E-1 The Lord bless you, Brother Neville.
So happy to be back in the church tonight. Just a teeny bit hoarse. Kind of a long Message this morning, and I'm sure happy It was here, though. And enjoyed It myself, bringing It, and I hope you enjoyed hearing It. [Congregation says, "Amen."—Ed.]
E-2 Don't forget now, always remember this, that these are the things that build the servant of Christ. See, faith first, then virtue. And now remember, the Holy Spirit cannot cap the building of God until these things are operating by the Spirit. No matter what you do, see. Those are the things that builds the Body of Christ, see, those things. Now, don't forget that, that this here is first, is your faith. Virtue, knowledge, and so forth, is to be added to it, until the complete stature of Christ is made manifest, then the Holy Spirit comes upon it and seals it as one Body. These things must be. Therefore, Jesus said, "By their fruit they are known." See, fruit! You could not bear fruit without these things to bear it in you. And then when all this takes the place of worldliness and—and ungodliness, and so forth, then all unbelief is cast out, then all the things of the world is passed away, then there's nothing but a new creature in Christ. And then Ephesians 4:30 says, "Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed to the day of your redemption." Sealed into the Kingdom of God! Now, don't forget that. Keep that in mind now, takes these things first. Then the sealing is the Holy Spirit, the Cap that seals us into the Body. All right.
E-3 We got a—a request now for Sister Little, of Chicago, her husband has been in an automobile accident and is laying just at the point of death, Sister Little. And Edith Wright, our little sister here that we've knowed for so long, she's very, very bad, at her home tonight, and they wanted to announce this to the church so we could all pray together for this request. And now let us bow our heads just a moment.
E-4 Our precious, Heavenly Father, we are gathering around (by faith) the Throne of God, and we're asking for Divine mercy for these requests. Brother Little, a car accident, near death. God, help him. May the Holy Spirit be at his bedside and bring him back to us, Lord. And little Edith Wright down there, I pray, God, that the Holy Spirit will be by the side of her bed tonight and will restore her health to her again. Grant it, Father. Thou hast promised these things, and we believe them. And as we was thinking this morning, that distance means nothing to You, You are just as great one part of the world as You are the other, because You're omnipresent, omnipotent, and infinite. And we pray, Father, that You will grant these requests through Jesus Christ's Name. Amen.
E-5 Very happy to be in tonight again, to… And I know it's hot. These are three straight meetings, and it's… I know some of you has got as much as five hundred miles to drive between now and morning. And starting after tomorrow, I got fourteen hundred to drive after that. So, so I—I trust that it's been a great time for all of you. And has been a great time for me to visit with you. There's only one thing that we have requested, so many has to be turned away because there's no room, we can't jam the aisles too much, the fire department will not stand still for that. So we're trying now to get a little bigger church, so that when we're in, and we can have seating room for the people.
E-6 And now, anytime, you're always welcome here at the tabernacle, where we have no creed but Christ, no law but love, no book but the Bible. And so… And our pastor is Brother Orman Neville here. And we have the congregation here of—of many people who gather in as an interdenominational tabernacle, where you come here and worship God according to the dictates of your own conscience. We're always glad to have you. And so come when you can, we're always glad to receive you.
E-7 And now the next time, as far as I know, to be with you, will be after the church is completed. And I want to then, after the Church Ages, there we want to go then to the seven last Seals, and the seven last Seals in the Book of Revelation, to teach That.
E-8 And now there's so many times that sick and afflicted comes, and during these meetings, where visions are required, and come for special interview. If I get into that, then I—I just can't get the difference between them, and, no, it's hard for me to speak after that. And everyone knows that in our healing campaigns, that Mr. Baxter or someone usually does the preaching, and I come out to pray for the sick, because it's just a little strenuous. And I was praying for some people a few moments ago, and then I met a little child here that the doctors… something in its back, is born some way. Coming out, I seen it sitting there in a cast. That child will never have to be crippled like that, it's going to be well. Sure, it is, see. That's, I know that. See, I'm positive of that. So we want to have our faith and believe in God.
E-9 Each one of you, and many of you are strangers to me, all ministers and so forth. If I'm not mistaken, this is Brother Crase. Is that right? Brother Crase, I—I owe you an apology, for not getting up there on that dedication. Maybe I'll get up there for a weekend meeting, be just as good. Is that right? Up at Bloomington. Are you doing well? Good. Some of these brothers here are ministers, I suppose. You're a minister? Yes, sir. The Lord bless you. And how many ministers is in the building, let's see your hand. Well, that's just fine. We're glad to have you here, just so happy. God ever bless you!
E-10 Now, so that we can get out real early, some of them are going to Georgia, Tennessee, New York, everywhere, from tonight, starting tonight. Now, drive careful along the road. If you get sleepy, you don't want to go in a motel, drive off the side of the road and sleep till you… That's the way I do. See, just drive off and sleep. Don't, don't drive while you're sleepy. It's a bad thing. And, remember, it's not you, it's the next fellow you have to watch. See? You know where you're going, you don't know where he's going, so—so you have to watch that guy. So, be sure that you be alert all the time, to watch for it.
E-11 Now, I wish to read tonight a portion of Scripture found over in the Book of Saint John. Now, these little Scriptures that we read and refer to, are to give us a basic for what we are trying to say. And always, I have never one time, as I ever remember, of ever coming to the pulpit, to try to just say something to be saying. I always try to wait, watch, study, pray, until I feel that I have something that would help the people. If I can't be a help, then there's no need of me to be standing here, see. Is, try to help! And now tonight, course, the bigger part of our crowd has moved out from this morning, and they had to go home, many of them. But, tonight, I told you if you stayed over we'd try to have just about a forty-five-minute talk on something that I hope would help us. And we're going to base this now on Saint John, the 16th chapter, and let's begin about the—the 7th verse of the 16th chapter, and read through the—the 15th verse.
Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
Of sin, because they believe not on me;
Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and you see me no more;
Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.
I have yet many things to say unto you, but you cannot bear them now.
Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he shall show you things to come.
For, he shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you.
All things that the Father has—hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall show it unto you.
E-12 Now in this 13th verse. "Howbeit when the Spirit of Truth is come, He will guide you unto all Truth. When the Spirit of Truth is come, He will guide you into all Truth." What is Truth? The Word. "For He shall speak, He shall not speak of Himself; but what He hears, He'll speak. What He hears, He'll speak." Other words, He'll be the One that will reveal the thing, you see. And the 4th chapter of Hebrews, the Bible said that "The Word of God is sharper, more powerful than a two-edged sword, a—a Discerner of the thoughts of the mind, the heart." See, "What He hears, He'll speak, and He will show you things to come." See? What's going to do that? The Holy Spirit Who will come in the Name of the Lord Jesus.
E-13 And I would like to take these next few minutes to call your attention upon the word "guide," A Guide. You know, I've had some quite experience in the woods. A guide, someone to show you around. You have to have a guide when you don't know where you're going. And being acquainted with hunting, and of the world around, I've had the—the opportunity to meet guides. And I am a guide, myself, in Colorado, because knowing the country, ranching, so forth, I can guide in Colorado.
E-14 Now, a guide has to know the way. He has to know where he's going and what he's doing, and how to take care of you along the road. See? He's got to see that you don't come up lost. A guide is a selected man. The state selects this man if he is a guide. And, now, in going on a trip into the wilderness, where perhaps you're not used to going, it's not a good thing for you to go without one. Frankly, some places you can't even go without one, for instance, Canada. The—the guide has to sign your license to the game warden. He has to sign hisself in, and he is responsible for you. If anything happens to you, it's his responsibility. He's got to take care of you. He's got to see that you're not lost. He's got to be sure that he don't send you in somewhere that you don't know your way back. And if you do get lost, he's got to know the country so well that he can pick you up just any time. He's got to know all these things or he cannot be a guide, he cannot be licensed to be a guide.
E-15 For these things, sometimes you have to have an appointment, call ahead and make arrangements, get reservations to be taken out. And if your… Sometimes he's filled up and he cannot take you, you have to put it off for a while, of—of the earthly guide. You never have to do that with God's Guide, He's always ready, always ready.
E-16 Now, if you don't get these preparations made, and you're figuring on taking a trip into the wilderness where you haven't been before, you may come up lost, and perish. You got about one percent chance to get out of the wilderness, that is, if it isn't too dense, you might have one percent chance to get out by yourself. But if it's a very bad wilderness, way back, you haven't got a chance to get out. There's no way to do it, because you find yourself on the death walk, and then you—you're done, then you're finished. Now, and you'll perish if you haven't got a guide that knows the country and knows how to get back.
E-17 Many of you are acquainted with the article you have read last year out at Tucson, Arizona, those Boy Scouts. Yet, they were trained to know how to take care of themselves, they were scouts. And they were not just Cub Scouts, they were full scouts. And they took a trip up into the mountains, and a snowstorm come, nature changed its position. And when they found themselves lost and all of them perished, is because that they… something, change comes along from the regular routine, they didn't know how to get out. See? And I forget how many boys there was that perished in the mountain, though they had helicopters, and the Militia out, and the National Guards, and volunteer help, and everything. But they were lost, no one know where they were at. And they could not take care of themselves. They all perished in the snow because they didn't know whether they was going east, north, west or south, up or down, or how it was, everything looked the same.
E-18 Now, a guide knows where he's at, regardless of the weather. He's—he's equipped to do that. He knows what he's doing. He's familiar with everything. He knows the looks of everything, so he can just be in the darkness and he could feel a certain thing.
E-19 For instance, here's an old trick to a guide. You know, if you can see the stars, anyone can tell which way you're going if you'll watch the stars. And you always want to watch the one true star. There's only one true star, and that's the North Star. See, only one, he stands in the same place. That represents Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever. Others might wander away, but He remains the same. Churches may draw you off this way, or some draw you off that way; but not Him, He's always the same.
E-20 Well, now, if you can't see this North Star, and it's cloudy, then if you'll notice, if it's daytime and you're lost, if you'll watch the trees. The tree is always, the moss is on the north side of the tree, because the south side of the tree gets the sun more than the north side. But what if it's dark and you can't see the moss? If you'll close your eyes and don't try to do any thinking, close your eyes and get a slick-bark tree, put your hands around the tree like this till your fingers meet, and then start moving around that tree real slow. And when you hit a place where the bark is real thick, broke up, that's the north side (the winds), and you can tell which way you're heading, north or south. And that way, oh, there's many things, but it takes guides to know how to do those things. Just an ordinary man get up there and say, "I don't feel no difference in it." See? See, you've got to be trained for that guiding.
E-21 And these boys, no doubt but they were fine scouts, they might be able to tie knots, they might be able to make fires with rocks, and so forth like that. But to know your way out, that's the idea! They, they did not know their way out, so therefore they all perished because they didn't take a guide with them.
E-22 An unthoughtful father, two years ago, in Colorado, oh, he was going up into the mountains, he had a little boy about six, seven years old. He was going to take him on his first deer hunt. So they went high up on the mountain, and the little boy said to his daddy, "I'm getting tired."
E-23 "Get on my back. We're not high enough up yet, the deers are high." On and on and on went the man till he got… He didn't know, he was a city man. He didn't know nothing about how to hunt or where to go. Any man that knows anything about wilderness knows that deer don't stay up high. They don't go up there. Goats stay up there, not deer. They're down where they can feed, they got to get where there's something to eat. And, so, but this man thought, "If I get way up in the rocks somewhere up there, I'll find a big buck." He had seen a picture of some standing upon—standing upon a rock, and he thought that's where he'd find him. Don't pay no attention to what them magazines read, my, oh, my, you'll have a nightmare! That, there's only thing to do, is take a guide where you know where you're at.
E-24 And that father, it come up a rain all at once up there, one of them quick rains that comes. And the man hunted too late, till it got dark and he couldn't find his way back. And the… then the winds come across the top of the mountains, and he himself moving fast, and that's…
E-25 You have to know how to survive, if you're caught out. There's another thing, know how to survive! I've climbed up trees and slid down them, and climbed up trees and slide down, up and down like that, to keep alive. I've took snow when it would be four foot on each side, bust a stump and lay it down. And so hungry that I couldn't hardly stand it! And bust up these old stumps, and light them and let it get hot and melt the snow down. And then about one o'clock in the morning, two o'clock, pull the stumps back, and lay down on that warm ground, to keep alive. And you have to know how to do these things.
E-26 And this man didn't know what he was doing, he had nobody with him to direct him. And he held his own little son against his bosom until he felt him cool off and die. Unthoughtful! If he had just took a guide with him, he could have brought him right back down the mountain regardless of what time it was, see. But he waited till it gets dark, then he couldn't see his way around.
E-27 That's the trouble with Christians today. They wait till the darkness settles over, then you find out that you've left without the Guide. The Guide!
E-28 Why, did you ever see a man that was lost? Did anybody ever have the experience of bringing in a man lost? It's the most pitiful thing you ever seen. When a man gets lost, he goes wild. He don't know what he's doing. We caught a man out there, a boy, and he had been lost in the woods, and he was thought… He was a rancher, but he was in the wrong territory and he got lost, turned around. And when they found him three days later, he was running like a wild man, screaming to the top of his voice. His lips was all eat up, and he throwed his gun away and he didn't know what to do. And when his own brother, when… They had to catch him and tie him. When his own brother come to him, he fought at him like an animal, tried to bite him, he didn't know where he was at. Why? He was lost. And when a man's lost, he's in a state of bewildered. And he don't know that he's in that state, because his being lost sends this fever upon him, and he doesn't know where he's at and how he's acting.
E-29 So is it when a man's lost from God! He'll do things that he ordinary wouldn't do. He'll do things that—that's beyond the thoughts of a human being doing. A lost man from God, a lost church from God, a church that's gone away from God, got away from the principles of God's Bible, will do things that sometimes that you wouldn't expect to find in a church of the living God. They'll get their money by bunco games, playing lottery, gambling, anything that they can do. They'll teach anything, let anything get by, pat man on the back who's big payers in the church, and so forth like that, to let them get by with it. That's right. Put deacons on the board that's been married four or five times, just in order to get by with it, to make ends meet. There's only one end you've got to meet, that's, your obligation to God. Stand and tell the Truth! Lost, lost man is in a bewildered state, he's a madman.
E-30 The guide has understanding, how to go and what to do. God in… God has always sent a guide to His people. God has never failed. He sends a guide, but you've got to accept that guide. See? You've got to believe it. You've got to go the way he says. If you get into a wilderness, and your guide says "we go this way," and yet you think you go that way, you're going to come up lost. Then when you… God sends us a guide to guide us, we've got to follow that guide. No matter what we think, what looks reasonable and what looks ridiculous, we're not subjects to divide that, the guide is the only one.
E-31 God, in the Old Testament, sent prophets. They were guides, because the Word of the Lord came to the prophet. They were guides. They instructed the people as we had last night, of Isaiah and Uzziah. They was instructed, and they instructed the people and guided them. And now God has always sent His guides, He's always never been without a guide, all through the ages. God's always had somebody that represented Him on this earth, in all ages.
E-32 Now, sometimes they get off the guide, "off the beam," as we call it. When Jesus was here on earth, don't you remember Jesus said to the Pharisees, "You blind guides"? Blind guides, blind to spiritual things. See? Now, they were supposed to be guides, guides to the people, guiding the people to salvation. But Jesus said, "You're blind!" And He said, "Let them alone, for if the blind lead the blind, won't they both fall in the ditch?" Blind guides! Oh, how the world has been contaminated with that, blind guiding. He doesn't want you to rely on your own understanding. God does not want you to rely on your understanding or your thoughts, or any man-made thoughts.
E-33 God sends a Guide, and God wants you to remember that that's His appointed Guide. And we must remember Him. Here It says, Jesus said, "I will not leave you, but I'll pray the Father and He'll send you another Comforter." And this Comforter, when He was to come, was to guide us to all Truth. And the Word of God is the Truth, and the Word is Christ, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life." He is the Word, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us." Then if we follow the real true Guide, the Holy Spirit, He was to tell us what He had seen, what He had heard, and He was to show us things that is to come. Amen. There you are. He is going to show you things to come.
E-34 And when the churches today reject That, how can we ever expect to go to Heaven? When the Holy Spirit was sent to us for a Guide, we'll take some cardinal, some bishop, some general overseer, or somebody like that to guide us, when the Holy Spirit was give to us to guide us.
E-35 And the Holy Spirit always speaks of the Word. "I've got many things to tell you, you cannot understand It now, but when He comes, He'll guide you to It." That's the reason the coming of the Seals. At the finishing of the Seventh Seal, the mystery of God should be finished, to know Who God is, what He is, how He lives, His nature, His Being. You're supposed to be all the way up here by that time, see, bring us into the full stature of sons and daughters of God, a Church that's washed in the Blood of Christ, that's bought without money, is paid for by the Blood of Jesus Christ.
E-36 Now, here we are, a Guide, and He is God's provided Guide. Now, we're going through a wilderness and we're on our road somewhere, and we can't get along without this Guide. And dare anybody to try to substitute any other guide! If you do, he'll take you off the line. This Guide knows the way! He knows every inch of the way. He knows every thought that's in your heart. He knows everybody that's here. He knows who you are and what you've done, and all about you. He's God's Guide, the Holy Spirit, and will reveal things to you, and will tell things that He's heard, can repeat your words right back and say what you said. Amen. Tell you what you've been, what you've got, where you're going. A Guide, the correct Guide, and He will guide you to all Truth, and His Word is the Truth.
E-37 Now, the Holy Spirit will never make, say "amen" to some kind of a man-made creed. It'll only punctuate the Word of God with "amen," 'cause It's so. The Holy Spirit will not lead you any other way. Now the strange thing is, that we all, all of our great denominations and things, we claim each one led by the Holy Spirit, and there's as much difference as there is day and night in all of us.
E-38 But when Paul, that little Pharisee that received the Holy Spirit when Ananias baptized him, and he went into Arabia and studied for three years, come back, and never consulted the church about anything for fourteen years, and when he come and met Peter, the head of the church at Jerusalem, they were eye to eye in Doctrine. Why? The same Holy Spirit! Where Peter baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ, Paul did the same without anybody telling him. Where Peter taught the baptism of the Holy Ghost, and sanctification, and so forth; Paul did the same thing, without consulting the church, because It was the same Guide. Then how can we be today when people deny these Truths? When Peter taught what he did about the way the church was to be put in order, Paul had the same Doctrine, 'cause they had the same Guide.
E-39 The Guide isn't going to take one over this way, and one over that way, and send one east and the other one west. He's going to keep you together. And if we'll just let the Holy Ghost keep us together, we'll be one. If—if we just don't let the devil pull you off on the wrong road, we'll be one heart, one mind, one accord, by one Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Guide of God that will guide us to all Truth. That's right. But you got to follow your Guide. Yes, sir.
E-40 Look at Nicodemus, he needed a Guide, yet he was a smart man. He was a teacher, about eighty years old. He was of the Pharisees, or—or the Sanhedrin Courts, the Council, Ministerial Association. He was one of their greatest men, a teacher in Israel, a master at it. Think, a master teacher! Yes, he knowed the laws, but when it come to being born again, he needed a Guide. He was hungering for it. He knowed there had to be something different. His expression to Christ that night proved it. It proved also this, the feeling of the rest of them, but none of them had the very—the very audacity that he had. There was none of them that could come up there and do what he did. You all, people, condemn Nicodemus by coming by night. He got there. He arrived. I know some people won't even start, day or night. But he got there, and he needed a Guide, and he said, "Master, we," from the Sanhedrin Court, "we know that You're a Teacher come from God." Why did he know it? He was vindicated. See, he wanted to know what this new birth meant, and he went right to the right One, because God had vindicated that This was His Guide, Jesus. Look what he said, "Master, we know that Thou art a Teacher comes from God, 'cause no man can do the things that You do, 'less God be with him."
E-41 It was a vindication there, that there was a living God inside of Him. What He testified, "Not Me that doeth the works; it's My Father that dwelleth in Me. Verily I say unto you, the Son can do nothing in Himself; but what He sees the Father doing, that doeth the Son likewise. The Father worketh, and I worketh hitherto." In other words, God showed Him what to do, and He went and just acted it out. He didn't do anything until God told Him to do it. Amen. That's the real frank facts of it. If we'd just move and wait till the Spirit moved us to do it! That's it. And then be so completely lost in Christ that He don't have to shove you around like He does me, but the first little nod of His head, you're ready and nothing is going to stop you, because you know that it's the will of God.
E-42 He needed a Guide. He was a vindicated Guide. He could be led by this Guide because he knowed this Guide was inspired of God. He knowed that the traditions that he had served, maybe by the Pharisees, Sadducees, and whatever more, he had served those creeds all along and seen nothing happen. But here comes a Man on the scene, saying that He is a promised Messiah of the Bible. Then He turns around and does the very works of God. Jesus said, "If I don't do the works of My Father, then don't believe Me. But if you can't believe Me, believe the very works that I do, for they testify of Me."
E-43 Then, no wonder Nicodemus could say, "Master, we know You're a Teacher come from God, for no man can do the things that You do without God being with Him." See, he needed a Guide, though he was a master of the thing. He was a master of his church. He had dignity, and he had—he had prominent places, and he was a great man; no doubt, respects from all the people through the country. But when it come to being born again, he needed a Guide! So do we, yeah, we needed a Guide.
E-44 Cornelius, he was a great man, an honorable man. He built churches. He respected the Jews because he knowed that their religion was right. And he paid alms, and he prayed every day, but when the Holy Ghost come (Something had been added to the church), he needed a Guide. God sent him the Holy Ghost. He sent It in the person of Peter, "For while Peter yet spake these Words, the Holy Ghost fell on him." [Blank.spot.on.tape—Ed.] God used the Guide through Peter. He used It, because He guided Cornelius to the right way. And while he was yet speaking, the Holy Ghost fell on them Gentiles. Then he said, "Can a man forbid water, that these should not be baptized?" See, still the Guide speaking, not Peter. Because that was a bunch of Jew… or Gentiles, "unclean, dirty" to him, and he didn't even want to go. But the Guide said, "I'm sending you." You do things that you don't think you would do, when the Guide gets completely control, when you let Him guide you. Oh, how wonderful it is to be led by the Holy Spirit. He is the Guide. All right. He spoke through Peter and told him what he must do. Then when they all received the Holy Ghost, he said, "We can't forbid water, seeing these has received the Holy Ghost like we did at the beginning." And they baptized them in the Name of the Lord Jesus. Now, who led him to do that? The Guide that was in him. Didn't Jesus tell them, "Take no thought what you're going to say, because it's not you that's speaking; it's the Father that dwelleth in you, He doeth the speaking"? Amen.
E-45 The eunuch, coming down from Jerusalem. And God had a Guide in the world at that time, the Holy Ghost, and He had a man down there that was filled with this Guide. He wasn't even a preacher, he was kind of a deacon like. And he was down there healing the sick and casting out devils, and causing a big stir, great joy was in the city. He had hundreds of people gathered around him, and the Guide said, "That's far enough, let's go back this way." He didn't dispute with his Guide.
E-46 Don't never dispute your Guide's Word. Follow Him. If you don't, you come up lost. And, remember, when you leave Him, you're on your own, so we want to keep close to the Guide.
E-47 So on the road, He said, "Leave this bunch now, Philip, and go out into the desert where there isn't anybody. But I'm sending you out there, and there'll be somebody when I get you out there." Here come a lonesome eunuch, he was a great man to the queen down in Ethiopia. So he was coming down, reading the Book of Isaiah. And the Guide said, "Go near the chariot."
And he said, "Dost thou understand what you read?"
E-48 He said, "How can I understand when there's no man to guide me?" Oh, my! But Philip had the Guide. Amen. And he started from the same Scripture, and preached to him Christ. Amen. Guide! Not tell him some creed, he told him about the Guide, Christ! And he baptized him out there in some water. Sure, it was. Oh, how I like that!
E-49 When Israel left Egypt for the promised land, in Exodus 13:21, God knowed that they had never traveled that way before. It was only forty miles, but yet they needed something to go with them. They'd lose their way. So He, God, sent them a Guide. Exodus 13:21, something like this, "I send My Angel before you, the Pillar of Fire, to keep you in the way," to guide them to this promised land. And the children of Israel followed that Guide, the Pillar of Fire (night), Cloud by day. When It stopped, they stopped. When It journeyed, they journeyed. And when He got them close to the land, and they wasn't fit to go over, He led them back into the wilderness again. He wouldn't go with them.
E-50 That's what it is, the church today. No doubt but what the long-suffering of God today, like it was in the days of Noah, the church would done been gone if it had just corrected and set in order. But He has to lead us around and around and around.
E-51 Little did Israel know, when they was shouting, on seeing the dead soldiers of Egypt, the drowned horses, Pharaoh's chariots turned upside down, they got their victory, Moses in the Spirit, singing in the Spirit, Miriam dancing in the Spirit, and the daughters of Israel running up and down the bank, shouting and dancing, they were only a few days from milk and honey. Little did they know it was forty years away, because they begin to grumble against God and the Guide.
E-52 And we find ourself the same way. I go to Shreveport after here. And the Holy Ghost fell Thanksgiving Day, fifty years ago, in—in Louisiana, on Thanksgiving Day. How the church has fell since that time! Do you realize that the Roman Catholic church at its beginning was the pentecostal church? That's the truth. That's right. It was a pentecostal church, but the starchy dignitaries begin to get in and change the—the Scriptures of God to their traditions, add to It dogmas, and so forth. And look what they got now, not a speck of Scripture in any of it. They substituted something for something else, a piece of bread for the Holy Ghost. They substituted sprinkling for immersing. They substituted "Father, Son, and Holy Ghost" for "the Lord Jesus Christ." They substituted all these great articles of God that was laid down to us, and they're far, far away, way away from the Scriptural Doctrine.
E-53 And Pentecost fell in Louisiana, fifty years ago, and if it stands another two hundred years, it'll be farther away than the Catholic church is, if it keeps falling the way it has these past fifty years, 'cause they're just adding to it all the time, constantly. The old-fashioned preachers is gone. The street meetings, you never hear of one. All the thing we got is a bunch of Hollywood added to it, bobbed-haired women wearing shorts, painted up, and everything else, calling themselves Christians. Some little Ricky with a guitar, run up and down the place, and women with a dress on so tight like a… just like a skinned wiener with the—the skin on the outside, almost, shaking around up on the platform, running up and down the platform, dancing with ear bobs hanging down, and one of these here new lady-of-the-land haircuts, then call itself Christianity.
E-54 What we need is an old-fashioned, God-sent, scalding religion that will scald that worldliness out of the church. We need to come back to the Holy Ghost and fire, back to the thing that burns out the dross, brings the old-fashioned preaching back, make Heaven high, and hell hot, gun-barrel straight. We need that kind of a preaching. But you do it today, your congregation will vote you out.
E-55 Sometimes good preachers are led astray by their congregation. That's the reason I have no denomination. I have one headquarters, that's from Heaven. Wherever He sends, there I go. Whatever He says, I say. We don't want no denomination. This church ever talk about denomination, you've lost your pastor right then. I wouldn't hang around it, not one five-minutes. Every church that ever denominated went to the seed, and tell me one that didn't, and tell me one ever rose again. The Holy Spirit is sent to lead the church, not some group of men. The Holy Spirit is all-wisdom. Men get starchy, indifferent.
E-56 God told them that He would send them a Guide, He would lead them in the way. And as long as they followed that Pillar of Fire, they was all right. He led them up to the promised land gate, and then that was as far as He was to go. Then Joshua, that great warrior, remember the day that he told them, "Sanctify yourself, the third day God's going to open up Jordan down here and we're going across"? Now watch what he said (I like this) in the Scripture, he said, "Stay close behind the Ark, for you've not passed this way before."
E-57 What was the Ark? The Word. Don't travel your denominational routes now, stay right behind the Word, 'cause you haven't passed this way before. And, brother, if there ever was a time that the Christian church ought to examine itself, is right now. We're right now where this great meeting is going on in Rome right now, differences are being made, the confederation of churches, when all these denominations are confederated together to form the image of the beast, just exactly what the Bible says. And you know what we said this morning in the Messages. And here we are, right everything right at the door, and people still following after creed. You better stay behind the Word! The Word will lead you across, because the Word is Christ, and Christ is God, and God is the Holy Ghost.
E-58 Stay behind the Word! Oh, yes, sir! Stay with that Guide. Stay right behind It. Don't get in front of It, you stay behind It. Let It lead you, don't you lead It. You let It go.
E-59 Joshua said, "Now, you've never passed this way before, you know nothing about the road."
E-60 That's the trouble today. You don't need no guide to guide you down the broad way. Oh, you know all the alleys and everything else. You know all the way to sin. There's no… Oh, you been around a long time. There's no need of somebody trying to tell you about that, you know all the short cuts. That's right, every sin, you know all about it. Nobody has to tell you how to steal; you know that. Nobody has to tell you how to curse; you know that. Nobody has to tell you how to do these evil things, because it's posted on every tree everywhere.
E-61 But, remember, you people that's Christians, you've crossed over. You're into another Land. You are born again. You're in the Land, a Heavenly Land. You're in the promised Land.
E-62 You can look, you know your way around here. Oh, my, yes. You know what—what, how to stand on a certain hand of cards. You know what the dice, when it rolls, what it means, and everything like that. But when it comes to know the holiness and righteousness and the power of God, and how the Holy Spirit operates and what It does, you better stay right behind the Word, the Guide. See? You've never passed this way before.
E-63 Well, you say, "I was a pretty smart man, I had—I had two degrees in college." You better forget it. Yes, sir.
E-64 "I've went through the seminary." You better forget it. Yeah. You better stay behind the Guide. Let Him lead you. He knows the way; you don't. You haven't passed this way before. "Well," you say, "they have."
E-65 See if they have. Jesus said, "Those that passed this way, these signs will follow them. My Name, they shall cast out devils, speak with new tongues; or take up serpents or drink deadly things, it won't harm. If they lay their hands on the sick, they shall recover." Most of them refuse It, deny It, say It's not even inspired. They're not following the Guide. They're following a man-made creed. You better stay right behind the Word, because you haven't passed this way, you know.
E-66 But you're born again, and you've been born into holiness. You've not passed this way before. You've pa-… If you pass this way, you have to come through holiness, because it's a new Land, a new Life, a new people.
E-67 You'll come to church and you hear somebody raise up, holler, "Glory to God! Hallelujah!"
E-68 Why, you'll say, "My, goodness, they never did that in my church! I'll get up and walk out!" See? Be careful.
E-69 Stay behind the Word, now, let the Guide lead you. "He will guide you into all Truth, and reveal these things that I've talked to you about. He'll show you that. He'll tell you things that is to come," the true Guide. Don't go to the bishop; go to the Guide. Don't go to anyone but the Guide. He's the One that was sent to guide you. He's the One that'll do it. God has provided you a Guide. Take God's provided way.
E-70 The trouble of it is today, that the people that come to the church just sit a few minutes, something goes on that they're not used to.
E-71 I admired a little woman from a cold formal church, just had prayer for her. God's going to heal the little woman. She didn't understand this. She knowed nothing about it. She come in, she said she didn't know. But I told her, "Come on and see me." She was kind of timid and backward, but the Guide kept telling her, "Move on." She got it. That's it. See, it's because of the Holy Spirit that guides us to these things. See, God has a provided way.
E-72 Did you ever… Have you been noticing the wild geese going over, the ducks going south? Well, now remember, that little old duck was born up yonder on a pond somewhere. He don't know east, north, west, and south. He knows nothing but that pond setting up there in the mountains in Canada. He never was off that pond, but he was born a leader. That little drake was born to be a leader. And the first thing, one night there was a big snow comes across the top of the mountains. What happens? That cold breeze comes down across through there. I can imagine him shivering, saying, "Mammy, what does this mean?" See, he never felt that cold weather before. He begins to notice around, he begins to notice around the edge of the pond, it begins to freeze, ice coming on the pond. He doesn't know, but all of a sudden… He was born to be a guide to that herd of ducks. He'll jump right out in the middle of that pond when it strikes him. You call it what you want to. We call it inspiration, or you can call it, oh, just instinct, whatever it is. He'll drive right out in the middle of that pond, stick that little honker up in the air, and go, "Honk-honk, honk-honk!" And every duck on the pond will come right to him. Why? They know their leader, just the way he honks.
E-73 "If the trumpet gives an uncertain sound, who can prepare himself for battle?" Right. Who can prepare himself for battle if the trumpet gives an uncertain sound?
E-74 Well, if that little duck give an uncertain honk, who's going to prepare himself for flight? That little old duck will stick up his little bill out there, and holler, "Honk-honk, honk-honk!" And every little duck will come to him. "Honk-honk, honk-honk!" Here they are. Such a jubilee they'll have, right there in the middle of that pond, just turning over and over and over. After a while he feels it moving on him, he's got to leave. He'll set his little wings down and fly off that pond, get up in the air and turn around four or five times, and go just as straight to Louisiana as he can go, every duck right behind him. "Honk-honk, honk-honk," here he comes. Why? He's a guide! Amen! Ducks know their guide, the church doesn't. Yeah, he knows what to do.
E-75 Look at them old geese, from plumb from Alaska. Now, there's an old gander always leads them, and them geese has to look that gander over real good. They have to know what that gander's talking about. Did you read that in Look magazine here about four years ago, where an old gander one time didn't know what he was doing, and he led a bunch of geese all the way over to England? That's right. They never was knowed to be in England before. Why? They never noticed their—their leader. That old gander didn't know where he was going. And now they're over there and can't get back.
E-76 That's what's the matter with a whole lot of these geese today, they still swarm. They say, that Look magazine said, these geese swarm and fly around over England, but they don't know how to get back. That's the way it is with some of the geese that I know of. You have a swarm, and a big protractive meeting, and have some revivalist to come along and preach a while, but you don't know where you're going. Swarming around and around, because you've got some gander to lead you off on a denominational spree; and not back to the Word of God, back to the baptism of the Holy Ghost. And then we wonder why we ain't got revival in our days. See? You got to get that certain Sound! That Sound is the Gospel trumpet breathing out the Gospel, every Word of God. Not creed, not denomination; but the Bible, the Holy Spirit. "These signs shall follow them that believe." See? And there they go down the road.
E-77 One old gander one time, they said, got a bunch killed, trying to fly them through the darkness, didn't know where he was going, himself, and they all hit against the mountains out there, and some of them disintegrated, bursted up. Sure! They got to know their certain sound. That little old duck, if he's got the certain sound and everybody knows it, they have a little swarming jubilee and away they go to the south. What do they go down there for? Where it ain't cold.
E-78 Now, if God give a duck enough sense to know how to dodge the coldness, how ought He to have give the church? If a duck can do that by instinct, what about the Holy Ghost in the church? It ought to lead us from old formalities and creeds and things, into a glorious, wonderful baptism of the Holy Ghost. It brings virtue, knowledge, patience, godliness, and the Holy Spirit. That's what the real Guide will lead, 'cause He'll breathe out nothing but the Gospel, just the Word of God. Sure, you need a Guide!
E-79 When, the wise men, they didn't know nothing about God. They were—they were magic-workers, magicians. They were over in the orients. You know, the Bible said, "We have seen His Star in the East, come to worship Him." They were from the west, they looked east and saw His Star… or looked west, they was in the East. "We were in the East, and saw His Star in the west." See? "We have seen His Star in the East." And, see, they were in the East. "When we were in the East we saw the Star, and we've come to worship Him."
E-80 I can imagine seeing those fellows getting ready to go. I can imagine one of their wives said to him, said, "Say, got everything all packed up, but where's your compass?"
He said, "I—I ain't going to use a compass this time."
E-81 Said, "How you going to get across the mountains?" Remember, they had to cross the Tigris River and come down through the plains, and, why, they had two-year's trip on camels. How they going to do it? Said, "Well, ye ain't even taking a compass."
Said, "No."
"How you going?"
E-82 "I'm going God's provided way. That Star yonder is going to lead me to that King." That's it.
E-83 "We have seen His Star in the East, and followed It all the way here in the west, to worship Him. Where is He?" They followed God's provided way. They got tied up with a bunch of creeds down there in a little while. They come into Jerusalem and begin to go up and down the street, these finest dressed people, saying, "Where is He? Where is He born King of the Jews?" Well, that was the head, that was Jerusalem. Surely the big church ought to know something about It. "Where is He? Where is He born King of the Jews? We have seen His Star in the East, we come to worship Him. Where is He?"
E-84 Why, they went over to pastor So-and-so and to high priest So-and-so, none of them knowed nothing about It. "Why, there's One born King of the Jews, where is He?" They didn't know.
E-85 But there was a bunch of shepherds out there on the hillside just having them a time, yes, sir, because they had come God's provided way.
E-86 So they stayed around there, and directly he said, "I'll tell you what we ought to do, we ought to have a board meeting." So they called in the Sanhedrin Council, and—and thought if they heard anything about It. "No, we didn't know nothing about It."
E-87 That's the same thing it is today. They don't know nothing about this Guide, this Holy Ghost that heals, fills, saves, coming again. The Guide that's told us all these things that happened, here we are right in the midst of them. A Discerner of the thoughts of the heart; they know nothing about That, they call It mental telepathy or something. They don't know what to say about It.
E-88 So, you see, those wise men, as long… Remember, when they entered into Jerusalem, the Star disappeared. And as long as you look for creeds and denominational man to lead you to God, the help of God will leave you. But when they got sick and tired of it, and left them, left the creeds and denominations of those Jews, and went out of Jerusalem, then the Star appeared again and they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. They saw the Guide again! Oh, how it is, get on some old cold formal church, then get back to a good one on fire, see the Guide leading, what a difference it is! Yeah, "We have seen His Star in the East and have come to worship Him."
E-89 Joshua said to them, "Now you follow the Ark, 'cause you've never been this way before." God won't permit that Ark to go anywhere but right. Everyone followed It, and It went right across Jordan.
E-90 Same is today, by the Holy Spirit. Yes, sir. The only thing that we know, whether it's the Holy Spirit or not, we see the manife-… manifestations of It, the manifestations vindicating the Word of God.
E-91 Now, not long ago, a bunch of brethren had blood and oil, and that's all right if they want to do that way. I… That ain't a vindication to me. It's a Scripture vindication, see, as long as it's vindicating what God said, that's all right. They said, "This is the reason you got the Holy Ghost, you got oil in your hand." Now, I—I can't go for that. See? No, I don't believe that oil has anything to do with it. And if that's blood going to heal and salvation, what happened to the Blood of Jesus Christ? If that oil heals, what about His stripes? See? See?
E-92 I like for the Guide to come, that brings you to the Truth of the Word, then you know you're zeroed in and you're ready for the countdown. That's right, getting ready to fly away. Yes, sir. Yeah, because why? The Guide is the One Who makes it real.
E-93 I got a Scripture here, I had given these Scriptures, but I want to read this one. It's Second Peter, the 1st chapter, 21st verse.
For… prophecy came not in old times by the will of man: but by holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
E-94 How did the prophecy come? Not by the will of man, denominational creeds; but by the will of God, when holy men were moved by the Holy Ghost. He's always been God's Guide. That was the Holy Ghost that was in that Pillar of Fire, that was the Holy Ghost, any man knows that was Christ. Moses forsook Egypt, esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches than that of Egypt. Christ was the One. Well, when they stand out there and saying, "Well, You say You're… Why, You're not over fifty years old, and say You seen Abraham?"
E-95 He said, "Before Abraham was, I AM." I AM was the One that met Moses in the Pillar of Fire in a burning bush. Yes, sir. He was God made flesh. Not a third person; the same Person in a different office. Not three gods; three offices of one God. Correctly.
E-96 All right, now, the Scripture. Always, when God provides, He provides the best. When God provided a way to fortify His church, He provided the best. When He give Adam and Eve, in the garden of Eden, what He give them was His Word. "You stay behind this Word, and you're safe. But if you get from out of It, the day you eat thereof that day you die." God has never changed His strategy. And Satan has never changed his; how he got into Adam and Eve, he gets into them today. Why? By trying to reason It out. "Now, it's reasonable that God would not. Oh, God has said," said Satan, "but surely a holy God won't do this." Surely He will, because He said He would!
E-97 And that's what people say today, "Oh, now wait! You don't believe now, if I go to church and I pay my tithes, and I do this, the other, God is going to cast me down there?" Unless a man's born again, he'll not even understand the Kingdom of God! See? No excuses! "Well, the poor old man, the poor old woman, there's a good old soul." The only way they can ever see God, is be born again. That's all. I don't care how little, how old, how young, what they did, how much they went to church, how many denominations they know, how much creed they could recite. You've got to be born again or you're not even on the foundation, to begin. That's exactly right.
E-98 So, you see, you need the Guide. He will guide you to Truth, and Truth is the Word. He will guide you. And it's always has been. God don't never have to change nothing, 'cause He's infinite and He knows what's best. He's omnipresent, He's omniscient, He's—He's everything. It's right, God is, so He don't have to change. All right.
E-99 He is a Confirmer of the way He's leading you. The Holy Ghost, the Guide, is the Confirmer of the same Word that He's teaching. Now, Luke was led by the Guide, to say, "Go ye into all the world, preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; in My Name they shall cast out devils, speak with new tongues, take up serpents, drink deadly things, lay hands on the sick and they shall recover." And the Bible said that, "They went forth everywhere," led by the Guide, you know, "preached the Word, with signs following." What was it? The Guide vindicating That was the Truth!
E-100 That was God's policy. That's the way it was laid down. That's His program; He can't change from it, because He's infinite. Amen. He can't change from it; He's God. I can change; I'm a man. You can change; you're a man or woman. But God cannot change. I'm finite; I can make mistakes and say things wrong, all of us can. But God can't, and be God. His first decision is perfect. The way God acts on the scene, that's the way He's got to act every time. If He's called on the scene to save a sinner, He saves him on the basis of one thing. The next time a sinner comes, He's got to act the same way, or He acted wrong when He acted the first time. Amen. I love Him. I know it's the Truth.
E-101 I'm fifty-three years old, been preaching the Gospel here for thirty-three and a half years, I've never seen It fail. I've seen It tested seven times around the world, in all kinds of religions and everything else, before as many as a half a million at one time, and never has It failed. I don't speak from some book, I speak from personal experience, that I know that God stands behind His Word and honors It. Now, if you have some kind of a creed, you better watch that. But the Holy Spirit will back up the Word of God.
E-102 In Saint John, the 1st chapter and the 1st verse, he said, "He is the Word. He is the Guide. In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us." My!
E-103 Peter was led to say, on Acts 2:38, how to receive the Holy Ghost, he said, "Repent, every one of you, then be baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ for remission of your sins, and then the Guide will take you from there on." Yeah, that's the thing to do. First, repent of your sins, your unbelief, that you've disbelieved these things. Repent, and then be baptized, and then the Guide will take you from there on. See, that's your duty. It's your duty to repent. It's your duty to be baptized. Then it's the Guide's duty to take you from there on, lead you from virtue to knowledge, to temperance, to patience, to godliness, and to brotherly love, and the Holy Ghost seals you. See? Then you're a full stature of God, a real man of God, a real woman of God, anchored away in Christ. I love that, that anchored away in Christ.
E-104 Yeah, Mark was led by the Holy Ghost, to write Mark 16, of course.
E-105 John was led when he wrote Revelations. He was led by the Guide. He was also led by the Guide to say, "Whosoever shall take one Word out of It, or add one word to It, the same will be taken, his part, out of the Book of Life."
E-106 Now, how you going to substitute something for the Word of God, and still say you're led by the Holy Ghost? Don't make sense, does it? No, sir. It doesn't.
E-107 He's been my Guide through life. He's guided me unto Life. He was the One that led me to Life, and He is my Life. Without Him I have no Life. Without Him I want nothing else. He's all my All-in-All. In the hours of my trouble, He stands by me. Yesterday He blessed me, today they done the same. What can I expect? The same forever, praise His Name! Amen. Yes, sir. He promised it. He'll do it. He is my Life, He's my Guide, All-in-All. I've trusted Him. I've had some hard trials. I trust Him wherever I go. I want you to do it. If you go to wash, you women, trust Him. If you go downtown, trust Him.
E-108 I got one time where I thought that I was kind of a good woodsman, you know, hunted so much. I thought, "I'm just foolproof, nobody's going to… You couldn't lose me. My mom was a half Indian, and I loved that. Oh, my! You can't lose me in the woods, I know where I'm at."
E-109 And off my honeymoon, I kind of cheated a little bit on the wife, I told her, "You know, honey, it'd be a good thing for us to get married on October twenty-third." Course, that's when the Lord told me to do.
E-110 And I thought, "Now, for a little honeymoon, I saved up my money, and I'll take her over by Niagara Falls, and go over on the Adirondack and do a little hunting." See? So I took her and Billy, he was just a little bitty thing. And so I had to take her on a honeymoon, and it was on a hunting trip, too, you know. So—so I thought that'd be a good thing to do. And so I took her up, and the…
E-111 I wrote to Mr. Denton, the ranger. And we was going up on Hurricane Mountain. And I said, "Mr. Denton, I'm coming up, I want to hunt some bear with you this fall."
E-112 And he said, "Okay, Billy, come on up." So he said, "I'll be up there on a certain-certain date." Well, wife and I got there a day early, and Billy, and so the cabin was locked up. There was a little lean-to back up on the woods.
E-113 Where, Brother Fred Sothmann and I went not long ago and stood there. The Holy Spirit, I seen Him standing there, that yellow Light moving around in the bush, and Fred standing right there. He said, "Come aside, I want to speak to you. Tomorrow," said, "be careful, they set a trap for you." Said, "Be alert!" Is that right, Brother Fred? And I went and told hundreds of people that night, over in Vermont, I said "There's a trap set for me; I'm going to see it. I don't know where it's at." And the very next night, there it come, there it was. Said, "Here is the trap that's set." Yes, sir. But the Holy Spirit led me in what to do. And, oh, my, that was just right! Oh, many of you know what it was. I haven't time to tell it.
E-114 But standing there at that place that time, it just begin to turn cold that day. Mr. Denton was coming up the next day, I said, "You know, honey, it'd be nice if I got a—a big buck to take home." I said, "We did… I had to save these pennies, and we just got married." And I said, "We'd get our winter's meat if I'd get a little hunt today."
E-115 And she said, "Well, go ahead, Billy." Said, "Now, you remember, I never was in these woods," she said. She was about twenty-five miles up in the mountains, you know, and she said, "I don't know nothing about this." And she said, "So I'm…"
E-116 I said, "Well, now, you remember, it was two years ago I killed those three bear. That was right back over top of the mountain over there." And I said, "Now, I'll get a big buck and we'll get some bear," and I said, "we'll have our winter's meat in." Well, that sound pretty good, you know. (And we picked blackberries, and got our coal for that—for that winter; and so then Billy sold them, and Meda and I picked them of an evening after I got off of my patrol.) So then I—I said, "Well, I'm going to pick up my rifle, I'm going down here." I said, "There's a lot of deer in here, I'll find one." And I said, "You know," I said, "then I'll get him." And I said, "We'll… I'll be back in a little while."
She said, "Okay."
E-117 So, when I started off, it was kind of low. And any of you New Hampshire people, and up in there in the New England, knows what it means when that fog comes down, or anywhere else in the mountains, you don't know where you're at. That's all. You can't see your hand before you. So then I started down through a—a little chopping, like, come down, and went over across the ridge and come up. And I noticed a panther, you'd call it here in this part of the country. We call it, in the West, a cougar. They call it, up there, a mountain lion. It's all the same animal. It's a puma, really what it is. Same cat, about nine-foot long, weight about a hundred fifty, two hundred pounds. He crossed the road, and I slipped the gun real quick, not fast enough to get the shot at him.
E-118 Well, I slipped on up over the hill, chasing this cougar, watching the leaves where he had moved, you know. I could hear him. He had four feet. I knowed he wasn't a two-footed animal, his four feet. And I knowed he wasn't a deer, 'cause a deer stomps. And he would slip real easy, the cat, you know, like that. And a bear rolls his feet when he walks. And so I knew it must be a cougar. And he was behind a log and I didn't see him, till just got a glimpse of him, he was gone.
E-119 And I watched where he disturbed the leaves, you know, up over the top of the mountain, and down like this, and I wasn't watching that cloud coming all the time, you know, coming down the fog. I slipped down, went down through a great valley and went out into the Giants, following this cougar. I thought, "I'll catch him after a while." I'd see a place, and I'd run up on a high place, and look all around like that, and peep around, see if I could see him; listen real close, and get down, slip down again. You could hear the brush go crashing, way ahead of me, as going out. See, he was hitting the trees then so I couldn't trail him. See, he got smart, got up in the trees and jumping from tree to tree. Then he knowed I couldn't trail him there. Oh, I thought, "Oh, anyhow!"
E-120 And I started back up the canyon, and I whiffed a bear, an old male bear. I thought, "I'll get him now, boy, that's good!" I whiffed again, and I went a little farther, and I watched for all kinds of signs and everything. I couldn't see a thing; turned back down, and went back down the other side of the mountain. And then I begin to notice, getting a little foggy. And I'd whiff again, he was in the air somewhere. I said, "No. Now, what happened, the wind was coming this way, and I come… The bear whiff come from this down that way, and I've crossed around now and the wind's coming from this other direction. So I have to go back to where I smelled the bear the first time, and take it from there."
E-121 And on my road back, I looked across the canyon, I seen the bushes move. And when I did, something black moved. I thought, "There he is." I throwed a shell up in the gun, real quick, and stood still. And, when it did, it was a great big buck, great big one. I thought, "That's just what I was wanting, anyhow." Shot the buck.
E-122 I thought, "Well!" I never noticed it was kind of… Time I got him fixed up, looked… I cleaned off my hands and fixed my knife, put it back. And I thought, "Praise God! Thank You, Lord Jesus, You've give me my winter's meat. Praise be to God!" And I got my gun. I thought, "I'll go right back up the canyon here now." I said, "Look at here, boy, storm's coming. I better get out of here and get back over to Meda and them." I said, "I have to hurry."
E-123 Up the canyon I went, unbuttoned my big red coat, and I was running up the canyon like this, around. The first thing you know, I thought, "My, where did I turn off at?" Wind was already down, the trees lapping together. I thought, "Where did I turn off at?" I went around. I—I knowed I was going right straight to Hurricane Mountain. But I happened to stop, and I was sweating, I thought, "What's the matter here? I've been gone a half hour, or three quarters, and I can't find that place I turned off." I looked up, and there hung my deer. I was right at the same place. I thought, "Well, what did I do?"
E-124 Well, I took off again. I thought, "I'll make it this time, I just wasn't noticing." I watched every little move everywhere, watching. I kept searching, searching, searching. Them clouds coming, I know a snowstorm was on the road, fog hanging low, and then I begin to notice. I thought, "I'll go a little further," went on, on, on, on, on, on, on. And I thought, "Well, this is strange, look like I've seen this place before." And I looked, and there hung my deer. See?
E-125 You know what I was on? The Indians call it the "death walk." See, you're walking in a circle, round and around. Well, I thought I was too good a guide to ever be lost. See, nothing had to tell me in the woods, I knowed my way around. See?
E-126 And I started off again. I said, "I can't make this mistake." And I come back again.
E-127 I moved up the canyon a little piece, then it had done started blowing. Oh, my, snow everywhere! Almost towards dark. And I knew that Meda would die that night in the wilderness, she didn't know how to take care of herself. And Billy was just about four years old, three years old, just a little bitty thing. And I thought, "What will they do?" Well, I got up this far and I hit some moss bed, I thought, "I'm in a flat somewhere, and I can't see nothing, it's all foggy." I was going around now.
E-128 Ordinarily, I'd have found me a place and hold up, if I had somebody with me. I'd hold up and wait till the storm was over, a day or two, and come on out. Cut my piece of deer… over my back, and went in, eat, and forgot about it. But you can't do that, and your wife and baby laying up there in the woods, perishing. See?
E-129 So I begin to think, "What can I do?" So I went a little farther. And I thought, "Now, wait. When I crossed over that first valley, the wind was in my face, so I must have come this way. I've got to come this way." And I had wandered way down in the Giants, but I didn't know where I was at. I said, "Oh!" I begin to get nervous. And I thought, "Wait a minute, Bill, you're not lost," trying to bluff myself. You can't bluff it. No, no. That inner conscience tells you you're wrong.
E-130 Oh, you—you try to say, "Oh, I'm saved, I go to church." Don't you worry, you wait till that deathbed comes, and you'll know it's different. Your conscience tells you. Something inside of you tells you you're wrong. See? You know if you'd die you couldn't meet a holy God. As we seen Him last night, even the holy Angels have to veil their face to stand before Him. How are you going to stand outside the Blood of Jesus Christ to veil you?
E-131 I thought, "Oh, I'll make it." I started on. And I found out I kept hearing Something. Then I got nervous. And I thought, "Now, if I do that, I'm going to go to pieces." That's usually what a lost man does, he goes to pieces in the woods. Then he'll take his gun, shoot himself; or fall over a ditch and break his leg, and there he lays, he'll die there. So I thought, "What am I going to do?" So I started walking on.
E-132 And I kept hearing Something saying, "I'm a very present Help in a time of trouble." I just kept walking on.
E-133 I thought, "Now, I know I'm getting a little bit off now, I'm hearing a voice talk to me." I kept going on. I went, "whew, whew, whew," whistling, you know. I thought, "Now, I'm not lost. You know where you're at, boy! What's the matter with you? You can't get lost. You're—you're too good a hunter, you can't get lost." Self-bragging, you know, making myself bluff myself through.
E-134 You can't bluff it. Way down here there's a little wheel turning, saying, "Boy, you're lost and you know you are. See, you're lost."
E-135 I kept moving on. "Oh, I'm not lost! I'll be all right. I'll find my way out." Things begin to look funny, winds close. Snow begin to flying, the little hominy snow, we call it "spitting down." I thought, "A wife and baby! I'm not…" I thought, "Oh, my!"
E-136 Directly I heard That again, said, "I'm a very present Help in a time of trouble." And I was a minister of the Gospel then, preaching right here at the tabernacle.
E-137 So I thought, "Well, what can I do?" I stopped, looked everywhere, and there was fog already down now. I… That was it. Nothing could be done then. I thought, "Oh, what can I do?" I thought, "Sir, I'm not fit to live, I've had too much self-confidence. I thought I was a hunter, but I'm not."
E-138 And, brother, I've always trusted Him. Shooting, I've got records up there. And a fisherman, I'm a poor one, but I've always trusted Him. Shots, I'm a poor shot, but He's let me make world records on it. See? Shoot deer, seven, eight hundred yard. Got a gun up there killed thirty-five head of game without missing a shot with it. Just read that anywhere, if you can. See? Not me, it's Him. I've trusted Him.
There I was, I thought, "What can I do? What can I do?"
E-139 I kept… That getting closer, closer, "I'm a very present Help in a time of trouble, a very present Help."
E-140 I thought, "Is that God talking to me?" I took off my hat. I had my patrol hat, red handkerchief wrapped around it. I laid it down. Took off my coat, it was moist. And I laid my coat down, set my gun up against the side of a tree. I said, "Heavenly Father, now I'm getting beyond myself, I'm hearing a voice speaking to me. Is that You?" I said, "Lord, I'm going to admit to You that I ain't no hunter. I ain't, I—I can't find my way around. You have to help me. I'm not fit to live, and doing the things that I've done, coming in here and thinking I knowed too much about it to ever get lost. I need You, Lord. My wife is a good woman. My baby, my little boy, his mother's gone on, and she's trying to be mother to him, and I've just married her. And here she is, a kid, there in the woods, they'll both die tonight. That wind, it'll turn down about ten below zero, and they won't know how to live. They'll die tonight. Don't let them die, God. Take me to them, so that I can see that they don't die. I'm lost! I'm lost, God! I—I can't find my way around. Won't You please help me? And forgive, me for my own self-centered way! I can't do nothing without You, You're my Guide. You help me, Lord."
E-141 I got up, and I said, "Amen." Picked up my handkerchief; my coat, picked it up; put my hat back on; picked up my gun. I said, "Now I'll fix myself in the very best way that I know how to go, the very best of my understanding; and I'll go straight one way, 'cause I'm walking around a circle somewhere, I don't know where. But I'll go the way You tell me, Lord God, my Guide."
E-142 I started walking this way. I said, "This is it, and I have to make myself believe it. I'm going this way. I'm going straight this way. I'm not going to vary, I'm going this way. I know I'm right. I'm going this way." If I'd have went that way, I'd headed off over in Canada. See?
E-143 Just then I felt Something touch me on my shoulder, a hand, it felt like a man's hand, so quick that I turned around to look. There was nobody standing there. I thought, "What was that?" Here's the Bible laying before me. God, my Guide and Judge, is standing here. I just looked up. And right back this way, that fog just cleared back till I could see the tower on top of Hurricane Mountain. Going right straight away from it, the best of my hunting ability, I was going away from it, getting real late in the evening then. I turned real quick, directing myself like this. I took hold of my hat and raised up my hands, I said, "Guide me over, God, You're my Guide."
E-144 I started. I had to go right straight up bluffs and everything getting there, later and later. Then it got dark. Deers was jumping in front of me, and everything. I couldn't think of nothing but keeping myself one way, right up this mountain.
E-145 And I know if I could get to the tower, Mr. Denton and I… I helped put the line up that spring. We tacked the telephone wire from the Hurricane Mountain, all the way down about three and a half or four miles, right down to the camp. And it went right down a little trail, but, the snow on there, you couldn't tell the trail. See? And the wind blowing and everything, it was dark and blizzard and, going, you couldn't tell where you was at. Well, the only thing I knew to do, after it got dark, and I didn't know… I know I was going one way, and right up the mountain. Cause I was supposed to go up the mountain, and the tower set right at the top of the mountain, and I had about six miles to get to it. Just think, that fog clearing back, six miles, just one hole, till I could see it!
E-146 And then I—I'd pack my rifle in this hand, and hold this hand up, 'cause I had tacked the—the wire on the trees like that going down, the telephone wires to the cabin, so he could talk to his wife, and then call out from there, from the mountain. And I was going to help him take it down that fall. And I had my hand up like this, saying, "O God, let me touch that line." Walk, and my arm would get so sore, tired, I couldn't hardly hold it, and I'd have to let it down. And I'd change the gun and put it in that; step back a couple steps so I'd be sure not to miss it, then raise my hand up, start walking, walking. Getting late, dark, wind blowing. Oh, I'd grab a hold of a limb, I'd say, "That's it! No, that's not it." Oh, it give… Don't let it give an uncertain sound.
E-147 After while, when I just about ready to give up, my hand hit something. Oh, my! I had been found, when I was lost. I held to that wire. I dropped the rifle right down, took my hat off of my head, and I stood there. I said, "O God, what a feeling it is to be found, when you're lost." I said, "Right down to the end of this wire, I'll never turn it loose. I'll hold onto this wire. It'll guide me right straight to where all on this earth that's dear to me is laying, right down there. My wife and baby, frantically, not knowing where I am, not knowing how to make a fire, not knowing what to do, and winds blowing, and limbs popping and falling off of trees." I was daresn't to let go of that wire. I held that wire until it guided me right in to where all that was dear on earth was to me.
E-148 That was a horrible experience, and a great experience to find my way out, but that wasn't half of it. One day I was lost in sin. I went church after church, trying to find Something. I went to the Seventh-day Adventists, they told me, "Keep the Sabbath, quit eating meat." I went over to the Baptist church, first Baptist church, he said, "Just get up and tell them that you believe Jesus Christ the Son of God, and I'll baptize you, that's it." There wasn't nothing. But one day, out in a little coal shed, I held my hands up, I caught a hold of Something; or, may I say, Something got a hold of me. It was a Lifeline, the Guide. And He's led me safe this far, I ain't going to take my hand off of that Wire. I'm holding my hands to Him. Let creeds, the denominations do whatever they want to, I'm holding onto the Guide. For all that was ever on earth and all that's in Heaven, ever means precious to me, is at the end of this Line. He's brought me safely this far, I'll trust Him the rest the way. "When He the Holy Ghost is come, He will guide you and lead you into all…"
E-149 Friends, It's brought me where I am today. It's made me what I am. I can gladly introduce It to you. It's the only Guide that I know anything about, for here on earth or up There. He is my Guide when I go hunting. He's my Guide when I go fishing. He's my Guide when I talk to somebody. He's my Guide when I preach. He's my Guide when I sleep.
E-150 And when I come to die, He'll be standing at the river. He'll guide me across the way. "I'll fear no evil, for Thou art with me. Thy rod and Thy staff, they'll correct me and guide me across the river."
Let us pray.
E-151 Heavenly Father, I'm so thankful for the Guide, the One Who leads me. Oh, sometimes, Father, I can't hear Him around me, I get scared. I want Him close to me because I don't know what time I'm going to run up on the river. I want Him to be near me. Don't never leave me, Lord. I can't talk, I can't preach, I can't hunt in the woods, I can't fish on the bank, I can't drive my car, there's nothing I can do without You. You're my Guide. How happy I am to say to this congregation tonight, how that You have guided me in all these things, how that You have brought me!
E-152 I was thinking the other day; no more than a few years ago, standing down here on the street, and because that my family had done wrong, no one would talk to me. I was lonesome for fellowship. Nobody wanted anything to do with me. They said, "His daddy is a bootlegger." And, Lord, saw no one would talk to me. And I love people. But one day when I caught a hold of that Line! Now I think, Lord, I have to slip off and get out into the wilderness to get a little rest. What did it? Not personality, not education; I have none. But it was You, Lord. You, Lord. You've let me zero the target, you've let me catch the big fish, because You know I wanted to do it. You've give me fathers and mothers. You've give me brothers and sisters. You've give me my health. You've give me a wife. You give me family. You're my Guide, Lord. Let me hold Your hand, don't never let me turn loose. If one hand gets weary, I'll just change hands. Help me, Lord.
E-153 Now may each one in here take a hold of that same Lifeline, Lord, the Holy Spirit which is our Life, Life-giving resource. And may It guide us all to that happy Land yonder, where the toils of life is over and our work on earth is done, and then there will be no more old age, no feeble people, no more weary nights, no more crying and praying, no more altar calls, but we'll be young there forever, sickness and sorrow will be no more. There'll be no more sin, and we'll live in righteousness of God through all ages that is to come, through a ceaseless Eternity. Grant it, Father.
E-154 And now, Father, if there's any in here tonight who's never had a hold of that Lifeline, may they find It right now. And may the Holy Spirit Who's guided… And I can say from my heart, with my hand on Your Word, He's always been right. I'm wrong many times. But He's right. Let Him stay with me, Lord. Let me stay with Him. And may others in here, who don't know Him tonight, may they take a hold of His unchanging hand, that they might be guided down.
E-155 And someday we're coming out to the river. It's going to be foggy that morning, too. The old sea will be roaring, the old Jordan, the breakers dashing, death choking the life out of us. But, God, I—I won't be scared. I settled it a long time ago. I just want to take off the helmet, as a warrior, turn around, look back down the path to see where that Line has guided me to. See all the wilderness I've come through, and every brier patch, and every pile of stones that I got bruised on, but holding the Wire. As You said, the poet did, "Some through the waters, and some through the floods, some through deep trials, but all through the Blood." And I want to take This, the old Sword here, that's protected me along the road, and stick It back in Its sheath, scream out, "Father, send across the boat this morning, I'm coming in home." You'll be there, Lord. You promised it. You can't fail.
E-156 Bless everyone that's here now. And if they don't know how to hold this Line, and never touched It, may holy hands raise up now, wanting hands, desiring hands, and touch the Lifeline that'll lead them to their heart's desire, perfect peace and satisfaction, rest in Christ.
E-157 With our heads bowed, would there be a hands would raise up and say, "Let me. Hold my hand"? Oh, God bless you.
When the way is growing drear, precious Lord, linger near,
When my life is almost gone;
At the river I'll stand, guide my feet, hold my hand,
Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me on.
E-158 Would there be another raise up their hand, say, "Lord, I want to feel the touch of the Lifeline tonight. I want to feel Christ has forgiven me of my sins, and I want to be a new creature from this hour on"? God bless you. Would there be another say, "Let me touch You, Lord. Let me lose myself"? God bless you, sister. "Let me lose myself, and find it, Lord, in Thee." God bless you. And God bless you. That's right. "Let me lose myself, Lord. Let me forget." God bless you, brother. "Let me…" God bless you, sister. "Let me just lose all my knowledge." God bless you, sister. Don't trust in man-made schemes. Follow the Guide, He'll guide you into all Truth. "Lead me, Lord Jesus, lead me." God bless you back there. Oh, there's many hands has been up, wanting salvation. Now while we're…
E-159 The altar here, you can't call the altar, because people sitting all over it. But He's right there. You know good and well, when you raised your hand, something happened in your heart. Jesus said, "He that heareth My Words and believeth on Him that sent Me, has everlasting Life." You mean it? Then there's the pool here filled up with water. There'll be plenty of time for baptism. Let us pray.
E-160 Our Heavenly Father, this little broke-up Message tonight through a hoarse voice, the Holy Spirit must have went out somewhere. It went where It was purposed, and there's many, Lord, tonight, some fifteen or twenty raised up their hands, that they need the Guide. They realize that they're trying to fool themselves. They're trying to say "I'm all right," but way down deep they know they're not. And they want to feel You, Lord. They want the Guide. They want to sign up. You're never overstocked. They want to sign up for this trip. They don't know how to get there. No one knows how to take them there; You're the only One. They're coming for God's provided Guide, the Holy Spirit. They've raised up their hands.
E-161 O Holy Ghost and Guide, come down upon them. Forgive every sin. Pardon their iniquities. Take them into the Body of Christ tonight, where they can feel the current of God flowing through that Line that'll lead them on down to the Jordan, and across Jordan to the promised Land. May they follow straight behind the Word. The Word said, "Repent, and then be baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ." May they not try it some other way. May they follow right behind the Word, for He's the One that'll guide. That's the—that's the steps to climb over till we can catch a hold of the Guide. Grant it, Lord. May they be Yours. They're in Your hands now, as trophies, no man can pluck them out. I believe that You will take them, as saved people. I believe they raised up their hands, they could not have done that in themselves unless Something spoke to them. That was You, Holy Spirit and Guide.
E-162 They see the hour is closing in, fog is coming over the earth, great creeds and—and things are uniting together, churches are confederating, coming together. And, O God, how they're trying to say, "All that has a peculiarity will have to leave here and go to Alaska." And all these things that they're threatening, it's not new to us, the great Guide has showed us that in the path of the Word. We're just passing through that part of It.
E-163 Father, God, You spoke to them tonight, and I give them to You now as trophies of the Word. In Jesus' Name.
E-164 Now, laying on the desk here, Father, is handkerchiefs, it's for sick people, some little baby, maybe, some mother, some sister, some brother; even little hairpins stuck in them. And now I hold them up close to me. Now, we're taught in the Bible that they took from the body of Paul handkerchiefs and aprons, and sick people were healed, unclean spirits went out of people. Now we realize, Lord, that Paul was a man, he was just a man. But it was the anointing of the Holy Ghost that was on him that blessed the handkerchiefs, and the faith that the people had that he was Your apostle. Now Paul has been taken from us, but not the Guide, He's still here. And, God, I pray that You'll bless these handkerchiefs, and may the Guide lead them to the place, that complete surrender.
E-165 We're told again that when Israel was following their Guide, and they come right down to Jordan, right down (rather) to the Red Sea. In the very line of duty they were stopped, and the Guide led them down there. What? To show His glory. And when all hopes is gone, then God looked down through that Pillar of Fire, and even the old dead sea got scared and she rolled back, and there was a path made for Israel to walk over to the promised land.
E-166 Truly, Lord, You're still the same God. These people maybe are Christians, maybe they're right in the path of duty, but they been brought into this cornered place where sickness has cornered them. Look down through the Blood of Jesus tonight, that devil will get scared, he'll move back, and Your children shall pass over to the promise of good health. Grant it, Father. I send them from my body to theirs, in the Name of Jesus Christ.
E-167 I lift this congregation before You, by faith I take them plumb to the glorious altar of God yonder in Heaven. For every desire of sickness, whatever they have that's wrong, whatever that's wrong in their lives anywhere, God, cleanse them, make them Yours. Heal them, Father. And may the Power that raised up Jesus from the grave, quicken their mortal bodies and make them new creations in Christ. Give them good health and strength to serve You.
E-168 Remember me, O Lord. I am Your servant. Help me, standing in the need of prayer. And I pray that the Holy Spirit will guide us and use us, and lead us until the day we see Jesus Christ face to face at His glorious Coming when we meet Him in the air at the Rapture. In the Name of Christ we ask it. Amen.
I love Him, I… (Do you?)
Because He first loved me
And purchased my salvation
On Calvary's tree.
E-169 Now, if you don't love one another who you have seen, how you going to love Him Who you haven't seen? Now when we sing I Love Him, let's give our neighbor a hearty handshake of love.
I love Him,…
[Brother Branham shakes hands with those around him—Ed.] God bless you, Brother Neville. [Congregation continues singing.]
On Calvary's tree.
Now let's raise your hands to Him.
I love Him, I love Him
Because He first loved me
And purchased my salvation
On Calvary's tree.
E-170 For a good song, would you like to hear one? I understand that we have an evangelist song leader here from Indianapolis. I believe he sings at Cadle Tabernacle. Is that right? All right, sir. That's his place at Cadle Tabernacle. How many remembers E. Howard Cadle? Oh, my! God rest his precious soul. The mockingbird of the air, a woman that I loved to hear sing, better than anybody I nearly ever heard sing in my life, was Mrs. Cadle, singing, "Ere you left your room this morning, did you think to pray in the Name of Christ our Saviour, as a Shield today?"
E-171 Right across the street there one morning, in a little old two-room shack, I got up, was going to go in and make a fire. The stove wouldn't burn. And I tried to start it, and the wind come down, blowed the thing out in my face. And it was cold, and I was about froze. And frost all over the floor, and me barefooted; trying to get this little old tin stove started, little oven pipe on it. And I just… Meda and I had just been married a little bit. And I was trying, the old wood was wet and wouldn't burn, and I was sitting there, I thought, "Oh, my! I'll try it again." Had to go to work, and fanning that old stove like that. And I reached over and turned the radio over on, and she begin to sing, "Ere you left your room this morning, did you think to pray," I just fell down on the floor, "in the Name of Christ our Saviour, as a Shield today?" Oh, how I love to hear that woman!
E-172 When I cross over the river sometime, I believe I'll hear Mrs. Cadle sitting over there. You know, I've always made an appointment. On this side of the river, there's the evergreen Tree, you know, the Tree of Life; and over on the other side of the river, there's an Angelic choir sings day and night, 'cause there's no night there, sing all day, see. I'll get me a place and just set back and listen to it. I believe I'll hear Mrs. Cadle over there singing.
E-173 God bless our brother. I forgot his name. What is it, brother? [The brother says, "Ned Woolman."—Ed.] Brother Ned Woolman will sing for you now. Brother Woolman, glad to have you here tonight. [Brother Woolman sings The Chapel Of My Heart.]