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E-1 And that's just
going to be about thirty or thirty-five minutes. Shall we stand while we turn
to St. Matthew 12, the 12th chapter of St. Matthew beginning with the 38th verse,
while we reverently bow our hearts.
E-2 Lord, "Behold" means "look up to, pay attention." Let us remember tonight these words, that a greater than all is here, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. We ask this blessing, that He'll take these words and anoint them to the hearts of the people, that they might have faith, then show Himself alive as He promised to be. "Lo, I'm with you always, even to the end of the world," or the consummation. We ask it in Jesus' Name. Amen.
E-3 We will speak just
for a few moments on "Scriptural Signs Of The Time." Now, Jesus here was rebuking
that generation because they had not believed His Scriptural sign. Watch these
Pharisees. They come to Him and said, "Master, we would seek a sign from Thee."
Watch the blindness of them. The sign had already been done, and they didn't
recognize it.
Do you know, I believe that one day the rapture will take place, and people
will know nothing about it? Jesus said in St. Matthew the 11th chapter, when
John had come to, or, his disciples had come to see Him and they returned back,
and He said, "What went ye out to see? A reed shaken with the wind, or a man
in fine raiment? Or did you go to see a prophet?" He said, "I say a prophet,
indeed. Now, if you can receive it, why, this is he who was spoken of by the--the
prophet saying, 'I'll send My messenger before My face.'"
E-4 One day the disciples
asked Him, said, when He was talking about He being the Son of man, he said,
"Why is it then, that the scribe says that Elias must first come?" Now, look.
In Malachi the 3rd chapter, said that "I'll send My messenger before My face."
Jesus referred to that Scripture.
Not Malachi 4. Now that's another time. See? Malachi 3 was one time, "I send
My messenger before My face." Malachi 4, when He comes, then the earth's going
to be burnt and the righteous walk out upon the ashes in the millennium. And
we never did that after the coming of John. But it will be after the coming
of the last-day messenger that will return the hearts of the people back to
the original Gospel, the faith of the early fathers, the kind they had at--in
the new church at Jerusalem. And that will be restored in the last days through
the... It'll be in a minority group, but it will be just the same kind of a
character as Elijah and John, both wilderness lovers, women haters, and so--and
denominational blasters. And they'll be just the same type of person, but have
the truth, a-vindicated, identified truth. It's promised.
E-5 Now, we know that
Jesus turned and said to him, "Elias has already come and you didn't know it."
Now, wouldn't it be very sad, one of these days, if we find the church over
in the tribulation period?
Now, I'm not here to preach doctrine. I don't do that. I respect my brothers.
But if you'll forgive me, let me just inject this just a moment. I--for myself
personally, certainly I'll believe the church goes through the tribulation period,
but not the Bride. The Bride goes home. See, God brings a Bride out of a church,
like He brought a nation out of a nation in Egypt. See? The Bride...
That's the remnant of the woman's seed. The elected, that's His business where
He puts the pattern. But the remnant is what's cut off from the pattern. The
woman's seed goes into outer darkness. Right. But not, not the elected church.
It's--it's already judged and purified, because it's in Christ. It don't have
to go through anything else. The others has to go through judgment because they
wasn't in.
E-6 Now, one of these
days that little minority... "As it was in the days of Noah (wherein eight souls
was saved by water), so shall it be in the coming of the Son of man. In the
days of Lot (wherein three souls were saved from fire), so shall it be at the
coming of the Son of man." They're looking for a great big universal something,
when it's not even in the Scripture. See?
One of these days they'll say, "Well, I thought the Bible said that the church
would escape all of this." The Bride escapes this. And just think. After Noah
(as it was in the days of Noah)... Noah went in the ark and the door was closed.
He went in on May the 17th, and the door was closed, and never rained for seven
days after he was in the ark. And they didn't know it. God closed the door.
E-7 And one day the
door of mercy will be closed, and people will go right on thinking they're getting
saved, and preaching, and so forth, and mercy has done been spurned its last
time, and know it not until it's missing. Remember, there's hundreds of people
missing every day that we cannot find or give an account for them, world over.
"There'll be one in a field; I'll take one. One in the--two in a bed, and I'll
take one." Universal, so it won't take very many to make that escape, raptured
Bride.
Remember the signs. Israel was always relied upon their signs, instead of intellectual
speeches. They were supposed to... God sent them prophets. The prophets give
signs. And signs... Always, when there's a sign, a Scriptural sign, there's
got to be a Scriptural voice follow that Scriptural sign. And it must all be
Scriptural promised.
So see, you get into a trend like Luther on justification. That's what he knowed;
that's all. They was satisfied, and went right down, ended their doctrine. Here
come Wesley with sanctification: went right on past it. Then he organized. Along
come Pentecost with the restoration of the gifts, and they organized. And God
moves right on, right straight on, all the time (See?) for each day, each church
age.
E-8 We have astounding
picture there tonight, that's going in that book, of three years, how the Lord's
let me draw it out on the blackboard, and show just how the church ages would
fail and when, and how they would go up and down. And as soon as that was finished,
that great Angel of the Lord, that light, before practically as many people
as setting here, come right on the side of the wall, stand there (and people
fainting), and drawed it right out with Itself on the wall.
Three years later the moon darkened and went right out, just exactly in the
day just before the pope, first pope went to Rome. And when the church and ecumenical
council is ready... Oh, brother, sister, don't let me get started on that. We're
right here at the end, every sign, everything laying just right.
E-9 God gives signs,
Scriptural signs, Scripture signs of a voice. Remember when Moses... What's
a sign given for? It's to attract attention. A sign is to attract attention.
Then if the sign doesn't have any voice, then the sign's not right. And if the
sign gives the same old ecclesiastical voice, that sign isn't from God. If that
voice hasn't got a change... And that change must be Scriptural sign, must be
Scriptural voice.
Say, for instance, the denominational voice followed a certain sign. God never
sent that. We've had denomination all these years. It's got to be something
different. It's got to be THUS SAITH THE LORD in the Scripture. God's got to
promise it by the Word. And then a sign is to attract the people's attention
to it. And then the voice follows the sign. That's the doctrine goes with it.
E-10 Jesus was a well-thought of Man. He was a young Rabbi, the Prophet of Galilee. He... When He was healing the sick and so forth, He was a great Man. But one day He set down, and He begin to talk and tell them, "I and the Father are One." That was the voice that followed it. Oh, no. They didn't want that. They was ready for the sign, but the voice they didn't want. "When you see the Son of man ascending up from where He come from..." They couldn't see that at all. See? But when the voice begin to follow the sign, they didn't want nothing to do with it. Always a sign and a voice.
E-11 Reason Moses took
off his shoes, the sign attracted his attention. He looked over there and he
saw that--that tree on fire. Now, he was a chemist. He was a great scientist.
He was taught in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. And they done things that
we can't do today in science: built a pyramid, sphinx, had embalming fluid that
we don't have, coloring that we don't have. It was greater a civilization, and
more educated than we are today.
And Moses was a master over them. And when he saw that tree burning, with not
burning down, no doubt but what he said, "My." In his heart he might've said,
"I'll go over and pick a few of those leaves, and take them down to the laboratory,
and see what chemical they're sprayed with." If he'd have done that, the voice
would've never talked to him.
E-12 You can't figure
God out. You've got to set down by the side of Him, and talk it over. Take off
your shoes, as it were. Lay down your education; look straight into His Word,
and say, "I don't care what anyone else says; You promised it here for this
day, and it's the truth."
Moses took off his shoes. Watch the voice that come from it. If it hadn't been
a Scriptural voice, Moses wouldn't have believed it. The sign attracted the
attention. And the sign was to attract attention of the prophet.
A prophet hisself is a sign. When God sends a prophet, look out; judgment follows
it. It always has; it always will. There's no way around it. And it--it goes
right over top of the people, and they never know it until it's too far. No
wonder Jesus said, "You build the tombs of the prophets, and whiten, and you're
the one that put them in there. And as your fathers did, so will you." And they
did it.
E-13 Now, we see coming
on the scene now; we see Moses rising up here, and he seen that bush, and he
drew near it. And a voice come from it, said, "Take off your shoes, for the
ground on where you're standing is holy." He took off his shoes and knelt down.
And He said, "I'm the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." There come a Scriptural
voice. "And I remember My promise, and I see the afflictions of My people. I
remember My promise, and I'm sending you down there to do it. And I'm making
you as My voice, and I'll give you two signs. And one of them will be in your
hand. And you'll take and turn a serpent into a--or a pole into a serpent."
And--and the next thing is to put his hand in his bosom, and Divine healing.
Said, "If they won't believe the voice of the first sign, then they will believe
the voice of the second sign. And if they don't, take water out of the river,
pour it upon the ground, and it'll become blood."
That's their blood's already drenched in it then. Egypt is finished. We've had
the first and got the second. I wonder if the next isn't a drenching of the
blood. Wonder where we're standing tonight. Voices and signs, God giving them
signs... No. Just--just think of how that the things that we've seen done, Scriptural
voices, interpretations.
E-14 Now, in this great
glare that the people's laying in, their eyes glared out... "I belong to this;
I belong to that." That has no more to do with God than nothing else, not at
all. God in every generation has sent His signs. Jesus said before His coming
He would show signs, before His coming. People are always... Remember, to believe
Scriptural signs, they must be identified Scripture signs.
God always... As I said last night, the church gets things mixed up and gone
out. Then He anoints one person. Every man's differents from the other. He anoints
one. God is One. And--and so He anoints a person. He never did use a group.
He always uses one, always has. He never changes His course. He uses one. And
He sends that forth, preaches the Message. It's rejected flatly. But all that
will come, will come from that generation. First watch, second, third, fourth,
fifth, sixth, and then seventh, and then the Bridegroom come. And we're in the
seventh.
E-15 And we find these denominational churches running. And I was ashamed of these... You Christian Business Men the other night, putting in that book, the Business Men's book, "Holy Father so-and-so." Don't you Pentecostal people know that we're not supposed to call any man "father" on this earth? That shows that some kind of a glare has blinded your eyes. Yes. And don't you realize, them people... The--the Bible said when the--when this remnant, this sleeping virgin come up to buy oil, that they didn't get it? They might've danced in the Spirit, spoke in tongues. But I've seen devils do that. That ain't got nothing to do with it. I'm talking about the Holy Ghost, the Bible Holy Ghost.
E-16 I've seen them
carry on in the heathen fields. I've been seven times around the world, and
all--in all kinds of heathens, and around hundreds of thousands, as many as
a hundred and fifty people, and--or fifty thousand people gathered at one time.
And find out that how that witch doctors and everything challenge you to it.
You better know what you're talking about. You better not just have intellectual
talk. You better be able by God to support what you're talking about, or don't
get on that field there. They'll make you embarrassed.
But remember, our God's still the God of Elijah. He's still the God that He
ever was. He's still the same God. He moves in the same cycle. He does the same
thing. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. I've seen them stand dumbfounded,
paralyzed, and taken off the field. God still remains God.
E-17 Notice. Now, Jesus told us these things would take place in the last days, and we find them just exactly the signs of His coming. Everything... We all will agree that we're at the end of the world. But when it gives, comes down to the church, and the things He's going to do for the church, the body, the Bride, in the last days, then we turn our nose up and walk away. See, it's just... It's got to be that way. The world turns up their nose at that. They try to ignore it.
E-18 Look at this here
television program for... Too many Pentecostal people stay home on Wednesday
night to watch "We Love Susie," some immoral act of some woman married four
or five times, or some man, and love that better than you do your chu--your
Christ.
No wonder we can't have revival. No wonder there's not such a thing. When the
love of the world is greater than the love of God that's in your heart... Oh,
we can walk up and make a decision, put our name on the book, and go out and
live with the world; that's what the world's wanting. That's what the church
is wanting. It's wanting to maintain its confession and believe that it is a
Christian and live any way it wants to. Don't worry. You're going to get to
do it in the ecumenical council. They'll let you do anything you want to.
E-19 But remember, the
Bride will be a called-out, separated, and different, filled, Holy Ghost born,
washed in the Blood of the Lamb; She'll abstain from everything that's filthy
around her Husband. She's a chaste virgin, pure by the Word. The Word and her
are the same as a man and his wife becomes one in union. So does the real genuine
Church of God. When it becomes in Christ, the Bible is punctuated with an "Amen,"
every promise.
Don't make any difference what the denomination says, the soul that's in the
believer punctuate it, because it is the Word in him speaking out. The Word's
sharper than a two-edged sword, a Discerner of the thoughts and intents of the
heart. The Bible said so. That's how it's vindicated and known.
Notice, my brother. Notice, it's too bad that we don't see these things. Jesus
spoke of them. He was their Scriptural Sign, and they recognized Him not. He
was exactly the Scriptural Sign. He told them He was. He said, "Search the Scriptures.
In Them you think you have Eternal Life, and They are the One that testify of
Me. If I do not the works of My Father, believe it not."
E-20 Everybody's got
his own private interpretation. Every denomination has these seminaries, hatch
out a bunch of incubator preachers. I always felt sorry for an incubator chicken.
It had no mammy. No matter how much it chirped, it wasn't mothered. That's the
way these machines turn out these clergymen, sometimes knows no more about God
than a Hottentot does about Egyptian knight, or a rabbit know how to put on
snowshoes.
What we need is an experienced preacher that's been on the backside of the desert,
till he stayed in that place under God, until the Pillar of Fire come down before
him like it did Moses. And nobody can take that from him. He was there when
it happened. Now, that is true. Back to God and back to His Bible.
E-21 Jesus said, "If
you'd have knowed Me, you would've knowed My day." Everybody has their own interpretation.
The Methodist has theirs. Baptist, Presbyterian, Pentecostal, all the rest of
them has their interpretation. But the Bible says that the Word of God is no
private interpretation. What is the interpretation of it then? He does His own
interpreting.
He said, "Let there be light," and there was light. That don't need no interpretation.
He said, "A virgin shall conceive," and she did. That don't need any interpretation.
He said in the last days He'd pour out His Spirit upon all flesh, and He did.
That don't need no interpretation. It's already done, right in the face of the
critics that said it couldn't be done. God did it anyhow, because He's interpreting
His Word. He said it. "As it was in the days of Sodom, so shall it be in the
end time when the Son of man is being revealed," and He did it. There's no need
of any interpretation, it interprets itself.
All these promises that He mad, He said, "He that believeth on me, the works
that I do... The things that I do shall he do also." Don't need any interpretation.
He just does it; that's all. If... "I am the Vine, and ye are the branches."
The same life as in the vine is in the branches, the same branch that come forth
on the day of Pentecost.
E-22 I stood the other
day and seen a mysterious sight. A good friend of mine, and a friend of Jack
Moore: John Sharritt... The Lord blessed him the first part of the ministry.
He had no children. He worked for twenty-five cents a hour, busting concrete
on the street. He come to the meeting, the Lord blessed him: got five children.
Now, he owns half of Phoenix, gives about two or three million each year to
the Lord.
I was standing on his farm not long ago, one of them, where he had fifteen hundred
Mexicans working steady, and a whole county of nothing but cotton, potatoes,
county after county. He owns them hisself. And fifteen years ago was getting
a quarter a hour for breaking concrete. He trusted God.
E-23 I was looking at
one of his trees, and it had so many different kinds of fruit on it. He has
great citrus orchards. And I said, "Brother Sharritt, what about that tree there?"
He said, "Brother Branham, it's got all kind of fruit on it."
I said, "Well, it's got lemons; it's got... I see tangerines, tangelos." I seen
lemons, grapefruit, and oranges. I said, "What kind of a tree is that?"
He said, "An orange tree."
I said, "Orange, with all them on it?"
He said, "Yes. That's grafted. It's pushed in there."
And I said, "Oh, I see. That's what you call grafting."
He said, "Yes, Brother Branham." He explained how they done it certain times
of the year, how they grafted this limb.
I said, "Now, next year there won't be any tangerines, there won't be any tangelos,
there won't be any fruit at all, but... nothing but oranges."
He said, "Oh, no. No, no." Said, "The grapefruit will bring, the vine of the
grapefruit will bring forth a grapefruit vine, a grapefruit. The tangerine will
bring a tangerine. The lemon will bring a lemon."
"Well," I said, "what kind of a tree is that?"
He said, "A orange tree." He said, "But if that orange tree ever puts forth
another branch..."
I said, "What will it bring?" He said, "An orange."
I said, "I see it." Oh, yes. Why? They're all citrus fruit.
E-24 We all claim to
be in Christ. But when we come in there with a denominational creed, we live
by it. That's right. But if that tree ever brings forth another branch, it'll
be another Book of Acts wrote behind it. It'll be like the first branch was
that come forth. It'll be Holy Ghost-filled, Holy Ghost-inspired, Holy Ghost...
There'll be no creed to it. It'll be a Word.
Many of you takes my tapes got the message on "The Bride Tree." The fruit's
right at the top for the evening lights to--to ripen. Now. And the evening lights
is ripening the fruit at this time.
E-25 Now, we find, they
ought to have known Him. But they knew Him not. So is it in our time. They know
Him not. Jesus here was referring... Quickly now, so we can get to the message.
Jesus was referring back, and He'd been doing signs showing them that He was
the Messiah, exactly what Messiah was supposed to do, doing the Messiahic sign.
Well, many of them we took last night believed it. We find out that the--the
woman at the well, she wasn't educated, she was ill-famed, but as soon as she
seen that sign, she said, "Sir, I perceive You're a prophet. And I know that
when the Messiah cometh that He'll do this."
He said, "I'm He that speaks to you."
And when she went into the city of Sychar, and told them all the things that
He had done, said, "Come see a Man Who told me what I've done. Isn't this the
very Messiah?"
And the Bible said... He didn't do it any more, but they believed on Him, because
of the testimony of a woman of ill-fame. Now, talk about rising in the days
of Jonas and condemning this generation.
E-26 Notice, we find
out then, Nathanael, Peter, and others who believed. We see the blind Bartimaeus.
We see little Zacchaeus in a tree, hid. "Jesus," he said, "He'll never see me
up here."
And Jesus stood right under the tree, and looked up, and said, "Zacchaeus, come
on down."
He was the Word, and the Word discerns the thought that's in the heart. And
the Pharisees and scholars of that day condemned it, because it didn't have
the polish and shine of ecclesiasm in it. It didn't have the educational standpoint
that it should have. It didn't have the tinsel and--and the stuff that the ecclesiastic
should have, a great big hood on, a turned-around collar, and something another,
with some kind of--of words that could speak to be over the top of the common
people's head. And the Bible said, "The common people heard Him gladly." He
spoke the common language. He lived a common man's life.
E-27 Then we find out,
that in doing this, we find what took place. Now, they could not believe it,
and they said, "This man is Beelzebub. He's a foul spirit." In other words,
"He's either got mental telepathy, or--or either he's got... He's a fortuneteller
of some sort, and anybody knows that that's of the devil, and it's impersonation."
And so we find out then, that they condemned Him. Then he was standing here,
said, "Master, show us a sign."
What did He turn to them? He said, "A wicked and an adulterous generation seeks
after a sign." Now, watch. "A wicked and an adulterous generation..." He was
prophesying. He said, "And they will receive it," the wicked and adulterous
generation. And if that ain't the generation we're living in, I don't know why.
E-28 Remember, all prophecy
has a compound meaning. Get in Matthew there, the 3rd chapter, where it said,
"Out of Egypt I've called My son." Run the reference back to it, you find out
He was talking about Jacob, His son. But also, His greater Son, Jesus, He called
out of Egypt.
Now, we find that in there a wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a
sign, and they'll get it. For the wicked and adulterous generation will see
the sign of the resurrection. "As Jonas was in the--the whale's belly for three
days and nights, so must the Son of man be in the heart of the earth." Then
He'll raise up. Been two thousand years, and we've got another wicked and adulterous
generation. And they're receiving a sign of the resurrected Christ alive among
us, after nineteen hundred years. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever.
E-29 Jonah, we know
him. We know he's a prophet. Many of them refer to him as some kind of a--a
runabout. He wasn't. The right--footsteps of the righteous is ordered of the
Lord. I was reading a book not long ago. He did go to Tarshish, started to it,
instead of Nineveh. But that was all in God's plan. The footsteps of the righteous...
Because sometime, evil befalls you or something...
It was so with Job. He wasn't... Job was the best man in the land in his day,
the best man God could find. And yet, look what happened to him. He wasn't chastising
him; He was trying him. He was proving to Satan He had somebody that would believe
Him in the face of difficults.
So Jonah was the same thing. And we find him on the road down to Nineveh, and
he took a ship to Tarshish, and he... And the sea got up, and he was asleep.
He told them, "Tie my hands and feet and throw me out, for I'm the cause of
it." And when they throwed him out, a big whale was swimming around through
the waters, prowling, and swallowed this prophet.
E-30 I remember not
long ago in Louisville, Kentucky, where I used to live across the river in Indiana;
they had a whale over there on a--on a flatcar. Some little Ricky that had more
intelligence than he knowed how to control, he said, "Now, you've heard the
old fable of the whale swallowing Jonah." He got a baseball took it back to
the esophagus of the--of the whale, and he said, "Looky here." Said, "A baseball
won't even go through it." He said, "The old fable of--of Jonah being swallowed
by the whale," he said, "just a fable..."
That was too much for me to stand. I said, "Just a minute, sir." He was beginning
to tell how impossible for a man to get into that throat. I said, "You failed
to read the Scriptures, sir. And that is not a fable. It's the truth."
He looked at me and said, "Who are you?"
I said, "I'm Reverend Branham, from just across the river."
He said, "Oh, I see, a preacher who believes that."
I said, "With all my heart, with all my heart."
And he said, "Well, you know," he said, "looky here, sir. Not disputing, and
I--I admire your stand and so forth," but said, "scientifically," said, "you
couldn't put a man's hand, hardly, in his throat."
I said, "Sir, you don't read the Scripture right. The Bible said this was a
special prepared fish. God said He prepared a fish. He's a special. I believe
what God says is the truth. This is a special." Switched his nose up and down
with his glasses on, two or three times, and went on with his lecture, and everybody
laughed. His special fish, God prepared a fish to swallow Jonah. My, I believe
it with all my heart.
E-31 Now, we find out
that on his... He swallowed him. Anything... A fish, after it eats, it goes
right down to the bottom. Feed your little gold fish, and watch what happens.
They go right down to the bottom of the little container you got them in, and
rest their little swimmers on the bottom. Their little belly's full, and so
they're down there resting. So when this big fish swallowed Jonah, he must've
went down to the bottom to rest, out of the waves and out of the storm.
He was looking around through the revival to see what he could find, and the
revival on the sea, you know, switching up and down, the winds, so he found
this preacher and swallowed him, and went down to the bottom.
E-32 Now, here's Jonah
down there in the belly of this whale with his hands and feet tied, laying in
the vomit of the whale. Now, I've often heard people say, "I was prayed for
last night, and--and my hand's no better. It's still crippled. I still have
the stomach ache. My eyes, I don't see good yet." Oh, my. Then holler at Jonah?
My, if anybody had a case of symptoms, he ought to have had it. If he looked
this way, it was a whale's belly; that way was whale's belly. Everywhere he
looked was whale's belly. And his hands was tied behind him.
He was in the whale's belly in the bottom of the sea, probably forty fathoms
deep in the bottom of the sea. Now, talk about symptoms, and then you called
him backslid. But you know what he said? "They're lying vanities. I won't even
look at them. But once more will I look to Thy holy temple, Lord."
E-33 Now, Jonah knew
that when Solomon dedicated the temple, he prayed and said, "Lord, if Thy people
be in trouble anywhere and look to this holy place, then hear from heaven."
And he had that much confidence in the prayer of a man that backslid, that made
a prayer. How much more... There's none of us in that condition tonight. There's
none of us with that kind of symptoms. And then we look at our symptoms.
Why, why, if he could have that much confidence in the prayer of a man that
backslid... And we're asked to look to heaven where Jesus sets at the right
hand of the Majesty on high in a temple not made with hands. He's expecting
in there to intercede upon your confession. How much more should we ignore our
symptoms. And, "Once more I'll look to Thy holy promise, Lord." Oh, my. When
we see God on the scene...
E-34 Now, we find out
that Jonah... They said this whale carried him in there for three days and nights,
took him all the way back down around, backtracked the course, went over.
And now, the people of Nineveh were--had become like they are in the rest of
the world now. Their great commercial world... Their industry was fishing; all
the men fished. And they worshipped idols. And the whale was the sea god. And
one day about eleven o'clock, while they were all out there fishing, here come
their sea god in, and licked out his tongue, and the prophet walked off the
gang plank. No wonder they repented.
See, there was a sign. That was a sign. What was the voice? What was the voice?
"You see, boys, what I can do?" No. "Repent, or within forty days God will destroy
the place." Sign, and the voice, the voice that followed the sign: "Repent,"
he said. And them people that didn't know right hand from the left repented
at the preaching of Jonas, and a greater than Jonas is here. See?
E-35 And He said, "The
queen of the south shall rise up in the--her gener--with this generation and
condemn it, because she came from the utmost parts of the earth to hear the
wisdom of Solomon; and a greater than Solomon is here."
Now, when... In closing I say this, when God sends a gift to the earth, a sign-gift,
and the people believe it, that's one of the most glorious ages people ever
lived. But when He sends a sign and it's rejected, that generation goes into
chaos. It always has. What if the people of America tonight would receive the
sign of God in this last days?
E-36 Why, we're talking
about going to Fort Knox, and moving the government down there, and digging
down into the ground. Why, them Russian bombs goes maybe a hundred, two hundred
yards down in the ground, and blow it for a hundred and fifty miles. Why, the
concussion would go plumb into the--to the lava. You're not safe nowhere on
this earth. There's only one safety; that's in the arms of Jesus Christ. He's
our retreat.
But what if we denied, as Americans, and we all trusted in the gift that God
give us, the Holy Ghost, in the last days? Why, every nation would fear us like
they did in the days of Solomon. God gave Solomon a gift to know all. The whole
church, everybody, believed it. That was a millennium for the Jews; that was
the Old Testament millennium in the days of Solomon, a foreshadow of the millennium
to come. The golden age of the Jews...
Notice, nobody started war with them. They feared them because they knowed their
God was real, because they had Him in their presence. And the people was all
one heart and one accord. Why, the fame went everywhere. Everywhere, and you'd
hear, "Oh, what a great thing, great God Israel has, a living God." And his
fame went way down into Sheba. Measure it on the map and see how far it is.
E-37 There was a little
queen down there, that got to hungering in her heart for God. Every time she'd
hear somebody... One of the caravans would come by, she'd say, "Have you been
through Palestine?"
"Yes."
"Tell me about that great revival they got going on up there."
And everybody'd say, "Oh, it's marvelous."
"Did you see it?"
"Yes."
"How is it?"
"Oh, that great God that they serve has come down and living in one of His servants,
and they made him king. Why, he can discern; he knows the very thoughts that's
in your heart. And you know, they say that God is the Word, and the Word is
God. And the Word discerns the thoughts that's in their heart. And that man's
wisdom exceeds anything you've ever heard of. He can discern, though, even the
thoughts that you're thinking about. Oh, it's a wonderful revival they got up
there."
E-38 And you know, faith
cometh by hearing, hearing the Word of God, the promise of God. And this little
queen got to hungering, and she wanted to go to this revival. Now, she had a
whole lot to confront her. Now, the first thing, she was a pagan. She'd have
to go to her priest to ask if she could leave. She was a queen; she was in dignity
and the celebrity.
Now, no doubt but what she went up to the high priest, and she said, "Great
holy father, I understand that there is a revival up in Israel, and they're
having a great time up there. And their God is living. And He's doing great
signs and wonders that we never seen anything like it, or heard anything like
it. Every caravan, I inquire. And they say it's wonderful. May I be excused
from my denomination to go visit?"
I can imagine it; "We're not cooperating in that meeting. So you'd better stay
away from it." See? You know, men die, but not spirits. See?
Then we find out that, "No, you better stay away from it. We're not cooperating
in that."
"Well, now look, holy father, I understand..."
"Now, looky here. If there was anything going on, it'd be going on among us.
Our church would have it." Oh, my. And that, "Here it is here. We--we'd have
it right here."
E-39 I can hear that
little queen say, rise up... I like her spunk. She raised up and said, "I've
seen these idols standing here for years. I've heard you standing behind the
pulpit and preaching about some god that was, some god that was. My great-great-grand-mother
heard the same story. And not being moving no time. They tell me they've got
a living God that's living among them, something that's genuine. I want to see
it."
"Now, look. If you go, you know what you're going to do? You're associating
yourself with a bunch of people, you know--you know, they got all this opening
Red Seas, and all that kind of stuff. You better not go up there, because if
you do..."
"Well, I'm going anyhow."
"We'll take your name right off the book."
"Well, take it off the book."
When a person goes to hungering and thirsting for God, there's no book in the
world can hold them, because they're after a Book.
"Take my name off if you want to. I'm going anyhow. I hear that that's a living
God, got reality. I'm going to find out about it. So you just might as well
get my name off of it." Now, she had a lot to confront her.
E-40 Now, remember,
she made up her mind. She got all the scrolls to read what Jehovah was. Now,
there's a smart woman. Don't go on somebody else's presumption; just go what
the Bible says He is. Take what He says He is. Find out what He is, if He lives
or not. Not what some scholar has said about it, but what He said Himself about
Himself, what He promised. And she begin to read.
Now, she had a--a real good idea. She said, "I'm going to pack up a lot of gifts,
and I'm going to take it. And if it's the truth, I'll support it. If it isn't
the truth, I can bring my money back."
She could teach Pentecostal people something: supporting radio programs that
laugh at the very thing you believe in, and yet you support it. Let your...
Well, I'll going to keep still on that. You know enough about that anyhow. That's
your preacher's business. Notice. But that's a shame.
She said, "If it isn't real, I'll bring my gifts back." So she packed them upon
a camel.
E-41 Remember, look what confronted her. She had a long distance. You know how it takes? She had to go by camel. You know how long it takes? It takes ninety days, three months on the back of a camel, not in an air-conditioned Cadillac. No, no. Three days, and the back of a camel. No wonder Jesus said, "She'll raise in the judgment with this generation and condemn it." There's people in Birmingham wouldn't walk across the street to see the same thing. Buses, streetcars, airplanes, and everything else in our day. No wonder when they rise up they'll condemn this generation. Yes, sir, for a greater than Solomon is here: the Holy Ghost Himself.
E-42 Notice, we find
out, then there's another thought. Looky now. Ishmael's children was on the
desert, and they were fleet riders. My. And robbers, why, she had all that money
on there. What her little band of eunuchs, guards that she had, and a few maids,
they'd just cut--chop them right down, take that treasure and go on like nothing.
But you know, there's something about when your heart begins to hunger to find
the reality of God, there's no danger in the way. You don't see any danger.
You don't see any failure. You say, "Well, will I get well?" There's no question
in your mind. Genuine faith anchors itself. There's nothing going to move it.
It stays right there. She never thought about the danger laid ahead.
There's one thing she had, one--one objective she had, one thing she wanted
to achieve, and her motives was right. So she went to reach it, for her heart
was hungering and thirsting. "Blessed are they that hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they shall be filled." That's right.
E-43 Watch her now,
as she starts out across the desert, probably traveling at night, resting in
the daytime under some oasis, reading those Scriptures. Finally she arrived
at the porch of Solomon. When she did, out in the--in the courts she unloaded
her camels, and set up her tent.
Now, she didn't come like some people, some people today. She isn't a... Here's
a 1964 version of it, "I hear they're doing the... They say the Lord's doing
this. I'll go down, and the first word said against what I believe, right out
the door I'll go." See, see?
But not her. She brought the Word and set down. She was going to stay there
until she was actually convinced. She wasn't going to check her own ideas. She
was going to check the Word. So she went in. I imagine the first day, she set
down way back in the back. And the trumpets sound, the bells tolled out, and--and
all--all the singers went to singing, the ark of the covenant was there at the
place, and Pastor Solomon came out, set down.
She said, "Now, I'll see whether God's in the man or not."
So she watched, and every case begin to move. Oh, what a wonderful thing. Nothing
was hid. So she got her prayer card, you know, and waited. So as it was, as
she--as she come up in the line finally... Day after day she waited. She grew
more interest all the time, as the revival went on. My, her heart was hungering.
After while, she got before Solomon. And the Bible said there wasn't nothing
but what Solomon revealed to her: discernment.
E-44 And here was Jesus
standing, the God of Solomon, "A greater than Solomon is here." See? And they
said, "Show us a sign, Master."
A greater than Solomon is here. "And the queen of the south come from the uttermost
parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, a greater than
Solomon is here." And we've had two thousand, yeah, twenty-eight hundred years
since then, of Bible history. And tonight, a greater than Solomon is here with
the promised Word of this day. And still we mope right along. No wonder she'll
stand in the day of judgment and condemn Birmingham, United States, all the
rest with her testimony; for her heart was hungering to see God, and she stayed
till it was over.
E-45 What did she say
then, after she'd seen the real thing happen? You know what she said? She...
After Solomon revealed to her what was in her heart, why, she said, "All that
I ever heard, and even more than the..." Why? It'd been done on her then. She'd
seen what somebody else had said about it, but it was her turn then. Her--her
secret had been revealed to her, and she said, "It's greater." And she said,
"Even blessed are the men that's with you, that sees this all the time. The
men that stands here and sees these things all the time, blessed are they."
And she seen the way he went up to the house of the Lord. She become a believer,
and promised to rise in the last days and condemn these generations. As it was
in the days of Solomon, and as the days of Jonas and so forth, she'll rise in
this day and condemn in the resurrection the people that's lived in this day,
for a greater than Solomon is here.
E-46 The Holy Spirit
Himself is here. The Creator of the heavens and earth is here, identifying Himself
with His people with the same kind of a gift. Exactly like was in Christ, Him
doing it, like was in Solomon, Him doing it, like was in the prophets, and Him
doing it, like prophesied for the last days. We haven't had it for--for hundreds
and hundreds of years. And as it was just before His first coming...
They had no--had no discernment for hundreds of years, and there it come on
the scene. And somebody introduced the Messiah, and promised the next thing
coming right along: in the last days, as it was then. Here we are in the last
days. Signs that He promised would happen, the world situation just the way
it's supposed to be, the immorality of the world, and everything that we got,
just in position, and the Holy Spirit right in the position doing exact... Oh,
it's a wonderful thing to know that we serve a real God.
E-47 I feel like telling
something now. I've told it before, but I think I feel led to say it again.
As everybody knows, I hunt, not so much for the game; I like to be in the woods.
My mother was a half-breed; you know that. My mother was a half Cherokee Indian.
Her mother drawed the pension (See?) in--in Tennessee. So now, we find out that,
in that, I love to hunt and my conversion never take...
'Cause I... My first Bible was the woods. I could see a flower, how it died.
The little seed laid in the ground and rotted. Everything was gone. But the
next year... There was nothing you could find. You could take that handful of
dirt to the laboratories, not a chemist in the world could find that germ of
life in there. But it lived again when the sun come up. It lived again. That
let me know there was a life, death, burial, resurrection.
E-48 I see the sun rise.
In the morning it's a little baby born. At eight o'clock it starts to school.
At--at around about ten o'clock it's out of college then. And then at noon time
it's in its strength. Two o'clock, it's fifty-five years old. And then along
about four o'clock, it's getting eighty, eighty-five. It's gone. It served God's
purpose. But what? If it served God's purpose, is that the end of it? No. It
rises up again the next morning to testify there is birth, life, death, resurrection.
But first thing, a--a seed planted in the ground, if it isn't germitized it
will not come up. It's got to serve God's purpose in order to come up. And so
do we. We are a germitized seed in the ground, and we must serve God's purpose,
or we'll--we'll never come up in that first resurrection. Come up for judgment
in the last, just like a hybrid corn; it comes up long enough to take its judgment
of the sun, and dies, and goes back and that's all of it. Exactly right. But
the real seed leaves, lives again, produces itself.
E-49 Look at the sap
in a tree. Before any frost falls or anything else, that tree, the... Some nature
somewhere gets ahold of it and said, "Run down to the bottom of the tree right
quick. Get down in the ground, 'cause there's a frost coming." And if it don't,
it'll kill the tree. And hides down there until all the freeze is over, then
comes right back up again. Some intelligent does it.
You know what intelligent that is? You explain that to me, what intelligence
makes that tree go down, hide itself and come back up, and I'll tell you the
Intelligence that tells me who you are, and where you come from, what you've
done, and where you're going. That's the same thing, 'cause it's the same God.
Sure. Exactly. It's God that does those things. Now, remember, friends.
E-50 One day I was a
hunting where I used to go hunting up in the North Woods. And I hunted with
a friend, that I loved to hunt with him. He's kind of a part of an Indian too.
And he'd... it was Burt Caul, and he's a fine man. And the man might be setting
here now, for all I know. He comes down south here all the time. And he was
a great hunter. You never had to worry about him; he wasn't going to get lost.
We'd hunt together, and we knowed each other. But he was the cruel-heartedest
man I ever met in my life. He would shoot fawns just to--just to make me feel
bad, 'cause I didn't like to see kill little fellows.
It's all right to kill a fawn now if the government says so. I was game warden
for years, and I'm still a conservationist. I--I believe in animals, and I believe
in conservation. And let them just--just... If you let them keep on going on...
They're put here to eat. If you don't eat some of them out, then they'll take
a disease and die out, or starve to death. But just what the law says, they
know how to handle that. Let them take care of it.
But Burt would kill them just to be mean, just to see me feel bad about it.
He used to say; he said, "Billy, you're a good preacher or--or a good hunter.
But trouble of it is, you're too much of a preacher; you're too chicken-hearted."
And I said, "Burt, you're just cruel, that's all." And we'd go on.
E-51 One day I went
up. It's... I had to work late, and it was a little, getting late in the season.
And the white-tail deer, I don't know whether you have them here or not. Oh,
my. You talk about Houdini being an escape artist, they're better than he. So
it was late in the season. They'd been shot at a few times. And we started one
morning, about six inches of snow, started up across the Presidential Range.
And we'd taken some--always take hot chocolate and a sandwich. And about noontime
if we didn't get a deer, well, then we'd separate in the mountains, and come
back, and get in some time nine or ten o'clock that night. If we got a deer
we hung him up. We knowed where we were at, and we'd come back and get him.
So that morning we went up. And so, before I left he said, "Hey, Billy, I got
something for you this year."
And I said, "What is it?"
He reached down in his pocket, and pulled out a little whistle, something about
the size of this. And he blew it, and it sound like a fawn calling for its mammy,
you know, the little baby deer calling for its mammy.
I said, "Burt, you wouldn't be that cruel, would you?"
He said, "Oh, you chicken-hearted preachers. You're all alike."
E-52 So we started up
the hill. Along about eleven o'clock he... There was an opening about the size
of this room, maybe a little larger. And we hadn't even seen a track. It was
moonlight, and they was feeding at night, and they were just... And it's hard
to find them. They just stayed hid, laid down, and so, and under the brush,
and back in the deep timber. And they'd paw down, eat moss, and forget it. So,
then we would...
I come to this little opening there, and he set down, I thought he was... Bank
of snow there, a drift, I thought he was going in his pocket, like this, to
get out this little thermos bottle, and take a drink of his--his chocolate,
and we'd eat our--our dinner and then separate. And we'd go back across the
ranges. He'd go one way, and me the other.
E-53 But when he did,
I started to reach and get my sandwich 'cause I was getting a little hungry.
I set my gun down against a tree, and reached back to my sand... And I looked
at him. He looked up at me. And he had eyes just like a lizard, anyhow, you
know, like women paint their eyes, today, you know that funny-looking dog like
of a look on them, and then, had all painted up like that? Well, that's the
way his eyes looked, kind of like a lizard, kind of slanting like.
He looked up at me. And I thought "What's he got on his mind?" He reached down
and brought out this little whistle. And I thought; I said, "Burt, aren't you
ashamed of yourself?" And he blew it. And when he did, just about thirty yards,
or hardly so far, a big doe stood up.
E-54 Now, the doe is
a mama deer. That was her baby calling. She... He blew the whistle. She jumped
up. Now, she wouldn't have done that by no means. She knew we were there, but
her baby was in trouble. And he looked at me with them lizard eyes again. I
seen him move the safety down on a .30-06 rifle. He was a dead shot. Oh, he
was a good one. And he blew the whistle again, and that old mother deer walked
right straight out in that opening.
Now, brother, that's unusual. They wouldn't do that. First thing, she wouldn't
have got up. If she would, she'd have went the other way. And here she was,
walked right out in the opening. And she knew we were there. And as soon as
the safety clicked on that gun, she turned and looked right at the hunter. Instead
of running, she just stood there, her big ears, her eyes wide open, her ears
sticking up, and she was looking around.
E-55 What was it? She
was a mother. That was her baby. Her baby was in trouble, the little la--the
little fellow was crying like a little fawn. She wasn't a hypocrite. She wasn't
putting on something. She was genuine. She was born a mother. That's what she
was, a mother. And he leveled that gun down. I thought, "How can you do it?
Burt, how can you..."
I--I couldn't look at it. I turned my back. I thought, "Lord God, how can the
man be that cruel-hearted," to blow that faithful heart of that mother looking
for her baby, and coax her out there, deceive her, and bring her out there and
then... I knowed he was such a dead shart--shot he'd blow that sacred heart
of hers plumb through the other side of her, and her a mother. And she would
actually come, 'cause that was her baby.
E-56 And talk about
a sign, that was one of it, of loyalty, because something was on the inside.
She was a mother. And I turned my back. I said, "Lord God, how can a human being
be that cruel, to do a thing like that?" And I waited, and I waited, and the
gun never fired. I thought any minute I'd hear the gun go off and it'd--I'd--it'd...
A hundred and eighty grain bullet mushroom would've blowed her heart plumb through
her.
And I thought, "Well, why didn't it go off?" And I was standing this way with
my eyes closed, praying. And when I turned my head to look, the gun barrel was
going like this. And I looked at it a few minutes. He was wiggling his gun barrel.
And he turned up and looked, and those lizard eyes... I took another look. The
tears was rolling down his cheeks.
He threw the gun on the ground and said, "Billy, I've had enough of it. Lead
me to that Jesus that you talk about."
What was it? Right there on that bank of snow I led that cruel-hearted man.
He's a deacon in a church now. What was it? He saw something real, something
genuine, something that wasn't some theology or some historical something. He
saw God in reality. That's what brought him. Oh, how many in here would like
to be the kind--a much of a Christian as that deer was a mother? Sure, with
a real experience in the face of death, I mean. Let us bow our heads.
E-57 Heavenly Father,
the hour is late, and the people are attentive. They're nice and they're listening.
And this little story, now, Lord, if... I can remember that cold November day,
standing up there, and the winds kind of blowing across the mountains. I can
see them glistening tears running down them bearded cheeks, when he held me
by the leg and cried, said, "Billy, you talked to me about some one that's love,
and I--I see some reality here." There's something in that deer that drove her
out there, Lord. There's a real motherhood in there. It was a real sign that
there was genuine love in motherhood.
O God, let Thy Word speak tonight, genuine, genuine Holy Spirit, not something
that's emotional, enthusiastic, which it is also, but something that's real
by the Word made manifest, the Word sharper than a two-edged sword, and discerns
the thoughts that's in the heart.
E-58 Which You identified
all Your prophets when You were on earth. You called them gods. You said, "You
called those who the Word of God came to, gods. Then how can you condemn Me
when I say I'm the Son of God."
O Lord, the world knows its own. It's been blind all the years. I pray tonight,
Father, that You'll open the eyes of people and let us tonight become real Christians
and real believe, for a greater than Solomon is here, a greater than all the
prophets is here. The Son of God Himself is here in the form of the Holy Ghost,
promising, "A lit... Yet a little while, and the world won't see Me no more.
The word 'cosmos,' the world order, won't see Me no more; yet ye shall see Me,
for I will be in you, even to the end of the world." And, Father, You say You're
the same yesterday, today, and forever, and we know it is the truth. Oh, I pray
God, that You'll have mercy tonight.
E-59 And while we have
our heads bowed, I wonder... Tonight with our heads bowed, would anybody that...
Be honest with God now in His Presence, before you seen anything happen, but
yet you know in your heart that you're not as much a genuine Christian as that
deer was a mother. And the reason she was a mother is because she was born a
mother. She couldn't help being that; she was born a mother.
And now, if you are not born... If you ain't got that same love for Christ,
regardless of what anybody says, you believe Him... He's the same yesterday,
today, and forever, and you'd like to have that kind of Christian love in you
as that mother love produced for her, would you, with your heads bowed, everybody
now, and every eye closed, raise up your hand and say, "Pray for me, Brother
Branham," and I'll certainly do it. God bless you, brother. God bless you. Oh,
my. Look around on the floor, up in the balconies, all across...
Don't be ashamed. If you're ashamed of Him here, He said, "I'll be ashamed of
you before the Father, the holy Angels." You're in His Presence now. He's here.
He's absolutely here.
E-60 The great Holy
Spirit, that Pillar of Fire that was with Moses is right here. You remember,
when He was here on earth He said, "I come from God, and I go to God." And He
said that Moses forsook the treasures of Egypt, considering the treasures of
Christ greater than all--the reproach of Christ greater than all the treasures
of Egypt.
He went in the wilderness with Christ, and any Bible reader knows that that
Pillar of Fire was the Angel of the covenant, the Logos that went out of God,
which was Jesus. And then, when He died, He ascended up into heaven.
And when He met Saul on the road to Damascus, He'd done turned back to the Pillar
of Fire again. And He even put Paul's eyes out from His brightness.
Now, he's here tonight, the same yesterday, today, and forever. Would you like
to identify yourself before Him? Say, "Lord God, I haven't got that kind of
an experience. I want to have it." I'm not asking you to come up here. I'm just
asking you to raise your hand to Him, if you feel like that. Was there some
that hasn't raised their hands, raise your hands now? God bless you.
E-61 Our heavenly Father,
they're Yours. Science says... According to science we cannot raise our hands;
gravitation holds it down. But there's a spirit in men and in women. And they...
Another spirit come to them, which was the Holy Spirit, and said, "Raise up
your hand." And they defied the law of gravitation and raised their hands towards
God Who made them. "I want to be a real Christian." Heavenly Father, I pray
that You'll make each of them real Christians. Through Jesus Christ's Name,
they are Yours, Lord.
How little did I know that day, that when that little deer walked out there
on that field, it would be the cause of... It was a sign. But Thou knowest all
things. So I pray, Father, that You'll receive them now. They're trophies of
the Gospel. They're Yours. You said, "No man can pluck them from My heart--from
My hand." And there You said, "All that is Mine belongs to the Father. And no
man can pluck them from His hand."
Jesus said in St. John 5:24, "He that heareth My Word, and believeth on Him
that sent Me, has Everlasting Life, and shall not come into the judgment, but's
passed from death unto life." Lord, that's Your Word. Now, not them that makes-believe,
but them that really believe have Eternal Life. They're Yours, Father. I give
them to You now. In Jesus Christ's Name. Amen.
E-62 Now, be real reverent just a moment. Now, it's just exactly time to close, but just wait just a moment. Before we do that, how many believes that Jesus Christ promised to be with us wherever two or three were gathered in His Name? How many believes that He is the same yesterday, today, and forever? His--He'd be... If He was here tonight, He would be just as He was then. He'd do the same thing. The Bible said that "He's the High Priest that can be touched by the feeling of our infirmities." Is that right? New Testament, Hebrews 3rd chapter, "A High Priest that can be touched by the feeling of our interm--infirmities." Now, have faith in God. Now, just believe real, with all your heart.
E-63 And you out there
now, that's out in this audience that doesn't--that's sick... How many of you
is sick? Raise up your hand. Just say, "I'm sick." Now, just real low, real
quiet now, everybody. Now, you pray, say, "Lord Jesus, Brother Branham doesn't
know me. But what he said tonight, 'A greater than Solomon is here,' and I know
that that's prophesied to return. It hasn't been in the world for hundreds,
and hundreds, and thousands of years; but You promised it would return again
in the last days according to Malachi 4, and promised in St. Luke 17, and all
these other promises.
"You said it would be here when the Son of man revealed Himself, because it
has to be the Word. 'Cause the--'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God. The Word was made flesh and dwelt among
us.' And the Word discerns the thoughts."
E-64 It was the Word
in the prophets; it was the Word in the Son; it's the Word in you today. See?
The Word, It's prophesied, promised. Although you find many impersonations,
many carnal competitions, but that doesn't take away from it--from the real.
There's a real Holy Ghost, real God.
Now, you believe with all your heart, and look this way to me and believe with
all your heart. Say, "Lord God, I'm going to pray. And I pray that--that You
will reveal to Brother Branham, and let me touch Your garment, and You turn
through him, 'cause he don't know me, and tell me what my trouble is. And then
I'll know that Your Presence is here."
E-65 Friends, you know
what's the matter with the Pentecostal people? They've seen too much. An old
salt, one day, was coming from the sea, and he found a writer going to the sea.
And the old salt said to the--to the writer, said, "Where goest thou, my good
man?"
Said, "Down to the sea. Oh, I want to smell its salty brines. I want to see
its blue skies, the white clouds, the sea gulls."
He said, "I was borned on it fifty years ago. I don't see nothing so attractive
about it." That's it. He'd seen so much of it, till it become common.
That's what's the matter with us, people. We've seen so much of God. This church
that has been called out of the denominational groups in the last days has seen
so much of it, until it's become so common you just overlook it. Don't never
let Christ become common to you, friend. Don't never do that. You just believe
with all your heart and all that's in you. Now, have faith in God. Now, just
pray, and let the Lord Jesus grant it.
E-66 Now, you just touch
His garment. I don't know... You touch him. He can be touched. [Brother
Branham pauses--Ed.] Now, just pray now. I don't say that He will do
it. Just in a moment would settle it all. You just--just--just kind of... [Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.]
Now, it's a Light. Don't nobody take a picture, a flash picture. Just be reverent.
Now, here it is. It's over a woman setting here looking at me, right here at
the end, right there. Uh-huh. You believe me to be His servant, lady? I'm a
stranger to you. You don't know me. I don't know you. But if God will describe
to me, just like He did to the woman and tell her about her blood issue, or--or
the woman had five husbands, if the Lord Jesus will--will provide that information
to you through me, would you believe it with all your heart? You'll know whether
it's the truth or not. All right. It's a bladder trouble. If that's right, raise
up your hand. Uh-huh. See? Now, that's exactly right.
Here, you setting next to her, you was going to help her. You touched her with
your hand. Now, you were kind. Now, you believe God can tell me what your trouble
is? You believe that He can do it? High blood pressure. If that's right, raise
up your hand. Uh hum.
E-67 The man setting
next to her, do you believe, sir? Believe God can tell me what your trouble
is? You know whether it'd be truth or not. Varicose veins. You believe? The
little lady setting there, kind of crying like, your trouble is nervousness.
That's exactly right. Kind of shadowed, you get weak in the day-time. You think
you're losing your mind. The devil tries to tell you that, but you're not. It's
all over from tonight now. See, you got the victory. It's left you. The black
shadow that was over you has left you.
You was weeping there, setting next to her, lady. It--it thrills you. Now, do
you believe me to be His prophet, or His servant? That stumbles some people.
You see? So you... I don't know you. We're strangers. You believe God can tell
me what's your trouble? All right. You have a heart trouble, kidney trouble,
and you're anemia. If that's right, raise up your hand...?...
E-68 This little lady
setting here, kind of heavy-set, a red and dark striped dress on, she's praying.
She wants to be called in this line. If that's right, raise up your hand, lady.
You believe God can tell me what your trouble is? Your friend will be all right,
the spiritual problem will be all right. And your female trouble will leave
you, if you'll believe God with all your heart. Now, if that's right, raise
up your hand. If that's what you was praying about, raise up your hand so that
people can see what you're doing. All right? You just have faith in God.
Somebody back, you don't have to be sitting here on the front, way back, believe
with all your heart. Way back there, there's a woman. She's got a growth on
her side. She's praying. She's going to miss it. Lord God, help me, I pray.
Mrs. Goodman, you believe with all your heart that God will take that growth
from your side? All right. Raise your hand way up so the people can see you.
I'm a total stranger, never seen her. There she... Is them things right? Raise
up your hand. All right.
E-69 A lady setting
over there, out towards the end there, she's suffering with a gall bladder trouble.
And she's also, she's got diabetes, heart trouble. Mrs. Otterville, believe
with all your heart, lady, and you can be healed there.
Please don't move around, people. I--I ask you in Christ's Name, don't do that.
See, diseases go from one to another. See? Unbelief is the most horrible thing
there is in the world. Just have faith.
Here's a little lady setting here praying about her husband. He drinks. That's
right. You're praying that he'll stop drinking. Isn't that right? All right.
I don't know you. Got a prayer card? You don't have? You don't need one. Just
faith that you got... You touched something. You're twenty or thirty feet from
me. You touched the High Priest.
E-70 Little lady behind
there is praying about her husband too, setting behind her. That's right. Your
husband's a nervous man, kind of a mental nervousness. He's missing right now.
If that's right, raise up your hand. And you've got something wrong with your
hand. You have allergy, or something or other. You touch stuff that makes your
hands go bad. Isn't that right? Mrs. Patty is your name. You believe with all
your heart? Now, if that's right, raise up your hand. Amen. See? I've asked
you to believe.
What about this lady setting here. You've got a mark on your face, like a little
skin cancer. You believe me to be God's servant? You do? I don't know you. You're
a stranger to me. That's not exactly what you're praying about. You're praying
about a heart trouble that you got. That's right. Is that right? This lady setting
here, if you'll believe with all your heart, you can have your healing. Your
husband got his last night, why not you? Ex-woman preacher... Now, believe with
all your heart, and you... Now, you see, just so you'd know. You was kind of
questioning in your mind. See? Now, you're satisfied, aren't you that He does?
All right. Raise up your hand if that's right. Have faith in God.
E-71 What do you think
of that diabetes, sir, setting here with your hand up? You believe that God
can heal diabetes and make you well? You do? All right, sir, God can heal you.
You're a stranger to me too. If you'll believe with all your heart...
There's a man setting there has got heart trouble, something wrong with his
back. Mr. Easter, you was hurt in a train accident that caused that. If that's
right, raise up. Jesus Christ will heal you and make you well. How many of you
believe?
A greater than Solomon is here. You believe it? Jesus Christ, the same yesterday,
today, and forever, swept plumb across the building. You believe now that He's
here? He's right here now. That's reality. That's exactly what He said would
take place. "These things that I do shall you also; more than this will you
do, for I go to My Father."
One time a woman touched Him. He got so weak He said virtue went from Him. And
He was the Son of God. I'm a sinner saved by His grace. "More than this shall
you do." I know the King James says "greater," but in original it says "More
than this shall you do, for I go unto My Father." Now, do you believe that?
E-72 You believe His
Presence is here? Then why not lay your hands over on one another, you believers,
and pray for your fellowman setting next to you. Each one of you, lay your hands
over on each other and believe with all your heart now, as you pray. Pray the
way you do in church. Believe the way you've always believed. Now, let that
Spirit of God that made you a Christian be just as great and royal to you as
you're praying for that person, as that mother deer had in her being a mother,
that loyal Spirit of Christ that's here now, that the world don't believe. The
world hates It. The world don't understand It. The Bible says they wouldn't.
The world knows its own, and God knows His own. God promised it. It's the truth.
So help me, it's the truth. Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Pray now.
E-73 Lord Jesus, here
lays some handkerchiefs laying here that's for the sick and the afflicted. And
I lay my hands upon them because we're taught in the Bible they'd taken from
the body of Paul handkerchiefs and aprons. And unclean spirits went out of the
people, and they were healed of diseases. Now, we're not St. Paul, but You're
still Jesus. And I pray that You'll honor these for these people that couldn't
be to the meetings. May, when they're laid upon the people, may it come to pass,
like one of the writers said, when the--when the Red Sea got in the way of the
children of Israel. God looked down through that Pillar of Fire with angry eyes,
and the sea got scared because it was standing in the way of the path of duty
to believers. And the sea moved back, and the--and the believers went over to
the promised land.
Lord God, look down through the Blood of Your Son Jesus Christ tonight upon
these handkerchiefs, upon these audience here, with their hands laying on each
other, praying for each other. You said, "Confess your faults one to the other,
pray one for the other that you may be healed, for the effectual fervent prayer
of the righteous availeth much."
E-74 I pray God, as the--the confessed Christian tonight is praying for the person he has his hands on, may the power of the Holy Ghost come upon that person. May the Spirit quicken to them, Lord, the reality. May they not miss it, Lord. Let them not be like something that's going to miss it, Father. May Birmingham catch its visions now, of the Presence of the resurrected Jesus Christ. A greater than all the prophets, a greater than all the preachers, greater than all the popes, or the potentates, or whatever it might be, it's Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever, a-vindicating Himself in the last days by His promised Word. Grant it, Lord. I pray this faith--or prayer of faith for them, as they pray for each other. In Jesus Christ's Name, we present it to You.
E-75 Now, each one of
you, as you... Got your hands on somebody? Now, just close your eyes, and remember,
the Christ that's promised this has come here and vindicated Himself. Yes, I
seen a man healed right there with TB, setting right back there in front of
me. Now, if you just... It's just going on everywhere, everywhere in the building.
Surely if God... A man can tell anything. That don't make it so. But when God
comes down and tells it, and vindicates it, and proves it's the truth, to disbelieve
it, it's unpardonable sin. Jesus said it'd never be forgiven in this world or
the world to come. The Scriptures promises this, and here it is vindicated right
before you. People, in the Name of Jesus Christ, receive Him while He's--while
He's here in the presence of us tonight, while we're with Him. Will you believe
it?
And all that truly does believe it, and accepts Him as your Saviour or as your
Healer, will you stand to your feet to give testimony? "I'll stand as a testimony.
I truly believe, and I now accept my healing, my salvation, and all my needs
in the Presence of Christ. I now accept it." My, look over the building. Almost
all the congregation standing. Wonderful. That's beautiful. Now, it's all over
if you believe it, if thou canst believe.
E-76 Now, let us close
our eyes, and raise up our hands, and sing, "I love Him, I love Him because
He first loved me." Let's give Him praise as we sing Him now, sing to Him these
praises.
E-77 I wonder if you
believe that the God Who can tell me the secret in the heart to prove that...
He don't have to do that now, but He said He would do it. When Jesus came the
first time, He didn't have to heal, but He said He would do it. He did it that
it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet. And He does it tonight
because the prophets said He would, and Jesus said He would too.
Now, I wonder, if you who wants that love of God in your heart, like the--like
the mother deer had for her baby, you want that love in your heart for Christ,
and you believe He'd hear our prayer, would you come stand here while we pray
for you, while we sing that once more? Just come right up here. You make a public
confession then. Just walk right out and stand along here, if you believe that
prayer, my prayer, will help you. You come right up while we sing this again.
E-78 I wonder if all
the ministers here that's interested in lost souls, that still has a vision
for people in need, if you'll walk up now among the people. All you ministers
in here, every minister that believes that God will still save a sinner, you
might see one of the greatest things happen just now you've ever seen. This
is what the Holy Spirit likes.
E-79 Now, let's bow
our heads, each one, all over the audience, you that even couldn't get here.
Now, let's pray. Each one of you just confess all your wrong, confess all your
unbelief. Say, "Lord Jesus, maybe I belonged to church once. I went to church,
but I never was satisfied. There was something or another... Oh, I might've...
I might've shouted; I might've spoke with tongues; I--I might've joined church,"
all those things, they're fine. I have nothing against that. But that's not
what I'm talking about.
I'm talking about love of God that's really down there. That's the Holy Spirit.
That's it. You want that, something that's real seasoned, that'll make the Word
of God just live through you, and act through you. See? No roots of bitterness
in the channel of... Holy Spirit just flows right through you. That's what you
want.
Now, just bow your head, and reverently pray, and you ministers lay your hands
upon them now.
E-80 Our heavenly Father,
we're bringing to You tonight this audience of people, that stands here making
confession, knowing that they've been wrong. Their probably, motives and objectives
too that's been wrong. But tonight they have come believing, believing that
You will forgive every sin. Many of them's went to church for years. Many of
them has--has done great charitable deeds. But, Lord, tonight they are wanting
the reality; they're wanting that sweetness, that--that something that they're
lacking in their lives, that Holy Spirit of God that moves in the form of the
Word. And Your servants, the ministers, Your servants has their hands laid upon
them.
We're praying for them this prayer, and asking, Lord, that this will be the
time that not no other way, but right down in their hearts, it'll one time forever,
in Your Presence, be settled right now. May the Holy Ghost come into their lives
just now, and make them sweetened, Lord, with the--with the great honey of heaven,
and give to them an experience that'll be an everlasting experience, that the
great Presence of the living God may come boldly into their lives, and will
give to them that what they need just now.
Grant it, eternal God. They are Yours. I present them to You as love gifts,
and as a sacrifice as--as they're making here. And may the Holy Ghost just make
it real to them now. God, grant it, in Jesus' Name.
Your pastor's going to pray. [The pastor prays--Ed.]
Yes, Lord. Yes, Lord. Grant it.