As The Eagle Stirs Her Nest And Fluttereth Over Her Young (58-0316A)
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E-1 Bow our heads just a moment for prayer.
Gracious God, we are happy to be in Thy Presence again this fine
Sabbath afternoon to offer to Thee the expressions of our hearts,
through prayer. And we know that Thou does hear, and will answer every
petition that we ask for, because we asking this blessing in Jesus'
Name, that You will come to us today and comfort our hearts. Bless the
sick and the needy; heal them, Lord. Save the lost; get glory unto
Thyself, for we ask it in His Name. Amen.
E-2 [Brother Vayle reads the Scripture from Deuteronomy 32:1-12–Ed.]
Thank
you, Brother Vayle. I would wish to say this afternoon, that the boys
has just told me that they had run out of books and–and pictures. And
they said that immediately after the service, if you wanted to have
them, why, they would be taking the orders at the desk.
We won't sell them on Sunday, I've never did that, but they run out a
couple days ago, and so they didn't have too many with them. And the
books is on press now, being–that's on the printing press being
printed. They'll be off in a few days. We would send them to you.
Now, remember tonight, and immediately after the service, the
evangelistic service this afternoon, that my boy, Billy, and the boys
here, will be giving out the prayer cards. Just remain in your seats
after the service, you, who want prayer cards. And then, to those who
could not get in, they'll give out about fifty of them this afternoon,
and then about fifty more tonight at six o'clock. So now, you who want
a prayer card may have one, anybody that wants them.
E-3
Now, for a text, this afternoon, I wish to speak on the subject, "As
The Eagle Stirs Her Nest And Fluttereth Over Her Young." This is rather
an unusual subject, and my voice is not really up to par to try to
speak on this subject, but I'm just trusting to God today, for just a
little evangelistic service, that God will teach us, maybe, something
that we should know about His goodness and His care for His people.
I'm so glad, once to know, that–that there is a real, true, and living
God, Who still lives and loves His people. And now, our text, this
afternoon, "As The Eagle Stirs Her Nest."
E-4
I've often wondered why God ever likened His heritage unto eagles. And
I, one day, begin to study about what was an eagle. And as living in
the wilderness the bigger part of my life, and cattle, and around
eagles in the country where I range cattle, in Arizona, and up in the
New Mexico, and Colorado. I studied much about the eagle, his habits.
And then, one day I run onto this text, so I thought, "Why did He liken
His heritage unto eagles?" Then I noticed that there is about forty
different types of eagles, forty different types.
The word "eagle" means "a feeder with the beak, the mouth, that feeds with the mouth."
E-5
Now, how would He liken His heritage unto an eagle would be… You
remember He said, "His people, being eagles, especially His prophets,
and then He likened Himself to an eagle." He's Jehovah Eagle, and we
are His eaglets, the little ones. And how He feeds us with His own
mouth. "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that
proceedeth out of the mouth of God." God feeds His eagles on–by His
Word, His spoken Word.
Now, I've had… Many times I've set down and enjoyed a good steak, or
a good fish dinner, or chicken, and enjoyed it, but never could I
enjoy, just like setting down at Jehovah's table and just let Him feed
us on His good Word.
E-6
You know, it goes to the inside of us. And the church is starving today
for some of that Word. There's nothing will take its place. Not nothing
will take the place to the eagles, but the real food, eagle's food. And
we are eagles, so we have to have eagle's food, not social gatherings,
not political speeches, or not some little stitch-and-sew party, but we
need some eagle's food, fed from the mouth of Jehovah Eagle. That's why
He likened us unto eagles.
Another thing is about the eagle; he's a special bird. He–he isn't
like any other bird. The eagle is so strong, and he flies higher than
any other bird that's known. There's no bird can stay with Him. You
know, you see the hawk go up in the air, but if the hawk tried to
follow the eagle, he'd disintegrate. The eagle is a far stronger bird.
He can fly higher than any other bird there is, and that's the reason
Jehovah likened us to unto eagles. You just simply can lift up higher
than the ordinary bird. I mean, I'm speaking about real eagles,
Jehovah's choice.
E-7
And if he can fly higher, what good would it do him to fly up there, if
he couldn't see where he was at when he was up there. So therefore, his
eye is far better than any other bird there is on earth, is the eagle's
eye. Oh, I know they claim that the hawk has such an eye. My, he
couldn't see with the eagle at all. He can't even compare with him in
no way. The eagle's so much stronger, and he's so much more powerful
built. He has to have a special build, or he could not stand it up
there.
You know, if he got up there into those realms, he has to be made–his
body has to be made up in order to stand those spheres that he's in. If
another bird tried to follow him, and would get up into that place,
even the hawk, he'd smother. He couldn't breathe. And I say this with
respect, that's where we get today with a lot of hawks trying to follow
the eadle–eagles.
They get up there and say, "Well, I can't stand this; the–this makes
me nervous. Let me out of here." They can't even set through one
meeting. They just smother to death. They're not built right; they're
not built for that atmosphere.
E-8
Someone said here not long ago; I was preaching, and there was a woman,
while I was preaching, was weeping, and she got so full, till she just
screamed out, "Hallelujah." And I met that fellow, which was a Sunday
school teacher, and he run–had a baseball team of the First Baptist
Church in our city. He said, "Billy, I was enjoying that message, till
that woman started crying." And he said, "Oh, it just made shivers run
over my back."
I said, "If you ever got to heaven, you'd freeze to death." Oh, my,
this is such a minor thing. But you have to be able to stand it, and
God makes you up that way, if you're a eagle.
E-9
You know, if he got up there, the–seen miracles a happening, and the
signs and wonders of God being moved, and believes that the days of
miracles would be past, he'd just disintegrate and fall out. That's
what's the matter with a lot of people today. They claim to be eagles,
but I wonder. I just wonder.
Now, he's got to be made up, his statue, his all must be made to take
care of the places that he's going to be. And when God borns a child
into His family, that man has a make-up, something that can stand the
Supernatural, that can differentiate between the real and the unreal,
the one who knows what real eagle food is.
E-10
Eagle food comes from the mouth of the Feeder, not some man-made
theology, but from the mouth of the Feeder, which is Jehovah Eagle, Who
feeds with His own Word.
And the eagle will never bring her babies anything that would hurt
them. Oh, I just love that. God will never make a promise that He won't
stand behind. And every eagle just loves to get a hold of that Word. He
loves it, because it comes from the mouth of Jehovah Eagle. He loves to
receive It.
Oh, I've seen the little ones waiting for mama to come up. And they'd
all raise and hold their little mouth open; ever what mama brought
them, that's all right.
And that's the way that a true believer is. No matter what Doctor Jones
said or what anybody else said, if Jehovah put it in His Word, they
believe it and receive it.
E-11
The scientist can say, "The days of miracles is past. And there is no
such thing as Divine healing; the Holy Spirit only fell on the hundred
and twenty."
Oh, but when Jehovah said, "It's for you, and to your children, and to
them that's far off, even as many as the Lord our God, shall call…"
If they're called, they'll eat.
E-12
So he has to be a special bird to take this food. And he has to be made
up to go into those atmospheres. That's another thing about him. And
then in order to get up there he has to have strong wings. A ordinary
bird, his feathers would fly out of him, 'cause he can't stand when he
gets up there. But an old eagle can soar, where another bird can't get
a hundred yards off the ground without flopping himself to death. You
know that's right. Yes, sir. They'll just beat the air, and plunge, an
old crane or something, bumping up and down, and trying to ride the
waves and staggering over, where a eagle just sets his wings and rides
on the wind. It's feathers are strong; they don't move; they don't
give. He just maneuvers his body, and he sails away.
That's the way every believer; he doesn't run from pillar to post and
from place to place, a Methodist this week, and a Baptist next week,
and to–one this week, and another one next week, he just sets his
faith in God's Eternal Word, and sails away, riding on the waves of the
air.
E-13
Sometime ago, up in Colorado I was hunting. It was early in the fall,
and the snow hadn't got deep enough yet to run the elk herd down. And
the rancher, he'd went on another section over on the west fork of the
Troublesome River. I was on the east fork. We'd meet in about five days.
And I had some pack horses, so I was getting–going, hunt an elk, not
so much as to hunt the game, but just to be alone with God. And it come
up a storm, and it blowed and blowed, and I got in behind the trees. I
was almost at timberline. Then it would come a rain, and rain all the
snow away, and then it'll come sunshine out; it's just stormy that time
of year, and that's what runs the big animals down into the valley,
where they're easier to hunt.
E-14
And then, this storm come up, and I stood behind a tree until the storm
was over. And then, when the storm was over, I come out and I begin to
look, and the western part of the state, the big crevasses in the
mountains, the sun was setting, and the reflection on the frozen
evergreen made a–a rainbow across the valley.
Oh, my, the Bible said, "When the deep calleth to the deep…" You
could see God there in the rainbow, as a promise. Just get alone
sometime with God and just see how close He is to you. He's in the
atmospheres; He's in–He's in His bushes; He's in His flowers; He's in
the air; He's in the rainbow; He's in His people; He's everywhere.
E-15
Notice, and as I looked at that, then I heard an old gray wolf howl
back up on the hill, and the mate answered it down in the valley. My
mother's a half Indian. And I tell you, the deep begin to call to the
deep. My conversion didn't take that out of me.
And then, I heard the elk herd bugling one to another. The storm had
separated them. And I was just having a great time. I set my rifle
against a tree; I run around, and around, and around the tree just as
hard as I could go, to give vent to the feeling that was within me. I
was alone with God. Wasn't nobody in thirty-five or forty miles of me,
way up on the mountain, just having a wonderful time. And I thought,
"Oh, God, there You are in the elk herd; there You are in the wolf
call; there You are over on the rainbow. You're everywhere. Oh, Great
Jehovah." Around, and around, and around the tree I went again. If
somebody would've come into the woods, they'd thought they had a maniac
out there. But I didn't care; I was worshipping God, make any
difference to me.
E-16
And then, all of a sudden I was attracted to a little pine squirrel. I
don't know what's–you all have them up or not. He's a little fussy
thing, about that long, just make a lot of noise, the blue coat
policeman of the woods. And he got up on a little old stump, and all of
the carrying on I ever heard: Chatter, chatter, chatter, chatter. I
thought, "Well, I might've scared the little fellow, me carrying on the
way I was." And I thought, "Maybe I excited him." So I looked at him,
and I said, "What you so excited about, little fellow?" And I noticed
he wasn't looking at me; he'd cock his little eye and look down like
that.
And I noticed, coming out from under an old blow-down, where a former
storm had blowed some trees together, a big brown eagle had been forced
down in there by the storm, and she was coming out. And I thought, "Oh,
that's what he scared about."
E-17
And this big eagle jumped up on there, and his great big gray looking
eyes looking around, and I thought, "God, why did You make me stop
shouting just to look at that eagle. Could You be in the eagle?" Sure.
And I watched that eagle as he set on this big limb, and I thought,
"Well, he's just a scavenger; there surely isn't any good in that
fellow." And I wondered, "What makes You–why did You stop me from
shouting for? What lesson are You going to teach me now, Jehovah, about
the eagle?"
Well, there's one thing I noticed, that he wasn't afraid. He wasn't
scared. And I said to him; I said, "Old fellow, do you know I could
take my gun and shoot you?" That never bothered him a bit. Well, I
thought, "Why doesn't it bother you? Why ain't you all scared?" My
rifle was setting against the tree. He knew that he could be in that
timber before I could get that rifle in my hand. He knowed where he was
standing. Oh, I like that.
Know where you're standing; know Whom you have believed and be
persuaded He's able to keep that which you've committed to Him against
the day. He knew right where he was.
E-18
And I thought, "Well, how do you know you could do it? What makes you
so sure?" And I noticed him, every few seconds, he was feeling those
wings to see if everything was in good gear.
You know, that's it. If God give an eagle two wings to escape danger,
and he has to feel all the time to see if everything's in gear, what
about the church of the Living God, that's got the Holy Ghost to pack
you from danger?
If the doctor says, "You're going to die with TB," just see if
everything's in gear. Just see if you're still in fellowship; check up
a little bit.
E-19
Oh, he felt his feathers all just right, and that little old pine
squirrel was just a cursing him for all that was in him. And he never
noticed that–me so bad; he was watching that pine squirrel. He was
getting tired of hearing that, that chatter, chatter, chatter, chatter
just as hard as he could.
And I was admiring him for his bravery. All at once, he got enough of
it, and he just made a big jump like that, and flopped his wings about
twice, he was already outside of the timber. And then, then I stood
there and wept as I watched him. He didn't flop one more time. He just
knowed how to set his wings. And every time that wind would come, he'd
lift up, and the wind would come up the canyon, he'd lift higher. He
just knowed how to maneuver those wings. And I watched him till he
become just a little speck. I wept like a baby.
I said, "That's it." Oh, just know how to set your faith in the power
of God, and when the Holy Ghost comes in like a rushing wind, ride on
away from this great big chatter, chatter here, and a chatter–saying,
"The days of miracles is past, and there's no such thing as the baptism
of the Holy Ghost." Just set your wings, and pay no attention to it,
and ride away on it. Amen. Oh, Jehovah Eagle, flying high.
E-20
Another thing that the eagle does, if we notice, how he would likened
unto the–his–God's heritage. He renews his youth. You know the Bible
says he renews his youth. He's the only bird that there is that he can
be almost gone, and he comes back to a young eagle again, not in age,
but just in action. Well, why would Jehovah liken us unto eagles then?
When you're all down, as it would be said, "in the dumps," then along
comes a good revival and your youth's all reused–renewed again.
Oh, I seen the old people with gray hair and whiskers all over their
face, just shout and praise the Lord like a little boy fifteen years
old. Sure. I've seen people setting bound in wheelchairs leap to their
feet, and scream, and shout like–why they're renewed. Jehovah renews
us. He renews our strength. He renews our health. He renews us all
over. That's the reason He likened us unto eagles.
Another thing about an eagle, an eagle won't build her nest on the
ground. An eagle builds her nest just as high as she can build it. She
gets it out of the way of all of the predators, everything that would
bother her, she builds her nest high, so nothing will bother her.
E-21
Sometime ago, I was at Cincinnati, Ohio, to the big zoo there. And I
had my little girl, Sarah, and little Rebekah. And I had little Sarah,
which was the younger, walking her along. And they had just captured a
big eagle, and put it in a big cage. Well, I walked up. I heard all the
beating and going on, and I walked down to show Sarah. I thought it was
two birds fighting. But when I got down there, it was just one big
eagle. He had no feathers, hardly, on the front of him. His face was
all beat up. His wings was all beat out. And I watched the big fellow,
how restless he was with his wings out and them sore. And he walked
across to one side of the cage, and he'd get a big run, and he'd fly
against that cage with all that was within him, only to butt his head
against it, to fall back in the floor again. He'd lay there and shake
his head a little, get up, and go back again, and he'd look out. And
then he would run just as hard has he could, and beat his wings to
rise, and hit against the iron bars, and fall back again. I walked up
close; I thought, "If I had a hack saw, I'd saw him out of there."
And as he laid there, and his great eyes looking towards heaven, the
blue skies above him… He's a heavenly bird. He lives in the heavens.
He was born to live in heaven. That's his nature is to live high. And
here he is with a cage over him, and he can't get up any more.
E-22
I thought that was one of the saddest sights I nearly ever seen. And
walking away from there, the Holy Spirit seem to say to me that
afternoon, setting in the park where I couldn't get it off of my
mind… I wanted to buy the bird. Well, they wouldn't let me have him.
I felt so sorry for him, but then the Lord spoke to me in this matter,
"Here's a worse sight than that. There's men and women walking the
streets, that was born to be sons and daughters of God, living below
their privilege, beating their brains out in nightclubs and everything
else, when they should be soaring the skies of God's great pleasure and
power."
How they go from church to church, and from place to place, trying to
join this, and say this creed, and repeat this prayer, be baptized this
a way, just beating your brains out. And they were born to be sons and
daughters of God.
What a sad sight to see a man, made in the image of God, to be a
servant of God, to live as a son of God, walking down the street,
staggering under the influence of whiskey, to see a young man in his
splendor and his graceful looks, to see him down on the street with a
cigarette in his hand, with his arm around a half dressed girl
somewhere, a man born to be a son of God and living under His
privileges, his soul bound in a cage of the devil's torment.
A young woman half-dressed, beautiful as she is, oh, all fixed up, and
enough paint on her to paint a barn, out somewhere laying around in a
roadhouse, when she was born to be a daughter of the most high God, and
she's living under her privilege…
E-23
There's something in you that calls out. There's something in you that
longs for God. And you try to satisfy that thirst that's in you, as
David said, "As the hart thirst after the waterbrook, so my soul thirst
after Thee, oh, God." And you try to satisfy that blessed holy thirst
that God put in you, to thirst after Him, and you try to satisfy it
with the things of this world. The devil is trying to make you quench
that thirst by serving him, when you're a eagle. You was born to be an
eagle. And you have no right to try to quench that thirst with the
things of the world. God gave you that holy thirst to thirst after Him.
"Blessed are they, that do hunger and thirst for righteousness, for
they shall be filled."
E-24
Now, let's take notice to the eagle. The reason she doesn't build her
nest on the ground, is because that's she's a heavenly bird, and she
takes care of her young. She don't want them in danger. So she builds
her nest just as high as she can go.
Last summer, I was going to Tacoma for a meeting. I passed through
Yellowstone, watching, way up in the top of the canyon, I saw something
up there, and it was right on a little short peak. And an eagle had her
nest built.
And I called my wife, and my children, and give them the binoculars.
I'd went down into the woods a piece, following a little old bear. And
I said, "Look up here now at this. There is the eagle with her nest."
What could get to her? Nothing. No serpent could crawl up that rock. No
coyote could ever destroy that nest.
That's the way God builds His church for His eaglets, high above the
ambitions of this world. She's got a high ambition, not to please men,
but to please God. She's built high and safe.
Oh, how that mother eagle watches that nest. Oh, His eye is on the
sparrow, and I know He watches me. He watches you. She watches that
nest.
E-25
Now, when she goes to build this nest, she gets sticks and everything,
and she puts them in, and weaves them around with briar vines, and it's
all full of stickers. Now, she don't want her little ones to be on
those stickers, so she makes the nest just as comfortable as she can
for her brood. That's how God does His church. He tries to make it just
as comfortable as He can.
Now, she goes out, and she gets sheepskin, and she gets rabbit skin,
that they eat. And she saves those skins up, and she takes that–gets
up in the nest. Oh, how I've watched them do it. And take their beak,
and they push that in, that rabbit skin, and sheepskin, push it in the
nest, and make it just as cozy as it can be for her little ones.
E-26
That's the way God does for His church. Oh, when He knows that you're
going to borned again, when He knows that you're making your mind up,
setting in your seat, He goes to fixing the nest right then, because
He's got a convert coming. He's got a eaglet fixing to be born. Makes
it just as cozy, and when the sweet Holy Spirit comes down pouring over
your soul, the tears begin to fall for joy, and you lift your hands,
and you say, "Oh, something has happened." Just as comfortable as it
can be, that's the way God does that. He makes it that way.
Oh, in a revival when you're hearing the message go forth, and you're
so sick and tired of the world, after while, then when you begin to
say, "Oh yes, I see it." See, birth is begin to set in. Jehovah gets a
nest ready for His eaglet, so it'll be nice and soft, and you can walk
around on those sheepskins and everything. It's wonderful.
E-27
And there's one good thing about the thing that we can so enjoy the
comforts of the nest, this eagles nest, it was made out of a Lambskin,
the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. God clothes His
second Adam, not in the sheepskins from Eden, but the sheepskin of
Calvary, washed by the Blood, and made comfortable by His Presence, the
sheepskin, that we tread upon. How peaceful, how quietly, how sweetly,
how humbly, we should appreciate this wonderful soft walk that we're
walking on.
How could some people make fun of it? But you know, it's said, "That
fools will walk with hobnailed shoes, where Angels fear to trod."
That's right. That's an old expression, but it's the truth. A fool will
walk with hobnail shoes, where a Angel would fear to trod. Men will
make fun of Christians under the Holy Spirit demonstration. They'll
call the works of God, Beelzebub, when Angels wouldn't dare to say one
thing about it. [Blank.spot.on.tape–Ed.] Certainly.
E-28
We're thankful to our Lord God for His goodness to His children, aren't
we? How He deals with us in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform.
Think of it. How easy He makes it for us to walk on. How bright He
makes the path before us. We're sheltered by His blessed Presence.
Remember, when the little eagle is born, the mother's over him with her
wings spread. She's ready to protect him. When he's a young one, how
she sets right there with that eye watching him in the nest, wherever
he goes. Oh, of course if he'd step out of the nest, he might break his
little neck, but she watches over him.
E-29
Aren't you happy that Jehovah Eagle watches over His little ones? Why,
we would break our neck with the power of God, if it wasn't that
Jehovah watched us and set our limit. He'd put out boundaries. That's
what He said, "I'll set a boundary, no man can pass it." So God,
Jehovah God, the great mighty I AM, sets His boundaries and His love,
and spreads out His wings over the top of His little eagles, and when
He does, then there's no one or nothing can harm them. Aren't you happy
about that? Why, it's enough to set every soul afire with the power of
the Living God to give the great praises to Jehovah. I think every
person in the world, ought to praise Jehovah for His goodness. How that
when you were a little, bitty eaglets, in the nest, not able to take
care of yourself, not able to watch, yet you had Someone watching over
you. Blessed be His Holy Name. How that Jehovah watches His little
ones. His eye never leaves them; day and night, it's upon them to watch
them and to shield them from wrong, and for–from the harms and danger.
Oh, how blessed we should think of that.
E-30
Now, notice what takes place. Now, He says His prophets are what?
Eagles. Now, what does a–a eagle do? He goes so high. Now, if he goes
way up, he can see far off. And God's prophets went up, way back yonder
twenty-five and three thousand years ago, and could see the condition
of today.
Look what Paul did, that great eagle of the sky, when in 2nd Timothy,
he said, "That the day would come, when the church would be heady,
high-minded, lovers of pleasure, more than lovers of God, trucebreaker,
false accusers, incontinent, and despisers of those that are right,
having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof, from such
turn away." God's eagle going up to warn us about it.
How that Ezekiel, way back, and all the way back into the prophets, saw
the carriages jostling in the broad ways, Nahum, twenty-five hundred
years ago, saw the–the horseless carriages here in the broad ways.
How that all the prophets went far up and seen far off the things that
were coming, and could forewarn His little eaglets of trouble.
E-31
How an old eagle will put her little ones down on the grass, and go up
into the sky, and set on the highest rock, and watch around to see if
anything's going to happen. How the Holy Spirit, when a young eagle, a
young Christian is born, how He sets in the heavens and watches.
Nothing can harm them. He watches. Nothing can bother the eaglets,
'cause the old mother eagle's watching over it.
Now, there finally comes a time when this eagle begins to grow. And
when this eagle begins to grow, then the mother of the eagle, she has
seen all kinds of birds, and now, how much different this eagle is from
a earthbound chicken.
E-32
Now, a chicken is a bird too. A chicken's a fowl, just same as an eagle
is. But what a difference. And the chicken don't know nothing about the
heavenlies. It never was up there. And that mother eagle has determined
that her little brood won't be like an earthbound chicken. She's going
to see to it.
Oh, I like that. Although it is his denominational brother, but yet he
hasn't been up there. He don't know what he's talking about. He can't
stand the heavenlies, 'cause he's never been there. He knows nothing
about it. Oh, my, certainly, he's never been up there.
They say, "There's no such a thing as the baptism of the Holy Ghost."
How can he say it in a chicken's nest? He's not a eagle to begin with.
When he said, "There's no such a thing as divine healing." Why, he
don't know nothing about it. He's never soared where the eagle has
soared. He's never put God to a test. He's never been healed by the
power of the Almighty God. Therefore, he doesn't know nothing about
what he's talking about. He's just a clucking. He don't know the cry of
the eagle. Oh, what a difference there is.
E-33
Now, this old mother eagle's determined that her child ain't going to
be like that. And I'm so glad that she is. Yes, sir. I'm glad that we
don't have to hover down under something like that. "For the promise is
unto you, and to your children, and to them that's far off, even as
many as the Lord, our God, shall call." God's determined in every age,
He will take His eagles out. Absolutely.
So there comes a time that this little eagle's just got it awful soft,
walking around on sheepskins. Oh, he's just got the Holy Ghost, and
he's just about to burn the town down. But you know what? He can't
get–he can't stay in that nest all the time. That's what's the matter
with the Pentecostal church. It's staying too long in the nest.
E-34
So you know what happens? The old mother comes into that nest, and she
takes that same beak, that she daubed it all up with, and pulls every
bit of that sheepskin out, every bit of that rabbit fur out, and throws
the thing out of the nest. She makes the nest so miserable, till
he–they can't even set down.
You know, God knows how to make you willing to do things. That's
happened to the many of your families. Certainly it is. He just pulls
all the soft pad out, so you walk on thorns. Every time he sets down,
it's on a thorn. He jumps up. He becomes discouraged after while, and I
think, if there ever was a time that the Pentecostal church ought to be
discouraged, is now. We've denominated ourself, built great barriers of
lines. One's Assemblies, the other one's a Oneness, the other one is
a–a this, and that, and the other one. And then we just built such
lines, and barriers till there's stick stick, here, and stick stick,
there. What's the matter? God's fixing to take us out of it. That's
exactly what it is. Them little old eagles get tired setting down on
them thorns.
Great revival going on; "Don't you do it; we're not cooperating." Oh, try and stop an eagle one time.
E-35
Mama eagle knows what to do. So she throws all the packing out, so
it'll make it rough, and he's willing to leave. You know, that works in
many ways, if we had time to speak of it. Sometimes God has to take
some–one of your love ones away. Sometimes He has to cause sickness to
hit you. The doctors say, "Well, there's just nothing more can be
done." Sometimes God just took all the padding out of the nest. You
believe it? Sure, He does.
Oh, you say, "I've been strong and healthy all my life," but the pad
got out of the nest one day. You can't walk on that sheepskin all the
time; you've never left the nest. You just can't stand around church,
and shout and praise God, and jump-up-and-down and run around. There's
work to be done.
So you know what that old mother eagle does? She comes down there and
looks at them poor little fellows bouncing around. So she wants to show
them how great she is. That's the only way she can get their attention.
Maybe God had to let you take TB before He could get your attention.
E-36
Oh, you say, "I belong to the biggest church in this city. I–I've been
a loyal–I've been a loyal tithe payer." That's good. "I've never did
anybody any wrong, why should the Lord let me get sick?" Maybe He's
just stirring your nest a little bit. He wants to show you how great He
is.
You know, really, the little eagle has never seen mama. He's been so
satisfied in the nest, he don't know how great she is. So you know what
the eagle does? The mother eagle is far a bigger bird than the father
eagle. A good sized bald eagle can spread fourteen feet from wing to
wing. That's right. And you know, this little eagle has been down in
his nest all the time, and so satisfied with just shouting, and
jumping, and running around, until, you know, he's never knowed how big
mama was that put him in that nest.
So God has to let sickness strike His church once in a while. He has to
let a little depressing of the Spirit come, take a little of the joy
out of the church, just to spread forth His wings and show you Who He
is. So he begins to get, oh, my, a sticker here, and a sticker there,
and everywhere he sets is a sticker. Why, he's ready to get out of that
nest.
E-37
So the big mama comes up there and spreads forth that great big wings.
Oh, I watched them, how mammoth she looked, far beyond the boundaries
of the nest. Her–her nest is about eight or ten foot around, and her
wings are fourteen feet. How she stands on that nest, and she screams
to them little ones. And then, when the little ones look up, she
spreads forth her great, mighty wing. She's trying to get them to have
faith. She's going to do something with them.
And maybe, God might stir your nest, so He can spread forth His wings
to show you how great He is. He wants to do something for you. He wants
to show you how great Thou art, how great Thou art. And when we have to
lay on our back and look up towards the sky, and to see Him spread His
wings in the solar system, from sky to sky, to see those stars…
E-38
I had the privilege, sometime ago, to stand at the Mount Wilson
observatory and look through that microscopic glass. And they claim you
could see one hundred and twenty million years of light space. Light
travels eight thousand miles per second. And eight thousand miles per
second and take a hundred and twenty million years of that. Why, you
could run a row of nines around the world and couldn't break down in
miles. And what was they beyond that? Moons, and stars. How great Thou
art. Get on your knees and look up one time. How great Thou art.
See what He's fixing to do? When His eagles get in that condition, He's
fixing to stir the nest then. I think He's fixing to stir the
Pentecostal nest.
E-39
So when the little eaglets… He does that to get their attention. When
she's standing there with her wing, she's screaming. That's her word.
She standing there, "Look up at me, see how great I am?"
When the doctor says, "There's nothing more to be done," then how great
Thou art. Look up this a way, the doctor, you–you had him until he
finished. That's all right. But now, how great Thou art. Look up there.
He's trying to get you out of that nest. Certainly, He is.
E-40
Then what's next? Then the old mother, after the little eagles begin to
look up and say, "Yes, mama, you are a great bird. I never knew you
were so great." Oh, sure.
And another thing the eagle has, as I said, it's feathers is so tight.
If those feathers are not perfectly tight, tighter than any other fowl
that there is, when they got way up there, the wing feathers would give
out, and down would come the eagle, and he'd perish. So those feathers
are tight, really set in, because those little ones has to hold their
feet in it, while she taking a flight.
And then, when you look and see how great this great mama eagle is,
then you know what happens? The mother looks her little ones over;
there's something wrong with them. They've got plenty of feathers, but
there's too many loose feathers on them, just little old feathers, that
has to be taken out of there. You know what she begins to do? She
begins to fan those big wings, and when she does, it's with such a
force, till she blows all the loose feathers out of them little eagles.
E-41
If there ever was a time that mama eagle is setting on the Pentecostal
nest, it's today. There's too many loose feathers in the Pentecostal
church. Oh, yes. You women, bobbing off your hair. That's not right.
The Bible said that it's wrong. And get out on a afternoon and put them
little bitty old short clothes on to mow the yard. It's wrong. It's a
sin in the sight of God to do that. And you say, "No, I don't wear
shorts; I wear slacks."
The Bible said, "A woman that'll put on a garment that pertains to a
man, it's an abomination in the sight of God." God doesn't change. Too
many loose feathers in the Pentecostal church. She's not ready to fly
away yet.
Used to be it was wrong for holiness women, and women of the church, to
wear manicure, or that stuff you put on your mouth and face. But you
can't tell one from the other; what's the matter? Too many loose
feathers. You know that's the truth. That might make you sick.
E-42
Mama used to, we was raised up here in the mountains. We had to take
old meat skins and boil them out and get the grease to make our corn
pones, black-eyed peas, breakfast, dinner, and supper. And every
Saturday night, we'd have to take a dose of castor oil, 'fore you go
back to the school for Monday morning. I remember that as well, and I
had took so much of that stuff, I can't stand to smell it yet. And
every time I start to mama, I start holding my nose; I said, "Mama, it
makes me so sick."
She said, "If it don't make you sick, it don't do you any good."
So that's the way it is today. If old time Bible teaching and preaching
don't make you sick, it don't do you no good. It stirs up you spiritual
gastronomics. And that's true. Oh, yes.
E-43
And you women, that belongs to the church, Methodist, Baptist,
Presbyterian, Pentecostal, Nazarene, Pilgrim Holiness, you'll stay home
on Wednesday night to hear this ungodly thing of "We love Susie" of
ever what that is, instead of going to prayer meeting, and listen to
that rascal (excuse me for saying it) Arthur Godfrey, Elvis Presley,
and all of those ungodly things which is unbecoming to the church. You
know that's right. Then you wonder why we can't take a flight. You
wonder why God can't restore the gifts in the church. How–He ain't got
nothing to restore to yet: too many loose feathers, too many loose
preachers, that won't preach the truth about it, Baptist, Methodist,
Pentecostal too. We need a old fashion God sent, revival, and the Bible
Holy Ghost back into the church, that cleans you from your soul
outwardly.
E-44
You say, "I don't wear them things, lady–or Brother Branham. I don't
wear them little short things." Look how you do wear though. Women
going down the street with these little old sexy looking clothes on,
you know what you're going to do? You're going to answer at the day of
judgment for committing adultery. The Bible said, "Whosoever looketh
upon a woman to lust after her, has committed adultery with her
already." What if you dress yourself like that? You might be as pure as
a lily to your husband. But if that sinner looks upon you to lust after
you, when he answers for adultery, you are the guilty one who made him
do it.
You might not love me after this, but the judgment bar… I don't want to be popular; I want to be honest.
Well, you say, "Brother Branham, they don't sell any other kind of
clothes." But they still sell sewing machines and goods. So there is no
need of trying to get out of it. That's truth.
E-45
Well, you say, "You're picking on us women." All right. Mister, here
you are. A man that'll let his wife put on a pair of those clothes and
get on the street, or smoke a cigarette, that shows what he's made out
of. There's not much man to him. That's exactly right.
Oh, the whole church needs a good old fashion fanning out. We've
trusted too much in dancing, trusting too much in clapping our hands. I
like that. Shouting, speaking with tongues, and running over the floor,
that's good. I endorse every bit of it. I believe everything God wrote
in the Bible is the truth. But, brother, if we don't live the life to
compare with what we're doing, we'd better stop doing till we get the
right…?… That's right. The tree's known by the fruit it bears. Now,
that's true, friend.
E-46
What does a mother say? "I don't like them little pin feathers. Let's
get them out." And she turns that little eagle around, and she takes
that big wings and begins to flash it. And brother, when that wind from
them wings hits them little loose feathers, feathers fly ever way.
And when the church gets itself together, and bows it's face in shame,
as them little eagles squats down, I tell you, there comes a sound from
heaven like a rushing, mighty wind, and it cleans out the church, every
bit of it. It takes all the worldliness out of it, all the pin feathers
out, all the loose feathers out. Well, if she put that little eagle out
on it's flight with them feathers in, it'd break it's neck.
E-47
And if the church, under the conditions today, tried to make a flight
into great gifts and things… You've had a lot of fanatism. I'm
thankful, it has hasn't struck this country yet. This is a virgin
territory. Ministers, I charge you in Jesus Name, to watch that stuff,
all kinds of little isms and sensations. Nothing will ever take the
place of the Bible. Right. Stay on God's Word; don't you leave it. Stay
there.
Now, they get around with all kinds of things, and call themselves
Christians, believers. Got to… I don't say they're not a believer.
The chicken is a bird too, but he's never been nowhere. He ain't got
feathers enough to take him up there. And if he did, it would break his
neck. You take an old rooster up, with –with a eagle, and drop him out
of a plane one time. What if the eagle took him up there and shoved him
off. He'd disintegrate in the air. That's the way with some of these
old crowing roosters around that says, "The days of miracles is past
and so forth." They know nothing about the power of God. Jesus said
they didn't. Educated in the barnyard, they know nothing about the
heavenlies where you have to trust God alone. Amen.
E-48
Notice, now there they are, and when she turns them around, and she
shuffles them up real good, and them big wings begin to blow all the
loose feathers out, and they get all the old feathers out, now, she
says, "Honey, come up here. See how big I am? Jump up on my wing, I'm
going to give you a flight you never had before.
And that's the way God will do when He takes all the foolishness out of
the church, when He takes all the worldliness out of the church. He
will give the church a flight somewhere, in spheres that they never
knowed of. Why would you accept a substitute, when the Pentecostal
skies are full of the genuine. Certainly. Why do you have to go after a
sensations or some little ism, when the whole skies are cloudy with the
Holy Ghost, and real powers of God.
E-49
Then she spreads forth her wings; they know her voice. They climb up,
and each little fellow puts his feet right down on them big strong
wings. Why? They're really set in. He takes his little beak, and he
takes a hold of the feather wing of the mother, then she takes them on
her great big wings, look at her. Oh, my, them little eagles on there
are no more than dots of dust on there.
Look at God, Who holds the moon up, the stars up, how much more can He
hold you up? Look up and see how great and how powerful He is. What
makes this universe set into space? On Jehovah's wing, it's no more
than dust. That's all it is, just a little dust on His wing. How great
Thou art, Jehovah Eagle. How great Thou art.
Then when He gets His wings spread out, the little ones has all got a
hold, said, "Set you still, children, I'm going to give you a thrill
that you never had before. I'm going to make a real eagle out of you
now."
She takes off from that nest. She's already up to begin with. Now,
remember, they've never been out of that nest. They've looked up;
they've looked at it; they've seen it a far off, but they don't really
know what it is yet. So she takes them on a… They have to hold on
then. And she goes on, on, on, on, until she gets so high you can't
even see her, hardly. You know what she does when she get up there?
Shakes them off her wings. "Flop for yourself. You're eagles. You'll
never fly any younger." Hallelujah!
Sure, if you're sick, maybe God shock you off His wings to give you some flopping to do.
E-50
Well, them little fellows are just up there, just–what does she do,
does she leave them? Oh, no, she just whirls off to one side and
watches them. Oh, my, one looks over and says, "Look, John, what I'm
doing." Oh, he just flying right away. And mother eagles smiles as
they're now becoming real eagles, can fly. They're out of the nest.
They're out of the denomination, nominational shoes.
Denomination's all right, but being all bound down, you're up in the
air above the nest now. You might have been born in the Pentecostal
nest, or a Baptist nest, but you better get out of it right quick.
Don't get out of your churches, get out of the nest. All right.
E-51
You get up there where you trust God, to believe Him for healing,
believe Him for salvation, believe Him for the Holy Ghost, believe Him
for everything. Trust Him. You're eagles. You're made… You're–you're
a child of God. You believe like God does. You believe His Word, 'cause
you been feeding on His Word. You been fed by the Holy Ghost, the Word,
then you can fly.
Well, you know, she watch, because once in a while, one gets out–gets
out of order, kinda goes topsy-turvey, you know, gets to flipping
around and can't get his balance back again.
I sure believe in grace. Then mother, Jehovah Eagle, you know what she
does? She flies right down and catches him on His wings and bears him
right back in grace again. That's the way she does it; that's the way
the mother eagle does.
Don't be a scared to do some flopping, some trying, some pressing,
taking God at His Word. You can't go wrong. You ain't going to hurt
yourself. Say, "Well he might let me hit the ground." Them little eagle
don't worry nothing about it. They see mama all the time. So they're
just having them a Pentecostal jubilee, just having a big time,
flopping topsy-turvey, anything else. They're just having a big time.
Certainly.
E-52
Then after they get close down to where they might hurt themselves,
mother eagle's watching and circling around them, all the time. Oh, I
love that. She's just circling around. Then when she sees they might
get hurt, they're getting too low so she can't pick them up, she raises
her big wings and she screams.
Oh, did you ever hear an eagle scream? When she screams, all of them
gives attention, and down are those little eagles. One, two, three,
four, they just pop right on the wing, and catch themselves.
E-53
Oh, He will bear thee up anytime. Brother, don't you never worry, He
will watch you. He knows all about you; He loves you. You're His child.
Don't be scared to trust Him. If He shakes you off out in the air, He's
just giving you a solo flight. We're going to take a big one, one of
these days, go plumb into glory. So you better learn how to trust Him
now while you can. You can't do it with all them loose feathers hanging
around you. You better get down where the winds a blowing from heaven,
shake all the things off of you, all the world, and all of the cares of
the world, and all the love of the world, out of you.
The Bible said, "If ye love the world, or the things of the world, the
love of God is not even in you." How can you fly then? We can't even
walk. You want to act like your barnyard brother down there, never got
his feet off the ground. Might have flew up on a fence post somewhere,
that's as high as he could ever get, the chicken.
E-54
You know, one time, a man, was told that he was setting an old hen. And
he found a eagle's egg, so he thought, "I believe I'll see what this
will do." So he took the eagle egg, and he put it under the old hen.
And then when that eagle hatched out with all them chickens, if he
wasn't a funny looking little bird to all the chickens. That's about
the way it is; He gets about one out of a setting. That's about the way
you get them. They average about like that, one out of a setting.
And he's always a–a funny looking bird. Why, he's a different bird;
he's not a chicken to start with. So then, the old hen, she clucks, and
he don't nothing about the clucking of the hen. She gets out in the
barnyard on a manure pile, and she begins to scratch. Cluck, cluck,
cluck, cluck. He don't know nothing about that. He's a eagle. So he's
made fun of, with all the little chickens said, "Look at that
holy-roller. He ain't like us." All he ever was educated on was a
manure pile, somewhere of some seminary. Knows no more about God, than
hottentot knows about an Egyptian night. That's right. All he knows is
some manmade theology. He never did have to put God to a trust. "Cluck,
cluck, cluck, better not go around them peoples. Cluck, cluck, cluck,
days of miracles… There's no such thing as divine healing."
E-55
Like the old colored fellow once said about heartfelt religion, he was
always happy; his boss said, "Sambo, I'd like to know what that
heartfelt religion is."
He said, "It's good, boss."
"Oh," he said, "I don't believe there's anything like heartfelt religion."
He said, "Just one mistake you made: you don't know there's anything
about heart felt religion, as far as you know." Well, that–he knowed
different.
E-56
An experience. God wants His church to be experienced with trusting Him
and taking His Word. They're eagles. If they are eagles, they'll eat
eagle food.
Now, an eagle cannot eat a chicken's food. But a chicken can eat
eagle's food. You see the hypocrite? That's right. A eagle can't eat
what a chicken eats. But a chicken can eat what the eagle eats, and
eats whats he eats too.
Like the crow and the dove in the ark. The crow can eat anything, but
the dove can only eat grain. But the crow can eat grain, and eat off of
a dead carcass too. That's the old hypocrite, that can go to church and
pretend to be a Christian, go right out with world, and say, "It don't
condemn my conscience." Well, they got no more conscience than a
snake's got hips. They don't–they don't know nothing about–anything
about conscience. How can they have it, when they ain't got it to start
with?
E-57
My mama used to say, "You can't get blood from a turnip." And that's
true. I don't say that for a joke. This is no joking place. This is the
Word. Souls are at stake. I say that to make it a point, to drive it
home to you in a simple way, so you'll understand it. Certainly. All
right.
Then this little old eagle, he'd follow around, and the old mammy would
get up there and scratch a little bit, and say, "We're going to have a
soup supper tonight, just got have it to pay off the pastor."
Said, "What in the world's this?"
"Well, I'll tell you, if you're not a Presbyterian, or a Baptist, or so-and-so, you're just a…"
"What's this?" He just couldn't understand the clucking of the hen. He was a different bird.
E-58
"No man can come to Me, except My Father draws Him." Those who He
foreknew, He's called. Those who He has called, He hath justified.
Those He has justified, He hath already glorified.
What you scared about? Don't be afraid to take that solo flight. Don't
be 'fraid to put God at a test. If you're a eagle, you're not scared.
If you're Abraham's seed, which is the only one that gets the promise,
is the seed of Abraham, you call those thing which were not as though
they were, if God said so. Don't be scared, nothing to be scared of.
You can't understand how all these socials, and parties, and picture
show entertainments, and everything in the church, and ball games, and
everything else to make money to pay the pastor. Never was intended.
Certainly not. But you borrow some old rooster and sell it for about a
dollar and a half a plate. You've turned the upper room into a supper
room. That's right. You don't have to do that. Take God at His Word; He
owns all things. Certainly.
E-59
But you can't do that on little creeds and loose feathers, a little
sensations. You got to be absolutely the–a real made up eagle with
something inside of you, that tells you that Jesus Christ is the same
yesterday, today, and forever, that knows that He's standing
omnipresent, and He watches over you. Nothing can harm you. No coyote
can get you. There's nothing can harm. The Angels of God are encamped
about those who fear Him. Ten thousand may fall at your right hand, and
a hundred thousand at your left hand, but it'll never come near you. He
watches over His heritage day and night.
"I, the Lord, have planted it. I will water it day and night, 'less
some should pluck it from My hand." God's heritage, an eagle.
E-60
So it's a funny looking life around one of them places, them incubator
chickens. Around there, you don't know what in the world to do. The
clucking of the hen, he don't understand that. "Why is it, they don't
believe in Divine healing? They call themselves a church. They say they
believe in God; why can't they believe He's all powerful? Here it said,
the promise of the Holy Ghost… Look the way they did back there. They
went into the world like a flaming fire; they healed the sick; they
done miracles and signs, and they had joy and peace. They sealed their
testimony with their life, why don't this church do it? Yet they say
they are the church of the Living God." The true eagle can't understand
that.
E-61
But you know what? Something happened one day; an old mother eagle flew
over the barnyard. And she turned, and she looked down. I'm so glad of
that. She said, "There's my child." She turned again, and she screamed,
"Honey, you're not a chicken. You're mine."
Oh, he understood that voice. Sure. Something had brought the results
like the first did at the day of Pentecost. Something had turned his
attention upward. "I understand that call."
She screamed back, she said, "You're not a chicken. That's the reason
you've never been satisfied. You wasn't born for a manure pile of the
world. You're a heaven born bird. You're not bound by some creed and
denomination. You got plenty of room; the heavens is yours."
Say, "You must be my mama. Mama, how can I get out of it?"
Said, "I'll tell you, son, just give a little jump and try your wings
once." That's all you have to do. Just take God at His Word, and step
out on It one time. Yes, sir.
If you're all bound down, froze to death in some denomination, just
take God at His Word and step out one time, say, "I believe You, Lord.
I heard a voice that spoke to me, saying, 'Come up higher.'" Take Him
at His Word, one time, see what happens.
E-62
Well, you know what he did, this little eagle? He made a big jump, and
flopped his wings, he set right on the top of the barnyard post, right
in the middle of a denomination. That's as high as he ever got.
She's hollering, "Honey, you've got to jump higher than that or I can't get you…"
"Well, I belong to the so-and-so, mama."
"You come out of that. Just jump again; flop your little wings and I'll get you." Amen. And she made that big swoop.
And when he took that all sufficient step to say, "I'm no longer
Baptist in denomination. I'm no longer Presbyterian; I'm no longer
Pentecostal, but I'm Yours, Lord, here I am, flopping with all that's
within me." she catches him, and away she goes to the heavens with her
bird.
How high have you jumped? How much have you trusted? If you're God's
eagle, you're ready to take Him at His Word. You're ready to trust in
Him in the face of death or anything else. You're there to trust Him.
E-63 I've kept you too long. Let us bow our heads, just a moment. The organist will get there, "My faith looks up to Thee."
Little
eaglet, that been dissatisfied. Now, I'm not telling you to leave your
denomination. If you're Baptist, remain a Baptist. If you're a
Presbyterian, remain that. But what I'm trying to tell you to do, is
step out on Jehovah's wings once. You're eagle. Your church don't
believe in Divine healing, you don't believe in the baptism of the Holy
Ghost, you don't believe in this being borned again, step out one time
and find out the promise. Jesus said, "Except a man be borned again, he
can't even understand the Kingdom of God."
E-64
Now, with your heads bowed, I want to ask you something, sincerely. I
know the message has been rude, but I'm trying to get a point over to
you. I thought if I put it in a simple way, like that, that God would
make it known to you, that maybe He could reveal it in a child form.
You, ministers, know what I'm talking about, and you old sainted people
know what I'm talking about. I'm trying to tell these that's not far
along, these youth, some of the them not even in at all, have to come
out of it. You want to trust God, then come on up a little higher, come
up to a place to where He will catch you on His wings.
E-65
Now, if you're without Christ today, and you know that you've never
been into the skies, out of the nest of your old denomination… Oh,
you're having it easy, but lately there's been things happening. Would
you like to come a little higher? God stirred up that nest, so He could
get you out of it. Do you understand what I mean? If you'd like for God
to take you from the nest of unbelief, and them doubts, and fears, that
you have, would you just raise your hands to Him, and say, "God, be
merciful to me." Would just raise up your hand? God bless you. God
bless you. God bless you. God bless you, here. God bless you, brother,
and you, brother, and you, and you, and you, sister, you, brother. Back
and to the left, well, you, sister, you, brother, you, brother, you,
back there.
E-66 Now, floor to the right. God bless you, you. Yes, all around. The Lord be with you. God bless you, son.
The
balcony in the back, now. Raise your hands, and saying, "God, be
merciful to me. All my life…" God bless you, sister dear. God bless
you, brother. God bless you, back there. Yes, all up-and-down the row,
everywhere. Just raise your hand. He sees it. Certainly.
"All my life, Brother Branham, I've been a church member for years, but
I've always believed that there was something more than being a church
member. Oh, I belong to the Assemblies. I belong to the–the Oneness. I
belong to the Church of God. I belong to the Pilgrim Holiness, the
Nazarene. I belong to the Baptist, the Methodist." Whatever it is,
doesn't make a bit of difference, they're all just the same, just
brands that you're wearing. You're a Christian at heart, not because
you're in a denomination. "I've said some creeds. I was baptized a
certain way. I studied theology."
E-67
I had a great teacher to tell me, here a few weeks ago, or a few months
ago, "I've got enough degrees to plaster your wall with it, Brother
Branham, but where's Jesus in all of it?"
You don't know Jesus by having degrees, B.A., or bachelor of art, or
you don't know Him by D.D.; you know Him by receiving the Person of
Christ Jesus.
E-68
A man come to me not long ago, and said, "Brother Branham…" an old
junk truck, said, "I was a rich man two years ago; I sold my car lot. I
done everything trying to find peace with God. I gave it to ministers."
He said, "I went down to Billy Graham's revival; he told us to raise up
our hands, and said we'd receive Christ. I did it. He told me it was
over. But," said, "it wasn't, Brother Branham."
He said, "Then I went over to the Free Methodist, and they told me, I
had to get sanctified, and shout, and then it would be over." Said, "I
did, but it wasn't over." Said, "I went to a noted evangelist that you
all know real well, one of the greatest in the Pentecostal field,"
said, "they said I must speak with tongues, and if I didn't speak with
tongues, I didn't have the Holy Ghost." So he said, "I went in, the men
worked faithfully with me, and I spoke in tongues. He told me it was
over." But said, "Brother Branham, it wasn't. So what can I do;
I'm–I'm just in a terrible place." Said, "I'm…"
I said, "How did it start?"
Said, "I was selling cars; my wife went down to the Pentecostal church.
We were Lutheran." Said, "I went to church about twice in my life, and
she went down and got the Spirit on her." That's the way he put it to
me. And said, "He come… She come back and tried to get me to go." And
I told her, "Now, honey, you go ahead; I'll give you money to help your
church, but not me, I'm not religious." Said, "That went on for about a
year. One day," he said, "my wife, she belonged to the Church of God,
and she went up into the–up into Tennessee to a revival." (This was at
Minneapolis.) And said, "Went up there."
And said, "I was selling a car, and I come back in, and I had my coat
on. It was summertime. I set down by the fan," said, "I thought, wonder
if I gave that lady the key to her car? I reached in my pocket, and I
pulled out a little ticket, and it said, 'Where will you spend
eternity?'" Said, "It struck me." Said, "I said, oh, well… Throwed it
in the trash basket." Said, "Something said to me, 'You're past forty
years old; that question must be settled. Where will you spend
eternity?'" Said, I picked it up; I looked at it. I threw it back; I
picked it up again." and said, "Tears begin to run down my cheek."
Said, "Then I started hunting."
E-69
I said, "I want to ask you, brother. What Billy Graham told you is the
truth." And I said, "What the Free Methodist told you, to shouting and
get sanctified; that's all right. What Oral Roberts told you to speak
in tongues for the Holy Ghost, that's right. And then it's not right.
All those things are attributes of Christ. To receive Christ is to
receive the Person, the Lord Jesus, then these other things will take
place."
He said, "Well, you think I've ever done it? Or you think I could ever do it?"
I said, "You've already done it, brother." I said, "You were going down
a road, hating religion, no religion at all, and you looked at this
little sign, and something turned you. In two years, you've sought and
hunted."
Said, "What happened?"
E-70
I said, "What is conversion mean? Turned around. You were going one
time without anything, hating God, hating religion, going on, ignoring
it. All at once, right there at your desk, you turned back up the road,
hunting God, seeking God.
"What happened?"
"You was converted."
He threw his arms around me, started weeping, said, "Brother Branham, I've had it all the time?"
I said, "That's right. That's exactly right."
Said, "You know…" He said "Well, I've went to all of them; and they
told me I'd crossed the separating line." Said, "You was a prophet, you
could tell me what was wrong."
I said, "You don't need a prophet. The Word settled that."
E-71
Friend, no matter what you've done, if you still haven't got that real
trust and faith in God, that real something, that's real in your heart,
that you know you met God on them sacred sands, where you can go right
back there on the backside of the desert, like Moses did, and meet Him
there, and put you finger on the place, where it happened, it won't
work. And if you think you've been there, and you still care for the
world, you haven't been there. Your life proves it. Would you want to
go there this afternoon, while we pray? If there's another one, raise
your hand, say, "Remember me, Brother Branham."
God bless your hearts. That's good. God bless you. God bless you, back here, lady. That's right.
E-72
Now, excuse the rude way I had of bringing it, about these eagles, this
afternoon. But I want to make it simple so you could understand it.
Right now in His Presence, you receive Him as your–as your all
sufficient One; God will take care of you from this day on, if you'll
just open up your heart.
Now, don't say, "I have to shout." You might. Don't say, "I have to
speak with tongue." You may do that. Don't say, "I have to dance in the
Spirit." You may do that. Don't say, "I have to cry." But you may do
that, and you might not. Receive Christ, then all the shouting, crying,
speaking in tongues will follow that. But if you have that without
Christ, you're only making a mock. Remember, you can have all the gifts
and not have the Giver. Get Christ first.
E-73
Now, there's at least seventy-five or hundred hands has been up here,
this afternoon, for that. All you saints of God, pray with me now,
while we pray for these people.
Now, you that raised your hand, be–be expecting. What is it you feel
in your heart? That's the fan; that's mother eagle's wings throwing all
the world away from you, all the doubt. That's that–like that rushing
mighty wind that come down on Pentecost. It's telling you, you're
wrong. "Look up at Me, and see how great I am," It says. "Just look to
Me, look to Me in ends of the world, and be saved." Now, you believe
Him, right now, while we're praying. Surely, if He lets me stand here
and know what I do–what He lets me know… He lets me know that what's
needed here today.
E-74
Lord God, these are Yours. There's eagles setting here, there's some of
them with a lot of loose feathers, loose cares, people who are
professing Christianity, that knows no more about the walk of the
skies, the only thing they know is the cluck of the hen in the
barnyard. The only thing they know, that they belong to some church.
They put their names on the books. Nearly a hundred of them has raised
their hands off of this crude little message.
Almighty God, let them know that that what made them raise their hands,
is Jesus, the Mother Eagle, the Lover of the soul, that's fanning
around over this little auditorium this afternoon, screaming, "You're
not a chicken; you're an eagle. Haven't you seen My glory? Have not you
looked up toward the skies to see the sunshine? Haven't you watched the
rainbows? Haven't you seen My Spirit this week, moving in amongst the
people, with signs likes never been done? I'm soon coming. I'm making
My last call. Come up out of it today; fly up just a little higher;
I'll catch you and bring you into spheres and experiences that you've
never witnessed before."
E-75
Grant it, God. They're Yours. I can pray for them, but You have to do
the work. And I'm sure, Lord, that if they're really eagles, and have
raised their hand, You'll give them the satisfying portion of their
soul. Grant it, Father. They're Yours now, and You give them to Your
Son as love gifts, and no man can pluck them from His hand. Though they
turn topsy-turvey, as we said in the message, they might get this way.
And some people think they're just a little bit of fanatic. But You'll
never let them go wrong, if they're real eagles in their heart. You'll
bring them right back to the truth, right back to the grace of God
again. Grant it, Father. They're Yours now.
E-76
Forgive me of the rude way that I have to express things, but I'm not
an educated man, Lord. I'm just doing the best I can to represent a
minister at the platform.
Now, they're Yours. Keep them, under Thy guiding wing. May they be here
tonight to see you spread forth Your great wings and make a scream.
Watch the eaglets then, how they look up, listen at Mother talk back to
them. Grant it, Lord. They're Yours in Jesus' Name, Thy Son. Amen.
E-77
How do you feel? Wonderful? Now that was a rude way of expressing
something. How many understands what I meant by it? Sure. I'm–I trust
you do. Just some way to get it in simplicity to the hearts, so you
won't miss it. See? God can tell you what I meant by it. See? I mean
this: there's too much nonsense in the church. That's too much world
got into the church. But you know what? The Bible said that this church
age would be like this, the Laodicean church age. But it's nest
stirring time; feathers are flying. God's getting His church ready for
that flight, she's going to take up yonder one of these days. I believe
it, with all that's in me. This great American nation is shook to
pieces, nothing left but the judgment. He's got eagles in here; He's
trying to get them ready. God bless you.
E-78 Now, the boys are going to give out prayer cards in a few moments, just in a few moments.
How many loves the Lord? Say, a great big, hearty, "Amen." [Congregation says, "Amen."–Ed.]
Amen. That sounds good. I love to hear that. I just–I tell you I feel
real religious, right now. I feel like I could do some shouting too,
just feeling real good down in my soul. Oh, when I see people come,
raise up their hands, old men, young men, young women, standing
weeping, wiping the manicure, or what that stuff is, from their face
with their handkerchief, it means that God's in the midst. That's
right, He's here.
E-79
Now lady–I'm not making–that's all right. That has nothing to do with
you. Remember this, but it isn't becoming to a Christian. That doesn't
look like a sainted person of God. Let me just say this, not to be a
joke; this is no place to joke. Just think of this sister, you
Christian sister, that wears that make-up on your face. What's it for?
To appear before men, not God. There was one woman done that in the
Bible, one woman. You know who she was? Jezebel. You know what God did
to her? Fed her to the dogs. So you see, if you wear paint, in God's
sight you're just dog meat. And you know what it is? They call them
wolf today. They go around a corner, whee-whew! [Brother Branham whistles–Ed.] Dog meat. Don't forget that. The hounds of hell's behind you.
You better be careful. Walk up before God as a real woman. Walk up
there as a saint of God, be–put a little Acts 2 and 4 on you. It's
good for you. A little John 3:16 goes a long way. That's God's make-up
kit for all of us. Let's let our hearts be made up with that, not with
creeds, denominations, swelled out, some big guy knows it all. "God so
loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in Him should not perish but have Eternal Life."
E-80
Till I see you tonight? God be with you. Now, someone will… Brother
Pittman will take the program from now on and will… How many promise
to be praying for me tonight? I'm way late in my study for our service
tonight.
Billy, and them, will be giving out prayer cards to you that wants them in about two or three minutes. God bless you.
