Persévérer
1 ... usually announce it so
you can be sure to remember where it's at. We want to read from
Matthew, the 15th chapter of Matthew, beginning with the 21st verse.
Then Jesus went
thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.
And, behold, a woman
of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have
mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed
with a devil.
But he answered her
not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her
away; for she crieth after us.
But he answered and
said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Then came she and
worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.
But he answered and
said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to
dogs.
And she said, Truth,
Lord: yet the dogs eat... the crumbs which fall from the masters' table.
Then said... Then
Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it
unto thee even as thou will.
And her daughter was
made whole from that very hour.
2 Let us bow our heads now for prayer. I wonder, tonight, with our heads and hearts bowed, if there would be someone here would like to be remembered in prayer. Would you just let it be known as you lift your hands to God, say, "I have a need, Lord, I pray You'll help me." The Lord bless you.
3 Our heavenly Father, as we
are now approaching Thy Majesty, in the Name of the Lord Jesus, for He
told us, "If you ask the Father anything in My Name, it'll be granted."
We come with all the faith that we have, believing that You'll answer
us according to our needs tonight, as they are many. Thou sees the
hands of Thy children throughout the building here, as they raise their
hands. And You alone knows what was beneath the heart. I pray that
You'll answer them, Father, tonight. And may every desire that they
have, be granted to them this day.
We pray for those who are unsaved and know Thee not as their Saviour.
We pray that they'll accept You tonight, and find that all-sufficiency
that they must have in the hour of death.
5 Many here maybe who has
already has accepted You, and has not yet been filled with Thy Spirit.
We pray, that this night, that Thou will pour into them the abundance
of the Holy Spirit, that they might be servants to You in these closing
hours of the world's history.
Heal all the sick and the afflicted, Lord. Thou knowest their need.
And we pray that Your Presence will come among us tonight in such a way
that we'll recognize You as our risen Lord. And when the service is
closed, and we go to our homes, may we be able to speak among each
other, saying like those who came from Emmaus that day, saying, "Did
not our hearts burn within us, as He talked to us along the way?" For
they were made to know You by a certain sign that You did before Your
crucifixion. And after You had risen, You were the same Jesus, doing
the same things. May we still witness the same tonight. In Jesus' Name,
we pray. Amen. (May be seated.)
8 I taken my full time last
evening on the subject of "We Would See Jesus," and after having to
introduce the caliber of the--of the meetings and how to accept it, as
usually Brother Borders will to the strangers each night henceforth. I
was--went my full time to nine-thirty, and I don't like to keep people
waiting. Just a few words to get acquainted, and then the Lord's Words
means... One time, Him speaking, mean more than anyone could say in a
lifetime, just one Word from Him.
I wish to take as it was tonight a text from this Scripture reading
that God has give us here as a context. May He give it to us. I want to
take one word: "Perseverant."
The word, according to Webster, on some notes I got written out here,
it means "to be persistent, to be perseverant, and that is, into making
a goal": "to be persistent," and that's perseverant.
11 Men of all ages, that has
faith in what they're trying to achieve, has been perseverant. No man
can be perseverant unless first he knows what he's trying to achieve.
And you first must know what you're trying to achieve, and then have
faith that you're going to get what you are trying for. And that makes
you persistent, something that you know is real.
Faith is based that way. Faith is not based upon a myth and upon
something that, well, that just, say, go do this or do that, on the
words of some man. But faith takes its eternal resting place upon the
Word of the Lord, upon God's Word, which is the Bible.
13 Now, we believe the Bible to be God's infallible Word. We believe that It is the entire revelation of Jesus Christ, revealing Himself in the Old Testament by the prophets; God making Hisself known through His Son Christ Jesus, and in Him dwelt the Fullness of the Godhead bodily. He was crucified for our sins, died, buried, rose the third day, ascended into heaven, and is back here again in the Name of the--in the form of the Holy Spirit, God dwelling one time, God above us in Christ, God with us; now God in us. It's God working His way back into man, to worship, be worshipped through man, God's agency. God does nothing outside of a man being His agent, His helper.
14 And now, men who has had
faith in God, has been very persistent in what they are trying to do.
And we take men of all walks of life. For instance, George Washington,
here at Valley Forge, after praying all night in the snow, up to his
hips, was wet way up around his waistline, and the river was full of
ice. But he caught a vision from God; he caught faith, that God was
going to give him the victory. And the--the river had--couldn't have
had too much ice in it. Though over two-thirds of his army didn't even
have shoes on their feet; their feet was wrapped in rags, standing in
that cold, but yet he felt in his heart that God had give him the
victory. He had prayed through. The next day, we know, three musket
bullets went through his coat without touching him. And the river
couldn't stop him, neither could a musket bullet stop him. He was
persistent, because he had prayed through. And he had faith in what he
was doing, in the One that was leading him; that was God.
Nothing's going to stop a man when he--he's perseverant, when he knows
what he's doing, and got faith in what he's trying to achieve.
17 One of the oldest stories
in the Bible, one of them was Noah. Noah was just not a--some different
man. He was an ordinary man, perhaps a farmer.
And the world was wicked, as it is today, full of science and great
men. They'd sprung from the sons of Cain. The sons of Seth were humble
shepherds, farmers. But the sons of--of Cain were wise men, builders,
and--and inventors, and scientists, real smart, real religious. And
they had their own form of godliness, but was denying, as it is today,
the power of God.
And Noah being a just man before God, one day God met him in the fields
and talked to him, and told him to build an ark, because He was going
to destroy the world with water.
20 Now, that was absolutely
contrary to all scientific measurements of that day. See, it had never
rained. There--there was no moisture in the air. And God had watered
the earth through a irrigation, up through the earth with springs. And
there was no water for such, no water in the skies.
Science in that day were probably more able. They achieved more then
than they--they are able to explain today. They built the pyramids in
Egypt, the sphinx. They could never build that again. Those stones that
high in the air, we haven't got nothing to put it up there with, or no
power to lift it. But somehow they were able to accomplish it in the
days of Enoch and Noah, before the flood. And perhaps they shot the
moon, and might've had astronauts, and so forth. We don't know.
22 But Jesus said, "As it was
in the days of Noah, (a great smart civilization) as it was then, so
will it be at the coming of the Son of man."
And now perhaps they, in their scientific research, they--they found
something there that they could make a coloring that would last till
today, a dye of some sort, that would not give away.
And they could embalm a body, make a mummy, that would look quite
natural; yet today, after four thousand years, they still look natural.
We couldn't do that if we had to. We have nothing to do it with. We've
lost the art, many great arts that they had.
25 No doubt they had
instruments that would prove there was no water in the air. And this
man coming around, contrary to science, and says that there's going to
come water out of the heavens.
Now, the science could take an instrument and shoot up into the air,
and say, "Looky here, Noah; read this instrument. It gives on this
barometer here, whether there's any water up there, or not, and there
is none. Now, you say it's up there, and yet the scientific research
shows that it's not there."
That didn't stop Noah. He was persistent. He knowed that God had said,
"It's going to rain," and God was able to put rain up there if He said
so. He would make it, whether there was any there or not. So he was
persistent after he knowed the Word of the Lord.
28 And when a man knows the
Word and will of God, you become persistent; you become perseverant. No
matter what science says, "Well, they can't do this; they cannot do
that," you know it anyhow. You've got ahold of Something, and that
Something's got ahold of you. You're rotating together. You--there's
something about it, that you cannot explain it. No matter how
scientific it seems to be untrue, yet there's Something in it that
tells you that it's God, and there's nothing going to stop it.
So we find that Noah pounded right ahead on the ark, no matter how much
scientific proof it wasn't so, and there was no rain. And he believed
it anyhow, because he had heard the Word of the Lord.
And there's where faith is solemnly based upon: THUS SAITH THE LORD.
31 Moses, another great, smart man that had been raised up, born in the world for a certain achievement of God. And he tried to meet this goal by his scientific acts. We are taught and told by history that he was a great military leader, and his only way of doing anything was, killing off. He was so smart that he could teach the smart Egyptians wisdom. In all of his wisdom and all that he knew, yet he failed, miserably failed, to achieve what God had in mind for him to do. And in finding his failure by slaying the Egyptian and hiding him in the sand, and hearing the rebuke from his brother, or the question, "Will you slay us as you did the Egyptian?"... Upon this Moses ran into the wilderness, a runaway prophet.
32 After forty years in the
wilderness, that God had uneducating him from the things of the world
unto the mind of God, taking all of his doctor's degree, and
everything, away from him, till He could work into his heart...
When He had the material about ready, one day while he was herding
sheep on the backside of the desert, an old familiar path, he found a
tree on fire.
Moses, being a scientist, he never approached it in the way of a
scientist. If you'll notice, if he'd been a scientist, he'd said, "Now,
I'm going to take some of the leaves from that tree, and take them down
to the laboratory, and find out what they were sprayed with, the reason
they burn and don't burn up." If he would've done that, then he wasn't
ready yet.
35 But what he did, he
approached it and took off his shoes, knelt upon his knees and begin to
talk to it, because he knowed it was supernatural. From there came the
Word of the Lord, saying, "I've heard the groans of My people, and I
remember My Word. I'm sending you down to deliver them."
Now, sometimes, in the path of duty, God calls His man to do things
that's absolutely ridiculous to the natural mind. He causes them to do
something that's altogether becomes a laughingstock. For instance, what
if Moses had've failed, as a young man of forty years old, a military
man; and the throne, his foot upon it, all the armies of--of Egypt
under his control? And to fail doing that, and here he goes down to
Egypt, the next morning after meeting this Angel in the bush, with
nothing in his hand but an old crooked stick from off the desert, with
his wife setting on a mule, and Gershom on her hip, the white beard
hanging way down on his waistline, perhaps. He was eighty years old.
His bald head shining to the sun, and a stick in his hand, his eyes set
towards the sky, and a smile across his lips.
Somebody might've said, "Moses, where you going?"
Said, "I'm going down to Egypt, to take over."
37 When he couldn't do it with
an army, how is he going to do it with a crooked stick? "Oh, man,
you've lost your mind. You're--you're out of your head."
It was a one man invasion. But the thing of it was, he did it, because
that it was a Word of the Lord. And Moses was determined, no matter
what his odds was. God was with him, and He's worth more than all the
odds.
If men and women could only think that tonight, that the Word of the
Lord is Truth. There's nothing else. All eternity hinges on the Word.
"Not one Word," Jesus said, "will fail. Heavens and earth will, but It
won't."
40 Moses went down. And he was
very persistent when he threw down his rod, and it turned into a
serpent.
Then he found impersonators. That still lingers along the path of God,
someone to try to impersonate something. And the impersonators come up
to make a show out of it, threw down their rods.
Moses knowed Who he had talked to. He knowed Who he had believed, and
he was persuaded that He was able to keep that which he committed to
Him against the hour. Moses stood still. Then the serpent of Moses eat
up the serpent of the magicians.
And we're taught that that same thing will repeat again, maybe not in
the same manner, but it'll repeat again in the last days. "For as
Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so will they resist the Truth."
Moses was persistent, for he had an achievement, with THUS SAITH THE
LORD behind it, "I'll be with you."
45 David, standing before Saul
one day. And he heard a Goliath come out over on the hill, a great
giant that had fourteen-inch fingers, and a great spear in his hand,
the size of a weaver's needle, probably twenty or thirty feet, big
spear on the end of it, or tip of brass. Just imagine what that man's
head would've been, it'd been the size of a tub, with a big
two-inch-thick helmet over the top of it, and brass, all covered up.
And he was making a challenge against the armies of God. And he said it
in the presence of David.
And David was a little, ruddy man, little fellow, probably
stoop-shouldered. The Bible said he was "ruddy," a little fellow. Never
had no training in the--in dueling, with spears and things. But he had
been keeping sheep out on the backside of the desert, and a lion come
in and got one of his lambs, and he went after him and slew him with a
slingshot. We find a bear did--tried the same thing, and David overcome
him.
47 And then David said, "Will
you stand and let that uncircumcised Philistine defy the armies of the
living God?" He shamed his brothers; while they said he was naughty, he
come out to see the battle. Yet there was something in David, that he
knew that he was more than a conqueror. So he said, "If you're afraid
to fight him, I'll go fight him."
Saul, this coming to the general, Saul, and he put his armor upon him,
and it wouldn't fit him. He found out that his ecclesiastical vest
didn't fit a man of God. And the thing didn't. He didn't know what to
do, "This, I've never proved this. I know nothing about these Bachelors
of Art, and so forth. Take the thing off of me and let me go in the way
that God give me deliverance. Let me go with a slingshot."
49 "Why," they said, "he's a
warrior from his youth, and you're nothing but a youth."
He said, "I'm more than a match for him. Let me go." And no matter how
big the giant looked, and how unreal it seemed to be, David was
persistent that that uncircumcised Philistine wasn't going to defy the
armies of the living God that he represented.
Oh, if we had more David's in this army, if we had more men who would
stand and be persistent, perseverant in the faith that was once
delivered to the saints.
52 Samson, another man very
perseverant. He was born a Nazarite birth.
A "Nazarite" means "separated to the Word." What a nice thing it would
be tonight if all Christians would be Nazarites to the Lord, separated
not to creeds, but to the Word. Christ is that Word. Separated to the
Word...
54 He had seven locks of hair
that hung down his back, which was the sign that he was separated.
And then one day he was met out on the--the plains, without anything in
his hand to fight with, by a thousand Philistines. Those Philistines
were men like a brass wall: great heavy helmets over their heads, great
armors up in front of them, and shields, bucklers, and so forth on, to
dodge any bullet; probably the helmet being a inch thick, upon their
heads.
Samson had nothing, but he still could feel that the promise that God
made him was still hanging on his head. He could still feel the
anointing, in other words. He knowed that God was with him, for he felt
them locks hanging down around his shoulders. He grabbed what was in
his--could find, and it was a jawbone of a mule. And he stood with that
in his hand, and was persistent that it wouldn't be the jawbone or his
own arm, but it would be the power of the Lord. And the power of the
Lord came upon him, and he beat, with that jawbone, a thousand
Philistines.
57 How did he do it? That old,
brittle, desert-soaked jawbone, you'd hit it against a rock it would
fly to pieces; and upon the helmets that was on those Philistines,
which hung down, and big leaves stuck up on the sides as it went over
the shoulders, inch thick, and brass. He stood with this jawbone and
beat down a thousand. It said, "The Spirit of the Lord came upon him."
He was persistent.
One day, a lion run out after him and he had nothing in his hand. But
the Spirit of the Lord came upon him; his locks still hung on his
shoulder; he rent the lion with his hands. He was very persistent,
because he knowed that God's promise was with him. He was able to
achieve anything, for God's promise was with him to deliver.
59 John was so sure, John the Baptist, when he was born, he knowed he was to be the one, after he got old enough to understand, about nine years old... His father was a priest. Usually they follow the line of the father. But he didn't go down to the schools and seminaries, for he knew his job was too important. He was to announce the Messiah. We know that the Angel had said so.
60 He knew that he was
represented in the Scripture, "The voice of one crying in the
wilderness, Prepare the way of the Lord." He knew also that Malachi,
four hundred years before, had said, "Behold, I send My messenger
before My face." After being into the wilderness, where he got his
schooling from God, not from some theological seminary as his father
was--come from...
But he had an important job. He had to announce the Messiah, and he had
to know what kind of a sign would be following the Messiah. Then he
noticed; one day he was standing, preaching to the people, he said,
"There's One standing among you now, Who you know not, His shoes I'm
not worthy to unlatch; He'll baptize you with the Holy Ghost and Fire."
He was so positive of his position; he was so positive of his ministry,
till he said, "He's standing here somewhere now, among you." He wasn't
afraid to say it in the face of Pharisees and Sadducees, and--and
soldiers, and whatevermore it was. Some of them had looked for Him for
thousands of years, but he said, "He's standing among you." Nobody
could take it away from him. He was persistent. He was perseverant in
the face of all. Yes.
62 This little Greek woman, no
doubt, had heard of him, heard of Jesus, the great revival. A young
prophet coming up in Galilee, from Nazareth, and was showing great
signs and wonders. She had heard of Him, and faith comes by hearing.
This Syrophenician woman, being a Greek... Faith finds sources that
others don't see. When she heard, she believed. She might've heard of a
neighbor's girl being healed of epilepsy, which the child had, and they
might've heard of this epileptic being healed. So her daughter had need
of healing, and she had heard Jesus could do it.
For He was God's Word made flesh. Saint John 1, "In the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word
was made flesh and dwelt among us, the same yesterday, today, and
forever." He was there to reveal the promises of God for His day.
64 He's here tonight to vindicate and to reveal every promise that God made for this age. He's here to do it. He was in the days of the prophets. He was in Moses; He was in David; He was in Elijah, He was in the rest of them to reveal God's promise of that age. God 'lotted His Word to each age, and He sends a prophet, and the Word goes to the prophet and straightens it out, and that's exactly what He's done through all ages. And He's God, and changes not. Jesus Christ is that Prophet tonight that stands among us. He is the One here in the form of the Holy Ghost, Who knows everything, and can reveal anything that He desires to do.
65 She believed this. No matter how much people didn't believe it, faith finds a source that other people don't know nothing about. When a man's got faith in God, he's got ahold of something that he can't explain it. It's something that's got ahold of. He cannot push it, or shove it, or pull it. It takes Him. That's the way faith is, when a man really got faith in God, it finds that source that others don't see.
67 His Word is a sword. The
Bible said so. You want reference to that, it's--it's Hebrews 4:12, as
I got the text wrote down. The Bible said, "The Word of God is sharper
than a two-edged sword." This sword's got to be held by a hand of
faith. A hand of theology won't do it. It's got to take a hand of
faith, trained in spiritual things, that knows God.
Again, might, as I might say this. How do you believe that Jesus looked
upon the audience and perceived their thoughts? Because He was the
Word. Let's quote the rest of the Word here, "Sharper than a two-edged
sword, a Discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." He was
the Word. That's the reason He could discern the thoughts that were in
their heart.
69 Last night, as we took as it was in the days of Sodom, showed that Man standing there, eating the flesh of a calf, drinking the milk from the cow, eating butter and bread, standing there eating, with clothes on like you and I, with His back turned to the tent, and perceived what Sarah was thinking about in the tent. No wonder Abraham called Him Elohim, "the all-sufficient One, the self-existing One," Elohim.
70 Jesus said, "As it was in
the days of Sodom, so shall it be at the returning of the Son of man."
It'll be the same thing. In the days, did you notice, in Sodom there?
It said in Luke 17:15, it said that, "When the days of Sodom, so shall
it be in the coming of the Son of man, when the Son of man is being
revealed." In the days that the Son of man is revealed like He was at
Sodom, the same thing will be taking place.
We find out the fire is ready, the nations are ready, the evangelists
has gone to their places, and every gift is set in order. No wonder we
should be persistent. No wonder we should be perseverant. We've got a
goal to achieve for God, that's call out the Bride of Jesus Christ from
all denominations, from all people, a separated people for God.
72 This Greek had heard these
words. She believed it. She had many hindrances, but her faith didn't
have any. Faith knows no hindrance. Her faith had no hindrance. She
had, but her faith didn't have. You may have hindrances, but if you've
got faith, it knows no defeat; it's positive. Let's look at some of her
hindrances, just for a moment.
Some of them might've said, "Remember, you are of a different race. You
are a Greek, Syrophenician by nation. He's a Jew." In other words,
today you would say, "Your denomination's not having this revival." It
makes no difference, your denomination, whether it is or not, that
woman didn't care whose denomination it was. She was a human being had
been created by God, and she had a need, and she had faith, and she was
going to get it. Whether her denomination was cooperating or not, made
her no difference. She started off.
74 She might've had another
critic that might've met her down the line, and said, "Why, the days of
miracles is passed. We don't have miracles no more." That could've been
a Jew, after she got in her, over in this country where Jesus was,
across into Galilee. "Days of miracles is passed. There is no such a
thing." Still she was persistent. She was perseverant. The
denominational barrier didn't stop her, neither did any of them who
believed the days of miracles was passed. She knew different. First
thing, she had something inside of her, that told her that she'd get
what she asked for.
Oh, people, tonight, if you only can hold that in your heart, that God
is here to give you the desire of your heart. If you'll meet His
conditions, nothing can stand.
76 There might've been a bunch
of them women come to her and said, "Look, Sister Lydia," or ever what
her name might've been, "do you understand that your husband will leave
you if you do this?" No doubt but what she loved her husband, but she
couldn't curse or bless that which was in her. Something was telling,
her daughter was dying with epilepsy and she had to get to Jesus, and
when she got there, something was going to take place, husband or no
husband.
Some of them might've said, "Well, what are you going to do with this
afflicted child if it fails?" But she knowed it wasn't going to fail.
Something was in her, that told her it can't fail. If He ever was God,
He still remains God. It can't fail. Therefore, she still was
perseverant.
78 Then some of them might
said, "The circle that you belong to and the society will laugh at
you." Laugh or no laugh, made her no difference, something was inside
of her. She was--still was perseverant.
Some of them might've said, "You'll be put out of your church." Put out
or not put out, she was on her road, something pulling her to Jesus.
There was nothing going to stand in her way, no hindrances. She was
perseverant. Nothing stood in her way.
80 Finally she arrived where
He was. Many people think, just because you get where He is at, it's
all over. That's wrong. He can come here in this building tonight and
show Himself alive after two thousand years, by the things that He
promised to do in this day. He did last night. He does every night. He
does everywhere. He proves that He's still alive. And you could be in
His Presence, but that isn't it. No, sir. Sometimes you meet difficult
when you come into His Presence. She did.
When she arrived, then said Jesus, He was not sent to her race. The
very One that she come believing in, turned her down. This is a lesson.
The very One that she'd went through all these gates, of sorrow and
disappointment, and everything to get there by Something pulsating
inside of her telling her to go; when she got there to Him, He turned
her down flat. And besides that, He said her race was nothing but a
bunch of dogs. "It's not meet for Me to take the children's bread and
feed it to you dogs."
82 What if He'd have called
the--the Pentecostals, dogs? My, I don't know what would've happened.
What if He'd have said, Methodist dogs, Baptist dogs? My opinion, he'd
went back and told the pastor he was right after all; there wasn't
nothing to this fellow. But if you've got ahold, and something has got
ahold of you; it's going to be different.
"I'm not sent to you race of dogs. It's not meet for Me to take the
children's bread and give it to you. I'm not sent to you. Your revival
is not, your company is not sponsoring this, and I'm not sent to you.
And it isn't meet for Me to take My time and--upon you, when you're
nothing but dogs. And why should I waste My time on you?" What a
disappointment that would've been to a woman that didn't have faith,
that wasn't determined. Oh, if the church could only see that. But
still she held on.
84 She wasn't a--a hothouse
plant that had to be babied, one of these kind you have to spray all
over, you know, and keep the bugs off of it. A good healthy plant, you
don't have to spray it. A good healthy plant, a bug can't get to it;
it's full of health.
And a good born-again faith in God, a real genuine Holy Ghost faith,
nothing's going to turn it down. It can't do it. It's persistent. It's
going to the goal that God has promised to it. There's nothing going to
turn it down; it's going anyhow. Yes, she wasn't a hybrid.
86 Today, everything we got's
hybrid. You talk about hybrid corn, I see it out on the signs out here.
It is no good. It's killing people. Look at "Reader's Digest," said,
"If women keep on eating it, what's going to happen, they won't have
their babies no more in twenty years from now. They won't be able to
give birth to their children." It's breaking it down, till cancer taken
ahold. Oh, everything, the whole thing's worm-eaten. That certainly
knocks scientific, on evolution, out.
Jesus said, God said, in the beginning, "Let every seed bring forth of
its kind." You take hybrid corn, and hybreed it, and plant it; plant
that same seed next year, you got nothing. You got a better looking
grain, but you haven't got nothing. They've hybrid everything in the
world.
88 You take a mule; and, or
take a--a jack and hybreed it to a mare, you got a mule, but that mule
cannot breed back hisself. He is the ignorantest thing on earth. I've
drove them all my life here, you'll... He'll wait till the last dying
minute to kick you. He don't know nothing. You can't teach him nothing.
You talk to him, he's just like a lot of so-called Christians with the
ears sticking out, "Haw? Haw?" They don't even... Bray, and don't know
what they're braying about. "Days of miracles is passed. There is no
such a thing as healing." But you take a nice... He don't know where he
come from. He don't know who papa or mama is.
90 But a genuine thoroughbred
horse knows who his papa was, who his mama was, who his grandpa,
great-grandpa, great-great-great-great, all the way back. He knows
where he come from.
So does a genuine borned again Christian know where he come from. His
origin wasn't with John Wesley, Luther, or somebody else. It begin on
the day of Pentecost when God Himself came among His people. And He is
the Word made manifest. You can tell him the Word, and he'll say,
"Amen."
The other one say, "I don't know about that." See that donkey, hybrid?
See, he don't know where he's going; he don't know where he come from.
He's in an awful shape.
93 That woman wasn't that
type. She wasn't no hybrid plant. She'd got ahold of something. You
didn't have to baby her and spray her, and say, "Now, darling, please,
now let me beg you. You should come down." No, sir. Nobody...
Everything trying to hinder her.
A real Christian fights for his position. He has to stand alone, him
and God, and he fights every inch of ground, so you don't have to baby
them around.
That's what's the matter with the Pentecostal church today, we got
Pentecostal babies that's just been sprinkled and sprayed with this,
and that, and the other, till it's run out to a bunch of hybrids. What
we need today is a housecleaning, from the pulpit all the way to
the--to janitor, and a starting over again, and get some genuine faith
born into people. Yeah.
96 No, she wasn't a hybreed,
as a so-called crop of believers is today. What did she do? She
admitted He was right.
The Word and faith always admits the Word is right. Amen. If your faith
don't punctuate every Word of God's Word with "amen," there's something
wrong with your experience. The Bible said He's the same yesterday,
today, and forever. If it don't say "amen" to that, then there's
something wrong. Jesus said, "The works that I do shall you do also."
If it don't say "amen" to that, then there's something wrong. If it
don't punctuate every Word of God's promise, with an "amen," there's
something wrong.
98 She admitted that He was
right. She admitted she wasn't nothing but a dog. But she was after
crumbs.
Wouldn't be us. Oh, no. We have to be set up on a seat, and, "If they
don't minister to me the first night, I'll not go back the next night."
Now, see, oh, what a difference she was. Put back, and shoved back,
shoved out, put outside, whatever it was, she was determined. She was
persistent, perseverant. Something on the inside of her, told her that
she was going to get it regardless of how long she had to wait, what
she had to go through. She would get it anyhow. She was after the
crumbs. She didn't want a full-course dinner. She said, "The dogs eat
the crumbs under the master's table."
That's the way to do it. Don't take the high seat; take the back seat.
Don't do... Just be the little person. The way up is down always. "He
that humbles himself shall be exalted. He that exalts himself shall be
abased." The way up is down always.
102 Remember, she had never
seen a miracle. She was a Gentile, but she had faith.
She was something like the harlot, Rahab. She said to the spies... She
didn't say, "Wait till I see how Joshua combs his hair. What--how does
your generals all look? Or what kind of a swords do they use? What
instruments have they got? What kind of warfare?" She said, "I have
heard that God's with you. That's good enough for me. I want mercy."
She believed.
"Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing of the Word of God."
104 Watch, "For this saying,
for this saying," Jesus said, because she was persistent and coming...
Now, first she called Him, "Son of David." Now, she had as a Gentile,
had no claims on Him as the Son of David. But when she said, "Lord," He
was her Lord, but not Son of David to it.
She had the right approach to God's gift. And that's the only way to
ever receive anything is come the right approach. She was the first
Gentile that a miracle was ever performed on. Faith admits the Word is
right, gets humble and reverent. And the same is today: be willing to
take any part anywhere, "just so I get there."
107 Did you ever notice Martha in the Presence of Jesus was perseverant? Martha, when she came out, though she had a brother that loved Him, though she had opened up her house and left the church, and so forth, and Lazarus and He was friends; and Lazarus was dead in the grave, and would been in there for four days, already deteriorating. The nose had dropped in, the flesh off his bones. He was dead.
108 I was talking to a woman
that belongs to another faith, that don't believe that He was no more
than just a prophet or a good man.
I'll admit He was a prophet. But He was more than a prophet, He was the
God of the prophets. He was all the prophets was, was in Him, plus God,
and all of it together made Him.
We was going down, one night, and she said, "If I prove to you, Mr.
Branham..." Said, "I've just got one fault with your message."
I said, "I hope the Lord's only has one fault, find with me."
Said, "You brag too much about Jesus." Said, "You--you make Him God."
I said, "He was God. If He wasn't God, He was the greatest deceiver the
world ever had."
She said, "You make Him Divine."
I said, "He was Divine."
"Oh," said, "He was--He was a good man."
I said, "He was more than a good man. He was God. He was Divine."
Said, "I'll prove to you by your own Bible, He wasn't Divine."
I said, "How can you do it?"
She said, "In Saint John the 11th chapter, when Jesus went to the grave
to raise Lazarus up, the Bible said He wept."
And I said, "Is that your Scripture?" I said...
"Yes."
I said, "You fail."
Said, "How could He weep and be Divine?"
I said, "He was both man and God. That was a man that was weeping,
certainly, I'll admit that was a man weeping. But when He stood by the
side of the grave, straightened His little frail body up, and said,
'Lazarus, come forth,' and a man been dead four days, stood on his feet
and lived again, that was more than a man." Yes, sir.
116 Corruption knew its master.
The soul knew its Creator. And He was four day's journey somewhere; I
don't know, neither do you. But anyhow, when He spoke, he come forth.
Amen. That was more than a man.
He was a man when He come down off the mountain that night, after He
come, been hungry; come down looking upon the trees to find something
to eat, looking on a tree, when He cursed the tree that had no fruit.
He was a man when He was hungry. But when He taken five biscuits and
two fish, and fed five thousand, taken up seven baskets full of
fragments left, that was more than a man. That's it.
118 He was a man when He laid
out there on the water that night in the back of a ship, virtue gone
out of Him, all day long, preaching, and healing the sick; virtue
leaving from Him, from the people, discerning the thoughts in their
heart. And ten thousand devils of the sea swore they'd drown Him that
night. That little old ship like a bottle stopper out there, flopping
up-and-down, the devil said, "I got Him now." And it looked like it was
all over. But when He once aroused, come up and put His foot on the
brail of the boat, and looked up and said, "Peace, be still," and the
winds and the waves obeyed Him, that was more than a man. That was God.
He was a man when He cried for mercy at the cross, true. When He cried
for a drink and they give Him vinegar, that was a man. When He died,
bleeding, crying, crucified, nailed to a cross, He was a man. But on
Easter morning when He broke the seals of the tomb and rose again, and
said, "I'm He that was dead, and alive for evermore," that was more
than a man. It was God in a Man, His Son.
120 No wonder, Martha with this
understanding, she was perseverant in the Presence of Jesus. Said, "If
You'd been here my brother would not have died. But even now, whatever
You ask God, God will give it to You."
Oh, if we'd only get those words in our hearts tonight. "I know I'm
sitting in a wheelchair. I know I got cancer, got heart trouble,
whatever it is. I know the doctor says my last hour is close at hand.
But even now, Lord." Whatever You ask God, He'll do it. And He's
setting at the right hand of His Majesty, to make intercession upon our
confession. Just be as persistent as Martha was.
Seemed like He had turned her down: sent for Him, and He didn't go;
sent again, and He didn't go. Finally, after he was buried, four days,
here He is. But she was still persistent. She had ahold of something.
She had seen His works and she knew that was God. She knew it was. She
was persistent. She'd got what she asked for.
123 The Shunammite woman, in the presence of Elijah, was persistent. Oh, the baby was dead and laying upon his bed. And Elijah tried to take an anointed stick and send, by Gehazi, to lay upon the child. But her faith wasn't in the stick; it was in the prophet. She knowed that God was in that prophet, for she'd seen the words he said come to pass. He was a vindicated prophet, and she knew that what he said come from God. And she said, "As thy soul lives, I'll not leave you till I find out why." And she stayed with him. She was persistent until she got what she asked for.
124 It reminds me, here not
long ago, a little woman coming from California, when I still lived in
Jeffersonville. It's been about three or four years ago. She had a
tumor, and the tumor alone weighed fifty pounds. They had to pack her
into the building, set her back. They... She knowed I was to be there
that night. She thought I was going to pray for the sick. But I just
come to speak to the audience, maybe about what we got in here tonight.
After getting through speaking... Some of them had told her, "He
doesn't pray for the sick tonight."
But she wanted to be prayed for, she had said in her heart and
believed. She'd been in the meeting before, and said, "I believe if
Brother Branham would pray for me, I'd be healed." And that night, two
or three of the deacons passed her around, and went out by the side the
house--the building, come around to the back, laid her at the door.
And I started walking out with Billy Paul, through the back. She
grabbed me by the trouser leg, like that. She said, "Brother Branham,"
she said, "I've always believed if you would ask God, God would heal
me."
I put my hand over on her, I said, "Then, sister, according to your
faith, be it unto you."
128 A few months after that, I
met her over in a--a meeting there. There she was, standing with a
perfect waistline. The fifty pound tumor was gone. She said, "I'll take
any woman in here in the dressing room, and let her see if there is a
mark on me anywhere. Here's my picture what I was."
What was it? Whether you was praying for the sick or not, she was
persistent. She'd come from California to be healed, and she wasn't
going back any other way but being healed. She was persistent.
130 I remember being called by
the bedside of a boy dying, here a few years ago with black diphtheria.
And they wouldn't let me go in there, because I had children. The
doctor said, "You can't go in there, you're a married man."
I knew he was Catholic, and I said, "If--if the boy was Catholic, would
you let the priest go in?"
He said, "Yeah, but he's--he's not married."
I said, "He visits children, and so forth."
Said, "It's not the question, Mr. Branham."
I said, "You'd let a priest go in and give him the last rites. This is
the last rites. The boy's dying. Let me get to him."
133 Well, finally I persuaded
him. And he dressed me up like a Klu Klux Klan, or something, all kinds
of things over.
And the old mother and father was standing there. I'd left a meeting,
and the--the old mother and father said, "If you'll come pray, my child
will live." The boy was about seventeen, eighteen years old. Had a
cardiogram, a machine there, of some sorts. He'd been unconscious for
two or three days, and there--he knew nothing. The mother and father
received me as I come in. I knelt down and prayed a simple little
prayer of faith.
I said, "Sir, do you believe God?"
He said, "With all my heart, only thing I want you to do is ask God.
God will give it."
I said, "Thank you, brother, for your confidence. May I never betray
it."
I laid hands upon the little fellow and prayed, "Lord Jesus, let this
father and mother's faith join with mine, and come before Your throne
tonight. Let this boy live and not die, because we believe. In Jesus'
Name."
138 Got up. And the father
reached over and grabbed the mother across the little old iron lung of
a thing he was breathing in there, and said, "Mother, isn't this
wonderful? Isn't this wonderful? Oh, it's so wonderful."
And that little nurse standing there, she was amazed. That little cap
liked to have fell off her head. She looked around, and she said, "Sir,
I don't understand. How can you act like that, you and your wife, and
your son dying?"
He said, "Honey, my son's not dying."
"Well," said, "doctor said that he was dying." Said, "That," ever what
the machine was, said, "when a heart ever goes that low, with this
fever, it never has been known in history to ever come back."
141 I will never forget that
old patriarch's faith. He belonged to, I believe, the A. B. Simpson
movement. Walked up and put his hands upon the shoulders, he was about
sixty years old, put his hands upon the shoulders of this little girl,
looked her in the face. He said, "Honey, you're looking at that
machine. That's all you know to look at. But I'm looking at a promise,
that God said He would do it."
It depends on what you're looking at. They were hugging one another,
and rejoicing there, brother. And he's married, and a missionary in
Africa now with two children. Why? Because a father and mother could
hold on when the darkest hour. Persistent, yes, sir, persistent, have
faith in God.
143 Little Micaiah, in the
presence of all them four hundred trained prophets, were persistent
when he had a vision from God. Though they... He was contrary. They met
him and told him, "Now, we'll put you back in the association if you'll
just say the same thing you--they say."
He said, "As the Lord lives, I'll only say what He tells me to say."
And his vision was examined with the Word of God, and he pronounced his
prophecy, no matter what.
They said, "We'll throw him into the inner cells, and give him
sorrow--bread of sorrow, and waters of sorrow." And when they come
back, he said he'd deal with him, Ahab did.
He said, "If you come back at all, God hasn't spoke to me." He was
persistent. He knew where he was standing.
147 The blind man that had been
healed by Jesus could not argue their theology. They said, "Who opened
your eyes?"
He said, "A Man called Jesus of Nazareth."
Said, "This man's a sinner. We know not whence he come from."
Now, he gave them a good answer. He said, "You are the religious
leaders of this day. And this Man has give me my sight, and yet you
don't know where He come from." He had pretty good theology of his own.
He could not argue with them. But he knowed one thing, he could see.
And he wasn't ashamed. His father and mother was ashamed to say
something about it, but not him. He had seen it. He had felt it. He had
the results of it. Something had told him, and he was persistent.
150 Philip, as soon as he seen,
(last night's lesson,) what, when come up in the Presence of Jesus
Christ, when he saw Simon's--or Andrew's brother. Philip...
Peter come up in the Presence (which was Simon then), come in the
Presence of Jesus. Simon had been taught as a child, that Messiah would
be a prophet. When he walked into His Presence, and He told him, "Your
name is Simon and you are the son of Jonas," he was persistent. He was
ready then. Become the head of the church.
152 When Philip saw It, he
knowed another good Bible reader that knowed the truth. He was
persistent. He went around the mountain and got him.
And when Nathanael come, a man of renown, a real Hebrew indeed, a man,
staunched Hebrew, real fine man, fine integrity, he was a great man.
But in the presence of his priest and the presence of every one of
them, when Jesus looked upon him and said, "Behold an Israelite in whom
there's no guile," he said, "Rabbi, how did You know me? I've never
seen You before. How did You know who I was?"
He said, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the tree, I saw
you."
He fell at His feet, and said, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the
living God. Thou art the King of Israel." Why? He was persistent
regardless of what anybody else thought. He had met the Thing he had
read about. What he had expect to find in Jesus, he had found.
156 A little prostitute woman
come out to the well one day to get water. There set Jesus, an ordinary
Man dressed in ordinary clothes, eating ordinary food, talking ordinary
language, just common street language like anyone else talked. And she
spoke to Him; He spoke to her. He found where her fault was, and He
said, "Go get your husband and come here."
She said, "I have no husband."
Said, "You've said well. You've had five, and the one you're living
with now is not yours." Quickly that predestinated seed in her heart
struck Life.
158 When That struck the
Pharisees, It just turned the whole thing black. They said, "This man's
Beelzebub. He's a fortuneteller."
But she knew the Word was sharper, more powerful than a two-edged
sword, and a Discerner of the thoughts of the heart. She said, "Sir, I
perceive that You are a Prophet. We haven't had one for four hundred
years. I perceive that You're a Prophet. But we know that when the
Messiah cometh, He'll tell us these things."
He said, "I'm He that speaks to you." Surely the One that done the
miracle would not tell a lie. He was a Prophet. She... He said, "I am
that Messiah. I'm the One that speaks to you. I'm He."
Now, try to stop her? If anyone was ever in the east, you know that the
man in the street would never hear a prostitute. She had no voice at
all. But try to stop her, like a house on fire in a windy day, you
couldn't do it. Right into the street she went, screaming, "Come, see a
Man Who told me the things I've done. Isn't this the very Messiah?
There He sets out there at the well now. That's the very Messiah. We've
looked for that Man to come, and there He sets. He told me these
things." The Bible said that the people believed because of the woman's
testimony.
163 In closing, I might say. I
see some Spanish people setting here; I might say this. I was in old
Mexico not long ago at the--at the arena down there, some kind of a
place. We couldn't get in the bull ring, or the big ring, but we got a
place there where several thousand people had gathered. Brother
Espinosa, I think an Assembly of God brother, you all know him, from
California. He was my interpreter.
The night before that, there'd been an old blind man come across the
platform, that couldn't see at all. I looked at him. I had good shoes
on and good clothes. Poor old man, ragged, trousers all tore off, his
old hat sewed up with--with, looked like, binder twine. And he was
blind; white beard hanging down. His old, big old feet, and maybe
hadn't had shoes on in years. Dusty all over, totally blind. I looked
at him. I thought, "My dad would be about that age, if he'd have lived."
165 I slipped over to him. I
said, "How do you do?" Brother Espinosa interpreted.
I set my foot up beside of his to find out. There was a little curtain
across the platform about four or five times as wide as this. I
thought, "If my shoes fit him, I'd give him my shoes." Oh, his feet was
much larger than mine. I put my shoulders up against him, like I was
going to put my arms around him, his shoulders was wider than mine. I
seen then I couldn't give him my coat. I thought, "God, what can I do?
Poor old fellow, probably hasn't had a decent meal in his life." And
there he was, eating old rejected tortillas down there somewhere, but
yet have to spend what little money he had, to get a grease candle, to
burn it on a million-dollar gold altar for his sins, live in such
superstition and darkness as that. I thought, "What a time. How can
fate be so evil?"
I put my arm around him, and cried, "O God, have mercy upon him."
He hollered, "Gloria a Dios!" And about that time I looked around; he
could see as good as I could, going across the platform.
169 And the--the next night when we come in, there was a rick of old clothes, and shawls, and hats, up three or four feet high, like this, all the way across. How they ever know who it belonged to? You think they cared? They come to church that morning at eight or nine o'clock, no seats to set down in; right out there, and it pouring down rain, and just leaning against one another. The women with their hair all hanging down, and holding the children and things. Pouring down rain, come at nine o'clock, and I wouldn't be there till about eight-thirty or nine that night. They would be sure they was going to be there. Stood right there waiting till I come in.
170 They let me down on a rope
ladder, on the back of the arena, where I come in like this, walked out
to the platform. Billy Paul... And a man that I called Manana, which
means "tomorrow," he was always so slow to come get me. And so I said,
"Just come tomorrow, you done ruined tonight." So he brought me over
there and they let me down, and I come in on the platform.
Brother Jack Moore, many of you know him, just across here at
Shreveport, he was with me, and Brother Espinosa and several of the
brethren. Then when we was standing there on the platform, Billy come.
I heard the great rile, way out over there, there was thousands times
thousands seating in there.
172 Billy said, "Daddy, you'll
have to do something. A little Spanish woman over here," said, "she's
got a dead baby in her arms." Said, "That baby died this morning, they
say, early. And--and Manana give out them prayer cards," and said, "and
he ain't got a prayer card, and I ain't got one." Said, "And she's
determined to bring that baby in the prayer line." Said, "We've got
about four hundred there, ready to be prayed for."
I said, "Well," I said, "just make her stay back. 'Cause if she gets
ahead, that'll start every one of them doing that." And I said, "We
can't do that. Tell her just get in line maybe tomorrow. We're going to
be here yet tomorrow to give her a prayer card."
174 He said, "You come over and
try it." Said, "I got three hundred ushers there that can't even hold
her," and said, "she won't weigh ninety pounds." And said, "You can't
hold her." Said, "She runs between your legs, jumps over their
shoulders, or anything, with this dead baby."
And I said, "Brother Jack," I said, "she don't know me. She wouldn't
know me from you. Go on down and pray for the baby, and that'll settle
it like that." And I said, "Baby dead?"
Said, "Yes." I said...
I was speaking on faith being the substance--the substance of things
hoped for. And I was speaking. And Brother Espinosa started speaking
on, as I was speaking. Brother Jack started down to pray for the baby.
And as I started to look, I looked out here in front of me, and there
was a little Mexican baby, no teeth, it was so little. It was smiling,
looking at me: a vision.
I said, "Wait a minute, Brother Jack. Bring the baby here." And so they
opened up the way.
178 Here come the little woman,
with the prayer beads in her hands, and falling on the floor,
hollering, "Padre."
And I--I raised her up. I said, "Don't." She had a little blue and
white, striped blanket; a little, stiff baby, about that long, laying
in her arms.
I said, "Ask her when it died."
Said, "It died in the doctor's office that morning about nine o'clock."
And this was about nine-thirty or ten o'clock that night. And just
soaking wet, she'd been standing, her hair all down. Pretty little
woman, and she'd--probably her first baby: she looked to be twenty-five
years old or something.
181 And I said, "Brother
Espinosa, don't interpret this prayer, because I just seen a vision of
a little dead ba--or a little baby out there laughing at me." I said,
"It might be the baby."
And I put my hands upon the little blanket, and I said, "Dear heavenly
Father, I don't know what the vision meant, but I seen the little baby.
If that baby, You're ready to call it back to life, I'll call for its
life, in the Name of Jesus Christ." It let out a yell, and kicked that
blanket, and begin screaming like that. And I...
183 The Business Men's "Voice"
packed it not long ago. I said, "Brother Espinosa, don't say nothing
about that now. You send a runner after that baby and that woman, and
get it to the doctor and get a signed affidavit before you publish that
now," I said, "because it must be true. We don't know." So--so he sent
a runner.
And the doctor signed an affidavit, "The baby died with double
pneumonia," that morning in his--at nine o'clock in his office. "It had
no respiration. It's heart was gone, been dead and stiff."
And there that little woman was. Why? Because she was persistent.
Nothing's going to stop her. She was persistent. She was perseverant,
though her priest would've put her out of the church (certainly he
would), no matter what happened. She happened to be looking at the
fence; a few nights before that she'd seen that old blind man receive
his sight. "If God could give sight to the blind, He could raise the
dead." And she had a need. She was persistent, like the Syrophenician
woman. She got her desire because she was persistent.
186 Brother and sister, we're in the Presence of Jesus Christ. He said, "Wherever two or three are assembled in My Name, there I am in the midst of them. Whatever they agree upon, as touching one thing, and ask, they shall receive." Let us be persistent now in the Presence of God, as we bow our heads.
187 Our gracious heavenly
Father, we've been speaking for about thirty something minutes now, or
more, for Thy Kingdom.[Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.] God made the promise. God
is obligated to His promise. Let us, Lord, remember, and be like that
little woman, persistent. If Jesus is here in our midst, then let us
hold onto Him until we have achieved that what we've come for.
If there is those here tonight who are not saved, may they hold on
until the saving grace of God has received them.
If they're here without the baptism of the Holy Spirit, may they be
like that little woman, let not time or anything else stand in the way.
They'll hold and be perseverant until the Holy Spirit fills their life
with the grace of God.
190 And if they're sick, may
they not let loose. May they hold like Jacob, how perseverant he was.
He held on and said, "I'll not let You go until You bless me." That
blessing meant life to him, and so does it mean to us tonight. And
healing means life to us, Lord.
We pray that Your Presence will come, that we'll be able to get ahold
of You, and You get ahold of us, like You did with Jacob, that
wrestling prince; that You'll change our name from a church book here
on earth to the Lamb's Book of Life in heaven. Perseverant, holding on
until God confirms His promise in us... We ask it in His Name.
192 Lord, we know a Word from
You will mean more than a millions that anyone else could speak. Come,
Lord, and a-vindicate this, that I've told the truth. You are the same
yesterday, today, and forever. You are the Word. You was the Word that
was in Noah. You're the Word that was in Moses. You was the Word that
was in Elijah. You was the Word that was in David. You are the Word
made flesh and is among us tonight. You're here to vindicate every
promise that You made for this hour. "As it was in the days of Sodom,"
all these promises that You made, You're here to confirm it. Grant it,
tonight, Father. We'll watch to see You here.
And then may the church reach up by faith and take ahold, and say, "I'm
perseverant, Lord. I'll stay here like the unjust judge that the widow
had ahold of." And if that unjust judge, to get rid of the woman, gave
her her desire, how much more will the heavenly Father give those that
He's expecting to hold to Him tonight? Grant it, in Jesus' Name, we
pray. Amen. The Lord be blessed.
194 I want to see... Billy, did
you give out cards? [Someone
answers--Ed.] Two
hundred? What's the ones you give out today, H? Where'd we start from;
1, last night, didn't we? Let's start from somewhere else tonight. The
prayer card tonight is H.
Ever who has prayer cards, hold onto them. See, we're going to pray for
every one. Just hold on, hold to that prayer card. You give a man a
prayer card, he's sixty percent healed right then. See? He knows he's
going to get in line, so just he'll just hold it. That's the reason we
give them out.
196 Let's start from, let's
see, from... Let's make it from 80 tonight, start from 80, 90, a 100.
Who has prayer card H, H, like heaven? H-80, raise up your hand. See if
I'm... Maybe I'm wrong. We'll start from somewhere else then. Sir? I
didn't see it. [Someone
says, "Way in the back."--Ed.] Oh,
back here. All right, come here, sir. H-80.
H-81, who has 81? Raise up your hand. 81, over here. Come, lady. 82,
who has 82, would you raise up your hand? Right there, 82? All right,
82, who has prayer card H-82? There's 80, 81; we want H-82. How would
you say it in Spanish? Might be somebody in Spanish. All right, all
right, 82. 83, H-83, who has prayer card H-83? Look on your prayer
card. Look at your neighbor's prayer card; maybe they're deaf and can't
hear. H-83, 83?
200 Don't get them cards if
you're not going to use them. See? Get them, use them. See? Don't pass
them to someone else. Keep them yourself. You'll be turned down in the
prayer line. See? So take your card, come, listen at the instructions
before the meeting. Take your prayer card and then stay in your seat.
See?
H-83, where is it at? 84? The lady here. 85, 86. That's right, respond
quick. 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, a 100.
Count them, Brother Grant, if you will, and see if they all get in the
prayer line.
Now, I'm going to ask everybody in here now. We'll be done in about
ten, fifteen minutes. I'm going to ask everybody in here to remain in
your seat, that wasn't called. Be real reverent, quiet. Be persistent
now.
203 Let's give you another
little story. One time, there was a woman. Jesus had... His fame had
spread abroad over in Gadara, and a little woman came down; or not in
Gadara, it was another country. And she had heard of Him. She had a
blood issue. She come to the meeting where Jesus was at at the
seashore, but she couldn't get to Him. And so she said within her heart
(Now, listen.), within her heart, that, "If I can touch His garment,
I'll be made well." Remember the story? Now, she slipped through and
touched His garment.
Now, what happened? Jesus turned and said, "Who touched Me?"
Why, Peter rebuked Him. Just think of that now, while they're seeing if
they're all there. Peter rebuked Him. He said, "Lord..." Something like
this, "Why, people will wonder if You're in Your right mind."
Why, everybody, "Hello, Rabbi. Hello, Prophet. This is the young
Prophet of Nazareth? This is the Galilean Prophet? Hello, there."
207 "Away with such a man,"
said the priests and all of them. "Get away from him, everybody."
But he held on just the same. She did. She said, "If I can only touch
His garment..." She did.
Then Peter said, "Well, You make people think You're out of Your mind."
He said, "But I perceive that I've gotten weak." How many knows that?
"Virtue," which means "strength," has gone from Him.
And He looked around over the audience until He found the woman. And
when He found the little lady, what did He say to her? He said, "Thy
faith has saved thee." Told her of her blood issue, that she had been
saved. Is that right?
212 Now, how many believes that
He is the same yesterday, today, and forever, raise up your hand. How
many knows that this is the Truth? In Hebrews 3, says that, "Right now
He is a High Priest that can be touched by the feeling of our
infirmities." How many knows that?
Well, if He is the same yesterday, today, and forever... Only, He's not
in physical form; when He returns like that, time is over; He'll take
the Church with Him.
But He's here in the form of the Holy Ghost to come into me and into
you, and perform His same works. He said in John 14:12, "He that
believeth on Me, the works that I do shall He do also." Is that right?
215 And if the Word is in us, and we're telling the Truth, and it is the Word that He promised for today, then isn't the Word of God sharper than a two-edged sword, and a Discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart? Does the Bible say that? Was not all the prophets could discern the thoughts in--in the people's mind? Is that right? Why? It was the Word that was in them, God's Word for that day. See? That's how they were vindicated. That was their credentials. None of them belonged to an organization, not one: never did. Their credentials was their ministry.
216 God said, "If there be one
among you who's spiritual or a prophet, and what he says comes to pass,
then hear him, for I'm with him. But if it don't come to pass, well,
don't hear him." It must not just be once; it must continually all the
time; from prophets.
There's a gift of prophecy; it's in the church, which is to be examined
by the--by the examiners before it can be told to the church, of
course. "Let it be before two or three judges and then is told to it."
But a prophet is borned a prophet, predestinated, foreordained.
"Jeremiah," God said, "before you was even formed in your mother's
wombs, I ordained you a prophet over the nations." John the Baptist,
seven hundred and twelve years before he was born he was the voice of
one crying in the wilderness, "Prepare the way of the Lord." See? Sure.
219 Notice, now, when Jesus was
here on earth, He made the sacrifice for healing and for salvation. Do
we believe that? Jesus could not come tonight and save you; He's
already done it. The sin question was settled. He's the Lamb of God
that takes--took away the sins of the world. "He was wounded for our
transgressions. With His stripes we were healed." It's a past tense. No
matter how much you'd scream out, and how much you would scream out,
that wouldn't do a bit of good until you accept it.
"And He's a High Priest setting at the right hand of the Majesty on
High to make intercessions on our profession." You've got to accept it
and profess it. See? That's correct. Same way by healing.
221 But what if He was standing
here tonight, wearing this suit that He gave me? What would He do in
the prayer line? How would you know it was Jesus? See? Now, as far as
somebody come and say, "Jesus, will You heal me?"
He'd say, "I've already done it."
Now, if he had nail scars in the hand; anybody could have that (See?)
any scar could be.
But what is it, how do you know the... What do you know what kind of a
vine it is? It's what kind of life it's got in it. And every vine, if
the first... The first branch that come out of that Vine, Jesus Christ,
they wrote a Book of Acts behind it. Is that right? If It ever puts
forth another one, they'll write another book of acts. For if it bore
grapes, the first one, the next time it can't have lemons. But a lemon
vine can live in that; it's a citrus fruit. But it's living of its own;
it'll always bring forth lemons; it's the grafted vine into it. But if
the Vine itself puts forth a branch, it'll bear fruit like the first
one did, for it'll be the Life that's in Jesus Christ will be in that
vine. That's right.
224 Jesus said, "He that
believeth in Me, the works that I do shall he also." Now, if He was
here, He would be known by His Life, and by the things that He promised
for this age.
How many was here last night, let's see your hand. Practically all of
you, I suppose. All right.
Now, there's people... Everyone in that line, as far as I know, is a
total stranger to me. If that's right, raise up your hand. Each one is
a... Are you a stranger?
How many out there is strangers to me? All right. Only thing I ask you
to do is have faith and believe that I've told you the truth.
228 Now, look, Christ promised
these things for the last days. Now, I know you've had great warriors
here in the city, perhaps Oral Roberts, and, oh, like the late Jack Coe
and those great men of faith; they lived their time. But remember, the
last sign that the Gentile world seen before the promised son arrived
in Abraham's time, which is the father of all, and Jesus promised the
same thing; the last sign that was showed to the Church elected... Now
remember, there was One. Two went down and preached in the Sodom; they
never showed this sign; neither is it today. But to the called-out
Church, the sign was showed; and so did Jesus prophesy it'd be the same
thing (See?): God manifested in flesh (See?) discerning the thoughts
that's in the heart. See? Now, He promised that. "Both heavens and
earth will fail, but That won't."
Now, if He will manifest that, to show that He's here present, how many
of you will believe Him for your healing and whatever you have need of?
230 Now, Lord Jesus, now it's
to You, Father. Whatever Your will is, let it be done. I am Your
servant. These are all Your servants, or many of them in here. Let
those who are not your servants, by Your Presence, knowing that maybe
before morning they'll have to look upon Your face... Now, You can
smile upon them with grace, but then You'll be their Judge.
Let it come to pass, Lord, that Jesus will come among us tonight and
perform and do like He did before His crucifixion; will be assured to
us in the face of all heathen religions, that our Saviour is not dead,
but has risen from the dead. And after two thousand years, He's just as
alive tonight as He was then. And may we, like those from Emmaus, say,
"Did not our hearts burn within us, as He talked to us along the road?"
Let Thy Presence be known. May we see You tonight in the power of Your
resurrection. And then may the people believe then, Lord, because of
Your great august Presence. We ask in Jesus Christ's Name. Amen.
232 Now, I take every spirit... Each one of you are a spirit. Remember, you've never seen me; you see this old wore out hull here that declares this voice. Now, this voice either is coming from God, or it's not, same as yours. This voice is just packed around in this hull, which I'll swap it someday for a new one that won't get old. But, friend, each one, a spirit. So when you move (See?) when you have control there (See?) it interrupts. Just set real still; be in prayer. I want you, if God does something, want you to be thankful to Him, certainly, praise Him, then be reverent and watch. Just set real still and believe with all your heart.
233 Now, you out there that has
no prayer cards, no matter where you are, you just believe and say
this, "Lord Jesus, what he told us, it's in the Bible. We... I know
that You promised that, and I know it has to be You. It can't be that
man; he's a man like I am, or like my husband, or like my son, or
brother, or whatmore." See?
But a gift is not something, a knife, that you take and go do things
with. A gift... Some of these days, I'm going to get me a big tent and
come to a city, and just stay for about months at a time (See?) and
teach this. A gift is getting yourself out of the way, so God can come
in, see what He shows, what He does. A gift is not, "I got power to do
this; I got power." Your power of a gift is get yourself out of the
way. And the gift that God has give you, operates through that then
(See?) after you're out of the way. See?
235 Now, I can't make Him tell
me nothing. He has to do it. Now, to save time... I'm real late.
But come here, lady; I want you to stand right here. I was speaking a
few moments ago about a woman at the--at the well. Was you here last
evening? You wasn't here. Have you ever been in one of the meetings
before? Never been before. This is her first time. We're strangers. She
wasn't even here last night. Never had instructions on it. Nothing but
just stand here. Now, we are standing. You remember the story of the
woman at the well? It was a little panoramic something like this, and
the Man and a woman met for their first time in life.
Now, this woman was in, she was in... She was in shame. She had married
too many times, and she--and she was living with a man she wasn't
married to, and--and it was a very bad thing. And Jesus spoke to her.
238 Now, you remember, He said
in Saint John 5:19, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, the Son can do
nothing in Himself; but what He sees the Father doing, that doeth the
Son likewise." Therefore, Jesus never performed one thing without first
seeing it in a vision, or He told something wrong there. "The Son does
nothing till He sees the Father do it first (Not hears Him), "sees Him
do it." And then the Father...
He had need to go by Samaria. He was going to Jericho, but He went up
to Samaria at the city of Sychar. And He met this woman, and He begin
to talk to her until He found where her trouble was. Then He told her
her trouble, and quickly, her in that condition, she recognized that
that was the sign of the Messiah.
Well, if that's Him yesterday, it'd be the same One today, if He is the
same yesterday, today, and forever. Is that true, audience? See?
241 Now, we are meeting for our
first time. I am not He, and you're not she, but He still is God.
That's right. See? Now, if you can have faith in--in what I am saying
in the Word... I'll never say nothing but what's in this Word. He might
do things outside of that Word; but just as long as He does That, I
know I was right then. See? And now you don't know me, I don't know you.
So therefore if you was sick, and I laid hands upon you, and hollered,
like that great warrior, Brother Roberts, or some of those, Brother
Allen, or some of those men, lay hands upon you and say, "Hallelujah,
the Lord heals you," that's good. You believe that, and it'll work.
See? But now what if He stands here and tells something that you have
done, or some reason that you're sick, or something that's happened
down through life, or something you ought not have done? Oh,
that--that, you'd know that that had to be right, right clear to your
mind then. That's--that's right.
Would it yours, out there?
243 Now, what am I talking to
the woman about? See, I never kept on that message tonight (I got to
perseverant. See?) it would change me into preaching. And now have to
come back to discernment, relaxing myself, getting William Branham over
on the side.
How many ever seen that picture was taken here in Houston? And you...
It's here. It's out front here now. See? That's hanging right beside,
between me and the woman, right now. There It is, milling right around.
If the woman wanted to witness to it; she knows in the last few
seconds, there has been something like a real sweet feeling. If that's
right, raise up your hand. See? I'm looking right at It. See, it's like
living in another dimension. I'm watching It, through the woman.
245 Now, the lady, one thing,
she is extremely nervous. And that's what you wanted me to pray for.
And that's just natural cause right now because of this time of life
that you're living in, getting this age and so forth; that makes you
nervous.
Another thing, you've got something in your side, it's--it's like
little pockets of air, like, gathers in your side. Now, is that right?
Raise up your hand, if that... See...?...
247 Now, see, now there that is
again, somebody saying, "He guessed." You, I'm going to call who that
is one of these days. See? Don't do it. You can't hide yourself now,
remember. See? The--the Word is here Itself. Not me, friend; I'm just
your brother. But the Word is here.
Here, she's a good person, let's see if I guessed that, I don't know
now what I said. It'll have to come through that tape, 'fore I know it.
Now, just a moment. Yes. Yes, she--she gets nervous, which that's the
cause from a--a time, her age and things. She's...
And then, another thing, you've had a--an operation. And that was a
female affair, sometime ago. That's right. That's made you nervouser
than ever. That's right, isn't it? Uh-huh, that's right. And that made
you nervous, 'cause, at this time of life, made you more nervous. Now,
you think I'm guessing it?
Here's another thing. There's a--a girl with you, little girl. And
she's here, and she's suffering with mumps. Is that right? Setting out
there. And there's a woman, another woman, a friend of yours, and she
has got mental oppression, like nervous and mentally. Is that right?
Now, when you go back, lay that handkerchief upon them; the mumps will
leave, and she'll get over it, and you'll be well. Go, believe it in
the Name of the Lord Jesus.
251 You believe? [Congregation rejoices and says, "Amen."--Ed.] That was Jesus yesterday; that's Jesus today. You have to know that that's Somebody. See? Yeah. Somebody has... Now, there, look, that was behind me. See, see? It's not... I couldn't do that. You--you know it's got to be some power, don't you? You believe it's the Lord Jesus, according to His promise? The Lord bless you.
252 How do you do, lady? I'm a
stranger to you also. I don't know you. I've never seen you in my life.
We're strangers. This is our first time meeting, as far as I know. But
now, if the Lord Jesus should tell me something about yourself,
that--that something like that lady there, whatever it was, would you
believe that it was the Lord Jesus instead of... It wouldn't be me, you
know. And now you could, like the Pharisees, say, "It's Beelzebub, a
evil spirit."
And because they said the Spirit of God, that was doing that work in
Him, was an evil spirit, it was blasphemy against the Holy Spirit,
which would never be forgiven when This come in this day. That's the
reason this nation stands in judgment today. It's nothing left for it
but judgment. It's full of Jack Rubys, and so forth; so it--it can't be
nothing else happen to it but judgment.
254 Now, you're ill. You've
been in a--to a doctor. He really would advise an operation. That
operation is on the colon. That is true, isn't it?
Here's another thing. You are desperately in need of a spiritual... You
haven't been feeling right. You've kind of washed away, a little, and
you want to come back. Well, you're back now. Now, go, believing Him
with all your heart, and you'll get well, in Jesus Christ's Name. Your
sins are forgiven you. Now, go, believing.
Now, I never said, "sins forgiven." He said that. See, it wasn't me. It
was Him.
257 You believe? Now, it ought
to make the rest of you just know it's Him here. Isn't that right? If
you'd just believe. Just have faith. Don't doubt. Be reverent and
believe God. Now, see, you're in His Presence.
Now, if one of those discernments made the Son of God say virtue went
out, what do you think it would do to me, a sinner saved by His grace?
See? It'd be, you know what it would be.
259 Just a moment. Oh, it isn't
the woman. Say, you that was just healed there, lady, going back to
your seat, look to me just a moment. There's a--a man setting right in
front of you there that has sinus trouble, setting right there. Yeah.
You believe that God will make you well? You do? All right.
Tell me what he touched? I don't know the man, never seen him in my
life. If that's right, wave your hand, if we're strangers to one
another.
Now, look, that you might know something else. His wife's setting by
him there; you believe God can tell me what's wrong with her? Will you
believe me to be His prophet, or His servant? Will you do it?
She's got hay fever. If that's right, raise up your hand, lady. Right
there it is. Now, if you'll both believe... You touched Something.
Believe now, and it'll leave you.
You believe God? Don't doubt. Have faith in God.
264 Here's a man. I've never
seen this man. He's quite a bit younger than I, and I've never seen him
before. If we're strangers, sir, to each other, raise up your hands.
All right. I've never seen him.
Now, let's take a picture in the Bible, let's take when--when Jesus met
Simon Peter. I'd imagine him being a man something about that age, his
hair thinning, when Jesus met him. Now, watch. He talked to him.
Now, if I don't know the man, never seen him, both of us with our hands
up, we're total strangers to each other... Now, the others was women;
let's see about this man.
267 Now, you look at me, just a
moment, as your brother. And now, if the Lord would say something that
you have done, or something that you ought to have done, or ought not
have done, or whatever it is, you'll know whether it's the truth or
not. You'd know. And then if He can tell you what's wrong with you, or
something that's on your mind, what your sickness is, or--or something
like that, tell you something that you--you'll know whether it's the
truth or not. Then if He can tell you what has been, and you know
whether it's true or not; if He tells you what's going to be, then you
know that's got to be true.
Now, would that make everyone in here... Just take my time with this
man, talk with him. This is the person.
269 Now, you looking this way,
just a moment, as we talk. May the Lord help me now. And you believe
what the Bible says is true? You believe that this is the hour that
Jesus is to come; that the Church has come from justification,
sanctification, baptism of the Holy Spirit, just like the pyramid like
that coming? And now the top stone is going to have to be so perfect
till, when the Headstone comes, it has to blend right with it. The
ministry has to start out like this, and just come to the minority all
the time, getting smaller groups, and smaller groups, until finally the
Stone meets with the building. He is the Headstone, takes the whole
building with Him, which is the Church. All of them will raise up,
plumb back from this first watch, on to the seventh, and all go in the
rapture. Each one had their day allotted to them, and they had their
reformers and founders, and so forth, all down through. And in this
last day, it's come into an eagle again, which is back in the prophetic
age, to bring this together.
You believe that, the Word and Stone, the coming One? You have a very
fine feeling to you, sir.
272 Now, what's your trouble, you've had an accident. In that accident, you were gassed with carbon monoxide gas. That is true. It poisoned you. It poisoned you in your liver, and you had trouble with that. You had trouble with your stomach. You had trouble with your heart. And it's made you so nervous until you built yourself in a complex. You're poor, must go back to work. But you're afraid to go back to work; you're afraid of that carbon monoxide gas. But it's going to be all right. Now, remember, if--if Jesus Christ will tell me who you are, will... Now, them things was true, wasn't they? If He'll tell me who you are, will you accept it and know, and know, go on back and be of a good cheer? Will you do it? Your name is Mr. Wagner. Go on back on your road then.
273 You believe now? With all
your heart, you believe? "If thou canst believe, all things are... All
things are possible to them that believe."
Now, do you believe that God will heal that female trouble for you?
Now, just go on across the platform saying...?... Amen. See? God bless
you.
Now, lady, when you get up of a morning, you're stiff; you can't hardly
move around very much, arthritis. But do you believe that God heals
arthritis? All right, go on your road, saying, "Thank You, Lord." All
right, sir, that's what caused your arthritis (See?) was your nerves.
"If thou canst believe, all things are possible," but first you've got
to believe it.
276 What do you think, sir? Do
you believe with all your heart? You believe God heals heart trouble
and makes you well? All right, go on your road, say, "Thank You, Lord
Jesus."
Now, lady, you're shadowed; that means cancer. You believe God will
heal cancer? All right, accept it and go on your road, saying, "Thank
You, dear God," and believe with all your heart.
God can heal stomach trouble or anything else. Do you believe that? All
right, go on your road, rejoicing, saying, "Thank You, Lord Jesus."
You believe God will heal your female trouble, that dripping? All
right, go on your road, saying, "Praise the Lord." Believe with all
your heart.
You believe God heals sinus and asthma, and all this stuff, makes you
well? Go on your road, rejoicing, saying, "Thank You, dear God."
281 What if I didn't say
nothing to you, just laid hands on you, you would believe it? In the
Name of the Lord Jesus, be healed. Believe with all your heart.
Come, lady. You believe with all your heart? Anemia condition and heart
trouble, you believe that God will make you well? If you do, go on your
road, say, "Thank You, Lord Jesus," and be made well.
All right, sir. Come, lady. You believe God heals diabetes and makes
people well from diabetes? Then go on your road, saying, "Thank You."
Believe with all your heart. See?
God heals nervousness and stomach trouble too. Do you believe He makes
you well? Go on your road, rejoicing. Eat your supper, and be of a good
courage.
Come. A nervous stomach too. You believe God will make you well? Go on
your road, and eat, and be made well and believe with all your heart.
286 You have a little heart
flutter, but also you kinda got arthritis. You believe God, God will
make you well? Go on your road, and rejoice, and say, "Thank You, Lord."
A nervous stomach causing a peptic ulcer and things. You believe that
God will make you well and heal you? Go on your road, and say, "Thank
You, Lord," and be made well.
You got many things, a lady's trouble. One of your great things is a
heart trouble too much around your heart. You believe God will make you
well? Go on your road, and rejoice, and say, "Thank You, Lord."
You believe God heals arthritis? Just keep on going, and your arthritis
will be gone.
Do you believe with all your heart? See? Sure he does.
291 Now, some of you out in the
audience. Now, be reverent. Be reverent; just set still, you believe
with all your heart now. Look this way; believe with all your heart,
some of you people out there that's not going to be in the prayer line.
This little boy setting down here, little chubby fellow setting right
there. Don't you see that Light over him? The little fellow is
suffering with a kidney trouble. You believe that God will heal the
kidney trouble, sonny? You believe it? All right, stand up on your feet
and say, "I believe it and accept it." All right. God bless you. Don't
fear.
You believe with all your heart? "If thou canst believe, all things are
possible."
294 What about you that just
set down there, come up with a little boy and set down? You believe,
that eye trouble, God will heal your eye trouble and make you well? You
do? All right, you can have your healing too. All right. You just set
down at the right time. Amen. Go right ahead. That's fine. That's good.
All right. Amen. All right.
The lady next to you there, she has got trouble with her head. Do you
believe that God will heal your head trouble, lady? All right. Your
little girl there suffers with a mental trouble. That's right, isn't
it? Lay your hand over on her, and believe, and she'll get well too.
You believe that?
This next lady setting there, she's praying, right next to it. She's
praying there because of a broke up home. Is that right, lady? Raise up
your hand. Believe, and your home will be restored again. Have faith.
297 The lady setting next to
her has got a cyst. Do you believe that God will heal that cyst, lady?
Raise up your hand and accept it.
The lady setting next to her has got throat trouble. You believe that
God will heal your throat, lady? Raise up your hand.
What's the matter with you people? Don't you see that's Jesus Christ?
Let us stand up on our feet. Raise up on your feet and accept Jesus as
your healer.
O Lamb of God, in the Name of Jesus Christ, heal every person here for
Your glory.