¹ Privileged to be back here at the pulpit again after about, I guess, almost three months absence. The squirrels has had a hard time, so have I. Oh, it's relaxed though now, and you feel more like entering into the service again. And expecting now to start this coming week, this coming Wednesday night, for a--a revival right here in the Tabernacle. And if God's willing, I have kind of, the Lord has promised me a different and new type of ministry. And if He pleased to do so, I hope to begin that--that new type of service this coming week here at the Tabernacle for the first place.
And then I have no scheduled meetings, but just Australia and New Zealand for this coming January. And then Brother Osborn is calling for a joint meeting that I kind of promised him here sometime ago in Tulsa, but a little later on, but we're not sure of that yet.

³ It was certainly good, Brother Jeffreys, to get to shake your hand back here, and also to hear your boy sing that song, and you play. I kind of like that, father and son. Don't you like that? "Bring up a child in the way that it should go." That's right, Mr. Guenther, you--you know that that's right, both of you. "Bring up a child in the way that it should go, and when he gets old it'll not depart." And that's true. There may be some times that he may depart from it, but it won't depart from him. See? It'll--it'll always stay with him. That early training and whatever he's been brought up to do, it'll--it'll certainly stay with him. Now, this is...

⁴ I met Brother Jeffreys out there, and I said, "Brother Jeffreys..." I thought, you know, I'm always glad to see any of my visiting brethren in, but such a night for a visiting brother to come... This is the night of just the folks that comes to the Tabernacle, just prayer, this revival, this is the night. We want to take tonight, and tomorrow morning, and tomorrow night, just on what we believe here at the Tabernacle, to--to rehearse it over again. We have some awful odd beliefs, very strange, but somehow or another we find them in this Bible. They seem to be there all right.

⁵ And now if there would be a strange brother or sister in, that belongs to a--a certain denomination, or--or disagrees, just setting in on this for tonight, we want you to know that you're perfectly welcome. See, you're just as welcome as you can be. But now, I hope... And we make this pretty rough. So if--if it seems that you don't agree with it, well, now, and you do that like I do when I'm eating cherry pie. And when I'm eating cherry pie, which is my favorite, I always, when I'm--when I eat the pie, if I run into a seed, I don't throw the pie away; I--I just throw the seed away and--and just keep on eating pie. So, or like eating chicken, now, all of you all like chicken. See? And when you hit the bone, you don't quit; you just go around the bone and keep eating chicken. Well, that's the way you do tonight, what I'm saying here; you just--when you eat something, you say, "Now, I--I just don't... I'm just setting in this as a little church doctrine for these next three meetings; they're just kind of rehearsing what they--what they believe, and going over it."

⁶ And the only way you can nearly make a person believe It, is drive it home so hard till they'll have to know that that's the thing that's right. That's the only way you can make it stick. And just like a friend of mine, Mr. Woods I've been with, if--if you just drive a nail halfway in, and the board's all loose, the wind will blow it down pretty soon, but you got to drive her in and make it stick hard. So now, if I just make this real rude on some of these places, to you visitors tonight that's setting on, I'm not--I'm not trying to throw you off; I'm just trying to drive home to this church what we believe. All understands that now real good, say "amen." [Congregation says "Amen!"--Ed.] All right, that's--that's okay. And I'll get this off of my hands. And then--then the--the... They're recording it, and so forth, that later on if they wanted to find out then what we really stand for, and what the grounds that we stand on, these recordings will tell it. And then we do this every so often, 'cause there's new people comes in and--and we go ahead. And now we won't be able to go over all the church doctrines, but just some of them that we want to--to speak on. And now Wednesday night though, starts...

⁷ Now, Monday and Tuesday, I'm going away to pray, get ready for healing service. And you can get on the phones, or wherever you wish to, and bring in anybody that you want to for this coming revival. And tell them not to come in a hurry now, not come, say, "Well, now I'm going to run in and be prayed for tonight, and tomorrow night it's all..." You don't do that. You come in and listen awhile, 'cause we want to take our time and lay that Word out so close that the Devil won't even have one little speck of room to ever move.
And then when you let your faith run out to its end, till you begin to believe, then let your subconscious go to acting, then the faith of God will back it up; then you'll go right on out. See? 'Cause your faith won't do too much; your subconscious has to move in the direction that your faith is moving, and then God's faith moves in behind and confirms it all. See? But if it's your faith, "Oh, yes, I got it right now"; and even your subconscious rolling back here, saying, "I wonder if it'll work on me." It--it won't do it right then. See? So we want this to be a real healing service. And before I get anyone into the rooms and so forth for the healing, or this new services, I want them to really understand what they're coming there for.
So just remember, and come and visit us, and we'd be glad to have you.

⁸ Now, remember now, in the morning we're going to continue on with the church doctrine, and tomorrow night the same way. Now, you're welcome to come, and anybody can come. We're always glad to see anybody. But now this tonight is just directed home to the people that's of the Tabernacle here, that--that's raised up in this doctrine. For, out in the fields, the evangelistic fields, we just take the real fundamental evangelical doctrines of the Scriptures. But here at the Tabernacle, we got our own thoughts and our own beliefs, as a--as a--as a church, and that's what we're to go over tonight.
And before we open His blessed Word, then can't we just bow our heads for a moment of prayer.

¹⁰ Almighty and powerful God, Who, before the world ever started whirling on the first atom, You were God. You haven't changed a bit. And when there is no more atoms to hold it up, and there's no more world to be held up, You'll still be God. You're for everlasting, and from everlasting Thou art God. You never had a beginning of days nor ending of life; You'll always be.
And, Father, You being infinite, and we finite, then we ask for Your Divine mercy, God, realizing that this spirit of ours is to blend into the eternity out of this time element into eternity. Therefore, Lord, we're here to check up on our salvation, to see how we're standing in the sight of Thy Word, and to see how we are situated in our experiences. Are we living that which is pleasing to Thee? Does our spirits bear record with Your Spirit? And does our teaching bear record with this Bible? And, Father, may we examine both closely in these next three coming services. Grant it, Lord.

¹¹ Bless the pastor here, the deacons, the trustees, and all the laity, the people who come to this church. Since my days here, Lord, there's many, many that I don't even know their names or where they come from, but I'm sure that You know all about them. And we're here for that one purpose tonight, Lord, to fellowship around the written Word. And give us the Holy Spirit in our lives, that we can set peacefully and soberly and in the fear of God, and examine our lives by His Word. Grant it, Lord.
And in this building tonight, Lord, there is my brethren of different phases of the--of the church. And, Lord, I'm so thankful that they are here to fellowship. Maybe we might disagree upon little principles of doctrines. But in that one great major principle, we're standing as united brethren in a front that, O God, may it strengthen our--our fellowships, and our--and the bonds of God's grace and love rest upon us richly.
Now, realizing, Lord, that this is too much of a job for a man to do, because we have here under consideration tonight the destination of souls that's eternity bound. So we pray that the Holy Spirit will get right into the Word, and will lay It out, and explain It in His Own way to us, the things that He would have us to know. Grant it, Lord. And when the three--the times of service is over, may we go as a strengthened church, as a united together to put our hearts and our aims all together, with our fellow citizens of the Kingdom of God, and move forward like never before.

¹³ I want to thank You, Lord, here in the Presence of the church and--and of the peoples that's here, that You gave me now several weeks of good rest. I feel wonderful tonight because of Your Presence and Your blessing. And, O God, we pray for brother here, our brother that's going overseas, way down into those dark, dingy countries, where his very life lays as--as a target. And, O Lord, bless our Brother Jeffreys as he goes, and his son, and his wife, and give him great increase. May he cut holes through the darkness until the Gospel Light will shine far and wide. Hear us, Father, for we ask this petition in the Name of the Lord Jesus, Thy Son. Amen.

¹⁴ Now, tonight reading in my small Scofield Bible... I've just passed twenty-five years old recently. And I can still read it, but it gets pretty dim, so I've got me a pair of reading glasses when I study. And I'm going to see how it works tonight for my first time. Now, I have subjects like this, that, "Must the Church..." Oh, many things, if we can get to them. One of them, Why are we called the church? Why are we not a denomination? Why--why do we believe in the eternal security of the soul of the believer? Why do we condemn women preachers? Why do we baptize by immersing? And will the church go through the tribulation? And many of those subjects here, I guess I got fifteen or eighteen of them for the next few nights.

¹⁵ So I'm thinking tonight to begin with, to start with, it seems to be the Lord lays upon my heart just for this subject, the--"Why Are We Not A Denomination?" The reason that... Now, we have nothing against other people who are denomination. We have nothing against them, but I want to explain why that we never went in with any denomination. I was ordained in a little Baptist church, as you know. And the Baptist is not a denomination, wasn't till just recently, and now it's becoming just as much denomination as the rest of them. But the reason that we never become a denomination...

¹⁶ Now, we are an organization. We are an organization, recorded here in the--in the courts as an organization, a group of people that's organized together to worship Christ, but we're not in a denomination. No one is going to dominate over us. You see? It's not a denomination. It's--it's just an organization of fellowship amongst Christian believers. People come here to the church, and this becomes their home church, if they wish to come as long as they live.

¹⁷ And they can come here and disagree with everything that we preach. That's perfectly all right. You still, as long as you are a Christian, you've got fellowship and a hand out just the same as the rest of them. See? If I said I believe in baptizing by immersing by water, and you believed in sprinkling, and stayed right on it, we'd still be just the same as we was if we both agreed. We might not be able to see eye to eye alike, but as long as you are a Christian brother or sister, you're perfectly welcome (See?), everybody.

¹⁸ So we don't have any denominations, because I think that denomination separates brotherhood. Some of them say, "Well, we ain't got nothing to do in that revival; that's a Methodist revival. Well, that's Baptist; we ain't got... We're Methodists; we ain't got nothing to do with that." Brother, if Christ is in it, we got--we got all to do with it. We got to put our... It--it's the body of Christ that is--is suffering. And I see that so much in the lands today, to how that we have...
Now, Christ never did at any time ever organize any denominational church. Now, just let that be well assured.

¹⁹ Now, now, I'm going to ask you tomorrow night, if any of these things you want to know, like some history that I'm quoting, or something another, I don't have time just to drain that through, I won't get to another subject, 'cause you could spend weeks on that very same subject... But if you want to know the place, anything, just ask me and lay it up here on the--on the desk, and I'll get it, answer it for you.

²⁰ Now, the oldest denomination, and the first denomination church that we ever had, is the Catholic church. And it was organized three hundred and something years after the death of the last apostle. And that's right. You get it in the early Nicene Fathers, and you get it in this writings of Josephus, and, oh, many of the--of the great historians. See? And as far as in the--the--any of the church ages, down through until the death of the last apostle, and three hundred years the other side of the apostles, there was no denominational churches. And the Catholic was the first denomination of a church.
And the Protestant church are the denominations who has pulled out of a denomination. The first reformation come was Luther; after Luther come Zwingli; after Zwingli come Calvin, and just on down like that. And down to the Wesleyan revival, and on down to Alexander Campbell, John Smith, and whatmore (See?), on down. And the last movement that we have up now is the different phases of the Pentecostal age.

²² And I believe that God has dealt in each age. But did you ever notice that every time a church ever fails, and as soon as they denominate they start failing right then? And whenever they fail, God never raises that church again. It goes right straight to seed. Now, you just... If you want to know the history on that, we--we can produce it, that--that no church, not ever in the history of churches, has any denomination ever fell that ever rose again. Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Luther, and whatever it may be, when they fell, they are gone. Now, that's right. Now, this, I--I told you now, put on the jackets, 'cause we're going to make this stick. See?
There has never, at one time, when a man come out as an individual and organized a church, it started...

²³ God deals with individuals, not with denomination. God in no age ever dealt with a denomination. He's always dealt with an individual. In the Old Testament He dealt with individual. In the New Testament He dealt with individual. In any age He's always dealt with individuals and not denominations. So therefore, if God isn't in the denomination, what's the use of me having anything to do with it as a denomination? Now, I'm not talking about the people in that denomination; I'm talking about the denomination itself, 'cause God's people's in all those denominations.

²⁴ Now, God never lets anything happen unless He gives a warning to it. I don't believe there's anything that...
Now, like we have issues that comes out of the churches, such as we've had one recently about blood and oil, and so forth, and you know the "Dear Brother Branham" letter, and so forth. But the reason that I stood against that, because it's not in the Word. And that's the reason that I'm against denomination, because it's not in the Word. And it has to have something we have to base our faith upon. And if we can't base it upon some denomination, we've got to base it upon God's Word. For That is the only Foundation, is God's Word.

²⁶ And then if God's Word doesn't speak of a denomination, but speaks against the denomination, then we must speak with the Word. Regardless of what bishop, what anyone says, what anyone thinks, what a good man says, what anything says, if it's not according to God's Word, then it's wrong. See, it must be; the Word must be the last thing. God's Word must be the final Amen.
Now remember, I'm not unchristianizing anyone (you understand that) in denominations. There's tens of thousands of precious souls in all those denominations, who are God's children. But to separate them and segregate them, I'm against it. And God's Word's against it.

²⁸ And I believe that there isn't an "ism" that's in the land today, there isn't an "ism" that's ever been in the land, but what that it was foretold coming by God's Word. I believe that God's Word supplies everything that we have need of, right here in the Word. From the--our beginning to the end, it's found right in God's Word. And then I--I believe that if it's in God's Word, then we should... It foretells. And God's Word is a warning.

²⁹ Now, you don't read God's Word just like you read a newspaper. You read God's Word by the Holy Spirit (See?), because the Holy Spirit Itself speaking through Christ... Christ thanking God that He'd hid these things from the eyes of the wise and prudent, and would reveal them to babes such as would learn. So, you see, there's no way of ever being educated; there's no way of ever denominating; there's only one way to get right, that's be led by the Spirit of God, and that experience you had must cope with this Word (See?), then you got it. See?

³⁰ Like when we get down here in a few minutes now, we're dealing with people who are--are--some of them are radical Calvinists, some of them are radical Arminians, and--and different ways. Now, there's always, no matter how thin you slice it, it's got two sides to it. That's exactly right. And they've both got arguing points. But the thing of it is, where lays the truth of it? That's where we're coming to, where we think, by the grace of God, we can show you the truth of it. Now, let's just take... And this is just where I got some of these church doctrines wrote out.

³¹ Let's turn in your Bibles just a few minutes, all of you now, and let's get over to Revelations the 1st chapter, or Revelations the 17th Chapter to start with. And let's just start reading and find out now where these churches begin at and what--what started it.
Now, the Bible forewarns everything. It forewarns the days that we're--we're living in. And now, Revelations the 17th chapter, if you will. I said 13th; I didn't mean that, that's on the... We get that after while too, that's in the prophecy of the United States. But listen real close now.

³³ "Come here and I'll show you the judgment." Now, there's going to be a judgment spoke upon the great whore, the unclean woman that sets upon many waters. Now, the woman symbolizing, a "church," and water symbolizes "people." Now, if you'll notice it, also look at the 15th verse while you're there, 15th verse, the same chapter.

³⁵

³⁶ Now, notice.

³⁹ Did you notice Rebekah, when Eliezer found her, it was in the evening time, and she watered the camel. 'Cause Eliezer said, "If the damsel that comes and waters this camel, that will be the--and gives me, a drink, that will be the one that You have chosen, Lord, to be the bride of Your servant, Isaac." And while he was yet in prayer, Rebekah come and drawed water and give him a drink, and watered the camel. Notice, the camel was a beast. And that same beast that she was watering was the one who packed her to her bride, Isaac.

⁴⁰ And today, the power of the Holy Ghost, that the church is watering and worshipping, is the thing that'll pack it from this earth to meet the Bride. Sure, Isaac was out in the field in the evening. We don't meet the Lord up in glory. Ephesians the 5th chapter said that we shall meet Him in the air. Oh, that makes the Methodists get ready to shout. Think of it. See? The Lord...
Isaac had come out from his father's house, and was out in the field when he saw Rebekah coming on the camel. And she loved him at first sight, and jumped off the camel, and run to meet him. That's right. That's where we meet the Lord. And the very camel that she watered, packed her to her husband. And the very power that the church is worshipping, that the world's calling fanaticism, that the church is worshipping, will be the same power that'll take the church up in the air to meet the Lord in the air: the Holy Spirit. See? There it... And, look, Rebekah was a virgin.

⁴¹ And this woman is a prostitute, we're speaking of here. Now, you get what the power is now? The--the power, what the--means that the beast, she was on a scarlet. Now, what kind of a beast would it be? Scarlet, that would be a "rich power." What kind of a church is this she's going to be now? She's a rich church, and she's a great church, and she's a powerful church, and she--influence sweeps the multitudes and people. And the kings of the earth have committed spiritual fornications with her; that's the great men of the earth. Now we're going to find out who she is just in a minute, and find out about these denominations.

⁴³ Look.

⁴⁴ Now, here sometime ago, I don't think to the church here, but I preached on a subject, "Handwriting On The Wall," and give the historical standing of Babylon. Now, every "ism" that's ever come up, every religion and every "ism" that there is in the world today begin in Genesis. Now, if you'll get Hislop's "Two Babylons," if you want to chase it in history, or some of those fine books, you can even find every "ism" that you want to find. I'm going to take you back there in a few minutes on women preachers (See?), and show you just where it first started from (See?), back in Genesis. And on these different things, just how they come up out of Genesis. "Genesis" means "the beginning." How many knows that that's right? Genesis is the beginning. So everything that is, had to have a beginning.

⁴⁵ When I look at a tree. I've been in the woods for a couple, three, about two months. I see a tree, how pretty it is. I see it, it goes down; another one comes up in its place, perpetual life. And I think of that. But somewhere that tree had a beginning. It had to have a beginning. And the only way it could be designated to be a tree, or to be an oak, or a beech, or a poplar, or a palm, or whatever it was, there had to be a Master Intelligence behind it. Or if there just one, been one oak tree, everything in the world been all oak tree. But Something great Master Intelligence had to set it in order. Blessed be His holy Name. He's the One Who sets the moon and the stars in the solar system. He set everything in its order. And He'll set His church in order. It'll turn just like He wants her to turn, east, west, north, or south, or whatever it is, when we can get these denominational ideas out of our mind and throw ourself wholly into Calvary. He'll set it in order if we are just as submissive as the trees and His other creation. You never see the moon saying, "I ain't going to shine tonight; some of you stars shine in my place." But we, no, we're different. You see?

⁴⁶ Now, Babylon, watch how Babylon appeared. It appears in the first of the Bible. It appears in the middle of the Bible. And it appears in the last of the Bible. Now, there's something... Now, it begin with Nimrod. Nimrod founded Babylon in the Shinar valley, right close between the Tigris River and the Euphrates, and the Euphrates passed through. And--and how that every road through all that country led straight to Babylon. And each one of those gates were about two hundred feet across, those gates made out of brass. And when you got inside of the city of Babylon, every street led straight to the throne.

⁴⁷ Now, you can go to Rome today, and every road will lead to Rome. And there's a little virgin Mary setting on every corner, in the turn of the road, with a Christ child in her hand, pointing that way towards Rome. See? It appears in the first of the Bible; it appears in the middle of the Bible; and here it is in the last of the Bible. Now, I just want to read on just for a few minutes, so you get the background of this. See? All right.

⁴⁹ I saw her drunk with the blood of the saints,...
Now, if this woman is the church, she's persecuted the saints. And she's the greatest church; she has power all over the earth. She's over many waters, and she... The kings of the earth commit fornications with her. Well, who is she? Kind of a mystery. Now the Spirit's going to... You know, there's supposed to be nine spiritual gifts in the church, to wisdom, and one to understanding, and one for healing, and one for so forth.

⁵¹

⁵² Now, watch.

⁵⁴ Now, I just might as well squeeze this in right here, 'cause we're going to get into it in a few minutes. See? When was their names put on the Lamb's Book of Life? From when? The last revival they attended? The night they went to the altar? The night they joined the church? I'm not trying to hurt you, but I'm telling you, the Bible said their names were put on the Lamb's Book of Life since the foundation of the world. It's exactly. When God, in the beginning saw that He'd send His Son, and He'd take a sinners place, when God's Son's Blood was shed, the Bible said His Blood was shed before the foundation of the world. How many knows the Bible says that, that the Blood of Christ was shed before the foundation of the world? When that Blood was shed, every member of the Body, whose names was written with that Blood on the Lamb's Book of Life at the foundation of the world. What you so scared about? Oh, brother. That unlocks the doors, doesn't it?

⁵⁵ Well now, let's just read this right here and see if what if that says right. See? "And the angel said unto me, 'Wherefore didst...'" I believe it's the 8th verse.

⁵⁷ Now, notice the woman, the church; she was Mystery Babylon. We see her appear by Nimrod. What was Nimrod's purpose? Nimrod founded a city and caused all of the other cities to pay tribute to this city. Could we see such a thing today? Is there such a place today? Is there a church that has domination over every nation in the world? Certainly. Is there a place today that makes every nation pay tribute to it? Is there a place? Let's go ahead and read the rest of this, just a little bit, so you get the whole picture of it. All right.

⁵⁹ Now, you stop, find that all through these church ages here, pulling out. The Holy Spirit speaking out how those gifts would be working in the last days. Now, we've got gifts of healing working. Oh, it's--it's going good. Well, brother, there's other gifts. That's just one of them. That's just a little minor thing. Why, here's a far greater gift right here. Which would be the best, the gift of the Holy Ghost of wisdom to put the Word of God together and to show the church where we're standing, than just to get somebody healed? We all want to be well; but I'd rather have my soul well, than my body well anytime. Oh, my. Hear the Holy Spirit speaking through John on Patmos, said, "Here's to the wisdom, let him listen to This." Now, we're getting a picture drawed out here.

⁶⁰

⁶¹ I've often heard that over the throne of the pope of Rome, it's wrote, "Vicarius Filii Dei." I often wondered if that was true. Draw a line, and draw it up in figures in Roman numerals, and see if it is. It's exactly the truth. I stood that close to the triple crown of the pope in a glass: Jurisdiction of hell, heaven, and purgatory. See? So, those things, I've just come from there, just come from Rome and know it's the truth. Now, we know it's pictured out.

⁶⁴ Now, watch.

⁶⁹ Now watch, listen to this just a minute. "Five kings, which it was fallen, five kings." If you want that on--on--from the history, I'll show it to you. "And one is, and one's to come." Now watch, "the beast." Now, the beast wasn't a king. He was one which is, which is not; and yet he is, and is not; yet he is, and is not. What is it? Succession of the popes, a power, a beast ruling. That's when pagan Rome was converted to make papal Rome. Pagan Rome was converted, and then it become the papacy, which, they had a pope in the stead of a king, and the pope is the spiritual king. That's the reason he's a crowned spiritual king, claims to be the vicar of Jesus Christ. There you are.

⁷⁰ Now, notice. And we're going to bring that Catholic doctrine out of there and show you how it's weeded right down into the Protestant churches (See?), how she's still laying right in the Protestant church, lot of it, contrary, exactly, to the Bible, absolutely contrary.
Now, "a beast which was, which is not." Now remember, all of them will be deceived upon the earth, whose name was not written from the foundation of the world.

⁷¹ Let's see.

⁷²

⁷³ And this great communism--communism move we got today, don't worry about that. That's working exactly into the hands of God. I can prove it by this Bible. He's going to make her suffer for every martyr she ever killed. Yes, sir. You watch these kings all agree together and will hate her. And the whole nation, the whole world sweeping communism. Why, it's got to be a move of God to punish it. You say, "Wait a minute, Brother Branham, communism a move of God?" Absolutely, certainly, it is a move of God. The Bible said so. But it's moving in to pronounce judgment upon a ungodly and disgracefully illegitimate people. What's left in this world? What have we got?

⁷⁴ Here the other day... I'll stop on my subject just a minute if it's possible. I was reading in a piece of Scripture where that a illegitimate child will not enter the congregation of the Lord for fourteen generations. How many knows that? That's right, Deuteronomy 23, an illegitimate child. If a woman is caught in the field, that's away from the protection of man, and a man overcomes that woman, that man will have to marry her. And regardless if she becomes a prostitute, he has to live with her till he dies. And if this woman marries him, pretending that she is a virgin, and she isn't, then she can be killed for it. And if a man and a woman which are married, and they bring forth a illegitimate child, that--the congregation of the Lord he'll not enter to fourteen generations; and forty years is a generation, it'd be four hundred years before that seed ever gets out of Israel.

⁷⁵ God hates sin. How do you expect to wade over the holy Blood of the Lord Jesus, just because you belong to a certain denomination and expect to go in? You're going to come God's grounds or you're not coming at all. That's right. Deacon, preacher, whatever we may be, has nothing to do with it. You come on God's term.
Fourteen generations... The person is setting present now who was discussing that with me. Said, "How do we know who would ever be saved then?"
I said, "There's where you ought to be a good Calvinist." Your name was put in the Book before the foundation of the world. God takes that blood stream; that's up to Him. See?
"Well, what's that got..."

⁷⁸ Listen, you young people today. I don't know whether you come to this church, or where you come, you young boys and girls. Did you realize, the things that you're doing, if there is another generation, your children will be judged for what you do? Haven't you no respect or decency? You girls that's out here wearing these little old shorts and things around, you know, that's reflecting on your daughter. Did you know your grandmammy was a--a flapper, and your mammy a chorus girl, and that's the reason you're a striptease today? It's certainly. What will your children be? Yes, sir. God said He'd visit the iniquity of the parents upon the children and their children, to three and four generations.

⁷⁹ And did you realize, my brother, every time you do that which is right, that'll be visited on your children?
Look here, let's take Hebrews the 7th chapter. The Bible said, when--when Melchisedec met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the king, and blessed him, and said... Now, Levi, is talking about paying tithes. Said, "Levi had an order from the Lord to receive tithes from his brethren." And Levi who received tithe paid tithe, for he was yet in the loins of Abraham when he met Melchisedec. And Abraham was his great-grandfather. Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, Jacob begot Levi; Levi, father, grandfather, great-grandfather. And while Levi was in the loins of Abraham, the Bible said he paid tithes to Melchisedec. Hallelujah.
Don't let nobody tell you that any kind of a move in the world can ever interfere with God's great cog; she's moving right on. It was planned back there in the beginning. There ain't a devils or enough devils can interfere with His program.

⁸² Now, the Bible didn't say potentially he paid it; the Bible said he paid tithes when he was in his great-grandfather's loins. Glory. That's my Lord. Oh, He knowed it even before the world was ever formed. He knowed everything. And in Abraham he paid tithes.
And sister, brother, how can you run out here, and people live and run around with men's wives, and wives breaking up homes, and--and living the way you do, what do you expect another generation to be? Here's what it is: it's become now nothing but just a bunch of illegitimate, messed-up-born bunch of corruption. And there's one thing left for it, and that's the atomic day that we're living in. That's exactly right. We're at the end time.

⁸⁴ Setting this morning, way back yonder in the hills of Kentucky, a little old boy, you couldn't hardly get in ten foot of him, making sorghum molasses, probably didn't know hardly which was right hand or left, when he heard... I had got over on a posted grounds. I didn't know where I was at; I was just in some of the hollows. And I--I was just go to go squirrel hunting. And when I set down up there, got talking to him, and this boy said he was going in the Army. And come to find out, we got to talking about the Lord, and he said, "Preacher, don't you believe that we're at the end time?" Way back up there in them mountains...
I said, "Sure, we are. Sure, son, we're at the end time."

⁸⁶ Here we are. This is the hour that we're living, brother. We're in the place. Can't you see how that mothers back yonder, and daddies, how they lived, and grandpa and grandma? Can't you see how papa and mama has lived? No wonder we're in the corruption today. No wonder you could preach your head off; they'll wear shorts just the same and spit in your face. They'll smoke cigarettes, and blow it right at you, and say, "Tend to your own business." Why? Because that's the tribe they come out of. I'm going to get to that directly. The seed of the serpent we'll find out where she moves in, see why they act like that. They're the Devil's children since the foundation of the world. That's right. And we're nothing in, left for it; just--just judgment's the only thing is left. Can't have nothing else but judgment. God will just wipe the whole thing out, and man has done it themselves. God didn't intend it to be that way, but He knew it would be that way. That's the reason he said He would deceive all that lived upon the face of the earth, except those whose names were put in the Lamb's Book of Life before the foundation of the world.

⁸⁷ Let's what--read a little further now. Now, I believe we're on the 12th.

⁸⁸ Watch that now, these ten horns, these ten kingdoms. See, that's everything falling in, what these dictators are. Watch the way dictators lean to. Where's it leaning to? Just--just look--tell me a dictator that doesn't lean towards communism. See? And they shall what? "Hate the whore," the woman, the church. But watch. Watch what's going to do it.

⁸⁹ They'll blow that thing off the map, just as certain as I'm standing here. We just had time to take up that subject there of that church, and run it on down through the Scripture, where It said, read, "all the kings of this earth, and all the shipmasters, and all wail, for great Babylon met her desolation in an hour." One hour, her time had come. And, oh, how he said, "Rejoice, you saints, and all you holy prophets, for God has revenged the blood of the saints and your brethren upon her." See, that's right.
Sure, communism playing right into the hands of God. Just like King Nebuchadnezzar played right in the hands, to come take them Jews when they walked away naked.

⁹⁰ And sin can kept corrupting, righteous seed can remain in there and seed can keep corruption, and corrupting and corrupting till after while it runs out. It gets to a place because their mothers and daddies and so forth has lived so before us, and by--and that, until there's nothing left for us. And you know what Jesus said? If He didn't cut the work short, there'd be not even any flesh saved.

⁹¹ Can you see? Can you see why we got these (I'm not making remarks.) Arthur Godfrey's and everybody, you know, being Elvis Presley's, and--and hips down with overalls and hair hanging down their neck, and all these way the teen-agers are acting? What does it? What is it? Because it's coming out of a bunch of 'fore-lived, illegitimate people, nothing less Oh, they'll stand up and sing "Nearer, my God to Thee," like pea-picker Ernie and all those others like that, sing some kind of a hymn, and so forth like that. Brother, you know what? That, that's absolutely a hypocrisy. Yes, sir.

⁹² Man has got no business in this pulpit that gets out there and rock-and-roll and booglie-wooglie and all that kind of stuff. He hasn't got one speck of business behind here. This is to the priesthood, the called of God. God's called ministers belong behind here, and don't belong back here for such as that. That's what's the matter with it today, they've made the church no more than some lodge. Lodge is all right, if you want to do that, that's up to you. But let me tell you; there's a lot difference betrying--between a lodge and a church. Yes, sir. You want to do those things in a lodge, and have all them kind of parties and so forth, that's up to you. But, brother, the church ought to be swept from the pulpit all the way to the basement. That's right. I don't mean swept by the new windows and so forth. I mean with an old fashion, God-sent revival that'll scatter the thing from one side to the other. Yes, sir. Like turning a light, electric light on a bunch of roaches around a cob of an apple. Yes, sir, they'll scatter when the light flies.

⁹³ Now watch, "They have one mind, give their power." I'm below that now. "The ten horns..." Yes, now.

⁹⁵ Now, now here's your shocking point. You say, "Well, you ain't hitting me, Brother Branham." But let me just ask you something. Let's go right back now to the 5th verse.

⁹⁷ What was the first organization? Catholic church. What was the second organization? Luther. What was the third organization? Zwingli. What'd it come on down to? Calvin. And then it come into Anglican, and the Anglican on down into Methodist. The Methodists, what'd the Methodists produce? Out of there come Alexander Campbell. And out of Alexander Campbell come John Smith; out of Alexander Campbell was the Christian church, then they had four or five Church of Christ and all those other little isms run out. Then here come the Baptist church, it had a lot of little pull outs. And out of the Methodist church come--out of the Methodist church come, first come, the Wesleyan Methodist, then they broke off four or five times. Then they come to another type of Methodist, and then they come off again, then they come to the Free Methodist. And--and then they come from that to the Nazarene. And from the Nazarene to the Pilgrim Holiness, and the Pilgrim Holiness on down. Just little "isms" running out like that, keep running on down, each one of them little--little starters back there, come right on down. And what did every one of them do? They finally wounded up in Pentecost.

⁹⁸ And what did Pentecost do? The same thing their mammy did; they went right back and organized. And what'd it become? A--a denomination. Walk into one; the first thing, "What's your doctrine?" Boy, they comb you with a fine-tooth comb (See?), to find out what you are, what you believe. And if you don't just tally right up with them, brother, you're excommunicated right now. And that's right.
And don't think just because you say you're Pentecostal that you're secured. Brother, there'd be just as many Pentecosts off the road as there is on the road, I'm sure. See?

¹⁰⁰ Now, all those organizations, if they'd just left the Pentecostal blessings go, not organize it, just keep it in a brotherhood and let the Holy Spirit do the segregation. The Holy Spirit segregates. Ananias, Sapphira come in one time said so-and-so, and the Holy Spirit said, "Why did you lie?"
But we say, "Now, that's Brother Jones, don't you say nothing bad about him now, he's the best payer we got in church. I know he got the Holy Ghost; I heard him speak in tongues and I've seen him shout in the Spirit." That don't have no more than pouring peas on a dry cowhide. See? Not a thing to do with it. God does the say. He's got to say whether he is or is not. Absolutely. "But we took it over to our denomination. Well, we kicked him out of the--out of the Assemblies, the Oneness picked him up." The Oneness carries him awhile, and then they kicked him out because... They carry him over there and the Jesus Only picks him up. Jesus Only packs him awhile, and then the next thing picks him up is Church of God, picks him up. Church of God of Prophecy picks him up, and the Tomlinson move gets him. Oh, my. Brother, if we haven't got run out. That's in Pentecost, the last revival. And now, they got the blue fame, and they got the oil worshippers, and the--and the blood in the face. And, oh, mercy, I don't know where they gone to now. Just one thing after...

¹⁰² The whole thing has become corrupted. Did you know the Bible said it would come corrupted? Did you know the--the Bible speaks that this day will be here, when even the tables of the Lord will be full of vomit? And said, "Who can I teach doctrine? Who can I make understand it? For precept must be upon precept upon precept, upon line upon line." Who can He teach doctrine? Those that are weaned from the breast, the mammy. See?

¹⁰³ Now, there isn't--there isn't a woman, a ornery woman in this town but what could bring forth a virgin daughter. She is when she's born. Now, and she can go good. But if you don't notice that her mother has been of that nature, that girl, nine times out of ten will act just exactly like her mother does. Now, you know that's right.
An old woman that runs a house of ill fame, could bring forth a little girl, and she could be sixteen years old, just as clean and moral as any living, but if she remains that way... But the thing of it is, she goes right back and acts like her mother.

¹⁰⁴ Now, the Catholic church was the first old prostitute that's come up with doctrines that she made up of herself, superstitions, which, the Bible said, "She come out of the bottomless pits and will go back to perdition." The Bible said that. Now, they teach that it's wrong. It's wrong according to God's Word. And then here comes the Methodist church which was borned out of her, a beautiful young lady, but what did she do? She turned right back around and do the same things that her mammy does: Lets her congregation wear shorts; let them smoke cigarettes; let them carry on and act just like they should. There ain't nothing said about it. The little old half baked pastor back behind there, the pulpit back there, is afraid he'll run out of salary someday, or a pan of biscuits.
Let me tell you, brother; I'd rather preach the Gospel and eat soda crackers and drink branch water, and tell the Truth about it. If every one of my congregation got up and walked out, I'd tell them the Truth. Yes, indeed.

¹⁰⁶ What's the matter? Oh, it's a meal ticket, "Well, you know, I'm the pastor of the biggest church there is in the city." You Baptists and Methodists, listening to a false prophet. Now, that's rough, but anything that teaches contrary to this Bible is a false prophet. I don't care how polished it may be, it's false prophecy. That's right.
"Oh, everything's all right as long as you got your name on the book." You might have your name on a dozen books; if it ain't on the Book of Life, you're lost. You can be ever so good; you can be just as loyal and clean and moral as you can be; that won't have one thing to do with it.

¹⁰⁸ Esau was twice the guy that Jacob was when it come to being a man, taking care of his old blind daddy and everything else. And Jacob was a little shyster hung around his mother's apron, little old sissy boy. But God said, "I love Jacob and refuse Esau," before either boy was borned. Romans 8 says so. That's exactly right.
God knows what's in man. And He knows what's in the church too. We live by the Bread of Life, the Bread of the Word of God. Now, that's why we're not a denomination.

¹¹⁰ Now, I want to give you another little... I want to give you a little illustration I had wrote out here. "The great..." Now, in Revelation 19:2, I got something marked out here, I want to look and see what it is now.

¹¹¹ Now, we also want you to notice, also here, that a denomination, that a denomination is also found out in the Scriptures here, that the... And the Bible never speaks of a denomination. The denominations come from the Catholic church. She is the first mother of denomination and each denomination has come right down.
Now, this is going to be just a little pinchy; it's going to get a little pinchier all the time. See? But I--I want you to see that denominations wasn't borned or ordained of God; it was ordained of the Devil.
God's church is a... We are not divided; all one body we. One hope and doctrine, one in charity. That's the Church of the living God. Regardless of what they, them things, we're one together. That's right. Whether he's Methodist or Baptist, brother, if he's borned again and filled with the Holy Ghost, he's my brother, we're walking shoulder to shoulder. Right. Yes, sir. Don't make any difference.

¹¹³ Moses... Sometime might look around and say, "You know that bunch of fanatic Pentecostals, Brother Branham, why'd you ever go out of a bunch like that for?" You know what? Moses looked upon the children of Israel, he looked out of the same window that Pharaoh looked out of. Pharaoh looked at them as a bunch of mud-daubers, but Moses looked out upon them as the chosen of God. He knowed they had the promise. Why? He knowed it by the Word. And by faith with his foot on the throne to be Pharaoh, with all the world laying at his feet, set there and pour wine in his mouth, and beautiful women to fan him, as the emperor, or the dictator, or king of the world, young Moses at forty years old had in his hand, when he looked out upon that bunch of mud-daubers; but he knowed he was one of them. Hallelujah. That's it. He knew he was one of them. And by faith alone he chose...

¹¹⁴ Everybody's got to make a choice. You got to make a choice. You're going to make a choice now. You're going to make a choice in the morning. You're going to make a choosing tomorrow night, if you live. You've got to choose sometime. Brother, a long time ago I chose this Bible was my dictionary; this Bible was my Book of Life; this Bible was the Word of God. The Bible is what I live by. This Bible is what I'll stand by.

¹¹⁵ Therefore Moses looked out upon the children of Israel, and not only did he say, "Oh, they're wonderful people. I have nothing against them. Oh, no, I wouldn't speak one word against them." That's the way a lot of people do today. "Oh, those Pentecostals and those people that's got the Holy Ghost, and those people who believe in Divine healing, oh, I--I--I ain't got nothing against it." But that wasn't Moses. He forsook Egypt and became one of them, he went out among his brethren. He was one of them.

¹¹⁶ Brother, that's where I take my way. I'll take the way with the Lord's despised few, if it's a handful or whatever it is. They got a promise, and I see their names in the Lamb's Book of Life. They're my brethren. That's right. Take your choice and stand with them. Right or wrong, stand there anyhow. If they're wrong help them to the right. That's right. You never make them any better by kicking them around. See, try to pull them out.

¹¹⁷ Charlie, like they said about Brother Allen about the fire they--the blood in the hands. I said, "Never, never did I disregard A. A. Allen." I said, "If I could preach like A. A. Allen, I'd never even have a healing service." Now, when it comes to disagreeing upon blood as being the evidence of the Holy Ghost in your hands, I'll disagree with that. But when it comes to brotherhood, he's my brother. I stand shoulder to shoulder with him in the battle. That's right. If he's wrong, I'll try to help him. And if he's not wrong, if I'm wrong, I want him to help me. And that's the way we'll get it--get along.

¹¹⁸ Now, watch here.

¹¹⁹ And you know, you'd take them young Catholic girls, they come out with these little... (Now, some of you old boys is as old as I am.)... come out and go to this little thing where they had the knee-high. That guy, I guess, is in hell tonight. I don't know, I'm not his judge. But when he made that first little dirty song that slipped out on radio, without being censored, that "Roll 'em, girlies, roll 'em; roll 'em down and show your pretty knees." How many remembers that when that first come out years ago? That was the first slip-up right there. That's right. And when they got this fellow from Texas, and take them women out there and use them underneath clothes to make them look like they were something that they wasn't, and such things as that, and let them get by with it... And now what do they do? It went to creeping in. It's a spirit.

¹²⁰ A man was talking to me the other day; said, "I don't know what I'm going to do. I had a good honest boy, and that boy's getting so he takes what he put his hands on."
I said, "Why?"
"He's associating with a thief."
You hang around with somebody that's a thief, you'll be a thief yourself. My old Kentucky mammy used to say, "If you lay down with a dog that's got fleas, you'll get up with fleas too." You take a--you take a woman that's no good, and let a girl, and put her with a--a good decent boy, and the first thing you know he's as ornery as a pup. Turn it right vice versa. You're knowed by your company. Separate yourself. "Come out from among them," said the Bible, "be ye separated." That's right.

¹²² If their denominations go back to such corruption as letting their people... Well, here the other day, a big fine Baptist church, they had to dismiss. Only could to preach twenty minutes, the man could, 'cause the pastor had to smoke. The congregation all went outside. All of them stood out there and smoking in chains, and come back again, pastor and all of them. I went to a Congregationist Church, there a man set, a big long robe on, standing there, said, leaned on the pulpit like this, talking about some kind of a flower he found up on the hill. That's about all there was to it. And went back down, and his fingers was yellow with cigarette smoke. Yes.
And talking about that the women, that the man was going to play... What's this German game they play with that, so much you--you deal out cards, you know? It had... Oh, I thought I'd remember it. Pinochle, they was going to have a pinochle game. I think that--that it's where you deal, it's regular playing cards. A pinochle game in the basement... My, goodness. That's where its foundation is. No wonder. What do they do that, and then holler about the Catholic church out here at these rotary places and playing lottery. Why, you Protestants are just as filthy as they are, so what can you say about it? Pot can't call kettle dirty. Certainly not. And you do, and that, they'd say, "Well, I'm a Presbyterian. I'm a Methodist." You're nothing till you're born again. That's right. And when you do that, you know there's something within you tells you those things are wrong, and you'll come out of it just as sure as you're knee high to a duck. You know that's the truth. Certainly. Yes, sir. That stuff go along that, why?

¹²³ One of these days old mother is going to say, "You know what? After all, honey, we're both the same." And you know what it is then? The Confederation of Churches are going to all unite together as they are now. And you know what's going to happen to a little group like this? You're going to pay for it, boys. That's exactly right.
But don't worry, the Lamb shall overcome him. For He's the Lord of lord and a King of kings, and God will go to leading His church, instead of a denomination. He'll pour out that golden Oil of the Holy Ghost upon that church, brother, Fire will fall from Heaven, with signs and wonders will take place like you've never seen before. Yes, sir. "Fear not, little flock, it's your Father's good will to give you the Kingdom." Yes, sir. "He that endures to the end..." There you go. Keep right down the road; keep your head towards Calvary. This Bible's right. Don't worry.

¹²⁵ Now watch, there's some of the habits they have. Some of the morals that they have. We could just go on. First thing you know, it leaked into the Protestant churches. Then the Catholic women begin to... "Why, it wasn't no harm to put on little shorts, as long as you went to church and put a little handkerchief over their head," some kind of tradition. "Don't eat any meat on Friday." And, oh, where'd you ever find putting a handkerchief on your head to enter church? I want you to show me the Scripture. It's false prophecy. Where is it in the church you're supposed to wear a hat in the church? When you wear a hat on your head, you dishonor Christ, that's right; man, I'm speaking of. Women, you do have a covering, but I'll challenge anybody to show me where it's a hat or a handkerchief. It's your hair. And you've cut it all off. Now, what about that? Oh, they say, "That's old fashion." If it is, it's the Bible. God's Word's right.

¹²⁶ Speaking here not long ago of the woman that washed Jesus' feet, and took her hair, you know, and--and wiped it with it. I said, "The only way a woman could do that, is stand on her head to get enough hair down there to wash His feet and to wipe it." That's right. Oh, it--it's--it's a disgrace to see the way you... Here, freezing weather, walking around with a little chubby coat on like that, and their naked body showing.
Why, say, "Why you picking on women?" You need to be picked on.
And you men that let your women do that, brother, I--I don't know what to think about you. Now, that's right.
And you pastors, I don't guess you're here. But if you see the guy, you tell him to come tell--see me. See? If he's got no more respect for Christ than to let his congregation get by with that without... Now, he... They might do it out there behind him, but if he don't tell them about it, he's not a fit servant for Jesus Christ. That's exactly right. He is not fit to be a servant of Christ. A servant of Christ should be fearless; it's a cause that comes to the Bible. Certainly. But there they are; they go out and they do it anyhow.

¹³⁰ And then, the first thing you know, the Protestants had to pick it up. You good Methodist, and you Baptist, and you Presbyterian and Nazarene, Pilgrim Holiness, and all of you. Same thing, got right out, six of one, and half a dozen of the other. There you are, "mother of harlots." Your denomination, "As long as they started at headquarters, what difference did it make?" See? Makes a whole lot of difference. They never started at that Headquarters. Might start at your headquarters down here, but not that One up there. Depends on where you're from. That's true.

¹³¹ Now, I don't think we have time to get this other one, maybe I better leave it for in the morning. All right, let's just take this little short one. We got here baptism in water; we also got predestination, and, oh, many things. So let's just take this-- this little short one of women preachers, and get this one.
Now, now, lady preacher, I don't want to hurt your feeling, but I want to tell you something. You haven't got one speck of Scripture, not one in the Bible. Yeah, I know where you're going to, and I've done had all your... Yeah, "And your sons and daughters shall prophesy." Now, if your pastor don't know what the name "prophesy" means, he--he don't know, ain't got very much business behind the pulpit, trying to tell you to be a preacher. See? 'Cause it absolutely, it's condemned from Genesis to Revelation. Now, let me show you here. See?

¹³³ Now I want you to turn with me to I Timothy 2:11. Just turn over here and we'll find out it's the Scriptures. Now, and we'll get that here, also your Acts 2. And just--just listen here what the Scripture has to say about this subject.
Now, somebody kept saying, "Well, Brother Branham, you're just an old woman hater." I'm not no woman hater. I'm a... I just don't like to see women trying to take a place that they don't belong in. You remember at Howard Shipyard over here, one of the most successful shipyards there is on the Ohio River, they put a woman over it, look what happened. They give the woman a right to vote; look what happened.

¹³⁵ Let me tell you right now. Not just skinning women; I'm wanting man to understand you're in on this too. But let me tell you something, brother; this nation is a woman's nation. I'll prove that by you, by the Scripture, by anything that you want to prove it by. This is... What appears on our money? A woman. Where's she found out in Revelation here, you see her? She's number thirteen, also, everything she started. Thirteen stars, thirteen stripes, thirteen colonies, thirteen, everything was thirteen to begin with. She appears in the 13th chapter of Revelation, a woman, thirteen.

¹³⁶ And in 1933 when the Lord, when we was having meetings over here where that Church of Christ is standing now, the old Masonic home, the vision of the Lord came to me up here and predicted that, Germany would rise up and have put that Maginot Line there. Many of you remember. And how they'd be all fortified in there, and the Americans would take a great beating right there at that line. It also said what would take place, and about Roosevelt and them things, how he would run and make that fourth term. Perfectly, just exactly the way it come to pass. And also said that cars would keep getting more like an egg, until the last days they'd be just in the shape of an egg.
Now, I said, "It'll come to pass that those cars will not be run by a steering wheel; it'll be something another run." It's them cars they're bringing out right now, remote control, for safety. Correct. You won't be able to enter into a city then, a twenty-mile zone, you can just go twenty mile. You can't hit another car, because it's remote control. See, it's going like that right now.
And I said, "Remember, in that day, before the end time comes, before the end time comes, that a woman... Now, you all keep this wrote down. There'll be a great powerful woman raise up, either be President, or dictator, or some great powerful woman in this United States. And she'll sink under the influence of women. Now, you remember; that's THUS SAITH THE LORD."

¹³⁷ See, and she's wrong. And what is it given away to? Let me tell you. Be spiritual; let's open up, look. Why is it doing that? To give the Catholic church a place to come in. See? You worship these movies stars and all these other different things out here. Remember the sermon I preached (Margie, you remember it.) years ago on the--the invasion of the United States and overthrow the American Government? And how that I said he raised up in Paris after we saved them over there from that women, wine, and big time, and he lit right down in Hollywood. Now, instead of us sending to Paris to get models, they send here to get models. What did it do? It got...
We--you wouldn't let your children go to the picture show, but it got right into the television, moved right on out and contaminated the whole thing, run her right on out. And here we are today, all the little girls and boys all like some kind of these television actors. What is it? It's making a way.
Boy, one ill-famed woman can send more people to hell than all the bootleg joints you could put in a city. That's right. Watch her go down the street with her clothes all stripped down, don't care who the man is, if he's a healthy normal man, when he looks at the woman he's bound to have something to pass over him. Now, just be honest.

¹³⁸ I don't care. I've had the Holy Ghost for years. You can't look at a woman and her half dressed... I--I carry a little cross in my car; many of you seen it. Somebody said to me, "Are you a Catholic?" Where did the Catholics ever get an option on the cross? The cross means "Christian."
Them little old Saint Cecilia's and things is the mark of Catholicism. We don't believe in such stuff as that. We believe in Christ. They have all kinds of dead people they worship. It's a high form of spiritualism. It's all it is, worshipping the dead. No such a thing, no.

¹⁴⁰ I asked that priest, I said, "Why did any... If Peter was the first pope?"
He said, "That's right."
I said, "Then why did Peter say, 'There's no other mediator between God and man but that Man Christ Jesus.' And you've got five thousand dead women and everything else you're making mediators. Now, what's happened?" There you are. They ain't got an answer for that. That's right.

¹⁴² And now some of their doctrine, their false doctrine, a bunch of false Protestant prophets has come around and teaching that, and you Protestant people are swallowing it. That's exactly right. Denominations, and forms of baptisms, and different orders and things that you're going through, which is absolutely not Scriptural, it's against it in the Scripture, yet you knuck right down to it. It's the truth.

¹⁴³ Now listen to this about the women preachers. All right, first thing would be, I want the--the I Timothy 2:11. Now, listen what it says here.

¹⁴⁵ Did you know... Now listen, women. You good righteous Christian women are the best thing that God could give a man or He'd give him something different. Yes, sir. See? A woman was not even in the original creation. The woman is not a created product of God. She's a byproduct of a man. God made the man both man and woman. And He separated them. After the man had already lived on the earth and named the beasts and lived here a long time, He took a rib out of Adam's side as a byproduct and made a woman to it. "Adam was first formed, and then Eve." Now, watch.

¹⁴⁶ God took the man; the Devil took the woman. Look at it right straight in the face. What's doing it today? Look at the real Church of God, will say, "Jesus!"
The antichrist will say, "Mary!" Watch them spirits (See?), there they are. "Hail, Mary, mother of God, blessed art thou among women, and pray for us sinners now in the day of our death. Amen." Mary prays? Oh, my, goodness. See, there you go, "Woman," the Devil's subject. Christ, the object of worship, and the only One... There you are; there you are.

¹⁴⁷ Adam was first formed, and then Eve. Adam was not deceived. And how could you have a woman pastor, deacon? Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived. She was actually... She didn't think she was wrong, but she was. The woman being deceived was in the transgression. Because they're... Every time that a--a funeral goes down the street, a woman caused it. Every time a baby screamed out, a woman caused it. Every time someone died, a woman caused it. Every gray hair, a woman caused it. Everything, and death, a woman caused it. Everything that's wrong, a woman caused it. And then put her head of the church, pastor, oh, bishop sometimes. Shame on us.

¹⁴⁸ Now, let me turn you in just another one, just in a minute. See? Now, let's turn to I Corinthians 14:32 there, and see what Paul says over here, and then we're going right over to some more just in a minute. And then we don't want to keep you too long, so you'll be so tired in the morning you can't come back. All right, I want to read. How many believes that Paul was an inspired teacher? Now, remember, Paul wrote this to Timothy also. See? That's... Now, I Corinthians 14:32. Now let's start right in here and start reading here, 14:34, I believe.

¹⁵¹ Before this is over, if I get a chance, I want to straighten out that marriage and divorce case for you. I've never done it in this church yet. Watch this double covenant. One says she can marry, and the other said he can't marry, and this one say this, that, or the other. Just wait a minute and see what the Bible says when we get to that. See? All right.

¹⁵²

¹⁵³ Now, look at that question mark on each one of your Bibles, on that "What?" What caused Paul to say that and to act it like that? Now, if you'll ever get the letters that the Corinthians wrote to Paul (Now, you can get them in any good library. See?)--that the Corinthians wrote to Paul, they wrote and told him. After these women who was converted... They had a--a goddess over there was called Diana, and she was of Ephesus also. And the Corinthians worshipped the same, 'cause it was a heathen worship. And they found a rock out in the field one day; it looked like a shape of a woman. They said, "God is a woman, and she dropped her image down to us." And their temple was far beyond the Solomon temple, they said, the historians. Oh, it was all marble, inlaid with gold; where, Solomon's temple was made of cedar and inlaid with gold. See? And it was far beyond it. And that, then, if God was a--a woman, why, sure, she could have women priests. Sure, if God is a woman, then the woman preacher's right. But God is a Man, the Bible said He was a Man. He is a Man. See? And if God was a Man, then it should be men.

¹⁵⁴ Now notice here, "What?" Now, some of them women priests, when they was converted from paganism into Christianity, they thought they could maintain their office as a preacher, just come right on over. If they preached over there about Diana, they come over here and preach about Christ.
He said, "What? Came the Word of God out..." Just listen to this. Brother, how can ministers do that? 36th verse.

¹⁵⁷ And some woman told me, she said, "Oh, Paul was just an old woman hater."
He was no woman hater. You know, Paul was the apostle, and to the Gentile church. Look here. Did you know Paul... How many believes that's what Paul preached? Is that what he--he said here? And Paul said...
You say, "Well, wait a minute now, Brother Branham. Just a minute. Now, our bishop says that's all right. The general overseer, the assembly says it's all right. The oneness bishop says it's all right."
I don't care what they say, it's false! And I told you we was going to stick this hard. And false prophets would say so. For the Bible said, "If any man thinks himself to be a spiritual, or a prophet, let him acknowledge that what I say is the commandments of the Lord." And if his spirit don't bear record with that Word, he's a false prophet to begin with. I'd rather be a woman hater than a woman lover to go such stuff as that, to put up with such stuff as that in the Church of God contrary to the ordinances of God. And Paul said, get Galatians 1:8; Paul said, "If an angel from heaven would preach any other Gospel than that what I preached unto you, let him be accursed." Now, what are you going to do about that?

¹⁶¹ Now you say, "What about where It said, 'Your sons and daughters shall prophesy,' in Joel, and--and where Peter quoted on the day of Pentecost?" That's exactly right.
Did you know, in the Old Testament that the only way, and the only way now, that anybody can come into the covenant through, by... Abraham was the one was given the promise, and the--the seal of the promise was by circumcision. How many knows that? That was God confirming.

¹⁶³ Like a Baptist brother, he said, "Brother Branham, why, we Baptists have received the Holy Ghost."
I said, "When did you get It?"
Said, "The hour we believed."
I said, "Paul said, 'Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed?'" See? I said, "Now, you Baptists come get some of That, and we'll talk some eternal security with you," I said.
"But, well, where do you get it like that?" See?
He said, "Have you received It since you have believed?" They were believers, and having shouting and joy and everything else. They hadn't received the Holy Ghost yet; Paul said they hadn't. See? "Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed?"
They said, "We know not whether there be any Holy Ghost."
Said, "Then how was you baptized?"
They said, "We been baptized." But falsely (See?), so he had to be baptized over again. All right.

¹⁶⁷ Now, notice this now, that these women preachers, when they come in, they thought they'd take their authority. But it's absolutely not permitted by God to do so. And let... Just while we're right on this subject here, this women... (See?), And he... Now, It said, "If there be any man among you who's spiritual, or a prophet, let him acknowledge that what I write is the commandments of the Lord. But if he's ignorant, just let him be ignorant." And that's why the--this Tabernacle does not stand and ordain women preachers, women deacons, or anything for a woman to do as an office of this church is because this Scripture lays here and it's naked.

¹⁶⁸ Now, the Bible did say, "Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy." Now, what does the word "prophesy" mean? Look it up. It's to "tell something, under inspiration," or "foretell something." It's a compound word.
Just like "sanctify" means to be "cleaned, and set aside for service." See? Or, it's not... It's a compound word meaning more than one thing, like we got so much of it in the English here.
Like we say the word "board." Well, what would board mean? You say, "Well, he means he paid his board." "No, he never, he meant he bored a hole." "No, he never, he meant he bored him." Or, you see, just a word, and you have to know what you're talking about. See?
And that's the way it is this, this compound word, where, "Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy." Now, the only way that God...

¹⁷² This Baptist said, "Well, we have received the Holy Ghost." I said... "then when we believed it." I said... Now (See?), he said, "God give Abraham the..." He said, "Abraham believed God." That's the way he put it. He said, "Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness." How many knows that's the truth? Now, watch how--how easy Satan can slip that on a brother. See, just as easy... Now, that's Scripture.
Brother, I'm telling you, in this, in up here, you should be anointed before you enter this. You should enter into a secret place and pray. People say, "Why don't you go out and see the people?" Brother, if you're going to talk to the people, or teach them, you'd better stay to yourself with God for a while 'fore you enter that pulpit. Certainly (See?), 'cause Satan is shrewd, very shrewd.

¹⁷⁴ He said now, notice, he said, "Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness." That's right. He said, "Now, what more can Abraham do but believe?"
I said, "That's all he could do."
He said, "How much more can you do or anybody else do but believe?"
I said, "That's all we can do. But look, brother, then God reconciled, or recognized Abraham's faith. He give him the seal, a sign of circumcision as a seal of the covenant. See, He give him... He said, 'Now, Abraham, I recognize your faith, so I'm going to give you a sign now that I have received you.'" So he circumcised Abraham, and that was a seal of the covenant. And now in this day...
Now, a woman could not be in that covenant: only a married woman. Find out, couldn't circumcise a female; so it had to come in, so her and her husband are one. They're not no more two; they're one. How many knows that? The Scripture says so. So her being married, then she--she become one. And go on down here and loo