|
E-1 Wonder that you know, I have a little idea, like to see people stand when we read the Word. Don't you like that? We stand to pledge allegiance. We stand for our nation. Why not stand for the Word now. While we are standing just a minute, I was reading an article not long ago. I was thinking last night of those people who stood for Christ. If you haven't done it, won't you do it today?
E-2 There's a great
evangelist about seventy-five years ago. I just can't think of his name. I think
it's Arthur McCoy. He'd crossed the land. And one night he had a dream that
he had went on to glory. And said he went up to the gates, and he said they
wouldn't let him in. And said he said, "I'm Arthur McCoy from the United States.
I'm an evangelist."
So the gatekeeper went in... Now, this was a dream. He went in, said, "I can't
find your name at all."
He said, "Well, I was an evangelist."
He said, "Sir, I..."
He said, "Well, is there a chance that there's something wrong?"
He said, "No, sir. I have the book here. I can't find your name at all."
And he said, "Well, I... Can I do anything about it?"
He said, "You might appeal your case to the white throne judgment." God help...
I don't want to be there.
He said, "Well, if that's my only hope, I guess I'll just appeal my case then."
E-3 And said, then he
thought he went way away, and just... And as he begin, said it was darkness,
and got lighter and lighter. And said it seemed like there was no certain place
this light stopped, but he was right in the center of it.
He said He said, "Who approaches My throne of judgment?"
He said, "I'm Arthur McCoy, an evangelist, sent many souls to the Kingdom."
He said, "Was your name not found upon the book?"
"No."
Said, "Then you have appealed to My court?"
"Yes, sir."
"You shall receive justice. I judge you by My laws. Arthur McCoy, did you ever
tell a lie?"
He said, "I thought I was a pretty good man till I stood in that light." He
said, "But in the presence of that light I was a sinner." We'll all be that.
E-4 You might feel secure
now. But wait till you come there. How do you think it feels here, when He's
anointing? How little you feel. What will it be at that white throne judgment?
He said, "Did you ever tell a lie?"
He said, "I thought I'd been truthful. But some little things I thought was
little white lies, they become big and dark there." He said, "Yes, sir, I've
told a lie."
He said, "Did you ever steal?"
He said, "I thought I'd been honest about it and never stole." But said, "In
the presence of that light I--I realized there was some deals that I pulled
that wasn't just right." He said, "Yes, sir, I stole."
He said, "My judgment..." And he was just about ready to hear his sentence,
"Depart into everlasting fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels."
He said, "Every bone was coming apart." Said, "I heard the sweetest voice I
ever heard in my life." He said, "When I turned to look, I saw the sweetest
face I ever saw, sweeter than a mother's face, sweeter voice than my mother
ever called me."
Said, "I looked around. I heard a voice, said, 'Father, that is true. He did
tell lies, and he wasn't just honest. But down on earth he stood for Me.' Said,
'Now, I'll stand in his place.'"
That's what I want to happen there. I want to stand for Him now, that when that
time comes He stood in my place.
E-5 Let's read from
Genesis 22:15th, 16th, 17th, and 18th verses.
E-6 Let us pray. Heavenly Father, take the text now, Lord, and minister to us. May the Holy Spirit carry the words, Lord, right out to every heart that would... Meet our expectations this afternoon, for they are great, Lord. And You told us to ask abundant, that our joys might be full. We ask it in Jesus' Name. Amen. May be seated.
E-7 If I should call
this a text for a few moments... My voice is weak. So that's the reason I have
to stand by the microphone. I know there's a rebound, but just suffer it a little.
I want to call it "Possessing The Gates Of The Enemy After Trial."
Our scene opens at one of the most marvelous scenes. And Abraham... You know
that Abraham is the father of the faithful, and the promise was made to Abraham.
And only being heirs with him through Christ is the only way we receive the
promise--is through Abraham.
Now, Abraham was just an ordinary man. But he was called of God, and he was
faithful to that call. When God spoke to him, Abraham never one time doubted
that voice. He stayed right with it. No matter what the difficult was, he stayed
right with it. And then he was promised a son. And he waited twenty-five years
to receive that son, calling anything contrary to it as though it wasn't so.
And then... And in this son all the families of the earth was to be blessed.
And the patriarch was faithful to his call in the promised Word. He was an example
of what we should be. Now, we being dead in Christ, we are Abraham's seed.
E-8 Now, there was two
seed of Abraham. One of them was natural seed, the other one was a spiritual
seed. One of them was natural by his flesh, the other was the seed of his faith,
the faith that we also might be Abraham's seed by the promised Word.
And now, after he had been tried for twenty-five long years... And instead of
growing weaker, he grew stronger. See, if it didn't happen the first year, the
next year it would be a greater miracle because it was two years old. And he
piled those years up as he got older and his body died out. The wombs of Sarah...
The womb, or it got--was infertile. And therefore, His strength was gone, and
there was... It's totally impossible.
Did you ever think what God did there? See, He never so much as just made her
womb fertile, for... Remember, if He did that, then... Remember, if He did that...
They didn't have these health and hygiene bottles them days to give the baby
milk from the cow. See? He also had to... Her milk veins was dried up, so He--He
couldn't have... There had to be something happen. Then look at a woman a hundred
years old to go into labor. Her heart wouldn't have stood it. It's hard now
for a woman forty years old to do it. Her heart couldn't have stood it.
E-9 So you know what
He did? If you'll notice... Now, I know many might disagree. If this is all
right to make this statement, see I... It will be just my own thinking. See,
the Bible is a supernatural Book. It's written so that It's hid from the schools,
theologians. How many knows that? Jesus thanked God. He said, "I thank Thee,
Father, Thou hast hid it from the wise and prudent, and revealed it to babes
such as would learn."
It's a Book of love. When the love of God comes into the heart, then you fall
in love with God. Then He reveals Hisself. The Bible, meaning the interpretation
of the Bible is God Himself, interpreted in His promises. But the Bible is written
between the lines.
E-10 Now, like my wife,
oh, she's the most wonderful woman in all the world, and I really love her.
She loves me. So when I'm away from home, she'll write me a letter, say, "Dear
Bill, Tonight I've just put the children to sleep. I've washed today," and what
all she done, and so forth. Now, she's saying that on the letter. But you see,
I love her so much, and we're so much as being one, till I--I can read between
the lines. I know what she wants to say (See?), whether she tells me that or
not. See, I--I know what she means, because it's my love for her, and my understanding.
Well, that's the way the Bible's wrote. See? The--the scholarship will go right
over the top of it. They'll never get it. See? You've got to be in love with
the Word, Him, to know Him. See?
E-11 Now. Now, in here
watch what He did. Now, Abraham and Sarah was both old, well-stricken the Bible
said. Now, it wasn't just because they were just people lived longer there.
The Bible said that they were well-stricken in age. Now, notice. Immediately
after this Angel appeared, we been talking about, which was Elohim, God... And
He said, told Abraham, "I'm going to visit you, according to the time of life."
Now, watch. All down through they were a type of the church, all the way through.
Now, look. Here's what happened. Now, He just didn't patch Sarah up and patch
Abraham up. He turned them back to a young man and woman. Now, that may seem
strange, but now watch the rest of the Word and put it together. The Word is
inspired. You have to be inspired with the Word. Now, remember, Immediately
after that, immediately after the appearing of this Angel...
I can just see that--that gray hair of Sarah, little grandma with a shawl over
her shoulder, and a little dust cap, holding a stick going around. "Me, having
pleasure with my lord, and him old too?" See? And here was Abraham, his long
beard, holding on a stick, as he was well-stricken in age. And I see the next
morning his shoulders begin to straighten up; the hump come out of his back.
Her hair begin to turn. They went back to a young man and woman, just showing
what He's going to do to the royal seed of Abraham (See?), when we're changed
in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, and be caught up together.
E-12 Watch what happened.
Now, let me prove this to you. Now, they'd taken a trip from that place they
were at, there at Gomorrah, and went all the way to Gerar down in the Philistine
land. Did you notice? Mark it on the map, how far it is. Quite a journey for
an old couple of that age.
And then besides that, in--in the Philistine land there, there was a young king
by the name of Abimelech, and he was looking for a wife. And he had all those
beautiful Philistine girls. But when he seen grandma, he said, "She's fair to
look upon." And he fell in love with her and wanted to marry her. See? She was
beautiful. See? She'd turned back to a young woman. Notice. She had to, to bring
that child. God made her a new creature, and she had to, to raise this child.
And remember Abraham, his body as good as dead... And Sarah died when Abraham
was... Isaac was forty-five years old, I believe, when Sarah died. And Abraham
married another woman, and had seven sons, besides the daughters, after that.
See, read between the lines. It's a type that shows there what He's going to
do to all the children of Abraham, just... We're nearing it right now. So our
stooped shoulders, and everything, don't make any difference, friends, and our
gray hairs, and whatever it is. It doesn't matter now. We're... Don't look back.
Let's look forward to what we're coming to. And remember, this sign that we're
seeing was the last sign that Abraham, and his Sarah, saw before the promised
son come into existence. We believe we're at that hour.
E-13 The patriarch,
after this boy being born... Could you imagine Isaac about twelve years old,
lovely little curly-haired boy, little brown eyes? I'd imagine how that mother
felt, beautiful young woman, and so, and his father.
And one day God said... Now, for an example, for way off, the hours that's to
come, "I've made you father of nations through this boy. But I want you, take
this boy up on the top of the mountain that I'll show you, and I want you to
kill him up there, for a sacrifice." Could you imagine that? Now, you've never
been asked to go to a test like that. He doesn't do that now. That was examples,
shadows.
Did Abraham fear? No, sir. Abraham said this, "I'm fully persuaded that He's
able to raise him up from the dead; for I received him as one from the dead.
And if that commandment of God told me to do this, and I've stayed true to it,
and it paid off to have given me the son, God's able to raise him from the dead
from which I received him as a figure."
Oh, my, friends. If God give you Pentecostals the Holy Ghost speaking in tongues,
how much more ought you to believe His healing power and His goodness and mercy?
If He did that against all the theologians in the country... They said it couldn't
be done. But God did it because He promised it. Then stand by your guns, your
word, your sword. Believe the Word of God. God said so and that settles it.
E-14 Notice. Now, He
took him a three day's journey from there with the mules. Now, I can walk...
When I was on patrol I walked thirty miles every day through the wilderness.
And we got gasoline feet, so to speak. But them men, only way their transportation
was, either ride a donkey or--or walk. And he went three day's journey from
where he was, and then lifted up his eyes out in the wilderness and saw the
mountain far off.
He took Isaac and bound his hands, which we all know Genesis 22 here is a type
of Christ, led him up the mountain bound like Jesus was led up the mountain,
Mount Calvary, type of God giving His Son, of course. But when they got up there
and he was obedient, Isaac begin to get kind of suspicious. He said, "Father,
here is the wood, here is the altar, here's the fire. But where is the sacrifice?"
And Abraham that, knowing in his mind, yet the Word of God standing out there,
he said, "My son, God is able to provide for Himself a sacrifice." He called
the place Jehovah-jireh.
And when he bound his son, he was obedient to death. Laid him upon the altar,
pulled the knife out of the sheath, and started to take the life of his own
son. And when he did, something caught his hand, and said, "Abraham, stay your
hand." And at that time a ram bleated behind him, with his horns hooked in the
wilderness.
E-15 Did you ever think,
"Where did that ram come from?" Remember, the country's full of lions, and wolves,
and jackals, and that--and sheep-devouring beasts. And how far back from civilization
was he? And then, up on top of the mountain where there's no water, and he had
picked up the stones all around to make the altar. Where did that ram come from.
See? But it wasn't a vision. He killed the ram. It had blood. What did he say?
"God is able to provide for Himself a sacrifice."
How are you going to come out of that chair? How's that spastic child going
to get well, or you from that chair? You from there? You with the heart trouble?
Whatever's the matter, God is able to provide for Himself.
Abraham believed it. The patriarch stayed true to the promise. And He give the
promise that, "Your seed... Because you've believed My Word, and regardless
of what the circumstance, your seed shall possess the gate of its enemy." Why?
Every enemy that come up as a figure against Abraham, the enemy of "She's too
old; I'm too old", or all this, and everything else, he still stayed right true
to that promise.
E-16 Now, a man that
possesses that faith still will take God's Word, regardless of circumstances.
Now, if you can't do that, then you're not Abraham's seed. That's the faith
that Abraham had. His seed... The promise of Abraham was that his seed, now,
his royal seed, also, as I told you awhile ago... And this seal that He give
Abraham was the seal of promise. And the royal seed, according to Ephesians
4:30, is sealed by the Holy Ghost after they have stood the test.
Try to think of it. Many think they got the Holy Ghost. Many claim to have the
Holy Ghost. Many can show many evidences and signs of It. But still, if it can't
stay with this Word, it's not the Holy Ghost. See? You believe every Word, then
you're sealed after the test. When we believe every promise in the Word, then
we are sealed by the Spirit to confirm the promise. That's what he--that's what
Abraham, way he did it. Then and then only, have we the right to possess the
gate of our enemy. You cannot do it until first you become that seed.
E-17 Remember, in the
Bible... I spoke on it at Houston, or somewhere the other--or, I mean Dallas,
"The Token." See, a--a Jew could show down in Israel that he was a Jew by circumcision.
But God said, "When I see the blood... And the blood shall be unto you a token."
The life that was in the blood could not come on the worshipper, because well,
it was the animal's life. It was only a shadow, coming up to the real life.
Then the chemistry, the blood itself had to be red upon the door and the post
of the door, applied by hyssop, which is just a common weed, showing that you
don't have to have some super faith. You just have to have the same--the faith
you got, like you have to start your car, come to church. See?
A lot of people thinks they got to be something. But no, no. That's wrong. Just
common faith is all you have to apply the blood by. Hear the Word, believe the
Word, and apply It. That's all. Just pick up weeds, anywhere there in Palestine,
with hyssop. It's a little weed growed out of cracks of the walls, and around,
dipped it in the blood, and put it on the lintel and the doorpost.
E-18 And remember. I don't care how much they were in the covenant, how much of the Jew could show he was circumcised, how good a person he was, all the covenant was annulled unless the--the token was there. "When I see the blood..." alone. Now, the blood now... The token is not the chemistry--chemistry of the Blood of Christ, 'cause it was shed thousands of years ago. But you see, where it had to be the chemistry there... The life in the animal couldn't come upon the human, because the life of the animal doesn't have a soul. Animal doesn't know right from wrong. It's the human being that has the soul.
E-19 Now, but when Jesus,
the Son of God, virgin born, shed His Blood, the Life that was in that Blood
was God Itself. The Bible said we are saved by the Life--the Blood of God, not
the blood of a Jew, not the blood of a Gentile, but the Life of God.
God created this Blood cell. Virgin born, she never knew no man, neither did
she--neither did the egg come from her. I know many of you people won't believe
the egg did. The egg can't be there without a sensation. What would God do then.
See? He created both egg and blood cell. And that was the tabernacle of God:
holy. "I will not suffer my Holy One to see corruption." That's where the egg
come. "Neither will I leave His soul in hell." His body was holy.
Oh, my. You know, if you can't believe that, how can you call yourself a Christian?
We're saved by the Blood of God. That's where my faith is. Not walk out there
in the blood of a prophet, not walk out there in the blood of an ordinary man,
or a teacher, or a theologian; we walk there in the Blood of God. God said so.
He become human being. He changed His strand. He stretched His tent here with
us, and become one of us. He's our Kinsman Redeemer. He had to become kinfolks
to us, 'cause that was the law. God became man and dwelled among us.
E-20 Notice. How that
in doing this, He... Coming from Him was God, the Spirit. And that Spirit becomes
upon the believer. Therefore, the Life that was in our Sacrifice, we are identified
by that same Life. Then how can they see the Life of God moving amongst the
people and call it an unclean thing, when that's our identification of our Sacrifice?
"He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he also," His Life returning
upon the sacri--from the sacrifice as we lay our hands upon it, and identifying
ourselves dead to our own thoughts.
Then how can we let denominations push us into creeds and things, and say we
believe it? We are dead to those things. Paul said, "None of these things bother
me," for he was tied to an Absolute, Christ. And every true achievement is tied
to an absolute, and my Absolute is the Word. And everybody else that's really
born of the Spirit, their Absolute is God's Word. I'm tied to It. I laid my
hands upon It, and It took my place. I've identified myself with Him. We knew
that He promised to identify Himself with us. That brings genuine faith, not
your own faith, but His faith, something that you don't control. He does it.
Now, notice. Then, and then only, when the--is the promise made to you.
E-21 No matter how many churches you join, how many times you've been baptized: face forward, backward, any way you want to, until that seal is placed upon you, then you have no right to call yourself a--connected with your Sacrifice. And what is the seal of God? Ephesians 4:30 says, "Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you're sealed until the day of your redemption," not from one revival to another, but eternally sealed until the day that you're redeemed back.
E-22 And remember, if
you never was in God's thoughts, you'll never be with God. How many knows that
He was a Redeemer? Well, then, anything redeemed has to come back to where it
fell from. So if He come to redeem us, how could we was... One time didn't have
to be redeemed, and we were all borned in sin, shaped in iniquity, come to the
world speaking lies. It shows that the real Christian is a attribute of God's
thinking before there was a world, or a star, or air, or anything else. It's
eternal.
And He come to redeem us back. It's God's thought spoke into a word, made manifest
and re--brought back to His thoughts: Kinsman Redeemer. That's the reason God
Himself had to come one of us to redeem. Nothing else could do it. An angel
couldn't do it, nothing else. He had to come down and be tempted like we are
to redeem us.
E-23 Notice, now, the
natural seed of Abraham. Let's check some of those natural seed, and see if
God kept His Word with the natural seed, which was Isaac. Let's check some of
the natural seed that believed the full promise of God, and had no question.
Now, remember, there were tens of thousands times thousands, times multiplied
thousands, that was circumcised, and everything else and still was not Abraham's
seed. Sure. That which is Jew outward is not Jew; that which is Jew inward.
They, many of them, failed, bitterly failed. Look in the wilderness. They said,
"We..." The day of the Passover, or at the drinking at the fountain, St. John
6, they was all rejoicing. Jesus said, "I'm that Rock that was in the wilderness.
I'm the Bread that come from God out of heaven. If a man may eat thereof, they'll
not die."
They said, "Our fathers eat manna in the wilderness for forty years."
He said, "And they are every one dead."
"Dead." Take that word and run and see what it means: "eternally separated."
Yet they were Abraham's seed. "Death" means "separation, annihilation, completely
destroyed, annihilation."
Jesus said they were dead, every one of them. Yet they were circumcised Jews.
See, folks, just because we're Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, got a little
confession and things like that... The devil believes just as much as we do.
But you've got to be identified with it. God's got to witness it to us by a
sealing with the Holy Spirit, no question of the Word. If you say, "Well, I...
That was for the other day," there's something wrong.
E-24 What if a man come
running, and you told him the light was shining, and he run down to the basement
and said, "I just refuse it. I just refuse it. There's no such a thing as light.
I don't believe it." There'd be something wrong with that man. He'd be mentally
upset. If he refuses its warm rays, and its life-giving resource, there's something
wrong with him, mentally.
And when a man sees the Word of God made plain before him and identified, and
then shuts and pulls down his denominational curtains, there's something wrong
with that man spiritually. Something's wrong with him; there's something spiritually
wrong. He just can't receive it: blind, and don't know it, going on to the judgment.
And God will be the judge.
E-25 Notice. When they--they
did this... And these seeds now that did believe it, watch what happened. Let's
check some of them now, Abraham's seed. Let's take the Hebrew children, 'cause
they stood true and wouldn't tolerate with image worship. They refused to bow
down to an image that the king of the nation had made. It was made after a holy
man too: the image of Daniel. Showed that the Gentile race was brought in under
the false side of worshipping a image of a holy man. It goes out the same way,
when people will be forced to worship images of people. It come in by revelation
of Daniel being able to interpret the Word that was wrote on the handwriting
on the wall. That's the way it come in, and that's the way it goes out, the
same way of the image of the Gentile.
Notice. They refused to do it. What did they do? They were Abraham's seed standing
true to the Word, and they possessed the gates of the enemy of fire. They did
it. God's Word's true.
E-26 Daniel, tested
for the worship of one true God, he was tested for that. And in the time of
test, he stood the test. And what did God do, after it looked like the chips
down for him, as we would say? And they didn't know what to do. They was going
to feed him to the lions, but Daniel stayed true to the test that there's one
true God. And he possessed the gate of his enemy. God closed the mouth of the
lions.
Moses stayed true to the promised Word before the false impersonators, Jannes
and Jambres, in the test. Look. God had met him with supernatural, told him
to go do these things, show these signs, and each sign would have a voice. Moses
went right down just as true as he knowed. He throwed down the stick, and it
turned into a serpent. You know what happened? Here come the impersonators and
done the same thing.
Now, Moses didn't throw up his hands and say, "Well, I guess it's all wrong."
He stayed there and waited on God. He stayed true. No matter how many impersonators
there was, he stayed true. And when he stayed true to his commission to bring
those people out of that place, when the water gate got in his way, God let
him possess it. And he opened the gate by the Pillar of Fire that was leading
him, and he took the people on to the promised land.
E-27 Joshua, another
great leader. Only two out of--went to the promised land: Joshua and Caleb.
They came to a place called Kadesh, which was the center of the world at that
time insomuch that that was the judgment seat. And, oh, they sent out twelve
spies to look at the land. And twelve of them come back. Ten of them said, "Oh,
it's too much of a job. We just couldn't do it. Why, them people, we look like
grasshoppers by the side of them."
But what did Joshua do? He stilled the people. He said, "Wait a minute. We're
more than able to take it, no matter how little we are and how much in the minority."
What was he doing? He was standing true to that promise, "I give you this land.
But you'll fight every inch of it."
You believe that, mother? God's give you your healing, but you'll fight every
inch of it. "Everywhere the soles of your feet set, that I give you for possession."
Footprints means possession. It's all yours. Every promise belongs to you, but
you'll fight every inch of the way in and out.
E-28 Now. Joshua knew
what God said. He was the seed of Abraham. See, he said, "I believe that--that
God give us the land, and we're more than able to take it." And because he stood
the test against the whole group of Israelites, all the tribes and all the people
moaning and crying... Joshua said, "Keep still. God made the promise. No matter
how big they are, and what the opposition is," and what the doctor said, "God
give the promise. It's up to God to do it."
What did he do? When he come down to the river of Jordan, he possessed the gate.
That's what he--he did. Jericho closed up like a turtle in a shell, what did
he do? He possessed the gate. Even one day when his enemy was trying to take
him, he possessed the gate of his enemies so much that he commanded the sun
to stand still. And the sun obeyed him and never turned for twenty-four hours.
E-29 God's true to His
promise no matter what He has to do, bankrupt the heavens before He'd let His
Word go defeated. Never made a promise that He can't keep. "I'm the Lord heals
all thy diseases. If you lay hands on the sick they shall recover. (Amen.) If
thou canst believe, all things are possible."
Joshua believed it, though God had to stop the earth from turning, held it there
by some other power (His own power), that the world never turned for twenty-four
hours, till Joshua avenged himself upon his enemy. He took the gates. Certainly
he did. God's ever true.
Now, I wish we had time to get to more heroes but I got about ten minutes now.
E-30 Look. All these
precious heroes, as they were great warriors of faith, they all died at the
gate of death. They all perished right at the gate of death. Then come along
the royal Seed of Abraham. They were all the natural seed from Isaac. But here
come the royal Seed of Abraham, which was Christ, Abraham's Seed of faith, what
we're supposed to be. Just see how--whether we are or not.
The natural seed only was a type. All others was borned of natural birth, but
He come of virgin birth. See, that wasn't of the seed of Abraham then, a Jew.
He come by the seed of faith of the promise. And then, we're supposed to be
his children through this man. Watch what He did.
E-31 When He was on
earth He conquered and possessed every gate the enemy had, the royal Seed. He
promised it by the Word. He conquered it. He conquered the gate of sickness
for us. That's what He come to do. He... Remember, sick people, He conquered
that gate. You don't have to conquer it, He conquered it. The other men had
to conquer their own gate. But you don't have to conquer it, it's already conquered.
He conquered the gates of sickness, and what did He do when He conquered the
gates of sickness? Saying that He would... Whatever you ask on earth, or whatever
you bound on earth, He'd bind it in heaven, give us the keys to the gate. He
conquered the gate of temptation by the Word, and the keys was, "Resist the
enemy and he'll flee from you." He conquered it all, conquered every sickness,
conquered death, and He conquered hell. He conquered death and hell.
He conquered what the others couldn't conquer, because they're the natural seed.
This is the spiritual seed. He conquered the gates of the grave, and rose up
on the third day for our justification. And now, we are more than conquerors.
We just walk right into it as an inheritance: more than conquerors. Now, we
are dealing with a defeated enemy. Sickness is defeated; death is defeated;
hell is defeated. Everything's defeated. Oh, my. I wished I was twice my size,
now maybe I'd feel twice as good. [Brother Branham
knocks on pulpit--Ed.]
E-32 We are disputing
with a conquered enemy. No wonder Paul could say, when they was building a block
to chop his head off, he said, "O death, where is your sting? Show me where
you can make me squirm and scream. Grave, where is your victory? And you think
you'll mold me out there. I'll point you to an empty one over there, and I'm
in Him. He'll raise me up at the last days." A defeated enemy... The royal seed
of Abraham.
Now, the natural seed could not point to that, but the royal seed can. Conquered,
already conquered, for He has gone on before us, and conquered every gate for
us. He's... And now, after two thousand years, He stands in the midst of us,
the mighty Conqueror. Not only did He conquer sickness, He conquered sickness.
He conquered temptation. He conquered every enemy. He conquered death; He conquered
hell; He conquered the grave, and rose up again.
And two thousand years later, here He stands among us this afternoon, identifying
Hisself the mighty Conqueror. Amen. Still here alive, vindicating His promise.
Royal Seed of Abraham... Oh, my. And the enemy shall... He'll conquer the gates
of His enemy.
E-33 To those seeds,
He stands here alive to vindicate Himself to who? Those predestinated seeds
that can see it. He conquered that, who... After His test of the promise of
the Word, they were sealed by the Holy Ghost into the body of Christ. To them,
confirmed what? Hebrews 13:8 to be so. They are sealed in there by the Holy
Ghost, that Holy Ghost which was by... Abraham foresaw it, by faith he believed
it, and now we receive it, looking back to the promise of what He said.
And John 14:12 is made confirmed in this last days, by the risen Conqueror Hisself,
not some system, but a Person, Christ the Conqueror. Not my church, not my Baptist
church, or your Presbyterian, Methodist, or the Pentecostals. Not by that, but
by Jesus Christ, He lives today. He rose over the--for our justification. And
because He lives, He said we live also. "Man don't live by bread alone, but
by every Word (not part of the Word), every Word that proceeds out of the mouth
of God."
E-34 "I am the Resurrection
and Life. He that believeth in Me, though he were dead yet shall he live. Whosoever
liveth and believeth in Me shall never die. Believest thou this?" Take the gate
of every enemy. How could he conquer Bosworth, when Bosworth is in the conqueror.
That's the reason he said, "The happiest hour of my life is right now." He knowed
that mighty Conqueror. His assurance rested with Him. Oh, my. Now, we can sing.
E-35 To those who are--seem
to be defeated, Eddie Perronett, I believe it was. He couldn't sell his Christian
songs. Nobody wanted them. They had nothing to do with it. All defeated, and
a believer, one day the Holy Spirit come upon him. The gate of his enemy that
wouldn't receive his literature... The Spirit struck him, and he grabbed the
pen. God let him write the inauguration song.
E-36 Blind Fanny Crosby
one time... Said, "What does it means to you?" Some... She didn't sell her birthright
like the Pentecostal Elvis Presley did, or like the Church of Christ Boone did,
or like the Red Foley did, selling their talents to the world. They got a fleets
of Cadillacs, and million-dollar gold records. But Fanny Crosby stayed true
to the faith. She screamed out,
She said, "I'll know Him anyhow."
Said, "How will you know Him?"
Said, "I'll know Him."
Said, "Miss Crosby, you could make a million dollars."
She said, "I don't want the million dollars."
"How will you know Him?"
She said,
E-37 If you are in Christ,
He said, "If ye abide in Me, and My Words abide in you, ask what key you want.
Ask what gate you want to take. Ask what you will, and it shall be given to
you. If ye abide in Me and My Word abides in you, you can take any enemy's gate
that comes before you. You're the royal seed of Abraham."
What kind of a gate stands before you? If it's sickness, you're more than a
conqueror for it. Then we can say--sing this gracious old song,
E-38 Let us pray. Lord,
may the seed of Abraham... I know they'll see it, Lord. How can that Word fall
without hitting that real ground. I pray that they'll understand now. May every
person that comes in the prayer line be healed.
Lord, if there be some in here yet that has not as yet made their confession,
not stood publicly and stood for Christ, ready to deny all the creeds and the
cold, formal, dead things that's taken them away from You, may they stand now
and say, "I will accept Him as my Saviour." Then You'll stand for them on that
day.
E-39 While we have our
heads bowed, if there are those who would like to stand just a moment for prayer,
say, "I want to stand for Him now, that He'll stand for me at that day." In
His Divine Presence I ask you, and give you the opportunity that your name be
placed on the Book of Life, if you will stand. I'm not asking you to join any
church. I'm asking you to come to Christ, if you're here and do not know Him.
God bless you, son. Is there another, say, "I--I want to stand now?" God bless
you, lady. God bless you, my sister. "I want..." God bless you. God bless you.
"I take my stand this afternoon," these fine people, men and women, standing
up. "I'll take my stand this afternoon." And that day when the doctor says,
"Well, the wreck... His blood's shedding. Death is upon him, or upon her," or
some morning... You'll remember your stand. You stand for Him now.
"If you're ashamed of Me before men, I'll be ashamed of you before My Father
and the holy Angels. But if you'll confess Me before men, him will I confess
before My Father and the holy Angels." God bless you, my sister.
E-40 Would there be some in the balcony somewhere? Right now, while we're waiting, some more on the main floor? All right. I take you at your word, friends. If the Word falls on fertile ground like the little woman at the well, she understood. She was represented in heaven from before the foundation of the world. When that light struck it, she recognized it. God bless you, my brother. That's a gallant... God bless you, my brother. You might have done great things in your life. You're doing the greatest thing you ever did do now, stand for Christ.
E-41 Our heavenly Father,
the seed has dropped on some ground this afternoon. We see life springing up,
men and women stand to their feet. And the all-seeing eye of God, Who is omnipresent,
omniscient, omnipotent, sees them. They are Yours, Father. I present them to
You now as trophies.
May this experience of them standing there now, knowing what they have done,
knowing what this means, that they stand to take their stand with the Lord's
despised few, may they ever remain true until that day they stand in Your Presence.
Then that lovely voice will say, "Yes. One day in Baton Rouge, or a little place
called Denham Springs, he stood for Me, Father. Now, I'll stand for him or her."
Grant it, Lord. They're Yours. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
God bless you for your stand. God ever... Now, do this one thing for me. Find,
if you're around where these pastors are, see if you... Talk to them. If you
haven't been baptized yet in Christian baptism, do so. Get yourself amongst
believers, now, real believers, not make-believers, real believers.
E-42 While we're praying,
let's pray for these handkerchiefs. Heavenly Father, these handkerchiefs goes
out now, where, I don't know, maybe some old blind daddy setting out here in
a little swamp somewhere, waiting for this handkerchief to come, a little baby
laying there on a hospital bed, a mother standing frantically, waiting for the
return of the handkerchief.
Heavenly Father, I pray that You'll go with them. And for a token of Your Presence
today, and our faith in You as we've preached Thy Word, may the faith that was
in Abraham and the faith that was produced and given to us by Jesus Christ,
may it go into these handkerchiefs, and heal every one that it's laid upon.
We send them in Jesus' Name. Amen.
E-43 Now, just a moment
before we call the prayer line. The omnipotent, mighty God, the great One, the
all-sufficient One...
Please, friends, I--I'm going to start praying for the sick, and I probably...
When we come down I--I might not get to say nothing to you. Some of you may
go before that time. Whatever you are, if you didn't even stand awhile ago,
and you're not sure... If you're a member of a church, that's a good thing,
but that's not good enough.
See, the rich young ruler was a member of the church. And he asked Jesus what
could he do to have Eternal Life. He never accepted it. He walked away. What
a foolish thing for that young man to do. Don't take his place. You remember,
the last time he was identified, a little later? He prospered. He got richer.
He got to a place, till even his barns bursted. But then we find his last identification
in hell, flames tormenting. Don't, don't let that happen to you. Accept Christ.
E-44 You young people,
you young girls, young boys just at the turning of life, please do that. Hear
me as your brother, one who loves you. I'm here because I love you. I love God
and I love you. And I cannot love God if I don't love you. I'd a lot rather,
if you have a comment to pass, pass it on my son out there, or one of my children.
Let me just... I--I'll go without it. Any parent will do that. So will God.
See? Love His people. Love one another.
You say "What do you scold them for?" Genuine love is corrective. If your child
was setting out in the street, and you say, "Well, there sets Junior. He oughtn't
to do that, but I don't want to hurt his little feelings," you don't love him.
He'd get killed there. If you love him, you'll bring him in, and give him a
spanking. You'll make him obey. That's the way God does. Love is corrective.
That's genuine love.
E-45 When a preacher
stands and lets you women bob your hair, and wear paint and stuff, and don't
correct you, there's no genuine love there: won't call it out. And lets you
men marry three or four times, and all these other things, and get by with it,
there's no genuine love there. Lets you join a church, and pats you on the back,
and smother you with some creed, saying, "That's all you have to do. Join the
holy church," there's no love there. Or either, the man's so totally lost himself
he don't see.
Genuine love is corrective and brings you back to the Word of God. Look at Jesus,
how what He said, 'cause He loved them so much that He died in their place,
when they was even calling for His Blood.
E-46 Now, may the great
Holy Spirit... I want to wait just a minute. I'm waiting till the anointing
of the Holy Spirit gets upon me before we get started. I've been preaching.
Thank you for your cooperation.
Now, each one in here, wherever you are anywhere in the building, pray just
for a minute, say, "Lord Jesus, help me. Help me. Let me touch Your garment."
Jesus said, you know, when the woman touched His garment... He didn't feel it
physically, but He turned around and knowed who she was and what she did. He's
the same Jesus this afternoon, a High Priest can be touched by the feeling of
our infirmities. Do you believe, each one of you now, that it's true? That God
that made this promise, once more may He show it, as we're living in the days
of Sodom. How many believe that in the building? Just raise up your hand.
We're living as it was in Sodom. The whole system has become polluted. The world
system, everything, the church system, political system, there's nothing...
Politics is so corrupted, the system everywhere, dictators; it's all corruption.
The church has become the same way. Families have become the same way. It's
just corruption: Sodom.
Then remember... God's got that before you. Then remember, He said that He would
represent Himself in human flesh, and would do like He did before Sodom, before
the promised Son came on the scene. He promised to send one that would forerun
that promised Son as He did at the first place, that would introduce. And He
said when the Son of man is being revealed...
E-47 I don't know you.
Miss Thompson, that female trouble and complications, you believe that God will
make you well? Can you believe it? You will? Miss Thomas? You believe He'll
make you well? Raise up your hand.
There's a lady setting right behind you. She's praying. She's got arthritis.
One setting right next to her has stomach trouble, praying also. They're going
to miss it, if you don't watch. You're not from here. You're from Mississippi.
You're Mr. and Mrs. Stringer. If you believe with all your heart, Jesus Christ
will make you well, if you can believe it. Do you? Then you can receive it.
Okay. Raise up your hands, so that the people see that you...
I don't know them people. I've never seen them in my life. You got to believe,
friends. He's identifying Himself. Do you believe that? With all your heart?
E-48 Why'd you shake
your head, sir, and look at me like that? Yes, sir. Because you've done that,
I'm going to talk to you a minute. Look like a aged gentleman, setting right
here, looking at me. He looked at me with such sincerity. He believed it. You're
praying for somebody that had a stroke. But--but your main thing you're praying...
you need... You're seeking the baptism of the Holy Ghost. That's right. That
is right. If you believe...
The lady, you're seeking employment. Besides that, that you might know that
I be God's prophet, or servant, you've had two operations that's left you kinda
weak, all kinds of conditions, spiritual troubles. I want to tell you it's all
settled. Your faith makes you well.
E-49 [Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.]...
setting right next to you there, she's praying. Look here. He heard you. You
touched Him. Don't know you, but He does. I tell you what you was praying about.
You believe with all your heart? You got a gall bladder trouble. You're praying.
You believe that God will heal you and make you well? You're Mrs. Smith. That's
right. Raise your hand.
See, He's identifying Hisself. What is it? It's the seed of Abraham, the faith
that Abraham had, the Lord Jesus Christ among us confirming His Word with signs
following.
Who... How many cards is to be prayed for? Raise your hands. Got your... Oh,
we better start the prayer line. You see... You understand, don't you?
Now, that Spirit, not only... That doesn't heal. That only identifies Him being
here. Your pastors have just the same authority to pray for the sick. They don't
do that. No, certainly not. But they--but they have just the same authority.
These signs shall follow the believers.
Now, I want my pastor friends here... Is it all right to call from the audience,
ministers? How many pastors here that believe with all your heart, ministers
in here believe? Thank you. I wonder if you'll stand, come here, stand with
me just a minute right down here to pray for the sick? Come right down here.
E-50 Now, you watch
the healing take place. Watch what happens. I want you to come form a double
line right here. I'm coming down there just in a moment to pray for the sick.
I want the believing pastors who wants to identify themselves as believers,
that you believe that your coming here, and you're living a holy clean life...
Remember. Looky here what's coming out, representing the Gospel of Christ.
Brother Blair, I know you there. You, or Brother Pat, would you form that double
line the way you usually do it if you will, you and Brother Pat? Believing pastors,
that's going to believe.
E-51 Now, look. If God
so can identify Himself by His Word, with His Word, how many knows that the
Bible... Jesus said this, "These signs shall follow them that believe. If they
lay their hands on the sick, they shall recover." Pastors, you've come here
to identify yourself as believers or... You are believers, aren't you? You wouldn't
be standing here. Now, what did Jesus say? "These signs shall follow them that
believe." I'm a believer with you. I'm coming down. These are our people. We're
shepherds over these flocks. I'm coming down to stretch my net with you now,
put my hands with yours. And when these people come by...
If you've got anything that's just a little skeptic in your mind, get it out
right now so that when these people come by, that each one of them, coming by
and we lay hands on them, they'll be healed. Will you believe with all your
heart now, everyone?
E-52 How many in here
is going to be praying for the others as they pass through? Raise up your hand.
I'll be praying. Remember, might be your father, your mother, your daughter,
or son, sister, or brother. And if it isn't yours, it's somebody's, that's going
to come through this line. And what if it was them, and they were dying with
cancer or some hideous disease. Wouldn't you want men to be deeply sincere?
Certainly we would.
Now. I believe... How you going... Now, these in this row here, this aisle,
stand over against that side, with the prayer cards, stand over against that
side, all that's in the right section. Now, we'll hold the left section. We
get all jammed up, and see, you don't know how--what we're doing. All right.
All that's in this section, stand up here.
Now, all that's in the right-hand section, just come this way, 'cause you're
going to come down, come around. And how you going--how they going out, Brother
Borders? Right out the side door, come right around and in the building again.
So when this side will be called in a few minutes, and they will stand up. And
let's see now how... All right. Those in this section turn on this side, over
here. Holding your prayer cards, get over on this side. And you in the balcony
walk right down to meet them at the end of the row, up there.
E-53 Now, these in this
left-hand section go over to the left-hand side. And then, you see you form
your line, and go back that way. Turn back, turn that way (See?), and you'll
follow the line right around. Then we won't have any mix-up at all.
And then, you up in the balcony, just make your places right at them aisles,
and just drop right in as they come through. Now, now, just start walking on
back, each one; walk right on back till you meet this line, right around here.
Just come right around up in here. Just start walking right around and come
to this line right here.
E-54 Oh, what could
happen right now, what could happen. This is going to be a time where something
must take place. All right. Now, that's right. Go right back around that way
and get right in the line, like that. Go right around this aisle. That's the
way. Now. And now, when you're standing, everybody on their feet, we're going
to offer prayer. And this congregation is going to pray with me that you're
going to be made well. Just have faith now, and don't...
Come right on around, way back in the back, come right on around, and join into
this line back here. Come right around. Make one big line. Come right around
that way and make the one line. That's it.
Everybody be in prayer, be real in faith now. Just... Don't notice the crowd
now. Remember, we are--we are enshrouded by the Presence of Jesus Christ, depending
on us to honor what He's done among us by having faith in His Word. That's fine.
Now, that's just be fine. I think that line is getting in just wonderful. Now,
while they're all standing, I want every person now in the building to bow your
head.
E-55 Lord Jesus, it's
soon to happen. The decision has to be made right now. Do we believe You're
here? Do we love You? Have we faith, Lord, sufficient for what we're going to
ask? These people are identifying themselves by standing in the line. Lord,
may it not be in vain. May it be, Lord, that they pass through here, each one
will just pass like they was passing under Christ, for we know He's here. And
we pray that they'll receive their healing.
I'm sure that, even in weeks and weeks to come, these people will be going to
their pastors. Women that had female trouble, stomach trouble, men with prostate,
all kinds of trouble, will be made well, saying, "You know, the thing just left
me," for they're in Your Presence. May they come through the line, and draw
off this what You have died for. They're the seed of Abraham. And You've conquered
for them. May they come and receive what You have given to them.
And, Satan, you have been so exposed this week till you know that you are a
defeated being. Jesus Christ defeated you at Calvary. He raised up on the third
day for our justification. And He stands among us now. And our faith looks to
Him, and away from you or anything that you've done. Leave these people in the
Name of Jesus Christ [Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.]...
God...
E-56 We have did just
as the Master bid us to do. How many of you that went through that line believes
that you're going to be well? Raise up your hands. I join mine with you. What
we were doing there at the last... There's a group of ministers there, many
of them were sick. I knew it. But they're trying to put forth their effort to
get their congregation in, whether they get in or not. That's genuine shepherds.
And the Holy Spirit said to me, "'Cause them to join hands with each other."
We laced our hearts and nets together, and our prayers together. Jesus, make
them well too. And make them strong shepherds, strong in the Word of the Lord.
May God, my brethren, may He give you all the desires of your heart. May you
serve Him all the days, and have power of God in your lives to minister to this
fine bunch of people. May Jesus Christ, Who's been with us, and is with you
all the time, may He make Hisself more prominent to you than He's ever before.
E-57 You people, some
of you that were crippled, you might not see no difference for a while. You
might not feel different. Look what Abraham did. Don't make any difference what...
That ain't what you're looking at. Don't look at your symptoms; look at what
He said. If you say, "I still feel the pain," that don't have nothing to do
with it. You've done what God said do. See, don't look at that; look at what
He said. God said it was so. I believe it. Don't you? With all my heart I believe
it.
The Lord God bless you till I see you again. My prayers is for you. The night
don't get too dark; the rain don't fall too hard; I'll be praying for you. You
pray for me until we meet again. God bless you. Now, the brother pastor...?...