This sermon was taken off a cassette tape
by Sister Bernie Goodman of Silver Springs, Florida so I could put it on my
web page, and may it be a blessing to all that may read it. Nathan Miller.
I'll tell you what, I've never ceased to
be amazed how that people can be so amazed how that people can be so
enlightened sometimes and yet still be so blind. Can you say Amen? People can
go to college, spend their life there and still be blinded to what God is doing
in this hour.
If you've got yur Bible and would like
to open it with me to two places, Hosea 4 and also St. John 8 and we'd like to read a Scripture,
Amen, take a thought from it in just a minute by the help of the Lord. Let me
say I certainly appreciate every one of you being here in the House of the Lord
with us today and may God bless every one of you. It's good to see Brother
Hulon with us again today. Amen.
So we want to read something, Amen, and
take a thought out of it by the help of the Lord,so I desire your prayer. This
is very familiar to you, Amen, St. John 8;32, and I know you've read it many
times. It's just simply a statement, Amen, that Jesus makes and " And ye
shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free." And I would like
to read another one from the Book of Hosea, Amen, Chapter 4 and I'd like to
read I guess on down about the sixth verse,"My people are destroyed for
lack of knowledge; because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject
thee, that thou shalt be no Preist to Me; seeing thou has forgotton the Law of
Thy God, I will also forget thy children."
Father, help me dead God as we stand
here this morning Lord, to get everything out of our mind, dear God, but just
YOU this morning; and help me oh Lord to get my own self out of the way God,
that YOU may come and through the Word of God and the Great Holy Spirit, make
IT live this morning, Lord. Conform us Lord, dear God to that Image that you're
bringing us to. Father, we give YOU all the Honor, and the Glory, and the
Praise for IT. In Jesus" Name, dear God, we'd ask IT. Amen. You may be
seated.
I started on a thought last week. As we, Amen, start off this morning, I said I kinda wanted to go through a little things. We're living in an hour that, Amen, that you know that a lot of people pray, and a lot of don't see no prayers answered, and a lot of people are becoming preplexed, a lot of people throwing up their hands and quitting, falling flat on their face, and they absolutely just don't know what to do. And I said there's an old European Proverb, Amen, that's worth reading, Amen, and I put it down and I read it last Sunday and let me read it again this morning and it goes like this, "Age and Treachery will always defeat youth and Zeal." Let me read that again...I said this is an age old proverb that comes from Europe, it said, "Age and Treachery Will Always Defeat Youth and Zeal." Amen, and so we realize today that we're standing in the greatest warfare, Amen, that's ever been, coming to the place that Brother Branham said here is Michael and Satan back out on the battlefield today, and knowing where that lays at, Amen mostly, Amen, the battlefield, Brother Branham said, is in our mind. Amen, so then as we begin to look at, we begin to look at this one that we are fighting, and he is, or we should say, he is ancient and he knows every treacherous way that can be thought of, and he's not a snotty-nose kid, we're talking Satan. He's not a Snotty-nose kid, running around, that don't know where he's coming from, and don't know what he's doing. He's out there to deceive you, to destroy you, and bring you down. A lot of times we stick out our chest and say," let's go take a poke at the evil, we don't know what we're talking about. Even the Bible said in the Book of Jude, "even while Michael, the Archangel, huh, even though they were disputing about the Body of Moses, we don't find Michael just slamming the Devil and throwing off on him. The only thing He said, He said, "The Lord rebuke thee satan." But yet sometimes we get to puffed up and think we're so high and mighty that we're just gonna go out and beat on the Devil. Listen friend, he's an old ancient, treacherous foe that we're facing and we need to know how to prepare ourselves for battle, Amen, today. Can you say Amen?
Amen, I forgot about Brother Jack Davis' wide and daughter sitting back there. It's good to have them with us this morning from up in Anderson, South Carolina. But let's look at it. I believe Paul said, in 1 Corinithians, the third chapter, beginning and going down one, two, three. We don't have time to go through this, Amen. Paul said, teaching the people, He said, "you know, I's like to talk to you Spiritual, but He said, I can't. I'd like to feed you meat, but I can't. He said, I have to deal with you as babies, or yet carnal in Christ." Amen, and I think, Oh God, what in the world is a bunch of babies, that's still carnal in their thinking, still carnal in their ways of life, or what in the Name of God are they doing on the front line, out here is a battlefield where it means life or death, or where or where it means this or that. Can you say Amen, and not knowing where we stand at? I ant you to bear with me awhile this morning.
Let's look at this thing if we can. We're facing one of the oldest enemies that's ever been. Can you say Amen? And I say what happened to so many people, they start off with a high calling of God in their life, and they think, glory to God, God's called me to preach the Gospel around the world. No doubt that He don't. But, somehow that brightness and that youthful vision, Amen, under, Amen, a writhless assualt by the devil keeps on hitting them, and the weight increase, and the next thing you know, frustration starts in, discouragement. The next thing you know, they are compromising on the Word of God. The next thing you know then, Amen, they're back out in sin, back out in the world and they wonder, what in the Name of God happened? And a lot of times their prayers are not answered. It's not because they're sinning a lot, but it's ignorance of how God works in the hour that we're working in. Sometimes we think that we can take the devil, I said this last week and I's getting away from what I said last week. I said, we think we can take the devil and put him in a little doctoral box. Are you listening to me? What do you mean, a little doctoral box? Well, we've got a little doctor that's formulated. We believe this, and thus, and thus, and thus, and thus, and thus, and period. And we think we can bind the devil with our little doctrines, our little ways to say things. Can you say Amen? But, it don't work that way friend. In fact, what's happened, satan has allowed the church, as a whole, to place themselves in a little box, and they're fenced in by their own ideas, and their own opinions, and their own triditions, and they don't even realize that satan has put them in a cage with every foul spirit. Huh? Sure, and they think that they've got satan confined in their little doctoral box, and satan has got them bound by triditions, doctrines, and ideas of men and they don't even know it. You bear with me awhile. Well, you say, "How in the Name of God do we combat him?" We combat him, knowing the tings that satan did. I believe one of the great writers said we're not ignorant. We're not ignorant of satan's devices, so we need to know some of these things. This is going to be as simple as simple can be this morning, Amen, but I think we're talking to simple people anyhow. Can you say Amen? Now, Jesus said "You'll know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free." And Hosea said, Amen, "My people perished, Amen, from the lack of knowledge, and because they rejected knowledge, then I will reject them." You remember now, as I said satan is not just a little boy out here, he's been around for many years, and he's deceived. Oh you say, "Aw, Brother Carroll, I'm in the Message." You remember one thing, Adam was in the garden of Eden when He missed God, OK? You remember that the third of Angels that satan brought down with him was in Heaven in the Presence of God. So, don't come here with none of your saying, I'm in the message and I believe this, and I've got the Holy Ghost. It's more than that friends. It's being prepared and knowing the tactics of satan, and how he works in this hour that we're living in, and know what God's done in this hour. You say, now Brother Carroll.
I like what Brother Branham said in the message called "Perfect Faith." He said, now Jesus found Himself in the Scripture. You say, well. Bless God, I want to know Jesus was the Son of God and Amen, He knowed all things. Now let me just talk awhile on that. Jesus was borned as a baby. You can't make me believe that laying there in that little straw pile, in a manure stable, in Bethlehem, two thousand years ago, that that baby knowed all things. Somebody, if they had diapers back then, I don't know, they sure didn't have pampers, I'm pretty sure. But Amen, if they had diapers back then, somebody had to change it, somebody had to feed Him, somebody had to care for Him. And the Bible said He grew up in Grace and Knowledge, both with God and man. Amen, what make Him what He was, Brother Branham said He found Himself in the Scriptures as He studied the Word of God and began to see these things in the Word of God, He realized then they were talking about Him and realized they were talking about Him, then He could walk out on that, take His Stand on IT and the devil didn't have a chance. He said He read in the Book of Psalms where David said He will not suffer My Soul if He could ,excuse me, He will not leave My Soul in hell and He will not suffer Me to see corruption. He said He knew He knew He was talking about Him. That's the reason He could tell the Pharisees, "destroy this Temple, three days I'll raise it up here, because He knowed He couldn't stay there. When we begin to realize who WE are and ON the basis of what God has laid us in this hour,then we can begin to prepare an assualt against the kingdom of satan. Now bear with me. There is a bunch of people on the face of this earth today, now whether we want to think about it or not, oh you say, well I seen them come up and I seen them pray for them, the sick being healed, I seen them speak with tongues, I seen them...there's nothing wrong with that. But there's people on the face of this earth that's gonna do more than just pray for somebody with a headache. It's alright to pray for somebody and God heal them, but when we talk about ascending up and pulling satan off his throne, strippimg him of all of his power; it's alright to talk about being healed, but when we talk about never having to die, when we talk about eternal youth...You say, now Brother Carroll, you don't believe in all that old "you ain't gonna die business" are you? Well this old flesh may rot in the grave, but brother, there's something inside of me that can't die. And, there's a group of people on this earth today my friend that will not taste death, whether I'm one of them, or you're one of them or not, I don't know, Amen, but there's some people that will not die. Can you still say Amen? Amen, they will be changed and caught out of here. And I simply believe this is the generation Amen that could possibly be it, I believe that is IT.
And so then there's some people on earth that's gonna have to be trained in Spiritual warfare to know how to combat satan on the grounds that he's coming on today and defeat him in his own backyard. Bear with me. You say, well, I don't know about that. Well, that's our trouble, we don't know. If you think you can shout him, and speak him in tongues and prophesy over him a little bit and defeat him, you're crazy. He's smarter at that. Now I haven't got anything against speaking in tongues and I ain’t got anything against prophesying, but you can't put him in your little doctoral box, he won't stay there, and he don't care how many languages you speak in, he understands them all. Yes sir, he's a master linguist, is that right? Amen. In fact, he can teach you a few of them, if you'll listen to him. And so, Brother Branham said what make Jesus so unique, not just being the Son of God, which He was virgin born, but what made Him so unique, He knowed who He was because He found Himself in the Scripture. I wonder if we ever search the Scriptures and see who we were? I wonder if we ever looked in the Scripture and seen what hour we're living in?
I like what
John said, and Brother Branham preaching on the seven fold glory of Jesus
Christ; and he said here He stood in the Book of Revelation, looking down
through the church ages, condemning them that had went away from the Word of
God, bragging on them that stayed with the Word of God, and He begin to replace
everybody, He began to recall that Old Roman church, you sisters forgive me,
the Mother Whore. He began to teach, Amen, this denominational, organized system
out here was a bunch of her daughters, they were born in fornication against
the Word of God. But He turned to a little group of people, and He didn't call
us prostitutes, He said, but I call you Bride ! There's a group of people
that's a Bride in this hour ! Amen, you know I'm not concerned who is a whore,
I'm not concerned who is a prostitute, I'm concerned who is the Bride that God
is grooming, Amen, in this end day to rule with Him in the Universe to come !
You bear with me. Amen, you say now, Brother Carroll, Amen. But you shall know
the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free; and I certainly don't want to,
amen, reject the Truth, do you? God will reject who? God rejects us. Now both
of the Seals were opened, and then Brother Branham preached the message called
the Greatest Battle that will ever be fought and he said that's in your mind.
It might have been a natural battle for King David; it might have been natural
battle for Saul, but for you and I, it's not a natural battle, that battle goes
on right in your mind, it's Spiritual warfare. Now listen to me, this is just a
little old type that I like real good.
Now, where Jesus was crucified at, one of the Scriptures call it Golgatha, another Scripture says in the place of the scull; and so Jesus was crucified on a place called the scull and that's where mine and your crucifixion gotta come in at. There's gonna be a Crucifixion within the scull, within the mind, to crucify every thought that would rise up, crucify every thought that would defeat, crucify every thought that would discourage, crucify every thought that's in your mind. Bear with me. Amen. You say, ah, Brother Carroll, but where you think it's at, you're not out here slugging against satan somewhere. No sir, it's in your mind. Even when you go to sleep at night.
I remember here several years ago, I dreamed that I was going to a convention, I was gonna be the speaker, and I was smoking; and this preacher riding with me, he said, "Hey boy, what are you gonna tell them fellows, when you get up there, about your smoking habit?" I said, "I ain't gonna tell them I smoke." This is a dream, you forgive me now. And he said, "You ain't gonna tell them?" And I said. "Nah, it ain't none of their business." Then I woke up and said, oh God, I said it's bad enough to be smoking, but here I am lying about it. I mean, if he can't get to you while while walking in the daytime, he'll get to you at night. He'll bring some old filthy dream to your mind, bring some old filthy something along your way. He's on to you all the time. He never ceases, every hour, every day, he's always ready. Amen, so there's gotta be a crucifixion on the way that we think, the way we look at the Scripture, and the way we understand things. Can you say Amen? Amen, so we realize then, it's got to be. And you know, you say, now Brother Carroll, how does satan really work through your mind? I think the territory, if you will listen just a minute, that our uncrucified thoughts in the Beachhead for satan begins his assault from. Let me say that again; I believe the territory of my mind, that's not crucified of my thoughts, becomes a beachhead where satan can launch his attacks. Well, I want you to know right now, bless God, I'm saved ! I didn't say that you wasn't. Now I want to tell you something before I go any farther, there is a difference in being possessed by a devil than being assaulted by one, or oppressed by one. There is a difference. I'm not trying to tell you that you're demon possessed, I'm not trying to tell you that you've got a devil, I'm trying to tell you sometimes our minds has some thoughts there that's not crucified, Amen, that he uses them as an assault place that he can assault your very life. I want you to listen to me. You say, well, I don't believe that. Then where do you think it's at?
I made this statement one time, where awhile back, said, during world war 11, I used to like to read a lot. And, I, you know I'm like everybody else, I guess a little old kid, you like them old war stories and westerns and so forth; Amen, but I was reading, Amen, and they got ready Amen, to invade Europe. And I said they had to decide upon a beachhead that would be the best that they could start their assault and push their way into France and on into Germany and different places to conquer Germany during world war 11. And they sat down in the best minds, the best military minds, began to look at everything that Germany had, and the nations that they'd conquered had and they had to figure out which one of these would be the easiest to penetrate. I think they decided Dunkirk. And, they thought that was the easiest because there was the least resistance. There is where they had the least power at to resist the invading forces when they come in. Now listen friend, if the old military minds is Eisenhower, Montgomery, and all the rest of them had; if they knew that they needed to hit a beachhead where there was least resistance at, don't you think that age old enemy called satan, when he gets ready to attack you, picks out a place where you have the least resistance. Now, I don't know where that's at with you as an individual , but Brother Branham said satan, God gave satan a punch at you. And he said, just like a boxer, you need to know where your weakness is at. Can you say Amen? Because he's gonna hit you where you're the weakest at. He's gonna assault you at the weakest point. He's gonna try to beat you at somewhere in your life to invade, and you need to know where it's at. Amen, Ah, Brother Carroll, why don't you tell us Revelation? I'm trying to tell you this morning how to just get living right and get some power in your lives and don't let satan, Amen, overtake you. We'll get to the rest of it a little later on. Can you say Amen with me? So, then there's beachheads. You say, well now, I don't know about this beachhead thing you're talking about. Well, you think about it...And so then if we realize that then, Amen, then we've got to begin to crucify or build up fortifications in our minds, in our thinking, by the Word of God, know what satan's doing, knowing how satan comes at us. I believe the Scripture puts it simply like this, we must be renewed in the spirit of our minds. Paul said, casting down all reasonings, and imaginations, bringing every thought subject to the Word of God.
Could I just
read you something? This is Jude 6, if you'd like to read it. While you're
turning there, it's not a big Book....and I pray that I can say this in a way
that you don't think I'm taking it out of context, " And the Angels who
kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, He has reserved in
everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgement of the great day."
Now, let's stop there a minute. Now I don't believe this darkness, that He's
talking about is just something that is absent of what we call visable light,
okay? Because I believe that the book of Colossians teaches us that we have
been translated out of the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of His Dear
Son. So we realize then that we just hadn't been translated out of the visable
darkness that we call night into a Kingdom of Light which we call day, in the
visable form, okay? And so then if these Angels were chained in darkness, it's
not that there chained and there's no visable light there, but it's a Moral
Darkness, it's not a visable darkness, but it's the absence of God, which is
Light. And they're chained and they can never come into His Presence, are you
listening to me? Never come into the marvelous Light that we're in. Can you say
Amen? They are out there in darkness. Now if they're out there in darkness Brother
Don, that's their territory. There's where they're allowed to work at, there's
where they're allowed to do their evil deeds at. I want you to listen to me
now. I'm not plum crazy. Amen, so then if that is TRUTH then, if there's
anything in your mind or in your heart, if you want to call IT that, that still
has darkness in IT, then satan has a place to launch a beachhead. Okay?
Let's just take a Message that Brother Branham preached called, "A Door in a Door". Now Brother Branham goes through it and I'll just read it to you, and you know, of course he's preaching real Holiness right along here if I can find the Book. Amen, but listen to what Brother Branham said that's on page 23, if you want to read it when you get home. Brother Branham's talking about that door and he said for this and this and he said let's set on the right side of the human heart when you walk into that door, there's a little door on the right side that's called the door of Pride. Are you listening? And He said, in that door of Pride, he said there's a lot of people who don't want to open that door and let the Light of God come down inside that door to search out all the bad things, all the evil; they'll keep that door shut. And, if they keep that door shut then, that gives satan a room in your heart to launch a beachhead, to begin to devour, and undermine, and pull down the things of God in your life. You say, well, I don't know about that. But Pride, it's the door of Pride, and there's many doors that we could through. Amen, but he just happened to choose the door of Pride there. Can you say Amen to that? Amen, you say now, Brother Carroll. But let's look at it just for a minute and I'll just stop right there. Amen, then it gives him a place to work from.
The end of Part 1.