Hébreux Chapitre 2, Première Partie
49-94 ...
come first and study the Scriptures, so he could compare it, and would
see whether it was the Truth or not. He took it the Truth by the Old
Testament. Now, Paul was an Old Testament scholar. How many knows that?
He was a--taught under one of the best scholars of his day, Gamaliel:
outstanding scholar. And Paul knew the Old Testament. And I think his
first shaking, as I said this morning, when he witnessed the death of
Stephen. Something must've got ahold of Paul, because all through his
writings he kept referring to it, "I'm not worthy because I persecuted
the Church unto death; I'm the least among them." Oh, but God had a
different thought of it. He was one of the mightiest men of the day.
See,
Saint Paul, the great apostle
With
his robe so bright and fair, (the poet
said)
Oh,
there's sure to be some shouting
When
we all meet there. (That great
day when I see him receive a martyr's crown, a martyr reward...)
49-96 I stood
with a little pen, here not long ago, where he wrote these letters. And
then they chopped his head off, and pitched him over into the sewer to
wash down the sewer. And this little Jew there, he said, "I bear in my
body the marks of Jesus Christ. I've fought with beasts at Ephesus, but
I've fought a good fight. I've finished the course. I've kept the
faith. And henceforth, there's laid up for me a crown of righteousness,
that the Lord, the righteous Judge will give me at that day. And not
only me, but all who loves His appearing." How I love that. Oh, I want
to be numbered with those. We used to sing a song:
Oh,
would you be numbered as one of His fold?
Would
you be numbered as one of His fold?
Be
spotless within, be watching and waiting that sight to behold;
He's
coming again. (I want to
be one of them.)
50-97 Now,
the writer goes ahead and saying:
Therefore
we ought to give... more earnest heed to the things which we've heard,
lest at any time we should let them slip. (As we
taught on that this morning.)
Second verse deals:
If...
For if the word spoke by angels... (What did
we find the angels to be? Prophets. "God spoke in sundry time..." Now,
you have to make, not our own idea, but the Bible.)
Now, the 1st chapter of... The 1st chapter, the 1st verse:
GOD,
who at sundry time and divers manners spake... to the fathers by the
prophets,
Now, he goes over here and say again:
For
if the word spoken by angels were steadfast... (And what
does an angel mean? Messenger.)
50-100 If God
anointed messenger... And then, if we be anointed, we are God's
messengers. We are messengers to the world, an ambassador of heaven,
professing that we are pilgrims and strangers. We're not of this world.
But we seek a City to come whose Builder and Maker is God. We lay not
up treasures on this earth where thieves break in, and moths, rust can
corrupt; for our treasures lays in heaven where Jesus sets at the right
hand of the Majesty. Oh, what a glorious and marvelous thing to know,
that,
Our
hopes are built on nothing less
Than
Jesus' blood and righteousness;
When
all around my soul gives way,
Then
He's all my hope and stay.
On
Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All
other grounds is sinking sands,
All
other grounds is sinking sands.
How Eddie Perronett wrote that song in the times of persecution.
50-101 Now, if
the word spoke by angels was steadfast,... (When the
messenger of God spoke the Word, It stood.)... and every
reward... received a just recompense of reward;
How
shall we escape now... (if we
don't hear Christ, Who speaks from heaven... Now, watch.)
How
shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation;... (Think of
it.)... which in the first begin to be spoken by the
Lord,...
51-102 Christ
begin His work. What did He do? We watched Him, how He humble, lowly;
how He wasn't a great noted man as a theologian. But He was humble,
meek, gentle; He wasn't a mighty preacher. His voice wasn't heard in
the street. But John went forth as a roaring lion; he was a preacher.
Jesus come forth, not as a roaring lion, but God working with Him
confirming the Word. God was with Christ. Peter said at the day of
Pentecost, "Ye men of Israel, and you that dwell in Judaea... Jesus of
Nazareth, a Man approved of God among you by signs and wonders and
miracles, which God did by Him in the midst of you all, which you all
are witnesses." Watch how he pinned it down on them, "You should've
known Him."
Jesus said, "You hypocrites," Said, "you go out and look at the sun,
and you--it's red and lowering, and you say it's going to be foul
weather. And if it's bright and sunny and so forth, you say it's going
to be fair weather." Said, "You can discern the skies, but the signs of
the time you cannot discern. For if you would've known Me, you'd know
My day."
51-105 Oh,
what He'd scream tonight. How His Spirit screams through His preachers:
"The hour is at hand." We discern; we watch the--the atomic bombs; we
know who's going to take Clark Gable's place, and who's going to do
this, that, or the other; or who'll be the Vice President. We're
interested in that, but we cannot discern the signs of the time. We're
at the end.
What is it? We're so interested in what the next chapter of
television... "What's Susie going to do?"; or what that woman's name
is; and where Arthur Godfrey's going to... "What kind of a joke's he
going to pull the next time?" We, as Christians, gaum our mind full of
such tommyrot, when we ought to be in prayer somewhere and study the
Bible to know the signs of the time we're living in.
What does that a lot of time is weak pulpits (That's right.) that don't
get down and bring the Gospel Truth. We're going to have to answer for
that in the days to come. We must not neglect anything. And the people,
as we are here at this Branham Tabernacle, to see the signs and
wonders, and the power of the resurrected Christ; and then to know that
we would place our--our times upon other things and neglect to hear the
Voice of the Lord Jesus, "How shall we escape if we neglect such a
great salvation?"
52-108 The 3rd
verse... or the 4th verse. Here's where we ended, on the 4th verse,
this morning.
God
also bearing them witness,... (Oh, my.) God...
bearing them witness,... (Listen to
the Word.)... both with signs... wonders, and with divers
miracles,... (What is
divers miracles? What is diver? "Diver" means "many." With many
miracles God bore witness. O God, I trust that it'll soak into your
hearts.)
Listen. I'm one of your pastors with Brother Neville here. I want you
to take it to record. The Bible said, "If there arise one among you,
and he says such-and-such and it doesn't come to pass, don't hear it;
for I haven't spoken. But if he speaks in My Name, and what he says
comes to pass, then hear it. (Amen.) For I am with that prophet, or
preacher, or whatever it may be. If what he says comes to pass, then
hear him."
52-110 Now, friends, let's hear Him, the Holy Spirit speaking in our midst, showing divers miracles, and signs, and wonders. Let's just not pass over it as just common happenings. Let's remember that it's Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever, confirming His Word. We must do it. Oh, please do it. Take heed. Let every other thing be secondarily. Even your home, your husband, your wife, your children, whatever it may be, put it second. Place God first. You say, "Brother Branham, over my children?" Over anything, place God first. Let Him be first.
52-111 Elijah
come off the mountain one day; he was an angel, a messenger, God's
messenger anointed. And he found the widow woman picking up two sticks.
He said, "Go, bake me a little cake and fetch me a little water."
And she said, "As your soul liveth, I have but just enough cakes--or
enough wheat dough to make one little pancake. And I just have enough
oil to go in to mix it up for shortening. And I'm picking up two
sticks." The old fashion way was the Indian way of crossing the sticks
and burn it from the middle, and keep pushing it in. Made a many a camp
fire like it. Said, "Now, I'm going to cook that little cake for me and
my boy, my baby. And we're going to eat it and die." There'd been a
drought for three years and six months, no water nowhere.
That stern, old prophet, looked that woman in the face; he said, "Go
bake me a cake first." What a command for a man to tell a widow woman,
starving to death, to feed him first? What did he say? "For THUS SAITH
THE LORD, the barrel will never go empty nor the cruse dry until God
sends rain on the earth." First, God. She went in and baked that little
cake and come, give it to the prophet. And went right back and baked
another one, and another one, and another one, and another one. And the
barrel never went empty nor the cruse dry until God sent rain on the
earth. She put God before her children. She put God before anything
else. She taken the Kingdom of God first.
53-114 God
must have first place in your heart, first place in your life, first
place in everything that you do or what you are. God must be first. He
doesn't want the second place. He doesn't deserve the second place. He
deserves the best, and the first, and all that we got. He deserves it.
Blessed be His holy Name.
For
God also bearing... witness,... (He gave
testimony.)... both with signs and wonders,... divers
miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to His own will... (Not what
men say, what the church said; but what God's will was.)
Oh, we need to seek the will of God, not the favor of your neighbor,
not the favor of your children, not the favor of your husband or your
wife; but seek the will of God. You do that first. Then everything
else, the will of the wife and the will of the children, will fall
right in with it. But place God first.
53-116 Watch,
now.
For
unto the angels has he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof
we speak.
Otherwise, the great Angels that ministers in the heavens: Gabriel,
Michael, Woodworm, and the tens of thousands times tens of thousands of
Angels of heaven, or the tens of... hundreds of prophets that's been on
the earth, every one of them, He's never put any of them to have
control over the world to come that we speak of, not a one. He never
said, "Isaiah, you'll control the world." He never put the world in
subjection to Elijah. Neither did He put it to Gabriel, or any angel,
any ministering spirit.
54-118 Watch
what he said, Paul still magnifying Christ.
...
whereof we speak.
But
one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art
mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou would visit him?
Thou
has made him a little lower than the angels; thou hast crowned him with
glory and with honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hand:
Now, if you want to read that, it's Psalms 8:4 and 6, David speaking.
Now, what did he call David here? That settles it, right there, whether
it was right this morning on the prophet.
He said, "For one of the angels said in a certain place." David, the
messenger of God was an angel of God; for he was a messenger of God.
The angel said (David said) in the Psalms, "Thou did make him a little
lower than the Angels of heaven." An angel said that God made him lower
than an Angel, that He might crown Him; and he might suffer and taste
death to be exalted up again. That He might make him to inherit all the
things of the world.
54-121 Now,
in--in Matthew 28:18, we read these. After He had been crucified and
rose again on the third day, He met with His disciples and commissioned
them to go into all the world to preach the Gospel to every creature.
He said, "All powers in heaven and in earth has been given unto My
hands. All the power in heaven, all the power in earth has been given
unto Me." What was it? Man and God had united. The Logos had been made
flesh, and had been killed, and rose again for our justification, and
was then the anointed Emmanuel forever and forever. God changed His
dwelling place from a throne in the spaces yonder to the heart of His
Son Christ Jesus, to live and reign forever. God was in Christ; He's
the final resting place of the Spirit.
The Spirit stayed in a tabernacle one day (You know that.), under a
tent. And Solomon built Him a house. "But howbeit, the Most High
dwelleth not in houses made with hands; but a body has Thou made Me."
55-123 Over in
the Book of Acts the 7th chapter, when he was speaking, he said, "All
of them foresaw It. They built tent for Him, Moses did, had a tent and
put the ark in there. For God was on the Mercy Seat; He didn't dwell
there."
All right then, "A Body has thou made Me," the Body of the Lord Jesus
Christ, made lower than the Angels to taste death; and none but the
very Highest of high, Christ, the Prince of peace, the King of kings,
the Lord of lords, the Creator of every star in the universe.
O God... He became lower than His creation that He might redeem men
(homeless, helpless men) and give them a home in heaven. He left the
glories of heaven. He left the highest Name that could be called. And
when He was on earth, men give Him the lowest name that they could give
Him, said he was a illegitimate Baby to start with. Born in a manger,
wrapped in rags off the back of the yoke of a ox, no place to go, had
no home to go to, and was called Beelzebub, the chief of the devils. He
was mistreated. He was spit on. He was made fun of. He was rejected and
went to the lowest pits, and stooped to the vilest of prostitutes.
That's what man done to Him.
55-126 But God
raised Him up so high that He has to look down to see heaven. Men give
Him the lowest seat, give Him the worst place, the lowest name. God
raised Him up and give Him the highest seat, and the highest Name.
That's the difference what man done with the Son of God, and what God
done with the Son of God.
He stooped that we might be lifted. He become us, that we through His
grace, might become Him. He come to the homeless, and became homeless
Hisself, that we might have a home. He came to the sick and was made
sick Hisself that we might be healed. He came to the sinner, and made
sin Himself, that we might be saved.
No wonder He was exalted. No wonder He is Who He is tonight. God has
exalted Him. And all the powers in heavens and earth is give to Him.
56-129 When
His earthly work had been finished here on earth... He came to the
earth; as soon as He did, the Morning Star declared Him to be the Son
of God. He shook every devil that He come in contact with. Blessed be
the Name of the Lord. Devils trembled and shook, and begged for mercy
in His Presence. Yes, sir. All hell knowed Who He was.
He walked humble. He had not a place to lay His head on a rainy night.
The very animals that He created, the birds of the air has nests, and
the foxes has dens, but the Son of man doesn't have a place to lay His
blessed head. Sure He was.
He became sin, became low and forsaken. But the devils knowed Who He
was. They pleaded for mercy; they said, "Why do you come to torment us
before our time comes." And while the preachers was calling him
Beelzebub, the fortuneteller; the devils was calling Him the Son of the
living God, was begging for mercy.
56-132 Oh, how
we could only stop just a minute. Who are you anyhow? What does that
job you got mean? Or what does that little house we own mean? What does
the car we own mean?
Pretty little girl, you little sassy thing, what does that little looks
that you have now? You young man with the shiny, slick hair, straight
shoulders, you'll bend down someday, when stooped with age.
But blessed be the Lord. You've got a soul that's borned again, you'll
live forever and ever because He become you, that you through His grace
might become Him, to make a place for you.
56-135 Oh, we
who think that we got a change of clothes, and a few groceries in the
house, what are we? God could take it in a second. Your very breath
holds in His hand. And here in our midst to heal the sick to proclaim
and profess and to foretell, and every time perfect... And even
concerned enough to bring a little dead fish back to its life again in
the midst of us: Jehovah around us, Jehovah in us, the great and mighty
I AM.
When He died they thought they had Him. He ascended into hell. When He
left the earth that day when He was crucified, He went into the regions
of the lost. The Bible said, "He went and preached to the souls that
were in prison, that repented not in the long-suffering in the days of
Noah." When He died and His Spirit left Him, He become the Logos again.
He, I see, said, "I came from God. I go back to God."
57-137 And God
was that Pillar of Fire that led the children in the wilderness. And
when He was here on earth... And when He died He turned back to a Light
again. Paul saw Him, and He was a Light. None of the rest of them saw
Him. They seen Paul fall. Something struck him, and It was a Light.
Paul said, "Who is It that I persecute?"
He said, "Saul, Saul, why persecute thou Me?"
Said, "Who is It?"
He said, "I'm Jesus that you persecute. And it's hard for you to kick
against the pricks."
Then he went and studied that Light. Paul went back in the Bible to
find out what that Light was. And he wrote this Letter. He's the same
Jehovah. That same Light was in the wilderness with the children of
Israel. And when Peter was in the prison, He was a Light that came in
and opened the doors.
57-141 And by
His grace, so none will have any excuse... Oh, if they could forget the
illiterate messengers and remember It's not the messenger, it's the
Message. He's come down again with us in a form of a Pillar of Light.
And He moves with His same miracles and signs: nothing out of the
Bible, staying right with the Bible, holding it under subjection,
bringing out His glory, showing His power. Blessed be His holy Name.
I know you must think that I'm crazy; but, oh, that blessed eternal
rest that's in my soul. Though storms may wave, my anchor holds within
the veil.
57-143 And to
see Him when He died, till the moon took a nervous prostration, the sun
went down in the middle of the day. And when He went to the regions of
the lost [Brother
Branham knocks on pulpit--Ed.], knocked on the door, and
the door swung open... The Bible said He preached to the souls that
were in prison, that repented not in the long-suffering in the days of
Noah, after He had deceased on this earth. And my brother and my
sister, when He deceased, His earthly work was done. But He was still
working. And He's still on the job tonight. Amen.
He knocked at the doors of the lost (The Bible said He did.), and He
witnessed, "I am the Seed of the woman. I'm He that Adam spoke of. I'm
the One that Enoch said would come with ten thousands of His saints.
I'm the Son of the living God, and you've sinned away your day of
grace. But it was prophesied to you by the angels Enoch, Noah, that I
must come to fulfill every Word of God's Bible. And I'm here as a
witness in this land of the lost." And He preached to them.
58-145 On down
into hell He went, right down to the doors of hell, knocked on the
door. And the Devil opened the door, and said, "I got You now."
Jerked them keys from his side, said, "You devil. You've held the bluff
for a long time. (Here it is right here in the Bible. We'll get to it
in a minute.) You've held the bluff for a long time, but I come to take
over." Grabbed those keys and kicked him back in, and shut the door.
Come through and picked up Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, on the third day
He arose, and those that slept in the grave arose with Him. Oh,
hallelujah. No wonder the poet said,
Living,
He loved me; dying, He saved me;
Buried,
He carried my sins far away;
Rising,
He justified freely forever:
Someday
He's coming--oh, glorious day!
Blessed be the tie that binds our hearts with Christian fellowship, the
love of God. When He rose, He wasn't finished yet. He had some more
work to do.
58-147 The
Bible said, "He ascended on high and give gifts unto men." There was a
atmosphere hung over the earth of darkness, of gloom, of death, and
weary. The prayers couldn't come up, because the atonement wasn't made,
but He broke through that veil. He opened up the way. He broke the veil
of sickness. He broke the veil of sin. He broke the veil of worry. He
broke the veil of depressed. He broke every veil and made a highway for
the wayfaring man walking up the King's highway. Oh, my, when He passed
the moon and the stars, on and on...
Following behind him come the Old Testament saints, Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob. They went right on up into the heavens of heaven. When they were
way away from the City, I can see them lift up their eyes; Abraham
said, "That's the City that I longed to see. Oh, come here Isaac. Come
here Jacob. Oh, we were pilgrims and strangers in the earth, but
there's the City. There's the One we've waited on."
And the Bible said they screamed, "Lift up ye everlasting gates and be
ye lifted up, for the King of glory's coming in."
And the Angels behind the gates screamed back to these angels back
here, and said, "Who is this King of glory?"
And the angels out here, the prophets, said, "The Lord of hosts, the
Mighty in battle."
And they pressed the buttons and the big doors swung open. Right down
through the middle of the streets He come, the Conqueror, triumph, with
the Old Testament saints walking behind Him, set down on the throne,
said, "Father, here they are. They're Yours."
And He said, "Climb up here and set down until I make all Your enemies
Your footstool." As we read, we find that on here in the Scriptures.
59-154 All
right, listen. Now, that we're on these 8th verse:
Then
has He put all things into subjection under his feet. For... he put all
things in subjection under His feet, he left nothing that is not...
under Him.
But
now we see not... all things put under him. (That's
death. We don't see death yet, because we're still dying. We see death.)
But... (9th verse)...
But we see Jesus,... (Amen.
Listen.)... we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than
the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour;
that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man... (Why was He
made lower than the Angels? So He could taste death. He had to die. He
had to come to die.)
59-155 Look
here, friend. Don't never forget this. When Jesus was going, walking up
the hill, death was a-buzzing around His head.
Let's take our picture to Jerusalem two thousand years ago. And how
could you reject it? I hear a sound coming through the street. What is
it? It's a bumping of something. It's an old rugged cross coming down,
and a-going out the gates of Damascus, bumping over the cobblestones
(Them big cobblestones are still there.), bumping over these big
cobblestone, bumpity-bump. I see the spatting of the Blood on the
street. What is it? It's a Man that's done no harm, nothing but good.
The people were blind. They didn't know Him. They didn't recognize Him.
You say, "Blind? Could they have their sight?" You can still have your
sight and be blind. You believe that? The Bible said so. Remember
Elisha down at Dothan? He went out and smote the people blind, said,
"Now, follow me." They was blind to him. And people are blind tonight.
60-158 A
certain church that don't believe in Divine healing... Walked up to me
one time and said, "Smite me blind. Smite me blind." (It was at Brother
Wright's house.) Said, "Smite me blind." Said, "Paul smote a man blind
one time," said, "Smite me blind."
I said, "Friend, the Devil's already done it. You're already blind.
Sure, you are."
He said, "Heal this little girl and I'll believe you."
I said, "Save that sinner and I'll believe you." Certainly.
Oh, he said, "He has to believe."
I said, "Same thing here; it has to come through the sovereign grace of
God."
The Devil, the god of this world, has blinded the eyes of the people.
"They've got eyes but they can't see," the Bible said.
Here He was going up the street, dragging out the bloody footprints on
the road up. The bee of death was stinging around Him, buzzing at Him,
"Just a little while and I'll have you." He was getting weak,
thirsting, water...
60-166 I was
shot once, laying up here in the field, blood just a-pouring from me; I
screamed for water. And my buddy runs up and he took his cap and put it
down in the water; old stagnated, wiggletails in the water. Come over,
and I held my mouth open, and he squeezed that; because the blood was
spurting like a fountain, where I was shot to pieces with a gun.
Thirsting...
Then I know what my Lord must've been, after bleeding all that morning,
from nine o'clock up till three o'clock in the evening, losing all that
Blood. I see His robe, first, like little bitty spots on it. And all
them spots begin to get bigger and run together, make one great big
bloody splotch, hitting Him on the leg as He walked around. That was
Emmanuel's Blood. Oh, the earth wasn't worthy of It.
61-168 But as
He goes up, this bee's stinging around Him. What did it do? It finally
stung Him. But, brother, anyone knows, that a insect or bee if it ever
stings you once, that finishes the stinging business. It can't sting no
more, because when it leaves, it pulls its stinger out. That's the
reason God had to be made flesh. He took the stinger of death into His
flesh, and He pulled the stinger out of death. Blessed be the Name of
the Lord.
Death can hum and sting, but it can't hurt you. Paul, when he felt that
bee humming around him, death was coming around him, he said, "O death,
where is your sting?" He could point to Calvary where it's left in the
flesh of Emmanuel. "Where is thy victory? But thanks be to God Who
gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
61-170 Yes, we
don't see all things.
But
we do see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for...
suffering of death,...
For
it becometh him, for whom are all--all things, that by whom we have all
things, in the begin... many son... to be made the chief captain of our
salvation... through suffering.
The only way He could become the Captain of our salvation, He had to
suffer.
Listen at these beautiful Words here now. Now, listen.
For
both he that sanctifieth and they that are sanctified are all... one:... (Oh, don't
you see the Vine and the Branch there? All One.)... for
which cause he is not ashamed to be called... brethren... (See? Why?
Listen to the next verse.)
Saying,
I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church
will I sing praises unto thee.
And
again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children
which Thou has given me.
Forsomuch
then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself
likewise took part of the same; that through the death he might destroy
him which had the power of death, that is, the devil;
And
deliver them who through... for the... through... for death were always
kept... subject unto bondage.
62-172 Men
always feared death. Christ became sin, made low, to take death upon
Himself. And He's not ashamed to be called our Brother, for He was
tempted just like we are tempted. And He can make the--be the right
kind of an Intercessor, 'cause He stood the same kind of a temptation
that you stand. And He took your place, knowing that you couldn't take
it yourself.
So don't you see, brother, sister, the whole thing is grace. All of it
is grace. It's not what you do anyhow. It's what He's already done for
you. Now, you can't do one thing to merit your salvation. Your
salvation is a gift. Christ became sin that you might become righteous.
And He's the right kind of a Chief Captain for our salvation, because
He suffered just like we suffered. He's been tempted just like we're
tempted. And He's not ashamed to be called our Brother, because He
knows what we go through with. Oh, blessed be His Name.
62-174 For
verily he took not on him the form of angels; but he took on him the
seed of Abraham.
Oh, my. He didn't become an Angel; He become the Seed of Abraham. And
we, being dead in Christ, take on Abraham's Seed and are heirs
according to the promise. See, He never took on the form of an Angel;
He never become an Angel. He become a man. He become the Seed of
Abraham and took the sting of death in His own flesh, to reconcile us
back to God, and now sets there for an Intercessor. My, how could we
reject it, friend?
Listen.
Wherefore
in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that
he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to
God, to make reconciliation... the sin of the people. (That He
might be the Reconciler.)
See, there was enmity between God and man. And no man... They sent the
angels, the prophets; they couldn't take your place because they had to
pray for theirselves. They couldn't take the place.
62-177 Then He
sent the law. The law was a policeman that put us in jail. It couldn't
bring us out. He sent the law. He sent the prophets. He sent the
righteous. And everything could not make an atonement. But He come down
and become one of us. Oh, my.
I wish we had more time right now; I'd like to take you to that law of
redemption; but we haven't. But just for a moment... The beautiful
picture is in Ruth and Naomi. If you'll see there, the
reconciliation... How that the husbandman, the man that was to redeem
the lost and the fallen estate, had to be kinfolks to the person that
had lost the estate. That's the reason Boaz had to be a--was a kinsman
to Naomi that he could get Ruth. And then, he had to be worthy. He had
to be able to do it to redeem the lost. And Boaz at the gate, gave a
public testimony by kicking off his shoe, that he had redeemed Naomi
and all of her possession. And he had to be kinfolks.
63-179 And that's the reason that Christ, God, had to become kinfolks to us. And He come down and was a man. And He suffered temptation. And He was laughed at, and made fun of, and persecuted, and ignored, and called Beelzebub, and--and scoffed at, and suffered death under capital punishment. See, He had to be kinfolks to us. He had to be falsely accused, because you're falsely accused. He had to bear sickness, because you're sick. He had to bear sins because it was your sins. And He had to become kinfolks. The only way He could redeem us was to be kinfolks to us. And how He become kinfolks, is by taking on the form of sinful flesh and becoming one of us. And in that He paid the price and redeemed us back into the fellowship of the Father. Oh, what a Saviour. Words couldn't express it.
63-180 For in
that he himself hath suffered being subject,... and able to succour
them that are tempted. ("Succour"
means "to sympathize")
That the reason He become this, that He might be sympathetic with you
who are--have your ups-and-downs and your little ins-and-outs, and your
temptations get so great you can't hardly stand it. He knows how to
sympathize with you. He sets there to make intercessions. He sets there
to love you. And though you go astray, He won't forsake you. He'll
still come after you and knock at your heart. There's not a backslider
in the building but what know that God knocks at his heart daily. And
He will do it as long as you're a mortal on this earth, for He's loved
you. He redeemed you.
Poets has tried. Authors is trying. Men has tried to express that theme
of love, and it cannot be found in human expressions, One said.
Oh,
love of God, how rich and pure!
How
fathomless and strong!
It
shall forevermore endure
Saints
and angel's song.
If
we with ink the ocean filled,
And
were the skies of parchment made;
Every
stalk on earth a quill,
And
every man a scribe by trade;
To
write the love of God above
Would
drain the ocean dry;
Or
could the scroll contain the whole,
Though
stretched from sky to sky.
64-182 You'll
never understand. There's no way for us to understand how that that
great sacrifice, that He did: came down and reconciled us back to God.
Then He went back and said, "Now, I'll not leave you comfortless. I'll
come again and be with you, even in you, to the end of the world."
And here we are today, living in the end time, with the same Jesus, the
same things, same signs, same wonders, same salvation, same Spirit,
doing the same things, same Gospel, same Word, same illustrations, same
manifestation, everything. It behooves us not to neglect this great
salvation, for we'll have to give an account someday with what we do
with the Son of God.
64-184 He's on
your hand tonight, sinner, backslider. What are you going to do with
Him? You say, "Well, I'll put it off..." But remember, don't you do
that. There's no way at all, if you're a sinner, that you can leave
this building and be the same. You can't do it.
Pilate, one night, tried to do it. He called for some water and he
washed his hands, said, "I ain't got nothing to do with it. I just the
same as never seen it. I never heard of the Gospel. I want nothing to
do with it." Could he wash It off of his hands? He couldn't.
Finally, you know what happened to Pilate? He lost his mind. And way up
in Switzerland where we was at last year, preaching the Gospel... Now,
there's an old legend that said that there's a pool of water where
people come from all over the world to watch every year at the time of
the crucifixion. Pilate, he plunged hisself to death by committing
suicide and jumping into this water and drowning himself. And every
year at that same day, blue water boils up out of that pool to show
that God rejected the water. Water can never wash the Blood of Jesus
off of your hands or your soul. There's only one way to do it; that's
accept It as your personal pardon and be reconciled to God. Let us pray:
65-187 Heavenly
Father, we thank Thee tonight for the Word; "For faith cometh by
hearing, and hearing by the Word." We thank Thee for Jesus. And as we
see this great day that we're living in, how the signs and wonders, how
we let these things slip by... God, open the eyes of the people in this
Tabernacle tonight, that they might see and understand that we're in
the last hours. The time is a-fleeting. We haven't got much longer to
be here, and we'll have to see Jesus. And we'll have to be counted
traitors, for there's no excuse this morning. When You gave that great
and mighty vision of that man coming here, from a-way in the country
yonder, and to see him, beyond a shadow of doubt, rise from that
wheelchair, receive his sight; his legs become strong... Down through
the building, rejoicing and praising God... It shows that God's still
able of these stones to rise children to Abraham. To see the visions
like Jesus said, "I do nothing till the Father shows Me. I can do
nothing."...
The blind man followed Him, and said, "Have mercy on us."
He said--touched their eyes, and said, "According to your faith be it
unto you."
Now, Lord, we see Jesus. We don't see all things. We see we still
let--take the sainted of us to the grave and walk over each other's
grave. But we see Jesus, Who made the promise. We see Him with us. Not
Jesus in the grave, not Jesus two thousand years ago, but Jesus tonight
that's with us. We see Him manifested in all of His power and signs and
wonders.
God, may we never neglect this great salvation; but may we embrace it,
and accept it, and be reverent, and live by it until the day that Jesus
comes to take us home. Grant it, Lord. We ask it in His Name.
66-192 And
while we have our heads bowed, I wonder if there's a person in the
building tonight, under the Divine Presence of the Holy Spirit would
say, "Brother Branham, I'm convinced that I'm wrong. I'm convinced that
I'm wrong. God has revealed to me my sins. And I know that I'm wrong.
I'll raise my hand to Him and ask for mercy tonight. God, be merciful
to me; I'm wrong." Will you do that?
While we wait just a moment, if there's a person here that wants to...
There's a baptizing going to take place just in a moment. And if you're
a sinner, I would repent. How can you reject such matchless love of One
Who died? The holy God of heaven became a sinful man, not because He
sinned, but because He had your sins and bear them there to Calvary,
and you won't accept that pardoning. Won't you do it tonight? While we
have our heads bowed, someone say, "Remember me, Brother Branham, I
raise my hands to Christ and say, 'Be merciful to me. I--I--I am wrong,
and I want to be reconciled to God.'" Would you raise your hand? All
right, if everyone's Christians then, let us pray.
66-194 Father,
we thank Thee tonight that everyone in here are Christians, that they
have witnessed the same by remaining silent, that their sins are all
under the Blood; and I'm so grateful for that. Bless them, Lord. Oh,
I'm so glad that they have found reconciliation through the offering of
the Blood, by hearing the Word, the washing of the water by the Word,
It cleanses us, It brings us to a greatest place, where--where the
sinner in his vile darkness is made white as snow. The scarlet stains
of sin has been washed away, and we are new creatures in Christ. How we
thank that--Thee for this. Now, the baptismal service comes up. I
understand that this young lady tonight is to be baptized down here in
the Name of her Lord.
O heavenly Father, we pray that You'll bless this young woman. How my
mind goes back to just a few days ago, coming up in Henryville and
seeing that lovely little girl walking around down the street. And
tonight she's a mother, a lady; she's accepted You as her personal
Saviour. Life has been hard for the child, Lord, O God, but a heaven is
sure for her. And we thank Thee for that. We pray, God, that You'll
bless the young woman now. As she comes to be baptized with water, may
You fill her with the Holy Spirit of God. Grant it, Lord. And may her
soul be just so thrilled into the heavens. Grant it for Your glory. We
ask it in Jesus' Name. Amen.[Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.]
67-196 I want
to read from Acts the 2nd chapter, Peter speaking on the day of
Pentecost: the first baptism that was ever performed in the Christian
church. Peter rebuking the Pharisees and the blind people for not
recognizing the Son of God, speaking of how that God had raised Him up,
and proved His works in great signs and wonders. Listen to this as he
spoke; he was exalting Jesus.
Every Christian's spirit exalts Jesus, not only by your lips but by
your life. Your lips can say one thing, your life do another. If you do
that, you know what it is? It's hypocrisy. And I'd rather face heaven
as an infidel than a hypocrite. I'd take my chance better, I believe,
in heaven as a--as an infidel than to be a hypocrite. I certainly... If
you testify for Jesus and say He's the Saviour, you live like that,
'cause people's going to expect it out of you. That's right. You live
like a Christian ought to. We went through that this morning.
67-198 Now,
Lord willing, tomorrow night--or Wednesday night, we're taking this 3rd
chapter, which is a marvelous chapter. And now, be sure to try to come
Wednesday night. How many's enjoying this Book of Sunday school
teaching? Oh, thank you very much, that's fine.
Now, I want to read now from Acts the 2nd chapter, beginning at the
32nd verse:
This
Jesus has God raised up, whereof we... are witnesses. (They knew
it.)
Therefore
being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the
Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, He has shed forth this, which you
now see and hear.
Now, listen at him speak about David, one of the angels:
For
David is not ascended into... heaven: but he said himself, The LORD
said unto my Lord, Set thou on my right hand,
Until
I make thine enemies thy footstool...
David couldn't go up; He was under the shed blood of heifers, and
goats, and sheep. But now he could raise; He's under the Blood of the
Lord Jesus. For they only answer to that Blood when It would come in
force. When the Blood of Christ come in force, all those who had died
in good favor, rose (That's right.), and ascended into glory.
Now, listen:
Therefore
let all the house of Israel know... (Listen to
this.)... that God has made this same Jesus, whom you...
crucified, both Lord and Christ. (What about
that? Is He a third person of the trinity, or is He the entire trinity?
He is the entire Fullness of the Godhead bodily.)
68-202 There's
no such a thing as three Gods: God the Father, God the Son, and God the
Holy Ghost. That's not even in the Scriptures nowhere, nowhere is it.
Nowhere was we ever commanded to baptize in the name of the Father, and
in the name of the Son, and name of the Holy Ghost, not nowhere in the
Scriptures. It's a Catholic creed and it's not for the Protestant
church. I'll ask anybody to show me one Scripture where any person was
ever baptized any other way than in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Come, show it to me, and I'll put a sign on my back: "A hypocrite, and
a false prophet, a false teacher," and go through the streets. There's
no such a thing. Never was anybody baptized that way. It's a Catholic
creed and not a Protestant doctrine.
Matthew 28:19, you say, "Jesus said, 'Go ye therefore in all the world,
teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and
Holy Ghost.'" That's correct. But not in the name of the Father, name
of the Son, name of the Holy Ghost. The name of the Father... The Name,
not names of the Father... Father's not a name. How many knows that?
How many fathers is there here? Raise your hands. How many sons is
here? Raise your hand. How many humans is here? Raise your hands. All
right. Now, what's your name? Not father, son, nor human.
68-204 A woman
said to me one time, who was a strict tri-theist, she said, "Brother
Branham, but the Holy Ghost is a name."
I said, "The Holy Ghost is not a name. The Holy Ghost is what It is. It
is the Holy Ghost, not a name." That's what It is. I'm a human, but my
name's not human. My name's William Branham.
So if He said, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."
Then Peter, ten days later, he said, "Repent,..."
69-206 Right
here, listen at this.
And
when they heard this, they were pricked at their heart, and said unto
Peter and... the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we
do?
Then
Peter said unto them, Repent, every one of you and be baptized in the
Name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins, and you
shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Then did Peter do what Jesus told him not to do? He wasn't confused.
We're the ones confused.
On Acts 2:38, the Jews were baptized in the Name of the Lord Jesus
Christ by immersing. In Acts the 8th chapter, we find out that Philip
went down and preached to the Samaritans, and baptized them in the Name
of the Lord Jesus Christ: the Samaritans. In Acts 10:49, Peter
commanded the Gentiles to be baptized in the Name of the Lord Jesus
Christ.
69-209 Paul,
Acts 10:5, he passed through the upper coast of Ephesus, he finds
disciples. They were a Baptist disciples. They was, every one,
Baptists. They were converted under a Baptist preacher by the name
of--of a, let's see, Apollos. And he was a Baptist preacher and was
proving by the Bible that Jesus was the Christ. Paul said, "Have you
received the Holy Ghost since you believed?"
They said, "We know not whether there be any Holy Ghost."
Said, "Then how was you baptized?"
They said, "We been baptized by the same man that baptized Jesus in the
hole of water out there; that's good enough."
Paul said, "That won't work now. You have to be baptized over again."
And Paul commanded them to be baptized over again in the Name of the
Lord Jesus Christ, laid his hands on them, and the Holy Ghost come on
them. Correct. Yes, sir.
It'll
be light in the evening time,
The
path of glory you shall surely find.
In
the water way, that's the Light today,
Buried
in the precious Name of Jesus.
Young
and old, repent of all your sins,
The
Holy Ghost will surely enter in.
The
evening light has come,
It
is a facts that God and Christ are one.
That's what the Bible says. That's right. It's the hour; it's the time
that we should repent.
Tell... Holler when you're ready in the pool, and we'll,... You're
ready? All right, just pull the curtains.
Now... The Lord bless you now, as the brother ministers the baptism.
Can you all see this? [Brother
Neville baptizes believers--Ed.]