Sermon Texts (Adding Now)
Sermon Texts Beginning With T
Thou Son Of David, Have Mercy On Me (61-0215)
| Thou Son Of David, Have Mercy On Me (61-0215) |
|
|
Thou Son Of David, Have Mercy On Me (61-0215)
E-1
Remembered tonight before God in... Our heavenly Father, we are so glad
that You answer prayer. So glad to find after many years, meeting the
people from way back in '46 and '47, still healed, when they were dying
with cancer, crippled in wheelchairs, blind, couldn't see. And here
they are here shaking my hand, saying, "Brother Branham, I was
crippled; I was blind; I was given up with cancer, and I've never had a
sick day since." O Lord, we know that could only be Your grace to them.
We're so happy for this, and we pray, God, that others that are
suffering today will remember that You are the same yesterday, today,
and forever.
E-2 [Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.]...
such a privilege to have a nice audience like this to speak to,
and--and it makes it so easy for you to--to believe God when
these--takes place like this. Now, I've been for a few nights
preaching, and--and just the Gospel, because I think if a--if a person
is healed, if they live very long, they'll probably get sick again. But
if you're saved, that's eternal, and you have Eternal Life. And it's
so--getting so late in the evening lights that I feel that one great
thing is needed most of all. That's salvation.
E-3
A little tired tonight. I been... I have anywhere from one to three
services a day, you know. So at the time I get here I'm pretty near
wore out to begin to start. So I was up at the old Pisgah church this
afternoon, and--or the Pisgah Home, whichever it's called, and I tell
you; we had a glorious time. I--I found out that some of the old timers
off of Azusa street is up there yet in that church, worshipping, the
old Azusa street. I seen them old women and men setting there. I--I
just wanted to get my arms around there and hug them, you know.
They--they look so sweet.
E-4
Brother Goad here, a precious boy... Sometimes someone says,
"Why--what's the success of your service, Brother Branham?" Of course,
it's Christ. "How do you hold up so, and just keep going night after
night?" My boys, the Chr--the people that with me. This boy here goes
sometimes days without even eating, laying on his face, crying to God
for help for me. Now, God just can't turn that down. See? My wife at
home, my children, my loved ones, people, my friends, has fast and
prayed. There's the success. E-5 See, now, say for instance, that piano will make a sound. How do I know? How do I know it'll make a sound? Well, I believe it will. That's my faith. Now, what would you do to make a sound on that piano? My finger would have to touch it. All right. Now, first thing, my head, my mind, has to think of it, my heart has to tell me whether it will or not. That's by faith. Now, say, my finger, it's a great thing. My eye, that's the prophetic sight, the seeing. Well, now, if I just sat and looked at that piano, say, "Well, it'll play," well that--that doesn't--that doesn't make it. Now, see, I've got to make... My feet's got to work. Now, what if my feet say, "Well, I'm not the eye, so I'm just not going to do anything about it." Well, my--my feet says, "I'll take you over there." All right, here we go. See? My feet's taking me over. Now, now, I'm here, I'm over here. Well, my eye's still looking, but it--it--it can't touch the keys. Feet says, "Well, I don't touch the key, but it takes the finger. See? And see, if the--if the nose say, "I'll do it," that won't help. The eye say, "I'll try to hit it," won't help. See? It's got to have my finger. So with everything working together [Brother Branham plays a note on the piano--Ed.], I have it. See? That's it.
E-6
Now, what is faith? How many senses are there to the human body? Five:
see, taste, feel, smell, hear. Is that right? Well now, faith is the
substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things you do not see,
taste, feel, smell, hear. Is that right? It's the sixth sense. If I had
another week I'd preach on some of those thing, the sixth sense--or in
a healing service, rather. Now, it's just... I could...
E-7
Now, you say, "You might have got Brother Buntane up." Oh, no, no, no,
no. It ain't Brother Buntane, it's Brother Roy--Brother Roy Borders.
E-8
But your faith... When faith is positive, you can be not be too
positive. Like if you're setting in a--a--given a trial, in a trial.
Then you look through a window and seen an accident, it's hard for them
to take your evidence, 'cause you might have had an optical illusion.
You never seen it that way. See? And sometimes you think you're
positive right. Did you ever go down the road and see a mirage on the
road? Looks just exactly like it's water. I read in the paper here some
time ago where a bunch of ducks thought it was--was water, and must
have seen through their eyes, and lit right on the road. It killed them
all (See?), because it was a mirage. E-9 That sixth sense will--will--will defy any of the other five. We do with the five's all right as long as they agree with the sixth. But men wasn't given to live by the five senses; he was--to let the five senses guide him. He was given, prone to, born here to be led by the sixth sense. That's what God gave him the sixth sense for. That's God's place in the heart to lead us. So we are led by the sixth sense, if we'll just let it. Now, if the sixth sense says that the--the Word is wrong, then don't--you're not in the sixth sense. See? That's the five senses. But the sixth sense will believe things that the five senses doesn't clare--declare. It's kind of complicated but it--it's true (See?), that the sixth sense is what we're guided by. E-10 I was just out there just a few moments ago, prayed for a dear old woman that's been laying there for four days waiting to be prayed for. And such a thing, I tell you, I just feel like I ought to change it to a healing service somehow, to see the Spirit of God move on like that. And that poor old thing, I caught her by the hand, and--and I seen what was wrong. And well, that...
E-11
What did you read now? Luke, yeah. Uh-huh. All right. Now, I want to
take a text out of that, the Lord willing. Now, if God is willing,
tomorrow night I promised, I want to preach on "The Seal Of God." You
all like the teaching lessons like that? "The Seal Of God," and then
"The Mark Of The Beast" the following night. And tonight I want to take
a text out of this or--for a subject, out of where he's read here,
Saint Luke the--the 18th chapter. And he read from the 35th to the 43rd
verse, inclusive.
E-12
Our--our scene opens on a cold, spring morning, and it's at the walls,
the old tore down walls of Jericho. And there is a--a man setting there
which we know to be a beggar called blind Bartimaeus, or Bartimaeus. It
would be either one, be pronounced all right. And so in that day there
were many beggars. And all night long he'd tossed and rolled, and He
couldn't sleep. Many of us know what them kind of nights are, just no
rest at all. And he'd roll from one side of the bed to the other, and
there was no rest for the poor old fellow. And he'd got up late, so
he'd come to his post late. Therefore, if--if they're not there early,
the merchants and so forth coming in... There's so many beggars and
people, incurables, like blindness, and leprosy, and cripples, and so
forth, and people that were poverty stricken. And about the first
beggar they met they give him a coin, and that just about settled it.
That's all they could afford for the day.
E-13
So when he got there that morning he was late, and all the merchants
had done gone into the city, and--and the great city of commerce as it
was. But all--all of them had went in, got early at the market places
to sell their goods and so forth. So perhaps he'd have to do without
that day. He didn't--wouldn't have his coin for the day to eat by. And
I can just imagine, as many times we've pictured him: his old, ragged
cloak on, like that, and his little old shriveled up arms, and the
beard all over his face, and that gray, and--and blind along the road,
kind of trying to get to the place to where he'd set down and beg. Each
one had their own private place where they begged.
E-14
And then we find him setting there. And after a bad night, well, he
seen there was no one there, so he thought maybe that he would set down
on a rock. You know the walls had been torn down in his day from where
Joshua had went in, and big rocks was laying out to one side. So he
must have found his way out by the side of the northern gate that leads
up towards Jerusalem. And he sat down there in the sunlight. And he was
thinking, "Well, it's coming on springtime now, and I believe I'll just
set here in the warm sun. I'm chilly this morning, and my clothes are
thin, and I'll just set here in the warm sun for just a little while,
and--and maybe there might be one left out that I could get my coin. If
I don't, my family will--will be hungry today." E-15 And then he would hear a familiar voice that we all like to hear, a sweet voice of a mother, calling, "Bartimaeus, my little one, your lunch is ready." And then when his father was in the field somewhere working, how he'd come in, how that little Jewish mother would wait on the steps for him, and pick him up in her arms, and hug him, and set him down to his--his dinner. And then after he'd got through, go out on the porch. And he used to set out on the porch, and how his mother would rock him, and he'd have to take his afternoon nap. So how she'd rake the hair back out of his eyes, and--and she'd look up and see those pretty, big, soft eyes of a mother, and how she would kiss his little cheeks and say, "Oh, how I thank great Jehovah God for a nice little boy like you, Bartimaeus. You know, Bartimaeus, when you were born I dedicated you to Jehovah. I've always believed that Jehovah would use you someday, Bartimaeus, He would use you for His glory." And then he'd think, "Here I am setting here blind, not over maybe a mile from where I played and seen. And how could Jehovah ever use me? I'm blind. There's no hopes for me."
E-16
But we don't always know, you know. God works in mysterious ways his
wonders to perform. If we commit anything to God and believe it, like
our children or whatevermore, let's believe that God will answer that
prayer. The day 'fore I left to go away, the phone constantly ringing,
and the mothers with their children and saying, "I pray for them. "
E-17
Then he said, no doubt, in his heart that he remembered how mother used
to read him Bible stories. You know it used to be mothers had time to
read their children Bible stories. They don't have it no more now. They
got to get the new car, or get out and go to the ladies' card party,
and--and everything. Mothers used to be they had to pack their water
from the spring and boil it on the outside. I remember my mother had a
great big old iron kettle, and do her washing outside, and... She had
more time, now, than a modern mother does just to push a button, like
that, do her washing, dishes, everything else, just push a button. But
I don't think our modern conveniences has got us anywhere. And what it
is, it's made us awful lazy, killing us with heart trouble and
everything else. E-18 Now, but today with all of our modern convenience, and instead of reading the Bible to her children, will turn the television on and let them look at something that's not even fit for them to look at. Now, that's right. That's right. And another thing, we'll give them these little old comic books, and little old story books off of some drugstore mantle that oughtn't to even be sold to make--make kindling wood out of, or fire out of. And yet we poke all that kind of stuff down our children's necks. Why, the American... I bet you there's--that nearly every boy in America can tell you who Davy Crockett was. But I imagine there isn't one third of them can tell you Who Jesus Christ is. That's right. Oh, the Lone Ranger, or somebody like that, or some movie star, they know all about it because it's laid before them. And the Bible is the Book that's put away. And when the minister comes, they dig it out, and dust it off and lay it up like that. It's never read. What we need today is some good old fashion mothers back to take their children back to prayer. That's the best remedy I know of to cure juvenile delinquency (That's right.), is good old honest mothers.
E-19
I hear them talk about the illiteracy of the Kentucky mothers up around
in the part of the country where we come from, up there. Now, they may
be... They wouldn't--might not know right and left hand. But you let
one of their girls come in one night with their hair all turned inside
out, and her clothes all off of her, and lipstick smeared all over her
face and like that, and some little half-drunk, sallow, cigarette
sucker bring her daughter in around daylight; I tell you, she won't be
able to get out of bed for three months. I'll just guarantee you that
now. Yes, sir. And you talk about illiteracy...?... that's... We need
more of them kind of mamas. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. That'll--that'll bring
back discipline.
E-20
Bartimaeus would think of his precious little mother, how she used to
tell him Bible stories about what the Lord did. She'd say, "Bartimaeus,
you know, we Jewish people, by God's choice... He chose us to be His
people because we loved Him and served Him. Bartimaeus, you may live to
be a great man someday. I'm expecting you to be the king of Israel.
I--I want you to..." Every mother's anticipations is for her child to
be something great, and that's what she should be. And she said, "I
have prayed. And I--when I knew you was coming to the earth, when God
placed you under my heart, well, I--I gave your little life to God. And
you know, I want you to serve this great God. I'm going to tell you how
great He is, Bartimaeus. And you know, we were coming up out of Egypt.
We were slaves once, and He brought us up out of Egypt," how He opened
the Red Sea, fed the children of Israel out of heaven by manna, blowed
in meat, quails for them, give them water out of a rock in the desert,
and all the great things He done. And, oh, his little bright eyes would
just... He'd say, "Oh, mama, does that still great Jehovah live?" E-21 He used to love that story, and tell about how that the children of Israel used... Said, "Right down there at the old ford... One day the great, mighty Joshua crossed right down there with the children of Israel. Just around the city where we go get our groceries down there at Jericho, Joshua crossed right there, the great, mighty warrior, the servant of God. How Moses stood yonder on top of the mountain, looked over into the swelling tides of the river, and how that the unbeliever thought, 'This is a good time. We're safe. God is a poor engineer, pick this time of year to cross.'" But God sometimes just takes the worst hour to prove that He's God. Yes, sir. Look like He'd taken them when the river--brought them up there when the river was low. No, that ain't it. He just wants to prove to you He is God. He--He likes to manifest His glory. And oh, I just love that. I just love that, to see and know that He's God.
E-22
Then one of the stories that little Bartimaeus liked so well was the
story of the Shunammite woman, because it had a little boy in it, you
know. There's a little boy in there that... And she'd tell about that
great, mighty prophet Elijah, how that God made him such a great mighty
prophet. He lived out in the wilderness and didn't have many clothes,
and he wrapped a piece of leather around him, and--and how he was a
great, mighty man of God though. He lived under the anointing of God. E-23 "And Bartimaeus, this great woman, she'd see this holy man pass through the city. So she wanted to show some favor to him, because she loved God, and she knowed this was His servant, and she wanted to help him and do something for him. So she'd--she'd see him coming, and she would go out and bid him to come in and--and stay with them. So her husband was rather a rich man. So one day she said to her husband, 'You know, dear, this great holy man of God comes by here, and he goes up there to a cave where he's living, up in Mount Carmel. So as he passes through here, I believe it would be good if we built him just a little room on the side of our house. I believe that would be real nice if we'd do that, because both of us believe in God, and He is God, and that's God's representative. That's the highest order in the earth now of God is His representative.' So her husband said, 'I think that'd be fine.' So they built the little house on there." E-24 "And one day when Elijah and Gehazi, his--his servant, came by and they seen this little room built on there and went in. They had them a nice little bed there, and--and a little stool and some water and everything. So said, 'Go ask this Shunammite what could I do for her. She's been so kind to us; maybe we could return the--the kindness. Maybe she'd want me to speak to the king, or maybe she'd want me to speak to the chief captain or someone.' But you know, Bartimaeus, what that woman, she didn't ask for nothing. But when Gehazi came back, he said, 'I'll tell you, Elijah, the great prophet of God, the woman is barren. She has no children. She's never had any children.'" And say, "Bartimaeus, you know any mother wants a little, sweet little boy like you are. See? That's the reason Jehovah's so good to me to give you--give me a little boy like you. And that poor mother wanted a little boy like you. So Elijah said, 'Go, tell her to come stand before me.' And so, no doubt but Elijah had a vision of what to do. So then when the woman came in, he said, 'According to the time of life, you're going to bear a son.' And she went out. And you know what, Bartimaeus? That mother received a sweet little boy--just a little Gentile boy, just like you're a little Jewish boy. How that mother loved that little boy. How she must've thought he was the sweetest little thing."
E-25
"And when he was about eleven years old, one day he went with his papa
out in the field to--to do the harvest. And I believe he must've got a
sunstroke because he begin to say, 'My head, my head.' He got sicker
and sicker. So the father being real busy with the hired hands, he had
a servant to take the little fellow in, and laid him on his mother's
lap. She kept him on the lap till about noon, and the breath all went
out of him, and the poor little boy died. Now, but Bartimaeus, I want
you to notice what this Gentile woman now, what she did. She took him
in and laid him on the bed of the prophet."
E-26
"And then she said to her husband, 'You saddle a mule, and you go
forward for me now,' told the servant, 'and don't stop. If anybody
salutes you, don't salute them back, but you go straight to the man of
God up at Mount Carmel.'"
E-27
"And now when he got close, Elijah walked out, probably old and maybe a
little dim in sight. He raised up his hands and he said, 'Here comes
that Shunammite, and she looks like that she's worried. But God has
kept it from me.' So he said to Gehazi, 'Go out and call to her.' But
she was pretty well speeding on. When she got there he hollered, 'Is
all well with thee? Is all well with thy husband? Is all well with thy
child?'"
E-28
This little boy setting here with this mashed up foot, another young
fellow setting over here, seen them both shouting last night. Must be
Pentecostal boys, must have God in their heart. You say, "Brother
Branham, I probably never walk again. The doctor says I won't." This
one over here with heart trouble, this one with whatever it is,
whatever your trouble is, say, "Well, the doctor says I won't. I won't
never be able to get over this. I've got cancer. I got tumor. I got so
and so."
E-29
The Shunammite woman said, "All is well." Now, she wasn't asking for
the boy, but she knowed that God was able through this prophet to tell
her why he took the boy, and that would satisfy her. If He could tell
why He took the boy, everything was all right. So she was before God's
representative, and all things was well.
E-30
Now, Elijah knew that everything that he touched was blessed. But if he
could get the woman to believe it, that was all... If he could get the
woman to believe the same thing, a miracle would've happened just the
same as ever, if the woman would've had faith in what Elijah told her
to do. But the woman's faith wasn't in the staff. Now, I kinda like the
way she said it anyhow. She said, "As the Lord liveth and your soul
never dies, I'm not going to leave you." I like that: determined to
hold on. That's it. If you start out for God, hold on until the Holy
Ghost comes, until everything that you've asked for takes place. Just
don't give it up. "I'll not leave you. I'm on your hands, Lord, until
You answer me." That's the way to do it.
E-31 Remember the Lord healed me of stomach trouble. The devil said, "You--you haven't healed."
E-32
That's the way she did. She said, "As the Lord liveth and your soul
never dies..." Now, see, she believed he had a soul that wouldn't die.
See? "As the Lord liveth and thy soul liveth," see, "I'm not going to
leave you. I'm going to stay with you till I find out what happened."
So he couldn't get her off her--off his hands. So he just had to gird
up his loins, and here he went.
E-33
Here not long ago there was a little Irish woman coming over on a ship,
they said. And about thirty, forty miles out, somewhere out of--of New
York harbor, there come a terrible storm. And the little ship didn't
think they could make it. They sent out SOS. And so they told them the
storm was getting worse and worse. If they could--if they could storm
it for thirty minutes, they'd reach the--the--the harbor. But if they
couldn't, they'd be in the bottom of the sea. So all the jazz music
stopped and they begin to pray and play, "Nearer, my God to Thee," and
so forth. But all this little Irish woman, she walked up and down the
floor screaming and shouting. "Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah," she
said. E-34 "Old Elijah, when he got on the--on the ship, you know, or got on the platform of the little place where that she'd built him, she walked back and forth across the floor. And he walked to and fro, the Bible said, in the room. And then after he felt the Spirit come on him, he went and laid hisself upon the baby, and just laid there with his flesh upon the baby. And then he felt the baby was getting warm, so he got up, walked back and forth again through the room to and fro. Come back and laid hisself on the baby again, and it sneezed seven times and come to life. He picked up the baby and said, 'Call the Shunammite.'" And, oh, how little Bartimaeus liked that.
E-35
He begin to think, "Oh, when I used to hear my mother tell those
stories." About that time he heard something clicking, of a little mule
coming. Must be kind of a rich man, because most of the travel was on
foot or by... Rich people rode a donkey, and the army used chariots.
And so he--he said, "This must be a wealthy man that's coming in late."
So he raised up, threw aside his garment, run out and said, "Alms for
the blind. Alms for the blind, please." E-36 Well, he made his way back trying to find out where the rock was. Finally when he found the rock, the sun had moved over a little bit and it become kind of chilly. The shadows of the wall was on the rock, so he moved out a little farther, and he said, "Well, I guess I have no coin for the day. So maybe I'll just--just wait a little while, and maybe I'll set down again. Maybe I will continue my daydreaming of when I was a little boy." Then he remembered too, that his mother told him that years ago that that great prophet Elijah and Elisha, the one that took his place, two mighty men of God come right down that same cobbled street, arm in arm with one another, going down to the Jordan to open the Jordan up. Oh, my. Passed right by within thirty feet from where he was setting. E-37 But alas, the priest told him, "All the days of miracles are past. Jehovah doesn't heal the people anymore, you know." That spirit never did die out. So they... "Oh, Jehovah don't do those things no more. We're just supposed to live good, and--and pay our tithes, and go to the church and--at every meeting, and then that's all we're supposed to do. But Jehovah doesn't heal. He--He was Jehovah back there, but today He--He's not concerned about it." Oh, what a mistake. He's always concerned. If He ever was concerned, He's still concerned. Yes, sir. He cannot change His motives. He cannot change His attitude. He's still Jehovah. I don't care how many says that He's changed. It's people's changed, but He hasn't changed. The reason that we don't see Him doing those things is because we won't let Him do it. He's willing.
E-38
We think we'll--we'll exhaust His bountiful blessings. We think, "Well,
I asked God to give me my daily bread. I shouldn't ask Him too many
things." Oh, my. Could you imagine a little fish about that long, way
out in the middle of this ocean, saying, "Wait, I'd better drink of
this water sparingly. I might run out someday." Could you imagine a
little mouse about that big under the great garners of Egypt, saying,
"I better allowance myself to one half a grain of wheat a day. I might
run out before next harvest." My. Well, that would... Just multiply
that by a hundred billion, and you try to exhaust God's goodness and
mercy.
E-39
Now, we find out now that Bartimaeus had been told that the days of
miracles was past. So he said, "Now, what if I was setting here,
instead of hearing that man who called himself this day the servant of
God... And what was that he said, he was going down to see about
something, what? Wonder what's going on down in the city. Well, anyhow,
the days of miracles is past." And that's the kind of servants Jehovah
has today? It's a lot different from the one that Elijah was and Elisha. E-40 Then after he'd got on the other side... Now, he was weary. He had fussed with Jezebel and them till he was--about her painting up and carrying on, till he was tired, just was going home. And so the young prophet had to take his place. So he knowed just across the river there was a chariot hooked to some bush over there somewhere, and he--he was going to take a little ride up home. See? But the young prophet was watching for his new ministry, seen what this old one was doing, so he knowed he had to take his place. So the young prophet caught his vision, and seen him go up, caught his garment passed back down, picked up the same garment and struck the Jordan, said, "Where is the God of Elijah?" Oh, my. And she opened up again. That's right. Where is the God of Pentecost? Where is the God that was in Jesus Christ? What's the matter with the ministry today in the churches? E-41 I guess you read that piece in the paper they just sent me. Somebody from the church here sent it to me, where this Episcopalian minister up here said the virgin birth was only a myth, and there was no such a thing as garden of Eden, and all that stuff like that. That man don't belong in the pulpit. No, sir. Now, that's what's the matter with it today. That's what... Take great educated people like that stand up, and they get so much education they ain't got gumption enough to know how to hold it. That's all. What we need today... Paul said, "I never come to you with excellency of word or education. I come to you in the simplicity with the power and demonstrations of the Holy Ghost, that your faith would be--rest upon the resurrection and the power of God, and not in some smooth words," or something of some so-called bishop, or something.
E-42
Now, we find out that just a little later, as Bartimaeus set there a
little longer, wondering what would take place... Then he remembered
that too, just below there, not five hundred yards from where he was
setting, that great Joshua, oh, my, that great servant of God who took
Moses' place, that come across the Red Sea, and come across also with
only two of the old group in the wilderness back there that believed
that they could take the land. They looked at the Word of God. They
believed the Word of God. Nine of them said, "Oh, we can't take it. We
look like grasshoppers up beside of them. The cities are all walled.
It's an impossibility to do it." But not that fellow. No, sir, brother.
He said, "We're more than able to take it."
E-43
God told them way down in Egypt, "I give you that land." But He didn't
say, "I'll go out there and sweep it all out, and garnish the houses,
and hang up the curtains, and everything. You all just move in." No,
no. They had to fight for every inch of ground they took. That's right,
fighting, and take it by every--fight every inch. But He said,
"Everywhere the soles of your foot land, that's possession." Footsteps
is possession.
E-44
Joshua come right on across the river with them, camped out there. Oh,
blind Bartimaeus said, "What if I would've lived in that day? Why, as
soon as I seen them priests walking, and Joshua with that sword up in
the air, walking across, why, I'd have went down there and said, 'Great
Joshua, pray for me.' And I believe I'd have got my sight if that great
man would've prayed for me. Sure. But alas, Joshua's gone, and God, I
guess, is gone. And all the days of miracles is past, so our priest
says. So I guess it's just hopeless. There's nothing I can do.
So--hopeless." E-45 You know, it's when we begin to think about Him, that's when He appears. It's when Cleopas and them was thinking about Him when he appeared. It's always when... "Let the meditation of my heart and--and let all my thoughts, and let all my songs, let all that I am just meditate on Thee, Lord, day and night." That's the way to get God close to you. Quit thinking about what the Joneses is doing, and what you're going to do next week, and all this thing. Just keep--just let... "Fill my way every day with love as I walk with the heavenly dove. Let me go all the while with a song and a smile. Fill my way every day with love." That's right. Go right on down the road no matter what--school keeps or not. If it don't, we turn the teacher out, and just go right on believing on the Lord. See? Keep the meditations upon God. Think on these things. The Bible said, "If there be any praise, if there be any virtue, think on these things."
E-46
Well, our thoughts are always negative. We come in the prayer line... I
notice we've come in the prayer line... "Oh, if--if he will tell me...
Is it this?" Oh my, you never get nothing like that. No. You're so
negative to begin with. Come like that... "Come to the fountain filled
with blood drawn from Immanuel's veins, where sinners plunge beneath
the flood lose all their guilty stains." That's it. Come with faith
believing. "He that cometh to God must believe that He is, and a
rewarder of those that diligently seek Him." E-47 I got a letter back from a little woman in Germany not long ago. She'd been crippled about fifteen years with arthritis: couldn't move. I sent her a handkerchief. We send thousands of them a month out. And so, she got this little letter. And we got a prayer chain around the world. So she had--she read this, and she said, "Now, it says on here, 'If your pastor isn't there, or if he's an unbeliever, don't call him. See? But if there's a neighbor somewhere that is a believer, call the believer. Confess all your faults. Ask God to forgive you of everything you done. Get everything right. Then pray. Put the handkerchief on your underneath garment over your heart. Then believe.'" So she met all the requirements that was sent to her. And when she did, she put her hand over her heart. She said, "Now, old man devil, you've been in me long enough. Get out." Here she come walking...?... It's just that's simple. It's just that simple to believe.
E-48
Here in Arizona, we was out to the Indians, Apaches. I always felt
sorry for the Apaches. And there they was out there that night. And
they looked like an army setting out there, and I begin to speak to
them about the Lord. And you know, the old Indian, he's kind of a odd
fellow. He's like a mule: he won't eat out of the wrong straw--stall.
So he listened to it, he thought it was fake first. And then he
brought... I said... I called for the prayer line. Well, I heared
somebody out there holler "Gloria a Dios." That was my Spanish friends.
I knowed they'd have a prayer line if they was around, 'cause
they'll--they always got faith to believe. So they was... But this was
for Indians only.
E-49
Next was glaucoma of the eyes. The Indians has much of it. And prayed
for that one. Next come out was a--was a little girl, and she kept her
head down like that. And I said, "Now..." She was a little bitty fellow
about like that. It happened to be one of the chief's daughters. I
said, "Now, the little girl," I said, "she's had a fever, and the fever
made her go deaf and dumb. She can't speak or hear." And the
interpreter said that, and the mother, "That was right, every bit of it
was right." Them Indians then begin to look around at one another, you
know. They begin to see something they'd never seen. So I said, "Now, I
cannot make the--the girl to speak and hear. That takes God." But I
said, "This is just the--the sign that He's here, that His Presence is
here. He has us anointed." And so I took the little girl by the hand. I
said, "Heavenly Father (They don't interpret the prayer)" I said, "let
this deaf and dumb spirit leave this child." And I got down to her, and
I done like that [Brother Branham clapped his hands--Ed.]. And she turned around and looked at me with them big black eyes, and I said, "You say, 'Praise the Lord.'" E-50 Then the next was a mother. Then the next was a little old boy come out there. And I said, "Well, do you believe that God... You speak English?" No, she didn't speak English. I said, "Do you believe that God will heal the little fellow?" And she reached down and got him by the top of the head; they're real rough, you know, and his little old hair just as coarse as a mane on a horse, and so--hold him like that. I said, "He's got crossed eyes, but you believe that God... She heard the interpreter say, "crossed eyes," so she just got him by the nap of the head, and pulled his little head back, little eyes setting right in like that. I said, "Now, if you'll believe that God will straighten its little eyes," I said, "then God will do it." And so to the interpreter... I said, "Now, get it so..." They haven't got no--no sentence or punctuation. They start real low, and go high, high, low. They just... You know how the Apaches are. They're was kind of a rough set of Indians. So then they said, "Yes," that she'd believe. E-51 I took the little fellow up by... He was just like trying to tame a bronco. And I had a piece of chewing gum. I put it under his nose and let him smell it, you know. Then I got him like this, got him in my arms, got the little fellow up in my arms like this. I said, "Don't interpret this." I said, "Heavenly Father, these poor people, this is really true Americans." And that's right. We're not Americans. No. We're not Americans. We're aliens that come and took the land away from them. They're real Americans. God gave them this land; we just took it away from them. I think it's a stain on the flag the way we treat them. That's right. Sending money over there to Japan and all them places to blow it back at us like this, and our Indians laying out here starving to death, it's not right. Sure, it isn't right. E-52 And then I looked, and the poor little fellow, I had him on my shoulder. I said, "Lord, let me find favor with these people. Straighten the little fellow's eyes." I was watching like this, and I seen a vision come before me, his little eyes was just as straight. I said. "Now..." He had his head over my shoulder. I was patting him. I said, "Now, to all of you," (hundreds and hundreds setting everywhere) I said, "now, if this baby's eyes are not straight, then I'm a false prophet. See? If they are straight, then I've represented Jesus Christ to you. I can't help what the government does to you." But I said, "I know Jesus will treat you right. Now, you see if this is right or not." I took his little head around. You talk about a prayer line. I had one now. My, there was a stampede.
E-53
And then the next one coming was an old Indian woman, and she had a...
She was to be next and, oh, they just had--you just had... You couldn't
beat them down. And there was a--there was an old Indian woman come
out. She had two broomsticks with a--with a piece of good--goods
wrapped around a thing she had under her arm here, and she was trying
to get out. And there was a little Indian boy jumped up on there, and
he was trying to cut in ahead of her. And we couldn't make him
understand, 'cause he couldn't speak English. And Brother Moore, many
of you know Brother Jack Moore, he just got him by the side, and packed
him over it. And I noticed the old woman. She come up close like that.
They were believing then. Oh, you talk about a prayer line.
E-54
I--I was going to try to pray for all, but, oh, my, it was along
about... I had to stop the discernment then. So along about three or
four o'clock in the morning, they was coming through wet, plumb up
around like this--just as wet as they could be. And I said, "What's the
matter with them?" E-55 They put him by. I laid my hands upon him, his old head shaking like that. I said, "Father, he worked a many hard days for these boys. They've honored him now, bringing him across the river at this time of the morning to be prayed for. I pray that You'll heal him." I said, "Take him on. Bring the next one." First thing you know, you heard everybody hollering, screaming. Looked, the old man had the board on his own shoulders, going around waving at everybody, like that...?... That's what it is. It's just simple faith to believe God. It's not some hocus-pocus. It's just childlike faith. See, we--we've sprang plumb away from it trying to explain it. Just believe it.
E-56
That's right. That's the way with this great mighty Captain of the host
of the Lord. He was there that night, the same as He was there. And you
know there's something another about it. Where Jesus is, you always
hear a lot of noise. I don't know why, but it--it's that way. Wherever
you find Jesus you find a lot of noise.
E-57
And he'd say, "Somebody tell me. Somebody help me. Somebody help me,
because... What... Who's passing by? What's all this noise about?"
Nobody would listen to him, and after while... It must have been a
young woman. She seen the poor old fellow laying there, and she picked
him up. She said, "Sir, are you hurt?"
E-58 Said, "You remember that man down here in town they call Zacchaeus, the businessman?"
E-59
"So Zacchaeus wanted to see if He was. So he climbs up in this tree,
and he got all the limbs, and he drug them all around him like this,
camouflaged himself. And he had one great big palm leaf that he raised
up so he could see Him when He turned down there at Glory Avenue, you
know, to see Him come around. So there he set up here in the tree, all
perched up, and nobody knowed he was up there. And he said, 'Now, I'll
see if He's a prophet. And I'll look in His face--I'll know whether
He's a prophet or not. I know what a prophet ought to look like.'"
E-60
"And he--he raised up his leaf and he looked out. He said, 'Uh-huh.
What's them? Oh, oh, that's supposed to be His disciples Rebekah told
me about. Uh-huh, I'll wait just a minute.' Then after while he raised
up the leaf again, said, 'Now, let's see if I'm covered up good. Yeah,
I'm setting on two limbs.'" That's where two ways meet, and that's
where a lot of people set, where yours and God's ways meet. That's
right. Got to make a decision from right there.
E-61 "So He walked..." Said, "And--and what is your name, sir?" E-62 Watch. With all the burdens of the world, He was going right up to Jerusalem to be crucified. He knew it. All the burdens and sins of the world. Every sin that was ever committed, or ever would be committed, rested upon Him. Think on his heart. Even the eggs and fruits and things that was thrown at Him, all the screams of "Come up here and raise some dead. Show us a miracle. Let us see you do so and so if you're the Messiah. Let's see..." That bunch of the--the ministerial association of Jerusalem (You see?), or of Jericho. "Let us see you do something. See, I told you; there's nothing to it." He don't mind devils. He don't yet (You see?), so... He just does as the Father shows Him, He said.
E-63
But that old blind beggar over there, saying, "Oh, thou son of David,"
and He stopped. Brother, I'd like to preach to you sometime, "And He
Stopped." Yes, sir. He stopped, and when He did, He turned around. Now,
his voice... He didn't hear it, of course not. But his faith stopped
Him. His faith stopped Him. And they brought him. He said, "What
would--that I would do for you?"
E-64
I read a little story on blind Bartimaeus. Before I close, my time is
gone; but I'd just like to say this before I close, and we'll make the
altar call. Now, notice just a moment.
E-65
And so his little girl got sick. They had the physician out, and the
doctor said, "Well," said, "there's too high a fever on the child. I--I
don't think the child's going to live, Bartimaeus. We have nothing to
break that fever, so I--I don't believe the child is going to live."
And Bartimaeus just said... Maybe he stepped out along the side of his
little dobe--adobe hut, and stood out there, and he said, "Jehovah, if
You will just heal my little girl and don't let her die, I promise You
tomorrow I'll make You a sacrifice of my two little turtledoves." See,
something you have to give up...
E-66
Said some time later his wife got real ill. And so the physician came
and said, "Why, I believe she's going to die. I don't believe she'll
ever be well, Bartimaeus," after waiting on her for a while. And said,
"No, I--my medicine won't help her. She's going to die." So he went
outside the house again.
E-67 He said, "Oh, priest, that is good of you. But I never promised God a lamb; I promised Him this lamb."
E-68
That same Lamb is provided for every sinner, for every sick. God has
provided a Lamb for our spiritual eyes, and for our physical eyes, for
our physical condition, for our spiritual condition. He's Jehovah-jireh
that has already provided a Lamb for our blindness, that we
might--seeing the world, we might see it no more and look to Him; being
sick, that we--we might know that He is the same yesterday, today, and
forever. Let's bow our heads just a moment for prayer.
E-69
Someone else, some of the young folks? Hear my little story about
little Bartimaeus when he was young. You know, your mother, perhaps,
dedicated you to God too when you were born. See, Bartimaeus finally
fulfilled the commission that God had laid out for him when his mama
dedicated him. May be tonight that your little eyes will come open,
young folks, and you'll see the Lamb of God. "Thou Son of David, have
mercy on me." E-70 I noticed last night... There's a little girl setting here, looks to be about ten years old. She raised her hand a few moments ago. She wanted Jesus. About the age of my little Becky, I guess, at home my little Rebekah, and I noticed the little girl come up last night, when she stood at the altar. No more than she'd stood there, she started speaking with tongues. Someone told me, some of the brethren, that she was running all over the church, speaking in tongues and singing in tongues and everything. How the Lord blessed that little child. Get her when her heart's young and tender, before she's pulled it through old "True Story" magazines and the filth of the world, got her little heart all callused. I like to see little ones come. God... You dedicate your life to Him. He will do something for you too, honey. He sure will. Someone else now before we pray? "Lord, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me."
E-71
Our heavenly Father, I give them to Thee. They raised their hands.
They're Your children by faith in Jesus Christ. They know that You're
here, Father. They know that You are the Son of God. They believe now
that because that You spoke to their hearts that they're ready to
receive You as their Saviour, because You had to speak first. "No man
can come to Me," said the Lord Jesus, "'less My Father draws him first.
And all the Father has given Me, will come." And now, Lord, they come
tonight upon the basis of the shed Blood of the Lord Jesus. And as
their priest, or their--or their pastor, or servant, I--I pray, Father.
My prayer of faith goes to You.
E-72
Now, Father, I pray that You'll give them courage to let them know that
that Spirit that was near them, saying, "Child, you're wrong. You
should receive Me tonight. I'll stop in My great busy schedule and turn
around and say, 'Thy sins are forgiven thee. Go and sin no more.'" As
you have said so many times, You have said it to them tonight, because
they've made their decision. E-73 Father, this little group, I want to meet them there on that great day of the rapture when we get together, see them come running from nation to nation, getting together. "We which are alive and remain shall not hinder them which are asleep." The trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall rise first, and then we'll meet them, and then be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air, and forever be with Him. Lord, I know that You said that in--in the book of Thessalonians, the 5th chapter, and I know it's true. And I'll meet them before we meet You. So we're so happy for this.
E-74
And we believe now that... I believe with all my heart, that because
they raised their hands, and because that I've prayed and asked and
followed the leading of the Spirit the best that I know how, that they
are forgiven of their sins. Now, they're happy for it, Lord. Now,
there's one more thing You asked them to do. "He that will confess Me
before men, him will I confess before My Father and the holy Angels. " E-75 Now, with your heads bowed, I'm going to see and ask, you that were deeply sincere, if you believe me to be God's prophet, or his servant, rather, if you believe me to be his servant with all your heart, and you believe that I've quoted you the truth... You heard the Word, "He that heareth My words (Saint John 5:24) and believeth on Him that sent Me..." I preached the Word; you believed on God. And you raised up your hand that you was a sinner, and you did not want to be a sinner any more. Then God said, "No man can come to Me except My Father draws him." Then what drawed your hand up? God. You made your decision. All right. Now, what did He say? "He that comes to Me I will in no wise cast out." Then you are a Christian, if you really meant that. You young boys and girls, and you older, in your middle age, and your teen-age, all of you, you are Christians when you believe it.
E-76
Now, there's one thing yet you have to do. If you really believe that
with all your heart, I'm going to ask you just to stand on your feet,
and say this by standing up... You don't have to say one word, but just
stand up that you might witness to the people that, "I now confess all
my sins, and accept Jesus Christ as my Saviour." Now, you that accept
Him that way, stand up to your feet. What about it, little girl, that
was setting here? You believe He's your Saviour? That's right. Stand
right there, honey. Little boy over here, he's... All right. You in the
back, you up in the balcony, the little boy and girl in the balcony,
fine. Anywhere in the building now that accepted Jesus as your Saviour,
stand up. "He that will testify of Me before men, him that witnesses Me
before men, him will I witness before My Father and the holy..."
E-77
Now, some of the rest of you that wants to accept Him and say, "I'll
publicly make a witness."... The Bible says as many as believed was
added to the church. Do you believe that Jesus forgives your sins
tonight? Stand up to your feet with these children. How many will do it
right now? All right. God bless you. The boy in the wheelchair, this
boy here, this girl here, this lady. That's good. Fine. Someone else
say, "I accept Him right now upon..."
E-78
Our heavenly Father, Your Word cannot fail. It's eternal. You said, "He
that heareth My words, and believeth on Him that sent Me, has
Everlasting Life." You said so, Lord. "And will not come into the
judgment (or condemnation at the judgment), but has passed from death
unto Life," because they have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, that
He died in their stead, taking their sins. And through their
unrighteousness they are made the righteousness of God through Jesus
Christ. There they are, Father. They're the trophies of the message.
They're here. They're your children. Now, I may never be able to shake
their hands in this earth. But, Father God, upon the basis of Your Word
I believe and accept Your Word that You are God, and You cannot lie,
and Your Word is eternal. I claim them for the Gospel. I claim them,
for God's sake through Jesus Christ, remitting all their sins.
E-79
Now, as you see the people standing (raise your heads), the ones that's
standing I want you to shake their hands as they set down. Up there in
the balcony, there right here, you, any of you Christians near them now
as you're seated, just shake their hand, say, "God bless you." Shake
this little boy's hand here. God bless his little heart there. Some of
you mothers setting there, right here... That's right. God bless you.
God bless you, brother, with the broken foot there. Don't worry, you'll
be all right. I knowed that a couple nights ago, so just don't worry
about that. You're all right. So... Up there in the balcony, all of
you. See? It's all all right. Oh, isn't He wonderful?
E-80
How many of you is sick, raise your hands, the sick and needy. Amen.
How many believes that that same God... I don't know. All right.
I--I... Something struck me then. He's here. The Angel of the Lord that
you see in that picture, God being my judge, at the day of the judgment
you'll find out He's right here now. That's right. The Angel of the
Lord is here. E-81 Sarah set in the tent and she said within herself. She laughed, and the Angel turned and said, "Why did Sarah laugh, saying within herself that this couldn't be so?" Is that right? How about the woman that touched His garment and He looked? Don't you believe He's that same High Priest tonight? And you young converts, I want to prove to you that that One that you touched... Sister honey here, you and the young--the sister setting here, and the brother, the little boy, and that little boy and girl setting over there, I want to show you that it was the same Lord Jesus that made the promise. Oh, my. Oh, I wish I could feel this way all the time. Right. Have faith in God. Pray, all of you. Just be in prayer.
E-82
I'm going to turn my back to you. What that Angel of the Lord did? To
show you we're in the days of Sodom, and show you we're at the last
days, that this country here is a modern Sodom, to show you that the
Angel of the Lord is still the Angel of the Lord... Now, you have no
prayer cards, so we won't have no prayer line. But you don't have to
have prayer cards. The only thing I ask you to do is believe that I've
told you the truth, the Gospel truth, and it's God.
E-83
Now, here it is. There's a woman before me. I'm looking right at her.
Somebody out there is touching the High Priest. I see what she looks
like here. Just a minute. Somebody touched Him, just the same as the
woman touched our Lord Jesus. That's what this woman done, and I'm just
acting in His place. You see?...?... Are you understanding? Now, it'll
be... I'll catch it just a moment. There's... It comes from... Now,
somebody touched Him. Each one of you is praying. Believe now with all
your heart. Set real quiet; believe. E-84 Now, you young converts... That lady setting right next to her there, she seemed to be a... That Light moved right over to that lady setting right by her. There It is again. I thought It went back to the lady, but It went to that lady. She's a believer, a Christian believer. She's got some kind of a--like an allergy, a breaking out on her hands. That's right. I don't know you, do I, lady? You don't have any prayer card, of course. Do you believe that you're going to get well? You believe that was God? You--you believe that, that--that I can tell you what you was praying about? You believe that? By God... (Keep quiet, keep quiet, set down, please.) You believe? Mrs. Bossler, you believe now that you're going to be made well? God bless you. That's who you are, isn't it? E-85 What about you, little fellow, setting right here? Here It is right here to you. You believe? I see you're kind of stooped in your shoulders, like that. But there's something else besides that's wrong with you. If God will tell me what's wrong with you, will you believe me to be His prophet, His servant? It's a stomach trouble you're suffering with. That's THUS SAITH THE LORD. That's right. Not a ulcer, you're just nervous and upset in your stomach, is what's doing it. That's exactly. If you believe with all your heart...
E-86
You believe? Now, be real reverent. Don't move. You see, each time you
move that--that--that does something. You see? Be reverent. What about
somebody this direction here? It's come over here, now It's go over
here. You believe? When we get three or four, say--say something. Have
faith; don't doubt. I just have to watch wherever I... I wish I could
just say this or that. I can't. I just have to watch. Faith is so
unconscious to people... E-87 The lady setting right next to her, you had to get up and go away a few minutes ago. Satan tried his best to rob you from this. You believe God can tell me about your trouble? Would you accept me as His prophet, or His servant? You believe that with all your heart? I don't know you. I never seen you in my life, but you really got a contact with God right now. Right. You're very seriously ill. That's right. It's a gall bladder condition. That is right. Another thing, you have enlarged heart. That's exactly right. Mrs. Miller, raise up your hand if that's right. Go, receive your healing. Jesus Christ makes you whole. E-88 I challenge you to believe that. I--I just--I just ask you to believe it. All right. Have faith in God. Do you believe Him? "Jesus, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me." Do you believe Him with all your heart? Then hear me, listen. How many believers is here, raise your hand. All right, if you're a believer... Now, put your hand down. Every one of you is believers. How many are sick, raise your hands. All right, believers, lay your hands on one another. I'll quote the same Word. "These signs shall follow them that believe." This is it. Do you believe it? Now, you pray for somebody. You lay your hands on somebody by you, around you, up there in the | |||||