The Book of Hebrews - William Branham Storehouse

Transcription

www.williambranhamstorehouse.com
1
The Book of Hebrews
THE BOOK OF HEBREWS
A Series of Sermons by
William Marrion Branham
William Marrion Branham
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great
and dreadful day of the LORD:
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The Book of Hebrews
Contents
Hebrews Chapter One ………………………………………………………..………………..
6
Hebrews Chapter Two - Part 1 ………………………………………………………………..
27
36
51
Hebrews Chapter Three ……………………………………………………………...………..
61
Hebrews Chapter Four …………………………………………………………….…………..
84
Hebrews Chapter Five And Six ……………………………………………..….……………..
113
Hebrews Chapter Six …………………………………………………………………………..
137
Hebrews Chapter Six And Seven ……………………………………………………………..
167
Hebrews Chapter Seven - Part 1 ……………………………………………………………..
190
Hebrews Chapter Seven - Part 2 ………………………………………...…………………..
218
Question's & Answers On Hebrews - Part 1 …………………………………………….….. 243
Question's & Answers On Hebrews - Part 2 ………………………………...……………… 272
Question's & Answers On Hebrews - Part 3 …………………………………...…………… 294
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The Book of Hebrews
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Christ shows Himself alive in our generation!
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William Branham single-handedly spearheaded the worldwide Healing Revival of the late 1940’s and early 50’s,
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A prophet to the Gentiles
Before the Gospel had been rejected by the Jews and the Holy Ghost had turned to the Gentiles, and long
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Jesus spoke of a future prophetic ministry to be sent to “restore all things” in readiness for His second coming,
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The Jewish nation is back in her homeland after an absence of 1900 years just as their prophets foretold
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The Book of Hebrews
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g{x `|wÇ|z{à VÜç
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
John 3:16
© 2013 The Midnight Cry. All Rights Reserved
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The Book of Hebrews
HEBREWS CHAPTER ONE
Branham Tabernacle
JEFFERSONVILLE.IN WEDNESDAY 57-0821
And to give a--a little... I think there's nothing better, to me, than just the Word. "Faith cometh by
hearing, and hearing the Word of God."
On Wednesdays, and maybe on Sundays, one of the services of Sunday, giving the pastor just a
little rest, which he's very deserving of it, and thought maybe we'd just take a Book in the Bible.
We used to do that, and sometimes stay a year on it.
I remember one time we stayed a solid year on the Book of Revelation. But, oh, my, the things
that we learned, and how wonderful it was! Then we went back and got the Book of Daniel, or the
Book of Genesis, or Exodus, and just take it, chapter by chapter, and it just tied the entire Bible
together. Oh, I just love that!
Little later on, we'll have to get the... If the Lord continues to bless and we go on, we'll get into
some real deep things in here, real deep. And we'll just go from place to place, through the
Scripture, with it.
And I like to make Scripture compare with Scripture. That's the way it must be. It's just one great
beautiful picture. And in this Book that we're studying, we're going to get in, oh, salvation, and
Divine healing, and miracles, and mercies. And, oh, everything comes in here.
And maybe when I get to a place where I have to get to the meetings... I never know just when I'm
going to be to a meeting, called to a meeting, because I don't have anything set until I just feel led
to do a certain thing. And that may be before in the morning, I may fly to California, up to Maine or
somewhere, just where He would call me. That's the reason I don't set great, long itineraries,
because I can't do that. My ministry is not cut out that way, and it's just different.
And now I come home just for a little rest. I lost twenty pounds, in this last meeting. And Brother
Mercier and Brother Goad was up, a while ago, and said, "Brother Branham, I notice what you do.
You put your whole heart into it."
I said, "That's the only way you can do a right kind of a job for the Lord, is put everything you got
right to the forefront for Christ; all your strength, all your soul, all your heart, all your mind,
everything that you got." When you're doing anything, do it right or don't do it at all, see, just leave
it alone. You're going to be a Christian, put everything that you've got to Christ, that's, your time,
your talent, your every thing.
I just noticing this young fellow. That's your wife, Brother Burns, is it, that playing and singing
there, that young couple. And--and it isn't a piano, neither is it an organ, but it's some kind of
instrument, they make a strum it and pick it, and do something for the Lord. If you could do that,
and sing, that's, win souls. Do something, no matter. If you--you can whistle, well, whistle. Just do
something. Just testify or do something for the Kingdom of God. Whatever you got, put it to the
use in God's service.
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The Book of Hebrews
Now, we're not going to try to stay very long, because I know you work. You got to get up early.
And I'm going squirrel hunting every morning. I'll just tell you the truth. That's what I'm doing.
That's what I come home for, is to rest a little. And so I'm getting up, about four o'clock, and going
out in the woods and, well, hunt little bit and go to sleep. And I'm gaining some of that weight back,
so I'll get rested up, after while, if you... the Lord willing. And everything is fine.
All right, now, we're going to turn in your Bibles. I want you to bring your Bibles each night, that
you... as you can. If somebody lacks a few, would somebody want to follow along with the
readings, we got some here, we'd have the... some of the ushers to pass them out. Anybody want
one? Well, just raise your hand.
Wonder if Brother... Doc, come here and get these Bibles. You're standing close there, and
Brother Burns. Is that right, Burns? I heard him say... [The brother says, "Conrad."--Ed.] What?
["Conrad."] Conrad. I called him... I'm getting kind of hard of hearing, maybe, Brother Neville. How
did I ever get the name of Burns? I know the man's face, and I just can't, couldn't call his name.
And you know, as you get a little older, I find out one thing, it's harder for me to read this Bible.
And I just hate to think of having to wear glasses, to read the Bible.
But, here not long ago, I thought I was going blind. And I went over to see Sam. And Sam said,
"Bill, I don't know." Said, "I'll just get you an appointment with some specialist."
I went to Louisville. It must have been the will of the Lord. Some famous specialist; I forget his
name now. But he had read my book. And he said, "If you ever go back to Africa, I want to go with
you." He said, "And if you... Them African people love you." And said, "They're very superstitious,
especially with a knife, to go to cutting. So," said, "I want to give six months of my life, for
operations of cataracts and things, to the... in mission." And said, "If we could go together, and you
could win favor of them, like that." Said, "Then if they had cataracts and eye works," said, "I'd just
love to give it, free of charge, six months of it." And I forget how long you have to wait for an
appointment with him.
And we was setting in a little room and it had a little--little red light come on, back there in the dark
room. Why, I could read them letters. It said twenty-twenty. I could read it either way. And he
snapped it on fifteen-fifteen, and I could read it. And put it on ten-ten, and I could read it. He said,
"Well, there's not much wrong with your eyes."
So he had a little telescope. He put a little gadget back there, a little thing, you know. Them old
telescopes, how many ever remember them? We used to look through them, look at pictures, just
like that. And he said, "Can you read that?"
I said, "Yes, sir."
He said, "Read it for me."
It had a, oh, a whole paragraph, about like that. I started, read it; he started pulling it up, like that,
getting slower and slower. He got about like this, I stopped. He said, "I can tell you one thing,
you're past forty."
I said, "Yup, that's right, a long ways past it."
He said, "How have you done it?" He said, "The human eye, naturally, when you get forty years
old, like your hair gets gray, and so forth, the eyeball gets flat." Said, "Now, if you live long enough,
that'll come back again." He said, "That second sight, they call it. But," said, "a human being,
about forty years old, they'll actually..." Said, "There is nothing wrong with their eyes."
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The Book of Hebrews
I can--I can see a hair if it was laying on the floor, get it off from me. But get close to me... And he
said, "Now, you read your Bible," said, "You push it away from you." Said, "After while, your arm is
not going to be long enough, till you can't--can't get it out there far enough to get a hold of it."
And so he made me a pair of glasses, and the bottom part you can, it's for reading. He said,
"Now, in your pulpit..." He thought I was one of these here dignified preachers, you know. And so
said that the... you... The top part is just regular window glass, just regular glass. And the bottom
part has got some kind of a grind in it, that I can read it close, you know, like that. So I just hate to
put them on; I do.
And now, in Bible teaching, and I've got the New Testament tonight. So it's... I got a Collins New
Testament. It's got good-sized print. But now, when I get back in the other one, I--I may have to go
to them old buddies, and--and kind of read through them. But whatever it is, I--I'm glad that I got
something I--I can still read. And--and--and whatever I got, I'm going to give everybody everything
I can, to the glory of God, hope that He will take that age sign away. I can't ask Him to take my age
away. I... You know, that's just one thing we all got to do. We got to go through that. And I know
I'm not a little boy like I used to be, standing here on the platform. I'm forty-eight years old. And
just think, two more years, will be fifty years old, Brother Mike.
My, can't hardly believe it! I just... I never knew that I was past twenty till about two years ago.
That's right. That's right. I just... I couldn't believe it. And yet I--I... It's hard for me to believe till
looked in the glass, and then I--I know it is, then. But--but just to be looking, I just feel just as good
as I ever felt in my life, and I'm thankful for that, too. All praise be to God.
Now, we're studying the Book of the Hebrews. It's been... Oh, it's one of the most deepest, richest
Books of the Bible. I tell you, it's a Book that really will... If God permits, and we just get down into
this, I believe we'll find golden nuggets till we'll just shout the praises of God all the time. And now
I...
The Book of Hebrews, really what It is, It's supposing to be written by Saint Paul, the greatest
Bible expositor, I guess, the world has ever had, outside of our Lord Jesus Christ. And Paul was
separating the... Now, Paul was a real Bible teacher; that is, the Old Testament. That's the only
Book was written then, called Bible. And he was trying to show to the Hebrews, separating the Old
Testament and showing the Old Testament being a shadow or a type of the New.
Right there we could strike a home line and stay three months right there on that one thought,
right there. To go right back, if we could turn in our Bibles now, course we're on Hebrews, the 1st
chapter. But if we'd turn to Revelations, the 12th chapter, you'd see it perfectly again, how the
shadows. If... you that's got your pencils and going to jot down the Scriptures. In Heb-...
In Revelations 11, we find out that John, on the isle of Patmos, saw a woman standing in the
skies, and she had the sun at her head and the moon under her feet. And the woman was in
travail, with a child to be born. She brought forth a man child. The red dragon stood, to devour the
child as soon as it was born. And the--the child was caught up into Heaven, and the woman fled
into the wilderness where she was nourished for a time, time, and a half time, or a dividing of time.
Now, the woman represented the church, and the Child that she brought forth was Christ. The
moon under her feet was the law, the sun at her head was grace. Twelve stars in her crown was
the twelve apostles. And there's where, at what... The twelve apostles was the glory or the
crowning of the New Testament. See? "For no other foundations can be laid than that which is
already laid." See? It, the Foundation, the--the New Testament, the apostles, the Doctrine of the
apostles, and so forth, is the founding crown of the New Testament. And then at the...
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The Book of Hebrews
The moon is a shadow of the sun. The sun just reflects its light when its behind the earth. And the
moon gives light, to walk by, at night. And what a beautiful picture we have here, another beautiful
picture: the sun represents Christ; the--the moon represents the Church. They're just like husband
and wife. And in the absence of Christ, the Church reflects the minor Light, the Gospel. And it--it's
the Light to walk in until the Son rises again, then the Church and the Son, the moon and the sun,
blends together. See? The moon is a part of the sun, and the Church is a part of Christ. And while
the absence of Christ, the Church reflects His Light. And then as sure as we can see the moon
shining, it knows the sun is shining somewhere. And as long as the Church is reflecting the Light
of Christ, Christ is alive somewhere. Amen. Think of it.
Now, the law was a type of grace, but law had no saving power in it. Law only was a... The law
was a policeman. The policeman put you in jail, but, you see, it taken grace to get you out of jail.
See?
So the Blood of Christ, the Gospel, delivers us from sin. Law only makes us sinners. The law only
said, "You are a sinner. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not bear
false witness." See? It's a policeman that says you're wrong and you're guilty. But the Gospel is
the good news. Christ died to save us from all of our trespasses, transgressions of the law. Christ
died to take us out.
Now, Paul, as soon as he was converted, he never consulted with any seminary, neither did he
consult any ministers. But did you notice? He went down into Arabia, and was there three years, in
Arabia. Now, this is, to my opinion, that...
Now, we've got to get a background of this, so we'll know how substantial it is. And the first
lesson, tonight, we take our background.
Now, Paul was such a Bible teacher, because he was taught under that great, all-time famous
Gamaliel. And he was one of the best known of the day, that great teacher of the law and the
prophets. So, Paul was well schooled in those things.
And then I like him this way, this great revelation, being honest in his heart, a murderer, had
consented to Stephen's death and saw Stephen die under the rocks and clods of being stoned to
death. I think it must have got next to Paul when he saw Stephen raise his hands to Heaven, and
said, "I see the Heavens open. I see Jesus standing at the right hand of God." And he said,
"Father, lay not this charge of sin against them." And he fell asleep.
Did you notice that? He never died. He fell asleep. Just like... I don't believe he ever felt another
rock. Just like a baby on the bosom of its mother, falls asleep, Stephen fell asleep in the arms of
God.
There is something, about Paul, that got next to him. Then he, any man under conviction, trying to
fight It, he rolls over to the high priest and gets some letters. Said, "I'll arrest all those people that's
making all that noise, and those heretics;" which was considered, what we would call today, some
"radical fanatic," or something like that, making a lot of noise and causing disturbance. "We'll just
go down and settle it."
And on his road down, a little old... not a great highway like we travel. And them roads in
Palestine, just little trails, like a cow trail through the woods where the cattle, and the sheep, and
the horses, and the donkeys, and the camels, went over the hills.
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The Book of Hebrews
And Paul, on his road down to Damascus, about noon, one day, a great Light shining down and
struck him to the ground. No one saw It but Paul. I want you to notice that. And right here, this is
not personal now, but just so we're leading into this background. That you'll know that that same
Jesus...
Now, when He was here on earth, He said, "I came from God, and I go back to God."
Now, when He led the children of Israel, He was the Pillar of Fire. And He was made flesh, then
He returned back to that same Pillar of Fire. And when He met Paul on the road to Damascus, He
was that Pillar of Fire, that Light, see, a great Light. And Paul said, "Who is It that I persecute?"
He said, "I am Jesus, who you persecute," the Light. Oh, isn't He wonderful? [Congregation says,
"Amen."--Ed.]
And here He is, tonight, right here with us. Had His picture taken right there, the same Thing, see,
Pillar of Fire, Light, just the same as He was, "Same yesterday, today, and forever."
Now the men that was with him did not see that Light, but It was there just the same. The results
give the same.
Now, is it possible that--that someone could see Christ in this building and no one else see Him?
Sure. It happened there.
It happened also one night when Peter was in prison. And that Light came into the prison, and
touched Peter, and walked right by the inner guard, the outer guard, walked by the gate, the main
gate, and the city gate. Peter said, "I must have been dreaming." But he looked around, but the
Light was gone; Christ, that Eternal, everlasting Light. There He is. Now, on the road down...
And look, another thing, if we would speak of this, just come in my mind. But the wise men that
followed the Star, all the way from India, the Orient, months, coming through the valleys and
deserts, passed over observatories. And they kept the time of the night by the stars. And no
historian or anyone ever mentioned of ever seeing that Star but the wise men. It was just meant
for them to see It.
So you can see things that the other fellow might not see. To you, It's a reality. To him, they don't
understand. Just like a conversion; you can be converted and enjoying the blessings of God, just-just drinking in the blessings of God. And the next fellow, setting by you, "I don't see a thing." See?
See? That's it. "I just don't get it. I don't see what it's all about." Well, he's just not getting It. That's
all. Where, you are.
Notice now, Paul on his road down. And as soon as this great experience happened to him...
Now, he wasn't satisfied... That's what makes Paul so good, now.
Our lesson tonight is not deep. It's a shallow lesson, but, oh, we will get into the deep, after while.
But this is a very shallow lesson, but it's just starting off. And what it is, it's one thing, that's exalting
Jesus Christ. Paul, to begin.
And before he would do this, Paul was a Bible scholar. And a Bible scholar will never rest his
doctrine upon experiences. No, sir. They'll never rest their doctrine upon experience. You can
have any kind of an experience. But it must be THUS SAITH THE LORD. Right.
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The Book of Hebrews
Now, in the Old Testament, they had three different ways they can know a message. First, the
law, that was just the law. Then, they had a--a prophet; a dreamer; and they had the Urim
Thummim. Now that may be a little deep.
The Urim Thummim was the breastplate that Aaron wore on his breast. In there was twelve
stones: jasper, sardius, carbuncle, so forth, on down. They got all twelve of the big stones, that
was in the breastplate, showing that he was the high priest of every tribe, the twelve tribes of
Israel. This breastplate hung on a pillar in the church. And when a prophet prophesied, and they
wanted to be sure it was right, or not. The prophets or the dreamers stood before this Urim
Thummim, and he told his dream or his vision, whatever he had saw. And if the Sacred Light... Oh,
do you see it? God always dwelt in the supernatural realm. The conglomeration, those lights, were
just normal until this voice went forth. And when the voice struck those stones, if it wasn't
supernatural, she laid dormant. But if it was supernatural, those Lights all reflected the rainbow
color together. Amen. Then, that was God speaking, "That is My prophet. That dream came from
Me." It was according to the Urim Thummim that they judged.
Remember Saul when he backslid? He said he couldn't have a dream. And the prophet, Samuel,
was dead, and there was no way. He said, "Even the Urim won't even speak to me." Nothing. Saul
stood before the Urim, and his words were dead thumps. See? God just refused him. And that
Urim Thummim, that was Aaron's vindication of his priesthood. After Aaron going, Moses... The-the plate hung on the pillar.
Now, the Aaronic priesthood ceased when Jesus died. And now, separated law from grace, we
still have a Urim Thummim. And Paul was using It. See? The Urim Thummim today is God's
Immortal, Eternal, everlasting Word. See?
"For whosoever shall take anything out of this Book, or add anything to It." I don't want anything
outside of It, but I want all It's got. That's the Church we want. And all things must be proven by
the Word.
That's the reason I took a flop recently of among the Pentecostal people, because, saying, "I
could not understand where oil running out of your hands, or blood out of your face, was a sign
you had the Holy Ghost." That's not Scriptural and I--I just couldn't take it. It's got to come from the
Word.
And now, Paul, he just loved the Word. So, before he would ever witness this great experience
that he had, he went down in Egypt for three year. I believe it was three years, three years down in
Egypt. And you know what I believe he done? I believe that he took the Old Testament, and
searched through the Old Testament, and found that That was really the absolute Messiah. He
had to prove his experience by the Bible. Amen. Oh, my!
Look at him when he was in prison. You notice, there's a--a space of Paul's life when he was in
prison there for a long time. He wrote the Book of Ephesians. He wrote this Hebrew Letter. See?
He had time. God laid him away over there in a prison, and he wrote these Letters to the
churches. One to the church of Ephesus. He wrote one to the Pentecostal church, had lots of
trouble with them. The Pentecostal church he had more trouble with than anybody else. Still has it.
But he was thankful for them. The only thing he could teach them... When they come in: one had a
tongue, one had a psalm, one had a sensation, one had a feeling. He couldn't talk, speak to them,
"Eternal security." He couldn't speak to them, "predestination." He couldn't talk to... They were
babies. They all had to--had to feel something, or see something, or have funny feelings, and, or
something around them, some evidences.
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The Book of Hebrews
But I believe, when he spoke to the Ephesians, he could speak on, "God has predestinated us
unto sons and daughters, and adopted us as children in Jesus Christ before the foundation of the
world." Look at that. My!
Watch him come over in the Book of Romans, and so forth. They were grown-up. Oh, they spoke
with tongues, sure, and they had other signs of the Holy Spirit among them. But they didn't make
doctrines, and sensations, and little quivers, and funny feelings.
Paul said, "You--you--you go to extremes with that. When you ought to be teaching, you're still
babies and have to have milk."
That's what I've always tried to contend this tabernacle to be, not a bunch of babies. Let's be
grown-up. Stand on the road. Oh, my! There you are.
So, Paul goes down there, first, to see if his experience matched God's Bible.
Oh, wouldn't it be wonderful, today, if people only done that again, if we made our experience
match God's Bible? If it doesn't, then our experience is wrong; it don't flash in the Urim Thummim.
If it flashes in There, amen, we got It. But if it doesn't, some... I don't care how good it seems, how
real it looked like it was right; if those lights didn't flash on that Urim Thummim, it was wrong.
And no matter how much experience you've had, how real it seems to be, how presenting it is,
how educational it is, what a great tool it is to win souls; if it doesn't flash in the Word, it's wrong.
Right. It must line up with the Word.
Now, I believe, and there's a middle of the road. The road, now, a lot of times... I used to go to a
Nazarene church. The Lord bless those dear people. Old-fashioned, sanctified Methodists is what
they are; church of God, Nazarene, Pilgrim Holiness, and many of those good old holiness
churches. And they used to sing a song:
I'm walking in the grand old highway,
Telling everywhere I go,
I'd rather be an old-time Christian, Lord,
Than anything I know.
Good. Wonderful. And then they used to talk about the highway of holiness. Now, if you read over
that, they get that out of Isaiah, the 35th chapter. Now, if you notice, he said, "There shall be a
highway, and a way."
Now, and is a conjunction. See? A highway, it wasn't a highway of holiness. "It shall be a
highway, and a way, and it shall be called, 'The way of holiness,'" not the highway of holiness.
"The way of holiness!" And the way of the road is in the middle of the road. It's built like this so that
the waters will wash off the trash, to both sides, keeping the road clean. You don't, you have
puddles standing in your road, all the time, if it isn't built right. "The way" is the middle of the road.
Now, on this side, when people get converted, their minds is set right on Christ. And if they're just
a little scholarly, and don't keep under prayer, they'll get real cold, and stiff, and starchy, and
indifferent. And then if they're just a little bit nervous, if you don't watch, they'll just get radical and
wild, on this side, see, they go into sensations and everything.
Now, but, the real Church is a real sane Gospel, right in the middle of the road. It's not cold and
starchy, neither is it fanaticism. It's a real good, old, warm Gospel, heart-felt love of God, going
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The Book of Hebrews
right down the middle of the road, calling from both sides. That's right. Now that's what... And how
you going to get that, church? Right out of the Word, the Urim Thummim.
Now, Paul wanted to get this church right in the middle of the road, so he went and studied three
years on the Scriptures that he knew. Therefore, Paul wrote the bigger part of this New
Testament. God had him do that because it's coming a Gentile age. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and
John, the four Gospels, they were Jews. But Paul wrote the most of the letters.
Now notice, now, we're going to start getting this background now, where he's at, writing It, from
prison. And he's had all this experience. But, first, this experience was first proven, and this is his
key letter to it. This is his key letter. Romans and Ephesians, and so forth, have their place, but
this is the key letter.
Now, the whole 1st chapter, is, exalting Jesus, and separating Him from being a prophet. That's
the whole theme now. I'll try to get to it just as quick as can now, so we won't stay too long. The
whole theme, is, separating the new chap-... new... The 1st chapter, is, separating Jesus from any
prophet, or any law, or so forth, and showing Who Jesus is. Now look, "God." We start out, the first
word, "God."
God, at sun-... who at sundry times...
Sundry means that "way back," back time.
... sundry times and in divers manners spake in the past unto the fathers by the prophets,
Now, see, "God, in sundry times, way back, He spoke to the fathers by the prophets." That's how
He had to give His Message, through His prophet.
God would send His prophet like Elijah, Jeremiah, Isaiah. And if you'll notice, never in all the
history of the world, did ever the church produce a prophet. Search it in the Old Testament, New
Testament, or in this day, in the latter day. Show me any prophet was ever raised out of the
church in the last day. Show me one ever come up, out. And show me one time that a prophet, a
real servant of God, that the ecclesiastical system of the world didn't condemn him.
Just think of it. Jeremiah, Isaiah, all down through the Old Testament, they condemn it. Jesus
said, "You garnish the tombs of the prophets and make them white, and you put them in there."
That's right.
The church continues that. Look at Saint Patrick. You Catholic people claim him. He isn't no more
Catholic than I am. That's right. But you claim him.
Look at Saint Francis of Assisi. Claim him. He isn't no more Catholic than I am.
Look at Joan of Arc. You burnt her to a stake, as a witch, because she saw visions and is
spiritual. Burnt her to a stake. And that woman screaming for mercy, and they burnt her to a stake.
About a hundred years later, they found out that she was a prophetess. She was a servant of God.
Oh, course, you got a big penalty: you dug up the priests' body and throwed them in the river.
"You do garnish the tombs of the prophets, and put them in there." Right. Never did the
ecclesiastical system ever produce a man of God; never did, hasn't today, and never will.
Organized religion has never been God's theme.
The oldest organized church in the world is the Catholic church; Luther, second; then come
Zwingli; after Zwingli, come Calvin; Calvin, on, the Anglican, Anglo-Saxons taking up, then the
Anglican church; and King Henry the Eighth, when he protested, and so forth; and on down to the
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The Book of Hebrews
Wesley Methodist, and Nazarenes, Pilgrim Holiness; and on down to the last, is Pentecostal, all
organized. And the Bible plainly teaches that the Catholic church is a--a ill-famed woman, and the
Protestant churches and their organizations are her daughters, Revelation 17. That's exactly right.
So they're...
Not the people, now. There is good in all them churches; sainted, saved people. But God doesn't
call His people by an organization. He calls them as individuals. God deals with individuals,
whether you're a Methodist, Baptist, Protestant, and Catholic, or what you are. God, before the
foundation of the world, knew you, and predestinated you to Eternal Life, or either you was
predestinated to Eternal loss. Not...
He wasn't willing that you should be perished, you would perish. But, Him being infinite, He had to
know the end from the beginning, or He isn't God. So Jesus never come to earth just to say, "Well,
I'll see if somebody be mercy... If I act and die, in a hard way, they'll probably think, 'Well, I... ' It'll-it'll persuade their hearts, and they'll..." God don't run His business like that.
Jesus came for one specific purpose, that's, to save those who God, before the foundation of the
world, knew would be saved. He said so. That's right. So you're... "It's not him that willeth, or him
that runneth; it's God that showeth mercy." Paul said that. Same man here.
He said, "That's the reason God could say, before Esau or Jacob was either born, He said, 'I love
one and hate the other one.'" Before either boy was born, God knew that Esau was a shyster, and
He knew that Jacob was a... he loved his birthright. So He knew, before the world ever was
formed, about it. Now, we're going to find out in a minute Who that was that knew it. This chapter
has got it.
God,... in sundry time and in divers manner spoke... to the fathers by the prophets,
Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son,...
Has done what? "Has spoken to us in this last days by His Son."
Now, how would you think then, that, what would be a prophet? Would we have a prophet then of
this day? Absolutely. Would He speak by it? Sure. But he that... The prophets of the old day was
the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
Now, let's get that straight, 'cause I don't think it's soaking in right. Now, this is just like Sunday
School, so we want to get this clear. See?
Notice. Let's take the Spirit of God that was in Moses, perfectly the... is the foreshadow of Jesus
Christ. All of the Old Testament characters foreshadow the cross. Moses, born a proper child, hid
in the bulrushes, taken away from his parents, so forth, and was... He was a king, or a--a leader,
law-giver, intercessor, priest. Everything that he was foreshadowed Christ.
Look at Joseph, loved of his father, hated of his brethren, and sold for almost thirty pieces of
silver. Throwed into a ditch, supposedly dead; taken out. In his persecution, butler saved, and
butcher lost; two thieves at the cross. And then when he come out, he raised up out of that ditch,
and was set at the right hand of Pharaoh, the biggest commercial... the--the--the nation who
whipped all the rest of the world. And no man could come to Pharaoh except they come through
Joseph; Jesus setting at the right hand of God, and no man can come to God except through
Christ. And when Joseph left that throne and started out, men went before him, screaming and
blowing trumpets, sound the trumpet, saying, "Bow the knee! Joseph is coming."
And when Jesus comes, a trumpet shall sound, and every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall
confess. Yes, sir. There He was.
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The Book of Hebrews
And when Joseph died, he left a memorial to them who were waiting for deliverance.
I put my hand on the old casket, here not long ago, it was made out of lead. And his body was
supposed to stay... his bones... Said, "Don't you bury me here, for someday, God is going to visit
you." He was a prophet. "God is going to visit you." And said, "When you go up to the promised
land, take my bones."
There, an old Hebrew, with a beat back and bloody, could look over in that casket and say,
"Someday, we're going out."
Jesus left a memorial, an empty tomb. Someday when we go over to the grave, and our loved
ones, and hear the little old clods, when they say, "Ashes to ashes, and dust to dust, and earth to
earth." But, brother, we can look across the sea, to an empty tomb. Someday, we're going out of
here. We're going home. He is coming. Everything was typed.
Look at David, rejected by his own people, dethroned by his own people. Being a king of
Jerusalem, was drove out of Jerusalem by his own people. And as he went up Mount Olive, he
looked back and wept. He was rejected.
Eight hundred years from then, the Son of David, King of Jerusalem, set on a hill and wept, 'cause
he was rejected.
That was the Spirit of Christ in David. All foreshadowed the cross. Them prophets back there
spoke in His Name. They lived in His Name. They acted in His Name. Sure. "God in sundry times
and divers manners spoke to the fathers through the prophets, but in this last day through His
Son."
So the prophets and spiritual men, this day, is only the reflection of Christ. There, by the law they
stood, look. Over here they stand, looking back the other way, through grace.
That in the Hebrews 11, the last chapter, I've often wondered that. In the last chapter, the last part
of the 11th chapter of Hebrews, when he talks about Abraham. The great faith chapter, and at the
end, he said, "They wandered about in sheepskins and in goatskins, and was made destitute, and
sawed asunder. They wandered about, no place to go, hated, and despised, and persecuted. Of
whom, this world isn't worthy of such people."
Then Paul stands and said, "But without us they're not perfect." For they only looked to the cross,
and we look through the cross. We have the Spirit of Christ after It become human flesh and dwelt
among us. We come here by the Holy Ghost, which is a far better plan.
And sometimes I wonder what Christianity expects today. A preacher going with a tent will have to
be... or some new church or some new charge, calls himself a prophet, walks up there, say, "Well,
if they'll give me so much money. If I can have the best car. If they'll... If my salary will be raised
every six months."
We have to have the best. We have to have the best homes. We have to have the best clothes.
What will we do when we stand in the presence of those men who wandered, in goat skins and
sheep skins, no place to lay their heads, wandering about in deserts? And somebody can make
fun of us and we're ready to quit church and not go back anymore. What Christianity requires
today. We ought to be ashamed of ourselves.
O God, be merciful to us.
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The Book of Hebrews
In that day, He spoke by the prophets, but this day through His Son. That was the word of a
prophet, there. This is the Word of the Son, today. Oh, blessed be the Name of the Lord!
In other words, if you're looking at the shadow, the negative, you might make a mistake. But This
is developed, the picture is clear. That was by the prophet; this is by His Son. That was by a
negative; this is by a positive. Amen. You see it? There isn't a chance to lose. It's a positive thing,
this day through His Son. Oh, how wonderful!
... whom he has appointed heir... (oh, my)... heir of all things,...
What was it? It was an appointment. Oh, listen. He was appointed, Christ was, heir of all things.
Oh, the Devil knowed that, from the garden of Eden, you see, when the Devil heard that Word
there that day, in the judgment of those people. Said, "Because you come from the dust; dust
you'll return; and the woman's Seed shall bruise the serpent's head." A promised Seed.
Satan constantly watched for that Seed. When Abel was born, he said, "There you are, that's the
seed." And he killed Abel. His son, Cain, killed Abel. And as soon as Abel died, he said, "I got the
seed." He slew it. He said, "I got it." But, Abel's death, Seth's birth was the resurrection again.
Watch how they come down.
That line of Seth, it come down, a humble, righteous man; on down through Enoch; on down to
Noah, to the end of the antediluvian destruction.
Look at Cain's line, become smart people, educated, science. Don't the Bible say... Did not Jesus
say, that, "The children of this world are wiser than the Children of the Kingdom"? Look at the side
of Cain yet today: smart, educated, skeptic, very religious; see, very religious, but scientists,
builders, great men.
Take great men. Look at Thomas Edison, many great men. Look at Einstein, the brains of the
world, so-called, today, the brains of the world. But we don't try to use brains. We let the Mind that
was in Christ be in us, and look to this Word, and call that so.
Medical doctors, though we salute them with whatever we have, but the most of those are
skeptics, agnostic. Look at the smart, intelligent people today. They're on that side over there, the
Cain side.
But look at the humble and meek. There is your resurrection again. Oh, blessed be the Name of
the Lord. There you are. Notice.
... he made him heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
Who made the worlds? Christ. "Christ made the worlds?" Yes, sir. Let's go just a little further.
Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his presence,...
The brightness of whose glory? God's glory. The express image of Whose Presence? God's. Oh, I
love this!
... or express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word...
There you are. The Word, that upholds all things. Jesus said, in Matthew 24, "Heavens and earth
will pass away, but my Words shall never pass away." He upholds all things.
Science tries to down It, and say, "It's an old Book. It's been translated."
Even the Roman Catholic church, Bishop Sheen said, "That's been translated four or five different
times, and not much to It. You couldn't live by It if you had to." But He upholds all things by His
Word. Amen. That's what I think about It. I believe the Bible.
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The Book of Hebrews
... the word of his power, (there's power in the word), when he had by himself purged our sins,...
(looky here)... set down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
What is Paul trying to do? He is trying to show that God purposed all things in Christ, and Christ
was the express image of God. The entire rest of the chapter deals with how that He was higher
than Angels, higher than all powers. Angels worshipped Him. Paul was trying to magnify Him.
Now, I want to try, if I don't get any further than this, the rest of it is just magnifying Christ. What
Paul says over here, like in the 11th chapter, and all about talking about the world. He said, "What-what Angel did He say, 'Thou art My Son, this day I have begotten Thee'?" See?
"The end of the world, they shall perish. The world shall perish. But the... And all the things of the
world shall perish. He would fold them up like a vesture. They'd be old, and turned, and go away.
'But Thou remaineth. Thou remaineth forever. Thou art My Son. This day I have begotten Thee,
and will never perish, setting at the right hand of the Majesty.'"
What does right hand mean? Not, God has got a right hand that somebody is setting on it. Right
hand means the "power and authority," got the authority of everything in Heaven and earth. And all
the Heavens and earth is made by Him.
Now, Who is this great Guy, this great Fellow? Christ. Here, God in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
it's not... It's a trinity, but It's not a trinity of people. It's a trinity of office, of one God.
He was the Father leading the children of Israel. That was His office, the great Jehovah Father.
And He dwelt on earth, called the Son. And now He dwells in His Church, called the Holy Ghost.
Not three Gods; one God in three offices: Father, Son, Holy Spirit.
People try to make Him three different Gods, God the Father. That's the reason, Jews, you could
never... You'll never bring this to a Jew, no, that there. He can't. He's got a commandment, that,
"I'm One God." There's only one God.
In Africa they baptize three different ways: they baptize once for the Father, and once for the Son,
and once for the Holy Ghost. The Apostolic Faith mission, they baptize three times, face forward,
to His death. What they call the Full Gospel on the West Coast, or the East Coast, baptize three
times backward, said He... unto His burial.
And he said, "When He died, He fell forward."
Another said, "Wait. You bury a man on his back." Just little old technique things, when, they're
both wrong; both wrong, according to the Scripture.
This is the Urim Thummim. It settles it.
Now, here, let's just picture that out and see what--what it looks like, tonight. Here it is, if you want
to see it. In all of about twenty-five years I've been a minister. I've studied that. And I've often
wondered at gifts in the church. What is those gifts? Prophecy, speaking with tongues,
interpretation of tongues, Divine revelation, so forth, that all comes through Christ.
Now look. Christ is the Head of all things. And He's the Head of the Church. And did you ever see
a big diamond? A great big diamond that is chipped right, it's got little chips knocked off of it,
chipped off of it. That makes a correct diamond. What's the chips for? The real diamond, the way it
comes out, it's been bruised; the real diamond, when it's found.
I was in Kimberly. You, many of you, that's heard you can pick up diamonds on the street, that's
correct. Billy and I, and Mr. Bosworth. The president of the Kimberly diamond mines, take... He
was my usher in the meeting there. And they taken us over. And just out of... They mine them
about, oh, about seventeen hundred feet under the earth. They come out, a blue stone, big blue,
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The Book of Hebrews
like this bluestone you get around here. And those natives, they put them seventeen hundred feet
in the ground, to mine them, to keep the price up. You'd go on the river there, they got it guarded
for hundreds of miles. Take two ten-gallon buckets, he said, and pick it up, full of--of sand, and if
you could get home with it, you'd be a multimillionaire, there'd be so many diamonds in it. But they
have to work and mine them, to keep the price up on them.
Now, the diamond, when it comes forth, it's just a big, smooth, round, like, piece of glass. There's
a blue diamond, black diamond, emerald, and a clear diamond, white diamond. But when it come
forth... Then when it's made and put into use, there's a part of that diamond has to lose. And it has
to lose the--the chips off of it. Knock little chips, because, when it comes in direct light, like that, it
makes a sparkle. The chip, what makes the sparkle, the way it's cut. It's cut, chipped, and then,
when it does, it makes a sparkle. And one will go a green light, the other one will go a blue light,
and maybe another, emerald light, and red light. And different lights go from it, like a rainbow
color. They call it, "fire in the diamond."
Now, each one of those lights represents gifts. But it's, only, Christ is the Diamond. And He was
the One Who came, and was bruised, and wounded, and chipped, that He might reflect Himself
back as a Light to the world. He's that Master Diamond.
Could you imagine, before there even was an earth, before there was a light, before there was a
star, before there was anything? There's a Great Fountain going forth, of Spirit, and out of this
Fountain came the most pure of love, 'cause there was nothing for it to come from that but love.
Now, we, what we call love, today, is a perverted love. But just as we get an essence, or a little bit
of that love in us, it changes our whole opinion.
Then out of there come another stream, off this main Fountain, the Diamond, and it was called
righteousness, absolutely righteousness. Now, that's the reason we had to have law. That's the
reason law has to have judgment. If no judgment doesn't follow law, law doesn't do no good. And
when judgment was passed by law, which brings death, and there's no one who could pay the
penalty but God Himself. And He paid the penalty of our death, and took our sins upon Him, that
we might be the righteousness of God through Him.
Now, when these great Lights went out, or great rays of Spirit: love, peace, that's all there was,
That. There wasn't no suffering. There wasn't no--no hate, nor no malice; it couldn't come from this
Fountain. That was Jehovah. That was Jehovah God. And now, as the theologians call it, a
theophany went from That, which was called, in the Scriptural, the "Logos," the Logos that went
out of God. It's hard to explain, but It was a part of God.
Now, here is what happened. Oh, excuse me. I--I--I just get on this, this just gets me right where I
love it. See? The Logos, and this great Fountain, this great Fountain of Spirit which had no
beginning or no end; this great Spirit began to form, in the creation, and the Logos that went out
from It was the Son of God. It was the only visible form that the Spirit had. And It was a theophany,
which means a body, and the body was like a man.
Moses saw It when It passed through the... by--by the rock. And he looked at It, said, "It looked
like the hind part of a man."
It's the same type of body that we receive when we die here. "If this earthly tabernacle be
dissolved, we have one already waiting." That was It. And that was the theophany which was the
Son of God. That Son, that Logos, became flesh, because we were put in flesh. And the
theophany, the Logos, became flesh, here among us, and It was nothing else but the dwelling
place, for that entire Fountain dwelt in Him. Oh, do you see it? There It is. That was the One, that,
in...
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The Book of Hebrews
Looky here. Let's turn now right quick to Hebrews, the 7th chapter, just for a moment of--of grace,
God being willing. Let's see what it looks like here. Abraham!
How much time we got? We got ten minutes. All right. We catch this, then we finish it up next,
next, or Sunday, Lord willing.
Abraham was returning from the slaughter of the king.
For this Melchisedec, king of Salem,...
How many knows where, who, what Salem was? Jerusalem.
... king of Salem, prince of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of
the kings, and blessed him;
Listen.
To whom also Abraham give a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation the King of
righteousness,... after that also the King of Salem, which is, the King of peace;
Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor ending of
life;...
A King come down from Salem, and met Abraham coming from the slaughter of the kings. And
this King didn't have no father, had no mother, had no beginning of days or ending of Life. Who did
Abraham meet? Now think. He didn't have no father; He didn't have no mother. He never had a
time that He began, and He never has a time when He will end, so that same King of Salem has to
be living today. Amen. You see it? It was that theophany that was that Son of God. What Salem?
That Jerusalem which is Above, that Abraham, being blessed, was searching, find, trying to find
the City whose Builder and Maker was God. He wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins,
everywhere, destitute, wandering, and was seeking a City whose Builder and Maker was God.
And he met the King of that Salem, coming down, and he paid Him a tenth of all the spoils. Amen.
That's Him. Oh, Brother Graham, that was Him. That was Him.
Abraham seen Him again. One day he was setting in the tent. He looked, coming up there, and he
seen three men coming.
You know, there's just something about a Christian, that he knows Spirit when he sees It. When
he... He just knows it. There's just something Spiritual about it. Spiritual things are Spiritually
discerned. You know. Yeah, he can just tell it, if he's really born. "My sheep know My Voice."
And he just knew there was something. He run out. He said, "Come in, my Lord. Sit down. Stop a
little bit. I'll get a morsel of bread and put in Your hand. I'll wash Your feet. Rest Yourself, then go
on about Your journey, for You--You've come to visit me." Up in the barren land, taking the hard
way, the way with the Lord's despised few.
While, Lot was living in riches, the nephew down there, but he was living in sin. That's what most
riches-ness produces is sin.
So Abraham brought them up, while he got a little water and washed Their feet. He run out into
the calf, and got a fat calf into the herd, and killed it; give it to a servant, to dress. And said,
"Sarah, knead your meal."
You know what kneading, it is, means. You know, mom used to have an old, kind of like a wedge,
she had in the--the meal barrel. Did you ever see one of them with a sifter? And you had a wedge
in there, you raked the meal, you know; and get heavy like that, and rake it through, like. I've seen
mama do it, many times, the wedge, have a little round thing that's got a little screen wire on it.
She'd get that meal up and sift it like that, you know, and pat it back and forth, like that. Then take
the wedge and rake it around, like that, to get it all down. And that's when we have to go down and
get our meal ground at the old grist mill; and big old burrs, you know, heavy, made real corn
bread. You could saw logs all day, on it.
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The Book of Hebrews
So then, said, "Knead some meal, right quick. And make some hoecakes right here on the hearth,
right quick." And they milked the cow and got some milk. And they got, churned it, and got some
butter. And then they went and killed the calf and got some meat, and they fried the meat. Got the
butter milk, corn bread, and they got some butter to put on the hot hoecakes. Oh, that's really
good. And they smeared it all on there. And he took it out, and set it down to these three Men.
And while They were eating, They kept looking toward Sodom. And after while, They got up and
started walking away. And said, Abraham, said, "You won't keep it from me."
"I can't keep from you what I'm going to do. I'm going down there. The sins of Sodom has come in
My ear."
Who was the Man? Dust all over His clothes, and setting there eating the flesh of a calf, and
drinking the cow's milk, and eating some hoecake corn bread, and some butter. Who is this
strange Fellow? Two, or three of Them, setting there. Dust all over His clothes. Oh, yeah, "We're
from a far Country." Yeah, way away. And so He said... Well, Who were They?
He said, "I can't keep from Abraham, seeing that he's the heir of the earth." Amen. "I reveal My
secrets," other words, "to those who are heir of the earth." That's where the Church ought to be
today. That's right. Get the Secrets of God, know how to hold yourself, and act, and what to do,
and how to walk, and how to live. We're heir of the earth. Right. He reveals It to you, 'cause He
won't keep nothing back. That's why we're watching these things come to pass.
The world say, "Ah, that's a bunch of fanaticism." Let them say it. The heir of the earth knows
these things. [Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.]
... for they shall be called the children of God.
Blessed are they that are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
He makes His secrets known to them, reveals it to them, showing them what to do and how to live,
forsaking the things of the world; walking godly and living godly, in this present world, walking
along with Him. Let the world say what they want to.
So He said, "I can't keep this secret from Abraham, because, seeing he's the heir of the earth.
But," He said, "I'm going down to destroy Sodom. I'm going down."
"What are you going to do, Mister? Where You from? What's it all about?"
Come to find out, He said, "And another thing, Abraham, you've waited twenty-five years for this
promise I give you. You done got all the birdeye up, the--the pins and everything, for this baby,
twenty-five years ago. You still been waiting on Me. Now I'm going to visit you, just about the time
of life, according, time of life, next month I'll be with you."
And Sarah, back in the tent. And this Man had His back turned to the tent, talking to Abraham, like
this. And Sarah went, "Huh!"
He said, "What made Sarah laugh?" Ho-ho-ho! How about that? That was quite a telepathy,
wasn't it? "What made Sarah laugh?"
Sarah said, "No. I never laughed."
Said, "Oh, yes, you did." She was scared. She was trembling. Who was That, to know what she
was doing back in the tent? That's That same God that's with us today. Same One. He knows all
about it. See? He just reveals it as you have need. See?
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The Book of Hebrews
"What you laugh about?" See, His back turned to it. The Bible stated that, that, "His back was
turned to the tent." But, He knew it. "What's she, back there, doing this, you see?"
So, He said, "I'm going to visit you."
Who is this strange Fellow? You know what happened? He walked right out there and vanished.
And the Bible said that That was Almighty God, Jehovah, that great Fountain, that Theophany,
that Logos.
Some preacher said to me, some time ago, said, "Brother Branham, you wouldn't actually think
that was God, would you?"
I said, "The Bible said It was God, Elohim." Which, He was Almighty God, the El Shaddai, that's
right, the Strength-Giver, the Satisfier. Amen.
Oh, I feel religious! Think of it, here, as He is now. I'm going to show you Who He is here, then
you'll see Who the Son is. That was Jesus, before He had the human Name, "Jesus."
Stood there at the fountain that day. And they was all drinking, you know, and, "Having the waters
was in the wilderness," and things like that. He said, "They was eating the manna." Said, he said,
"Our fathers eat manna in the wilderness, for forty years."
He said, "And they're, every one, dead." Said, "I am the Bread of Life that come from God, out of
Heaven. He that eats this Bread shall never die."
Said, "Well, our fathers drank from the Spirit, from a spiritual Rock that was in the wilderness, that
followed them."
He said, "I am that Rock." Glory! Saint John, the 6th chapter.
"Why," they said, "what?"
"Yes. That's right."
"Why," he said, "You are... You're not even fifty years old." Course, His work made Him look a
little old, but He was only thirty. Said, "You're a man not over fifty years old, and You say You seen
Abraham, that's been dead for eight or nine hundred years? We know now that You're a devil."
He said, "Before Abraham was, I AM." There He is. Who was the I AM? A perpetual Name for all
generation. That was the... that Pillar of Fire in the burning bush, "I AM THAT I AM." There He
was, that Theophany met here, called the Son of God, the I AM, the Jehovah.
Thomas said, "Lord, show us the Father. It'll satisfy us."
Said, "I been so long with you, you don't know Me?" Said, "When you see Me, you see the
Father. Why say, 'Show us, Thou, the Father'? I and the Father are One. My Father dwelleth in
Me. I'm just a tabernacle called the Son. The Father dwells in Me. Not Me that doeth the works, it's
My Father that dwelleth in Me. He doeth the works, not Me"
Now, standing back there, again, Moses seen Him, the hind part of Him, said, "Looked like the
back of a man," the Logos that went from God.
Then what happened? This was God. And the reason He had become from Logos to flesh...
What? How do you... What happened to that? Five minutes before that, He was a... He was the
Logos. But what did He do? He just reached over...
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The Book of Hebrews
Now, our bodies are made out of sixteen different elements of the world. We know that. It's made
out of potash, and--and a--and a little calcium, and--and petroleum, and cosmic light, and atoms,
and so forth. All bundled together, and makes this body, comes from the dust of the earth. You eat
food. As you eat the food, that turns into... from the dust, and it come from the dust, and it just--just
goes right on. Your flesh, as far as your flesh, is no different from a horse, or from a cow, or
anything else. It's still just flesh.
And, boy, you glorify the flesh; but that spirit has a soul in there, my brother. That's right. But your
flesh is just dust of the earth, like the animal. Your flesh is no more than an animal. And if you lust
after the flesh and the thing you see, lust after women, lust after all these different things, it's still
animal. That's right. That's right. You shouldn't do it. The Spirit of God will lead you on and put you
on a higher plain than that. That's exactly right.
Now, and here, this great Theophany standing there. What? That great Jehovah God, you know
what He said? He just reached over and got a handful of atoms, got a little light, and poured it in
him like this, went, "Whew," a body, and just stepped right into it. That's all.
Said, "Come here, Gabriel," that great Archangel. Went, "Whew." "Step in that."
"Come here, Michael," the Angel at His right side. "Whew." For the... "You step in that."
God, and two Angels, walked down here in human flesh, and drank the milk from a cow, eat the
butter out of the milk, and eat some corn bread, and eat the flesh of the calf. Two Angels and God.
The Bible said so. That's Melchisedec, that Abraham met, coming from the slaughter of the kings.
That's the Son of God.
Go ahead, here in the Hebrews, the 7th, said, "But made in the order of like unto the Son of God."
There He is. He made all things by Him. And He walked right out there, and just changed that dust
right back to dust again, and stepped right back into Glory.
And the Angels, as soon as They delivered Lot and Mrs. Lot, and she kept looking back. He said,
told them not to do it again. And They stepped right back into in to--to the Presence of God.
Now, what a great hope we have, this great Faith that we serve tonight! The living God, the
Jehovah, the Pillar of Fire, is with us. Shows Himself in power, and action, and magnify. Let them
take the Picture of Him, the same Jehovah. The Son of God that came from God, went back to
God, and dwells in His Church forevermore. There He is.
He has our names on His Book, with a sworn oath by Himself, for there's no one greater He can
swear by, that He'll raise us up in the last day. "He that eats My Flesh, and drinks My Blood, has
everlasting Life, and I'll raise Him up at the last day. He that cometh to Me, I will in no wise cast
out. He that heareth My Word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting Life, and shall
never come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto Life."
That same One could just reach and grab a handful of calcium and potash, go, "Whew," and there
you are again. And my name is on His Book. Oh! Oh! Oh! What do I care how stooped my
shoulders are getting, how old I get? Certainly not. Not a bit of worry.
Brother Mike, one of these days, bless your heart, brother, when that great trumpet will come, that
sound, and that Joseph will step forth. Hallelujah! He will say, "Children!" "Whew." There you'll be,
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The Book of Hebrews
made in His likeness; young forever, old age is passed away; sickness, troubles, sorrows has
vanished. Glory be to the living God!
That's Who He speaks through, today, His Son. "In Sundry times and divers manner He spoke
through the prophet, but in this last day through His Son, Christ Jesus." He speaks to every man's
heart that He has called. If you've ever felt His Voice or heard Him knock at your heart, please
don't turn It away.
Let us pray.
Heavenly Father, tonight, as we're so happy to know, at the opening of this Hebrew Letter, how
Paul went right back into the Gospels. He just wouldn't take it upon a hear-say or upon an
experience. He wanted us to know what was Truth. And he went right back into the Gospels, and
he... back into the Old Testament, the Gospel that was preached to them. And he seen, through
the Old Testament there, all the shadows and types. That's why we got this great Book of the
Hebrews tonight. And we see It, Lord, and we love It. And through ages, It's been burned, It's been
scattered, It's been tried to be done away with, but She waves on just the same. For Thou hast
said, "Heavens and earth shall pass away, but My Words shall not."
Then the skeptic would say, "Well, you said, 'Paul wrote this.'" Not Paul, but God that was in Paul;
that creative Being that was inside of Paul.
Just like was in David, when he said, "I'll not suffer my Holy One to see corruption, neither will I
leave His soul in hell." And the Son of God taken those Words from that prophet, and went right
into the bosoms of hell. And said, "Tear down this tabernacle, and I'll raise It up in three days."
And He did it, because God's Word can't fail. One iota can't fail. How we thank God for this, this
great Urim Thummim, and to know that our experiences tonight, Lord, flashes right on this Bible
here! We're born again, have the Holy Spirit.
Dear God, if there be a man or woman in here tonight, boy or girl, who has never witnessed this,
how could they raise up if there's no Life in there? Oh, they say, "I have Life."
But the Bible said, "She that liveth in pleasure is dead while she is alive." You say you have Life,
but you're dead. "You claim," said the Bible, "that you have Life, but you're dead. Thou say you are
rich and have need of nothing; but not know that you're miserable, and poor, and naked, and blind,
and don't know it." And that is the condition of the churches tonight, Lord. How they miss these
great, valuable things.
To know that the great Jehovah God, Who can only produce by... He said, "Bring me those little
fish." He had to take the fish to--to make something with it. Showing, that the resurrection had to
be something, to do something with. He not only made fish, but he made cooked fish; He cooked
bread. And He fed five thousand with five little fish, little loaves and two fishes. O Lord, it was in
His hands, and He was the Creator. But He had to have something in His hand.
God, may we lay ourselves in His hands, tonight, and say, "O God, take me as I am. And when the
end of my life is here, let me go with this hope that was within me, knowing I been born again, and
Your Spirit has bore record with me, and witnessed with my spirit, that I'm Your Son, or Your
Daughter." And at that last day, You'll raise them up. Grant it, Father.
And while we have our heads bowed, would there be one would raise your hand, say,
"Remember me, Brother Branham, in prayer. I want God to know me when... 'fore I leave this
earth, that He will know me so much that He will call my name. I'll answer." The Lord bless you
son. God bless you, and you; and you, lady. Someone else? Just raise your hand. Say, "Pray for
me, Brother Branham." That's what we'll do. God bless you, young lady. That's good.
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The Book of Hebrews
Now, while your head is bowed, praying, I'm going to sing a verse of this song.
Covet not this world's vain riches,
That so rapidly decay,
Build your hopes on things Eternal,
They will never pass away.
Hold to God's unchanging hand.
While she is playing now, and your head bowed, will you just reach your hand up, say, "Yes, Lord,
here is mine"? What will it do? It'll show your spirit, in you, made a decision. "I want your hand,
Lord." God bless you, little girlie. "I'll raise my hand." God bless you, little girl, down here. That's
fine, honey. God, you know, is happy to see you do that. "Suffer the little children to come to me."
"I want, God, You to hold my hand. And at that day, I want to be in Your hand; that, when You
call, I'll come." Yes, like Lazarus was. God bless you, sister.
When our journey is completed,
If to God you have been true,
Fair and bright your home in Glory,
Your enraptured soul shall view.
What will you do now, then?
Heavenly Father, several hands went up, in this little meeting, tonight, that they want to take a
hold, tonight, of Your unchanging, Eternal hand. Knowing that what is committed to You... You
said, "I... All the Father has given Me will come to Me, and none of them will be lost. And I'll raise
them up at the last day. Can never perish, can never come to judgment, but has Eternal, Eternal
Life." And there's only one Eternal Life. That comes from God, alone. It is God. And we become
part of God, so much that we're sons and daughters of God. When we have God's Spirit in us, we
think like God. We think of righteousness and holiness, and we try to live to please Him.
Grant, Lord, that that type of Life will enter every person that raised their hand. And those who
should have raised their hands, and did not, I pray that You'll be with them. Grant it, Father. And
when journey is ended, life is finished, may we enter into peace at that day, with Him, where we'll
never be old, never be sick, never be no trouble. Until then, keep us joyful and happy, praising
Him, for we ask it in His Name. Amen.
All you believers, now, let's just raise our hands and sing that chorus.
Now let's hum it. [Brother Branham begins humming Hold To God's Unchanging Hand--Ed.]
While you're doing that, your neighbor; you say, "God bless you, neighbor." Shake hands with
somebody setting next to you. "God bless you." On both sides now. On both sides, shake hands.
"God bless you, neighbor. God be with you." Build your hopes on things Eternal.
Doc, I know it's there, brother. I know you've been there, Brother Neville, long ago.
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The Book of Hebrews
When this journey is completed,
Going to happen, one of these days.
If to God we have been true,
We'll see Brother Seward there.
Bright and bright, your home in Glory,
Your enraptured soul shall view.
I like that worship, after the message.
Time is filled with swift transition,
Naught of earth unmoved shall stand,
Hold...
Let us catch a view of Him, that unseen One in the midst now, and just worship Him now as we
sing.
Peace! Peace! Wonderful peace,
Just worship Him now.
Coming down...
The message is over. It's worship.
Sweep over our spirit forever, I pray,
In the fathomless billows of love.
Just bathe in Him.
Peace! Peace! Wonderful peace,
Coming down from...
That great Fountain, It's opening up.
... above;
Doesn't that just do something?
Wonderful peace,
Coming down from our Father Above;
Isn't there something about It, just rich and sweet?
And wonder if there's a sick person wants to be anointed and prayed for. If there is, just find your
place. This is the lady in the wheel chair there? Just let her remain. I'll come, pray for her. She
won't have to get up from the chair. Another? All right.
Oh, don't you just love this part of the service? How many feel, just know that the Presence of God
is here? That's what I talk about. That same... You just feel like... How many feels like you could
just scream out? Now let's just see. Just feels like something, you could, wants to scream out.
See?
It's peace! Peace! Wonderful peace,
Coming down from the Father Above;
Sweep over my spirit forever, I pray,
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The Book of Hebrews
Shine on me,
While we're in worship, we're going to anoint the sick now, and pray for them. Won't you come
right this way, lady?
What does this mean? "The prayer of faith shall save the sick." Everybody in prayer now, just
hum that song. Think of Jesus healing the sick. Anoint her in oil.
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The Book of Hebrews
HEBREWS CHAPTER TWO - PART 1
Branham Tabernacle
JEFFERSONVILLE.IN SUNDAY 57-0825M
Was here in the class and enjoyed the... [Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.] And now the first Book of
Hebrews, is Paul, we found, or we believe. The theologians are at end; they don't know just which,
or who wrote It. But, I believe, anyone with a little spiritual discernment would see it was Paul. It's-it's believed, by the most of the writers, to be Paul. And how that he...
In the 1st chapter, we found that it was exalting the Lord Jesus. Oh, how he brought down, to
show by the--by the experience that he had had on his road to Damascus. Now, Paul was, to
begin with, a real theologian. Paul was taught under Gamaliel, one of the best teachers of that
day. And he was smart and intelligent, and was a real shrewd Bible scholar.
And I found this, when he was on his road down to Damascus, with letters in his pocket, to arrest
all those that were in the blessed old Gospel way, and the man was sincere. But, I've always
believed that since Paul seen Stephen die, I think that must have got right next to him. When he
consented to Stephen's death, and held the coats of those who stoned him, then Paul was guilty
of the blood of Stephen. And he confessed, and said, "I'm not even worthy," said, "because I shed
the blood of His--of His, the martyr, Stephen. Cause, he witnessed to it.
And if you witness to anything, you're just as guilty as being a partaker of it. So if we witness, say,
"Oh, yes, they oughtn't to have done this, this so-and-so." Be careful what you say, because
you're guilty the way your judgment goes. If you can't decide, don't say nothing, just leave it alone.
Then when you testify that you are a Christian, then you're guilty. See? You're guilty of being a
Christian, and you must live to that. And when God makes a--a promise in the Bible... I see a man
here in a wheel chair. When God makes a Promise, He's guilty of that Promise unless He brings It
to pass. God is guilty when He makes a Promise. And the Scriptures are guilty until they are
fulfilled. See? They're--they're right there as a--as a statement that God has made. And It's got to
be fulfilled or God is guilty. See?
And so Paul, being a teacher, and coming on his road down to Damascus that day, about, long
about noon time, I suppose. There was a great Light shined out of the Heavens, and It blinded
him, and he--he fell to the earth. And he said he wanted to know Who it was. He said a voice
spoke, and said, "Saul, Saul, why persecuteth thou Me?" I believe the 8th chapter of Acts.
He said, "Who is It that I persecute?"
And the Voice came back, and said, "I'm Jesus." Oh! "I am Jesus, and it's hard for you to kick
against the pricks." And what was Jesus then? Jesus, He was the Light, just a big Light shining
bright.
Now to encourage us and get a basis here. How was He a Light, when He was a Man? Now, no
one...
There was a bunch of soldiers with Paul, temple guards, going down to put under arrest. Paul was
the chief captain. And they were going down to arrest those people, for their campaigns and so
forth, and for their religious hope that laid within them.
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The Book of Hebrews
But, now, here was Jesus as a big Light. Now, if you remember, in the beginning, Jesus was a
Light. Jesus was the Logos that went out of God. And He was the... He was the Angel of the
Covenant that led the children of Israel through the wilderness. And He was the Pillar of Fire that
they looked at. And He was... And when He was here on earth, He said, "I came from God, and I
go back to God." So if He came from a Pillar of Fire, into a Man, then if He went back to where He
was, He went back to a Light again. And there He was when Paul saw Him, He was a Light.
Now, all those soldiers that was with Paul did not see the Light. Then is it possible that one can
see It and the others won't see It? Certainly. All right. He, Paul, saw It, but the rest of them did not
see the Light.
Now, when Peter was in prison, we find out this Light came in the jail, opened up the doors. And
he was... That Light blinded the rest of the guards, as they walked out, Peter going. And when he
got to the door, it just opened itself, quietly, closed behind him. From the inner jail, he went to the
outer door. It opened by its own self, closed quietly. And then he went to the gap, went out into the
city street. And he rubbed his eyes, as if to say, "Was I dreaming?" He didn't know what had
happened. But, the Angel of the Lord, the same Angel that was the Pillar of Fire that walked
Moses to the sea and spread her forth, oh, and the Dead Sea... the Red Sea walled up on both
sides, and Israel passed over.
And when they come to the swelling Jordan, He did not make Hisself visible there. But He was
there, 'cause He just opened it up. And they went across in April, when the plains are all full of the
water. And He stayed the spring, and He stayed the snow from melting, 'cause it didn't wall higher
and higher; it just stopped. That's our Jehovah. That's our Lord Jesus. Just stopped; and they
walked across on dry land.
Now, God promised that He would take care of them, so He was obligated to His Promise. Now,
Paul, ware of these things, and knowing them, he was privileged, because God was speaking
directly to Paul. He wasn't speaking to the soldiers that was with him. He was only speaking to
Paul.
Now, when the--when the Angel of the Lord came down, in the form of a star; and the star-gazers,
the wise men of India, when, they saw that Star and followed It for hundreds of miles. And It went
over every observatory, 'cause they kept the time by the stars. And no one saw that Star but the
wise men. Oh, my! Doesn't that thrill you? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.]
Then, you see, God doesn't deal with organizations. He doesn't deal with groups of people. He
deals with individuals. He reveals Himself to individuals. And now--now to say this, not this... God
knows my heart. And not to say this for own person, personal praise, now; just to be there. But, did
you know, that same God, that same Jesus, is with us this morning? Do you know, each one of
you has a little, individual witness of it right now, that He's here? And is... He's done something for
us in this day that He didn't do in the other days; He had His Picture taken in this day. We got It
hanging right there. See? The Pillar of Fire, the same Lord Jesus.
Watch how He works now. If He's the same Lord Jesus, He will do the same things, for the Bible
said, "He is the same yesterday, today, and forever."
Now, before Paul would announce anything, whether this was right or wrong, he first went down
into Egypt and spent three years, to find out if it was Scriptural or not. Did you ever know that?
After Paul's conversion, he went to Egypt for three years. There he abode, and there is where he
learned this great wisdom.
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The Book of Hebrews
Now, not in any comparison at all, I'm just giving you how the Holy Spirit still remains the same.
Now, my church here remembers, years ago, when this Angel would appear and would show
things. I was a little skeptic of It. All of you know that, you old-timers. If you... If that's right, raise up
your hand, when you've heard. Yeah. Look, look at the church, yet, from the old-timers. See? I
was skeptic, because preachers told me It was of the Devil. And I kind of believed it, but I waited. I
wouldn't say nothing about It.
But, oh, blessed be the Name of the Lord! One night, yonder, He come down, an Angel, and
revealed It in the Scriptures, that He was. And when I seen It in the Scriptures, then to blast across
the world with It, the Message.
From there has went Oral Roberts, A. A. Allen, Tommy Osborne, Tommy Hicks, and what more.
See? It's a Message to the people.
And Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Is Scripturally, He's the same. He does the
same. He is the Same. And He works the same. He manifests Hisself the same. And He's here,
this morning, the same. Now we may see Him; we may not. Whatever it is, we got a witness right
now that He's here.
Now, we find now that, Paul, upon this experience, and writing these letters, most of them, from
jail, he had compared the Old and New Testament. Now remember, the last writer of this Bible, by
inspiration, God came down and told him, "If any man shall add anything to It or take anything
away from It, the same will be taken out of the part of the Book of Life, for him." So we'd be
daresn't to add one thing to It. Oh, It must stay as It is, mustn't be anything added to It. And we
must contend for everything that's in It. I don't want any more, and I don't want any less. I want just
what It says.
Now, this Book of Hebrews, the reason I've chose It; one purpose, one thing; this letter, "Dear
Brother Branham," and so forth. And, I--I, we want to stay with the Word.
Now, the 1st chapter, was exalting of Jesus, so He's the main One. And Paul let us know, the
other night, that He was in the great beginning. And we found out that He was nothing less than
"Melchisedec, the King of Salem," the Great of the 7th chapter.
And now, this morning, we approach Him from another, another standpoint, from the 2nd chapter.
Now, after Paul giving us this great, marvelous Message, of exalting Jesus, "And even made the
Angels to worship Him." And I think, over here, like the order types old, "And He will fold it as a
vesture, but they shall perish, but Thou remaineth."
And over in the 2nd chapter, the 2nd verse, I believe it is, "Has He these days spoken to us by His
Son." And, look, "Sundry times and divers manner He spoke by the prophets." We went through
and found out what the prophets was, and how God brought His Message by the prophets. "But in
this last day He's spoken through His Son, Jesus, by the Holy Spirit. He spoke through the
prophets, then." Then we got back and found out, all those prophets had the Spirit of Christ in
them.
We went back to Joseph and found out he perfectly typed Christ. Went back to Moses and found
he perfectly typed Christ. Then we come down then to even David. And when David was rejected
in Jerusalem, not knowing why, but went up over the hill and looked back on the Mount of Olives,
and wept over Jerusalem because he was rejected. Eight hundred years from then, the Son of
David was rejected as King, in Jerusalem, and set on the same hill and wept. Oh, the Spirit of
Christ, dealing with individuals!
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The Book of Hebrews
Now, Paul starts off, to say:
Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard,...
2nd chapter, now, we're starting.
Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest... any
time we should let them slip.
Oh, may God drive that home in this tabernacle this morning. I pray the Holy Spirit will sink that so
deep into your hearts. "We ought to give the most earnest heed to the things which we've heard."
What type of people ought we to be, when we see the great Jehovah come down and do the
things that He does, and see them compared, Scripture by Scripture, that they're the Truth? And
we sit around sometimes like a warts on a log, and just so unconcerned. We ought to be busy,
every minute, trying to get people to Christ. We ought to be lively stones. We should never be
slothful like we are. We'll go up to church, and we'll see the Lord Jesus do something, or--or bless
us in such a way, and then we'll--we'll go back out and say, "Very nice meeting."
Now, the preaching of the Word, we enjoy it, but that's not the main thing. That's not. We should
not worship the Lord just after we get through preaching the Word, as we usually do, just worship
Him. That's wonderful. But we should worship Him every hour of our life. When we're at work, we
should worship Him. Every time the opportunity presents itself, worship the Lord by testifying of
Him.
If you see, some of you ladies, see a woman in the wrong, worship the Lord by taking her and
saying, "Sister, there's a better life than this."
You men at your work, when you hear a man using the Name of the Lord in vain, get a chance to
one side and slip over, and take him by the hand, and say, "You, there's a better life than this. You
shouldn't use those words." And tell him in a meek, gentle way. All those things is a worship.
And when we see someone sick, and the doctor says there's no more can be done, we ought to
worship the Lord by telling them, "There's a God of Heaven that answers prayer."
And then when we see those things take place, that we do see take place enough, we should
never let these things slip. We just let it go through our fingers. That's what's the matter with the
great Pentecostal church today. They've let the very cream of the crop slip through their fingers,
when they had it in their hands. But, look what they done, they done like the rest the churches.
"They've run in the gain, in the way of Korah, and perished; and the way of Cain, and perished in
the gainsaying of Korah."
They've organized. Instead of having a brotherhood where we could all be one, they've organized
themselves. Made little organizations and little isms, and sprung up from there and just broke up
brotherhood. And if you don't watch, the Baptist and Presbyterians going to pick it up, 'cause, "God
is able of these stones to rise children to Abraham." And we've--we've let it slip away from the
hands by being disunified.
How did the Indians lose this country to the white man? Is because they were disunified. If they
had made one big forefront... But they were fighting one among each other. They would have held
their grounds if they'd have all come together.
How are we going to lose it? Because we're disunified. How we lose our experience with God, is
because we disunify. We set up one, and call this the--the Methodist, and this the Baptist, and this
the Assemblies, and this the Oneness, and this the something-else, and the church of God, and
the Nazarene, the Pilgrim Holiness. We disunify the Body of Christ. We should never be divided.
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The Book of Hebrews
We might differ in ideas, but let's be heart-in-heart brothers. God wants us to be. He died for the
entire Church of God. And we do not want to be disunified.
Now we ought to give the most earnest heed... lest any time we should let them slip.
For if the word spoken by angels were stedfast,...
You hear It? "If the word spoken by the angels..." Now, angel is the "messenger." The word angel
means the "messenger." And just got through, in the 1st book here, "God, in sundry times and
divers manner, spoke to the fathers by the prophets." That was God's messengers. And they
were--they were God's messengers. They were God's angels. A messenger is an angel; or an
angel is the messenger, rather.
A messenger! You are a messenger, this morning. You're... You are a messenger of good news
or a messenger of bad news. Oh, isn't it beautiful, to know that we are ambassadors, that we are
angels, the messengers of the resurrection? And we are God's messengers to the sinful world,
that Christ lives. In our hearts, He lives. In our spirits, He lives. And He brings us from the low
debauched life of sin, and exalts us up, and gives us a "hallelujah" in our soul, and makes us new
creatures. We are messengers, angels of the Covenant. How wonderful!
And now, in the Old Testament, "If--if the word spoken by angels were steadfast," that way it had
to be right. In the Old Testament, before a prophet's word could be made manifest, it had to be
examined and proved. They wasn't loose with it, like we are today.
Just go out and have any kind of a sensation, or anything else, "Oh, glory to God, that's it!" You're
mistaken.
The Bible said, that, "In the last days, the Devil will impersonate Christianity, so close, till it'll
deceive the very Elected if possible." That's right. So, we must test it.
And how did they test it in their day? To the Urim Thummim. The breastplate of Aaron, that had
those stones in it: carbuncle, jasper, diamond, ruby, sapphire. All those stones, that represent the
birth of these twelve patriarchs, was in the breastplate of Aaron. And when a prophet prophesied,
and that sacred Light flashed over it, God said, "That is the Truth." But, no matter how real it
seemed, if it didn't flash on that, it wasn't the Truth. So, that Urim Thummim went with that
priesthood.
But this Bible is God's Urim Thummim today. And when a prophet prophesies, it must absolutely
flash with the Bible. Then, God says, then He comes down and proves It.
Oh, how I can glorify God today! I'm thinking back of another Sunday morning, about like this,
when I was leaving the tabernacle. And you people were weeping and asking me not to go. But,
when, I preached on David and Goliath, and how you going to face that cold, indifferent world that
says the days of miracles is past.
I said, "There's one big giant, and as soon as we can slay him, the rest of them will take courage."
And the Lord granted that. And then there was an Oral Roberts and a Jaggers, and so forth, pulled
the Sword, and we fought the enemy out of the land, shut their mouths. They can't say that
miracles don't happen, 'cause here they are. Sure. God's Word is Eternal. It flashed on the Urim.
Flashed on the Word, that's His Urim Thummim. And when it flashed on That, it was positive.
And to anybody that's needy, if you're a sinner, you want to know how to get saved, "Believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ."
Today, we got so many things you have to do. "Have to turn new pages. You have to do this and
do that, in order to get saved."
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The Book of Hebrews
I think of the Philippian jailer, when this jailer asked Paul, "What must I do to be saved?"
It'd been you or I, we'd have told him the things he ought not to do. "You ought to quit drinking.
You ought to quit your gambling, your gambling. "You ought to quit this. You ought to quit that."
Paul never told him that. He just told him the things he ought to do. "Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, and thou shall be saved."
Now, "He that heareth My Words and believeth on Him that sent Me has everlasting Life." That's
the Urim Thummim flashing, Saint John 5:24. "I'm the Lord that heals all thy diseases." James
5:14, "Call the elders, anoint in oil, prayer of faith shall save the sick." The Urim flashing. See?
That's God's Eternal Word.
I don't care how many atheotic, infidelic, agnostics, skeptics rise up. God will stand by His Word.
He promised He would do it.
"And we ought to give the more earnest heed to these things which we've heard, lest any time we
let them slip. For if the word spoken by angels (the prophets) were steadfast..." Were they? We
could spend a week on this.
Was it steadfast when Moses spoke? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.] It sure was.
How about Elijah, setting up on top of the mountain? The Lord told him, "Get up there, Elijah. I'll
stay there with you; want some fellowship." God likes to fellowship with His people. But we won't
stand still long enough for Him to fellowship with us. We're so busy skipping about, from place to
place, and so much. "Set still, Elijah." He wanted three years and six months of fellowship. We
can't give Him three minutes, hardly. Three years and six months of constant fellowship. Oh, I love
that! Said, "Don't worry about the cooking; we'll have that already fixed up. The crows is going to
feed you. And everything is going to be all right. I just want some fellowship." This old prophet,
Elijah, setting up there on top the mountain.
While he was fellowshipping with God, why, the captain said, "I believe I'll go up and get him."
Now, don't you never try to break that fellowship.
So, the captain come up, with his great army of men, of fifty. And he said, "I--I--I come to take
you, Elijah."
And Elijah stood up. Watch out, here's the prophet of the Lord! He said, "If I be a servant of the
Lord, let fire come from heaven and devour you." And down come the fire. The captain said...
"Oh, you know what?" The king, rather, said, "That was probably a--a thunderbolt, just some
lightning just passing over, and it struck them. I'll send another fifty."
Elijah stood up, one of the angels. His word is steadfast. He had to be a just recompense for
everything that was done wrong. He said, "If I be a servant of the Lord, let fire come." And the
second fifty burned. All right. Every recompense!
For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedient received
a just recompense...
Now, here is the great thing, the next verse.
How shall we escape,...
"How shall we escape?" If Elijah's voice brought destruction, because he was an angel of the
Lord, how will we escape when the Voice of Christ speaking through? Or, how can we fail when
you're prayed for, if It's the Voice of Christ? If Christ ordained His Church to pray for the sick, and
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The Book of Hebrews
the Church does what He says He... for them to do, then how can It ever fail? It can't. You can fail,
but It can't fail. And as long as you keep It, It'll take you through.
If you fail, you failed by yourself. You just get away from the Word. But as long as you stay with
the Word, It can't fail. For the word of the prophets did so-and-so, how much more will the Word of
Christ be?
How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which is at the first begin to be spoken unto
us by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;
Think of It, spoken by the Lord. How many times could we go back? Where could we stop, right
here for an hour? When Jesus came, He's the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Now, remember, first begin to be spoken by Jesus, Himself, and then was confirmed by the ones
that heard Him. Now listen at Him.
When He came to the earth, He didn't claim to be a healer. He said, "It's not Me that doeth the
works; It's My Father that dwelleth in Me. He doeth the works. The Son can do nothing in Himself,
but what He sees the Father doing," Saint John 5:19.
Watch when Philip came to Him. Nathaniel... After Philip's conversion, he went over and got
Nathaniel. Said, "Come, see Who we found: Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of Joseph."
And he said, "Could there be any good thing come from Nazareth?"
Said, "Come, see." That's the way to be convinced: prove It. Come and see. Oh, that's the best I
ever heard. Come and find out for yourself. Don't stand out and criticize on the side line, But,
"Prove all things, and hold fast to that what's good. Come and see.
Along the road they went, talking. When he walked up in the presence of the Lord Jesus, He said,
"Behold an Israelite in whom there's no guile."
It took all the skin off of him, nearly. He looked around, said, "Well, Rabbi, when did You ever
know me? You never did see me. How do You know me?" Philip said...
"Before, when he call..." Said, "Before Philip called you, yesterday, when you were under the fig
tree, I saw you." Amen.
He said, "Thou art the Son of God. You're the King of Israel."
A woman walked into His Presence, and He said, "Go, get your husband."
She said, "I have none."
Said, "That's right. You got five, and the one you're now living with is not yours. You told the
truth." Think of it.
She said, "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. That, we know that when the Messiah cometh
He will tell us all things."
He said, "I am He, that speaks to you."
And she run and told the men of the city, "Come, see a Man Who told me all that I did. Isn't this
the Messiah?" It was spoken by the Lord.
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The Book of Hebrews
What happened? Jesus said, before He left, "The things that I do, shall you also." That right?
[Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.] The things that I do shall you do also, even more than this, for I
go to the Father." Oh, I can see them as they went forth, everywhere. Mark 16, "Went forth
everywhere, preaching; the Lord working with them, confirming the Word."
And here, Paul, giving the same thing. He said that the--the Gospel begin to be preached by
Jesus, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him. That's the Foundation Stone. Oh,
blessed be the Name of the Lord! That's the Foundation Stone.
And to think, two thousand years has passed. Athiests has raised, and infidels, and skeptics, and
agnostics. But, today, that same Jesus confirms His Word in the same manner by those who hear
Him. "Hear Him," don't mean just to hear a sermon. That mean, hear Him. Yes.
How shall we escape? Where is our escape? Oh, you say, "Bless God, I belong to the Methodist
church. I'm a Presbyterian. I'm a Pentecostal." That doesn't have one thing to do with It. And you
get on a side-line and want to call It "spiritualism, or some mental telepathy, or some devil," or
something. Shame on them!
"If every word was steadfast by the angels..." Jesus said, "It's not... Little while, and the world
won't see Me no more. Yet, ye shall see Me, for I'll be with you, even in you, to the end of the
age." And when we see Him come down, to continue to confirm His Word, how shall we escape if
we sucker to some church, or some organization, or denomination, or some little pet theory of our
own? You better turn loose. "For every sin received a just recompense under the angels, how
much more when the Son of God is speaking from the Heavens, to make manifest His Word! How
shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation?" Oh, my! "God also..."
4th verse:
God also bearing them witness,...
Watch this. The Lord bore witnesses. Oh, I am so happy for that! The Lord bore the witness.
Look. When Elijah set on the hill, and he said, "If I be a man of God, let the fire fall from Heaven
and consume you." God bore witness that he was a man of God.
God always bears witness. Your life will bear witness. I don't know what your testimony is, but your
life speaks so loud, your voice can't be heard. But, your--your living, your every-day life will testify
what you are. God bears witness. Yes. The Holy Spirit is a seal, and a seal takes both sides of the
paper. They see you standing here and see you when you go away. Not only in church but at
every-day work. You're sealed on both sides, inside and outside. By the joy that you have, and by
the life that you live, you're sealed, in and outside, that you know you're saved and the world
knows you're saved, by the life that you live, for God bears witness. Blessed be His Holy Name!
My, I feel religious!
Think of it, brethren, there. Oh! "My sheep hear My Voice, and a stranger they won't follow." Oh,
how that our names are on the palms of His hands! It's before Him, day and night. His Word is
always before Him, His Promise. He can't forget it. And He loves you.
Now, He will bear witness of His own. You don't open your mouth and say a word, the world will
know something has happened to you.
... bear witness, both by signs and wonders, and by divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost,
according to his own will?
Let us take just one Scripture now before closing; on the Day of Pentecost, when they received
the Holy Spirit. About four days later, Peter had passed through the gate called Beautiful; he and
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The Book of Hebrews
John. They said, "Look on us," to a man. And he said, "Silver and gold have I none, but such as I
have I'll give you. In the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk." And the man looked
up and never questioned nothing about it. He just stood up and went walking. They were ignorant
and unlearned men. But the Bible said, "They had to take heed to them, for they knew they had
been with Jesus."
Brother, when the world knows that you've been with Jesus, when you can live such an
unadulterated life in this present world and in this darkness, that the world knows and can see that
you've been with Jesus; when a rugged, old vulgar prostitute of the street can become a lady,
washed in the Blood of the Lamb; God is bearing witness that He lives.
Take a drunkard, who is so low down that he would run around on his wife, that he would mistreat
his children, and take the food from the table, to spend on a prostitute. Let him get with Jesus
once. You'll see him returning, like Legion, who was in his right mind and clothed, to his babies
and to his wife and to his loved ones. Certainly.
Some time ago, about forty years ago, when the religions of the world met, and the different ones
got up and spoke. And the Mohammedan spoke for the Mohammedan religion. The Jains spoke
for the Jains; the Buddhist for the Buddha. And the little doctor, I forget what his last name was,
just at this time. I did know his name, but I have forgotten it. He spoke to represent Christianity.
And he told the story of Lady Maccabee of Oklahoma, in America.
She was so ornery and so low-down, till even when they went to kill her, they wouldn't even put
their hands on her, she was so vulgar and vile. They had her arrested on a charge: smoking a
cigar; driving a stagecoach; and broke the--the--the laws, the records in Oklahoma, when she
passed through the street, driving four head of horses. And she was so vile and so dirty until
society wouldn't even get around where she was at; so much, till when the executors was going to
execute her, they wouldn't hang her. They just poured tar and feathers on her, to kill her.
And when this little preacher give her story, in such a way, till he had the people setting on the end
of their seats, listening what would be next. When he got down to that: very vile, dirty, low-down,
till the laws wouldn't even want to fool with her, she was so low. The very Devil in hell would reject
such a person, nearly, the way he told the story. Then he said, "Gentlemen, of the religions of the
world, has your religion got anything that would clean the hands of Lady Maccabee?"
Everybody set still. Then he clapped his hands together, and jumped up in the air. He said, "Glory
be to God! The Blood of Jesus Christ won't only clean her hands, but It'll clean her heart and make
her His Bride." Tell you:
Amazing grace! how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now I'm found,
I was blind, but now I see.
It's grace that taught my heart to fear,
It was grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed!
Certainly. "How shall we escape, if we neglect such?" You neglect to eat, you'll die. You neglect
to turn a corner, you'll wreck. You neglect to milk the cow, she'll go dry. You neglect your teeth,
you'll have to have them all pulled out. Certainly. You pay for your neglection.
O Branham Tabernacle and you visitors, let me tell you something now. You neglect to testify of
the glory of God, you neglect to give God the praise and glory, you'll find yourself cold, formal, and
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The Book of Hebrews
backslidden, one of these days. You give God praise. "How shall we escape, if we neglect such a
great salvation?"
Getting late. I just happened to notice, Brother Toms had walked in back there. We'll close and
continue this tonight, the Lord willing.
Let us pray just a moment.
Our Heavenly Father, to Thee be blessings, and praises, and honor, and glory, and wisdom, and
might, and power, for ever and ever. Oh, to that Lamb that set on the Throne, dominions and
kingdoms and everything was given over to His hand. When He raised from the dead, for our
justification, He screamed to the world, "All power in the Heaven and earth is give into My hand.
Go ye, therefore, into all the world and preach the Gospel."
O dear dying Lamb, Thy precious Blood
Shall never lose It's power,
Till all the ransomed Church of God
Be saved, to sin no more.
Help us, as ministers, to seeing that we are requiring so much; how we must have a church, we
must have this, we must have everything.
Our women, before going to church, is yet calling themselves Christians, will have to have a
certain kind of a dress, or have to be dressed so daubly.
And preachers will have to have so much money before they'll come, and everything has to be soand-so.
O Christ, when I read here, "How they wandered about, in sheepskins and goatskins, lived in the
dens of the earth, and caves." They wandered about, under vile persecution, and, yet, obtained
the Faith, under the ministry of angels. How will we escape, when the Lord Jesus has give us fine
homes, and cars, and clothes, and food? And we murmur. We set around. We're lazy. We never
try to get out and do something about it. How will we escape, God?
Oh, I pray that You'll burn old-fashioned conviction into every heart, this morning, Lord, that the
people might be up and at it. Let us work while the daylight is shining, because the sun is swiftly
sinking. And civilization is going, and there'll be no more time. It'll blend into Eternity.
O God, grant today that we go with fresh vision, with wisdom, with understanding, to know how to
approach sinners and bring them to Christ. Hear the prayer of Your servant, Lord.
I ask, if there be any here, that doesn't know Christ as their Saviour, would you raise your hand
and say, "Remember me, Brother Branham"? Would you just raise your hand, say, "Remember
me. I want to be a Christian. I don't want to neglect it any longer"? God bless you, back there, sir.
Someone else? Say, "I want to raise my hand, Brother Branham. And I want to accept Christ, as
my Saviour, I've neglected, all the time. Oh, I go to church, sure, I belong to church."
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The Book of Hebrews
Branham Tabernacle
JEFFERSONVILLE.IN . SUNDAY 57-0825E
Come first, and study the Scriptures, so he could compare it and would see whether it was the
Truth or not. He took it, the Truth, by the Old Testament. Now, Paul was an Old Testament
scholar. How many knows that? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.] He was taught under one of
the best scholars of his day, Gamaliel, outstanding scholar. And Paul knew the Old Testament.
And I think his first shaking, as I said this morning, when he witnessed the death of Stephen.
Something must have got a hold of Paul, because all through his writings he kept referring to it,
"I'm not worthy, because I persecuted the Church unto death. I'm the least among them."
Oh, but God had a different thought of it. He was one of the mightiest men of the day.
See Saint Paul, the great apostle
With his robe so bright and fair, (the poet said)
Oh, there is sure to be some shouting
When we all meet There.
That great Day when I see him receive a martyr's crown, a martyr reward!
I stood, with a little old pen, here not long ago, where he wrote these Letters. And then they
chopped his head off. And pitched him over into the sewer, to wash down the sewer. And this little
Jew there, he said, "I bear in my body the marks of Jesus Christ. I've fought with beasts at
Ephesus, but I've fought a good fight. I've finished the course. I've kept the Faith. And henceforth,
there is laid up for me a crown of righteous, that the Lord, the righteous Judge will give me at that
Day. And not only me, but all who loves His appearing." How I love that! Oh, I want to be
numbered with those! We used to sing a song:
Oh, would you be numbered as one of His fold?
Would you be numbered as one of His fold?
Be spotless within, be watching and waiting that sight to behold;
He's coming again.
I want to be one of them. Now the writer goes ahead, saying:
Therefore we ought to give... more earnest heed to the things which we've heard, lest at any time
we should let them slip.
As we taught on that, this morning, 2nd verse deals, "If..."
For if the word spoke by angels...
What do we find the angels to be? Prophets. "God spoke in sundry time..." Now, you have to
make, not our own idea, but the Bible. Now the 1st chapter, of 1st chapter, the 1st verse.
God, who at sundry times... in divers manners spake... to the fathers by the prophets,
Now he goes over here, and say again.
For if the word spoken by angels were steadfast,...
And what does an angel mean? "Messenger." If God anointed messenger..." And then if we be
anointed, we are God's messengers. We are messengers to the world, an ambassador of Heaven,
professing that we are pilgrims and strangers. We're not of this world. But we seek a City to come,
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The Book of Hebrews
whose builder and maker is God. We lay not up treasures on this earth, where thieves break in,
and moths, rust, and corrupt. For, our treasures lays in Heaven, where Jesus sets at the right
hand of the Majesty. Oh, what a glorious and marvelous thing, to know that.
Our hopes are built on nothing less
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness;
When all around my soul gives way,
Then He's all my hope and stay.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other grounds is sinking sand,
All other grounds is sinking sand.
How Eddie Perronet wrote that song, in the times of persecutions!
Now, if the word spoke by angels was steadfast,... (When the messenger of God spoke the Word,
It stood.)... and every reward received a just recompense of reward;
How shall we escape now, if we don't hear Christ, Who speaks from Heaven?
Now watch.
How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation;... (Think of it.)... which in the first begin to
be spoken by the Lord,...
Christ begin His work. What did He do? We watch Him, how He... humble, lowly, how He wasn't a
great noted man as a theologian. But He was humble, meek, gentle. He wasn't a mighty preacher.
His Voice wasn't heard in the street.
But John went forth as a roaring lion. He was a preacher.
Jesus come forth, not as a roaring lion, but God working with Him, confirming the Word. God was
with Christ. Peter said, at the Day of Pentecost, "Ye men of Israel, and you that dwell in Judaea...
Jesus of Nazareth, a Man approved of God among you, by signs and wonders and miracles,
which God did by Him, in the midst of you all, which you all are witnesses." Watch how he pinned
it down on them. "You should have known Him."
Jesus said, "You hypocrites." Said, "You go out and look at the sun, and you... It's red and lower,
and you say, 'It's going to be foul weather.' And if it's bright and sunny, or so forth, you say, 'It's
going to be fair weather.'" Said, "You can discern the sky, but the signs of the time, you cannot
discern. For if you would have known Me, you would know My day."
Oh, what He'd scream tonight. How His Spirit screams through His preachers, "The hour is at
hand!"
We discern. We watch the atomic bombs. We know who is going to take Clark Gables' place, and
who is going to do this, that, or the other; or who will be the vice-president. We're interested in
that, but we cannot discern the signs of the time. We're at the end.
What is it? We're so interested in, "What's the next chapter of television? "What's Susie going to
do?" or what that woman's name is. "And where Arthur Godfrey is going to? What kind of a joke is
he going to pull the next time?" We, as Christian, gam our mind full of such tommyrot, when we
ought to be in prayer somewhere, and study the Bible, to know the signs of the time we're living in.
What does that, of our time, is weak pulpits, that's right, that don't get down and bring the Gospel
Truth. We're going to have to answer for that in the days to come. We must not neglect anything.
And the people, as we are here at this Branham Tabernacle, to see the signs and wonders, and
the power of the resurrected Christ; and then to know that we would place our--our times upon
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The Book of Hebrews
other things, and neglect to hear the Voice of the Lord Jesus, "How shall we escape, if we neglect
such a great salvation?"
The 3rd verse, or the 4th verse. Here is where we ended, on the 4th verse, this morning.
God also bearing them witness,... (Oh, my!)
God... bearing them witness,...
Listen to the Word.
... both with signs... wonders, and with divers miracles,...
What is divers miracles? What is diver? Diver means "many." "With many miracles, God bore
witness." O God! I trust that It'll soak into your hearts. Listen.
I'm one of your pastors, with Brother Neville here. I want you to take It to record. The Bible said,
"If there arise one among you, and he says such-and-such, and it doesn't come to pass, don't hear
it, for I haven't spoken. But if he speaks in My Name, and what he says comes to pass, then hear
It." Amen. "For I am with that prophet, or preacher, whatever it may be. If what he says comes to
pass, then hear him."
Now, friends, let's hear Him, the Holy Spirit speaking in our midst, showing divers miracles, and
signs, and wonders. Let's just not pass over It as just common happenings. Let's remember that
It's Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever; confirming His Word. We must do it. Oh,
please do it. Take heed. Let every other thing be secondary, even your home, your husband, your
wife, your children. Whatever it may be, put it second. Place God first. You say, "Brother Branham,
over my children?" Over anything. Place God first. Let Him be first.
Elijah come off the mountain, one day. He was an angel, a messenger, God's messenger,
anointed. And he found a widow woman picking up two sticks. He said, "Go, bake me a little cake,
and fetch me a little water."
And she said, "As your soul liveth, I have but just enough cakes, or enough wheat dough, to make
one little pancake. And I just have enough oil to go in, to mix it up, for shortening. And I'm picking
up two sticks." The old-fashion way was, it's the Indian way, of crossing the sticks and burning it
from the middle, and keep pushing it in. Made a many a camp fire like it. Said, "And I'm going to
cook that little cake for me and my boy, my baby. And we're going to eat it and die." There had
been a drought for three years and six months, no water nowhere.
That stern, old prophet, looked that woman in the face. He said, "Go, bake me a cake first." What
a command, for a man to tell a widow woman, starving to death, to feed him first. What did he
say? "For THUS SAITH THE LORD, the barrel will never go empty, nor the cruse dry, until God
sends rain on the earth."
First, God. She went in and baked that little cake, and come give it to the prophet. Went right back
and baked another one, and another one, and another, and another. And the barrel never went
empty, or the cruse dry, until God sent rain on the earth. She put God before her children. She put
God before anything else. She taken the Kingdom of God, first.
God must have first place in your heart, first place in your life, first place in everything that you do
or what you are. God must be first. He doesn't want the second place. He doesn't deserve the
second place. He deserves the best, and the first, and all that we've got. He deserves it. Blessed
be His holy Name!
For God also bearing... witness, he gave testimony, both with signs and wonders,... divers
miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?
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The Book of Hebrews
Not what men say, what the church said, but what God's will was. Oh, we need to seek the will of
God, not the favor of your neighbor, not the favor of your children, not the favor of your husband or
your wife. But, seek the will of God, and do that first. Then everything else, the will of the wife and
the will of the children, will fall right in with it. But, place God first.
Watch, now.
For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak.
Otherwise, the great Angels that ministers in the Heavens, Gabriel, Michael, Woodworm, and the
tens of thousands times tens of thousands of Angels of Heaven; or the tens of hundreds of
prophets that's been on the earth, every one of them; He's never put any of them to have control
over the world to come, that we speak of. Not a one! He never said, "Isaiah, you'll control the
world." He never put the world in subjection to Elijah. Neither did He put it to Gabriel, or any angel,
any ministering spirit.
Watch what he said, Paul, still magnifying Christ, whereof we speak.
But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of
man, that thou would visit him?
Thou has made him a little lower than the angels; thou hast crowned him with glory and with
honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hand:
Now, if you want to read that, it's the Psalms 8:4-6, David speaking. Now what did he call David
here? That settles it, right there, whether was right this morning, on the prophet.
He said, "For one of the angels said in a certain place." David, the messenger of God, was an
angel of God, for he was the messenger of God. The angel said, David said, in the Psalms, "Thou
did make Him a little lower than the Angels of Heaven." An angel said that God made Him lower
than an Angel, that He might crown Him; and He might suffer and taste death, to be exalted up
again. That He might make Him the... inherit all the things of the world. [Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.]
Now, in--in Matthew 28:18, we read these. After He had been crucified and rose again on the third
day, he met with His disciples and commissioned them to go into all the world, to preach the
Gospel to every creature. He said, "All powers in Heaven and in earth has been given unto My
hands. All the power in Heaven, all the power in earth, has been given unto Me." What was it?
Man and God had united. The Logos had been made flesh and had been killed, and rose again for
our justification, and was then the anointed Emmanuel forever and forever. God changed His
dwelling place, from a Throne in the spaces yonder, to the heart of His Son, Christ Jesus, to live
and reign forever. "God was in Christ." He's the final resting place of the Spirit.
The Spirit stayed in a tabernacle, one day, you know that, under tent. "And Solomon built Him a
house. But, howbeit, the most High dwelleth not in houses made with hands." "But a body has
Thou made Me."
Over in the Book of Acts, the 7th chapter, when he was speaking, he said, "All of them foresaw It.
They built tent for Him, Moses did, had a tent, and put the ark in there, for God was on the Mercy
Seat. He didn't dwell there." All right.
Then, "A body has thou made Me," the body of the Lord Jesus Christ, made lower than the
Angels to taste death; and none but the very highest of High, Christ; the Prince of Peace, the King
of kings, the Lord of lord, the Creator, every star in the universe.
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The Book of Hebrews
O God! He became lower than His creation, that He might redeem man (homeless, helpless
man), and give them a home in Heaven. He left the glories of Heaven. He left the highest Name
that could be called. And when He was on earth, man give Him the lowest name that they could
give Him, said, "He was an illegitimate baby, to start with." Born in a manger, wrapped in rags off
the back of a yoke of an ox. No place to go, had no home to go to. And was called, "Beelzebub,"
the chief of the devils. He was mistreated. He was spit on. He was made fun of. He was rejected,
and went to the lowest pits, and stooped to "The vilest of prostitutes." That's what man done to
Him.
But God raised Him up so high that He'd have to look down to see Heaven. Man give Him the
lowest seat, give Him the worst place, the lowest name. God raised Him up and give Him the
highest Seat, and the highest Name. That's the difference what man done with the Son of God,
and what God done with the Son of God.
He stooped, that we might be lifted. He become us, that we through His grace might become Him.
He come to the homeless, and became homeless Hisself, that we might have a home. He came to
the sick and was made sick Hisself, that we might be healed. He came to the sinner, "and made
sin, Himself," that we might be saved.
No wonder He was exalted. No wonder He is who He is tonight. God has exalted Him, and all the
powers in Heavens and earth is give to Him.
When His earthly work had been finished, here on earth. He came to the earth, as soon as He
did, the morning star declared Him to be the Son of God. He shook every devil that He come in
contact with. Blessed be the Name of the Lord! Devils trembled and shook, and begged for mercy,
in His Presence. Yes, sir. All hell knowed who He was.
Walked humble, He had not a place to lay His head, on a rainy night. The very animals that He
created, "The birds of the air has nests, and the foxes have dens, but the Son of man doesn't have
a place to lay His blessed head." Sure, He was.
He became sin, became low and forsaken. But the devils knowed who He was. They pleaded for
mercy. They said, "Why do You come to torment us before our time come." And while the
preachers was calling him, "Beelzebub," the fortune teller; the devils was calling Him, "The Son of
the living God," and begging for mercy.
Oh, how we could only stop just a minute! Who are you, anyhow? What does that job you got
mean? Or what does that little house we own mean? What does the car we own mean?
Pretty little girl, you little sassy thing, what does that little look that you have now? You young men
with a shiny, slick hair, straight shoulders; you'll bend down someday, when stooped with age.
But, blessed be the Lord! You've got a soul that's born again. You'll live forever and ever, because
He become you, that you through His grace might become Him, and make a place for you.
Oh, we who think that we got a change of clothes, and a few groceries in the house, what are we?
God could take it in a second. Your very breath holds in His hand. And here in our midst to heal
the sick, to proclaim and profess, and to foretell, and every time perfect. And even concerned
enough to bring a little, dead fish back to its life again, in the midst of us. Jehovah around us,
Jehovah in us, the great and mighty I AM.
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The Book of Hebrews
When He died, they thought they had Him. He ascended into hell. When He left the earth that day
when He was crucified, He went into the regions of the lost. The Bible said, "He went and
preached to the souls that were in prison, that repented not in the long-suffering, the days of
Noah." When He died, and His spirit left Him, He become the Logos again. He, I see, said, "I came
from God. I go back to God."
And God was that Pillar of Fire that led the children in the wilderness. And when He was here on
earth... And when He died, He turned back to a Light again. Paul saw Him, and He was a Light.
None of the rest of them saw Him. They seen Paul fall. Something struck him, and It was a Light.
Paul said, "Who is It that I persecute?"
He said, "Saul, Saul, why persecute thou Me?"
Said, "Who is It?"
He said, "I'm Jesus, that you persecute, and it's hard for you to kick against the pricks."
Then he went and studied that Light. Paul went back in the Bible, to find out what that Light was.
And he wrote this Letter. He's the same Jehovah. That same Light was in the wilderness with the
children of Israel. And when Peter was in the prison, He was a Light that came in and opened the
doors.
And by His grace, so none will have any excuse... Oh, if they could forget the illiterate
messengers, and remember: it's not the messenger, it's the Message. He's come down again, with
us, in a form of a Pillar of Light. And He moves with His same miracles and signs, nothing out of
the Bible; staying right with the Bible, holding it under subjection, bringing out His glory, showing
His power. Blessed be His holy Name!
I know you must think that I'm crazy; but, oh, that blessed Eternal Rest that's in my soul. Though
storms may wave, my anchor holds within the veil.
And to see Him when He died, till, the moon took a nervous prostration. The sun went down in the
middle of the day. And when He went to the regions of the lost, [Brother Branham knocks four
times on the pulpit--Ed.] knocked on the door, and the door swung open. The Bible said, "He
preached to the souls that were in prison, that repented not in the long-suffering in the days of
Noah, after He had deceased on this earth. My brother and my sister, when He deceased, His
earthly work was done, but He was still working. And He is still on the job tonight. Amen.
He knocked at the doors of the lost. The Bible said He did. And He witnessed, "I am the Seed of
the woman. I am He that Adam spoke of. I am the One that Enoch said would come with ten
thousands of His saints. I'm the Son of the living God, and you sinned away your day of grace. But
it was prophesied to you, by the angels, Enoch, Noah, that I must come to fulfill every Word of
God's Bible. I'm here as a witness in this 'land of the lost.'" And He preached to them.
On down into hell He went, right down to the doors of hell, knocked on the door. The Devil opened
the door, said, "I got You now."
Jerked them keys from his side, said, "You Devil, you've held the bluff for a long time." Here it is,
right here in the Bible. I get to it in a minute. "You've held the bluff for a long time, but I come to
take over." Grabbed those keys and kicked him back in, and shut the door.
Come through and picked up Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. On the third day He arose, and those
that slept in the grave arose with Him. Oh, hallelujah! No wonder the poet said:
Living, He loved me; dying, He saved me;
Buried, He carried my sins far away;
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The Book of Hebrews
Rising, He justified freely forever,
Someday He's coming, oh, glorious Day.
Blessed be the tie that binds our hearts with Christian fellowship, the love of God. When He rose,
He wasn't finished, yet. He had some more work to do.
The Bible said, "He ascended on High and give gifts unto men." There was an atmosphere hung
over the earth, of darkness, of gloom, of death, and weary. The prayers couldn't come up,
because the Atonement wasn't made. But, He broke through that veil. He opened up the way. He
broke the veil of sickness. He broke the veil of sin. He broke the veil of weary. He broke the veil of
depressed. He broke every veil, and made a highway for the wayfaring man, walking up the King's
highway. Oh, my, when He passed the moon and the stars, on and on!
Following, behind him, come the Old Testament saints, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They went
right on up into the heavens of Heaven. When they were way away from the City, I can see them
lift up their eyes. Abraham said, "That's the City that I longed to see. Oh, come here, Isaac. Come
here, Jacob. Oh, we were pilgrims and strangers of the earth, but there's the City. There's the One
we've waited on."
And the Bible said they screamed, "Lift up, ye everlasting gates, and be ye lifted up, for the King
of Glory is coming in."
And the Angels behind the gates screamed back to these angels back here, and said, "Who is
this King of Glory?"
And the angels out here, the prophets, said, "The Lord of Hosts, the Mighty in Battle."
And they pressed the buttons and the big door swung open. Right down through the middle of the
streets He come, the Conqueror, triumph, with the Old Testament saints walking behind Him. Set
down on the Throne, said, "Father, here they are. They're Yours."
He said, "Climb up here and set down, until I make all Your enemies Your footstool." As we read,
we find that on here in the Scripture. All right.
Listen now. And we're on the 8th verse.
Then has he put all things into subjection under his feet. For... he put all things in subjection under
his feet, he left nothing that is not... under him. But now we see not... all things put under him.
That's, death. We don't see death, yet, because we're still dying. We see death.
But, 9th verse, "But we see Jesus!" Amen. Listen.
... we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned
with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.
Why was He made lower than the Angels? So He could taste death. He had to die. He had to
come, to die.
Look here, friend. Don't, never forget this. When Jesus was going, walking up the hill, death was
buzzing around His head.
Let's take our picture to Jerusalem, two thousand years ago. And how could you reject It? I hear a
sound coming through the street. What is it? It's a bumping of something. It's an old rugged cross
coming down, going out the gates of Damascus, bumping over the cobblestones. Them big
cobblestones are still there. Bumping over these big cobblestone, bumpity-bump. I see the
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The Book of Hebrews
spatting of the Blood on the street. What is it? It's a Man that's done no harm; nothing but good.
The people were blind. They didn't know Him. They didn't recognize Him.
You say, "Blind? Could they have their sight?"
You can still have your sight and be blind. You believe that? The Bible said so. Remember Elisha
down at Dothan? He went out and smote the people blind, said, "Now follow me." They was blind
to him.
And people are blind tonight. A certain church that don't believe in Divine healing, walked up to
me one time, and said, "Smite me blind. Smite me blind." It was at Brother Wright's house. Said,
"Smite me blind." Said, "Paul smote a man blind, one time." Said, "Smite me blind."
I said, "Friend, the Devil has already done it. You're already blind. Sure, you are."
He said, "Heal this little girl and I'll believe you."
I said, "Save that sinner and I'll believe you." Certainly.
"Oh," he said, "he has to believe."
I said, "Same thing here, it has to come through the sovereign grace of God."
The Devil, the--the god of this world, has blinded the eyes of the people. "They've got eyes but
they can't see," the Bible said.
Here He was, going up the street, dragging out the Bloody footprints on the road up. The bee of
death was stinging around Him, buzzing at Him, "Just a little while and I'll have You." He was
getting weak, thirsting water.
I was shot once, laying up here in the field, blood just pouring from me. I screamed for water. And
my buddy run, took his cap and put it down in the water; old stagnated, wiggletails in the water.
Come over, and I held my mouth open; he squeezed that. Because, the blood was spurting like a
fountain, where I was shot to pieces with a gun. Thirsting!
Then I know what my Lord must have been, after bleeding all that morning, from nine o'clock up
to three o'clock in the evening, losing all that Blood. I see His robe, first, like little bitty spots on it.
And all them spots begin to get bigger and run together, make one great big Bloody splotch, hitting
Him on the leg as He walked around. That was Emmanuel's Blood. Oh, the earth wasn't worthy of
It.
But as He goes up, this bee stinging around Him. What did it do? It finally stung Him.
But, brother, anyone knows, that an insect or a bee, if it ever stings you once, that finishes the
stinging business. It can't sting no more. Because, when it leaves, it pulls its stinger out.
That's the reason God had to be made flesh. He took the stinger of death into His flesh, and He
pulled the stinger out of death. Blessed be the Name of the Lord! Death can hum and sting, but it
can't hurt you.
Paul, when he felt that bee humming around him, death was coming right on. He said, "O death,
where is your sting?" He could point to Calvary where it was left in the flesh of Emmanuel. "Where
is thy victory? But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." Yes.
We don't see all things.
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The Book of Hebrews
But we do see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for... suffering of death,...
For it becometh him, for whom are all--all things, that by whom we have all things, in the begin...
many sons... and be made the chief captain of our salvation... through suffering.
The only way He could become the Captain of our salvation, He had to suffer.
Listen to these beautiful Words here now. Now listen.
For both he that sanctifieth and they that are sanctified are all... one:...
Oh, don't you see the Vine and the Branch there? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.] All One.
... for which cause he is not ashamed to be called brethren,
See? Why? Listen, the next verse.
Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praises unto
thee.
And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which thou has given
me.
Forsomuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part
of the same; that through the death he might destroy him which has the power of death, that is, the
devil;
And deliver them who through... for the... through... for death were always kept subject unto
bondage.
Man always feared death. Christ became sin, made low, to take death upon Himself. And He's not
ashamed to be called our "Brother," for He was tempted just like we are tempted. And He can
make the... be the right kind of an intercessor, 'cause He stood the same kind of a temptation that
you stand. And He took your place, knowing that you couldn't take it yourself.
So, don't you see, brother, sister? The whole thing is grace. All of it is grace. It's not what you do,
anyhow. It's what He's already done for you. Now, you can't do one thing to merit your salvation.
Your salvation is a gift. Christ became sin, that you might become righteous. And He's the right
kind of a Chief Captain for our salvation, because He suffered just like we suffered. He's been
tempted just like we're tempted. And He's not ashamed to be called "our Brother," because He
knows what we go through with. Oh, blessed be His Name!
For verily he took not on him the form of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.
Oh, my! He didn't become an Angel. He become the Seed of Abraham. "And we, being dead in
Christ, take on Abraham's Seed, and are heirs according to the promise." See? He never took on
the form of an Angel. He never become an Angel. He become a Man. He become the Seed of
Abraham, and took the sting of death in His own flesh, to reconcile us back to God, and now sets
there for an Intercessor. My, how could we reject It, friend?
Listen.
Wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a
merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation... the sin of the
people.
That He might be the Reconciler! See, there was enmity between God and man. And no man...
They sent the angels, the prophets. They couldn't take your place, because they had to pray for
theirselves. They couldn't take the place.
Then, He sent the law. The law was a policeman that put us in jail. It couldn't bring us out. He sent
the law.
He sent the prophets, He sent the righteous, and everything, could not make an atonement. But
He come down and become one of us. Oh, my!
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The Book of Hebrews
I wish we had more time right now, I'd like to take you to that law of redemption; but we haven't,
but just for a moment. The beautiful picture is in Ruth and Naomi. If you'll see there, the
reconciliation, how that the husbandman, the man that was to redeem the lost and the fallen
estate, had to be kinfolks to the person that had lost the estate. That's the reason Boaz had to be
a... was a kinsman to Naomi, that he could get Ruth. And then, he had to be worthy. He had to be
able to do it, to redeem the lost. And Boaz, at the gate, gave a public testimony, by kicking off his
shoe, that he had redeemed Naomi and all of her possession. And he had to be kinfolks.
And that's the reason that Christ, God, had to become kinfolks to us. And He come down and was
a Man. And He suffered temptation. And He was laughed at, made fun of, and persecuted, and
ignored, and called "Beelzebub," and--and scoffed at, and suffered death under capital
punishment. See? He had to be kinfolks to us. He had to be falsely accused, because you're
falsely accused. He had to bear sickness, because you're sick. He had to bear sins, because it
was your sins. And He had to become kinfolks. The only way He could redeem us was to be
kinfolks to us. And how He become kinfolks, is by taking on the form of sinful flesh and becoming
one of us. And in that, He paid the price and redeemed us back into the fellowship of the Father.
Oh, what a Saviour! Words couldn't express it.
For in that he himself hath suffered being subject,... and able to succour them that are tempted.
Succour means to "sympathize." That, the reason He become this, that He might be sympathetic
with you who are... have your ups and downs, and your little ins and outs, and your temptations
get so great you can't hardly stand it. He knows how to sympathize with you. He sets there, to
make intercession. He sets there, to love you. And though you go astray, He won't forsake you. He
will still come after you and knock at your heart. There's not a backslider in the building but what
know that God knocks at his heart daily. And He will do it as long as you're a mortal on this earth,
for He's loved you. He redeemed you.
Poets has tried, authors has tried, man has tried to express that theme of "love," and it cannot be
found in human expressions. One said:
Oh, love of God, how rich and pure!
How fathomless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure,
Saints and Angels song.
If we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made;
Every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry;
Or could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.
You'll never understand. There's no way for us to understand how that that great sacrifice, that He
did, came down and reconciled us back to God. Then He went back and said, "Now, I'll not leave
you comfortless. I'll come again and be with you, even in you, to the end of the world."
And here we are today, living in the end time, with the same Jesus, the same things, same signs,
same wonders, same salvation, same Spirit doing the same things, same Gospel, same Word,
same illustrations, same manifestation, everything. It behooves us not to neglect this great
salvation, for we'll have to give an account, someday, with what we do with the Son of God.
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The Book of Hebrews
He's on your hand tonight, sinner, backslider. What are you going to do with Him? You say, "Well,
I'll put It off." But, remember, don't you do that. There's no way, at all, if you're a sinner, that you
can leave this building and be the same. You can't do it.
Pilate, one night, tried to do it. He called for some water and he washed his hands. Said, "I ain't
got nothing to do with It. I just the same as never seen It. I never heard of the Gospel. I want
nothing to do with It." Could he wash It off of his hands? He couldn't.
Finally, you know what happened to Pilate? He lost his mind. And way up in Switzerland, where
we was at last year, preaching the Gospel. Now there's an old legend that said, that, there's a pool
of water where people come from all over the world, to watch, every year, at the time of the
crucifixion. Pilate, he plunged hisself to death, by committing suicide, jumping into this water and
drowning himself. And every year, at that same day, blue water boils up out of that pool, to show
that God rejected the water. Water can never wash the Blood of Jesus off of your hands or your
soul. There's only one way to do it, that's accept It as your personal pardon and be reconciled to
God.
Let us pray.
Heavenly Father, we thank Thee tonight for the Word. "For faith cometh by hearing, and hearing
by the Word." We thank Thee for Jesus. And as we see this great day that we're living in, how that
signs and wonders, how we let these things slip by. God, open the eyes of the people in this
tabernacle, tonight, that they might see and understand that we're in the last hours. The time is
fleeting. We haven't got much longer to be here, and we'll have to see Jesus. And we'll have to be
counted traitors, for there's no excuse this morning. When you gave that great, mighty vision, of
that man coming here, from way in the country yonder; and to see him, beyond a shadow of doubt,
rise from that wheel chair, receive his sight. His legs become strong, down through the building,
rejoicing and praising God. It shows that God is still able of these stones to rise children to
Abraham. To see the visions, like Jesus said, "I do nothing till the Father shows Me. I can do
nothing."
The blind man followed Him, and said, "Have mercy on us."
He said, touched their eyes and said, "According to your faith, be it unto you."
Now, Lord, we see Jesus. We don't see all things. We see we still take the sainted of us to the
grave, and walk over each other's grave. But we see Jesus, who made the promise. We see Him
with us. Not Jesus in the grave, not Jesus two thousand years ago; but Jesus tonight, that's with
us. We see Him manifested in all of His power, and signs, and wonders.
God, may we never neglect this great Salvation. But may we embrace It, and accept It, and be
reverent, and live by It until the day that Jesus comes to take us Home. Grant it, Lord. We ask it in
His Name.
And while we have our heads bowed, I wonder if there's a person in the building tonight, under
the Divine Presence of the Holy Spirit, would say, "Brother Branham, I am convinced that I'm
wrong. I'm convinced that I'm wrong. God has revealed to me my sins. And I know that I'm wrong.
I'll raise my hand to Him and ask for mercy, tonight. God, be merciful to me. I'm wrong." Would you
do that?
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The Book of Hebrews
While we wait just a moment, if there's a person here that wants to, there's a baptizing going to
take place just in a moment. And if you're a sinner, I would repent. How can you reject such
matchless love of One who died? The holy God of Heaven became a sinful Man; not because He
sinned, but because He had your sins, and bare them there to Calvary. And you won't accept that
pardoning? Won't you do it tonight? While we have our heads bowed, someone say, "Remember
me, Brother Branham. I raise my hands to Christ, and say, 'Be merciful to me. I, I am wrong, and I
want to be reconciled to God.'" Would you raise your hand?
All right, if everyone is Christians, then, let us pray.
Father, we thank Thee tonight, that everyone in here are Christians, that they have witnessed the
same by remaining silent, that their sins are all under the Blood. And I'm so grateful for that. Bless
them, Lord. Oh, I'm so glad that they have found reconciliation through the offering of the Blood,
by hearing the Word. The washing of the water, by the Word, It cleanses us. It brings us to
greatest place, where--where the sinner, with his vile darkness, is made white as snow. The
scarlet stains of sin has been washed away, and we are new creatures in Christ. How we thank
that, Thee, for this.
Now the baptismal service comes up. I understand that this young lady, tonight, is to be baptized
down here, in the Name of her Lord.
O Heavenly Father, we pray that You'll bless this young woman. How my mind goes back to just a
few days ago, coming up in Henryville and seeing that lovely little girl walking around there on the
street. And tonight, she's a mother, a lady. She's accepted You as her personal Saviour. Life has
been hard for the child, Lord, O God, but a Heaven is sure for her. And we thank Thee for that. We
pray, God, that You'll bless the young woman now. And as she comes to be baptized with water,
may You fill her with the Holy Spirit of God. Grant it, Lord. May her soul be just so thrilled, into the
Heavens! Grant it for Your glory. We ask it in Jesus' Name. Amen.
[Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.]
I want to read from Acts, the 2nd chapter; Peter speaking, on the Day of Pentecost, the first
baptism that was ever performed in the Christian Church. Peter, rebuking the Pharisees and the
blind people, for not recognizing the Son of God; speaking of how that God had raised Him up,
and proved His works, in great signs and wonders. Listen to this, as he spoke. He was exalting
Jesus.
Every Christian's spirit exalts Jesus, not only by your lips, but by your life. Your lips can say one
thing, your life do another. If you do that, you know what it is? It's hypocrisy. And I'd rather face
Heaven as an infidel than a hypocrite. I'd take my chance better, I believe, in Heaven, as a--as an
infidel, than to be a hypocrite. I certainly... If you testify for Jesus and say "He's the Saviour," you
live like that, 'cause people is going to expect it out of you. That's right. You live like a Christian
ought to. We went through that this morning.
Now, Lord willing, tomorrow night, or... Wednesday night, we're taking this 3rd chapter, which is a
marvelous chapter. And now, be sure to try to come Wednesday night. How many is enjoying this
Book, of this Sunday school teaching? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.] Oh, thank you very
much. That's fine.
Now, I want to read now from Acts, the 2nd chapter, beginning at the 32nd verse.
This Jesus has God raised up, whereof we... are witnesses. (They knew it.)
Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise
of the Holy Ghost, He has shed forth this, which you now see and hear.
Now listen at him speak about David, one of the angels.
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The Book of Hebrews
For David is not ascended into heaven: but he said himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou
on my right hand,
Until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
David couldn't go up; he was under the shed blood of heifers, and goats, and sheep. But now he
could raise; he was under the Blood of the Lord Jesus. For they only answer to that Blood when It
would come in force. When the Blood of Christ come in force, all those who had died in good
favor, rose, that's right, and ascended in to Glory.
Now listen.
Therefore let all the house of Israel know... (Listen to this.)... that God has made this same Jesus,
whom you... crucified, both Lord and Christ.
What about that? Is He a third Person of the trinity, or is He the entire trinity? He is the entire
fullness of the Godhead, bodily.
There is no such a thing as three Gods: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost.
That's not even in the Scripture, nowhere. Nowhere is it. Nowhere was we ever commanded to
baptize, "In the name of the Father, and in the name of the Son, and name of the Holy Ghost," not
nowhere in the Scriptures. It's a Catholic creed, and it's not for the Protestant church. I'll ask
anybody to show me one Scripture where any person was ever baptized any other way than in the
Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Come, show it to me, and I'll put a sign on my back, "A hypocrite,
and a false prophet, a false teacher," and go through the streets. There's no such a thing. Never
was anybody baptized that way. It's a Catholic creed, and not a Protestant doctrine.
"Matthew 28:19," you say, "Jesus said, 'Go ye therefore in all the world, teach all nations, baptize
them in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.'" That's correct.
But not, "In the name of the Father, name of the Son, name of the Holy Ghost." The Name of the
Father, the Name (not names), of the Father...
Father is not a name. How many knows that? How many fathers is there here? Raise your hands.
How many sons is here? Raise their hand. How many humans is here? Raise your hands. All
right. Now, what's your name? Not father, son, nor human.
A woman said to me one time, who was a strict tritheist, she said, "Brother Branham, but the Holy
Ghost is a name."
I said, "Holy Ghost is not a name. The Holy Ghost is what It is. It is the Holy Ghost." Not a name;
that's what It is. I'm a human, but my name is not human. My name is William Branham. So, if He
said, "Go ye therefore, teach all nations, baptize them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Ghost."
Then Peter, ten days later, said, "Repent!" Now, here, listen at this.
And when they heard this, they were pricked at their heart, and said unto Peter and... the rest of
the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
Then Peter said unto them, Repent, every one of you, and be baptized in the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Then did Peter do what Jesus told him not to do? He wasn't confused. We're the ones confused.
On Acts 2:38, the Jews were baptized in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, by immersing.
In Acts, the 8th chapter, we find out that Philip went down and preached to the Samaritans, and
baptized them in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Samaritans.
In Acts 10:49, Peter commanded the Gentiles to be baptized in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
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The Book of Hebrews
Paul, Acts 10:5, "He passed through the upper coast of Ephesus, he finds disciples." They were a
Baptist disciples; was, every one, Baptists. They were converted under a Baptist preacher by the
name of--of, see, Apollos. And he was a Baptist preacher, "And was proving by the Bible that
Jesus was the Christ."
Paul said, "Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed?"
They said, "We know not whether there be any Holy Ghost."
Said, "Then how was you baptized?"
They said, "We been baptized by the same man that baptized Jesus, the hole of water out there.
That's good enough."
Paul said, "That won't work now. You have to be baptized, over again." And Paul commanded
them to be baptized, over again, in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Laid his hands on them,
and the Holy Ghost come on them. Correct. Yes, sir.
It'll be Light in the evening time,
The path of Glory you shall surely find;
In the water way, that's the Light today,
Buried in the precious Name of Jesus.
Young and old, repent of all your sins,
The Holy Ghost will surely enter in;
The evening Light has come,
It is the facts that God and Christ are One.
That's what the Bible said. That's right. It's the hour. It's a time that we should repent.
Tell, holler when you're ready, in the pool. And we'll... [A brother says, "We're ready."--Ed.] You're
ready? All right, to pull the curtains.
Now, the Lord bless you now, as the brother ministers the baptism. Can you all see here?
[Brother Orman Neville baptizes believers--Ed.]
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The Book of Hebrews
Branham Tabernacle
The 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th chapter, from there in, oh, my! Have your pencil and paper, and everything,
ready, for I believe the Lord is going to give us a great time. Now we're...
Paul is exalting and placing, positionally, the Lord Jesus. Now, if we get through this tonight,
Sunday morning... Which the most of this is going to blend right in with Sunday morning's
Message, because it's "separating the sabbath." That's a great question amongst Sabbatarians
today. And I would invite you all to come for Sunday morning. For, which is right, Saturday or
Sunday, for worship? What does the Bible say about it? And so then, whether the... This Book is
separating law and grace, and It's placing each one to its place. The Hebrews was raised by the
law, and Paul was telling them what grace played, with law.
Now, let's get just a little background now. We're going to start back.
By the way, I got me some reading glasses. Maybe I can... If I happen to make a--a spill tonight, I
got them. You know I'm all... I just lack two years of being fifty years old, and I don't see like I used
to, close to me. When my sight... I begin to notice the words blurring, I thought I was going blind. I
went for an examination. The doctor said, "No. You're just past forty, son." Well, he said, if I live to
be old enough, it might come back again, get that short sight back again. He said, "Now, you can
read your Bible if you push it out from you?"
I said, "Yes."
Said, "After while, your arm is not going to be long enough."
And so I--I hope now, in this studying, that I... This little Collins Bible has a good-sized print in it. I
can make it out pretty well. But when we get over in the big, deep places where we got to take the
New and Old Testament, and blend together. I got a small Scofield. And I'm used to the Scofield
Bible, its markings. I don't read the Scofield notes now, because I don't agree with Scofield on
many of his--his theories. But I--I do like the way it's set up, because it's... I've had it for a long
time, and read it, and so much, till I kind of know how to find my subject.
This is all new to me, of teaching, and I'm not much of a teacher. But, you put up with me for a
little while, I'll tell you the Truth as far as I know It, anyhow.
Now, this Book is Paul, remember. He was... How did we find him? He was a great teacher, to
begin with, or a great scholar. And he was trained in the Old Testament. Can anybody tell me now
who we found his teacher was? [Congregation says, "Gamaliel."--Ed.] Gamaliel, one of the noted
teachers of the day. And then Paul, we find out, one day...
Before he was called Paul, can anybody tell me what his name was? [Congregation says, "Saul."-Ed.] Saul. And he was a great authority in Jerusalem, a religious authority. And he come up as a-as a real-trained, religious man. He could speak four or five different languages, and a very smart
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The Book of Hebrews
man. Well, did his education and smartness help him? No. He said he had to forget all he knowed,
in order to learn Christ.
So we find out, then, it doesn't take a smart man or an educated man. It takes a--a man that's
willing to humble himself before God, regardless of how.
Did you know Dwight Moody was--was so uneducated till, honest, his writings were poor as I don't
know what. They had to fix up his messages, all the time. He--he was such a poor writer, very
uneducated.
Did you know that Peter and John, of the Bible, were so unlearned till they couldn't even write
their own name, and wouldn't know it laying before them? The Apostle Peter, who had the keys to
the Kingdom, wouldn't know his name signed before him. Think of it. The Bible said, that, "He was
ignorant and unlearned." So, that gives me a chance. Amen. Yes, sir. That goes right on down, to
find that God could do that to a man.
Now, and we find out, as soon as Paul had a great experience... I want to ask you. Is it an
experience to come to Christ? Does everybody have an experience? [Congregation says, "Yes."-Ed.] Yes, sir. Yes, sir. It's a Birth. It's an experience. And so we were in a Lutheran College, not
long ago...
I had the privilege this afternoon, late, supposed to be there at twelve o'clock, for dinner with--with
Tom Haire. How many ever heard of him, the famous, Irish, prayer warrior? And he's been with
this Brother Epp, on his program, and appear here in many places in America. And I had dinner
with him today. And we were... I was just about three hours late. It was about three-thirty, quarter
to four, when we eat. But it was all right. And we were discussing on these things, of how that
Jesus Christ is the Head of all things.
Now, when Paul found this out, he had this experience. And then before he would accept this
experience, it must be back to the Bible. And we find out that he--that he left and went into another
nation, and there he stayed for three years, searching the Scripture, to see if his experience was
right.
Now, we realize that he had a great thing to face. He had to come back and tell his church, all the
people, the very things that he had persecuted was right.
Did you have to do something like that? Certainly, nearly all did, have to go back and say, "Them
people that we called 'holy rollers,' come to find out, they were right." See? That's it. We just had
to turn around. And the things that we once hated, we now love. It's a conversion, a strange thing.
Ah! I made that statement, of "holy-roller." There is no such a thing. There's no such a thing. But,
they call people that, holiness people. But there's no holy-rollers. There's no such a thing. There's
no record of any church ever recorded like that, as far as I can see, of the nine hundred-sixty
something, different denominations. There is no such a denomination as holy-roller. It's just a--a
name that the Devil tacked on the Church.
But they call them, in that day... How many knows what they called them in the day of Paul?
Heretics. You know what heretic means? "Crazy." It's crazy people. So, I just soon be called a
"holy-roller" as a "heretic." Wouldn't you? So if they--if they was called that, and rejoiced!
And what did Jesus say for us to do about it? He said, "Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad; for great
is your reward in Heaven, for so persecuted the prophets before you." They did it.
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The Book of Hebrews
Said to, "Be exceedingly glad." Anything exceedingly is "lifted way up," real happy. And the
disciples, when they was found worthy to bear the reproach of the Name of Jesus, they rejoiced
with great joy that they could bear the reproach of His Name.
And today, many people today, if they would happen to call them a holy-roller, they would cowdown, "My! Maybe I was wrong, to begin with."
But they was happy about it, "Oh, my, to bear the Name!"
And now, in the second century, they called them "crossbacks." That's when the Christians used
to pack a cross on their back, to show that they were crucified with Christ. They call them
crossbacks. Now I know the Catholic calls themselves that, but that wasn't the Catholic church. It
was the Protestant church before it was called Protestant church. It protested nothing but sin. The
reason it's called Protestant church today is because it protested the--the Catholic dogma. But it's
a... It, still, it was non-sectarian at that time, when they were called crossback.
Just get the history of Josephus and the other writers, and Hislop's Two Babylons, and so forth,
and you'll find out that that's right, that they was not no church. The first organized church, ever
was, was the Catholic church, about three hundred years, at the round of--of the last apostles.
About three hundred years later, the Catholic church was organized. And a persecution set in, and
forced the people into the Catholic church, and they had church and state, united.
That was after, what was so-called, the conversion of Constantine, from paganism to Catholicism.
But, if anybody ever read his history, he wasn't converted, the things that he did. Oh, my! The only
thing he ever done religious was put the cross on the St. Sophia church. That's the only thing he
ever done, acted even religious. He was a--a reprobate. But they call it his--his conversion. Just
about compares with some so-called conversions today.
Now, but, we find out, when Paul got converted and had this real experience, he was absolutely
turned around.
And, you know, conversion means to be "turned around." You're going this way, and you turn and
start back this way. Yes, sir. It's a turn-around, about-face.
And Paul, as soon as he was converted, before he could ever make his experience... Now, he
had a marvelous experience.
Now, I believe, when you accept Christ, just as your personal Saviour, it is an experience. I
believe, the joy of knowing your sin is forgiven, just thrills your heart, through and through.
But then when the blessed Holy Spirit comes down, that's an experience, that new Birth, that
you'll never forget. You become a Child of God. And here is what does it.
"How do you know it, Brother Branham?"
Now, these are teaching lessons. Many people, the Methodists, try to say, "They shouted when
they got It." Well, that's all right. If you got It, and shouted, okay. Because you shouted, wasn't a
sign you had It, 'cause a lot shouted and didn't have It.
The Pentecostals said, "They spoke in tongues. They got It." That's all right. If you spoke in
tongues, and got It, all right. But you could speak in tongues and still not have It. So?
So, you see, after all, it is the experience of passing from death to Life; when all the old things die,
and all things become new. Christ becomes real. The old things drop away, the old roots of
carnality. You know how to dig a root out? We used to take a grubbing hoe and just get down at it,
and dig it till there wasn't a speck left in it. And they said, "If there be any root of bitterness spring
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The Book of Hebrews
up into you, grub her out." That's right. And that's what the Holy Spirit does, root out all the roots.
Dig them out. Pile it up; burn them. Get rid of them. You get a good crop then, if we do that.
Now, Paul knowed that something happened, so he goes back down into Arabia, and there he
studies for three years on all of the Old Testament prophets, how they prophesied. And he come
to find out that It was absolutely the Truth.
Now, compare that with today, see, on this experience that we had here at this little church: of the
Morning Star appearing yonder, that great Light that come down, that would foretell and show
things to happen. You know, that's marvelous. But my ministering brother told me, "It was the
Devil." And I--I couldn't understand it.
So, I didn't say nothing about it until one night, there was an experience happened up yonder at
Green's Mill, Indiana, when the Angel of the Lord walked across the floor and stood there, and
proved it by the Scripture. Then it set fire. Then it started going.
And no longer than last Sunday, we seen the infallible marks of Jesus Christ, who can take a man
that hasn't walked, and didn't... His balance nerve gone, when the Mayos and the best doctors
said, "It's finished, forever." And setting blind; raised up and walk out of the building, pushing his
wheel chair down the steps, could walk and see like anybody else. That shows that it's the power
of the resurrected Lord Jesus. There it is. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever.
So aren't we a happy group tonight, to know that God has vindicated this great experience that we
have, to be compared with His Bible and with the promises? Therefore we ought to be exceedingly
glad. And we realize then, that in the 2nd chapter, we find out, "We should not let these things...
We should not neglect these things." We should hold fast those things.
And how are we going to escape, if we neglect such a great salvation;...
What are we going to do, in the light of God's Word, when we stand at the Judgment Bar? You
can't say, "I never knew any different." Oh, yes, you did. "Well, now, Brother Branham could have
been wrong." That's true. But God isn't wrong. His Word isn't wrong. And just think, of the same
thing, the Bible, that once lived in the apostles, are living again. Oh, blessed be the Name of the
Lord!
When I think that I'm forty-eight years old, nearing fifty, and my youthful days are gone, and so
forth; to know that since a little boy that I had this blessed Promise, and have declared It to my
brothers and sisters; and to see the literally thousands of those that's come out of darkness, to
know that we are going to our Eternal Home, to the blessed. "And if this earthly tabernacle be
dissolved," before I get through preaching, "there's one waiting yonder for it." Hallelujah! To know
that there's dozens of people setting here, that, if they should leave this life right now; before we
could get their body to the undertaker, they would be in that glorious body yonder, rejoicing with
the saints of God, already in the Presence of God, to live forever. With the perfect, absolutely
vindication that it's so! Amen.
Oh, that would make the Presbyterian shout! Did Sunday, didn't it? [Congregation says, "Amen."-Ed.] Them people were Presbyterian. Certainly would, to think. Oh, no wonder people get
emotionally! Why, if you get emotionally from batting a ball or throwing one in a basket, how much
more will it make you emotionally to know that you've passed from death to Life, that you're a new
Creation in Christ! You know it by the way your spirit leads you away from malice, and guile, and
enmity, and all the things of the world. And your heart sets centered on Christ. That's your
motives. That's all that you think of in your mind, on your heart, all day and night. When you go to
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The Book of Hebrews
bed at night, and put your hands behind you, like this, and just lay there and praise Him till you go
to sleep. Wake up, of a morning, still praising Him. Amen. Oh, my!
I've tried to praise Him. Every morning we been getting up about four o'clock, Brother Woods and
I, going out early in the morning, to go squirrel hunting. I praise Him under every tree, I believe,
I've come to. I can't see a tree, with out praising Him. Think, He growed that tree. See a little old
grasshopper fly up; He knows that grasshopper. "Oh," you say, "nonsense, Brother Bill." Oh, no, it
isn't. He knows where every squirrel is. He knows where every butterfly is.
Why, at one time, He needed some money, and He said, "Peter, there's a fish, a while ago,
swallowed a coin, just enough, much as we need. Go cast the hook in. I'll send him over there.
Take that coin out of his mouth, 'cause he can't use it, himself. Go pay him our tithing and tribute."
Amen.
And a few weeks ago, I seen a little fish killed, laying on the water. All of you heard the story of it.
There's Brother Woods, and his brother and them here to witness it. That little fish laying dead for
a half hour, on the water, with his entrails pulled out of its mouth. And the great Holy Spirit swept
down, after He said, the day before, "You're going to see the resurrection of a little animal." And
the next morning about, little after sunup, we saw that little fishy, not over that long. When the
Spirit of the Lord came down, and said, "Little fish, Jesus Christ makes you whole." And that dead
fish, had been floating on top the water for practically a half hour, come to life and swam away just
as hard as he could. Oh, blessed be the Name of the Lord. How wonderful He is!
No wonder Paul could say, that, "He was in the order of Melchisedec." He was Melchisedec.
"Melchisedec had no beginning of days. He had no ending of years. He had no beginning of life or
ending in life. He had neither father nor mother." So, He couldn't been no one else. Ever who He
was, He's alive yet tonight. So, He's only one type of Eternal Life, and that belongs to God.
Last evening when we were having a discussion, a brother could not understand the trinity of
God, and how we were talking about it. How that Jesus stood there, a Man, of about thirty years
old. And He said...
They said, "Oh, our fathers eat manna in the wilderness."
He said, "And they're, every one, dead." But He said, "I'm that Bread of Life that come from God
out of Heaven, that a man eats and don't die."
"Oh," they said, "our fathers drank from the Rock in the wilderness."
He said, "I'm That Rock." A Man of thirty years old. Said, "Abraham rejoiced to see My day."
"Why," said, "now You mean to tell me that You're as old as Abraham, and You're not fifty years
old yet, and mean to say that You've seen Abraham who has been dead eight hundred years? We
know that You got a devil now. You're crazy." That's what's... That's what a devil mean, "crazy"
person." Said, "You got a devil, and You're mad."
He said, "Before Abraham was, I AM."
That's who He was. He wasn't just merely a man, neither was He a prophet. He was God, God
dwelling on earth in a body of flesh called "Jesus," the--the incarnate Son of God. That's exactly
who He was.
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The Book of Hebrews
Now, we find Him over here, that in the last part now, of the closing of the 2nd chapter, which I
want to get to, beginning with the 16th verse, or the 15th verse.
And delivered them... through the fear of death--of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
That's what he said that Jesus did, that He come to deliver them from bondage, who had been in
fear of death all their lifetime.
Now there's no need of fearing death. Now, of course, we do; we, none of us want to, what we
call, die. But do you know that if a person is born again he cannot die? [Congregation says,
"Amen."--Ed.] How can he have Eternal Life and then die? He can't do it. The only thing that's
death, the word death, means "the separation." Now he'll separate from the presence of our eye.
But he's always in the Presence of God, and always will be. So, death isn't a hard thing. Death is a
glorious thing. Death is what takes us in the Presence of God.
But now, of course, we, being human, walk in these dark elements here, we--we do not
understand it as we should. And, of course, when the choking pangs of death come, it makes the
very saint-est of us fear and draw back. It made the Son of God say, "Could this cup pass?" It's a
horrible thing. Don't get it wrong. Because we... It's a penalty of sin, death is, and it's got to be
horrible.
But if we can look just beyond the curtain, yonder, there is where it's at. Blessed be the Lord! Just
beyond the curtain, that's where man desires to look tonight. Little Anna Mae Snelling and them
used to sing a song here, "Lord, Let Me Look Past The Curtain of Time." Everybody wants to see
that.
Now, now here we are, in the 16th verse. "For verily He took..."
For verily he took not on him, upon him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of
Abraham.
Oh, we want to hold to that again now. Now we're coming right down to get... Cause, the first part
of this 3rd chapter, the last part of it, blends in on "that day for the sabbath," for this coming
Sunday.
Now watch.
... he took not... the nature of angels;...
Now, who is "He," he is talking about? Christ. Who is Christ? God, the Logos of God.
Now let me explain this again, so you be sure. God is not three Gods. The trinity of God is One.
Father, Son, Holy Ghost, doesn't mean that there is three different Gods. If it is, we would be
heathen. That's the reason the Jews can't understand. Never was it taught in the Bible. Now, it's
taught in the Catholic church, absolutely, that's where the triune baptism come from.
In Africa they baptize you three times face forward: once for God the Father; once for God the
Son; once for God the Holy Ghost. Now, that's an error. There's no such teachings of that in the
Bible. See?
And now, that's--that's what they taught. It come down through Luther; out of Luther, into Wesley;
on down into the ages as it rolls on. But it never was a Bible teaching. It was always been a error,
since it was begun.
Now, so, God was in the beginning. Before there was any light, before there was ever an atom,
before there was ever a star, before there was any visible thing, God filled all space. And in That
was nothing but purity: pure love, pure holiness, pure righteous. It was Spirit. He covered the
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The Book of Hebrews
whole space all from Eternity, where we can't fathom It. It goes beyond anything that we could
imagine.
Like through that glass, we could see a--a hundred and something million years of light space.
Think of it. A hundred million years of light space. And light--light travels about eight thousand
miles per second. And a hundred and million years of light space... Just think how many million
miles that would be. You couldn't even numerate it. You can just take a row of nines and run it
around Jeffersonville, and still you wouldn't have it broke down in miles of miles. Think of it. And
beyond that is still stars and planets. And God, before one of them was, He was. See?
And now the Logos that went out of God, which was the--the Logos, all this begin to form into a--a
body shape. And this body shape was called, in the scholar's teaching, Logos, the Logos that went
out of God. In other words, a--a better word for it, was what we call a theophany. (Theophany is a
human body that's glorified.) Not exactly with flesh and blood like it will be in its glorified stage, but
it is of a form of a human body that doesn't eat, neither does it drink, but it's--it's a body, a body
that's waiting for us as soon as we leave this one. Now, in there, we enter into that body. And
that's the kind of body that God was, for He said, "Let us make man in our own image and in our
likeness."
Now, when man become into that body, he had control of all the fishes, and fowls, and--and
beasts of the field. "And then there was no man to till the soil," Genesis 2. He done made male
and female, but there's no man to till the soil.
Then God made man out of the dust of the earth. He give him a hand like a--like a chimpanzee.
He give him a foot like a bear. He give him, He made him, on the image. And this earthly body is in
the image of animal life, and it's made out of the same kind of material. Your body is made just the
same kind of material as a horse, or a dog, or anything like that. It's made out of calcium, potash,
petroleum, cosmic light. You're just no... All flesh like that is not the same flesh; it's different flesh,
but it's made out of the dust of the earth where it come from.
But, the difference between an animal and a man, God put a soul in a man, and He didn't put it in
the animal. Because, the soul that was in the man is that theophany.
Oh, I--I, I'll never get to the... this lesson, but I got to get this.
Look. Don't you remember when Peter was in prison, and the Angel of the Lord came and opened
the doors?
We was going through the supermarket up here, other day, and the door opened in front of us. I
said, "You know, the Bible had that first." See? Now, the swinging door is by itself.
And when Peter came out, walking by these guards, they were blinded to him. He passed the
inner guard, the outer guard, out into the court, through the wall, out into the street. And none of
them know who he was. And didn't pay any... They thought he was another guard or something.
They... He just passed by, and the door opened by itself, as he went out, and shut behind. And
when he got out there, he thought he had a dream. And he went down to John Mark's house,
where they had a prayer meeting. And he was knock... [Brother Branham knocks on the pulpit.
Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.]... to be among you.
Oh, He's glorious. He's wonderful.
Now, oh, he wasn't made in the form of an angel; but he took on... the seed of Abraham. God
became the seed of Abraham.
Now, if we had time, to go back and show how He did it in the Covenant! You've heard me preach
on it, many times, how that he took those animals and cut them apart, and throwed the turtledove
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and pigeon in. Then he looked, and he noticed a little smoke, black horror, death. Next, a smoking
furnace, hell. But, beyond that, went a little white Light. And that little white went between each
piece of that cut sacrifice, showing that what He would do. And He took an oath, when He did that,
and He wrote a Covenant, showing what He would do.
And He, Jesus Christ, come to the earth; God, Emmanuel, "God in flesh." And at Calvary, He was
torn apart. And His Spirit come back on the Church. And His body was lifted up and set on the
Throne of God.
The Throne of God! The One that's on the Throne is the Judge. We know that. Well, where is the
Judgment? The Father has given... He judge no man. But the Father has commit all judgment to
the Son. So He is... And His Life is the High Priest, setting there with His own body, as a sacrifice,
to plead our confessions. Amen. Brother, that puts something in you.
Notice, "He took on the Seed of Abraham." He become a Man. God, made flesh among us, to
redeem us. In other words, God became sin, that we sinners might become partakers of Him. And
when we partake of Him, we partake of His... We were time-space people, three score and ten.
And God came down and become one of us, three score and ten, for His lotted time, that we might
partake of His Eternal Life. And when we're born again, we're sons and daughters of God, and
have Eternal Life, and shall never perish.
Oh, what a--what a--what a blessed Saviour! Oh, there's no way to write it. There's no way to
explain it. It's just beyond explaining. No one can explain how great It is. "How great Thou art! How
great Thou art!" is right.
Wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like unto His brethren,... (Think of that.)... that
he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God,... (Listen at this.)... to
make reconciliations... the sin of the people.
To reconcile, now, God, knowing justice, had to become unjustice, to feel what it was to be a
sinner, to go back to reconcile, through "reconciliation," and have mercy on the people.
Next verse, listen at It here.
For in that he himself had suffered...
God could not suffer in Spirit. He had to become flesh, to feel the pain of sickness, to feel the
temptation of lust, to feel the temptation of want, to feel the temptation of hunger, to feel the power
of death. That He might take it upon Hisself to stand in the Presence of the great Spirit Jehovah,
the Spirit, not the Man; the Spirit, to make intercession to this life. And Jesus took that, in order to
make intercession for us, for He knows how it feels. When you get sick, He knows how you feel.
When you're tempted, He knows how you feel.
Now, did you ever notice when we vote for a president, every farmer will vote for a president that's
been a farmer, for he knows the hard part of the farmer's life. See? He wants some man who
understand.
And before God could ever understand; Him being that great Holiness. How He could ever
understand, after He condemned man? By His holiness, He condemned man. And the only way
He will ever know how to justify man is to become man.
And God overshadowed the virgin and she brought forth a body, not Jewish blood, not Gentile
blood, but His Own Blood. God's created Blood, no sex at all in, it at all, no sexual desire. And this
Blood Cell, created in the womb of this woman, brought forth the Son. And when He was baptized
by John the Baptist, John said, "I bear record, seeing the Spirit of God (like a dove) coming down
and abiding upon Him."
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No wonder Jesus could say, that, "All powers in Heaven and earth is given into My hand." God
and man became One. Heavens and earth embraced each other, and He was the One who can
give reconciliation for our sin. That's the reason that, in His Name, healing takes place. He knows
your pain.
You ever hear this little, old song?
Jesus knows the pain you feel, He can save and He can heal;
Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.
That's right. He knows.
When our body is racked with pain, and our health we can't regain,
Just remember God in Heaven answers prayer;
Jesus knows the pain you feel, He can save and He can heal;
Just take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.
That's all He asks, "Just leave it there." Why? He's our High Priest standing here, that knows how
you feel. And He knows how to reconcile you back to grace, and how to bring you back to your
health. He knows all about it; He suffered. When you haven't got a place to lay your head; He had
the same. When you got one change of clothes; He had the same. When you are made fun of,
persecuted; He had the same.
Listen at the last verse now. All right.
... he is able to succour those that are tempted.
Or, in other words, He is able to secure those, to help those, to make those... to sympathize with
them. Because, God Himself became man, in order to feel it.
Remember, the other night, didn't we teach on that? How that God had to... Death had a sting in
it, a scare in it. "All their days they were in bondage about this death." And then Jesus came, that
He might take that stinger out of death.
And when He was going up the mountain, remember how we illustrated it? Them little red dots on
His coat, after while they all become one big dot, and splashing the Blood around Him. His little,
frail body, He couldn't go any further, and He fell. Simon Cyrene, the colored man, helped Him
bear the cross on up the hill.
And when they nailed Him to the cross, and He screamed for water. Any man bleeding needs
water.
Remember when I preached the other night on "The deer and the hart thirsts for the water brook,
so my soul panteth after Thee, O God"? If the deer is wounded and living, losing blood, he's got to
get to water or he'll die.
I was shot, down in the field, when I was fourteen years old. And I was laying there. My legs
blowed over me, like hamburger, from a twelve-gauge shotgun. And I screamed for water, "Oh,
give me a drink!" I numb; my lips was numb.
My buddy run over to an old pool, had all kinds of little old wiggletails, swamp. I didn't care what it
was. And he racked it full of water, and I held my mouth open, and he squeezed his cap out like
that, in my mouth. You had to have water.
He was bleeding. He said, "Give me a drink." And they give him vinegar on a sponge, and He
rejected it, and refused it. He was God's Lamb dying in our stead, to bring reconciliation to the
human being. What was it? The God of Heaven.
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Billy Sunday once said, that, "Every bush had Angels setting in it, saying, 'Just pull Your hand
loose and point Your finger, We'll change the situation.'"
That sassy bunch of religious fanatics, called some big educated scholars of D.D., Ph.D., walked
by Him and said, "Now, if you are the Son of God! You saved others; yourself you can't save.
Come down off the cross, and we'll believe you."
They didn't know that they was paying Him a compliment. He could have saved Himself. But if He
saved Himself, others He could not save. So, He gave Himself. Blessed be His Name. He gave
Himself, that I could be saved and you could be saved. Oh, what matchless love!
He didn't have to be sick. That precious virgin-born body didn't have to be sick. But He became
sick, that He might know how to intercede for me when I was sick.
He didn't have to weary, but He did weary. I read a little history one time on it, I don't know
whether it was authentic or not. "When He raised that boy from Nain there, up from the dead, He
set on a rock and groaned with a headache," 'cause He had to bear our sickness.
He had to bear our sin, and there He died, and on Calvary when that old bee and death once
anchored its stinger. Anyone knows, when a bee anchors its stinger, it can't sting no more. When
the bee flies away or any insect that stings, when he anchors his stinger, he pulls the stinger out.
He's still a bee but he hasn't got a stinger. The only thing he can do is buzz and make a lot of
noise.
That's the only thing that death can do to the believer, is make a lot of noise. But, hallelujah,
blessed be the Name of the Lord, He anchored that stinger of death in His own flesh. Emmanuel
did it. Rose up again, on the third day, shook the stinger out of there, and is Immortal tonight. And
His Spirit is in this building, and He proves Hisself alive among us. That's our Messiah. That's our
blessed Saviour.
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HEBREWS CHAPTER THREE
Branham Tabernacle
Good morning, friends. It's a privilege to be here this morning in the service of the Lord. And we're
hoping and trusting for a great time.
I was just back in the... what we used to call the deacon's office, where the recorders are now,
and was just talking with a young lady and her mother back there, from up at Joliet, Illinois. And I
was just thinking of what a product of God's grace that girl is. Most of us around here know her.
She's a--a an alcoholic, one of the worse kind. And I never had the story clear to me until this
morning, how that when she went off the platform. The Lord had revealed to her all that was wrong
and what was going to take place. And she went off the platform, weeping and rejoicing because
God had saved her from a--a drunkard's grave. And she... A lady walked up to her and begin
weeping, that her daughter, I believe it was, was a dope addict. And you know, by the grace of
God, that girl was called. I believe, was the next night, Rosella was called. And the girl from dope
was healed. And she and her husband is preaching the Gospel. And--and--and to see a lovely little
lady like Rosella, and just seasoned. And now she, very respectable, she's got a... feels a call in
her heart. But, knowing the Bible about women preachers, see, she knows it's something else.
And God is leading her into jails and things, to give testimony.
It's just wonderful to--to--to know, to seek after the will of God. Sometime we have a feeling, but
we want to carry that feeling into places; if you don't watch, the Devil will take that feeling and
pervert it into something. But as long as we stay in the Bible, then we're right, you see, we're
moving right with the will of the Lord.
And so I believe that--that Rosella will finally turn into the mission fields somewhere, because
America doesn't want the Gospel.
You know that. We just might as well admit that, that, this Anglo-Saxon people, it's finished. That's
all. There's no more Gospel that America will receive. Oh, you get a few stragglings, now and
then. But, just as the Gospel, it's over. And you can't even preach to them, can't talk to them. They
won't believe nothing. See? They just got their own hardheaded ideas, and they're set.
And the next things for this nation is judgment. She is going to have it, too. It may be through
depression. It may be through an atomic bomb. It may be through a great plague, a disease or
something, but, she is ready. It's coming. Thousands times thousands will fall.
We passed by, yesterday, Brother Zabel and I, to... and Brother Woods, coming in from down in
Kentucky, where we had been for three days, and passed by a housing project. Brother Zabel
said, "There's not..." I forget. "Not hardly any of those people, in that project, that even goes to any
church."
You'd ask them about it. "Well, we got our television. That's how we find comfort." See? That's the
American attitude. See? "We got television. We got plenty of money. We got fine cars, got nice
homes. What do we need with the Lord? We don't need That." That's the attitude.
About the only religion and salvation we have, and love, is amongst the real godly people. You
know, the Bible said that would happen. [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.] Uh-huh. You Bible
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readers, I heard you holler "amen," and you preachers back there. That, that's right. The love
would be so far away, in the last days; the only love there would be left, would be between the
Elect of God's people. "The father would be against mother, and mother against father, and
children against parents, and different ones against each other." And the only love would be left,
would just be that Elect, just the Elected. The word "Elect" there comes from the word "Elected,"
God's elected people.
And when Rosella was quoting the story to me in the room, a while ago, I was just thinking, that,
on that night, she said something happened. And how that said, all down through her life, when
she'd be just a walleyed alcoholic. Couldn't, no Alcohols Anonymous. Four doctors give her up.
Nothing could be done. And how, from that very moment, something taken place.
Now she is not that batty-eyed. She's a lovely, beautiful young woman of thirty-three years old,
and would pass for about twenty-two; just how that God did for her what He did, and how she
looks different. And, but I said, "Rosella, before the foundation of the world, God ordained that
moment." Yes, sir. See? Right. And when little old Billy Paul back there, where he's at, was
pushing out prayer cards to the people that night, how little did he know who he was giving a
prayer card to.
Isn't it wonderful, Rosella?
[Sister Rosella Griffith says, "Brother Branham, I wonder if the church could pray that God will
guide for us, how He was strong."--Ed.]
Amen. The Lord bless you, Rosella. I'm sure we will do that. She wants the church to pray that
God will guide her. That's, follow His unchanging hand. Oh, that's so good.
Had an awful proposition put before me, this morning. It's about some, a multi-times multi-times
multimillionaire that wants to produce here at Louisville, Kentucky, and build me a five-milliondollar tabernacle. But something down in my heart said, "Hold on, you're not a pastor." See? So,
then, five million dollars of money that would be appropriated. Now to have to go to the
government, to pay for whiskey and stuff like that, but wants to put it on a tabernacle for the Lord.
But I hope that it goes to some servant of God that will... and some service to God. But, that's five
million dollars appropriated now. Think of that, what a tabernacle that would make.
See how flowery that looks, Rosella? But there is something down here that says different. See?
See? Something down here.
We come into this little, old tabernacle, you strangers. Well, this could be a glamorous place here
on the corner, you don't realize that, that people has wanted to build this place and make it. But
this is the way we like it. See, this is the way we like it. Old seats we were setting on there, was
the--the old original seats out of the tabernacle here, went through the flood and floated up.
My Bible laying open like that on the pulpit. It stuck against the ceiling and come back down with a
Word on It, "I the Lord hath planted it. I'll water it day and night lest some shall pluck it from My
hand." How we rowed across the top of it with a skiff, here. And she come right back down, the
seats moving right back to their place. All they had to do was scrub it out and go on. See? See?
So this is just the way we like it, where it's a common people, common place, and a wonderful
Lord. Amen.
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Now, today, we got some, we're just beginning to get over into the cream, you know, after the--the
milk is all taken out, and just the cream. And remember, it takes the milk to produce the cream,
you know. The--the cream is the contents of the milk.
So we been in the 1st, 2nd, and we're ending up in the 3rd, and beginning in the 4th chapter of
the glorious Book of Hebrews. And, oh, the teachings of this Book! We could stay with It, for on
one verse, for three months, and just show that the entire Bible ties into every verse in the Bible.
Did you ever think of that? There's not one verse that you can put your finger on, but what, with
the grace and the help of the Holy Spirit, that we can tie Genesis to Revelation right into It.
There's not another piece of literature written anywhere that can do that. And mathematically, and
geographically, in every way, there's not a Book in the Bible wrote like the Bible... There's not a
book in the world, I mean, wrote like the Bible. There's nothing. The pneumatics of the Bible is
perfectly in harmony; just even chapters, and punctuations, and everything, is perfect. Not another
book; you couldn't read a chapter out of it without crossing itself back. But there's not one cross-up
in the entire Bible. And was wrote by many, many, many people; and hundreds, and hundreds,
and hundreds of years apart. Not knowing one piece; one wrote It here, and one wrote It here, and
one wrote It over here. When It was all formed together, It made God's Bible. And not one
contradicts the other one, and, no, not mathematics, geographics. Anything else of the Bible,
everything, pneumatic, everything runs perfectly together. That isn't inspired, I don't know, what
will you call inspiration? I'm so glad for the blessed, old Bible.
Some of them said, "Are you a Catholic? Protestant?"
I said, "Neither one. I believe the Bible." That's right. I believe the Bible, and I'm glad that we still
have the freedom to preach It in this nation. Oh, It's wonderful.
Now we're going to study from It. And now we'll turn over in the Book of the Hebrews and begin
with the 3rd chapter. And we left off at the 15th verse. And now you all...
I seen somebody notice, a while ago, when I picked up my reading glasses. It's not that my eyes
are bad, but I'm past forty years old. I can read it, right here, just ordinarily, but I can read it better
with the glasses. And they made me a pair of reading glasses that I want to use, because I can
read it better and faster. And that's what I got them for. Now in the...
First, we want a little background, 'cause there may be some strangers among us, that has not
picked up the first part of the Book of Hebrews.
Are you Mrs. Cox, setting right here on the end? Well, I am sure glad to see her, just before I
start, as a testimony to the grace of God. Here was a woman with a cancer eating her face off.
That's Sister Wood's mother. And I was in Michigan with Gene and Leo, and them, taking the
recordings. And on the road home, wife called me, or I called her. She said, "Go to prayer
immediately for a Mrs. Cox, Mrs. Wood's mother, for a cancer is eating her face off." Done went
into the side of the eye and down to the bone, slick on the side of her face, and just scattering.
Some doctor done something other to it, just made it worse, and just scatter it up; put some kind of
medicine in it.
And they brought her from down to Campbellsville, Kentucky, up to... or, I believe, Acton,
Kentucky, up to--to Louisville, for treatment.
And so Mrs. Woods, the first time I ever seen her that she was tore up. Because, of course, is
her--her--her mama, and sure she'd feel tore up. Went into the room and prayed for her, with the
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confidence that God said He'd answer prayer. And few days, she was out. And there she sets
now. With just amazing grace, how He's done for her.
Would you stand up? I don't want to make you a--a--a public... Where, where was the cancer
located? On--on the side of the face, see there, on that side of her face, down around here, to her
cheekbone, up around her eye. And God healed her. Isn't He wonderful? [Congregation says,
"Amen."--Ed.]
How many was here last Sunday to see what the Lord did by a vision? Man, both crippled and
blind, setting right here in a wheel chair. And something hurt me when that old man setting here
said, "Brother Branham..." I believe it was this brother right here. Said, "Do the same for my wife."
He's got a wife here that's crippled. My heart just melted. I wish... I'd give anything in the world if I
could, but it's not... don't lay in my power. But it does lay to my power and your power, to pray that
God will do it. He's got a crippled wife, paralyzed hand, a paralyzed foot, looks like. And this man
was far worse off than her, 'cause she can stand up and can walk a little, but this man could not
even do that. And he... The brain, main balance nerve was gone. Mayo's, lot of the others, had
give him up. And a Catholic sent him here, a Catholic doctor; and his boy is a priest at St.
Meinrad's down in Jasper, Indiana. But that's laying foundation stones for that revival coming up,
down there.
And when he raised up, he said, "But I can't..." He looked, said, "Yes, I can." He thought he
couldn't see, you know. And he looked up, and just happen to raise his head up, and there he
could walk and see; walked down that aisle, by himself. And they were Presbyterians. He was
orthodox. And talk... You think that just the Pentecostal or the Holiness people can shout; you're
mistaken. They can sure do some shouting when they see something like that happen; hugging
each other and shouting. Walked right out and down the steps, pushing his wheel chair; walking,
with the balance nerves out of his head. Think of it. Walking like you or I would walk. Oh, He's
wonderful.
Now, Paul wrote the Book of Hebrews. And in this writing of Hebrews, he wrote It. And before He
wrote these Books... We find out now. We go... This is a Sunday school class, and I'll try to watch
and not take too long. And then we're going to have services, to continue them on tonight, the
Lord willing. Now, in the Book of Hebrews and the rest of the Epistles of Paul...
Who was Paul? He was a staunch Hebrew, a scholar, and a great teacher of the Old Testament.
And he had been taught by one of the best men of his day. Somebody tell me what his name was.
Gamaliel, one of the greatest teachers of his day. And Paul had set at the feet of Gamaliel.
There is something about the... where you go, what church you go to, and what teacher teaches
you. Did you know that? It, it's got something to it. Therefore we ought to seek out the very best
that we can find, so we're getting the best; not because it's sociable and so forth, but the real Bible
teaching.
Look, one time when Israel had got out into the wilderness with their armies, and they had a
seven-day compass, and they run out of water. And they were about to perish, they said, "Oh, if
there was a prophet near!"
And one of them said, "We have down here, Elisha. He poured water on the hands of Elijah." See
his associates? Other words, "Here is Elisha who has had associations with Elijah. The Word of
the Lord is with him." You get it? He had been taught right. And he said, "He's here. Let's go down
and consult him, because his teacher was Elijah, and he's got the teaching of Elijah in him." See
what a difference it makes? Sure. We want to be taught.
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So, Paul had the teaching of Gamaliel. And Gamaliel was that great man who made the choice,
being a scholar himself, that when all of this carrying on started of the early church, he said, "Let's
not put our hands on that, brethren. If it is not of God, it will come to naught, anyhow. But if it is of
God, and we fight against it, we'll find ourself fighting against God." See, he had had some good
teaching.
Paul had come up under this man, and he knew that Paul was a great teacher. So, one day,
honest in heart, persecuting the Church, going down to arrest them.
Now let's take just another little phase from Paul, as we get our background.
When Judas fell, by transgression, by the love of money and the pride of life, he fell from grace
and went to his place. And the disciples said, "There must be twelve." And the church, with all of
its dignity, to show you what the church is; with all of its dignity and all of its power, it's still millions
of miles short, at its very best. They said, "We've got to look out, one among us, who will take the
place." And they chose, by casting lots, Matthias. Mattheas, I believe, or Matthias. Matthias, I
believe it is. And whenever they chose him and put him with the twelve, with the eleven, which
made up the twelve, he did not do one thing. That's the only time his name is ever mentioned in
the Scriptures. That was the church making its choice.
Now, they thought, "He is a gentleman." No doubt. "He's a wonderful man. He's a scholar. He's
smart. He's educated. He's a wonderful person. He would take the place of Judas and be one of
us."
But, you know, God sometimes makes some of the... to our opinion, some of the most foolish
choices. Now, God seen a little hook-nosed Jew, just as full of temper as he could be, with his
mouth setting sideways, "I'll go down, arrest every one of them. I'll--I'll throw them in jail. I'll do
this." That was God's choice.
The rest of them taken a scholar and a diplomat. That's the church's choice.
See, you don't know who that is at the altar. You don't know who that is you're testifying, in jail or
wherever it is. It might look like a pugilist, his ears broke down, eyes skinned up, and, but you don't
know who that is. You just cast your lot, that's all, give him the Word. God takes the choice.
And God choose this little high-tempered Jew, or chose him, rather. On his road down, "I'll go
down and get them. I'll--I'll show them what I can do like that," and God just knocked him down.
God said, "That's my choice, right there."
Wouldn't that be foolish, to the church? "Why, he persecutes the church. He's a carnal man." But
God knowed what was on the inside of man. See what I mean?
So, Paul had an experience. How many believes experience comes by conversion? Sure. If it
hasn't, I would doubt the conversion. A conversion brings experience. And you can't lot it to
anything now. Sometimes it might be shouting. Sometimes it might be speaking with tongues.
Sometimes it might be weeping. Sometimes it might be groaning. You don't know what it is, so
don't try to lot it. Because, every one of you has proved to be wrong in it, you Methodists, and you
Baptists, and you Nazarenes, and Pentecostals.
I seen people shout just as hard as they could shout, and steal the gold out of your teeth, they
could. Yes, sir. I seen people speak with tongues like pouring peas on a dry cowhide, and--and
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honest to goodness, with a chew tobacco on other side of the mouth, and cut your throat if they
could do it. That's right. So them things has not... There's no evidence that you can prove it, only
by the life the person lives. "By their fruit, you shall know them."
So, that's all up to God. He makes a choice. He brings the things together, and that's the way it is.
So if your life is comparing with the fruits of the Bible, you got a pretty good conception. If your
spirit is bearing record with His Spirit, that your sons and daughters of God, you're... Although, evil
has dropped away, and everything has become new, and you're living in love, and you got peace,
and grace, and so forth, you're getting pretty close to the Kingdom then. Because, the Life that's in
you is producing that kind of a life. See?
If you say, "Oh, hallelujah, I spoke with tongues. Hallelujah!" That don't mean nothing. That don't
mean a bit more than if you'd got out here and played a tune on a guitar or something. That
doesn't mean one thing. Though you spoke with tongues, though you shouted, and run up-anddown the aisle, and cried tears till like you had been peeling onions, that don't mean one thing, not
one thing, unless that everyday life backs up just exactly, stays with It.
Now, if you do those things, plus that life, "amen," that, that's fine. That's good. But you can do
those things without having that life.
So then, no shouting, no nothing like that is evidence. Jesus said, "By their fruit, you shall know
them." And the fruit of the Spirit is not speaking with tongues. That's not the fruit of the Spirit.
Shouting is not the fruit of the Spirit. Weeping is not this fruit of the Spirit. But, love, joy, peace,
long-suffering, goodness, gentleness, faith, meekness, temperance, that's the fruits of the Spirit.
See? That's what the Spirit's fruits are. All right.
Now, the reason we have these things, they like to make organizations, you see. "Well, we'll have
it. Bless God, all believes the way we do, we'll go this way. All believes like we do, we'll go this
way." But God wants all to go This way, right up.
Now, Paul, after he had this experience, then he thought that was a wonderful experience. Now,
how... Let's--let's--let's quote that experience a little bit. Paul was on his road to Damascus, to
arrest some people down there, 'cause the Gospel had got scattered down there. Gospel means
"the good news." And so they got scattered down there, and many people was raising up, full of
love, and joy, and loving the Lord Jesus. And It had got scattered down that way. So, Paul got
some letters from the High Priest. He said, "I'll go down, and I'll arrest them, every one."
So he took him a little company of guards, temple guards, soldiers, way down the road he went.
While they were marching down the road, and him just all know what he's going to do, all of a
sudden, something happened. All of a sudden, there was a great Light before him. Great Light,
now, It shined like the sun. That's a strange thing to happen. The Light shined insomuch that he
just... His eyes went out, almost. And fell to the ground. And he--he's laying down on the ground,
and he looked up.
There was probably ten or fifteen men with him. Did any of those men see that Light? No, sir.
Paul saw It. It wasn't designated for them men to see It. So, some people can see things, where,
others don't. See? So, Paul saw that Light, insomuch that It even blinded him. He couldn't see, for
several days, It was such a reality to him. And he couldn't see for several...
Later on, when he wrote letters, his eyes bothered him so bad from that, until he wrote with great
big letters. He said, "Seeing that I have written to you with large letters." He couldn't hardly see.
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He was in jail, and he asked the Lord to heal him of it. And he consulted Him three times. But
what did the Lord say? "My grace is sufficient, Paul."
Paul said, "Then will I glory in my infirmities." Because, he said, "Except I would be exalted above
the abundance of the Revelation, there was given to me a messenger of the Devil, a thorn in the
flesh, that buffet me." He'd get better for a while, and then away they go again.
Buffet mean "blow after blow." Like the ship on the sea, you know, the waves buffet it, see, blow
after blow.
And he would, he'd get better, and then have it again; then get better, have it again. He said,
"Lord, what's the matter, You don't take this away from me?"
He said, "My grace is sufficient, Paul. Just keep on." It'd keep...
He said, "Now, if--if I was just perfect, and everything perfect," said, "then when I went along, oh,
I'd get puffed up and say, 'You see, nothing wrong with me. Lord takes care of me, brother.
Hallelujah!'" Then you're getting self-righteous.
God has to give you a little something, once in a while, to kind of meeking you up a little, you
know. That's right. Kind of make you realize that He's the Boss. Oh, isn't He wonderful? Yes, sir,
just glory!
So he, Paul, then, right after having this great experience...
Now, if that would been somebody today, they'd said, "Oh, bless God, hallelujah. Boy, the Lord
has done something for me! Glory to God!" But not Paul; he was a Bible scholar.
That experience must tally with God's Word. Yes, sir. If it isn't altogether hooked into the Bible...
Not just look over here, say, "Oh, yes, here it is right here. Bless God, I got It." Huh-uh. That's not
the way God gives It.
It must be the entire Bible, all of It. Cause, you can... Infidels use this Bible for their grounds to
debate on. But they'll take a little Scripture here, turn over here and get another little one over
here, try to make them tie together, and it's two different subjects, altogether. So, you got to make
Scripture compare with Scripture.
As Isaiah said, the 28th chapter, "It must be line upon line, line upon line; here a little, there a
little." "Hold fast to that what's good." See, there's the way It comes: line upon line upon line, Word
upon Word, Scripture upon Scripture. It must all compile together. That's why, I think, in these
lessons like we're having now, it's a great thing to the church, because it brings them to a place
that all the Scriptures tie together. And our experience must tie with that Scripture. Oh, here it is! If
it doesn't, then it's wrong.
And how that I walked for years, not knowing what that Light was that struck Paul down. When,
the outside world, the Scriptures... The people, the preachers tried to tell me, "That's of the Devil.
Why, you'll be a fortune-teller. You'll be a spiritualist. Don't you fool with That, Billy. Something
wrong with That. Don't you do that, boy. That's wrong. That's the Devil. Well, boy, you'll be a
regular medium. You'll be a spiritualist if you do that. Oh, all that's of the Devil. That's--that's not
right." But when... I didn't want to preach that.
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But as on the road down to Damascus, Paul didn't want to preach it, till he found out whether it
was right or not. So he goes down into Arabia for three years, and studies the Scripture. Ah! When
he come out, he said, "Now shake it out of me."
He knew he had to face Pharisees. He had to face Sadducees. He had to face the world, and the
Gentile world. And so Paul, this Bible is written, this Book of Hebrews, is written for that purpose.
He is shaking those Hebrews, and taking that Old Testament and show It over here in the New
Testament. "This is God," he said, "here it is on--on all the prophets and everything." Starts off
back there at the beginning, the 1st chapter we had, "For God in sundry times, way back in old
time, in divers manners, spoke to the fathers by the prophets." That's how God brought His
message, tested by the Urim Thummim. "But in this day has spoke to us through His Son, Christ
Jesus," tested by His Bible. There you are.
So these experiences that the world says, "Oh, it's mental. Why, nobody..." When that Angel
appeared, that Light down here on the river, when I preached my first revival here on the corner,
we baptized all those people. I believe, Brother Fleeman, you might have been in the... I don't
know whether you was here then or not. How many was here when the--when the Light appeared
on the river? Is any of the old-timers here? Yes, some of them. When It down here on the river.
And they said, "It was just an optical illusion." Many of us was standing, looking at It, and here It
come down. And then years later, God proved It by a mechanical eye of a camera. It's true.
"Well, is it--is it some fiction? Is it something that--that..." No, sir. We're taking it right here in the
Bible and showing you. It's the same Lord Jesus. He does the same thing. His action is the same.
His power is the same.
Look, last Sunday, here. Yonder, laying on my bed, never seen the man in my life. Come out and
said, "There's a man at the tabernacle, and he's gray, black-headed, graying. He is blind, and he
can't walk. He's in a wheel chair. A black-headed man sent him up; a doctor, Dr. Ackerman, a
black-headed man, Catholic man. Sent a man, set right there. And THUS SAITH THE LORD,
raised up, walked out with his sight and everything. What did it? Here is the same Angel. The
same One that struck Paul down, on the road going down to Damascus, lives in His Church and
His people today. It's Scripture comparing with Scripture. That's the way it must be.
Oh, we have the lukewarms. We're getting into that, after while.
Oh, we got a deep thing before us, if we can just get into it, today and tonight. Now it's just begin
to get into the deep waters. Where you...
You know, when I was a little boy, I used to have a little pond out behind the place, and I'd go out
there. And all of us little kids would go in, nude; little, about six, seven years old. And we... The
water is about that deep. It wasn't no more than a hog wallow. And I had a soapbox there. I'd show
I could dive; hold my nose, and splash, going like that. And my little belly would hit the mud, you
know, and it would just fly every way. I told my daddy I could swim.
He took me back there one day. He said, "I want to see you swim." I jumped off there, you know;
stripped my clothes, a little locust thicket; and run down, hit the water. I had been splashing, the
mud flying every way. And Pop was setting on a culvert. He set there and watched me for a few
minutes. Said, "Get out of that hole of water, and get yourself a bath, and get home." See?
Well, that's just about the way, some of us that call ourselves Christians. We mud-crawl. That's
right. Long as you're anchored, "I'm a Methodist. I'm a Pentecostal. I'm a Presbyterian. I got an
evidence; I got It." You're mud-crawling.
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One day I was with my uncle. I kept tell him... He was about fifteen, sixteen years old. We was at
the river. I said, "Uncle Lark, I can swim." And I was setting on the back of the boat, you know, felt
good and safe. He just took the oar and pushed me out, in about ten-foot of water. It was different
then; all the splashing, screaming, you ever heard in your life.
Someday you get pushed off, you better know where you're standing. Yes, sir. If you know Him,
you better really know Him. That's right.
But now we're going into deep water, deep water, where it'll make you drown if you--if you're not a
good, fattened-up Christian.
Notice the Word. Paul, first found that. He went back in the Old Testament, and he found this. He
seen that experience of his, absolutely. "Now what was That that struck me down?"
It was a Light, big Light standing there, shining like the sun, standing in front of his face. He said,
"Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?"
He said, "Lord, who are You that I persecute?"
He said, "I'm Jesus."
"I thought He was a--a man, had scarred hand, that they claim is appearing in meetings now, with
nail scars in His hands and His head." No, no; not that body, not in that body. See? He is now a
Light. Saul...
When He was here on earth, He said, "I come from God. I go back to God."
He was the Angel that led the Children of Israel in this Light, through the wilderness. He returned
back to that same Light. And Paul saw It, out of the Old Testament. He said, "I am Jesus, the
Angel of the Covenant."
And He become flesh, to redeem us. "Took on not the form of Angels," we find in previous
chapters, we are... study. "He never took on the nature of Angels, but was the Seed of Abraham,"
that He might be known, that men could see God. Amen.
Now He says, "I'll return back to That."
And when Paul seen That, he said, "Sure, that was Him. That was Him."
Peter had an experience one night while he was praying. That same Light come into the building,
opened up the doors before him, went out into the streets. And Peter thought he was dreaming; he
was so anointed. He didn't know what taken place. He said, "Have I just woke up? But I'm out here
on the street."
And he went down to John Mark's house. And the little girl opened the door, some little lady there,
been in a prayer meeting. Somebody was knocking at the door. Opened up the door. "Oh," she
said, "here is Peter right now. You're praying for him to get out of prison. The Lord has delivered
him."
"Oh," they said, "go on."
"O Lord, deliver him!"
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"Why," she said, "he is standing at the door, knocking."
Peter just kept pounding, "Let me in."
"Oh," she said, "it's Peter." Them days, they still have it, a little draw bar. Little lid here, you raise
back and look out, see. Before you let your guest in, you have to know who is knocking at your
door. Cause, they had robbers; if you opened the door, they'd kill you.
So, they opened the door. She said, "It's Peter."
They said, "Oh! Oh, my, he's dead. That's his angel standing there. See? Done got in his glorified
body, you know, that theophany."
Remember how we took It, the big Diamond, how It reflected the Light, how It went back to there?
The... "This earthly tabernacle be dissolved, we have one already waiting."
And they thought Peter done died, this old body had dropped, and they'd bury it in a few days. "He
had entered into his angel, or his glori-..." Not glorified body, but in his theophany, the body that's
already prepared. It couldn't shake your hands. It has no hands to shake, like that, but it's in an
image of a man. "Come down, and was knocking at the door."
She said, "No. It's Peter. He's standing there." He opened the door and walked in. There he was.
Now, Peter had been delivered by this Light.
Now, the same way that that early... that Paul, in the early Church, seen that Light of God that
shined on Paul, the same Thing has come down. Now, people can say anything, that doesn't
make it right. But when God proves anything, the work of It proves It. Then, the camera proves It.
And everything that we... that the Lord has did, has been absolutely, infallibly proved that It's God,
by the Scriptures, by Its action, by experience. But they won't listen.
Look here in this tabernacle. Now, remember, you know this. We don't crave crowds. We ain't got
no place to put them, anyhow. But, look. A meeting of this type, where we was coming together for
this, ought to attract the Falls Cities. But they're dead. They're absolutely dead. They have eyes
but they can't see.
You say, you, "Why, Brother Branham, won't they go to a doctor and get their eyes fixed?" He
can't fix that kind of seeing.
Jesus said, "If you would have known Me, you would have known My day." He said, "You blind
Pharisees. You can discern the face of the skies, but the signs of the time, you can't discern."
Does that go over top of your head? Listen. Look at the signs we're living in here. Now, it just ain't
some... I, myself, I'm just a man, not even a preacher, to talk about. I have no education, what the
world call, "a preacher." And we're just poor people. Look at the building we're in. Look at the
cathedrals, this morning. But look where God is at. There's the thing.
So was Moab standing there in all his splendor and his beauty, but there was Israel in tents. But
where was God at? There was a bunch of little holy-rollers down there, doing everything there was
was wrong. But Balaam, their--their bishop, failed to see that smitten Rock, that Brass Serpent,
that Pillar of Fire. His eyes was blind. He couldn't see It. He said, "They're just imagining That."
But He was there.
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Bless God, oh, He is here! God is here, and He's doing the same thing that He has done. And He
will. We compare Scripture with Scripture. God has never painted Himself some big something, on
earth, but He's always dwelt among the common and humble people. And here He is this morning,
doing the same thing. The Scripture vindicates It. The camera vindicates It. Now, That, reason I
refer to that picture, it isn't because I'm there. I'm--I'm just a sinner, saved by grace, like you are.
But what I'm trying to say, is, It's His Presence with us. That's the main thing. Well, if He made me
a--a incarnated Elisha, if you didn't have faith to believe it, it'd never do you any good.
"He came to His own. His own received Him not."
That's the reason, here in the city today. Why, I could start a revival here, in some big building or
something, you would never get many people to believe it. They just won't. They can't. Their day is
done.
This same lesson, this morning, in Africa, would probably produce ten thousand, at least, ten
thousand souls to Christ. Or, there might be one sinner setting here this morning, or something,
some backslider. Most of them is just combed through and through, till it's just finished. That's all.
But what we're trying to say, is, Scripture compares with Scripture. Now, don't matter how great
the experience is, unless it compares with the Scripture, it's wrong.
The Urim Thummim, no matter how good the prophet was, if he spoke and them lights didn't flash
on the Urim Thummim, it was wrong. How well the dream seemed, if it didn't flash on the Urim
Thummim, it was wrong.
When that priesthood ended, God put His Bible up. Paul said, "If an Angel from Heaven would
come," Galatians 1:8, "and would preach any other gospel than what's already been preached to
you, let him be accursed."
The Angel from Heaven said to John the revelator, which was God Himself, "I Jesus sent My
angel to vindicate, or to show these things." He said, "If any man will add one word to It, or take
one Word out of It, the same will be taken out of the Book of Life, for him." This is It, the Bible.
Therefore, these experiences and these things that we're having to happen here, if it wasn't
vindicated by God's Word, it would be wrong; I don't care what would take place, it would be
wrong. So it's Scripturally, absolutely the Truth. Oh, I'm so happy I'm a member of the great Body
of Christ.
Now, let's go now, we're coming down to the lesson. Now, we ended up over here where he said,
"Seeing that we're compassed about now..." I'm sorry. That's, I was quoting 12th chapter. I been
reading it, but I haven't studied it. I...
Brother Norman, staying at my home up there, and he knows that I just got in yesterday, and the
brothers know, down there, I just got in. The only time I got to read the Scripture down, was setting
right here, a few minutes ago. That's right. Don't study It, I just wait for the Holy Spirit to give It just
as He wants it. He knows where the person is at--at, that has to have It. So if I got something
made up in my mind I'm going to say, then it's wrong. But if I just let Him do it, He will take It right
straight to the spot where It belong. See? "Take no thought what you shall say, for It's not you that
speaks, It's your Father that dwelleth in you. He doeth the speaking."
Now, the last chapter, previous chapter, we heard this, that, "How shall we escape, if we neglect
this great salvation; Who was first preached to us by the Lord Jesus, and Him with those who
heard Him?" The same things that Jesus did, to show, them same things like takes place here:
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same Angel of God, same works, same evidence, same everything, everything along, same
Gospel, right with the Word. "If that was taught by the Lord, then confirmed by His disciples that
we've heard," Paul being the same, "how shall we escape, if we neglect such great salvation?"
Now, Paul was saying that to his Hebrew audience. Now, they didn't have tape recorders, today,
like we got here. But they had scribes who was setting there, taking It down just as Paul was
preaching It.
And that's what It is right here. We're getting It by tape recorders, and these tapes go over the
world, see, to show that It is the Truth. Our religion is not in vain, It's absolutely the resurrected
Jesus Christ, same thing. Now we mustn't neglect It.
Now, just don't go away from church, today, and say, "Well, I kind of enjoy going down there. I like
the singing, and the people are friendly around that little old church." Don't do that.
Brother, let your heart become a flame, say, "Here, I got to do something about this. I got to get
out and see if I can get somebody saved."
And don't go out, saying, "Bless God, if you don't repent, you're going to perish." No.
Go at it gentle. "Be as wise as a serpent, as harmless as a dove." See, that's the way to go.
Approach the person, if he's raising chickens, talk about chickens, to him, for a while. See? And
then, first thing you know, you'll be talking about the Lord. If he's a farmer, talk about his farm.
If he sells automobiles, talk about his automobiles, for a while, "What nice cars you got," and so
forth. See?
Till you catch the Spirit, when Father says, "Now is the time to approach him about his soul."
You can wind it off, see, "That's a fine automobile. You know transportation, today, has become
great. Oh, how the nations has been brought close together; and the cities of our nations, close
together. Friends and mothers can visit each other. You know, it's a wonderful thing to have
automobiles like you're selling."
"Yes, sir. It sure is. Uh-huh." You know, puffing on his cigar, or whatever it is. "Yeah, them, them
is good cars."
"Did you ever think of what the old-timers would have thought if they'd seen something like that?"
Just keep going like that, you know.
After a while, say, "Yep, yeah, sure is."
You know, another thing it does, it brings like we having, like in revivals. People can come across
the country, quickly, for a revival." See, you're opening the way, all time, you know.
If you feel Something chock up the way, stop right there, move over here. Like a doctor said, out
at Phoenix, said, "Lord, fill my mouth with good words, and then nudge me when I've said
enough." You see? Yeah. "Nudge me when I've said enough."
Now, notice now, we're going to start from the 15th chapter, or 15th verse of the 3rd chapter,
closely now.
While it is said, To day if you... hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.
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Now watch Paul speaking here. Now it is said, "Today, after so long a time." We're going to get
into it after a while, that, "Today, so long a time." Comes into the next chapter, "After so long a
time."
... it is said, To day if you... hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the day of provocation,
when they provoked God.
Now let's read the next verse.
For some, when they had heard, did provoke:...
Now what's he talking about? Gospel.
... howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses.
But with whom he was grieved for forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose
carcases fell in the wilderness?
Let's stop here a minute. The provocation, "when they provoked." Now what did God do? Now
Paul is trying to speak. What is It led them out of Egypt? Was it Moses? No. Moses was the flesh
instrument.
Now we got a background here. We want to get straightened out now. When we hit this spot
down here, in a few minutes, you'll--you'll see it.
Now, God had His people with unsettled rest. They were down in Egypt. They were out of their
right position. They were out of their homeland. They were strangers and pilgrims, and God was
going to bring them from that housed-in place, in--in Egypt, up to the homeland.
A type of today; we're unsettled. Here it don't take long. Little chubby-handed boys playing
marbles, little girls with the dollies, playing; the first thing you know, you got gray hair, and wrinkled
up. There's something wrong here. This is not home. We're in the wrong place. That's why we say
we are pilgrims and strangers. Something has happened.
A little lady said, this morning in the room, about how people laugh at her, sometime. I said, "But,
sister, dear, you're not of them people." We are a different people.
My little girl said, "Daddy, certain-certain girls did certain-certain things that they did."
I said, "But, look, honey." They had these records of Elvis Presley. I said, "I wouldn't want them in
my house."
She said, "But, daddy, they're nice little girls."
I said, "They may be. I have nothing to say against that. But there is one thing, we are different.
We are different. Not as that we want to be different, but the Spirit that's within us has come out of
that. You're of another world."
When I go into Africa, I can't get adjusted to their--their--their ways of living. They don't wear any
clothes. They're naked. And they pick up something that's rotten, got maggots in it, they eat it,
anyhow; don't make any difference. See?
And This is different. You know, one time, we were all like that, but civilization has brought us and
made us different.
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And conversion has doubled that by million. We don't want the rotten things of the world no more.
Christ has made us become Christians; like civilization has made us become clean. And notice,
not only that, but we profess that we are pilgrims and strangers. We're not of the world. Then, you
want nothing to do with the world. And those things has passed away.
Now, Israel was down in Egypt. They wasn't Egyptians. Egyptians, it was a disgrace for an
Egyptian to put his hands on a sheep. And Israel were sheepherders. And how it must have gotten
Moses, after all the indignity of being an Egyptian, cattle raisers.
Did you notice what the Pharaoh had said to Joseph, and so forth? "It is an abomination." Said,
"Your people are sheepherders." And even an Egyptian couldn't even put his hands on a
sheepherder. He was a different people.
And that's the way it is with a Christian, today, when he's born again. It's not... It's filthy for him to
associate where people are drinking and telling dirty jokes, and women naked. And every... It, it's-it's filthiness. Oh, blessed be the Lord! We are pilgrims here. We're strangers here. The spirit has
been converted, and we're looking for a City where women don't wear shorts. We're looking for a
City where they don't have beer taverns. We're looking for a City wherein dwelleth righteousness.
So, we're pilgrims.
So, God came down in a big bundle of Fire, as a Halo, swept down into a bush and begin to
reveal Himself to Moses, first. Moses said...
You know how we had the lesson the other night, how that when Jesus was here on earth, He
said, "Well, before Moses was, I AM." That was Jesus in the burning bush, in the Pillar of Fire. It's
Jesus, today, the same.
And He revealed Himself in a Pillar of Fire, and Moses got the experience. He goes down into
Egypt. He preaches the Gospel, the good news, and signs and wonders followed him. You get it?
Same thing today.
Not only that, but them the Hebrews come out, walked in the Light, they was led by the same
Pillar of Fire. And the Bible said that, "Do not tempt God."
Watch this. Let me read It.
While it is said, To day if you... hear his voice, harden not your heart, his voice speaking to your
heart, as in the provocation, when they provoked Him.
Listen.
How many knows that the Israelites provoked God with their unbelief? [Congregation says,
"Amen."--Ed] They murmured. They completely... God walked right down there. And when they
got all... First thing, they got in trouble.
Here was this Pillar of Fire above them. I don't know whether they all saw It, or not. At least,
Moses saw It. And It was above them, and they watched It. And when they come down... Say if
they didn't see It, I don't know whether they did or not. It went before them. The Bible said It was
there.
It said, "The Star went before the wise men." Nobody saw It but the wise men. It went over every
observatory. They kept time by the stars. No one saw It but the wise men. It was for them to see It,
and the wise men was who the Star was sent for.
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And the Pillar of Fire was sent to Moses, and Moses was sent to the children of Israel. And they
was supposed to follow Moses. They could see Moses, and Moses saw the Light.
There they went!...?... And as they went out, they come to the Red Sea. And, oh, they--they never
seen all those signs of miracles and things taking place while they were still down in the--in the old
land of Egypt, but when they got out there in their journey, just converted and brought out. Then,
the first thing you know, they got in trouble.
God loves to bring you in trouble. He loves to put trouble down and see what you'll do about it. So
He just stopped up the Red Sea, and the first thing you know, marched them right out into this
place, then sent Pharaoh after them. See how God likes to do it? He loves to display His power
and love. He is God, and He just loves to show you who He is. Amen.
And the trouble of it is, today, people say, "Oh, them days is past." No. How can God display
Himself, when you're taught such stuff as that? But God loves to manifest Himself.
Here come the children of Israel, walking in the Light. Moses, going on before them. There they
was. "Come on. This is the way. God is calling. We're going out. We're going to the promised
land."
"Oh, hallelujah!" Here they all was, shouting, and jumping, and having a good time, you know. And
the first thing you know, they looked back and said, "Oh, what's that dust?"
One of them climbed up on a hill, said, "Oh, oh! Alas, alas! It's Pharaoh's army."
God said, "What you so scared about? Didn't you believe what I did down there? What you so
worried about? Why you make Me angry?"
When they got down there, Moses went out and interceded to God. God just opened up the Red
Sea and they walked across; closed the enemy in. That's the way God does it. Don't get scared.
Don't get all excited. Don't be flusterated. You provoke God.
Then what did He do? Look like, "Well, we had one big trial; bless God, we got over it. We won't
have no more. We're on our road to the promised land." And He led them right out into the desert,
where there's no water. Could you imagine? God, with His--with His sanctified, holy people, led
them right out in this trap; then got them out of that trap, and led them right out here where there's
no water. When He could have took them some way where there was water. Why, He could just
made a river, all the way along, if He wanted to. He could have broke every mountain into joy,
spurting water fifty feet in the air, if He wanted to. Sure, He could. But if He done that, it'd been too
easy. Oh, my! Blessed be the Name of the Lord.
"Why did God let this happen, Brother Branham? Why did God?"
God is doing that. Let Him alone. Just walk on. That's God's business. "The footprints of the
righteous are ordered by the Lord." Yes, sir. What difference does it make?
"Lost all my money, Brother Branham." Well, bless God, anyhow.
"Oh, I did this, and this happened, storm blowed away my house."
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Bless God, anyhow. "The Lord give, the Lord taken away, blessed be the Name of the Lord." Just
keep walking on. It's all the glory of God. God knows what He's doing.
Some through the water, some through the flood,
Some through deep trial, but all through the Blood.
That's the way He leads us. That's right. Oh, my! I feel like I could just stop and scream. That's
the way He leads His dear children. Oh, can you just feel... Now, I'm not a psychologist, but can
you just feel that lovely Spirit now bathing over the building? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.]
What if our eyes would come open just now, and look what is standing around the sides of these
walls, up-and-down these aisles?
O Elisha! One morning, when that boy was just as blind as he could be, he said, "Look at the
Syrians down there."
Said, "But there's more with us."
Said, "I don't see nobody."
Said, "Lord, open that boy's eyes."
He looked around that old prophet, all around that, mountains was on Fire, and horses of Fire,
and chariots of Fire. He was convinced then.
He said, "We'll just go out and smite them blind." They had their sight just as perfect as they ever
did, but they was blind to him. Said, "You all seeking Elijah?"
Said, "Yes, sir."
"Come on, I'll show you where he's at." And that was him, leading them. They didn't know it.
That's the way it is today. Christ is here. The Holy Ghost is here, doing the same things that He's
always done, and the world is blind to It. They don't know It. "Oh, I--I don't know about That. My
pastor..." Oh, poor decrepit people! See what I mean? They're blind to It. They don't know It. God
is leading.
Now, they come up, through the Wilderness of Sin, there was no water there. God just had it all
provided. Oh, and they found a puddle of water, they said, "This is it." And they couldn't even taste
it. Oh, it was terrible. My, it's--it's worse than a hundred percent sulfur. See, just like rotten eggs,
you know. "Oh, my! It's terrible." It was poison. Now, called the Wilderness of Sin. Several palm
trees grow there, and the spring where those palms growed. Then Moses said, "Don't..."
God said, "Why do they? Why do they? What are they provoking Me for? Well, if I did that back
there, can't I do something about this situation?"
If He got you out of one sick spell, can't He get you out of another one? [Congregation says,
"Amen."--Ed.] He got you out of one trouble, can't He get you out of another one? ["Amen."] Bless
God! If He got me out of sin, He can take me out of the grave. He is God. Difference does it
make? Just go on, keep your eyes on Him.
Said, "If I closed the Red Sea behind, and drowned them Egyptians, can't I do something about
this water? What do you make Me angry about? Oh, your unbelief! You provoke Me to anger,
because of unbelief."
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Now the word here is used, "Sin," provoked. Made... The reason they did it, they disbelieved.
They never went out and got to shooting craps, now, and things like that. They never run around
with somebody else's wife, and went out and told lies. That wasn't what they were doing. But,
that's not sin, to begin with.
Living in adultery is not sin. Smoking, chewing, drinking, gambling, cursing, swearing, so forth,
that's not sin. That's the attributes of unbelief. You do that because you're an unbeliever. If you are
a believer, you don't do that. That's the reason Jesus said, "He that heareth My Words and
believeth on Him that sent Me, has everlasting Life." Not says he believes, but really believes!
There it is. That takes all your initial evidence away. See? Now, there you are.
Not, "He that heareth My Words and shouts." Not, "He that heareth My Words and speaks with
tongues." Not, "He that heareth My Words and has blood in his hand or in his face," or whatever
more. That's not It.
"He that heareth My Words and believeth on Him that sent Me, has Eternal Life, and shall never
come to the Judgment, but has passed from death to Life."
What is sin? Unbelief. A little something can raise up, instead of going right to the Scripture and
find out whether It's true or not, "Oh," you say, "I'm... Naw! See, there, you go ahead. "I'll just
continue a Presbyterian like I am, see." Go ahead, blind, and you provoke God.
When God does anything, he expects the nation to grab It. But, instead of that, "You know, well, I
don't know about That." See? He expects the people to get It. If you're concerned enough, set
down with the Scripture. Go through It and search It, back and forth, and see if It happened, if It's
predicted to came to pass, and so forth. Then you'll get It. Amen.
Now notice.
While it is... To day if you... hear his voice, harden not your heart, as in the provocation, when God
was provoked with them, you see.
For some, when they had heard, heard the gospel Moses preached, did provoke: howbeit not all
that came out of Egypt by Moses.
How many knows how many people was saved out of that original bunch that come out? How
many? [Someone says, "Two."--Ed.] Two, is right. How many knows their names? ["Caleb and
Joshua."] That's right. Caleb and Joshua, the only two, out of two million something.
Listen to this. "But he..." The 17th verse now.
But with whom he was grieved forty years, because of unbelief. Was it not with them that had
sinned, disbelieved...?
Take the dictionary and find out what sin means. Take the Bible dictionary. It's unbelief. Unbelief
is "sin." "He that believeth not is condemned already," Saint John 4, see, "condemned already."
... whose carcases fell in the wilderness?
And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest,...
Your disbelieving! Oh, how I'll never get to my chapter. But, look, that's what's the matter with this
nation, today. Signs and wonders has crossed through this nation. What do they do? Continually
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turned their back on It. And He said, "I'll sware that I'll not let them enter into the Land they started
to."
What's the matter with these big churches today? Their unbelief has provoked God. Hallelujah!
He is able of these stones to rise children to Abraham. He tried to give the Gospel to them, and
they hardened their hearts. They cult themselves, and they made little denominations, "And we
believe this and nothing else," and God couldn't move in. Where they at today? Setting on a
sideline.
God's little, faithful group is moving right along, with signs and wonders. He is putting them to the
test. "Every son that cometh to God must first be tried and tested," child-trained.
First little thing happened, "Oh, well, maybe there's nothing to It, anyhow." You're the illegitimate
child, and not a child of God.
For a child of God is the Seed of Abraham, who calls those things that were not, as though they
were, "God said so," and just keeps moving on. Amen. No matter what says, or anything different,
they keep moving on, anyhow. "God said so."
Twenty-five years he waited for that baby, no matter how contrary it was. And he separated
himself from them unbelievers, amen, so he could believe. Oh, my! I feel religious.
Think of it. You've got to separate yourself from that dogma of the world, "Ah, them days of
miracles is past. There's no such a thing as That. That's fanaticism." Separate yourself.
The Bible said, "Come out from among them, and be ye separated, saith the Lord, and I will
receive you." How wonderful! "I will receive you, after you've separated yourself. You shall be my
children. I'll be your God. Separate yourself. Don't yoke yourself up with unbelievers." That's right.
Young man getting married, married some girl that don't believe; or some young girl marrying a
boy that don't believe. Don't you do that. I don't care how cute he is, and--and, or how cute she is,
and what those big eyes she's got; they'll all fade out one of these days. But, brother, your soul is
going to live forever. You be careful what you're doing. She ain't a real believer, or him a real
believer, don't you yoke yourself up like that. Stay away from such. It'll cause you trouble down the
road.
Now listen, 17th verse.
But... whom he... was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose
... to whom he sware that they should not enter into the rest,...
They started out, but they seen the miracles, but they never did get to the promised land. Just a
selected number, of two, enter the promised land.
Now what's Paul doing? He is speaking to the Christians now, "Don't you let this same Gospel,
that was preached back yonder, in signs and wonders, and the Pillar of Fire led them; when these
things go to taking place again, don't you fall by the wayside, by unbelief, to go to doubting, for
their carcass fell in the wilderness."
Now we're coming in, quickly now. Watch close.
... but to them that lived not?
So we see that they should not enter in because of unbelief.
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He calls it sin once, he calls it unbelief the next time. Unbelief is "sin." "They entered not, because
of their unbelief."
They seen that prophet, Moses. They seen what he done, seen what he said. It was true, every
time, moved right on the Truth. This Pillar of Fire would appear before them. They watched It.
They seen It.
Paul, trying to get, later on, get down here, the experience that he had. See? Trying to relate the
experience, he typed it to the Old Testament. He said, "Now we've entered into a new thing, to this
new dispensation, by Jesus Christ. Old times, the Lord appeared to them by the prophets, but now
He's by His Son, Jesus." See? And he goes in, to type the experiences and show them what was
taking place, how the signs and wonders, and everything, and what's wrote.
Now he said, "They entered not, because of their unbelief." They did not believe.
"But now, we, we move into a dispensation, and don't you harden your heart. Don't you act like
they did, in the days of provocation, when they provoked God." How did they do it? Not by living
immorally. Let me grind this down to you.
You say, "Brother Branham, I go to church." That's all right. "I never lied in my life." That's fine. "I
never stole. I never done this, that, or the other." That's very fine. That's all good. But, that still isn't
sin.
The sin is when God shows Himself and you disbelieve It, you won't listen to It.
"Oh," you say, "my church don't teach That." As long as the Bible teaches It, and God proves It,
that's the thing.
Now watch just a moment. Now we're going to start now on something real, real deep. Now, put
your conscience in your vest pocket till you get outside.
Now watch real close.
Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us to enter into his...
His, her, personal pronouns now. What?
... any of you should seem to come short of it.
Now, Paul is trying to tell them, in the previous chapter, about all these things. But now he is
trying to tell them what It is.
Oh, have we got time? I... Maybe we better wait till tonight. It's getting late, and we going to have
prayer service. Maybe we better catch it tonight, 'cause this is really full of vitamins, spiritual
vitamins. Got a lot to do, and I'm busy this afternoon. "Let us..."
Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise...
Now, did they have a promise for the promised land, down in Egypt? And, when, God came
down, to make this promise a reality. Why, God told Abraham, hundreds and hundreds of years
before, that He was going to do it. It was Scriptural.
Joseph said, "Don't you move my bones from here until you go to that promised land and bury me
up there with the rest of my fathers." Cause, he knowed the resurrection was coming, when Jesus
rose from the dead, 'cause he had known what Job said. See?
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Each one of them prophets knowed just what the other prophet had said, and knowed that their
Spirit was the same. And they was watching. Oh, brother! Oh, that ought to shake us out of our
worldly condition. They had their eyes, not on what people were saying, but what them prophets
said. Each one of them was watching.
Abraham said, "Bury me right here where Job was buried." Said, "Sarah, I'm going to buy a piece
of ground. We're going to be buried right here."
Isaac was a prophet, after his daddy. Said, "Listen. Don't you bury me anywhere else, not down
here in Egypt, but you take me right back in the promised land. You bury me right here."
Jacob died down in the promised land, but said to his son, who was a prophet, said, "You know,
one night the Angel touched me on the side. I've limped ever since. Come, put my hand..." Oh,
mercy! "My prophet son, I'm old and I'm blind. But put your holy hand, being a prophet yourself, lay
it on the place where the Angel had His hand, and swear to the God of Heaven that you'll not bury
me down here."
Blessed be! There! You see the spiritual revelation of the Word? Why, half of them, nearly ninety
percent, didn't know what he was talking about. But he knew what he was talking about. "Put your
prophet hands on this place where the Angel laid His hand. I was once a big, stout man, a robust
coward. But, He touched me, and since then I've been a limping man. But I've been a prince ever
since I limped. Ever since I changed my way of walking, I been a prince." Yes. "Put your hand
here. Swear by the God of Heaven, you'll not bury me here." Why? No one knowed what he was
talking about. Joseph did. He said, "Take me up yonder and bury me in that promised land." There
is where it was at. Certainly.
When Joseph died, years later, he said, "Don't you bury me down here. But you look at my bones
when you pass by, 'cause someday you're going out of here. And when you go, take my bones
with you."
There you are. Let the world say what they want to, and do what they want to do. Blessed be the
Name of the Lord. Keep me in Christ, if I'm called anything... a fanatic, or holy-roller. Someday
He's coming, and those that are in Christ will God bring with Him, when He comes. It's all a
spiritual, revealed Truth laying right there, and it takes a spiritual mind to catch It. Rest on that,
through the day. Think of it. Even if you do without your dinner, think of it.
And tonight, we'll go into His Rest, that was left, and see what this promise is today. What is this
thing today? If God hasn't got It here in the Bible, and prove It, It's right here now, then I'm a false
prophet. That's exactly right. But It's here. What is this Rest?
He said:
Now, let us... fear, lest, a promise being left us to enter in just like they did,...
And It's got to be the same promise. It's got to be the same rest. It's got to be the same God. It's
got to be the same signs. It's got to be the same thing. But let us rest. Now what is It? May the
Lord grant it to us, tonight.
While we bow our heads.
Blessed Lord, only Eternity will reveal the great things that we now share together. Little...
Is many who are ordained to condemnation. As Thou hast said in the Book of Jude, that, "Men of
old, foreordained to condemnation, would take the grace of our God and turn it into
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lasciviousness." And many today are preaching the Gospel, the grace of God, turn It into a moneymaking scheme, having a great big church and the most in Sunday school, taking the grace of
God and turn It into lasciviousness. And the world is blind, and going like blind pigs. They don't
understand.
O God, open to us understanding. Let our understanding not be like the children of this world. For
Thou hast said in Thy Word, that, "The children of this world are wiser than the children of the
Light." In the beginning it was so, "the children of Cain" become great master scientists. They
become great educators. They become workers of material. They went on progressing, very
religious, but was condemned and drowned in the judgment. And their carcasses floated on the
water, and their souls went to hell.
And Jesus went and spoke to them, when He died. "And went to hell and preached to the souls
that was in prison, that repented not in the long-suffering, in the days of Noah," saith the Scripture.
And God, as He stood on earth, He said, "As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the coming
of the Son of man."
But we notice, "the lineage then of Seth," humble men, real men of God, not knowing too much of
the things of the world, caring nothing for the things of the world, but had laid aside every weight
and had believed God, and become prophets and great men in the Kingdom. While the others, the
other religious world, laughed at them, made fun of them. But the hour come when the floods and
judgment came.
So was it in the coming of Jesus Christ. How they laughed and made fun of Him, while they had
their own religions and their great churches. But they made fun of the Morning Star, and they
laughed at Him. But yet they entered into judgment. And when they flee and went into Jerusalem,
there they eat their own children, from starvation, and their blood run out the street gates when
they burnt the city and the temple, and their souls went into hell.
Lord, here we are again, on the third. This is the life time. Three is the number of light. And here
we are, ready for the Rapture.
The church moving on, the great scientist world. The churches today setting full of skepticbelievers. Tens of thousands with their names on the book, yes, millions, and would laugh at the
Gospel, and say, that, "They're uneducated. They don't know."
Maybe that's so, Lord, but what we lack in education, You make up in grace; by sending Your
Angel of Light, by manifesting His power, confirming the Words to those who are poor and illiterate
as we. But we love You for this, because it's the grace of God that has did it, and we know that we
were born. And we're not lovely, at all. We're very unlovely. But Thou, through grace, reached
down Thy merciful hand and has opened our eyes, as Jesus prayed for us; as Elijah did for
Gehazi, as he looked to see around him. And today our eyes are open, and we see the things of
God, and know we're moving at the end time; when the Gentile people's days are about finished,
and He'll take a people for His Name. Let us be included there, Lord, humbly we beg. We pray that
You'll grant it.
Bless us. Bless this little audience this morning. They're made up of all different types of religions
and beliefs, but lay them aside today, God. And may they look straight towards Calvary, say,
"God, mold me and make me. I'm like the..." The prophet said that he went down to the potter's
house, that he might be broke up and remolded. Mold us and make us after the fashion that God
would have us. No matter if we have to be the floor mat at the House of the Lord. I'd rather be the
doormat than to dwell in tents with the wicked. And grant it, Lord. Just bless us now, and keep us
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humble. Let our hearts be open, our minds clear, to the things of God, for we ask it in Christ's
Name.
With our heads bowed, I wonder if someone would want to be remembered in a word of prayer,
for your salvation of your soul? Would you raise your hand, and just a sinner? God bless you,
young fellow. Someone else? God bless you, back there, sir. God bless you, lady. Someone else
like to be remembered in prayer just now, for your soul? God bless you, sir, with your hand up.
And God bless you, and you here. Wonderful. Would there be another one, just before closing? I
feel there'd be. God bless you, back there, sir, in the back.
Say, now look, I want to ask you something. I don't want you to think at all because it's this little
tabernacle. I don't want you to think it's because it's this people. And merciful God, don't think it's
because that the Angel of the Lord had His picture taken with me, and I... and--and something of
that, to do that. O God! If I felt that way, then, brother, I need to be at the altar instead of asking
you. But I'm only saying this, I'm only saying this by the Scripture, that you'll see that this is the
Truth. If I said It, and that's all there was to it, went on like any other preacher or something
another, or any other, well, then, it would be different. But you see the thing, God comes right back
around and proves that it's the Truth. See? That's what makes It real, is God proving It. And then,
not only that, but His Word says that He'll do it. Here He is doing it.
Now if you're not in the right, your heart is not right with God, would you just raise your hand?
Say, "Pray for me." All right, right where you are. About eight or ten hands has been up, wanting
mercy for their soul. While you have your heads bowed, now you pray. Remember, you're the one
to repent. I'm only asking for you, that God will be merciful. But that's the altar, God has brought
you to a place in your mind; that's the altar. We believe in coming to the altar, sure, but that
doesn't--that doesn't... It's all right. But your real altar is where God has met you. And He has met
you right where you're setting. That's your altar.
Now say, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner. And from this day on, if You'll help me, I'll live for You.
I'll--I'll serve You. I don't care what anyone says, I'm stepping out, this morning. I'm praying right
here, and You take this old sassy spirit away from me. You take this temper away from me. I know
I can't act like that and be right with God. And I got hatred in my heart. I'm jealous. I got malice. I
got this, that. Take it out, God. I don't want to be like that. Make me sweet, and humble, and meek.
Make me gentle. Make me such a person I could win others to You. Let me do something for You
to show appreciations in my life." That's the prayer you pray now, while we pray together.
Heavenly Father, they're Yours. They're the fruits of the Message this morning. They raised their
hand. Something made them do that. They, they defied the laws of gravitation when they raise
their hands. There was a spirit in them that made a decision. They raised up their hands, that they
accepted the Creator who made them.
Now, Heavenly Father, I pray that You'll bless them, and give to them Eternal Life, right now.
There's nothing I could do; call them around the altar, putting them in an extra room, doing all the
work. It, it takes You to do it, Lord. We can't do no more than preach the Word. You said, "Faith
cometh by hearing, hearing of the Word, the Word of God." Now, we've preached the Word, and
they've raised their hands, that they believed It. Now give them everlasting Life, 'cause You
promised You would do it. If they were sincere in raising their hands, they'll go out of this building
this morning, a sweet, meek, humble Christian, because You promised it. And Your Words cannot
fail. I ask it in Jesus Christ's Name. Amen.
Now I am watching, waiting and longing,
For that bright City, John saw coming down.
In that bright City, (worship now), pearly white City,
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I have a mansion, a harp and a crown;
Now I am watching, wait and longing,
For that bright City, John saw coming down.
Don't you just love Him? The message is over, now. This is worship. We don't come to church just
to hear a message. We come to worship. Just forget the person next to you. Just worship Him.
Oh, how beautiful! How wonderful! Just tell Him in your... You don't have to tell Him loud. Just tell
Him in your heart, "I love You, Lord. Forgive me of my sin." Oh, my!
... pearly white City,
I have a mansion, a harp and a crown;
Now I am watching, waiting and longing,
For that white City, John saw coming down,
Our Father, God, receive us. We are waiting, as we're listening at the Word, longing. "Our hearts
thirst after Thee, like the hart panteth for the water brook. Our soul thirsts after Thee, O God."
Longing and waiting, waiting that hour and when Jesus shall come, waiting to the time that we'll be
summonsed to the sky. Not to stand before the Judge in judgment; it's done past. We're dead to
the things of the world. Has entered into Christ, and He took our judgment. He's our Attorney now,
at the seat of justice. Our blessed Attorney, that, on our confession, He pleads our case till we
know that we're unworthy. As a dear old sister this morning, said in her testimony, and putting in
her pennies, "Since I come here I learned that It's not my holiness, it's God's holiness."
Truly, Lord, we teach the people, there's nothing good in man, not one thing. "What is man that
Thou art mindful of him?" But it's the grace of God that's appeared to us. And we trust only in His
merits, not in our own. And we worship Thee, Most Holy God, for Thy goodness, to include us in
Thy great Kingdom, in Thy great plans. We receive Thee into our hearts, by faith. And by grace,
we believe that You've give it to us for the glory of God, for the service of God.
Now, Lord, heal the sick as they come up to be prayed for, this morning. Give to them that joy,
that they long to be well. Let them know that this little, light affliction was put upon them, is just a
little testing time. God knows all about it. He did it to see what we'd do about it. How God... May
they step right out there and claim that finished work! May You... May they not provoke You, by be
running here and there, and in and out, "Well, I don't know this, that."
Lord, may they take a straight stand, say, "Lord, You was the One who saved me. You was the
One who did these things for me. I believe You, and I'm trusting You, today." And I pray that You'll
grant this to the people, in Christ's Name. Amen.
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HEBREWS CHAPTER FOUR
Branham Tabernacle
JEFFERSONVILLE.IN SUNDAY 57-0901E
... is to know more about our blessed Lord. And that's our--our purpose of gathering here, is for
that purpose, and, now, and to pray for God's sick children. And this morning we had a--a
wonderful blessing from the Scriptures.
We are trying to take, each time of the service, a part of... I'm teaching in the Book of Hebrews,
have been, for the last couple weeks now. And now, if the Lord willing, we'll continue on
Wednesday night, then on Sunday morning and Sunday night, on--on, for as long as I'm to be here
in this time. Not a revival, but it's revival, a meeting on our regular nights. And so we're very, very
happy to have this time to meet with our good friends around about in the cities, and around about
in the Falls Cities here. And if--if we'd happen to have a cancellation or something, it might be that
the Lord might lead us, pretty soon, to... maybe we could have a few nights, maybe, in the gym or
something, after while, if the Lord seems to lead that way, to a place where we could get our
people together.
And we seen people as was coming up, going back, saying, "It was not room to--to come in."
Course, the tabernacle is awful little. It just seats a very, very few people, and we're just so glad
that you're willing to come out and set in the heat, to hear the Word of the Lord. And we're praying
that God will exceedingly, abundantly bless you and to help you.
And now, tonight, we want, we're beginning on the 4th cha-... How many was here this morning?
Let's see your hands. Oh, that's wonderful, practically all of you. And we are on, beginning on, the
4th chapter of the Book of Hebrews. Oh, what a marvelous Book! Are you enjoying It?
[Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.] And it's comparing Scripture by Scripture.
And Paul, before he would ever witness to his experience, he first had to go down to Arabia and
find out, by the Word if it was the Truth. I like that. And this morning's lesson, we found out, in the
teaching this morning, that Christ was the same yesterday, today, and forever. And Paul found
that the same Pillar of Fire that led the children of Israel, had met him on the road to Damascus.
We found out that the Pillar of Fire, that led the children of Israel out in the wilderness, to the
promised land, met Paul on the road to Damascus, and called Hisself, "Jesus."
Then we find out the real supreme Deity of Jesus Christ. The whole Book here is just a revelation
of Jesus Christ. And He come, we find that, "In sundry times and in divers manners, God spoke to
the fathers through the prophets; in this last days through His Son, Christ Jesus." He has revealed
Himself. And the Book from Genesis to Revelation is nothing but one constant, perpetual,
revelation of the Lord Jesus.
And we find out that He was the One that was in the burning bush. We find out that He was the
One that was with God before the foundation of the world. And we find out that, in the New
Testament, He was God and Man, together. And then when He left the New Testament, to go into
Heaven, He said, "I came from God, and I return to God."
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And then when Paul met Him, He was in the same form that He was when He led Israel, a Pillar
of Fire. And Paul looked Him right into the face, being unconverted, and It caused him to have eye
trouble the rest of his days. He went blind, and for several days He could not see nothing at all. He
had to be led to a street called Straight.
And God had a prophet down there that He spoke to, by the name of Ananias, who came in, by a
vision, and laid his hands on Paul, and said, "Brother Saul, receive thy sight."
And we find out, then, that that same Holy Spirit, that same Lord Jesus, came to Peter in a form of
a Light and delivered him out of the prison.
And we find that that same Lord Jesus, in these days, is still in that Pillar of Fire (Light) that's
leading His people (His Church), performing the same thing, giving visions; come in and lay hands
on the people, by a vision. The Lord Jesus, Who met last Sunday morning at the house, and said,
"There was a man coming, black-headed, graying. He was a Greek. His wife was middle-aged,
and would be weeping at the altar."
Some of them had told it, and know it was happening. He was both crippled, the--the balance
nerve in his head was gone. He couldn't even have control of his feet or his limbs. And he was
blind. And to make it double proof: I had a little lady to come pray for the sick, first, then turned
back around and had Brother Toms to come pray. And we, setting here, watching it develop. And
then I went down and prayed for the sick, and walked back. And she come, just exactly according
to the vision, and caught me by the arm and begin weeping, and said Dr. Ackerman had sent them
here. Dr. Ackerman is a bosom friend of mine, Catholic. His boy is a priest at the monastery at--at
Saint Meinrad, and down in Indiana. And this man was from Jasper. And the Lord healed him, out
of that chair. He got up and walked. He could see as good as anybody else. And walked out of the
building, normal and whole. All by a vision!
"Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus that appeared to you in the way, has sent me that I might lay my
hands on you, that you might receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Ghost." Wonderful.
"Then we find out, seeing that we have this great salvation, we should not... We could not escape
the penalties and wrath of God, if we neglect such a great salvation."
Now we're going to start reading, tonight, out, and begin the 4th chapter of the Book of Hebrews.
If anybody wants to follow along, we got some Bibles here. If they wanted one, why, one of the
ushers will bring it to you, if you hold up your hand, these--these Bibles. If one of the brethren here
will take... There's two Bibles laying there, I believe.
And now we'll hurry, because we have communion after a bit. And where we get done tonight,
Wednesday night we begin again. Now, I believe, this morning in our reading, we began on the
15th verse.
Somebody, maybe not know me putting on glasses, to read by. I'm getting old. And I can still
read, but I can't pick it fast, especially when I got fine reading here, fine print.
And I went to have my eyes examined, to see if I was really losing my sight. My eyes were tenten. He said, "But you're past forty, son." He had a thing for me to read, said, "Start reading that." I
read it. And I kept getting closer, it got slower and slower. And it got about like this, I stopped.
Then he put out there for ten-ten, I could read it anywhere. But he said, "What it is, when you pass
forty, your eyeballs get flat."
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Now, I can squint my eyes and read just that close to me, but you have to squint. So, he just
made me a pair of glasses. I can see it, anywhere, when it's real close to me. Now, when it gets off
from me, can't see at all with these things. But I read them, read from this with the glasses.
Now, this morning, we had the last part of the 3rd chapter of the Hebrews. And, oh, what rich
kernels we find. Now listen. I want to read again, so we get a background now. Not talk on it, but
just kind of go over it a little.
While it is said, To day if you... hear his voice, harden not your hearts as in the provocation.
For some, them, they heard the Word, when they had heard the Word, did provoke: howbeit not all
that came out of Egypt by Moses.
Now, in that, this morning, we find that He said, "Don't harden your heart now, as in the days of
provocation." That's when they provoked God to anger, because that He had give to them Moses,
His prophet, and a sign that was with Moses. How many, of the class tonight, knows what that sign
was? Pillar of Fire, Hebrews 13.
Now, we don't know whether the congregation saw that sign or not. But Moses saw It, for Moses
first met Him in a burning bush. He was a Fire. And the children of Israel obeyed Moses, and left
Egypt. And as soon as they come out of Egypt, God, we found, led them right into a trap. Where,
Pharaoh's army behind them, the Red Sea on either side, and God put them to test; and they got
scared. And it provoked God. He said, "Why do you cry at Me?" Said, "Just speak and go
forward." I like that.
Now, they were following Moses, as Moses followed the Pillar and Cloud, and they were on their
way to the promised land. Beautiful picture of the Church, tonight, on our way to the promised
Land, led by the same Spirit, same signs and wonders as God spoke of.
Now notice. Then, they come to the Wilderness of Sin. The--the waters were "bitter," Marah. Why
did God lead them to bitter waters? Looks like He'd have led them to good water. But He led them
to bitter waters so He could prove their faith. He likes to do it. He likes to let tribulations come on
you, show He can show you His love and His power. How can people, today, who doesn't believe
in the miracle-working of God... When tribulations come, they just give up and go on. But we
believe that "God works miracles." He can't... God has...
Listen to this. If God doesn't act the same, when the same circumstances arise, then God is guilty
of being partial to His people. God's sovereignty demands of Him to work in every case like He did
the first case, or He was wrong when He worked in the first case. If God does not act in the same
way He did on the first case, if He will act different to the second case, then He acted wrong when
He acted on the first case. If God healed the sick in the Old Testament, He has got to do it in the
New Testament and today, or He did wrong when He healed them back there. He's got to act the
same, every time. And He will do it, when the same faith meets the condition. The fault is in us, not
in God. For we see Him on some, and many, work great outstanding miracles. We know it. The
critic cannot say, "It's not so." For we see It prove it, and there it is.
They used to say, "Show me a miracle." They can't say that no more. Science can't say it no
more. We can absolutely prove to the scientific world. And the scientific world has witnessed that a
supernatural Being, in a form of a Pillar of Fire, is with us. Here is His picture, right here, and one
hangs in Washington D.C., tonight. It is the same Christ.
Therefore, as a while, my ministering brethren used to tell me, "Oh, Brother Branham, that's the
Devil. Don't you fool with that." Had me scared.
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And I would not preach it until God came and revealed it, that, "He's the same Jesus, the same
One." Oh, then try to shake it out of me? Can't be done. For, it's the Scripture. It's God's Word. It's
not just an experience that's loose. It's an experience that's backed up by God's Word and God's
Eternal blessed promise.
Now, we notice over here, then, that He said.
Certainly. They got weary, every time they'd get to a place where a showdown come. Then what
would they do? They would fly loose, and get weary, and want to turn back, and, "Why did this
happen to me?"
Strange thing, this morning, after preaching that just as hard as I could, there was many came to
the altar and questioned It, "Why does this happen to me?" You see how It goes? It goes over the
top of the people's head. It's just the same, people.
Jesus said, "You have eyes, but you can't see." He said that to the disciples.
They said, "Lo, now Thou speakest plainly. Now we believe. No man has to tell You anything,
'cause God shows it to You."
He said, "Do you now believe, after all this time?" See?
You mustn't question anything, to God. "For the footsteps of the righteous is ordered of the Lord."
And every trial is put upon you, to prove you. And the Bible said, "They're more precious to you
than gold." So if God let a few light afflictions happen to you, remember, it's for the correction of
you. "Every son that cometh to God must first be chastened of God, and tried, child-trained."
There's no exceptions. "Every son that cometh." These afflictions are done or brought--brought
about, to see what attitude you'll take. See? It's God, on this proving-ground. That's all earth is, is
the proving-grounds, and where He is trying to prove you.
Now listen, as we go ahead. And I want to get the last part of it.
And to whom he sware that they should not enter into his rest,...
Now, there's where we're coming to, tonight.
... into his rest, but to them that believed not?
So we see that they could not enter... because of unbelief.
Now, what is sin? Unbelief. God had come to them, in a Pillar of Fire; sent His prophet, and
anointed him, give him signs to do before the people. And then the Pillar of Fire, by the prophet,
led them out. Every circumstance they come to, they begin to murmur and say every little fault
they found with Moses, begin to chide and chatter against Him. And God was displeased, because
He said, "They were sinning."
They should have listened. But, instead of that, they listened to reason, "How can it be? How can
these things be?" If He is God, everything is possible. And He will make all things work together
for good to them that love Him.
Now we're going into a great study here, that is, on the "Rest," the sabbath. Now, they were
pilgrims in their journey. See? They'd been down in Egypt, four hundred years, and in bondage.
And now they were being brought out by the miracles of God, according to His promise. And they
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were on their road to the promised land. And here a supernatural Light appears, in amongst of
them, and begins to lead them.
Now, someone would say, "Now, looky here, who is this Moses? Who made you a ruler over us?
Aren't you one of us? Who put you down here to be our boss? You think you know more than our
pastor does? You think you know more than the priest does? You think you're--you're smarter than
what our religious men are, of this day?" That had nothing to do with it.
It was God, in the Pillar of Fire, vindicating that He was in the move. Didn't make any difference
who was smart and who wasn't smart. It was the idea of following what God put before them.
Why, Moses, as far as physical, done a foolish thing when he tried to deliver the children by the
Word of God, taking a bunch of people out in the wilderness. When he had his... Why, he was the
heir to everything they had. He had every army there was, in all the world, whipped. And there he
was, a great military general. And the next move, he was to be king, Pharaoh of Egypt. Why, he
could have just stepped up to the throne, and said, "All right, children, go on back to your home."
That settles it; he was a Pharaoh. But Moses...
Oh, here it is. Moses, by faith, saw the promise of God. And the Angel of the Lord come to him,
and he knowed more about God, in five minutes in the Presence of that Angel, than he learned in
forty years with the teachers of Egypt. He knowed that He was. He seen the supernatural done.
He said, "I'll be with you, Moses. I'll go before you." And they understood. And He give him signs
to perform.
Now, they were on their road to the land of rest. God had them a rest, a place where they wouldn't
have to be... taskmasters over them, to drive them, to make them do things.
What a beautiful picture it is today, when we look at the Church and see the Church in its
condition, every man that's born of the Spirit of God despises the world. "And if you love the world
or the things of the world, the love of God is not even in you." That's what the Bible said. And the
real pilgrim, on his road, simply hates the things of the world. He hates to see men drinking. He
hates to see men smoking. He hates to see women on the street, with them little old dirty clothes
on. He hates to see buncos and card parties.
And yesterday, while Brother Tony... or Brother Woods and I were coming through the street, and
some more, some of the men... There was a little lady there in Louisville, coming down the street,
lovely looking little women, with the clothes on that was horrible; just a little way up on the hip, and
a little ribbon tied on her hips, on each side, and a little bitty round piece of cloth in front of her,
and tied with a string behind. Walking down the street, horribly, and every man on the street
looking at her. I said, "She doesn't realize that she is guilty, in the sight of God, with committing
adultery with every man that looked on her in that manner. And she'll answer at the day of
judgment for committing adultery with those men."
Jesus said, "Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her, has committed adultery with her
already." That's right.
So, you see, Brother Woods said to me, "What do you allow for that, Brother Branham?"
I said, "It's either mental deficiency or devil possession." There's only two things to make it. A
decent, clean woman won't wear those things; unless she is devil possessed. That's exactly the
Truth.
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Now, a pilgrim that's on his road to Heaven, he lives in a different atmosphere. You don't have to
worry about him looking at her. He'll turn his head if he's got God in his heart, for he's living in an
atmosphere that's a million miles from those things. That's right. You don't want to be guilty of that
stuff, at the judgment. So he turns his head and say, "God, have mercy on the woman," and on he
goes. We're in our journey. We're on our way to Canaan's Land. We're on our way to that Eternal
and blessful Rest that God has given us. And in the journey, we are tempted. We are tempted of
all kinds of things, but yet be tempted without sinning.
Now notice, as we go to the 4th chapter, "Let us therefore fear."
Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us to enter into his rest,...
I want you to remember, that, unless we find out, unless God has revealed it to us! No matter how
much we go to church, that has nothing to do with it. God must come by revelation and reveal
Hisself to us, that takes all the things of the world out. "Now, while it is said, 'Today if you... '"
Now let's start the--the 4th chapter.
Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us to enter into his rest,...
Now remember, when they were on the road to Rest, the Pillar of Fire led them. Now we want to
find out, "What is this Rest?"
Let us... fear, lest, the promise being left us to enter into his rest, watch, any of you should seem to
come short of it.
Now, here is the promise. Here is what we got to fear: if there's not a promise left us. But there is
a promise! And then, the next thing, don't come short of it.
Now, the thought is, if we are on our way to the Rest, what is the Rest? Where is it? Is it joining
church? Is it being baptized a certain way? Is it becoming a member of the greatest church in the
city? Wearing better clothes? Is it education? Is it money, so we can quit work and just lay down,
rest the rest of our life, as we call it? That's not it.
Listen what the Bible says it is, and how we get it.
Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us to enter into his rest, any of you should seem to
come short of it.
For unto us (the day then) the gospel was preached, as well as unto them:...
What is the Gospel? The good news. The good news came to them in Egypt, that, "God has sent
a deliverer, and He's going to bring us out and take us to the promised land."
The good news to us now, that, "God has sent a Deliverer, the Holy Ghost, and we're on the road
to the promised Land." Now people has made it creeds and denominations, but God still remains,
that, our Rest is "the Holy Ghost."
Notice.
... gospel was preached... unto them as well as unto us: but the word preached did not profit them,
the...
Remember:
... the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.
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Oh, my brethren, let me stop here for a minute. No matter how much the Word is preached, how
well you like the way It's been preached; unless you yourself are a partaker of That, It won't do you
one bit of good.
... not being mixed with faith by them that heard it.
They seen the miracles of Moses. They said, "That's pretty good." And they walked over. They,
they seen him perform miracles. And they seen the Pillar of Fire, maybe, or heard them talk about
It. "Oh, that's all right."
But it wasn't mixed with personal faith. For as soon as they got to the wilderness, they (every one)
begin to murmur. And God said, "Because that they doubted, it was sin." Don't doubt nothing.
Believe. Don't doubt, no matter how hard the case is, believe It.
Now they begin to murmur, and God overthrowed them. And then He swore, in His wrath, that,
"They should never enter into His Rest." And the Bible said here, I believe It's in the--the 3rd
chapter, that, "Their carcases fell in the wilderness."
The 3rd chapter and the 17th verse.
But with whom he was grieved for forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose
And of all of them that come out of Egypt, only two went into the promised land. Out of the whole
antediluvian world, in the days gone by, there were eight souls saved, out of billions. "Strait is the
gate and narrow is the way, and but few there'll be that will find it."
Some people says, "Then, Brother Branham, what about all these thousands that the Bible said
will appear there?"
Just remember how many has died in each generation, that's been Christians, down through the
age. They'll all resurrect. That makes up the Body. You expect there be a hundred billion in this
America, come out, or some other, this world today. There might not be fifty come out. But the
great ransomed Church is laying in the dust, awaiting. They are God's jewels that's resting in the
dust. But their souls are under the altar of God. They're not in their right state. They're in a body,
truly, but a theophany. And they cry out to God, "How long?" They could see one another, but they
couldn't shake each others' hands, that kind of a body.
You meet your mother in Glory tonight, if you should go, you couldn't shake her hand 'cause she
has not that kind of a hand. You couldn't feel it like you'd feel now. Because, five senses is what's
put in this body, could it control. The presence of her would be felt in a different atmosphere.
That's like a husband and wife. There'll be no marrying, or given and married, in Heaven. Why?
Because there is a different kind of love. There's no sexual desire. All those things has passed
away. You are cleansed and pure.
But you never did live in that state, therefore you wasn't created for that state. You're just waiting
there. But you're longing to come back where you was created a man and a woman, and there
God will raise that body out of the dust of the earth and glorify it. Then you'll see, taste, feel, smell
and hear, and associate. We'll never know...
We could never enjoy an Angel's life. We wasn't created Angels. God created Angels. But He
created you and I, men and women. That's the state we'll be in, forever, at His blessed Coming.
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Now, see how they fell short, because they sinned and come short of the glory. God showed them
the Pillar of Fire. He showed them signs and wonders. He led them out. He brought them into
temptation, to try and prove them.
Now, haven't you had a lot of temptations? Don't complain about them. Rejoice. God is with you.
He is trying to prove your faith. Look at Job in the Old Testament, when He said, "Have you
considered My servant Job, a just man, a perfect man? There is none like him on the earth."
"Oh," he said, "sure, You got him hedged up: doesn't have any troubles, doesn't have any
worries. He doesn't have any financial burdens, everything is fine. He don't have any sickness,
any pain. Let me have him. I'll make him curse You, to Your face."
He said, "He's in your hand, but don't you take his life.'"
Oh! He done everything but take his life, but he couldn't move Job. Job knowed he stood pat on
the Word. That's right. And all the devils out of hell couldn't move him, for he knowed he had
offered that sacrifice. He was just. And they accused him, said, "You've sinned, Job, and God is
punishing you." He knew that God hadn't... that he hadn't sinned before God. He knew that he was
righteous. Not because he was a good man, but because He was accepting the burnt-offering in
his stead.
And, tonight, we know that his life proved out that he was righteous. And when you... Not trying to
get home to Glory because you try to help your neighbor; that's good. Not because you join
church; that's good. But you get home to Glory because you accept the righteousness of Jesus
Christ, nothing that you've done yourself.
Now, as we read on.
For unto us was the gospel preached,... (2nd verse)... as well as unto them: but the word
preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.
Faith wasn't in them that heard the Word.
Just think, today, in the little, humble ministry that the Lord has given me, there should be forty
million Americans saved, tonight. You know what they say? "Why, it's mental telepathy. He's a
mind reader. No such stuff! Why, he don't belong to our church." See? It's not... no matter how
much you lay it on the Word and prove that it's God's Word, it's God's promise, how much science
would prove that It's true, they'll still can't believe. The Bible said they couldn't.
Said, "Then what's the use of preach It?" God has to have a witness, to condemn them, at that
Day. The Word was preached and proved among them, and they still ignorantly walked away.
There is nothing left but judgment. God could not justly--could not justly judge a nation unless it
had mercy before it had judgment. He is God. He couldn't do it.
Now what do we say?
For we which... believed too have entered into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if
they shall enter into my rest: although the works was finished from the foundation of the world.
For he spake in a certain place on--on the seventh day on this wise,...
Now, I do not want to hurt people's feelings, against their religion. That's not my purpose. Out in
the fields, I just preach the regular, great evangelical, fundamental doctrines. But in the tabernacle,
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amongst my children here, I feel I have a right to preach what I think is Doctrine and Truth. See? I
think that it's right.
Now, I have thousands of good Sabbatarian friends, of people who are Seventh-day Adventists.
Some of the dearest friends that I got, some of them are Seventh-day Adventists.
Although, the great move of, what's called, the--the Voice of Prophecy, they're firmly against me.
They said that I make the statement in the pulpit, and said, "I was God. And that the... and that this
Light that followed was an Angel, and I was God. And I come to the world to do great things, to
prove people that I was God." Now, that's what the Voice of Prophecy said about me, over in
California. And ever who told that, you know, told something that wasn't so.
But in the first place, not taking up thought against the Seventh-day Adventist church or any other
Sabbatarian church, but only for the sake of the Gospel. We're going to get down, in a few
minutes, on Pentecost, too. Yeah. True. On Baptist, we're going to get down on that and show that
God doesn't favor any denomination. That's right. He only favors the individual. And He doesn't
deal with any denomination, He never did and He never will, according to His Word. But He deals
with the individuals in every denomination. Yes, it's individuals God deals with.
Now listen to this real clear, and if ever, any time, that question ever comes up to you, it'll be
settled. Now, may the Lord help us.
Now, closely, "For..." The 4th verse.
For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise,...
Now watch. He's talking about sabbath. How many knows that the word s-a-b-b-a-t-h in He-... is
the Hebrew word that means "r-e-s-t"? How many knows that, in the English? Sure. Don't sabbath
sound a funny word? It is.
Don't sanctify sound a funny word? Sanctify is a Greek word. Sanctify means "to be made holy."
Hebrew, means "make holy." Greek, means "sanctify." English, means "make clean."
Sabbath means "a day of rest." That's what the old sabbath was, a day of rest. When you see
rest, it means "sabbath." Look it up in your original manuscript, if you happen to have a Greek
Bible, and find out if the word... If you got a Scofield Bible, look at your marginal reading on "rest"
and see if it don't bring you back to the sabbath. Sabbath means "rest." All right.
Now watch.
Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left to us to enter into his sabbath, rest,...
Now, many people keeps days, like keeps sabbath day Saturday. Others make a Sunday an idol,
a worship day. And by the grace of God, and by the God's Word, God help me tonight, I can prove
to you that they're both wrong. Both the Sunday worshipper and the sabbath-keeper. They are
absolutely both wrong according to the Word. And after all, it's the Word that we have to go by, not
by what the Adventists say, or not by what the Protestant says, or the Catholic says. It's what the
Bible says.
Now, now watch.
For he spake in a certain place on the seventh day on this wise,...
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Now we're going to put up something like this, and call this--this, "God's Rest," the seventh day.
Now watch. "And God..." Listen to this Scripture now.
... God did rest the seventh day from all his work.
God had a Sabbath, and that seventh day was one thousand years long, a type of the Millennium.
For he spake... of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest... from all his--his work.
The personal pronoun, "All His works." He rested on the seventh day. That's God.
And in this place, under the law, If they shall enter into my rest.
God rested, physically, for He had made the heavens and earth in six days, and on the seventh
day He rested from all His work. He rested one thousand years. For the Bible said, that, "One day
on earth is a thousand years in Heaven; a thousand years in Heaven; is one day on the earth."
How many knows the Scripture says that in Second Peter? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.] All
right. "God rested on the seventh day. And He spoke on this wise at a certain place."
Now listen close.
For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God rested... from all his
works.
And in this place again, the law, If they shall enter into my rest.
He give the Jews, on their way from the promised land... or from Egypt, to the promised land, the
seventh-day sabbath.
Now listen.
Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and to they whom it was first
preached...
The rest! God give them the law, and the sabbath was the fourth commandment.
... entered not in because of unbelief:...
Now watch. He's talking about the law, how they entered in, wasn't mixed with faith. They didn't
keep it. They kept the sabbath in a memorial, that they were going to a land of sabbath, to have
everlasting rest from all their troubles and all their worries, no more taskmasters, no more restless
nights. They were on their way to the promised land of rest. It flowed with milk and honey. The
grapes was so big that two men packed one bunch over their shoulders. Oh, what a land of
blessed rest! But they failed to get it when they got there, because of their unbelief. They were
turned aside, at only forty miles from where they left in Egypt, to the promised land. And they were
forty years getting there, because of their unbelief. God gave them their prophet, gave him His
sign, give him the Pillar of Fire, showed signs and wonders, and preached the Gospel to them.
And they walked out, after the fishes and loaves, and fell in the wilderness. "And their carcases
perished in the wilderness."
Jesus, at the fountain, He said.
Said, "Our fathers eat manna in the wilderness, for forty years."
He said, "I AM that Bread of Life that come from God out of Heaven. I AM the Bread of Life.
Moses didn't give you that Bread. My Father give that Bread. And I AM the Bread that comes from
God out of Heaven. If a man eats This, will never die." There's the difference.
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Now watch. They said that He..." They drank from the Rock that was in the wilderness, for the
space of so-many years."
He said, "I AM that Rock." Blessed be His Holy Name! "I AM that Rock."
How could He be that Rock? That Rock was a spiritual Rock. It followed the children of Israel. And
Moses had a stick in his hand, which was a judgment rod of God. And God told him to smite the
Rock, and he smote the Rock. And when he did, waters came from the Rock. And Christ was that
Rock, and the judgment of God's penalty of sin was struck upon Him. "God caused to lay on Him
the iniquity of us all," and that iniquity bursted forth His heart. And from His heart poured the Holy
Spirit, like rivers of water, to a perishing, dying people.
"I AM that Rock that was in the wilderness."
"Why," he said, "You mean to tell..."
He said, "Moses, the one that told you that, he longed to see My day. And he saw it in portion."
He said, "Now, You mean to tell us that You're greater than Moses? That You seen Moses? And
Moses has been dead eight hundred years." Said, "Now we know that You got a devil," other
words, "crazy. We know that You're crazy."
He said, "Before Abraham was, I AM. I was THE GREAT I AM that was in the burning bush. I'm
that Fire that was in the burning bush. I'm that Angel that went before them." And He said, "I come
from God, and I go back to God." And He came from God, made flesh and dwelt among us; went
back to that same Pillar of Fire.
And here He is, tonight, after two thousand years, "the same yesterday, today, and forever," doing
the same thing, leading His blessed children.
And many are coming... in because of unbelief. Now, he said, "He limited a day," a day when God
finished His work. Then, "He limited 'another day,' and on this wise, that if they shall hear, if they
shall come, that keep the sabbaths, go on through the new moons and so forth." There's where
the Advent brethren tries to take you back.
Now let's read on. Notice.
Seeing therefore... that some must enter therein, and them to whom it was preached first entered
not in because of unbelief.
Now, the 7th verse. Oh, my! I say, the Scripture is mathematically inspired. I say, the Scripture is,
and in every way, inspired. The mathematics of the Bible are perfect.
Did you notice this United States is number thirteen in everything it does? You know it was
established the thirteen colonies? You know the flag had thirteen stars in it first? You know
everything that the United States does is in a number thirteen? Did you know it appears in the
Bible in Revelations thirteen? Certainly does. The little beast, the lamb that come up out of water,
not thickness and multitudes of people,... not out of the water, but out of a land where there's no
one. It had two little horn: civil and ecclesiastic powers. And he was a lamb: freedom of religion.
And after while, they went together and he spoke like the dragon, and exercised all the power that
Rome did before him. That's coming to our nation. You mark it down. You watch to the
Confederation of Churches and the Catholic unite together. Watch what takes place.
People who follow the Pillar of Fire will certainly have a rough time, but they're ready for the
translation at that time, that's right, just ready to go. "For the Lamb overcome them," said the Bible,
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"and them that followed Him, because they were called the chosen and the faithful, the Elected of
God." Keep from getting onto that prophecy now, so we can run this on.
Listen close, the 7th chapter, the... I mean the 4th chapter, the 7th verse. Seven is the number of
completion. Three is the number of Life. Seven is the number of completion, and this gives the
complete sabbath.
"And again," remember, he spoke, "God," on this wise. Then he spoke of the "law," on this wise.
And then, again, "He limited a day," third day, third time.
Again, he limited a day, a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time;... To day, after
so long a time; as it is said, To day if you will hear his voice, harden not your heart.
Watch, if Jesus had given them rest (a sabbath),... would he not afterwards have spoken of
another day.
The dispensations change with Jesus Christ: from the law to grace, from works unto grace, from
something you do to what something God did, upon your own merits or upon His merits. It
changed.
When Moses come out of the wilderness, with the law, he said, "Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not kill. Keep the sabbath day holy." When Jesus come out of the
wilderness... When Moses come, the Devil tempted him. As soon as the Devil tempted him, he
heeded to it. Moses had a weak spot. How many knows what it was? Temper. And as soon as he
seen them worshipping the golden calf, he threw down the commandments and broke them,
showing you that priesthood would be broken. And God give them to him again.
But when Jesus came out of the wilderness, forty days of fasting, He was hungry, the only weak
spot He had. And the Devil come to Him and said, "If Thou be the Son of God, turn these stones
into bread. Do a miracle here. Let me see You do it, and I'll believe You."
Jesus said, "It's written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceedeth out
of the mouth of God.'" He knowed he didn't meet Moses there, for He went to the Word.
Took Him up on the pinnacle, temple, said, "If Thou be the Son of God, cast Thyself down." And
coated, not quoted, but coated the Scripture. Said, "It's written, 'He give the Angels charge,
concerning, lest any time You dash Your foot against a stone. He'll bear Thee up.'"
And Jesus went straight to the Word, and rebuked him.
Took Him up on the mountain and showed Him the United States and Germany and Switzerland,
and all the nations of the world, that ever would be, said, "They're all mine. I do with them
whatever I want to." No wonder we got wars and troubles. Said, "I do with them..." No wonder
women dress... and get by with it, by the law. They're all governed by the Devil. That's what the
Bible said. Satan said, "They are mine. I do with them whatever I want to." Said, "If You'll worship
me, I'll make You king like I am."
Jesus said, "It's written, 'Thou shall worship the Lord thy God only, shalt thou serve.' Get thee
behind Me, Satan."
Why? Jesus knew that He would fall heir to them in this great Millennium, when His Kingdom
would come. "Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven." There'll be no more shorts wore.
There'll be no more drinking. There'll be no more lust. There'll be no more adultery. There'll be no
more death. There'll be no more sorrow. He falls heir to every nation. They are His. That's right.
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They are His, and He will fall heir. But Satan has them for a space of time, that is, the day that
we're living.
"But He limited a day, saying, 'Today, after so long a time.' And said, 'Harden not your heart.'"
For if Jesus would have given them rest,... would he not afterwards have spoke of another day.
My Adventist brother, look at That. Paul here, said. And Paul said, in Galatians 1:8, if you're
taking down the scriptures, Galatians 1:8, "If an Angel from Heaven comes and preach any other
gospel besides This that I've preached, let him be accursed." Paul said, "If Jesus would have
given them a Rest day..."
Look, when He come off the mountain. He come down then. He had overcome the Devil. He was
anointed, ready for His ministry. He said, "You've heard them say, them of old times, 'Thou shalt
not kill,' but I say unto you that whosoever is angry with his brother, without a cause, has killed
already. You've heard them say, them of old times," this day, the sabbath-keepers. "You've heard
them say, back then of old times, under the law, 'Thou shalt not commit adultery; had to be in the
act, to be guilty.' But I say unto you, that whosoever looketh upon a woman to lust after her has
committed adultery with her already in his heart." Different! Passed right by that fourth
commandment. But did He give them Rest?
Let's see what he said. "David said, 'After so long a time,' there would be a perfect Rest come.'
'God rested from His works, on the seventh day.' God blessed the sabbath day, and give it to the
Jews in the wilderness, on this wise. They entered... in because of unbelief, 'cause the Word not
mixed with faith. And again, He limited a certain day, saying in David, 'After so long a time.'"
Hundreds of years after David was dead, the Son of David would rise up, which is Jesus, "And if
they shall hear My Voice, harden not your heart." God is going to speak to the heart.
Now watch, for the 9th verse now, to you that's reading. "Jesus would have given them rest," the
8th verse, "He would... have spoke of another day."
If there was to be a sabbath, if there was to be a Sunday-keeping, then He would have spoke of
it. If He had said, "Now there's no more sabbath, no more keeping the seventh day, what I want
you to keep is Sunday," He'd have said it. Paul said He did. He'd have said, "You all worship on
Sunday. That'll be the rest." Well, if he'd have wanted them to keep the sabbath, he'd have said,
"Just remain keeping the seventh day. But now I want you to keep Sunday, the eighth day." No.
He never said it.
He said, "If Jesus would have given them a day, would He not have spoke of it?"
Now the 9th verse. Get ready.
There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God, a sabbath-keeping to the people of God.
For he that has entered into his (Christ's) rest, he also has ceased from his own works, as God did
from his, on the sabbath.
See it? Now let's take some Scripture and back this up. All right. When God made the world in six
days, He rested on the seventh day, and never worked any more. Blessed be the Name of the
Lord. He built the world, put the creation on it, and went to rest; and never come back again, to
build any more world. He finished the works, and went to rest. Now, on... Then, after that thousand
years, then sin come in; then Christ was represented, the Lamb was represented. Now, the Jews
was given this as a type of the seventh-day Rest.
Now, he limited another day, saying in David,... after so long a time, there is coming another rest.
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Now what is that Rest? Turn with me to Matthew, the 11th chapter, and the last part of the 11th
chapter of Saint Matthew. That's when Jesus ended His sermon on the mount, and you'll see what
He said.
He said, "Whosoever looketh upon a woman, lust after her, has committed adultery with her
already in his heart. Whosoever get angry with his brother, without a cause, has killed the brother."
All these things, and He never touched that fourth commandment, that sabbath.
Now He's ending up. And the Sabbath is the great Promise of God. It's a Rest. Now, now watch
here, when He got through ending up the beatitudes. Here He says, 27th verse of the 11th chapter
of Saint Matthew. Where, He was teaching the beatitudes in the 5th chapter.
All things are delivered unto my hand, unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but
the Father;...
See, you can't know one without knowing the other, 'cause He was the Father manifested in flesh.
... neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son,...
Looks like people could see That and not argue. Certainly. God is not three People. If He is three
Gods, then we're heathens. Which one is God? They're, all three, one God, is three offices of the
same God. He was the Father, in the form of the Holy Spirit, in that Pillar of Fire in the wilderness.
He was the Son, when He used the Sonship office. "A little while and the world seeth me no more;
I'll go away. I'll come again and be with you, even in you, to the end of the world." See? He's the
Fatherhood, the Sonship, and the Holy Ghost, too. It's all the very same God working in three
different offices: Fatherhood, Sonship, Holy Ghost. Never...
First John 5:7 said, "There are three that bear record in Heaven: Father, Son, Holy Ghost. These
three are One."
Thomas said unto Him, "Lord, show us the Father. It'll satisfy him."
He said, "I been so long with you, and you don't know Me?" Said, "When you see Me, you've
seen the Father. And why say, 'Show us the Father'?"
Now, the Oneness took it, the oneness group of people, and try to make Father, Son, and Holy
Ghost, just one office and one place, and like your finger, one. That's wrong. God could not...
Jesus could not been His own father. If He was, then He was a... Well, how could He been His
own father?
And if God is a man, separated from the Holy Ghost, He had two fathers. For the Bible said, that,
"The Holy Ghost overshadowed Mary and she conceived, and," the Bible said, in Matthew 1:18,
that, "that thing which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost." Then which is His father, the Holy
Ghost or God? Both, the same Spirit, or He had an illegitimate birth by two spirits.
That's a Catholic dogma, and it never was a Bible teaching. Martin Luther brought it out, with a lot
of other Catholicism that's in Lutheran church. Wesley followed on with it. And it's still going on,
but it's an error. It's not the Truth. Never was it, never was it a Bible Doctrine. Never was it a
commandment in the Bible, to teach three Gods.
There is one God. Jesus said, "Hear ye, O Israel, I'm the Lord your God, one God," not three
Gods.
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In Africa, they baptize once for the Father, once for the Son, and once for the Holy Ghost. And
then the poor Jew comes around, say, "Which one of them is your God? Which one is, the Father,
Son, or Holy Ghost?" They're, all three, One. The Bible said they were One.
Jesus was a house that God lived in. The Bible said that, that, First Timothy 3:16, "Without
controversy," that's, "argument, great is the mystery of godliness. For God was manifested in the
flesh, seen of Angels, received on... preached, believed on, and received up into Glory." God was.
The Bible said, "His Name shall be called Emmanuel, which is by interpretation, 'God with us.'"
The Bible said, that, "Jesus, in Him dwelt the fullness of the Godhead bodily."
As we had it the other night: God, in the beginning, was Spirit. And then, from God, went out the
Logos, or the theophany, which was a form of a man, called the Son of God, prefigured. He came
in earth, in a body of flesh, even before He came in Jesus Christ. Now swallow that one once,
brother. I'll prove it to you.
When, when Moses saw Him. He said, "Let me see Your form, Lord." And God hid him in the
rock. And when He passed by, he said, "It was the back part of a man." That was that theophany.
That's exactly.
Then, that theophany had to be made flesh. Not another Person, but the same Person had to
become flesh, to take the sting out of death.
Like a bee when he stings, it leaves the stinger. And he never left that... He could put a sting in
human flesh because it's sin. But, brother, when he stung that Emmanuel's flesh, he lost his
stinger. Yes, sir. He can buzz but he ain't got no stinger no more.
No wonder, Paul, when they go to chop his head off, said, "O death, where is your sting? You can
buzz and hum as much as you want to. Grave, where is your victory? But thanks be to God who
gives us the victory through Jesus Christ." There you are.
It taken God Himself to do that. He came and was manifested in flesh. He returned back in the
Spirit.
You say, "Brother Branham, you never told us, yet, when God was made flesh before He came in
Christ."
When Abraham was setting under his tent, one day, there come two Angels and God, walking up
to him, in human flesh. They had dust on their clothes and were weary, and they set down. And
Abraham went out and took the calf away from a cow, and killed it. And made some lamb chops.
Went out and got... had Sarah take some corn meal and sift through it, and make some hoe
cakes. And got some butter from the cow, and got some buttermilk. And took it out there and set it
down, and God eat it.
Hallelujah! That's the reason, "My faith looks up to Thee, Thou Lamb of Calvary."
You think that's a big thing for God? God, Who made all the potash and calciums, and everything
in the world, He come down to visit Abraham. He said, "You think I'll keep it from you, seeing that
you're the heir of the world?" Amen. "I'll not keep it from you." God just got a...
We're made out of sixteen elements. He just got some potash, and some calcium, some
petroleum, cosmic light, the "Whew!" "Step in that, Gabriel," a body!
"Whew!" "Step in that, Wormwood." He stepped in it.
Two Angels, out of Heaven!
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God reached and got a handful of it, "Whew," stepped in it, Hisself. Come down, and was hungry.
Blessed! What about that, Adventist brethren that won't eat meat? We're going to get into that,
after while. God Almighty, Jehovah, find out if that same Name isn't translated the same One at
the burning bush! Hallelujah!
And then He stood on earth, He said, "Before Abraham was, I AM, that same One at the burning
bush." That's right, Elohim, see if it isn't the same. He was the One was at the burning bush.
He was the One here in the presence of Abraham, in a body of flesh, that eat the calf, and drank
the milk from the cow, and eat butter on hoe cakes. Blessed be the Holy Name of God! Walked
right down there and said, "I'll not leave..."
And He had His back turned. He said, "Abraham, I'm going to visit you, and you're going to bring
that child. You're a hundred years old now, and Sarah is ninety." And Sarah, in the tent, went,
laughed. He said, "What made Sarah laugh?" Behind Him; the tent between them.
Abraham said, "Sarah, did you laugh?"
"No, I never."
Said, "Yes, you did." What kind of a telepathy is that? What kind of a mind-reading was that?
He does the same today. He is Jehovah-jireh, Jehovah-rapha, the same yesterday, today, and
forever. He never fails.
Look at Him. There He stands. Walked right out and talked to Abraham; and vanished, in his
sight. And the great patriarch Abraham said he "talked face-to-face with God, Elohim," the same
God. Get it? Not no three People, brother. Three offices of the same Person!
In the beginning was the same, He was that great Spirit, Fountain where all the trueness, all the
love, all the peace. Everything that was pure was in this Fountain. It begin to form a body, a
theophany, the kind of body that we go to. Not a glorified body, but an angelic body, like; has
shape, form.
Every time I see a tree, I think, "That tree is the negative. There is a positive somewhere." That
tree was made off of something. An intelligence made it. And all this earth does is reflect the
Heavenly. The Bible said so. And if there is a tree here that has to perish, there is one in Glory that
won't perish.
If I see a man, I see a lovely little young couple, man and his wife, walking down the street,
sweethearts together. What does it reflect? Blessed be the Name of the Lord! There is one in
Heaven that'll never perish. "If this earthly tabernacle be dissolved, we have one already waiting,
the theophany."
Then you get the trinity: the great Spirit, dwelling in the Son, Jesus; Jesus dwelling into the
Church. "At that day, you'll know that I'm in the Father, the Father in Me, and I in you." All that God
was, He poured into Jesus; all Jesus was, He poured into the Church. There you are. "I in the
Father, the Father in Me; I in you, and you in Me." There's a... There's the Body.
That's what's the matter with the church. They've been taught little old petty, sissified, old lady
doctrine of some sort, run around and have soup suppers and card parties. No wonder we got a
bunch of chaos that we got. We don't need children's programs and little soup suppers. What we
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need is a rugged old Gospel, and men of faith with the sword hanging out there, and challenging.
What we need today, not some petty theology and some theory of some man-made click. We
need the rugged Gospel preached in the Light and the Power and demonstration of the Holy
Ghost.
Notice here now.
As he said, he limited another day, saying in David,...
... if Jesus would have given them rest,... would he not... have spoken of another day.
But there remaineth... a rest to the people of God.
For he that has entered into his rest,... hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
Now where we going to read? Matthew, the twenty-... The 11th chapter, 27th verse.
All things that the Father delivered unto me, are delivered unto me of my Father, rather: and no
man knoweth the Son, but the Father; all right, neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son,
and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.
See, it's not how much you learn, how much the--the bishop wants you to know. It's how much
God wants you to know. If you can't see this Revelation, don't ask the bishop. Ask God. Don't ask
your pastor. Ask God. "The Son reveals Him," He, personal pronoun.
Listen. This will shock you. Here is the commandment. Paul said, "If He would have left another
day, He would have spoke of it." But here is what He said.
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you sabbath, rest.
Take my yoke upon thee, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly at heart: and you shall find
sabbath unto your soul.
For my yoke is easy, and my burdens are light.
Watch what Paul said.
... if Jesus would have given them rest,... he would have spoke of another day.
But he limited a... day, say in David,... after so long a time;... when you hear his voice, harden not
your heart.
"And there remaineth..." Listen now, 9th verse.
There remaineth therefore a rest, a sabbath, to the people of God.
For he, the man or woman, that has entered into his rest...
"Come unto Me, all you that labor and heavy laden. I'll give you rest."
... has ceased from his... works, as God did from his.
You might been twenty years old. You might have been thirty years old. You might have been fifty
years old. But the minute that you hear the Voice of God knocking at your heart, don't harden it.
Then enter... "He that heareth My Words, believeth on Him that sent Me, has everlasting, Eternal
Life, and shall never come into condemnation but is passed from death unto Life."
"Say, Brother Branham, what happens?" You get the Holy Ghost. Christ comes into you. Is that
right?
Turn with me to Isaiah, the 28th chapter, and let's read. Isaiah, the 28th chapter, see what the
prophet said about it. Matthew... 28, begin at the 8th verse. Here is the predict-ment of the last
days. We got to close in a minute.
For all tables will be, is full of vomit and... there is no place clean.
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Let me stop a minute, as Ernie said the other night. He was talking to somebody. Ernie Fandler,
this brother here from Switzerland, he said, "I stopped and let it soak in."
I want this to soak in.
... there is no place clean.
For all the tables will be full of vomit...
And as a dog goes to its vomit... and a sow... to her wallow, so does the people turn back.
What's the matter with you Methodists? You used to have the Light. What happened? God took It
out of your hand and He give It to the Nazarenes.
What happened to you Nazarenes? You once had the Light. God took It out of your hands and
give It to the Pentecostals. Correct. You church of God and the rest of you holiness people,
because you rejected the Light, you denominated yourself and said, "We won't believe any more
than this," God moved right on out and showed you He had people who would follow Him.
What happened to you Pentecostals? You had the Light. God has took It away from you.
The Pillar of Fire moves on. Every time the Pillar of Fire moved, the Church moved with It.
And when Luther organized, out of the Catholic church, his own church, the Pillar of Fire moved
and Wesley went with It.
Wesley organized and made his denomination, and the Pillar of Fire moved and the Nazarenes
went with It.
The Nazarenes organized, and the church of God went with It; and said they wasn't a
denomination, but they were.
Then what happened? The next thing happened, the Pentecostals seen the Fire, and away they
went. And what did you do? Made a doctrine out of tongues, and organized it, "Everybody had to
speak in tongues before they got the Holy Ghost," then God moved right away and left you setting
where you're at.
What happened to you Oneness? You found baptism, Jesus' Name. You made a doctrine out of
it, and separated yourself from the rest of It, and God moved right away and left you setting there.
Right.
What happened to you Assembly of God, old General Council? You made an organization out of
yours, and God moved right away and left you set. And now you're nothing but a cold, formal
bunch like the rest of them are.
And the Pillar of Fire moves on. Hallelujah!
... all tables are full of vomit...
Look at the Lord's Supper. Why, they even has a place they take old loaf bread. And the bread is
supposed to be made with unleavened bread. And they pass it out to sinners, cigarette smokers,
prostitutes, harlots, as long as they got their name on the book.
And you Baptists even call it "closed" communion. Now, you Baptists crow a little, God will take
your horn off. That's exactly right, you won't be able to toot it. "Closed" communion, you separate
yourself, seem to be holier than thou art.
Remember, this is a Baptist tabernacle. That's what you get, you organize yours. "Oh," you say,
"we're not an organization." Yes, you are. Certainly, you are. You say, "We're a fellowship." Yeah,
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to anybody that comes in the door and teach just the way you believe it, it's all right. But, one, you-you won't throw him out, but you'll excommunicate him from your brotherhood. That's exactly
right. Oh, you got a way of doing it. So has God got a way of doing it. But God's Church will move
on. The Pillar of Fire won't stand for that.
Now listen. Now this is going to shock you just a minute. Listen. I'll read the Word. Who was this?
The prophet, Isaiah.
... all tables are full of vomit... so there is nothing clean, just dog-eat-dog.
Come to the church: women chop, bob off their hair, wear shorts, get out and see the men coming
down the street; lawn-mow the yard, little girls want to hear somebody give that bull dog or wolf
whistle, whatever it is, you know, "Whet-whew!" Oh, you think you're cute, don't you?
You men walk down the street, with a cigar in your mouth, and a deacon on the board. You look
like a dehorned Texas steer. And then you think that you're somebody. That's exactly right. No
wonder all tables... Walk up and take the communion, and act like you're somebody, and cheat
and steal and lie, through the week. What's the matter with you?
"Oh, I take the Lord's Supper. Sure, we do it in our church. Jesus said He would raise us up in the
last days if we took the Lord's Supper."
But, "He that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not
discerning the Lord's Body. For this cause many are sick and weakly among you, and many are
dead," old, dead, formal churches. The Spirit of God has gone out of you. The Pillar of Fire ain't
there no more. You deny Divine healing. You deny the resurrection.
"Oh," you say, "oh, He rose from the dead, historically." Well, what about Him being the same
today, if He rose from the dead? You say, "Oh, that ain't so." Now, there you are. You have the
resurrection the way you want it, and God has got it in the way He wants it.
But, the thing of it is, the Bible said, what we know is the Truth, that He would confirm the Word.
"And these things that I do shall you do same. And I'll be with you always, to the end of the world."
"Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever." That's what the Word said.
Now what's the sabbath?
... all tables are full of vomit... no one clean.
Who shall he teach knowledge?
Not worldly knowledge; spiritual knowledge!
Who shall he teach knowledge?... whom shall He make... understand doctrine?
"Oh, bless God, our organization don't believe This. They wouldn't put up with That."... care what
your organization believes. What does God's Word say about it? "Oh, well, our pastors, you know,
are educated." Oh, sure. Certainly, got so much education, they left God out of it. Truly, for you
can tell them the Word and they'll walk around and say, "Well, I don't believe It just that way." Oh,
you sissified thing! Let me tell you.
Looky here.
... who shall he make... known doctrine? them that are weaned from the breast, and... them that
are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.
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The other day, a neighbor of mine come. He said, "Billy, a certain pastor here in the city, the most
lovely little person you ever seen..." Said, "Wife and I were setting with our pajamas on, about
midnight, and that little pastor run in and he--he--he drank some coffee with us and he took out
over to the other neighbor's house, and he shook hands with them. They was having a little card
game, and he sat down and played cards with them." Said, "Oh, he was the most sociable little
fellow you ever seen." Said, "Oh, we love him. We wouldn't get rid of him for nothing."
I stood there a little bit, I thought, "Well?"
Said, "Oh, don't you think that every church needs a man like that?" Huh! I couldn't answer that.
He said, "In another little place," said, "they had such a lovely place. This minister and his wife,
lovely people, went out and deal with the children so much till they had a--a Bible school." And
said, "They just had so many, just overflowed the thing with little children." Said, "My, he can tell all
kinds of little stories to the little children."
I said, "That's nice. That's awful nice."
I went back. I just come from Canada. I thought, "Here I am. My! People... What's the matter with
me? I don't do that." I went to washing on my car. I thought, "God, I'm getting to be an old man,
and here I am. I've fought. I've cried. I've begged. And anything I get is a big blaspheme."
Anything, let somebody say something bad about you, "Oh, the old holy-roller," something like
that.
I thought about that. And a Voice come to me, said, "Them men is all right if they're doing that, but
I never called you to do that. I called you to take the Sword and stand there like Joshua and
challenge, brother. Not fool around with some old society or some church organization, but
challenge the Devil. Stand in the forefront, make right right, and wrong wrong. Preach the Word
and find out who has got the faith to believe It. Lay her out there."
I got to speeding up on that car, all time, washing. I said, "Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord." Felt
good then. "It's all right, Lord, I'll grip her a little tighter, and I want to die with It in my hand."
... who can I make known doctrine? (Listen.)
... tables are full of vomit...
... them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.
Now watch.
For precept as that upon--upon precept, precept upon precept;... line upon line; here a little, and
there a little:
For with stammering lips and with other tongues will I speak to this people.
To whom it is said, This is the sabbath wherein ye shall cause the weary to rest;... this is the
refreshments: yet they would not hear.
For the word of the LORD came unto them, somebody preached It, precept upon precept,... upon
precept; line upon line,... upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall
backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.
What is the Rest? When did the Rest come? When people spoke with other tongues and had
stammering lips. Stammering lips; they didn't speak nothing. They stammered. When did that
happen? On the Day of Pentecost, when the Holy Ghost come. That is the Rest: the Holy Ghost.
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Jesus said, "Come unto Me, all you that weary and heavy laden, and I'll give you Rest. I'll give you
Life, Eternal Life," Zoe, God's own Life. God will come into you and be a part of you. He will give
you a birth and make you a son and daughter.
Now watch. That was the third rest He give. The first: God received it, from His work. Second:
Israel received it, in the law. Third: the Church received It, as a part of God.
Three is the number of life. How many knows that? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.] Every time
you see three, it's life. Notice, when God created the earth, on the third day was life. How many
knows that? ["Amen."] The third day. There came life on the third day of creation.
The trinity: the Father was above the people, in a Pillar of Fire; the Son was a Man, who talked to
people and got them ready; the Holy Ghost was the third step, which was the Holy Ghost, God in
the people. Life! Father, Son...
The rest, of God; the rest, of Israel; and the Rest, of the Church, the sabbath-keeping.
So, if you've never received the Holy Ghost, yet, you have never entered into God's Rest. You
don't have to say, "Oh, I couldn't. I want to smoke. I--I just couldn't do it; I'm a Christian. I really
don't want to drink, but I'm a Christian. I just can't, don't want to drink, but yet I like to."
If you lust after women, if you do all these ungodly things, you've never hit that Rest period yet.
You've never entered into your Rest.
And when you enter into this Rest, you cease from your own worldly works, like God did from His.
Why? You're a part of God. You rest, Eternally. There you are. That's the Sabbath. "Come unto
Me, all you that labor."
Today, he limited a certain day,... after so long a time, in David;... when you hear his voice, harden
not your hearts.
Just a word or two more here now, we'll close.
For he that has entered into Christ's rest,...
Come unto me, all you that labour and... heavy laden...
... you have ceased from your own works, as God did from his, on the seventh day.
Yours might been at the thirtieth year, the fortieth year, the fifth year, whatever it is. You have
ceased from your works, as God did from His, Eternally. You no more want the things of the world.
The world is dead to you.
Now, 11th verse now, closely.
Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, (not this one, not this one, but This one), lest any
man fall after the same example of unbelief.
What is it? The Pillar of Fire is here. The Angel of the Lord is with us. He's doing the very same
things that He said He would do. And people stumble around, say, "Oh, well, I guess It's all right.
That's pretty good. Oh, I guess It's okay." Be careful that you don't fall in the same snare of
unbelief. You take It with all your heart.
Watch.
For the word of God (not the doctrine of the church)... the word of God is quicker, more powerful,...
sharper than a twoedged sword, (listen), piercing even... the dividing asunder of the soul, the
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spirit,... the joints and the marrow, and... (listen), and is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents
of the heart.
What was that? The Holy Spirit can come and say, "You did a certain-certain thing. And you did
this and did that. You have this kind of disease, and that. If you'll make this right, you'll do that."
See? Discerner of the thoughts.
And people say, "What is that? Why, it's mental telepathy. Why, it's a... He's a fortune-teller." See
what I mean? It's a wicked, old adulterous world that don't know God.
"It's quicker, thought-er, more powerful than a two-edged sword, and a discerner of the thoughts
and the intents of the heart."
Now, what is it that knows the intents of the heart? God. You said, "Well, the Bible said, 'The Word
of God.'" The Word of God is God.
In the beginning was the Word,... the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,...
God discerns the thoughts. Abraham had his back turned, and--and so did God have His back
turned to the tent. And Sarah laughed. And God turned around, said, "What made Sarah laugh?"
A discerner of the thoughts of the heart! I want that to soak a little bit.
Then when that kind of a ministry raises up, that God promised in the last day, what happened?
"Mental telepathy."
Did not they call the Lord, Himself, "Beelzebub"? He said, "If they've called the Master of the
house 'Beelzebub,' how much more will they call His disciples?"
I love you. It goes to show that you're interested enough, you don't have to come to an airconditioned building to hear the Gospel. You're hungry enough to come to a place like this. God
never would let us build nothing but this. We love it this way. Just a little old shack, but that's the
way we love it. God don't dwell in glamour. God dwells in humility. We love it like this. We're happy
to come, and you are, too, to set in a--a place like this. No matter how hot it is, how much you
sweat on your new suit, your new dress, that don't make any difference.
You're listening to Eternal Life, to the Word of God that knows the thoughts of your heart. The
Pillar of Fire that hung over the children of Israel, hangs here tonight. I could challenge it: there
isn't a man could stand here under the power of the Holy Ghost without God just spilling him right
out and telling him what he was. That's right. There you are.
What is It? What is It? It's the same Spirit that led the Children of Israel to their rest, and they fell
because of unbelief. Don't you fall. This is the last chance. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, Life come
through there.
Justification, Martin Luther, still a form of religion. Sanctification... Martin Luther; John Wesley; the
baptism of the Holy Ghost, Life. Justification, is believing; sanctification, is the cleansing; Holy
Ghost, is the filling, Life. Not through the Lutheran age; they had It in a form. Not through the
Wesley age; they had It in a form. But this is the age when the Holy Ghost comes, Hisself.
And if you haven't received It, how do you, can you believe miracles? That takes God, in you, to
believe. You act like God. You know like God. You think like God. The Bible said that you are
amateur, little "gods." Jesus said so. For, you're a part of God.
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Just the same as I'm a little Branham, and you're a little whoever-you-are, and because your
parents is that name. The nature that you are is because your parents is that way, 'cause you was
born of them.
And the reason that you believe God, and believe in miracles, and signs and wonders, because
you are sons and daughters of God. You receive Life. Life comes on the third. All right.
When Jesus went up on the mountain, everywhere He went, He taken Peter, James, and John,
three witnesses. Three is the number of Life. Get it? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.] Love, joy,
peace.
Now, let's go quickly now to the end of the chapter, quickly, as we read.
For the word of God is quicker, more powerful... than twoedged sword,... and discerning even the
intents of the heart.
Neither is there any creature that is not manifested in his sight: but all things are... opened unto
the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
Brother, there's not a fly could light on a post there, without Him knowing it. "All things are open."
Brother, He knows every thing that you ever did, ever thought you ever thought of. That's what He
is. We believe Him like that.
And when God comes into us, and sets us in the Church, He puts gifts and things in the Church, to
operate His Being. If God is that infinite God, then He heals the sick. He can raise the dead. He
can cleanse the lepers, make the blind to see. He can give visions. He can do all kinds of these
things, working through His Church, because it's God in you. There is the Church.
How does that church become a Church, by joining It? No, sir. By shaking hands? No, sir. By
water baptism? No, sir. By membership? No, sir. How do you get It? "For by one Spirit we are all
baptized into one Body." There you are.
Romans 8:1.
There is therefore now no condemnation...
"No worldly condemnation." They can't accuse you of nothing.
There is... no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, that walk not after the flesh, but after
the Spirit.
There you are. That's how to judge your Christianity. That's how to know you've entered into that
Rest, the world don't bother you no more. Certainly. You see it, walk away from it. You got
something better to think of. There you are, "No condemnation." That's how we get into the Body.
And you're secured, "Forever." The Bible said so. Look over here in the Hebrews, the 10th
chapter. He said:
For where there's offerings of bulls and sacrifice, a remembrance was made of sin every year.
But this man,... through one sacrifice...
Blessed be His holy Name!
For by one sacrifice he hath perfected for ever...
Hallelujah! Not for the next revival, but forever. "Old things have passed away; and all things have
become new." We're walking in the Light, the beautiful Light. The birds sing different.
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Setting here, looking at this little alcoholic, about five years ago, I guess. Rosella, a walleyed bat,
walking down the streets of Chicago, drunk, twisting around, walking into every kind of sin that
there was, drunk and in everything that she could be. And one night, the Holy Spirit, that's quicker
and more powerful than a two-edged sword, said, "Woman, you are an alcoholic." Hallelujah! If
that ain't the same God that was back yonder, who knowed Sarah laughed behind Him, I don't
know what He is.
Up in the audience to another little woman. She went and got, and brought in there. Said, "You
are a dope addict." How He discerns the thoughts of the mind!
And great big aristocratic ministers setting there, who has world-wide evangelism, with their
hands folded back, in tee shirts, thought we didn't know them, like they could set under a meeting
like that and God wouldn't reveal who they were. Setting there, looking different, like they were
somebody else. The Holy Ghost knowed who they was. And they set there, in their hearts, thought
It was mental telepathy. Know no more about God than a Hottentot would know about Egyptian
night. That's right. They know It by letter, but not by Spirit. "The letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth
Life." That's it. That's the idea. "Quicker, more powerful than a two-edged sword, a discerner of the
thoughts of the heart."
Listen. Watch.
Neither is there any creature that is not manifested in his sight: but all things are naked and open
before his eyes to him... whom we have to do with.
Seeing then that we have a great high priest... (Listen now; to the sick.)... that has passed into the
heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
"Hold fast," that don't mean just keep testifying. If you don't live the life, you don't hold it fast;
you're living a hypocritical thing. You're... You better be on out and just say you're a sinner and
forget about it. Don't profess a Christian, live something else; you're the biggest stumbling block
the world has ever had. If you're a sinner, admit it and, go on, get right with God. If you're a
Christian, hold fast your confession, stay there.
Watch this now. I want to get this in just before we leave.
For we have not an high priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in
all points tempted like... we are, yet without sin.
Listen.
Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we might obtain mercy, and find grace
and help in the time of need.
Blessed be the Name of God!
Listen, Baptist, Presbyterian, Lutheran. You going to ask me this question, "Abraham believed
God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness." I know. That's where you always go. That's
true. "What more can a man do but believe God?" That's exactly right. That's all he can do. But
when God recognizes that faith, He gives you the Holy Ghost.
"Now what do I do, Brother Branham? Do I shout?" Not necessary. "Do I speak with tongues?"
Not necessary. You can shout and speak with tongues, both, and still live like a--like a heathen,
and still lust for women. You can still smoke and drink, and everything else. I seen people speak
with tongues, and go right out and pull some of the dirtiest, crooked deal I ever seen. I seen them
shout, and cry crocodile tears, and would steal anything you get a hold of. I seen them walk out,
and every girl goes down the street, turn. Uh-huh. That's one good sign you haven't got It. That's
right.
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But, brother, when you've passed from death unto Life, all those things become dead, and you're
a new creature in Christ Jesus. If you see something wrong, you'll pray for it, "God be merciful."
And if you see troubles, instead of going and tattling, and trying to make it worse, you'll try to get to
the person and straighten it up, and quieten it right quick. That's the Spirit of God in you.
If you make a mistake? You're subject to them. If you make a mistake, you'll correct it right quick.
"Don't let the sun go down on your wrath." That's how you know you passed from death unto Life,
you got love, peace, joy, long-suffering, goodness, gentleness, patience. We have the High Priest
setting in Heaven, ready to make intercessions upon our profession. What is it? It's when Jesus
went back to the Logos, the Pillar of Fire that led the children of Israel, setting in the Presence of
them greats, fountain, rainbow of Lights that come out, the seven perfect Spirits, a perfect Spirit of
love.
Now watch. The first is the perfect love, that's God's love, pure and unadulterated. The next,
comes in there, is phileo love, that's love that you have for your wife and your children. The next,
drops after that, is lustful love. The next is ungodly love. And just goes on down till it's filth, just
keep on perverting, perverting.
And everything that had a beginning, has an end. And all that will be taken right away, and no
remembrance of it, at all, and come right back to the perfect, someday. And the only way... You
can't stop down here, halfway of the way, and get up here. You've got to be all the way in, trusting,
resting completely in the salvation that Jesus Christ give to you, by faith.
There's a Spirit of honesty that comes from God. That's the fountain, fountain of God. That's
honesty. The next is the man will do "a good deed" for his neighbor. The next is the guy, "you have
to watch him." The next is the guy, "is a thief." The next is the guy, "is a murderer," hold up. See
how it perverts, right on down? But all them things speak of a real.
That's what I say. Every time you see a person that's... You see a little couple walking down the
street, sweethearts, maybe they're eighty years old. It only speaks that in Heaven there's a young
couple that represent them, in Heaven. "If this earthly tabernacle dissolve, we have one There."
If you see a man that's cheating, stealing, lying, just remember, his part is waiting in hell, for him,
his place where he'll be tormented in the Presence of God and the holy Angels, with fire and
brimstone. He'll be tormented there. Not forever, he can't be tormented forever, forever don't mean
all, for all times. Eternity is forever, Eternity is... has no beginning or end. But forever is "a space of
time." The Bible said, "Forever and," conjunction, "forever." Jonah said he was in the belly of the
whale "forever." Is a space of time.
But, look, there's only one Eternal Life, and that's God. And if you're going to be tormented
forever, and can never die, you got Eternal Life. You can't be tormented forever... You may be
tormented for a hundred million years, in the Presence of God and the holy Angels, with fire and
brimstone. I don't know how long it's designated. But it's finally got to come to an end because it
had a beginning. And God alone has Eternal Life. "He that heareth My Words, and believeth on
Him that sent Me," doesn't have forever life, "he has Eternal Life." That Life that begin, not nothing
along here. But all the way up There, Eternal Life, Zoe, God's Own Life comes down and dwells in
the man, and he is Eternal with God, and can't die. That's what the Word said.
Just think of it. Is there two Eternal Lifes? You couldn't answer that, could you? There is one
Eternal Life, and that's the Life of God. This other kind of life, no matter what it is, it's got an end to
it. And anything that had a beginning has an end. But anything that had no beginning has no end.
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And God said He would give us Eternal Life, without beginning, we were just made a part of Him.
And actually the Life that's in us, wasn't brought here by human nature. Nature give us a spirit, but
that spirit died, and we got the Spirit of God. Glory to God!
Was God a man? Certainly. "Let us make man in our own image." What was God? A theophany,
a body. And there man was made like that and put over the garden. But there was no man to till
the soil, in the senses. Then He created man out of the dust of earth, in the animal life, and that
man tilled the soil. And the man fell, by transgression. Correctly. And God, the theophany, come
down and was made flesh and dwelt among us, to redeem the man.
So it's nothing you could do. You're a sinner, to start with. You're shaped in iniquity. You're born in
sin, come to the world speaking lies. You were born here in this world by a sexual desire of your
father and mother. And you're just as hell-bound as you can be, I don't care what you do. You
might never lie, steal; keep every commandment, and everything else; and you'll go to hell, like a
martin to its box. But the only way that you ever can live again, is to accept the Holy Spirit, God's
Eternal Life.
What made you what you are? In the beginning, when the Holy Ghost brood over the earth, there
wasn't nothing but volcanic eruption. A little Easter flower come up. God said, "That looks pretty.
Just keep brooding." Flowers come up. Grass come up. Trees come up. Birds flew out of the dust.
Animals come up. A man come up.
Now, how was it done? By the brooding of the Holy Spirit, bringing these materials together,
potash, calcium; making the flowers, making animal, making you.
And now, you've got a free choice. God broods back to you, and say, "Hear My Voice? Harden
not your heart, like in the days of provocation." Here He comes down, preaches the Word.
"The Gospel preached unto them was not... didn't have faith in It, so It didn't do them no good."
They heard It, but they didn't believe It.
God come down. He showed them a Pillar of Fire. Showed by His prophets, signs and wonders,
He was with him. They didn't believe It. Oh, they liked to see the miracles. They liked to hear the
prophet. But as far as believing It, they didn't. Their lives proves they didn't.
"Now," He said, "don't you fall after that same example of unbelief." For in this last day, to the
Gentile church, God has appeared again; same sign, same wonder, same Pillar of Fire,
vindicated, proven. Let us not harden our hearts and fall in that temptation back yonder, of
unbelief, for we'll rot on earth and that'll be all of it.
And when the Holy Spirit knocks at your heart, [Brother Branham knocks on the pulpit--Ed.] "After
so long a time, when you hear My Voice, harden not your heart." Say, "Child of Mine, this is the
Truth." Don't look at the messenger. Listen to the Message. Believe It. "Harden not your heart, as
in the days of provocation."
When he hears "Your Voice," harden not your heart. Then you say, "Yes, Lord, I believe." Then
you enter into Life, the Holy Spirit comes into you. Your old spirit dies out, that makes you lust and
hate, and malice and enmity, and--and hatred and all them things, dies away. And you become full
of love, joy, peace, resting. No matter how the winds blow, it's all right.
My anchor holds within the veil.
Through every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.
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For on Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other grounds is sinking sand.
There you are. Eddie Perronet, as he wrote that famous song. "All other grounds," all
denominations, all creeds, all doctrines, fade away. Christ!
You say, "Well, I know the Bible." You don't have Life by knowing the Bible.
"I know my catechism." You don't have Life by knowing your catechism.
"Well, I'm a Christian." You don't have Life by professing Christianity.
You have Life by knowing Him. Knowing Him, you have Life. "Then you enter into His Rest. You
cease from your works, as God did from His." You are made a Son of God, a partaker of God. And
if that--if that Holy Spirit woos to you, and you woo back and say, "Yes, Lord," or coos.
Coo, "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden. I'll give you Rest."
And you say, "Ah, I'm young. I got... Oh, my pastor don't... All I got to do..." See? You'll never find
It.
But when you say, "Yes, my Lord. I hear Your Voice. I don't harden my heart. I don't care, Lord,
It's your Word and I believe You. Take me Jesus. 'Just as I am, without one plea, but that Thy
Blood was shed for me. And there I'll promise, "I'll believe." O Lamb of God, I come.'" Lay your
hands upon His dying head, say, "Lord, I'm a sinner, and You called to me."
"All the Father has given Me will come to Me, and I'll raise him up at the last days."
"Yes, Lord, I come. I harden not my heart, as they did in provocation, I truly believe Him."
Then what does He do? He gives you His Life, Zoe, Eternal Life. And if God could raise us from
the dust of the earth, where we come from... Did we come from the dust? [Congregation says,
"Amen."--Ed.] Everything you see, come from the dust. And if God could make me what I am
today, without having any choice; just because His desire was to make me, and give me the
opportunity to face Calvary and make my decision; and I made my decision and believed on Him;
how much more will He raise me up! If He made me what I am, without a choice, then I took a
choice and took Him in; when He laid His hands by Himself, and swore by Himself, that He would
raise me up in the last day. I'll rest assure.
I have Rest, not because I worship on Sunday, not because I worship on the sabbath. That has
nothing to do with it. I worship because I've entered into His peace and Rest: peace, rest, love, joy.
Let the storms fly. My anchor holds.
Have you got that experience, tonight, friend of mine that's setting here in this hot tabernacle?
You didn't come to hear me. No. You come to hear the Word. Listen, my friend.
Now if you haven't got that Rest, you can find It right now. You don't have to come up here at the
altar. Set right where you are. Be sincere, and say, "Christ, just speak to my heart. I know it's hot.
I'm--I'm just all lathery, sweaty. I'm awful. But, Lord, truly, I may be sweating with pain, worse than
this, before morning."
And the doctor may shake his head, say, "It's a heart attack. He's gone." Then what?
What then? When the great Book is opened, what then? You heard that song, What Then?
"When the ones that's rejected the Message, will be asked to give a reason, what then?" What
then? Think of it now, real deeply.
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While we bow our head, think of it.
When the one that's rejecting this Message tonight,
Going to be asked to give a reason, what then?
What then? What then?
When the great Book is opened, what then?
When the ones that's rejecting this Message tonight,
You're going to be asked to give a reason, what then?
Heavenly Father, this is all in Your hands now. Here is the true Sabbath laying before the people.
Here is the Angel of God, for the last few years, has blasted around the world. Critics and
everything else has, tried to condemn It. But, every time, You prove Yourself to be God.
Scientific world, the church world; are they blind, Lord? Maybe there's one in here tonight would
like to receive their sight, to walk on, and not tempt God, as in the days of provocation; not try to
tempt Him, by be good on Sunday, or keep a certain day, or to a certain creed, or to belong to a
certain church. But would like to come out and be circumcised, by the heart, and receive the Holy
Spirit. And they want Him. By faith now, they are trying to accept Him into their heart. They're
trying to find grace with You, Lord.
Oh, they may have spoke in tongues. They might have shouted. They still got the same old
temper. They still got the same old malice. They still tattle and talk, and do things they shouldn't
do. They don't want that, Lord. What then, when that great Book is opened? "But," said, "such
won't enter the Kingdom." "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in Heaven is perfect."
Anything short will not go in. Are they wholly trusting, tonight, in the crucified? If not, Lord, may
they make that one Eternal "yes" just now.
Say, "Lord, I... No emotion, but I just feel Something down in my heart, that Something is telling
me, 'I can do it right now, by Your grace.' And I'm now accepting You as my personal Saviour. I'm-I'm rejecting all the things of the world, and I want to enter your Rest. And I believe I'm doing it
right now. I believe the Holy Spirit is bringing me right into that place."
While every head is bowed. Does anybody feel that way just now? Raise your hand, "The Holy
Spirit is now bringing me into a place where I won't tattle any more." God bless you. "I won't do the
things. My temper is gone. I can live in peace and joy and long-suffering, from right now. I believe
God is speaking to me right now, that I can do it from this hour on, by His grace." Would you raise
your hands? God bless you. God bless the young lady. Someone else? "I now believe."
Don't tempt Him, as in the day of provocation. Don't think because we go to church on Sunday, or
keep the sabbath. Paul said, "You that keep days or moons, or so forth, I'm afraid of you. The law
having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the thing, can never make the
worshipper perfect." But Christ makes you perfect, perfect in the sight of God. He takes away your
sin, takes condemnation from you, gives you His love and joy.
Would you enter into Rest now? Someone else raise their hand, say, "I have did that." God bless
you, young lady, over here to my left. God bless the man setting to my right. Entering into His
Rest, think of it just now.
Pray, "Just as I am, Lord, without one plea; I'm no good. Nothing I can offer You, but just my old,
worn out, sinful life. Will You receive me? Cleanse? Relieve? Because, I promised I'll believe. O
Lamb of God, I come. I now come, believing that now I've passed from death unto Life. Because,
right here in my seat, I've accepted You as my Saviour and I feel peace in my heart."
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Five has raised up their hands. Would another one, that feels that way, raise your hand? If you're
not a Christian, accept Him just now.
If you profess to be a Christian and have not been that kind, you're still a sinner, no matter what
life you--you've done, or how you try to make yourself. What you do is not accepted. It's what He
done. Your own righteousness won't be accepted. If you quit smoking just because you said,
"Well, I better quit smoking because I profess Christianity." God don't accept it. If you quit lusting
after women, just because that you are making yourself do it, God don't accept it. That's
something you do. That's works. It's grace that saves you. Has God come to you and taken the
whole thing out of you? That's the next thing.
You say, "I joined church, and so I had to quit these things." God didn't accept that, nothing you
can offer. He only accepts what Christ give. He gives you Eternal Life, and takes it from you. Will
you receive It?
... out on the stormy, wild sea,
Come, anchor your soul in the haven of Rest,
And say, "My beloved is mine."
I've anchored my soul...
All right, you may raise your head. The message is over now. Let's just worship now.
I'll sail the wild sea no more;
The tempest may sweep over the wild, stormy deep,
In Jesus I'm safe evermore.
Everyone now, in worship.
I've anchored my soul in a haven of Rest, (Sabbath)
I'll sail the wild sea no more;
The tempest may sweep over the wild, stormy deep,
In Jesus I'm safe evermore.
Shine on me,...
Just let yourself loose. Close your eyes. Feel that sweet Spirit? That's worship. The message is
over. This is worship.
Let the Light from the lighthouse shine on me,
O shine on me, O Lord, shine on me,
O let the Light from the lighthouse shine on me.
How many feels real good? Raise your hand. That sweet, humble spirit, that's It.
To be like Jesus, just to be like Jesus,
On earth I long to be like Him;
All through life's journey from earth to Glory,
I only ask to be like...
Just worship.
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HEBREWS CHAPTER FIVE AND SIX
Branham Tabernacle
... of--of the Book of Hebrews. Then we get into the 7th, the Melchisedec priesthood. And then we
get in, from the Melchisedec priesthood, into that great days of an atonement, and separating,
dividing the atonements. Then into that great faith chapter, the 11th chapter. And the 12th chapter,
"Laying aside every weight." And the 13th chapter, "That Eternal Home not built by man's hands;
but God, alone, who has made this great home." How wonderful!
I'm glad to see our sister back there, that's just entered the service. I see her and her husband.
Yesterday, we were on our road up, across a place that... I thought that I knowed every little crack
and corner, by being game warden here in Indiana, and patrol for several years. I knowed every
place. But I could have got lost yesterday, up there where they was at, on top of the knobs, a new
road.
And the lady had cancer in the lungs, and the Lord definitely healed the woman. We took... Oh,
and how it all come, we were setting there. Brother Roberson, he is probably in, today. I see his
wife, and Brother Woods, which is in. And we were up there in an old truck, Brother Roberson and
I, and Brother Woods. And we got this truck, went up there, top of the hill. And there the Lord
showed the cancer definitely. And then we stood there and watched it leave the woman. With our
own eyes, we stood and watched it leave the woman. And she called back to Brother Wood's wife;
and was telling me, she was spitting up that real black stuff. And here she is this morning, setting
back in the church, her and her beloved husband, having a wonderful time in the Lord. Isn't He
wonderful? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.]
And I didn't know that the... Here, usually, to the people that's around, very seldom visions
happen here. This is my home. And, I mean, in the church.
Sunday, a week, we... How many was here to see the man in the wheel chair? Blind, crippled,
unbalanced, and mental nerves gone, and Mayo's had give him up. And--and some Catholic
doctor friend of mine sent him up here. And before coming to the service, the Lord gave a vision of
the man. You all know that. And there the man was healed, by THUS SAITH THE LORD. See?
And then got up, walked out, took his wheel chair, could see like you could or I can. And walked
out of the building pushing his chair, normally. And the balance nerve... You know, you can't hold
yourself up. See, you just can't. And for years it's that.
And yesterday when I got there, the lady had been having a dream of seeing me come in, just at
two o'clock, and pronounce her "with cancer," and then, "THUS SAITH THE LORD, 'she was
healed.'" And--and she woke up, and it was just exactly two o'clock. And the Spirit of the Lord
came down, and there that--that dream that she had, and the Lord gave the interpretation. And
she was healed right there on the spot, right there where we was watching. How wonderful!
Can't think of her name. What is it? What is your name, sister? Walton, Sister Walton, setting
back there. Would you just stand up, Sister Walton? Want to ask you how you're feeling. [Sister
Walton says, "It's just wonderful."--Ed.] Amen. That's good, fine and dandy. He is so good, to bless
us in that manner. So we're expecting the exceedingly, abundantly, of God's great measure.
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A doctor had keeping this back from her. He told her that "she was only breathing out of one
side." What it was, the cancer had growed across and cut the breathing off of that side of the lung,
you see. You can't see cancer through x-ray, because cancer is a cell, itself, and it's--it's life. And
you... You just--you just look right through the cancer, with an x-ray. You don't see it.
And, but the Lord has really... We stood there and watched it, ourselves, with our own eyes.
Watch it moving, and seen it leave, with our own eyes. So, we're so grateful for that.
And now, pray now for us, this week, while we're gone. And Brother Neville will probably take up
where I left off, for the Wednesday night service. Don't miss it now, in this great chain of the Book
of the Revelation.
I know much prayer has been offered, and we--we know that God hears prayer. But we, this
morning, we want to offer just a little prayer before the reading of the Book. Now, any person that's
able, can read the Book this way, or can open it this way. But it takes God, alone, to open the
understanding, for He's the only One who can do it.
So let us bow our heads just a moment.
Now, Father, in the Name of Thy beloved Son, the Lord Jesus, we most humbly come now to
submit ourselves, as Thy servants, that You would speak through us. Circumcise the lips that
speak and the ears that hear, that the Word might be spoke by God and heard by the Spirit, in the
people. Grant it, Father. May He take the Word of God and minister to us just as we have need,
for we ask it in His Name and for His glory. Amen.
Now, reading this morning, we're studying. We're not--not preaching; just studying this Book of
Hebrews. How many is enjoying it? Oh, we're having a wonderful time! And now just studying
close, Scripture upon Scripture. It must... The whole, entire Bible ties together. There's not one
Word out of Its place, if It be placed together by the Holy Spirit.
Now, man has said, "The Bible contradicts Itself." I want to see it. I've asked, twenty-five years, for
that, and no one has ever showed it yet. The Bible does not contradict. If it is, it isn't the Bible. The
great, infinite Jehovah could not contradict His own Self, so there's no contradiction in the Bible.
It's just the misunderstandings of peoples.
Now for a little background, till we go back. Now, the Book of Hebrews was written by Saint Paul,
to the Hebrews. He wrote one to the Ephesians, that was the people at Ephesus, the Christian
Church; one to the Romans at Rome; and one to the Galatians; and one to the Hebrews.
Now, we notice that Paul, being a Bible teacher, to begin with. That's what we learned. That he
set under the great teacher, one of the greatest of his days, Gamaliel. And he was well versed in
the Old Testament. He knew it well. But became a persecutor of the way that was Christ's Way,
because he had been trained in the Old Testament under teachers. But the teachers, usually
carnal... I hope I don't say anything wrong.
But, usually, if a man has just the teaching and the way of the schools, it's usually man-made.
See, it isn't inspired, because it becomes a doctrine of a school. We have it today. Presbyterian,
Lutheran, Pentecostal, all these schools have their theory, and they just wind the Scriptures into
this.
And it was the same in the Old Testament. But, Paul, being well trained, and knew the Scriptures
by the word. But, you see, the Scriptures, no matter how well you know them, if the Spirit doesn't
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quicken them, then the letter killeth. The Spirit giveth Life. See, it must be quickened, or made
alive, by the Spirit. If the Spirit doesn't liven the Word and make It a reality to you, then the letter is
just intellectual. That's where we have so many confessed Christians today, or professed
Christians, is that intellectual conception of Christ.
Then we got off on, "Well, he had to feel something; and you had to do something." And, oh, we'll
get into all that, after while. One had to shout. The Methodists used to have to shout, 'fore they
had it. The Pentecostals had to speak with tongues, before they had it. And, oh, some of them, the
Shakers, used to have to shake. Yeah. The old... They'd walk up-and-down, man on one side,
women on the other. See? Shakers. Then the Holy Spirit come on them and shook them. "They
had It." But it's all just fantastics. There's none of it the Truth.
God lives in His Word. "Faith cometh by hearing, hearing the Word. "By faith are you saved,
through grace." Not by anything, whether you shake, or speak with tongues, or whatever takes
place. That has nothing to do into it, at all. Jesus said, "He that heareth My Words and believeth
on Him that sent Me, hath Eternal Life. He that heareth My Word and believeth, been made
quickened to him, hath Eternal Life." There it is. Doesn't matter what little thing that you do.
Now, I'm not against shaking, or speaking with tongues, or shaking, oh, that--that shouting. That's
all right. That's fine. But that's only attributes. See? I could give you an apple off the tree, and you
still wouldn't have the tree. See? You... It's the attributes.
Lying, stealing, drinking, smoking, gambling, committing adultery, that's not sin, that's the
attributes of unbelief. See? That's what you--you... You do that because you are a sinner. See?
But first you are a sinner. That's what make you do that, because you do not believe. And if you do
believe, then you do not do that. Then you have love, joy, peace, long-suffering, goodness,
gentleness, meekness, patience. That's the fruit of the Holy Spirit. See?
So we got little things, little sensations, is because that man got off of the old, beaten path of the
Word. It's the Word. "Faith cometh by hearing."
So when Paul... God chose Paul. Man chose Matthias. When he... They cast the lots, but he
never did nothing. That shows what a power the church has then, to make a choice, to elect their
deacons, and send their preachers to different places. That's carnal, many time.
Let a man go where God leads him to go. I like that. If the people in a conference just say, "Well,
here's a nice church. This brother has built up a nice church. And we have a little pet." They'll send
him over to this church. They don't realize they're killing theirselves. See? First place, if that man
goes in there, he can't fill that man's place. Then they only weaken the church, to try to show favor
to some pet. It's always been that way.
But I believe in the supreme authority of the local assembly. Yes. Let each church be its own,
choose its pastors, its deacons, its, whatever it is. And then, that way, the man in there has no
bishop over him. The Holy Spirit wants to speak something to that church, they don't have to ask
anybody about whether they could do this or do that. It's the individual in contact with the Holy
Spirit. Show me by the Bible what's greater, in the Bible, than a local elder to a local church?
That's right, yes, sir, the sovereignty of the local church, each church in itself. Now, brotherhood,
that's wonderful. All churches ought to be in a brotherhood like that, together. But the sovereignty
of local church!
Notice Paul, being a great master teacher, well trained, on his road down to Damascus, one day,
to arrest the people that were in this new Way. Now, he was sincere. God does not judge you by
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your sincerity. I never seen any more sincere people than the heathens. Many of them even kill
their own children, in vain, for--for sacrifice to an idol. It's not the sincerity. A man could take
carbolic acid, sincerely, thinking he was taking something else. Sincerity doesn't save you. "There
is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof is the ways of death."
Paul was sincere when he gave witness, in his own authority, to stone Stephen. Later on in years,
I like the apology of Paul, he said, "I'm not worthy to be called the disciple or to be called an
apostle, because I persecuted the Church even unto death." With sincerity!
And on his road down, he struck an experience. The Holy Spirit come out in a big Pillar of Fire,
and It blinded him. Now, we've went through that, that Pillar of Fire was Christ. And He's the same
Pillar of Fire that led the children through the wilderness. Christ was God, and God was Christ.
God was made flesh and dwelt in the body of the Lord Jesus. "God was in Christ, reconciling the
world to Himself," showing what He was.
In the Bible back here, in the former verses we been reading, that, "He made Hisself lower than
the Angels. Taken on the form, not of Angels, but taken on a form of flesh." Angels had not fallen,
they need no redemption. Flesh had fell, human beings, and they needed redemption. So, in the
old laws, a man, to be a--a redeemer, first he had to be kinfolks; the great Book of Ruth, we went
through here, sometime ago. And how that God, being Spirit, was made kinfolks with us, by
becoming one of us, in order to redeem us and give us Eternal Life. He had to become us, that we
through grace might become as He.
And we find the Pillar of Fire led the children of Israel. And when It was made flesh here on earth,
we hear Him talking one day, and He claimed that He was the Pillar of Fire. They said, "You say
that you're greater than our father Abraham?"
He said, "Before Abraham was, I AM." Who was the I AM? The Pillar of Fire in the burning bush,
a perpetual memorial through every generation; not only that generation, but this generation, the
same Pillar of Fire. And we're thankful this morning that we even have the picture of It, that He has
not changed. He's the Immortal, Eternal, Blessed One. He does the same things now that He did
then, and how happy it makes us feel.
But before Paul would accept this experience... Knowing that the Angel of the Lord was the Pillar
of Fire, which was Christ, the... Well, He was the Angel of the Covenant, which was Christ. Moses
thought better, that, chose rather to suffer the afflictions with the people of Christ, and to be led by
Christ, than all the treasures of Egypt. He followed Christ, which was in the form of a Pillar of Fire.
Then Christ said, "I came from God," when He was here on earth, "I go back to God." After His
death, burial, resurrection, glorified body setting at the right hand of the Majesty, to make
intercession; Paul saw Him as the Pillar of Fire, again: a Light that put his eyes out, almost; smote
him blind.
Peter saw Him come into the jail as a Light, and open the doors before him as he went out. We
find out that He was the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last.
And here He is with us, today, doing the very same things that He did then, making Hisself visible
back to us, showing it to the scientific world.
Oh, in this great hour of darkness and chaos over the earth, we should be the happiest people in
the whole earth, to rejoice, to know. All the time, when people are indocumated, and all kinds of
isms and things in the earth, and yet, today, the real, living God, by His Word and by His visible
evidence, shows us that He's here with us, working, moving, living, acting just exactly as He
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always did. What a privileged people that we are, to have this! We ought to... The Bible said, then,
in the 2nd chapter, "We should hold fast these things. Because, how shall we escape if we neglect
such a great salvation?"
Now, we come on to find out, before Paul would accept that experience... Now, we're drilling.
Now, no matter what kind of an experience you ever have, church, I want to ask you something.
No matter how good it looks, how real it seems, it first must be tested by the Bible. Always on the
Word! Don't never leave That, for any kind of experience.
And Paul, before he would accept it, he went down into Arabia, and there stayed three years,
testing this experience with the Word. And when he come back, he was sure. Nothing could upset
him, for he was solid on the Word, unmoveable. And here is where he's turning now to show to
these Hebrews, those great things that was spoke of, of the Old Testament, was made manifest in
Jesus Christ. What a glory!
Now, last Sunday, or last Wednesday, Brother Neville in here, in the 5th chapter, hit some very
high places,'cause it's a wonderful chapter. And we find him dealing on the 4th chapter, last
Sunday, on the Sabbath, the keeping of the Sabbath. Are you sure, this morning, you know what
the keeping of the Sabbath is? If you do, say, "Amen." [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.]
The Sabbath is the "Rest" that we enter into, not by day, not by law, but by entering into Christ
which is our Sabbath. He is our Sabbath. We run it all through the Old Testament, and showed
that the time would come when the Word would come "line upon line, precept upon precept." And
He proved that we entered His Rest on the Day of Pentecost, "For this would cause the weary to
rest, cease."
We find out, that, "God limited a day in David, about the seventh day." And, "God did rest the
seventh." Give it to the--the children of Israel in the wilderness. "And again, He limited a day."
What day was it? A certain day in the week? "The day when you hear His Voice, harden not your
heart." That's the day He's entering in, to give you an Eternal peace, an Eternal Sabbath.
You don't go to church on Sunday, to become religious, then. When you're born of the Spirit of
God, you enter into Rest forever, no more sabbath-keeping. You're in the Sabbath, continually,
forever, and for Eternity. "Your worldly works has finished," says the Bible, "and you've entered
into this blessed peace."
These first five chapters are positionally placing Jesus as High Priest. "God in sundry times and
divers manners spake to the fathers through the prophets, but in this last day through His Son,
Jesus," 1st chapter, 1st verse.
Then on down to the ending up of the 5th chapter, we find Him represented as "Melchisedec, who
had no beginning of days, no ending of your life, but continually a Priest forever." Think of it. Who
was this great Man? We'll get it, in about two more chapters. The entire life of Him, we're going to
study. "This great Man who met Abraham, who never had any papa, never had any mama. He
never had any time He ever begin life, or He never will have a time that He will ever end life. And
He met Abraham coming from the slaughters of the king."
Notice this great Person, whoever He was, is still alive. He had no end of life. It was Christ, he
met. We're going on a deep study of that, in a few days.
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Now, we want to start over here in the 5th chapter now, just for a little background before we hit
the--the 6th, for it's really an outstanding something. Watch close. We're going to start about the
7th verse of this chapter. Well, let's start at the 6th verse.
As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
Who in his days of his flesh, when he... offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying...
tears unto... was him was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;
Though he was a Son, yet learned... obedience by the things which he suffered;
Now here is where I want to get to, this 9th verse. Listen. I guess Brother Neville hit it,
Wednesday. I wasn't here. Well, listen.
And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;
Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec.
Of whom we have many things to say,...
We leave it there on that, 'cause we're going to pick up Melchisedec in a few nights.
Now we're going to start on this, our regular study. I wish... I'll just read the rest of this for a
moment, the 11th verse.
Of whom we have many things to say,... hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing.
For when... the time ye ought to be teachers, you have need that one teach you again which be
the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, instead of
strong meat.
For every one that uses milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
Oh, I hope that Holy Spirit is taken that right down in the bottom of you now.
For he that--that uses milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he's a baby.
You give a baby strong meat, you kill it. That's the reason so many people say, "Ah, I--I don't
believe that," and walk away. Still babies! They just can't understand. They just can't grasp that
Truth. It--It kills them. Great, mighty things the church should know today, but you couldn't teach It.
They--they--they--they--they stumble over It. They don't know what to do with It.
Paul, speaking to this Hebrew group... Yet, scholars he is speaking to now, scholars, well learned.
We find that, in a few--a few moments, very scholarly. But the deep spiritual Mystery, the church is
still blinded to It. He said, "When you ought to be teaching others, you're still a babe."
Oh, I know there's many rise up and go out and say, "Oh, I don't need to go to church anymore.
Praise God, the Holy Ghost has come, He's the teacher." When you get that idea, you're just
wrong. For why did the Holy Ghost set teachers in the church, if He was going to be the teacher?
See? There are first apostles, prophets, teachers, evangelists, and pastors. The Holy Spirit set
teachers in the church, so He could teach through that teacher. And if it--it isn't according to the
Word, God doesn't confirm it, then it isn't the right kind of teaching. It must compare with the entire
Bible, and be just as alive today as It was then. There's the real thing made manifest.
Now notice.
But strong meat belongeth to them that are... full age, even those who by reasons use... have
used their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
Know what's right and what's wrong, by the discernment.
Now notice, starting now on our lesson. This great background now, let's go for the 1st verse.
Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ,...
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What's he saying? All these first five chapters has been laid on Christ, to show who He is. Now
we're leaving those principles of the doctrines of Christ.
What do we find Him to be? We found Him to be the Great Jehovah God made manifest in flesh.
We found Him to--to be not a prophet, but the fulness of the Godhead bodily. He was Jehovah
made flesh. And the body, Jesus, only tabernacled Him. God dwelling in man. God being
reconciled to man, through man, by the virgin birth of His own Son. And Jehovah, the Spirit, dwelt
in Him.
Now, how many remembers the teaching about the Godhead, how we went back and found God
like the great rainbow with all the different Spirit, how It was? And then the Logos went out of God,
which become the theophany, and that was in the form of a man. And Moses seen It pass by, in
the cleft of the rock. And then that theophany was made absolutely human flesh, Christ.
And how we find out that we, through His grace, have Eternal Life. Now, the word forever is "for a
distance; for a space of time." It said, in the Bible, "Forever and forever," a conjunction. But forever
only means "a time." But Eternal means forever. And only everything that had a beginning has an
end, but things which had no beginning has no end. So God had no beginning and He has no end.
And so, therefore, Melchisedec, the great Priest, like a man, He had no beginning and He has no
end. And when we, through that theophany, that, we were made in the image of God before the
world was ever made; when that theophany has been made flesh and dwelt among us, then,
through His death, we ourselves receive His Spirit and we have no end; Eternal Life; not Angels,
but men and women. Oh, I... Somehow, if I could only get it in a way that my--my audience would
catch it! You will never be an Angel. God made Angels, but God made man. And what God does is
off of God, which is as Eternal as God is. And man is just as Eternal as his Creator, because he
was made from Eternity.
But sin has an end, suffering has an end. Therefore, there cannot be an Eternal hell. There's a
hell, fire and brimstone, we know that, but there's no Eternal hell. There's only one type of Eternal
Life and that belongs to God. If you're to suffer forever, you got Eternal Life. Hell has an end, it
may be billions of years, but it'll finally come to an end.
The Bible doesn't say, anywhere, that they suffered Eternally, said, "Forever and forever." Jonah
thought he was in the belly of the whale "forever," too. Forever has a distance or a time limit. But
Eternal is perpetual, it has no beginning or end. It's like a ring, a circle. And as our time moves on,
we're only in revolving around the great motives of God.
God's motive was to make man in His image, to fellowship with Him. And He made him a tangible
being. Now, sin brought us into a place of--of--of corruption, but that never stops the program of
God. And, sinner friend, today, if you're not born again of the Spirit of God, you have an end
somewhere. And your end is chaos, in ruin, and suffering and misery. But to you who have
believed on the Lord Jesus, and accepted the same as your personal Saviour, it's just as Eternal
as God is Eternal. You have no end, "I give unto them Eternal Zoe, God's own Life, and they will
never perish or come into the judgment even, but has passed from death unto Life." That's what
He was. That's what He come for.
Now, Jesus, in His coming, of His priesthood, did not come just for a sympathy's sake. Many
people teach it like that, that He come, saying, "Well, maybe if I suffer, I will be a--a--a pitiful sight
and people will surely come to Me." That's an error. There's no Scripture for that.
For, every person that ever will be saved, God knew them before the world was ever formed. The
Bible said so. "God is not willing now that anybody should perish." He wants them all to come to
repentance. But, being God, by foreknowledge He knew it.
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Look in Romans, 8th chapter. Paul was holding up there, saying about the election of God, that,
"Esau and Jacob, before either baby was born, or anything, God said that He knew them and He
hated Esau and loved Jacob," before either boy had a--had a chance to express their gratitude, for
He was God. He know... He is infinite. If He is infinite, He knowed every flea, every fly, every gnat,
everything that'd ever be on the earth. He knew it. He's the infinite, Eternal, immortal, blessed
God, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient. There is nothing that He doesn't know. That's the
reason He can tell what the end will be. He knowed the end from the beginning.
What is prophetic is just His knowledge. He's the chief attorney. He, He's the... He's the judge.
And He just speaks to the--the lawyer some of His wisdom. And that's what prophecy is, that can
foretell it, because He knows what's going to be. Now, there is the God that we serve. Not a god of
history, not like the Buddhas and the Mohammadans, and so forth. But, a God that's omnipresent,
right now here, this morning, in this tabernacle right now; Great Jehovah, I AM, Who formed
Himself in humility, to take on the form of sinful flesh. Here He is. That's who redeemed you. There
can be no other, nowhere, at no time can do it.
God didn't have three people up there, and He sent one of them, His Son. It was God, Himself,
come in the form of a Son. A son has a beginning, and the Son had a beginning. That, some of
you dear Catholic people, I got your book, Facts Of Our Faith, said, "The Eternal sonship of God."
How you going to express that word? How you going to make it have sense? How can it be
Eternal? That's not the Bible. That's your book, "Eternal sonship." They don't... That word is not
right. For, anything that's a son had a beginning, and Eternal has no beginning, so it isn't Eternal
sonship. Christ become flesh and dwelt among us. He had a beginning. Wasn't no Eternal
sonship. It's the Eternal Godhead, not sonship. Now, He come to redeem us, and He did redeem
us.
Now, Paul, getting there, which I'm sure that through the past lessons you've understood it. We'll
go over it again, sometime, the Lord willing, just verse by verse, now.
Therefore having... leaving the--the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto
perfection;...
That stumbles them. Doesn't it? Let us do what?
... let's go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundations...
Watch this. Let's get this word "perfection." Do you know there's only one way you'll stand in the
Presence of God? That's, perfect. God cannot tolerate unholy things.
And you legalists: how could you ever perfect yourself, when you have not one thing to perfect
yourself with? You were born in sin. Your very conception was in sin. The very desire of you being
here was sin. "Born in sin, shaped in iniquity, come to the world speaking lies." Now where are you
going to stand at?
Where you, sinner, that--that said, "I'll quit smoking. I'll go to Heaven"? Where are you, lukewarm,
mossback, so-called Christian, that goes around here with a long face and saying, that, "Well, I
belong to the church"? You sinner. That's right. Unless you are born of the Spirit of God, you're
lost. That's true.
How you going to Heaven? You say, "I never lied in my life. Oh, the little darling. It--it was just an
Angel, to begin with." That's a lie. I don't care how good you are; you're a sinner. And you don't
have one thing; there's no priest, no bishop, no cardinal, no pope, nor nothing else can save you,
'cause he's just the same boat that you're in. We're getting into it in a few minutes. Just in the
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same shape he was. The pope of Rome was born in sin, shaped in iniquity, come to the world
speaking lies, born by the sexual desire of a man and a woman. Where you going to get righteous
out of that?
"Well, his papa and mama were born the same way, and they were born the same way, and his
grandma and grandpa and on back." It's sin, to begin with!
So who can say that this is holy and that is holy? There is only one thing holy, that's Jesus Christ,
the Son of the living God, Who has been made Perfect. And our requirement is to be perfect. Now,
how we going to be it? Try it, yourself. I'd hate to try to get to Heaven on the merits of, "I was born
five minutes ago, and going out of the world right now." I'd be lost. If I never had an evil thought in
my life, if I never spoke a bad word in my life, if I never looked at anything evil, never thought
anything evil, or nothing, I'm just as rank and black as the smutty walls of hell. I'm a sinner.
I could come through life and stay locked up in a room, and like some of the Carmelite sisters or
something, and never see the world, stay in there and pray all, my life, do good, born a
multimillionaire and give to the poor everything I got, and I'm still a sinner and will go to hell. Yes,
sir.
I might join the Lutheran church, Baptist, Pentecostal, Presbyterian, when I'm on the cradle roll,
and live faithful to that church until a hundred years, and my life is took, and no man could point
their finger at me and say "He ever even as had as much as a bad thought," I'll go to hell just as
sure as I'm standing.
I'm a sinner. That's correct. I have nothing. There's no way, at all, I could find any--any price to be
paid. God required death. And if I give my own life, if I give my life, then how can I repent? Cause,
you... The debt has got to be paid, first. And God was the only One who could lay His life down
and take It up again. So He could become sin, and lay His Life down and pick It up, and call it
"justice," and the debt is paid. There you are.
Now let's turn to Matthew, about the 8th chapter, I believe it is, 7th or 8th chapter. We'll see what
Jesus says over here. All right. It's Matthew, the 5th chapter. And the... Jesus, preach, preaching
in the beatitudes, the 47th verse.
And if you salute your brethren only, what do you more than others? do not even the publicans...?
(Watch.)
But be ye therefore perfect,... (What?)
Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
That was Jesus' commandment, "Be ye so."
They say, "Nobody can be perfect, the Bible said, 'There is none perfect.' There's your
contradiction." Is it? All right.
You cannot be perfect in yourself. If you're trusting in what you done, you're lost. "So be ye
perfect, even just as perfect as God is perfect." Now:
Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father... in heaven is perfect.
"Therefore..." Now the 5th chapter, 6th chapter of Hebrews.
Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on to perfection;...
Now, you, Branham Tabernacle. Oh, I know, "We have healings." That's wonderful. "We have
visions." Oh, that's--that's fine. And you have spiritual dreams, and sometimes they're not spiritual
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dreams. And--and sometimes you... "We, we try to help the poor. We do what we can." Oh, that's
all right, but that's not what we're talking about now. We're entering into another phase.
... leaving... the doctrine...
"Oh, yes, we got the doctrine of Christ. We believe He was the Son of God, is virgin-born. We
believe that, with all these things." That is just wonderful.
But, "Leaving that, let's go on to perfection." Oh, my! Wish I had the voice of an archangel now, to
bring this to a place where you could see it. Now he says, "Leaving all the doctrine of Christ," all
the--the theologians, and all the theology that we know, all about the Deity of Christ, how He was
God made flesh, all these other things.
Paul goes on to explain it all here, just in a few minutes. Let's just read it, just a little bit, before we
get to it.
... laying again the foundations of repentance from dead works...
Now, we believe that.
... and faith towards God,
We believe that.
And of the doctrine of baptisms,...
Just how you must be baptized, we believe that.
... and of laying on of hands,
We believe in laying on of hands. Don't we? See, all that, sure.
... and of the resurrection of the dead,...
We believe that. Now watch. You see here, "Judgment," is used, "Eternal." That's forever. When
judgment is spoke of God, it's forever. Then, there can be no more reconciliation after judgment
has been past. Now you can understand why God had to take His Own--His Own, as we'd call it,
His Own medicine. When He condemned man for sinning, the only way He could reconcile, was to
take the man's place Himself. That's the only way he can be reconciled, or could reconcile us, was
take our place and become a sinner. God, Jehovah, became a sinner, and He gave His life.
Now, you could give your life, as a sinner, to die for the cause. Paul said, "Though I give my body
to be burnt as a sacrifice, I'm still nothing," 'cause it won't work. See, when you die, you're gone.
You die as a sinner, you're lost.
"But God came down in flesh, and condemned sin in the flesh, being made sinful flesh." Because,
He was the Eternal God, and raised His own body up, so He's the justifier.
Now, all these things, "Let's go on to perfection," said Paul. Now what?
... of eternal judgment.
... this we'll do,... God permit. (3rd verse.)
Now, "Go on to perfection." Jesus said, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in Heaven
is perfect."
And we're, every one, condemned. No matter what we ever do, we're condemned. We were born,
condemned. Your mama and papa was born, condemned. You, all your ancestors, was born in
sin, shaped in iniquity. So how you ever going to get it? How you going to be perfect? If you never
done a thing, never stole, never lied, never done anything in your life, you're still condemned. You
was condemned before you breathed your first breath. You were condemned. That's correct. And
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you were judged of God before you breathed your first breath. For you were judged, by the sexual
desire of your father and mother who, through their act, brought you here on the earth. And God
condemned it, in the beginning. You're condemned, to start with. So where you... And every other
person on earth was condemned with you. Now where you going to get perfection?
Watch. Let's turn just a moment to Hebrews, the 10th chapter. Listen close. I want to read a little
bit out of the 9th chapter, first, the 11th verse.
But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect
tabernacle, his own tabernacle, his flesh,...
See, the old tabernacle, you notice, the old tabernacle had a veil in it, that hid the ark where God
lived. How many knows that? Sure. Well, that old man-made tabernacle here, the curtains out of
dyed goatskins, and so forth, were made a tabernacle to hide the Presence of God. How many
knows that only one man could go in there once a year? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.]
Certainly. That was Aaron, go in once a year. And he must be anointed. And--and, oh, the
requirement! And he must have fire in his hand; and if he went without that, he died as soon as he
moved that veil back. He would drop dead. He must go in there and light these candlesticks, and
sprinkle the mercy seat which called out, the blood of the death, the substitutionary has, till Christ
was come to fulfill it.
Now, but, God then became in another type of a tabernacle. And that tabernacle was who?
Jesus. And God was inside of Jesus, and He was hid, but He was reconciling the world to Himself,
by His expressions. Christ revealed God. He said, "It's not Me that doeth the works. It's My Father
that dwelleth in Me. I do nothing in Myself but what I see the Father doing. The Father in Me,
showing Me these visions, and then I go do just what the Father told Me to do." You get it? God
was inside of a human body, not behind goatskins dyed, but was living, moving. God had hands;
God had feet; God had tongue; God had eyes; and it was Christ. There He was.
Now, He went away, and the Spirit come in that, that through His death He might perfect the
Church and bring the Church submissive. And then the same Spirit that was in Christ is in the
Church, doing the same things Christ did. "A little while and the world won't see Me no more; yet
ye shall see Me, for I'll be with you, even in you, to the end of the world."
Now listen to this.
But Christ becoming a high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect
tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;
He wasn't made of hands. How was He born? Virgin birth.
Neither by the blood of goats and calves, was this body ever sacrificed or sanctified, but by his
own blood...
You know that the blood comes from the male sex. And then somebody said, "Oh, Jesus was a
Jew." He was not a Jew. "Oh, we're saved by Jewish blood." No, we're not. If we were saved by
Jewish blood, we're still lost.
Jesus was not Jew, neither was He Gentile. He was God: God the Father, the Spirit, the unseen
One. "No man has seen God at any time, but the only begotten of the Father has declared Him."
He manifested God, what God was.
Now His Church is supposed to manifest God, to show what God is. See?
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What do we do? Organize ourselves, and, "I'm nothing to do with them. They're Methodist. They're
Presbyterian. I don't want nothing to do with them. I'm Baptist. I'm Pentecostal." Huh! You're lost,
with them kind of a motives. Right.
Who can brag? Who can say anything? Look at the disgrace the Presbyterians has brought. Look
at the disgrace, the Baptists. Look at the disgrace, the Catholic. Look at the disgrace, the
Pentecostals, Nazarenes, Pilgrim Holiness. Look at the rest of them.
But, I challenge you to point one hand, in disgrace, at That. Yeah. Point one finger, when God
Almighty said, "This is my beloved Son in whom I'm pleased to dwell in. Hear ye Him." There He
is. That's the perfect One.
Now, let's read just a little farther here now.
Neither by the blood of goats... calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place,
having obtained eternal redemption... (Do you get it?)... eternal redemption for us.
Not to be redeemed today, and then, next week when the revival starts, be redeemed again, and
then, oh, we backslide and be redeemed again. You're redeemed once, forever. That's right. No
more redeem, redeem, redeem. "Eternal redemption!" "He that heareth My Words and believeth
on Him that sent Me, has Eternal Life, and shall never come into the judgment, but hath," past
tense, "passed from death unto Life." Because he has shook? Because he was baptized a certain
way? Because he had blood in his hand? "Because he has believed on the only begotten Son of
God." That's how we have Eternal redemption.
Listen now.
For... the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of heifers sprinkled the--the... sprinkle the
unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:
How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without
spot to God, purged our conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
"Passed from death unto Life." What do you care what the world thinks? What do you care what
your neighbor thinks? Our conscience has died, and we're regenerated and born again by the
Spirit of God, to serve the true and the living God. There you are.
Now drop over to the 10th verse... 10th chapter, rather, right across the page.
... the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can
never with those sacrifices that they offered year by year continue make the comer unto p-e-r-f-ec-t-e-d.
P-e-r-f-e-c-t, it is there, "Perfect."
... leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on to perfection;...
Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father... in heaven is perfect.
"The law having a shadow of good things to come," all the ordinances and the baptisms and the...
all the other things they had, "could never make the worshipper perfect." And, yet, God requires
"perfect."
You join the Nazarene church, will never make you perfect. You join the Baptist church,
Pentecostal, whatever it is, it'll never make you perfect. You being a good, loyal man, will never
make you perfect. You can't merit one thing. There's nothing about you, to merit. You are lost. You
say, "Well, I kept the law. I keep the sabbath. I keep this, all the ordinances of God. I do this."
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Paul said, "Let us lay aside all those things now."
"That's all right, but we'll do this. We'll baptize the people, and we'll lay hands on them for their
healing and so forth."
We could take it, verse by verse, each one of those things. Baptism, we believe it. "There's one
hope, one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism." We believe that there's a baptism. We believe in the
resurrection of the dead. Absolutely. We believe Jesus died and rose again. We believe that.
"Laying on the hands, for the sick," that's what it said. "These signs shall follow them that believe.
If they lay their hands on the sick, they shall recover." We believe that.
But what is that? Paul said, "It's all dead works." It's something that you do.
"Now let's go on to perfection." Oh, my! We're coming into the Tabernacle, not the foundation; the
Tabernacle, the Tabernacle Itself. That's the foundation: the law, and the righteousness, and-and--and--and joining church, and being baptized, and--and laying on of hands. Them is all orders
of the church.
"But now let's go into perfection." And there's only One that is perfected, that's Jesus.
How do we get into Him? "Through the Methodists?" No. "Pentecostal?" No. "Baptist?" No.
"Through any church?" No. "Roman Catholic?" No.
How do we get into It? Romans 8:1.
There is therefore now no condemnation to those that are in Christ... that walk not after the things
of this world, the flesh, but after the things of the Spirit, that pay no attention to what the world has
got to say.
Even if you're sick, the doctor says, "You're going to die," you pay no attention to it, don't bother
you a bit.
If they tell you, "You have to become a Catholic before you're saved, or a Presbyterian, or have to
do this," you pay no attention to it.
"Therefore no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, the
things that they see." Everything that you see with your eyes is earthly.
But it's the things you see in your spirit, through the Word! The Word is God's looking glass that
reflects what He is and what you are. Hallelujah! Oh, my! It tells you. This is the only Book in the
world that tells you where you come from, who you are, and where you're going. Show me any
page of literature, anywhere, with all the science or anything else, every good book that's been
written, none of it can tell you that. This is God's looking glass, that shows what He is and what
you are. Then, in between there is the Blood-line, that shows what you can be if you want to make
the choice. There you are.
"By one Spirit," now, First Corinthians 12. How do we get into that Body?
"By shaking hands?" No, sir. "By joining the church?" No, sir. "By being baptized backward,
forward? In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost? The Name of Jesus Christ? The name
of Rose of Sharon, Lily of the Valley, Morning Star? Anything that you want?"
That has nothing to do with it. "Just an answer of a good conscience towards God." And yet we
fuss, and stew, and argue, and split, and make differences. That's right. "But all those are dead
works." We're going to perfection.
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That's things that I done. A minister baptized you. Whether he baptized you face forward,
backward, or three times, four times, or one time, or how he did it, that has nothing to do with It.
You're just baptized into the fellowship of that church, anyhow, proving to that church: you believe
the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. Laying on of hands, to heal the sick, that's wonderful,
but, it's all natural, and that body will die again just as certain as you're living. It'll die again. "Now
let's lay aside all those things, and go on to perfection."
How do we get to perfection? That's what we want to know.
... Christ has perfected...
"God laid upon Him the iniquity of us all. He was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our
iniquities, the chastisement of our peace upon Him, with His stripes we were healed." That's the
Body we want to get to. That's the Body. Why? If you're in that Body, you'll never see judgment,
you'll never taste of death. You're free from all of death, judgment, sin, and everything else, when
you're in that Body.
"How do you get into It, preacher? By joining this tabernacle?" You're lost, yet. Couldn't join,
anyhow; we don't have any book. "How do we get into It? By joining some church?" No, sir. "How
do you get into It?" You're born in It.
First Corinthians 12.
For by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body,...
By the Holy Spirit baptism, we are baptized into that Body, and are free from sin. God don't see
you no more; He only sees Christ. And when you're in that Body, God can't judge that Body. He's
already judged It. He took our judgments and invited us in. And by faith, through grace, we walk in,
accept our pardoning. And the Holy Spirit brings us into this fellowship with Him. "And we walk no
more after the things of the world, but we walk in the Spirit."
Quickened, the Word came to us. He died in my stead. I'm made alive. Here I am, who was once
dead in sin and trespasses, been made alive. All my desires is to serve Him. All my love is to Him.
All my walks want to be in His Name. Wherever I go, whatever I do, I glorify Him. If I'm hunting, if
I'm fishing, if I'm playing ball, and whatever I'm doing, I must be, "Christ in me," in such a life, that
will make men long to be that way; not tattling, backbiting, and fussing about your churches. You
get it? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.]
"By one Spirit we are baptized into that Body." "And when I see the Blood, I'll pass over you."
Listen. Let's read just a little further here, please.
... what could never make the comer unto perfect.
For 2nd verse, the 10th chapter.
For then they would not have ceased to be offered?
If that could make the person perfect... And God requires perfection. If keeping the laws, if doing
all the commandments, would make you perfect, then there's no--there's no need of having
anything else; you're already made perfect. Cause, when you're perfect, you're Eternal. Cause,
God is the only one is Eternal, and God is the only one perfect. And the only way you can be
Eternal, is become part of God. [Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.]
... once purged should have... no more conscience of sin.
What? "The worshipper once purged, to have no more conscience..." If you write the translation of
that, it's "desire."
... the worshipper once purged... has no more desire of sin.
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... if the worshipper was once purged...
You go up now and say, "Oh, hallelujah, I got saved last night. But, well, bless God, she made me
backslide. Hallelujah, someday I'll get saved again." You poor untrained illiterate. That's not the
way it is.
"The worshipper once purged has no more conscience of sin," the Bible said. Listen, as we read
on, just a minute.
But in those sacrifices... as remembered against sin yearly.
Now we're going to drop down, to hit about the 8th verse, to save time, and where I want to get to.
Above then when he said, Sacrifice and offerings and burnt-offerings... for sin thou wouldest not,
neither has thou pleasure therein; which are offered by the law;
9th verse.
Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the... take... He taketh away the
first, the law, that he may establish the second.
Wish we had time to stay on that. As long as you're a Presbyterian, or a Pentecostal, or Baptist,
or Methodist, He can never do nothing with you. He has to take that all away, first, see, so He can
establish the second. Long as you say, "Well, I'm a Methodist." Ah, nothing against the
Methodists, or Baptists, or Pentecostal. But, brother, that don't--that don't spell it. You got to go on
to perfection, that's into Christ.
Watch this now, just a minute.
By the which... we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Huh? Let's just read just a little further, and hold that. Let that soak in while we're reading, "Once
for all."
And every priest standing daily ministering the offering ofttime the same sacrifice, which can never
take away sin:
But this man,...
Are you ready? You got your vest open now, so it won't dodge, it'll go right to the heart? "But this
Man." What Man? Not the pope of Rome, not the bishop of the Methodist church, or any other
church.
But this man, Christ, after he had offered one sacrifice for sin for ever, sat down at the right hand
of God;
From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.
Watch. Here she comes.
For by one offer he has p-e-r-f-e-c-t-e-d, he has perfected...
"Until the next revival"? What'd that say?
... he has perfected for ever them that are sanctified.
Do you get it? "Let us go on to perfection."
Now you holiness people say, "Oh, yeah, we believe in holiness. Hallelujah! We believe in
sanctification." But you're taking your own. You just quit this and quit that. You know you shouldn't
do it.
Unless Christ has opened the door and quickened it to your heart, and you become a place where
sin is dead, and desire, it's all gone. Then, He taketh away your own self-righteous, He may
establish Himself in you. "And it's Christ, the Son of God, in you, the hope of Glory."
... let us go on to perfection;
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How can we be perfect? Through the death of Christ. Not through joining church. Not through our
good works, what we do. That's all all right. Not because we were baptized this way or that way.
Not because that we been healed, by laying on of hands. Not because of any of these other
things, "We believe in the death, burial, and resurrection."
Paul said, "I could speak with tongue like men and Angels," that's both the tongues that is
understood and the tongues that cannot be understood, has to be interpreted, "I am nothing.
Though I have the gift of knowledge and understand all the wisdom of God," can explain the Bible,
from... tie her together, "I am nothing." Don't do much good to go to school then, does it, to learn
the Bible? "Though I have faith that I can move mountains..." Healing campaigns don't mean very
much then, does it? "I'm nothing, though I give my body to be burnt as a sacrifice."
"Oh," they say, "that man is religious."
"But he's nothing," Paul said, "never become nothing."
"For where there is tongues, they shall cease; where is prophecies, it shall fail; where there is all
these other things, will fail. But when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part will be
done away with." See, that "perfect." What is perfect? Love. What is love? God. "Let us lay aside
all these little dead works and ordinance, and go on to perfection." You see it? We're perfected
through Christ. How do we get into It? By Holy Spirit baptism.
"All right, what happens?" You've passed from death unto Life.
"Well, do I shake, jump, do it?" You, you won't have to do nothing. You've already done it, God
brought you from death unto Life, and you're alive. Then your fruits of your life show it.
Lot of you Methodists and Nazarenes shouted just as hard as you could shout, steal corn out of a
man's patch, that's right, do everything that could be.
A lot of you Pentecostals spoke in tongues, like pouring peas on a cowhide, sure, went right out
and run away with the next man's wife, done all kinds of things. That's not It, brother.
Don't try to have any sensation or anything to take the place of the Holy Spirit. When the new
Birth is come, you are changed. You don't have to do anything to prove it. Your life proves it, as
you walk. You're love, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, meekness, patience. That's what you
are, and the whole world sees the reflection of Jesus Christ in you.
Now, speaking in tongues, shouting in there, that's just attributes that follow this kind of a Life.
And you can take, impersonate these attributes, and never have that Life. We see it. How many
knows that that's true? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.] Sure, you do. Surely, certainly you do.
My! You see it all around you.
So, there's nothing you can say is the evidence of the Holy Ghost, unless it's your life that you
live. Now, if you want to speak with tongues, that's perfectly all right if you live the life to back it up.
That's right. And if you want to shout, fine, that's good. I shout, too, get so happy sometimes I can't
hardly wear a pair of shoes; I'm like to jump out of them. And that's wonderful. I believe it.
I've seen visions, and the sick healed, the dead raised. When they laying out there and the
doctors walk away and say, "They're finished and gone," lay there a couple hours; and the Holy
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Spirit come right down and show a vision, go down there and raise that person up. I've seen those
who are deaf, dumb, and blind, and crippled, walk. That doesn't... That's just attributes.
Brother, long time ago, before the world was ever had a foundation to it; God through His Eternal
grace, He looked down, and by foreknowledge He seen you and I. He knew what age we'd live in.
He knew what we would be. Therefore, by election, He chose us before the foundation of the
world, to be with Him without spot.
Now, if He chose us before the foundation of the world to be in Him without spot, and we're born
all spotted, and nothing else can... nothing can cleanse us, how we going to be without... how we
going to be without spot? "He sent His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should
not have an end of life, but have Eternal Life; should never perish, but have Eternal Life." Then
when we come into Him, by faith, through grace are we saved, by the Holy Spirit calling to us.
Before there was a body on this earth, your bodies were laying here. It's made out of calcium,
potash, moisture, cosmic--cosmic light, and petroleums, and so forth, sixteen elements. And the
Holy Spirit begin to brood over the earth, "wooing." And as It did, first thing you know, up come a
little Easter flower. Then He brood out some grass, and some birds, and after a while, a man come
forth.
Now, He never made a woman out of the dust of the earth. She's already a man, to begin with;
the man and woman are one. So He took from the side of Adam, a rib, and made a woman, a
helpmate to him. And then sin come in. Then after sin came in...
God will not be defeated, no matter what takes place. He will never be defeated. Then, women
began to bring men on the earth. And God, through Eternal grace, seen who would be saved, and
He called you. "No man can come to Me, except My Father calls him, first." "Not him that willeth,
or him that runneth, but God that showeth mercy."
You say, "Well, I sought God. I sought God." No, you never. God sought you. That's the way it
was in beginning.
It wasn't Adam saying, "O Father, Father, I've sinned. Where are You?"
It was Father saying, "O Adam, Adam, where are you?" That's the nature of man. That's the strain
of man. That's what he's made of.
"And no man can come to Me except the Father draws him. And all that the Father gives Me..."
Hallelujah! "All that come, I'll give them Eternal Life, and I'll raise him up at the last day." What a
blessed, what a blessed promise, of a God of Heaven! Where we get to tonight, where, "He swore
by Himself." There's none greater. You take an oath by someone greater than you. There no one
greater, so God took an oath to Himself. We're getting into it, how He did it and when He did it;
and took an oath to Himself, that He would raise us up and make us His own heritage.
Oh, how perfect and solid we can stand, this morning! How you can look, if death is staring you
right in the face, you could say like Paul, "Death, where is your sting? Grave, where is your
victory? But thanks be to God, Who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." There you
are. Why?
"Oh, you did so-and-so."
"I know it, but I'm covered by His Blood." Hallelujah!
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"By one Spirit, we were all baptized into one Body." You Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians,
whatever you are, we were baptized into one Body. We have fellowship, and we're citizens of the
Kingdom of God, professing, that, "We are not of this world."
My little girl come, other day, said, "Daddy, this little girl did so-and-so. And they did so-and-so.
We went over to the house. They did so-and-so." I said... Said, "Why don't we do that?"
I said, "Honey, we are not of that world. They live in a world to theirself."
Said, "Don't we all walk on the same ground."
I said, "Of the world, honey. We're not of them people."
The Bible said, "Come out of them, be ye separated," saith God. See, you're not of that. And
when that new Nature comes into you, you don't have to be pulled out. You don't want to go back,
like Lot's wife. You're just born, out of it. And you're in another dimension. And that looks trashy to
you.
And this, the great, fabulous America that we live in, has become one big chaos of it. Everything is
lust and women. And women the way they're dressing, the men the way they're acting, and--and
the things they're doing, and then call themselves, "Christians."
For instance, this Elvis Presley, go and join the Pentecostal church now. Course, that's where
Judas got thirty pieces of silver. Elvis got a fleet of Cadillacs, and a--and a few million dollars, for
selling his birthrights. Arthur Godfrey. Look at that.
Look over here at Jimmy Osborne in Louisville, out there with that old boogie-woogie, rock-androll, old tommyrot and filth. And on Sunday morning, take the Bible and stand on the platform and
preach. What a disgrace!
No wonder the Bible said, "Every table is full of vomit." Why, we're living in a terrible day!
And people say, "Oh, they're very religious." Oh! Don't you know that the Devil is religious? Don't
you know that Cain was just as religious as Abel was? But, he didn't have the Revelation. That's it.
He didn't have the Revelation.
Yeah, we all go to church, but there is some has got Life, that's the ones got the Revelation of
Jesus Christ in their heart. Not by shaking, jumping, not by joining church. But, the Revelation,
God has revealed Him.
Look what said, "Who does man say I, the Son of man, am?"
"Some said You're 'a prophet.' And some say You're 'Elias.' And some..."
Said, "But who do you say?"
Peter said, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." That wasn't from his lips.
He said, "Blessed art thou, Simon, the son of Jonas, for flesh and blood never revealed this. You
never learned this in some--some ethics of the Bible, or some theological seminary. Blessed are
ye, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you. But My Father which is in Heaven has
revealed it. And upon this rock I'll build My Church, and the gates of hell can't prevail against It."
If you're a Christian, this morning, 'cause you belong to church, you're lost. If you're a Christian
because you've passed from death unto Life, you're free from judgment; into Christ, you're
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becoming into perfection all the time. God cannot see one thing. You say, "Well, will I ever make a
mistake?" Sure, but you don't do it willfully.
Now we're getting into that, just in a few minutes, "For he that sins willfully after he received the
knowledge of the Truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin." We get into that tonight,
because it's a little too late now.
Let's read just a couple more verses of this, so we can feel better about getting down a little more.
All right. Well, we'll start right in on that tonight, the 4th verse. Listen to this.
For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and made... and have been... and have
tasted of the power, the heavenly gifts, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
And... tasted the good word of God, and the power of the world to come,
If they shall fall away, to renew themselves... unto repentance;...
See? And we take that into Hebrews 10, and back and forth, to show what this is.
Friends, "Let us go on to perfection." We have... we're not... We're without excuse today. We
have no excuse, at all. The God of Heaven has appeared in these last day and is doing the very
same things that He did then, when He was here before, when He was on earth. He has proved,
as we're coming through this Bible. And you--you, class, know this, that we have taken miracle by
miracle, and sign by sign, and wonder by wonder, that He did with the children in the wilderness,
the things and signs that He did; the things that He done when He was here on earth, manifest in
the flesh; and the very same things are taking place today, right here among us. Here is the Word
to vindicate it. Here is the thing to say it's right, to make it right. Here is the Spirit of God to do the
same thing, so we're without an excuse.
Let us pray.
Heavenly Father! Seeing that we are compassed about by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us
lay aside every word, everything," every wrong, every evil word, every bad-spoken word, every
thought, "and let us run with patience the race that's set before us, looking to the author and
finisher of our faith, the Lord Jesus Christ." O blessed be His most matchless and holy Name! How
that He came to earth to redeem fallen man, and to bring them back into the fellowship of the Lord
God. And we thank Thee for this. And now by His grace... We never chose Him, but He chose us.
He said, "You have not chosen Me, but I chose you." When? "Before the foundation of the world."
And, dear God, if there be some setting here this morning, maybe who has put this off for years
and years, but constantly there's a little knocking at the heart. Maybe they joined church, thinking,
"Well, it'll be all right." Father, sure, the Scriptures has explained it this morning: that you cannot
hide behind a church, and be righteous; neither can you be good, not lie and steal and do anything
bad, and still be righteous.
There's only one righteousness we have, not of our own, but His righteousness. He has perfected
our salvation. Therefore, being in Him, God does not see our mistakes. When we do anything
wrong, there's a spirit in us screams out, "O Father, forgive me!" Then God does not see it. It's...
We are brought into fellowship and grace with Him. Grant it, Lord, while we close this service, in
Christ's Name. Amen.
Just for a moment, I like to ask you. No matter what you do, you're lost. Listen to this. Sometime
ago... I might have told it before. Here is a little experience happened to me.
I was up at--at Toledo, Ohio. I was in a revival and--and having a meeting down there and so
many people. They knowed the hotels was at; so they taken me out into the country. I was staying
out there, a little motel.
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We had been eating at a little Dunkard restaurant. It was a wonderful place, the little ladies in
there just as Christian and sainted looking as they could be, clean and real nice. Sunday come, I
got hungry. I had been fasting a little. And I want to go across the street to another, order a little. A
little road there by a corner, and there was just a regular, common, American place there, to eat.
Little, had a little place, a cafe, open all night. When I walked in there on that Sunday, about two
o'clock in the afternoon, before going down to preach that afternoon.
I was so gotten, I didn't know what to do. I walked in, and the first thing I noticed was a young lady
about sixteen, eighteen years old, some papa's darling, some mother's darling, standing back
there with a boy, with her hands around her hips. Bunch of teen-agers setting at the--at the
counter.
I heard a slot machine. Looked over here, and there was a policeman standing there with his arm
around a woman, up around here, her waistline, and playing a slot machine. Now, you know that
gambling and slot machine is illegal in Ohio, you Buckeye people here. And you know that's illegal.
And here was the law, playing a slot machine; and a man of my age, probably married, bunch of
children, maybe a grandfather. A policeman, rode patrol, playing a slot machine. There was that
young... What's a teen-age done? What's this done?
I stood there. Nobody noticed me coming in, they was too busy, half of them drunk. So, I watched.
I heard somebody saying, "Well, do you think the rain will hurt the rhubarb?" And looked around
over here, and here set a lady setting there, old lady, real... She was sixty-five, seventy, close to it.
And the poor lady... I don't blame anyone from looking their best. But when she... She had fixed
herself, made her hair blue, real blue-looking. And all cut off, over the top, and made it real blue.
And she had on real thick manicure, or what you call the stuff put on her face, and a big spots.
And she had on little bitty shorts, and the poor old thing was so wrinkled till the meat, flab, meat
was hanging down like that over her legs. And she was drunk. She was setting there with an old
man, in the summertime, with one of these old, gray army overcoats on, or olive drab. It hanging
down like that, and a big scarf around his neck. Drunk, two of them, and they was with this poor
old woman.
I stood there and looked around. I said, "God, how can You stand it? What--what... How do You
look at such as that? When, it makes me, a sinner saved by grace, think that, how can--can You
look at it? Why, it looks like You'd burst the thing open. Will my little Rebekah and Sarah have to
come up under that kind of an influence? Will my two little girls have to meet a--a popular, so
known, world as it is today, where the people act like that? God, how can I ever... what can I do?"
Course, it's His grace. If they were ordained to Eternal Life, they'll come to it. If they wasn't, they
won't. I don't know. That's up to God. I'll do my part.
I thought, "How can You stand it, God? Look like You're so holy that You just wipe that thing off
the earth." I said, "Look at that poor grandmother setting there. Look at that young girl back there.
And here's a woman standing here, probably twenty-five years old. And that police with his arms
around her waist, playing a slot machine. And there is the law; the nation is gone. There is the
motherhood gone. Here is the elder gone. And there is a young girl setting back there, and she is
gone. Look at the boys, when they ought to be in church or somewhere."
I said, "O God, what can I do? And here I am in this city, crying with all my heart, and they ignore
it and walk as if they were..." I thought, "Well, God?"
Well, then a thought come, "If I haven't called them, how can they come? All the Father has given
Me will come. 'You have eyes but you can't see, ears and you can't hear.'"
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I thought, "Well, if the President would come to town instead of the revival, everybody would come
out. Oh, sure, that's worldly."
Then I got to thinking, "Well, God, how, why don't You just, well, come on, send Jesus and let's
have it over with? Won't just--just go and have it all over with, and let it go?"
Then I begin to see something moving in front of me. It looked like a little whirl going around like
this. I kept watching it. I saw a world turning around and around. I watched it, and where it was
spraying something off. I looked, and it was a spray of red, crimson Blood, across, around the
world; just like a whirl going around, like a comet, and it had a whirl around like this. And I looked
at this whirl. And just above it, I saw Jesus in the vision. He was looking down. And I seen myself
standing down here on the earth, doing the things that I should not do. And every time that I
sinned, God would have killed me, "Cause, the day you eat of it, day you die." And God's holiness
and justice requires, and you'd have to die. And then I looked there. I kept rubbing my eyes. I said,
"I'm not... I never went to sleep. I'm... It's a vision. I'm sure this is a vision."
I kept watching, as I stood behind the door. And I seen my own sins come up. And every time
they would start to hit the Throne, His Blood act like a bumper on a car. It caught it, and I'd see It
shake, and the Blood would run down His face. And I seen Him raise His hands, and said, "Father,
forgive him, he doesn't know what he's doing."
I seen myself do something else, it shook Him again, bump. It would have, God would have killed
me right then, but His Blood was catching me. It was holding my sins. I thought, "O God, did I do
that? Surely it wasn't me." But it was.
Then I went walking like this, like I was going through that room, and I walked up close to Him. I
seen a book laying there, it had my name on it, and all kinds of black letters wrote across it. I said,
"Lord, I'm sorry I did this. Did my sins cause You to do that? Did I spin Your Blood around the
world? Did I--did I do this to You, Lord? I'm so sorry that I did it." And He reached out. I said, "Will
You forgive me? I didn't mean to. I'll... You, by Your grace, I'll try to be a better boy if You'll just
help me."
He took His hand and patted His side, took His finger and wrote "pardoned" on my book; throwed
it over behind Him, the Sea of Forgetfulness. I watched it a little bit. And He said, "Now, I forgive
you, but you want to condemn her." See? Said, "You're forgiven, but what about her? You want to
blow her up. You didn't want her to live."
I thought, "O God, forgive me. I didn't mean to think that. I didn't want to do that. I--I--I didn't want
to do that."
"You're forgiven. You feel all right. But what about her? She needs it, too. She needs it."
"Well," I thought, "God, how did I know who You've called, and who You haven't called?" It's my
business to speak to everyone.
So, when the vision left me, I walked over to her. I said, "How do you do, lady?" And them two
men had went to the rest room. And they... She was setting there, hiccuping, you know, laughing.
The bottle of whisky setting on the table, or beer, it was, alcohol setting there, where they been
drinking. I walked up. I said, "How do you do?"
And she said, "Oh, hello."
And I said, "Could I set down?"
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She said, "Oh, I got company."
I said, "I didn't mean it in that way, sister."
She looked at me when I called her "sister." She said, "What do you want?"
I said, "Could I set down just a minute."
She said, "Help yourself." And I sat down.
I told her what had happened. She said, "What's your name?"
And I said, "Branham."
She said, "Are you the man down here in this arena?"
I said, "Yes, ma'am."
She said, "I've been wanting to come down there." She said, "Mr. Branham, I was raised in a
Christian family." She said, "I got two young girls that's Christian. But certain, certain things
happened, and she got on the wrong road, or started."
I said, "But, sister, I don't care, the Blood is still around you. This world is covered over with
Blood." If It didn't, God would kill us, every one. He... When that Blood is moved, look out for
judgment. But now, if you die without that Blood, you go beyond that place, then there's nothing to
act for you. Today the Blood acts in your stead. I said, "Lady, sure, the Blood is still got you
covered. As long as you got breath in your body, the Blood has you covered. But someday when
the breath leaves here, the soul goes out, you'll go beyond that Blood, and there's nothing but
judgment. While you got a chance for pardon..." And I took her by the hand.
She was crying, said, "Mr. Branham, I'm drinking."
I said, "That don't hurt. Something, another has warned me to come tell you." I said, "God, before
the foundation of the world, called you, sister. And you're doing wrong, and you're only making it
worse."
She said, "Do you think He would have me?"
I said, "Absolutely, He'd have you."
There on her knees, we got down in the middle of that floor, and an old-fashion prayer meeting.
That police took off his hat and bowed on one knee. There we had a prayer meeting, in that place.
Why? God is sovereign.
"Laying aside these dead works, let us go on to perfection."
Let's move into that realm where these, "I belong to church; I belong that," that's all finished. And
let's go to perfection.
My sinner friend, if you're without the Blood today, without salvation, without grace, the Blood of
Jesus Christ holds you. You say, "Well, I got by all this time." But one day you're going where
there's nothing left for you then.
Let us pray now, while we bow our heads.
Is there, would be, one here today would like to say, "God be merciful to me, I realize that I've
done wrong"? Maybe you've joined church. That's all right. But if you haven't received the grace of
Christ, would you raise your hand and say, "Pray for, me, Brother Branham"? God bless you,
mister. God bless you, lady. That's right. Don't... God bless you, sir, back there. God bless you,
and you. Way back in the back, yes, God bless you. Raise your hand. That's right. Just put your
hand up, and say, "God, be merciful to me."
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You say, "I belong to church, Brother Branham. Yes, I--I've tried to be good, But I don't know, I
just seem, look like, I can't do it." Oh, poor pilgrim, poor decrepit friend, you've really never seen
the vision yet.
You say, "Brother Branham, I shouted. I've spoke with tongues. I done all this." That might be
true, too. That's all right, nothing to say against that.
But, my dear, lost friend, but, to speak with tongues, or to shake, or to shake hands, or to be
baptized, that, that's all right. But, to know Him, is to know a Person. "To know Him is Life."
You say, "I know the Bible, real well." Well, to know the Bible, is not Life. "To know Him," the
personal pronoun, "to know Him, Christ," that you know He has forgive you.
Would you just raise your hands, again, someone else? God bless you, lady. God bless you, sir.
God bless you over here, brother. God bless you back there, young man. God bless you over
here, sister. God bless you, way back in the back, there. That's right. "To know Him, is Life."
"Brother Branham, remember me. I'm now, right here in my seat, going to accept Christ."
Say, "Come into my heart, Lord Jesus, and give unto me that peace, that sweetness." Go to
church, play the music as hard as you can, dance up-and-down, run through the aisle, go home
weary, and toss and fuss, that's not Christ. You go to church, set and listen to some little sermon
about how the bridge is going to be painted, or something, another like that, never hear the Word.
The Word brings Life. It's the Seed. Don't you want peace?
Are you bothered about dying? You'd have a heart attack today, does it worry you? Or would you
rejoice, to say, "I'm going to be with the Lord Jesus on the end of this road"? Do you know Him? If
you don't, just raise your hand. We're going to ask prayer for you. Yes, brother, you, too.
All right, in your heart now.
Just as I am, without one plea,
But that Thy Blood was shed (for who?) for me,
Because I promise, I'll believe,
O Lamb, O Lamb of God, I come. I come, tenderly, mercifully.
Just as...
Just walk right to Him, by faith. Believe that He is standing right there by your side. He is.
... -ting not
To rid my soul (of how much now?) of one... (temper, malice),
To Him Whose Blood can cleanse each spot,
O Lamb...
"By faith I'll walk to the cross, this morning. I lay my burdens down. I come." God bless you back
there. That's good. [Brother Branham begins humming Just As I Am--Ed.] Don't be indifferent now.
Warmly, sweetly, walk right up to the cross.
In the Old Testament, they brought a lamb. They knowed they'd sinned, they knowed it by the
commandments. You know it now, because God spoke to your heart. They took a look at the
commandments, "Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not do so-and-so." And they took a
lamb, went and put their hands on the lamb, priest cut the throat. The little fellow was kicking, and
bleeding, and blating, and dying. His hands was all covered with the blood. The lamb died in his
stead, but he walked out with the same desire to do it again.
But in this place, we come by faith, through grace. God called us. We lay our hands on the head
of the Lamb of God. We hear that swinging hammer. We hear that Voice, "I thirst; give Me drink.
Father, lay not this sin to their charge; they don't know what they're doing." See? By faith, we feel
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His death there in our stead. Way down in our heart comes a deep, settled peace, when a Voice
says, "You're pardoned now. Go and sin no more." How, by grace, then, we walk away with not
the same desire, but a desire never to sin no more or to do anything wrong. The peace that
passes all understanding, has entered our heart.
May you receive It now while we pray, every one, together.
Heavenly Father, they're coming by faith, through grace. There's about a dozen hands went up.
It's the fruits of the Message. They come to You. They believe. I believe in them, too, Lord. I
believe that, truly, the Holy Spirit spoke to them. And by faith they're coming right up Jacob's
ladder now, right up to the foot of the cross, there laying down all their sins, and saying, "Lord, it's
too much for me. I just can't bear it any longer. And will You take away my load of sin, and take the
desire out of my heart to do so? And let me, by faith, this day, receive You as my personal
Saviour. And from henceforth, I'll follow You every mile of the way, to the end of the journey. I
catch a glimpse of what it means to 'go on to perfection,' not going into church, and the roots of
dead works like baptisms and so forth. But I want to go on, until I can be no more, and Christ can
live in me."
O Jesus, grant this to each penitent soul, this morning. Every one that raise their hands shall
receive Eternal Life because You promised it. They made a public acception. They raise their
hands. They broke all the laws of gravitation. They made science feel ashamed of theirself, 'cause
science says, "Your arms has to hang down." Anything would prove that in science, that it must
stay earthbound, because gravitation hold it down. But there was a spirit in them that made a
decision, and they defied the laws of gravitation and raised their hands. You seen it, Lord. You put
their name on the Book. "Pardoned." The old book is back in the Sea of Forgetfulness now, never
to be remembered no more. Let them go forward today, as loving, sweet Christians, to serve You.
And maybe many that didn't raise their hand, grant to them also.
Let the saints walk just a little closer, Lord, for we're one day nearer Home than we were
yesterday. Be Thou with us, Lord, for we ask it in Christ's Name and for His glory. Amen.
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HEBREWS CHAPTER SIX
Branham Tabernacle
... to study His precious Word.
I come in, a while ago, and I was packing two Bibles. And I had a little interview with a lady back
here, and I told her if I preached out of both of them, ought to have a pretty good text. But this is a
Greek lexicon, so just something I want to read out of this, tonight. It's a--it's a... It's the word for
word interpretation, from original Greek, into English. And it's been a lot of help to me along the
line. And I just want to read something out of it, because now we're studying in this Book of
Hebrews, and we're just now coming to the real deep meanings.
And I told Brother Neville, a few minutes ago, "We're getting into the part where the people
scratch their head and said, 'I don't believe that.'" See? That's the type we get into. That's where
we like it.
Some minister said to me, he said, "Well, I guess there'll be a lot head-scratching."
I said, "That's what we want to do." See?
The Bible only can have one meaning. It can't have two meanings. And if one part of the Bible
says one thing, and another part of the Bible says something else, then something is wrong. See?
It's got to say the thing, all the way through. But, remember, in studying the Bible, "It's hid from the
eyes of the wise and prudent, and revealed to babes," because it is of a spiritual Book.
And It's not a western book. It's an eastern Book. And there's only one thing can interpret It, and
that's the Holy Spirit. I know that each one of us want to say, that, "The Holy Spirit is telling us
what we believe in It." Well, now, if every Scripture lines up exactly the same, then that is the Holy
Spirit. If it doesn't line up, and got a gap here, and gap over here, then there is something wrong
with our belief. And, oh, It's a marvelous Book.
Now, I want you to do this while we're studying. Now, we got to leave early in the morning for
Wyoming, the Lord willing. Pray for us.
And this next week, Brother Graham Snelling, here... He's present. I heard him, just a few minutes
ago, making his announcement. And this church is in full cooperation with his revival. And we're
praying to God, to give him an exceeding, abundant, great revival. Brother Graham held a revival
for Brother... up here at Charlestown, Brother Junior Cash, and there was right on a hundred
converts, I believe. [Someone says, "Eighty-four."--Ed.] Eighty-four converts. So, to that, we give
God praise. And we trust that it'll have five hundred and eighty-four up here, in this place here.
Brother Graham met me today, and he said, "Now, Brother Bill, I'm sure that you understand that
I'm not here to start up another work in opposition to the tabernacle, because I'm part of the
tabernacle." He's just here to... He feels upon his heart that he wants to hold a revival, and the
Lord leading him to do it. And--and he invites the converts, and has a church, to pour them right
down, "Here's a church home, if you get in, get converted."
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And it's our duty, as Christians, to back him up with everything we can. And the Lord bless
Brother Graham. And you're, every one, cordially invited to Brother Graham's meeting up here,
with full permission from this church, with the full cooperation to help him in any way we can, for
lost souls and for the Kingdom of God.
Lord bless you, Brother Graham, give you a great meetings. He don't know when he's going to
close. He's just starting. And so, Brother Graham has had it like myself, many ups and downs.
That's the way life runs. It makes you appreciate the ups after you went through the downs. If a
man makes a drop and lays there, he's a coward. I got confidence when a man will rise and try
again. That's right. I'm sure you can interpret what I mean. Now, don't forget it, this coming week.
Now, in this Book of the Hebrews, we won't take the background tonight.
Now, next Sunday, the Lord willing, Brother Neville will announce. Brother Cox here, or some of
them, will let him know, if we get in in time for next Sunday's meeting. He'll announce it on the
radio. And we're... You all listen to his radio now, and--and--and invite all your neighbors to listen. I
really get joy out of listening to their preaching and singing, the Neville quartet. I don't say that
because he's setting here. If I said that, and didn't mean it in my heart, I'd be a hypocrite. That's
right. I'd have to repent. But I mean it. And I'd rather give him a little rosebud now than a whole
wreath after he's gone.
One time I was walking out the door there, and there was a lady come by, and she said, "Brother
Branham, oh, how I enjoyed that message!"
I said, "Thank you." Made me feel good.
Somebody else come by, said, "Brother Branham, I enjoy that Message."
I said, "Thank you."
There was a little preacher there, from up here in the north part of the country, in state, he said,
"Bless God, I don't want people to brag on me like that."
I said, "I do." And I said, "There's just one difference between me and you. I'm honest about it."
That's right. We all like to hear nice words said about us. And I--I think it's nice to say nice words
about it. And if you want somebody to say nice words about you, say some nice words about
somebody else. That's the way to do that, then you'll always say the nicest things you can about
everybody. And that makes the wheel roll better.
Now, in this, next Sunday, the Lord willing, to my opinion, we got, just getting deeper and deeper
into these great mysteries of God. We're going into Melchisedec: Who He was, where He come
from, where He went, what happened to Him, and all about Melchisedec.
And now, last Wednesday night, Brother Neville hit on the finishing chapter of the supreme Deity
and the priesthood of our Lord Jesus, which starts out in the beginning, "God, in sundry times and
divers manners spake to the fathers by the prophets, in this last day has spoken to us through His
Son, Christ Jesus."
Then he goes on, and begins to tell and pattern who He was, brings Him on down to the 5th
chapter, at the end of the 5th chapter.
Then beginning at the 6th chapter, we got this in our lesson this morning.
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How many enjoyed the message on perfection? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.] "Let us go on
to perfection." That was our Message, this morning, in the 6th chapter of the Hebrews.
Now we're just getting into the place to where we begin to get the--the real part. Oh, we can all
agree upon these things: upon the Deity of Christ; and Him being the Son of God; and how He
was with God, and God was with Him; and He was in God, and God in Him, and so forth. We all
agree upon that. But, now, from here on, I don't know how we're going to agree. So whatever it is,
every few nights, we're going to give you a chance and write me a little note and tell me what you
think about It.
Then I'll have to answer questions. And if I can't get them, I'll say, "Brother Neville, what do you
think about that?" I'll say, "There he is. Let him answer it." [Brother Neville says, "That's when I'll
read the Greek."--Ed.] Then is when He's going to read the lexicon, get the Greek out. I think it's
time for me to do, also.
But, now, if we will get down and be real sincere, and really come for one purpose, that's, to learn.
I want to learn, too. And the Bible is written, said, "It is... The Scriptures are of no private
interpretation." That means the Scripture must interpret Scripture. See? Each Scripture must
interpret the other, all the way through the Bible, to make it one great thing. Because, God can't
change, because He's the unchangeable God.
Now, "Leaving..."
I like Paul saying those things. Paul never was a person that liked to stay too long in one place.
He liked to move on, deeper. One time, in the Scripture, he said, "I, forgetting those things which
are in the past, I press towards the mark of the high calling." See? He keeps pressing on.
Here he said:
Now forgetting the principles of the doctrine of Christ (who he was, what he was), let's go on to
perfection;...
Now we, first, we wanted to find out, "Could we be perfect?" And we found out, in the Scriptures
this morning, Matthew 5:28, that Jesus said that we "had to be just as perfect as God was," or we
wouldn't go in.
Then we found out that we was, every one, "born in sin, shaped in iniquity, come to the world
speaking lies." And there was not one sound thing about us, so how could we ever be perfected?
Now here is what we find out then, over, reading, taking Scripture with Scripture, that, "Jesus, by
one sacrifice, perfected, forever, His Church." He... We are then perfect, through Christ. And we
are free from judgment, through Christ. We shall never die, through Christ. We have lost death
and found Life, through Christ; not through any church, not through any denomination, not through
any fantastic, not through speaking with tongues, not through shouting, not through shaking, not
through dancing in the Spirit, but by grace.
God calls who He will. And it's all by election, we find out. We find out, that, "It's not him that
wants to be saved. Not him that willeth or him that runneth; it's God that showeth mercy." "And no
man can come to Jesus except God draws him, first." So what you got to do with it, anyhow? You
haven't got nothing to do with it. You're out of the picture, altogether.
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We found out that man never seeks after God. It's God seeking after man. And we found out,
then, that God is the only resource of Eternal Life. We found out that everything that is Eternal has
no beginning or no end. Therefore, we find out that hell had a beginning, and it has an end. And
there's only... No one can ever say that... Hell is forever, forever, yes, forever, but not Eternal.
Forever is "a space of time." The Bible says, "Forever and forever." And you look it up and find
out if forever doesn't mean "a space of time." Jonah said he was in the belly of the whale "forever."
And many other Scriptures, forever only means "a space of time."
But, Eternal, that's forever, that's forever and forever and forever and forever and forever. It's the
Eternal. And we find out that hell isn't Eternal, but it's forever. And the reason, you have to watch
those words, now. If you don't, you get mixed up. Now, remember, just those things which had no
beginning, has no end. Therefore, Jesus said, "He that heareth My Words and believeth on Him
that sent Me, has Life," forever? Does that sound right? No. "Has Eternal Life." And the word
Eternal is "God." The word, here it is right here in the Greek lexicon, Zoe God's Life in you. And
you're just as Eternal as God is Eternal, because you've got God in you.
Your old nature died, the nature of the world, and you become a new creation. And your desires,
that old life that had a beginning when God breathed the breath into your nostrils, when you were
born, that life of carnal nature died. And it had a beginning and it had an end, and it died and was
done away with forever, the old nature. And God came in with the new Nature. Then, love, joy,
peace, long-suffering, gentleness, peace, patience, and meekness, and kindness, that entered;
and taken the place of malice, and temper, and hatred, and--and emulation, strife, and all those
things. It took its place, when you passed from death unto Life. You get it, real close, now?
[Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.]
So, listen. There is only one form of Eternal Life. Find It. That is, God alone has Eternal Life. The
Bible said so. God alone has Eternal Life. And if a man is going to suffer in hell, forever, he's got to
have God, Eternal. But I say that there.
Now, remember, I'm not saying there's not a burning hell. There is a burning hell, fire and
brimstone. "Where the--the worm is... the fire isn't quenched and the worm never dies," of fire and
brimstone, a punishment. It may last for a hundred billion years. But it has to have an end, for hell
was created for the Devil and his angels. And everything that the very God, Himself, which was in
the beginning, everything come off of God. When the very spirit...
Just take the Spirit of love, that was the great fountain of God, pure, unadulterated. From that,
come in a perverted love. Then it come into human love. Then it come into sexual love. Then it
come into other loves, loves and loves, and just keeps perverting down till it becomes to just filth.
But all those things had a beginning. And someday it'll wind right straight back to the original; it's
Eternal; where lust, human love, passionate love, all those loves will have to cease.
All these make-beliefs of Faith will have to cease. There's one true Faith. All others will have to
cease. They were perverts off of this real fountain.
So, therefore, hell, suffering, suffering is not Eternal. Suffering was brought about because of sin,
and sin introduced suffering. And when sin is finished, suffering will have to finish, too. And there'll
be a time where sinners, that's never accepted Christ, after they have been punished maybe for a
hundred billion years,... I don't know, maybe for ten hundred million billion year. I couldn't say. But
it'll have to come to an end, sometime, 'cause it's not Eternal.
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Now, we're going to press on now, towards the perfection. Now listen, as we get into the
Message.
... not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and from faith towards God,
Of the doctrine of baptisms,... laying on of hands,... resurrection of the dead, and... eternal
judgment.
Now listen. We got two. We got a picture here, now. Now right here is where we're going to get
some great disagreements. Now you've got to see where the picture is. Paul is trying, here, to
separate law from grace. We've got two pictures: one, the carnal; one, the spiritual. And Paul is
trying to--to deviate between the two, to show the Jews. This letter is to the Hebrews. And all the
Hebrews is trying to show the pattern of the Old Testament typing the New. So, you got two
pictures here under consideration.
Now listen close as we read. Now he said:
... leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on to perfection;...
Now, we got that this morning, how that we are perfected. Perfected, absolutely spotless and
blameless, not one sin on us. Are you above temptation? Never. Do you sin every day? Yes, sir.
But, yet, we are perfected because we are in Him. And God could no more judge us than nothing
(couldn't be righteous), He's already judged us in Him. When He judged Christ: He judged me, He
judged you. And He can't judge me again, because He took my judgment if I've been redeemed.
And I got a ticket to show that I've redeemed my watch from the pawn shop, let somebody try to
take it back in the pawn shop once, when I've got a ticket. I have redeemed it.
And if the Devil would try to put punishment on me, I've got a ticket that shows I been redeemed.
Yes, sir. No more judgment! "He that heareth my Words, and believeth on Him that sent Me, has
Eternal Life, and shall never come to the judgment, but has passed from death unto Life." That's
my ticket. He gave the promise.
Now, now the picture, here.
... not laying again the foundations of repentance from dead works, and... faith towards God,
... the doctrine of baptism,... laying on of hands,... resurrection of the dead,... eternal judgment.
Now, remember, you notice that word used again? We used it this morning, "Eternal judgment."
When God once speaks, It's Eternal. It cannot be changed, a bit. So, the judgment is Eternal, It's
always the judgment. And no matter what generation we're living in, one generation will live, and
one... will all live, and it's forever, for whatever time, and this and that. But the judgment of God is
still Eternal, He has to, because He spoke the Word. When God speaks a Word, It has to be
Eternal. That's right.
Now let me read that out of the Greek for you. Listen how it reads.
Therefore leaving--leaving the principles of the doctrines of Christ, the atoned One, we should
push--push towards the...
Now, I can't read it. It's blurred out. "And not laying again the form..." Here we are.
... not laying again the form of reformation from the works causing death.
Now, this lexicon is absolutely not any interpretation, at all. It's just the Greek word for what the
English says. And it said, "Now we don't want..." Listen here, see.
... not laying down foundations of reformation from works causing death.
Now if you'll get that in your mind, that he's speaking here, that, "Forms of reformation causes
death." Paul said, "Leaving the principles, go to perfection, not laying again the foundation of
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repentance from dead works and of faith towards God: doctrines of baptism, laying on of hand,
resurrection of the dead, Eternal judgment. Reformation forms causing death," was the right
words. That's actually what Paul wrote. See what he's trying to do?
Now, all these things, like baptisms: one is baptized backward, one forward, one in the name of
the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, one Jesus name, one this way, and that way, and all these
different little things of baptisms.
And of laying on of hands: "Bless God, I got the gift of laying on of hands. Hallelujah! You, you
can get It this way. Hallelujah!"
Laying all of that aside, because that's dead works, these reformations, reforming. See? He is
speaking of another class. Now he said, "Let's get away from that, and go on to perfection." You
get It? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.]
And the church is still lingering back in those things. That's what they were trying to do. The early
Hebrew church was trying to say, "Well, I was baptized by immersing, and--and I was got this, and
this, and all these things."
He said, "Now, lay all of that aside, leaving it behind." But, now, did he say we shouldn't do it?
Now listen to what he said about that.
And this will we do,... God permit.
And the original said the same thing.
This we shall do, if God will permit us, see.
This we shall do, if God permit us.
Baptisms, laying on of hands, and things, but that isn't perfect. That's only the carnal reform. And
that's where the churches leave off at, today, is on that carnal reform. One of them said, "Oh, well,
the water, the word baptism means this and it means that."
And they set up organizations: and one sprinkles, the other one pours, the other one baptizes
face forward, the other one backward, and all those things; some of them laying on of hands for
the sick, and some making apostles, and some making prophets and so forth, by laying on of
hands; and preaching the resurrection from the dead, and which is all right; and the supreme Deity
of Christ, that's all right. "But," he said, "all these are formal reformations. We're just been
reforming. Now let us go on to perfection." You get the picture? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.]
Now watch. Here is where the deep part comes now.
For it is impossible for those who where once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift,
and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
And have tasted of the good word of God,... the power of the world to come,
If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing that they crucify to themselves
the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
Now, I know what you legalists has got in your mind right now, but you're wrong. See? All right. I
stand on this, and the Bible confirms it, that, "If God ever saved a man, he is saved for time and
Eternity." You can't make It say anything else.
Some fundamentalist come to me, not long ago, and said, "I got you on one, Preacher Branham. I
got you one. You said, 'If a man was saved, he could never be lost'?"
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I said, "That's what God said."
He said, "I want to ask you something. Saul was a prophet, and he prophesied. And you know he
was God's anointed. The Bible said he was. And he committed suicide, and he was lost."
I said, "He was?" I said, "The Bible declares he was 'saved.' After he become an enemy to God,
he was still saved. The Bible said he was. And, after all, he did not commit suicide. A Philistine
killed him, and David killed the Philistine for killing him. He did fall on his sword, his spear, sword,
but, he did. It didn't kill him. And a Philistine killed him. And then when Saul went down to the
witch, and she called the spirit of Samuel, because he hadn't entered Glory, he was in paradise
under the shed blood of bulls and goats which couldn't take away sin. But he had to have a waiting
place, which is called paradise, until he entered in."
That's where you Catholic people got mixed up. See? Now, there is no more paradise now. We
go straight into the Presence of God.
And when the witch of Endor called up the spirit of Samuel, there he stood. And she fell on her
face, and she said, "Why did you deceive me?"
And not only was Saul standing there... I mean Samuel, in his prophet robes, he was still a
prophet. He said, "Why did you call me out of my rest," said, "seeing that you become an enemy to
God?"
He said, "Well, the Urim won't speak to me anymore. The prophet can't prophesy to me no more.
Neither can I have a dream."
"Well," Samuel said, "you've become an enemy to God. But tomorrow the battle goes the other
way, and you'll die tomorrow. And by this time, tomorrow night, you'll be with me." If Saul was lost,
so was Samuel, they was both together. Certainly. The Bible said so.
Now, you can be all worked up in emotion, by speaking in tongues, shouting, jerking, shaking,
running up-and-down the aisle. Nothing against that. But you can make yourself believe that you're
saved when you're not, you're not saved. Your life will prove what you are. Jesus said it would, "By
their fruits you shall know them." Your life will prove whether you're saved or not, if you never open
your mouth. It'll prove what you are.
But all this work-up and emotion and joining church, "And I been baptized in Jesus' Name,
hallelujah, I know I got It," that doesn't mean nothing.
"I been baptized, name of Father, Son, Holy Ghost, face forward, three times. I got It." That
means nothing.
Paul said, "Let's go on to perfection now." We're talking about perfected. And if we'll run this
down, you'll find out, the perfected is the Elected. I'll prove it to you, in a few minutes, by the Bible.
It's the Elected who God, before the foundation of the world, seen every one of them. And He sent
Jesus to redeem that people, not the whole world. He wanted to, but He had to make a way for
those. And the only way He could do, was to send Christ; that He might come, the propitiation of
our sins, that those who have been elected, He could bring to Him, in Glory.
Could you imagine God running His office so loosely, as to say, "Well, maybe somebody will think
real sad about Me, maybe they'll come and get saved"? God don't have to beg you to do nothing.
Any begging, you need to do the begging, not God.
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And then, Christ died to save those who God, by foreknowledge, elected to meet Him yonder
without spot or wrinkle. Before the foundation of the world, He seen you in Glory. That's what the
Bible said, Ephesians, the 1st chapter. 5th chapter, the 1st verse. God predestinated by
foreknowledge.
Now, if God did that, predestinated us before the foundation of the world; and knew every one of
us by name, before the foundation of the world; and He Elected us to Eternal Life; and sent Jesus
Christ to redeem us; that, six thousand years ago, He saw us, that we might appear to His praises
in Glory! How can you ever be lost?
Now, if you're saved, you're saved. If God saves you tonight, knowing He's going to lose you ten
years from today, He is defeating His Own purpose; the infinite, Almighty, Eternal, everlasting
wisdom, God, doesn't know enough then to know whether you will hold out or whether you won't.
Then, when He saves you, you say, "Well, I'll give Him a try. I'll see what He do," then He does not
know the end from the beginning. God knows what He's doing, don't you never worry about that.
It's you and I stumbling along. God knows what He's doing. And He knew we... whether we'd hold
out, or what we would do.
Now, the Bible said that, Esau and Jacob, before either child was born, God said, "I love one, and
hate the other one," before they even breathed their first breath, that His election might stand true.
Who was Abraham? We'll get to him in a few minutes, down here. Who was he, that God should
call? Save him without anything. God makes a covenant with man; man breaks his covenant. But
God made this Covenant with Himself, and swore to it, to Himself. Man has nothing to do with it.
It's God's own foreknowledge. He done it, anyhow.
Now, you say, "Well, Brother Branham, then if I become a Christian, I can just do anything I want
to?" Absolutely. If you're a Christian, do anything you want to. And I'll guarantee, you won't have
any desire to do wrong. You do anything. I've always did just what I wanted to. And if I serve the
Lord 'cause I'm afraid I'm going to hell, I'm not serving Him right. If I live true to my wife because
I'm afraid she'll divorce me, I'm not a very good husband. But I wouldn't hurt her for nothing, for I
love her.
That's how it is with Christ, when a man is born of the Spirit of God. Not because he shouted,
spoke in tongues, or some emotion; but in his heart, love come in and taken the place of the world.
I tell you, he loves Him. He walks by Him, every day. You don't have to tell him, "It's wrong to do
this, or that, or the other." He knows it's wrong. And, he walks, he's an ordained product of God's
sovereign grace. Exactly.
For it is impossible for those which were once enlightened,... made partakers of the... heavenly
calling...
Now, we've sometimes believed that that was a man who once was enlightened and fell away
again, but the Bible doesn't read it that way. "It's absolutely impossible for a man," he says here,
"that has received the Holy Spirit, to ever fall away." Now read it and find out if that isn't right.
Watch here, take the text, the whole text, and the contents, context, rather.
Now He's beginning to talk about, what is it? "Let's go on to perfection." Now, he said, "Not carnal,
laying the foundation here of doctrines and baptism and reformations, and so forth. Let's not do
that. Let's go on to perfection." The subject is perfection, and perfection comes by Christ. And how
did we get in Christ? By joining the church? "By one Spirit we're all baptized into one Body." Not
by: one, tongue-talked in; one, hand-shook in; one, water-baptized in. "But by one Spirit we are
baptized into one Body." You get it? That's the perfection.
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And when you come into That, you are in Christ, and the world is dead to you. And you walk with
the Lamb each day, and your steps are ordained of God, what to do. Oh, the trials and testings
that we go through! You say, "Do you have testings?" Yes, sir. What is...
Grace is what God did for me, works is what I do for God. Now, they'll make a doctrine out of it,
they think that works is what wins your merits. If it is, it isn't a free gift. Grace is what God did for
you, "By grace you're saved." And works is what you do in appreciation of the grace that He
showed to you. And if you love Him, you like to do the works of the Lord. Certainly, because, then,
you--you love Him.
Accepting Meda Broy, as my wife, was what love done for her. What she does, in appreciation:
she's a nice woman, stays home, takes care of the children, and lives a good true life. That's not
because we're not married; we are married. But she does that in appreciations. If she run down
town, every day, and took in every ten-cent store, and up-and-down the streets, and never washed
the dishes, or anything else, we are still married. Absolutely. When I took my vow, that settles it.
She's my wife. As long as there's life in us, she's my wife. That's her vow. But what appreciation
she does for that: she stays home, and takes care of the children, and tries to be a real wife.
I could run out and be gone all the time, just gadding about over the country, and let her half
starve, or anything, let the children go without something to eat; we're still married. If she even
divorces me, I'm still married, long as there's life in my body. I took that vow, "Till death we
separate." That's right. We're still married. But, yet, I make a poor excuse of a husband. She'd
make a poor excuse as a wife. So if we love one another, we stick together and pull the load,
together.
That's the way God and His Church is, when you're born in the Kingdom of God. You'll have your
ups and downs, true, but you're still a Christian, you're still born of the Spirit of God. God may
have to take you out of the earth early.
... it's impossible for those which were once enlightened, and have tasted... the heavenly gift,...
... to ever fall away, to renew themselves again unto repentance;...
Now, I know where you're thinking about, the church. Let me take you one just a little stronger, so
the--the legalistic side can be really shut out. Let's go over to Hebrews, the 10th chapter, and look
at this just for a little bit.
10th chapter, the 26th verse.
For if we sin wilfully after... we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more
sacrifice for sin,
But a certain fearful looking... of the judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the
adversary.
He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:
Of how much more sorer punishment, though supposed... though worthy,... trod the... who has
trod under foot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was
sanctified, an unholy thing, and... done despite to the works of grace?
Now you say, "What about that, Brother Branham? How does that look?"
Now, just to read, I think, "The Scripture doesn't say that." That's not talking about a Christian.
That's talking about a man that heard the Word and turned away from It. See?
For if we sin... (What is sin? Unbelief.)... if we disbelieve wilfully after the gospel has been
preached to us, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin,
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What is sin? Unbelief. Read Saint John, the 4th chapter. Jesus said, "He that believeth not is
condemned already." Sin is not smoking, drinking, committing adultery. You do that because
you're an unbeliever. That's just the attributes. You do that because you're an unbeliever. Just to
quit smoking, quit drinking, and so forth like that, that doesn't mean you're--you're a Christian.
That's just the attributes of your conversion. But, you can, you can do either side, and still not be.
Now notice.
... he that disbelieves wilfully after he...
Not--not, "After he received Christ in his heart." The Bible doesn't say that. Said, "He that..."
... if we sin wilfully, disbelieve wilfully, after... we have received the knowledge of the truth,...
Get it? Wasn't talking to a Christian, at all.
Some woman come to me, not long ago, and said, "Brother Branham, I'm a Christian, but I
blasphemed the Holy Ghost."
I said, "It's impossible." A Christian could not blaspheme the Holy Ghost. You can't do it. A
Christian spirit bears record with Christ's Spirit. See? And you'll call, everything of God, "God's."
But if you're carnal-minded, you'll make fun and laugh at the Holy Ghost; I don't care how much
you go to church, you're still a sinner, and you're blaspheming the Holy Ghost. When they seen
Jesus discerning their thoughts, they said He was a "fortune-teller."
Jesus said, "You've... I'll forgive you for that, but when the Holy Ghost is come, you speak a word
against It, it'll never be forgiven you."
Because, they said, "He has an unclean spirit," calling the Spirit of God, "an unclean thing."
A Christian can't do that. A Christian will always call the Spirit of God, "Righteousness." See? A
Christian cannot blaspheme the Holy Ghost. It's the outsider that blaspheme.
That wasn't Christians standing there. It was religious people, it was orthodox Jews, doctors of
divinity, and so forth, and they were making fun of Him and His works, calling the works of God,
that, "It was an unclean spirit doing it."
And how many do you think today blasphemes the Holy Ghost, that's got D.D.D., PhD. on their
name? How many great, stiffed Orthodox, Catholics, Protestants, walk the street and make fun of
the operation of the Holy Ghost, just as polished scholars, and slick as a button? That's right. But
they make fun of the Holy Ghost, and therefore they blaspheme It.
But a born-again Christian cannot do that. He'll say, "That's my brother. That's the Spirit of the
living God." That's right. A Christian cannot blaspheme the Holy Ghost.
It's the sinner that blasphemes the Holy Ghost; the unbeliever, the sinner, an "unbeliever."
There's only two thing: either you are a believer, or an unbeliever.
Now, notice here, to make this real wound up now. I had a vision that's always bothered me.
Years ago I used to look at that. I said, "Oh, if a man once received the Holy Spirit then, and then
would backslide, he'd be lost forever." I couldn't get this other to make sense with that.
I said, "Then why is it that the Bible said, that, 'He that heareth My Words and believeth on Him
that sent Me has Eternal Life, Eternal, and shall never come to the judgment, but has passed from
death unto Life. All the Father has given Me will come to Me, and none of them is lost, I'll raise
them up in the last days. No man can pluck them from My hand'? How does that divvy up with
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this? I just couldn't understand it, 'It's impossible for those who were once enlightened.'" I thought,
"There is something wrong. I just can't get it."
And I went to a little Pentecostal meeting, years ago.
There's not a one left in the church, I guess, tonight, that remembers. Years ago, this was even
just about time the tabernacle was built. Less, it'd be Brother Graham back there, or somebody. I
don't know, you was here first, or not, brothers. Brother Mahoney, I think, was. Yeah, just before I
was married.
That gift working, I was of afraid. They told me it was of the Devil. I didn't know till the Angel of the
Lord told me.
I went to Mishawaka, and I set in that meeting, and I never heard so much shouting and crying
and praising God. I thought, "Brother, this is Heaven." And, oh, how they would go up-and-down.
They had to have it in the North, on account of segregation. The colored and white were together.
The P.A. of W. and the P.H.A.C. had really emerged and become the United Pentecostal. But
what a revival they were having, there at Brother Rowe's tabernacle at Mishawaka. And I, a little
curious fellow, setting on the back seat, was watching all of this. I had never seen these things
before.
There was a man setting here... I've never told this in public before. There was a man setting on
one side, and a man on the other, and one spoke in tongues, and the other interpret it. And they
would tell different things was going to take place. Then, this one speak in tongues, and that one
interpret. I thought, "My, isn't that wonderful!" I thought, "How glorious! Them must be Angels,
come down in a form of men."
Well, I only had a dollar and seventy-five cents, to come home on, and I--I--I just could get a tank
of gas. I slept in a cornfield that night. I've got part of it in a book, but not all of it, 'cause I didn't
want to hurt their feeling. And so, that night, they said, "All preachers come to the platform." I was
on the platform. I was the youngest preacher there then.
So, the next morning, they asked me to come to preach. I hid. You know, the colored man said,
"Here he is." You remember the story of it, when he exposed me setting there.
And so after preaching that day, walking around, I thought "If I could only get to those two men."
They led the meeting. One would raise and turn white in the face; he'd speak in tongue. And the
other would interpret it, and give the words, "THUS SAITH THE LORD, 'There's a certain-certain
person here, by the name of certain-certain, that should do this and certain-certain.'" Brother, it
was the truth. And the other one would rise and speak in tongues, and he would interpret.
I thought, "Oh, my, isn't this wonderful!" So, that day, I thought, I went out and prayed. I thought,
"Lord, you do that for me again." I didn't know what to call it, visions.
I went out and prayed, and asked the Lord to help me. I went around the building, and I happened
to run into one of them. Now, the Lord give me a way of knowing things. I shook his hand. I said,
"How do you do?"
He said, "How do you do? What's your name?"
And I said, "Branham."
"Oh," he said, "you're the young fellow that preached this morning."
I said, "Yes, sir."
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While I got a conversation with him, I caught his spirit. And he was a genuine Christian, just a
pure Christian, brother. I mean, he was a believer. I thought, "Oh, isn't this wonderful!"
And about an hour from then, out there near the car, which was looking on a great big car, had
"Jesus Only" wrote on the back of it, and standing out there stood the other man. And I went out
and I said, "How do you do, sir?"
He said, "How do you do?" Said, "You're Brother Branham, that spoke this morning."
I said, "Yes, sir. I am." I said, "Say, I enjoy them great gift of God that works in you two brethren."
He said, "Thank you, Mr. Branham." And I begin to feel his spirit. A vision come. And if I ever
talked to a hypocrite, there was one of them. His wife was a black-headed woman. He was living
with a blond-headed woman, had two children by her. He was no more a Christian than nothing in
the world.
Then I said, "What have I got into? I thought I was in Angels, and now I must be in demons.
Something has happened. Here was one, a genuine Christian; and the same Spirit falling on this
man, was falling on this man." I said, "Now I'm all confused." I didn't know what to do. I cried and
begged, to the Lord. I didn't know what to accept.
They was about to get me to... Asked me if I had "received the Holy Ghost?" this guy did. I said,
"No, sir, not the way you got it."
Said, "You ever speak with tongues?"
I said, "No, sir."
Said, "Then you haven't got It."
So I said, "You're probably right, my brother. Maybe I haven't, 'cause I don't have what you have."
And after while, I was glad I didn't.
So then I watch that, and I seen the way that was moving.
So, one day, I was out here praying, long ago. I'll tell you why, who I was praying for, was Roy
Davis. And I was out here praying, because he had called me "a puppet," and I was praying for
God to forgive him for it. And he had a press back there, wrote a paper. And that press caught
afire and burnt down, a couple nights after that, while they were running it.
And so I was standing back there in an old cave behind Green's Mill. I walked out there. And I
was praying, been back there, two day. I laid my Bible down on an old log, where, I showed
Brother Wood, not long ago, laid my Bible down. I set a-straddle the log. And the wind blowed. I
thought, "Been so long, back in that cave, I'd just read a little." So I took a hold of the Bible and
begin to read, and this was the chapter it was on. Well, I begin to read, and I begin to wonder then.
See?
For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened,... made partakers of the Holy Spirit,
... tasted the good word of God, and... the world to come,
If they shall fall away, to renew themselves... to repentance; seeing that they crucify to themselves
the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
I thought, "There is that Scripture." But something hung with me. Then I begin to think, "Here is
where he talked back here, in the beginning, 'Not laying the dead foundation of repentance, at the
beginning. Not laying the foundation of repentance,' and here he says, 'New, renewing themselves
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back to repentance. But let's go on to perfection, laying these things in the back.'" Then I started
reading. Then I read the next verse.
For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for
them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessings from God:
But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be
burned.
And when I read that, Something just shook me. And I thought, "Lord, that don't pertain to Roy
Davis. Why would You do that?"
I started, turn another page. I had to go back to It, again, "It is impossible for those which were
once enlightened," go through It again.
Then I thought, "Lord, what is this? What do You mean, Lord?"
And I turned and went back into my cave, to pray over It. And when I did, I saw a world turning.
And it was all disked up, real nice, the whole world. And I saw a man in white, going around, he
had a bag in his hand. He was sowing seeds as he went around. He went around the curvature of
the earth. And as soon as he got around, here come a guy dressed in real black clothes, a slicklooking fellow, slipping along like this, looking. And he had a seed. And he was throwing
something behind it, as he went around the earth; watching everybody and throwing. I stood and
watched the vision.
After he had gone, the world turned around, and there was a great, big crop, and it was of wheat.
And there was weeds, cockleburs and things in the wheat.
There come a drought. And, oh, how that little wheat hung its little head over, and was thirsting for
water. The little cocklebur had its head hung over, and it was thirsting for water. Everybody was
praying for rain. And after while, along came a big cloud and just watered the whole earth. And the
little cocklebur jumped up, begin to shout, "Glory to God! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!"
And the little wheat, it jumped up, begin to shout, "Glory to God! Praise the Lord!"
And then the Scripture come to me, which is found in the Book of Matthew, the 5th chapter and
the 45th verse. And listen to what Jesus said, in Matthew 5:45. And listen close now as we read.
Matthew, the 5th chapter and the 45th, 46th verse; 44th, to begin.
But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, and do good to them that hate
you, and pray for them that despitefully use you, and persecute you;
That you may be... call... you may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh
his sun to rise on... evil and on... good, and sendeth rain on the just and... the unjust.
So, you see, the same rain that makes the wheat grow, makes a cocklebur grow. And, therefore, I
got the picture. There is your carnal confessor, that's right in the church. But his fruits... He might
shout, jump, dance, speak with tongues; but his fruits: he's a cocklebur. And there's the other one,
that's got the same Spirit. The Holy Spirit can drop right in a bunch of people, and a hypocrite can
shout, by the Holy Spirit, just the same as a cocklebur can live by the rain that's sent. That's what
Paul is speaking of here. But it's impossible for a cocklebur to become a wheat, or a wheat a
cocklebur. You get it? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.]
For it is impossible for those who have been once enlightened, and have... partaken of the gift of
the Holy Ghost,
And... tasted the good word of God, and the power of the world to come,
... to fall away, to renew themselves again...
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Listen what he said.
... for the rain... comes oft upon the earth, to water it and to dress it here, and prepare it;
But... which is thorns and thistles is nigh unto rejecting;...
Now, therefore leaving the principalities and doctrines of Christ, let us go... to perfection; not laying
again the foundation of repentance and dead works... towards God, and faith, and so forth,
... and doctrines of baptisms,... layings on of hands, and things;...
See, the carnal believer, back in those days, just like it is today, likes to say, "Well, I belong to
church. I've repented. I--I come up, I made a confession. I been baptized." See, they lay to those
carnal reformations. And what does it do? It produces cockleburs.
What does the perfection do? It's the wheat. The wheat is God's Word. He uses it as His Word.
It's a Seed. It brings forth.
It depends on what seed is sowed in your heart. If you come to church just because you're afraid
of hell, if you join church because you don't want--you don't want to go to hell, you're still a
cocklebur. If you--if you join church just to be popular, you're still a cocklebur. If you done all these
formal things that's to be done, and that's all you got, you're still a cocklebur.
But a real, genuine Christian presses towards perfection until the world is dead and you become a
new creature in Christ Jesus. Then, it's impossible for that man to ever fall. What the Bible said!
See how that compares with the rest the Scripture? See how It lays it right in there to its place?
How can It say here, "A man that's once saved can never be lost" and come over here and say,
"But, if you are lost, or blaspheme, it's impossible"? Sure, if you're a blasphemer, you're not a
Christian.
"No man, speaketh by the Spirit of God, calleth Jesus accursed." Saint John 4... or First John 4.
No man speaking by the Spirit of Christ, calls Jesus "accursed." Every spirit, of God, that's in the
Christian Church, agrees with everything God said.
We read here, and say, "He was wounded for our transgressions. With His stripes we're healed."
The old carnal mind say, "Days of miracles is past. I'm Dr. Jones." See? "There's no such a thing
as Divine healing. No such thing as heart-felt religion. You're just a bunch of worked-up. You're
emotional. See, that's all there is to it. There nothing to it. We are Presbyterians. We're Lutherans,"
or whatever it is. "We know where we're standing."
But what does the Spirit of God say? Jesus Christ, the same here! "Amen," says the Spirit of God.
It agrees quickly with the Word. Yes, sir. It's right there. See what I mean now?
"These carnal reforms works death," said Paul.
But where Life is come, this perfection, "He that heareth My Words, believeth on Him that sent
Me, has everlasting Life, and shall never come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto
Life. I'll give him everlasting Life, raise him up in the last days. All the Father has given Me will
come to Me, and none of them is lost." Can't be.
So, here is what it does--what it does. People thinks that that makes people loose. Brother, you
don't serve God under a frown of a serpent. God is not one of these guys with a blacksnake whip,
driving you around. He's a Father. He's Love. God is Love. And the Bible said, in Saint John, "He
that loveth is of God."
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You love God. I wouldn't be, if I went out and--and got on a drunk tonight. I never drank, in my life.
But if I went out and got on a drunk, I wouldn't be afraid of getting a whipping. That isn't the reason
I don't go--go, don't go do it. The reason I don't do it, is because I love Him. He loves me. It's not a
works of law. It's not something that I got to do. It's because He's already done something for me,
and I love him for it. There you are.
So, with that Spirit in there, which is promised, "I give unto him everlasting Life, and they shall
never perish." Did He lie or did He tell the Truth? He told the Truth. So, you see how This
interprets? The impossibility is for a man to fall after he's once in grace. He can't. He can fall, sure,
but not back to repentance, back to the place and to do the old works over again.
So, you all trotting from revival to revival, one place and then another, don't you see you're not
stable? You're not established. Now, surely... You say, "Brother Branham, I don't know if..." Surely
God would not give me the ministry He has, and let me be in error. And if it wasn't proven by the
Scripture, then it would error, but here is the Scripture to back it up.
The churches never missed a place... People go, join church, fuss, fight, stew, and--and
everything, and just live any kind of a carnal life, "Oh, yes, I'm a Christian."
I heard a confession today of a little lady that told me that her husband was running with a man.
She has caught them, place after place. And the woman says, "I'm going to let you know, 'I'm a
Christian.'"
Look over here at Jimmy Osborne, out here preaching on Sunday morning; and boogie-woogie,
rock-and-rolled and everything, through the week.
Look at Elvis Presley, a 1947 version of Judas Iscariot, joins the Assemblies of God, Pentecostal,
speaking in tongues for the Holy Ghost, and sent more souls to torment than all the bootleg joints
there's been in the last fifty years. Perverted the mind of little teen-age children all over the world,
till little girls would grab off their underclothes and throw it on the platform, and him to autograph.
So vulgar that they won't show him in the television, from his waist down, the way his body. The
Holy Ghost, speaking in tongues, for evidence? Oh, brother, if the Holy Ghost was there, It
wouldn't act like that. You know better than that. Certainly not. God loves cleanness and purity and
holy.
I don't act clean and pure and holy to make myself a Christian. But Christ, in me, lives that in me.
And I love Him. And if I do anything wrong, it condemns me, right there. I say, "God, forgive me."
Every day, I got to ask forgiveness, every day. And you do, too. Certainly, you do.
But now if you're--if you're carnal, you just wait on back, say, "Ah, well, that's all right, I belong to
church." See? And then when you blaspheme, is when you don't have the Faith that was once
delivered to the saints. Then you make fun of That, and call It, "An evil spirit." Say, "That's a bunch
of holy-rollers." Then, you separate yourself between grace and judgment, then you're finished
forever.
Jesus said, "One word against It, will never be forgiven in this world or the world to come." And a
Christian, born of the Spirit, can't say evil about That, 'cause it can't. It agrees with It. That's right.
That's the reason people try to tell me, that Pillar of Fire there, that appears here with us, they try
to say, that, "That was the Devil," that, "It was just fiction," all this. But the camera proved that It
wasn't. And the works lay right exactly on the Bible, same Pillar of Fire that met Paul on his road to
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Damascus. All these things that He done back there, is doing it just exactly the same way, by the
Bible. He's Christ, the Son of God.
And when we are born again, we have everlasting Life, and cannot perish. It would be impossible
for a man to fall. That's what the Bible said.
Now, listen, watch what Paul says. I'll read the rest of it, and see if that don't sound right, now.
Let's go on, just a minute. The 8th verse.
But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be
burned. (That's the unbeliever.)
Now watch Paul. "But, beloved,..." Now he's talking about them is trying to get back under the
law, you know, trying to do all the works of the law, yet they're just as ritual as they can be. They
have baptisms and the laying on of hands, and all these things.
But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you,...
There you are. Listen at him now.
... and things that accompany salvation, though--though through this we thus spake.
For God is not unrighteous to forget your works and labours of love, which you have showed
towards his name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister.
See what He's talking about? He's not talking about Christians falling away, impossible to come
back. He's talking about carnal believers who go through the form of reformation. "But," he said,
"to you who was born again, you who are Christian, beloved, we are persuaded better things of
you. You don't say those things. You don't live that type of life. You're secured with Christ."
What did he say back here? Now let's go to Hebrews 10, where we was at this morning, again.
Now let's turn over then, again, to Ephesians 4:30. And let's get this, just a minute, and watch
what this says, to back this up, to make Scripture go with Scripture. Ephesians 4, let's see.
Ephesians 4:30. Let's read and see what It says. Listen.
... grieve not the holy Spirit of God,...
Huh? How we baptized into the Body? One Spirit.
... grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed until the day of your redemption.
That right? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.] You're sealed into the Body of Christ, by the
baptism of the Holy Ghost, not from one revival to another one, but until the Day of the body of
redemption. That's what you are. So, there's no way for you to be lost.
You get scared. And that's the reason scare, a scare, fear companies doubt.
Love companies faith. I love my Father. I'm not afraid of Him, because I love Him. He wouldn't hurt
me. He will do good for me. If I was scared of Him, and, "Oh, I don't know whether He will do it, or
not." See?
But if I love Him, "Yes, Father, I--I love You. And I know You're--You're my Father, and You love
me, and I'm not afraid but what You'll keep Your Word. It's Your promise to me." That's the way
the Spirit of God does.
"But, oh, if I did this, if I did that." See, there you come to the legal side, again. Never go to the
legal side. It's negative.
The positive side is what you want. It's already a finished work. Christ died, and the sin was killed
when He died. And if God foreordained you to Eternal Life, "All the Father has given Me, will come
to Me." There you are, can't be lost. You're secured forever. "For by one Spirit we're all baptized
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into one Body, and by one sacrifice He has perfected forever." There you are. There's no way for
us to lose. Correctly. Now, don't it make you feel good? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.]
Now, how do you know you're a Christian? When your spirit bears record with His Spirit, when the
love of God is in your heart, when you have love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, patience,
goodness, meekness. That's when you... The fruits of the Spirit is following your life.
Not because you can dance in the Spirit, oh, to this modern rhythm, whoop it up on a piano, to a
lot of this here dancing in the Spirit. Them things are all right. But they took the whole thing over
on that legal side, see, and therefore, they left the Spirit of God in the back.
That's the reason, when God begin to manifest Hisself, they said, "Nonsense. We don't want
nothing to do with That." They don't know God. They've never seen It. They can't understand It,
because there's a different life in there. He doesn't know... Cocklebur doesn't know what the wheat
is doing. He's a different life.
That's the way it is with a Christian, to the carnal believer, the confessor, who goes out and
confesses, "Oh, yes, I'm a Christian." A big cigar in his mouth, like a dehorned Texas steer.
A woman with her shorts on, say, "Oh, yes, I'm a member of the church. Sure, I am." Your fruits
prove that you're nothing but carnal. That's right. Certainly, it is. There's only one thing to allow for
that: that's either mental deficiency or a spirit of lust on you. That's right.
If you want to act like the world, the Bible said, "If you love the world or the things of the world, the
love of God is not even in you." So there you are.
Now, you say, "Oh, the Bible said, then I must do that." No, that's not it. Stay here until Christ has
done something for you, that take that out of you. Then you're born of the Spirit of God. Not what
you do, it's what He done for you. Till you get a love that you've passed from death unto Life. And
then watch your life, if it--if it dallys up. Not 'cause you try to make your life, but because God
brings you into subjection to His Spirit. It's not you leading yourself in God's way. It's God leading
you in His Own way. Not you doing the leading, but God doing the leading.
Now watch this, now, just as we get down towards the end. The 11th verse.
And we desire that every one of you do show the same diligence to the full assurance of the hope
unto the end:
That ye may not be slothful, but followers of them that who through faith and patient inherit the
promise.
Now, just one more remark here.
For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he swore by
himself,
Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiply, I will multiply thee.
When God met Abraham! Now, Abraham received the covenant, without any merits at all. The
covenant was made with Abraham. It's absolutely grace, altogether. Abraham was not a better
man. He was not a holiness man. He was just an ordinary man. And God, by election, chose
Abraham because God elected him; not because Abraham wanted it, because Abraham did this,
because he was a good man, 'cause he had any merit at all. But it was God's choice. God took
Abraham.
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Today, as I said, I believe, "We select our preachers." We go around, say, "Well, one of the
deacons quit. Let's find the best man in the building to take his place. Well, the pastor quit; let's
find out, we get the best." Sometimes that's not right.
When they selected a man to take Judas' place, they got the wrong man. They got a gentleman,
Matthias, a great scribe, a scholar, a diplomat. They said, "He'll just take the real place. Boy, he
looks like a real man." But it wasn't God's choice. And he took this man, and he never done
nothing for God.
But God took a choice of a little, old high-tempered, hook-nosed Jew that come down there. His
face, all, "I'll go down. I'll arrest them."
God said, "I see something in him. I'll use him."
And God appeared before him, that big Light there. And he said, "Who are You, Lord?"
Said, "I'm Jesus. Why, it's hard for you to kick against the pricks. Why you persecuting Me?" Like
that, and God took that man and made him one of the greatest men that's ever hit the face of the
earth since Jesus Christ. That was God's choice.
Today, we try to make a choice. You churches, you send this man here, and that man here. It's
not supposed to be done that way. God does the leading. It's God in all, through all, over all; not
what some document of some church. It's what God said about it, what makes the difference.
Notice. God made a promise to Abraham, unconditional. And now, wait, Abraham did not have to
do one thing. God said, "I have already done it."
God made a promise to Adam, said, "Adam, if you'll not touch this, you'll live forever. But the day
you eat thereof, that day you die."
Adam said, "I just wonder what it's all about, anyhow?" He goes over and eats it, tampering.
Every time that God make... a man makes his covenant with God, or God with a man, the man
breaks his part. So God had to do something, because He seen what man was. And they were
foreordained, they were elected, and God had to do something. So God came down and made His
covenant with Abraham, unconditionally. If it wouldn't have been unconditionally, Abraham would
been lost, a long time.
Look at him setting down there at Gerar, backslid, telling a lie. And give his wife over to another
man, to save his own skin. What a man! Setting out there, and backslid. God told him, said, "Don't
you leave up here. Stay up here." The famine run him out. He wandered down to where it was
easier going. You know what happens to a fellow when he takes the easy road.
He wandered out, down there where the grass was greener. And when he got down there, he told
that king that his wife was his "sister," to save his own hide. Now, that was a lie. And any man,
would take his wife and give her over to another man, to save his hide! There he was, setting out
there in a little tent, backslider, telling a lie, and plum out of his, cut altogether away from the
promise and everything, but he was still God's prophet.
And there was Ablimelech, he was a good, holiness man. Sure, said his prayers every night.
Found this grandma, of a hundred years old, come down there, beautiful and young again. He
said, "That's the girl I've waited for, so I'm just going to marry her."
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Abraham said, "You can have her. She's my sister."
She, "That's my brother."
So he takes her over there and has the women to wash her all up and--and put on nice clothes,
and fix her up like a--like a princess. And he said his prayers, stretched out on the bed, and turned
his feet up, and said, "Tomorrow, I'll marry that beautiful Hebrew girl, that--that boy's sister out
there. Oh, it'll be wonderful. O Lord, You know how I love You! Yes, sir. Wonderful!"
And God said, "You're just as good as a dead man." Uh-huh!
[Brother Branham coughs--Ed.] Pardon me. Abra-...
Why, Abraham was setting over there, a lie, and backslid. And here was this man, an honest and
just and upright man. "Why," he said, "Lord, You know the integrity of my heart. Did not he tell me,
that was his 'sister'?"
Said, "I know the integrity of your heart. That's the reason I'm keeping you from sinning against
Me. That's right. I know the integrity of your heart. But her husband is My prophet." Hallelujah! Oh,
if that ain't grace, what is? "Backslid, telling a lie, and setting out there, but that's still My prophet.
You take an offering, and go to him, and take his wife back, or you're a dead man. I won't hear
your prayers no more. Let him pray for you." Amen. There you are. "That's my prophet."
Now, you say, "Oh, I wish I'd have been Abraham."
"If we are dead in Christ, we are Abraham's Seed, and are heirs according to the promise." Right.
That's what the Bible said. Would you like to read It? Why, the Bible said that, that the promise
was not only to Abraham and his seeds. Like you, Abraham had many seeds, sure, many children.
Ishmael was his child. He had seven or eight children after Sarah died, by another one, Keturah.
But, look, the seed was the promised one, which was Isaac, and through Isaac came Christ,
through Christ came us. The promise is unconditionally.
Now, what about Abraham? Why, he'd have been done, it'd been impossible for him to ever get
back again. Sure. It'd been impossible for Saul to ever get back again, if that, you'd have to read
the Scripture that way. See? But it wasn't. God's promise endures forever.
Let's read here just a minute. I want you to read It. I want you to get Galatians 3:16, and read this,
and see now what the promise is, and see what if--if we are His promise or not, 3:16. Listen here.
All right. I'm going to read the 15th verse, too.
Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it is
confirmed, no man disannuleth, or addeth thereunto.
Now to Abraham and his seed, seed (s, double e, d), to his seed were the promise made.
"To Abraham and his Seed." Now watch.
He saith not, And to thy seeds (plural), as of many; but as... one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.
Then, Christ was the Seed of Abraham. "And we being dead in Christ, and baptized into His
Body, we are Abraham's Seed, and are heirs of the promise." Then how is it, how are you ever
going to fall away, if God made the promise to you? How are you going to ever backslide, and go
away and have to go to hell for it?
Now, you say, "Well, can't we backslide?" Absolutely. And when you backslide, you're going to
get it, don't you worry. Abraham got it, and the rest of them got it, and you'll get it. Don't you think it
gives you a right to sin. It doesn't. You'll pay for everything that you do. You'll reap what you sow.
You do one little sin and you'll reap a whole washtub full. That's right. But, brother, that don't mean
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to say that you're lost. That's exactly right. Abraham reaped exactly what he sowed. That's right.
But he was still saved.
The covenant that God made with Israel: they lost their in-heritage, they lost the promised land
and went down into Egypt, but they hadn't lost their covenant. God said, "I remember My promise
to Abraham. I remember, and I've come down to deliver My people. Go down there, Moses, and
tell Pharaoh, I said, 'Let My people go.' I remember I made a promise to Abraham and to his
seed."
That's the same thing it is with us. So if you are dead, and your life is hid in God, through Christ,
there is not nothing in the world can touch you. Now, you might go and do wrong, but if you're
really, truly, a child of God, and you see you've made a mistake, you'll rise and try again. That's
right, and you'll not lay there.
But if you're cowardly, if you're a cocklebur, if there's no "get up" to you, you'll say, "Ah, well, there
wasn't nothing to It, anyhow."
The Kingdom of God is like unto a man took a net and went to the sea, cast it in. When he come,
he had turtles, frogs, snakes, lizards, spiders, and fish. That's the Gospel when It's preached.
Like the Lord will tell a minister, like Brother Graham, "Go up here. "Go on this corner and fish a
little while, Brother Graham." All right, takes his net and goes up there and starts seining.
"Where you going, Brother Bill?"
"I'm going out somewhere else, and cast on this corner."
I'm pulling, "There they are, Lord, You know what they are." I pull the net again, "All right, here
they are, Lord."
Now, the turtle was a turtle, to begin with. You just got caught in the net. That's right. And that's
the way people get caught up in emotion, "O Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord. Glory to God.
Hallelujah!" They just got caught in the net, that's all.
If that old Turtle spirit is in them, it ain't going to be long, they say, "Well, I tell you,..." Here he
goes, creeping back.
And old lady Crawfish will say, "But I just can't understand That." See?
Miss Spider set there a little while, she go "plop, plop, plop," right back, "Well, there wasn't
nothing in It, anyhow."
Miss Serpent will say, "Oh, they're a bunch of holy-rollers. That's just all there is to It. I'll go down
where they got better sense than that." Why, you're a snake, to begin with. The Gospel net just
caught you, that's all.
But the fish is took to the Master's table. He was a fish, to begin with. The Seed of him was a fish.
He began, a fish, and God knowed His fish from the foundation of the world. Hallelujah!
Remember, they're all breathing the same muddy waters out there. They're all breathing out of
the same creek. That's right. "We all made... drink of the same spiritual Rock. All did eat manna in
the wilderness." Caleb and Joshua eat the same manna that--that the rest of them eat. And they
all fell in the wilderness. But there was two elected to go over, and they went over. That's right.
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"We all been made to drink of the same Fountain." But not all that drink is saved. We all made to
shout together. We're all made to rejoice together. But the Elected is saved. Did you notice? It
said, "The two spirits, in the last days, would be so close till it would deceive the very Elected if
possible," if possible. See? That's the real Spirit of God, elected to Eternal Life.
Now we're closing. Then Brother Neville will pick up where I leave off here. All right.
And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was
four hundred year, four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the
promise of none effect.
That's the promise God give Abraham, before the law ever came into existence.
For if the... for if inheritance be of the law, it is no more of the promise: but God gave it to Abraham
by promise.
Not by nothing you do, not by any laws, any laws of your church, by joining church, or any other
law. It's absolutely a grace act of God, to you. There you are.
Watch.
Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgression, till the seed should come
to whom the promise was made;...
Isn't that just as plain as the nose on my face? "It was added, to serve until the Seed came, which
was Christ, to Who the promise was made."
... and it was ordained by angels and in the hands of a mediator.
Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one.
Now, I leave from right here, beginning from right there for Brother Neville, for this coming
Wednesday.
Now do you understand what we have said? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.] That it is
absolutely impossible for a born-again Christian that... I don't mean, now, he calls himself, "bornagain." I mean, a real, born-again Christian, to ever fall from grace, he cannot do it. He can fall,
that's right, but he cannot, never, get out of that grace.
Abraham fell from grace. Sure, he did. God told him to "stay there." He went out of it, but he never
lost his covenant. He was still God's chosen. He was a prophet setting there. He always was. He'll
always be God's.
Now notice. The Bible said, that, "All of Israel will be saved." How many knows that? The Bible
said, "All Israel's will be saved." Now, "Israel is not Israel which is of the flesh, but Israel of the
Spirit, for gifts and callings are without repentance." Is that what the Bible said, the very next
verse? Galatians. All right. "All of Israel will be saved. Every one of them is saved." How we
become Israel? "Being dead in Christ, take on Abraham's Seed, and we're heirs according to the
promise."
Paul said, "That which is outward is not a Jew, but that which is inwardly, is a Jew, the promised
Ones." And we are Abraham's Seed, by the promise, through Christ, accepted Him as our
personal Saviour.
Oh, I hope you see it. I hope you get it, if you can stay with It a little while. Now over in here we
finish this up, then we start on Melchisedec, which brings right back in this again. We start right on
over to... Oh, It's just, the whole thing is wonderful. But we just keep getting into those cream thing.
Now, see, if you took This here, look like, if you could read It just from observation... Like a real
strict trinitarian, who believes there's three Gods, told me one time, that, "Matthew 3 absolutely
declared that there was three, three individual Persons in the Godhead."
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I said, "I got to see it."
He said, "Watch." Standing right from this pulpit, he said, "Looky here, Matthew 3." Said, "When
Jesus went straightway out of the water, lo, the heavens opened unto Him. And He saw the Spirit
of God like a dove. And the Voice from Heaven saying, 'This is My beloved Son in whom I'm well
pleased.' And there was three: the Son on the bank; the Holy Ghost in between; and the Father up
above."
I said, "Brother, the Scripture doesn't read that."
"Oh, yes, it does."
I said, "Now read It again, find out if It does."
Now, here is his picture. Here is God, the Son; there is God, the Father; here is God, the Holy
Ghost, like a dove. Now watch. The Bible said, when Jesus was baptized, "The Son went
straightway out of the water, lo, the heavens above Him was opened. And a Voice saying of... He
saw the Spirit of God, the Spirit of God, like a dove." Not another Person up there, but this Spirit of
God was the Dove which was above Him. And a Voice coming, saying, "This is My beloved Son,
in whom I am pleased to dwell in." Now read Matthew 3 and see if It doesn't say that. See? Not
three people, not at all.
And that's the why. This doesn't say it's impossible for a man to ever get back, when he
backslides. It doesn't say that. It doesn't say that. It says, "It's impossible for a man to ever come
back to renew himself, after he's once been there." He cannot do it.
The Bible said, "He that's born of God, does not commit sin, for he cannot sin. For the seed of
God remains in him, and he cannot sin." How can I be called a sinner, when there's a sacrifice
laying there to take my place? How can I die, when death has been paid for me? How can I die,
when I got Eternal Life? How can I do it? You can't do it.
How can I have a written permit from the mayor of this city, to run sixty miles an hour through this
city, and any officer arresting me for running sixty miles an hour? How can you do it? I've got a
permit from the mayor that says I can do it. He can't arrest me. His--his rest... He could blow the
whistles and everything else, and I could just ignore it. Don't mean a thing; I've got a permit.
And how can I, then, as after Christ has died for me and I become His righteousness because of
His grace and love to me? How can I sin, when there is something laying between me and God, a
sacrifice? I can't sin. Can't do it. God never sees me; He sees Christ. He stands in my place. And
when I do anything wrong, Christ takes my place. I made my confession, "I'm wrong. He is right.
Lord, You know my heart. You know whether I mean it or not. And I'm wrong. Forgive me." God
never sees it. The Blood of Jesus got me covered, all the time. Then how can God ever see me?
How can sin be--be counted to me, when He can't do it? Just as soon as I do it, it's forgiven.
[Brother Branham snapped his finger--Ed.] That's right.
Just like taking a--a little dropper like this, a little eye-dropper, and take it full of black ink and hold
it up over a tub of bleach, and just drop it in there, and then just try to find it again. It just turns to
the bleach. The ink becomes bleach. And that's what, your confessed sins, if you're in Christ.
Between you and God is a whole tub of bleach, and your sin becomes righteous because a
righteous Sacrifice is waiting there for you.
When I come to the river at the ending of day,
And the last winds of sorrow have blown;
There is one thought that cheers me and makes my heart glad,
I won't have to cross Jordan alone.
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That's one good thing. That's one good thing. I won't have to cross it. One of these days, we're
coming down to the end of the road. The sun will refuse to shine, then God will call.
Adam will reach over and shake Eve, and say, "Honey, here it is. It's time to wake up."
Eve will reach over and get a hold of Abel, say, "Come forth, darling. It's time to wake up." Abel
will get a hold of Seth. And Seth will get a hold of Noah. Noah get a hold of... Oh, on down, on
down to Abraham, and down as they come. There'll be a great shaking and awakening when the
Son of God comes. We'll stand in His likeness at that day.
Now, if you commit sin here, you're going to pay for it. I've...
Just keep coming in my mind, I've just got to tell it. I've tried to quench it off, four or five times. I
have to say it. How many remembers this brother, pastor, that used to be over here at the church
of God? Brother, right up here, what was his name? Worked for Vorgang down there. Oh, you all...
The First church of God, right here on the corner. Or, used to sell Rawleigh's in time of the--of the
depression. A real godly, saintly man. Brother Smith took his place up there. I'll call his name in a
few minutes. He was a God-saved man.
Remember, if you don't walk up to the correction, and you do something wrong as a Christian,
God will warn you. And then if you don't take the warning, He will just take you right off the earth.
That's what He done.
You remember, in the Bible? Look at that Corinthian church. He told them what they was,
positionally, in Christ. But he warned them of what was going to happen. And they corrected
themselves, got straightened out, with God.
And this little brother, he was a wonderful little brother, I believe, a God-saved man. And he got
him a job down here at the... at Vorgang's. If some of his people is setting here, I hope you don't
think that I... I don't know you if you're setting here. But, Ramsey, Brother Ramsey, how many
remembers Brother Ramsey up here at the church of God? Sure, you do, wonderful little man. And
he used to come to my house and we'd talk together, and we'd set there and weep and hold one
another's hands; a real Christian.
One day I went into it down there, just come from overseas in a meeting, had my car checked up,
Brother Ramsey said, "What can I do for you, Billy?"
I said, "Check her up, Brother Ramsey. Change the oil."
"Okay," he said, "fine, dandy." Said, "You have a nice meeting?"
I said, "Oh, Brother Ramsey, it was wonderful." I said, "I wish you could go with me sometime.
Why don't you go with me?"
He said, "I don't serve the Lord no more, Billy."
I looked around, I said, "What'd you say?"
He just kind of said, "I don't serve Him no more," walked away.
I thought, "Oh, he's just going on." I went on, went somewhere.
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Come back and got in my car. I come up home. I begin to think about that, "I don't serve the Lord
no more."
The Lord put it on my heart to go back and ask him again. So, I said, "Meda, just hold the fort."
And I got in, and got in my car and went back down, stopped again, went into Vorgang's. I said,
"Brother Ramsey, I want to ask you a question."
Said, "All right, Billy, what is it?"
I said, "You said, a while ago, you don't serve the Lord no more. You was just teasing me, wasn't
you?"
He said, "No."
I said, "Brother Ramsey, you--you don't mean that."
He said, "Yes."
I said, "Don't you love Him?"
He said, "If I loved Him, I'd serve Him. Wouldn't I, Billy?" walked away.
I thought. "Say, Brother Ramsey!"
Said, "I don't want to talk no more about it."
I went home, went in the room, shut the door. And, oh, you know how you feel real heavy, like
you'd taken the cookies away from a baby or something, you know. I--I thought, "What? It can't be.
Surely something has happened to Brother Ramsey."
And there's a little colored boy, named Jimmy, he comes here to church. Got one leg, you know;
he limps, kind of. I forget his name, works down there at Vorgang's, runs a wrecker. He met me,
and he said, "You know, Rev. Branham," he said, "I don't know about this here Dr. Ramsey
around here." He said, "I told him, the other day, said, 'We all was scared to even open our mouth
around here.' Said, 'You was a godly man.' But," said, "He took his preacher's license and went
over to the basket and tore them apart, and throwed them in the basket, said, 'I don't want nothing
to do with it no more.'"
He said, "Hey, mister!" Said, "You oughtn't to do that."
He said, "Oh, Jim, I'm through serving the Lord."
So he went on, said, "You don't mean that."
And said, "Then he told me, said he's coming down to grind his valves, on Labor Day," I believe it
was. "And he said, 'Now, I want you to come help me, Jim.'"
He said, "I'll help you after I come from church, but first I is going to church."
Said he went back down, "And Mr. Ramsey was grinding the valves on his car. He said, 'Jimmy,
slip over the river. The saloons is closed here. Slip over the river and get me a case of beer.'"
He said, "Mr. Ramsey, I has been guilty of many things, but never will I be guilty of getting a
servant of the Lord a case of beer." He said, "No, sir. I'll never do that."
And he said, "Well, go on. Get it, Jim."
He said, "Mr. Ramsey, I grind your valves. But if you get any beer, you'll go get it yourself." He
said, "I ain't going to never get a servant of the Lord anything like that."
So Ramsey jumped in Jimmy's car, took over the river; come back, half tead up, with a case of
beer, drinking it.
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He started going down, and got sick. See? God couldn't speak to him. I warned him, I done
everything I could. Brother Smith went to him and warned him. Everybody tried to do everything
they could for him. Still, he just shook his head. What happened? He took sick and died. That
showed that he was a saved man. If God could not make him... bring him in obedience, He will
have to take him out of the earth and bring him Home. That's exactly what the Bible said. That's
what the Bible promises. If you won't stand correction, you've got to come on Home.
So God cannot lose you after He's saved you, but He can shorten your days here, and make you
pay for every sin you've done. So, if you sin, you're going to have to pay for what you've done.
Just remember that.
Now, now the Lord be with you. I believe, tonight, that Brother Ramsey was saved. Absolutely, I
believe it. But he just wouldn't obey God, and when he wouldn't obey God, God had to bring him
home. That's the only thing to do, because, what was it? "He would bring reproach and disgrace to
the Blood wherewith he was sanctified with." That right? "And count the covenant an unholy thing,"
if that isn't just exactly what this Hebrew letter said. See? It would be impossible for him to be lost,
but he would bring shame and disgrace, so God would have to take him off the earth and bring
him Home. That's exactly what had taken place.
Now may the Lord bless, while we bow our heads just a moment for prayer.
Now, most holy and gracious Father, we are indeed grateful to Thee for the promise that we have,
that You will never leave us or forsake us. You've promised You'd go with us through life, and in
death You'd be near us. You promised us that we had Eternal Life. You gave It to us freely. We
can never lose It. "All that comes to Me, has Eternal Life." And if it's Eternal Life, It has no end,
and You promised to raise us up in the last day. To this we are very grateful. We are thankful that
Your Word teaches us this. It gives us a sure hope. It makes us know that our Father is Love. He
loves us, and He chose us. You said, "You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you and
ordained you." And I thank Thee, Father, that Thou has done so. And many are setting here,
tonight, and who has been ordained to Eternal Life, and has received Jesus Christ as their
personal Saviour. And the fruits of the Spirit follow their life: gentle, meek, humble, love, joy,
peace, long-suffering, goodness. We're thankful for those.
And we pray, Father, that if there be some in here, tonight, who doesn't have those fruits to
accompany them, but they're resting upon some fantastic, because they got worked up, one day,
because they got emotionally, they felt good, they may have shouted, they might have done many
things. But, Father, if they haven't got the fruit of the Spirit, that keeps them day by day in constant
love, forgiving their enemies, making right their wrongs, and living peaceful and loving, and sweet
and kind to one another, and a zeal for the Church, a love for Christ and for His children, O Eternal
God, forgive them. Though they be members of the church, members of the earthly body, may
they go now and lay aside those carnal, dead works, and press on to the perfection. Grant it, Lord.
May they come to the perfect One and receive Him as their propitiation for their sins, that He might
stand as a perfect sacrifice for a guilty man and a guilty woman. And supply them with His grace of
love and peace, until they come into the Presence of God to live forever. Grant it, Father.
While we have our heads bowed:
If there be such a one that would like to swap a carnal life of ordinances, of baptisms, of
sensations, of little carnal things like that, for a real heart full of real love, that--that you could walk
up to your bitterest enemy, put your arms around him and say, "Brother, I'll pray for you. I love
you." If you'd like to swap that experience of carnal things for a real experience of love, would you
raise your hand to God? And say, "God, take me tonight, and make me what I should be." I'll pray
for you, right from the pulpit here. Would you desire prayer? Raise your hands.
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God bless you back there, sir. God bless you, brother. Someone else? God bless you, sir. "I have
been in the church for years." God bless you, sir. God bless you here, brother. God bless you back
there, little lady. "I will ask God to make me peaceful." Do you... Are you real raging? Are you out
of sorts? Do you doubt? Do you toss about? Do you wonder whether It's really right or not? When
you come to Christ, do you come with a full assurance, a heart full of love? Do you walk up to Him
without one fear, saying, "I know He's my Father"?
And there's no condemnation, you've passed from death unto Life. You know it. And you notice
your life: you're loving, you're forgiving, you're gentle, you're peaceful, you're meek. All these fruits
of the Spirit accompany your life, day by day. And as soon as you do anything wrong, "Oh, my."
Just as soon as it come to your mind, "you've done wrong," quickly you make it right, right then.
Don't wait another minute, go right then and make it right. If you don't, well, you don't have the
Spirit of Christ. You might be a good woman, you might be a good man, you might be well thought
of in the church, you might be well thought of in the neighborhood, but have you went on to that
perfection, to that place to where you're wholly trusting in Christ? And by this, give you the seal.
"Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteous. Then God give him the seal of
circumcision, as a confirmation."
Now you say, "I believe God. I made a confession." But did God give you the seal of the Holy
Spirit, back on your life, of love, joy, fruits of the Spirit, to prove that you've been saved? If He
hasn't done that, then He hasn't recognized your faith yet. You've just made a confession. He
hasn't accepted it, there is something wrong. Would you like to receive Him, then? Raise your
hand, if there's someone else, before we pray.
God bless you, young lady. God bless you back there, too. God bless you. All right. Someone
else, just before we pray? All right. God bless you, back there, sister. God bless you, brother. God
bless you, brother. God bless you, my brother. That's right. Some ten, fifteen hands has been up.
Now let's pray.
Blessed Lord, at their seat, they're finding an altar. It's at their seat, where they're sitting now, that
You spoke to their hearts, that they're "wrong." It's at their seats that You've put a desire in their
heart, that they "long to be more like Jesus."
They want their life changed. They want to be meek and humble. They want to be gentle and full
of patience. They want to be long-suffering, forbearing. They want to be so Christian-like, so
Christ-like, till the world will say, as they go down the street, "That man is really a Christian. That
woman is really a Christian. Oh, they're the most gentle, meekest, sweetest people!"
Grant it, Lord, that they will receive that experience, tonight. And may they never rest upon their
church ability, upon their affiliations with any church, any denomination; or neither upon their
emotions, upon any fantastic, such as emotionally, something that's happened; may they shouted,
spoke in tongues, or something else.
O Eternal God, let them not try to trust to get to Heaven on that, for we seen it so many times
miserably fail. And You said it would fail, "Whether it's tongues, it shall cease! Where there's
prophecy, it shall vanish. Where there's knowledge, it shall vanish. Oh, all these things, or even
gifts, miracles of healing, they shall all be done away with. Only that Divine love shall last."
God, create that in their heart, and let them know that that is the Spirit that brings forth the fruits.
Do it just now, Lord, while we wait on Thee, for we ask it in Jesus' Name. Amen.
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[Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.] Balls of fire flying, and to see turtledoves going back and forth through
the building, to see Christ come in with thorns in His hands, and in His... Oh, did you know that's
the antichrist setup? He said, "When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, your
redemption is drawing nigh." Then that's the reason I like to press every minute I can to the
church, and get you solid. Brother Neville may not always be with us. I believe Brother Neville to
be a good, sound Gospel teacher. We don't know what will wind its way into this pulpit, and, when
it does get here, "My sheep know My Voice." Stay with that Word. Don't you never leave that
Word. You stay right with It. You stand fast in the liberty where Christ has made you free. Be not
entangled in all those yokes of bondage and so forth. Stand fast, and stand free. God will bless
you. We have nothing in the world to fear about.
You're always wondering. I notice people come to be prayed for, they'll sidle into the line. Next
time they see a healing campaign, they'll go into this line, they'll go into this line. I don't condemn
them. They're trying to find relief, but they're going the wrong way. You're doing vice versa, what
God said not to do. See? When you walk up boldly to the Throne of grace, and believe, that, "You
asked, you shall receive." Stay with It. That's the way it's done; not just trot from mission to
mission, from church to church, from campaign to campaign.
Why, they made these healing campaigns like a bunch of nonsense. Certainly, they have. It's
become to a place where, intelligent people, they look around and they wonder what it's all about.
There, God don't want those things. Healing don't have to be in campaigns. Healing should be in
every local church, all these gifts operating. But don't go to seed on those gifts. Don't pay any
attention to the gift. If God wants to use you for something, He will do it. But, look after the Giver.
Martin Luther, once after speaking in tongues, he was asked why he didn't preach it, he said, "If I
preached that, my people will go after the gift instead of the Giver." That's right.
Moody, one time, speaking, and begin, when he was preaching so under inspiration, he spoke in
tongues. He said, "God, forgive me for muttering foolish words." Certainly. See? And they had
those things. We believe those things, but they must be put in their place. And they must not be
set as evidences.
There's not one thing left in the Bible, as "evidence of the Holy Ghost," only the fruits of the Spirit.
Find out any place that Jesus said so. Yes, sir. The evidence of the Holy Ghost is the fruit of your
Spirit. Jesus said so, "By their fruit you shall know them." "And the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,
peace, long-suffering, goodness, peace, gentleness, meekness. And the fruit of the enemy is
enmity, hatred, malice, strife, and so forth; that's the fruit of the enemy." So, you can judge by the
way you're living, where you're standing with God. If your whole heart is in love with Him, and you
love Him and are gentle, and live with Him daily, you know you've passed from death unto Life. If it
isn't, and you're otherwise, you're just impersonating a Christian. That's right. Which, all carnal
impersonations will certainly be exposed. We know that.
So, don't live that kind of a life, you don't have to. Why would you accept a substitute, when the
whole skies above are full of the good and the real? Certainly. Let me take God, that's what I want.
Amen.
Now, did anybody come to be prayed for? If you did, raise your hand. We had the healing service
this morning. I suppose then... This lady here? All right, sister, would you come forward then? And
our brother, elder, here, come now for the anointing.
... shine on me;
Oh, shine on me, Lord, shine on me,
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Let the Light from the lighthouse shine on me.
Isn't He wonderful? Let's just bow our heads, real quietly now. And, Shine On Me, again. Now,
come on now, everybody, that, "Shine..." Just worship Him in your soul now, see, getting quiet.
The healing service is coming on. The message is over. Let's worship.
Let the Light from the lighthouse shine on me;
Oh, shine on me, Lord, shine on me.
Let the Light from the lighthouse shine on me.
Just to be like Jesus, to be like Jesus,
Oh, on earth I long to be like Him;
All through life's journey from earth to Glory,
I only ask to be like Him.
We'll walk in the Light, such a beautiful Light,
Come where the dewdrops of mercy are bright;
Shine all around us, by day and by night,
Jesus, the Light of the world.
All ye saints of Light proclaim,
Jesus, the Light of the world,
Then the bells of Heaven will ring,
Jesus, the Light of...
Receive us, Lord, as we worship Thee.
We'll walk in the Light, beautiful Light,
Come where the dewdrops of mercy are bright;
Shine all around us by day and by night,
Jesus the Light of the world.
Don't you just love that scouring out? You feel good? Raise your hand, tell. There's something
about those old-fashioned songs, the old-time hymn, I'd rather have them than all these new
worldly songs put in, and in Christian churches. I like that old time, I like.
Jesus, keep me near the cross, (My!)
There a precious fountain,
Free to all, a healing stream,
Flows from Calvary fountain.
In the cross, in the cross,
Oh, be my glory ever;
Till my raptured soul shall find
Rest beyond the river.
I could go out of the world pretty easy when that's being sang. Couldn't you? [Congregation says,
"Amen."--Ed.] How wonderful! Has it all settled? You know, I'm glad I done settled it all up. Aren't
you? ["Amen."] The old account is all settled, long time ago. I told Him, "Lord, I don't want any
trouble down at the river. I--I want to be sure now." I want to know Him. I want to know Him.
There's a big, dark pit set before every one of us. We're headed that way. Every time our heart
beats, we're closer and closer. But when I get there, I don't want to squirm like a coward, I want to
wrap myself in the robes of His righteousness, enter into it, knowing this, that, "I know Him in the
power of His resurrection." That, when He calls, I'll come out from among the dead. My!
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My Faith Looks Up To Thee, let's sing it now.
My faith looks up to Thee,
Thou Lamb of Calvary,
O Saviour Divine.
Now hear me while I pray,
Take all my sins away,
Nor let me ever stray
From Thee aside.
Now, great Teacher, as Thou has taught us in Thy most marvelous Word, our hearts just quiver,
with rapturing grace, to know that we've passed from death unto Life. Is all through the goodness
of our Lord Jesus, who called us, and has washed us in His Blood, and has presented us before
the Throne of God, faultless, blameless, for He took our sins. We have no sin. "God laid the
iniquity of us all upon Him, and He was wounded for our transgressions." Oh, how we love Him,
the great Lamb of God!
And we pray, Father, that You'll give us utterance, expressions, that we can tell others; that they
might know Him, too, and love Him, for He loves them. Give us this grace.
And thank You, Father, for those new-born babies that just come into the kingdom of God. May
they find a good church home somewhere, and there serve You until death liberates them from
this old body of rack pains and aches, and present them before Him, faultless, blameless, in the
age to come, with Eternal Life. For we ask it in His Name. Amen.
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HEBREWS CHAPTER SIX AND SEVEN
Branham Tabernacle
Good morning, friends. It's a privilege to be here. And--and to fulfill this great introduction from our
pastor would certainly take a real life, wouldn't it? So we're giving praise to the Lord for all of His
great healing powers and His mercies that He has given to us down through the years.
505a
Now I have a few announcements to make. One, we, Brother Woods and Brother
Roberson, and we want to thank you all for praying for us, for a safe trip. Had a wonderful time;
just gone four and a half days, I believe, and back again safely. The Lord did bless us.
Now, we're announcing that the Brother Graham Snelling, his revival, is continuing on, up at the-the end of Brigham Avenue, at the... in the city here. And this coming Wednesday night... I want to
go away tomorrow, after a funeral service for one I'll announce in a few moments. We'll let you
know Wednesday night. We want to go in a delegation, all, up to visit Brother Graham before he
closes his service up there. And we'll try to get the entire church together, if we can, and go as a
delegation to meet, to be with Brother Graham in one of his services.
And, now, this afternoon at--at the undertaker's establishment at Charlestown, is a--a Mrs. Colvin,
that once come to the church here many years ago, seventy-four years old, left this life yesterday
to go to be with the Lord Jesus. And her funeral is to be preached Monday, by Rev. Mr. McKinny,
used to, formerly, the pastor of the Methodist church at--at Port Fulton for many years, which was
a personal friend of theirs. And I'm to assist him, Monday, at, I believe it's one-thirty, at the--at the
chapel at Charlestown, Indiana. And all of you friends of the Colvin family would, I know, would
appreciate now just a little courage or to... little handshake. For we all know what that is, we
who've been down through those, in the valleys, ourselves, and know what it means to lose a
friend. And so we... She's laying in the--in the chapel now, at Charlestown, Indiana. If you go up
this afternoon, why, it would be appreciated by the Colvin family, I'm sure. Many of their people
comes here to the tabernacle yet. I've married, buried, baptized, pretty near, their family, through.
And so Mr. Grayson, that used to be our neighbor right here, is the undertaker up there.
And then this, tonight, the Lord willing, where we leave off this morning, we'll try to pick up tonight,
in this great study that we're studying in now. And then I think that was the announcements, as far
as--as I--I know of. And this coming Wednesday night, now, we'll announce the night that we're
going up to be with Brother Graham.
And we welcome all the strangers in our gates. And we're happy to have you here this morning,
and pray that God will exceedingly, abundantly, bless you today for this gathering.
Brother Cox has just told me that the public-addressing outfit wasn't working too well at the time.
It's perhaps, maybe according to the weather, lot of dampness in the speakers there. And they're
not too good, to begin with, so that may be the cause.
As I see a sister setting here that I know, Sister Arganbright. I... This is not nice and--and
etiquettes, to ask this, but have you heard from Brother Arganbright since he's been over. I am
very interested in hearing from him as soon as we can. He's in Switzerland and Germany, in a
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meeting over there with Brother Tommy Hicks and Paul Cain. If you ever hear, Sister Ruth, you let
me know right away, just quick as you can.
Now, the little tabernacle has no membership, but we have fellowship. We have no creed but
Christ, no law but love, no book but the Bible. That's the only Book that we know of, and the only
thing that we know, as we have. As the Blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sins, we have
fellowship one with the other, everybody.
I was noticing, this morning, to some of you people might have heard the brother praying. That
was a Catholic, so, or formerly a Catholic. And we have all different types of people come here.
Just had the privilege, a few moments ago, to shake the hand of a Mennonite brother who is
setting in here. And from the Mennonites, from the Methodists, from the Baptists, and the Catholic,
or whosoever will, let them come. And we fellowship together around the blessings of God's Word.
Setting present is Jehovah Witness and different types of the people, saw different denominations.
I used to love (well, I do yet) the West. I love horses and cattle. I was just raised on a farm, and I-I love it. And we used to have the round up, and I'd go with them. And we had a drift fence. I don't
know whether you Eastern people know what a drift fence, is or not. It's when you put the cattle
into the--the forest, they have a fence to keep them from drifting what they called, come back
down to the ranches. They'd eat up the grass, where they're raising the grass for the winter feed.
And then up in the mountain, they also have drift fences, where they separate so many females
and male, and so forth. It's called a drift fence. But the main drift fence is where the ranger stands
when the cattle are going through.
And now I've sat there, a many day, in my saddle, and watched them as the cattle would go
through. There was all different kinds of brands went in. There was some called the "Diamond."
And some of them called the "Bar X." And some... Ours was the "Tripod," something like a Boy
Scout emblem. The next fellow, below it, was a "turkey track" on the horse. And they had all
different kinds of brands, to--to know their cattle when they drove them out.
Now, the ranger wasn't so interested in what brand they had, but here's what, the ranger was
interested to watch a tag in their ear. Everything that went in there, no matter what brand it was,
had to be a thoroughbred Hereford. It could not go in there unless it was a Hereford. Had to be
registered stock or it couldn't get through.
I think, on that day when the Lord comes, He's not going to pay any attention to what brand we're
wearing, but if we're all born-again Christians. That's right. That's the stock of Christ. The Blood
test is going to prove us, we're all Christians. And if we're going to all be that way there, we might
as well be that way here. Don't you think so? That's the way, we appreciate all fellowship from all
different churches.
Now we're studying in this blessed Book of Hebrews. One brother has enjoyed it so much till he's
taken the tapes and he's making a book of lectures on this.
Now we're going to come, pretty soon, to the 11th chapter. We expect to spend the winter on that,
on the 11th chapter. For each one of those characters, we wish to go back through the Book and
tie the entire Scripture together. I was going to do it. I do in portion, on some of this, of these
former chapters, to get the whole Book tied together. For, you see, Scripture must prove Scripture.
Therefore, if there's any contradiction, that anyone would think that the Scriptures contradict each
other, that's an error. There is no Scripture contradicts a Scripture. The--the contradiction is where
that maybe It contradicts our way of looking at It, but It doesn't contradict Itself. I've been in the
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ministry, going on twenty-six years now, and I have never, one time, found one thing in the Bible
that contradict anything else was written in the Bible. And I--I just know it isn't there.
And today we are studying in one of the most blessed chapters of the Hebrews, the 7th chapter.
And there's anyone doesn't have a Bible, would like to follow us in the readings, we'd be glad to
bring you a Bible if you'd just raise your hand. I'll have some of the elders, someone, come here
and get some. Someone are raising their hands back there. And thank you, brother. And if you
want a Bible, just raise your hand, and they'll bring it to you.
Now, the only way that a church can be built, the only way that a man can have Faith, is not by
his denomination, not by his affiliation. But his Faith rests not upon the theology of some man's
ideas, 'cause it's, more or less, altogether man. But the only way Faith can find it's solemn resting
place, is upon the immovable and unchangeable Word of God. "Faith cometh by hearing, hearing
the Word." That's how it takes. And--and when Faith is heard and accepted, it's forever settled.
Nothing no more can ever move it, no matter what comes or goes. Nothing can ever change that
Faith. Think of that. You're anchored, and you no more change, for time and Eternity. You're
anchored forever, "For God, by one sacrifice, has perfected forever those that are sanctified, or
called."
And Faith has such a great place in the Christian, the believer's life, that it can take its stand by
the side of a muddy grave or over a casket, where a precious baby or a sweetheart has passed
from this life to the beyond. And with a stern look of the eagle eye, can look to Him who said, "I am
the resurrection and the Life." And they forget the things that's in the past. They press on to the
mark of the high calling.
I'm so glad that God has provided such, and has made it a free gift to all. That's what churches
are to be. Churches doesn't mean denominations or organizations; it means, "Groups of people, of
believers, who is gathered together under the fellowship of the Word."
And in this marvelous teaching here of Saint Paul, in the backgrounds, in the former chapters, he
has specifically been dealing with the supreme Deity of the Lord Jesus and who He was. Christ
was God, made so that men could feel Him and touch Him, and--and fellowship with Him. Christ,
the Lord Jesus, was the body that God dwelt in, "God was made flesh and dwelt among us." First
Timothy 3:16, "Without controversy great is the mystery of godliness, for God was manifested in
flesh."
The Great Jehovah came down and was made tangible, by living in the body of His Own Son,
declaring and reconciling the world to Himself. God was nothing... Christ was nothing short of God,
and--and God was nothing short of Christ. The two together made the Godhead bodily, made a
little lower than Angels, so that He could suffer. Angels cannot suffer. Jesus was the tabernacle
that God dwelt in.
The Bible said, in the 7th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, that, "Tabernacles, and burnt
sacrifice and burnt-offerings Thou wouldst not, but a body has Thou prepared Me. Howbeit the
Most High dwelleth not in tabernacles made with hands, but a body has Thou prepared Me," that
in tabernacling or dwelling in a fellowship with man.
God permits, as soon as we're through with this chapter here, or through with this Book, we want
to go back and pick up the Book of Ruth and show in there that how God became kinfolks to us, to
reconcile the lost back to Himself by fellowshipping and becoming one of us. The Redeemer must
be kinfolks, and the only way that God could become kinfolks to us, is to become one of us. So,
He could not become an Angel and be kinfolks to man.
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Last evening when I was talking to the heart-broken son, my partner, of the mother that's just
passed away, said, "O Brother Bill, I guess she's an Angel tonight."
I said, "No, Earl. She'll never be an Angel. She's a woman, tonight, just as God made her, and will
always be, never a Angel." God made Angels. He never made men become Angels. He made
Angels and men. So men will never be Angels, and Angels will never be men. God made them
different.
Now, and in Christ becoming flesh to redeem out of that great beyond where man had fell, and
that immortality by sin had come down, God came down and taken on the form of a shape of a
man, and became kinfolks to us, that He might bear our sins and our death.
And in one of the illustrations we were giving, in the previous lessons; just a little background so
the newcomer would understand. God, on His road up to Calvary. As the sting of death was upon
Him, and was buzzing around Him, and finally it stung Him till He died. He died till the sun quit
shining. He died until the moon and the stars would not give their light.
Or, how He had to do that, to anchor the stinger of death! If He had been an immortal person, if
he had been in the theophany, or been in the spirit, death has no control of that. It had to become
flesh, that He could take the stinger of death. But when a bee or an insect who stings, once stings
deep, he'll never sting again. He leaves his stinger in the flesh. And that's what Christ be-... or God
became. Christ dwelt in flesh, that He might anchor in His Own flesh the stinger of death. And
when death pulled away from Him at the cross, it left its stinger, it could not sting a believer
anymore. It can make a humming noise, it can make a buzz and a threat, but it cannot sting. It has
no stinger.
The great Saint Paul, on his death march, screamed and said, "O death, where is your sting? And
grave, where is your victory? But thanks be to God who has done give us the victory through our
Lord Jesus Christ, for both death and grave has lost its power."
Now, then, last Sunday we taken, "Leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ," in the 6th
chapter, we read this, "let us go on to perfection." And we found out that the people today in many
churches, along with the Branham tabernacle and different ones, we lay too much on studying
about the principles of Christ: He was the Son of Abraham, He was the son of--of so-and-so, and
on back, the geneologies. But the Bible said, "Let us lay aside those things, and go on to
perfection."
First you must know the doctrine, and then you must know all these things; then let's lay them
aside, He said, of resurrection of the dead, laying on of hands, baptisms, and all those dead
articles of God. Yet, they--they have no Life in them. But the church today just goes to those
things, "Oh, we believe in the Deity of Christ." Yes. Sure. "We believe in water baptism." Yes.
Sure. "Laying on of hands."
Paul said, "We'll do all this if God permits. But in the face of all of that, let's lay it aside now, and
go on to perfection."
Now, the church cannot be perfected through organizations. It gets further away from God, all the
time, or farther away from each other. We draw barriers, we separate ourselves, seemingly not
having the Faith. But then when we leave those principles of doctrine, if we move on to perfection,
then those little things become of not much use.
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We go into a relationship, and we find out that the only way that we can be perfected is to be in
Christ. And we find out then, by the teachings of the Bible, that how we get into Christ; not by
water baptism, not by laying on of hands, not by teaching. "But by one Spirit we are all baptized
into one Body and become perfected through His suffering." Then, we look different. We think
different. We act different. We live different. Not because it's a duty or we belong to church, but
because of "the love that God has shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost," that makes us
fellow citizens of the Kingdom of God, then there is no denomination or barriers in that. We're all
one great Body.
Now we're ready to enter in upon the morning lesson, in a few moments. One more thing I'd like
to get to here, that is, that, Paul speaking in the Book, of the 7th... or the 6th chapter, we find out
here that we're made perfect in Christ. Then in the 13th verse of the 6th chapter, just a little
background.
For when God made promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no greater, he sware by
himself,
God swore by Himself, because He could not swear by anyone greater.
Now we want to go back. Let's get at Galatians just a few moments. Turn back to the Book of
Galatians, and get Galatians 3:16. And we'll read here just a moment, of what He swore by.
Now to Abraham and his seed were the promise made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many;
but as of one,... to the seed, which is Christ.
Now if you'll notice, reading that close now, as you read.
... to Abraham and his seed (singular) were the promises (plural) made.
"Abraham and his Seed." Now, the Seed of Abraham was one, which was Christ; in prefigure,
Isaac.
But Abraham had many children. He had one before he had Isaac, which was showing the slipping
up of the unbelief of Sarah who wanted Hannah to bring the child, thinking that she was too old,
and God to bypass and make some other way from the way that He had promised to do it.
But God keeps His promise. No matter how unreasonable it may seem, God is obligated to His
promise. And Sarah thought that maybe she could have Hannah... or Hagar, rather, her maid, to
give birth to a baby through Abraham, and she would take it. And that became Ishmael, which was
a thorn in the flesh, from then until now. Still a thorn in the flesh, for out of there come the Arabs,
and they've always been that way.
Now, any time that you disbelieve the naked Word of God and adopt some other way, it'll be a
thorn in your flesh from there on. You take just what God said. If He said It, that's just what He
means. Oh, blessed be His Name! Just take His Word.
No matter what tries to bypass, say, "Well, It really doesn't mean That." It means just what It says,
when God makes a promise.
Now if we'll notice closely.
... Abraham and his seed were the promises...
One was the Seed, singular, and the other was promises. There's more than one promise, and
more than one person that's included in the Seed of Abraham. See? There's one Seed, but many
people of this Seed. See? They were not just Abraham alone, or to Isaac alone. But the... It was to
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all the Seed of Abraham. The promises was made to each and every individual seed of that Seed.
You get it? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.]
"Therefore, we, being dead in Christ, according to the Scriptures, we take on Abraham's Seed
and are heirs according to the promise." Not by joining church, or forming of the dead articles, or-or so forth. But by being born of the Spirit of Christ, we are Abraham's Seed, and are joint heirs
with Him in the Kingdom.
Then we go on, to read, then, just a little further now, "God making an oath." Now the 17th verse
of the 6th chapter.
Wherein God, willing more abundantly...
... God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel,
confirmed it with an oath:
Oh, let's just rest now a few minutes. "God more willing." Not that He had to, but to make this a
sure thing.
Now, we've already found that God became flesh, dwelt among us, how that He manifested
Hisself towards the world. When He found the woman in adultery, said, "I don't. I don't condemn
you. Go, sin no more." When He found the sick, He acted just the way He would have to act, for
He was God, and He--He healed the sick. He raised the dead. He forgave the sins. No matter how
they was, and how many, and how backslidden, He forgive them, anyhow, if they were willing to
come and ask.
Now notice. If God acted any one time on a certain circumstance, and if that same circumstance
arise again, He's got to act the second time like He did the first time or He's unjust. See? No
matter how bad you are in sin, how stooped you may become, He's got to act to you like He did
that fallen woman or He acted wrong then. God's behavior is His Person, and what He is in His
behavior declares His Person.
And that's the way you are, in your behavior of life, tells what you are. As we had and went
through, a lesson or two ago, the Methodist people wanted to declare, "When you shout, you got
It." The Pentecostal says, "When you spoke with tongues, you've got It." The Shaker said, "When
you shake, you got It," the Pennsylvania Shakers. And we find out that they're all wrong. Your life
declares It. Your person declares what you are. A man is known by his works, and whatever your
life is.
You've heard the old story, "Your life speaks so loud, I can't hear your words." So whatever you
are, you are. The life that you live shows what kind of a spirit is in you.
And then you may impersonate the wrong thing... or impersonate the right thing, may I say. You
may impersonate a Christian. But there will, by-and-by, come a time when the strain will be put on,
then it'll show what you are. A chain is its strongest at its weakest link.
When Christ the Son of God was put to the test, it showed what He was. Sure. When you're put to
the test, it'll prove what you are. Your life always reflects what's on the inside of you. By-and-by,
be sure your sins don't find you out. And that's what we're trying to say.
Jesus said, in Saint John 5:24, "He that heareth," not he that shaketh, he that speaketh. He that...
"He that heareth My Word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, has Eternal Life, and shall never
come to the judgment; but is passed from death unto Life."
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It's your faith. And your faith, confessed by your lips, make manifest to the people that can hear,
but you life is open before all. So, no matter how much you try to act this and do this, it'll never
work. It's got to be in you. That's the real kernel of the whole story. Your personal faith in the
resurrected Christ, as your Saviour; that He's at the right hand of God, acting in your place this
morning, as you're acting in His place down here as a witness. A witness is to act instead of
somebody, stand for you as a witness. And as your life reflects here what your testimony is in
Christ, it reflects there and it reflects here. And He is up there, as what He is for you, reflects both
there and here. So you are... By your faith, are you saved, and that alone. So, sensations,
emotions, feelings, anything, has no place at all in It. Now, not...
Now, don't think wrong, that I do not believe in these emotions. Certainly. But what we're on now,
trying to drill to this people of this day, is not emotions. The Devil has took those things and went
wild with the people, letting them base their Eternal destination upon an emotion. Shouting,
speaking with tongue, going to church every Sunday, acting like a Christian, that won't have one
bearing at that day. "Except a man is born again." And your life reflects what you are on the inside,
see, not your emotions.
You could have blood in your hands, you could speak with tongues, you could heal the sick, you
could move mountains with your faith, and you are nothing yet. First Corinthians 13. See? It's got
to be something happened by a Birth which comes from God, and God brings the new Birth into
you, and gives you a part of Himself. Then those things are. You are a new creation. "I give unto
them Eternal."
We went through the word "Eternal." Forever is "a space of time." Eternity is forever, forever and
forever, but there's only one Eternity. And we find out that you receive Eternal Life, and the word in
the Greek is Zoe, which means "God's Life." And you receive part of God's Life, which makes you
a spiritual son of God, and you're just as everlasting as God is everlasting. You have no end, no
place to stop, because you had no place to begin. Anything has a beginning has an end, and that
without a beginning has no end.
How we love that precious Word! How the Christian should be established in the Faith that was
once delivered to the saints, and not be tossed about, place to place, and joining different
churches. Any church you want to belong to is all right, as long as you're a Christian. But first put
the first thing, which is that Birth that makes you kinfolks to God, as God became kinfolks with you.
He become kinfolks, that he might raise you up. Before He could raise you up, He has to give you
Eternal Life. Then God had to become kinfolks, to take death, to raise you up. Then you have to
become kinfolks to Him, in order to go in the resurrection. You see what it is? It's just a swap. God
became you, that you might become God. See? God became a part of you, flesh, that you might
by His grace become a part of Him, that's all, to have Eternal Life.
Just a beautiful picture, and, oh, we love it.
Now, God, willing more abundantly...
Didn't have to, but He was willing to. I'm so glad of that, aren't you, that our God is willing? Look.
What if He--what if He wasn't long-suffering? What is the fruit of the Spirit? Love, joy, faith, peace,
long-suffering. That's a part of God that's in you. And can forbearance, forbearing one another's
burdens. Forgiving one another, as God for Christ's sake forgive you. The Spirit of God in you
makes you that way. And then when God was here on earth and became you, became sin, that
Him taking your sin, bore it for you and paid your penalty for it. God is long-suffering, forbearing
our burdens.
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And then He's a good God. If you want to, certain things your way, you know, God is good
enough to do that. He loves to--to make you happy. He wants to. He, He is love, and His great
love constrains Him to even step down sometime, to let you have the things that you want.
Look at Thomas, after the resurrection. Thomas wouldn't believe. Oh, he's got many children
today. But Thomas said, "No. No. I'll have to have some evidence. I'll have to put my hands in His
side, and in His... my fingers over here in His hands, before I will believe It. I, I don't care what you
say." See, he was all out of the Scripture order, right then. You're supposed to believe It. So he
said, "I have to have some sort of evidence, to prove It."
And Jesus appeared, He's good, "Come on, Thomas, if that's what you want, well, here you are.
You can have it."
That's the way we are. We say, "Lord, I got to speak with tongues. I--I got to shout. I got..."
"Oh, go ahead, I'll let you have it." He is good.
So he stuck his hands in His side, then he said, "Oh, it's my Lord and my God."
He said, "Now, Thomas, you believe since you seen. But how much greater is their reward who
has no evidence and yet believes It!" There you are. That's where we must get to. "How much
greater is their reward who seen nothing but yet believe It." It's an act of faith, that we accept It.
Now, I believe signs following the believers, but let's put first things first. You can have the signs,
without This. Paul said you could. He said, "I could speak with tongue like both men and Angels;
I'm nothing. I can move mountains by my faith; I am nothing. I could understand the Bible, in such
a way I could know all the mysteries of God; I'm nothing." See, that's gifts of the Holy Spirit,
without the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is God. God is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, patience. That's the
Spirit of God. That's what God raises up in the last days, through that Spirit.
Now, "Not willing..."
... God, more willing abundantly to show unto the heirs of the promise...
... God, more willing... to show... the heirs...
Who is the heirs? "We, being dead in Christ, take on Abraham's Seed, and are heirs." Oh, does
that soak in? We are heirs of the Kingdom of God, through a sworn promise. God didn't have to
swear. His Word is perfect. But He swore, too, by Himself, for there was no one greater.
As we read on, just a moment, listen.
... the promise of immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath:
"Immutability," the unchangeable. God cannot change. He has to remain the same. And if God
healed one sick person, He can never change His attitude. God forgive one sinner, one prostitute,
He can never change His attitude. The immutability, the unchanging of God's Word. God said, in
one place, "I'm the Lord who heals all thy diseases." He has to stay with It, for He's infinite. He
knowed to the end from the beginning.
Now, I can say, "I'll do this." And the Bible said, we ought to say, "If the Lord is willing." Because,
I'm a mortal. I don't know. Sometimes I have to take my word back, but God can't take His back.
He is God.
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And He only requested one thing, "If thou canst believe." Oh, my! "If you can believe, all things
are possible." "If thou canst believe," that's all. "You, if you can," there's the question. But not the
question is on God's Word, because, His immutability, He cannot change. How wonderful!
Now listen, as we read on down.
That by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie,...
Impossible! An impossibility and immutability is practically the same word; can't change, can't
move. It has to stay the same forever. Can't be changed, the immutability and the impossibility.
And two, by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie,...
"We have two things?" Yes. First, His Word said He would do it. The second was His sworn oath
on it, He would do it. Oh, my!
What type of people should we be? Why should we be tossed about and run about, and taking
the things of the world and acting like this 1957 streamlined-model Christianity? We want to be the
old-fashioned type that takes God at His Word, and calls those things which were not, as though
they were. "If God said so, That settles it."
Abraham, who the promise was given, to him and his Seed, he called the things which were not,
as though they were. For, It was God's promise, knowing that God could not lie. He promised him
that, and he believed It. And as the years passed by, and the promise seemed to get further away,
to the natural eye, It become closer to Abraham.
Instead of being weak, and say, "'Well, maybe there is no such a thing as Divine healing. Maybe I
mis-spoke. Maybe there is no such a thing. Maybe I been wrong in all my conceptions." Then, that
shows one thing, that you haven't been born again. "For it's..."
We got through last Sunday, just a little further back in the chapter. "For it is impossible for a man
that's once tasted the Heavenly gifts and things, to fall away, again to renew himself to
repentance." Absolutely, totally impossible!
For he that is born of God does not and cannot commit sin; for the seed of God remains in him:
and he cannot sin,...
The Seed of God is the Word of God. "Faith cometh by hearing, hearing the Word, 'The Sacrifice
was made. It's all over.'"
Now, if you do wrong, God will make you pay for it. But if you do, you're wrong, you don't do it
willingly. 10th chapter, 47th verse, I believe, "For if we sin willfully after we received the knowledge
of the Truth." But after you're once Born, you have the Truth; not the knowledge of It, but you have
accepted the Truth and It's become a reality. And you're a child of God, for time and Eternity. God
swore that He would do it.
Jesus said, "He that heareth My Words, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting Life,
and I'll raise him up in the last day. He'll never come to the judgment. He's passed from death unto
Life." Now with a oath like that, "God willing that we should receive It."
Now watch what he says here, Paul speaking to the--the church.
... is impossible for God to lie, we ought to have a strong consolation,...
Not, "Well, if the Baptists don't treat me right, I'll go to the Methodists." See?
... we should have a strong consolation, who has fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set
before us:
Now in the reading of the last.
Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul,...
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The hope, the sworn oath of God, we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and
which entereth into that is within the veil;
Let's speak just a moment on "the veil." We didn't get it too good last Sunday night.
"In the veil." The veil is the flesh. The veil is what keeps us from seeing God, face to face, in this
church. The veil is what keeps us from seeing the Angels at their positions this morning, standing
by the seats. The veil is what keeps us from seeing Him. We are hid behind the veil, and that veil
is the flesh. We are sons and daughters of God, we're in the Presence of God, "The Angels of God
are encamped about those who fear Him." We're in the Presence of God, all the time. "I'll never
leave thee, neither will I ever forsake thee. I'll be with thee always, even unto the end." But the veil
is the flesh, that's what keeps us out of His Presence. But through the soul, the Spirit, by our faith
we know that He's watching us. He is standing by us. He's here now.
Down at Dothan, one morning, an old prophet was surrounded by an army and his servant went
out and said, "O father, the whole country is surrounded by the aliens."
And Elijah raised up, and said, "Why, son, there is more with us than there is with them."
Well, he batted his eyes and looked around. He could see nothing.
He said, "God, I would that You'd open his eyes, take away the veil." And when the veil dropped
from over his eyes, around that old prophet was chariots of fire, the mountains was on Fire with
Angels and chariots. There you are.
Oh, then Gehazi could say, "I--I understand now." See, the veil dropped. There is where the
hindrance.
Here it is. Hold it tight. The veil is what keeps us from living the way we should. Veil is what keeps
us from doing the things that we really want to do. And God became veiled in flesh, and the veil
was tore in two. And God became God again, and He raised up the veil that He hid Hisself in.
That's the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Proving to us that, in this veil that we're now hid in, by
faith we believe It and accept It. And when this veil is tore in two, I'll go in His Presence with this
assurance, knowing that, "I know Him in the power of His resurrection." At the Coming of the Lord
Jesus, this veil will be raised up again, in a perfected way, till I'll walk and talk with Him as my
Saviour and my God, when He takes the throne of David. And we'll live forever in this veil after it's
been perfected, but this veil has sin in it. It don't matter how... Don't never think of that glorified
body in this earth. It's got to die, same as your soul has to die, to be born again.
In the perfection, not eating meats, and doing this, and perfecting the body, you'll never have It.
And you've got to quit this, and do this, and do this, and do this, that's law. That's legalists. We
don't believe in the legal forms of salvation. We believe It that by grace are we saved. And it's not
you. You have nothing to do with it. It's God's election that does it. "No man can come to Me
except My Father draws him." That's right. And He... All Jesus come to do was to get these that
the Father foreknew; and predestinated them before the foundation of the world. They become
sons and daughters of God. Amen. "Not him that runneth, or him that willeth, but God that showeth
mercy." God that does it. You can't brag, at all. There's not a thing that you did. God, by grace,
saved you; not you, yourself. If you do, you got something to brag about. But you haven't nothing
to brag. All praises goes to Him. It's Him. Then He's give you the sure hope, "Swore by an oath,
the impossibility for His children to ever be lost."
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Now, they get whippings for doing wrong. You reap what you sow. You get that. Don't think now
you just going out and sin, get by with it. If you do, and got that attitude, it shows you've never
been born again. You get it? If you still got the desire in you, to do the wrong, then you're still
wrong. See? "For He has perfected, forever, those that is... And those beasts under the Old
Testament, under legal days, offered yearly, continually, could never take away sin." But when we
put our hands upon His head, and confess our sins and are born again of the Spirit of God, we
have no more desire of sin. Sin has passed from you. That's for time and Eternity.
You'll make mistakes. You'll fall. You'll willfully do wrong. You'll go out sometime and do things.
That don't mean that you're lost. That means that you're going to get correction.
My little boy, lots of times, my children, will do things. Your does, too. That you... They know that's
against your--your rules. And they know what to expect when they do it. They're going to get a
whipping for it, sometimes a good one. But it's still your child. Certainly.
It's impossible for that man to ever be gone again, that's once been born of Eternal Life. God is
not an Indian giver. "He that heareth My Words, and believeth on Him that sent Me, has
everlasting Life; and shall never come to the judgment, but is passed from death unto Life. I'll raise
him up at the last days." That's God's promise.
Now if you go on, say, "Oh, well, then I can do just..." I always do what I want to do. But if you're a
Christian, you don't want to do the thing that's wrong, 'cause the very Life in you, the very
foundation. If you want to do wrong, it shows the wrong thing is in here. "How can bitter and sweet
water come from the same fountain?"
So you been all mixed up, on some kind of emotion or fabulous something, another sensation.
Forget it. Go back to the altar and say, "God, take my old sinful life away, and put me in such a
condition that my whole desire..."
"He that's born of God does not commit sin." That's right. He has no desire to do so.
Certainly, the Devil will trap him here and there, but not willfully. The Bible said so. The Devil will
trap him, now and then. Sure, he will. He tried to throw a traps for our Lord Jesus. He did to
Moses, and caught him. He did to Peter, and caught him. He did to many. But Peter even denied
Him, but then he went and wept bitterly. There was something in him.
When the dove was turned out of the ark... The crow went out, he cawed around. He was in the
ark all right, but when he went out, his nature was different. He could eat all the old dead
carcasses he wanted to, and be satisfied. Why? He was a crow, to begin with. He was a
scavenger. He was no good. He was a hypocrite who set on the roost with the dove, just as big as
the dove was. He could fly anywhere the dove could fly. But he could eat good food just like the
dove eat. And then he could eat rotten food, what the dove couldn't eat. For, the dove is a different
mix-up. She's a different make. She's a dove. And the dove cannot digest rotten food, because it
don't have any gall.
And a man that's born of the Spirit of God becomes a dove of God, his nature, his change, his
makeup. Yes, sir. You put the spirit of the--of the dove in the crow, he'd never set on a dead
carcass. If he lit down by mistake, he'd certainly get away quick. He couldn't stand it. And a man
that's born of the Spirit of God, don't in-tolerate. He might light in a barroom sometime, but he'll get
out of there quick. A woman might entice him, get him to turned around, but he'll turn his head
again. He'll get away from there quick. Why? He's a dove. That's right. You ain't going to fool him,
because that he knows. "My sheep know My Voice, and a stranger they will not follow." He's a
dove, to begin with. There is what I'm speaking about, the actual something that anchors in there.
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Watch close now. "God swore." Oh, it...
Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both... stedfast, and which entereth into--into that
which is the veil;
"The veil." God came down, veiled in flesh. To do what? To show Himself. He had to hide,
because we couldn't see Him. And He hid behind the veil. And the veil was who? Jesus. "Not Me
that doeth the works, My Father," said Jesus. "My Father dwelleth in Me. I work. The Father
worketh, and I worketh hitherto." Here He is as the veiled One, walking in the flesh, God,
Emmanuel, God with us. "God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself." Here He is, walking
around.
Now, He came down and made a sanctification, or provision, or propitiation, that through His
death offered, paid the price of sin, that He might come back and dwell in us. Then the faith that
we have is a--is a veiled faith, or a veil person. Therefore we don't look at the things that we see in
this veil. The veil has educations, and it does things and speaks things. It's a scientific thing. But
the Spirit of the living God that dwells in here, calls those things which were not, as though they
were, if God said so. There is your veiling. We're in the veil.
Now, someday He'll raise this veil up, not born of a woman by the sex desire of man and woman,
but by the will of God He will speak and she'll come to pass. [Brother Branham snapped his finger-Ed.] Then we'll have a body like His own glorious body. We'll be veiled, so we can talk to one
another, shake one another's hands.
Now, when we go from here, there's a tabernacle, a theophany, just an image of a man, that don't
eat, don't drink, don't sleep, awake forever. There is where we go to. But they're waiting under the
Altar, crying, "Lord, how long? How long?" to come back down. Because, they want to shake
hands with one another. They want to set down and eat, and talk to one another. They're human.
Blessed be the Name of the Lord!
When God made man in His own image at the beginning, He made him thus. He fellowshipped
with one another, because we know one another. We like the things that God made us, because
we were made thus. In His great Coming, those who are ready will be thus forever. Immortal, we'll
stand in His likeness. O blessed be that Name of Christ!
And now we have the earnest of our salvation, as we accept Him as our personal Saviour, as our
healer. All these other remunerations are the dividends that's paid on the insurance policy. Amen.
You know what an insurance policy is. You can draw dividends on it till the face value comes.
Certainly. You can draw dividends. And we're drawing dividends now. Only, the thing, as soon as
we draw dividends, the remuneration is built up again.
An insurance agent, one time, said to me, "Billy, I'd like to sell you some insurance."
I said, "I have some." My wife looked around at me.
Now, nothing against insurance. But some people are "insurance poor." So, they turned around.
He said...
My wife looked at me, strange, "You got insurance?"
I said, "Sure." She didn't know nothing about it.
He said, "Well, Billy, what kind of an insurance have you got?"
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I said:
Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
Oh, what a foretaste of glory Divine!
An heir of salvation, purchased of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His Blood.
He said, "That's very good, Billy," he said, "but it won't put you up here in the graveyard."
I said, "But It'll take me out. That's the main thing." I'm not worried about getting there; I'm worried
about getting out.
And since I have the assurance, by the sworn God of Eternity, that He will raise me up again in
the likeness of His Son, in the last day, I'll walk boldly and have a consolation and an anchor of the
soul, that, while I'm in this veil there is some unseen Something got me anchored against the Rock
of ages yonder. When the waters jump and blast, it doesn't make any difference. If death, perils, or
anything, separates us not from the love of God. My anchor holds within the veil. Let the floods
rise. Let her dash. Let infidels come. The born-again believer has an anchor. You can't see
through this veil yet. But I know my anchor holds yonder against the Rock of the ages, Who is a
sworn promise that He will raise me up at the last day.
No wonder you can look death in the face, and say, "Where is your sting? Grave, where is your
victory? But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." We're in
the Forerunner. Oh, my! (We ain't going to get to the lesson.) We had a Forerunner for us.
A forerunner. Did you ever notice in the old western days. Many times I've went across the old
trails. A forerunner, or scout? When the wagon train was perishing, for water, the scout run ahead.
And he seen the tribes of Indians; he bypassed them. And he seen where there was a fountain of
water. He rushed back to tell the boss of the wagon train, "Step up the horses, everybody take
good courage, for just over the mountain there's a big fountain of water." He's a forerunner.
And here, the Forerunner. Man was once pinned down by the Devil, under rapid fire, but
Somebody took the machine-gun nest. That was Jesus. The Forerunner has gone before us. And
Satan standing there with a machine gun, pinning us down, always in bondage and scared of
death. He was guarding that Fountain. Sure, he was. He was given the commission, because we
had sinned and been drove away from It. But the Forerunner, Christ, come in and took the nest.
You've heard that old song, "Hold the fort, for I am coming"? Hold the fort, nothing; let's take it.
We don't want to hold it any longer. Christ took the fort. Hallelujah! The door is open. "There is a
Fountain open in the house of God, in the city of David, for to clean, for cleanliness of the
unclean." Our Forerunner has done entered in for us.
The Forerunner, He tells us, "There's a place just beyond, yonder, where you'll never get old."
Where there'll be no wrinkles, where you won't have to use Max Factors to make you look nice to
your husband. The Forerunner has went on. There's never a place where you get old and weary
and shaky. There's a place where you'll never get sick. Where the baby will never have a colic.
Where you'll never shed a false... or a tooth, to get a false one. Hallelujah! O blessed be His
Name! He entered in, and immortal we'll stand in His likeness, someday yonder. The stars and the
sun they'll outshine. Certainly. The Forerunner has gone before us.
... the forerunner is gone, has for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the
order of Melchisedec.
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This great Forerunner has gone before us, making a way. He become from spirit, the great
fountains of the rainbow of God, who had no beginning or no end. He was, forever, God.
This ray of Light went forth. It was a ray of love, that's the main one, red. The next color follows,
which was blue; blue, the trueness. Next, followed after that was other colors, through the seven
perfect colors, which is the seven spirits of God, that went from that great Fountain or that great
Diamond that Jesus spoke of. That great Diamond was chipped, to reflect these colors. God was
made flesh and dwelt among us, that He might reflect His goodness and mercy among us, by gifts
and signs and wonders.
That whole big rainbow had become in a theophany, of made in the image like man. Yet, He
wasn't a man; He didn't have flesh, yet. He was a theophany.
Moses said, "I'd like to see You." God hid him in the rock.
And when He passed by, He turned His back. Moses said, "It looked like the back of a man."
Then what come to pass? One day down there, when Abraham was setting in his tent. We'll get to
it, tonight. When Abraham was setting in his tent, God came up to him, in a body of flesh.
"Oh," you say, "Brother Branham, he was..."
We'll find Him out here meeting Abraham before that, in the order of Melchisedec, a body of flesh,
which was God. Sure, it was. He was God in flesh.
You say, "Then, Brother Branham, why would He have to come back and be born?"
He wasn't born then. He was just created, a body that He dwelt in. Melchisedec was the King of
Salem, which is the King of Jerusalem, which is the King of peace; which had neither father nor
mother, beginning of days or ending of life.
Jesus had both father and mother, and a beginning of days and ending of life. But He was made
"after the order" of Melchisedec, which had no beginning of days or ending of life.
Melchisedec was God Himself. Melchisedec was Jehovah God, the same One that met Abraham,
years later, in front of his tent. Had His back turned to him; He said, "Why did Sarah laugh?" That's
right. He was the One who stood there, looking over towards Sodom. Abraham recognized Him,
because inside of his veil was an anchor holding that promise. Not because he had some
sensation, but God made him the promise. And when he come into contact with that great magnet,
he knew It was in that flesh.
Walked out with Abraham, out there a little piece. He told Abraham. Said, "Seeing that, I'll keep
these things from Abraham, to see that he's the heir of the world? I just won't do it." So, "Abraham,
I'll tell you what I'm on My road to do," we pick it up tonight, "down there in Sodom," and what they
all was going to do. And as soon as He had blessed Abraham, He went back into space again. A
man that stood there and had dust on His clothes, a man. And not only that, but He eat the flesh of
a calf that Abraham killed, and drinking the milk from the cow, and eat some hoe cakes (some
corn bread), and had butter on it. That's exactly right. And then turned back to a theophany again.
What was it? Why didn't He take it then? He had never been born like you and I. But He had to be
born in the flesh, so He could hold that stinger. That was a created body. That was a body that He
just pulled the calcium and potash out of the earth, and said, "Whew," and stepped into it. That
was the same thing Melchisedec was. He stepped into him, in a body that He could walk out
before him under the veil, of a veil of His own creation; not a veil of the creation of a woman,
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through the womb of a woman, through a--a cell, never. But He created this and stepped out into
it, and talked, in the order of Melchisedec.
Who is this Melchisedec?
For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, (which is Jerusalem), prince of the most high God, certainly,
who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him;
To whom also Abraham give a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness,
(that great love, love, that great Spirit in the beginning)... King of righteousness,... after that... King
of Salem, which is, the King of peace;
Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, or ending of
life;...
Who was it? He never was born, He never will die. Who is it? It was God, sure, it was, in the
foreshadow of the Lord Jesus. Certainly was. But He had to come through a woman, in the order
you come through a woman. And He had to come the way you come, in order to bring you back to
Him. Hallelujah!
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a poor, blind wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now I'm found, by
His grace,
I was blind, but now I see.
I understand what He had to do. God became me, that I by grace might become of Him. He taken
my sins, that through His righteousness I might have Eternal Life. I could not choose myself. My
nature was a sinner. I had nothing to do with it. I was "born of the world, shaped in iniquity, come
to the world speaking lies." Not even a chance, at all; nothing, not even a desire.
Tell a pig he is "wrong, eating slop," will you? See how much he'll listen to you. Tell a crow he is
"wrong, eating on a dead carcass," and see what he'll tell you. If he could talk, "You tend to your
own business." Certainly.
Oh, but the grace of God that changed this nature, and give me the opportunity to desire and to
crave and to thirst, "Thy love, kindness, is better to me than life, O God. My heart will longs after
Thee."
David said, "As a hart panteth for the water brook, so my soul thirsts after Thee, O God."
God gave man that thirst, to worship Him, to love, seek after Him. But man perverts it by the call
of the Devil, and he goes and lusts after women and pleasures and things of the world, trying to
satisfy that holy creation that God has put in, to love Him. He places it upon the things of the
world. But, brother, when he's once changed, and that fountain with wiggletails in it, all kinds of--of
disorders of the cistern, has been cleansed out and sterilized, and the pure Water of God is put in
there, sin can never touch it. Amen.
O how I love Him! How I adore Him!
My life, my sunshine, my all in all!
The great Creator became my Saviour,
And all God's fullness dwelleth in Him.
Down from His glory, the ever living story,
My God and Saviour came, and Jesus was His Name.
Born in a manger, to His own a stranger,
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The God of sorrow, tears and agony.
O how I love Him! How I adore Him!
My breath, my sunshine, my all in all!
O God! How could He do it? Man has tried to write it. One said:
And every straw on earth a quill;
All the skies of parchment made,
And every man a scribe by trade,
To write the love of God above.
How that great God of Heaven became flesh and taken my sins!
Or though the scroll contained the whole,
And to make the heirs of this salvation a sure hope, He swore by Himself that He would raise up
in the last days, give us Eternal Life. "And no man can pluck them from My hand." Amen.
Let's pray.
Are you guilty of spurning His love? Have you shunned His blessed Being, this great One who
made you what you are? And now here you are, this morning, this far in life, and it's giving you an
opportunity. Do you want to continue to live? There's only one way to live, that's believe on the
Lord Jesus. If you, from your heart, believe that He's the Son of God and accept Him as your
Saviour, and believe that God raised Him up for your justification, if you want to accept it on that
basis, it's yours now.
Would you raise your hand? Some unpenitent soul, that would like to... -pent, repent this morning,
say, "Remember me, brother, preacher, as we go to prayer. I too have failed. I've joined church,
but I--I know I--I've never had that what you're talking about. I've never been born of that Spirit,
Brother Branham. I just--I just haven't got It, that's all. I want you to pray for me, that God will give
It to me this morning." God bless you, sir. Would there be another? Say, "God, make me what You
want me to be. I want You to be... I want to be as You want me to be. I've spurned Your love." God
bless you, son.
Just a moment now.
And were the sky of parchment made;
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade;
Or could the scroll contain the whole,
Oh, love of God, how rich and pure!
How fathomless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure,
The saints and Angels song.
Dear God, truly the poet that wrote those words were just like many others of Your believers,
searching, trying to find words to express it. And is written in the Bible, "More, because the
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preacher was wise, he sought out and set in order many words." Oh, how we would love to have
the tongue and the vocabulary that we could explain to the people what it really is, but it could not
be found on mortal lips. All Eternity, doubtless whether it'll ever reveal it, how that the God of
Heaven ever come to the earth to save poor, lost, wretched sinners.
I pray Thee, Father, that through these few unbroken words, or broken words this morning, as I
should said, that someone has found peace and a satisfaction and a strong consolation, who has
fled for refuge. And may their soul anchor to that promise which God swore to, that He'd raise
them up at the last day. Several hands went up, in the building, right here in this tabernacle. God,
give them that steadfast hope, right now. May they anchor against the Rock of ages. No matter
how bad the sea may toss and their little barks may jump, they have an anchor, the promise of
God. There they stay, "God said It. He can't lie."
"He that heareth My Words," which I've tried to preach this morning, "and believeth on Him that
sent Me, Jehovah, hath everlasting Life; and shall not come to the judgment, but has passed from
death to Life."
O Eternal One, bless those today. And may every person in here that's not under the Blood, their
soul never been converted, may it happen just now, Lord. You work the mystery. It's all Yours. It's
committed to You. I pray that You'll give it to them, Eternal Life. May, someday, over on the other
shore, as one by one we go down through the valley, may we meet over there where they'll never
say "good-bye" no more.
Someday we'll come to the river at the closing of time,
When the last thoughts of sorrow has gone;
There'll be somebody waiting that'll show us the way,
There'll be One, somebody waiting that'll show me the way,
I won't have to cross Jordan...
All that's got that hope, raise your hand up now as you raise your head.
I won't have...
Now just worship Him. The message is over. Aren't you happy? God swore He wouldn't... God
swore He would meet you there.
Jesus died all my sins to atone;
When the darkness I...
What do you say? The stinger is gone.
He will be waiting for me,
Times I'm forsaken, and weary...
Just worship Him now.
Seems that my friends have all gone;
Did you ever hit that place?
But there's one thought that cheers me.
What was the promise?
Makes my heart glad,
I won't have to cross Jordan...
Now, children of the promise, just worship Him for doing it.
I won't have to cross Jordan alone,
Jesus died all my sins to atone;
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What happens now?
When the darkness I see, He will be waiting for me,
"When I come to the river." Every one of you is coming. There's a big, dark shadow setting there
before you. It's a big door. You're going in there, one of these days, maybe before the day is over,
maybe before church closes this morning. You're going in there. Every time that heart beats,
you're one step closer.
But when the darkness I see, He will be waiting there,
He said He would. He swore He would.
Then I won't have to cross Jordan alone.
O Blessed Lord, our hearts are full, this morning, to the running over.
To think of when the pulse is ceasing, and the nurse presses the pillow around your head. And
your hands, you can't move no more. Your hands has turned to ice. Your children, your mother,
your loved ones are screaming and crying. That big door swings open, yonder. He'll be waiting.
David said, "If I make my bed in hell, He will be there." I won't have to cross it alone. When the
sprays of the river begin to flash into our face, God will take the lifeboat, guide us right across it.
He promised He would. David the prophet said, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the
shadow of death, I'll fear no evil. Thou art with me. Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me."
Lord, we are so happy today, that we was included the heir of the promise. Today we have within
us Eternal Life, because we love the Lord Jesus and have believed Him, and accepted His Word
and His teaching. And He give to us, as a seal of our faith, the Holy Spirit, the seal of the Holy
Spirit. Our faith within us is anchored. And though many times we're walking through dark
shadows, many times we're stumbling along the road, but our anchor still holds. There is
something in it, way yonder, that seems to be guiding on, saying, "Move on. We're going on."
God, bless us. We need You. Keep us ever faithful and true until the time You come for us, we'll
praise Thee through the ceaseless ages. And that day when we stand on the earth... His blessed
feet has never touched the earth yet. There He stands there, in the air; and the saints and
redeemed from all ages, through every watch, first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh,
all stand there robed in His righteousness; we crown Him the King of king and the Lord of lords,
and sing those redemption stories. Our poor hearts will quiver as we look upon Him who loved us
and gave Himself for us. While we were unlovable and sinners, Christ died that we might be
saved. We thank Thee for it, Father, in Christ's Name. Amen.
You love Him? Oh, how real He is. Don't you just feel like you'd just like to just somehow put your
arms around Him? Wouldn't you just love to crawl up and touch His feet, you know?
You know, there used to be some people come to my services at Phoenix, Arizona, say, "I'd like
to talk it over with Him. I'd like to say, 'Lord, You loved me when my path got so dim.'" I'd just love
to talk it over with Him before we cross over. I--I want to see Him. I--I--I just want to see Him. To
think how I'll feel, how my poor heart will quiver when I see Him standing there.
I've often wondered, "I wish I could have heard that Voice say, 'Come unto Me, all ye that labor
and heavy laden. I'll give you rest.'"
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I'll probably never hear that literally like He spoke it then, but I want to hear Him say, "This is the
last day. It was well done, my good and faithful servant, now enter into the joys of the Lord that's
been prepared for you." Since how long?
"Since you got saved?" No brother.
"Since the foundation of the world, when I saw you and foreknew you, and ordained you to
Eternal Life," you were blessed then. "All that He has foreknew, He has called." Is that right?
[Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.] "All He has called, He has justified. Those who He had justified,
He has already glorified." There you are. He foreknew us, called us, justified us, and we're already
glorified with Him, at the end of the world, going to our reward. Aren't you happy? ["Amen."] Sure.
It would make you love Him. When you couldn't help yourself, and here He come and done that for
you.
Blest Be The Tie That Binds, Sister Gertie. "Our hearts in Christian love," while we have this little
fellowship of worship here now, then we're going to pray for the sick. God bless you. You who
raised your hands to Christ this morning, find you a place to worship, serve Him.
Now, let's just worship Him now, as a congregation, all you Methodists, church of God,
Assemblies of God, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Catholic. All together now, let's sing now.
Blest be the tie that binds
Our hearts in Christian love;
The fellowship of kindred mind
Is like to that Above.
Before our Father's throne,
We pour our ardent prayer;
Our fears, our hope, our aims, are one,
Our comfort and our care.
When we asunder part,
It gives us inward pain;
But we shall still be joined in...
How many Methodists, Baptists, and all?
And hope to meet again.
Don't that do you good? Let's turn around and shake each other's hand now, while we'll sing it
again.
Before...
Shake hands, somebody behind you, front of you, either side.
... throne,
We pour our ardent prayer;
Our comforts and our care.
Now when we asunder part,
We'll love one another.
It gives...
Wish the service would go on? See? That's how we think.
... inward pain;
But we shall still be joined in heart, in
one,
And hope to meet again.
If no more here, at that great Day we'll meet.
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Now, Father, receive our worship this morning. Take the Word and plant It into the believers'
hearts. May they not be just tossed about, and up today and down tomorrow, but may these
Words find their resting place in every believer's heart. To know this, that, "God has sworn by an
oath, and there's two immutable things. The immutability of God, that is, that it's impossible for
Him to lie, that the heirs of this salvation might have this strong hope, steadfast and sure, an
anchor in the soul." To know this, that, "God has promised us, by a sworn oath. One, that He
cannot lie; the other, He swore an oath on top of that, that He will raise us up at the last day and
give us Eternal Life." Knowing, that, "After we have been called, that He said that He knew us
before the foundation of the world, and predestinated us unto adoption of children through Jesus
Christ. And He foreknew us. He called us. And when He called us, He justified us." We cannot
justify ourselves, so He justified us by the death of His own Son. "Those who He has justified, He
has already glorified." The Word is already spoke. And we're just on our road, going along,
rejoicing on our way to Glory.
Give people faith, and may the little habits and things that's hanging onto the people, may they
shake loose from them, this morning, with this Word of God which is an anchor of the soul,
steadfast and sure. May they shake away from their habits, their little tempers. And the things
that's been... As Paul said, in the further part of the message in a few days, "Let us lay aside every
weight, and the sin that does easily beset us, that we might run with patience the race that's set
before us; looking to the author and finisher of our faith, Jesus Christ, Who was tempted in all
manner like we are, yet without sinning." He was permitted to be tempted, but He did not heed to
temptation. And we are tempted to sin, but never to heed. Because the Life that is within us is the
anchor of our Eternal destination, and we hold that sacred to our heart.
Now, there's many that Satan has afflicted with afflictions. We're fixing to pray for them, Father.
May they, as they pass by under the Word of God today... That precious Word that's been
preached, the Bible giving witness, the Angels of God standing near, and the great Holy Spirit,
above all, is standing here to give witness to the Word. Now, Father, as they pass under the Word
of promise, this morning, may they go from here to be well. To remove their braces, to leave the
chairs and--and the cots that they'd lay on, and to just be made well. Grant it, Lord. May they
return at the next service that they are permitted to come, or to their own churches, rejoicing,
showing what great things Christ has did. This we minister for your glory, in Jesus' Name. Amen.
I am to apologize for a promise that I made, that this morning we'd have the 7th chapter, but I
didn't get to it. And we have to allow a little time here for--for this, for the prayer line. And now,
tonight, the Lord willing, we'll take the 7th chapter, and find out who this Melchisedec was. How
many would like to know? Oh, we're just going right down to Him, find out just exactly who He is.
And the Scripture tells who He is. See?
And Scofield said it was "a priesthood." How could it be a priesthood, without beginning or
ending? You see, it wasn't a priesthood. It was a Man, Melchisedec (a name), a Person.
Like, not disregarding, but Christian Science says the Holy Ghost is "a thought." And the Bible
said, "He, the Holy Ghost." And He is a personal pronoun. It's a Person; not a thought. It's a
Person. Absolutely.
And Melchisedec is a Man, a Man who had no beginning of days or ending of years. He had
neither father or mother, or descent. And we'll find out who He is, the Lord willing, tonight, by the
Word. Do you love It? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.] Oh! "Thy Word is a lamp unto my path
and my feet." Oh!
Now, you say, "Brother Branham, I don't understand It all." Neither do I.
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But, one time, I was preaching down in Kentucky. And to some of the newcomers, and Catholic
and different ones, who may not understand how these deep, rich things of the Scripture. I had
been preaching on Divine healing. A little bare-footed girl brought... She wasn't fifteen years old,
had a little baby, and it had the palsy. I said, "What's the matter, sister, with your baby?"
Said, "It's got the jerks." She didn't know what to say, palsy. She didn't know what to call it.
Little thing probably never had a pair of shoes on, in her life. Some man's darling, long hair
hanging down. I said, "Do you believe?"
And those little, steel-gray eyes looked at me. She said, "Yeah, sir. I sure believe."
I took the little baby. And while I was praying for it, it quit jerking. Uh-huh. And it went out, went
out.
Next day, I was squirrel hunting, over in the side of a mountain. I heard some man setting there
talking, old saw buzzing. And I slipped down. I been squirrel hunting. They was talking about me,
setting there, chewing tobacco and spitting. The leaves flying, like that. And they were talking
about, now, about the meeting the night before. One of them said, "I seen that baby. I went by
there, this morning. It isn't jerking, yet this morning." See? Said, "That was real." And he was
spitting.
And they had rifles leaning against the tree, so I thought I'd better make myself known. You know,
they had feuds down there, too. So, I walked up. I said, "Good morning, brethren."
That great big fellow, seemed to be speaking, he had a chew of tobacco in his mouth, like that,
way out on the side like that, and big, long neck. And he had a great big old hat on, pulled down
over his face. He looked around and seen me. He reached up and got that hat, jerked it off, went...
[Brother Branham swallows--Ed.] Swallowed that chewing tobacco, said, "Good morning, parson."
See? Yes, sir. Respect. And that's right. How he ever lived over it, I don't know, but he did.
So, the next night, coming back, there was a man there who wanted to argue with me a little bit.
He went to a church that didn't believe in Divine healing. So, this was a Methodist church, White
Hill, Kentucky. So he--he went to... He was standing outside. He had a lantern in his hand. And he
said, "I want to say something, preacher. I just can't accept That, 'cause I can't see It."
I said, "You can't see It?"
He said, "No." Said, "I'm a sick man, myself. But," said, "I just can't see It."
I said, "Where do you live?"
He said, "Back over on Big Renox."
I said, "Well, how you going to get home?"
He said, "Well, I'm going to walk home."
I said, "Can you see your home?"
He said, "No, sir."
I said, "Awful dark tonight, it's cloudy."
He said, "Yes."
I said, "How you going home?"
He said, "By this lantern."
I said, "The lantern doesn't show light all the way to the house." I said, "How do you go?"
He said, "Oh, I walk by the lantern."
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I said, "That's it. You've got the light of the lantern now, and every time you step this way, the light
will keep showing on ahead of you. If you just keep walking, the light will keep going with you."
And you do that this morning, you want Christ, the great High Priest, the Intercessor for your
sickness, or your diseases, or your soul. You might not understand It. We don't. But we're
commanded to "Walk in the Light as He is in the Light." You make one step in the Light. And when
you got the Light with you, the Light will shine unto the perfect day. It'll keep the path before you.
And we'll walk up this grand old highway,
Telling everywhere I go,
Ever hear that old song?
There's nothing like an old-time Christian,
Christian love to show;
We're walking in the grand old highway,
And telling everywhere we go,
I just love it. All right. Now we're going to pray for the sick. We're not... We don't claim that we can
heal the sick. If we did, we'd be telling something wrong. Every sick person in here is already
healed. That's what the Scripture said. "By His stripes we were healed." Is that right?
Every sinner that's in here, perhaps there'd be one, you've been saved since Jesus died. But
don't you never die here where your opportunity was placed before you, to go into His Presence
then to try to accept It. It's made for now. Right now you must accept It. If you go beyond the
Blood, then you're nothing but... You're already judged, because you're judged by the way that you
treated the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. See? You, you judge yourself there.
"So He was wounded for our transgressions, and with His stripes we were healed." So, there's
nothing I would have, to heal you. There's nothing the church would have, to heal you. The only
thing we can pray for is this, that your faith will not fail, that you'll come to the altar this morning to
accept Christ as your Healer, as you did for your Saviour. And without any... God works miracles.
He shows great sign. Blind, deaf, dumb, everything, are healed right here at the tabernacle. But
whether it is or not, we accept It, anyhow. Many times those things are by visions.
How many was here about three Sundays ago, or four, when the man come in here, both blind
and paralyzed, or sitting in a chair with unbalanced nerve. And before I left home, I saw him in a
vision, "That there'd be a man there, dark hair, turning gray. His wife is attractive-looking woman,
about sixty years old. She'll come and be crying," and she'll ask me. "And to come back and pray
for her husband." He set right there.
And I come down. I said to some of my brethren here, "Watch this."
And when we went down to the altar, others had prayed. When I went to pray, I walked right away
and come back over here. And his wife rose up and come just exactly the way the Lord had said it
would be. People watching, to see if it would happen that way. It never failed. And so when he
walked...
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Come to find out, that a man, Dr. Ackerman, down in Birdseye, Indiana, was the one who sent
him up here; who is a Catholic, and his boy is a priest in the monastery there at Saint Meinrad.
And Dr. Ackerman is a hunting partner of mine, and he sent the man up here. And the Lord
showed me a black-headed man that would send him, but I didn't know who it was.
I said, "Was that Dr. Ackerman?"
He said, "It was." See? And then the man...
I said, "It's THUS SAITH THE LORD." Walked down. I said, "Sir, stand up." Both blind and
couldn't... he... The--the balance nerve was gone. He couldn't hold himself up like that. See? Been
that way for years, been to Mayos and all around. And just prayed the prayer for him, and raised
him up. There he went, walking down through.
First he said, "I can't see you." Then he screamed, "Yes. I can." His eyes come open there. He
had been orthodox, his wife Presbyterian.
Some people think that "Presbyterian don't shout, and Orthodox." You ought to heard them. Sure.
They were screaming and hugging each other. Come back and got his wheel chair, and walked on
out and down the steps, just like any other man, could see and speak and--and so forth.
Had a letter from him, or called, other day. I believe, Brother Cox went to him. Said, "His eyes had
a burning sensation." Certainly. It's the nerve, the optical nerves are growing and coming back to
life, you know, and taking its place. The curse was taken off.
If you'll let nature have its way, if nothing hinders nature, then it'll--it'll have full sway. If you got a
band around your arm, shutting off circulation, your hand will finally die. Now, because, naturally,
it'll be all right if you'll just let it alone. But something has interrupted nature. Then, if you can't see
it, there's no way for a doctor to catch it. Only two things he can work by: what he can see, what
he can feel. That's the only thing he can work by: what he sees and what he feel.
If he can't see it, then has to be spiritual. Then there's, only thing can, one thing can happen; we
pray, Christ moves the curse, sends away the Devil, and that begins to get normal, well. Gets well,
and that's all there is to it. "In my name they shall cast out devils." Is that right? It's a promise to
the church. It's a promise of power. The what? It, it's His Presence with us. Now, what makes us
from being perfect this morning, to do those things just as He did it, is because we're still in the
veil. See? But we have some feeling there that tells us, "Oh, yes." See?
And when you accept your healing... No matter what the veil says, it's what the Word said. See?
That's it. That's it. And the--the--the Word always is predominant over anything. God's Eternal
Word!
Look at Sarah, her womb dead, ninety-years old, lived with her husband since she was about
sixteen or seventeen, no children; Abraham, a hundred. God turned right around and give them
the baby. See? Because, they believed. They called those things which were not, as though they
were. Enter that way this morning, friend.
And tonight, we expect... If you all are visiting with us, we're happy to have you here this morning.
And God be with you. And if you're in the city for the evening, we'd be happy to have you this
evening on the rest of this service, of Melchisedec. And then if you're not, and you have a church
of your own, you go to your own church. That's--that's your post of duty. If you belong to a church,
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you go there. This is just a little tabernacle where we gather in here and have fellowship one with
another. Now, the Lord bless you.
And Sister Gertie will play for us, The Great Physician Now Is Near. And is there any here to be
prayed for? Raise your hand, those who wants to come in the prayer line, to put your faith to
Christ. All right. If you'll line up on this side of the church, if you will. And if they'll pull the seat
down just a little bit, brother, if you will, so that we can get a little room in there and can bring the
folks through. Come over on this side.
And we're going to pray now, while we sing. And I'm going to ask the elders here, of any
denomination or church, regardless of what it is, if you believe in Divine healing, would you stand
here with me on this platform, to pray for the sick? We'll be glad to have you. Any denomination, or
no denomination, or whatever you are, we'll be glad to have you. Would you just come now, for
prayer, come up and stand with me.
Brother Neville, if you'll come with the oil.
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HEBREWS CHAPTER SEVEN - PART 1
Branham Tabernacle
... night, and to hear Joyce sing. Did you know that that's a miracle in itself? That little girl, how
can she think of all that? And each night she has us a new one. How she can think of all that,
that's really a little mastermind. The Lord bless that child.
Now, tomorrow, at two-thirty, at the funeral home in Charlestown, Indiana. Our dear, departed
sister, Sister Colvin, we give her the last respects to her, at the--at the funeral home and at the
grave, tomorrow afternoon. One who once lived as you are tonight, and is passed beyond the veil
where you will sometime. And all who wish to attend service, why, is welcome to come. It'll
certainly be a great help to the Colvin family, to know that the tabernacle here, where they have all
went to church for so long, and so forth, will. We'd be glad to have you come up. And I think the...
our dear Brother McKinney, the one that preached my brother's funeral, many years ago, has the
main part of the funeral, and I been asked to come and help him in the--in the funeral services.
Now, I was just a little late, tonight. I got so many irons in the fire, I don't know which way to go.
There's so many calls, and these wrecks and accidents, and people calling, coming. Till, I just left
Louisville, a few moments ago, to get back here quickly, and leaving several calls that's real
strenuous and must be made, I guess, yet, tonight. And now pray for us as we go along.
And this morning I--I never did get to my--my text, to the 7th chapter of the Book of--of--of
Hebrews. And while we're turning to it, tonight, I want to make the announcement about Brother
Graham Snelling's meeting, up at the tent up here, at the end of Brigham Avenue. If the Lord
willing, I want to be back Wednesday night. And there we'll set a certain night that we're going to
go up as a delegation, this week sometime, to visit Brother Graham in the meeting. And he's a...
says, "Having a nice crowd." And--and he'll appreciate us coming, for this help. Brother Graham
Snelling, any of you is attending the meeting, or wish to, it's just at the end of Brigham Avenue up
here. Anyone can tell you where it's at. Right at the end of the playgrounds, the tent is setting. He
appreciates your cooperation. Because, we as a tabernacle have pledged our cooperation with
him, a hundred percent, so we're trying to help.
Now, then soon we're coming down to the place of, the Lord willing, to the 11th chapter of
Hebrews, in a few nights, if God willing, and there I think we're going to have a great time also.
Oh, the Lord blessed us this morning in a marvelous way, how He did pour out His Spirit upon us!
And now, tonight, we're expecting Him to do it again; and then Wednesday night, and on. And-and the nights that I miss, Brother Neville will be here to pick it right up, if I'm out.
I never know what I'm going to do, you might be here this hour, and another hour be called to
California. See, you don't know just where the Lord will send. That's the reason it's hard for me to
make itineraries and say we'll--we'll do so-and-so. I can start to do a certain thing, the Lord will
send me somewhere else. See? So we don't know just what He will do. "But if the Lord is willing,"
we said. I think we're commissioned, or commanded that, in the Bible, "If the Lord is willing, we'll
do so-and-so things." So if we don't happen to make appointments that we... or fulfill
appointments, we feel that maybe the Lord wasn't willing for it to happen.
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The other day, we were detained, Brother Roberson and Brother Woods and myself. And we
wonder, "Why?" I was setting there, looking at a map, coming right down, and we drove fifty miles
right straight back north again on a road. And I been traveling on the highway since I was about
fourteen years old. And I wonder how I ever done it. We were standing there, all three of us. We've
all traveled the highways. Looking right at a map, keeping on 130, coming through Illinois, and
made a little slight turn, not noticing that the sun was behind us instead of front of us. We was
going north instead of south. And first thing you know, crossed the road, I said, "This ain't the right
road." Looked down there, and come to find out, we were fifty miles out of the way. Gone right
straight back...?...
Then when we come back, we--we were talking. I said, "You know why? We... The Lord might
have bypassed us this way, to keep from having a horrible accident down here somewhere, that
might have done something otherwise. We know that all things work together for good to them that
love the Lord. That's all we have to keep on mind."
Now, tonight, we're starting now for a little teaching lesson. And if I'm... I don't think we'll get
down, maybe we will tonight, to... This is the great chapter of teaching on tithings, to the church.
And it's a great subject, which we could stay on it for weeks and weeks, on that one thing, how
Abraham paid tithes to Melchisedec, and whether it's essential.
Is this fan hurting anybody back there? Would you rather have it off? If it's hurting anybody,
blowing in their face, any of the fans. If it is, just raise your hands. And, or just send one of the
ushers, send someone up to the brother here, he'll snap it off for you. And I kind of keep it off of
myself; I get hot and I get to sweating, then, the first thing you know, I--I'm hoarse. So, it's on you,
so it won't bother me in any way. We want you to be comfortable now.
We're not going to try to take too much of your time, but just going to look straight into the Word.
And before we do it, let's speak to the author just a moment.
Now, Heavenly Father, we do not know what's in store. But only thing that we do know, and are
persuaded, that good things lay before us. For it is written, "Eye has not seen, nor ear has heard,
neither has it entered into the hearts of men, what God has for them in store, that love Him."
And we pray that You'll open the windows of Heaven tonight, in Your storehouse, and give us Thy
Word, that will be something that's suitable, something to increase our faith as Christians, and
make us more--more settled on the Gospel, than what we were when we come in. Grant it, Father.
May the Holy Spirit take the Word of God and deliver It to each heart as we have need. In Jesus'
Name, we pray, Thy beloved Son. Amen.
Now, this morning, in leaving the last verse for the 6th chapter, so we can go right into the 7th.
Whither the forerunner for us has entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever, after the
order of Melchisedec.
Now we're going to read the first three verses, or the first two verses, or the first three verses,
rather, of the 7th chapter, so we can get started right off.
For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from
the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him;
To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, (there is your tithings); first being by interpretation
King of righteousness,... after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace;
Without father, without mother, without descent,... neither beginning... having neither beginning of
days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.
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What a wonderful statement! Now we're going to have to go back in the Old Testament, to dig
these great kernels out. And, oh, how I love them!
You know, out in Arizona, we used to prospect. And we'd get into a suitable looking piece of
ground, Mr. Mc Anally and myself. And we would see a place where it looked like, in the little
ditches, where a little drain, what they call "washes." And I'd... He'd get me down and make me
rub the sand and "whew," blow it. Then rub and "whew," blow it. And I wondered why he did that.
Come to find out, you see, when you're blowing sand, it light. And all, even to lead, is lighter than
gold. Gold is heavier than lead. So when you're blowing, all the rest of the metals and sand and
dirt will blow away, but gold will remain on the ground. Therefore, if you got some washings from
up in here, it shows there's a streak of gold somewhere up in there. This rain has washed these
little pieces out. So then we get the picks and so forth, and dig the hill up, almost, trying to find this
gold. Bore holes in the ground, dig them out. Set dynamite, blow it down. Keep on blowing shafts,
going down till we found, to find the main vein. Now, that's what we call "prospecting."
And tonight we're trying to take the Word of God, and use It by the power of the Holy Spirit, to
blow all the indifference and doubts away from us, all those little light fluffy things that just doesn't
have any foundation, doesn't have any weight in our life, we want to blow it all away so we can find
this glorious Vein. That Vein is Christ.
And now may God help us as we read and study in His Word. The last, previous three chapters,
almost, we've been speaking of hearing, just now and then, Melchisedec.
Now, I think Paul gives the right interpretation.
For this Melchisedec, king of Salem,...
"King of Salem." And any Bible scholar knows that Salem was formerly... Jerusalem was formerly
called "Salem." And He was the King of Jerusalem. Watch Him.
... priest of the most high God, (that's an intercessor), who met Abraham...
I want to get His geneology, this great Man, so that you'll know who He is, first, and then you...
we'll go on with the story.
... returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him;
To whom... Abraham gave a tenth part... first... by interpretation King of righteousness,...
Now watch, "Righteousness." Now, we have self-righteousness, we have make-belief
righteousness, we have perverted righteousness, all kinds. But there's one real righteousness, and
that righteousness comes from God. And this Man was the King of righteousness. Who could He
be?
Now, He was the King of righteousness, the King of Jerusalem, the King of righteousness, the
King of peace. Jesus was called, "The Prince of peace." And a prince is the son of a king. So, this
Man was King of peace, then He would have to be the Father of the Prince of peace. Get it?
Now let's see, get His genealogy a little further, to see where we're going.
Without father,...
Now, Jesus had a Father. Do you believe that? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.] Sure.
... he was without mother,...
Jesus had a mother. But this Fellow had neither father nor mother.
... without descent,...
He never had anyone that He come off of, any descent. He always was. "Without descent."
... having neither beginning of days,...
He never had any time He ever started.
... nor the end of life;...
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It could been nothing else but God. That's all It could be.
Now, now if you'll notice as we read the next verse. See? "First, being by interpretation, King of
righteousness." That's not where I want to do. The--the 3rd verse, "Nor end of life."
... but made like unto the Son of God;...
Now, He was not the Son of God, for, if He was the Son, He had a beginning. And this Man had
no beginning. If He was the Son, he had to have both father and mother. "And this Man had
neither father nor mother. But He was made like unto the Son of God."
... abideth a priest continually.
Now, Dr. Scofield tries to say, that, "It was a priesthood, called, 'The Melchisedec priesthood.'"
But I just want to take you on that just for a few minutes. If it was a priesthood, then it had to have
a beginning, and it had to have an end. But, "This had no beginning or had any end." And he did
not say he met a priesthood. He met a Man, and called his name "Melchisedec." He was a
Person, not a denomination, not a--a--a priesthood or a fatherhood. He was absolutely a Man by
the name of Melchisedec, who was the King of Jerusalem. Not a priesthood, but a King without a
father. Priesthoods don't have father. "And this Man was without father, without mother, without
beginning of days or ending of life." Now, the Son of God...
Who this was, this was Jehovah. This was Almighty God Himself. It could be no other.
Now notice, "He abideth forever." He has a testimony here, that, "He liveth. He never dies." He
never did. He never was nothing else but alive. "He abideth forever."
Now, Jesus was made, likened unto Him. Now, the reason that there's a difference between God
and Jesus: Jesus had a beginning; God had no beginning. Melchisedec had no beginning, and
Jesus had a beginning. But Jesus was made, likened unto Him. "A priest, abideth forever."
Now, when Melchisedec was on earth, he was nothing in the world but the--the Jehovah God
made manifest by creation, He was here like a theophany. Abraham met Him once, in his tent.
And as we said this morning, "Abraham recognized Him. And He told Abraham what He was going
to do, because He was not going to leave the heir of the world blind to the things that He was
going to do."
May I stop here for a minute, to say, God still has the same opinion about His Church. You're not
children of darkness. You're children of Light. And the... we who... "Blessed are the meek, for they
shall inherit the earth." And would the God, Who acted to--to Abraham, who was to inherit the
earth... And He said, "I will not keep these things back from the man that's going to inherit the
earth." How much more will He reveal His secrets to His Church that's going to inherit the earth!
Daniel said, "In that day they run to and fro, knowledge shall increase." And he said, "The wise
shall know their God, in that day, and shall do great exploits in that day. But the wicked will not
know the God of Heaven." They know Him in a form and in a ritual, like our first lesson said, but
they don't know Him by the way of perfection.
And God can only work through perfection, because He's Perfect. Blessed be His Name. It has to
be a perfect channel that God works through, 'cause He can do nothing else but work through
perfection. He can't stain Himself in any way. And then that's why Jesus came to take away our
sins, that we might be perfected, that God could work through His Church. There is where the
secret lays.
There is where the world is blind. There is where they want to say, that, "You've lost your mind."
There is where they want to say, "You don't know what you're talking about."
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Because, "The things of the Lord is foolish to the wisdom of this world. But the things of the world
is carnal to the believer." So, you're a different person, you're living in a different sphere. You're
not no more of this world. You've passed from this life into a new Life.
Therefore, God reveals, not to the world, not to the psychologist, not to the educated ministers,
but to the humble in heart. His people who is meek, He will reveal the secrets of the great things of
God, to them. You see it? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.]
Now, now, Abraham was to inherit the world. Through Abraham's Seed was all nations to be
blessed. So God came down and talked to him, in the form of a Man.
Now, God has always been on the earth. God has never left the earth. If He'd ever leave the earth,
I don't know what would become of it. But God has always been here in some form. Oh, praise His
Name!
He was with the children in the wilderness, coming out of Egypt, in the form of a Light. He spoke
to Abraham in the form of a Man. He spoke to Moses in the form of a Man. He spoke to the
Church in the form of a Man, His Son, Christ Jesus.
And He is speaking through His Church today, through the anointed Church of the living God,
through vessels of clay. "Ye are the branches. I am the Vine." God is still speaking, and the world
sees Jesus as you present Him. That's how the world is... "You are written epistles, read of all
men." Your life tells what you are.
Now, this Abraham on his road, returning back. We're going to go back and read about Him, just a
few moments, in the Book of Genesis. In the 14th chapter of Genesis, I believe it is. Oh, how
beautiful the story is here! Now, we all know of Abraham, how that God called him out of the land
of Chaldea and the city of Ur, and told him to separate himself from his associates.
God calls men or women, He calls a separation.
Now, that's what's the trouble with the churches today, they don't want to separate themselves
from the old carnal belie-... unbelievers. That's why we can't go any further. We just get in that one
carnal flow, and we--we say, "Oh, Jim is a good guy, if he does drink. If he... And I go with him to
the poolroom, but I don't play pool. I--I--I go with her over to the party. They tell dirty jokes, and so
forth, but I don't tell any."
"Come out from among them." That's right. "Separate yourself. Touch not their unclean things,
and I will receive you," saith the Lord. "Be not yoked up with unbelievers, unequally yoked
together." Don't you do it. Separate yourself.
And God called Abraham to separate himself from all of his kindreds, and to walk with Him.
Brother, sometimes it means leaving a church. It meant that to Paul. He had to leave his church.
Meant that to many. Sometimes it means to leave home. Sometimes it means to leave father and
mother, and forsake all. I don't mean to say it does every time, but sometimes it does. It means
that you've got to take everything between you and God, and walk with Him alone. Oh, that
blessed, sweet communion, that fellowship that you have when you separate your thing, selves,
from the things of the world and the carnal believers who is making fun of you, and walk alone with
Christ!
How many times that I've thanked God! He said, "I'll give you fathers and mothers in this present
world. I'll give you friends and associates. And I'll never leave you, neither will I forsake you.
Though the whole world turns its back on you, I'll go with you, to the end of the way."
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What a blessed privilege, that man has that challenge to follow the Lord Jesus, to separate
himself from all his carnal associates, to follow the Lord. And if any person seems not to behave
themself rightly, and to present themselves as Christians, but love the carnal things, it's best for
you to hunt another partner right away. That's right. And if no one will walk with you, there is One
who promised to walk with you. That's, the blessed Lord Jesus, He will walk with you.
God told Abraham to, "Separate yourself." And just as human as Abraham was, he took his daddy
along, he took his brother's son along, his nephew; all hanging on him. And God never did bless
him until he did what God told him to do.
I don't say that you're not a Christian. That, I don't unchristianize anyone. But I'll say this, that if
God told you something to do, He'll never bless you until you do it. I'm in the pulpit tonight with one
of those things holding over me. My meetings hasn't been what they should been, for the past two
years. It's because I've failed the Lord. He told me to, "Go to Africa, and then to India." Here it is,
written right here, in the back of this Book, right now.
The manager called me, said, "Let them Afrikaans go. India is ready."
The Holy Spirit met me, said, "You'll go to Africa like I told you to."
And another year passed. And the managers... I forgot about It. He said, "We're going to India.
Tickets is already here."
I started off, forgot It till I got to Lisbon. One night, that, I thought I was dying. The next morning I
started, go over to the bathroom, to take a bath. Oh, I was so sick, I could hardly stand up. There,
that Light hanging there in the bathroom, said, "I thought I told you to, 'Go to Africa, first.'"
My meetings has been slowly failing since that time. Though I went to India, with nearly a half a
million standing there, but that wasn't doing what God said do. I feel that my meetings will never
be a success until I go right straight back and make that thing right. No matter what I do, it's Africa,
first, 'cause you've got to do it. There lays God's Eternal Word, laying there. I knew better than
that. But I've got to go back. And I feel that this coming year is the time I'll crawl out of the shell, by
the help of the Lord.
This glorious, old Gospel who has been growing easy, like an oak tree, but I believe she's about
ready to spread forth her branches now. I believe It, this great Message and great thing. I believe
that the Lord will let us shake the world again for the glory of God.
You've got to do what God told you to do. And Abraham went right on, took his folks with him. He
loved them. That's the human part. But after while, by and by, his father died and he buried him.
Then he had his nephew, then quarrels and arguments come up. And, finally, Lot took his choice
and went down into Sodom. And you notice Abraham, he didn't fuss with Lot. He said, "We are
brethren. We must not argue. But you lift up your head and you go any way you want to go. If you
go east, I'll go west. You go north, I'll go south." That's the Christian attitude, be willing to give the
other man the best of the deal. Always present it to him, let him take his choice.
For why? What made Abraham do it? He knew that he was promised by God that he would inherit
the whole thing, anyhow. Amen. So, then, a tent or a cottage, why should we care? The whole
thing belongs to us. "Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth." It all belongs to us. God
said so. So give the man the best of the choice, if he wants to. Maybe that's all he'll ever get. But it
all belongs to you, the heirs of salvation by promise. It's all yours.
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So, Sarah, the most beautiful woman in the land, she sat up there on the hillside with her husband
like she should have done. She plain, well, might have wore plain calico dresses, or ever what you
want to call it. While, Mrs. Lot dressed up like a millionaire. And her husband was the mayor of the
city. He was a judge that set in the gate. She had everything; attended all the sewing circles and
card parties that there was went on in Sodom and Gomorrah. But Sarah was more pleased to live
with her husband on meager fare, and know that she was in the will of God, than to enjoy the
riches of... or the pleasure of riches for a season. That's right. That's when God visit.
And one day, you, just as sure as you take the wrong road, it's going to catch up with you
someday. You might think you'll get all right. You might think you're getting by, but you're not. May
seem like it's all covered over, but it isn't covered over. God knows everything. He knows whether
you really mean your confession or not. He knows whether you really mean that you believe Him
and are saved, and accepted Him, and you are dead to the things of the world, and you're alive in
Christ. He knows that.
Now, we notice Abraham, I want you to notice this real spirit. Oh, the whole blessed thing here is
grace. I want you to read with me now from the 14th chapter of... Exodus, just a moment.
Now, the first thing taken place when they got down there, Lot got in trouble. Why? He was out of
the will of God. And if you get in trouble when you're in the will of God, God will help you out. But if
you're in trouble, out of the will of God, there's only one thing to do, get back in the will of God
again.
Now, the kings all drew themselves together, and they figured that the plains down there was well
watered, and they'd just go down and take this little old Sodom, Gomorrah, take it over. And they
did. And when they went down and took it over, they took Lot with them.
Now I want you to notice the Spirit of Christ here in Abraham. Now notice the 14th verse.
And when Abraham heard that his brother... (Get it?)... his brother was taken captive, he armed
his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto
Dan.
Oh, what a blessed thought of grace! Abraham, when his brother, though fallen from grace,
though was in this backslidden condition; when he heard that the world had caught him up, and
had captured him and took him away, to slaughter him, Abraham acted by the Spirit of Christ. He
came and armed all of his men that was born in his house, and took after them, and pursued them
all the way to Dan. And Dan is the uttermost parts of Palestine, "Dan to Beer-sheba," from one
end to the other. And it's a type of Christ, when He saw that the world had took... was fallen, that
He pursued the enemy to the end, to receive back the fallen race of Adam.
I want you to notice the next verse, how sweet here the Spirit speaks through him. All right, the
15th verse now.
And he brought back all (all) the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and
the women also, and the people.
When Abraham took after the enemy that had took his brother, he pursued him all the way across
the nation, to Dan, and brought back everything that he lost in the fall.
What a beautiful picture of Christ, who heard from Heaven that we were lost and came and
pursued the enemy, all the way to hell, and captured the lost souls and brought us back and
restored us to everything that we had before the fall! We, backsliders, we that was born to be sons
of God, that's perverted into the sons of the Devil, and made, went after the things of the world,
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and done wrong, and run greedily like Lot did, selling out our birthrights and going after the things
of the world. Christ came down. Though fallen; God, knowing in the beginning who would be
saved and who would not, therefore come down and pursued the enemy through life, through
death, through paradise, into hell. And all the way from Glory to hell, and took over the--the
powers of hell, and the keys away from the Devil, and rose again, and restored to mankind, that he
can be sons and daughters of God again.
See the Spirit in Abraham there, the Spirit of Christ coming with him?
Now I want you to notice a little further, as we read.
And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after he returned from the slaughter of this king
Chedortaomer, and... the kings... were with him, in the valley of Shaveh, which is the king's dale.
They went out. King of Sodom was brought back. His brother was brought back. The children was
brought back. And here went out the kings to meet him. And, also, here is where I want to get to,
the message now. Watch here.
And--and Melchizedek, king of Salem (King of Jerusalem, King of peace) brought forth bread and
wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.
And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abraham of the most high God, possessor of heavens
and earth:
Melchisedec, the King of Salem, also represented Himself among the other kings. And notice, the
battle was over, the Spirit of God in Abraham, of Christ, that had brought back his fallen brother,
then restored him back to his rightful condition, to all that he had lost. He had brought it back. And
when he did, He brought out bread and wine, the communion. Can't you see who that Melchisedec
was? It was God. Brought out the communion, after the battle.
Now let us turn again, to Matthew 26:26, right quick, and see what Jesus said here about that. In
the Book of Matthew, the 26th chapter and also the 26th verse, we want to read just a little bit
here. All right, Matthew 26:26.
Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Golgotha, Golgotha... or Gethsemane, I mean,
and said unto his disciples, Sit ye here, while I go yonder to pray.
I believe I've got the wrong Scripture. Matthew, the twenty-... 26th verse of the 26th chapter. If
somebody has it, read it for me, if you--if you can find it. Just a minute. This is a beautiful type
here. I don't want you to miss it. Here we are. That's got it, sister.
And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it,...
What was it? The battle was over.
... brake it, and gave it to his disciples, and said, Take, and eat; this is my body.
See that Melchisedec? Hundreds of years before, when He met Abraham, after the battle was
over, He gave bread and wine. And here Jesus gives the disciples, after His hard battle was over,
He gave them bread and wine. Watch. Watch the future Coming.
And he took the cup, and--and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;
For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for... sins and remission of sins.
But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of the fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it
anew with you in my Father's kingdom.
We are in the battle now. We're after our fallen brother, that God, before the foundation of the
world, saw and predestinated unto Eternal Life. And the things of the world has got him caught up
in a whirlwind. He's out into societies and classes, him and his wife, walking up-and-down the
streets, smoking and drinking and carousing, trying to find peace. And the Spirit of Christ in us, as
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it would be in Abraham, we're gone after him. With all the armors of God, the Angels of God
encamped about, we're gone to bring back our fallen brother.
And when the battle is finally ended, we will meet Melchisedec again, bless God, who blessed
Abraham there, and gave him the blessing, and give him bread and wine, the communion. And
when the battle is over, we'll meet Him. We who are the heirs of the promise of Abraham, joint
heirs with Christ in the Kingdom, shall meet Him at the end of the road, and take bread and wine,
again, when the battle is over.
Who is this Melchisedec? "The One that had no father, had no mother, had no beginning of days
or the ending of life." He will be There to give the communion again. You get it? [Congregation
says, "Amen."--Ed.]
When we pull up, on certain nights, when we come together and take communion from the hands
of the ministers, representing that we believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord
Jesus, that--that veil, His body that He was inveiled in, God. We take it, as a representative, "We
are dead to the things of the world, and been born anew of the Spirit." And we walk with the Body
of Christ, all the believers together.
When the great battle is finished, and we come up again with Christ, we'll take the communion
with Him in the Kingdom of God, anew; and eat the flesh, and drink the blood of the grape again,
in the Kingdom of God. Oh! There is Melchisedec. That's who He was.
Now let's read just a little further about Him here, and the 18th verse.
And Melchisedec king of Salem brought forth bread and wine:... (You get it?)... and he was the
priest of the most high God.
And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abraham of the most high God, possessor of heavens
and earth:
And he blessed him,... And he blessed...
And blessed be the most high God, which has delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave
him a tenth of all.
He paid tithes to Melchisedec. Abraham give Him a tenth of the spoils.
Now I want you to notice here as Paul goes on, giving a background for the coming lesson now.
And the king of Sodom said unto Abraham, Give me the persons, and take thou the goods to
thyself.
Now, the king of Sodom said, "Now, you just give me back my subjects, and you take the goods to
yourself."
And Abraham said to the king of Sodom, I have lifted up my hand unto the LORD, the most high
God,...
El Elyon, "the possessor of heavens and earth," there.
... most high God, the possessor of heavens and earth,
That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatch,...
He didn't have a great campaign to take up money. He only wanted his fallen brother.
... and that I will not take any thing of thine, lest thou shall say, I have made Abraham rich:
Save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men which went with me,...
Now, I want you to notice, Abraham said, "I'll not take from a thread to a shoelatch." He didn't fight
the war, to make a lot of money. And real true battles are not made with selfish motives. Wars are
not fought for money. Wars are fought for--for motives, for principles. Men fight war for principles.
And when Abraham went out to get Lot, he didn't go out because he knowed he could whip the
kings and take all their possession, he went out for the principle of "saving his brother."
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And any minister that's sent out under the inspiration of the King of Heaven, will not go for money;
neither will he go to make big churches, neither will he go to inspire denominations. He'll only go
for one principle, and that is, "To bring back his fallen brother." Whether he gets a dime in the
offering or whether he doesn't, it won't make a bit of difference to him.
As I say, "Real wars are fought and waged for principles and not for money." And men and
women who join church and come into church, to be popular, because the Joneses belong there,
or they change their church from a little church to a big church, you're doing it for a selfish motive
and the right principle is not behind it. You should be willing to stand at the battle front.
In this tabernacle here, when things go wrong, and you men and you women will run and go over
somewhere else, or lay out till the little fuss or the stew is over, there is something wrong with your
experience. Right.
We have a custom here. We have a--we have a order here. This church is based upon the
principles of the Bible. If there is somebody in here not doing right, and you think they're not, you
go to him and talk to him. If you can't reconcile him, then take some brother with you, one or two
more. If he won't be reconciled then, then tell it to the church. And the church will dismiss him,
have no more fellowship with him. And Jesus said, "Whatever you loose on earth, I'll loose in
Heaven."
That's the reason you have so much troubles, because you don't follow the Bible principles. If
somebody in the church is causing a disturbance, or something going wrong, it's not your duty to
go talk about that man or that woman. It's your duty to go to that man or woman, and tell him his
error. And if he won't hear you, take some other one with you. He won't hear that, then the church
looses him. Jesus said, "What you loose on earth, I'll loose in Heaven. What you bind on earth, I'll
bind in Heaven." That's the power of the church.
Here not long ago, a good preacher friend of mine, he had a boy, and that boy had been going to
church, his own church. He got to a place where he started running around with a little of girl who
smoked and drank and carried on. Preacher said, "Of course, that's his business." A very bosom
friend of mine, and a nice boy. But he got all infatuated with some young woman; and she had
been married, had some children, her husband was living. He was afraid they was going to have...
that boy would marry her. So, the brother was all tore up. And he said to me, "Brother Branham, I
want you to go to this certain-certain boy of mine. I want you to talk to him."
I said, "Brother..." I almost called his name. "You have a better way. Don't send me. If the boy is
not living up, and the church has saw him doing wrong, then it's the thing for the church to do this
business. That's left with the church. And the church goes over and tells him."
So he took a brother, and went over and told him. And he got back at the brother, let him know he
was attending to his own business, for him to do the same. He took another brother, two more, two
deacons went over and told the boy. He wouldn't listen to it. They told it to the church. And he
never come for several nights, to be reconciled to the church after his sin was told before the
church. Then, the church loosed him.
And about a month from then he was stricken down with pneumonia, and the doctor said,
"There's not a chance in the world for him to live." Then he crawled back. God knows how to do it.
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We try to do it in ourselves, "Oh, you ought to kick so-and-so out of church. You ought to do this,
that, or the other." Have you done your part as a church towards it? There you are. That's the way
to make them crawl back, turn them over to the Devil one time.
What'd Paul say about this man down there was living with his stepmother? They couldn't get him
reconciled. Said, "Turn him over to the Devil." Watch what happens. And in the next letter Paul
wrote, this man had got straightened out. Sure. God has a way of doing these things, if we'll just
follow His rules.
If something goes wrong in the church, if it's amongst the congregation, each one of you brothers.
If on the deacon board, one of you deacons don't behave, the other deacons come and have a
meeting, try to reconcile the brother, tell him what he's doing; or one of you members, whatever
you are. Then it's to be brought before him. If he won't do it, then come tell the pastor. Then, he's
loosed from the church, and then let him be as a heathen and a publican. Then watch the Lord go
to work on him. See, that's when he comes back to himself. That's when he goes to crawling in.
But we try to do it ourself, you know, try to do the... everything the way we should do it, now, we
never make a success.
Now, this Melchisedec, the King of Salem, Prince, Priest of the Most High, met Abraham and
blessed him. And gave Him his tithings, Abraham did. And He was the King of Salem. And He
brought out bread and wine, the communion, and gave it to Abraham after the battle, after the men
had been won over.
Now, "All wars," as I say, "are fought for principles." Now, if you have a little war in church, it must
be the right principle. You must be fighting for the right thing. And each member of the church is
supposed to do that. Now, this teaching is for the church. That's what we're here for. That's what
I'm standing here for. That's what God's Word is for, is for the church.
Don't never let nothing hinder this church. If it does, you're guilty, each one of you. And you, in
your different churches, if something is going wrong in your church, you're guilty, because you're
the overseer of that church. It ain't up to the pastor. It ain't up to the deacon board. It's up to you,
you individual, to go to that brother and see if you can have him reconciled. If not, then take two or
three with you, then come back. He won't hear that; tell it to the church. Then he's dismissed from
the Kingdom of God, God said, "If you dismiss him there, I'll dismiss him Here, if you've went
through this order." Then He'll turn the Devil loose to him for the construction... destruction of his
flesh. And then he'll come back. That's right. That's the way to make him come back. If he's a child
of God, he will come back. If he isn't, why--why, he'll go on, and then the Devil will send him on to
his Eternal place.
Now, the motives of it. If you just get it in for somebody, then that's different. But, if the man is
guilty! And Lot had went down and had backslid, though he was a Hebrew. He had went down and
was backslid. He was in grace, but he had fallen from it. And when he went out... And Lot--Lot was
saved. Don't never think that Lot wasn't saved. He was. Because, all the time when he was in the
wrong place, the Bible said, that, "The sins of Sodom vexed his righteous soul daily." Now, his
flesh was doing one thing. And what was his end? He brought more disgrace. His wife turned to a
pillar of salt. He had children by his daughters. So, you can see what a disgrace it brought,
because he had fallen from grace and never restored himself back again. And God had to take
him out of the earth.
But, still, he was a fallen brother, and Abraham done all that he could do to bring him back again.
And the Spirit was in Abraham, is the Spirit of Christ that's in the church today. No matter what the
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brother has done, you'll do all you can to bring him back into the fellowship of Christ again. No
matter what he's done, you'll try hard.
Now, we want to notice here now again, as we go on with this lesson of this Melchisedec, this
great Priest of Salem, and the possessor of Heavens and earth. Now, being first:
Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor ending of
life; but was made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.
Now watch. He wasn't the Son of God. He was the God of the Son. He wasn't the Son of God,
Melchisedec wasn't, but He was the Father of the Son of God.
Now, this body that He had, He had created. It had not been brought through a woman. So with
that created body, He could not... Some body He had made, Hisself, to reveal Himself.
"No man can see God at any time. God is a spirit." Mortal eyes doesn't see those things, 'less it's
in a form like the Pillar of Fire, or whatever it was, or in the form of some being that they seen by
vision. But the... God has to reveal Himself through some way. And God revealed Himself to
Abraham, in the form of a man. He revealed Himself to Moses, in a form of a man. He revealed
Himself to the children of Israel, in a form of a Pillar of Fire. He revealed Himself unto John the
Baptist, in the form of a dove. You see, He revealed Himself in those forms.
When He was revealing Himself in the form of a Man, as the King of Salem; of Jerusalem; not of
the earthly Jerusalem, but the Heavenly Jerusalem. He revealed Himself in that form. He was
made "like unto" the Son of God.
Now, the Son of God had to come through a woman, to be created here; by the womb of a
woman, because through that same thing come death.
And He could not come through creation like God did at the beginning. When God made man at
the beginning, woman had nothing to do with it. God just said, "Let there be," and a man came
from the dust. He called him, without any woman to have anything to do with it. But, the woman, it
then was in the man.
And God took the woman out of Adam's side. Is that right? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.]
And then woman went and brought man through sex. So the only way that God could do... He
couldn't come in that theophany. He couldn't come as Melchisedec. He had to come as a man,
and he had to come through the woman. "Thy Seed shall bruise the serpent's head, and his head
will bruise Your heel." Get it? ["Amen."] God had to come through a woman; and He did, when He
dwelt in His body of His Son, Christ Jesus. "God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself.
And He offered His Own Blood as a sacrifice. And gave His life, that through the channel of death,
He might save you unto Eternal Life.
So God came then, and He was made "like unto" the Son of God. See? He was a Man made like
the Son of God. Now, He couldn't be the Son of God, because this Man is Eternal.
The Son of God had a beginning, He had an end. He had a--a time of His birth, He had a time of
His death. He had both beginning and end. He had both father and mother.
This Man had neither father nor mother, beginning or end of time. But He was made, this Man,
Melchisedec, was made like the Son of God.
Now, the Son of God, when He was come in the world, in a form of a woman, through a woman,
in man's form; and was killed, raised up again on the third day, rose for our justification, now He
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abides forever. And as long as that body abides, we abide too. And because He raised up from
the dirt, we'll be raised up in His likeness. There's the Gospel story. Blessed be the Name of the
Lord. Not Angels, not supernatural beings, not a bunch of feathers to flock around, but men and
women, amen, stand in His likeness. Yes, sir.
As I've often told this, I say it again here at this time. It seems suitable. I was combing, about this
five or six hairs that I have left. And my wife said, "Billy, you're getting bald-headed."
I said, "But I haven't lost one of them."
She said, "Where they at?"
I said, "Tell me where they was before I got them, I'll tell you where they are waiting for me."
That's right.
I used to be as a--a fighter, pugilist. I was strong and big. And I felt, if you'd set this church on my
back, I'd walk down the street with it. I'll tell you, when I get up every morning now, I realize there's
forty something years has passed. See? I'm not what I used to be. I'm failing, every day. As I look
at my hands and think, "Looky here. Well, I'm getting an old man." I look at my shoulders. I see
I've gained a lot of weight. I used to wear a twenty-eight on a belt. I wear a thirty now. See, I'm
getting old, fat, dwindling away.
What is it? I eat the same thing I used to eat. I live cleaner and better than I used to live, the same
thing. But God has appointed a time for me, and I must receive it. But the blessed thought is, that,
at that day, He will raise me up again. And everything that I was when I was twenty-five years old,
I'll be again forever. Amen. There you are. What does old age bother me? I'll beat the Devil out of
that for years and years, knowing this, that I believe Him. This little span is just a little, short thing,
anyhow. If we only stayed three score and ten, seventy years old, our promised time, what--what's
that but misery and sorrow? What is it? Would you swap this pesthouse for that glorious thing
yonder?
Why, blessed be the Name of the Lord! Something on the inside of me met that Melchisedec one
day, and He spoke peace to me and He give me Eternal Life. And this life means nothing but a
tabernacle to preach the Gospel through. I say this with all sincerity, with these two Bibles laying
open before me. If my God was through with me preaching the Gospel, and I could do no more for
Him, my children was old enough to take care of themselves, and He wants to take me right now,
"Amen," that settles it. Yes, sir.
What difference does it make if I'm eighty or if I'm twenty? I'm only here for one thing: to serve the
Lord. That's all. If I can still preach the Gospel like I do now, when I'm eighty, what difference does
it make whether I'm forty or eighty? There's a many man eighty years old tonight. And there's a lot
of children will die, when an eighty-year old man will outlive a many one of them. What difference
does it make? It's your motives, your principles, and we're here to serve the Lord Jesus. That's all.
Knowing this, that, "This life is a vapor that a man speaks about; that once was, and then is not."
But if we have Eternal Life, God has promised He will raise us up again. And we'll take the
communion with Him when the days are over, and when He say, "Enter into the joys of the Lord,
that's been prepared for you since the foundation of the world."
Then what difference does it make here, whether we have anything or whether we don't? Whether
we're young or whether we're old, what difference does it make? The main thing, are you ready to
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meet Him? Do you love Him? Can you serve Him? Have you sold out to the things of the world?
Have you met Melchisedec since the battle was over?
Bless God! About twenty-one years old, I was, and one day I had a battle with this, that, and the
other. I couldn't make out whether I wanted to be a fighter, or whether I wanted to be a trapper, or
hunter, what I want to be. But I met Melchisedec, and He give me communion, and since then it
was settled forever. Hallelujah! I've went on His side. I've been rejoicing on the road. And when it
comes to the end of the road, and death stares me in the face; the way I feel now, I'll never dread
it. I'll walk, want to walk into the face of it, knowing this, that I know Him who has made the
promise, that's right, that I know Him in the power of His resurrection. When He calls from among
the dead, I'll come out from among them. That's right, knowing Him in the power of His
resurrection. What difference does it make, whether I'm old or whether I'm young? Whether I'm
little or whether I'm big? Whether I'm full or whether I'm hungry? Whether I got a place to lay down
or whether I haven't?
"The birds has the nests, and the fox has den, but the Son of man has not a place to lay His
head," but He was the King of Glory.
We are kings and priests tonight. What difference does it make whether we have or whether we
haven't? As long as we got God, we are more than conquerors. We are more than conquerors. We
set in the Presence of God, in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, taking Spiritual communion from
the hands of Him that testified, "I was He that was dead, and alive again, and I'm alive
forevermore." Setting together in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus. O blessed be His holy Name.
What difference does it make?
A tent or a cottage, why should I care?
They're building a palace for me over There!
Of rubies and diamonds, and silver and gold,
His coffers are full, He has riches untold.
I met Him one day when I come from the battle. I laid my trophies down. I ain't fought a battle
since then; He fights them for me. I just rest upon His promise, knowing this, that I know Him in the
power of His resurrection. That's all that matters. What else does matter?
What can we do? "Why taking thought can add one cubit to your statue? What do you care
whether your hair is curly, or whether you got any or not? What difference does it make? If you're
old, if you're gray, if you're stoop-shouldered, if you're not, what difference does it make? Amen.
This is just for a spell, a little space, but That's forever and forever. And as aeons of time roll on,
as the ages roll on, you'll never change, and go through His ceaseless Eternal ages. What
difference does it make?
I'm so glad I met Him. I'm so glad He give me communion, one day, that same Melchisedec that
met Abraham coming from the slaughter of the kings. Certainly. "The God of Heaven," the El
Elyon; the great "I AM," not the I was; the I AM, present tense. "And He blessed him."
Listen here just a little further, so we can get the lesson a little closer together. Now the 4th verse.
Now consider how great this man was,...
I just think that, too. "Consider how great this Man was." He is beyond the Son of God. The Son of
God had father and mother; He didn't. The Son of God had a beginning of time and an ending of
time; He didn't. Who was that? That was the Father of the Son. That's Who it was.
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... consider how great this man was, unto... even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of all the
spoils.
Now listen closely.
And verily they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood, have...
commandment to take tithings of the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren, though
they came out of the loins of Abraham:
Now watch this if you want to see something.
But he whose descent is not continued for... from them receiveth tithes of Abraham, and blessed
him that had the promise.
Abraham had the promise, and this Man blessed Abraham who had the promise. Who was this?
The sons of Levi paid tithes to their brethren or... Their brethren paid tithes to them. They had a
commandment of the Lord to take a tenth of what their brothers made, for their living, because
they were the priesthood. Now, that lets out the Melchisedec priesthood, as you talk about, right
there. That's right. But this Man... Even the one who had the promise, the greatest man on earth,
Abraham, met this Man and paid tithes to Him. [Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.] He had to be greater.
Listen.
And without any contradiction the less is blessed of the better.
Certainly. Watch Who He is.
And here men that die receive tithes;...
That's the priesthood of the order of priests and preachers, and so forth. Men that receive tithe,
die. See?
... but here he receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that he liveth.
What would a man take tithings for, if he had any... If he never was born, and never will die, and
was from beginning to end, and--and never had no father or mother or descent, and owned the
whole Heavens and earth and all in it, why would he take tithe? Why would he ask Abraham to
pay tithes? You see what a strict thing it is to pay tithes? Tithing is right. Every Christian is duty
bound to pay tithe. That's right. Never has been changed.
Now:
And as I may so say, Levi also, who received tithe, payed tithes in Abraham.
Now, oh, here is something.
For he was yet in the loins of his father, when Melchisedec met him.
What, Levi? Abraham was Levi's great-great-grandpa. And the Bible said here, that, "Levi paid
tithes when he was in the loins of Abraham." Four generations before he ever come to earth, he
was paying tithes to Melchisedec. Blessed be the Name of the Lord!
Then, you that can't believe in predestination before ordination; and here, four generations before
Levi would ever come out of the loins of Abraham, was paying tithes to Melchisedec. Wish we had
time to run this through the Scripture.
If you'd take it over to like in Jeremiah 1:4, God said, "I knew you before you was even formed in
your mother's womb. And I sanctified you and ordained you a prophet to the nations." Then what
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can you say that you did? What can I say that I did? It's God that showeth mercy. God knew us
before the foundation of the world.
He not willing that any should perish. Certainly not. But if He's God, He knowed who would be
saved and who wouldn't be saved, or He didn't know anything. If He didn't know... If he didn't know
who would make the Rapture, before the world was ever formed, then He's not God. If He's
infinite, He'd... He knowed every flea, every fly, every louse, every chigger, that would ever be on
the earth, before the earth was ever formed. That's right. He knew all things. Before the foundation
of the world, He knew us. The Bible said, that, "He knew us and predestinated us."
Let's settle this just once. Let's go back to Ephesians, the 1st chapter. The 5th chap-... The 1st
chapter of Ephesians, just a moment. I want to read here just a minute, so that you can really
understand that it's not just something that I'm trying to tell you. It's something God is trying to tell
you. See? Now listen to this, real close, 1st chapter of Ephesians.
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God,...
The same man that's wrote the Hebrew letter, is writing this letter.
... to the saints...
This is not to the unbelievers, but to the saints, the sancti-... sainted ones.
... which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:
Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places...
"According as He..." Now, listen close now, the 4th verse.
According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world,...
Who is the "us" there? The Church.
... he chose us in him (Christ) before the foundation, the earth, that we should be holy and without
blame before him in love:
Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to his
own good pleasure of his will,
Who did it? God did it. God knowed from the beginning who would be saved and who wouldn't be
saved. Certainly. He was not willing for any to perish. But He didn't send Jesus here just to see if
you'd--you'd act like, "Well, poor Jesus, I feel sorrow for Him. Maybe I'd better get saved and
approve it." No, sir.
God knowed in the beginning who would and who would not. So, therefore, He knew that some
would, so He sent Jesus to make a propitiation for those that He foreknew. "For those who He
foreknew, He has called. And those who He has called, He has justified. And those who He has
justified, He hath (past tense) glorified." There you are.
So it's not you that keeps yourself, it's the grace of God that keeps you. You didn't save yourself,
or nothing you done to deserve being saved. It's God's grace that saved you. God's grace called
you. God's foreknowledge knew you. He knew that you'd be in this church this night, before the
foundation of the world was ever laid, if He's infinite. If He isn't, He isn't God. If He did know all
things, He was God. If He didn't know all things, He wasn't God. If He's Almighty God, He can do
all things. If He cannot do all things, He's not Almighty God. There you are.
So how can you say it's something you could do? It's nothing you can do. It's God's love and
grace to you, that you're even here. Nothing you could do, God called you by His grace; you
listened, heard, accepted.
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"Well," you say, "Brother Branham, that makes it awful loose." Certainly does. You're free. "Well,
that fellow can do anything he wants to." Absolutely. I always do what I want to do. But if you're a
Christian, you don't want to do wrong.
There's a little old girl setting back there tonight, my wife. I love her with all that's in me. And if I
knowed that I could run around with another woman and get by with it, and go tell her, and say,
"Meda, I did wrong," do you think I'd do it? If I love her right, I won't do it. That's right.
Now, what if I'd say, "Oh, I can't do it. Cause, I'll tell you why. She'd divorce me, and I got... Oh,
I'm a preacher. See what that'd do? They'll take me out of the pulpit, if she'd divorce me. 'A
divorced man, oh!' I got three children; I couldn't think of that. But, boy, I..."? Well, if that's the way
it is, you're still legal. It's not legal basis that I married her upon. It's not legal basis that makes me
live true to her. It's because I love her. I don't have to do anything. I do it willfully because it's a
love affair. And if you love your wife, you'll do the same thing.
And if you love your wife like that, with phileo love, what ought you to do to Christ with agapao
love, which is a million times stronger, if you really love God? If I knowed tonight I could go out and
get on a drunk, if I knowed tonight I could run around and be immoral, if I knowed, tonight; if that
was even in my heart to do so, and I went and done it, knowing He would forgive me, I wouldn't do
it. I think too much of Him. I love Him. Sure. Certainly.
That's the reason I wouldn't sell my experience to any denomination, (no, sir), no Assemblies of
God, no church of God, no Pilgrim Holiness, Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Catholic. I wouldn't
take anything that could be offered, for this experience. Because, it never come by man. It come
by God. No, sir. I wouldn't sell my birthrights for any Elvis Presley's rock-and-roll, or for his fleet of
Catholics, or his Cadillacs, or his million dollars, and so forth, he gets each month. No, sir. I love
Him. And if I... Long as I love Him like that, I'll stay true to Him. And if God has called me and
elected me, He has placed something in me, and I love Him.
I remember Mr. Isler. You all know him, most all of you. He's come out here, state senator of
Indiana; come here, play his guitar. When my baby had died, my wife had died, and all of them
laying up here on the graveyard. And I was going up the road, with my hands behind me, crying.
He jumped out of his little, old truck, and come put his arm around me, said, "Billy, I want to ask
you a question." Said, "I've heard you preach till you almost fall in the pulpit. Heard you on the
street corners and everything, crying out for Christ." Said, "Now He took your daddy. He took your
brother. Snatched them both, and they died in your arms. There he die. Your wife died, holding
your hands. And your baby died, and you calling on Him to help you. And He turned His back on
you. What do you think about Him."
I said, "I love Him with all that's within me. If He sends me to hell, I'll still love Him." He's just. I
don't say that; twenty-six years has proved it. That's right.
If you love Him! Not a duty, that, "I can't do this, and I can't do that." You love Him too much to do
it, because He has chosen you. You never chose Him. He chose you.
You said, "I sought the Lord, and sought the Lord."
"No man seeks God." It's God, seeking man. You might be seeking a favor of Him, but God has to
change your nature before you can even seek after Him. Because, you're a sinner, you're a pig.
That's right.
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And some of you people going to church and just living by your membership, go out here and do
everything in the world, and then still go back and say, "Yeah, I belong to the church." Well that's a
long ways from belonging to God. Certainly. I don't... But, you see, people doing that, you can tell.
Oh, they're good church members. That's true. You can still be a church member and do those
things, but you can't be a Christian and doing them.
As I've said, this morning, "The old crow, if there ever was a hypocrite, it's the crow." That's right.
Him and the dove set on the same ark, set in the same roost. And the old crow was satisfied when
he was turned loose, and got out of that Church, that he could go out there and set on one old
dead carcass and "caw, caw," and eat off of this one, eat off the horse, and eat off the cow, and
whatever it was, he was satisfied. But when Noah turned the dove loose, she could find no rest for
the soles of her feet. She had just as much right to set on a dead animal as the crow did, but it
was two different natures. One of them, she was a dove, to begin with. He was a crow, to begin
with.
But, if you notice, the old crow can set over here on a dead carcass and eat, half the day. The
dove will set in a wheat field and eat, half the day. And the crow can fly right out there and eat
dove food, as much as he wants to. He could eat just as much wheat as the crow can... or as the
dove can. But he, the crow, can eat the dove food, but the dove can't eat crow food. That's right.
So, old hypocrite can come to church, and rejoice and shout and praise the Lord, and go on like
that, and go right back out and enjoy the things of the world. But a born-again Christian cannot do
it, because the love of God constrains him to such a place he can't do it.
So if you're just a Christian by joining the church, and quitting doing this and that, and the same
desire is in you, you need another dip. That's exactly right.
And you women who can dress with them little... of shorts, and right out here on the street, and
then call yourself a "believer." You're a believer, but you're a poor example of one, maybe. If you
really had Christ in your heart, you wouldn't have to think about such things as that. I don't care
what the rest of the women does, and the rest the girls do, you'd be different, because you love
Christ too much.
I talked to a woman the other day, in a house, and she throwed her hands up like this, said, "Rev.
Branham, I'm almost naked, here in my house. I'm walking around."
I thought, "Shame on you." In your own house, I don't care where you are. That's right. Dress and
act like a woman, like a lady ought to. Shame on you. But you keep... And the Bible said, "If you
love those things, the things of the world, the love of Christ is not even in you." And if you love the
Lord, just all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, you'll keep them little old dirty, nasty
things off of you. That's right.
And you deacon, and you others here, that run out on the street here, and gawking your neck and
looking at every one of them women. Shame on you; and calling yourself "sons of God." I know
that's scorching, but you rather be scorched than then burnt forever there. So if you do those
things... Now, you can't help it if a woman walks down the street, half dressed. You, if you're
looking, you're bound to see her, but you can turn your head. The Bible said, "Whosoever looketh
upon a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her already in your heart."
Let me tell you something, sister dear, you're going to answer. I don't care, you might be as pure
as a lily. You may never actually committed a sin of that type, immoral sin, in your life. But if you
dress like that, you're going to answer at the judgment for committing adultery with every man that
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looked at you. The Bible said. And walk down the street, who is guilty, the man? No, sir. You are.
You presented yourself that way.
The woman has got a great place. It's a sacred, nice, wonderful place. But she must keep herself
that way, to hold her office as she should, as a mother, as a woman and of womanhood. When the
womanhood is broke, the backbone of any nation is broke. And that's the reason, today, our nation
is ruined, is because of the immorals of our women. That's exactly right. Sure. It's the rottenness
among us, what's breaking it.
What you need is to meet this Melchisedec one time. Amen. Let Him--let Him bless you and give
you the wine, the bread, Eternal Life. Then you'll see things different. Then you'll... It'll be different.
You won't want the boys to be making a--a coyote whistle at you, the wolf whistle, or whatever you
want to call it. Certainly not. You'll be different.
And you mean to tell me that you dress like that, and get out there, for any other purpose? You
say, "Why, it's cooler." You're story-telling. It is not cooler. Science proves that it's not cooler. It's
a... It's the lust that's come upon you, sister. You don't realize it. I'm not trying to hurt you, but I'm
trying to warn you. A many a moral woman, just as clean as she can be, a nice little lady, walk out
with them things, on the street, unconscious of knowing what she's doing, because some
backslidden preacher is afraid your husband won't pay his tithes in the church anymore. If he'd
ever met Melchisedec, he wouldn't think those things. He would preach the Gospel. If it scorched
the hide off their back, he'd preach It, anyhow. That's exactly right.
You do it, and you do it because that a spirit of lust is up. And you men that'll let your wives do
those kind of things, I've got little hopes of you as a man. That's right. That's right. Now, there's no
compliments on that, because... or no apology. Because, that's true. Any man that'll let his wife get
out on the street and act like that, brother, you ought to be wearing her clothes. That's right. You,
why, my!
I don't say my wife won't do it. But I have to be changed and perverted, to what I am now, if I ever
live with her while she's doing it. And that's exactly right.
My girls, they may do it when they get to be women. I don't say they won't. I don't know. That's up
to the mercy of God. I hope they don't. If they do, they'll walk over the prayers of a righteous
father. They'll walk over the life of somebody who tried to live right, if they ever do it. That's right.
But I want to live right, teach right, be right, and could instruct them right. If they do that, they'll
beat their way to hell, over the top of my preaching, and over the top of my Christ, and over the top
of my warnings, that's right, if they ever do it. Certainly. That's right.
Shame on you. If you ever meet Christ, face to face, and He blesses you, and puts that kiss of
approval on your heart, all devils in hell will never make you put them on again. That's right.
You've changed from death unto Life, and your affections are set on things above and not on the
things of the earth. Amen. I better leave that subject. It's ticklish. All right. But it's the Truth.
All right, as we go on now just a little further, then we're closing.
... verily they that are of the sons of Levi,... receive tithe of the office of the priesthood, and have a
commandment to take tithe of the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren, though
they came out of the loins of Abraham:
But he whose descent is not counted from them that received tithes of Abraham, and blessed of
him that had the promise.
And with all contradictions the less is blessed of the better.
And here men that die receive tithes; but here he receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that he
liveth. And I...
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And as I may... say, Levi also,... received tithe, received tithe, payed tithes in Abraham.
For he was yet in the loins of his father, when Melchisedec met him.
Your--your attitude towards Christ will make a great impression on what your children will be.
Your life that you live before your family will make an impression on what your children will be.
Cause, the Bible said, that, "He would visit the iniquity of the parents upon the children to the third
and fourth generations."
Now, just a few moments, before closing.
And therefore if perfection (there's your perfection again) were by the Levitical priesthood, (for
under it the people received the law,) what further need that there come... another priest should
rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron?
The law, the legalist, see, "Oh, you have to do this. If you don't do this, you're not a Christian. If
you don't keep the sabbath! If you don't... If you eat meat! If you do these things!" All these legal
ideas. "And you've got to go to church. If you don't, you pay a penalty for it. You have to do a
novena." That stuff is nonsense. You're saved by the grace of God, by the foreknowledge of God,
by His predestination. God called Abraham by predestination, by foreknowledge. He called. He
hated Esau, and loved Jacob, before either one was born. That's right. It's--it's God's
foreknowledge that knows these things.
You say then, "What's the use of preaching the Gospel?"
Now I'll say to you, this. Paul answered that, or Jesus did, rather. Here is Jesus. He said, "The
Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a man that went to this, a--a pond or a lake, and throwed in the
net. He pulled in. Out of there, he had turtles. He had terrapins. He had serpents. He had lizards.
He had frogs. He had spiders. He had scavengers. He had--he had fish." Now, the man just
seining.
That's like the Gospel. Here it is now, I'm preaching the Gospel. I just throw the net out. I pull it, I
say, "All that will, whosoever, let him come." Here come some up, the altar. They all hang around
the altar. They pray. They cry. I don't know one from the other. It's not my business. I wasn't sent
to judge.
But, there is some in there that's frogs. There is some that's lizards. There is some that's snakes.
It's, some, is turtles. And there's some that's fish. It's not my business to judge. I say, "Father, here
is what I pulled out."
But, the frog was a frog, to begin with.
The spider, the old spider will set there and look around, little while, roll them big eyes, look
around, say, "You know what? I just about got as much of This as I can stand." Plop, plop, plop,
plop, out they go.
Old lady serpent will raise her head up, and say, "Well, you know what? If they're going to preach
like that, against wearing shorts and things, that takes me. So I'll get away from that bunch of holyrollers. That's all it must been." You was a snake to start with. That's exactly right. Yeah.
And here sets old mister toad frog, with that great big cigar in his mouth, like a dehorned Texas
steer, will stand there and look around, say, "Well, it never did condemn me to smoke. I'll just get
out of this thing, right now." Well, you old frog, you was that, to begin with. That's exactly right.
That's exactly right.
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Your nature proves what you are. Your life shows, reflects what you are, and in the beginning. It's
not hard for me to see that. It's not hard for you to see it.
If I went out to Roy Slaughter's the farmer setting here, and I saw the pigs out on manure pile,
eating manure, I wouldn't think nothing bad about that. He's a pig. But if I saw a lamb up on that
manure pile, I'd wonder. Uh-huh. See? Don't worry, you won't see him there. He just couldn't stand
it. That's right.
And a man that's born of the Spirit of God hates the things of the world. That's right, "For if you
love the world or the things of the world, the love of God is not even in you."
If I run around with women every day, and come in, tell my wife I loved her, she'd know I was a
liar. My actions would speak louder than my words. Certainly. I prove to her that I didn't love her,
because I wasn't true to her.
She told me she loved me, and every time I'd be gone, she'd take off with somebody else, it
would prove that she didn't love me. Right. Her actions prove it. I don't care how much she'd try to
tell me, "Bill, I love you, and there's no one else in the world but you," I'd know she was a liar.
And when you try to say, "Lord, I love You," and doing the things of the world, God knows you're a
liar, to begin with. So why? What's the use to accept an old half-way experience, and something
another like that, when the great skies of Heaven are full of the real thing? Why do you want to be
a miserable, professed, half-way, half-baked, so-called Christian? When, you can be a real bornagain child of God, with the joy-bells of Heaven ringing in your heart, rejoicing, and praising God,
and living a life of victory through Jesus Christ.
Not trying to do it yourself, because you'll fail, to begin with. But take Him, It's His Word, and rest
upon what He said was the Truth. And believe Him, and love Him, and He'll make everything work
right in right for you. That's it. That's the idea.
The Lord bless you. Don't want to scold you, but, brother, it's best to get a little scolding. You're
my young'ns. See? And any papa that loves his kids will certainly correct them, or he's not the
right kind of a papa. Is that right? That's right. And this papa only has one rule, and that's the rule
of the home. And God only has one rule, and that's His Word.
If we believe His Word, then we'll live by His Word. It's our duty, if we've ever met God. Not
because you say, "Well, I go to church, and I've got to do this." You're miserable. Don't do that.
Why do you want to be a miserable, decrepit, ungodly crow for, when you could be a dove?
Certainly. You just have to have your nature changed. And you change your nature, become a son
and daughter of God, be at peace with God.
Jesus! "Wherefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His Own Blood, suffered
without the gates," Hebrews 13:12 and 13. Romans 5:1, "Therefore being justified by faith," not by
shaking hands, not by water baptism, not by laying on of hands, not with shouting, not with
speaking in tongues, not with any sensation. "But being justified by faith, we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ." We've passed from death unto Life, and become new creatures,
because we have believed on the only begotten Son of God, and accepted Him as our personal
Saviour. And His Blood acts, tonight, as a propitiation for our sin, to stand in our place.
In the Old Testament, there's only one place to have fellowship, that's under the blood. Every
believer had to come under the blood. When the red heifer was killed, she was made for a sinwww.williambranhamstorehouse.com
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The Book of Hebrews
offering. She must be red. And 19th chapter of Exodus, if any of you would like to read it. And she
must be taken, hoof, all, burnt together. And then that was made a water of separation. It was set
without the gates. It had to be handled with clean hand. The blood of this heifer went before... to
the congregation, and stroked seven times up over the door. And now, every defiled person
walking up, must first recognize and see that blood, and realize that there's only fellowship
beneath that blood. That's the only place the worshipper could actually worship officially, was
under the blood.
Then, the first thing he had to do, before he could come under the blood, there had to be this
water of separation sprinkled upon him, and the uncleansed was made clean.
And they took the water of separation and sprinkled it upon the wayfaring man, and separated
him from his sin. And then he walked under these seven stripes of blood, and had fellowship with
the rest the believers in the Presence of God.
There's only one way to do it. Not shaking hands, not joining church, not by baptisms, not by
emotions; but walk up to the waters of separation, lay your hands, by faith, upon the head of
Jesus, and say, "I'm a sinner, and You died in my place. And Something in me tells me that You'll
forgive me of my sins, and I accept You as my personal Saviour now." Walk beneath the Blood,
yonder, have fellowship with the children of God. That's it. Eat the bread, drink the wine, and have
the fellowship with the church.
Oh, isn't He wonderful? Isn't He good? Now, this may seem strange to you, friend. But what--what
do I stand here and say these things for? Would I say them to try to make myself different from
somebody else? If I do, then I need to repent. I'm saying It because God said It, because It's God's
Word. And listen. There's coming a time, and now is, that when people are going from the east to
the west, trying to find the Word of God, and can't find It.
When you go into a meeting, the first thing you do, you go in there and have a bunch of tongues
and interpretations, and somebody raise up and keep quoting the Scripture; and that's carnal.
Absolutely. God said for us "not to use vain repetitions," what about Him? If He's wrote It once,
you believe It. He don't have to say It again. Tongues and interpretations is right, but it's to be a
direct message to the church and to somebody, not just carnal and things like that. And then you
get ahead in all these other things.
Here the other day, two men walked into... and a man and a wife, and another man and a wife,
just young married, walked into a place, to go to Africa as missionary. Somebody stood up and
give a prophecy, and gave tongues and interpretations, that, "They had each other's wife." That, "It
should not be that way. They married the wrong person." And those two people separated and
remarried, over again. One man took the other one's wife, the other one, in a leading Pentecostal
denomination, and went to Africa as missionaries.
Brother, when you take your oath, you're duty bound to that oath till death sets you free. Exactly
right. Certainly. When you take your oath, it's binding.
All those, nonsense! And it's got to a place till when you go to the churches, it's either so cold and
formal and dry, till the spiritual thermometer will go fifty below zero. The people set just like a wart
on a pickle, just as sour and indifferent and puckered up. And if you hear somebody, way back
there in the corner, might grunt out a little "amen," once in a while, like it hurts them, all of them will
stretch their neck like geese, to look around, see what took place. You know that's the truth. I'm
not saying that for a joke. This is no place to joke. That's the Truth. Right. I'm saying it because it's
the Gospel Truth.
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And the other side, you get a bunch of nonsense of a bunch of fleshly emotions carrying on, and
the true Word of God finally has got to a place to where you can seldom hear It: the old middle-ofthe-road, the Gospel, the Light to my path, hallelujah, the Blood of the Lamb, the love of God that
separates us from the things of the world.
"Have you spoke in tongues, brother? You haven't got It. Did you shout till the cold feeling went
up your back? Did you see balls of fire?" Oh, nonsense! No such a thing.
Have you believed on the Lord Jesus Christ and accepted Him as your personal Saviour? And the
Spirit of God bears record with your spirit, that you're sons and daughters of God. And your life
bears fruit of love, joy, peace, long-suffering, goodness, meekness, gentleness. Then you're a
Christian. If it doesn't, I don't care what you do.
Paul said, "I could give my body to be burned as a sacrifice. I knowed all the mysteries of God. I
can move mountains with my faith. I can speak in tongues like men and Angels. I'm nothing." How
about that? First Corinthians 13; find out if That's right or not.
Now find out if--if Corinthians, Second Corinthians 13, I believe it is. Or, well, it's either First or
Second Corinthians. First Corinthians there, First Corinthians 13, is right. "Though I speak with
tongues of men and Angels, both the kind that can be interpreted and that cannot be interpreted, I
am nothing." So what's the use of fooling with it, then?
"Though I understand all the mysteries of God." Why do you go to seminaries and try to learn so
much about? You better get right with God, first. Certainly. "Though I, 'Oh, blessed hallelujah!'"
You got so you can't even have a congregation unless you have a healing campaign or some kind
of miracles going on. "A weak and adulterous generation seeketh after such." What do you want
with that?
Paul said he could do all kinds of things, even move mountains, and still he's nothing. "Where
there's tongues, it shall cease. Where there's knowledge, it shall vanish. Where there's
prophecies, it shall fail. But when that which is perfect is come, it shall endure forever," and love is
perfection. "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son." That, "Whosoever
shivers, whosoever shakes, whosoever speaks, whoso"? "Whosoever believeth in Him should not
perish, but have Eternal Life." Believe that, children.
They try to make it so complicated, these things and them things. When, it boils right down to one
thing: your personal faith in God. That's it. That tells it. "For by faith," not by feeling. "By faith," not
by emotion. "By faith," not by sensation. "But by faith are you saved; and that by..." Because you
sought the Lord? Because you was a good person? Because, "God, by grace, foreknew you and
ordained you to Eternal Life."
Jesus said, "No man can come to Me except My Father draws him. And all that comes to me, I'll
give him Eternal Life. No man can pluck them from My hand. They're Mine. They're forever saved.
I got them. No man can pluck them out of My Father's hand, and He is the One that give them to
Me. They're love gifts of Mine."
"And all He foreknew, He called." He don't call anybody 'less He foreknew him. "All He called, He
justified; all He justified, He glorified." So, you see, we just at perfect rest.
Now, I know there's a lot of legalists here, ninety-nine percent of you. But, look, if you'll just take
This and realize that I'm not trying to say to you something.
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Then you say, "Well, Brother Branham, I've always thought I had to do this and I had to do that."
There's such a--such a difference in it, brother, what you have to do and what you want to do. You
are saved, not because you had one thing to do with it. You're saved because that God saved you
before the foundation of the world.
Listen. Listen here. The Bible said, in the Revelation. I'm going to take you from at first to the last
now. The Bible said, in Revelation, that, when the beast came, he deceived all upon the earth. The
beast did. "He deceived all upon the earth, whose names were not written in the Lamb's Book of
Life..." Since the revival began? Does that sound right? Well, since the preacher preached that
mighty sermon? Since that man was healed? "... since the foundation of the world."
Where was Jesus slain at, at Calvary? No, sir. Jesus was slain before the foundation of the world.
"Behold the Lamb of God, that was slain before the foundation of the world." God, in the
beginning, when He saw the sin, He saw what would happen, He spoke the Word. And Jesus was
slain before the foundation of the world. And every person was saved, was saved, according to the
Bible, when the Lamb was slain in the mind of God, before the foundation of the world. You were
included in salvation then. So what are you going to do about It?
It's God. Blessed be the Name of the Lord! "It's God that worketh; not him that willeth or him that
runneth, but God showeth mercy."
If Jesus was slain before the foundation of the world, it taken four thousand years before it actually
happened. But when God spoke it back here, every Word of God is steadfast. It's immutable. It's
impartible. It cannot fail. And when God slayed the Son before the foundation of the world, He was
just as much slain then as He was at Calvary. It's a finished product, when God says so. And
remember, when the Lamb was slain, your salvation was included in the sacrifice, because the
Bible said that your name was "Written on the Lamb's Book of Life before the foundation of the
world."
What about that? Then what are we going to do? It's God that showeth mercy. It's God that called
you. It's God that chose you in Christ before the foundation of the world. Jesus said, "You never-you never chose me. I chose you. And I knew you, before the foundation of the world." There you
are.
So, see, that takes the scare out of you. "Oh, I wonder if I could keep holding on? I'll make it,
bless God, if I'll just keep holding on." It's not whether I hold on, or not. It's whether He held on, or
not. It's what--what He done, not what I done. It's what He did.
Is it under the redemption law? This is a little thing I want to say before closing.
What if an old mare gave birth to a little mule? And that little mule had both ears broke down. He
was cross-eyed, and knock-kneed, bow-legged. His tail stuck right straight up in the air. What a
horrible-looking animal! Why, anybody... If that little mule could think, say, "Now, wait a minute.
When they come out from the house this morning, I'm telling you, I'll sure get knocked in the head.
Because, they never feed me. Look what a horrible-looking thing I am. I haven't even got a
chance."
Well, that's right. You haven't got a chance. "Well, I was born in this world, but looky here what a
horrible-looking thing I am. So I--I--I... I'll never have a chance. I won't make it. I can't make it."
See?
But what if his mammy is really instructed in the law? She'll say, "Son, that's right. You're all out of
shape, and you're not even fit to eat the food off the earth. That's right. You're not fit. But, son,
somehow another, you're my first. And, you know, you're born under a birthright. And the priest will
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never see you. But, for your name, there's got to be an innocent lamb without a blemish, has got to
die in your place, so you can live."
Well, that little mule could just kick up his heels and have a big time. Doesn't make any difference
what he is, because he'll never be seen by the judge, the priest. It's the lamb that the priest looks
at. Not the mule; the lamb!
And it's Christ that God looks at, not you. It's Christ. So if there's no fault in Him, how can there be
fault? How can He find fault, when you are dead and your life is hid in Christ through God, sealed
by the Holy Ghost? "They that are born of God does not commit sin, for he cannot sin." How can
he sin when a perfect sacrifice is laying in his place? God never looks at me, He looks at Christ,
because we're in Christ.
Now, if I love Christ, I'll live with Him. He would never brought me in 'less He know. If God saved
me today, knowing He was going to lose me six weeks from today, He is defeating His Own
purpose. Right. He don't even know the future then, if He saved me, knowing. What's He want to
save me for, knowing He's going to lose me? God doesn't do things, then take it back in two
weeks, to keep His promise. When He saves you, it's for time and Eternity.
Now, you can be worked up, and say, "Oh, yes, bless God! Hallelujah! I spoke in tongues. I
shouted. I got her. Hallelujah!" That don't mean you got It. But, brother, when something come
down here, and you anchor with Christ, then the fruits of the Spirit follow you. We bear record, our
spirit with His Spirit, that we're sons and daughters of God. Please have That, friends.
I'll keep you here all night, talking about that. I love It. I love you. I come back to this little
tabernacle, time after time, if God shall spare my life. I want to see you rooted and grounded in
that holy Faith. I don't want to see you tossed about, by every little wind of doctrine come by, and
shake you, and carry on, and have a little blood in their hands, or a little frost on their face, or
something another, and seeing some kind of--of--of lights before them, and some kind of a--a
selfish thing, as the Bible said, "Puffed up in his heart, and seen nothing." That's right. I want you
to be solid on the Word. If it's THUS SAITH THE LORD, stay with It, live with It. That's the Urim
Thummim of this day. God wants you to live by That. If it's not in the Word, then forget about it.
Live for God, live for Christ.
And if your heart begins to stray around, you know there is something that's happened, go back to
the altar and say, "Christ, renew my... the joy of my salvation. Give unto me that love that I once
had. It's leaking out, Lord. There is something I've done. Make me holy again, stand. O Lord,
nothing I could do. I can't quit this and quit that. I'm looking to You to take it out of me, Lord, and I
love you."
And walk away from that altar, a new person in Christ Jesus. Then you won't have to depend on
your church, depend on your priest, depend on your pastor. You're depending on the shed Blood
of the Lord Jesus. "By grace are you saved."
Let us pray.
Lord, such strong teachings! It's time this little church could take meat, and no more the milk of
the Word. We been too much in the milk now, giving the baby his bottle. But we got to have strong
meats, for the day is getting close. Great perilous times are at hand, and more trouble laying in the
road. And we know that there'll never be better times. We know that we're at the end. Times will
continue to get worse and worse until Jesus comes, according to the Scriptures.
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We cannot promise them nothing in this life. But in the life to come, we can promise them Eternal
Life through Thy Word, if they'll believe on the Son of God and accept Him as their propitiation, as
the One who stood in their place, as the One who took their sins. Grant it now.
May unbelievers become believers. May church professors, here tonight, who has professed
religion and just living in the church, may they receive an experience with God; that such love
comes into their heart, that they weep for their sins, die out to themselves, and are born anew by
the Holy Spirit, and being meek and kind, loving, and full of joy and blessings. Living such a life, till
they're so salty that they make the people that's around them, thirst to be like them. Grant it, Lord,
for we ask it in His Name.
And with our heads bowed.
I wonder, tonight, if there would be one here, say, "Brother Branham, if I was weighed in the
balance of God at that time, I would never, never, never be able to meet that qualification you're
speaking of tonight. I want you to remember me in prayer, that I will change my ways, and God will
come in and take this nonsense out of me and make me a real Christian"? Would you raise your
hand for prayer, if--if you would? God bless you. God bless you. God bless you, in the back. God
bless you. God bless you, sir. God bless you, big brother. God bless you, sister.
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of host.
Heaven and earth are full of Thee,
Heaven and earth are praising Thee,
O Lord Most High.
"Holy." As you're thinking now, praying, as you feel convinced that you been wrong, and you want
to be right, would you just raise your hand, saying, "God, make me what I ought to be"? God bless
you, little lady. "God, make me what I ought to be." God bless you, brother, sister, you, you, you
over here.
Day is dying. I know it's hard, friends, but it's better to know Truth now. Now quietly pray.
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God...
He is holy, alone.
... full of Thee,
O Lord Most High.
Heavenly Father, as the sun sets in the evening, the robins gather in the trees with their loved
ones. The birds all go to their nests. The doves fly up on the wires, high, so the snakes won't
bother them through the night. They set there and coo to each other till they go to sleep. The sun
finally sets.
Someday we're coming down to that hour. The sunset is going to happen. I don't know when,
Lord. But there's people here tonight who is convinced that they're been wrong, and they want to
come to that place... Like Lincoln come to it as he was dying, said, "Turn my face towards the
setting sun." And he started, "Our Father Who art in Heaven."
As Moody of old said, "Is this death? This is my coronation day."
O Eternal One, receive them just now; by faith, as they set there in their seats. You knocked at
their heart, at the seat. That's their altar. This is the time for You to receive them, just now. You
said, "He that cometh to Me, I will in nowise cast out."
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And someday when sun is setting, wife or husband is standing by the bed, the doctors walked
away. O Holy, Holy, that beautiful, sweet hush, just before the sun sets. When we could raise up
and say:
Sunset and Evening Star,
And one clear call for me;
And may there be no moaning at the bar
When I put out to sea.
O God, grant it to them this hour; while they wait, waiting for the blessing of God to come upon
them. Take all of the temper, all of the world, away from them, and create in them a new heart.
You said, "I'll take the old heart away, and put in a heart of flesh. And I'll put My Spirit in that heart,
and they shall walk in My statutes and keep My commandments." Because, it's an ordinance of
love, and not of duty. It's of love. And love constrains us to do it. It's a duty of love, to constrain us.
It's our duty to follow love. And I pray, God, that You'll give it to every heart that raised their hand
tonight.
And those who did not raise their hand, may they now, by grace, raise their hands to accept You,
and to be filled with Your Spirit in this meek, sweet, quiet, humble way; and be full of grace, go out
of here as a changed person. How the birds will sing different, how everybody will be different,
after this hour, O Lord Most High.
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of earth,
Heaven and earth are full of Thee,
O Lord Most High.
You now with your heads bowed, you who raised your hands to be remembered in prayer, do you
feel like that God has spoke to you in such a way now, not by emotion, but just something way
down in you. You feel like that God has give you Eternal Life? You feel like you're going out of the
church tonight as a different person? Would you raise your hands back tonight? God bless you,
son. God bless you, brother. God bless you, sister. God bless you. That's right. "I'll go from this
church, tonight, a new person." Newborn babes in the Kingdom of God.
What happened? I know it's an order of coming to the altar. That's a Methodist altar... a Methodist
order, I mean. It was established in the Methodist church, in the days of John Wesley. It never was
in the Bible days. "As many as believed was added to the Church." You can believe wherever you
are, out in the field, out on a street, anywhere. Anywhere, it doesn't make any difference, just so
as you accept Christ as your personal Saviour. It's an act of the Holy Ghost that comes into your
heart. When you believe Him, accept Him, you passed from death unto Life, and you become new
creatures in Christ Jesus.
Pass me not, O gentle Saviour,
Now stand to your feet.
... my humble cry;
While on others Thou are calling,
Do not pass me.
Now I want the young man and the lady, which I perceive to be his wife, that raised up your hand,
I want you to raise your hand again back there; son, with the red coat on, and the lady, that they
accepted Christ as their personal Saviour. The young man setting here in a wheel chair, accepted
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Christ as his Saviour, felt that God had saved him. And others back in there that raised your
hands, raise them again so the people can look around, have fellowship with you.
Shake their hand, somebody around, standing near them. Say, "God bless you. Welcome into the
kingdom of God, my brother, my sister." Fellowship, that's what we want. God bless... Shake
hands with this young man here in the chair. The Lord be with him. That's right. We welcome you
into the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.
If you have never been baptized as yet, and would desire to be baptized, make your way up and
tell the pastor about it. The pool here has even got water in it, tonight, if you want to be baptized.
Everything is ready. (Did you have a baptism, anyhow?...?...) But the pool is ready, if anybody
want to be baptized. The Bible said, "Repent, every one of you, and be baptized in the Name of
Jesus Christ for the remission of your sin, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the
promise is unto you and your children, them that's far off, as many as the Lord our God shall call."
You love Him? Raise your hands. [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.] Oh, isn't He wonderful? How
you enjoy this Book of Hebrews? You love It? ["Amen."] Yeah. Wonderful. Now, It's correction. Oh,
It's stern and It's straight, but we love that. That's the way we want to have It. Wouldn't have It no
other way.
Now, do you believe Paul has got an authority to preach It like that? Paul said, "If an Angel come
and preached any other gospel, let him be accursed." That right? So we love Him with all of our
heart.
Now I'm going to ask the pastor to come here just a moment, our most precious brother, Brother
Neville, and he'll have a word to tell you. And now, if the Lord willing, we'll see you Wednesday
night, and make arrangements about going to Brother Graham Snelling's for a congregational
night. And then for the preaching here to continue on, with the 7th and 8th chapter, this coming
Wednesday night. Brother Neville.
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HEBREWS CHAPTER SEVEN - PART 2
Branham Tabernacle
JEFFERSONVILLE.IN SUNDAY 57-0922
Bless you! I think, first, we got a little baby here, Doc told me just a few minutes ago, my brother,
a brother in flesh, that wanted... was for dedication. And now if those mothers has got their little
tots that they want to dedicate to the Lord, we'll be glad to have them right now. They come, bring
their little ones up.
Now, and many people, they, what they call, baptize them. The Methodist church does, and I
believe the Nazarene. I'm not sure. No. I think that's what they separated on, was infant baptism,
the Nazarene and the Free Methodist. But, however, some of them, they do one thing and
another. But, and some of them pour a little water on them. Some sprinkle them. And, but we
always try to stay just as close to the Bible as we know how. Now, there's no Scripture in the Bible
for a baby to be sprinkled, neither is there Scripture in the Bible for any person to be sprinkled. It's
not a Scriptural thing. It's an order of the Catholic church.
But they--but they do, brought... They did bring little babies to Jesus. And--and we're to represent
Him. We want to do the same thing that He did. He placed His hands upon them and--and blessed
them, and said, "Suffer the little children to come to me, and forbid them not, for of such is the
Kingdom of Heaven." And that's what we continue to do here at the tabernacle, as we try to carry
on the real Bible, consecrated way, the best that we know how.
So now, if that mother, or any mothers has got their little babies to be dedicated, while Sister
Gertie plays Bring Them In, why, you bring them up to the altar. Brother and I will come down and
dedicate the little ones to the Lord. All right.
Brother Neville. [Brother Branham and Brother Neville dedicate the babies. Blank.spot.on.tape-Ed.]
Thank you, Sister Gertie. That's very fine. How many loves little children? If you don't, there is
something wrong with you, there is something wrong.
Now, tonight, now to go into the rest of the services. We... the reason I got down again tonight.
Usually on these days when we have healing services, I only get about one a day, because it
gives me such a shaking. You never know it. And here at home is twice as bad as anywhere else.
And I was apologizing for making such a blunder as I did with it this morning. But the first thing
upset me, was when Billy come to tell me that he couldn't find enough people to give out prayer
cards to. He only could give out about twelve or fourteen. And he had a... Nobody wanted prayer
cards. I guess everything was all right. So then, by that, I never thought... And then when I started
to call those prayer cards, I thought I'd get all ten or twelve, or ever what there was in here. Called
them up. I got to a certain number, something, and it wouldn't call. And I called. It wouldn't answer.
And I never thought of it till Mrs. Woods called me up. She said, "Brother Branham, Billy takes
them cards and shuffles them up together, and just gives them out. He might have had that
number three," (wasn't it?) "number three in his pocket."
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Sure, he usually gives out the whole fifty. When he brings them before the people, he just shuffles
them up. So everybody... It's not say, "Give me number one." Or, we might not start at number
one. We might start at fifty, you don't know, and come backwards. We might start at eight and go
on over. Might start at twenty and go over. We don't know. But he just shuffles them up and gives
them out to the people as they want them. And not thinking this morning, I might have called four
or five more, and they wouldn't have been in there, 'cause it might have been way up in twenties
or thirties somewhere, you see. And, then, but the Lord worked it out, but it just doesn't have the-the real pressure to it, like it does away from home. I may never try it--try it again.
But, here not long ago, I asked the Lord if He'd give us a good meeting, that I promised that I--I
wouldn't ask Him that no more, because it's been such a hard thing. And it's contrary to the
Scripture. See? And if you... That's what makes it hard on me. Because, knowing that, it gives me
a--a defeat, to begin with. See? I'm defeated, to start with.
However, someone called somebody this afternoon. Mrs. Woods was called by somebody. And
said, that, "Somebody in the church was called this morning, about a man that was very, very sick,
that came to Christ this afternoon, afterwards." That the--the man that was very sick came to
Christ.
And another thing, Mrs. Woods told me that I spoke to her sister, an older sister, that I really was
in her home the other day and eat dinner with her, or supper with her, down in Kentucky. And
Almighty God knows that I didn't recognize that woman. See? That's right. Just... Visions are
sovereign. We never know how they're going to go or what's going to happen. It's up to God, and
what--what takes place. But I did know, in waiting for them, waiting for there.
And the other day when this little girl was in here, that was supposed to have had discernment,
which I, not... See, if God would give that to all the world, it would be fine; but if it was, it was
contrary to what He told me across the street here, you see, a few years ago. And we wanted to
be sure that was right, and let the church, being it was here, see it. And so I did call that Mrs.
Snyder. Sister Snyder. She is here somewhere. She's just a teeny bit hard hearing. And the little
lady spoke it low, and said, "You have rheumatism," or arthritis, something like that.
Which, I knew it was a broken hip. And so... And then the Holy Spirit brought that in this morning.
See?
Now, what it is, it's a Divine gift, and it works in its sovereignty. But what makes it so hard here in
the city, honest, I--I get tangled up, all the time, in praying for the sick here. Or--or... I'll go, tell the
people this. I'll go, say, "Now the Lord has made you well. Jesus healed you when He died for you,
nineteen hundred years ago. Right there you were healed. Now, as far as God is concerned, as
far as Christ is concerned, you was healed, nineteen hundred years ago. Your disease was gone.
It takes your faith to do it."
And then that person can go around and not get well. Then the person come around, say,
"Brother Branham told me I was well." See? I'm telling you what God said.
Now, when it's spoke directly to a person, directly, "It's THUS SAITH THE LORD," on a certain
thing that's going to take place. That'll prove to you right there that your healing is already secured.
Your faith has sealed it. See? The promise is yours. It ain't my word. It's God's Word, that you're
already healed. See? But you just... Somehow another, I--I just can't get it to soak in, to folks here
in Jeffersonville. I--I just can't get it to happen. I know. I'll try to explain that just as well as I can,
and it just--it just won't happen. That's all. I say...
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Here, not long ago, I went to a home, to a man, and the man was dying. And they called me,
"Come, pray for him. The doctor said he wouldn't live till morning."
I went in. And the young man said to me, "Mr. Branham, I don't want to die." Why, certainly the
young fellow didn't. He had a family of two children there.
Well, I got down. I said, "Now, look, who is your doctor?" He told me. I said, "Now, the doctor
might have said you was, you was going to die, but God hasn't said yet you was going to die." I
said, "Now, according to the Bible, you're already healed, because Jesus died for your healing."
He said, "Do you believe I'll get well?"
I said, "I absolutely believe it."
Well, if I went to pray for a man, and didn't use that kind of faith, to believe for him; if I go, "Oh, no,
no, if the doctor said you're going to die, you was going to die. That settles it now." Now, wouldn't
that be some person to come pray for the sick? I wouldn't want that person in my house, to pray
for me. I want somebody that, even if he didn't see it, or not, he'd take faith and stand on the
promise for me. That's right. And I said... he...
We went and had prayer. I said, "Now be of a good courage."
He said, "Do you mean that I'll get well?"
I said, "Why, sure. God's Word said you'll get well. See, 'If thou canst believe, all things are
possible.'"
He said, "All right, I'll believe It." And went out and said to his wife, that.
"The man is dying, isn't he?"
"Yes, he is." And so the next day, the man died, or a couple days after that.
Then this woman goes out and starts drinking and carrying on. And one of the deacons, I believe
it was, of this church, went to the woman and asked her if she would return and come back to
church. She said, "I wouldn't believe nobody. Preacher Branham come in here and prayed for my
husband, said he was going to live, and he died in two or three days later." Said, "I wouldn't
believe." Now she is dying. All right.
But, however, you see, it just goes to show that people don't pay attention to what you're saying.
See? Certainly. If I prayed for a person, and I--I tell them people they're going to live. I believe
they're going to live. But, no matter, if my word was absolutely THUS SAITH THE LORD, and you
would disbelieve It, you'd die, anyhow. Certainly. Here is THUS SAITH THE LORD, and many of
them receive It and die. Many of them go to hell, when, THUS SAITH THE LORD, "You don't have
to." Is that right? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.] Sure. See? It's what... It's all based on your
faith.
Brother Collins, I don't think he is in tonight. But listening at him this morning, he gave the most
gallant talk on that. See? See? He did. He said, "Now, the same faith you have up here, you're
going to have to have out there. Because, it's your individual faith, not in your denomination, but in
Christ. You've got to have that faith." That's just exactly right. Absolutely.
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And Divine healing is based upon your faith. But according to God's Word, THUS SAITH THE
LORD, that every person was healed when Jesus died at Calvary, "He was wounded for our
transgressions, with His stripes we were healed." That right? We were. The Bible said, "You were
healed." So don't find fault with me, I'm just a preacher of the Word. You go tell God that He told
something wrong, and God will tell you where your weakness is then. See? So, it's your faith.
Jesus said, "If thou canst believe. If thou canst believe."
Now, when you hear the Holy Spirit has confirmed your faith and solid it down, and said, "THUS
SAITH THE LORD, 'Tomorrow at this certain time, you'll have a certain thing. Certain thing will
take place. It'll be over here a certain way, and you'll meet a certain thing here. That'll be a sign to
you.'" Now, you watch that. That's a finished work, right here now.
But when it's come to saying Divine healing, I have to put Divine healing on the same basis, of
that manner, as salvation. Each one of you, no matter what you've done, you've been saved since
Jesus died, 'cause He died to take away the sins of the world. But it'll never do you any good till
you personally accept it and experience it. But as far as your sins, they're already forgiven. That's
right. He... "Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world." See? There you are.
Now remember that.
Now, I know that in teaching, in the Scriptures, we're a mixed congregation. And many times, in
this Book of Hebrews, which is a rather deep Book... I'm going to have to leave it for a while now.
I'm going to try tonight to finish up the last part of that 7th chapter.
And now there's many questions in your mind, no doubt. Many of you have questions, and I'd
have, too. Now, the next time, the Lord willing, when I come in...
I'm going to Michigan now. And then, from Michigan, I'm going to Colorado. And from Colorado, to
the West Coast. Now--now, when we get in, the Lord willing... Now, I don't know. If I don't be in
Chicago, Sunday, I may be back here for the coming Sunday night.
Now we're holding our pastor out of the pulpit here for about six weeks, all through these--these-these, this book here. See? Now we... I don't like to do that. Brother Neville is a lovely, sweet, kind
brother. And I'm sure that this church loves Brother Neville.
By the way, while I'm speaking; somebody, in around this country somewhere, is guilty of writing
some cards, to move Brother Neville out of this pulpit. You're going to have to settle that with me.
Uh-huh. That's right. Uh-huh. Yes, indeed. Now, I want you... Said the dea-... something about the
deacon board. The deacon board has not one thing to do with that pastor. No, sir. The
congregation, in full, has all the authority. It isn't... A deacon board is just the policemen here in
this church, just to keep order and so forth. But when it comes to rules, the whole church has to
say so. This church is built upon the sovereignty of the local church. Therefore, I have nothing to
say in moving this pastor, or putting one in. I own the property; it's given to the church. You all are
the church. You people are the one who control. You're the church, yourself. And the Church, the
holy Church of God is the sovereignty, of the Holy Spirit in that Church. And the only thing I do is
own the property, give it over to this church, as give it over for a church, and it's tax free. And the
church elects their own pastors. I have nothing to do with it. And the only way this pastor could
ever leave, would be the pastor decide himself to go, or the majority of the votes of the church
would have to say, "Change the pastor." That's the only way. No deacon board can do it. The
deacon board only keeps order and things in the church.
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The trustees, they have nothing to do with it, only repair the church. And they can't do it until
there's a... The whole trustee board meets and says, "We'll build this, or we'll do that." Then they
have to ask the treasurer if they got the money to do it. Yes, sir.
But if there's any complaint against any member, if a member has a complaint against one
another, or something wrong, you're supposed to go to that brother, yourself; and talk to him, you
and he alone. Then if they won't receive it, then the next thing takes place, you take one of the
deacons or somebody, and go with you to that brother. Then if he won't receive you, then you
come tell it to the church. Then if the church... Then if he won't receive the church, then the Bible
said, "Let them be as a heathen and a publican." That's right.
And any persons that knows a guilty person, and you don't go to them and talk, then you're the
part of the church of God is going to answer for that sin. That's right.
And if any persons then has a--a complaint against a deacon, or against the deacon or somebody
in the church, it takes three people. Three people would come and say, witness, the mouth of two
or three witnesses. Come tell the pastor that there's a grievance against a deacon. Then if there's
a grievance against a deacon, the deacon isn't a--a just man, a--a perfect man. He must hold the
office of a deacon, blameless, and then found blameless. And if that congregation finds out that
that deacon is not holding that office, he gets three with him and takes it to the pastor. That
deacon is asked to stay home over the night. And then the pastor from... comes and brings the
congregation together, gives the grievance. And if the congregation votes for the deacon to
continue on, the deacon continues on. If he con-... votes for the deacon to be dismissed, they elect
a new deacon that very night. See?
Therefore, no one person has nothing to do in this. It's the majority of the people. Yes, sir. If
twenty votes for him, and twenty-one votes against him, he goes; or, vice versa. See? That is, it's
the sovereignty of the local church and, then, each one of the members has a say-so in the
church. Anything goes on, wrong, then they can come right around, and the only thing they have
to do is to be before God that they are absolutely see that nothing hinders the moving of the
church.
But the full and complete authority of the church is the pastor. Read that in the Bible, see if that's
not Bible order. That's exactly right. There is no one above the elder. I have nothing to do with
what Brother Neville does here. That's up to you and Brother Neville. If Brother Neville wanted to
preach Jehovah Witness doctrine, that's up to him and you. See? If he wanted to preach anything
he wanted to, that's between you and him. That's all. If the congregation votes for him in there, to
preach that, that's all right. That's up to him.
The only thing that I do, just is owning the property. And if something another comes by, that it's
like moving the pastor, and they want to take a vote on that, you couldn't ask a deacon to do that.
You'd come ask me. I'd come down, say, "If you want to move the pastor, tell me why. Has he
done anything?"
"Yes. We caught him, drunk. Or, we caught him doing this, or doing something wasn't right."
"Have you got three witness of it?"
"Yes. We have."
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Them witness must first be tried. "Don't receive an accusation against an elder 'less it be by two
or three witness, and let them first be proved; against an elder." Then you have to swear to it, that
you saw it; and prove it, that you saw it.
And then, if you did, then that sin is rebuked openly, that, "It's wrong." Then say, "Congregation,
do you want to change your pastor?"
And if the congregation votes, "Forgive him, and let him go on yet," that's the way it has to stand.
See? That, isn't that fair enough the way to run a church? That's what the Bible said. We have no
bishops and overseers, and boards and so forth, moves this one in and got a lot of authority.
There's nobody got authority here but the Holy Ghost. That's right. He does the moving. And we
take Him as the majority of the people, the way the people go.
And then if one side wants to do this, and the other side wants to do that, and the side wins. The
losing side, what do they do about it? Join right in with the rest of them, say, "We were wrong,
then. We'll go right on, 'cause the Holy Ghost has made that choice." See? That's exactly right.
Like Democrats and Republicans, as long as we stand as a democracy, as Americans. If the
Democrats is in, the Republicans should push right on with them; Republicans in, the Democrat
push on. See? That's just exactly what makes us a nation. Whenever we break that, we break our
democracy. That's right. Democrats say, "I ain't going to do nothing; Republicans was in." Then we
fall. I'm a Kentuckian: together we stand, and divided we fall.
Now, if there's anything wrong in the church that you ever know of, some individual or some
person or anything, you are duty bound and will answer before God if you don't clear that thing
out; you, the church. Now, remember, it's not on my shoulders. It's on yours. And anything wrong
in the church, God will make you answer for it. That's right. That's the way He runs his church.
That's the way it is in the Bible. That's the order of the Bible. That's the sovereignty of the local
church. The pastor is the head. That's right. Amen.
Now, coming to this blessed, old Message here. You, now I want you to know that. This is tape
recorded, remember, this Message. And the tape recordings of the church, the orders and rules of
the church, it's on tape recording. That's according to the Bible. We don't run it; there's nobody in
head. No. All, we're all the same. But, we got a leader, that is the pastor, as long as he's led by the
Holy Ghost. True. All right.
Now, in here, there's going to be a lot of questions. So the next time that they give out... And
Brother Neville puts on the radio that I'm to be here, you write out your question, so you and I can
fuss it together. Will you? All right.
I know I've taught on the perseverance of the saints. I've taught on the supreme Deity of Jesus.
I've taught on the security of the believer, and foreordination, predestination, and many of those
things. Which, I know, in my congregation is many legalists, which is perfectly all right. Absolutely.
But, now, the things, I'm a legalist, too, and I'm a Calvanist. I just believe the Bible. That's all.
Now, if some of those, questions. And I've taught on evidences, sensations, and so forth, and all
those things you might have disagreed with. So one of these nights, maybe... Let's make it...
Are you in a big hurry to get back up in here? [Brother Neville says, "No."--Ed.]
Let's make it Wednesday night, this coming Wednesday night, then I--I think I--I can have that
then. Bring your question in Wednesday night, lay it up here on the platform, and the question
about the Bible, all right, of what I been teaching on now. And Wednesday night. And then by the
following Sunday, then, I think I--I've got to be in Chicago, anyhow. And I'm going from there into
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Michigan. The Lord willing, I'll be here Wednesday night, to try to answer the question the best that
I can. And now the Lord be merciful.
Now let's bow our head, just a moment.
Now, blessed Lord, this is Your great economy. It's your church. It's You, Lord, that's moving, and
we want to move as the Spirit of God moves us. And we pray now that You'll bless us. And as we
rehearse this Message, and get down into these deep things, we pray that the Holy Spirit will
reveal them to us just as we have need. For we ask it in His Name. Amen.
Now, oh, I... This Book of the Hebrews, I value as one of the great Books.
A little later on, it may be that I--I've got... going overseas, which that, if God permits, I will be
doing pretty soon. I've got to go to Africa according to a vision. I think I'll never prosper much in my
meetings until I go to Africa and fulfill that vision. Now, then, that'll probably be sometime this
coming spring.
But between that time, I like take one more book out of the Book of Hebrews, that is, the 11th
chapter of Hebrews. And stay about a week in that 11th chapter, and take each one of those
characteristics or characters, and bring out their characteristic. See? "By faith, Noah," then take
the life of Noah. "By faith, Abraham," then take the life of Abraham. "By faith, Abel," then take the
life of Abel. See? And bring that down. Would you like that? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.]
Oh, that would be, we take in the whole Bible then. And then we'll try that, maybe, either in, say, a
week or ten days of meetings, just one meeting right after the other, in a revival like, sometime
around through Christmas holidays, or something like that, the Lord willing.
Now, in the 7th chapter of the Book of Hebrews, we met this great Character. Who can tell me
what His name was? [Congregation says, "Melchisedec."--Ed.] Melchisedec. Now, who was this
Melchisedec? He was the priest of the Most High God. He was the King of Salem, which was the
King of Jerusalem. He didn't have any father, or He did not have any mother. He had no time He
was ever born, or He will never have a time that He will die. Now, we find out that that has to be
Eternal.
We found out that the word forever means "a space of time." Do you still remember that?
[Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.] A space of time, it's forever and forever. And forever is
witnessed, many times, in the Bible as "a--a space of time."
But, Eternity, and there's only one type of Eternal Life, we found. Is that right? God has that
Eternal Life, alone. Is that right? Only one type of Eternal Life. There is no such a word as "Eternal
punishment." Cause, if you're to be punished for Eternity, you've got to have Eternal Life. To be
punished Eternally, you'd have to have Eternal. And if you got Eternal Life, you can't be punished,
see, if you got Eternal. "He that heareth my Words, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath
everlasting Life." Is that right? Eternal Life, because you believe. Well, if you've got Eternal Life,
you can't be punished, because you got Eternal Life. So, then, if you're going to suffer in hell
forever and forever, you got to have Eternal Life.
But, now, I do believe that the Bible teaches of a literal burning hell. The Bible teaches that, that
the sins and wickedness will be punished, forever and forever. That's not Eternity, now. That's
maybe for ten billion years. It may be for a hundred billion years, but sometimes it has to have an
end. For, everything that had a beginning, has an end. It's those things which has not a beginning,
it has no end.
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You remember that lesson now? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.] How we went back and found
out that everything that had a beginning was perverted, see, a perversion off of the main. And,
finally, it winds back up to an Eternity. And then all hell, all suffering, and all memory of such, will
be vanished for Eternity. Everything that begin, ends.
And this Melchisedec was not Jesus, for He was God. And what made Jesus and God different,
that, Jesus was the tabernacle that God dwelt in. See? Now, Melchisedec. Jesus had both father
and mother. And this Man never had father or mother. Jesus had a beginning of life and He had
an end of life. This Man had no father, no mother, no beginning of days or ending of life. But, It
was the selfsame Person, it was. Melchisedec and Jesus was One; but Jesus was the earthly
body, born and fashioned after sin. God's own body, His own son, born and fashioned after sin, to
take the sting out of death, to pay the ransom, and to receive sons and daughters unto Himself.
You get it? That's the reason that He had--He had a beginning, He had an ending.
But this perfect body, in commemoration, as--as the earnest of our resurrection, God would not
suffer that holy body to see corruption, because He created it Himself. And brought it forth, and
resurrected it, and set it at His right hand.
And, today, the Holy Spirit that raised that body up is here in the Church. Blessed be the Name of
the Lord! And showing forth the same miracles and power. And someday this Holy Spirit, that's in
the Church, will scream and will lift up, and will receive itself into this body form that's setting at the
right hand of the Majesty of God, to make intercessions for we sinners. And by There we are
perfectly kept from sin. Not that we don't sin; but kept from sin, in the Presence of God. Cause,
there's a Bloody sacrifice standing between me and God, between you and God. That's the reason
He said, "A man that's born of God, does not commit sin, he can't sin." For, if you're born again,
the very Holy Spirit that lived in that Body lives in you. And It can't sin; the sacrifice is laying before
Him. Then if you willfully do it, shows that it's impossible for you to be into that Body. Amen. That's
the Gospel. There It is.
Therefore, you see, It doesn't contradict any of the Scriptures. It binds the Scriptures together.
See? "It would be impossible for those once enlightened." There is where we'll get my questions.
For, just get them, that's how we want.
Now notice. "It's impossible for those who once enlightened, to fall away to renew themselves
again to repentance, to see that they crucify the Son of God afresh, and make Him... and bring
Him to an open shame." They couldn't do it.
Then you go on over to Hebrews 10, where It says there, "For if we sin willfully after we received
the knowledge of the Truth." And what is sin? Unbelief.
If you deliberately see the Holy Spirit do the things that It did right here this morning, and see that
Christ is risen from the dead, and He's living in His Church and among His people, and you
willfully turn It down, it's impossible for you to ever come to God, 'cause you've blasphemed the
Holy Ghost.
Jesus said the same things, when He was doing those miracles.
They said, "Why, He is Beelzebub. He's a fortune-teller. He's a devil."
Jesus turned around, and said, "I'll forgive you for that. But when the Holy Ghost comes and does
it, to speak a word against It will never be forgiven in this world or the world to come. Because
you've called the Spirit of God that was in Him, 'An unclean spirit.'"
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Then, if we sin willfully, if we sin, disbelieve willfully. Not after we receive the Truth, been born
again; we couldn't sin then. A sinner cannot commit the unpar-... A Christian cannot commit the
unpardonable sin. He can't do it. It's the ungodly that does that. It's the make-believer, not the
believer.
Those Jewish rabbis, oh, they thought they were starch, and they had D.D.'s and Ph.D.'s. They
thought they had it all sewed up, in a bag, but they was the worst of sinners. Oh, they might... You
couldn't put a hand on them, on their life. They were clean, moral, and just, that way. But they
were disbelievers.
And you take the word sin and find out what it means. The word sin means "unbelief." There's
only two factions, that is, a believer or an unbeliever. That's, a justified person or a sinner. That's
all. If you're an unbeliever, you're a sinner; no matter how good you are, how much you go to
church, or even if you're a preacher. You're still an unbeliever.
Those Pharisees were preachers, and they were unbelievers, and in hell today for it. Just as
religious as they could be, and pious, but they didn't believe Him. And they called Him "a devil,"
and disputed His Word. And some of them said, "If thou be, now come down off the cross. Perform
a miracle. Let us see you do it." One smote Him on the head, with a stick, and said, "Prophesy and
tell us who hit you, you a prophet, and we'll believe you." See, unbelievers! They make-believe
that they were believers, but they were unbelievers, unregenerated, separated, though they were
holy and pious.
Yet, that's the same thing stands today. Men and women can go to church and have the long
face, and--and pious as they can be, and never lie, steal, and try to live their religion as best they
can. But, unless they are a believer, they're lost. So there's no scratch of legalists in the Bible.
Calvinism is... Grace is what God did for you, and works is what you do for God. It's absolutely
separated.
If you quit lying, quit smoking, quit stealing, quit committing adultery, quit all, done everything,
kept the commandments, and went to church, baptized every Sunday, took the communion,
washed the feets of the saints, done everything, healed the sick, and done all these other things,
unless you're born of the Spirit of God, elected, you're lost. "Not him that willeth or him that
runneth, but God that sheweth mercy."
Esau tried his best to become a Christian, and couldn't do it. The Bible said he wept bitterly,
seeking a place to repent, and couldn't find it. Before he was even born, God condemned him,
'cause He knowed he was a rotten shyster in his heart. God by foreknowledge knew it. He said, "I
love Jacob, and I hate Esau." And Esau looked like the gentleman. He stayed home, taking care of
his old blind daddy, fed the cattle, and everything, was a good boy.
And Jacob was mama's boy, little old sissified story-teller. That's what he was. You have to admit
it. The Bible admits, brings it. Run around, doing everything. And--and, mama, hanging around
with mama. But, yet, Jacob, with all of his ups-and-down, and his sissified ways, he still had
respect to that birthright. That's the keynote.
Esau was twice the gentleman of Jacob. If we had to judge him today, to be a member of our
church, you'd take Esau, a thousand to one, if you didn't know him. But God took Jacob.
What would you do with Saint Paul, if he wanted to be a minister? A little, old hook-nosed Jew,
and a mouth setting sideways, going along just fussing, and how he's going to tear out the Church.
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He's going to do everything. You'd thought he committed the unpardonable sin. But God said,
"He's my servant."
God takes men and makes them different, not men taking God and becoming different. God takes
man and makes him different. It's not what you do, what you will, what you think. It's what God
does. There you are. And that's the story.
Now, this great Melchisedec, what a story on Him here! We want to read a little bit, this type. We
had to run through it so fast. We're going to start back here on a certain part of the Scripture, and
we're going to start about the 15th verse.
And it is yet... more evident: that there... for that after the similitude of Melchisedec there arises
another priest.
Now, Melchisedec was a priest. Was he? Here is what He was. We find out that God, in the
beginning, was a great fountain of Spirit. Is that right? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.] He had
no birthplace. He had no dying place. He had no beginning of days. He had no ending of years.
He was just as Eternal as Eternity is Eternal. He never was born. He never did die.
And in there, we find out that, He had seven varieties of Spirit. Is that right? The Bible said, in the
Revelation, that, "The seven Spirits before the Throne of God." Is that right? [Congregation says,
"Amen."--Ed.] The seven, manifold, seven Spirit. We find out, there is seven colors. There is seven
church ages there. Oh, it just runs. Seven is complete, and God was complete. And seven Spirits,
and those Spirits were perfect. The first was the color of red; perfect love, redemption. And how, if
we had time, to give those colors and show that each one of those colors represents God's purity.
Amen. Those colors, there is seven natural colors. Those colors represents the purity of God. And
the... Those colors represents the motives of God, the attitude of God. Those seven colors, they
represented seven church ages, seven stars, seven angels. All through the Scripture, seven
ministers, seven messengers, seven messages, all in the sevens. Seven days. Six days, and the
seventh is the sabbath; perfect, complete. Oh, it's beautiful, if we just had the time to dig into it and
to bring it out, those colors!
Take the color red. We take the first color, is red. What is red? Red is one sign of danger. Red is
a sign of redemption. And you look at red through red, what color is it? White. That's correct. So
when the red Blood was shed, to cover red sin; God, looking through red Blood, look at red sin, it
becomes white. The believer can't sin. Certainly not. The Seed of God, the blessings of God,
remains on him. God can't see nothing but the Blood of His own Son. No matter what it is in His
Church, what it is, God don't see it, because Jesus is making intercessions, constantly, the High
Priest. No way for him to sin, when such a Sacrifice is laying there for him, like that. Certainly not.
And now if you say, "Well, that gives me a good chance..." Then that shows you're not right.
You'll appreciate That. You'll love It, if you're a real Christian, to a place that sin would haunt you
till you couldn't do it. "For the Seed of God remains in him, and he cannot sin." The Bible said,
"Once purged by the Blood of Jesus, has no more desire of sin." If you have a desire, your heart is
not right with God.
Now, you will do wrong, but you don't do it willfully. See? You're--you're trapped, and anything
you're trapped into, or do something that you don't mean to do it, it's not sin yet, you'll repent the
minute you see that you're wrong. You'll turn quickly and say, "I didn't mean... didn't see that."
You'll say that, all through life. A man don't want to be, that's the reason that we are so stupid and
so in dark, down here on earth, that there's a Blood atonement for us, all the time, to keep us
covered. Cause, the first mistake we met...
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Now, there's your legalist idea. "Oh, you know what? That woman was sanctified. But, bless God,
she done wrong. I know she is backslid." That's wrong. She's not backslid. She made a mistake. If
she did it willfully, then she wasn't right, to begin with.
If she didn't mean to do it, and she walks before the holy Church of God and confesses it, and
say, "I'm wrong, and you forgive me," you are duty bound to do it. You don't do it in your heart,
then you ought to went to the altar yourself. True. There is the real holiness in the church. There is
genuine holiness, the holiness not of you, but of Christ.
I have no holiness to present to Him. But I'm trusting in His, oh, His grace, and I have it in my
heart. I've unmerited it, nothing I could do to deserve it, but by grace He called me and invited me
to come. And I looked to Him, and He took the desire away from me. I make thousands of
mistakes in each month, in each year. Sure. I do. But when I see I'm wrong, I say, "God, I didn't
mean to do it, You know my heart. I didn't mean to do that. I was trapped into that. I didn't mean to
do it. You forgive me, Lord."
If I done wrong to my brother, I say, "Brother, forgive me. I didn't mean to do that." Certainly, God
knows my heart.
Oh, there you are. There is the Blood sacrifice. There is the power of the Gospel, that holy Church
moving on. Not because something you done; it's something you had nothing to do with. There is
the Atonement.
Now, this Melchisedec, when He came forth.
I want to tell you another thing. Did you ever take a--a three-cornered piece of glass? You take a
piece of glass that's three-cornered, and lay it so the sun can hit it, it'll produce seven perfect
colors. A three-cornered piece of glass will produce a rainbow. That's exactly right. Now, if we had
time, we'd go in on that. Three brings perfection: Father, Son, Holy Ghost; justification,
sanctification, the baptism of the Holy Ghost. There you are. The perfection come by the three.
God, above man; God, in the Man called Jesus; God, in the Church. Then, the perfection.
The man sinned, as long as God was up here in a Pillar of Fire, God. Man sinned, rather, before
God, as long as God was in a Pillar of Fire, because he was still an unclean creature, animal blood
laid before Him.
Then the Lamb of God came, second definite step of God; same God, another office. And then
this God in... was in Christ, was the same God that was in the Pillar of Fire. And the same God
was made flesh and dwelt among us. And then man made fun of Him, it was still countable for it.
There was no Blood shed yet. That's right. Jesus said, "I'll forgive you."
But then that same One that was flesh, became in the Pillar of Fire again. "I come from God. I go
to God." Here we find Paul meeting Him, on the road down to Damascus, that same Pillar of Fire.
We find Peter meeting Him in the jail, that same Pillar of Fire. Certainly. And we see Him today,
among us, the same Pillar of Fire.
But the perfection has come to the place, that the middle person... Now, if there happens to be a
Jew here, or somebody that understands the Old Testament. Prove it, let me show you. I haven't
got the Old Testament with me, right now. This is--is the New Testament. But in the offering of the
shewbread that was laying on the kosher plate, in the Jewish sacrifice at the cleansing of the
tabernacles; ask any Jew; on those three pieces of bread, the middle piece was broken. That was
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Christ. The middle piece was broken; Christ, the in between. Showed that there had to be a
breaking, somewhere, for redemption. And that piece was considered redemption, on the kosher
bread.
And here He is. And tonight, when we take the communion, we break the kosher bread, for it's the
body of Christ. And He was broken at Calvary, to be a propitiation for our sins, that through His
righteousness we might become His righteousness. Because, He became our sin, that we might
become His righteousness. Brother, that's purely grace. Absolutely. There's no way, any other way
you could justify.
Now, this Melchisedec, this great Person that was met on the road. He paid, Abraham paid tithes
to Him. How great a Man He must have been! Now notice, quickly.
Who is made, not after the law of... carnal commandments,...
Now see that legalist law? The law said, "Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou
shalt not steal."
Jesus turned right back around, said, "It is said of them of old times, 'Thou shalt not kill,' but I say
who is ever angry with his brother, without a cause, has killed already. It is said of them, old times,
'Thou shalt not commit adultery,' but I say unto you, whosoever looketh upon a woman to lust after
her, has committed adultery already within his heart with her." There you are. That ought to teach
women how to dress, how to do what's right. You dress wrong, and cause the men to look at you
in the wrong way, you're guilty of committing adultery, just the same as you went through the act.
Jesus said so.
And you people with these saw-blade tempers, that's always spouting off in the mouth at
somebody, can't put up, and things like that. Be careful. You're guilty if you speak a word (against
your brother) that's not right, not just, go around and tear down it. You don't have to stick a knife in
a man's back to kill him. You can break his character and kill him, kill his influence. Speak against
your pastor here, say something bad about him, you just might as well as shot him. Told
something that wasn't right about him, well, it'll kill his influence with the people and things like
that, and you're guilty of it. What Jesus said.
Now, listen here, what--what Paul was trying to get to here. I love this old Bible. It straightens you
out. Look, oh, just looky here. Now, as we read the four-..." It is... for it is evident that our Lord
sprang out of Ju-..." Wait, I believe I have another verse here I was going to read. No, down here
at the 16th.
Who is made, not after the law of... carnal commandments,...
That's legal, you see. "Oh, brother, I--I shouldn't. I shouldn't. I know, but I..." That's not it. It's love
that does it.
How we went through it! I said, "If I said to my... about my wife, 'Oh, well, I--I--I'd like to have two
wives. I'd like to run around with this one, do this one there. But, if I do, my wife will divorce me...
And my kids will be in... My ministry would be lost.'" You dirty, rotten hypocrite. That's right. You
don't love her right, in the first place. That's exactly right.
If you loved her, there'll be no law about it. You'd love her, anyhow, and you stick with her. That's
exactly right. And you women will do the same thing to your husband. That's right.
Sometimes women become the place, or...
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Man see some little Jezebel all painted up, you know, and--and he'll go around, fall for her; maybe
a good wife. And then you call yourself a Christian. Shame on you. You need another dose of the
altar. That's right.
And some of you--and some of you women look around at some little old guy with his hair slicked
down, enough Vaseline on it to open his mouth. And then you...
Some little old girl, here not long ago. This ain't a joke, 'cause I don't mean to tell it as a joke. But
the people knows that this is no place to joke. But a little old girl here, she... There was fine boys
here, Christian boys. Long time ago, when I was pastoring here, we used to have just young men's
classes. And I'd speak to the young women on Sunday afternoon, about sex and things. Then the
next Sunday afternoon, speak to the young men, and try to get those things curbed out.
Some little old girl started going with some little old shrimp, downtown here, smoked cigarettes
and had a flask in his pocket. And he drove a little roadster car around town. I couldn't see what
she seen in that boy. He wouldn't come to church. He'd sit out there. Put her in the church out
here, and then he'd set out there on the outside, in his car, and wait, wouldn't come in church. I
said to her one day. She lived in New Albany. I said, "I want to ask you something, girlie. What in
the world do you see in that boy?" I said, "The first place, he hates the very religion that you--you
have. He despises your Christ. He would never make you a husband. He would make you
miserable, all your life." And I said, "Well, there's fine little Christian boys here that you could go
with. And there your daddy and mother despises the thoughts of you going out, but you go
anyhow, and you think, 'I'm sweet sixteen.'"
She started wearing makeup and running out, and first thing, she was in roadhouses. She's gone
on to Eternity now. But, then, she stood here. And you know what excuse that girl give me back
there, that she loved that boy? She said, "He's got such cute little feet, and he smells so good."
Could you imagine that? Perfuming himself up, that's a sissy, not a man.
"Look," I said, "sister, I'd rather go with a Christian boy that had feet like gravel cars and smelled
like a polecat, if he was absolutely a Christian." That's right. True. Yeah.
It's excuse, "Such cute little feet, and smells so good." The little roadhouse runner, finally ruined
the life of the girl. It's a shame, disgraceful.
Marriage is honorable, but it should be entered prayerfully and reverently. And genuine love for
that woman will bind you together forever. "What you bind on the earth, I'll bind in Heaven." When
you walk down the street yonder, she may get old and gray and wrinkled, but that same love you
had for her when she was a young, beautiful woman, you'll still have it.
You may get stoop-shouldered, bald-headed, and wrinkled-faced and everything else, but she'll
love you just like you did when you stand with wide shoulders and curly hair, if it's really God. For
you're looking to the time when you've crossed the river yonder, when you'll spring back, again to
young men and women, to live together forever. That's God's Eternal promise. He said He would
do it. He, not only that... We'll get to it in a minute. He swore He would do it.
Listen to this, as we go on.
Who is made,... after the law of... carnal commandments, but after the power of... endless life.
Now we're going to read fastly, so we can get it.
For he testifieth, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
As long as there'll be needed a priest, He will be a priest.
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For there is evident a disannulling of the commandments going before... the weakness of the
unprofitability thereof.
For the law made nothing perfect,...
You can't, no matter what you do. You quit drinking, quit smoking, quit telling lies, go to church
and try to do this and try to do that, you're still carnal. That's just law. The law makes nothing
perfect. But what makes perfect? Christ. Glory! I might quit lying, quit stealing, quit committing
adultery, quit chewing, quit all the things, and I'm still carnal. God don't receive it, because I have
nothing to offer Him in propitiation.
But the minute that I lay my hands upon the blessed head of the Lord Jesus, and say, "Lord, I'm
no good. Will You take me as Your servant?" and God kisses away my sin, I stand perfect in the
sight of God. That's right. Why? I'm not standing on my own merit. I'm standing on His. And He
has perfected us, through His suffering and His Blood.
I see it's time to close. But I want to finish reading this if I can, quickly.
... going before for the weakness is unprofitability thereof.
For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; (What's the better hope?
Christ.) by the which we draw nigh unto God.
Why? Through all of our goodness, and all of our goodness, and all of our goodness, we're still
carnal. But once in the presence of God, recognizing that we could never stand there, only through
the merits of Jesus Christ, then we draw nigh unto God, through the merits of His Son. "Lord, I
come to You, with an innocent heart. In the Name of Thy Son Jesus, please receive me." Oh,
brother, you're coming by a living way then.
Not, "Lord, You know I quit drinking. You know I treat my wife right. You know I do this. I do that."
You have nothing to offer.
"For the law of carnal commandments could do nothing, but bringing in of another hope did. That
hope which is Christ, we have as the anchor of the soul, steadfast and sure." Watch.
And insomuch as not without an oath he...
Pronoun, if you'll notice in here, is in italic letters.
... he was made priest:
Not only a priest, but He was made priest by oath. Not...
Now watch. Let's get the rest the priesthood.
(For those priests, the Leviticals, just, righteous, honest men, those priests were made without an
oath;...)
God just said, "After the order of--after the order of Aaron, that he's made these priests." They
come down through generations, and go to school and learn to be preachers and so forth. They
come down. So God made them priests like that. They made themselves priests, by their
education, by their inheritance, and so forth. "But this Man was made a priest by an oath that God
took." Listen closely now.
(... were made without an oath; but this with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord sware
and will not repent, amen, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec:)
By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament.
Now, quickly.
And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by the reason of
death:
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Thousands times thousands times thousands, of priests, 'cause they had nothing but just death
and death and infirmities, and death and death and death.
But watch Him.
But this man, (what man?) Jesus, because he continually continueth ever, hath an unchangeable
priesthood. Where are...
Wherefore he is able also to save them to the utmost; no matter how far, how stooped, how far
away, he is able to save to the utmost; that come unto God by him,...
Not was on your righteousness; but on your confession. See?
... that come to God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercessions for them.
He's right there, constantly, making intercessions.
From such a high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and
made a high priest in heaven;
There it is. Now, if I try to represent my own case, I'll lose it. If I try to represent, say, "Well, my
daddy was a good man. My daddy was a preacher. Well, I've lived in church." I still lost it. But this
Man is a perfect One, Christ. He sets there and offers His Blood constantly for my sins. There you
are.
Who need not daily, as those... priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for his own sins, and then for the
people's: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.
Now watch the last verse.
For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity;...
That's what the law, the carnal law, does. Now, I wish I could just had about two hours right here.
That's how the law still makes men preachers. That's right.
Why, they say, "Well, this man has got a seminary experience." I wouldn't trade my little old
Heavenly experience for all the seminaries in the world.
"Why, we've educated this man. He's--he's hand-picked. He's a self-made man." I don't like that
kind. I like a God-made man. See? See?
But the law still makes priests. The law still makes preachers. The--the Baptist church, they hand
out preachers; hands full of them, got a machine that turns them out. The Methodists has got
them. The Baptists has got them. The Presbyterians, Nazarene, Pilgrim Holiness, Pentecostals,
they turn them out as fast they can, like a big regime, big machine. Stand up there like a...
I always said, "I--I certainly felt sorry for an incubator chicken." You know, a little of chicken that's
hatched under an incubator, he's not hatched out right. No. The hen is supposed to hatch the
chicken. But an incubator chicken, when he gets out, he just "chirp, chirp, chirp," and ain't got no
mammy to go to. See? He don't know what a mammy is. That's right. He's chirping for one, but he
hasn't got any.
But the little chicken that's hatched under the hen, the natural way, he chirps and mammy
answers. That's right.
And sometimes I think about this here seminary experience of come out under this big incubators
in Louisville and all over the world, hatching out preachers by the thousands. Pentecostal
incubators, and Presbyterian incubators, and--and Baptist incubators, they all hatch out their--
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their--their little chicks. They, "chirp, chirp, chirp," and talk about the incubator they was hatched
out in.
But I like to have a Father, a Mother. Blessed be the Name of the Lord! Wasn't very many born
with me, but what was there is my brothers. Amen. We got a Mother that answers when you... a
Mother who is in Heaven, who Mothers us all. "As a hen hovers her brood, and coos to them, and-and woos over her... broods over her chickens, so will I brood over you. Oh, Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, how oft would I have took you like a hen does her brood! How oft would I have made
you Mine, but you would not. You had your own seminaries, hatched out your priests. They taught
you against Me. Now you're left at your own. Your destruction lays ahead of you."
I say this. Oh, people! Oh, people, how oft the Holy Spirit would have hovered you, as a hen does
her brood! But you want your own way. You're going to have your own way about It.
One of these nights I'd like to preach on, "Your own way." You know, Cain wanted his own way.
Man wants his own way, today. "But there is a way that seemeth right, but the end is death."
Now watch. "In that He saith, 'A new--a new covenant... '" I believe, now that... No. I was on the
wrong place.
28th verse.
For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmities; but the word of the oath, which was
since the law, maketh the Son, who is continued for evermore.
God be blessed forever, of a Son that continueth forever after the order of Melchisedec. And He
never had a beginning. He never has an end. And the law could not produce nothing like that,
because it was carnal. The church cannot produce nothing like that, the denominations, because
they are carnal. The--the seminaries can never produce anything like that. They tried to educate
the world to It. They tried to organize it to It. They've tried every way in the world, to make every
thing that they could, and leaving off the main thing: "You got to be born in It." God makes you
what you are, certainly, not because you quit doing this.
Now, the Nazarenes, you have to not wear a ring, you can't wear a watch, and you have to have
certain-certain things, your arms have to be this long, the sleeves, your skirts has to be that long,
and the--and the men can't belong to lodge. And they won't baptize you if you don't. All right. Here
comes the Catholic in, and they have theirs. And here comes the Methodists in, they have theirs.
Every one of them has a yardstick to measure up to. You don't make it, all right, that's all. See?
And then, but the real thing is, is this, "Nothing in my arms I bring! Simply to Thy cross I cling. O
God, naked, wounded, need sucker. Oh, I most humbly come, Christ, confessing that I am nothing
and there's nothing within me. Receive me, O God." Then God receives you.
Now, you might not even know your ABC's. You might not know coffee from split peas. You might
know, not know gee from haw, right from left hand. It don't make any difference what you don't
know. There's one thing you must know, that, Jesus Christ took your place as a sinner. And you
take your place, to stand in His righteousness, confessing every day that you're wrong, and love
Him with all your heart, and your whole motives be set towards Him, you'll make Heaven. That's all
there is to it, for the Life that was in Christ has to be in you, or you're lost.
Just before closing, do you remember the unconditional covenant that God made with Abraham?
What did He do that evening when God said, "Let me see..." When Abraham said, "Let me see
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how You're going to do it." 16th chapter, I think it is, of Genesis. "Let me see how You're going to
do it."
Said, "Come here, Abraham." And He took Abraham off, said, "Go get me a--a ram, and go get
me a--a--a goat, and go get me a heifer. And I want you to take them up here and make a
sacrifice."
And Abraham went and got the sheep, and the--and the goat, and the--the--the lamb... or the
heifer. And he killed them. They was all clean sacrifices. And split them halfway in two, and laid
them out. Then he went and got two turtledoves, and pitched them in. Then Abraham watched the
birds off of them, waiting for God to come. "Now, Lord, there's the sacrifice, how You going to do
this? I don't know how You're going to save man against his own will. I don't know how You're
going to do this. How can You do it, Lord?"
The Lord said, "Now watch, Abraham. You're a prophet. You're spiritual, and you'll understand
what I'm talking about."
"All right, Lord, I want to see." Now I'm just dramatizing.
"So, Abraham, you come up here now, and set down here and watch them birds off." So he
shooed all the birds away, until the sun started going down.
And the first thing you know, God came down. When He came down, Abraham begin to get
sleepy. God said, "Abraham, I'm going to put you to sleep."
Now listen, legalist friend. See, God took Abraham completely out of the picture, nothing at all he
had to do into it. And that's the way He got you. You said, "Oh, I sought God." You didn't.
God sought you, "No man can come to Me except My Father draws him first." See?
It's God seeking you, not you seeking God. You never did do it. Your nature is wrong. You're a
pig. You don't know any different. You just live in a pig pen. That all you know. You love it. Drink
beer, slopping around, run with the next man's wife, and doing everything you can do is evil, just
seems good. "Oh, brother, we're having a big time!" You think it's good.
But God knocks at your heart. [Brother Branham knocks on the pulpit--Ed.] That's what changes.
Not you knocking at God; God knocks at you. Adam never knocked at God's heart. God knocked
at Adam's heart. And you're a son of Adam. That's right. Before Adam could be a son of God,
again, God had to knock on his heart. Before you can become a son of God, God has got to knock
at your heart.
Then, Abraham went to sleep. And when he went to sleep, what was the first thing he saw? A real
horrible, spooky, dread, darkness. That's death, that comes upon the whole human race. Then he
looked a little farther than that, and he saw a smoking furnace. Before you can have smoke, you
have to have fire. That's the reason I believe in hell as a burning place. All right.
He showed, every one of us is subject to death, and every one of us should go to hell, because
we're sinners.
Now, but, beyond that, he saw a little, white Light.
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And this little, white Light, what is the Light? What was that white Light? That Pillar of Fire that
went before the children of Israel. The Pillar of Fire that met Paul on the road down to Damascus.
The Pillar of Fire that took Peter out of prison. The Pillar of Fire that's here tonight.
That Eternal, everlasting God, He Himself walked between these split sacrifices, (oh, my), back
and forth on each one. "This is how I'm going to do it, Abraham. Watch Me, what I'm going to do.
I'm making a covenant here. And I'll take an oath, that, according to the Seed, I'll raise up an
Intercessor. I'll make a covenant with death. And I'll condemn death, in the flesh, because I Myself
will come take it. Abraham," said, "through your Seed, Abraham, will come. You'll be the father of
the world, through your Seed. And not only you, do I make this promise with you, but your Seed
after you." He knew every one would be. "Not them; but what I do. I'm going to do it, Abraham. I
trusted Adam, and he broke his. And every one breaks theirs. But I'll make this with Myself, and
swear by Myself, 'I'll keep It.'" Amen. Amen. Amen.
What do we do, we make a covenant? I say, "Brother Neville..." Now watch this, just a minute. I
say, "Brother Neville, tell you what I'll do. If you will preach until... tomorrow night, and the next
night, on till Wednesday. I'll preach, from Wednesday, on till Sunday." [Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.]
"You make that agreement?"
"Yes, sir."
Here's the way we do it. "Shake, boy." [Brother Branham and Brother Neville shake hands--Ed.]
That's it. That's a covenant in America. That's how we make a covenant.
Now, how they make a covenant in Japan? We make, say, "You do so-and-so, and I'll do so-andso. We take a little pinch of salt, 'cause salt is a savior. And we take salt, and I throw it on Brother
Neville, and Brother Neville takes salt--salt and throw it onto me. That's a binding covenant.
How did David Livingstone make a covenant with the African negro, to go into his land? He went
and got the chief, that he could pass through up there, to preach the Gospel and to do their work.
And they took a glass of wine. Here's the covenant with the negro in Africa. They had a glass of
wine. And the negro chief plucked his own veins, and bled them out in this glass of wine. And
David Livingstone plucked his own veins, and bled it out in the glass of wine. They stirred it up.
Livingstone drank half of it, and the negro chief drank half of it. Then they give a present, one to
another, the negro chief. David Livingstone said, "What do you require of me."
He said, "That white coat you got on." So Livingstone took his coat off and give it to the negro
chief. He said, "What do you require?"
He said, "That sacred spear you got in your hand." Cause, he knowed he could go in with that, so
he took that spear. And they were brothers, because they had made a covenant.
And as he went forth, and the tribes would run out to kill him, he raised up that sacred spear. And
when he did, they looked and they said, "Oh, oh, we can't touch that man." Why? "He's a covenant
brother, though he's white, we never seen him before." They never knew they were black till they
seen him. They never seen such before. "But he's a covenant brother. He's got the chief's spear in
his hand."
What a beautiful picture, today, of drinking the covenant of the Blood of the Lord Jesus, with the
power of the Holy Ghost upon us! We go forward in the Name of Jesus, and these signs shall
follow them that belong. It's the sacred Spear of the Chief. See how it is, the covenant?
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How did they do it in the oriental time? They made an oath, one to another. They killed a beast,
split it open, and stood right in between. The--the two men stood between it, the split beast. And
they drawed up a covenant. "If I fail to keep this, if I fail to do this, why, this and so-and-so, let my
body be like this dead beast. Let my body be like this dead beast." And when they do that, they
take this covenant and stand between this; make an oath, take an oath that they'll do it. And they
tear the paper, together, apart, and hand it to one man, the other one the next. At a certain time
they'll meet. And let them die the death, if they fail to keep that oath; and be like those dead
beasts. All right.
You notice the three beasts? The perfect; the lamb, goat... and the three perfect sacrifice. What
was the lamb... What was the turtledove? And what was the two turtledoves meant? The two
turtledoves was sacrificed for both salvation and healing, in the--in the... that went into it. See?
The Atonement was made, different, but healing continued the same, and so did salvation
continue the same. The two turtledoves, not divided, meant they're represented, both. Salvation...
"By His stripes we were healed. He was wounded for our transgressions. With His stripes we were
healed." They were laid on the side, not separated. But the covenant, the part of the beast was
(three of them) cut apart. You see? Then when they did that, they tore and made their covenant.
Watch what God was telling Abraham. "At Calvary, at Calvary, according to your Seed. Out of you
came Isaac. Out of Isaac come so-and-so, Jacob. Out of Jacob come Joseph. Out of Joseph, on
down, on down, on down, successors, till, finally, through that righteous Seed!" His...
He just got through, here, saying that our Lord sprung out of a nation that knowed not Moses,
never even spoke of it. Come out of a priesthood. "Our Lord sprung out of the tribe of Judah." Not
out of Levi, for they were carnal legalists. But our Lord come out of Judah. Glory! There you are.
Where the promise was made!
Listen close now, as we close. And at Calvary, God came down and took the body of His own
Son, in which He had lived, and He ripped it apart at Calvary. His bleeding, wounded, cut, and the
spear run in there and ripped Him apart, and His Blood gushed out. And He said, "Father, into Thy
hands I commend My Spirit." He bowed His head. And the earth shook, and the lightnings flashed,
and the thunders roared. God was writing His everlasting covenant.
And He took His dead body from the grave, on the first day of the week, and brought it up into
Heaven, and sat it there as the High Priest, as a memorial; setting there, perfect, forever. And He
sent the Spirit that He tore out of that body, right back down on the Church. And that Church will
have to have the same Spirit that was in that body, or it won't dovetail with It in the resurrection.
Those two pieces must come perfectly together. And if this Church isn't perfectly, just exactly the
same Spirit that was in Christ, you'll never go in the Rapture.
There's the everlasting covenant, brother. Seek it out, yourself, what's in your own heart. Love the
Lord. Really be sure you're saved. Don't take a chance on it. You're gambling. Oh, you, we
American people, love to gamble, but don't you gamble on That. You be sure that you're right. Not
because you joined church, but because that you're truly born again, Christ has come to you, in
the Person of the Holy Ghost.
Now, just complimentary, too, just as I'm closing. How happy we should be, to see the same Spirit
that was in Jesus Christ, right among us, doing the same things that He did when He was here on
earth! How happy we should be!
Let us pray now, as we bow our heads.
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Lord, it's been a great day. Though, I feel like that I always do, I fail. I can't represent It right, Lord.
I pray that You'll forgive me of my stupid ways. Oh, I confess my sins before You, and ask for
mercy, knowing that there's a great High Priest standing yonder at the right hand of God, in the
Heavens, who wasn't made after Aaron, after laws and legals and things. But He was set There
because of the grace of God that looked forward, before the foundation of the world, and seen me
down here in the world, and died for my sins, to bring me back to the Kingdom of God. I thank
Thee, Father, for this.
Cause, this Spirit that now reigns in your people is Eternal as God is Eternal. "I give unto them
Eternal Life, ever Life, everlasting Life, and they shall never perish." And at the Judgment, they'll
never be there. They done passed by the judgments and gone on into Glory, "And if this earthly
tabernacle be dissolved, we have one already waiting yonder for us to come to." Thank You for
that, Lord.
I pray now, if there be one here, tonight, who has never yet drank the real Blood of the covenant,
that doesn't know what It mean, doesn't know what it means to be born again, to have a real
fellowship with Christ in their heart, or her heart, may they receive Him just now, as we wait and
give this opportunity. And at that Day, we pray that we have represented the Gospel in the right
Light. We pray, in Christ's Name.
While we have our heads bowed, would there be a person would raise your hands to Christ, and
say, "Christ of God, be merciful to me. Let me, as Your unworthy servant, now receive the Holy
Spirit into my heart. And give me the assurance and love that I really need"? If you haven't got It,
would you just raise your hands to Him, saying, "Lord, this is a sign that I desire It"? Would you put
your hand up? God bless you back there, lady. God bless you here, sir. Bless you here, sir. God
be with you. That's fine. This man on the end here, God bless you, my brother. And someone else,
just before now we close, just waiting for a few moments. God bless you back there, son.
Someone else?
"I now desire. I desire, Lord God. You know my heart. You know what's in my mind. You, 'The
Spirit of God is quicker and sharper than a two-edged sword, even piercing to the asunder of the
marrow of the bone, and a discerner of the thoughts of the heart.'" Think of That. He knows your
very thoughts, your intentions.
Would you raise your hand, say, "Be merciful to me, God, right now. I--I want You to know that I
know that I'm wrong, and I realize it, but I want to be right." All right, while we just keep our heads
down, praying now, think just a moment. We don't want to hurry about that.
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee;
Let the water and the Blood,
From Thy wounded side...
Be for sin the dou-...
Double cure! He swore by it, two immutable things.
Save from wrath and make me pure.
While I draw...
O Lord, grant just now that we'll all recognize that these breaths that we're drawing are fleeting.
We don't know how many more we have ahead of us. That's all by Your great counsel. It's
determined by You. Oh, be merciful to us. And to those who raised their hands, Lord, there no
need to mention them. You know every one of them. But I just offer this prayer of intercession for
them. I pray that You'll take away the condemnation from their heart, and let them come boldly,
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just now, unto the Throne; walk boldly right up to the Throne of God, claim their God-given
privilege. You caused them to raise their hands. They couldn't do it by themselves. I pray, God,
that You'll grant this in Jesus' Name. Amen.
... myself in Thee;
Now, just worship Him now.
Let the water and... (Oh, my!)
From Thy wounded side which flowed,
Be of sin the double cure,
Save from wrath and make me pure.
How many feels real good now? Raise up your hand, say, "Praise the Lord!" [Congregation says,
"Praise the Lord!"--Ed.] Oh, He's wonderful! Oh!
There's Room At The Fountain. Do you know it, Sister Gertie? Let's. How many loves that song?
Now we're going to have a baptismal service, just in a moment. [Brother Branham speaks to
Brother Neville, "You're going to baptize them?" Ed.] All right.
Room, yes, there is room,
There's room at the Fountain for thee;
Room, room....
All right. Those candidates for baptism, the men will go to this room, the women to this one, all
right, those who are to be baptized in the blessed Name of our Lord.
... good to thee,
God has been so good to me,
There's room at the Fountain for thee.
Everybody now.
Room, room, yes, there is room,
Oh, room, room, yes, there is room,
There's room at the Fountain for thee.
Oh, I love that old song. Don't you?
Oh, room, room, there's plenty of room,
There's room at the Fountain.
Now, while the elder has gone in, to make ready for baptism, I would like to explain to the
audience. And I'll ask some of the deacons, if they can hear me in the room, when they're ready,
come and--and tell me, and so we can move the microphones. We want all of you to see this. Be
about ten minutes longer, and the church will be dismissed.
Now I want to read some of the sacred Scriptures for you. I want to read them out of the Book of
Acts. And I want to begin at the 12th verse of the 2nd chapter of Acts.
Now, I want you to notice in the 16th chapter of Saint Luke, or of Saint Matthew, I believe it is, that
Jesus was coming off the mount. They... Said unto His disciples, "Who does man say I the Son of
man am?"
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"And some of them said, why, You're 'Elias.' And some say that You're--You're 'the prophet.' And
some say that You're this or the other."
He said, "But who do you say that I am?"
And Peter said, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." That right? [Congregation says,
"Amen."--Ed.]
Jesus said, "Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jonas, for flesh and blood has not revealed this. You
never learned in a seminary. You never learned It by man." Said, "But my Father which is in
Heaven has revealed this to you. And I say that thou are Peter. Upon this rock I'll build My Church.
The gates of hell shall not prevail against It. And I give unto you the keys to the Kingdom of
Heaven." Is that right? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.] "And whatever you loose on earth, I'll
loose it in Heaven. What you bind on earth, I'll bind it in Heaven." Did He mean It? He wouldn't
have said It. Now, as time rolled--rolled on, now, Peter had the keys to the Kingdom.
Now, you Catholic people, you might think this, that you say, "The Catholic church is built upon
Peter." All right, we'll find out. "They had the keys. The Catholic church still has the keys."
Let's find out what Peter did about the keys, see, then we'll find out. The Bible said, unto Peter
and to the rest the apostles, "Go ye into all the world. Whosoever's sins you remit, to them they're
remitted. Whosoever's sins you retain, to them they're retained." That, I might say it so that...
Someone might not understand what I mean. Jesus said to the apostles, "Whoever's sins you
forgive, I'll forgive them too. And whoever's sins that you do not forgive, and hold it against them,
I'll hold it against them too." That's what Jesus said.
Watch the Catholic church push towards that.
But let's find out how they did it. Then if we find out how they did it, then we should do it the same
way. Now let's find out.
It's the Day of Pentecost. The Church is being inaugurated. They were all in an upper room. Men
came out of there, speaking in different lauguages. Why? Every language under Heaven was
represented there. English was there, too. Every language under Heaven had to be there, what
language was spoke in that day. Goes ahead here and gives many of the languages, and how the
Cretes and strangers, and proselytes of Rome, and--and--and Arabians, and all speak and magni... Now, they wasn't speaking in unknown tongues. They were speaking in known languages, to
people. Not unknown tongues, but languages that each one understood. The sinner, the
unbeliever, could hear what he was saying. "How do we hear in our own language wherein that-that we was born?"
Now watch. Now the question comes. Now, "Others mocked." The 12th verse, all right.
And they were all amazed, and... in doubt, saying one to another, what meaneth this?
Others mocked and said, These... are full of new wine.
They were making fun of them. Because, how was they doing? They were staggering like drunk
men, like drunk men. Talking, not knowing what they were saying, but were preaching to the
congregation in languages they didn't know, but the congregation knowed. See? All right.
Others... said, They're full of new wine, look how they're acting.
Others mocked, saying, These... are full of...
"But Peter..." Watch out, boy! You got the keys.
But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them,...
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Now, remember, this is the first inauguration of the Church.
... Ye men of Judaea, and... you that dwell in Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to
my words:
For these are not drunk, as you suppose, seeing it's but the third hour of the day.
The saloons wasn't even open then. See?
But this is that which was spoken of by the prophet Joel;
... it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I'll pour out my Spirit upon all flesh: upon your
sons and... daughters, and they shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your
old men shall dream dreams:
And on my servants and... my handsmaid will I pour out in those days of my Spirit;... they shall
prophesy:
And I will show wonders in the heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath;...
Now, it's Peter preaching now, the one with the keys.
... blood,... fire,... vapours of smoke:
The sun shall be turned into darkness,... the moon into blood, before the great and notable day of
the Lord shall come:
And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by
miracles and wonders and sign, which he did... in the midst of you,... ye yourselves... know:
Talk about a rebuke? He had the keys, you know. Be...
Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and the foreknowledge of God,...
There you are. How could He ever be delivered? Because God predestinated it to be that way.
See? Foreknowledge of God!
[A brother says, for water baptism, "Ready."--Ed.] Just in a moment. Tell them, just hold just a
minute, till I get through with the Scripture.
... ye have taken, by the wicked hands, have crucified and slain:
Who God has raised up, and loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible... he should
be holden of it.
For David spake concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always... on my right hand, and I shall not be
moved:
Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was made glad; moreover... my flesh shall rest in
hope:
Because thou will not leave my soul in hell, neither will thou suffer thy Holy One to see corruption.
Thou has made me known... my--my ways, my ways of life; thou shall make me full of joy and with
my countenance.
Men and brethren, let me freely speak to you of the patriarch David,... he is both dead and buried,
and his sepulchre is with us... this day.
Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God has swore with an oath...
I just got through preaching it.
... that according--according to the fruits of his loins, he would... according to the flesh, he would
raise up Christ to sit on his throne;
Just what I got through preaching. Peter preaching the same thing.
And seeing this before, the prophet saw it before, spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul
was not left in hell, neither did his flesh see corruption.
This Jesus has God raised up, whereof we are all witnesses.
Therefore being exalted, and at the right hand... being at the right hand, exalted in heaven, having
received of the Father... promise of the Holy Ghost, he... shed forth this, which you do see and
hear.
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For David is not ascended into heaven, (the prophet): but he said himself, The LORD said unto my
Lord, Sit thou on my right hand,
Until I make thy foes a footstool.
Therefore (listen to this) let all the house of Israel know surely, that God has made this same
Jesus, who you... crucified, both Lord and Christ.
That ought to settle it. Oughtn't it?
Now when they heard this, them sinners, they were pricked in their hearts, and said unto Peter...
Men... and Peter and... the rest... the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
All right. Here you are. What's he got? The key, the key to the Kingdom. Where is the Kingdom?
It's within you. That right? The Holy Ghost is the Kingdom of God. We know it. We're born into the
Kingdom, as subjects and delegates. Look. He's got the keys to his side. "What you going to do
with it?" This is the first time the door was ever opened.
Now, the question is asked the preacher, for the first time, the one with the key. I believe if he
said, "Stand on your head," that'd been official.
"Whatever you bind on earth, I'll bind in Heaven." All right. "Whatever you say, I'm going to say
the same thing. You got the key." All right. He crams the key into the door.
... What do you do? Men and brethren, what shall we do?
Now when they heard this, they're pricked in their heart, and said... Men and brethren,...
... Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for
the remission of sin, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to them that's far off, even as many as the
Lord our God shall call.
That settled it forever. No persons ever, in any time, could ever, ever contradict That.
The Catholic church come along, instead of being immersed, they sprinkle. Instead of being using
the Name of Jesus, they've took, "Father, Son, and Holy Ghost." Never was taught in the Bible.
Every person, from that time on, was baptized by immersing in the Name of Jesus Christ. And
some had been immersed by John the Baptist, that baptized Jesus, and Paul told them they could
not receive the Holy Ghost like that. They had to come back and be rebaptized, again, in the
Name of Jesus, before they could get the Holy Ghost. How many knows that's the Scripture?
[Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.] Acts, the 19th chapter. There you are. Cause, the Kingdom of
Heaven was sealed to any other way, by an oath by Jesus Christ, that that would be official in
Heaven.
... Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your
sins,... you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Cause, the promise is unto you, and to your children,... to them that's far off, even as many as the
Lord our God shall call.
Amen. Let us pray.
Father, God, tonight, nineteen hundred and something years has passed, yet the honesty and the
integrity of human hearts still cry for God, like children crying for the milk of their mother's breast.
We love You, Lord. We can't live without You. As David said, "My soul thirsts after Thee, like the
hart for the waterbrook." He must have It, or die.
And, Father, we've combed through the Scriptures, back and forth. Not to be different, but we see
these seminaries, these theological students today, who preach according to the commandments
of men, and not the commandments of God. Therefore, Lord, we do not despise those men, but
we despise those things that they teach. Therefore, Lord, we ask that they become our brother.
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We ask that You forgive them of their error. And we pray that they will come to the Scripture, read
It, not the way some seminary teaches It, but according to the way that God has written It.
We pray, God, now, that these candidates are coming tonight for water baptism. As our gallant
pastor walks into this pulpit from here, to preach the Gospel, this same Gospel; and then to the
baptismal pool, to bury. Grant, Lord, that each one of these will receive the Holy Ghost, 'cause
You gave the promise, "You shall receive the Holy Ghost." May the Spirit of God be waiting at the
top of the water, to receive the candidate tonight, for we commit them unto Your hands, in Jesus
Christ's Name. Amen.
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QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON HEBREWS - PART 1
Branham Tabernacle
...?... How could she do it without God? That would be a real one, wouldn't it? Could not be done
without the Lord.
I'm not going to preach out of all them. But I thought I'd might get ahold of something kind of
heavy, you know, so I'd better be prepared. But oh, it was very, very light. So maybe there's not
very many questions among the people then, that... Just very let--simple and light questions. But
I'm glad to try to answer them the best that I can by the help of the Lord.
And if Sister Arganbright is in tonight... Sister Ruth, are you here, Sister Ruth? Over here. I have
the... Oh, yes, I have the address here. No, I don't. Well, I'd get it right out here. I had it in my
pocketbook, and I left my pocketbook at home. Now, if the police catches me going home, Brother
Fleeman, you come to my rescue. Tell Billy I'm--left my pocketbook at home; I'm driving without a
license tonight. And I thought I had it in my pocket; I just changed clothes. I'd run in this afternoon,
was cutting some grass right quick and had to quit and hurry up and get in, change clothes, and
run down here; and I--I brought the Lexicon, but you can get it right afterwards out of there.
Don't feel bad about that letter. If I never got no one worse than that, that'd be a fine letter. That
was good. That was very, very nice. I told you I wouldn't read it, but I slipped up on it, you know; I
just couldn't hold it any longer. I just wondered what she said. And it was very, very nice, wrote like
a real school teacher ought to write. That was good, and I appreciate it. And it--it gives you...
See, I love letters of someone that would--would different a little with you. See, if you go along all
the time, nobody differents with you, you get stale. You got to get a little difference so you can
understand, dig down. And--and you just get in one rut if you don't watch; then you--then you get
into trouble when you do that. You got to just kinda keep moving on and get somebody to different
with you and fluff up your feathers once in a while.
Over in Africa I found two little lions, and they was little bitty fellows about like that, speckled, little,
bitty lion: a little lion, little lioness. Now, they looked like kittens; they was so little like that, little...
Prettiest little things, they'd just play. And I was going to bring them back to America; I had them in
a bird cage. I was going to bring them back, but I couldn't find any--anything to inoculate them, any
toxin. And they wouldn't let me bring them in the United States without them being inoculated first,
and I couldn't find it in all Africa. But if you wanted to know whether he was a lion or not, just cuff
him back a little bit. He'd square off and let you know he was a lion, so--so that kinda lets you
know where he was standing.
That's the way you have to do once in a while, you know, kinda fluff the feathers backwards to find
out. But now, we don't get angry like the lion; we just--we just love that, to--people to ask
questions. And questions like that, Sister Ruth, is very, very good to me. It's a... I--I love that. See?
It's those real nasty kind that I hate to get. But them's a... That was fine.
Now, we got some good, stirring, just home questions. There's a preacher back there in the back
room just now, asked me, said, "The two prophets of Revelations 11, would they come in before
the rapture, or just before the taking away of Israel? And what..." Now, that's the kind of questions
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that--that--that ties you around. But these simple questions like this is all right. But now, before we
start, let's bow our heads for prayer.
Father, it is noted that when You were twelve years old, You were found in the temple with the
scribes and the sages, discussing with them the Scriptures. And they were--they were astonished
at a... Men of old, and well trained in the Scriptures, and yet see a little boy of about twelve years
old could just--just confound him in the explaining of the Scriptures. You was about Your Father's
business. You said to Your mother, "Knowest thou not that I must be about My Father's business,"
to explain the Scriptures with their spiritual meanings?
And now, we pray, Lord, that--that Thou knowing how weak and frail we are and how subject we
are to mistakes, that You'll just come with us tonight in the form of the Holy Spirit and will explain
the Scriptures to us. I'm waiting and depending on You. And if I'd ever, at any time, try to put my
own thoughts or interpretation or some selfish thing to try to make it sound like that the way I was
explaining it would be right, close my mouth, Lord, like You would--You did the lions when they
come after Daniel. Thou art still the same God.
And let it be wholly... As we depend upon the Holy Spirit, may He just reveal these things to us.
And then as He speaks them, make them so plain that the one who asked the question will be
able to receive it. And if it answers contrary to what I've always believed, then let my heart rejoice
also, Lord, to know that I have found something new and some good way of the Lord. For You
said, "Search the Scriptures, for in Them ye think you have Eternal Life, and They are They that
testify of Me."
Now, after this Scripture teaching, it certainly would arouse many thoughts and so forth. And I
pray, God, now that all these questions seems to be so sweetly and gently and--asked, may the
Holy Spirit gently and sweetly answer them. For we ask it in Jesus' Name, and for the glory of
God, and the upbuilding of His church. Amen.
There is many times that selfish motives to anything just ruins the whole taste of it. And now,
questions after this Scripture has been asked...
Now, if I hiss just a little bit tonight, I have a tooth out. And I put it in, and I can't preach; I slow up
when I'm preaching; I take it out, and I almost whistle.
Mrs. Billy Graham told a story on him, that the worst excited she ever seen him, he's got a tooth
out in front. And he lost it, and he had a television program right away, and--and he couldn't... It
was on a plate with some more back teeth on it. And when he goes to talk, he whistled "whew,
whew" through his tooth. And she said he was down on his knees, praying and sweating, ten
minutes before the television cast, and finally they found it where it dropped out of a pair of his
trousers in the toe of his shoes. One of the bellhops found it, that false tooth. And Mrs. Graham
told it on him, and over here. And so I got it, a little piece of paper, I think I got it right here in my
Bible.
And so it is kinda... When we get a little old and decrepit, you know, and have to lose these, it
makes it bad. And so I... While I was out with Brother Roberson back there and them, I was
brushing on it one morning and broke a piece off of it, and I had to take it in to doctor to get it fixed.
So the Lord add His blessings.
Now, we're going... Now, I'm going to try to get through every one of them, if I can. And, Brother
Tony, by the grace of God, I got the interpretation to your dream, and it was wonderful. I'm so glad
to see that. And it's a good interpretation, that I guess I shouldn't give it publicly here, so I'll give it
to you privately if you--if you don't--if you want it in that way. He asked me the other night; He had
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a dream, and I couldn't tell him just what it was till I went to the Lord and prayed over it. Then the
Lord revealed it back to me and told me what the interpretation was. It's wonderful and good news
for you, Brother Tony.
Now, in the first question... Now, I don't know just where to start first, 'cause they're all good ones.
But now, we try not to take too long, and maybe we can finish them up Sunday, if we don't get
through them.
51. Explain what it means by everlasting punishment in Matthew 25:46, "But the..." That's the
question.
52. Then the second question: "But the children of the kingdom shall be cast into outer darkness,"
is that about the same as casting them out of the mind of God?
Well, now, get your first question, which is found in St. Matthew the 20--the 25th chapter. Now,
we'll... Now, I've never studied these, just looked at them in the back there, and just tried my best
to look them out the best that I--that I knew how. And my... You turn with me in your Bibles, as we
study It. Now, I wanted to get this out of the Greek Lexicon also, so you get the--the original of it.
And I--I like that. So then we'll have it in both the--in both the--the Greek and the others. And now,
this will be--will be kinda slow and studying, 'cause I have to reach out and grab the Scriptures just
wherever I can find them, and get them into their place. All right.
Now, anybody want a Bible to study by? If you do, raise up your hand. We... I think we got three
or four back here. If you want to study by the Scripture, all right. Brother Cox, will you come and
get these Bibles? And it--it's good for you, if you can, to... (There's one, and I guest... You just take
them on down if you want to, that and...?...) And anybody that wants one, just hold up your hand;
the boy will bring them right to you. See? And we want to study these together, and just...
Now, on this reading and the last chapters... The first seven chapters of the Book of Hebrews...
After teaching, 'course the boy who taken these down, these subjects, Brother Mercier and Brother
Goad, has got them and now fixing to publish them in book form. And they got it. Now, and we
have nothing like halfway combed; we just scratched the surface. And I think they've termined
them, as taken the nuggets out of the--and just polishing the nuggets, just a few of the nuggets of
the teaching of Hebrews. Brother Mercier will have them pretty soon in print, anybody wants them.
Now, this in here, it brings in... You can't go through just in evangelistic church, which this is an
evangelistic church. You can't go through a--a teaching without arousing the suspicions and the
thoughts of many of the people. You've got to. Now, I'm far from being a teacher, not a Bible
expositor at all. But I never try to--to say anything, or to even do anything, but first--first asking or
finding out my best thing for it.
It was asked of me by a dear brother last night; he said, "Brother Branham, Brother Seward once
said that you--you just can't pin you down anywhere (See?), that you always got some way around
to get out of it or get away from it."
I said, "Well, the reason of that: I always try to think before I do anything. See? And then if the
people ask me, then I can tell them what my thoughts was. See?" But if--if you think right, and
before you do anything try to take the side that God would have you to take, then it really would be
hard to be pinned down.
You couldn't imagine the time that--that Ahab tried to pin Elijah down. Could you imagine the time
that the Pharisees tried to pin Jesus down? See, He had--He had the answer quickly, because
everything He done, He did it by the will of God, and He... That's the way He--He could get it. Now,
that's the way we want it by this.
Now, the question is asked; we'll keep with the question.
Explain what it means by everlasting punishment in Matthew 25:46.
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Now, listen real close. Everybody now, Matthew 25:46.
And these shall go away into everlasting punishment:...
Now, the question is, "What... Explain..." Now, the word "everlasting" comes from the word "from
ever and forever," and "forever" is "a space of time." It only means "so much time," as forever.
Now, if you'll just read... I don't know who wrote the questions, 'cause no one put their name on
them; it didn't have to be; I don't want them. See?
But these shall go away into everlasting punishment:... (Now, watch; that's the wicked.)
Now, dear--dear person that asked the question, just read the rest of It.
...but the righteous unto life eternal...
The wicked shall go into everlasting punishment, "a certain space of time," but the righteous has
Eternal Life. You'll never find eternal punishment: couldn't be. See, if they got eternal punishment,
they got Eternal Life; they got Eternal Life, they're saved. See, it can't be. Now, if you'll watch, the-the question asked itself--answers itself. See?
And these... (Now, watch, I'll get before here:)... and they...
In the 20th--44th verse...
... and they also answered, said unto Him, Lord, when shall we be hungered, when with thirst,
and--and a stranger, and naked,... and--and in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
Then shall--then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Insomuch as you did it... unto
one of the least of these, you did it... unto me.
And these shall go away into everlasting... (everlasting)... punishment... (That's the wicked.):... but
the righteous into Eternal Life.
See the difference? The wicked has everlasting punishment, but "everlasting" is "a space of time."
Now, if it would've been the same, it would've been written, "And these shall go away into
everlasting punishment, the other shall go away into Everlasting Life." See? Or, "They shall go
away into eternal punishment, and the other one into Eternal Life." See, if there's an eternal
punishment, to be punished forever and ever, then he's an eternal--he's got Eternal Life; and the
only one Eternal Life, and that comes from God. Everything without a beginning has no end;
everything with a beginning has an end. See what I mean?
Now, the Scripture Itself that the--the dear person answered... Now, if you'll take it in the Lexicon,
"And these shall go forth into ainion, cutting off, and into everla... into fire, the lake of fire."
Now, the word "a-i-n-i-o-n" means "a space of punishment," in the Greek Lexicon, right here,
"space of punishment," or, "time of punishment." See? They shall go away into a time of
punishment. The word is used, "a-i-n-i-o-n, ainion," which means "times, a time, a limited time."
Then take it back into the--into the translation here, the English, "everlasting" is "a limited of time."
See? It comes from the Greek, "a limit of time." The word "ainion," or "a-i-n-i-o-n, ainion" means "a
limited time of punishment."
But then read the other, "But these shall go into eternal (That's a different. See?), Eternal Life.
Eternal comes from the word of eternity, and eternity had neither beginning nor end. It's forever
and forever. Now, that should answer that (See?), because if you'll just read the Scripture real
close, you'll see. "And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous..." The
wicked shall go into everlasting punishment, be punished for a space of time: maybe a billion
years, I don't know; but you'll certainly be punished for your sins. But as certain as sin had a
beginning, sin has an end. Punishment had a beginning, and punishment has an end. And hell
was created for the devil and his angels. See? All right.
Now, I got another one down here to answer into that, just in a few minutes, which is a beautiful
one, tie into it.
Now, but these here: "But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into darkness," is that
about the same as casting them out of the mind of God?
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No, it wouldn't be the same. Now, you're referring here to the Wedding Supper. Now, "And the
children of the kingdom," as was asked here... The children of the kingdom are the Jews, and they
were cast into outer darkness. And they--they have been cast into outer darkness, and they've
went through the time of the weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. They were cast into outer
darkness, because it would give you and I a space to repent; but they were never cast out of the
mind of God. He'll never forget Israel. And Israel, as any reader of the Bible knows, is referred to
"the children of the kingdom." See, it's the kingdom, the promise. In other words, God dealing with
the nation, when He dealt with Israel, which is the children of the kingdom...
Now, you remember, He said there, "And Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob," in one place, "would
come and set into the kingdom at the end time." See? And that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would
be in the kingdom; they were; they were the kingdom's blessing people. But the children of the
kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness.
Now, where the reference comes from here is the--is the Bridegroom. When the Bridegroom
come, while they were... Five of the virgins went out to meet the Lord, and--and they didn't take
any oil in their lamp. And the--the other five took oil in their lamp. Now, if you'll notice, it's a
beautiful picture, both with the Jew and the Gentile, as the rejected.
Keep in mind that there's three classes of people all the time: the Jew, the Gentile (the formal); the
Jew, Gentile, and the Church. And if you get those mixed up, you'll sure run into trouble when you
hit Revelations. For if you don't...
Like Mr. Bohanon said to me one time, said, "Billy, anybody would try to read the Revelations
would have nightmares. Why," he said, "here's a Bride down here on earth, and the--and the
dragon spurting water out of his mouth to make war with her." And said, "Then the same time that
the Bride is standing as the hundred and forty-four thousand (Jehovah Witness doctrine) on Mount
Sinai. And at the same time the Bride's in heaven." No, no, you're mistaken.
There's three classes of people (See?): that is the rejected Jew, and there is the sleeping virgin
that the waters... It's not the woman's seed; it's the remnant of the woman's seed that the dragon
spurted water out of his mouth (Revelations 11). And then, actually the hundred and forty-four
thousand Jews was absolutely not the Bride; they are the remnant of the Jewish church. And the
Jehovah Witness doctrine which puts them as the Bride, I don't see how you could do that,
because it's not the Bride.
If you'll notice over in Revelations there, It said, "And they are virgins, and they are eunuchs."
Now, what was a eunuch? They were... Eunuch was the temple guards that guarded the queen,
because they were... be... They were men that were made sterile. They had... Did you notice, said,
"They had not defiled themselves with women"? They were temple eunuchs. And it was a selected
number that God had taken out of the elect of the Jew. Now, if you'll notice... If we could just get
that just a moment, so it'll kinda settle it in your mind, where you can really...
Let's get Revelations the 7th chapter, and we'll find out in here now where--what It said. It's a
beautiful thing.
And after this... I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth,... (Now, this parallels
Ezekiel 9, where he saw the destructions of the Jews. And here he sees the destructions of the
Gentiles, Revelations the 7th chapter.)...
And... I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds...
("Winds" means "war and strife.")... that the wind should not blow upon the earth, nor on the sea,...
or any tree... (Now, that's war, holding.).
Oh, if we had time to go into detail on this question. That happened... There's where Russell got
mixed up. Russell prophesied; seeing this coming, he prophesied it would be the coming of the
Lord Jesus, not knowing that it was the--the sealing away of the church. See?
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And they wonder how the world war, first World War... Look, it stopped on November the
eleventh, at the eleven o'clock of the day: the eleventh month, the eleventh day, and the eleventh
hour. And immediately after that, the water baptism in Jesus' Name was revealed and the baptism
of the Holy Ghost to the church, exactly, immediately after that.
And if you take it on over in Revelations, how we tied it together, and between the Philadelphian
age and the Laodicean... And the Methodists had the Philadelphian age, the brotherly love. And
the last age, church age, was the Laodicean age, which is lukewarm age. And He said in there, "I
have set a door (open door) before you," an open door. And if you'll refer those Scriptures back,
it'll tie the entire message right into one place there to show you it exactly...
Watch. It, everything had been Father, Son, Holy Ghost in baptism (which we're to get into it
directly), which was absolutely a Catholic creed and never a Christian doctrine. No, sir, I... Just we
got it right here tonight to come into it, with the Lexicon too (See? Yes, sir.), and with history also.
Never was anybody ever baptized like that in the Bible, or not for the first six hundred years after
the Bible. And I can prove it right here by the Catholic's own doctrine, that they are the one who
started it, and sprinkling and pouring.
It come out of there into the Wesleyan church, and to Methodist church; the Methodist brought it
through to the Baptists; the Baptists brought it on through; and it's still a false doctrine. And can
come back in the Bible and prove to you that the Bible said that "you have a name that you live,
but you're dead." That's exactly right. And they had...
I can prove that the Bible taught that they would use His Name in baptism until the dark age,
according to the--the fourth age of the--the church age, the Pergamos church age. And He said...
In during that fifteen hundred years of dark ages, everyone said, "You have a little light left, 'cause
you've not denied My Name."
When it come to that other age over there, the Catholic age, He said, "You have a name that you
live, but you're dead. And you've denied My Name." There you are. See? It just all ties one big
beautiful picture together, the entire Bible.
Now, notice this.
... holding the four winds...
And I saw another angel ascending from heaven, having the seal of the living God:... (the Seal)
Now, what is the seal of the living God? Now, you Advent brethren are going to say, "Keep the
sabbath day." I want you to show me that in the Scripture. It's not there. Not one place did it--is--is
the seal...
If you'll read Ephesians 4:30 right quick, you'll find out what the Seal of the living God is.
Ephesians 4:30 says, "Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby you're sealed until the day of
your redemption," not till the next revival, but's got eternal security. "Grieve not the Holy Spirit of
God whereby you are sealed until the day of your redemption." See if Ephesians 4:30 doesn't say
that; then take your margin readings and run it all the rest the way through the Scriptures there
and find out. Now, "... sealed until the day of your redemption."
Having the seal of the living God:...
Now, remember, the Holy Ghost was not taught as the baptism of the Holy Ghost until after World
War I. We just celebrated our--our golden jubilee, forty years, or the fortieth year of the jubilee.
... and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth or the
sea,
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Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, or any tree, until we have sealed the servants... (Now,
you're getting down to your question, "the children." See?)... the servants of our God in their
forehead.
Don't hurt; don't destroy the earth; don't let an atomic bomb be bursted; don't have a complete
thing until the servants of our God is sealed.
Now, if we could take that back yonder and run back there, how that--that even on "The Decline of
the World's War," in the second volume, when General Allenby had fought in till he hit the lines of
Jerusalem, and he wired back to the King of England, and said, "I don't want to fire on the city, on
the account of the sacredness of it." He said, "What shall I do?"
He said, "Pray."
And he flew over it again, and when they did, they said, "Allenby's a-coming." And there were
Mohammedans in there, thought he said, "Allah's a-coming." And they hoisted the white flag and
surrendered, and Allenby marched into Jerusalem and took it without firing a shot, according to the
prophecy (That's right.), and turned it back over to the Jews.
Then they raised up a Hitler to persecute the Jews, and all around over the world, and run them
back in there.
And the Bible said He would bring them back on the wings of an eagle. And when they begin to
come back... The "Life" magazine and them packed it a few weeks ago, where they brought them
back by the thousands into Jerusalem, and they went to packing those old ones off on their back.
They were interviewed. I've got it all on reel and picture. And he said... There hung the four-star
flag of David, hanging there, the oldest flag in the world, the first time it's been flown for two
thousand years.
Jesus said, "When the fig tree puts forth its bud, this generation shall not pass."
And here they was bringing them old in, and said, "What? Are you coming back to die in your
homeland?"
Said, "No, we've come to see the Messiah."
And, brother, I tell you; we're at the door. There's the servants, them who's way down yonder, not
this bunch of Jews that would cheat you out of your false teeth if they could; that's not the Jew
He's talking about. But it's those down yonder who's kept their--their laws and things, and never
even knew there was a Messiah.
And Brother... At Stockholm, Brother Pethrus, sent them down a million New Testaments, and
when they got them they were reading them. They said, "Well, if this be the Messiah, let us see
him do the sign of a prophet, and we'll believe him."
What a setup for my ministry. I was within two hours of the gate to Jerusalem, to go in; and I was
at Cairo, Egypt. And I was walking along there, and the Holy Ghost said, "Don't go now."
I thought, "I was just imagination. My ticket's done bought; I'm on my road. The man's out there to
meet me, the whole group, schools and so forth."
I walked a little farther, and the Spirit said, "Don't go. Don't you go."
I went back to the ticket agent; I said, "I cancel this ticket, I want to go up to Athens, Greece, to
Mars Hill.
And he said, "Well, your ticket calls for Jerusalem, sir."
I said, "I want to go to Athens instead of going to Jerusalem." The Holy Spirit's waiting; that hour
hasn't come just yet. It just isn't just right.
Watch.
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... seal the servants of our God in their forehead,
Saying, Hurt not the earth,... till we... seal the servants of our God in their forehead. (Anyone
knows that that's the Seal of the Holy Spirit. Watch.)
And I heard the number of them that were sealed:... (Now, if they're not Jews, watch this.)... and
there were sealed a hundred and forty-four thousand all of the tribes of the children of Israel. (Not
a Gentile in them, that's at the end time. Watch)
... the tribe of Juda... twelve thousand... the tribe of Reuben... twelve thousand,... (and on down),...
Gad... twelve thousand,
... Nepthalim,... (and--and--and all the way down to the)... Aser,... and--and Zabulon,...
And all these twelve tribes of Israel, and twelve times twelve is what? Hundred and forty-four
thousand. There's the hundred and forty-four thousand Jews: not Gentiles, Jews. Has not a thing
to do with the Bride. So Jehovah Witness is wrong on their doctrine. The Bible plainly says that
they are Jews and not Gentiles. They are the servants of God; and the Gentile never was
considered a servant. We are sons and daughters, not servants.
Now, read the rest of it. Like the man eating watermelon said, "That's good, but let's have some
more of it." All right. God's got plenty of it here. Now, just notice. Now, now, we're on the 8th verse.
And of the tribe of Zabulon... seal twelve thousand. All the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve
thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin was sealed twelve thousand.
See, John, being a Jew, recognized every one of them, seen the twelve tribes of Israel, twelve
thousand out of each tribe, twelve times twelve, being a hundred and forty-four thousand. There
they are, not the Church, the Jews. The Bible said here, they were all the children of Israel, every
tribe named.
Now, watch, 9th verse.
After this... (Now, here comes the Bride.)... After this I beheld,... lo, a great multitude, which no
man could number,...
There's your te--temple eunuchs; they're is just a hundred and forty-four thousand, just a little spot,
just a little temple guards that's going to be with the Bride, just Her--just Her escort. That's the
hundred and forty-four thousand is the escort to the Bride, the temple eunuchs.
Watch. 'Course, I know you go back over here to the 14th, and say, "Why, they're with the Bride
wherever they..." Absolutely. The eunuchs travel with the queen wherever she went. Truly. But
what were they? They were nothing but escorts, and that's just exactly what the Scripture declares
it to be here.
Notice.
And after this... and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations,... kindreds,...
people, and tongue,... (There's your Gentile Bride coming up. All right)... these stood... before the
Lamb... (There's their Saviour, the Lamb: not the law, the Lamb, grace.)... clothed with white
robes,... (Watch, in a few minutes, see if the white robes ain't the righteousness of the saints.)...
and palms in their hands;
And they cried with a loud voice,... (If this ain't a Pentecostal revival, I never heard one.)... saying,
Salvation to our God which set upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.
And all the angels stood around about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts,... fell
upon the... before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God,
Saying, Amen: Blessing... glory... wisdom... thanksgiving,... honour,... might, power, be to our God
for ever and ever. Amen.
That sounds like a camp meeting time, doesn't it? It's going to be. Who was that? The hundred
and forty-four thousand? Not at all. This great number that no man... of all kindred, tongues, and
nations... Can't you see, my dear friend?
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Now, watch; just read It now.
And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these and... which are arrayed in white
robes? and whence cometh they?
The elder said to John, which was a Jew that recognized the hundred and forty-four thousand, and
said, "Now, you knew them; they're all Jews. But who are these? Where'd they come from?" See
what the elder said, "One of the elders answered (That's the elders before the throne.)--answered
me, saying, 'What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence cometh they?' Now,
we all know the Jews and their covenant and so forth, but when did these come?" Now, watch.
And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest... ("I--I--I don't." John said, "It's just past me. I don't
know.")... And he said unto me, These are they that came out of great tribulations, (Through trials
and many these dangers, toils, and snares, I have already come. See?)... these come up out of
great tribulations, and have washed their robe,... (in the church? Does that sound right?)... have
washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
... they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night... (Who serves me in my home?
My wife, is that right?)... and in His temple:... (That's who stays with me in my home and in my
economy, is my wife. She's the one who sets with me, and washes my clothes, and keeps things
ready for me.)... and he that setteth upon the throne shall dwell among them. (Oh, my, listen.)
And they shall hunger no more,... (Looked like they had missed a few meals coming along.)...
neither shall they thirst any more; nor shall the sun light on them and--no more, nor any heat.
For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living
fountains of water: and God shall wipe... all tears from their eyes. (There She is; there's your
Bride.)
There's your hundred and forty-four thousand; there's your servants. So "the children of the
Kingdom" here, dear person who asked the question, it's a--who asked this notable question... I
think I might've left it back here in the--somewhere, but "when they shall be cast out," doesn't
mean that they will be cast out of God's mind. They are cast out of the spiritual benefits for a
season (See?), just for a little season.
Because when the prophet saw Israel in this day that--that she was coming to, he said, "Well, will
Israel be when the Sabbath will be taken away, and--and they sell on the Sabbath the same as
any other day, and all these things." He said, "Well, will You--will You ever... Will Israel be
completely forgotten?"
He said, "How high is it to the heavens? How deep is the earth? Measure it with that stick laying
before you."
He said, "I can't."
He said, "Neither can I ever forget Israel." Certainly not, Israel will never be forgotten.
So, you see, everlasting and eternal is two different thing. Israel was cast out, but not out of God's
mind. And Paul speaks it over here, if I had a--had time to study, so I could quickly get to the
Scripture that... I can refer to them to you (See?), that comes on my mind.
Paul speaking over there, said that for we Gentiles to take heed, the way we walked and what we
done. See? 'Cause if God spared not the first branch (See?), and we being just grafted in... See?
And Israel, which was blinded for a season, he said... Just for a season, Israel was blinded. That's
right, but the veil will be lifted from their eyes. And that is when the last Gentile is borned into the
Kingdom of God, then their veil's lifted from Israel's eyes. And they'll say, "This is the Messiah
Who we looked to see." That's right, but the Gentile door is closed (the ark is--is closed up);
there's no more--no more grace left for the Gentile at that time.
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Now, I take a whole lot of time on one question. And somebody say, "Now, you don't get to mine."
Well, we'll hurry up and see if we can't get to it.
All right, here's a--a long one. And every bit of it the woman asked or the man asked, or whoever
it is, is right.
53. Is it not true that the Lord Jesus did not die for the whole world, meaning everyone in the
world, but rather... (Now, I would explain that, but she--he or she, whoever it is... Looks like a
woman's writing.)... but rather for these--rather for these in every part of the world, whom the
Father did give Him, these who before the foundation of the world, God did ordain to Eternal Life,
having elected them according to His own good pleasure?
Absolutely, that's right. That's exactly right. Jesus died for not just to... He--His purpose...
Let's see, I believe the... I--I believe they read... a question comes in on this.
54. Scripture doubtless tells us that these are those who will not be--there are those who will not
be saved. Therefore... That's exactly right. The Scripture tells us that there is people who were
foreordained of God to be condemned. Would you like to read that, so it'll always be out of your
mind? All right, let's turn over now to the Book of--of Jude, Jude speaking here.
Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, the brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the
Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:
See who He addresses it to? Not the sinner, not only evangelistic service, but to the sanctified and
called (See?), those who are already in the Kingdom.
Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied,
Beloved,... I give all diligence to write unto you... the common salvation, it was needful for me to
write unto you, and to exhort you that you do earnestly contend for the faith that was once
delivered to the saints.
For there are certain men crept in unaware, who were before of old ordained to this
condemnation,... (How?)... turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness,...
Ordained of old... Not that God set back on the throne, and said, "I'll save this man, and I'll lose
that man." That wasn't it. God died, and when Jesus died, the atonement covered the entire earth
for every person. But God by foreknowledge... Not that He willed... He's not willing that any should
perish. He wanted everybody to be saved. That was His--that was His eternal purpose. But if He
was God, He knew who would and who would not be saved. If He didn't know, then He wasn't the
infinite God. So the Bible teaches that. That we could...
If we had time to turn over here in Romans the 8th chapter and you could read it, Romans the 9th
chapter, many other places in the Bible, Ephesians the 1st chapter, and you can see that the
election of God, that it might stand sure, God gave the covenant unconditionally. He sent Jesus to
die for those who He foreknew. See?
Not just to say, "Well, you say God don't know whether she'll be saved or not?" God knowed that
you'd be saved, or whether you would or not, before the world ever begin, or He wasn't God.
Do you know what the word "infinite" means? Look at--look in the dictionary and find out what the
word "infinite" means. Why, He knowed every flea that would ever be on the earth, every fly, every
gnat, every germ. He knew it before they ever come into existence, or He wasn't God. Certainly,
He knew. All right.
Then in there, God could not--not say, "I'll take you, and send you to hell; and I'll take you, and
send you to heaven." God wanted you both to go to heaven. But by foreknowledge He knew that
one would be a shyster, and the other one would be a gentleman and a Christian. See? Therefore
He had to send Jesus to die, to save that man that He foreknew that wanted to be saved. You get
it?
Now, look here.
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55. Scriptures doubtly tell us that these are they who will not be saved. Therefore, if the atonement
cover all the--all of Adam's race, and some were lost because they did not avail themselves of the
promise, or the provision, would not... must we... will he... will be a mightier force than eternal
plans and purposes of Almighty God? Would it be... (the person now on this second question, is
asking) Would not man's free will be a mightier force than the eternal plans and purpose of an
almighty God?
No, my brother or sister, certainly not. There is nothing more powerful... Man's will could never
compare with the--the eternal purpose of God's judgment. It couldn't be. See?
Now, your first question was correct. Your second question couldn't be, friend. 'Cause look, look
at the way it's written here. See? "Would not man's free will be a mightier force than the eternal
plans and purpose of almighty God?" Why, certainly not. How could the will of man be a mightier
force than the purpose of Almighty God? And man in his carnal condition to will what he wants to,
more forceful than what an eternal, perfect God would be? Certainly not, it couldn't be. See? The
eternal God, Who's purpose is perfect, how could you say that a--a carnal man down here, no
matter how just and--he might be, his purposes would no wise compare with this: the--the purpose
of the eternal and Almighty God.
[A sister speaks from congregation--Ed.] Yes. ["I'm sorry. I just wanted to ask a question, and-and you misunderstand what I mean there."]
Yeah, all right, sister.
["I don't believe that at all; I meant God's eternal purpose is overriding man's free will."]
That's right. Oh, well, I--I've read it wrong then. See? All right. Yes, you're exactly right then, sister.
I didn't know it was your--your question. All right. But see, where I got it here... See? Now, let me
see, "Cover all the Adam's race, and some were lost because they did not avail themself-themselves of its provisions, would not man's free will be a mightier force than the eternal plans
and purpose of Almighty God?"
See, I--I'd misinterpret your thought there. Yes, the eternal purpose of Almighty God... Well, that
settles it. I guess everybody understands that. If you do, raise up your hands. It--it's the eternal
purpose of the Almighty God would sure be far above--far above what man could do. Now...
56. I do not understand the light on water baptism in the 28th chapter of... 19th verse, of Matthew.
What does this mean?
Well now, maybe it won't take me but just a minute. And let's have somebody turn with me, if you
will, to Matthew the 28th chapter and the 19th verse. And we'll find out just what the person is...
twenty-five... Now, this will make you strong if you'll just stay with it. It's--it's good. You see? It isn't
evangelistic, but it's a...
Now, we're... Now, here's where people try to say there's a contradiction in the Bible. Now, I want
somebody to turn to... We're in Matthew 28:19. Or, no, I want somebody... Matthew 28:19. I want
somebody to turn to Acts 2:38. You got your Bible there, Brother Neville?
And I want you to read for yourselves now. "And I'll show you a strict contradiction in the Bible.
And I--I... What the--the Bible... The people say the Bible doesn't contradict Itself; I want you to
take this into consideration.
And this makes the professors get gray. But it--it's simple. Now, I'll read Matthew 28:19; you
follow me. And some of you with Acts 2:38, have it ready. I'll begin unto the 18th verse; this is the
closing chapter of Matthew.
And Jesus came and spake unto his disci--or spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me
in heaven and in earth.
Where's the Father's power? If all the power in heaven and earth is give to Jesus, God got
powerless then, didn't He? Or did He just tell a story? Was He joking? He meant it. Don't you
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believe He meant it? Well, if all power is given unto Him, where's God's power at then? He was
God. That's exact. That's the only thing there is to it. That's just all there was. See, He was God; or
either there's somebody set there, did have some power, don't have it any more. See? So you
can't--you can't confuse it. We'll get that right in on this same thing here. All right.
All power in heaven and earth is... in heaven and in earth.
Go ye therefore,... teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and
of the Holy Ghost:
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you:... lo, I am with you
always, even to the end of the world.
Acts 2:38, now somebody read. Wait just a minute. Acts the 2nd chapter, the 38th verse, now,
listen real close now, and just be patiently, and we'll see now. Now, this is ten days later after
Jesus told them now, Matthew 28:19, "Go therefore, teach all nations, baptizing them in the Name
of the Father, of the Son, of the Holy Ghost."
Now, Peter, ten days later... They never preached another sermon. They went up in the upper
room at Jerusalem, and waited there for ten days, for the Holy Ghost to come. How many knows
that? In this spot... Here's Peter; Peter has the keys to the Kingdom. All right, we'll see what he
does. Matthew... or I mean Acts 2, let's take the 36th verse.
Therefore let all the house of Israel know surely, that God has made this same Jesus, whom you...
crucified, both Lord and Christ. (Both Lord and Christ, no wonder all power in heavens and earth
was given unto Him.)
Now, when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and... the rest of
the--the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
Peter answered... Peter said unto them, Repent, every one of you, and be baptized in the Name of
Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Now, there's a contradiction. Matthew said, baptize the name of Father, Son, Holy Ghost, and
Peter said in the Acts 2:38, ten days later, "Repent, and be baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ."
Then the next time repentance was spoke--spoke of--or baptism in the Bible, is Acts the--the 8th
chapter, when Philip went down and preached to the--to--to the Samaritans. And they received the
Holy Ghost, and they were baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ.
Next time it was spoke of, was when the Gentiles received It, Acts 10:49.
And while Peter... spake these words, behold, the Holy Ghost fell upon... them... and heard them.
For they heard them speak in tongues, and magnify God. Then said Peter,
Can a man forbid water, seeing that these... have received the Holy Ghost like we did at the
beginning?
And he commanded them to be baptized in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, let me have something here, just show you a little something so you won't forget it: going to
make you a little illustration. I'm going to put... How many gener--nationalities of people are there
in the world? There's three: Ham, Shem, and Japheth's people. How many knows that? We come
from those three sons of Noah. Ham's people, Shem's people... Japheth's people is the AngloSaxon; Shem's people is the... The three generations, that's Jew, Gentile, and half Jew and
Gentile. Now, notice, when there... And this is Ham... Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
Now, the first time baptism was ever spoke of, was spoke of by John the Baptist. How many
knows that to be true? All right, I'm going to lay it over here, way over here: John the Baptist. And
John baptized the people in the river of Jordan, commanding them that they should repent, and
get right with God, and sell their goods, and feed the poor, and the soldiers be satisfied with their
money, and to get right with God. How many know that? And he baptized them in the river of
Jordan, not sprinkled them, not poured them, but immersed them. If you don't believe it, here's the
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Lexicon, find out if it isn't "baptizo," which is "baptize, immerse, put under, bury." Now, the first
time baptism was ever spoke of, was there.
The second time baptism was ever spoke of, Jesus commissioned it, Matthew 28:19. Next time
baptism was spoke of was Acts 2:38. The next time baptism was spoke of was in the 8th chapter
of Acts. The next time baptism was spoke of was in the--the 10th chapter of Acts.
And then we come from the time where Jesus said here, "Go ye, therefore, teach all nations,
baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and the Son, Holy Ghost.
Now, let's straighten this Scripture out first. I've told you that there's not one Scripture in the Bible
that'll contradict another. I want you to bring it to me. I've asked that for twenty-six years, and I
haven't found it yet. There's no Scripture that contra... If it contradicts It, then its a man-written
affair. No, sir, there's no contradiction in the Bible.
Now, this you said, "What about that?"
Here stands Jesus saying, "Go ye, therefore, teach all nations, baptizing them in the Name of
Father, Son, Holy Ghost."
And Peter turns right back around, and said, "Repent, every one of you, and be baptized in the
Name of Jesus Christ."
There's your contradiction: looks like it. Now, if you're reading with a carnal mind and not a open
heart, it'll be a contradiction. But if you'll read It open-minded, "The Holy Spirit has hid this from the
eyes of the wise and prudent," Jesus said so, and thanked God for it, "and has revealed It to
babes such as would learn." If you got a mind, and not a selfish mind, but a willing heart to learn,
the Holy Ghost will teach you these things.
Now, if it don't compare... You said, "How do you know you're right?" Well, it compares with the
rest of the Scripture. If you don't, you got a flat contradiction here.
Now, I want to ask you a question. This is the last chapter of Matthew. I'll take it in a little form, so
every one of you that's--that's children will understand it.
For instance, if you read a love story, and the back of it said, "And Mary and John lived happy ever
after." Well, you wonder who John and Mary was that lived happy ever after. Now, if you want to
know who John and Mary is, you'd better go back to the first of the book and find out who John
and Mary is. Then get back here and find out who Mary was, and what family she come from, and
who John was, and what family he come from, and what his name was, and how they were
married, and all about it. Is that right? Well, that's the same thing as reading the Bible here.
When...
Look, Jesus never said, "Go, baptize the people in the name of the Father, in the name of the
Son, in the name of the Holy Ghost," the way Trinitarian people baptize. There's no Scripture for
that in the Bible. He never said, "In the names (n-a-m-e-s), names" of the Father, Son, and Holy
Ghost; He said, "In the (n-a-m-e) name," singular. Look at your Bible there and find out if that's
right, Matthew 28, "In the Name..." not "in the name of the Father, in the name of the Son..." that's
the way a triune preacher baptizes. "In the name of the Father, in the name of the Son, and in the
name of the Holy Ghost." That's not even in the Bible.
"Then in the name..." You said, "Well, then in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost." Then
there's a certain Name there.
Well, is Father a name? How many knows that Father's not a name. Father's a title. Son's not a
name. How many knows Son's not a name? How many fathers is in here, raise your hand. How
many sons is in here, raise your hand. Well, which one of you're named son? Which one of you're
named father? All right, Holy Ghost is not a name. Holy Ghost is what It is. How many humans is
in here, raise your hand. See? There you are, the Holy Ghost is what It... Father, Son, and Holy
Ghost, neither one of them are names; there's no name to it.
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Well, then, if He said, "Baptize in the Name of the Father, Son, Holy Ghost," we'd better go back
and find out Who Father, Son, and Holy Ghost is. Let's turn back to the 1st chapter of Matthew
then, see Who this fellow was that was supposed to baptize in what name. And we start out now
with Matthew the 1st chapter and the 18th verse. Read closely, all of you.
Now, you that asked the question, I want to give a little illustration here. Now, I'm going to put
three things here so that you'll understand clearly (make the illustration): these Bibles and books to
make illustrations.
All right, I want you to watch me closely, and each one follow me now. Now, this here is God the
Father. This here is God the Son. This here is God the Holy Ghost. Now, how many understand?
You say it after me. Who's this down here? [Congregation says, "Holy Ghost"--Ed.] Holy Ghost.
Who's this over here? [Congregation says, "Father"--Ed.] Who's this here? [Congregation says,
"Son"--Ed.] Now, that's the way the Trinitarian believes that. See, that makes us heathens, just as
raw as it can be.
The Jew... That's the reason you can't do nothing with a Jew. He said, "You can't chop God in
three pieces and give Him to a Jew." Why, certainly not, you can't me either. See? No, sir. He's
one God; that's exactly, not three Gods. Now, notice how--how--how simple it is.
Now, we're going to find out. Now, Who is... This is Who? Some speak out now. God the Son. Is
that right? This is the Son. Well then, His father is God. Is that right? How many believes that His
Father's God, raise up your hand. How many believe that God is the Father of Jesus Christ? All
right.
Now, the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise:...
Now, we're going back to find out Who Father, Son, and Holy Ghost is, that Matthew said baptize
in the Name of. See? The Name, not names now, 'cause it can't be names, 'cause there's no
name there.
Now, the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise:
When... his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with
a child of... (God the Father. Does the Bible say that? What does the Bible say?)... she was found
with a child of the Holy Ghost.
Then which one of these is His Father? Now, the Bible said that this is His Father, and Jesus said
that this was His Father. Now, which One is His Father? Now, if He had two fathers, now what
about it? If He had two fathers, He's a illegitimate child.
Now, let's just read on a little further.
Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, was not willingly to make her a publick example, but
was minded to put her away privately.
But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream,
saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is
conceived in her is of the... [Congregation says, "Holy Ghost"--Ed.]
The what? The Holy Ghost? Well, how can the Father be His Father, and the Holy Ghost be His
Father at the same time? Now, He had two fathers then, if that be right. No, sir. The Holy Ghost is
God. The Holy Ghost is God. So God and the Holy Ghost is the same-self Person, or He had two
fathers.
See, we find out who John and Mary is after while. All right, we find out whether Peter was-Matthew was trying to contradict one another or not, see if the Scripture contradicts Itself. It's a
lack of spiritual understanding. That's right.
But while he thought on these...
I got that one, the 20th verse. Now, the 21st...
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And she shall bring forth a son,... (this Person which was of the one Person, God)... and thou shall
call his name... (What?) [Congregation answers, "Jesus"--Ed.]... for he shall save his people from
their sins.
... this was all done, that would--might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet,
saying,
Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call His Name
Emmanuel,... by interpretation, God with us.
So who was John and Mary that lived happy ever after? Who was the One Who said, "Go ye
therefore, teach all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost"? Who
was the Father, the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost? [Someone says, "Jesus"--Ed.]
Certainly, it was. Sure, no contradiction to that, not a bit. It just straightens the Scripture out. He
was the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. God was Emmanuel dwelling with us, tabernacling in a body
called Jesus.
Now, the oneness teaching of the oneness church, I certainly disagree with them, thinking that
Jesus is one like your finger's one. He had to have a Father. If He didn't, how could He be His own
father? And if His Father was a man like the Trinitarian says, then He was borned a illegitimate
birth with two fathers. So you see, you're both wrong by arguing. See?
But the truth of it is, that both Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, is one Personality.
[Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.]... God dwelling in a tabernacle of flesh to take sin from the world... That's
exactly right, "God with us." Now, therefore, when Matthew 28:19...
Now, you search the Scriptures, and when you can find where one person in the Bible (Now, think
of it; now, don't let this pass over you.), where one person in the Bible was ever baptized in the
"name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost," come back to me and tell me that I'm a
hypocrite, and I'll put a sign on my back and walk through the city. It's not in the Scriptures from
Genesis to Revelation. But every person in the Bible was baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ.
You say, "Wait a minute, preacher. What about John? He didn't baptize in any name at all."
All right, we find out what happened. Let's turn over to--to the--the Acts the 19th chapter. That's
where we find John's disciples. Every person was all baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ, on up
now till we find this group over here. Acts the 19th chapter, and let's begin the reading now, and
we find John's disciples.
And it came to pass,... while Apollos... (which was a lawyer, converted).. was at Corinth, Paul
having passed through the upper coasts of... Ephesus: he finds certain disciples (They were
followers of Jesus.)
If you just noticed the previous chapter before there, they were having such a great time till they
were shouting and rejoicing. How many knows that true? And Aquila and Priscilla was attending
the meeting. And Paul and Silas was beaten, and striped, and put into jail. Is that right? And they
come over here and found Aquila and Priscilla. And they were having a revival up there by a
Baptist preacher by the name of Apollos, who was proving by the Scriptures that Jesus was the
Christ. Now, Paul finds him.
Paul having passed through the upper coasts of... Ephesus:... finds certain disciples,
He said unto them, Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed?...
Now, you dear Baptist friend, if that don't knock the--the props out from under your theology,
when you said you received the Holy Ghost when you believed.
But Paul wanted to asked these Baptists, "Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed?"
Now, watch what they said.
And they said unto him, We know... whether there be any Holy Ghost.
And he said unto them, Unto what... (Now, if you want to get the Greek Lexicon here, it'll show
you, "Unto how was you baptized?")... Unto what... was you baptized?
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And they said unto him, Under John... (back here. "John baptized us.")
Now, I want to ask: If you had that baptism, would you be satisfied with it? The same man that
walked Jesus out in the river and baptized Jesus Christ, that same man had baptized these
people. That's a pretty good baptism: not sprinkling, not pouring, but immersing in the old muddy
Jordan at the same place Jesus was baptized. Think of that.
Paul said, "Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed?"
They... he... They said, "We know... whether there be any Holy Ghost."
He said, "How was you baptized?"
They said, "We been baptized."
"How was you baptized?"
"Unto John."
Now, watch what Paul said. Watch here.
And he said unto them,... were you bap... Unto John...
And they... And then said Paul, John verily baptized... the bap... unto repentance, saying unto the
people,... they should believe on him that's come after him, that is, on Jesus Christ.
See, John only baptized unto repentance, but the water baptism in Jesus' Name is for the
remission of sins. The atonement wasn't made then; sins could not be remitted. Now... It was just
a answer of a conscience, like under the law. Luke 16:16 said, "The law and prophets were until
John; since then the Kingdom's been preached." Now, watch, and watch.
And Paul said un... (now watch)... Have you received...
The 5th--5th verse...
And when they heard this, they were baptized... (again)... in the name of... Jesus Christ.
That right? Then these people, the people in Acts 2 were baptized in Jesus' Name. The Jews was
baptized in Jesus' Name, The Gentiles was baptized in Jesus' Name. And every person in the
entire Bible was baptized in Jesus' Name.
Now, find one place that anybody else was ever baptized any other way, and I'll go right back
here and show you where the Catholic church admits it, and say that you bow to it. And said,
"There might be some Protestants saved because they have a few of the Catholic doctrines, such
as the baptism in the name of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost." Said, "The holy Catholic church has
a right to change that solemnity from the Name of Jesus to the 'Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,'" and
the Protestant church admits it. This one don't. I stay with the Bible. I believe the Bible.
You say, "Brother Branham, do you commission people to be baptized over?" Absolutely. Paul did
here.
Now, watch, let's get the Galatians 1:8, and find out what Paul said.
... though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you... let him be accursed.
There you are, "If we or an angel..." And Paul, the same man, commissioned the people to be
baptized over again that had a lot better baptism than what you have had, my brother; 'cause John
the Baptist was Jesus' own cousin, second cousin; baptized his own Cousin in the river of Jordan,
and turned right around and baptized John's disciples. And Jesus said, "That won't work," or Paul
said it, and commissioned them to be baptized over again in the Name of Jesus Christ before they
could receive the Holy Ghost; after they'd been shouting and praising God and having a big time,
having a great--great revival, and proving by the Bible, with their theology, that Jesus was the
Christ. How many knows that's the Scripture, the 18th chapter? Certainly it is. There you are. So
there's no question to it.
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Now, let me give you a little keynote. Now, he never went out of the order, but in Luke--Matthew
the 16th chapter, Jesus, when they come down off the mount, He says, "Who do men say I the
Son of man am?"
"Some say You're Elijah; some say You're of the prophets, and some say You're this, that."
He said, "But Who do you say?"
Peter said, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God."
Watch. "Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona (the son of Jonas); flesh and blood never revealed this
to you." Amen.
See, it has to come spiritual revelation. Flesh and blood never told Abel that he was wrong--or
Cain, that he was wrong, never told Abel that Cain was wrong. But it was a revelation that Abel
had. It was blood. We're coming into that question in a few minutes. It was blood, not fruit, that
took us from the garden of Eden. It was blood. And Abel by spiritual revelation was revealed of
God that it was blood. "And he, by faith," Hebrews 11:1 says, "he offered to God a more excellent
sacrifice than Cain." Which God accepted his sacrifice. There you are. See? He offered it by faith,
by revelation.
Now, watch, "Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you (plumb over to the Lord Jesus), but My
Father which is in heaven has revealed this to you. And upon this rock (the revelation of Jesus
Christ)... Upon this rock I'll build My church, and the gates of hell can't prevail against it." That's
what He said. Spiritual rev... "And I say that you're Peter, and I'll give to you the keys of the
Kingdom. And whatever... Because you've got a spiritual open channel between here and
heaven... Flesh and blood: you never took a seminary; you never took a schooling; you never took
a--a--a course of theology. But you depended on God, and God revealed it to you; and it's
absolutely the clear Scriptures that tied together. I say you're Peter. (That's right.) And I'll give to
you the keys; and what you bind on earth, I'll bind it in heaven; what you loose on earth, I'll loose it
in heaven."
And Peter was the spokesman on the day of Pentecost, when they was all scared to speak. He
spoke up and said, "Ye men of Judaea and you that dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known unto you
and hearken to my words. These are not drunk as you suppose, seeing it's the third hour of the
day, but this is that which was spoken of the prophet Joel. 'It'll come to pass in the last days,' saith
God, 'I'll pour out My Spirit upon all flesh. Your sons and daughters shall prophesy. Upon my
handsmaid, the maid servants, will I pour out of My Spirit. And I'll show signs in the heavens above
and in the earth below, and pillars of smoke and vapor. It shall come to pass before the great and
terrible day of the Lord shall come, that whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be
saved.'" There you are. Oh, my.
"Let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David," he said, "he's both dead and buried, and his
sepulchre's with us unto this day. Therefore, being a prophet, he saw--foresaw Him at His right
hand. 'And I'll not be moved. Moreover My flesh will rest in hope, because He'll not leave My soul
in hell, neither suffer Thy holy One to see corruption.'"
"And David is both dead," he said, "and buried, and his sepulchre's with us this day. But being a
prophet, he foresaw the coming of the just One, Whom God has made both Lord and Christ." Oh,
my. There's your Scriptures. There's the thing. That's it.
Now, we find out here then, that the correct way, and the real way, and only way that was ever
ordained... And Peter had the keys, and on the day when he preached, they said... Now, watch,
here's the first church. You Catholics listen to this. You Campbellites listen to this; You Baptists
and Methodists, listen to this. You Pentecostals listen to this. Church of God, Nazarene, Pilgrim
Holiness, listen to this.
Peter had the keys and he had the authority, or Jesus lied. And it's impossible for Him to lie: "two
immutable things, it's impossible for God to lie." He had the keys. Jesus give him the keys. When
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He rose on the--on the third day like that, He had the keys of death and hell, but not the keys to
the Kingdom. Peter had them. That's exactly right.
And now watch, Peter, you got the keys hanging on your side, and you're preaching. The question
comes, the first converts of the new church, the early Christian Church... Now, Catholic, now
Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, are you on new church doctrine? Find out if you are.
... Men and brethren, what can we do?...
... Peter stood up and said... Repent,... every one of You... (Look out, boy; the way you place
those keys here, Christ will place it in heaven.)... Repent, every one of you, and be baptized in the
Name of Jesus Christ... (That's how you get into this.)... for the remission of your sins, and you
shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
The keys went "click" here, and it went "click" there. That's the reason John's disciples had to
come and be rebaptized again in the Name of Jesus Christ before they could go into heaven, get
the Holy Ghost. He kept His Word. So it don't confuse you now, does it? See? Certainly, Matthew
28:19 was titles, not Names.
All right, how much more time we got? Can we have fifteen more minutes to answer a couple of
more questions real quick? Can we? All right, we'll hurry right quick. I got two down here at the
bottom, I wanted to get quickly, joined right in with this, if I could. Then I can get the rest of them
Sunday morning.
57. Was Cain an offspring of the serpent? (This is a good one.) If so, why did Eve not conceive
until after Adam knew her?
The same... The next question's the same...?...
58. Was it a--a literal tree from which Eve ate the fruit? She saw that it was good for food.
All right, brother, sister, ever who it was, let's go back into Genesis and find out something here.
Let's go to Genesis 3:8, if you will. All right, and listen real close now.
Now, I'll bring the story up. It was all pure and holy; there was no sin or no defilement. Now, I'll get
the--your--this first question first. The tree in the life--the middle of the garden, in the midst of the
tree... The tree was the woman. Now, I'll prove that to you by the Scriptures if you'd just be
patiently a few minutes.
We'll get first whether she was--whether she conceived before she knew Adam or not, or 'fore...
Listen.
And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden, and in the cool of the day: and
Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the
garden.
And the LORD... called unto Adam, and said... Where art thou?
And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked;... (Now, he
didn't know that the day before; something had happened; something revealed to him that he was
naked.)... and I hid myself.
And he said, Who told thee that thou were naked? Has thou eaten of the tree,...
Eating of the tree make him realize he was naked? As I've often said (This is no joke; I don't mean
it for a joke.), "But if eating apples caused women to realize they're naked, we better pass the
apples again." See? It wasn't naked... It wasn't a tree, a apple they eat; it was sexually.
Watch.
... has thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
And the man said, The woman who thou givest me, to be with me, she gave me... the tree, and I
did eat.
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And the LORD... said unto the woman, What is this that thou has done? And the woman said, The
serpent beguiled me,... (Huh?)... The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. (Long time before she
had conceived, see, by Adam.)
Adam knew her, and she conceived and brought forth--and brought forth Abel.
But I want to ask you, just from a literal standpoint. Now, to prove to you that she was the tree:
every woman is a fruit tree. How many know that? Aren't you the fruit of your mother? Certainly,
you are. And in the midst of the fruit, or in the midst of the tree, the fruit that she did not touch...
If you'll notice, wasn't Jesus the Tree of Life? Didn't He promise over in St. Matthew--or St. John
the 6th chapter, "I'm the Bread of Life that come from God out of heaven"?
If a man eats of the woman... And look, through the birth of--by the woman, we all die; 'cause
we're subject to death (Is that right?) through a birth of the woman. Through the birth of the man,
we all live forever. The woman is a tree of death; the man is a tree of life; for the woman doesn't
even bear life in her. That's exactly right. The--the life germ comes out of the man (see?) correctly,
goes into the woman. And the woman's nothing but a incubator; and the baby's not connected,
only the navel cord. Not one speck of the mother's blood's in the baby; borned in her blood, but not
one speck in the baby. Go find... Read the doctor book, or ask your doctor, you'll see. It's not
there, no, sir, not one speck of it at all. She's just the egg; that's all. And the life comes from the
man.
That is a beautiful type to show that through the woman, through natural birth, we all have to die,
because we're dead to begin with; and only through the Man Christ Jesus can we live. And there's
the two trees in the garden of Eden. Can't you see it?
And watch. And in that day there was a Cherubim set a guard this tree, that if they ever tasted
that Life Tree, they would all live forever. How many knows that? They'd all live forever. And the
first time they could taste it... The Angel said, "We'll guard It." And they put Cherubims there with
their flaming swords towards the east to guard It. They took It back to the east, and guarded that
Tree with flaming swords so they could not get in to get It (this Tree).
And when Jesus come, He said, "I am the Bread of Life, that a man eats this Bread will never die."
There's your Tree. There's your woman; there's your sex that brings death. Just as sure as there's
a sexual desire, there's death left by it. And as sure as there's a spiritual birth, there's Eternal Life
left by it. Death come through the birth of a woman, and Life come through the birth of a Man.
Amen. There you are.
Now, let's take back to Cain. Could you tell me where that spirit and that meanness come from? If
Cain... Look, if Cain was the son of Adam, which was a son of God, where did that evil come
from? The first thing when he was born, he hated; he was a murderer; he was jealous. And now,
take the nature of his daddy, the very start in the beginning, Lucifer, and he was... In the beginning
he was jealous of Michael, what started the whole trouble. How many knows that? And Cain was
the nature of his father, which he was jealous of his brother and slew him. That pure... That nature
could not come out of that pure seed. It come, had to come out of this perverted stream. And
notice, Cain, as soon as he was borned...
And then Abel was born after him, then she conceived by Adam, and he knew--knew her and she
brought forth the son Abel. And Abel was a type of Christ; and when--when Abel was killed, Seth
took his place: death, burial, and resurrection of Christ in type.
But now, Cain worshipped, all of his carnal works, just like the carnal church today, they go to
church; they worship. Cain worshipped; he wasn't an infidel; he wasn't a communist. Cain was a
believer; he went to God; he built an altar. He done every religious thing that Abel done, but he
didn't have the spiritual revelation of the will of God. Blessed be the Name of the Lord. There you
are. Do you see it? He didn't have the spiritual revelation, and that's what's the matter with the
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church today. And Jesus said He'd build His church on that spiritual revelation. You get it? Oh, my,
your eyes come open now. See? The spiritual revelation...
Cain come; he built an altar; he worshipped; he brought sacrifice; he knelt down; he praised God;
he worshipped God; he done everything religious that Abel done. And God flatly refused him,
because he didn't have the spiritual revelation.
Follow that same line of Cain right down through to the ark, from the ark right up into Israel, from
Israel right on into Jesus, and from Jesus right on till this day, and see if that carnal, fundamental
church, stiff and starch, scholarly... I mean men who have the Scriptures, who knows all the
doctrine and the theologies; they can explain it, boy, just like [Brother Branham snaps his finger-Ed.] that, but without spiritual revelation. That's right. That's the doctrine of Cain.
The Bible said, "Woe unto them, 'cause they went the doctrine of Cain, and run in the errors of
Balaam, and perished in the gainsaying of Korah." The same Book, Jude, he--it said, "They was
predestinated to this condemnation." Certainly, they are. See?
What was Balaam? He was a bishop. He was over all the church. He got up there just as
fundamental as he could be. He offered... Look there at him standing up there in the celebrity,
standing up there in their great celebrity. And they wasn't infidels; they were believers.
That--that tribe of Moab come out of Lot's daughter, Lot who lived... Lot's daughter who lived with
their father, and conceived and brought a child, and that child was--sprang the tribe of Moab. And
they were a great denomination, great, flowerly people; and they had princes and kings and
celebrity. They had bishops and cardinals and everything.
And here come a bunch of holy-rollers up, the other group, Israel, a little old bunch that was
undenominations, interdenominationals. And they done everything there was on the map to be
done bad too. But what it was, they had the spiritual revelation, and God was with them in a Pillar
of Fire.
Oh, I--I know they had carnal things, and the people said, "Such a bunch of backwash as that,
nothing to do but kick them out." But they had the spiritual revelation, and they had a smitten
Rock; they had a brass serpent; they had a Pillar of Fire going with them. Hallelujah. I know you-you think I'm excited, but I'm not. I just feel good.
Notice. When I think, "That same God, today, lives with us." It's still the spiritual revelation of the
Word. Certainly, it is. It's eternally right. Blessed be the Name of the Lord. Yes, sir.
There stood him up there with that fundamental, them bunch of Baptists and Presbyterians stood
up on the hill, and got their bishop out there. And they were just as religious, in the same kind of
religion; they worshipped the same God. They said, "Look down there at that bunch of trash. Why,
they don't even have a denomination. They're nothing but a bunch of quacking, squealing, holyrollers."
Is that right? Exactly, they was. If you don't believe they were holy-rollers, take back in Genesis
and find out when they crossed... When a miracle was performed, and Miriam grabbed a
tambourine and went down the bank, beating it, dancing in the Spirit, and Moses sung in the Spirit.
If that ain't a bunch of what we call free holy-rollers, I don't know what is: singing and jumping and
praising. And all the time the nations hated them, but God was with them. They had the spiritual
revelation, was following that Pillar of Fire.
And Moab said, "Now, looky here. We'll call all the cardinals, and all the bishops, and all the
presbyters, and get them out here. We'll do something about it, 'cause we're a religious nation.
We'll not let that propaganda get mixed up in our fine denomination."
And so they got them out there. And they built twelve altars; that's just exactly what Israel had:
twelve altars. They put twelve sacrifices on it, bullocks; just exactly what Israel had, what God
required. They put twelve sheep on it, representing the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, twelve
sheep in both places.
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All the celebrity, the bishops and all stood around. They lit the sacrifice. They prayed; they raised
their hands to Jehovah and said, "Jehovah, hear us." What was they trying to do? And their old
Balaam went forth like that, and the Spirit come down upon him, sure, but he was a carnal.
The Spirit can fall upon a hypocrite; the Bible said. You've heard me teach that now. "The rain falls
on the just and unjust." But it has to compare with the Word; there's where you get it.
Then when he did, and the... When the Spirit though on him told the truth... He tried to curse
Israel, and he blessed Israel.
Now, if God just respects a fine church, and a fine bishop, and a wonderful pastor, a scholarly
bunch of people, He was duty-bound to accept that sacrifice, 'cause he was just as fundamentally
right as Israel was right; but he didn't have the spiritual revelation of the Word and the will of God.
There you are; that's the difference today.
Look at Jesus. They said, "Away with that guy. We know he's a Samaritan. He's crazy. Why you
teach us? Well, you was borned in adultery. You wasn't nothing but a illegitimate child to come
with. Who's your daddy? Say God's your father, you blasphemer. Why, you mean to tell us? We've
been preachers; we been bishops; through our great-great-great-great-great-great-greatgrandfathers was preachers and bishops. We were borned and raised in the church. We've been
through the highest of seminaries. We know every word to the letter. And you try to teach us?
Where'd you ever go to school at? Where'd you get this learning?"
He said, "You're of the--your father the devil," said Jesus.
They had no signs and wonders among them. They had no Divine healings and things among
them. They had no blessings among them. But Jesus was absolutely a spiritual revelation of the
Scriptures.
They said, "Why, it's written so-and-so."
And Jesus said, "Yes, it's also written." But God vindicated His men by his signs.
Peter said the same on Acts 2; he said, "You men of Israel. Jesus of Nazareth, a Man approved of
God among you by signs and wonders which God did by Him in the midst, and which you all
yourselves know. (There you are.) Him being delivered of the... by the fore--or by the big
Sanhedrin Council up there. But by the foreknowledge of God, God foreordaining Him to die this
death. You've delivered Him up; with cruel, wicked hands you've crucified the Prince of Life, Who
God raised up. And we're witnesses of it." Whew, what a preacher. Didn't... He couldn't even sign
his own name, but he knowed God.
They said they took heed to him that he'd been with Jesus. Certainly, it's a spiritual revelation. Oh,
my. Now, there you are.
Cain was just in that line. That carnal church is in the same line today. The spiritual church still
has the Pillar of Fire, still has the signs, wonders, still has the same Christ; which it vindicates all
the way from the dying lamb in--in the garden of Eden, until the second coming of the Lamb:
absolutely, the same yesterday, today, and forever.
And that line of Cain, religious and polished and scholarly, right down the same, just the same,
every day just the same. Criticizers and persecutors, as Cain was of Abel, so are they today, and
have been, and always will be: carnal, unbelievers. That's right.
Now, Genesis 3:8, and also I put 20 here; I was looking awhile ago.
And Adam called... And Adam called his wife... Eve; because she was the mother of all living.
(See, that was after this beguiling had already took place.)
Cain was... Now, wait. You say, "How could a snake, a serpent?"
But brother, watch here, the Bible don't say he was a serpent; the Bible said, "He was the most
subtil of all the beasts of the field." He wasn't a reptile; he was a beast. He was a... And there...
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And let--now, let me just give you this as a little token between us, if you will. That's where science
is all mixed up. The closest thing they can find to a man is a chimpanzee. How many knows that?
But there's something between there. They can't make the chimpanzee bones meet with the man's
bones, yet it's the closest thing. They can bring him up from a polliwog. They can bring him up
from a tadpole. They can bring him on up to the animal and every animal. They can bring him to a
bear. You take a bear and pull the skin off it; it's just like a little woman, just the same thing. Take
her back and everything, stand them there, and pull--pull the woman like--stand the woman like
that. It's just the same as a--as a--as a bear. The foot runs out the same, and the hand runs out
like this, just like a human being. But a chimpanzee comes closer than that. It's almost, but they
can't find it.
Here's a little secret, if you want to know it. You know where it's at? It's hid from them. They can
dig all the bones they want to. They can dig... The sculptors can dig, and the science, and the-and the chronologist can measure the scales of time with the atomic measures, but they'll never
catch it. For that was the serpent that was more like a man than anything else there was on earth,
and God cursed him and put him on his belly; and he's turned plumb back to a snake with no
resemblance of a man. Now, just scratch your head, them scientists, and let them take that for a
while.
But the Bible...?... declares that, "He was the most subtil of all the beasts of the field." That's right.
He was that joint that stands between man and monkey, and God cursed him and put him plumb
back on his belly because of the--of the thing that he had did. He beguiled this woman, and she
brought forth her first son which was Cain after the nature of the serpent, on inspiration; the devil
had got in the serpent, that did that.
And then she conceived and brought forth; she conceived again after she was beguiled. Now,
watch, she beguiled... She was almost... Why, she done wrong. But she, literally, was legitimate
when she conceived by her husband, for that might've been many, many times afterwards, many
months and many days afterwards; you can't tell that; we don't know, but she did bring forth of
Adam.
And someone even got the question, say, "Well, the son... He said she was... When as Cain was
born, said she got a son of the Lord." Absolutely, certainly, it had to be. It was the law of nature.
That's just exactly the way you are today. When you're born, God just doesn't come down and
make you. You're an offspring of your father and mother. And you'll be a... There'll be a... Your
children will be offsprings of you. It's a reproduction all the time, right on down, like seed trees and
things like that; but back to the original. I hope that explains it.
How much time we got? Haven't got any more. Listen to this good one for next, the beginning
Sunday: "By one Spirit we're all baptized into one body." We'd like to know that. Christ at the
time... I think I get up some Scriptures, good Scriptures on that.
[Brother Branham answers this in Part II, paragraph 361, as question 60--Ed.]
Here's a good one, just like... Would you suffer me just one more minute or two, to answer this? It
can answer itself.
59. When--when you say the wicked shall not burn eternally... (Well now, I got Jehovah Witness
on the run, haven't I?)... When you say the wicked will not burn eternally, do you mean in hell or in
the lake of fire? I know it says in Revelations (That's the 20th chapter.) that hell will be cast into the
lake of fire. If they do not burn eternally, then what becomes of them?
Just as I have just got through saying, brother or sister, whoever it was; they become extinct;
there's no more to them. They had a beginning, and there's a end; they're just nothing no more.
How will... How long they will burn, that's just hard telling. But look, there...
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If you can just get this in your mind (See?); it's very simple. There is but one type of Eternal Life,
and that comes through God Himself. And God alone is Eternal Life. If you'll just get here in the
Lexicon, look up the Greek word "Zoe." "Zoe" is "Eternal Life." Eternal Life is God. And Jesus said,
"I give unto them Eternal Life." And if you'll look here at the Lexicon, it said, "Zoe." That's the only
Eternal Life there is. No place in the Bible where It ever says there'll be a eternal hell; it said they'll
burn "forever and ever."
Now, get the word "forever and ever." And look at the aeon--aeon... Did You notice here in the
Bible... How many's ever heard it said, "And aeons and ae..."? How many knows that "aeon" is "a
space of time"? Why, sure, anybody knows that; "aeon" is "a space of time."
"And they shall burn for aeons," that's spaces of time: cast into the lake of fire and shall burn for
aeons. "Aeons" means the "spaces of time." They may burn for a hundred million years in
punishment, but finally, they have to come to an end, to be extinct, altogether. See, because
everything that is not perfect is a perverted off of the perfect; and it had a beginning, so it must
have an end.
But we who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ has Zoe, "God's Own Life" in us, and have Eternal
Life, not have life forever and ever; the sinner has life forever and ever, but we have Eternal Life.
Brother Cox, not long ago, was setting on my runway before we put the--after we had the rocks
there, and he picked up a little, old fossil, and he said, "Brother Branham, how old is that?"
"Oh," I said, "chronologically, you might say it's ten thousand years old. Some kind of a little, old
sea monster that lived at one time, a little sea animal, might've lived way back in the ages gone
by."
He said, "Just think how short human life is to that life."
I said, "Oh, but, brother, that thing has an end, but the Life that we have in Christ has no end. That
may have lived two or three forevers, but it'll never have Eternal Life, 'cause Eternal Life comes
from God alone."
Eternal, "He that heareth My Words and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath Eternal Life and shall
never come to the judgment but's passed from death unto Life." There you are. You get Eternal
Life by being a believer. An unbeliever has life forever. An eternal... A believer has Eternal Life,
and cannot perish because It's eternal.
But a believer, he will go... An unbeliever will go through the world; he'll have miseries, woes, what
he calls having a big time, "Whoopee," having a big time: women, wine, and big time. He thinks
he's going on. He'll die; he'll go into a lake of fire and brimstone which burns, where burning is
going on forever and forever, and maybe for a hundred million years his soul may be tormented in
a lake of fire and brimstone.
I... You say, "Will it be just like regular brimstone?" I believe it'll be a million times worse than that.
I believe you couldn't be--describe it by fire, by a literal fire. The only reason it's put by fire: that fire
is the most consuming thing that we had. It absolutely consumes and destroys everything: fire
does. Well, then, it'll be in there, but you'll have a soul that'll have to be punished through some
kind...
Now, you have to watch the word "fire," because the Holy Ghost is used, "Holy Ghost and fire";
'cause Holy Ghost fire burns sin out (See?), and makes clean.
But this fire, it comes from hell; it said a "lake of fire." And ever what it is, it's a punishment with
torment. The rich man lifted up his eyes, being in hell, and said, "Send Lazarus with a little water
on his fingers to put on my lips, for this flames are tormenting me." Don't think there isn't a burning
hell, and a literal hell; there is. If there's a literal devil, there's a literal hell.
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But, you see, everything that's perverted has a end to it, because it finally must come back to that
purity and holiness of God. And God is eternal; and if we have Eternal Life, God is in us, and we
can no more die than God can die. There you are.
Now, the text really explains Itself (See?), and makes it right. Now, let's see, I had a... I don't
know whether... Yes.
What will--what will become of them?
They become extinct; there's no more to them. The soul goes; the spirit goes; the life goes; the
body goes; the thoughts goes; the memory goes. And there will be no more thoughts of even evil,
or it ever--ever happened in glory. That's right. It'll all be... Could you imagine, that here would be
people over here in this part...
Don't the Bible say, "Even the thoughts of the wicked shall perish"? The very thoughts of it'll
perish.
Here will be a man over here; here's God the great holy One here, and knowing that right out
yonder's a pit with souls burning in it? Why, that couldn't be heaven. The very thoughts, the very
memory, everything that's perverted, every evil thought, everything will perish, and everything
that's evil in it. And we'll be nothing but purity, with Zoe, the Life of God; to eternity, and for ages
roll on, on, on, and on, and on; It'll never end, be eternal.
"They went into everlasting punishment, but the righteous went into Eternal Life." You get it?
Everlasting punishment, Eternal Life, what a difference.
Now, see, it doesn't... Now, I know, to you, my dear little young'ns, I--I don't mean to try to present
myself as a know-it-all. If I'd do that...
Now, I've got three or four more good questions. I'll pick them up Sunday morning, the Lord willing.
Now, look. See, these rise questions. I'm an old preacher. I--I--I--I've twenty-six years in the
ministry. And I--I am very grateful for this, that I can say this, my... I have never tried to try to
present anything in my life without first it being revealed. And I'm so thankful that the Angel of the
Lord... Which I had no education, no ability. And this Angel come down, and has been my help
sent from God. And He has never told me one thing but what absolutely dovetailed from Genesis
to Revelations with that, insomuch till...
I wrote down right quick when He said, "And you--and you shall take a gift of Divine healing." And
I put it down just the way He said it.
And in about three years later, the manager called my--my attention to it, said, "Brother Branham,
did you notice that? That's so perfect till He even told you 'a gift.'"
See, never said, "the gift." And every--every one in the Bible... Every gift is "the gift" but Divine
healing, and it's "a gift." It's "gifts of healing." You can have all kinds of gifts of healing, different
ways. But every other is "the gift": "the" gift of prophecy; they gift of this. But Divine healing is in
the plural: gifts. And I never noticed that, that the Holy Spirit is so perfect. Oh, blessed be the Lord.
Do you understand that the same Holy Ghost that wrote that Bible by hundreds of men, hundreds
of years apart, and not one of them divvied one from the other; every one of them was complete;
and one never even heard of the other one.
And Paul went down, and was down in Arabia, and never even visit Jerusalem for fourteen years,
but was down in Jerusalem and down--went from--never went to Jerusalem, but down in Arabia,
and started preaching, never even seen Peter and the rest of them for fourteen years. And when
they come together, they were preaching the very same thing: water baptism in the Name of Jesus
Christ, and Divine healing, and the power of God.
Oh.
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I'm so glad that I can say I'm one of them.
One of them, I'm one of them,
I'm so glad that I can say I'm one of them; (Hallelujah.)
One of them, I'm one of them,
Just so glad that I can say I'm one of them.
There are people almost everywhere,
Whose hearts are all on flame,
With this fire that fell at Pentecost,
That cleansed and made them clean;
Oh, it's burning now within my heart,
Oh, glory to His name!
They were gathered in the upper room,
All praying in His name,
They were baptized with the Holy Ghost,
And power for service came;
Now, what He did for them that day
He'll do for you the same,
I'm one of them, I'm one of them,
I'm so glad that I can say I'm one of them; (Hallelujah.)
One of them, one of them,
Listen, I got a little message for you.
Come, my brother, seek this blessing
That will cleanse your heart from sin,
That will start the joy-bells ringing
And will keep your soul on flame;
Oh, it's burning now within my heart,
Oh, glory to His name,
Aren't you glad you're one of them? What is it? It's the Spirit that reveals. It's a revelation of God.
"Upon this rock..." I don't care if a archbishop...
The Catholic priest set not long ago in my house. And he said, "Mr. Branham, I come to ask you a
question."
I said, "All right, sir."
Said, "I have a letter here from the bishop to you."
I said, "All right, sir."
He said, "The statements that you make, will you hold your hand and solemnly swear you'll tell the
truth?"
I said, "I will not." I said, "The Bible said, 'Swear not at all, by heavens or by earth for it's His
footstool. Let your yeas be yea...?..." If the bishop wants to hear what I got to say, he'll take my
word for it. If he don't, I don't swear."
It was the little priest up here at the Sacred Heart church; he said, "Did you baptize Pauline Frazier
on a certain-certain date?"
I said, "I did, sir, down in the Ohio River."
Said, "How did you baptize her?"
I said, "I baptized her by immersing her beneath the water in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ."
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He put it down. Said, "You know, the Catholic church used to baptize like that."
I said, "When?"
He said, "In the early age."
I said, "What early age?"
He said, "Well, at the beginning."
I said, "What beginning?"
He said, "In the Bible."
I said, "Do you mean the earl--in--in the disciples?"
He said, "Sure."
I said, "Do you call the Catholics the... You say the disciples were Catholic."
And he said, "Sure, they were."
I said, "I thought the Catholic church didn't change?"
He said, "It doesn't."
I said, "Then why did Peter say, 'Repent, and be baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ'? And you
said that was... He was a pope?"
"Yeah."
"Then why do you baptize in the name of 'Father, Son and Holy Ghost'? And he immersed, and
you sprinkle. Now, what's happened?"
He said, "But, you see," said, "the Catholic church has power to do anything they want to do."
(Huh.)
I said, "And you called the disciples Catholics?"
He said, "Yeah."
I said, "Sir, I've got Josephus; I've got the Foxe's Book of Martyrs; I've got Pember's 'Early Ages';
I've got the Hislop's 'Two Babylons,' the most ancient histories that there is in the world; show me
in there where the Catholic church was ever ordained or ever come into an organization--six
hundred years after the death of the last apostle."
"Oh," he said, "we believe what the church says."
I said, "I believe what the Bible says." See?
"Why," he said, "God's in His church."
I said, "God's in His Word." I said, "If..." He said... I said, "The Bible doesn't say God's in His
church, but the God--the Bible said God's in His Word. 'In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God, and dwelled among us.'" That's right. I said, "God's in
His Word."
He went on out and told that. He said, "Well, we couldn't argue," said, "because you believe in the
Bible; I believe in the church."
I said, "I believe that the Bible is God's inspired Word and there's not one contradiction in It. And
It's God's Word, His eternal plans for the whole ages to come. He said, 'Heavens and earth will
pass away, but My Word shall not pass away.' That's right. I believe the Word."
He went out to Mrs. Frazier. He said, "Mrs. Frazier, will you sign a paper here consenting that
your girl can be a member of the Catholic church?"
She said, "I'd rather walk with her to the grave."
Said, "Shame on you." Said, "You ought to be thankful that that girl's coming out of that nonsense
into the Catholic church."
Said, "What if it was your girl coming to my church, what would you say about it?"
"Oh," he said, "that's different."
Said, "No, it's not." He knowed he'd been somewhere when he left that little woman out there. He
knowed he'd been somewhere. She said, "Now, the same door's open that you come in at."
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See, that's the way. Don't be run over; you don't have to be run over. If God's for you, who can be
against you? That's right. The trouble of it is today, you got a wishbone instead of a backbone.
Stand for God and right.
The same Holy Ghost that come down on those apostles and back in the ages, is still in His
church today, those who God has revealed Himself to. "Not him that willeth, or him that runneth,
but God that showeth mercy." It's God by His election brings the people and opens their eyes. You
could never see it; you're blind and never could see unless God opens your understanding. The
Bible said you're blind and you can't see. There's no need of you trying. All the education,
scholarships you could get, you just constantly get blinder.
Now, you Church of Christ here, you speak where the Bible speaks, and silent where it's silent,
what about some of this? You're mighty silent on that. That's right.
See, it takes spiritual revealed truth. Then God comes down and reveals Himself and vindicates it
to be the truth. Amen. You love Him? So do I. Amen.
All right, all you Methodists want to shake hands with the Baptists now? You Presbyterians?
"Now," you say, "Brother Branham, do you disfellowship Baptists and Presbyterians that don't
bap..."
No, sir, I don't. I consider them my brothers. Absolutely. I don't care if you was not baptized at all,
if you was baptized in the name of "the Rose of Sharon, the Lily of the Valley, and the Morning
Star," that wouldn't have... That'd be just as good as "Father, Son, Holy Ghost," just three titles. He
was the Rose of Sharon (Was He?), the Lily of the Valley, the Morning Star, all those; sure, He
was. There's just one thing another, but here's what it is: the correct Scripture way is in the Name
of Jesus Christ, if you want Scriptural way; that's exactly. That's the correct way.
Now, if you're baptized in the name of Father, Son, Holy Ghost, feel like that that's all right, amen.
If it's a good answer to God towards a clear conscience to God, amen. Go right ahead. See?
But as far as I am concerned, as far as my part, if you would ask me, say, "Brother Branham,
should I be baptized over?" I'd say, "Yes," for my part.
The little woman come here the other day, said, "The Lord called me to be a preacher." I didn't
believe that, not no more than I believe that--that she could jump over the moon. And she...
I said, "Well, that's very good, sister." I said, "Are you married?"
"Yes."
"Got two children?"
"Yeah."
I said, "What is... Is your husband saved?"
"No."
I said, "What are you going to do with him?"
"Going to leave him home."
I said, "That's the best bait the devil ever had. You're a pretty woman to begin with, and you
slipping off out here in the field, you'll be a regular bait and a target for the devil. And your
husband, home, a young man, and you leave him with these two children; he'll start running
around with another woman, and these kids will have another daddy one of these days." I said,
"The first place, if God called a woman, He contradicted His Word." I said, "Now, if you want to...
That's all right." I said, "Now, discernment, you say the Lord give you discernment. Do you want to
go out on the platform and try it?"
She said, "Yes." And you see what happened.
You see, it's enthused. It's got to come to the Word. If it's not in the Word, then it's not right. I don't
care what your emotions are; it's not right. Amen. That sounds good. Amen.
All right.
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We'll walk in the light, such a beautiful light,
Come where the dew drops of mercy are bright;
Jesus, the light of the world.
All ye saints of light proclaim,
Jesus, the light of the world;
Then the bells of heaven will ring,
Jesus, the light of the world.
We'll walk in the light, such a beautiful light,
Come where the dew drops...
Jesus, the light of...
Now, I want everyone to turn right around and shake hands, four ways, with everybody now, as we
sing this again.
We'll walk in the light, beautiful light, (Amen)
Come where the dew drops of mercy are bright;
Do you love the Methodists? say, "Amen." [Congregation says, "Amen"--Ed.] The Baptist? The
Presbyterian? The Catholic? The... Oh, you love them all, say, "Amen." [Congregation says,
"Amen"--Ed.]
We'll walk in the light, beauti... (Shaking hands, as we go)
Oh, come where the dew drops of mercy are bright;
Before we sing our dismissing song... Now, it's possible that I'll be here again Sunday. Now, after
that I won't be back no more till after Christmas (See?), 'cause I'm going to Michigan, from
Michigan to Colorado, from Colorado over to Idaho, from Idaho over into California, and will be
back. And it's possible (I want you to pray for me.) I'll be in Waterloo, Iowa, beginning on January
the twenty-fourth until February the second (See?), at a big arena there. I just got the call awhile
ago, and I got from now till Sunday to pray. See, at Waterloo, Iowa, which is close now...
But now, remember, listen to the brother's broadcast at nine o'clock Saturday morning. We'll call
him and let him know. And that'll be over WLRP, the Neville quartet at nine o'clock Saturday
morning. We're... If I--if I don't get to take them, Brother Neville will finish the questions. Will you,
Brother Neville, for Sunday morning? [Brother Neville laughs and says, "Big order"--Ed.] Well,
look, if--if you get in trouble, I'll run with you...?... He'll look. All right, all right.
Take the Name of Jesus with you,
Child of sorrow and of woe;
It will joy and comfort give you,
Oh, take it everywhere you go.
Precious name, O how sweet!
Hope of earth and joy of heaven;
Precious name, (precious Name) O how sweet! (how sweet)
Hope of earth and joy of heaven.
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Now, if you want to know a Baptist that believes in shouting; that's the kind of shouting I believe in.
That old mother just setting there, and the Spirit come upon her. She started screaming; she
couldn't hold it; she walked back and hugged her daughter. That's the way I like to see it. Amen.
That's real good, old fashion, heartfelt feelings. Oh, my, an old--an old, seasoned, ripened saint,
ready to go home to glory, just waiting the summons (You see?), just having a wonderful time. All
right, Brother Neville now, whatever he wants to do.
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Branham Tabernacle
I want to first thank each one of you who'd got the message to pray for the wife. She's been very,
very sick. We didn't know what it was, and don't know what taken place; it just a severe vomiting,
and she was practically unconscious, and fever of a hundred and five, and had to keep her
wrapped in ice blankets. So... But she's all right now. The fever's all gone, and she's okay. So
she's awfully weak, lost about ten pounds, I suppose. She hasn't... Tonight she swallowed her first
bite since Sunday. And so she's been very sick, and we trusted the Lord for her, and He has
brought her through. Now, we want to tell you to continue to pray she'll gain her strength back.
And now, this coming weekend, the Lord willing, I've got to go to Miami. My old friend, Brother
Bosworth, is going home, and he's nearly a hundred years old now. And he called me and said,
"Brother Branham, come see me right at once; I want to tell you something before I go." And he...
Why, I think he wants to pray for me, and just lay his hands on me before he leaves, you know.
And I--I hope that I can end my days with a reputation like F. F. Bosworth. Of all the men I know in
the world, every man I've ever met in the world, I've never met a man that I was so desirous to be
like, like F. F. Bosworth, as--as a minister, what I mean. I have never heard one person worldwide,
anywhere, ever make one statement about F. F. Bosworth but what was just exactly everything
Christian, and everything a real brother.
Partings leave behind us footprints on the sands of time. He's a wonderful brother, and he's real
old now, near a hundred. So he's--he's just going home; that's all. And he told me. He knew he
was going, and was just waiting. He said the sweetest time of his life is right now when he's just
waiting, but said he'd know that he was going.
I said, "I'm supposed to go Michigan this week, Brother Bosworth."
And he said, "Well, don't make it too long, Brother Branham; I can't last much longer. I'm getting
weaker all the time."
So he's been too much of a friend to me, not to go down. Now, if I have to fly down, I'll--I'll fly back
and maybe be back for at least for Sunday night; if not, well, then I'll have to drive, and may take
me a little longer.
And pray for Brother Bosworth. Just pray that God, and when He takes the old patriarch, that He'll
just send a chariot of fire and pick him up. See? I love him; he's been like a daddy to me.
Another old man, him and brother Seward... I--I kinda partial to old people; I--I love them. Old
Brother Seward, he went to sleep like that too. 'Course, Brother Seward wasn't quite as old, I don't
think, as Brother Bosworth.
And pray for Brother Bosworth. Everything's not roses around the place, but it's--it's... He needs
your prayers, but not so much for nothing but just his--that God will let him go in peace.
Now... And then we want to remember also, that tomorrow, the Lord willing, we bury one of our
friends from this church, Brother Sol Coates. He's been here several times, worked in the post
office for years. And he died over at the Veterans hospital the other night. Brother Cox and I went
over to see him, and he'd--pretty low. And he's gone on now, a Christian. And we're to bury him
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from Coot--Coots' funeral home tomorrow afternoon at one o'clock, Brother Neville and I. Neville
trio will be singing; and we'll be dividing up the services, Brother Neville and I. That is, I didn't
know when we made the arrangements just what, and on account of Meda. And so then his
funeral will be tomorrow afternoon at one o'clock at Coots' funeral home.
And then, at two o'clock, Friday, a Mr. Wheeler. We called him Pod Wheeler; he's a... I forget
really what his right--know who... I--I just seen it in the paper and didn't know who it was, until I
found out. He was a neighbor of ours for years, and--and he's just passed away. He was right here
in front of the church the other night, and I was trying to get him to come in church. The other
night, about three weeks ago, stood right there, and I just trying to persuade him to come into
church. Because I don't think he went to church or had any profession of any kind, yet he's got a
boy that's a Baptist preacher. But he didn't have any profession as far as I know of, and he's gone
on now to meet God. So that'll be Friday afternoon at two o'clock at the Coots' funeral home. And
also, Brother Neville and them will be singing in that--that funeral there.
And so, if any of you that wants to attend the services, that's tomorrow at two, or tomorrow at one.
I think that's right, isn't it, brother? And two, the other one. Is that right? Two at the Coots' funeral
home.
And now, Sunday morning... Saturday will be the broadcast. And Brother Neville will probably let
you know by then, just what--if we can have a healing service for Sunday night, or what time we'll
be back if I fly down to--to Florida to see Brother Bosworth. I don't know just how I'd get away from
him; he such a dear old friend. And probably our last times to meet, if the Lord permits it, on this
earth. And he's... I don't know whether I can get away from him right away or not; and I don't want
to get away from him, but, you know how it is, you got other things you got to do.
Now, there's one statement I'd like to say here while there not too many, and people who's my
friends...
I'm glad to see Sister Smith there. The first time I seen her in a long time. How are you, Sister
Smith? A year, my, I believe the last time I seen you... [Sister Smith speaks--Ed.] At Benton
Harbor, I hope to get up there sometime. That's fine. I believe the last time I seen you was in a
funeral service in Louisville. And I remember Sister Smith very well, how we... I used to come get
her in a truck when we'd go down to church, old coal tar hanging out the back of it, and the fenders
flopping up and down, and it cold, and me, one foot setting on the outside... Oh, my. Lot of water's
passed down the river since then, Sister Smith. Yes, sir. Well, we thank the Lord for those
precious memories, and still love Him...?...
One thing, someone might wonder, the other night... I was talking to Brother Fleeman out here on
the street. And sometimes someone said, "As soon as service is over, what makes Brother
Branham just take right off and go?"
Here's what it is: my wife's alone. See? And if I get to talking, I'll talk half the night, and there she
is, setting up there by herself most the time. And that's the reason that I hurry out to get back to
her (You see?) of a nighttime, 'cause I get to talking; I talk too long. I'll talk to this one a half hour. I
just can't go by and say, "How are you tonight? How are you. How are you?" I don't do that. I just
stop and go to talking; and somebody go to talking about something, and then I'm there for a hour.
See? And that's why; she sets up and waits and so forth. And that's why it is. I just didn't want you
to think it was because I didn't want to meet my friends and shake their hands, and express our
fellowship, and so forth, but it was just a case of that kind.
So now, everyone be in prayer for the sick and the afflicted.
And Mrs. Harvey is... In all that trouble she's getting all right. Yes, sir. And I don't see... I... Now,
there may be, as far as I know, someone, a doctor here. And if I'm wrong over this platform, God
forgive me. But I believe God will hold them doctors responsible for what they done to the woman.
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I--I believe in surgery; I believe in our medicines. Certainly, I believe it. I think God sent them here
to help us, just the same as He sent mechanics for cars and so forth. But that little woman, the
doctor laid her back and said, "She was full of cancer; there's nothing could be done," the little
mother of a bunch of children.
I went down to her and tried to explain to her how that through prayer... And--and she's just a
young woman, about twenty-five. And how that God healed her little baby, it's called "the miracle
baby" over at children's hospital now, of meningitis. And of such a horrible condition of the--the
little fellow was, and the Lord healed it just right away. And they, the doctors couldn't understand it.
I went down to Mrs. Harvey, and I said, "Now, Mrs. Harvey, the doctors give you up?"
"Yes, sir. It's..."
And her husband said, "Yes, there's nothing can be done; she's just completely filled with cancer."
I said, "Well, now what we want to do, is to believe God, that God will--will heal the--heal you." I
said, "How it happens, the cancer might not leave immediately; but if we pray, then the life of the
cancer will leave. You may be sick quite awhile yet," and--and I said, "you may get relief right
away." And I said, "Then after a few days you may get sicker than ever." But I said, "You got to put
your faith against the cancer." I said, "If the cancer lives, you die. If the cancer dies, you live." And
I said, "Now, we'll pray."
And we prayed, and with every evidence that I seen, God touched the woman's body. And
immediately she got better; she went over to see my mother; she visited around the neighborhood
(when she was just in such misery) didn't have no pains. And then after about three days she
started getting sick again.
And then come to find out that the city said that they would pay the doctor bill if the doctors would
operate it.
And now, if I'm wrong, God forgive me. But they took that young mother, made a guinea pig out of
her. They took her out there, and took even her bowels from her stomach and everything took both
from the urinal and from the bowel action, and poked them out the sides. And was on the
operating table nine hours and something. The nurse said, "It looked like a slaughter pen, where
they throwed her insides from place to place, and put plastic ovaries and plastic tubes." That's
plain, but that's true. And plastic bowels and things like that, and left the woman laying in that fix, a
little mother. I say, in my way of thinking it, them doctors is guilty of murder.
She told them; she said, "Brother Branham prayed for me." And said, "We're going to believe that
our cancer's--that the cancer's dead."
Said, "I got some news for you, 'Your cancer's alive.'"
How could he tell it? It was on the inside; no x-ray can tell it. Cancer's a... You can't tell cancer by
x-ray; it's flesh itself; you can't see it. There only one thing to do, they chopped into the woman
and cut her to pieces. That's all. I said, "Then a little mother, I'd just let her test her faith against
God instead of making a guinea pig out of somebody like that." Now, if I--if I'm wrong, if I--if I've
got the wrong motive, I want God forgive me. You see? 'Cause I don't want you to think that I don't
believe in operations or don't believe in doctors and things. That's all right. But I think you ought to
know what you're doing before you dig into a person, not use them just for experiment like that.
That's right. And now, 'course she can't live. That's all. If she lives, it'll certainly be one of the
greatest miracles that's ever happened. When the woman looked down and seen that her bowels
on one side, and her kidneys had to act on the other side, she just passed away like this, passed...
Why, it wasn't a thing... The poor little thing was gone. And just about a twenty-two or twenty-five
year old mother with three or four little kiddies to raise. Most pitiful thing I ever heard in my life.
I said, "To my way of thinking it, the doctor's guilty for..." If he taken that woman just for an
experiment because the city was going to pay for it, then that's wrong: shouldn't be.
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[A man asks a question--Ed.] Well, I tell you, brother; it--it's not impossible. And it's--it's not... It's-it's possible and also probable. Because I know a man that had an arm off in California (You all
are keeping up with it yourself in the paper.), was prayed for, and this arm was off up here, has
done growed down to the fingers was coming out on it now; through the elbow, through the wrist,
through the hand, and parts of the knuckles was back on the fingers. You see? It's in the, I believe,
the "Herald Of Faith" each month. Even when he's got his hands out like this, showed it on where
his arm was off, where it's growed out, each month how it's come, for about a year.
[The man speaks again--Ed.] Sure, that's right. I believe... It--it--it's a rare thing (See?); it's a very
rare thing. Once in a while I've heard of it. Now, with Brother Bosworth, he prayed for a woman
one night. And I had one in my meeting. But Brother Bosworth's was instantly; mine taken a quite
a little bit for it to do it.
He prayed for a woman... Now, I read the woman's testimony. Had cancer, with no nose, had eat
her nose off. And the next morning the woman had a nose. Now, I know this... Now, that's Brother
Bosworth's, in his book called the "Christ, The Healer," I believe, or, "The Joy Bringer," one. Now,
it's in the testimony of the woman, with her name and address. And she's got neighbors and
doctors and everything else to prove it, that it happened.
Now, at Little Rock, Arkansas, one night in a room, I'd prayed there, not Little Rock, but
Jonesboro. That I'd pray... I said, "I'm going to stay till I pray for the last person." I was eight days
and nights in the platform. See? And then... And along the room there was a woman come up, had
her handkerchief up like this, and I thought she was weeping. And I said... Oh, I guess it was two
or three o'clock in the morning; I said, "Don't weep, sister, God's the Healer."
She said, "I'm not weeping, Brother Branham." She moved it; she had no nose. See? The doctors
had said... The cancer done eat down to the white bone in her--there was--was showing. And I
had prayer for her, and asked the Lord to heal her.
And about four or five weeks from then, I was in Texarkana. And there was a nice dressed
gentleman setting there; he said, "Could I have just a word, Brother Branham?"
Soon as he got up to the platform, one of the ushers tried to make him keep quiet. I said, "Well,
let's see."
He said, "You recognize this young lady?"
I said, "No, I don't."
She said, "If you looked at this picture you'd recognize it." And he was an exterminator at--at
Texarkana, and that was his mother with a brand new nose growed on, just shaped just like the
other.
Now, that goes to show that God... I have seen it done. Now, God could do that for the little Mrs.
Harvey. And I pray that He does, for the poor little thing wants to live.
Brother Tony, did you have something? [Brother Tony reports a healing--Ed.] Uh-huh. Amen.
Amen. Amen. Yep, that's good too. Yes, He'll sure do it; He's a Healer.
[Another man speaks--Ed.] Yes. Yes. Yes, brother. Amen. Sure. Yeah. I'd sure... Well I'd hope that
God restores it to you, son; you can take it right back and show him. That's just exactly. It's for a
testimony to the glory of God; pray that God will do it. Oh, He--He... If He's Almighty God, He can
do all things. If He can't do all things, He's not Almighty God.
There's something that made us what we are, in the way that we are, or we would've had a--a
head like a bird, or something like that; if there wasn't a Mastermind behind us to make each one
of us with a feature, to make an oak tree, a poplar tree, a palm tree, and--and differentiate
between them what--what they are. Make us not with... Some with fur, and some with feathers,
and some with skins, that you... See, it's--it's a Mastermind behind that, that's abou--that's a
governing that. 'Course He holds all things in His hands. And I know He can do all things. And
we'll pray for it; we'll pray.
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[Another man speaks--Ed.] Correct. We got...
[Sister Snyder says, "Brother Billy, excuse me"--Ed.] Yes, ma'am, that's all right, go ahead. [Sister
Snyder reports being healed--Ed.] Amen. You know, I've tried to think, Sister Snyder, one time
when I was standing here in that anointing, I thought... I told Brother Cox; I said, "I'm not even
going to try any more of those discernment meetings down at the Tabernacle." Oh, you don't know
how the devil bites me around some, sister. How--how he does it... You know, telling me about
these discerning...
And here, happened to find out that Mrs. Wood's sister here... I'd never seen any of their people.
A bunch of them was healed during that time, and everyone... Why, you know, it's a great percent
of those people that was healed. And after the... The strange thing now, her sister, I had eaten
supper with her one night about two weeks before that... Oh, it's way down in the mountains in
Kentucky, and I--I just knowed she had a voice like Mrs. Wood, and it wasn't too light at the room.
And I never paid any attention to her anyhow; I talked more to her husband; she got separated.
We went out and set down and eat; and come back in, I talked to her husband, got up and went on
out. And God Who's my solemn Judge knows (setting by this pulpit) I never recognized that
woman.
And then after the healing service was over, I made the altar call for sinners to repent. And she
had been very arrogant against it; and she repented and give her life to Christ, raised up her hand
that she would surrender her life to Christ, and was weeping. After all the anointing had done
gone, making my altar call, and so forth... And then I happened to turn, and here was a vision, and
I seen her brother, which was a sister, this was his sister, and them together.
And I thought it was Charlie's wife, because I knew setting at the table the other day, down there
at--at Charlie's house... His little wife, little bitty thing, the Lord showed me a trouble that she'd
had. And from that very hour, the Lord touched her body, setting there at her table now. Tony,
where we were at, down there, went squirrel hunting... And the Lord touched her body and took
this thing she had to wear all of... for the rest of her life, away from her, just sitting there. And the
little woman always eat way up at the other end the table, but today, she comes right around, and
moves her chair in, and eats right beside of me. She never knew what she was doing. Her
husband setting like this, and Brother Banks setting there, and us talking... And she moved
around, and got her chair, and set it over here by my side. And it was for a purpose; the Lord
showed a vision right there. And I called her husband out, because it was a lady's trouble; I begin
to tell him about what happened. He said, "Brother Branham, that's exactly the way it happened,
exactly like that." And there he told her, and the Lord healed her. All right.
And then after the service was over the other night, and this other sister, I seen this young
Charles and this woman together. I thought, "That must be his wife; but his wife's a blond, and this
is a black-headed woman. And I happened to notice the vision moved over in a corner over here.
And she was setting there wiping her eyes, and the Lord showed a vision after she was--the altar
call... After the prayer meeting was over, the healing of the sick, and the altar call had been made,
and God waited till she repented and give her life to Him and then turned around and healed her.
And she's had a trouble that's had her swelled up for years. And she's went down so much, and
everything, till even her feet's wrinkled where all of it's passed from her (the poisons) from her
body: feels better than she's ever felt in years. See? And how the Lord by His amazing grace does
that. I think that's about the story, isn't it, Sister Wood? And how He does it... After... What say?
[Sister Wood says, "She lost seven pounds last week"--Ed.]
Seven pounds in a week. Oh, He's God, isn't He?
Now, I'll tell you, the reason I said to Brother Neville... I thought maybe he had a message for
tonight. He said no, he didn't. And I've got a few questions here that was left over. I felt morally
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obligated to get down here and answer these questions. Then I've got two or three more I probably
won't get tonight.
I want to show you some was just handed in from a preacher. Brother Neville just--or Beeler just
brought them to me.
[Brother Branham answers the following eight questions in Part III, beginning at paragraph 668, as
question numbers 67 through 74--Ed.].
What do the stones represent in Revelation 21:19 and 20?
Explain the four beasts of Revelations 5. (He means 6; it isn't Revelation 5; it's 6, I think.) And who
are the twenty-four elders?
What did the scarlet thread of Genesis 38 mean?
Where are the gifts to be sent regarding the death of the two witnesses, Revelations 11?
Where will be the saints after the thousand years' reign, and what kind of a body will they have?
How shall we judge angels?
What hair becomes of the angels of I Corinthians?
Talk about some good ones, that's some good ones. I probably won't get to them tonight; but if
the Lord willing, I'll try to get them the next time we come in. So that...
I've got some pretty good ones in here tonight; so we'll just pray now and ask the Lord to help us,
and we go right into them for the next, oh, thirty-five, forty minutes.
Now, blessed heavenly Father, we are grateful to Thee for all that Thou has done for us. And, oh,
it's so amazing how that Your grace reaches down to us. I'm thinking now, the other night, when
that little companion of mine, oh, so sick, and You come on the scene. Her fever begin to break
from that very hour, and's got completely over now. I thank You. And the--the--just pray that You'll
be with each and every one that's asked a request tonight. And little do we know, till it comes to
our own home, what it means, a little prayer. O God, what--how--how real You become in that
hour when a doctor will walk away, and say, "I don't know; I never seen anything act like it," and
then the Lord Jesus move in on the scene.
O God, You're so real to us, and we're so happy for it. We pray You forgive us of all of our slothful
ways and our stupid ways. And, oh, just remember us, Lord, that we're human flesh in a dark
world, a world of darkness and sin and chaos. And we're l--looking through a veil, as it was, over
our face, and we only see and know as we do humanly here. But someday when that veil's lifted,
we'll see You face to face and know as we're known. That's the day that we long for.
We pray, Father, now, that You'll help us as we try to impart to the people the Word of God,
according to their requests. Take all sickness from us. We need You, Lord. And we pray that You'll
grant it. Let Thy mercies be given to us, for we asked it in Jesus' Name. Amen.
Now, in answering questions, I'm not the best in the country, you know. But I'm just answer the
best of my knowledge.
Here was the one that I started with the other night, and I had to stop.
60. By one Spirit we are all baptized into the body of Christ. (You all remember that that was the
question I was on. Now, that's found, of course, in I Corinthians 12.) At the time we are--receive
the new birth, this takes place. It's this... Is this the baptism of the Holy Spirit, or is there a later
baptism, or is it a filling?
Now, there is quite a question, and we could spend the rest of our time right on that one, and
tonight and tomorrow night and so forth. It would cover... It would--it'd take and tie the entire Bible
together. Every Scripture must properly tie together with every other Scripture in the Bible.
But just trying to make it just a briefly, plain as I know how to make it... No, when you believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ, you then have the new birth. When you believe on the Lord, you receive a
new thought, a new life, but it isn't the baptism of the Holy Ghost. See? You've got the new birth
when you believe; you've got Eternal Life. It's a gift of God that's give to you through sovereign
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grace by accepting the gift that God is giving to you. See? "He that heareth My Words and
believeth on Him that sent Me, hath Eternal Life, has Everlasting Life"; that's the new birth. You're
converted; it means you're turned around.
But the baptism of the Holy Spirit puts you into the body of Christ, subject to the gifts for service. It
doesn't make you any more of a Christian; it just puts you into the body of gifts. See? "Now, by
one Spirit (I Corinthians 12) we're all baptized into one body. Now," says Paul, "there are different
gifts, and in this body is nine spiritual gifts." And in this body... You have to be baptized into the
body to possess one of these gifts. They come with the body.
But now, as far as having Eternal Life and being a Christian, you are a Christian the moment you
believe. Now, that's not make-believe; that's truly believe on the Lord Jesus and accept Him as
your personal Saviour, you're borned again right there, and have Eternal Life. God comes into you.
Now, watch. Eternal Life... Jesus said, "He that heareth My Word and believeth on Him that sent
Me, hath Eternal Life, and shall not come into the judgment, but's passed from death unto Life."
You're a new creature right then.
Then Paul had met some of those people up in Acts 19. They had them a preacher up there which
was a converted lawyer by the name of Apollos. And Apollos was a mighty man in the Scriptures,
and he was proving by the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ. See?
Now, watch. Apollos, through the Word, was proving by the Word. "Faith cometh by hearing,
hearing of the Word. He that heareth My Word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, has
Everlasting Life." Get it? Apollos, by the Word, was proving... And these were Christians; they
were followers, disciples. And Apollos was proving by the Word, that Jesus was the Christ. And
they had great joy and received the Word, yet knowing only the baptism of John.
And when Paul passed through the upper coasts of Ephesus, he finds these disciples, and he
said, "Have you received the Holy Ghost since you have believed?" See?
Now, when you believe, Jesus said, "You have Eternal Life." That's the new birth. That's your
conversion, changing. But the baptism of the Holy Spirit is the power of God that you're baptized
into and are subject to these nine spiritual gifts to work through you; such as, preaching,
evangelists, apostles, pastors, prophets... And all the gifts of the body come into this, when you're
baptized into this body. And that's--doesn't make you any more a Christian; it just sets you
positionally in a place to be a ministering spirit in the church of the living God. Now, you get it?
See?
Now, the question is... Let's answer it just one by one; there's three questions.
By one Spirit we are all baptized into the body of Christ.
That's correct, I Corinthians 12 would give the answer to that. All right.
At that time we receive the new birth, this takes place? Is that when?
That's what they want to know. Yes. "By one Spirit..." No. No. By one Spirit we're all baptized into
one body. See, that isn't when the new birth begins; the new birth begins when you believe on the
Lord Jesus.
Now, see, there's not a--there's not one thing... Now, listen. What can you do besides believe?
What more can you do? What can you do about it any more than just believe it? Tell me one thing
you could do. There's not one thing that you can do outside of believe it. Now, if anything comes
outside of your believing, it isn't an act of your own; it's a act of God. Therefore...
Now, if we'd say that when you--the... A lot of times I've seen, many times, people accepting
"initial evidence of speaking in tongues" as the Holy Ghost, and sometimes shake the people, or
beat them and pat them, saying, "Say it. Say it. Say it. Say it." You know, repeat a word over and
over, "Say it. Say it. Say it." See, it's something you're doing yourself. And--and--and it don't... It
doesn't... It--it's nothing. You might get a confusion of tongues. You might get a--a lot of things and
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sensations. But if anything comes outside of your own personal faith, it has to be a Divine gift of
God given to you. See?
"And by one Spirit we're all baptized into one body." That's correct. See? The baptism of the Holy
Ghost is a different act from the new birth. One is a birth; one is a baptism. One brings you Eternal
Life; the other one gives you power. It gives power into Eternal Life (See?) to operate. Now, you
got it? Okay, all right.
Now, here is another, come second, the best that I had them at that night.
61. Where was Jesus' spirit the three days His body was in the tomb? Where was His spirit?
Now, His Spirit, if you'll follow the Scriptures... Well, we could just bring many places. But I want...
Who's got a Bible? Brother Stricker, you got a Bible? All right. Brother Neville, you got one? Get
me Psalms 16:10. And who else? Sister Wood, you got a Bible there? Well, Brother Stricker (all
right, either one), you get me Acts 2:27, Acts 2:27.
And now, the first place, when Jesus died... When you die, your body dies. The word "death"
means "to separate," just to be separated from your loved ones. But here (See?) He said this in
St. John the 11th chapter, "He that heareth..." No, I beg your pardon; that's in St. John 5:24, "He
that heareth My Words has Eternal Life."
Jesus said to Martha, who come to meet Him... She said, "If Thou would've been here, my brother
would not have died. But even now, whatsoever You ask God, God will give it to You."
He said, "I am the Resurrection and Life." See? "He that believeth in Me, though he were dead,
yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me, shall never die."
Now--now, there's a part of us that does not die. And as I've just come through the line of
Scriptures, everything that has a beginning has an end. It's the things which has not a beginning,
that has no end. Therefore, when we accept Christ, God, we become sons and daughters of God,
and our Life is just as endless as God's Life is endless; we have eternal.
Now, the word "forever," we've been through it. The word "forever" is "a space of time," forever
and (conjunction) forever. And we found out here that it has--it has an end, just like all the
sufferings, and all the sickness, and all the sorrow, and all the punishment, and hell itself has an
end.
But Eternal Life has no end, 'cause it had no beginning. It never can die, because it never was
born. It had no beginning of days. It has no ending of time. Now, the only way that we can live
eternally is through receiving something that is eternal. And God was; before there was anything, it
was God. God never had a beginning or an end.
And God was this great Spirit. We pictured Him like a--the--the seven colors of the rainbow that
covers... The bow would actually cover the earth if it didn't strike the earth. It's just a water in a
circle of the curvature of the earth, what makes it. But now, as God is eternal, and He was the
perfect: perfect love, perfect peace, perfect joy, perfect satisfaction... All those seven spirits (as we
get in Revelations), they come out, was--made up God, was perfection. Everything else outside of
that has been something that's been perverted from that.
Now, the only way that we can come back to perfection, is to come back with that perfection,
which is God. Then we come to perfection, then we have Eternal Life: without end, or without-without anything; it's just forever, Eternal Life.
Now, he's speaking of the soul, the spirit. For we pack our bodies over the grave of the saintest of
us, for this body. And the body... In the first place, when God, the Logos that went out of God...
Or, as I have went through it, the Catholic call It, "the eternal sonship of God."... Which as I have
said before, the word doesn't even make sense. See, there cannot be an eternal son, because a
son had to have a beginning. And so Jesus had a beginning; God had no beginning. See? But the
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Son was the... Not eternal sonship, but the Son that was with the Father in the beginning was the
Logos that went out of God.
And it was the Theophany of God that went out, the human form that didn't have eyes like you
see: a better eye. It didn't have ears like you hear, but a far more hearing. See? It was a
Theophany, that all this rainbow condescended into a--a Theophany. Moses saw It when It passed
through the rock like that. He saw the back parts, said, "It looked like a man."
Abraham saw Him when He stepped down into human flesh and eat a calf, drank some milk, eat
the butter. Abraham saw Him as He just stepped in, and then vanished right away from it. We
found out that our bodies are made of sixteen elements of the earth; they just come together. And
God pulled them together, and put two Angels in these bodies, Angels that stood and talked. And
Angels were men at one, and there at that time.
Now, notice, we find out that, Who was Melchisedec but God Himself. It couldn't have been no one
else, for He was the King of Salem which is Jerusalem. He had no father nor mother; couldn't
been Jesus, 'cause He had father and mother. He had no beginning of days, no ending of Life;
there's only One that has that; that's God. It was God dwelling here in a Theophany. See? Notice,
King of Salem...
Now, God has lived through the age through His people. It was God that was in David, that made
him set upon the mountain and--as a rejected king and weep. That same Spirit was manifested in
Jesus the Son of David, Who was rejected in Jerusalem and wept.
Joseph, sold for thirty pieces of silver, hated of his brother, loved of his father, was seated at the
right hand of Pharaoh, and no man could come except in ever--come by Joseph; and the trumpet
sounded and every knee bowed to Joseph: perfect type of Christ. That was the Spirit of Christ
living through those men. See?
Now, now, here when Jesus died, it was God manifested in flesh. God became Man. In the laws of
redemption the only way that a man could redeem the lost estate of Israel, he had to be a
kinsman. He had to be a close kinsman. The Book of Ruth beautifully explains it; and he had to be
a kinsman. So God had to become kinfolks to man in order that man could become kinfolks to
God. See?
He has a spirit in him, a man does when he's born, because it's a spirit of nature. It's a spirit of the
world; it's a spirit of the--the god of this world. He is merely an offspring of Adam.
A tree reproduces itself. Vegetation reproduces itself. Animals reproduce themselves. Humans
reproduce themselves. They are the byproduct of original creation. Get it?
Now, now, when a man is born, he's born with a spirit in him of this world. That's the reason he
has to be borned again. For this spirit come from the conception by father and mother, which was
the sexual conception, and absolutely could not live forever. So he's got to be borned again. And
before he could do that, God had to come down and make a way for him to be born again;
because he had no way to redeem himself; he was without hope. He didn't... He was without hope,
without God, without Christ in the world lost and gone. He--he... There's nothing he could do to
save himself. He... every... No matter if he was a high priest, if he was a bishop, if he was a pope,
whatever he was, he's just as guilty as the next man.
So it had to take One that was not guilty to do it. And the only One that wasn't guilty was God
Himself. And God had to come down and become man. And He came in the form of Christ to
anchor the stinger of death, to take the sting of death out, to redeem us, that we, not by our works
or by our goodness (we have none), but by His grace to be saved. Then we receive of His Life into
this mortal body, and now we are sons and daughters of God, and have Eternal Life within us. We
are sons and daughters of God. Therefore, Jesus, being alive...
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And no man, no matter how wicked or how good, when he has to... When he leaves this earth,
he's not dead. He's somewhere else. But he has a life that will perish after he's punished in hell for
his deeds. But yet that life has to cease. There's only one type of Eternal life.
Now, we've been through that. If a man can be a sinner and be punished forever... He can't be
punished forever 'less he's got Eternal Life. If he's got Eternal Life, he's saved. See? So there's
only one type of Eternal Life, and that's the Zoe, the Life of God. And he can't perish.
But the wicked are in a place of--of waiting in torment for their judgment, to be judged according to
the deeds done in the body at the last day. Now, but we... Some men's sins go before them, some
follow after them.
Now, if we confess our sins, He's just to forgive us; therefore, we'll never have to stand the
judgment of God. You get it? Look, Romans 8:1: "There is therefore now no condemnation to them
that are in Christ Jesus (that are in Christ, that's passed from death unto Life. See? We have no
condemnation. And was in Christ Jesus), that walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." See?
"He that heareth My Words, believeth on Him that sent Me, has Eternal Life."
And if I've been accepted in Christ, and Christ took my judgment, and I accepted His propitiation
for my sins, how can God judge me? He's done judged me when He judged Christ. Then I'm free
from judgment. "Then when I see the Blood, I'll pass over you." See?
But now, the wicked is not so. He goes into a place of torment. And we know that that's true. The
wicked is alive. He's in a place of torment. He's in a place where he don't know... That's how these
spiritualists and mediums call up these spirits of the people that's gone on, some kind of frolic and
dirty jokes and things they crack, if you've ever seen any of it. All right. Why? They don't...
Look at this Miss Pepper, before my article went of "The Miracle of Donny Morton." How many
read that article? Yes, many of you did, sure. And it's in "Reader's Digest." Did you notice, just
before that went forth Miss Pepper, the greatest spiritualist the world has ever knowed: twelve
pages given to her story. And for fifty years... They've had her all over the world, and scientific
proof and everything, that she absolutely talks with the dead, and the people come up. What?
God's Name wasn't mentioned one time, no repentance, no Divine healing, nothing about it. See?
Only thing it was, was those people mentioned, "John, don't you know me? I'm George that was at
a certain place, and I did so-and-so and so-and-so. You remember that place we went and done
this?" See, that's all they know. They're gone, passed from... They're--they're nothing left but
judgment.
The way the tree leans, that's the way it falls. And the state you die... That's the reason I different
with praying for the dead (See?), the intercession of prayers or--or communion of saints and so
forth. It cannot be according to God's Word. It does no good to pray for anybody after they're
gone. They're finished. They're--they've... They've passed the line between mercy and judgment.
They either went to mercy, or went away from mercy. Jesus said so. In 16th chapter of St.
Matthew He--He--He taught it; 16th chapter of Mark, I believe it is: the rich man and Lazarus. No
man can cross over this gulf, and never will cross over it. There you are. See? So it settles it.
Now, but when Christ died, everything had to witness that He was the Christ. Now, let's go to your
question. The first thing, the stars refused to shine; the sun went down; the moon wouldn't give its
light; the earth belched its rocks at His death. And He went and preached to the souls that were in
prison, that repented not in the long-suffering of the days of Noah. He... They had to recognize...
Look at that. And if there by chance be a sinner here tonight, think that over a minute. Someday
this Gospel that you're hearing preached right now, you'll have to witness by. Somewhere you'll
bow your knee, regardless of who you are. It may be ten thousand years from today; it may not be
until the--in the morning. Whenever it is, you're going to bow somewhere, and you're going to hear
this same Gospel preached right back to you.
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For after those souls were in prison, that repented not when Enoch and when all of them
preached, and Noah... And for the long-suffering of God, like it is now, waiting for that time to
come... And Noah and Enoch and all of them preached, and those people laughed and made fun
of them. And they were in the prison house, and Jesus went and preached to the souls that were
in prison. He witnessed. The heavens witnessed He was. The earth witnessed He was. Hell
witnessed He was."
The Bible said that it... David, many years ago, in the Psalms... All right, Brother, you read the
Psalms, if you will there, Psalms 16:10. [Brother Neville reads, "For thou wilt not leave my soul in
hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine holy One to see corruption."--Ed.]
Read the same thing, brother, in--at where Peter preached; on Acts the 2nd chapter and 27th
verse: [Brother Stricker reads, "Because thou will not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer
thine holy One to see corruption."--Ed.]
Read two verses above it, brother, so you can get the context--context of it. [Brother Stricker
reads, "For David speaketh concerning Him, I foresaw the Lord--Lord always before my face, for
he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved. Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue
was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope. Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell,
neither wilt thou suffer thine holy One to see corruption."--Ed.]
Read the next verse now. [Brother Stricker reads, "Thou hast made known to me the ways of life;
thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance."--Ed.]
Yes, notice, Now, my Jehovah Witness friend, I'd like to ask you about that. See? If hell is a
place... Hades, Sheol, whatever you wish to call it, if that ceases at the grave, then why did He
say, "I'll not leave My soul in hell, neither will I suffer Thy holy One to see corruption"? How about
that? See?
Here His body was in the grave, and his soul was in hell, preaching, alive. What about that? He
was in His Theophany again. His soul was down there with those people that were in...?...
theophany also, and was witnessing to them that they repented not in the long-suffering.
He... In other words, He'd knocked at the door. And when the door swung open, and all those
souls that repented, He said, "I'm the Seed of the woman. I'm the One that Enoch here..." Over in
paradise, another place... Don't never lose them three places, now: the place of the wicked, the
place of the righteous, and hell itself (See?), just like a trinity of heaven: like Father, Son, Holy
Spirit. Like the trinity of the beast: the false prophet, the beast, and the--and the mark of the
beast... And all that, remember, it's all in trinity. Trinity makes one, perfected. One is perfected.
You're perfected, one in three: soul, body, and spirit: water, blood, and nerves. See, whatever you
was, you have to take three to make a perfected one.
Take a three cornered piece of glass and put the sun on it, you got a perfected rainbow. See,
everything, you have to have three to make a perfect one.
And now, remember that when He died, He went first and preached to the souls that was in
prison--that was in prison, and witnessed that He was the Seed of the woman. He was the One
that Enoch saw coming with ten thousands of His saints. He had to witness the Scriptures that had
been preached by Noah, and by Enoch, and by the righteous, that He was that One. Everything
had to recognize it.
Then He ascended into hell, and received the keys of death and hell from the devil, come back up
into paradise; and brought Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the righteous, and raised (Matthew
27), and they come out of the grave and entered into the city, and appeared to the people along
the street. Hallelujah. There you are.
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Now, but His body... While His soul was over here witnessing to the lost, down here taking the
keys from the devil, and coming back and bringing Abraham and Isaac; His soul was laying in
the... His soul was down there doing it, and His body was laying in the grave. That's the reason
Jesus said... People say, "Well, why does Jesus say, 'Three days, I'll raise it up. Three days I'll
raise.'? See, He died on Friday afternoon, raised up on Sunday morning."
But watch, it was "within three days," if you'd get the Lexicon. For He knew that David, under the
anointing (of the anointing of the Holy Spirit), said, "I will not suffer my holy One to see corruption."
He knowed that pertained to Him. He knowed that meant Him. He was God's holy One, and He
knew that corruption sets in in seventy-two hours. Somewhere within them three days, He was
coming out of there again, because the Scriptures cannot be broken.
And every promise in There pertains to me and pertains to you; it's ours.
Said, "You destroy this body, and I'll raise it up in three days."...?... For He said, "I'll not leave My
soul in hell, neither will I suffer My holy One to see corruption." He knowed, in three days that body
was coming out of there. He didn't stay the full three days. No, sir, He certainly did not. He stayed
just from Friday afternoon until Sunday morning, not one cell of that body could be corrupted.
And He was dead, and embalmed, and was laying--or wrapped in cloth, and laid into a tomb. In
that hot, boggy country, just take a few hours and He go to corrupting. You go to morti--mortifying,
you know, his body, his nose dropping in and things, corruption sets in; that hot, damp country.
And it would've went to corruption, because it was a body. But He knowed before that cell
corrupted, that God said through David the prophet, "I'll not suffer My holy One to see corruption."
How He took the Word of God and lived by It... Now, every one of them promises in there that
pertained to Him, God fulfilled every one of them. And every promise that pertains to the believer,
God will fulfill every promise of It. Amen. Just rest assure that It's the Truth. Amen. So His soul...
Do you think it is... No, I'm sorry.
Where was Jesus' spirit through the three days His body was in the tomb?
His Spirit was in hell, down in the lower regions; and He arose. And I might add a little--little
statement here that would--might help you a whole lot. When He arose, His... When He arose from
the dead, He absolutely wasn't finished with the work of redemption yet. That's right. He had to
clean the whole thing out. The price had been paid, but that horror of hell, that horror of the
grave... And here, when He--when He died, He went right on. He never ceased working when He
died; He kept on preaching. Blessed... Excuse my immodest acting, I guess. But He never ceased.
You're never to cease. Your body might rest for a while, but God will raise it up; He promised He
would. But you can no more perish than God can perish. That's right. Look, His... after He was
dead, to what? Dead to the disciples. He was asleep, what He was. They put Him to sleep; like He
said about Lazarus, "I'll go wake him." God had to wake Him.
Look, He went right on down and continued preaching. And He preached to the souls here in
prison. Went right on into hell, got the keys from the devil. Come right back up and preached again
in paradise, and rose back up again on the third day. Visit with His apostles for forty days, and on
the end of the fortieth day, He went right on up; because everything over us, the superstitions and
everything else... He cut every superstition, every doubt, and made a prayer line from earth to
glory in His ascension. Went up and set down at the right hand of His Majesty, Overcomer, the
great Conqueror, absolutely. Death couldn't hold Him. Hell couldn't hold Him. Earth couldn't hold
Him.
When He was here on earth, He was given the... He went to the lowest city and to the lowest
people, and was give the lowest name. That's what man done to Him. He went to Jericho, the
lowest city. The smallest man had to climb up in a tree to look down at Him. That's where man put
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Him. He was a foot-wash flunky, the worst job that could be given. He become the lowest. And He
was called the lowest name that could be given, Beelzebub, "the prince of the devils." Man give
Him the lowest name, the lowest place, and sent Him to the lowest regions of the lowest hell.
God raised Him up and sent Him to the highest heavens, and a Name above every name.
Hallelujah. Why, He would have to look over to see heaven. Thy throne is exalted above the
heavens of heaven. And the greatest Name that ever named in heaven and earth has to be--is
bound around Him. That's what God did to Him. Man put Him the lowest, and God made Him the
highest. There He was, from the lowest to the highest.
He become the lowest, that He might bring us up to the highest. He become us, that we through
His grace might become Him, sons of God. That's where He went. Amen. Bless His Name. He
made a way that we can come too someday, "Because I live, you live also."
Oh, no wonder... When men catch that vision, there's never been a man could explain it. They've
even tried to explain it, losing their mind. This great song of "Oh love of God, how rich and pure;
How fathomless and strong." That last verse--I believe the first verse, it is: "If we with ink the
ocean fill, And were the skies of parchment made..." You know where that was found? Written on
the insane--wall in an insane institution. No man can never ever explain that love of God. Oh, it
can never be told, what He did for us. My, how could you place one merit out there? It's His grace
from beginning to end. I was lost, undone, and helpless, no good, nothing about it, and He by His
grace come and saved us. Oh, my. That's His... That's my Lord. That's His love; that's His
goodness.
Now, we got about seven minutes and about fifteen questions and...
62. Do you think it is right for women to do personal work outside the church?
Yes, That's just a question, just a... not a Scriptural question, but... Certainly, I do. Yes, sir. We're
all workers together. Women have their places, and certainly they do. Yes, sir. Just do all the
personal work you can do, and God will bless you for it. All right, now let's see.
63. Please explain the Trinity. How can the Son set at the right hand of the Father, interceding for
the--to the Father, if they are not two persons?
Well, beloved friend, that's a... That's--that's a revelation. If Jesus said, "I and My Father are One,"
then how can they be two? See? Now, they're not two.
A woman once said to me, and I was explaining that, said, "You and your wife are--are two, yet
you're one."
I said, "But God and the Son is different from that. See?" I said, You see me?"
"Yes."
"Do you see my wife?"
"No."
I said, "Then Father and Son's different; Jesus said, 'When you see Me, you've seen the Father.'"
See?
The Father and the Son... The Father was Almighty Jehovah God dwelling in a Tabernacle called
Jesus Christ, which was the anointed Son of God. Jesus was a Man; God is a Spirit. And no man
has seen God at any time, but the only begotten of the Father has declared Him. He was... He...
His Personality, His Being, His Deity, whatever He was, He was God. He was nothing less or
nothing more than God. Yet, He was a man. He was a man, a house that God dwelt in. That's
right. He was God's dwelling place.
Now, if you want some Scriptures on that... Brother Neville, if you'd get me St. Mark 14:62. And
Sister Wood, you get me Ephesians 1:20. Somebody else have a Bible? Well, raise up your hand.
Sister Arnold, you got one back there? All right, you get me Acts 7:55. All right. Mark 14:62,
Brother Neville; and Sister Wood is Ephesians 1:20; Acts 7:55, Sister Arnold.
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All right, do you have it, Brother Neville? All right, read now: [Brother Neville reads, "And Jesus
said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the
clouds of heaven."--Ed.]
All right, now, watch the first phrase there. Jesus said, "I AM." "I AM." Who was the I AM? There
has never been a man in all the world could interpret It. Even the--you who read the Lexicons and
so forth, there has never been a man who could make out... It's J-v-h-u. And even the Hebrew
scholars could never pronounce it. That burning bush there, that day when He met with Moses, It
was J-v-h-u. So they pronounced It "J-o-h, Jehovah," but It isn't "Jehovah." J-v-h-u (See?) no one
knows.
And you say, "Well, Moses couldn't make It out."
He said, "Who can I say?"
He said, "Say, 'I AM' sent you: I AM."
Now, watch. I AM is a present tense, not "I was" or "I will be," I AM. Now, He said, "This will be a
memorial through all generations: I AM."
Now, look at Jesus standing here at the feast that day. They said, "We know now you're crazy."
Right words, "You're mad ('mad' is 'crazy'). We know you're crazy. You're a Samaritan, you got a
devil." (St. John, the 6th chapter). And he said, "Now, you say that you're seen Abraham, and
you're a man not over fifty years old?" He might've looked a little old for His age, but He was only
thirty, but His work... Said, "You mean that you're a man not over fifty years old, and say you seen
Abraham? We know you're crazy now." See?
He said, "Before Abraham was, I AM."
"I AM," He was the great I AM. Here He is telling these Jews again (See?), "I AM. And when you
see Me coming at the right hand of the power..." Is that right? Read that again, brother.
[Brother Neville reads, "When you see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and
coming in the clouds of heaven."--Ed.]
Read yours now, Sister Wood. [Sister Wood says, Ephesians 1: 20?--Ed.]
Yes, ma'am.
[Sister Wood reads, "Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him
at his own right hand in heavenly places."--Ed.]
All right, read yours, sister. See, It's just the same.
[Sister Arnold reads, "But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and
saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God."--Ed.]
Now, see, God couldn't have a big right hand (See?) and Jesus standing on His right hand. The
"right hand" means "the authority." See? Just for instance, if what if--if I was the full sway of the
church here, I was a bishop of some sort, and Brother Neville took my place, he'd be my right
hand. See, that means that he's--he would be at my right hand.
Now, Jesus is at the right hand of the power. Now, He says so, here in Ephesians, when he's
explaining it, "He's at the right hand of the power." All the powers of heavens and earth (He said
after His resurrection.) is given unto My hands. I have all the power in heavens and in earth. Go ye
therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them into the Name of the Father, and Son, Holy Ghost,
teaching them to observe all things which I have commanded you; lo, I'm with you always, to the
end of the world."
"All the power in heavens and earth..." Where is that... If there's a god up there besides Him, he's
powerless. See, there could be no other God. All the powers of heavens and earth lays in His
hand. So, you see, standing on the right hand (as the person asked the question), doesn't mean...
Now, look. The body... God is a Spirit. Yeah, how many understands that, say "Amen." God is a
Spirit; Jesus is a Man; and Jesus was God made flesh. Jesus was... We could never see God
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(See?); He's a Spirit. You can't see Spirit. "No man has seen God at any time." No man couldn't
see God.
And let me say this, "You've never seen me." You've never seen me in all your life, and you never
will see me. That's right. You see this body that declares this person that's in here. Now, this body
doesn't have Eternal Life, but the spirit has Eternal Life. This body will go back, but it'll come forth
again in its likeness, just like a grain of wheat goes into the ground.
Christianity is based upon resurrection, not replacement, resurrection. The same Jesus went
down; the same Jesus come back. If you go down red-headed, you come back red-headed; if you
go down black-headed, you come up black-headed. See, it's a resurrection.
When you go to eating... I asked the doctor that, not long ago. I said, "Why is it when I was
sixteen years old... Every time I eat, I renew my life?"
Said, "That's right."
You take in new--new cells every time you make... The--the flesh make... Or the food makes blood
cells, and that blood cell makes you get stronger. That's how you live. Then something has to die
every time, for you to live. Every day something dies: if you eat meat, the cow died; or whatever
you eat; and the fish died; or the--or the wheat died and made the bread; the potato died, that
made the potato; and the... Every form of life, you can only live through dead substance.
And you can only live eternally because something died: Jesus, Not because you joined church,
not because you were baptized, not because you professed Christianity; because you accepted
the Life of Jesus Christ that was bled--the Blood that was shed for you, and you accept Him as
your personal Saviour.
Now, notice; I ask this. I want to ask you this. Look at this; it's beautiful. Maybe I've taught on it
before (I don't know.) here; preaching everywhere, you forget what you said at one--certain places.
But why is it then...
Now, I guess, Sister Smith... I don't know whether I knew Brother Fleeman that far back or not.
And Tryphena, I remember her when she was a little girl. You remember me when I used to be-was a little, short, heavyset, black, wavy hair. I used to box. Oh, I thought I was a stylish man in
the world. "Oh," I thought, "there's nobody could whip me. No, sir." But I--I got fooled on that. You
see? But I... I--I just thought, "Oh, my." I thought, "If you could put this thing on my back, I'd walk
down the street with it." Sure, nothing bothered me. And every time I eat, I got bigger and stronger
all the time. Every time I'd put new life in... I eat cabbage, potatoes, and beans, and meat, just like
I do today. And I got stronger and bigger all the time. And when I got to be about twenty-five...
I--I eat better now than I did then; you all know me, know that. I can eat better now, all of us are.
But why is it, Brother Egan, then, if I am still eating better food, more of it, better vitamins and
everything... And the more I eat, I gradually dwindle away. And now, I'm coming an old stoopshouldered man, baldheaded, and turning gray, and hands wrinkling, and face pitch in, shoulders
going down, of a morning it's hard to get up, and... Oh, my. Why is it? If I renew my life every time I
eat, why is it then?
If I'm pouring water out of a jug into a glass, and it gets half full, and then starts going down all the
time instead of coming up; and more I pour in, faster it goes down. There you are. And you
couldn't prove it scientifically if you had to. This Book's the only thing to prove it; God has
appointed; it's an appointment. God seen us coming.
You older men, and you older women, maybe some of your--your husbands and your wives
maybe gone on. That doesn't--that doesn't bother anything. Hallelujah. They're just across the
curtain yonder, waiting: absolutely. And they're longing to be with you again. That's right. Certainly,
they are. They're longing to be together again. The Bible said they are, the souls under the altar
crying, "Lord, how long?" See? They're not in their right state.
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God never made us Angels; He made us men and women. We'll always be men and women,
because we are a product of God's own intelligence. We can always be men and women.
But what does it? See, maybe you think that when you walked down to the altar, you and hubby,
said that we take each other to be a lawful wedded wife and live together in a holy state of this
matrimony, and the graces of God and so forth, and all your testimony you give, and your pledge
you made... First thing you know, begin to notice, both of you. He was straight, and the hair shiny;
and mama and her pretty, little brown eyes, or blue eyes, or whatever it was... Oh, how you looked
at her. You walked out; you looked at dad, how, straight them shoulders back; and after while they
begin to droop. Mama will get gray-headed, arthritis set in and so forth, and after while, gone she
went, or away he went.
What was it? When God seen you standing there, He said, "That's it; that's the way I want you. All
right, death, you come on, but you can't take them till I let you."
Oh, I think of Job. Yes, God was looking down; Job knew that God loved him. (And notice. He
cannot take you.) He said, "You got him at your hands, but you don't take his life."
And then the first thing you know, shoulders begin to stoop, and after while you were gone. What
was it happened?
Now, in the resurrection there won't be one thing that symbols death. There can't be one thing that
symbols this earth, of what... See, you were coming up by the will of God; you had life. Then death
set in, take you down. Eating the same food and everything, drinking the same kind of water,
everything, but death set in. But the picture's already set. Hallelujah. In the resurrection you'll be
life again. And there'll be no death, or no resemblance of death, or old age, or cripples, or
anything. Immortal, we'll stand in His likeness, perfected forever. Hallelujah. Oh, I... That'd make
anybody shout, especially when you get my age.
My age is, I guess, when you think of it more than ever. You're just at that changing over type.
You see the... You--you begin to wonder, "What's it's all about? What have I done?" I look back
down here; I think, "My, goodness; well, where's it gone to, Lord? Here I am forty-eight years old.
Two more years I'll be a half a hundred. Whew. I've only..."
Just look at the few souls I've won. I want to win millions and millions of more. God, help me. I get
ashamed of myself even to come home on a vacation, to think, "Oh, the harvest is ripe, and
laborers are few. Millions in sin and shame are dying every day; listen to their call." I go to bed
there at night and hear them poor little heathens a-screaming yonder in the land. How they come
by the thousands, pulling after me, and--and standing out there at the airport where they had to
have the militia out there to keep them back, just to hear the story of Jesus Christ.
And here we can beg them, and advertise in the paper and everything else, and get the very
finest places for them to set down, the best entertainment with fine singing, they'll come and "Oh,
well, I guess that was all right; don't belong to my faith though."
Then...?... My, though, how--how long can it last today? It isn't right. And here we are raking off
hundreds of billions of tons of food into the garbage can, and them people would gladly receive it.
And they're creatures of the earth the same as we are. My, we... Well, that can't last like that too
long.
All right, now, Who's the Father? The Father and the Son are One. Watch, in I John 5:7, It said,
"There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word (which is the Son)... Father,
Son, and Holy Ghost: these three are one."
"There's three that bear record in earth, which is water, blood, and Spirit." That's the three
elements that came from the body of Christ. They pierced His side; water came out; Blood came
out; "Into Thy hands I commend My Spirit." There you are; that's the three elements. These three
are not one, but they agree in one.
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Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, I John 5:7, says, "These three are One." Water, blood, and Spirit
agree in one, not One, but agree in one. So the Father... And the only thing that the body could do,
when God can see Hisself, that through the punishment this body went through, there's the
intercess--intercession right there. See? There's when He sees that Blood standing between Him
and the judgment. Here's His Word, said, "The day you eat thereof, the day you die." And here
Jesus said, "I... But I took their place. See, I took their place."
You remember my story the other night where I seen the vision of the woman real bad that was in
the room there? And I was condemning her, said, "God, why don't You blow the place up?" Then
He showed me. See? And I walked up to her and told her what had happened.
Now, this...?... last question.
64. Do you think, according to the Scriptures, that the Jews will be--will accept Christ just before
the rapture of the church?
I--I--I really believe that the rapture of the church... This is my own opinion. See? And if we had
time, we'd take it through, but it's--it's after nine now. Look, I do believe that the Jews will receive
Christ at His second coming. Now, remember, so that the person would know this: our eyes were
blinded... Or their eyes were blinded that we might receive our sight. Anyone knows, the
Scriptures speaks of that. Is that right? Paul tells us that our--that we were blinded, that the Jews
were blinded in order that we might receive Christ. See? And we're the wild olive tree which is
grafted in by adoption into the tree.
Now, here's my opinion; I'm just going to give you... They ask me, "Do you think?" Now, here's the
way I think it'll take place. I don't know. Ever what it is, I'm sure that by God's grace and His mercy,
we'll be there (See?), by His grace, whatever it is. I may not be able to figure it out, but here's what
I think.
I believe we're at the end time. I believe the Gentile's age is finishing right now. I believe we're at
the close.
And now, the Jews... Here's been two things that's always wronged the Jews: They been blind;
they couldn't see it; and because that the Gentiles, for one thing, many time...
I talked to a Jew at Benton Harbor, Sister Smith, and you know what He said to me? (Over there
at one of those Israel, places of Israel there...) It was questioned about a healing of a blind man.
And he said, "You can't cut Jews in... You can't cut God in three pieces and give him to a Jew:
make him Father, Son, Holy Ghost." Said, "You can't do that to a Jew; we're not idolaters." Said,
"We believe in one God." See?
And you go to making God three: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, you
certainly blind a Jew right there, 'cause he knows better. He knows better than that. That'd make
you an idolater just as certain as idolatry is; you got three gods. You got to make them the self
same God. That's not three gods; it's three offices of the same God. See, God served in the
fatherhood; He served in the sonship; and He serves now in the Holy Ghost dispensation. It's the
same-self God.
That's the reason that we was commissioned to baptize in the Name of the Father, Son, Holy
Ghost; because not in the name of a... In the Name, not names, not in the names, or in the name
of the Father, and in the name of the Son, in the name of the Holy Ghost," but in the Name of the
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost (See?), recognizing the self same God being Christ. See, that's Who
it is. It can't be no other way. See? And the Scripture...
And--and then if our revelation is wrong, then Peter and the rest of the apostles taught the wrong
thing; 'cause every person in the Bible was baptized in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Not one
person was ever baptized in "Father, Son, Holy Ghost." It's a Catholic doctrine. I can prove it to
you by their own words, and their own Lexicons and everything. It's a Catholic creed and not a-and not a Bible doctrine. And no man...
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Even the King of England was baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ. About six hundred years
after the death of the last apostle, when it was not even called England, it's called "Angel Land."
That's where it come from, the name. He was baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ.
What converted him, was a little sparrow. When... If I can think... not Saint Angelo. What was his
name now? Agadabus [Uncertain spelling--Ed.], Saint Agadabus, I believe it was. I won't be sure
of that name now. But anyhow, he went up there, and they got some of these...
They called them angels, because the people and the Assyrians and so forth were dark
complected, and these English had long, white, curly hair, blond-headed, Anglo-Saxons, you
know, blue-eyed. And they said, "They looked like Angels," and so they called it "Angel Land."
And the--the servant of the Lord went up there and was preaching to their king, and they was
setting at a great, open fireplace. I was reading the history of it not long ago. And a little bird flew
into the light and went back out, and the king asked the question, "Where did he come from and
where did he go?" See? "He came into the light, and we saw him, and he went back out in the
darkness. Isn't that the way a man goes?" he said.
"But what was he before he could come in here?" said the preacher. See? That got the king; and
the next morning, him and his household was baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ. That's right.
Then what? The first man that was ever sprinkled or ever baptized any way in the name of the
"Father, Son, Holy Ghost," was in the Catholic church. The first sprinkling ever took place was in
the Catholic church. The first pouring ever took place was in the Catholic church. The Protestant
church always baptized in the Bible, the apostles, by immersing in the Name of Jesus Christ,
everywhere. Just find one place where they was anything else. See?
Now, in this, this great time, the Jews cannot... I asked that rabbi; I said, "Rabbi, would it be hard
for you to believe the prophets?"
He said, "I believe the prophets."
I said, "In Isaiah 9:6, what did he mean, 'Unto us a Son is born'? Who was he speaking of?"
He said, "He was speaking of the Messiah."
I said, "Then will the Messiah be borned?"
"Yes, He'd be born."
I said, "Then if He's to be born, He has a--He'd have a mother."
"Yes, He has to have a mother. And He has to have a father too," he said.
I said, "Absolutely. And would it be hard for you to believe that that wouldn't be--that God the
Great Jehovah Who opened the Red Sea, could not give birth to this baby by immaculate birth?"
See? There he was.
He said, "But you can't make Him three gods."
I said, "He isn't three gods." I said, "What relationship will Messiah be to God?"
He said, "He will be God."
I said, "Now, you got it. Now, you got it; He is God." That's exactly.
Then he tried to tell me, said, "Well, this man was a thief, this Jesus of Nazareth. He was a thief."
I said, "Rabbi, how was He a thief?"
"Well," he said, "your own Scriptures said that He went into the corn field on the Sabbath day and
took the corn."
I said, "Now, rabbi, you know better--more about the Scripture than that. Your own Scripture says
that's legal. It's lawful for a man to go and eat as much corn as he wants to, but don't put it in his
sack and take it out. Your own law, the rabbi..."
And he stood there a little bit; he--he--he believed it, 'cause he--he witnessed. He said, after while,
he said, "Well, what--what caused John's eyes..." Said, "How did you do it?"
I said, "In the Name of Jesus Christ..."
He--he didn't know; said, "Well, you can't cut God in three pieces."
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I said, "He was the Jehovah made manifest in flesh, rabbi. He... That's what He was; He was
Jehovah in flesh. His own human Name, that was the redemption Name, 'cause no other name is
given under heaven that a man could be saved, only through that human redemption Name, the
Lord Jesus Christ. That's right. He was God; He is God; He'll forever be God (That's exactly right.),
the Lord Jesus Christ."
Now, I believe that the Gentile church will soon... The completing of the body of the Gentile
church... The doors between... Jesus said in Matthew 24 (I'll take that one Scripture for a minute.);
He said, "They will trod down the walls of Jerusalem until the Gentile dispensation be finished."
Now, watch. It was given by our Lord Jesus in Matthew 24, that the Jews would be taken out of
the picture. Daniel said, back over in the old prophets; he said that there would be seventy of
weeks yet 'lotted to the Jews. And the Messiah would come (the Prince) and would prophesy in
the midst of the seventieth weeks, which was the seven years, He'd be cut off in the midst. Look
how perfect it was. Jesus was exactly preached three and one-half years and was crucified. But
there is three... That come right in on this other question here. There's three and a half years yet
allotted to them, to the Jew. It's got to be.
Now, if you'll take Revelations the 7th chapter, John saw a hundred and forty and four thousand
of the Jews all sealed of the twelve tribes of Israel. See what I mean? Yet previous to take place,
of the coming forth...
Now, look how beautiful it is, before we close now. Watch how--how it moves around. Now, those
Jews has been darkened.
Now, these Jews here, most of them here are just... You know how they are; they hold the wealth
of the world. And they're just--just money-people, and that's all you can make out of it (See?), and
very arrogant, and indifferent, and won't listen. But that's not the ones that He was talking about, if
you'll notice.
Now, the Gentiles... Now, watch. There's yet left three and a half years for these Jews. Now,
Jesus said that the city of Jerusalem will be trod by the Gentiles until the Gentile dispensation
(Now, you people that don't believe in dispensations, what about that?)--till the Gentile
dispensation would be finished. And when the Gentile dispensation is finished (the time of the
Gentiles is finished), then the city would be given back to the Jews. And Jesus went ahead to say
that the generation... Said, "When you go out and see the fig tree putting forth its buds, and all the
other trees budding," said, "you know that summer is nigh." Said, "Likewise when you see these
things come to pass, know the time is nigh, at the door; and verily I say unto you that this
generation will not pass until these things be fulfilled."
Now, they watched for it in that generation, "That's what He was talking about." Not at all, listen.
He said, "The generation that seen the fig tree putting forth its buds." Now, watch, He said, "The
fig tree, and all the other trees..." Now, in other words, there'd be a universal revival at the time.
Now, watch this prophecy, how it works in and just blends in perfect.
Now, watch. "All the other trees putting forth their buds, reviving..." A tree, when it's putting forth its
buds, is reviving. Is that right? Now, anyone knows, a prophetic teacher, that the fig tree has
always been the Jew. We know that. It's the Jew. Now, the...
And look at Joel, when he took it over; he said, "What the palmerworm left, the caterpillar eat;
what the caterpillar left, the locust eat; and what the locust eat..." If you notice, that's the very
same insect, different stages: the palmerworm, the caterpillar, the locust. It's all the same bug; it's
just different stages of its life. Now, watch, that same bug begin to eat on that Jewish tree back
there, cut it down, and it begin to eat and eat and eat and eat till it took it to a stump; but then he
said, "I will restore, saith the Lord, all the years that the caterpillar eat up. And I'll make My people
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a joy." See? Now, the tree has been eaten down. The Gentiles was grafted into it; that's true. All
right, we must bring fruit.
Now, when the end time comes, when we're getting down to the end (if I see it right), the Gospel
is there's supposed to be a great revival taking place.
Now, did you know that the Jewish flag is the oldest flag in the world? And it's been laying dormant
for two thousand years, more than, yeah, about twenty-five hundred years. The Jewish flag, that
six-point star of David, never flowed for twenty-five hundred years, since the carrying away of--of
Babylon. And now, because the Roman Empire took them over, and the Messiah come and they
rejected It, and they was scattered to the four winds of the earth. But did you know, on May the
6th, 1946, that flag come back over Jerusalem again? Did you know on May the 7th, 1946, the
Angel of the Lord appeared to me (the next day) up here, and sent me into all the world to bring
forth a revival, the very next morning? When that flag raised in Jerusalem, as the going down of
the sun that afternoon, the Angel of the Lord appeared here in the United States at the same time.
"When you see the fig tree and the rest of the trees putting forth..."
How many remembers the Star hanging down here at the Ohio River, many years ago, when He
said... Here's a picture of It here yet, when He come down. Said, "Your Message will go forth as a
forerunner for the second coming, just like John went forth as a forerunner for the first coming."
And look, around the world has swept a revival. Tens of thousands times thousands and
thousands, and a great revival...
All the legalists, and all the different ones around over the country, and the big churches said the
Billy Sunday days are over. But when they seen the church begin to revive (the common people),
they had to save their face. Charles Fuller would've took the place, but he was too old; so they
went with Billy Graham. And God took Billy Graham, or the Baptist church did, and they all got
around him. And Billy Graham's not half the preacher that Brother Neville is, so as far as being a
preacher, not at--no, by no means. But what is it? They had to do it; it's organism, and everybody
right around it, gathering around. Billy says the same thing. See, they had to do it. And it had to be
done to fulfill the Word of God. They didn't have the Spirit to rally around, so they had to take the
Word to rally around; so they did. And Billy's a Word preacher, and a dandy, and they rallied
around; so that put all of the cold formals in their rally. And the supernatural Being, with Divine
healing, and powers and workings and so forth, by the miracles of God, put this... the church, the
raptured Bride that's got the oil in her lamp, put her in a revival. See? And the cold formal church
had its revival. And here's Israel turning with their revival.
I've got a film up there in my house right now, "Three Minutes Till Midnight." And we got a picture
of those Jews coming in. Coming in... You seen it in "Look" magazine. And the ships, loaded,
coming from way down in Iran and down there, them Jews never did even know that Jesus was
ever on the earth. They went down there in the carrying away of Babylon. That's all they ever
knowed. They plowed... You seen it in "Look" magazine or "Life" and them, where they'd plow with
old wooden instruments. And when they seen those airplanes coming in, they thought, "This is it,"
'cause God told them they'd be down there, and would be carried back to Jerusalem on the wings
of eagles. That's right. There they are. And the Jew said, "This is it." They stepped right on, and
we got their pictures with their own voice, and interviewed them; coming from all over the world,
some of them packing their old ones on their back, and them blind and crippled. And they getting
off the ships from all different parts of the world, coming in...
And they begin to pick up rocks in sacks, off the ground; and today they've found fountains of
water; she's the most greatest agricultural country in the world. The Dead Sea holds more riches
than all the rest of the world put together. The Jews are returning back; it's been hid from the
Gentiles; but they're blossoming like a rose.
They said to them--them Jews, they said, "Are you coming back to die in the homeland."
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Said, "We are coming back to see the Messiah. Where's He at? He's supposed to be here."
Brother, when you see the fig tree putting forth its buds, He said, "This generation shall not pass
until all be fulfilled." Look at the revival with the formals. Look at the revival with the church. Look
at the revival coming in with the Jews; they're watching for the coming of Messiah. The church, the
Spirit-filled church, the Bride with the... The virgins with the oil in their lamps will go into the
wedding supper.
The Jews will say, "This is that. There's our God Who we've waited on." There's where your
hundred and forty-four thousand, that Russellites got mixed up in. There's those Jews standing
there that will receive Him. They said, "There's our God Who we've waited on." They'll see Him,
say, "Where did You get them? Where'd You get them scars in Your hand?"
He said, "I got them in the house of My friends." That's right, "The house of My friends..."
What will He do? The Gentile church will be taken into glory and the Bride will be married to Christ.
How did Joseph make hisself known to his people? He dismissed every Gentile from his presence.
He certainly did. What will happen to the remnant of the woman's seed? The dragon spurted water
out of his mouth to make war; Jesus said, "They'll be cast into outer darkness, and there'll be
weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth." The great hours of persecutions and trials will come
to the Gentile church.
What will take place then? When the martyrdom comes, when God has separated everything
from them Jews yonder, Jesus will return as Joseph did. When they heard Joseph, when he
dismissed all of his guards and everything else, and he seen little Benjamin and them standing
there, and them repenting for killing Joseph... They thought they'd killed Joseph, and here he was
standing before them; He said, "I'm Joseph. I'm your brother."
Then they really trembled, "He's Joseph. Now, we know him."
When He will say, "I'm Jesus. I'm the Messiah."
They will say, "Oh, my, now what we will receive."
It was all done for the glory of God. It won't be... Well, they could hear him weeping plumb over in
Pharaoh's palace, Joseph weeping for them.
Wait till Jesus sees those Jews that He had to smite blind to let us Gentiles have a chance to
come in; that will be an hour; I'm telling you. He will take those Jews. Don't you never worry; them
Jews will be saved. Yes, sir, there's got to be there. And that's my idea of it; I can't see it nowhere
else in the Scripture. You got to keep them three together again.
You got to keep the--the sleeping virgin, the--the church just normal, confessional. See? You got
to get the church... That's, the Jew first, the Jew first, which is just a blinded person waiting on the
sideline. You got to get the next step up, which is the sleeping virgin, who was dilatory, and just
went out and went to church, and joined the church, and pretty good fellow. Then you got to get
the church spiritual, the rapture, the Bride. There she stands. Those three people, you can't...
They're not mixed up, not a bit. They're not all the same. Not Jehovah Witness saying that the
hundred and forty-four thousand is the bride; that's wrong. That's the Jews. See? There's a Bride,
and the Jews, then the sleeping virgin. And you get them all, and say, "Well, they're all three in
different places." They're all, three different classes of people. Sure, they can.
Then when Jesus returns to the earth... The Jews, what are they? The eunuchs of the temple.
And when Jesus returns, He comes with the Bride. Jesus comes three times: He come the first
time to redeem His church; He comes the second time to receive His church; He comes the third
time with His church. See? It's exactly. So it's all one great perfect coming; it's all one great perfect
God; it's all one great perfect Christ, one great perfect Church, one great perfect redemption,
everything. It comes a trinity, but it's all in one. See? It's not three people, not three this; it's just
one Person, one Church, one Body, one Christ, one Lord in you all, through you all, and so forth
like that: all one.
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The Lord bless you. I've held you pretty long. The Lord being willing now, if I get to come again on
a few nights, or a Sunday night or something like that, if the pastor here doesn't have something
on his heart, I'll try to answer these here. Oh, there's some dandy's here. How many'd like to hear
them? Oh, I just love them. Let me go through them again, right real quick, before we turn the
service to the pastor. Just listen to this.
[Brother Branham answers the following eight questions in Part III, Ed.]
Where do the stones rep... What does those stones represent in Revelation 21?
That's a good one.
Explain the four beasts of Revelation 5.
There's another good one.
Who are the twenty-four elders?
There's another good one. See?
What did the scarlet thread of Genesis 38 mean?
You remember; he went and took his own daughter-in-law and lived with her as a harlot; and
made the price and come forth; and then when the child come forth, they put the scarlet thread
around his hand (He pushed out and then he come back in.), the--the next one come before him.
Oh, that's a good one; it sure is.
What are the gifts to be sent regarding the death of the witnesses in Revelations 11?
That's when Moses and Elijah returns back for the revival to these hundred and forty-four
thousand.
What is the gifts?
Watch what them are; that's dandy.
Where will the saints be after the one-thousand-years (There's a good one, boy. Will...) reign?
What kind of a body will they have?
How shall we judge angels?
Why hair becomes of the angels in I Corinthians? In the Book of I Corinthians.
That's good ones, really good.
The Lord bless you. I hope the Lord permits us to get together and discuss these things; it's all for
His glory. We might disagree upon the ideas of them. But I'll say one thing; if you all get as much
joy hearing them as I do talking about them, we're having a wonderful time. Amen. Amen.
All right, the Lord be real good to you now. Don't forget the services. Brother Neville's broadcast
now, that's on WLRP, Saturday morning at nine o'clock: the Neville quartet, and I'm sure they'd do
you good, turn and listen to them. And if I can, if I get back in time, or see I'm going to get back, I'll
call wife; if the Lord permits me to go see dear old Brother Bosworth. I... You all... And I'll be back
Sunday night.
The Lord be good to you now. And brother, pastor, come here just a minute; and let him take the
service. And...
Don't forget the family prayer,
Jesus wants to meet you there;
He will take your every care,
Oh, don't forget the family prayer.
You like that? How many prays in your own home? Let's see, all right. Oh, that's wonderful; stay
close to God. Be good, little children, God will bless you. All right, Brother Neville.
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Branham Tabernacle
JEFFERSONVILLE.IN SUNDAY 57-1006
... to be here tonight again at the Tabernacle to anticipate in this wonderful fellowship and worship
around the Word of God which is given to us freely. And we are--love to be partakers of this
blessing.
And I only trust that God will bless us tonight like He did this morning, with the message of the
morning. And I was just talking to my neighbor, Mrs. Wood, awhile ago, and we were discussing it,
and Mr. Wood and them. And I believe that was Brother Neville's best sermon. Out of all the fine
ones he's preached, that was the one that was better to me than any one he's ever preached yet. I
certainly did admire and appreciate that wonderful sermon. And it give me courage, and it trimmed
me down. So I--I like to admit the truth, you know. So about the courageous parts, you know, to be
courageous, and how to...
David was there, and how that he... When in that great trial, instead of saying, "Well, I'll go do this,
Lord, You just help me," he waited, went and asked the Lord what to do. He brought down the
ephod, you know, and said, "Now, let's stand and ask God what must we do in this crisis?" Oh,
that was really rich. That had more vitamins than all the drug stores that was got in the country.
Yes, sir, that really do you good.
Now, tonight we--we don't aim to stay not no longer than midnight, if we can, on these questions.
So we are--we are going to get right into them right away. It's the finishing up of these questions.
And every time I start to finish them up... (Now, Sister Hattie, I didn't mean that; you know that. I
was just saying that. See? And... All right.) But I got some real stiff ones here from a minister, and
they're really hard to answer. You know, them preachers, they twist it around through the Bible
and try to find their own answer before they'll ask you. You see? And then... And this is being tape
recorded, going down to Georgia to a minister friend of mine who's got eight outstanding Bible
questions here which are very, very steep.
And now, this coming week, don't forget and pray for us. And my wife is way better; she's up now,
and she helped cook today. Our dear friends from Canada, Brother, Sister Sothmann, are here
visiting with us, and we surely do appreciate their visit. And my wife, knowing that they were
coming, why, she was going to be up so she could have some of the entertainment and the
fellowship of these dear Christian people. We're glad to have Brother Freddie with us tonight, and
she stayed with... She was here this morning, but I believe she stayed with... No, that's right; she's
with Meda to kind of be with her while we come down; 'cause I know it'll be a little late tonight. It's
communion and feet washing. So we're happy to have them and the visitors with us.
Now, before we start to try to undertake to answer questions... And just remember that I can be
wrong. You see? I--I don't claim to be right on everything that I do. I--I try to be right, but maybe
I'm--I'm wrong. And--and if I am wrong, then you just forgive me; and I pray God will too, because I
don't mean to be wrong. I don't try to answer them just to--or the way that I just for prejudice; I
answer them the very best of my knowledge. See? And if I have to alter my ideas on a Bible
question, I think that's just the thing to do. We should alter any time when God's Word speaks,
because it's God's Word.
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And now, I think we're going to pray for the sick again tonight, as usual. And sometimes you just
wonder; you take like a small group like this, that less than, oh, the little Tabernacle here, and
sometimes you don't see the results that you would like to see. But the thing, what you're doing,
you're just drawing from about two hundred people. And one of the big meetings, maybe you're
drawing anywhere from three to ten thousand (You see?) and--and maybe more. So that's the way
you get to see a more massive. But tonight I have just been answering... 'Course our phone rings
just every few minutes through day and part of the night.
Is this Mrs. Reisert setting here, I'm looking at? Your Bible, sister, Sister Wood has it back there. I
brought it this morning for you, and I--I didn't get to give it to you. And I--I didn't see you this
morning, and Mrs. Wood has it.
So to answering the phone and finding the--the great things that's been done. A lady called me
and she said, "Brother Branham, I was at a certain-certain meeting, and I'd been suffering with
certain-certain trouble so long. And, you know, you just spoke back there, and just..." Said, "I
almost fainted when It just brought up the back life." And said, "And I've never suffered since."
And a lady come in and said. I believe she's here tonight, or she was going to drive from Bedford,
I believe, or somewhere up in there. Their son was in here, I believe, that had heart trouble, in
such a bad shape. And he was setting here in the meeting, and--and the Lord moved around and
touched, said to the boy about his trouble, and he couldn't hardly raise his arm, and a heart attack,
and his arm all cramped, and his heart like this. And immediately he got right in the car and drove
home, never been bothered with it since. Is that lady get here from Bedford? Are you here? They-there she is, in the back. Yes, she just called me awhile ago.
Then there's a lady called me from down in Evansville. And she couldn't get here, 'cause she's too
far away, didn't know we was going to have service tonight of healing. And she said, "Brother
Branham, I was setting in the Evansville meeting," and said, "you looked back over the crowd,"
and said, "told me who I was, and what I had done, and what I'd suffered with, and so forth like
that." And she said, "I've had that asthmatic condition, and just had to burn Asthmador and
everything in the room since I was a little girl." Said, "That's been two years ago, and I've never
had one spot of it since." See?
And just for those who are here tonight, wasn't here this morning to enjoy the testimony; I was
over to the ten cent store, buying a doll yesterday. Now, that wasn't for myself. See? That was for
my little girl Rebekah there. And--and Sarah was going to something another today. Some of her
little schoolmates was having some kind of a little get-together, of a birthday, or something, and
she taken her a little present; and I was buying a little baby doll about so long. And there was a
lady walked up there, said, "You remember me?"
And I said, "I don't believe I do."
And it come to find out, it was a relative of Brother Neville's here, that about... When I was on my
road to Sweden, they... She come in here, had a little boy in a wheelchair, just like little Edith
there, and the little fellow had cancer, malignant growth on the brain. And his little head drawed
down, and he... And the doctors had give him just three weeks to live. They'd taken it out and
diagnosed it, and seen it was--what it was, and just give him three weeks to live. And they had to
wheel him around in a chair, and then put him on a stretcher when he went to the room and
examine him, then bring him back down. Went and prayed for that little boy, and asked the Lord to
heal him, and the very next day, when they took him over there, said, "I don't want that
wheelchair."
Got in the car and rode over there, and the doctor rolled out the stretcher, said, "I don't want that
stretcher."
Run up there and set down, the doctor examined him, said, "Well," said, "instead of three weeks,
I'm going to give you a hundred and eight years." He's going to live.
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And yesterday the mother met me. And she may be here for all I know tonight. And the little boy
was out playing football, a young man now: malignant, cancer on the brain, and it just goes to
show...
Oh, the thousands of things... See? God cannot fail. He--He just can't fail.
Brother John, is your eye better, brother? He had an accident, and was driving a nail, and it struck
him in the eye. And we were all praying for Brother John O'bannon, our brother from Louisville
that'd had the accident with the nail that struck him in the eye.
Now, these questions are the--the deepness of somebody's heart; that they read through the
Scripture and find these things, and they don't--maybe can't satisfy themselves, so they hand them
in here for us to try to answer. And you see what a predicament it puts us in; because what you'd
say, they'd lay on to it. So you must be sure you're right, and I'm... As sure as you can be... So
then, the thing to be sure that we're right, let's just ask the Holy Spirit now to interpret this for us,
while we bow our head.
Now, heavenly Father, oh, what a privilege it is to say "Father" to the great Creator of heavens and
earth. And we just ask that You will take these questions into Your own care now. They were
handed in here with the deepest of sincerity. And, God, let that come from our hearts, the deepest
of sincerity, to answer them in the best that we know how; grant it.
And may Thy mercies rest upon each one. And may something be said here tonight that'll just help
everyone that's here. And when we leave, after the prayer for the sick and taking the communion
and so forth, may we say like those who came from Emmaus, "Did not our hearts burn within us as
He talked to us along the way?" For we ask it in Jesus' Name. Amen.
Now, as I have said many times, that these--these here are--are the best of my opinion of them,
and then sometimes it raises a little discussion. The first one here, I see it's something that I've
said before, that it's handed back again. I won't--want to read it now, if you will.
65. When Adam and Eve had their children in Eden, was there other people on earth at this time?
In Genesis the 5th chapter and the 16th verse, Cain dwelt in the land of Nod and knew his wife.
Now, that's a--a wonderful question. Now, we are taught in the Bible... And many times these...
Sometimes we have carelessly... I used to put on a little slip of paper and say, "Ask... Answer any
Bible question."
And someone said, "Well, who was Cain's wife?"
Oh, I'd little joke with it or something, I'd say, "Oh, that was his mother-in-law's daughter,"
something like that, you know, or--or, "She was Mrs. Cain." But that don't answer the question.
There's...
There Cain had a wife, because the Bible said he did. And if Cain had a wife, he had to get her
somewhere. And this would line right into it here.
Was there other people on the earth when Adam and Eve had their children in the garden of
Eden?
Now, if you notice, in the Bible it's very seldom ever recorded about a woman being born. It's
always the man child is the one that they record in the Bible, not the woman. Seldom is it ever
mentioned about the birth of a girl baby in the Bible. Or, frankly, I don't know as I can recall one
right straight off now in mind, where it ever recorded the birth of a baby; said, "They begot sons
and daughters."
Now, the Bible only gives record of three children being born to Adam and Eve, and that was Cain,
Abel, and Seth. Now, if all three of those being men, if there wasn't any females borned, and then
when the only female, Eve, died, the human race would've ceased to exist right then, because
there'd been no way for them to--to have any--the human race to have furthered, because there
would've been no females left. Eve would've been the only one. But you see, they don't record the-the births of girl babies in the Bible; so therefore, they had to have girls the same as boys.
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Now, the old writer, one of the most ancient writers we got, Josephus, claims they had seventy
children, and Adam and Eve; one of the oldest writers: seventy children, and they were both sons
and daughters.
Now, if... And then if Cain went to the land of Nod... Now, if you notice, the writer was very, very
brilliant writing here. Did you notice how he quoted it?
In Eden, when they had their children in Eden... Now, not in the garden of Eden, the writer knew
that. Ever who wrote the note here, said: When Adam and Eve had their children in Eden, not in
the garden of Eden, because they'd been driven out of the garden of Eden. But they were still in
Eden, and the garden of Eden laid east in Eden. But Eden was like a county or--or what--or a
state, and then Nod was another state or county next to it.
Now, the only person that Cain could've had, or married, would had to be his own sister. He had
to. Because there's only one male and female that they could've come from (See?), and he had to
marry his own sister. Now, that was legal in those days.
And Isaac married his own first blood cousin, Rebekah, ordained of God. Sarah was Abraham's
sister, his blood sister, not by his mother, by his father. See, a blood sister that--that Abraham
married, a different mother, but same father...
So you see, to marry in relation then, before the--the stream of blood was weakened in the human
race, it was legal and all right. Now, it isn't. If you'd marry your sister today, and have children,
they'd probably be... Well, they'd just be deformed and everything. Even down to a first and
second cousin should never be married (See?), because the blood stream becoming low and
running low.
But the only thing then that Cain could've done, would been marry his own sister. And that's
where the children was that... He got his wife, went to the land of Nod and knew her, and from
there come the--the children. See, the...
And if you notice, out of the line of Cain come the smart men. Out of the line of Seth come the
religious men, I mean, the--the vine of righteousness. Right there, those two brought forth the very
line that we're living in today.
If you'll notice today now (just in finishing this question), that lineage of Cain still exists, and the
lineage of Seth still exists. They both come down just the same. Cain's children is here in
Jeffersonville tonight, and Seth's children's here in Jeffersonville tonight. As the blood stream
weakens and goes out, but that lineage still hangs on.
Now, watch. Cain's children were always... And before the antediluvian destruction, they were the
smart people, the scientists, the educators, and very religious, but was the condemned bunch.
See? Now, watch. They were just like their father Cain. Cain, he was a religious man. He built a
beautiful altar, and made a beautiful church, and tried to make it look prettier than that little
mission that Seth had down there. Did you know that? He sure... He decorated the altar with
flowers, and fixed it beautiful, and made it pretty, and made a great, big, swell church, because he
thought that he could find favor with God by doing so.
And Abel went over and got a little lamb, and started pulling it over to the altar, and laid it on a
rock, and killed it.
And now, if God being just, if all He required was worship, Cain worshipped God with just as
much sincerity as Abel did. Both of them were sincere. Both of them was trying to find grace with
God. They were neither one of them infidels. They were both absolutely believers in Jehovah.
Now, there, that gives us something to think of.
Some here tonight I've never seen, people, I've never seen you before. But you must realize this,
and keep this in your mind. See? No matter how religious you are, that don't have one thing to do
with it. You might live in church; you might be ever so sincere; and you're still lost. See?
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And you say, "Well," you say, "our pastors are the smartest; they come through the seminaries
and get the best education. They're theologians; they know all--all the theology and so forth. And
they're smart, trained, the very, the elected best that we know of." And they could still be lost.
See?
Now, Cain on his line, they were every one very religious, a very famous people; and they were
scientists, and doctors, and builders, and workers, and smart men. But all that lineage was
rejected from Cain all the way down.
And on Abel's side they wasn't builders, nor educators, or smart men; they were a more or less
humble, sort of sheep raisers, and peasants that just walked by the Spirit.
Now, the Bible said, "There's no condemnation to them that's in Christ Jesus, that walk not after
the flesh but after the Spirit." The spiritual man has a spiritual soul that can never die. And the
carnal man has a religious atmosphere around him, and wants to worship and so forth, but is
carnal, not an unbeliever, but a carnal believer; and it's the kind was rejected.
Now, from there Cain went and married his wife in the land of Nod. Now, it doesn't say who Seth
married or who others married. And the very beautiful thing of that is to know that--that Cain
marrying, we have the answer to it. 'Cause he had to marry his sister, or he--or there'd been a...
There was no more women on the earth, but just had to come from Eve. She was the mother of all
living. That's all the people that was living, she was the mother of it. That's the reason that she...
The word "Eve" means "the mother of the living." So she came and brought this child. And Cain
married his own sister, would be the only way that I could see out of it. So there was people living
in that day, truly. See? Well, and...
When Adam and Eve had their children in Eden... Now, watch, that's the question: When they had
their children in Eden, was there other people on earth at this time? No. Then in Genesis 5:16
(You see?) Cain dwelt in the land of Nod and knew his wife. Sure. See?
That's Genesis 1, where He created man in His own image, which was in the theophany. And in
Genesis 2, He made man out of the dust of the earth, which was the human man that we have
now. And then in 3 was the fall and was kicked from the garden of Eden; and then the children
begat children. And Cain took his wife and lived with her in the land of Nod, outside, because God
had separated him from the fellowship with his own brother, because of the death of--of Abel. And
that's who he had, his own sister, and married her; is the only way that I could, myself, can see
how that--that he married.
Now, it's been said... And I hope that my colored friends that's in here will excuse this remark,
because it's absolutely not right. The first time I ever met anyone in my life, after I'd been
converted... I was--met Brother George DeArk and them down there. And I was walked, and the
Lord led me to a little place. And they was discussing where the colored man came from. And they
were trying to say that the colored man, that Cain married an animal like an ape, and through
there come forth the colored race. Now, that's wrong. Absolutely, that's wrong. And don't never
stand for that. 'Cause there was no colored or white, or any other different; it was just one race of
people unto the flood. Then after the flood and the tower of Babel, when they begin to scatter out,
that's when they taken their colors and so forth. They're all come from the same tree. That's
exactly right. Adam and Eve was the father and mother, earthly, of every living creature of human
beings that's ever been on the earth. That's right. Black, white, pale, brown, and yellow, whatever
color you might be, that's absolutely the place that you live in, and the way that--that the... Just like
I think...
I might express this while I'm on it. The people here now in these segregations and laws and
things they're passing, I think it's ridiculous. I really do. Listen. Just let those people alone; they
know what they want. God made a man a colored man, and he's happy about it. Absolutely. If God
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made me a colored man, I'd be happy about it; if He made me a brown man, I'd be happy; if He
made me a white man, I'm happy; if He made me a yellow man, I'd be happy. God made us in our
colors, and He made us the way He wanted us, and we're all His children. Absolutely. And they
oughtn't to fuss and carry on like that. That's wrong to do that. They shouldn't do it. God made us...
The way we wanted... And the colored man, he don't want to get out there and break up his--his
generation or his color, and mix it in with a... the white and everything like that. I don't blame him. I
don't. The colored man has things that the white man don't even possess. Absolutely. That's
exactly right. And God never intended them to be that way.
Well, look. The colored man is... He's--he's a... He's got a--he's got a disposition about him that
the white man never does have. He's got a happy-go-lucky, a "trust God, and just let the rest of it
go." Whether he's got it or whether he hasn't, he's happy anyhow. I'd like to have a whole lot of
that tonight; I sure would. Well, he's got it, and that's his possession. He don't want to mix it up
with some other race and break it out either. That's exactly right.
I think the lady down there at Shreveport made one of the best--best comments I ever heard in my
life. She made a comment, and they put it in the paper. She walked up; she said, "The way these
things are going in here in this segregation, I don't want my children going to school over at that
white school." Said, "They won't get the attention they'd have if they had a colored teacher." That
woman's a smart woman. She knowed what she was talking about; they get a better education.
That's exactly right. So I think the people do wrong by doing that.
And then they say, "Cain and Abel..." and so forth like that. No, sir. The color had nothing to do
with it. It's the spirit inside of there that has something to do with it. That's exactly right.
So Cain knew his wife, and that was his sister. And they... He took her to the land of Nod, and
there come forth the great tribes of the earth: the religionists and worshippers.
And just think today, friend, just stop and think just for a moment, that there are tens of thousands
times tens of thousands and thousands of thousands of absolutely church going people, just as
sincere and consecrated to that church they can be, that's just as far lost as Cain was. See? It's
God Who chooses. It's God Who elects (See?), God Who gives mercy. The clay can't say to the
potter; it's the potter over the clay. That's right.
Now, here's a beautiful one, the next one here.
In II Peter 2:4--2:4...
Somebody got a Bible, want to turn to these Scriptures right quick while I'm reading them, if you
want to, and kind of help me along here, while we get this question.
Now, on this Cain and--and so forth, if that don't satisfy it now, you just let us have it. We'll be
glad...
Now, II Peter 2:4. All right, sir, here we are.
66. II Peter 2:4, For if God has... For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down
into hell, then why did Christ preach to the spirits in prison in I Peter 3:19?
Now, we got Peter 2:4, first. All right.
For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down--down to hell, and--and
delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto the judgment;
Now, now, let's find out in I Peter (that's II Peter), I Peter 3:19, listen at this. Here we are right
here. These just come in, the reason I didn't have them wrote out.
... which also... went and preached to the spirits in prison;
Oh, yes, here we are. Let's begin a little before that, the 18th verse.
For Christ also... 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:
By which also He went and preached unto the spirits in prison;
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Which sometime were disobedient,... (My dear friend, if you'd just read the next verse, it'd
explained it. See?)... Which were sometimes disobedient, which once the long-suffering of God
waited in the days of Noah, while the ark being prepared, wherein few, that is, eight souls were
saved by water. See?
Now, if you'll notice in here, I think this preacher's got another one on the--something on the same
line, will be answered a little later.
I Peter 4, or 2:4, if you notice, "for if God spared not the angels," how is that "angel" spelt? Little
"a." See? Now, over here, "the spirits that were in prison that repented not in the long-suffering of
the days of Noah," same angels. It was men: messengers, preachers: "spared not the angels." Did
you know that a--the word "angel" comes from the word "a messenger"? How many knows that
"angel" is "messenger"? Absolutely, angel is a messenger, "and He spared not the angels." See?
And over here in the Hebrews, you remember we went through it a few weeks ago: "the angels"?
And over in He--in the Revelation, "To the angel of the church of Sardis write these things... To the
angel of the church of Ephesus write these things... To the angel of the church..." Remember that?
And we run the "angel" word back, and from the dictionary, and find out that means "a
messenger." It could be "a messenger on earth, a supernatural messenger," the word "angel."
So in this state, if we'd take the Lexicon and run it back, you'll find out it starts from "messengers,
the first messengers." See? "If the--if he spared not... For if God spared not the angels that sinned
(See?), and the supernatural beings (See?), after the waiting..." Now, watch, he said.
...if... spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains
of darkness, to be preserved unto judgment;
Then look over in I Peter here again, 3:19; watch how this reads now.
For by which also he went and preached to the spirits in prison;
Which sometime were disobedient, when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of
Noah,... (See, it was the messengers of that day: messengers.)... while the ark was being
prepared, wherein... that is, eight souls were saved by water.
Now, if you'll notice when those beings were in heaven... Now, over in Revelations 11--or the 7th
chapter, I believe--or no, no, it's the 12th chapter, He gives a picture of the woman standing, the
moon at her head and the sun--or, the sun at her head and the moon under her feet. And the red
dragon stood to devour the child as soon as it was born; and he took his tail and pulled a third of
the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. Did you notice that? Now, that doesn't mean that
Satan has a--a long tail that he hooked around people, but the tale that he told, and pulled a third
part of those stars. Those stars were Abraham's seed.
Abraham said, "Oh..."
God told Abraham, "Look up to the heavens and number the stars if you can."
He said, "I can't do it."
He said, "Neither will you be able to number your seed," the stars.
Who is the Bright and Morning Star? Jesus of Nazareth, the brightest that ever lived in human
flesh. He is the Bright and Morning Star. And He is the Seed of Abraham, coming through Isaac.
And we, being dead in Christ, take on Abraham's Seed and are heirs according to the promise.
So the stars of the heaven represented the spirits of men here. And when the red dragon (Rome,
under its persecution) hugged in two thirds of the--or a third of the stars, and cast them down, that
was at the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus when they rejected Him and He was--and cast Him out
and had nothing to do with Him; there was that third part of the angelic stars, the angelic beings.
See, in your body, inside of you (We got another question on that, directly, that'll answer it
better.)... So when... Inside of you is a spirit, another man. The outside of you is a--one man; the
inside of you is another man. So the inside of you is the supernatural; the outside of you is the
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physical. See? And this being, if you are Spirit-led by God, you became a messenger of God or an
angel. God's messenger, God's angel is the very same word; can't separate it: God's messenger
or God's angel.
And which has the greatest authority, a angel from heaven or an angel at the pulpit? Which has it?
The angel at the pulpit. Paul said, "If an angel from heaven comes and preach any other Gospel to
you than this which I've already preached, let him be accursed." So the angel anointed with the
Holy Spirit and with the Word stands next to God (That's right.) in the heaven, his authority...
"All powers in heaven and earth is given into My hand. Go, and I'll go with you. Whatever you bind
on earth, I'll bind in heaven. What you loose on earth, I'll loose in heaven."
Oh, if the great holy Church only realized its power to do these things. But there's so much doubt
and fear and trembling, wondering if it will, "Could it happen?" As long as that exists, the Church
can never stand upright. And when every talk of fear is vanished and the Holy Spirit is completely
in control of the Church, then all fears are gone, and that Church has the power. See? Why, they
have everything that heaven owns behind them. They're ambassadors of the throne. Absolutely.
An ambassador of Christ has the authority, and everything that Christ owns belongs to that
ambassador. And He said, "Go ye into all the world; you are My witnesses after the Holy Ghost is
come on you." And what is a witness? Is an ambassador, is to come and witness something. The
whole powers of heavens is right in your hands. Oh, why do we set, and the church is barren, and
we set dormant? Is because that we don't recognize these things.
Now, the souls that were in prison that repented not, were not Angelic beings that had--had been
brought down in the form of Angels, but it was the spirits of those angelic beings that fell before
the foundation of the world, back there when the war went on in heaven. And Satan and--and the
dragon fought, and then... Or Michael and--and the--the dragon fought and Lucifer. And Lucifer
was cast out with all of his children, all of the angels that he had deceived, and those angels come
to the earth and was subject then to become human. And when they did, that's when the sons of
God saw the daughters of men was fair, and took unto them wives.
They are sons of God. Every man that's born in this earth is a son of God. Regardless of whether
he's sinner or what he is, he's a son of God, created in the image of God for the praises of God;
he's created that way. But God in the beginning knew who would receive Him and who would not
receive Him. Therefore He could predestinate, or not predestinate, but by foreknowledge He could
tell who would be saved and who wouldn't be saved, for He knew which person would take up
which spirit.
And those spirits that come from the throne of God, and stands before the throne of God, and
lived--and billions and billions and aeons of time before the world ever begin in the Presence of
God, you think they don't know something about worship? And they come down and get right into
men, and they worship God. Absolutely, they worship God; and they have a knowledge of God,
and they're smart, and shrewd, and educated, always. But God rejected them from the beginning.
So therefore, friends, membership of a church, or--or knowledge of some theology or something,
doesn't have one thing to do with it. It's got to be the Blood of Jesus Christ and a new birth that
joins you to Him as one person. There you are.
God, in the beginning when He knowed that... Man and women was made one, not two; they
were made one. They were separated, one put in flesh and one in a theophany. He knew that. So
in order to prove that to you, when God made the woman, He never took some dust and made her
like He did the man; He took a rib out of the side of Adam, and she become a byproduct of a man,
because she's part of him. You get it now? See? There you are.
There the angels... And God and the spirit that's joined with God is one Spirit. That's right. Now,
the Spirit of God that dwells in the Church, is the Spirit that come from heaven, that God knew
before the foundation of the world, that rejected the devil's lie. And that spirit had to take a body of
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flesh to be--to take his testings. He had to come flesh like these others did, and all of them put on
the equal yoke. And God, by the beginning, knowed the spirits that would and which would not.
There you are. That devil is so wise he has--deceive the very elect, if possible.
So these spirits, these angels that preached, was in prison... Angels, if you'll notice it here, it's a
little "a" which means "men": angels, messenger's here on the earth. They sinned, and the only
way that they could sin would be disbelieve. And the way... They had their own religions, and they
did not believe the message of Noah. They did not believe the message of Enoch. And they
rejected their message and was condemned; the Bible said they were.
Enoch prophesied to them, said, "The Lord's a-coming with ten thousands of His saints."
And they prophesied. And Noah built an ark, and they said, "He's a holy-roller. He's a fanatic.
There is no such a thing as the rain coming." And a hundred and twenty years went on, and he
had a religion that had salvation in it; there was a way of escape made, but they were satisfied in
their condition.
That's the way it is today, that men are satisfied in their condition. But there is a way of escape,
and that way is through Jesus Christ. Amen. There you are: the same tribe, the same spirits.
And they were absolutely religious men, very religious, but they missed the covenant vow.
So is it today. Men go to church, and join big churches, and try to be the most popular person in
the city. If they want to join a church, they get the biggest in the city, the best and well-thought-of
in the city. How far they miss the calling. How far they miss it
The only way you'll ever know Jesus Christ is by spiritual revelation, not by theology and how
much you study the Bible. Whether you be Christian Science, Methodist, Jehovah Witness, or
whatever you are; no matter what you are, you'll never know It by the Word; it's the Spirit of God
that reveals Him to you. It's a spiritual revelation.
When Adam in the garden of Eden, and Eve... When those children was cast out, here come Cain
with good theology. He said, "God should know that we are doing this from the best--best of my
heart. I'll build a beautiful altar; I put flowers on it; I put fruits on it; I make it pretty. Surely I can
appease God with this and let Him know that I'm sincere in my heart." He was right as far as the
Word went; God wanted worship; he went to worship. He made a beautiful place to worship in,
great, fine cathedral as we'd call it today. And he made it right; he built it right; he put an altar in it;
he wasn't an infidel.
But Abel, upon the Word of God... There was no Bible wrote then, but God revealed to him that it
wasn't fruit that brought us out of the garden of Eden. It wasn't apples that Adam and Eve ate; it
was absolutely sexual things that had separated them and divided them, and knowing that they
become...?... and through the blood of Adam, and through the blood of the serpent that had
started this... Abel by Divine revelation went and got a lamb and offered it, and God said, "That's
it." Sure.
When they come down off of Mount Transfiguration, Jesus said, "Who does man say I the Son of
man am?"
"Some say You're Moses, and some say You're Elias, and some say You're Jeremiah, and some
say You're that prophet."
He said, "But Who do you say I am?"
Peter said, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God."
He said, "Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jonas, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you.
(Watch.) Not no more through the letter, not no more through the school; you never learned it in a
seminary; neither did somebody tell you. Flesh and blood hath not revealed this to you, but My
Father which is in heaven has revealed it to you. And upon this rock I'll build My Church, and the
gates of hell can't prevail against it." There you are. There's the church of the living God. That's it.
Upon that church... Upon that revelation, this church is built. It's a Divine revelation that God has
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revealed, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and you accept Him as your personal Saviour,
you've passed from death unto Life.
And the Holy Spirit's a-moving and working in the members of this body. There's the church. No
matter if it's poor, and in a mission, and you stand out under a pine tree somewhere, or wherever it
is, if it's in somebody's house in a private meeting, no matter where it would be... Beauty and
things doesn't enchant God. It's the sincerity of the heart by a revelation that Jesus Christ has
been presented as the Son of God, a personal Saviour. Amen.
My, we can never get these, go through like that, will we?
There's the ones that--over there that He went... The angels, the messengers, them preachers,
them the intellectuals, them messengers that believed not when Noah went to preach to them and
told them, "Why, come into this ark."
They said, "Listen to that holy-roller. Listen to that fanatic. Why, there's no rain. Whoever heard of
such a thing? Why, my, don't we have churches? Aren't we religious?" Why, they were religious.
Jesus said it would be a generation that passed just then, would be--that generation would repeat
again just before His coming, "As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the coming of the Son
of man. For they were eating, drinking, marrying, giving in marriage." They had a Reno, Nevada,
then somewhere. They had all kinds of nonsense that they got today, rallying, and frolicking, and
making fun, scoffers, and so forth: having a form of godliness, but denying the real truth: the
covenant, the Message of grace. God making this way and giving the people His--His covenant,
how they could escape; It had salvation in it. Salvation was a place to escape.
"What do we need with salvation?" Today people say, "Aren't we living under a good democratic
form of government? What do we need?"
I don't care how much democratic form of government we live; we need the Blood of Jesus Christ.
Right. We need Christ. I appreciate a democratic form of government; that has nothing to do with
the salvation of the soul. Absolutely. Those governments will pass, and every nation will pass. And
I've stood by the--where the pharaohs stood, and you have to dig twenty feet under the ground to
find their thrones where they set. All the pharaohs and his kingdoms of this earth, and all of its
faltery things will fail and go away, but Jehovah will reign forever, for He's the immortal God.
Solidly upon the rock Christ Jesus we stand, for all other grounds is sinking sands.
Care whether it's... Kingdoms will arise and fail, but oh, there's nothing... I don't care whether it's
anything. There's nothing present, nothing future, nothing, starvations, or perils or anything can
ever separate us from that love of God that's in Christ. When a man is borned of the Spirit of God,
he's a creature no longer of time, but he's a creature of eternity. Amen. He's passed from death
unto Life. He's passed from the... He's passed from the time element into the eternity. He can
never perish. And God swore that He'd raise him up in the last days.
So they can have all your big churches, and all your big times, and all you wish to, and tell your
dirty jokes, and have your bunco games, and soup suppers, and everything else that you want to,
and have some educated preacher standing there. Maybe he can do a better job at it than some of
these little old boys hardly knows their abc's. But I'm telling you truth; I'd rather have a boy didn't
know his abc's preaching to me, that knowed Christ, than all the great theologians there is with all
you're educations could be thought of. Absolutely.
Down here in Kentucky not long ago, a little old boy that couldn't even hardly read his own name,
said the Lord called him to preach and he wanted a schoolhouse. Why, the authorities wouldn't let
him have it. Some great big preacher come by there with a handle on his name like that, some
great doctor of divinity, why, they let him have the school. Sure. He held a two weeks revival, not
one soul. And his father went back, said, "Now, if you let him have it, I'm a taxpayer; I got a right
for my boy to have it. And my boy should have it also."
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So he went back to find out, and after... They said, "Well, we'll let him have it at least two nights."
And they went on and let him have it two nights.
And that night that little old boy got up there and couldn't even read the Bible, had somebody read
his text. But when he walked to the platform, he was anointed with the Holy Ghost. And when he
preached, about twenty come to the altar; and that self-styled preacher wept her way through to
Calvary at the altar.
Sure, brother, it's not--not what you know; it's Who you know. That's the idea; that's what it takes.
It takes to know Christ. To know Him is Life; to reject Him is death.
Quickly to our other questions, the questions now that goes down to Georgia...
67. What do the stones in the--represent in Revelation 21:19 and 20?
If you wish to take the time to open your Bibles, which we haven't too much time now, but I'll try to
answer them quickly. Revelation 20, I believe it's 21:19 and 20. Yes.
All right, in there you'll find out that he was talking of the stones that was in the building. And the
stones were foundations. If you'll notice... I do believe you have it there, Brother Neville. And each
stone was a foundation. Not one stone a foundation, and the others... But each stone was a
foundation. Each stone was a constant foundation. And there were twelve stones. And if you
notice those twelve stones, give each... First starting out with jasper, and sardius, and so forth like
that, representing each stone.
In the Bible there you'll find out it was called certain stones. Some of them a little difference, you
never heard of it. If you look back in the dictionary you find out it's the same stone, just a different
name change.
But it starts out with--with jasper. Jasper was the stone of--of Benjamin--or the stone of, oh, the
first son, Reuben. The first stone was Reuben, which was jasper. The last stone was Benjamin,
the last stone on top.
Now, these twelve stones that the foundations was laid on, them--them twelve stones hung on the
breastplate of Aaron. And they--he represent... He was the high priest of these--of these tribes.
Each one of their birthstones in here, in this--this plate... And when the people saw this plate, they
recognized that Aaron was the high priest of that entire tribe, when they seen the birthstone in this
plate.
Now, when we got this morning at Brother Neville's message. And as many times they brought
the Urim Thummim. You see it mentioned in the Bible as the way they knowed whether their
message was truth or not. Those stones, when they'd go to telling what the man said, the prophet
prophesied, and those stones all reflected together. It made a conglomeration of light that took
sapphire, and jasper, and carbuncle, and all those other stones reflecting their light; it made one
great big beautiful rainbow color that blended the whole thing together.
Now, now, the day when that Urim Thummim was taken away with that priesthood, now this Bible
is God's Urim Thummim today. And when a preacher preaches, it must not be just one little place
here, and that's all he puts his hopes upon; it must be the entire Bible reflecting the message that
the man's a-preaching. That is the thing. Not just one place, and say, "Well, the Bible says this."
Oh, sure, it says lots of things. But you must make it all be put together. And when the Spirit of
God comes and gets into the--the Word, It places it all together and reflects one great big Light,
and that Light is Jesus Christ. Amen.
Now, these twelve stones was twelve foundations that was started out from Reuben, and Gad,
and on down to Benjamin: twelve tribes, twelve stones. And those stones in the temple, in the new
heavenly Jerusalem, each foundation will be laid upon one of the patriarchs.
Now, watch, you notice the stones. Now, you're going to watch them patriarchs reflected right into
something else, just in another question.
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68. Explain--explain the fourth--the four beasts of Revelations 5.
Brother Neville, if you've got that right there close, or some of you, of Revelations 5, we'll read this
just for a minute. It's a--it's a beautiful picture here of the... Here, I have it myself, Revelations the
5th chapter.
And I saw in the right hand of him that set upon the--upon the throne a book written within and
without and--and--and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.
And I...
Now, that's not the place. I'm wanting to get just a little further, the four beasts. Let's see, the 14th
verse. All right, sir. Now, here we go; that's right. Now, let's begin up here at the--at the 12th verse,
no, I guess the...
And the four beasts said, Amen...
Now, there's a little place behind that, Brother Neville.
Behold, I heard the voice...
Let's see, just a minute, I was reading it awhile ago. Oh, here we are; let's begin at the 6th verse,
the 5th verse.
And one of the elders said unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of
David, has prevailed to open the book, and to loose the... seals thereof.
And I beheld, and,... in the midst of the throne and... four beasts, and in the midst of the elders,
stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven heads and seven eyes, which are the seven
Spirits... sent forth from... unto the earth.
I want you to hold that question, and if I don't catch it down here in a minute, I want you to bring
back again. I want to deal on that, "the seven Spirits of the seven eyes that was on the Lamb." Oh,
that's a real beautiful thing. (Well, we want to get this brother's question now.) All right, don't forget
that now.
And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that set upon the throne.
... when he had taken it, the four beasts and the four and twenty elders fell down before the
lamb,... every one of them having harps,...
Now, that's the--the four--the four beasts here, if you'll notice. Now, let's go ahead and read just a
little farther.
... golden harps,... full of vials and odours,... and prayers of saints,
And they sang a new song,... Thou art worthy... (and went ahead and made their--all their worship
to the Lord)
Now, these four beasts of Revelations, if you notice them, every place... (You Bible readers, and
which the man is going to listen to this tape recording...) Those four beasts, they had four faces:
one had a face like a man; the other one had a face like an ox; and the other face was like an
eagle; and the other face was like a lion. And they never went backwards; they couldn't go
backwards.
How many remembers the old book of Revelations when they taught it years ago, when I took
about two years here on the Book of Revelation? A lot of the oldtimers do.
Look, they could not go backwards, because every way they went they were going forward. If they
went this a-way, they was going like a man; if they went this a-way, they was going like a lion;
went this a-way, they was going like an eagle; if they went this a-way, they was going like an ox.
See, they couldn't go backwards; they were going forward all the time.
Now, those four beasts... Now, to quickly get this, 'cause I don't want to stay too long on this. But
the four beasts... The "beast," in Bible represents "power." And you notice these beasts were not
out yonder in the lake or in the sea somewhere coming up, but they were at the throne of God,
and they were worshipping God. Those "four beasts" means "four powers" that come up out of the
earth, and those four powers was the four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John; one don't
contradict the other one.
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And one of them, the... As the Gospel goes forth as a lion, it's stern, it's bold; the Gospel is brave
like a lion, and it's a king like a lion. If it goes towards a man's face, it's cunning and shrewd like a
man. If it goes the eagle, it's got the swift wings and the high heights. It... See what I mean? If it
goes like the ox, it's the work horse that can pull, the work ox that pull the--the--the burden of the
Gospel. The four beasts was the four powers, which were Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the
four Gospels that ring out in the Presence of God. That was...
If you noticed, they had eyes in front and in the back. They--they... Everywhere it went, it
reflected. They seen everywhere they were going. And that's the power of the Gospels as it goes
out; it can... It's got the shrewdness of a man; it's got the swiftness of an eagle; it's got the--the-the--the power, the pulling power, the burden-bearer like an ox; it's got the--the sternness and the
boldness of a lion. See, it's the four Gospels, which are the four powers of the Revelations the 4th
chapter. All right, now the next...
69. Who are the twenty and four elders? All right, I believe that would be on the--the... Who are
the twenty-four elders?
Now, that's just simple; we could get to it. The twenty-four elders was setting before the throne.
That's in the ver... I believe it's in verse 4, is where it's found. "And there went out another..." I've
got to... Let's see, I've... 4:10.
All right, Revelations the 4th chapter and the 10th verse. That's right. We'll get to it.
And the four and twenty elders fell down before him that set on the throne, and worshipped him
that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne saying,
Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things,
and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
Now, the four and twenty elders, an elder is an overseer. Now, notice, they were twelve patriarchs
and twelve apostles. And they were setting, twelve on one side and twelve on the other. There
were the twenty and four elders, which were, the twelve patriarchs on one side, the Old
Testament, the twelve apostles on the other side, of the New Testament. Didn't Jesus say, "You'll
set on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel"?
And how the foundations looked... There's even a tree in there. And the tree on either side bears
twelve manners of fruit. And they yield their fruit once a month, which is twelve months in a year.
They render twelve manners of fruit every year as it goes by. "Twelve," is that "worship number."
You see? And there's a twenty and four, would be twenty-four, twelve apostles and twelve
patriarchs. They're setting at the throne.
All right, now the 4th verse--or the fourth question.
70. What did the scarlet thread in Genesis 38 represent?
The scarlet thread, if you'll notice, it was Judah. And he had a--sons, and one of his sons married
a Canaanite woman. And this Canaanite woman didn't have any children, and his son died. Then
the law then was to take... The next son had to take the brother's wife and raise up seed to the
dead. And the other man did not cooperate and do as he should do, and the Lord slayed him.
Then he had one young son; so Judah said, "Wait till this son drives--grows up until the place
where you can marry him."
And when he grew up to a place that he was supposed to marry his two brothers' former wife, well,
he was supposed to take her then to raise seed up to his brethren that had been--that had died
before him... Judah did not give the woman, the Canaanite woman, the son, the boy, and just let
him go ahead. So she seen that she was doing wrong, so she goes out and wraps a veil over her
face, and set in a public place as a harlot would set.
Judah come by and took the woman as his wife, and she was a harlot, and lived with her. And
said... She said, "Well, what would you bargain with me?" And he... She said...
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He said, "A gift of a--a kid." He said...
"Well, give me a sign that you'll do it." So she took his staff and his signet and so forth, and kept it.
And when they brought the kid, they couldn't find the harlot, 'cause she wasn't a harlot.
After while, she showed up that she was to be a mother. And when she showed up that she was to
be a mother, they come told Judah, "Thy daughter-in-law has played the part of a harlot." Said,
"Because that she--she's to be mother, and your both boys are dead."
He said, "Well, she'll be called forth and burned."
And so she sent word to Judah, and she said, "The man that did this, owned this staff and this
signet." All right. That was her father-in-law.
And he said, "She's more righteous than I am."
Now, when she...?... her children was to be delivered, there were twins. And when the twin... The
first baby that was to be born, the old Jewish custom, the first child had the birthright, the first child
to break forth. And that, remember, was her first child. None of the rest of the boys had had any
children by her. She'd never had a child till this time.
And when her first child broke forth, it was just a hand. And the midwife put a scarlet streak
around, because a scarlet streak spake of redemption that the first son of the virgin Mary would
be--have the scarlet streak of redemption.
And when he drew his hand back, the other one come first. And when he did, said, "Why did you
do this? The other one has the birthright."
So that's what Genesis 38 means. You see? That the first child still remained until the coming of
the Lord Jesus Christ, that the first was under the redempting law.
You--you know I said... The little mule, you know, I've told about, that his eyes was whatevermore,
his ears broke down, but if he was born with a birthright, a innocent, perfect lamb died in his place.
There it is.
So that was for the birthright. The first baby that broke forth from the mother, and they seen that
hand (and knew that it might turn back again). And when he pushed forth his hand to show that he
had it, he was the first one, the midwife bound the scarlet thread around it and he pulled his hand
back. See? But absolutely, he was the first. That was the scarlet streak; the scarlet streak has
always through the Bible, that means redemption; which was pointing forward to the first child
coming.
The first horse born, the first cow born, ever what it was, everything that was born first (that come
forth) was under redemption, had to be redeemed; everything had to be redeemed. Hallelujah. Oh,
that just thrills me. Do you get it? The first had to be redeemed. It was a law. Blessed be the Name
of the Lord.
And when Jesus Christ was born, He redeemed the whole world. Certainly, He did. He was the
Redeemer of every creature that was ever created on the earth. He was the Redeemer. And at...
All redemption lays in Him, and no other way at all can you ever come by good works, by joining
church, or whatever it is; you must come by that scarlet streak, that Redeemer, that Kinsman
Redeemer.
All right, now the next is...
71. Where are the gifts... What are the gifts to be sent regarding the death of the two witnesses of
Revelations 11?
Oh, Brother Palmer, if you can't ask some questions.
Now, the redemption, these streaks here, this scarlet streak, we see it meant redemption.
Now, the next question is.
What is the gifts in Revelations 11?
There's coming a time... Now, here's going to answer a question that was answered the other
night, that a preacher friend of mine wrote about the Jews, how it would be.
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The Book of Hebrews
Now, these Jews has got three and a half years promised to them. How many knows that?
Seventy of weeks was promised. Said, "Messiah will come and be cut off in the midst." Three and
a half years Christ preached, was killed in the--exactly three and a half years, three years and six
months He preached. [Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.]
And then the abomination maketh desolation, the--the Moslem of Omar was set--put on the holy
ground, as God said, twenty-five hundred years before it happened, it would be standing there.
The prophet saw it, and seen it, and said, "They would... The Gentiles would be in possession
there, until the Gentile dispensation would be finished."
Now, there's yet three and a half years promised. If you notice, these witnesses of Revelations 11
prophesy a thousand, two hundred and three score days, exactly three and a half years. Now...
And they were in sackcloth. Now, watch their ministry, what they are. Now, these two witnesses
are killed.
Now, the... They returned to the Jews after the rapture of the Gentile church. The Gentile church
goes home for the wedding supper, and as Rebekah was taken into Abraham's place with Isaac
and there was married... And Rebekah and Isaac come out with full possession of everything that
Abraham had; it all went to Isaac. Absolutely. And it could not come to Isaac until first Isaac was
married. Oh, hallelujah. There you are.
And Christ becomes... God dwells in that perfect...?... marred body completely forever and
through eternity. When the Lamb and the Bride is married in heaven, she walks out in full
possession. Absolutely. Isaac and Rebekah came forth in full possession.
And while this ceremony is going on in heaven of the Bride, the Gentile Bride being married to the
Prince, God's Son, in glory... While they're being married, there's three and a half years that takes
place while the--Moses and Elijah...
Which, Moses was never abso... No, his body was packed away. The Angels took him; he did not
mortify; he did not corrupt. He was a perfect type of Christ. He died, and the Angels packed him
away, and even the devil don't even know where he's buried, and tried to dispute with Michael the
Archangel about his burial. That's what the Bible said. God took him up in the rapture.
And Elijah, when he was walking there, a prophet of God walked down to the Jordan, took off his
mantle, and struck the waters, and she parted right and left. He walked up on the mountain. Elisha
said... Said, "What are you following me for?"
He said, "I want a double portion of your Spirit."
Said, "You've asked a hard thing, but if you see me when I go..." He kept his eyes on him.
And after while, down from the heaven come a chariot of fire, and Angels of fire, horses of fire, and
Elijah stepped on and went up into glory. He never tasted death; he was translated. He's got to
die.
And if you'll watch these two prophets of Revelations 11, they do the very same thing that Moses
and Elijah done. You say, "Brother Branham, do you mean to tell me that Elijah and Moses is still
alive?" Absolutely.
Why, before Mount Transfiguration... At Mount Transfiguration, before Jesus went to Calvary,
there stood both Moses and Elijah standing there talking to Him. Certainly, they did; they're not
dead. And they've never died; they're mortals; they got to die. So they're just in a glorified state
waiting for that time.
And then when they come back and preach exactly three and a half years under the anointing of
the baptism of the Holy Ghost, while the blessings are taken from the Gentiles, and the church is
taken up, and the cold, formal church is hunted down like dogs by the communist and Roman
parties... And when they're hunted down and killed, they--they are killed... Then these prophets
preach three and a half years, and the Bible said that they were killed in the great--in the street of
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The Book of Hebrews
called spiritually, Sodom and Egypt, where our Lord was crucified. That's back in Jerusalem
(See?), back in Jerusalem, spiritually called.
And they laid on the street for three days and nights. And then at the end of the three and a half
days, the spirit of life come into them and they rose up. They had to die like other mortals; they
had to do it. And when they killed these two preachers...
They preached against wrong, and they brought fire out of heaven. Who did that? See? They
brought plagues out of heaven, and smote the earth as quick as--any time they wanted to. And
they brought fire out of heaven. And they stopped the heavens from raining, as long as they
wanted to. Who was that? Exactly Moses and Elijah. And there's them two witnesses.
And when they tormented the church, or the world, by their preaching, and receiving back the
Jews, and bringing them back to repentance, bringing them back to believe on... When they see
Jesus coming for the Bride, they'll say, "Lo, this is our God Who we waited on. That's Him." But
He's not coming for them; He come for His Bride. And His Bride...
When Joseph went into Egypt, he did not take his brethren with him, but he got his bride there.
Absolutely. But when he made hisself known to his brothers, there was nobody present. That's
exactly right. And when He makes Hisself known to these Jews, they'll be nobody there but the
Jews. There's them who killed Joseph, standing there; and he said, "Well, I'm Joseph, your
brother." And he wept.
And they said, "Now, we know we're in for it, because we killed him."
The same thing, those Jews will have that great time of trouble just before the coming now, of that
persecution running them back into the homeland... It's shooing them like a bunch of sheep back
to Mount Carmel yonder.
When the Lord Jesus shall come for his Bride, and they see Him, they'll say, "That's the One
we've waited on; there He is." He'll rise with healing in His wings. That's right.
And the church, the remnant of the Jews, when they finally kill these two prophets, and they lay in
the street spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, where our Lord was crucified, they send gifts one to
another (the world does).
Now, Brother Palmer, here you are. Look back into the Roman history, and you'll find out there's
only one nation in all the world that ever sent gifts after a battle: that's the Roman empire.
That's the reason I say that the antichrist comes out of Rome, The beast comes out of Rome; it
can't come out of Moscow. It comes from Rome, the red dragon that stood at the woman to devour
her child as soon as it was born, that devil... Where was that devil? Who was it? Caesar Augustus
that sent forth and killed all the children from two year old down. The red dragon, the dragon,
beast means "power." The Roman power persecuted and tried to find that Christ Child.
And that same thing... Every time that the Romans, the old pagan Rome used to ha

The Book of Hebrews - William Branham Storehouse

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