The Original Seed Versus the Substitutes

When you go to take a personal Identification Card, the ID office, after enlist you and taking all the documents they require from you, and after you having field the application forms, issues you with a paper that shows you have applied for an ID. It is called in Kiswahili as (Nusu Kipande) Half Identification Card. The Nusu Kipande is allotted a certain length of time, after which it becomes invalid. By the end of that time you should have obtained the real Identification Card. Furthermore, the Half ID is quite limited and there are many areas where you cannot use it to obtain what you need. One of such areas, for instance, is when you are applying for a job. The half ID will not be accepted.

Yes, the Half ID identifies you, but it is limited both in duration and usefulness! So are all Bible substitutes. They have a period of time allotted them beyond which they become invalid. Secondly, there are certain gates that won't open to them. Moses' Abraham's circumcision, Moses' Passover, the temple built by Solomon and all its service, the Priesthood of the Old Testament, the covenant of the law, the New Testament earnest of the Spirit, the gifts of the Spirit, knowledge, and such like ministrations are only place holders. Such are a ministry of the husk which have limited time in which they apply. Once that time passes they cease to be useful and they are no longer valid.

The growing husk from a sowed corn is only valid as long as the fruit has not appeared and ripened. Ones the original seed is reproduced in many and once it ripens, the husk becomes invalid. There time is over. So, are the religious husks from the dispensations of Genesis, the Old Testament and the New Testament.

The moon, the planets, and the stars are only valid and useful as longer as the sun has not risen. The moment the sun rises upon the horizon, the usefulness of the moon, the planets and the stars ends there and then. The rising of the sun renders them useless; it makes them invalid; there time is over!

If you went out in the night with a sharp spotlight, on a long journey, and finally the day begins to dawn -- getting brighter and brighter through Luther, Wesley, Pentecost and Branham -- and finally the raises of the sun begins to beam across the sky, your sharp spotlight immediately loses meaning. It becomes invalid. It was only holding the place of the sun. It was a place holder until the true light arrives. So are the lights of all messengers who have ever reflected the light of Christ to us. Their light is only borrowed, and the moment the one from whom they are receiving and reflecting light appears, they are rendered invalid! They are all swallowed up in him. So is it today, as we behold the rising of the Sun! Glory! I hope you are not mean enough to close your eyes on this pain truth!

How could Isaac mean anything in the presence of Jesus? How could Moses be anything in the presence of Christ? How could Solomon be anything in the days of Jesus Christ. How could John the Baptist's ministry mean anything when Christ begun to preach? How could Moses' Passover be anything to the New Testament believer? How could the land of Canaan mean anything to one who had received the Holy Ghost. How could the ordinances of the law mean anything to one who worships in Spirit and truth? See ye these things?

Yes, how could Branham's light mean anything in the presence of him whose countenance is as the sun!

But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?  For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth. For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious. 2Cor 3:7-11 

Now, look at it again, the Lord comes through the church, for the life of the Word has been travelling through it since Pentecost; and in perfection she brings forth the very one that died to redeem her; just as the Hebrew church brought him forth in his first coming, so the Gentile church brings him forth at his second coming, and that is why Brother Branham was an Abraham, for he was given a seed to sow, and that seed was the Spoken Word. And if you plant the Word, then you bring forth the Word in flesh. Others were sowing denominational seeds, but Branham was given the Spoken Word, which was in the beginning with God, which was God. By him then and through him will be manifested the Word in flesh to fulfil all that he introduced, and that is why God promised him a son in the name of Joseph, which means the headstone. And although a natural son was born to him in the name of Joseph, yet the real Joseph is a son of his ministry, and that is Jesus Christ. Just as Abraham was promised a son, and he got a natural type first, so Branham was promised a son, but before the real son of the Word arrived, he was given a natural type. And as the natural type became a veil to Israel to blind their eyes from the real Isaac, so also the natural son of Branham has become a veil upon his followers blinding them from the real Joseph.

Spiritual things are spiritually discerned, flesh profiteth nothing! Natural substitutes always blind the church from the real promise. The natural substitute is a carrier of life and is only necessary as long as the promise has not arrived: just as the law was to hold the place of grace until grace arrives, then the moment grace arrives the law must diminish, so is to every natural type! Thus was Branham given a natural type of what he was forerunning, for Joseph indeed means the rejected stone, rejected by the Jews and the Gentile alike, and that means Jesus Christ who indeed was rejected by his brethren the Jews. And this is more evident because Branham was forerunning the second coming of the Word, and in his second coming, the Word comes as the headstone, and that is the true Joseph!

107 Now we notice that God told Eve, that, “After so long a time, the Word is coming back to you.” Now, how did she fall? I want my class to say it. What did she fall from? What did Eve fall from? The Word. Is that right? [Congregation says, “The Word.”—Ed.] The Word. And God said He would make a way to redeem her back to the Word again. All right. After so long a time, the Word would be known to her. All right. The Word would come for one purpose now. Hold tight now, what I’m saying. The Word would come to her for one purpose, that was for redemption. All right.

108 But, until—until then, she had a substitute that would—that would work until the time arrived for the original Word. Now you—you understand clearly? [Congregation says, “Amen.”—Ed.] See? He told her the Word would come to her again, but, until that time, He give her a substitute until that time arrived. So, He gave her an offering to make, a substitute for that Blood.

63-0320 - The Third Seal, Rev. William Marrion Branham

How clear that is! Before the actual promised seed arrives, God always gives a substitute for the church to hold on, the substitute is a carrier of life that was sown and is only necessary so long as the seed has not arrived. That is exactly scriptural!

Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. Galatians 3:19

Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. Galatians 3:24-25

See? The law was a substitute for grace and was to hold that place until the Word of Promise comes, so has God ever given such substitutes to carry life until the seed arrives. So was Isaac such a substitute. So was Solomon such a substitute. The natural is always a substitute of the spiritual. Though Isaac was a son of promise, yet he was not the promised Word! Though Solomon was a son of promise, yet he was not the promised Word! They were just carriers of life, just place holders! See? And though Branham was a forerunner of the second coming of Jesus, yet he was not the Word! He prepared the way for the coming Word. Then how can you claim that Branham preached all the Word, when he was only a carrier of the life of the Word! He must decrease as the Word increases!

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.  John 1:6-8 As John the Baptist was not that light, that Word, so Branham the Baptist was not that light that should come in the world... he was not that Word, but a carrier of the life of the Word. Light means divine revelation of the Word. Since the actual light was yet to come, then it means that the actual revelation of the Word was yet to come. And true light only arrives when Christ arrives!

Remember the Bible only points to the Word of God as a sign post but it is not the Word of God. The Word of God is the Son of God who is one with his Father. So, no matter what revelation one gets from the Bible, there is still something beyond it! What is that? The Word himself! Those seven thunders declares the Word of God which no man can preach. It is beyond man's language and tongue. It cannot be preached in English, in Hebrew or in any other language. It is not even lawful for a man to utter it. What is it? It is the Word of God! The living, breathing, speaking, walking, loving, saving, quickening Word of God!

How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. 2Cor 12:4 

Lo, today I declare to you great tidings of good things! What is it? Behold the Word of God in plain view! That which cannot be written with ink or paper! That which touches the mountains and it smokes away. That which looks upon the earth and the heavens and they fly away never to be found again! There he is, in plain view before you! Not the dead letter in man's crude language, but the pure unadulterated Word of God, the Son of God, who is God made manifest. Receive him! Believe him! Embrace him! For he is the true Gospel light. The darkness is gone and true light now shines without any vail upon it. Not from the pages of the Bible, but from the face of Jesus! That glorious Gospel! Receive it! It means your perfection and translation. 

125 Maybe you don’t get it. Now let me go over it again. I want you to get this, see.

126 She was promised, (the bride, Eve), to be a Redeemer. Her Redeemer would be the Word. And when the Word came, made flesh, she rejected It. She was given substitutes. Now hold that, “substitute.” Given substitutes to go on, until the Redeemer come. And when the Redeemer come, she wanted to continue with her substitute, and rejected the true Word. See it? [Congregation says, “Amen.”—Ed.] And that was the Hebrew bride.

63-0320 - The Third Seal, Rev. William Marrion Branham

156 Now watch real close. I—I want you to be sure now. God promised Eve, the time would come when the Word would be restored by her Seed. This Word, Itself, would become Seed. And when they give her a substitute, she held that substitute. And when the Word come to her, what’d she do? “I don’t want it.” It was too humble. Didn’t look right, to her. Wasn’t polished enough. “A stable? Oh, my! My! A guy like that, not a day in school? Well, I couldn’t accept that. That’s no Messiah. A guy let guys kick him around like that, and then call it ‘Messiah’? Let them put a rag around his face, then hit him on the head? And he called hisself a Prophet, a real Prophet, raised up?”

63-0320 - The Third Seal, Rev. William Marrion Branham

Eve, the first Woman after falling, was promised the Seed, the Spoken Word to redeem her. Israel, the second Woman, was promised a Seed, the very Spoken Word that would come to redeem her. The Gentile Church, after her falling away, was also promised a redeemer, the Seed of life, even the Word.

Yes, the Gentile church was promised a redeemer after she fell into denominationalism, and the redeemer has to be the Word! The forerunner was not the Word, just as John the Baptist was not the Word. But through the forerunner, God gave the called-out church a substitute, a natural seed as a place holder! And as the Hebrew church was blinded by the Old Testament place holders, so the New Testament church is blinded by the New Testament place holders! Catholics are blinded by apostolic creeds and dogmas. The first reformation church is blinded by Luther, a place holder! The second reformation church is blinded by Wesley, a place holder, a schoolmaster! The Pentecostal church is blinded by the theology of its founders, place holders! So is the Branham church today! For Branham was promised a seed, and his true seed was to be the very Word he was forerunning, for he was an Abraham. But before the spiritual seed would arrive, he was given a natural seed, a place holder, a Joseph. And now the place holder has become a veil on their eyes, they don’t see anything beyond what that veil gives out. Yet in black and white, God through Branham, promised us the Word, the seventh seal, the second coming of Jesus, adoption, manifestation of the sons of God, even the headstone ministry, which is the Godhead; all these and many more promises are to be fulfilled after the herald. Yet the Laodicean church rejects the promised Word as she clings on the natural place holder, claiming that God shall never reveal Himself again… yet their messenger spoke clearly about what was to follow after him, and that was the seventh seal.

161 Same thing that Hebrew bride did, that’s right, see, they listened to their substitute. And God promised them the real. And when the real come, they didn’t want It. It was too humble.

63-0320 - The Third Seal, Rev. William Marrion Branham

Exactly what the Laodicean church has done! The promised Word, which God through Branham promised them, is too humble for them to accept it! Who can deny that God through Branham did not promise us the revelation of the seventh seal? Who is so blind as not to see clearly the promise of the third pull, the seven thunders, the second coming of Jesus, the headstone, the super church, the super race -- which is not Laodicea! Yet when it appears on the scene, it is too humble for them to receive it. Why? Deceived by the substitutes!

217 So here He come. Now these dignitaries come out, and they was so on their substitute! “Why,” they said, “now, if the Messiah comes, He’ll certainly come to Caiaphas. He’ll come to our denomination. He’ll come to the Pharisees.” The Sadducees, “That’s what you think! He’ll come to the Sadducees.” And there they was, see, the same thing they have today, now.

218 But when He come, it was strange. He will come, oh, very contrary to what they thought, but He come according to the Word. And they didn’t know the Word.

219 Let me say that, real, so you’ll…it’ll sink way down. I want this to get it. That’s what’s the matter with you today, see, you don’t know the Word! See?

63-0320 - The Third Seal, Rev. William Marrion Branham

Exactly as it is today! They don’t know the promised Word! They don’t know the characteristics of the promised Word! They are deceived by their intellectual understanding of the message, and that has become a veil blinding them from the promised seventh seal! The seventh seal is the ministry of the second coming of Jesus Christ. Branham says it in black and white, that Christ will come with the revelation of that seal. Why? That is the ministry that he was forerunning! But before the hour arrives, the church was given substitutes. What for? They are the place holders, the carriers of life until the seed arrives as promised. But the church as Eve is blinded by these place holders, the schoolmasters! They were to hold that place so long as the seed has not arrived and are expected to hand over the place to the promised seed as soon as he is manifested. But just as the Hebrew schoolmasters led the whole church to reject the Word of promise because it was too humble for them, so has the Branham church (the end time Eve) led by their schoolmasters rejected the promised Word.

Look! Did the schoolmasters at the first coming of Jesus hand over to the promised seed when he arrived? No! they thrust him out of the vineyard and crucified him; so, has the Laodicean church done! Branham clearly promises them the coming Word out of the seventh seal. So many impersonators came along, but it was easy to see them as liars, for they had no substance; then the church on fighting hard against the liars finally hardened herself against anything that comes identified with the seventh seal, the very promise that Branham foreran, who left his church in the hands of substitutes, schoolmasters, tutors, governors, teachers, pastors, etc. as place holders until the seed comes to whom it was promised. But as the Word is waved before her, she rejects it and clings to her lovers, the substitutes! Deceived by her teachers (her beguilers, her lovers), she rejects Christ exactly like Eve did and goes for the fruit of their knowledge!

Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. Galatians 4:5

Yes, the Word of promise travelling through the body of the Word from Pentecost in form of life, has been under tutors and governors all through the Gentile dispensation, the same way he was under the law in the Hebrew dispensation. The church leaders are obviously the schoolmasters, the tutors, the governors, the place holders substituting the Word as the head of all in the body. Yet these governors will never give way when the Word arrives, they must just be slain and cast in the lake of fire! Most are serpents in sheep’s clothing. They are wolves!

124 And when He come, and the Word that He promised, come for the wedding, He found her wrapped in her substitutes, so bad, that she wouldn’t take the real promise that had been made, the Word, Christ.

63-0320 - The Third Seal, Rev. William Marrion Branham

What a prophecy fulfilled by the Branham church today! As he spoke so has his church done exactly! What are her leaders? Substitutes holding the place of Christ, for it is Jesus who is the true head of the church, but before he comes, he suffers substitutes to hold his place because of transgressions, yes, to continue stemming away worldliness, filthy and corruptions from the church; but in the process of time, these church leaders forget that they are mere place holders and assume the place of Christ to the church, and there and then become Vicarious Filei Dei! And the church being a by-product of men, as Eve was, clings to the lies of such serpent-leaders among them! What a disgrace! For all place holders are supposed to be servants, not heads, but now they have become lords, usurping Christ’s power over the church.

126 She was promised, (the bride, Eve), to be a Redeemer. Her Redeemer would be the Word. And when the Word came, made flesh, she rejected It. She was given substitutes. Now hold that, “substitute.” Given substitutes to go on, until the Redeemer come. And when the Redeemer come, she wanted to continue with her substitute, and rejected the true Word. See it? [Congregation says, “Amen.”—Ed.] And that was the Hebrew bride.

63-0320 - The Third Seal, Rev. William Marrion Branham

So is it today! The substitutes have assumed the place of Christ and won’t accept the Word of promise to take over the leadership of the church as promised by the forerunner, and therefore the church becomes a prostitute like Eve, with a multitude of heads for her, each pulling in his own direction! That is why Laodicea is found naked!

Who has made her naked? The serpents among them! You can’t deny that! The seventh church is Laodicea. There are only seven churches among the Gentiles, and none of these goes to perfection. They all become harlots. The Laodicean are the worst, and that is the seventh church. Those are not Catholics please! The Catholics descend from the apostolic revivals. They are not Protestants please! Neither Pentecostals! There are only seven churches among the Gentiles, and the seventh is Laodicea, and that is the church out of the revival of the seventh messenger! One plus one remains two please! You can never change that answer!

The church that followed Paul was the Ephesians; and that which followed Irenaeus was Smyrnaean, and from Martin was Pergamos; and from Columba was Thyatira. And the followers of Luther were certainly the church in Sardis, and followers of Wesley were obviously the Philadelphian, then it is obvious that the followers of Branham must be the Laodiceans -- miserable, wretched, naked, blind and don’t know it!

Do they know it? No! Why? They are deceived by the substitute leaders among them to reject any further revelation of any other promise, claiming that Branham fulfilled every promise of God. They falsely claim that the days of revelation are over. That God will never reveal Himself anymore after Branham. They teach that there are no more prophets after Branham. They claim that Branham revealed the fulness of God which would make him an antichrist, for the fulness of God is only revealed through Christ.

For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: Colossians 2:9-10

155 God promised the spiritual Eve, the same as He did the natural Eve, that again the Word would be restored to her. In the last days He would restore to the Church, to the original Word again.

156 Now watch real close. I—I want you to be sure now. God promised Eve, the time would come when the Word would be restored by her Seed. This Word, Itself, would become Seed. And when they give her a substitute, she held that substitute. And when the Word come to her, what’d she do? “I don’t want it.” It was too humble.

63-0320 - The Third Seal, Rev. William Marrion Branham

158 Now notice. But when the Word came to her, the way, just exactly the way God said It would come; she had It figured out some other way. I’m talking about the bride, the Jewish bride, the Hebrew bride. That was Eve, to begin with. Then when It come out here, she didn’t want It. She wanted to stay with her substitutes.

63-0320 - The Third Seal, Rev. William Marrion Branham

Yes, God promised the end time bride that the Word will come to her! This promise was given by Branham, and though he was given a natural substitute as a place holder, yet the real promise was the thing that Branham was forerunning! And as Branham rested in December 1965, he left behind the highway of the Lord ready. And that meant that the Word was to use that very prepared way as he comes back on earth. Remember, the herald was the forerunner of the Word according to the scriptures!

The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever. Isaiah 40:3-7

What are all these substitutes? Flesh and blood! Just mere grass and flowers ready to wither. They are not the Word. Why? They deny further revelation upon the Word, thus they reject the seventh seal, and all that Branham foreran. But don’t forget what Peter was told, "that flesh and blood has not revealed to you." Man’s intellectual knowledge amounts to flesh and blood which are as a flower of the field -- the seed of flesh is all like that -- but God’s Spoken Word endures forever! Don’t miss that! The forerunner makes a way for the Word. That is the same one who is the headstone. He comes with the mystery of the seventh seal to perfect the saints. But the church leaders sensing that the Word comes to replace them, devices way to reject it and crucify it to the church as it is today.

This is what place holders always do to the Word of promise:

Then began he to speak to the people this parable; A certain man planted a vineyard, and let it forth to husbandmen, and went into a far country for a long time. And at the season he sent a servant to the husbandmen, that they should give him of the fruit of the vineyard: but the husbandmen beat him, and sent him away empty. And again he sent another servant: and they beat him also, and entreated him shamefully, and sent him away empty. And again he sent a third: and they wounded him also, and cast him out. 

Then said the lord of the vineyard, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son: it may be they will reverence him when they see him. But when the husbandmen saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, This is the heir: come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours. So they cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him. What therefore shall the lord of the vineyard do unto them? He shall come and destroy these husbandmen, and shall give the vineyard to others. And when they heard it, they said, God forbid. Luke 20:9-16 

That is exactly what the Laodicean Church leaders have done to the promised Word of God for this season. The Word was clearly waved among them, yet they have rejected it and have cast away from their midst. The way God did to the Jews who rejected the first coming of the Word, so shall it be done to the Laodiceans who have rejected the vindicated, promised Word out of the seventh.