Death and Life Chapter 1

 

Congregation sings 'Only Believe'.

Let's bow our heads.

Precious Father, such a privilege now and such an honor, to stand here, Lord, again in our post of duty in the presence of these precious people Lord that You have brought out to hear the Word. Lord, we know that they're here for no other purpose and we pray tonight Lord that You'd bless every effort that's being put forth. We know that the statements that were made about our young boys, they're working hard out here to try to get the Message out. We're so appreciative to it Lord. We know that You have put upon their heart to do that, and we thank You for it and we believe that You'll bless them and give them added strength Lord and to help them, Father, to be spiritually alert on everything, Lord, that they need to be alert on.

I pray Father that You'd open up our spiritual understanding in these things Lord,that are coming upon us today. It looks like that there's so many things happening, Lord, in the natural realm of the world that we maybe, maybe we haven't seen all of it in the Scriptures yet or in the Word that our prophet has brought to us. But things are happening so fast and we know, Lord, that somewhere it's in there that he has told us about these things. And I pray that You'd help us, Lord to seek out those things with prayer and wanting to understand everything that You have spoke to us through that prophet, Lord, not missing anything, but going back and combing it over again and make sure that we heard what he said. Make sure that it sunk into our hearts and become a part of us Lord. Grant to us, Lord, tonight that we might surrender our all to You. And bless all of us together, Lord; the trustees, the deacons and each one. We know that Brother Chris is maybe on his way tonight Lord, and pray You'd give him a safe trip back in. Lord bring us all together at the appointed time each time and pour the blessings out upon us Lord that we need. We need so much Lord in the spiritual realm tonight. We know that the natural realm is so much satisfied and so, seems like it gets along so well. But we don't want to slack off in the spiritual Lord, we know that that's where our eternal security is. And I pray that You'd lead us deeper and deeper into the depths of that great plan of salvation, redemption, Lord that You purchased for us. We ask in Jesus' Name, the Son of Man. Amen.

You may be seated.

It's good to be here. Good to see you tonight. Good to have this opportunity to be back. Just thank the Lord for what He's done for us. Now before I start this service tonight I'd like to make this... Well I do want to say that I really appreciate what Brother Don said about the young men and about Brother Tiny and the ones that have been working back here. And you boys know that I appreciate it. Sometimes I might not say too much about it, but you know I appreciate everything you do. You know that. And now I want to tell you this, this series that we're fixing to go in now it's something that... It's not all... I mean, it's for us here. It's for us here because now we've covered it. We know, you know and just like the messages that we have been bringing we've covered all of that. But you know sometimes it can take it into a little deeper understanding, and maybe sometimes somebody will miss some of it, you know, the first time around and we... Iknow the Lord wouldn't lay it upon my heart just for nothing, you know. And I been here, I was just thinking today, now going into 20 years and thousands of times I've stood right here and I feel the same way tonight that I did the first time that I stood in here. I feel like that I have a responsibility to you people to tell you the Truth.

Do you love the Lord? Now I'm going to get around to what I started to say a while ago about this series. I know that we don't have too many people now that is available to get things in print. What I... What is laid upon my heart will probably take as long to get through with it as it did something like 'Elohim Materializing' or maybe, you know, like 'What Is Truth?' or something like that. And it's things that we have covered. Ifeel like the Lord has given us a little deeper understanding of some of the things. And I just, I got to praying the other day and I got to thinking, 'What made Adam do what he did?' and I thought, you know, (Everybody listening? Everybody love me, Imean, you know in a Christ-like way?)....

How many of you could accept...You say, 'Well Brother Branham never said that.' Well, we'll see if he said something that would fall right in line with it. Now look. If you were borned in sin and come into this world speaking lies, and the only way for you to stop that, you would have to be borned again. Is that right? Is that true? That's the only way, that's the only remedy. Is that right. What if you were created in the image of God?Then what would happen to you to make you be a child of the devil? Would you have to be borned again of Satan? Think about it. Alright. Brother Gerald, think about it. Alright. Think about it. What happened to him? He got the nature of Satan. How did he get it? If you get to the nature of God how are you going to get It. Huh? Now you think about that for about six weeks. We want to get these messages, if it's at all possible in print where we can get them over to India and let the people look at them over there. I want you to turn with me to Genesis, and I probably won't get too far tonight, but we're going to get a little foundation laid. I'm trying to not get back into that two hour cycle again. I did that Sunday night, you know, I went a good ways in there.

Amen. Turn with us to the book of Genesis and we're going to read some there to get a little start. I want to first of all, I want to read from, I believe it's Genesis 1, Verse 26-28. You say, 'Well you just read that here the other day.' That's right. Now I'm... Now we're going on a series and this is the topic, 'Death and Life Is Set Before Us'. Death and Life is set before us, and you think about it. Alright.

AND GOD BLESSED THEM, AND GOD SAID UNTO THEM, BE FRUITFUL, AND MULTIPLY, AND REPLENISH THE EARTH, AND SUBDUE IT: AND HAVE DOMINION OVER THE FISH OF THE SEA, AND OVER THE FOWL OF THE AIR, AND OVER EVERY LIVING THING THAT MOVETH UPON THE EARTH.

Now this was what God had given to man. He had put man here and man, of course, was next to God. Brother Branham said he was, he was the little god. In other words, he had full dominion, authority over this planet, this earth, everything on it, everything on it. He had that. Alright. So then something happened. I want to go over to the 3rd Chapter now and let's read. Well, starting at about the 10th Verse.

AND HE SAID, I HEARD THY VOICE IN THE GARDEN, AND I WAS AFRAID, BECAUSE I WAS NAKED; AND I HID MYSELF.

Well, now this is the man that was made in the image of God. Now he has hid hisself from God. Alright.

AND HE SAID, WHO TOLD THEE THAT THOU WAST NAKED? (Well.) HAST THOU EATEN OF THE TREE, WHEREOF I COMMANDED THEE THAT THOU SHOULDEST NOT EAT?

You say, 'Well Brother Holmes, why did He put a tree out there and then tell them not to eat it? Wouldn't that be a temptation to them?' Well, He had to make a man on a free-moral agent.

A just God... Now look, in the beginning of this series I want to lay this foundation now. A just God was... He could have destroyed Satan. He had the power to destroy him. Is that right, Brother T.B.? At any time He wanted to He had the power to destroy him. But He being a just God, He was going to give him the opportunity, you know, to bring the judgement upon himself. See?

Look what He told Cain. And knowing that Cain was the seed of the serpent, a child of the devil. And He said, 'If you have made the right offering, would it not be accepted?' See? ' Why has your countenance changed and why are you so jealous about this thing? If you had done the same thing that Able did it would have been accepted.' Only a just God could say that. See? But He's just. He would not bring judgement upon... He would not bring judgement upon the devil until time. See? You see what I'm saying?

Alright. So when you can look at these things, and when He put that tree of knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden. He put it there so that Satan would have his opportunity just like He had His opportunity. See? Because, Satan was next to God. He was that beautiful creature in heaven. And so when he was cast down from heaven God did not take all of his ability away from him. See? Being a just God He would have to wait until the end of everything. And, then, give him an opportunity, give him... He gave him an opportunity with Job. He gave him an opportunity all...You see where He gave Satan his time to do what he wanted, what he could do. See? He wasn't trying to cut Satan off at this time. He was... And that's what I want to lay down right now, I want you to understand that. Watch. He said now.

IN THE SWEAT OF THY FACE SHALT THOU EAT BREAD, TILL THOU RETURN UNTO THE GROUND; FOR OUT OF IT THOU WAST TAKEN: FOR DUST THOU ART, AND UNTO DUST SHALT THOU RETURN.

Now, I got some, I'll read some more if we get to it tonight. But, anyway, I want you to notice the things that took place when the Lord God put the man in the Garden of Eden. He put him in a body, a physical form, and that physical form was a house for him to live in. Now, God so ordained this thing that he could live eternally, if he wanted to, in that physical body. Now he didn't have to die. He could have lived, or he could die.

The door was, the door was set before Him. Both, the choice was set there. He could follow the Word that God had given them for that age, as Brother Don read tonight, and live, or he could ignore, or be disloyal to that Word, to the One that created him, not showing respect to Him, and he would die. See? So the door of death and Life was set before him. Right. Alright?

Now, during the reign that he had there, we don't know how long it was that he was in the garden. Brother Branham said it might of took Satan, it might a took the serpent a long time. He might have courted Eve day in and day out. She might of sneaked out, you know, and he talked to her. It might have took him a long time, you know, to deceive her. But, you know, he was working on it. And so that is the thing that we want to look at.

The nature of this sin was something that God, a just God, could not condone. He was going to have to bring a penalty that He said, 'If you eat of it, that day you'll die.' So He's got to stand by His Word. God will stand by His Word. And so, it's the same way today.

I had a party to tell me last night that we are living in a more modern day today and we know more than we did back then. And so... (blank spot on tape) ...stand more than we did back then. I said, 'In other words, we know more than God does.' I said, 'And you're telling me that fifty years ago Pentecostal women let their hair grow and they didn't put on men's apparel, but you're telling me now that we have outgrown that, and that it's alright to do that.' She said, 'Well, it's the way a person looks at it and understands it.' I said, 'Then you're saying that God is a respecter of person. Is that right?' So, I mean, I had her pinned down. So, she come out really fighting, you know. And finally she hung up on me.

But anyway, God is no respecter of person. I mean, You know, if something was wrong fifty years ago, it's wrong now. If something was wrong ten years ago it's wrong now. See? That's what we have to watch. We have to watch the little fox that spoils the vine. He's the one that sneaks in. He wouldn't tell you to go down to the beer joint and get you a blue ribbon. No, he's not going... He wouldn't tell you to go up on the red light district and get you a nice little prostitute. He's not going to tell you to do that. Cause he's got more sense than that. But he'll lead you a little at the time until it didn't seem so bad, and then the next time it didn't seem quite so bad, and then after a while they don't much seem bad anymore. See? So that's when the separation becomes unseparation. That's when the separation becomes a mixture. See? We go back away from the separation and we come back into a mix again if we're not careful. See? I'm not saying we're there, I'm saying if we're not careful. See? We could do that. That's right.

Now, so this man and woman was the prize of God. He had made them in His own image and He had put them in a garden, and He made that garden just exactly so that it would please them. That's exactly what He did. So now we understand that the nature of Adam's sin was being disloyal. I'm not saying that that's what caused the death. But he was disloyal to his creator. See? Loyalty is what is expected of God. See? We must be loyal to His Word. We must listen to Him. We must acknowledge that He is our Lord. See? We must acknowledge that what He says is... that's the Absolute. We don't need to try to figure out a way to say, 'Well, He didn't exactly mean it, orthis wasn't for this day, or this is not as bad as it looks like it is.'

What we need to do is to do like the old boy was that was hunting a job one time and this man was, wanted somebody, Brother John, to operate a bulldozer. And so, you know, he put out a little add. And so this man come by and he said... Well, he said, 'How close can you drive to that sea down there with that dozer?' 'Oh,' he said, 'I can drive with one track in that ocean.' He said, 'Okay.' So the next man come by and he interviewed him. He said, 'How far away... How close can you go to that ocean down there with your dozer?' He said, ' Well, as far away from it as I can get, and get the job done.' He said, 'You got the job.' See?

So when we get to the place to where we want to edge the world and see how close we can come to the world and still say, 'Oh, that's not wrong!' we'd better watch out because we're going to get some sand in our track if we're not careful. You see, we're going to bog down, if we're not careful. Alright. So, I mean, that's why these warnings come, is to keep us alert of these things. Alright.

Now, well, the kind of sin that Adam did, and believe me, Adam knew what he was doing. The kind of sin that Adam did was the kind of sin, the only kind of sin that would've caused Jesus Christ to go to Calvary. But he sold out. He sold out. Now, I hope you can understand. See, that man was so brilliant. Like I said the other day, he was so brilliant he had a mind that he could name all of the beast of the field, the fowls of the air, the fish of the sea, every bit of it, and had control. He could call one of them up here and talk to him, call another one, and all, he had plenty of time to do it. He was a man that there's never been another one like him. No sir, there's never been another one like that. I mean, because God created him in His own image. And he gave him all of this wisdom and understanding. Alright.

So now, he turned-coat on God. Is that right? Adam did. Yes sir. He turned-coat on God. And when he did this, what did he do? He turned over all of the authority that he had, Brother Don, he gave it to the devil. He gave it to Satan. See? Now I want you to really listen to this because this is a long series and I intend to go a long ways on it. Alright. And, if I live, and I want to show you what redemption was for and how we ought to respect it. How we ought to respect every bit of it. Amen, every phase of it. How we should not neglect one moment that we have to spend with God. Amen.

I made a statement Sunday about long term things and sometimes things like that are misunderstood. And somebody would think 'Well, you know, what are we going to do tomorrow?' I'm not talking about not preparing for tomorrow. I'm not talking about if you got a hundred dollars today and you know you don't have no food on the table for tomorrow. I'm not talking about you running out there and throwing that hundred dollars away. You know I'm not talking about that. That's not what I'm talking about. Alright.

But, and neither am I talking about you trying to better your life if you want to. I'm not talking about that. Like you heard me Sunday night say, you know, if you're buying a house, you know, if you're living in one house and you feel like you want to move to another for some reason or another. Now this house up here that I sold to Brother Richard, I had more space in that house than I got in the house where I live now. More living space than I got where I live now. See? But I didn't have no land. And the reason I went out there was because the boys wanted a horse. Well, so, and I bought the land out there, at that time not even thinking about building a house out there when I bought the land. I wasn't even thinking about it. Then, you know, I thought, well, if we could get a house out here, you know, and then we would take what we took off of this one and pay on that one, and then, you know, run it for thirty years, and and just like rent, you know, and go on. So, I mean, I didn't get no more room. I got a better house, but no more room, but I got some land. That's the main thing.

But what I was trying to tell you Sunday night is, you know, don't try to hurt yourself to try to pay it off in ten years, I mean, unless you got the money to do it. See? But I mean, the way I feel about it now, you'd be just as well off if you run it thirty years as you would ten years. You'd have a little money to spare. See? But, I mean, because, frankly I don't think it's going ten years! I really don't. I mean, that's my thought. I feel like that the plan of redemption, I feel like that when we really come down and you see the book of redemption you're going to see that it's closing in on us now.

And so what, the thing I want you to notice here in Genesis 1:28, the Scripture tells us that Adam had full possession of everything on this earth. Also in Psalms the 8th Chapter, if you want to read the whole chapter, but in Psalms 8, I believe it's Verse 6, he tells us that Adam, that man had full dominion of everything. Alright.

Let's just turn over there and read Psalms 8, because we're going to take our time as we go through this. We don't want to get in a hurry, and I don't intend to. But in the eighth chapter of Psalms, it's just a short one so we'll just read it. Alright. Now listen to it. And what is man that thou art mindful of him? We preached some messages on that. Remember that? Alright. Now listen.

Yes, that you might stop the enemy and the avenger. Stop him in his tracks, still him. Amen. Alright. So He let's the things come out of the mouth of babes and sucklings that's strong enough to do something like that.

WHEN I CONSIDER THY HEAVENS, THE WORK OF THY FINGERS, THE MOON AND THE STARS, WHICH THOU HAST ORDAINED; WHAT IS MAN THAT THOU ART MINDFUL OF HIM? (Huh?) WHAT IS MAN,THAT THOU ART MINDFUL OF HIM? AND THE SON OF MAN, THAT THOU VISITED HIM?

FOR THOU HAST MADE HIM A LITTLE LOWER THAN THE ANGELS, AND ...CROWNED HIM WITH GLORY AND HONOUR. (Now listen.) THOU MADEST HIM TO HAVE DOMINION OVER THE WORKS OF THY HANDS; THOU HAST PUT ALL THINGS UNDER HIS FEET: (Man.) ALL SHEEP AND OXEN, YEA, AND THE BEASTS OF THE FIELD;

THE FOWL OF THE AIR, AND THE FISH OF THE SEA, AND WHATSOEVER PASSETH THROUGH THE PATHS OF THE SEAS.

Now that's exactly what I read in Genesis 1:28. The same thing. Right? That's what He did for Adam. Alright, watch.

O LORD OUR LORD, HOW EXCELLENT IS THY NAME IN ALL (of) THE EARTH!

Alright. So now we find here, that he had all of this dominion. And then what he did with it, ...and like I said, I want to take my time. But what Adam did with this, knowing what he was doing. How many of you believe that? Did he know what he was doing? Alright. If you want to turn to I Timothy you can find out that he knew what he was doing. He was not deceived. Adam was not deceived. Amen. He knew the devil, and he knew God. And he knew what was going on. He was not deceived. He had a brilliant mind. And what he did, he sold us out to the devil for his wife. That's exactly what he done. And I want to tell you something, there's a lot of people that do the same thing today. There's a lot of them that do the same thing today. Amen.

Until we can get to the place to where we can set our wives in order, then we're not going to be in order ourselves. Now I'm not talking about with a stick, but I'm talking about with the Word of God. I'm talking about with the Word of God. I'm not talking about with screaming and fussing and beating them over the head; I'm talking about with the Word of God. The Word of God is got to set them in order. Amen. Alright.

So we know that if we want to read I Timothy 2, you want to read Verses 13 and 14 and I think I'll do that right now because I had it in my mind to turn over there and to read that, and so, I just kind of marked it down. Verses 13 and 14.

FOR ADAM WAS FIRST FORMED, THEN EVE. (Adam was first formed then Eve.)

AND ADAM WAS NOT DECEIVED (was not deceived), BUT THE WOMAN BEING DECEIVED WAS IN THE TRANSGRESSION.

The woman being deceived was in the transgression. See? Adam was not deceived. Alright. So now, you can read Genesis 3: 1-7, you can find out how she was deceived. You can find out who deceived her, and how that her deception came about and so forth. Right there in Genesis 3: 1-7. Alright.

See, it was, actually what caused her to fall was her unbelief in God's Word. See? The unbelief in God's Word. What causes people today to get away from God is that little bitty thing, not a lot. Not a whole lot. But that little bitty thing that Satan get's you to believe is not wrong. Uh-huh. That's exactly. Listen now. Now you watch. He preached that Word to her right down the line. Is that right? And she acknowledged, 'That is the truth, He has said to us that we must not, that we can eat of any of the fruit of the tree. But of that one tree that's in the middle, that's in the midst, in the middle.' I hope you can understand.'Leave it alone. Don't touch it. If you do you'll die.'

Do you understand what he was saying? All you grown people you understand what He was saying? Huh? Do you get the understanding? That is in the midst, in the middle, leave it alone. Alright?

So now, what Satan done then, he preached this Word to her, then he made just a little bitty contradiction. You hardly wouldn't recognize it. 'Well, you surely won't die.' See? But Brother Branham said now, 'What Satan done was, he told her, he said now, 'You look at that beauty.' ' Now she didn't have no clothes on. And what this serpent, this serpent was an upright creature, you know, and he was a beautiful character. And so he said, 'Now you see, look at that beautiful body.' And Brother Branham said she was a most perfect woman. She was perfect. He said she was the most beautiful woman that was ever made, Eve. Alright.

Now, Satan said, through the serpent, 'Look at that beautiful body that God has given you. And, you know, He made you for this. This is what He put you here for.' See? Like some people, you know, when they look at predestination they say 'Well, bless God we got it, don't make no difference what we do we can't get out of it.' That's a good sign you didn't get it.That's a pretty good sign you didn't get it. See? Because, I mean, any time you think that you can do what you, you know, anything out there and still make it in, there's something wrong. See, that wasn't what God said. See? God didn't say that. See? But the ones that He elected to eternal life was the ones that He knew would honor and be loyal to His Word. See? Amen. Alright.

So now we have here a contradiction of the Word, and Eve accepted that. Well the first thing, if Adam had scolded her and told her, you know, 'You have done the thing that God said you shouldn't do. And now you have put yourself in death.' But he didn't do that. See? What he done, she said, 'This is the best thing that I've ever seen in my life. You know, and you just think about it now.' And she presented herself to him. She was already pregnant. She was already pregnant. See? And you know, by the serpent. So she said, 'You ought to have some of this too.' Right.

And so Adam, knowing what he was doing, he partook of that tree in the midst of the garden. She conceived of him, and she bore twins. So what we're trying to get you to recognize is that Adam is the one that put the whole nation... I know Brother Branham said it was the woman that caused every death, it was the woman that caused, but Adam, he'll say... Brother Branham said that Adam was the one that sold the human race out. He's the one that's guilty of the whole thing, but that, because... And then after that there had to come some way to get back. There had to come some way. Alright.

Now. If we, see, if we can see that this serpent was so subtle and everything that he actually was the most beautiful creature, and he was the one that could mix with the human race. This was the only way that Satan could get into the human race, was through the serpent. Amen. The serpent had a place for a soul. He didn't have a soul, he wasn't created with a soul. What is a soul? What is the soul? What? Nature? Is that what it is? Is that what we're taught, the soul is the nature? He didn't have that nature, according to the Bible, according to what Brother Branham said. He said he had a place for that nature, but he didn't have that nature. So Satan inserted that nature into him. See? Satan gave him his nature. Satan is a spirit, so he come in... See? And so then the serpent become the authority, in other words, he become under subjection to Satan. And so whatever Satan wanted that's what the serpent done. And so Satan worked through this serpent when his nature come into him. Amen. Now I want you to get this because, you know, I see it so clear.

Now, if we believe that Adam had full control of this and owned it all, when he fell from grace we have got to believe that he turned it over to the devil. Is that right? That's exactly what he done. He turned all of that authority over to the devil. You say, 'You ain't going to prove that.' You turn to Luke 4 and let's see. Let's see if we can prove it. Alright. Now I want you to listen to this real close, now. Luke 4.

AND JESUS BEING FULL OF THE HOLY GHOST RETURNED FROM JORDAN, AND WAS LED BY THE SPIRIT INTO THE WILDERNESS, BEING FORTY DAYS TEMPTED OF THE DEVIL...

Now how many times have I heard that misquoted? How many times have people said, 'After forty days he was tempted of the devil.' That's not what the Scripture said. The Scripture said He was tempted of the devil forty days. Is that what your Bible says? 'Being tempted of the devil forty days.' Now what is a temptation? Come on. Do we know what a temptation is? It's something that's presented to you. Right? It's something that's presented to you, to tempt you. Alright?

Now you come on now, look. I've looked over it, I've combed it, Brother Don, I... Jesus was tempted! That's what He was up there for. Amen. And after He... And He never ate anything for that forty days while Satan was tempting Him. And then the Scripture said He become hungry. And the devil will take the first shot at your weakness. So he picked up a stone and he began to quote scripture. He said, 'Now, if you're the Son of God, why don't you turn this, you know, stone into bread. For it is written...' See? So he began to quote the scripture just like he did to Eve. See? Just like he did to Eve, he began to quote the scripture. Alright. So then, what happened then, Jesus quoted the scripture back to him. He gave him the Word back. See? And then, now watch this close. Watch this. Now listen.

BEING FORTY DAYS TEMPTED OF THE DEVIL. AND IN THOSE DAYS HE DID EAT NOTHING: AND WHEN THEY WERE ENDED, HE AFTERWARD HUNGERED.

He was hungry.

AND THE DEVIL SAID UNTO HIM, IF THOU BE THE SON OF GOD, COMMAND (these) STONE(s to) BE MADE BREAD.

AND JESUS ANSWERED HIM SAYING, IT IS WRITTEN, THAT MAN SHALL NOT LIVE BY BREAD ALONE, BUT BY EVERY WORD (that proceedeth out of the mouth) OF GOD.

Well, He overcome His first temptation there after the forty days of temptation then he begin to present things to Him literally. Literally. Literal things. No doubt the forty days were spiritual things See? Demon temptation. 'You're going to have to die.' I don't know what he said to Him, but he tempted Him for forty days. And at the end of those forty days he began to take literal, physical things to show Him. Is that right? Amen. Alright.

And brother, let me tell you something, he's got more wisdom now than he had then. Don't you ever think that if you let Satan on your territory that he won't get the upper hand of you. Don't you never think that he's not going to tempt you. You never get close enough to God to where you don't receive a temptation here and there, as long as you're in this human flesh. That's right. Alright. Now watch as we go on.

AND THE DEVIL, TAKING HIM UP INTO (a) HIGH MOUNTAIN, (and) SHEWED UNTO HIM ALL (of) THE KINGDOMS OF THE WORLD IN A MOMENT OF TIME.

Now listen, brother. That showed that that devil had a lot of power. He showed Him all of the kingdoms of the world in a moments time. And said, 'Now, these are mine. I won them. They are legally mine. Now if you'll just bow down and worship me I'll turn it over to you. You can have it.' Is that what he said? That's exactly what he said. Isn't that right? This was a temptation to Jesus. Because the Scripture said it was a temptation. Alright.

Now watch. Now look. If Satan was lying, (Are you listening?), if Satan was lying when he said that and Jesus didn't know it, then He was not the incarnate God. Right? And... I just love this, because, you know, I like to get down in there and look at it, and think about what's going on. Amen. Now if Satan did do all of this then, and if it was a lie, if he lied, if he lied to Jesus and Jesus didn't know about it, then He would not be God. And if this is the truth that Satan is saying, if Satan is telling the truth, 'If you'll bow down and worship me, I will give all of this to You,' then it had to be a temptation. It had to be a temptation. See? Alright.

Well, sometimes we say, 'Well, Jesus was never tempted.' The Scripture said He was tempted in all things as we are, in all things even as we are. Amen, and overcome them all. See?

But the thing that I'm trying to get over to you right now is that what fell into the hands of Satan he still has it. That's what I want you to see. What fell into the hands of Satan there, Brother Don, he's still got it. He still owns this world. He's still got the authority over. He's got the authority over Al Gore, and he's also got the authority over Bush. See? He's got the authority over politics. He's got the authority over all of that. See? Amen. Alright.

Now, if he does still have that authority, there's something that he didn't get! What was it? Can you tell me what it was? When the authority, and all of that authority and ability fell over to him, there was something that he didn't get that Adam had. The Abstract deed. Yes sir. That went right back into the hands of God. See? I'm so thankful. See? That went back into the hands of God and He held it because one day He was going to take everything off of it. Everything. He was going to clear it. He was going to clear the deed. Amen. Alright. So that's the part that Satan didn't get.

Now if you got time tonight I'd just like to read some quotes from the 'Serpent Seed.' And we're going to see what happened over there and see if I'm telling you the truth. And then, you know, and I got, as the old fellow said, tons and tons. It wouldn't weigh in tons but in essence, tons and tons of quotes to carry this thing on and on and on and on. Brother Don, I've been looking at it a long time. You know how long I been looking at it? You know when you preached 'Serpent Seed' in India? And I set there and I listened to that. Brother Branham... Brother Don took the Bible and he covered the 'Serpent Seed' from A to Z out of the Bible. He give them no way to say it wasn't true. And I thought if they can't accept that, how in the world can they accept anything from God, right out of the Word of God?

And then I got to thinking about this, now, the plan of redemption, why did God allow that serpent to do that? That's the thing. Why did He let him do it? See? And then you know, the more I thought about it the more I saw it. Well it had to be, it had to be to prove what He was. See? It had to be to prove what He was. Now listen. On the 'Serpent Seed' in 1958, Brother Branham said now:

'NOTICE. NOW, HERE'S WHAT TAKEN PLACE. I BELIEVE, AND CAN SUPPORT IT BY THE BIBLE, THAT IT IS THE SERPENT THAT DID IT. THE SERPENT IS THAT MISSING PERSON BETWEEN THE CHIMPANZEE AND THE MAN, (be) CAUSE, LISTEN, NOTICE THIS NOW, THAT THE SERPENT WAS NOT A REPTILE. HE WAS THE MOST SUBTIL OF ALL (of) THE BEASTS OF THE FIELD. (He was not a reptile he was an upright creature, smart and cunning.)'

'NOW, I WENT AND GOT DICTIONARIES TODAY FROM EVERYWHERE TO LOOK UP THIS WORD, WHAT THE WORD OF 'SUBTLE' (means). IT MEANS 'TO BE SMART, TO BE CRAFTY'. AND THE BEST INTERPRETATION OF THE HEBREW FROM 'M-A-H-A-H, MAHAH' MEANS HAVING A TRUE KNOWLEDGE OF THE PRINCIPLES OF LIFE.'

That's what subtle means, having, in the Hebrew it means having a true knowledge of the principles of life.

'NOW, LET'S WATCH (it) JUST A MINUTE. HE'S SMART, (he's) CRAFTY. YET HE'S CALLED THE SERPENT. BUT REMEMBER, HE WAS THE SMARTEST THING THERE WAS, AND THE MORE LIKE THE HUMAN BEING THAN ANYTHING ELSE THAT WAS IN THE FIELD: (Alright. The) CLOSEST TO (the) HUMAN BEING. HE WAS NOT A REPTILE. THE CURSE MADE HIM A REPTILE, HE WAS... THE BIBLE SAID (that) HE WAS MOST BEAUTIFUL OF ALL.

AND EVEN THE CURSE DIDN'T TAKE ALL OF HIS BEAUTY AWAY, YET THE GLORIOUS COLORS OF THE SNAKE IS BEAUTIFUL. AND HIS GRACE AND HIS SHREWDNESS, EVEN THE CURSE DIDN'T MOVE IT OFF. BUT YOU REMEMBER, GOD TOLD HIM THAT HIS LEGS WOULD COME OFF AND (he would) GO ON HIS BELLY. AND YOU CAN'T FIND (one bone in his body), ONE BONE IN A SNAKE THAT LOOKS LIKE A HUMAN BEING, AND THAT'S THE REASON SCIENCE IS LOST. BUT THERE HE IS.

Watch now. That's the reason science is lost. Now you can read in the Scripture, you can find how subtle and how smart the serpent is. And he'll put one ear up to the rock and he'll take his tail and stick in the other ear to keep from hearing the enchanter. That's how smart he is. And he'll lay out there in the desert and wait for the horse to come along to strike the horse's heel to cause him to throw his rider. He's smart, the serpent. Alright. He didn't lose that smartness. Brother Branham said he never lost it. No sir. Alright.

'GOD HID IT FROM THE (eyes of the) WISE AND (the) PRUDENT AND PROMISED TO REVEAL IT TO ...SONS OF GOD IN THE LAST DAYS, WHEN THE SONS OF GOD WOULD BE MADE MANIFEST. WHEN GOD'S SONS THAT REJOICED WITH HIM BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD, WHEN THE GREAT REVELATION OF THE GODHEAD AND THINGS WOULD BE BROUGHT DOWN IN THE LAST DAYS, HE WOULD MANIFEST THESE THINGS TO THE SONS OF GOD. YOU KNOW THE SCRIPTURE (It) TEACHES THAT. AND HERE WE ARE.'

'(Now)THAT'S THE REASON THAT GOD IS OPENING THESE THINGS TO US. GOD IS BRINGING HIS SONS INTO MANIFESTATION. HE'S GOING BEYOND THE LIMITATIONS OF ANY HUMAN KNOWLEDGE, WAY INTO THE SPIRITUAL REVELATIONS AND BRINGING IT DOWN.'

Going beyond any human knowledge. That's the reason you can't get it from a theologian. See? You can't do that. Alright. Now.

'HAVEN'T WE BEEN TEACHING IN (the) BIBLE (now) 'HERE'S TO HIM THAT HAS WISDOM.' NOT WHAT HE LEARNED IN SOME SEMINARY, BUT WHAT HE CAN LEARN ON HIS KNEES BEFORE GOD, AND WHAT PLEASED GOD TO GIVE HIM SONS OF GOD MADE MANIFEST.'

'(Alright, Now) HERE'S THE SERPENT. NOW, HERE'S WHAT THE SERPENT WAS. I'M GOING TO GIVE YOU MY DESCRIPTION OF HIM.'

'WE HAVE... WE COME DOWN FROM THE FROG ON TO THAT, (to) THE POLLIWOG, AND ON DOWN , ON, AND SO (on and) ...YOU FINALLY COME TO THE MONKEY, TO THE CHIMPANZEE; AND FROM THE CHIMPANZEE (these will) JUMP FROM THE CHIMPANZEE TO THE HUMAN. AND WE WONDER WHY. 'WELL', SCIENCE SAYS, 'NOW WAIT; WE CAN BREED THE WOMAN TO THE MONKEY' (well) AND... VICE VERSA, A MAN BREEDING TO THE CHIMPANZEE. IT WON'T WORK. BREED TO ANY OTHER ANIMAL: (it) WON'T WORK. BLOOD WON'T MIX. (it just won't do it.You...) TAKE THEIR BLOOD, IT'S ALTOGETHER DIFFERENT BLOOD ALTOGETHER. THERE IS SOME BLOOD BETWEEN HERE, AND THEY CAN'T FIND THE ANIMAL. (There's something that's missing and they can't find him. Alright. He said) OH, HALLELUJAH. I'M GETTING TO FEEL (real) RELIGIOUS RIGHT NOW.'

'NOTICE (now) WHY? GOD HID IT FROM THEM. THERE AIN'T A BONE IN A SNAKE THAT LOOKS LIKE A HUMAN BONE. HE PUT THE THING SO FAR AWAY THAT IT COULDN'T BE DISCOVERED BY SMART MEN.'

'I'M GOING TO SHOW YOU WHERE (THE) SMART MAN COMES FROM, WHERE HE'S AT ANYHOW. SEE? HE CAN'T COME THROUGH THAT. IT'S GOT TO COME BY REVELATION. 'THOU ART THE CHRIST, THE SON... UPON THE ROCK I'LL BUILD MY CHURCH, AND THE GATES OF HELL CAN'T PREVAIL AGAINST IT:' SPIRITUAL REVELATION.'

Anybody else cannot understand spiritually what happened in the Garden of Eden and what took place and how the serpent did that. Alright.

'HOW DID ABEL KNOW TO OFFER A LAMB INSTEAD OF CAIN OFFERING THE FRUITS OF THE FIELD? IT WAS SPIRITUALLY REVEALED TO HIM. YOU DON'T GET IT BY SEMINARIES. (You can't) YOU DON'T GET IT THROUGH DENOMINATIONS. YOU GET IT FROM HEAVEN.'

'NOW WATCH THE SERPENT, THIS SERPENT WHICH WAS FIRST. LET'S DRAW A PICTURE OF HIM NOW. (And) HE'S A GREAT BIG FELLOW. (Now) HE'S BETWEEN THE CHIMPANZEE AND THE MAN. AND THE SERPENT, (is) THE DEVIL, LUCIFER, (the serpent is the devil, Lucifer. Alright.) KNEW (or the serpent rather) THE SERPENT, THE DEVIL, LUCIFER KNEW...'

Well, he is that anyway. He is the serpent. But he's called that in Revelations. Right? Alright. So I wasn't bad there but I am... I don't want to misread what he's saying.

'...THE DEVIL, LUCIFER, KNEW THAT THAT WAS THE ONLY BLOOD THAT WOULD MIX WITH (his human) WITH HUMAN BLOOD....'

He knew, Lucifer knew that. So now he's got to put his nature in that serpent. Right? He's got to get into that serpent. Alright. Now. You say, 'He can't do that.' He got into the man of Gadara, didn't he? Right. Watch now.

'...THE ONLY PERSON HE COULD DEAL WITH... HE COULDN'T DEAL WITH THE CHIMPANZEE. THAT BLOOD WOULDN'T MIX. HE COULDN'T DEAL WITH THE DIFFERENT THINGS. HE COULDN'T DEAL WITH THE SHEEP. HE COULDN'T DEAL WITH THE HORSE. HE COULDN'T DEAL WITH ANY ANIMAL. HE HAD TO DEAL WITH THE SERPENT. (Alright? Now.)'

'LET'S TAKE HIM NOW AND SEE WHAT HE LOOKS LIKE: (He's a) GREAT BIG FELLOW, PREHISTORIC GIANT. THAT'S WHERE THEY FIND THESE BIG BONES, AND I'LL SHOW YOU THIS IN THE BIBLE. NOW, WATCH CLOSELY THEN. ALL RIGHT. THIS GREAT BIG FELLOW, LET'S SAY THAT HE WAS TEN FOOT TALL, GREAT BIG SHOULDERS, LOOKED JUST LIKE A MAN (just like a man. Alright?) AND HIS BLOOD, AFTER COMING DOWN, COINCIDING ONE ANIMAL TO ANOTHER...'

See? One animal to another. Now, the thing that was connected from the serpent to the human being. Watch now. The blood was so close that it would mix. See? They was so much alike. They was so much alike. Watch now.

'YOU CAN CROSS ANIMALS. THEY KEPT GETTING HIGHER BLOOD, HIGHER FORM OF LIFE, HIGHER FORM, TILL IT CLIMBS UP INTO (a) MAN REALM.BUT THE LAST CONNECTION HERE BETWEEN HERE WAS CUT OFF. HOW MANY KNOWS THAT (the) SCIENCE CAN'T FIND THE MISSING LINK? ALL OF YOU KNOW THAT. WHY? (Well) HERE HE IS, THE SERPENT. (See? Alright.)'

'(Now.) HERE HE WAS A GREAT BIG FELLOW. AND THE DEVIL COMES DOWN. NOW HE SAYS, 'I CAN INSPIRE.' NOW, WHEN YOU GO TO LOOKING AT (a woman, at the) WOMEN, AND ACTIONS OF WOMEN, REMEMBER YOU ARE ANOINTED OF THE DEVIL...'

That's right. When you start looking at the women and the actions of the women. Like I said to the sister this morning, I said, 'You don't go out there and just go with any woman out there, you know' I said, 'That's not right.' I said 'When they, when Jacob took one as a concubine wife, he had two wives, legal wives.' Then I said, 'When he took a concubine wife, that was his.' Nobody else could touch her! Never! See? Alright.

So now when you go out there and run around and lusting after those things. You notice the reason they took these concubines. They took them to raise children. Everyone of them that you find that they took, they took them to raise children. Alright. Now. Notice now, I got to say exactly what the Bible said. You can't find where they just took one out there just to have fellowship with, you know. Watch now. Alright.

'...NOW THE DEVIL COME DOWN AND HE GOT INTO THE SERPENT, AND HE FOUND EVE IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN NAKED. AND HE TALKED ABOUT THE FRUIT IN THE MIDST, (in) THE 'MIDST' MEANS 'MIDDLE' AND SO FORTH. (He discussed this relationship with her. He discussed what could happen. He was a smart creature. Alright.) YOU UNDERSTAND IN A MIXED CONGREGATION. AND ...SAID, 'NOW, IT'S PLEASANT. IT'S GOOD TO THE EYE.''

Oh, yes. You look long enough. See that's what James said, You are tempted when you are drawn away with your lust. See? That's right. Alright, now.

'WHAT DID HE DO? HE BEGIN MAKING LOVE TO EVE (he began making love to Eve.) ...HE LIVED WITH HER AS A HUSBAND, AND SHE SAW THAT IT WAS PLEASANT, (she liked it.) SO SHE WENT AND TOLD HER HUSBAND; BUT SHE WAS ALREADY PREGNANT BY SATAN (when she done that.) AND SHE BROUGHT FORTH HER FIRST SON WHOSE NAME WAS CAIN, THE SON OF SATAN. (The Bible said so. Alright? Now.)'

''NOW,'' YOU SAY, 'THAT'S WRONG.' ALL RIGHT , WE'LL JUST FIND OUT WHETHER IT'S WRONG OR NOT. 'AND I WILL PUT ENMITY BETWEEN THY SEED AND THE SERPENT'S SEED.' WHAT? THE SERPENT'S SEED. SHE HAD A SEED, AND HE HAD A SEED. 'AND HE SHALL BRUISE THY HEAD, AND YOU SHALL BRUISE HIS HEEL.' A 'BRUISE' THERE MEANS 'TO MAKE AN ATONEMENT.' (Bruise there means to make an atonement.)...'

'NOW, THERE'S YOUR SEED OF THE SERPENT. NOW NOTICE, HERE, (and) HERE COMES THESE TWO MEN OUT.'

'NOW THIS SERPENT, WHEN HE STOOD THERE... THE GREAT BIG GIANT OF A FELLOW (he) STOOD UP THERE. (And) HE WAS GUILTY OF COMMITTING ADULTERY WITH (Adam), WITH ADAM'S WIFE...'

Committing adultery. And here comes Adam out, here comes the serpent out, two men. That's what Brother Branham said. Cause he looked just like a man, except he was so much bigger, you know, and so much more beautiful. And so here he's standing here, too. And here's Eve. And here's Adam. And then here's God. See? So all of them is going to have to pay for what they done. Everyone of them is going to have to pay. Alright.

So, now this is as far as we can go tonight. And we've gone over already. We've took plenty of time tonight to get this good laid foundation. And so now. What are we looking at? Death or Life, is still before you tonight. The same thing is still before you tonight. If you listen to seed of discrepancy you have death. If you listen to the seed of the woman you have Life, you have Life. Alright. Now listen.

'HE SAID, 'WELL, THE WOMAN...'

Watch now.

'AND THERE HE WAS. AND WHEN HE DID, GOD SAID, (God) BEGIN TO CALL FOR EVE AND ADAM. AND HE SAID, 'I WAS NAKED.''

'AND HE SAID, 'WHO TOLD YOU (that) YOU WAS NAKED?' THEN THEY BEGIN... IN ARMY FASHION, PASSING THE BUCK.'

'SAID, 'WELL, THE WOMAN YOU GAVE (to) ME (she) DONE IT. (And) SHE WAS THE ONE WHO PERSUADED ME.'...'

'AND SHE SAID, 'THE SERPENT GIVE ME AN APPLE.' ALL RIGHT, PREACHER, GET NEXT TO YOURSELF. SHE SAID, 'THE SERPENT BEGUILED ME.' (Not give me an apple or an apricot, but, 'he beguiled me.' Amen. 'Seduced me.')... DO YOU KNOW WHAT 'BEGUILE' MEANS? (It) MEANS 'DEFILED.' (See?) THE DEVIL NEVER GAVE HER AN APPLE. 'THE SERPENT HAS BEGUILED ME.' AND THEN THE CURSE CAME.'

And then the curse came. Now, we got to find a way back. We got to find a way back, children. And listen, it's a long ways through that Bible. And Brother Branham covers every bit of it.

Don't you love Him? If you'll come sister, now. And so this is a little foundation tonight on the death and Life, death and Life. Adam chose death. You say, 'Oh, Brother Holmes, no. Oh, wait a minute.' Let's turn to Romans 5. Let's just see if that's what happened. Alright? Now. Romans 5:12. Watch.

WHEREFORE, AS BY ONE MAN SIN ENTERED INTO THE WORLD, AND DEATH BY SIN; (As by one man, one man. Not one woman.)...

...AS BY ONE MAN SIN ENTERED INTO THE WORLD (Right?) ...AND SO DEATH PASSED UPON ALL MEN, FOR THAT ALL HAVE SINNED:

So death was passed upon all. So the only way that you can get out of it is what? Be borned again. Amen. Let us stand. I'm borned again, free from sin.

Congregation sings 'Borned Again, Free From Sin'.

Amen. Now. Did Adam receive death? He definitely did. Jesus told us that. Paul told us that. Our prophet told us that he did. Amen. He died. Amen. And, now, the only way to pass from death unto Life is by accepting the second Adam and be borned again. Amen. So, while we sing that little chorus again 'Borned Again' Brother Kenan will come and dismiss us.

Congregation sings. Brother Kenan closes in comments and prayer.

 

Listed below are the Scripture and Quotes that were taken from the Message of our Prophet for the basis of this sermon.