Perseverance

Date: 62-0218 | Duration: 2 hours and 47 minutes
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Jeffersonville, Indiana, U.S.A.
Sermon translation in Russian: 62-0218 - Донецк, 62-0218 * - VGR
Sermon translation in French: 62-0218 - Shp
E-1 Thank you, Brother Neville. The Lord bless you. Thank you.
Morning, friends. It's a privilege to be here this morning in the Presence of the Lord, in the tabernacle with the people. And it's a rainy day outside, and I just drove up just now, and the way you were singing and clapping your hands, they must be having showers of blessings on the inside. So that's very good. So we're very thankful for this day. It's a… We got to have the rain. If we don't have the rain, then the Master cannot gather His fruits. So we have a—a rain inside, spiritual, or there won't be any fruits for the harvest. We have to have a rain on the outside or we won't have any natural harvest. That's right.
E-2 And, you know, both of it, it takes something that died so that we can live. The harvest brings on life, and life has to produce death. Through death we live. You know, every day, by your natural life, something has to die so you can live. You have to… something dies. So you—you eat and live by dead substance. If you eat pork chops, the hog died. If you eat beefsteak, the cow died. If you eat corn, it died. If you eat wheat bread, well, it died. You eat kale, it died. You live by dead substance, naturally. Then, isn't that truth that Something had to die so we could live Eternally? Christ died, the Son of God, that we can live Eternally. So I'm so happy for all of that this morning, to be knowing that these great disastrous times that we're living in now, and know that Christ died for sinners, and that was me, that He died for me.
E-3 Now, I guess last Sunday you remember that the Lord a few days ago spoke to me and said we were going to… You notice in the last Sunday's tape there were coming disasters. Just coming down I was listening to broadcast, and Germany's got the worse flood they've ever had in the nation. It's killed hundreds, and people are even hanging themselves. I jotted this down, coming down. And dikes has broke through, and everything, in Germany. And England has the most terrific windstorms, it's blowed, I believe, seventy thousand houses away, already. See? Well, we're at the end time. Jesus will appear one of these days, and we're at the end time. Just remember, this is just beginning, it's going to continue to come on and on. See? We're at the end.
E-4 Now, tomorrow, right after the message today, we're getting ready to leave for Arizona again, so we ask the church to pray for us, and as we go. And then I got a great decisions I have to make, friends, and I can't make them alone, 'cause I don't know what to do. And I will ask this church, as a group of believers sojourning here with me, that you'll pray for me, that my decisions will be the right place to go. Some three hundred overseas cities, I think, is calling, and—and—and Switzerland, Germany, and—and Africa, and everywhere. So we pray that God will just help us to do the right thing where He can use us at. And you pray for me. I'm going to be praying for you always, you know that. So you pray for me that the Lord God will guide me.
E-5 Now, on coming back from Arizona, the Lord willing, I—I want to call the attention and we'll announce it at the church, they will here, and I would like to have a little longer time to speak with the congregation here. I got a Message, and I like to preach about eight hours or something, see, so like that. When we…
E-6 A lady was talking to me, Mrs. Wood here of the church, I was speaking to her, and I was at Milltown at the Baptist church there where we was having service, and then I believe one of their first service, said, "I come in at ten o'clock, Brother Branham, you were preaching." And said, "You preached on till noon, then all afternoon, then they had a little fifteen, twenty minutes time to eat lunch." And said, "We left that night at ten o'clock, you were still preaching." I—I said—said, "Well, you know I don't know too much, but, you know, when I get what little I know out of the way, and let Him go talking, I… He knows a whole lot." So, and I just like to hear it, too, so I… But I was just saying that in a roundabout way.
E-7 But, coming back, the Lord willing, I would like to start early and just run on through for a Message that the Lord's putting on my heart. And I pray that He will grant the fulness of it to me out in the desert, for the church in the last day now. See, just one of the last moves of the Spirit, I believe, is at hand. And we're believing that the Lord Jesus is fixing to turn the heavens loose with the powers of God, that it will rend the heavens, that we believe that He's going to do it. And so we're trusting that He'll give a fuller message on it as we return. And have about… begin about nine o'clock at morning, and, or nine-thirty, and run on through till about two or three o'clock, or whenever I get time to get through with it, you see. When…
E-8 Then I think then maybe go to Africa from there. So if the Lord continues to lead that way, or Switzerland first, then Palestine and Africa, on the conventions. So, be in prayer. Whatever you do, just look up today and pray, pray. That's all, that's the only hope that we have, is prayer.
E-9 We're past the… I hope I don't sound sacrilegious, or like some—somebody that didn't know what they were speaking of, but I believe our nation, as a nation, is all already past redeeming. There's too… If there was enough Christians or enough together to pull it together, but as much pulling has been done, great evangelists and great services everywhere, and still it continually plunges on into chaos. So I—I believe that just like all great nations, see, all of them must fall. They, all these systems and so forth must fall.
E-10 Thinking of man giving their lives for a democracy. That's—that's a loyal thing to the nation. That's good. Nothing against that. But what about our lives for Christ, you see? A man be a hero; raise up, a young fellow just in the bloom of life, and have his head shot right off his shoulders, and to be a hero, and perhaps maybe don't even hear about it 'less it's his own family at home, or somebody around his neighborhood that knew him. But yet we're afraid to step out and take that all-sufficient move for Christ, you see, where, "He that findeth his life shall lose it; he that loses his life for My sake shall find it, keep his life." So let's—let's just put everything that we got right in the Lord Jesus and just seal ourselves away from the things of the world, and look to Him and believe His Word and move right on with Him.
E-11 Now, just before… Now, today, pardon me, I… Last Sunday I kept you so long on that subject of the oneness between God and His people. And now today I thought I would let you out earlier today, because last Sunday there was many to be prayed for and I didn't have time to run the prayer line after—after we got through preaching. And—and I think they give out some cards last Sunday or something for the people, or whatever it is, we'll call for them if they're in the building, and, if there's not, we'll pray anyhow.
E-12 Now, today I just want to speak on a subject to kind of build up faith. You've got to. If you're building any… If there's ministers here which there's no doubt there is, knows that when you are speaking to the people you have an atmosphere of preaching for salvation, then you want to make that call to that. And then if you want the atmosphere for healing, you—you get the anointing yourself, by the Word of God, and deliver it to the people, and that puts the whole group in the anointing for a certain thing. Otherwise, under expectations of certain things. See, we're expecting something.
E-13 And you know, I believe then, to bring that a little higher, that God's got all of His Church now, the called-out remnant of His church, under expectations of His coming, you see. I remember at the gate in His coming, there must have been a tremendous Good Friday when they knowed He was coming to the feast, and expectations. Many of them was expecting Him to be there, to see some kind of a miracle He would perform. Or, and others were wanting to see Him. Others wanted to make fun of Him. And it was kind of a—a different passover than had been for a long time, when He rode into the city. Let's just be expecting Him to come to take us Home, and then we'll, when He comes this time.
E-14 Now let us bow our heads as we speak to Him. Now over this audience of people, if there is any request here that would like to be known to God, would you just raise your hand to Him, and, like, "God, be merciful to me. I—I need salvation, I need healing, I want a closer walk with You." God bless you. It's all over the building.
E-15 Our Heavenly Father, as we approach Thy throne of grace, in the Name of the Lord Jesus, that One Who brought us this amazing grace, how we thank You with all of our hearts for Him Who was without sin and came down and purchased the salvation for us, the unworthy ones, that we being unworthy yet might be brought nigh unto Him by the shedding of His Blood, that He might wash us by the water of the Word and present us unto His Father as a chaste virgin, cleansed, sanctified by His Blood, and made acceptable in the sight of God, washed and ready. As we're thinking of the washing of the Sacrifice, thinking that when John seen Him coming into the water, he spoke and said, "I have need to be baptized of Thee, and why comest Thou unto me?"
E-16 Said, "Suffer it, John, to be so." Oh, I love that. In other word, "John, you are the prophet, I am your God. We are the leading men of this day. I know you understand, and so do I understand. But, remember, John, it behooveth us, it's becoming to us that we fulfill all righteousness." John, knowing that the Sacrifice must be washed before It's sacrificed, and He was the Sacrifice, so he baptized Him, the sinless One, washing the Sacrifice before It was presented.
E-17 God, wash our hearts this morning. Wash us with the water of the Word, that we might present ourselves to You. Cleanse us, Lord, from all unbelief, that we might be drawn nigh unto Thee as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, for this is our reasonable service. We thank You for these things. Thank You for every person that's present. Praying that You'll bless the great universal Church of the living God, throughout the nations and around the world. This morning where ministers are standing in the pulpit, I pray that You'll pour out Your Spirit, Lord, in a miraculous way upon every faithful pastor at his post of duty, on the evangelists, upon the missionaries. O God, when I think of them out there, some of them without a pair of shoes on, old ragged pair of trousers wrapped around them, going through the jungle, to bring peace and deliverance to those that are away from Christ.
E-18 God, we say, "Send Jesus quickly. Come, Lord Jesus." And now we see nature, the very sign like the star that led the wise men to Bethlehem, on the move again. Jesus said there'd be perplexity of time, distress between the nations, signs in the heaven and earth, sea roaring, great storms and tidal waves and earthquakes in divers places. These things are just… they are buzzers that sets our hearts alarm, Lord, that we know to be ready. We don't know what minute or hour He might appear.
E-19 And as we come today, we pray that You'll bless the secret behind every hand that raised up. God, You know all about it. I pray that You'll wash them, Lord, and their sacrifice and desire, and give to them what they have need of. And as we're coming today, Lord, I pray if there be those here who doesn't know You as a Saviour, that this will be that day, that greatest day of their life, when they'll say "yes" to the Lord Jesus. Grant it, Lord.
E-20 Bless those now, Father, as we are trying to make ready to cause people to have faith, by reading Your Word. God, send Your Word with power, out across the building here, and into the lands where the tapes will go, and the foreign nations, wherever it may be, and may many be saved and healed today for the glory of God. We ask it in the Name of His beloved Holy Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
E-21 We pray that God add His tremendous blessings now as we read His Word. Remember, my words will fail, they're a man's word, but His Word cannot fail. "Heavens and earth will pass away but My Word shall not." What a hope that is today! I feel like singing with Eddie Perronet, "All hail the power of Jesus' Name, let angels prostrate fall; bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all. On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand; all other grounds is sinking sands, all other ground."
E-22 Now, to many of you that read with us and would like to mark the text, and sometimes that refer to the Scriptures that I have written out here on the notes, we're going to start, read this morning from Saint Matthew 15:21.
Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre of Sidon.
And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.
But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.
But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.
And he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and cast it to the dogs.
And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat… the crumbs which are fallen from their masters' table.
Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.
E-23 Now, this morning we want to talk on faith. Now, my subject this morning is: Perseverance. Perseverance means "to—to be persistent, to make a goal." Now, "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."
E-24 We have our body, and our being here is like a seed. And a seed on the outside has a shell; inside the shell has a crust, or a pulp, pardon me; and inside the pulp has a germ. That's the way we are: body, soul, spirit. Now, to the body there's five senses: see, taste, feel, smell, and hear. To the soul there's conscience, and so forth, five avenues to it.
E-25 The inside is one, one avenue. And that avenue is the same place that God set every man from Adam and Eve, self-will. You will to live or you will to die, either one you want to. It's, you're based on free moral agency, and whatever a spirit that you let dominate you will bring forth the fruits, your life will be dominated by the inside. And faith… So many people rely upon these five senses on the outside. They're fine, nothing against them, if they agree with this sixth sense. This soul… this spirit only can be of two kinds, one of them is the Spirit of God, the other is the spirit of the devil. You can't serve two masters at the same time. You're wholly given to one or wholly given to the other. And if you've got the Spirit of God in you, you've got faith, and you'll believe every Word that God wrote. And if you haven't, you might be…
E-26 Now, the devil is not like some people think, "he's mean and everything," but he's deceitful. The devil makes you think that you're right. But when you disagree with the Word, that shows that it isn't the Spirit of God, 'cause the Holy Spirit wrote the Bible. And then it's got to be agreeable with the Word. And remember last Sunday, just one little disbelief in God's Word. Eve, Satan told her the truth, and he never denied the Word being true, but that one little part of the Word caused all this trouble. The woman disbelieved It because she was hunting for wisdom instead of staying with the Word. When God says anything, heavens and earth will pass but His Word shall never pass away. God's Word must be fulfilled to the dot. Just to the very tittle and jot, It must be fulfilled.
E-27 Now, perseverance, to be persistent, to try to make a goal, trying to, you've got your mind set on something, and you're—you're persistent in it because you believe it's the thing that you want, and you believe you can get it. Now, pardon me. To be persistent, you've got your mind made up now that what you're going to do. Now, you cannot have faith in God without knowing the Word of God or knowing something about God.
E-28 Now, someone told you, "If you go touch that post, you'll get well. You're sick." I wouldn't believe that. You might do it. But that's just a little too strong for my faith. I—I don't believe there's any virtue in that post, no more than I believe there's virtue in a statue or a monument or a crucifix, or something like that.
E-29 I believe the virtue is in Christ, and Christ is the Word. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us." Now, the Word Itself comes back in the form of the Holy Spirit, into us, and It's Word in you. God in you. So many wants to point God to some mystical something way away, or so far away they overreach it. God is in you. The hope of Glory, Christ, the mind that was in Christ, in you. You're reaching plumb away from it, trying to get what's been given to you. God, in the human being! All…
E-30 Christ, when He was on earth, was the body of God. God created this body. It was a different body, yet it was a human body. You know, Solomon built Him a house. But Stephen said, "Howbeit the Most High don't dwell in houses made with hands, but a body has Thou prepared Me." Now, God prepared Himself a body in the form of the Lord Jesus, which was the Christ, meaning the anointed One. And, now, all that God was, was in Christ, He was the fulness of the godhead bodily. That's what the Scripture says. Now, and all that God was, He poured out in Christ. He was Immanuel, God with us!
E-31 And all that Christ was, He poured out into the Church. What is it? Anointed one, to continue His work that His Word might live constantly. He lived by the Word of the Father. "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceedeth from the mouth of God." And the Church don't live by bread alone, but by the Word of Christ. And the Holy Spirit comes in and takes the Word of Christ and makes It a living action today. "These signs shall follow them that believe."
E-32 See, God can't change. If God ever makes a decision, it has to remain that way. If He changes, then He's human like I am, He—He's just a man that can make a mistake. But He's infinite! So, and He's infinite and He—He's omnipotent, and He cannot make a mistake and be God. So His first decision… When a man sinned He—He forgave him on the basis of believing His Word. The second man comes, He's got to act the same way or He acted wrong when He acted the first time. If a man was healed by Divine healing, by faith in God, He granted that to the first man, if the next man comes, God's got to act the same way if it's met on the same basis. If He didn't, He's a respect of person and show partiality, which it sure wouldn't make Him God. See?
E-33 You've got to have faith in what you're doing. "And if your heart condemns us not." If we know the Bible teaches us something and we fail to do that, then there's something we can't have faith in. See, you—you can't get yourself together, because you know there's certain things there that God teaches, that you will not cope with. And when you do that, then where you at? You see, you—you can't have faith on what you're coming to. You can't come up here and say, "I—I—I, last night I was out drunk, and, Lord, I want You to heal me this morning. I—I, I'll—I'll won't drink too much more." You've got to surrender yourself, got to give yourself completely to God. You've got to obey every bit of the Word. Sell out completely and then take the Word. That Word is in the church. It's a living Word.
E-34 The Bible said, "The Word is a seed that a sower went forth to sow." Now, you can't expect to sow cockleburs and get wheat. If you sow wheat, you reap wheat. If you sow cockleburs, you reap cockleburs. So, you've got to have the Word of God.
E-35 And no believer will ever place God's Word somewhere in the past, never make Him a weakling or a historian—historian God. He is a historian God, of course, but "He's the same," the Bible said, Hebrews 13:8, "the same yesterday, today, and for ever." Therefore, just as much as He was in history, He is today. He cannot lose His power. And where the weakness is that it fell in our churches, in the beginning, in the early apostolic church. And what did we do? We started taking that church and breaking up fellowship and making different sectarian people and organizations, till we've got it down to a big chaos of nothing. Back to the Word! Back to God! Back to the living Word!
E-36 That Bible don't produce everything It says It is, on every promise, I haven't got any faith in It. But the very first Word that said, "Come unto Me all ye that labor and heavy laden," when I tested it, it was truth. Then is This the Word or isn't It the Word? If It's the Word, It's got to produce everything It promised. If it isn't, then it… Which is right and which is wrong? It's all God's Word or, to me, none of it is. None or all, one. So I believe It, every precept, every line, every punctuation, every comma, every hyphen, I believe the whole thing to be the Word of God. Hang my soul upon It!
E-37 Not touch a pole, touch something else, or a totem pole, or some man or some woman; I believe in touching God through believing His Word, through faith. Then when you do that, that Word becomes in you a life, germitized Word. And every one of God's Word is germitized. The only thing, that you take a handful of wheat and hold it here on the platform, it'll never make anything staying here. It's got to get into ground. Not only ground, but the right kind of ground to support it. If the good Word falls in poor ground, it'll bring a poor crop. You take good grains and put it in good ground, on the right condition it'll bring forth a hundredfold. So is the Word of God when It's brought into the human heart, with a faith, undying faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit and the power of God there to water It, It'll germitize and bring forth everything It said It would do. It's a Word. It's—It's God's Word.
E-38 Jesus said, John 14:12, "He that believeth on Me, the works I do shall he do also." Why, certainly! I believe that. "These works that I do," the right translation of that, "more than this shall you do." It says, "Greater than this shall you do." You couldn't do greater; He stopped nature, He raised the dead, He done everything. But, in other words, God was manifested in one Man, Christ, now He's manifested universally in His Church. "More than this," the same works.
E-39 Someone said to me not long ago, to be a little critical, said, "'Greater works,' He said, 'shall you do.' We do the greater works."
E-40 I said, "Do the lesser before you do the greater. Just show me the lesser works." You can make It, twist It around and try to make It say something, but still It remains the same. And you watch anybody that's got faith enough to believe that, It'll manifest Itself the same way that God did it. Now we got so much today under the emotions and so forth, that and things. I have nothing to say against it, that's up between the individual and God.
E-41 But, to me, every word, every action has to come from this Bible. It has to be God's Word, then I know It's true. If God, the Bible, backs it up and says it's true, with a promise, then it's the Truth. It's somebody that's found faith, that stands there on that Word and makes It live again. "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever." When we see that in the promise of God, then we can be perseverant. We can really believe, stay there because it's God's promise. Stay right with it no matter how long it takes it, it'll bring it out.
E-42 You know, He spoke one time of the seed of a mustard, or faith as a grain of mustard seed, the smallest. A mustard seed is among the smallest seeds that there is in the earth today. But what is it? It won't mix with nothing. Mustard seed won't mix with no other. You can take kale and spinach, and make rape and so forth, and you can bring different substance by mixing seeds. But mustard don't mix, they tell me that you can't mix it with nothing. It's mustard, and it remains mustard.
E-43 And when a man takes a Word of God, no matter how little that faith is, but if it won't mix with any unbelief, it'll bring him out to the Light. Some of us has great faith that'll just perform miracles. Some has faith just to hold on till it happens. But if it's genuine faith, once a hold of it, there's nothing going to shake you from it. It ain't going to mix. Then that person is persistent. He has perseverance. No matter how many people says, "The days of miracles is past," he doesn't believe it. He holds on because he's met the conditions and sunk that Word into a heart of faith that believes It. There he stays.
E-44 I know it. I seen sarcomas cancer go off of people, and deaf, dumb, and blind, universally, around the world, the dead raised up, and I know it's true. Right! Working upon vision, of course, then you know. Then you know what's the will of God. You cannot work until you know the will of God. A promise in the Bible that tells you a certain thing, that's God's Word. Then He sends His Spirit back into the church in gifts, to manifest Himself just to comb out the little differences and so forth, to make Hisself real among us. Oh, what, how could we ask for anything different, see, when He comes to us and makes Hisself so known, so personalized Himself, God amongst His people.
E-45 "A little while and the world," the world, there's a Greek word, kosmos, which means "the world order." It'll sink. Every world order must sink, every nation that's dominated by Satan. Always has been and always will be, outside of Israel, when they become a nation. Satan took Jesus up top of the mountain, said, showed Him the kingdoms of the world, all that was and would come, said, "I'll—I'll give them to You if You'll fall down and worship me."
E-46 He said, "Get hence, Satan." He knew He was going to fall heir to them in the Millennium. But every one… I stood where the Pharaohs once governed the world, known, and you'd have to dig twenty feet beneath the earth to find their kingdoms, their seats where they once set, the Caesars of Rome and—and the Pharaohs of Egypt, all these things. And if the world should stand, so will these democracies be. But there is… what do they all speak of? Something in a human heart trying to find that unity.
E-47 And if you'd only look up, unity comes from God, the power of God. When the believer, the creation here on earth that God has created, is united with God, then there comes a unity and gives faith. And when a man sees that, he's persistent, nobody's going to shake him.
E-48 Jesus said over there, "The works that I do shall you do also. A little while and the world, kosmos, sees Me no more." That's the world order, "They see Me no more."
E-49 Many church members, fine people going to church, living under that thought that they're all right. Why, you're not all right as a church member. You're a citizen. You might try to do right, but, friend, let me tell you, you must be borned again. You don't come into the Church, you don't come in the Church by shaking hands, you don't come in Church by church membership. You come into the Church by birth.
E-50 I've been in the Branham family fifty-two years, they never asked me to join the family to make my name a Branham. I was borned into the family of Branhams. I'm a Branham by birth.
E-51 And that's how you're a Christian, by birth, when you're borned of the Spirit of God. Persistent! Yes, that's when you can achieve something. All men down through the ages has always been able to achieve what… They're persistent if they're—if they have faith in what they're trying to achieve. It depends on what your achievement is. Depends on what you're trying to do, whether you're persistent or not, how much faith you got in what you're doing. We must have faith in God. We must believe God.
E-52 I got many Scriptures wrote out here I want to refer to. Now, if a man is trying to be persistent, and he—he's got to have something first that'll give him faith in what he's doing. Now we remember, to begin with, the Bible tells us that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Now, remember that. God, when Christ was on earth, He said, "The works that I do shall you do also." Mark 16, said, "Go ye into all the world." The last address that Jesus gave to the church. Listen.
E-53 The first commission He ever give His church, was, go into the cities before He came, Matthew 10, and to "Heal the sick, cleanse the leper, raise the dead, cast out devil, and as freely as you have received, freely give." That was His first commission to the church.
E-54 The last commission, or the last words that fell from His lips when He went up, until He comes again with a shout, the Voice of the Archangel, He said, "Go into all the world, preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be damned, and…" And's a conjunction, tying your sentence together. "And these signs shall follow them that believe. In my Name they shall cast out devils, speak with new tongues. If they took up serpents or drink deadly things, It shall not harm them. If they lay their hands on the sick, they shall recover." The Bible said, "They returned back with rejoicing, the Lord working with them, confirming the Word with signs following." See? They had… They were persistent in it because they had something to achieve. They had a straight commission. How far was that commission go? To all the world, to every creature. How many generations? Every generation, every creature.
E-55 Peter said, on the Day of Pentecost, "Repent, every one of you. Be baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins 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." How can you place the Holy Ghost and the power of Christ way back in some (almost a prehistoric) way back in some generation back there? God knew that they'd say that. That's the reason He said, "I'll not leave you comfortless. I'll pray the Father send you another Comforter, the Holy Ghost. A little while and the world won't see Me no more, yet ye shall see Me for I…" And I's a personal pronoun. "I'll be with you, even in you, to the end of the consummation." Amen. Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever. God living in His Church, in His people.
E-56 "What denomination, Brother Branham?" He don't pull strings on denomination. God deals with individuals. Each man, each woman, boy or girl that will believe on Him. No matter what denomination they belong to, He's hunting hungry hearts.
E-57 Now, persistent, trying to achieve something. All man through all ages has been that way. Now we take, for instance, Noah. Noah was very persistent after he had found the will of God.
E-58 You've got to first find the will of God. Now, you've got to find the will of God this morning, as you're coming to be prayed for, you've got to find the will of God, whether it's God's will to heal you or not. And the next thing you have to do, if you're coming to get salvation, you've got to find out whether it's God's will to save you or not. The first thing you have to find out, what God's will is. And then, if you really have received the seed in your heart, then you can be persistent. There's nothing going to move you. No matter what wisdom man tries to say, "It's not so, and it's not this and that and the other," it doesn't move you one iota, because you know what the will of God is. He spoke it into your heart, your faith sets there and it'll hold right on no matter if there's no more than like a grain of mustard seed. It'll bring you right out to the—to the place. The will of God. Yes.
E-59 Noah, after he heard the Voice of God telling him that there's going to be a flood came, come, pardon me, that was going to destroy the world, nature was going to cut up. Didn't Jesus say, "As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be at the coming of the Son of man"? Nature would take a rampage, and we see it today.
E-60 I want to stop here for a minute. When I was coming into Bombay, where we… the Lord gave us the greatest crowd we ever had, five hundred thousand at one time, to preach to. There was a piece in the newspaper I was reading, said, "The, well, the earthquake must be over." Said, "A few days before the earthquake come, all…" In India they're poor, real poor. They build their fences out of rocks, and so forth. And the little birds flew out of the rocks from their nests and went out in the fields and set in the trees. The cattle that stood around the walls and towers, went out in the field in the hot sun, wouldn't stand in the shade. They stood in the sun out there. They didn't know what this strange thing was. Then, all at once, an earthquake shook the walls down, the towers down. If the little birds had been in there, they'd have been killed. If the cattle had been standing beneath that, they'd been killed.
E-61 Don't you see the same God that warned the birds and the beasts in the days of Noah? And why do you want to call it premonition, or whatever you want to say, how God dealt with these birds? He give them the instinct to fly out of that wall and get away from that thing before it struck. Do you think that God thinks enough of a sparrow to take him out of the wall, how much more are you than a sparrow? He knows how to take care of His Own.
E-62 Sister laying here on this cot, stretcher, if He fed the sparrow and clothed the field with grass, how much more does He think of you! How much more are you than a sparrow? Have faith in God regardless of feelings or anything else. It's God's Word. You take a hold of It and hold to It. Right! And be persistent, believe It, hold onto His Word.
E-63 Then after the earthquake stopped, the little birds flew back, flew into their places and made their rocks so they could hold, or places in the rocks again, and built their nest. The cattle.
E-64 The same God that was in the days of Noah. Noah! Well, you think science would have said to him… They had greater science than they do now. They could achieve greater accomplishments than they can now. They—they had a dye that makes things look perfect till this day. They had an embalming fluid that they could make mummies. We could not do that today, so I'm told. Then with another thing, they built the pyramid. Who could build a pyramid today? Them great boulders there that stood there and looked up there and seen the sphinx, and, why, it'd take many flatcars to put its one foot on there. How did they get those boulders up in there? Where did they do it? Gasoline power won't do it. There's nothing that we have, 'less it would be the atomic energy, and that might have been the same thing that caused the antediluvian destruction that throwed the world out of cater and throwed it away from the sun, pushed it backwards and caused the rain.
E-65 If God said there would be rain, there was going to be rain regardless of whether there'd ever been or not. No matter how many scientific proofs there was to Noah, Noah heard the Voice of God, said, "It's going to rain." And there had never been rain upon the earth. You see?
E-66 As He took Abraham up to the top of the mountain, and there told him to sacrifice his own son. And when Abraham got Isaac ready, and little Isaac questioned. Well a type of God and His Son. Tied his hands behind him. He said, "Here is the fire, and here is the wood, and so forth, here's the stones, here's the altar, but where is the sacrifice?"
E-67 And that old father, now about a hundred and fourteen years old, with a son that he had waited for for twenty-five years, through difficults and so forth, and how he had held to that undying Word of God, had been planted in his heart, he was going to have the baby anyhow. What was he? Persistent. He said, "I've held him this far. I know that if God give him to me by believing Him, He'll raise him up from the dead." There you are. Persistent, holding that Word of God first.
E-68 And, that, when he got ready to take his life, there was an Angel caught his hand and stayed the knife. And there was a ram hooked by his horns, in the wilderness behind him. Where did that ram come from? He was three days journey, and any man that day could walk easy twenty-five miles. I walk twenty-five and thirty every time I go hunting or on patrol, or anything, I easy walk it. And we got so-called gasoline feet. That man went from three days journey, and then looked far off and seen the mountain. Why, wild beasts would have killed that ram. And another thing, he was up on top of the mountain where there's no water nor nothing. No wonder he called the place Jehovah-jireh, "the Lord will provide for Himself a sacrifice."
E-69 "How can He do these things, Brother Branham, in the days of science, in the days of the great scientific world? How can He perform this? How do you think He'll ever get by with it?" He's still Jehovah-jireh, the Lord. We keep His Word and He's able to perform that what He said. Amen. He can take a dead, cold formal church, He can take a member out of that church and put the life of God into that fellow, and set him afire with the Gospel. He can take a prostitute off the street, He can take a drunkard out of the alley out yonder, make a man and a lady out of them, because He's Jehovah-jireh, "the Lord will provide for Himself a sacrifice." Amen.
E-70 How we put God down on our basis! We think on our basis. We believe on our basis. Turn that thing loose. That's what got Eve in trouble, she was thinking on her own basis. Think on God's basis, what His Word says. Lift yourself up above that, by faith, believing His Word.
E-71 Noah said, "I don't care how much science can prove there's no water up there, God's able to put water up there. He will do it because He promised it. If He promised it, He'll do it."
E-72 And he—he, what did he do? He wasn't just go around and say, "Well, He told me that. Yes, I—I believe it'll." He done something about it. Oh, brother, sister, do you see what I mean? He didn't just sit there and say, "God said so," he done something about it. If you want to get saved this morning, God promised salvation. Then do something about it, just don't sit there. Don't join one church and take your letter from church to church. He promised salvation, deliverance.
E-73 If you're sick, "Why sit here?" As the leper said that day when the city was beseiged, "Why sit we here until we die?" When Samaria was besieged by the Syrians, they said, "We sit here till we die, we'll—we'll always be here. We'll die right here. If we go in the city, they're dying in there from starvation. Let's go down to the camp of the enemy." Oh, my, what a poor… What a little faith they could have. What a little thing… They go to the camp of the enemy who was trying to kill them. But said, "If we die, we're going to die anyhow. So if we save… we'll get our life saved, why, we'll do well." And they went down there, and God honored that little speck of dingy faith. And not only delivered them, but delivered Israel.
E-74 What we need today is men and women who will take God by His Word and be persistent with It. God will cause the earthquakes and the shakes to go down to the camp first. God will take care whether there's going to be rain up there or not.
E-75 Say, "Well, Brother Branham, the doctor told me I was dying. I got cancer." That may be so. The man's telling you all he knows how. But, only thing he can do, he's got five senses to work with, two of them he can use. What is it? One sense is feeling, the next place is—is seeing. Seeing and feeling, he can feel something, or sees something through an x-ray. That's all the man has to work with. That's all he knows, but he's doing the best he can do. But don't look at that, he's come to his end. Look up here what This promised! Say, "How can it be done?" God said so. That settles it when God said it. That settles, it's Eternally settled forever in Heaven, His Word is. And His Words was made flesh, and His flesh today in you, if you'll let It come flesh. "If ye abide in Me and My Words in you, then ask what you will and it'll be done," Saint John 15. See, we want just let them Words stay in here. Believe it, it's the truth. It's a seed, and it'll—it'll bring to pass everything that He promised.
E-76 Now, notice, of science would have come out there, a group of scientists, and said, "Mr. Noah, you're a fine minister. We—we appreciate you. You got a nice congregation here, your family, but, and however, if you… we don't agree with you, and we know that you're—you're different. You're—you're just causing fanaticism to be sowed amongst the people, and you're even scaring some of the people, telling them that the world's coming to an end. We want to show and scientifically prove to you."
E-77 Oh, that devil never did die. He—he's just still trying to do that. That same one that said, "If Thou be the Son of God, let me see a miracle. Perform a miracle and turn this bread, this. You're hungry, make this stones bread, I'll believe you." The same devil in them educated priests, said, "If Thou be the Son of God, come down off the cross and prove it to us." See? That devil don't, he just don't die. See, the devil always takes his man but his spirit stays here for another. But let me tell you some encouragement, God takes His man but His Spirit stays here for another, too. Yes. Somebody's going to receive that Word. Somebody's going to be anointed one way or the other. It depends on what you, what spirit's on the inside of this grain. That's the one, you're going to believe It or not believe It. That's, well, you're not…
E-78 Someone said to me not long ago, a minister. You'd be surprising. And I was in a doctor's office when he said it. And I tell you the truth, I found more believing doctors in Divine healing than I have ministers. That's right. Yes, sir. I've been under the… I was interviewed you know there on account of Look magazine, or not Look, but that was that magazine that wrote that miracle of Donny? Reader's Digest. Yeah. And when they had me interviewed there at Mayo Brothers, you know what they said? "We do not claim to be healers, we only claim to assist nature. There's only one Healer, that's God." Oh, my! There you are. It's man who can think. Somebody who can look out yonder and look over the whole thing. We are human beings. We are subject to death, mistakes and everything. He's God, infinite.
E-79 We must believe it. If I could explain it, then it's no more faith. I can't explain why a black cow can eat green grass and give white milk, but she does it. That's right. You can't explain it either. No, sir. I can't explain how God does these things, but He just said He would do it. I'll never know it, you'll never know it, but we believe it. By faith are you saved. By faith are you healed. Everything that comes, too, from God, has got to be come by faith.
E-80 Some time ago, standing through a broadcast, a fellow was making fun of the meeting, didn't know who I was. He said, "I don't believe That." Said, "It couldn't be done. I just can't believe It like that." He said, "I've got to… It's got to be scientifically proven to me."
E-81 I said, "Then you could never be a Christian. You can never."
He said, "Oh, I'm a Christian."
E-82 I said, "You can't be. You cannot." I said, "Scientifically prove to me where Christ is." I said, "Are you a married man?"
He said, "Yes."
I said, "Do you love your wife?"
He said, "Yes."
I said, "Scientifically prove to me what love is." He, I said…
"Well," he said, "I couldn't do that."
E-83 I said, "Then you haven't got anything I call love. See? Now, you just… you, that's a make-belief in your mind. See? If you can't prove it scientifically. Tell me what… Go down here and buy me a quarter's worth of love. Buy me a dime's worth of faith. You can't do it."
E-84 And the whole armor of God is faith, love, joy, peace, long-suffering, goodness, meekness, gentleness, patience. The whole armor of the believer is faith. We believe God by faith, because, God said so. Then what is it? Abraham was justified, by Paul, by faith; but, by James, by works. Abraham was talking what God saw, and James was talking what man saw. "Show me your faith by your works," "without your works," and so forth. See? Then if you don't have works with your faith, it shows you haven't got faith, you're just talking from your mouth. But if you really got faith, you believe it and act like it. That's right, put it in action!
E-85 Noah did, he put it in action. He went right ahead building the ark. No matter what any science said, "Now, look here, we'll scientifically prove to you there's no rain up there."
E-86 "I don't care how much you can prove to me, how much you can say that by scientific research, or whatever you want to call it, God told me 'There is coming a rain,' and I believe God." That's it. "It's going to rain."
E-87 "Where's it coming from? Mr. Noah, I would like to ask you, sir, reverend, where is that rain coming from? Where's it at?"
E-88 "Well, God's able to put it up there if He told me it's going to there." Right!
E-89 And today they say this can't be done. They see the discernment in the meeting. They say, "It's got to be a telepathy." A telepathy, a telepathy? A discerning of spirit, of visions of the Lord! What kind of a telepathy did the prophets have? What did Jesus have when He stood there that day?
E-90 And here come Philip up, and he got saved and went over and got Nathanael, brought him up before Jesus, and Nathanael said, "Ah, now there could be nothing good come out of—out of Nazareth."
E-91 So when he come up to where Jesus was, Jesus looked at him and said, "You're—you are an Israelite. You have no guile."
E-92 And he said, "Rabbi, when did You know me? How'd You ever know me?"
E-93 Said, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the tree I saw you."
E-94 Now, physically, that was… If you was ever there, it's fifteen miles around the mountain. The two places, a day's journey around the mountain. How could He saw him? Then what? Being a man of faith, being a man that wanted to see the Word of God made manifest, wanted to know that God said, "The Lord your God shall raise up, when the Messiah comes He's going to be a Prophet just like he was." And he saw that, and he knowed. He said, "Rabbi, You're the Son of God." That's right. His name's immortal.
E-95 But there stood those great starchy priests that had enough DD., Ph.D., LL.D's behind them, perhaps, come through a line of ministers stand there, thought they knowed the Word. They did, word, but there's a lot don't… Not knowing His Word, but knowing Him, know Him that's in the Word. That's right. Knowing Him, the Life that's in the Word. Now, they stood there and said, "This man's Beelzebub. He's a fortune-teller. He sees those things. He's—He's a fortune-teller. That's…"
E-96 Jesus turned and said, knowing. Now wait, they never said that out loud, they thought that in their heart. And He knew their thoughts. Does the Bible say that? Saint Luke. Yeah, He knew their thoughts. See, they thought He was reading their mind. Perceived their thoughts. He said, "You speak a word against Me, I'll forgive you for it. But, in otherwise, someday the Holy Spirit's going to come to do this same thing, and you speak one word against it, you speak against that, it'll never be forgiven you in this world, neither in the world to come." See?
E-97 See, the Holy Spirit, they couldn't understand It. They had to answer their congregation, 'cause their congregation was standing there. And they said, "Well, He—He must be reading their minds. He's got a telepathy. He's Beelzebub, a fortune-teller." And anybody knows that a fortune-teller is of the devil. And they called the work of God "a devil," calling the works of God.
E-98 Don't you know that anything the devil has is something that's perverted from the real? What is a lie? It's the truth perverted. What is an adultery? Is a righteous act perverted. All sin is—is truth and righteousness perverted. What is death? Life perverted. Certainly, it's the way it is in His Word. That's the way it is, and people just try to shadow it, shade it, make it say things because they don't know, they don't know. They don't have faith to take the Word. But Nathanael did.
E-99 How about Simon when he come up there? Heard that old Pharisee father of his, say, "Simon, my son, before the end time comes, there'll perhaps… I've looked for Him to come in my days, but He didn't come. He may come in your time. And if He does, Simon, here's what will happen. There'll be everything going on, son, and there'll be all kind of false things rising everywhere. But you remember this, stay with the Word. Now, this Messiah rises, He will be a Prophet. And this Messiah will be a Prophet just like Moses was, 'cause our Word of God says He'll be a Prophet like him. Now, you'll know He'll be more than a prophet, He'll be the God-Prophet. But His actions and words will be a Prophet, 'cause you could go no higher than that till you go to God. See?" So he said, "He'll, He'll be a God-Prophet. His works here on earth will show a Prophet, so we know that it's, it'll be God. Remember that."
E-100 And I guess when Andrew come and told him that night, "Oh, we saw the Messiah," I imagine Simon said, "Get away, get away. Go away. Ah, go on, don't bother me."
E-101 But the next day when he attended the meeting, walked up in the Presence of the Lord Jesus, and He said, "Your name is Simon, and you're the son of Jonas." That took the starch out of him. What did He do? He, Jesus… That ignorant fisherman that couldn't even sign his own name, the Bible said he was both ignorant and unlearned. But it pleased God, with that faith, to make him Peter, the little stone, give him the keys to the Kingdom, "Upon this rock I'll build My Church." What, upon a rock like the Catholic says? No. Upon what, what is it? Upon the spiritual revelation. See, "Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father which is in Heaven has revealed it to you. Upon this rock, upon the written Word of God being spiritual revealed, I'll build My Church, and the gates of hell cannot prevail against It." Why? It's more than a mustard seed. It's God's power moving amongst mortals upon the Word, the Word made life.
E-102 That's what was in Noah. He said… The Word is life in him. "And I'll prepare for it."
E-103 "Well, it didn't rain yesterday. You said it was going to rain. When's it going to rain?"
"I don't know, but it's going to rain."
"How do you know it's going to do it?"
"God said so."
E-104 Like they said to Abraham, why, eighty years old, him; and his wife, ninety years old. Poor little old wife running along there, been packing some pins and things for the little booties for the baby, for twenty-five years; here she is ninety, on a little walking cane like this, going around. Abraham, humpback, and whiskers hanging down. "What about it, Abraham? Hey, you left—you left the city of Ur a long time ago. You said you going to have a baby. What about it now?"
"Glory to God, we'll have it anyhow!"
"Why?"
"God said so!"
"Why, that's been twenty-five years ago."
E-105 "God said so! It don't make any difference if it's a hundred and twenty-five years, He'll do it anyhow!" See? Persistent, perseverance, pursuing, pursuing after. You've got a hold of it!
Like the little boy flying the kite. Said, "Where's it at?"
E-106 He said, "I don't know, but it's out there somewhere, I can feel it on the end of the line."
E-107 That's it. Man or woman that takes God's Word, you got a hold of something. Your anchor holds within the veil. The storms and gales may press and shake in every way, but you're anchored. She's coming right on up to the place. You're persevering. You're going to believe It.
E-108 Noah believed It, sure, and he achieved God's purpose for his life. Do you want to achieve God's purpose in your life? Then be perseverance when you… perseverant when you get the Word. Hold onto It, the promise, it's yours.
E-109 Moses. How many characters could I go to now! I say here Moses, over in Exodus, Moses, he was a scholar, a diplomat, a soldier. Not only a soldier, he was a general. He's not only a general, but he was a coming Pharaoh. Amen. I feel religious right now, so excuse me. Yes, a coming Pharaoh. If he wanted to deliver his people, well, he had Egypt in his hand. He was the coming Pharaoh, he'd do what he wanted to when he become Pharaoh. But God spoke to him, uh-huh, one day yonder in a burning bush.
E-110 Oh, he run like a coward, with all of his education. All of his theology, he failed. All of his great things, he failed. But one day, in a burning bush, God met him. When God come to him in this burning bush, watch him, with a stick in his hand, his wife on a mule, with little Gershom sitting on her hip, on his road to Egypt. What was he? Going down to take over. He was, had perseverance, he was very persistent.
E-111 "Moses, do you think you, at eighty years old, and with a crooked stick in your hand, dry as it can be?" Hum! A crooked stick, a one-man invasion, going down to Egypt like one man going over to Russia to take over. We only need… God only needs one man. That's only, He only needs one man completely in His hand. One man, that's all He needs. He can shake Russia to pieces with that one man.
E-112 He took Noah, or Moses, pardon me. He took Moses while he was running this way, settled down to a nice life, lovely young girl, married her, had a baby, falling heir to his father-in-law's sheep, Jethro, the priest of Midian. He had everything made. Had a nice home, place, comfortable living out there, and hunt every once in a while with his crossbow, maybe, and kill a deer, and plenty of berries and plenty of sheep, and wool and trade, the caravans come through. Why, he had it made, nothing he had to worry about. But one day, one day the burden of the people, his people that was burdened was done left his mind. They were down in Egypt. He had failed, so God can do something else about it. But one day when God met him in a burning bush, you talk about perseverance, here he goes!
"Where's your army?"
E-113 "I don't need any. My army is an unseen army." Like it was at Dothan one morning, with a prophet… "My army is an unseen army." Here he goes, the only thing you can see is an old crooked stick, leading this mule behind, and the whiskers blowing. "Praise God!" His eyes set towards Heaven, going down to take over.
E-114 Sometimes faith makes you act ridiculous, to the carnal mind. But if it's God's Word, it's got to come to pass. Be perseverant, see God make it come to pass.
E-115 He went down, he was very persistent. Walked up in the front of Pharaoh, looked like he was going to fail. He said, "I'll show you whether I'm sent of God or not." He throwed down the stick on the floor like that, as if to say… and turned into a serpent; he and Aaron. And he just called over two astrologers, or two devil-possessed men like we're got in the last days, imitating to the very Elect, if possible. That's right. Come down, throwed their sticks down, turned the same thing. Now, Moses knowed this one thing, that the God that sent him was able to take care of him. Now, he didn't know what to act next.
E-116 You get to a place you don't know what to do, and people say, "He never got healed. Why, there's the thing still there." If God placed that in your heart, you stand still. You just keep on testifying to the glory of God. Keep on!
E-117 Moses said, "I know God sent me." What happened? The serpent blowed three or four time, this big, perhaps a python or something, raised over and swallowed up the others. Did you ever think what become of them other sticks? They only picked up the one. He eat the rest of them up. They wasn't no more. And that's the way God will do one of these days by His power. Yes.
E-118 Moses was persevering. Then, the first thing you know, He sent him out, and said, "Do this, Pharaoh." And he said, "If you don't, we're going to do so-and-so." And he called on God, and He sent flies, fleas, everything else upon the earth. What was he? He was determined. God told him, "Bring them children back to this mountain, back here." He knowed he had the will of God, he knowed he had the vision before him. He knowed that heavens and earth would pass away, but that vision could not fail. So he went down there, persistent.
E-119 Listen, brother, if you can come this morning with a vision of the will of God, if you can come with the Word of God, I don't care what happens, "I'm going to be persistent. I've… in my heart, since I've been sitting here, I got a vision of God. I'm persistent. I'm going to be—I'm going to be perseverant. I'm going down, I'm going to take over. This thing's got to leave me." It's going to leave you, brother. Don't you worry, it'll leave you.
E-120 David, standing up there before Goliath, why, he was persistent. He said, "You mean to tell me that you will stand and let that modern science, scientists out there?" Now it sounds sacrilegious, but I hope you know what I mean. You mean to tell me that that modern scientists can stand there and say the days of miracles is past, when the Word of the living God disputes it? You mean to tell me that you'll let modern science say there's no such a thing as Divine healing, and the Bible, sixty-some percent of Jesus' ministry was Divine… yeah, eighty-six percent, I think, was Divine healing? And the promise, and the last promises!
E-121 You mean to tell me, my minister brethren, that you'll stand and let this modern so-called denominational cults going into the League of Churches here, or Council of Churches, and mean to tell me you'll stand in that organization and let them smother the Word of God in you, and tell you the days of miracles is past? Who are you anyhow? Have you ever had any experience? Was you ever born again of the Spirit of God? You, if you have, brother, you'll certainly take God's Word for it. Let everything else be a lie. Certainly!
E-122 Notice, David had an experience. He took a little slingshot. He didn't have very much. It was a slingshot, but he knew that the God of Heaven was with him. And he went out there and slew a bear and a lion, and he knew what it would do. And he said, "Do you mean to tell me, if God can deliver that bear and lion into my hands, how much more can He deliver that boasting, uncircumcised Philistine out there?"
E-123 This boasting world of today, saying the days of miracles is past, and a Russia raising up here, storming the churches down and putting them to shame. There's nothing in them to work for. Why is it little old Castro down there, that little devil-possessed fellow… Now, I—I know him, shook his hands and met him, and so forth, when I was there. And he talked nice to me, and everything like that; said he believed there was coming a Millennium and a Christ, and so forth, but he sold out to the devil. But what did he do? He done some good things. He did do one thing, he counterfeited all that money and started the currency new again. That's what's going to have to happen here one of these days, where these big hogs of whiskey 'stillerys, and tobacco companies that can take their income tax and put it out on television out here. I know I'm talking on tapes. But let me tell you, that's the truth, though. That's the money that should go to the government. But they can get around it. But you start, fail to pay yours one time and see what happens. They'll strip you down for it.
E-124 Mean to tell me that bunch of uncircumcised Philistines can stand out here and defy the armies of the living God? We back up such a thing as that. What the church needs today is going back to God, back to His Word, back to the Power, back to Pentecost; not to Pentecostal organization, back to the experience of Pentecost. Them guys are out of the wheel when they talk about Pentecostal organization. Pentecost is an experience, it comes to Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterians, or whoever wants It. That's right. God don't deal with a nation, with a people, with a denomination, He deals with an individual. Always, with the Gentiles, taking a people out of the Gentiles for His Name's sake. See? That's the way He deals with them. Now, quickly, I must hurry.
E-125 David said, "You mean to tell me you'll let that happen?" He said, "This little slingshot!" He went after that lion. What? And killed it. And went after the bear and killed it. He said, "How much more will God give me that boasting Philistine out there that says the days of miracles is past?"
E-126 He laughed at him and said, "I'll take you on the end of this weaver's needle, spear, hang you up, and let the birds eat your flesh." He could do it.
E-127 Saul told him, said, "That man's a… why, his fingers is fourteen inches long." He said, "Why, that man is a warrior from his youth, and you're nothing but a ruddy little boy."
E-128 "Oh, but," he said, "I got something to tell you. I got something you don't know about."
E-129 "Why, you're nothing," his brother said, "get on back home. You're naughty. I'll have pappy give you a whipping when you get back."
E-130 What'd he say? He said, "I was herding. Your servant, my father, I was herding his sheep out there one day. I trust in the Lord God. And a lion came in and took one of the lambs, and I went after him." Why? He was given a charge, led by his father. "And I knocked him down. And when he raised up, I slew him, 'cause I was left with a charge."
E-131 Oh, minister brother, we're left with a charge. A lion comes in and gets one of His servants and takes it out, I'm coming with a slingshot this morning. A slingshot of prayer of faith shall save the sick, and God shall raise him up. What He said! We're coming after him, to bring that lamb back to the fold. We need you, every Christian, we need every one of you. We need you, we got to have you. Father's give us a charge, let's go get it. Let's keep charge.
E-132 He said, "And if He could do that for that sheep, how much more standing here defying the armies of the living God! I'm ashamed of my brother and all the rest of them," he said, as much to say. "I'm ashamed of them, your weakness."
E-133 And I'm ashamed of my ministerial group someday when I hear them stand and coincide, side up with the unbelievers in saying, "Oh, there's no such a thing. There's not. You—you—you don't expect those things to happen."
E-134 Peter said, on the Day of Pentecost, "The promise is unto you and to your children, and to your children's children, to them that's far off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." If He's still calling, He's still pouring out the Holy Ghost. If the Holy Ghost is still living in you, It's got to live the same life It did back there in Christ Jesus.
E-135 If you see a branch come up, and it puts forth an apple, well, the next one's not going to be a pear and the next one a plum. If it is, it's grafted. That's right. But if the original root of the tree puts out another branch, it'll be an apple. So, today, we got a lot of organizations and denominations that's been grafted. Them trees will live. Yes, sir.
E-136 I seen a tree the other day with nine different citrus fruits on it, and it had pomegranate, and it had, I believe it was grapefruit, lemon and all on it, but it really was an orange tree. And I said to the man, Mr. Sharrit, my friend, I said, "Well, how is that, being an orange tree?"
E-137 He said, "Well, you just split the tree and put this grafted in there."
E-138 I said, "Well, when it brings forth fruit, will it bring forth the orange?"
He said, "No, it brings forth after its kind."
E-139 There you are! Brother, when I tell you, when churches are grafted into Christ, such, or try, supposed to be, just slit in there by name, calling themselves the churches of Christ, when they do, what do they bring? Denominational fruits. But if that branch ever brings forth another limb, it'll be like the first one was. But let me tell you, brother, if the Holy Ghost is real in the Church today, the kind of Church it had that wrote the Book of Acts behind it, if the Church of the living God, the Church of Jesus Christ become again alive by the same Holy Spirit that fell on the Day of Pentecost, it'll write a Book of Acts behind it. Right. It'll be persistent, perseverant until that thing comes to pass. O God, have mercy on us. Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
E-140 Samson, Samson, he was very perseverant as long as he could feel those seven locks around him. He knowed that was a promise that God give him. And every man and woman could be as persistent as Samson was, as long as you can feel that power of promise around you, of God. Here is the Word, the Word said so. And you can be perseverant as long as you know that you've got that promise in your heart, that faith that told you, while you're sitting here now, that faith says, "I am healed. I am healed." See? You feel that, just keep walking on. Brother, God will take care of the Philistines, don't you worry.
E-141 Did you ever think how Samson, with that old jawbone of the mule… You know how thick those helmets was? Some of them about an inch, or an inch and a half of solid brass. Could take a two-handed sword and hit him on the head with it, it wouldn't hurt him. And Samson took an old rotten, excuse me, that old dried jawbone of the mule, and picked it up and beat down a thousand of them. Why, the first lick on top of one of them heads, that jawbone would have went to a million pieces. But, see, the miracle was in the jawbone the same as in Samson. He felt, "If I can feel that promise there," he said, "bring them on." And, brother, he begin to knock Philistines right and left. Why? He was persistent till the last Philistine was laying on the ground. Amen! What did he have? Not very much. He had a mule's jaw to fight against swords and spears and trained men. But he had the power of God on him. You notice, the power of God came upon him, first.
E-142 Oh, brother, fight till every symptom's gone. Hallelujah! Fight till every—every doubt is gone.
E-143 Say, "Well, my case is different." Take that jawbone and knock it out of there.
E-144 This one said, "But, you know, I'm just a little different, I'm getting too old." Knock it out. Abraham was a hundred. Go on.
E-145 "Well, but my case is very bad." Jonah was in the belly of the whale, hands tied behind him, laying down in the whale's vomit. Everywhere he looked was whale's belly. He had plenty of symptoms, but he turned over and said, "Once more will I look to Your holy temple, Lord." Can't hide Him. That's it, persistent! Perseverance, stay right with the Word of God. Why did Jonah stay like that? Because he knew that when Solomon dedicated the temple, he prayed and said, "Lord, if Thy people be in trouble anywhere and look towards this holy place, then hear from Heaven, answer their prayer." And he knew this one thing, that God would hear that prayer.
E-146 And if Jonah, under those circumstances, could have that much faith in God, what about you? There's none of you here that bad under the circumstances. Now how much more! Look to a temple where a man finally backslid, Saul, who prayed the prayer, but was God's dedication when the Holy Spirit witnessed it by a Pillar of Fire that come in and go down in behind? The same Pillar of Fire that you have the picture with you today, moving among us, doing the same signs and wonders. What's the matter? Listen quietly. Listen. How could we, when we look not to an earthly temple, or some organization or some denomination, but to the right hand of God, where Jesus sits there with His Own bloody garments, amen, His Own Blood before the Father, to make intercessions upon your confession! Amen. Hebrews 3, said that He—He is a High Priest, ever living to make intercessions, oh, my, before the Father this morning. A High Priest! If Jonah could look out, refuse to see the whale's belly, how much more can we fail to see the little ache and the little pain, or the little whatever we got! "I look towards Your holy promise, Lord." You can't hide a saint from his prayer, that's all there is to it. Sure, oh, he was.
E-147 I got to hurry up, my friends, I'm going to be too late again. Let's a few more, a little text here.
E-148 John, he was so sure, 'cause God told him. You know, now his father was a priest, you know, but, strange, he didn't go down to be a priest, he went to the wilderness. He didn't want to get mixed up in man's theory. He went to the wilderness to find out, at the age of nine. His father and mother being old, knowed they'd never see their prophet son ever come into power in that day.
E-149 And, remember, that same Spirit is promised us in this last day, Elijah.
E-150 Remember, Jesus never referred to that when He said… He spoke of John the Baptist. If you notice, "I send My messenger before My face," Matthew 3. Cause, you don't, you got a contradiction in the Scripture.
E-151 He said, "Before this day comes, of the great and terrible day of the Lord shall come to burn the earth with fire." The earth wasn't burnt with fire back in them days. The world would be burnt with fire after this coming. He would send the Elijah to straighten the things up and bring the people back to reconciliation. And what this Elijah, the first one come, would restore, would bring the faith of the fathers to the children, but the one in the last days would restore them back to the Faith of the fathers. See? See, back to the original pentecostal fathers, the right Message, the beginning. Elijah! "God, send him," is my prayer. "Send him, O Lord, send him quickly." We'll pray for him, that he'll appear on the scene. And God always has His representative somewhere in the earth. He's never been without a witness somewhere, always got a witness standing true. And I believe he's… I believe that we're shadowing the coming of the Lord right now. Time for the power of God to rise again in a form of a prophet of Elijah, and send down here and straighten the people, and bring them, that little group. As it was in the days of Noah, as it was in the days of Lot, so will it be, just in the minority, the Church will be.
E-152 All right, we find John didn't go down to get his ecclesiastical training, but he went to the wilderness to get an experience. When he come back out, he talked wilderness. "Generation of vipers," snakes he found in the wilderness. "Axe is laid to the root of the tree." His sermons was based upon such as that. But, watch, they come around, he said, "There's One standing among you now that you don't know." He knew what he was talking about.
"Are you the Messiah?"
He said, "No."
E-153 "Are you that Prophet, that Messiah-Prophet was to raise up?"
"I am not," he said, "but He's standing among you now."
E-154 Perhaps maybe Caiaphas, the high priest, had been there. Which, I guess he wasn't, he was too dignified to come down to a place like that. But him, some, one of the priests might have said, "Sir, here's Brother Jones. He's a fine fellow. Brother So-and-so here, Brother John Doe, he, I—I believe he, the Lord's making him a Messiah."
E-155 John said, "I'll know Him. There will be a sign follow Him." He knowed what. Blessed are the spiritual that understand. Blessed are they who has eyes and can see, ears that can hear. Said, "I'll know Him. God will identify, identify Him." God vindicates His servants. Yes, sir. And after a while He come, he looked up there and he saw, he said, "Behold, the Lamb of God that take away the sin of the world." He was persistent that no Ph.D., LL., double L, whatever it was, going to come in, some priest, some favorite man of the hour with some kind of a fandango. He was… that Man come down there and he knowed Who He was because there was a sign following Him. He knowed Who It was.
E-156 "These signs shall follow them that believe." God's Church being raised up and put in power. Yes. Now, down till I finish the text now. John, persistent. And he had perseverance because he knew that he would know that Messiah, because the Messiah was to bear a sign. And we are seeing signs today, signs of the coming Messiah, pressing in. Now listen quietly now.
E-157 When this Greek woman, when she heard of Jesus, "Faith cometh by hearing." Now, she was a Greek, a heathen, so she heard and she come. You know what? Faith finds a source that others don't see. Faith finds a source that others can't see.
E-158 You say, "Oh, what's up there? What's down here? What's over there? What is that little… Oh, it's the little mission. It's so-and-so. If God was going to do anything, He'd come to the Roman Catholic hierarchy, He'd come to the archbishop of the Methodist church, He'd come to the—the—the Anglican fathers, or some of them. He'd come…" Yeah, that's what they thought in the beginning. But where was He born? In a barn. Where'd He get His disciples? Off the river, fishermen, low degree, no education. See, God does what He wants to, but you know Him.
E-159 How was it different here, of Moab up here, when Israel was passing through? Moab offered seven bullocks, just exactly what Israel had. Moab offered seven sacrifices, rams, just exactly what Israel. Fundamentally, they was exactly the same. And they were actually brothers, Moab come from Lot's daughter. And here was Balak up there offering the same sacrifice down here, just as fundamental as he could be. But what made the difference? One of them had a smitten Rock, a Pillar of Fire, a sound of the King in the camp, a bunch of interdenominationals. They had no home, no place to call their own. They were drifting, pilgrims and strangers, wanderers about, professing that they were pilgrims and strangers. They were seeking a city.
E-160 That's the way it is today. Not some connection with some great big organization. Which is all right, but, that, I don't care how much organization you belong to, belong anywhere you want to. But, the first thing, put your name on the Book There, let God write it in the Blood of Jesus Christ, receive the Holy Ghost, with faith to believe every Word that He wrote, that It's true. There you are. Yeah.
E-161 Now, this woman was a Greek, to begin with, but faith finds a source that others don't know nothing about.
E-162 Now, remember, His—His Word is a Sword. The Bible said so. It's a Sword. Hebrews, the 4, 4:12, if you want to put that down. Hebrews 4:12, said He's, "The Word of God is sharper than a two-edged sword." Let me stop here just a minute. Listen. "The Word of God is sharper than a two-edged sword, piercing even to the asunder of the bone, and so forth, the marrow, and a Discerner of the thoughts of the heart." Is that right? That—that, let's stop just a minute, think now, "A Discerner of the thoughts of the heart." Does the Scripture lie? It cannot. If It contradicts Itself, it's not worth the paper it's wrote on, it's a deceiver. If God's promises contradict themselves, what—what you going to believe?
E-163 Like the Indian boy that come just recently to Doctor Morris Reidhead and them, the president of the Sudan Mission, and stood there and he said, "Remember," said, "we know Jesus lives," he said, Doctor Reidhead said—said, "'cause He lives in my heart. That's right."
E-164 He said, "Yes, and Mohammed lives in my heart, too." Said, "We can produce just as much psychology in Mohammedanism as Christianity can." But said, "Well, I want to see those marks of sign, signs of Mark 16 fulfilled."
E-165 He said, "Oh, that," said, "you're—you're just…" Said, "You see, sir, from the 9th chapter… 9th verse of the 16th chapter of Mark, is not inspired like the rest. That's just put in there by the Vatican."
E-166 He said, "Then maybe the rest of It ain't inspired. So what kind of a Book you reading?" Said, "All the Koran is inspired." What a shame! What a disgrace for a Christian church! That's either the Word of God or It isn't the Word of God. And if you just put faith in It, you watch It work. You believe It, accept It. Yes, sir. We believe It.
E-167 What? A Discerner of the thoughts of the heart. Now look, "In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God," Saint John 1, "and the Word was made flesh, Christ." And when He come here, He looked down upon the people. A little woman touched His garment, He turned around, said, "Who touched Me?" Peter rebuked Him. He looked around and said, "Who touched Me?"
Said, "Everybody's touching You."
E-168 Looked around and said, "But I perceive I got weak." Looked out. "Your blood issue has stopped." What? The Word of God perceiving the thought.
E-169 Them Pharisees says, in their heart, they said, "He's Beelzebub. See, He, that's what He is. That's just exactly."
E-170 He turned around and said, "I'll forgive you for that." Jesus looking upon the audience and perceiving their thought. What was it? The Word, the Word made flesh, a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart. That's what the Word of God is now. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. See?
E-171 You've got to get the living Word in you to have the living God in you, because the Word here is God when It's made flesh in you, made Spirit, Life in you. When It goes into your flesh and your faith, and becomes Life, then you are a living example. You are an epistle of God, read of all man. You won't have It like Christ, not the fulness, because It's divided up on the Day of Pentecost.
E-172 Now, you people that believe you have to speak in tongues to have the Holy Ghost, I want you to listen to this just a minute. When the Holy Ghost came down, upon the Day of Pentecost, It was tongues of fire. That was the Pillar of Fire that led the children of Israel, had separated Itself and was upon each one of them, God in His Church. Yes, sir, the Holy Ghost. That's right. There's where they received the Holy Ghost, when they spoke in tongues. It wasn't an unknown tongue, they was speaking to people out there who understood them. The Gospel must go out at that time. They went out into the audience, and then out into the courts and begin to speak with languages, not unknown. You get the cart before the horse when you think you have to speak with unknown tongues. No, sir, they spoke with languages. The people understood every man, "How hear we every man in our own tongue wherein we were born?" An act of God sending forth the Holy Ghost. So much for that.
E-173 This Word of God is sharper than a two-edged sword, even a Discerner of thoughts of the heart. And what? It can only be handled by one hand. A sword is dominant. It—it has nothing in it unless it's handled by a hand. And when a hand of faith can pick up God's Word, it'll do the same thing Jesus did. "The works that I do shall you do also."
E-174 Maybe you can cut just a little, maybe you got a weak hand of faith, you can cut enough off to say, "Well, I can see enough daylight to see I'm saved." But what about the other promises? If you got a strong hand of faith, pick up the full Word of God and cut right on through every darkness, amen, until the Light of God shines in, and look face to face with God, standing on His Word. Amen.
E-175 She had many hindrances, this poor little woman did. She had many hindrances, but her faith didn't have any. No, no. She had heard. Faith had took a hold. She heard and her faith had took a hold. Now, they might have said this to her, "You know you're a Greek. You know you'll never get nothing, because there's segregation, you see. You'll never get nothing here." But did she pay attention to that? No, sir. She had faith, and that faith was all she needed, because she knowed that that was the Word of God standing there. She had faith. Some of them might have said to her like this, "But wait a minute!" Her own nation, her own church might have said, "Now wait a minute, the days of miracles is passed. Don't you go down there. The days of miracles is passed." But something another about faith, it has a source that don't pay any attention to that, and just don't notice it. She had done picked up that Word. He is the Word. She had faith to hold It. She walked on. They might have laughed at her, said, "Well, everybody else is going to laugh at you, 'cause your daughter will be just as sick next year as she is this year. She'll still have that devil, she'll be just as sick." But she didn't pay any attention to that. Faith had a hold, see. "You'll be put out of your church if you ever go there in one of that. Just remember, they'll put you out. They'll excommunicate you." That didn't mean anything to her. Faith went on over the top of that. She was determined to get to Jesus. That's it.
E-176 Now, to save time, when we could take a text of each one of those and stay with it, but now to save time. When she got to Jesus, she still got a disappointment, her herself, but not her faith. When she got to Jesus, He said, "I'm not sent to your race." What a flat rejection! "I'm not sent to you people." Just think, the One that she thought she had so much faith in, and He turned her down. "I'm not sent to you people, I'm only sent to Israel. You're a Gentile, I'm not even sent to you. And, besides, you're nothing but dogs." Whew! That didn't bother that faith, just kept moving on. Yes, said, "I'm just sent to the lost sheep of Israel."
E-177 Now, if that would have been one of us, oh, my, that would've been it. "Your denomination, there's nothing to it." "Oh, He talked about my denomination, I'll never hear Him again!" Uh-huh, there you are. Go ahead, see, you'll never get nothing. Just stay with that Word. Where that Word is, you go right with It. Faith had anchored!
E-178 Some of them might have said, "Well, now, I'll tell you what, they'll laugh at you. They're going to put you out of your church."
"Let them put me out. See, it's all right."
E-179 Jesus said, "I'm not sent to your race, I never come for you people at all. And you're nothing but dogs, not meet for Me to take the children's bread and cast it over to you dogs." Whew!
E-180 What if that been one of you Methodists, one of you Baptists, Presbyterians, one of you Pentecostals? Oh, my! You'd have said, "Why, that imposter! I'll tell Doctor So-and-so and So-and-so he—he was right." See, you ain't got no faith.
E-181 She knowed there laid help. She had heard. Faith cometh by hearing. Hearing what? The Word. She knowed there was something real there. Yes. Still she held on. No matter if she… He said, "Now, remember, I'm not sent to you. The Father never sent Me to you Gentiles, you bunch of dogs. Do you think I'd take the children's bread and cast it over to you bunch of unworthy dogs? I'm not sent to you." But still her faith held right on.
E-182 Brother, she was not a hothouse plant, had to be babied, petted around like some of the crop of today, "Oh, my, well, I'll never go again, that's just all there is to it." Oh, my. No wonder you can't hold that Sword of faith, no wonder you compromise on the Word. You go somewhere where you can hear some kind of a little sissified something put together. You little hothouse plant, you. The first little bug strikes you, it kills you, have to be sprayed all the time. "Oh, don't believe that stuff, the days of miracles is passed," it's the devil's spray. Tenderfoot!
E-183 She wasn't. Brother, she was sturdy. She was really had something. She held on. What'd she do? She admitted He was right. She always… And real true faith, listen, whether it cuts your organization or not, it'll admit the Truth. Yes, sir, the Truth, the faith. If you have faith, and it's the Word of God and the promise of God, no matter what the others say, you believe It, you admit It. She said, "That's the Truth, Lord. I'm a Greek, I'm unworthy. I—I'm a dog, I'm not… I—I'm unworthy of anything, but I'm only after the crumbs."
E-184 I'm a crumb-hunter, myself, aren't you? I just want the crumbs, Lord. I can't have a church like they did on the Day of Pentecost. If I can't, Lord, let me just have the crumbs that fall. Peter said, on the Day of Pentecost, "This is That." And I've always said, if this isn't That, I'll just keep this till That comes, you see. Yeah. Yeah. I'll just keep this until That appears. See? This is the Word. When somebody… I don't… I—I—I may not have enough faith to go like Enoch, and take an afternoon stroll and walk up home with God, but I'll tell you one thing, I'll never stand in anybody's way that has that much faith. Yes, sir. If he's got it, praise God, I'm so thankful for it. Let that Word anchor in there. I hope It anchors in me like that when death becomes, I see a road open yonder, just walk right on out. That's right. Yes, sir. Oh, so I'm just after the crumbs.
E-185 But, you try to tell some of these modern people today, you just take the crumbs. "Oh, no!" If they can't have first place, they don't want nothing at all. "You'll either come down to me…" Like Naaman was with his leprosy, "You'll come down and you'll strike your hands over me and you'll tell me all these different things, and so forth, or I just don't believe It at all. That's the way. Why, I just won't go back no more." That's the reason you don't get nothing. See?
E-186 You got to be willing to take crumbs. Do you hear it? Take the crumbs, my brother, take the crumbs, my sister, regardless of what He gives you, just receive It. Say, "God," thank Him, "I just got a little bit of faith, but I'm sure going to hold to that and thank You for It. I believe that I can be made well. Yes, Sir. I believe the Word of God is right, and I'm going to hold right on to This. And I'm going to be well." You watch what happens. Just take the crumb, least little crumb. Sure.
E-187 Remember, she had never seen a miracle. She was a heathen. She had never seen Him perform any miracles. She had never knowed that He was God. She had never knowed, only just by hearing. But when she got there, perhaps, and seen something that He had done, that was different. See, they heard them say, "Well, you know that in their Bible It says the Lord will raise up a prophet, and He'll perform miracles and know the secrets of the heart, and tell the people these thing, and great things will take place." "Is that so?" She had never seen it done, but she believed it anyhow. There you are. There you are.
E-188 I think of Rahab the harlot, she had never seen Israel, but she heard, and she hid the spies. Denied her own, her own church, her own people and everything else, and hid the spies, because she heard. She never said, "Wait till I hear Joshua preach sometime. Let me draw my conception after I hear him preach. Let me see God open up the Red Sea somewhere, or let me see Him do something like that. Then maybe I would have hid you all if I had seen something like that." She didn't wait for that. She said, "I believe. We have heard. We have heard."
E-189 O God, I heard, I know that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. I know that He's God manifested in the flesh. I know that He lives today in His Church. I know that He's here now. I know. I know that wasn't my picture He had taken, I know It was His. I know that's the same Pillar of Fire with us today, because It's doing the same works, the same signs, the same wonders, the same things that He did. It's the same Pillar of Fire that led Israel. When, Jesus, anybody that knows your Bible know that He was the Angel of the Covenant, the Angel that went before them in the wilderness. Didn't Christ… Moses esteemed the reproach of Christ greater treasures than that of Egypt, followed a Pillar of Fire out into the wilderness.
E-190 Jesus, when He was… That Pillar of Fire was made manifest, He said, "I come from God and I go to God." He went back to the Father.
E-191 Then after His death, burial, and resurrection, and ascension, Paul, Saul that was then on of Tarsus, on the road down to Damascus, was struck down by that same Pillar of Fire, that nobody else saw It. All of them standing around, they didn't see It, but Saul saw It. And a Voice said, "Saul, Saul, why persecute thou Me?"
Said, "Who are You, Lord?"
He said, "I'm Jesus. See, I come from God, I go to God."
E-192 Now, if I told you that the life of John Dillinger was in me, you'd expect me to have big guns out here to shoot you. I told you the life of an artist was in me, you'd expect me to paint the picture of an artist. Listen, church! I'm not scolding you. Look, if the Life of Christ is in the church, it'll do the… If the Holy Spirit is in the church, if this Pillar of Fire that science has taken the picture of, and so forth, that we see here in the church all the time, if that is the Spirit of Christ It'll do the works of Christ. Jesus said, "If you can't believe Me, believe the works that I do. They are the ones that testify of Me." If the Holy Ghost is still real, then the Holy Ghost will testify for Himself. Believe the works of the Holy Spirit.
E-193 There's been a lot of make-belief and put on. You expect that. God said it would come. But what's it trying to do? If there's a bogus dollar, it's got to be made off of a real one. You've seen people claim to have the Holy Spirit, and live in adultery, and drink, and everything else, they haven't got It. They're trying to impersonate It. But there's a real genuine somebody that's got It, got the Holy Spirit, and God confirms His Words with signs following. Harlot heard, she believed It.
E-194 Now, this woman, this Syrophenician woman, she believed also, this Greek. She said, "Lord." First she said, "Thou Son of David." A Gentile has no hold on Christ by the Son of David; that was through King David, the race of Jews. He never paid any attention to her. But when she turned and said, "Lord, help me!" Amen, that got Him. He was her Lord; not a Son of David, but He was her Lord. "Lord, help me!" That caught Him. And she… He turned around. Said, "It's true the dogs eat the scraps from the masters' table. That is true." Look what, that woman had the right approach to God's gift. What did she say? He said she approached it right.
E-195 He disgraced her, He said, "You're… I'm not sent to you. You're dogs in your generation. Your races are nothing but dogs. I'm not sent to you."
E-196 And she said, "It's truth, Lord." There's the Word. Amen. Stay with the Word. Faith will always recognize the Word. "But the dogs eat the crumbs under their masters' table." That got Him. "Lord, help me!"
E-197 He turned and He said, "For this saying, O woman, great is your faith. And, for this saying, the devil's left your daughter." What, she got what? She approached God's gift in the right way. You've got to approach the… And, remember, that was the first Gentile that ever had a miracle performed on them by the Son of David. Remember, that was the first miracle performed to a Gentile, that's right, this healing of the Syrophenician woman. That's right. She had the right approach to God's gift. Faith admits the Word is right. Reverent, humble. See?
E-198 You're not going around saying, "Huh! I—I don't believe that stuff. If our catechism doesn't say it, uh-huh, I don't see." No matter what your catechism says, you put the catechism or anything else above the Word of God? The Word of God is right. Everything else is a lie. See?
E-199 And she come reverently, peacefully, reverently, humbly. You got to be humble. The way up is down, always. "He that humbles himself shall be exalted, but he that exalts himself shall be abased."
E-200 Look at Martha that day. Oh, I know I'm keeping you a long time, but I—I'll pay it up sometime for you and make a real short one. Listen, I just got a few more things to say just now, I'll go. Hope I'm not wearing your patience out. Martha, she was very, had very much perseverance in the Presence of Jesus. Look, she come up there and she said, "Lord." Now, remember, she sent for Him to come pray for her brother, and He didn't do it.
E-201 Now, in John 5:18, Jesus said, John 5:19, I believe it is, Jesus said, when He passed through the Bethesda pool there, and He saw, He know a man had an infirmity for thirty-eight years. Look, about two thousand people standing there, water-head babies, lame, blind, halt, withered, twisted up. Jesus passed through the pool, looked all around, full of love, full of compassion. See, we don't know what love means. We take it on a human side. Full of compassion, sure, you're talking human compassions. Real compassions is do the will of God. See? There it is.
E-202 "Oh, I wouldn't say nothing to him, 'cause he's a good boy. He—he—he drinks, he does this." He needs Christ. "I wouldn't say it to him, because he's belonged to that church a long time. I wouldn't name Divine healing to him." Oh, brother, you don't know what compassions is.
E-203 Jesus passed through there, He knowed the will of God. Remember, He just—He just raised up a dead man. And remember what taken place here. He passed through that pool there, go by the side of this pool, there was mothers with little babies. They were trying to wait for the Angel of the Lord to trouble the waters. He walked on by there, He went to a man that had an infirmity, let's say a prostate trouble. He had it thirty-eight years. It was retarded. It wasn't going to kill him. He said, "Will thou be made whole?" What about this blind, lame, blind, halt, withered? Said, "Will thou be made whole?" See, He knowed just where to go. God, the Word, led Him. Now, He said, "Will thou be made whole?"
E-204 He said, "Sir, I have no one to put me in the pool." He could walk. Said, "When I'm coming down, somebody else beats me in."
E-205 He said, "Take up your bed and go in your house." He was questioned. And they brought Jesus to the court to question Him.
E-206 And if He done that same thing today, He'd be questioned. Right. "He left two thousand, what about them? I know old Brother So-and-so down there. Sister So-and-so, she's a good woman. Been laying there for twenty years. If there's any God about Him, He would have went down and done that." That same old devil says the same thing today. "If thou be. If this be. If that is." Same old devil, see, same old thing.
E-207 So these Pharisees was questioning Him up there about these things. Watch Him, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, the Son can do nothing in Himself but what He sees the Father doing." He—he's had a vision. The vision showed Him. "What I see the Father doing, that doeth the Son likewise." Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. See, the same God.
E-208 Now, Martha, in His Presence, she was standing there. She said, "Lord, if Thou would have been here."
E-209 Now, why didn't He come? Because the Father had showed Him a vision that Lazarus was going to die. Now, look, they—they sent, and He went to another city. And they sent again, He went to another city. Then finally He said, "Lazarus sleepeth." Oh, they… That's the terms that He had. There's no death to a Christian. We know that.
Oh, he said, "If he sleeps, he does well, taking a rest."
E-210 Said, "But he's dead," told them in their language. "But I go wake him." Oh!
E-211 Walks up to where she was, oh, I can see this. Come into the city, I can hear the Jews say, "Huh-uh, there's the Divine healer! Huh-uh. And they left their church, everything else, to follow Him. And when the real case come on, even His friend he slipped out of town. Sent, now He's come back." Jesus walked on.
E-212 But little Martha, something down in her heart, something. She was always kind of dilitary, she wanted to keep the house clean and everything, and Mary listened to the Word. But this is where she showed her color, she slipped right out and went down there. Now, she, you know what I believe, she had read about that Shunammite woman, Shunammite, you know, in the Bible. Now, what'd she say? She went out, she said, "Lord." That's what He was. It looked like she had a right to upbraid Him, say, "Why didn't you come? Why, we'll not… We believe now You really are a holy roller." See, that miracle wouldn't happened.
E-213 And that's the reason it can't happen today. Oh, He's here in the Spirit form, not that you see Him, but what He's Spirit with His Word. See? Oh, sure. You pray for a revival, and it breaks out in the church, something or another takes place, and somebody holler "glory to God, hallelujah," you'd close the church. Don't know what a revival is. Christ comes to church, and then you don't even make Him welcome. Perform a miracle and heal somebody, and say, "Well, it might have been telepathy." No wonder He can't deal among you. No wonder the Laodicea church… is on the outside, knocking, trying to get back in His Own church. That's the age we're living in now. These denominations has turned Him out till He's on the outside, trying to get back in. That's right, put out!
E-214 Now, we find that Martha walked up to Him, said, "Lord, if Thou would have been here, my brother not died. But even now, whatever You ask God, God will give it to You."
E-215 Watch Him, He tested her. He said, "Thy brother shall rise again."
E-216 Said, "Yes, Lord. He was a good boy, he'll come up in the general resurrection. He'll rise in the last day."
E-217 Said, "I am the Resurrection and Life." There put the test. A Man standing there saying… He was the only Man that ever lived, the only Man that ever will live that could say that, the Son of God, said, "I am the Resurrection and Life."
E-218 The Bible said, "No beauty we should look at Him." Probably His little shoulders stooped down, turning gray, when He was thirty years old and He was judged to be fifty.
E-219 Said, "You're only fifty years old, and say that You seen Abraham. Now we know You're crazy." See? His work probably brought Him down.
E-220 He said, "Before Abraham was, I am." Amen. They didn't know it. There He was inveiled in human flesh.
E-221 Said, "I am the Resurrection and Life. He that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. Whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?"
E-222 She said, "Yea, Lord. I believe that You are the Son of God that was to come into the world."
"Where have you buried him?"
E-223 I got a little thing here that I've always said, you know, I hope if I hurt anybody's feelings I don't do it meaningly. A Christian Science woman told me one time, she said, "Brother Branham, you brag too much on Jesus."
E-224 I said, "Oh, no, no." I said, "I don't brag half enough. Wish I had some more language I could brag Him with." See?
And she said, "Well, you make Him God."
I said, "He was God! He's still God. He'll forever be God."
She said, "He was a mortal. He was a man."
I said, "He was both Man and God."
E-225 She said, "I'll prove to you He was only a mortal man, by your own Bible."
I said, "Let me hear you do it."
E-226 She said, "Saint John, the 11th chapter, Jesus went to the grave of Lazarus and He wept."
I said, "Is that your Scripture?"
She said, "Yes."
E-227 I said, "Sister!" I don't mean this sacrilegious. This is no place for jokes, but I just said it for her. I said, "That's thinner than the broth made out of a shadow of a chicken that starved to death." I said, "Why, you know good and well that it couldn't be such a thing as that." I said, "Let me tell you something."
E-228 Here He goes, stoop-shouldered, crying, He weeps with you when you weep. He feels your pains. He's a High Priest can be touched by the feeling of your infirmity. Weeping, going down to the grave, knowing what the Father had told Him. For He said He did nothing till the Father showed Him. There He was, see, going. He was going to raise him, but He could weep humanly with humans. Going to the grave, weeping. But when He stood there, oh, my, said, "Take away the stone."
E-229 Said, "He stinketh!" His nose had done fell in. Seventy-two hours, see, or four days and nights. See, his face has fell in, he's corrupted, he's rotten.
E-230 Said, "Take away the stone." He stood back there and said, "Father, I thank You that You've always heard Me, but I—I just said this." See, He had already told Him. He said, "I just say this for these that stand by." "Lazarus, come forth!" Amen. And a man that had been dead four days, stood on his feet and lived again. That was more than a man. That was more than a man. Sure was.
E-231 That was more than a man that come down off of the mountain one night, hungry, looking for something to eat. He was a man, He was hungry for something to eat. But when He took five fish, or five biscuits and two fish, and fed five thousand, that was more than a man. That's right. It's true. Yes, sir.
E-232 He was a man when He was laying in the back of that boat that night, so tired, virtue gone from Him, preaching and healing, and a devil come up, and probably ten thousand devils of the sea, said, "We'll drown Him now, He's asleep." Like they did Paul out there in the storm. "We got Him now, we got Him trapped. He's asleep, we'll sink that ship." The devil blowing his breeze across there, and it bouncing up and down like that. The waves didn't even wake Him up. He was a man laying back there, tired, asleep.
E-233 But when He once aroused, oh, my! "Oh, go wake Jesus!" Put His foot… Oh, church, that's what you ought to do. Wish I had some time I'd preach now, see, on that. See? Put His foot upon the brail of the boat, looked up, said, "Peace, be still." See? And the waves and the winds obeyed Him. That was more than a man, took God to do that.
E-234 Yeah, He cried on the cross, for mercy. That's right. Thirsted at the cross. He died like a man. But on Easter morning, when the Angel rolled away the stone, and a Man that had been dead, conquered both death, hell and the grave, come forth, triumphed over death, hell and the grave. Said, "I am He that was dead, and alive forevermore." That was more than a man. That was God in that Man. Yes, sir.
E-235 Faith never denies His Truth. Oh, such as saying, "The Pillar of Fire, that wasn't right. And the miracles of Moses wasn't right," they'd always say. No matter how ridiculous it is, it stays right exactly with the Word. Exactly. Oh, you can be—you can be perseverant. You can be persistent whenever you really get a hold of God's Word, when you hold to It.
E-236 Like Micaiah was, Micaiah right there, when four hundred prophets was standing there saying "Go on up, Ahab, go on up." Micaiah knew that his vision was according to the Word of God. He spoke the Word anyhow. They said, "We'll slam you in a prison, and give you waters of sorrow and bread of sorrow."
E-237 He said, "Slam me in if you want to." What was he? He was persistent. He knowed the Word of God. He knowed the will of God. He had saw a vision. He knowed what it was. The vision come from God, because the visions compared with God's Word. Today, every believer has to fight, and you have to fight, too.
E-238 A man here sometime ago was telling me, said he went to… said, "You know, a—a little bitty devil about that big stood up before me one time in a dream." He said, "That devil said, 'boo'; and I went, 'umph.' And," said, "every time I'd jump back, he got bigger and I got littler." Said, "The first thing you know, 'boo,' and I'd jump back. And he… every time go, 'boo, boo,'" jump at him. Said he'd get back, get back, get back. Said, "He got bigger than I was." And said, "I knowed I had to fight him. So I—I didn't find nothing, so I just picked up a Bible, and I… he went 'boo'; I went 'boo,' too." Said, "He got to getting little." That's right.
E-239 That's what you have to do, take the Word of God. You don't have to say "boo," but say "THUS SAITH THE LORD!" Be perseverant, stand on the Word! It's Truth. We believe the Word today. We believe It like Micaiah believed It. We believed It like the rest of them believe. No matter how many says It's wrong, It's still True. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. "He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also." Could any man heal you? No, sir. It's already, you've already been healed. Can any man save you? It's already been done. How many believes that? "He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquity." Is that right? Right. "And by His stripes we were healed," past tense. Everything that He can do for you is already done.
E-240 Now He set in the church, to keep the church in line with the Word, what? Apostles, prophets, teachers, pastors, evangelists, offices of the church. God-sent, not man-called. God-sent, inspired men to keep the church lined up. Now, what is it? Gifts of the Spirit in the church. Not a bunch of fanaticism, but truly gifts of the Spirit in the church. That's right, keeping the church. If a real church was ordained of God, really filled with the Holy Spirit, if sin would appear in the church, it'd be another like Ananias and Sapphira. When a real church… I'd like to walk into one, see all the women and men under the Power of the Holy Spirit. If somebody had done something wrong, the Holy Spirit rise right up and reveal it. They'd have to clean up. That's gifts of the Spirit in the church. O God, send us a church like that, send us one like that. You believe it? Christ, is He dead? He's alive.
How was He? He said there to the woman.
E-241 He said, when a Pharisee asked Him about a sign, He said, "You adulterous generation seeketh after a sign." Is that right? Wicked and adulterous! He said, "They'll get it. They'll get the sign, that wicked and adulterous." When was there any more a wicked and adulterous generation than we got now? When were there more sin? We got more people on the earth right now, they tell us, as many people on earth right now that's ever been on the earth since Adam, is on the earth right now. This is that wicked and adulterous generation. Homosexuals, perversions, everything, on the increase by the thousands and thousands. Churches falling away, "Heady, high-minded, lover of pleasures more than lovers of God, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, despisers of those that are good, having a form of godliness," as the Spirit said, "and denying the Power thereof. From such turn away!" See? The Bible said, "Turn away!" We're living in that day.
E-242 Now, remember, there's people goes around, say, "I got power to heal you." That guy is telling you a lie. He has no power to heal you. Christ has already done it! Oh, by confession of sins, and so forth, and some priest or be a minister forgiving your sins? No, sir, your sins are already forgiven. When Christ died on the cross, He said, "It's finished." What? The complete plan, everything. Christ did it at the cross. You're already saved. Every sinner's saved, but it'll never do you any good till you accept it. You get down there at the altar and scream, cry till you get gray-headed and your hairs fall out, it'll never do any good until you believe, believe that Christ died in your stead, and you… He died a propitiation for your sins, and you accept Him as your Saviour. Then salvation comes to you. Same thing by healing. "He was wounded for our transgressions, with His stripes we're healed."
E-243 There's only one thing that Christ could do today to show that He is. First thing, is, you've got to believe upon the basis of His Word. That's exactly right, the truth of the Word. But Jesus said, "The works that I do!" Now, He never said, "I heal" anybody. If Jesus said, "It's not Me that doeth the works, it's My Father that dwelleth in Me," now if Jesus wouldn't take the Name of a "Divine healer," what about some poor ignoramus like me, or somebody else, or anybody else, and try to be a Divine healer? How can you be a Divine healer when It's already, everybody could be healed is already healed? You have to accept it, believe it. Now, is it truth? That's what we want to know. Is it truth?
E-244 Now, if you couldn't take my word, you'd just have to go, or your… I couldn't take your word, it'd have to go. But God's not that way, He sends gifts into the church, apostles. What is an apostle? A missionary. A missionary, is a word missionary means "one that's sent." An apostle means "one that's sent." A prophet, that's "a seer." A pastor, a teacher, evangelist, all those things, they rightly divide the Word of God, bring It down, and then the—the gifts of the Spirit to work in the church, to confirm the Word, to show that Jesus Christ lives in the church.
E-245 Now, we're all acquainted, this is just our church group. I don't know as there's any… I'm not here too much to know whether they're visitors or whether they're not visitors, and so forth. But, friends, today, you people that's sick now, if there was anything to do to help you, I'd do it. If I knowed that somebody here sick, especially this sister here I see on the cot, if I knowed there was something that I could do, like taking, push a quarter with my nose down around the city block, around, I'd do it. I'd get right out there and say, "Don't pull no umbrella over me, if it was raining, just let me push. I want to show God I'm sincere." Now, that wouldn't do any good. I've been in Africa, and know where they lay on spikes in India, and all kind of things, doing sacrifices to gods, and give their children to crocodiles, and everything else. That ain't that; that's sincerity, but a man can sincerely take carbolic acid for medicine. See? See, you—you've got… The thing that's truth is what we want to know, and God testifies of His Truth. "He that believeth in Me, the works that I did shall he do." Hebrews 13:8, "Jesus Christ the same!"
E-246 What would He be if you looked for Him today? If I tell you Christ is in me, Christ is in you, what can we look for? Would you look for a man with his collar turned around, and something? No, no, He didn't act like that, He dressed like the rest of the people. If he had scars in his hand? Any man can make scars in his hand, prints of thorns. They've got dozens of them across the country now, impersonators, and blood and fire and smoke, everything. That ain't—that ain't the Word! "The works that I do!" Jesus said, "If you can't believe Me, believe the works that I do. They'll testify of Me. They're the ones who tells Who I am."
E-247 Now let's pray just a moment. Have your requests on your heart. Heavenly Father, I know this has been rude and hard. I pray Thee to be merciful. I don't mean… You know my heart, Lord, but I just pray that You'll help me now. I pray that You'll let these words, though they're broke up and cut up, and—and not like a minister should do, Lord. And me here, uneducated, don't know how to speak to people, but all I know is just You promised if I'd open my mouth You'd fill it. That's been thirty-one years I've trusted You in that. So, Father, somewhere, maybe some of the people's collected a few Words, them that's sick, or those that needs Christ. They're—they're out there somewhere. They—they need You, Lord, and I hope that something's been said that'll raise their faith in Your promises. I pray that You'll grant that blessing.
E-248 Now while we have our heads bowed, is there those in here who doesn't know Christ as Saviour, would say, "Brother Branham, I—I wouldn't want to die like this. I—I'm not fit to die. If I die, I'd be lost. I haven't been born again. I—I certainly covet your prayer just now. Pray for me, I'm a sinner"? Just raise your hand up, will you, say, "Just remember…" God bless you, you, you, you. God bless you. Really mean that from your heart. God bless you. Dozen or two hands in this little group of people here. This little handful of people here, about a hundred or two, something like that, and here's a dozen hands. Right where you are. The altars are sitting full of children. There's no way for me to bring you up to the altar, but, right where you are, pray with me.
E-249 Heavenly Father, I'm bringing to You these people that raised their hands. I believe in deep sincerity they did it. Let them know that they broke every rule of science right there. Science proves that our arms has to hang down, because the gravitation of the earth keeps us down. But it shows that there was a Spirit in them that has control, a power of that arm, that they lifted it towards the Creator that made it. That showed right there. It could not be scientifically proven, because the Spirit is only known… It's a faith. We believe in It. And here a Spirit has come to them and told them to raise up their hands, that they wanted to be saved.
E-250 Now, Father God, I'm—I'm quoting Your promises. Lord Jesus Christ said, when He was here on earth, "No man can come to Me except My Father draws him first. And all that the Father has given Me, will come to Me. He that heareth My Words and believeth on Him that sent Me, has Eternal Life. He that eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood, has Eternal Life, and I'll raise him up in the last day." These are promises. Now, these people could not have raised their hands unless there was a Spirit there that told them they were wrong. They could not have done this unless You had foreordained them. "All that the Father hath, hath" past tense "given Me, will come." We're predestined to Eternal Life. Those that He foreknew, He has called; those who He has called, He has justified; those that He has justified, He has glorified already in the sight of God. It's just the great vision of God going along, being fulfilled. These people, before the foundation of the world. You Who are infinite knowed the meeting this morning, and knew they would raise their hands, and now they've raised their hand.
E-251 That's all I know to go by, Lord, it's Your Word. Then, in the Name of Jesus Christ, I give You these that's raised their hands, as trophies of Your Word. Keep them, O Lord God, no one can pluck them from Your hand. Give them Eternal Life. May they find a church, or stay right here this morning and be baptized for the remission of their sins, or confession of their faith. May they, when they come up out of the water, like the Holy Spirit in the beginning moved upon the water, may the Holy Spirit be there to fill their hearts and souls. Grant it, Lord. May they live godly all the days of their life, and be presented as trophies and gems in Your crown at that day. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, we ask it. Amen.
E-252 The Lord bless you. Now, I really should have been gone an hour ago. But now we're going to call a prayer line. Wait, is there any prayer cards out? Has anybody got prayer cards? Where is Billy, is Billy around? One to fifty? He said he give out fifty prayer cards. Well, now, we can't, there's too many standing. Now, will you all give us just a few moments time now? If you… Now, what all I've said… Now, just—just a moment, I know the dinner won't scorch. Wait a minute, This is more, This is better than dinner (it should be): the Word of God.
E-253 Listen friends, I want to ask you this question before I say this. What do we go to church for? What's it all about? If there is no resurrection of the dead, if there is no resurrection, then let's eat, drink, and be merry, for we're nothing but logs, dogs, and so forth, anyhow. We don't believe that. We know that there's a living God. Certainly. Well, if He's the living God, I want to ask you something. Then these Words that I said, you might agree with me, you might not agree with me. But if you do agree with me, then yet you—you can still question that until you see it manifested. That's right. If it's God's Word, God has to keep His Word. If He doesn't keep It, well, then it isn't God, then I—I've been a false, I been a… I made a false manifestation, I—I've been a false prophet. But if God said so, God keeps His Word. Then if God keeps His Word, one Word, you can be perseverant then. You can hold onto your promise and keep it. Is that right?
E-254 Now, look, did I tell you I could heal you? No, sir. I couldn't tell you I could save you no more than you were saved then. I believe you're saved. You couldn't have raised your hand without God telling you to. Now there's water here, that you can be baptized anytime you wish to. If you want to be baptized by your… in your own church, go right ahead, whatever. We don't have membership here at all, see, we just—we're just a chapel here. Our good pastor here, Brother Neville, was a Methodist, and he's here just… We're interdenomination. We… anybody's welcome. We just have congregation comes in. We preach, pray for the sick. We believe in making disciples to Christ, not organizing nothing. See? We don't believe in that. No, sir. Now, you want to organ-… you want your organization, go right ahead. That's—that's perfectly all right, but don't you depend on it. Don't you trust in it. No, sir. You go there for fellowship, but you trust in God.
E-255 Now, now, here's one thing. If Christ still lives… Now, let's take one little Scripture again now. We want to be sure now that it's all clear. A little thing I was going to say a while ago, He said, "A wicked and adulterous generation would—would get a sign." That was the sign of Jonah, the resurrection. Is that right? How many believes that's the Truth? Now I just want to see. That wicked… Do you believe this is a wicked, adulterous generation? Well, what would be the sign of Jonah? Would be the resurrection of Christ. Is that right? The resurrection of Christ, would prove to this wicked generation that Christ still lives, which, He's been raised now for two thousand years, so it'd be the evidence of the resurrection.
E-256 Well, there's many of us Protestants across the country don't believe in the physical resurrection. Hundreds of churches don't believe in that, the physical return, or anything. See? I believe in the literal birth, death, burial, resurrection, Second Coming, all Christ Jesus. Yes, sir. I believe that He's fully Christ. The same Jesus taken up, the same Jesus will return. And I believe in the Person of the Holy Ghost, He's here now, His Spirit, His Life moving in the church.
E-257 Now, if this be of Christ… Now I'm going to personalize this. I hope you don't—you don't take it like that. I'm going to personalize this now, by a gift that was given. Which, This, in Washington this Light hangs, the Pillar of Fire that's been vindicated for years around the world, and so forth. Now, if that Spirit is in here, then It'll… If It's the Spirit of Christ, It'll do the works of Christ. Now, that's Scripture. And It's right. If that Word has come, then this Word that I've told you this morning is the Truth. Because Christ wouldn't come in me like…
E-258 I don't—I don't make—make fun of you Catholic people, but you saying that it's a spirit of Peter was in your church back there. You think a Jew would put up idols? You think a Jew would deny the Holy Ghost and make a little piece of wafer laying on the altar, where mice and rats would pick it up, and you go by saying that's God? What's the matter? You know that's not God. The Holy Ghost is God coming down from Heaven, a Spirit. You prostrate yourself before idols, trying to hypnotize a—a life into that. You are the idol, God brings His Spirit into you and you're His living representative. See, God's in you, reconciling the world to Himself.
E-259 Now we're going to call the prayer line. Where'd you say you give, from one to fifty? Let's begin, let's start at one. So what say? All right, we'll just have to call a few at a time, 'cause their… Let's see, let's just call about eight or ten at a time. Who has prayer card number one? Now don't… Just, just raise as your number's called, 'cause this is not an arena now, this is church. All right. What say? A—A, number one. Who has it? Would you come around here, lady, or right along here somewhere? Just right here, stand right here in front of the altar. A, number two, who has number two? Prayer card number two. Now, hold your hand quickly so we're—we'll… All right, get right behind the lady, if you will. Number three, number three. Well, sister, you can't get up, so just lay there, and I'll come pray for you right there. Number four, A, number four, raise up your hand. A, number four, number four. Way back, way, way back. All right, see, they just come down here, and anybody that wants them, they mix these cards up and hand them out to people like this, where you want them. We don't know. All right, number four, come here, lady. Number five, who has number five? Prayer card number five, would you raise up your hand quickly. Now we can't take much time now, you're going to miss your turn. Number five, number six, all right, number seven.
E-260 Now, let's see, let—let—let—let—let the rest of them come. We can get these in this way. Number eight, prayer card number eight, who has number eight? Are you prayer card eight, lady, you have eight? All right. Raise your hand so I can see you, see, when. Number nine, who has number nine? All right, that's fine, lady. Number ten, prayer card number ten, who has number ten? Would you raise your hand, ever who it… All right. I'm sorry. All right, this man over here. All right, sir, come over here. Number eleven, number eleven. Please raise your hand, number eleven.
E-261 Don't receive the card unless you're going to use it, friends, 'cause if you—you—you—you—you… You see, if you get up and go out, and don't use your prayer card, then you—then you—you're… you shouldn't do that. Number eleven, number twelve. All right. Right over here, sister, go right back around the back. Number thirteen, right around there. Number fourteen, number fifteen. That's good, that's the way to do it. Number sixteen. Now you're doing it. Number seventeen. Just take your places back there. Seventeen. Let's see how many more we got now. What say? Come around that way if you will, brother, so we're getting mixed up over here. Number seventeen, number eighteen, nineteen, twenty, twenty. All right. I think that just about make it right there, for a—for a little bit. Let's see how we get down here in the line, we'll see. Twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five. Now let's see about them, see how many is in there now. Number twenty-five. And I believe we're just going to be about crowded out here, don't you think so? Twenty-five, I think, twenty-five. All right, now we got another twenty-five coming just as soon as this—this bunch is over. We got another twenty-five coming. All right, twenty-five.
E-262 All right, now let's see how many in here that's got prayer cards. How many in here hasn't got prayer cards and you still you want God to heal you, raise up your hands. Believe. That you got… You ain't got prayer cards but you want God to heal you, raise up your hand.
E-263 Now, while they're getting those lined up, give me your attention now, 'cause if you miss this now you—you won't know what to do. Now, we're going to take our time, just take our time. Now, don't be in no hurry. I have to get quiet, myself, because the Holy Spirit in these kind of things wouldn't anoint in that way of doing.
E-264 Now, how many in this room, or this prayer line standing here, that knows that—that… I know some of these people. I believe I do. I know I know this lady right here, this lady here. She comes here at church, can't call her name. [The sister says, "Baker."—Ed.] Baker, uh-huh, I know her. I'm not sure, I don't… I believe this big tall fellow standing right here, I believe I know him. I don't know his name, but I've seen him here.
E-265 Well, anyhow, each one of you in the line, and each one of you out in the audience that's sick, that knows that I do not know nothing about you, raise your hand, know that I don't know. Yeah. See? No. I'm don't know nothing about you. I'm a stranger. Now let's see the prayer line again, raise up your hand, know that I don't know nothing about what's wrong with you now. All right, all right, all right, just about hundred percent, I think. All right, and in the audience now, now you raise up your hands, you that's sick and raise up your hand and you'll still say that I… "He don't know me or nothing about me." See, there's a lot of people here. I come in and out, and some people I know and some I don't know. See? And I—I don't know. But them that I do know, I wouldn't know what was wrong with them.
E-266 Now I want to ask you something. Now if… Now, look, there was a little woman. You people that won't be in the prayer line, see, you people that won't be in the prayer line. Now, there's a little woman, one time, she wasn't going to be in the prayer line either, and she had a blood issue. But she believed that that was a godly Person. Now, listen close now, don't miss it. She believed that Jesus was the Christ, and she said "If I can only touch the hem of His garment." Now, she didn't have any Scripture for that, see, no more than just maybe like Elijah taken… or taken his staff and laying on the child, or something, see, or touching Elijah's bones after he was dead. But she believed if she touched Him she'd get what she asked for. She slipped through the crowd and reached over. Now, if anybody was ever in Palestine, they have an underneath garment and a top garment, and it swings loose. That's the reason they have feet-washing and things, the dust gets up on their feet. And she touched the border of His garment. Now, if she touched my coat, like that, I wouldn't feel it. It hangs right close to me. But she touched down at the hem, the border, which probably was that far from His feet, or, His body. She touched the border of His garment, and went back and set down, or whatever she did. Jesus stopped.
E-267 And, remember, all the crowd had their arms… "Hello, Rabbi! Glad to see You! Are you the Prophet? We—we're glad to see You. Oh, You hypocrite! You're a fine Man!" Oh, just different expressions.
E-268 Now listen real close. Then this little woman, she touched His garment, and she went back because she was satisfied she had touched God. Jesus stopped, said, "Who touched Me?"
E-269 Peter rebuked Him, said, "All is touching You. Why do You say a thing like that?"
E-270 He said, "But I perceive that I've gotten weak, virtue's gone from Me." He looked all around over the audience till He found that little woman, and He told her about her blood issue, and it had stopped. Is that right? [Congregation says "Amen."—Ed.] Now, now, now hold that. Now, you say "amen" to that, that means "so be it." Now, notice now, does the Bible say, to you Christian readers, that Jesus Christ now is a High Priest that can be touched by the feeling of our infirmities? How many knows the Bible said that? ["Amen."] Well, if He's the same yesterday, today, and forever, wouldn't He act the same way He did then? Well, then, if you sitting out there would touch Him up there, and if I be His representative, His Voice here now, wouldn't He say the same thing that He did then? Doesn't that sound Scriptural? Isn't it right? See? How you know you touched Him if He didn't act the same? See? "The works that I do shall you do also."
E-271 All right, now you without the prayer cards, you just pray and say, "Lord Jesus, I didn't get here in time to get a prayer card, but I—I'm praying to You, and I believe what this man said is the Truth. So I'll… Will You please just let me touch Your garment, Lord Jesus? You're my High Priest. I ain't looking to that little bald-headed man standing up there on the platform. I'm looking to You, and I'm touching You, and I'm believing that You're going to make me well. So, I'm touching You, You speak to Brother Branham and do the same thing here like You did to that woman. And I'm going to believe You with all my heart." Will you do that? How many will do that, raise your hand, say, "I—I'm going to do it." All right, you just pray. Now here's the place to put your faith to work. You believe it, don't you doubt it. You believe it with all your heart. Amen.
E-272 And then you in the prayer line, now is… Which is the first person? Just come right here a minute. Now, just stand right there. That's—that's good enough, see, stand right there. I believe, a while ago, you raised your hand, I didn't know you. That's right. We're strangers to one another. All right.
E-273 Now I want to ask this audience something. Here's my hands up before God, and she raised her hand that we knowed one another not. Now, isn't this a Bible picture of Saint John 4, when Jesus met a woman at the well? A Man and a woman met for the first time. And what did Jesus do? He went to talking to her. What was He doing? Now, He said, "The Father…"
E-274 He had need to go up to Jerusalem, or up to Samaria. Now, see, the—the Jews had seen that sign, for He was a Prophet and He showed the sign of a prophet. And there's—there's only three races of people, that's Ham, Shem, and Japheth's people. Now, the Jews had seen their sign, 'cause they was looking for a Messiah. They saw it. Now the Samaritans must see it, because they was looking for a Messiah.
E-275 Not the Gentiles, not one time did He ever perform that on a Gentile, but He prophesied "In the last days," like He did, "As it was in the days of Noah and in the days of Lot," when that Angel come talked to Lot, told Sarah what she did in the tent behind Him. Jesus said that would repeat again at the last day. How many Bible readers know that? See, right. See? Now we're in the last days, it's the Gentile's time. If He… See, I said in beginning of my sermon, if God does anything, makes Hisself known one time, He's got to remain that way.
E-276 So how did—how did Nathanael know He was the Son of God? Because that He told him where he was at, something about him.
E-277 How did this woman know? Look, let's take her conversation, see how much—how much more she knowed about it than all them preachers down there. She went out there. She might have been a beautiful woman. She was going to get a bucket of water. She pulled up the bucket of water. He was a Jew, she was a—a Samaritan. And so, pulled up bucket of water, and over against the little panoramic there where the well is. Still remains there at Sychar. So then He was sitting there like that, He said, "Woman, bring Me a drink." She turned around. Now, she was a woman of ill fame, you know, she had been married too many times. And said, "Bring Me a drink." He…
E-278 She said, "It's not customary for you Jews to ask a Samaritan woman something like that."
E-279 The conversation, see. The Father had sent Him up there. Now remember, He did nothing till the Father showed Him. See? So now He set there, so what was He doing? He was trying to find what her trouble was, so she could take a message to that people. Said… Wanted to find her trouble, you know. Said, "Bring Me a drink."
She said, "It's not customary."
E-280 He said, "But if you knew Who you were talking to, you'd ask Me for a drink."
E-281 She said, "Well, the well is deep, You have nothing to draw with. How would You get water out of here?"
E-282 And went ahead talking, the conversation come up, about worshipping at Jerusalem. What was He doing? He was trying to find her spirit, to see what was wrong. He found it. You know what it was? She had five husbands. And He said, "Go get your husband and come here."
She said, "I don't have any husband."
E-283 Said, "You've said well, you've said well, for you've had five and the one you're living with now is not your husband."
E-284 Now watch. Now, she didn't say, "He's a fortune-teller," like them preachers did. She didn't say, "He's Beelzebub." She said, "Sir," listen, "I perceive that You're a Prophet. We know when the Messiah cometh He'll tell us these things." That was the sign of the Messiah.
Jesus said, "I am He that talks to you."
E-285 She ran into the city, and said, "Come and see a Man that told me the things that I've done. Isn't this the very Messiah?"
E-286 Well, if that was the sign of the Messiah to the Jews, to the Samaritans, wouldn't it be the sign of Messiah to the Gentiles? Wouldn't the Messiah then, if He's raised from the dead and living in His Church, manifesting Hisself through, wouldn't He do the same works when He promised He would do it?
E-287 Now me standing here talking to you, I don't know you, never seen you in my life. See? But if the Lord God will tell me something that you're here for, you know whether it's true or not. See, tell me something you have done, something you ought not have done. If He can tell you what's you have done in the past, surely He'd know what the future was. Is that right, if He could tell you that? Sure. And if He'll tell me what you're here for, would you believe Him to be the Son of God, believe it? How many in the audience will believe that? And me and this woman here with our hands up, we—we don't… we, see, we're a stranger. I have no idea, you know I don't. You stand there, just a stranger to me. But if the Lord God… I'm talking to you to get the Spirit started to anointing the people, you see, and then it just breaks right through. And I—I'm just looking at you to see what He will tell me, 'cause I know nothing about it. But if He will tell you something, then you'll know whether it's the truth or not, won't you? Will everybody believe, if He'd do it?
E-288 Now, Heavenly Father, I can do no more now. It's up to this time, it'll take You from here on, Lord. I've brought the people to Your Word. That's all I know. You've promised these things. And it'd take weeks and weeks, we could still be on it, telling of Your promises of these very things for the last days. As we've been all these times around the world, You've never failed us, Lord. Now here stands an audience of people. I know that one of these visions will make us weak. I realize it. Virtue went out of You, the Son of God, unadulterated Son of God. How much more will it be for me, a sinner saved by Your grace?
E-289 I pray, Father, that You'll let it happen now, that this Message this morning would not go unfruitful, but these young converts, maybe twenty or thirty of them that's just raised their hands to You, that they will be satisfied, Lord, that their God has raised from the dead and He's living forevermore, making Hisself known, the very God that knows the secret of the heart, and promised in the last days it would take place again. Here we are, the end of time. And the Gentiles has had two thousand years, just like the Jews did, to learn of God, and now they're getting the same sign and rejecting It just like the Jews did. The Jews rejected their Messiah, 'cause they had it all denominated up. And so have they today, Lord, done the same thing. But we cannot voucher for that. We're only to bear witness, Lord. Just like a sheep, it don't manufacture anything, it bears wool because it's a sheep. And, Lord God, let us bear the Spirit of God, because we are Christians. We believe in You. We believe in the Son of God. Now, Lord, I'm unworthy, but take… Who is worthy? Who is worthy, Lord? None of us. We're all born in sin, shaped in iniquity, come to the world speaking lies. Forgive us of our—our filth, Lord. And now use us in this last day that You're dealing with the human race. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
E-290 Now, in the Name of Jesus Christ, I take every spirit under here, in here, under my control. See? Now be reverent. Not knowing you, knowing nothing about you. It's a gift. Just the way you pull yourself to, before God, empty yourself out. Let Him do the looking. I don't know, but I know He's here. I know He's standing here. Yes, ma'am, here's your trouble. You want prayer for a cancer. That cancer's on your face; it isn't noticed, like, but it's up around your eye. That's right, raise your hand.
E-291 I felt that come right in from out there in the audience, you said, "He guessed that or looked at it on the face." I did not do that. Stand still. Let me… Satan, you're wrong. Stand still, sister. You get him started, if he gets started, then he'll go on a rampage. We rebuke that devil, in the Name of Jesus Christ, and put him to shame.
E-292 You have more than that wrong with you. You got heart trouble, too. Complications, just all nervous condition, been that way for years. That's exactly right, weary, dreary feelings, and everything. That's… If that's true, raise up your hand. Now you're healed. Your faith has saved you. You can go home now and be well. It's all over. Just go, believing, all you have to do. Thank God.
E-293 You believe? Just stand right there, lady, look this way. You believe me to be His servant? Can God heal heart trouble? [The sister says, "Yes. He can."—Ed.] All right, He's healed yours, then, if you'll believe. Go, believe.
E-294 You believe He healed cancer? Then go back to your seat, say, "Thank You, Lord Jesus."
E-295 What if I didn't say one word to you but just… Would you believe if I said you was healed when you come up there in the line? Would you take my word for it? You are, and there's no need of telling you this, you're already healed. I haven't touched a person.
E-296 You don't, you won't have to have an operation if you'll believe God. Do you believe it with all your heart? The tumor's gone. Go home and you'll be well.
E-297 Look this way, sister. You believe me to be His servant? Just a moment. Now, there's a man keeps appearing before me here, he's got the same thing this woman has, somewhere in the audience. And see that Light on the picture, That's standing right here. Can't you see that? It's this man sitting right here. You have a prayer card, sir? Young fellow, I believe you're Brother Hupp, aren't you? I just recognized you. I don't—I don't know what's wrong with you, Brother Hupp. You know I don't. You believe God can tell me what your trouble is? You have a trouble. You was sitting there, believing. You should believe on the account of your daughter here recently. You believe, don't you? This woman has arthritis; you do, too. If that's right, raise up your hand. You believe with all your heart and you both can be healed. God bless you. Satan thought he'd get by with that man, he missed it. Have faith now. Don't doubt. Now, this man here, ever… Brother Hupp, you don't have a prayer card, do you, Brother Hupp? Yeah, you just sitting there, believing. You watch what happens to you. Just believe now with all your heart.
E-298 Everybody in prayer. You believe now? Now, you realize these things just makes me so weak I just…
E-299 Do you believe with your heart? If I'd tell you you're going to get well, would you—would you take my word for it and believe it? Then go and Jesus Christ make you well. Believe it with all your heart.
E-300 Do you think that God can heal nervousness and make you well? Go, believe it. I believe I… I'm not sure, I thought I knowed that woman. I wasn't sure. A vision broke over her but I—I stopped it, just looked back the other way; 'cause I believe I—I knowed the woman, but I—I wasn't sure.
E-301 Now be reverent, everybody. Do you believe? [Congregation says, "Amen."—Ed.] See, I got a big long prayer line here, I don't want… Just standing here. And, right now, I've preached to you for about two or three hours, but right now I'm twice as weak as I was with all the preaching. See, it's just sapping my life. But, these, we could keep talking to people, that would be all right, that don't make a bit of difference. You can stand, talk long as you want to to people, what more it keeps happening, but I stopped so I can save my strength a little bit for others coming in the line. See what I mean? How many's ever seen it where a lot of times I stop and talk to people, It tells them all about them, and about who they are and where they come from? My, you've been in the meetings and seen it, you know.
E-302 This—this next, you're the next? All right, sir, you believe with all your heart? Well, fine. We are believers, believe with all of our heart. And not knowing you, the Lord Jesus would tell me something wrong with you, you'd know whether it was right or not, wouldn't you, sir? Yes, sir. This being our… I guess we're strangers to one another. I don't remember your face. We're ministers together, and we're… but we don't know one another just personally as friends. All right, sir. Then you look this way, sir, and you believe me to be the servant of Christ with all your heart. All right, sir. This man suffers with a colon condition. It's in his colon. It's also a heart trouble you're having. You're a minister, that is true, you belong to the United Brethren Church. You come from Ramsey, Indiana. Your name is Mr. Beanblossom. Reverend Beanblossom, that is true. Is that right, raise your hand. Then go home and be well, sir. Jesus Christ make you well. You believe with all your heart.
E-303 Arthritis is no job for God. You believe He can make you well? You believe He'll heal you? Go and believe Him with all your heart and you can have it with all… just believe with all…
E-304 Brother, I know you, know your condition. You believe right now, while I'm under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, that God will heal you and make you well? Go and believe it, Brother Collins, and be made well. All right.
E-305 I—I… looked like I seen you, but I'm not sure. But if God will tell me what your trouble is, will you believe me to be His prophet, or His servant? You believe it? All right. You suffer with a nervous condition. That's what you want prayer. Is that right? Raise up your hand if that's right. Go home, be well. Believe it. Ride over it now. Have that little faith that really makes it well.
E-306 You believe Christ will make you well right now while you're standing there? Believe it, and go home and say, "Jesus Christ makes me well right now." Believe with all of your heart. You must believe, to live. You know that, don't you, sister? If you don't, you must die. You know that. But He heals all kinds of diseases, cancer, anything else, and makes you well. You believe that with all your heart? Then go and believe with all your heart, and be made well, in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
E-307 All right, brother, you know I know you, and so I'm just trying to catch, though. But do you believe that Jesus Christ will make you well right now while you're under the Divine anointing of the Holy Ghost? Go and believe it with all your heart.
E-308 Now what? All right. Just a moment now. From where did I stop, where did I stop at a while ago? Twenty-five, twenty-six, twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty, go right up and get in the line. Thirty, thirty-one, thirty-two, thirty-three, thirty-four, thirty-five, thirty-six, thirty-seven, on up to fifty, line up right there now, the ones that's got your prayer cards, so you hand them to the usher or the brothers as they come through.
E-309 Now let's take just a moment's time for rest, just a minute. Are you believing? All things are possible, only believe.
E-310 Brother and Sister Spencer, I knowed you since I was a little kid. I know what your trouble is, and know what you're standing there. You believe Jesus Christ will make you well, standing there? O God of Heaven, grant Your blessings upon this aged couple, sending them to be well, Father. Way up in the years here, but still serving You. I bless them in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Return to your… God bless you, sister. He'll take eighty-three, you got more years coming, believe it with all your heart and God will be with you. And you, too, Brother Jess. God bless you here.
E-311 You're believing now with all your heart? Wait, I believe I've missed this little sister down here. All right. We got two stretchers, we got to get to them just in a minute. You don't mind waiting just a minute, sister there, or ever who the other person is?
E-312 Now be real reverent and stand quiet, everybody be reverent. See, you must be real, real reverent. Now let's rest just a moment, see, from the visions, just a second. And be real reverent. Now everybody look this way, and let's sing quietly, Only Believe, now. All of us together now.
Only believe, only believe,
All things are possible, only believe;
Only believe, only believe,
All things are possible, only believe.
E-313 Now, he asked me go pray for them now, but I'm just kind of relaxed just a little bit now. Let me start the line again, in just a minute I'll stop. Now, where is the people that's to be prayed, that lady there in the chair? All right, just a moment, I'll—I'll get… I'll come over to her, see, just a minute. All right, just a moment. Now, everybody real reverent. I'm quite sure you're—you realize what I'm under here. See? Not only here, but, in the foreign lands, sometimes the thousands times thousands.
E-314 I heard a little, felt a little resentment a while ago, of somebody's name was called. Don't you realize that Jesus knows your name? Haven't you seen that? Must be strangers in here, they haven't seen it. Why, my, it's sometimes here at the platform He tells the people all their sins, and digs it right out. You know that. Every… Didn't Jesus tell Peter, "Your name is Simon. Your father's name was Jonas. The son of Jonas"? See? Just to show that He's here. Now, anyone knows, everybody here is bound to say that there's some kind of Spirit doing that. Now, you can say, "It's Beelzebub," or you can say, "Christ." God will judge whatever it is. See? I'm telling you that that's the promise of the Bible, God's Holy Bible here gives it the promise.
E-315 Now, now be real reverent. Now, just a moment. Is this the next man? All right, walk out this way, sir. Don't know the man. God knows him. But, sir, if God will say to me what you're here for, well, it'd make you believe. Wouldn't it? It sure would. How many more out there would it make believe? Here's two people meeting, the man's younger than I am. God's fed him all of his life. He's standing there with his eyes closed. But if God will reveal to me what the man's here for, or something about it, it ought to make every one of you believe with all your heart. Don't you think so?
E-316 Here, just a moment, right back here, sitting in the row right back here, is a man, praying. He's got a very odd thing. I see a flash. Yeah, he's been hit by lightning. Yeah. Have faith, my brother. I'm a stranger to you, sir. If that's right, raise up your hand, we don't know one another. God knows you. Have faith now.
E-317 Now you say, "What you doing, Brother Branham?" I'm watching that Light. It's moving.
E-318 Bladder trouble, sitting there praying for… with bladder trouble, a man looking at me. We're strangers to one another, aren't we? Tell me what that man touched. Your bladder trouble's gone, sir. What did he touch? He's thirty feet from me. He touched the High Priest that can be touched by the feeling.
E-319 That man sitting next to you, he's praying, also. Here's what he's praying, "Lord, let it be me next." He said that just now. That's right. How did I know what you're praying about? He that answers prayer. That hernia you're praying for, that's what you got, a hernia. If that's right, raise up your hand. All right, if you believe with all your heart, the thing will heal up.
E-320 I challenge your faith. In the Name of Jesus Christ, you believe! Oh, my, what a feeling! He's here. Yes. Now let it happen. Now you'll see Who's Boss. He's Boss. Let the infidel say something now, the unbeliever. The Lord Jesus Christ, to prove to you that the end time is here, that's His Spirit on me. That's Him. It's not me, I don't know you. It's Him. You just believe with all your heart.
E-321 This man, I believe which was the next, this man here. Sir, I'm—I just have to watch the way That goes. I don't know you. If God will reveal to me what you're here for, will you believe me to be His prophet, His servant? You're a gallant person. You're standing here for somebody else, that's right, goes to the church with you, ulcers. That is right. You're not from here. This is not your home. You come from quite aways. Believe He can tell me where you're from? Missouri. That's exactly right. Mr. Friels, now if you believe with all your heart, you can go home and be made well, and all the rest of your things you're asking for. Go and believe the Lord Jesus Christ.
E-322 You believe? Seems like I ought to know you. I've looked at you somewhere. Oh, I do, I know where you were at. You are… Now, wait a minute. I'm not beside myself, but this is anointing. You are… Now, wait a minute. You were healed in Louisville, Kentucky, or your sister was healed. You're what's… Hupp, Sister Hupp's girl. That's right. Do you believe with all your heart, to be healed like your sister was? Go home, receive it, Jesus Christ make you well.
E-323 Brother, believe that nervousness is gone for good, and just go home, say, "Thank You, Lord Jesus, I'm going home, be made well." And He'll do it.
E-324 You believe with all your heart, sir? What if I'd come down and lay hands on you, with this anointing? You'd believe it would be, happen to you? I'll come down and do it, in the Name of Jesus Christ. You'll die laying there, you're very, very sick, nothing can be done. Have fluid in the lungs. That's right. You'll die laying there, as sure as the world. Now, why not just believe Him with all your heart. Get up in the Name of Jesus…?… [Brother Branham prays—Ed.] God, grant it. He heard my prayer in Jesus' Name. God, grant it.
Pass me not, O gentle…
E-325 Pray, everybody, now, altogether, we're going to lay hands. The anointing of the Holy Spirit's here, I'm going to lay hands on the people. The Bible said, "These signs shall follow them that believe. All right.
[Congregation sings Pass Me Not while Brother Branham continues praying for the people—Ed.]
E-326 Let's pray now for these cloths here. Our Heavenly Father, they taken from the body of Saint Paul, handkerchiefs, or aprons, and It said that "Unclean spirits went from them." We realize that we're not Saint Paul, but we know that You're still the same Jesus, for You're just as much alive today as You was in the days of Saint Paul. I pray for these requests, Lord, that these handkerchiefs represents. Little cloths and handkerchiefs, and little boots for babies. God, I pray that You'll grant it.
E-327 We're taught that Israel was on its march to the promised land, a great Pillar of Fire went before them, a prophet represented them, represented God, for them on earth. And they… this prophet led them out to the Dead Sea, and it shut off the road. There was something in the way while they were walking in the line of duty. God looked down out of the Heavens through that Pillar of Fire, and the sea got scared, and it rolled back and opened up the road right through the sea, for Israel to go on on the path of duty, and they went to the promised land.
E-328 God, when these handkerchiefs are laid upon the sick and the afflicted… Satan has crossed their line, he's hindering them from the path of duty. Let the Power that raised up our Lord, Who's present now, come upon these handkerchiefs. And, whenever they touch the sick, may the devil get scared, while He looks down through the Blood of Jesus Christ, and may every one of them be healed and continue on in the path of duty. Grant it, Lord. We thank You. Your Presence is here. Oh, this glorious anointing of Your Spirit that shakes we mortal beings, Lord. How we thank You for Your goodness! Bless these now, in Jesus' Name.
E-329 With your heads bowed, every person in here. Not only bow your heads, now I'm going to ask you to bow your hearts with it. What more could God do to let you see that He's here? Now take my word. This anointing is so tremendous right now till I'm almost dizzy here. I am not a fanatic. You know I'm not. I'm not given over to illusions. I'm only telling you what is truth. It's Scriptural. That Light has actually spread all over, it looks like It's just everywhere around here. Such a tremendous need! Believe me.
E-330 The Bible said, in Mark 16, "These signs shall follow them that believe." How many believers are here, say "Amen." [Congregation says, "Amen."—Ed.] Well, the Bible said, "These signs shall follow them that believe." So that you'll know it's not me, you're just as much into it as I am. This is just a gift from God, to manifest Him, It tells things. And I take any to record, through the years, has It ever told anything but what come to pass just exactly? Perfectly true, every time. It's—it's got to be, because it's God. Now, don't just kind of halfway look over, look for something way out yonder. Look, He's here now, right now!
E-331 Now, if you are a believer, put your hand on somebody next to you, and they're going to put their hand on you. Don't you pray for yourself, you pray for them because they're going to be praying for you. Now that you might know, and—and if you will do this, I'll assure you. Well, there's not any stretchers or cots left, they're all gone. But you've been here when the stretchers and cots was laying here, crippled, lame, halt, blind, never one time but what every bit of it. Now, the way you pray in church, if you're a Methodist, pray like the Methodists do. If you're Baptist, pray like the Baptists do. If you're Pentecostal, pray like they do. Whatever you are, pray. But you pray for the person that you got your hands on. Then believe.
E-332 Now, remember, the Bible said, "These signs shall follow them that believe. If they lay their hands on the sick, they shall recover." Now you pray for each one, as individuals. I'm going to pray for you, collectively, from the platform. Now, each one in your own way.
E-333 Our Heavenly Father, we are approaching Thy mercies. We would not come in our own name, we've not been given a promise by that. But we've been given a promise by Your Own dear Son, that, "If you ask the Father anything in My Name, I'll do it." That was Your promise. Now, Father, I pray that You will manifest Yourself with these believers. They're laying their hands on the sick, on each other, and we are coming now to the throne of God, bringing them. In the Bible, in Mark, the 11th chapter, the 23rd verse, it says, "If you say to this mountain, 'Be moved,' and don't doubt in your heart, but believe that what you said will come to pass, you can have what you said. If ye abide in Me and My Words in you, ask what you will, and it'll be granted."
E-334 Now, Father, on every precept of Your Word, I have accepted It regardless of what others say. I have believed It just the way It's written. For It is no private interpretation, we're told, but just the way It's written. If You're going to judge us by this Book, You certainly seen that It come to us in the right kind of a shape, because we're to be judged by the Book. And now, Father, I believe with all my heart, and beyond even the gift of the Spirit of prophecy that You make known. And that's the reason I know It's You, because It's always exactly with the Scripture. Now we come, Lord, and thank You for It. And anoint us now. We're approaching the enemies grounds.
E-335 O Satan, you are a defeated being. You have no power. The Son of God taken your power, stripped you of everything you had, at Calvary; proved that He was with us, by the resurrection. And like those coming from Emmaus, He has appeared to us this morning and done something the way He did it before His crucifixion, therefore we know that He's raised from the dead. And, Satan, we're coming in His Name, the Name of Jesus, with the Power of Christ. And you are defeated, and you're only a bluff. And if we'll accept your bluff, you'd kill us prematurely. But you can't do it. We're coming, challenging that by the Word of God, by the vicarious suffering of Jesus. We defeat your bluff. We call your hand, Satan. And we're coming out after that sheep, like the lion in the days of David. We're coming to bring that sheep back to good health and strength. Turn them loose, in the Name of Jesus Christ! Come out of this place! Get out of this people, Satan! We rebuke you, in the Name of Jesus Christ. Let them go, for by Christ's Name, we're bringing them back to Father's Throne this morning, with health and strength, through the Name of Jesus Christ.
E-336 All you people now that believe that the prayer of faith is prayed, that you've laid your hands on somebody, that you have believed, and believe that Christ has healed them, and you believe that you're healed because the person prayed for you, and you accept it right now that you are healed, I don't care how crippled, how blind, how deaf, whatever you are, how weak, how sick, stand on your feet, in the Name of Jesus Christ, and accept it. Amen. Get up, everywhere, no matter what's wrong. Stand up to your feet, raise up your hands and praise God for His goodness. Amen.
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