Life

You can find this sermon at ChurchAges.net

1 Just look at the little fellows. My, my, a harvest of tomorrow. You know, I think perhaps we're just all the regular tabernacle group here. But if there by chance would be somebody here that's their first time with us, we certainly want to welcome you and we want to make plain how we dedicate children to the Lord.
You see, in the Bible, many times we have people today who draw up conclusions of how that they should do these things, but we just here try to stay right with the way the blessed old Word does it. And then, and it never gets old. It's always new, because it's God's way of doing things.

2 Now, when our blessed Saviour was here, the Lord Jesus, when they brought to Him little children to do the work ... or, the honor that should be given little children, why, He took them in His arms and blessed them. And He said, "Suffer the little children to come to Me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven." And they brought the little children and dedicated them; in other words, they just give them to Him and He blessed them.
And now, we are left as the church to carry on the work that He did when He was here on earth. And that's what we try to do. And we sure got a group of cute little fellows laying against their daddy's bosom this morning and just...

3 Brother Junie's little fellow and Junie... Another Junie here, Weber's little one and Brother Stricker's little... Let's see, I believe this one's a girl, girl, and a boy, two girls and a boy. All right, that's fine. And the little one there, did you have ... or, did she just come with you? That's fine. Well, I'm glad and happy that the Lord has blessed your homes with these presents of these little tokens of love.
You know, when it comes to a place that women don't love children anymore, they're not no more women, in my opinion. I like little fellows and I... There's something about them. My little fellow back there, he... Meda said, "You was too old to have that."

4 I said, "No, when God sends them, they're just on time." That's right. They're just exactly on time. And so, I know what it means to home. And a lot of young people that say, "Well, we can't have children. We will wait till we get later on and so forth." Just as God sends them, receive them, because they are the tie that binds the hearts and homes together: little children.
Now, we're going to walk down with the elders here if you will to this little fellow here being he's on our right [Gap in the audio.]
Wife and I (back there), we searched Arizona for you a few weeks ago, over at Parker, everywhere trying to locate you and couldn't do it. And they tell me you was at the reservation on the other side of the river on... So, I missed you. And I heard your wife was sick, and I told Brother Hooper to tell you to bring her in here so we could pray with her.

5 We'll pray for the sick, just... Unless she's real, real sick and wants to be prayed for now. We're going to have a line just in a little bit soon as I speak at little. Or did you intend for me to speak? [Brother says, "Yes, sir.".]
One announcement I want to make this morning, and then we won't talk long, and then maybe finish it up tonight. There was this announcement that I wish... If anyone lives in the neighborhood that they would be sure to speak to the neighbors to this regard. The neighbors has been calling me here, especially one in the neighborhood called me day before yesterday. And it was concerning boys playing ball on the lot here. They had a broken window, a knocked-in screen door, broken down garden. Said the little fellows... The neighbors all know they want to play, sure. They're just kids. But they knock their ball across the way and break down their gardens and things. And I think that there's several little boys here in the neighborhood is included in.

6 And they've been awfully nice to us. They've never complained, the neighbors, the nights ... and we get a little noisy around here, you know, late in the night. But there's never nothing about it, and you know how they could... They could fuss at us with it if they wanted to. And we believe in being just as peaceful with our neighbors and live peaceful with all men as far as possible. And so, we want to do that.
And now, if there was no other place in the city, or nowhere for the kiddies to play ball, we would see if we couldn't build us a big, high fence around so that the ball wouldn't go over and bother and molest our neighbors. But right here in Ingramville, right there, they have a public ball diamond for all kiddies, and playgrounds for them to play, just up above the edge of the graveyard there. They have the whole city playgrounds there to play ball and whatever more you wish to play.

7 I didn't make a decision. I called it into the church board this morning and asked them, what must we do so that we could be peaceful with our neighbors, and have our friends, and everything and our people would understand. And they have decided that maybe it would be a good thing for us to not have the boys to play ball anymore on the grounds because that it would be...
Not as we care for them doing it. The church don't care. My, a little window light once in a while. But we got to think about our neighbors, too, you know. We got to think about them. And we want to live like Christian gentlemen and ladies. And we just... They're going to... I told them the only way they could do would just put a little sign up that the boys not to play ball there. And they...

8 Now, if any of you neighbors are in here that you're kiddies are playing here on the lot, I'm sure you understand, see, that we don't want our phones, and things, and the police up here or something another about breaking out window lights and things. And you little boys... If your little boys are out here and little girls playing ball and they see the sign out there, not to play ball, why... Now, we don't mean to be rude with the children, but we want to be respectable to our neighbors. Everybody'll understand that, I'm sure.
And I wouldn't make that decision alone. I asked the board to come in this morning and asked them. And that was their decision also, thinking that we should live peaceful with our friends. And now, they got a ball place right over here, just about two blocks from right where we are now. It's a great, big diamond. And so, you can play all the ball you wish to.

9 Now, people walking back and forth through there: that don't mean that ... for them not to walk through or anything; be perfectly all right. And someday I hope to, the Lord willing and Jesus tarries, to make an official parking lot for the church there if we don't build a bigger church and put it. And someday, if I return back so it'd be big, have a work here, why, Brother Neville and I both can be into it and so forth. We'd build a... Just use that lot for a big church and put a great big church here and fix it up in that manner.
So, we bought that while we could buy it.
[A brother from the congregation speaks.]
Thank you, Brother Roy. That's mighty nice if that ... if they can make a decision on making a... If they make it a parking lot, that'd just be the thing to do. That's mighty nice...
[The brother continues to speak to Brother Branham.]
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, they're going to stop us from parking ... we have already on one side of the street there, so we'll have to make some preparation.

10 And really this place, this parking lot right here, that's the city's. That's right. We just got a little bitty plat there about that far till we hit the street right there. That street really comes through Breakman's house there and comes right down and catches in there. That's a bypass 'cause this was a pond years ago and they filled it up. When our land was surveyed, we're right on the side of the sidewalk right here, see. So we have no frontage. That's just the courtesy of the city there now. And so this would be ours back this way.
So then, I'm in betwixt 'tweens and so forth and I... Oh, I'm just a westward wind. I believe they call it, or something. I can't get settled to nothing. And, but it might be that someday the Lord might speak to me to come here and just build in here a great big tabernacle and let the people from the different parts come in. If it would, we're going to need that. So, you see, we don't want to sell it or destroy it. If we do, we will fill it up and grade it out here and put the church high and steps to come to it and everything and that'll take care of the whole situation, you see.

11 And I'm sure the Lord will provide every cent of it just when we get ready to build it, of about a hundred and fifty, two hundred thousand dollar place and have our own broadcasting rooms and everything else right here and services go on all the time. So, we don't know what our Lord will do.
We're just praying over these things and evangelism and so forth. And sometimes I say to the Lord, "Well, You got Oral Roberts, and Brother Allen, and You got Billy Graham, and all them out there; what good am I doing anyhow?" But, I just have to do what He tells me to, you see? So, I'm just kind of staying quiet on that. Now, everyone will understand that, I'm sure. And the Lord bless you.
Now, let's see; it's just a little bit late, so we want to just put Sunday school maybe and preaching together, Brother Neville? [Brother Neville says, "Yes."] And we're happy to hear about his baby, too, aren't we? My, so fine. And say, it's a prophet? [Brother Neville laughs and says, "If it's anything."] Ha-ha-ha-ha. All right. Well, we're glad for these little prophetesses, you see, and everything. I just thank the Lord for them.

12 You know, the women's on the increase here in the nation, though. That's what we're thinking about, see. There's... I think it's about three to five: three out of five children that's born, three of them are girls. And the women are getting bigger, the men are getting smaller. Women are taking over; 'course that's just the trend of the prophecy of the day, that this nation is a woman's nation. [Brother Branham beats on the pulpit twice.] It'll be run by a woman. And remember, 1933, I saw that come in a vision, a great powerful woman will take over the whole nation someday. That's exactly right, before the end time, before total annihilation.

13 The cars in that day will be shaped like an egg, running back like in this form there. And it'll be controlled by some kind of a power that they won't even have to use a steering wheel at times, just set her and go on like that, see, before the annihilation. Now, remember that's on record, see.
And women will take over. Women will take over; and the doctrine of Catholic church, which I've always said would take over the United States, it's absolutely almost there right now, see. Worship of a woman, Mary, which is a goddess, which is contrary to the Bible; and interceding with the dead, which is contrary to the Bible, and all these things here; they're just moving right up.

14 And sometimes I think, in knowing these things, that I ought to have a place where I could settle down and start teaching, you know, and just keep it going like.
Now, in the churches now I don't get to go just a few hours, and pray for the sick, and gone and just pulling, and just praying for the sick and... There's more besides praying for the sick, in the Bible, you know. We have lots of things to do.
I want to report the meeting in Canada, one of the best meetings we ever had in North America continent. I have never in my life (Mr. Mercer will be writing it up, and them), seen anything happen like it did at the Canadian meeting. And of course, the Pentecostal people has flatly turned me down. Everything there was Baptist and Anglican and so forth.

15 Everywhere, the Pentecostal has turned me down because I won't accept the evidence of the Holy Ghost is blood running out of your hands, and oil running out of your hands, and things like that, and seeing rainbows, and all those things. Sensations does not pertain to salvation, not at all. We come solemnly by faith; we believe God and that's it, see.
So, they wrote letters ahead into Canada, and the Pentecostal just simply stepped aside, like that. But would not have no cooperation, or nothing to do in the meeting, because I wouldn't accept that. And so, I still, no matter who accepts it or what does it, I stay with the blessed old Bible. Amen. This is God's Word; and if we have to stand alone, we'll stand alone and build a church. That's right.

16 Now, before we approach His Word, let's just bow our heads for a moment of prayer. Blessed Father, we are indeed grateful to Thee for this time of fellowship together around the Word and these holy oracles of God. And may, as we partake of them by the reading and the hearing, may the Holy Spirit inspire them to our hearts that when we leave today, we would say like those from Emmaus, "It was good for us to be here. Our hearts burned within us because He talked to us in the way." We ask it in His name. Amen.
Now, I have selected today, if it be the will of God... My subject is found in ... over in the book of the Psalms, 63.
O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsts for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; [Just listen at the Psalmist.]
To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in thy sanctuary.
Because thy lovekindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.
Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.
My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips:
Now, may our Lord add His blessing to this Word. My subject this morning is found in: L-i-f-e, four little letters. And as the Psalmist here was speaking, David... Always God deals with men just according to the way that their minds run.

17 Now, God dealt with David, like green pastures, and still waters, and so forth. And David out there, after he seen so much life: how God lived in the tree, and how He lived in the flowers, and how He lived in the rippling of the brook. If anyone ever walked down by a brook where the little falls is, and hear that constant ripple. Oh, I can lay down there and go to sleep just so easy.
I never took a sleeping pill in my life. I've been tempted to do it a lot of times in my meetings when I'd be all twisted up, but God has helped me so far. But I tell you, I believe that would be better than every sleeping pill they could have in a drugstore, just to lay down by the side of a rippling little brook, and pray a little while and, "Now I lay me down," and just lay there. Oh, there's something about it that's restful. How I love it.
And David here said, "I just... My soul just thirsts after Thee." Just listen. "O God, thou art my God; early will I seek Thee: my soul thirsteth for Thee, my flesh longeth for Thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water is." Then he goes on to say, "Because Thy love-kindness is better than life." Now, there's nothing seemingly any better than life. What could we estimate this morning would be better than life? But David says, "Thy love-kindness is better to me than life."

18 Now, we wonder then the word life must have a compound meaning to it, must mean more than one thing. Life itself means an "existence." So then, if Thy love-kindness is better than life,
then what could be any better? Because God alone has eternal life. God alone has eternal life. If we can get that straight now, it will be easy for us to see the great picture God sets before us: how that someday that everything that isn't of God will vanish and perish and go away.
Now, everything that had a beginning has an end. There's nothing that ever began but what has an end. But something that had no beginning has no end. And God alone is the only One that had a never-beginning. He had no beginning of days, nor ending of years. And therefore, we have to become a part of God by birth to live, have an eternal existence.

19 Then sin and suffering and everything must come to a place where it has no existence, because it had a beginning. There was a time when there was no sickness, no sin, no sorrow, no death. And then it come by perversion. So all the perversion must end back, and all that was ... had a beginning has to end so that the eternal can ever exist. Do you see what I mean?
That's the reason it's totally impossible for any persons to ever be saved outside of the new birth, because men are borned again of the Spirit of God and become a part of God. Their existence is eternal as God is eternal. "They can never perish," Jesus said. "No one can pluck them from My hand. They are of the Father Divine, and there's no one can take them or separate them, for they are a part of God."

20 Now, we're none of us scholars. I'm a very, very poorly educated person. But sometimes when I hit words like that, I search it down to find out... Just take that one word. I have friends and Bible teachers who can take the Greek or the Hebrew and just run it anywhere through the Scripture.
But I have to take it just word by word and search it out. And I find out that when He said, "I give unto them eternal life," comes from the word, Greek word Zoe, Z-o-e. And Zoe is "God, God's own life." And then as sure as we are partaker of Zoe, we exist eternally like God exists eternally. Therefore, by partaking part of God, we become eternally blessed and saved forever and forever, without end, without beginning. We become a part of God.

21 If you notice that this great beginning, you take... Someone has asked the question, "Who is this great Jehovah? Where did He begin at?" He had no beginning. He was forever God. And He is... Now, the word forever just means "a space of time," but eternity means "forever." But forever, the word forever, in the Hebrew, means "space allotted time" for it is in plural, forever and forever, see. That means two forevers, see. But in eternity is one complete. Eternity is a circle that has no end. It never had a beginning and it never will have an end.
And how that in the world, we know that there's a real, true spirit of love. There is a real, true spirit of loyalty. There is a real, true spirit of honesty. How many knows that? We know it. We see it. Well, that is God, the very fountain.

22 Let's close our eyes to our imaginations for a few moments and go way back into the ... before there was anything. The great fountain of all eternity was that spirit of love, joy, that spirit of honesty, that spirit of trueness in this perfection.
And then, out of the existence of the Father went the Logos, which was the Son, which was the theophany, which was the body of the great Jehovah God: went forth in a celestial body. That's the Logos. The Word spoke out of them great fountains of life and went forth. And there was the theophany, which was God made into Word.

23 Then that theophany was made flesh in the person Christ Jesus. And then all the fullness of the Trinity dwelt in Him, both Father, Son, and Holy Spirit---all in that. And that's the very way we go, plumb back to the original beginning of God. There we are borned again, not of flesh, borned again not of blood, but borned again by the Spirit. And in that eternal Spirit of love and honesty comes down to make its place in us.
And then when we die from this life, we go into the body which... If this earthly tabernacle is dissolved, we have a theophany to go into, a body celestial.
Then at the coming of the Lord Jesus, this body is picked from the earth again and made in a glorified state to live in His presence forever. Then all the perversion, all the things that was in the perversion, all goes out of existence. Flesh goes to its punishment. Hell opens up her mouth and swallows in all the evil and the perversion. And God and His beloved church, His bride, takes their stand for the eternities to roll on. That's the great hope of the Christian church.

24 And David screamed out, "O Thy love-kindness is better to me than life." Now, life. Everyone wants to think of life. And life... The word life has had a perverted aspect to it, because that even life itself has a perverted aspect. And many times people want to refer to life as having a big time, drinking, rioting, and going out. They say, "This is life." How mistaken they are. That's death, see. It's not life. It's death.
A few weeks ago, over in a great, famous hotel in Canada where they had put me up, I went up to my room after my service. And there was young ladies, perhaps in their late teens, eighteen, nineteen, maybe up to twenty-three, somewhere. Three or four of them running up and down the floor with just their underneath garments on, and with bottles in their hands, running from one room to the other---lovely looking young women.

25 As I got off the elevator, I stood and looked. Oh, there was something in me. I thought, "O God, will my little Rebekah or Sarah ever come to that?" And I looked at them. They staggered across the floor. I just stepped in to one side as they passed and walked on out, went the other way, drinking. And I stopped at the end of the hall and looked down again, seen lovely little ladies which could probably be a real sweetheart to some man.
And I heard one of them say. "Whoopee! This is life." I thought, "How wrong that is. That's death, for the Bible said, 'She that liveth in pleasure is dead while she is alive.'"
So then, we find out that life, what we call life... And we see signs today such as this, "Where there is Budweiser, there is life." How perverted that is. Where there's Budweiser, it is death. And we see signs like this, too: "Life begins when the sun goes down." No, death begins when the sun goes down. The people become night prowlers. They prowl at night. And if you notice, they take the nature of the evil. Evil always prowls at night.

26 And I read an article in a magazine one time when I was on an airplane, and it was about Hollywood. And it said that "Life begins after midnight. You should come down on certain streets and certain things." And they had the picture of burlesque, and so forth that goes on. And I said, "How perverted that is."
You see, if Satan has a kingdom, he's got to have a false economy. He's got to have something that he can present to them to make them think they are living. But it's absolutely on the vice versa side. It's death in the form of life, see. It's a perversion from real life, because...
Let us settle this in our minds now, once and forever. There's only one way to have life. That's right. And to know Him is life. And that's the only way that we can have life and no other way, for God has only promised life through Jesus Christ.

27 And the great Jehovah without beginning or without ending, without beginning of days or ending of years, has give us life through Jesus Christ, and Him alone. Not just to recognize Him as a good person, not to just worship Him as He would be a God, which He is, the God. But the thing to do is to know Him. That's it. Not to worship Him, but to know Him is life.
The devil's worshipped Him, certainly. Every knee shall bow to Him. But to know Him in the pardoning of your sins, and the renewing of your life by His Spirit, that great fountain of all the resource of goodness dwelling in you. God making you bring the fruits of love, joy, peace, long-suffering, goodness, meekness, gentleness, patience, faith, and all those great attributes which comes from God alone. That's the only way to have life.

28 So, the word life has been misinterpreted to us. Now, what we call life: Someone will get a new car and they'll go down the road and they'll just whiz; maybe with a drink in them and their arm around a girl. And a young fellow say, "This is life." And the young lady with her choice boy friend, and she has got a drink or two and she will say, "This is life."
Or maybe the man who has always wanted lots of money, and all of a sudden he falls heir to a great amount of money. He'll build a great home. He'll get the finest of car. He will scream, "This is life."
The poor, little wash-woman with her baby, she will get a trip to Hollywood. And she'll become queen for a day on some program, or some of those things, or win some portion of goods. It'll thrill her to a place where she will say, "This is life."

29 But how perverted it is. That's death. And those will perish who have it. And we notice today... Now, I might be just a little bit old-fashioned on these things, and kind of cut corners and mash hard, but it's really... The intent of it is to show a point.
Now, many today, they look on programs; they listen to records. They go into the little restaurants, and you can hardly eat for the great records they're playing of this rock-and-roll, and the boogie-woogie, and all those fancy fan-tangled, devil-made, demon-inspired records. And oh, I wonder what will be the final outcome when they find out it's not connected with that Eternal One.

30 I'd imagine on that day when the sun refuses to shine and all time stands still and melts into eternity... I will imagine Elvis Presley will be all shook up on that morning, sure enough. Yes, his record will be a reality when he hears the bleating of the millions of souls that he sent to hell.
The thirty pieces of Judas' betrayal, silver beaten on the platter, will be a pleasure up the side of Elvis Presley's doomed time on that morning. For Judas did it because that it was to fulfill a Scripture, to redeem man. But Elvis Presley perverted the right thing, when he was a Christian, and sold his birthrights to a million souls in hell.

31 I imagine Arthur Godfrey with all of his little Godfreys will be there that morning, too, with his blondes, brunettes, and redheads. And it'll take more than a "Hail Mary," to ever clean his dirty soul, and his conscience in the presence of God. When he feels like that the dirty cracks, and jokes, and the things that he's led the millions to hell by it. And they call that life. Why, it's death. And they don't know it.
Now, notice. In this thing that you call life becomes so miserable till many times people take their life. So, that could not be the life that God is speaking of, because you cannot take God's life, and neither can you give God's life. That lays by sovereign grace in the hands of God alone.

32 But this little mortal, perverted thing that you live in, called life, you can take that when so desired. But to show that that isn't life, how miserable it becomes! This what we call life now is only a shadow, or a negative.
We all like to rejoice, but we can rejoice over the right thing. That shows that we're hooked up with the real thing, when we rejoice over the right thing. But when we rejoice over the wrong thing, it shows we're hooked up with the wrong thing. So, our life can tell right now what we are, which way our emotions are running. Do you see?
If we're rejoicing over the world and the evil things, our minds and our souls are inspired by below. Boogie-woogie, dances, heartaches, drinking, all these other things that we run after, it's from below. But if we rejoice in the Spirit, that we have eternal life, and we raise our emotions to God and praise Him, then we have joy. Then we have joy. Jesus said, "That your joys might be full." But not full of the perverted life, but full of eternal life, above. So, you can see, it depends on what you look at.

33 Now, just for instance, for the psychology part of it, psychiatric. Now, let's notice just a moment this psychic view. Here is the picture of Christ, and here is an electric fan. It depends on which one I look at. See, if my emotions is moved this way, or my emotions is moved that way. If I look at that, and long for that, and desire that, my emotions is set toward the fan. But if I look this way, my emotions and my desire is set that way. That's the reason Jesus said, "Whosoever looketh upon a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart," see. It's where your emotions is set, where your thoughts is.

34 And then we can rejoice because that we are the children of the promise, on the great, eternal church of God who has Christ's own promise it can't fail. That's right. The world thinks that we're crazy. "Oh, this is life. Whoopee."
I am, this day, to see a young lady who went to a psychiatrist. She's thirty-five years old, never smoked, never drank in all her life, a very fine girl. Her people are Christians. Her father's a doctor. And she gave her life to Christ in early stage. And what did she do? She goes out and she finally gets to a place, to a college where she was teaching.
And a psychiatrist there...

35 He sat down to talk to her, and he said, "You mean that you have never been kissed by a boy?"
She said, "Not one time in all of my life."
"You mean you've never had a little drink and been in a party?"
"Never."
Said, "Girl, you don't know what you are missing." Now, him being a psychiatrist, he swung the girl's mind until now she has become so evil, and so bad, till she don't even want to hear the name of Jesus spoke in her presence. And even her father and mother can't even see her no more. And she has lost her mind, and this next week will go to the institution for shock treatment.

36 It's because that she turned her thoughts from Christ unto what that psychiatrist was moving her mind. And that's what we're here for this morning, is to move your mind, and your thinking from the things of the world unto the things of God which is eternally. And that's what preaching is for, is to pervert the thinking to a higher, and better, and to the place where Christ is until you become converted, then your mind reaches for those things which are above.
Now, but life in this other place gets to the girl. They're thinking she might take poison at anytime. Sure, life becomes so miserable, that type of life, until they kill themselves, take poison and everything.

37 Now, but God in His great economy, for mankind, has made man in the way that He wanted man to be. Now, He made man to thirst. Did you notice David here said, "My soul thirsteth for Thee (Oh, I love that.) as in a dry land where there's no water." Just imagine. Said, "My soul is so thirsty, God. I'm thirsting for You, just like I was in a land where there was no water." He must find water or perish. "My soul is thirsting for Thee."
Now, God made a man with a thirst. That's a part of the human being, is his thirst. But God made the thirst in man to thirst for God. And the devil has perverted it, and make it a thirst for his kingdom, for the world. Do you get it? The thirst in man is godly, for God made the man to thirst, thirst for God.

38 And how dare some of you who would be so little as to try to quench that blessed thing of thirst by trying to satisfy that with drinking, and smoking, and television, and running, and carrying on, and reveling around trying to satisfy that godly thing that God put it in you to thirst for Him. You are polluting the fountain that God has placed in you to receive His Spirit and you're drowning it with the things of the world. And they do not satisfy. They never will satisfy.
And that's the reason you put a pistol to your brains to blow them out, is because that things go the way they do. And the world's on a great suicide, on a perversion and homosexual. And the crying that's in the land the way it is, is because you're perverting the very thing that God give you, and trying to satisfy it with the evil of the world.

39 Take that blessed Holy Spirit that God placed a thirst in your soul to call for, and you satisfy it with a nightclub somewhere. No wonder you got a headache the next morning. Then you'll take a case of beer, and go to your house, and sit down and drink it, trying to satisfy that godly thirst that God put in your soul to thirst after Him, and take the devil's slop, and try to satisfy the thirst that God put in you to thirst after Him. How can you receive anything but eternal separation from the presence of Almighty God, when He made you to thirst after Him.
And David surrendered himself and said, "My soul is thirsting like I was in a dry land where there's no water. I thirst for Thee, O God." There you are. David said, "I seen Thee in Thy sanctuary and my soul thirsts for that power." Well, there you are. That's the difference.

40 That's what makes things different, is the thirst that God give you, if you satisfy it with the water. "Come unto Me all ye that are thirsty. Come and drink from the fountains of life freely without money, without price." There is a fountain open in the house of God in the city of David. There's the fountain that you're thirsting for. Certainly it is.
Don't try to pervert it by trying, say, "I'll satisfy it by drinking. I'll satisfy it by having a date with this girl. I'll slip out a little on my husband. And I'll go out a little on my wife." You're only heaping judgment.
You say, "I'm not satisfied, Brother Branham." No wonder. It's God dealing with you, God trying to bring you to something. And you take the devil's suggestion, and go off with it, and that's the way sorrow comes. That's how death comes. And that life is not life. It's death. "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life to them that will receive it."

41 Oh, do not be deceived.
Then, the devil has another way. We just have a moment left for this. The devil has another way to pervert. Besides saying... You say, "Well, I don't drink, Brother Branham. I don't smoke. I don't gamble. I wouldn't run around on my husband, or my wife. I'll do... I live a good life." But the devil has perverted that. He lets you think, to satisfy your guilty conscious, that you go join a church and you're all right. That's wrong. That's perverting.
You can't get satisfaction by joining a church. You only become mental. It's an intellectual affair. But you'll never be satisfied until you know Him, as the forgiveness of your sins, where the sin question is settled, and you have that lovely, peaceful, quiet, eternal, everlasting fellowship with Him. When the peace of God that passes all understanding has sanctified your soul, and has made you a new creature in Christ Jesus.

42 Joining church won't do it. No, sir. That's only perverting the real cause. If the devil can't get you out on those things, he'll take you to this other. But don't settle for nothing less than an old-fashioned experience of the new birth, to be born again of the Spirit of the Eternal God, when your soul, and God, unites together and you become one.
David also in the Psalms, being a woodsman and a hunter... In the south they still use it. Bunches of wild dogs get after the deers lots of time. And in Africa, I've noticed it. And when the deers get to running, the wild dogs nip at them. And they got real sharp front teeth. And they're very sneaking, like sin. They lay in the ambush for the little deer. They get against the wind so that he can't smell them.

43 And they come out all of a sudden, and they cover the little fellow, and they rip him to pieces. That's the way sin does. It gets you off on the wrong ground, when you think that you, "Why, I'll just try a little bit of this. I'll get by with this. They'll never know nothing about it. This, that." Don't you worry. There's an all-seeing eye watching you. And sin lays at the door. Be careful. It'll find you out.
And then sometimes when a little deer is grabbed at, maybe sometimes they grab them sometimes in the flanks, maybe not get them high enough to jerk them down. Grab them in the flank, and jerk a whole piece out, and maybe then he will grab him to break the hamstrings in his hocks back here, which will break him down. Then he can't run; he's helpless.

44 But sometimes they'll go too high and get him up on the hip and jerk a whole piece out of him like that, where the dog just reaches, and grabs him, and throws his weight against it, and jerks the whole piece out. Maybe he'll miss the jugular vein at his throat, and grab into the brisket and tear a whole chunk out.
And that poor little fellow jumping and running as hard as he could, and the first thing you know, he has missed the dogs and he has fooled them. The dogs run after something else and he runs. He knows it isn't going to be but just a little bit until those dogs, as soon as they kill the other one, will be right after him. And he takes off just as hard as he can.

45 Now, being a hunter, I'm acquainted with deers, I'm acquainted with the action of them. And if you notice, as long as the deer can get to water, brother, he can revive in a second. But if he can't get to water, he's finished. But if he can get to water, you could follow him all day long and he'll just keep going. He'll take a stream, he'll cross it this way, and he will go back this way. He'll go back this way. He'll get down in the stream and walk. He's trying to fool the dogs.
Now, David said, "As the hart panteth for the water brook, so my soul thirsts after Thee, O God." He's wounded. The hounds of hell is after every one of you. He only wants to get you away from the Shepherd once. And they grab them, and they jerk a handful out here, and a mouthful out here to spoil you.

46 And David said, "As the hart is panting for the water brook." Oh, he has got to find the water brook or perish. God, let that be our soul today---wounded. If I can't find the water brook, the hounds will get me pretty soon; but if I can only find Thy water brook, O God.
The little deer knows it's either its death, or the water brook. And David said, "Just as that deer knows it's death or the water brook, that's the way my soul's thirsting after Thee. I've got to find You or perish." Oh, if we can only get to that kind of life.
"Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled." May that be the motives of this church this morning. May your affections be turned from the things of the world, the cares of the world. Whether it's your house being clean, whether it's your farm being weeded, or whatever it may be, may it be turned to God.

47 "O Lord, Thy love-kindness is better to me than my own life. My soul thirsts after Thee, like I was in a dry land and like the hart for the water brook. My soul must find Thee or perish." When the Branham Tabernacle gets to that place, the little isms will drop out the doors. The differences will be all settled out and Christians will be Christians and there... This will be a spot that'll be talked of around the world when any congregation of people will thirst for God in that manner. "Thy love-kindness is better to me, O Lord, than life." Let us pray.
Our blessed Father and God, as we come to Thee now at the close of this little message, we pray that the hungering and thirsting will be in this little church this morning like never before. May men, women, boys, and girls today under the roof here, and outside, or wherever they may be, may they hear the Gospel, and know that there's something that makes them thirst for something. Oh, such an unrest. You said it would be a time like this: unrest, perplexed of time, distress between nations. Oh, if they would only take that craving for more power, craving for more bombs, craving for those things, and convert it into a crave for God's righteousness, then the Sun of Righteousness would come with healing in His wings.
And when Israel travailed, then children was born. And I pray, Father, that You'll put that thirst in our hearts today, that there's no satisfaction nowhere in the world, only at the noise of Thy waterspouts. O Lord, let the deep call to the deep. Grant it, Father. We pray in Christ's name.

48 And while we have our heads bowed, I wonder in the church this morning if someone would raise their hand and say, "Brother, Pastor, pray for me." While Brother Neville and I look. God bless you, brother. "I want Christ. I want a thirst in my heart like that. I'm just so sick and tired of going here and half-way this way, and that way. I really want to thirst after God. Pray for me, Brother, Pastors." Will ... God bless you, sis. God bless you, lady. God bless you, brother. Someone else, raise your hand, say, "Pray for me as..." God bless you, sister. All right. Someone else now, just before closing. Raise your hand. Say, "Pray for me." God bless you, lady. Certainly. I want it, too. God bless you, sister, back there. Let at the noise of Thy waterspouts.

49 O God, make me to know that I'm a frail person, that I don't know just what time these little fragile threads of life is going to break, and I'm going out into eternity. But let me be so, O God, that my soul is so thirsty for Thee, that I want no more drinking, no more smoking, no more lying, no more to do with sin. Let my affections be set on things above. Grant it to me, O God, as I raise my hand." God bless you, and you, and you, and you. God bless you. Father sees your hands. Certainly, the omnipresent God. God bless you.
Just confess it right now while you're sitting there. Just confess. Say, "Lord, put that thirst in me." Children, do you know this, that you're not going to reach God anything less than that? Is that ... that deep thirst, that something that longs for God? Just like the poor, little deer. Could you imagine him? He's wounded, he's dying. It's either the water brook or death. And he must... Could you see him raising his little head, and he's sniffing. He's smelling the air. The blood's running down. He's got to get to that water brook. He's got to do it. Every little speck, every little green twig, he's going towards it. He must have it. Are you that thirsty for God?

50 David said, "That's the way my thirst is, God. I just got to have it, or I will perish. I want life. And your love-kindness to me when I feeled Your presence, see my life is tallying up with Your Word; it's better to me than all everything else, all other life and everything---Thy love-kindness. Confess your fault now as we pray.
Now, Lord, You seen the hands. You know the people. And I pray that You'll forgive every sin. Create in them this great thirst that they desire. Their hearts are hungry. Every person in the world today...
I think of this our country: pleasure mad. O God, movies, television, old filthy stories. And hearing it takes three or four psychiatrists to keep Elvis Presley on the screen, and Arthur Godfrey and many of these others. It just exposed last week by this New York journalist that he visited them, and know that three or four psychiatrists to each one, to try to bring this world down to a place of vile, dirty, foul, indifferent jokes, and women on the street. How the men lose their minds, going into places, and pattern vulgar clothes, to put on them. And realizing, Lord, that that poor little misses out there on the street with her little body stretched out and vulgar looking clothes. And that man yonder in the barroom this morning, knowing that he's trying to satisfy the thirst that God give him to thirst after Him, after God, he's trying to satisfy it with worldlyism, worldly stuff.

51 We pray, God, that somehow or other... I don't know how, but I guess it just has to be this hour. But to those who have called and has raised their hands, give to them, Lord, that thing in their heart that they need. That blessed thirst, may it be quenched today by the renewing of the Holy Spirit bathing into their souls and giving them that which they desire. I ask it in Christ's name. Amen.
There's a land beyond the river,
That we call that sweet forever,
And we only reach that shore by faith's degree;
One by one we'll gain the portal,
There to dwell with the immortal,
When they ring those golden bells for you...
Now hum it really there.
Don't you hear the bells now ringing?
Don't you hear the angels ...
(That all blends to one.)
It's a glory hallelujah Jubilee.
In that far-off sweet forever,
Just beyond the shining river,
When they ring those golden bells
for you and me.
How many love Him? Raise your hands. Thank the Lord. Now, reach right over, shake hands with somebody by you. Say, "God bless you."
......those bells now ringing?
Don't you hear the an ... (Sure,
we're citizens of the kingdom.)
It's a glory hallelujah jubilee.
In that far-off sweet forever,
Just beyond the shining river.
When they ring those golden bells
for you and me.

52 Now, Father, receive our spirits and our worship as we commit it to you. And we're just fixing to pray for the sick children now. We pray that Your Spirit rest upon us that we might be able to pray a prayer of faith for those who are in need at this hour. Grant it, Father. For we ask it in Christ's name. Amen.
Now, may the sick gather around the altar while we anoint them and pray with them. We'd be glad to help you. We'll be dismissing the service, if you can stay for the next ten, fifteen minutes.
Will you give us, Sister Gertie: There Waits For Me A Glad Tomorrow.
Waits for me a glad tomorrow,
Where gates of pearl swing open wide,
And when I cross this vale of sorrow,
I'll camp upon the other side.
Someday beyond the reach of mortal kin,
Someday God only knows just where or when,
The wheels of mortal life shall all stand still,
(What'll happen then?)
Then I shall go to dwell on Zion's hill.
Someday beyond the reach ... (Think of it.)
mortal kin,
Someday God only knows just where or when,
(What'll happen?)
The wheel of mortal life shall all stand still.
Then I shall go to dwell on Zion's hill.
Swing low, sweet chariot,
Oh, coming for to carry me home;
Swing low, sweet chariot,
Coming for to carry me home.
It's the old ship of Zion,
It's the old ship of Zion, (Glory.)
It's the old ship of Zion,
Get on board, get on board.
It has landed my old father,
It has landed my old father,
It has landed my old father,
Get on board, get on board.
'Tis the old ship of Zion,
'Tis the old ship of Zion,
'Tis the old ship of Zion,
Get on board, get on board.

53 Brother Craig ... [Gap in the audio.] Brother Junie, you all come on up, pray with the sick. Rest of you, Brother John, any of you that wants to come along, come right ahead.
Oh, oh, won't it be wonderful there,
Having no burdens to bear?
Joyously singing with heart-bells all ringing,
Oh, won't it be wonderful there?
Won't it be wonderful, wonderful there,
Having no burdens to bear?
Joyously singing with heart-bells all ringing,
Oh, won't it be wonderful there?
Walking and talking with Christ the supernal One,
Won't it be wonderful there?
Gloriously singing with Christ the Eternal One,
Won't it be wonderful there?
Won't it be wonderful there, (Wonderful there)
Having no burdens to bear? (Over there.)
Joyously singing with heart-bells all ringing,
Oh, won't it be wonderful there?

54 When we think about those things, how great and wonderful. Oh, He's real to us. Won't it be wonderful there? The great Physician is now present. He wants to heal the sick and the afflicted. He wants to make those who are weary to be strong. He wants to make those who are afflicted be well. Now, let us bow now just in His presence, as we're offering Him our praises.
O Thou great Physician, as our hearts bleat out. We bleat like Thy sheep. And we hear Your Spirit moving back to us: "My sheep know My voice." And we love to shout Thy praises. We love to weep in Thy presence for joy. We like to express our feelings to Thee, because we love You with all that is within us. Our whole soul, mind, and body loves the Lord. And we pray, God, that You'll give us this deeper and deeper continually. May it become so real to us that the world will fade and all of its folly. Then there'll be no more thoughts of it. It'll fade out into an eternity. It had a beginning; now may it have an end, also. We know it will.

55 And now we pray, God, as we, Your children, stand here making intercessions for each other in the name of the Lord Jesus, for the infirmities that is in our bodies caused by sin of the past, and of the wickedness of the world, and our mortal flesh, so subject to all the enemy because it's still sin. And we say that the Bible declares unto us plainly that the Holy Ghost helps our infirmities in intercession.
And we come to Thee, Father, this morning, humbly believing that You will make intercessions for us now, that as we confess our sins and our wrongs and our desires for Thee. Our hearts are hungering to be well, so that we can serve and do the work that You would have us to do. Grant Lord, as Your elder goes forward anointing. I come laying hands upon the sick. May the Spirit come forth healing. We ask this to be, through Jesus our Lord.
Now, elder, if you'll start down here, and just come right up. Everyone in prayer now. Slowly singing.
The great Phy..... (Everybody singing softly.)

56 [Brother Branham moves from the microphone to pray for the sick.] God, be merciful to [unclear words] because You always speak that [unclear words]. May that fountain open [unclear words]. You have been so kind to her. And I pray, God, with all my heart [unclear words] prayer of faith will intercede now as we lay our hands upon her [unclear words] that you have bound in a chair for so long, cannot move and now she is up and around. We're so happy. Pray that you'll continue now with her Lord, until she's perfectly normal and well in Jesus' name. [Gap in the audio.] [ Unclear words].
I understand this is Sister Craig. [A sister says, "Yes."] I understand your condition, Sister Craig, that you got so sick and had to leave [unclear words]. But God can [unclear words]. Now, look. Way out there in those deserts, you've labored away with your husband here for the cause of Christ. The very thing that you stood for, Sister Craig, is the only thing that can help now. And as God's servant, and know that we love you and Brother Craig here, and all of us here at the church. And we appreciate your work in the desert with the Indians [unclear words]. And if you come now. This is the hospital this morning. Here's where the Physician stands, that great One Who can perform it all [unclear words] kidney stones out anytime, The Word of God is sharper than a two-edged sword even going plumb down take them away. Don't have one shadow of a doubt, Sister Craig. Just...

57 Dear Heavenly Father, here's a minister's wife [unclear words] in a hot desert [unclear words] those Indians and the unconverted, trying to win them to You, and standing here at this little altar today. O merciful Father, as we, with our hands laid upon her, with signs believing that the Bible is still the infallible will of God. We lay hands upon her ... [Gap in the audio].
.........oh, white as snow;
Nothing but the blood of Jesus,
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Oh, precious is............
[A sister speaks to Brother Branham.]

58 Brother George Calvin's wife's in the Norton's Infirmary hospital in Louisville, to you who's making visits to see them. And Mrs. Calvin, who had cancer of the stomach, her mother-in-law is better, so we're thankful for that.
Now, just to you people who are sick and was prayed for. I'd like to say this, just a little word. We're just a little late, but just a little something concerning divine healing. Oh, it's such a wonderful thing. And it's so simple to approach it if you just take the right attitude towards it, see.

59 Now, the vision that I had, and explained it in the church here, about the water, you remember that? And the dam being on the left-hand side and the river running back that way? Every bit of it unfolded right there in Canada, just perfectly. And the Saskatchewan River runs east instead of west, and the falls was on that side instead of the other, one end. And it cold, blowing, and snowing, come back out and the sun shining. Went right in there and found the old stump, everything, just as perfectly as it could be. And a turn around in my ministry. Exactly.
The Lord revealed here a few weeks ago what to do for the discernment, and so forth, has begin to be the greatest blessing. And we can pray for the people more.

60 And now, on the platform, after the visions was over... We called the visions in the first to begin with. And then when the people come up, was first, you'll see the testimony now.
Now, here's the reason, right here, if we hadn't have been raised together, see. We're just kids here together, that we've been raised together. That's the reason, you know... Oh, you know that I like to hunt, and fish, and so forth and that's what takes it away. Brother Bill is just your brother, see. You love me and I love you, see.
And you come out here and, well, if you wanted your lights fixed, you wouldn't care to call me to come do it, try it. And if I couldn't, I'd call Brother Rodey, so then we just ... or something, you know on that order, see. And that's just common among you. Somewhere else, it seems to be different. When we... Well, now, we don't ... [Gap in the audio]. That's one of the makeups just like brown and blue eyes, see. It's just one of the make-ups. We can't help that.

61 In Canada, when I got there, well, of course, I told you what had happened. We had several thousand people out, but they were mostly all Anglican, and Baptist, and so forth which has sponsored my meet... Pentecostal people has flatly turned me down. So then, but that's all right. I love them just the same, see.
But in there that night, a woman come to the platform---the first, in the meeting. And she had been blind I don't know how long, just like the lady that comes here we pray for. They had to lead her to the platform. She couldn't tell daylight from dark. She had been that way for years. And standing there praying for that woman, her eyes come open on the platform. And she goes down and gets a typewriter and types her own testimony to me.

62 The next through was a little boy that was absolutely... The little lady here who come here and prayed a while ago about a little child was a mute. We had that child there on the platform. I think it was about, oh, I'd say eight or ten years old. Didn't know one word, couldn't make a mutter, couldn't hear a thing, never did. Was born that way, absolutely no hearing, no speech. Stood there, and cried, and praised the Lord, and could hear anything and run off the platform rejoicing.
The next come was a spastic child about twelve years old. Billy helped pack him up to the platform---and two men. He was in such a fix, just like this, see. Reminds me of little Edith Wright. And they brought that little thing there. And while I was praying he said, "Let me down. Jesus has healed me." Well, what could we do but let him down? And when he did [Brother Branham claps his hands.], he walked down through there going like this, praising God, and shouting, and walking up, and down that place like that. And people fainting almost in the audience like that.

63 Then come a little hunchback, big hump in his back. And he was a Catholic. Course we understand they believe in healing. Now, to you Catholic people, nothing against you. That's all right, see. But they believe in like the statues, and so forth, you see. And I said, "Now, look, sonny. We do not believe in healing that way. We don't believe in touching statues. We believe that we are, by grace of God, sons and daughters of God, see. And God's Spirit is in us."
And I said, "Now, here's the way we believe it. Here comes along... Jesus came by one day, and there was a tree standing there. And He said... He looked for fruit and there was no fruit. He said, 'No man eateth from thee forevermore.' Went on away. And the next day when they passed by, that tree was withering.

64 "Peter said... Why, you know, Peter, how he was, he said, 'Why, look at the tree. Behold it.'
"And Jesus said, 'Have faith in God, for if you would say to this mountain, be moved, and don't doubt, but believe that what you say shall come to pass, you have what you say.'"
I said, "Did you get that?"
"Yeah."
"When you pray, believe that you receive what you ask for. You shall have it." And I said, "See, we, after receiving the Spirit of God... Now, God made the world out of nothing. It's just His Word. He just created. His Word is creation, so He just spoke it, and the world was created because it was the object in God's mind, in His heart. He just spoke it, and it come into existence. He was a Creator."

65 I said, "Then if we have Zoe, God's life, in us, we become sons of God and amateur creators." I said, "Cause He said, 'Whatever you say, believe that what you say, you shall have.' And I've noticed that. A lot of times I'd say things that I couldn't hardly think myself, but I'd say it anyhow. I come to find out, that it happened just that way. I'd say things that I didn't hardly didn't mean for it to happen that way, but it did anyhow because I'd said it."
I thought, "Wait a minute." So I said, "You see, when we speak anything, if something is anchored to us, we shouldn't never speak it till we believe it. Then when we believe it, we speak it, and that creative word goes out. It's a part of God, see. And it creates."

66 Said, "I understand." I put my arms around him, prayed for him.
Knowing him being Catholic, I said, "Now, you just wait. Tonight when you go home, you put a little string around you like this and pull it up tight; let mommy do it. And cut it off, and then tomorrow night if it hasn't shrunk three inches, then I'm a false prophet. Bring it back and bring the same string, cut it off, and lay it up here."
After that I thought, "What'd I say? What'd I say?" What if that would had been some criticism there," you see. I thought, "But if God said it because I didn't know I was going to say it. So I will just leave it right like that, let him go ahead." Next night it was just about that long. See, where he...

67 So, the couple after that was a little boy come through, a little hump on his back, come way out like that. There'd been a whole bunch of little French Canadian Catholic had come down, and was saved and filled with the Holy Spirit there, see. And this little boy had a arm down like that, a little hump on his back, a little bitty fellow about like this. He come through and I was going to pray for him.
I said, "Honey, you see what I told that other boy about his little shoulder, and his..." See, the little hunchbacks they can't raise their arms like that, see the hump. Something goes in the back here.
He said, "Yes, sir." Said, "I can't come back." And find out, he was a real poor family from way over in British Columbia, see. Didn't have any money to stay any longer.

68 I said, "Well, God will heal you, honey." I took my arm around him, and... I don't want to say something that isn't right. I want to say what is right, you see. And I had my arm around the little fellow, and my hand over that big hump, and it felt to me like that hump moved and my hand went in. So, when I quit praying, I looked at him; his little eyes part... I said, "Did you feel that?"
He said, "Yes, sir, I did." I looked around, there wasn't any hump there.
I said, "Raise up your hand." And here he went just perfectly normal, right before the audience there. And oh, that was just oh, I don't know how many great things our Lord did every night of the deaf, dumb, blind.

69 And you know that little girl I tell you about in Germany that had that... You know how she come up the platform, that made the communist taking the sales away down there. That story repeated perfectly. A little girl come up, had long plaits, little peaked looking face, blind. They led her up.
And I said, "She looks like the little German girl." Little eyes white. I said, "She looks like the little German girl that was in Germany." And I said, "How many in here ever read or heard on the tapes and so forth?" And oh, hundreds and hundreds of hands. I said, "It looks just like that little German girl." And I said, "Are you her father?"
He said, "Yes, sir."
I said, "What's your nationality?"
I said, "I'm German." Said, "We're German." Both he and his wife both.

70 Well, the little German girl exactly... Them little plaits hanging down her back like that. Oh, I thought, "Lord, if You just do it again," see. Now, what is it? I thought, "Now, if I can just give me that faith to know that it's going to be that way, I can speak it, and I believe it'll happen. But first, it has to happen here first, see.
So, I got it with all the sympathy I could with the little thing. And I brought her up like that. And I said, "Can you see anything?"
"No, sir." Said she hadn't seen... Oh, I don't think she... Maybe she never did see. I don't remember how long it'd been since she'd seen. Maybe never. Her little eyes just like little white balls over them like that.

71 And so, I held the little thing like that and prayed for her. And she was smiling when I turned her loose. I said, "Do you see, honey?"
Said, "Yes, sir." And she started smiling, little tears running down her little cheeks---just a little thing, about like that. I said, "Do you really see?"
She said, "Yes, sir."
I said, "Now, you come over here where I am, and put your finger on my nose." And here she come smiling like that and went over and put her finger on my nose. And I said, "How many fingers I got up?"
She said, "You have five." And her father just like to have fainted.
I said, "What did you say, honey? How many fingers?"
She said, "You only have one now." And there she was totally blind, received her sight. Oh, He is wonderful. It's almost unbelievable.

72 But, friends, I might get back tonight. If not, maybe next Sunday. Don't forget our meeting in Indianapolis starting now.
Look, I have something I want to speak to the church. It's a message on the times. We're at the end, folks. Look. Look at these cyclones, and these tornadoes, never was heard. Look at the earthquakes, everything, every nation.

73 And brother, they're talking about this disarmament program. That's exactly what the devil wants. Just stack them up over yonder so he can blow the whole thing up. That's just exactly what he wants, see. Oh, we're living on the top of the powder keg, and the fuse is at the end.
What I spoke of this morning, Life. Oh, you seek that with all your heart. I couldn't... If you tell people too many things, they get all mixed up, and they don't know what you're saying then, you see. You can't talk to people; just one think at a time is the best way to get it. And I don't have but just maybe one meeting now, and then with you, and I can't tell you like I want to, you see. And you get all muddled up when I get telling you too many things.

74 But this one thing remember this morning: Seek life. Oh, pursue after it. Thirst for it. Just keep reaching for it. Don't let nothing stand in your way. Seek for it. Until we do that, as we leave, we must do what?
Take the name of Jesus with us, falling prostrate at His feet. King of kings in heaven we'll crown Him, when our journey is complete. All right. Up to our feet.
Take the name of Jesus with you,
Child... [Brother Branham speaks
to someone.] Whatever you want.
will joy and comfort give you...
I tell you what let's do. Turn right around and shake hands with somebody there saying, "How do you do, brother? I'm sure glad to be in service with you."
Precious name, O how sweet!
.......and joy of heaven;
Precious name, O how sweet.
Hope of earth and joy of heaven.

75 Now, look this way again. We're glad to have with us this morning Brother George Craig from Arizona, one of our brethren. We're glad to have Brother Whitney here from Saint Louis. He'll be at Brother Cauble's tonight in a teaching of prophecy from the chart at Brother Cauble's church. And then our Brother Junior Jackson is back there. And also Brother Collins, and Brother John O'Bannon, and many of the other ministers here. We're all happy to see you in now.
At the name of Jesus bowing,
Falling prostrate at His feet,
King of kings in heaven we'll crown Him,
When our journey is complete.
Precious name, O how sweet.
Hope of earth and joy of heaven;
Precious name, precious name,
O how sweet! O how sweet!
Hope of earth and joy of heaven.

Life

You can find this sermon at ChurchAges.net

1 Thank you. Let's remain standing just a moment for prayer, if you will. Shall we bow our heads while we pray?
Dear God, we are grateful to Thee, indeed, for this grand privilege of assembling ourselves together and worshipping Thee. And we would ask Your blessings to continue, Lord, upon this service tonight. And we pray that the Holy Spirit will take its position at every seat and every aisle, and may men and women become conscious of His presence. And if there be sin in our midst, Lord, forgive us. And if there's sickness, heal us. And get glory out of the service, Lord. And now, when we read Thy Word, we pray that You'll bless Your Word, and may we have fellowship around the Word. For we ask it in the name of Thy Son, the Lord Jesus. Amen. You may be seated.

2 I just come a little early, tonight, and was sitting back there on one of the benches, when I heard that good old-fashioned singing, and the choir, and the music. My, I thought maybe the millennium was about ready to start. That sounded real good. If anything I like is good singing. And I wished... I always thought I'd like for the Lord to give me voice to sing. I just can't hardly make a joyful noise.
If you want an appointment with me, as soon as life is over, and it's all finished, there's a... Where the river of life comes out from under the throne, and comes down, this way, and goes around the mountain of salvation, and where the trees are on either side of the mountain; over on that side, there's a choir sings. All the great voices sing over there. There'll be Sankey, and all of them over there singing.
And over on this other side, there's a little tree; I'll be sitting under that tree listening. So now... That's where I want to be to hear that great, angelic choir join in with the mortals. But you know, I was thinking, that the Angels, when Jesus comes... And one singing I want to be at, the great singing, is to hear the time that when we stand upon this earth and sing the songs of redemption.
Angels will stand just out ... off the earth with bowed heads, not knowing what we're singing about. They never had to be redeemed. We are the ones will be rejoicing. We were the ones that were lost, and now we're found. And we will sing the redemption stories, when they won't even understand it. They'll just stand bowed heads, and listen to us sing. Won't that be a wonderful time? Oh, I long to see that.

3 I love good singing, but it's one thing I don't like is an over-trained voice, over-trained, one that holds their breath just so long, till they get blue in the face. You know, they're not singing to the Lord; they're just trying to see how long they can hold their breath.
There's nothing any prettier than old-fashioned Pentecostal singing, with the glory of God in the meeting. That's real joy to my heart, and I was so glad to refresh myself in the presence of that good singing tonight. The Lord bless you, and keep that up.

4 Last night, I thought I'd kind of choked you out a little bit, by being just a little long, and our program drawed out. I met the chairman just now, a brother, and he said, "No, Brother Branham, that was all right; we don't close our church till ten o'clock." He, maybe, oughten to have said that to me. But I will try to hurry right through tonight, being a night ... evangelistic night, and tomorrow, why... And tomorrow night, we go right into the preaching and prayer for the sick again.
Now, tonight, I want to speak from a text out of the Scripture. And I just love to read the Word. Don't you love the Word? How many Bible readers are here? Just raise your hands, real high. Oh, that's fine.

5 And to come down when... Usually before we come for that anointing for the prayer line, I have to stay shut up, fasting and praying. But when you don't have to do that, in coming down to just speak, you just feel different. You know, it's the same Spirit, but a different operation.
And now, I love to read the Word, because the Word is God's Word, and God is just as good as His Word is. And now, I wish to read from the book of Psalms, the 63rd Psalm. And I want to read the first three verses:
O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsts for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;
To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen it in thy sanctuary.
Because thy loving-kindness is better to me than life, my lips shall praise thee.
I like that 2nd verse, real well.
To see thy power, and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in thy sanctuary.
But the subject would be, tonight, on the 3rd verse:
Because thy loving-kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.

6 I want to speak on the subject for about twenty, thirty minutes, of "Life." Life is what controls us. We are known by the life that we live. And it's been said that your life speaks so loud that I can't hear your testimony. So therefore, to live a sermon would be much better than to preach one. The life you live shows what character you are, because your life always builds your character.
And Jesus said, "By their fruit, you shall know them." So no matter what we would say, or how much we would testify, if our lives doesn't coincide with that testimony, we are doing the kingdom of God an indebtedment, by giving that testimony. Because people know what we are.

7 And I've often thought at a funeral service, to hear a man preach the funeral of some person that had lived ungodly, and had never done anything right, and yet preach as though they were a great person that had gone right on to heaven.
Now, no matter what you'd ever say, the people already has their minds made up, by the life that that character has left behind.
And I like to think of Longfellow right here, when he said, "Parting's leave behind us, footprints on the sands of time." That's the Psalm Of Life. Oh, I think it's beautiful.

8 Now, the Christian church should have real character then. And if the life of Christ is in the church of Christ, then it's got to have the character of Christ. It'll produce the life of Christ. It's just no more than just what we call in the south, common sense. If the life of the Spirit of Christ is in the church, it has to produce that life, because the life that's in you, makes your character.
And what kind of characters ought we to be, who have solemnly promised that we would serve the Lord Jesus as long as we live, and we have been baptized to His death, burial, and resurrection, and have put our names upon the church roll, take our place in Sunday school, and then go out and live something different.
Oh, it's more of an indebtedment to the cause of Christ, than all the bootleg joints we have in America. God grant the day, that when men will live just what they are. And you can always tell them by their nature, their makeup.

9 Now, you cannot get a dove and a crow to agree together, although they were both birds and sat on the same roost in the ark. Both of them are fowls; they both had wings; but when the crow was let loose, he was satisfied with eating the dead carcasses that was floating around from place to place, and he never returned back again to the ark.
But when the dove went out, she could find no rest for the soles of her feet, so she had to come back. See, the dove cannot eat with the crow.
And the crow is a hypocrite; he can eat his own food, and go over and eat with the dove also. But the dove cannot eat dove food and come over and eat crow food. So that's the way it is with hypocrites. They can get in the church, and just rejoice like the rest of them, and go right out into the world and eat again. But a genuine Christian can only eat the food of God.

10 Why can't the dove eat carrion and stuff from the old earth, and the old carcasses? Because it's a makeup of the dove. The dove is one bird who does not have any gall. If that dove would eat off of an old carcass, that dove would die immediately, because it doesn't have any gall. It just can't digest that stuff.
And a man or woman, that's ever been born of the Spirit of God, just can't eat the things of the world and tolerate with sin, because they have no more gall. They're made up different. And we're always known by the life that we live.

11 Sometime ago down in the south, when they had slavery, taking human beings and selling them just like you would an automobile... And though they would... Had lots, like you'd have today, used cars. Brokers came by and would buy slaves. Maybe, this plantation had a hundred slaves, and some broker would come by and say, "That big fellow. I will take him." And over here, he had a big woman, maybe not his wife. Breed them, make bigger slaves. And they would go around and buy them, just like you would an animal.
And one day, a certain broker came by a plantation, and he said, "How many slaves do you have?"
And he told them, "A large number."
"Any for sale?"
Said, "Look them over, and price them." And he looked...

12 And of course, the slaves were brought over here from Africa by the Boers, and they were sold to the southern people for slaves, and they were sad. They would never go back home again. They'd have to die away from their own land. They'd never see their father, nor their mother, no more. Sometimes their children or their wives, brothers or sisters, they'd never see them no more. So they were very sad.
They were in a strange land, with strange people. And the white people would ... slave owners would whip them sometimes to make them work, just like they would whip the horse. And they had to drive them around to do it.

13 But this certain plantation, where this broker was, he noticed one young fellow there, that they didn't have to drive him. He had his chest out, his chin up; he was just right at the spot, any time. They didn't have to scold him or say anything to him. So this broker said to the slave owner, the plantation man; he said, "I want to buy that slave."
"Oh," he said, "he's not for sale."
He said, "Is he the boss over the rest of them? He's so much different."
Said, "No. He's just a slave."
"Well," said, "maybe you feed him better than you do the rest of them."
Said, "No, he eats out in the galley with the rest of the slaves."
He said, "Well, what makes him so much different than the rest of them?"
He said, "I wondered myself, until I found out the truth." He said, "That boy is the son of the king of the whole tribe. His father is the king of all of them, and though he's an alien, away from home, he still knows that he's a king's son, and he conducts himself like that."

14 Oh, what ought we to be as sons and daughters of God? How ought we to conduct ourselves in this present world of sin and slavery? Our characters and our conducts should be the highest to keep the morale of the rest of them moving, because we are aliens, and we are strangers and pilgrims. But our Father is the King. Oh, He's rich with houses and lands. He holdeth the wealth of the world in His hands. Oh, I'm so glad to be a son of that King.

15 Now, when I first read this Scripture here, I thought, "What must the prophet be speaking about?" He said, "Thy loving kindness is better to me than life."
Now, I can't think of anything better than life. And there's only one type of eternal life, and that comes from God. And God had no beginning, so He has no end. That great Spirit: We would call it the colors of the rainbow, the best way I could illustrate it. One was the Spirit of love; the other one, the Spirit of righteousness; and so forth, the seven Spirits of God, that made up God. And anything... We will take like the word, "love": there's two different words. We call "love", like we have for your wife, that's called in the Greek word, phileo. And the love you have for God, is agape.

16 Now, phileo love, like you have for your wife, is a perverted love. Then from that kind of love, it perverts again to lust and on down. And all those kind of things must have an end, to come back to that which had no beginning or end.
Now then, agape came all the way down from the highest to the lowest to redeem His creature and bring him back to Himself. Oh, no wonder that people can't even express it. One said:
If we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made;
And was every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.
No one will never know what agape love meant to stoop down, and to condescend to the lowest pits of the lowest hell, to bring the fallen creature from a creature of time to a creature of eternity. We could not express it.
But I was thinking as He said, "Thy loving kindness is better than life." What could be better than life? Everything else has an end. But life has no end, so what could be more valuable than life? So I drew this kind of a conception of what David was speaking. And he must have been talking about a different kind of life.

17 Now, life has many interpretations, and we notice that sometimes life has an interpretation like this: "Oh, we're really living it up." That's not life. Somebody said, "Making a lot of revelry," and saying, "this is life."
Some months ago, I was in a great city and I was having a meeting. And that night... It was in another nation, Canada. And that night, a certain organization of America, they was having their convention up there. And I noticed as I left this great mammoth hotel, there were many people coming; the Americans were swarming in, and they were drinking, and women and men, all alike.
After my services was over that night, I got on the elevator, and started up. And the whiskey bottles were everywhere. And I said to the elevator boy; I said, "It looks like that somebody's sure been drinking."
He said, "They sure have." And he stopped up, just about the eighth or tenth floor, to let me out, and when I got out... I was in the elevator by myself with the boy; when I stepped out, I heard something up the hall. And as I come out of a little place where we'd come out from the elevator, I looked up the hall, and I never heard such a noise, of all the dirty words I ever heard. And I stopped just a moment.

18 Oh, this is shocking. Two young ladies, about, oh, in their late twenties or early thirties, with just their underneath clothes on, both women married (with wedding rings), and they had a big bottle of whiskey. And they were passing it one to another, and then pulling up their little underneath clothes and screaming. And you know what? Maybe, a husband at home taking care of the baby, while they were having a little innocent fun. It's sin! And vice versa, some woman home taking care of the baby, while her husband was up there with her having little innocent fun. It's rank, ungodly, filthy sin. And the wages of it is death: separation from God forever.
And here they come down the hall, and one man grabbing them, pulling this way and another one that way, the men out of their doors.
I just stepped back and watched just a moment with my Bible. And finally, when they'd got loose, the last man, and he sprawled out on the floor, and had to climb in on his hands and knees, to get back in the room... And somebody pouring whiskey over the top of him, bringing him in.

19 Oh, such an ungodly sight. And I looked at that, and I thought, "Oh, God." I've seen these two beautiful little women, just with their underneath garments, and they stopped just a little above me, and they tried to pass the bottle one to the other, and one reached down and picked up her little skirt, and kicked her feet up in the air, and she said, "Whoopee, this is life."
I couldn't stand it any longer. I stepped out; I said, "Sister, you are mistaken; this is death." So life has more than one interpretation.
The Bible said, "She that liveth in pleasure, is dead while she is alive." That's what God said.

20 And she looked over, and she took the bottle; I said, "Just a moment." This same Bible in my hand. She blared her eyes and looked at me. I said, "I'm a Gospel preacher. And I'm an American too. But I'm almost ashamed of my country, that you've come here and represented it in the way that you're doing." I said, "Shame on you."
They dropped the bottle, and down the hall they went, as hard they could go. They thought they were living, but they were dead in sin and trespasses. Oh, what a condition.

21 In Hamilton, Ohio, recently, I was having a meeting, and they'd got up to seven, eight, ten thousand people, and I had to stay outside the city. We were eating at a little Dunkard restaurant. The ladies were clean and nice looking, as they come in and waited, and everything just so decent looking. Well, we enjoyed that. Sunday came, and Sunday afternoon, I was going to speak. Dr. Baxter let me speak (was the campaign manager), and I'd speak on Sunday afternoon, then wait till Sunday night for the healing service. I got hungry; I thought, "I believe I will go get something to eat, just a sandwich, kind of hold me over."
As I went out the door (the little Dunkard restaurant, they'd closed up, and they were gone to church.) and I seen, just across the other side, a typical little roadside place, with sandwiches and things. I stepped in there. And when I stepped in, there was a policeman with his arms around a woman, playing a slot machine. And gambling is illegal in Ohio. And a man of my age, which was, perhaps, a married man with a bunch of grown children. I looked down at the other end, there was a young teenage girl sitting by a bunch of them motorcycle-jacket boys, with, you know, with their clothes half hung off.

22 God bless that man in that college the other week, made that bunch of hoodlums straighten up. He said, "You'll either wear different clothes or get out of this school." If more men had more American spirit and backbone like that, we'd have better schools and less juvenile delinquency, stabbings on the street and things.
And here they was sitting back there, and the little teen-age girl, and her skirts hanging down, and them boys with their arms around her hips and things. I thought, "Oh mercy, let me get out of here."
And as I turned to look, there was an old grandma, would have been sixty-five, easy, if not more; her skin was all wrinkled up. And she had on that manicure on her lips (or ever what you call the stuff, blue looking) and the little lady with her hair cut and all frizzled up, and a pair of these little old ungodly clothes on, sitting with two old men. It was summer time, and one of them with a great long government overcoat on. And they excused themselves and went out. I thought, "God, how can You stand to look upon sin? If it would make me, a sinner saved by grace, feel like it, what would it do to a holy God; looked like, You'd just destroy the thing."

23 And as I looked at it, I stepped behind the door and started out, and a vision came before me. I seen the world, and around the world was a spray. And it looked red. And then all of a sudden, I seen, through the vision, the Lord Jesus, and sins were catching against Him, and it was my sins. And it would beat her from one side to the other, like a bumper on a car. And every time I'd do something, it would strike Him. And He looked at me with weary looking eyes; I said, "My, God, have I caused that?" I looked. Laying there was my book open, my name at the top, all kinds of dark streaks in it. And I said, "Lord Jesus, forgive me."
And He touched His finger to His side, and wrote on it, "Pardoned," and threw it behind Him.
And I said, "Oh, Lord God, I really don't know what to say. I just love You for that."
He said, "Now, I forgive you your sins, but you want to blow her up."
And I seen the woman. I come from the vision; I walked over to her, and I said, "How do you do?"
And she said, "Howdy do." She was drinking, almost drunk.
And I said, "May I sit down?"
She said, "Thank you, but I have company."
I said, "I didn't mean it that way." I said, "May I just speak to you a minute?"
She said, "You may."
I said, "I was standing there at that door, wanting to know why God didn't strike you dead." And wanted to know if my little Sarah and Rebekah, when they get to be women, if they'll be raised up under such stuff as that. And I told her about the vision.

24 She said, "I perceive that you're a minister."
I said, "I am." I said, "My name is Branham."
She said, "Oh, you're the Mister Branham down there at the armory."
I said, "Yes, ma'am." I said, "I'm sorry that I said that ... or, thought that in my heart."
And she started weeping, and then she caught me by the hand; she said, "Preacher, I'm going to tell you something. I was raised up in a Christian home, and my father was a Baptist preacher." And she told me about her marriage to a boy that drank, and she had two daughters then, that was married and had children. They were all Christians, but she took the road that's wrong, and she said, "I guess I'm finished."
I said, "No. As long as you've got life, you've got hope, because the blood of the Lord Jesus has this world encircled, and God can't see your sins. But someday when your life passes beyond that circle of blood, then you've already judged yourself."
And there on the floor in that little old place, I had the privilege of leading that precious soul to the Lord Jesus, sent her back home rejoicing.
Oh, the depths of the love of eternal life that God desires to give to His people. It was a changed life; she thought she was living over there, but she was dying. Now, she's living, and will live forever, because she has eternal life, from death unto life.

25 Now, some people think that drinking and smoking and gambling, and, oh, trying to do the things that they do in revelry, they think that that's life, but it's death. And what makes them do that anyhow? Here's the reason they do it: Because God made a human being to thirst.
You were made for that purpose. Every organ in your body was made for a purpose. Everything is for a purpose. And God made a man to thirst, because He wanted him to thirst after Him. But the devil has perverted it, and he's trying to make you think something different and trying quench that blessed holy thirst by filling it with sin. He's giving you death instead of life. It's a perverted life. It cannot be the right life. And the devil is doing that, because that God made you to thirst, but thirst after Him. That little flame in you that wants to rejoice, get on the dance floor and carry on: That's perverted. That thing that makes you to want to drink, and act the way the people do: That's... The devil is trying to take sin and quench that God-given thirst, when God made you to thirst for Him. And you can never be satisfied until God comes in and satisfies that thirst.
Oh, how dare you to try to quench that blessed holy thirst with the things of the world, when God give it to you to thirst after Him.

26 Now, I hope I don't hurt anyone's feelings, unless it's deserved, but I just want to call some things to remembrance to you. What's happened to the church lately? The church used to be a separated people. I didn't know what group I was speaking to, until the man told me here I was speaking to Pentecostal people.
Now, let's go back just a little bit. You know, a few years ago, it was wrong for Pentecostal women to cut their hair. What happened? If it was wrong then, it's wrong now. Now, you say, "Well, my pastor..." Well, you need a new pastor.
The Scripture says, "If a woman cuts her hair, she dishonors her husband. And if she's dishonorable, she should be divorced."
You won't like me after this, but I'm going to be honest, that at the day of judgment I don't want to stand with that wishy-washy bunch who was ashamed to tell you. Preaching's not a meal-ticket; it's a responsibility to God to tell the truth.

27 And it used to be wrong for Pentecostal women to wear that make-up, manicure stuff on their face. It used to be. Don't tell me, I remember. And you Free Methodists, and you Missionary Baptist, and Pilgrim Holiness, and Nazarenes: It used to be wrong. What happened?
An old brother, Methodist preacher, friend of mine, by the name of Kelley... And he used to sing a little song, "We let down the bars, we let down the bars. We compromised with sin. We let down the bars, and the sheep got out. But how did the goats get in?" It's because we let down the bars. You're supposed to be a different people, a peculiar people, a called-out people, a separated people, a people walking after the things of the Spirit and not the things of the flesh.
Oh, we used to be down on the corner with the guitar and some salvation. And today, we're in a great big, swell, half-a-million, two million dollar cathedrals, with a big bunch of creeds like the old cold formals we used to talk about. Pot can't call kettle black. That's right.

28 And you Pentecostal women wouldn't let your girls put on them little old vulgar-looking clothes and get out on the street. Then talk about juvenile delinquency. Not only do they do it, but mammy, you do too. "Oh," you say, "I don't wear them shorts (I believe they call it) and halternecks. I don't wear them; I wear slacks." The Bible said that a woman that'll put on a garment that pertains to a man, it's an abomination in the sight of God. That's what the Bible says.
And today, you take women come down the street with these little old skirts on (that's so tight) and so sexy dressed, and call themselves Christians. Don't act much like the King of heaven's daughter, not conducting yourself. And look, let me tell you something, sister, and I'm only saying this for your good: When the judgment comes, you're going to answer for committing adultery.

29 You might be as pure as a lily to your husband, or to your boyfriend, but when you put on clothes like that and walk out on the streets, if a sinner looks at you and lusts after you, the Bible said that he has committed adultery with you in his heart. And at the judgment bar, you're going to answer for committing adultery, because you presented yourself to him like that. Jesus said that. Who is guilty, the sinner or you? You are. He's a hog and a pig by nature. He's never been converted. But if he answers for committing adultery, who did he commit it with? Whosoever---sinner or saint---looks upon a woman to lust after her, has committed adultery with her in his heart already.
Think of it. "Oh," you say, "Brother Branham, that's the only kind of clothes they make." They still got sewing machines. There's no excuse for that. You know that's right. Does that act like a daughter of the King? "Well," you say, "The rest of them do." But you're different. You're an alien. You ought to conduct yourself like the daughter of the King.

30 And these women here might say, "Brother Branham, we heard you was a woman-hater, so now we know you are." That's not so. I'm a lover of the Lord Jesus and responsible for His Word. Say, "Why do you pick on us women?"
All right, you men, here you are. Any man that'll let his wife smoke cigarettes and wear shorts, shows what he's made out of. He's no man. He ain't got an ounce in him, a Son of God, the head of the house. That's right. Now, you know that's the truth. It shows what you're made out of. Man's not measured by muscles; that's beast, brute. Man's measured by character. And if you're a son of God, you're measured by your character. And you're supposed to be the ruler of the house, and God will hold you responsible for what she does. But she's a god in America.

31 And you remember, I've already predicted in 1933, a woman would rule this nation before the chaos, by the annihilation. See her on the money; she's everything; she's a goddess. Hollywood's done it. The reason that takes place, is because you stayed home on Wednesday night from the prayer meeting to watch some old dirty play of "We Love Suzy," or something like that.
Showed what was in you to begin with.
And you women, instead of having your prayer meetings on the morning---the ten o'clock prayer meeting---you stay home to watch some vulgarity stuff and dirty jokes, like that Arthur Godfrey or Elvis Presley, some scavenger feeding on the carcass of their own people.
Only one difference between Elvis Presley and Judas Iscariot: Judas got thirty pieces of silver, and Elvis got a million dollars and a fleet of Cadillacs. He's a traitor to Christ. And yet, he becomes a god almost to the teen-ager, working up in such a condition, that a little young ladies get in there, and jerk their underneath clothes off, and throw it on the platform for him to autograph. Talk about devil power.

32 Go over to Africa, and see if that old boogley-woogley, or ever what they call it, rock-and-roll: That's originated with the Hottentots in Africa. And you're trying to satisfy that longing and blessed holy thirst by poking that trash down in the place where God wants to live and to give you freedom, and holiness, and happiness.
What a disgrace. What a letdown to the American people. And to you Pentecostal people, and Pilgrim Holiness, and Nazarenes, who profess a higher calling than that: Shame on you. You're dying and rotting in your own corruption.
No wonder, we can't have a revival in America. No wonder God can't place His gifts in the church. What has He got to place them in? You think He would place gifts in a thing like that? He just couldn't do it.
I hope that you understand what I mean. It's time for a house cleaning in the house of God, all the way from the pulpit to the janitor: an old-fashioned, God-sent, Saint Paul's revival, and the Bible Holy Ghost back into the church, back to make men and women sons and daughters of God. Can't you realize that old dirty spirit of the devil gets into you and makes you act like that?

33 Sometime ago, I was acrossed America, and I had to take a bunch of books over in a truck. I hired a sinner to drive it, because I couldn't find no one else. When I landed onto the ground (a great denominational Pentecostal people), and this sinner got out of the truck and was unloading the trucks, and with the books and so forth, and he was smoking a cigarette. And one of the great high officials come up the me and he said, "Brother Branham, I'm surprised at you."
Said, "What's the matter?"
He said, "That man's smoking a cigarette, that unloaded your truck. We holiness people do not believe in smoking cigarettes."
I said, "Neither do I."
He said, "But our people, it'll be a stumbling block in their way."
I said, "I couldn't get no one to drive that car. I had two trucks; I had to drive one myself, and get him to drive the other one. I'm going to lay him off in a few minutes. He knows that."
He said, "Well, don't you never do that again." Said, "Because our people are holiness people."
I said, "I'm sorry I did it, sir. If I'd had anyone else, I wouldn't have done it."

34 We turned around and walked to the place where there was several thousand people assembled together. He said, "Here is my wife. I want you to meet her, Brother Branham." And I looked, he said "She will be your pianist this afternoon."
And not for jokes, this is no place for a joke. That's the trouble of today, we got too much Hollywood evangelism and not enough of the old-fashioned conviction of the Gospel.
And that woman stood there with a dress on so tight, looked like the skin was on the outside. And she had great big earrings on, and stuff all over her mouth, and blue places behind her eyes, real short-cut hair, and it all fuzzed up like a fuzzy worm.
And she said, "How do you do, Dr. Branham?"
I said, "Howdy." I said, "I want to ask you something, sir?"
Said, "Yes, Brother Branham."
I said, "Is your wife a saint?"
Said, "Certainly."
I said, "I don't mean to hurt your feelings, but she looks like a 'haint' to me, from the way she's standing there like that."
[Gap in the audio.] ... and they got the manicure stuff on... "Listen lady, let me tell you something as your brother: there was one woman in the Bible, that painted her face..." [Gap in the audio.] So you can see what God thinks of painted-faced women: dog meat. That's God's dog meat. What do they do it for? Not to meet God. That's not a joke; get that out of your minds.

35 What does a woman do it for? What? To appear before men; that's the same thing Jezebel does. She likes to hear the boys go, "whee-whew" (that hound dog call or wolf call). That's right. It's because the pastor has let down. And you wouldn't have an old-fashioned, God-sent minister; you got some little Hollywood type of a guy that likes to beat on a drum, and jump up-and-down, and holler, "Hallelujah." The devil can do the same.
Holiness becometh the Lord. And if you love the world, or the things of the world, the love of God is not even in you. That's what the Scripture says.

36 Now, you see what you're doing? The wrong spirit's got among you, and it's making you try to satisfy that blessed holy thirst, that God give you to worship Him with; you're trying to satisfy it with television, radio, all the fancy things of the world, and makeup, and carry on. I believe you should look clean. Don't think I think you ought to have dirty clothes on. I think you should look the best, but be decent, clean, honorable looking.
Women out in the backyard, with a little old lawnmower, when a man's coming on, them little old clothes on, that you oughtn't to even stand before your husband with. And men come in and permitting such as that. And then deacons in the church, shame on you. No wonder we're gone.

37 Listen, don't you worry about Russia whipping us. It ain't the robin that pecks on the apple that hurts it; it's the worm at the core. Why, our own rotteness is what's killing us. We need a [unclear words] of the Lord God. If you want to act like children of God, He will protect His own. You know that's the truth.
Now, that blessed thirst, what made it come? God made you that way. And the devil turns around and said, "Oh, this is life. This is life." But you're receiving death all the time. You don't know what pleasure is, till you really get those carnal roots out of your heart and get God in there, where you can fellowship, and worship God, and rejoice, and sing in the Spirit, and walk the street like a real lady or gentleman, house under control, and your children all obedient.

38 A few days ago, down in Ohio, in a court, they said that all children had to be sent to college. They want no illiteracy in Ohio. And the Amish people don't send their children to these modern high schools. And they've never had on the record of all the Amish in Burkland history, of one case of juvenile delinquency. Let them dress different, and act different, and be peculiar, and act... But they haven't had no juvenile delinquency. Not one case on their records of America. They don't send them to them kind of places. And they passed a law that they'd have to go to their own high schools and colleges.
And the old mother and father was called in because they didn't send their son.
And the judge said, "You'll either send him, or you'll serve two years in prison." I was in Middletown, Ohio, at the time it happened.
And the father said, "I refuse to do it, sir. Not to be indifferent, but because that I come to America, thinking that this was freedom of religion." (We don't have no more democracy.) Freedom of religion.
He said, "You'll either abide by our laws, or you'll pay the penalty like the rest of them would."
He said, "I refuse to send him."
Said, "I sentence you and the mother, two years in the penitentiary."

39 The last flower of democracy faded in that courtroom. The father got up and said, "Very well, I will spend it to save my son. I don't want any of your rock-and-roll and your nonsense." And when he started out, the unjust judge tried to justify himself by saying, "Remember the Scripture says, 'Give Caesar what's Caesar's."
And he turned around and said, "And to God...?" But it bloomed again just in a few minutes. His whole bench quit the job, and resigned their office. God be blessed for a few real outstanding Americans yet left. What should the church do? Take its stand and stand there, without moving.

40 What's that thirst in you for? To worship God. Oh, David, who wrote the Psalms, the prophecy. He was an outdoor man; he loved the outdoors. Oh, how wonderful it is to love outdoors. How I remember mountain streams and when I go hunting, not to kill the game, just to be alone with God, see Him moving in His bushes, and hear Him in the call of the elk, and the wolf, and all, and the bears, the squeaking... Oh, all in nature, the birds, everything, God's just everywhere.
One day, standing in the Rocky Mountains, I was way high. I was hunting up there with a rancher. There was nobody within, oh, I guess, fifty miles, forty miles anyhow of us; the closest place was way back in behind the Corral Peaks on ... over the Burford Pass, many, many miles. And I ranched in there many, many times, running the cattle, and so forth, even riding the roundups. So we knowed about all the country. I go there to hunt. So it was early, and the elk hadn't come down yet, while we were hunting, because they were up high. The snows hadn't come.

41 And he said, "Now, Billy, I'm going to take the northern slope of the mountain, and you take the southern ... eastern slope, and we will meet about three days, and if you happen to get a big bull, hang him up, and we will pack him on the pack horses coming back."
I said, "Okay, Jeff."
We started off to meet at a certain day. I'd been the second day ... I was way high, because I'd seen no elk tracks, and they were up high yet. And in the fall, late, the storms come over, and rain, then will snow, and then the sun will come and dry it out, and ... stormy.
And there come a great, sudden gush of wind was coming down with the storm and rain, and I got behind a tree. And I was standing behind the tree just a minute. And the storm went past, and oh, it did blow. And there'd been an old blow-down there. And after the storm passed, it was cool while it was raining, and icicles was hanging all over the evergreens. You know how it gets. And just then the great sun begin to set in the crevices in the west, and a great, like a eye of God began to peek through, and a rainbow formed over the valley. I said, "Oh, God, it's good to be here."
Just then I heard the old bull elk bugle, and the mate answered him, the herd being broke up in the time of the storm. My mother's a half-Indian, that come off the reservation.

42 And then that began to call, the deep. David said, "Calling to the deep." The old gray wolf howled, and the mate answered it down in the valley. Oh my, something struck my spirit and screamed. I got so happy, I said, "God, it's so good to be here." I set my rifle down, and around and around the tree I run, screaming as hard as I could, shaking my hands. If someone would have come in the woods, they'd thought there was a maniac out there. I didn't care; I was worshipping the Lord, just having a glorious time.
After a while, I noticed a little old pine squirrel, a little guy about that long, the fussiest thing in the woods. Jumped up on a stump and begin, "Chatter, chatter, chatter, chatter," like he was going to cut me to pieces.
I said, "Don't get so excited, little fellow; I wouldn't hurt you. Did I make you scared? I'm worshipping the God that created you. Watch this." And around, and around, and around the tree, I went again. I said, "You ought to do that."
And I noticed the little fellow, his eyes bulged out almost on his cheek. Wasn't watching me, kept cocking his little head, looking around like that. And the storm had forced a big eagle down in there. That's what he was scared of.

43 The big eagle jumped up on the limb, and I thought, "Now, God, why did You stop me from shouting? Now, why did You put that eagle out there before me? Why? I'm here worshipping You. I know You're everywhere, but would You be in that eagle?" And I happened to notice that eagle. He wasn't scared of me. And I said, "Are you afraid of me?" His great big velvet eyes looked at me; he wasn't afraid of me.
I said, "Oh, I see God in that eagle." I said, "Because he's not scared. God's not scared."
You're afraid; "If I accept my healing, I can't hold out. If I get Christ in my heart, I'm afraid somebody will laugh at me." You're not in condition yet. You ain't dead enough yet.

44 So this eagle wasn't scared. I thought, "Why is it you're not scared?" I noticed him feeling his wings, you know how they fluffle their feathers. I thought, "Oh, that's it. I see: God's give you two wings." And if God give that eagle two wings, and he knowed he could be in that timber before I could get the rifle in my hands---if he could trust his wings like that---what ought a church do that's filled with the Holy Ghost? Long as you can feel Him around you, know that He's there, what you afraid of? You afraid your boss will say, "How did you get well?"
"Oh..." Don't be a scared; say, "The Lord God healed me." Don't be afraid. And I noticed he got...

45 I said, "You know I can shoot you?" And I grabbed at my rifle. He watched, looked at me again. I noticed he wasn't afraid of me, but he was getting tired of that little old chipmunk, sitting there, "Chatter, chatter, chatter, chatter, chatter, chatter," just all fuss. So he got sick and tired of him, he just made a big jump. He made about two flops, and he was plumb out of the timber, and then I wept. He just took his great wings and spread them out like this. He never flopped his wings anymore. He just knowed how to set his wings. And every time the wind would come up, he'd ride up on it, ride up on it, until he become just a little spot.
I stood and looked, and the tears running down my cheeks. I said, "Oh God, that's it. That's what You wanted me to stop here and sent that storm for." That's the idea. Just know how to set your wings in the power of God, your wings of faith, and then the Holy Ghost rolls in, ride upon it. Just keep on going; get away from this little old woodchuck chatter, chatter, saying, "The days of miracle is passed.", and, "There's no such a thing as divine healing." Ride on over it. God wants to fill that heart.

46 David said, "As the hart thirsts after the waterbrook, my soul thirsts after Thee, O God." Listen close; I'm closing. David was in the mountains, and being a woodsman---a hunter---he knew about the deer. I seen them many times; down in Louisiana, they hunt them with dogs. Over in Africa, there's a wild dog. And it's very strange, and any deer hunter here knows, if you wound a deer, hurt him, and if he can get to water, you've lost him. As long as he can find water, he can live. But oh, if the dogs would hurt the little fellow. You see them deer standing, and the dog has a trick or the wolf, either. And he slips up real easy. Now, he's technically got two blood fangs right here in the side of his mouth. And he grabs the deer just behind the ear where the jugular vein crosses; he sinks those teeth in---the coyote, the wolf, the wild dog. And when he does, he throws himself. When he does that, I've seen them cut steer's throat, coyotes. And he's sneaking; you don't know where he's at. And he grabs the deer, and he swings his weight; it cuts the jugular vein, and the little deer makes a few drops, and he's gone. Then he's covered over with dogs, and coyotes eating on him, pulling the hide and meat right off his bones.

47 How true that is tonight, with many a little innocent Christian. You little girls, with this little Elvis Presley, rock-and-roll, and Pat Boone, and Arthur Godfrey stuff, the devil to hang you---put that rouge and stuff on your face to get the boys to give that (That's wolves; that's what they are. That's true.), to give that whistle. You dress yourselves in little clothes like that, and show that little body of yours. Oh honey dear, I've got two little girls at home too. God be merciful, child. You don't realize, honey, that that's the trap of the devil. Don't never dress yourself so a man'd look at you like that. Keep yourself for your little sweetheart husband that's coming some day. God will give it to you.
And there the wolves of hell is right after you, and you're coaxing them on. One day the jugular vein will be cut. You'll be gone. Then you'll stumble a couple of times; you're gone. Innocent: "Oh, just a little rock-and-roll won't hurt anything." And I noticed our YMCA's are teaching it. What's that "C" in there call for; is that "Christ" or "cursing"? It's a disgrace. She's gone, the whole nation's polluted; it's rotten to the core, because the church let down. It ought to be a standard.

48 The dog has another technique to grab at the deer. If it misses its ear, it'll grab it in the side. The hind quarters of the deer is heavier than the front quarters, and if he can grab him right in the flanks with those teeth, and take a big bite in the deer, if he's not a smart deer, the dog will---in the mid-center of him---or the wolf will throw the deer on the ground. If he misses this part, he will catch him in the side. But if the deer's real smart, and jumps quick (It can't slowly jump; it's got to jump fast) and if the little deer will quickly swing sideways, the dog will pull a whole mouthful out. And then if the deer's quick and fast, he will get away.
Listen, sister dear, if you're right on that verge, and the devil has dragged you, jump quick. Don't wait till the next revival. Jump now. If you've had your first rock-and-roll date, don't never go again, jump away from it quick as you can. If you've been dressing like you oughtn't to, dress decent, act like a lady, a Christian. The hounds of hell's galloping after you.

49 Then when she's grabbed... The little fellow will run as hard as he can; the blood's pouring out. Watch him. He's got to find water. They're right behind him. He must find water. If he don't find water, he's gone. Let him find water, and he will live. But he must get to water right quick. And if he can pass over a stream... You hunters know what I mean. He will get a drink, run right over the hill, freshens him up. He will come down and get a drink again, leave the dogs one way or the other, the hunter, either one. Back and forth and cross that river, he can live.

50 But think of David, when he said, "As the hart panteth for the waterbrook, so my soul thirsts after thee, O God." If that deer don't get to water, he's dead. And if you can't get to Christ, not the church... The devil tries to put a false thing in you there, tries to make you satisfied, that great thirst in you, by saying, "Yeah, I joined church." That's just almost as bad as doing something else. He tries to say, "Oh, I'm a Presbyterian," "I'm Pentecostal," "I'm Catholic," "I'm a Baptist." That don't mean one thing to God. You can be any church member and go to hell like a martin to its box.
Jesus said, "Except a man be born again, he will in no wise enter in."
"Well, I pay my tithes; I do this." That's all right, brother dear.
"Well, I tell you, our church has got the biggest missionary offerings in the country." That's very fine. "We got the loveliest church there is in the city, more members." That's fine, but that don't have one thing to do with salvation, not one thing at all. God don't even recognize it. "Except a man be born again of the Spirit, and of the water, he will in no wise enter."

51 Intellectual won't help; it's got to come down here to a birth. Join church as much as you want to, good holy churches; that still won't have a thing to do with it. Be baptized face forward, backward, poured, sprinkled, won't... You just go down a dry sinner and come up a wet one. It don't do one thing to you but pollute you. You're a two-fold child more of hell than you was when you started. Most miserable person in the world, is someone trying to impersonate Christianity: miserable. To live for Christ is a joy. Its wings that you fly over it, and your soul begins to thirst like the deer. "Oh, if I can't find it, I will die." You'll find it. If you thirst after God like that, you'll find Him. "Oh, my soul longeth for Thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water is. I long to see Thy power like I've seen it in Thy sanctuary." Is your soul thirsting like that tonight?
"Lord Jesus, come to us. Bless us. Do for us like You did for them in the early days. Take the world from me, and let me worship You." Is your soul thirsting like that? Quickly, there'll be a spring break up by the side of you. You'll live.

52 "Brother Branham," you say, "I'm just as good as the rest of them. I don't have to do these things."
You're dying and don't know it. "As the hart panteth for the water brook, my soul thirsts after Thee, O God." He must find water or he dies. You must find God or you die. "I must see You, Lord, or I will perish."
Oh, how we need Him tonight, in an old-fashioned, God-sent revival, where men and women really get right with God. Let us pray:

53 Dear God, this little broke up salvation message here tonight, but I hope that it will not return void, which Thou has promised. You said, "It would accomplish that which it was purposed for." And Thou knowest everything, Father, so Thou knowest it was purposed to try to save the church, and the people, not to be different, or anything, but to bring the church back into fellowship with Thee.
We would pray You would grant it tonight, Lord. Let these thirsty souls begin to look and wonder now. Let them search, saying, "O God," till we get back again. Let the preacher forsake his little petty doctrines, and come back, and bring the church to Christ again, no matter if he's Baptist, Presbyterian, Pentecostal, whatever he may be. Let the members go to thirsting for You, Lord, and just got to have You. Then:
There is a Fountain filled with blood,
Drawn from Immanuel's veins,
Where sinners plunge beneath the flood,
Lose all their guilty stains.
The dying thief rejoiced to see
That Fountain in his day;
There may I, though vile as he,
Wash all my sins away.

54 May that be the thirst of these young women and old women, young men and old men. Grant it, Lord. Create in them a thirst tonight, thirsting after Thee. Let them know that even this worldly stuff, that they're trying to satisfy themselves: "Oh, I belong to church. It's no harm to do this or that." O God, wake them up to know that Satan's doing that, and that thirst that they have for a good time, and so forth, was put in them to worship You, and to have Your blessings, and to enjoy Your fellowship, not the fellowship of the world, but the fellowship of Christ. Grant it, Lord. We ask it in His name. Amen.

55 While you remain just a moment. Now, tomorrow they're going to give the prayer cards for healing, tomorrow night. Tonight, want to make an altar call just a minute. So, how many's here for their first time, that's heard about the meeting, and how the Lord gives visions, but you've never been in one? Let's see your hands. Is there many here? Oh, the whole front part of it here is full of them. All right. The newcomers...
You've heard that how our Lord Jesus said He did nothing until the Father showed Him by vision what to do. You remember that? Did you read that in the Bible? Does Jesus, if He would appear today, would He do the same that He did back there? Would it make your soul thirst after Him, if you could see Him stand here in this building, among us all, and perform and do the same things that He did when He was here on earth, would you be thankful for that? Raise up your hand, say, "Oh, it would create another thirst." Blessings be on you.

56 Now, I just want to pray and ask the Lord, from right here, not to bring you up here. I feel real led as I look down here, and seeing that picture here with the pillar of fire on it, that led the children of Israel through the wilderness, and know... I looked out here, and I see it hanging right over the audience. So, whether we got prayer cards or not, I believe God wants to do something here that you thirsty souls will go to thirsting for it.
Now, you out there, that's sick and afflicted, the Bible said, that Jesus Christ is a High Priest, right now, that can be touched by the feeling of our infirmities. All that know the Scriptures say that, say, "Amen." The Bible said in Hebrews 13:8, "He's the same yesterday, today, and forever." Is that right? Then when He was here on earth, a woman was sick one time with a blood issue. So the men was all crowding around, and patting Him to the shoulder, and was blessing Him, and so forth, and "How do You do, Reverend. And we're glad to meet You. Thankful you're here in this campaign," and you know like that, and going on as men and people do.

57 But there was a little woman; she had a blood issue, and the doctors could do her no good. So she slipped through the crowd, and she said, "Oh, He is the Son of God. If I can touch His garment, I will get well." And she touched His garment, went back out.
Jesus stopped, and said, "Who touched Me?" That was Jesus yesterday, wasn't it? For the feeling of an infirmity.
And Peter said, "Why, Lord..." He rebuked the Lord, and he said, "Well, all of them is a touching You. Why do You say, 'Who touched Me?'"
He said, "But I've gotten weak. Virtue's gone out of Me. Strength."
And He looked around over the audience, perhaps, maybe the size of this tonight, maybe larger, maybe smaller. Looked around, and He found that person that touched Him. And He told her what her infirmity was, that her faith had made her well. How many knows that's true?

58 Well, if He's the same yesterday, today, and forever... He said, "A little while, and the world won't see Me no more. Yet, you'll see Me, for I will be with you, even in you, to the end of the world. I am the vine; ye are the branches." The branches bears fruit of the vine.
Now, He's in His church, working. I wonder if there's that kind of faith tonight, in this audience, that could touch His garments, while I would submit myself to Him, with you, that He'd come back down in the form of the Holy Ghost and do the same thing here on this platform tonight. You out there without your prayer cards, this new crowd in here, if He would... You see Him by the card. But now, if He'd come down tonight, and do that from the platform here, and do the same thing that He did when He was here in the flesh, would you believe that He was in His church then, working? Would you believe that, the same yesterday...?
Let us pray again. Now, sinner, be real reverent.

59 Lord God, I'm trusting that You'll do this. I don't know. I'm praying that You will, because of the little vision just a moment ago. Grant, Lord, that it'll be so; in Christ's name, I submit myself to You, and ask that the Holy Spirit will get into the hearts of the people. May Angels take their positions by the side of these sick people, and beside of the unbeliever, and the sinner, and let them know that You're here. And that thirst that they have longed to see, grant it, Lord, that You'll be standing right them.
Some of them are here thirsting for healing. You're the waters of life. And I pray, God, that You'll act in the same way, through Your mystical body here, the church, that You did when You were here in Your corporal body in the form, in the name called Jesus. Grant it, Father, through Jesus' name. Amen.

60 I'm asking for reverence. And now, just be real reverent. Every person in here, as far as I know, is a stranger, except my son, and Mr. Vayle, and Mr. Goad right here. Others, I do not know.
Looks like I ought to know this man sitting right here. Do I know you, sir? Your face looks familiar to me, but I don't remember your name, but that's the only one that I know.

61 Now, let us be real reverent, and just look to the Lord Jesus and say, "Now, Lord..." You out there, you that's sick, you say, "Lord Jesus, the man has told me that if we thirsted, why, You was the One to give us, suffice this thirst that we have. He told us that You was raised from the dead, and You're the same all the time. Now, I did read in the Bible where a woman touched Your garment, and You knew her trouble, just like You could tell them: Philip, where he was, and Peter, what his father's name was, and all them things in the Bible. And the Pharisees called You a devil, said You was a mind reader or a Beelzebub, which is a devil. But them people, who that miracle was performed on, knowed You was the Son of God. You told the woman at the well, where her sins was, and she ran into the city, said, 'Come, see the man that told me the things I done. Isn't this the very Christ?' Now, Lord, if You remain the same, it's a dark day. Some people say, 'The Methodist is right, the Baptist is right, the Lutheran is right, the Pentecost is right.' God, what is right?" Jesus is right.

62 And I believe He's in every one of your churches---certainly He is---Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Pentecost. But He loves you. Don't make any difference what church you belong to; just look at Him now and say, "Lord, I believe." May He grant...
Now, while we're in prayer, everybody just reverent. But if you're praying, and you hear me call, look up, see. Because I have to speak quick. Here is the picture. They've told you about it. George J. Lacy, head of the FBI, fingerprinting documents, took the picture of an Angel of God, the pillar of fire that led the children of Israel. And all knows that that pillar of fire was Jesus Christ. Do you believe that? Well, He said, "I come from God, and I go to God." And after He went back, Paul met Him on the road to Damascus: a light, pillar of fire again, put his eyes out. Peter in the prison: pillar of fire come in let him out. Here it is again, appearing at the end of the Gentile age, the same Jesus. The scientific age that we live in, He's appeared to the scientific world. They can't say it's wrong. Examine it.

63 Now, just be real reverent. Now, let's pray. Each one now, that's got sickness, pray. Now, you're the one has to touch Him. I just yield... I could no more... Knowing you not, I could no more know anything about you, than this thing could speak without something behind it to speak; it's a mute. Just pray. Now, I have no idea. But you promised you'd believe Him.
Now, Lord, I pray that You'll grant it for Your glory.
Just in the spirit of worship, say, "Lord God, I'm so needy. Let me touch You." Don't get nervous. That's where you get hysterical, and you get away from Him. He's right with you.

64 Now, you may raise your heads, just a moment. The light of the Holy Spirit, that in this (to you scientists) dimension, (to you Christians) this atmosphere of the Holy Spirit which now takes me. You couldn't hide your life if you had to. I can't heal; God's already did that. But it's hanging over a colored woman, sitting right here, with a little ball on her hat.
You're praying for something, aren't you, Auntie, the colored woman? Yes, Uh-huh. You're afflicted or something's wrong with you. You have a prayer card? You don't have a prayer card? You don't? You don't need one. If the Lord God will reveal to me here, Auntie, what your trouble is, will you believe me to be His servant, telling you the truth out of the Bible? You will? You believe. The Lord bless you, sister. That's the reason it's hanging over you.

65 Now, just a moment. It's coming down; there it is. All right. The woman is suffering with arthritis. That arthritis is in her spine; and she also has, created from that, a real, extreme nervous condition. That's exactly right, the colored lady sitting there with the little ball on her hat. If that's right, lady, yes... Raise up your hand if that's right. I'm talking to the colored lady, back there, lady. All right. That does it. You don't have that now. It's gone from you.
I don't know why the grace of God, all you white people... I've just been talking about colored people and telling how they were saved. God loves them. That poor little woman there, may have less education than anybody sitting here, but she knows God.

66 It happens to be, being that the Lord has blessed her; there's a colored lady sitting right next to her there. It looks like, that there... It is forming around her. She shouted just a few moments ago. I don't know you, do I, lady? If the Lord God will tell me what you're trouble is, what you're suffering with, you'll know whether it's the truth or not, won't you? You're suffering with sinus. That's right. If that's right, raise up your hand. It's gone now. God bless you.

67 You with your hand up there, the other colored lady, sitting there waving your hand, do you believe me to be God's servant? The young woman, do you believe me? I don't know you, do I, sister? I've never seen you in my life. You believe me to be the servant of Christ? And it's not me? This is a case like Jesus talking to the woman at the well. She was a Samaritan; He was a Jew. You are a Ethiopian woman, and I'm an Anglo-Saxon. It's two different... It's the same Spirit. Now, if Christ... The woman believed me. Now, Jesus didn't know what her trouble was, but when He found her trouble, He told her her trouble; she went to the city and said, "That's the Son of God. That's the Messiah."
If He'd tell you the same thing, working through you and I now, as total two different races of people, first time ever meeting. But you're aware that's something's going on, aren't you, lady?---a real sweet humble feeling around you. If that's right, raise up your hand, the little colored lady with the pink shawl. You are suffering with heart trouble and with a tumor. If that's right, raise up your hand. Jesus Christ heals you. If thou canst believe.

68 Some of you white people believe, you newcomers in here. Oh, isn't... You should be in a real spirit of worship. We're in the presence of Jesus. Please, friends, if ever you believe, as your brother, let me with my Bible on my heart, you believe right now. Just lay aside your theology. Just say, "Lord Jesus, I realize there's something here. There's got to be."
Here it is right over a little man standing right here, right at the end of the row. He's suffering with a skin trouble, little fellow there. You believe in God? That's right, isn't it, sir? If that's right, raise up your hand. I don't know you, do I? All right. You're going to get over it now. Don't worry. The blessings of God is on you. Where it was dark, it's turned light. Have faith in God. Do you believe? All of you believe?
Here's... Now, here friends, get these people, these new comers, if we can, right in here, where they all held their hands... Or anywhere, I just have to... Wherever He calls, that's where I have to answer.

69 Here's a little lady sitting right here, looking right at me, second row. Yes. Do you believe the Lord Jesus would heal you? You were suffering, wasn't you? You are suffering. And you were sitting there, in your heart praying, "God, let him speak to me tonight. I believe You, Lord." Now, if that's true, raise up your hand. The lady here. If the Lord God will tell me what your trouble is, will you believe Him, that He wants to make you well?
I see you getting up kind of slow out of the bed, of a morning. You got rheumatism. That's right. Now, I want to ask you something sincerely: You don't feel it now, do you? The Lord healed you. That's right.

70 The other lady sitting next to you there, she's suffering too. The little lady with her head down, praying. You're praying, "Lord, let it be me next." That right? You believe me to be His servant? Sitting right next to the little lady there, that was just called. Would you love to go eat your supper and enjoy a good meal again? You're suffering with a stomach trouble, aren't you? That's right. It's a peptic condition, caused from a deep thinking; you cross bridges before you get to them, and things like that. It's more like a mental nervousness. You're not shaky nervous, but you're just ... you just get deep thinking. You oughtn't to do that; be happy. Now, your stomach trouble's gone. You can go home now.

71 What do you think? The elderly lady sitting next to her, looking around there praying? The light went right over on you, with the little rose on your coat. Do you believe me to be God's servant? Please, please, don't let... Don't... That's what does it, friends. See, you rob the people of their healing. Please, please, be reverent, just a moment.
See, you're a soul, and when you move, it moves the Spirit. You say, "Brother Branham, it's psychology." What about Jesus then when He put them all out of the house, Jairus' house, when He went in to raise the daughter. Be reverent. Have respect at least for the sick, respect for Jesus.

72 Now, be real reverent again, now, let's see. What was it? It was a vision breaking, but I don't know where it was. Just keep praying. Seems like I was right down here in front, somewhere. God surely in His mercy will do it again. Where was it? It was... Here it is back.
It's the lady with a rose on her coat. That's the one it was. She has a hernia. That's right, isn't it, sister? If that's right, raise up your hand. You believe God for your healing? Will you do me a favor? Lay your hand on that lady next to you; she has arthritis. She wants to get well too. Isn't that right, lady? All right. Here, now, you have it.
There's a lady sitting next to you; see that dark spirit across there coming there? That's that spirit calling for this one over here for help. Lay your hand on the woman next to you; she has arthritis too. And that's the lady there. You had arthritis also, didn't you? You're both healed, so you can go home, be well. God has made you well. Have faith.

73 Back in this way, somebody. Have faith, friends, believe God. Don't doubt Him. Just believe Him.
Here it is. Look with your eyes, friends. Don't... You mean to say you can't see this light here, right over the woman sitting on the end? Yeah. You were praying, wasn't you? Sincerely. I do not know you. Is that right? You don't know me. This is our first time meeting. If the Holy Spirit will tell me what you're praying about, you believe me to be His servant then? You believe? You know now that you're in contact with something. You are a Christian, a believer. You got trouble with your back. It's a back trouble. Isn't that right? That's what you was praying about. You're not from this city. You're not even from this state. You're from Rhode Island. That's right. Mrs. Leighton, L-e-i-g-h-t-o-n, Mrs. Leighton. Is that right? Raise up your hand. Now, you're going home well. Your back trouble's left you. Jesus Christ has healed you. Do you believe? Does the whole audience believe? Let's bow our heads, just a minute then.

74 Father, we're conscious we're here in Your presence. Maybe people here may never be back again. This may be their last night. While You're present, Lord, I pray Thee, in Christ's name, be merciful.
And with your heads bowed just a moment, the organ playing sweetly, lowly... How many in here now, in the presence of Christ, knowing that He's here, how many would like to raise up your hand, and say, "Brother Branham, pray for me, I want the real experience with God that you've been talking about. I'm tired of living this half life, and I'm..." Maybe you're a sinner, and you want to be saved. Raise your hand, will you, to God, way, way up high. That's right. God bless you. Oh, my. Forty, fifty, hundred hands or more, up in the air. God bless you. I'm going to ask you something, if she will play ... while she's playing on the organ. If you believe God hears my prayer for the sick---'course, He heard me for this altar call---I want you to come here and stand right down here, around here, let me come down and pray for you.

75 Rise slowly now, we're going to sing, "Almost Persuaded." And I want each one of you, that wants God to change your life, right now... If He can change your body, He can change your life. And all that place that He made in you to be thirsting for Him, you want to worship Him, and Him to come in and take all the desire of the world from you. Will you come right down here for prayer? Will you do it while we sing, "Almost Persuaded"? All right, sister, on the organ, if you will, give us a chord. All right.

76 Almost persuaded......
Come right up close now, right here, right along standing. God bless you, sir. God bless you. That's right. Come right out, and come right on down. The Holy Spirit's calling you. Somebody will raise up and give you space to come. That's right. Oh, there's a great audience here should be here. Come right down, will you?
Almost... (Be sincere now.) but to fail!
Sad, sad, that bitter wail:
"Almost," but lost!
Almost............
Oh, there's many of you should be coming, come right up. Come on. That's right. Colored folks now. That's good. No matter who you are---Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, Orthodox, whatever---come right on down. If you don't know God, that little place that's never been filled up [unclear words]. Come right down now. Won't you come?
...........not away:
Seems now some soul to say,
"Go, Spirit, go Thy way,
Some more convenient day
On thee I'll call."
[Brother Branham begins humming.]

77 Be honest now. There's more in here. Did you mean that that soul in you, that really knows that, under the message tonight, you been condemned, you're not living the way you should live. Then see that same light that you see here in the Bible, come down and produce the same things it did when it dwelt in a body called Jesus. He promised to be in His church. Here He comes right down in His church and does the same thing, proving that He's here, and your soul in you condemning you, Angels of God standing near, and saying, "You should go." This may be your last opportunity. You may not get home tonight. You may be laying dead in the bed in the morning. In a year from now, you may be molded in the grave. And now, you might not---I don't know---but I'm just saying you could be. Someday you will be. Why not now?

78 Do you know that old southern altar call, "Oh, Why not tonight?" Does the people know that? Give us a chord on it. And I'm going to ask you something. Come on, you lukewarm church members, you know you've done wrong. You women, you men, boys and girls, stir yourself right... I feel led to do this, friends. Surely, God... Don't you know I'm telling you the truth? God's proved it. Now, I'm telling you the truth. There's loads of you need to be standing here. Won't you come now? Won't you come?
O do not let the word depart,
And close your eyes against light,
This is the time, O then be wise,
O why not tonight.
All together...
O why not tonight? (not tonight?)
Oh, why.......
That's right, get right out and come on. Come right down the aisle. Take yourself around here. God's ready to give it to you, if you'll raise up and say, "I need it." He can't bless you till you feel that you're needy. If you feel you're sufficient, okay.
...............not tonight?
Tomorrow the sun may never shine,
To bless thy long deluded sight;
This is the time, O then be wise,
He saves all tonight. (I give you Jesus.)
O why (tell me why) not tonight?
(What reasoning can you give for
not coming?) ...not tonight?
Just Thou be saved, and why (That's right,
come right on down.) ... tonight?
[Brother Branham begins humming.]

79 What excuses can you give now? Now, let me say this to you that's back there, me knowing in my heart by the Spirit of God, you're grieving Him by doing what you are doing. Let me say with the Bible over my heart, the Angel of God is with me, "The blood not upon me, I've told you the truth. You need a walk with God; you're walking out of the fellowship. Come on down. This is the hour for you. Come on now, while we sing once more. This is the last. Why? Give me the excuse, why? Why couldn't you?
Say, "My job." Quit it.
"My mother, she will drive me away from home." Many has walked alone with Christ.
"My father won't appreciate it." Your Heavenly Father will accept you. "I will give you fathers, and mothers, and..." I had to leave my home too, because of it. But God give me tens of thousands of fathers and mothers around the world. Greatest thing that any man ever did---or woman---when they come from their seats down to an altar of prayer. That's right.

80 I'm not asking you come join a church. I'm asking you come, receive Christ while His presence here. What more could He do? If He healed the sick, still wouldn't be as great as this. He does heal the sick. He couldn't appear in a visible body, because when He does, time shall be no more then. But He's here in His church, showing you that He's raised from the dead, trying to get you to come, accept as your risen Lord. Once more now, while we sing, "O, Why Not Tonight?" All right.
O, why not tonight?
Church member, sinner, why don't you come? Remember in the name of the Lord Jesus, I'm offering you Christ; if I never see you again till judgment, this is your time.
And why not......
When the rainbows are sweeping through the skies, fires are falling, the sputniks has done dropped their bombs, and the handwriting's on the wall, time shall be no more. There'll be one split second there'll not be... There'll be millions times millions in the New England States that will be swept into eternity without a chance. Remember, He who speaks tonight, the Spirit knows what's truth. Come.

81 All right. While the workers now come and stand around these people now, getting your positions around; these who are trained here to do personal work, make your places. The rest of you that wants to come with them, come at this time now. Have you got a room in there somewhere you're taking them, an instruction room? All right. Just one moment then, they're coming around now. Others are coming to be saved. Let's bow our heads, everywhere while... I want to pray as I offered to pray.

82 Dear God, be merciful to these people. This may be our last meeting time, dear God, until we see You standing yonder. Oh, if You're going to come for Your church before destruction... Before one drop of rain could fall, Noah and his group was in the ark. And the Angel of the Lord, who went down into Sodom, His message was haste; it was deliverance and mercy.
The same Angel, who had His back turned to the tent, and said, "Why did Sarah laugh?" O God, may the people realize, that same Angel's here tonight that knows the secret of the heart, the same as He knowed Sarah laughed back in the tent.
She said, "I didn't."
But He said, "Oh, yes, you did." What was that Angel's message just before the fire fell. Here you are again, Lord.

83 I pray now; there's nothing more I can do. They are the fruits of the message, Your message. They are Yours. They've come. "No man can come to Me," You said, "except My Father draws him."
Then, God, You had to be here to draw them here. Many, many people, the altar's packed full, and up-and-down the aisles. And I pray Thee, God, that You have brought them up here, that You'll give them to Your dear Son, as love gifts. And then, we know that no one can pluck them from His hand. You said, "He that heareth My words, and believeth on Him that sent Me, has everlasting life, and shall never come into the judgment, but has passed from death unto life."

84 God, may this group of hungry people walk into this little room here now, and be filled with the Holy Spirit, for when hands is applied to them in there, according to Apostolic rules, may they be filled with the Holy Ghost, and that fountain of their heart that's been touched tonight, and all of the old tin cans and rubbish of the world has been cleaned out, making a new heart for God to worship. Grant it, Lord. That thirst now coming for You.
Sanctify them at the altar, that when they walk in there, they may be filled with the goodness of God, and His Spirit take them in. Grant it, Lord. I present them to You, in Jesus Christ's name.

85 Now, while you're here, workers are here, places are for you to go right in here, so we can go in and pray with you, to be filled with God's Spirit. File right in now, as you're coming. While we continue to sing, "O Why Not Tonight?" Again, the audience...
Oh, why not tonight?
Come right, everyone of you, standing around here now. You that want to come with them, and receive the Holy Spirit. Come right on in. Go right on in. This is your hour, your time. We're going right in to pray with them, going right in, lay hands on them. If God will grant... (I done prayed for them.) If God will grant this out here, what will He grant in there?
........tonight? (Come here, reverend)
O why (Will you take the service?) tonight?
(Come right on in now, as we go for prayer).

Life

You can find this sermon at ChurchAges.net

1 Let us remain standing just a moment, now for prayer. Shall we bow our heads? Blessed Lord, we thank Thee, God, for what Thou hast done for us. And that Your great privilege of ours that we have now to come back to worship Thee tonight. And we would ask You to meet with us in an unusual way, and to bless our hearts as we put our faith together. And we would ask tonight, if there would be some who would be among us that has not this grand fellowship with Thee, may this be the night that all of their sins will be under the blood, and they'll be able to enjoy these privileges that we have enjoyed so gratefully.
And we would ask that You would bring back those who has once fellowshipped with Thee and has lost that joy. May they know that there is a loving Father who loves them and is standing, waiting with His arms outstretched to receive such as His wandering children that would return.

2 Be merciful to those, Lord, who are so greatly in need of healing tonight. May your Holy Spirit just heal their sick bodies. And there is some, perhaps, here, Lord, who has never received Thy Holy Spirit, yet. And we pray that You'll give to them tonight, Lord, Thy Holy Spirit to fellowship around Thy Word. Grant it, Lord.
I'm needy myself, very needy, Lord. Twenty-some odd nights of straight preaching and my throat is tired and weary. And I pray that You'll give me help and ... mind getting dull from the hours of labor in the field. Now, help me, Lord, and may I be able to say that which would be pleasing in Thy sight. For we ask it Jesus' name. Amen.
You may be seated. Thank you.

3 I am very pleased tonight to see this nice audience of people on a Monday night, and a rainy bad night. You know, down in the South, a little rain or a little weather kind of hinders the people much, but it don't seem to bother you.
I'm so happy that our Lord has been meeting with us in the past few nights, and especially in the healing services, and giving the victories that I've just been privileged of hearing. Brother Vayle telling me that they've been testifying around of the different healings. Oh, He's real.
And you ministers, you pastors will notice after the campaign's over a long time, women and men will be coming to you and saying, "You know that that I had, I just don't have it no more."
Over the meetings at night I see many things happen, but you just can't call them fast enough, see. It happens and we know it'll be all right, so we just let it go. It would be more spontaneously if they could catch it.

4 Just reading a testimony, here, recently in a meeting. And before I take my text, I would like to speak that. And I was praying for some people and there was a lady came up that had a stomach trouble, and it was very bad. I think the doctors had told her that they'd even had to give her blood transfusions from ulcers which had broke in her stomach. She was very bad and it was a duodenal ulcer. That's the very bad kind. So in the vision, the Lord told the woman what her troubles was, what she had did; and then after it was over, she said she believed.
And now, that's all right. You watch that, you see. And said, "The Lord bless you and may the Lord heal you," we don't know, yet. But then all of a sudden it changed and come back with, "Thus saith the Lord." That's the vision seeing what's going to be. One sees what has been. The other one sees what's going to be. And many times, I see death, but I never say nothing about it, unless I know it's going to happen: because sometimes death could be pronounced on you. And yet, prayer could change that. Do you know that? It was done in the Scriptures.

5 When Hezekiah lay dying. Isaiah... Could you imagine how that prophet must have felt? When he went up there saying, "Thus saith the Lord, you're going to die. You're not coming off the bed." And he was a true prophet. Went outside of the chamber, there stood the celebrity of the palace and, "O, great prophet, what will happen to our king?" "Thus saith the Lord, he's going to die."
On out to the soldiers in the yards, the palace yards and the gates, "What saith, O prophet, the Lord to our great king?"
"Thus saith the Lord, he's going to die. He ain't coming off the bed."
Then on out into the streets to the poor people, "O great prophet, what does the Lord say about our lovely king?" "Thus saith the Lord, he's going to die." On down to his little house.

6 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and wept bitterly. Said, "Lord, I beseech Thee to consider me, for I've walked before you with a perfect heart." That's quite a testimony, isn't it? "And I ask for fifteen years longer of life."
Now, who was the greatest man in the nation? The king. There was the great earthly king talking to the great heavenly King. Now why didn't the King say to him, "All right, Hezekiah, I hear your plea."

7 But you know, God has ways of doing things? And we have to cooperate with His ways of doing it. Hezekiah was not born in that position for the Lord to talk to him like that. So the Lord goes back down to the place where the prophet was sitting, said, "Go tell him I heard his prayer, and I'm going to spare him fifteen years."
What that prophet must have thought, coming back up there, "Thus saith the Lord, he's going to live. Thus saith the Lord, he's going to live." "What about it, prophet? What are you going back for?" "Thus saith the Lord, he's going to live." What did that? Prayer: changes things from death unto life. It always does.

8 And when the Lord had pronounced on this little woman that she was going to be all right, she was healed. Well, she went outside thanking the Lord. So, she thought she could just go on, be all right. And she goes and tries to eat. Oh, did she get sick. So then, in a couple of days it kept getting worse and she'd try to eat and force it down her. Vomit it up... bleeding. So she said...
The people in the neighborhood began to think after a couple of weeks, and her husband said, "Honey, I believe that you testifying like that, you're going to bring a reproach upon the cause of Christ."
And she said to her husband, "If that man stood there, just a man under inspiration, and told me the things that I had done in my life, told me what caused the ulcer and what happened and what condition it was in, and told me, 'Thus saith the Lord,' the vision showed that I was going to be well, do you think I would doubt that?" She said, "Reproach or no reproach, it would be more reproach for me to doubt it." How right she was.

9 And one morning after, I guess, five weeks or more, four or five weeks, I forget just what she said. She was washing the dishes one morning; the children had gone to school. And all of a sudden she had a real strange feeling strike her. She thought, "What is this?" She felt real blessed. So then she thought, "Well, maybe it's just the Lord blessing me." She was a very fine Christian woman---young woman about in her thirties. And she got real hungry. And she said, "Oh, how I would like to be able to eat just a little piece of toast. And she sat down and eat the toast. Just in a few moments it come up ... would've done it. But that time it stayed down, felt good.
Well, she thought, "You know if that's so, I believe I will just eat some of these oats here that some of the children left in their plate." So she sits down and eats the oats. Now, you know what oatmeal would be on an acid stomach. And she waited about fifteen or twenty minutes and it never bothered her. So she sat down and had her a real gastronomical jubilee. She fried her some eggs, got her a cup of coffee, just really enjoyed it. And she waited about twenty or thirty minutes. And usually in five minutes she done threw it up.

10 And she felt so good. She said, "You know, I just can't keep this good thing to myself." So down the street she went to a neighbor that had been prayed for the same night, who had a growth on the side of her neck. Well, her husband was retired. They'd gotten up late. And when she got to such a house a few doors below her, she thought they had the Salvation Army in there. She never heard so much shouting and going-on in all her life. She thought, "Well, what's wrong?" She runs in and said, "Lydia, what's the matter?"
She said, "Oh, Bertha! I want to tell you. I just got up. I was laying there. We'd been awake for a little while, I felt a real strange feeling. And we shook even the sheets on the bed. We can't find that lump. It's gone."
Well, she told her her story. And they just got all enthused and got themselves somebody in the neighborhood and come to one of my meetings which was about a thousand miles away. And they gave the testimony.

11 Now, what happened? The Angel of God, who had pronounced that blessing, had passed through the neighborhood confirming it, you see. What if they would have give up? Don't give up. If you believe, stay with it. God will bring it to pass.
Sometimes God isn't spontaneously on things. How many knows that Daniel prayed and it taken, I believe it was twenty-eight days, the angel said, before he could get to him. Is that right? Twenty-one days. That's right. Thank you, sir. Twenty-one days. Twenty-one days before he could get there, but He heard him.
And every time that you move towards God with faith, God knows it. Just don't worry. Be real full of faith and just keep believing.

12 Now, tonight, I'm going to try, if the Lord willing, to speak on a little evangelistic type of a message, that seems to be on my heart. I told you, I was going to speak tonight on the "Mighty Conqueror". It's a message that I preached once before somewhere. I believe it was in the South. I just haven't got that much voice to do it. So, you will forgive me for making that promise. And I pray that God will, because I don't have the voice to do it. Not that I have a cold---this is twenty-some odd nights straight.
And no one knows what those visions do for you. They just tear you to pieces. [Brother Branham coughs, says, "Pardon me."] Maybe before I do that, while we're just a small group tonight, I would like to try to explain what that is, to the best of my knowledge. Would you like to hear what I think about it? All right. We will just take it in a child form.

13 There's a great carnival come to the city, and there's these two strong looking men sitting here ... or standing there, but we haven't got money to go in and see the show. And it happens to be that they're short strong men who could pack water for the elephants, and I'm a tall skinny man and I couldn't pack those big pails of water.
Well, there happens to be where we're standing, a knot hole way up high. Now, those little short fellows would never get up there to look through that knot hole, but I could. See, God makes every man just the way He wants them. I'm so glad of that.

14 Christianity is based on resurrection. We know that. Well, if you go down here on earth as a black headed woman, you'll rise up a black headed woman. You won't rise up... You say, "Well now, if this is what goes down, in resurrection that same has to come up." Not take this and... That's replacement, that's not resurrection. Resurrection is bring the same Jesus up that went down. The same person.
See, God, He's not Sears and Roebucks Harmony House. God has things. He's the God of variety. He likes people red-headed, black-headed. It just looks like that down in the south, they could understand that about segregation. God made man white. He made him black. He made him yellow, made him brown. Let them alone. He made red flowers, white flowers, pink flowers. He made them... Made big mountains, little mountains, deserts, forests, big trees, little trees. He made things the way He wants it. That's the way to leave it alone. You go to tampering with nature, you pervert it. Just leave it the way it is. It's always better.

15 And at this great carnival, when I looked through this knot hole... Now, here's the way I have to do it. I jumped way up and take my hands and get a hold of it, and strain. I look in. I got back down.
"What did you see, Brother Branham?"
"An elephant."
"Is that all you saw?"

16 Now, what are you getting at, Brother Branham? Here's what it is: When Jesus was on earth, He was God manifested in the flesh. We have the Spirit by portion. He had it without any certain portion. All the fullness of the Godhead bodily dwelt in Him. He was not just only a man, He was God.
There's so many people today that likes... I want to stop here just a minute before I get to this subject. There's so many people just wants to make Him a prophet. He was either God or the greatest deceiver the world has ever had.

17 I was talking to a woman here not long ago who was... I don't call people's religions out, but you'll know what it is by what I say it. They claim they believe in healing, but they don't believe that Jesus was no more than just a philosopher. And that's a social gospel. They said, "He's a good man. He's a good teacher, but He wasn't divine." Why, certainly He was divine. He was the God of the prophets.
This lady said to me, she said, "Mr. Branham, you brag too much on Jesus."
I said, "I differ with you. I can't brag enough."
She said, "If I prove to you that He was nothing but a man... You make Him divine."
I said, "He was divine."
"Oh," said, "he was a teacher."
I said, "He was God."
And she said, "If I prove to you that He wasn't nothing but a man by the Scriptures, will you believe it?"
I said, "If the Scripture says so."
And she said, "St. John the 11th chapter, when Jesus was going down to the grave of Lazarus, the Bible said He wept."
I said, "That's right. What's that got to do with it?"
She said, "Well, if He was a weeping, He was a man."
I said, "He was a man when He wept, but when He stood by that grave where a man had been dead four days and said, 'Lazarus, come forth!'---and a man who had been dead four days stood on his feet and lived again---that was more than a man."

18 He was a man when He come off the mountain, as we preached last night, hungry, wanting something to eat. He was a man, but when He took five biscuits and two pieces of fish and fed five thousand, that was more than a man. Right. He was a man when He laid on the back of that little ship one night, tossed about like a bottle stopper in a storm. Ten thousand devils of the sea swore they'd drown Him. He was so tired and weary until even the waves didn't wake Him up. He was a man when He was asleep, but when he put His foot on the brail of that boat, looked up and said, "Peace, be still," and the waves obeyed Him and the winds obeyed Him, that was more than a man.

19 He was a man when He cried at Calvary, "My God, why has Thou forsaken me?" He was a man when He died, but on Easter morning when He broke the seal and rolled the stone away and rose again, He proved He was God.
God was in His Son. He had the Spirit without portion. We have it by portion. But if you take a little dipper of water out of the whole ocean, the same chemicals that is in the ocean will be in the water ... the dipper full.

20 So notice, when God wanted to use His gift, He said to Jesus... Now, remember, He said, "I do nothing until My father shows me what to do ... I see the Father doing," St. John 5:19. Have you read it since you've been in the meeting? St. John, "Verily, I say unto you, the Son can do nothing in Himself but what He sees the Father doing. That doeth the Son likewise."
The Father sent Him away from the house of Martha and Mary, Lazarus, and He took a journey. And they sent for Him to come when Lazarus got sick. He ignored it and went on. They sent again and He ignored it and went on. And finally He turned and He said, "Lazarus is dead. And for your sake, I'm glad I wasn't there." Why? He knowed what was going to happen. He said, "But I go wake him." Watch Him at the grave. "Father, I thank Thee that Thou has already heard me. But just for these who stand by, I said it. 'Lazarus, come forth!'" And that man stood on his feet and lived again.

21 He never said nothing about being weak, virtue leaving Him. But when a woman touched His garment, He said, "Virtue has gone out of me." Which is the greatest miracle? To raise a man dead four days, or stop a issue of blood from menopause? One of them made Him weak. Why? It wasn't God using His gift. It was a woman using God's gift, see. This way the Father had showed Him what to do. He went and done it, and this other way was the woman. Now, He never said, "I saw a vision. You're going to be well." He said, "Thy faith has saved thee. Thy faith. Not what Father showed me, but what you acted on." That's what hurt Him.

22 Now, here it is. All right, you jump up. Look, that's what the woman's doing. It pulls; it strains. Somebody comes to the platform, stand there. You're straining. It's a gift. Who's using it? Not me. You are. You're the one that's doing it, and you sit there, you say, "I believe that." Down in your heart you really mean it, then that's pulling strength. What happens? I'm pulling up. "You have a cancer." That's right, see. Then I look around... Still don't believe me. You thought I guessed it, see. Well, I will have to go back again.
I jump up again. "And you also have TB." Whew! That's right, see. It doesn't jump. It doesn't work among the American people like it does the other places.
One time like that in Africa, India, they just pile up their crutches and things and go on. They seen it. They believe it, see. But we wonder, "What's it all about?" See, that's what kills me in these American meetings.

23 Well, go back again. Hold it with the end of your finger, just barely coming up through that knot hole as it was in the vision. "Oh, you are Miss So-and-so. You come from..." "Yes, yeah. That's right. Walk on across the platform. You're weak already, see. Now, that's the way that works.
Now, what if, sitting in the hotel, like just happened? Or somewhere else? And here comes the ringmaster now, by the ring. He says, "What are you looking at? Want to see inside?" Picks me up. Say, "Here you are." Great big strong man. "See these tents set over here? They go down here and does this and over here this way and that way." Why, I'm just sitting in his hand. Sit down. I know what's going on on the inside, see. He lifted me up. That's the way it is when visions just come by the way God wants to use it. He says, "Go to a certain place."

24 Here recently, you seen it in your paper. I guess it was on the Associated Press, about the miracle the man in Denver, they didn't know where the mystic, miracle. God who knows... I was in my room. I saw a man where there was a clock. And He was in a wheel chair, it was squeaking. And I looked at the old clock and it was just exactly ten minutes after three. And I was standing by a ten cents store, and He said, "Go near that man." And then when I went near him, he was packing a Bible ... had a Bible in his hand, rather. And I asked him if he believed it. He said, "Yes." And I took him by the hand, raised him up. He was healed. I seen the way to get away.

25 Then he come, and I seen a baby. It was laying dying. And the doctor had went out. I noticed he got in a gray car. He had a mustache. There was a gate there and right behind the gate laid a hole. I had laid my hat upon the television as I went in the room. There was lady with a red sweater on, one with a brown coat, and they were weeping. And He said, "Go over to the baby." And I went and laid hands on the baby. It got well.
When I come out of the vision, I went in and I said to my wife, "Honey, look down and see if you see anything about a baby or about a man in a wheel chair that's wrote down here." No.
I called the office. "How many airplane tickets is in down there?"
"Oh, five or six."
"What do they read?"

26 Told me this way; come here or there. I couldn't feel a thing. Well, I let it go for about, I guess, two weeks or more. After a while, a man had sent a ticket for me to come to Denver, and when I got over to Denver---I felt led that I should go to Denver---I went and prayed for the man. I don't know what happened to him. I just went over. He was a tubercular case. He was out there, been in the sanitarium. Soldier.
So I thought, "Well, I will just wait now. We're here in the city and it's going to be 5:30 before I leave on the plane. So, I'm going to look around Denver.
And so, I was walking down the street, just kind of walking along like this; and all of a sudden, I heard a woman cry. And I looked up and I seen the doctor with his little satchel in his hand. Said, "Good day," and started walking out.

27 I thought, "I have seen that man somewhere." Mustache, gray suit, that car. And he come out. Jake and I was pretty close within about ten feet of him. He looked over. I said, "How do you do, doctor?"
He said, "How do you do." He stopped, turned around. I guess he wondered how I knew he was a doctor. Well, I was a patient. He never said nothing, he got in the car and drove away.
I thought, "Lord, if that hole's laying behind the gate, that's it." And I went over there and looked. There laid the hole. That was it. Walked right on up the steps, knocked on the door and lady come to the door. She had on her red sweater. And I said, "You have a sick baby that has pneumonia?"
"Yes, sir." And said, "The doctor just said there was no hopes for it."
I said, "I'm a minister. My name is Mr. Branham. Do you know me or ever heard of me?"
She said, "No, sir. I don't believe so."
I said, "Are you Christians?"
She said, "No, sir, we're not. We don't go to church." She said, "We ought to, I know."
I said, "Could I walk in and have a word of prayer for your dying baby?"
She said, "You certainly can. I'd be happy for you to do it, sir."

28 Walked in, but there was no lady there with a brown coat on. I laid my hat up on the television and I waited a few minutes. Well, she wondered why I wasn't going to pray, but I couldn't say nothing. I had to wait for the lady with brown coat on. Now, that's just how simple it is. I waited there, I guess, a half hour talking to her about the Lord and so forth. And then, after a while, there was somebody knocked at the door. And the lady with the brown coat on come in, but she was supposed to be sitting on that side, and the lady with the red sweater on, down this side, and vice versa their place. Still I couldn't say nothing.
Until they got everything in position... The vision has to be perfect. Then I said, "Now, lady, you might have wondered why I waited. This is a vision. You might not understand what I'm saying, but just watch your baby a minute."
Went over and prayed for the baby, and the little fellow began to screaming and carrying on. The mother let it up. In ten or fifteen minutes, it was playing around on the floor. The fever had all left it and everything. She took it's fever. And there I led both of them to Christ in the floor.

29 I got out, started down the street and I thought, "Thank you, Lord. I see now." And I hadn't gone but a little piece, till I happened to think, "What was the rest of that vision?" It was something. And while I was standing there, I heard a clock strike three o'clock. And I walked around the corner by the side of the ten cent store and there was that old clock over there on that steeple. I thought, "God, I got ten minutes to wait right here."
And when I was waiting there, ten minutes came. At the end of the ten minutes when it come, I heard something screeking coming. It was a man weeping, sitting in a wheel chair and a lady pushing him. Had a Bible in his hand. Perfect. There it was.
I said, "Do you believe that Word, Sir?"
He said, "With all my heart." Said, "I am a Christian."
I said, "The Bible says, that you are reading, that Jesus healed the sick in His day."
He said, "Yes, sir. I have just been reading that."
I said, "Isn't He the same today?"
He said, "Yes, sir. He is."
I said, "Do you believe that?"
He said, "With all my heart."
I said, "Stand up, then. He healed you."

30 And he jumped up and begin to scream. I run ... went through the ten cent store, went out and down the alley and went back over and got a taxi cab and went out to the station. A big piece on the Associated Press, "Mystic Healing In Denver." They don't know yet, see. That's it.
But the Lord God did it, see. Now, that didn't make me a bit weak. But stand here where you have to pull and strain, see. That's you using God's gift. I have nothing to do with it. It's God's. It's not mine. It's God's. You can use it or He uses it. There it is. You understand now? That's what makes weakness, and if you'll watch the Bible, compare it with back in the Scripture and see if that isn't just exactly the truth.

31 Let us pray now.
Lord, be with us now, and as we fellowship around the Word... Just tired tonight, Lord, I can hardly stand here, but I pray that You'll help me now to minister the Word. In the name of the Lord Jesus. Amen.

32 On the 63rd Psalm, I wish to read for a Scripture lesson now. And we expect to be out in the next thirty or forty minutes.
O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;
To see thy power and thy glory, ... as I have seen it in thy sanctuary.
Because thy loving-kindness is better to me than life, my lips shall praise thee.
Listen at the prophet here in the second verse:
To see thy power and thy glory, ... as I have seen it in thy sanctuary.
But my subject tonight is, "Life." And life is what controls us. Life is what gives you your emotions. And then, by your life everyone knows what you are.

33 Preaching a funeral sermon recently, I said, "There's no need of me saying anything about this man's life. I want to preach to you that's a living, that has to meet this. Everyone of you ... raised and lived and died in this neighborhood, you got your mind made up what you thought about him." See.
Life! What's greater? Your emotions make up what you are, is your life. And what kind of character should we be if we claim to have eternal life? Now, there's only one type of eternal life, and that is God's life. That was the Great Spirit in the beginning, the seven Spirits of God like the seven rainbow colors. Each Spirit comes off of it, perverts, comes down.

34 The Greek word for life eternal come from the word zoe which means, "God's own life." And it's a... The love of God is called, agape which means "God's love."
The love that you have for your wife is phileo. Phileo love, that's human love. Here's a difference of them. You get them so mixed up like faith and hope, they get mixed up. Love. The kind of love that you have for you wife is called phileo love and that love would make you jealous till, if a man would insult her, you'd shoot him in his tracks. That's what phileo love would do. You love her with that kind of love. But agape love would make you pray for his sinful soul. That's the difference, see.

35 Now, there's life. There's one kind of eternal life and that's God's life. And when you receive that you have eternal life. But life has many interpretations as it comes down. There's love, agape; love, phileo, love; lust. See, just keeps dropping on down, dropping down into the lowest of lows. But all of that had a beginning, so it'll have a end.
But those things which had no beginning has no end. So, God had no beginning and His life had no beginning, and it'll have no end. And if you've got eternal life, then you have no end to eternal life. It's forever. And your character is proven by the life that's in you.

36 Sometime ago, a slave buyer down in the south many years ago, went by buying slaves. They go to the old plantations and they'd say... They'd buy slaves, human life, just like you'd buy a used car on a lot---a broker. And they'd go buy these big slaves and big healthy slaves, maybe, men, breed them, like cattle, to big healthy women. Bring forth great big, husky slaves. Brother, that's wrong. And one day a broker came by a certain old plantation. And he said, "How many slaves do you have here?"
He said, "Over a hundred."
Said, "Could I look them over?"
Said, "Help yourself."

37 And he stayed through the day, and he watched the behavior of the slaves and how they conducted themselves, whether they were good workers or whether they were not. And as the day passed by... You see, the slaves was away from home, away from papa and mama. The Boers bought them in Germany ... or Africa and brought them over here and sold them for slaves. And sometimes they'd have to whip them to make them work. Their loved ones was across the sea. They'd never see them no more. They had to die here in slavery. That's all they knew and they were sorry; and they had to whip them to make them work.

38 But they noticed one young slave. They didn't have to whip him---chest out, chin up, right now at the minute. And that broker said, "I want to buy that slave."
The owner said, "But he's not for sale."
He said, "What makes him so much different than the rest of them?" He said, "Well, maybe he's the boss over the rest of them."
The owner said, "No, he's just a slave."
He said, "Well, maybe you feed him better than you do the rest of them."
He said, "No. They all eat out in the galley together."
He said, "Well, what makes him so much different from the rest of them?"
Said, "I always wondered myself until I found out what the truth was." Said, "That boy, over in the homeland, his daddy is the king of a tribe, and he knows that he's a king's son. And though he be an alien and away from home, yet, he conducts himself as a king's son."
What ought the church to do tonight? Go in a blinded world of sin and chaos, we ought to conduct ourselves as sons and daughters of God.

39 When I read this scripture first, I thought, "What could the prophet be meaning? It's a unusual text: Thy loving-kindness is better than life." I thought, "There must be many interpretations to life." And it could not mean the life that we now live in the flesh, because that life has heartaches. That life has sorrow, and that life gets so bad sometimes until man wants to take a pistol and blow his brains out. So that couldn't be the life he was talking about. It must be another life that he's speaking of. That life gets so miserable until people climb to a high tower and jump off and commit suicide. They take poison. Tens of thousands a year over the United States, where we ought to be living at the highest rate of life.
So it must have another interpretation, and it says here, "Because thy loving-kindness is better than life... And my soul thirsts for thee ... as I have seen thy power in thy sanctuary. In a dry and a thirsty land, my soul thirsts for thee, to see thy loving-kindness which is better to me than life." Then, in this what we call life today, it has so many disappointments.

40 Sometime ago in a great city in Canada, I was having a meeting. And in this certain meeting, there was an American group come up there to celebrate some sort of a jubilee of a certain lodge in America. And I noticed as they come in that day, they were drinking. And it almost made me ashamed of my own country. And that night, when I left the arena, and was going home in this great big hotel. I went up to about the tenth or fifteenth floor, and on the elevator, whiskey bottles was piled everywhere. And down in the lobby they were drinking and carrying on; and as I asked the elevator boy, I said, "What's all of this?" Said, "They're sure having a time."

41 And so when they let me off at my floor, I walked along the side. And I heard a noise up the end of the hall. And I looked and there stood two young American women with just their underneath garment on, just as drunk as they could be. Both of them, perhaps, married women, cause they was women in their thirties. Just with the little underneath garment on---a bottle of whiskey---coming down through that hall, and men dragging them from room to room.
Mothers! Having a little innocent fun. Maybe their husbands were home baby sitting, or some hired child taking care of their children. God gave you them children to take care of them yourself and it's you're responsible to God. We don't have juvenile delinquency, it's parent delinquency! Some mothers has got away from their duties. They want to run to bar rooms and carry on and run all night long, and leave their children grow up... No wonder they grow up in that neurotic age. God gave you that child to raise and to take care of.

42 And this woman as she came staggering by, the two of them, and they stopped in the middle of the floor, pulled their little skirts up, throwed their legs up in the air and hollered, "Whoopee!" Said, "This is life."
I couldn't stand it any longer. I walked right out from the little place I was standing. I said, "Just a minute, ladies. I want to speak to you. You interpreted that wrong. You said, This is life. Let's take a drink.'" I caught them by the shoulders, I said, "Are you a married woman?"
She said, "What is that to you?"
I said, "I'd like to ask you, are you a married woman?"
She said, "Sure, but I'm just having a little fun."
I said, "The Bible said, 'She that liveth in pleasure is dead while she's alive.'" I said, "I'm a minister from America. I'm over here in this ice arena. And you bring reproach on the very name of America and upon motherhood. Aren't you ashamed of yourself? Where's your husbands at?"

43 They began to wall-eyed, looked at one another. And they started to pull away. I held their arms. I said, "Just a minute. What are you going to do when you meet God? What if, under this drunken stew tonight, you die in this condition? What will happen to you? You say you got life. You are dead in sin and trespasses." And they jerked away from my arms and down the hall they went, hardly any clothes on, and away out of my sight.
You think that's living? That's death. What makes a man thirst to do that? What makes a person want to do that? Is because that God made them that way. God made a man to thirst. He made so much in a man to thirst. But God made that thirst for Him. And the devil perverts it from eternal life to death, and makes you like it.

44 The reason that you crave for those things is because you are giving the devil the place that God ought to be. Oh, he's good at that. You are going to thirst for something, because you are made to thirst. God made you to thirst, and you try to satisfy it with the things of the world. And the Bible said, "If you love the world or the things of the world, the love of God's not even in you." You try to satisfy that blessed holy thing with drinking, picture show running, gambling, dances: all that is the wages of death. You've got no right to do that. Listen to me as your brother. The devil has put something over on you and you don't know it!

45 What's happened to our people? What's happened to our churches? I could show you how there won't be one poor person in this town in a year from today. There won't be one trashy house in this city. Let the people that call themselves Christians take the money that they spend on whiskey, beer and cigarettes and pool it together, you will end all depressions. Count it up, how many there is and how much money is spent each year on cigarettes. Why can they give these great big prizes away and things? Beating it from the government.
And the doctors completely say, all the time, that it's cancer, cancer, cancer; and these women of America continually drag it down their throat.
You think you're having a big time, don't you? I'm not speaking to Christians. I'm speaking to you that thinks you're Christian. What's happened to our churches? Let's go through it just a moment, see what a business man the devil is.

46 It used to be, a long time ago, that all of our fashions come from Paris. Now it don't come from Paris, Paris; comes to Hollywood to get it. It used to be it was wrong for you to go to picture shows (you holiness people) and see those bad plays, but the devil beat you to it: he put it on the television and set it right in your own house. It's right.
No wonder you got little children out, that police officers are being shot at and stabbed to death and everything, standing on the corner with two guns and everything. They see that stuff. They're raised into it.
It's time the church took its position and come out of the things of the world! You know it. It used to be it was wrong for Christian women in the holiness groups to wear short hair. What happened? I can remember when you couldn't be taken into the church with short hair. It was wrong in the first place, it's wrong yet. The Bible said that if a woman cuts her hair, her husband has a right to divorce her and get away from her. Exactly right. What do you do it for? To follow fashions. Now, you're not going to like me after this, but at the judgment bar, you're going to find out something. The Bible said if a woman cuts her hair, she dishonors her head, which is her husband. If she's a dishonorable person, she should be put away. It used to be wrong, but something happened.

47 Holiness women wearing these little bitty old clothes and getting out here in the yard, mowing their yard, walking up and down the streets with shorts on. Letting your children do it. Then you say, "God, send us a revival." How would God ever put a revival on a bunch of filth? Can't do it. Now you're going to find out why we haven't got a revival. Why did you do it? You see the world begin to seep in.
Many people that call themselves Christians will stay home on Wednesday night from prayer meeting to hear this old, "We Love Suzy," or all kinds of nonsense like that, instead of going to a church. Shows what's on the inside of you, what you're thirsting. That's your character, your conduct.

48 And you women, at ten o'clock at morning when you ought to have prayer meeting, you listen to some old ungodly thing like Arthur Godfrey with his old dirty jokes and things with that bunch of women, and then call yourselves Christians. Go on. That's the truth.
You say, "Brother Branham, I don't wear shorts. I wear slacks." That's worse! The Bible said that a woman that will put on a garment pertaining to a man is an abomination in the sight of God, and God doesn't change. And you wear these little old skirts that's so tight. Going down the street so tight till the skin's on the outside. And you call yourself, "Holiness women." Is that the way a daughter of God would act?
Listen! You say, "Preacher, that's the only kind of clothes they sell." But they still make sewing machines and sell them. You ain't got no excuse. And besides that, they still sell goods that you can make your clothes. I know that hurts, but it's good for you. It's the... It's what the Bible says.

49 You see, we can't have a revival. That's the reason. Oh, certainly, it makes you hard ... makes ... goes down... But if it was wrong to begin with, it's wrong now. Something has happened. Here is where it's at. There's no foundation to lay a revival on. How can you do it when God forbids it?
Now, you say, "You're awful hard on us women." All right, men), here you are. Any man that'll let his wife wear them kind of clothes and smoke cigarettes, that shows what you're made out of. I got little respect of you being a man. You're supposed to be the head of the house. What happened? Something went wrong.

50 Now, and you women, used to, you didn't wear this manicure (what is that stuff you put on your mouth?). Everwhat it is. I don't know nothing about it. I'm not saying it for a joke. Everwhat the stuff you ... lip rouge. Everwhat it is. It used to be wrong for you to do that, but it sure is common among you Pentecostal folks now. What happened?
An old Methodist preacher used to tell me ... sang a little song:
We let down the bars.
We let down the bars.
We compromised with sin.
We let down the bars
The sheep got out,
But how did the goats get in?
You let down the bars. That's what did it, because you had a weak pulpit back there with a little preacher that thought that his ministry was a meal ticket in the stead of a commission from God! You'd excommunicate him, throw him out if he said anything about it. He ought to be throwed out if he wouldn't say something about it.

51 Listen, ladies. This is not a joke. But there was one woman in the Bible that painted herself to meet a man. You don't meet God like that. Her name was Jezebel. You know what God did to her? He fed her to the dogs. So, when you can see a woman all made up like that, you could say, "There's Mrs. Dog-meat." That's exactly what God called it! Now, you know it's the truth. That's not joking. I'm telling you what God said.
What is it? She wants the hounds of hell to holler [Brother Branham whistles.] You know it's the truth. What's the matter? Something else come in but the love of the Bible and the love of God. That place that God should have been in there giving Him first place in all the places, you let the world come in and you went to hungering and thirsting and filling that place where God wants to fill, with the things of the world! That's what's the matter.

52 Not long ago, I was driving over to California. I had a sinner man to drive my truck over, and when I got over there, one of the great officials come. This man would pull the truck up, was unloading some books. I drove another truck. And this man was a sinner. He was smoking a cigarette. And one of the great big men of the church walked up. He said, "Why, Brother Branham. I'm surprised at you."
I said, "What's that?"
He said, "That man's smoking a cigarette over there, unloading that truck."
I said, "He's a sinner. He gets his money ... just a few minutes, and his way paid back home. I had nobody to drive my truck."
"Well," he said, "our people are holiness people, and we would never stand for that."
I said, "I'm sorry, sir. I wouldn't put a stumbling block in your way for nothing." I said, "The man's a sinner. He don't profess anything. I just picked him up on the street, asked him if he wanted a job. He said, 'Yes', and I said, 'Drive this truck to California, and I will give you so much a day and pay your way back.' All right. He took it. I said, 'When you unload the truck, that's all of it.'" I said, "I'm sorry I did that."
He said, "Well, don't you never bring anybody again that smokes cigarettes around where our people are and know that you've hired them or anything."
I said, "I will sure watch that from this on if I have to send to California to get a man."

53 So he said... Well, we started down a few minutes. We went to the big tent, and he said, "Brother Branham, I want you to meet my wife." Said, "She's going to be your pianist during this revival."
And I said, "What?" And she had real manicured, cut-off hair ... you know, with little frizzes up on it. And a whole lot of that stuff on her face and great big ear rings hanging down, and a dress that looked terrible. And I said, "Is she a saint?"
He said, "Yes, sir."
I said, "She looks to be like a 'hain't.'" I said, "I never seen such a thing in my life." I just had to tell him, "Brother, something went wrong. You gag at a gnat and swallow a camel."

54 Something wrong. That blessed holy thirst that God gave you to thirst after Him, you've perverted it into the things of the world and craving the things of the world. See where the church is? Something's wrong. We've let down the bars somewhere.
You say, "Oh, we're saved by grace. I thought you was a Baptist." That's right. We're saved by grace; but if you're saved, your life proves what you are. No matter how much grace you say you've got, if your life don't tally up to it, you haven't got it yet. It's all. You can't get pumpkins off of a grape vine. It don't bear them. The fruits of the Spirit don't come by the things of the world. Now, you know it's the truth. I don't want to hurt you, children. But I want to tell you this.

55 You think you're having a big time. You've got the biggest church there is in the city. Your spires reach plumb to the skies. "Oh, we're better off. We got the best paid pastor. We can take care of our pastor. We're better off. We live better. We can wear better clothes. We can associate with a better class." I don't know whether you could or not. The best meetings I ever had was in a little old mission down on the side of the street somewhere, where a dozen come together with a true heart. Right. I'd rather be there anytime.

56 Oh, you see how easy, because they let down the bars. The first round of you Pentecostal people did fine. Another round comes along, it begins to weaken down. Then you get the denominations stick in the back; "We're Oneness." "We're Threeness." "We're Fiveness." You're nothing. Exactly right as long as you think that.
Well, you got that thought in your heart, get it out. It'll canker you. Your soul will rust over it, because you've fussed and stewed and argued and went on about your little old pet theologies. If you had Christ in your heart, it'd never happen. It would of all coordinated together in one big group and went on. Why has the devil have to fight you when you're fighting one another? He just sits back and let you kill your own selves.

57 There you are. You let down the bars somewhere. And you're feeding in that blessed holy place in your heart. You've brought the unclean vessels of the devil into there where the vessels of the Lord should have been; where the fruits of righteousness ought to be with peace, long-suffering, goodness, gentleness, patience, meekness. It's selfishness, greed, denominational barriers, biting one another; and that's the reason you're wearing earrings and short hair and manicure over your face and all kinds of things like that. That's the reason. That's what done it!
Where're we at now? You know it's the truth. What we need today is not a new church. What we need today is not a new evangelist. What we need today is the old time Saint Paul's revival and the Holy Ghost; and a house cleaning all the way from the pulpit to the janitor! Right. Swept out, cleaned out! Somebody stand up there and will tell you the truth whether it cuts or whether it doesn't. Right. God's Word, "sharper than a two-edged sword, a discerner of the thoughts of the mind." Hebrews 4 says so.

58 But what happened? Then the devil tries to satisfy that thirst for you. "Well, John's got a better job. Bless God. We've went and left that old holy roller church and we went over to this one." See where you went?
All right, then. Here's another thing. The devil will try to satisfy it with television, with drinking, with gambling, with wearing ungodly clothes, selfishness.
And I went into a church here not long ago. They wanted me to hold a revival. And the preacher actually had to let loose after about twenty minutes of sermon and let all the deacons go out to smoke cigarettes. Brother! There we had a revival one night, and the next night I was throwed out. But they heard about it anyhow. The blood is off of my hands. What do you think Christ would do if He was on earth today? He'd take more than a couple of ropes together to beat them out. "You made my house a den of thieves."

59 And another thing the devil tries to do to quench that thirst: you say, "Well, I'm very religious." Said to a woman here not long ago on the platform, I said, "Are you a Christian?" She said, "I will have you understand, I burn a candle every night." That's the strength of Christianity, so called. You might burn a bonfire, it wouldn't never do you any good. Unless the Holy Ghost and fire is lit into your heart...
I asked a man on the west coast, I said, "Sir, are you a Christian?" I wanted to catch him right there and tell him to his face.
He said, "I'm an American."
I said, "That don't have one thing to do with it. Not a thing."
Walking through a pig pen don't make you a pig. That's one thing sure. You've got to be born again. Then your habits are different.

60 Did you ever take the crow and the dove? In the ark, they both sit on the same roost. One could fly just the same place as the other; but the crow was satisfied when she turned loose: went out and fly from one old dead carcass to another where the bugs and things was eating. There she'd eat on that it was all right. But the dove couldn't find no rest for her feet. She had to come back. She couldn't stand that old stink.
You know, a crow is one of the biggest hypocrites there is. You take a dove; it'll fly down in a field of wheat and eat wheat. A crow can fly on an old dead carcass and eat his belly full and come over and eat wheat, too. But the dove cannot come from the wheat field to the dead carcass. No, sir. Anything sickening is a hypocrite. I'd rather be an infidel anytime. But an old hypocrite will go to church and stick their nose up in the air and act like they're somebody. Take off for the things of the world and say, "Well, my pastor's broader minded than your narrow minded pastor." You poor, decrepit... I don't know what. You need an old fashioned pastor that'll shake your hair for you, that'll tell you the truth.
Jezebel hated her pastor. Her pastor was Elijah, but he told her what was going to happen. She had to listen anyhow. She wouldn't accept him as the pastor, but God sent him as the pastor. He was God's pastor.

61 Now, watch what happened. The crow, the reason he can eat: he can digest anything. But the dove is made up different. It's a different make up. A dove doesn't have any gall. It couldn't digest it. And a born-again Christian cannot eat the things of the world. He doesn't have any gall anymore. It would kill him. You won't see the dove eating dinner with the crow as long as it's on that dead carcass.
"Oh, I just went with them down to the pool room. I didn't think there was any harm." The Holy Ghost teaches you better than that. And then the devil wants to satisfy that. You say, "I'm religious. I joined a church." That don't have one thing to do with it. The devil tries to satisfy that thirst that you have in your heart for God to let you join a church. That's as big a lie as he could get you to believe. Joining church don't have one thing to do with it! You could join every church in this town and go to hell like a martin to its box. You could belong to everyone of them.

62 Except you're born again, except something's happened here that changes your whole appetite for the things of the world or the... All your love and devotion, everything's give to Christ. Then is when you're coming along. You can tell when your spirit bears record with His Spirit, your life copes with it. Yes. "Oh, my soul longeth for Thee, O Lord. I long to see Thee. [David, when he had seen the church getting away.] I long to see Thee like I've seen Thee in Thy sanctuary. Pure and Holy. My soul thirsts for Thee like in a dry and thirsty land where no water is."

63 David was a hunter. He dealt with wild animals. And you know what they were? You can learn a lot by wild animal if you just watch them. I just love to watch wild animals. I was out today, driving through the roads and things trying to find something to look at it. See if I could see a deer or something I could watch. How that you can see God in them if you'll just watch them. And David had noticed how that in the country where they had a lot of deer, they had, in that country, wild dogs, or we'd call them here, wolves. And he said, "As the hart thirsts for the waterbrook, my soul thirsts after Thee." As the hart, the deer, thirsting for the water brook.

64 Now, to some of you hunters, if you wound a deer and he can get to the water, you'll lose him. He will keep drinking, go up, circle back. You can track him where ever you want to. Come right back to that water. He will never leave that water. But if he doesn't get to the water, you'll pick him up right away.
Then in David's time, like it is in British Columbia and many places where I hunt, you notice that wolf. There's the little deer sitting out there. A very typical sight of a little young lady in her teen age, or a little young man, or some man's darling, his wife, or some woman's husband. And they call it today, "The wolf whistle." You know the wolf call.

65 That's what I was getting at here a while ago. Why do you make yourself up like that and act like that, women? Let me tell you something before I leave this. Do you know what's going to happen at the day of judgment? You're going to be guilty for committing adultery. You say, "I'm just as pure as a lily to my husband. Mr. Branham, I never was defiled."
Let's find out. Jesus said, "Whosoever looketh upon a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her in his heart already." Is that what He said? All right, if you walk down the street dressed with that little old dirty looking clothes on and some man looks at you and lusts after you, that sinner will answer for committing adultery; and who did he do it with? Who presented their self to him? Who's guilty? You're guilty! You stuck yourself out there before him like that, and you're guilty of committing adultery with that sinner and will answer for it at the day of judgment.

66 I'd like to put a tent up out here and preach on some of these things for a while. You just run over the top of those things. Jesus said, "Whosoever look upon a woman to lust after her." And you present yourself out there. You might be, morally speaking, undefiled, but because a demon spirit made you dress and act like that, you're guilty of letting a sinner committing adultery with you because you presented yourself like that. That's what Jesus said. Have to talk to Him about it.
That's why I'm telling you, sister dear. That's why I'm telling you, brother dear. What is the matter with this country? Oh, don't you see that the devil has took it without firing a shot? He's got the church. He come right in sly as a way of modern education and science, waded right in and took them in his arms. And women get themselves out here, not realizing it. Sitting in our hotel window a while ago, seen a little woman come out that didn't have enough clothes on to wad a shot gun. And had a little baby in her arms, running out in the street after a hub cap going down the street. A little lady with a baby, that poor little thing! What's it going to be raised up in?

67 When I was game warden, I was coming down off of the train one day and a woman sitting there with her limbs crossed and smoking a cigarette and knocking ... blowing the ashes out of her baby's eyes. I walked in there and I said, "Woman, did God give you that baby for an ash tray?" But the world don't want to hear those things.
Half the time, Satan won't even let people sit and listen to it. So defiled. So corrupted. Minds so far gone. So polluted with the things of the world! They have no conscience. The Bible said, "In the last days they'd be heady, high minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent and despisers of those that are good; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such, turn away. For this is the sort that goes from house to house, and lead silly women laden with divers sin." Our society,

68 your society.
Got so many of it now till the church can't even move. It's paralyzed. What good's it done? You need a prayer meeting, and an altar call! What you need. There they stand. The little innocent things. Standing out there not knowing. What's the matter with you preachers? Get woke up. God will hold you responsible for it, brother. Preach it! Get the blood off your own hands! Get out there. They want the boys to say, [Brother Branham whistles.] Look what happens.

69 A little deer, standing in the field, picking; and a wolf sees it. He's attracted to it. Now, the wolf's a killer. And that wolf that whistles is a killer, too, Sis---worse than the other one. So the wolf has a tactic. When it grabs the deer, it's got two blood fangs. And he runs... Many times have I shot them off of my horse; getting my calves and so forth. Watch them how they run just as fast as they could, cut right into this little deer. And jump up and throw those blood fangs just behind the ear like that, and swing his weight around. Cuts the throat completely. The little deer makes a couple of stumbles, then it's gone. Then it's covered all over with coyotes in a few minutes (Coyote is a prairie wolf.), picking their bones.

70 And then if he misses that place, he's got another place he can grab. That's right in the flank. Now, the flank is kind of the middle weight of the deer. The hind quarters is heavier than the front quarters, and that's about half way; so if he can grab and get a hold of that, he can shake the deer. If he gets a good hold, he can throw the deer down anyhow, if he sees he's going to miss the throat when he's turning. And he will grab the flank. And, if the deer is real smart, it can give a certain twist; and the wolf will grab the whole mouth full off. Then the little fellow starts bleeding. But if he can get away---if it's fast...

71 Oh, sister, dear, brother dear, I wonder where it's grabbed you tonight? Remember, there's female wolves, too. Where has it grabbed you? Little girl here that has just attended your first rock-and-roll party. You little fellows out there, lusting your soul on dirty old rotten stuff like Elvis Presley.
I'd get out here on this corner and preach the Gospel for thirty minutes, I'd probably be in jail for disturbing the peace. Elvis Presley could stand there and sing them old dirty songs and young girls run up and pull their underneath clothes off and throw it into him, and he'd autograph it. And he can stand there, and they'd take police court, and throw people away so he could sing.

72 It shows what the world's come to. The world give their decision when they said, "Take Jesus and crucify Him, and give us Barabbas." There's only one difference between Elvis Presley... I happen to live in his country, you know; know his pastor and all ... said he's religious. There is one difference to my opinion with God's Bible between Elvis Presley and Judas Iscariot. Judas got thirty pieces of silver; Elvis got a fleet of Cadillacs and two or three million dollars. That's the difference. They both sold out to the devil. Exactly right.
All this stuff. Tennessee Ernie Ford, all that stuff, stand and sing a religious song and roll the eyes like a dying calf. Then go out of a daytime and in them places, and old vulgar things, and put their arms around those women and act like that. And you tune that thing in on your television and let your children look at that woman. You need an old fashioned prayer meeting with a open Bible. Right!

73 Some of you churches... I went down here the other day to a YMCA in a certain city. I was across the street from it, rather. Raised my curtain, they had little girls over there, sixteen years old, teaching them this boogie-woogie, or what ... rock-and-roll. I'm a missionary. I can prove this without a shadow of doubt, that women wearing paint come from a heathen trait. The heathens do it. And boogie-woogie and rock-and-roll is an African dance of the heathens. Can't you see how the devil come in and polished it up?

74 Used to be the old drunk was old Charlie Barley Corn, horrible looking hideous scarecrow in the field somewhere, but today, he's all polished up. He's in bumpers and sitting in every icebox. He's still the same devil. Oh, yes.
The church used to be a holy place. The people used to be a holy people that went there, but look at them today. Dress alike, look alike, go alike. Can't tell one from the other. All of them just dog eat dog.

75 Notice, if that little deer, when he gets away... I'm closing now. I guess you think it's time. But when that little deer could get away, what happens when you go to bleeding? He goes to thirsting. He's got to find water. That's what David said, "As the hart thirsts for the water brook." He's wounded. His life's bleeding out of him. "Hart thirsts for the water brook. My soul thirsts after Thee, O God." If that little deer can't find water, he's going to die. But if he can find water, he will survive it.

76 O God, I would that every soul in here tonight would see the wounds of Satan.
Now, take inventory of yourself, each one. See where he's wounded you. You say, "But Brother Branham, I haven't gone all the way." Well, child, you're wounded! Does your soul thirst for God? "O God, I must find You or die! I can't go on without You, God! I can't eat no more, or I won't sleep no more. I've got to have You, Lord, or perish." When the church gets to that condition, God will come back to His church. God will be to the church... "Oh, as the hart thirsts for the water brook, my soul thirsts after Thee, O God." Let's bow our heads just a minute.

77 Merciful God, look across this audience tonight at all of us, Lord. See the wounds and the scars of the world. Look at these poor little women sitting here, Lord. Look at these men. What a pity; what a shame, God. And let them know that Thy servant, Lord, who loves them, surely, if you would let me know the thoughts of their heart and things by a gift to manifest Your presence, you would let me know that this message needed to come tonight.
God, grant tonight that every person in here will see their need. They're wounded. Maybe some of them is long church members. Bobbed hair, painted faces, men who lets their wives go and smoke cigarettes, and... O God, what a wounded church. What a sick body. May they go to thirsting right now, O God. Take me just as I am. Forgive me, Lord! Try me just once more. I will straighten up, Lord. I will make things right. Just give me a chance. Grant it, Lord. If they're real deers (Your deers to Your heart), they'll certainly come to the waterbrook now.

78 And while we have our heads bowed, I wonder, you that's been wounded by this old hound of hell, that's bawled down your track and got you all in the thick condition that you are tonight, surely you see it. If you believe God hears my prayer for healing the sick, how about your soul? Would you come here and shake my hand and stand here, and let's pray? Come on. Down from the balconies, out of the building, you know you're wounded. Don't say you're not. Your presence even shows it.
Just as I am without one plea,
Will you come here, let me shake your hand? God bless you, sister. God bless you.
Honest-hearted little lady sitting here, clean looking little lady. No, would you just stand here a minute, sister. Just come right on down. That's right. Come out of the balcony. We will wait.

79 You believe I told you the truth, raise your hand. You believe I said that to be mean? No, sir. If I did, brother, I'm not fit to stand here. I've told you from my heart if I know it to be clean. I said it because you need it. You're dear people. Last night you give me a portion of your living to feed my children with. You think I'd come here be hypocrite enough to throw off something on you that wasn't right? I come here because I'm warned in my heart. That's why I come. Now, you know you're guilty. There should be scores of you coming here right now. You know you're wrong. Look at yourself. Think yourself over. That's up to you if you want to continue on, that's up to you. I plead and offer you Christ. While we sing once more.
Just as.............
God bless you, brother. [Brother Branham goes off the platform and prays with the people.]
.... whose blood can cleanse each spot,
O Lamb of God I come!

80 Are you willing to admit you're wrong? I feel led to say this while these are standing here, church members. I said, "Sisters, I don't mean to be mean."
They said, "God bless you, Brother Branham. That's what we needed."
All right, would you take this before God tonight, each one in here? "Jesus, seal me in my condition right now, the way I sit. And let my opinions and everything be just as they are now when I meet You at the judgment. Let my same condition exist now if I meet You in judgment." What about that? You want Jesus to seal you just the way you are now? Let your opinions, your thoughts, if you're not condemned or anything... Let Him meet you like that, with that spirit you have and condition now, at the judgment. Think of it now while we bow our heads quietly. Come here, in Christ's name. If there's condemnation on your soul in any way, come here to the altar now. Methodists, you come. Baptists, you come. Pentecost, you come. Presbyterian, Lutheran, Nazarenes, Pilgrim Holiness, Catholic, whatever you are, come. Listen, the Holy Spirit is on me, tells me that this place should be standing, full and up and down these aisles. Now, you be the judge.

81 Let us pray. Lord, I said those words because that I felt like I should say them. Never thought of them before in my life. Never did I feel that in my life. You're my judge, Lord. But I said it because I love these people, and Your Spirit has warned me to say so. They're lovely. They're kind. They are conservative, a little indifferent, many of them, yet good people. But seeing, Lord, that darkness now, in this way, hanging to the people. God, raise them from their seats and bring them out here to make their confession before Thee.
Grant it, Lord. Hear the prayer of Your servant as I intercede and stand between the living and dead. With a hard cutting sermon that cuts plumb into the mark, but God be my judge, I said it because You have placed it in my lips to say. Let the people understand, Father, just now.
Just as I am, Thou will receive,
Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;
Because Thy promise I believe, (That's right.
That's right. Now you're obeying.)
Just as I am, and waiting ... (Listen
to these words now.) waiting not
To rid my soul (of what?) of one dark blot.
To Thee, whose blood can cleanse each spot,
O Lamb of God, I come! I come!
Just as............
Oh, that's the way, brother, sister, come right on out. No matter where you are or who you are. Come right on. If there is a spot on your life, this is the time. I promise you, God's going to do something for you now.

82 How many of you is seeking the Holy Ghost and has never received it, yet? This is your time. We're waiting. They're coming down out of the balconies and around, getting in. Gathering around. This is the hour of your decision. Will you come to God and make the old fashioned confession? Will you come and say, "God, I'm guilty. I'm guilty of doing wrong. Forgive me, God. Take me into Your care and Your confidence tonight. I promise you, I will serve you."
To Thee, whose blood can cleanse each spot,
O Lamb of God, I come! I come!
While we sing it once more, I want ministers to come here to the platform. All ministers that's here, come up here to the platform with me just a minute.
........ without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou... (Hear that little voice
speaking, didn't you?) ... come to
Thee... (I want that forward up around
the sides here.)
Just as I am Thou will ... (Just gather
around...)
Will wel...............

83 Are you finished back there? Are you sure there's nothing on your soul? Step out in the aisles if you want. Hadn't you rather make it right here? What if tonight is your last night. What if you go in a heart attack or something before morning? What if your car crashes tonight? What if the doctor comes along early in the morning, takes your pulse? You're gone. Come now. Make it right now. Don't gamble with your soul, friends.
Just as............

84 Up in the balcony, if you think it's too far to walk down, stand up on your feet. Just stand up and say, "God, I've got something on my soul." God bless you, brother. Listen, you might've done a many great thing in your life, sir, but that's the greatest move you've ever made. You're man enough. I've got confidence in you to stand up and say, "I'm wrong, God. Forgive me." Man that will stand...
God bless you, young lady. You, you, sir. All around. God bless you lady. That's right. Stand up if you feel that you're wrong. Stand up. Say, "God, I'm wrong. I'm ashamed of myself. I now want to confess my sins. I want to be right with God." Hear sobs and weeping ... broken up spirits. He that goeth forth sowing in tears will doubtless return again, rejoicing, bringing in precious sheaves.

85 Stand now, everyone. Now, raise up our hands and each one do this. Make this prayer, say, "God, I'm ashamed of myself. I'm sorry I did this. Help me, Lord. Forgive me. I'm guilty. Take that guilt away. If I've shaved off my hair, I will let it grow again, by Your grace. I'll wash my face and this paint stuff and never wear it again. I'll never wear them dirty looking little old clothes again. I will dress myself like a lady. I'll conduct myself like God's daughter. Though I'm here in the world where it's all different like that slave was." Strange people, strange things.

86 How about you men? You boys with your girlfriends, you girls with your boyfriends. If you're God's children, conduct yourselves like God's children. Be different. The world wants you to see that, wants to see that in you. Now, let us raise our hands and we ask God to forgive us. Each one with their hands up.
While we bow our heads, I'm going to ask the minister here ... brother here, if he will come lead us in prayer. Brother McCloud, one of the local men here. All right. Let us bow our heads while we look to God, now. Be sincere. Don't doubt. God has promised to forgive you, and that He will do. All right. Let us bow now while Brother McCloud offers prayer.

Life

You can find this sermon at ChurchAges.net

1 ... I don't have punches. I got some hugs. I used to box, as you know, before ... just kind of ... going to make a profession out of it. So I quit that punching a long time ago---only at the devil.
I was thinking here this morning, eating these ... watching around the table, these different ones, how they're ... they eat. Some of them had eggs, and some had pancakes and sausage, and so forth. And yet, we're all human. It's strange, isn't it, we'd be all human, and have such a variety of eating?
I think that's just the way it is in our religious thoughts. I think we are ... some here said they belonged to the Foursquare, and some to the Assemblies, and some this, that; but after all, we're all Christians, you see. It's just ... that's the way it is. And that was Brother Courtney, I was trying to think about from the Foursquare, Brother Courtney. Is he still with them? Courtney. He's sure a fine man.

2 Eating pancakes, I have a little story on that. I know it's aside, though it might not go good right now, but we understand. I love to fish, and I love pancakes. And so, I was up in ... way up in New Hampshire. I'd been trout fishing. That's kind of the home of the little brook trout. And I was packed in about two days with a pack on my back, and I was way high in the mountains. And I would catch them, you know. When I got two or three to eat, turn the rest of them loose. Just loved to catch them.
So, there was some willows back behind me---moose willows---catching my fly all the time. I had a little pup tent, and I thought, "Well, now, next morning I'm going to get up early, and go down there, and cut them willows loose." So ... oh, there was just trout playing all under that, you know, where the water washed out, you know, back under the bank---some nice ones. And I'd catch him, play with him, and jerk him in real quick, you know---keep from killing him, and then turn him loose again. So, oh, I was having a real time.

3 And so, I went down there early that morning. I thought, "Just about two of them brownies for breakfast would be just about right with some pancakes," you know. So, I get it already mixed up, because I can't mix it, you know. I can't boil water without scorching it. So, I just got to... So, I got up there, and I got my fly line, took off about daylight, cut those bushes, and caught me a couple of fish, then turned some loose. And hurt a couple, and I brought them back.
On my road back... You brethren that hunt, you know what it is for a little old black bear to be prowling in the district. So, a old little old sow bear there, with two cubs, had got into my tent. Honest to goodness they had ... they'd just torn it to pieces, and there they was. I heard something raking. I looked over, and here sat this old mother sitting there with these two cubs---had just tore everything I had up.

4 I knowed I had to go back. It isn't so much what they eat; it's what they destroy. And so, I had a little ax in my hand, and I had an old rusty pistol laying back there, but it was in the tent. And so, she'd ... and they're... The mother bear'll kind of charge anything. Will, you know, if you're bothering them where they got the cubs. And I kind of kept my distance, and I seen a tree where I could get into it right quick. I wouldn't want to hurt her, and leave two orphans in the woods, anyhow, you know, so...
I had this little old ax in my hand. So I said, "Get out of there," and she turned. Well, she ... instead of coming to me, she run off, and she cooed at these cubs, you know. And one of the cubs took out for her. The other little fellow had his back to me, just sitting like this. Well, I thought, "Why didn't you go, little fellow?" And she kept cooing around, to get that cub to come. He wouldn't do it.

5 Well, I moved around sideways. Said, "What's the little fellow so interested in that he won't go to his mother?" And she run back a little piece like that. I watched my tree. So, she was going towards the cub over ... to get him to come on, and she was afraid to get close to me; and then she was afraid to get to the cub. And she cooed around two or three times, and then went back to her other cub. And this little fellow was just sitting there doing something, and I wondered what in the world was he doing. So I kept watching my tree, getting around sideways.

6 You know what that little fellow done? I had a bucket of molasses there for my pancakes 'cause I like ... I'm a... Used to be a Baptist, you know, and I don't like to sprinkle them; I like to really baptize them---pour it on, you know. I had a nice bucket of molasses about this big, and that little fellow had gotten into this bucket of molasses. And you know how they like sweets? And he had the lid off of it, and had it hugged up in his arms. 'Course, he didn't know how to eat it, and he was socking his little paw down in it, licking it like that, you know ... like that, licking them molasses. Oh, that was the last of the pancakes and molasses! I saw that.

7 So I said, "Get out of there," and he wouldn't listen to me, you know. And after awhile he turned around, and looked, and he couldn't get his eyes open---molasses pulling his eyes back and forth like that---cutest thing I ever saw! Without a camera, you know! And he was molasses from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet.
And I stood there and laughed till my sides hurt. I said, "That's just like a good Pentecostal gathering," you see. That's right. Get your hand in a honey bucket plumb up to your elbow, and you start licking, you know; and no condemnation, and no fear.

8 Strange thing, after I got him away from there... He got to all my molasses---he finished them before he left. And he run out there to where his mammy and little brother was, and they started licking him. That's the way we hope this meeting turns out---the rest of them try to lick some of the honey.
That's a rude way to introduce yourself, isn't it? But that's the only way I have of doing it. You know what I mean, and I'm sure you understand it that way.
It's such a grand privilege to be here with you brethren this morning, and to know that you sponsor me under difficults. Of course, if you know He reveals to me on the platform, you know what I mean. Under difficults you do it.

9 Many times among the meetings, I don't know why, but sometimes people has got the wrong opinion of what I am trying to do.
I am trying to break down a barrier, to make all men that's Christians brothers in Christ, see. And sometimes that way, I rap down on organization. It isn't that I'm against an organization, see---not at all. My ... I didn't join any, because that I felt if I stayed in the breach I could have more influence, than I could throwing what little influence I can on one certain group of people. And I'm very zealous of the Pentecostal move.
I was a missionary Baptist minister. When I seen this, this was it. And ever since then, I've been very zealous of the people. I love them.

10 And then ... a long ways from being a historian, but from reading a bit of history, and finding out that it is usually the organization that... When it becomes so organized till it can't recognize the next man, God just lays it up on the shelf, doesn't use it anymore.
Now, I don't want our groups to be like that. I think organization is a wonderful thing. It keeps a good clean brotherhood, and, you know, it serves its purpose. But I always want them to a place till one could put his arm around the other one, and, you know what I mean, have fellowship.
As old Brother Bosworth said to me one time, the godly, saintly, old man---many of you knowed F. F. Bosworth---he said to me, said, "Brother Branham, you keep speaking of fellowship. You know what it is?"
I said, "I think so."
He said, "It's two fellows in one ship." I thought that was a very good expression---two fellows in one ship. Then there's room for all of us.

11 If I seen our brother here, some brother, going down a swift river in a little boat that I knowed that boat wasn't going to make the riffle, see, and I begin to scream at him, it isn't I got something against the brother; it's love that makes me do that, see. It's the boat that he's in, that won't pack him, see.
Now, when organizations... I think if the organization would organize, and then end their doctrine with a comma, instead of a period: "This is this, and this is that, and that's all of it"; if they just make a comma, "We believe this, plus as much as the Lord can add to us." That's where Luther made a mistake: justification by faith, that was it. Wesley made a mistake: sanctification, second work of grace, and refused to receive the Holy Ghost when it come in. If you end it with a comma, all right.

12 So you see, God is so great, the tent stretched over us all. And we ... eating different foods, dressing different, look different, we are different. But God is a God of variety. He isn't a God ... He isn't a Sears and Roebuck Harmony House, see. God is a God of variety. Look out here: big mountains, little mountains, green trees, deserts; white flowers, blue flowers, pink flowers, red flowers; red-headed people, black-headed, and gray-headed, and then none at all.
See, He's a God of variety. I believe He likes it that way. That's the way He made us. I think that in our organizational life that God has it that way.

13 I'm a Southerner. The big boss up here says (this nation) what they say is all right. I think in the segregation condition of the South, some of them said to me one time, said, "Brother Branham, being a Southerner, what do you think about segregation?"
I said, "It's not for me to say. The boss, government, said let it be what it is, permit them to marry, and so forth." I said, "That's up to them. As an American, I abide by the laws." To me, you ought to leave it the way God had it. He made white men, black men, brown men. He's a God of variety. Let them stay the way God made them. That's what I think.
If I was a black man, I'd want to stay in my class of people. If I was a Chinese, yellow, I'd want to stay that way. Being that I'm Anglo-Saxon, white, let me marry amongst the white, teach my children the same, and just stay the kind of a flower and the color that God made us at the beginning. After all, He's the one that made it.

14 If I belong to the Assemblies of God, I'd be Assemblies of God. If I belong to the Foursquare, I'd be Foursquare, see. But I'd always want to reach my arms out for each one, see, get them all together, see. That's it---fellowship one with another. That way I've been misunderstood.
Sometimes... I had a tape got out here not long ago about serpent's seed, that caused a great conflict. Sorry those boys let that out. That was in my... They're not with me no more, but... Sorry they let that get out. And after all, if it got out amongst churches... I understand that ministers are shepherds. They're watching their flock. And if they don't do it, they're not good shepherds. That's right. See, they got to watch their flock, and so ... that the Holy Ghost has made them overseer.

15 There's been many things that's been spoke, different ones. Everyone has his idea about things. We have a right to that, see, to our ideas. But that ... I sure wouldn't let... That got out as my own idea about what I thought in the Scriptures of ... that it wasn't apples that Eve eat that caused the sin, and that... From that, though, it seemed to cause a sour biting down amongst some of the brethren. I wish it hadn't have got out, because, see, I'm not out here to try to hinder my brethren. I'm here to try to help my brethren.
I'm working for one purpose, and I think we're all trying to do that. And the Assemblies, and the Foursquare, and the Oneness, and whatever they are, see, they're all brethren. And we ought to be trying to make one achievement. That's the kingdom of God, see. And as many souls as I can gather with my net to send up there, I want to put it with yours, and yours, and all the rest of them. There's where we're going to, and that's where we're working for, is up there.

16 And you realize, fifteen years on the fields with the brethren, there's bound to be little things come up in difference of ideas. Here we are sitting here this morning as much in harmony as men could be, I suppose. But let us sit here a little while and begin to talk. First thing you know, there'd be some brother say something; the other might disagree with him a little bit. It takes real men, real Christians, to withstand that and still feel like a brother, you see.
You've got to have it in your heart. You just can't ... you can't deceive by that. If you say you are, and you're not, that's what does the hindrance. You got to be clean and clear with it, you see. And we would be different... Like, if ... take a certain ... if a brother was out somewhere, and get amongst a certain class of people...

17 A brother was testifying to me this morning. He was called to the ministry when a little boy. And then he fell, he said. And he said ... but then he came back with more of a call to preach than ever before. You see what it was, when he become a Christian he got in the wrong environment, see, and that environment influenced him, see. And you just keep holding around with that kind of environment, it influences you.
I hope you're reading between the lines what I'm saying, see. It influences you in that environment. And the first thing you know, you become a part of that environment. You go into it. And just like a good clean man, that's clean and moral, and he begins to associate with a bunch of people who is not. See, you take up the spirit of that.
Everything is governed by a spirit. Nations are governed by a spirit. When I go into different nations, see the way they act and do, you can see it's the spirit of that nation.

18 I was going to the market (excuse me, sisters), I was going to the market with my wife the other day, and we thought it was something strange---we seen a lady with a skirt on. They are nearly all naked, you know, with them little shorts on. And she said ... and I knowed many of them there sing in choirs, and you know, just fine---you know, a celebrity of the city.
And my wife is one of these old-fashioned girls, you know. And she said, "I wonder why they do it."
I said, "Honey, it's a spirit, see. It gets on them, see. It's a spirit. Them women don't mean ... they don't realize what they're doing, see. They don't mean that, but it's a spirit that gets on them. The first thing you know, they just start a little bit, then a little bit more, and sin is so (what would I say?) subtle, yes, subtle---just so subtle. It comes in, it's so beautiful, and it's so subtle, that's the way it takes you."

19 Well, I think, many times, that good, sound-thinking men comes into an organization, and you get sometimes that you get a place in there that's kind of a ... begin to come, "We are the group," see. And it isn't actually the brotherhood. There's just a spirit gets among them, see, and it don't give enough room for the next brother, you see. I think that's right. And I find it in...
... all and we know that's good. So, I am here, my brethren, to pitch in my net with you all to do everything I can for our lovely Saviour, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I don't have no ... I'm not a preacher, just to say a preacher, like you men who are learned, and called to that. I have a little gift that God gave me, and it's just like getting into a gear. I can't put myself there.

20 I met a brother here this morning called Bacon, I believe it was ... or, Bacon, I believe it was, up there at the [unclear words]. Said he was here years ago, when I was in the meeting. At that time it was just a little phenomenon of putting my hands on somebody, and then would know what it was. Then, you remember, I told you that He told me that it'd come to pass I'd know the very secret of their heart. Now you watch the meeting, see. Now that is true.
But what is it? Where I lack in something, God, perhaps knowing that I love the people, and He just give me something else to work by, you see. And I don't want ... I want to make it for the whole body of Christ, everybody, you see---to try to influence everybody I can to serve the Lord Jesus. May be strange to some of the people, but I'm trying to encourage them to sit down and see it Scripturally. If it wasn't in Scripture, then don't believe it. No, sir.

21 In the Old Testament they had a way of knowing whether it was the truth or not. If a prophet prophesied, dreamer dreamed a dream, they took him before the Urim Thummim, and then... That's the breastplate on Aaron. And no matter how real it sounded, if them supernatural lights didn't flash with that Urim Thummim, they didn't believe it, see, 'cause it had to be the supernatural. And if the Urim Thummim didn't prove it, no matter how real the dream sounded, or what the prophet said, it was wrong.
Now that was in the Levitical priesthood. And that priesthood, done away with, takes away that Urim Thummim, but God still has a Urim Thummim. That's his Word. No matter how anyone sounds---sounds good, or whether it sounds so fine it would be the program---to me, it's got to flash on that Urim Thummim. It's got to be that Word, or it isn't...

22 See, God can do things, and we've had all kinds of things going on, and, no doubt, godly men, good men. But we like different things, of sensations, and blood, and oil, and everything. Them might be all right. See, God can do that. I don't say He can't do it. He can do what He wants to. He's God. And I ain't got no business telling Him what to do. He does what He wants to. But to me, let it be Scriptural. Then I know it's right, see. Let it flash on the Scripture there. Then that's all right, because I know He'll stand behind this; I don't know about the other. But ... trying to keep it that way the best that I can.

23 And I never let my meetings get big, where it could be that I'd have to allot a ... like some of our precious brethren, fine men, like Brother Oral Roberts. When Oral and I first met, he had a little ragged tent, and I was over on one side of Kansas City, Kansas, and he was in Kansas City, Missouri. I got our pictures standing there together. He said, "Do you think God would answer me for...?"
Well, there was a man---smart, intelligent, great man of God, good faith. I said, "Brother Roberts [just a young minister]," I said, "God will answer anybody's prayer that'll be sincere." Here he goes.
The other day ... such a precious brother. I had a meeting, Businessmen, Tulsa. Then I had a meeting down at the auditorium, and Oral came in. Had hurt his leg, and he called me out of the platform. I went and prayed for him. Said, "Have you seen my building yet?"
I said, "No, Brother Roberts, I haven't."
He said, "Well, why don't you go over and look at it?"

24 So the next day I slipped in around so he wouldn't be there. You know, I don't want to ... a big man like that, I know his time is precious. So I went. Sat down in his home. I couldn't have been treated any nicer if I had been in my own home. Oral Roberts, such a swell fellow.
Tommy Osborn, oh, my! They just don't wear shoe leather any better. That's all. He's just a ... he's a precious boy. I was over at his place. And, oh! such nice men. And as they all claim, that I got started on the field first, and they seen it and that's what made them go.
I went over then ... Brother Fischer, I was with his group in South Africa. He showed me around through Oral's building. I looked. Such a mammoth place! Beautiful. If you never seen it, be sure to see it. Oh, you've never seen anything like it anywhere in the world.
I'd just been to Brother Tommy Osborn's, and seen his great place---hundreds of IBM machines sitting, running. Human hands never touch the letters at all---just run through just like that. My! Money coming by the loads, and dumping into a conveyor, and going down. I thought, "Oh, my!" See, he has to have it. Listen, that's a great work.

25 And I stood out there on the outside. I thought, "God, how grateful I am. Looky here at this building here---about two and a half million dollars, I guess---the achievement of one little Pentecostal boy." What God can do, see---one little Oakie out of a dugout down there. What God can do! Just goes to show. And I seen Tommy ... Tommy Osborn.
Standing there in Oral's yard, there was a bunch of people, you know how it is, waiting on the outside; and a policeman taking me through, and showed me out the back, how to get around where I could get in the car. And Brother Fischer was going to go around, pick up, and come get me around the back. And I was standing back there looking, my hands behind me, looking at that big building, how beautiful, looking at the mirror in there, you know, the reaching of them hands. And I said, "Well, I got..."
Something just said to me, "Well, what about you?" I thought... And then the brothers said that my little ministry helped put them on the field. See, each one of them sit and tell me that.

26 And I thought, "Well, I guess maybe... If I was out there, why didn't I have something like that?" I thought, "I'd sure hate for them to come to my place---one little typewriter sitting in the end of a trailer; and begging somebody to come help me to get the letters out."
I thought, "Well, you see, maybe God couldn't trust me, see. Maybe if I got like that, well, I might not have been myself." And I thought, "But I'm so thankful to God that He could find somebody that He could trust like that."
I wouldn't want you to say nothing about... I don't mean this any different, but while I was standing there I got crying. And I thought, "Well, Father knew that I had no education. Them boys, how lovely, precious." I just turned around and started walking back, waiting for the car to come. I stood there and looked at that great big building. Just as plain as I ever heard a voice, it said, "I am your portion."
I thought, "That's all right."
"I am your portion."
I said, "Thank you, Lord. Then what little I have, I'll do the best I can to put the portion that You give me to the kingdom of God."

27 Now that's the way I've tried to stay little. I don't have nothing. We got some books, but they don't belong to me. They belong to Brother Gordon Lindsay. We just buy them on ... 40% that we can... And I have to give the men money to get back home on, since they come up the West Coast with these books. And many of them got ruined; give them to people, anybody wants them and they ain't got any money, why, they can have them anyhow, see.
So, I've tried to shun money. I never took an offering in my life. And I thought, "What would I do if I had to sponsor something big?" I couldn't do it. I just couldn't do it. That's all. So the great, infinite God knew that.

28 So, what little I have got that He has given me, I am trying to share it with you brethren. See, you are the church. And may we all just stay one, see, and just stay together as brothers. And let's share what we've got with each other, see. That way, we're in a great battle, and we're battling sin---not one another. If we're going to fight one another, then Satan can sit back and just let us fight it out, see. But let's turn our ... everything we got towards the kingdom, and put our shoulders one with the other, start moving upward, work for there---because I don't think we got too much longer.
I think we're right at the end of the road. Maybe just because I'm getting to be an old man that I think that. But no, it isn't that, because I've thought that all the time. I believe that we're at the end of the road. And let's pray, help, and support.

29 Now there's ... Brother Roberts and them, they got... See, now, I don't want you to think that I'm saying anything against Brother Roberts. He's one of the finest men I ever met, and Tommy Osborn, many ... and Tommy Hicks... And those brethren are fine brethren. What I'm trying to say, you see...
Now, Brother Roberts, I think, has a college education. He's smart. And God has just blessed that man in such a way, he's just got everything around him there to look... All of us people, if we... God has allotted us our part, and allotted him that part, but all the parts make one part. It goes to the kingdom of God, you see. We want to put ourselves together. Now if I try to separate myself from Brother Roberts, that would be doing the same thing that I've been talking about: one organization separating itself from the other. Let's be one big group, see, just one big group.

30 Speaking to Christian Businessmen, I've been with them. They've kind of been an oasis for me. And because that ... in letting them sponsor, the businessmen of the churches will come. And, of course, that kind of makes it look like that the pastor almost has to do it, you know, on account of letting down before the congregation. But I told the Businessmen here not long ago, I said, "Brethren, I'm ... as the brother said, I have never, never been hypocrite enough to pull a punch from anything. If it's so, it's so. If I say it---not with any hard feelings, but with love I say it.
If your little boy, or little child, was sitting out there in the street, and you'd say, "Junior dear, if you don't come in you might get hurt," that's not love. Real love will go out there, and get him and shake him, and make him stay off that street, see. That's real love, see. See, and that's what it is, brethren. I don't mean it for anything... Now you keep that in mind, see. Now, don't pet Junior, see. We got to tell Junior, and make him line up.

31 Now, the love of brotherhood, fellowship together, working together; and just like ... working agreements and so forth, that's what we're trying to do in the kingdom of God. Now in this great time that we're living, where we're at the end time, I think... (I don't know how much time I got here. Just about fifteen minutes?) We're working for life. We're struggling for life. And we're ... and in this life struggle, we find out that we are different, but we are the same. I find out that my finger's not my ear, and my ear is not my eye. But I find out that they've got to work together to get the job done.
And that's the way we got to do, you see. We got to work together to get the job done, and that's why I'm here, is trying to get the job done. Not to do the job; I can't do it. I'm here to work with you brethren to get the job done. I think the possibilities... And it's possible, and probable, too, that right now something could take place right here that would send a revival through every one of your churches, and you see, it could do it.

32 Now, what little I have to do with, I'm putting it with you brethren, laying it upon God's great golden altar, with our sacrifice and common grounds, Jesus Christ, see. There we're working. I'm going to work with everything I can, and anything that I... If you see that I could ... think I could do a little better, you just be at liberty to tell me, you see, and I'll sure do it. I'll do everything I can to work right with you, and do all that I can for the kingdom of God. And then, at the end time then, we all want to hear Him say, "It was well done, my good and faithful servants."
Remember, this meeting here, it will be history in another five days, see. And then it'll meet us again some day. So let's do everything we can to make it good.

33 I just feel like I'd like to say a word or two here if it's all right just on a little... I want to quote his Word once, and just ... maybe just a little ... like a text and I'll watch real close. Let's take St. John 5:24. If you want to think of it, it's one of my favorite texts, a handful and two dozen of eggs, see. 5:24: "He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life," see. Life. What a word! Life.
What are we doing? That's what we're trying to hold---life. It's what we're trying to find---life. It's the greatest thing there is---life.

34 Here not long ago I was sitting with my secretary on a little run that come up to the house. And we picked up an old piece of a fossil ... been in there. He said to me, said, "How old is that?"
I said, "Oh, perhaps a chronologist would say it'd be ... or archeologists would say it'd be about several million years old."
Said, "How short human life is to that."
I said, "No, no, no." I said, "When that's no more, I'll still be living." I got eternal life, see, and therefore...
And if we look around I think, brethren, that we can notice that everywhere we see is life. Life. If you look across here you can see, maybe, say, see a orange tree. It's expressing life in its own way. Here's a palm tree. It's expressing life. Here's the pine tree. It's expressing life. There's a flower, red one. It's expressing life. The blue one standing by it, it expresses life. See our organizations, see? See, each one expressing life.

35 We notice the little flower. Let's take the significance of a little flower. It stands up there beautiful, and it's serving a purpose---serves it well. And when the frost hits it in the fall of the year, that's it. Young or old, it dies. That's death. Its little petals drop off, and a little black seed drops out of it. (Let's see whether God's interested in what we're struggling for.) A little black seed drops out of it, and after awhile then, it...
As strange as it seems, God is so interested in that little life until He has a funeral procession for it. It is. The fall rains come, great big tears drop down out of the skies, and buries that little seed. Now is that true? It sure is---buries it under the ground. Along comes the winter freeze, freezes over several inches under the ground. The little bulb dries up, freezes, gone. The petals drops off, gone. The leaf's gone. The little seed freezes, bursts open. The pulp runs out. That poor little life that God made! Is it finished? Not by no means. Oh, no.

36 See, the solar system controls botany life, the sun, s-u-n. And just as soon as that warm sun moves from around behind the earth, and gets back around here, there's a germ of life somewhere in there that no scientist can find, but that little flower lives again. It's served its purpose. It lives again, because it's life.
Well, if God made a way for the solar system to raise up again a life that served Him, what about the S-o-n when He comes with eternal life? And we have eternal life. We're going to rise again some of these days. Let's just serve our purpose well. Whatever we are, let's serve it. Whatever place God's put you, let's serve it. For the S-o-n is going to rise one of these days, with healing in his wings. I want to come forth then, in the brightness and the glory of his resurrection. I want to walk arm-in-arm with each one of you, up before his presence. Until then, remember, we're the little leaf on the tree.

37 I like to hunt. I guess you see my face blowed up. I always wanted a Weatherby Magnum. Some precious... I wouldn't let no one... I couldn't afford to buy one. They're very expensive. Someone would have bought me one. There's a man sitting right here now would have bought me one. I couldn't afford to let him do that, when I got missionary friends with no shoes on. I couldn't do that---can't think of it.
That's the reason I tried to give these pancakes to somebody this morning. I know what hunger is. I know what them people over there are suffering. I can't see wasteful things, when you know that brothers that believe the same thing I believe are over there under difficult.

38 I couldn't let them do it. Art Wilson give me ... give Billy Paul a model 7, or model .70, .257 Roberts. Billy, my boy, is left-handed. He couldn't use a right hand bolt. A friend of mine that runs a Weatherby Company said, "Well, let me send that to Weatherby, and have them rebore it---make you a Weatherby out of it." Said, "It'd cost you about thirty dollars; cost me about ten." He did it.
He didn't bore it right. First shot blowed all over my face---like to killed me, and ... was about six weeks ago. Just ... see the place there? Knocked the top of that tooth off, where it went through there, and then cut the side of my face. Three of them went right around there, sticking in the sinus glands, and in the bone. Fifteen of them went straight in behind the sight like that; almost cut the sight in two. Just goes to show.
I got a message out of it. These "shake-hand conversions," that's what that was. See, if that gun had been started in the dies as a Weatherby Magnum, it would've held the load. But being it was tampered with, and tried to be rebored... 'Course, any gunman knows what happened---had pressure this side, see. It blew it.

39 That's the way it is with some of this "shake-hands" religion. I believe in being born again. Go back to the beginning and die out, and be remolded, see. If you don't, there's going to be a blowup somewhere down along the road. It'll blow up on you when the pressure comes. So let's hold the pressure.
I was down in Kentucky with a friend of mine selling books here in the meetings, Mr. Wood. He's a Jehovah Witness that was converted by polio boy he's got with him (married now), leg drawed up under him. Maybe get a chance to have him testify. He got saved, and filled with the Holy Ghost.

40 His brothers come. His fathers was a Reader. They excommunicated him from all their being. One day his brother came in. I was home on vacation, or resting, and he went down to his brother. He said, "Banks, what ... [that's the one here]?" Said, "What in the world have you got tangled up with?" He said, "The bunch of fanaticism!"
He said, "They're not a fanaticism." He said, "Look at David's leg."
He said, "Aw, nonsense!" Said, "Your daddy's raised you, raised us, from kids not to believe them hell-fire-burning preachers, and so forth like that. He said, "You shouldn't do a thing like that." He said, "What kind of a quack are you listening to?"
Said, "There he is out there in the field, pitching hay."
Called me in. I guess I looked like everything but a minister. And he said, sitting there, he said... I was talking to him. Said, "How do you do?" Very cold, indifferent.

41 So a vision came (Just speaking, it's done it right here, three or four times since I've been standing here.) and I said, "You're a... Why'd you leave your wife for? them two little boys?"
He looked over to Banks, as if his brother had told me about it.
I said, "Don't look to him." I said, "He never told me that." I said, "What about the night before last? Your wife's a blond-headed woman; you was with a woman who had auburn hair. That man knocked at the door, and you went to the window. It's a good thing you didn't go, or you'd got your head shot off. The man had a pistol in his hand."
And he tumbled over on the floor. He gave his heart to Christ, and he become saved. Now his whole family's saved by the same way, each one of them, see (we were...), filled with the Holy Ghost.

42 Then down... We was hunting down in Kentucky, squirrel hunting. And I like to squirrel hunt---just the sport of squirrel hunting. We love them to eat. I trained my rifle at fifty yards for an eye shot, see, just fifty yards. So we had a... Hunting is very ... if you ever hunted gray squirrel... You have, I guess, in Oklahoma up there. You talk about Houdini being an escape artist, he isn't an escape artist at all, beside one of them, how quickly he can get away like that.
So it was real dry. We couldn't get close to them, so he said, "There's a place down in here. An old man ... if we could hunt down in the hollows where it's damp..." You know what a hollow is? What we call a hollow, it's a valley where the hills come down. And then, you walk up through this place, you watch both sides of the hill. It's damp where the water flows.

43 He said, "But he's an infidel, and one of the roughest in the country." And he said, "Oh, he's awful." He said, "He know you being a preacher," he said, "hmmmm."
I said, "Well, let's go try it."
So we went down through ridges, and over hollows, and everything, till we got back, way back in the field. There set a nice little house back there; an old fellow with a big old flop-down hat---two sitting there---you know, under the tree. Said, "There he is."
So I said, "You do the talking." So we drove up close. He got out. He spoke to him.
Said, "Come in!" You know how the Kentuckians, Southerners... Said, "Come in."

44 Sat down there a little bit, and said, "My name is Wood." Said, "I'm Banks Wood." Said, "I wonder if we could hunt." Said, "A friend of mine is down here." Said, "We've been hunting over here on the other creek." Said, "It's so dry, we thought maybe..."
He said, "What Woods are you? Are you Jim Woods' boy?"
He said, "Yes."
He said, "Jim Woods was an honest person in this country." Said, "Any of him or his people, I got hundreds of acres here. Help yourself."
Said, "Thank you, sir." Said, "Is it all right for my pastor [Didn't aim to say that, see], my pastor to go with me?"
He said, "You don't tell me that a Woods has got low down enough to have to carry a preacher with him wherever he goes."
Said, "Yes." Said...
I thought it was time for me to get out, so I got out of the truck, walked around. I said, "How do you do?"
He said, "And you're the preacher?"
Hadn't took a bath in two weeks, you know, and squirrel blood, and whiskers that long. I said, "Yes, sir." I said, "I guess I don't look like one."

45 He said, "Well, that part's all right." But said, "You know, I'm supposed to be an infidel."
I said, "That's not much to brag about, is it, sir?"
He said, "I reckon not." He said, "But the only thing that I'm thinking is..."
I thought, "Lord, if you ever helped me, you do it now 'cause I got... Something must happen."
He said, "Well, the only thing I got against you fellows, you're just barking up the wrong tree."
Does anybody know what that means? A lying dog, you know---one barking up this tree, and coon's in another tree.
So he said, "You're barking up the wrong tree." He said, "You're talking about something ... there's just nothing up there."
I said, "Well, maybe that's to opinion, see." I said, "Maybe the dog sees something that you don't see."
He said, "Well, there ain't nothing up there to begin with." He said, "There ain't no such a thing as God."
I said, "Well 'course that's your American privilege to believe that."

46 And so, there was an old apple tree standing there, and a lot of them falling on the ground, you know. It was around about the middle of August, and yellow jackets was... You know what a yellow jacket is? They was sucking around on them apples, you know. So I said... Thought I'd better change the subject right quick, you know, so I said, "You mind if I have one of them apples?"
He said, "Oh, not at all." Said, "Yellow jackets are eating them." So, I got down, got a hold of one, and just rubbed it on the dirty overalls. When you're in Rome, you have to be a Roman, you know. So I said, "Well..." I took a bite of the apple, and stood there a little bit.
He said, "Yeah, that's the thing against you fellows. You're always..." Said, "Only thing it is, you're just sponging off the people, living off of charity."
I said, "Yeah, that's true. We live by the alms of the people, free will. They don't have to come, see. They believe it, and they support it."

47 He said, "Well," he said, "there is no such a thing. I've never seen anything declare such things. I can look plumb up as far as my eyes can see, I don't see no God; see nothing else." (So blind, you know.) And so, he said, "I don't see nothing. Don't see no God. I've been here for seventy-six years, and I ain't seen nothing yet."
He said, "I'll say one thing. There was one preacher one time, about two years ago, that come up here to Acton, at the Methodist campground." Said, "He was a fellow from out in Indiana." He said, "Old lady Casshorn [I believe was her name]," said, "lives here up on top of the hill, right up yonder." And said, "She had cancer in the stomach."
And said, "Me and my wife had been going up there every morning." Said, "We couldn't put her on the bed pan no more [excuse this sisters, y'all]," but said, "we just had to use a draw sheet [rubber beneath, you know], pull the draw sheet." Said, "Me and my wife went up there every morning and every evening, changed her bed and fixed her. Her and her husband lives up there."
And said, "Doctors had been seeing her." And said, "She'd been doctoring this cancer for about a year." And said, "She had got to a place till they didn't even come back no more---just staying alive on dope."

48 Said, "This preacher from Indiana never was down in here before," and said, "and they was having a meeting up there." Said, "It was ... I guess it was close to fifteen hundred people in this..." That Acton is just a little bitty, tiny... I think the population is about twenty, see, but they have a campground there.
And so, he said, "The second night there when preaching," said, "he looked back in the audience, and said to this woman's sister... Called her by name, and told her when she left home she took a little white handkerchief with a little blue figure in the corner of it, and she had it in her pocketbook; she had a sister named So-and-so over here was dying with cancer, come put this handkerchief upon her, and she'd get well."
And said, "That night about ten o'clock, I thought they had the Salvation Army up there on top of the hill. I never heard so much noise in my life. We thought the old lady had died. So..."

49 Kentucky, they go to bed at seven o'clock---with the chickens, you know. So then ... so they said... And that was big Ben, you know, that took that handkerchief, and went up there with that lady to lay it on. And he squalls like a panther, anyhow, you know. So he was up there.
And said, "The next morning we went up to find what we could do to help them." 'Course way back in there, they couldn't get an undertaker in till morning, you know. Said, "Went up there to see what we could do, wife and I." And said, "When we got up there, that woman was eating fried apple pies, sitting at the table, drinking a cup of coffee---her and her husband."
You know what fried apple pies is? Half moon? See, you pull out the dough like a pancake, and put the... You know what leather britches is? leather britches mean? See, beans that, you know, hang them up to let the sun dry them; and dry the apples, you know, the same way, on top of the house.
Then take these apples and put them in this..., turn them over like that, and fry them, make what they call half-moon. Put sorghum molasses on top of them, they're really good. They are, sure are!

50 Said, "She was eating fried apple pies, her and her husband." And said, "She don't only do her own work, but she does the neighbor's work ever since then. I wanted to know how that man knowed that."
And Banks was looking at me. I shook my head at him like that.
And he said, "I'd like to know..."
I said, "You don't mean that's the truth." I said, "You wouldn't believe a thing like that."
"Well," said, "I can take you up yonder and prove it to you." See, now he was preaching back to me, then. He said, "I can take you up there and prove it to you."
I said, "Oh, I take your word," see. I said, "I take your word."
He said, "Well, she's right up there. And if you don't believe it, just go up there and ask. And ask any of the neighbors around here. Any of them can tell you about it."
"Oh," I said, "I ... you mean that's right?"
He said, "It sure is right."

51 I thought, "Uh huh. Now you've preaching back to me," you see. I just stood there a little bit, and I said, "What was you wanting to see the preacher about? What was his name?"
Said, "I don't know." Said, "If I ever see him, I'm going to ask him about it."
I said, "Yes, sir. I hope you do."
And he said, "Well," he said, "you know," he said, "what I can't understand was what he was talking about when he could stand over there---and never been in this country before---and know that woman got that handkerchief; and sent over there, and laid it on that woman, and told her exactly what was going to happen. And that's been two years ago, and she's perfectly well, see; and she's all right."
Said, "There she is. Doctors said she'd die at any minute. They opened her with cancer, and just sewed her back up. Couldn't do nothing about it; done taken a hold, see." So said, "Wrapped around her." And said, "There she is."
I said, "Well, that sure is strange, isn't it?"
And he said, "Sure is."

52 I said, "Boy, that's a good apple."
And he said, "Yeah, that's a good one." Said, "That's a..."
I said, "How old's that tree?"
He said, "Young fellow [my fifty years, you know]," he said, "young fellow," he said, "I used to live up yonder on top of that hill. Me and my pappy, and mammy, and all of us lived up there, where that old fireplace ... old log house." Said, "Pappy built this house, and we moved down here." And said, "When he died, I took it over," and said, "I've raised my family here." Said, "I'm seventy-six."
He said, "I planted that tree there about forty-five years ago." And said, "She's produced a good crop of apples for me ever since she started producing."
I said, "Wonderful." I said, "I notice the leaves are all falling off that tree." See, my old mama used to tell me, "Just give a cow enough rope, she'll hang herself," see. So just ... tie your horse back on the end of the rope. Watch anybody get his foot over after awhile, you know. That's the way, without any... I just have to depend on God, just the simplicity of just going the way He leads, you see. With no mental powers of my own to cut them smart guys off, you know, you just have to let Him do it, you see.

53 So he said, "Well," he said, "yeah, the leaves are leaving."
I said, "Now that's a strange thing, isn't it, sir." I said, "Here you are, here it is the middle of August, we have ... [It was still hot, about ninety degrees right then, in the shade.]," and I said, "The middle of August without any frost, or anything, and yet, them leaves are falling off the tree." I said, "I wonder what does that."
"Oh," he said, "the life left them."
"Oh," I said, "I see. The life left them. Where did the life go?"
He said, "Down in the roots, the sap."
"Oh," I said, "it does?" And he said... I said, "What does it do that for?" I said, "You mean that life ain't up in that tree in the wintertime?"
He said, "Oh, no. It would kill it. The germ of life would be killed in the tree if it was up there." Said, "The life goes down in the roots."
"Uh-huh," I said, "comes back up next spring, bring you another bunch of apples."
"Yeah."

54 I said, "I want you to answer me a question." I said, "Tell me... That tree doesn't have any intelligence, but there's some super-intelligence that tells that tree that 'It's coming wintertime, get away from there, and go back down in the roots, and hide down beneath the dirt. Next spring you got to bring this guy up some apples.' And if it doesn't mind Him, it dies. If it does mind Him, it continues to live---that intelligence. It's got to mind this intelligence."
He said, "Well, that's just nature."

55 I said, "What is nature?" I said, "You mean just geographically, and the rocking of the earth?" I said, "Set a bucket of water out there on the post in the middle of August. Let's see it go down to the bottom of the post, and then in the springtime come back up, and have another bucket of water."
He said, "It won't do that."
I said, "Well, then, it's got to be some intelligence controlling this," see.
Said, "Never thought of it just like that, but I guess you're right."
I said, "Well, then, when you find out what intelligence that tells that sap in that tree to go down in the root to hide, to come back again, and bring up something to benefit somebody, I'll tell you the same intelligence was what told me that that woman was laying over there dying with a cancer, if she would obey the commandments of God, she'd be healed."
He said, "You're not that preacher?"
I said, "I am."
"What's your name?"
I said, "Branham."
He said, "That's the guy. Can you prove it?"
I said, "Well, I guess I could." And there under that apple tree, that simple little thing, life, I led him to Christ.

56 Last year I was down there again. I walked up to the tree, and a woman was sitting over behind there, his wife, peeling apples. I asked for him. He was gone on.
She said, "Mr. Branham, God ever be with you." She said, "Year after year we tried; we done everything. But that simple little story about this apple tree, brought him to Christ."
So life is so simple; but yet, it's so great. Let's just put what we got, so that we'll have a resurrection some day. And not only us---let's bring forth somebody else with us when we come to that day. Is that all right? Can we pray?

57 Heavenly Father, You've made life so simple, the way so simple, so plain. Let it be far from us to try to ever twist it in such a way to bring in our own, what we think, intelligence. Let's just take the simplicity that God has placed before us, and there use that to win souls for Christ.
Father God, we are here now. We're here opening this meeting. There's sinners all around here. I don't know who they are, or where they are. Here I sit with men and women this morning that I believe that through the ceaseless ages to come that we'll live together.
As we sit here this morning, looking across the table one to another, I watch down along the line, and see gray-headed men who was probably on the field, preaching, when I was a sinner. We shook each others' hands. We fellowshipped around our breakfast.

58 We may never meet at another breakfast, but there's one thing sure: we're going to meet at a supper some day. That's a wedding supper, when that great table is stretched across the skies, reaching from star to star. We look across the table one to another, there's bound to be a little tear drop from our cheeks, as we think ... as we shake each other's hand, say, "I remember the Salem meeting. Here's Brother So-and-so. He was the one that come in at that time, this one down here."
Then the King in his beauty will walk out in his white robes, wipe all tears away from our eyes, say, "Don't cry, children. It's all over. Enter into the joys of the Lord that's been prepared for you since the foundation of the world."
God, let us have many sitting around the table because of this effort that we're putting forth. Now, we'll do all we can, Lord. We're depending on You to help us. We're yours. We're in your hands, Lord. Do with us as You see fit.

59 We thank You for the fellowship with one another, and with the Son of God, whose presence is with us now. May He ever remain, and may we ever remain faithful and true to the calling, that we might go out---not in the power of money, in the power of great things of the earth; but in the power of humility, in sweetness and humbleness of the Spirit, as He will make us and mold us into images of sons and daughters of God, that we might win others to Him. In Jesus' name, we ask this blessing to honor God. Amen.
Thank you very kindly, friends. If you will, I'll pay your breakfast for you. I had this time of fellowship. I'll be glad to do it. [A brother says something to Brother Branham.] Well, I'll be glad to do it, see. I'll be happy to do it. I've certainly enjoyed being here, and being with you. And now, till I see you tonight, our brother chairman.