Speaker: Pastor Brian Naidoo
Series: January 2015
Scripture: Mark 5:35
As the 21st of January is Pastor Brian’s biological birthday, he thanked the congregation for their prayerful messages, telephone calls and support in the ministry. While appreciative of the well wishes and encouragement, the minister observed that there is yet another birthday called New Birth, which takes precedence over the natural birth. His birthday wish is that Christ should be birthed in the believer’s heart. Therefore if this day happens to be his last day on earth, he would like to preach his heart out to ensure that Christ is born in the soul of the saints. Otherwise without the Lord Jesus Christ, the natural birth is just like another day.
As people living in the end time, we must not only enjoy the preaching of the Word, though it is good. Rather, the fulfilment of the Word, the coming to pass of prophecy, the manifestation of the Scriptures and transformation of Word back into flesh, is all what should excite us. Whatever is promised in the Word, God is able to back it up. After all, it is his reputation which is at stake. God fulfils whatever he said in His Word. It is this fulfilment of prophecy, the manifestation of the Word in our day, which sparks faith. And faith comes by hearing, and hearing comes through the Word of God.
The Word must come together with the Life. Balaam had the Word of God. He looked into the Zodiac and beheld that Star arising out of Jacob. He prophesied about the Messiah. That star which Balaam saw in the Zodiac above is the same one which guided the wise-men from the East (magis). The Zodiac was God’s Bible as recorded in the Creation Account of Genesis. After creating the light, God saw that it was good. He spoke the Word and the Word came to pass. After the creation of Light, God goes ahead to make the firmament, which he called heaven. Then in that firmament he placed the lights which were commissioned to rule the day and night. These lights would serve as signs and seasons. Therefore the saints of old could look up into the sky and see God in galaxies and constellations. There was no Bible in those days and they relied on the astrological declarations of God in the firmament. For instance, the first and last signs of the Zodiac (the virgin and lion) represent the first coming of Christ through virgin birth and the second coming as Lion of the tribe of Judah; who will sit on the throne of David his father. Therefore when Balaam saw the Messianic Star in the Zodiac, he uttered a prophecy over Jacob. The prophecy was true. The Word was correct. But the life of the man was wrong. Balaam was a false anointed one. The right anointing on a false person makes everything wrong. The right Message of the Hour, the right doctrine and principles of the Word, when mixed with wrong spirit, they produce evil.
Earthly knowledge and scientific wisdom will not avail in the walk with God. In Noah’s time, scientists were more advanced than today. They could shoot instruments right into the sky, some of which caused the earth to be tilted. Those people had atomic energy. They harnessed atomic power to do great achievements, which we cannot do today. No wonder we are behind. And science has confirmed that there is a 7 year gap in time by which we are lagging behind. Our calendar system is trailing behind and giving us wrong signs. The hour is later than we think. We might believe we are in the year 2015 when, in actual fact, the true record is 2022 already. And we need to wake up to that reality and be more sincere with God.
The Prophet says that it takes an atmosphere to have exploits of the miraculous among the people. It takes an atmosphere for wonders to happen. And the manifestation of power among the people takes place in a spiritual environment and anointing in which worship is automatic. Everything in life, really, requires an atmosphere. Be it marrying, the right atmosphere is needed. In the same way, it takes an atmosphere to make financial breakthroughs. The devil is aware of these principles of life. That is why the devil is busy teaching the same principles to his children through the backdoor of the tree of knowledge. But we know that the devil cannot overthrow God’s programme. The devil’s schemes of how to be successful, or how to be rich etc are not in line with the Word of God.
Satan works with the mind while God deals with the soul in the human heart. The Prophet teaches us that. Therefore when we accept God in our lives, our souls are redeemed. However, the body is not redeemed. The prophet, by discernment, exposes how the devil operates among people. At one level, he uses the weapons of reasoning, whereby God’s Word is subjected to scientific enquiry, which is unbelief. Then he comes to wondering, where doubts are unleashed to destroy confidence in God’s Word (Is this right, or is it wrong?). The third tool is stewing, which sums up all the disagreements which arise when people are not in one accord. The fourth is thinking, which contrasts with believing. And in the framework of the Message of the Hour the devil has been successful at fighting the believers through these tactics. The major cause is the wrong teaching on which we were brought up. We have had a flawed biblical background. For a long time we have run without solid scriptural teaching. This explains why the elder, Pastor Beckett, had advised the minister some 10 years ago when he started out in the ministry to only start and end with the Bible. The elder warned the minister to be careful with the obsession with the book of Revelation and the symbols thereof.
There is need to de-Message the people. Believers need to destroy that wrong conception of the Message of the hour as previously preached to them. Not everything that is taught from Message pulpits is really the original Message delivered by the 7th Messenger. That explains why God has kept the Spoken Word Tabernacle (SWT) congregation in the book of Samuel for the past 3 years. God has been teaching the people scripturally so that they are grounded in the Word. And in teaching the Word, the Prophet William Branham observed the Old Testament shadows as reflections of the New Testament realities.
The wrong atmosphere among us prevents others from receiving their healing from God. Some people go home without their breakthroughs. Some miss their blessings because of a wrong atmosphere created. For example, if a believer feels they are being alienated from others, it is their own personal responsibility to go to the person who is isolating them and greet them; just to break that hindrance in the church. On the day of Pentecost, the people were with one accord and in one mind. Those who did not go up to the Upper Room with the 120 disciples missed their visitation. This is true of John’s disciples. They had pulled themselves away from others after John’s death. They did not join up with the Lord Jesus Christ’s disciples. Some years later, God was gracious to them to send Paul among them. He asked them about their baptism. They replied they had been baptised by John. These people stopped at the veil. They failed to see that John was pointing them to the Messiah, which is the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore we need to know our position in Christ Jesus, if we are really to be a blessing in the body.
King David at one time divided men according their musical gifts for the purpose of worship. When the right order according to God’s purpose was followed, it was no longer music being played. It was prophecy at work. God spoke through the music played. People were elevated into a higher dimension. That is what happens when a gift is in position and the order of the battle is followed.
If the heavenly God has got His Order, why is the church in disorder? It is high time we recognised our position. Position comes with power. We can be so powerful, spiritually speaking, that the devil has to scratch his head and think hard what next can be done with us. Since we now have the 7 seals revealed, the order is clear. Our positions are clear. We know where we stand.
Doctrine is a seed. The right doctrine is the right seed. And the right seed produces the right life. This is the reason why we must teach the scriptures. For example, the picture of the Mystery Cloud has a purpose in the Message of the hour. The Cloud was formed by angels who came from eternity with swept back wings. These angels were powerful. These are not angels that the prince of Persia can hold captive in his custody as he did with Gabriel on his trip to Daniel. When the Prophet was caught up in the constellation of these angels, there was a mighty blast. Even the devil must have fled with his tail between his legs. He must have run for life for perhaps more than a mile, shocked by such a fearful event. But what is the purpose of the angels forming the Headstone image? Why did the angels come down? Why was the Prophet caught up with them in the air? We need to know these things so that we are not divided as believers. How can we be divided over interpretation of the Word of God?
At the gate called Beautiful, Peter and John had both the atmosphere and doctrine right. Deity was in them. That is why they could do exploits. The same should apply to us as well. If we are in trouble, God should come to our rescue. No matter what kind of problem it is, God must come down. If it is financial challenges, God provided a fish in the Bible for disciples to get tax money that was needed. God operates fish banks all over his economy. These can come in the form of a brother or sister, man or woman or whatever means God can use.
But why did the Might Angel of Revelation 10:1 come down? It was to tie the loose ends and forerun the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. The same Jesus Christ who came on the 28th of February 1963 as Mystery Cloud is the same who had come down in June 1933. It is the same person. On the Ohio river in June 1933, he came down as the Prophet was baptising the 17th person. In both cases, Christ is coming from heaven. Therefore the 7 angels who formed the 1963 Mystery Cloud are not the seven earthly messengers. Man cannot be angels, as the Prophet teaches us. The 1963 heavenly angels form the image of Christ with their swept back wings. These come down with the Mighty Angel of Rev 10:1 who comes with Rainbow – which is a covenant. The Mighty Angel steps on the land and sea in Revelation 10. But when the event takes place in 1963 on the 28th of February, only the head of Christ is photographed. There was no body seen. In Revelations 10, it says the Mighty Angel has his left foot on the earth and the right one in the sea. Now in 1963, only the head is seen. There is no need of the body to come from heaven. The body was already here on earth. It is the body, which is bride, which is now stepping on the land and sea. We are the ones in authority over all situations, over the beast from the land and the beast from the sea. All things are under our feet.
The 7th Angel came down so that we have rapturing faith. And that rapturing faith lies in the books and the tapes. When we are in that atmosphere of rapture, we cease to talk of money or popularity. And when a ministry talks of material wealth, it means they have not yet matured. Mature Christian talk always centres on Christ. That is why the Prophet was asked to write a letter from Christ to the Bride. The groom was expressing His thoughts to the bride. John, as bride, was told to come up higher. He was leaving Laodicea to go up higher into the Bride Age. The Bride Age runs parallel with Laodicea. However, we need to know that the ministry of the 7 earthly messengers is done already.
A higher walk with God is what He requires from us. We must rise further into God. We must come up higher. That is why God is associated with mountain heights. Mountains have been the venue of his encounters with people when he wants to make special announcements. God met Moses in Mt. Sinai. On Mt. Transfiguration and Mt. Calvary, it was meetings with the Lord Jesus Christ. Then on Sunset Mountain it was with Brother Branham. These mountains remind us of the pyramid, which is actually the stature of a perfect man.
The title of the sermon comes from a text message called Unexpected Cross. Brother Jerome had sent the minister such message as they fellowshipped on the Word. The Unexpected Cross is the one that appeared to Saul on his way to Damascus. It was a surprise visit by the Lord Jesus Christ. Saul was not waiting for such an encounter. The Unexpected Cross is the one that appears when we testifies to others about our God. It is not us talking, but Christ in us, the hope of glory.
Let us not compromise on the Word. God will not allow us to do as we wish in the Message of the Hour. If he rejected denominations for doing their own things in their own way, He will do the same with us. Otherwise God must apologise to the denominations for putting them away. He cannot reject denominations and then allow Message believers to move in the same denominational direction on the same things which God hates. How can we claim to have bumped into angels and fail to love one another? How can we fight fellow believers when we have God in us? How can we say the 7 Seals are the 7 locks of Samson? If we have the Holy Ghost, we will not undermine others who do not have that baptism. Remember how the Mishawaka people made the Prophet feel bad about not having the Holy Ghost in the form of speaking in tongues. How can we be in sin, adultery while we claim to be spirit-filled?
We must not lean unto our own understanding, nor the arm of flesh. Neither should we respect our natural job duties over the spiritual callings in our life. If we know we have a higher purpose, we will be able to live above the challenges of the day and gain victory.
As long as Christ was engaged in healing ministry, he had huge crowds. As long as he provided for fish and bread in his meetings, the people multiplied. That is why at one time the Lord Jesus Christ left the crowds and sailed to Gadara to have an appointment with one man. That man was Legion. He lived among the tombs. Legion is a type of ourselves, who were dead in sin and trespasses. We were in the denominational tombs. We were out of our minds playing pool in the bars, dancing in the clubs or swimming etc. In going to meet Legion, God forsook all other great gatherings of people and went for one predestinated seed of Abraham. The Lord Jesus Christ’s ministry reflects the Prophet William Branham’s own ministry. As long as he prayed for the sick, he was a man of God. The first pull was popular with people because it was healing of the natural body. The second pull was discernment by vision while the third pull was opening up of the Word. When the third pull was ushered, great crowds broke away from the Prophet.
In dealing with Legion, the Lord Jesus Christ was addressing the sin question. Demons knew of the coming destruction, of impending judgement over them. The Lord addressed them directly.
Then another Unexpected Cross came when the Lord was on His way to Jairus’ house. Jairus’ daughter had passed away. It was a young virgin. While many people pressed against the Lord, there came a woman with a different vision. She had not read anywhere in the Bible referring touching by faith. The woman came and touched the Lord’s garment and was immediately made whole. Her blood issue was gone. We also have blood issues. Blood speaks of life. We all have life problems. These can either be with husband, wife, children, friends etc.
But how did the Lord Jesus Christ identify the woman who touched him. He located the light on the woman, much as the Prophet followed the same Light in his prayer lines during discernment by vision.
Deception is more serious in the Message of the Hour. The minister met another preacher who claimed that no one could tell him anything. He claimed he was a German Eagle but did not believe that Revelations 10 belongs to us gentiles. He believed it relates to the Jews. Such false doctrine is meant to choke the life out of the believer, who is the true seed of God. Another preacher also said he did not believe in the scripture that says a Levite must marry a chaste woman. A minister must marry a virgin according to God’s law. When Adam’s wife, Eve, committed adultery with the serpent in the Garden of Eden, that immediately disqualified Adam from the spoken word ministry. He could no longer continue to use third pull power. He could not move mountains and rule over animals.
Let us check the hour we are living in. Could it be that we have come to the end of the road? Moses saw the Promised Land but did not enter. It was the young generation which made it? Could this be true? The pioneers of the Message have mostly backslid. What does this mean? It is like the children of Israel. God wanted them to leave Pharaoh and Egypt totally and never to be associated with them. But while Pharaoh died in the physical realm by drowning, yet he continued to live in the minds of the people. That is why the people forced Aaron to make an image of a golden calf. The image lined them up with Pharaoh’s gods of idolatry.
When Christ arrived at Jairus’ house, the people were weeping. Then Christ said the daughter was sleeping, whereupon they all laughed again. There is a huge change of atmosphere here. People easily switch from mourning to jokes. Why did they laugh at the Word when it said the damsel is asleep? They were laughing at their God. That is why Christ called for a separation. He took James, Peter and John into the room and prayed for the dead child. The child resurrected. Today, the virgin church must resurrect. We must not play dead church.
