197-2 PERGAMEAN.CHURCH.AGE - CHURCH.AGE.BOOK CPT.5

You will recall that I brought out in the Ephesian Age that the word, Nicolaitane, comes from two Greek words: Nikao which means to conquer, and Lao which means the laity. Nicolaitane means, "to conquer the laity". Now why is this such a terrible thing? It is terrible because God has never placed His church in the hands of an elected leadership which moves with political mindedness. He has placed His church in the care of God-ordained, Spirit-filled, Word-living men who lead the people through feeding them the Word. He has not separated the people into classes so that the masses are led by a holy priesthood. It is true that the leadership must be holy, but then so must be the whole congregation. Further, there is no place in the Word where priests or ministers or such mediate between God and the people, nor is there a place where they are separated in their worship of the Lord. God wants all to love and serve Him together. Nicolaitanism destroys those precepts and instead separates the ministers from the people and makes the leaders overlords instead of servants.

Now this doctrine actually started as a deed in the first age. It appears that the problem lay in two words: 'elders' (presbyters) and 'overseers' (bishops). Though Scripture shows that there are several elders in each church, some began (Ignatius among them) to teach that the idea of a bishop was one of pre-eminence or authority and control over the elders.

Now the truth of the matter is the word 'elder' signifies who the person is, while the word 'bishop' signifies the office of the same man. The elder is the man. Bishop is the office of the man. 'Elder' always has and always will refer simply to a man's chronological age in the Lord. He is an elder, not because he is elected or ordained, etc., but because he IS OLDER. He is more seasoned, trained, not a novice, reliable because of experience and long standing proof of his Christian experience.

But no, the bishops did not stick to the epistles of Paul, but rather they went to Paul's account of the time he called the elders from Ephesus to Miletus in Acts 20. In verse 17 the record states, "elders" were called and then in verse 28 they are called overseers (bishops). And these bishops, (no doubt political minded and anxious for power) insisted that Paul had given the meaning that 'overseers' were more than the local elder with official capacity only in his own church. To them a bishop was now one with extended authority over many local leaders. Such a concept was neither Scriptural nor historical, yet even a man of the stature of Polycarp leaned toward such organization.

Thus, that which started as a deed in the first age was made a literal doctrine and so it is today. Bishops still claim power to control men and deal with them as they desire, placing them where they so will in the ministry. This denies the leadership of the Holy Ghost Who said, "Separate Me Paul and Barnabas for the work where-unto I have called them" This is anti-Word and anti-Christ.

EVIL SPIRITS

GIFTS.CALLINGS.WITHOUT.REPENTANCE_ CARLSBAD.NM 50-0300

E-9 Another one, they taken handkerchiefs from his body and aprons, and laid upon the sick people, and evil spirits went out of people. Not because it was Saint Paul; he was a man who lived in flesh like you and I. And he died. He had to be redeemed by the Blood of Christ just like we do.

It wasn't the man that done the healing; it was the Spirit of God in the man that done the healing, through the faith of the people. Is that right? Well, the same Holy Spirit is with us today. Jesus said, "I'll be with you, even in you, to the end of the world."

TESTIMONY.AND.INSIDE.LIFE_ CLEVELAND.OH WEDNESDAY_ 50-0823

E-46 Now, I'm... I want you to watch my hand and believe with all your heart that you're going to get well. See? And you say you'll promise God that you're going to serve Him and everything. All right. Will you bow your heads again, now everyone, while the boy watches hisself.

Our heavenly Father, be merciful to the young man. The enemy is trying to hold, but You're more than a match for the enemy. Now, help us, dear God, to have faith to believe You. And now, Lord, we come to You with child-like faith, believing that You are, and a rewarder of those who'll seek You. And now, I plead around this platform the Blood of the Lord Jesus, that we might be hedged in, that the Spirit of God may have pre-eminence, might be able to cast out evil spirits, and to make these people well.

O, thou demon, that's bound the boy, in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, come out from him. There it goes.

MY.ANGEL.SHALL.GO.BEFORE.THEE_ TALLAHASSEE.FL FRIDAY_ 53-0213

E-20 The trouble of it is, we try to get ahead of the Angel. Let the Angel lead the way, and He will lead us to the fountains of the water of Life and give it to us freely. Do you believe it? Shall we bow our heads.

Lord Jesus, tonight, just here, we're thankful for this little church. We thank You for its pastor, and for its teachers, and for its pupils. And we thank You for every minister and his congregation, the parts of them that's gathered in here tonight. Some of them out in the other rooms, we thank Thee for them. But above all things, we thank Thee for Jesus Christ Who has drawed us together by His mercy, by His merit. We thank Thee, Father, with a true sincere heart.

Now, I pray that You'll be with us tonight. Help us and bless us. And as my heart and other hearts here blending together, calling for the deep, the Deep... And men and women setting here that's Your children that's afflicted by the enemy... As our Brother Baxter, the--Your teacher, just awhile ago, standing there on the steps listening at him, hear him speaking, casting out evil spirits. How we thank Thee, Lord, that Thy Word teaches that, "In My Name they shall cast out devils... If they lay their hands on the sick they shall recover." You promised it, God.

ISRAEL.IN.THE.HOMELAND_ JEFF.IN IC 129-147 SUNDAY_ 53-0329

30 Now, see, all of the praying, all of the stomping, all the casting out of evil spirits, she was harboring her sin way down deep in her heart, that she didn't want to tell nobody that she had did, but the Holy Spirit revealed the secret of her heart. She went and made that right, then she was clear. God won't bless over the top of sin. You got to clear it up first. That's right.

TESTIMONY.WILLIAM.BRANHAM_ JONESBORO.AR SUNDAY_ 53-0510

E-41 That's why the people got healed from the handkerchiefs Paul sent; they knowed God was in that apostle. They knowed he was not only an apostle, he was a prophet. And they took from his body, handkerchiefs and aprons and laid unto the sick, and evil spirits went out of them, and they were healed. Is that right?

AUTHORITY.OF.THE.WORD_ CONNERSVILLE.IN TUESDAY_ 53-0602

E-29 Now, bow your heads if you will. It's--it's mental nervousness. [The woman asks, "Should--should--should I believe when I feel like I'm dying all the time?"--Ed.] It's... See? That's... You must believe of regardless of anything. See? You never go to your feeling; you go to your faith. See? There's where you--the lacking of it is, sister dear. I want you to be well. See? But see? You're--you're... It's--it's a--a mental disturbance all the time. You must just keep saying, "Thank You, Lord, for my healing. Thank You, Lord."

"How you feeling?"

"Wonderful. Thank God for my healing," and just keep on like that, you'll get well. See what I mean? There's where you climb up over the ripples there. It's a battle. You've got to fight 'fore you have victory. You see?

Sometimes evil spirits want to hold on, but if you--I... It's left to the people's faith. They have to leave in the Presence. That's true. But when they get away, they'll return. You see? If the patient can have enough faith to take it, the thing away itself, much the better. All right.

HEALING.WHAT.CANCER.IS_ CHICAGO.IL FRIDAY_ 53-0904

E-55 You believe with all your heart? Hallelujah. Be reverent. Now, remember, friends, when evil spirits are leaving these people, and they're loose in the building, if you come up in a few days showing some kind of a sickness, remember it's not my fault. For you're supposed to do as I tell you here. Every spirit in the building is subject right now. And demons as soon as they come out, they'll find some place to go.

JESUS.CHRIST.THE.SAME_ SAN.FERNANDO.CA SUNDAY_ 55-1113

E-13, And I've always loved people. And I want to help people. If I see a person down and out, and I could--I could pawn my coat... I'm not saying that for the... I'd be a hypocrite to make a remark like that and here from this platform, and not mean it from my heart, and knowing that, just in a few minutes I'll be facing evil spirits and everything. I'd be afraid to do it. But I--I--I love the Lord. And I love people. And I like to help people.

LED.BY.THE.SPIRIT.OF.GOD_ SHREVEPORT.LA MONDAY_ 56-0723

E-22 But what the Church needs tonight is know how to control these gifts. See? For evil spirits can come in and speak just the same as good spirits can speak. You know that. And you must have the spirit of discernment to know that. They had it in the Bible times.

Why, if they didn't do it then, why did Paul say let one judge and the people judge and so forth. Those was gifts of prophecy, everything is supposed to be correctly put in order.

For Satan can imitate every gift that God's got. Every gift, he can imitate it. And you must know the right and wrong, and by its fruits you know it. Watch whether it comes to pass and whether its truth or not. And that's the way you know the Spirit.

FAITH_ PRINCE.ALBERT.SK WEDNESDAY_ 56-0815

E-94 Jesus said, "These things that I do, shall you also." Then is God's sworn covenant true. Is His sworn covenant true? Then what we got to be worried about? Jesus is here. His Spirit is here. We're in a... What happened just now? I went into another world. It's an unseen world. We become so conscious of looking at one another like this. But there's a unseen world; and you... It's greater than anything you can see. And here's Christ.

In this world, in this building here are evil spirits and war. And Christians anointed, and the Angels of God encamped about them trying to ener--e--energize them with faith.

And here I am standing here just yielding myself, and the Holy Spirit's a moving, and this is what you call heavenly places in Christ Jesus. But remember, Satan's always skeptic at the sons of God. You know, he always does that. Someone with a skeptic idea, when they do that, just he's trying to interfere. But Christians always overcome.

PAINTED.FACE.JEZEBEL_ CHICAGO.IL FRIDAY_ 56-1005

E-69 Do you now believe? Now, look, I been preaching for about two hours. All right, that one vision, and look at the beads of sweat. See? It just weakens you. Something goes from you. The thing left the lady. See? The woman touched His garment and said, "Something went from me." Not from...

All right, bring the man. Now, please be reverent if you will. Remember, evil spirits come out of one and go into others. How many know that to be true? So be reverent.

IMPERSONATION.OF.CHRISTIANITY_ JEFF.IN SUNDAY_ 57-0120M

E-10 He said, "How will we ever... How can you, or preachers who try to hold that position between the two fanatics, balance the load?"

I said, "Just the grace of God." Oh, what a place.

And the man threw his hands in his face, and wept till the wife and I standing there, and the tears dropping off on his trouser leg. He said, "Brother Branham, I'm heading for Saskatoon to get out of this nest of evil spirits."

And I said, "That is true. The American, social intellectual group has become so against the other group. And the other group has run forth into fantastics, until the true Gospel is hard to find a place of approach and to get a preeminence."

I.STAND.AT.THE.DOOR.AND.KNOCK_ JEFF.IN SUNDAY_ 57-1208

E-64 Then what would give you more faith? For Brother Neville and I to come pray and lay hands on you, anoint you with oil? The Bible says that, to do that. That's good. We believe that. Sometimes they don't even anoint with oil. Sometimes they just... They have discernment and find evil spirits and cast them out. Sometimes that's done that way. And sometimes it's done by just...

When Jesus walked... Now, what we're... That was what He give the apostles. That's what the apostles did. And many times they did it all different ways.

Now, which would be more effective, as we've had so many meetings here, which would be more effective now, just to let the Lord Jesus come down and prove Himself that He's here in that supernatural realm? Is there people in the building here that--that you know I don't know what's wrong with you or who you are? Raise your hand, if there is, the people in the building that knows that I don't know you, just raise up your hand. Yes sir, I guess it's--it's everywhere. All right.

MIGHTY.CONQUEROR_ CHICAGO.IL FRIDAY_ 58-0110

E-11 When He was here, I can see a picture of demons as they possessed a young man. And all of the military force and might, all that the law could do was to bind him in chains. And he was so strong with this demon power on him, he could break the chains asunder. There was no way to conquer him.

And the evil spirits had drove him from among mankind, that he had made his home out in the tombs. And whosoever passed by this way, he conquered them. But, oh, one day there come a little Man down the road. The Bible said there was no beauty that we should desire Him, maybe a little stoop shouldered Man with hair hanging down around His neck.

And this demon thought, "Here is the time that I'll overcome that little fellow." And they possessed the man. And out into the road they went to meet Him. And when they run to Him to conquer Him, when He raised His eyes, they changed their tune. Instead of trying to conquer Him, they said, "Thou holy One of God, why do You come to torment us before the time comes?" They knew they had met their match. The great mighty Conqueror of heaven was standing present.

HAVE.FAITH.IN.GOD_ PITTSFIELD.MA SATURDAY_ 58-0510

E-74 Do you believe the Lord with all your heart? Now, you in the audience, have faith. Now, don't doubt. Don't move around, set real still. Please. See?

Spirits, when they leave people, like evil spirits, they go from one to another. You know that. When you get an audience jumping and running, you can't hold it. You don't... There's no need of trying to take the time to explain it. You just believe it; that's all. You just believe it.

YE.MUST.BE.BORN.AGAIN_ GREENVILLE.SC THURSDAY_ 58-0619B

E-16 Wesley said when you get sanctified and shout you got it, but he found out a lot of them shouted that didn't have it. And Pentecost says if we speak with tongues we got it, but we found out, many spoke with tongues and didn't have it. That's right. So it's something different from that, brother. That's right.

Jesus never said if they shout, if they speak with tongues, if they do this, said, "By their fruits you shall know them." And the fruit of the Spirit is not shouting, speaking in tongues. That's attributes of the Holy Spirit, of course. But it can be impersonated; we know it.

I've dealt with lots of evil spirits in my life, and--and witch doctors, and so forth, and across the world. I've seen evil spirits shout, speak with tongues, do all the manifestations, seen them do all kinds of signs and wonders and everything else: demons, and deny there was even a God. See? But you can't go by that.

BAPTISM.OF.THE.HOLY.SPIRIT_ JEFF.IN V-5 N-2 SUNDAY_ 58-0928M

37 And when the whole thing begins to leak out and the righteous seed begins setting on the side getting thinner and thinner, and the wicked just keep on (very religious), just keep getting wicked and wickeder and wickeder, there's nothing to do but destroy the whole thing like He did back there in the antediluvian destruction. Every thought of man is continually full of sin. Everything man thinks about today is a bottle of whiskey, or some woman, or out running around. Can't live true to their wives; the boys can't live true to their girls; girls can't live true to the boys. Why they're in such a place till the devil's got them so bound and possessed with evil spirits, the whole thing's become a conglomeration of sin. That's the reason we're in the day, and that's the reason Russia is playing exactly in the hands of God to rock this thing out here. The Bible says so. Certainly, God's using Communism. He will use it. And Communism will destroy the entire thing according to the Scripture, and we're in that day.

BAPTISM.OF.THE.HOLY.SPIRIT_ JEFF.IN V-5 N-2 SUNDAY_ 58-0928M

139 Let me tell you a little personal experience. Switzerland, Germany, and the places where I've been, how does fortunetellers work, how does evil spirits travel? I want you to believe me as your pastor, 'cause you're the one I'm speaking to. Devils travel in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. They cut feathers and everything else and throw spells on each other through the name of Father, Son, Holy Ghost. Call it the three high names. The mother of it is Catholic churches. They go to these little statues, and kneel there, and cut a feather with scissors and turn it backwards, and throw spells on their neighbors and so forth, where they were burnt to death and everything else for it.