(Singing:)  "God will make this trial a blessing . . ."

You believe the Lord can do that?  Let's give Him a praise.  Hallelujah.  Oh, let's clap our hands to the Lord.  Praise the Lord.  We love You, Lord, and You're worthy of all praise.  Hallelujah.  Amen.  

Let's stand please for the reading of God's Word.  We want to welcome those who are not with us in Jerusalem, but who are joining us on the stream.

We've got quite a host of people.  We want to send love and greetings to each and every one of them.

So ten different streams are going out from this little chapel this morning.  That's the goodness of the Lord.  And we appreciate that so much.  

The Lord is good.  Amen?  And He's alive - not just because it's a Sunday that a lot of people set aside as Easter Sunday, but because we just know He is alive.  

And a lot of people still think that the resurrection is a day.  And they don't understand that that's not what the Bible says about resurrection.

Resurrection is not a day.  It's a person.  Amen.  You can have the day and not have the person.  But the Bible said that Jesus told them, "I am the resurrection and the life."  How many of you are glad you have Him?  Amen.

All right.  Let's turn this morning to the Book of Numbers, please, chapter 12.  

Numbers, chapter 12, beginning in verse 6.

6.  And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.
                                
7.  My servant Moses is not so . . .

I want you to say "not so."  

7.  My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house.

8.  With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the Lord shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?

9.  And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them; and he departed.

Father, we thank You this morning for the reading of Your Word.  We thank You for the Presence of the Lord that has been with us since we were gathered here again yesterday together in Your Presence.  You've just lingered with us.  

You've given us peace in our spirit.  No matter what's raging around us, we thank You for wonderful peace that passes all understanding and endures forever.  

And we pray, Lord, that You will open our hearts to receive a message from Your Word, that Your Anointing will be upon each of us, that we can hear what it is that You would say to us and to those who are streaming in the different nations.

Let the same Presence of the Lord go out and be a witness to them.  We pray in the wonderful name of Yeshua our Messiah.  Amen.  And the church said, "Amen."  You may be seated.

I want to take a little subject.  I've never taken a subject from . . .  I mean a whole message from this kind of a subject before, but I'm preparing a series of messages for our church in Alabama and this is just a small portion of it.  

And you that are streaming regularly, you'll be able to hear the rest of it sometime in the future.

But if I had a little topic, or would put a little title to this, I would call it "When Prophets Misdiagnose."

It's silent.  When prophets misdiagnose.  You know that's a very serious word - misdiagnosis.  That's a very serious word in America.

We read from time to time about these malpractice suits that go on, and I have several friends that have worked . . .  

I had a friend for many, many years who retired as a OB/GYN nurse - meaning a nurse that was in labor and delivery.  

And over the years, she would share stories that were horrific, that were hard to believe sometime the things that go on.  

And then I had a friend who was a surgical nurse, and the things that she told me that took place in the operating room - things like the wrong knee being operated on . . . a woman going in with one good knee and one bad knee and coming out with two bad knees because the wrong knee was operated on.

And I went to the hospital some months ago with my mother who was having a surgery.

And I've never been in the hospital as a patient.  And my mother had only been in the hospital once in her life and that was for tonsils to be removed.  And we didn't know what all to expect.  But I got up early and went with her.

And it was the strangest thing.  They asked her about fifteen times what her name was and why she was there.  

I thought, "This is a little strange."  One nurse would come in and she'd say, "Good morning, what is your name?"  

And she would say, "My name is Jane Shelley."  

"Why are you here?"

My mother would tell her why she was here.

And she'd say, "Okay."  And she'd go out of the room.  

A few minutes later another nurse would come in, do a little something and before she left she'd say, "Good morning, what is your name?"  

Mother would tell her her name.  "And what surgery are you having?"  

And so then they came and got her.  They came and gave her a shot of something and then they took her to another room to kind of prep her, and they said, "You can come with her."  

And we went in and now she meets a whole new crew of nurses and guess what they say?

"Good morning, what is your name?  What kind of surgery are you having?"  

Well, in a little while I started getting nervous.  This is kind of serious.

And here come the anesthesiologist and he said, "Good morning.  What is your name?  What kind of surgery are you having?"  

And all the way . . . it must have happened ten or fifteen times.  

And then it dawned on me.  This is a procedure that has developed out of mistakes.  They want to make sure that they have got the right patient, and they want to make sure before she's knocked out that they know what kind of surgery . . .

I finally laughed and said something about it.  And she acknowledged that this was a policy that . . .  She didn't really say mistakes have been made, but I know that they have.  

I know people that have been left permanently in trouble because of a misdiagnosis, or malpractice, the wrong surgery.

I know people that have gone to the doctor and have gone through a thorough examination and have been given a complete bill of health and found out only a few days later that there were serious problems - perhaps they had a heart attack, perhaps they had a stroke.

I knew one gentleman that went in for a complete physical.  And they gave him all kinds of x-rays and all kinds of tests.  

And they told him he was fit.  He was in good shape.  There was nothing wrong with him whatsoever.  And about four weeks later, he was dead with liver cancer.

By the time . . .  There were no symptoms.  He had no pain.  He had nothing whatsoever.  They did the test, said nothing was wrong.  

A few days after that he began to have a little pain, and he went to the doctor and he showed them where the pain was.

They checked him out and they said, "There's something serious there that we've missed."  

And they did a test.  They told him he had cancer.  He said, "Well, I guess you'll give me chemotherapy and radiation."

And the doctor eventually told him, "No, we won't be able to do that.  This has spread, and you've had it for a very long time."  

And of course, guess what his question was?

"I just had a complete physical.  What was the use of having a physical if . . ."  

But mistakes happen.  Things like that happen.  And people can really pay.  They can pay with their lives.  They can pay by being crippled.  They can pay by being handicapped.

How much more serious do you think it is if we miss God in the spiritual realm?  How much more serious is it if someone who flows in the prophetic gift misreads what they're seeing in the Spirit and gives the wrong diagnosis?

This can be very serious.  Will you acknowledge that that is very, very serious?  

Now there was once a very gifted man who served under the ministry of Brother Branham.  And he was the pastor of the Tabernacle while Brother Branham was out doing all kinds of evangelistic work and holding meetings here and there and traveling even into foreign countries.

And there was a precious brother who was left in charge of the local church.  His name was Brother Neville.  

And evidently Brother Neville had a very precious prophetic gift in his life.  And it was very accurate, and it had blessed a lot of people.

He had told them what their needs were.  God had come on the scene and ministered to those needs.

But there was an occasion that he received a very serious warning from Brother Branham.  It was something that he took extremely serious.

He might have even taken it a little too serious because it perhaps might have placed something within him that maybe would make him to be afraid to ever see and hear like he should.  And I can understand how that would happen.

Brother Branham said to him one time, "Brother Neville, you've got to be very careful with those kinds of gifts."  

He said, "You could have a hundred people and the gift could operate a hundred times and it could be right.  Everything you told people could be exactly right and it could help them and bless them ninety-nine times out of a hundred."

But he said, "If you missed it one time, if you said the wrong thing to the wrong person, you could destroy that person."
  
I don't know if you realize this or not, but there are people that are being destroyed by prophetic gifts all over the world.  And it's a very serious thing.

As I began to look through the Scripture . . .  And I'll tell you at the end of all this . . . at the end of all I'm going to say I'll tell you why I felt like the Lord wanted me to speak this today.  

There was something different about Moses.

Would you mind if I would describe Moses as more than a prophet?  Moses was more than a prophet.

How do we know that?  We know that because of Numbers, chapter 12, where the Lord said, "If there is a prophet among you, I will make Myself known unto him in a vision and in a dream," or "I will speak unto him and will speak unto him in a dream - a vision or a dream."

But He said, "My servant Moses is not so.  He's not just a prophet among you."  

Do you see that?  "But I'm going to speak to him mouth to mouth, even apparently . . . (which means visibly, clearly, I'm going to speak to him) . . . not in dark speeches, not in mysteries that are left for interpretation."

You see, what happens sometime in the spirit is we see things, and we describe what we see, and if we're not careful we will, in our own mind . . . we will formulate an interpretation to what we have seen.

And that's okay because we're human and we want these things to count and so we try to determine, "Now what is the Lord saying to us?"  

But we've got to be very careful that if we're going to describe what we see, we describe that.

If we receive a revelation or an interpretation of what we see, we need to let it be known, all right?  

"And the Lord is showing me that this means such and such, and so and so."  

If we're coming up with an interpretation kind of in our own thoughts and reasoning, we need to let that be known as well.

The apostle Paul did that.  He said, "I speak to you not as from the Lord, but from me."  

You see, sometimes we as gifted people . . .  We're not just talking about preachers.  We're talking about gifted people.  

The New Testament tells us that all may prophesy.  Did you read that in your Bible?  All may prophesy.

There's no reason why every Holy Ghost-filled believer cannot reach up into the mind of God and declare the thoughts of God at certain times in his life, or her life, walking for the Lord.

So we believe that anybody can reach into the mind of God and bring down a thought.  But all of these great leaders that God has raised up around the world . . . many of them are very specifically teaching in this hour, even as Brother Branham taught in this past generation, there is a difference between the gift of prophecy and a prophet.

There's a clear distinction between the gift of prophecy, the ministry gift of prophecy, and the office of a prophet.  

The Bible said in the Book of Ephesians that He has placed in the church, He has set in the church, first apostles, then prophets, pastors, teachers and evangelists.

This five-fold ministry . . . that's offices.  That's chosen offices that God has given.  He has elected men to flow in those five ministry offices.  

But there are many people who are not called to be apostles, who are not called to be pastors, who are not called to be prophets or teachers or evangelists.

But because they've received the Holy Ghost, one of the gifts of the Spirit in the Book of 1 Corinthians is clearly the gift of prophecy.  

Some receive the gift of prophecy.  But that doesn't necessarily make them prophets.  

Those who receive the gift of prophecy need to be very careful when giving prophetic words publicly.  And they need to be careful when they're giving prophetic words individually.

Because if we allow our own spirit to influence what we say, it could be a prophetic misdiagnosis.  

We could send somebody down the wrong trail, searching for the wrong thing in their own life.  We could cause somebody to get to the wrong place at the wrong time.  

We could cause somebody to lose their life, even, if they listened to us and it wasn't the Lord but it was our idea.

If we saw something from the Lord, and we begin to try to interpret and explain and we give the wrong impression, it's very dangerous.  

I want you to know that people don't want this kind of teaching.  Jerusalem doesn't want this kind of teaching.  The United States doesn't want that kind of teaching.

Because we have these gatherings of very gifted people who want to be able to operate without any kind of covering, without any kind of authority.

They don't want to be in submission to any kind of pastor or leader or even a body.  You don't have to submit to a man.  That's not what we're preaching.

But we need to have some kind of accountability to some kind of body somewhere so that when we're declaring what we believe to be the Word of the Lord, there are men and women who are godly, who are walking in the Spirit, who are not in the particular situation that we're in, who can discern it, and judge it and try to see if there's anything that they can add to give us a clearer vision.

Moses was not just an ordinary prophet who dreamed dreams and saw visions.  

God said, "I'm going to come and speak to him mouth to mouth.  I'm going to speak to him clearly, not in dark speeches, and he's even going to be allowed to see the similitude of the Lord, the image of the Lord.  He's going to behold it."  

And he said,

8.  . . . wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?

The Lord is dealing with Miriam and Aaron.  And God is saying to them, "You'd better be very careful.  Moses is more than a prophet.  He's not just a dreamer of dreams.  He's not just one who sees visions.  But I speak to him mouth to mouth.  I allow him to behold My image.  You'd better be careful how you speak against him."

I believe God was saying to Miriam and Aaron, "Be careful that you don't become too familiar with him.  He is not just one of the gang, but he is more than a prophet."  

Did you know the Bible said in Deuteronomy, chapter 18 and verse 15, Moses prophesying, the Lord speaking, that God was going to raise up a prophet like unto Moses and that the people would hear him.

They were going to hear the Words of God from his lips.  There are many interpretations of that.  

I personally believe that Moses was speaking about the Messiah.  I believe he was talking about the coming of Yeshua.

And therefore, we can say that the Lord Jesus ministered as a prophet.  He ministered as a prophet.

But how many of you would have to say He was more than a prophet - absolutely more than a prophet.  He was God in flesh.  But yet the Bible said He was raised up a prophet like unto Moses.

Look at Deuteronomy 18 for just a moment.  Let's look at that verse of Scripture together in studying.

Deuteronomy 18.  In a little while, you'll know why this is important.  Deuteronomy 18 and verse 15 is where that prophecy is.

15.  The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;

It's a Messianic prophecy.  He's certainly giving a prophecy concerning the coming of the Messiah.

Verse 18.

18.  I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.

And, you know, that very phrase is a prophecy that was fulfilled even by the Words of the Lord Jesus when He said, "I can do nothing except it's given to Me of My Father.  If I see My Father doing it, if My Father tells Me, then that's all that I'm able to do."

And right here . . . that's where we get that.  

18.  . . . he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.

19.  And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.

20.  But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.

It must be very serious for a prophet to speak a word presumptiously.  It must be very, very serious.  Do you know what that word "presumptuous" means in Hebrew here in this text?  In arrogance and pride.

I've been in a lot of meetings where it's a very serious thing that takes place because . . .  Oh, the church has got all kinds of different ideas about how these things ought to operate.  

And we see that they have things called . . .  They're calling them prophetic councils, where men and women who are gifted prophetically get togethe, and they take appointments in some of the conferences.  They take appointments.  

And they have dream interpretation teams in the same conferences.  And you sign up.  

And at 2:00 you can go and sit down with a prophetic council and they will prophecy over you and give you Words from the Lord.

Or if you've had a dream that you don't understand, you can sign up, and at a certain hour you can go sit down and a team will interpret your dream.

And all of this is perfectly okay.  I have no problem with it.  What I'm talking about today is a little bit different from that.  

I see people being put on the spot sometime.  It's happened to my wife.  It's happened to me.  I've seen it happen to other people.

We were one time in a very prophetic place and a woman walked over to my wife and she prophesied over her.  

I believe it was a Word from the Lord.  We accepted it.  We took it as a word from the Lord.  

But here's where the problem started.  She then said to my wife, "Okay, now you prophesy over me."

And guess what happened?  Dead silence.  Boom.  My wife looked at her and smiled and she said, "I don't do that," or "I don't do it that way."  

And of course, that was the end.  We were marked.

All of a sudden, we were marked as non-prophetic people because on the spot we wouldn't just prophesy over people because they had prophesied over us.

Do you see the danger in that?  Do you see how dangerous that can be?  Because we're not just looking for . . .  

Listen.  If you want . . .  How many of you would like to hear something good from the Lord about you?  Well, here it is.  Here it is.

You don't have to have somebody speak to you and say, "I'm going to bless you.  I'm going to prosper you.  I'm going to make your way good.  I'm going to open doors for you.  I'm going to send you to the nations."

I'm using these examples because this is what's generally spoken over everybody in a prophetic meeting.  

"You're going to the nations.  I see you speaking to multitudes.  I see you standing before dark-faced people."  

By the way, that's over two-thirds of the world's population.

"I see you standing before dark-faced people.  I see such and such."  

These are general words and perhaps they could be spoken over everybody because the Bible said that we should all go into the world, that we should all go into the nations.

But I want to tell you something.  There are people holding onto words that never came from the Lord in the first place and they're wasting away their lives waiting for these things to come to pass.

Somebody said, "Well, what do you do about it?  How do you know?"

Well, we need a witness in our spirit.  But we can't trust our own spirit.  Your own spirit is not going to reject something good that's spoken over you.  We can't trust our own spirit.  

We need to know, that we know, that we know that we are walking in close agreement with the Holy Ghost, that we're walking softly before Him and gently before Him.

We need to take every dream, every gift, every prophecy, every word that's spoken over us, every premonition, every intuition . . .  

We need to take it back to the Word of God.  We need to see if it fits the Scripture.  We need to see if it can line up with what God has already spoken.

And we need to see if God is moving us in that direction - if we see doors kind of opening, or we see things.  

I don't mean we don't believe it if we don't see the results of it.  That's not what I'm saying.  But every word needs to be judged very, very carefully because a lot of people are prophesying out of their own spirit because they're put on the spot.

I've heard leaders say . . .  Just recently, I was in a meeting where a great leader said, "I'm tired of being put on the spot."  

He said, "Just because you're flowing in the spirit of prophecy and I'm in the meeting, doesn't mean I am.  And yet constantly leaders are calling, 'Okay, brother, you come give us a Word from the Lord.  Okay, you come and prophesy.'"

And he said, "That puts me on the spot, and it makes me feel like I have to speak things that I'm not hearing."  

You know, you . . .  And it's easy.  Well, I'll just give you an example.  

I heard Paul Keith Davis say that he was often put on the spot to give people a Word from the Lord.

And he said, "It's usually by one of my good friends, and he doesn't mean anything by it."  

He said, "I was in a meeting and Bobby Connor called and said, 'Okay, Paul Keith, you come and speak whatever's on your heart over this so and so, I think it was maybe, over this particular lady.'"

And he came.  He had met the lady.  She was a very important lady.  Her husband had died.  He had written a powerful book.  

And he came and he said, "Well, all I could get was, you know, just something . . .  All I could really do was pray for her, 'Lord, bless her.  Meet her needs.'"

And you can just imagine.  She's standing there disappointed, you know.  She's wanting more.  And the whole congregation, the whole conference, a thousand people . . . they're looking at him wanting more.  

They want him to have a marvelous vision.  They want him to have some glorious thing to tell this woman.  And he feels that pressure.  

But he said, "All I could do was just give her a little blessing, just bless her."  And that's what we should do.

When we don't have anything from God, we just bless.

"I bless you in the Name of the Lord.  May the Lord give you this, may the Lord do these things for you."  

There's nothing wrong with inspired prayer.  But he said, "The minute I went back and sat down in my seat, the Lord gave me a Word for that lady.  I had no more than sat down in my seat and the Lord had given me a Word for her.

"And then I'm sitting there thinking, 'Now, what am I supposed to do with this?  It's about 5 minutes late.  I'm standing there in front of all those people, I have nothing to give so I pray some little prayer, do the best I can, and bless her in the name of the Lord.  Now, Lord, I come and sit down.  I'm no longer up front.  I no longer have the platform or the microphone, and You give me a Word from the Lord.'"

And he said, "How in the world am I going to deliver it?"

And in a few minutes Bobby said, "Come back, Paul Keith.  I believe the Lord has something else He wants you to say."

He said, "Then I was able to go up, and I was able to give that prophecy, and I know it was the Lord."

Now he didn't do any damage by blessing that woman.  He just blessed her.  "Lord, bless her, meet her needs and touch her and help her."  

But the Word that he gave her, the real Word that came a few minutes later, was exactly what she needed.  

And it opened up a realm for her in the Spirit where she had some very powerful experiences that took place with some fruit to go along with it.

And so, God did have a Word for her.  And again, he didn't do any damage by praying this blessing.  But he could have.  He could have.  

He could have felt pressure, and he could've spoken presumptuously.  

Do you know what that word "presumptuously" means in Hebrew in this text?  In arrogance and pride.

If a prophet speaks, presumes to speak, a word that God hasn't spoken . . .  That word "presume" and "presumptuous" means he's doing it in arrogance and pride, perhaps under pressure to save his reputation as a prophet.  

I mean, after all, if you print on your business card that you're a prophet, you've got a reputation to keep up, don't you?  Amen.  

If you let everybody call you "prophet," then you've got a reputation to keep up.  And better than that, if you build a webpage and declare yourself a prophet, you've got a reputation to keep up.

I get hundreds of requests a year for a Word from the Lord.  And probably out of those hundreds, I might respond to two or three that the Lord gives me a Word or gives me an inspiration for.  

Somebody tells me a little bit about their problem - "If the Lord shows you anything or deals with you or tells you how to pray, I'd like to know about it."

The rest I don't even respond to because I could tell them all kinds of things.  I could say, "The Lord wants to bless you."  

How do we know that?  The Word said so.  I could say, "It's the Lord's will to heal you."  How do we know that?  The Word . . .

That's not what people are looking for.  They want something specific.  They want something to minister to their need.  

So it's very dangerous to speak in arrogance and pride to maintain your position or to maintain your status as a prophet.  It's a very serious thing.

I want to read a few more Scriptures, and then I want to give you something good.  

Deuteronomy, chapter . . .  Not that the Scripture is not good.  It's great.  It's marvelous.  I love it.  But I also love what the Lord is speaking now.

Deuteronomy, chapter 13, verse 1 said,

1.  If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,

2.  And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;

3.  Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet . . .

Now, you've got to listen to this.  He said,

1.  If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,

Here is a prophet who is giving signs and giving wonders, but his message, his direction, is not taking people to the Lord.  It's taking people away from the Lord.  In fact, Moses says in this Writing, taking them to other gods.

In literal translation it doesn't even mean, necessarily, that they bow down and worship other gods.  

It says if they say, "Let us go after other gods."

And in the original translation it means even encouraging or inspiring compromise -   compromising with other gods, leading people in a direction that is not to the one true living God, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Where is the emphasis?  It needs to be on the Lord Jesus.  Do you believe that?  Do you remember what the Lord said yesterday?  

There was a phrase that came out in the Spirit about maturity, and it said when that maturity is fully established in the body that it will be about Him and it will not be about men.  It will not be about the vessels.  

Remember the dream that Bob Jones just had?

Some of you weren't here yesterday.  You didn't hear it.  He just had a dream where there was a group of men coming toward him.  They were angels.  One angel was seemingly more powerful or had a different position than the others.

He said his name was Breakthrough.  The rest of the men were all dressed in very ordinary clothes, and Bob couldn't understand why they were angels and yet they were dressed very ordinary in street clothes.

And the Word was because God was going to use ordinary people - not superstars, not just the big folks that we all know about, but that God is going to use anybody who has a desire to be used, is walking in the Word of God, who's hungry for the Lord.  

And remember what the Word in the dream was?

For those that have eyes to see and ears to hear, God said, "I'm going to release that great big portion of overcoming anointing."

And we want that.  We really want that.  But here is a prophet who dreams a dream and performs a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes to pass.  It may be "Let it be a sign to you if I'm a prophet of God that there will be a meteor shower tomorrow night."  

And if you get up and tomorrow night there's a meteor shower, then that would certainly make you think that this is a true prophet of God.  This is a real servant of God in our midst.  

"He told me there was going to be a meteor shower and guess what?  The next day there was a meteor shower - a sign, a wonder.  And only God could've known that.  And it had to be God that told him, and now I wonder what else he has to say to me."

He can do all of that.  But if he's leading you in a direction away from the one true living God into ways that thou hast not known, encouraging you . . .

Now, I know that if we take this literal, you're going to say that someone is telling you, "Now, you bow down and worship these other gods."

But how many of you know that idolatry is not just bowing down and worshipping an idol.  It's not just that at all.  That's just a portion of what idolatry is.

Then the Word of the Lord says in verse 3,
        
3.  Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet . . .

Even if he has signs and wonders following him, if he's not leading you, what is his doctrine?  What direction is he taking the people in?  Toward the Lord Jesus, or is he building some kind of kingdom, seemingly for himself, exalting himself?  Is he operating perhaps in presumptuousness which is arrogance and pride?

3.  Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
                
Did you hear what that verse said?  It's a test.  It's a test.  God is proving you like He proved Israel to see whether or not you will follow Him or you'll follow the words of this prophet who would lead you away from the things of God.

He said it's a test.  It's a proving for the Lord your God proveth you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.  

It reminds me of that story that we read about.  We won't take time to read it now.  

But it reminds me of that story in 1 Kings, chapter 13, where a prophet, a true prophet of the Lord from Bethel . . .  You know the story.  

He went and gave a Word from the Lord.  He did some things, and God said, "Now on the way home I want you to go straight.  I don't want you to turn by into anybody's house.  I don't want you to eat bread.  I don't want you to drink water.  I want you to go straight."

The king was so impressed with what this prophet has accomplished that he said, "I want you to come and eat with me.  I want you to come and stay with me."  

And he said, "Not as the Lord my God liveth.  I have to go home.  He's told me not to stay, not to take bread, not to take water."

And he gets on his way, saddles his mule and takes on his way.  And the Bible said that there were some sons who heard of all these mighty things that he did, and they went home and told their father who was also an old man and known as a prophet.

And they told him what mighty things that God had done.  And there was something in that man's heart.  He said, "I want that man in my home.  I want that blessing.  I want that blessing."  

So he said, "You go and catch him and tell him that he should come here and have bread and water."

"No, no, no, no."  

You know the rest of the story.  And finally he meets the old man.  He does come.  He meets the old man, the old prophet.  

And he says to him, "No, not as the Lord my God liveth, I can't stay.  I can't eat bread or water."

And do you know what the man says to him?  

"I am a prophet of the Lord, too, and I have seen a dream.  And in my dream, the Lord has commanded me that I should invite you in."  

I wonder what that prophet should have done?  He should've trusted the Word that the Lord had already given him and obeyed the Lord.

But he came in contact with a prophet who was giving a misdiagnosis.  He was diagnosing the situation wrong in his own desire to have fellowship, perhaps, with this great man of God.  "I just want you in my home."

But instead of saying, "It would be just an honor to have you, but I understand that the Lord has told you you can't come.  But would you remember my house?  Would you come again?  Let me offer you a holiday.  You come back and stay with me.  It would be such an honor."

But instead of doing that, he reverted to the same technique that preachers are reverting to all over the world today.  

He knew that that wasn't good enough and perhaps the prophet would just stuff it away in his mind somewhere and maybe if he remembered, he might come for a visit.

So he reverted to this technique that a lot of people are using.  "Oh, I'm a prophet, too, and I've had a dream.  And in this dream, the Lord said for me to tell you to come."  

And in his own ignorance, this mighty prophet of God . . . guess what he did?  He yielded.  And he went in, and he took bread, and he took water, and when it come time for him to leave, he left on his way.

And the sons of this old man were going out on a journey, and they came and there they found this prophet's body.  

This terrible beast was standing over the prophet's body.  The mule was not shredded, but here was the body.  And God had sent a beast of the field and this prophet lay there dead.

That is so serious, so very, very serious.  And guess what this misdiagnosing prophet did?  

He went out and got his body and brought him and he said, "Lay him in the sepulcher, my own sepulcher.  And when I die, lay me right beside him because I know that every word he prophesied is true and is going to come to pass.  So put my bones right beside him."

My, I'm telling you.  Where was the judgment on that prophet?  Very serious thing to speak presumptuously.  He caused that man . . .  

Listen.  It got so bad when Brother Branham was alive . . .  And he was a mighty servant of the Lord.

But it got so bad, even in those days before there was a prophetic movement . . . it got so bad that when he would be trying to preach the Word, people would interrupt and give prophecies.

I once read a letter that Billy Paul, his son, wrote to a good friend of mine when there was a question asked about why Brother Branham preached a little message called "Church Order."  

And he talked about the gifts not operating during the time of the ministry of the Word.  He said the spirit of the prophet is subject unto the prophet.  And he gave this little outline.

And a letter was written to Brother Billy Paul - "Why did Brother Branham preach a sermon like that and kind of really put things in this black and white order - kind of stiff, a little bit?

And Billy Paul said that it had gotten so bad that people would even interrupt Brother Branham while he was preaching.  

"Thus saith the Lord.  You're to come to Chicago next, and I'm going to move, saith the Lord, and I'm going to do this and that and such great and mighty things."

And another one might, another time . . . might stand up and say, "Thus saith the Lord, you're supposed to come here on next month, and I'm going to do this, and I'm going to heal the sick, and I'm going to do the other."

It got so bad.  And all these people were sincere.  They just wanted a mighty man of God in their city.  But it wasn't God speaking every time.  And do you see what trouble Brother Branham could've got into?  

He did get into trouble one time yielding to the pull of other people and not following the Lord.

I was reading some old prophecies last night in my bed.  I was reading some old prophecies.  And the Lord had given a prophecy in the year 2000.  He had spoken to me.  

And He said, "Don't ever go again.  Don't ever leave this church again because you're called, because somebody calls you to come.  Don't ever go again unless you know that it's Me sending you."

Boy, that's serious warning.  And you know, this is 2006, and laying there in the bed, I started thinking back.  

And I said, "Oh Lord, I'm not sure, I'm not positive that I could say that every time in the last six years, I've only gone when You told me to go for sure.  I'm not sure I could say that."

And it caused me to repent.  I didn't have a specific trip on my mind.  But I just repented.  And I said, "Lord, I don't think I took that serious enough.  I want to wait on You and know . . ."  

I mean, I try to.  I do the best I can when I'm pulled to be in three different places at the same time -  sometimes thirty.

I want to know the will of God, but sometimes, you know, you feel compassion for people and their needs, and you can be moved.  And that's all right.

But I don't want to be the corpse laying underneath my donkey.  I don't want to be laying over there underneath my donkey and somebody come by, "Oh, there was a mighty man of God, but he got out of God's will and there he lays."

Anybody believe serious things can happen to us when we move out of God's will?  Oh, yes.  Serious things can happen when we move out of God's will.

And they are happening, and they have happened.  And there are a lot of things that we need to consider the Scripture.

Even though this comes with a sign and with a wonder, He said you should be very careful and not obey that prophet or not follow that dreamer of dreams if it's leading you in a direction that is away from the Lord.

I want to read you another one quickly.  

1 Samuel 3 . . .  There are too many.  I could never get to all of them here, but I still have a few minutes.  

1 Samuel, chapter 3, verse 19,

19.  And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground.

We're reading about how the Lord appeared to Samuel and called to him in the house of Eli.  

20.  And all Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord.

21.  And the Lord appeared again in Shiloh: for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord.

I like that word "established."  It said,

20.  And all Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord.

He didn't just have a gift of prophecy.  He didn't just have a gift of seeing or hearing or having a . . .

He was established to be a prophet of the Lord.

And do you know what that word "established" means in the original?  Faithful and steadfast.  

He was steadfast.  He was in a steadfast position that he might be able to hear the Word of the Lord.

A few pages over . . .  I want to give you this little thought.  

1 Samuel 9:9,

9.  (Beforetime in Israel, when a man went to enquire of God, thus he spake, Come, and let us go to the seer: for he that is now called a Prophet was beforetime called a Seer.)

Now, when anybody goes to inquire of the Lord, they come to . . .  It says,

9.  (Beforetime in Israel, when a man went to enquire of God, thus he spake, Come, and let us go to the seer: for he that is now called a Prophet was beforetime called a Seer.)

Now it would take too long and you've already . . . many of you probably have heard good teaching on that.  It would take too long.  

But did you know in Hebrew there is a difference between the Hebrew word that is used for "prophet" and the Hebrew word that is used for "seer"?  

I like it.  I like it very much because I have read it, I've come in contact with it, and I've been able to distinguish the difference sometimes in ministry between the seer anointing and the prophetic anointing.

And I'll just give you a real quick summary.  The word "prophet" in the . . . not the word "prophecy."  The word "prophecy" has more than one Hebrew word.

But the word "prophet" in Hebrew is transliterated "n-a-b-i-y" - "nabiy."  And it means "inspired mouthpiece."

And one of the words for prophecy means "to flow forth, to issue forth like a babbling brook."  A mouthpiece, a prophet - this is the word that's used.

But when we see the word seer, s-e-e-r, there are two Hebrew words.  One is "r-a-'-a-h" [ra'ah] and it means "to see, to gaze, to look upon, and to perceive."  Remember perceive is to understand.

And then the other Hebrew word that's sometimes used for seer is "c-h-o-z-e-h" and it means "a beholder in vision, a gazer."  Sometimes it's even been used as a stargazer, as the word that would be used for a stargazer.

The Hebrew word for prophet gives indication that "he is a hearer and a speaker."  He hears from God and what he hears, he speaks.

That's the Hebrew word for prophet.  The Hebrew word for seer is "he sees."

How many of you know there can be a slight difference between hearing and seeing.  Of course, there is.  There can be.  

And then we need to be able to say, "Okay, how do we distinguish between a seer and a prophet?"
  
Well, we know that all true seers are prophets.  But not all prophets are seers.

Somebody said, "Okay, what in the world does that mean?"  

All seers are prophets.  If God opens their eyes and lets them see like that into the heavenly realm by that seer anointing, then they're a prophet.  

They fall in that category of a prophet.  And it is then their responsibility to try to articulate what they see.

Here is where the danger lies.  Here is where the danger lies.  A seer does not have a problem seeing.  But he is not necessarily a gifted articulater.

The word "prophet" means "one who hears and speaks, an anointed mouthpiece."

So the prophet has a heavier anointing for speaking what he hears, and a seer has a heavier anointing for visions and dreams and visitations.  

Now, if this is a true seer, he functions in the office of a prophet.  However, he may not be as heavily gifted and anointed in articulation, in speaking.

He sees, but he may have a hard time speaking what he sees.  This is my problem.  I'm not anything.  I'm not declaring myself to be anything.  

But if I had a weakness in ministry, it is the ability to articulate what I see.

I see all kinds of visions and dreams that many times I never mention.  I just hold them, perhaps for . . .  

I don't know what I'm holding them for - maybe for a later time.  Because it's not as easy for me to explain them and to express them and to paint them.

I'm not gifted in the arts, you know.  I wish sometime I could paint what I see in the Spirit, and let everybody look at the painting and get the same message.  

Bob Jones, perhaps, is very much like that at his own admission.  He is a seer.  He sees daily.  

I don't know if there's anybody who has as many visitations and sees and dreams as much as he does.

But he will say, or at least it's said about him often, that he is not heavily gifted in articulation.

And that's why he teamed up many years ago with Paul Keith Davis because Paul Keith Davis definitely has the gift to articulate.  He definitely has the gift.  

Now my wife was listening to him and she said, "There's just something about what he says.  It may not be something that I haven't already heard.  Most of it I know.  We've heard.  It's been revealed already.  But it's interesting.  It makes you want to listen."

That's because of that gift that he has for articulation.  

I don't have it with me, but every year, Paul Keith Davis and Bob Jones come together.  They receive a revelation from the Lord on the Day of Atonement, and they put it together, and it's printed in booklet form.  And it's called "The Shepherd's Rod."

And if you could know the difference, if you could ever see a comparison, this is . . .  

I hope that I'm not doing wrong to explain it this way.  I hope I'm not bringing any kind of gray reflection because that's not my intention at all toward Bob Jones because he is the seer.

But if you could see the difference between what he sees and tells, and how it's written, you'd be very surprised.  

I don't mean that there is contradiction.  No - that would be wrong.  But Paul Keith Davis said to Stacey and I . . . he said, "I had to make an agreement with Bob Jones.  Years ago we made an agreement.

"And I had to say to him, 'Bob, there's no way I can write this down without expressing some of my own gift from the Lord, my own revelation from the Lord, and I don't mean embellishing it, or changing it, or editing it.'"

But oftentimes, when he hears it, the Lord gives him something on it.  You know, revelation is built on revelation.  It's built on revelation.  

And maybe Bob Jones sees this vision and when Paul Keith hears it, he gets a revelation that kind of builds on that.

And they put it together, and they work in such beautiful agreement.  That's the truth.  They work in such beautiful agreement.  They can put both of their names on "The Shepherd's Rod."  It goes all over the world.  

It's on the Internet free of charge.  It's printed in book for people who want a book form.  You can find it on webpages in Malaysia, in Singapore, and all over the world people publish that.  And it's beautiful.  It really is beautiful.

But what makes it beautiful to me is it's that anointing of the seer and this anointing, this prophetic anointing, for hearing and articulating what you hear.  And it's kind of a blending of those two gifts making up the prophetic office.  It's a blending.

One is more gifted in seeing and one is more gifted in telling.  Again this is where the problem lies.  If a seer who is more gifted for seeing and not as gifted in articulation . . . do you see how easy it would be to give the wrong impression when he's trying to tell what he sees?

He could even interpret it.  He's not to interpret it.  But he could interpret it.  

And then, of course, you have to think about when we hear it, how we interpret it.  Oh, there's a lot of interpretations that go on because there's a little bit of interpretation when we speak it and then lots of interpretation when we hear it.

I'll give you a personal example.  I was in Naples, Florida, some years ago.  We were having one of the greatest revivals of my entire ministry.  

We'd been going six weeks under the gospel tent.  We'd started with about 120 people, and now we were running over a thousand people every night.  God was doing some very powerful things.

We had moved from Naples up north to Fort Myers, Florida.  Some of you might know.  It's a beautiful area, both Naples and Fort Myers.  It's a retirement community, and yet there's still a lot of life in it and not just retirees - a lot of younger people and younger couples, and so forth, a lot of Spanish influence as well.

This revival was so powerful . . . I've mentioned it before . . . that Jimmy Swaggart even mentioned on his daily television program what was going on down in Florida and what kind of revival . . .  

It was in the same revival in Fort Myers that God raised a quadriplegic from a wheelchair.

And some of you've heard me tell that story - how he came the next morning and gave his testimony to a tent that was . . .  For a morning service to be packed out in a tent is a miracle in itself.  The next morning . . .

We'd been having maybe 300 people in a morning tent meeting, a thousand at night.  

The next morning, you couldn't get a seat in the tent.  It was packed to capacity because people had seen the miracle the night before and they wanted to come and hear the rest.  Well, he came and we allowed him to give his testimony.

Can you imagine what it was like for the people who saw that man with his wheelchair operating from a tube that he inhaled and exhaled.  That's how he had to move around.  

And here he walks in the next morning to give his testimony.  And when he starts talking, tears running down his face, he can hardly talk and everyone weeping.  

And he wants to thank the Lord.  He said, "I want to thank the Lord for everything, for this miracle, what all He's done."  

But he said, "It's not just the big things, it's the little things."  

He said, "Would you believe . . ."  And he just sobbed.  

"Would you believe that for the first time since the Vietnam War, I fed myself breakfast this morning."

I just fell apart.  Everybody in the place did.  "I fed myself breakfast with a spoon for the first time."  Here was man whose pride was crushed and destroyed.  His ego was destroyed.  He was in an unpopular war.  He came home paralyzed and mocked and made fun of for serving his country.

He had lost his family.  He now had another wife.  He'd lost his family because of the impact.  He was a mental case.  

He came home a mental case.  Everything was messed up in his life.  And now God just said, "I'm giving you a new start."

And to see that man walk . . .  And while he was talking, he was walking the whole time - walking, walking, walking, back and forth.  

Talk about adding impact to the story.  And God gave some beautiful prophecies in those meetings - powerful Words of what God was going to do.

And I just assumed . . .  He didn't say, "I'm going to do them here."  I just assumed that He was.  That's where we were.  

I was flying . . .  I was pastoring an Assembly of God church at the time, and this six-week revival was going on.

So I wasn't much of a pastor.  But I was getting on an airplane on the weekend, flying home to preach for the church, and flying back.  

Some weekends, we were driving.  And this was getting big.  And these prophecies were going forth, and I just assumed . . .

And really, I was prepared to go home and resign my church and move to Florida.  The pastors had come together.  They had asked me to come.  

You know, you don't have that.  It's not often that other pastors invite you to come and start a ministry in their city.

This was unbelievable.  They said, "We'd love to have you here.  We want you here.  There's no jealousy.  We would love for you to be here."  

And God had made all these prophecies.  And so I have to be honest.  In my mind, I really thought this must be this great big door that God is opening up for me.

I mean, I'm eighteen years old, and this is outstanding what God was doing.

And so I said to them, "Okay.  Let me go home and seek the Lord and make arrangements, and I'll let you know."  

And there was a young man who had been delivered from drugs in this meeting.  And he had quit his job.  His father owned a big company.

He quit his job, and he was traveling with me because we were driving a bus.  I was traveling in a bus.  And he was driving the bus.  

And for you people from the local church, you remember Brother and Sister Walker that came for a while when Brother Walker was working in town.  It was her brother that was my bus driver.  That's how I knew Sister Walker.

And he was the bus driver.  He had just gotten saved.  He had just got delivered from cocaine.  And he was on fire for God.  

He was so on fire for God, he'd get on your nerves.  He was really on fire for God.  And I'm the man of God, now - eighteen, and all these great miracles are happening.

And he dares say to me one day, driving up the road . . .  He said, "You know, Brother Shelley, I don't believe that it's God's will for you to settle in Naples."  He said, "I don't believe God's calling you to settle in Naples."

And I said, "Humph."  This was my attitude.  "Well, what did you say that for?"

And he said, "I just don't.  I don't understand it."

He said, "Now, I don't particularly like Naples.  But I don't believe that's influencing what I'm saying."

He said, "I really believe that I feel like from the Lord that it is not God's will and He's not going to allow it to happen."

And I said, "Well, I guess we'll see who's hearing from the Lord, won't we?"  

That was my attitude.  I said, "I feel like maybe it is."  

I didn't have a "thus saith the Lord."  I was going home to seek the Lord.  But I was feeling it sure looked like a good opportunity perhaps.  

Maybe my eyes were blinded by all of that.  Perhaps it's because the people had just bought me a bus to travel in.  Maybe, maybe - I'm human.  I don't know - maybe.  And paid for the tent . . .  

We were renting a tent.  Listen.  We were renting a tent and the tent man came and said, "I've got to have my tent back.  It's rented.  You only rented it for two weeks.  I've let you rent it for six, but I've got a big carnival or something coming in."

I was so upset.  I said, "Man, you can't take the tent away from people getting saved to have some carnival."
  
He said, "No, it's terrible."  He said, "I don't want to do it, but I've got a contract.  I'm a man of my word.  I have to do it."

And I thought, "What in world are we going to do tomorrow?  We're going to lose the tent."  

And the crowd was bigger than ever.  And a little man got up that God had healed in the revival.  The Lord had healed him miraculously.  

And he got up and testified that night.  Nobody knew he was going to do it.  I didn't have the service.  They were conducting the service.  They were going to turn it over to me.  He got up and testified, and he said, "Listen, this thing is of God."  Baptist people were coming.  

My wife and some of the church people have met the deacon of a Baptist church, the biggest Baptist church in Naples, who came and received the baptism of the Holy Ghost in that meeting.  

And my wife has met Brother and Sister Windstrom.  She's met them since then because we've stayed in touch over the years.  Great things were happening.

And this little man got up, and nobody hardly knew him.  He gave his testimony of how the Lord had healed him.  

He said, "Listen.  I believe we can have a tent."  He said, "I don't believe we have to worry about losing a tent."  He said, "I'm going to . . ."  He said, "Is it all right with you preachers?"

And they said, "Yes," and I shook my head.

He said, "I'm going to put an offering plate down here."  And he said, "It will be $8000 to buy a tent."

And he said, "I just believe that the Lord's going to make a way and that tent will be paid for tonight."

And he went and sat down and gave an offering. They gave $12,000 in the offering that night to buy the tent.  

I don't know if any of that had anything to do with it.  I'm not sure.  I'm going to be honest.  I'm not sure.  But I kind of felt like God was opening up a door.

The pastors said, "We want you.  We need you."  

Robert said, "I don't believe it's the Lord.  I just don't believe it's the Lord."  

I was so mad at him, but I couldn't let him see me mad.  I was trying to teach him and mentor him.  I couldn't let him see the real me.  Oh, I was mad.

"How dare you?"  I wanted to say, "You've not been saved six weeks."  

You know, that's how I felt.  "I've been preaching all my life" - you know, that kind of thing.  But I didn't.

And you know what?  My last statement to him was "We'll see who's hearing from the Lord."  

And guess what?  We did see who was hearing from the Lord, and it wasn't me.  It was not me.  The invitation was still there.  The opportunity was still there.

But when I came home to seek the Lord, the Lord said, "I will not let you go."

"Why, Lord?"  No answer.  "Why, Lord?"  No answer.  And then what the . . .  

Do you know what the Lord said next?  "Now I want you to go over there and apologize to that young man and tell him how much you appreciate him hearing from Me."

"Tomorrow, Lord, I will - tomorrow."

"Now."  

I went into the room.  I was in my office in the Assembly of God church.  Robert was over in the parsonage with my mother.  

I walked in.  They were talking.  He was sitting on the couch.  She was in a chair.  I walked in.  I said, "Robert, I've got to tell you the Lord said He would not let me go to Naples, and I have to tell you . . . He wants me to tell you . . . to apologize to you.  And I am truly very, very sorry."

He said, "No reason to be sorry."  He said, "It just really encourages me."

I said, "Oh, because I'm apologizing?  You mean that encourages you?"  

He said, "No.  But you just imagine.  I'm a young Christian.  I really felt like I was hearing from the Lord.  But I wasn't going to come against you.  But now you tell me it was the Lord and that makes me feel real good."

So I said, "Well, I'm glad I could be a blessing."

You know, whatever . . .  I really thought . . .  And you know what?  I have seen God . . .  - not all of them, not all of them.

But I have seen God perform many of those very things in our ministry now where we are in Columbus and Alabama.  But I thought it was going to be in Naples because I was in Naples at the time.

Do you see?  It's the interpretation.  Sometimes it's the articulation that can cause you to miss.  

And so there needs to be . . .  Now, I'm not going to classify somebody else's ministry, but I will tell you that there's a wonderful book . . .

Sister Margaret may have read it, I don't know - a lot of you may have - Sister Sue, I'm not sure.  But there's a wonderful book that Jim Goll has written called "The Seer."  Have you all ever seen it?  If you see it, get it.  It is so nice.  He did such a wonderful job.  It's called "The Seer" - "S-e-e-r."  

And he goes through . . .  I haven't finished it.  I haven't finished the book yet.  I want to, but I've read the first three chapters, and it's wonderful.  

But he really breaks those words down and makes it very special.  And I really appreciate something that he said in the book concerning Brother Branham.

Because if you've been through what I've been through and others have been through, anytime somebody says something nice about Brother Branham, it makes you happy.

And in that book he mentions Brother Branham and he mentions that gift of a seer.  And he talks about how that was so heavy in Brother Branham's life.

And I don't want to offend anybody, but I have to say that if I was going to put Brother Branham . . .

We know that all seers are prophets, not all prophets are seers.  I know he was a prophet.  I know he had a major job to do.  

But if I was going to say what he was the heaviest in, was it articulation or seeing, I would have to say it was seeing.  That was his heavy gift.

And there's something that's kind of noticeable about these seers.  And Jim Goll brings this out.  

He said they often depend on an angel or the manifest Presence of God for the activation of their gift.

Now what in the world does that mean?

Well, it means that you may not be able to point at a seer and say, "Give me the Word of the Lord" because he may be dry as a bone if you do that.

You may say, "Okay, brother you got a Word from the Lord?"  I get . . .  Oh, I get tired of being asked that.  I get put on the spot.

If you ever get around these kind of prophetic people, the first thing they ask you is "What's the Lord saying?"  

And I always get a little embarrassed because I say, "Well, last week He said such and such and such."  But that's never good enough.

Who wants to fool with what God said last week?  We want to know what God said this morning.

Well, what some people don't understand is . . .  It seems when we read through the Scripture . . .  The Bible talks about different seers, talks about different prophets.

The Bible specifically said that Nathan was a prophet, and I know he was.  He had a gift of articulation.  

Oh, did he ever.  "Thou art the man."  

Looked right at David's face - "Thou art the man."

Now, that's a gift of not only hearing and seeing, but a gift of articulation as well.

The Bible said that David had a seer.  His name was Gad.  He had a prophet named Nathan.  He had a seer whose name was Gad.

Again, now in Samuel it says, "Those who were once called seers are now called prophets."  

But it goes on to tell us that David had a seer named Gad and a prophet named Nathan.

So there was a little bit of a difference - one who sees, who's gifted in seeing, and one who is gifted in hearing and speaking.  

And of course, if we look at somebody as outstanding as Brother Branham, we'd have to say he had both.  He was able to do both.  There's no doubt about it.

But the outstanding thing was these visitations.  I think it added so much to what the Lord was speaking, these visitations.  

And Jim Goll in this book . . .  I'm not sure he worded it exactly like I would've worded it, but he did good.  I'm not a writer.  He is.

But he talked about Brother Branham waiting on the Angel.  I just hope people understand that when you read it, you know, that you understand it.  

He said . . .  I wish I would've brought it over here.  It said something about Brother Branham, you know, was heavily gifted in seeing.  And it says that his gift was pure, or whatever, however, slightly limited.  

Now that doesn't offend me because I know what the next phrase is.  Slightly limited - that would offend some people and they'd say, "Aww, I'll tell you, that man of God wasn't limited in any way."  

Well, he was.  He was limited in a good way.  The next sentence says, "He had to wait on the Angel of the Lord to come."  

And do you know some people use that . . .  Paul Keith Davis - I heard him say some people use that to criticize Brother Branham.  

And they say, "Aww, he had to wait on the Angel of the Lord to come before he could minister," as though that's some slam against him.  That's a privilege.

It's a privilege if the Angel of the Lord decides to come and stand with somebody and minister through them.  That's a privilege.  

And a whole lot of people would've done better if they would've waited on Him to come instead of speaking presumptuously.  

And what are all these people talking about?  They're talking about times when Brother Branham would say, "We're waiting on something."  

He would say it - "We're waiting on something.  We're waiting on something."

And there was a time down there in Macon, Georgia, on one of those tapes . . .  And Sister West is here, and her father was one of the sponsors.  

He was an Assembly of God pastor.  And her father was one of the sponsors who brought Brother Branham to Macon.

And in one of those meetings, they had moved out to this ball field  And there were these big lights, these big, you know, stadium type lights.  

And Brother Branham's preaching away, or testifying, I should say - kind of telling some Bible stories to build people's faith.

And all of a sudden he said, "Oh, we won't have to talk about Him anymore.  He's just come in the building.  I saw Him when He came across the lights there, that Pillar of Fire."  

And immediately the atmosphere changed.  And immediately this little humble man who had been telling Bible stories . . . immediately he became God's mouthpiece.

And he started telling people their names, and where they were from, and where they lived, and their doctor's names, and what their diseases were, and even their address on occasion.  

Really, in the Spirit we call it reading people's mail.  I mean really, spiritually, he read people's mail.  He even told women what was in their purses sometimes.

He said, "Just so that you'll know that this is God, you've got a letter in your purse and it's addressed from your daughter, and she lives in Chicago, Illinois, and she's telling you about these meetings.

"In the letter, she's telling you that I'm going to be here and that these meetings are going on and she's encouraging you.

"And when you went out the door tonight, you turned around and went back in and got that letter and put it in your purse, and it's in your purse right now."  

Now that's God.  But Brother Branham couldn't have done that.  He wouldn't have known that woman from Adam.

He would've just had to say, "Good evening, sister."

That's all he could've done until that Presence of the Lord came.  What's wrong with that?  We want that.  We need that.    

How important are prophets?  Well, I'll tell you how important they are.  

Hosea, chapter 12 and verse 13 said,

13.  And by a prophet the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved.

How important is a prophet?  

Well, a prophet is so important that Israel would've still been in Egypt if it hadn't been for a prophet.  And Israel would've not been kept and preserved if it hadn't have been for a prophet.

So I would say there is a need for the prophetic.  I'd say there's a need.  Where is the issue?  

The issue is sometimes in misinterpretation.  We've got to pray.  

"Why are you saying all this?  You said you're still preparing."  And I am.  "So why did you bring any of this to us?  It's a little dull."

Well, it may be.  But I want to tell you something.

In the dream that I had night before last . . .  Bro. West interviews me sometimes to get things out of me.  And he started asking me questions last night about my dream.  And I started sharing it and then I choked up.  I couldn't talk anymore.

I said, "I'm sorry.  I can't talk anymore about it."

And I'm still writing, still putting it down.  Paul is very concerned that I'm not going to remember it.  But amazingly, Paul, the Lord just brings it back.  It really comes back.  I praise the Lord for that.

He's just kind of kidding, but he said, "Perhaps this afternoon you should sit down and let me video you telling the dream and then I'll take it home and play it for the church."

And I said, "No, no, no, no, no, no, no."

But it was . . .  You know, I'm almost ready to call it more than a dream.  I'm almost ready to say that it was a night vision.  Because it came with such detail.  I've always been a dreamer, but it came with such detail.  

I was sharing a little bit of it with Bro. Kary.  And I said, "It was just more than a dream.  It was more like a night vision."

And he said, "You mean, literally in the dream you spoke with the seven church age messengers?"

I said, "Just as literally as I've ever spoken to anybody in my life."

The apostle Paul was sitting at one end of the table.  The last church age messenger was sitting at the other end of the table.  There were three on the other side and two on this side with their backs toward me when I walked into the room.  

And it was as though I was just dumped into the room.  And I was so aware of the fact that "I shouldn't be here.  This is an important meeting going on."

I didn't yet know who it was.  I didn't yet recognize or even see the people.  I just recognized I was dumped into this conference room.

And I was starting to try to retreat and withdraw when I was called over to the table.

And they said, "We have some things we want to . . .  We're glad you're here.  We have some things we want to talk to you about."

It was very casual - very, very casual - just like an old friend had walked in.  But I was feeling very strange about being in a meeting like this.

The only thing I want to tell now is the apostle Paul I recognized as I recognized the last church age messenger.  I looked straight to the other end of the table.  I've never seen Paul, but I knew in the Spirit that it was the apostle Paul.

I've never dreamed of Paul like that before.  He was dressed in the costume of his time.

And he stood up, he pushed his chair away from the table, he walked over to where I was, he put his right hand in the small of my back and he said, "Walk with me.  I want to talk to you."

And I felt his hand.  He kept his hand right there on my lower back, and we walked down toward the end of this conference room where there was a bench sitting.  He sat down.  He said, "Let's sit down here."

He sat down first.  I sat down beside him.  He put his right hand over on my knee and he said, "It's a terrible thing to be misunderstood."

And I looked at his . . .  I mean, I . . .  You know, this is . . .  "Why am I here?  Why are you telling me this?"                

And he talked for a long time about being misunderstood, misunderstanding.

And you know, I guess we could say . . .  Of a lot of people in the Bible, would you all vote that Paul has been greatly misunderstood?  

His eyes were all glassy like he was about to cry.

And have you ever felt misunderstood?  I have.  I sure was encouraged when he leaned his head like this and looked over at me and he said . . .  I said, "Why are you telling me this?"

He leaned over like this and he said, "I know you'll understand."

For a split second, I thought to myself, "I'm a counselor to the apostle Paul.  He's come to tell me his troubles.  This is bigger than me."

And honestly . . . I hate to be carnal about it . . . but I honestly remember thinking, "Oh God, please don't let me wake up from this dream."

Have you ever been in a dream, you felt like it was the Lord and you were disturbed?  Well, I have three children.  And it can happen any night, any time.  And maybe if it's really God, you can get back into it, maybe not.

And I actually had about . . . I think it was about this time in the dream that I had this strong feeling, "Oh God, please don't let me wake up from this" . . . or night vision or whatever it was.

But he talked with me about being misunderstood.

And then he talked with me about overcoming in his day and how very, very difficult it was because of all the issues that were facing the believers at one time - the Jewish divisions, the Hellenization of the Greeks . . . you know, this worldly culture of the Greeks.

You're dealing with the extremely religious and the extremely liberal, and you're trying to establish the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ in the middle of all that.

And really, I felt such compassion for him.

Sis. Margaret wasn't here yesterday so I'll just tell this part 'cause I mentioned this part yesterday.

I've never been a Martin Luther fan.  You know, it's hard to love a man that drinks a lot of beer and hates the Jews.  It's kind of hard, you know.

I've always had this little feeling about him, although I know that God used him.  And probably God used him, as imperfect as he was, to encourage you and I that He can use us, too.

But I've always had a little resentment toward him.  And I was aware of it, but I didn't know really what . . .

How do you deal with resentment you have for somebody that's been dead for hundreds of years?  You know.  So it wasn't a heaven or hell issue, I don't think.

But in this dream when he appeared to me and sat down . . .   And he was even dressed . . . I hate to tell you, but he was dressed in the costume of his day, too.

And as he sat down there, he started talking to me about being misunderstood.  And I have to be honest with you.  I didn't feel the compassion for him that I felt for the apostle Paul.  Because I was probably thinking, "You deserve all that you get."  You know, I don't know what I was thinking.

But anyway, he was so humble and so sweet.  His words were so sweet.  He was not at all like his writings.  He railed in some of his writings.  And I thought, "He's a railer."  But he wasn't.  I don't know why he did that.  

He was so humble and so sweet.  I thought, "This could not be the man that said, you know, 'Let all the Christ killers be damned.'  This can't be him."  And yet we understand he did it in the name of religion.  He did it in all that he knew.

Isn't that amazing that he could be so blind and so dumb about some things, and yet God could give him the greatest revelation, one of the greatest revelations that the world has ever had - "The just shall live by faith" - and he brought people out from under a system that is more wicked today than it was in that day?

It's a miracle.  He apologized.  I didn't say this part yesterday, but I recorded it last night.  It became so real.

He said, "I wished I would've known then what I know now.  Things would've been so different."

And immediately I just forgave him.  He was so humble and so sweet.  I had no choice but to forgive him.

And I realize . . .  I'd never thought of that before, but that very simple thing just solved it for me - "I wished I would've known then what I know now."  And I just forgave him.

He was under a wrong influence.  The things he said, he said them in ignorance.  He said them thinking that he was right, and he was wrong.  And if God's forgiven him, I have no choice but to forgive him.

And after he said that, I reached over on the bench and embraced him.  And it was the warmest embrace.  Can you imagine?  I've hugged Martin Luther, hallelujah - in a dream at least.  It was the warmest embrace.

And I just forgave him.  In fact, I think I felt more kindred with him than maybe some of the others.

But what I wanted to share with you, as we close, was at the end of the dream, it was Brother Branham . . .  I believe Bro. Branham was the messenger to the seventh church age.  And he was there so I must be right.

And after we would . . .  Let me just say this.  After each of us would . . . after we'd be through talking . . .  I didn't say the last word.  I let them say the last word.  And then they would . . . each one would get up and we'd walk back over to the table, and that one would take his place and the next one would get up.

And each one of them would touch me in the same place, around the small of my back there, and just walk with me - just casual, very casual.  We'd sit down.

And we were close enough to the table that I could hear these other men talking while we were away - softly talking, but I couldn't hear what they were saying.  But it wasn't so holy that they just stopped their conversation.  They kept on talking while I was over here with the individual.

I'm not going to share very much.  You should know that already.  But I'm not going to share very much about this.

But this one thing I think is very, very important to those who have an ear to hear it.  

So, Bro. Branham was the last.  He put his hand there.  We walked over.  It was as though he knew me.  There was a nice feeling with all of them - a nice feeling of brotherhood, fraternal affection.

But with Bro. Branham it was as though he knew me and that we had seen each other before.  And I have seen him before in vision and dream.

But there was a real, real, real familiarity as though we had . . .  You know, he just knew what I believed and what I had preached, and so forth.

And we sat down.  And he said several things to me.  And guess what he talked about first?  Misunderstanding - how difficult it is to be misunderstood.

He even said, "It's very difficult to keep the right spirit when people so misunderstand what you're trying to say and do."

And then he talked about how hard it is to overcome in Laodicea and the anointing that is required.

And then I mentioned to you yesterday that he explained that as all the evil of every age was gathered into the last age . . .  He said, "But that's okay, because all the anointing, the anointing to overcome in all the other church ages," he said, "that same anointing has all been gathered together in this day."

So with all the evil that's been gathered in, so there's the anointing gathered in to overcome.  The same anointing that they overcame with in Ephesus, that's been added to this day.  The anointing to overcome - it's here.  It's with us.

But then he began to talk to me about the prophetic.  And I had given a Word some months ago that the prophetic movement was muddy and that there was a clear Word coming from the Throne.  He mentioned that prophecy to me as though he was very familiar with it.

I had prophesied that there was a clear Word of the Lord coming like a river from the Throne that was going to push away the dark water, the muddy water of the prophetic movement, and would establish a very clear direct Word from the Lord.

He mentioned that to me.  And we talked about this phrase, this expression, that is so powerful.  It was so powerful in his ministry.  It has been so misused and so abused in the prophetic movement in the last twenty years - "Thus saith the Lord."

It's one thing to say, "I feel the Lord saying . . .  I see . . .  I feel the Lord showing me such and such."  But when you say, "Thus saith the Lord," you'd better know that it wasn't you.

If you're going to say, "Thus saith the Lord," it better be one hundred percent the Lord and not even a half a percent of you.  Very serious.

Because the Bible said that a prophet who says, "Thus saith the Lord," and adds that to it - "Thus saith the Lord" - and it doesn't happen that way, he should be stoned.

Now we're not going to stone people today, but I'll tell you what we are going to do.  I'll tell you what I'm going to do.  I'm going to quit supporting people with my money.

I'm going to quit buying books of people that say, "Thus saith the Lord," and it's not so.  I'm not going to stone them, but I'm not going to keep supporting them either.

And this was kind of the theme of it.  And all of a sudden, he looked at me.

We talked about the tent vision.  I'm not going to mention that this morning.  We talked about the tent vision, a little bit about the adoption and the manifested sons of God.  

And then he put his hand again . . .  He had had it there before.  He put his hand over on my knee again like the apostle Paul.  He looked me right in the face, he dropped his voice . . .  I don't know why, but the volume of his voice dropped in . . . and he said, "There's something you need to know."

I'm just waiting to see if I should . . .  

And I said, "Yes sir, what is that?"

And he said, "You can tell the people that THUS SAITH THE LORD is coming in."

His eyes just sort of shifted away and his head hung away like that, and I just thought for a second, "I've got to know what it means.  I'd better not wake up.  I'd better not get out of this without knowing what it means.

I've got to know what does that mean - THUS SAITH THE LORD is coming in.  What does that mean?"

I was thinking it, and I was deciding how I was going to ask him.

And I said, "Brother Branham . . . ," like that, "Brother Branham . . ."

And he said, "Oh, you want to know what it means."

I never had the opportunity to ask the question.  I just said, "Brother Branham . . ."  He said, "Oh, you want to know what it means."

And I'll give you his answer.  This is the phrase that he gave me, but I'm going to give you more than the phrase.  This is what he said, but I'm going to give you where he said it in a sermon.

"Nothing can harm Her, not even death; for if the Seed be planted, the water will raise it up again.  Amen."  He said, "(Now, I got a great big 'Hallelujah.')  Here is the secret: . . ."

This is what he answered me.  He looked at me and said . . .

I said, "Brother Branham . . ."  

He said, "Oh, you want to know what it means."  And here's what he spoke to me.  He said to me, "Here is the secret: . . ."

And I didn't know that that was even in the Message of the Hour.  I mean, I didn't know that it came like that.

I've read this sermon.  And guess what sermon it is?  The very first sermon I ever heard Bro. Branham preach in my life - "The Spoken Word Is The Original Seed."

And here's what he said to me.  "Here is the secret: the Word is in the Bride and the mind of Christ to know what He wants done with the Word, and She does it in His Name."  That's what he said.

And then he finished with this, "She has THUS SAITH THE LORD."

And then he said to me, which is not in this quote . . .  He said to me again, "THUS SAITH THE LORD is coming in."

Now let me finish the quote.  Let me read it again and then finish it.

"Here is the secret: the Word is in the Bride and the mind of Christ to know what he wants done with the Word, and She does it in His name.  She has THUS SAITH THE LORD."

Who is she?  The real Bride of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now somebody has sent me, forwarded me . . .  I've read them already, but somebody forwarded me some articles about this . . .  

You know it's so sad that people will take the Word of God and go to seed on it, Brother Branham said.

You take a truth and you can't stop until you make it something that it's not.  I want to say this.

It's so sad that you can take a truth and go to seed on it, go beyond, and make it something that it's not.

And it was some articles about this intimacy with Jesus.  It's the Bible.  It's the Word of God.  But I'm sickened by these articles.  I couldn't believe it.  I couldn't believe it.  

You read crazy things like this and you think, "That come from India" or "that come from . . ."  

I don't mean no harm, but you know you wouldn't think it would come from America.  You'd think that Charismatic, spirit-filled people in America would have some sense.  They don't.  I mean, some don't.

These articles were perverted - really, perverted - the thoughts that people are having.  They've taken this intimacy with the Lord, and they've gone beyond the Word of God.  

Literally, there was someone testifying of having a sexual encounter and describing what they felt.  

If someone came to me and told me that they had been sexually intimate with the Lord, first of all, I would tell them you've opened yourself up to demon possession and what you were experiencing had nothing to do with the Lord Jesus at all.

What you've probably done is you've been in the presence of a manifested demon and you need deliverance.  

But how do you tell somebody that whose weeping and speaking in tongues and crying that they've just had this romance with the Lord.  It's sick.

But you know what the devil does?  He puts things out there like that and so these people . . . you know, I don't blame them for exposing it . . . that these articles went all over the world.  

And some people will read that, and they'll think that the whole concept of you being the Bride is wrong.

And this is how the devil has operated down through the years.  He takes the Word of God . . .  It gets out there and people take that and they go to seed on it.  

Do you know what that means?  You people probably . . .  I doubt very seriously that you grew collard greens in North Dakota.

But we grow collard greens and other greens.  You might have had . . .  Did they grow cabbage?  They probably grow cabbage and stuff like that.  

But we grow collard greens and turnip greens . . . and I know in the North they eat the root of the turnip, and in the South we like the green better and a little bit of the root chopped up in it . . . and mustard greens and things like that.

And there's a time that they have to be harvested.  There's a time they have to be cut.  And everybody's got their little opinion of how that should be and how you should handle it when you cut them, and so forth.

But if you leave them in the field, do you know what will happen to some of these different things?  Do you know what will happen?  

They'll go to seed.  It'll shoot up a stalk.  It'll make a tree almost.  There's a wild plant that we call poke salad.  Does anybody . . .

Margaret, do you know what that is?  Is there another name for it?  I think that's all.  I don't know what you call it.  Poke salad - that's all I've ever heard it.  

It's a wild thing that grows.  And it is delicious to eat.  But they tell me . . .  I don't know for sure.  

But they tell me when you cook it you have to parboil it and be careful because it can be poison if it's not prepared properly.  I've heard that people have died.  Now whether that's true or not, I don't know.

But that poke salad, I've seen that.  You have to get it real quick because it's just like the turnip greens, collard greens and everything.  

It'll shoot up a stalk.  I've seen poke salad get way over your head with a big old stalk coming on it, and then seed at the top.

Well, you don't want it then.  It's no good then.  It's tough.  You wouldn't want to eat it then.  It's gone to seed, meaning it's past its harvest time and now it's gone to putting seed in - literally, I guess.  

Some of that stuff you could use the seed again, you know.  It's gone to seed.

A flower, the same way - you deadhead flowers, and so forth, because the flower's gone and just a seed pod is left or a pine cone, so to speak.
That's what's happened with the Truth.  It's true.  Listen.  

It's true that the Bridegroom is calling a Bride.  That's true.  It's true that we have to be intimate with Him.  

It's true that we have to go into the chuppah with Him - spiritually - and lay all night on His bosom.  It's true that we have to eat the Word of God.

But for somebody to go as far as to say they had this physical sexual-type gratification, it's sick.  It's demonic.  

And the church swallows it - hook, line and sinker, some folks do.  This is why we need THUS SAITH THE LORD.  Yes.  This is why we need . . .  

And listen, when THUS SAITH THE LORD is really manifested among the Bride of Jesus Christ, it's not going to be just, "I see this" and "I see that" and "I saw the other" and "I feel this" and "I feel that."  It will be a pure, clear Word of God for the hour that we're living in right now.  

God said, "I'm going to do this, THUS SAITH THE LORD," and it happens.  We need that.  I believe that was the clear stream that I saw flowing out of the Throne that was pushing away the muddy water.

"What are you trying to say?"

I'm trying to say that I believe . . . what I heard in the dream . . . I believe that God was saying that the Bride of the Lord Jesus Christ in the earth is about to raise up with THUS SAITH THE LORD.  And what she says is going to happen.  I believe that.

And here Bro. Branham was saying in 1963, or '62, "She's got it.  The Bride has it."  We just haven't come to the place of using it fully.

Now let me finish this quote, if you don't mind.

He said, "Here is the secret: the Word is in the Bride and the mind of Christ to know what He wants done with the Word . . ." (how the Word should be handled, amen?)  ". . . and She does it in His name.  She has THUS SAITH THE LORD.

"Then it is germitized; so the Holy Spirit waters it until it is grown and serves it purpose.  They do only His will.  No one can persuade them different.  They have THUS SAITH THE LORD, or they keep still."

Won't that be the day?  That God raises up a people who are sensitive enough, they've got a pure enough stream from the Throne, that "It's THUS SAITH THE LORD or I'm staying right here.  I'm not going if it's not THUS SAITH THE LORD."

You know, that's what God was telling me in 2000 - "I don't want you to go unless you know I'm sending you" - trying to get me ready for a time, THUS SAITH THE LORD or they keep still.  Amen.  I want to say "Amen" on the keeping still.

We need a . . .  Somebody said, "Oh, we need more movement."  No.  We need more stillness so that God can move.

There's too much ministry movement already.  There's too much fleshly movement already.  There's too much prophecy that comes out of the spirit of man already.  There are too many bean dreams that are leading the church already.

We need THUS SAITH THE LORD or the Bride keeps still.  And then what is the rest of that quote?

"Then they will do the works of God."  

I want you to think about the things that we see happening in pockets.  Martina is down in Jericho today for a few days.

And we hear reports, like everybody does, of . . .  There's some good things.  There must . . .  It seems like there's some powerful things happening in Jericho among the Arab people.

I trust that it's so.  The reports at least are good reports that they're coming.  The Arab people are coming and saying, "Pray for my son, he's sick.  Come to my house and pray.  And we want Jesus to do this and that."

It seems like it's good - pockets.  We hear of great things that are happening in meetings around the world.  Heidi Baker . . .  Listen.  Some of the things that they say are going on in Mozambique are outstanding - Bible days again.

I've not been there to see it with my own eyes, but I know several people that have.  And they tell me that just recently they brought a baby that had died to Heidi Baker and her team in Mozambique, her husband and her team.

And the baby had died and had been pronounced dead and that they held that baby.  And if I've got it right, they didn't pray.

In fact, the testimony was they were so overwhelmed with love for that dead child, that dead baby, just a real anointing of love came over that team that nobody could really say, you know, "I give you your life," or "Come back in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ."

But there was such love and compassion for this dead child that they held in their arms.  And the report is . . .

I think it comes very substantiated.  It's not just some rumor or gossip.  But they're documenting it and releasing the miracle that right there while those people were feeling that great overwhelming love for that child that the baby came back to life.  That's outstanding.  That's outstanding.

And you know what?  I'm the sort of person that I'd rather believe it than doubt it.

I thank God.  I'm not boasting, but I thank God that's the spirit He's given me.  Lord, please don't let me lose that spirit.  Because it's rare.

I don't meet too many people that have that, whatever it is.  I don't know if you'd call it a gift or not.  But when I hear that somebody says God has done something, it's easier for me to believe that He has done it, than He's not done it.

There's a lot of things I don't agree with that I hear about going on.  But I still say, "All right, if they . . ."  

How do you argue with somebody that says, "I saw God do such and such."  Oh, thank God.  Hallelujah.

But listen, that's just pockets.  Okay, a little stirring in Jericho, a stirring in Mozambique, a stirring where Reinhard Bonnke goes and some of these other things that are going on . . .

We hear these wonderful reports.  Praise God for all of them.  Hallelujah.

People are being helped.  We thank the Lord for that.  But that's not all.  That's the earnest.  We're just seeing pockets of what God wants to do.

What is going to happen when He raises up a Bride of people all over the world and they have within them THUS SAITH THE LORD?
                                                
I don't know whether you'll agree or not.  But I've got a feeling that when this manifests, these long nights of agonizing intercession may be over.  

That's going to put some preachers out of business.  Some ministries will go out of business because their emphasis is intercession.

And I believe in it.  I believe in intercession.  And I intercede in the Spirit, and I believe it's very, very important.

But I think it's a little dangerous to base everything on intercession, because I'm looking for something greater than that.

In 1906 we celebrate the restoration of the gifts.  But I'm looking for something greater than the gifts of the Spirit.

I'm looking for the full manifestation of the Giver.  I appreciate the prophecy that was given over me.  I need it.  I needed that Word from the Lord.

I'm not just looking for the gift of wisdom or gifts of words of knowledge.  But a declaration was made, "I'm going to fill you with the Spirit of wisdom and the Spirit of knowledge."

This is how Jesus operated in His ministry.

Jesus wasn't just flowing merely in gifts of the Spirit.  He was possessed.  He was filled with the Spirit of . . .  He was the Spirit of wisdom.  He was the Spirit of knowledge.

There is something greater than the gifts of the Spirit.  And that's the full manifestation of the Giver.

There is something greater than all-night . . .  And we'd better agonize until we know we've got it.  We'd better intercede all night until we've got it.

We'd better fast and pray until we've got it.  But there is something better than spiritual warfare all night long.  

And do you know what it is?  THUS SAITH THE LORD.  We can groan and moan and fight devils.  And I've done it and I know what it's about.  And you have, too, fighting demons all night long.  I understand what that's about.  

But I'm really looking forward to a time that I wouldn't kill myself physically fighting demon spirits, but just raise up in the Name of the Lord and the unction THUS SAITH THE LORD and watch God do it, watch every demon flee.

"You really believe that that's what God wants to do?"

I know it.  And I not only know it.  I heard that prophet messenger say, "It's about to come in."

How's it going to come in?

He said it was already with the Bride in 1962.  That's before I was born.  

What do you mean, "come in"?

It's going to raise up in us, and we're going to recognize that all we need is in us.  It's there.

God's given us the Word.  He's given us the Anointing.  He's given us THUS SAITH THE LORD.  And He's training us to the place that He'll be able to trust us to use it.

THUS SAITH THE LORD or keep still.  He said, "They will do the works of God."  Amen.  "For it is Himself in them, continuing His Word to fulfill as He did complete in His day.  All things when he was here - He did not complete all when He was here, for it was not time yet."

That's another subject altogether.  Huh?  Here's another little quote.  "God is uniting His Bride.  She's coming together from the east and the west, from the north and south.  There's a uniting time . . .  What's she uniting for?  The rapture!"  

If you don't believe in the Rapture then just don't worry about it.  "God's getting her ready.  Yes, sir, uniting, what's She uniting with?  With the Word.  'For all heavens and earth will pass away, but My Word shall never pass away.'"

Listen at what he said, "She's uniting herself with THUS SAITH THE LORD regardless of what any denomination or anybody else says.  She's uniting herself.  Why?  She is the Bride.  And She's united Herself with Her Bridegroom, and the Bridegroom is the Word."

And in the "Perganean Church Age" . . .  I'll close.  The "Church Age of Pergamos" - "Therefore nothing can harm her . . ."  "Notice," he said, "the harmony of the Father and the Son.  Jesus never did anything until it was first showed Him by the Father.  John 5:19."

"This harmony is now to exist . . ."

Oh, this is good for me.  I must be old school.  This is so, so good to me.  "This harmony is now to exist between the Groom and His Bride."

What harmony?  The same kind of harmony and unity that existed between the Father and the Son, the oneness that existed between the Father and the Son.  

"This harmony is now to exist between the Groom and His Bride.  He shows her His Word of life.  She receives it.  She never doubts it.  Therefore, nothing can harm her, not even death.  For if the seed be planted, the water will raise it up again.

"Here is the secret of this.  The Word is in the Bride (as it was in Mary).  The Bride has the mind of Christ for She knows what He wants done with the Word.  She performs the command of the Word in His name for She has THUS SAITH THE LORD.

"Then the Word is quickened by the Spirit and it comes to pass.  Like a seed that is planted and watered, it comes to full harvest, serving it's purpose.  Those in the Bride do only His will.  No one can make them do otherwise.  They have THUS SAITH THE LORD or they keep still.

"They know that it has to be God in them doing the works, fulfilling His own Word.  He did not complete all His work while in His earthly ministry so now He works in and through the Bride.  She knows that, for it was not yet time for Him to do certain things that He must now do.  But He will now fulfill through the Bride that work which He left for this specific time.  

"Here is the secret: the Word is in the Bride and the mind of Christ to know what He wants done with the Word.  And She does it in His name.  She has THUS SAITH THE LORD."

I'm ready for THUS SAITH THE LORD to come in.  Hallelujah.  How many of you want to see something like that?

Lord, we want to see THUS SAITH THE LORD come in and raise us up and work through us.  Oh Lord, it's a dangerous thing - the prophetic misdiagnosis, conflicting words, sometimes people prophesying from their own spirit, dreaming vain dreams and declaring them to be the Word of the Lord.

And we don't want to be critical.  We just want to be wise.  We want to be careful.  We want to know that we know that we know that we know that we're hearing from heaven.

And the only way we're going to be able to know is when that pure stream of THUS SAITH THE LORD comes.  We'll know it because we're the Bride.

We'll know that it's You, and that's what we're going to move forward with.  Hallelujah.  THUS SAITH THE LORD, working the works.

Oh, how we need THUS SAITH THE LORD.  How Jerusalem needs THUS SAITH THE LORD.  All of Israel needs THUS SAITH THE LORD.

The nations of the world - we need that pure unction and Word, THUS SAITH THE LORD - clear Word.

Oh, God.  We thank You for that ministry of Moses.  He was more than a prophet.  We thank You for the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ.  You raised Him up.  He was certainly more than a prophet.

And we thank You, oh God, that it is Your desire to manifest that same kind of ministry among Your people - more than prophets.

Because we not only will dream dreams and see visions, but we believe it is Your desire to speak to Your Bride mouth to mouth, lip to ear.

We believe that it is Your desire to show Yourself to Your Bride - that we don't walk in dark truths and deep secrets, but that all is made plain and made clear and revealed.  Hallelujah.  We're looking for it.  We're looking for it.  (Tongues)  Hallelujah.  

Let's stand together.  Hallelujah.  Hallelujah.

Lord, we need it.  We need it, we need it, we need it, we need it.  Blessed be the Name of the Lord.  We need it.  Hallelujah, hallelujah . . .

Oh, come down among us, Lord, and manifest that pure Word that'll put a stop to some of the foolishness that goes on in Your Name.  Oh God, help us.    

Really we have nothing to criticize.  Really we have nowhere we could cast stones because we stand before You undone.

We stand before You in the same condition sometime.  We just are so hungry to hear a Word from You.  We're so hungry sometime to feel Your encouragement and know, oh God, that You're with us.

We're looking for it.  Hallelujah.  Hallelujah.  Lord, I thank You for that visitation that took place some months ago - how You sent a messenger, walked into a big Charismatic convention, walked over and appeared to two preachers.

You spoke to them.  You said to tell the Word that the tent vision was true and that it was soon that God was going to manifest it.  And now, Lord, I thank You.  The last trance vision You lifted me into, I saw that servant of the Lord.

The same Word was given, "The time is now."  It's soon, time for that tent vision to come.  All the glory . . .

What is that?  It's THUS SAITH THE LORD.  Nobody had to pray for them, agonize for them.  They went in the tent one way, came out the other way.  What is that?  THUS SAITH THE LORD.

That's what we're looking for.  It all ties together.  And now this seventh church age messenger looked me right in the eye and said, (hallelujah) "THUS SAITH THE LORD is coming in."  Oh Father, help us.

I don't even feel like agonizing before You and begging for it.  I just feel like prophesying it, declaring it, rehearsing it, saying it again and again and again and again.

THUS SAITH THE LORD is coming in.  THUS SAITH THE LORD is coming in.  THUS SAITH THE LORD is coming in.  

Let there be a people, oh God, who are found worthy, living a life worthy of the Gospel.  What must we do that we might work the works of God?

We need THUS SAITH THE LORD.  What's going to bring our loved ones around?  THUS SAITH THE LORD.

What's going to bring the resurrection of all mankind?  THUS SAITH THE LORD.  You said it was coming in.  So we don't ask You to do it.  You said You would.  You said You were.  We just ask You to please help us to prepare ourselves.  (Tongues)  

That hour when the people of God change their circumstances with the Spoken Word of their lips, their circumstances and situations are just changed by the power of the Spoken Word.

You said to us that that Spoken Word was so powerful that you could speak a Word and a world would be created, you could step out and inhabit that earth.

That's too big for some folks, but I know.  I know.  I understand.  You were just trying to teach us the power of that Spoken Word and the creative force that's behind it.

It's the same issue of Light that said, "Let there be light," and there was light.  That's the same issue that You want to manifest in Your Bride in this hour.

And Lord, we just want that.  Wonderful is the Lord.  Let's love Him.

We love You.  We love You, Lord.  We love You, Lord.  We love You, Lord.  Can You use us?  Can you use us, Lord?  Can You use us?

Is there something we can do?  Is there a Word we can do?  Is there a sacrifice we can make?  Is there somewhere we can go?  What can we do, Lord, to prepare ourselves for THUS SAITH THE LORD?  What can we do?

Lead us.  Guide us.  Direct us.  Move with us and through us.  (Tongues)

Hallelujah.  Hallelujah.  Let that new move of God be born in us.  Let it be a THUS SAITH THE LORD move.  

Let all the counterfeits - the Jannes, the Jambres . . .  Let all that which the devil can seemingly counterfeit . . . oh, let the Truth swallow it all up, even like that serpent that came from the staff of Your prophet and swallowed up all the serpents that had been manufactured by the cunning arts of man.

But in the end . . .  Oh yes, they can duplicate it.  Oh yes, they can duplicate it, but in the end I thank You that the real and the genuine will swallow up every imitator, will swallow up every counterfeit.

But thanks be to God, the very fact that there are counterfeits is proof to us that there is a real, that there is a genuine, and that it has not left the earth.  It is still with Your people.  Hallelujah.

Let the real, let the pure, let the genuine manifest among us.  Yes, that little unlikely group of people that You've gathered all over the world, that little unlikely group of misfits, that little unlikely group . . .

If anybody looked at them, they'd surely never declare that they were Your Bride.  And yet You've gathered people like that all over the world in every nation, getting them ready for this day.

Oh, yes.  That's what we need in Jerusalem.  That's what we need all over the world - THUS SAITH THE LORD.  THUS SAITH THE LORD.  We need THUS SAITH THE LORD.  

(Singing:)  "'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus . . ."