Sermon Texts (Adding Now)
Sermon Texts Beginning With F
Forsaking All (62-0123)
| Forsaking All (62-0123) |
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E-1 May be seated. I want to say good evening to all. So happy to be here tonight. Just deem this such a grand privilege to be here, this lovely new church to worship the Lord. We've been looking forward to this coming out here for some time, for a time of fellowship with the people and enjoy the blessings--and trust that we'll be a blessing to you people. And as the week is begin to go on now, and there--we know the convention's coming up now, beginning Thursday...
E-2 And we was last night at Tempe (at the Assembly of God, I believe it was, up there). And--and we certainly had a wonderful time last night at Tempe. And we've been having a good time in every church that we've been visiting here in the Phoenix area, and also up in Tempe. And we just appreciate these things so much that we can hardly express it.
E-3 And we've been with the independents, and I believe Church of God, Assemblies, and every--every one; and overseas, the Foursquare, Church of God, Assembly of God, and the Jesus' Name, and all of them. They just all seem to be one when we come together to have a meeting over there on the battlefield. And you know, here at home there may be ideas that we might different in, but when it comes in the battlefield, why, there's no differences then. See?
E-4 Here some years ago I was in Houston, and we were having a great meeting. And over with... I had several sponsors there: Brother Raymond Richey, and--and the Assemblies of God, and the--and the Jesus' Name people, and all the different ones. And we were having a great meeting. And we were at the Music House. Well, we'd seat about eight thousand, I guess.
E-5 So I said, "Brother Bosworth, I--I wouldn't want you fussing. Christ don't want us Christians to fuss with each other. If the man's an unbeliever, why, he's just an unbeliever, that's all. There's nothing you can do about it."
E-6 We got the stadium, the stampede ground. And that night we had about thirty thousand people out. And then it went to show there that... People come in with planes, trains. I tell you; they were riding one-hump camels, two-hump camels, and three-hump camels. Why, they was all drinking of that well where there's room for all of us to stand. Everything was together. And it goes... I just got a great blessing out of that, to think now... You see, when really the strain comes, there was one thing we had in common, we all believed in the Holy Ghost and Divine healing. So everybody come in to give his share.
E-7 It was absolutely a supernatural Being. The light struck the lens. It wasn't a psychology. He said, "I've often said your meetings were psychology too. I thought you was reading those people's minds." He said, "But the mechanical eye of this camera won't take psychology, Mr. Branham. It struck the lens." He said, "It's here." So then, it's been taken... It was taken before that and several times after that. Just... I'm so thankful to know. Many people here seen that picture, haven't you? I guess, oh, many of you's got it. E-8 I've just come through the--the history of the church (the last couple years) from the death of the last apostle, John, on the Isle of--when he left the Isle of Patmos, and came in, and--and finished writing the books, and putting them together. He was put out there because that he was taking the apostles' writing and making a Bible out of it. And that's why he was taken to the Isle of Patmos, after being boiled in grease for a day and night. And then put him out on the Isle. And he compiled the books together, and besides that, God gave him the last book of the Bible, the Revelation.
E-9 And then, coming back, I started from his history there, and then to his--one of his followers, Polycarp, Ignatius, and many of them on down to Martin, Irenaeus, Justin, St. Columba, and on through down into the dark age, and through and up into the Lutheran, and Wesley. And I've come to find out that even since the days of the apostles, in all those great workings of the Holy Spirit, there's none of them that outshines this last move of the Lord here in this last days.
E-10 I'm ashamed, but I don't believe I know the pastor's name here in the church. I... [Brother states his name--Ed.] E-11 Now, just before we approach the Word, let's approach the Author in prayer, while we bow our heads just a moment. Just before we pray, with your heads and hearts bowed, is there a request in here for prayer, and you'd make it known by an uplifted hand, just in your heart you have need of something, and say, "Lord Jesus, remember me." The Lord sees every hand; I'm sure.
E-12 Our heavenly Father, we are so happy that we can call You Father, the great Creator of heavens and earth, the great Elohim, the El Shaddai, the strength Giver, the Nourisher, the all-sufficient One. And through Your own beloved Son... He told us if we would come to You, and ask anything using His Name, that He would see that it was granted.
E-13 Therefore, knowing that each day troubles and things that besets us, that might not even be noticed in our own thinking... But when we come to think of a holy God, Who even Angels are dirty in His sight, then we know, Lord, that we have not even a chance unless we come through the Blood of Jesus Christ and then we are children of God. Our mistakes are overlooked as we confess them. E-14 And now, Father, we pray for this church. We're so happy that this place... When we read back in the early days, where the Christians were so hated that they could not even have a church, that they were so poor they couldn't have built one if they did have it, and to see that--or had the opportunity to... And now, today, to see great fine structures going up, clean, where people are--can come in and worship God, we're so thankful for this; and for the sacrifice that people, with their tithings and offerings and--and contribution, has built this house for the Lord.
E-15 Now, Father God, I pray that You'll bless its pastor, its deacons, its trustees, and every member that comes here. May it grow, and grow, and grow. And may from this church start an old fashion revival that'll sweep the valley through and through. May there be signs and wonders come from this church, of healing, salvation. May it be a lighthouse to all the nation. Grant it, Lord. E-16 Now, I am just a little late as usual. It was a little farther out here tonight than I was expecting it to be. And so we are... tomorrow night at some place. I guess they've already announced it. And now, if you have church at your own church here tomorrow night, don't come down. But if you don't have church, we'd be glad to have you. We always want the people to stay at their post of duty, regardless. When the church is open, every soldier ought to be in his rank and in his place.
E-17 And so, we're here visiting and having a great time, just prior the--the Business Men's convention. And as I have already announced, Brother Roberts is to be here to open the service for Thursday night. We'll be very happy to meet Brother Roberts. And then I think, maybe Friday, Brother Velmer Gardner is going to be here. Don't know whether he will be speaking that night or not.
E-18 So if you're... Now on a Saturday morning, there is no church as I know of, and Sunday afternoon there's no church as far as I know. And now, before I start, I forgot I... No, I believe Billy did say that he give out the rest of those prayer cards. Is that right? Is there prayer cards give out here tonight? Well, he give part of them out at the other church last night, because I have... I've been keeping the people so long.
E-19 I just got a little one Scripture here tonight I want to read, and take a text, and I pray that God will bless it. If you want to read it when you get home, it's in Mark, the 10th chapter and the 28th verse.
Then Peter begin to say unto him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee.
Now, I would like to take a text to build a little context on there, of "Forsaking All." And then in a few moments we will pray for the sick. And now, you who are acquainted with Mark the 10th chapter... background it, just... Jesus had been talking previously on divorce.
E-20 And then He also had a very striking thing to happen. There was a rich young man came running to Him and said, "Good Master, what could I do to have Eternal Life?"
E-21 Now, you see, that young man was asked to forsake all, but he refused to do it. And sometimes, if we apply prosperity, and riches, and so forth, success... But this young man, was a successful young man and still didn't have Eternal Life. So sometimes, success doesn't always mean that God's a-blessing.
E-22 And when the--he had to depart with what he had to have Eternal Life, then the question was at the gate: whether you can make it. And that question lays before every one of us.
E-23 Let's follow this young ruler. The next time we find him in the Bible, he never... As soon as he rejected the opportunity to follow Jesus when it was laid down to him pretty stiff... E-24 Reminds me of a little thing I usually tell on my two little girls. They're not so little now, and they're pretty good-sized girls. But when they were little... One of them is Rebekah; she's the oldest. And Sarah, she's the little one. And Becky has blue eyes; and Sarah has brown. But they're both daddy's girls, you know. And so, they wait up to see me come home, and they're always love to see me. And so, Becky is kind of--was kind of a tall, skinny sort of a girl; and Sarah was a little kind of a short little bitty fellow.
E-25 And so they were waiting up for me to come home one night. I'd been away on meetings, and they knew I'd be home, so they thought they'd just wait a little while, and if I come home, they wanted to see me. Well, the sandman must've sprinkled sand in their eyes, and they got sleepy, and finally they went to bed out in their room.
E-26 And after while Becky turned over in her bedroom, and she realized it was daylight. And she looked out through the hall, and she seen me setting out there in that chair. Out of bed she come just as hard as she could, those little, skinny, long legs just a-reaching for it.
E-27 So Rebekah beat her to me. And she jumped up on my lap, throwed both arms around me, just kind of... She was on my right knee, and her long legs reached down to the floor. And she was pretty well-balanced.
E-28 So Rebekah had her arms around me. And she looked around, and she said, "Sarah, my sister, I want you to know one thing." She said, "I was here first." And she said, "I've got all of daddy, and there's none left for you." (They try to tell us that, you know, all the time.) Said, "I was here first, and I've got all of daddy, and there's none left for you."
E-29 Here she come and jumped up on the other leg, and why, she--she couldn't balance herself. Her little legs wouldn't hit the floor. But she was on the leg anyhow. See? So she was toddling around like that.
E-30 This rich young man, he would not give hisself to Christ, and so he went away. And we find him later that he was... He had prospered so much until his barns was so full, until he said, "Soul, take thy rest." Oh, he had prospered, everything. He had so much he had need for nothing.
E-31 Then, when this taken place, and the young ruler would not give up what he had to follow Jesus, it must've dawned on Peter (I believe it was him that made the remark, or asked the question, raised it), and said, "Now, we have forsaken all to follow You. We have forsaken all. Look what we have done. We left our homes; we left our families; we left our lands; we left everything that we had to follow You."
E-32 But that's exactly what God requires: forsake all and follow Him. That's God's requirement. We've got to do it too. Sometime we've got to forsake our very thoughts. If our thoughts about anything is contrary to God's Word, we've got to forsake our own thinking and follow Him. And the only way we can follow Him is follow His Word, obey It. And God's request, and God's requirement is that we forsake all and follow Him. E-33 Sometimes the women in our churches is used to wearing immoral clothes, like shorts, and--and these dungarees. And the Bible said it's an abomination to God for a woman to put on such. She's... No matter what she thinks, she's got to forsake that. Sometimes we find women when they come into the way and get saved, they've been used to cutting off their hair, and they want to be popular like the rest of the world. But they find out it's a hard thing, 'cause they'll call you old fashion whenever you go to dressing like a Christian, acting like a Christian, living like a Christian. They'll call you old fashion, but you've got to forsake all to follow Him.
E-34 Jesus said, or the Scripture says, "He that loves the world or the things of the world, the love of God is not even in him." That's right. It takes forsaking all. There when you were willing to forsake all and follow Him, then "If ye abide in Me and My word in you, you can ask what you will, and it will be done for you." But you cannot, knowing that those things are wrong. You know they're wrong. E-35 So smoking cigarettes, drinking whiskey, playing cards, cutting hair, wearing shorts, all these other things are wrong, sinful wrong, and you'll never get anywhere until you quit it. It's creeping into our Pentecostal move. Shame on you. You ought to be ashamed. No wonder we can't have a worldwide revival. No wonder we can't have a Pentecostal revival. Something's happened. That's right. We've let down the bars and things are taking place that should not take place. Therefore, you must forsake all to follow Christ. E-36 You must forsake your own--your own ideas. You must cope with His Word. And never will the Holy Ghost ever deny any Word It ever spoke, and the Bible is wrote by the Holy Spirit. The Bible said so. And if the Bible Words is God... "In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us." Now, the Word is made Spirit dwelling in us, for "I will be with you, even in you to the end of the world," the consummation.
E-37 Now, if that same God that wrote the Bible is in you, you're not your own. You're dead to the things of the world. You're dead to your own thoughts. And the mind that--the mind that was in Christ be in you, there then you're forsaking all to follow Him. Not your own thoughts; what He says. "Not my will; thine, Lord." Then you begin to line up with God's Word. Could stay there a long time, but I'll just run on a little farther. E-38 You can expect the world to make fun of you. You can expect the world to call you all kinds of unhonorable names. They'll call you anything that they can call you. You'll be despised and rejected. Jesus, because of Him being Emmanuel, God dwelling in Him, it made Him so odd to His own church till His own church excommunicated Him as soon as He come in. They was the one who hung Him on the cross. They was the one who condemned Him. He loved people. His whole heart was for people. But He had to forsake everything in order to follow God. And so do we have to forsake everything in order to follow God.
E-39 Now. What do I get in return? We don't expect... Sometimes I think we ministers make it a little too much flowers for the--the convert. "Oh, come to Christ. Everything is lovely." But you see, it isn't like that in the way that--saying that everything's a flowery bed of ease, because no Christian... E-40 But all that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. He said, "Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad for so persecuted they the prophets which was before you." That's right. Don't go with a hang-down face and say, "Well, I oughtn't to have done it, I guess they--the--I--they... I just can't stand for somebody to talk about me, and say I'm old fashion, I'm this, that, or the other." Oh, you--you all should be exceedingly glad, happy because of it, because you can bear the reproach of His Name. And by keeping His commandments, it caused you to do that. E-41 But I want to say this too (hurry up as quick as we can), God will not, in no wise, be in debt to any man. God won't be 'debted to any man. If you have did that for God, forsaken all, God will repay you a thousand fold. That's right. God will pay it back. You forsake the things of the world, and the world, and the things of the world and God will repay you so many times. How many's a witness of that here tonight? Why, we all know that God will repay. E-42 Now, let's take just a few characters that did forsake all. Let's take first the father of faith, Abraham. Abraham forsook his own land, the property he owned, and everything else. He was called out of Chaldea, the city of Ur. And he forsook his land, his home, his people, and all, and followed God. He had to forsake everything, leave it behind. He forsook his--his land, his property down in Chaldea, in Ur. He forsaken his property, and God gave him the whole promised land. God pays back with a lot of interest. He gave him... Up there that day, when He met him, He said, "Rise up, Abraham. Look east, north, west, south. I give it all to you. It's all yours."
E-43 That's the matter with Christians tonight. God gives it to us, but we're afraid to investigate it. When you become a Christian, you're a heir to every promise in the Bible. That's right. Everything that God promised is yours. It's just like a great big arcade. And by one Spirit we're all baptized into this arcade, which is Christ. Well, if I... If somebody give me something, I'm going to look around and find out what I own. E-44 If Divine healing's promised in the Bible, and I'm sick, I'll stay there till God gives it to me, 'cause it's a promise. God promised... I'd forsake the world, He'd give me the Holy Ghost, I'll stay right there till He gives it to me, because He promised it. If God promised to give me the desire of my heart, and the desire of my heart is the right thing, I'll stay there till God gives it, because it's a promise. And I've forsaken all the world. I want to walk after Him. And He will pay. I know that to be truth. It's exactly right.
E-45 What did he do? He forsook his land, his country. And God give him the entire province, or all, the whole continent of the--of Palestine. He forsook his little bitty piece of land down there, and maybe a acre where his house set, and his old house, to receive everything there was in Palestine. Good.
E-46 Could you imagine them agreeing... an old man, here, seventy-five years old with a sixty-five-year-old wife saying, "You know what? I met God out here, and He told me I was going to have a baby now by Sarah." Why, the--his doctor friend would've said, "The old man's off at his head." But he'd already bought up the pins, and Birdeye, and everything else getting ready for it, because he knew he was going to have it. That's right. Nothing to it. Why? God promised it. Right. And if that bunch of people wanted to laugh at him, and think he'd gone off at his head... E-47 Now, Abraham forsaking his people, what did he get in back of it? What come besides that? He become the father of many nations. God made him the father of many nations. What little he gave up, then look what he become. Jesus said, "He who will forsake... Me will have fathers, mothers," and so forth. Look what Abraham got by forsaking all and following Him. Yes, sir, the father of many nations... E-48 But first he had to separate himself from all unbelief, and even from his cold, lukewarm, church member brother, Lot. He had to forsake himself for that. Everything that's got unbelief in it, you have to separate yourself. Anything, if it's a creed... If you're in a church, and all you're depending on is a creed, and don't believe the Word, and if the Word's contrary to--the creed's contrary to the Word, you'll have to forsake that. You'll have to forsake everything.
E-49 And God never did bless Abraham until he totally obeyed Him. Abraham wanted to take his daddy along. And the old man was a fly in the ointment all the time. Finally he died. Then Lot, there was strife and everything. And then, as soon as Abraham fully obeyed God and separated himself, and let Lot go on down there in the good lands, wherever he wanted to go, down in Sodom, then God appeared to Abraham, and said, "Lift up your eyes. I give the whole thing to you."
E-50 Israel forsook Egypt. They forsook the old lands down there in Egypt, to receive what? Palestine. They come from that horrible place down there in Egypt, taskmasters...
E-51 He got Palestine, Abraham did--or the--Israel did. He got Palestine for a land. They left the old land down there and got Palestine, a land flowing with milk and honey. Yes, sir. What did they leave? They left the hot sun under the taskmaster down in Egypt.
E-52 They also left the old garlic pots of Egypt, flesh pots down in Egypt. What did they get when they forsook them old flesh pots? They got to eat Angel's food, manna come down out of heaven to take the place of garlic. Now, if you have never eaten nothing but garlic, let me tell you something. God's got a heaven full of Angel's food to feed you. That's right. Angel's food, that's what they got instead of that, instead of the old garlic of Egypt.
E-53 That's the way we have to do sometimes today: leave that old creed and denomination that says, "Days of miracles is past. Them guys are crazy. They're just a bunch of holy-rollers." Leave that thing behind and come over here and drink from a fountain filled with Blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins, where sinners plunged beneath the flood lose all their guilty stains. Yes, sir.
E-54 They left them boasting physicians of Egypt, saying, "We are the smartest men in the world today." They left the boasting physicians to be with the Great Physician. Amen. I'd like to see some physician today carry on like that Great Physician did. Them people was in the wilderness for forty years, and they come out without a feeble one among them. There wasn't a feeble person among them, forty years. There was over two million of the people that come out at that time. E-55 They forsook down there the people that said, "The days of miracles are past. There's no such a thing as miracles no more." They forsook that, to do what? What did they do then? To be right in the presence of where miracles would happen day by day. Amen. The people today that says that there's no such a thing as miracles, there's something wrong with their mind. That's right.
E-56 A person told me one time, said, "I wouldn't care what you done. I didn't care. I can't... how much proof you got," said, "I just don't believe it."
E-57 Yes, the Great Physician was with them, and they seen miracles happen. Sure. E-58 I'd forsake anything in the world; I don't care what it is, to see Jesus Christ manifest Himself; especially when it's manifested in my life, that I know that I've passed from death unto Life, and I know that He is the Messiah. I know by taking Him at His Word that He has saved me from a life of sin, and I know that the Holy Spirit dwells within me. I see His signs everywhere pointing, that I know that He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. Forsaking all, I'm willing to forsake anything.
E-59 I belonged to a fine organization, a fine church, one of the best there is in the country. But they said, "Billy, you're going to lose your mind and become a holy-roller." E-60 Now, the disciples forsaken their nets and fish nets full of fish, their occupation. They'd forsaken their occupation to follow the Lord Jesus to see His power, see the signs. Those men were trained men. They knowed what the Messiah was supposed to do. They'd read back in the Bible; they understood just what Messiah was going to do. They knowed it was time for it to happen. And when they seen this Man rise on the scene Who fit the picture, then they were ready to forsake everything to listen to what He had to say; 'cause if it was the Messiah, then it was life for them; because they'd been invited to follow Him. So they'd forsaken everything. E-61 So is it today. If this is right, if this message of the baptism of the Holy Spirit in these last days (where He said He'd pour out both former and latter rain upon us), if these things are right, it's worth forsaking everything. Follow it. Jesus said, "These signs shall follow them that believe. He that believeth in Me, though he were dead yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die. He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also." True.
E-62 "Go ye into all the world to every creature. These signs shall follow them that believe. In My Name they shall cast out devils, speak with new tongues take up serpents. If they drink deadly things, it'll not harm them. If they lay their hands on the sick, they shall recover." That's what He said. E-63 Brother, if that ain't better than old creeds and stuff of the world, and belonging to some another there that's denying all that... Why, I think we should be the happiest people in the world to see the living God moving around us like this, knowing that we have forsaken all to follow Him. Amen. That makes me feel religious. Forsaking all to follow the Lord Jesus. The same today, you got to forsake all. Just like they did back there, you have to do too.
E-64 Now. You talking about somebody forsaking something; let's look what for Jesus--Jesus forsook for us. Jesus gave up everything. He had a home in heaven. And He gave up His home in heaven and came to the earth, and did not even have a place to lay His head. That's right. He become so low, till He didn't even--so poor, till He didn't even have a bed to sleep in. He said, "The foxes has dens, and the birds has air--of the air has nests, but the Son of man don't even have a place to lay His head," See?
E-65 He went to the lowest city. And the smallest man in the city looked down on top of Him: Zacchaeus (That's--that's right.) of Jericho. Way down--he sure did. He had the lowest name that there was in the earth. He was--come to the world with a... Illegitimate they called Him, because they really believed that the Baby was borned out of holy wedlock. He had that to contend with to begin with. Then called the name of Beelzebub, the lowest that could be got. He forsaken His heavenly place and came to take that.
E-66 He came to the earth, Creator of heavens and earth, and He had nothing to eat. Satan tempted Him. Fasting, for us, but He received food that the others knew nothing about. One day He said so. "I have food."
E-67 Here on earth, He had no shelter, they said, no place, no house, nothing, belonged to Him. But you know what? He became a Shelter for every one of us. God made Him a Shelter for the whole human race. He had no shelter of His own, but He is our Shelter. E-68 As I said the other night, they've been... Russia has been boasting their great boasting, condition. "We put a man in space first." I different with that. We've had One in space for two thousand years. Amen. That's right. Yes, sir. An intercessor (yes, sir) that goes into heaven and back in a--just like a split second. Sure. We got a man in space. They haven't got nothing...?... All right.
E-69 We find He didn't have... He had to become a shelter for all of us. He gave up his Sonship between Him and the Father to be made sin for us. Did you know that? He knowed no sin; became sin for us. Our sins was placed upon Him. He gave up the Sonship to become sin; now He can make sinners sons. Amen. That's the good part. Take sinners and make sons, when He give up his Sonship to become sin. Now, He takes sinners and makes sons out of them. Amen. What a privilege. Yes, sir.
E-70 He--He gave his strength. He became weak that He might be our strength. He is our all-sufficient Strength. We don't need no other strength but the strength of the Lord Jesus. "He is my Strength from day to day. Without Him I would fall," said the poet. How wonderful.
E-71 Somebody said, "Is Jesus really the Healer, or is this just a--a bunch of mental work-up that these people have?" Just forsake that thought one time. Now, how do you know whether it's going to be right or not? It's a promise--that's how you know.
E-72 You say, "Is there such a thing that people can speak in tongues, or is that just some foolishness, or some babbling they done?" E-73 You can't have a... Only way you can have a real--a bogus dollar, it has to be made off of a real one. And everybody say, "I ain't going to church. I don't want to go to church. There's too many hypocrites." Why, you're smaller than they are. You're trying to hide behind them. If you can get behind them, you're smaller than them. That's right.
E-74 I read a little article in the paper the other day, where an old man... He was both deaf, dumb, and blind, and he went to Sunday school every Sunday. And they asked him by braille and said, "Why do you go to church? You can't hear what the preacher says. You can't hear none of the songs. Why do you go to church?"
E-75 What else did Jesus do? He gave and forsook His own Life. He gave His Life to save yours and mine. Because that He--that He gave His life... He didn't have to lay it down. He done it willingly. He didn't have to do it, but He done it willingly, because He could save you. And now He's the only one that can save you.
E-76 What for? To see His great signs of His coming. Now, remember. The Bible promises that in this last days, just at the close of time, it'll be another Christian light come forth--the former and latter rain will come together. The prophet said it will be Light in the evening time.
E-77 But He said, "In the evening time it shall be Light." Now, the same sun that rises in the east is the same sun that sets in the west. The same Jesus that poured out His Spirit in the east upon those people is the same Jesus that's in this last days poured out His Spirit upon the western people. He promised it. He made a promise. E-78 Jesus said, "As it was in that day, so will it be in the coming of the Son of man." As I've often said, said last night, I want to quote it again: There's always three classes of people all the time, like Ham, Shem, and Japheth's people, the three sons of Noah. All the way down, there's--there's three classes of people. Now, we class them as this: unbeliever, make-believer, and believer. Now, that's the way it--how it tallies up. It did the same thing there. Jesus said, "As it was in the days of Sodom, so shall it be to this..."
E-79 Abraham, that had forsaken all to follow, now here he is right down here. He'd held that promise for years and years, and twenty-five years. Here he is a hundred years old now. And he's up here in the fields, his herd's getting lean, and no water; and Lot living luxurious down there with all the things that he wanted. E-80 Now. Notice the three classes: the unbelievers, the Sodomites; the just halfway, lukewarm, church members was Lot; but the elected, called-out church was Abraham and his group. When these Angels, where did they come to? To Abraham and his group. Right. They went down, two of them went down there like modern evangelists. We've got great evangelists that's--that's going to the church denominational today. One of the greatest men in the land, that we know of, is Billy Graham. And he's certainly blasting the Gospel to those people out there, calling them out, "Get out of Sodom." E-81 We don't have to holler "Get out of Sodom," to this church. It ought to be out already. If it's called by the Holy Ghost, it's done left Sodom a long time ago. That's right. It's forsook Sodom. She's living out here by herself (exactly), separated. The very word "church" means "called-out, separated." And if you separate your... "Come out from among them. Touch not their unclean things." If you haven't done that, you're down in Sodom. You're a church member, lukewarm. Then you ought to separate yourself, and get away from the things of the world, and come out, and live clean and holy, walk in the commandments of God. E-82 Remember. Two of those Angels went down there. They didn't do many miracles. There's only one miracle that they did: was smite the people blind when they come at them. Well, that's exactly what the preaching of the Word does: smites the people blind. And these great evangelists today that we know of--many of them visit Phoenix here, and--and great evangelists that's went out into the field, don't perform miracles and so forth, but they absolutely blind them unbelievers, them Sodomites, with preaching the Word that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
E-83 But then here's the church spiritual, not the church natural, nor the Sodomites, but the church spiritual, who believes in God, been visited by God like Abraham was, all the way down. Abraham is a perfect type of Abraham's seed after him in the church: a people out of the Gentiles for His Name, the royal seed, as I preached on Sunday. See? E-84 Abraham was expecting a son. Is that right? Are we Abraham's seed? Then we're expecting a Son, a promised Son, the Son of God. And Abraham seen mysterious works of God when He called him in that little Light that time, and the sacrifice, and confirmed the covenant to him. And many times He met him in many different ways. But the last sign that He showed Abraham was when He come manifested in flesh and set with His back turned to the tent, and told Sarah... Abraham no doubt believed that that was God. Some people don't believe it was. But that--the Bible said it was God. Abraham said it was; he called Him "Elohim." Elohim is the great Creator of the heavens and earth. E-85 Now, He made Hisself flesh for a sign, that in the last days... See the Sodomites, the unbeliever? See the church member? Now, watch the elected, called out. And in this elected He's manifesting Himself in the power of the Holy Ghost in human flesh. Amen. Can't you see it's the Messiah? God, Christ, represented in His church, the church doing the same life, living the same life, doing the same signs. "He that believeth on Me the works that I do shall he do also." E-86 If the spirit of a--a gangster was in me, I'd have guns on me. If the spirit of a painter was in me, I could paint the picture of a painter... he could do. If the spirit of a mechanic was on me, I could tell you what was wrong with your car. See? And if the Spirit of Jesus Christ is in me, I'll do the works of Christ because it's the life of Christ in you. See? Manifested in who? Manifested in who? He be--forsaken His Sonship and became sin and took our sins, that He might take sinners and make them sons. He became me that I might become Him. He become a sinner that I might become a son of God. Oh, it--it's striking what He done. See, He taken your place that you might take His place. You're joint heirs with Him in the Kingdom. He become a sinner like you, your sins placed upon Him that He might take you and make you a fellow citizen of heaven and set you with Him in God's Kingdom. There you are: put His Spirit in you. And if His Spirit's in you, the works that He did you'll do also.
E-87 Now, look what He did when He was here on earth. How did He make Hisself manifested? You can't go around, hanging around, and going to pool rooms, and hanging away from church, and staying home on Wednesday night to see some kind of a filthy television play, or something like that, and forsake your church, and all like that and ever expect to see Christ.
E-88 Now, 'course the Jews in them days, they had it all figured out, those great big churches. "Oh, when the Messiah comes, there'll be a trumpet sound across the skies, and God will crank up something, and let the corridors of heaven drop down. And there'll be an angel salute blast across the earth. And the Messiah will come riding down them corridors like that with Angels and bands, and things like that, come right down to this temple, walk into it. And He will be Messiah. He will take a rod, and rule the earth." E-89 Nobody else saw it. John saw it. The promise was to John. Nobody saw the star the wise men followed. And so it is tonight. You can set here double blind and never see the power of God. You could never understand it until God opens up your heart. "All the Father's given Me will come to Me." And, "No man can come except My Father's drawed him." That's all. That settles it.
E-90 Now, we find out that they forsook all, and they followed Him, and saw that He was the Messiah. Andrew went and told Peter, said, "You know what our father told us? (Something on this order, perhaps.) We know when Messiah cometh. Moses told us that the Lord our God would raise up a prophet just like him. And we know that we've been taught if there's one among us who is spiritual or a prophet, what he says comes to pass, then hear him. If it doesn't come to pass, then don't hear him. And we know that the Messiah will be the--not only a prophet. He will be the God-prophet. So this Man is that Guy."
E-91 Here come Philip with Nathanael. Soon as Nathanael walked up to Him...?... no...?... might guess the great conversation they had, talking about it coming over, and how He'd told Peter these things, and give him another name, and told him who he was, and his father, so forth about it. "You know Messiah's supposed to be a prophet."
E-92 A little old wretched woman, filthy, dirty, living with six men (She'd married five, and the one she lived with then wasn't hers.) went out to a well one day to get some water. And when she let down the pump, or the bucket, in the windled down to get the water... And when she started up with it, she seen a middle-aged Man setting over there, a Jew. E-93 Now, Jesus had need to go by Samaria. Remember, He only identified Himself with Jew and Gentile. That's Ham, Shem's people. See? Japheth's people was left. We Anglo-Saxons, we were heathens worshipping idols in them days. Remember. Why didn't He manifest Hisself (Jesus, when He was on earth) to Gentiles in that same sign to show them? Because the Gentiles wasn't looking for no Messiah. The Jews was looking for a Messiah, and the Samaritans was looking for a Messiah. And He manifested Hisself as the Messiah in telling Peter (the one He gave the keys to the Kingdom) and to Nathanael, and blind Bartimaeus when his faith stopped Him, and the woman with the blood issue, and so forth, to the Jews.
E-94 But here He is now before the Samaritan, and He comes to the Samaritan to make Hisself known as the true Messiah. Now, for hundreds of years both Jew and Samaritan had believed that there was coming a Messiah. So if the Messiah was on earth, it's up to the Messiah to manifest Himself.
E-95 But He made Himself known to the people as Messiah, to be that God-prophet. That woman, when He talked to her, said, "Go, get your husband and come here." E-96 Now, it's Gentile time. We've had two thousand years of scruples, ups-and-downs, organizations, ins-and-outs, and fusses and stews, and fuss and fight, and everything else, theologians and seminaries and whatevermore. Now, if He let those Samaritans and Jews come right down, who had forsaken the gods of the world to serve God, and looking for a coming Messiah--and the Messiah made Hisself known to the Jews in that manner in that day, and He cannot break His rules... He's not a Father that would do one to one, and one to something else, a different thing. He's the same Jesus. Right. E-97 Now, here. We've had two thousand years. The Holy Ghost has fell upon us; we've spoke in tongues, and seen signs and wonders, and so forth. Now, the last sign that Abraham saw before the promised son returned was God manifesting Himself in a body that could eat; by predicting and showing the same sign that Jesus showed when He was here to be Messiah. Now, Jesus prophesied and said it would be that way.
E-98 And, friends, now it's the hour. Those Jews standing there, when they saw Jesus say that to that man, they said... They had to answer their congregation. They had... They knowed it was done, so they couldn't do nothing about it. They had to answer their congregation, so they said, "This man is Beelzebub. He is..." They thought that in their heart. "This man is Beelzebub (See?), because that he's a fortuneteller, some kind of a--a telepathist, or something. He is Beelzebub." E-99 Oh, brother, I'm so glad tonight to have the Pentecostal blessing. Amen. No doubt but in here, brethren, you're setting in here from Church of God, Foursquare, Assemblies of God, and all different ones. That's wonderful. That's... Just keep right on going. Don't... Just stay right with it. See? But don't never think that the blanket don't stretch over your other brother also in another organization that's just as got as much Holy Spirit. God gave those the Holy Spirit who obeyed Him. So the other brother did too. You see? So just stretch it across. That's all right. And let's come together and rejoice.
E-100 We have forsaken the world. We're Abraham's seed; we are Christ's seed, the promised seed. And here we are right down... And what was the last thing now, that He gave our father Abraham? That sign before Sodom, before the burning, and the coming of the son... Now, just before the coming of the promised son, and the burning of Sodom... God promised through Jesus Christ that it would be exactly like it was in the days of Sodom. E-101 Look at Billy Graham, a messenger from God, down in there sweeping that Gospel. Now, what about the church elect? It's supposed to have a sign too. Isn't that right? It's supposed to have it. I trust tonight that we'll forsake all of our unbelief, and believe on the Lord Jesus, and follow Him, and see His signs of the last day, for He promised it would be here. Let us bow our heads. E-102 Is there one in here tonight that doesn't know Him as your Saviour, and you would like to forsake everything just now, and follow Him. Would you just raise your hand, say, "Pray for me, Brother Branham. I would like to do that: be a real Christian." God bless you. Is there another? God bless you. God bless you. God bless you, sister. God bless you, and you, brother. Another? God bless you, sir. "I'd like to forsake everything. I--I'm going to do it, Brother Branham."
E-103 I want to ask something. Brother, sister, I--I don't--I don't mean to hurt anybody, but you see, you--you--you--you're responsible for the Word. "If--if ye abide in Me, and My word's in you..." Sometimes I have to say things that cuts me, especially sometimes to my sisters.
E-104 She was just an incubator that God used to bring the baby, 'cause if there was anything of that woman that belonged into that Boy, that Baby... That woman... You understand. You adults know what I mean. There had to be some kind of a conception, some kind of a sperm come from that woman, to just... Then it was absolutely like a sexual act with Almighty God: could not be. E-105 And some of you dear Catholic people make her a god, or goddess, queen of heaven. It's not right. No, it isn't. She was a good woman. Yes, sir. Exactly. But she was no more than any other woman that God chooses to use. He can use a woman for something else. He can use her any way. She was just an incubator, because that's what she was, to keep the seed warm, and so forth like that. And the life come into the baby. But the blood, the hemoglobin, we always know comes from the male sex. And He was the male, the Creator. E-106 She was neither Jew... the Baby was... Jesus was neither Jew nor Gentile. He was God. That's right. God Himself created a body that He dwelt in; that was His Son, Jesus Christ. That holy virgin birth brought forth this human being, immaculate conception by the Holy Ghost. Woman had nothing to do with it, neither egg nor blood cell. The man has the blood cell; the woman has the egg. And this way, it'd have to be some kind of a desire, and a conception to make something happen. And in that case it was nothing but overshadowing of the Holy Ghost, and God created in the woman. That's my Saviour. Without Him, we're all gone.
E-107 Now, some of you people here... You women, you--maybe Pentecostal women has been guilty of wearing immoral clothes, cutting your hair, doing things... I notice here in California, there's not too many of them--or, here in Arizona, rather... not too many of them are wearing makeup. That was fought against too. Well, there's nothing in the Bible to say for you not to wear makeup. We just know it's wrong, 'cause it's of the world. But there is a commandment in the Bible that a woman cuts her hair is a dishonorable person. And if it looks that way to God, and you say you got the Holy Ghost and doing so, something's wrong.
E-108 "Blessed is he that does all of His commandments, that he might have a right to enter into the Tree of Life." Guilty of the least is guilty of the whole. You know better. If you've got the Holy Spirit, It'll surely tell you better. It will tell you better if it's the Holy Spirit. E-109 Then if you know that something in you telling you you're wrong, then you know God's near you. But when you hear the Word so plain, and then you still set there and say, "I won't do it, that--that he don't know what he's talking about," and me quoting the Word right here (See?), then there's something wrong with what's in you. See? It same... But it's one thing: it's Satan, that's all. It's against God; it's against His rules; it's against His Word.
E-110 Someone said to me not long ago, a famous preacher, he said, "Brother Branham..." Called me into his room, laid hands on me, said, "You're going to ruin your ministry." E-111 Now, if you're smoking cigarettes, and so forth like that, and claiming you got the Holy Ghost, shame on you. You men... You say, "Why are you picking on the women?" You men that'll let your wives do that, oh, mister, and calling yourself a Christian, shame on you. I know this is rough, but brother, it's--it's trimming time. It's time for the Holy Ghost to come, take His bride. And if it don't line with His Word, then there's something wrong.
E-112 You who've fallen away, stay home on Wednesday nights, and won't come over here to church, watching television, and the other nights of church, think... You--you really say... And if you have to come to church you have to force yourself to do it, because you think it's a law you do it; you ought to do it, it's honorable to do it. And if you don't love to do it, there's something wrong. There's a Holy Spirit that makes you love to serve God.
E-113 Heavenly Father, now I have spoke Your Words as plain and clear and cutting as I knowed how. Not to be different, if that would be my attitude, Lord, I should be the one on the altar. But if I see someone, my brother or sister, drowning in an old leaking boat, and I don't scream to them, or rebuke them, or somehow to get them out of that condition, then I don't love them. I'm trying to get them out, Lord, so that they can be safe. E-114 I pray that You will manifest yourself tonight in such a way that the people will see that the Word that has been spoke... Men can say anything. But when God comes around and confirms His Word, proves that it is His Word, then we are then left without any excuse. I pray, Father, that You'll grant it tonight, and as soon as these people... Maybe many of them are sinners. Several raised up their hands as sinners. And I pray, Father, as soon as they see the manifestation, and trusting that You'll do it tonight, will show Yourself, that the end is here, the expected Son is soon to arrive to Abraham's seed, and that Sodom is to be burned. Someday there won't be one rock left upon another of Phoenix. The valley will be swept clean. In the city tonight where adultery, cocktail drinking, cigarette smoking mothers, daughters, dancing, twisting, carrying on, men living immorally, the sin of this city...
E-115 O God, but... I look down through it, and think what's the use of even trying? But then I look down through there and see a little light here and there, of consecrated Christians praying. All they that sigh and cry for the abomination that's did in the midst of the city, the Angel was commissioned to put a seal upon them and mark them. And they was the one who would not be destroyed. [Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.]
E-116 So sorry to keep you. We... I'm--I'm real late, and I--I don't... I'm supposed to be out... last... Every night I've got out around by ten o'clock at the latest. I wanted to get out tonight at nine-thirty. I didn't do it.
E-117 I believe that Jesus Christ is coming soon. I believe that He is the same Jesus yesterday, today, and forever. I believe that He said, "A little while and the world (cosmos, the world order) will see us no--will see Me no more. Yet ye shall see Me (ye, the church) for I (personal pronoun), I'll be with you, even in you to the end of the world. The works that I do shall you also." You believe that?
E-118 Jesus passed through a group of people one day, and they was hollering, "Rabbi, Rabbi, glad to have you over here, so-and-so." Jesus just walked on. E-119 Now, we got prayer cards give out. We give out half of them over there last night, half of them tonight. Did we start from the first last night? Did we start about the first fifteen to twenty last night, from 1 to so-and-so? What's it? What say? 1 to 20. All right. A lot of them are here tonight. Let's give some from the back side of it then. Let's start... Let's see, we've got fifteen minutes, let's give fifteen cards then. Let's see, that'd be 85 to a 100. Let's start from 85 to a 100. E-120 Who has prayer card 85? Raise up your hand. 85? A woman back there? Come up here, sister. 86? Who has 86? Right here. 87, 87? Somebody raise your hand, 87? This man? 87. 88, 88, 89, 89, 90. 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 95, 96, 97. 96, I didn't see it raise up. 96. Now, if you've got your card, come. See? 97, 98, 99, 100. All right. While these people... One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, there's about eight missing.
E-121 Now, listen. It's true; don't come up here with sin hanging on your life. You'd better confess it out there to God. But if--if you have--if you've confessed your sins, come ahead. How many out there doesn't have a prayer card and you want Jesus to heal you? Raise your hand. How many would believe if Jesus Christ would do--if He... How many believes this? E-122 Well, if He's a High Priest that can be touched by the feeling of our infirmities... Now, how did He... If He's the same yesterday, today, and forever, then how did He act when somebody touched Him with the feeling of their infirmities? The little woman with the blood issue, who touched Him because she had a need to be touched, He turned, and looked around until He found her, and called her. Is that right? Is that right, brethren? Now, if He's the same High Priest, He will have to act in the same way, because He's--He is the High Priest. Is that right? Well, He will have to act the same way.
E-123 Now, you don't need prayer cards. No, you don't need the prayer card. The only thing that you need is to have faith in God. You have faith and just believe with all your heart that Jesus Christ heals the sick and the afflicted, and He will certainly will do it.
E-124 Heavenly Father, now I have said what Your Word said, forsaking all to follow You. Those who forsook all got to see You. And no matter what You would do, those who will not forsake sin and follow will never be able to understand. Those who do forsake sin, unbelief... E-125 Now, now, let me just look a moment. Now, we're just going to take our time for just a few minutes just very few, about ten minutes. Do you love Him? Do you believe Him? Do you believe these things that I have read you out of the Word tonight is the truth? Do you believe Jesus did that when He was on the earth? Do you believe He promised it? Do you believe we're in the last days? Now, that's His promise. He must live it. "If ye abide in Me, My words abide in you, then ask what you will. It'll be done for you." Now, your motive and objective has to be right. You have to believe that with all your heart.
E-126 Now, I don't believe that there's a person in the prayer line that I know. We're strangers. I'm a stranger, out there strangers. All of you that know that I know nothing about you, you that's in this little bitty prayer line here, raise up your hand, knows I know nothing about you. All right. All out there that knows that I don't know you, or know nothing about you, raise up your hand, just see. There you are. Then it's a hidden affair.
E-127 They never know who is going to be in the prayer line, 'cause we can't tell that. A lot of times we take them down there... When I first started out, we had a man down there selling prayer cards. Somebody said, "I'll give you five hundred dollars to put my wife in the line," See?
E-128 So it's infallibly the Lord Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever. E-129 This woman standing right here, this is a picture again, as I said last night, of St. John 4. Here's a man and a woman meets for the first time in life. And it was at a little bench... If you was ever over there in Samaria outside of Sychar there, there's the little well. There's a little panoramic, vines over the side of it like that. That's where the woman set, talked to Jesus. A man and woman met for the first time, and He told that woman what her trouble was. Her trouble was, she was sinful.
E-130 It might be her. She might be a sinner; she might be a hypocrite; she might be a saint. She might want healing for her body; she might want healing for somebody else. She might have finances. She... I don't know what she's here for. I just can't tell you. She's just standing there, a woman; that's all. That's the truth. We've never met.
E-131 By faith are you saved. By faith you accept your salvation. And anybody comes around and tells you they got healing power, and they can heal you, you be--you stay plumb clear of that, 'cause it's not... Healing power is in Christ already a finished work.
E-132 Now, looky here. This--this microphone, if there wasn't a live voice here to speak into it, it would be a perfect mute. Is that right? Now, look--listen close, so you won't miss it now. This case, if God will do it, will settle it. Now, this microphone can no more speak than nothing, because it ain't got nothing to speak with. Is that right? Now, the only way that microphone can speak, is for something to speak into it. | ||||||