La Voie Pourvue Par Dieu Pour Aujourd’hui
La Voie À Laquelle Dieu A Pourvue Pour Aujourd’hui - Shp
1 ... the Scripture. I'm
certainly glad to have, back behind me here tonight... [Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.] Turn into the Scripture,
for just a little text, the Lord willing...
And remember tomorrow night, praying for the sick again. And now, when
I'm speaking... Listen; everybody try to do this. Don't wait for any
certain thing to happen. The thing for you to do is believe God right
now. Believe Him right now. See?
3 Now, there's been all kinds
of ministries. God in this last days, I believe, has give us everything
He's got in His Book. Everything that He's promised, we've seen. And
still, it seems like that people can't grasp it. Those who are ordained
to grasp it, will grasp it: only those. It blinds one, opens the eyes
of another.
Remember, we believe that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today,
and forever. He is not dead, but alive forevermore. And He's here
tonight. We are in His Presence tonight. And He's here to confirm and
make good any promise that He made for this day. And He's the same
yesterday, today, and forever. So anything that He was, He is tonight.
So let us believe Him now as we've read His Word and speak of Him for
the next fifteen, twenty minutes.
5 Genesis the 22nd chapter,
and the 7th and 8th verses for the way of getting a text:
And Isaac spake unto
Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my
son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb
for the burnt offering?
And Abraham said, My
son, God will provide himself a lamb for the burnt offering: so they
went both of them together.
6 Lord Jesus, bless Thy Word. May It not return void, but may the seeds fall upon ground that will bring forth salvation to those who are in need, both physically and spiritually. We commit ourselves to You, the congregation, the audience, the Word, the text, the context. May the Holy Spirit take over our beings, that we see Jesus Christ. Amen.
7 I want to speak just for
the next few minutes now on "God's Provided Way for This Day."
God always has had a way. There's two ways: that's our ways or His way.
God has a way for today, for He's always made a way for everything. God
at the beginning knowed the end. So He has laid out His Scripture for
each age. And that age, when it comes along... Now, don't fail to see
this. That age when it comes along... Usually the ministry is so mixed
up in isms and so forth, and traditions, till it's a million miles away
from the Word.
And then God always sends someone on the scene: a prophet. And this
prophet... God never changes His system. He never changes His ways. He
always does it the same way. He always has. He must do it this time.
And through this, God works and vindicates that Word, as I spoke to you
last night: God doing His own interpretation. God needs no one to
interpret the Word to Him; He interprets It Himself by vindicating It,
making It real. And when God says He'll do a certain thing, then He
does it. There's no more question to it. That's the way He does it.
10 So, God has made a way for
us. God loves His children; He loves His people. He wants to help them.
He wants to help you more than you want help. If you can just get that
in your heart--that God's more willing to help you, than you are to
help yourself, but He has a way. And that's the only way that He'll
work, is through His way. You must come to His terms, not your terms;
His terms. You want it a certain way. But He--He gives it to you His
way.
Like Naaman dipping in the--the--the waters of Jordan. Why, he said the
waters up in his country is much cleaner and better. But that wasn't
what the prophet said. "Dip here." He dip once; his leprosy's still
there. Six times, it was still there. He had to obey and come God's
way. And when he fully obeyed God's way, the leprosy left.
12 And I say tonight, that if
we obey God's provided way, leprosy will leave, sickness will leave,
everything will leave. But we've got to come His way for this day. Now,
dipping in the Jordan wouldn't do any good now. That was for Naaman.
The law was for the--for the Jew; grace is by Christ.
But each age has its part of the Gospel already predicted. This Bible
is the complete revelation of Jesus Christ. There could be no more
added to It, or anything taken away from It; the person who does it is
cursed. We cannot add nothing to It, take nothing from It. We must look
in here and see what's promised for this age, and then see it happen.
That's God interpreting His own Word. When He said, "A virgin shall
conceive," she did. That's God's interpretation of it. What He
promises, that He does.
14 Now, we see that God doesn't change His systems of doing things. He always does it the same. We're constantly changing, because that we are finite. We make all kinds of mistakes and can improve and get better. But God's infinite. His first decision is perfect all the time. He cannot get smarter. He was the... He's the source of all wisdom. He is all wisdom. He's all power: omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, and infinite. So therefore, when He says anything, hang your soul on it, because it's true.
15 Now, some churches says,
"We don't believe this, and we believe that." God will never judge
the--the world by a church. He judges it by Jesus Christ, and Jesus is
the Word. He'll judge the church by the Word.
And if the... This is the revelation of Jesus Christ for all ages and
for this age. He's revealed in this Bible what He would do in this age.
And when we see it do it, when we see Him do what He promised to do
(not a virgin birth, that was two thousand years ago), but what He
promised to do today... What He said He would do today, that's what He
is today.
Many times people say, "Well, I don't believe that." Well, you got
Eve's interpreter again. Just takes part of it, but not all of it.
18 So we want to remember that
God ever remains the same. His Word and what He says, He will do it.
To show that He doesn't change, in Genesis 1 He said, "Let every seed
bring forth of its kind. Let every seed bring forth of its kind." Right
there, we hit something right there that knocks all the evolutionists
out. You cannot rebreed things. You take, like the horse and--and
the--and the donkey, breed them together, you get a mule. But a mule
cannot breed back and get another mule. It stops right there: every
seed of its kind. They can make a breeding, but it changes itself right
back again. Shows it does not evolute up like that. No, sir. It stops
right there. You can breed spinach and something else together, and
bring out a kale. But you can't breed that back again. No, sir. You can
breed hybrid corn. But you plant that hybrid corn back over again, you
get nothing. You got to rebreed it each time, because God said, "Let
every seed bring forth of its kind."
20 And now, by hybreeding things, look what the world's got into today. I was reading an article here out of the "Reader's Digest," where twenty years from now women won't have babies, if it keeps on. They're eating hybrid food. The thing of it is, they've hybrid it. And that's not the way a human being was made, to eat that kind of food. It was made to meet it in--to eat it in the way it was created. That's the reason today, that they can't keep meats, and everything is the way it is, is because it's hybrid, hot planted, and oh, every kind of a way. It's just all mixed up. It's got to where the entire human race is being destroyed by their own achievement, by trying to take something that God made good and turn it around, and make it some other way, in their own way. Leave it the way God made it.
21 It's even got into a place
to where they're trying to hybreed the churches today from the real
baptism of the Holy Ghost to a handshake, some kind of a sprinkling to
a water baptism. Oh, my. The whole thing's hybrid. We want to get back.
A hybrid plant, you have to baby it, and spray it, and keep the bugs
and beetles off of it, but not a genuine healthy plant. He's sturdy,
strong. Don't no bugs come on him. He's got enough in him to throw the
bug off.
So is a genuine Christian. You don't have to baby him, and pat him, and
tell him this, that, or the other. He's got something in him (the
baptism of the Holy Ghost) that throws all the rest of it off. You
don't have to beg him around, because he's a genuine plant of God. He's
got something in him that wars. A Christian fights for every inch of
ground he stands on. He must do that if he ever expects to exist. And
by doing it, there's something in him that takes care of him.
24 Eve tried to hybrid the
Word. In the beginning God told her, "The day you eat thereof, that day
you die." She tried to breed it in with knowledge that Satan give her.
And when she did, she lost the whole human race right there to the
devil, when she tried to mix God's unadulterated Word with knowledge.
It doesn't come from the knowledge of the world. It comes by the power
of the Holy Spirit. "Not by power, by might, but by My Spirit, saith
the Lord." That's how God does it. God's Word is a seed of Eternal Life.
If you try to hybreed it, what will you do? You'll kill yourself with
it. It will not work. It will not mix, no more than oil or water ever
mixed. It will not do it.
27 They have never, in all the
way, tried to find anything that's better than God's way of doing it.
You know, they've never found a way better for a chicken to get born in
this world than peck hisself out of his shell. Did you know that? They
never have found a better way. The little fellow's born with a little
snoot on the end of his--on the end his bill. And that little bill he
got to go to work, and go to scratching, scratching back and forth till
he gets his head started, gets his head out, picks His way free. It's
God's provided way. You pull him out of the shell, it'll kill him. He
won't live if you pull him out of the shell. He has to come God's way.
That's what's the matter with Christians today. We've so soft-soaped
them, and shook their hands, and brought them in by secret, and joined
them into the church. What they need is an old fashion prayer altar,
where they pray through until losing themselves, coming God's provided
way, till they free themselves from the world. Trouble of it is today,
they put their name on the book, and join church, and that's all there
is to it. But God's way, provided way, is to stay there and work your
way through, until God gives you the new birth. That's exactly right.
Pick him out, it'll kill him.
29 That's what's the matter
today with the people, the new birth. They all dodge it. They don't
like it. Oh, they have substituted something for a new birth: come up
and believe, and that's all you have to do. The devil believes,
himself, and you know he's not borned again. There's a new birth.
There's something goes with it. It's kinda unfitting, untasting to the
world.
Any birth is a mess. I don't care where it's at. If it's in the pig
pen, or--or a hospital, a birth is a mess. So is the new birth. It'll
make you do things you didn't think you would do. It'll make you get
down at the altar, and cry, scream, wash the paint off your face, raise
your hands, praise God, speak in tongues, and all kinds of things. The
new birth will do that, because it's God's provided way to be borned
again.
32 You have to die. You have
to die before you can be reborn. Any seed has to die before it's
regenerated again. Unless it dies, it abides alone. A man's got to die
to his own thinking. He's got to die to the thinking of anything but
God's Word, and come His way. That's God's ground. We don't meet Him on
our thoughts. We meet Him on what He said do. That's God's provided way
for us. People dodge it; they don't want it. But it's true just the
same. It'll... It produces death, and you have to die, die to your
thinking.
"Well, I know the Bible says it, but I can't understand it." Then stay
there till God reveals it. That's right. It's got... That's the new
birth.
34 Ducks and geese: they've never found a better way for them to go south than to swarm first. And that's right. You see them all get together, and they'll come themselves. Some kind of an instinct draws them together. And they get together and swarm before they fly, before they go south. What is it? It's revival time. When they all get together... Did you ever hear such a chattering in your life as to hear them geese get together, or them ducks? I never heard such. And they have... There's no other better way for them to do it.
35 Many times up in the north
woods, I watched the first beginning of the cold weather in Canada. A
bunch of ducks borned right there on that lake, they never been off
that lake this little fellow hasn't. And the first thing you know, a
cold breeze comes down from the north. This little--little old drake
(He's just borned a leader.) gets right out there in the middle of that
pond, sticks his little honker up in the air, honks four or five times,
and every duck on the pond comes right to him. And he rises from there
and goes just as straight to Louisiana as he can go, to the rice
paddies.
Why? They've never found a better way for them to get there. You can't
herd them together. You put them in a coop and--a coop and truck them
down there... That duck's got better sense than that. If you put him in
that coop to take him down there, he knows he's headed for the
slaughter pen. That's exactly right. He goes God's provided way.
37 That's the way men ought to do today, not be herded in by some denominational coop, but come in the way God said come in by the baptism of the Holy Ghost and the new birth. Swarming revival, not church joining, soliciting from door-to-door and passing magazines, but a birth, being borned again, filled with the Holy Ghost, God's way, freeing himself from the world. Right. Believing God's Word... The hour is here. That's what we must believe.
38 Man, you could never... I
don't care how many men would try to go to that duck pond up there, and
say, "Now, wait a minute, you little ducks. Got something to talk to
you. We got a educated duck here. He's got a Ph.D. and LL.D. I'm
telling you, he can lead you."
Them ducks got better sense than that. Yes, sir. They don't care about
his better education, whatever it is. They can tell the certain honk he
gives. It's an instinct. Oh, my. The church ought to know that much
about the Word of God.
It's a certain uncertain sound. The Bible said, Paul said, "If a
trumpet gives an uncertain sound, who can prepare himself for battle?"
That's right.
41 If the church--if the
church give an uncertain sound of joining... God said, "birth." What
the birth did there, the birth does the same today, because Jesus
Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. What He was then, He
is today. What they did then is the same thing we do today. They way
they got it there is the same thing they do today. Same thing they got
today, is what they had back there. If it comes at all, it comes that
way. That's the way, God's provided way. It never changes.
Ducks never change. They completely swarm each year. Go north, south,
and whichever way they go, they swarm first.
43 That's the way God does. He
sends His Word at season, that season, then It's manifested. And I
don't care how many other things that go on. When they see the Word of
God promised for that day being vindicated as promised, there's nothing
going to stop them. "A virgin shall conceive." And when...
They said. "The Lord our God shall raise up a prophet likened unto me,"
Moses said.
And when they seen this man come and do the things He did, they knowed
that was the Messiah. When Philip saw that done he said, "Thou art the
Christ. Thou art the King of Israel." He knew it because the Word had
promised it, and it was living in that day. No matter how many
Pharisees, Sadducees was standing around, doctors of divinity, it
didn't stop him a bit, because he was looking for that sign. When he
saw it done, that was the sign of the hour. That's what they were
looking for. God's way provided. Yes, sir.
46 Now, you couldn't give a
duck education. He couldn't do it. He wouldn't want it. The rest of the
ducks wouldn't follow him. No matter how much degrees he could say he
had... "Now, looky here, I've went to duck school. I know all about it.
I have graduated. I know all of these things." It wouldn't do a bit of
good. None of them other ducks would follow him, if they're genuine
ducks (Amen.), because they're looking for a certain sign. When they
see that sign, they believe it.
And if a duck has a way of knowing it, how about a borned again
Christian? We ought to know Jesus Christ in the power of His
resurrection. Right. God does it God's provided way.
48 Remember, the education
wouldn't be the instrument to lead them to God's provided place. The
instrument they have is instinct. And they--them ducks know that
instinct will take them to God's provided place.
So does the Holy Spirit take the church to God's provided place, not to
join a church, but to be filled with His Presence, to see His Word made
manifest, vindicated. That's God's provided way for the church always,
for the people, to bring them to the place that God has provided for
them. That's exactly what the church should be today. Now, we know
that's true.
50 There's no better way for a... They never found a better way for a baby to get what it wants than to cry for it. Could you give him a bell and say, "Junior, you're only three days old. But now, when you want--when you want your bottle, raise up this bell and ring it?" See if it works. It don't work. The baby cries for what it wants. That's God's provided way. Louder you cry... Don't whip the little fellow. He's only following God's provided way. He wants something. That's right. It's the only way he knows to call his mother: scream for it, cry for it. That's right.
51 God recommends this for His
children. God recommends this for His believing children. He did. Not
intellectual speeches, not some great theology to teach, He wants you
to cry for your needs. That's right. Cry for it. If you're too stiff
and starchy, you'll never get it. If you're ready to limber yourself up
a little and cry, God will give it to you. He likes to hear His
children cry. Cry your needs to God. God wants it. That's His provided
way: cry out for it. That's the way the baby cries. That's the way He
wants you to cry. Cry how long?
How long does a baby cry? Until he gets satisfied. And that's the way
the believing Christian's to do, God's child. If you see that God made
the promise, don't give it up. Cry out till it's answered. Cry out till
you see God vindicate His Word. When God vindicates His Word and proves
It's here, then you don't have to cry no more. You got it. Walk away
and thank Him for it. Until you do that, scream out till you get it. I
like that: Persistent, holding on, not a hybrid plant, not one that has
to be babied, and petted, and packed around. Christians are real,
genuine, borned articles of God. They fight for their position, and
fight till they're finished on this earth. Every move of it is a fight.
54 God told Moses that He give
him the land. He told Joshua, "Every place the foot of--sole of your
foot treads, that I have given you." They had to fight for every inch
of it. So do we fight for every inch of it. It isn't something to be
babied, and petted, and around like that, and say, "Well, I'll take you
over there. See what you think about it. You pass your opinion." That's
no way to come.
Come with a determination. Come, that you're going to stay there, till
it's over. Stay there until God answers and vindicates. A man that
believes in God can see the Presence of God, feel the Presence of God,
sense the Presence of God and know He's here. He's here to answer
everything that He made promise for in this day. Then cry till you get
it. Hold on to Him. Don't leave, if you have to stay day and night. God
don't want His children listening to intellectual speeches. He wants
them to cry to it, till the promise is vindicated.
56 Abraham here had a need of
a sacrifice. What happened? God provided him a lamb. That was God's
provided way. He needed a sacrifice, so God provided it. Later on He
called the place Jehovah-jireh: the Lord will provide for Himself a
sacrifice.
Now, Job... One time the old prophet Job (He was a prophet.), he'd got
in trouble. Satan had desired to tempt him, and he broke him out in
boils. And he'd taken his children; he taken his stock; he taken all he
had. And he broke him out in boils.
And his comforters come. What did they do? They provided nothing but a
scorn, teasing, telling him, "Why, you've sinned secretly."
And Job just held right on. He cried out. He was sure he was following
God's commandments. He had done just exactly what God promised to do,
what God promised him, that He would stand by him under the burnt
sacrifice. And he stayed there till God provided him a vision; He was a
prophet. What did he see? He saw the Word, Jesus Christ. He said, "I
know my Redeemer liveth. And at the last days He'll stand upon the
earth. Though the skin worms destroys this body, yet in my flesh shall
I see God." See? He provided the resurrection vision for him. Him being
a prophet, he saw the Word. He saw the Word and he knowed that his
bones and his body would rise again in the last day. He was questioned
if he knowed where God was, if he could only see.
61 He said, "A flower dies; it
rises up again. A tree goes down; it rises up again. But a man layeth
down; he giveth up the ghost; he wasteth away. Where is he? Oh, that
Thou would hide me in the grave and keep me in the secret place till
Thy wrath be past."
Then the thunders begin to roar; the lightning begin to flash; the
Spirit of the Lord come upon the prophet and he stood up. And he saw
the coming of the Lord and he screamed, "I know my Redeemer liveth. And
at the last days He'll stand on the earth. Though the skin worms
destroy this body, in my flesh I shall see God." God provided the Word,
Jesus Christ, and he saw Him, and called Him his Redeemer.
63 Israel needed a way out of
Egypt, and God provided them a prophet, a prophet that vindicated the
Word that was promised to Abraham: exactly God's provided way. They
couldn't train up a soldier; they couldn't do this; they couldn't do
that. The only thing they did was wait for God's provided way. And He
told--said He would bring those people out. After four hundred years
His people'd be in bondage, but He'd bring them out with a strong hand.
He'd show His signs and wonders, and get glory in that nation.
Here come the men down, when they cried and cried. And now, remember,
all the crying wouldn't deliver them until that time was fulfilled.
65 These things that we're
seeing today couldn't happen twenty years ago, or forty years ago. It's
today it happens. This is the hour, this is the time. Now is the time
it's fulfilled. Why? God promised it, and here it is.
They said a hundred years ago that the baptism of the Holy Ghost could
not be again. They said fifty years ago the Holy Ghost... But you
Pentecostal people proved them, that it was God's hour to pour out the
Holy Ghost. No matter what the Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian,
Lutheran said, you stayed right with God's Word. Men of courage went
out there and held on, till the baptism of the Holy Ghost come. And
they spoke in tongues, and magnified God. Nobody can tell you any
different. God's His own Interpreter. You've got it. You might not be
able to explain it, but you know you got it. That's... Who can explain
God? Nobody can.
67 I can't tell you how God can show a vision, but I know it happens. I can't see how God can do these things. It's not my business to explain it. He abides alone. He's Elohim, the self-sufficient one. I'm just His servant. I know He promised it, and I know it's here. That's one thing I know. I know that, that He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. I know He promised this. God's here to make His promise true. Yeah. God's provided way.
68 Israel was provided a
prophet that vindicated the Word, and they were brought out. This
prophet Moses, he lived for several years in the wilderness forty years
struggling with these people, trying to keep them till he could get
them to the promised land. It come to a place and the man had to die.
He was a hundred and twenty years old. There wasn't a place for him to
die. When he got ready to die, God provided him a Rock, the Rock that
he had smote in the wilderness, the Rock that had followed them that
they had drank from. God provided him a Rock, a place to die, where
Moses could die a decent death.
Upon this rock. God, let me die on that same rock. That's where I want
to... That Rock was Christ Jesus. Yes, sir.
After He died upon that Rock, he needed pallbearers. God sent him a
bunch of angels. Why not a bunch of his elders? Because no one could
take him where he was going but angels. They packed him into the
Presence of God. He needed pallbearers, and God provided. And he went
God's provided way. Hallelujah.
71 Enoch had walked five
hundred years with God, and he pleased Him. He needed a highway to go
home on. God provided it.
Elijah had cursed Jezebel about her painted face, and her way she'd got
all the people doing. And he's tired and weary, and he was about ready
to go home. He was so old he couldn't hardly. walk across Jordan. God
provided a way for him to cross Jordan. He wanted to go up into heaven
to meet God. God sent a chariot of fire down and horses, and took him
up. God's provided way, God's provided way, He always does it just
exact, right. Yes, sir. God provides a way always. Yes.
The wise men, when they were on their road from up in Babylon, they
were seeing a way they wanted to go down, 'cause they knew this King
was to be born. They needed a compass. God provided a star. They left
everything else behind. They didn't need compasses; they followed the
star. It was God's provided way. God provided a way; they followed the
star until they found the perfect Light.
74 Oh, the world needed a Saviour one day. They was lost; they didn't know it. They thought they were saved, but they needed a Saviour. God provided a Son for the Saviour. Why? No one else could do it. There was no man on earth, no man in heaven, nowhere, was able to do it. God overshadowed a virgin. She conceived and brought forth a Man Child, and that Man Child was not Jewish or Gentile. He was God manifested in the flesh, the only One that could redeem. His Blood saves us; His Blood heals us. It's that Blood that we can stand on to any promise that He made. God promised to do it.
75 God only meets the worshipper through the Blood and under the Blood. Israel had one place to meet God, not in a... God's got one place today that He--He meets the worshipper, not at the Methodist, Baptist, or Pentecostal. He meets him under the Blood. That's the only provided place God has, not in a organization, not in a union, but in the Blood is where Jesus Christ meets His worshippers. "When I see the blood..." That's God's provided way.
76 After the church had been
thoroughly convinced, when they seen Him, that He was the Messiah...
When the little woman at the well, when she needed a Saviour... She
needed something to show; she'd been to church and everything else. And
they'd seen this creed and that creed, till she turned to be a
prostitute, had turned her on the street. One day she was going to get
a bucket of water, about eleven o'clock in the day. And there stood a
Man, a Jew, up here in this little panoramic. And she said...
When she went to drop her bucket down on the windle to get the water,
she heard a Man say, "Woman, bring Me a drink."
And she said... She turned quickly, and thinking just to be an ordinary
Jew, for He was just human, as far as the body was concerned... He was
a Man. He drank, slept, like we do. He was so much human till He could
die, and yet He was God. Then we find out that when...
Said, "It's not customary for you Jews to ask Samaritans such things as
that."
He said, "But if you knew Who you were talking to, you'd ask Me for a
drink." Said, "Go get your husband and come here."
She said, "I have no husband."
Said, "Thou hast said the truth. You've got five, and the one you're
living with now is not yours." What happened? God had provided
something for her.
She said, "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. We know that when
the Messiah cometh, He'll tell us these things. That's what He'll do.
The Word says so. We're looking for it. I'm sick and tired of all this
stuff: their creeds and things, Pharisees, Sadducees, and Herodians,
whatever it might be. But we know a Messiah's coming. When He comes...
What do you say about it?"
He said, "I am He." God had provided a way. She left the water pot a
changed woman, and run into the city, and said, "Come, see a Man Who
told me the things I've done. Isn't this the Messiah?"
85 Peter listening to Andrew's story and many times had listened, and heard Andrew talk about John introducing a Messiah, and a man, and all these things taking place. It was all mystery to Peter. But one day he come with Andrew to see Jesus. And when he got in the Presence of Jesus, Jesus looked at him, and He said, "Your name is Simon, and you're the son of Jonas." God had provided the way for Peter to see who He was. He was that Messiah.
86 Now, we find out that after
Jesus had died and ascended into heaven, the church needed power to
witness. God give them a Pentecost. He provided a Pentecost.
Two thousand years has passed, friends. Two thousand years has passed.
And these latter days we have got so... Man has got into the system of
Christianity, and has perverted it again, hybrid it to creed, churches,
denominations, intellectual speeches, until the power, and the real
thing of the Gospel of Christ is practically lost. And here we are with
Word promised for this last days what will happen, what will take
place? Man don't believe it. They've got away from it. You ask if
they're a Christian, say, "I belong to so-and-so." That doesn't mean
one thing. You got to be a Christian by birth. Now, we got the whole
thing into a Babylon again after two thousand years.
88 The church today needs
power and truth again. Oh, God raised up His Son that this would be
taken care of, for He said, "A little while, and the world will see Me
no more. Yet you'll see me; for I'll be with you, even in you." We find
out in Hebrews 13:8, He's the same yesterday, today, and forever.
We find out in Malachi 4 that He promised us a message in the last days
that would restore the faith of the people back to the fathers again.
He promised it in the last days.
He also promised in John 14:12, "He that believeth on Me, the works
that I do shall he do also, even more than this (or greater than this)
shall he do, for I go to My Father."
He was speaking one day. They said, "Master, show us a sign."
He said, "A weak and adulterous generation seeks after a sign." That's
the generation we're living in today. He said, "And I'll give them a
sign. For as Jonas was in the belly of the whale three days and nights,
so must the Son of man be in the heart of the earth three days and
nights."
93 What kind of a sign would a
wicked and adulterous generation find out? The resurrection sign. And
that's what we are promised today: the resurrection sign, that He's
still alive. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever.
He said, "As it was in the days of Lot (as we went through it last
night, the days of Lot, what happened in the days of Lot), so would it
be at the coming of the Son of man." These things we're promised, many
more Scriptures. To keep from taking up time... "A little while, and
the world won't see Me no more. Kosmos, the order, the church age, they
won't see Me no more. Yet ye shall see Me, for I'll be with you, even
in you, to the end of the age," Jesus Christ, the same yesterday,
today, and forever. What is it? It's God's provided sign, God's
provided way.
95 Abraham waiting for the
son: the last sign that he saw before the destruction of the Gentiles
was God manifested in human flesh, that knowed the secrets of the heart
of Sarah when she was in the tent. Jesus said that'll return again at
the coming of the Son of man. Brother, sister, I believe we're living
in that day. I believe this is the day of the promise.
You've got to have faith in what you're doing. If you haven't got
faith, if you just taking it presumingly... The word "presume,"
according to Webster, means "to venture without authority." But when
the Word promises it, and God stands behind that Word, you're not
presuming anymore. You're doing exactly what God said do. And He's duty
bound to back it up.
97 A great famous revivalist
many years ago (I seen him when I was a little boy.) was Paul Rader. He
told a story one day that's always stuck with me. Said one day he was
cutting wood. He was a logger up in Oregon. And said his boss told him
go up the top of the hill. He was dreaming that. Where he was really
at, at the time, he was down in the islands, and took a fever, real
hot, and he was dying. They went for a doctor, but it was miles and
miles away by canoe.
Before the doctor could get there, Paul begin to fade away, get sicker
and sicker. He called his faithful wife. He said, "Dear, it's getting
dark in the room, darker, closing in." And he went back into a coma.
99 And when he did... He said
he dreamed when he was in this coma, that his boss sent him up to cut a
certain tree. He found the tree. He felled the tree, stuck his axe into
it, and reached down to pick it up. He just couldn't pick it up, said
his strength was depleted. He just couldn't pick it up. He said, "All
the size that tree is, surely I can pick that up. Let me try again."
And he got down, and he lifted. He just toiled till he was wore out. He
set down beside the tree, and said, "I just don't know what I'll do.
The boss requires this tree down there at the camp, and I'm too weak to
bring it down."
Said he heard the sweetest voice he ever heard. It was his boss that
spoke. But said, when he turned to see who his boss was, it was the
Lord Jesus. He said, "Paul, what are you fighting so about? What are
you all flusterated about? You see that water running there?" Said,
"Why don't you just throw the log in the river, and ride it down, ride
it to the camp."
He jumped on the log, and started down over the ripples, screaming to
the top of his voice, "I'm a-riding on it; I'm a-riding on it."
102 Brother, sister, Jesus
Christ promised these things to happen in the last days. I believe that
we're living here. I believe that He's the same yesterday, today, and
forever. I don't know how it's happened, but I'm riding on it. I
believe it is the truth, because it's the Gospel, God's provided way. I
believe it is the message of the hour, the times we're living in. It's
God's provided way. I'm riding on it.
Won't you jump on with me, while we bow our heads?
103 Heavenly Father, we are
riding into glory upon Thy Word. We believe that Thy Word is Truth. O
God, may every man and woman tonight climb aboard the Word. And
remember, as they go along down through the journey, they can confess,
"I'm riding on God's promise. It'll take me right into glory. It's
God's provided way for me today: Jesus Christ, the same yesterday,
today, and forever."
You said, "In a little while and the world won't see Me no more. Yet,
ye shall see Me; for I will be with you, even in you." You promised us,
Lord, we would see You.
The Greeks come one time, and said, "Sirs, we would see Jesus," and
they was granted that privilege. And tonight, Lord, we want to see You
too. It's our heart's desire. No one can ever hear of You unless they
want to see You. Then if these Greeks was permitted to see You, and You
provided a way for us to see You... You always make a way because
You're the same yesterday, today, and forever. A servant brought these
Greeks into Your Presence, and they got to see You. Grant us the same
privilege tonight, Father. May we, as servants, bring this audience
into Your Presence. And may we see Jesus tonight, Who is the same
yesterday, today, and forever. Grant it, Lord.
106 Save the lost, Lord, if
there be a man, woman, boy or girl. When we see our nation so polluted
with murderers and cutthroats, and perverts, and to see the corruption
in the nation today, and to see the corruption in the churches, and see
them leading to that ecumenical slaughter up there because they are not
going God's provided way... They're going by the way of some creed
instead of coming by the Word.
God, we pray that real, genuine, born Christians (as I illustrated by
being real ducks), they... "My sheep hear My voice. A stranger they
won't follow." Lord, Your voice is the Word. That's always been Your
provided way for the church, and for the people, is Your Word. Thy Word
is the truth, and You are the Word. And the Bible tells us the Word of
God is sharper than a two-edged sword, a Discerner of the thoughts and
intents of the heart.
108 Why couldn't Israel see
their Messiah, when they saw that He was that Word, when He could
discern the thoughts that was in their heart? Why didn't they? They
understood it through the prophets, that the prophets could. But when
the Fullness of God was made into His Son, and He lived among us, then
they failed to see it because they were blinded.
Lord, those who have their eyes open tonight, may we see Jesus in our
midst. May every sick person be healed. May this settle it, Lord, that
they'll never no more from this hour on, but what will believe that You
are the Messiah. They're coming God's way. Many of them are here
tonight, dying. There's many here tonight that probably won't be here a
week from today if You--Your help doesn't come.
Now, Father, You're only responsible for what You promised. But You did
promise that we would see You. You promised that what You did, we'd do
also. This is the hour. I've confessed it; I believe it. I heard You
say so. Now, Your Word says so. You confirmed it. I know it's true.
Now, let it be known, Lord. It has been written; now let it be done for
the Kingdom of God's sake. Amen.
111 I don't believe we're going
to call a prayer line. I believe I'll just use it from right here.
How many of you is sick? Now, will you be... You're holding your hand
witnessing you're sick. How many of you will witness the same thing,
"Brother Branham, I'm really not saved." Will you raise your hand?
"Pray for me." God bless you, you. That's good. That's... God bless
you. "I'm not saved."
Now, you that raised your hands, and you that didn't... "But, Brother
Branham, truly I want to be saved. It's my heart. I believe that
there's nothing left for anyone in the world." What more... What could
you achieve would be greater than your salvation? "Pray for me. I want
to be saved." Would you raise hand, all over the building where, I
want...
How many of you haven't received the Holy Spirit, say, "I know I must
receive it." Raise your hands. "I haven't; I want to." All right.
There's quite a few that hasn't.
116 Now, Christ keeps His Word,
and you've got to keep your faith in Him. He is the Word. Now, Hebrews
the 4th chapter said that the Word of God which is Christ... Christ is
the Word. You all know that? Say, "Amen." He is the Word, the same
yesterday, today, and forever. What He was in Moses, He also was in
Elijah. What He was in Elijah, He was in John. What He was in John, he
completed Himself in--and Jesus... And today He's the same as He was
then. And it's still God's Word prophesied for the day, which makes Him
the Light that lights up, and vindicates the promised Word.
We're at the end time, friends. Jesus is present. I know you've heard
that.
118 What if you never did see
in your life, and you never had a sense of sight, no human being did.
But every once in a while you'd feel a real warm feeling. And I had
sight. I could see, and I could tell you it was the sun. You say, "I
don't know how it happens, but I get a feeling like warm." You can feel.
I'd say, "That's the sun."
"What is the sun?"
"It's a light."
"What is a light?" It'd all be a new world to you.
But what if I told you Jesus Christ was standing here now. What if I
told you He's in the midst of us. He promised it. "Wherever two or
three are gathered in My Name, there I am in their midst. There I am."
Now, that's either the truth... To me, this is all the Truth, or it
isn't any the Truth. This is either the right, or it isn't right.
120 Now, as far as saving you,
He did that when He died at Calvary. Healing you, He did that when He
died at Calvary. You believe that? The Word said He did.
Now, the only thing that He could do if He was standing here with this
suit on, that He gave me, would only be--prove to you He was the
Messiah, not by nail scars in His hands. Any hypocrite can do that, put
nail scars, and blood over his face, and marks, and things. That can be
done. That's been... Many persons even crucified like Him. That isn't
it.
But His Life, what was in Him--the Son can do nothing in Himself but
what He sees the Father doing. It's the Life that's in Him that proves.
Not because He was a Jew did the little woman at the well believe Him
to be the Messiah. Because He could discern the thoughts in her heart,
that made Him Messiah. If that was the way the Messiah introduced
Himself in the days gone by, that was His provided way to make Hisself
known, that's His provided way according to the Scripture for this age.
Do you believe that?
124 Now, each one of you here,
I'm a stranger. I've looked around. I don't see a person that I know.
Everybody in here, that doesn't know me and knows I know nothing about
you, raise up your hands. Solid, everywhere. This person laying here on
this cot raised up his hand. He didn't know me. Nobody knows me.
But remember, God does know you. God knows you. Now, if He proves that
He's here...
"What is it, Brother Branham?" It's a gift.
What is a gift? What is a gift anyhow? Not to take something and use
something, say, "I got a gift of healing. I go out and heal this one,
heal that one." If I could, I'd certainly do it. Now, it's... But a
gift... You--you--you misinterpret a gift. A gift is just get yourself
out of the way, and let the Holy Spirit use you. See? That's a gift.
That's what a minister is. He don't preach what he wants to preach. He
just gets hisself out of the way. It's a gift. An inspiration comes,
and he--he speaks through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Any other
gift is the same way. Now, ministerial gifts, and so forth, has been.
There's first of God-given gifts is first, apostles, prophets,
teachers, pastors, and evangelists. That's the offices. That's their
gifts.
128 Now, Jesus Christ promised
that He would do this in the last days. If He does it, if He promises
that and will do it, how many will believe and accept Him tonight?
Raise up your hand, say, "I'll accept Him." How many in here then...
Thank you. How many in here's never been in one of the meetings before?
Raise up your hands. My, nearly half the crowd. How many believes
before He does it, you believe anyhow? God bless you.
Now, look. If I've told you the truth, God's obligated to answer me. He
will. He puts His Words in your mouth, and they materialize. That's
right. It's His Words; it has to do it. "I've sent my Word; it won't
return void."
130 Now, if I could heal, I would do it. Just like the honorable late Brother Upshaw that we talking about, that old man setting back there in that wheelchair, a gallant old man. I would've healed him if I could. I started to leave the platform, frankly; and I turned around and saw him in a vision, going walking; called him, told him what it was. And that was it. He got up and walked on the platform, touched his toes after being a cripple for sixty-six years. See?
131 The same night, a colored
lady with her baby, down there on the side... I said, "I see a doctor
with glasses on, and--and he's operated on a little colored girl. And
it's paralyzed her from her throat."
An old colored woman, couldn't hardly hold her off the platform. She
said, "Lordy mercy, that's my baby." And here she come. A bunch of
ushers couldn't even hold her.
I said, "Auntie, it won't do no good to come up here. That isn't...
That's God." I said, "It won't do no good to come here. Just believe."
And she got down on her knees and started praying. I looked across the
audience, and I seen a alley-like, going--and I seen a little colored
girl with a doll in her arms, going down through the alley. And I
looked at the little colored girl, looked back, and it was the same
one. I said, "It's answered." Up she got, away from the cot. See?
It's God. See? It's God. See? He can't... No one can heal. It's your
faith in God.
135 Now, the Bible said that
He's a High Priest right now, that can be touched by the feeling of our
infirmities. Do you believe that? A High Priest. Now, if He's a High
Priest, how would He act? If He's the same yesterday, today, and
forever, He'd act the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Now, you pray, and let the Holy Spirit then... You just say to God,
"God, this man standing there doesn't know me. But what he says makes
sense. You are the same. You are Christ. I'm sick. I need. And if You
let me either... If I haven't got the faith to do it, let somebody that
I know have faith. And let it... You call, and let--let--let me, or
that person, touch the hem of Your garment in glory. Then if that man
is out of the way, then You use his mouth to speak back. And just do it
the same way You did when You were on earth. I'll know that You're the
same yesterday, today, and forever."
Let us bow our heads now.
137 Lord Jesus, turning from evangelism to prophetic work, but yet I believe You, Lord; You promised it. And I pray that You'll grant it tonight. Grant it. Hear me. When this audience leaves here tonight and we go home, may we say like those who come from Emmaus, "Did not our hearts burn within us, as He talked to us along the way?" Jesus was raised from the dead. They didn't know it. They were talking to Him; they didn't know it. But when He got them in the house and closed the door, then He did something the way He did it before His crucifixion; that opened their eyes. They seen it was Him. Again, Lord, may our hearts burn as we go home tonight as theirs did, for we know that You've spoke to us along the way. Do the things tonight that You did when You were on earth, for You are the same yesterday, today, and forever. We ask in Jesus' Name. Amen.
138 Now, be in prayer and just
believe. Let's consecrate this side first. No matter where you're at in
the building, believe God. I wish that everyone would be real reverent
and set quiet, pray.
This is totally impossible. I was talking this morning at the
ministerial breakfast "A Paradox." A paradox is incredible, something
incredible but yet true. You know that if the Holy Spirit would stand
here and speak something in that audience to people that I don't know,
it would have to be a paradox. It's something cannot be explained. I
don't know that He will. I'm just hoping that he will, trusting that He
will.
140 Now, just pray and say,
"Lord Jesus, I want to touch Your garment, and I--I have a need. I
promise You, Lord, I--I'll serve You all my life." God wants you to
repent. If you're not repented, repent. Say, "I want to repent, Lord. I
want You to heal me. I want You to bless me. Heal me now, Lord. I'm
Your servant."
I was going... Did you give out prayer cards today? I was just going to
ask Billy whether... If he doesn't do it, I'd call a prayer line. But
they never give out prayer cards today. Just set reverent. Believe.
142 Now, in the Name of Jesus
Christ, I take every spirit here under my control for the glory of God
that His Word might be made known, that at the day of the judgment
we'll have no excuse.
Now, look this way and believe now. Pray with all your heart. Just pray
humbly. Don't fight it; just relax yourself and say, "Lord, You made
the promise. I believe You." That's what I have to do.
I know there's no need of me asking you: how many ever seen that Light?
Let's see your... You seen the picture of it. Let's see your hands, has
ever seen the picture of it? Don't you see it right there? See, it's
another dimension. It's right over that lady.
145 She's suffering with
trouble with her legs and back. She... You believe that God can heal
you, sister? What did you touch? You don't know me, but you touched
something. If the Lord Jesus will tell me who you are, will that make
you believe better? You're Mrs. Phillips. If that's right, stand on
your feet. All right. Am I a total stranger to you? Raise up your hand,
if that's right. I never seen her in my life. What did she touch? Go
talk to the woman afterwards. Pains are all gone now, and you're all
right. You can go home and be well.
Here's a lady right back behind her there. She's suffering from a
nervous breakdown. O God, if she don't... Her name is Mrs. Starr.
Believe; Jesus Christ will make you well. Stand up on your feet and
accept your healing. If I'm a stranger to you, wave your hand. Your
breakdown is over. Jesus Christ makes you well.
What did He promise? He promised it. You believe?
148 There's a lady right behind
her, setting there. She's praying; she's nervous, got complications.
She wants to quit smoking. Her name is Mrs. Borden. Rise up, Mrs.
Borden. Your cigarettes are over. Jesus Christ makes you well. I never
seen the woman in my life.
Do you believe? Now, you know I can't do that. That's Jesus Christ.
What is it? The Word is quicker, more powerful than a two-edged sword,
a Discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. It's the Word,
Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever. Can't you believe
that?
150 Here, here sets a man
setting over here with a hernia, heart trouble. That's right. I don't
know the man. I've never seen him. But he's a minister: Reverend Mr.
Kinsey. That's right. You believe, sir? Stand up on your feet; receive
your healing. Jesus Christ makes you well.
By the way, would you do me a favor, being a minister? Lay your hands
upon your wife. She's suffering with a kidney trouble, with liver
trouble, with overweight, with complications. Lay your hands on her.
It's going to leave her, if you believe.
Say, there's a man sitting right behind you. He's shadowed to death.
He's got cancer. The man suffers with tumor, cancer, nervousness. His
name is Mr. Young. Believe now. Jesus Christ makes you well. Do you
believe it? You accept it? All right, sir.
153 Here lays a man laying here
on this cot. Sir, I don't know you. If I could heal you, I would do it.
I'm a stranger to you. You've come all of this way. You've made an
effort to come here. You can't hide what's wrong from you. But I can't
heal you. You've come here with your wife. That's her setting there
with that peach-colored coat on. That's right. All right. The man is
shadowed to death. He can't live but a little while now. He's got
cancer.
You're suffering also, sister. You believe God can tell me what your
suffering with? It's your back trouble. That's right. If that's right,
raise up. All right. You receive your healing; believe it. Put your
hand on your husband.
Do you believe me to be His prophet, sir? If you lay there, you're sure
to die. You can't live. That's all. The doctors has give you up.
Cancer's eat you up. I've seen greater cases than you healed. I cannot
heal you. But if you'll just accept it, and believe it... Do you
believe it? It's your only chance. Your last times are passing. Do you
believe it? If you do, stand up out of that cot. Raise up out of there.
In the Name of Jesus Christ, stand on your feet, and be made whole, and
walk out of here glorifying God. Somebody give him a hand there, help
him. There he is, on his feet.
156 How many in here believes?
Raise up your hand; stand up on your feet, the rest of you wants to be
healed. Stand up, in the Name of Jesus Christ. Raise up your hands;
praise God; give Him praise and glory. Now, thank the Lord for your
healing. Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Brother, the doctors has failed. This is God's provided way. Believe it.
How many wants to accept God's provided way? Raise up your hands and
give God praise, every one of you, and believe that you're healed in
the Name of Jesus Christ.