THE TRUTH ABOUT TWO CONTROVERSIAL TREES

We have got to get a knowledge of what the first four chapters in the Bible is all about; if we are going to get very far with our revelation of the other scriptures scattered throughout the Bible that people have wrestled with for centuries. If we can understand these chapters, it gives us, especially here in the end time, an understanding of why mankind in this hour of time has fallen to the lowest state of morality the civilized world this side of the great flood has ever known. I see no way Sodom and Gomorrah could have been worse than what this very generation upon the face of the earth has fallen to. The human race has decayed and degenerated to a place where great multitudes literally despise the idea of a Creator; and the idea that there is such a thing as a God of righteousness that will one day judge their unrighteous deeds. People of the world today, live an immoral life that they are no longer ashamed of. All of that just simply lets us know for sure, that the word of God is true; for there is nothing new in all of this ungodliness. Everything that is going on now in our present society, started a long time ago; back here in this part of the garden. Therefore what I am saying is this, The garden God planted, (Gen. 2:8) was not more trees, because the trees were already growing. They come up out of the ground, that is where all plant life was. God had already told man, while in his spirit makeup, Every tree, and every herb bearing seed of its kind, is for meat. Those things are for the physical appetite to be satisfied; and to replenish the nutrients of the physical body. We enjoy the aroma and taste of this natural food which comes from the plant life trees God caused to grow out of the ground; but there in the garden was two other trees that did not grow out of the ground. Let us read verse 9, "And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant (notice, out of the ground) to the sight, and good for food; (but when we come to these next two trees, it does not tell you they are growing out of the ground.) the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil." All of those other trees were natural vegetation, plant life trees that were ordained to grow from their source of origin. Whether they were apple trees, the peach trees, fig trees, or whatever, they were all growing out of the ground. Those trees are in relationship geographically to the areas of where these river boundaries are established; but the garden that God planted, speaks of how He relates Himself to the man's surroundings; endowing him with a little bit of heaven here on earth. It was called paradise; because it was where the spirit world and the natural world were put together. Therefore when He puts a little bit of heaven over this, (the literal planet we live on) then we cannot help but see how angels can be seen in the background. The glory of God can be seen radiating through such a beautiful environment. The two trees in the MIDST of the garden, the one of knowledge, and the one of life were not plant life trees. They were figurative trees; because they are two basic laws the Creator placed before the man He created. Did you know the whole universe functions around two basic laws? It comes right on down through the entire Bible; right and wrong, good and bad, true and false, clean and unclean, up and down. That is how the whole universe functions. What is right? It is the way God wants things to be. What is wrong? It is the opposite of what God desires or requires; which is the way fallen mankind is constantly going. What is the opposite of truth? It is a lie; and Jesus said the devil is the father of lies. Notice in John 8:44, where those Jewish religious leaders were contending with Jesus, what He finally said to them. "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it." We can define a lie like this; It is truth perverted. What is the opposite of good? Something bad. What is the opposite of clean? Something unclean, dirty. What is the opposite of up? It is down. These are the basic laws of how this whole thing functions. I am saying these things in this manner, endeavoring to help you see what the two trees in the MIDST of the garden were; before we go on into the rest of it. God placed this paradise, this spiritual realm, right here on earth; and He put the first man Adam there, with a commission and a command. Let us read the 15th verse. "And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden." For what purpose? Notice that it says, the garden of Eden. You have to see the geographical place and the paradise all together. It is a little bit of heaven blended together with earth. Would it not be wonderful if we lived in a time when you could get up on a morning with the sun shining, and could look out across the horizon and see angelic beings going about their duties, and see the Spirit of God radiating itself through the atmosphere, and could feel His great presence all around you? That presence would bring a feeling of contentment and peace, and there would be no one crying; nor worrying about anything today. There will be no one suffering with pain today. There would be no one dying today. Everything could have been this wonderful; if the man would have just simply obeyed the voice of his Creator; instead of disobeying. Well saints, one of these days it is going to be just like that; when this wonderful plan of redemption is completed. One of these days, just as the Bible says, The lion shall eat straw like the bull ox. Well I believe that is in heaven; some may say. Heaven is a spirit world; and this is a literal scene upon earth. The reason I say these things, is not to belittle people who may think like that; but to be sure the truth is available to those who desire to know the truth. Religion has come down through the centuries of time, with different one's carrying their little satchels of traditional ideas for all of their kind to follow; and the true revelation of God's word is the only thing that can break that yoke. Every Sunday morning they go to church; and in their mind they have a little picture of how they look at God, salvation, and religion in general; but as far as revealed truth goes, many of them say, Bless God, I'm not changing for anyone. What I believe, was good enough for my saintly old Grandparents; so it is good enough for me. I am going to church this morning just like I always do; and I dare anyone to say I should be doing more. All through life, some people carry these hand-me-down, traditional ideas; never having any hunger for the reality God's word holds for those who hunger and thirst after righteousness; and they get steaming hot under the collar; when anyone even suggests that there is more to it than that. When they are actually confronted with the facts of the matter they say, Well that is not what the Bible says. Saints: It is all in what you are looking for, when you read the Bible. If the only thing you desire to see, is what your Grandpa saw; you will likely still be here looking at just that, when the true bride of Jesus Christ has already gone to the marriage supper. We are very prone to read certain things in the Bible, and just get a traditional picture; unless something has happened to get our thinking stirred up; and given us a desire to seek after God in a new way; simply because we are born into this world with a nature to be so carnal. That is why the Baptists, the Methodists, the Presbyterians, every since the Reformation was started, have fought against each other. The Baptists fought the Methodists because of the doctrine of sanctification; saying, Nobody can live it like that. That teaching is out of the pit. The Methodists on the other hand, turn right around and say, That doctrine of eternal security that you Baptists believe, (once saved always saved) is out of the pit. Then they say the same thing about the Presbyterians; because of the doctrine of predestination. Well I am thankful to know that all of these are true Bible doctrines; if you ever get them put together right; and they all belong to the true Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. When you take one truth from the Bible, get it completely out of context, then try to interpret everything else to fit that, you always come up with a mess of traditional garbage that is everything else but the word of God. It was not like that in the apostolic beginning. Keep in mind, the New Testament was not written by Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, nor Catholics. It was written by Jewish apostles; who came to the Gentiles and brought the truth. When they delivered it to the Gentiles, it was still in its unadulterated form. Time, and human carnality has brought it to where it is today. That is why we say, If we are living in the end time, and You would have to be blind as a bat to say otherwise, we have to begin to do as the apostle Paul admonished the believers at Philippi; (Phil 2:5) "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." When we begin to take on His mind, and become subject to the leading of the Holy Spirit, and we begin to get an understanding of what started way back here in the garden of Eden, we can easily see what has caused the world 6000 years later, to be in this decayed, corrupt, low state of spirituality and morality. It all started with the disobedience of that first man and woman. No they were not filthy and corrupt; they just merely disobeyed their Creator's command to them; and forced Him to have to impute to them that sentence of death, and estrangement from His divine presence; which opened up the way for Satan to inject all the rest of what we see in the world today. Conditions like we have in the world about us, do not get like that instantly; they build to what they are little by little; as Christians let down on their former convictions; and begin to compromise with the world. It has always been the Spirit of God working through His dedicated children; that has restrained the forces of evil that have always been present in every age. As Christians let down, the devil's crowd moves in. The devil has something to offer you, to replace every virtue of godliness you have ever had; but he cannot force anything upon you; until you begin to compromise with the world. As Adam and Eve are pictured walking away from this, I want you to know one thing, they were not walking from the geographical area. They were being turned away from that divine presence of God; that had made the earth like a little part of heaven; and they were never able to enter into it again. The two angels with flaming swords, were placed between them and what they had been separated from; and I want you to know assuredly that they were not standing at a gate of a fenced area like natural minded man is so prone to picture it; like maybe with a wrought iron fence around a beautiful garden Eden. If that is what it was, then it would still be there. No saints, the angels were placed between God and the man; guarding the man's knowledge of how to enter into that divine presence; or spiritual environment. When Adam and Eve were driven from that, no man or woman, from that day until this, has ever been able to press themselves into the presence of God. Why were these drastic measures taken? Simply because Adam and Eve partook of fruit from the forbidden tree. No they did not eat fruit with their mouth; from a natural, plant life tree; it was their family tree, so to speak, that this picture reveals. I know the literal words in our King James translation of the Bible says, "She took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat; but when you receive the true revelation of what their disobedience was, you realize that the word partook, would have been a better translation.

AN INSPECTION OF THE FRUIT FROM TWO CERTAIN TREES

When God had planted a garden in this beautiful paradise place, then what? Let us notice what it says here; in Genesis 2:16-17. "And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: (That much is certainly clear enough; OF EVERY TREE OF THE GARDEN, so where did the trouble lie? Notice verse 17.) But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." In plain language, that says this, Every tree of the garden is for you to partake of. They are for your food. Remember the exact words of Genesis 2:9, "And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst (Not in the middle, but in the MIDST) of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil." Whatever you picture these trees growing out of the ground itself to be, whether apple trees, banana trees, or what, they were all plant life trees; and they were for God's human family to freely partake of, for food. All the other herbs, the tomatoes, whatever else it is that was growing in the earth, that was for food. "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, (Where was this tree? IN THE MIDST OF THE GARDEN.) thou shalt not eat of it: (partake of it) for in the day that thou eatest thereof (or in the day that thou dost partake of this tree) thou shalt surely die." He called their attention to this particular tree; that is one sure thing; but that tree was not seen growing out of the ground; it was a spiritual law; and so was the tree of life. I would still say this, if I had a hundred doctors of divinity with their Hebrew and Greek, sitting looking me straight in the eye. If those trees were plant life, that one would still be here today. Yes saints, it would still be here today; and so would the other one. All of the plant life trees that grew out of the ground there in Eden, are scattered all over the face of the earth. However because of the various climates throughout the earth, time and temperature has adjusted nature to establish the present existing plant life in the regions where it is compatible to what they are; but they are still here; and for the same reason, for food. I want you to know that man, for 6000 years, has been living off this tree, (The tree of knowledge) in search of this one (The tree of life). If either one of them was growing out of the ground, you would be able to see them today. Man has been in search of the fountain of life. Man has been in search of the tree of life; because he wants to live forever; but it is nowhere around; for natural man to see with his natural eye. Isaiah chapter 11, tells us that Jesus is the righteous branch, and He is the tree of life. How did Jesus get to become the tree of life? We will see that as we continue on. In verse 18, notice that the man is in this beautiful paradise place; "And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him;" but where was the female spirit? It was still incorporated within the male spirit of the man God made out of the dust of the earth. Let me say though, Adam, as we read about him, was not a man with a split personality. Neither was he physically half man and half woman. The Creator did not design him to be a misfit. He knew what He was doing when He fashioned that vessel of clay. It had two arms, two hands, a trunk, legs, and we would have to say, Physically it is designed like we would think of man in perfect healthy stature. He did not have a split personality; one day acting like a woman, the next day like a man. What does this tell us? We have to realize, the Creator had designed and planned this whole process of His new beginning to set in motion, right there in that beautiful paradise and portion of the earth, something that was going to foreshadow how redemption will unfold in the centuries to come. God knew man would sin. All you have to do is read the New Testament to know that. Therefore at this particular time, while the man and female spirit are still incorporated in the one vessel of clay, verse 19 says, "And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof." (He was forming the bodies, and putting that spirit life in them.) Here came the new animal kingdom; the elephant, the giraffe, the cow, male and female. Here come the dog; and all the rest; but you cannot call them by breed. There were no Hereford, Angus, Holstein, Red Durham, or any such thing among them. The cows were cows; and likewise with every other creature. However God had incorporated in the bodies of these cows, certain genetic laws; as well as all the other living creatures, that would serve His purpose throughout the ages. Man, being an offspring of His, (the Creator) the God that created all of these first beings and incorporated a reproductive law within the physical bodies, knew that man, sooner or later, because he is in His own image, would learn these genetic possibilities; and with this knowledge, would be able to bring forth the various breeds we have in the earth today. No man has not surprised the Creator; with his great discoveries of genetic possibilities; the Creator, that created the genes designed it to be like that. To the critics, and agnostics, as they are called, Is it not strange that the first book of the Bible is called Genesis? Why do I say that? Because the very word itself means, History of the genes. It is not the history of the apples. It is the history of the genes. Religion has been reading Genesis for hundreds of years; thinking the word Genesis, was just another word. Look it up for yourself; if you have any doubt; and see what it means. The word literally means, The history and origin of the genes and the generations that came forth through time. "And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him." Those animals were help meets; but in what way were they help? God designed the animal kingdom to be just as they were. If we can look back through time, they were to be instrumental with man; as he went about to fulfill that part of his commission which required him to subdue the earth. Adam was given the responsibility of seeing that everything was kept in a proper balance. Plant life, and animal life was to be produced in a proper balance upon the face of this earth. Think of the horse, which scientists say evolved from a prehistoric creature that at one time had three toes. I do not deny the possibility that there were prehistoric creatures that had three toes and looked like a dog; but the horses I have, did not come from dogs. They do not bark like dogs either. When God cursed that prehistoric world, all those creatures died in that judgment. When He made this generation of horses, they have never barked since. They have always had one hoof. It is very strange they can find skeletons with three toes; but they never can show you where they lost the second one and wound up with one. It is all just a presumptuous idea; with no real foundation. Naturally if those educated men of world recognition ever hear me say this, they will say, That is just your own idea; you have no proof of it. Well, that is their own idea; and neither do they have any proof for what they want to make out of what they find. That is the only way we can look at it. As we get back to Gen. 2:20 "And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him," we ask the question, What is the Lord going to do now, because the female spirit is incorporated with the masculine spirit? Let us think seriously about the process God used to form a body of flesh for Adam's wife to dwell in. Why did God do it that way? Here is the best way I can illustrate it; because the thing He did to bring forth the woman, separating her from the man, typed how God, in the centuries of time ahead, would work His work of redemption. His foreknowledge let Him know exactly how all of this would come about. He knew sin would come into the picture; and the man would fall from his original state. He knew man would have to be driven from the presence of his Creator because of it; and He knew He would have to be the ONE to redeem him from that fallen state. All of these things were in the mind of the Creator as one panoramic picture; covering everything that would ever transpire throughout all ages. Man would journey down through time lost and undone; and he would need to be redeemed; and God already knowing the process of how He would redeem him, foreshadowed, or typed that process when He took Adam's wife from his side. You should every one read the first chapter of Ephesians; and see what the apostle Paul said about this great mind of the Creator. Maybe we should just read verses 3-13, real quick; before going on. I know we use this scripture a lot; but I ask you this, Why not? It tells the story we need to be assured of; and in a very few words. Eph. 1:3, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as He (The Creator, GOD, the father of all creation) hath chosen us in Him (JESUS) before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love: Having (notice) predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of HIS WILL, To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through His blood, (the blood of Jesus) the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace; Wherein He hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; Having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself: That in the dispensation of the fulness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in Him: In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of HIM who worketh all things after the counsel of HIS own will: That we should be to the praise of His glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise." It tells us we were elected, we were foreknown, chosen in Christ, in the mind of God, before the foundation of the world. That is just about as plain as it can be said. God knew the decision every one of us, as sinners, born in our particular season, would make. He knew the ones who would reject. He knew the ones who would accept. Therefore since He foreknew, then He could rightly choose those He saw accepting His provision, to be redeemed in and through His begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore this was His plan, His purpose. We were elected in Him. Our names were written in the Lamb's Book of Life before the foundation of the world. When Jesus was hanging on the cross, from His side came blood and water, the very ingredients God would use to redeem from a creation of lost mankind, a people that would be called His Church, a people that would eventually be identified collectively as His Son's wife.

FIRST LOOK AT ADAM'S WIFE

Just as GOD put the first Adam to sleep and took from his side a rib from which He fashioned a body for his wife to dwell in, (Gen.2:21, "And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and He (GOD, the Creator) took one of his ribs, (This was the first surgery ever performed; and I might say also, That was the first time a laser knife was ever used. Today scientists are using laser technology to cut out a cancer, to destroy gall stones; and all sorts of things. I know nothing at all about how it works. I do know one thing for sure though, it has to be a fact that God is the author of that laser. He has just allowed man to learn how to harness it.) and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made He a woman, and brought her unto the man.") so is He taking from the side of the second Adam, a wife for Him. It says, God put Adam to sleep and removed from him a rib. I have said many times, When God took from him a rib, He took a little meat with it. Woman is not all bone. There had to be a little of his flesh there too. Keep in mind, He did not give her rough features that would make her look like a man. Physically He designed her to be completely feministic. He designed her psychologically, to be dainty, to like flowers, to be sensitive to the smell of things of nature. God is not a she; as some people today try to make Him. He is always addressed in the scriptures as masculine. However we do need to realize, that even though He is not a PERSON, existing in a form or body, (He is a sovereign Spirit that fills all of His creation.) He does definitely have certain feminine qualities about Him. Through those feminine qualities, or attributes He can relate to the female offspring; and inspire them to function and serve His purpose upon the earth. The woman had her commission right along with the man you know; while they were both still only spirit beings without a human form. After God took the rib from Adam and made the woman, He brought her to the man. That brings us to the end of verse 22. God did not have to put Adam in a recovery room to recuperate from his surgery. When God finished the process He brought the woman to the man; and here is how Adam responded. (Verse 23) "And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man." You might say, How did Adam know what had happened? Do not forget; he was created in the image of his Creator. There was no soreness, nor any stitches. God did not have to sew him up. For a long time, people have said that man is missing one rib; because God took one rib out of the first man. Count your ribs, you have the same number on each side. Adam went through the rest of his life minus one rib; but all normal children born since then, male or female, have the same number ribs on each side. Verse 24, is where Adam prophesied about the future union between man and woman in time to come. After he declared that she would be called woman, here is what he prophesied. "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh." That was God's original plan, one man, one woman; to set the process of how life would be propagated on this earth. Verse 25, "And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed." Why were they not ashamed? They had never done anything to be ashamed about; because they did not have the knowledge to know what wrong was. They were innocent. When anyone is innocent, they do not have the knowledge that they have done wrong; therefore they do not go about with a feeling of guilt or condemnation hanging over them. The mind of such a person is free of that. If Adam and Eve had continued on through time without disobeying the word of God given to them in their commission, there never would have been any reason for anyone to wear clothes to cover their nakedness. Partaking of that tree of knowledge is what made them conscious of the fact that they were naked; and they immediately tried to cover themselves by binding fig leaves together to wear like aprons. That did not surprise their Creator though; for He already knew they would do what they did; and that a way of redemption would have to be brought into the picture. That is why the Lord Jesus Christ is presented in the Bible, as the Lamb slain from before the foundation of the earth. It is as we have said; God's whole plan for the planet earth and its inhabitants was worked out in His infinite mind before He ever created anything. You can find that in Acts 15:18. Here is what the scripture says, "Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world." Saints: We are ready to go into chapter 3, of Genesis; as we look at the beginning of all the things our lives are associated with; but I want to reserve that for another time; (Our next issue) and use the remainder of this issue to make you aware of something that has come to my attention.

WHAT CRITICS WRITE

I want to read to you, an article that was published by Bold Truth Press Inc. Box 19280 Denver, Colorado.. The title of this article is, Evaluating the Prophets, William Branham & Sam Fife, The Manifest Sons Basic Theology And Its Influences on the Kingdom Teaching. I want to read some of the things this writer has put into print; and make a few remarks myself, realizing that some of you may have received this paper also. When I read this, I could not help but think, 'I understand what you are looking at, but you are attacking things in complete ignorance; because there are some things you could say, that you refrain from mentioning.' The article starts out by attacking a certain teaching in the land today; a teaching which we do not go along with either; but at least we realize there is such a teaching in the Bible; and that there will be a time when that teaching will be a fulfilled, manifested reality. That of course, is when Jesus comes back to earth to rule and reign; and these sons of God are with Him. You read it in Romans 8:18-19. It will be helpful to you to read above and below these two verses; but we will read enough to establish the fact that there is such a mention in the Bible. Rom. 8:18 "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. (19) For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God." This person is condemning the latter rain movement; and says, (First let me ask, How many of you have heard of the Manifest Sons, or the Latter Rain Movement? This is not a particular denomination, but rather a movement within many of our denominations.) "This Gnostic heresy entered the church today with promises of higher revelation and an invitation into a higher realm than they had before. It is not new. In the book of Colossians we see the apostle Paul refuting this old heresy: 'there is nothing new under the sun.' The Gnostics of Paul's day believed they possessed the "gnosis" (Greek) or knowledge and that until you possessed what they had, you did not receive the fullness of God. In the late forties, a movement known as the "Manifest Sons" or the "Latter Rain Movement" took place in North Battlefield, Saskatchewan, Canada. Bill Britton, one of its later leaders, gives the date as February 11, 1948. Some of the early leaders of this movement were George and Ernest Hawtin and George Warnock. This was in the late forties. Then later William Branham brought this doctrine into many churches." Brothers and sisters: Bro. Branham never did teach anything like that. Any of you people who knew Bro. Branham, know for sure that he did not teach any such thing. I sat under his ministry from 1952 until he was taken off the scene in 1965; and I know for sure, he never taught any such doctrine. That is why I say, When you do not know what the truth is, you just take what someone else says and jump right on it; to criticize it and paint a negative picture; and 9 times out of 10 you will paint yourself into a corner. Therefore when we do put this message in print, rest assured this person will get one of our papers. I want this person to know, You are not listening to this from a man who vaguely heard of William Branham. From 1952 until he was taken off the scene, he never taught the manifestation of the sons of God, the way this person claims; the way the Latter Rain movement did. To him, the manifestation of the sons of God was something to be fulfilled in the coming of Christ according to Romans 8; and in the glorious reign with Him. Let me continue to read."A book written in 1951, the Feast of Tabernacles by George Warnock is one of the most influential books, even to this date, for those who adhere to this doctrine. William Branham, once a Baptist minister, became known among the Pentecostal churches as a man of God and great prophet. He taught that the fall of man was sexual, (notice as I read these words, what this person says that he said,) and that Eve and Satan had a sexual union which produced Cain." He never taught any such thing as that. I say to the writer of this article, If you read our article, please send me the book where he said Eve and Satan had a sexual union. What he said was, that Eve and the serpent, not Satan, had a sexual union that produced Cain; and I say, Amen, to that; for it is the truth. The serpent was not Satan, and Satan was not the serpent; but Satan, (the devil) used the serpent creature, (which was not a snake at that time) to get Eve to disobey the Creator. When you read in Genesis chapters 2 and 3, where the serpent comes on the scene, please be assured of this; he is not the devil; and he is not Adam. Neither was he a worm, nor a snake; he was the most intelligent creature of all the animal kingdom; and he carried on a vocal conversation with Eve. He was a servant creature; endowed with that ability. It is from that very point in time; that we have to get Genesis straightened out in our mind's. I will finish reading this; then close the thought for now. "This led Branham to teach two opposite seeds, and the need for the special seed to herald the second coming of Christ. Branham believed that the "true seed" was the offspring of the sexual union between Adam and Eve, and the "false seed" was the offspring of the sexual union between Satan and Eve. The true seed produced Abel, while the false seed produced Cain. Branham was not the first to propose this idea." Well that is the truth; Bro. Branham was not the first one to teach on the seed of the serpent. Some of you may have heard of the Puritan doctrine? They were the old Puritan people out of which came the Quaker movement in England. They had a vague picture of this truth. Out of the old Quaker movement came the Shaker movement, founded by a woman down in Shaker Town, Kentucky. They had a vague concept of this; but Bro. Branham had the revelation of the thing that got mankind off course. We will read some more. "Branham was not the first to propose this idea. Others before had taught this, along with Reverend Moon of the Unification Church. They refer to this as the "serpent's seed teaching. (That is the man from Korea. I personally, do not know what he taught; but we do not brand Christendom with Moonie from Korea. Error is error. It matters not whether it came from the Catholic Church, or Mr. Moon; if it is error, it is error. That is the point we want to establish. You just simply cannot correct error with more error; which is what this article is mixed with.) "In the book Footprints on the Sands of Time, (pages 627-648) Branham told Christians to flee all churches." (I say likewise, The time has come, if you do not want to go to the same place they are destined to go, and spiritually fall with them, get out of them. They have all joined in a false unity; that cannot ever produce the kind of unity God's word speaks of. No, if your revelation is no deeper than that, stay with it; but remember, If you want to be like the early Church, then get out of those systems of religion; because the Methodists, the Baptists, the Presbyterians, the Unitarian, the Christian Science, Seventh Day Adventists, and all the rest of them are divided over the word of God. However according to God's word, there is going to be a people here in the end time; brought back to the same knowledge and revelation that the early Church had; a people that holds the Bible to be the foundation of their faith and experience in Jesus Christ. They know how to live and walk with Him.) "William Branham became one of the key leaders in the Manifest Sons doctrine. (He did not.) in the 1950's and early 1960's. He believed that the "true seed" would deliver the world and would be a specially called-out group of Christians, the "Sons." He was able to bring this doctrine into the church through the healing manifestations of his ministry. (He taught no such thing; even though He did pray for the sick.) Many of the churches opened their pulpits to this and welcomed him without questioning his doctrine. He confused many in the church. Kurt Koch, in his book Occult Bondage and Deliverance, wrote that during the healing services Branham would fall into a trance and his "angel" would do the healing work, (Notice how they want to criticize.) telling him who to lay hands on and whom to send away. Branham was merely a slave to this "angel." Later in his ministry the "angel" had so much control over him that he would not go anywhere without the "angel" giving him permission. When Branham was questioned if the supernatural healings were done by the Holy Spirit, he replied, "No, my angel does it." Saints: I know that is not true; but there are people in the world today, that like to hear such things; so just expect to keep on hearing and reading such as this until God draws the curtain closed; and that mighty angel of Revelation 10, lifts His hand to heaven and declares that there shall be time no longer. That is when all of this kind of criticism will cease; and not before. Therefore at various times through this message, I am going to read sketches out of this article, that fit the part of the message we are dealing with. I have read this much, at this time, to set the stage for our next look into the book of Genesis; where we will definitely deal with what caused the fall of man; and got the whole world in the mess it is in. I hope none of you feel that I am taking a long time to get to the point in this particular part of our message; but I know there is a lot of religion criticism in the world today; so I want to take my time and make it scripturally clear. I am presenting this in this way; because I do not want to deceive anyone; but at least give everyone a chance to see a true picture, and give them a chance to get a proper understanding of how to look at things. When we are finished, then each of you can judge for yourselves whether we teach truth or not; but you will have to do it by the word of God, instead of the word of some critic that only knows half of the truth about the things they write about.

Continued