water, you're not baptised. Noah's Flood was a universal immersion.
Numerous times God promised He'd never again destroy `all flesh', and `everything living', as He did in the days of Noah. Therefore its impossible to accept anything less than all of the human race, and all of the animals perished in the Flood. (Genesis 8:21; 9:11, 15; Isaiah 54:9; I Peter 3:20-21; II Peter 2:5; 3:6).
Since Noah's day, numberless millions have perished in destructive local floods in many parts of the earth. But not "every living thing . . . as it was in the days of Noah." If we're to believe the Flood was a local phenomenon, then we must say that God has repeatedly broken His promise. For God promised not only to spare the human race, and `every living thing' from another Flood, but also earth itself (Genesis 8:21; 9:11; Isaiah 54:9).
Today, we'll be teaching on Revelation chapter four which sets the scene for the revelation of how Christ redeemed His Church in each Age, and who they were. He reveals these things in the Seven Seals of chapter six.
At the end of the letter to the angel of every Church Age we find its not the world, but the churches that are shaken by the angel's Message. "He that has an ear, let him understand what the Spirit says to the churches" (plural). This admonition is for all who claim to be the Bride of Christ. Nominal Christians, are as responsible to obey their supposed-to-be Husband as the true and elect Church.
Brother Branham said, "I may preach to tens of thousands in a city and thousands may come forward. But only one of them may be elect.
Amos prophesied a famine in our day like the universal famine for food, before Joseph revealed Himself to Israel. At the end of the Gentile dispensation, and before Christ returns to Israel, we find there's a dearth for hearing true revelation. According to Paul, its because the Gentile churches are apostate.
People travel here, they travel there, they buy tapes and books in their hunger for the faith. All they find is speaking in other tongues without the faith.
Leviticus 16:14-17 foreshadowed the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary of the sins of the Old Testament saints. It was fulfilled after Christ's resurrection, at the close of the dispensation of the Law. Soon there'll be another cleansing of the sanctuary at the end of the Gentile dispensation, when the Seventh Vial is poured out into the air. Let's read:
"The high priest shall take the bull's blood, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat in the east; and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle the blood with his finger seven times.
Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, for the sins of the people, and bring his blood within the vail, and as with the blood of the bullock, sprinkle it upon and before the mercy seat:
Thus he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the Israelites, and because of their transgressions in all their sins: and so shall he do for the tent of meeting that remains in the midst of their uncleanness (Hebrews 9:22-24).
There shall be no other man in the tent of meeting when he goes in to make an atonement within the veil to the holy of holies, until he comes out, and has made an atonement for himself, and for his household (the New Testament saints), and for all the congregation of Israel, (representing the 144,000)."
He could not fully redeem the part-Word Bride or Church Age saints on Calvary because they were not in agreement with that smitten Word. He interceded in behalf of their ignorance or denominational errors. Jesus was a Mediator so long as the Bible was sealed with Seven Seals.
The Ark of the Covenant typed Jesus. Inside was the Word engraved in stone. To trespass one commandment was to be guilty of all, and to die without mercy unless there was blood on the mercy seat. In Revelation 4 we see there's no blood on the mercy seat. Now its a judgment seat.
Revelation 4:5-6, "Lightning and thunder came from the throne, and voices from the thunder: and burning before the throne, were seven lamps of Fire which are the sevenfold Holy Spirit, (that anointed the earthly angels to reveal their part of the Word to the Church Age saints). At this time there is no more blood on the mercy seat because the part-Word saints have been redeemed."
(You know, as soon as you're sorry, you're already forgiven. But if you've sinned against some other person—you must ask their forgiveness, making restitution to them, before you can be right with God).
"Before the throne was a sea as transparent as crystal:" (it was a place of washing in judgment, separating sin. Moses built a brazen replica of this laver. In John's preview of the new heaven and new earth there is no more sea, typing the absence of a laver, and showing there's no cleansing for sin, as there'll be no sin.
Seas won't separate the brotherhood of Adam on the other side. The laver won't be required to cleanse man from defilement which now separates him from God. Here the laver is as clear as crystal because the Church Age saints have already been washed).
"Mid-way between each side of the throne were four living creatures, full of eyes before and behind." (speaking of God's omniscience). They know "that which was, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter".
Revelation 15:1-2, "And I saw another great sign in heaven, seven angels having the seven last plagues; in which the wrath of God is accomplished on the false church. And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with Fire: on which stood all those who'd been victorious over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, holding the harps of God.
(This symbolises the cleansing Fire of the Holy Spirit is again on the sea, purging the foolish virgin and 144,000 in the Tribulation after the end of the Gentile dispensation. Then John the Baptist prophesied Jesus would gather His Wheat Bride, purge His threshing floor during the tribulation, then burn the chaff or false church, with unquenchable Fire (Matthew 3:12; Revelation 2:20-23; 19:20; 20:10).
The foolish virgin are without Oil of the Holy Spirit because they never heard the revelation. Oh they follow the ministry of Brother Branham, but without the clear revelation of Its Message, they cannot be born-again. Those who did hear and rejected, are lost).
Revelation 15:3-4, "And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, (the 144,000 cross into the Light of the Gospel), saying, 'Great and marvelous are Your works, LORD GOD ALMIGHTY';"
(They don't see any trinity of gods when they're born-again. Do they? Neither will you when you're born-again. They see One God who manifested in virgin-born flesh to pay sin's price, whose compound redemptive Name is Lord Jesus Christ).
"Just and true are Your ways, You King of nations. Who shall not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your Name? For You alone are holy: all nations (not just Israel) shall come and worship before You; For the righteousness of Your judgments has been revealed to us and we see your justice in the Trumpets, Vials and Seals.
The 144,000 tribulation saints are washed by the water of the same revelation that purified the Bride, but from the point of viw of the Seven Trumpet mysteries, and will seal their testimony in their own blood.
In the Holy of Holies stood the Ark of the Covenant, a box made of shittim wood, its top was overlaid with gold and overshadowed by two living creatures. Shittim is accacia that grows in arid lands. Like wattle, it has no beauty to make it desired for furniture-making. It represents the humanity and life of Jesus Christ. As the gold mercy seat represented His deity.
Inside were the tables of the Law or Word. As in Christ dwelt the fullness of the Godhead. Also there was a golden pot with some of the original manna that fell from heaven to feed Israel on their journey to the Promised Land. Jesus is the true bread from heaven, which, if a man partake he shall receive eternal Life.
When he was inducted, Israel's high priest was given a handful of this manna symbolizing he was God's anointed. Also inside the Ark as a warning to any tempted to rebel against God's anointed, was Aaron's rod which budded. Christ will rule this world with a rod of iron at the White Throne Judgment.
On the day of atonement, the glory of God appeared to the high priest between the cherubim. It was separated from the people by a veil on which were embroidered cherubim. But its Spiritual Light shone through the seven golden lamagsands in the Holy Place, and reflected into the water of the sea of brass.
The way into the Presence was through the sacrifice at the altar—Justification by grace through faith. Baptism at the sea in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and sanctification in the Holy Place. The baptism of the Holy Ghost which is the new birth takes the Believer beyond the veil into the Presence where once only the High Priest could go. And "unless our lives are written epistles of the Light God is manifesting now, we are not and cannot come under the blood or be born-again, or have Christian fellowship" (I John 1:7).
Revelation 4:6-11, "And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes before and behind. And the first living creature was like a lion, and the second like a calf, and the third had a face as a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle."
(Isaiah said, when the enemy comes in with a flood, the Lord will raise up a standard or force against it. The first living creature that went forth to meet the challenge of the day was the lion or Word. After him was the ox-like creature, a beast of burden and sacrifice in the days when the Roman false church killed-off the Christians. Next the creature with the man-like face, representing the Reformers, with education and godly wisdom that degenerated to theology and organization. Finally, the flying eagle of today with its far-sight; it's able to rise above the denominational chickens pecking in the filth of the fowl yard. It exposed the foolishness of Bible school learning, intellectual worship and the folly of denominationalism, and points back to the faith once delivered unto the apostolic saints (Malachi 4:5-6; Matthew 17:11; Zechariah 14:7).
Revelation 4:8-11, "And the four living creatures each had six wings; they were full of eyes within: and rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. And when those living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him that sat on the throne, Who lives for ever and ever, The four and twenty elders fall down before Him that sat on the throne, and worship Him that lives for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for You have created all things, and for Your pleasure they are and were created".
When Ezekiel saw the Ark, it was on its journey, rolling on wheels on earth. Now its been received up into glory and is stationary in heaven. That's why John saw only one face on each creature. They couldn't turn, for there is no shadow of turning in God. They could only advance or go forward, which ever way they went. The Spiritual armor only protects our front. There can be no retreat. Cowards in the battle will not find a place. These represent the four Gospels which guard the way to the Holy Spirit, the baptism with the Holy Ghost or new birth, within the vail, and the Gospels do not contradict one another (II Timothy 3:16).
Revelation 15:5, "And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened." We see what they now see. There is no veil separating the Holy of Holies. And the Ark of the Covenant, Jesus Christ, is in plain view. When they see this, the veil of unbelief is removed from the 144,000).
Revelation 15:6-7, "And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles. And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden Vials full of the wrath of God, who lives for ever and ever." (Representing the end-time Bride, John sees a preview of the revelation of the Seven Vials by which God shows the 144,000 how he separated the foolish virgin from the false church through the Ages).
Revelation 15:8, "And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled".
This is the antitype of Leviticus 16:17, "And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goes in to make an atonement in the holy place, until he comes out, and have made an atonement for himself, and for his household, and for all the congregation of Israel".
God cannot take His Bride Home until the sanctuary is cleansed by pouring out His wrath to separate the foolish virgin from the false church in each Age in the "Ordeal of Jealousy" (bb880424.htm).
Genesis 3:24, "God drove out the man; and He placed at the east of the garden of Eden, Cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the Tree of Life".
The only way back to Eden is through the cherubim via the altar in the east, after it is covered in blood, traveling west with the Light as He in the Light. Cain went eastward away from the Presence, into the darkness. Outside the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, its a judgment seat with no return. As it was at Eden after the fall.
I encourage you to tarry no longer, for its later than you think. There is no more blood but a Man sitting in the Judgment seat. He has restored the apostolic faith, and the Words of all God's holy prophets since the world began. According to Malachi, Jesus, John and Peter, the soul that refuses this restoration ministry will be destroyed from among the people (Malachi 4:5-6; Matthew 17:11; Acts 3:21-23; Revelation 22:11-19).
Here's another question from cyber space: One thing that's always scared the male dominated priesthood is that women can bring life into the world. Women had a sacred place in society. Time for a step back in history but foward in equality and justice.
I replied: Nowhere in the Bible is there even the hint of equality between men and women, and marriage is not 50/50, but 100:0. This isn't a subject for speculation, but for understanding (or faith). The matters under discussion are the Word of God, which is Life or death today as surely as It was in the Garden of Eden, 6,000 years ago. Yet here we are 2,000 years beyond Pentecost when the Church is supposed to be mature, ready for the Lord to take Her Home, and these basic tenets are not understood.
The natural woman types the Spiritual Woman, or Elect Church. And if she's a Christian, she's under obedience to her husband as the Church is under pre-eminance of Her Husband, Christ the Word. Her uncut hair is a sign of her separation. The natural woman has "a sacred place in society" which is to preserve her virtue for her husband, which is why she's to dress modestly. Likewise, Christ's Bride is a virgin to the Word, clothed by faith in His righteousness, dead to all creeds and man-made dogma. We'd do well to remember we're no longer in the Age of Luther, Wesley, or the Pentecostals: this is the harvest time, the thorns and briers are being bundled together by the Spirit for burning, and the Lord's planting gathered to His Garner in the translation.
It's well to remember the gifts and callings of God are sovereign. God gives to one the ability to be an accountant, farmer, or motor mechanic as He ordained the five-fold ministry in His Church, to keep it clean by revelation. Now these five gifts were given to men, not women.
It is God Who set these five different Offices in His Church "till His elect all come into the unity of 'the' faith. . ." It's God who ordains a man, not some denomination, or one's natural excellence in man-made learning.
Do you realize every wrinkle, every sick baby, every war and all disease is the result of a man listening to the preaching of a woman? Woman isn't even in the original creation. God formed Adam then formed the animals, bringing them to him to name: a hundred years may have passed before He put Adam to sleep and made Eve, a by-product "of" man "for" man: flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone. Like Christ, Adam was the spoken Word, a son of God who could not be deceived on the Word of God. Woman, however, not being in the original creation, is made so she can deceive and be deceived.
Who was deceived? Adam or Eve? Satan could not deceive Adam but he did deceive the woman. Who is deceived today, Christ, the second Adam? Or the church who claims to be His Bride? We could go a lot deeper here but we'll lay it to one side for the present.
Jesus is not the beginning of God's creation, He's the beginning of the creation of God. A new creation. When God put Him to sleep on Calvary, He took from His side the Holy Spirit from Which He's making the Bride of Christ.
Like Eve, the Bride of Christ is the byproduct and continuation of the same creation. If we can see the Bible types, we'll understand God has not and never will ordain any woman to preach, publicly minister the Word of God, or usurp His authority over the man.
When Paul wrote the New Testament He directed the Bible Believers of His day back to Moses' writings and the Genesis account of the original sin when God placed man and woman under two separate covenants. Let's see if perhaps God's changed His mind?
God changed every bone in the body of the serpent. Whereas once he stood upright, God placed him on his belly. Man and woman were co-equal in nature. Unaware of their own nakedness, they lived in a paradise. God caused weeds and thorns to compete with the fruits and herbs; He set man to toil against the curse for his living, and declared as woman had taken life from the earth, she would in future bear children in pain and sorrow.
Does the serpent still slither on his belly? Does man still have toil to earn his daily bread? Do women still bear in pain and suffering? If the answers to these three questions is in the affirmative, then God did not make a mistake and He has not changed His mind about ordaining women. Women are to be "keepers 'at' home." Women masquerading as preachers, were never called or ordained of God. They're trying to do God a service without it being His will. Perhaps they're sincere, but being led of another spirit, they're sincerely wrong. They have presumption, not faith. radio078.htm
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