A religious world's filter.

William Branham.

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Thinking man’s filter.

Numbers 19:9,
And a man that is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and shall lay them up without the camp in a clean place, and it shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for a water of separation: it is a purification for sin.

The subject that I'm using for tonight is A Thinking Man's Filter. That sounds very radical for a subject for a minister that's so opposed to smoking, would take a text like that: A Thinking Man's Filter.

It come to pass that the other morning when I'd went squirrel hunting, that... You people out on the radio... the air... or on the telephone wave could've seen the expression on this congregation's face when I announced my text, you'd a had a laugh out of it: A Thinking Man's Filter.

Well, it all happened up where the angels of the Lord appeared to me one morning, and them squirrels was spoke into existence. All of you remembers when it taken place. And also just at the top the hill where I was standing just before preaching the seven church ages, going hunting one morning before daylight, there stood... I thought the sun was coming up, about four o'clock in the morning. Unusual... I seen that light, and I turned around, and there stood the seven golden candlesticks, standing up there on top the hill, with like a rainbow was coming up through the pipes and feeding out.

Immediately after that, the Lord Jesus appeared to us, and right then I heard a voice that said, “The Jehovah of the Old Testament is Jesus of the New.” And there He was after while revealed after those seven golden candlesticks. Then notice that. How many remembers that text? I wrote it on the back of a box of cartridges I had in my pocket, “Jehovah of the Old Testament is Jesus of the New.” God in heaven knows that was true.

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I'd read over in the book of Daniel, where He came to the Ancient of Days, whose hair was as white as wool. Then I seen that Ancient of Days; He was that Ancient of Days, the same yesterday, today, and forever. I seen it was a symbol. Then why the white wool? And then the Holy Spirit seemed to speak to me about a picture I saw one time of an ancient judge. Then I went to the history; I went back into the Bible history and all to find out. And the old judges like the high priest in Israel, he had to have that white, gray woolly-like hair and beard, because the white over him signified that he was supreme authority of the judges in Israel. And even in today and down to a few hundred years ago- maybe a couple hundred years ago or maybe not like that, later than that- all the English judges, no matter how young they was or how old they was, when they went in for judgment, they wore a white wig to show that there's no other authority in that kingdom above their word. Their word is the ultimate of the kingdom. What they say, that's all of it.

And now, then I seen that there He was standing there, yet a young man, but the white wig on. He was the full, supreme authority; He was the Word. And He's wearing the white wig. Then later on when we got through and- the sermon- and went out west, and when the angels of the Lord appeared out there for the seven seals, and it went up into the air (which we had the picture of it here and around over the country), there He was standing there still wigged with that supreme authority. He is the head of the church. He's head of the body. There's nothing like Him anywhere. He made all things by Himself; He made all things for Himself; without He there wasn't nothing made. He has all authority in heavens and earth, and everything belongs to Him. And in Him dwells the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And the Word was God and made flesh among us, and He was the one who revealed the entire secret of the whole plan of salvation that all the prophets and wise-men had spoke of. He alone was that wigged one and supreme authority.

Now, I'd stopped up on the hill the other morning; looked like there'd been some squirrels been cutting up there. And I started to sit down. And I had just been there a moment when the bushes struck by me and some great big fellow with a double barreled musket of a thing come walking out through the bushes there, and like to scared the daylights out of me. I went on over, scooted down. I was afraid to move, afraid he'd shoot me- and the bushes moving- so I just sat real still.

A squirrel started up over the hill, and he powdered both barrels with him and so... He missed him. And so the squirrel went down over the hill, and I thought, “Now, I'll get away, all that noise is echoing. He's got his gun unloaded.” And I started down the hill, and the guy shot right in front of me. It turned me back this way, and I started over here to go down another way, and a .22 rifle started. And the bullets buzzing above me; I said, “Say, I'm in an awful place.”

So I turned around and went down by the river, and I thought, “I'll go down here and hide till they get done so I can get out.” And on the road down, I happened to draw... My attention was drawn to look over to my right side, and as I did, there laid a empty cigarette package where one of them had throwed down in all the running of the... when the squirrels were going through the bushes.

I looked down at it. I didn't pick it up, because I don't like the smell of the things to begin with. And I looked down there, and it's a certain tobacco company that I guess I shouldn't call their name, but you'll know. It said on there, “A thinking man's filter and a smoking man's taste.” I looked at that thing, and I thought, “A thinking man's filter!” I thought, “If the man could think at all, he wouldn't smoke at all. How could it be a 'thinking man's filter'? A thinking man wouldn't smoke at all.” All right.

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I looked at it, and I thought, “It's something like this, the denominations of today, the churches that we have.” Each one of them has their own filter; they have their own type of filter. They let just what come in they want to and what not come in, what they filter in and filter out with their own kind of a filter. They just let so much of the world get in to satisfy the unbelievers that's in there. They'll take them in no matter what they are if they got money. They'll take them in no matter what they are if they're popular. But there's one thing about it: You can't get in the church of God like that- not the denomination now- I mean the real genuine church of God.

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The people, they know what they want. So if they have to get what they want, then they'll have to have a certain kind of a filter and enough of the world speak through to satisfy their worldly taste. “A thinking man's filter, a smoking man's taste, or a religious world's filter, and a worldly man's taste.”

They want to be religious. They think they must be religious, because they have a soul. When we first come to this country, we found the Indians worshipping suns and so forth. Because why? He is a human being. We go back in the far jungles of Africa; we find the natives worshipping something. Why? They're human beings, and they must worship. So the human being, no matter how fallen he is, he still knows there's something somewhere, but he's got such a taste for the world that he cannot take the correct filter. He has to have his own made filter. Each one making their own kind of filter.

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Notice, In Numbers 19 (I want you to read it when you go home when you have more time), notice, when Israel had committed sin, first they took a red heifer which had never had a yoke on her neck. That means she never was yoked up with anything. And she had to be red. The color red is an atonement color. Did you know science knows that if you take red and look through red to red, it's white? Look through red at red, it's white. He looks through the red blood of the Lord Jesus and our red sins become as white as snow-red through red. And the heifer was killed in the evening time by the whole congregation of Israel, and there was put seven stripes of her blood upon the door where the whole congregation had to enter: a type of the seven church ages by the blood.

And then her body was taken and burnt. It was burnt with the hoof, with the skin, with the intestines, with the dung. Everything was burnt together, and it had to be picked up by a clean man and had to be put in a clean place outside the congregation. Therefore, if Israel could only see the type, this Word of God must not be handled by dirty hands of unbelief. It's got to be a clean man; and if he's clean, he had to come through God's filter. A clean man, clean hands! And it had to be kept in a clean place, not a place where Jezebels and Rickys and everything partaking... take the communion and things, when they're running around with wives, and husbands, and all kinds of filth, going to dances and parties, and wearing bobbed hair and shorts, and everything else, and call themselves Christians. It's to be kept in a clean place and handled with clean hands. And then when Israel sinned and recognized that they had done wrong, then they were sprinkled with the ashes of this heifer upon them, and that was a water of separation, a purification for sin.

Notice, here it is! And when Israel, before they could come into fellowship in the worship, they had to first pass through the waters of separation- justification by... Faith cometh by hearing; hearing the Word. Then they entered into the congregation under those seven stripes, the blood, to show that something died and went before them for their sin. They were separated by hearing the Word, the waters of separation, then entered into fellowship.

The only place that God met a man was behind that order. He wouldn't meet him anywhere else. He had to come behind that order. God only met Israel in one place. And God only meets you today in one place; that's in Jesus Christ. And He is the Word, the waters of separation. And His blood was shed for all seven church ages, and then by the Holy Spirit we enter into that fellowship, which is only given to the church. Oh, how great He is!

Also now, we want to look at Ephesians 5:26. Said it is the washing of the water by the Word, a waters of separation. What does it do? Then the filter of God is the Word. Waters of separation- washing of the waters of separation by the Word, God's filter.

Then you can't come into Christ through a church filter. You cannot come by a denominational filter or a creed filter. There's only one filter that you can enter into that holy place; that's through the washing of the water by the Word. The Word of God is a thinking man's filter.

The church will judge you here whether you're a good member or not. They'll give you a good funeral and half-mast the flag at your death, send great wreaths of flowers, and do everything for you; but when it comes down to your soul facing God, it's got to have eternal life! And if it's a eternal life, it's part of the Word. And as my own word cannot deny... my own hand cannot deny my hand... My own eyes cannot deny my hand, or my foot, or my toe, or any part of me. It cannot deny it, and neither can a man that's part of the Word of God, or a woman, deny one part of the Word of God. Then, women, when you think you can have bobbed hair and come in the presence of God, you're wrong! You see it? You are wrong. You can't come through God's filter where you're washed by the water of the Word. Then you enter into the fellowship. You think you are, but you can't be until you come through the Word. And every little spot, every little word of God... “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word.” It's got to come through that filtration-coming through. And that gives a righteous man's taste, because that's what he's looking for, looking for something to cleanse him.

The Word, the Word of God is a thinking man's filter, and it makes a righteous man's taste. We know that's true. Filters all the sin of unbelief out. There's no more disbelief when you come through the filter, because it is a true believer's taste.

The true believer wants to be right regardless. He just don't want to say, “Well, I belong in the social ranks. I belong to church, the biggest church in town.” I don't care if it's a mission on the corner, if it's a brush harbor somewhere, a thinking man knows that he's got to meet God. And regardless of what the church says or anybody else says, he's got to come on God's terms. And God's terms is God's Word. “Well,” they say, “God's Word!” Sure, all of them believe it's God's Word, but can you filter through it? How you going to let a bobbed-haired woman come through there? How you going to do that? How you going to let a man come through there that wants hold up for this doctrine, see? It ain't a thinking man's taste. No! A thinking man will think... a thinking man will think twice before he jumps into something like that.

Notice, that Word cannot deny itself. Then it is satisfied- or it's the desire. It's a desire of what? What made you desire it in the first place? Because down in your soul there was a predestinated seed which was eternal life, always laying in there- always was in there. “All that the Father has given me will come to me. There isn't any of them going to be lost.”

“A thinking man's taste.” When a thinking man hears the Word of God, “My sheep hear my voice, a stranger they will not follow,”... For down in there is life, and life connects with life. Sin connects with sin, and sin is so hypocritical until it thinks that it's saved when it isn't saved. It's in the very depths of hypocrisy.

Read the full account in... Thinking man’s filter.

Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

Ephesians 5:25-27