INTRODUCTION
Reverend William Branham, in most of his sermons, he talked about the Realm of the Blessed and the Regions of the lost in relation to the multi-dimensional world that we live in. Aside from our tangible habitat which is the world or "kosmos", Brother Branham was allowed by God to go to both places: the regions of the blessed and the regions of the condemned.
He taught us that there are three levels of regions above us: (1) the Region of the Blessed, (2) the Region of Angelic Beings, and (3) the Kingdom of God on the highest, as described in Revelation Chapter 4. Below us lie three regions as well: (1) the Region of the Lost and the Damned, which he also called "souls in prison"; (2) The Region of Demons, and (3) Hell, and the Bottomless Pit where Satan's throne is.
JESUS DESCENDED INTO THE SOULS IN PRISON
1 PETER 3:18-20~
18~ ¶ For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
19~ By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;
20~ Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
Brother Branham narrates this scenario in the selected quotes below:
"Now,
when Jesus died, the Bible said He went and preached to the souls that were
in prison that repented not in the long-suffering in the day of Noah.
Is that the Scripture? You know it is. What was that? Jesus went and preached
to the souls that were in prison. Why? He walked to the doors. I can see
Him over yonder in that demon region, where those demons lay, those
un... I mean those souls that didn't repent. In that dark place there called
the chains of darkness. Knocked at the door. And He opened up the door and
I looked in there.
There is a great mass of souls, lost and screaming. And beautiful girls and
wrinkled hags and everything else, crying. Oh, my. If they only had a chance.."
[WMB, GOD.PERFECTING.HIS.CHURCH_ BINGHAMTON.NY SATURDAY_ 54-1204]
"The
Bible said, "He ascended. He went and preached to the souls that
were in prison, that repented not in the long-suffering of the days of
Noah." His soul, His Spirit, His Theophany of His Own Being, went down.
Let's follow Him. Would you like tonight to follow Him a few minutes? Let's
see where He went.
Just below the regions of mortal beings lays the realm of demon power;
below that--just above that lays the souls of the unjust; below
it lays the very domain of Satan: hell. Then just above us lays the
Holy Spirit; then under the Altar lays the souls of the just men; the next
is God Himself. One going downward, one going upward; the two spirits
are here on earth, influencing the people of this earth."
[WMB, ENTOMBMENT_ JEFF.IN ER 55-72 SATURDAY_ 57-0420]
"I
can see Jesus when He died at Calvary, ascended, went down there,
and seen all those people back in there, weeping and wailing, and carrying
on, said, "You ought to have listened to the prophets." He
preached to the souls that were in prison. "You had Enoch; you had
the prophets; you had the laws; why didn't you listen to it?" They didn't.
Close went the door.
Went down to hell, knocked at the door. Satan said, "Who's there?"
He said, "Come, open the door." Oh, my. I'm just giving drama, of
course.
Walked up to the door, and pulled open the door, and said, "Who are you?"
Why, He said, "I'm Jesus Christ."
"Oh, so you finally got here, did you? Huh. I been after you for a long
time, Boy."
"I know you have."
"Now, look. I thought I had you when I killed Abel. I thought I had you
when I killed Moses. I thought I had you when I done all these things. When
I got John the Baptist, I thought I had you sure. But now I got you; you're
here in my possession."
I can hear Jesus Christ say, "I am the virgin born Son of God. I came
from the ivory palaces of My Father, and I came to the earth. And on the earth
is bathed this morning with My Blood that I gave and paid the price of death,
sin, and hell. Give Me those keys." Hallelujah. "I'm taking over
from here on. You've kept the people in bondage; you've kept them in fear
and everything else; but I'll take over from this on." Hallelujah. Took
them off and hung them on His Own side, pushed him back in hell, and walked
away. Amen. Amen."
[ WMB, ISRAEL.AT.THE.RED.SEA.1_ JEFF.IN IC 35-64 THURSDAY_ 53-0326]
"So
the Bible said that He went and preached to the souls that were in prison,
that rejected the message of Enoch, and of Noah, that we spoke about last
night, and of all the others, of those in Sodom, and those who had rejected
the prophets. He witnessed to them that He was the Answer to every prophet's
message, the mighty Conqueror. But they had passed between death and life,
the separating line and there was no hopes for them.
He went into the regions of the devils, demons; He scattered them. And
right to the very pits of dark hell He went, still in existence. Though
His body was quiet on the cross, He was still the great and mighty Conqueror.
And after nineteen hundred years has passed, He's still the mighty Conqueror.
And He will forever be the mighty Conqueror.
Then when He got to the very doors of hell, if we could use a little
drama here, the devil step out and say, "So I finally got You.
So You've finally arrived. I tried to destroy that seed all along. I destroyed
Abel. I thought I had You. When I destroyed the prophets, I thought I had
You. I was sure when I got John that I got You. But now, here You are, and
You're in my kingdom, and You're under my domain, and You're in my power,
for You died as a sinner."
I can hear Him say, "Satan, I am the virgin born Son of God. My Blood's
still wet on the cross. I have met every just requirement for Adam's fallen
race, and I've come down here to conquer and to take over." Amen.
Reached to the devil and grabbed the keys of death and hell, and hung them
on His own side, and kicked him into the pits where he belongs. Still
the mighty Conqueror.
He started
back to the earth triumph over death and hell, to win the victory over the
grave. But as He went up along the great paths, He heard some hymns being
sung, and He knew He was coming near the gates of paradise, where those
who heeded the message of Noah, those who heeded the message of the prophets
were waiting, because they could not go up.
There was a mist of sin over the earth. And the blood of bulls, and calves,
and sheep could not atone for the human. Therefore they were kept in a
place called paradise. There was a mist hanging over of sin. They could
not ascend up, only He that come down.
And He walks to the door, and He knocks lightly at the door. Father Abraham
opens up the door, and He stood spellbound. And he said, "Sarah,
come here just a moment. Isn't that the same One that you baked the cakes
for? Isn't that the One that set under the oak tree that day?"
Sarah said, "That's the One that had His back turned to the tent,
and He perceived my thought when I laughed at what He said."
He said,
"Children, I've come to take you now. I've conquered that horrible thing
called sin."
And just then right over behind his shoulder Abraham's shoulder and Sarah
standing looking, I can see another head moving up. And it was perhaps an
elderly like man, and he looked over the shoulder of Abraham. And he too stood
spellbound. It was the prophet Daniel. He said, "That's that Stone
that I saw cut out of the mountain without hands that would destroy the kingdoms
of the world."
Someone come running. Who was it? It was that prophet Ezekiel. He looked
over the shoulder of the prophet, and he said as he stood spellbound, "There
is the Wheel in the middle of the wheel that I saw turning way up in the middle
of the air." Each one had seen Him in the form that they preached of
Him in.
Oh, what will it be when we see Him as the Rose of Sharon, as the Lily of
the valley, as the Fairest of ten thousands to my soul? What will He be? Alpha
and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the Root and the Offspring of David,
the bright and the morning Star.
And as they went out, He'd conquered the grave. And then there was a great
mist hanging over the earth yet, so He had to conquer that mist of sin, that
mist of stench of the sins of the people. And with His own Blood, His vesture
dipped in Blood, He conquered the atmospheres above. Blessed be His holy Name.
He cut the fogs of hell from place to place, until He cut a hole through the
sky that Adam's lost children could pray through to the victory. He conquered
the atmospheres. He conquered sin. He conquered death. He conquered hell.
And He rose triumphantly.
On beyond the moon and stars He went with the Old Testament saints. Oh, what
a victorious march that must have been with the real Conqueror. After while
they come in sight of that glorious city. Abraham says to Sarah, "Come
here, honey." And she gets Isaac and comes along. Isaac gets Jacob. Jacob
gets Joseph.
And he said, "That's that city that daddy saw, whose Builder and Maker
is God. I walked about on the earth looking for a city to come, whose
Builder and Maker was God, and now I'm coming near the gates." Although
the great men that they were, they could not conquer it. It taken One to come
down to do the conquering. Though Abraham conquered difficults, Isaac, and
Jacob, and Joseph, but there was only One Who could conquer sin. That was
Him, the Lord Jesus.
And as they seen the light from the inside the city, and the great pearly
gates
a shining, Jesus in the forefront, marching on. And the Angels begin to ascend
to the top of the buildings. And they looked coming, and the Old Testament
saints cried out, "Open up, ye everlasting gates, and be ye open.
And let the King of glory come in, the mighty Conqueror."
And the Angels screamed back and said, "Who is this King of glory?"
And the Old Testament saints cried out, "The Lord of hosts, mighty in
battle."
And the gates come open. And He placed at the gate, the old rugged cross,
that every man or woman ever comes into that gate will have to bow before
that cross and recognize Him as the mighty Conqueror.
And as the Angels, ten thousand times ten thousands of thousands screamed
and shouted and praised the Lord, as this great mighty Warrior, He led
captive captive, and give gifts unto man. Not at the Arch of Triumph like
Adolph Hitler, but in the realms of glory.
The Angels
sang and praised the morning Star as it moved down the street as the mighty
Conqueror Who had conquered the sins of the world and had brought forth the
righteous triumphantly. On down through the city they went, till they come
to the throne. There upon the throne set the mighty Jehovah.
And as Jesus came to the throne, He fell to His knees, and He said, "Father,
I have finished that work that You gave Me to do. I've paid the debt for sin.
I have the keys of both death and hell. And Your enemy is defeated. And these
are those who waited patiently for this hour."
And I can see the Father, as He said, "Climb up here on My throne, My
Son, and set here until I make every enemy Your footstool." There He
sets, the mighty Conqueror. Trusting in His Word, believing every thing He
says, trusting Him as my all, as my breath, as my life, as all that I have."
[WMB, MIGHTY.CONQUEROR_ CHICAGO.IL FRIDAY_ 58-0110]
"When
I was in the realms of the lost, I screamed, "Oh, God, don't never
let a person come here." You can't... There's no tongue can it describe
to you what the horrors of it is. There's no way for me to tell you. If you
believe that there is a burning hell full of fire and brimstone, that
would be a cool shady green pasture to the sight of what the horrors of this
lost condition was in and the misery that has--that has associated that place.
And if I'd tried to speak to you of things that would be beyond a human's
understanding, I still couldn't describe the place of the blessed:
how peaceful, never to die, never to be old, never to be sick, always to be
young, always to be healthy, never to die: Eternal Life, in the blessed of
youth, and no sin or nothing else. Oh, there's just no way to describe it.
Even to Saint Paul, he said, "Eye has not seen; ear has not heard; or
has it even entered the hearts of men (You can't even understand it. There's
no way to explain it.) what God has for them in store that love Him."
[WMB, THREE.KINDS.OF.BELIEVERS_ JEFF.IN V-3 N-6 SUNDAY_ 63-1124E]
And
those demon spirits come into people and habitate their body. See what
I mean? They're demons that once... They was once existed and they come into
the people and give them a nature. Jesus cast seven of them out of Mary
Magdalene: Pride, boast (big people, you see?), unclean, filthy, vulgarity,
emulations, strife, all these things. See?
Them was spirits that was made up back there when God began to make man off
of there in His Own image, created those supernatural beings, those spirits...
[WMB, QA.ON.GENESIS_ JEFF.IN COD WEDNESDAY_ 53-0729]
"See the two opposing spirits at work in this evil age? Can you see it? Each very religious, Cain and Abel, spirits again coming to their heads, still same as they started: one worshipping by beauty, and by knowledge, and by education, and by science, and by ethics; and the other one by faith of the revelation of the Word of God. Both of them is standing right in this building this morning. That's right.
[ WMB, GOD.OF.THIS.EVIL.AGE_ JEFF.IN V-4 N-9 SUNDAY_ 65-0801M]
"When
we see young women so caught up in the web of the Devil, young men, perverted
minds, children, dope addicts, cigarette smoking, drinking, immoral, Satan's
Eden.
God, it taken You six thousand years, according to the Bible, to build an
Eden. And You put Your son and his wife in there (his bride) to rule over
it. And Satan come around and perverted it; he's got six thousand years, and
he's built his own intellectual Eden through science, and education, and so-called
intelligence, and he's built it into a mess of death.
O God, take us back to Eden again, Lord, where there's no death, where there's
no sorrow. Grant it, Lord. We stand humbly, waiting for the Second Adam to
come for His Bride. Make us part of Him, Father. We pray in Jesus' Name. Amen.
[LEADERSHIP_ COVINA.CA V-7 N-7 TUESDAY_ 65-1207]
THE BIBLICAL BASIS FOR PARADISE AND HELL
LUKE 16:19-31~
19 ¶ There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:
20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,
21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.
27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house:
28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.
29 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.
30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.
31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
----------------------------------o0O0o-----------------------------------
WILLIAM BRANHAM'S TESTIMONY OF
REACHING THE REGION OF THE BLESSED
[61-0305 - Beyond The Curtain Of Time]
"The other morning I was lying on my bed. I had just awoke from sleep, and I placed my hands behind my head and relaxed with my head on the pillow. Then I began to wonder what it will be like on the other Side. I realized that I have lived more than half my life if I live to be as old as my people, and I wanted to do more for the Lord before I left this life. [I heard a Voice saying: “You are just starting! Press the battle! Keep pressing!”
As I lay there pondering the words, I thought that I just imagined that I had heard a Voice. Again the Voice said: “Press the battle! Keep going! Keep going!” Still unbelieving, I thought that possibly I had spoken the words myself. I placed my lips between my teeth and held my hand over my mouth and listened. The Voice spoke again: “Just keep pressing!
Then the Voice asked: “Would you like to see just beyond the curtain?” I answered: “It would help me so much!”
What happened I cannot say. Whether I was in the body or out, or whether it was a translation, I do not know, but it was unlike any vision I have ever had. I could see the place to which I was taken and I could see myself lying back there upon my bed. I said: “This is a strange thing!”
There were great numbers of people and they came running to greet me, crying: “Oh, our precious brother!” First came young women, apparently in their early twenties, and as they would embrace me they said: “Our precious brother!” Young men, in the brilliance of young manhood, with eyes glistening like stars on a darkened night, with teeth as white as pearls, embraced me, saying, “Our precious brother.”
Then I noticed that I, too, had become young again. I looked at myself there and turned and looked back at my old body lying on the bed with my hands behind my head. I said: “I don’t understand this!”
As I began to try to comprehend the place where I was, I began to realize that there was no yesterday and no tomorrow there. No one seemed to get tired. All around me were great numbers of men and women in the bloom of youth. They were crying, with joy: “Oh, our precious brother, we are so happy to see you here!” I thought: “I’m not dreaming…
[I am more convinced than ever in my life that it will take perfect love to enter that place. There was no jealousy, no tiredness, no sickness, no old age, no death. Only supreme beauty and joy.
Whatever you do, lay aside everything else until you get perfect love! Get to where you can love everybody, even every enemy. No matter if the plane is rocking, the lightning is flashing, or the guns of the enemy are upon you, these things do not matter: get perfect love! If you are not saved, accept Jesus Christ as your Saviour now! If you have not been baptized in water, be baptized now! If you have not received the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, receive it now! Press on to that perfect love which will take you to that beautiful and joyful place beyond the curtain of time!"
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WILLIAM BRANHAM'S TESTIMONY OF
REACHING THE REGION OF THE DAMNED
