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1 You may be seated.
[Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.] I was sort of packed
away, coming in and seeing Brother Moore and all of them here on the platform,
the friends that I've knowed for so many years. It's certainly a privilege to
see them here tonight. I feel kinda small to stand here and speak with such
theologians behind me, and maybe they'll correct me when I'm wrong. I hope so.
We are very happy tonight to have a certain person here, Sister Rose. We was
coming down... I was with Brother Shores and his assistant today for a little
lunch. And on the road down, Brother Williams said that Sister Rose was very
sick. And I--we went in to see her just a moment, knelt down. And she had a
high fever, and really sick. Just a few words of prayer, and the Lord spoke
to us, and said, "She's going to be healed, and she'll be there tomorrow night."
And here she is tonight, setting right here. That's right.
3 Sister Rose, stand
up just a minute, so that they... We are thankful to the Lord. She was bedfast.
She said, "The--the devil just beat me out of everything. I come over here and
had a breakdown with this," some kind of a throat disease, and so forth. But
the Lord has brought her through, so to that we're happy. Thanking the dear
Lord.
Now, we've been having wonderful times. And tomorrow night, now, we go over
to the--the Ramada. And don't forget now, it won't be here tomorrow night, it'll
be at the Ramada. And the convention begins the next night. Had to put up with
me one more night, you know.
5 So last night I--I
went so far off of scale, I kind of made a little promise to myself that, the
first of the year, that I just going to cut them messages down from three or
four, five hours, to maybe along about thirty or forty minutes. And as I told
you last night, my wife commented me Sunday, said, "You did real well." So--so
then, of course, I had to come along last night and ruin it (See?) at about...
I was fifty-five minutes, instead of thirty, last night.
Coming down, tonight, Billy said, "What are you going to speak on?"
I said, "Well, I got a few little notes wrote out here and some Scriptures.
I don't know, some of them, four or five different messages." I said, "I feel
when I get down there, and see what's going on."
Said, "You promised to pray for all them sick people."
I said, "Yes, sir. How many cards you got?"
Said, "Two hundred."
I said, "I better start on them tonight."
And he said, "Now, remember, you only get fifteen minutes to speak." Said, "You
took the rest of it up last night." [Brother Branham
and the congregation laugh--Ed.] We'll have to hurry up, won't I? Ha.
10 Well, we are--made
a promise to you, that we would pray for those people who had prayer cards,
and we're--we're obligated to a promise, of course. We can't bring them all
through these lines, and neither could I be able to call them individually out
in the audience. Even though the Holy Spirit would give it to me, I--I just
can't stand to do it. It's just too much on me. And, but we're all acquainted
with those things. We know that God's still God. It isn't that that heals. It's
that that only builds faith to let us know that--that we're in His Presence.
And we're going tonight to pray for all those sick people, every one of them
that's got those prayer cards to be prayed for. And then tomorrow night, over
at the Ramada, we'll try to give out some more and start praying for them over
there, 'cause I still have tomorrow night. And I think I have one night of the
convention, maybe a breakfast also. It depends on how things come out.
12 There's some of the,
one of the speakers that never showed up; hasn't as yet, I don't think. Brother
Humburg, or is that... [A brother says, "Amburgy."--Ed.]
Amburgy, Amburgy, Kash Amburgy. So I--I get it all wrong; that's that German
name. I--I guess that's German. So I may have to kind of pinch-hit, as we call
it, excuse the expression, for him.
So we been having a wonderful time in the Lord though. To all of you, if there
be some strangers here tonight, we're sure glad to have you in, and trust that
the Lord will bless you. I pray that there won't be any sick people in the building
when we leave tonight, that our Lord will come down in His great power and will
heal all that's sick and afflicted.
14 Here sometime ago,
I used to take the individuals in on special interviews, some of the hard cases
that we couldn't get through. Then it built up so fast, till it got to be, the
Lord kept blessing it, till we got three or four hundred on waiting, and so
then people get their feelings hurt because they'd wait. Maybe on that much
time, you'd have to wait maybe a year or two, so to get in to it (See?) just
in between the meetings, to take them on the interviews. And we'd just set and
wait on the Lord until He told us just exactly the case.
There's no doubt there's people setting here tonight that's been on them special
interviews. Is there? Let's see you raise your hands. On the special interviews,
yes, there sits, so--and know that that's right. We just wait to see what the
Lord would say, what that case... And then I had to stop that here some time
ago. I told Billy that we couldn't have any more private interviews.
16 See, I--I--I just
passed twenty-five, recently, second time, and way up towards the third time.
And so as you get a little older, why, you don't, you... Somehow you can't keep
up like you used to. Your steps shorten. And--and you... 'Course, Brother Moore
don't know anything about that yet. He... I think we are somewhere around the
same age.
But a lot of water's went down the river since you and I, and Brother Brown
come here the first time, with Brother Outlaw and Brother Garcia, and Brother
Fuller. I wonder if them men would be in here tonight? Brother Garcia, Brother
Fuller, Brother Outlaw, are they here? Raise up your hands if you are there.
Yes, there's Brother Fuller, I believe, if I'm not mistaken. Brother Outlaw
over here. Brother Garcia, I--I believe though that he left Phoenix. I think
that's right. He--he left Phoenix, and he's over in California. Well, it was
certainly grand days, and I still believe the same Message I had then: "Jesus
Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever." I guess that's been about...
Well, Becky was a baby. That's about nineteen years.
And now, she is a big, old, fat, ugly girl setting out there somewhere, nineteen
years old. Where are you, Becky? Boy, she'll get me for that. I remember packing
her in on my arm. I'd sure have a job doing that tonight...?...
19 Remember over at
Brother Garcia's church one night, she was a little bitty fellow. And I said,
"We have an international meeting tonight." I said, "I'm speaking to the Spanish."
And I said, "My wife here is a German." I said, "I'm an Irishman." And I said,
"And my little girl's an Indian," and that was Becky.
So when I went out the back door, there was a little Mexican girl out there,
said, "Brother Branham?"
Said, "Yes, honey, what do you want?"
Said, "Don't you think your baby is a bit pale to be an Indian?" She's a blond,
you know.
And I said, "Just an Indian in action."
Well, we're thankful that--to be here again tonight. Now, before we approach
the Word, let's approach Him, for He is the Word. When the Word is made manifest,
that's Him in you.
22 As we had last night
on "The Seed Of Discrepancy," did you appreciate that, the Lord's blessing?
I--I certainly appreciated bringing the message to you. And we see what the
seeds are.
Now, is there a special request tonight, just something special? Maybe some
of you all that's going to be in this prayer line, say, "God, be merciful. When
I come to be prayed for, let my faith rise up to meet the conditions." And--and
maybe somebody's got a loved one sick, and something, would you just raise your
hand so God would just look down and say... Now, if--if that... You know how
that makes me feel to look there. Just look at the need in here. Minister brothers,
just look at that. See? Now, if it makes me feel that way, what does it do to
our Father? Certainly. Now, let us pray.
24 Dear Jesus, we are
approaching now the great throne of mercy, through this all-sufficient Name.
"For there's no other Name given among men whereby we must be saved, or--but
only this Name of the Lord Jesus." And we're coming in His Name. And we pray,
heavenly Father, that You will receive us tonight as Your believing children.
And forgive our unbelief, Lord. Help it tonight, that it may be that we will
completely believe every Word of God tonight, for all the things that we have
need of.
You know what's beneath these hands that's been raised up; there's sickness,
some of them may be domestic troubles, some of them financial troubles; some
of them are weary, maybe some backslid, some sinner. Whatever the need is, Thou
art more than a match for any enemy. So we pray, Lord, that--that tonight that
we will recognize that our enemies, every one, has been defeated, even to death
itself. And that we are more than conquerors in Him Who--Who loved us and gave
Himself for us, has washed us in His Blood.
26 We pray, Lord, that
all unbelief, all doubt, all flusteration, all that's unlike God will flee from
us tonight, that the Holy Ghost might have the right-of-way in our hearts. May
He speak to us in a mysterious ways. May He speak to us in His power. May He
resurrect those that are--are spiritually dead, bring back health to those who
are sick and afflicted, lift up the feeble knees, the wearied hands that's hanging
down. May there be a time of rejoicing.
May it break forth tonight, Lord, to leave this place to the Ramada Inn, and
start one of the greatest conventions that's ever been held in this city. Lord,
while we're assembled together and pray. You said, "If the people that are called
by My Name, shall assemble themselves together and pray, then I'll hear from
heaven." God, we pray that this will be so, tonight.
Now, Father, as we read the Word, no one can interpret It but You; You're Your
own Interpreter, and we pray that You'll interpret to us the things that we
read tonight. For we ask it in Jesus' Name. Amen.
29 Now, if many of you
like to just mark down Scriptures that a minister reads... And I would like
for you to tonight, if you would, to turn to Ephesians.
And I was speaking last Sunday on the Ephesians, how that the Book of Joshua
was the Ephesians of the Old Testament, and how it was a Book of redemption.
And redemption has two different parts: "come out of" and "entering into." First,
you have to come out. Some people wants to bring the world in with them; but
you got to come out of the world to enter into Christ. You have to come out
of unbelief to enter into faith. There cannot be one thing in your way. To really
have genuine faith, you must absolutely leave everything that's contrary to
the Word of God behind to enter into faith.
And that was the Book of the Ephesians of the Old Testament: Joshua. Where,
Moses represented the law, could not save no one, but grace could, and here
"Joshua" is the same word like Jesus, "Jehovah-Saviour."
And now then, we find out that we have come to another Ephesians, another Ephesus
now. Where that in our intellectual denominations and so forth, and all of our
educational programs has come to its--its Jordan, then we must have an--an Ephesians
again. We must have an exodus we--to "come out" and to "go into," for the rapture.
34 Now, we're going
to read tonight from the 2nd chapter of Ephesians. I was just saying that so
you could get to the--the spot, or turn to the chapter.
36 I want you to notice
here of the prophet, apostle, rather, Paul, who--who, how he made mention of
this, how, "You has He quickened, who were once dead. You hath He quickened,
who were once dead, dead in sin and trespasses, walking after the things of
the world, the desire of the flesh, and fulfilling the desire of the mind. Has..."
What caused this change? you see? And what caused it from one time being dead,
to quicken? "Quicken" means "made alive." There was a change from death unto
Life. There's no other--there's no other thing that could happen to any person,
so great, as to change him from death to Life. A man, if he was dying, physically,
and could be healed physically, that would be a great thing, but nothing so
great as when he is spiritually dead and God has quickened him to Life.
38 You once in times
past, dead... You were dead. Even many here tonight, one time can look back
and know that you were dead. But now why aren't you dead tonight as you were
then? You deserve to be that way, because you was a sinner, but God Who is rich
in mercy. That's the--that's the thing: God Who was rich. All these things that
we were, but God. That made the change right there: God Who is rich in mercy.
Oh, I'm so glad for that, that He being rich in mercy. If He was just rich in
money, if He was just rich in materials, which He is, but yet the greatest thing
is being rich in mercy. Oh, what a great word that is, how that we were once
dead.
40 And we was speaking
the other night on how the seed must die. And everything around that germ of
life must not only die, but rot. If it doesn't rot, it cannot live. And rot
is "completely done away with; it's finished." And until we get to the place
that our own ideas and our own thinking is completely gone and it's rotted away
from us, then the germ of life can begin to live.
Now, now, we might, I might inject just a little bit of doctrine here that I
don't... If you don't believe it, all right. That's just okay. I do believe
it. I believe that--that a man, when he's born in this world, that when you're
a little baby, born into the world, you could not have been here without being
the foreknowledge of God, because He is infinite and He knows all things. And
when that little baby is born into the world, there's something in that baby.
If he's ever going to have Life, there's a little something in there, in that
child then, that he comes to sooner or later. That little seed is in him. Now,
if you'll take... The Scriptures plainly declare that.
42 Now, if you've got
Eternal Life tonight, if we have Eternal Life, then we always were, because
there's only one form of Eternal Life. We always were. And the reason we were,
because we are a part of God. And God is the only thing that's eternal.
And like Melchisedec received tithes from Abraham, and it was 'lotted to his
great-grandson, Levi, who was yet in the loins of Abraham; paid tithes, for
he was yet in the loins of Abraham when he met Melchisedec. I want to speak
on that over at the other place, one morning: Who Is This Melchisedec? Now,
notice that. Way back, God knew this boy coming down. He knowed all things.
Now, we are a part of God. You always was. You don't remember it, because you
were only an attribute in God. You were only in His thinking. Your very name,
if it ever was on the Book of Life, it was put there before the foundation of
the world. He knew what you were.
45 I'm only saying this,
not to mix up doctrine, but to straighten it out, that we might get away from
this fear and scare: you don't know who you are. You are not going to be, but
now you are the sons of God. See, you always were the sons of God. See?
For when God had you in His thinking at the beginning, you have to be, some
part of you, your Life that's in you now, had to be with God before there...
Well, when you--before you even become material here on earth, before there
was anything, but God, you were one of His attributes. He knowed what your name
would be. He knowed the color of hair you'd have. He knowed all about you. The
only thing happened is when you, being a sinner...
47 Many of you can--can
fellowship with me on this thought. When you was a little boy, or a little girl,
you'd walk around and there would be certain things that would just, where it
wouldn't bother the other kids, it seemed like there was something in you that
cried out. There was God somewhere, yet you were a sinner. You remember that?
Certainly. Now, what was that? That was that little form of Life in you then.
And then after while, you heard the Gospel. Maybe you went to church; you picked
out this and that, and went from denomination to denomination. But one day,
you being part of God, you had to be part of the Word. And when you heard the
Word, you know where you come from, you knowed what was the Truth. You were
always, the seed was in you always. The Word seen the Word that was in you,
that was before the foundation of the world, saw the Word and you come to It.
49 Like my little eagle
story, of how the little eagle was hatched out under a hen. And the little fellow
walked with the chickens, he, the hen clucked, and he didn't understand her
clucking. And--and the little chickens, their diet they had in the barnyard,
he--he didn't understand that, how that they did that. But there was something
in him, seemed to be different from what that chicken was, because at the beginning
he was a eagle. That's right. One day his mama come hunting him, and, when he
heard that scream of the eagle, it was different from the cluck of the hen.
And that's the way it is with every born again believer. You can hear all the
theology you want to and all the manmade discrepancy; but when that Word flashes
out there, then there's something takes ahold, you come to It. "You who were
once dead in sin; that life has He quickened." There has to be a Life there
to quicken to, first. God by His foreknowledge knowed all things. And we were
predestinated to be sons and daughters of God. "Ye who were once dead in sin
and trespasses, wherein we all had our times past, but hath He quickened."
51 Look at Paul, when Paul was a great theologian. But when he come face to face with that Word, Jesus, it quickened. He come to Life right quick, because he was ordained to be that. The... He was part of the Word; and when the Word saw the Word, it was his nature. All the clucking of the hens in the orthodox churches, didn't have no effect upon him; he had saw the Word. It was part of him. He was an eagle. He wasn't a chicken; he was just in the barnyard with them. But he was a eagle to begin with.
52 I heard a similar
little story, I hope it don't sound sacrilegious, about a little duck being
born under a hen one time. He couldn't understand. A funny-looking little fellow,
odd guy, and he couldn't understand the dust and everything. They were playing
in the barnyard. But one day the old hen led the little brood out behind the
barn, and he got a smell of water. Why, he took out towards that water as hard
as he could go. Why? He had never been on a pond before. He'd never been in
the water. But he was a duck to begin with. Only thing he had to do was come
to himself.
That's the same thing the believer is. There's something in him, that, when
he meets God face to face, he comes to himself. That seed is in him, and it's
quickened. My, that's right, and he flies away from the things of the world.
They become dead to him. My, I remember, we all had our life in the past in
those things of the world. But once we got ahold of that real Thing, something
that quickened us, a little seed that come to Life, then all the things of the
world rotted right there. We had no more desire of it.
54 "He that's borned
of God, doth not commit sin. The worshipper once purged has no more conscience
of sin, no more desire to sin." The sin question's over. You become a part of
God in Christ. Christ died to redeem you.
Now, just think of all that we would've been if it hadn't been for God. But
God in His rich mercy, how He has redeemed us tonight. Where would we been tonight
if it hadn't been for God's rich mercy upon us?
Once the world was so sinful, that man had caused corruption to come upon the
earth until it even grieved God that He ever made man. The whole head was a
putrefied sore, the whole body, and God even grieved that He ever made a man.
So He said, "I will destroy men who I've created." He will destroy them because
he has nothing but just a bunch of corruption.
And the whole human race would've been wiped out at that time, but God rich
in mercy would not let the innocent perish with the guilty. And He went away
and made a provided way for the ones that wanted to come in, that wanted to
do what was right. He made a way of mercy for those who desired mercy, and He
prepared an ark. In other words, He put some wings on His eagles, that they
could fly above the judgment, and not drown with the chickens. But He--He made
a way of an escape in the days of Noah. This caused Him to do that, to provide
it, because He was rich in mercy.
58 But after He has
provided a way for people and then they refuse it... Now, the reason they refuse
it is because there's nothing in there to receive it. There's nothing to receive
it. My mother used to say, "You cannot get blood from a turnip, because there's
no blood in a turnip." So if there is no form of Life in there to receive It,
then It cannot be received.
That's the reason the Pharisees could look right in the face of Jesus and call
Him Beelzebub, because there was nothing in them to receive Him. "But all the
Father has given Me," He said, "will come to Me." There's--there's some way
it's going to be presented.
60 You can talk to people
sometime on the streets, talk to them about the Lord; they laugh right in your
face. Well, we're supposed to do it anyhow. But listen, "There's no man can
come to Me except My Father draws him first." God has to do the drawing. There
has to be a Life. "And all that He has given Me, will come to Me."
He made a provision for those who wants to be redeemed. He made a provision
for those who wants to be healed. And then because that He did this, makes Him
rich in mercy, as He's always been rich in mercy. It must be, if you refuse
This, there's nothing left but the judgment, because sin must be judged.
Pharaoh, when he went into the--the sea, as an impersonator, seeing that he
could go in like Moses did... Moses with his army, and Pharaoh with his army,
both of them should've perished in the sea, looked like. But God rich in mercy,
made a way of escape for the Hebrew children (Why?), because they were following
in the line of duty; they were following in the Word.
Now, that's the only way to obtain mercy, is to follow the instructions that
God has give us to follow in. That's the only way He can show mercy, is when
we follow what He said do.
64 As the little debate
not long ago with a minister that said that I was teaching an apostolic doctrine
in this day. I believe I spoke of it a night or two ago, or sometime, about
how he said, "You're trying to inject into this age, an apostolic doctrine."
He said, "The apostolic age ceased with the apostles."
And I asked him, "Well, do you believe the Word?"
He said, "Yes."
I said, "Revelations 22:18 says, that, 'Whosoever shall take one Word out of
This, or add one word to It...' not just two words; one Word, take one Word
out...
Said, "I believe that."
I said, "Then I can tell you where the apostolic age was given, the apostolic
blessings was given to the church; now you tell me where God taken it out of
the church by the Word. You can't do it; it's not there." I said, "Now, remember,
that Peter on the day of Pentecost, he was the--the introducer of the apostolic
age. And he told them all to, 'Repent, and be baptized in the Name of Jesus
Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy
Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to them that's
far off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.'"
67 Now, if you want
to listen to the clucking of some denominational hen, and live back out there
in the things of the world, then it goes to show that there's something wrong.
Because that is the Word. "Whosoever will, may come." And if you've got a will,
you should come. But if you haven't no will, then you're in a sad condition.
But if you've got a will to come, come follow God's formula.
And He never fails to fulfill what He promised. I once was young, and now I'm
old; I've never seen Him fail in His Word. Because He can do anything but fail.
He cannot fail. God cannot. It's impossible for God to fail, and remain God.
He has to, to do that.
69 Now, Pharaoh's army
tried to impersonate, because they wasn't called and they had not that Life.
Into the... The promise wasn't given to Pharaoh. The promise wasn't give him
for a promised land.
And an impersonator, trying to follow a real believer who's called to such,
only makes a mockery out of it. That's what's the matter with our religious
system today. There's too many people trying to impersonate the Holy Spirit,
too many people trying to impersonate the baptism, too many people trying to
impersonate the apostolic age. It's for believers and that alone. God has made
a way, rich in mercy, that His children would not perish. He's made a way for
them.
Now, Pharaoh trying to pursue on, he drowned in the very waters that saved Moses
and his group. Now, Moses did not drown, because God is rich in mercy to them
who are following His provided way. Amen.
Can you see what I mean? That tonight, people who don't believe in Divine healing,
people who do not believe in the baptism of the Holy Ghost, how can they receive
anything? God is rich in mercy to those who will follow after Him; not after
a creed, but after God.
73 God is the Word;
It was made flesh and dwelt among us, now, that He might bring forth the other
attributes of God. The body, Jesus, was the body of God, an attribute. Moses
seen Him pass, the back part of Him; no man had seen His face. But now we seen
Him, we have beheld Him, see Him as the Sacrifice. Now, see, He was an attribute
of God, being displayed, the Word. That's what He was.
And when any believer comes to God, he becomes God's attribute of His Word;
he's used to manifest the Word that's promised for that day. See? That's right.
God, rich in mercy, has never left us without a testimony. He's rich in mercy.
75 We find out that
God was so merciful to Moses out there in that dead sea--out in the Red Sea
out there, rather. Then when He said here, in Exodus 19:4, He said, "I carried
you away on eagles' wings, brought you to Myself. Carried them on eagles' wings,
and brought you to Myself." There was other men in the middle of that sea out
there also, trying to impersonate. But what? "He carried them on eagles' wings."
Now, God always likens His prophets to eagles. And what was it? Moses was His
messenger. And they were following Moses, and that was the eagles' wings that
they were carried on, because he was packing God's message. And the people followed
that. They were following God as they followed Moses with His message of deliverance.
And the Bible said that, "He--they perished not with them who believed not."
'Cause God was rich in mercy to them, because they were following His commandments.
God wants us to follow His commandments.
77 We could say the
same about Korah and about Dathan and their gang of unbelieving people, as they
tried to impersonate. They tried to--to inflict something into God's program.
They didn't like a one-man program. They didn't like that. They had to have
something to do. Korah said, "Why, there's more holy men than you, Moses. You
act like you're the only beach on the--or the only pebble on the beach, rather."
And said, "I--I... you oughtn't to do that. And there's more men here."
And Moses knowed that he was to carry those children over into the promised
land, because the promise was given to him. And he must pack them to the promised
land.
79 And, today, the Holy
Spirit is here to vindicate God's Word, and that's the eagle wing that we're
supposed to ride on, not some manmade theology. But we are to ride upon the
wings of the eagle, to the promised Land.
And here they was going to get a bunch of chickens out there, Korah thought,
you know, to come around, impersonate this, the eagle. And when they did, God
said, "Separate yourself from them," and He swallowed up the world. He would've
swallowed up the whole thing, the whole creation, but God was rich in mercy
to those who are trying to follow His Word. Always, God rich in mercy. Many
of them come over on the side with Moses, and God opened up the earth and swallowed
up the unbeliever. He, the--the unbeliever will always perish.
81 Those who did not
believe, though they come out and walked for a while, but, they--Jesus said,
"They are, every one, dead." And dead is "annihilation." They are dead. Just
think of them. They come out, seen the miracles of God, seen the great hand
of God, enjoyed the manna; and got out there and listened to a man named Balaam,
that perverted the way of God by his teaching contrary to the Word, "We're all
brethren, so let's just all get together."
That's another Balaam system rising up today, "Let's all get together." It will
not work. Let's walk with the Eagle, Jehovah Eagle. You're eaglets.
There's only three saved out of the entire group; Moses, Caleb, and Joshua.
The rest of them perished in the wilderness; Jesus said so in Saint John the
6th chapter. God in mercy would not let them perish, because--with the rest
of the unbelievers. They all died right there in the wilderness, and they are
dead. God saved Moses and the eagle believers, because that they had respect
to His Word.
84 And today, friend,
the only way that we can ever have favor with God, God's rich in mercy today,
but we've got to respect what He said about it. You just can't take what somebody
else said. You've got to take what God said. He said, "Let every man's word
be a lie, and Mine true."
Today we're told that all you have to do in many places is join church, have
a creed, or something like that; or say a prayer, or put your name on a book,
or be sprinkled or baptized a certain way, or something like that. That's all
you have to do. But that's wrong.
To be an eagle of God, you've got to follow the Word day by day. You've got
to continue to feed upon the Word.
87 Now, we find them,
after this time, murmuring again, weakened in faith, after God had showed mercy
to them. And we find them murmuring with God, and when they did, they were dying
with snake bites. Well, they deserved it. They certainly did. Anybody that would
mistake God's Word and do these things that they did, they deserved to die.
Every one of them desired--deserved to die in the wilderness.
But when they were so sick that even doctor Moses and none of them could do
anything about it, and they were dying by the thousands, but God rich in mercy,
He made a way of escape for those who would believe Him. He made an antidote
for it by setting up a brass serpent. God in His rich... God made a way of escape
so His believing children could be healed.
God's interested in everything that's wrong, everything that you anticipate
in. Every walk of life, God is interested in you. You are His child, and He's
rich in mercy. He wants to do for you.
90 The people sinned later by taking this same thing that God had made an atonement for them, by the brass serpent, which represented sin already judged, and they idolized that gift. And that sinned again. "God will not share His glory with nobody." Therefore, we can't have no two, three, four gods. There's only one God. He'll not share His glory with anything else. He's God, alone (See?), so as the heathens have many gods. We have the one God, and He will not share His glory with another; neither will He let anything be an idol in front of Him. Even though He had made an atonement for the people, and it was God's Word, it was right; but when they become to idolizing that, then they got in trouble.
91 Now, that's just
the same thing, I think, that's happened to our church ages. God sent us the
message of Martin Luther with his message, John Wesley, the Pentecostal message,
but what did we do with it? The very same thing that they did with that brass
serpent; we idolized it, "I belong to this, and I belong to that." You see,
you belong to something without the sincerity that's connected with genuine
godly worship of the Word.
What happened? The Bible... We're told in the Bible that the prophet took that
idol and destroyed it. Hallelujah.
What we need on the scene today is a prophet that will destroy the idol of denominations,
that thinks they're going into heaven upon belonging to some creed or a denomination:
needs to be destroyed and burnt up, throwed away. God is full of mercy. He's
rich in mercy. In the day that when we would've all been in that chaos of darkness
out there, but God rich in mercy has sent us the real genuine Holy Ghost with
His Own interpretation to It, right here in the building every night. God rich
in His mercy, how wonderful we find Him to be. Yes, sir.
Now, all they thought they could do was to just go to this snake, or this little
thing that God had made out there, had Moses to make and hang on a pole, and
they could be healed without any sincerity. They just stood and looked at it.
And they got to idolizing it, and God sent a prophet along and destroyed it.
95 Now, all that refused
to look at that serpent in the wilderness, they perished. Now, God makes a way,
but if you refuse to look at it, if you'll set across the street, if you'll
hold onto some creed and refuse to look straight into the Word and see whether
It's right or not; all that refused to look, they perished. And God is a never
changing God. And all who refused to look, perished. So is it today, the same
thing.
Then the people sinned later, and as they've always did, and made the idol out
of--out of it, making it a--a--a--getting--trying to get a healing without sincerity,
and they belonged to something, and the way we do today. And now we see then,
the difference of it was that God...
It was a good atonement, the good sign for that time. That time it was all right.
But it was just to be for that time, for that journey. That's all it will work
for, that journey.
98 And the message that
Martin Luther brought of justification was all right for Luther's age. That's
as far as it went. Sanctification was fine in Wesley's age. That's as far as
it went. Then we come into the Pentecostal age. And the restoration of the gifts
is a very fine thing; it was fine in the age; but we are going beyond that now.
We're beyond that, just as sure as there is a world. We've got to become beyond
this thing, because we have done the same thing with it that they did before:
make an idol out of it. "I belong to this order of it. I belong that order of
it."
God will send somebody that'll smash the thing, and tear it to pieces, and confirm
His Word, the full Word. Notice. Praise be to God. Now, we see that that's true.
God rich in His mercy.
102 Then when the prophet
destroyed this, it left them without any sign of healing, of an atonement, because
their idol was destroyed. But God rich in mercy made them another one. And what
did He do that? He troubled water at the pool at the temple, and many come and
was healed by stepping into this water. Jesus came down to this same pool and
saw a man had been laying there for a number of years, waiting for the troubling
of the water. See, God rich in mercy. Although they idolized that thing, although
the prophet had to tear it up, God made another way for them, 'cause He's rich
in mercy. He wants them to be healed, and He made a way for their healing.
Now, then that went on, the world become more sinful and more sinful all the
time. And finally the world got so sinful that God could've destroyed it, He
said in Malachi 4, "unless I come and to smite the earth with a curse." He could've
done it; just the question.
104 But then God rich
in mercy He sent forth a Saviour, Jesus Christ. He sent forth Jesus to be both
Saviour and Healer. For He said, "As Moses lifted up the brass serpent in the
wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up," for the same purpose. He,
the Atonement, that's what we have claim upon, nothing but the atonement. What
Jesus purchased by His Blood, that's what we have claims upon. And the Bible
said, "He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquity;
the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we were healed."
That's what we can claim, because that's what the atonement, that we stand for,
ordered for us. God rich in mercy.
This was to be an eternal atonement, because He came Himself. God came Himself
in the form of sinful flesh to make a--an eternal atonement; and suffered in
the flesh, and made the atonement; and returned back in the form of the Holy
Ghost, to confirm that atonement. Where no brass serpent or no trouble's water
could do it; it all pointed to that perfect Atonement. God's rich in His mercy
has did this.
106 Now, today, being
it's the day that we're living in, we have come through these church ages and
explained everything away from that. Our theologians of the day has far lost
that side of it. They explain it all away to some other day, some other age,
some other something, way back, from long ago. And Divine healing was just about
played out, hardly found anybody who would believe it. They made fun of it.
Not no more than about twenty years ago, they were making fun of it. The Pentecostals
had practically got away from it. They started in the early days, but they got
away from it.
Look how they did. Now, they got denominational wild, running out to make them
each a creed and so forth. Except, instead of accepting Light, as Light come
in, they organized and made themselves creeds, each one coming around, making
himself a doctrine and staying in that doctrine. And then they got so much took
away till the Holy Spirit couldn't get into the church. They just become another
idol like a brass serpent, it become a--an idolatry. Every fellow said, "I am
belong to this, and I belong to that." It was an idolatry. What a mess we were
in at the end time.
But God rich in His mercy has sent back the Holy Spirit upon us, and vindicating
His Word tonight as He promised He would do. God promised He would do these
things. Look what He did.
109 Look what He did,
He... How now we can see how He promised each age a certain thing to happen.
And we find out that it happened just exactly like it, that He said that He
would do, because He's rich in His mercy to always have mercy to fulfill every
Word that He has promised. He has to do it, and always, in order to stay God.
Always He does this: His Word always comes to pass in Its season, His seed that
He has sowed into the earth. What did He do? He put it here in the Word, and
that's a Seed. And every time the age comes along, that seed ripens up, and
then a reformation comes forth. And He promised it, and it does that.
Now, we did not deserve these things. We did not deserve these blessings of
God, because we had went out after the things of the world, went in the error
of Cain. Cain, building a nice altar and a nice church, and putting flowers
upon it, and thought that's exactly what it was; it was a bunch of apples, or
pears, or pomegranates, or whatever it was that his father and mother had eat
in the garden of Eden that run them out. And so he offered that back to God,
and God rejected it.
111 "But Abel by faith
offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain."
And, today, the Bible said in Jude, that, "They have run in the way of Cain;
perished in the gainsaying of Korah." See, run in the way of Cain, building
altars, building churches, denominations, making it flowery, big, more members
than the rest of them; taking in things, anything that come along and that jumped
up-and-down, or shook hands, or was baptized a certain way, or spoke in tongues,
or run through the floor, they put their name on the book. That's right. And
then turn on the real Truth that be preached, and deny it. How can it be so?
Notice what a mess we were in. Notice.
And the Bible said, "And they went in the way of Balaam, and perished in the
gainsaying of Korah." Perished in the gainsaying of... What was the gainsaying
of Korah? "Why, you think you're the only holy man? Why, God's... All of us
are holy. The whole church is all that. Every... All of us get together; that's
what we ought to do." That's where they perished: that. And we truly deserved
it. We deserved to be that.
But God rich in mercy has pulled us out of that chaos and let us see it before
the thing hits here. Rich in His mercy, and sent us back a revival of Divine
healing, and the coming again of the power of God.
According to history, no revival ever lasted over three years. This revival
carried for fifteen years; it's been a burning fire around and around the world.
Why, because we deserved it? God rich in His mercy, not because we desire it
or because we deserved it, rather.
115 Just think of what
it's done. I think of one of your sisters right here in Phoenix, that many of
you know, Mrs. Hattie Waldrop; she had cancer of the heart. And she was in the
prayer line up here when Brother Moore and I were here the first time, about
fifteen, eighteen years ago. And she was dying with cancer of the heart, and
she should've been dead a long time ago. But God rich in mercy sent His power
upon her. And He saved her life, and she's living today. God rich in mercy.
Congressman Upshaw, a great man, I think he was the President, or something
of the--of the Baptist, Southern Baptist Convention at one time, or Vice President
or something. He'd done all. He was a good man. He did all that he knowed how
to do. He'd went to every doctor. Nobody could do nothing for him. He was bound
down. Ministers had prayed for him. He'd had a gallon of oil poured on his head,
anointing, of different ministers everywhere.
117 One night, Los Angeles,
California, walking up to the pulpit, look at a bunch of wheelchairs about twice,
three times, to what's setting there, all up-and-down the aisles, back and forth.
And then there laid over there a cot with a little colored girl in it, little
Negro girl, and her--her mother was setting by her. And my brother had bringing
the prayer line up.
And I was looking, knowing not what was going on. And I seen a doctor with tortoise-shell
glasses operating on a little Negro girl for a throat condition, and she'd paralyzed.
And I looked around; I thought, "Where is the child at?" I couldn't see her.
After while, way down there, no hope, lovely little girl about seven or eight
years old, to be paralyzed the rest of her life... And there was her mother
down there on her knees, praying. Then I said, "This doctor operated on your
little girl," and described it.
She said, "That's right, sir."
Then she tried to get the baby to the platform. They told her not to do it.
They tried to quieten her down. About time they got her quiet, I thought, "Well,
we'll get a chance to pray for her." In a few minutes... Maybe people right
here was there that night.
And I was looking out over the audience; I seen that little girl going down,
looked like through a--a little narrow road, with a doll in her arms, rocking
that doll. No matter how much the doctor said that she was going to be paralyzed
the rest of her life, God rich in mercy sent down the Holy Spirit by a vision,
and that little girl got up out of there, and she and her mother took hold of
hands and walked down through that aisle, praising God.
122 Way back there set
an old man, Congressman Upshaw, many of you knows his testimony. He had been
a good man, tried all of his life, sixty-six years an invalid in a wheelchair,
pushed in bed; crutches under his arms, that he walked with, never no more to
walk normal. And there he set there, looking on that. And all of a sudden I
looked out and saw a vision. Here he come, walking down across the top of that
audience, bowing his head, could walk as good as anybody. I didn't know who
the man was.
I said, "There's a great man setting back there. He fell off of a wagon when
he was a little boy, onto a hay frame, and hurt his back. They bored holes in
the floor to keep the vibration, when the people walked from striking on his
back." I said, "He becomes a great man, and he keeps growing greater. He's setting
in a great circle at the White House."
And then this man come and told me, said, "That's Congressman Upshaw. Did you
ever hear him?"
I said, "Never heard of him."
And so he run a little extension mike back there, and they was talking, back
and forth.
126 Then I started to
look around, and I seen the old Congressman coming, walking towards me in a
vision just as perfectly normal as he could be. God rich in mercy pulled him
from that wheelchair, and he walked without crutches till the day he died. God
rich in mercy. When doctors had failed, when science had failed, when everything
else had failed, God was rich in mercy to Congressman Upshaw.
I think of myself. As a little old boy, I remember as... People call me today
a woman-hater. The reason it was, is because I seen so much immorality out of
women when I was a kid. I hated them. And I don't do that now, because I know
there's some good ones. But I remember how it was so bad, so immoral. And I
thought, "My, I--I'll never be around where people is at. I have no education,
so I won't get any."
128 And a little old
kid setting there, not even a shirt on, with my coat pinned up like this, with
a safety pin, and it real hot. And the teacher said, "William, aren't you hot
with that coat on?"
I said, "No, ma'am, I'm a little bit chilly." And she made me go over to the
stove and--and put some wood in the stove, and I liked to have burnt up. And
I--I didn't have no shirt that whole season through.
And I thought, "If I could ever get the money, some time that I could get a
little, get me a thirty-thirty rifle, I'd come out west here and live out here
and hunt, for the rest of my life. I didn't want nothing to do with people.
Just stay away, because they didn't like me, and--and I'd just stay away from
them.
And then every time I'd go downtown to talk to anybody, see some fellows on
the street, I knew. I'd say, "Hello there, John, Jim. How are you?"
"Oh, hello."
See, they didn't want to talk to me, didn't want nothing to do with me, because
of my daddy and them that made whiskey. And I--I didn't do that. It wasn't nothing
I done. And I would've been that type.
133 But now I said to
my wife not long ago, "My wall is plastered with the best guns that can be bought."
Oh, and I think of them old dirty clothes. Tonight I got two or three good suits.
And no friends? I have to hide out in the wilderness to keep away from people.
What's the matter, is it because of my personality, is it because of my education?
No. God rich in mercy saw me in that condition and He saved me.
I remember being led by the arms as a blind man. I could not see. Everything
in front of me was a blur; I'd be blind the rest of my life. But God rich in
mercy restored back my sight. I'm fifty-five years old, and still got good sight.
God rich in mercy is the only thing that I can say.
135 Once the church
had no provided way of healing. They had one, but they turned it down. But God
rich in mercy has sent them a gift of Divine healing. That is the Holy Spirit
among us, confirming the Word with signs following. God rich in mercy.
I have two or three pages here of these notes, but I ain't going to try to strike
them, because I'm--I'm conscious that it's almost time to start that prayer
line. But God rich in His mercy...
Many of you here tonight, the doctors turned you down. There's people setting
in them wheelchairs, they'll probably never come out of there. They are there
to stay. Some of them, paralyzed in different ways, they (would never) couldn't
come out; there's no way for them to come out. But God rich in His mercy has
provided an atonement. Don't turn it down. Receive it. There's men out there
with heart trouble; there's people with cancers, that the doctors can do nothing
with. You're hopeless, helpless, in this world.
138 But God, rich in
His mercy, has sent down the Holy Ghost, and right here now to confirm the Word,
to prove that He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. Because we deserve
it? Because God is rich in His mercy. Amen. Now, that's the One; that's the
Person; It's that Lord Jesus. He is not dead, but He has risen from the dead,
and He's alive forevermore. And He's the same yesterday, today, and forever,
still just as rich in His mercy as He was to the woman that had a blood issue.
And she started through the crowd. There was no hopes for her, the doctors had
done all they could do. She had a blood issue. She was dying. And she touched
the Master's garment. God rich in mercy turned around and told her of her condition.
And she was healed of this blood issue.
A little, foul prostitute went up to a well one day, to get some water. No hope.
She'd been excommunicated from the virgins, from around the people; her life
was no good. And she thought, "What's the use of trying? I'm turned out; there's
nothing left for me." But she looked, standing over on the side, or setting
by the side of the well, and there was a Man setting there Who told her all
things that she had ever done: God rich in His mercy.
That same God tonight's just as rich in His mercy, and just the same as He was
in them days. God rich... [Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.]
142 I think we have
two hundred prayer cards out here, or what we've called out in two hundred.
We're going to call them and let the people line up. We're going to pray for
them.
But before we do it, that there be some newcomers here, to get away from all
superstitions... This is not a superstition. It is the manifestation of a promise
of God. It depends on what you're looking at. No virtue in any man. There's
no power in no man. But we as believers have authority; not power, but authority.
Someone asked me, not long ago, said, "Brother Branham, you believe you got
power to do this?"
I said, "I ain't got power at all, but I've got authority." Every believer has
it. If you refuse it, you'll stay where you're at. But if you'll accept it,
it'll do the exceeding abundance, because God is rich in His mercy.
146 Take a little policeman
standing out here on the street, his clothes hanging half off of him, he's so
skinny. The--the cap's got his ears pulled down. And he walk out there where
cars are coming down that street at fifty miles an hour, three hundred horse
power motors in it. He hasn't got the power to stop a bicycle. That's right.
But just let him blow that whistle and hold up that hand, and watch the brakes
squeak. He hasn't got power, but he's got authority. The whole city's behind
him.
And when a man or a woman, I don't care what condition you're in, you've got
the authority of God by a promise, because He's rich and promised to do the
exceedingly abundantly. "If you say to this mountain, 'Be moved,' and don't
doubt in your heart, but believe that what you've said will come to pass, you
can have what you've said." You got no power, but you got authority.
Remember when He told me back there, said, "You'll be able to reveal the secrets
of the hearts." For He... You remember that, many of you Phoenix people? He
promised it. What He promises, He does.
149 Now, there's some
of you here that hasn't got prayer cards, and no doubt. How many's sick and
don't have prayer cards, raise up your hands? Sure. All right. If you want to
know, not authority, not power, but the authority of the Word, "The things that
I do, shall you also."
Jesus promised in Luke 17:30, that just before His coming, there would be like
the time of Noah, Moses--or Noah, "When they were eating and drinking, and given
in marriage; and knew not till the day that Noah entered into the ark." He said
there would be that time. Then He said also, "As it was in the days of Lot,"
and said, "this will take place in that day when the Son of man shall be revealed,
when the Son of man is revealed in the last days."
151 Now, look what He,
how the Son of man revealed Himself in the Person of this Angel, which was the
Son of man. Absolutely. Abraham called Him, "Elohim." He was a Son of man, revealed
Himself just before the Gentile world was burned. How did He do it? To the believer?
To the make-believer, He sent two preachers down to preach to them. But to the
real believer, He stood with His back to the tent, and He said, "Abraham..."
He was Abram the day--a few days before that. But now he's Abraham. "Where is
thy wife, Sarah?"
Said, "She's in the tent behind You."
Said, "I'm going to keep My promise to you. I'm going to visit you."
Oh, Abraham was a hundred years old, and Sarah was ninety; but God rich in mercy
kept His promise. It brought the baby, 'cause God's merciful, and He full of
mercy. He's rich in mercy. He keeps His promise.
155 Notice, with His
back turned to the tent, Sarah laughed and said, "How could these things be?
I'm old. How can I have pleasure with my husband as a young married woman? Why,
he's a hundred years old. Our family relationship has ceased, many, many years
ago. How could this be?" And she laughed about it.
And the Angel with--the Son of man with His back turned to the--to the tent,
said, "Why did Sarah laugh, saying, 'How can these things be?'"
What was it? Jesus said, in Saint Luke 17:30, that, "In the days like it was
in the days of Lot," same situation, before the Gentile world is burned up,
He said, "the Son of man will reveal Himself in that day." He made the promise,
that Malachi 4 promises it would say. A Message would come forth that would
restore the people back to the original Pentecostal Message, and with the same
blessings they had on the day of... What is it? It's a two-winged eagle, both
New and Old Testament, flopping its promises together of God to fulfill what
the promises of the Bible said it would do. Amen.
158 God rich in mercy
would not let His people go out in this denominational, rich in goods and things
of the world Laodicean church age, but He would make a way of escape. Believe
it, people. God bless you. Amen. God rich in mercy. The mercies of God, that's
the only thing that I desire, not His righteousness, not His law; but His mercy
is what I call for. God, be merciful to me. We all have that feeling.
I was watching. There's a little woman setting out here on the end of the seat.
You have a prayer card out there, lady? You don't. Let me show you God's rich
in mercy. You've been real nervous here lately, haven't you? Real bad, and your
eyes has gotten worse. Isn't that right? That's right. Now, they're going to
change. God rich in His mercy by asking you if you'd believe this. Now, you
have no prayer card; you have nothing; but you don't need it. See, it's grace
that's bestowed to you.
160 There sets a little
bitty fellow setting right there in front, with kind of a--setting right out
here. He's suffering with a growth on his body. It's just recently come on there,
recently. Isn't that right, sir? That's right. You don't know what it is. You're
scared of it. That's right. It was caused from a bruise, wasn't it? Have you
a prayer card? You don't have no prayer card. You don't need one. God rich in
His mercy.
Oh, brother, sister, believe God. Don't doubt Him. Believe Him. That's right.
Here sets a man, gray suit, glasses on. Look at here, sir. Do you believe? God
is rich in His mercy. You're setting there with a hernia. Do you believe that
God can heal that hernia and make you well, setting right here on the end of
the seat, looking at me? If you believe that God can heal that hernia, God will
do that to you if you'll accept it. Do you believe it? Will you accept it? All
right. You can have it if you'll just believe it, have mercy. Yes, sir.
163 Here's a lady setting
out here; she's suffering with poor circulation in her body. But if she will
believe, God will heal her, if she believes it. I believe she's going to miss
it, as sure as anything. Have mercy is my prayer. Like I plainly see the woman's...
Mrs. Riley, do you believe that God can heal that poor circulation? If you will,
receive it. Amen. Just believe. God is good, isn't He, Stella? Yeah. That's
right. I never seen the woman in my life. But God in His mercy...
Here sets another woman, setting right back behind there, right in the back,
looking right at me. She also... She's got poor circulation too. She was thinking
about it just then. I never seen the woman in my life. Being that this other
woman had the same thing, look at me. Do you believe me to be God's prophet,
or His servant? You also have heart trouble. If that's right, raise up your
hand. You don't have it now. God rich in His mercy is showing forth that He's
alive here in the building tonight. God rich in His mercy. Amen.
165 Could there be,
how many sinners and backsliders would stand to your feet, and say, "God, rich
in His mercy, be merciful to me"? Stand to your feet. I'll pray for you, if
you believe that He want--you want mercy now. God bless you. God bless you.
God bless you and you. Backslider, raise to your feet. God rich in His mercy.
Are you--you...
Surely you've not gotten so numb in this condition, that you can't see that
that's the very promise of the hour. Surely you ain't got so wrapped up in denomination,
and other things, that you can't see that this is the promise of the hour: God
rich in mercy.
Ever who you was, that stood up, I'm going to pray just in a minute. I want
you to make your way to some good full Gospel church and--and be--and be baptized
in Christian baptism, God give you the Holy Ghost.
168 Is there another
will stand to your feet, and say, "Me, I want to be remembered. God, in Your
mercy remember me. I haven't lived like I should. Maybe..."? God bless you,
lady. I... God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. That's
right. "God, rich in His mercy, have mercy on me." God bless you, sister. Is
there...
How many more is in here, say, "I'll stand. I want God to know that I want mercy.
I haven't lived right. I've lived this way and that way. I've been up and down,
but I want His mercy." God bless you, brother. Someone else, say, "God rich
in His mercy." God bless you, sister. God bless you, sister. That's right. God
rich in His mercy. God bless you too. God bless you back there. God sees you.
Just stand to your feet.
Say, "Does it do any good, Brother Branham?" Sure. Stand up and see how much
different it is.
If you're really sincere in your heart, God is rich in mercy. "He's not willing
that any should perish, but that all might come to repentance." God rich in
His mercy. O God, have mercy on us.
172 Now, how many in
here now, that's holding those prayer cards? What were they? A's? A's and B's.
All the people that's got prayer card A's, stand over on this side, and prayer
card B will stand up behind them.
I wonder if there's some ministers here that would like to anticipate in helping
me. If they are, would like to come up, I would be glad to have your--your assistance
here, for we will be glad to pray, and pray--pray with you.
This, the Bible said, "These signs shall follow them that believe." Yes, sir.
"In My Name they shall cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongue." Have
we done it? By the grace of God; not us, but God rich in mercy to keep His Word.
God...
Now, the wheelchairs, if you want to put them right down here in the front;
we'll pray for them right here, won't have to pull them up through that, all
that aisle there. Let, all right, let them come right up here. We'll certainly
pray for it, every one of them. God rich in His mercy.
176 Would you stand
to the right-hand side now for a few minutes? Did Brother Brown come with you?
Coming tomorrow. I--I--I was in hopes he'd be here. Where--where's Brother Outlaw?
Where's Brother Fuller? Some of them people that was up here with me when I
first come, let's come back. You remember these old fashion prayer lines, when
we used to stand there till you would have to hold me on one side, and somebody
on the other, I'd get so weak?
How many has been in them meetings way back in the beginning? Looky here. You
remember back there, I told you that the Lord Jesus told me that, if I'd be
sincere, that these things would take place. Is that right? We never had such
as that in that day. But it happened, because God's rich in His mercy and loyal
to His promise. Amen. Oh. Amen. Praise God. Hallelujah. "Oh, I'm so glad I'm
one of them." Amen. Oh, my.
178 Oh, me, a wretched,
miserable, poor blinded wretch, as I was, and now by His mercy, His rich mercy,
I can see the Kingdom of God in sight. Amen. How beautiful is His commandments.
Stand right over, my brother, on your crutch. If you can't get up, all right,
stand right here, we'll come right down and pray for you.
And now let the A's and B's, of prayer cards, get lined up over on the other
side there, and we're going to pray for them.
Minister brothers, you are certainly, if you believe in laying hands on the
sick, you come right here and stand with me on this platform. We're going to
pray for the sick.
182 Now, to you people
that's standing in that line, if you can believe the Presence of God is here,
that the Holy Spirit is in our midst now, doing just exactly what He said He
would do. If I had power to heal you, I'd certainly do it. If I had any way
of healing you, I would certainly do it. I do not have it. I... God has give
a little gift.
I'm not much of a preacher. I don't have education enough to be qualified as
a preacher, what's called a preacher in these days, when the--when the experiences
must be a theological experience, and it must have certain doctor's degree,
and so forth. I can't qualify for that. But God, seeing my heart, and know that
I want to do something for Him, I want to appreciate it.
184 A man said to me
the other day, said, "I think you're just a fine man, Mr. Branham, but I believe
you're sincerely wrong. You're all out of the will. Do you know you'll be condemned
at the end?"
And I said, "Look I want to tell you something. I'm going to say that you--that
you would be right, just to say for the argument's sake. If I am wrong, which
I--I don't believe I am; but if I was wrong, and I knowed right now that I was
going to live to be a hundred years old, and He was going to condemn me at the
end of the road, and tell me, 'You don't deserve to come into My heaven, William
Branham. Get out into outer darkness.' You know what? I'd serve Him every day
of my life until I went anyhow. For I have received so much of His unmerited
blessings, that He's more than life to me. He's everything that I..."
186 All that I am, all
that I ever could hope to be, I have derived from His grace and mercy. I was
wretched, miserable, poor, blind, but by grace He has healed me, and I am strong
and healthy by the grace of God. I have good eyesight. I have eat, drink, have
whatever I have need of. He never promised to supply my wants: my needs.
And if I am cast away at that day, and I knowed... I cannot see where I would
be. But if I knew that I was wrong, and God has chose me to be wrong, I would
want to stay wrong, and because that I want to do His will. It's... I love Him
till I want His will to be done. Now, that's a big statement, but I hope you
get it in the way, the spirit I said it in. See? I want to do His will. I ask
Him for something some time, He shakes His head "no," I just rejoice so much
about that as I can if He said, "yes." Because we always ought to ask, "Thy
will be done." His no's is just as... If that's His will, that's just... It's
a whole lot better than His yeses, if it's His will to do it. That's when you
really love Him. Amen.
188 I get to talking
about Him, I just can't stop now. Oh, He's so real, so real to me. Friends,
He's--He's all that I am, all that I ever could be, all that I ever expect to
be, is grounded in Christ Jesus, His Word.
I'm thankful tonight for the witness of the Holy Spirit, for the Message. I
know it might, some might disagree with It, but as I have told you, I'm duty
bound to a Message. A sign went forth, and God does not send a sign just to
show that He's God. A Message, a Voice always follows the sign. Anyone knows
that.
Jesus come with signs and wonders. He was a great Man when He was doing signs
and wonders, but when He begin to set down and to begin to bring the Message,
"I and My Father are One," oh, my, that was wrong to them. See? But the Voice
had to follow the sign.
191 Moses was given
two signs, and each sign had a voice. That's right. I preached on it here sometime
ago, somewhere, on "The Voice Of The Sign." It must have a--a Voice of the sign.
It's a changing. Always it's that way. If it isn't, then it didn't come from
God.
If a man comes out with an odd peculiar ministry, that's found in the Bible
to be the Truth, and that man stays right in that same old denominational doctrine,
forget it. Nothing to it. God don't do a thing like that. That thing, that's
rotten manna that's got termites in it, or wiggletails, or whatever you want
to call it, from forty, fifty years ago, still trying to eat that old manna
that fell way back years ago. And the children of Israel on their journey, new
manna fell every night. That's right, you couldn't keep it over.
We don't live over some other age gone by. We're eating new Manna, fresh Manna
out of heaven, in our journey as we go on.
Let's bow our heads now.
194 Lord God, You are
so real, Your Presence. I think of grace, Lord. We--we have just seen You do
so many things. We've heard You speak with tongues, see You interpret it through
Your people. O God, to see You heal the sick, open up the eyes of the blind,
make the lame to walk, the deaf to hear, the dumb to talk, what a great and
mighty God You are.
And then to see that You promised this in the last days. Though we have many
carnal impersonations, yet it only declares that there is a real God somewhere,
that really is true. And I pray, heavenly Father, tonight, that we will become
so God-conscious that we see that You're here.
And these people in the line, when they go through this line, Lord... For we're
doing this because that we made a promise to them. And You said, "These signs
shall follow them that believe."
Here's minister brothers standing here, men that You have chosen before the
foundation of the world to be what they are tonight. You knew, before there
was a world, that we would stand here tonight, because You're infinite.
198 So we pray, heavenly
Father, tonight, that as these sick people, crippled, blind, lame, cancer-ridden,
whatever it might be, that passes through this line, may they realize that the
very God that knows the secret of the heart will heal them, if they will just
only accept it, only look and understand.
The man that looked upon the brass serpent just as a priest's piece of brass,
he never would be healed, because he didn't have understanding of what it was.
And today, Lord, the same. If they look upon a gift, to think of it might be
able to help them, they don't have understanding. It's only vindication of the
Presence of God that's here to heal. Grant it, Father. May it be done, in Jesus'
Name. Amen.
201 I want the little
pianist, if she will, man or woman, whoever it might be, to go over there and
play this song, "The Great Physician Now Is Near," the sympathizing Jesus, if
she will, wherever the pianist is. Now, that's...
I remember one of my first healing service, Fort Wayne, Indiana. A little Amish
girl setting, playing that piano, "The great Physician now is near, the sympathizing
Jesus." A little baby was brought to me on the platform; it was crippled. And
while I was praying for that baby, it jumped out of my arms and run down across
the platform. The mother fainted. The grandmother threw up her handkerchief,
begin to cry.
And this little Amish girl now, not knowing nothing about anything about Pentecostals,
because she belonged to the Amish church; but she was playing. Her long hair
fell down; she raised in the Spirit and begin to sing in unknown tongues, and
the--and with the harmony of that song. And them piano keys moved up-and-down,
playing, "The great Physician now is near, the sympathizing Jesus." Amen. He's
the same yesterday, today, and forever.
204 Now, let us pray
now as... Now, let's everybody out there pray. You people coming through the
line, when we lay hands upon you, remember, Jesus said if you'd believe it,
you'd be well. You believe it? Now, let's all sing now.
206 [Brother
Branham and ministers pray for the sick while Brother Borders leads the congregation
in singing. Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.]
Here sets a man setting here. The reason I was extent, talking, he's dying with
cancer. He's on this crutch. There's no way in the world for the man to live outside
of God. He's got cancer all through the bowels, and well, he's going to die if
it isn't for the mercy of God. And I wish I could just... [Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.]...
word of encouragement to this man.
You, you know the doctors can do nothing for you now. You're beyond that. See?
And you're a... You--you only got one chance, and that is in Christ. See? And,
brother, I--I--you... I'll die one day too. You'll have to go, if Jesus tarries.
I've got to meet you over there, stand there at the judgment bar. And this night...
210 You know, like in
television, television has picked up that every time we even move our finger,
anything, it's on record. Every word we say is on record. Now, see, television
has proven that. Now, television doesn't manufacture a picture; it only channels
that wave into the--the television. See, it doesn't make it. There was television
when Adam walked on earth; there was television when--when Moses come through
the Red Sea; there was television when Elijah was on Mount Carmel (See?); but
they just now discovered it. See? And now, everywhere I...
Every move we make, and every sound, it's playing a record that'll meet us at
the judgment. Every move we make has got to meet us there. And I've got to answer
for the words that I say to you, as a minister. I've got to do it, because God
will hold me responsible to it.
212 Now, if I could,
I'd make you well; 'cause you just got a little time, if not for God. Now, I
come down and prayed over you, all I knowed how to do. Brother, anything in
the world, I could do for a man setting there in that condition, I'd do it.
And let me ask you. See? You--you--you are already healed, because Jesus said
you was. See, "By His stripes we were healed." Now, if you could, from the bottom
of your heart, accept that, you'll not die now, but you'll live.
Now, see, now we know that television's coming through this room. We know that.
We don't see it. We can't see it; our eyes are not made, our senses can't pick
it up. It takes a manufactured tube, or whatever it is, crystal, to pick that
up.
So is God present. We don't see Him, but we know He's here. Jesus Christ is
the same. Look, He just declared Himself, how He makes Hisself. Now, as far
as healing, if He was standing right here now, He could do no more for you (See?)
not another thing. If the Son of God was standing right here, which He is, He's
here, but He couldn't do no more for you, because He's already identified Himself
here. See? And He's here right now, just the same, to heal you and make you
well.
216 And that little
lady there told me, said, "You asked the blessing, and prophesied or something,
over her, that she'd have a baby," setting in that wheelchair. And she did;
she had her baby.
And now, the little lady setting here. Now, she had a goiter operation and it
paralyzed her. Well, we just see so much of them things happen. Now, little
sister, I know you're a genuine Christian. Why God has let you set there, I
don't know. I believe maybe it's because that you have... Faith, you--you're
trying to have faith to get out of there (See?); but now look, let's just not
try to have it, let's just have it now (See, see?); just--just going be there.
That's all there is to it; it's going to start right now, and we're going to
get well. And you people out there in those chairs, wherever or whatever you
are, just remember that Christ is present.
218 Now, you say, "Is
there somebody, do you see my picture is coming through." Oh, yes.
Even the Words of Jesus Christ that He spoke when He was here on earth, is passing
right through this room. It never dies. How many knows that's scientifically
the truth? Well, what is it? Then the Spirit picks up that Word that's been
written and makes It manifest. Oh, glory.
He's here. He's right here now, the Lord. We just... We have seen so much; He's
done so much, till we just kinda, you know, just kinda stumble over it. If we
would realize, not just some mythical something, some theological term; but
the evidence that He promised He would show Himself in this day, here He is
declaring it right here before us right now. What a wonderful thing. Isn't that
wonderful?
221 Now, you believe.
Will you believe it? Believe you're not going to die. You're going to live,
and you're going to honor God. You're going to honor God. Have you ever been
baptized? You're a Christian, are you? And you're a Christian. Well, you want
to live for the honor of God. Then go live, my brother. In the Name of Jesus
Christ, live.
And, sister, you want to walk for the glory of God, and take care of your baby;
then walk, sister, in the Name of Jesus Christ.
You, every one of you, do the same, in the Name of Jesus Christ. Don't forget
this Westward Ho Motel here tonight, the Presence of God identified here. He's
no respecter of persons. He only wants you to believe. Do you believe Him now?
Amen. God bless you.
Let us bow our heads now. I don't know who they've chose, to--to dismiss. Brother
Mushegian here, come right here, brother. He's going to dismiss in prayer. God
bless you.