Once More (63-1117)

 

¹ I want to say that I… [Congregation applauds–Ed.]
I appreciate that. Thank you very much. I want to say that I certainly
love this fellow too. Brother Joseph has been my friend for years. I
would like to have this opportunity sometime and tell you how we ever
come together. But I–I just trust that the Lord loves me like Joseph
does, and I'll be all right. God bless you, Brother Joseph. The Lord
bless you.
I believe we were going to sing that, "Now I believe." And let's mean it from our hearts tonight, "Now I believe." All right.

³
Let us bow our heads, just a moment, while we remain standing. And in
this moment, let's bow our hearts also to Him. Now, I wonder if there's
any in the congregation would like to be remembered in this prayer,
just by raising your hand to God, saying, "God, this signifies I have a
need yet, and I'm wanting You to supply it." God grant your request.

⁴
Our heavenly Father, great and Almighty Jehovah Who formed the earth
out of Your Word, and has given us the opportunity to sojourn here and
make our decision whether we want to live or die. "Choose you this
day." And we choose between death and Life. So I pray, Father, if there
be some in here that does not know Thee as their own beloved Saviour,
that this night they will choose You, which is Life to know. And then
if there's those here tonight that's sick unto physical death, that
they will choose You tonight as their Healer, and it will also mean
physical restoration again.
Oh, Thou art so good to the sons of men: long-suffering, not willing
that any should perish, but that all might come to repentance. You send
forth the clouds for the rain, and bring forth fruit and food upon the
earth to feed Your children. And we are so dilatory, Lord, and so
destructive to waste and to be selfish. And, O God, just forgive us,
Lord. We–we plead for mercy. We would not want Your justice or Your
judgment; we want Your mercy, Lord, so we pray that we may be partakers
of Your mercy.

⁶
And, Father, not that this congregation hear me; but that You might,
standing here in this place that's been dedicated, I thank Thee for
this fine fellowship. And I believe with my heart, that if You should
come tonight, there would be a host of New York people go in that great
rapture. And, Father, we pray that we will be lights, not under a
bushel, but under the anointing of the Holy Spirit that lights the
candle, that we might be lights to this dying world, as the great
dismal fogs of unbelief is floating in from every side. We know soon
we'll see our Lord break back that fog, when the Light begins to shine.
And we trust, Lord, that You'll make us ready. If there's anything we
have need of tonight, supply it to us, Lord, through Thy grace. For we
ask it in Jesus' Name, Thy Child. Amen.

⁷
I am not very expressive. But I'd like to say to Pastor Vick, his
little co-worker there, and the choir, fine bunch of ladies and men, to
all the cooperating pastors, laity, all of you, and the visitors,
strangers in our gates. I want to thank you for your support this week,
of your prayer and cooperation, to try to bring the Gospel Light to
this city.
And our efforts, Pastor Vick with many other pastors, are the–we are
seiners in this great lake. There's fishes in here that belong to God.
We do not know who they are and where they are. But as he stands at one
corner, another at another corner, seining, I just come to weave my net
with theirs, with the ministry that's giving, mine with theirs, to try
to reach out and get a–a little larger group in, that we might present
them to God, and say, "Father, is there any fish in here? Is there any
seeds of life, predestinated to be in the Book of Life that the Lamb
died for? If they're there, we feel, that when the Gospel Light
strikes, they'll see It right quick, because they are predestined to
that.

⁹
Now, we're sorry that we did not have room to accommodate the people.
Each night, nearly, when I've come up, there's been great throngs of
people all up-and-down the street, walking, trying to get in, and some
crying; some different, you know.
But I know that it's they have a law here, a fire marshal's law; just
so many, you have to leave so much aisles, and so forth. And that they
cannot help. Because that we are, as Christians, we've got to do that.
For the Bible said, Jesus told us to, "Give Caesar those things that
pertain to Caesar, and then to God those things that belong to God." So
we try to. And if we will not obey Caesar, it's doubtful that we'd obey
God. And as long as–as Caesar's laws doesn't interfere with God's, we
must obey God first. And then these fire hazards, and so forth, well,
they–they know how to take care of that, and they told us.

¹¹
I–I was asking for mercy for the people, and seeing them up-and-down
the streets, and things, and the sick, and trying to get in, and
bringing them in cabs from across somewhere else in New York, or Long
Island, and Jersey, or different places, and Manhattan. Well, you see,
but we–we can only ask. And then when I find out that that's the law,
why, he said, "If the fire marshal would come in and catch us crowded
like that, he'd close the whole meeting." So that would cut everybody
out.
I want to express my gratefulness to the the–the–the owner, or
whatever it might be, or the company that owns this building, and to
the management for letting us have this building, and for the custodian
and the courtesy of–of giving us right of way. They've been very, very
nice. And if they're… If they don't at this time have Eternal Life, I
trust that God will give them Eternal Life.

¹³
And now, this may sound like a–a rashal statement, but I say this only
because of I'm zealous for Christ. I do pray that if this building be
used at anytime, from hereafter, for dances or worldly entertainment,
that the Holy Spirit will throw such conviction upon those people until
they'll weep. I pray to that. Because I'm sure that the people even
that owns it would rather see souls saved to the Kingdom of God, than
to have the other going on.
"And now, you're welcome back," for me to come back, that just fills my
heart. Because little odd ministries is sometimes so unwelcome amongst
brethren, especially some of them that–that in their certain
organization that they are built up to a place till they cannot accept
it (See?), because there's a system behind it. Not that many of those
precious men…

¹⁵
I've met Catholic priests that's took my hand and just looked me in the
eye. And think I didn't know what was going through his mind? That's
discernment (You see?), what you see here. He wanted to embrace it, but
couldn't do it (See?); he–he'd be excommunicated. See? Protestant
ministers, the same way, fine brethren, and they–they want to do it.
That way, when I speak against some denomination, or the denominational
system, it isn't the people in there. It's the system that I'm against
(You see?), that holds them apart, holds us from receiving. See? They
draw up their declarations, say, "We believe this, period." If they
would end it with a comma, "We believe this, plus as much as the Lord
can show us out of His Word," it would be all right. But they do not do
it that way. You know that. It couldn't be a denomination and do that.
See? It would just be the move of God, moving on all the time. You see?
And the…

¹⁷
Each one becomes a latter rain to the other. See, the–Luther was a
latter rain to the Catholic. And John Wesley was the latter rain to
Luther. The Pentecost was the latter rain to the denomination. Now, the
Pentecostals are organized, now what's going to happen? See, see?
But remember, the children of God never drove their stake tents down
or–or so tight but what they could pull it up. And when the Fire
moved, the Pillar of Fire, they moved with It. See? They moved with the
Pillar of Fire.
But when you get the Pillar of Fire doing something, the Holy Spirit
doing something, and then after that man with a message departs this
life, then they say they organize upon his work. And the Pillar of Fire
moves right out and leave them setting there; just goes right on.
They're so staked down till they can't move, and now–but in there is
many fine-hearted people.
I don't know when that I've had any more liberty to speak just my heart than I have right here.

²¹
Now, there–they say that, "The New York people are cold, different,
informal; the great molding pot, where they get a handful of the worst
out of every nation, and dump it in and grind it up, and you got New
York." See? But I want you to know, in there, some of the saints of God
are in there also. See? That's right. It's true. And everywhere I go,
around and around the world, I find the saints of God are in every
nation, everywhere. And the strange thing is…
I might say this to some of you, just drop it in. As a missionary, I–I
find that I go into a nation that doesn't even know which is right or
left hand, they do not know what any words, how to spell anything, only
thing they know is just kill and eat. But let those people receive the
Holy Spirit, and they do the same thing you do, and act the same way
you act, not even knowing one word about it. So, you see, it's to all
races, all peoples everywhere, and we all have the good and bad.
And I do feel tonight, and thank our heavenly Father, for I–I believe
that part of the cream of the crop, I have the privilege of speaking to
tonight.

²⁴
Now, you can imagine the responsibility to speak to a–a group that
would lay onto every word you say, and then you'll have to answer for
what you told them at the day of judgment. Because through the little
humble ministry, it gives people faith to know that a human being
cannot do those things; it has to come from God; therefore, that they
lay onto every word you say. So I never try to build something,
thinking, or writing down Scriptures and–and notes that it would be
something that I thought would make the people all elated. See, I–I
try to pray and to think of something that would be constructive to
you, that would help you.
'Cause I'm not here just to–for us to clap hands and shout, and run
up-and-down the aisles. Oh, I believe in that, sure, but there–there's
more than that to it. It's got to have a foundation for this. You see?
I believe that when you jump, and when you come back down, then live as
high as you jumped. You see? And if you don't, don't jump. See? So then
just always jump as high as you live. And now, that's–that's what we
should do. Because after all (See?) your–your life speaks louder than
your testimony. You know. See, people know what you are by the way you
live and the things you do.

²⁶
And now, I've been very long at night. Supposed to be out of here,
well, I guess at the correct time in the next twenty minutes, and I
haven't even started. And I–I'm slow. I–I just…
I–I'm always late. I–I–I was late getting here; I was a little over
nine months. And then I was… That's right. When I was born, I was a
little overtime, my mother said. And then when I got it, what education
I got, I was always behind. And when I got married, I had my wife
waiting about three hours till I made a sick call; I was late at my
wedding. Now, if I can just be late for my funeral, that's the next
thing (See?); that's the main thing. I don't say that for a… But
that's the truth.

²⁸ But I–I've never tried to educate people into it. I never tried to think; just let the Holy Spirit have Its way.
I've
got two girls at home. I was just talking to them a few moments ago.
One of them is Rebekah, the other one… That's the older. The younger
one, sister next to her, is Sarah. And they are about nearly five years
apart. Sometime ago, I was in a missionary meeting, come home late. And
they're daddy's girls. And they even now, Rebekah's a young woman, but
she's still daddy's girl. And I love my children. And I remember they
would set up and wait. I wouldn't come in for months. And then when I
come in, they'd wait to see me. Well, they were little. It's been
several years ago, about ten years ago. I'd been overseas, and I was
coming in. And the plane was late, and so the little girls got sleepy
and went to bed. The sandman got in their eyes, or throwed the sand in
their eyes, rather. So then, well, wife waited up.

³⁰
And finally I got in early, around three o'clock in the morning. So
then I was so tired and weary, I couldn't sleep. I laid down for about
an hour, and I got up, went in the living room, and set down in the
chair. And after while, it broke day.
And the first thing you know, I heard a noise back in the room, and it
was the two girls had–had woke up. And Rebekah woke up first, the idea
struck her, "Daddy's home," and here she come, out of the bed and here
she come. Well, that woke her little sister up.
Well, I–I guess my children's like yours. When the oldest one wears
something almost out, the next one gets the hand-me-down, so Sarah was
wearing Becky's pajamas. And that was the times that they had these
kind of rabbit-feet pajamas, great big feet in them, and they were
certainly way too long for–for Sarah. And so she couldn't keep up; her
legs was too short.

³³
And so Rebekah run in and jumped up on my knee, and throwed both arms
around me and begin to hugging me. And, 'course, I had to cry a little.
So and poor little Sarah thought she was left out, Becky had beat her;
so she was standing at the door, and her big black eyes looked up, and
the tears on her cheeks.
So Rebekah turns around and said, "Sarah, my sister…" She acted
something like, I think, some of the churches try to do, you know.
Said, "I want you to know that I was here first." And she said… And
she had both arms around me, and she said, "And I've got all of daddy,
and there's none left for you." Now, that's what they try to tell us a
lot of times, you know. Well, Becky was kind of long-legged and so she
could reach the floor; she was pretty well established, you know, like
many of the churches.

³⁵
But little Sarah, she was so hurt, until I looked at her and I winked
my eye at her, you know, and motioned like that. And stuck my other
knee out. That's what she was waiting for. Here she come. And she
jumped up on my leg, and it was a little too high for them short legs
of hers, and she was wiggling about like she was going to fall. Well, I
caught her with both arms, and she put her little head up against my
bosom. And she kind of liked the feeling, I guess, and so did I, so I
was hugging her.
And she raised up, and she looked up at Rebekah. And I thought this was
pretty good. She said, "Rebekah, my sister, I want to tell you
something too." She says, "It may be right that you were here first and
you've got all of daddy, but I want you to know daddy's got all of me."
So… [Congregation applauds–Ed.]
I am not a theologian. I didn't have long enough to grow in some school
of theology, but I–I hope He's got all of me, yeah, that's all, so He
can use me.

³⁸
Last, but not least, by no means, I–I never come here… And I asked
them not to take up any offering. See? I–I don't come for that. I've
never took up one myself in my life. All my… I've been a minister for
thirty-three years; I've never took an offering in my life. There's
been some taken for me by ministers. But I never took one in my life,
and I–I hope I never have to.
But that you have done it, it will go; I will take it and put it into
foreign missions and go over myself to bring the people that hasn't the
privilege that you have here, to bring this same Gospel to those who
cannot afford to send for me or pay my way. Therefore, I… [Congregation applauds–Ed.]
Thank you. That they too, who are underprivileged might have the same
privilege that we have here. And not one penny of it will be spent for,
you know, drinking, smoking, or… It–it'll be for the Kingdom of God.
And I trust that God will, in that, give you a great mention. "Insomuch
as you have done unto the least of these, My little ones, you have done
it unto Me." And may the Lord bless you. And now, I'm going to try
tonight…

⁴⁰
I want to ask one question. How many was in that great prayer line last
night, that passed through under the hands of these ministers, that
feel the Holy Spirit's already working in your case? Let's see you put
your hands up. Oh, that's wonderful. That's just fine, beautiful. He
always does. He works in your behalf.
Now, I thought tonight, being we've had so much healing services… And
we've seen the Lord Jesus in His great power, making Him the same
yesterday, today, and forever. And we have learned through the week,
that there has been many great signs that He has showed us of His
Presence right here with us now in the form of the Holy Spirit.

⁴²
Now, next Sunday, I'm to be at my Tabernacle, Sunday morning and Sunday
night, at–in Indiana. And then the following week, I'm in Shreveport,
Louisiana, in a big convention. Then after that, I go to Yuma, Arizona,
and back to Phoenix, for the Christian Business Men, then back to
Indiana, for the Christmas holidays. Then back to Phoenix again, if any
of you is around there and have friends… Beginning on the nineteenth,
they give me that nice, about four thousand seating, Ramada auditorium,
air-conditioned, free, prior the international convention of the
Christian Business Men. And I speak two nights out of the four, and Mr.
Roberts one night and I think Brother Brown one night, and I think
mine's the opening night and the closing night. And then from there, on
and on.

⁴⁴
Pray for me. And now, I–I need your prayers. If there's anybody needs
prayer, it's me. See? And I… Satan sure… I'm a target for him, you
know. And I have to keep up the faith all the time, that shield, to
march on. The Lord ever bless you.
And if I never see you no more until that day, I will meet you in the
morning (See?) at that gate. And then in there, I can say as I say now;
I'll still be believing this same glorious Gospel, and believing that
Jesus Christ is not dead. But He's alive among His people, and His
Gospel is the same. And the things that He did, we are to do till He
comes. And I realize that God will judge me for those things that I
have preached. I–I'm–I have to answer to God for what I say.

⁴⁶ Now, may the Lord bless you. And just another word of prayer before we open the Book.
Lord
Jesus, take the Word now and feed our hungry souls. We are waiting
patiently, Lord. We are under great expectations. Like at the last day
of the feast, how the people rejoiced. We're thinking of Simeon in the
temple, promised by the Holy Ghost that he would not see death until he
seen the Lord's Christ. And there it was on that great day, when the
women come in to have their children circumcised, and offer the gift
for purification, and it was at that time that the–the Jesus was
brought into the temple. And Simeon, maybe off somewhere in a side room
that morning in the office, but the Holy Spirit made him the promise.
And here was the Messiah in the arms of His mother, the little Fellow
out there wrapped in His swaddling cloth.
And Mary, them keeping their distance away from her, because she had
a–a bad name, so thought the people, "the baby was born out of holy
wedlock." No one wanted anything to do with that woman. But in her
heart, she knew what she held in her arms. And, Father, may our heart
tonight cradle that same hope. No matter what the world says, we know
what has entered our life.

⁴⁹
And at that time, Simeon the one that said that he… The Holy Spirit
told him that he would see the Messiah. Yet, old, well-stricken, an old
sage, honorable man, but he believed the Word of the Lord to him. The
Holy Spirit coming to Him, and, he going, led by the Holy Spirit, down
through the building, around this great string of mothers. With two and
a half million people that time, overnight there might've been as many
as several hundred babies born. And there they were, standing ready for
circumcision and purification.
And how the Holy Ghost led him right to this little rejected Person,
reaching over, picked the Messiah in his arms, with tears running down
his beard. He said, "Lord, now let Your servant depart in peace
according to Thy Word, for my eyes have seen Your Salvation."
Staggering through the building come an old prophetess, to whom the
Word of the Lord comes to, and also prophesied of Him; blinded in eyes,
but not in spirit, she knew that was the Messiah.

⁵²
Lord God, may our eyes come open to the fact that He is still the
Messiah. And may we embrace Him tonight, for we have confessed that we
are pilgrims and strangers of this world. This is not our home. This is
not our land. We are a different acting people because we are borned
from above.
And we who hold this promise in our heart, may we see the promise that
Jesus made to His Church, that we would see just prior His coming, as
we see the days of Noah returning, "eating, drinking, marrying, given
in marriage, and immorals of the land." Then He said, "As it was in the
days of Sodom, to the Gentiles, before the fire fell, that God came
down and was manifested in flesh, by knowing the secrets of the hearts
of the people." And He promised the same thing to return. May we have
the privilege tonight, great Holy Spirit, for we humbly ask it in
Jesus' Name. Amen.

⁵⁴ [Tongues and interpretation are given–Ed.] Amen.
Oh,
I think now to be conscious of the Spirit near us, Light. Break out of
the shell of the hour we're living, and the time, and be conscious of
the Spirit of God now among us.
Let us turn to the Book of Judges the 16th chapter, beginning with the 23rd verse, as we read the Word.
And as you are turning, I might say, my thinking in choosing this
chapter to read this afternoon at the closing of this meeting, might be
something brought forth which would be constructive to the Church, and
always I wait to see what the Holy Spirit will say in the room, as It
strikes me. I might jot down different Scriptures and things, then
wonder what it'll be when I get there. "What will He say concerning
this?"

⁵⁸
And now listen closely, just try to be just as attentive to it as you
possibly can, as we read. For in here, if it be the will of the Lord,
I'm trying to set forth a parallel–parallel from one to another. And
listen close now: 23rd verse, beginning.

⁵⁹
What a sad sight. Must've been a hot afternoon, sun shining down at its
great celebration and three thousand Philistines looked down from the
galleys of the stadium as the pair entered. High honored war lords, and
their fine-jeweled ladies leaned forward to get a good look, as the boy
led this blind man. The halls had echoed all afternoon with drunken
revelry, celebrating (here's what hurts), celebrating the victory of
their fish god, Dagon, over Jehovah's servant. What a disgrace. What a
thing had happened. The man had failed. Not, God had not failed.
And what Jehovah must've been thinking as He looked down and see all
this going on. Drunken conglomeration of women half stripped,
fine-jeweled and decorated, and fixed up, their drunken husbands
drinking and celebrating to a god, a fish god, an idol that had took
the victory over Jehovah's servant.

⁶¹
The lad led the stumbling blind man to the middle of the pole–the
poles where they stood, two of them, holding this great big slanting
pillars, or a great big hall that slanted down in this manner. And two
great big huge posts, as I could think of the setting; holding the
people, of three thousand war lords, and the celebrity, the–the finest
honored soldiers, the greatest warriors. Just that the–the celebrity
was invited to this, because it was a celebration.
And across from them was this huge image of a fish, with human blood
beneath it upon the altar, sacrifice to this fish god, a total pagan
statue that can neither speak, hear, nor breathe. But they–they in
their ignorance, they was worshipping this god, thinking that he had
give them the victory, a celebration.

⁶³
And then led to these posts in the floor, where they could all see,
the–the main event was just about to take place. There had been many
entertainments, maybe like they used to have, monkeys; and they had
gladiators, and when they would duel, and the gladiators would say
whether the victim was on the floor should be killed or not. And they
had to see shedding blood. And all the–the events had taken place, and
now the main thing come up. The preliminaries were over. And the main
event was to make fun of Jehovah, make fun of our God, all because His
servant had failed Him.
See, He's God; that's true, but we're His servants and we got our
commission to carry out exactly the way He said to carry it out.

⁶⁵
Then we find, in their drunken irreverent condition as they were in,
and now, they'd all raised up because there was a great silence,
perhaps a trumpet sounded. And they were going to have the main event,
to what they were celebrating, bringing in Jehovah's witness: bringing
him out there in the middle of the hall, that they all might make fun
of him, and make sport out of him.
Look at him, humiliated, broken, a symbol of a–of a fallen church,
spiritually stripped, morally broken. What a example that is of the
conditions of today.
"Samson, this was Samson, Samson the great; so this was him, the great
mighty instrument of God?" Why, many Philistines, I'd imagine them war
lords standing there looking there; why, at the very remembrance of his
name, the whole country trembled. Just say "Samson"; that's all you had
to do. Just mention the name "Samson" and everyone trembled at his
name, and now look at him.
You know, it used to be that the Name of the Lord Jesus had a great
reverence; people highly honored It. And the ones who honored It could
cast out evil spirits by It, and could make nature obey their command
through His Name.

⁶⁹
But I think that Samson here, what I want to parallel it to, is the
modern local… or not local, but the–the modern conditions of the
church today. It's a perfect parallel. The church has long lost its
respect; not because that God has failed the church, but the church has
failed God. It wasn't because that God had failed Samson, but Samson
had failed God. Where we ought to be standing in such a condition like
the church was when Ananias and Sapphira was brought before the church,
but instead of that, we have long compromised with the things of the
world and brought it in, until today, it to be called a bunch of
holy-rollers, or–or just an ordinary other denomination, just some
church. There's not… It hasn't–doesn't pack the dignity that it
should have.

⁷⁰
I guess, as they stood there, standing to their feet, when the main
event was taking place… And let's just take ourselves back there for
a few minutes. And I'd imagine, the Philistines, many of those great
warriors standing there, with their fine-jeweled women, their arms
around them, drinking a toast to Dagon. "Hail, Dagon, thou art
victorious over Jehovah. We have showed them what we can do. We show
this fellow, who claimed so much, that there's nothing to him."
That's almost the condition of the church today. We who have the keys
of the Kingdom in our hand, with every spiritual gift that God give to
man, laying in the church, long have we compromised with–with creed,
and so forth, until we've windled all the power of God out of it, until
it becomes no more than a lodge.

⁷²
Like in a recent event, when a Mohammedan stood by the side of our
foremost evangelist, and he said, "I'll bring up thirty people that's
sick and afflicted, and you heal fifteen of them and I'll heal fifteen
of them." And I say not this against the evangelist, by no means; but
the evangelist took off and left the man alone, without an answer.
What a–a–a letdown to our God, for the Word is God. And the promise
of the Word is a promise of God, "These signs shall follow them that
believe."
And it's almost come to another challenge, or another celebration, when
heathen gods can speak to the church, and the church stands helpless,
defeated, spiritually stripped. Now, there's something that's done
that; that's been the cares of the world entering into the church, and
it's got it no more than any lodge. We find that. I believe…

⁷⁵
I don't know what I would've done in the case. I'd have to wait to see
what God said. But I believe I would've felt like the Hebrew children,
"Our God is able to deliver us from this. But nevertheless, we'll never
bow to your image, whether He does or does not."
But we've lost the courage; that's what Samson had done, lost its
power. The church has lost the influence of its testimony, that it is
a–a living, moving, body of Christ. It has accepted dogmas, mixed it
in with their beliefs until the Word has not the preeminence. As Jesus
said to that helpless church that He come to, "You have taken the
commandments of God, and with your traditions you've made them of no
effect: made the commandments of God without an effect by your
traditions, to explain it away."

⁷⁷
Sometime ago in a school. There's a fine New York man here that come to
my house, and he said to me… He was a Baptist brother, and he said to
me, "Brother Branham, I am a–a Baptist." And I had him to come in and
set down, he and another brother. And we talked for–at length. And
after while he said, "When I was a little boy, I was called to the
ministry." He said, "My precious old mother washed over a washboard to
send me to school." And said, "The day that I was going and received my
degree of Bachelor of Art, my B.A. degree," he said, "I thought then
surely Christ would be in that," but said, "He wasn't." Said, "When I
received my doctor's degree then I thought, 'Christ will be in that,'
but He wasn't." He said, "And when I got my L.L.D., Doctor of–of
Literature, and so forth." And said, "I've got enough degrees and
honorary degrees till I could plaster your wall with them, and where's
Christ in all of it?" He said, "I'm still looking for Him." Said, "I'm
going to ask you a question." Said, "Has the teachers been wrong?"

⁷⁸
I said, "My brother (Jewish to begin with)…" I said, "I am in no
position as a–a–a seventh-grade education, to say that the teachers
are wrong. I–I–I could not say that; I–I don't feel qualified to
condemn anybody. But I'll say this: that I have found Him and He wasn't
in that."
And he said, "I hear that you were a Baptist."
I said, "That is true."
And he said, "Now, I understand that you have turned Pentecostal."
I said, "No. I have just received the Pentecostal blessing (See?) not the Pentecostal denomination, the Pentecostal blessing."
And he said, "Well," he said, "I've–I've been to their meeting. And I
have seen them kick over the chairs and throw a book through the
window." And he said, "You couldn't call that the behavior of the
blessed Holy Spirit."
I said, "I'm still not able to judge God."
And he said, "Well," he said, "Would… What's… What makes them do that?"

⁸⁴
I said, "In my travel, I find two classes of people." And I said, "One
of them are fundamentals; positionally they know by the mechanics that
they are to be sons and daughters in God." And I said, "The next I find
is the Pentecostals, they–with the baptism of the Holy Spirit." But I
said, "The fundamentals positionally know where they're at, but they
don't have any faith in the Word. And the Pentecostals has got a lot of
faith, but don't know who they are." And I said, "It's like a man that
had money in the bank but could not write a check; and one could write
a check but had no money in the bank. If you could just get them
together…"
He said, "Well, what makes them act like that?"
I said, "It's letting off the steam." I said, "Now, I don't think that
would have to be necessary," I said, "but they–they've got to give
vent somewhere." And I said, "Now, if they would just take all that
steam and could know how to direct it fundamentally in the Word, the
big regime of God would start moving on."
There is where Satan got in to make it all mechanics and no dynamics.
That's all dynamics and no mechanics. See, we've got to put it
together. We've got the power of the Holy Spirit, but we've got to come
back with the Word to feed this machine. We can't feed it on creed. It
won't burn it: chokes up the flues. It will not burn it. It was made
for the Word of God. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every
Word, not just part of It, every Word that proceeds out of the mouth of
God.

⁸⁷
So here we stand, a church commissioned on the last commission, the
last thing that Jesus said to His church, the last commission given,
"Go ye into all the world, and make disciples of all nations. He that
believeth and is baptized shall be saved; he that believeth not shall
be damned. And…" And is a conjunction to tie your sentence together.
"And these signs shall follow them that believe: In My Name they shall
cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; if they take up
serpents or drink deadly things, it will not harm them; if they lay
their hands on the sick, they shall recover."
So why should we have to stand in the presence of some heathen god and
take a defeat? We stand again like Samson, spiritually stripped,
morally broken, our churches. What has happened, they–they used to be
honorable men and women, and today you–you… It's terrible.
Now, let's just look a few minutes at some thoughts that passed upon
this. So there stood Samson. And, pardon me, here he is again today,
again stripped morally, spiritually. And it's also a symbol of a fallen
nation. But were speaking of church, because Samson was God's servant,
supposed to be, and the church is supposed to be God's servant in the
earth.

⁸⁹
Many great warriors standing there, sober up for a moment, as the
liquors run off of their–probably their armors and breastplates, and
their arms around their pretty jeweled queens, as they looked out upon
there, and many of them looking at this sight. A little boy holding
this big bulk of a man, and no eyeballs in his sockets; they'd been
burnt out.
That's what the enemy does. The first thing, when he gets ahold of you,
he does like he did to Samson. He shuts your eyes off from the Light of
the Gospel. Now, he cannot see, his eyes are gone. And long has the
church lost its spiritual sight, that Jesus Christ is the same
yesterday, today, and forever, and every promise is true.
And as they stand there now, no eyes, a ridiculous sight, a disgrace
standing beneath the fish god, a captive of the very nation that God
raised him up to destroy…

⁹²
Now, I'm going to come home just a minute. And here is our Pentecostal
people that fifty years ago left that muck of denomination; God called
us out to be a separated people. And we stand today just dozens of
organizations, different, and Pentecost all fighting one another. The
very thing that God called us out to defeat, it has defeated us. If one
goes to this denomination, has a meeting, the rest of them don't want
to cooperate. Just now and then you can find one. That's right. And
denomination has always been a curse in the sight of God. It never was;
God never did; that never was His plan.
God cannot change His program. God deals with individuals. There were
millions in the days of Noah, but Noah was the anointed one. There was
millions in the days of Elijah, never Elisha and Elijah at the same
time. On down, each generation… There were two and a half million in
Egypt; Moses went down. See? There were millions in the days of Jesus.
Even when John the great prophet stood, when he seen this great Mighty
One come on, he said, "I must decrease now; my work is over; and He
will increase. God…" He pointed them to the Lamb.

⁹⁴
But, see, that went on for three hundred years, until the Nicaea
Council, and then we had to have an organization. Then from that on,
that fell. And every time that a message comes forth, and they organize
it, it dies spiritually and never comes back again. So it's a cursed
thing to the Church of God, for man to put his hand upon the moving of
the Spirit: always.
Then they take them out there and get seminary ministers, and they rub
shoulders with the world, and so forth. The first thing you know, they
got the women acting like the world, and the men. The first thing you
know, politics and bishops, and they want a straw in their hat, and
they cut and push, and fuss and fight, until the Spirit of God is
completely grieved away…?…

⁹⁶
Some of them remember seeing Samson when the anointing was upon him,
standing in a field with a thousand Philistines laying around him, with
nothing in his hand but an old brittle jawbone of a mule, that he had
beat through inch-thick helmets of brass, knocking Philistines one way
and the other, when the Spirit of Lord was upon him. And many of them
had took refuge to the rock. And he was standing there, saying, "If you
want some, come on out." Some of them remember seeing that.
Some of them might've whispered across and said, "Do you remember in
Gaza that night when it was noised abroad that our enemy was in the
city? And we got the army, we locked the gates. And the gates, weighing
maybe six or seven tons, those big brass gates, where a whole four or
five chariots abreast could move in, an army moving in the city. And we
took the army, with our spears and swords, and we stood and said, 'Now
we've got him.' And when we awakened…" He just walked right down
through them, shoving them right and left, took the gate and pulled one
off, and pulled the other one off, and laid it on his shoulders, and
walked up on the mountain and set down. That's when the Spirit of the
Lord was upon him. One day…

⁹⁸ Some of them might've remembered when they seen a lion roar against him, which would've killed him in a second.
If
anyone know what–how fast a lion can kill you… And with a one big
blast and a roar, in a split second they kill a–a two-ton wildebeest
or a buffalo; with just one of them paws, break his neck like that, or
bite him like that, and he's gone. Don't even kick a hoof, kills them
so instantly.
And here this man walking along, and a lion roared, and he was
helpless, not even a jawbone of a mule in his hand. But the Bible said,
"The Spirit of the Lord came upon him," and he grabbed the lion and
tore him apart.

¹⁰¹
But now he stands helpless, all stripped of power. It's the same thing
now. The church stands the same way. Where, once the church used to
cast out devils… The church used to raise up the dead. The church
used to do the things that Jesus did. Sin could not dwell among them,
the Holy Spirit came in and condemned it. If a man done something
secretly, and belonged to this Christian group, as soon as he come in,
the Holy Spirit revealed his sin. He either repented or perished. But,
you see, we don't have it no more.
And they won't receive it no more. And when it does come, they try to
call it an evil spirit, that they might receive that much more
condemnation. Something has to condemn them.

¹⁰³
Notice. Stripped of power, what must've went through that man's mind?
Once that kind of a warrior, and now a little boy has to lead him
around… Why? He's blind. He can't see. He has nothing to see with.
God, have mercy upon us. The church is so denominated and so far away,
till the Devil has poked out the eyesight, the spiritual sight that
This is the Word of God: not a creed; It's the Word. And God's duty
bound to–to produce everything that He promised in this Bible. They
say, "We–we believe…" You haven't got no belief coming, if it's
contrary to This. The mind of Christ in you, you believe the things
that Christ wrote, 'cause This is Christ, the Word. But look at the
condition, look at the parallel, when we see that.
What must have went through his mind? Let's see what went through his mind.

¹⁰⁶
We see what went through the war lords' mind, of the fear that they
once had just of his name. They was a scared to do anything. They…
Just mention Samson, that's all, everybody was gone. But now there he
is standing a victim under Dagon, the fish god. A Jew that despised
idols was standing a victim under one. Why? Because he had failed God.
Samson standing there, no doubt… Let's–let's–let's search his mind
for about three or four minutes.
He must have thought of all the victories he had. There he stands, what
he'd done, how the Lord had blessed him, and how that he once was a
great man as long as he was in the Kingdom of God, keeping the promise
of God.
See, he'd failed, and got rid of the promise. That's the same thing the
church has done: got rid of the promises. "Oh, well, that's… We'll
write our own little catechism; this is…" See? This is It, the Word.

¹⁰⁸
Now, notice. He'd thought of all of his victories. And then this
must've went through his mind, and how that he had failed God's people.
It ought to be a shame to a minister that'll set and read this Bible
then walk out before his people. The world is full of Lot's. The Bible
said that the sins of Sodom vexed his righteous soul, but he didn't
have the courage to stand up and rebuke that sin. And there's many men
today… And I say this with reverence, only with–with love, but just
to say Truth. We may never meet again.

¹¹¹
There's a many man that reads this same Bible that we read; sits in his
office, preparing his message, and run upon these Truths of God, and
have to bypass them. He would be afraid to preach against the women
cutting their hair. His organization would turn him out. About them
wearing immoral clothes and committing spiritual adultery; and about
the men that–that takes a sociable drink on Christmas, and–and gets
out and has a little clean American fun, tells dirty jokes, and still
maintains the office as deacon. They know them things are wrong, but
they're as it was in the days of Lot. We're back to that sinful place
again, See?

¹¹²
Oh, how Samson must've been reminded by the Holy Spirit, that how he'd
failed God's people, and had failed God himself. Now, he is a prisoner
of the very thing that God raised him up and give him power to destroy.
And with love and with… I am a member. I am in This with you, not a
member of a–a organization. God forbid. But I am a member, by grace,
in the Body of Christ. I am your brother. I have no selfish motives, my
motive to achieve anything personally. I'm only zealous for the Lord
God, and I say this with–with all my heart. The very thing that you
were called out of, you've gone back into it again. And as the Bible
said, "As the sow goes to her wallow, and a dog returns to its
vomit…" And if the vomit made the dog sick in the first place, won't
it make him sicker the second time? And if organization and creeds that
had got the people so bound up, and God called you out to be a free
people, and you turned right back around and done the same thing,
it'll–it's a greater sin.

¹¹⁴ Now they had him doing tricks to entertain them. And that's just about the way it's got, instead of a Holy Spirit.
That
when someone raises up and gets arrogant, the Holy Spirit is obligated
to God to shut that thing up. I've seen them pack them from the
meeting, paralyzed, blinded, dumb, and even die right in the meetings
and drop dead while they're trying to rebuke It. God in heaven knows
that's right. Many of you here has been in other meetings and witnessed
the same thing.
There ought to be a holy power surrounding, and in the church, that'll
make demons flee. Instead of that, it's become a laughingstock. What is
it? The mechanics instead of the dynamics.

¹¹⁷
Now, he's doing tricks. What caused it? What was the cause of Samson's
fall? He let a woman lure him away from the promise of God. That's
exactly what… We all know that. He had seven locks. And he was born;
his birth path was to be a Nazarite, a odd fellow to the Lord. But, you
see, he let this woman lure him until she shaved his oddness off.
And that's the same thing that's happened to the church. You are born a
peculiar people, a holy nation, a royal priesthood. But what happened?
You've let the world shave off your peculiarness until you have become
one of them. You had to have a denomination just like they had. You had
to outshine the Baptists or the Methodists, one. And now the Assemblies
is trying to outshine the United, and the United outshine the
Assemblies, the Church of God out this, and, oh, my, on and on, thirty
or forty different organizations (See?), like the dog returning to its
vomit, the same thing.

¹¹⁹
Notice, the same thing has been done as it was then: let Jezebel, the
mother of harlots, Revelations 17… You remember, she was called a
whore; that's a–a woman that's immoral. And woman always is
a–represents… The church is represented by a woman. Because Christ,
one He's coming after is a Bride. And she was the mother of harlots.
What is a immoral woman? Now, it couldn't have been men, because they
were harlots. See? Is a woman that would live untrue to her husband.
And she claims that she is the mother of all churches, and she is.
And what made her a whore? Is because she committed spiritual
fornication. She adopted creeds instead of her Husband's Word. Instead
of becoming a real true mate to her husband, she took another book of
creeds. And what was she? The mother of harlots that did the same
thing. Now, you don't need any more explaining to that. See? You see
where it's at. What was it? Organization, getting away from the Word.

¹²¹
Notice now what Delilah did to Samson when she kept wooing him. "Oh,
you are a great man. You are powerful. But don't deceive me; tell me
wherein lieth your strength." And she loved him, and she made love to
him until finally he gave in. And what did they do? The first thing she
did, she had his secret taken from him.
Well, that's the same thing that happened (to you readers and Bible
students) at the Nicaea Council. The old path of Pentecost wanted to
stay with the Word. And they adopted some pagan ideas through
Constantine and them, and brought… As Ahab married Jezebel and
brought in idolatry into Israel, so did the church marry into Romanism
and bring in idolatry right straight back in the church again.
Now, you've got a little bunch of harlots on the same principles, and
look what's taking place now. Mother is a wooing, and again she's going
to shave all your rights away from you. God help that we'll never give
It up; it's this Word or death. The Council of Churches, putting
themselves together and uniting in fellowship around Rome, exactly what
the Bible said it would do…

¹²⁴
1933, the Holy Spirit came one morning and told me seven things that
would take place before this nation was destroyed. One of them is that.
It's on old paper there at the church; many has looked at it. How that
we would go to war with Hitler and they'd… How Germany would fortify
and build a Maginot Line, or the Siegfried Line, I believe it was,
eleven years before it was ever thought of. And how that automobiles
would constantly shape like eggs. And how that they'd permit women to
vote, and in doing so, they would elect the wrong President. And in
this would be a woman stand up that would govern the United States: not
actually a woman, but a church. Then I seen her with nothing but ashes.
It's going to happen.
Five of those things has perfectly been fulfilled exactly. How
Mussolini would rise and go to Ethiopia, and fall at his steps; and he
would be turned to the people, in shame, with a woman. Many, many years
before it happened perfectly on the dot… And it's never failed, and
it won't fail, because it's THUS SAITH THE LORD. And it's not contrary
to these Bible. It's got to be.

¹²⁶
Now, she's making love to her daughters, wooing them right back home
again. With no spiritual understanding, stripped, it's an oasis for
her. They say, "Oh, what a grand thing it is." Oh, my. And Pentecostal
men setting in the council at Rome, and sending letters around, that
"It was the most spiritual time they ever seen." How could a borned
again man cut off his secret, cut off the Word, and they live by the
creed? That's exactly what Delilah has done today, cutting off the Word
and you live by the creed.

¹²⁷
Now, look at the defeat today, from what it would be. Ministers,
instead of God-called ministers for our Pentecostal group, you almost
have a–have to have a doctor's degree before you can get in the
pulpit. See? That's right. The first thing, you got to have a
fellowship card. And if you… And now in our great denominations of
Pentecost, before they send a missionary, they have to take him before
a psychiatrist to see if he can stand the mental test. No, that ain't
Presbyterian, that–that's Pentecost. See? Now, that's right. Now, I
wouldn't say that 'less I could back it up. See, see? Right. Tell me if
that's the qualification of a minister.

¹²⁸
The Bible said, they never went before any psychiatrist, "But they
waited in the city of Jerusalem, until they were filled with power from
on high." Some of them could not write their name. A few days later,
one passed through the gate called Beautiful, and He had never been
before a psychiatrist. He never had his fellowship card, but He said,
"Such as I have…" I have never seen a fellowship card produce that
yet.
What are we? We are stripped, embarrassed in the Presence of the Holy
Ghost. It's certainly fulfills what the prophet said in Second Timothy
3, "It'd be heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of
God." Used to be wrong for our Pentecostal women to go bathing in
suits, and mixed bathing. It isn't no more. See? No, no, just like the
world, just the same. All these things (See?) worldly… Everything
that's in the world, they just brought it in, and ministers has raised
up and permitted their wives to do it. And they've done all this kind
of stuff, and this generation grows along, and then the next one comes
on and it's… Oh, my.

¹³⁰
Samson stood, thinking of his great victories. Let's look back and see
the great early Pentecostal victories. You don't have to look plumb
back two thousand years ago; just look back fifty years ago. And,
remember, the Roman Catholic church was first the Pentecostal church.
And they say that the church was borned, and that the Roman church was
borned at Nicaea, Rome. I want Scripture for that. The first church
never begin at Nicaea, Rome. The first church begin in Jerusalem on the
day of Pentecost. Oh, a victim of all the errors… Oh.

¹³¹
Then when he realized where he was standing, when he realized what
would happen… As I said, I may never see you again. I don't know.
This may be my last Message to you. I may, if I… If the Lord permits,
and I come back next year, we all won't be here. No. Some of us will be
gone. And each time I must speak as if it was our last time; 'cause it
is, some of us. It may be my last time.
What a condition it is, a error. And if we would only stop like Samson
did and think just a moment of what we are supposed to be by God's
Bible. Not a great big something, not a going, keeping up with the
Joneses, but a humble, reverent, Spirit-filled little group of people:
not shining; glowing. Hollywood shines; the Gospel glows. See? We want
something shiny, the biggest churches we've ever had. We'd be better
off, we stood down at the alley, in a storeroom, and have the Spirit of
God back on us again. That's right. Notice.

¹³⁴
And as he stood there and realized, and his hair had begin to grow out
again; but he could not be effective, because he didn't have any eyes.
And he cried, "Lord, revenge my eyes. They've put my eyes out."
They're… Today I might say, the creeds… "They sent me to a
seminary. And the call that was in my heart of the living God, they
punched all that out of me, saying, 'Those things was for another age.'"
"Revenge my eyes." What was Samson thinking? "There was a possibility.
Perhaps… Jehovah's full of love. He… It–it might be possible that
He would hear me."
Oh, I wish I could get Samson to wake to that tonight. There is a
possibility. He's full of love, forgiving the iniquity of His people
from generation to generation, showing mercies to thousands that love
Him and keep His commandments.

¹³⁸
"There's a possibility," Samson thought, "if I'd only get revenge of my
eyes. I can't see those things no more. They don't happen."
We can't see the great Holy Spirit in our great organizations, moving
like It did at the beginning. It's gone. See, it isn't there. It's
blind and don't know it. Jesus said it would be that way, this Laodicea
church age. "Rich, say, 'I am rich, and increased in goods, and have
need of nothing.' And don't know that thou art naked, blind, miserable,
and poor, and don't know it." See, don't know it.
Well, we had a slogan out, "1944, a million more," a certain
organization. And though the ministry of great men, they've had a
million more what? Joiners. That's right.

¹⁴¹
He knew there was a possibility, but the thing of it is today, the
people don't seem to come conscious that there is a possibility.
They're satisfied to go right on down the old trend they're going. See,
don't do that. Believe God. Have faith in Him.
Now, they say… Oh, they, "We'll set tight." That's right. "We clap
our hands, and–and everything, and shout." But you was all sails and
no anchor. See?
How can you clap your hands and shout, and deny the Word being the
Truth? How can you clap your hands and shout, and the Holy Spirit will
walk among you, and then you say, "Oh, it's a telepathy. It's–it's
something; it's just not worth it"? See, see?

¹⁴⁴
We have great gatherings, glitter, worldly tinsel, great meetings, and
what do we get? More members. The Pentecostal church three years ago,
put more members in it than all the rest of the churches did together.
That was in "Our Sunday Visitor," the Catholic paper. "The Sunday
Visitor" said they had a million converts to Catholicism in that year,
and said the Pentecostals had a million five hundred thousand. Yeah.
Yes, sir.
All kinds of scholarship, men learned to talk in the schools, and say
their speeches, intellectual, Hollywood showmen (Pardon the
expression.), preaching to a bunch of so-called Pentecostal
grandchildren.

¹⁴⁶
God don't have no grandchildren. They come in. The old Pentecostal
father and mother under an experience brought you in; and you just come
into the church and set there, and automatically you was a Pentecostal?
He don't have grandchildren. He only has sons and daughters. There's no
grandchildren. You have to pay the same price and get the same Holy
Ghost that they did. You got to be a son and daughter, not a grandson
and granddaughter. He's not an old dotty grandfather, soft, and lets
his kids get by with anything, bless their little heart. He's God, the
Eternal One. That's right. Sons and daughters…

¹⁴⁷
We still got the big bulk like Samson had. He stood there with all of
his power. He stood there just as big as he ever was. And we stand
bigger than we were, but we're stripped of power. Samson still had the
brawny muscles, he still had every physical part he had, but the Spirit
of the Lord didn't come on him no more. We stand million's strong,
stronger than we were, but where is the Lord? As the Angel said back
there in the days of Gideon… He said, "If where is… If there is
still God, where is His miracles? Where's the things that He's supposed
to do? Where is He proving Himself that He's alive and the same
yesterday, today, and forever?" That's what we get.

¹⁴⁸
Notice, Samson prayed right. Samson prayed, "Lord, let me die with the
enemy," when he realized what was happening around him. His eyes were
gone. His strength was gone. His fellowship was gone. But there's a
possibility that a prayer meeting might spark it again. See? Then he
prayed right, "Let me die with the enemy."
You must die with your enemy. That's right. You must die to the enemy that's got you in this condition. That's right.
Samson was willing to pay the price to get the power of God back on him
again. He seen what he was raised up to do: not be a showman, but to be
a servant, to have hisself so that the power of God could flow through
him.

¹⁵¹ We stand millions stronger than we were, but the power… [Blank.spot.on.tape–Ed.]… purpose.
Jesus
even said, "As it was in the days of Noah, wherein eight souls were
saved by water, so shall it be at the coming of the Son of man." All
this you see walking on the street's cannon fodder. That's atomic
fodder, only laid in there for judgment. The rapture comes, there'll be
a scarce few. "Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, and but few
there'll be that find it; for broad is the road that leads to
destruction, and many there be that go in thereat. Not all that saith
unto Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter therein, but the one that doeth the
will of My Father." That's the one that goes in (See?), not saying,
"Lord," and their fine prayers, and–and revivals, and so forth.

¹⁵³
Oh, I hear somebody say, "Now, wait a minute, Brother Branham, we have
revivals." Yep. That's right. That's right. We have revivals, and what
do we have? It's a denomination revival, see if we can get some more in
the church.
And we're having another great revival too; we're taking all the
churches into one: the Council of Churches. Yeah, getting farther and
farther away from God's Word all the time. Uniting… "How can two walk
together except they be agreed?" How we going to walk with people who
deny the very resurrection of Christ? How can we walk with people who
said, "The days of miracles is passed"?
You are a separated people by the Holy Ghost. See? The world wants
today, the–the–the… What the world is wanting today is mixers. They
want somebody who can walk around and–and fellowship with the world
and fellowship with the people, and get a lot of members, and have a
social organization. But when the Holy Ghost said, "Separate Me
Paul…" God is a separator, not a mixer: a separator.

¹⁵⁶
He knew that his backslidden strength, though there it all stood; the
great regime that he ever was, he stood there, but his backslidden
strength could not meet the challenge of the hour,
And the church knows that too. The evangelist knowed that when that
Mohammedan challenged him. Your intellectual strength doesn't meet the
challenge of the hour, 'cause the Devil is loose among us with powers
that nothing can–can dare to challenge but the Spirit of Almighty God,
when this Word's made flesh. And it's going to get worse and worse,
constantly worse.
He knowed that he was insufficient. He couldn't do it. And he knowed what would happen if God answered his prayer.

¹⁵⁹
I wonder if we're that willing tonight? I wonder if the Pentecostal
world is willing tonight to make that same agreement with God? "Lord
God, if it knocks my denomination to pieces, if they excommunicate me
from the council… I don't care if they take my fellowship card, and I
have to lay on my stomach, and drink branch water and eat soda
crackers, instead of riding around in a big car with a big salary. I
don't care what the price is. That system drove me away from You. Take
me back again, Lord. I'll believe Your Word. Revenge my eyes that's
been put out. Let me die with it. Amen. Let me die out to my ownself. I
don't care what they say about me. I may be bishop. I might be this,
that, or the other. I don't care what they say. Bring back the power of
the Holy Ghost in my life. I've been blinded long enough.

¹⁶⁰
Oh, church, are you willing for… Let me die with the rest of them.
Let my name, as reverend, doctor, or–or whatever it be, perish. O God,
just give me again, just send upon me again, that glorious power that
fell on the day of Pentecost, that can meet the challenge of this hour
in the face of communism or anything else that rises. Let me die, Lord,
with them." There's a possibility, you know.
You know what? On such a confession, the Philistines, they was too
drunk to notice what he was doing. All at once, when he seen there was
a possibility, he turned his head up towards the skies, and the tears
running out of the blinded sockets. He begin to move his lips, tears
falling from his eyes. They wasn't noticing. They were too busy making
fun of him. He wanted God's Word, the real living God to come on the
scene once more. He had failed Him. He knowed he failed Him. But he
wanted to see the living God living here to prove to that Jezebel
outfit that He still was God.

¹⁶²
Oh, if it takes the starch out of you, if it makes you not act like
some kind of a movie star, if you have to let your hair grow down, and
put on an old fashion dress, "I don't care what it costs; I'll take the
way with the Lord's despised few. Lord, let's see it again; let's see
the Presence of God moving before this Jezebel."
He was aware of what happened if God answered his prayer, but he was ready and in dead earnest.

¹⁶⁴
That's what we have to do. Get ready; make up your mind. Shut your
eyes, let your affections… Don't alter God's Word to you; alter
yourself to His Word. "Not my will, Thine be done, Lord. Not what I
think about it; it's what You said about it." That's right.
What did he cry? "Lord…"
Said, "Little boy, put one of my hands upon this post; it's possible."
Oh, my. "Lead me to the post that holds this, because I want to rest my
hands. I'm tired. I've been made fun of long enough." Oh, my.
"I know, Lord, what it's going to cost, but maybe You will. There's a
possibility. You're full of mercy. I failed You, Lord." That ought to
be the cry of the church tonight.
"Little lad, would you put my hand upon one pillar?"
"Yes."
"And my hand upon the other pillar?"
"Yes."
"Is my hands placed right?"
"Yes, they're right."
And he started to pray. And he said, "Lord, revenge my eyes." In other
words, "I've done wrong. But just once more, Lord, once more…"

¹⁶⁸
Oh, if that could only be the objective of the Pentecostal move
tonight, "I'm willing to forget about whether I'm this way, or oneness,
twoness, threeness. I'm for–willing to forget about all of these
worldly things and everything. Just once more, Lord. Once more take Me
out of this creed and this thing that I'm bound up in and once more…
Once more let me see the appearing of Jesus Christ, the same yesterday,
today, and forever. Once more, Lord, once more." The church would
scream that, though they've been blinded from these things, blinded
from their brother and his idea. Just take God's idea and you won't
have to argue about It. "Once more, Lord, once more."

¹⁶⁹
Then there stood that big bulk of a frame, powerless and helpless. All
at once he begin to feel something happening. Every fiber of his body
begin to fill with the power of God.
Oh, if the church could only get to that again, and all the way from
the preacher to the deacon, to the laity, every fiber and every member
of the body would be filled with the power of God…
Those big brawny muscles straightened up, and he crushed it together.
"Let me die with them, Lord. Let me die with them. You raised me up to
destroy it. I've built myself up around it; let me destroy myself with
it, my reputation and whatever it is. Let me destroy it, but I want to
see the power of God again."

¹⁷²
Always when the power of God comes in, the walls that you've built
around you fall. Your denominational walls will crush and God will be
known again. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever.
And every fiber filling with the Holy Ghost, every muscle filled, every
bit of his body was just filled up with the Holy Ghost. That was
Samson's greatest victory.
Oh, church of the living God… I'm going to omit the rest of my notes
to say this one thing. Why don't we? Are you ready, Assemblies of God?
Are you ready, you United Church? Are you ready, Oneness, Trinity,
whatever you are? Are you ready, Church of God? Are you ready, all the
rest you denominations, to forget this nonsense and the thing that
you've done? Look where you got people tonight and what kind of a
condition they're in.

¹⁷⁵
O God, let's break them walls down. "Once more, Lord." I don't care.
We're at the end of the time, folks. We ain't got much left. We better
be hollering right now, crying out. "Once more, Lord, once more, just
this once more at the end of the world, let Your strength fill my every
fiber. I'll break away from all these things. Fellowship cards, and
bishops, and denominations, and everything don't mean a thing to me. I
want You, Lord, more than anything."
Let's think of it as we bow our heads just a moment. I'm urged to do
this. "Once more, Lord." Everybody, sincerely, reverently, just as
reverent as you can be. Just have faith, and down in your heart say,
"Once more, Lord."

¹⁷⁷
Lord Jesus, great Master of Life, the Shepherd of the sheep, come
forth, Lord. These people are hungering. They're thirsting. Lord, years
I've wanted to see this happen, maybe it will. Just once more, Lord,
one more great move of the Spirit. One more time, Lord, and the Church
might receive the rapturing faith to go in. Grant it, Lord. Make known
that You're with us, and we'll praise Thee for it. In Jesus' Name we
ask it. Amen.

¹⁷⁸
I know it's not many words; I know it ain't a long prayer, but He knows
my objective. I meaned it. Can Jesus live among us tonight? Can Jesus
once more come to us and show that He is the same yesterday, today, and
forever, as we been taught? Is there sick or afflicted, or downcast in
here, that just (You know there is no prayer cards out. We taken them
all last night.), but believe God, would raise up your hand and say,
"I'm in need, Brother Branham. I pray to God that He will speak to me"?
Raise your hands, wherever. It's all over.
Now, here is (What?) the grace of God to bear record of what I said is
the Truth. See? See, a man can say anything; unless God vindicates
that, then it's wrong. Now, you believe.
And I want you to believe me as His servant. I want you to say to
God… You see, when He met me, He said, "If you would get the people
to believe you, and then be sincere…"

¹⁸¹
And now, if Jesus stood here tonight, and if you were sick or needy,
whatever, He could not heal you; He's already did it. But Jesus and the
Word is the same. He is the Word. And He said man should live by this
Word, not by a creed, by the Word. "And He that believeth on Me (not
make-believeth, but believeth on), the works that I do shall he also."
How could He perceive what was in their minds? How did He do it? And
they thought He was reading their minds; and He told them He'd forgive
them for that, "But when the Holy Ghost come to do it, to speak against
That would never be forgiven." Now, we've been through it, right
straight through the Bible, and find that God, if He identified Himself
then as Messiah by showing that He was the prophet and the Word…
Because the Bible said, "The Word of God is sharper than a two-edged
sword (Hebrews 4) and a Discerner of the thoughts that's in the heart."
That's the reason they couldn't hide nothing from Him. And the things
that… That's how they knowed.

¹⁸³
That's how the woman at the well knew that He was Messiah. She said,
"Sir, I perceive You're a prophet. We know, when the Messiah cometh,
He'll tell us those things. That's what He'll do."
He said, "I'm He."
She run in and said to the people, "Come, see a Man Who told me
what–what I've done. Isn't this the very Messiah?" And they believed
it.
But somehow we don't… Seem like the world don't want to believe it.
But God rich in mercy, it's a possibility that He might do it again. He
has to identify Himself like that, the Messiah; He can't do it to the
Samaritans and Jews, and then leave the Gentiles out. It's got to be
done, so you pray and you touch the border of His garment.
And to the clergy, "He is the High Priest now that can be touched by
the feeling of our infirmity." That is true: Hebrews 3. Now, He is the
High Priest (And we all believe that.) that can be touched by the
feeling of our infirmities. And He's the same yesterday, today, and
forever." Then His Life, His actions, His everything is the same. "A
little while, and the world (kosmos, the order) will not see Me no
more, they'll never see it."

¹⁸⁸
Remember the Angel that come down in a form of a man, that talked
to–to Abraham, the called-out, elected church. He never went down in
Sodom and done down there like those other fellows went down there and
preached, like Billy Graham and them today, with that G-r-a-h-a-m
again, like A-b-r-a-h-a-m. See? Each once had their messenger. They got
it today, the same thing come. Go up here to the called-out church, who
wasn't in Babylon, and there's where that mysterious thing was done;
when He told Sarah, when she was in the tent behind Him, what was wrong.
She laughed. And He said, "Why did Sarah laugh, saying in her heart,
that these things can't be?" And Abraham called her forth, and she
tried to deny it. And He said…
Look, here's the grace. Here's–here's the possibility. God would've
struck her dead right there, but He couldn't; she's part of Abraham.
For our unbelief He'd strike us dead, but He can't; we're part of
Christ. Grace holds us. See? But He still has to keep His Word.

¹⁹¹
Now, you pray. I don't see a person that I really know in the building.
But Brother Pat Tyler setting over here on the end, I do know him. But
as far as… And I think Brother Bill Dauch's setting right here, and
his wife. Outside of that, that's the only people that I know. Brother
Joseph… And if the Holy Spirit would speak to them, I'll just tell
you what about it, and then omit it and tell you after the service.
But once more, Lord, once more. "The works that I do shall you also."
Now, you believe, and see if that same Light that you see constantly…

¹⁹³
Well, when we got through with the Church Ages, down there in the
Tabernacle, about this many people. There's people setting right here
now was present. That same Pillar of Fire come right over by the side
of the wall, and drawed out those church ages the way I had them on the
blackboard. Is that right? Many of you was there. And the people
fainting and everything else… And I said, "There It is now, if
there's a question."
They got the picture of It here in Washington D.C., copyrighted as the
only supernatural Being was ever photographed. George J. Lacy, the head
of the F.B.I. fingerprint and document, examined It, when that Light
was there. He said, "Brother–Mr. Branham, I said it was psychology; I
attended your meetings; but the mechanical eye of this camera won't
catch psychology." See? Said, "The Light struck the lens."
Well, if that is Christ that was–strickened Paul down, and called Him,
"Lord (See?), what would You have me to do?" the Life that was in Him
will be reproduced in us then. See, He's here with the called-out
Church.

¹⁹⁶
And may it come to pass, once more, Lord, that this people may see that
You still live, and You're not dead, and neither have You left Your
people. They are here, but, Lord, they have had their eyes punched out
by a organization, a Jezebel Delilah, that took them from the true Word
to a creed. May the walls fall, Father. Grant it. Once more, Lord. As I
said, there's many here I'll probably never see again. But once more,
Lord, let Jesus appear among us in the form of the Holy Spirit, that He
might reproduce the Life in us, that He was then, to fulfill His Word:
"He's the High Priest that can be touched by the feeling of our
infirmity."
Let the sick and afflicted touch this Master. You're the same One,
Lord, that could tell Simon Peter, when he come up among them, "Why,
your name is Simon. You're the son of Jonas." You're the same One,
Father. You don't fail. Same… Little woman that touched His garment,
the same Christ lives tonight. May it be once more, Lord, once more.
For Jesus' sake I ask it. Amen.

¹⁹⁸
Now, no one moving. Reverently, let's be down sincere and reverent. We
don't hit these things haphazardly. It's a promise of God. The Divine
Spirit of the living God promised that in His Word, and that Word is
Life and Spirit. Jesus said it was. And He and the Word is the same.
And man lives by that Word. That Word lives in man.
Now, as a gift… Now, I'm going to tell you a secret, as I leave.
You've been sweet and kind. I've never exactly expressed this I know
of, public, before. "Brother Branham, what is that gift?" It's a gift
of knowing how to get William Branham out of the way so Jesus Christ
can live through a vessel: just getting yourself out of the way.
I don't know you. I don't know nothing about it, but He does. He's the One.

²⁰²
Now, have faith and believe. Say, "Lord, that man doesn't know me. And
yet You said, 'A little while, the world (Babylon or Sodom,) won't see
You. But ye shall see Me. You shall see Me, for I will be with you all
the way to the end of the world.'" It hadn't come to an end yet. "You
will see Me. Ye shall see Me, for I'll be with you, even in you."
You'll see His Life reproduced in the believers.
Now, in the Name of Jesus Christ the Son of God, I take every spirit in
here under my control for the glory of God, that the works of God might
be made known again, if He so sees fit to do it.
No more than I had said that word, I looked here in the corner, and
here… Can't you see that Light hanging right there, amber, moving
around? Or is it… Am I in another dimension, and just imagine? My
spirit…

²⁰⁶
There's a little woman setting there. She's in trouble. She's suffering
with a–a stomach trouble. And she's had an operation for cancer, and
the cancer was on the breast. They removed the cancer, little lady.
Yes. That's right.
So now that I–you'll know. I don't know you, but do you believe me to
be His prophet? I'll say it plainly tonight; I'm leaving. Do you
believe it? Do you believe that we're promised that in the last days
according to Malachi 4, that would turn the hearts of the children back
to the Father?
Why, Mrs. Taylor that's your name. You can go home, and Jesus Christ make you well.

²⁰⁹
What do you think? You've had an operation too. Do you believe? If you
do, with all your heart… Your operation was also cancer, tumor in the
bowels, intestinal tract. But now you're suffering with complications.
If you'll believe, Mrs. Shukwit, with all your heart, that Jesus Christ
will make you well, you can have what you ask.
You believe?
Here, a lady back here, she's a colored lady. She's suffering with
something wrong with her eyes, and with her limbs, her legs. Her name
is Mrs. Washington. Stand up, if you wish. You're healed. What did she
touch? Ask what she touched. The humility of that colored woman…

²¹²
By the way, It struck another colored woman setting right out here on
the end. She's suffering with a heart trouble. Her name is Mrs. Harris.
Do you believe, Mrs. Harris? Your heart trouble has left you.
What did she touch? She never touched me. She's twenty yards from me. She touched the High Priest.
Here, here's another woman, as I turn my head, setting right here.
She's suffering with a heart trouble too. Mrs. Carter, stand up; Jesus
Christ makes you well.
Way back, a woman with an ulcerated stomach, her name is Mrs.
P-a-o-l-i. Mrs. Paoli, stand up, Jesus Christ healed you. All right.
There you are.
"Once more, Lord, once more." Do you believe Him? [Congregation says, "Amen."–Ed.]

²¹⁷ Let's stand up. Let's confess our sins and pray, "Once more, Lord, let the Holy Ghost fall upon us." Raise up our hands.
Lord God, we stand embarrassed; the world makes fun of us, Lord. Help
us tonight. Let the Holy Ghost come again, be poured out upon the
people. May He come now, Lord. May every sick person be healed, every
sinner be saved, every seeker filled. Once more, Lord, once more. Just
once more, Lord. Once more let the Holy Ghost fall among the people.
Raise up your hearts now, and cry, "Once more, Lord." All together,
"Once more, Lord, once more." Once more, Lord. Once more let the Holy
Ghost take this audience, break down the powers of the enemy, and fill
every fiber with the baptism of the Spirit.