E-1 Thank you, Brother Orman. God bless you.
Good morning, friends. And it's a privilege to be back in the tabernacle, on this fine Easter morning, worshipping, the great resurrection of our precious Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
E-2 I'd like to say that I was certainly… Of all the messages that I ever heard our pastor preach, his best one was this morning. I went home and told my wife. I said, "Honey, this is one morning you missed it, by not getting up early." That was the best that I heard on the resurrection, in all my life. I never heard anything any better, on the resurrection than our pastor give us this morning. Such an astounding message, and everything right to its point. That goes to show, that, when the anointing gets a hold of a man, see, what—what happens. That does something then. And so we're happy that—that God has give us this wonderful pastor.
And now I want to thank each and every one of you.
E-3 We've been here now for quite a little while, at different times, back and forth, but I'm leaving for the fields now, as you know. This week, I'm leaving for the Cree Indians, up in British Columbia. And then over, in from there, to Fort St. John. And then, this summer, the Lord willing, to be in… all on the West Coast, up in the East, and—and out on the West Coast, and up into Alaska, Anchorage, Alaska, and through there. And then, perhaps, from there, I'm sending out some feelers for Africa and the rest of the world, for the oncoming winter. So it'll probably be some time before I get to be back here at tabernacle again. At least, it'll be up in August or sometime this fall, 'fore I can get back again.
E-4 And I want to thank you all for your fine cooperation, for all that you've done. And we're sorry we never have room for the people here on these mornings. We are in a building project now, as you know, to build a bigger church, when for these services. And so that'll probably go into effect right away now. They'll start building on the church. Now be…
E-5 Also, want to thank each and every one of you for your… for gifts, birthday cards, Easter cards, gifts that you given Billy, and different, for, of… and ones for me; Brother Wood, and many of them. I appreciate them all.
E-6 And each one comes and says… You don't know what a strain it is. Somebody to come and say, "Now we want to see Brother Branham. We want to see your father?" so forth. And said, "The sheet is filled up." Then, oh, you don't know what an embarrassing condition it puts you in, when you—you—you just get to so many. That's all you can do.
E-7 I—I wish it was so I just had a long time with each one, could set down. And I hope to do that sometime. But it can't be, on this earth, because there is people comes in here from all over the world, see, from around the world. This week, been people from several nations in here, and been interviewed and prayed for, this week, from nations around the world.
E-8 And if it was just our little, local congregation here in Jeffersonville, I could gladly take two or three hours with each one, and weed it right down and have them out. But, see, while there just may be, say, five calls from, or, maybe, two calls from right in our local community, there's a hundred or two from around the world, at the same time these two are coming in. So there's been literally thousands that I couldn't even touch, no where, see, people. And the calls to "Come here, and go there," from around the world, and just airplane tickets sent in, everything else, "Come, pray for the sick," but you can't do it.
E-9 So, the people are disappointed. I would be, too. But I just like, on this Easter morning, to make in my confession, to say that—that I don't know what to do about it. There's just too many, you know, to—to get to, thousands and thousands of people from around the world. I've taken my seventh trip around, as you know. And I have in personal contact with better than ten million people from around the world.
E-10 So you can imagine how—how is, what a strain that is on you. And many times we hit little strains, and I know you do, too, and little disappointments. But think of them I have, the disappointments I have, when sick mothers on the phone, saying, "'O God…' Well, wait just a minute, Brother Branham. 'Lord Jesus, I—I—I pray that You'll send him.'" And—and I just hung up the phone from another one, and here, and here, and here, and all around the world. You know how it is. And that—that's not easy when somebody on the end of the phone, with a sick baby, or a sick husband, or a dying wife, praying for you to come. Now, you can imagine.
E-11 No wonder I'm a neurotic. It's just… It's enough to make one. But I have done this one thing, instead of getting a complex. I've tried to hold steady, by keeping my eyes on Calvary and moving on, just as He would have me to do. And many of my mistakes, I pray that God will forgive me of things, that maybe I should have went one place and didn't go. I'm just human, and can, subject to mistakes.
E-12 There's a little, cute little thing was said in here in the back yard, this morning, when I was going out from the sunrise service.
E-13 I got a precious old friend. He's probably here somewhere. He's from Chicago. His name is Stewart. He's about… Ed Stewart, I guess he's in his middle seventies, or better. And he met me out there. And he saves his tithing money in dimes. And he give me a whole package of dimes, about like that. And, oh, I don't know, I… Of course, they go to a foreign, mission work.
E-14 And his good friend, and mine, Brother Skaggs, Leonard Skaggs, from Lowell, Indiana, was standing there. And I never knew before; he was a Mason. He had a Mason button on him. And we were talking about the Masonic order.
E-15 And so the old Brother Stewart said to me, he said, "I like you, Brother Branham, and I'd like to talk to you." Excuse this expression. "But," he said, "you're harder to get to than a Turkish harem."
E-16 Someone said to me, not long ago, said, "I'm glad the Lord is not that hard to get to." Well, I don't mean to be that way. I love people. But I just imagine…
E-17 I went home and I told my wife, and we set at the table and laughed, how hard it would be to get to a Turkish harem, you know. So—so I…
E-18 I hope it isn't quite that difficult, Brother Stewart, if you're still in here. But I sure did think that was a little sense of humor that kind of made us all have a chuckle.
E-19 So, I wish I could see everyone. And I love everyone. That is true. Whether they're a friend or foe, it's just the same.
E-20 And now I certainly covet your prayers for me, in this oncoming meeting. I'm going among Indians. And you know, you, when you're in Rome, you have to be a Roman; and when you're with Indians, you have to live as Indians.
E-21 My missionary friend, of who is a hunting partner of mine, where I was, up on the highway, Alaskan Highway. A very fine young fellow, and his wife, out of a nice home. And I… Arms eat, in there, and all around behind his ears and things. And I wondered what was the matter with him, "Did he have an eczema?" It was from fleas and bedbugs, where he'd had to li-… how he had to live out there. And so you have to live right with the people, to win them to Christ. They are Christ's heritage. They are people who He died for, and somebody must go to them.
E-22 And the chief was over at one of my recent northern meetings, and the Holy Spirit in the meeting, or out on the campground, on the ground (tourists' court, I believe it was), called his name, and who he was, and what he had did. And, oh, my, that just settled it, with him. He knew that human beings couldn't do that; that has to come from Almighty.
E-23 So, that chief has just fired that, all up and down that coast there. And we're going to take the meetings in a little sailboat, go in through the places where we get to, Portland, and on out, and up the coast, and to the others, to the Cree Indians, the neglected. Many of the brethren, who have big services, could not go to that, now, the Indians.
E-24 There won't be one penny of money… As you know, I never take an offering in my meetings. And I don't take money. But the church here is—is sponsoring that meeting to the Indians. Some of your tithing money, and things, will go to pay, to bring this Message of salvation and deliverance to those poor, illiterate Indians.
E-25 And after all, they are the Americans, you know. We're the foreigners, you see. We come in and took it from them. And we want… I can't give them back their nation, but I can give them the hopes in Christ, that will put us together as a brotherhood someday in a Land where there is no fighting and taking land, one from another. It'll be a Land, room for all. I'll be thankful when that time comes, if all my loved ones are saved and ready at that time.
E-26 Now, I have many friends I'm seeing, setting around here, as I was speaking. I believe I'm noticing Sister… I can't think of her name. Used to be Lee. Is that right? Aren't you Mrs. Lee? Your daughter here, the daughters, the one that was healed? That's very fine. One was in the Good Shepherd's Home, or not… What is that called? "Sister of…" (some Catholic Institute) "Lady of Peace," that's what it was. I get all them Catholic names mixed up. And so, over there, and she was had a mental, nervous break. And the dear Lord Jesus, while we was sit… I was setting on the foot of the bed, and her precious mother and father standing close. And the Lord Jesus pronounced it done, finished. There she is. It's all over. And, of course, we know sister is very grateful this morning, and…
E-27 I'm looking out over there and seeing people who were dying, recently, with cancer. Crawled in here, on wheelchairs, crutches; and here they are, normal and well, this morning. That's world over. Not by me; by Him, our Lord Who has risen from the dead, is alive for evermore. May our Lord ever be praised and blessed, is my sincere prayer.
E-28 Will you pray for me? [Congregation says, "Amen."—Ed.] All of you pray for me. Now, I—I depend on that. And when I get out there, see, here at home, it's not too bad around here; but when you get there where you really hit the battlefront. This is training.
E-29 I was hearing, yesterday, when our church got a—a new station wagon for me, and I… to travel. And my other one is about wore out. And so I—I turned the radio on and listened to the newscast. And then they was coming down, last night, from where Joseph and I had went to pray. Then we coming down from Green's Mill, they… I turned the radio on. It was a newscast, and was tell it, following, this Monitor was following a young fellow in his training. And how he was standing there with his pockets full of sand and everything, where he had to hold his head so low, that live machine gun fire was going right above his head while he crawled through barbed wires and things, taking a rigid training.
Well, that's what we're doing here.
E-30 But now it's a lot different on the battlefront. See? That machine gun is timed, trained right at a certain level. But, on the battlefront, it could come up or down. See? So—so that's a little different there, you see, than what—than what it is. So we have the…
E-31 Well, this is training, here. But out there you're on the battlefront, so we're going to face the enemy now. So we used to fight… sing a little song here, The Fight Is On. Anybody still remember that song? [Congregation says, "Amen."—Ed.]
The fight is on, O Christian soldiers,
And face to face in stern array,
With armors gleaming, and colors streaming,
The right and wrong is engaged today.
That's right. See?
The fight is on, but be not weary,
Be strong and in His might hold fast;
If God be for us, His banner over us,
We'll sing the victor's song at last.
E-32 That's right. Now, there was many things that I had to say, this morning, but I kind of cut it short, where our people standing and packed in. And they got little speakers for the outside, and little broadcast, I think, that each car can… The broadcasting system let us go out so many yards from the tabernacle, with it. And so, we, we're trying to appreciate everybody's visit with us this morning.
E-33 Now, before any farther, let's say that. Now, immediately after this, I think, is baptismal service. First, is the prayer line. We're going to pray for the sick, this morning. I think, God coming on the scene is a proof of what we're talking about, His resurrection. Is He alive, or isn't He alive? Is This just a fiction story, or is It the Truth? If He's alive, He made a promise, "I'll be with you, always, even to the end of the world." Now, if He—if He comes in amongst us here and proves that He's here, then there's no more guess about it. See?
E-34 You remember, all the religions in the world, they have their holy days and holidays, and so forth. But there's none of them that can prove that their founder… That, death took him, and that was all of it. But, ours, Christian religion, our Founder died and rose again.
E-35 In Mexico, recently, when I was interviewed by the press, of the resurrection of a little baby that had died that morning at nine o'clock. And at ten-thirty that night, ten-thirty or eleven o'clock, was raised up from the dead, right there in the mother's arms at the platform, before tens of thousands of people. Thirty thousand come to Christ that night. See? So, then, you can imagine what was there.
E-36 And the little fellow, I saw a vision out in front of me; and it told about what his little name was, and everything. And the mother was way back there, couldn't get a prayer card, couldn't get in. But she didn't have to get up, through the line. So when she brought the little baby; it raining, pouring down.
E-37 We think of us standing; think of them. They would be there at nine o'clock at morning, for services to begin nine that night. Standing in the hot sun, leaning against one another, for shade. Standing, not sitting; standing. And that's the way they do, Africa and different places, in India, where half a million gathers out, at a time.
E-38 Now, this little woman couldn't even get a prayer card. Over, about three hundred ushers, to hold her back, that she couldn't get in the prayer line. And standing there praying for that little baby; a little, Catholic woman. And the Holy Spirit called and said, "Tell her to bring it here."
E-39 And the little baby, under a wet quilt; been standing there since that morning. The doctor pronounced it dead. Now, we got the doctor's statement of it, that pronounced it dead, that morning at nine o'clock. And then this was that night, nearly midnight. And I, just according, what the vision said, I went, laid hands on the little baby. There it was, alive. The doctor give testimony.
E-40 I was interviewed by the press. And so, being nothing against anybody's belief, as long as it's with the Bible, all right. But the man that was interviewing me was Catholic, and he said to me, "Do you believe our saints can do that?"
E-41 I said, "If they're living." Course, I know the Catholic church believes you have to be dead, to be a saint, so then I said, "If they are living, yes."
And he said, "Oh, you can't be a saint until you're dead."
E-42 I said, "Was Paul a saint before he died or after he died? Who was he writing to, the dead people, when he said, 'To the saints that are at Ephesus,' and the saints that are at a certain place? He wouldn't write to dead people, you know."
E-43 So then he said, "Now you're trying to judge your case by a Bible. We are the church."
I said, "All right, sir. Okay."
And he said, "We are the church."
E-44 I said, "Then let's see the church do it." See? Then, so, it's only Christ can do that. You know that.
He said, "What's your opinion of the Catholic church?"
I said, "I wish you wouldn't ask me that." See?
He said, "Well, I'd like to hear it."
And I said, "The highest form of spiritualism that there is."
And he said, "Spiritualism?"
I said, "Yes, sir."
Said, "How do you figure that?"
E-45 I said, "Anything that intercedes with the dead; communion of saints, see."
And he said, "Well, you pray to Christ, and He died."
I said, "But, He rose again, see."
E-46 So, that's the good thing that we know, He rose again. Aren't we thankful? [Congregation says, "Amen."—Ed.]
E-47 Let's bow our heads and thank Him because He did raise from the grave for our justification.
E-48 Heavenly Father, we are grateful this morning for Jesus; and today, in commemoration of His great resurrection, on that yule morning when He rose from the dead, triumph over death, hell, and the grave. When He was on earth, He showed He had triumphed over sickness, diseases, and—and all kinds of devils and powers. Then death laid before Him, the great and the last enemy. And on Easter morning He proved He was God. He rose from even the last enemy, could not hold Him. The grave give Him up; hell had to give Him forth; Heaven received Him.
E-49 O God, may our hearts receive Him today, in the power of the Holy Spirit, that we might be His executives, His—His examples, of His servants here on earth, as we sojourn. Grant it.
E-50 Bless all that's here. God, these precious people who are standing, some of them been jammed in here since daylight. I pray, Heavenly Father, that You will pour out the "exceedingly, abundantly, above all that we could do or think," upon them today, and give them the deep desires of their heart. What every one come for, this morning, may they go back, satisfied. You said You'll not turn any away, but You will fill him with good things, and send him away rejoicing. Grant it, Lord.
E-51 May Your omnipotence, may Your Holy Spirit, in the power of the resurrection, so deal with each of us till our hopes will be built on nothing less than Jesus' Blood with righteousness. Grant it, Father.
Bless the Words now that we read.
E-52 We thank You for that noble message this morning, as we come early to the church. And to see You take our brother, and such a change in him in a few moments, and deliver a message to this dying generation of people that we are now a part of, how we thank You for that, Lord! O God, our hearts quiver with joy as we think of those things. Now, keep him anointed, Lord, down through the days that is ahead of him, Lord.
E-53 And bless this little church. And help me, Lord, as I go to bring the Message to other people. And may we, together, like one person, one family, stick together, and pray together, and live together in holy unity of the Holy Spirit until Jesus receives us into the Kingdom. For we ask it in His Name and for His glory. Amen.
E-54 [Brother Neville says, "Brother Branham, may I have the time to interrupt you?"—Ed.] You sure can, brother. ["As a token of our appreciation and by the—the work of a young man in our midst, we present this picture to you, Brother Branham, with the full expression of our love and appreciation."] Thank you, Brother Neville, and the tabernacle. ["The young man is Jerry Steffy, that painted that picture."]
E-55 Brother Jerry Steffy painted that picture. God bless that boy. That's very fine, Jerry, if you're here this morning. It's too bad, I wish I had the means to let that boy go to school for an artist. I believe God is in art. Don't you believe so? [Congregation says, "Amen."—Ed.] God is in music. God is in art. God is in this. And it's too bad to see a talent, like that, wouldn't be developed. More he does, the more developing he'll be. And I—I pray that God will bless you, Jerry.
E-56 And thank you, Brother Neville, and to this church, for this fine picture and for the verse that goes under it. I'll read it a little later. [Brother Neville says, "You want me to read it?"—Ed.] All right, sir. Brother Neville will read the verse. I did kind of had an idea of what it…
[Brother Neville reads Honor To Whom Honor:
He's not a man of stature tall,
Nor lofty in his way,
He sounds himself no trumpet
As he goes from day to day.
Has no desire for wealth nor fame,
But none his place could fill;
He's just the way we want him,
Our own dear Brother Bill.
He teaches us with faithfulnesS
The undiluted Word,
No fancy ways, no love for praise,
Just following the Lord.
His speech is soft and gentle,
He raises not his voice,
Except to cry against the wrong,
And then he has no choice.
Never got a lot of learning
From colleges and school,
But he knows what is important
And he's sure nobody's fool.
For the knowledge he is given
Is Eternal from above,
He has no creed, except our Christ,
No law but Sovereign Love.
There was no great announcement
To his lowly, humble birth,
But to us he is the greatest man
Who lives upon the earth.
We count it more than privilege
To know him as a friend,
We cherish all he stands for,
And will right to the end.
He says he's not a preacher,
He's modest as can be,
But get him in the pulpit
And it isn't hard to see.
He was foreordained a prophet,
Let men call it what they will,
God granted us great favor
When He gave us Brother Bill.
Signed, "The little flock."—Ed.]
E-57 Thank you, Brother Neville. Thank you for your thoughts. Who composed that? [Brother Neville says, "I think his mother did."—Ed.] That's…
E-58 I'm not worthy of those things, of saying that, but that's more to me than all the money in the world. See? Just think, somebody regards you as His servant, see, as—as God's servant. May I ever live true to that, is my prayer. God ever bless you. My thoughts will always be for you. And I expressingly love you, too.
E-59 Now, oh, we just got so many things, we could just take a full day and we never would get down to the Word, you see, so many fine things.
E-60 I have a—a vision from the Lord I was going to say something about, and—and someone had dreamed a dream, that, oh, I thought was so outstanding, of the Coming of the Lord. And I…
E-61 Little Rebekah, my daughter back there. I… Even if I did make a little fun of her a while ago. She come out, one of them big kind of a—a hats on. I said, "Now, honey, it looks like a bird's nest," I said, "sticks all in it, and everything, like that." I said, "Go, take it off."
E-62 Then, then she got back at me. In a few minutes she come back; you know, the way she got back at me, was go back. She come in with a great big pocketbook, packing. I said, "Where'd that thing come from?"
E-63 She said, "Daddy," she says, "I have big feet, so I guess I'll just take the big pocket to match it." So, oh, these!
E-64 But she said she had dreamed twice that she and I riding in the car, and me telling her of the Lord's near appearing; same dream, second time. I'm waiting for the third; maybe the Lord, then, will give me what it means.
E-65 Now, there's so many things to be said, but let's get right down to the Word now.
E-66 Everybody is feeling good, I hope. [Congregation says, "Amen."—Ed.] And if you're not, I pray that God will make you feel good before this service is over, that there will not be a feeble person in our midst this morning, when this service is over.
E-67 Now, we got to remember that Christ died for the ungodly, and that was us. See? That's us. And He died for us, that He might save us.
E-68 Now, can you hear all around, good? Way back in the back, can you hear all right back there? Is it coming in back there? Okay. All right.
E-69 Now I want to read some of His Word. First, let's us turn now to the Book of Joel, and I want to read the 1st verse, 1st to the 4th verse. And then the 2nd, to the… 2nd chapter and the 25th verse. And Genesis 20:7. Now, I do appreciate…
E-70 Now, if you get tired and want to go out, go ahead. See? But, this will be my last Message to the Church, for, this part of the Church, for some time. And we're expecting a healing service this morning. And I—I want this Message, if God will bless It, to—to sink deep into our hearts, so we'll get the meaning of what It means.
E-71 Now, we're here to express, to—to say the things that we believe, and prove it by the Scripture, that the Scripture says so; and then may God turn and prove it, that it's true, right, make it real. Just like any…
E-72 You say, "This is a sunflower seed." Plant it and see what it is. Then, it comes up a sunflower, that settles it. It was a sunflower. See? That's all.
E-73 Now, and if some of them are changing seats, every once in a while; somebody set down, the others get up and wait a little while. And I will be just as brief as I can.
E-74 Now, remember, pray for me. And just be loyal to the church now; stay right here to the church, with Brother Neville. And you people that's visiting, well, now, come right on back.
E-75 And now I'm on these meetings, going on them without any definitely calling. But, I just can't lay around; the world is dying. See? And Paul had that experience once. And he was going down to another country, and then he had a Macedonian call, on the road. Now, God could give a Macedonian call, any time. I cancel anything, when God gives a call.
E-76 I'm just doing the best I can, going to this corner, sowing seeds; and over here, sow a few seeds; and over here, throw, sow a few seeds. I know, the fowls of the air gather a many of them up; and some of them chokes, and so forth. But there might be a few, in there, come up, too, you know, on good ground. So let's just sow the seed, is the main thing.
E-77 A very strange reading, for a—a Easter message, Joel, the 1st chapter.
The word of the LORD that came unto Joel the son of Pethuel.
Hear this, ye old men, and give ear,… ye inhabitants of the land. Has this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers?
Tell… your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and let their children another generation.
That which the palmerworm has left has the locust eaten; and that which the locust has left has the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm has left has the caterpiller eaten.
E-78 Now the 25th verse of the 2nd chapter.
And I will restore to you the years that the locust has eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my… and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.
And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, that has dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed.
E-79 In Genesis, the 20, the Genesis. The 20th chapter of Genesis, and the 7th verse. I want to read this, to follow the… for a context for this text that I am—am fixing to take. I'll begin with the 6th verse, to get a background to this.
And God said unto him in a dream, Yea, I know that thou did this in the integrity of thy heart; for I—for I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her.
Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shall live: and if thou restoreth her not, know… that thou shall surely die, thou, and all that are thine.
E-80 Now, I draw from this a text, or from this Scripture reading, a conclusion of a text, called, "restore."
E-81 Now, after Brother Neville preached this morning, that notable message, at the last thing he said on his last thoughts, was, "To be restored." And so that give me the idea, right there, to "restore."
E-82 Now, I rushed home and got my dictionary, and so forth, and some Scripture notes, and begin to copy some things down. And then I got Webster's dictionary, to find out the right definition for restore. To restore, means, "to return to the former owner, or to bring back to the former estate of condition." And we can enforce a claim, to be restored.
E-83 Now, that's what Webster says the word restore means, "To bring back to the former owner, or to bring back to a former state of condition." And if a claim is made on something, to make that restoration, you can enforce it, to make it come back to its right place.
And may God bless the feeble words now.
E-84 To restore, means, "to bring back." Or, to restore, a—a claim can be enforced, now, to bring anything back to its rightful owner, where it belongs. Therefore, some way, it went away from its rightful owner, and can wander around anywhere. But, to restore, is to bring it back to it who really owns it, or to bring it back to its natural estate where it was at the first time, bring it back into its natural condition. And in order to do this, we have a right to enforce, if there is a law, to enforce this rightful condition of restoration, to restore.
E-85 Like if somebody stole some property, and they're holding the property captive. Then you can take the law and go to this person, and the law forces, enforces this person to restore this property back to its natural owner, into its liable first estate.
E-86 Enforcement! Oh, what a text! How I'd like to have two days on that, enforce!
E-87 Now, Brother Neville preached for us. I'm just going to talk to you, teach a Sunday school lesson so it'll—it'll get it to continue on, I hope, with what he had.
E-88 Enforce! Then, we are the… have the privilege to enforce, upon Satan, the claims that God give us. For, God has a law, and His Word is a law, and God in this Word made certain claims to the Church. Therefore, we have a right to force these claims upon Satan, and say, "Give it back," and he has to do it. Because, we can take God's Agent, the Holy Spirit, go right down on our knees, and say, "It's THUS SAITH THE LORD." He's got to give it up, that's all, 'cause the Holy Spirit is there to make him do it.
The law of the land is to enforce. It's by the land, for the land.
E-89 But the law of the Spirit of God is to force Satan to give up that which he has unrightfully, deceitfully taken from God. Souls of men, he took from God; souls of women, children. Sickness of the body, he placed upon people. Where, God made them in His image, to be like Him, and the Church is given the rightful legal rights, by the Bible, to take the Holy Spirit and enforce this upon them.
E-90 I believe I just quoted it, the last meeting here. I'm not sure. But a brother came to Louisville, from down in Georgia, and left his car setting over there, and someone stole it. And he had his clothes, his wife's clothes, his children's clothes. It was Brother Evans here. They're usually here. They drive fifteen hundred miles, every day, when we have service here, coming in here to have service. And the poor fellow was here without anything, and seven hundred and something miles from home. And he didn't know what to do.
E-91 He turned it in to the police. But they had a big racket in Louisville; they were stealing cars, and painting them. And you can… don't have to have a title, there, to sell it. And they can make you a title, in a few minutes, to any number you'd want to put on it. And so they were having a terrible time.
E-92 So we got down on our knees. See? Now, Jesus wouldn't have had to do that, for He was the Word. Now, we're not the Word. "The Word of the Lord came to the prophets." They wasn't the Word, but the Word come to them. But Jesus was the Word. See? He didn't have to pray. He was God, Himself. See? But we are—are His prophets, His servants, who the Word of the Lord comes to. Then, the prophet is vindicated by, whether it's the Word of the Lord or not, by what he says comes to pass.
E-93 So then we had a Scripture here, that Jesus said, "Wherever two or more are gathered in My Name, and if they will agree, I'll be in their midst. And if they will agree on touching any one certain thing and ask it, don't doubt it, they shall have what they've asked. It'll be given to them."
E-94 Now, there's—there's the law. Now, the One that's here to enforce that law is the Holy Spirit. How about people who don't believe in the Holy Spirit, would reject Him? See? Re-… You're rejecting your own peace and mercy. See?
E-95 Now, we got on our knees, about five men, with Brother Fred Sothmann and—and many of the others was there, four or five men. And we knelt down, and I pleaded this case before God. And then I took the Word, or the promise, and sent It forth. The great Holy Spirit, as He took the Word, to serve the summons, a vision broke and I saw a man going towards Bowling Green, Kentucky, with a yellow shirt on, driving his truck. The Holy Spirit come upon him, condemned him, and he turned around, about halfway. I saw him come back and park that car on a certain street, over across the river here. I raised up and told the brethren, "THUS SAITH THE LORD."
E-96 And when they started out, they went on the road. And there was the car setting there, half empty with gasoline, where the—the tank half empty, where it had been filled up, just enough, take him halfway to Bowling Green and bring him back. Now, those men are setting right here this morning, as a witness.
E-97 What is it? Enforcing. "Give it back." See? That's it. That's what it's talking about. "Restore it. Bring it back to its right owner."
E-98 And if Satan has robbed you of the privilege of being a son or a daughter of God, we have a right this morning, by the Holy Spirit, to enforce the claim of God. "Bring them back."
E-99 If he's afflicted you, and made you sick, we have a right before God to enforce the laws of God. "By His stripes we are healed." Amen. "Bring him back. Turn him loose. You're taking him out yonder, of death, and we claim him. Bring him back now."
E-100 That's the enforcement; restore it back to its natural condition again. A man is sick; baby is sick; woman is sick. See? They're out of their natural condition. Then we have a right to enforce our claim. Not our claim. It's our claim because God give it to us. "By His stripes we were healed. He was wounded for our transgression. With His stripes we were healed." Now we have a right to enforce that law. And the—the Law-Giver, the Holy Spirit, Himself, is here, the Agent of God, to see that it's done that way. Amen.
E-101 Now, the only way He can work, is when you let Him work. See? You've got to believe it. There's a law. Oh, if I ever get to my text. There's a law. There's a law given amongst everything.
E-102 You know, a fish has a law. And that fish can stand up here in water, and he has a law within him. If he'll just let go of that law that's in him, he can sink plumb to the bottom of the sea. Won't bother him a bit. Won't break one cell. You try to do it. That law is not in you. You can't do it, but the fish can. He deflates himself with that air, such a way that he can't, there's nothing in him to burst open. And he's made that way. He knows it. And he can enforce that law, to take him plumb to the bottom of the sea, and then raise him back up again. Oh!
E-103 There was a law in Christ. That law is in men. You can bury him to the deepest grave, or the deepest sea, or the—the lowest hell. There's a law, of the Spirit of God, that will raise him up again. See?
E-104 A bird has a law. Now, its body is material. It's earthbound, sets on the earth here. But it has a law within it, that, the way it spreads its wings, it can fly plumb out of sight. That's against science. They claim it's—it's earthbound; gravitation has to hold it here. But it can defy gravitation, lift itself right off of it and go right on out, because it has to put that law that's in it to work. And it's built to possess that law.
E-105 Now I'm beginning to feel religious. Now, we have a law, the law of the Life in us. We don't… Only thing you have to do… You are made, and born, and placed here in the Body of Christ, as sons and daughters of God. You don't have to knuck' down to the devil. We've got a law. That's the law of the Holy Spirit. The only thing you know, have to do, is know how to let go and let God. You keep fighting at it, see, and it won't never work. When, you let go and let God, that's all. See?
E-106 If the fish said, "Wait, I'll catch my breath real good. I'll breathe up a little oxygen in me, and I'll see if I can go down." No. He does that, he'll burst open. See?
E-107 The bird says, "I'll see how fast I can run down here, and maybe I'll take off." No. He won't do it. He'll fall down. See? He's got to know how to control, how that law can control him.
E-108 And the same way it is with us. It isn't what we fight, and pull, and—and hurry, and—and, "Oh, if I don't get this, if I don't get that." That's not it. Is to know that the law of Life is in you, and you just let go and let God. Then He takes you to your healing, takes you to the baptism of the Spirit, or anything that He's promised. Any claim that He's given is yours, and by letting go and letting God. Now, if you're…
E-109 If the officer was going to—going to take the fellow that stole your property, was going to take him to court, and you keep pulling him back, "Well, I don't know just whether he should do this or not," he'll never get him there. Just let him go.
E-110 That's the way you do. Let Satan just get away, all the doubts and everything flee from your mind, then God will raise you up. Good.
E-111 Now, it's Easter time. Oh, I like Easter. Yes, sir. But there's too much on Easter, today, about bunny rabbits, and ducks, and pink chickens, and pretty hats, and new dresses; and that's not Easter. Easter is the resurrection, restoring, to restore back. It's God's restoring time. You look out over the earth; God is restoring. Restoring what? Nature. That's right. He's restoring the flowers. He's restoring the leaves. He's restoring the fruits of the field. What is it? God is restoring. It's Easter; means to "bring it back."
E-112 What is it? There's been a—a sentence, a claim. Easter claims, or the—the—the flower claims, it has a right to rise again. See? And God's law of nature pulls the earth around and makes that law of God, in nature, bring forth an Easter, a resurrection. It's beautifully. The return of the sun, to restore what the winter killed, while it was from the earth. God sends the earth back around the sun, as we're told, from way back here.
E-113 The earth, the earth went away from the sun, went back out here. That's the way a sinner does, gets away from the S-o-n. Well, this is the s-u-n. But when this earth begins to come back… And when it's out there, death strikes it, the winter. It kills every living thing it can kill, out in here.
E-114 And, now, when the earth gets back around. The seeds is laying in the ground. They're frozen. The pulp has run out of them. The… And everything is gone; but there's a little life preserved. And as soon as the sun gets back in position with the earth again, then there is an Easter, a restoration. Up comes the flowers again. Up comes everything. All that the winter killed, the sun restores. All that winter's death kill, the sun of life restores.
E-115 And so is it now with the people. All that the winter's coldness of cold, formal religion killed out there, the nearing of the Son of God in these last days, coming to His Church, restores It back to Life again. "I will restore, saith the Lord." See? God restores His flowers, His leaves, His nature, His seed of the earth, and therefore we know, then, that God will restore also His habitation. He will restore His Eden. He will restore everything that death killed. That's right. Now, the only way it can ever remain dead, is let it lay in the wrong place. But if it falls in the right place, it's got to come back to Life again. So, God, let us fall in the right channel, that's right, for a restoration.
E-116 All that the winter kill, then the sun restores. Returning of the sun, what does it do? It forces. Listen. It forces death. When the sun, the spring sun comes back in line of the earth again, it actually forces death to give up its dead, to a resurrection, for (what?) a restoration, a "restore again." What does it? The sun, coming. That's God's law.
E-117 God set the earth in law, gravitation law. Everything in nature works according to God's law. And the flower served its term. The seed served its term; it died into the earth. And then there is a restoration.
E-118 And now it's laying there, dead. There's not a thing… We could take one of these here lights like this, and turn it on it, and it would never do any good. There's no way for us to do it. But God has a law, that when that sun comes onto the seed, it forces that life out of the seed. Death can't hold it, anymore.
E-119 God has set all of His laws to serve Him, both natural and spiritual, working according to His Word, regardless of the conditions. I love that. I had a Scripture here on that. Yes, sir. God sets all of His laws in motion. Think of it. Let it soak in now, 'cause we're coming to a healing service in a few minutes. See? God set all of His laws into motion, that it must work according to His Own Word. Are you getting it? See? His Word! His laws has to work according to His Word. He commanded the sun. He commanded the moon. He commanded the earth. He commanded nature. And they all fall right in line, and all the laws work in harmony with God's spoken Word. And the law of Life that's in us will also bring us to a resurrection. It's got to. It's impossible for it not.
E-120 That's the reason, the law of Life that was in Christ. When the Word was spoke, and said, "I'll not suffer My Holy One to see corruption, neither will I leave His soul in hell," there wasn't enough time, there wasn't enough devils, there wasn't enough anything, to keep Christ in that grave till (He) His body begin to rot, because the law of God would bring the Word to pass. And the law of God, by the Holy Spirit, brings any promise to pass (you get it?), regardless of the conditions.
E-121 Job said, "Though the skin worms destroys my body, yet in my flesh I'll see God."
E-122 Regardless of how little we are, how low we are, how impure we are, how unholy we are, how sick we are, how afflicted we are; the law of God's Spirit, by His Word, makes it obey Him, forces the issue, and says, "Give it back." Amen. Oh, if we could just think of that for a minute. Forces it, regardless of conditions. No matter what the condition is, the law of God's Word forces the condition to cope with His Word. See? It's got to.
E-123 Now, if a flower is laying there, and it's dead. The seeds are rotten, gone. The pulp is gone out. That doesn't have one thing to do with it. It raises again, 'cause God set a law, for it to rise again.
E-124 When Job laid in the ground. Perhaps, when he seen Jesus coming, was four thousand years before Jesus got here. You can imagine how a human body looked, in four thousand years, probably not enough ashes left to go on the end of a spoon. But Job said, "Yet in my flesh I'll see God, Who I shall see for myself."
E-125 And the Bible tells us, in Matthew 27, that after His death, and burial, and resurrection, that, "Many of the saints that slept in the dust of the earth, rose out of the dust." Why? It was that prophet, speaking with the Word of God, and the Word had been spoke. And the law of God, by the Spirit, raised them up. The Bible said, "They come into the city and appeared to many." Not only did Jesus raise, but the saints raised with Him.
E-126 Why? Over in the Psalms, it said, "Lift up, ye everlasting gates, and be ye lifted up. Let the Lord of Glory come in." Well, when He conquered death, hell, grave, sickness, rose on the third day, "He ascended on High, and led captivity captive."
E-127 What was it? Those that were in captivity looked forward for the promise that we have now. Oh, brother! Never even had the Holy Ghost. "But, believed, and give a good testimony. And by it they stopped the mouth of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, women received their dead raised to life again; without the promise." Oh, but they looked forward! Under a sheep sacrifice that could not divorce sin, it could only cover sin. But they believed that there was coming One. And by their faith, way beyond the shadow, amen, they claimed it. "And stedfast, they wandered in deserts, and in sheep skins, and goat skins, was afflicted, and destituted, and tormented." Oh!
E-128 Those people, looking forward to that resurrection, and, through that, died in faith, with their testimony. And on that Easter morning, that law of God, which had spoke the Word through Job and those other prophets, they raised from the dead. Oh, my! There you are. Regardless of the conditions!
E-129 Some people get so guilty-minded, that they don't want to face any judgment. Oh, many people! It ain't hard to die. Anybody lose their mind, something another, and do something rashal. Some of them have their bodies burned, take it out on the sea and throw the ashes to the four corners of this, the four winds of the sea. That don't stop the judgment. You come right on, just the same. Yes, sir. See? No matter, regardless of conditions, you're going to meet God, somewhere. You've got to come to Him. You've got to meet Him. See?
E-130 Because (Why?) He has spoke a Word, and put a law with that Word. And the law is His Own law, His Own Life, behind It. That's the reason He swore by Himself; there's none greater. See? He had, take a oath, 'cause no covenant should be confirmed without an oath. And the only way that He could, before He did, take it by Himself, and Himself become the Oath. Oh, brother! When, God became man and was the Oath, made Himself the Oath.
E-131 And by His Own death, burial, and resurrection, He proved His laws was right. Said, "You destroy this building, I'll raise it up again in three days." "I," personal pronoun, "I'll raise it up again in three days. I'll bring it up. Just destroy it, and see what happens." For, He knew the law of God. He knew what it was. He knowed it had to work according to the Word. He knowed that the Word of God had been spoke through a prophet, and said, "I'll not suffer my Holy One to see corruption." That settled it. That settled it.
E-132 Then, the law of God has got to work by that Word. We're coming down to a great thing in a minute. See? See? Where, the law of God's Word, the Law of God, is with His Word.
E-133 Now, if the court writes out a word, "It is certain-certain thing, a penalty, to do so-and-so." All right. Now, that's the word of the court, and the law of the court enforces the word of the court.
E-134 And God speaks something, and that is a law. And the Holy Spirit is here to enforce that law, amen, for the believer. You have to be ordained to do so, and it takes a believer. You got to have the badge of "believer." Somebody says, "You got power?" No. But we got authority. That's it. Not power; but authority. We ain't got enough power to do nothing.
E-135 Like I said some time ago, a little policeman here in Louisville, standing there. He was littler than I am; little bitty fellow. His hat was pulled down over his ears. And car… Oh, his uniform about half hanging off of him. He walked out there on the street. The little cap pistol, like, on his side, little stick in his hand, a little whistle. Walked out there, a pair of white gloves on. And them—them cars, some of them three hundred and fifty horse-power, whirling by that street, like—like lightning, just zoom, zoom. Well, that poor little fellow couldn't stop a… He couldn't have stopped a runaway pony, from his strength. Certainly not. But he walked out in the street, that big badge shining, blowed that whistle, and held up that hand. Brother, three-hundred power, horsepower motors, squeaked brakes, everything else. It wasn't the power of the man. It was the authority he had. That's it.
E-136 That's the Church. Might be a bunch of "holy-rollers," so-called, or whatever you want to call it, but it's the authority. Uh-huh, uh-huh. It's the authority behind it. That's what does it. Regardless of conditions, God's law works with His Word. Now, it won't work with your creed. It'll work with the Word. Yeah. It just works with the Word, that's all, now, regardless of condition.
E-137 Abraham, as we read a while ago in our text, Abraham's wife had to be restored back. Why? God gave a promise to Abraham, and here a king had took her, to marry, for his wife.
E-138 Well, what would he have done? Put Abraham to death, in a minute. That's what Abraham said. "I pray thee, say that…" After he seen that—that Abimelech had done caught him, this Philistine king there. He said, "Now, you—you, I pray you, you say that I am your brother. Because if… you're a beautiful woman." And said, "Now, if he sees you're beautiful, and I'll—I'll—I'll-I'll be killed, 'cause he'll take you and marry you." And so Abimelech caught her, and his man brought her in.
E-139 She was a beautiful woman. And, by the way, she was only a hundred years old. And she—she… God had just showed what He's going to do to all of us, through them. You know, I been through all that, in my text and on the tapes, and so forth, proving that by the Word of God. That's exactly. He told, by Abraham and Sarah, what He was going to do to the whole race. That's right.
E-140 Now, there she was, and so Abimelech taken her to be his wife. Abimelech, and so he was all ready now, to take her to be his wife. And (what?) God had said to Abraham, "By Sarah you'll have this baby," and here was a young man taking her. Here was Abraham, around a hu-… about a hundred years old now, too, out there.
E-141 But, by that, you notice what God said there. "Yes, I know the integrity of your heart. That's the reason I kept you from sinning against Me. But you restore that woman, for her husband is a prophet. Let him pray for you. If you don't, I'm just going to wipe you off the face the earth." There you are.
E-142 What? God's Word has to stand. No man could touch Sarah. God had made a promise.
E-143 Sarah, a type of the Church, the true Church, the free Church, the freewoman with a free-Child, type of the borned-again Church with the promise. Let them say whatever they want to; call it "holy-roller, fanaticism." They've tried to stop It since Pentecost, and they'll never do it. No, sir. For keep… Just keep your hands off of It. That's all. God is going to take that and do something with It, just as certain as I'm standing here. We're coming right down through the age of it, now, in a few minutes. God help me, I'll prove it to you, where we're at. Right. You're… They're never going to destroy it. It can't be destroyed. That's right.
E-144 "Take your hands off of her." Why? There come the natural seed. The natural seed had to come. If it would have… If Sarah would have married this other man, the natural seed would have never been born.
E-145 So if God so protected the course for the natural seed, how much more for the spiritual, Royal Seed, has He protected!
E-146 Satan, give them back. Turn them loose. You're not smothering them out there in them organizations and things. They're a free people. You let them alone. Yeah. Turn them loose, the Royal Seed.
E-147 Now, God talking of restoring, now, here in Joel He's talking about. I preached on this, once before, and took it in another angle. About… Never thoroughly went through it, as I intend to do today, and won't have time to do it where it ought to be done. But God is speaking here, in Joel. Of…
E-148 God is speaking of His fruit Tree that He had planted. God planted a fruit Tree. He planted It on the Day of Pentecost, and He brought that Tree there for a purpose. He wanted It to bear His fruit, Word, God's Word. He wanted a Church that would keep His Word. All down through the age, Eve had failed to keep It, the Jews did fail to keep It, the law had failed, all had failed, so God planted Him a Tree. A Tree!
E-149 Now remember, there was two trees in the garden of Eden. We know that. You call them whatever you want to. I have my idea. But, anyhow, one of them was a defiled tree; it got defiled. And the other One wasn't defiled; that Tree of Life come from God, out of Heaven. He said, "Your fathers eat manna and are dead. But this Tree, you eat and you live forever." And the Angel guarded that Tree of Life, from the garden of Eden, kept It in Eden. That Tree of Life is in Eden, now, spiritually speaking now. Notice.
E-150 Now, when this Tree that God planted, It was to bear nine different kinds of fruit, nine different kinds; which means, nine spiritual gifts, nine fruits of the Spirit to go with the nine spiritual gifts. That was God's Tree. He planted It in the earth on the Day of Pentecost.
E-151 Now let's stop. Always so limited with time. I'm going to skip down here a few Scriptures, and go down here to Psalms, the 1st. David saw this Tree, a long time ago. And of his writing of songs for something joyful, that was the first thing he wrote about. He saw this Tree, and It was "planted by the rivers of Water." This Tree! He!
And he shall be like a tree, God's tree, planted (where?) by the rivers, rivers (plural), the rivers of water (singular)…
E-152 Not a Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, so forth. No, no. Uh-uh. Just rivers of one Water; nine spiritual gifts by the same Spirit. Nine fruits of the Spirit coming from the same channel.
…he shall be like a tree that's planted by the rivers of water.
E-153 As David saw it, and he spoke. He said, "Blessed is that man." And notice, he said he could not die. "His leaves would not wither." No, no. No matter what they do, they'll never kill that Tree. Why? It's where he's planted. That's what does it. It's where he's planted. "He's planted by the rivers of Water." Now notice. David said, "His—his roots won't die."
E-154 You know, you take a tree, a big old tree. I, when I was a boy, I used to go out, and we'd, us boys, we'd go out, and had a big old tree we used to set under, big old beech tree. And the winds would blow. And I wonder, looked like that thing, so much in the top, looked like it'd blow the—the thing over. But, you know, every time wind blows on a tree, it rocks the tree, and it loosens up the roots, so that they can just dig deeper and get a better hold.
E-155 And that's the way, mockery, laughing, making fun of a Christian. What it does, is, persecution shakes the Christian, to make him pray more, dig down, get a better hold, so he can stand the storm.
E-156 Now, what if a man is planted in such a thing as "by the river," where the springs, nine different springs feeding into him? Oh, my! What a—what a establishment he has. And a man that's planted by the river, the rivers of Water; one Water, one Spirit, "There are gifts of healing, same Spirit; gifts of prophecy, same Spirit; all the same Spirit, but many gifts." One Giver.
E-157 Now, David saw him, and he was planted by this Tree. Now, he could not die. Now notice why. He had Life in the roots. Where is the roots, or, the life of the tree? Stays in the roots. Certainly. Comes up and bears its fruit. All right.
E-158 Watch. His roots had Life in them, to bring forth His fruit in season. Now remember, this Tree will not cast Its fruit.
E-159 Now, you take a tree and put it away from water. The first thing you know, you got little old apples. They're all knotty and worm-eaten. But it'll cast its—its—its crop.
E-160 That's what's the matter with the churches today. You done got away from that River, got away from them gifts of the Spirit. They got just a church natural. And they get away from the spiritual gifts and the spiritual things, and they cast their fruit. What do they do? Their—their believers live with the world, act like the world, steal, cheat, lie, smoke, drink, gamble, have bunco parties in the church, to pay the preacher, and everything else, soup suppers, dances. See? They cast their fruit. It's just like the world.
E-161 And the unbeliever look and say, "There's no difference in that person and me."
E-162 That's what caused communism to rise in Russia. That's the reason they burnt up the Catholic church.
E-163 And down in Mexico, when I was there and seen those lime pits, where those, and those places where they burnt those little babies, where there was nuns had these babies. Even human bodies, full-grown human body was laying in there, in the lime pits. What'd they do? They cast their crop, see, and God shook them off the tree. That was all. See?
E-164 But a man that's planted, not stuck out, but planted by the rivers of Water, he shall bring forth His fruit (watch) in his… His fruit in his season. Are you reading it? Psalms 1.
Blessed is the man that… sitteth not in the seat of the scornful, stand in the way of sinners.
…he shall be like a tree that's planted by the rivers of water, he shall bring forth his fruit in his season;… and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
E-165 See? Notice, "Ungodly is not so; and he won't stand with him in the judgment." See?
E-166 Now, "He shall bring forth His fruit in his season." Watch each "his," the personal pronoun there. It's His fruit, God's fruit, in the season that the—the prophet is bringing It. It'll be in the prophet's season. God's fruit, in God's time, by the prophet's season. See? "He shall bring forth His fruit in his season." See if there isn't two "his" there. "Bring forth His, God's fruit, see, in the season that the messenger is ordained to come." He'll bring forth those. Now remember that. The messenger that brings the fruit of God, will bring it in God's season, in the season of the bringer. See? "He will bring forth His fruit in his season." And It cannot wither. Why? He's got predestinated fruit in there. It can't destroy It, because It's predestinated.
E-167 Now, Ephesians :5, 1:5, rather. It said, "Setting together in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus." What happened? He said, "God, by His foreknowledge, predestinated us unto the adoption of children of God, by Jesus Christ." God, by His foreknowledge, predestinated everything that would happen right down along the row. By His foreknowledge, He foresaw it. Therefore, from beginning, He could tell the end.
E-168 Therefore, it was predestinated fruit in the—the root of this Tree. And this Tree could not wither, because It was holding predestinated fruit. Now, that's the Tree that Joel spoke about here. See? It cannot die. The worms eat It down, but It couldn't die. In Its root, It had the predestinated Truth. It had God's Word, this Tree did. And this Tree is—is that Tree, the only way, It-It was put in the garden of Eden.
E-169 All trees, by the woman, die. We all die, by the woman. By birth, we all die. But through woman come death, for this birth come by woman. All right. Then, this has to die, because of sin.
E-170 But the Birth, the new Birth that come by Christ, cannot die. That's one Tree, and the other tree. See? And this Tree, though It's been persecuted, made fun of, since the very beginning of the garden of Eden, It cannot die. It's predestinated. It's been clubbed and beat, and, my, everything done to It. And what happened? It cannot die. His, he will not die. He can't, because he's holding in him the predestinated Word of God. It has to come forth, for His fruit is in his own season, predestinated season. That, no matter…
E-171 Joel saw every one of them, eat down to the bottom. But He said, "I will restore, saith the Lord," for the predestination of God lays in the roots of the Tree. It's got to come forth, 'cause It's holding the predestinated Word of God. Hmm! Oh, what a Tree! My!
E-172 That Tree, It started to grow back there in Eden. What happened? There was a bunch come forth, of Cain's children, some bugs had come over and eat It down to a stalk. And God took a crop off of it, and put it in the ark and carried It through. Right. All the way down, it's been the same way, down through the lines of judgment; Israel, on down.
E-173 And then at Pentecost, where the Church for the Bride Tree, He—He set in order, on Pentecost, the Tree that was predestinated to bring forth His fruit in the season. Now, going fine, the fruits is being done just fine. It bloomed out on the Day of Pentecost. Let's see what happened on the Day of Pentecost. Jesus said, "The works that I do shall you do also." They healed the sick. Now, on the Day, let's see how it started. On the Day of Pentecost, a few days after the resurrection, fifty days after Easter, there come a—there come a—a rushing, mighty Wind, out of Heaven.
E-174 Now, today, we make it different. The minister stands up and take, saying, "I'll put your name on the book." See? Or some bachelor with his collar turned around, said, "Come up here and take the kosher bread. That, then, you become a member of the church." Isn't that strange? The minister says, "Come join our group." Why, they're both wrong.
E-175 "On the Day of Pentecost, there came from Heaven," (not off the pulpit, up the road) "from Heaven, a" (What? A priest? [Congregation says, "No."—Ed.] No. A minister? No. What was it?) "a sound like a rushing, mighty Wind, and It filled all the house where they were setting. Cloven tongues set upon them." Stammering, they couldn't talk, they was so full of glory. Holy Ghost filled them. Out in the streets they went, jabbering. Just, and act like…
E-176 Even the dignified congregation stood out there and said, "Well, these men are full of new wine. They're all drunk. Look at them men and women, how they're staggering and carrying on."
E-177 Now, that's THUS SAITH THE SPIRIT. That's the Scripture. That's how the Church was organized; not organized, but ordained. Lot of difference in the two words. Notice. There they were.
E-178 Now, and you know what, you Catholic people? The blessed virgin Mary was with them. Yeah. Now, if God wouldn't let Mary come to Heaven without receiving the Holy Ghost, how are you going to get There, anything short of It? Now just think on it. That's right. Mary was among them. And she had to wait up there until she lost all of her dignity and pride, filled with the Spirit.
E-179 And here they come, acting like drunk people. The Bible said they did. They said, "These men are full of new wine."
E-180 But, Peter, the spokesman, the minister in the group, stood up and said, "These are not full of new wine, as you suppose, seeing it's just the third hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken of by the prophet Joel." The one I'm reading from today. "And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, 'I'll pour out My Spirit upon all flesh. And your sons and daughters shall prophesy. And I'll show wonders in the heavens above, and in the earth, signs. And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved.'"
E-181 Now, Peter preached on Pentecost, after the same prophet that I'm preaching today about: planting this Tree. And that's where he planted It. Oh, It done fine. They went out and had spiritual gifts. They healed the sick. They preached. They were throwed in jail. They were willing to suffer for the Word's sake.
E-182 If you went to another nation as a wishy-washy, you wouldn't make a very good American, if you went over there. If you was going in now to Japan, you slipped around behind the line, say, "Listen, fellows. I'm for you. You know what? I'm for you, but I'm over on the other side." You, traitor, you ought to be shot. That's right. You're a traitor. Sure.
E-183 And then that's the same way it is, a man that knows the Word of God, and will compromise on It because some organization tells him he has to do it that way. That's a traitor. Right.
E-184 But these men wasn't traitors. They didn't care how much, well, how they carried on, how their church manners was: screaming, and crying, and shouting, and—and jabbering off languages that seemed like they was talking to one another and couldn't understand. Them men out there in the audience of other nations and other tongues begin to hear what they were saying. They didn't know what they were saying; they were jabbering. But other people out there understood it. And they said, "These persons are certainly drunk."
E-185 But Peter said, "They're not drunk, but they're filled with the Spirit."
E-186 So, that, every one of them went to martyrdom, except John, and he was burned, twenty-four hours in a vat of grease, and they couldn't even burn the Spirit out of him. And then he died a natural death, the only one, John the revelator. Now, that is right.
E-187 Notice now what taken place. On this, God planted a Tree, to bring forth nine spiritual gifts, gifts of His Spirit. The same Spirit was in Christ come down upon the Church, had Eternal Life. Now, gifts of the Spirit was in the Church, and It was growing, bearing forth fruit, everywhere. They thought not of theirself. They didn't organize nothing. They just went ahead and was brothers. They had no…
E-188 I'm glad that little thing was on there, "No creed but Christ, no law but love, no book but the Bible." That's what I believe. See? And that's the way they did. The world is our parish, see, everywhere.
E-189 So, notice these fellows when they were doing that, how glorious that church was. And God was with them, the Bible said. And Jesus met them before His ascension up. He said, "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. These signs shall follow them that believe, in My Name." Now, "These signs."
E-190 Now, today, what kind of a sign we call a believer? He shakes hands with the pastor. He belongs to the church. He has his name on the book because his mother's had a name, or his father had a name on a book. But that wasn't what Jesus said. Jesus said, "These signs." That's church, natural.
E-191 We're talking about Church, spiritual. We're talking about a spiritual Tree, not a natural tree. We're getting to those two trees in a, after a bit. See? A spiritual Tree! Jesus said, "These signs shall follow them that hangs on this Tree. These signs shall follow them that's getting their Life out of this Tree. In My Name they shall cast out devils. They shall speak with new tongues. If they should take up a serpent, or they drink deadly things, it would not harm them. If they lay their hands on the sick, they shall recover."
E-192 There is the kind of signs He said would follow the believer. Where is it today? He give the world an example of what would be the—the believer's sign. And He said, "It would be far better that a millstone was hanged at your neck and drowned in the depths of the sea, than even to bring offense to one of them, for their Angels always beholds My Father's face which is in Heaven." The Angels!
E-193 Notice now. There they were. And that Tree was planted. It was doing great work. We know they went about, everywhere. The Lord… Why, on the Day of Pentecost, three thousand souls was added, baptized, and went into the Church. And how great fellowship they had! And, everybody, wasn't nobody needing anything. Everybody was kind, good-hearted. And, one another, they was all one big family. Wonderful!
E-194 And there came by, a little, old, ugly-looking, greedy-teeth beetle that lives in four different stages, as Joel saw him. This four-stage insect, destroyer, come forth to destroy that beautiful Tree of God. Think of it. Now I'm going to read off some of Joel's, what he said. Joel, the 1st chapter. The first thing… Now, there's four different beetles there now, but there, it's actually one beetle. It's one beetle in four different stages. Now watch. This little, old beetle come by, for this Chur-… for this great, beautiful Tree of God. We'll call it a Tree, which was the Church.
E-195 The first was a palmerworm. That's a little thing, just a little bitty insect of a worm. What did he do, that palmerworm? He come along to destroy the fruit of the Tree. That's the first thing.
E-196 Now let's go back in history and see what the first thing was: was a—a dignified group got amongst the common people. And they said, "Well, this is good that you can heal the sick, and you can do these things. That's wonderful. So, you know what we ought to do? We ought to kind of get it out where the bigger class of people understand it, the better class: the mayor, the—the judges, and so forth, and the—the—the dignitaries of the city. And as long as you all are carrying on the way you are, they'll never come around you. See? They're afraid of you."
E-197 [Someone says, "They still are."—Ed.] Somebody said that, "They still are." Guess that's about right. So, that's right. They're afraid of the Holy Spirit. Excuse me.
E-198 I used to sing a little song:
It's the old…
You ever hear The Old-Time Religion? Anybody here heard that song? [Congregation says, "Amen."—Ed.]
'Tis the old-time religion,…
I used to sing a little song like this, years ago. I said:
It's the old-time Holy Spirit,
And the devil won't go near It;
That's the reason people fear It,
But It's good enough for me.
It's so good I want no other,
For It makes me love my brother;
And It brings things from under cover,
So It's good enough for me. (That's right.)
It will make you stop your lying;
It will save you when you're dying;
It will start the devil flying;
And It's good enough for me.
E-199 That's right. That's the reason people don't want It now. Now, It's God.
E-200 They didn't want Jesus. They said, "This man?" The church, the big dignified church, said, "You come to tell us who we are? We'll give you to understand, we're Dr. Ph.D., L.L., Q.U.S., and, my, all this." Or, "Why, I'm the high priest. I'm this, that, or the other. And you tell me? Why, you were borned in sin. You're nothing but a illegitimate child. Your mother was to be, have you, before you and your father… the father was ever married."
E-201 He said, "Who can accuse Me of sin?" See? "Who can accuse Me?" All right. Sin is "disbelieving God's Word." In other words, He said, "Show Me where I'm not fulfilling the Word, to the—to the—to the hilt, right where It's supposed to be. Show Me in the Scripture, where My days. If I don't do the works of My Father, then don't you believe Me." Said, "Now, you claim to be that. Now let's see you do it." Oh, my!
E-202 "From henceforth they asked Him nothing." See? They let Him alone. Like, the devil flew into Him. I said, like, he thought he'd just jump in, anyway. But, he found out, that had a million volts in that Wire. He jumped off of that One, real quick, you see, because he couldn't handle That. And that was one thing sure.
E-203 So this little palmerworm come around, to take off the fruits. I have two pages of "fruits." I just want to read some of it. First thing, the first fruit he took off, was brotherly love. That's right. That's one of the things that kills the church right there, when brotherly love… Yes, sir. Then, the next fruit he took off the Tree… You remember, love is the first fruit on the Tree. "Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, goodness, meekness, faith, patience, that's right, in the Holy Ghost." Now, nine spiritual gifts, with nine fruits of the Tree, and so forth. All right. Now, the first, he got to eating on the fruit of the Tree.
E-204 Now let's picture a big Tree, of God's Tree. It's bearing nine spiritual gifts. They're healing the sick. They're speaking in tongues. They're casting out devils. They're doing great works, and preaching the unadulterated Word of God. No denomination to tie them down; they're free, doing a great work.
E-205 So, in come this little old devil, setting up with his two horns setting out in front, like a grasshopper, you know, and his little old greedy teeth. That's his first, the palmerworm, he come in to eat off brotherly love. He said, "You know, So-and-so did so-and-so, over at So-and-so's church. I wouldn't believe that bunch of people." See? There he is, first thing.
E-206 Next, he wanted to eat on the fruit of faith, faith in the Word. "Now look. How do you know that is the Word? It's been translated so many times!" That little devil is still eating. Right. "That Word has been translated so many times! He's this, that, or the other. Oh, he's all this." See?
E-207 Now, that's another fruit he eat off of: joy of salvation. "Shhh! You people make too much noise. Oh, my! My!"
E-208 "Oh, how can you preach, Brother Branham?" a woman said to me, one time. No, it wasn't. It was a man. I believe he's… I hope he's here. He belongs to another church. But he said to me, said, "I was up to hear you, the other day, and I couldn't even hear you, for them people crying."
I said, "If they…"
Said, "How in the world can you preach?"
E-209 I said, "If they didn't enjoy it, I wouldn't be preaching there." That's right. I used to have… you…
E-210 A friend of mine, Jim Poole, and I, we used to have an old dog. We called him Fritz. And so this old dog, he'd—he'd go into anything that he treed, but a skunk. He was afraid of a skunk, 'cause he smelled so. So, I'd get him a skunk under the brush pile, the only thing I had to do was just pat him a little bit, and say, "Sic him! Sic him, boy!" He'd go get that skunk, see, because I was patting him, saying, "Sic him!"
E-211 Well, that's just what it is when we… That is, worst stinker I know of, is the devil. So, when I'm bringing this Word out, and somebody says, "Amen," that's, "Sic him, boy!" And we-we'll get-we'll get him treed.
E-212 So, we find out that he took away the joy. You know, David, one time, lost the joy of his salvation. He didn't lose his salvation, but he lost the joy of it. He just cried, "Lord, restore to me the joy of my salvation." See? The joy!
E-213 So this little ol' palmerworm begin to eat that fruit of joy out. "Now, looky here. You people make too much noise. I tell you, all this crying, this saying 'amen,' and this shouting, that's nonsense. There's nothing to that." See? First thing you know, you set in a big morgue, you know, set there, all of them dead. Some of these embalming fluids of so-called Doctrine, of creeds pumped into their veins where the Spirit of God ought to be running, where the old church creed pumped in there. No wonder they're icy cold and dead. Spiritual thermometer, ninety below zero. Yeah. Somebody say, "amen," everybody stretch their neck around like some kind of a goose or something, want to know what said that. It's a shame. When, the Spirit of God ought to be joy, peace, love. But this little old bug started eating on it. He eat all the joy away.
E-214 And, then, next fruit on the Tree is peace, peace of mind, knowing that you're saved.
E-215 They tell you, "Well, now, if you'll recite our creed, you're saved. If you join my church, you're saved. Well, now," this one says, "you're not saved if you go there. You have to join our church, to be saved. You have to say, 'Hail Mary.' You have to have your name on this book. You have to have the…" Oh, my! That would take all the joy out. But that's not God's Tree; you know where you're at. That's hybrid, always.
E-216 You know what my story about the mule. He's a hybrid. He don't know who his papa, mama, either one, was. See? He's a hybrid. But, oh, a good pedigreed horse, he knows who his papa and mama was, through generations.
E-217 And now, a real good pedigreed Christian, too, that's got the Holy Ghost, he know It fell on the Day of Pentecost. He knows where he's at. He can trace his generations plumb back, his genealogies, to the first beginning of it. Peter had It. On down through the nation, or races, they've had It, on down. A good pedigreed Christian knows where It comes from.
E-218 Say, "Well, I'm Lutheran. Huh! I'm Presbyterian." Oh, you hybrid! "Why ain't you? Why ain't you?"
E-219 "Well," you say, "what are—what are you?" Borned again. "Borned again, of what?" The Spirit of God.
E-220 That's why you're not hybrid. You're born correctly. Not with some church creed, but with the Spirit of God. God lives in you.
E-221 Now notice. This little old insect started eating. So, he eat off all the peace of mind, oh, and on, and on, and on, and oh, on down. I got a page of it here, all the fruits, what he done.
E-222 Then this little fellow died out, and he become a locust. That was the next stage, was a locust. Now, what does a locust do? A locust eats the leaves. That's right. A locust takes onto the leaves. What the palmerworm left, he left the leaves; he eat all the fruit off the Tree. Then what took in? The locust come to eat, eat what the palmerworm left. Now, what did he do? What did this palmerworm do? Destroyed the leaves. What's the leaves for? Destroying Divine fellowship. That's right.
E-223 "Now, he's—he's—he's Presbyterian. We won't have nothing to do with him. He's Nazarene. He's Pentecostal. He's this, that, or the other. We won't have nothing to do with him, because he don't belong to our group. Have a meeting here, for healing of the sick? Huh! Our church don't even believe in it." See? There you do. He, what'd that little ol' locust do? He cut all the fellowship off, that's right, took all the fellowship.
E-224 What is fellowship? What does the leaves do? Makes it cool, where the birds fly in under the leaves, "huh-huh," cool off. There's your tree again. "And he shall be like a Tree that's planted." See? All right. Where people can come and set down under the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, cool off a little bit. You're all flusterated, and don't know what's happened; and whether you die, whether you're saved or not. And you don't know whether this church is right, or that is right. Just come down under the Tree that's got some leaves on It. Set down there. Let the Winds from Heaven go to blowing, like a rushing, mighty Wind, through the leaves, you know, on. Begins to… And you begin to cool off a little bit.
E-225 Say, "Oh, I'm going down and tell that bunch of holy-rollers what I think."
E-226 Just set down a while and you'll cool off. That's right. You can't do it in yours. Cause, what's the matter? The locust has done eat it all off, sure, eat all the leaves off of it. Now, that's, just might as well set out there in the sun. So, you, there ain't—there ain't no cooling there. All right. Now, so there's…
E-227 But you know what we're supposed to do. The Bible said, that, "The predestinated Church, the predestinated sons in God," (what do they do?) "set in Heavenly places." What is that? Coolness, comfort, feeling at home. Amen.
E-228 Where everybody is wearing a tuxedo, and—and next man this way, and—and some of them look down, say, "Huh! Look. She never got a permanent in her hair. It is, don't she look horrible? She don't even have an Easter frown gown. Now, then, it, ever what it is, on, you know. Ever, though…" Yeah. "Easter frown," that's about right, see. Set back there, and going… [Brother Branham illustrates—Ed.] See? "Don't even have an Easter… Why, well, look at him, that same old suit he wore last year! Well, what do you know about that!" You don't feel right, there.
E-229 I said to a little woman, other day. Poor little woman, she belonged to a great, dignified church down… She said… She's dying, with cancer. Went down to pray for her. Brother Roy Roberson here, one of the trustees, sent me down there. And the poor little thing setting there, dying with cancer. And she said…
I said, "Do you… Are you a Christian?"
E-230 She said, "Sir, I—I don't know what to say." Said, "I went to a certain church." And said… And she started crying.
I said, "What's the matter?"
E-231 Said, "I just couldn't dress right." Said, "They looked down upon me." Huh! Oh, there you are. See? You're—you're uncomfortable. See?
E-232 But the Bible said that we are to "assemble ourselves together in Heavenly places." Oh, my! What? All alike. Why, I'll tell you what this will do. It'll make a… It'll make a pair of overalls and a tuxedo suit put their arms around one another and call each other brother. Sure will. It'll make an old calico dress put her arms around a silk, satin one and say, "Sister, how are you this morning? Praise God!" That's right. It will. It's joy, peace, love, faith in the Word, longsuffering, gentleness, patience. Set down in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus, cool off a little while. See? That's what the leaves did.
E-233 But what'd the old locust did, he come around, eat them leaves off, said, "You belong to ours or you don't belong to anybody." So he took all the coolness of the Spirit out. See? He fixed himself a creed. All right. Now we got to go on. We could stay a long time on that old locust.
E-234 But the third stage of him was a cankerworm. Hmm! That's got a bad name, to start with, the cankerworm. What does a cankerworm do? It goes into the bark. That's the lifeline, there. Yes, sir. It goes into the bark and it destroys the covering of the tree. The covering!
What is religion? Covering. That's what the word religion means, "a covering."
E-235 So, this little cankerworm, after he got amongst the congregation, got them all dignified; then he took all the fellowship away from them, in the form of the locust; and now he comes around and takes their very religion and makes dogmas out of it, right, sets up unorthodox words. Forms himself a religion, and gets a bunch of men together and put a creed down there. He takes the very religion, strips it off of God's Tree, very bark that bears the sap that comes up in It, takes it away. Cankerworm! Do you see that insect? [Congregation says, "Amen."—Ed.] That's exactly. That cankerworm, that was Rome in that early church.
E-236 First thing, the Pentecostals group; not Pentecostal organizations. No, sir. Anything that organizes is dead. I'll prove that just in a minute, by the Scriptures. See? But when it's a… But, the Pentecostal experience, who is it for? It's for the Catholic. Who else? The Methodist, the Baptist, the Presbyterian, anybody that wants it. But you want, got to want it. You don't join into It.
E-237 I been in the Branham family for fifty-three years, and I never did join the family. Why? I'm a Branham, to begin with. I was borned a Branham.
E-238 That's the way we're Christians. Not because we're joined into something; that's an organization. We're born, Christians, by being regenerated by the Holy Spirit. Notice now.
E-239 Now, this little cankerworm begin to bore hisself into the bark. What did he do? He begin to take its religion, its covering, its Doctrine away from it. Religion is a doctrine, a covering that covers anything. That's the reason our religion is by Blood, the Blood. The Life is in the Blood that covers the Word. And the Life is the… It's in the Blood. The Blood is the religion, and the Life in the Blood is what brings the results. Why, you see it? [Congregation says, "Amen."—Ed.] See?
E-240 It's not covered by fig leaves. Adam and Eve tried that one time. Cain did the same thing. Did you notice that? Cain brought some of the botany life, too. See? But it wouldn't work. It didn't work with Adam and Eve. And it won't work today. When God refused it, at the beginning, it's refused for Eternity. Man-made creeds and thoughts will never take it.
E-241 It's God's Word, has to do it. And the Word is by the Blood, the sacrifice of Christ. That's right.
E-242 "People," as brother said this morning, "pulling splinters." Well, you know, there is nineteen different nails in the nation today, that different organizations are holding, and could claim, "It's original nail, was in His hands." What of it, if it was? I wouldn't want nothing to do with it. Certainly.
E-243 God never left anything for relics and tokens. He sent the Holy Ghost, Something alive, cannot be destroyed. What would a nail do me, any good? What would the original cross He hung on, what would it do me, any good? Not a bit. Not to know the nail, know the cross, but, "To know Him is Life." See?
E-244 Now, so we're holding on nails, we're holding on relics, and we're holding on places. And today people walk up and down, in the city of Jerusalem, and—and all up and down in the different places, and holding to relics and things. That ain't got nothing to do with it, not a thing. The thing is condemned, rotten, and gone on.
E-245 I went to a church in—in Rome. There where they—they, all these priests that die, they plant them in a garden, down beneath there, and let the meat fall off the bones. And—and then they take the bones out and make light fixtures, and put their skulls around. And people coming in there, rub them skulls, to get blessings, until the skulls are white and wore out. As you go into Saint Peter's Cathedral there, a foot of Peter, they claim there, a statue, has been kissed off, nine or ten different times; they have to mold another foot on it. Such nonsense! Superstitions, that's all it is, creeds of man-made doctrine.
E-246 God sent the Holy Spirit, Life of God, to be in you, not in a statue. You are the guy that God wants to live in; not a statue, but in you. People call, "holy statues." There ain't no holy statues. You are God's holy statue. The Bible said so. That's right. "Body has Thou prepared Me."
E-247 Now, this little fellow started to destroying. Destroying what? The cankerworm got into the bark. Watch what it did. Begin to destroy the bark. What did it do? It made a natural church for a spiritual Church. Yes, sir. It took away the true and give it a false. Now, remember. The leaf…
E-248 The fruit, the palmerworm eat. The leaf, the locust eat. Now, the bark, the covering, the religion, the Doctrine; the Doctrine, the cankerworm got.
E-249 Where did that first doctrine come from, outside of the Bible? You historians, you know where it come from. From Rome, exactly where it started, there they started accepting dogmas.
E-250 That's how Irenaeus, Saint Martin, Polycarp, all of them… after John's death. For translating the Word of God, he was out on the isle of Patmos. They burnt him in grease for twenty-four hours, brought back, and he still wrote the Bible. God was determined that this Bible would be written. That's the Word of God. We can't take away from It or add to It. It's to lay just the way It is, the Word.
E-251 Notice when they got back, when these saints of God trying to hold up that Word, Rome come right in, and accepted dogmas, instead. Now let's just see what she did, some of her false doctrines, what she done.
E-252 Water baptism. Where they were commissioned… Peter said, on the Day of Pentecost, under the influence of the Holy Ghost, the Word of God, "Repent every one of you and be baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins."
E-253 What did Rome do with it? Turned it around, and said, "Be baptized in name of the 'Father, Son, Holy Ghost,'" making it a creed, not a Doctrine of the Bible. What did he do? That's that cankerworm, eating. "Sprinkling," instead of immersing, "in the name of Father…"
E-254 "Father, Son, Holy Ghost" is no name. There's no such a thing. "Father" is not a name, "Son" is not a name, and "Holy Ghost" is not a name.
E-255 When Jesus said, "Baptize them in the Name of the Father, Son, Holy Ghost," is, "the Lord Jesus Christ." Exactly what Peter and them did, and all, everybody in the Bible, was. There was nobody…
E-256 I challenge anyone to bring me one piece of Scripture, or one piece of history, where anybody was ever baptized any other way than in the Name of "Jesus Christ," until the Roman Catholic church. Do that. And remember, this tape goes around the world. Uh-huh. I've held congregation of ministers, with hundreds of them, and bishops and everything, say, "Stand to your feet, or come here with your Bible, or hold your peace forever." They hold their peace till they get around behind you, and then they start talking about you; not the very audacity to stand to your face, common decency to stand and tell you to your face. They're afraid to do it. They know it's wrong. But that's what that cankerworm started eating, see, eating away that real Thing.
E-257 Now, you say, "It's not essential. Yeah. Any way I'm baptized is all right." Is it? [Congregation says, "No."—Ed.]
E-258 Paul said, Acts 19, when, "He, Paul, passed through the upper coasts of Ephesus." The Bible said, "He found certain disciples." Them is followers. Apollos, a Baptist preacher, under John the Baptist, was teaching them the Word. And they were having great joy. And Paul just went over to see them, and he said, "Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed?"
"Oh," they say, "I'm a believer."
E-259 "But that's not what I'm asking. Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed?"
They said, "We not know whether there be any Holy Ghost."
E-260 He said, "Then to what was you baptized?" See? In other word, "How was you baptized?"
They said, "We been baptized."
Said, "How?"
E-261 He said, "Under John," he said, "the same man that baptized Jesus. Wouldn't that be all right?"
E-262 Paul said, "No. Not now. No." Said, "You got to be baptized, over again." And Paul baptized them, over again, in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Laid his hands upon them, and the Holy Ghost came on them.
E-263 And Paul said, "If a Angel from Heaven," let alone some preacher; "if a Angel," let alone this cankerworm, uh-huh; "if a Angel from Heaven preaches anything else than This, to you, let him be accursed." That's right.
E-264 So you see what it was, the cankerworm got to eating. It eat away the baptism of water in the Name of Jesus Christ.
E-265 The next thing that the cankerworm did, it taken away the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Cause, as long as you're going to have that Holy Ghost, It's going to shed light on that Word, as long as you'll do that. So they had to—to do it different.
E-266 Now, just think of how many Lutherans, Protestants, how many Catholics, this morning, was confirmed, what they call it, taking first communion. And they call that "Holy Eucharist," which means, a Latin word, "Holy Ghost." Did you ever see a Catholic pass by the church and go over hisself like that? [Brother Branham illustrates—Ed.] Why? "It's god in that church." What is god? "That little piece of bread." That little piece of bread, round, made like the sun-god that they worship, laying on the altar where the mice and roaches pack around, overnight. That's not my God. I'll tell you that now. "First communion, confirmed to the church." Nonsense.
E-267 But that's what they did. That's what the cankerworm did. It took away the Spirit and give them a piece of bread, some bread that some priest made, or some nun, or something. That's what they did. That's exactly right. Go, ask now. Go, looking back in history, and see if it isn't right. And you let that thing be shoved down your throat? Not only them Catholics, but you Protestants, a many of you, same thing. All right. There's what they did. All right.
E-268 And then the Protestant, instead of having the Holy Ghost, you know what they do? They come and join, shake a hand. There wasn't that somebody come up the road and shook a hand, when the Day of Pentecost come. "But there came from Heaven the sound of a rushing, mighty Wind that filled all the house where they were setting," that's right, come down through them leaves on trees, poured over the bark. That's right.
E-269 Now, now, instead of the new Birth that Jesus said, a man must be borned again, they adopted joining their church, "Come and join." Instead of the Word, the cankerworm give them a creed. Don't you see? Look here what he's doing. He's giving a natural for a spiritual. Can you see it? [Congregation says, "Amen."—Ed.]
E-270 Now look. Now, we, we're—we're on the Catholic line here, but did you know that come right down through the Protestants too? [Congregation says, "Amen."—Ed.] Where do we have the Holy Ghost demonstrations in Protestant churches today? Where do we have a Pentecostal reaction in amongst Protestants? We don't have. You have it in Lutheran? ["No."] If you do, I want to go to it. I want to go over there and just eat and have a wonderful time. Presbyterian? Where—where is—where is it at? See? You've adopted something natural.
E-271 I'm fixing to leave, and you know that. See? Don't you never let This get out of your heart.
E-272 Don't take the natural. That's death. This natural man is death. Anything it does, is death. It's subject and here for death. "It's the Spirit that maketh alive," see, the Spirit that gives Life, quickens it. It's a Spirit.
E-273 So, you see, they took… Watch what they done. Took the water baptism, from "Jesus Christ," to "Father, Son, Holy Ghost," a title, which is no Name, at all.
E-274 Now, you say, "What difference does it make?" All right. Now, if you're going to give…
E-275 Somebody is going to give you your pay check, Saturday, the—the—the man that pays you. Instead of putting his name on there, just say, "From—from 'The boss.'" That's what it is. Your pay check, just, "Pay to the order of John Doe, a hundred and fifty dollars, for this week's work. From, 'The boss.'" Put it down, the bank, and see how it bounces back. Yeah. Yeah. Yes, sir. It sure will. Surely.
E-276 If it don't make a difference, why did Paul command them Christians, praising God and having a lot of joy, and having the great things going on up there, why did he tell them, "You got to come back and be baptized, over again, in the Name of Jesus Christ"? See? Take the Word, say, just stay with It. Don't say nothing different. Just say what It says. See? That's what we're going to be judged by.
E-277 Now look. That's what they did. Instead of the new Birth, they have a joining. Instead of talking the Word, they have a creed. Show me in the Bible where they ever said a "Hail Mary." Show me in the Bible where you Protestants ever quoted Apostles' Creed. Tell me what the Apostles' Creed is, in the Bible, "Communion of saints." They was against it. Tell me in the Bible where they ever had "Father, Son, and Holy Ghost" baptism. It's not there. And yet you go for it.
E-278 Now, now, instead of fellowship and brotherhood amongst brothers, they give them a hierarchy, pope. And you got a bishop, tells you what you can do and what you can't. And you Pentecostals has got a district presbyter that tells you who you can have in. But the Church has Christ. See?
E-279 There is where you come. See? They give you those dogmas and man-made things, instead, take It away. What's that cankerworm done? Taken It right off the Tree, and give you this. "I'll run that off the Tree, and I'll give you this, instead. I'll take That off, and give you this." See where you got to?
You say, "Well, Brother Branham!"
E-280 Where did every one, where did every Protestant church, come from? Catholic. That's what Revelation 13, or Revelation 17, said she would. Said, "She was a whore, and she was a mother of harlots," same thing. So don't… Pot can't call kettle black, you know, so don't. That just… Don't do it. So, that, that's right.
E-281 Brotherhood; took away brotherhood. When, we ought to be brothers, one with another. It segregated us and made us different. All right.
E-282 Now watch. Here is a good one. I'll get this, and then I'll stop, on these others. Look.
E-283 The Bible tells us, when we've done wrong, that we should purge our souls by the Holy Spirit. Get down, let the Holy Spirit reveal to us that you're doing wrong, and there stay before Him till you die out, purging our souls.
E-284 Now, they've turned around, give you a purgatory. After you're dead, then the priest makes a lot of money, to pray you out of purgatory. Why, it's nonsense! That's what the cankerworm done. Sure. "Pray you out of purgatory. Cost so-many hundred dollars to get this soul prayed out of purgatory." I want you to even find "purgatory" in the Bible, anything like it. There's no such a thing in the Bible. No, sir. But they give them a purgatory, see, they, after you're dead. Oh, yes, I know.
E-285 They—they—they say, "Sure!" You hear them say, "Well, Saint Boniface said so-and-so." I don't care what Saint Boniface said. "Well, didn't So-and-so say that her, she prayed for her husband, that great sister, Saint So-and-so?" I don't care what she did.
E-286 It's unauthoritative word. It's against the authoritative apostles. God give those apostles, to set the Church in order, and It's built upon the Doctrine of the apostles, not upon Saint Boniface or some saint. It is contrary to the Word. I don't care what Saint Boniface said, and what other saints, and other saints, and Saint Susie, and Saint Maria, all those said. It's nonsense. It's no more than any other lie. If it's contrary to God's Word, it's a lie. I don't believe unauthoritative words.
E-287 That's the reason I don't believe these Protestant creeds and things. It's Catholic, to the—to the core. It's dogmas. How can you call Catholics, and make fun of them having dogmas, when you're full of it, yourselves? Not so much here, but this is on tape, you understand, see, goes all over the world. Notice. How can you call them wrong, when you take man-made creeds that's contrary to the Bible, dogma, just the same they did? Why? You're in a organization that's a daughter to the old prostitute. What is a prostitute? Some woman that lives untrue to her husband. Claiming to be a Christian church, and giving out wrong doctrine, her own stuff, instead of taking God's Holy Word.
E-288 Just like Eve did, listened to—to the devil, and cause all death and sorrow that ever struck the earth. Come through Eve, because she committed a spiritual fornication against God, by disbelieving His Word.
E-289 And that's exactly what the churches are doing today, committing spiritual fornications against God's Word. And they won't even have you in the church if you don't agree with their doctrine.
E-290 Well, they sign me letters, "If you'll believe in this, and if you'll say this is right, and you'll…"
E-291 I said, "I just won't come." No, sir. I'll preach just what this Bible says, or not at all. See? That's right.
E-292 Stay on that Word. That's what we got to do, brethren. Stay there. Now we're getting down to the last days, and we know that. The hour is here.
E-293 How we could say! Oh, they say this, that, and the other. But anything that's unauthoritative, don't believe it. I don't care who said it, if anybody.
Here, a sister come to me, not long ago. And said…
E-294 A—a certain group of men that I preached to, ministers, about the baptism in the Name of Jesus Christ, where three hundred and something, ministers. Plenty people are setting here was at the meeting, where the whole council of the Chicago Ministerial Association met me. The Lord give me a vision, told me where they'd be and what would happen. And I turned right up there, and told. We got the tape here if you want to hear it. See? And I… All the bishops, and doctors, and cardinals, and all of them, set there.
E-295 I said, "Any of you that can condemn it, get your Bible and come here." I said, "What you so quiet about?" And wasn't nobody said anything. And why? See, they're afraid of that Word. I said, "Then, if you can't, why you picking on me? Hold your peace. Get out, do something. And if you can't back it up with the Word, then keep still."
E-296 So, then, that same group of men sent a lady down, said, "Brother Branham, if the Angel of the Lord told you." The Angel of the Lord, you know, His—His picture is there, you see. "If the Angel of the Lord told you That, well, we'll believe It."
E-297 I said, "Anybody, that a ministerial group that would be that weak, 'If the Angel of the Lord said.' If that Angel said something contrary to this Word, it wouldn't be the Angel of the Lord."
E-298 The Angel of the Lord will vindicate the Word. That's exactly what He's always done through every age. He still does the same thing. He stays with the Word. And any minister anointed with the Holy Ghost will stay by the same Word, 'cause the Bible said that the entire Bible was wrote by the Holy Ghost.
E-299 And how can you have the Holy Ghost and deny what the Bible says? The very spirit in you, it bears record that it's not right. See? The cankerworm has been eating, that's all, uh-huh, eating away the true things of God. Yes, sir. Unauthoritative word is contrary to the Doctrine of the apostles. Oh, my!
E-300 This is the apostolic Doctrine. This is the Bible. This is the Holy Spirit. Every Word in It is true. You just believe and accept It, and don't take down on it, and watch every promise be fulfilled, the manifestation of God present right now.
E-301 If He isn't just as much God now as He was when the children of Israel crossed the Red Sea, He wouldn't be God. He isn't the same God that fell on Pentecost that He is right here, today, He isn't the same God. Then, there was no resurrection, if He wasn't, if He… Oh, what good does a historical God do to you, if He isn't the same God today? See? What good does it do to send preachers to the seminaries, and hatch them out like incubator chickens, and go around like that, if there is no such a thing as God?
E-302 What are you doing, take away the Word of God? Where is your authority at? You say, "The church." The church, there's nine hundred and sixty-nine different organizations of them. Which one of them is right? No one would know what to do. You'd be confused. That's right. But God ain't going to judge the people by the church.
E-303 He's going to judge them by Christ, and Christ is the Word. Bible said, "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." He'd judge the church and the people by the Word, that's right, the living, resurrected Word.
E-304 Then if that living, resurrected word says anything contrary to this Word here, then it's not the risen, resurrected Word. Because, This, It'll bear witness of this Truth. He can't say something here, and something else over here.
E-305 I can say something here, and something over there, 'cause I'm a man. You can, too. You can get more knowledge and understanding.
E-306 But, not God; He's infinite. See? He has… The first decision, His first thing He says, has to stand Eternally. It's the same. He cannot say one thing here, and something over here. He's got to say the same thing every time, in order to be God.
E-307 So if the Spirit is on you, is of God, it'll witness this Word is the Truth, every Word of It. And It is the same yesterday, today, and forever. That's what the Bible says. Yes, sir. All right.
Now, let's hurry and get the next stage of this little bug.
E-308 First, he was a palmerworm. What did he eat off of God's Tree? [Someone says, "Fruit."—Ed.] Fruit.
E-309 The next stage he come in; he died in that stage, and come in another stage. What did he do now? He come in this time as a locust. He eat all the leaves off. That's the locust habit.
E-310 Now, what's the next thing he done? He come back in another stage, as a cankerworm, and he went into the bark.
E-311 Now, here he comes as a lo-… as a caterpiller, the fourth stage of him. Now he's a caterpiller. What is a caterpiller? He's a sucker; sucks the Life, the Spirit, the Life. That's what he does, gets right down, hold the pulp, and goes to sucking. Caterpiller, here he is. Who we going to call him? Denomination. That's that guy's right name. Why? He's a destroyer; sucks the Life.
E-312 Every time that God sends a move among His people, every time, and they denominate, right there they die. I want somebody that knows the history of the church, that can condemn that. Show me one time that an organization ever organized, that it didn't die right there. The cankerworm got a hold of it, took its religion away. And then the sucker come along and took the… sucked the Life right out of the Tree.
E-313 What kind of a Life was in It? Holy Spirit. What'd it do? It couldn't hold the Holy Spirit in there and then still have dogmas. The Holy Spirit wouldn't stand for it. So it takes the Holy, the Life out of the Tree, and gives it a dogma, makes a denomination. "We don't care what This says. Our denomination says this." There you are. Remember, after it denominates, it always dies, and never rises again.
E-314 The first organization was the Catholic; it died immediately. Course, it was dogma, to begin with.
E-315 Out of there come the first reformation, was Luther, organized and died.
Next come Wesley; organized, died.
Next come Pentecost; organized and died.
E-316 Presbyterian, Lutheran, all these others, and the—and the Nazarene, Pilgrim Holiness, and all these organizations that followed along like that, every one died. Look at them. Why? They organize, and that kills them. What'd they do? They take in these dogmas.
E-317 You Nazarenes, a wonderful, the next church to the—the coming up of Pentecost. What was it? You believe in sanctification, but when it come down to the gifts of the Spirit, speaking in tongues and the great powers of God, you called It "devils," and there you died. That's right. Where is she at today? Dead. Oh, she's got more members, but where is she? She's a corpse.
E-318 I seen her, the other night, that's right, the whole thing. Their pastor, laying on top, kissing a corpse, making love to it. Said, "They ain't got no more time, anyhow. This is all of it." So, I'll give it to you, sometime, on tape. See? All right.
E-319 God planted His Tree, to bear spiritual fruit, fruits of the Spirit. Is that right? [Congregation says, "Amen."—Ed.] But what did man? Man always tried to make It an artificial form. He did, back there; he does now. Now, this, let's fire hard now, and quick. Man has always tried to take the spiritual Church and make it an artificial form.
E-320 Luther had a spiritual church. What happened? As soon as Luther died, they made it a form, artificial.
E-321 What did Wesley do? John Wesley, a great man of God! Who would say John Wesley wasn't a man of God? What did he do? As soon as him and John and Charles died, they organized it. When she did, she died. Exactly.
E-322 Same thing down through the age, every time, on every one. They make artificial put-on, good works, biggest congregation, smartest people. "The celebrity of the city wants to join us."
E-323 That's exactly what's happened to you bunch of Pentecostals too. Exactly right. You—you let down the bars. You got away from the Spirit. You wanted big buildings, and finery, and everything like that, and you got dignified pastors. What'd you do? You mothers sent your boys away to some of these seminaries out here, to become pastors. What'd they go to teaching them? Theology and all kind of man-made stuff. And where is it today? They come back, a bunch of Rickies and Elvises. That's exactly right. What have you got today? A bunch of tommyrot, "Form of godliness."
E-324 The Bible said, "In the last days they'd have a form of godliness, but would deny the Power thereof, the Life thereof." Why? The caterpiller sucked It out. Right. The organization taken It away. First Timothy 3, Paul said, "Know this, in the last days, that perilous times shall come. Men will be lovers of their own selves, proud, boasters, blasphemers, disobedient, unthankful, unholy, without natural affections, incontinent, despisers of those that are good, traitor, highminded, having a form of godliness and would deny the Power thereof." Caterpiller sucked it out. Cankerworm got onto it, long time ago. We're going to bring you that Tree down, in a hole, just in a little bit, the Lord willing.
E-325 "The largest place." Oh, sure. "Well, you know, our church last year accumulated so much." Oh, sure.
E-326 The Catholic beat you by a million miles. Sure did. And even got so much in Russia till they run it out and put, established communism. They did the same thing in Mexico. And they ought to do it all over the world, where she's at. That's right.
E-327 Don't you never fear communism. Communism is a godless move. But you hear some of these preachers, stand in the pulpit, condemning, "Communism! Communism!" I don't believe in it either. But don't… And tell their church, "Oh, we're all going to be swallowed up. Whole world is going to become communist." That's exactly contrary to God's Word. There's no place in the Bible says that that'll be that way.
E-328 But the Bible says that Romanism, the Catholic church, will sway the world. Take Daniel and find out. The head of gold, King Nebuchadnezzar, Babylonian kingdom; Medes and Persia succeeded him; the Grecian Empire succeeded that; and Rome went to the end. Them ten toes run in every kingdom under the earth. Don't you…
E-329 There is a iron curtain. There is a bamboo curtain. There is a purple curtain. Brother, you, don't you fear none of the rest of them, but watch that purple curtain.
E-330 She is setting right here on the throne, today, in this country. Remember, just like Ahab did, and Jezebel behind him. That's… The Bible calls the Catholic church "Jezebel; prostitute." And Ahab wasn't no bad guy. I don't say that Mr. Kennedy isn't a nice man. I don't know nothing about him. He's a man. That's all I know. He's the President. I believe he'll make a good President. It's not him; it's that system behind him. Wait till she gets wormed into the cabinet, and everywhere she can, then watch what'll happen. Look what it done in other nations. Look what it's always done.
E-331 And don't the Bible say, in Revelation 13? This nation is number thirteen. It's got thirteen stripes and thirteen stars in the flag. Thirteen stripes in the flag. Thirteen, everything in it is thirteen; thirteen colonies, thirteen everything. And it's found in the 13th chapter of Revelation.
E-332 And the Bible said, that, "She come up like a little lamb," freedom of religion; "two little horns," civil and ecclesiastical. And after while, they united, "And he spoke like the dragon did, and done everything the dragon did before him." And the Bible said, "They made a image unto the beast," the confederation of church, just what they got in right now, here in New York City. And there that great big morgue up there! And all you Methodists, Baptists, and Pentecostals, and every one of you, economical, ecumenical people out here, trying to do such things as that, and selling out your birthrights, to join that bunch of Babylon. What's the matter with you? Sure. Selling your birthrights, like Esau did, for a mess of pottage. That's all you're going to get. That's all.
E-333 "Formed an image of the beast." Exactly. Don't you fear communism. You fear Catholicism. "Oh," they say, "it would come in with flatteries, like a lamb. But," said, "watch it." Behind it, it's a wolf. It's a sneaker. You watch it. Yes, sir. Cause, it's contrary to the Word. What the Word says has to come to pass.
E-334 Communism ain't doing nothing but playing right in the hands of God. That's exactly. And why they have to do that? God had to permit communism, so that it would made these, His Word, come to pass. Sure. That's… Did you realize that? Did you ever think of that? God has to make His Word come to pass.
E-335 Look. Where there was four hundred prophets stood out there, before, for Ahab and Jehoshaphat, one day. Jehoshaphat, a righteous man. He said, "But, before we go up to Ramoth-Gilead," said, "oughtn't we to consult the Lord?"
E-336 Ahab said, "Yeah. Sure." See? Jezebel behind it all, you know. Said, "We'll—we'll… I got four hundred prophets here. We'll bring them up."
E-337 All fine people. Brought them up. They all prophesied, said, "Go on up. The Lord is with you."
E-338 That didn't sound right, to this godly man. The king of Israel, or the king of Israel up there… It didn't sound very right to him. He said, "Isn't there another one?"
E-339 "Four hundred preachers, already in one accord, saying, 'Go up. The Lord has done spoke to us and said, "Go on up."'"
He said, "But there ought to be another one somewhere."
E-340 He said, "I got one, but I hate him." Sure, absolutely. Yeah. Said, "He's always bawling me out. He's always saying evil against me." How could he do anything else, when the Word of God was against him?
E-341 So they sent and got Micaiah. Micaiah said, "Go on up. Yes. That's right. But I seen Israel scattered like sheep having no shepherd."
E-342 Then he, why, that big preacher walked over, the bishop, and smacked him in the mouth. Said, "Where'd the Spirit of God go when It went out of me?"
E-343 Then he said, "Just wasn't in you, to begin with." So then—so then he said, "You'll find out, one of these days." He said—he said—he said…
E-344 Ahab said, "Put him back in the inner prison. Feed him the bread of sorrow and the—and the water of sorrow." Said, "When I return in peace, I'll deal with this fellow."
E-345 He said, "If you return at all, then the Word of God hasn't spoke to me." Why? Why? He was right with the Word, right with the Word.
E-346 Any prophecy don't stay with that Word… That's exactly. That's the reason I say today; no matter how good it looks, how many preachers are saying this, that, or the other, "Communism is going to take the world and throw it down." Don't you never try to fight communism. Fight Romanism. For, that's THUS SAITH THE LORD. Was the Lord said Romanism is going to rule, not communism. It's just a puppet.
E-347 But, you see, he had to do that. The Lord told Micaiah, "I've got to send Ahab out there. Have them preachers to say that, to send Ahab out there, in order to make Elijah's words come to pass."
E-348 God had to let communism raise up. What do they do? They run all these here morgues together, and made a confederation of churches, to join up, to make a image of the beast, just what His Word said would take place. Don't you worry about that. You watch the thing it's forming under. That's right. Hmm!
E-349 I'm… guess I'm wearing you out, but… [Congregation says, "No."—Ed.] But that's true. I don't know when I can speak to you again. I may never. We don't know. We may never meet again, but I want you to know what's Truth.
E-350 Watch this Word. It is the Truth; not me. This Word, This is It. If my word is contrary to This, then don't you believe me. You believe That. Then, if you say, "Well, we got That, and you are preaching contrary to It," then it's your duty to come to me. Right. It's your duty to come to me. See? Just come, and let's see what's the Word, now.
E-351 Now, therefore, we find out that it was. It's communism is gathered together. God said, "Gog and Magog, there, will gather together," sure, "to bring about the battle." That's exactly true, 'cause it's going to bring these forces together. It has to come. The Bible said it would.
God planted this Tree, to bear His spiritual fruit.
E-352 And man has always tried to make it a artificial form, "Having a form of godliness." The largest buildings in the city, sure, millions of dollars! My, goodness! And people preaching Jesus is coming, and spend six and eight million dollars on a building somewhere. And, missionaries, I know missionaries on the field, that's preaching the Gospel, without a pair of shoes on, eating two meals a week. Can you see why, brother, we, what's the matter with people? I don't actually believe they believe that He's coming. Your—your—your—your words speak… Well, your—your life speaks louder than your words. You… See? And He's…
E-353 Them little missionaries, where I come up in my meeting like that, no shoes on; little pair of pants tied around him, like that; living out there with fleas, and ameba, and bugs, and all kinds of sickness, and everything else out there; little old hands eat up, and eat up with ameba and everything else. Standing there, say, "You Brother Branham?"
I say, "Yes."
Said, "Oh, bless you! I always pray for you."
E-354 I thought, "O God, let that man pray for me. Yes. That's the guy. That's the one."
E-355 "I'm… I—I—I read your articles, Brother Branham. You're sure telling the Truth. We're right with you." Oh, brother, that's—that's the boy. That's him; poor little guy.
Hear somebody say, "You know who that is?"
"Oh," say, "he don't belong to our organization."
"Is that so? Who is he?"
"Why, he ain't with us."
"Well, who is he?"
"Oh, he's a—he's a independent."
"Oh, he is? Uh-huh. Well, what does he do?"
"Oh, he's got a little work out there. He—he won't join with us."
"Well, I want to know about him."
E-356 You know, when I was a little boy, hunting the apples in the apple orchard, I always found the tree had all the clubs under it, you know. Got clubbed right good and hard, there is where the good apples was.
They say, "Well, he's just a holy-roller."
E-357 You know, you always put the scarecrow where the good tree is at. The devil does the same thing, to scare you off of It. Don't you worry. Go right on in behind that scarecrow.
E-358 I watching a groundhog one day, eating butter beans I was planting. Every time I'd plant a row of butter beans, that little guy come out, eat them up. I thought, "I'll scare the life out of him." So I got me a paper sack. And I'm really an artist; you ought to seen me. I drawed what I thought was a scary picture. Oh, it was scary, too, if I drawed it. And I put it on a sack, and put me some butter beans in it, and hung it on a stick. And when the wind would blow, it'd shake like that.
E-359 Out of the hole come a little groundhog, you know. And he'd run down through there, was eating butter beans, and he run right up against this sack. He backed off. He looked at it, looked her over like that. And he went, "whew," jumped at it, and, oh, sack stood still. He looked at it again, you know, and looked it all over, again. He looked back and seen them butter beans going on down the row. And they were good, you know. So he looked, that scarecrow in his way. So he walked up, and kept getting a little closer, like that. [Brother Branham pats on something—Ed.] Trying to scare it, and it wouldn't move. Don't worry; it's dead. That's how's all them scarecrows are. So he—so he just…
E-360 What he done, he took his little foot and hit that sack, and went rattle, rattle. He jumped back and looked at it, like that. He hit it again, rattle, rattle. That's all it is, just a rattle. Like the Irishman's owl, all fuss and feathers, and no owl, you know. So just hit it like that, and rattle it four or five times like that. You know what he done? Went right around behind the sack and went on eating my butter beans. He knowed more about it, gooder than I did. See? What was it? You see, he wasn't letting the scarecrow stop him. There's something good behind the scarecrow.
E-361 When they say, "Oh, they're holy-rollers," just go right on around behind that scare and go on in. See? Go on and believe it. See? Might be some Holy Spirit there, too, you see. You can't tell. See? All right.
E-362 Oh, that den-… let's look at this denominational caterpiller at work. Church natural; Church spiritual. Watch this old caterpiller now, how he denominates it. He's already got the bark eat off, and the fruits eat off of it, and, oh, brother, it's all gone. All the gifts of the Spirit is gone; no Divine healing, no speaking in tongues, no prophecy, no nothing, don't believe in-believe in prophets. They don't believe in these things. They don't know. All, man-made! Everything they got is man-made, artificial. See? All right. The church natural, there is a church natural. That's the one is made up by man. Church spiritual…
E-363 You know, the Bible says that? Yes, sir. Church natural; and Church spiritual. And the Bible says, "Cast out the bondswoman and her child, Hagar, for she will not be heir with the freewoman and her child." See?
E-364 So, the natural church, that's going to inherit (What?) the binding of the sheaves, the binding of the bundles, to be burned. "And she will not inherit, be heir, with the freewoman." If the bondwoman is in bondage with her organization children, she will not be heir with the freewoman, because the freewoman's children is going in the Rapture. And the bondswoman's children is going to stand in the Judgment, see, cast out. Yeah. The spiritual are free. Yes, sir.
E-365 The caterpiller, denominational Esaues. Now, Esau. There's Esau and Jacob, both of them twins, both of them religious. Esau was a carnal man. He was a good man. He didn't say, well, now… He didn't go out and steal, drink, or anything there. He was a religious man. But he thought, "Well, as long as I'm religious, what difference does it make?"
E-366 But, little old Jacob, he didn't care how he had to get it, that birthright is what he wanted. No matter how he got it, just so he got It! If he had to get down at the altar, and scream and cry, and boo-hoo and snot. Excuse me. Or, you know, get blood up in his eye. I didn't mean to say that. And so… Excuse me. So, get down to the altar and cry through till he got It, why, he got It. See? He didn't care how he got It, just so he got It.
E-367 Some of them says, "I… Brother Branham, them people down there, boo-hooing on that altar, and crying, and crying. I don't want It that way." Well, you won't get It. See?
E-368 The old darkie, colored brother, down in the South, one time, was always happy. And he, his boss said, "What's—what's makes you so happy all the time, boy?"
He said, "I got heartfelt religion."
Said, "There is no such a thing."
E-369 He said, "You made one mistake. 'As far as you know, there's no such a thing.'" He knowed different. Said, "'As far as you know.' You should have said it that way."
One day, he said, "I want to get some of that heartfelt religion."
He said, "When do you want it?"
Said, "Now."
Said, "Well, let's go get it."
E-370 They went out. He said, "Here is a hayloft. It's nice." And said, "Yeah, my wife won't hear me, and anything out here," said. That's the way people want It, you know; hand It to them, on a platter. Said, "We'll kneel down here."
The old brother said, "You don't get it here."
E-371 Well, sir, he went down to the stall. He said, "Will we get It here?"
Said, "No."
He said, "We'll go over at the corn crib."
Said, "No."
Said, "Where do you get It?"
E-372 Said, "Follow me." He pulled up his pants' legs, walked out in the pig pen, as hard as he could, in the mud, said, "Come right out here. Here is where you get It."
He said, "I don't want to come out there."
He said, "You don't want It yet, boss. You don't want It."
E-373 You know, Naaman thought that, too. Naaman, Naaman said, "Now, I want to get rid of my leprosy."
E-374 Elijah said, "You go down there to the muddy Jordan, where she empties into the Mediterranean there." And said, "She is muddy as it can be. Dip down there, seven times."
E-375 "Oh," Naaman said, "my, goodness! Aren't the waters better, up around Damascus and up there? Oooh, they're pretty and clear up there." My, we see here the other night, on the film, here, you know. Said, "Oh," said, "why, why, we don't want to go down there. I can't go down there. And you know who I am? I'm the captain of guard. I'm the general of the host."
E-376 "Well, if you want to get rid of your leprosy, go on down there. But if you want to keep it, go on up there. He said, 'Dip.'"
E-377 And I can see him walking out in that water. Could you imagine? Oh, that hurt his prestige. I can see him, you know, tip-toeing out like this; nose-holding, you know.
E-378 That's the way some people try to come to Christ. "I'd like to get healed. I'd like to, you know, go to Heaven, but, oh, my, what if the rest of them looking at me." Uh-huh. You hypocrite. You'll never get It, anyhow. That's right. See? You'll never get It, anyhow. Don't worry. You don't want It enough yet. That's right. You don't want It enough. That's exactly. When you're ready to get It, you'll get It, all right. God will give It to you when you're ready. All right.
E-379 Now, all, the denominational caterpillars, eaten up the whole thing. Notice each insect, each one of these insects, when he was working on the Tree, he made a way for the other one was going to follow him. Oh, he's a smart guy. Yes, sir. See? He took away the fruits, see, the Spirit, so (What?) he could take the fellowship away, see, the leaves.
E-380 So the other side come along and he made his own living, took the leaves off. Why did he do that? He took the leaves off so there'd be no coolness and freshness, so that other people could see, so he could get into the bark. See?
E-381 He'd get into the bark, and bore into the ridge, and take the Doctrine away from them, see, the very thing that supports the Life.
E-382 And then, as soon as he got holes bored in that, he had, the next order, come along the old sucker caterpiller, that's took the denomination, and sucked it up and organized it so you can't get It.
E-383 And what did the Life do? Go right down into the roots. That's exactly right. Run It right down in the roots. All right.
E-384 Now, the same insect bored to the heart, till it got to the Life. It kept coming through the fruit, through the leaves, through the bark, until it got right to the heart, the Lifeline. All right.
E-385 Now let's look at the destroyer at work, the first. I'm going to have to skip some of this here, I believe; no, I ain't. The—the first thing this fellow did, as soon as he got into the heart of the Tree. Let's watch him, back in his first stage, before he ever got started too good. Let's watch him. Now let's watch him at work. The first thing that he condemned, was to destroy the first real, precious fruit Tree that God had on earth.
E-386 Now, if you can bear with me just a few more minutes. I want you—I want you to get this now. Don't… This is your Easter Message, coming right now.
E-387 The first thing that he did, he destroyed God's first, precious fruit Tree, Christ. He was that Tree from the garden of Eden. That's right. The first fruit Tree, he destroyed It. First One God planted here on earth, was Christ. He destroyed that Tree that was bearing His fruit. Now, they had all kind of organizations, and he just had that in his hands. But when he come to a Tree that bore the actual fruit, that Roman bug got in There, see, destroyed the Tree.
E-388 The Tree? Yes. Jesus said, "If I do…" In Saint John, "If I do not the works of My Father, or have not the fruits of My Father, don't believe Me." He was bearing the fruit of God. What kind of a fruit did He bear? What kind of fruit?
E-389 Let's watch Him for a few minutes. We've went through it many a time. Let's just take a little preliminary one, for the people that's setting here, waiting for a minute, to be prayed for.
E-390 What was the first thing they knowed, that he would, recognize Him to be the Messiah? When Peter first came to Him, and Andrew had brought him, and He looked at Peter and said, "Your name is Simon, and you are the son of Jonas." He knew right then, according to the Scripture, that that was the Messiah. There had been…
E-391 Did you know there had been many raise up before that, according to history, and called themselves Messiahs? But none of them could do this. Uh-huh. Cause, "The Messiah," Moses said (The Word of God, which cannot fail, was spoke by Moses.), he said, "Your Messiah will be a Prophet like me."
E-392 And so when this stranger walked up before Jesus, and Jesus said, "Behold, your name is Simon, and you're the son of Jonas," Peter knowed right then Who He was. He knew that was Him.
E-393 When Nathanael went and got Philip, or… Philip went, got Nathanael, rather, and brought him over there. And Nathanael, a great man, see, great man, religious man. And—and Philip telling him about it, on the road over, what He had done to Simon. And when Nathanael walked up in the Presence of Jesus, what did Jesus say? He said, "Behold an Israelite in whom there is no guile."
He said, "Rabbi, when did You know me?"
E-394 He said, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the tree. I saw you."
E-395 He said, "Rabbi! Rabbi, You are the Son of God. You are the King of Israel." See?
E-396 Why? That's the fruit. "If I do not the works of My Father…" He knowed the very thoughts that was in their hearts.
E-397 A woman touched His garment, one time, and went off and sit down in the congregation. Jesus looked around and said, "Who touched Me?" All of them denied it. He looked around, and saw her. She had a blood issue. He said, "Your faith has saved you." Oh, my!
The little ol' Samaritan woman…
E-398 Now remember, He never went to the Gentiles, like that. No, sir. He told His disciples not to go to them. That's us. This is our day. He went in form of the Holy Spirit, to us, as He said He would be.
E-399 But when He went to them, what happened? When He went to the Samaritan woman, the woman said… He said to her, "Bring Me a drink."
E-400 And she said, "It's not customary for You, being a Jew, to ask me, a Samaritan."
E-401 Had segregation by their colors and so forth. He let them know right then, there were no differences, all come off the same tree. We're all sons and daughters of God. We're all, see. And He said…
E-402 She said, "Well, we worship. Our father, Jacob…" See, and that was the Jews' father, too. See? "Our father, Jacob, dug this well, and You say You're greater than he?"
E-403 And He said, "The waters that I give you is everlasting Life." See? He said…
"We, well, we worship in this mountain, and You in Jerusalem."
He said, "Go get your husband and come here. This'll settle it."
She said, "I don't have any husband."
E-404 Said, "You said right." Said, "You've had five, and the one you got now is not your husband."
E-405 She said, "Sir, You know, it's been four hundred years since we had a prophet, but You must be a prophet. How did You know that I had five husbands?" She said, "Now, we know that the… It's time for the Messiah to be here, which is called, 'the Christ.' And when He comes, He will tell us these kind of things." Oh, there is His fruits.
He said, "I am He."
E-406 She left the pot, the old water pot of organization. Into the city she went. No matter how much well, Jacob had, she had found a new Spring. Into the city she went, said, "Come, see a Man Who told me the thing I done. Isn't This the very Messiah? Isn't This the fruit? Isn't This the evidence that That is the Messiah?"
E-407 The Jews couldn't understand It. They said, "He's a fortuneteller, Beelzebub."
E-408 Jesus said, "I forgive you, you. But, sometime, the Holy Ghost is coming to do the same thing; and, you speak against That, it'll never be forgiven you." See?
E-409 Now, "If I do not the works of My Father, believe… don't believe Me." But that fruit Tree was bearing the fruits.
E-410 Now what? What did He say? Then what—what kind of a Church did He set up? Now, you Catholics that want to say that Jesus set up a church, what kind of Church did He set up?
E-411 Did He ever mention a denomination, a creed? [Congregation says, "No."—Ed.] He was always against it. Said, "You whited walls. You dead men's bones." He called them everything that He could call them. That's right. He was against it. That was the fruit of God. Now, you can make two and two, four, if you want to. All right. He was against the thing, organization, against their theories. Called them, "Hypocrites, snakes in the grass," and said they were "devils." He said, "You are of your father, the devil, and his works you'll do. Which one of your fathers didn't persecute the prophets I sent before Me?" See? Said, "Then you build their tombs." Said, "You're the ones that's put them in there." Oh, brother, He didn't pull no punches with them. That's right.
E-412 That was the fruit of God. What was it? Stay with the Word of God, make the Word of God manifest.
E-413 He said, otherwise, "What did the Scriptures say I the Messiah would do when I come? Now, if I don't bear that fruit of that Word, then I'm not the Messiah. But if I bear the fruit of that Word that the Messiah was supposed to do, then I am Him." Amen. "Now, which one of you can condemn Me of sin," He said. There you are. "Which one of your organizations does this same thing?" There you are. "The Messiah was supposed to do this. The Messiah is supposed to be a prophet. Now let's see some of you all," He said, "with all your highfaluting ideas, let's see you do it." Now, they was silent. All right. What was it? He bore the fruit of God. The Holy Spirit was in Him. He bore God's fruit. What was He? He…
E-414 Now listen close. I'll hurry as quick as I can, so I won't delay you from your Easter dinner. Look. But, your—your Easter dinner should be the resurrection. See?
E-415 But what? He was God's perfect Prophet Tree, the example Tree, the Bridegroom Tree. Amen. Glory! I'm going to say something, directly: If He is the Bridegroom Tree (Do you believe it? From the garden of Eden?) [Congregation says, "Amen."—Ed.] then, the Bridegroom Tree, without the Female, don't bear fruit, so He's got to have a Bride Tree. She has got to be borned of the same material, the Word made flesh in the Tree. Hope you get it. It's the same Life in this female Tree, the Bridegroom, as It is in the Bride. "The works that I do shall you also." Is that right? ["Amen."] He was the Bridegroom, remember.
E-416 You say, "That ain't Scriptural." Oh, it is. I caught that now. See? We're fixing to have a healing meeting in a minute. I caught that. He was.
E-417 You want proof of it? He said, "I am the Vine. Ye are the branches." Saint John saying it, "I am the Vine. You are the branches; you bear the fruit." See? And the male tree and the female tree produces the pollen, one to the other, brings the fruit. And the branch and the vine does the same thing. See? That's exactly right. So He said, now.
E-418 This first Tree was a Prophet Tree, a perfect Tree, the God of the prophets. He was a major Tree. He was God's perfect, proper Prophet Tree. Why? He was the Word. Now, the others was minor prophets. "The Word came to the prophets." But He was the Word, Himself, in form of a Prophet. Amen.
E-419 Now we're getting somewhere. Now listen real close. Don't miss this now. It was so good, I just wrote it out down here. Uh-hum. Amen.
E-420 [An automobile horn is heard—Ed.] Somebody shouting out, making their horn shout, out there. Uh-huh, just, oh, I hope you're having a good time out there. We are, in here. All right.
E-421 Now, He was God's Prophet Tree. Why? He preached all the perfect Word of God, for He was the Word of God made manifest. He was the perfect Prophet Tree that preached the perfect Prophet Word, that brought forth the perfect Prophet fruit by the perfect Word of God. Oh, brother, talk about a Tree! A Tree, He was that Life Tree that the Angel kept Eve and Adam away from, with a guarding Cherubims, away from that Tree. Now the same Cherubims is trying to run them into It, 'cause there's been a way made for them. See? Now they're pulling back; oh, human beings. Hmm!
Now, preached all the Word, He didn't cut here or there.
E-422 When Satan come to Him, that great theologian, and said, "It is written…"
Jesus said, "Yes, and it's also written…" Uh-huh.
"But it's written…"
And He said, "And it's also written…"
E-423 Perfect Prophet Tree preaching perfect Prophet's Word, with perfect Prophet signs, perfect Prophet results, perfect fruits of the Spirit.
E-424 And for a mockery… I'm—I'm going to go through this pretty fast now. Cause, for a mockery, they hanged Him on… He was the Word, you know. They hanged Him, the Word Tree; the Word Tree, hung Him on a man-made Roman tree. Hum! Brother, I hope that got home. Him, being God's perfect spiritual Tree, they hung Him on a man-made Roman tree. Amen.
E-425 Same now. They're trying to take God's perfect Tree, the Word, and mix It, and hang It up yonder on some kind of a creed. Death and Life won't mix. Jesus never did attend a funeral service; He would raise the dead. Why? Death and Life cannot stay together. They're contrary, one to the other. He didn't preach no funerals. He just raised them up. Amen. Yes. Why? Life; and death.
E-426 Now look. They hanged Him on a tree. Is that right? [Congregation says, "Amen."—Ed.] "Cursed is he that hangs on a tree." Is that right? ["Amen."] The Bible said, "Cursed is he that hangs on any man-made tree."
E-427 So if, today, you are trying to hang on some kind of a man-made tree, turn loose of it. And don't let it hang you there, either. Cause, that's a place for the dead, some man-made Luther, Baptist, Presbyterian, Pentecostal organization, that's right, some man-made tree. Don't hang there. Don't let it hang you there, either. They'll hang you there if they can, till all the Life is gone out of you, till you recognize their doctrine. That's right.
E-428 But that's where they hung this perfect Tree. God's perfect fruit Tree hung on a man-made Roman tree. That's it. It was a curse to hang on any man-made tree. What it? To rid Him out of their sight, after He had bore all the fruits.
E-429 After Mary Magdalene, said by history, run before them and said, "What has He done? What evil did He do?" She stopped the procession, said, "What did He do was evil? Has He done nothing but preach the Gospel to the poor? Has He done nothing but heal the sick, raise up the dead? And the very signs of the living God is in Him. How could you condemn Him?"
E-430 And they slapped her in the mouth, and said, "Would you listen to that ill-famed woman in the stead of your priest," there you are, "your bishop?" Uh-huh. There you are. Same thing today. That's right. Uh-huh. Yes.
E-431 Now, when He done all this, and proved Himself, what He was, and put it down to them and said, "If I'm not He, then who are you?" Uh-hum, uh-hum. "If you can condemn Me of sin, if I'm anywhere wrong in the Word, you show Me. Now let Me show you where you're wrong." See? Sin is "unbelief." We know that.
E-432 Now, to rid Him out of their sight! They hated Him so bad, because He tore up all their organizations. To rid Him out of their sight, they buried Him. And rolled a great big denominational stone over the door, so He'd be sure not to rise again. See? Oh, my!
E-433 Think of that perfect Tree! David looked back and saw It. He said, "It's standing by the rivers of Water. He bringeth forth His leaves in the season. And His fruit, it shall not be cast. It, it won't wither. Whatsoever He doeth shall prosper." He was the Son of prosperity.
E-434 Joseph was a type of Him. He was the Antitype of Joseph. Everywhere Joseph went, it prospered.
E-435 Same thing with Jesus, His Word. "My Word will prosper, and It won't return to Me void. It'll accomplish that which I purposed It for." See? He was the Word. The Word was sent to the earth, by God, and It will accomplish exactly what God sent It for.
E-436 Now, listen close now. This gets rich, with cream on top of it. Now notice.
E-437 Here He comes, now, and they… for that very works of God, when He stood and asked them. He said, "If I don't do the works that God said I should do, then I'm not Him; don't believe Me. But if I do it, then you believe the works. If you can't believe Me, being a Man doing this, then believe the works I do. They testify of Me. They speak louder than My voice could speak." That's right.
And the same thing would apply any time. Yes, sir. Sure would.
E-438 Now notice. "If I don't do the works of My Father, then don't; believe Me not, believe Me not. Then, if I do the works, believe Me."
E-439 Then what did they do? Took that precious Tree, cut It down, hanged It on a man-made tree. That's right, cut the Life out of It, and hanged upon a man-made tree, for a mockery.
E-440 Then, they didn't like it. Too many people standing there, crying about It, so they took Him off. They said, "We'll make our denomination so tight that they'll never get them holy-rollers in here." So they scooted Him back in a hole of Joseph of Arimathaea, and they rolled a great big stone. Took a century of men to roll it up there.
E-441 Did you ever see—see, the other night, in the picture, the big path they rolled the stone up on? Weighs tons.
E-442 Rolled their big organization stone up there, so He could not raise up. But did that hold Him? No.
E-443 "But I will restore, saith the Lord." Let's hit that text now, and drive it. "I will restore, saith the Lord. I'll restore Him in three days. I'll raise Him back up again." They couldn't hide Him in that rock. They couldn't hide Him out of their sight. They couldn't get Him off the hand. "I will restore Him, saith the Lord." And in three days He rose up, restored back.
E-444 After Easter, His raising, He said, "Go into all the world, and I'm going to go with you. As the living Father has sent Me, and He's in Me, so I send you and will be in you. I'm with you, to the end of the world. The works, the same thing that I done, to prove that I was, you'll do the same things to prove that you are." I like that.
E-445 "These signs shall follow them that are believers," not make-believers, but believers. See? "These things that I do, you will do it and vindicate that you're a believer. Just the same as the works that I done, because the living Father lives in Me. It ain't Me that doeth the work; it's My Father. And it won't be you doing the works; it would be Me in you, doing the works." See? "Now, you go into all the world."
E-446 Otherwise, "You're going to form what's known, to Me, as a Bride." See? All right. "I'll go with you. And I… You will be part of Me. You'll be My Bride. My Life will be in your Body. Just like a husband and wife is one person, you and I are going to be One. At that day you'll know that I am in the Father, the Father in Me; and I in you, and you in Me." Hmm! I just love that. Satan just gets so angry at that. See the Oneness of God? All that God was, He poured into Christ; and all Christ was, He poured into the Church. There you are. Makes them all One.
E-447 Now look. Now, the Bride are one Tree of Life. In other words, like husband and wife is one, Christ and His Bride are One: same thing, same Spirit, same works, same signs, everything else. "For the works that I do shall you do also." How long? "All the world." How much? "To every creature." Is that right? [Congregation says, "Amen."—Ed.]
Oh, listen close now, going to fire a magnum.
E-448 The Roman caterpiller started eating on that Bride Tree until it took It plumb to the roots. The same Roman tree that… What kind of a tree did cut Christ down? [Congregation says, "Roman."—Ed.] What kind of a tree that cut Christ's Bride down? ["Roman."] How? By substituting something besides the Word. So, you see, the Protestant church that don't take the Word of God is a daughter to the Roman church. God never, at any time, organized a church. The Roman Catholic church was the first organization. And every one of them are daughters, to her, that organize.
E-449 They die with her. The Bible said, that, "He would burn her children with fire." How many knows that? [Congregation says, "Amen."—Ed.] The Bible said so. Well, the Bible said that the wheat and the tares would grow together until the last day, then He would bind the tares (that right?), first, and burn them. ["Amen."] And the wheat would go to the garner. Is that right? ["Amen."] The tares are binding themselves together in organization, Confederation of Churches, for the atomic burning. Exactly right. But the Church is getting ready to go to the garner, just as sure as the world, in the Rapture, for the freewoman won't be heir with the bondwoman. Oooh, Brother Anthony!
Oh, we're watching for the coming of that glad Millennium day,
When our blessed Lord shall come and catch His waiting Bride away;
Oh, my soul is filled with rapture, as I labor, watch and pray,
For our Lord is coming back to earth again.
E-450 Hallelujah! Yes, sir. Oh, He will burn the tares. And the wheat, He will take to the garner.
E-451 Roman caterpiller started eating on that Tree, in the days of Paul. He said, "I am persuaded," Scripture here, "that, after my departing, men will raise up among you, brethren, like sheep skins over them, wolf inside, and will draw away many after them. For the spirit of antichrist, that you heard that was to come into the world, is already in the world now, working in the children of" (what?) "disobedient." Disobedient to (what?) the Word. There you are. Organization begin starting.
E-452 You see what I mean, friends? [Congregation says, "Amen."—Ed.] All that see that, say, "Amen." ["Amen."]
E-453 Beginning to eat! What'd it do? That old caterpiller started, that old cankerworm. That, Joel saw it.
Listen now. We're coming down close to the end.
E-454 Joel saw it. And he said, "What the palmerworm left, did the locust eat; what the locust eat, then the cankerworm got; what the cankerworm left, why, the caterpiller got it." That's what he said. And that's exactly. That's the Tree of God. The Tree, he cut It down, that cankerworm. All right.
E-455 The Roman caterpiller started eating on that Bride Tree and took It all the way to the roots. Cut It all the way back, everything! Cut the Tree right off, like he did Christ Jesus, the Bridegroom. Cut the Bride right down, and started out in creeds and denominations. Same old bug! But what? Oh, glory! But in Its roots was the predestinated Seed, the Royal Seed of Abraham. It could not die. The Word was in the roots with the promise, "I will restore, saith the Lord." What? "All the years that the caterpiller cut off, all that the locust eaten, all that all the rest the bugs eat up, I will restore It back, saith the Lord."
E-456 Now compare this with last Sunday, and Sunday before, these Messages now. Listen close now, as you come to the closing. Watch.
E-457 "I will restore, saith the Lord, all that the bugs eat off. I'll bring every bit of It right back again."
E-458 Now set quiet if you can, for a few minutes, and listen close. Get ready. And pray with all your heart, for God to reveal It to you.
E-459 So, God's promise begin to restore, for God said He would restore It. Just the same as He raised up that Bride Tree, Bridegroom Tree, He will raise up the Bride Tree, 'cause there's going to be One right yonder, sure as the world. What now? All right. So God's promise begin, "I will restore, saith the Lord, all that the locust eat, caterpiller."
Like in the first time, when He built that first Church.
E-460 I'm going to get to some Doctrines now. If you don't want to believe It, all right. But you just… You better search It, first. See? Notice.
How did He grow that Tree, in the first place? Oh, my!
E-461 This does me so good. I know I don't sound much like a minister, standing here like this, but I—I—I—I love what I'm talking about. See, I mean?
E-462 And now notice. Like the first time, when He started that first Church that the Roman caterpiller eat off, and cankerworm, so forth, He started out with justification by faith. John the Baptist.
E-463 In Saint John, the 13th, or, the 17th chapter, 17th verse, Jesus said, "Sanctify them, Father, through the Truth. Thy Word is Truth." Second work was sanctification, to the Church. After justification was sanctification.
E-464 And after they were sanctified, He asked them to tarry in the city of Jerusalem, Luke 24:49, until they were endued with power from on High. And there He gave birth to the Tree, the Holy Ghost, Pentecost; justification, sanctification, baptism of the Holy Ghost.
E-465 And then Christ come to dwell in It, to bring forth the fruits. Amen. Is that right? [Congregation says, "Amen."—Ed.]
John preached justification.
E-466 Now look. In the… That constitutes the natural birth. When a woman is giving birth to a baby (Listen to this.), what's the first thing happens to a woman, what breaks forth? Is, first, is water. "Repent and be baptized, in Name of Jesus Christ," justification. What's the second thing happens to the woman? Blood. That right? [Congregation says, "Amen."—Ed.] Blood; sanctification. Then what's the next thing? Life. Water, blood, spirit.
E-467 Saint John, or First John 5:7, 7:5, rather, I believe it is. Said:
… there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word (which is the Son), and the Holy Ghost:… these three are one.
And there are three that bear record in earth, the water, the blood, and the Spirit; and they are not one, but agree in one.
E-468 You can't have the Father without having the Son; you can't have the Son without having the Holy Ghost. But you can be justified without being sanctified; you can be sanctified without having the Holy Ghost.
E-469 What about that, Nazarene brother? They had been sanctified by Jesus Christ, a year and six months before the Holy Ghost ever come. Is that right? They were sanctified by Jesus Christ.
E-470 Now, as He brought forth the first Bride Tree that the locust and palmerworm has eat down, He is restoring the second Tree, bringing It up from them predestinated roots that cannot die. They're standing by the rivers. It's living in this waters. It couldn't show Itself, but It's there, anyhow.
E-471 Now it's starting, notice, the same insect; as He restores back the same thing by the same way.
E-472 The first, when that Tree started to come forth out of Catholicism, was Martin Luther, who preached justification. The second angel was John Wesley, who preached sanctification. Luther preached justification, "Just shall live by faith." Wesley preached sanctification, second definite work of grace. And then come the Holy Ghost. Just as He built the Tree up, the first time, here He is restoring again, in the same manner, the second time. [Congregation says, "Amen."—Ed.] See that?
E-473 Notice. The same insect, that little rascal, the same insect that started and killed the Tree in the beginning, started right back at them Lutheran branches, but (what?) it can't kill It. It can't kill It, because God has done said, "I will restore." That insect started on Luther, to kill all the Lutheran branches. It come right over to Wesley, and killed all the Wesley branches. But the main part of the Tree keeps coming.
E-474 Now notice. In the old time, when the Tree was killed, It was killed, went plumb to the roots when it killed It back there. But this time, because the Word is predestinated, there is nothing going to stop It. God said, "I will restore. No matter how much they organize, how much they do this, that, or the other, I'm going to restore It." That settles it. All the laughing, making fun, scoffing, calling "holy-rollers, nonsense," everything you want to. God still said, "I will restore, saith the Lord." Just as sure as He raised Jesus out of the grave, under three days, under three dispensations, or three sections, He is going to raise the Church to Its fulness and power again. "I will restore, saith the Lord."
E-475 What happened? That old caterpiller started eating and having the same kind of effects that he did, but (what did he do?) he only got the Lutheran branches. He never got the Spirit behind there, that Luther had, for It lived right on. Then, along come Wesley. And after Wesley died, that great prophet, after Wesley died (what'd they do?), they organized, and all the branches died, but (what did He do?) the Church lived right on, come right on into Pentecost. When they organized (what happened?), the branches died, but (what?) the Church goes right on.
E-476 What? The same thing Pentecostal did, the same old tactic, denominational creed that took It in the first place, to destroy the Tree in the—the Bride Tree, in the first place, is the same old tactics that the devil did on this second Tree, but (what?) God predestinated It. She has got to go on, regardless. If it all… If it wouldn't been, when Luther organized, that would have settled it right there; it all went back just like another; it'd been second Catholic church, Roman Catholic church. See?
E-477 But, God was determined to. He has done spoke His Word. His law will see that It comes to pass. No matter how many late frosts It has, It's going to live, anyhow. We might have cold spells and denominational difference, and everything, but that Tree is going to live just as sure as there's a living God to make It live. Yes, sir. He said, "I will restore."
E-478 I know we got some late spring, late season of Easter coming. "The Lord is tarrying His Coming," they say, and everything like that. And the cold winds killed a lot of them denominational branches, but it can't kill that Life that's predestinated.
E-479 "Heavens and earth will pass away, but My Word shall not." "All that He foreknew, He called; those who He called, He has justified; those who He had justified, He has already glorified." Hallelujah! It's written in the Book, the Lamb's Book of Life, and cannot die.
E-480 All the—all the bugs that hell can turn loose on Her will never stop Her. No communism, Catholicism, no nothing else will stop It. "I will restore, saith the Lord." All the man-made Roman trees will never hang in there. All the graves will never keep It there. All the big denominational stones laying at the door will never keep It in there. "I will restore, saith the Lord. There will be an Easter. I'll bring forth that same Church in Its same power. I'll bring that Bride out just like She was back there, with the same signs, the same fruit, the same thing that they did. I'll bring Her back again. I will restore, saith the Lord," (what?) "restore all that the denominationals eat off, restore all the organization eat off. I will restore, saith the Lord, all of it."
E-481 Now, you say, "What about them things that went off, in denomination?"
E-482 God is the good Husbandman. He pruned the Tree, that was all, cut off all the dead limbs. What's He going to do? Burn them, up there. Exactly. God is the Husbandman of the—of this Tree. He takes care of It. He watches over His Heritage. He… What is His Heritage? His Own Word. He watches over His Word, to confirm It; to watch It; see where He can get. He's going to restore. So when these churches begin to organize, and things like that, He just prunes them off, and the Church goes on.
E-483 When the—when the Lutheran said, "We're going to become an organization. We'll be as big as the Catholic." All right. He just pruned off the branch. And Wesley took It right on, raised up another prophet. Then, soon as Wesley did it… Well, Wesley died, the great prophet. What'd they do? Organize it. On come Pentecost. Soon as she died, He pruned that off. It's raising right on up. See? He's going to restore.
E-484 Where does the fruits grow? It don't start down here on the bottom. It starts in the top. Where does the sun hit the Tree first? Ah, glory! In the evening Light, the top of the Tree. Amen. Not down on the bottom branches, but up there in the top of the Tree is where the fruit ripens at.
Amen.
Do you love Him? Amen.
Will you serve Him? Amen.
Do you believe Him? Amen.
I sure do believe Him, with all my heart.
E-485 Now, what is it? He's going to prune off them old dead vines as She comes up, all those organization vines, till She gets right up in the top of the Tree. There is where He's going to get His fruit. Now notice. God prunes Her. All right. They are dead, and won't come into the—the Presence of God, won't come in the first resurrection. But be with… The Vine fruit of the original organiza-… Vine of God. They'll go into the organizational group, but they won't come with the fruit of the Vine.
E-486 Now look. God never did put out a organization. The church puts the grafts in, an organization, and God cuts it off, cuts off its lifeline. It bears organizational fruit.
E-487 But if that Vine put forth a branch that come out of the Vine, It'll bear the same as That did. So, you see, the first one was. And Rome sent their beetles over there and eat It off, but God is going to grow One so high that it can't touch It. It's going to come on up. Amen. I… Let's go. The Tree goes from one place to another, from one dispensation to another dispensation. From Luther, It went to Wesley; from Wesley, to Pentecost; from Pentecost, It goes to the Word.
E-488 It is Easter again for the true believers of His never-failing Word. It's Easter. It's a resurrection. God has got people everywhere. It's Easter for them. Why? They have risen, amen, risen from those creeds and denomination. Come right up through them. It's Easter again. The Royal Seed has been hid in the roots, the Word, hid back here in this Word, for years, and years, and years, and just now begin to be revealed. It's Easter time. Predestinated from the foundation of the world, this Church is begin to stand. Notice how that God predestinated, in the beginning. I got…
Well, I'm going to say it, anyhow. All right.
E-489 Notice here, that, to restore the first perfect Tree in three days after Its death. After the first Tree's death, He restored it in three days. Is that right? [Congregation says, "Amen."—Ed.] Restored it back! Now the Bride Tree is also going to be restored in three ages, three stages, rather. Three stages, It'll be restored. Now look. What? Justification, sanctification, baptism of the Holy Ghost; one, two, three.
E-490 Now notice. After three days, the first Tree restored as at the beginning, having the same signs, same wonders. Jesus come back, the same Jesus, doing the same thing. At the end of the third day, the signs appeared, not the end of the first day. Oh, brother! I hope you're getting it. At the third day is when the real manifestation of Christ was made known, at the end of the third day. See? Notice. Are you getting it? [Congregation says, "Amen."—Ed.]
E-491 Not at the first day, dead form; second day, there was a rumor, see, or, the second day, it was still dead; Luther, Wesley. At the beginning of the third day, there was a rumor around. All right. Nothing on the first day, Luther; nothing on the second day. And in the third day, the dispensation of the Holy Spirit, there was a rumor around, that, "He was the same yesterday, today, and forever."
E-492 But at the end of the third day, that's where He made Himself known, come right among them, come among His people and said, "Look at Me. I'm the same One."
E-493 The dead forms went on till they got to Pentecost, then begin to rumor around, that, "He was."
E-494 Now, here in the last day, here He is right with us, moving right among us. At the end of the third day, He appeared and showed all of them His resurrection sign, that He was living, the same yesterday, today, and forever, living fruits of His Presence. Living fruits of His Presence! Are you getting it? [Congregation says, "Amen."—Ed.] Was manifested at the very end of the day, when He appeared to all of them, His Church. Amen. Why? They all got together, oh, amen, at the end of the third day.
E-495 "The evening Lights," the Bible said, "would shine in the last days." The evening Light is the same Light in the West, that was the same Light that was in the East. And the same Light that shined in the East, that brought forth the first Church that the Romans cut down by their—their pagan worship and so forth, in the evening Light is the same Light. Now notice, the same Light!
E-496 And what's the evening Light come out for? What is the evening Light for? To restore. Whew! You get it? [Congregation says, "Amen."—Ed.] The evening Light is for the same purpose the morning Light was for, to restore what was cut down by the Dark Ages, through Rome. God is going to restore, by shining forth the evening Light (what?), restore the whole Word of God again, the full manifestation of Christ in His Church. Everything that He did, just exactly the way He did, it would be again in the evening Light. See what I mean? Oh, isn't that wonderful? ["Amen."] And to know we're living right here to see It now, the evening Light, exactly according to prophecy. The evening Light come out to restore what? To restore what the bugs had eat up.
E-497 It started growing, and then what'd it do? It denominated, so God pruned them off, bound them up, laid them back, let them go ahead and organize. Then the next one come up; He bound them up, laid them off. Tree went on. Then He bound them up, laid them off, said, "Now, one of these days they'll be burned." Bind them up in their organization.
E-498 But then what? Right in top of the Tree is where the fruit ripens first, that's right, right in top of the Tree. So it's the top of the Tree, here, that sees the evening Light.
E-499 Now, Noah had three rooms in his ark. One room was for the creeping things. See? The second room was for the fowls. But the top room was where the light was. The light that shined, first, never come on the first floor, second floor, but on the top floor.
E-500 The tree don't bear its fruit first at the bottom, second, like that. It was all pruned off, in the organization.
E-501 But it's in the top part, where, "I will restore, saith the Lord. I'll send forth the evening Light. It'll bring back, bring back the Word, making It manifest. I will restore all that I promised. All that I promised, the same Holy Spirit will bring, bear the same signs. I'll have a Easter, a resurrection for the Bride, just same as I had for the Bridegroom." See? Evening Lights come out to shine, same as in the morning, same signs, same things. The same Light will produce the same fruit that they had there, if It's shining on the same Tree. Amen. Proves His Word now fulfilled, "I will restore, saith the Lord."
E-502 Now listen closely. Now, there was… Listen now. Don't miss This now. There was four death messengers.
E-503 Or, would you rather we just close? Would you rather-rather we just go early? [Congregation says, "No."—Ed.]
E-504 Listen real close now. Look. There was four. Four death messengers killed that Tree. That right? [Congregation says, "Amen."—Ed.] What was it? Palmerworm, locust, cankerworm, caterpiller. Is that right? ["Amen."] Four messengers of Roman devils, dogmas, killed that Tree. One took Its fruit; one took Its bark… or took Its leaves; one took Its bark; one took the Life. Is that right? ["Amen."] Four messengers of dogmas killed the Tree, all but the roots.
E-505 And if four messengers of death killed the Tree, four messengers of Life restores the Tree. Do you get it? [Congregation says, "Amen."—Ed.] Amen. For God said, "I will restore It." He's going to restore It. How? By four death messengers, killed It, then four Life messengers will restore It. What was the first? Martin Luther, justification. What was the second? John Wesley, by sanctification. What was the third? Pentecost, with the restoration of the gifts, the Holy Ghost, baptism of the Holy Ghost. What was the fourth? The Word. What? The Word. There were four great prophets.
E-506 One of them, Martin Luther, he begin to shine a Light. There was a little Light, just a very small strength, of justification.
Along come Wesley, stronger, sanctification.
E-507 After Wesley, come the stronger than him, Pentecostal, the baptism of the Holy Ghost, in another great prophet. See?
E-508 But in the last days, of Malachi 4, Elijah is to come with the very Word. "The Word of the Lord came to the prophet." In the evening Lights, is to come forth, to restore and bring back. What? "Turn the hearts of the children back to the Faith of God." Fourth Light!
E-509 Four killers took It. Four messengers destroyed It. Four messengers of death took It away, in dogmas.
Four messengers of righteousness restore Her back again.
E-510 "Prophesy, son of man. Can these bones live?" Wish we had time. I got it wrote down here, but I have to miss that. "Prophesy. Can these bones live?" What's the four stages of that coming forth of that Church? What's the four stages of Ezekiel's dry bones coming forth? But the Life only come, not when the sinew skin was on them, but when the wind blowed upon them. That's when come back that fourth Message of Life.
E-511 "I will restore, saith the Lord." Hallelujah! Glory! Praise be to God. The fourth Light is to come, that will bring forth the same signs. Watch. Justification brought back the pulp.
Sanctification brought back the bark, doctrine of holiness.
E-512 What brought back the leaf? Pentecostals. What is it? Pentecostals, leaves, clap their hand, joy, rejoicing, Pentecostal.
E-513 What? The fourth was the Word, Itself. The Word made flesh, fruits of the proof of the resurrection sign that Christ has finally, after justification been planted, sanctification been planted, baptism of the Holy Ghost. Organizations died out. And Christ has again centered Himself like that cap of the pyramid. First line, justification; sanctification; baptism of the Holy Ghost; then coming of the Cap.
E-514 What is it? That Holy Ghost bunch being honed out so that it can fit with the same kind of ministry He had when He went away, that, when He comes back, it'll catch the whole thing in the Rapture, where the justified, sanctified, and baptism of the Holy Ghost. That pyramid will stand again. The House of God will live again. The Tree of Life is growing again.
Nations are breaking, Israel is awakening,
The signs that the prophets foretold;
Gentile days numbered, with horrors encumbered;
"Return, O dispersed, to your own."
The day of redemption is near,
Men's hearts are failing for fear;
Be filled with the Spirit, your lamps trimmed and clear,
Look up, your redemption is near.
False prophets are lying, God's Truth they're denying,
That Jesus the Christ is our God. (Amen.)
But we'll walk where the apostles have trod.
For the day of redemption is near,
Men's hearts are failing for fear (atomics and everything else);
But be filled with the Spirit, your lamps trimmed and clear,
Look up, your redemption is near.
E-515 Amen. Restore all the signs! The sign of Lot at the end time. We've went through that. How that Lot… This Angel, of Jehovah made flesh among the people, set with His back turned to the tent and said, "Where is Sarah, thy wife?"
"In the tent behind You."
E-516 He said, "I'm going to visit you." And Sarah laughed. He said, "Why did Sarah laugh?" Her in the tent. Amen.
E-517 Jesus said it'll be the same thing at the Coming. Oh, then the evening Light, of Malachi 4, come shining through the darkness, amen, to bring the evening Light on the predestinated Word. Hallelujah! What's that fourth Message to be? What's that fourth messenger? To shine the Light on the Word. The Word is predestinated. It has to come forth. Something has to do it, for God said, "I will restore, saith the Lord. I will restore." Right. The evening Lights come shining through, on that predestinated Word. Yes, sir.
Oh, it shall be Light in the evening time,
The path to Glory you will surely find;
In the water way, is the Light today,
Buried in the precious Name of Jesus.
Young and old, repent of all your sins;
The Holy Ghost will surely enter in;
For the evening Lights have come,
It is a fact that God and Christ are One.
E-518 There They are, One, together; One, in us. The same signs human beings can't do, is manifesting themselves, comes out, the Word, to bring forth the predestinated Word of God, out of the roots of the Tree back yonder, that all the denominations that refused, and refused, and refused. But there will come a Light forth. There will come a Light, will rise.
E-519 Whereabouts, over in Jerusalem? No, sir. Evening Lights will not rise in Jerusalem. The evening Lights goes (where?) in the West. They had their day and refused It.
E-520 But the evening Light shall rise in the West (what for?), to shine upon the Word (what?), to ripen the fruit, bring forth the Bride Tree with the same signs, wonders, and fruits that they had at the beginning. "It shall be Light in the evening time." Right. Oh! The Word will then bring forth Its fruit in Its season. "It shall not wither, but It'll bring forth Its fruit," David said, "in Its seasons," amen, same fruit It had at the beginning.
E-521 Now with His Word in His predestinated stage as He's got It now, and we see these Words all being manifested. What is it? It's a perfect vindication that the Coming of the Lord is at hand, and the time when He said, "I will restore, saith the Lord, all that them cankerworms, all that the Methodists left, all that the caterpiller has eaten, all that this done there, till they stripped It down. But I will restore, in the evening time." Oh, my! Whew!
I believe I could almost preach now, honest.
Oh, how I love Jesus,
Oh, how I love Jesus,
Oh, how I love Jesus,
Because He first loved me.
I'll never forsake Him,
I'll never forsake Him,
I'll never forsake Him,
Because He first loved me.
E-522 Amen. Don't you love Him? [Congregation says, "Amen."—Ed.] I just love Him with all my heart. Shall we have a prayer line? ["Amen."]
E-523 Father, God, into Your hands I—I commend this Message. Though It's been chopped up, some way I pray that the Holy Spirit will go with It on these tapes, and across the nations. And if I shall be taken from the earth, may This live, Lord. It's Your Word. Let the evening Light shine, Lord, bring forth this glorious Bride of Christ. Bless It, Lord. May It not return to You void. May It accomplish that which It was been purposed for. Grant it, Father. All praises shall be Thine.
E-524 Now, we know, Father, no matter what we would say, it's still Word and we believe It. But we would desire Thee, Lord, on this Easter morning, that Thou would prove to this congregation, maybe some here for their first time, that You are still Jesus, that You're not a dead form, that You are a living, resurrected God, that You live among us today. Grant that, Father, and we'll praise Thee, through Jesus' Name. Amen.
E-525 How many in here is sick? Let's see your hands. Just raise up your hands. Oh, did…
E-526 Is Billy Paul… Did he get… I believe he give our prayer cards. Didn't he? [Some brethren say, "Yes."—Ed.] What were they? ["E, one to a hundred."] E, one to a hundred. We can't take them all, but let's get a few of them. Just stand right along here, if you will.
E-527 Who has got number one? Let's see number one. E, number one, raise up your hand. Prayer card; look on your card. If you are able to get up, all right. Number one.
E-528 Well, are you sure you got the right one? All right. All right. Let's go, start somewhere. [Brother Neville says, "It's over there."—Ed.] Oh, well, okay. If you got it, we'll start there, then. Okay.
E-529 Number one, make your way right around here, if you can walk. If you can't, well, we'll pack it. See? All right. Number one.
E-530 Number two. Raise your hand, right quick now. Number two, come right here.
Number three. Right here, sir.
Number four, number four.
E-531 Number five. Now, everybody just be seated just for a few minutes. Number five.
E-532 Number six. Raise your hand right quick. Number six. Six, six, let me see it, please. Somebody is pointing their hand. I don't… Oh, from… He's back in the room there. All right. Number six. All right. Just a moment now.
Seven, seven. All right, the lady back there. Eight.
E-533 Now, if everybody just keep your… Please, just a moment now. Just real quiet now. Now, this is going to be the proof. This is the proof.
E-534 Six, seven. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. You go on up there. All right. Seven. All right, sir, that's fine.
E-535 Eight. [Brother Neville says, "She is eight."—Ed.] Eight, eight. All right, brother. Eight, nine, ten. Ten, eleven, twelve.
E-536 Well, you seem like you quit coming. Well, we'll start there. That's all right. Maybe in a few minutes… All right.
Let's pray now.
E-537 Father, God, just a Word from You will mean so much. Let—let—let the people see, Lord. I—I've tried to be honest, tried to tell them Your Word. Lord, forgive Your servant's mistakes. I—I just, I—I just make so many of them, Lord. I—I pray that You'll not look at Your servant's mistake, but You'll look at Your Word, which I'm trying to preach. Lord, I thank You for It. I'm glad, with all my heart. Lord, It's more than life, to me. I give my life, anytime, for It. I—I know It's true. It's Your Word.
E-538 And please forgive my stupid ways, Lord. Many times that I—I josh and joke, that I shouldn't do. I'm ashamed of that, Lord. I just come from that kind of a family. You just overlook it, please, Father, if You will. Cover it with Your Blood. That's what I ask You to do. Just, I confess it. You can't overlook it, but You can forgive me when I confess it.
E-539 Now, I've confessed my sins. I confess the sins of this people. I pray, God, that You'll forgive them, each one.
E-540 And the people, may they realize that we're just not trying to put on some kind of an act. It is the Holy Spirit in the last days, bearing record of His Word, as I have just said It. But, Father, no matter, I'm just a man. And if I'd say It, they say, "That's his interpretation. That's what he thinks about It." But, Father, if You'll just speak and prove that It's right, then they'll have to, they'll have to cross over You, to get by It, then, Lord. Then It won't be my interpretation; it'll be Yours. Grant it, Lord. And if I be Your servant, and—and—and my sins forgiven, and You've called me for this work, then speak to it, Lord. I pray that You'll grant it. Heal the sick and afflicted everywhere, in Jesus' Name, I pray.
E-541 And if You'll just make Yourself known to us now, just like You did there at the well, with that woman, when You talked with her. You told her something that was wrong with her. She had five husbands. Now, You promised to do it in the evening time. You've promised to do it in the last days. You said, "And is, so shall it be in the Coming of the Son of man. As it was in the days of Lot, so will it be," God living in human flesh, moving among us, in the form of His Church, in the Holy Spirit, performing the same signs. Grant it, Lord, just today. Won't You, Father? Then, I pray that You'll let the people see it, and every one be healed and saved, for the glory of God. Amen.
E-542 Now, I'm going to call your attention now, if you'll just be real reverent for a few minutes. Now, everybody, just quiet as you possibly can be now.
E-543 Are you sure that you are realizing the position that I'm in here now? I preached the Word here, the Word of God. [Congregation says, "Amen."—Ed.] I said It's all true. ["Amen."] Jesus said, that, "He that believeth in Me, the works that I do shall he also."
E-544 Now, I want to ask you a question. Be careful whether you—whether you say "amen" or not, now. Jesus, Himself, never claimed to heal anybody. That is true. He said, "It's not Me that doeth the works. It's My Father that dwelleth in Me." Is that right? [Congregation says, "Amen."—Ed.] And Jesus said, in Saint John 5:19, "Verily, verily, absolutely, I say unto you, the Son Himself…" As a Man, He was just a Tabernacle where God lived. See? He said, "The Son can do nothing in Himself; but what He sees the Father doing, that doeth the Son likewise." Otherwise, "The Father shows Me a vision, what to do, and I do just as He tells Me."
E-545 Now, one day we find that there was, say, a little woman couldn't get in the prayer line. She had a blood issue, and she'd had it for many years. So she just touched His garment, saying within herself… She was insignificant; she was just a poor, little, old woman, didn't have no money. And she couldn't get up there with them priests and all of them standing there, who had the rights to stand and everything. So she couldn't stand up there, so she just crawled around till she got there and touched His garment. She said, "I believe He's just exactly. He's, He brings us the Truth, the Life. I believe He's the Word of God. And if I can just touch Him, I'll—I'll be made whole."
E-546 Do you believe? Could you believe the same thing that woman believed, that He is the Word of God? [Congregation says, "Amen."—Ed.] Now, the Bible says, today, that, "He's the High Priest, our High Priest right now." Do you believe that? ["Amen."] "After His resurrection and His ascension, He ascended on High and give gifts to men. And now He's setting at the right hand of God, the Majesty on High, and to make intercessions upon what we confess." Is that right? ["Amen."] "And He's a High Priest that can be…" What? ["Touched."] "Touched by…" What? "The feeling of our infirmity." Now, if He is… You believe He's the same? ["Amen."]
E-547 Now, look. If you come here, and just touch me, all day long, it wouldn't make a bit of difference. If you touched any other brother, sister, it wouldn't make much differen; just the order of laying on hands, is all. But if you just touch Him, that's all you'd have to do.
E-548 And look, if you touch Him with a… with some kind of a ritual like they did. They said, "Oh, we believe this great Teacher. This is a Prophet." Well, He didn't say nothing.
E-549 But that little woman had a certain thing that touched Him: her faith. She touched His garment, and He said, "Who touched Me?"
E-550 Don't you believe that the Bible says He's the same High Priest today He was then, He, and can be touched by the feeling of our infirmity? [Congregation says, "Amen."—Ed.] You can touch Him out there, whether you're in this prayer line or not. If you are sick, or if you've got a loved one that's sick, if you got something on your heart, you just reverently come before God and say, "God, I don't know about that man standing there. He's a little baldheaded man. He, he's nothing, but I believe that what he preached is the Truth. And I believe that he said the right thing, that You are the High Priest. Now I want to touch You. And if he's told me the Truth, then You use his lips to speak back and tell me, like You did the woman back there." See if He's the same yesterday and forever. Do that. That isn't just to make Him the same yesterday, today, and forever? Isn't it? ["Amen."]
All right, everyone keep your position and just reverently pray.
E-551 What say? [Someone says, "I got some prayer cards out."—Ed.] Huh? ["Gave twenty-five out."] I've got ten back there now? ["Fourteen."]
E-552 Ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen; would prayer cards ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five: that ought to make a pretty good line. If we… I hope we don't have to keep you here very long. But now…
E-553 [Someone speaks to Brother Branham—Ed.] You attend it. That's all right. Just let… That's all right.
Let's hum closely now, all together, while they get it. Only Believe.
Only believe, only believe,
All things are possible, only believe;
Only believe, just o-…
Believe what? His Word the promise. For what?
All things are possible, only believe.
E-554 Coming down off the mountain, there stood the disciples. They were defeated on that epilepsy case. The father standing there, looking at his child, crying. The disciples were going through all their maneuvers, but it wouldn't work. Jesus come walking up. Some of them said, "There He is." Somebody pointed them to Jesus; away from the clergy, to Jesus. That's where I want to point people; not to me, or some church, but to Jesus. Said, "He is able."
E-555 So the father run, fell down at His feet, said, "Lord, have mercy on my child. He is variously vexed with a devil. He pines away. He froths at the mouth. He falls into spasms," epilepsy. And he said, "And I've took him everywhere. And even Your disciples couldn't do nothing for him."
E-556 Jesus said, "I can, if you'll believe, for all things are possible to him that believes."
Just o-…
Same yesterday, today, and forever! It's all in now. Get quiet everyone.
… believe,
All things are… (What a time!)
Only believe, just only believe,
All things are possible, just only believe.
E-557 O Lord, the Word is laying all around here now. Let the evening Light shine, Lord, make It live. Through Jesus Christ's Name, I pray. Amen.
E-558 Now, in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I take every spirit in here under my control, for His glory.
E-559 I look down this prayer line. There isn't one person in that prayer line that I know. They're, every one, strangers to me. All you in that prayer line, that's strangers to me, and I don't know nothing about you, your troubles or nothing, raise up your hands, everyone along in the prayer line.
E-560 How many in the audience is strangers to me, and I don't know nothing about you? You have the same authority out there, as these do here. Only, I'm singling out one person at a time.
E-561 Here, let me take this around here, just a minute. [Brother Branham moves the microphone—Ed.] Can you hear now with this? [Congregation says, "Yes."]
E-562 This lady here. Here is a man and woman, meets again. I don't know her, never seen her. She's a stranger to me, but just a perfect stranger.
E-563 I'm only acting upon the basis of that Word. That Word said, "The works that I do shall you do also, if you believe in Me."
E-564 The other morning, when that vision come again, after thousands of them, and said, "The never-failing Presence of Jesus Christ is with you wherever you go." I believe that, solemnly, with all my heart. If I never see you again, you believe that to be the Truth? [Congregation says, "Amen."—Ed.] That is true.
E-565 Here is a woman that I have never seen in my life. She's just a woman that received a prayer card.
E-566 The way the boy usually does them, he comes in here, takes the prayer cards and shuffles them all up, together, before you people. Give anybody a prayer card that wants one, wherever it is. No one knows where the line is going to start, or nothing about it. Therefore, the boy couldn't say, "Oh, now here, if you give me so much, I'll put you up front, and be sure that you're there." He don't himself. Uh-huh. Nobody knows.
E-567 We just start. Wherever the Holy Spirit says "call," we call from right there. And I trust sometimes that I get somebody, when I'm here, especially, that somebody hasn't never… strangers, see, that I don't know.
E-568 Now, if this woman standing here, if the… There is something wrong. She may be sick. She may have somebody else, sick. She—she—she may be just standing there, maybe she's just putting on like she's sick. And maybe she's just standing there, trying to expose something. If she is, just watch what happens. See? You've had, seen that tried, too. Haven't you? [Congregation says, "Amen."—Ed.] Yes, sir. Watch them pack her out the door, dead. See? Uh-huh. So now you'll—you just find out, see if it's right or not. See? Try it, see.
E-569 Now, we're not playing church, friends. We're at the end time. The fruit is in the top of the tree, is ripening. That's right. The Lord is coming.
E-570 I don't know her. God knows her. He knowed her. Before there ever was a world, He knew her. He knew she'd stand right there. He knew I'd stand right here. For, He's infinite. Is that right? [Congregation says, "Amen."—Ed.] Now, if He's infinite and knew it, then He knows why the woman is standing there. Then, the same God that the…
E-571 Jesus, when He was here on earth, with the God in Him, that talked to the woman at the well, and told her something was wrong with her. We all know what it was. Don't we? And she said, "Sir, You must be a prophet." That was her first expression. "Now, we know that it's time for the Messiah to be here, which is called the Christ. And when He comes, that's going to be the thing He does."
E-572 Now, if He's "the same yesterday, today, and forever," and promised by this Word that I just preached, that in the evening time He would be here and do the same thing, then we're looking for it. Isn't it? Aren't we? [Congregation says, "Amen."—Ed.] Looking for that resurrection of that Church. Now, if He will perform to this woman the same as He did back there, that confirms the Word, that It's right. ["Amen."]
E-573 Now, the lady just held her hand, and me too, that we're strangers, one to another. I don't know her. I never seen her. She's just a stranger, standing here. So are you, out there, many of you.
E-574 I know some of these people setting along here. And I don't know many. I know Mrs. Collins here. I'm sure of that. Sister, Brother Ben's wife, and I seen Brother and Sister Dauch here, a while… Brother Wright; Brother, Sister Dauch; brother over there on the end. I know some of you, around here. But I—I don't know too many of you, 'cause I'm not in here very much, to get aquainted. And we have strangers in here.
And so you just pray.
E-575 If I be a stranger to you, and I profess that the evening Lights have come. And the evening Light would be the same as the morning Light. It would reveal the same mysterious fruits of God, spiritually speaking. That is right. Now, I'm only talking to you like He did that woman at the well. He said, "Bring Me a drink." See? I'm saying the same thing. That's not me. It's Him. But if He would reveal to me what you're standing there for, see, if He will reveal to me what you're there for, then you'll know that He does know all about your life. If He will tell you something that has been, see, you know whether that's right or not. Then if He knows what has been, and can tell you that, He can… surely you'll believe Him then for what will be. If He can already tell you what you've done back here, surely that would reveal the front of it, or the back of it, the 'fore of it, and all of it, make it right.
E-576 Will the congregation believe on Him, with all your heart, if He'll do it? [Congregation says, "Amen."—Ed.] I believe you'd believe, whether He did it or not. You still believe it, but this only clamps it down.
E-577 Now, I'm just looking at the woman, and she is becoming anointed. She's aware, being a stranger to me.
E-578 But just let me show you now. Many of you sees that picture hanging up there. Now, That's not, up, that Light. That's exactly what's hanging right here between me and that woman right now. Don't you see that? Kind of a—kind of a cream, yellowish-green, emerald-like Light, as we call it, It's milling right… That's what's making her feel…
E-579 Now, just let me show you something. You feeled a real sweet, humble feeling. If that's right, lady, raise up your hand so the people can see. [The sister says, "Yes."—Ed.] See? ["Hallelujah."] It's… She can't help from feel It, It's right there. See?
E-580 Now, now, if It breaks in on her, I don't know. It depends. That has to be God. I can't do it, myself. It's-it's God have to do it. Yes.
E-581 The lady is really, by natural, would be pending an operation. She's got something that the doctor would tell her, "That must be operated for," but she doesn't go to the doctor. That is right. [The sister says, "No. Jesus is my Doctor."—Ed.] And she—she… It's a—a growth. And that growth is on the right side, near the spine. That is right. If that's right raise up your hand, so that the people see. ["That's right."]
E-582 Now you believe? [Congregation says, "Amen."—Ed.] Now, you don't see it, (See? See?) but you believe it with all your heart now, that it's true. All right. All right.
E-583 Now you say, "Maybe you guessed that, Brother Branham." You can't guess that, a million times, perfect.
E-584 Well, just let her stand there, a minute. It's gone from me, right now. [The sister says, "Yes."—Ed.] Now, just, let's see, just a moment, see. ["Hallelujah!"] She seems to be all right; Christian. Now let's see. Now just if He will tell us something else that would be. Yes. Here she comes right back up again. ["Oh, no."] Yes, sir. She's a—she's a… Yes. It's a—it's a growth, that it's, that the doctors would remove. And it's… It would cause her trouble. But she is going to trust Christ for it.
E-585 And not only that. She isn't from around here. And she's got somebody with her. It's her husband. And he is suffering, too. [The sister says, "Yes."—Ed.] That's right. Do you believe God can tell me, while I'm looking right at the man here, in this vision, what's wrong with him? ["Yes."] Well, tell him just go eat his dinner. His stomach trouble has left. You believe it's Christ doing that? Yes? You're from Tennessee. ["Yes."] Nashville. ["Yes, sir."] That's right. Mrs. Binkley. All right. You can go back home now and be well, you and your husband. God bless you.
E-586 You believe the Lord Jesus? [Congregation rejoices—Ed.] If that isn't the same Lord Jesus that was here in the days gone by, in the evening Light Church. Examine the woman, talk to her, ask her if those things what was said was right. If you'll just believe. Now are you satisfied that He's Christ the same? ["Amen."] Now, you know I couldn't do that. I'm a man. I'm your brother. But He is God.
E-587 Now let's see. Is this the next person? You are who was in the prayer line? All right.
E-588 Now, course, that anointing, you realize, just weakens me, like I don't know what. Now, Jesus, when that little woman touched His garment, He said, "I perceive that virtue went from Me." Is that right? [Congregation says, "Amen."—Ed.] That means "strength." He got weak. And if He… If that would have happened to the Word, Itself, what would it do to just one the Word came to? What would It? If it did that to the Son of God, what would it come to me, a sinner saved by His grace? See? It just swims me around and around. See?
E-589 But, yet, I'm here to represent Him. To rep-… I'm a poor representative. I—I repent of all my sins, that—that you won't look at what I am; but look Who He is, that you'll look that way.
E-590 Now, I'm a stranger to you, lady. I don't know this woman, either. We're strangers to one another. That's right. Now, if the Lord Jesus (me not knowing you, and you not knowing me), if the Lord Jesus will reveal something to me, that you're here for, something you've done, or something you ought not have done, or something in that way, you know that'd be a, that would be a outstanding miracle. That's something that cannot be explained. A miracle is something cannot be explained. Anyone knows that. See? That would be an outstanding miracle.
E-591 It would be more of a miracle than if there was a—a lady setting here in a wheelchair, and had arthritis, and all stoved up. I'd tell her, "Get up and walk," and she'd go walking out of there, everybody would scream at that. But, you see, actually the power of—of her faith to believe, and just get up and walk, could do that.
E-592 But to go back yonder and pull out a life somewhere, that takes more than that. That takes God alone, where you can say, see, you know whether it's right.
E-593 Now, something happened, somewhere else. Now wait. It's left here. It's gone to the… gone in the audience, somewhere, somewhere. It's gone now.
Just a minute. Let me talk to the woman again.
E-594 Now, just be real reverent and watch now. Just pray, be praying out there. I want you to pray, "Lord, let it be me." Some of you people out there, that won't be in the prayer line, just pray.
E-595 Again I speak to you, to buil-… for your faith. See? If it could be did to that other woman, it can be done to you. It's your faith. See? You're the one that does it. It's not me. It's your faith in God. See?
E-596 Jesus never said, "Oh, I knew I was going to meet that woman over there." No.
E-597 But when the resurrection of Lazarus come, now, that's what God showed Him to do. See? God said, "Go away." And He—He proved just what he was. Went away. And then when He come back, He said, "Lazarus sleepeth." And He come back, and went and raised Lazarus from the grave. Called his soul, after he'd been gone four days. He never said He got weak there. That was God using the gift.
E-598 But, this, when that woman touched Him, it was the woman using the gift of God.
And that's the same thing here. It's you doing it.
E-599 Now, on this, on the hunting trips, where the… I seen the bear, and where the different things, and all these different things that's foretold here, told why they come to pass, just word by word. That's God. That don't bother me.
E-600 But when the people begin to use the gift of God, see, you become God's public servant, for you just to tap in the line. See?
And then you touch Him by that, then He speaks back. See?
E-601 Now, yes, now the woman is coming into the vision. She is coming in, or the vision is moving in. Looks like you could see that around her. The woman is sick. She is really sick. She is suffering, one thing, with a stomach trouble, awful bad. Raise up your hand if that's true. And you have complications of things. That is true.
E-602 You also have someone with you. It's your husband. And he's sick. [The sister says, "That's right."—Ed.] If God will reveal to me, to your husband, what's wrong with him, will you believe me to be His prophet? The man is bothered with his eyes, with his ears, and he's in a very bad condition. ["Yes. Yes. Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!"] Yes, sir.
E-603 Do you believe God knows who you are? [The sister says, "Yes."—Ed.] Would you believe me to be His prophet, His seer, if I tell you who you are? ["Yes."] You believe it? Mrs. Robertson. And you're from Huntsville, that's Alabama. Return back, you and your husband, and be well.
E-604 You believe? [Congregation says, "Amen."—Ed.] "All things are possible to them that believe." If you can believe, if you just take your-take your position and believe that God does it. Now, don't doubt, but just believe with all your heart, that God will grant this healing to you, and you can have whatever you ask for.
E-605 All right, sir, you come up now. Let's see. Is you the next person here? All right, sir. I suppose that we're strangers, one to one another, sir. If… Jesus came to a man named Simon, told him about his condition, and it made Simon go and believe, with all of his heart. Would it cause you to do the same thing? [The brother says, "Yes."—Ed.] It would. Well, we being strangers.
E-606 Now, God is no differen between male or female. He's just the same. He's God. See?
E-607 And do you, will you believe that (that feeling that's around you now), that God will be able to reveal to you, through me, His servant, that something that you're here for, something is wrong with you, whatever it is? Well, you'll know whether it's the truth or not. All right. May He grant it.
E-608 The man is coming into a vision, or the vision is coming into the man. He is not here for sickness. He is here seeking the baptism of the Holy Ghost. That's what he is seeking. That is right, sir. Yes, sir. And you're not from here. You're from up the road here, a place called Seymour, Indiana. That, that's—that's where you're from. They call you, "Bill." Bill, return back, receive the Holy Ghost, in the Name of Jesus Christ. Believe.
E-609 Come, lady. Do you believe me to be His prophet? Do you believe that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, lives? And you believe it's Him permitting this to happen like this? You believe it?
E-610 How many have we had? What? See, I don't want to get too weak. All right.
E-611 No, it's nothing; you're not here for yourself. You're here for somebody else. And that somebody else isn't here. If I'll tell you what's the matter with that somebody else, will you accept the healing, and take and believe? It's a cancer. Do you believe that they'll be healed? Then go, in the Name of the Lord Jesus, and believe. Let's just…
E-612 Do you believe, all of you? [Congregation says, "Amen."—Ed.] Do you believe that anointing of the Holy Spirit? ["Amen."] Isn't He wonderful? ["Amen."] Are you believing? ["Amen."] All right.
E-613 Now, how many have we had? Usually two, two or three, is a confirmation. [Someone says, "Three."—Ed.] What say? [Someone else says, "That's four you got."] Four? ["Yes."] Is this the fifth one standing here? All right.
E-614 Let's-let's us believe with all our heart, that Jesus Christ the Son of God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
E-615 You're here for that baby. If God will reveal to me what's wrong with your baby, will you believe that God will heal it? The little fellow has a serious heart trouble. That is right. The ba-… you're not, the baby is not from here. It's from out of town. It's out of state. You believe God can tell me where the baby come from? Will you believe, and believe it'll get well then? Take it back to Franklin, Kentucky. Yes, ma'am, and believe with all your heart. If you'll believe, that's all you have to do.
E-616 Let-let… Come here just a minute. I condemn that evil thing. In the Name of Jesus Christ, may death leave, and life come.
"They shall lay their hands on the sick; they shall recover."
You want to go eat? Think He'll make you feel better? Go ahead. It's left you now. Amen.
E-617 You believe that female trouble is going to leave you? All right. Go to your seat and say, "Thank You, Lord."
How do you do, sir? Oh, that devil, asthma!
E-618 Just a moment. Just a moment now. Something went wrong… Something didn't go wrong; went right. Now, there is something in here, similar, that caught that man just at that time. Let me see again what it was. Now just look at me. Don't say nothing. Just a moment.
E-619 It's a colored man, setting right back here, looking at me. It's his… he's-he's got someone that's sick. That's right. Asthmatic and sinus. That's right. You touched Him. You're not from here, sir. You come from the East, northeast, this way. You come from New York. Yes, sir. That's right. You're Mr. Hunt. You believe now. All right, sir. That's good.
E-620 That's your friend setting there by you, praying. You believe me, sir, to be God's prophet? [Brother Coleman answers affirmatively—Ed.] You come here with him. Your name is Coleman. ["Yes. Hallelujah!"] And you—you are praying for a father. ["Yes."] That's got a stroke. That's THUS SAITH THE LORD. ["Hallelujah!"] Believe. Go, believe now, it'll leave you.
E-621 You got a nervous stomach, gives you trouble. Isn't that right? Go, eat. In the Name of the Lord Jesus. You believe He healed you? Just go back and say, "Thank you, Lord Jesus." Believe with all your heart.
E-622 You're bothered with a nervous trouble, all upset, and so on. Believe with all your heart. Go back and be well.
E-623 Nervousness. Just believe with all your heart. Believe that God will make you well, and He'll do it. Don't doubt a bit.
E-624 Nervous and heart trouble. You believe that Jesus Christ will make you well? Go, be made well, in the Name of Jesus.
E-625 Nervous, upset, stomach trouble bothering you with a gastric condition in your stomach causing your food to sour. Go, don't doubt in your heart; and it'll come to pass, you won't have it no more.
E-626 Your back has been bothering you. You believe with all your heart? Then go, and Jesus Christ make you well of this.
E-627 Just a moment. Hold still, just a moment. Now something happened. This woman here is strange. That Light circled her, real fast, then went away, and run right back again. Something happened. Just a moment. It was a colored man, I'm sure it wasn't the colored brother there, 'cause it come… Just a minute. Here it is. (Step back, Billy.) Here it is.
E-628 It's this man setting here, colored man. You're bothered with a back trouble, too. That is right. You're a stranger to me. I am to you. But there's one thing you need better than the back trouble, that's, give your heart to Christ, become a Christian. You're not… Will you accept Him as your Saviour? You come from Ohio. That's right. From Ohio. Go back, be made well. Jesus Christ forgives your sins, and you can go home and be healed. Now it's all over. Now you can go home. Believe with all your heart.
E-629 All right, sister, come. Complications, and nervousness, and weary. You believe with all your heart that God will make you well? Go to your seat, and say, "Thank You, Lord Jesus, for all that You've done for me."
E-630 You believe that God Almighty will make you well, and heal your back, and make you well, and cure the kidney trouble. Go—go right on your road, rejoicing, and say, "Thank You, Lord Jesus."
E-631 You believe, sonny, He makes you well? Say, "Thank You, dear God." Go, just praising God.
E-632 Now you believe with all your heart, sister? Then go, and Jesus Christ make you well.
E-633 Just a moment. No, it wasn't her. Just a minute. It wasn't the lady there. Just a second now. Just a moment.
E-634 Seen water splashing at something. Somebody is here that's crossed the sea, from somewhere. It's a woman, and she's come from Holland. Where is she? There she is. All right, sister. You come a long ways for healing. You believe me to be His prophet? [The sister says, "Oh, yes."—Ed.] You suffer with rheumatism, and arthritis, stiffness. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and take the Message to your people. God bless you. It'll leave you and you can go and be made whole. Amen.
Do you believe? [Congregation says, "Amen."—Ed.]
E-635 Here, way back here at the back, it's a woman setting right back here. And she's suffering with a gall bladder condition. Oh, she's going to miss it. God, help me. She—she comes from Indianapolis. Her name is Gilbert. Stand up where you are, lady. There you are. Be made well, in the Name of Jesus Christ.
E-636 Do you all believe, with all your hearts? [Congregation says, "Amen."—Ed.] Lay your… Is Jesus risen from the dead? ["Amen."] Is He the same yesterday, today and forever? [Congregation rejoices.] Lay your hands on one another and let's pray, while I pray for Sister Kelly.
E-637 Lord Jesus, let Your Holy Power come into the church now! And may It sweep through and in our sister here to spare her life, Lord. Give her this great healing that she's claiming for, Lord. Heal Your people here. Get glory unto Yourself. Grant it, Lord.
E-638 And may these people here that's now got their hands on one another.
E-639 Satan…
We are now coming to these handkerchiefs; in the Name of Jesus Christ, may each person be healed. Lord, confirm Your Word with signs following.
E-640 And now, Satan, you foul devil, you are defeated. God said He would restore the Son of God, in Whom you betrayed through your creeds. He promised to restore the Church to its former conditions, when the evening Lights shine. And we're living in It. And by restoring, we have a right, we have our Attorney, we have our Lawyer, our High Priest, and we're going to force the claim. You've held them long enough. You can't do it any longer. We charge thee, in the Name of Jesus Christ, by the power of His resurrection and the Holy Ghost that's present now: Come out of this audience! [Congregation greatly rejoices—Ed.]