^287-1 ... night and to hear Joyce sing... Did you know that that's a miracle in itself? That little girl, how can she think of all that? And each night she has us a new one. How she can think of all that, that's a--really a little mastermind. The Lord bless that child.

^287-2 Now, tomorrow at 2:30, at the funeral home in Charlestown, Indiana, our dear departed sister, Sister Colvin, we give her the last respects to her at the--at the funeral home and at the grave tomorrow afternoon: one who once lived as you are tonight and is passed beyond the veil where you will sometime. And all who wish to attend the service, why, is welcome to come. It'll certainly be a great help to the Colvin family to know that the Tabernacle here, where they have all went to church for so long and so forth, will... We'd be glad to have you come up. And I think the--our dear Brother McKinney, the one that preached my brother's funeral, many years ago, has the main part of the funeral, and I've been asked to come and help him in the--in the funeral services.

^287-3 Now, I was just a little late tonight. I got so many irons in the fire, I don't know which way to go. There's so many calls, and there's wrecks and accidents, and people calling, coming to... Just left Louisville a few moments ago to get back here quickly, and leaving several calls that's real strenuous and must be made, I guess, yet tonight. And now, pray for us as we go along.

^287-4 And this morning I--I never did get to my--my text, to the 7th chapter of the Book of--of--of Hebrews. And while we're turning to it tonight, I want to make the announcement about Brother Graham Snelling's meeting, up at the tent up here at the end of Brigham Avenue. If the Lord willing, I want to be back Wednesday night. And there we'll set a certain night that we're going to go up as a delegation, this week sometime, to visit Brother Graham in the meeting. And he's a--says having a nice crowd and--and he'll appreciate us coming for this help. Brother Graham Snelling, any of you's attending the meeting, or wish to, it's just at the end of Brigham Avenue up here. Anyone can tell you where it's at, right at the end of the playgrounds the tent's setting. He appreciates your cooperation. Because we as a Tabernacle have pledged our cooperation with him a hundred percent, so we're trying to help.

^288-5 Now, then soon we're coming down to the place of, the Lord willing, to the 11th chapter of Hebrews in a few nights, if God willing, and there I think we're going to have a great time also.
And, oh, the Lord blessed us this morning in a marvelous way: how He did pour out His Spirit upon us. And now, tonight we're expecting Him to do it again; and then Wednesday night and on... And--and the nights that I miss, Brother Neville will be here to pick it right up if I'm out.

^288-7 I never know what I'm going to do; you might be here this hour and another hour be called to California. See, you don't know just where the Lord will send. That's the reason it's hard for me to make itineraries and say we'll--we'll do so-and-so. I can start to do a certain thing; the Lord send me somewhere else. See? So we don't know just what He'll do. "But if the Lord is willing," we said. And I think we're commissioned, or commanded that in the Bible: "If the Lord is willing, we'll do so-and-so things." So if we don't happen to make the appointments that we--or fulfill the appointments, we feel that maybe the Lord wasn't willing for it to happen.

^288-8 The other day we were detained, Brother Roberson, and Brother Wood, and myself. And we wondered why. I was setting there looking at a map, coming right down, and we drove fifty miles right straight back north again on a road. And I've been traveling on the highway since I was about fourteen years old. And I wonder how I ever done it. We were standing there, all three of us (We've all traveled the highways.), looking right at a map, keeping on "130" coming through Illinois, and made a little slight turn, not noticing that the sun was behind us instead of front of us; we was going north instead of south. And first thing you know, crossed a road, I said, "This ain't the right road." Looked down there, and come to find out, we were fifty miles out of the way, gone right straight back...?...
Then when we come back, we were--we were talking. I said, "You know why? We... The Lord might've bypassed us this way to keep from having a horrible accident down here somewhere, that might've done something otherwise. We know that all things work together for good to them that love the Lord. That's all we have to keep on mind."

^289-10 Now, tonight, we're starting now for a little teaching lesson. And if I'm... I don't think we'll get down (maybe we will tonight) to... This is the great chapter of teaching on tithing to the church. And it's a great subject, which we could stay on it for weeks and weeks, on that one thing: how Abraham paid tithes to Melchisedec and whether it's essential.

^289-11 Is this fan hurting anybody back there? Would you rather have it off? If it's hurting anybody, blowing in their face, any of the fans, if it is, just raise your hands. And--or just send one of the ushers, send someone up to the brother here, he'll snap it off for you. And I kinda keep it off of myself; I get hot and I get to sweating, then the first thing you know, I--I'm hoarse. So it's on you, so it won't bother me in any way. We want you to be comfortable now. We're not going to try to take too much of your time, but just going to look straight into the Word. And before we do it, let's speak to the Author just a moment.

^289-12 Now, heavenly Father, we do not know what's in store. But only thing that we do know, and are persuaded, that good things lay before us. For it's written, "Eye has not seen, nor ear has heard; neither has it entered into the hearts of men, what God has for them in store that love Him."
And we pray that You'll open the windows of heaven tonight in Your storehouse, and give us Thy Word that will be something that's suitable, something to increase our faith as Christians, and make us more--more settled on the Gospel than what we were when we come in. Grant it, Father. May the Holy Spirit take the Word of God and deliver It to each heart as we have need. In Jesus' Name we pray, Thy beloved Son. Amen.

^289-14 Now, this morning, in leaving the last verse for the 6th chapter, so we can go right into the 7th.

^290-17 You know, out in Arizona we used to prospect. And we'd get into a suitable looking piece of ground, Mr. McAnally and myself, and we would see a place where it looked like--in the little ditches where--a little drain, what they call "washes." And I'd... He'd get me down and make me rub the sand and [Brother Branham blows--Ed.] blow it, then rub and [Brother Branham blows--Ed.] blow it. And I wondered why he did that. Come to find out (You see?), when you're blowing sand, it light. And all, even to lead is lighter than gold. Gold is heavier than lead. So when you're blowing, all the rest of the metals and sands and dirt will blow away, but gold will remain on the ground. Therefore, if you got some washings from up in here, it shows there's a streak of gold somewhere up in there, that this rain has washed these little pieces out. So then we'd get the picks and so forth, and dig the hill up almost, trying to find this gold, bore holes in the ground, dig them out, set dynamite, blow it down, keep on blowing shafts, going down till we found--to find the main vein. Now, that's what we call prospecting.

^290-18 And tonight we're trying to take the Word of God and use It by the power of the Holy Spirit to blow all the indifference and doubts away from us, all those little light fluffy things that just doesn't have any foundation, doesn't have any weight in our life; we want to blow it all away so we can find this glorious Vein. That Vein is Christ.
And now, may God help us as we read and study in His Word. And the last previous three chapters almost, we've been speaking of hearing, just now and then, Melchisedec.

^291-20 Now, I think Paul gives the right interpretation.

^291-22 Now, let's see, get His genealogy a little further, to see where we're going.

^292-23 Now, now if you'll notice, as we read the next verse. See?

^292-25 Now, notice.

^292-28 Now, when Melchisedec was on earth, He was nothing in the world but the--the Jehovah God made manifest by creation; He was here like a theophany. Abraham met Him once in his tent. And as we said this morning, Abraham recognized Him. And He told Abraham what He was going to do, because He was not going to leave the heir of the world blind to the things that He was going to do.
May I stop here for a minute to say God still has the same opinion about His Church. You're not children of darkness; you're children of Light. And the... We who... "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." And would the God Who acted to--to Abraham who was to inherit the earth... And He said, "I will not keep these things back from the man that's going to inherit the earth." How much more will He reveal His secrets to His Church that's going to inherit the earth.

^293-30 Daniel said, "In that day they'd run to and fro; knowledge shall increase." And he said, "The wise shall know their God in that day, and shall do great exploits in that day." But the wicked will not know the God of heaven. They know Him in a form and in a ritual like our first lesson said, but they don't know Him by the way of perfection. And God can only work through perfection, because He's perfect. Blessed be His Name. It has to be a perfect channel that God works through, 'cause He can do nothing else but work through perfection. He can't stain Himself in any way.

^293-31 And then, that's why Jesus came to take away our sins, that we might be perfected, that God could work through His Church. There's where the secret lays. There's where the world's blind. There's where they want to say that you've lost your mind. There's where they want to say, "You don't know what you're talking about." Because the things of the Lord is foolish to the wisdom of this world. But the things of the world is carnal to the believer. So you're a different person; you're living in a different sphere. You're not no more of this world; you've passed from this life into a new Life.
Therefore, God reveals, not to the world, not to the psychologist, not to the educated ministers, but to the humble in heart. His people who is meek, He will reveal the secrets of the great things of God to them. You see it?

^293-33 Now--now, Abraham was to inherit the world. Through the Abraham's Seed was all nations to be blessed. So God came down and talked to him in the form of a Man. Now, God has always been on the earth. God has never left the earth. If He'd ever leave the earth, I don't know what the--would become of it. But God has always been here in some form. Oh, praise His Name.
He was with the children in the wilderness of--coming out of Egypt in the form of a Light. He spoke to Abraham in the form of a Man. He spoke to Moses in the form of a Man. He spoke to the Church in the form of a Man, His Son Christ Jesus. And He's speaking through His Church today through the anointed Church of the living God, through vessels of clay, "Ye are the branches; I am the Vine." God's still speaking, and the world sees Jesus as you present Him. That's how the world's... You are written epistles read of all men. Your life tells what you are.

^294-35 Now, this Abraham on his road returning back... We're going to go back and read about Him just a few moments in the Book of Genesis. In the 14th chapter of Genesis, I believe it is. Oh, how beautiful the story is here.
Now, we all know of Abraham, how that God called him out of the land of Chaldea and the city of Ur and told him to separate himself from his associates.
God calls men or women; He calls a separation. Now, that's what's the trouble with the churches today; they don't want to separate themselves from the old carnal believe--unbelievers. That's why we can't go any further. We just get in that one carnal flow, and we--we say, "Oh, Jim's a good guy if he does drink. If he... And I go with him to the pool room, but I don't play pool. I--I--I go with her over to the party; they tell dirty jokes and so forth, but I don't tell any."
Come out from among them. That's right. Separate yourself. "Touch not the unclean things, and I will receive you," saith the Lord. Be not yoked up with unbelievers, unequally yoked together. Don't you do it. Separate yourself.

^294-38 And God called Abraham to separate himself from all of his kindreds and to walk with Him. Brother, sometimes it means leaving a church. It meant that to Paul; he had to leave his church; meant that to many. Sometimes it means to leave home. Sometimes it means to leave father, mother and forsake all. I don't mean to say it does every time, but sometimes it does. It means that you've got to take everything between you and God, and walk with Him alone. Oh, that blessed, sweet communion, that fellowship that you have when you separate your thing--selves from the things of the world and the carnal believers who's making fun of you, and walk alone with Christ.

^294-39 How many times that I've thanked God. He said, "I'll give you fathers and mothers in this present world. I'll give you friends and associates. And I'll never for--leave you; neither will I forsake you. Though the whole world turns its back on you, I'll go with you e--to the end of the way."
What a blessed privilege that man has that challenge to follow the Lord Jesus, to separate himself from all his carnal associates to follow the Lord. And if any person seems not to behave themself rightly and to present themselves as Christians but love the carnal things, it's best for you to hunt another partner right away. That's right. And if no one will walk with you, there's One Who promised to walk with you: that's the blessed Lord Jesus. He will walk with you.

^295-41 God told Abraham to "Separate yourself." And just as human as Abraham was, he took his daddy along; He took his brother's son along, his nephew, all hanging on him. And God never did bless him until he did what God told him to do.
I don't say that you're not a Christian. That... I don't unchristianize anyone, but I'll say this: that if God told you something to do, He'll never bless you until you do it. I'm in the pulpit tonight with one of those things holding over me. My meetings hasn't been what they should been for the past two years. It's because I failed the Lord. I... He told me to go to Africa and then to India. Here it is written right here in the back of this book right now.
And the manager called me, said, "Let them Afrikaans go, India's ready."
The Holy Spirit met me, said, "You'll go to Africa like I told you to."
And another year passed. And the managers... I forgot about It. He said, "We're going to India; tickets is already here."
I started off, forgot it till I got to Lisbon. One night that... I thought I was dying. The next morning I was started to go over to the bathroom to take a bath. Oh, I was so sick, I could hardly stand up. There that Light hanging there in the bathroom, said, "I thought I told you to go to Africa first."

^295-47 My meetings has been slowly failing since that time. Though I went to India with nearly a half a million standing there, but that wasn't doing what God said do. And I feel that my meetings will never be a success until I go right straight back and make that thing right. No matter what I do, it's Africa first, 'cause you've got to do it. There lays God's eternal Word laying there. I knew better than that. But I've got to go back. And I feel that this coming year is the time I'll crawl out of the shell by the help of the Lord.
This glorious old Gospel who's been growing easy like a oak tree, but I believe she's about ready to spread forth her branches now. I believe It. This great Message and great thing, I believe that the Lord let us shake the world again for the glory of God.

^296-49 You've got to do what God told you to do. And Abraham went right on, took his folks with him, He loved them, that's the human part. But after while, by and by his father died, and he buried him. Then he had his nephew, and then quarrels and arguments come up. And finally Lot took his choice and went down into Sodom. And you noticed Abraham, he didn't fuss with Lot; he said, "We are brethren; we must not argue. But you lift up your head and you go any way you want to go. If you go east, I'll go west. If you go north, I'll go south." That's the Christian attitude: be willing to give the other man the best of the deal. Always present it to him; let him take his choice.
For why? What made Abraham do it? He knew that he was promised by God that he'd inherit the whole thing anyhow. Amen. So then a tent or a cottage, why should we care? The whole thing belongs to us. "Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth." It all belongs to us. God said so. So give the man the best of the choice if he wants to; maybe that's all he'll ever get. But it all belongs to you, the heirs of salvation by promise. It's all yours.

^296-51 So Sarah, the most beautiful woman in the land, she set up there on the hillside with her husband like she should have done. She plain, well, might have wore plain calico dresses, ever what you want to call it, while Mrs. Lot dressed up like a millionaire. And her husband was the mayor of the city; he was a judge that set in the gate. She had everything, attended all the sewing circles and card parties that there was went on in Sodom and Gomorrah. But Sarah was more pleased to live with her husband on meager fare and know that she was in the will of God, than to enjoy the riches of--or the pleasure of riches for a season. That's right. That's when God visit.

^297-52 One day, you, just as sure as you take the wrong road, it's going to catch up with you someday. You might think you'll get all right. You might think you're getting by, but you're not. It may seem like it's all covered over, but it isn't covered over. God knows everything. He knows whether you really mean your confession or not. He knows whether you really mean that you believe Him and are saved, and accepted Him, and you are dead to the things of the world, and you're alive in Christ. He knows that.

^297-53 Now, we notice Abraham; I want you to notice this real spirit. Oh, the whole blessed thing here is grace. I want you to read with me now from the 14th chapter of Exodus, just a moment.
Now, the first thing taken place when they got down there, Lot got in trouble. Why? He was out of the will of God. And if you're get in trouble when you're in the will of God, God will help you out. But if you're in trouble out of the will of God, there's only one thing to do: get back in the will of God again.

^297-55 Now, the kings all drew themselves together, and they figured that the plains down there was well watered, and they'd just go down and take this little old Sodom and Gomorrah, and take it over. And they did. And when they went down and took it over, they took Lot with them.
I want you to notice the Spirit of Christ here in Abraham. Now notice the 14th verse.

^298-58 I want you to notice the next verse, how sweet here the Spirit speaks through him. All right, the 15th verse now...

^298-60 What a beautiful picture of Christ, Who heard from heaven that we were lost and came and pursued the enemy all the way to hell, and captured the lost souls, and brought us back, and restored us to everything that we had before the fall, we backsliders, we that was born to be sons of God, that's perverted into the sons of the Devil, and made--went after the things of the world, and done wrong, and run greedily like Lot did, selling out our birthrights, and going after the things of the world. Christ came down. Though fallen... God knowing in the beginning who would be saved and who would not, therefore come down and pursued the enemy through life, through death, through paradise, into hell. And all the way from glory to hell, and took over the--the powers of hell, and the keys away from the Devil, and rose again, and restored to mankind that he can be sons and daughters of God again.
See the Spirit in Abraham there, the Spirit of Christ, coming with him?

^298-62 Now, I want you to notice a little further as we read.

^299-65 Now, let's turn again, to Matthew 26:26, right quick, and see what Jesus said here about that. In the Book of Matthew, the 26th chapter and also the 26th verse, we want to read just a little bit here. All right, Matthew 26:26...

^299-67 See that Melchisedec? Hundreds of years before, when He met Abraham after the battle was over, He gave bread and wine. And here Jesus gives the disciples, after His hard battle was over, He gave them bread and wine. Watch. Watch the future coming.

^299-68 We are in the battle now. We're after our fallen brother, that God, before the foundation of the world, saw and predestinated unto Eternal Life. And the things of the world's got him caught up in a whirlwind. He's out into societies and classes, him and his wife, walking up and down the streets, smoking and drinking and carousing, trying to find peace. And the Spirit of Christ in us, as it would be in Abraham, we're gone after him. With all the armors of God, the Angels of God encamped about, we're gone to bring back our fallen brother.

^300-69 And when the battle is finally ended, we will meet Melchisedec again (Bless God), Who blessed Abraham there, and gave him the blessing, and give him bread and wine, the communion. And when the battle's over, we'll meet Him. We who are the heirs of the promise of Abraham, joint heirs with Christ in the Kingdom, shall meet Him at the end of the road and take bread and wine again when the battle's over.
Who is this Melchisedec? The One that had no father, had no mother, had no beginning of days or the ending of life, He'll be there to give the communion again. You get it?

^300-71 When we pull up... On the certain nights when we come together and take communion from the hands of the ministers, representing that we believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus, that that veil, His body that He was inveiled in, God... We take it as a representative we're dead to the things of the world, and been borned anew of the Spirit. And we walk with the body of Christ, all the believers together.
When the great battle is finished, and we come up again with Christ, we'll take the communion with Him in the Kingdom of God anew, and eat the flesh, and drink the blood of the grape again in the Kingdom of God. Oh, there's Melchisedec. That's Who He was.

^300-73 Now, let's read just a little further about Him here, and the 18th verse.

^301-74 Now, I want you to notice here as Paul goes on, giving a background for the coming lesson now.

^301-75 Now, I want you to notice. Abraham said, "I'll not take from a thread to a shoelatch." He didn't fight the war to make a lot of money. And real true battles are not made with selfish motives. Wars are not fought for money. Wars are fought for--for motives, for principles. Men fight war for principles. And when Abraham went out to get Lot, he didn't go out because he knowed he could whip the kings and take all their possession; he went out for the principle of saving his brother.
And any minister that's sent out under the inspiration of the King of heaven, will not go for money; neither will he go to make big churches; neither will he go to inspire denominations. He'll only go for one principle, and that is, to bring back his fallen brother. Whether he gets a dime in the offering or whether he doesn't, it won't make a bit of difference to him.
As I say, "Real wars are fought and waged for principles and not for money." And men and women who join church and come into church to be popular, because the Joneses belong there, or they change their church from a little church to a big church, you're doing it for a selfish motive and the right principle's not behind it. You should be willing to stand at the battle front.

^302-78 In this Tabernacle here, when things go wrong and you men and you women will run and go over somewhere else, or lay out till the little fuss or the stew is over, there's something wrong with your experience. That's right.
We have a custom here. We have a--we have a order here; this church is based upon the principles of the Bible. If there's somebody in here not doing right, and you think they're not, you go to him and talk to him. If you can't reconcile him, then take some brother with you, one or two more. If he won't be reconciled then, then tell it to the church; and the church will dismiss him, have no more fellowship with him. And Jesus said, "Whatever you loose on earth, I'll loose in heaven."
That's the reason you have so much troubles, because you don't follow the Bible principles. If somebody in the church is causing a disturbance, or something going wrong, it's not your duty to go talk about that man or that woman. It's your duty to go to that man or woman and tell him his error. And if he won't hear you, take some other one with you. If he won't hear that, then the church looses him. Jesus said, "What you loose on earth, I'll loose in heaven. What you bind on earth, I'll bind in heaven." That's the power of the church.

^302-81 Here not long ago, a good, preacher friend of mine, he had a boy. And that boy had been going to church, his own church. He got to a place where he started running around with a little old girl who smoked and drank and carried on. Preacher said, "Of course, that's his business." A very bosom friend of mine, and a nice boy... But he got all infatuated with the--some young woman. And she'd been married, had some children; her husband was living. He was afraid they was going to have--that boy would marry her. So the brother was all tore up, and he said to me, "Brother Branham, I want you to go to this certain-certain boy of mine; I want you to talk to him."

^302-82 I said, "Brother,..." I almost called his name. "You have a better way; don't send me. If the boy's not living up, and the church has saw him doing wrong, then it's the thing for the church to do this business. That's left with the church, and the church goes over and tells him."
So he took a brother, and went over and told him. And he got back at the brother, let him know that he was attending to his own business, for him to do the same. He took another brother, two more (two deacons), went over and told the boy. He wouldn't listen to it. They told it to the church. And he never come for several nights to be reconciled to the church after his sin was told before the church, then the church loosed him.
And about a month from then he was stricken down with pneumonia, and the doctor said, "There's not a chance in the world for him to live." Then he crawled back. God knows how to do it.
We try to do it in ourselves, "Oh, you ought to kick so-and-so out of church. You ought to do this, that, or the other." Have you done your part as a church towards it? There you are. That's the way to make them crawl back: turn them over to the Devil one time.

^303-86 What'd Paul say about this man down there was living with his stepmother? They couldn't get him reconciled, said, "Turn him over to the Devil." Watch what happens then in the next letter Paul wrote; this man had got straightened out. Sure, God has a way of doing these things, if we'll just follow His rules.
If something goes wrong in the church, if it's amongst the congregation, each one of you brothers that's on the deacon board... One of you deacons don't behave, the other deacons come and have a meeting, try to reconcile the brother; tell him what he's doing, or one of you members, whatever you are. Then it's to be brought before him. If he won't do it, then come tell the pastor. Then he's loosed from the church, and then let him be as a heathen and a Publican. Then watch the Lord go to work on him (See?); that's when he comes back to himself; that's when he goes to crawling in. But we try and do it ourself, you know, try to do the--everything the way we should do it. Now, we never make a success.

^303-88 Now, this Melchisedec, the King of Salem, Prince of the--Priest of the Most High, met Abraham and blessed him. And gave Him his tithings, Abraham did. And He was the King of Salem. And He brought out bread and wine, the communion, and gave it to Abraham after the battle (after the men had been won over).

^304-89 Now, "All wars," as I say, "are fought for principles." Now, if you have a little war in church, it must be the right principle. You must be fighting for the right thing. And each member of the church is supposed to do that. Now, this teaching is for the church. That's what we're here for; that's what I'm standing here for; that's what God's Word's for, is for the church.
Don't never let nothing hinder this church; if it does, you're guilty each one of you. And you in your different churches, if something's going wrong in your church, you're guilty, because you're the overseer of that church. It ain't up to the pastor; it ain't up to the deacon board; it's up to you, you individual, to go to that brother and see if you can have him reconciled. If not, then take two or three with you, then come back. If he won't hear that, tell it to the church. Then he's dismissed from the Kingdom of God. God said, "If you dismiss him there, I'll dismiss him here; if you've went through this order." Then He'll turn the Devil loose to him for the construction--destruction of his flesh. And then he'll come back. That's right. That's the way to make him come back. If he's a child of God, he will come back. If he isn't, why--why, he'll go on, and then the Devil will send him on to his eternal place.

^304-91 Now, the motives of it... If you just get it in for somebody, then that's different. But if the man is guilty... And Lot had went down and had backslid, though he was a Hebrew. He'd went down and was backslid. He was in grace, but he had fallen from it. And when he went out... And Lot--Lot was saved. Don't never think that Lot wasn't saved; he was. Because all the time when he was in the wrong place, the Bible said that the sins of Sodom vexed his righteous soul daily. Now, his flesh was doing one thing. And what was his end? He brought more disgrace; his wife turned to a pillar of salt; he had children by his daughters. So you can see what a disgrace it brought, because he had fallen from grace and never restored himself back again. And God had to take him out of the earth.
But still he was a fallen brother, and Abraham done all that he could do to bring him back again. And the Spirit was in Abraham, is the Spirit of Christ that's in the church today. No matter what the brother's done, you'll do all you can to bring him back into the fellowship of Christ again. No matter what he's done, you'll try hard.

^305-93 Now, we want to notice here now again, as we go on with this lesson of this Melchisedec, this great Priest of Salem, and the Possessor of heavens and earth. Now, being first...

^305-94 Now, this body that He had, He'd created; it had not been brought through a woman. So with that created body, He could not... Somebody... He'd made Hisself to reveal Himself. No man can see God at any time; God is a spirit. Mortal eyes doesn't see those things, 'less it's in a form like the Pillar of Fire, or whatever it was, or in the form of some being that they seen by vision. But the... God has to reveal Himself through some way. And God revealed Himself to Abraham in the form of a Man. He revealed Himself to Moses in a form of a Man. He revealed Himself to the children of Israel in a form of a Pillar of Fire. He revealed Himself unto John the Baptist in the form of a dove. You see, He revealed Himself in those forms. When He was revealing Himself in the form of a man as the King of Salem, of Jerusalem, not of the earthly Jerusalem, but the heavenly Jerusalem... He revealed Himself in that form; He was made like unto the Son of God.

^305-95 Now, the Son of God had to come through a woman to be created here by the--the womb of a woman, because through that same thing come death.
And He could not come through creation like God did at the beginning. When God made man at the beginning, woman had nothing to do with it. God just said, "Let there be," and a man came from the dust; He called him without any woman to have anything to do with it.
But the woman that then was in the man... And God took the woman out of Adam's side. Is that right? And then woman went and brought man through sex. So the only way that God could do... He couldn't come in that theophany. He couldn't come as Melchisedec. He had to come as a man, and He had to come through the woman, "Thy Seed shall bruise the serpent's head, and his head will bruise your heel." Get it? God had to come through a woman; and He did when He dwelt in His body of His Son Christ Jesus. God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself. And He offered His Own Blood as a sacrifice, and gave His life, that through the channel of death, He might save you unto Eternal Life.

^306-98 So God came then, and He was made like unto the Son of God. See, He was a Man made like the Son of God. Now, He couldn't be the Son of God, because this Man is eternal.
The Son of God had a beginning; He had an end. He had a--a time of his birth; He had a time of His death. He had both beginning and end. He had both father and mother.
This man had neither father nor mother, beginning or end of time. But He was made... This Man Melchisedec was made like the Son of God.

^306-101 Now, the Son of God, when He was come in the world, in a form of a woman--or through a woman in man's form, and was killed, raised up again on the third day, rose for our justification, now He abides forever. And as long as that body abides, we abide too. And because He raised up from the dirt, we'll be raised up in His likeness. There's the Gospel story. Blessed be the Name of the Lord. Not Angels, not supernatural beings, not a bunch of feathers to flock around, but men and women (Amen.) stand in His likeness. Yes, sir.

^306-102 As I've often told this, I say it again here at this time; it seems suitable. I was combing, about this five or six hairs that I have left, and my wife said, "Billy, you're getting baldheaded."
I said, "But I haven't lost one of them."
She said, "Where are they at?"
I said, "Tell me where they was before I got them; I'll tell you where they are waiting for me." That's right.
I used to be as--a fighter, pugilist. I was strong and big. And I felt if you'd set this church on my back, I'd walk down the street with it. I'll tell you, when I get up of a morning now, I realize there's forty-something years has passed. See, I'm not what I used to be; I'm failing every day. As I look at my hands and think, "Looky here, well, I'm getting a old man." I look at my shoulders. I see I've gained a lot of weight; I used to wear a twenty-eight on a belt; I wear a thirty now. See, I'm getting old, fat, dwindling away.

^307-107 What is it? I eat the same thing I used to eat; I live cleaner and better than I used to live, the same thing. But God has appointed a time for me, and I must receive it. But the blessed thought is that at that day He'll raise me up again. And everything that I was when I was twenty-five years old, I'll be again forever. Amen. There you are. What does old age bother me? I'll beat the Devil out of that for years and years, knowing this, that I believe Him. This little span's just a little short thing anyhow. If we only stayed three score and ten, seventy years old, our promised time, what--what's that but misery and sorrow. What is it? Would you swap this pesthouse for that glorious thing yonder?

^307-108 Why, blessed be the Name of the Lord. Something on the inside of me met that Melchisedec one day, and He spoke peace to me and He give me Eternal Life. And this life means nothing but a tabernacle to preach the Gospel through. I say this with all sincerity, with these two Bibles laying open before me: if my God was through with me preaching the Gospel, and I could do no more for Him, my children was old enough to take care of themselves, and He wants to take me right now, "Amen." That settles it. Yes, sir.

^307-109 What difference does it make if I'm eighty or if I'm twenty? I'm only here for one thing: to serve the Lord. That's all. If I can still preach the Gospel like I do now when I'm eighty, what difference does it make whether I'm forty or eighty? There's a many man eighty years old tonight. And there's a lot of children will die, when an eighty-year old man will outlive a-many one of them. What difference does it make? It's your motives, your principles, and we're here to serve the Lord Jesus (That's all.) knowing this, that this life is a vapor that a man speaks about, that once was, and then is not. But if we have Eternal Life, God's promised He'll raise us up again. And we'll take the communion with Him when the days are over, and when He say, "Enter into the joys of the Lord that's been prepared for you since the foundation of the world."

^307-111 Then what difference does it make here, whether we have anything or whether we don't? Whether we're young or whether we're old, what difference does it make? The main thing, are you ready to meet Him? Do you love Him? Can you serve Him? Have you sold out to the things of the world? Have you met Melchisedec since the battle was over?
Bless God. About twenty-one years old I was, and one day I had a battle with this, that, and the other; I couldn't make out whether I wanted to be a fighter, or whether I wanted to be a trapper, or a hunter, what I wanted to be. But I met Melchisedec, and He give me communion, and since then it was settled forever. Hallelujah. I've went on His side. I've been rejoicing on the road. And when it comes to the end of the road, and death stares me in the face, the way I feel now, I'll never dread it. I want to know--walk into the face of it, knowing this, that I know Him Who's made the promise (That's right.), that I know Him in the power of His resurrection. When He calls from among the dead, I'll come out from among them (That's right.), knowing Him in the power of His resurrection. What difference does it make whether I'm old or whether I'm young? whether I'm little or whether I'm big? whether I'm full or whether I'm hungry? whether I got a place to lay down or whether I haven't?
"The birds has the nests, and the fox have dens, but the Son of man has not a place to lay His head," but He was the King of glory.

^308-114 We're kings and priests tonight. What difference does it make whether we have or whether we haven't? As long as we got God, we're more than conquerors. We are more than conquerors. We set in the Presence of God in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, taking spiritual communion from the hand of Him that testified, "I was He that was dead, and alive again, and I'm alive forevermore." Setting together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, O blessed be His holy Name. What difference does it make?

^308-115 I met Him one day when I come from the battle. I laid my trophies down. I ain't fought a battle since then. He fights them for me. I just rest upon His promise, knowing this, that I know Him in the power of His resurrection. That's all that matters. What else does matter?
What can we do? "Why taking thought can add one cubit to your statue? What do you care whether your hair's curly or whether you got any or not? What difference does it make? If you're old, if you're gray, if you're stoop-shouldered, if you're not, what difference does it make? Amen. This is just for a spell, a little space, but that's forever and forever. And as aeons of time roll on, and the ages roll on, you'll never change, and you're... through His ceaseless eternal ages. What difference does it make?
I'm so glad I met Him. I'm so glad He give me communion one day, that same Melchisedec that met Abraham coming from the slaughter of the kings. Certainly. The God of heaven, the Elohim, the Great I AM, not the I was, the I AM (present tense). "And He blessed him."

^309-118 Listen here just a little further, so we can get the lesson a little closer together. Now, the 4th verse...

^309-120 Now, watch this if you want to see something.

^310-122 Listen.

^310-124 Now.

^311-128 If you'd take it over to like in Jeremiah 1:4, God said, "I knew you before you was even formed in your mother's womb. And I sanctified you and ordained you a prophet to the nations." Then what can you say that you did? What can I say that I did? It's God that showeth mercy. God knew us before the foundation of the world.
He's not willing that any should perish. Certainly not. But if He's God, He knowed who would be saved and who wouldn't be saved, or He didn't know anything. If He didn't know... If He didn't know who'd make the rapture before the world was ever formed, then He's not God. If He's infinite, He'd... He knowed every flea, every fly, every louse, every chigger that would ever be on the earth before the earth was ever formed. That's right. He knew all things. Before the foundation of the world, He knew us. The Bible said that He knew us and predestinated us.

^311-130 Let's settle this just once. Let's go back to Ephesians the 1st chapter, the 5th chap--the 1st chapter of Ephesians, just a moment. I want to read here just a minute, so that you can really understand that it's not just what--something that I'm trying to tell you; it's something God's trying to tell you. See? Now, listen to this real close, 1st chapter of Ephesians.

^312-131 Who did it? God did it. God knowed from the beginning who would be saved and who wouldn't be saved. Certainly, He was not willing for any to perish. But He didn't send Jesus here just to see if you'd--you'd act like, "Well, poor Jesus, I feel sorry for Him; maybe I'd better get saved and prove it." No, sir.
God knowed in the beginning who would and who would not. So therefore, He knew that some would; so He sent Jesus to make a propitiation for those that He foreknew. For those who He foreknew, He has called; and those who He has called, He has justified; and those who He has justified, He hath (past tense) glorified. There you are.

^312-133 So it's not you that keeps yourself; it's the grace of God that keeps you. You didn't save yourself, or nothing you've done to deserve being saved; it's God's grace that saved you. God's grace called you. God's foreknowledge knew you. He knew that you'd be in this church this night before the foundation of the world was ever laid. He's infinite. If He isn't, He isn't God. If He did know all things, He was God. If He didn't know all things, He wasn't God. If He's Almighty God, He can do all things; if He cannot do all things, He's not Almighty God. There you are.

^312-134 So how can you say it's something you could do? It's nothing you can do. It's God's love and grace to you, that you're even here. Nothing you could do, God called you by His grace; you listened, heard, accepted.
"Well," you say, "Brother Branham, that makes it awful loose." Certainly, it does. You're free. "Well, that fellow can do anything he wants to." Absolutely. I always do what I want to do, but if you're a Christian, you don't want to do wrong.

^312-136 There's a little old girl setting back there tonight, my wife; I love her with all that's in me. And if I knowed that I could run around with another woman and get by with it, and go tell her, and say, "Meda, I did wrong," you think I'd do it? If I love her right, I won't do it. That's right.
Now, what if I'd say, "Oh, I can't do it, 'cause I tell you why. She'd divorce me, and I got... Oh, I'm a preacher. See what that'd do? That'd take me out of the pulpit, if she'd divorce me; a divorced man. Oh, I got three children; I couldn't think of that. But, boy, I..." Well, if that's the way it is, you're still legal. It's not legal basis that I married her upon. It's not legal basis that makes me live true to her. It's because I love her. I don't have to do anything. I do it willfully because it's a love affair. And if you love your wife, you'll do the same thing.

^313-138 And if you love your wife like that with phileo love, what ought you to do to Christ with agapao love, which is a million times stronger. If you really love God... If I knowed tonight I could go out and get on a drunk, if I knowed tonight I could run around and be immoral, if I knowed tonight... If that was even in my heart to do so, and I went and done it (knowing He'd forgive me), I wouldn't do it. I think too much of Him. I love Him. Sure. Certainly.

^313-139 That's the reason I wouldn't sell my experience to any denomination (No, sir.), no Assemblies of God, no Church of God, no Pilgrim Holiness, Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Catholic. I wouldn't take anything that could be offered for this experience, because it never come by man; it come by God. No, sir. I wouldn't sell my birthrights for any Elvis Presley's rock-and-roll, or for his fleet of Catholics--or his--or Cadillacs, or his million dollars, and so forth, he gets each month. No, sir. I love Him. And if I... Long as I love Him like that, I'll stay true to Him. And if God's called me and elected me, He's placed something in me; and I love Him.

^313-140 I remember Mr. Isler. You all know him, most all of you. He's come out here, state senator of Indiana, come here play his guitar. When my baby'd died, and my wife had died, and all of them laying up here on the graveyard, and I was going up the road with my hands behind me, crying, he jumped out of his little old truck, and come put his arm around me, said, "Billy, I want to ask you a question." Said, "I've heard you preach till you'd almost fall in the pulpit, heard you on the street corners and everything, crying out for Christ." Said, "Now, He took your daddy; He took your brother, snatched them both, and they died in your arms; there they died. And your wife died holding your hands. And your baby died, and you calling on Him to help you. And He turned His back on you. What do you think about Him."
I said, "I love Him with all that's within me. If He sends me to hell, I'll still love Him."

^314-142 He's just. I don't say that, twenty-six years has proved it. That's right. If you love Him, not a duty, that "I can't do this and I can't do that." You love Him too much to do it, because He has chosen you. You never chose Him; He chose you.
You said, "I sought the Lord and sought the Lord." No man seeks God. It's God seeking man. You might be seeking a favor of Him, but God has to change your nature before you can even seek after Him, because you're a sinner, you're a pig. That's right.

^314-144 And some of you people going to church and just living by your membership, go out here and do everything of the world, and then still go back and say, "Yeah, I belong to the church." Well, that's a long ways from belonging to God. Certainly. I don't... But, you see, people doing that, you can tell. Oh, they're good church members. That's true, you can still be a church member and do those things, but you can't be a Christian and do them.
As I've said, this morning, "The old crow, if there ever was a hypocrite, it's the crow." That's right. Him and the dove set on the same ark, set on the same roost. And the old crow was satisfied when he was turned loose, and got out of that church, that he could go out there and set on one old dead carcass and "caw, caw" and eat off of this one, eat off the horse, and eat off the cow, and whatever it was; he was satisfied. But when Noah turned the dove loose, she could find no rest for the soles of her feet. She had just as much right to set on a dead animal as the crow did, but it was two different natures. One of them was... She was a dove to begin with. He was a crow to begin with.

^314-146 But, if you notice, the old crow can set over here on a dead carcass and eat half the day. The dove will set in a wheat field and eat half the day. And the crow can fly right out there and eat dove food, as much as he wants to. He could eat just as much wheat as the crow can--as the dove can. But he... The crow, can eat the dove food, but the dove can't eat crow food. That's right.
So an old hypocrite can come to church and rejoice and shout and praise the Lord, and go on like that, and go right back out and enjoy the things of the world. But a borned again Christian cannot do it, because the love of God constrains him to such a place He can't do it.
So if you're just a Christian by joining the church, and quitting doing this and that, and the same desire is in you, you need another dip. That's exactly right.

^315-149 And you women who can dress with them little old shorts, and run out here on the street, and then call yourself a believer. You're a believer, but you're a poor example of one, maybe. If you really had Christ in your heart, you wouldn't have to think about such things as that. I don't care what the rest of the women does, and the rest of the girls do, you'd be different; because you love Christ too much.
I talked to a woman the other day in a house, and she throwed her hands up like this, said, "Reverend Branham, I'm almost naked here in my house; I'm walking around."
I thought, "Shame on you." In your own house, I don't care where you are. That's right. Dress and act like a woman, like a lady ought to. Shame on you. But you keep... And the Bible said, "If you love those things, the things of the world, the love of Christ is not even in you." And if you love the Lord just with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, you'll keep them little old dirty, nasty things off of you. That's right.

^315-152 And you deacon, and you others here, that run out on the street here, and gawking your neck and looking at every one of them women, shame on you, and calling yourself sons of God. I know that's scorching, but you'd--rather be scorched than then burnt forever there. So if--if you do those things... Now, you can't help it if a woman walks down the street, half dressed. You, if you're looking, you're bound to see her, but you can turn your head. The Bible said, "Whosoever looketh upon a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her already in your heart."

^315-153 Let me tell you something, sister dear. You're going to answer. I don't care; you might be as pure as a lily. You may never actually committed a sin of that type, immoral sin, in your life. But if you dress like that, you're going to answer at the judgment for committing adultery with every man that looked at you. That's what the Bible says. And walk down the street, who's guilty? The man? No, sir. You are. You presented yourself that way.
The woman's got a great place; it's a sacred, nice, wonderful place. But she must keep herself that way to hold her office as she should as a mother, as a woman, and of womanhood. When the womanhood's broke, the backbone of any nation's broke. And that's the reason today, our nation is ruined is because of the immorals of our women. That's exactly right. Sure. It's the rottenness among us, what's breaking it.

^316-155 What you need is to meet this Melchisedec one time (Amen.) and let Him--let Him bless you and give you the wine and the bread, Eternal Life. Then you'll see things different. Then you'll... It'll be different. You won't want the boys to be making a--the coyote whistle at you, the wolf whistle, or whatever you want to call it; certainly not. You'll be different.
And you mean to tell me that you dress like that, and get out there for any other purpose? You say, "Why, it's cooler." You're story-telling. It is not cooler. Science proves that it's not cooler. It's a... It's the lust that's come upon you, sister. You don't realize it. I'm not trying to hurt you, but I'm trying to warn you. A many a moral woman, just as clean as she can be, a nice little lady, walk out with them things on the street, unconscious of knowing what she's doing, because some backslidden preacher's afraid your husband won't pay his tithes in the church anymore. If he'd ever met Melchisedec, he wouldn't think those things; he'd preach the Gospel. If it'd scorch the hide off their back, he'd preach It anyhow. That's exactly right.

^316-157 You do it, and you do it because that a spirit of lust that's up... And you men that'll let your wives do those kind of things, I've got little hopes of you as a man. And that's right. That's right. Now, there's no compliments on that, because--or no apology, because that's true. Any man that'll let his wife get out on the street and act like that, brother, you ought to be wearing her clothes. That's right. You... Why. My.

^316-158 I won't say my wife won't do it, but I have to be changed and perverted to what I am now if I ever live with her while she's doing it. And that's exactly right. My girls, they may do it when they get to be women; I don't say they won't. I don't know. That's up to the mercy of God. I hope they don't. If they do, they'll walk over the prayers of a righteous father. They'll walk over the life of somebody who tried to live right if they ever do it. That's right. Well, I want to live right, teach right, be right, and instruct them right. If they do that, they'll beat their way to hell over the top of my preaching, and over the top of my Christ, and over the top of my warnings (That's right.) if they ever do it. Certainly, that's right.

^317-159 Shame on you. If you ever meet Christ face to face, and He blesses you, and puts that kiss of approval on your heart, all devils in hell will never make you put them on again. That's right. You've changed from death unto Life, and your affections are set on things above and not on the things of the earth. Amen. I'd better leave that subject; it's ticklish. All right, but it's the truth.

^317-160 All right, as we go on now just a little further, then we're closing.

^317-161 Your--your attitude towards Christ will make a great impression on what your children will be. Your life that you live before your family will make an impression on what your children will be. 'Cause the Bible said that He'd visit the iniquity of the parents upon the children to the third and fourth generation.
Now, just a few moments before closing.

^318-163 The law, the legalist (See?), "Aw, you have to do this. If you don't do this, you're not a Christian. And if you don't keep the sabbath. If you don't... If you eat meat. If you do these things," all these legal ideas. "You've got to go to church. If you don't, you pay a penalty for it. You have to do a novena." That stuff is nonsense. You're saved by the grace of God, by the foreknowledge of God, by His predestination. God called Abraham by predestination, by foreknowledge. He called... He hated Esau and loved Jacob before either one was born. That's right. It's--it's God's foreknowledge that knows these things.

^318-164 You say then, "What's the use of preaching the Gospel?"
Now, I'll say to you this: Paul answered that, or Jesus did, rather. Here's Jesus; He said, "The Kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that went to this--a--a pond or a lake and throwed in the net. He pulled in. Out of there he had turtles; he had terrapins; he had serpents; he had lizards; he had frogs; he had spiders; he had scavengers; he had--he had fish." Now, the man's just seining.
That's like the Gospel. Here it is now. I'm preaching the Gospel. I just throw the net out. I pull it; I say, "All that will, whosoever, let him come." Here come some up at the altar; they all hang around the altar; they pray; they cry. I don't know one from the other; it's not my business; I wasn't sent to judge.
But there's some in there that's frogs. There's some that's lizards. There's some that's snakes. It's some's that's turtles. And there's some that's fish. It's not my business to judge. I say, "Father, here's what I pulled out."

^318-169 But the frog was a frog to begin with. The spider... The old spider will set there and look around a little while; and wall them big eyes, look around and say, "You know what? I just about got as much of this as I can stand," plop, plop, plop, plop, out they go.
Old lady serpent will raise her head up and say, "Well, you know what? If they're going to preach like that, against wearing shorts and things, that takes me, so I'll get away from that bunch of holy-rollers. That's all it must be." You was a snake to start with. That's exactly right. Yeah.
And here sets old Mr. Toad Frog, with that great big cigar in his mouth, like a dehorned Texas steer, will stand there and look around, say, "Well, it never did condemn me to smoke. [Brother Branham illustrates--Ed.] I'll just get out of this thing, right now." Well, you old frog, you was that to begin with. That's exactly right. That's exactly right.
Your nature proves what you are. Your life shows, reflects what you are. And in the beginning... It's not hard for me to see that; it's not hard for you to see it.

^319-173 If I went out to Roy Slaughter's (a farmer setting here), and I saw the pigs out on a manure pile, eating manure, I wouldn't think nothing bad about that; he's a pig. But if I saw a lamb up on that manure pile, I'd wonder (uh-huh). See? Don't worry, you won't see him there; he just couldn't stand it. That's right.
And a man that's borned of the Spirit of God hates the things of the world. That's right. "For if you love the world or the things of the world, the love of God's not even in you."

^319-175 If I run around with women every day, and come in and tell my wife I loved her, she'd know I was a liar. My actions would speak louder than my words, certainly. I'd prove to her I didn't love her, because I wasn't true to her.
If she told me she loved me, and every time I'd be gone, she'd take off with somebody else, it would prove that she didn't love me. That's right. Her actions prove it. I don't care how much she'd try to tell me, "Bill, I love you, and there's no one else in the world but you," I'd know she was a liar.

^319-177 And when you try to say, "Lord, I love You," and doing the things of the world, God knows you're a liar to begin with. So why... What's the use to accept an old half-way experience, and something another like that, when the great skies of heaven are full of the real thing? Why do you want to be a miserable, professed, half way, half-baked, so-called Christian, when you can be a real borned again child of God with the joybells of heaven ringing in your heart, rejoicing, and praising God, and living a life of victory through Jesus Christ. Not trying to do it yourself, because you'll fail to begin with. But take Him at His Word, and rest upon what He said was the truth, and believe Him, and love Him, and He'll make everything work right in right for you. That's it. That's the idea.

^320-179 The Lord bless you. Don't want to scold you, but, brother, it's best to get a little scolding. You're my young'ns. You see? And any papa that loves his kids, will certainly correct them, or he's not the right kind of a papa. Is that right? That's right. And this papa only has one rule, and that's the rule of the home. And God only has one rule, and that's His Word.
If we believe His Word, then we'll live by His Word. It's our duty, if we've ever met God... Not because you say, "Well, I go to church, and I've got to do this." You're miserable. Don't do that. Why do you want to be a miserable, decrepit, ungodly crow for, when you could be a dove? Certainly. You just have to have your nature changed. And you change your nature, become a son and daughter of God; be at peace with God.

^320-181 "Jesus... Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with His Own Blood, suffered without the gates," Hebrews 13:12 and 13. Romans 5:1, "Therefore being justified by faith (not by shaking hands, not by water baptism, not by laying on of hands, not with shouting, not with speaking in tongues, not with any sensation), but being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." We've passed from death unto Life and become new creatures, because we have believed on the only begotten Son of God and accepted Him as our personal Saviour. And His Blood acts tonight as a propitiation for our sin, to stand in our place.

^320-182 In the Old Testament there's only one place to have fellowship; that's under the blood. Every believer had to come under the blood. When the red heifer was killed, she was made for a sin-offering. She must be red. And 19th chapter of Exodus, if any of you'd like to read it. And she must be taken, hoof, all, burnt together. And then that was made a water of separation. It was set without the gates. It had to be handled with clean hands. The blood of this heifer went before--to the congregation, and stroked seven times up over the door. And now, every defiled person, walking up, must first recognize and see that blood, and realize that there's only fellowship beneath that blood. That's the only place the worshipper could actually worship officially, was under the blood.

^321-183 Then the first thing he had to do, before he could come under the blood, there had to be this water of separation sprinkled upon him, and the uncleansed was made clean.
And they took the water of separation and sprinkled it upon the wayfaring man, and separated him from his sins. And then he walked under these seven stripes of blood and had fellowship with the rest of the believers in the Presence of God.
There's only one way to do it. Not shaking hands, not joining church, not by baptisms, not by emotions, but walk up to the waters of separation, lay your hands by faith upon the head of Jesus, and say "I'm a sinner, and You died in my place. And something in me tells me that You'll forgive me of my sins, and I accept You as my personal Saviour now." Walk beneath the Blood yonder, and have fellowship with the children of God. That's it. Eat the bread, and drink the wine, and--and have the fellowship with the church.

^321-186 Oh, isn't He wonderful? Isn't He good? Now, this may seem strange to you, friend. But what--what do I stand here and say these things for? Would I say them to try to make myself different from somebody else? If I do, then I need to repent. I'm saying it because God said it, because it's God's Word.
And listen. There's coming a time, and now is, that when people are going from the east to the west trying to find the Word of God, and can't find It.
When you go into a meeting, the first thing you do, you go in there and have a bunch of tongues and interpretations, and somebody raise up and keep quoting the Scripture; and that's carnal. Absolutely. God said for us not to use vain repetitions, what about Him? If He's wrote it once, you believe It. He don't have to say it again. Tongues and interpretations is right; but it's to be a direct message to the church or to somebody, not just carnal and things like that. And then you get ahead in all these other things.

^321-188 Here the other day, two men walked into a... And a man and a wife, and another man and a wife, just young married, walked into a place to go to Africa as missionaries. Somebody stood up and give a prophecy, and gave tongues and interpretations that they had each other's wife, that it should not be that way; they married the wrong person. And those two people separated and remarried over again. One man took the other one's wife, and the other one (in a leading Pentecostal denomination), and went to Africa as missionaries.
Brother, when you take your oath, you're duty bound to that oath till death sets you free. That's exactly right. Certainly, when you take your oath, it's binding.

^322-190 All those nonsense... And it's got to a place till when you go to the churches, it's either so cold and formal and dry till the spiritual thermometer will go fifty below zero. The people set just like a wart on a pickle, just as sour and indifferent and puckered up. And if you hear somebody way back there in the corner, might grunt out a little "amen" once in a while (like it hurts them); all of them will stretch their neck like geese to look around and see what took place. You know that's the truth. I'm not saying that for a joke. This is no place to joke; that's the truth. Right. I'm saying it because it's the Gospel truth.

^322-191 And the other side, you get a bunch of nonsense of a bunch of fleshly emotions carrying on, and the true Word of God finally has got to a place to where you can seldom hear It: the old middle-of-the-road, the Gospel, the Light to my path (Hallelujah), the Blood of the Lamb, the love of God that separates us from the things of the world...

^322-192 "Have you spoke in tongues, brother? You haven't got It. Did you shout when the cold feeling went up your back? Did you see balls of fire?" Oh, nonsense. No such a thing.
Have you believed on the Lord Jesus Christ and accepted Him as your personal Saviour, and the Spirit of God bears record with your spirit that you're sons and daughters of God, and your life bears fruit of love, joy, peace, long-suffering, goodness, meekness, gentleness? Then you're a Christian. If it doesn't, I don't care what you do. Paul said, "I could give my body to be burned as a sacrifice. I knowed all the mysteries of God. I can move mountains with my faith. I can speak in tongues like men and Angels. I'm nothing." How about that? I Corinthians 13, find out if that's right or not.

^322-194 Now, find out if--if Corinthians... II Corinthians 13, I believe it is. Or no... Either I or II Corinthians. I Corinthians there, I Corinthians 13, is right, "Though I speak with tongues of men and Angels, both the kind that can be interpreted and that cannot be interpreted, I am nothing." So what's the use of fooling with it then?
"Though I understand all the mysteries of God." Why do you go to seminaries and try to learn so much about? You better get right with God first. Certainly.
"Though I... 'Oh, blessed hallelujah.'" You got so you can't even have a congregation unless you have a healing campaign or some kind of miracles going on, a weak and adulterous generation seeketh after such. What do you want with that?
Paul said he could do all kind of things, even move mountains, and still he's nothing. Where there's tongues, it shall cease. Where there's knowledge, it shall vanish. Where there's prophecies, it shall fail. But when that which is Perfect is come, it shall endure forever; and love is perfection. "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that (whosoever shivers, whosoever shakes, whosoever speaks, whoso...) whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have Eternal Life." Believe that, children.

^323-198 They try to make it so complicated, these things and them things, when it boils right down to one thing: your personal faith in God. That's it. That tells it. "For by faith, not by feeling, by faith, not by emotion, by faith, not by sensation, but by faith are you saved, and that by..." Because you sought the Lord, because you was a good person? Because God by grace foreknew you and ordained you to Eternal Life.
Jesus said, "No man can come to Me except My Father draws him. And all that comes to Me, I'll give him Eternal Life. No man can pluck them from My hand; they're Mine. They're forever saved; I got them. No man can pluck them out of My Father's hand, and He's the One that give them to Me. They're love gifts of Mine."
"And all He foreknew, He called (He don't call anybody 'less He foreknew him.); all He called, He justified; all He justified, He glorified. So you see, we just at perfect rest.

^323-201 Now, I know there's a lot of legalists here, ninety-nine percent of you. But, look, if you'll just take this and realize that I'm not trying to say to you something that...
You say, "Well, Brother Branham, I've always thought I had to do this and had to do that." There's such a--such a difference in it, brother, in what you have to do and what you want to do. You are saved, not because you had one thing to do with it; you're saved because that God saved you before the foundation of the world.

^324-203 Listen. Listen here. The Bible said in the Revelation... I'm going to take you from at first to the last now. The Bible said in Revelation that when the beast came, he deceived all upon the earth. The beast did. "He deceived all upon the earth, whose names were not written in the Lamb's Book of Life (since the revival began; does that sound right? Well, since the--the preacher preached that mighty sermon; since that man was healed) since the foundation of the world."
Where was Jesus slain at? At Calvary? No, sir. Jesus was slain before the foundation of the world. "Behold the Lamb of God that was slain before the foundation of the world." God in the beginning when He saw the sin, He saw what was happen, He spoke the Word and Jesus was slain before the foundation of the world. And every person was saved, was saved (according to the Bible) when the Lamb was slain in the mind of God before the foundation of the world; you were included in salvation then. So what are you going to do about it?

^324-205 It's God. Blessed be the Name of the Lord. "It's God that worketh; not him that willeth or him that runneth, but God showeth mercy." If Jesus was slain before the foundation of the world, it taken four thousand years before it actually happened. But when God spoke it back here, every Word of God is steadfast. It's immutable; It's impartable; It cannot fail. And when God slayed the Son before the foundation of the world, He was just as much slain then as He was at Calvary. It's a finished product when God says so.
And remember, when the Lamb was slain, your salvation was included in the Sacrifice, because the Bible said that your name was written on the Lamb's Book of Life before the foundation of the world. What about that? Then what are we going to do? It's God that showeth mercy. It's God that called you. It's God that chose you in Christ before the foundation of the world. Jesus said, "You never--you never chose Me; I chose you. And I knew you before the foundation of the world." There you are.
So, see, that takes the scare out of you. "Oh, I wonder; if I could keep holding on, I'll make it. Bless God, if I'll just keep holding on..." It's not whether I hold on or not; it's whether He held on or not. It's what--what He done. Not what I done; it's what He did. Is it under the redemption law? This is a little thing I want to say before closing.

^325-207 What if an old mare gave birth to a little mule, and that little mule had both ears broke down, he was cross-eyed, and knock-kneed, bowlegged, his tail stuck right straight up in the air? What a horrible looking animal. Why, anybody... If that little mule could think, say, "Now, wait a minute. When they come out from the house this morning, I'm telling you, I'll sure get knocked in the head, because they'd never feed me; look what a horrible looking thing I am. I haven't even got a chance."
Well, that's right; you haven't got a chance. "Well, I was borned in this world, but looky here what a horrible looking thing I am. So I--I--I--I'll never have a chance. I won't make it. I can't make it." See?

^325-209 But what if his mammy is really instructed in the law? She'd say, "Son, that's right. You're all out of shape, and you're not even fit to eat the food off the earth. That's right. You're not fit. But, son, somehow another, you're my first. And, you know, you're borned under a birthright; and the priest will never see you, but for your name there's got to be a innocent lamb without a blemish has got to die in your place so you can live."
Well, that little mule could just kick up his heels and have a big time. Doesn't make any difference what he is, because he'll never be seen by the judge, the priest. It's the lamb that the priest looks at, not the mule, the lamb.

^325-211 And it's Christ that God looks at, not you. It's Christ. So if there's no fault in Him, how can there be fault? How can He find fault when you're dead and your life is hid in Christ through God, sealed by the Holy Ghost? "They that are born of God does not commit sin, for he cannot sin." How can he sin when a perfect Sacrifice is laying in his place? God never looks at me; He looks at Christ; because we're in Christ.
Now, if I love Christ, I'll live with Him. He'd never brought me in 'less He knowed. If God saved me today, knowing He was going to lose me six weeks from today, He's defeating His own purpose. Right. He don't even know the future then, if He saved me knowing... What's He want to save me for, knowing He's going to lose me? God doesn't do things and then take it back and too weak to keep His promise. When He saved you, it's for time and eternity.

^326-213 Now, you can be worked up and say, "Oh, yes, bless God. Hallelujah. I spoke in tongues. I shouted. I got it. Hallelujah." That don't mean you got it. But, brother, when something come down here, and you anchor with Christ, then the fruits of the Spirit follow you. And we bear record, our spirit with His Spirit, that we're sons and daughters of God. Please have that, friends.

^326-214 I keep you here all night, talking about that. I love it. I love you. I come back to this little Tabernacle time after time, if God shall spare my life. I want to see you rooted and grounded in that holy faith. I don't want to see you tossed about by every little wind of doctrine come by, and shake, and carry on, and have a little blood in their hands, or a little frost on their face, or something another, and seeing some kind of--of--of lights before them, and some kinda of--of selfish thing, as the Bible said, "Puffed up in his heart and seen nothing." And that's right. I want you to be solid on the Word. If it's THUS SAITH THE LORD, stay with It, live with It. That's the Urim Thummim of this day, and God wants you to live by That. If it's not in the Word, then forget about it and live for God, live for Christ.

^326-215 And if your heart begins to stray around, you know there's something that's happened; go back to the altar and say, "Christ, renew my--the joy of my salvation. Give unto me that love that I once had; it's leaking out, Lord. There's something I've done; make me holy again." Stand, "O Lord, nothing I could do; I can't quit this and quit that. I'm looking to You to take it out of me, Lord, and I love You." And walk away from that altar a new person in Christ Jesus. Then you won't have to depend on your church, depend on your priest, depend on your pastor. You're depending on the shed Blood of the Lord Jesus, "By grace are you saved." Let us pray.

^326-217 Lord, such strong teachings, it's time this little church could take meat and no more the milk of the Word. We been too much in the milk now, giving the baby his bottle. But we've got to have strong meats, for the day is getting close. Great perilous times are at hand, and more trouble laying in the road. And we know that there'll never be better times. We know that we're at the end; times will continue to get worse and worse until Jesus comes, according to the Scriptures.
We cannot promise them nothing in this life. But in the life to come, we can promise them Eternal Life through Thy Word, if they'll believe on the Son of God and accept Him as their Propitiation, as the One Who stood in their place, as the One Who took their sins. Grant it now.
May unbelievers become believers. May church professors here tonight, who's professed religion and just living in the church, may they receive an experience with God, that such love comes into their heart, that they weep for their sins, die out to themselves, and are borned anew by the Holy Spirit, and being meek and kind, and loving, and full of joy and blessings, living such a life, till they're so salty that they make the people that's around them, thirst to be like them. Grant it, Lord, for we ask it in His Name.

^327-220 And with our heads bowed, I wonder tonight, if there would be one here say, "Brother Branham, if I was weighed in the balance of God at that time, I would never, never, never be able to meet that qualification you're speaking of tonight. I want you to remember me in prayer, that I will change my ways, and God will come in and take this nonsense out of me and make me a real Christian." Would you raise your hand for prayer, as--if you would? God bless you. God bless you. God bless you in the back. God bless you. God bless you, sir. God bless you, big brother. God bless you, sister.

^327-221 As you're thinking now, praying, as you feel convinced that you've been wrong,