A Visit From Elohim Before the Change
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1 And the Lord appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;
2 And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground,
3 And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:
4 Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree:
5 And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye come to your servant. And they said, So do, as thou hast said.
Introduction
Introduction
(Greetings from our church, thank Bro. Wendall, compliment the church and the ministering brothers)
A Visit From Elohim Before the Change
A Visit From Elohim Before the Change
Abraham is sitting in the door of his tent in the afternoon heat, thinking on the goodness of God.
Perhaps he thought “Lord, I thank you for this tree”.
We should thank God for His goodness, to give us a restored body, a Bride tree that we can sit under when the day is hot.
Sheep huddle together in the heat of the day, drawing shade from one another.
We should be grateful for one another, take heed that we don’t bite and devour one another.
Abraham had been strong in faith, though he was full of mistakes, yet his faith was such that it was imputed to him for righteousness. His mistakes were not mentioned in the divine obituary of Romans 4.
He did not waver in the midst of battle, he grew stronger each day.
He had been tested and tried, but he made it.
Here he was 99 years old, and he had stood alone, even when Lot left, even when Sarah didn’t understand, even when his body broke down.
Abraham determined “No matter what the rest of them says, the rest of them do; for me and my house, we’ll serve God.”
“If the rest of them says, ‘There’s nothing to the experience. It’s a bunch of excitement’; for me and my house, we’ll serve God.”
“Though they be tattlers come in the church, though they be twisters, and though they be all kinds of false prophets and everything come into the church amongst the people, and in the neighborhood and everything; but for me and for my house, we’ll serve the Lord.
(Twisters in the church. Tornadoes)
Though all of them quit coming, and though the church gets cold, indifferent, me and my house, we’ll serve the Lord.
Though if someone was prayed for and didn’t get well; that has nothing to do with it; for me and my house, we serve the Lord.” 59-1108 - "Possessing The Enemy's Gates"
God had revealed Himself to Abraham in Genesis 17 as “the Almighty God”
1 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.
Abraham believed God then, ’cause he had a approach through a symbol, through a name.
So have we an approach through a Name, Jesus. What does Jesus mean to us? Saviour. Amen. El Shaddai to Abraham, Satisfier, Strong One, salvation Giver, strength Giver. The same thing that El Shaddai was to Abraham, Jesus is to the believer. 55-0123A - "The Approach To God"
El Shaddai became Abraham’s approach to God.
When Christians begin to get that, Satan begins to get ready to leave. He’s finished when people can say, “I don’t care.” No certain healer has to come by.
No certain this has to happen. Only thing I want on earth to hear that God said so; that settles it with me then. I’ll take it and go from right there. Then you got it. 56-0224 - "Jehovah-Jireh"
Abraham had to have this revelation so He would recognize the Messenger that God sent.
“He appeared to Abraham in this Name, and while He appeared to him in this Name, and Abraham recognized Who He was, He changed Abraham’s name.”
Now he’s come to the fulness of believing now. See where the Church has come? I hope you can read between the lines. Come up to the place to where He’s revealed to him Who He was, and then He changed Abraham’s name so that the promise could be fulfilled. 64-0403 - "Jehovah-Jireh #2"
Abraham is pondering these things, and suddenly he looks up, and he sees three men walking.
Part 1: Dust on His Clothes
Part 1: Dust on His Clothes
Bro. Branham gives us a very interesting detail whenever he tells this story. The men had dust on their clothes.
He kept looking down to Them, he said, “Now, these are strange Fellows. They’re dusty, traveled far.” 59-0416 - "El-Shaddai"
But when the hour of the Message came, he looked out in the heat of the day, and he seen three men coming up, dust all over their clothes, and Abraham looked again, he knowed there was just something about it.
A real borned-again child of God knows the Spirit of God when It strikes. Yes, sir. “My sheep know My Voice.” 60-0708 - "Sir, We Would See Jesus"
Elohim had Dust on His Clothes.
(Tabernacle was dusty)
God hides Himself in dust.
Oh, when he set Him down there, though they didn’t look any different from any other men, because they were dressed, dust on their clothes and come from some other Country, probably their feet dusty and their clothes ragged, but Abraham knew inside there, there was something real.
The Spirit declared it. Why? He kept hisself in a spiritual atmosphere all the time, that he could recognize right from wrong all the time. 60-0328 - "Is There Anything Too Hard For The Lord?"
(Young people need to keep themselves in a spiritual atmosphere)
Bro. Branham says this about dusty clothes over and over again. Where does he get it?
Abraham washed their feet, because they were dusty.
(Woman who washed Jesus feet)
Why is he washing their feet? They were dusty.
He came to Abraham, not as a celestial being, but a dusty traveler.
He had on clothes like a man, dust all over Him, come from a far country. But Abraham saw God face to face there. 54-0306 - "The Unconditional Covenant That God Made With His People"
This was not an Angel, it was Elohim.
Dust was on His clothes. It takes the faith of Abraham to see past that.
It was not extraordinary that dust would be there. It was a desert country. The only extraordinary thing about it is how ordinary it was.
God has always came that way.
Everyone today is looking for evidence or it didn’t happen. they take Bro. Branham’s quotes and try to use them against each other. (It’s sad when that same spirit gets on preachers who claim to believe)
They did the same thing to Jesus. (If you are who you say you are, prove it).
The evidence showed He was just a man, but He was God in flesh.
All the evidence showed that these dusty travelers did not come from heaven, they traveled from somewhere on earth.
IMPORTANT: The dust was evidence against them being from heaven, because dust is only found on earth.
Abraham, if this is Elohim, why do you have to wash His feet? Why is he eating cornbread and milk? Why is there dust on his clothes?
It was God, hiding Himself.
Abraham calls out “My LORD”
Watch the effect of the revelation, of Who God was, had upon Abraham, what it did to him. After his name was changed from Abram to Abraham, he seen three Man coming, and he called the three, One, “my Lord.”
(Lot said “my lords)
Abraham’s vision and revelation showed him that He was the All-Sufficient Elohim. His Seed is to receive the same thing.
We’re made out of sixteen elements; petroleum, cosmic light, and potash, and calcium, and so forth, just sixteen elements. He just caught it together, and breathed into it, and walked down in the earth.
I’m so glad He’s that sort of a Father. Though the skin worms destroys this body, yet He’ll call you. He promised He’ll do it. He is Elohim.
And Abraham, after the revelation, he seen it and he knowed that there was one God. And he seen it, and he said, “My Lord, come aside, sit down, let me wash Your feet.” 64-0403 - "Jehovah-Jireh #2"
The Message of a body change came from a Messenger with dust on his clothes.
Dust is humanity.
Our bodies are literally made from dirt
Bro. Branham taught us that:
“our bodies were on the earth before there was any life here. We are made of sixteen different elements of the earth.
That great Jehovah God, you know what He said? He just reached over and got a handful of atoms, got a little light, and poured it in, like this, went, “Whew,” a body, and just stepped right into it. That’s all.
Said, “Come here, Gabriel,” that great Archangel. Went, “Whew.” “Step in that.” “Come here, Michael,” the Angel at His right side. “Whew.” For the…“You step in that.”
God, and two Angels, walked down here in human flesh, and drank the milk from a cow, eat the butter out of the milk, and eat some corn bread, and eat the flesh of the calf. 57-0821 - "Hebrews, Chapter One"
What happened to those bodies? They just turned back to dust and He stepped back into another dimension.
That same One could just reach and grab a handful of calcium and potash, go, “Whew,” and there you are again. And my name is on His Book.
What do I care how stooped my shoulders are getting, how old I get? Certainly not. Not a bit of worry.
He will say, “Children!” “Whew.” There we’ll be, made in His likeness; young forever, old age is passed away; sickness, troubles, sorrows has vanished. Glory be to the living God! 57-0821 - "Hebrews, Chapter One"
Do not get discouraged by the dust.
Their was dust on the prophet’s clothes. He was human, he had a wife and children. He worried about things, he was nervous. But God did more through that body than any other man.
9 But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet.
Went out there, said, “There’s something about that Man. I’ve heard that Voice before. I know He’s got dust all over His clothes, and things. He’s sitting there, rubbing His face, and looking around like that.
But I’m telling you, I know that Voice, ’cause it ain’t an uncertain sound. Cause, I heard it, twenty-five years ago. And, honey, we been trusted all this time, to believe.
And there’s something about that Man. I don’t know why, but there’s something about Him, I believe.” 60-1218 - "The Uncertain Sound"
Look past the dust on His clothes and see Elohim in the Message.
I stood at his grave just a few weeks ago, the body has turned back to dust, but the one who used that body to reveal the secret of the hearts, to open the Seven Seals, to do signs and wonders was Elohim. Elohim is not dead, He is still with us today.
And, friends, don’t look to me. I’m your brother. Don’t pay no attention to me, because I’m just a mortal. I have to die like everybody else.
Don’t you listen to me; but listen to what I’ve said. What I said is the Message. Don’t pay any attention to the messenger; watch the Message.
Keep your eyes, not on the messenger, but on the Message. What It said, that’s the thing to look to. 62-1230E - "Is This The Sign Of The End, Sir?"
It wasn’t the angel, his message; it was the mystery that God unfolded. It’s not a man; it’s God. The angel was not the Son of man; he was the messenger from the Son of man.
The Son of man is Christ; He is the One that you’re feeding on. You’re not feeding on a man; a man, his words will fail. But you’re feeding on the unfailing Body-Word of the Son of man. 65-0725M - "The Anointed Ones At The End Time"
Part 2: A Meal fit for the King
Part 2: A Meal fit for the King
Abraham wanted them to feel welcome, so he volunteered to cook them a meal.
4 Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree:
5 And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye come to your servant. And they said, So do, as thou hast said.
6 And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth.
Fine meal = reserved for Kings. The best of the best.
7 And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetcht a calf tender and good, and gave it unto a young man; and he hasted to dress it.
8 And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.
Elohim knew Abraham’s character, that if He showed up as a dusty, hungry traveler, Abraham would be hospitable to Him.
As far as we know, this was His first time tasting human food, but it wouldn’t be His last.
The mealtime was an opportunity for fellowship, and He was hungry for fellowship.
Abraham stood there with a flybush.
We need some people in the church willing to stand with a flybush and shoo the flies away from the meal.
The Almighty God invited Himself to Abraham’s house, for a meal.
I wonder if He wants to come to our house?’
20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
Before His crucifixion, He set down with His disciples like He did Abraham.
15 And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer:
16 For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.
He was so hungry for their fellowship. We don’t know if the meal was good or bad, but He desired to be with them.
The same day he rose, He made Himself another body and ate dinner with two of them again.
28 And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and he made as though he would have gone further.
29 But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them.
They was talking to Him, didn’t know it. So He…and no doubt He looked at them sadly, and He started to walk on by, but He was waiting for them to invite Him. That’s what He’s waiting tonight, for you to invite Him.
Notice, when those disciples invited Him in to their fellowship around the table, it was then that He done something just like He did before His crucifixion, and their eyes come open.
They knowed His manner, His style. They knowed what He done, and He did it then just like He did before. And they said, “That’s Him!” And quickly they raised up to scream it out, and He vanished. 65-0801E - "Events Made Clear By Prophecy"
They recognized Him because they had fellowshipped with Him before.
The reason we don’t recognize Him in church is because we don’t fellowship much with Him outside church.
Bro. Branham said that God had confidence in Job because He had fellowshipped with him.
I have fellowshipped with Him in the Word and the Spirit, one day I will see Him face to face.
9 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.
I do believe that when that Bride is called out and elected, and set in the Book of Life, there will 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.
There is a Heaven, and there is a literal Jesus Christ There that will come in a body form to receive His Church to Himself. No matter how old the story seems, it’s still the Truth. God said so. That’s what believers believe. 63-1124E - "Three Kinds Of Believers"
Now, if I never see you again, remember, the Marriage Supper is at hand. 63-0728 - "Christ Is The Mystery Of God Revealed"
Part 3: The Son of Man Revealed
Part 3: The Son of Man Revealed
After the meal, they begin to talk.
9 And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent.
He called her by her name “princess”.
10 And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him.
He had his back to the audience.
I’ve heard people say there are gifts like this today. God can do anything He wants to, but this sign was once to the age.
It was the Son of Man, not manifesting Himself as a preacher or one of the nine spiritual gifts, but as a prophet.
30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.
Each night I’ve been turning my back to the audience, that you might know, and God a vindicate that the…How many knows that Jesus said, “As it was in the days of Sodom, so shall it be in the coming of the Son of man”? He said it. 60-0311 - "Mary's Belief"
Just that you might know, I’m going to turn my back to the audience. Now remember, when I do this, don’t let me get letters saying, “Brother Branham, you called yourself that Angel.”
That’s wrong. I’m a sinner saved by the grace of Christ. No matter what I did, no matter how much God anointed me, if you wasn’t anointed also, it wouldn’t work, it’s your faith that does it.
This is just a gift, just to pull a lever back far enough to let William Branham step off of the scene so Jesus Christ can work. Now you pull your lever back far enough that you can get off the scene and Jesus Christ can work. 60-0312 - "Door To The Heart"
In Jehovah Jireh No. 2, Bro. Branham keeps attempting to turn his back to the audience, and he is interrupted ten times with tongues, interpretation or prophecy out of order.
Finally he gets his chance, and turn his back.
There is someone standing before me, which sets behind me. And it’s a woman. And she is suffering with a heart trouble. And she has allergies that’s bothering her. She’s just behind me.
She’s also concerned about a loved one, that’s, her husband that’s sitting just from her; he’s paralyzed, has a cane. The woman’s name is Mrs. Brumley. Believe with all your heart. Stand up and accept what you have prayed for, and you’ll get what you asked for.
Now if that ain’t the same God that was down there just before Sodom, I don’t know what is. 62-0706 - "Jehovah-Jireh #2"
This Scripture was fulfilled as the Second Pull of Bro. Branham’s ministry. There was something greater than that, the Third Pull.
Now, that’s God speaking in this day through vision. But this: if that vision was contrary to This, that would be wrong; This is more than the vision. If any vision’s contrary to the Word, leave it alone; it ain’t of God, God don’t contradict His Own Word. 63-0825E - "Perfect Faith"
If an open vision brings faith for a rapture, what will the open book do?
The Third Pull was the Opening of the Word, which he said was “far greater than the rest of them combined”.
That body has went back to the dust, but the Son of Man is still here.
This Message is not buried in Jeffersonville.
23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
The anointed Word is not “here or there” it is in you.
And in the last days it shall come to pass: “Behold I send to you Elijah the prophet, and he shall turn the hearts of the children back to the Faith of the fathers.”
And in there, there would be a time come forth when He could express Himself in fullness of His Godhead, Deity, through His Church, have the preeminences in this Church.
The anointed Man; now the anointed people; oh, my, to bring back the anointed Bride and the Bridegroom. 63-0728 - "Christ Is The Mystery Of God Revealed"
Anointed accepting what Eve turned down. What do we need to do to be anointed? Preach the Word, believe the Word, live the Word.
The Bridegroom call will come right through this, when the Son of man will come down and come in human flesh to unite the two together.
The Church has to be the Word, He is the Word, and the two unites together, and, to do that, it’ll take the manifestation of the revealing of the Son of man.
We are married here, we go to the wedding supper.
When, the Word here unites with the person, and they two become one. And then what does it do then? It manifests the Son of man again, not the church theologians.
The Son of man! The Word and the Church becomes one. Whatever the Son of man done, He was the Word, the Church does the same thing. 64-0816 - "Proving His Word"
The Son of man revealed in the Seventh Angel, now the Son of man revealed in preachers and teachers and housewives and factory workers.
Jesus was God in flesh. And if Jesus is in you, tonight, it’s still God manifest Himself in the last days, the Son of man revealing Himself in His Church, the human flesh, making Himself known. You get it? See?
God, down here in His Church, making Himself again the Word, the Son of man being revealed in the last days, as it was in the days of Sodom. 64-0318 - "Sir, We Would See Jesus"
I challenge you to believe that Jesus Christ is revealed in the form of Son of man, in human flesh, through the Bride’s Body. Accept His call. 64-0419 - "The Trial"
You don’t need a new church or a new pastor or a new tape to listen to, you need to believe that Jesus Christ, who is Elohim Himself, is revealed in the form of the Son of man, in human flesh, through the Bride’s body.
Conclusion
Conclusion
He’s here this morning! Why don’t you make Him welcome? I challenge you to believe.