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E-23 And in the
sacred readings of Saint Matthew's Gospel, the 14th chapter and the 27th verse,
I've selected this for a little drama for tonight. And I will ask that you will
listen closely and quietly, so that everyone in the back and around might hear
because it's... difficulty and the building hot. But I want to make it in a
drama, like this little fellow here and--and the--the little ones could
understand real plain.
But
straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of a good cheer; it is I; be not
afraid.
I
want to take for a text "Be Not Afraid, It Is I."
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E-24 Now, it
must've been about the time the sun was going down. It had been a terrible day,
hot. The crowds had come from everywhere and had gathered. And all were tired
and weary, and the sun was way sinking in the west when the service ended. I can
see the big brawny back of the big fisherman as he begin to move the boat off of
the little Galilean shore, on the banks of the gravel, as he pushed it into the
water; and the people standing on the bank waving, bidding them all, "Come
back to see us again."
And
as soon as the boat was pushed out... Called a ship in those days, which was a
large boat that usually had a sail on it. And when the winds were blowing they
could make their travel faster by sail than they could by oar. And in the boat
there were... An oarman sat on each side and sometimes taking six or eight, or
maybe more, oarmen to oar, because it was really a fish boat.
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E-25 And this
day the wind was quiet, as it usually does at the setting of the sun, and the
blue Galilee was beautiful and calm. And as the little waves begin to float...
As the big fisherman climbed down through the midst of the brethren and set down
by the side of Andrew, his brother; picked up his oar, and wiping the
perspiration from his face, waved back to the audience again, as the thousands
stood on the bank waving, and weeping for joy of what they had seen during the
day. Every once in a while the oar-men would stop and wave again, as the ones on
the bank, waving, "Come back and see us again, because our eyes have seen
great things today."
There's
something about it, that when... People always want to look a past the curtain,
where they come from, and who they are, and where they're going. And there's
only one Book, of all the writings that we have, that tell us that: That's this
Bible. It tells us where we come from, who we are, and where we're going. And
when they had seen the Author of that Bible, and had knowed that it was truly
the Jehovah Who created the creation, they were so happy about it, they were
wanting them to come back again.
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E-26 And as they
rowed on through the twilight, and finally so far out they couldn't see any
farther... And they were waving farewell, and perhaps the last farewell, and
they faded out of sight, as the little ship made its way with the little waves
behind it, as the oarmen pushed it into the depths of the darkness of the
Galilee.
After
rowing awhile, it must've been the young John; young men's usually full of
enthusiasm, as a student; he stopped. Must've been he that stopped, and said,
"Brethren, we are well out into the sea now. I'm beginning to get a little
bit tired, so let's stop just for a moment and rest." And each man
stopping, pulling the great oar into the boat, begin to wipe the perspiration
from their foreheads.
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E-27 Young John
set for a moment; he said, "Brethren (He must've said something like
this.), we can certainly rest assure, that no matter what our priests had said,
and what the majority of the people think, we are not following some fanatic. We
are following the Son of God. I was a little in doubt until today, but when I
seen those five thousand people, longing to hear Him speak a few words, and had
come out in that hot sun, them mothers with those little babies. And how
patiently they set, the ones that had the crippled, and the lame, and the blind,
fanning them, trying to hear what He had to say. Then when they... The question
come for food. And we got this little boy (that had probably played truant from
school) and had a little--five biscuits and two little fishes, that... He
called, and had all of us sit down."
He
might've said something like this: "I climbed up on a rock behind Him to
just wonder what He will do. Because I have somewhat in my heart, believed it,
but it--it's been so real, till I could hardly comprehend it, to be a Man that
eat with us, and slept with us, and walked with us, and talked with us, and was
just an ordinary man. And I noticed Him, when He took those biscuits in His
hand, them little loaves. He broke them and handed them out to we brethren. And
as soon as those hands reached back, there was another piece of bread growed on
to that where He had broke off."
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E-28 I would
like to ask the scientist teacher of this school, or whatever school, what kind
of an atom did He turn loose? Not wheat, but wheat growed, milled, shortened,
baked, and ready to eat. What did He do? And when He broke those fishes--a fish
sired, borned, raised, scaled, cleaned, and fried, and was there in a second
when He reached for it, what did He do?
"And
when they taken five biscuits, and fed five thousand people off of five biscuits
and took up basket's full." I can hear young John say, "That took all
of the doubt away from me. Because I remember that my Jewish mother used to tell
me... Oh, I can remember her pretty, big brown eyes looking at me, and saying,
'John, my son, I want to speak to you of something that's real that'll mean
something to you someday. Of all that you ever do, John... My ambitions is for
you to be something great, but above all things I want you to be a believer in
Jehovah, as I and your father are, and are trying to raise you.'"
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E-29 "And I
remember as a little boy, when my little eyes would look up to hers, and she'd
say, 'John, when God Jehovah brought His people up out of Egypt, out into the
wilderness where they had nothing to eat, Jehovah rained down bread out of
heaven every night and fed all His children.' And brethren in this testimony
meeting, I would ask my mother, 'Mother, has God got a whole lot of Angels
that's professional bakers, and He's got a great big sky up there full of ovens,
and every night He'd bake that bread, and bring it down by the Angels, and lay
it all out on the ground? Is that the way He done it, Mama?'"
"She'd
say, 'No, John, you're just a little boy, so you do not understand. Jehovah is a
Creator. He just spoke the Word and the bread came down.'"
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E-30 "Now,
my brethren, this afternoon when I seen a Man Who eat with us at the table, Who
wears the same kind of clothes we wear, Who cries when we cry, drinks at the
same fountain we drink, has his ups-and-downs and flusterations as we do; but
when I seen Him take that biscuit, break it five thousand times, I knowed He was
associated with Jehovah. He was that same Jehovah that my mother told me that
brought bread out of heaven, because here He was doing the same thing that
Jehovah done. He was not...
"To
me, from henceforth," said John, "He's more than a man. He's Jehovah,
because He does the works of Jehovah. And now, do not we remember that He said,
'If I do not the works of My Father, then do not believe Me? If You cannot
believe My teaching, then believe the works that I do. And if I don't do the
same works that Jehovah done, then believe Me not.' And there He did the same
work that Jehovah did, and only Jehovah could do it."
So
to men today who teach that He was nothing but a good man, or merely some
prophet, that social Gospel won't stand up. He was God, the Creator, represented
in a body that's called Jesus Christ, the Son of God. John said, "That
settled it for me."
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E-31 Well, of
course, you know Simon. He's always got to put his part in too. He was an
ignorant man, the Bible said, unlearned. He did not have an education: 4th
chapter of Acts says that, or the 3rd chapter of Acts, I believe, said that he
and John both were both "ignorant and unlearned." I've been told that
he could not even sign his own name. But Jesus gave him the keys to the Kingdom,
because he had the revelation of Who He was.
He
had something to say. He said, "Well..." I can see him put his arm
around Andrew, his brother, and say, "Andrew, I remember when you used to
come tell me about some wild-looking fellow coming out of the wilderness, by the
name of John, that was baptizing the people with water, saying that a Messiah
was coming. Well now if... course, I could not believe such a thing as that. But
one day Andrew persuaded me to come and listen to this Man, and to see if He
really was the Messiah."
And
he said. "I have been taught by My father..."
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E-32 Now, I
would just like to make a little statement here. Let's just dramatize him for a
moment. I can hear Peter say, "You know that I was a Pharisee. My father
was one of the head men of that Pharisee church. And my father told me, one day
when we got through seining, 'Simon, we have made our living day by day off of
this lake.' (Now, listen close.) We made our living. And father and I, and
mother, and Andrew, and all, so that we would catch fishes every morning we
prayed that God would give us our daily bread, give us our fishing."
"One
day when dad come in, and set me upon the bow of the boat, and said, 'Simon, my
little boy, daddy has always believed that someday the Messiah would come in my
day. All of us Jewish people has looked for that. But perhaps I won't see Him.
I'm getting too old. But, Simon, when He comes, there'll be a lot of stuff go
out before He comes that'll cause the whole country to be confused. There'll be
false messiahs and everything come. But, Simon, I want you to be taught.'"
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E-33 Oh, how it
would do good if we American people would teach our children such things,
instead of tap dancing, and rock and roll, and the stuff that we so do today,
and just let them join the church, but tell them what to look for. "Now,
said, "Simon, when He comes, our prophet Moses said that He will be a
prophet. 'The Lord your God shall raise up a prophet likened unto me.' And we as
Hebrews are knowed to believe that God's Word comes through the prophet and
nothing else. Now, I want you to remember, Simon, when He comes He will be this
prophet."
"And
when I walked up into His sight the first time..." (Listen close--Simon
testifying. We got a testimony meeting now out on the Galilee.) And said,
"When I walked up first in His sight, when this Man looked at me in the
face He said, 'Your name is Simon, and you're the son of Jonas.' Not only did He
know my name, but He knowed that godly old father of mine. That settled it to
me. I knowed He was the Messiah. That finished it for me."
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E-34 Philip
said, "Can I testify, brethren?" So he said, "I was standing and
seen that (Now, Nathanael, don't feel bad.), but I run to tell Nathanael,
because I knowed that Nathanael was a Bible student. So I run around the
mountain to find Nathanael, and I said, 'Nathanael, come see Who we have found:
Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of Joseph.'
And
he might've said this: "Nathanael, you know where I found you?"
"Yes,
I was under one of my fig trees, praying. Yes, and he said, 'Come, see Who we
have found: the s... Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of Joseph. That's the prophet
that Moses told us would come.'"
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E-35 "Oh,
now," said Nathanael, "now, Philip, you've--you've gone off on the
deep end. Why, if the Messiah would come, He'd have to come to Caiaphas first,
or He'd have to come to our church. If He--if He was real Messiah, you know He'd
have to come to us Pharisees. That's all there is to it. But just to say He
would come out of Nazareth, a bunch of holy-rollers (Excuse me. I oughtn't to
have said that. Excuse me. I didn't mean that. See?), He wouldn't come to a
bunch of people like that. If He ever done anything, it would be amongst us
smarter people, if He did it." But you see, God does what He wants to;
that's his business.
And
he said, "No one would come like that." He...
And
Philip gave him one of the best answers that any man could do. He said,
"Come, see for yourself."
Now,
that's a good idea. Don't stay home and criticize. Come, find out for yourself,
and search the Scriptures; for the Messiah will certainly be Scriptural. Come,
find out for yourself.
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E-36 And when on
the road around, I can just hear them talking. And he said, "You remember
what... We went, got some fish that time, and the old fisherman could not sign
his name to it, that fellow called Simon?"
"Yes,
I remember."
"When
he walked up into the Presence of this Messiah, He told him his name was Simon.
And do you remember his daddy?"
"Sure."
"What
was his name?"
"Jonas."
"All
right. He said, 'You are the son of Jonas.' Now, Nathanael, you are a Scriptural
student. What will the Messiah be when He comes?"
"He
will be a prophet."
"Well,
does that fulfill it?"
"Oh,
yes, if He could do it, but I don't believe He'd do it."
I
can hear Philip say, "It wouldn't surprise me but what He tells who you are
when you come up."
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E-37 Walked up
then, and they got into the Presence of the Lord Jesus, and Jesus looked around
and seen him. He said, "Behold, an Israelite in whom there's no
guile." Now, you say, 'cause he was dressed... No, all easterners dress the
same. They have beards, turbans, and ever--dark complected. Said, "Behold,
an Israelite in whom there's no guile."
He
said, "Rabbi ('Rabbi' means 'Teacher.'), when did You ever see me? I'm a
total stranger to You. When did You ever see me?"
He
said, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the tree (fifteen
miles around the mountain), I saw you."
He
said, "Rabbi, Thou art the Son of God; You are the King of Israel."
You
remember what the Pharisees and the teachers said, standing there? Said,
"This man's Beelzebub. He's a fortuneteller."
Jesus
said, "I forgive you for that, but someday the Holy Spirit's coming to do
the same thing. And you speak one word against it, it'll never be
forgiven." That's today.
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E-38 Now... what
a testimony. Then it must've been Andrew (as I draw a little closer to my
testimony); Andrew said, "Could I testify just a minute, brethren? You
remember the day that...?"
Now,
it's getting darker and darker. The evening star had come out. And so said,
"Could I have a little testimony?"
(Is
the lady just going out, she has to...? Is going out, she'll be back in a few
moments? All right. Just I was going to say, if she... Don't let her leave
without being prayed for. We want everybody prayed for.)
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E-39 So now
said, "Do you remember that day that Jesus, our Lord, said that He had to
go down to Jericho?" Now, from Jerusalem to Jericho, if you've ever been
there, it's right down the mountain. But He had need go by Samaria. Why? The
Jews had heard it, and the Samaritans hadn't heard it.
Now,
the Gentiles wasn't looking for no Christ. And let me say something right here
to you, you sick people. He only comes to those who are looking for Him. True.
When you talk of Him, like on the road from Emmaus... And He only comes to those
who believe Him. He will never have nothing to do with an unbeliever. He only
comes... And Gentiles, we worshipped idols in them days.
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E-40 And there's
only three races of people--that's Ham, Shem, and Japheth's people. That's where
the whole human race sprang from; and that's Jews, Gentiles, and Samaritans.
Look at Peter with the keys: opened it at Pentecost, opened it to the
Samaritans, opened it at the Gentiles, and then she's free to the world. See?
Now,
and so now we notice, said, "He sent us down into the city of Sychar there
to get something to eat, some vittles. And you remember when we come up we was
surprised. A woman with a mark of prostitution upon her was on her road to the
well, and there was no one there. So we thought we'd just see what she said to
our master, and see what He did when He met a woman. So we hid in the bushes.
(Now, listen close to the cont--and the testimony.) And the first thing happened
when He walked up--she walked up to let down the kettle, the pot, for some
water, started to raise up the--the pot like that, why, He said, 'Woman, bring
Me a drink.'"
BE.NOT.AFRAID.IT.IS.I_
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E-41 "And
we thought, 'Well, did we leave our Lord without a drink of water?'"
"And
she said, 'Why, we have segregation here. You Jews shouldn't ask Samaritan women
such things as that.'"
"He
said, 'But if you knew Who you were talking to, you'd ask Me for a drink. I'd
give you water you don't come here to draw.'"
"Said,
'Well, You have nothing to draw with.'"
"You
remember, the conversation went on, and we were listening. And after while He
looked her right straight in those big brown eyes of hers, and said, 'Go, get
your husband and come here.' And the woman flatly denied of having a
husband."
"And
we thought, 'Uh-oh, oh, here's a slip-up. Now, what's He going to do?' He tells
the woman that she has a husband, and go get her husband, and she says she does
not have a husband. You remember, brethren, how we looked at one another?"
"And
then we noticed our Lord in His still manner, as He looked her in the face, and
said, 'Thou hast said right, because you've had five husbands; and the one
you're living with now is not your husband, and you've said well.' And that
woman, did you remember, brethren, what she said?"
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E-42 How much
different her testimony was to the preachers of that day. The preachers said
He's a fortuneteller, a devil, Beelzebub. Anybody knows that fortunetelling is
of the devil. And that's the reason that Jesus said to speak that, was to call
the Holy Spirit working a fortuneteller or a devil, was blasphemy of the Holy
Ghost and was unpardonable, calling the Spirit of God a devil.
So
then he said... "That woman looked Him in the face, and her in her
condition, a sinner..." (I hope I don't hurt anyone, but I've got to say
something.) In being a prostitute, living with five husbands, six husbands, she
knowed more about the Bible than half of the scholars in this nation knows.
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E-43 What did
she say? She looked straight at Him; she said, "Sir, I perceive that You
are a prophet," not Beelzebub, like the preachers said, but a prophet.
Said, "We know, we Samaritans, we know that when the Messiah cometh, He
will tell us all these things. That's the sign of the Messiah, when He comes. We
know Jesus, Who... I mean, Messiah, Who's called the Christ, He will tell us
these things. That's the sign will follow Him, because He's a prophet. And You
must be a prophet also. But the Messiah... We haven't had a prophet for hundreds
and hundreds and hundreds of years, so... But when He comes He will tell us
these things. You must be One of His Servants."
Jesus
said (and the only One that ever could say it, or ever will say it); He said,
"I am He Whom you're looking at. I am that Messiah."
She
dropped that water pot. She had something more interesting then than the water
pot. Into the city she went, and here's what she said to the men of the city:
"Come, see a Man that told me the things that I have done. Isn't that the
very Messiah?"
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E-44 What would
they say today? "Mental telepathy, psychologist, mind reader,
fortuneteller." No wonder we got an atomic bomb with our name on it. You've
got to spurn--you've got to spurn mercy... And there's nothing left but judgment
after you've spurned mercy. That's right. You step over the borderline. You do
it so simple. Many people think they have to do something great. Why, if they
had only knowed who John was... You'd never know who's who until they're dead.
He comes to the elected Church, and that's the only one that knows Him.
I
challenge you to go back to the Bible and find any prophet that they didn't do
the same thing. Jesus, they didn't know Who He was until He was dead, buried,
and rose again.
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E-45 Let me ask
you Catholic people something. What about your--your saints? What about Joan of
Arc. You were so infallible. What did your priests do to that woman? She was a
prophetess. She saw visions. She prayed for the sick, and they were healed. And
what did your church do? You burned her to the stake as a witch. Oh, of course,
you seen your mistake a hundred and fifty years later, and you done repentance:
dig up them priests' body and throw it in the river. That's a lot of repentance.
It goes right over the head of the wise and prudent, until it's past; and then
they're already in judgment.
Let
me say to you, church, the true Holy Spirit is here in this nation tonight in
this world tonight. Don't you let it pass over your head. Recognize it now.
Healing's here for you, the Holy Spirit, forgiveness of sins; all the benefits
of Calvary is for you. Don't pass it by. Don't close yourself in on some
denominational doctrine and forget to look at the Bible, and see if this isn't
the day that we're supposed to see these things. Don't notice a bunch of
illiterate preachers, maybe like myself, who's trying to explain it, but look at
what the Bible says and watch what it does.
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E-46 If it's the
Spirit of God it'll act like the Spirit of God. It'll do the things the Spirit
of God did. If it doesn't, then it's not the Spirit of God. If I preached the
baptism of the Holy Ghost, that Jesus was raised from the dead, and God doesn't
confirm that with the same works that Jesus did, then I'm a liar. But if I--if I
preach that message and God turns around and does the same thing; if I don't
even have a grammar school education what difference does that make? It's God
using something. He can use a stick if He wants to. He can use anything He
wishes. He's God.
Now,
let's let one more testify, will you? It must've been brother Matthew said,
"I know it's getting a little late, brethren. But let's let me
testify." Said, "Do you remember when we got down in Jericho that day,
you remember that little brother Zacchaeus down there? He was a businessman, a
tax collector. We always thought he was a little shyster (Excuse that
expression. I didn't mean it that way.), just a little renegade. But you know
our sister Rebekah, she was a believer on Him. She believed the Lord Jesus. And
you remember how she asked all the women to pray down in Jericho, when we heard
that Jesus was going down to hold a campaign?"
And
when He got down there in Jericho... Little Zacchaeus told us later, you know.
One morning he got up early. He knowed Jesus was coming, so he went down there.
And he was a little bitty short fellow. So he stood up to the gate where He was
to come in, at the south gate. And he noticed he was too little. He couldn't see
Him. He said, "Whenever I see that fellow, I'm going to give that
holy-roller a piece of my mind."
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E-47 Remember,
He was called a heretic. He was called an insane person. "We know that
you're mad, and have a devil." Is that right? What does "mad"
mean? "Crazy." "We know that you're a Samaritan; you're crazy,
got a devil on you. That's what's doing all these things. You're a devil and
mad. You don't join our organizations, so we know you're a devil." Now,
that spirit still lives.
Now,
we notice that he said, "I'll just wait. Rabbi Lavinsky... I hope there's
not a Rabbi Lavinsky here.
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E-48 [Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.]...?...
"Jehovah just expects you to come on to church, and pay your tithes, and
live a good life, and that's all. Don't... Look, that Messiah may be a million
years from now, might not even come at all." There's a lot of Bible schools
today teach that, the physical. I believe it's eighty-something percent of the
so-called Christians don't believe in the physical return of Jesus. I heard it.
I got some government statistics there of the different denominations. And I
forget... It's worse than that, that don't believe in the virgin birth. How can
anything happen? How can we build a revival in this nation? When you take the
virgin birth out of Christianity, you knock the foundation from under it.
If
He was the blood of a man, then He's no more than I am or you are. But He's the
Blood of God. God's Holy Spirit, overshadowed the virgin and created a Blood
cell, and that's the Blood of God. The Bible said we are saved through the Blood
of God, not a man: God. But they deny it.
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E-49 So little
Zacchaeus, the little bitty short fellow, he said he got up that morning...
Let's give him a little drama, for this little girl setting here. Watch him (her
little bright eyes, and little hair combed down), I can imagine seeing...
You
know, Rebekah, his wife, she believed Jesus, so she was just praying all the
time. "O Jesus, I pray Thee, that whenever He comes into the town here,
that my darling little husband... He's a good man, but he's just all tied up
with them--all kind of Kiwanis meetings, and lodge parties, and all these things
to..." Now, I ain't saying nothing on Kiwanis now. That's all right. See?
Just some people take... 'Cause I--I believe that the Masons are all right, but
the Mason Lodge will never take the place of the Church, or the Blood of Jesus
Christ. All my people are Masons, and they're all right as a lodge. But it won't
take the place of the Church.
And
the trouble of it is, you've got the church, till it's no more than a Masonic
lodge, or any other lodge. The church is a house of God where Christ lives and
manifests Himself amongst the people. That's right.
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E-50 Notice, so
Zacchaeus. See?.. I see him go out there. He said, "Now, here they're
climbing all over the gates and everything else. I--I'd never see Him, so I'm
going done here; I know He always goes down Hallelujah Street. (He--He still
does.) And He turns on Glory Avenue. And so I'm going down there to the corner
and wait for Him."
So
he goes down there, and he has his best garment on, you know. He was standing
down there on the corner with his best garment, all groomed up, you know.
"Wait till I see that there so-called prophet from Galilee. I will tell him
a piece of my mind when I see him. He don't know how many degrees I got. And my
good friend, the rabbi, has taught me a lot of things. I will tell him
something. And I will tell him if He don't quit with his witchcraft around my
wife, I'm going to do something to him. I will give Him a piece of my mind. I
will not have my wife out there on those long night prayer meetings and things.
No, sir. She's left the clubs; she quit playing cards. She's got... Oh, my, got
all, even the rabbi's wife and all them, all these other people, all tore up, I
tell you, with that fanaticism. I will tell him when I see him."
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E-51 Standing
there grooming his little self, he thought, "Wait a minute. That crowd will
follow him." That's right. They usually do. "That crowd will follow
him. So if he comes up here, well, I'll be no better off than I was down
there." So he says, "You know what I believe I'll do. There's a
sycamore tree standing there, so I believe I'll just get up there. When I get up
in that tree I'll tell him when he passes by."
So
he looks around, and say, there set the city garbage can setting there.
"Well, maybe if I could get that over here... I can't shinny up the
tree." (Shinny, I meant climb up the tree. See? Excuse my language. I'm
just a Kentuckian.) So--so he goes over and gets his arms... Now--now, he--he
backs off. "You know, my, I got on my best clothes. How can I...? I
couldn't be caught with that garbage can."
But
there's something another about it. If you're trying to see Jesus, you'll manage
someway to see Him. You'll do things you didn't think you did. You didn't think
you'd ever do it, but you do it anyhow, if you want to see Jesus. You lay where
some of these people are, and you'll just lose all of that old prestige.
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E-52 So he slips
over, and holds his nose, and gets the garbage pail. (You understand, honey?)
Here he comes over, you know, packing...
And
he happened to look up, and here's his competitor, saying, "Well, you know
what? There's Zacchaeus. He's working for the city now, the garbage
disposal."
Well,
he was determined to see Jesus, so he didn't care. Maybe some of you all might
feel the same way. Some doctor of divinity setting back there saying, "I
wouldn't want to be caught amongst this bunch of people," but you're
exposed now, brother. You're ruined now. But if you're determined to see Jesus,
you don't care anyhow. That's right. You don't care anyhow.
Here
he comes with the garbage pail, walks over and sets it down by the tree, and
shinnies up the tree, and gets up there, sets up there picking splinters out of
his hand, wiping the garbage off his new clothes. But he wants to see Jesus.
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E-53 He said,
"You know what? I remember Rebekah told me that that guy was a prophet.
Now, I believe there's a hoax in that somewhere. (They still believe the same
thing.) There's a hoax in it somewhere. Those disciples somehow they work it up
among them, something another. They go get somebody that He knows, and He tells
him them things. So I--I know... You know what? I'll tell you what I'll do. I'm
just going to hide from that fellow."
So
he set down where two limbs meet. And you know, that's a good place for you to
set awhile, where two ways meet: yours and God's. Make your decision from there.
So he set down on this limb, and he reached over and got some of the big
sycamore (Sycamore... actually it was an olive tree.) So he just pulled over
the... and covered himself all up everywhere. Said, "He will never see me
setting up here, but I'm going to get a look at him when He comes by." He
covers hisself all over, and he leaves one big leaf there, so he could raise it
up and look out, like this.
So
he sets there and he said, "Now, I'll be able to know, because somehow or
another, everywhere he's at there's a lot of noise." You know, that hasn't
changed. No, where Jesus is, there's usually a lot of noise. So he said,
"I'll hear the noise coming a long time before he gets there."
So
after while he heard the noise. And you know, coming in front, great big,
sturdy, fellow finally, Peter, saying, "Would you stand aside? We're very
sorry. Our Master's tired. He preached all night long last night. He healed many
of the sick. Would you stand aside, please? We're sorry. People with their
children, well, would you just stand aside, please? Our master has got to have
his breakfast yet this morning. Would you just stand aside? So Zacchaeus said,
"That ain't him. That's that old ignorant fisherman up there I used to buy
fish from. That ain't him. So about that time, he said, "He must be a great
big, princely, guy with a crown on his head, walking sturdy, you know." You
know, I hate to see anybody put on the dog. That's a stuffed shirt.
That's--that's not a man of God. So here... But they noticed when He come along,
a little humble Fellow, not with his collar turned around in the back, and
turbans on top of his head; but He was just an ordinary man dressed like an
ordinary man.
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E-54 So as He
comes walking by, Zacchaeus pulled his leaf down, said, "You know, there's
just something about that Man that I like." You can never get a glimpse of
Him but what you love Him, I don't care who it is. I know the first time I took
a look: by faith I saw Him, what He was. Put my hands on his feet, seen Him
dying there for me, and looking down to me. Oh, that was enough.
Zacchaeus
pulled his leaf down, said, "Oh, is He coming closer? Now, He can't see me.
He won't know I'm here. Now, He don't know, because if He'd see me up here...
But He can't see me, 'cause I'm all covered up. I'm in this tree, and a little
bitty fellow setting up on this limb here, and I'll watch him." So we
noticed Him. He come walking, just in his ordinary manner, walking quietly,
walked down. I can see little old Zacchaeus looking under the tree leaf, like
this, you know, looking as He come by. When He just got passed by, he raised his
leaf up.
Jesus
stopped, said, "Zacchaeus, come down. Going home with you for dinner."
Not only knew he was up there, but knowed what his Name was. That settled it.
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E-55 "Well,"
he said, "remember when we was going out the gate, blind Bartimaeus... When
blind Bartimaeus said... He'd been sitting there, thinking about how that
the--that the Messiah would be when He come, and so forth. And how that if the
prophets lived, he'd go by and ask him for to receive his sight. And all at once
he heard them coming by, a howling mob. There we were again. And he was sitting
there shivering in the cold. You remember his testimony? And he said--he said,
'Who goes by?'"
"And
said everybody said, 'Oh, shut-up.'"
"And
he heard somebody holler, 'Hey. Hey, you. You, the Galilean prophet. You. We
hear You raise the dead.' It was a priest. Said, 'We got a whole graveyard full
of them up here. Come up and raise one for us; we'll believe you.' (That same
old devil still lives, you know.) 'We heard you raised the dead. We got a
graveyard full of righteous men dead up here. Come, raise one of them--we'll
believe you.'"
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E-56 Never
bothered Him a bit. He just kept walking on. The souls of the world was resting
upon Him. He was going to Calvary, going up the hill.
Bartimaeus
said, "Who passes?" And they shoved him down.
And
after while some nice, courteous lady come by and said, "Oh, poor
fellow."
Said,
Oh..." I said, "Who's passing, lady?"
"Oh,"
she said, "don't you know who it is?" Said, "It's Jesus of
Nazareth."
"No,
I don't know Who Jesus of Nazareth..."
"The
Galilean prophet?"
"No,
I never heard there was such a Person."
"You
know who the Son of David is, coming to be?"
"Oh,
the Messiah?"
"Yes."
"Oh,
if I could only see Him."
"How
do you know it is?"
"I'm
one of His followers."
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E-57 And I want
to say something here. His followers always show courtesy to everybody in their
life. You see? They're ready to help somebody, ready to do something for
somebody else, His true followers.
And
said, "Yes (And might've... Let's say it was Rebekah.) My husband was just
saved awhile ago, and I'm so full of joy."
"Well,
now, you mean that that is the Messiah that we're taught was to come, the
prophet that Moses said? How far is He?"
Now,
if you was ever there, and looked where he was supposed to be setting, he was a
good two hundred and fifty yards away, with about four or five thousand people
screaming, "Hosanna, to the prophet, Hosanna, to the prophet."
Another
one hollering, "Away with him." And throwing overripe fruit at Him and
things like that. All those kind of things, how could He have ever heard,
"Jesus, Thou Son of David, have mercy! Thou Son of David, have mercy!"
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E-58 So let's
think that Bartimaeus thought this: "If He is that Messiah, He's a
prophet." If I can just see him kneel down on his knees, shivering, and
saying, "Oh, Jehovah, You're Messiah, that I've longed to see all my life.
And if that's Him passing by, let me touch Him, Lord. I can't get to Him, but
can my faith reach Him? Oh, let me touch Him, Lord."
About
that time, Jesus stopped, and said, "Bring him here." He couldn't have
heard him; he was too far away from Him, all that hollering mob, but his faith
stopped Him. And look where He was going: to Jerusalem with the sins of the
world on Him. But look, the faith of one blind beggar (Amen) stopped Him. And
the faith of one person here tonight will bring Him from glory down here to do
the same thing.
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E-59 Oh, we
could go on with the testimony, but I've got to hurry. Yes, I'm past time. Just
let me wind up one more little statement. They were testifying. You know what?
While them brothers was testifying, the devil happened to look over the
banisters, over there somewhere over across the hill, and said, "Oh-oh.
Oh-oh, I got them now. They went off without Him." And that's what the
church has done today. We've had such big building programs, so much money, so
much fashions, trying to pattern after the next people, till I'm afraid we've
gone off without Him. Our lives prove it: gone off without Him.
Devil
says, "Now, I can get them. So he begin to blow his poison breath. The sea
begin to go plumb to the bottom, with big waves licking up. That's what he does
today when he sees you go off without... A church just with a bunch of cold,
formal, theology; an "Amen" would cause somebody to stretch their head
around, wondering what happened: no spirit, no more all-night prayer meetings,
no more burden for the sick, no more burden for the dying, no more burden for
the sinners. Then he begins to blow his poison breath, saying, "And the
days of miracles is past."
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E-60 He begins
to whip the little boat from side to side. "Is it real? Could it be real?
Maybe we've been wrong. Maybe our fathers, who said to receive the Holy Ghost,
maybe it's wrong. Wesley could've been a little out of his head. Luther could've
been wrong also."
Knox,
Calvin, all those fellows, and John Wesley, preached Divine healing, and
believed in Divine healing, and practiced Divine healing. Every time we ever had
a revival' any time through the history it started with Divine healing. That's
right. See if Luther didn't heal. The rest of them, all the way down, practiced
Divine healing. Then they organized it, and then the winds begin to blow; 'cause
when you organize it you go off without Him, and you got your own theology then.
See? If you'd make your doctrine and end it with a comma: "We believe this,
plus as much as that God will reveal to me." That's all--all right. But
when you write up your doctrine, you end it with a period. "We believe this
and that only." Then you've shut God plumb out of the thing. That's right.
God just keeps moving on. He just moves.
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E-61 The Pillar
of Fire, as soon as Luther saw It, he come out of the Catholic church. What did
they do after Luther's death? They built an organization under It. The fire left
John Wesley saw It. He wanted sanctification. He went out after it. Left Luther,
left the Anglicans, and went out after It. What did they do after Wesley and
Asbury and them died? They made an organization. God pulled right straight out
and went to the Pentecostals. Here they saw It, and away they went with the
baptism of the Holy Ghost. What did you all do? Organized it, and He's pulling
right away from you, going right on. See?
He
just go right on, 'cause you go to fighting and fussing with one another. When
you do that, you're finished. You are finished, brethren. God is love. "...
this will all men know you're My disciples, when you have love one for
another," with a hand out and a heart out. Some of the finest people in the
world is in these churches, but the system of the thing (You see?), is what
gives it. Fine people in the Catholic church, but it's the system that keeps
them from serving God.
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E-62 Now, he saw
them, and there they was, tossed about, all hopes gone. That's where you're
laying, where you're laying, this poor mortal, laying here just about dead, that
little baby. You out there with the heart trouble, with cancer, that's where
you're at: just all hopes about gone. But you know what? In all of our sin, in
all of our difference, let me give this encouraging word before we pray. He
hadn't left them. He climbed the highest mountain there was, so He could watch
them all the way across; He was sitting up there watching.
When
He died at Calvary, brother, He never left us. He climbed the hill of Calvary,
on in above the moon and stars, on and above the milky white way, until He set
down at the right hand of God in heaven. And His eye is on the sparrow, and I
know He's watching us tonight. He hadn't gone so far. He seen them in trouble.
He saw the devil was about ready to get them. He sees the devil is about ready
to get you all. He sees it's just about ready; you're going to a premature
grave. Some of you is going as a sinner, if you don't repent. Some of you will
go premature, because Satan's sickness has set in and gripped the life out of
you. But remember, He's setting on high, though, watching, waiting to confirm
His Word. He watches over it to confirm it. Is that right?
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E-63 What
happened? When the oars had broke, the mast pole had fell, the little ship was
water-logged... That's about like our churches are tonight: water-logged.
Fussing about all kinds of baptisms and everything else, we're water-logged.
Baptizing this way, sprinkling, pouring, and fussing, arguing, carrying on; the
oars are broken, the sails are gone, and there's no more rushing wind. If it
come it couldn't blow us anywhere. There you are (See?), all gone.
But
here He come walking on the water (Oh, my.), walking on the water. And what did
the disciples think when they saw Him come walking? They thought He was a spook.
They said, "Oh, it's a ghost. Oh, we're scared. We're afraid if it gets
right... Oh, it's spooky." Don't have nothing to do with it.
It's--it's--it's mental telepathy. It's--it's fortune-telling." Just as
they did then so do they do now, same thing. Afraid of it. "Well, our
church don't teach that. I'm afraid of it."
But
the Bible teaches that. If He could speak tonight, you know what He'd say?
"Be not afraid, it is I." And if it's Him, He will do His same works.
Jesus said, "If I do not the works of My Father then believe Me not. But if
I do not the works of My Father, then believe the works."
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E-64 If I told
you (listen, in closing), if I told you the spirit of an artist was in me, well,
you'd expect me to go out here and paint a picture like the artist, if that
spirit's in me. Is that right? If I told you the spirit of a mechanic was in me,
you'd expect me to understand almost the beat of that motor, what was wrong. If
I told you the spirit of John Dillinger was in me, I'd have guns, and be
dangerous to stand before me, if that spirit was in me. If I told you the Spirit
of Jesus Christ was in me, then I'll do the works of Jesus Christ, so will His
church, 'cause that's His life in it.
Now,
what He was then, and what them people testified of, if He will do that same
thing tonight, will you realize that your faith has called Him from glory to
this building tonight? Will you accept it? Then what would you say? "Be not
afraid," that's what He'd say. "It's I."
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E-65 Some of you
say, "What is it, Brother Branham?" I--I--Every night when this
meeting starts, I feel it say, "You know, I believe he's reading their
mind."
One
says, "It's telepathy."
One
says, "It's nonsense."...?...
Brother,
you're only sealing your own doom. If He could speak Hisself... If that isn't
the same Word He... How many knows that Jesus Christ is the Word of God?
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God. And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us." Is that right? How
many knows that Hebrews, the 4th chapter, the Bible says that the Word of God is
sharper than a two-edged sword? That's preaching, slice her down cutting both
two-edged coming and going.
Some
people thinks humility is something that ought to wear a skirt. No, no. You
misunderstand that. Jesus, the humblest Man that ever lived, He could plait
ropes together, and look on them with anger, and run them out of the temple.
Yes, sir. Certainly.
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E-66 You say,
"He had compassion." He did. Why did He pass through thousands of
people that were laying blind, halt, withered, and found a man laying on a
pallet, maybe he had prostate trouble? He could walk. He said, "When I'm
coming down, somebody beats me." He... Wasn't going to kill him; he had it
thirty-eight years. And the Bible said He passed through great multitudes of
lame, blind, halt, and withered. Is that right, brethren? A compassionate God,
passing through that kind of people, and found a man laying on a pallet.
How
many knows what a pallet is? I was raised on one (See?), so... Then, you...
Laying on this pallet... And there he was, laying there. And Jesus looked around
until He found him, and the Bible said that He knew he had been in this
condition. And He said, "Will thou be made whole?" Why not the twisted
man? What about that woman there with the dying baby? What about these?
What--what about them? "Wilt thou be made whole?
He
said, "I have no one to put me in the water. When I'm coming, somebody
steps down."
Jesus
said, "You've had that for thirty-eight years."
"That's
right."
"All
right. Take up your bed and go unto your house." He never questioned. He
just picked up the bed and went walking on. Is that right?
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E-67 And the
Pharisees and the Sanhedrin court (the church), questioned Him. "What about
all the rest of these?"
He
said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you: "I can... The Son does nothing
in Himself; but what He sees the Father doing, that doeth the Son
likewise." That's compassion. Compassion is follow the will of God, not
human sympathy, but compassion. Oh, it's two different words altogether:
sympathy, and compassion. See? If it wasn't, Jesus sure made a rude mistake when
He did that. See?
So
you must realize that the compassionate Christ... Again He has healed every one
of you. You're all free, if you can believe it. Now, do you believe this is the
Word of God? That that's exactly what Jesus done, what they were testifying
about? Raise your hands.
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E-68 Now, if He
was standing here, the One Who wrote the Word, if He was standing here, and
would tell you and prove to you that He was standing right here on the platform,
would you be willing to accept Him, and say, "That settles it for me; I...
"? If He's standing here, and wrote the Word, and said, "Wherever two
or three are gathered in My Name, I'll be in their midst... And the works that I
do shall they do also."... Is that right? Saint John 14:7, 14:8-"The
works that I do..."
Now,
here's a broad challenge before, as our brother said, nineteen hundred people.
Here lays a Bible on the desk. Here's two or three sheets of paper of some kind,
and something, I don't know what even's on them. They belong to some of the
brethren here. Here's a Bible. There's nineteen hundred people. There's not a
person here that I know. I can't see one living human being that I know in that
audience. If you're all strangers to me, raise your hand.
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E-69 I'd like to
even, maybe if I had time, to have this minister who was on one of the private
interviews this morning, let him stand, and tell you what the Holy Spirit done
up there this morning beyond the shadow of doubt what He did, as He went back
and brought out, and showed, and revealed, and... But if you believe that Jesus
Christ dwells in His people...
Look.
All that God was, He poured into Christ. Do you believe that? "In Him dwelt
the Fulness of the Godhead bodily." Do you believe that? 'Cause He was--He
was--He was God. He was--He was the Son of God, but yet He was God. God changed
His cast from a Spirit, and stretched His tent, and begin... He become us. He
become us, that we, through His grace, might become Him. Amen. Brother, surely
they get that. See?
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E-70 God was
made flesh, so we could... I Timothy 3:16: "Without controversy, great is
the mystery of godliness, for God was manifest in the flesh, and believed on in
the world, and--and is gone... received up into glory." God made
manifest...
God
was in Christ reconciling the world to Him. So all that God was, He poured into
Jesus; and all that Jesus was, He poured into the Church. That's the reason He
commissioned us to baptize. Said, "Go ye therefore, teach all nations,
baptizing them in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost." Why? Not
three different gods, but three offices of the same God: the Fatherhood, the
Sonship, the Holy Ghost dispensation. Now, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, that's
God. Not three or four or five different gods, but one God manifested in three
manifestations of one God: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, the trinity.
Now,
we notice that same God then, that was in the Pillar of Fire, was the same One
that was in Jesus, because He said, "Before Abraham was I AM. I am the rock
that was in the wilderness." And He said, "I come from God and I go to
God. At that day you'll know that I'm in the Father, the Father in Me, and I in
you, and you in Me." There we are, all together, God in us, God in you,
that same God.
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E-71 The trouble
of it is, you Pentecostal people, you Baptists, you Methodists, you've failed to
recognize your God-given privilege. Hear me. THUS SAITH THE LORD, you believe it
with all your heart. He promised it in the last day. Hasn't been for two
thousand years, because the Bible said it wouldn't be. But Jesus said... As it
was in the days of Sodom, when that Angel come, turned His back to the tent, and
asked for Sarah, and told what she said in the building... How many knows that?
Jesus said, "As it was in the days of Sodom, so shall it be at the coming
of the Son of man." When? Just before Sodom burned. That's just before this
world's going to burn. The whole unbelieving world will be--go into chaos and
burn with fervent heat. We know that. And just before that time...
Remember,
THUS SAITH THE HOLY SPIRIT, this is your last sign. Write it in your Bible. And
if something rises besides this, and greater than this, call me a false prophet.
That's
quite a statement. I watch what I say. I'm in contact with better than ten
million people around the world (See?), so I have to say that; and I know I
didn't say that myself.
BE.NOT.AFRAID.IT.IS.I_
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E-72 Now, He's
here. I can't heal you. I have nothing to heal you with, but the One that has
healed you is here, trying to get you to believe it and accept it. Now, I ask
you, as my brother, my sister in the Name of Jesus Christ, believe this Gospel
message.
And
if you don't want to believe me because I don't belong to your denomination... I
don't belong to any denomination. I am a Methodist. I'm--I'm a Pentecostal,
Methodist, Nazarene, Pilgrim Holiness. See? I'm your brother. I'm a Mennonite,
Amish. I'm--I'm all that. See? I'm your brother. See? I'm the Assembly, the
Church of God. Every one of you fine brethren that's helped... Your people
around the world has sponsored my meetings, and stayed behind me in foreign
fields, and backed me up. Brethren, I'm right here to represent I'm your
brother. I'm--I'm for you one hundred percent.
I'm
happy for you tonight in this great dark hour to know that you're men and women
of God, setting here to represent this great Gospel that we're preaching. Don't
be ashamed, brethren. You've got the truth. Stay with it. Don't divvy from it,
right or left. Stay right with it.
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E-73 How many
out there that doesn't have prayer cards that's sick? Let's see you raise your
hand, wherever you are. There was a woman in the Bible, as we said the other
night, didn't have a prayer card; but she said, "I believe that story about
that man. If I can touch His garment, I'll be made whole." How many knows
that story? When she touched Him, she went out and set down.
And
Jesus said, "Who touched Me?"
And
Peter rebuked Him, saying, "Everybody's touching You."
He
said, "But I got weak."
How
many knows that that "virtue" means "strength" weak, He got
weak. That's the reason you...?... go. Soon (here it comes again) I'll be
leaving the field. My ministry's going to change. I can't be an evangelist and a
seer at the same time. It builds the people under a false hope. (That's twice)
Now... (My, I wish that wouldn't do that.) But look...
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E-74 Now, in
this audience, for tonight, if God will show one sign like that, that He is here
with us, will all of you believe it with all your heart?
Then
if that woman touched His garment, and then He turned around and told her that
she had a blood issue, and said... He never said, "I did it." He said,
"Your faith did it." Is that right? Now, it's going to be your faith
that does it. Is that right? Your faith that does it...
And
have you noticed your clergymen here, ministers, tonight? Each night they set up
here behind me, to pray for me, instead of getting out there to be called in the
line. There's several of them already healed. I know it. They're sick too;
they're needy. But they prefer their congregation first. That's shepherds. Now,
you believe.
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E-75 Now, how
many knows that He's that same High Priest tonight that He was then. Where's He
at? Setting at the right hand of the Father (Is that right?), a High Priest that
can be touched by what? The feeling of our infirmities. Is that true? Can be
touched by the feeling of our infirmities. All right. If He can be touched, and
He's the same High Priest, how would He act tonight if you touched Him? The same
way He did then. Is that right? Everybody believe that, say, raise your hand,
all around everywhere. All right.
Now,
I'm just going to wait a moment. I'm waiting for the audience to get quiet,
reverent. The Holy Spirit is so timid. Oh, just one little thing, He will--He
will go away. He will just leave me, then I have to walk away. You believe.
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E-76 Now, you
people, I say, that don't have a prayer card, raise up your hands. I think
there's no prayer... I don't think he give out any prayer cards, did he? We're
going to give them out tomorrow or Sunday, one, for Sunday afternoon service, or
tomorrow, whenever the Lord will lead.
Now,
you pray. You say, "High Priest"? Not William Branham. William
Branham's a man, sinner saved by grace, just like you are. "But, Lord, I
believe the man told me the truth. It's the Bible. He tells me that this is the
day that God promised it."
Now,
I want some of you people that's not crippled first, and then we'll get to the
cripples afterwards. Now, if I looked over here, say, "This little girl,
she's crippled." I'd say, "This little boy here with this brace on his
leg (I might guess that)" say, "probably he had polio did that."
Oh, sure, anybody can look at that. See? "This boy's crippled; this woman's
crippled." Sure, anybody sees that. Certainly. That wouldn't be no miracle.
But what about you out there that looks good and healthy? That's the one. That's
the one. You pray now.
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E-77 Now, our
heavenly Father, here's a bunch of handkerchiefs laying here, and they represent
the sick people. And they bring these, because that in the Bible they took from
the body of Paul handkerchiefs and aprons, and the Bible said that unclean
spirits went out of them. Devils left them. They were healed. These people in
another age believed the same. Because they had seen You moving in Paul, they
knew that he was Your servant. And Paul is gone long ago, Lord, to glory, but
You're still the same Holy Spirit that was on him. You promised that You'd do
the same things, and You're doing it now.
Now,
one writer said that when Israel was cut off from the promised land, and the Red
Sea was holding it back, that God looked down through that Pillar of Fire with
angry eyes; and the Red Sea got scared, and it moved back; and the children of
Israel passed over it into the promised land. Now, Lord, look tonight through
the Blood of Jesus, and every one of these handkerchiefs, when they're laid on
the people, may that devil get scared and move back; and may that sick person
cross into that good promise of Divine healing. As You said, "Above all
things, I would you prosper in health." Grant, it Lord, through Jesus
Christ's Name, I pray. Amen.
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E-78 Now, as
we're sitting, I want everyone reverently and quiet. Be reverent, be quiet, just
be in prayer. And in your heart say, "Lord Jesus, let me touch Your
garment. I know Brother Branham doesn't know me. He has no idea who I am, or
where I am, or nothing about me. But if You'll just turn... And he tells me that
we read where the people are born in the world for certain things, for certain
ages. He said since a little bitty baby boy you've heard that these things come,
that... If You'll just let me touch Your garment, then You speak through Brother
Branham, and let him tell me what I'm praying about, what I'm here for, and what
something or other, I'll believe You." Just say that. Say, "I'm not
doubting Lord, but I'm in need." You just have faith and believe. Just...
We're waiting, humbly, sweetly, waiting: nobody pressing, now, just be--just
relax yourself.
Now,
if everyone can see what I see, if you want to look... There's a man setting
right back there. He's got heart trouble for one thing. Another thing, he's got
a blood clot on his chest. I believe he will miss it. He's from Michigan. Mr.
Hannah, stand up on your feet, sir. Receive your healing. Jesus Christ makes you
well. While you're on your feet, sir, are you and I strangers to one another?
Raise up your hand. Those things that was said, everything was said was true?
Wave your hand like this to the audience. Wasn't you praying for God to touch
you, the High Priest? If that's right, wave your hand like this. You are healed.
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E-79 Forty feet
away from me, what did he touch? What did he touch? Does that make the Bible
true, brethren? He's a High Priest that can be touched by the feeling of our
infirmities. Do you believe it? Now, someone else somewhere pray. I can only say
as I watch that Light and feeled your spirit drawing. It's not my selection;
it's the Father's. I just speak. But if I do not the works of Jesus Christ, then
I'm not His witness. Now, I don't have to do that. That's my ministry. These men
don't have to do that. They won't. There's not... And I'll say this in the Name
of the Lord. There has not been, or will not be, till I'm gone: exactly what He
told me when He ordained it.
A
man setting right back here, shadowed to death. Just had a cancer operation, but
it wasn't no good. Mr. Holtzinger, stand on your feet and believe. Am I a
stranger to you, sir? Raise up your hand. Are those things right? Everything
right? Wave your hand like this if that's right. Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, go, be well. Believe with all your heart.
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E-80 Cancer
spirit somewhere: you can just feel that the devil's shadow. It's not me. Now,
you quit thinking that. It's not me; it's Him.
Here,
look at that Light. Can't you see that Light, brother? Look, standing back
there. See it? It's right over that man setting there with that red tie on. The
man has leukemia. If that's right, stand on your feet, sir. You was sitting
there praying for that; stand on your feet, if those things are right. Are we
strangers to one another? Wave your hand back and forth. The things that were
told you right? Wave your hand again. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be
healed. See?
Look.
Look here. See this lady setting right here? You're praying for that baby. The
baby can't live outside of God. Do you believe me to be God's prophet, His
servant? If I tell you what's wrong with the baby, will you believe it'll get
well? If you're in contact enough to believe, the baby has a hole in its heart.
If that's right, raise up your hand, sister. Do you believe now? Put your hand
on it, the way you got it. God, I rebuke that devil. Let that baby live in the
Name of Jesus Christ.
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E-81 Here. This
woman was so sick, this lady laying here. Look around this way, sister. Right
here. Seem to be the sickest one of the group. You were praying. Do you believe
me to be His prophet, His servant?
I
seen a wheelchair somewhere come up. It's that man setting right there. He's had
a stroke. He's a preacher. He can't... Mr. Fergusson, you believe on the Lord
Jesus?...?... I do not heal people.
Excuse
me, lady. I had to call it, I know you been so sick. Certainly, your sister
here, watching you; she loves you. You're shadowed to death. You know that. You
can't live outside of God; Mayo's knows that, don't they?. You've come from
Mayo's. You've been to Mayo's up there, Mayo's Clinic. Cancer killing you. They
brought you down here for this meeting; that is true isn't it? Your sister can
witness that.
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E-82 I can't
heal you, but let me ask you something. There was three lepers one time set at a
gate when Samaria was being besieged by the Syrians. They said, "Why do we
set here till we die? If we stay here, we're sure to die. If we go into the city
we're going to die anyhow, 'cause they're eating one another's children in
there." But said, "What if we go down to the camp of the enemy? If
they kill us, we'll just die anyhow. But if we--if we're saved alive, we
live." God honored that, didn't He? And they were saved and saved.
The
same tonight, you're setting in the same place. Mayo's turned you down, Mrs.
Mason. Strange I knew you, who you are. Now, but I want to ask you... They
turned you down. There's nothing they can do for you. If you lay there you'll
die. If you go to Mayo's, you'll die. You're not asked to go to the enemy's
house. You're looking to become to the house of the Father tonight and be
healed. Do you believe with all your heart? Then rise up and take that stretcher
and walk out of here and go home...?...
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E-83 What about you, lady over there on that stretcher,
looking this way, you believe me to be His prophet? Yeah. You believe with all
of your, that old blindness there will leave you. You believe? Do you believe me
God's prophet? Then rise up out of there, in the Name of Jesus Christ...?...
There she is...?... the woman...?... Do you believe? Everyone believe with all
your heart? Come here, brethren. Go down there and lay your hands on
those...?... Go down there. Go down, lay your hands on...?... I want to ask you,
is that the works of Jesus Christ? Raise your hands and say, "Amen."?
Here comes God's servants down to lay hands while I pray...?...
Everyone
of you in the wheelchairs, no matter where you are, this is your hour. This is
the time for your healing. I'm going to pray. Let the audience stand, and if
you'll believe, I don't care who you are... Every one of you men of God go down
there and lay hands on these people. I'm going to pray for them while you lay
your hands upon them in...?... Look at the wheelchairs and cots...?... Lay your
hands on them, brothers. Almighty God, Who raised up Jesus Christ from the dead
and has triumphed over every enemy, over the devil. I challenge every devil...
Come out of these people...?... Name of Jesus Christ. Leave them, Satan. They
are healed; Christ...?... healed them... Because we're the...?...