Questions And Answers On Hebrews #2 (57-1002)
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259-303
I want to first thank each one of you who'd got the message to pray for
the wife. She's been very, very sick. We didn't know what it was, and
don't know what taken place; it just a severe vomiting, and she was
practically unconscious, and fever of a hundred and five, and had to
keep her wrapped in ice blankets. So… But she's all right now. The
fever's all gone, and she's okay. So she's awfully weak, lost about ten
pounds, I suppose. She hasn't… Tonight she swallowed her first bite
since Sunday. And so she's been very sick, and we trusted the Lord for
her, and He has brought her through. Now, we want to tell you to
continue to pray she'll gain her strength back.
259-304
And now, this coming weekend, the Lord willing, I've got to go to
Miami. My old friend, Brother Bosworth, is going home, and he's nearly
a hundred years old now. And he called me and said, "Brother Branham,
come see me right at once; I want to tell you something before I go."
And he… Why, I think he wants to pray for me, and just lay his hands
on me before he leaves, you know.
And I–I hope that I can end my days with a reputation like F. F.
Bosworth. Of all the men I know in the world, every man I've ever met
in the world, I've never met a man that I was so desirous to be like,
like F. F. Bosworth, as–as a minister, what I mean. I have never heard
one person worldwide, anywhere, ever make one statement about F. F.
Bosworth but what was just exactly everything Christian, and everything
a real brother.
Partings leave behind us footprints on the sands of time. He's a
wonderful brother, and he's real old now, near a hundred. So he's–he's
just going home; that's all. And he told me. He knew he was going, and
was just waiting. He said the sweetest time of his life is right now
when he's just waiting, but said he'd know that he was going.
259-307 I said, "I'm supposed to go Michigan this week, Brother Bosworth."
And he said, "Well, don't make it too long, Brother Branham; I can't last much longer. I'm getting weaker all the time."
So
he's been too much of a friend to me, not to go down. Now, if I have to
fly down, I'll–I'll fly back and maybe be back for at least for Sunday
night; if not, well, then I'll have to drive, and may take me a little
longer.
And pray for Brother Bosworth. Just pray that God, and when He takes
the old patriarch, that He'll just send a chariot of fire and pick him
up. See? I love him; he's been like a daddy to me.
260-311
Another old man, him and brother Seward… I–I kinda partial to old
people; I–I love them. Old Brother Seward, he went to sleep like that
too. 'Course, Brother Seward wasn't quite as old, I don't think, as
Brother Bosworth.
And pray for Brother Bosworth. Everything's not roses around the place,
but it's–it's… He needs your prayers, but not so much for nothing
but just his–that God will let him go in peace.
260-313
Now… And then we want to remember also, that tomorrow, the Lord
willing, we bury one of our friends from this church, Brother Sol
Coates. He's been here several times, worked in the post office for
years. And he died over at the Veterans hospital the other night.
Brother Cox and I went over to see him, and he'd–pretty low. And he's
gone on now, a Christian. And we're to bury him from Coot–Coots'
funeral home tomorrow afternoon at one o'clock, Brother Neville and I.
Neville trio will be singing; and we'll be dividing up the services,
Brother Neville and I. That is, I didn't know when we made the
arrangements just what, and on account of Meda. And so then his funeral
will be tomorrow afternoon at one o'clock at Coots' funeral home.
260-314
And then, at two o'clock, Friday, a Mr. Wheeler. We called him Pod
Wheeler; he's a… I forget really what his right–know who… I–I
just seen it in the paper and didn't know who it was, until I found
out. He was a neighbor of ours for years, and–and he's just passed
away. He was right here in front of the church the other night, and I
was trying to get him to come in church. The other night, about three
weeks ago, stood right there, and I just trying to persuade him to come
into church. Because I don't think he went to church or had any
profession of any kind, yet he's got a boy that's a Baptist preacher.
But he didn't have any profession as far as I know of, and he's gone on
now to meet God. So that'll be Friday afternoon at two o'clock at the
Coots' funeral home. And also, Brother Neville and them will be singing
in that–that funeral there.
And so, if any of you that wants to attend the services, that's
tomorrow at two, or tomorrow at one. I think that's right, isn't it,
brother? And two, the other one. Is that right? Two at the Coots'
funeral home.
261-316
And now, Sunday morning… Saturday will be the broadcast. And Brother
Neville will probably let you know by then, just what–if we can have a
healing service for Sunday night, or what time we'll be back if I fly
down to–to Florida to see Brother Bosworth. I don't know just how I'd
get away from him; he such a dear old friend. And probably our last
times to meet, if the Lord permits it, on this earth. And he's… I
don't know whether I can get away from him right away or not; and I
don't want to get away from him, but, you know how it is, you got other
things you got to do.
261-317 Now, there's one statement I'd like to say here while there not too many, and people who's my friends…
I'm
glad to see Sister Smith there. The first time I seen her in a long
time. How are you, Sister Smith? A year, my, I believe the last time I
seen you… [Sister Smith speaks–Ed.]
At Benton Harbor, I hope to get up there sometime. That's fine. I
believe the last time I seen you was in a funeral service in
Louisville. And I remember Sister Smith very well, how we… I used to
come get her in a truck when we'd go down to church, old coal tar
hanging out the back of it, and the fenders flopping up and down, and
it cold, and me, one foot setting on the outside… Oh, my. Lot of
water's passed down the river since then, Sister Smith. Yes, sir. Well,
we thank the Lord for those precious memories, and still love
Him…?…
261-319
One thing, someone might wonder, the other night… I was talking to
Brother Fleeman out here on the street. And sometimes someone said, "As
soon as service is over, what makes Brother Branham just take right off
and go?"
Here's what it is: my wife's alone. See? And if I get to talking, I'll
talk half the night, and there she is, setting up there by herself most
the time. And that's the reason that I hurry out to get back to her
(You see?) of a nighttime, 'cause I get to talking; I talk too long.
I'll talk to this one a half hour. I just can't go by and say, "How are
you tonight? How are you. How are you?" I don't do that. I just stop
and go to talking; and somebody go to talking about something, and then
I'm there for a hour. See? And that's why; she sets up and waits and so
forth. And that's why it is. I just didn't want you to think it was
because I didn't want to meet my friends and shake their hands, and
express our fellowship, and so forth, but it was just a case of that
kind.
So now, everyone be in prayer for the sick and the afflicted.
262-322
And Mrs. Harvey is… In all that trouble she's getting all right. Yes,
sir. And I don't see… I… Now, there may be, as far as I know,
someone, a doctor here. And if I'm wrong over this platform, God
forgive me. But I believe God will hold them doctors responsible for
what they done to the woman. I–I believe in surgery; I believe in our
medicines. Certainly, I believe it. I think God sent them here to help
us, just the same as He sent mechanics for cars and so forth. But that
little woman, the doctor laid her back and said, "She was full of
cancer; there's nothing could be done," the little mother of a bunch of
children.
262-323
I went down to her and tried to explain to her how that through
prayer… And–and she's just a young woman, about twenty-five. And how
that God healed her little baby, it's called "the miracle baby" over at
children's hospital now, of meningitis. And of such a horrible
condition of the–the little fellow was, and the Lord healed it just
right away. And they, the doctors couldn't understand it. I went down
to Mrs. Harvey, and I said, "Now, Mrs. Harvey, the doctors give you up?"
"Yes, sir. It's…"
And her husband said, "Yes, there's nothing can be done; she's just completely filled with cancer."
I said, "Well, now what we want to do, is to believe God, that God
will–will heal the–heal you." I said, "How it happens, the cancer
might not leave immediately; but if we pray, then the life of the
cancer will leave. You may be sick quite awhile yet," and–and I said,
"you may get relief right away." And I said, "Then after a few days you
may get sicker than ever." But I said, "You got to put your faith
against the cancer." I said, "If the cancer lives, you die. If the
cancer dies, you live." And I said, "Now, we'll pray."
263-327
And we prayed, and with every evidence that I seen, God touched the
woman's body. And immediately she got better; she went over to see my
mother; she visited around the neighborhood (when she was just in such
misery) didn't have no pains. And then after about three days she
started getting sick again.
And then come to find out that the city said that they would pay the doctor bill if the doctors would operate it.
And now, if I'm wrong, God forgive me. But they took that young mother,
made a guinea pig out of her. They took her out there, and took even
her bowels from her stomach and everything took both from the urinal
and from the bowel action, and poked them out the sides. And was on the
operating table nine hours and something. The nurse said, "It looked
like a slaughter pen, where they throwed her insides from place to
place, and put plastic ovaries and plastic tubes." That's plain, but
that's true. And plastic bowels and things like that, and left the
woman laying in that fix, a little mother. I say, in my way of thinking
it, them doctors is guilty of murder.
263-330
She told them; she said, "Brother Branham prayed for me." And said,
"We're going to believe that our cancer's–that the cancer's dead."
Said, "I got some news for you, 'Your cancer's alive.'"
How could he tell it? It was on the inside; no x-ray can tell it.
Cancer's a… You can't tell cancer by x-ray; it's flesh itself; you
can't see it. There only one thing to do, they chopped into the woman
and cut her to pieces. That's all. I said, "Then a little mother, I'd
just let her test her faith against God instead of making a guinea pig
out of somebody like that." Now, if I–if I'm wrong, if I–if I've got
the wrong motive, I want God forgive me. You see? 'Cause I don't want
you to think that I don't believe in operations or don't believe in
doctors and things. That's all right. But I think you ought to know
what you're doing before you dig into a person, not use them just for
experiment like that. That's right. And now, 'course she can't live.
That's all. If she lives, it'll certainly be one of the greatest
miracles that's ever happened. When the woman looked down and seen that
her bowels on one side, and her kidneys had to act on the other side,
she just passed away like this, passed… Why, it wasn't a thing… The
poor little thing was gone. And just about a twenty-two or twenty-five
year old mother with three or four little kiddies to raise. Most
pitiful thing I ever heard in my life.
I said, "To my way of thinking it, the doctor's guilty for…" If he
taken that woman just for an experiment because the city was going to
pay for it, then that's wrong: shouldn't be.
264-333 [A man asks a question–Ed.]
Well, I tell you, brother; it–it's not impossible. And it's–it's
not… It's–it's possible and also probable. Because I know a man that
had an arm off in California (You all are keeping up with it yourself
in the paper.), was prayed for, and this arm was off up here, has done
growed down to the fingers was coming out on it now; through the elbow,
through the wrist, through the hand, and parts of the knuckles was back
on the fingers. You see? It's in the, I believe, the "Herald Of Faith"
each month. Even when he's got his hands out like this, showed it on
where his arm was off, where it's growed out, each month how it's come,
for about a year.
264-334 [The man speaks again–Ed.]
Sure, that's right. I believe… It–it–it's a rare thing (See?); it's
a very rare thing. Once in a while I've heard of it. Now, with Brother
Bosworth, he prayed for a woman one night. And I had one in my meeting.
But Brother Bosworth's was instantly; mine taken a quite a little bit
for it to do it.
He prayed for a woman… Now, I read the woman's testimony. Had cancer,
with no nose, had eat her nose off. And the next morning the woman had
a nose. Now, I know this… Now, that's Brother Bosworth's, in his book
called the "Christ, The Healer," I believe, or, "The Joy Bringer," one.
Now, it's in the testimony of the woman, with her name and address. And
she's got neighbors and doctors and everything else to prove it, that
it happened.
264-336
Now, at Little Rock, Arkansas, one night in a room, I'd prayed there,
not Little Rock, but Jonesboro. That I'd pray… I said, "I'm going to
stay till I pray for the last person." I was eight days and nights in
the platform. See? And then… And along the room there was a woman
come up, had her handkerchief up like this, and I thought she was
weeping. And I said… Oh, I guess it was two or three o'clock in the
morning; I said, "Don't weep, sister, God's the Healer."
She said, "I'm not weeping, Brother Branham." She moved it; she had no
nose. See? The doctors had said… The cancer done eat down to the
white bone in her–there was–was showing. And I had prayer for her,
and asked the Lord to heal her.
And about four or five weeks from then, I was in Texarkana. And there
was a nice dressed gentleman setting there; he said, "Could I have just
a word, Brother Branham?"
Soon as he got up to the platform, one of the ushers tried to make him keep quiet. I said, "Well, let's see."
He said, "You recognize this young lady?"
I said, "No, I don't."
She said, "If you looked at this picture you'd recognize it." And he
was an exterminator at–at Texarkana, and that was his mother with a
brand new nose growed on, just shaped just like the other.
Now, that goes to show that God… I have seen it done. Now, God could
do that for the little Mrs. Harvey. And I pray that He does, for the
poor little thing wants to live.
265-344 Brother Tony, did you have something? [Brother Tony reports a healing–Ed.] Uh-huh. Amen. Amen. Amen. Yep, that's good too. Yes, He'll sure do it; He's a Healer.
[Another man speaks–Ed.] Yes. Yes.
Yes, brother. Amen. Sure. Yeah. I'd sure… Well I'd hope that God
restores it to you, son; you can take it right back and show him.
That's just exactly. It's for a testimony to the glory of God; pray
that God will do it. Oh, He–He… If He's Almighty God, He can do all
things. If He can't do all things, He's not Almighty God.
265-346
There's something that made us what we are, in the way that we are, or
we would've had a–a head like a bird, or something like that; if there
wasn't a Mastermind behind us to make each one of us with a feature, to
make an oak tree, a poplar tree, a palm tree, and–and differentiate
between them what–what they are. Make us not with… Some with fur,
and some with feathers, and some with skins, that you… See,
it's–it's a Mastermind behind that, that's abou–that's a governing
that. 'Course He holds all things in His hands. And I know He can do
all things. And we'll pray for it; we'll pray.
[Another man speaks–Ed.] Correct. We got…
[Sister Snyder says, "Brother Billy, excuse me"–Ed.] Yes, ma'am, that's all right, go ahead. [Sister Snyder reports being healed–Ed.]
Amen. You know, I've tried to think, Sister Snyder, one time when I was
standing here in that anointing, I thought… I told Brother Cox; I
said, "I'm not even going to try any more of those discernment meetings
down at the Tabernacle." Oh, you don't know how the Devil bites me
around some, sister. How–how he does it… You know, telling me about
these discerning…
266-349
And here, happened to find out that Mrs. Wood's sister here… I'd
never seen any of their people. A bunch of them was healed during that
time, and everyone… Why, you know, it's a great percent of those
people that was healed. And after the… The strange thing now, her
sister, I had eaten supper with her one night about two weeks before
that… Oh, it's way down in the mountains in Kentucky, and I–I just
knowed she had a voice like Mrs. Wood, and it wasn't too light at the
room. And I never paid any attention to her anyhow; I talked more to
her husband; she got separated. We went out and set down and eat; and
come back in, I talked to her husband, got up and went on out. And God
Who's my solemn Judge knows (setting by this pulpit) I never recognized
that woman.
And then after the healing service was over, I made the altar call for
sinners to repent. And she had been very arrogant against it; and she
repented and give her life to Christ, raised up her hand that she would
surrender her life to Christ, and was weeping. After all the anointing
had done gone, making my altar call, and so forth… And then I
happened to turn, and here was a vision, and I seen her brother, which
was a sister, this was his sister, and them together.
266-351
And I thought it was Charlie's wife, because I knew setting at the
table the other day, down there at–at Charlie's house… His little
wife, little bitty thing, the Lord showed me a trouble that she'd had.
And from that very hour, the Lord touched her body, setting there at
her table now. Tony, where we were at, down there, went squirrel
hunting… And the Lord touched her body and took this thing she had to
wear all of… for the rest of her life, away from her, just sitting
there. And the little woman always eat way up at the other end the
table, but today, she comes right around, and moves her chair in, and
eats right beside of me. She never knew what she was doing. Her husband
setting like this, and Brother Banks setting there, and us talking…
And she moved around, and got her chair, and set it over here by my
side. And it was for a purpose; the Lord showed a vision right there.
And I called her husband out, because it was a lady's trouble; I begin
to tell him about what happened. He said, "Brother Branham, that's
exactly the way it happened, exactly like that." And there he told her,
and the Lord healed her. All right.
267-352
And then after the service was over the other night, and this other
sister, I seen this young Charles and this woman together. I thought,
"That must be his wife; but his wife's a blond, and this is a
black-headed woman. And I happened to notice the vision moved over in a
corner over here. And she was setting there wiping her eyes, and the
Lord showed a vision after she was–the altar call… After the prayer
meeting was over, the healing of the sick, and the altar call had been
made, and God waited till she repented and give her life to Him and
then turned around and healed her. And she's had a trouble that's had
her swelled up for years. And she's went down so much, and everything,
till even her feet's wrinkled where all of it's passed from her (the
poisons) from her body: feels better than she's ever felt in years.
See? And how the Lord by His amazing grace does that. I think that's
about the story, isn't it, Sister Wood? And how He does it… After…
What say?
[Sister Wood says, "She lost seven pounds last week"–Ed.]
Seven pounds in a week. Oh, He's God, isn't He?
267-353
Now, I'll tell you, the reason I said to Brother Neville… I thought
maybe he had a message for tonight. He said no, he didn't. And I've got
a few questions here that was left over. I felt morally obligated to
get down here and answer these questions. Then I've got two or three
more I probably won't get tonight.
I want to show you some was just handed in from a preacher. Brother Neville just–or Beeler just brought them to me.
[Brother Branham answers the following eight
questions in Part III, beginning at paragraph 668, as question numbers
67 through 74–Ed.].
What do the stones represent in Revelation 21:19 and 20?
Explain the four beasts of Revelations 5. (He means 6; it isn't
Revelation 5; it's 6, I think.) And who are the twenty-four elders?
What did the scarlet thread of Genesis 38 mean?
Where are the gifts to be sent regarding the death of the two witnesses, Revelations 11?
Where will be the saints after the thousand years' reign, and what kind of a body will they have?
How shall we judge angels?
What hair becomes of the angels of I Corinthians?
268-355
Talk about some good ones, that's some good ones. I probably won't get
to them tonight; but if the Lord willing, I'll try to get them the next
time we come in. So that…
I've got some pretty good ones in here tonight; so we'll just pray now
and ask the Lord to help us, and we go right into them for the next,
oh, thirty-five, forty minutes.
268-357
Now, blessed heavenly Father, we are grateful to Thee for all that Thou
has done for us. And, oh, it's so amazing how that Your grace reaches
down to us. I'm thinking now, the other night, when that little
companion of mine, oh, so sick, and You come on the scene. Her fever
begin to break from that very hour, and's got completely over now. I
thank You. And the–the–just pray that You'll be with each and every
one that's asked a request tonight. And little do we know, till it
comes to our own home, what it means, a little prayer. O God,
what–how–how real You become in that hour when a doctor will walk
away, and say, "I don't know; I never seen anything act like it," and
then the Lord Jesus move in on the scene.
O God, You're so real to us, and we're so happy for it. We pray You
forgive us of all of our slothful ways and our stupid ways. And, oh,
just remember us, Lord, that we're human flesh in a dark world, a world
of darkness and sin and chaos. And we're l–looking through a veil, as
it was, over our face, and we only see and know as we do humanly here.
But someday when that veil's lifted, we'll see You face to face and
know as we're known. That's the day that we long for.
We pray, Father, now, that You'll help us as we try to impart to the
people the Word of God, according to their requests. Take all sickness
from us. We need You, Lord. And we pray that You'll grant it. Let Thy
mercies be given to us, for we asked it in Jesus' Name. Amen.
269-Q-60 Now, in answering questions, I'm not the best in the country, you know. But I'm just answer the best of my knowledge.
Here was the one that I started with the other night, and I had to stop.
60.
By one Spirit we are all baptized into the body of Christ. (You all
remember that that was the question I was on. Now, that's found, of
course, in I Corinthians 12.) At the time we are–receive the new
birth, this takes place. It's this… Is this the baptism of the Holy
Spirit, or is there a later baptism, or is it a filling?
Now, there is quite a question, and we could spend the rest of our time
right on that one, and tonight and tomorrow night and so forth. It
would cover… It would–it'd take and tie the entire Bible together.
Every Scripture must properly tie together with every other Scripture
in the Bible.
269-363
But just trying to make it just a briefly, plain as I know how to make
it… No, when you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you then have the
new birth. When you believe on the Lord, you receive a new thought, a
new life, but it isn't the baptism of the Holy Ghost. See? You've got
the new birth when you believe; you've got Eternal Life. It's a gift of
God that's give to you through sovereign grace by accepting the gift
that God is giving to you. See? "He that heareth My Words and believeth
on Him that sent Me, hath Eternal Life, has Everlasting Life"; that's
the new birth. You're converted; it means you're turned around.
But the baptism of the Holy Spirit puts you into the body of Christ,
subject to the gifts for service. It doesn't make you any more of a
Christian; it just puts you into the body of gifts. See? "Now, by one
Spirit (I Corinthians 12) we're all baptized into one body. Now," says
Paul, "there are different gifts, and in this body is nine spiritual
gifts." And in this body… You have to be baptized into the body to
possess one of these gifts. They come with the body.
270-365
But now, as far as having Eternal Life and being a Christian, you are a
Christian the moment you believe. Now, that's not make-believe; that's
truly believe on the Lord Jesus and accept Him as your personal
Saviour, you're borned again right there, and have Eternal Life. God
comes into you.
Now, watch. Eternal Life… Jesus said, "He that heareth My Word and
believeth on Him that sent Me, hath Eternal Life, and shall not come
into the judgment, but's passed from death unto Life." You're a new
creature right then.
Then Paul had met some of those people up in Acts 19. They had them a
preacher up there which was a converted lawyer by the name of Apollos.
And Apollos was a mighty man in the Scriptures, and he was proving by
the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ. See?
270-367
Now, watch. Apollos, through the Word, was proving by the Word. "Faith
cometh by hearing, hearing of the Word. He that heareth My Word, and
believeth on Him that sent Me, has Everlasting Life." Get it? Apollos,
by the Word, was proving… And these were Christians; they were
followers, disciples. And Apollos was proving by the Word, that Jesus
was the Christ. And they had great joy and received the Word, yet
knowing only the baptism of John.
And when Paul passed through the upper coasts of Ephesus, he finds
these disciples, and he said, "Have you received the Holy Ghost since
you have believed?" See?
Now, when you believe, Jesus said, "You have Eternal Life." That's the
new birth. That's your conversion, changing. But the baptism of the
Holy Spirit is the power of God that you're baptized into and are
subject to these nine spiritual gifts to work through you; such as,
preaching, evangelists, apostles, pastors, prophets… And all the
gifts of the body come into this, when you're baptized into this body.
And that's–doesn't make you any more a Christian; it just sets you
positionally in a place to be a ministering spirit in the church of the
living God. Now, you get it? See?
270-370 Now, the question is… Let's answer it just one by one; there's three questions.
By one Spirit we are all baptized into the body of Christ.
That's correct, I Corinthians 12 would give the answer to that. All right.
At that time we receive the new birth, this takes place? Is that when?
That's
what they want to know. Yes. "By one Spirit…" No. No. By one Spirit
we're all baptized into one body. See, that isn't when the new birth
begins; the new birth begins when you believe on the Lord Jesus.
Now, see, there's not a–there's not one thing… Now, listen. What can
you do besides believe? What more can you do? What can you do about it
any more than just believe it? Tell me one thing you could do. There's
not one thing that you can do outside of believe it. Now, if anything
comes outside of your believing, it isn't an act of your own; it's a
act of God. Therefore…
271-373
Now, if we'd say that when you–the… A lot of times I've seen, many
times, people accepting "initial evidence of speaking in tongues" as
the Holy Ghost, and sometimes shake the people, or beat them and pat
them, saying, "Say it. Say it. Say it. Say it." You know, repeat a word
over and over, "Say it. Say it. Say it." See, it's something you're
doing yourself. And–and–and it don't… It doesn't… It–it's
nothing. You might get a confusion of tongues. You might get a–a lot
of things and sensations. But if anything comes outside of your own
personal faith, it has to be a Divine gift of God given to you. See?
"And by one Spirit we're all baptized into one body." That's correct.
See? The baptism of the Holy Ghost is a different act from the new
birth. One is a birth; one is a baptism. One brings you Eternal Life;
the other one gives you power. It gives power into Eternal Life (See?)
to operate. Now, you got it? Okay, all right.
271-Q-61 Now, here is another, come second, the best that I had them at that night.
61. Where was Jesus' spirit the three days His body was in the tomb? Where was His spirit?
Now,
His Spirit, if you'll follow the Scriptures… Well, we could just
bring many places. But I want… Who's got a Bible? Brother Stricker,
you got a Bible? All right. Brother Neville, you got one? Get me Psalms
16:10. And who else? Sister Wood, you got a Bible there? Well, Brother
Stricker (all right, either one), you get me Acts 2:27, Acts 2:27.
And now, the first place, when Jesus died… When you die, your body
dies. The word "death" means "to separate," just to be separated from
your loved ones. But here (See?) He said this in St. John the 11th
chapter, "He that heareth…" No, I beg your pardon; that's in St. John
5:24, "He that heareth My Words has Eternal Life."
272-378
Jesus said to Martha, who come to meet Him… She said, "If Thou
would've been here, my brother would not have died. But even now,
whatsoever You ask God, God will give it to You."
He said, "I am the Resurrection and Life." See? "He that believeth in
Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and
believeth in Me, shall never die."
Now–now, there's a part of us that does not die. And as I've just come
through the line of Scriptures, everything that has a beginning has an
end. It's the things which has not a beginning, that has no end.
Therefore, when we accept Christ, God, we become sons and daughters of
God, and our Life is just as endless as God's Life is endless; we have
eternal.
272-381
Now, the word "forever," we've been through it. The word "forever" is
"a space of time," forever and (conjunction) forever. And we found out
here that it has–it has an end, just like all the sufferings, and all
the sickness, and all the sorrow, and all the punishment, and hell
itself has an end.
But Eternal Life has no end, 'cause it had no beginning. It never can
die, because it never was born. It had no beginning of days. It has no
ending of time. Now, the only way that we can live eternally is through
receiving something that is eternal. And God was; before there was
anything, it was God. God never had a beginning or an end.
272-383
And God was this great Spirit. We pictured Him like a–the–the seven
colors of the rainbow that covers… The bow would actually cover the
earth if it didn't strike the earth. It's just a water in a circle of
the curvature of the earth, what makes it. But now, as God is eternal,
and He was the perfect: perfect love, perfect peace, perfect joy,
perfect satisfaction… All those seven spirits (as we get in
Revelations), they come out, was–made up God, was perfection.
Everything else outside of that has been something that's been
perverted from that.
Now, the only way that we can come back to perfection, is to come back
with that perfection, which is God. Then we come to perfection, then we
have Eternal Life: without end, or without–without anything; it's just
forever, Eternal Life.
273-385
Now, he's speaking of the soul, the spirit. For we pack our bodies over
the grave of the saintest of us, for this body. And the body… In the
first place, when God, the Logos that went out of God…
Or, as I have went through it, the Catholic call It, "the eternal
sonship of God."… Which as I have said before, the word doesn't even
make sense. See, there cannot be an eternal son, because a son had to
have a beginning. And so Jesus had a beginning; God had no beginning.
See? But the Son was the… Not eternal sonship, but the Son that was
with the Father in the beginning was the Logos that went out of God.
And it was the Theophany of God that went out, the human form that
didn't have eyes like you see: a better eye. It didn't have ears like
you hear, but a far more hearing. See? It was a Theophany, that all
this rainbow condescended into a–a Theophany. Moses saw It when It
passed through the rock like that. He saw the back parts, said, "It
looked like a man."
273-388
Abraham saw Him when He stepped down into human flesh and eat a calf,
drank some milk, eat the butter. Abraham saw Him as He just stepped in,
and then vanished right away from it. We found out that our bodies are
made of sixteen elements of the earth; they just come together. And God
pulled them together, and put two Angels in these bodies, Angels that
stood and talked. And Angels were men at one, and there at that time.
Now, notice, we find out that, Who was Melchisedec but God Himself. It
couldn't have been no one else, for He was the King of Salem which is
Jerusalem. He had no father nor mother; couldn't been Jesus, 'cause He
had father and mother. He had no beginning of days, no ending of Life;
there's only One that has that; that's God. It was God dwelling here in
a Theophany. See? Notice, King of Salem…
273-390
Now, God has lived through the age through His people. It was God that
was in David, that made him set upon the mountain and–as a rejected
king and weep. That same Spirit was manifested in Jesus the Son of
David, Who was rejected in Jerusalem and wept.
Joseph, sold for thirty pieces of silver, hated of his brother, loved
of his father, was seated at the right hand of Pharaoh, and no man
could come except in ever–come by Joseph; and the trumpet sounded and
every knee bowed to Joseph: perfect type of Christ. That was the Spirit
of Christ living through those men. See?
Now, now, here when Jesus died, it was God manifested in flesh. God
became Man. In the laws of redemption the only way that a man could
redeem the lost estate of Israel, he had to be a kinsman. He had to be
a close kinsman. The Book of Ruth beautifully explains it; and he had
to be a kinsman. So God had to become kinfolks to man in order that man
could become kinfolks to God. See?
274-393
He has a spirit in him, a man does when he's born, because it's a
spirit of nature. It's a spirit of the world; it's a spirit of the–the
god of this world. He is merely an offspring of Adam.
A tree reproduces itself. Vegetation reproduces itself. Animals
reproduce themselves. Humans reproduce themselves. They are the
byproduct of original creation. Get it?
Now, now, when a man is born, he's born with a spirit in him of this
world. That's the reason he has to be borned again. For this spirit
come from the conception by father and mother, which was the sexual
conception, and absolutely could not live forever. So he's got to be
borned again. And before he could do that, God had to come down and
make a way for him to be born again; because he had no way to redeem
himself; he was without hope. He didn't… He was without hope, without
God, without Christ in the world lost and gone. He–he… There's
nothing he could do to save himself. He… every… No matter if he was
a high priest, if he was a bishop, if he was a pope, whatever he was,
he's just as guilty as the next man.
274-396
So it had to take One that was not guilty to do it. And the only One
that wasn't guilty was God Himself. And God had to come down and become
man. And He came in the form of Christ to anchor the stinger of death,
to take the sting of death out, to redeem us, that we, not by our works
or by our goodness (we have none), but by His grace to be saved. Then
we receive of His Life into this mortal body, and now we are sons and
daughters of God, and have Eternal Life within us. We are sons and
daughters of God. Therefore, Jesus, being alive…
And no man, no matter how wicked or how good, when he has to… When he
leaves this earth, he's not dead. He's somewhere else. But he has a
life that will perish after he's punished in hell for his deeds. But
yet that life has to cease. There's only one type of Eternal life.
275-398
Now, we've been through that. If a man can be a sinner and be punished
forever… He can't be punished forever 'less he's got Eternal Life. If
he's got Eternal Life, he's saved. See? So there's only one type of
Eternal Life, and that's the Zoe, the Life of God. And he can't perish.
But the wicked are in a place of–of waiting in torment for their
judgment, to be judged according to the deeds done in the body at the
last day. Now, but we… Some men's sins go before them, some follow
after them.
Now, if we confess our sins, He's just to forgive us; therefore, we'll
never have to stand the judgment of God. You get it? Look, Romans 8:1:
"There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ
Jesus (that are in Christ, that's passed from death unto Life. See? We
have no condemnation. And was in Christ Jesus), that walk not after the
flesh, but after the Spirit." See? "He that heareth My Words, believeth
on Him that sent Me, has Eternal Life."
275-401
And if I've been accepted in Christ, and Christ took my judgment, and I
accepted His propitiation for my sins, how can God judge me? He's done
judged me when He judged Christ. Then I'm free from judgment. "Then
when I see the Blood, I'll pass over you." See?
But now, the wicked is not so. He goes into a place of torment. And we
know that that's true. The wicked is alive. He's in a place of torment.
He's in a place where he don't know… That's how these spiritualists
and mediums call up these spirits of the people that's gone on, some
kind of frolic and dirty jokes and things they crack, if you've ever
seen any of it. All right. Why? They don't…
275-403
Look at this Miss Pepper, before my article went of "The Miracle of
Donny Morton." How many read that article? Yes, many of you did, sure.
And it's in "Reader's Digest." Did you notice, just before that went
forth Miss Pepper, the greatest spiritualist the world has ever knowed:
twelve pages given to her story. And for fifty years… They've had her
all over the world, and scientific proof and everything, that she
absolutely talks with the dead, and the people come up. What? God's
Name wasn't mentioned one time, no repentance, no Divine healing,
nothing about it. See?
Only thing it was, was those people mentioned, "John, don't you know
me? I'm George that was at a certain place, and I did so-and-so and
so-and-so. You remember that place we went and done this?" See, that's
all they know. They're gone, passed from… They're–they're nothing
left but judgment.
276-405
The way the tree leans, that's the way it falls. And the state you
die… That's the reason I different with praying for the dead (See?),
the intercession of prayers or–or communion of saints and so forth. It
cannot be according to God's Word. It does no good to pray for anybody
after they're gone. They're finished. They're–they've… They've
passed the line between mercy and judgment. They either went to mercy,
or went away from mercy. Jesus said so. In 16th chapter of St. Matthew
He–He–He taught it; 16th chapter of Mark, I believe it is: the rich
man and Lazarus. No man can cross over this gulf, and never will cross
over it. There you are. See? So it settles it.
276-406
Now, but when Christ died, everything had to witness that He was the
Christ. Now, let's go to your question. The first thing, the stars
refused to shine; the sun went down; the moon wouldn't give its light;
the earth belched its rocks at His death. And He went and preached to
the souls that were in prison, that repented not in the long-suffering
of the days of Noah. He… They had to recognize… Look at that. And
if there by chance be a sinner here tonight, think that over a minute.
Someday this Gospel that you're hearing preached right now, you'll have
to witness by. Somewhere you'll bow your knee, regardless of who you
are. It may be ten thousand years from today; it may not be until
the–in the morning. Whenever it is, you're going to bow somewhere, and
you're going to hear this same Gospel preached right back to you.
276-407
For after those souls were in prison, that repented not when Enoch and
when all of them preached, and Noah… And for the long-suffering of
God, like it is now, waiting for that time to come… And Noah and
Enoch and all of them preached, and those people laughed and made fun
of them. And they were in the prison house, and Jesus went and preached
to the souls that were in prison. He witnessed. The heavens witnessed
He was. The earth witnessed He was. Hell witnessed He was."
The Bible said that it… David, many years ago, in the Psalms… All
right, Brother, you read the Psalms, if you will there, Psalms 16:10. [Brother
Neville reads, "For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt
thou suffer thine holy One to see corruption."–Ed.]
277-409 Read the same thing, brother, in–at where Peter preached; on Acts the 2nd chapter and 27th verse: [Brother
Stricker reads, "Because thou will not leave my soul in hell, neither
wilt thou suffer thine holy One to see corruption."–Ed.]
Read two verses above it, brother, so you can get the context–context of it. [Brother
Stricker reads, "For David speaketh concerning Him, I foresaw the
Lord–Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I
should not be moved. Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was
glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope. Because thou wilt not
leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine holy One to see
corruption."–Ed.]
Read the next verse now. [Brother
Stricker reads, "Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou
shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance."–Ed.]
277-412
Yes, notice, Now, my Jehovah Witness friend, I'd like to ask you about
that. See? If hell is a place… Hades, Sheol, whatever you wish to
call it, if that ceases at the grave, then why did He say, "I'll not
leave My soul in hell, neither will I suffer Thy holy One to see
corruption"? How about that? See?
Here His body was in the grave, and his soul was in hell, preaching,
alive. What about that? He was in His Theophany again. His soul was
down there with those people that were in…?… theophany also, and
was witnessing to them that they repented not in the long-suffering.
He… In other words, He'd knocked at the door. And when the door swung
open, and all those souls that repented, He said, "I'm the Seed of the
woman. I'm the One that Enoch here…" Over in paradise, another
place… Don't never lose them three places, now: the place of the
wicked, the place of the righteous, and hell itself (See?), just like a
trinity of heaven: like Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Like the trinity of
the beast: the false prophet, the beast, and the–and the mark of the
beast… And all that, remember, it's all in trinity. Trinity makes
one, perfected. One is perfected. You're perfected, one in three: soul,
body, and spirit: water, blood, and nerves. See, whatever you was, you
have to take three to make a perfected one.
Take a three cornered piece of glass and put the sun on it, you got a
perfected rainbow. See, everything, you have to have three to make a
perfect one.
278-416
And now, remember that when He died, He went first and preached to the
souls that was in prison–that was in prison, and witnessed that He was
the Seed of the woman. He was the One that Enoch saw coming with ten
thousands of His saints. He had to witness the Scriptures that had been
preached by Noah, and by Enoch, and by the righteous, that He was that
One. Everything had to recognize it.
Then He ascended into hell, and received the keys of death and hell
from the Devil, come back up into paradise; and brought Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob, and the righteous, and raised (Matthew 27), and they come
out of the grave and entered into the city, and appeared to the people
along the street. Hallelujah. There you are.
278-419
Now, but His body… While His soul was over here witnessing to the
lost, down here taking the keys from the Devil, and coming back and
bringing Abraham and Isaac; His soul was laying in the… His soul was
down there doing it, and His body was laying in the grave. That's the
reason Jesus said… People say, "Well, why does Jesus say, 'Three
days, I'll raise it up. Three days I'll raise.'? See, He died on Friday
afternoon, raised up on Sunday morning."
But watch, it was "within three days," if you'd get the Lexicon. For He
knew that David, under the anointing (of the anointing of the Holy
Spirit), said, "I will not suffer my holy One to see corruption." He
knowed that pertained to Him. He knowed that meant Him. He was God's
holy One, and He knew that corruption sets in in seventy-two hours.
Somewhere within them three days, He was coming out of there again,
because the Scriptures cannot be broken.
And every promise in There pertains to me and pertains to you; it's ours.
279-422
Said, "You destroy this body, and I'll raise it up in three
days."…?… For He said, "I'll not leave My soul in hell, neither
will I suffer My holy One to see corruption." He knowed, in three days
that body was coming out of there. He didn't stay the full three days.
No, sir, He certainly did not. He stayed just from Friday afternoon
until Sunday morning, not one cell of that body could be corrupted.
And He was dead, and embalmed, and was laying–or wrapped in cloth, and
laid into a tomb. In that hot, boggy country, just take a few hours and
He go to corrupting. You go to morti–mortifying, you know, his body,
his nose dropping in and things, corruption sets in; that hot, damp
country. And it would've went to corruption, because it was a body. But
He knowed before that cell corrupted, that God said through David the
prophet, "I'll not suffer My holy One to see corruption."
279-425
How He took the Word of God and lived by It… Now, every one of them
promises in there that pertained to Him, God fulfilled every one of
them. And every promise that pertains to the believer, God will fulfill
every promise of It. Amen. Just rest assure that It's the Truth. Amen.
So His soul…
Do you think it is… No, I'm sorry.
Where was Jesus' spirit through the three days His body was in the tomb?
His Spirit was in hell, down in the lower regions; and He arose. And I
might add a little–little statement here that would–might help you a
whole lot. When He arose, His… When He arose from the dead, He
absolutely wasn't finished with the work of redemption yet. That's
right. He had to clean the whole thing out. The price had been paid,
but that horror of hell, that horror of the grave… And here, when
He–when He died, He went right on. He never ceased working when He
died; He kept on preaching. Blessed… Excuse my immodest acting, I
guess. But He never ceased.
You're never to cease. Your body might rest for a while, but God will
raise it up; He promised He would. But you can no more perish than God
can perish. That's right. Look, His… after He was dead, to what? Dead
to the disciples. He was asleep, what He was. They put Him to sleep;
like He said about Lazarus, "I'll go wake him." God had to wake Him.
280-428
Look, He went right on down and continued preaching. And He preached to
the souls here in prison. Went right on into hell, got the keys from
the Devil. Come right back up and preached again in paradise, and rose
back up again on the third day. Visit with His apostles for forty days,
and on the end of the fortieth day, He went right on up; because
everything over us, the superstitions and everything else… He cut
every superstition, every doubt, and made a prayer line from earth to
glory in His ascension. Went up and set down at the right hand of His
Majesty, Overcomer, the great Conqueror, absolutely. Death couldn't
hold Him. Hell couldn't hold Him. Earth couldn't hold Him.
280-429
When He was here on earth, He was given the… He went to the lowest
city and to the lowest people, and was give the lowest name. That's
what man done to Him. He went to Jericho, the lowest city. The smallest
man had to climb up in a tree to look down at Him. That's where man put
Him. He was a foot-wash flunky, the worst job that could be given. He
become the lowest. And He was called the lowest name that could be
given, Beelzebub, "the prince of the devils." Man give Him the lowest
name, the lowest place, and sent Him to the lowest regions of the
lowest hell.
God raised Him up and sent Him to the highest heavens, and a Name above
every name. Hallelujah. Why, He would have to look over to see heaven.
Thy throne is exalted above the heavens of heaven. And the greatest
Name that ever named in heaven and earth has to be–is bound around
Him. That's what God did to Him. Man put Him the lowest, and God made
Him the highest. There He was, from the lowest to the highest.
280-431
He become the lowest, that He might bring us up to the highest. He
become us, that we through His grace might become Him, sons of God.
That's where He went. Amen. Bless His Name. He made a way that we can
come too someday, "Because I live, you live also."
Oh, no wonder… When men catch that vision, there's never been a man
could explain it. They've even tried to explain it, losing their mind.
This great song of "Oh love of God, how rich and pure; How fathomless
and strong." That last verse–I believe the first verse, it is: "If we
with ink the ocean fill, And were the skies of parchment made…" You
know where that was found? Written on the insane–wall in an insane
institution. No man can never ever explain that love of God. Oh, it can
never be told, what He did for us. My, how could you place one merit
out there? It's His grace from beginning to end. I was lost, undone,
and helpless, no good, nothing about it, and He by His grace come and
saved us. Oh, my. That's His… That's my Lord. That's His love; that's
His goodness.
281-Q-62 Now, we got about seven minutes and about fifteen questions and…
62. Do you think it is right for women to do personal work outside the church?
Yes,
That's just a question, just a… not a Scriptural question, but…
Certainly, I do. Yes, sir. We're all workers together. Women have their
places, and certainly they do. Yes, sir. Just do all the personal work
you can do, and God will bless you for it. All right, now let's see.
281-Q-63
63. Please explain the Trinity. How can the Son set at the right hand
of the Father, interceding for the–to the Father, if they are not two
persons?
Well, beloved friend, that's a… That's–that's a revelation. If Jesus
said, "I and My Father are One," then how can they be two? See? Now,
they're not two.
A woman once said to me, and I was explaining that, said, "You and your wife are–are two, yet you're one."
I said, "But God and the Son is different from that. See?" I said, You see me?"
"Yes."
"Do you see my wife?"
"No."
I said, "Then Father and Son's different; Jesus said, 'When you see Me, you've seen the Father.'" See?
The Father and the Son… The Father was Almighty Jehovah God dwelling
in a Tabernacle called Jesus Christ, which was the anointed Son of God.
Jesus was a Man; God is a Spirit. And no man has seen God at any time,
but the only begotten of the Father has declared Him. He was… He…
His Personality, His Being, His Deity, whatever He was, He was God. He
was nothing less or nothing more than God. Yet, He was a man. He was a
man, a house that God dwelt in. That's right. He was God's dwelling
place.
282-440
Now, if you want some Scriptures on that… Brother Neville, if you'd
get me St. Mark 14:62. And Sister Wood, you get me Ephesians 1:20.
Somebody else have a Bible? Well, raise up your hand. Sister Arnold,
you got one back there? All right, you get me Acts 7:55. All right.
Mark 14:62, Brother Neville; and Sister Wood is Ephesians 1:20; Acts
7:55, Sister Arnold.
All right, do you have it, Brother Neville? All right, read now: [Brother
Neville reads, "And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man
sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of
heaven."–Ed.]
All right, now, watch the first phrase there. Jesus said, "I AM." "I
AM." Who was the I AM? There has never been a man in all the world
could interpret It. Even the–you who read the Lexicons and so forth,
there has never been a man who could make out… It's J-v-h-u. And even
the Hebrew scholars could never pronounce it. That burning bush there,
that day when He met with Moses, It was J-v-h-u. So they pronounced It
"J-o-h, Jehovah," but It isn't "Jehovah." J-v-h-u (See?) no one knows.
And you say, "Well, Moses couldn't make It out."
He said, "Who can I say?"
He said, "Say, 'I AM' sent you: I AM."
Now, watch. I AM is a present tense, not "I was" or "I will be," I AM.
Now, He said, "This will be a memorial through all generations: I AM."
282-448
Now, look at Jesus standing here at the feast that day. They said, "We
know now you're crazy." Right words, "You're mad ('mad' is 'crazy'). We
know you're crazy. You're a Samaritan, you got a devil." (St. John, the
6th chapter). And he said, "Now, you say that you're seen Abraham, and
you're a man not over fifty years old?" He might've looked a little old
for His age, but He was only thirty, but His work… Said, "You mean
that you're a man not over fifty years old, and say you seen Abraham?
We know you're crazy now." See?
He said, "Before Abraham was, I AM."
"I AM," He was the great I AM. Here He is telling these Jews again
(See?), "I AM. And when you see Me coming at the right hand of the
power…" Is that right? Read that again, brother.
[Brother Neville reads, "When you see the Son
of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of
heaven."–Ed.]
283-451 Read yours now, Sister Wood. [Sister Wood says, Ephesians 1: 20–Ed.]
Yes, ma'am.
[Sister Wood reads, "Which he wrought in
Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right
hand in heavenly places."–Ed.]
All right, read yours, sister. See, It's just the same.
[Sister Arnold reads, "But he, being full of
the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of
God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God."–Ed.]
Now, see, God couldn't have a big right hand (See?) and Jesus standing
on His right hand. The "right hand" means "the authority." See? Just
for instance, if what if–if I was the full sway of the church here, I
was a bishop of some sort, and Brother Neville took my place, he'd be
my right hand. See, that means that he's–he would be at my right hand.
283-454
Now, Jesus is at the right hand of the power. Now, He says so, here in
Ephesians, when he's explaining it, "He's at the right hand of the
power." All the powers of heavens and earth (He said after His
resurrection.) is given unto My hands. I have all the power in heavens
and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them
into the Name of the Father, and Son, Holy Ghost, teaching them to
observe all things which I have commanded you; lo, I'm with you always,
to the end of the world."
"All the power in heavens and earth…" Where is that… If there's a
god up there besides Him, he's powerless. See, there could be no other
God. All the powers of heavens and earth lays in His hand. So, you see,
standing on the right hand (as the person asked the question), doesn't
mean…
284-456
Now, look. The body… God is a Spirit. Yeah, how many understands
that, say "Amen." God is a Spirit; Jesus is a Man; and Jesus was God
made flesh. Jesus was… We could never see God (See?); He's a Spirit.
You can't see Spirit. "No man has seen God at any time." No man
couldn't see God.
And let me say this, "You've never seen me." You've never seen me in
all your life, and you never will see me. That's right. You see this
body that declares this person that's in here. Now, this body doesn't
have Eternal Life, but the spirit has Eternal Life. This body will go
back, but it'll come forth again in its likeness, just like a grain of
wheat goes into the ground.
Christianity is based upon resurrection, not replacement, resurrection.
The same Jesus went down; the same Jesus come back. If you go down
red-headed, you come back red-headed; if you go down black-headed, you
come up black-headed. See, it's a resurrection.
284-458
When you go to eating… I asked the doctor that, not long ago. I said,
"Why is it when I was sixteen years old… Every time I eat, I renew my
life?"
Said, "That's right."
You take in new–new cells every time you make… The–the flesh
make… Or the food makes blood cells, and that blood cell makes you
get stronger. That's how you live. Then something has to die every
time, for you to live. Every day something dies: if you eat meat, the
cow died; or whatever you eat; and the fish died; or the–or the wheat
died and made the bread; the potato died, that made the potato; and
the… Every form of life, you can only live through dead substance.
And you can only live eternally because something died: Jesus, Not
because you joined church, not because you were baptized, not because
you professed Christianity; because you accepted the Life of Jesus
Christ that was bled–the Blood that was shed for you, and you accept
Him as your personal Saviour.
284-462
Now, notice; I ask this. I want to ask you this. Look at this; it's
beautiful. Maybe I've taught on it before (I don't know.) here;
preaching everywhere, you forget what you said at one–certain places.
But why is it then…
Now, I guess, Sister Smith… I don't know whether I knew Brother
Fleeman that far back or not. And Tryphena, I remember her when she was
a little girl. You remember me when I used to be–was a little, short,
heavyset, black, wavy hair. I used to box. Oh, I thought I was a
stylish man in the world. "Oh," I thought, "there's nobody could whip
me. No, sir." But I–I got fooled on that. You see? But I… I–I just
thought, "Oh, my." I thought, "If you could put this thing on my back,
I'd walk down the street with it." Sure, nothing bothered me. And every
time I eat, I got bigger and stronger all the time. Every time I'd put
new life in… I eat cabbage, potatoes, and beans, and meat, just like
I do today. And I got stronger and bigger all the time. And when I got
to be about twenty-five…
285-464
I–I eat better now than I did then; you all know me, know that. I can
eat better now, all of us are. But why is it, Brother Egan, then, if I
am still eating better food, more of it, better vitamins and
everything… And the more I eat, I gradually dwindle away. And now,
I'm coming an old stoop-shouldered man, baldheaded, and turning gray,
and hands wrinkling, and face pitch in, shoulders going down, of a
morning it's hard to get up, and… Oh, my. Why is it? If I renew my
life every time I eat, why is it then?
If I'm pouring water out of a jug into a glass, and it gets half full,
and then starts going down all the time instead of coming up; and more
I pour in, faster it goes down. There you are. And you couldn't prove
it scientifically if you had to. This Book's the only thing to prove
it; God has appointed; it's an appointment. God seen us coming.
285-466
You older men, and you older women, maybe some of your–your husbands
and your wives maybe gone on. That doesn't–that doesn't bother
anything. Hallelujah. They're just across the curtain yonder, waiting:
absolutely. And they're longing to be with you again. That's right.
Certainly, they are. They're longing to be together again. The Bible
said they are, the souls under the altar crying, "Lord, how long?" See?
They're not in their right state.
God never made us Angels; He made us men and women. We'll always be men
and women, because we are a product of God's own intelligence. We can
always be men and women.
285-468
But what does it? See, maybe you think that when you walked down to the
altar, you and hubby, said that we take each other to be a lawful
wedded wife and live together in a holy state of this matrimony, and
the graces of God and so forth, and all your testimony you give, and
your pledge you made… First thing you know, begin to notice, both of
you. He was straight, and the hair shiny; and mama and her pretty,
little brown eyes, or blue eyes, or whatever it was… Oh, how you
looked at her. You walked out; you looked at dad, how, straight them
shoulders back; and after while they begin to droop. Mama'll get
gray-headed, arthritis set in and so forth, and after while, gone she
went, or away he went.
What was it? When God seen you standing there, He said, "That's it;
that's the way I want you. All right, death, you come on, but you can't
take them till I let you."
286-470
Oh, I think of Job. Yes, God was looking down; Job knew that God loved
him. (And notice. He cannot take you.) He said, "You got him at your
hands, but you don't take his life."
And then the first thing you know, shoulders begin to stoop, and after while you were gone. What was it happened?
Now, in the resurrection there won't be one thing that symbols death.
There can't be one thing that symbols this earth, of what… See, you
were coming up by the will of God; you had life. Then death set in,
take you down. Eating the same food and everything, drinking the same
kind of water, everything, but death set in. But the picture's already
set. Hallelujah. In the resurrection you'll be life again. And there'll
be no death, or no resemblance of death, or old age, or cripples, or
anything. Immortal, we'll stand in His likeness, perfected forever.
Hallelujah. Oh, I… That'd make anybody shout, especially when you get
my age.
286-473
My age is, I guess, when you think of it more than ever. You're just at
that changing over type. You see the… You–you begin to wonder,
"What's it's all about? What have I done?" I look back down here; I
think, "My, goodness; well, where's it gone to, Lord? Here I am
forty-eight years old. Two more years I'll be a half a hundred. Whew.
I've only…"
Just look at the few souls I've won. I want to win millions and
millions of more. God, help me. I get ashamed of myself even to come
home on a vacation, to think, "Oh, the harvest is ripe, and laborers
are few. Millions in sin and shame are dying every day; listen to their
call." I go to bed there at night and hear them poor little heathens
a-screaming yonder in the land. How they come by the thousands, pulling
after me, and–and standing out there at the airport where they had to
have the militia out there to keep them back, just to hear the story of
Jesus Christ.
287-475
And here we can beg them, and advertise in the paper and everything
else, and get the very finest places for them to set down, the best
entertainment with fine singing, they'll come and "Oh, well, I guess
that was all right; don't belong to my faith though."
Then…?… My, though, how–how long can it last today? It isn't
right. And here we are raking off hundreds of billions of tons of food
into the garbage can, and them people would gladly receive it. And
they're creatures of the earth the same as we are. My, we… Well, that
can't last like that too long.
287-477
All right, now, Who's the Father? The Father and the Son are One.
Watch, in I John 5:7, It said, "There are three that bear record in
heaven, the Father, the Word (which is the Son)… Father, Son, and
Holy Ghost: these three are one."
"There's three that bear record in earth, which is water, blood, and
Spirit." That's the three elements that came from the body of Christ.
They pierced His side; water came out; Blood came out; "Into Thy hands
I commend My Spirit." There you are; that's the three elements. These
three are not one, but they agree in one.
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, I John 5:7, says, "These three are One."
Water, blood, and Spirit agree in one, not One, but agree in one. So
the Father… And the only thing that the body could do, when God can
see Hisself, that through the punishment this body went through,
there's the intercess–intercession right there. See? There's when He
sees that Blood standing between Him and the judgment. Here's His Word,
said, "The day you eat thereof, the day you die." And here Jesus said,
"I… But I took their place. See, I took their place."
You remember my story the other night where I seen the vision of the
woman real bad that was in the room there? And I was condemning her,
said, "God, why don't You blow the place up?" Then He showed me. See?
And I walked up to her and told her what had happened.
288-Q-64 Now, this…?… last question.
64. Do you think, according to the Scriptures, that the Jews will be–will accept Christ just before the rapture of the church?
I–I–I
really believe that the rapture of the church… This is my own
opinion. See? And if we had time, we'd take it through, but it's–it's
after nine now. Look, I do believe that the Jews will receive Christ at
His second coming. Now, remember, so that the person would know this:
our eyes were blinded… Or their eyes were blinded that we might
receive our sight. Anyone knows, the Scriptures speaks of that. Is that
right? Paul tells us that our–that we were blinded, that the Jews were
blinded in order that we might receive Christ. See? And we're the wild
olive tree which is grafted in by adoption into the tree.
Now, here's my opinion; I'm just going to give you… They ask me, "Do
you think?" Now, here's the way I think it'll take place. I don't know.
Ever what it is, I'm sure that by God's grace and His mercy, we'll be
there (See?), by His grace, whatever it is. I may not be able to figure
it out, but here's what I think.
288-484 I believe we're at the end time. I believe the Gentile's age is finishing right now. I believe we're at the close.
And
now, the Jews… Here's been two things that's always wronged the Jews:
They been blind; they couldn't see it; and because that the Gentiles,
for one thing, many time…
I talked to a Jew at Benton Harbor, Sister Smith, and you know what He
said to me? (Over there at one of those Israel, places of Israel
there…) It was questioned about a healing of a blind man. And he
said, "You can't cut Jews in… You can't cut God in three pieces and
give him to a Jew: make him Father, Son, Holy Ghost." Said, "You can't
do that to a Jew; we're not idolaters." Said, "We believe in one God."
See?
And you go to making God three: God the Father, God the Son, and God
the Holy Ghost, you certainly blind a Jew right there, 'cause he knows
better. He knows better than that. That'd make you an idolater just as
certain as idolatry is; you got three gods. You got to make them the
self same God. That's not three gods; it's three offices of the same
God. See, God served in the fatherhood; He served in the sonship; and
He serves now in the Holy Ghost dispensation. It's the same-self God.
289-487
That's the reason that we was commissioned to baptize in the Name of
the Father, Son, Holy Ghost; because not in the name of a… In the
Name, not names, not in the names, or in the name of the Father, and in
the name of the Son, in the name of the Holy Ghost," but in the Name of
the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost (See?), recognizing the self same God
being Christ. See, that's Who it is. It can't be no other way. See? And
the Scripture…
And–and then if our revelation is wrong, then Peter and the rest of
the apostles taught the wrong thing; 'cause every person in the Bible
was baptized in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Not one person was
ever baptized in "Father, Son, Holy Ghost." It's a Catholic doctrine. I
can prove it to you by their own words, and their own Lexicons and
everything. It's a Catholic creed and not a–and not a Bible doctrine.
And no man…
289-489
Even the King of England was baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ.
About six hundred years after the death of the last apostle, when it
was not even called England, it's called "Angel Land." That's where it
come from, the name. He was baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ.
What converted him, was a little sparrow. When… If I can think… not Saint Angelo. What was his name now? Agadabus [Uncertain spelling–Ed.],
Saint Agadabus, I believe it was. I won't be sure of that name now. But
anyhow, he went up there, and they got some of these…
They called them angels, because the people and the Assyrians and so
forth were dark complected, and these English had long, white, curly
hair, blond-headed, Anglo-Saxons, you know, blue-eyed. And they said,
"They looked like Angels," and so they called it "Angel Land."
289-492
And the–the servant of the Lord went up there and was preaching to
their king, and they was setting at a great, open fireplace. I was
reading the history of it not long ago. And a little bird flew into the
light and went back out, and the king asked the question, "Where did he
come from and where did he go?" See? "He came into the light, and we
saw him, and he went back out in the darkness. Isn't that the way a man
goes?" he said.
"But what was he before he could come in here?" said the preacher. See?
That got the king; and the next morning, him and his household was
baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ. That's right.
Then what? The first man that was ever sprinkled or ever baptized any
way in the name of the "Father, Son, Holy Ghost," was in the Catholic
church. The first sprinkling ever took place was in the Catholic
church. The first pouring ever took place was in the Catholic church.
The Protestant church always baptized in the Bible, the apostles, by
immersing in the Name of Jesus Christ, everywhere. Just find one place
where they was anything else. See?
290-495
Now, in this, this great time, the Jews cannot… I asked that rabbi; I
said, "Rabbi, would it be hard for you to believe the prophets?"
He said, "I believe the prophets."
I said, "In Isaiah 9:6, what did he mean, 'Unto us a Son is born'? Who was he speaking of?"
He said, "He was speaking of the Messiah."
I said, "Then will the Messiah be borned?"
"Yes, He'd be born."
I said, "Then if He's to be born, He has a–He'd have a mother."
"Yes, He has to have a mother. And He has to have a father too," he said.
I said, "Absolutely. And would it be hard for you to believe that that
wouldn't be–that God the Great Jehovah Who opened the Red Sea, could
not give birth to this baby by immaculate birth?" See? There he was.
He said, "But you can't make Him three gods."
I said, "He isn't three gods." I said, "What relationship will Messiah be to God?"
He said, "He will be God."
I said, "Now, you got it. Now, you got it; He is God." That's exactly.
Then he tried to tell me, said, "Well, this man was a thief, this Jesus of Nazareth. He was a thief."
I said, "Rabbi, how was He a thief?"
"Well," he said, "your own Scriptures said that He went into the corn field on the Sabbath day and took the corn."
I said, "Now, rabbi, you know better–more about the Scripture than
that. Your own Scripture says that's legal. It's lawful for a man to go
and eat as much corn as he wants to, but don't put it in his sack and
take it out. Your own law, the rabbi…"
291-512
And he stood there a little bit; he–he–he believed it, 'cause he–he
witnessed. He said, after while, he said, "Well, what–what caused
John's eyes…" Said, "How did you do it?"
I said, "In the Name of Jesus Christ…"
He–he didn't know; said, "Well, you can't cut God in three pieces."
I said, "He was the Jehovah made manifest in flesh, rabbi. He… That's
what He was; He was Jehovah in flesh. His own human Name, that was the
redemption Name, 'cause no other name is given under heaven that a man
could be saved, only through that human redemption Name, the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's right. He was God; He is God; He'll forever be God
(That's exactly right.), the Lord Jesus Christ."
291-516
Now, I believe that the Gentile church will soon… The completing of
the body of the Gentile church… The doors between… Jesus said in
Matthew 24 (I'll take that one Scripture for a minute.); He said, "They
will trod down the walls of Jerusalem until the Gentile dispensation be
finished."
Now, watch. It was given by our Lord Jesus in Matthew 24, that the Jews
would be taken out of the picture. Daniel said, back over in the old
prophets; he said that there would be seventy of weeks yet 'lotted to
the Jews. And the Messiah would come (the Prince) and would prophesy in
the midst of the seventieth weeks, which was the seven years, He'd be
cut off in the midst. Look how perfect it was. Jesus was exactly
preached three and one-half years and was crucified. But there is
three… That come right in on this other question here. There's three
and a half years yet allotted to them, to the Jew. It's got to be.
291-518
Now, if you'll take Revelations the 7th chapter, John saw a hundred and
forty and four thousand of the Jews all sealed of the twelve tribes of
Israel. See what I mean? Yet previous to take place, of the coming
forth…
Now, look how beautiful it is, before we close now. Watch how–how it moves around. Now, those Jews has been darkened.
Now, these Jews here, most of them here are just… You know how they
are; they hold the wealth of the world. And they're just–just
money-people, and that's all you can make out of it (See?), and very
arrogant, and indifferent, and won't listen. But that's not the ones
that He was talking about, if you'll notice.
292-521
Now, the Gentiles… Now, watch. There's yet left three and a half
years for these Jews. Now, Jesus said that the city of Jerusalem will
be trod by the Gentiles until the Gentile dispensation (Now, you people
that don't believe in dispensations, what about that?)–till the
Gentile dispensation would be finished. And when the Gentile
dispensation is finished (the time of the Gentiles is finished), then
the city would be given back to the Jews. And Jesus went ahead to say
that the generation… Said, "When you go out and see the fig tree
putting forth its buds, and all the other trees budding," said, "you
know that summer is nigh." Said, "Likewise when you see these things
come to pass, know the time is nigh, at the door; and verily I say unto
you that this generation will not pass until these things be
fulfilled."
292-522
Now, they watched for it in that generation, "That's what He was
talking about." Not at all, listen. He said, "The generation that seen
the fig tree putting forth its buds." Now, watch, He said, "The fig
tree, and all the other trees…" Now, in other words, there'd be a
universal revival at the time. Now, watch this prophecy, how it works
in and just blends in perfect.
Now, watch. "All the other trees putting forth their buds, reviving…"
A tree, when it's putting forth its buds, is reviving. Is that right?
Now, anyone knows, a prophetic teacher, that the fig tree has always
been the Jew. We know that. It's the Jew. Now, the…
292-524
And look at Joel, when he took it over; he said, "What the palmerworm
left, the caterpillar eat; what the caterpillar left, the locust eat;
and what the locust eat…" If you notice, that's the very same insect,
different stages: the palmerworm, the caterpillar, the locust. It's all
the same bug; it's just different stages of its life. Now, watch, that
same bug begin to eat on that Jewish tree back there, cut it down, and
it begin to eat and eat and eat and eat till it took it to a stump; but
then he said, "I will restore, saith the Lord, all the years that the
caterpillar eat up. And I'll make My people a joy." See? Now, the tree
has been eaten down. The Gentiles was grafted into it; that's true. All
right, we must bring fruit.
293-525
Now, when the end time comes, when we're getting down to the end (if I
see it right), the Gospel is there's supposed to be a great revival
taking place.
Now, did you know that the Jewish flag is the oldest flag in the world?
And it's been laying dormant for two thousand years, more than, yeah,
about twenty-five hundred years. The Jewish flag, that six-point star
of David, never flowed for twenty-five hundred years, since the
carrying away of–of Babylon. And now, because the Roman Empire took
them over, and the Messiah come and they rejected It, and they was
scattered to the four winds of the earth. But did you know, on May the
6th, 1946, that flag come back over Jerusalem again? Did you know on
May the 7th, 1946, the Angel of the Lord appeared to me (the next day)
up here, and sent me into all the world to bring forth a revival, the
very next morning? When that flag raised in Jerusalem, as the going
down of the sun that afternoon, the Angel of the Lord appeared here in
the United States at the same time. "When you see the fig tree and the
rest of the trees putting forth…"
293-527
How many remembers the Star hanging down here at the Ohio River, many
years ago, when He said… Here's a picture of It here yet, when He
come down. Said, "Your Message will go forth as a forerunner for the
second coming, just like John went forth as a forerunner for the first
coming." And look, around the world has swept a revival. Tens of
thousands times thousands and thousands, and a great revival…
All the legalists, and all the different ones around over the country,
and the big churches said the Billy Sunday days are over. But when they
seen the church begin to revive (the common people), they had to save
their face. Charles Fuller would've took the place, but he was too old;
so they went with Billy Graham. And God took Billy Graham, or the
Baptist church did, and they all got around him. And Billy Graham's not
half the preacher that Brother Neville is, so as far as being a
preacher, not at–no, by no means. But what is it? They had to do it;
it's organism, and everybody right around it, gathering around. Billy
says the same thing. See, they had to do it. And it had to be done to
fulfill the Word of God. They didn't have the Spirit to rally around,
so they had to take the Word to rally around; so they did. And Billy's
a Word preacher, and a dandy, and they rallied around; so that put all
of the cold formals in their rally. And the supernatural Being, with
Divine healing, and powers and workings and so forth, by the miracles
of God, put this… the church, the raptured Bride that's got the oil
in her lamp, put her in a revival. See? And the cold formal church had
its revival. And here's Israel turning with their revival.
294-529
I've got a film up there in my house right now, "Three Minutes Till
Midnight." And we got a picture of those Jews coming in. Coming in…
You seen it in "Look" magazine. And the ships, loaded, coming from way
down in Iran and down there, them Jews never did even know that Jesus
was ever on the earth. They went down there in the carrying away of
Babylon. That's all they ever knowed. They plowed… You seen it in
"Look" magazine or "Life" and them, where they'd plow with old wooden
instruments. And when they seen those airplanes coming in, they
thought, "This is it," 'cause God told them they'd be down there, and
would be carried back to Jerusalem on the wings of eagles. That's
right. There they are. And the Jew said, "This is it." They stepped
right on, and we got their pictures with their own voice, and
interviewed them; coming from all over the world, some of them packing
their old ones on their back, and them blind and crippled. And they
getting off the ships from all different parts of the world, coming
in…
294-530
And they begin to pick up rocks in sacks, off the ground; and today
they've found fountains of water; she's the most greatest agricultural
country in the world. The Dead Sea holds more riches than all the rest
of the world put together. The Jews are returning back; it's been hid
from the Gentiles; but they're blossoming like a rose.
They said to them–them Jews, they said, "Are you coming back to die in the homeland."
Said, "We are coming back to see the Messiah. Where's He at? He's supposed to be here."
Brother, when you see the fig tree putting forth its buds, He said,
"This generation shall not pass until all be fulfilled." Look at the
revival with the formals. Look at the revival with the church. Look at
the revival coming in with the Jews; they're watching for the coming of
Messiah. The church, the Spirit-filled church, the Bride with the…
The virgins with the oil in their lamps will go into the wedding
supper.
295-534
The Jews will say, "This is that. There's our God Who we've waited on."
There's where your hundred and forty-four thousand, that Russellites
got mixed up in. There's those Jews standing there that will receive
Him. They said, "There's our God Who we've waited on." They'll see Him,
say, "Where did You get them? Where'd You get them scars in Your hand?"
He said, "I got them in the house of My friends." That's right, "The house of My friends…"
What will He do? The Gentile church will be taken into glory and the Bride will be married to Christ.
How did Joseph make hisself known to his people? He dismissed every
Gentile from his presence. He certainly did. What will happen to the
remnant of the woman's seed? The dragon spurted water out of his mouth
to make war; Jesus said, "They'll be cast into outer darkness, and
there'll be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth." The great hours
of persecutions and trials will come to the Gentile church.
295-538
What'll take place then? When the martyrdom comes, when God has
separated everything from them Jews yonder, Jesus will return as Joseph
did. When they heard Joseph, when he dismissed all of his guards and
everything else, and he seen little Benjamin and them standing there,
and them repenting for killing Joseph… They thought they'd killed
Joseph, and here he was standing before them; He said, "I'm Joseph. I'm
your brother."
Then they really trembled, "He's Joseph. Now, we know him."
When He'll say, "I'm Jesus. I'm the Messiah."
They'll say, "Oh, my, now what we'll receive."
It was all done for the glory of God. It won't be… Well, they could
hear him weeping plumb over in Pharaoh's palace, Joseph weeping for
them.
Wait till Jesus sees those Jews that He had to smite blind to let us
Gentiles have a chance to come in; that'll be an hour; I'm telling you.
He'll take those Jews. Don't you never worry; them Jews will be saved.
Yes, sir, there's got to be there. And that's my idea of it; I can't
see it nowhere else in the Scripture. You got to keep them three
together again.
295-544
You got to keep the–the sleeping virgin, the–the church just normal,
confessional. See? You got to get the church… That's, the Jew first,
the Jew first, which is just a blinded person waiting on the sideline.
You got to get the next step up, which is the sleeping virgin, who was
dilatory, and just went out and went to church, and joined the church,
and pretty good fellow. Then you got to get the church spiritual, the
rapture, the Bride. There she stands. Those three people, you can't…
They're not mixed up, not a bit. They're not all the same. Not Jehovah
Witness saying that the hundred and forty-four thousand is the bride;
that's wrong. That's the Jews. See? There's a Bride, and the Jews, then
the sleeping virgin. And you get them all, and say, "Well, they're all
three in different places." They're all, three different classes of
people. Sure, they can.
296-545
Then when Jesus returns to the earth… The Jews, what are they? The
eunuchs of the temple. And when Jesus returns, He comes with the Bride.
Jesus comes three times: He come the first time to redeem His church;
He comes the second time to receive His church; He comes the third time
with His church. See? It's exactly. So it's all one great perfect
coming; it's all one great perfect God; it's all one great perfect
Christ, one great perfect Church, one great perfect redemption,
everything. It comes a trinity, but it's all in one. See? It's not
three people, not three this; it's just one Person, one Church, one
Body, one Christ, one Lord in you all, through you all, and so forth
like that: all one.
296-546
The Lord bless you. I've held you pretty long. The Lord being willing
now, if I get to come again on a few nights, or a Sunday night or
something like that, if the pastor here doesn't have something on his
heart, I'll try to answer these here. Oh, there's some dandy's here.
How many'd like to hear them? Oh, I just love them. Let me go through
them again, right real quick, before we turn the service to the pastor.
Just listen to this.
[Brother Branham answers the following eight
questions in Part III, beginning at paragraph 668, as question numbers
67 through 74–Ed.]
Where do the stones rep… What does those stones represent in Revelation 21?
That's a good one.
Explain the four beasts of Revelation 5.
There's another good one.
Who are the twenty-four elders?
There's another good one. See?
What did the scarlet thread of Genesis 38 mean?
You remember; he went and took his own daughter-in-law and lived with
her as a harlot; and made the price and come forth; and then when the
child come forth, they put the scarlet thread around his hand (He
pushed out and then he come back in.), the–the next one come before
him. Oh, that's a good one; it sure is.
What are the gifts to be sent regarding the death of the witnesses in Revelations 11?
That's when Moses and Elijah returns back for the revival to these hundred and forty-four thousand.
What is the gifts?
Watch what them are; that's dandy.
Where will the saints be after the one-thousand-years (There's a good
one, boy. Will…) reign? What kind of a body will they have?
How shall we judge angels?
Why hair becomes of the angels in I Corinthians? In the Book of I Corinthians.
That's good ones, really good.
297-549
The Lord bless you. I hope the Lord permits us to get together and
discuss these things; it's all for His glory. We might disagree upon
the ideas of them. But I'll say one thing; if you all get as much joy
hearing them as I do talking about them, we're having a wonderful time.
Amen. Amen.
All right, the Lord be real good to you now. Don't forget the services.
Brother Neville's broadcast now, that's on WLRP, Saturday morning at
nine o'clock: the Neville quartet, and I'm sure they'd do you good,
turn and listen to them. And if I can, if I get back in time, or see
I'm going to get back, I'll call wife; if the Lord permits me to go see
dear old Brother Bosworth. I… You all… And I'll be back Sunday
night.
The Lord be good to you now. And brother, pastor, come here just a minute; and let him take the service. And…
You like that? How many prays in your own home? Let's see, all right.
Oh, that's wonderful; stay close to God. Be good, little children, God
will bless you. All right, Brother Neville.
