The Journey of Self-Discovery
I CORINTHIANS 11:28
28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.
Examine = to test, examine, prove, scrutinise (to see whether a thing is genuine or not), as metals - to recognise as genuine after examination, to approve, deem worthy
II CORINTHIANS 13:5
5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
(Reprobate = castaway, rejected – in other words you are to come into a knowledge of yourself of who you are for your day, unless of course you do not qualify because you are in the rejected group, but we are not in the rejected group in this hour, so that is why God has purposed in this hour to bring us into a knowledge of ourselves the way that he knows us by election)
I CORINTHIANS 13:12
12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
The Journey of Self-Discovery
It is difficult to understand other people’s lives if you don’t understand your own.
JOHN 1:19-27
19 ¶ And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?
20 And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ.
21 And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No.
22 Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?
23 He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.
24 And they which were sent were of the Pharisees.
25 And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet?
26 John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not;
27 He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose.
**Before John the Baptist could reveal who Jesus was for his day, he had to first come to a revelation of his own position and calling – he didn’t just arrive instantly at that knowledge of who he was according to the scripture, there was a journey that God led him through in life in order to bring him to that knowledge of who he was in the word and what part he was to flesh out in that hour, and only after he understood his misunderstood life, only then could he identify and introduce the Lord Jesus to the people.
***This is a pattern for all the elect of God, because God has to first reveal you to you by the way he communicates to you through the experiences of your life.
For most of us we will not understand our lives fully until we get nearer to the end of the road because we have to live out our lives first in order to see the hand and leadership of God. That is why we are often misunderstood and also misunderstand our own lives.
Look at the life of Joseph in the bible, he was misunderstood by his brethren, and he also misunderstood his own life when he was sold into Egypt and ended up in the prison house.
Brother Branham became so confused with his own life that he went to a cave after telling his wife he may never return unless the Lord explained to him his confused life.
HOW.THE.ANGEL.CAME.TO.ME.AND.HIS.COMMISSION_ CHICAGO.IL FOOTPRINT.BOOK MONDAY_ 55-0117
151 So I was sitting there and looking at Him. I--I kind of had my hand up like that. He was looking right at me, just as pleasant. But He had a real deep Voice, and He said, "Do not fear, I am sent from the Presence of Almighty God." And when He spoke, that Voice, that was the same Voice that spoke to me when I was two years old, all the way up. I knowed that was Him. And I thought, "Now..."
152 And hear it. Now listen to the conversation. I'll quote it the best that I can, knowingly, word by word, 'cause I'd hardly remember.
153 He... I said... Looked at Him like that. He said, "Do not fear," just as quiet, said, "I am sent from the Presence of Almighty God, to tell you that your peculiar birth..." As you know what my birth was up there. That same Light hung over me when I was first born. And so He said, "Your peculiar birth and misunderstood life has been to indicate that you're to go to all the world and pray for the sick people."
AT.THY.WORD_ NEW.YORK.NY FRIDAY_ 51-0928
E-69 What are you setting there, colored lady, with your hand up? Do you believe I am God's prophet, that He sent me to help you? Do you believe that I will be able by God to know what's wrong with you? You've had a misunderstood life, haven't you? Many times, many heartaches and trials you've went through. I see something, dark streak hanging down a long road behind you.
Many people suffer from a misunderstood life, not only by others but also by themselves, they do not understand their own lives or the purpose of their life – and faith cannot come out of a confused life.
Faith is understanding who you are and your position in the word for your day, and what portion of the word are you fleshing out in this hour.
It would be no use for us to try and flesh out Noah’s day in this hour, nor Luther’s day, or Wesley’s day or Azusa street’s day, those days have already been flesh out by the elect for those days, and those people that live at those times and that served the Lord under their messenger are sealed away under their message. But what part are we to fulfil in this day.
We are to examine ourselves:
Are we fulfilling the portion of the bride?
Or are we fulfilling the portion of the foolish virgin?
Or are we caught up in all the lies of the media that is manipulation the minds of the public and we are a part of that group that the bible talks about that the whole world in the end time would be deceived.
Remember - Only the revelation of this message will keep you from deception in this hour. No other message will keep you from deception in this hour.
And only the revelation of this message will reveal who you are in this hour.
In John 1:19-23, we find that John the Baptist was nearing the end of his earthly journey on earth, another 6 months or so we see that he is off the scene – he gets locked up in jail and his eagle eye begins to dim over.
JOHN 1:19-23
19 ¶ And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?
20 And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ.
21 And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No.
22 Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?
23 He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.
God had led him to a knowledge of himself in that he knew what portion of the word he was for that hour. He had been on a journey of self-discovery.
Self-Discovery = becoming aware of one’s true potential, character, motives, and purpose etc.” the act or process of gaining knowledge or understanding of your abilities, and more importantly, your purpose in life, to realize one's full potential.
We can all look back at the life of brother Branham and identify him as Malachi 4, but for many years of his life he never knew that he was that part of the word, God had to take him on a journey of self-discovery just like he did with John the Baptist in order to bring him to the place that he knew his purpose and who he was, and this is also how God is dealing with us right now in all of life’s experiences that he is leading us thorough by his grace.
We can recognise the person of Malachi 4 as being William Branham, but we need to recognise ourselves as the bride for this hour, because we are now the current event for this hour.
When Brother Branham was alive, then those scriptures pertaining to him was the word manifested and made flesh for that season, but now the focus is changing from the prophet to his prophecy, which is the bride, which is you and I. So it is required of us in this hour to come to a full knowledge of who we are in this hour.
JAMES 1:22-25
22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:
24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
When we truly see ourselves in the mirror of the word, then we will be a doer of the work.
JUDGES 6:1-13 Gideon was on a journey of self-discovery, because before Gideon could have faith and bring deliverance to the people of God for that hour, he had to first come to know who he was according to what the angel knew that he was.
1 ¶ And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years. (like the seven church ages)
2 And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel: and because of the Midianites the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and caves, and strong holds.
3 And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, even they came up against them;
4 And they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, till thou come unto Gaza, and left no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass.
5 For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for multitude; for both they and their camels were without number: and they entered into the land to destroy it.
6 And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites; and the children of Israel cried unto the LORD.
7 ¶ And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD because of the Midianites,
8 That the LORD sent a prophet unto the children of Israel (after seven church ages God sends a prophet), which said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage;
9 And I delivered you out of the hand of the (denominations) Egyptians, and out of the hand of all that oppressed you, and drave them out from before you, and gave you their land;
10 And I said unto you, I am the LORD your God; fear not the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but ye have not obeyed my voice.
11 ¶ And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites. (Notice - an angel appears to brother Branham to explain his misunderstood life, and an angel is appearing to Gideon to explain his misunderstood life)
12 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour. (The angel knew who Gideon was, but Gideon didn’t know who Gideon was)
13 And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? but now the LORD hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. (in other words – “I am all confused about everything that has happened in my life up to this point, if God is really with me, then why have all these bad things happened in my life” - and that is when we see the angel begins to give him experiences with the fleece and different things to communicate to Gideon in order to bring him into a knowledge of who he really was, because only then could he have faith to overcome the enemy for that age.
We are on a journey from outside leadership to inside leadership. Leadership begins first on the outside, but God’s purpose for our lives is to bring that leadership to the inside of us so that we will be led by God from within.
Look at the life of William Branham – how that he was so confused for many years, how could he ever face the world with a seventh grade education – but after that angel appeared to him and revealed his life in the scriptures to him, then that is what gave him the faith to take on the entire ecumenical world.
THE.TWENTIETH.CENTURY.PROPHET_ JEFF.IN 53-0800
E-2 Very well, Brother Kopp. Let's go back to the beginning. I was born in eastern Kentucky, in a little log cabin near Burkesville, Kentucky. The morning of my birth, I'm told of my parents, that there was a Light came into the room and hung over me.
My people was not a religious people. They did not go to any church. Of course, this caused quite a stir among them. It's followed me all the days of my life. ….
At the age of seven, we moved from Kentucky to Indiana, up the road a bit from where we live now. We packed our water then from a well, some city block (I suppose) behind the old country home. One beautiful September afternoon, while coming from the pump with some water, there was a stately poplar tree stood about halfway between the pump and the home.
E-5 Passing by there, there was a whirl of wind in the tree, what we call here a whirlwind. Why, it was nothing odd for that time of year in this part of the country. But it remained in the tree. It didn't leave. I stopped to see what it was. And a Voice spoke from It, saying, "Do not never smoke, or drink, or defile your body in any way, for there'll be a work for you to do when you get older."
(His work was to fulfil many portions of the word concerning a one man scripture.
He was the antitype to Eliezer getting a bride for Isaac at evening time – he was the positive of that negative
He was the head reaper over the servants at harvest time in the book of Ruth – he was the positive of that negative
He was Elijah on Mount Carmel at evening time just before the cloud appeared and the rains fell.
He was the servant at supper time in the parable of the kings wedding feast
He was the one that Jesus said that Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things in Mathew 17:11
He was the angel that talked with John throughout the entire book of Revelation
He was the seventh church age messenger of Revelation 3:14
He was the seventh Angel of Revelation 10:7
He was the one that John fell down at his feet to worship in Revelation 19:10
**All throughout the entire bible these scriptures were laying there waiting for this one man William Branham to be born because he was only man in the entire universe that God had ordained to fulfil all these portions of the word – all those scriptures where written with his name sealed underneath them, because he was the only man that existed in the mind of God whose ministry would fit all these places in the bible.
Frightened? That's not a word for it. I ran home quickly, telling my mother that a Man spoke to me out of a tree. Well, she thought I was nervous. She put me to bed. But from then on, visions begin to come. And when this comes upon me, it produces a vision. I'm able to tell people what's wrong with them, and what they must do in life, and the sins that they are holding back in their life.
At the age of thirty-seven, one night I was praying in my room, and when I'd raised up, I noticed there was a Light on the floor. And looking around to see where it come from, It was coming from above. The Pillar of Fire was hanging just above, and was throwing the Light on the floor. I heard someone walking. I looked; coming through the room, coming into this Light, came a man. In human figure He'd be about two hundred pounds of weight. He had dark hair to His shoulder, an olive complexion. He was bare-footed.
E-6 Of course, I was frightened, and he said to me, "Fear not." And as soon as I heard that voice, I knew it was the same voice that had always spoke to me, but the first time I had ever seen Him in human form. He said, "I am sent from the Presence of God to tell you that you're to pray for sick people. Great signs and wonders will be following your ministry, and you'll be praying for kings and monarchs and so forth."
Well, I told him I was a poor man. I had no education. I would not be able to do this job. He said, "As Moses was given two signs of confirmation of his ministry, that I would be given two signs. One would be the praying for the sick, the miracles, and the other would be you'd know the very secrets of the people's heart."
E-7 I told him that I had been praying about this, that the people told me that it was of the devil--the ministry. He referred to me many Scriptures, such as when Philip found Nathanael, and Nathanael came to Jesus. Why, Jesus told him where he had been, where he was under the tree when Nathanael found him. And many other Scriptures, such as the woman at the well, how that she was revealed, her sins to her, when Jesus told her that she had five husbands. She ran into the city, and said, "This is the Christ."
Many other Scriptures He referred to. I told Him I would go. He give me the assurance that He would be with me always, as you know, Brother Kopp, and the world knows, of the great things that's been taking place in the ministry.
**In all these things brother Branham came to discover himself in the expression of what part he was in the word.
All these experiences in his life were designed by God to bring him to a place to reveal him to himself of what he was called to be and the work that he was sent to do and the scriptures that he was sent to fulfil.
He had to realise who he was before he could introduce the word to us in this hour just as we see that John the Baptist already knew who he was before he could introduced Christ the word to the people in his day.
So it cannot be any different for us as the bride of Christ in this hour, God is also dealing with us after the same manor because he cannot improve on the way he does things of how he deals with people.
So we must realise that God is also dealing with us in the smallest details and all the happenings of our lives in order to bring us to a place where we discover who we really are in this hour before we meet him in the air. And he has also sent an Angel to us to help us to come to this knowledge.
CHRIST.IS.THE.MYSTERY.OF.GOD.REVEALED_ JEFF.IN V-3 N-7 SUNDAY_ 63-0728
240 The new Birth is Christ, is the revelation. God has revealed to you this great mystery, and that's a new Birth. Now what are you going to do when you get all that group together, where the revelation is perfectly in harmony, and God expressing it through His Word by the same actions, the same things that He did, making the Word manifest! Oh, if the Church only knew its position! It will, one day. Then, the Rapture will go when it knows what it is.
***God sent an angel to Rebecca in the form of Eliezer, and that angel stayed with her on her journey to meet her unseen bridegroom Isaac, it was that angel that led her to Isaac, but before she actually gets to meet him in the flesh, she is already introduced to him and comes to know him through the ministry of Eliezer while traveling on the journey.
And she also comes to know who she really is before she meets Isaac – she knows that she is his wife before she ever meets his corporal body in the field.
Ruth knew who she was before she married Boaz – she came to that understanding because of the journey, she came to understand her misunderstood life, all the experiences that she had gone through is what led her to that place. It was her character that caused her to come into that position.
IDENTIFICATION_ TULARE.CA V-22 N-14 SUNDAY_ 64-0216
93 …If you were living in the days of Noah, and in your present character, what side would you a-been on? Be careful, see. In your present character; now think of what you are. When the groups... What group would you be identified with, if your present character would have been living in the days of Noah? Would you been with the prophet and God's vindicated Word, standing in the minority, the little group, or with the popular-opinion folks of that day? What character?
Character = (Cambridge English Dictionary) the particular combination of qualities in a person or place that makes them different from others:
**What makes us different from other professing Christians in the world – it is your ability to recognise the word for your day, that is the number one quality that makes you different to everyone else on the planet, and that is the qualification of the elect of this age.
IDENTIFICATION_ TULARE.CA V-22 N-14 SUNDAY_ 64-0216
102 Now what group would your present character identify you? Would you, in the days of--of Elijah, would you have went out there where Jezebel, say, cut her hair and painted her face, and was a modern woman? Now just think where you are identified now. You say, "I'm Pent-..." I ain't saying what you are. I'm asking your character. We're going below these little things that you're looking at. We're going on the inside of you.
IDENTIFICATION_ TULARE.CA V-22 N-14 SUNDAY_ 64-0216
181 Or are you found identified in some of the Scriptures where the--in some of the Scriptures where the... them that didn't stay? Where you identified with, anyhow? The camera has already flashed. You're identified somewhere. You are setting here this afternoon, every one of us, now listen, you're identified somewhere. The camera has already flashed. You know what you are. It has took your picture somewhere. Now where you standing? You're the judge.
182 God help us to be so identified, in Him, that we'll reflect His Life in our own. Listen, the goldsmith used to take and beat the gold, and he kept beating it and beating, and turn it over and beating it, till he seen his own reflection in it. Then it was pure gold; all the sludge was beat out. May the Holy Ghost, today, and in this meeting, in the hours to come, may He take this Word and beat It over, in our heart, until all of the doubts, all the creeds, and all the things contrary to God, is gone, that we can, (listen now) that we, the Church, can reflect His resurrection.
Reflect his Resurrection
Opening scripture
I CORINTHIANS 13:12
12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
We are coming into a place where we are beginning to recognise what part of the word we have been ordained for in this hour, just as John the Baptist came to that understanding of himself, just as brother Branham came to that understanding of himself, and Joseph and Gideon, and Sampson and Rebecca and Ruth all the other people of the bible – they all were on a journey of self-discovery of what part of the word they were for their day.
As the end time bride of Christ we are also on that same Journey – and when we know who we are, then the rapture will go.
The Journey of Self-Discovery