The signs of the times

Good morning, beloved friends and brethren present, and those who are in different nations. Greetings to Missionary Miguel Bermúdez Marín there in Venezuela. May God bless you, Miguel, and may He use you greatly in His Work at this end time.

On this occasion we read in Saint Luke chapter 21, verses 25 and on, and the Scripture says the following:

“And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;

Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.

And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees;

When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.

So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.

Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.

Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.

And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.

For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.

Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.”

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

Our subject for this occasion is: “THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.”

Just like when people have to sow, there are signs in the sky: the moon must be in a certain phase or stage; there are also signs in the sky when it is going to rain: you see that the clouds are full of water.

That was what Christ told them there in chapter 16 of Saint Matthew, and in another one of the Gospels He also spoke about this subject: that they know the signs when it is going to rain, they see them in the sky, and also when it is going to be hot, when it is going to be a fair day; but the signs of the times, of the times in which God will fulfill what He has said for each stage, for each age, and for each dispensation, the signs of the times, Christ says, “you cannot.”¹ They couldn’t recognize the signs of the Messianic time in that day, in that time; they couldn’t recognize that in that Messianic time promised for Israel, a man had to come forerunning the Coming of the Messiah, who had to be Elijah.

When reference is made to a prophet who already came previously, and it is said that that person or a man with that name will come, it is another person in whom the same ministry that the Holy Spirit operated in that man, He operates it again in another man; but it is promised under the name of the first person in whom He manifested it.

Therefore, to forerun the First Coming of Christ, a man would come in the spirit and power of Elijah, who was John the Baptist, the third Elijah. The second Elijah was Elisha, who came with a double portion of the spirit that was in Elijah; he was the successor of Elijah the Tishbite.

Then that ministry continues to be operated by the Holy Spirit for the third time in John the Baptist; and then for the fourth time, forerunning the Second Coming of Christ, in Rev. William Branham, who was the prophet-messenger in the spirit and power of Elijah to forerun the Second Coming of Christ. Therefore, just as he prophesied, said, taught, that the Second Coming of Christ would be, that is how it will be fulfilled.

Therefore, we must be in expectation; as God spoke through the different prophets recorded in the Bible as messengers of God; and also what the apostles said regarding the Second Coming of Christ; and what the messengers of the different stages or ages of the Church said, from Saint Paul to Rev. William Branham, among the Gentiles, in other words, the Church among the Gentiles; and also what the apostle Peter and the other apostles said there among the Jews, where the Church was born; and the apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ preaching among the Jews were in charge of that stage.

Then, the Gospel went on to the Gentiles through the ministry of Saint Peter visiting the house of a Roman officer, of the Roman Army, where he spoke to him about the Gospel of Christ, and he believed.²

Then, through Saint Paul, the Gospel also went to Asia Minor and Saint Paul was the messenger of the Church among the Gentiles. Then the different stages of the Church continued to come along and God continued sending His different messengers in whom He placed the Word for every stage or age of His Church.

That Word was made flesh in the messenger when he received It, and then he transmitted It to the people; the people believed, and It became flesh in the people as well. That is how from age to age and from portion to portion, the promised Word for every age or every stage of the Church, was fulfilled in each stage.

The ministry of Elijah for the fourth time arrived in North America, in Rev. William Branham, operated by the Holy Spirit, which is the only One who has ministries and operates the ministries at each time; because He is the Angel of the Covenant in the midst of His Church, just as the Angel of the Covenant was in the midst of the Hebrew people, guiding His people of Israel, and speaking to them through His different prophets, as well as the judges.

And that is how different stages were fulfilled, until John the Baptist arrived in the spirit and power of Elijah, preparing the way of the Lord, who would appear for the Age of the Cornerstone, the Golden Age; because He is the Cornerstone, the Capstone that would come to Israel in His First Coming, and will come to His Church in His Second Coming. Because He always comes to the people who are under the Covenant that is in effect at the time of His Coming.

Just as there was a messenger in the spirit and power of Elijah forerunning the Coming of the Lord to the Hebrew people, there was also a forerunner for the Second Coming, in the spirit and power of Elijah, in his fourth manifestation of the ministry of Elijah in a man. He was born and lived in North America, and he traveled around the world seven or eight times, he went around the world seven or eight times.

He said: “If I am not here when His Second Coming is fulfilled, this Message will introduce Him.”³ Because the Message foreruns the Second Coming of Christ.

Do you want to know the details, look for them in the messages of the forerunner of the Second Coming of Christ. That is the only way you will be able to see Him in His Coming.

Those who saw Jesus being baptized, later recognized that He was the Messiah, because John – in John’s Message it was announced that the Messiah would come after him. And John says that He saw the Spirit of God descend upon Jesus like a dove, which was the sign that God gave him, so that when he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove upon a man whom he would be baptizing, that would be the One who would come after him.

In other words, John identified Him correctly when he said: “I saw the Spirit descending like a dove upon Him. This is the One of whom I told you that after me would come One greater than me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose. I baptize you with water unto repentance; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with Fire;”⁴ a baptism of Divine Fire, of Holy Fire, of the Fire of the Holy Spirit.

In the time in which Jesus was born, aligned stars appeared in heaven, and thus, there was a planetary alignment at that time, the sky was testifying that the Messiah had been born on Earth. For two years, the sign, the Star that the wise men saw in the sky, was appearing; and it led them all the way to Bethlehem of Judea, all the way to the house where the child Jesus was staying, who had been born about two years earlier.⁵

Every time that God is going to do something on Earth, first He shows it in the sky with those planetary alignments which appear before the eyes of human beings every certain period of time. Christ said there would be signs, where? In the sky, in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars.

Remember that the sun represents Christ, the moon represents the Church, and the stars represent the children of God. God said to Abraham that His seed would be like the stars of Heaven;⁶ meaning that the children of God are represented in stars, just like Christ is represented in the morning star as well.

In Revelation chapter 2, verse 28, and chapter 22, verse 16, we find that Christ says that to him that overcomes, He will give the Bright and Morning Star. And in Revelation 22, verse 16, He says: “I am the Lion of the Tribe of Judah…” He says:

“I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.”

Christ is the Root and the Offspring of David, therefore, He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah. And He also says that He is the Bright and Morning Star; in other words, He is reflected, typified, in the Morning Star, which is representing Christ when we see it in the sky every morning.

Christ is the Morning Star and Christ is also the Evening Star; Christ is the Star of the East and Christ is the Star of the West as well; Christ is the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last.⁷

Christ, the Angel of the Covenant, is the One who fulfilled the First Coming of the Messiah veiling Himself in human flesh in a Man called Jesus; a body that God Himself created in Mary’s womb; He created that life there, in Mary’s womb, a cell of life, which multiplied cell upon cell, and thus the body of Jesus was formed.

The virgin Mary is the most privileged woman who has ever lived on Earth, because in her and through her, for the first time, a child came through a woman by Divine creation. That was the way for God’s sons and daughters to come in the beginning; a way that was altered and changed by the way of a relationship between a man and a woman. But God had the right way for human beings: by the Creative Word being spoken, as it happened with the virgin Mary.

The Church is reflected, symbolized, in the virgin Mary too. And therefore, supernaturally, God’s sons and daughters are born in the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ through the new birth. As simple as that.

At the Last Day, something great is going to happen in the Virgin-Church of the Lord Jesus Christ; something great, which will be the Lord’s Coming to His Church. That is the greatest thing that is promised to the Church; because in His Coming is the Plan, the Program, for the faith to be changed and for God’s full manifestation in the midst of His Church, and for the rapture or catching away of His Church to go to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb in Heaven.

The only hope there is for mankind is the Coming of the Lord in this end time. There is no other hope for mankind. Every day, things are getting worse on this planet Earth and there are no hopes for mankind of a better future, except in Christ. Christ is the only One who promises us a glorious future in His Kingdom.

Therefore, it is important that we are holding on tight to Christ with the mighty hands of faith, just as Jacob held on to the Angel of the Covenant, who was Christ in His heavenly body or theophanic body.

Christ spoke of signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and we have been seeing them. And in the past few days, a planetary alignment took place; and this shows us that God has something great to carry out on Earth at this end time. And here I have some copies of what was published. We must be prepared because something great is about to happen.

Reading what Rev. William Branham says about these signs in the sky, I want to read to you what he says, so that you have your eyes wide open at this time in which we are living.

In the time of Rev. William Branham there was also a planetary alignment, and he says: “What’s happened?…” Page 26⁸:

“161 What’s happened? An infant Church, hallelujah, a Bride, infancy, (…) a Bride for this Bridegroom. That three stars meant His perfection of the Heavenly Father, of the trinity becoming One on earth among us, God’s offices becoming one office. What happened now? It’s the Church of the living God coming together under the Word of God, and the astronomic heaven is announcing Her approach. (…)

[162] Friends, the Church is coming forth. God is going to have a Church without spot or wrinkle, and She is predestinated, God said so, He would have It.”

Here we can see what that planetary alignment meant in that time in which Rev. William Branham lived.

We also have another place where he says⁹:

“[74] … when the five planets, Mars, Jupiter and Venus, and—and so forth, comes into their—their…They never have did it. Oh, they claim maybe twenty-five thousand years ago, but who was back there to know it?

75 I predict that this has a spiritual application. I believe it’s the coming in of the issue of God, that the great revelations of the Word will be opened during this time. (…) I predict that there’ll be a change.”

Now notice, when there are going to be changes from one age to another, or from one dispensation to another, or when God is going to send a messenger, a sign always appears in heaven. For the birth of Jesus, what is called the Star of Bethlehem appeared, which many say was that planetary alignment.

It is important to be aware that those signs in heaven are prophecies that are being fulfilled in our time, just as it happened in past times. It is important, then, to know what things are promised for our time, because those are the things that God will fulfill.

And if God must fulfill those promises which will be a benefit to all of us, then these signs in heaven, this planetary alignment, must have to do with the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

A change is promised for the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ: a change of age, a change of dispensation, and a change of body as well; in other words, a transformation for those who are alive at the time of the transformation, and a resurrection for those who died, born-again believers in Christ; and a catching away or rapture. All of that is in the Divine Program pertaining to this end time.

There will be a full manifestation of God’s power in the Bride-Church of the Lord Jesus Christ at this end time. The skies are testifying that God will do something great, as it was in the time of Abraham, of Noah as well, of Moses, of Jesus, and so forth; something great, where God is going to glorify His Church, to take us with Him to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

But when the resurrection takes place, then the transformation of those who are alive, the believers in Christ, will take place. We will see the believers in Christ when they resurrect glorified, and then we will be changed. And then we will have the double portion: a spiritual resurrection and a physical resurrection for those who died; and for those who remain alive: the transformation. Which we are waiting for with much affection, much love; and we want it to be soon so that we don’t have to sleep or die physically, but instead be transformed.

A change has also taken place, that we have gone from one age to another age.

All these signs in the sky, in the sun, the moon, and the stars, testify of something great that will be happening at this end time; just as something great happened two thousand years ago, and that was the First Coming of Christ.

We are seeing the signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and we are seeing satellites too, which is a sign in the sky; we are also seeing UFOs or flying saucers, which is also another great sign in the sky.

The experience that Abraham had when Elohim visited him with two other Angels, which were Gabriel and Michael, those were people from another dimension: they were chariots of fire that came, flying saucers came there; and one of them was Elohim: God in His heavenly body materialized so that He could eat; and the Archangels Gabriel and Michael as well; and they were able to eat.¹⁰ And then they went to Sodom, because they had to take Lot out of there; because Gabriel and Michael had the commission to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah.¹¹

In other words, when there are these signs in heaven: there are blessings for the believers like Abraham, but there are also Divine judgments that are appointed for the Last Days – for the Last Day, which will fall upon mankind.

For Abraham it was the blessing of the transformation, the rejuvenation of his body and Sarah’s body, in order to have the promised son: Isaac. And for us it is for our transformation and the resurrection of the dead believers in Christ.

That is why the believers in Christ do not fear death, because they know that they will rise at the Last Day, as Christ said,¹² they will rise in glorified and young bodies for all eternity.

Now, of all the signs that were seen two thousand years ago, the greatest of them was the Messiah. Christ, the Word, the Angel of the Covenant made flesh, made man, the Son of Man in the midst of the people who were under the Covenant relevant to that time and who had the promise of the Coming of the Messiah.

The appearance of Jesus back then was the greatest sign; all other signs pointed to the Coming of the Messiah. The greatest sign from God is a prophet; that is why Christ always said: “The Son of Man… The son of Man will do such-and-such a thing. The Son of Man goes as it is written of Him. The Son of Man will die, but He will be resurrected on the third day, He will rise on the third day.”¹³

And the Coming of the Son of Man was the greatest sign that they were seeing, the sign of the Kingdom of God in the midst of Israel. Their King was there, the sign that the Dispensation of the Law was coming to an end, in its final stage; and that is why the Messiah presented Himself: because at the end of each dispensation, the Angel of the Covenant, the Messiah, appears in the midst of the people who are under the Covenant in effect at that time.

That is why just as the Hebrew people were waiting for the Coming of the Messiah, and He came and they did not recognize Him; the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, which is waiting for the Messiah… because the Church is the One that is under the New Covenant, covered with the Blood of Christ our Savior.

It’s to His Church that He comes at the Last Day, and He comes as it is promised in the Scripture; and after the Marriage Supper of the Lamb He returns to Earth with His Church to start the Millennial Kingdom, and therefore, to sit on David’s Throne, which is the Throne of God on Earth, and the Kingdom of David is the Kingdom of God on Earth.

Something great is about to happen, and I think that it will happen sooner than we imagine. And so that you don’t have to make an effort calculating numbers and dates, I won’t tell you, so that you don’t have to write anything down.

It’s because that is one of the secrets. It is the secret of the Seventh Seal, which will be opened by the Angel of the Covenant as Lion of the tribe of Judah, speaking to His Church with that Voice of the Seven Thunders; because the Seven Thunders contain the mystery of the Seventh Seal, the mystery of the Second Coming of Christ; and they contain the mystery of the faith to be changed, they contain the mystery of the rapture; they contain the entire mystery of God’s Program relevant to this end time.

The Seventh Seal is the Coming of the Lord, the greatest mystery of all mysteries. It is more hidden than the mystery of the First Coming of Christ, because in the First Coming of Christ it already said where He had to be born: in Bethlehem of Judea; and God had to hide Him then, because notice, they knew where He had to be born, they saw the sign in the sky, the Star of Bethlehem, and King Herod wanted to kill Him already.¹⁴

Therefore, the mystery of the Second Coming of Christ will be kept a secret until it is revealed when Christ leaves the Throne of Intercession, takes the Title Deed and opens It in Heaven, the Book sealed with Seven Seals, and brings It to Earth to His Church, and gives It to the appointed person, who must be a dispensational prophet.

And from that point on, there will be more blessings from God to be materialized for the Church. It is a mystery, but it is going to be revealed to His Church. And that will give Her the faith to be changed and taken with Christ to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

So, that planetary alignment is announcing that something great is going to happen in the Divine Program. That is a very great sign of which we cannot be ignorant at this end time.

“THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.”

We see Israel, the fig tree that has budded, another sign. We see other nations in the Middle East and in other continents which are also budding, because they are being established as free nations.

We also see the world’s situation, which is like the time of Abraham and Lot; and Christ said that the Coming of the Son of Man – the Day when the Son of Man shall be manifested, will be a time like the time or day of Lot, like the times or time of Sodom and Gomorrah.¹⁵ We have been in that time for a while now. But the important thing is that it is the glorious time for the Coming of the Son of Man.

And I told you that, so that you don’t have to write it down, I am not going to tell you many things about that, which I will have to tell you later on. At least, in the… for the fulfillment of the Tent Vision, there we will know what we so long to know, which will give us the faith to be changed and taken with Christ to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

The Mighty Angel who comes down from Heaven in Revelation 10, crying as when a lion roars, which is Christ the Lion of the tribe of Judah, will speak to us the content of the Seventh Seal, He will open the Seventh Seal to us.

The revelation contained in the Seven Thunders of Revelation 10, is the revelation of the Coming of the Son of Man, of the Coming of the Lord, to give us the faith to be changed and taken with Christ to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

All of that will be opened in the fulfillment of the Tent Vision, which Rev. William Branham had. Therefore, let’s pray so that the Tent Vision is fulfilled, and God shows, reveals, opens the Seventh Seal to us, and our faith increases to the maximum level, where we have the faith to be changed and taken with Christ to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

Let’s hold on tight to Christ our Savior, because soon the Tent Vision will be fulfilled and everything that has been promised will be fulfilled. Therefore, we expect to be changed and taken with Christ to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb soon.

Pray a lot and with faith, so that soon the Tent Vision, which Rev. William Branham had, is fulfilled.

We are eager for it to be fulfilled, because in its fulfillment we will receive the faith to be changed and taken with Christ to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

May God bless you and keep you, and continue having a happy evening filled with the blessings of Christ our Savior.

Until next Friday and next Sunday, God willing.

“THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.”