Jéhovah-Jiré II
E-1 I have
a few Scriptures and notes or two wrote down here that I'd like to
leave--leave with you. Now, just before we do, let's pray just a moment
again.
Father, we pray that You will take Thy Word. Thy Word is Truth, and the
Bible said, Jesus speaking, said the Word is a Seed that a sower sowed.
Now, we realize that if a seed is a good seed, it's germitized. And if
that seed has been--carried out its plan that in--in God's will, then
it leaves a germitized seed. And when Jesus was on earth He was that
Vine, and the Seed that He sowed was His Word. And we know that it's
germitized by His own Life.
E-2 And we
know that a seed when it falls in the right kind of ground, not upon
rocks, with no root, nor in thorns and thistles that would soon choke
it out, but in good, rich, fertile faith; every seed will bring forth
of its kind. And we know that every seed, or promise of God, will bring
forth of its kind--what it promised. If it strikes the right ground,
the ground that's prepared, ready, all the--the rocks has been thrown
out, and the roots, and the bitterness, and selfishness, a
indifference, and jealousy, has all been grubbed out... That root of
bitterness that springs up that sometimes so spoils the thing that
God's trying to do. We pray, God, that that won't be among us, but that
the good Word will find good ground.
And these, as we follow this great patriarch Abraham in the lesson
tonight, may we find our position, knowing that we are children of
Abraham by faith in Christ. And then get glory to Thy own Name and
honor, for we ask it in Jesus Christ's Name. Amen...?...
E-3 We are going to kinda review back a little bit tonight for the lesson of what we was speaking on last evening. That was that we have found Abraham, beginning in Genesis the 12th chapter... Really his name was spoken in the 11th chapter, when his father came down from Babylon, and they dwelt in--in the Ur, in this--the land of Chaldeans. And then we find that also, that God called Abraham, just an ordinary man by the name of Abram. He wasn't Abraham yet, and--and Sarai--Sarai--Sarai wasn't Sarah yet. So we find out Sarai and Sarah was two--was two different names, and Abram and Abraham was two different names. Now, we find that in this, we brought him up last night until the confirmation, that God confirmed to him the covenant--how He would prove to Abraham that He's going to keep His promise. That's found in the 15th chapter of Genesis that how...
E-4 And
Abraham was called out in the evening to take down, slay a calf or a
young heifer, and a she-goat, and a ram. And we got into that last
night, how the two females and the male, and then the two doves, or
pigeon and dove (which is the same family), and got the representation
of that, that that always represented healing, which it never changed.
Healing's always been by faith. But the atonement, 'course, was divided
from a animal life unto a human life.
Now, in the Old Testament when the worshipper come with the blood...
God only meets people under the shed blood (See?), the only place He
ever did or ever will. He'll never meet you with your creed. He'll
never meet you with your education. He'll meet you under the blood.
That's the only place. All Israel worshipped under the blood.
E-5 And we
find there then also, that we found what, back in the history, of
what--how a covenant was made by people. And we find out in the orient
type, and different ways they'd make a covenant, and how we do today by
shaking hands, and so forth, and say, "Seal it." And the Japanese throw
salt on each other for covenant.
And--and traveling around the world, and you find much of the world
still in the same condition it was back in them days, especially in the
orients and in the east. Your Bible becomes a new Book. If you ever go
to the East, you'll never... Back in Jerusalem, Palestine, back in
there, you'll... The Bible is written in a... We're a English people
over here, and the western people try to understand an English Book. So
it's a very hard thing. If you go back there, you find out the marriage
and everything and just exactly the way they did it in the time of
Christ. Many things there hasn't changed at all in their customs and
ways.
E-6 And now, we--in--in this we find that when they made this covenant in them days they--they drew it out on a piece of sheepskin or leather. And then they killed an animal, and stood between the pieces, and cut it--the--their covenant--or in two--their words, pulled it in two, like that. [Brother Branham tears paper--Ed.] And when they come together these had to dovetail exactly, the very same--had to meet piece by piece, so it could not be duplicated.
E-7 So therefore, we find then that in our lesson last night we found that what God did to prove to Abraham His covenant. Now, Abraham... The promise was made to Abraham and his seed after him: not only Abraham but his seed. Now, now, the seed, natural seed of Abraham was Isaac. But the spiritual Seed of Abraham's faith was Christ. Not through Isaac all the world was blessed, but through Christ, the royal Seed, all the world was blessed. For He died for all people, all nations and all people.
E-8 Now, we
see in this also in this covenant, that He showed there what He would
do, how God would tear apart Christ Jesus, and the body was raised up
and sets on the right hand of God in the majesty on high, and the
Spirit of Christ was brought down upon the earth.
Now, if we had time you could prove that anything one part of the
Scripture says, it goes all the way through the Bible. If it doesn't,
then there's something wrong. The Old was just a shadow of the New,
foreshadowing it. Then if you get the shadow, you can pretty well tell
what the New is. So that's where He was, is, and shall be.
E-9 Now, this Spirit of Christ come back upon the church, exactly fulfilled John 15 again where He said, "I am the Vine; ye are the branches." And then again, John 14:12, "He that believeth in Me, the works that I do shall he do also": same works, same thing on down through the Scripture. "If ye abide in Me and My Word in you, ask what you will, it'll be given to you." Many things that Christ... "A little while and the world seeth Me no more (The 'world' there, the Greek word 'cosmos,' which means 'world order.')--sees Me no more. Yet ye shall see Me for I ('I' being a personal pronoun.), I'll be with you, even in you to the end of the world," making Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever.
E-10 He--He--He remains. He raised from the dead. "The world (the unbeliever) won't see Me." They won't recognize it, but the believer will recognize Him, because He's the same Jesus that He always was. He hasn't changed: same yesterday, today, and forever. And I'm... And that Word, many people tries to make that like it's not inspired.
E-11 Now, I
want to say something here. Now, it just come on my mind and... I do
not believe that the pulpit is made for a place for jokes. This is no
joking place. This is the sincerity. And we see the day of the Lord
appearing; we should be that much more sincere.
But there was a story told me some time ago of a young fellow and...
This was at Boston. And he went away. He'd had a fine mother: first, to
begin the story. And the mother certainly knowed her boy had a calling
in his life to serve the Lord. And that would--that would help any
mother. Oh, to any real mother to know that their son, that God has
honored them with a child that's going to preach the Gospel, that ought
to be an asset to any mother's life.
E-12 And so
the poor mother trying to do everything she could, she sent him away to
school, and to a seminary to receive his--his B.A.
And so while he was away the mother took seriously sick. And so she, as
any Christian would do, they called the doctor. And the doctor... She
had a double pneumonia, and the doctor tried all he could do for her
to--to check the pneumonia, and there was nothing. He'd give her the
drugs of sulfa, penicillin and so forth to--to kill the germ. And it
didn't take effect. The mother got worse constantly.
So they sent word to her son, which was way down at Asbury, Kentucky,
to Wilmore College, to come and see her because she was going to die.
And then the next morning when the boy was getting ready to leave, they
received a telegram, "Your mother's much better. Wait for further call."
E-13 About a
year later the woman had the privilege of seeing her son. He returned
home on vacation, and time off of his school. And he said, "Mother, I
heard that you got all right," after they'd had a little time of
fellowship, as son and mother would. Said, "I--I never did understand
just what drug the doctor changed to cause your--your conditions to
improve so quickly."
And she said, "Son, it--it wasn't that." She said, "You know where that
little mission is down the street here, them people down there that..."
Said, "Yes, I remember that."
Said, "There's a lady said that she felt led to come up here and ask me
if the pastor could come, pray for me. And so I told her it was all
right, so..." Said, "The pastor come up and read it out of the Bible,
'If any among you is sick, call the elders, anoint them with oil, pray
over them. Prayer of faith shall save the sick.'" And said, "You know,
he read that out of the Scripture. And he prayed for me and anointed me
with oil. And the--and the next morning I was so much better till the
doctor let me set up; in a couple of days I was all right."
E-14 "Well,"
he said...
Said, "Oh, praise the Lord." She said, "Son, you ought to..."
He said, "Mother, you're begin to act like those people." Said,
"Listen, mother." Said, "We have learned up at the school that where he
read there, the second Scripture he read was in Mark 16, where, 'These
signs shall follow them that believe; They'll lay hands on the sick,
and they shall recover.'" Said, "We learned up there at school that
Mark 16 from the 9th verse on is not inspired." Said, "You see, those
people don't go to school. Most of them down there, they're uneducated,
kind of an illiterate people." Said, "They--they were meaning well, no
doubt," but said, "we learned at school that from the 9th verse on,
that was just added, perhaps by the Vatican or something." But said,
"because that that part is not inspired."
The little mother let out a great big "Hallelujah."
And so, she said... He said, "Mother, well, what makes you say that?"
Said, "I was just thinking, son. If God could heal me with the
uninspired Word, what really could He do with that's really inspired?"
So I--I...
E-15 So such as the other promises, "Ask anything in My Name; I'll do it. If you say to this mountain, 'Be moved,' and don't doubt in your heart, but believe that what you have said will come to pass, you can have what you've said. When you pray, believe you receive what you ask for and it shall be given to you." See, it's all inspired, every bit of it.
E-16 When
Morse Reedhead, a very fine scholar, come to my house he received the
baptism of the Holy Spirit, fell across a little coffee table in the
house. He said to me, said, "Brother Branham, I understand that you was
a--you're Baptist."
And I said, "Well, I just was ordained in Missionary Baptist church as
a boy. I don't belong to..."
Said, "Well, what's these Pentecostals you're hanging around with?"
I said, "They're just people like you and I."
He said, "Well, listen," said, "Do you think that's the Holy Ghost,
what they got?"
I said, "Sure."
He said, "Why all the kicking and stomping and hollering?"
I said, "Well, they got to blow the steam out the whistle, if they
don't put it to use to make the wheels roll." I said, "If you was ever
to get--get them to learn what it's all about... Instead of just
blowing it out that way, put it to work. Faith, out on the street,
trying to get people in--into the Kingdom of God."
E-17 And he
said, "Well, I've seen them do all that, so I'll tell you why I'm
here." Said, "A fine boy from India..." Said, "He got his education in
school." Said, "I'm... When I went to leave, take him to the plane, to
put him on the plane to start him back overseas, I said to him; I said,
'Son, now you got your education, going back to your people.'" I think
he studied; I don't... I think, electronics.
Said then, when he started back, he said, "Why don't you forsake that
old dead prophet Mohammed, and get a real resurrected Jesus Christ in
your heart?"
E-18 And he
said, "Sir, I want to ask you something." Now, remember, this is from
one of the greatest Bible schools, fundamental schools. This guy's one
of their teachers. He said, "What could your Jesus do for me, any more
than my prophet can do?"
He said, "Well," he said, "my Jesus can give you Eternal Life."
He said, "My... The Koran promises the same thing." The Koran's the
Mohammedan bible. Said, "It promises the same thing."
He said, "Well," he said, "Yeah, I..." Said, "You know, the Koran
didn't promise nothing. Mohammed promised nothing but--but life after
death." He said, "Jesus promised you teachers that these signs and
wonders would follow." Said, "That's what Jesus said." And he said,
"We're waiting to see that done, see you teachers produce it."
E-19 Think
of it. He said to me, "Right then," he said, "I realized I hadn't met a
overnight boy. I know one who knowed what he was talking about." He
might've played off, but that's a good way to do it. Let the enemy jump
on to you one time like that, and then you don't know where to go. See?
So he said, "I realized that that wasn't an overnight boy."
And said... He said, "Well, now look here. Jesus is raised from the
dead."
He said, "Has he?" Said, "You've had two thousand years to prove it,
and not hardly the two-thirds of the earth never heard of him. What's
the matter with you people?" He said, "Let Mohammed raise from the
dead, and the whole world would know it in twenty-four hours."
E-20 That's
right. They got a horse standing at his grave. I've seen it there. They
change guards about every four hours, expecting him to raise yet, in
type there, coming on a white horse to conquer the world.
And so he said, "Let--let him raise from the dead and the whole world
would know it."
He said, "Well, Jesus did raise from the dead." He said, "Your
prophet's in the grave."
He said, "How do you know He raised from the dead?"
Teacher said, "He's in my heart."
He said, "Mohammed is in my heart too sir."
He said, "But I have joy and peace."
He said, "Sir, Mohammedanism can produce just as much psychology as
Christianity can." And they do. You ought to hear them shout and
scream. That's right. Can do just as much psychology as Christianity
can.
E-21 He
said, "Well, what do you mean when you said Jesus promised all these
things here?" Said, "I suppose you're referring to Mark 16?"
He said, "Yes, that's one of them, not altogether, but that's one.
Jesus said... The last words He said to his church, 'Go ye into all the
world (See?), and preach the Gospel. And these signs shall follow the
believer.'" How long? All the world, every creature. "If they lay their
hands on the sick, they shall recover. The last Words He said,
according to your Scripture."
He said, "Well, you see," said, "that's just..." Said, "You see, that
part isn't inspired." Said, "He really didn't mean that. That was..."
He said, "It ain't inspired?" Said, "What kind of a book you reading?"
Said, "All the Koran's inspired." Hmmmm.
E-22 It's a defeat of the weakness of theology, of manmade theology that hasn't got the--the spirit to stand up and face the thing. Like the Hebrew children said, "Our God's able to deliver us from this fiery furnace. But nevertheless we'll not bow to this image." We need people with courage. Men who's believed God's always been courageous and believed in the supernatural, men who believe God.
E-23 Mr.
Reedhead said, "I kicked the floor, Brother Branham, kicked the dust
like that. I couldn't answer the man." He said, "I purposed in my heart
to come, see you after that. And ask what this was all about." He said,
"Here I am." He said, "If the Holy Ghost..." Said, "Brother Branham, my
mother sent me to school," and said, "I've... When I got my B.A. I
thought, 'There's exactly...'"
I said, "I know what you mean."
Said, "Then one day when I got my B.A., they... I thought right there
I'd find Christ. He wasn't there. When I got my doctor's degree..."
Said, "I've got enough degrees, honorary degrees, to plaster your
walls. And where's Christ in all of it?"
And I said, "Who am I to say that the teachers are wrong. But that's
not what we're talking about. It's the Person Christ that you need."
Now, a man that's holding great campaigns everywhere... And Dr. Lee
Vayle there, good friend of mine, is a friend of his also. He's having
great success praying for the sick, and holding great big campaigns,
and everything. It's because that men believe.
E-24 Now,
see, the Spirit that was in Christ, the body Jesus, which was God
Emmanuel... The Holy Spirit, God came down in Christ, and He was made
God with us. And then, He was--that was to redeem us--His Blood shed.
Now, in the Old Testament when the worshipper come and laid his hands
upon his offering, and he cut the throat of the--the priest did
or--sacrifice, the worshipper held the sacrifice with his hands. And
feeling the--the tear of the flesh and the little lamb dying, its
little wool being bathed with its blood, all over the believer's hands
and so forth, its being caught in the charger to be burnt over there at
the altar, the believer realized that he ought to be the one dying for
that sin, but the lamb was dying in his place.
Now, but the life that was in that blood could not come back on the
worshipper, because it was the blood of an animal, which has no soul.
But in... Therefore, there was a remembrance of sin continually.
E-25 But now, Jesus being Emmanuel, then the Life of God was in Him, and that comes back. Not only the life of a man, but God Himself in the form of the Holy Spirit comes back, and makes you sons and daughters of God. Then you're sons and daughters. And then when you feel the tear, and the misery, and the punishment that Jesus went through, mocked at, His ministry called a devil's work, Beelzebub, and made fun of, and scoffed at by religious leaders, and turned down. He came to His own; His own received Him not, and the things that He went through with and then to sacrifice His Life on the cross to redeem that which God had foreknew, redeem, bring it back to the place where it fell from.
E-26 Then
God did that in order to send back the Holy Spirit upon the church now,
that it--the people, the believer. It's only for believers. It isn't
for unbelievers. They never will see it. They're dead to begin with.
Look at those Pharisees, when they seen Jesus perform the very sign
that was supposed to be the Messiahic sign. Look at Peter. He believed
it now, and Nathanael believed it right now. The woman at the well
believed it: blind Bartimaeus. All those that received it believed it.
But those leaders stood there and said, "It's Beelzebub, an evil
spirit, some kind of a hoax or a trick."
Jesus said, "You say that against Me, I'll forgive you." The sacrifice
hadn't been made. "But when the Holy Ghost is come to do the same
thing, one word against It will never be forgiven in this world or in
the world to come." Why could not they believe it? Jesus said, "You are
of your father the devil, and his works you'll do." That's correct.
E-27 To
believe the Word is to receive the Word and let It become Life. Now,
God showing there how He was confirming this covenant... It has to be
that way. The church, not an organization, not a denomination, but the
individual... And God has to become the same Spirit. That's God's
purpose in the beginning. Adam and Eve was the same spirit.
The Bible said in Genesis, in the 1:27, "In the image of God..." God's
a Spirit. "In the image of God created He him. Male and female created
He them," in the spirit form that was in God. And Adam was to take care
of the--of the land, just like the Holy Spirit's supposed to lead the
church now. And yet man was not in flesh. And he was both masculine and
also he was feminish, because it was the same spirit.
E-28 Then
God created man out of the dust of the earth and made him in the form
of animal, which we are now, animal. We know we're--we're mammal, and
that's a warm-blooded animal. And we're in that image of animal life.
And then God took a rib from Adam, not a... A woman is a byproduct of a
man, not exactly in the original creation; He took a rib. He separated
the physical, and took the feminish spirit from Adam and put it in Eve.
There was a man and a woman. And when they get out of those places
they're out of their right condition. There's a perversion somewhere
when a woman wants to be masculine, or a--or a--or a man wants to act
feminish. There's something wrong somewhere. They're out of their right
conditions.
E-29 We
notice in the Rebekah and--and Isaac being own blood relation. See? But
now that was typing Israel's natural seed. But by faith, Christ come on
the scene, which is not in the natural. Like the token was on... The
blood on the door of the post down in Egypt... No matter how much
circumcised, how much covenant they had, the token had to be shown or
the covenant was annulled. Certainly. "When I see the blood, I'll pass
over you." Now, the token is not the Blood; it is the Life that was in
the Blood, the Holy Spirit.
And that's the... I don't care how religious you are, unless you've
received the Holy Ghost, you'll perish. It's the only way. There's not
another Scripture to do anything, only that alone. "Grieve not the Holy
Spirit of God whereby you are sealed until the day of your redemption,"
Ephesians 4:30.
E-30 Notice.
Now, we come back. Then that shows that Adam and Eve were one to begin
with. Husband and wife is supposed to still be one. Now, but when they
separated them into the flesh, it was there that Eve fell. Fell, why?
To disbelieving the Word. Every phase of it... Some people can take one
part of the Word but not the rest. It's all got to be there. See, see?
She just doubted one phase of it. And if all this sickness and trouble
we've had now come by one woman doubting one phase of It, how are we
going to get back anything less than believing It all and accepting It
all? That was their... They was fortified by that Word.
E-31 When
they separated in flesh, they fell--she fell by the Word. She... Watch.
What did she look for? Just so many people today, they want a better,
stylish way, a easier way. They don't want to confront the thing that's
set before them.
If they do, they're put out of their organization, put--excommunicated,
thought little of. Don't you know that "all men shall speak evil of you
falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your
reward in heaven; for so persecuted they the prophets which were before
you"? And all that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
E-32 Now, what else do we want Him to say? Thousands of words we could--Scriptures pertaining to that would run from Genesis to Revelations. And anything that we have today begin at Genesis. It's the seed chapter. All unbelief and everything started right here. The church started right there. Everything started there. It's like two vines growing, and one impersonating the other and getting right up almost the same, like Moab, and also Moses.
E-33 There
come Israel--little, no denomination, no nation at all, and they had
the same sacrifice here. And Moab, a fine denomination, all their
dignitaries come out, offered the same sacrifice, trying to... Their
bishop up there, Balaam, come down to curse that what God had blessed.
They thought, "These renegade people, they don't even have a church
home, as it was. They're just wanderers about." And he said...
But they failed to hear that shout of the King in the camp. He failed
to see that Divine healing going there by that serpent, and the--the
smitten rock to give them life, the shout of the King in the camp. He
failed to see that--that blinded bishop, but yet, fundamentally, he was
just as right as Moses was. Seven altars, seven sacrifices, even
offered a ram, speaking of the coming of Christ.
E-34 But God don't need nobody to interpret Him. He's His own Interpreter. He makes a promise and He brings it to pass, and that's the interpretation of it. No one has to interpret it. God don't ask no one. The Bible's of no private interpretation. Everybody's trying to say it means this, that... Let God speak for Himself. He's the One Who does it. He made the promise; He stands behind it. He does to believers. But unbelievers receive nothing. It's not for them. They're dead to begin with. They never was even represented. There's nothing in them; they're dead hulls. You don't want to be like that. Be filled with the Spirit.
E-35 Notice,
He separated Eve and Adam, and she fell. Adam went with her. Now, Adam
was not deceived; Eve was deceived. But Adam, the first Adam, was God's
son also, and he went out because of the love of Eve, to try to bring
her back, 'cause he loved her. Christ did the same thing to redeem her
back. What to? The Word. What caused the fall? The Word, disbelieving
the Word, all of the Word. And Christ come that He might become one of
us, His life in us to continue the Word. "In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word was
made flesh and dwelled among us," the same yesterday, today, and
forever, same God. That's why He come to do that.
Now, we find in the confirmation, redeem us back to Himself, redeem the
wayward children that's strayed out in these morgues, and come back to
the Word again, back to the identified Word.
E-36 Now,
them Jews, when Jesus come, they could say, "We got the Word. We got
the Word. Here's what Moses said. We're Moses' disciples." Jesus, only
twelve years old, disputing with them, and then when... You see, that's
what man does to it.
But Jesus said, "If I do not the works of My Father, then don't believe
Me. For the works that the Father's given Me to do, they testify who I
am." Any man that's sent of God, God testifies to the works that he's
ordained to do. If it doesn't, the Scripture doesn't back it up, leave
it alone.
E-37 Even in
the Old Testament they had a way of knowing whether it was true or not.
They took them down--a dreamer, or--or a prophesier, or ever who it
was, they took him down to the Urim Thummim. That was a supernatural
Light. God always is supernatural, works in supernatural. As long as
there's a God there, there's supernatural, if it's Jehovah God. See?
And when... No matter how well the dream sounds, if it didn't reflect
upon that Urim Thummim, then it was wrong.
Now, the old Aaronic priesthood is done away with, but still we've got
a Urim Thummim. This is the revelation of Jesus Christ and reveals Him
in this Word. And anything that's contrary to that Word is not
God--contrary to it. But God speaks for Himself. He identifies Himself
with His Word. That's where Jesus defeated Satan: "It is written."
And here come Satan back and flopped in again. He said, "Yes, and it's
also written..."
But that time when he come he hit a heavy voltage. That time he singed
his wings. He jumped off of there. Then He said, "It's written, man
shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceedeth out of
the mouth of God. Get thee behind Me, Satan." See?
E-38 Notice
what happened. God's always identified Himself by His promised Word.
Now, if them Pharisees had looked right back, Moses said, "The Lord
your God shall raise up a prophet liken unto me." That was in the
Scripture.
But no wonder Jesus thanked the Father, said, "I thank Thee, Father,
Thou has hid this from the eyes of the wise and prudent; revealed it to
babes, such as will learn." When He said to Peter on that day, when He
come down and said, "Who does man say I, the Son of man, am?"
One of them said, "Thou art Elias," and one said, "You're Moses," and
so forth.
He said, "But that's not the question I asked you."
He said, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God."
He said, "Blessed art thou, Simon, son of Jonas. Flesh and blood never
revealed this to you." You never learned it in a seminary, nobody
taught it to you, but it's a revelation. Oh, my. "Upon this rock I'll
build My church, and the gates of hell can't prevail against it," the
revelation, or the identification of Jesus Christ. He said, "If I do
not the works of My Father, believe Me not."
E-39 Now,
let's journey on. We find Him; now, let's go to the 17th chapter. We
find Him here in the 17th chapter, where He appeared to Abraham after
the confirmation of this, showing what He was going to do.
And now, remember, the Spirit comes upon... And the Spirit that's in
the church, the real church, true church, God's church, God's people:
the Spirit that's in them is on... The same Spirit's on Christ with the
promise, "The works that I do shall you also."
E-40 Remember
one time, in the crucifixion, just before it; they put a rag around His
face and hit Him on the head with a reed, said, "Now, if you are the
Son of God... If you're--you're a prophet, they tell me. Prophecy,
prophet." They passed the stick. "Tell us who hit you." See that devil?
See, he said, "I understand that you're a great miracle performer. Turn
these stones into bread. Let me see you do it. I--I--I'll believe you
if you'll do it like that. Turn these stones into bread. I'll believe
if you do it."
E-41 A man
told me not long ago, said, "If you can produce one person that's been
healed, with a doctor's statement..."
I said, "Oh, mercy, man, shut up. Goodness sakes," I said, "I--I'll
bring doctors by the hundreds."
He said, "I've got a thousand dollars waiting for you if you do." And I
brought the doctors with the cases.
He said, "Well, the money's in..."
I said, "I want that money for a missionary offering."
And he said... "Send somebody that believes the Gospel overseas."
He said, "Well, let me take a little girl, and me and my brethren stand
around, and we'll cut her hand. And then you heal it right here before
us, and we'll believe you."
I said, "You need mental healing." That's exactly right, a man so
possessed with the devil.
The same one said, "If thou be the Son of God... If thou be, come down
off the cross," Oh, when the very Bible said He had to hang on the
cross.
Caiaphas said, "He saved others; hisself he cannot save," not knowing
it was the biggest compliment was ever paid Him. If He saved Himself,
He couldn't save others. He had to give His...?...
Sure He knew who hit Him, but He don't clown for the devil. God's not a
clown. He don't clown for the devil. His works are sent to those that
believe, not to be clowned by.
E-42 Notice.
He appeared to him here when he was ninety and nine years old, and He
appeared to him in the Name of Almighty God. The Name there in the
Hebrew is El Shaddai.
Now, God has seven compound redemptive Names. We know that. And you
cannot separate them from Christ. You can't separate them. Christ met
every one of those compound redemptive Names. You believe that? He...
You believe He's Jehovah-jireh, the Lord's provided Sacrifice? Then
what about Jehovah-rapha, the Lord heals all thy diseases? If that
wasn't applied to Christ, then He wasn't Jehovah-jireh. So you can't
separate it. The whole thing's wound up, and there you are. He can't be
Jehovah-rapha without being Jehovah-jireh, neither can be Jehovah-jireh
without being Jehovah-rapha. He was wounded for our transgressions;
with His stripes we were healed. No argument about that.
E-43 Now, we
find here He appears in the Name of El Shaddai, the Almighty. The...
Really, the word, the Hebrew word "shad," s-h-a-d (some pronounce it
shade), "shad" means "breast, like a woman's breast." And He appeared
to him in the Name of El Shaddai, which is in the plural, breasted. "I
am the breasted God. Abraham (ninety-nine years old), walk before Me.
Be perfect. Believe My Word, just keep on believing. I promised at
seventy-five. Here it is been--been twenty-four years now since I made
you the promise."
And what a comfort it ought to have been to an old man ninety-nine
years old, and his strength all gone, and here God stand before him and
said, "I'm El Shaddai. I am the breasted God. (Amen.) Draw your
strength from Me. I am your Strength." Like--like the New and Old
Testament: breasted God. "I am the breasted God. Draw your strength
from Me."
Like a little baby when it's sick, fretting, sick, weak, it leans upon
its mother's breast and nurses his strength back from the mother. In
other words, "Abraham, you're nothing but a baby to Me, ninety-nine
years old. It hasn't been no time." His life... Just remember, Jesus
was crucified like yesterday. One thousand years on earth--on earth is
just one day with God. See, just like He was crucified yesterday...
E-44 And
notice, "I am El Shaddai. You are the little weak baby. But lean upon
My bosom, My promise, and nurse from Me your strength. I'm the Creator
that hung the heavens and earth, put the stars out yonder. Is anything
too great for God? I'm El Shaddai, and you're My child, though you're
weak, and I'm letting you get that way just to see what you'll do about
it. I'm going to make an example for people hereafter, that men will
believe My Word. I'll stand by it no matter what it takes, how long,
I'll do it. I'll stand by it." El Shaddai... "Draw your strength from
Me."
"Oh," you say, "if I could believe..." He's still El Shaddai. He's
still the breasted God:, New and Old Testament. Just draw your strength
from it, whatever thing you have need of. The baby, he's helpless. He
has to pull his strength from his mother. That's the only way he can
get his strength. That's the only way a believer can get his strength
is pull it from the Word of God. That's his Strength, God's promises to
him. Stand by and believe it.
E-45 And not only is the little baby here represented when it's sick and fretting, the mother can put it to her--her breast and it goes to nursing its strength back, it's satisfied while it's a nursing. That's the way with the real child of God. No matter what the skeptic says, whatever believes, if you truly believe it, Jesus can't lie. You're satisfied that it's revealed to you. You've got the promise, and nothing's going to stop it. "On this rock I build My church," (See?) spiritual revealed Word of truth.
E-46 While waiting, resting in your faith, take God's promise. "I believe You, Lord. You promised to give me the baptism of the Spirit. I'm resting in Your... And faith, my faith that I have in You. I'm drawing from my resource--for my resource from--from--for my health from Your resource, the Word." Now, man shall not live by bread alone, but out of the bosom of God shall he nurse his strength. Every Word that comes out of the mouth of God, shall he receive his strength as he--comes from the mouth of God, the Word.
E-47 Like Abraham, Abraham was resting. Now, he'd lived with Sarah since she was a little girl. It was his half-sister. And he was living with her and married her. And he--she'd had... She was barren. She had no children. And here she is now, she's already... If he's ninety, ninety-nine, she's eighty-nine: eighty-nine years old. But, "Abraham, rest in the faith of My Word. I promised you I'd do it. I'm El Shaddai. I am the breasted God for My children that believe." If you don't want to nurse, well, then let--don't say no more about it. You see? But if you are a child, you're nursing, resting, every promise.
E-48 Notice,
real faith rests upon the solid Rock of the promise of God's Word. It
doesn't shift. The real faith is anchored, like in the North Star. The
north star is a tie post to every shipmaster, The compass points him
only to that north star. And God, the Word is every Christian's North
Star if you are lost. And the Holy Spirit is what points you to It. It
won't point to nothing else. All other isms and so forth, and--and
Christianity mixed up in it, whatever it may be, it's like the world
shifting. It changes those stars. But it can't change the north star.
And neither can anything change the Word of God. Anchor to It. Stay
with It.
Now, real faith doesn't shift by creeds, and manmade doctrines, and
unbelief. It stays right with the Word: real faith in the Word. And
where can you put your faith on anything else but the Word? If God said
it, hold your finger to it; that's true. It doesn't shift. It draws
from God's breasted Book, the Bible, His--His attributes, what He
promised. What He promised, that's His Word. The Word produces itself.
It has to be a thought 'fore Word, then Word; then the Word's
manifested. And that's where you draw your--your strength from,
believing--believing for the Creator: believing like He was the Creator
that made the world.
E-49 The New Testament said back there, "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up." Same purpose, what was it? They were doubting God, and sickness and trouble set in. And He lifted up the serpent for what? For their healing and for their forgiveness. That's what was... And brass represents Divine judgment. And Jesus was that serpent judged, of course. The brass...?...
E-50 Now, when after He'd confirmed the covenant, or the covenant was made manifest to him, it gives faith to the true sons of God. The Word gives faith, the breasted One. It--it does something to them when the--the Word--when the covenant is made manifest: gives faith to the true sons of God.
E-51 Now, we know--we realize that in this He was called Elohim. The word also in the translation here means Elohim; just looked it up, be sure: Elohim. And "Elohim" is "the all-sufficient One." He's El Shaddai, Elohim, the breasted God, the all-sufficient One. He needs nothing from nobody else. He's your all-sufficiency.
E-52 Notice,
the same is testified here. I was noticing this afternoon while I was
studying in Job: Job, he's called Elohim. And Job was ridiculed, made
fun of. How--what a picture today. But Job was resting in Elohim's
promise, "Though after the skin worms destroys this body, yet in my
flesh shall I see God, Whom I shall see for myself," resting in Elohim,
no matter what comes.
His wife come, said, "You look miserable, Job."
And here come his comforters around. "Aw, you see what happened to you,
old boy. I told you you were wrong all the time." See what happened? A
lot of people like to throw off on people like that. Job was the best
man of his day. The best man God had on earth was Job. He told Satan,
"There's none like him. (Amen.) Have you considered him?"
Satan said, "Yes. Everything comes easy for him. Break that hedge and
let me have him. I'll make him curse you to your face." He done
everything he could, but he couldn't. Job rested in that promise.
E-53 The
guys come by and said, "Now, now, where's all that God you was talking
about? Uh-huh. Look what you... You believed him to be this... Look.
Look what's going on now."
But he still rested in El Shaddai even though no matter if his boils
was breaking him out, and his life was as good as gone. He's setting on
a ash heap, scraping his boils. His wife said, "You... Why don't you
curse God and die?"
Said, "Thou speakest like a foolish woman. (Oh, my.) The Lord gave, and
the Lord taken away. Blessed be the Name of the Lord. I trust in
Elohim. Though He destroys this body, the skin worms eat it up, yet in
my flesh shall I see God, Whom I shall see for myself. Mine eyes shall
behold, and not another."
He came forth in Matthew 27 when the saints rose, come out and went in,
at what--very--entered into the city: very type of today, yet waiting,
trusting in the promise.
E-54 Notice,
after He appeared in this Name, the Name of Almighty God... Now,
church, now we may get just a little bit of doctrine here, might be a
little twisting to you. If you don't believe it, that's up to you.
We're just here... I'm going to speak what I think. You got a right to
think what you want to think.
But notice... But all these things were types, shadows, and examples,
as the Bible said they were. They're all there. And this is God's
dealing with Abraham in the journey, just like He'll deal with
Abraham's royal seed in the journey.
Notice, He deal with the Jews the same way. It all started in there in
that promise of the covenant: all nations, all peoples.
E-55 Notice,
after the appearing in this Name of Almighty God, and it was revealed
to him that He was the all-sufficient One... He had no helpers; He
didn't need any--any secretaries. He was alone God. See? He was God
alone. And He appeared to Abraham in this Name. And while He appeared
to him in this Name, and Abraham recognized Who He was, He changed
Abraham's name.
Now, He's come to the fullness of believing now. See where the church
has come? I hope you can read between the lines. Come up to the place
to where He revealed to him Who He was, and then He changed Abraham's
name so that the promise could be fulfilled.
Now, you say there's nothing in a name. Then why did He change
Abraham's name from Abram to Abraham? Why did he change Jacob's name
from Jacob, "supplanter" to Israel, "prince with God"? Why did He
change Saul's name to Paul? Sure, his name... Certainly. It certainly
does mean something: certainly does. If you're not named right, God
will change it if He's called you. Yes, sir.
E-56 Notice,
He changed his name here now from Abram to Abraham, which means "father
of nations," added the h-a-m, Abraham. So He did this so that the
complete promise could be fulfilled, and the son now, that had been
promised so long could be seen, or otherwise, be revealed. When He
changed his name... And after he recognized Who He was... He might have
been--might've thought there was a party of them. But he recognized
that He was Elohim, God alone. But when he did that, then He changed
his name.
He said, "Now, Abraham, you're no more to be called Abram, but Abraham,
for a father of nations I've made you: Abraham." Now, he's in condition
now. He is in condition. After the revelation of Who He is, he's now in
condition to see the son revealed. The son's ready to come, to be
revealed.
E-57 Oh,
children of Abraham, notice. He changed His messenger's name right at
the end-time, just go like ninety-nine, just one year left. And He
changed his name from Abram to Abraham: changing his name, added the
"h-a-m," which means "father." He was to be a father, a father of a
promise, father of promise.
Oh, if you've got spiritual discernment, listen. After the revelation
of His Name, of Who He was, He changed his name. Now, after the
revelation now has struck the earth... There's not a company of gods.
There's one. Now it's time for the revelation for the Son that's been
promised to be revealed to Abraham's royal seed of the promise.
E-58 Look.
He changed it from Wesley, Baptist, Presbyterian, Pentecostal. I don't
know whether to say this or not. You don't have to believe it. But I
hope you forgive me, but I don't want to hurt you. But look. There has
never been a messenger to the churches of--of God, throughout all the
entire history of time, that ever had a leader since the reformation,
like the leader we got today: Billy Graham. That's right, 'cause he's
went to all the world. See?
And notice. Never have we had a man, any reformer... We take Sankey,
Moody, Finney, Calvin, Knox, whoever it might be, Wesley, Luther, there
hasn't been a one with the name ending h-a-m before. The only messenger
we've ever had in the church ages with the ending name of h-a-m:
G-r-a-h-a-m, Graham. And Graham is six letters, and six is man's
number, man's day. Man was created in--in Genesis 1:26, on the sixth
day. But seven is God's number. Seventh day God rested, not six,
showing this G-r-a-h-a-m would be to the church that's in the world.
E-59 But
A-b-r-a-h-a-m, Abraham, is seven letters. Say, "There's nothing in
numbers." Then you don't know the numatics of your Bible. You're sure
to get it wrong now. Certainly. God's perfected in threes, worshipped
in sevens, and fifties, and forties, and jubilees in fifties. Oh,
whatever you want to be... All the--the Bible runs in mathematics.
Notice, the sixth is a messenger to be sent to the world. And notice,
seventh is God's number.
And notice, at this time of the appearing now of the revealing of the
son, when the--it's going to be revealed, the son, they done already
recognized His Name, knowed Who He was. He's El Shaddai, the Almighty,
Elohim. But now we come down to the time of the promised son is to
reveal himself. The son, Isaac himself has been promised is ready to
come on the scene. And He couldn't do it until He sent and changed his
name from Abram to Abraham, because the father of nations he was.
E-60 Notice,
"ham," h-a-m, father, father of nations. Look how fitting that is with
Malachi 4: restore the faith back to the fathers, Abraham's seed be
restored back to the kind of faith that father Abraham had, his royal
seed. Malachi 4 to be fulfilled is to restore back the faith that was
once back there in the beginning, restore it back to the royal seed of
Abraham.
It's a promise. It's exactly the promise. The royal seed is to be
revealed, and by--by... The royal seed, which is the royal seed of
Christ... Christ is the royal Seed. And the Seed is the Holy Spirit
that's in the hearts of the people that believe in God, that hold His
Word, and God working through them carrying the same message. "A little
while and the world seeth Me no more; yet ye shall see Me. I'll be with
you, even in you, and the works that I do, you'll do also." See,
revealing it in the last days here, how it's supposed to come.
E-61 Watch
the 18th chapter now. Immediately after the changed name, God appears
to reveal Himself in flesh. After the Name's made known, Who He is, God
appears in flesh.
Abraham, one hot day, just a few weeks or months before Sodom was
burned, and Isaac come on the scene... And notice, Abraham is setting
out under his oak. And Lot is down in Sodom, and they're enjoying the
pleasures of the world. Yet he's... Pastor Lot was--probably had him a
nice little congregation down there. Whatever he did, the Bible said
the wickedness and sins of the--of the time vexed his righteous soul.
So he must've had, like a lot of modern Lots today. But he knowed he
couldn't say nothing about it. So then, notice, there he was.
E-62 But
Abraham, after He'd been revealed to him now: Elohim was Who had been
talking to him, now he's sitting under the oak, and here comes three
Men, walking like human beings. Watch the effect of the revelation of
Who God was had upon Abraham, what it did to him. After his name was
changed from Abram to Abraham, he seen three Men coming. And he called
the three, One, "My Lord": three of them being One.
Not so with number six, Lot, he seen two coming, and he said, "My
lords."
Abraham's vision and revelation showed him that He was the
all-sufficient, Elohim. His seed's to receive the same thing.
Notice how He revealed Himself, how He made Hisself known whether He
was right or not. Notice, to the true believing what sign He did, what
did He, happen to make him know that that was Elohim. Now, he said, "My
Lord." It's capital L-O-R-D. Any scholar, you know it. Any scholar
knows that's Elohim, in the all-sufficient One, Elohim.
E-63 A man
said to me one time, "You don't believe that was God."
I said, "I sure do. Abraham said it was God. He talked to Him; he
should know." Yeah.
"Oh," he said, "you mean God standing there eating that flesh of that
calf, and--and drinking the milk from the cow, and eating cornbread,
ever what you want to call it, there?"
I said, "He did it." Why, you just don't know our God." Why, my, He
could just... Why, He just reached over... We're made out of sixteen
elements: petroleum, and cosmic light, and potash, and calcium, and so
forth, just sixteen elements. He just caught it together, and breathed
into it, and walked down in the earth. I'm so glad He's that sort of a
father. Though the skin worms destroys this body, yet He'll call you.
He promised to do it. He's Elohim.
Jerked another handful, said, "Come here, Woodworm," or whatever it
was--the Angels, and... "Come down, and let's down there and look at
Sodom and see what's going on."
E-64 And Abraham, after the revelation, he seen it, and he knowed that there was one God. And he seen it, and he said, "My Lord, come aside. Set down. Let me wash Your feet." Now, he never said, "lord." And watch, it's in--it's in the capital there. Anyone knows it. I got the "Emphatic Diaglott." See? It's capital L-O-R-D: LORD, Elohim, the all-sufficient One. Said, "Let me fetch a little water, and wash Your feet, and give You a morsel of bread; then You go on Your way."
E-65 Say, I'm getting too late here. I'd better hurry. I--I want to get over here, and I don't know whether I'm going to be able to. Just bear with me just a little bit longer, will you?
E-66 Notice, Elohim, the all-sufficient One, God. And He said... Watch what he did. Now, two of them begin--they kept looking down towards--towards Sodom. And He said, "Think I'll keep this a secret from Abraham?" He does nothing till He reveals it to his prophets. See? He makes them know it. And He said, "I'm not going to keep this, seeing he's--he's blessed of God. And He's going to inherit the earth, and so forth. His seed's going to be..." In other wise, going to be the father of many nations. "I won't keep it from him. I'm going to let him know." And so He said--begin to reveal to him.
E-67 And He
said, "Abraham (not Abram), Abraham, where is thy wife S-a-r-a-h?" How
did He know that? Why, just the day before that, he was Abram. Day or
two before that, and she was Sarai. And now she's Sarah and he's
Abraham. Said, "Abraham, where is your wife, Sarah?"
Abraham said, "She's in the tent behind You."
He said, "I'm going to visit you according to the time of life, and
this son that's been promised is ready to come on the scene now. You're
going to have it."
And Sarah, to herself, kind of laughed. Said, "Me being old, and have
pleasure with my lord again, him old?" Something like that, you know,
'cause she was--she was ninety and he was a hundred. And so, "Now,
could I do that again?"
E-68 And the Angel Messenger, God in human flesh, said, "Why did she laugh?" That was a confirmation. Why? Showed the revelation was right, showed that what he had called Him, Elohim, was right, because He was the Word. That was the--in Hebrews the 4th chapter, the 12th verse said, "The Word of God is sharper than a two-edged sword, and discerns the thoughts and intents of the heart." And when Abraham seen this, he was sure then he could call Him Elohim. Elohim, He was the Word, same yesterday, today, and forever.
E-69 Notice,
when Jesus, the royal Seed of Abraham come on the scene, He revealed
Himself to the natural seed of Abraham in the same sign, and they
called Him Beelzebub. It blinded them, the unbelievers, blinded them,
and caused them to blaspheme Him, and sent them to hell. But it gave
eternal sight to the believers that was ordained to Eternal Life.
Notice. Jesus promised that the--in the last days, just before the
coming of the Son of man, that He would come and reveal Himself. When
the days of the Son of man is being revealed, the royal seed of Abraham
would see the same sign. Now, notice. When He said there, that's St.
Luke 17:28 and 30: "And as it was in the days of Sodom..."
Now, Jesus said this. I'm not responsible for it. I'm responsible for
telling it, say what He said; but Jesus said this. "As it was in the
days of Sodom, so shall it be in the coming--at the coming of the Son
of man."
E-70 Now,
notice. In the days that the Son of man is being revealed, when the Son
of man's being revealed to His church, like to Abraham... He was God;
He kept coming on down, confirmed the covenant, recognized Who He was,
and His Name changed. Notice, it changed just before He got on the hill
looking over Sodom, just before the promised son came on.
Jesus said the same picture... Jesus was reading the same Bible that
I'm reading and you're reading. If you want to know what it was, go
back and see what they were doing in the days of Sodom. Notice, not so
much in the days of Noah; He told their immorals, how they was eating,
drinking, marrying, giving in marriage, but in Sodom... Now, there's no
more water; God promised that by the rainbow sign.
He give us a sign. He always gives signs. He ever remembers His signs,
always loyal to it through the years, never fails to give that rainbow
sign. He always gives His signs. Notice, and in that sign He promised
not to destroy the world no more with water. But He did say it would
burn. And notice Jesus here saying as it was in the days of Sodom, the
Gentile world was going to be destroyed. [Blank.spot.on.tape.--Ed.] And
look what's down among them, a man, G-r-a-h-a-m, blasting them away to
them politicians, to the church natural.
E-71 Now, on the church spiritual... There's always three classes of people. That's believers, unbelievers, and make-believers. They have them in every crowd. If you felt the pressure I did, you'd know they was right here tonight. So then--so you... All three... Notice, there you are. There's always them three classes everywhere. Now, if you will see, that it was to be the same thing when the Son of man was to be revealed to the royal seed of Abraham through Christ (Christ is the royal Seed.) when He's being revealed in the last days.
E-72 Now,
positionally, the world is setting exactly, because the sun that rose
in the east sets in the west. And it was a dismal day: made
organizations, denominations. "But it shall be Light in the evening
time," said the prophecy; Jeremiah. Now, and in the days when that Son,
it comes out from behind the clouds of denomination to reveal Himself,
He said the world would be setting just like it was in the days of
Sodom, and the Son of man would reveal Himself again to His people.
Look how He revealed it to Isaac's seed. Look how He going to reveal it
to the royal seed, the Bride, royal, the queen. The queen is the royal
seed. As God brought a nation out of a nation in Egypt, He's bringing a
church out of a church, or a Bride out of a church: church out of
church. And the remnant of the woman's seed (That's what was left
over.), there's weeping, and howling, and gnashing of teeth, 'cause
they didn't have oil in their lamps. Holy Spirit always represents it.
There they are. The position is setting right.
E-73 And
now, look up on the hill. Now, the church... Abraham, Lot, Sodomites:
the world, the church, the elect (the church, the bride out of the
church). We're setting positionally right. The world is just in the
right swing to it: perversion, everything's perverted. It's...
I tell you: everything's hybrid. They... I come down and seen a big
sign said, "Hybrid Corn." Why, it's no good. No, that ought to make you
atheists jump. When God said, "Let every seed bring forth of its kind.
And you can hybrid corn and make it a better looking corn, but you
can't plant that back again. It ain't got no life in it.
E-74 And
that's the way we've done the church. We've made it pretty and
decorated it with denominational tinsel. But it ain't got no life in
it. It can't produce that Bible evidence again: can't produce the
evidence of the resurrection of Christ. It's a hybrid affair:
better-dressed people, better paid, bigger denominations, richer of the
Laodicean age, exactly. "Rich, have need of nothing, know not that
you're miserable, wretched, blind, and poor, naked, and don't know it."
If a man knowed he was naked, you could talk to him. But if--when he
don't know it, that's a miserable shape, pitiful. Don't scorn the
people, but have mercy. What if that was you in that condition? What if
the Word wasn't revealed to you? What would you do? What else would
matter if your eyes was so blind you couldn't see it? That's a
miserable sight.
And just exactly positionally, you can't lay a finger on it. There it
sets, just what He said would take place; these signs would be in the
last days. See where they're setting, just exactly.
E-75 Now,
watch. Hybreeding... You know, if anything I... You take, like you take
a donkey and breed it to a horse, a mare, rather, and you--what do you
get? You get a mule. But that mule cannot breed back again. See, God
said, "Let every seed bring forth its kind." Now, where's your
evolution coming from? Your own project has condemned what you said you
believe. God said, "Let every seed bring forth of its kind." He can't
breed back again. No, no, he's finished.
And I think a mule is one of the--the ignorantest things I ever seen.
You can't teach him nothing. He'll set there with them big long ears,
you know, and he'll wait till the very dying minute to kick you 'fore
he dies. He's just... You can't teach him nothing. It reminds me... You
set there, and you go tell him things. It reminds me of some people,
claim to be believers today: big long ears setting there, and, "The
days of miracles is past, haw, haw, haw." He don't know where he come
from. He don't know nothing about it. Only thing he knows is some
church creed.
E-76 But let me tell you; I've got respect for a thoroughbred. Boy, he can tell you his pedigreed. He can tell you who his papa was, who his mama was, who his grandmama, grandpapa was. He's pedigreed. So is that pedigreed Christian. Can run it straight back to the book of Acts, and see where they come from--a pedigreed Christian, borned of the same Spirit, the same thing, acting the same way, with the same persecutors. Donkeys and horses feeding together... That's right. There you are. You've got to have it though. This is a hybrid day.
E-77 I seen
a piece in "Reader's Digest" not long ago. Keep feeding women this
hybrid meat and--and stuff, they can't have their babies. They're
changing. They're getting bigger in the shoulders and narrower in their
hips. Why? You know man always destroys himself by civilization. Come
back to God. Believe God. Come back to the original seed. Come back and
believe it.
You've read my tapes--you've got my tapes, rather, I guess heard them,
on the original seed, and the bride tree, and those things, which was
true. Lord knows that. How those things was foretold months and
months... You people, what you see here is just minor that you see
taking place. Ask the people that's along. Ask if one time it ever
failed: Tells about people, earthquakes, things that's going to happen;
the Holy Spirit tells us. Is that right? The men that's been... Sure.
E-78 And of
different people like Marilyn Monroe, way 'fore she was--died. They
said that she committed suicide. She did not do it. She died with a
heart attack. Absolutely. This man, this fighter, the Maginot Line in
Germany, all those things, just thousands of things perfectly on the
dot every time. It can't be nothing else but the Holy Spirit. See?
He promised it. He give seven things in 1933 would happen and now every
one of them has come to pass but two things. Perfectly, just exactly.
How that even President Kennedy would be taken in; it's right here on
my books right now, told thirty-three years ago. It's exactly. How that
the Maginot Line would be built, eleven years before it built, how that
Hitler would rise up, and--and Fascism, and--and Nazism would and all
to bind in Communism, and Communism would destroy Catholicism. And it
will, no matter what they do.
It showed, said there'd be an ecumenical council, and how that all the
churches would come together, and would form the image called the mark
of the beast. You see them right on the road right now. That's exactly
right. It's got to happen, 'cause it's never failed to be... Anybody
that ever knows it, anybody, I'd take them around the world; it's never
failed one time. Months and years ahead of time, it's just perfectly
right on the spot. It's God among you, people, and God in us, the Holy
Spirit.
E-79 Notice,
Jesus said that the royal seed would be identified by the same thing,
here in Luke the 17th chapter. Oh, return, O dispersed, from your
denominations to your own. Any of us can believe that God... If you
believe in God, you know God heals the sick. That's no question. Why,
if you don't believe that, you ought... They said in them days, "Oh, we
know he can heal, but He can't save."
Now, "He can save, but He can't heal." See? Just the same devil, same
thing. He's both Saviour and Healer. He's Jehovah-jireh and
Jehovah-rapha. Oh, return.
Remember, He promised this position of everything setting just the way
it is now, and what would take place. He said it would happen, and it's
got to happen.
E-80 Folks,
I'm sorry. I've kept you late now. Just bow our heads just a minute.
I'm going to... I'll finish this up, maybe tomorrow night. I got about
six more pages of notes here on it. Bow your heads just a moment. Be
reverent, everybody.
You might disagree with me. You have a right to that. I've got a right
to express what I think. I've had the Scripture. Now, no matter what I
would say, if God doesn't back that up, then the Urim and Thummim isn't
working. Then it's refused. No matter how good it sounds, and how real
it sounds, the Urim and Thummim has to show it. The seed has to come to
life. If it doesn't, then it wasn't so.
E-81 Now,
for healing... Now, I've tried to tell you I'm not a healer. There's
many men that call themselves healers. Then there's a lot of critics
that call men healers, that just to criticize. Their heart's not right
with God. See? Anyone knows that no man can heal another. God heals the
sickness. Let God call for your death, and pray all you want to, and
the hospital give you an injection of fluid every day, and you'll die
just the same.
If I cut my hand tonight, and stand here with a cut hand, there isn't a
medicine in the world can heal my hand. We ain't got a medicine that
heals. No medicine heals. Any doctor will tell you that. It just keeps
clean while God heals. It can't build tissue.
E-82 If I
cut my hand and... "Oh," you say, "Yes, Brother Branham, there's
medicine that will heal that." All right, I want to know what it is.
Let me show you. If I cut my hand and fell down dead here, a doctor
could come and embalm my body, and make me look natural for fifty
years, sew up my hand, and take me out there, and give me a shot of
penicillin every day. And in fifty years from now that cut would be
just like it was when it was made. If--if medicine is made to heal a
cut, why don't it heal it? Any medicine that'd heal a cut in my hand,
would heal a cut on this desk, would heal a cut in my coat. If it'd
heal a cut, it'll heal a cut no matter where it's at.
"Well," you say, "why, medicine was made for human beings." Then why
don't it heal? "Well," you say, "the life's gone out of it."
Then there's something else besides the medicine heals. It's life.
Sure, and life is God. Certainly it is. Yet, some of sinners are
perverted with it. But yet you're in the image of God. And the life
that you have, God gave it to you. You know that. No, because God is
the Healer. Life is the Healer. You believe that. See? Seen so much
done... Now, let's just accept Him, won't you?
E-83 Before we do that, I wonder how many in here is convinced? Before... If you're newcomers here, never been in here before, that you believe Him to be the Son of God, and by this, the message tonight, the Word alone... Before He even does anything, that you believe it and you want me to remember you in prayer, raise up your hand, will you, all...? God bless you. Oh, my, three or four hundred hands. God bless you. Faith cometh by hearing, hearing of the Word. The reason I said that, to see--to find favor with God. I think now, instead of--of just calling a prayer line up here, I'll just have you to pray.
E-84 Let me give you a Scripture first. We... What we do, it must be Scriptural. It's got to be Scriptural. God won't honor nothing else. God won't honor a lie. You know that. You--you couldn't attach that to Him. He don't honor lies. He only honors His Word. But He promised that "My Word will not return to Me void. It'll accomplish that which It was purposed for." And we see the Word is 'lotted today. No matter how much unbelief rises in the camp, God will honor His Word when He finds faith to honor it by.
E-85 Now, somewhere in the building, I want you to take this Scripture: Hebrews the 3rd chapter, I believe it is. The Bible said that He's a High Priest right now, that can be touched by the feeling of our infirmities. And you that raised your hand, I want you, as soon as the service is getting to the close here, I want you to come up and stand around here and be prayed for. Accept Christ as your Saviour. Take your way to one of some fine church around here, no matter where it's at, somebody that preaches the Gospel. Go to them and ask for Christian baptism, and the pastor will take you from there on. He's God's man. He's called to be God's man. He'll--he'll take you from there on. Just... If I was here in the city I'd belong to some of these churches here. I'd come to them--them that believe the Gospel. I'd be there. Certainly, I'd identify myself with them, for that's what you need to do. And that's what you need to do.
E-86 Now, if He's a High Priest that can be touched by the feeling of our infirmities... Now, He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. Therefore, He'd have to act the same as He did yesterday. Now, watch. A little woman touched His garment one time, and He turned around, and knowed what she had, and told her her faith had saved her. And she felt within herself. She never took any pains to prove it. She didn't have to prove it. You don't prove things; you believe God. See? You don't prove God at all. You can't prove, to save your life, there's a God. Just go on out here and say, "Let me see Him." See? You got to believe Him.
E-87 The
whole armor of God is supernatural: love, joy, faith, long-suffering,
patience, meekness (See?): all supernatural. We look at things that you
can't see with your natural eye. And Christ is here tonight. He
promised that "Wherever two or three are gathered in My Name, there I
am in the midst of them. There I am." "I" again. He's here.
Now, He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. You pray and say,
"Lord Jesus, I am sick," or whatever you have need of. "I--I am needy,
and I--I want You, dear God, to have mercy upon me, and heal me, and
make me well. And now, if I have faith enough, Lord, to touch You...
I--I know that Brother Branham don't know me. I'm a stranger, and I
know he doesn't know me. Now, if--if that man has told me the truth,
which I believe it is, 'cause it comes right from Your Word. I've read
it. I see it looks just perfectly right. Now, confirm it. I claim to be
a seed of Abraham through Christ. I claim to be the royal seed,
believing on Jesus Christ the royal Seed. I believe to be part of His
Bride, His church that He's coming for. And I'm sick and needy. Please,
Lord Jesus, let me touch Your garment. And con--and confirm it to me by
speaking through Brother Branham, as he promised it would be, like it
was in the days of Sodom. Just let me... Let him tell me what I'm
thinking about, praying for, what I want, what my needs are, something
about me." You do that. Just do it.
E-88 Heavenly Father, now it's all in Your hands. Now, this is all I can do, or any other man, can just say what You said here, the truth. Now, confirm it, Lord, to be the truth. I've spoken of You. Speak that I've told the truth. In the Name of Jesus Christ, Amen...?...
E-89 I want you just to believe; just have faith. Now, don't no one move around. Just set real reverent. I want you to imagine standing before you in here somewhere, Christ, raised up from the dead, come right through the walls one time, eat bread, said, "Feel Me. I'm flesh and bone," and disappeared right before them. Now, He--He promised that He would appear in the last days in the form of human flesh again, in your flesh, like He did at the days of Sodom. God, which was Christ manifested in flesh, now in His church, His Bride... See, they're coming together. It's a uniting time. Churches are uniting; nations are uniting; and the Bride and Christ is uniting. See? It's uniting time. Now, just believe.
E-90 Simple?
Don't try to get nervous and press something, 'cause you don't get
nothing then. Just--just humbly say, "Lord, I believe." Someone just do
that.
And now, I... How many is setting before me, especially... Now, I know
these men here and these here. I know some setting here. How about
right here, just right in front of me? Let's concentrate on this little
group right in here somewhere. How many never seen Christ make Hisself
known like that by... Let's see your hands, never did see it. Guess
everybody has seen it. All right. You pray now. Now, just be reverent.
I don't know that He will. I can't say that. It's up to Him. Will it
make you believe real strong? The Lord hears that. He knows all things.
E-91 The man
setting right there, that's suffering with a hernia, you believe that
God will heal that hernia? You do? We're strangers to one another, I
suppose, you and I? I don't know you. I've never seen you. If that's
what you was praying about. Raise up your hand. If that's right, raise
it up your hand. See?
Do you believe that... You believe that when Andrew had told Simon to
come see that they'd found the Messiah... And when he come up in the
Presence of the Lord Jesus, being that you're in contact with something
now, your prayer (See, see?), He told him who he was. You believe God
could tell me who you are? If you believe it, He can do it. Would that
encourage you to believe with all your heart? Would it do the rest of
you that way?
Now, the man's put his hands up, that whatever was told him... I don't
know; I have to run the tape. See? Whatever it was, was right. Is that
right, sir? All right. Whatever, it was right. Mr. Shepherd, believe
with all your heart. If thou canst believe... Now, that's no more than
what He said, "Your name is Simon, the son of Jonas." Now, if you just
believe, that's all that's necessary. Now, what is it? He promised
that. He gave that promise. That shows that He's here, not just me.
He's in you. He's in His body of believers.
E-92 Little
lady, weeping and praying with your head down, suffering with a cancer,
if you won't fear and will believe, God will make you well, if you can
believe it. She's going to miss it, sure as... Mrs. Hood, believe with
all your heart now that Jesus Christ make you well, and you can have
what you've asked for. Now, you going to believe it with all your
heart? Amen.
Setting right next to you there is a lady's got stomach trouble, heart
trouble, complications. If you believe with all your heart you can have
your healing. You believe it with all your heart and accept it? You do?
All right.
That man there with hemorrhoids, you believe that God can heal those
hemorrhoids and make you well? Raise up.
What did you think about, setting next to him has a hernia? You believe
that God can heal that hernia and make you well?
The lady right next to your arm there is suffering with headache. It's
gone now, hasn't it? See, your faith did it. That's all you have to do
is just believe.
E-93 Here's
a lady here with diabetes. You believe God will make you well, lady,
setting there with diabetes? You believe God can tell me who you are?
You do it? Miss Robison, that's your name. Put your hand over on him
there for that hernia. Maybe God will make him well too. If you believe
it, will you do it? All right, sir.
The lady setting next to you, lay your hand on her, sir. She's got
neuritis. You believe that God will heal the neuritis and make you
well? If you do, you can have your healing too. You got to believe it.
E-94 Now,
that's confirmation. God made the promise. Now, how many believes that
Christ's here? You believe it? Now, all you that want, in His Presence
now, that wants mercy from Him, that wants mercy on your souls, and you
want to accept Him now while you're right in His Presence, identified...
Now, I... A man might come in here with nail scars in his hands and
thorn prints, and say, "I am the Lord." Any old hypocrite can do that,
but the life... The Lord Jesus' body is setting at the right hand of
the majesty. When He comes, time's no more when that body returns to
the earth. But His Spirit's here. His life is giving evidence of Him
being here. See? "I'll be with you, even in you, to the end of the
world."
E-95 And you
want mercy from Him now, will you just stand for a word of prayer? All
over the building, you that, wherever you are, you just stand. God
bless you way back in there. That's right, just keep standing. Just
stand on your feet; that's all I want you to do. Just stand up a minute
for prayer. If you'll stand for Him... If you're ashamed of Him now,
He'll be ashamed of you before the Father. And if you're--if you're
willing to confess Him now, He'll confess you before the Father.
"I now want to accept Christ as my Saviour. I want Him to fill me with
His Spirit right now. I want Him to..." Just remain standing just a
moment for prayer, if you will. Stand up. That's right. I want... I
feel led to do this, making the... This is an altar call. Stand up. We
have no altar to come to. Your heart is the altar. Just pull back all
the unbelief and know that He's here now. Stand up on your feet, you
who wants to accept Christ right now, in the Divine Presence that you
feel that's vindicated now. Now, let us bow our heads.
E-96 Lord
Jesus, they are Yours. You said, "No man can come to Me except My
Father draws him." And now, according to science they could not even
raise their hand. The law of gravitation says our hands must hang down.
But there's a life in them, and that life was brought near to Eternal
Life, Christ. And they made a decision in their heart that they're
through with the world. And they raised their hands and stood on their
feet, defying the law of gravity, that there's a life in there. So do
we defy the law of the world and unbelief. In the Name of Jesus Christ,
they're Yours.
They're love gifts of the Gospel. They're memorials of the message
tonight and the--Your great Presence with us. Put their names upon the
Lamb's Book of Life there. Lord, we pray that--that each one of them
will be there as Your children, Your beloved. Fill them with the Holy
Spirit of God into their hearts. May their lives be so charged with the
power of Almighty God, that humility, and love, and kindness, and
gentleness will flow from them, and a zeal to see others saved that was
once in their condition. Grant it, Lord.
Only thing that we can do, Lord, is to believe. And they stood as a
memorial of their belief. And now, with my faith and their faith
together, we lay it upon Your altar by faith. And they are the
sacrifice that's laying there waiting for the sacrificed Son of God to
accept them into His Kingdom. Grant it, Lord. Just now may they be
Yours, in the Name of Jesus Christ.
E-97 Now,
you that believe on Him with all your heart, that's standing, raise up
your hand, say, "I believe Him. I accept Him right now as my Redeemer,
and I seek the baptism of the Holy Spirit." Raise your hand. God bless
you. Now, you may be seated. I want you to make your way to some church
now, right away.
Tomorrow night we're going to have a meeting for the baptism of the
Holy Spirit: tomorrow night, right here at the building. Now, there's a
lot of fanaticism they call the baptism of the Holy Ghost, but that
don't mean that there isn't a real Holy Ghost; there's real genuine
Holy Spirit of God just the same. And I believe that He'll meet with us
here tomorrow night.
E-98 Now,
how many in the building is convinced that we're at the end time? How
many convinced that this is the truth, the Word is supposed to be this
way in the last days? Raise your hand. How many of you is believers?
Wave your hands. All right. Jesus said these words: "These signs shall
follow them that believe," if you're a believer. Now, how many's needy
of Christ in your body? Raise up your hands. All right. You believers
that's setting next to them, lay your hands on one another. And the way
you pray in your church, that's the way you pray here. Don't you pray
for yourself. You pray for them; they're praying for you. And the Bible
said, "They shall lay hands on the sick; they shall recover." Now, you
pray the way you do and with a promise.
Lord Jesus, they are Yours. Receive them into Your Kingdom. And heal
each one, Lord, that these handkerchiefs, in the Name of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Grant, Lord. Satan has lost his hold. May the power of Almighty
God heal every one.