The Presence of Jesus

Good evening, beloved friends and brethren present, and those who are in different nations. May the blessing of Christ, the Angel of the Covenant, be upon all of you and also upon me. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

For this occasion, let’s read in Saint Luke, chapter 7, verses 11 to 17, and it says the following:

“And it came to pass the day after, that he (Jesus) went into a city called Nain; and many of his disciples went with him, and much people.

Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her.

And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not.

And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise.

And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother.

And there came a fear on all: and they glorified God, saying, That a great prophet is risen up among us; and, That God hath visited his people.

And this rumour of him went forth throughout all Judaea, and throughout all the region round about.”

May God bless our souls with His Word and allow us to understand It.

“THE PRESENCE OF JESUS.”

Today, the first Saturday of the month, in which we have the meeting of ministers and collaborators… remember that in the Bible days begin in the evening, and today in the evening, at sundown, Saturday began; that is how it is in the Bible, and that is how it is for the Hebrew people, for the Jews.

Therefore, Saturdays (according to Genesis, chapter 1) begin in the evening, and that is why it says: “And the evening and the morning were the first day; and the evening and the morning were the second day,” and so on.

Today, the first Saturday of the month, which has begun, it is already Saturday night.

To the Hebrews, the night comes first and then the day; to the Gentiles, the night was divided into two parts: one part belongs to the day that is ending, and it ends at 12:00 midnight, and the other part belongs to the day that is about to begin, and it starts at 12:00 and 1 second [12:00:01]. At 12:00 o’clock the night of the day ends and the night of the next day begins.

And now, let’s look at this passage about the presence of Jesus there in the city of Nain. Wherever Jesus went, His presence had an impact on the soul of many people, and raised the faith of many people who recognized Him as the Messiah, the Son of God; and for others it caused confusion, because they thought it was an evil spirit that was in Jesus performing those miracles; because the people who were offended in Jesus did not go to the Scripture to see what was promised for the Messiah to do in His Coming; and He was doing the things that the Scripture said the Messiah would do.

That is why when John the Baptist, after forerunning the First Coming of Christ, introduced Him to the people, when he said: “Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world,” who and of whom John had said that after him would come One greater than him, whose shoe’s latchet he was not worthy to unloose, who would baptize with the Holy Spirit and Fire; but that John, John said about him, of himself: “I baptize you with water, with a baptism unto repentance; but He that comes after me is greater than I, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and Fire.” That is around Saint Matthew chapter 3.

And in Saint John chapter 1, verses 28 to 36, we find where he said: “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”

John introduced Him correctly, but once he is in prison he sends two of his disciples to tell Jesus, to ask Jesus: “Are You the One who was to come? Or should we look for another?” The prophetic eye was already closing.¹

Remember that John said: “He must increase, but I must decrease.”² And even the prophetic eye decreased with time. But John knew which were the things that the Messiah had to be doing, but sometimes perhaps he thought: “He will get me out of prison here,” or he may have thought something else; and he sends for Him to be asked: “Are You the One who was to come, or should we look for another?”

Jesus doesn’t say: “I am. Go and tell John that I am.” John had to know the Scriptures; and he knew them.

And He tells them to see. He is healing the sick there, healing the lame, giving sight to the blind, healing the deaf and raising the dead, those days and on that day; and John’s disciples were seeing that.

And now he says to the disciples of John: “Go and tell John that the lame walk, the blind see, the deaf hear, and the poor have the Gospel preached to them. Go and tell John that, what is happening.”

Because John had to go to the Scripture and see which things the Messiah would be doing when He appeared. And with that news it was confirmed to John that Jesus was the One who would come, He was the Messiah; and therefore, John and his ministry were confirmed as forerunner (John), and his Message as forerunner of the First Coming of Christ.

If Jesus wasn’t the One who was to come, then John wasn’t the Elijah who was to come that day either, nor was he the forerunner of the Coming of the Lord; but John did know that He was the Messiah; after the news it was confirmed to him that he was right to have proclaimed that Jesus was the Messiah, the One who was to come, the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world, the One who would baptize them with the Holy Spirit and Fire.

John recognized the presence of Jesus and therefore the presence of God in human flesh, in Jesus; who said that He did nothing of Himself, but what He saw the Father do, and He also said that the Father was the One who did the Works.³ God was the One who worked, but manifested in a body of flesh.

And people always stumble over the veil of flesh in whom God is manifesting Himself, and therefore, visiting His people.

Here with the resurrection of the son of the widow of Nain, of the city of Nain, the people recognized that a great prophet had risen up among the people and that God was visiting His people: God was visiting His people in human flesh, through – in a body of flesh called Jesus. As simple as that. And He was doing exactly what God promised that He would carry out: fulfilling His promises for that time.

The visit of God is to fulfill what He has promised for each age and for each dispensation. God will not do anything else, but fulfill what He has promised, because that is the Program for God to carry out. And God makes it known in advance, so that they know what God is going to do at the time in which people are living.

Wherever Jesus went, God was fulfilling through Jesus what was promised for that time, that the Messiah would carry out; and that would be God through a Man, the Anointed One, God’s Messiah.

Then, people have desired to see Jesus carrying out the Work of God. Saul of Tarsus encountered a Light, a Pillar of Fire, when he was going to Damascus to imprison everyone who professed the new way: the way of faith in Christ.⁴

And as he was riding his horse, he saw a Light stronger than the sun, he falls off his horse, and he hears from that Light, from that Pillar of Fire (the same Pillar of Fire that appeared to Moses in a bush,⁵ that same Pillar of Fire), the Angel of the Covenant, speaks to him and says: “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me? It is hard for you to kick against the pricks.” And Saul knew that it was the same God who had spoken to Moses in that bush and said to him: “I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” Because that is the Angel of the Covenant, which is Christ.

And Saul asks: “Who are You, Lord?” Because Saul was persecuting the Christians. And that Light, from that Light he hears the words: “I am Jesus, whom you persecute.”

It was Jesus Christ, who had returned to the Pillar of Fire, to that Light, and He continued in that form in the midst of His Church, in the midst of the believers in Him, for He had promised it. In Saint Matthew chapter 28, verse 20, it says:

“Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”

Until when does Jesus say that He will be with His believers? Until the end of the world.

And also in chapter 18 of Saint Matthew, verse 20, it tells us: “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

Now, notice that Jesus would continue with His believers, who are the ones that receive Him as Savior, they are baptized in water in His Name, and Christ baptizes them with the Holy Spirit and Fire, and brings forth the new birth in them; they are born into the Kingdom of God.

Christ rightly said to Nicodemus in Saint John chapter 3, verse 1 to 6: “Verily, verily, I say unto thee: Except a man be born of Water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God.”

We enter into the Kingdom of God by being born, the same way we have entered into this earthly kingdom: by being born of our parents. And by being born of the Holy Spirit, of the Water of the Gospel and of the Holy Spirit, we enter into the Kingdom of God by being born into the Kingdom of God; and therefore, we become the children of the Kingdom, the children of Light, the sons and daughters of God.

And Jesus Christ has been in the midst of the sons and daughters of God, in the midst of the believers in Christ, from stage to stage, from age to age, throughout the history of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ; and He has not been inactive, He has been continuing the Work that He began, carrying out what has been promised for each stage of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ; and His trajectory has been from East to West.

We saw Him manifested in Holy Spirit in the midst of the early Church, continuing the Work He had begun; then we saw Him among the Gentiles, just as we saw Him working through Saint Peter and the rest of the apostles, because His body of flesh had already been crucified, buried, and resurrected glorified, and He is sitting at the right hand of God, on the Throne of God; but through the bodies of the apostles, Christ in Holy Spirit was manifesting Himself, and thus continuing the Work He had begun.

Then we see Him among the Gentiles veiled and revealed through Saint Paul the Apostle continuing that Work, still there in the Middle East, going on to Asia Minor; and then we see Him in Europe through the different messengers that He had there in Europe, like Irenaeus, Martin, Columba, Luther and Wesley, carrying out the Work relevant to those stages of the Church, and calling and gathering the elect of those different stages. It was Christ in those men of God, it was the presence of Jesus Christ, which was recognized by those who heard the Voice of Christ in Holy Spirit through those messengers.

Then Christ in Holy Spirit continues His trajectory with His Church: going from Europe, from England, going on to North America, going on to the continent of the Americas, going on to the West; because the trajectory of Christ with His Church is from the East (the land of Israel, which is in the Middle East) to the West, passing through Asia Minor and Europe.

In the continent of the Americas, we saw in the northern part, in North America, the presence of Jesus, of Jesus Christ in Holy Spirit in Rev. William Branham, carrying out the Work pertaining to that stage of the Church.

That is why we saw great wonders, both in revealed Word as well as in miracles, healings, raising of the dead… all done by Jesus in the Holy Spirit through that prophet-messenger that God sent to His Church in North America, and from there the Work of Jesus spread to other countries. And now we have the last stage left.

Now notice that—since the Work of Christ in Holy Spirit in His Church and with His Church is from East to West—we are still in the West, in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Now, Christ said that He is the Light: “I am the Light of the world: he that follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the Light of Life.” Saint John chapter 8, verse 12.

Therefore, the Light, which is Christ, has shone from age to age, Christ in Holy Spirit through different messengers in the midst of His Church, to also give Light from there, to shine upon all mankind. That is why Christ said: “You are the light of the world.”⁶

And now Christ is going to shine and illuminate through His Church; just like at night the Sun shines through the Church, through the moon, which represents the Church, and Christ is represented in the sun.

And now, notice what Rev. William Branham says in the Book of Quotations, page 69, paragraph 593, he says [62-0422 – “The Restoration Of The Bride Tree,” p. 67]:

593 – “[518] But there will come a Light forth. There will come a Light, will rise.

519 Whereabouts, over in Jerusalem? No, sir. Evening Lights will not rise in Jerusalem. The evening Lights goes (where?) in the West. They had their day and refused It.

520 But the evening Light shall rise in the West (what for?), to shine upon the Word (what?), to ripen the fruit, bring forth the Bride Tree with the same signs, wonders, and fruits that they had at the beginning.”

In the West—which pertains to the continent of the Americas, and where one part has already been fulfilled in North America and the other part pertains to Latin America and the Caribbean—is where the evening Light will shine. It already shone in North America, and It will shine in Latin America and the Caribbean.

God has great blessings through Christ in Holy Spirit in the midst of His Church, for the Latin American and Caribbean people.

We have to see which are God’s promises for His Church for this end time, because that is what God will be fulfilling, carrying out; for which we must recognize, know the Scripture, know the Word of God, know what God has promised for this end time, because that is what God is going to be carrying out.

There are great blessings for His Church for this end time, for those who will see and will be in the presence of Jesus in His final manifestation.⁷

We have promises that a Message will go forth and gather His Bride-Church, and It will prepare them to be changed and taken with Christ to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, It will give them the faith to be changed.

The Church of the Lord Jesus Christ also has the promise that in the midst of Christianity, in the midst of His Church, there will be a Great Tent Cathedral, where the manifestation of Jesus Christ in Holy Spirit will be carrying out the Work promised for the Third Pull, which was revealed to Rev. William Branham by the Angel of God who accompanied him.

That is why we must have our eyes wide open so that we don’t lose the blessing of being in the presence of Jesus at the Last Day, in the final manifestation, which will prepare us to have the faith to be changed and taken with Christ to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, where the Light will be, the great Light that will come in the West. Therefore, that is when the Jews will also see God’s blessing coming to the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, to Christianity, and they will say: “This is what we are waiting for.”

But first the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ has the promise of the manifestation of that great Light which is Jesus, the Light of the world, shining in the midst of His Church in Holy Spirit, and fulfilling what is promised for the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ for the final days, to prepare Her, to thus give Her the faith to be changed and taken with Christ to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

Let’s be prepared with the knowledge of the Word of God and His promises for this end time, so that we don’t overlook the presence of Jesus in Holy Spirit, in the Pillar of Fire, at this end time.

We already know that this manifestation is promised for the continent of the Americas; and part of it was already fulfilled in North America, and the other part pertains to Latin America and the Caribbean. As simple as that.

Therefore, let’s be prepared: studying the Bible, seeing what God has promised for the Last Days and, especially, for the Last Day, seeing that we have the promise of the Coming of the Lord at the Last Day with the dead who will come in spirit with Christ in His Coming, to receive the resurrection in immortal, perfect, eternal, glorified bodies; it will be the body that God thought of and designed for His believers, which He thought of before the foundation of the world.

It won’t be the same physical body that we have; because if it were the same physical body, our body would die again; it is an eternal and glorified body, changed to immortal atoms.

Therefore, let’s be prepared to be in the presence of Jesus at this end time, in the midst of His Church.

When you see signs, which will be the beginning of the fulfillment of certain promises, remember: it’s because Jesus is manifesting Himself in the midst of His Church at the Last Day, for and in the fulfillment of what He has promised for His Church at this end time. Let’s be prepared.

Jesus said: “Watch, pray always that you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man,” to stand before Jesus, in the presence of Jesus Christ in His final manifestation.

“THE PRESENCE OF JESUS.”

See how simple it is to identify the presence of Jesus in the midst of His Church on this planet Earth from age to age?

We can already identify the presence of Jesus throughout history in the midst of His Church, but now we must face the presence of Jesus at the Last Day in the midst of His Church, in order to receive the blessings that He has for us at this end time; because it is not enough to recognize Him in His manifestation in other times, but in the one we are given at this end time.

“THE PRESENCE OF JESUS.”

Remember that He said: “I will be with you always, even unto the end of the world,” and now we get to see Him in the midst of His Church at this end time.

He said He would be with us: “Where two or three are gathered together in My Name, there will I be,” Christ said. Therefore, He has not left His Church. He leaves an age once that age is over but He goes on to another stage of His Church, a new stage is opened; until He takes us from this Earth to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

“THE PRESENCE OF JESUS,” from East to West. And now the time pertains to the West, and for us it is a privilege to live in the West; and especially, in the last part of the West: Latin America and Caribbean.

May the blessings of Christ, the Angel of the Covenant, be with all of you who are present and those who are in other nations, ministers and their congregations; and we will see each other next Sunday, God willing.

Pray a lot for next Sunday’s service; and also bring family members so that God’s mercy reaches them before the Door closes, which Christ speaks about in Saint Luke chapter 13, verses 25 to 27; because one day that Door of mercy will close, and there will no longer be an opportunity for salvation.

We love our family members and we want salvation and Eternal Life for our family members as well. Therefore, pray a lot for your family members, and may they also listen to the Word, the Gospel of Christ, so that they may obtain salvation and Eternal Life.

Continue having a joyful evening, filled with the blessings of Christ our Savior, the Angel of the Covenant; and as I told you: Until we see each other next Sunday, God willing.

I leave Rev. José Benjamín Pérez with you again to continue and conclude on this occasion.

(If there was any announcement left, Rev. José Benjamín Pérez can convey it.)
“THE PRESENCE OF JESUS.”