Chapter 18 The Seventh Seal Having received questions from some precious ministers overseas concerning the "Seventh Seal", we thought it good to try and answer them by means of a monthly sermon. Some of our Brothers not having all the study material available to us, are at a loss to know everything the Prophet said about certain subjects. To try and shed light on this drastically important subject in four short pages will be a hard task indeed, and one that we undertake with much prayer, trusting that the Lord will help us collect our thoughts and the information in such order as to not add to the confusion that already exists. In the Book of Revelation, starting with the sixth chapter, we are told of Seven Mysterious Seals that were being opened by the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. Under these Seals was to be found the secrets of God that would make the Bible a new book to the last day Bride. Truths that had been lost through the Church Ages would be revealed once again. According to Malachi 4:5, there would come a Mighty Prophet just before the destruction of the world by fire who would turn the hearts of today's Children back to the truths of the early Fathers. The Scripture calls this modern day Prophet Elijah, because he would have the same spirit as Elijah the Tishbite. In Matt. 17:11, Jesus said this modern Elijah would "Restore all things." This restoration was to be accomplished by the revealing of the mysteries under the Seven Seals. As we already know, there were mysteries (plural) revealed and many loose ends tied together that theologians had probed at. But, there was also one Great Mystery (singular) that God had promised to reveal. Rev. 10: 7 speaks of this Mystery (singular), "But in the days of the voice of the Seventh Angel, when he shall begin to sound (preach), the Mystery (singular) of God should be finished." (Revealed and made known is the scriptural promise here.) In the following quote, the Prophet tells us that Rev. Chapter 10 was the opening of the SEVENTH SEAL, which was to be the full word restored to a Prophet, who would then have the same Ministry that Jesus had 2000 years ago. It would be THE SON OF MAN REVEALING HIMSELF AGAIN, and fulfilling the Scripture in Luke 17:22-30. Read carefully what he said! QUOTE: THE SEED IS NOT HEIR WITH THE SHUCK, PAGE 18-19, "Now notice, but at the OPENING OF THE SEVENTH SEAL, REVELATION 10, the FULL WORD is to be borned again (All of it revealed again) and vindicated by the Spirit of God in its full strength, as it was here on Earth (In the days of Jesus) manifested in the same way. Doing the same things that it did when it was here on Earth. (Before) Amen! Heb.13:8 said, 'Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.' In St. Luke 17:30, Jesus said, "In the last days, as it was in the days of Sodom, when THE SON OF MAN will be revealing Himself again, it'll be the same thing." (End quote) Here he told us that Revelation Chapter 10 was the opening of this great, mysterious, Seventh seal. He said the FULL WORD was to be born again, or revealed. Then, if the opening of this Seal pertained to the things that happened in Revelation Chapter 10, we simply read what happened there in order to see what was under the Seal! Oh, the simplicity of God! Is the Seventh Seal opened? Without a doubt, that is, if we believe our Prophet! Let us study Revelation chapter 10 and see what this Seal actually was. The first and great thought that engages our minds is that John saw Jesus Christ, in Spiritual form, actually come down to earth. Verse one tells of Christ descending from Heaven, clothed with a Cloud. (We have actual photographs of this huge, beautiful Cloud.) What John saw in vision form 2000 years ago, actually happened February 28th, 1963, in Arizona! From the Prophet's statement then, where he said the opening of the Seventh Seal was to be seen in Revelation 10, we are to understand that this unexpected COMING OF CHRIST was the Mystery that the Church natural has missed, as well as some precious Message people. (For some in the Message suppose that this seal is not yet opened.) Although Brother Branham spoke of this Seal in riddles, he said enough so that when God's time came, the Bride would know that it has been opened, and see the mystery it held. The mystery under the Seventh Seal was a Coming of Christ, BEFORE RAPTURE, in the body-form of His Prophet. (On Sunset Mountain, Christ entered into His Prophet and raised him up to the High Office of a FULL WORD PROPHET.) Although many saw the cloud itself in 1963, and many have since seen the picture of it, only in the last few years have we understood that this Coming of Christ, to enter into a Prophet, was the revealing of the Seventh Seal. We also notice in verse two of Rev. 10, that Christ had a "Little Book opened" in His hand. This book was the Bible, indicating that the time had come for ALL MYSTERIES to be revealed. The Seventh Angel Messenger was on Earth (Brother William Branham) and verse 7 says that when he began to preach, the Mystery (singular), should be (would be) finished (revealed). And so it was. Though he spoke of it in parables, he knew the Lord would, at a later time, unscramble his words for the Elect. There would be "About the space of half an hour" of time pass, according to Rev. 8:1, before the revelation would start. (Perhaps about 20 years, if one day is a thousand years with the Lord.) If this writer's memory is correct, some of our Minister Brothers began to understand the mystery under the Seventh Seal in about 1983, perhaps a few a little ahead of that. From 1963 until 1983, is twenty years and the silence in Heaven was broken as God began to show the opening of the Seal. Brother Branham knew God would reveal it at a time closer to the Rapture (See top of page 577 in Seal Book.) And, in November 1963, after he had preached the Seals in March, he made the following statement: QUOTE: WHAT SHALL I DO WITH JESUS CALLED CHRIST, PAGE 43, "This Book (the Bible) has already been opened, that's right, just waiting for the SEVENTH SEAL TO BE IDENTIFIED WITH THE COMING OF CHRIST." (End quote) He very clearly said that the mystery under the Seventh Seal was the COMING OF CHRIST, and that the Bride was waiting for that revelation to be given to them. It had already been given to the Prophet. He said, "This Book has already been opened." But the Coming of Christ that he referred to here, was NOT THE RAPTURE COMING. It was the secret, Mysterious Coming of Christ that was to happen AFTER He came on the day of Pentecost as "The Son of God", the Holy Ghost, and BEFORE He was to appear in the sky to call the Bride up. (He does not come to Earth at Rapture time. He remains in the Clouds.) It would be good at this point to list the FIVE TIMES that the Scriptures and the Prophet declare that Christ will come. 1. He would come as a Babe in Lk. 2:11, grow up and minister as SON OF MAN. 2. After His death and resurrection, he would come as THE HOLY GHOST in the Upper Room, Acts 2:4. 3. He would come IN A PROPHET, thereby making His second appearance on Earth as SON OF MAN, Mal. 4:5 and Lk. 17:22-30. 4. He would come for the Rapture, but remain in the clouds and call the Bride up to Himself, I Thess. 4:16. He does not come to Earth at the time of Rapture. 5. He would come back WITH HIS SAINTS to fight the battle of Armageddon and set up the Millennial Reign, Rev. 19:14. It is the third appearance that we have listed above that was so mysterious. It is this COMING to Earth that was so well hidden under the Seventh Seal, that not even the Angels understood it. Brother Branham speaks of this Mysterious Coming in the following statement: QUOTE: PROVING HIS WORD, PAGE 41, (1965), "After nineteen hundred years, and we are at the end of the Laodicea Church Age, He promised, in Luke 17:30 that this same SON OF MAN, He promised it, would be revealed in the days like it was in Sodom, upon the Earth. DID HE DO IT? Does it have to come to pass? It's impossible....(for it to fail). Now remember, He came in three names: The Son of Man, a Prophet ( A baby that grew up as a Prophet.), The Son of God, the Spirit (on the day of Pentecost) and The Son of David for the Millennium. BUT IN BETWEEN THIS CONJUNCTION, now according to His own words, in the day when THE SON OF MAN shall be revealed, reveal Himself as what? Not Son of God, Son of Man! (He) will reveal Himself in a different way. Now, what does that make? Malachi 4, exactly right..........He would manifest Himself as Son of Man again, to make manifest Malachi 4, 'And in that day I will send to you Elijah the Prophet, and he shall turn the hearts of the Children back to the Faith of the Apostolic Fathers.......' (End quote) Notice, that he said in between this conjunction, He would come as SON OF MAN again, and it would be in the body-form of the Prophet of Malachi Chapter Four. He said He would reveal Himself in a DIFFERENT WAY. Although this Prophet would repeat the exact Ministry of Christ, the Church natural would fail to see that his life and Ministry was the fulfillment of Lk. 17:22-30. While they still wait for the lightening to flash and the thunders to roll, and some "Great thing to happen", these scriptures have already been fulfilled. Lk.17:22-30 is now history. While the natural Church (The Church without the Holy Ghost.) waits to see the cars all crash on the freeways, and the planes to fall from the sky for lack of drivers and pilots, and all the babies to suddenly disappear from Earth, along with millions of adults, there will only be a SECRET, SILENT resurrection of the dead. These dead will gather with the live Saints, and in God's time all will be SECRETLY caught up to meet Him in the air. While the world and the carnal Church waits for "Every eye to see Him", He will come at Rapture time as "A thief in the night." Every eye shall surely see Him, but it will be after the Rapture, after the tribulation, and when he comes back to Earth WITH HIS Saints. (Rev. 19:14) Truly, there has been a coming of Christ that was a surprise to all of us, that is until God's Prophet shed light on it. Before someone misunderstands, we are not at all teaching that Christ has come, the Rapture is past, and we are in the Millennium. We speak of His coming in a Prophet to fulfill The Son of Man Ministry on Earth FOR THE SECOND TIME. We believe, as the Prophet said, the Rapture comes in three stages. I Thess. 4:16. First, the SHOUT which was the Message for our hour, that Christ delivered to our Prophet when He (Christ) opened the Seals. Second, the VOICE OF THE ARCH ANGEL which will call the dead in Christ from the grave. Third, the TRUMPET that sounds to call both the living, and those who have been dead up to meet the Lord in the air. This being true, we are waiting for the second stage which will be a Resurrection. There will be no Rapture until there has been a Resurrection! There can be no Millennium until there has been a Resurrection, a Rapture and the Great Tribulation, which ends in the battle of Armageddon. Then the thousand year reign starts. The next great event on God's calendar, the thing we are watching for at any time now, is the resurrection of the dead in Christ. Someday, just walking along, and meet someone face to face whose funeral we have preached, or been to! What a quickening effect that will have on our faith! The great burden on Brother Branham's heart after his experience on Sunset Mountain and the opening of the Seals, was to try and show the people that Christ had truly come, but in a different way than anyone had expected. He walked this Earth in shoe leather once again, but not in His nail- scarred body. This time He used the body of Brother William Branham. This in no way made Brother Branham deity, but it did place him in the highest office ever given to man. His calling was to reenact the very same Ministry that Jesus had. This he did, doing every work and miracle that Jesus had done before him. The Super Sign, or the sign that proved that Christ was surely in him, was the reading of the hearts of the people. This was done around the world without one failure. Never was it proven that his, "Thus saith the Lord" was wrong. In sermon after sermon, Brother Branham cried out for us to believe that Christ had truly come back, and that He was fulfilling all the scriptures that the people would be looking for at Rapture time. It seemed as if his heart would break, because we could not see it. He knew we would be in danger of missing the Rapture because we would be looking for things to happen that had already happened. Let us now review some of his statements as he preached his heart out trying to show us what had happened, and remembering that in February of 1965, he said in the THE SEED IS NOT HEIR WITH THE SHUCK, PAGE 24, PARAGRAPH 128, "He promised us a full square meal, for all the Seven Seals are opened, and everything is ready for the Word of God, for those who can receive." QUOTE: WHAT SHALL I DO WITH JESUS CALLED CHRIST, PAGE 23, "And they desired a denominational tradition, in the stead of the true word being manifested, and proved that it's GOD AMONGST THE PEOPLE. By science, through pictures, light, the same Angel of the Lord, the Pillar of fire. The same One that lived on Earth in the body of Jesus Christ, IS COME UPON HIS PEOPLE IN THE LAST DAY, where Science has took the pictures of it. The church has seen its (His) works. It's thoroughly identified by tapes and everything, around and around the world, AND PERSONALLY MINISTERED." (End quote) (Explaining the MYSTERY (singular) under the Seventh Seal, the mystery coming of Christ in a human body) But, Brother Branham was only the "First Fruits" of Christ in a flesh body in the endtime. The TOKEN, He Himself, would also come into the Bride. (See Rising of the Sun, Pages 14, 15, and 16.) QUOTE: THE TRIAL, PAGE 16, "The Church now has served the term through the Church Age, in the baptism of the Holy Ghost. But, Jesus said here, to make Mal. 4 and the rest of these Scriptures real to you, that in the last days, JUST BEFORE THE COMING (Just before the Rapture Coming), the world setting will be like Sodom, and THE SON OF MAN will reveal Himself as the Son of man, like He did in the days of Sodom. (By reading the hearts of the people) Blind prosecutor, can't you see that? His words are true. Not nail scars and prints and thorns! (Saying you are looking for Jesus to come back for the Rapture in His nail-scarred body, and you plan to recognize him in a body like He had before.) (But, he is here now and you are missing Him.) "It's the Son of God impersonated in His Church as SON OF MAN (In the form of a Prophet). It has to fulfill Mal. 4 and the rest of the Scriptures. I call to the courts attention, look at that real good. SON OF MAN.........SON OF MAN revealed then as a Prophet.".......And now in the last days, He would return back again as SON OF MAN, because Malachi promised us that there would be a Prophet rise up in the last days that would return the hearts of the people to ....away from organizations, back to the original Word....And when He did it, St. John 14:12, the works that He did would be done also. (In the ministry of this Prophet) REVELATION 10 PROMISED THE WHOLE MYSTERY." (End quote) Notice the last sentence, "Revelation Chapter 10 promised that the WHOLE MYSTERY (singular), would be revealed. And the Prophet said to us, "Here it is, it's been revealed, you are looking at the mystery, it's revealed before your eyes." It's God in the body of His Prophet, revealing Himself as the Son of Man again by doing EVERY WORK that Jesus did in His nail-scarred body, including reading the hearts of the people. QUOTE: RECOGNIZING YOUR DAY AND IT'S MESSAGE, " (Jesus said) If I do not the works that the Father promised I would do, then believe Me not. But if I do the works, though you don't believe Me, believe those works, they tell you WHO I AM. (Do) You get it? All right. Don't miss the day (You are living in) Pentecostals. Oh my! Why don't you recognize your day? Recognize the day of the Evening Time. IT IS HERE, AND IT'S HERE TO VINDICATE THE COMING OF CHRIST." (End quote) In a very real, spiritual sense, Christ has come. He came and entered into His Prophet and repeated His Earthly Son of Man Ministry. Why is it so important to see this Mystery that was hidden under the Seventh Seal? It's so that, "That day will not overtake us a thief." (I Thess. 5:4) It's so that we will know "The day of the Lord so commeth as a thief in the night." (I Thess. 5:2) It's so that "We will not be asleep, as do others." (I Thess. 5:6) It's so we will be looking for a Secret Resurrection and a Secret catching away, and not some great publicized, Earth shaking events at Rapture time. Christ the Word has already come and prepared his Bride. All that's left is for Him to appear to her in the clouds (not to others) and call her up! Amen!