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Abraham Restored (61-0211)
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Abraham Restored (61-0211)
E-1
Lord bless each of you. Good evening, friends. It's a privilege to be
back again tonight at the church to--to speak on the Word, the eternal
Word of the eternal God of heaven. A little tired, we had--had two
services this morning at the Christian Business Men's Fellowship
Breakfast. The Lord gave us a great blessing.
E-2
Tomorrow morning, I think at eleven or eleven-thirty, when the church
is dismissed, I was to--to come here again for a little message to the
church, the Lord willing. That's after the pastor and all is finished
with their morning activities and Sunday school.
E-3
And then Wednesday is--Wednesday afternoon I'm to speak at the Old
Pisgah Home. Brother Smith, I think, Smith, I believe is his name is,
and a very fine brother. I've missionaried with him overseas, and he's
just one wonderful man. And I think they're having some kind of a rally
there, so I was to speak there next Wednesday afternoon, and then be
back here for Wednesday evening services.
E-4
And then we go from there straight to Ohio, back to the snow country.
And we be there with the cooperation with the Assemblies, and the
independents, and all together in Ohio at the auditorium. And then at
what's the name of that place, Gene? Ohio? Middletown, Ohio, it's a
basketball center. And then we go from there down in, I believe, it's
Monroe, Virginia, or somewhere down in there where there's about
seventeen inches of snow tonight. And then we come back from there and
go to Bloomington, Illinois, the following week. And then from there to
the last ten days, eight or ten days, in Chicago at the Lane Tech where
we go so many times. That's sponsored by the Full Gospel Christian
Business Men.
E-5
And we're missionaries. I was talking to some this morning, and they
was talking about what you think about the American situation here?
It's just like all other, the missionaries and so forth, we believe
the--the revival is in the other lands now, the people over there.
There's just about... You know, there's so many fish in the lake, and
when the last one's caught out, that's all. God won't put a freak body.
He won't have a hand with six fingers on it. See? It'll be when that
body is completed, that's all of it. See? No matter how much you
preach, or what He does, there no more will come.
E-6
I said that, I see there's an Indian woman setting here in front of me
tonight. And are you--are you from India? Oh, south India. Well,
there's a great opportunity, if the Lord willing, this coming October
I'm going to be down around Calcutta and--and up around in Bombay and
up there, maybe over in Thailand. And we hope so. The Lord has really
blessed them meetings. You wouldn't happen to have been at the Bombay
meeting when I was there, were you? You missed it. Guess you heard
about it. [A man says something indistinguishable--Ed.] Pardon? [He repeats it.] Is that right? Well, that was wonderful. It was a great meeting there. God certainly did bless your people.
E-7
And that's when the blind man received his sight standing there. When I
challenged every Mohammedan and every one them, "Come, give him his
sight, and I'll believe you," see. "Let the God..." He was a worshipper
of the sun. Now his eyes was out, he worshipped the creation instead of
the Creator. I said... I was down at the temple of the Jains, you know,
and the--and the--and the Buddhas, and all of them there, they--seven
or eight different religions, and every one of them against Jesus
Christ, and didn't believe in it.
E-8
And so the man standing there, and I said, "He said he'd serve the God
that give him his sight." I said, "That's a great big challenge to the
Mohammedan religion, Buddha, Jains, Sikhs, or whatever it might be;
there it is." So nobody... I said, "What you so quiet about?" I said,
"You know the reason they don't come? Is because they can't do it. And
neither can I. But the God of heaven has raised up His Son Jesus Christ
Whose witness I am." See? I said, "I saw a vision that he's going to
get his sight." And I said, "If he doesn't get his sight, then I'm a
false prophet. Run me out of India. If it is--if he does get his sight,
now how many of you will receive Christ as personal Saviour and forget
about your Mohammedan prophet and so forth?" Just as far as you see,
masses of hands, thousands times thousands. There it was; that's it.
E-9
I had to leave the platform. I didn't have no shoes when I got out of
there, and pockets off of my clothes. And they had great big strings of
people. I--I guess the guards or something, had them long sticks, you
know, holding them off like that. And them people would run over their
feet, under their legs, just to touch you, crawl over top their backs.
I had to leave the city. Didn't even--couldn't get out of the city on
account of having protection.
E-10
And as I said this morning in the talk, if a man ever once goes into
them countries and find the need of those people, then we feel ashamed
of ourself. And there's men over there preaching the Gospel, that our
little churches is supporting as many as we possibly can, some of them
men preaching the Gospel without any shoes on. That's right.
Missionaries preaching the Gospel with no shoes on, maybe a little
plate of curry about twice a week, running through jungles and
everywhere trying to preach the Gospel; and us building six million
dollar buildings and--like we're going to be here forever, and
preaching the coming of the Lord is at hand. Don't make sense to me.
I--I--I--I don't want get started on that one; we're on another subject. E-11 Our heavenly Father, we are assembled again tonight in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ our loving Saviour, Thy Son. We have assembled in His Name, because He promised that if two or three would assemble in His Name and would ask anything, as touching one thing, they should receive it. Now, Father, we're more than that number, but it just shows that Your willingness to meet the church no matter how much is in the minority; You still will meet with Your people. And we're praying tonight that You'll come and bless us.
E-12
Tomorrow, Sunday, thousands of pulpits will be open around the world
tomorrow. God, some of them are already open in the other lands; it's
Sunday morning in other lands. We pray, Father, that You'll anoint Your
ministers everywhere. Anoint Your missionaries wherever they are. Your
servants that's praying for the sick, God, may they be so anointed that
great signs and wonders will be done everywhere in every man of every
church and every phase of Christianity. Lord, may there come a time
that God will pour out His Spirit in such a way, that the critics will
be backed off and the church of the living God will be gathered
together like a hen gathering over her brood. Grant it, Father.
E-13
Looking down tonight upon this Indian brother and his woman and the
little children, so thankful, Lord, that--that they're here with us
tonight. And just to show us, Lord, that truly, it's written in the
Book that God is no respect of people. And You--You--You're honorable
to them that'll worship You and fear You in all nations. We're so
thankful for this, that You are a universal Father to all of us, an
eternal Father. And we pray, Lord, that You'll send Your eternal
blessings upon us tonight. E-14 I've been enjoying these messages myself, what I get out of them on Abraham. It's...?... Are you enjoying it? Abraham. And approaching it, I don't know what you're going to say, 'cause the Holy Spirit just leads from one thing to another. And we're certainly enjoying it. We... Last... Night before last, we had him when he was called of God. Last night when we seen him, he'd separated himself from--fully obedience. And we find that you cannot be blessed and God cannot do nothing for you till you completely obey Him.
E-15
Now, there be just a little instruction I might say to the sick. You
might come here, be prayed for; you might have Angels to lay hands on
you, and it will never do one thing to you until you first believe it,
and accept it, and confess it. For He is the High Priest of our
confession. We've got to confess it first before He can witness it
before God. For He's the High Priest there to make intercessions upon
our confession of what He has done for us.
E-16
I was mowing the grass here about a year ago in my yard and--and I was
trying, sometime you'd have to get on my overalls and cut a few rounds;
then somebody come in, and you'd have to go pray for them. Go out the
back door and change and come back. And I just run out of gasoline, and
so I started up on the porch, and I seen an old beat up truck stop in
front of the house and a gentlemen come walking up the street there,
the little driveway. And he said, "I'm looking for Brother Branham." E-17 He said, "Brother Branham..." He told me where he was from, he said, "I was borned and--and dedicated, or consecrated, whatever they call it, as a Lutheran." And he said, "I guess when I was a little boy, that was the last time I ever went to church that I know of, 'less my mother took me sometime I knowed nothing about." Said, "I'm married," a very fine business man." Said, "I had a lot of things, a lot--nice car business, and I'd made lots of money." Said, "One day my wife went down to the Pentecostals." I'm going to quote it the way he did, said, "went down to the Pentecostals and got the spirits on her." And said, "She" said, "She was having a--a good life." And said, "She come to me and tried to get me to go and get the spirits on me. And I said, 'No,' said, I said, 'Honey, if you want to go,' said, 'you go on anyhow.' Said, 'Now, remember, if you're changing your life...'" Said, "We--we lived an ordinary American life, cocktail parties, dances, drunk, and everything else." And said, "I was glad to see her straighten up." Said, "She did; it made a different person out of her." And said, "I thought, 'Well, if--if she does that, I'm--I'm very happy that she does it.'" And he said, "Now, you got the checkbook, any time your little church needs any money, you're name's just as good on a check as mine. Go on and write them out." And said, "But for me, I--I'm not religious." Said, "If you want to be religious, go on." E-18 And said that, "Well she was in that little church about a year." And said, "They had a convention up in Tennessee." So I suppose it was the Church of God of Prophecy; that's where they-they have their conventions up there. And so he said, that "She went up there." And said, "I was making a sale, a car, in a--out in the--the lot," and said, "to some ladies." And said, "I'd put on my coat, summertime." Said, "Walk out before them to make my sale." And said, "When I come back, I happened to think, did I give that woman that second set of keys? And I run my hand down in my pocket," and said, "I had a little square tag in there had a question mark and on the back of it said, 'Where will you spend eternity?'" Well, he said, "I looked and I thought, 'Well I wonder who put that in my pocket?' And just throwed it over in the trash basket." And said, "Something said to me, 'But that's got to be settled.'" Said, "I reached down and picked it up again," and said, "I got to shaking, and I thought, 'That's right. I'm past forty years old. So I ought to be finding out where I'm going to spend it.'" And said--said, "Oh, now looky here, you're just getting all messed up." So he throwed it down again, tried to turn around, turned the fan on, and so forth. And said... He looked back to that again. It just kept ringing in his heart. "Where will you spend eternity?" He picked it up the third time. And said it got him so nervous till he just couldn't even--he went home.
E-19
Said he heard that the famous evangelist Billy Graham was just one
state over from him, holding a meeting. Said he went over to that
meeting, thought he'd talk it over with Mr. Graham. And said, "Mr.
Graham said a notable message that night." And he said, 'All that wants
to see--receive Jesus Christ, stand up and raise up your hand.'" Said,
"I stood up and raised up my hand." Said, "They took me in the room and
told me, 'Did I believe that He was the Son of God?' And I said, 'Yes,
I do.' And they told me, upon my faith, that made me a Christian, and
said, 'It's all over now.'"
E-20
And he said, "Then I--I went from there down to the--from there," he
said, "I--I went to the 'Voice of Healing.'" And said, "When I got to
the 'Voice of Healing,'" said, "I got with all those brethren there,"
and said, "they told me that I had crossed over the separating line in
my life, that there was no place for me. Said, 'The only one straighten
you out," said, "go see Brother Branham; he's a prophet.'" Now, that's
wrong, but... "He said, 'He--he's a prophet; he will be able to look
down and see where you crossed the line and maybe you go back and do
something. There's something that you haven't done or--you better go
see him.'" He said, "Brother Branham, here I am." E-21 I said, "I want to ask you something." I said, "What Billy Graham told you was the truth." And I said, "And what the Methodists told you was the truth. And what the Pentecostals told you was the truth. But it wasn't all the truth." See? I said, "It was truth but not all of it." I said, "I believe in accepting Christ as personal Saviour; I believe that. I believe in sanctification, and--and cleaning up a life, and getting happy and shouting; I believe that. I believe in speaking in tongues and the baptism of the Spirit, and I believe in all that." But I said, "That's not exactly what we're talking about."
E-22 I said, "I want to ask you something." I said, "Now, remember, you said for forty years of your life you did not do anything." E-23 Not upon some sensation, but did you believe it? See? That's where you got--you got... See, no matter how many sensations of sanctification... It is a sensation to be sanctified. It is a sensation to receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost. But when you receive Christ as your Saviour, that turns you around. No man... Jesus said in Saint John 5:24 (Think of a hand full and two dozen of eggs. See?), 5:24: "He that heareth My Word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath (present tense) Eternal Life, and shall not come into the judgment; but hath passed from death unto Life." There you are. See? Right there you're turned around. That's one part of the Holy Spirit. Sanctification is another part of the Holy Spirit. Then when you get so full of It that you can't do nothing else, as Brother Roe said, He gives you another language then. And then trying... He just fills you up. It takes the Holy Spirit... "No man can come to Me except My Father draws him first. All the Father hath given Me will come to Me." There you are. So when you have the least little tinkling in your heart to come to Christ, you do it right away, 'cause that's the greatest thing that ever happened to you, is for God to call you to the wedding supper of His Son. I don't know anything greater.
E-24
Now, your story, Abraham, we left him last night after he'd went
through a great trial. And Sarah had decided that she would give Hagar
to him for a wife and brou--she brought forth a baby and called him
Ishmael; and Abraham still knew that that wasn't right, so he went
before God. It was God's plan of doing it, but God had promised him the
baby by Sarah. And now he was a hundred years old and Sarah was ninety. E-25 Strong One with breasts, oh, I think that's the most beautiful picture. See, what a consolation to an old man a hundred years old, still standing on God's promise. Now, the Bible said, "They were well stricken in age; they were well stricken in years." An old man, that had holding on to God's promise... And said, "I am the breasted One, and you're no more than a little fretting child." Sarah's womb had been dried up for forty years, had past her menopause period for forty, fifty years before that, hadn't happened a time perhaps. There she was, all the veins in her had dried up, and she was barren. And--and he as--as to be a man, he was as good as dead: wasn't no more man to him in that way. And there he was an old man and his wife real old. And God said, "But I am the Mother. (Amen.) I'm the Mother, just take--keep holding to My promise and keep drawing. I'm able to do something for you." Oh, I like that.
E-26
And to show him what He was going to do, He changed his name in the
17th chapter. And He changed Sarah's name. That's right. Watch those
names, mean something. Why did He change Jacob's name to Israel? Why
did He change Saul's name to Paul? Why did He do all those things?
After He overcome and entered into glory He said that His Name was
changed. In Revelations it's given a promise to those that overcome, He
would make known His new Name. That's right. Every time they overcome
they was given a new name.
E-27
Now, we find out that after this Abraham had--he was separated, went
out and got his brother Lot, brought him back in. And when he did,
brought him from the enemy that would've killed him, brought him back,
thinking perhaps maybe he would come on out now and separate hisself
from all the things of the world. Instead of that, he went right back
down into Sodom, like a hog to its wallow and a dog to its vomit. They
return right back again. E-28 But what I'm trying to do, is jerk and snatch and pull from there. Today in the meeting when I was preaching, the Holy Spirit fell upon a little boy and come there and spoke in a French language, don't knowing one word of French. And a man standing there, didn't know interpretation, two of them (one has been an interpreter for the U.N.) spoke up, and the Holy Spirit spoke and confirmed that the Holy Spirit had sent me to go do this work, and to stay loyal to it, and stay with it regardless of what the thing is. They'll be reading it one... See, showing right amongst the Pentecostal people. Yes, sir. Brother, you take heed. You flee to the rock. Get to the house of refuge. "The Name of the Lord is a mighty tower; the righteous run into it and are safe." The great walls of Babylon is collapsing. E-29 Like over in India when you had the earthquake there, I guess, just the year I come in, it'd be about six years ago. I picked up the paper, the English paper, and it said, "I guess the--the earthquake's over." In India, they don't have fine fences and things like you all have here. They pick up rocks and make fences. The animals stand around there in the shade of the evening. The little birds go in there and build their nests. One day they seen all the little birds flying away, getting away. And all the cattle wouldn't come in and stand around the walls and so forth. They went out in the middle of the field and stood leaning against one another in the sun. They wondered what was the matter. Then a great earthquake shook the place, shook the walls down. What happened? All the little birds, if they'd been in them little coves there, had got killed. The animals had been standing under those big rock fences and walls, it'd fell on them and killed them. What was it? God by instinct, letting them know the earthquake was coming, they fled for safety. If God... The same God that called them into the ark, had called them away from the wall. He's the same God. E-30 Well then, if God can use a cow and a horse and a sheep and a bird by instinct to flee the wrath that's coming, you'd better get away from these big old walls of Babylon and flee to Jesus Christ, 'cause she's going to crumble and fall one of these days. Remember, there was a Stone cut out of the mountain without hands, come rolling into Babylon and tearing it down wherever it went. And the kingdom of this world will fall just as certain. Every manmade kingdom's got to sink, so the Kingdom of God can take the right of way. Every manmade organization will fall and crumble to the dust, that the power of the Holy Ghost might take the church and rapture it into that place up above. That's right. Yes, sir. They... Everything has served its purpose, but we're at the time, brother, when God is calling His people out. The Stone that was cut out of the mountain without hands is rolling in, crashing down Babylon, moving right on over. Get away from the big walls, friend. Come into Jesus Christ. That's the only Place of safety or refuge I know.
E-31
We see there that Abraham, when he found what God wanted him to do, He
blessed him and changed his name, and changed Sarah's name, give them
a--a--a sure promise that this was going to happen. Then we find him, I
believe it's in the 18th chapter. We find him setting out in the field
and somewhere in the desert, hard way.
E-32 He said, "Then when the persecution come on, they didn't have any home to go to. I guess you think that was a mistake."
E-33
Here Abraham, he wasn't down in Sodom seeing how much he could get. He
was up there in fields in obedience to God. Probably Sarah didn't have
the new dresses that Mrs. Lot had and didn't keep up with all the
fashions. Yet they said there wasn't a woman in the land as fair as she
was. She was a mother, and she also loved her husband so well that she
didn't tighten up her dresses, and get out on the street, and carry on
the way modern Mrs. Lot does, and things like that. She called her own
husband lord. And the Bible said, "Whose daughters you are, as long as
you obey the Word." That's right.
E-34
Notice, but now as we go ahead in with Abraham. Abrahams abide in the
land; he abode right there where God told him to. And as long as he
stayed there, God was with him. When he moved out of the land, a curse
come on him. As soon as you move away from the promise of God, then
just get ready for trouble. That's exactly right.
E-35
Now, what happened? One day while Abraham was setting there, along
about eleven o'clock in the day, I imagine. He looked, coming up
through there, and here come three Men with dust all over Their
clothes, walking along.
E-36
A little Irish woman begin walking up and down the floor. And the
Captain said, "If we can only hold this storm for thirty minutes, we'll
come into the harbor, drop anchor." Said, "But if we can't hold it for
thirty minutes," said, "we'll be at the bottom of the sea." E-37 Abraham was prayed up, setting out there. Lot didn't know, maybe down in there what was going on out there in the desert. But when Abraham looked, there was something about that Man walking out there in front that he recognized that looked a little strange. Oh, my. Strange looking Man... He run out, and if you notice, the very first thing he said, "My..." Not "My Lords." I certainly differ with that Jewish brother that made that remark the other night at Shreveport. Not "My Lords," but, "My Lord." L-o-r-d, one. "My (capital) L-o-r-d, won't You come in." Now, any of you notice the translator on there, that was Elohim, Abraham called Him. Ca... Brought Him in. Said, "Won't You come in, set down. I'll fetch You a little water, I'll wash Your feet. Take a morsel of bread." And said, "Then You... Satisfy Your--Your desire, then You can go on wherever You're going." I can just imagine slipping through and say, "Sarah, Sarah, shh. Somebody's out there; get some flour ready right quick, or the cornmeal."
E-38
And how many ever seen a sifter? Is any women... Well, what part of
Kentucky you from? I used to see mom with that old sifter, go up to the
meal barrel, and had a little round thing like a cheese crate and
screen wire over the bottom of it, and dip it up like this, and she had
an old wedge in there; she'd rub the lumps through when the old meal
would get wet. Did you ever see that done? E-39 And I sees Abraham run through and say, "Say, get--knead some of the--the--the meal right and get it ready; make some cakes on the hearth." Went out and had a servant to take the calf and dress it. And come out and feed these Men. Now, they act like They were Strangers, as from another country. And They was just passing through. And so I just imagine maybe that Abraham got the old fly bush and got out there, you know, after dark and shoo... How many knows what a fly bush is? Now, I know these's Kentuckians here. Yes, sir. I remember when company'd come we'd set them out there and take that old fly bush, and I had to stand, my poor old arm would just nearly break like that, shooing the flies, while mama's cooking, then have to stand at that stove and wipe the sweat and--with the fly brush, you know, going like this so the flies wouldn't get around where we eat. We was raised poor. And so, take the butter and the cream and put it down in the milk house, or not the milk house but a little old place, spring down there, and cover over the crock, you know, and milk get--cream get about that deep. I slipped in many times and got a cup of it, when she was trying to save it. Oh, what, it was good.
E-40
Now, we find out that Abraham took this food out there and set it down
before these Men and They eat. Now, Abraham was curious to find out
what Their journey was because he knowed that One of them there, that
main One, was God. He knew that was God; he called Him Elohim. So now,
what did it represent?
E-41
Now, remember, there is three classes always at the judgment. We find
out the Bride comes back with Christ, in Daniel. Ten thousands times
ten thousands came with the Ancient of days. The judgment was set, and
the books were opened, and another book was opened, which was the Book
of Life. See, the sleeping virgin come up for the judgment. And a book
of the ungodly was opened, and He separated the sheep from the goats,
but the raptured church come back with Him.
E-42
And now, we know there's three classes of people all the time. We
notice it today. There has been Lutheran, Methodist, Pentecostals.
There is the sinner, the ungodly, the sleeping virgin, and the true
virgin. Always. Now, we find out there was the Sodomites, there was
Lot, the lukewarm church, and here was Abraham had separated hisself
from them and was living apart. Now, the very word "church" means
"separation." E-43 Now, watch, the Sodomite and the formals down there, Lot in his formal condition... Now, he was a good man, no doubt. It said, "The sins of the city vexed his righteous soul." But there was a elected church, called, predestinated by God, Abraham, called when he was seventy-five years old, given a promise, to let the trial say it would be for sure. Wait till we get over in a little farther here where He made it positive sure. All right. Told him about the child he was going to have. And Abraham did not stagger at the promise of God. No matter how many extra dollars laid down here, and how rich he could be in Sodom, and what he could do, he stayed with God, kept the promise. That's the elect church. There's some of them in the Methodists, some in the Baptists, some in the Pentecostals. The elected church will be called out of all the groups. That's right. That's the one that hears the voice.
E-44
When Jesus came, the Lord Jesus Christ, why didn't they recognize Him?
They never recognized it till it's too late. They never knew Elijah was
the prophet of God. Why, they sent their children out to tease him,
called him bald-headed because he went bald-headed when he was a little
boy. They didn't know nothing. They didn't believe he was any prophet.
Certainly they didn't. They never do believe it. Didn't Jesus say,
"You're whited walls, you--you polish the walls of the prophets and
you're the one that put them in there."
E-45
Let's come on down, Saint Patrick. You Catholic people that call him a
Catholic, I wish you'd produce the history for it. He wasn't a
Catholic; he protested the Bishop at Rome. That's exactly right. His
school's up in Northern Ireland. He didn't believe in that one man
control. He believed in the Holy Ghost controlling. Yes, sir. He also
believed in the baptism of the Holy Ghost, and speaking in tongues,
and--and the power of the Spirit. Saint A--Saint... What was I trying
to say? Columba did the same thing. Saint Martin did the same thing,
Irenaeus, the same thing. They all believed in the power of God, in
Divine healing, and the power of the Holy Ghost. All of them early
saints...
E-46
Now, we find out that Abraham, Abraham stayed out there; he was
elected, a called out church. And remember, the Man that was in human
flesh, the Man eat the flesh of a calf. He drank the milk from the cow.
He drank his bread and had but--eat bread and had butter on it,
drinking the milk from the cow. And Abraham called Him God.
Look--take... Look at the translators, run it down, find out if that's
right: Elohim, God. Now, I want you to notice, it was representing
something, something that we want to let you positive see it.
E-47 Someone said, I've made this statement many times, said, "Brother Branham, you don't believe that man was God?" E-48 Abraham called Him God. That's Who He was. Abraham ought to know, he talked to Him, been talking to Him all of his life. I guess he ought to know Who He was. Sure. Told him, "I, I'm going to fulfill this promise that I made you." Who was the One talked to him back there? "I, I am the One," He said. And notice, then when He said, "Abraham, where is your wife Sarah?" Abraham, not Abram, Abraham... And God in the previous chapter had just give him that name of Abraham. They didn't have newspapers and televisions and--and things in that day. Abraham was out there by himself, out there, him and his wife and his--his people, his servants. And so God had appeared to him and changed his name, and the Angel called him Abraham. God changed Sarai's name to Sarah and called her name Sarah. "Where is your wife Sarah?" How did He know that he was even married? How did He know, being a Stranger, that his name was Abraham? How did He know He changed his name from Abram to Abraham? How did He know that He'd changed Sarah to Sarah? And how--or Sarai to Sarah. How did He know these things?
E-49 And Abraham said, "She is in the tent behind You, back there." E-50 Now, what was it? Now, Jesus referred to that same thing. And He said, "As it was in the days of Lot, so will it be in the coming of the Son of man." Now, notice, why don't you get out and hit those big nerve centers? Wasn't sent to those nerve centers. To the elect church, that's where. They'll never believe it. I know standing here at nighttime when I was having that discernment the other night, and feel it right now; there's many in here don't believe that. Don't tell me; I can call your name. That's right. Don't tell me. What's right. That's right; I know your sickness. God can tell me right here your sickness, certainly. And I feel it. Why you trying to play a hypocrite about it? Won't you be what you really are? One thing, you're scared. I don't blame you. One word against It will never be forgiven. But I want you to know that the Scriptures is not no mysticism as some of you preachers think it is. It's not no telepathy. God have mercy on your sinful soul. You don't need a pulpit; you need an altar. That's right. Get right with God. Remember, a word against It will never be forgiven in this world or the world to come. Now, you say, "It's not me." Don't tell me who you are; I know. See? Yes, sir. So now listen, I'm just warning you. Remember, God promised that would happen. Amen.
E-51
Notice, He said... Watch, what was it? God in human flesh. And God
would represent Himself again in human flesh just before the coming of
the Son of man. What flesh? Your flesh, my flesh. God, coming down from
heaven, God longing for fellowship... How people... It seems to be like
there's so much mental theology about it you fail to get the
discernment of the Spirit. E-52 He was in the Pillar of Fire as God, Jehovah. He... No one could touch Him. Sin was so far from Him; He couldn't get near them. Then He come and overshadowed a virgin, created a Blood cell in her womb. The child come forth, Jesus, holy body, neither Gentile nor Jew, God's own Blood. And then the great Holy Spirit came down from heaven, the Spirit of God like a dove, descending and went on Him, "This is My beloved Son (correctly on the right translation) in Who I am pleased to dwell in. My Father dwelleth in Me." Ask any good translator of the Scripture and find out if that's not in the Hebrew. Yes, sir. "In Whom I am pleased to dwell." Jesus said, "The Son can do nothing in Himself. Not Me that doeth the works, but My Father. He dwells in Me, Emmanuel." Not another God up there, and another one here, and another one down here; that's heathen. One God in three offices: God the Father Almighty came down and dwelt in His Son Christ Jesus. He gave His life trying to find Hisself back to fellowship with His people, trying to get back. No one could pay the price, all sinners. And His own Son was made sin for us to take away our sins. And that would let the same Father God in the form of the Holy Ghost came down and dwel--dwelt in us and worked through us like He did His Son that was created. Amen. There's your truth.
E-53
You got one side of the road over here saying, "God's one like your
finger's one. He can't be His own Father." Got them over here saying,
"He's three different Gods." Well, if He's three different Gods, then
God the Holy Ghost, and God the Father is two different people, then
the virgin was conceived by the Holy Ghost. Which one was His Father?
Got one Father, the Holy Ghost and God is the same self Spirit. That's
correctly. Then in that... Oh, it's not mysterious. If He had... If--if
a man was--if two was His Father, then He's a illegitimate child sure
enough spiritually. See, it's all scrupled up; it don't make sense. The
only thing that man tried to figure it out with their head instead of
letting their heart go to God, and God would reveal those things to
them, if you just let Him do it. Yes, sir.
E-54 [Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.]...?...
That's it, learning what somebody else... What did Jesus say to Peter?
"Blessed art thou, Simon, son of Jonas. You never learnt this in the
seminary. Flesh and blood never revealed this to you, but My Father
which is in heaven has revealed this to you, and upon this rock I'll
build my church; and the gates of hell can't prevail against it."
That's the reason He give him the keys. He had the revelation. It's
revealed, truth.
E-55
There was God Almighty made flesh in a commemoration that... Jesus
said, "A little while and the world seeth Me no more; yet ye shall see
Me, for I will be with you, even in you, in you, to the end of the
consummation," all the way down to the end of the world, Jesus Christ
the same yesterday, today, and forever. He's here. It's Christ working
in you and me and the rest of us, trying to bring His Word together to
confirm and to fulfill His Word. Why did Jesus heal the sick for in
Matthew 12, Matthew 8, I believe it is? He said, "That it might be
fulfilled which is spoken of by the prophet." The Word of God needs to
be fulfilled. This is the hour.
E-56
Now, look at that Angel with His back turned, told Sarah what she was
thinking about. If that ain't the Word of God, I don't know it. The
Bible said in Hebrews 4 that, "The Word of God is sharper than a
two-edged sword, and even a discerner of the thoughts of the heart and
mind." Right. It discerns; It's the Word of God. And the Word of God is
in you if you'll let the Word, because He is the Word. "In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God; and the Word was made flesh, and dwelled among us." See that? Then
that same Word, Christ, the promise, the Holy Ghost, you call it the
third Person of the trinity, that's fine, that's what it is, Christ,
the Holy Ghost in you. He was in a Pillar of Fire once. Then He come
was made flesh. Now, He's come in your flesh. E-57 Now, this Pillar of Fire that went with the children in the wilderness, anyone knows that that was God. We know that that was God, He told Abra--told Moses, "I AM THAT I AM. And I have seen the affliction of My people and heard their groans by the reason of the task masters, and I've come down to deliver them." Now, that was the Pillar of Fire in that bush (You believe that? The Angel of the covenant.) Well it was a... It led it on Mount Sinai and wrote the commandments. Even if an animal touched it, it had to be killed. What was it? Because there was no sin offering, a animal. E-58 See, when the Old Testament, when they offered a sin offering, they took a little lamb, laid their hands upon it, confessed their sins, and they cut its throat. And when the little fellow was dying, kicking, and bleating, why, the blood got all over the hands of the worshipper. And then he felt the death going out of that animal as it straightened out and died, and he knowed that that animal was dying in his place. But the Bible said he went out with the same desire he had when he come in. 'Cause see, when that blood cell was broke, that animal spirit could not come back and coincide with the human spirit. The animal has no soul. So they could not come back. So therefore he went out with the same conscience. But when a man by faith come lays his hands upon the head of Jesus Christ and feels His suffering for your sins, and when that Blood cell was broke on Calvary, not only the life of a human being come back, but the life of God comes back from it and makes you a son and daughter of God.
E-59
Watch when that Pillar of Fire was made flesh and dwelt among us. How
do we find Him the other night, what He did? How they knew Him, by
discerning the thoughts of the heart. They knew that was that prophet
that Moses spoke of. He claimed to be that. They knowed it was; that's
the way He was. Now, He turned back to that again, did you know that?
"Oh, no, Brother Branham." Oh, yes, He did to.
E-60
And we got the picture of It right with us, the Pentecostal church.
Hallelujah. Now, is It the same Spirit? Is It the same Pillar of Fire?
George J. Lacy, the head of the FBI, fingerprint and document,
you--there's his document wrote on it, said, "Light struck the lens."
Said, "There's no psychology about it, 'cause this mechanical eye of
the camera won't take psychology." Struck the lens.
E-61
Now, is it the Holy Spirit? Well, if it does the works of Jesus Christ,
It's the same Spirit was on Him. Then you can rest assure that you who
believe in God and believe you have the Holy Ghost, that that's the
same Holy Ghost, because It's doing the same thing It did when It was
on the real Son of God. When It comes upon sons and daughters of
adoption, It does the same thing It did there. E-62 Abraham called Him Elohim. Turned His back, show you what God did then, 'cause Abraham recognized that that was God in human flesh dwelling right here with him, talking with him. Jesus said, in other words He said to... You know what the Angel of the Lord did down there at Sodom? Look what the Sodomites were doing. They were buying, and building, oh, my, contractors all over the country, buildings. Did you ever see such a time? I can't even go rabbit hunting no more at home, the--it's all housing projects where the farm was. I don't know what we're going to do to eat. See? Building, building. That's exactly what Jesus said would take place. Did He say it? They were marrying, giving in marriage, like in the day of Noah. Look at the Reno, Nevadas, and look here. E-63 This nation would be better off if it had--if it had a... I better not say that. All right. But anyhow it'd be better to have three or four wives than... I'd rather stand before God with three married women, or five married women standing by my side, than to stand there with one wife, and running with another man's... Yes, sir. I'd have a better chance before God. You can't force sinners to take a Christian's duty and do that; they can't do it until they're borned again. That's right. We're a long ways from being a Christian nation. How would we open up every bootleg joint that's on the corner, and run the things the way we do and call ourselves Christians? That's not Christians no more than a hog knows about a sidesaddle. Well, you couldn't call that Christianity. We're no Christian nation, no, sir. There's Christians in this nation, but it's not Christian nation. I thank God for the Christians that is in here. "It's not all that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, will do--will come in, but the one that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven." That's the one that comes in.
E-64
What's the use of being a halfway? What's the use of having a lukewarm
church? Either be red-hot or--or ice cold. Don't claim Pentecost 'less
you live Pentecost. Don't jump no higher than you live. That's right.
It's a shame; it brings a disgrace upon the rest of them. It ain't the
bootleg joints so much that's hurting the unbeliever; it's these people
that claim to have something and acting like the world; that's what's
the stumbling block. A church that's supposed to be on fire for God,
and go around calling the very Spirit of God that comes, saying
it's--it's mystic, it's telepathy, it's all this, that, or the other,
because we don't belong to their organization. Shame on you. God have
mercy on your sinful souls. You'll meet that at the day of judgment and
perhaps before you get to judgment; that's right, 'cause God promised
it. E-65 Now, notice, I want to show what God promised to them overcomers, what God did to those overcomers. I just got fifteen minutes to let outing time. Let's see, what God did. Right there when Abraham recognized it and said, "Yes, that's God." Called Him Elohim, my Lord, not my Lords, my Lord. "My Lord," he said. Capital L-o-r-d. Notice what he called Him. And when he recognized Him, and knowed what it was, and he asked for mercy for so many people, so many people, and finally he got from fifty down to ten, still couldn't find them in--in Sodom, or He would've spared the city. But He couldn't even find them in all the church down there. There couldn't be five, or ten honest people; He only got three out: had four, one of them turned around, looked back: his wife. She didn't want to leave her fine Hollywood things and her nice place, you know. And--and she turned to a pillar of salt.
E-66
Don't look back. "He that puts his hand on the plow, and he that turns
to look back is not worthy of plowing." That's what's in this church,
brother. You put your hands on the plow and called yourself
Pentecostal, filled with the Holy Ghost; stop looking at the world, and
act like the world, and polish yourself like the world, and all this
kind of stuff, and having worldly things, and staying home watching
television instead of coming to prayer meeting. While sinners come to
the altar and never get a move out of anybody to come, not interest any
more. E-67 If Brother Arganbright is setting near, he could tell you the story; I was thinking how fifteen witch doctors on one side and fifteen on the other one, called up a storm to blow away the tent in Switzerland, or I believe it was France--Germany. Going to blow away the tent. Told us they was going to do it. And set there and cut those feathers and started going through maneuvers, "Father, Son, and Holy Ghost...?... Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, three high words," they said. All like that, and here come the storm up. Brother Arganbright will tell you same where tens of thousands of people in the tent jumping up and down. I said, "Pray, Brother Arganbright." I said, "Brother Louster, don't interpret this." I said, "Heavenly Father, I landed off that plane up here in the Name of Jesus Christ, because You sent me here. You promised that You'd take care of me. What can I do in a case like this? I rebuke this storm in the Name of Jesus Christ." In one flat second that storm parted right over the tent and moved back. Thunder begin to roll back, like that. And thousands run to the altar to get saved. And the witch doctors was defeated.
E-68
That man setting out in the meeting trying to throw one of them spells
on me, make me bark like a dog to show off in there, he didn't know.
Setting there, and I kept feeling that odd spirit. I thought, "I hate
to call that because he's somebody's friend. Jesus said, 'Let them grow
up together; you pull up the wheat when you pull up weeds.'" I kept
going on, and he kept on. After awhile the Holy Spirit kept speaking to
me, I turned around and said, "You deceiver, why will you come into the
meeting, the service of God to try to deceive somebody?" And he kept
looking around like I was talking to, I said, "It's you I'm talking
to." I called his name. I said, "Because that you did this to the
Spirit of God, somebody will pack you out of here." And he's still
paralyzed. Wrote a letter and said, "What must I do?" E-69 Watch what God showed Abraham here because he believed the Word. Watch what took place. What did He do to Sarah? You know what He done to Sarah and Abraham, showing what He's going to do to all of Sarah and Abraham's seed, the seed of Abraham, what He's going to do. You know what He did? Watch what they did immediately after that. They took a long journey from where they were camped at up there at Sodom, all the way to Gerar, down in the Philistine land, about three hundred miles. That's quite a long walk for an old man a hundred years old and little old grandma with a little shawl on her shoulder, going along like this, three hundred miles on a walk. It wasn't that way. He turned them back to a young man and a young woman. I can prove it. He did. And that's a promise to all His seed that'll take His Word and hold on to It like that. He turned Sarah back to a young woman so she could have that baby.
E-70
Now, I want to say something. Now, you listen to your doctor, I'm your
brother. Now, look, if she was that old, He'd have to strengthen her
heart or she could not go in labor: ninety year old woman. That's
right. He'd have to patch up her heart. The milk veins from her breast
had dried up. They didn't have... Women didn't smoke cigarettes in them
days, so they just raised their baby on their breasts (You see?), and
didn't give it cow's milk. So they--they--they had to feed them through
their breasts. And the milk veins was dried up. Just look what a
condition. He'd have had to patch her up. God don't patch up; He makes
new. I can see Sarah turn back to a lovely woman about twenty-five
years old. I can see Abraham about twenty-five or thirty years old. I
can hear Sarah say, one morning wake up and say, "Honey, did you know,
that hump's gone out of your shoulders."
E-71
Now, you say, "Now, Brother Branham, wait a minute, wait a minute."
See? The Bible is a love story to the believer. Now, when I go
overseas, and Mrs. Branham writes me a letter and she said, "Dear
Billy, I'm setting here tonight; I've got to put the children to bed. I
just got through praying for you. I know that God is blessing you."
See, that's what she's saying, but I'm reading right between the lines.
I love her. See? I know what she's talking about. She won't tell me
just all about it, but 'course I know it anyhow, way she's writing.
E-72
Now, when you read the Bible, He's hid it from the eyes of the wise and
prudent and will reveal it to babes such as will learn. So when you go
to reading this here, now watch what happen, to show you that that's
what He done. The first thing... Now, you say, "Oh, Brother Branham,
they were just..." No, the Bible said they were well stricken in years
(That's right.), well stricken in years.
E-73
Now, notice what would take place. If you just get to where God could
reveal some things to you of the Spirit... Now, notice. Now, he said,
"Now, they'll kill me and save you alive." 'Cause as long as he was
married to her, said, "You say you're my sister and that'll go well
with me."
E-74
I asked a science here not long ago, I said, "I pray you tell me
something. Is it so that every time I eat... I'm made out of the dust
of the earth, and every time I eat food then I renew my life?"
E-75
That's right. God has appointed. When He seen you and mother at the
right age, when you were young and married and happy, remember it, dad?
Before the children come on, the first thing you know, she's the
prettiest thing you ever looked at. Oh, my, you just thought she was a
beauty. And how she admired you, standing, them straight shoulders.
After while you looked around and said, "Mother, there's wrinkles
coming around them pretty eyes."
E-76 Oh, I'll be a--just a maybe a spoonful of dust. But He will call me someday, go [Brother Branham makes blowing sound--Ed.] "Come forth, Billy."
E-77
Somebody said to me not long ago; she said... A woman that belonged to
another denominational church, she said, "Brother Branham, there's only
one thing wrong with your ministry that I find."
E-78 She said, "Well, He was--He was a good man; I believe He was a prophet."
E-79
Now, let's follow Abraham. So Sarah... Abimelech said, "You know,
there's that beautiful Hebrew woman." Said, "Is that your husband?" E-80 See why--why--why he done it? Why did he compromise? He was out of the promise. He went down in Gerar. That's the reason you women chop your hair off, and use makeup, and you fellows smoke cigarettes, and--and carry on the way you do; you get out of the promise, and still remain deacons and members and so forth. Like these Baptists, Presbyterians, Methodist, Pentecostals, and so forth; you just get right out of the promise, that's all. The devil pushed you and he... Stay over here where you belong, prayed up. That's right. Let the devil speak to you, listen to him...
E-81
Now, here he was, setting out there as a little sneaking coward.
Setting out... God forgive me for speaking of His prophet like that,
but I'm trying to make a point here. Now, we watch, old Abimelech went
over there, and I imagine that night after he took his bath, and put on
his pajamas, and said his prayers, and stuck his toes out like that,
"Oh, I finally found the one I wanted." Laying on the bed, said,
"Tomorrow I'll marry this pretty Hebrew woman." They had her all
decorated up with earrings and all these kind of things, you know. "Oh,
how beautiful she looks, tomorrow I'll marry her." And while he was
laying there on the bed, the Lord said, "You're just as good as a dead
man." That good holiness brother... But He said, "You're just as good
as a dead man." Said, "That woman is a wife of another man." E-82 I ain't going to have time to make this other; I get it tomorrow at Sunday School, this last little comment here. I've got the--I got the 21st, 20th, last part of the 20th and 21st chapter yet with some Scriptures that I'd like to use. Now, I'll get that tomorrow at Sunday School, how He takes him up and becomes Jehovah-jireh.
E-83
Oh, brother, the Angel of the Lord is--is here tonight. He's Jehovah
God in your flesh. He's Jehovah God in my flesh. That same God never
dies. He's just as real. The thing of it is, the people don't recognize
Him. They don't re... And when He does come, they say, "Well, very
well, I suppose. Looks all right, uh-huh. I guess that's right." Oh,
brother, if every Word in that Bible isn't true, it's not God's Word.
It's not God's Word if it isn't. But if it is, then it's... If--if
the--if God confirms His Word, then it's true. Amen. God keeps His
Word; don't you believe that?
E-84
Yes, sir. Here's a man before me; here he is standing right... Let me
see now, where's he at? Setting right back there, tie open here in
front, light suit on, thin hair on top, suffering with heart trouble.
The man with the gray looking suit on, setting here looking right at
me. You were praying, "Lord, let him touch me." That's right? Raise up
your hand if that's right. That the same Angel came tell me what he was
saying in his heart, then why ain't the same God? Your heart trouble's
over, brother; go home and be well. Amen. You wouldn't happen to have a
prayer card, do you? You don't have a prayer card. Don't need one.
E-85
Then what did He say? When the--that man setting there, God in His
flesh, this Man's flesh, said, "Why did Sarah say in her heart, that it
can't happen?" Then the same Angel comes here and said, "Why did--you
did say it will happen, let Him touch me." Amen. Oh, why be so gross?
Amen. Just have faith. Don't you see, friends? Can you wake up,
Pentecostal people? Why don't you bite your conscience? Why don't you
pinch your soul? Amen.
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