Sur Les Ailes D’une Colombe Blanche Comme La Neige
Sur Les Ailes D'une Colombe Blanche Comme La Neige - Shp
1 Let's bow our heads. Dear
Lord, we thank Thee tonight for the promise of the coming of the Lord
Jesus, where we'll meet in a great meeting where it'll never end, of
joys and songs, as we praise You through the--the ceaseless ages that
is to come. We ask Your blessings upon the meeting tonight. We ask Your
blessings upon this tabernacle, upon its staff, its pastors, its
co-workers, co-pastors, and all.
We ask You to bless these, Lord, who have come many miles to be in the
meeting; lay Your hand of mercy upon them as they travel back to their
homes. Grant it, Lord. May we meet many more times together in this
place called the house of God, to worship. Bless those who are tuned in
tonight, Lord, by the way of the telephone. May every unsaved person
find Jesus Christ their Saviour tonight; heal all the sick and the
afflicted. Father, Your servant is reporting for service, in Jesus'
Name. Amen.
3 The Lord bless each of you.
So happy to be here tonight. I just got in when Brother Ernie was
singing the last part of his song, "On the Wings of a Dove." Certainly
beautiful poem, certainly beautiful, and I--I know it's timely. So now,
we very thankful.
And to all you people that's tuned in tonight out across the nation, I
wished you were only here to see this a-waiting, expectations on the
people's faces as they're jammed in the building tonight; having a
wonderful time.
We want to thank Brother Jack Moore, and Sister Moore, and Brother
Noel, Brother Bootlayer, Brother Brown, all these associates here, the
whole tabernacle, the whole staff, for inviting us back.
6 It was a really a kind of a--couldn't say a coincident, it was simply just the hand of God that worked it out. There's a brother here that had a dream sometime ago about this thing happening, said I was standing in a pair of white trousers, in Indian moccasins. And that's just exactly the way I was standing when I called Brother Jack for the meeting here, just exactly, (at Carson, Colorado) Indian moccasins and a pair of white Levi trousers on. Brother Leo, if you're listening in, I was just meeting you in a few minutes. So that's when the meeting took its birthplace right there.
7 Now, it's Sunday night; I
know many of you will drive all night tonight going home, some of you
will be driving in the morning. I've got two days drive ahead of me.
And so we--we won't hold you very long. And I've tried to make this an
old-time night, the night that Brother Brown, and Brother Jack, and all
of us that used to pray for the sick years ago, would pray for the sick
in the same manner that we did then.
Now, can you hear me back in the back? I just keep lowering these mikes
because I am hoarse.
9 And so I want to... Just a
little something, this little incident's happened. Why, they was
telling me awhile ago that there was a brother, perhaps here in the
meeting tonight, that just come out of denominationalism, come into
Shreveport, want to hear about the Message. And he got mixed up; he
didn't know where he was at, so he went downtown. He seen a people
gathered; he said, "Is this where Billy Branham is going to preach?"
He said, "No, it's where Billy Graham's a-preaching by--by the way of
a--a film."
He said, "Well, I'm sorry, I--I got the wrong place."
He said he come up, he said, "Now, where can I go, Lord?" Said he
started walking up this main street. I don't know what it is; there's a
big church up here at the end. Texas Street. And there was a big white
cross up on a church. Said the Lord told him, said, "Just keep
walking." Said... When he got there, they was... Said, "Well, here must
be where it is; there's a lot of cars setting around." And said, "A
bride and groom come walking out of the church." That was last night;
there was a wedding; I seen it come out. "The Lord said, 'Now, that's
what it is. You're coming out of denominationalism to enter into the
Bride to go with the Groom." See, see?
13 I was remarking to my wife,
coming down the street, how the moon and the star hanging right above
that cross, as we moved up into it. I guess I just look at little
things like that, maybe kinda complimentary to my belief in God and my
ministry.
I was thinking tonight in Tucson, it happened to be that Victor Le
Doux, he was this Frenchman... He's a genuine Frenchman. I believe I
was telling you the other day, that when I got through speaking, trying
to separate denominationalism from real Christianity... And a man was
giving me a--kind of a short talk about it, from a famous
denominational Pentecostal church.
And so Danny Henry, I think he's some movie star's cousin or something,
and he was a Baptist; and he run down to the platform, and just threw
his arms around me and said, "Brother Branham, I hope this don't sound
sacrilegious, but that could be the 23rd chapter of Revelation." And
when he started to say something else, he started speaking in tongues.
And this, three French people... A Frenchwoman (big, heavyset woman,
dark complected, from Louisiana, she may be setting here tonight) wrote
it down on a piece of paper, what he said. Then Victor Le Doux, a
minister, wrote down the same thing; and they were comparing notes, or
going to. A light-headed man (kind of a blond hair) standing way back,
packed back as far as he could, come walking up, wanted to see those
notes. He was the interpreter of French at the U.N.. And all three
notes was the same.
And It said this:
Because
thou has chosen this harder way, you've chose it, you have took--chose
it by your own choosing. ('Course
we know that, Moses had to make his choice. Said) This is the precise and
correct way, because it's My way. And what a--what a glorious decision
you've made. (Said) Because of this, a large
portion of heaven awaits you. And this in itself is that which will
make, and bring to pass, the tremendous victory in the Love Divine.
All three was the same. I thought I had that in my Bible tonight (I
looked in there, but I didn't.), the original copy of it.
19 Danny Henry don't know.
Like myself, he hardly knows good English, let alone French. And if you
notice in there, it's like the French language, they put the verb
before the adverb. And the interpretation of all three was exactly
alike.
Danny Henry, sometime ago, he make... Danny may be listening in
tonight. Victor Le Doux perhaps is, because I understand he's in
Tucson. And you people in Tucson at the church, the tabernacle, the
Tucson Tabernacle where Brother Green's the pastor; Brother Victor Le
Doux, I understand is in a tent meeting right at the foot of Park
Avenue where it runs out into Highway 80, coming this a-way. And if
you're out there tomorrow night and next night, whenever how long he'll
be there, go to hear him; and Danny may be with him. And it could be
that they're listening in from the Tabernacle tonight; I don't know.
21 Danny went to Jerusalem
right after that, and said he was laying there in the tomb on the
board--rock board that Jesus laid on, a corpse just before His
resurrection. And said, all of sudden I come on his mind; and said he
run out, begin crying, and he walked outside. And he was directed...
He's a man that makes things out of rocks; tumbles rocks, I meant. Said
he went to where they said the cross was drove down, and he just
dropped off, knocked off a little piece of rock about like, oh, a inch
square, or something; put it in his pocket, and was impressed to bring
it home.
When he did, something said to him, "Make Brother Branham a pair of
cuff links out of that." So he put it in the acid, and it changed the
color from the regular limestone-looking rock to a bloodstone rock. And
he made the cuff links.
And when he give them to me, he hadn't noticed it, but right through
the middle of both cuff links runs that straight, narrow strip. I have
them on tonight to pray for the sick. See, a--a bloodstone color, like
the dripping blood, with the straight, narrow line right through, just
exactly what his prophecy said, the straight and narrow way (See?) in
the prophecy. I showed it to him.
Danny, if you're listening in, you or Brother Le Doux, either one,
tonight's going to be the old fashion night when we're to pray for the
sick. I'm glad to walk this straight, narrow way, the way of the
Gospel, the way of the Word, with our Lord Jesus Christ.
25 God bless you all. Now,
you're so nice to talk to, I'll just talk a long time, and I'll have
you here too long. Billy said there's between three and four hundred
people to be prayed for, so I'll just have to hurry up with our message
as quick as possible, and then pray for the sick.
Now, to the people in Arizona, the next Saturday night, we're over at
(never can think of the name of that town) Yuma, Arizona, at the
banquet. So then in California we follow right on in Sunday morning, to
Los Angeles and the places that's been predicted to be there.
Tonight, I want to take a text out of the Scripture.
28 By the way, I was setting
in a cafeteria today, the Morrison's Cafeteria; Brother Jack, his wife,
I and my wife, we went over to Morrison's Cafeteria to have a little
time together, we hadn't been out; the women had never been together.
There was a young fellow walked up to me; his name's Green; he's the
father of Brother Pearry Green. And he said, "You know, Brother
Branham, you was talking about a 'johnny pin' the other night." That's
really a... What is it? Bobby pin. He said, "You were talking about a
'johnny pin,'" said, "I got you a 'johnny pin.'" He gave it to me.
Now, that's a "johnny pin," ladies; that won't work in the hair. A
"johnny pin," he said--said he'd been using it for years, to hold the
pages of his Bible down. So he said, "I'll give you a genuine 'johnny
pin.'" So Brother Green, if you're here somewhere or listening in, that
"johnny pin's" a dandy, just holds it right.
30 Now, we want to get into
the Scriptures right away. And I want you to turn with me now to Psalms
55, and then also Matthew 3. And my subject tonight was Brother Ernie's
topic: "On The Wings Of A Snow-white Dove." Now, I won't be able to
strike all the notes and Scriptures that I got here, because I'll just
kinda skip over a few of them, and because I promised the message.
The Lord willing, for Yuma next Saturday night, I want to preach on the
conditions for the rapture if the Lord willing.
32 In Psalms 53... I beg your
pardon, Psalms 55:
Give ear... (pardon? 55, yes, sir)
Give ear to my
prayer, O God;... hide not thyself from my supplication.
Attend unto me, and
hear me: I mourn in my complaint, and make a noise;
Because of the voice
of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked: for they cast
iniquity upon me, and in wrath they hate me.
My heart is sore
pained within me: and the terror of death are fallen upon me.
Fearless and
trembling comings are come upon me, the horror has overwhelmed me.
And I said, Oh that
I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest.
Lo, then would I
wander far off, and remain in the wilderness. Selah. ("Selah" means "Amen")
33 David, a lover of the
wilderness, when he got distressed and the people wouldn't believe him,
and the enemies had come upon him, he said, "If I had the wings of a
dove, I would fly out into the wilderness and there remain." How many
times have I thought that same thing. If I could take my rifle off of
the wall, my camp bag, go out in the wilderness and never return again.
I've asked the Lord if I can live to see the day... I don't never want
a funeral service; I said, "If I can just go out in the woods
somewhere, set 'Old Blondie' against the tree..."
That's my rifle, excuse me, I--I--I say that on account of my wife
setting there. You know, that rifle a brother here gave me years ago, I
killed fifty-five head of game with it, without missing a shot, some of
them seven to eight hundred yards. I call it "Blondie" because my
wife's a brunette, so she said I think more of the rifle than I do her.
But...
So I--I'd like to set it against a tree, and say, "Lord, let Joseph
find it someday." I'd like to take the wings of a dove and fly away.
But just like one time up in the mountains and watching an eagle, and
seeing him fly away (You know my story of it.), I said, "It's good to
be here, Lord; like Peter said, 'we could build three tabernacles.' But
down at the foot of the mountain, the sick and the afflicted are
waiting; the lost and dying are waiting." So let us do what we can
while it's day, and someday there'll be a--the wings of a white Eagle
will come down; He'll bear us away.
37 Now, in Matthew 3:16, I'd
like to read 16 and 17:
And Jesus, when he
was baptized, went straightway up out of the water: and, lo, the
heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending
like a dove, and lighting upon him:
And lo a voice from
heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. (In other words, "in
Whom I'm pleased to dwell in")
38 Now, we want to speak a few
minutes on this bird. A dove has always been one of my favorite birds.
And thinking of a dove, a dove is really--and a pigeon is the same
bird. A pigeon is a domestic dove. They're both the same family. I've
looked it up and it is the same family. A pigeon and a dove, they're
both of the same family. The habits of these birds are outstanding.
I preached here some few years ago in a tent meeting out here with
Brother Moore, on "The Lamb And The Dove." I guess you all remember
that; and how that the dove is the most cleanest bird that we have, and
the lamb is the most meekest animal that we have. They're both
sacrificial bird and beast.
40 How beautiful it's typed
here as Jesus being the Lamb, and God being the Dove. And the dove
would not have settled on a wolf; his nature's not right. It couldn't
have settled on a dog; his nature's not right. It had to be on a lamb;
the two natures had to be the same. And that's the way we have to be;
our natures has to change from the roaring sinner to the meekness of a
lamb.
And did you notice the Dove led the Lamb? And notice, the Lamb forfeit
everything He had to the Dove. And look where the Dove led Him: to
crucifixion for the sins of us all.
Now, the Dove, if God wanted to represent His Son, He was represented
by the most cleanest and meekest animal on the earth, a earthbound
creature; but when God represented Himself in the heavens, was by the
meekest and most cleanest bird there is in the heavens: a dove.
43 Now, doves vary; there's
many different variations of them. Usually our turtledove is kind of a
gray-looking bird. And then there's a morning dove, and then there's
the evening dove. There's also called the Sonora dove that we have at
home; he's a little, gray fellow, little, bitty fellow with red stripes
on his wings. There's many different kinds of doves, and they vary in
colors. So is there same thing in the pigeons.
Now, the dove is a very odd constructed dove, because his habits that
he cannot eat anything that's unclean; he just couldn't do it, because
he's not built for it.
45 Now, I've always talked
about the dove being a symbol of God, and the crow being a symbol of
the hypocrite. A crow can set on an old dead carcass and eat all day
long, and fly right out in the field and eat wheat with the dove. But
the dove can eat wheat all right, but it can't eat the dead carcass.
See? He just can't do it; he can't stomach it. And I wondered why he
couldn't do it; they're both fowls, both birds. But why? It's the
structure of them.
That's the way it is with a genuine Christian. A just a denominational
Christian can just take anything, but a genuine, borned again Christian
cannot take the things of the world. He's constructed different.
47 I found out that the dove
don't have any gall. There's no gall in a dove, because he has no need
of it. So that's the way it is with a Christian, he doesn't need any
bitterness (See?) 'cause he only can eat the food of God. And it
doesn't take bitterness to dissolve that; takes love (See?) so he--to
dissolve the food. Bitterness: "Oh," they say, "well..." they
difference with It. But love always receives It, the Word of God.
Now, he has no gall; so therefore, he could not... It's just against
him to eat anything bad. And if he would, it would kill him. But
there's no danger, he isn't going to eat it, because he has no appetite
for it.
50 And that's the way with a
real Christian. Did you know a real Christian doesn't have even any sin
at all imputed to him? David said, "Blessed is the man who God will not
impute sin to." When you're washed in the Blood of the Lamb (not by
make-belief, but really the--the Blood of the Lamb), God does not
impute to you anything that's done, because you're under the Blood and
He doesn't see it. There's a Blood sacrifice; the only thing He can see
you in, is the way He saw you before the foundation of the world when
He put your name in the Lamb's Book of Life. That's all He can look at,
because you are redeemed from everything that was ever done; you're
washed in the Blood of the Lamb. Therefore, there's no gall in you;
there's no unclean habit in you; because that the Blood of the Lamb has
did this; and God cannot impute sin to you after you've got a
sin-offering laying there waiting for you.
"Why," you say, "that gives me plenty of room then, Brother Branham; I
can do what I want to." I always do, always. But when a man can really
see what Jesus done for him, and turn around and do something contrary
to Him, it shows he never received Christ.
52 I got a little wife setting
back there. She's ten years younger than me, and as gray as I am. The
reason is because she's stood between me and the--and the outside
world. If I was going overseas, and I'd... Wouldn't this be some sort
of a family to live in, if I'd gather my family around me and I'd say:
"Looky here, Mrs. Branham; you want to realize that you're Mrs. William
Branham. Thou shalt not have any other husbands while I'm gone. Don't
you make eyes at any other man," and all these things. "Don't you flirt
at all. If you do, when I come back I'm going to divorce you."
And she'd turn around and say, "Now, my good man, I want to tell you
something also. Thou shalt not take out any other woman while you're
gone. Thou shalt not do this and that. If you do, just consider
yourself divorced when you come home."
Now, wouldn't that be a loving family? Uh-huh. See? No. If I really
love her, though I believe if I did make a mistake and slip and do
something wrong, I believe she'd forgive me for it because she loves
me. And if she did, I believe I'd forgive her for it; certainly,
because I love her. But if I love her like that, as long as I love her
like that she has no worry. Though she would forgive me, I wouldn't
hurt her for nothing. I--I--I'd feel the guiltiest guy in the world; I
couldn't wait for the minute I'd tell her about what I done, because I
love her. Well, that's... If I love her with phileo love like that, how
much greater would my agapao love be to Jesus Christ?
55 Though I might smoke a cigarette, I never in my life; but though I would, He might forgive me for it; I believe He would. If I took a drink, I never in my life, but I believe He'd forgive me for it. And I love Him too much. God, help me; I don't want to do anything like that (See?), because I love Him. That stuff is gone from me, because when He changed me from a crow to a dove it made a difference; my appetite and things left me; then sin is not imputed to me, because I don't aim to do it; it's not in me to do it.
56 Now, another great thing
about this dove. He's a strange bird. Did you ever see all the birds...
One of my favorite birds is a robin. Now, you boys quit shooting at my
robins (See?), 'cause I don't want you doing that. My robin, you know
how he got his red breast? You know, one day there was a Man dying on
the cross; nobody would help Him; God had forsaken the Man, and He was
dying. His hands had nails in them; His feet and his side a-bleeding,
crown on His head and thorns, blood running over His face. And there
was a little bird passed by, a little, brown bird. And he looked at
that, was--thought it was the most pitiful sight he ever saw. And he
knowed he was just a little bird, but he looked at them great big, old
cruel Roman nails drove in His hand, and he flew in with his little
beak and tried to pull them loose. He got his breast all bathed with
blood, since then it's been red. I want my breast shielded with His
Blood too, defending Him when I come to meet Him. I love a little robin.
58 But, you know, a little
robin has to take a bath; but, you know, a dove don't have to; no. He's
got some kind of oil on the inside of him that oils him and keeps him
clean from the inside out. You know that? The dove has. The dove oils
himself. Did you ever pick up one, smell that odor on him, a pigeon or
something? That's oil that's produced from the inside of him. His body
makes up a oil gland that keeps his feathers always clean on the
outside because he's clean from the inside out. That's right. He's a
marvelous little bird.
Now, I know you can hunt them here, I think, in Louisiana. Don't do
that. Oh, I couldn't do it. I guess if I was hungry, it'd be all right,
but I--I just couldn't pull the trigger on one if I had to.
60 There's... A dove has a
great strange thing in our family. One day when my grandmother... She
come from up here in Kentucky, off the Cherokee reservation. She was
dying, a little woman, and she was... They had... I think they call it
scrofula or something; she was dying. And grandfather knelt down by the
side of the bed; while Mama, Aunt Birtie, Aunt Howlie, all of them
knelt around the bed; Uncle Charlie (little bitty, four-year-old boy,)
the baby; Mama, the oldest, being about twelve years old. And she had
combed her black hair out on the bed, and she started singing, "Rock of
Ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in Thee," when she was dying.
Grandpa, at that time, wasn't a Christian. I baptized him at
eighty-seven years old, in the Name of Jesus Christ, at the foot of the
river there where the Angel of the Lord appeared.
But while she was singing this song, with her feeble little hands up in
the air, a dove flew in the door, come around, set down on the top of
the bed, started cooing. God took her soul.
62 I went over to London,
England with Brother Jack and with Brother Gordon Lindsay, and there'd
been a woman by the name of Florence Nightingale (claims to be, I
think, a great-granddaughter or something of the late Florence
Nightingale) that wrote me many letters. She was down in South Africa,
dying with a cancer. And she had a picture; you seen it in the book. I
never seen a mortal like that in my life. Brother Jack, I believe, was
with me that day. We went into a minister's house at the rectory, just
behind the church where they'd brought her.
While we were yet out on the... Where the plane come down, they paged
us, and she was in a ambulance there then; had been flown up from--from
down in South Africa, knowing that I was coming to England at that
time. The minister took her to the rectory, so we went back there to
pray for her.
64 I've seen lots of sick
people, but her little arms didn't look over a inch across, her--her
skull where it laces together, you could see it. And she--her limbs way
up here around her hips wasn't over that, about two inches across, just
the bone. And she couldn't raise her hands; she was too weak to raise
her hands. And she was trying to say something, and I couldn't
understand her. And when I finally got to hear, I believe through a
nurse, she said, "Brother Branham, pray that God will let me die." She
couldn't--didn't want to live. And I noticed, and tears was running off
of the side of them bone on her face. Where she got enough moisture
about her to cry, I don't know; for her veins was collapsed, and she
was in a terrible condition. Coming to pray for the sick, I couldn't
pray for her to die. But she just looked like couldn't die; she just
lingering on.
I knelt down with your pastor in the room to pray. And when I knelt
down to pray, a little dove flew up by the window, begin cooing. When I
finished praying, I thought it was a pet dove there somewhere. Foggy
outside, how England is, the British Isles there... And this little
dove quit cooing, and flew away. I walked over and laid hands upon her
and called the Name of the Lord. And the woman is a great big, strong
healthy woman today, "On the wings of a Dove."
He keeps hisself clean from the inside. A Christian does that too; he
cleans from the inside. That keeps the malice... He don't need any gall
to digest anything, because he doesn't eat it. See? He's clean from the
inside out.
67 Now, we notice that this
bird... Many things I've got written down here, but the clock keeps
moving around. This bird was also used in the Old Testament for
sacrifice, for an atonement, and for cleansing. Let's just refer here
to one in Genesis 15:9. Let's think of this verse just for a moment.
Now, Abraham was--asked God here, how would He do this. And God is
making His Word back to Abraham, and He does it in a strange way. Begin
with about the... Let's begin at the 1st verse. I don't like to hurry
this.
After these things
the word of the LORD came unto Abraham in a vision,... (See, Abraham was a
prophet, so he saw visions.)... Fear not, Abraham: I am thy
shield, and... exceeding... reward. (Jehovah-mannasses.
See?)
And Abraham said,
Lo... said, Lord God,... (Notice,
capital L, Lord God, Elohim. See?)... Lord God,... (in the vision)...
what will thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my
house is this Eliezer of Damascus?
And Abram said,
Behold, to me thou has given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is
my heir.
And behold, the word
of the LORD came to him, saying, This shall not be thy heir;... (Done made him a
promise, you know. Not... See, right then Abraham would've failed, but
the promise is unconditional; the covenant, unconditional)...
but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine
heir. (And
he's a hundred years old now.)
And he brought him
forth abroad, and said, Look now towards the heavens, and tell the
stars, if thou are able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall
thy seed be. (A
man without a child, and now a hundred years old)
And he believed in
the LORD; and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
And he said unto
him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur, out of the Chaldeans,
to give thee the land to inherit it.
And he said unto
Him, Lo, Lord... or Lord... whereby shall I know that I shall inherit
it?
Now, listen to this:
And he said unto
him, Take me a heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years
old,... (watch
the threes now, "three years old")... and a ram of three years
old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon. (Both the same
people, both the same thing... See, it was used in a sacrifice that he
was foreshowing Jesus.)
69 The covenant was made...
You know, how he cleave them apart, and how that this...
Or the old times, when they took--made a covenant, they would take and
write the--the agreement up, and kill an animal, stand in between it,
tear the covenant in two, one person took one part...
Like the Chinese laundry used to do. The Chinaman here, he couldn't
write English, so he wrote on there and tore a piece of paper and
handed you a part. And you--you remember the Chinese laundries when
they used to do that. And you... Their--their two ends had to compare,
to get your clothes. See? And you couldn't fool him, 'cause he had the
other end of it. You might recopy your name, but you can't retear that
paper. See? So he had... It had to be the same piece of paper.
So that's the way they done it in the oriental days, long--or long ago
in the eastern days. They'd kill a animal, stand in between it, tear
the piece of goatskin apart, one took one... And when the covenant was
confirmed, they brought the pieces together and they had to dovetail
just exactly.
73 Now, what God is showing
him here is this: on these sacrifices is speaking of Christ; that how
God took Jesus to the Calvary and tore Him apart, and received the body
up into heaven, and sent the Spirit down upon us, that the same Spirit
was on Him has to be on you to dovetail with the Body, to be the Bride
at the end time. See, see? That's right. See? Won't be a denomination
now, It'll be the Word, what He was. See?
But like that Word has to come to Word, like cell in a human being. You
know, when your--your body's being built, it isn't one cell of a human,
next of a dog, and next of a pig. Oh, no, no. It's all human cell.
That's the way the Body of Christ is, all the Word of God, not just
part of It, some tradition added to It; no, It's all the Body of Christ.
Now, we find here that he used both a turtledove and a young pigeon,
because they are the selfsame family. Now, you always...
76 So notice. I just refer to
a couple of these Scriptures: Leviticus 12, and the 6th verse. We find
here that the order of a woman being purified; if the woman had a baby,
she had to wait. If it was a boy, she had to wait for thirty-three days
before she could enter the congregation with the doves for
purification. If she had a girl, she had to wait ninety-six days before
she could enter the congregation.
Now, we find here, the 6th verse:
And when the days of
her purification are fulfilled, for a son, or for a daughter, she shall
bring a lamb of the first year for a burnt-offering, and a young
pigeon, or a turtledove, for a sin-offering, unto the door of the
tabernacle of the congregation, unto the priest:
See, she can't come in yet because her days isn't finished yet, but she
can give this to the--the priest at the door, for her offering. See,
either a turtledove or a young pigeon, they're both the same family.
79 Now, it--now it was used
for atonements, and in the atonement for sin, one dove. Or of leprosy,
which is a type of sin, you brought two doves: one's head was taken
off, turned upside down and bled on the other one; and then the other
dove was set free. And when the dove flew, he bathed the ground with
his blood of his mate, and the blood cried out to God, "Holy, Holy,
Holy is the Lord God."
Can't you see the dying Mate Jesus Christ, was killed and sprinkled
upon us, that we should go free, crying out "Holy, Holy, Holy, unto the
Lord." What beautiful types. Wished I had some voice. Now, type the
great Holy Spirit as we just read in Revelations 3:16.
82 Used of God for signs, this
dove was. Noah was given a sign, as the brother just sang about it. God
was displeased, and there was nothing going to stay His wrath, for He
said, "The day you eat thereof, that day you die." And Noah had found
grace with God and had built an ark according to the constructions--the
instructions, rather, that He had given him. And he had been floated up.
I can imagine his--what happened in them days when they said, "This old
man up on the hill, an old fanatic, building an ark, saying it's going
to rain, it never has rained." But it...
Noah said, "It's going to rain anyhow."
And then I know the day that he went in, I think what... can't think of
what day it was, I believe the seventeenth day of May. Noah entered
into the ark, and God shut the door.
And the clouds begin to come; the rains begin to fall; the sewers begin
to fill up; the fountains of the deep broke up; the springs all belched
up their water. Finally people got into the houses, climbed up. The old
ark set right there just the same.
After while when enough begin to get around her, she begin to rise up
higher and higher. The people knocked at the doors and screamed, but it
did no--no good, Noah could not open the door. God closed it; God's the
only One can open it.
So is it at our Ark, Jesus Christ; God opened the door for us on
Calvary, He'll close it just as sure as He opened it.
89 And it floated, and on and
on, maybe a mile's deep over the top of the earth when this earth was
tumbling out from the way from the--the--its regular orbit. And around
and around it went, and chunks, and trees, and above the mountains and
so forth, pitching for forty days and nights... And when the winds
begin to cease...
God's wrath is horrible. His love is pure and Divine; and His wrath is
just as Divine--it's as Divine as His love is, because He must pass
judgment because He is a Judge. He's a Law-giver, and law without
penalty is not law. So there must be a penalty to law. And you
transgress God's laws, that's when you pay the penalty.
92 Now, we notice that after
Noah floating up there, no doubt seasick from all that roaring and
popping, and the wrath of God mashing and crushing, and screams and so
forth. Then it begin to quieten down; nothing happened. Days passed;
nothing happened. Perhaps the food supply for the animals and so forth
running low, nothing happened. So he thought, "Wonder... I can't see
out."
The ark was so constructed (when you were once in it), there was only
one window in it, and it was right in the top. You couldn't look
sideways; you couldn't look no way but straight up. And that's the way
the Ark, Jesus Christ, is. You can't look at the next fellow; you can't
look at nothing but Christ when you're in the Ark, because there's only
one door, and He is that Door we talked about this morning. You have to
keep looking up, "For he that will put his hand to the plow and even
turn to look back, is not worthy of the plowing."
94 Now, as in this ark... And he could see light, and perhaps sunlight, but he wondered where he was. The ark was still a-floating; he could hear the waves against the sides, but he knew that there'd been many days; surely the water was receding by that time. So he went and got an untrusted bird, treacherous, and he tried him, and he sent him out. He was a crow, and that crow never did return, because he found pleasure out there, outside the ark of God. He flew from one old dead body to another, eating the carcasses and the a-carrion that was floating on the water; and he was perfectly satisfied.
95 So after several days he
tried again, for he knowed... He didn't want to step out in the wrath
of God. So he turned a dove loose. And this dove was of a different
nature than the... It was not a vulture; neither is it a scavenger; it
can only eat the clean pure things. And it was so satisfied because it
couldn't find nothing else to put the soles of his feet on, it returned
back to the ark. Noah said, "Well, the flood's still on."
Then he waited several other days, and he sent out again; like his
prayer, "O God, has Your wrath been appeased? Is--is--is Your wrath
over, Lord? Is it all done?" And he said, "Now, if I send her out this
time, she may stay out there if the floods are down; she may stay." But
he sent her out by prayer, and then when she went out there directed by
God, she picked off a holly leaf off of a tree, and flew back and
pecked on the window again.
God used the dove for a sign. She come back saying that the flood is
over, and then God opened the door, and they went out. That's Genesis
8:8.
98 Also used in Matthew 3:16,
again when God's wrath was on the earth. And there was no way, the
darkest of night, midnight, the churches had got things in such a twist
till there was no way to get out of it. And there was false teachers,
all kinds of things coming up, all kinds of professions coming up, but
God used a dove again. It pleased Him; His Son Jesus had pleased Him so
well, that He identified Him.
Now, they couldn't believe that this Baby that was born down there in
that stable in a manger of hay, before his father and mother,
supposingly to be, was married. They couldn't imagine God using
anything like that. So He had to be identified to the world; and that
day down on the river, when He walked down to prove Hisself God's
Masterpiece (that I talked about this morning)... When He was obedient
to walk into the water...
100 Now, if you notice there,
there's a great lesson. John was the greatest man on earth at the time.
Jesus said, "There never was a man borned of a woman as great as he,"
to that time. And he was a prophet. You believe that? Now, remember, if
the Word of God will come to anything in the land, it'll be a prophet.
That's always God's way. Do you believe that Jesus was the Word
manifested in flesh? So there's only one way He can come to be
introduced; not by the priests.
He didn't go up and say, "Caiaphas, will you introduce Me?" If He did,
He made the same mistake that David did in our lesson the other day
(See?); if He went up to the church, and said, "Will you introduce
Me?"...
102 Just notice when He was
borned even. When He was borned, He was borned in the shadow of the
church. And they was probably rang the bells and everything, but it was
shepherds that recognized Him and Magi. See?
And here He is now, on... ready for His ministry. And if He is the
Word... According to God's great plan, the Word can only... The Lord
God does nothing until He first reveals It to His servants the
prophets. That's always His pattern, has to be; when the Seals were
opened, when anything else. Any major event taking place in the earth,
God reveals it to His prophets. And John was the prophet, for he was
prophesying He'd come.
Then down off the side of a hill one day, when a discussion was going
on, a bunch of priests standing around... And they said, "Do you mean
to tell me that you call yourself a prophet, and stand over there in
that mud?" (Not in a church, because they wouldn't have him.) "Stand
over in that mud, and tell me that the hour's coming when the great
Jehovah who ordained these sacrifices, when great Jehovah who built
this temple, who came into it as a Pillar of Fire, the day will come
when that daily sacrifice will be taken away?"
He said, "There will come a Man, and He's among you now (somewhere out
there), and He will take away the sin." The priest was disgusted with
him.
108 John looked up. Now, what
is he? The prophet. And here is the Word; there comes the Word coming
right straight to the prophet, right to the water. John said, "Behold,
the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. There He is;
that's Him." Jesus never spoke a word, walked right out into the water.
And I can see there, standing in that water (Think of a drama.), two of
the greatest that ever struck the earth: God the Word, and His prophet.
Notice. The Word come to the prophet in this dispensation of grace in
the water. Uh-huh. I thought you'd catch it. Uh-huh. In the water, the
first revelation of the Word was in the water. Now, you see where the
Bride started, the Evening-light Message? In the water. The Word, true
Word not mixed up with creeds, but come to the prophet in the water, by
the water.
110 Notice. Could you imagine
the eyes of the Word and the eyes of the prophet meeting in the water?
Oh, that's too much for me. There stood the prophet; there stood the
Word, looking in each others' eyes. And the prophet said, "I have need
to be baptized of Thee, why comest Thou unto me?" And the Word said...
It has to be true.
Now, let me give a drama here. "John, you're a prophet, you know the
Word. (See?) You recognize Me, you know Who I am."
"I have need to be baptized of Thee," John said.
Jesus said, "Suffer that to be so. That's exactly right; you do have
need to be baptized of Me. But remember, John, being a prophet, it is
behooving to us, or becoming to us (as the Word and the prophet), that
we fulfill every Word. For, John (Here's the revelation now.)--John,
you know Who I am, I am the Sacrifice. And according to the Word of
God, the sacrifice had to be washed before it was presented for
sacrifice." Is that right? The Word... "The lamb was washed and then
presented for sacrifice, and I am that Lamb. And I must be washed
before I can be presented to the world for a Sacrifice. Suffer it to be
so, John, for thus it is becoming to us as the Word and the prophet
together."
115 Well, there can't be a
mistake. Now, everyone of these things...
Now, see, if it wasn't that very setup, John would've been like any of
the rest of us; so they say, "Yeah, I--I know Who you are, Lord."
"Well," He said, "wait a minute, I'm the Word. 'Man shall not live by
bread alone, but by every Word.' Eve left off one, but you got to take
every Word. And I am that Sacrifice, and I must be washed before I'm
presented. But what you said, John, is true."
John being a prophet, knowing the Word had to be fulfilled, he suffered
that and baptized Him. And when He was raised up out of the water,
there come the Message from heaven on the wings of a Dove, "This is My
beloved Son." He sent the redemption Message of grace on the wings of a
Dove, come flying down out of the heavens. "Peace on earth, good will
toward men." The Sacrifice was ready right then; It's been raised, fed,
His ministry was ready, a Word that would redeem the whole world, "It's
over."
119 The dove is used in the
Bible as a symbol of peace, and also it's used by nations as a symbol
of peace. We have nations... Our nation is represented by an eagle. And
there's other birds of other nations. Rome has an eagle. Germany has an
eagle; many of them, great birds of the sky. But in all of them, the
dove symbolizes peace in all nations. It's a universal thing.
Just like Brother Green said one night, Brother Pearry Green said, "The
symbol of surrender is raise your hands. Any nation, raise up your
hands, it's surrender." He said, "When you sing, raise up your hands,
you surrender it all."
And the dove is the symbol of peace in every nation. Why is it done?
Because of its gentleness and because of its innocence. That's the
reason it symbols peace.
122 Another thing about the
dove, it is a home-loving bird. It loves to stay home. And another
thing it is, it's always loyal to its mate. The dove, male or female,
never leave one another. That female finds her mate in mating season.
See? That's complimentary to God's great creation. That's the reason He
made Eve a byproduct. See? If she'd have been made like other females,
when the time come for her mating time, she'd have found her mate; but
she could any time. See? And that's the way; that's what it is. I
just... We don't want to go into that, because I've got it on "Marriage
and Divorce" and so forth. And how it... But yet she's honorable and
brought that virtue, and you know I preached on it the other night. All
right, notice, she's got a great responsibility.
But the dove is always loyal to his mate: always, never leaves her.
125 And may I stop here just
for a minute to say this: a true Bride, female dove, is loyal to her
Mate too. It won't inject any dogmas, any denominational doctrines,
anything of the world. It'll stay loyal to its Mate, the Word: always
loyal.
And by this home-loving conduct, by the conduct of its home-loving, it
has been successfully used for a--a carrier pigeon. Because it loves
home, you turn it loose anywhere, it'll always go back home. It'll go
back home.
We'd like to stress on that a little while, and you Christians would
understand what I mean. It always finds its way back home; so
therefore, it's been used for carrier pigeon. It's used in time of war,
used to be; they still use them, carrier pigeons to carry a message. So
you see, then that makes the dove both by God and man, a messenger; a
dove is a messenger. It was a messenger to Noah, to tell Noah that
there's peace again. It was used by God to vindicate that this was His
Son, the Sacrifice to bring peace upon the earth and goodwill to man.
It was used as a messenger.
128 Right here I have a little
story in my mind, I read one time out of a book. Now, I don't want to
say this is sure; it may be in "The Decline of the First World War."
I'm not positive of that now; if you miss seeing it, then I'm wrong. I
either read it in a book... It's been many years ago. But it was
certainly a--a really a--a dramatic thing that happened.
The American soldiers was pinned down by German machine-gun fire, and
they were in kind of a pit. You soldiers, I guess, understand how they
were on a reconnaissance somewhere. And they was pinned down, and they
had just a little bit of ammunition left. And the Germans was moving in
great units, moving in everywhere. And they knowed that unless they'd
get some reinforcement, some help, that they would soon all die (they
had to); the Germans coming right down off the mountain, looking right
down their neck, going right into them like that.
130 And one of them happened to
remember that he had a little mascot, a little pigeon. So he knew that
this pigeon, if it could get out of there, would carry the message to
the main headquarters to where they'd been stationed. And so they set
down and wrote on a note, "We are pinned down in a certain position at
a certain area. We're out of ammunition, in a few hours we'll have to
surrender or either we'll be massacred." And they pinned this, or tied
it on the--the foot of this little dove and turned him loose.
Now, he's a home-loving bird, so he... What does he do? He takes back
home for his--meet, find his mate. She was worried about him; he'd have
to come back home.
132 And as he went up, the
Germans seen what had happened. So the thing they done, they started
shooting at the dove. And one of them hit him with a .30 caliber
machine gun, or bullet, it broke his leg. Another one tore a big hunk
out of his back. His chest was bruised all the way across. One of his
wings was crippled, the end shot off of it, and he flew sideways. But
he kept climbing, and finally he made it. Crippled, wounded, broken,
bruised, but he fell in the camp with the message. That was a great
dove.
But, oh, brother, Isaiah 53 tells us of One, came down from home and
all that was good:
And he was wounded
for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquity: the
chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we were
healed.
134 Sickness, superstition, and
devils had us pinned down; there was no way out; the church had gone
wrong; they'd went off on denominational things (and the Pharisees,
Sadducees, and washing of pots and pans), and the Word of God become of
no effect. But this little Dove came down, and there's only one thing
could take place: there had to be a redeemer.
But being wounded, broken, beaten, torn, but He knowed His way back
home. So from Calvary's cross where they bruised Him, mashed Him, tore
Him, like a bunch of wolves upon Him, He made His flight from Calvary
and then landed in heaven's doors, saying, "It's finished. It's
finished. They're free. Sickness can be healed now. Sinners can be
saved. The captive can be set free."
Though He was bruised and wounded, that great battle there when even
everything against Him... Even the poet cried out.
Mid
rendering rocks and darkening skies,
My
Saviour bowed His head and died;
But
the opening veil revealed the way
To
heaven's joy and endless day.
137 I've been a neurotic all my
life. As a little boy there was something struck me, that scare me,
about every seven years it would happen to me. Brother Jack remembers
when I first started, come off the field for a year; something just
happened.
I remember the day that Juanita Hemphill... I think her name's Juanita
Kelly now; she married Brother Kelly after the death of her husband.
Anna Jeanne, I've got their pictures and things, they were such... And
her... And them two girls and Sister Moore had a--a little trio. They
sang that song that I never forget: "Looking Beyond the Sunset."
Brother Jack, you remember, I guess, coming up from Florida. What fine
little girls.
139 And I remember that morning
a little Pentecostal group from up here in northern part of the
country, in Michigan somewhere, those girls stood out there when
Brother Hooper... I seen him here the other night, I... He may not be
here now, Brother Ed Hooper. Are you here, Brother Ed? I don't think
he... He set here the other night. None... Many of you know him. He and
I, and Brother Hooley, we was leaving. And those girls standing there
on the corner singing that, gave us, each one, a yellow rose that they
took out of their hair. (That's where that maniac had been healed down
there; great things had took place.)
Coming up the road just as happy as I could be, all of a sudden it
struck me; a year later 'fore I entered the field again, just killed me.
141 Since a little boy, I
always said I didn't know what a vision was. A little boy, I always
said, "If I--if I'd only fall in one of those trance, and see that I'd
get well." That time... I always wanted to go to Mayo's to find out
what was wrong. The doctors there...
My stomach gets sour; and oh, my. Brother Jack's helped me around the
house. I walk right around the house; and just a hot greasy water like,
flying out of my mouth. And walk to the pulpit, and pray for people
that was twice that bad, and be healed. I've had them lay my hands on a
man with a cancer on his face, and the cancer left his face, standing
there; and I was so sick I couldn't stand up.
143 And you don't know what
I've suffered; just mental oppression. Every seven years it's come, all
my life. That's where I'm at now, seven eights.
So I was--I was so distressed; I cried, I begged, I pleaded. And I
remember when I finally thought I had enough money to go to Mayo's for
an examination; they said, "They'll find what your trouble is." Wife
and I, and Becky back there... Sarah was a little, bitty fellow. I had
just entered my healing ministry. And we took off to Mayo's.
I went through the clinic. And the night before I'd find--had my finals
the next morning, I just woke up and was setting there on the bed
looking around. And I looked out in front of me, and there was a little
boy, looked just like me, about seven years old; and looked at it, and
it was me. And he was standing by an old snag tree. And on that tree...
147 Any of you squirrel hunters
know you can rub a stick up and down on a tree like that, and it'll
scare a squirrel and run him out if he's in the hollow.
And I was seeing there where that squirrel had been, and I thought,
"What kind of squirrel is that?" and I rubbed it. And when I did, I
looked over and it was me then about thirty-eight years old, the little
boy was gone. So I rubbed that limb, and out of the hollow log, pole,
come a little squirrel about that long, dark, almost black, and looked
like little currents flying from him; little bitty beady eyes, the
wickedest looking thing that I ever seen, looked like a weasel more
than a squirrel.
149 And he looked right at me.
And I opened my mouth to say, "Well..." And when I did, he... Before
you could've batted your eye, he flew right into my mouth, went down
into my stomach, and just tearing me to pieces. And as I come out of
the vision, with my hands up, looking, I went a-screaming, "O God, have
mercy. It's killing me."
I heard a Voice way down in the room, say, "Remember, it's only six
inches long."
How many's heard that story? I've told you that many times, the people
around the Tabernacle.
Well, on and on it went, suffering just the same.
Mayo Brothers, the next day, examined me. Said, "Your father was an
Irishman; he drank. Your mother being a half Indian, that makes you
almost a half-breed. So you'd be... You're--you're--you're just such a
nervous wreck until you'll never be out of it." Said, "Otherwise,
you're healthy. But that, that's something in the soul that man cannot
control." Said, "You will..." Said, "When a man dies, can't hold a
autopsy, 'cause his soul's gone." He said, "Well, you'll never get over
it."
154 And that guy said, my old
doctor, said, "My father had it; he died at about eighty-five, ninety
years old," somewhere along there, he said. And said, "A month or two
before he died, I examined him; had it all of his life, he'd get them"
said, "spells."
"Some people," said, "they get it; they're high tempered"; said,
"that's the kind that'll kill you." He said, "The other kind, like
women in menopause, they cry. You got the kind that's kind of a weary
feeling." Said, "The old-timers used to call it 'had the blues'; it
wouldn't leave them." Said, "When that hits you, your stomach sours;
you're just upset."
I said, "But, sir, I don't do nothing." I said, "I'm happy."
Said, "That's right. That's just out of the human grab bag." Said,
"You'll always have it." Oh, what a discouraging thing.
But the words, to think it, "Remember, it's only six inches long,"
that's hung with me, as my dear wife back there can tell you. Year
after year, I've thought of that.
159 And then, going overseas
this last time, I was... Before... Well, I was back home, and I was on
a squirrel-hunting trip. I jumped out of the car with Brother Banks
Wood, who's listening in tonight, and I started to run up the hill, and
looked like my heart would jump out of me.
And I asked Dr. Sam Adair; I said, "What does that?"
He said, "Next time you have it, get a cardiogram."
Said, "All right."
So it happened again in the next year, and went and took the
cardiogram. He said, "Nothing wrong with your heart," said, "you're
just nervous." Started coming on then...
164 Well, another doctor said
to me, a good friend of mine, said, "That's your heart, boy," said,
"you better be careful." That's the year I called Brother Moore and he
got somebody to preach in my stead, when I went on that ram hunt with
Brother Fred. I'd go up over mountains just like I did when I was
sixteen years old, mile after mile, running; never bothered me a bit.
See?
I come back and told Sam. He said, "Well, there's something wrong;
you'd better be careful."
Then I saw a vision of an old doctor standing with those--old fashion
doctor with stethoscopes over his arm. He said... He was standing in
front of me one day; he said, "Don't let them tell you that's your
heart; that's your stomach."
So I--I thought, "Well, I'll just take that word, 'cause it was a
vision. Come on."
168 I started to Africa; to get
some shots, and I had to take a bunch of shots before going to Africa;
that's the law. So when I was getting these shots, he said, "Why, I
can't find one thing wrong with you." Said, "Your hemoglobin, your
blood's ninety-six, it's ninety-six." Said, "If you was sixteen years
old, it wouldn't be any worse--wouldn't be any better." And said,
"Heart enough to beat you a hundred years. Lungs, everything," said,
"you're all right; no sugar, nothing."
I said, "Thank you." So I got a physical test, and--and to take my--my
health certificate to the board.
So he said, "You know anything about it?"
I said, "Nothing but persistent souring in the stomach all the time."
He said, "Well, I'll tell you." He said...
I said, "Oh, I've been examined. I've been to Mayo Brothers, and
everywhere."
174 He said, "But wait a minute." He said, "Sometimes a ulcer is so little till that barium meal won't show it; and sometimes it's too big to show it, because an X-ray is only a shadow. And a little bitty ulcer, you can't see it, it won't enough stick. Whole lot of little bitty ulcers could do that." He said, "I know an old doctor up here that's found an instrument; they got it now; they can put you to sleep with a little sodium pentothal, put a tube in your throat, and they just actually look down in your stomach and see what's wrong." Said, "He..." Said, "He's your type of people; he's a Christian." Said, "Why don't you go see him."
175 I took his name: Dr. Van
Ravensworth. So when I come back, I went up to see the old doctor. Oh,
he's a fine old man from Dutch East Indies, out of a big line of
missionaries. And he had heard of me and read my book, and oh, he just
shook my hand; he said, "Brother Branham, I'd be glad to do that for
you." He said, "Tell you what to do; next week you run over at the
hospital over here," and said, "and call me up before you go." And
said, "I have to give you a little shot of pentothal." And said, "Then
when I do," said, "it puts you to sleep for five minutes."
My little girl had just took it to have a tooth pulled, and Brother
Norman's little girl. "A five minute sleep," I thought, "that won't
bother me." So I thought I'd be satisfied then to look at it.
177 And then the next morning,
I raised up in the bed and looked around; I looked over in the twin
bed; my wife over there, she hadn't woke up yet. And I was looking out
the window towards the great Catalina Mountains there where I live, and
I looked up there where the Angel of the Lord put that Sword in my
hand, where the seven Angels that you see in the picture appeared,
great things taken place.
And I looked, and as I looked, there I was standing by that tree again,
right where that squirrel was. I looked up there; I thought, "That's
that squirrel's den." And I thought, "Wonder if he's still up there?"
(in the vision). I raked the side of the tree, out he come. And before
I could even bat my eye (He was the oddest looking squirrel I ever
seen; now, you'll have to know my ministry to know these symbols and
things.), he jumped at me but he missed me; He missed my mouth, hit on
my chest and fell off.
And as soon as he did, I heard Something said, "Go to the Catalina
Mountains."
180 So I turned around; I said,
"Meda, are you awake, honey?" And I woke her up.
She said, "What's the matter?" About five o'clock in the morning...
I said, "I was looking out here, and I saw that squirrel again, Honey."
"What squirrel?"
I said, "The one I seen up there at Mayo's." I said, "You know what? He
missed my mouth this time; he never hit me; he went out on my chest." I
said, "Praise be to God. I've looked, oh, since a little boy, I have
longed to see that happen. If I could ever see that happen, not even...
Before I knowed what a vision was, if I could ever see that happen,
then I said, 'I'd be all right. Whatever that told me, that's what I'd
be.' And for forty years I've looked for that, and there it happened."
Before, when I was at Mayo's, the same time I was up there when they
give me that message, and I saw the vision...
186 My old mother that's gone
on to glory now, very odd woman, she had about three or four dreams in
her life, and they were always true. She'd tell me, and the... She'd
start to tell me, I'd tell... I'd say, "Stop right... Mama, I'll tell
you what the rest of it is." See?
'Cause always when you give me a dream to interpret, you don't always
tell me just exactly what it is. Then when I see it over again, I see
exactly what you dreamed about, then He tells me what it is. See? You
don't have to tell me what the dream is, He shows me the dream Himself.
See? And then I see, I say, "Well, you didn't tell me this and tell me
that." See? And so the God that can interpret a dream, can show a
dream; He can show one; He can interpret it. And so then...
188 Well, wasn't there
something like that in the Bible, said, "If you can..." I--I... Just
happened to come to me. Daniel, wasn't it? Or, no, Joseph--Joseph.
Well, it's somewhere in the Bible. I just remembered that, said, "If
you can show me... If you can tell me what a..." Oh, it's King
Nebuchadnezzar; that's right. Said, "If you can... If you can't..."
The magicians said, "Tell me the dream."
He said, "It's gone from me." That's right. That, I remember that; just
thought of it then.
Now, notice. And mama, she said, "Billy," when I come back, she said,
"come here, son, and set down." She said, "I had a strange dream. I
dreamed that I seen you laying sick, just about to die with your
stomach as usual." How many diets has she cooked me. And she said, "You
were building a house upon a hill." And said, "I seen six white doves
come down from heaven, cooing, in a letter 'S' and they set upon your
chest. And you was looking, and the one in front was trying to tell you
something." Said, "They was real glossy, white doves. And they took
their little heads and put against your cheek, and going, 'coo, coo,
coo,'" And said, "I couldn't understand it." Said, "They just kept
going, 'coo, coo, coo.'"
I said, "Oh, I see it, praise the Lord." And said, "They formed their
letter 'S' again and went back up into the skies, going 'coo, coo, coo,
coo,' going back home."
Well, the little animal that I saw was six inches long. The string of
doves that Mom saw was six; six is incomplete. I knew that someday I'd
see that seventh one. That was man, suffering; so on and on it went.
193 That morning, I got up
after seeing this vision; obeyed the Lord. I took my little boy Joseph
to school (He's listening to me now in Tucson). I took him to school,
and told Meda I didn't know when I'd be back.
And I took off up into Catalina, up into the--the foothills, and--and
went up into the place where the Angel of the Lord put the Sword in my
hand. Real early; and started climbing up the mountain.
Well, instead of going up in the peaks this a-way (which there's a lot
snakes, scorpions, you know how Arizona is), I turned to my right;
Something said, "Turn to your right." I went way into the peaks; I went
around, and I was going around those great huge rocks, many times
bigger than this tabernacle, laying up in them tops there where seldom
ever a person could get.
197 And along about eleven
o'clock, I was going into a little cove, back where some--a little
place turned in like this over a little deer trail. And I had my shirt
off, my hat in my hand, because I was just lathering with sweat. And so
I turned in there, and as I turned into that little cove, I felt the
Presence of the Lord. I jerked off my hat and looked around. I thought,
"He's here somewhere. I know He's here." I thought, "What is it?" I
made a few more steps. I said, "Lord, You're here somewhere."
And I looked laying on the path, and there laid that little squirrel;
had jumped at something and missed it, and it hit a bunch of cholla
(That's jumping cactus). It rammed through his head, chest, stomach,
and he was dead. That odd-looking little squirrel, he had missed my
mouth and hit that cholla. And the Voice of the Lord said, "Your enemy
is dead." I stood there, and I trembled. I took my foot and ma...
199 Usually crows would've eat
it up. I killed a snake, couple days later than that, it laid on the
road about a half hour. There's always eagles and crows flying through
there, and they'll pick it up right now. I killed a coral snake; that's
the most dangerous snake we got; laying right beside of me, a few days
after that. I started to come back to pick it up to show it, the crows
had done got it, ravens passing over.
And that had been laying there ever since I'd seen the vision, two days
before; I believe it was on Saturday, and I went up there on Monday. So
there he was, laying on there dead. I mashed through it with my foot.
201 I went back around, set
down again; set there and cried awhile, and prayed; looking down over
Tucson, miles below me. Turned back around and come back, it still laid
there. When I entered that cove the Spirit of God come on me again. I
went on around, went down the mountain, went in and told my wife; I
said, "Honey, I don't know how, but I'm going to get over this."
Dr. Ravensworth, when he give me the examination, he said, "It's
totally impossible for you to be well." He give me a shot of pentothal
that was to last me for five minutes, and I slept ten hours. So that
stuff, even an aspirin just knocks me out. So they... He give me a
shot, put that tube down my throat. When I come to, and he told me the
next morning; he said, "Reverend, I hate to tell you this"; but said,
"your stomach walls are even so hard, they're dried up." (I never seen
it; he used the name of gastritis, and I went and looked in the
dictionary and it said, "something that's withered away"). And said,
"You can't get over it." He said, "You'll always have it." And I
would've been a discouraged boy if it hadn't been for the vision of the
Lord.
205 And the next day Something
said, "Go back to the mountain."
And that day instead of going one way, I was led to go another way. And
I was standing there; and looking, setting in the front of me, and
there set that seventh little, white dove, looking right at me. I
rubbed my eyes; I said, "Surely, it's a vision; surely, it is." I
looked, and I said, "Little dove, where do you come from?" Just as
pretty and white, could've been a pigeon, whatever it was, a-way in
that wilderness.
God Almighty, Who raised up Jesus Christ from the dead, Whose servant I
am, and His Word laying here open before me, know that I tell the truth
and lie not.
There set the dove, setting there looking at me. I walked around; I
thought, "Surely, it's a vision." I turned my head; I looked back, and
there he set there, them little, white wings, just as snowy as he could
be, his little, yellow feet; and little, yellow beak; setting there
looking at me. He was watching right straight westward. I walked around
him like that; I wouldn't touch him for nothing. I walked on up the
trail; looked back, and there he still set watching me.
Brother, as a son of Abraham, I consider not what the doctor told me;
I'm going to be well anyhow.
210 The third day I went back;
I was climbing up high. And many of you know the vision about the
Indian chief riding that little wall to the west. Something attracted
me off to a big rock, about noon time, said, "Lay your hands against
that and pray." God in heaven knows this is true.
I laid my hands against the rock and looked up towards heaven and
started praying, and I heard a Voice coming out of the top of the rocks
there, said, "What are you leaning against, over your heart?" And I
raised back like this, my bare shoulders; naked from my waist up, hot.
I looked back. And there was wrote in the quartz, in the stone, white,
"Eagle" just exactly what the vision said that the next Message would
come forth by.
I was so excited I run home, got a camera, and come back the next day,
and took the picture of it. It was still there, wrote in the rock,
white, "Eagle" (Dove leading eagle).
213 Somehow, I--I know. I'll
tell you before it happens. The doctor's a good doc--good doctor, no
doubt; I--I think he's a fine man. But I--I know I'm going to be over
it. It's done. It's finished, and I'm going to be well.
And I was thinking as Ernie sang that song a few moments ago, "On the
Wings of a Dove." How is the melody to that? Start it for me, Ernie.
...
wings... snow-white dove, (sing
it with me)
God
sent down His pure, sweet love,
Was a
sign from above,
On the
wings of a dove.
I understand Ernie made two verses of that. I'm going to make you three
verses:
Noah
had drifted
On the
floods many days,
He
searched for land,
In
various ways;
Troubles
he had some,
But
not from above,
For
God gave him His sign
On the
wings of a dove.
On the
wings of a snow-white dove,
God
sends down His pure, sweet love,
Was a
sign from above,
On the
wings of a dove.
Jesus,
our Saviour
Came
to earth one day;
He was
borned in a stable,
In a
manger of hay;
Though
here rejected,
But
not from above,
For
God gave us His sign
On the
wings of a dove.
On the
wings of a snow-white dove,
God
sends down His pure, sweet love,
Oh, a
sign from above,
On the
wings of a dove.
Though
I have suffered
In
many a way,
I
cried for healing
Both
night and day;
But
faith wasn't forgotten
By the
Father above,
He
gave me His sign
On the
wings of a dove.
On the
wings of a snow-white dove,
God
sends down His pure, sweet love,
Oh, a
sign from above,
On the
wings of a dove.
On the
wings of a snow-white dove,
God
sends down His pure, sweet love,
A sign
from above,
On the
wings of a dove.
216 Dear God, I thank You for
these things, Father. You give Noah the sign; You gave the world the
sign, and You gave me a sign. And the next day, seeing that eagle
flying, O God, there's a Message coming forth now, and I pray, God,
that You'll let the Dove lead. Grant it, Lord. It's led me to a faith I
never had before. I know, God; I know it's going to be all right; so I
thank You for it, Father.
And tonight, send down Your Message again, Lord, on the wings of the
Dove of the Word. Grant it, dear heavenly Father. And every one that
passes through this platform tonight, and out yonder in the meetings
across the country, may Your great Dove of faith fall into their hearts
and give them faith, Lord, for their healing. Remember that God is not
a respect of person. He could send the Message to Noah, could send It
to John the Baptist, could send It to me, can send It to others.
I pray that that Dove will fly into every heart right now, Lord, with
Its little, golden beak, and whisper that, "By His stripes... By all My
wounds and stripes you are healed." God, grant that our transgressions
will be blotted out, our iniquities will be forgiven us, and that our
sickness will be healed. It's in Your hands, Father. In Jesus Christ's
Name. Amen.
219 With your heads bowed just
one minute longer, how many here would like to say, if you can and want
to say this, "Brother Branham, I've been wrong all my life. I've wanted
to serve God, but tonight I'm ready to surrender. Pray God, that that
Dove will fly into my heart tonight. I can feel It flutter its wings as
He comes in"? Raise your hands, will you? Here in the visible audience,
my, all over the building.
Way out into the audiences across the country, way up to Brother Hunt
and Brother Coleman, out to Brother Leo and them, down into Tucson,
over into Branham Tabernacle, across the west coast, raise your hands
everywhere: "I want the Dove to fly into my heart tonight. Bring me
God's sweet love on the wings of a snow-white Dove, the Holy Spirit.
Bring It to me tonight, Lord, and drop into my heart the faith that I
have need of."
In the Name of Jesus Christ, I pray, God, forgive our sins. The wounded
Dove has brought the Message back, O God, "It's finished." We believe
that. Just give us faith to believe It, we pray. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
222 On the
wings of a snow-white dove,
God
sends down His pure, sweet love,
Was a
sign from above,
On the
wings of a dove.
Where'd that dove come from? I don't know. He wouldn't have been out
there in that wilderness like that. No, no. No, he wouldn't have been
there. And why was he white? The heavenly Father knows he was as white
as my shirt. There he set there.
But it
was on the wings of a snow-white dove,
God
sends down His pure, sweet love,
A sign
from above,
On the
wings of a dove.
On the
wings of snow-white dove,
God
sends down His pure, sweet love,
Oh, a
sign from above,
On the
wings of a dove.
Oh, don't you feel real humble? Let's just shake one another's hands,
and sing it.
On the
wings of a snow-white dove,
God
sends down His pure, sweet love,
A sign
from above,
On the
wings of a dove.
Let's raise our hands to Him and sing it.
On the
wings of a snow-white dove,
God
sends His pure, sweet love,
A sign
from above,
On the
wings of a dove.
Noah
had drifted
On the
floods many day,
He
searched for land,
In
various ways;
Trouble
he had some,
But
not from above,
God
sent down His sign
On the
wings of a dove.
On the
wings of a snow-white dove,
God
sends down His pure, sweet love,
A sign
from above,
On the
wings of a dove.
Jesus,
our Saviour
Came
to earth one day;
Borned
in a stable,
In a
manger of hay;
Though
here rejected,
But
not from above,
God
gave us His sign
On the
wings of a dove.
On the
wings of a snow-white dove,
God
sends down His pure, sweet love,
A sign
from above,
On the
wings of a dove.
225 Why, me an old man,
suffered all my life, why did He heal me now? I believe I'll ride this
trail again; I got to bring a Message. And I say to my Father tonight
(as Junior seen in a--a dream the other night of the wings of this Dove
moving in these windows here), Lord, Your servant's reporting for
service. Amen, I'm ready.
On the
wings of a snow-white dove,
God
sends me His pure, sweet love,
A sign
from above,
On the
wings of a dove.
Let's believe now that He's moving in upon the audience.
On the
wings of a snow-white... (We're
waiting, Lord.)
God
sends down His pure, sweet love,
A sign
from above,
On the
wings of a dove.
227 You that got prayer cards,
in this aisle here, step forward over here; stand up, step forward in
this aisle here, over this a-way.
On the
wings of a snow-white dove,
God
sends His pure, sweet love,
A sign
from above,
On the
wings of a dove.
Those with prayer cards in this line, step out to your left.
On the
wings of a snow-white dove,
God
sends His pure sweet love,
A sign
from above,
On the
wings of a dove.
Those... [Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.]
Oh, on
the wings of a snow-white dove,
God
sent me His pure, sweet love,
A sign
from above,
On the
wings of a dove.
230 Where did the dove come
from up there in the wilderness? I'd say this: God seen Abraham needed
a ram for a sign; He's Jehovah-jireh, "the Lord can provide for Himself
the sacrifice." To think of it, the same God, by the same inspiration,
by the same kind of people, sent a dove. He's still God, Jehovah-jireh
can provide anything He has need of.
Won't you, just while you're coming through this prayer line now, ask
God to provide for you on the wings of the Dove, the Dove, Spirit of
the Holy Ghost, to give you faith in your heart to believe that you're
going to be healed.
232 I'm trying to get them all
on their feet. You see? I'm asking now. Brother Brown's at his place.
Brother Jack... What say? [Someone
speaks to Brother Branham--Ed.] All right, good. This
section here, comes through this a-way first, that's lined up. The
sections back over in here fall right in behind them. These fall right
in behind the wing. And you fall right in behind these here, coming
right around to be prayed for.
Now, I'm sure this is not going to be no fast line; we're just going to
take a little time so we can really pray for each one, far as we can.
Now, I cut my message just a little short (And you all caught that.
See?) so that I could have this prayer line. This is a memorial line in
honor of the days when Brother Jack Moore, Brother Young Brown, your
wives let you go, and you come over and we went out into California,
and all through Arizona (together, through the desert), and prayed for
the sick.
235 You know what? There's
people living today that was dying then, and still alive because of
that effort. What did it do? It sprung up Divine healings in every
church there is in the country; now even Presbyterians and so forth.
They... It hushed their mouth, for it taken God to anoint somebody to
slay the Goliath, to show that it could be done, then the rest of them
took courage (That's right.) and went on. It can be done again, for He
still sends His love on the wings of a Dove.
Christians, I want you to listen. If I would stand here and try to
quote to you of the supernatural things that I've seen happen even in
the past three years, I'd be here this time next Saturday night,
telling you. I don't even speak of it so much, 'cause it sounds like
it's almost impossible, but I tell you the truth. It's exactly the
truth. We're living under the leadership of the great mighty Jehovah,
the same One that was with the prophets in the Old Testament, with the
church in the New Testament, He's here today taking a Bride out of the
Gentiles for His Name's sake. Believe it. Won't you, people? If you
ever did believe it, believe it right now. That's true. I want you to
do it. We don't know what'll happen yet tonight. We don't know what
will happen. We're just waiting under expectation.
237 Please, in the Name of the Lord Jesus, I ask you as His servant. I know when you're dealing with congregations, you got everything mixed in there. But if you believe me as His servant, if there's one speck of doubt or (Sin is--is doubt, unbelief.), if there's one speck of it in your heart, ask Father to take it away right now. See? "Lord..." And then when you come with genuine faith... Now, my hands won't mean nothing unless That strikes you first; then when it comes, it'll light it off; you'll be healed. That's right, you'll know you'll be healed. See? You'll believe it.
238 Now, I'm going to pray now for each one of you. And I... When you do this, you put your hands over on one another too, so we'll... And you be praying for the person you got your hands on, then I'm going to bring you through the line. Put your hands on somebody that's with you in the line.
239 Dear God, I--I don't know
no other way of saying these things, Lord. I just know to tell what I
know is the truth, and You're my witness tonight that I am telling the
truth. My faith, Lord, and my own healing in the future; I don't know
when, I don't know how; I don't understand it; but I believe It, Lord,
that I received the sign from above. That seventh dove finally got
here, the seventh inch is soon finished on the animal. It's over.
God, I want to serve Your people. So I pray, God, that You'll so anoint
us tonight that whoever we lay our hands on, may they be healed; not
because it's us, but because it's following Your commandment. You said,
"These signs shall follow them that believe." Lord, help me to believe,
and help their hearts to be the bedding ground of faith. And may,
together, for the glory of God, every sick and afflicted person in this
building (or the buildings throughout the land) that's obeying these
commands now, will be made well. In the Name of Jesus Christ, I ask it.
Amen.
241 Have faith; all of you pray
with us. Now, this is not a line of discernment.
[Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.] Depression, fear, I know
what this... Poor little thing, she said she's never seen peace in
life, the same thing that I had: can't sleep, nervous, tension.
Dear God, bear me record, Lord, that I've told the truth. How I feel
for this little woman. I pray, God, that You'll send to her, tonight,
that streak of faith from above that knows that You are obligated to
Your Word, and You'll keep every Word. May the God of heaven take this
fear away from my sister. And I obey You by laying hands upon her and
condemning it. In the Name of Jesus Christ, may it come out of her.
Amen.
Now, look sister, you believe me now, if you can start from right here
by the cross, from this night, deny you've got it. See, go on saying,
"I haven't got it no more." And it will leave you...?...
245 Sister Palmer...?...
Uh-huh. Yes. Our sister, Sister Palmer, her husband is a very dear
friend of mine, a minister from Georgia or Alabama, Georgia--Georgia.
And she was coming up to the Tabernacle... They drive, when I'm
preaching at the Tabernacle, fifteen hundred miles to hear one service.
Brother Palmer lost control of his car, or the boy, one, when they was
turning a corner, and they had a wreck. She's got an affect of it.
Let's pray.
Dear God, deliver this servant of Yours, his little wife, loyal, true,
little servant in Christ; I pray, God, as I lay my hands upon her with
my Brother Jack Moore here, that You'll heal her and make her well. In
Jesus' Name. Amen. Now...?...
247 In the right foot, and
you're standing for him? His little boy is crippled; he's got a hurting
in his stomach and back. Let's pray.
Dear God, let that snow-white Dove dip down into his heart just now,
"Wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquity, with His
stripes we are healed." I ask this to be so for our brother and for his
little son, in Jesus Christ's Name. Amen.
Severe headache pains, and a leg ailment that bothers him while he's
a-working.
Dear God, grant Your healing blessing upon this young man, as we as
servants of God lay our hands upon him. In the Name of Jesus Christ.
Amen.
251 She has a lady's trouble,
female, and also she wants the baptism of the Holy Ghost.
Dear God, as I offer you this prayer of faith for this little lady, may
the female trouble be gone, may the baptism of the Holy Ghost come on
the wings of a Dove, in Jesus Christ's Name. Amen. God bless you,
sister.
Growth on his eye, and for his loving companion...
Dear God, You know the hearts of man. I pray Thee Father, in Jesus'
Name, that You'll grant this request that this brother's asked; and our
obedience to Your Word of laying hands on him. In Jesus Christ's Name.
Amen. God bless you, brother.
She has a growth in her left side, and also her voice is bad.
Dear Jesus, I pray that You'll heal this sister; laying hands upon her
in the Name of Jesus Christ, that her healing will be. Amen. God bless
you, my sister.
Poor sister, I see your trouble, swollen limb, kidney, bladder, and a
ankle throwed out of place.
O Father, God, heal this precious woman, Lord, I pray, as I lay hands
upon her in Jesus Christ's Name. Amen.
God bless you, sister; that's the way, believe it.
You hear that, don't you, on the microphone? Ever who's at... the
engineer, if you'll step it up just a little bit, the audience can hear
their testi--or what they say when they come by. Be in prayer for them
when you hear it; when I start praying, you pray with me.
Dear God, I pray for this our sister, that You'll heal her, dear God.
We're doing this because it's Your command. In Jesus Christ's Name.
Amen. Bless you sister.
262 Dear God, You hear that
testimony; You hear what the enemy's done to her. We are trying to take
the Name of Jesus and defeat this enemy; he's already because the
bruised, striped Dove fell in the floor of the house of God with a
Message, "It's over." Grant it; may she believe that, Father, in Jesus'
Name.
Dear God, I pray that You'll heal this our sister. May the Dove of God
witness to her tonight that He did it for her, that she could be well.
In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Dear God, I lay my hands upon my brother who stands here. He had enough
faith to come this far, Lord; now may he receive his healing and go to
his seat well. In Jesus' Name.
Dear God, I pray for our brother, laying hands upon him. Help, dear
God, that the faith of God will dip down just at this time; and be like
Abraham, call those things which are, as though they're--are not, for
God made the promise. In Jesus' Name. Amen. God bless you brother.
266 Dear God, You are the One
Who can make the true decision. I pray, dear God, as this young lady
asked for this, may she receive it in Jesus Christ's Name. Amen.
Dear God, I lay my hands upon our sister in obeying what You said do.
This takes us back for many years, Lord, since we run a prayer line
like this; but we know what happened then; we know You're the same God
today if people can have the same faith today. I pray in Jesus' Name
for our sister's healing. Amen.
Dear God, I lay my hands upon my brother here and ask for his healing,
in the Name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Father, I bring before you tonight this our sister, and lay my hands
upon her to witness that I'm standing as a witness of Your strength,
stand as a witness of Your visions, Your Word, and I'm a witness that
You're God. And I lay hands upon her in obedience to the Word of my
God, and ask for her healing. Amen.
270 Dear God, I lay hands upon
my brother in like manner, as a witness of Your strength I ask for his
healing in Jesus Christ's Name. Amen.
[Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.] "What?"
She said, "The Healer." Said that "A man from up somewhere, up in
Arkansas, had been healed that morning, a blind shoe cobbler." (You
know the story, it'd been on the radio.)
And I said... I thought... I played the part of a hypocrite. I said,
"You don't believe that's the truth?"
She said, "Yes, sir, I do."
And I said, "Do you believe in this day when God would do something
like that, when..."
She said, "Sir, I listened to the religious program." She said, "I'm a
Christian." She said, "I listened to the programs; I heard that man up
there that was healed this morning, that blind shoe cobbler. They
throwed him out of the church; he was making so much noise, one church
to the other. With his hat on a cane, wiggling it around, running up
and down the church. He was everywhere in the city, hollering, 'I'm
healed. I'm healed.' A blind shoe cobbler."
I said, "Do you believe that?"
And she stood there a little bit, was kind of drizzling rain; she said,
"Sir, if you'll get me in where he's at, then I'll find my father."
Then I felt about like that.
I said, "Maybe I'm the one you're looking for."
She said--grabbed me by the lapels of the coat, she said, "Is you the
healer?"
I said, "No, sister, but I'm Brother Branham."
She said, "Have mercy." I thought of poor old blind Fanny Crosby,
"While on others Thou art calling, do not pass me by." See, He'd healed
one, He could heal her.
I put my hands over her eyes; I said, "Dear Jesus, one day an old
rugged cross come bumping down the street; the shoulders with blood
running out of them, the little frail body that was practically fell
under the load. A colored man by the name of Simon of Cyrene, came up
and picked up the cross, helped Him bear it. I'm sure You remember it,
Father. One of His children is staggering here in darkness; I'm sure
You understand."
She said, "Glory to God. I can see."
I said, "Can you see?"
She said, "Yes, sir."
I said, "Count them lights." And she counted them. I said, "What color
suit I got on?"
Said, "You got on a gray suit with a yellow tie." That was it; she
could see.
Oh, God respects humility.
This
in itself is that which will make, and bring to pass, the tremendous
victory in the Love Divine.
290 Dear God, have mercy and
heal my sister, in the Name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Dear God, as I take this feeble, wrinkling hand, only You know what's
passed through here. I pray, dear God, that the same hand I got tonight
will embrace like those feeble hands of Simeon that day, "Lord, let Thy
servant depart in peace, for I now see Thy salvation." May It come upon
her, Lord, Your salvation, and make her well in Jesus' Name. Amen.
292 [Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.] On The Trial of... Mr.
Unbelief indicted Jesus Christ? You remember "The Trial"? How that
the... They had the--the attorneys and everything, and who stood for
who. And we had the--the prosecuting attorney, Satan, that was going to
prosecute; how the trial was brought...
And he said, one, Mr. Doubter, he come up; he said, "I heard a preacher
say, 'Anoint the sick in oil, the Bible says that.' I was anointed in
oil, wasn't healed. The other one said, 'Lay hands on the sick, they
shall recover.'" He was trying to prosecute.
But when the witness came forth, here it was, "God told them, said, 'It
had been...'" He said, "It's been six months since I had hands laid on
me, and Your Word says that 'Lay hands on the sick and they shall
recover.' And hands was laid on me by one of Your anointed servants,
and I haven't recovered yet. Therefore, You're a false pretender,
because Your Word don't mean what It says."
295 So when the witness come
up, the true was this, that "His Word is true. He never said when He
would do it." He said, "These signs shall follow them that believe; if
they lay their hands on the sick, they shall recover." See? See? That's
what He said, "They shall recover." So whether it's a prone miracle
just happen right like this or whether it's just obeying God, that's up
to Him in the individual. See? But if the individual believes It, I
don't care how long it takes. He said To Abraham, "You're going to have
a baby by Sarah." The baby never come for twenty-five years. He told
Noah it was going to rain. Noah had the flood--the--the ark built for
the flood, many, many years before the flood came, but he knowed it was
going to rain. The Bible said, "The prayer of faith shall save the
sick, and God shall raise them up." When? He didn't say. God is just,
He's true; just read what His Word says."
That's what I've done tonight, laid hands on the sick. Now, I believe
every one of them's going to be healed. I believe, every one of them.
You believe the same? Now, believe for these afflicted people.
297 There's a little lady here,
seems like I ought to know, I prayed for her last night out there in
the prayer line. What's her name? Chambers--Chambless. If that little
lady would've lived--would've lived normally, wouldn't have been
afflicted, she certainly been a beautiful woman. And she's setting
there now, shaking. Lovely, fine spirit in the girl, and she sets there
jerking like this. Oh, how that breaks my heart. How would I have
wished... Just how I would...
Here's a little baby, lady setting here holding it. Its little tongue
hanging out, its little body afflicted. What if that was my little
Joseph? What if it was my little grandson Paul? What if that was
Rebekah setting back there, or Sarah? What if Mrs. Simpson here was my
wife Meda? This young man setting here was Billy Paul? This aged woman
setting here was my mother? Remember, it's somebody's baby, somebody's
sister, somebody's daughter, and somebody's son. See? I am their
brother; He is our Saviour. All that I can do is... What faith I've got
is offered in their behalf. That's all I know.
299 Now, the Lord can show me a
vision; He could tell me what's the matter with each one of them. I can
prove that to you (See?); you know that. But that don't heal them. That
doesn't heal them. No, it's got to be something drop in them. See? And
I hope...
Like I could go up here take each one of you and baptize you in the
Name of the Lord Jesus Christ; that won't remit your sins. No, no. No,
I don't believe in water baptism in the Name of Jesus Christ unto
regeneration; I believe the Blood is regeneration (See?) now, not the
waters. But, see, I could baptize and baptize, but you only go down a
dry sinner, come up a wet one (See?) until you have thoroughly
repented. Repent, and then be baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ.
See? And that's where I different with the Oneness movement. Not
baptizing to regeneration, no; I believe it's the Blood that cleanses,
not the water. See? Repentance, and then be baptized in the Name of
Jesus Christ.
301 Now, I'm going down to
pray. And these people are just as much to you as they are to me, maybe
even more than--than my own relation.
Now, let's all join together, and your hands in faith, and my hand in
faith, bringing down the hands of the Lord Jesus to lay on these poor
crippled people. Will you pray with me?
[Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.] Those handkerchiefs that's
for the sick and the afflicted, you may get them right after service.
Now, help me pray for these, will you?
God, we thank You, Lord, for what You have done tonight. We thank You
in advance for the healing of every person come through the line. Dear
God, I pray over these handkerchiefs, perhaps for some who could not
even come to the meeting, and their loved ones brought the
handkerchiefs. In the Bible we're taught that they took from the body
of Paul, handkerchiefs or aprons. Now, those people back there had
lived in Your Presence; they'd seen You on the street, they'd seen You
in their meetings, and they'd seen Your same Spirit upon Paul. And they
knew it wasn't that man; it was Your Spirit that was dominating his
life, for we see Paul doing the same things that You did.
And now, Lord, the people of this day sees the same God living in His
church with His people. And they've brought these handkerchiefs, that
they might be taken from here to their loved ones. Grant, God, that
every one of them will be healed in Your own way. We don't request any
certain thing to be done of any certain way or any certain nature; we
just ask, "In Your own way, Father, heal them." For the glory of God, I
offer this prayer of faith over it. In Jesus Christ's Name. Amen.
306 I've had a wonderful time
of fellowship around your faith, your presence in Jesus Christ. This
will be a meeting that I'll long remember of what taken place: love,
cooperation, fellowship.
And now, till we meet again, may God of heaven guide you. He Who makes
the stars to shine bright at night to lighten up the path when it's
growing dim, may He lighten your path with the Star of Bethlehem to
guide you to a full surrendered life in His Word, is my prayer.
Till
we meet, till we meet,
Till
we meet at Jesus' feet;
Till
we meet, till we meet,
God be
with you till we meet again.
Now, let us stand. "My Faith Looks Up to Thee"...?... I... Well, I'll
change that. I believe that's fine:
My
faith looks up to Thee,
Thou
Lamb of Calvary,
Saviour
Divine!
Now,
hear me while I pray,
Take
all my sin away,
O let
me from this day
Be
wholly Thine!
309 Now, let's shake one
another's hands when they sing:
While
life's dark maze I tread,
And
griefs around me spread,
Be
Thou my Guide;
Bid
dark... turn to day,
Wipe
sorrow's tears away,
Nor
let me ever stray
From
Thee aside.
Feel better now, don't you?
On the
wings of a snow-white dove,
God
sends His pure, sweet love,
A sign
from above,
On the
wings of a dove.
Now,
on the wings of a snow-white dove,
God
sends His pure, sweet love,
A sign
from above,
On the
wings of a dove.
That's our closing message for this campaign.
On the
wings of a snow-white dove,
God
sends His pure, sweet love,
A sign
from above,
On the
wings of a dove.
312 Bow our heads. As the
wheels hum a song going home, I trust it'll--you'd hear the humming of
the wheels, the roaring of the engine.
On the
wings of a snow-white dove,
God
sends His pure, sweet love,
A sign
from above,
On the
wings of a dove.
[Brother
Branham begins humming the chorus--Ed.]...
...
dove,
God
sends His pure, sweet love,
A sign
from above,
On the
wings of a dove.
With your heads bowed, I give you to Brother Noel.