Who Do You Say This Is?
[64-1227, Who Do You Say This Is?, Phoenix, AZ, 57 min]

L-1  Good morning, friends. I certainly deem this a privilege to be here in this church. And I kinda like the name of it to begin with. It's called "Jesus Name." I like that. And I--I think that's--that's... That's the Name that I was redeemed by, that lovely Name of the Lord Jesus. And then to be in here with my good friends, assembled here on this lovely Sunday morning, right here in Phoenix. I don't know of any place I'd rather be, 'less it'd be in Glory with all of you. And that's the great event we're looking forward to some day.
L-2  And I had a sick call, to come up here on, today. And I was speaking to Brother Outlaw, my precious friend, and he--he invited me so graciously to--to come up. And all the ministers here at Phoenix has been really good to me.
L-3  I wonder sometimes why I moved down to Tucson. I've been down there three years, and ain't never been invited to any pulpit. So I suppose I've... just have to do my--my visiting up here at Tucson... or here at Phoenix, where I feel welcome. Well, maybe they'll get used to me some... You know, I preached down there the other night, and I preached three hours; no wonder they didn't ask me back.
L-4  But I have such a--a feeling in my heart for God and His people. And I'm so slow, and I--I'm afraid I'm going to leave out something and not get enough in, and I put about three or four messages in one. So I certainly... to you people that were down there, I apologize for keeping you that long. I shouldn't have done that.
L-5  And also glad this morning to be here with Brother Carl Williams, and young Jimmy here, and the choir, and my friend the Mosley brothers; see Brad, Brother John Sharrit, and so many of my friends; Brother Pat Tyler, here, from way up in Kentucky, and--and--and so many friends just to be gathered in this--this assembly this morning. See, saw a lot of my friends from Tucson and so forth, setting here.
L-6  I'm thinking of one day when all of this is over, then we'll gather where we'll... we won't... we--we won't never have to stop listening to this fine music, you see. I just happened to notice that Brother William's son, setting back there, he made a testimony the other night down to Ramada Inn. And I think he's just about close to six foot tall. But I tell you, after that testimony, I believe he was ten foot tall. He just... Really appreciated what the boy said, such a wonderful testimony.
L-7  When I hear these fine young fellows testifying of their faith that's centered in Christ... And I--I'm getting old, and I... one day I've got to--to--to quit and go Home. And see these young fellows coming on who's ready, and preparing themselves to pick up where I leave off... And that's the way we do. That's the way life is laid out. That we... one generation will move up... and father and mother. And they raise their little ones, and see them marry; and the grandchildren come along. And after a while, down goes Daddy and Mother to the dust. And then, by that time, the children then is ready again for grandchildren; and then, down they go. But there'll be a great, general resurrection one of these days. We'll all be called into the Presence of God to give an account for what we have done with what God gave to us: Jesus Christ. And so, I'm so glad to know that I've lived in this generation with such a fine bunch of people, that's around the world, that I've met. I--I just--just thankful to God. And someday when my summons comes, well, I'll--I'll have to go meet the deeds that I've done. I want them to be all to the glory and honor of God.
L-8  There's many of the things as I... we're approaching the New Year that I--I wish I could--could forget about, but I know that I've confessed them as wrong to Him and--and He put them in the Sea of Forgetfulness, and He won't never remember them no more. Now see, we're not made that way, we'll always remember. We can forgive one another, but we--we can't forget about it because we are--we are--we are made different. But God can forgive it and forget it. He can just wipe it out as though it never was. See? Because He has access to that Sea of Forgetfulness, but we don't. Just think of it, that God cannot even remember that we ever sinned. Think of that! Choir, you young folks, what if... what about that? God don't even remember that we ever sinned. See, He can forget the whole thing, and never will be brought into memory anymore. Wouldn't that be something? [Hebrews 8:12], [Hebrews 10:17], [Micah 7:19]
L-9  This is not just no place for joking. I don't believe in that joshing or joking at... It reminds me of a--a friend of mine. He's gone on to Glory now. But he--he told a little story one time, about a--a couple that had moved into the city and... from the country. And they had a... This young couple had a old father, and he was really on fire for God. So the young lady (that was her father) the... so she had got into some classical people. You know, where you have this all kind of classical entertainments. And so, she was going to have some sort of an entertainment that day in her home.
L-10  And--and her--her daddy, after he'd have his lunch, why he--he'd get the Bible and go out in the room and he'd read awhile. And he'd lay It down, and he would cry, and shout, and scream, and carry on, and get up and put his glasses on and read again. Then find something, and lay down his glasses and start crying and shouting. She said, "That would interrupt my party so I--I--I got to... I got to do something with Dad, and I don't know what to do." So she decided that she'd let him go upstairs, and get up--up over the--the place.
L-11  And--and she got to thinking, "Well now, I can't give him his Bible, 'cause he'd do the same thing up there." So she just give him an old Geography, and sent him up there. Said, "Dad, look at the pictures around the world and things while we're having the party." And said, "We won't be too long. We'll--we'll be down... You come down after a while." Said, "I know you don't want to get around where all them women are."
L-12  He said, "No, that's all right, Honey. I'll--I'll go up there."
L-13  So he... She fixed him a light and a little place. And she thought, "Well, that--that settles it. Now, he'll just look at the pictures and read a little bit of--of geography, and then... and after a while he'll come down. And it'll be all right."
L-14  So about time they got in the middle of their drinking their pink lemonade, you know, and having their party... Was after awhile, the house begin to shake, and the old man begin to run up and down the floor a-screaming and a-jumping. And--and she thought, "What happened to him? He didn't have the Bible up there. That... He must've got a hold of a Bible."
L-15  So she run up the steps, and said, "Daddy!" Said, "That's not the Bible you're reading. That's a Geography."
L-16  He said, "I know it, Honey. I know it! But" said, "you know, the other day I was reading in the Bible where Jesus said that He put our sins in the Sea of Forgetfulness, see, and wouldn't remember them anymore. And I was reading here to where they say they can't even find the bottom of the sea some places, in the Geography." Said, "Just think, they're still going." [Micah 7:19]
L-17  That was making him happy. So you can find God wherever you look. See, if you'll just look around, everything will talk for Him.
L-18  Now really, honestly, I--I told Brother Outlaw, "What shall I speak about this morning? Have you spoke your Christmas message?"
Said, "Yes."
I said, "Your New Year's message?"
"No."
L-19  So, I had some outlines here whether if I get an invitation somewhere, I'm going to speak my New Year's Message. I thought I'd leave that to Brother Outlaw for his, next week.
L-20  So I thought maybe I'd drop back on a little text here that might keep us for a few minutes, the Lord willing. And we trust that He'll bless us. I want to thank Brother Outlaw and the church here, for inviting me up to speak here. And I... As Brother Outlaw said, that "our friendship has never been seared," but the grace of God has kept us through all these years. This is the first church that invited me, and I come to, was at Phoenix.
L-21  I know... I believe I'm looking at Brother Troll, here. I'm not sure... setting in front. Is that right, Brother Troll? I believe he was along at that time. I've got some little things that he gave me during that time; little... they mold it out or something. You know, little copper things from up here where you live. And you look around... And I just wonder what it'll be that morning when we cross over, you know, and get to see people... they say, "Well, there..." You know, we'll look so much different then, than what we do now. We'll... That's right. We won't be any marks of sin or old age. We'll be perfect. Oh, I long for that time (don't you?) where all the troubles will be over.
L-22  And now, I have a Message from God that I--I feel. And I'm... I don't want to be different, but I must be honest. And if I don't speak my convictions, then you can't have no confidence in me. Because I--I--I'd be more like a traitor or a hypocrite. And I--I want to be anything else besides that, you see. I might lose a few friends on earth, but I--I want to stay true to my convictions, to what I think is right.
L-23  Now, years ago, it was very easy when I first started out; and the signs, and message, and preaching. Everywhere was a arm open, "Come! Come! Come! Come!" But then, you see, every genuine sign from God has a--a Message, a Voice. See, It follows it. If it isn't... God don't give anything like that just for the fun of giving it. He--He sends something forth to attract attention to what He's fixing to say. Like we have this wonderful singing this choir done; what was it to do? To quieten the people for an oncoming message.
L-24  That's what--that's what a sign does. Moses had the signs that we spoke of the other night, and that signs had Voices. And the... when the Voice spoke... Jesus went forth also healing the sick. He was a great Man. But when it come time that that--that Prophet, that was on earth... That they hadn't had one for four hundred years, and here He was on the earth and doing signs. Then He was "fine fellow," everybody wanted Him. But when the Message that followed that sign (the Voice)... when He set down one day, and said, "I and My Father are One." Oh, my! That--that--that was something different. They--they didn't want that. See? [Matthew 4:23], [John 10:30]
L-25  And that... the world is just like that though, friends. See? They... anything that they can get, if they can--they can help themselves with, you see... That they--they feel that as long as it don't bother them, why, they'll--they'll do it. But when it comes time that they've got to change their ideas about things, that's when the trouble comes.
L-26  Now, see, we are building a building, not a wall. The builders want to take a line of blocks and just go straight down. Now any builder can build that. But it takes a real master mechanic to turn a corner. See? When you got to cut the corner, that's the time it takes... it shows whether you're--you're really a stone mason or not; when you can turn the corner with it, and keep the continuity of the rest of the building, but turn the corner. Now it's on these corners is when trouble comes. The builders want to keep building on down. But we're not building a wall; but, a building.
L-27  Now as we approach this, this morning, you pray for me, and I'll... I always pray for you. And now, let us bow our heads just a moment in the Presence of the Great Jehovah, God. And we realize our insufficiency; all of us does. And we're not one in here but what's in need. And I wonder, while we're praying, that if there be any of you with a special need?
L-28  You know, the infinite God, as I said here at Phoenix the other day in--in the meeting down here... Just like television, it's coming, Christ is right here in the building now. See, every move you make, every time you bat your eye, it'll never die. It's in the ether waves of the air. Television doesn't manufacture that. It just picks up that wave of you, and produces it on a screen. It's there anyhow. It always was. Every move you ever made is still alive, in the air. Now, you see what we're going to be at the judgment?
L-29  So, God is here in the same manner. We don't see Him, just like we don't see those television pictures. It takes a certain tube or crystal of something to pick up the voice, and reproduce the picture and so forth. That was here when Adam was on earth, but we just located it. God is here this morning. And one of these days, in the Millennium, we're going to realize. It's going to be just more realer than television or things, that He was right here in the meeting this morning.
L-30  Now while we... upon that thought, keep in your heart what you have need of, and just raise up your hand to Him. Will you do that? Say, "Lord,..." And in your heart, think of the thought.
L-31  Now, Heavenly Father, we only have this one approach, and that's by the way of prayer. And we're--we're coming in the Name of the Lord Jesus. We're--we're not worthy to breathe the Name, to use It. We're not... in no means we think that we're worthy, but because we've been invited to do it. And knowing this, that He said, "If you ask the Father anything in My Name, I'll--I'll--I'll grant it." And we are... if our faith can only stand behind that, being His Word and Who He is, then we're sure to get what we ask for. You seen every request. You seen my hand. You know my request. [John 14:13]
L-32  And Father, I pray for each one of them. That everything that they have need of... Lord, I don't believe that a group like this would ask for anything wrong. It would be for something for the advance of their kingdom, it might be for their own healing; and in doing that, they'd want... or their own understanding. They'd want that so they could further the Kingdom of God.
L-33  And I pray, God, that each and every one's request will be granted. Bless this church, its pastor, its associates, and the deacons, trustees, all of its members, the visitors, strangers. They're not strangers, Lord. We're all Your children by grace and by Christ. And we pray that You'll give to us this morning the Bread of Life now, that we might go from here with the understanding that these requests that we asked has been granted to us.
L-34  Bless the Word, Lord, as I read It. There's no man that--that's able or sufficient to interpret that Word. John saw the Book in the hand of Him that sat upon the Throne, and there was no one in Heaven, or on earth, or beneath the earth that was worthy to even look at the Book. But one of the elders said, "Behold, the--the Lion of the Tribe of Judah has prevailed." John, looking to see a--a lion, he saw a Lamb that had been slain, a--a bloody Lamb come forth and took the Book, climbed upon a Throne and set down. And all the celebrity of Heaven took their crowns from their heads and bowed and knowed He was worthy. [Revelation 5:5]
L-35  Lord, we pray that He'll come to the Throne of our hearts this morning. Climb up and take possession of every thought that we have, and take the Word and speak to us that we might know more about Him and His plan in our lives. We ask this in Jesus Name. Amen.
L-36  Now, if you wish to turn in the Bible to the... The Scripture is found in Saint Matthew the 21st chapter, and beginning with the... I think we read the--the 10th and the 11th verse of the 21st chapter of Matthew. Be good, when you go home, if you haven't already done it through this holidays, if you would read this chapter through. It's very good. It's all good. This especially, for this season, and with the Message I hoping that the Holy Spirit let me bring you this morning.
L-37  Notice the 10th verse as we read, and the 11th.
And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this?
And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.
Now let's... God add to His Word the--the context of this Scripture reading. [Matthew 21:10-11] 
L-38  Now we know the time that it is, and many of you are familiar with the Scripture of this certain chapter. It's on... really on the day that Christ came into Jerusalem, riding on this little donkey. And we... There's a legend says that "it was a white donkey." I'd imagine, in prefigure of His second coming on a charger. That time, the prophet said, that "He would ride... Your King comes to you upon the foal of an ass, and is lowly and meek." That's how He come and--and... upon a--a little donkey, a little burden-bearer. But the next time He comes from Glory (in the 19th chapter of Revelation), He comes as a Mighty Conqueror. His vesture dipped in blood, setting upon a white horse, and all the host of Heaven's following Him upon white horses. And the legend (not scripturally or historically)... But the legend believes that He was riding a little white donkey as He come into Jerusalem. [Matthew 21:5-7], [Revelation 19:11-13]
L-39  Now that... I have chosen this... is still... because that we're in the shadows of the... or in the time of the yule season of Christmas, and--and New Year's; the ending of an old year, and the bringing in of a new one. A few days from now, many people will be turning new pages and--and doing new things and making new vows; and it's beginning of a New Year. And it never seems to me too much like Christmas. I don't know why, I always like to call it "Santa Claus Day." See? Because there's not much really...
L-40  It couldn't have been Christ's birthday. It just absolutely could not have been. He'd have had to been born in March or April, 'cause He was the Lamb. And He was a male sheep and borned in under the ram, Aries. It had to be, you see. And sheep are not born in December anyhow. Sheep are born in the Spring. And then another thing, the hills of Judea now, there's twenty feet of snow on it. How could the shepherds have been out there?
L-41  So it really comes from Roman mythology, which was the sun-god's birthday. The solar sun as it passes, the days lengthen and lengthen, and the nights grow shorter. And between the 20th and the 25th of December is the sun-god's birthday, under the Roman--Roman mythology. And then their gods... And then they celebrated the sun-god's birthday. And Constantine, and--and drawing up the constitution of the church and state and so forth. He said, "We will change it" (not knowing what the day was) "and put it over on the sun-god's birthday, and make it: Son of God's birthday." See? Which... But we don't know what day it was.
L-42  But now, theirs, taken so much of Christ out, till it's everything... some again brought back the mythology of some creature that lived, supposingly, by the name of Saint Nicholas or--or Kriss Kringle, some German mythology. And it's all just a myth, and Christ is not in it at all.
L-43  And the people has turned into buying whiskey, and--and gambling, and fashions. And a--a man that... a merchant that can sell his goods through Christmas time can live the rest of the year, almost. See? It's such a great holiday, commercial. And poor little kids on the street; their parents are not able to--to visit them with a--a present, like from Santa Claus, and they walk down the street, and their little dirty hands and their little red eyes. I--I just hate to see it come along. It ought to be a solemn day of worship to God, instead of a heartache and a headache and the things that's done. There's nothing to Christ about that. But we're right in the midst of all this now.
L-44  We find ourselves, something like they were then. See, it's just entering in now to a great feast. Jesus was coming to a Feast of the Passover. And He had entered Jerusalem... or entering Jerusalem. And the prophesies of everything He did must be fulfilled. Everything in the Bible has a meaning. Every name has a meaning. There's nothing written in the Scripture but has a--a profound meaning.
L-45  I spoke the other night at Tucson, on Why Did It Have To Be Shepherds Instead Of Theologian? He was born right in the side of the church. And the Holy Spirit going way out into the wilderness and picking up, not theologians, but shepherds. It had to be that way. Theologians wouldn't have believed such a Message. So they... it had to be shepherds.
L-46  I preached up here, a few years ago, two years ago, Why Was It, It To Be Little Bethlehem? The Lord willing, next Christmas, I want us preach on, Why Did It Have To Be The Wise Men? These "Why?'s"--they got answers to them, and they're right here in the Bible. And we're living in a marvelous time, the greatest time of all ages. We're living to when, anytime that it... time can cease and Eternity can blend right in with it and go on. The ages of all the prophets and sages, looked forward to. We ought to be every hour on our guard, watching for His coming.
L-47  We find ourselves, at this Christmas, just about like they did the first Christmas though. The world's just about to fall apart. As I preached on once, somewhere, about a Christmas message, The World Falling Apart. And the world again is just about to come to pieces. Look at the earthquakes over here in California. I predict, before the coming of the Lord Jesus, that God will sink that place. I believe that Hollywood and Los Angeles, and them filthy places over there, that God Almighty will sink them. They'll go beneath the bottom of the sea. And it's so much sin, you see, it's the barrier.
L-48  Civilization has traveled with the sun, from... and it started in the East, going west. And now it's at the West Coast. If it goes any further, it'll be back East again. So that's the barrier. And sin has traveled with civilization, and it becomes the cesspool of all ages. Things they do that--that human beings in any other age wouldn't have thought of such a thing. Woman has throwed theirself to such a filth, till no woman in any age would've ever thought of such a thing as we do today. And then still call ourselves Christians. What a disgrace!
L-49  No wonder the great prophet raised up, and he said, "I'm not a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but..." Said:
The lion has roared, and who cannot fear? And... God has spoke, and who can keep from prophesing?
See? There's something that's got to call out. [Amos 3:7-8]
L-50  We're in a critical hour; the world is. But the Church, the real Church (not the denomination); but the Church, Itself, is ready for the greatest triumph It ever made: the coming of the Groom to the Bride.
L-51  We are coming apart, looking for a messiah (something) to come and save us, get us out of all of it. We look down... the troubles down in the East. We look over in Africa to the uprises, and the racial problems, and the integration, and--and segregations. And we all fussed and hollered here not long ago (our colored friends) about, "We must have, we must have integration. That's what we need. We must have integration; every man, equal, every man." Well, that's perfectly all right. That's perfectly all right. I don't believe in slavery. Them people wasn't slaves to begin with. They're not slaves.
L-52  God is a segregationalist. I am too. Any Christian's a segregation. God segregates His people from all the rest of them. They're... They've always been a segregation. He chose a nation. He chooses a people. He is a segregationalist. He made all nations. But still, a real genuine Christian has to be a segregationalist. Separating himself from the things of the world and everything, and come into one purpose, Jesus Christ.
L-53  But they holler that. I've tried to tell them, "That's not the thing that's going to save our nation. That's only a political scheme. It's a--it's a thing of communistic background." I think Martin Luther King's going to lead his people to a biggest slaughter, and massacre, that they've ever been into. And they... You see, that ain't going to pull the world together. That ain't going to save us. We give them integration. Now it's worse than it ever was. See, that isn't the... that isn't the question. There's only one thing that can: that is God. And they certainly don't want It.
L-54  They didn't want Him then. They were falling apart, and their politics was coming apart, their nations was breaking, their church was breaking up, and they crying for a Messiah. They wanted Him. "Oh, send us a Messiah." But when He come...
L-55  God gave... gives the answer to your prayer. You've asked, and you shall receive. And that's... I could stop here for hours, on man and women, Christians even, praying for something; and God gives the answer and they don't even recognize it.
L-56  And now, God gave them the answer. They wanting a Messiah. They knowed that they'd had Caesars, and they'd had--they'd had Davids, they'd had Solomons (the wise man), they'd had Davids (the mighty warriors), they--they'd had all kinds, but they knowed they had to have help from Heaven and they... God had promised them a Messiah. And He sent them that Messiah, in answer to their prayer, but they didn't want Him.
L-57  I wonder, today, if our prayers... You hear them say, "Pray for a great revival. Pray for this. Pray for a breaking forth. Pray for unity." I wonder, if God would send such a program, if we would accept it. I just wonder if we would accept what He sends to us. You see, He... The reason that we pray for these things, because we know it's needy. But when God sends it in the way that He wants it, then it's not according to our taste, and therefore we won't receive it. And that's the way it was in that day. If He was not in the taste of their belief and their... They--they would not receive Him again, today. That's the reason they asked this question, "Who is this? Who is this fellow that's coming?" See, it was a--a tremendous time. Oh, everybody was... a tension. Something was fixing to happen.
L-58  And look at the world today, what a tension the whole world lives in. You go down the street... It's--it's not even safe to drive. It's not safe to be on a four lane highway. Everybody's at a tension, snapping and... What's the matter? Quieten down. Where you going? That's what's making the insane institutions fill up. That's what's got the church in such a turmoil. They're--they're so head-bound on certain thing. They won't stop and consider God's Word, and the hour that we're living; all under a strain, tension.
L-59  And now, we know. We are aware. The earth has just went through some great birth pains. And the church is going through some birth pains. It had to go through birth pains before it could give... Each one of the prophets, when they came into the world, it was a birth pain to the church. The world has went through a First World War, Second World War, and now it's ready for a Third World War. And it's in birth pains again. But there's only one thing that can bring peace, and that's Christ.
L-60  All of our schemes, and our ideas, and our ecclesiastical builds ups, and all of our politics, and all of our science and everything, it's been proved that it's nonsense. And then we pray for God to--to help us, to intervene, "Come in and do something for us." And then when He does, I just wonder if we would be able to understand It; if we would be able to receive It; or even would we consider It?
L-61  Now that's what was done back in them days. They'd been praying, they'd had all kinds of great leaders, they'd been under governments, they'd been under kingship, they'd been under everything, judges. But they knowed that there's only one thing that could save them, that was the coming Messiah. And the Messiah means "the anointed one." A human being that was anointed. Then the human being, anointed with the Word. The Word made flesh among us. And when He come, He--He wasn't just exactly in the taste that they wanted Him; not the taste they had... that He should come in. So therefore they--they--they cry, "Who's this fellow? What's all this racket about?" A bunch of peasants down there at the gate, breaking off palms and...
L-62  And he said, "Why, make them hold their peace. They make us nervous, the way they scream, and holler, and carry on." [Luke 19:39-40], [John 12:13]
He said, "If they hold their peace, these rocks will immediately cry out." [Luke 19:40]
L-63  Oh, time was unfolding! Prophecy was being fulfilled. No wonder! "The Lion roareth, and who will not fear? And God has spoken. Who cannot keep from prophesying?" [Amos 3:8]
L-64  "No, if He wasn't just in our own taste... If He wasn't just the way we wanted Him, the way that we thought He should come, we wouldn't receive Him." Then, it was their creeds that gotten them so off of the written Word. They were so far off, they failed to recognize Him Who they had prayed for to come. Their churches had got them so far away, till the very thing that they had prayed for, was right with them, and it wasn't in their taste, and so they--they--they couldn't believe It. They had to get away from It. They ousted It. They... There's only one thing you can do when you meet Christ. That's either accept Him or reject Him. You can never walk away mutual. You cannot do that. It--it's not for you to do it. It's just that way.
L-65  Just notice, how few recognized Him to be the Anointed Word, of that day. See, God in the beginning, being infinite, and knowed all things from the beginning... And the only thing that these things are is the display of His attributes. An attribute... You have an attribute. It's your thought. You think of something, then you speak it, then you take it. That's God. He, in the beginning... If you're... If you ever was or ever will be in Heaven, you was in Heaven to start with. You're part of God. You were His thought. He knew your name. He knew who you were before there ever was a--a--a molecule, before there was a light. Before there was anything, He knew you and your name. And put it on the Lamb's Book of Life, before the world was ever formed. See, you were His thought. And then a... Then you become a Word. And a word is a--a thought expressed. Then you are manifested. [Revelation 13:8]
L-66  That's the way He was. He was in the beginning by Himself. God dwelt alone with His thoughts. He'll never do that again 'cause His thoughts are being made manifest. And that's why we are right here, this day... is God fellowshipping with His thoughts, being made manifest. See? There we are. So, you, by taking thought, cannot add one cubit to your statue. You cannot do this, that, or other. It's God that showeth mercy. It's God. "All the Father has given Me will come to Me, and no man can come except My Father draws him." That settles it. [John 6:39, 44]
L-67  Now, just notice, how few of them in His day, of the millions upon the earth, that never even knew of Him being here. Just think, there were tens... millions of people that never knew nothing about it. And to think, in Israel at that time, there was two and a-half million people in Palestine, of Israelites, and not one-hundredth of them ever knew it. No wonder He said, "Strait is the gate and narrow is the way, but few there'll be that'll find it." Just think of how many didn't recognize Him! Didn't know that He was That. And them right around where He was at; that's the pitiful part. [Matthew 7:14]
L-68  Those who walked with Him, and saw Him on the street, and so forth... they--they didn't recognize Who He was, because Satan seen that He had the--the most smutty name that could be given to a person. He was called by the world (the natural world)... He--He was called a illegitimate (because he said that "the mother, was to be mother with Him, by Joseph, before she was married to him"). So he give Him a illegitimate name. [John 10:20-21, 24], [John 5:39], [John 8:40-47]
L-69  And again, the--the church seen Him in His great power of manifesting. Manifesting what? Not manifesting a creed! He was manifesting the Word! He was the Anointed Word, Himself. And when they seen that taking place (the manifestation, the Anointed Messiah), they turned It down. They didn't want It. It wasn't in their taste. That's the pitiful part. How many...? Just think of it! Just as in other days. [John 10:37-38], [John 5:39]
L-70  See, each had their own interpretation of the Word. That's what... the reason Israel didn't recognize Moses. That's the reason the world didn't recognize Noah. That's the reason all the prophets wasn't recognized. They have their own interpretation of the Word. But God, in every age, has had His Messiah. See? To reject Noah's Message, was to rejecting God. To reject Noah, was to perish. To reject Moses, was to perish. It was... They were the Anointed Messiah's for that age, the Word that was promised for that age. And when Jesus came, He was the fullness of the Word. [Exodus 2:14]
L-71  God, Himself, made into a man's structure, with bones and flesh; the Anointed One. And they should've seen that. But you see, their--their church world had so added here and taken away here and--and so forth, until it was so messed up till they--they trusted in their church in the stead of--of the Word. And when they seen their church anointed, then they thought something great was taking place. But when they seen the--the Word anointed, then they said, "That's fanaticism. This man is a devil, a Beelzebub." Cause it was so contrary to their church until... their church creeds and what they had done. And it was that way in every coming of a prophet, the church would be so messed up. [John 8:47-49, 52]
L-72  God sent down His laws and gave them a covenant. And the priest would come in and cut away, and add to, and take over here, and make a creed out of it. And then, God would raise out of no where, some anointed man that was raised up in the power of the Spirit. And he was always hated by the priests, by the kings. And--and where the false prophets wore their soft clothes, and walked humbly, and softly among the kings and the priests, to deserve big names and--and things. Then the real, true prophet, came from nowhere, none of their organizations.
L-73  Where--where was there any in the Bible, where God ever took a priest and made a prophet out of him? Where did God ever take an ecclesiastical theologian (trained man, theological trained man) and make a prophet out of him? Never in the histories of anywhere, did He ever do it, in any age... did He ever do it. He has to get away from that system, and bring it up. And that's what He had done here.
L-74  Jesus, when He was born in Bethlehem of Judea, out of a poor family, and He had no backgrounds as they knowed of, just one of the tribe of--of Judah, and His mother and father was from the lineage of David; and they had to come up and be taxed. And here He was, just a young fellow, around... doing nothing but tearing up the churches. And they hated Him. And they couldn't say but what that man done miracles. Peter expressed that on the Day of Pentecost, said, "Jesus, of Nazareth, a Man approved of God among us, that God was with Him." And not to add to His Word or anything; to make it a little plainer: "He was God made flesh with us. God with us." [Acts 2:22], [John 1:14], [I Timothy 3:16]
L-75  And saying the other night, that Moses, standing there with his hand in his bosom, he... that was God in Moses. He... (holding the secrets in his heart), and extended it white with leprosy. Then pulled it back into his bosom and healed it, and then extended it again to us when He sent down the Holy Spirit; which was God, again, in just another form on the Day of Pentecost. And we turn It down. We don't want That. That's the way they did then. That's the way that we'd probably do it today. [Exodus 4:6-7]
L-76  We see, every man has his own interpretation. That's why it's so confusing. But you know, the Bible said, that, "This Word is of no private interpretation." It don't need a Presbyterian interpretation of It. It don't need a Baptist interpretation. Neither does It need a Pentecostal interpretation. God is His own interpreter. He said He would do it, so He just does it, and that settles it. So that's why they see the Word of promise anointed and then they--they can't receive It. You see, because It's contrary to their--their creeds. [II Peter 1:20]
L-77  What the Messiah (Anointed One) would look like, and what He would do; it was far from their understanding. And then when it was read to them out of the Scriptures, what He'd do, still they didn't understand It. For when these wise man came down, from up at Babylon, they were kinda northeast from Jerusalem, and looked down and seen that Star leading westward. They followed It for two years, coming down across the Tigris River, and through the valleys and Shinar, and come on down, come to the head city of all the religions. The greatest religion in the world, in the temple, in Jerusalem. And up and down the streets saying, "Where is He? Where is He that's borned the King of the Jews?" Why, nobody knowed nothing about it. It was strange. [Matthew 2:2]
L-78  It even stirred to the Sanhedrin... called out the scholars and said, "Read in the Scriptures where a Messiah..."
And they went and got the--the Scriptures and read out that Micah said that, "Out... Judaea... Bethlehem of Judaea, art thou not the least among all the princes? But out of thee shall come this governor."
See, instead of investigating, they just throwed it off, "Well, it's a bunch of fanaticism." See? That's why the shepherds took the Message. See, they don't... They have their own interpretation, therefore, they--they miss the real true thing. [Matthew 2:6], [Micah 5:2]
L-79  But as ever, when He come, He come just exactly the way the Word said He would come. He come into the city just exactly, in our text this morning, the way the Word said He would come. And they said, "Who is it?" Do you see what I mean? They ought to have known who it was. And here... not the outside world, but the church world said, "Who is it? Who is this?" When, there, the Scriptures had plainly said that that's exactly the way He would come. And they say, "Who is it? Who is this fellow? What's all this emotion about? Stop from making all that noise. It makes us nervous." Uh-huh. See? The... See? The very thing they had prayed for was right there at their hand, and they didn't recognize Him. And He come just exactly the way the Scripture said He would come. And if He does today, He'll come just the way the Scripture says He'll come. He ever comes in the taste of God's Word, and not in the taste of some theologian's idea about it. [Matthew 21:10-11]
L-80  By the way, did you know the Word of God never did come to a theologian? Find the Scriptures where It ever did. The Word don't come to theologians; not at all. But you see, if the Word was made manifest today, the Word for our day, It would be in the taste of God's Word. Not in the taste of somebody's idea. God would take His Word that He promised for this day, and anoint It, and It would happen. That's all. There's no way to keep It from happening. It'll do it anyhow, no matter what the church says and what the rest of them believes. It... God will do it anyhow. There'll be just a very few that'll ever know about it. That's right, just a very few. It's always was that way.
L-81  See, with their own interpretation, they couldn't do nothing else 'cause they leaned to what the church had told them. But He would come... He always come then... He did then, rather, and He would every time He comes, and everything He does, it'll be in the taste of the Word. So therefore, we can't put confidence in what other people say. There's only one thing that you can put confidence in, and that's the Word. And the Word is God. And the Word anointed makes the Messiah; the anointed Word of the hour. How beautiful! They missed it, the Word; the right... They had... The Word is always right, but their interpretation of It was wrong.
L-82  I wonder if this great thing, this Ecumenical Council that we got in the world today, and the World Council of Churches forming together make us all one... I wonder if they realize if... That is exactly what the Scriptures said they would do. But they think it's the most wonderful thing in the world, that all of us can join hands and be one. Said, "Jesus prayed that we might be one." That is true. But not that kind of one.
L-83  He said, "Be one as I and the Father are one." Yeah, be that kind of one. Then how will that be? The Word in us would be the anointed Word. That is the oneness of God. See, the oneness of God is the Word anointed in you. See? And then you become a son (a messiah) of the age. [John 10:30], [John 17:11]
L-84  Now we find the people much the same. The people doesn't change. These people were divided in three groups. And we'll look at that for a few minutes now. I know I'm going to run just a little bit late, if it's all right with you. I'm just so slow, I--I--I just... I don't know; I--I get in and write Scriptures down, and little notes. And then I--I get there and the--the Holy Spirit grabs a hold of one, and I--I--I--I... just look like it just no end to it. It just keeps on going. But, now, to our text.
L-85  They were divided, there, in three different groups, with three different opinions. Some of them believed Him. Some of them hated Him. And some of them didn't know what to do.
L-86  See? That's--that's just the way we got it. I preached, I believe in this church, once: Believers, Make-believers, and Unbelievers. Them three in the group, you--you have that everywhere. This is three in the group, too; seeing this state of the people has always been. We can go way back and prove, that's the state of the people always. They've always been in that kind of a condition.
L-87  Then seeing that it's always been that way, then it makes us prone to believe that God designed people to be that way. Why, He'll make His enemy to praise Him. Everything... Paul, writing, in Romans, 8th chapter, said, "Oh, foolish man. Can the--can the clay say to the potter, why makest my... me thus? Doesn't He have power to make one vessel to honour and another to dishonour?" What if He hadn't made no night? You'd never appreciate the sunshine. If it'd been all sunshine, you wouldn't know how to appreciate it. What if there'd been no sickness? You'd never know how to appreciate good health. What if there'd been no evil people? No evil women? A good woman wouldn't be honored. See? They wouldn't... Honor wouldn't belong to her, 'cause it's just all that way, it's just one flat thing. But it's a law of contrast. [Romans 9:21]
L-88  God makes it thus: one to be so dishonorable, to show up the honorable one; one to be so far wrong, it shows up... If it wasn't, that would be the right thing. If there wasn't... There cannot be a bogus dollar until there is a real dollar. And then the bogus is... If it was just made a bogus to begin with, then it would be the real one. But it's--it's a copy. There cannot be... There cannot be sin until there's righteousness. Because righteousness is the--the right thing, and sin is the perversion of righteousness. In other words, a truth is a truth. A lie can't be a lie until there's a truth first; to pervert that truth into a lie. So all sin is nothing but righteousness perverted. Therefore, there is a system in the world.
L-89  Two systems; and one of them is the right system, and the other is a perverted system. And one of them is God's Word, which is right; and every man's word is a lie. And this denominational system we got today, forming a World Council of Churches to make a mark of the beast to emerge them together, is the wrong thing. And man are blindly walking into it.
L-90  God's done put the thing on earth for them to be delivered by. But they think it's a bunch of fanaticism. They don't want it. They turn it out. They think they've got to do something about it. They got to make their own system. God's got the system already here, His Word. But we don't want That. So we find ourselves today, just like they was then.
L-91  And now, seeing that people are designed to be that way... Notice, you say... I know I take a lot of time, but I don't want to keep watching that 'cause it makes me nervous. See?
L-92  Politics; now we take like... Let's just take for instance... to see if people's designed to be in three--three classes. Let's take politics. There's some that's red-hot for a man. And another group hates him. And another group don't know what to do about him; they don't know which, and it throws them into confusion.
L-93  This man said, "Oh, he's a great man. He--he'll make us the best President."
The other one said, "He's nothing but a renegade."
L-94  Then the in-between said, "Now I don't know what to do." See? See, we're designed that way. We're made up that way. That's the way human beings are. It had to be that way to fulfill God's great economy. And to make His achievement that He's going to achieve upon the earth, man had to be designed thus. One is right. The other one's wrong. And the other one's in between the two. It's always been that way.
L-95  Notice, they do that every time that they don't know... The man in between, it's a bad place because: one can show the matter, why he thinks he's right; the other one can show how he thinks he's wrong; and the one in between don't know nothing about the matter, he don't know which way to turn. And that's just the way it is in religion. People do the same thing today about their Eternal destination.
L-96  Now we're going to hurt, just a minute. They do it about their Eternal destination. A man will go down here at this--at this... to eat. And if you'd find a spider in your bowl of soup, you'd want to sue that company or that restaurant. Why, you wouldn't eat that soup, it'd be poisoned. You--you--you--you wouldn't take it at all, a big roach or something boiled up in a bowl of soup. Why, you wouldn't have it at all. It would make you sick to think about it. But yet, you'll let some bunch of theologians push something down your throat that'll send you a million miles from God, and gulp over it. When, "Man shall live by every Word that proceeds out of the mouth of God." It's a chain that your soul is hanging over hell with. And as I've said before, "A chain is its best at its weakest point." One link to break... that's all you have to do is break one of them; that's all. The rest of them lets loose with it. It's only as strong as its weakest link. [Luke 4:4], [Matthew 4:4]
L-97  Now... And a person that knows if you eat that soup with a poison spider in it, it would probably make you sick. You'd have to go to the hospital, and--and have your stomach pumped and a lot of trouble to go through. And it could actually kill you. But, my! You'd... Why, you'd never go around a place like that. You'd never want to darken the door again, because you--you--you afraid you'd get poisoned and die. And then you'll absolutely join up, put your names on books, and fight for the very cause of the thing that the Bible said, "It's not damning your body, but sending your soul to hell." See? How strange that people do. They--they've... They take their Eternal destination, base it upon some theological term. And you can bring them the Scripture, said, "This is what the Bible said. Here it is right here."
L-98  And the theologian look at It, "Well, that was for another day." See? And you listen to him. You see what God says. A real, true Christian only listens to that Word, and that's all. Man of God live by that Bread.
L-99  Notice, some--some believe in the Word. While there's others believe in their denominational interpretation. And there's others, by this confusion, that don't know what to believe.
L-100  Now some of them said, "Oh, this World Council of Churches, that's going to be the thing. It's going to make us all one. Oh, that's just it."
L-101  And others say, "Why, it's of the Devil! Here it is in the Scripture."
L-102  Then the man that don't take time to set down and pray and seek it out, he said, "Oh, forget it." Uh-huh. Forget it? It's your... by your statement, brother, by your position, by what term you take, is going to send you to your Eternal destination where you'll be forever. Don't do that.
L-103  It behooves us to set down when anything like this rises up. And a question... Like in the days of Jesus; when they come, the church said, "Oh, He's just a renegade. There's nothing to Him."
L-104  But One said, "Search the Scriptures." He said, "In Them you think you have Eternal Life, and They tell you Who I am." [John 5:39]
L-105  Then men, women, with any Christian status at all, or interest in their Eternal destination, ought to search the Scriptures and see Who He was. Then the question wouldn't been, "Who is this?" They'd say, "Here He is!" That's the difference. See, it's man, they--they--they just prone to be that way. Some are ordained to it. Hard to say that, but it's true. It shows it. See?
L-106  Now, today, some says, "I believe the Word. The Word is Truth; every Word of It."
L-107  Others say, "Ah, our pastors go and learn that kind of... They know what to say about That."
L-108  Another said, "Well, I don't know. I joined this one. I didn't like it. I went over here and joined this one. I--I don't know which one to belong to." See? That's just the way it was then, same kind of a crowd. Well it's always been that way, from the beginning, and it always will be.
L-109  Now let us consider the Bible Truth on this matter, and see if It's right; just for a few minutes now... Adam... In the beginning it started off like this, the way we got it right today, hasn't changed a bit. Adam was a "believer." Satan was an "unbeliever"; he did not believe the Word. So he got Eve, who was "not sure" whether It was right or not. See? Satan, the unbeliever... God said, "The day you eat there, that day you die."
L-110  Satan said, "That's not right." See, and he didn't believe It. Adam did believe It. So he worked on the one that was in between. They just couldn't tell... she just couldn't tell. [Genesis 3:4]
L-111  Now, notice, the woman here represents the future denominational church called bride. It all come up in Genesis. It's a seed. You start in Genesis; you'll get your picture straight. See? Now, here, she represented the church of this day because some says (now we take Presbyterians, and Lutherans, and all of them coming around, these business man and so forth), "We'd like to have... We want the baptism of the Holy Ghost. We--we'd like to get It."
L-112  Do you realize the day that we could be in? See? It could be that they never get It. Do you know Jesus said, "When they, the sleeping virgin..."?
L-113  Now, remember, the sleeping virgin come to call for oil. It was all sealed out. She didn't get It. She never got It. Do you realize that after the Bride is done gone, raptured to Heaven, churches will still go on, people think they're getting saved and everything just like they always did. Continue just like it was in the days of Noah. They went right ahead eating, drinking, and everything just like they always did. They didn't know it, but the door was closed. And it could be, friends, that the door could close at anytime. Maybe already, for all I know. We don't know. [Matthew 25:1-13]
L-114  There just going to be a few of them go in. We know that "As it was in the days of Noah (eight souls were saved), so shall it be in the coming of the Son of man." There just be a few souls saved. I don't say eight. Might be eight hundred or... I--I don't know how many. Eight thousand... I--I don't know. Eight million... I... [Matthew 24:37], [Luke 17:26]
L-115  But you see, the Bride's not going to be made up of just what little group's here on earth now. When the seventh watch, when He came, all those virgin raised and trimmed their lamps. All the way back, every one that believed the anointed Word down through the age, come forth. Like the pyramid (the bottom part), and come on... But the Headstone had to come to pick the whole thing up to make it a--a pyramid. See, put it together. Now, the Bride will be made up of all those through the ages, that's believed and has accepted Christ as their Savior.
L-116  Now, Eve wasn't sure. Adam told her, said, "Now, God said, Honey, that, 'The day you eat thereof, that day you die.'" [Genesis 2:17]
L-117  But they said... Satan said, "Surely that can't be right. You imagine a--a Father would treat His children... Just a little fun, a thing like that. Surely It ain't so." See? [Genesis 3:4]
L-118  And what did she finally turn? She turned to the "surely." And that's just exactly what the church does today, exactly. "Oh, surely... We're a great church. We're a great people. We been a long time... All this stuff that they call fanaticism out here, this--this stuff that they call baptism of the Holy Ghost and all, that's nonsense! See, that... There's no such a thing as that. Ah, surely... I pay tithes. I go to church. My mother went to the... Surely God..." But, God said different, and that's the way it's going to be, just in the taste of His Word. He said what this Laodicea church age would be. I got a special book coming out, on it, pretty soon, the Lord willing, see, of this Laodicea, to show that it's already over, that she's already sealed in there, and Christ is on the outside. Never did say He come back in again, you know. So we find it today, putting the Word out, just as it always was. [Revelation 3:14-21]
L-119  Now, notice, Moses, the anointed Word... or either we call him... I hope you will understand, when I say that he was the Messiah. He was the anointed Word that had been promised for that day. Moses was! Do you believe that? Sure, the word--the word Messiah means "the anointed." See? Now, Noah was the anointed of his day. Abraham had spoke that there would... His people would sojourn four hundred years in bondage, and they'd be brought out by a mighty hand, and what he'd show: his signs and wonders... and--and the generations that was coming on, and what would do. And Moses stood there, that anointed Word of that day. That's why he could put his hand in the bosom. Why? He was standing in the Presence of God. Amen! The great Shekinah Glory all around him. Every move he made represented God. That's where the church ought to be standing now. Right! Instead of that, we're off on some tantrum of some denominational something. [Exodus 4:6-7]
L-120  But Moses had been attracted, and he come aside. And there was that Pillar of Fire hanging there in that bush. And here stood Moses anointed. No doubt the man didn't even know what he was doing. The symbols that he was given when he stood there with his shepherd's staff, and know that that would be a rod in the wilderness. It turned into a serpent, then become an atonement; that serpent did, in the wilderness. All the things that he done... They were signs and voices speaking to the people. See, there was something was connected with him. And Moses might not even knowed it himself, but he was the anointed Word of that day. He was the anointed Messenger. So if he was the Messenger of that hour, he was the Messiah of that hour. He was the anointed one. [Exodus 4:1-9], [Exodus 3:1-4]
Now, he, Joshua, and Caleb, was the believers in the group (notice) and tried to teach others the Truth. But see, Satan (Dathan and Korah) caused others to perish in the wilderness. Now, what was the trouble?  [Jude 1:11]
L-121  God had called Moses. He didn't want to go. Those prophets had such things to do till they--they... It was a hard thing to do. They didn't want to be going out, and be scorned at. They wanted to have fellowship and go in with the rest of them and--and go along with brothers. But you see, just like... I believe... I forget what prophet it was, said, "If... I don't want to do this," (in other words) "but my whole heart will catch afire. God has spoken and I must deliver It." Whether they liked It; whether they crucified him; whether they stoned him; whatever they did... God has spoke in his heart, and he must say It. Not to be different, but be obedient. "Obedience is better than sacrifice; hearkening, unto the fats of rams." See, It was in his heart. He must do it. It was his Life. He couldn't hold It. There was something, a pulsation, that pushed them. They couldn't bless It or curse It. God had so much complete control of them till He--He was their voice, their action. Hallelujah! [I Samuel 15:22], [Exodus 4:1, 10-14]
L-122  Give me a Church that's so completely anointed with God till their every action and move is THUS SAITH THE LORD, walk in that Shekinah Glory, I'll show you a Messiah (anointed one of God) standing upon the earth.
L-123  There stood Moses by this burning bush and the Shekinah Glory. Standing there, anointed, he didn't know what he was doing hardly. He was just obeying what the Voice said do, "Stick your hand in your bosom. Pull it out. Take up that rod. Turn it into a serpent. Throw it back down again." No matter what anybody else said, he was doing it. [Exodus 4:1-9]
L-124  Said, "Lord, show me Your Glory, and I'm ready to go to Egypt. I'm not an eloquent man. I can't speak well. But You just let me see Your Glory." And He showed It to him. And he went down and took these same things, and to show that he was the anointed Messiah. That man picked up dust off the earth and throwed it into the air, and flies and fleas flew out of that dust, and cover the earth. What could create, but God? Took water out of the river and poured it upon the bank; and every drop of water throughout Egypt, turned to blood. What could do that, but God? What was it? He was so completely surrendered to God's anointed Word till he was the Messiah. [Exodus 4:10]
L-125  The Egyptians tried to turn It down this way... The unbelievers tried to turn it down. The make-believers tried their scheme. But God's Word took them right straight on to the Promised Land. That's right. They were anointed. They were... He was the Messiah.
L-126  Now the question comes up out in the wilderness. Here's where it brings... See, now, I want you to watch, my brethren. Now remember, these people enjoyed them blessings. They enjoyed the preaching of this prophet, this anointed one. They believed him. They followed him. But there arose up in the wilderness, one by the name of--of Dathan, and one by the name of Korah. And they said, "This has got to be a one-man affair. Moses thinks he's the only one God's called." [Numbers 16:1-3]
L-127  That one-man Message, they didn't want It. No, they didn't want It. And God never did deal but with one person at a time. It's always a one-man Message. When did ever He deal with the people, outside of just one person? It's an individual. It ain't a group. You're responsible to God, each one of you. You say, "Oh, I believe It." You just... What you do, you just entertain It. You entertain a thought.
L-128  Here's a woman standing here. I'm a young man, waiting to get married. She meets my specifications in every way. She's a lovely Christian: she looks like one, she dresses like one, she acts like one, she lives like one. I'll admit she'd make me a good wife. But she isn't mine till I take her for mine.
That's the way the Message is. You can sympathize with It and say, "It's right." But you've got to take It yourself to become part of It. Then you and the Message become one. Then the anointing's with you, as it is with the others.
L-129  Now, Satan, he didn't believe It. Dathan... He got Dathan and them not to believe It, caused all of them to perish.
But you say, "Wait a minute, Brother Branham, you said, 'Three: Moses, Joshua, and Caleb.'" That's exactly right. That's what there was. "But here you only say, 'Two.' You say here that 'There was a... '" [Numbers 16:27-33]
L-130  You say, "The supernatural Satan." But there was supernatural God, too, anointing these three. Now, Satan's only anointed. But the other one's coming, the other one's coming, just watch for a few minutes. He comes on the scene, his name's Balaam. He's a money-loving prophet; so-called prophet, false prophet.
L-131  There's always all kinds of prophets. And always with Israel and along with the group, there was always prophets; them: soft soap soaping, peddle pushing prophets... that walked along and want the king's good word, and a hand out, and... All right, like Ahab had four hundred of them, all dressed up in their ecclesiastical style. And he told you... he told the--the--the great king up there, the Jehoshaphat, said, "Why, sure, I got four hundred, all well trained, Hebrew prophets."
L-132  And they all come and prophesied. But that man had enough of God in him to know that that was wrong, 'cause he knowed Elijah had cursed that thing. And how could God bless what he had cursed? He couldn't do it. He said, "Have you got one more that we might inquire?" [I Kings 22:5-9]
L-133  He said, "Yes, you got one out here; Micaiah, the son of Imlah. But," said, "I hate him." Said, "He's on us all the time condemning me and telling me everything evil." How could... The Lion had roared. God had spoke. Who couldn't speak the Truth? When it was contrary to the Word of God, he had to curse the thing. Always they've had this, the false prophet. But they've had a true one always, too. Remember, there wasn't a whole school of them. There was one of them. And that's the way it is in any day. That's the way it is, today. [I Kings 22:7-8], [I Kings 22:18], [Amos 3:8]
L-134  The Prophet of the day is this Word. That's right. The Prophet, today, is not all these here different... There's a Methodist prophet, a Baptist prophet, a Pentecostal prophet, all kinds of prophets around, across the country. But still remains: there's One True Prophet, the same yesterday, today, and forever. That's right. Jesus Christ! And He is the Word. That's right. He is the Word: the Anointed Word of the hour. [Hebrews 13:8]
L-135  Notice Him now, as we travel on. We find out that Joshua and Caleb... And then here comes Balaam in the hireling prophet. What did he do? He walked right over every Word of God, after God showed it to him. He represents the denomination, today. We'll show that just in a few minutes; Dathan, what he was, and what the rest of them was. Now Balaam represented the denomination. A person who ought not... ought to know better. He knowed that was wrong. But what did he do after that? God gave him a warning, and still he walked right across that warning. He was so crazy about money and popularity that he could belong to them. And so is the churches doing today, walking right into that World Council of Churches. And every warning is blasting across the country, and signs and wonders in this last days. They walk right into it anyhow, because they love the praise of man more than they love the Word of God. [Numbers 22:5-22]
L-136  I've got a good friend out there, that's preaching that message; a Pentecostal, out telling people, trying to unite the church together. Saying that "we must come into this, this ecumenical move." Why, some in them... the church of Christ. Many of these denominations that don't even believe in the virgin birth, and all these different things, and they all belong to that. How can two walk together unless they be agreed? Then, you said "Amen" to that, I wonder about this now: Then how can a man say that he's a Christian and filled with the Holy Ghost, and deny that that Word is the same yesterday, today, and forever? The Holy Ghost in you will punctuate that Word, every Word, "Amen. Amen. Amen." When the Word says anything, you say, "That's Truth." Amen! The... 'cause you're agreed with the Word. You're agreed with God. You and God are one. God is in you. You're His son or His daughter, makes you a messiah for Him, the anointed Word living out in you. [Amos 3:3]
L-137  Notice, Balaam walked right across these things. He was a perfect denomination and a perfect answer to their taste. That's what Dathan wanted. That's what Korah wanted. They wanted to make an organization out of it. Said, "We got holy men all out through here." [Numbers 16:3]
L-138  I don't care how perfect two man would walk together, there's a difference in them. Our noses is not alike. Our thumb prints are not alike. There's many things about us... Yet we can give one another a blood transfusion, even into twins, and they still are different. Then, you see, God just gets one person into that swing, and the other believes to that.
L-139  He made one man, and many man from that man. As all die in Adam, all live in Christ. He made one way of death, and they all walked into it. And He made a way of Life, and as many walks there has Life. Off of one Man, not a dozen man come dying. A dozen man didn't have to sin. One man sinned one sin. One Man paid the complete penalty. It don't need any more crawling on your knees, and saying Hail Mary's, and all these other kind of things, and paying tributes to dead people. Jesus died that the Gift of God could be free. He paid the debt completely. But you see, we want to have something else to say into It.
L-140  Watch this now. These fellows walked up there and said, "Well, you try to make yourself the only man in the bunch. You think you're the only one." [Numbers 16:13]
And Moses was wore out with him. He went back, said, "Father..."
He said, "Separate yourself from them. I--I--I..." [Numbers 16:20-21]
L-141  "All--all that's on God's side, come over here." And He opened up the earth and swallowed them up. Is that right? Just think of it, brother. Oh, my! Why did they not believe him? Why didn't they believe that--that--that--that this Moses was that leader, of God? Why did they want to fuss with him? Always murmur and complaining, when they seen the hand of God and moved under... And Moses... God had proved that--that Moses was His anointed Messiah. You see? And then just... See, down in their heart, they were wanting something different. [Numbers 16:31-33]
L-142  What happened to you Pentecostals? A few years ago you come out of that mess called denomination, to make yourselves Pentecost. Why did you want to go back in it again? The husk had to come. (The Grain wasn't here, yet.) See? Notice, that's just the way they did. That was in their heart. They had to do it. [Proverbs 26:11]
L-143  Now, see, Dathan had a idea that they could all make a great religion out of it. You know, even the apostle Peter had the same idea on Mount Transfiguration. He said, "Let's build three tabernacles here; one for Moses, and one for the law, and one for the prophets, one..." [Matthew 17:4], [Mark 9:5], [Luke 9:33]
L-144  And while he was yet speaking, there was a Voice come down, said, "This is My beloved Son. Hear ye Him." That's when they looked back, they seen Jesus only. There He stood. He was the Word. That's all you have to hear, is that Word. That's Him in any age. See what the Word says for that age, and watch God anoint It, and go with It. That's all. [Matthew 17:5]
L-145  They followed the Pillar of Fire to the Promised Land. Those that went all the way through did, the others perished. Notice, they wanted the Word mixed with the world... caused them to error. And notice what it did to them. The Word... They missed It because they wouldn't accept the anointed Word. See, you have to have the counterfeit... First you have to have the real one, to make a counterfeit off of it. And there they had it, and God showed that He wasn't with it. [Exodus 13:21-22], [Numbers 14:14]
L-146  Think how perfect the Word had been made known to them, by being made vindicated to them. Everything that Moses prophesied would take place. That he had called to take them to this Promised Land. Everything that Moses prophesied happened, right there. Not a Word of It failed. What a privilege that that should have been, to know that you were walking in the wilderness... And there, after... When he told them the Message, they had to believe It first. But after he got them out of there, then God said, "I'll prove to them that I am that Pillar of Fire that you met in the wilderness."
L-147  So He said, "Gather them all together around the mountain." And He come down on the top of Mount Sinai. And God begin to thunder out. [Exodus 19:7, 20]
L-148  And the people said, "Don't let God speak. Let Moses speak. Don't let..." [Exodus 20:19]
L-149  God said, "I won't speak to them no more like this, but I'll raise them up a prophet that'll speak in My Name." See? So we find out that that's what God's always done. Why couldn't they see that in the beginning? See all these things, and then murmur against the Message that was taking them to the Promised Land; that started them out right, and taking them to the Promised Land. But they still... they had to murmur against It. Think, how perfect... how they could've walked every day, walking with the Lord. What a life to live, right in the wilderness! At night time... Eat manna of a morning, that fell over the night. [Deuteronomy 18:15-22]
L-150  You know, it become so common to them till they said, "Our soul loathe this Bread." See? And that's the way it's been with us. I just think of the little groups that we... just in my own little ministry, across the nation. Seeing not only healing and things; that's always been. Healing; God always had a healing outlet somewhere. Even He had a--a--a Angel on a pool once. And He... all kinds of things. The--the brass serpent in the wilderness. You've always had symbols of healing. (That isn't what I'm talking about.) Healing is one thing attracts the attention of the people. Anybody will donate to a healing service. They'll--they'll donate to a song festival. But when it comes to a poor lost soul, they ain't got nothing to do with that. See, now isn't that about right? We got everything... to a poor lost soul. Don't want nothing to do with that. They'll let him grope out into anything. Say, "Well, that's all right, he belongs to the church. It won't hurt anything." [Numbers 11:6], [John 5:3-4], [Numbers 21:7-9]
L-151  But now, we find here... (Coming to a close as quick as we can here.) Think of how perfect it was. I look down through the--the days that we have been here on this earth. Look what the Lord God has done. Started off in great signs, and wonders, and miracles, which we all enjoyed. Then watch... Then come the Message behind it.
L-152  Watch what's taken place. Walking along, not just by yourself, man along with you. See a cluster of Angels come from the Heavens, shake the whole earth, just stand there. And the newspapers write it up; when it's predicted months and months before hands would take place. There He stood there, and said, "The time is at hand, return back. Open the Seven Seals of mysteries that's been hid all through the reformations and things, bring it out." Then comes preaching Serpent's Seed, and all these things like that. And what does the clergy do? Instead of saying... "Why, Luther said this or such." They just... They'll never see it. See? But what a privilege it is for us who believe; to walk in the Presence of God, every day. [Revelation 10:1-7]
L-153  Stand there and see a whirlwind come out of the sky. It blowed a mountain half in two, standing there where we was at; cut the top of trees off and things like that. And a blast of Word come out and shook there three times, said, "Watch it go to the West Coast." Went right over there and shook down Alaska. And coming right down the West Coast now. Just exactly.
L-154  Day before, I took a rock and throwed it up in the air, and said, "THUS SAITH THE LORD, 'The hour is here, judgments will start into the earth. Earthquakes and everything will be taking place. And all the West Coast will be shook and so forth.'" Look how perfect. Day by day, everything just exactly the way He said. How can we turn it back, brethren? Let us keep our faith towards Him.
L-155  They say, "Who is this?" We know who It is. It's Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever, the Pillar of Fire. When Moses time, look what It did; typed the Pillar of Fire today. It's always... Why did they not believe Jesus to be the Word? They had the wrong interpretation and understanding. Just as Eve did, so do they now.
L-156  Then Balaam and his doctrine was just right for them. And just met their taste exactly. At the feast, look... At the Feast of the Moabites, see... Oh, what He said. Look here's how a picture that is today, how it types back. (I'm keeping you too long.) But look, notice, just for a little while, the Feast of the Moabites. See, if He couldn't get them right out there one way, Balaam did, then he organized them together. If he couldn't curse them hisself... The more he cursed, the more God blessed. Just kept...
L-157  See, that's what he done to the Pentecostals. They said a few years ago, when you all start up, "You wouldn't go nowhere. There wasn't nothing to you. You, you'd burn out. You're just a bunch of fanaticism." But every time they tried to curse you, you come right on back again. God kept revealing His Message. Down from the old Assembly, way back in the beginning, the General Council. Then He brought in when they received the Name of Jesus Christ for water baptism. Then one jumped this way, and one the other, and one went off...; organized this and that. God kept blessing.
L-158  Now, well, he seen he couldn't curse you. See? So what's he going to do? He's going to organize you. Bring you... "Oh, we're all one anyhow." See? "We all believe in the same God." So that's just what Balaam did. And didn't Jude warn us of this? They errored in the way of... in the doctrine of Balaam and perished in the gainsaying of Korah. Doesn't Jude, the foster brother of Jesus, warn us of this in the Bible? They're like Cain, from the beginning, the hireling. The one that went to church and built churches and--and built a altar and sacrificed. They error in the way of Cain. They run in the way of Balaam, and perished in the gainsaying of Korah. Jude lays the whole thing out just like we're doing it this morning, here before you, like we've been doing it. The whole thing lays there. [Jude 1:11]
L-159  They perished in the gainsaying of Korah. Just think of that, how bad that was. Just to think of what that Korah... See, he said, "Now, we'll all go up to a feast. We're all one." The Moabites believed in God. That was Lot's daughter's kids. See? "We all believe in one God." Fundamentally, they were perfectly right. Watch Balaam up there, just as fundamental as any good Baptist or Presbyterian today. He come up there and there was Israel, that undenominated... They was a nation. Israel wasn't a nation. It was a people at that time. They didn't want to go God's way, after while. They wanted to be like the rest the nations. That's when they fail. But as long as they want to stay with God, all right. [Jude 1:11]
L-160  Balaam come out, he looked down, said, "Well, my! I know one of them ministers married another man's wife." All these other things, oh sure, they had plenty. He forgot to hear the shout of the--of the King in the camp. He never seen that smitten Rock, and that brass serpent hanging there for an atonement. He didn't realize that they wasn't hooked up to any organization. They was hooked up to God's Covenant, and were walking in that. See? And Balaam said, fundamentally, "Build me seven altars." That's what Jehovah required. That's what Jehovah got on both sides. "All right, put seven calves upon it." That's what they was doing down there in that camp. "Put me seven rams on it because there's coming a Messiah someday." All right. [Numbers 23:1]
L-161  See, fundamentally, they were both right; fundamentally. See? But one day when he seen he couldn't get him on that, he said, "If we just organize ourself together then." And that's where they made their mistake.
L-162  And that's just exactly where Pentecost made its mistake; when it organized back like the rest of the churches. I'm not your enemy. I'm your brother. Some of these days you're going to find out that that's the truth. May take a little while yet, few turns of the sun, but someday you'll see that that's right.
L-163  Then Balaam's doctrine hit them just... That's what they wanted. "We're all one." See? So, there they went. All of their prophets and all went right with them. And was at the feast, the same said, "And we all believe that there's one God. Let's believe it." Just what they would been looking for, just exactly. [Revelation 2:14]
L-164  Now when the Methodist and Baptist can't hardly get together because of their organization, but when there's coming a master organization, that we can all get together, all right. "Oh," you say, "the Pentecostals will never receive it." They won't? What'd they do the other day in Missouri? You read your papers, surely. See? You won't? No, not you Pentecostals, you people; but it's not you, it's that government up there that's moving you. That's the head that's turning you. That's right. Don't you go with it. You stay away from that thing, that's the mark of the beast. You get free of that as quick as you can. See? That's an ecclesia... It's that governmental head that does the moving.
L-165  We'd have never went over and had war with Germany or any of the rest of this. Had this... some of these big politicians setting up here to make new guns and start... I don't want money out of... blood money out of my own child, that has to get out there and die for it. See? But that's what it is, it's politics that does it. And the whole world's controlled by the Devil. That's exactly what Jesus said. And it'll never be right until the Millennium, when Jesus comes and takes over. But now we're having these troubles. (Hurry up so we can get through now.)
L-166  Just what had been looking for... just the thing. That's just what they wanted. Satan's victory at the Moabite Feast. He's got another one coming, too. He's getting them all in the same way. Wait... All at once! Just think of what they done. Same as it was. It never had to take a great big, long, three or four years to draw it out. They... the false prophet, the man that walked over the Word of God... every warning that God has sent across the nation, and told them, "Get out of it! Get out of it! Get out of it!" They won't do it. They'll stay right there.
L-167  They ignore the Word of God, ignore the Words, ignore the signs, ignore the things that we're in. And go right on, "We're going to have it anyhow. We're going right on over. We got to have it. That's all. We're all one." See the folly of the Devil? That's the same thing they did at the Nicaea Feast, at Nicaea, Rome. They made a organization out of it, and that's what happened. Satan had a Nicaea Feast. Oh, my! And ever since... Listen, I'm going to say a great big word here now. And you on a tape that want to argue about this, argue it to yourself, and history, and the Bible, see, but not to me.
L-168  Listen! Every time that God sends a messenger and gets a Message started... And when that church, when that group of people becomes to the denominational feast... That's where they do it. That's where you Assemblies done it. That's where you Oneness done it. That's where the rest of you done it, at your denominational feast, throwing yourself right back in that same thing that God cursed from the beginning. That's exactly the Truth. Any time that the church ever had a revival... In Luther's time, then a... What happened? Methodists... all down through the ages... Zwingli, Finley, Finney, all of the rest of them, when they had a revival, what did they do with it? Throwed it right into a denominational feast, and crawled in with the rest of them, put a brand on you like the rest of them. Then you got a bunch of man controlling you. The Holy Spirit can't move no farther. That's exactly... You start to preach something the Bible teaches, like it... and the denomination don't believe that; put you right out. Try it once and see if it's right or not. You'll see that it's the Truth. See, at denominational feast every time they're called to it, that Balaam feast, trouble sets in. Oh, Luther, Wesley, Pentecost, and all of them are victims of it.
L-169  Notice, it was then, hallelujah, when Moses stepped forth and said, "Who's for me and God?" Amen! It was then the Levite pulled his sword and went through the camp and utterly slayed everything that was connected with it. Amen! Everything; every man that had a Moabite woman, they killed them right together. Now the hour has come. Where is that man? Where is Aaron's sons, some of the priesthood that's willing to pull the Word of God, this sharp two-edged Sword? Said, "Who stands for me and God?" Where's he at? Can invite, invite but nobody answers. See what I mean? We don't get it. We just... There's something wrong. Notice, there they was... It was then that Moses stood up and said these things. [Exodus 32:26-28]
L-170  Notice, their sin, that they did there, when they denominated themselves with Moab and made them one body... That sin was never forgiven them. I'm just going to coast on that just a minute. (It's late, but just a minute.) Their sin was never forgiven them. Not one of them ever made the Promised Land. Jesus said, in... Excuse me. Saint John 6, Jesus said; in Saint John 6, when they said, "Our fathers eat manna in the wilderness"... They were Pentecostals. Brother, they eat the manna, they had the real thing. [John 6:30-31]
L-171  Jesus said, "And they're, every one, dead. They're perished. They're Eternally gone." Their sin was never forgiven them. What did they do? They broke their covenant with God, and organized with Balaam, the hireling prophet that wouldn't take the warning of God; wouldn't take the Word of God; wouldn't take nothing of God. But he was determined to get them all one. Can you see the folly? I could stay on that a long time, but I--I think you got it. See? Notice, their sin was never forgiven them; not one of them that lived under those blessings and eat that manna and everything. [John 6:49, 58]
L-172  When the real, true Message come to a showdown, they organized it. "We'll take Moabites and us together. They're a great organization, a great nation. We're not even... We're not even a nation. We'll just marry among one another and--and we'll be all right then. We'll be with them." And it was never forgiven; never, never forgiven them.
L-173  Jesus said, "They're, every one, dead." Translate that word in the Hebrew or Greek, either one, or even in the English, it means "Eternal separation"; forever gone. That's right. [John 6:49]
L-174  Oh, yes, they saw the miracles. They saw the Word anointed. They eat the manna that come from Heaven. They enjoyed the blessings of the atonement. They saw the smitten Rock give Its water. They drank from It. They were personally acquainted with It. But when it come to breaking that Word... Don't you never forget that! When Jesus said, "I and My Father are one," didn't say there's three. Huh? When all these other great fundamentals of the Scripture... [John 10:30]
L-175  A man come to me the other night to show me where I was wrong, or to talking about the trinity. I got thousands of good trinity friends. They're in that Babylon. I got a lot of Oneness friends in that Babylon, too. See? But what happened? He said, "It's terminology, Brother Branham. You believe in the trinity?"
L-176  I said, "Certainly." I said, "I'll take your word: terminology." I said, "How do you believe it?"
He said, "I believe in one God."
I say, "You do well." See?
He said, "I believe there's one God, and three persons in the Godhead."
I said, "Aren't you a--a student of BIOLA?"
He said, "Yes."
L-177  I said, "Sounds like it." I said, "That don't speak very good for your education." I said, "Three persons, and one God?" I said, "According to Webster, there, it has to be a personality before it can be a person. You believe in three gods, mister." You cannot be a person without being a personality, 'cause it takes a personality to make a person.
L-178  So they say... He said, "Well, Mr. Branham, you know, even the--the theologians can't explain it."
L-179  I said, "That's exactly right. The Word don't come to a theologian." Uh-huh. I said, "The Bible is all tied into the Revelation, 'Upon this rock I'll build My Church, and the gates of hell can't prevail against It.'" See? Amen, there you are. See? But then when it comes to those things... Oh, my! [Matthew 16:18]
L-180  Now we want to hurry and close right quick if we can. I've got to bypass some of these Scriptures and notes, see. Now, notice, they never was forgiven of what they did. What did they do? They enjoyed the blessings. Don't forget that. I'm going to repeat it again. They never was forgiven for it. Remember, this tape goes around the world. See? It's played in camps in Africa, India, all around the world; translated in different languages; and different camps, different places. The sin was never forgiven. What? They...
L-181  You say, "Well, bless God, I--I did this. I--I--I've did this. I've eat the Heavenly manna. I..."
L-182  Yeah, they did, too. And Jesus said, "They're, every one, dead." But when it come to the exact Message, where they shouldn't break that Covenant with another nation... God was a segregationalist and He segregated that people, and they wasn't supposed to have anything to do with any other, marry into anybody. And the real, genuine Church and Bride of Christ, is joined to Christ which is the Word. And you don't marry into any organization, any denomination. You stay exactly with Christ and that Word, as an individual. To do it is Eternal separation from God. I hope everybody gets that. [John 6:49]
L-183  Now, in our text, it was near the Feast of the Passover; was going. It was a awful time. People were sleeping on the outside of the gates. Every passover did this. They was outside laying on the grounds. The inns was all full and everything. It was the passover. There was great expectations in there. The air was all filled. (Now, in about five more minutes I'll be out, Lord willing, or ten.) Everybody was all charged.
L-184  Look, there's three classes of people there. See, there was a great expectation. They knowed that this strange man was coming up to this feast. Some of them loved Him; they believed Him. Some of them hated Him; most of them hated Him. And because one loved Him and the other hated Him, the middle man didn't know what to do. See? They didn't know. Notice, the air was full of expectations. One saying, "When He gets up there, I tell you we'll call Him... We'll give Him a Word test. We'll stand Him up there by the high priest. We'll see what His wisdom is against Caiaphas." He had already proved that. See? [Matthew 26:1-5]
L-185  "But we'll do this: We'll see... I know that some of the great leaders will take hold of Him. Boy, they'll turn that old guy inside out. They'll let Him know what He was, when they go to fooling with our priests. Boy, they know what they're doing. They're smart man. They know what they're doing."
L-186  Others said, "I wonder what they will do with that guy anyhow."
L-187  Others said, "Oh, I'm waiting for Him to come. God is with Him. He is that Word. Oh, I just--I just want to see Him." See? Oh, they were divided. Now, see, the ones that did know Him and believed Him, they would have knowed what gate to wait at. See? They knowed which a-way He was coming. There's great expectation, but you know, there wasn't too many saw Him. See, there's many didn't see Him. So is it today.
L-188  Some of them said, "He's a good man. Oh, there's nothing wrong with Him. Like Napoleon, Washington, he was a good man. But, oh, as a teacher, no, no."
L-189  Some of them said, "Oh, He's a good man. Oh, He's--He's just all mixed up, that's all. He's a good fellow. Nobody can say anything bad about Him."
L-190  Others said, "No, He--He's a devil. I can tell you that--that there mind reading stuff and all this other stuff, and that--that's false prophecy. It's contrary to our creed. Don't you believe such a thing as that."
L-191  And the other one, said, "Glory to God, It's God. I know Him. I see." And they were waiting. Now that's just the way we stand today, but the same thing: the Word anointed for this hour; the Laodicea Church Age.
L-192  Now we're going to close in saying this. (Just a moment.) Three classes waited for Him. So is it today, that's right, three. Notice, the believers were shouting. See? See? His ministry had caused Him to be loved by some, hated by others, and wondered at by another class. See? His ministry... Let me quote that again. His ministry, whatever it was... We know now, It was the Word. But His ministry had caused some people to love Him. They were predestinated to do that. See, they believed it. They saw it. There was no more... When Nathaniel came up there, and--and He said to him what he did like that, he said, "Rabbi, You're the Son of God. You're the King of Israel, no question in my mind." [John 1:49]
L-193  Simon was standing there, said, "Oh, Andrew, I ain't going over. I've heard all that there stuff before."
L-194  "But," Andrew, "you ought to come. You ought to come, just come one time with me."
L-195  And while He was setting there, Jesus saw him coming up, you know, coming up. Said, "Your name is Simon. You're the son of Jonas." There was no question no more. See, that's all there was to it. They were there. They believed it. They seen it. They knowed that's what the Messiah was supposed to do when He come. [John 1:41-42]
L-196  He had to be a Prophet, for Moses said, "He would be a Prophet." And those scrupled had been four hundred years without a prophet. It took a prophet to straighten it out, always in every age. And here He was standing there.
L-197  Wasn't no question to them. They was waiting there with palms in their hand, "He'll be along after a while." Waiting!
L-198  The whole city, tense. They said, "That's a bunch of fanatics gathered out there at the gate."
L-199  The other one said, "I wonder what He'll do when He comes up here. You know, I--I really believe He's a faker. I believe He's got a rabbit foot He rubs on His ear, you know, or something like that, you know."
L-200  And like they say today, "Oh, it's some kind of a mental telepathy. It's--it's something..." They can explain it all away.
L-201  Another one said, "That's a devil. You stay over on this side of the city. Don't you have nothing to do with that. Don't you cooperate in that meeting. Don't you go down there, see. We'll have nothing to do with it." Three classes of people.
L-202  Now watch. Now here He comes riding into the city. Just exactly what the Word said He would do. Riding on a little donkey, coming into the city. Those who were not looking at the creed, not looking at the Temple, not looking at all these other things, not looking at the priests, what they had to say. Those that believed Him, they were standing there with palm in their hand. Just waiting the first move. You never heard them say, "Who's this coming?" Oh, no! They knew Who was coming. They know what the Word said. See? And the other class, see them back in the city? And then when they heard this noise: "Hosanna to the King! Hosanna to the King that comes in the Name of the Lord. Hosanna! Hosanna!" And all the screaming... [Matthew 21:6-9]
L-203  The priests run out to see what this religious commotion was about. And the people said, "Who is this?" What were they there for, friends? A religious feast! The very God that had them to ordain this Feast, told them that He'd be there just like that, and they cried, "Who is it?" [Matthew 21:10]
L-204  Time hasn't changed. People are designed the same as they was then. Hebrews 13:8 said, "He's same yesterday, today and forever." Now I'm going to close by saying this: The question isn't to them anymore. They asked, "Who it is?" But in 1964, the question is: "Who do you say It is?" What's this all about? Have you stopped to search the Scriptures? Who do you think This is? Is it mental telepathy? Is it some wild something out of the wilderness yonder somewhere, like they said, "John was a man, wild, drowning people in water out there." When, Isaiah said he'd be there, the forerunner. Malachi said he would be there just exactly. Them prophets said, "This prophet will rise right up there to forerun it." And here he was. [Hebrews 13:8]
L-205  They said, "That's a wild man. Stay away from him. See? Don't have nothing to do with him." And here comes the Messiah, just exactly what the Scripture said, "That He would ride in the city upon the foal of an ass. Meek and lowly, upon the foal of an ass, coming into the city, that the Scriptures might be fulfilled." And here stands the people at a religious feast again, like Balaam, at a religious feast, saying, "Who is this?"
L-206  And today, the Scriptures promised for this hour, friends, It's fulfilled right in our midst, hour after hour. Who do you think It is? Let us study about It when we bow our heads.
L-207  Dear God, we are all thinking seriously, deeply, because we must do this. It's on our hands, Lord. We see You, the great King. We see Your promise of the Word. We're been looking for this for years, for this great time to come, when we're living right now. We see Your anointed Word in Your people, living It out, just exactly what You said would take place. We see Satan's group anointed out yonder. And we have patterned It across the nation, back and forth through the Word, so there'll not be one stone left uncovered. I don't know who You've ordained to life, Lord. It's not my business to know that, that's Your business. But it's my business to move every stone. God help me, help other man who believe it. Move every stone, Lord, that there'll be nothing that You've ordained but what shall hear it.
L-208  We want to see Your coming, right in our generation, Lord. We believe it. We believe that--that there's another Palm Friday; Good Friday and a Palm Friday on. A crucifixion to Your Church, but our triumph when You come riding in.
L-209  We pray, God, that You'll bless, today, Thy people. Bless this little church. Bless this dear pastor and his son here, Brother Outlaw and--and his son; both Jimmy Sr. and Jr. Bless everyone that's in here.
L-210  God, may we just never come here this morning... May I... I never drove up from Tucson just to just... If I had the privilege of speaking to some people, Lord, it--it wasn't to--to glorify nothing but this Person, who the people's wondering who it is. They know that man can't do this. They know it's beyond man to know these things. But the people says, "What is it?"
L-211  Lord, we know It's You. It's Jesus Christ, in the person of the Holy Ghost. He is the Holy Ghost. "I come from God. I go to God." And we see the great Pillar of Fire among us, Lord. The same as they did in the first part of the Bible with Moses. We seen It in the middle of the Bible when Paul was on his road to Damascus. We see It. Now here we see It at the end-time again. Three is a confirmation. It's been the Message each time. [John 13:3]
L-212  God, may man and women no longer hold on to traditions and creeds. But may they come out of that thing, give their lives completely to God and believe; not trust just upon theory and things of man, but trust in the Living God. While these holidays are going on, the cry still is: "Who is this? What is it? What's it all about?" Religious people say that same thing. And It's the same Lord Jesus, made flesh in His people, anointing His Word for the Bride. And they can't understand It. They're all so toll away in Laodicea, till they don't know what It's all about. But the prophet said, "There'll be Light in the evening." So now, we're looking for It, Lord. Come, Lord, bless each one. [Zechariah 14:7]
L-213  With your heads bowed now, and your hearts. You believe this to be the Truth? You do? Just raise your hand, say, "I actually believe that to be the Truth, that we're living in the last days. We're here now and I believe that we're so twisted up..." You was at the meeting the other day, when the wheat, stalk... You notice, we haven't had an organization to follow this. I've been right here with your pastor all along, year in and out. Usually, two or three years and it's organized. It didn't organize this time. It can't. The shuck pulled away from It, but there's no farther advancement. The wheat, the ministry's turned right back the way it was at the beginning. It's Jesus Christ among us, friend. Not a man, but the Man Christ Jesus that's living in you, and wants to be a part in you, and you be a part of Him. Won't you receive Him today?
L-214  Is there any here that hasn't received the baptism of the Spirit, yet? Now you say, "Brother Branham, I tell you, I shouted one time." That's very good. "I spoke in tongues once." That's very good, too. But still that ain't what I'm talking about. How can you shout and speak in tongues and deny the Word? The evidence of the Holy Ghost is believing His Word. Always been every age if you can receive the Word. Those priests had Jesus beat a million miles when it come to fruits of the Spirit: gentle, and peaceful, and meek, lowly. He tore up churches, kicked them over; and tore the people out, and called them "snakes in the grass" and everything. See? But He was that Word. He was that Word. That's it: believe God. God is the Word. Believe It. [Acts 2:38], [Matthew 7:16-17], [Galatians 5:22-23], [Ephesians 5:9]
L-215  If you never received Christian baptism yet, there's a pool here. You never received the real Holy Ghost yet, that makes you know that every Word of God is the Truth; you say, "amen" to It and believe It with all your heart, then you can receive It this morning. And then you won't wonder Who this is that makes people act the way they do. You'll know what It is. If you haven't that experience, would you say, "Brother Branham, remember me in your prayer, and I'll raise up my hand"? And you say, "And I'll--I'll..." God bless you. God bless you, you, you. God bless you, that's fine. God bless you, fine. [Acts 2:38]
L-216  O God, as the music sweetly plays... Oh, He's wonderful! Sure. "Counselor, Prince of Peace, The Mighty God, The everlasting Father." I pray that You'll give to these people, Lord. I can only pray. That's all I know to do, is ask for them. They raised up their hands. I'm doing as I promised them to, I'm praying that You will give to them this great experience; not just merely some kind of an emotion, but a real experience; meeting God like Moses did there on the grounds in the Shekinah Glory; and not only there, but never to turn from that Word, to walk right on into the Promised Land with It. God, grant it to each and every one, this morning.
L-217  There's sickness among us today, God. We pray that You'll heal that. Heal every sick person, every needy. Grant it, Lord. They're Yours now. I give them to You in Jesus Name. Amen.
L-218  I'm sorry, I've up here right at two hours. But look, you got all evening. You can go home and recuperate and take a little nap. But don't forget what I told you. I've told you from my heart. I know it sounds strange. A few years ago I come into Phoenix here with you people, healing the sick by prayer of faith. I never explained it, didn't want to explain it. I just watched and see what people would do, just watch the impersonations and things rise. It's been a great thing for me to watch it.
L-219  But now, I'm coming to you with a Message that that sign vindicated. What did the church... No, it never denominated. But what happened to the denominations over this revival? What did they do? They went straight into Laodicea. Millions and millions, and billions of dollars poured into it, and just... and she's become big and rich and she builds millions of dollars worth of property and things like that. And to receive the Message? No indeedy. They turn It away. What is it? The husk from away from the wheat. Now the wheat must be that way, to lay in the Presence of the Son to turn to a full Gospel, golden grain for the Master. Won't you believe It? Who is This, anyhow? Who is It? Could It be man? Could It be a church? Could It be a denomination? It's Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever. Do you believe Him?
L-220  I wonder now, just with a little worship after a cutting Message like that,... Sister, how about giving us a--a--a chord, with the little choir here, about I Love Him. Do you know the old song?
 I love Him, I love Him
Because He first loved me,
Purchased my salvation
On cold, dark Calvary.
L-221  Will you sing it with me? All of you now, just in a worship. Just--just worship with me.
I love Him,...
Now, remember, like the television, He's in your room. 
Because He first loved me
And purchased my salvation
On Calvary.
Do you realize what that meant? Can you? Do you get the depths of it, what He did? 
I love Him,...
I don't see Him, but He's here. I got a little receiving set in here, a little thing that lights up in my heart. I know it reflects Him. He's here. 
... loved me
And purchased my salvation
On Calvary.
L-222  Now, I want you to do this, while we hum it. Now we're mixed up when it comes to what we've been. Remember, my background was Catholic. See? Now we're all mixed up group in here, but we've come out of all that stuff now. We are belonging to Christ. We're His. Now while we sing this, let's just turn around and just shake hands. Don't have to get up. Just say, "God bless you, brother. God bless you, sister," while we do it, just in a real Christian atmosphere. I believe God likes to be worshipped. Don't you think so? Worship Him. He... God is an object of worship. And we want to worship Him. And how do we do...? You love one another. You want to treat one another... "As you do to these, you do to Me."
L-223  Let us just sing it now, and--and shake one another's hands, and worship with...
... 'cause He...
God bless you.
Oh, I love Him, I love Him
Because He first loved me
And purchased my salvation
On...
L-224  I wonder, does that burn in your heart? Is there something in there that just--just feels real good? You know, you feel like you could just like to take It out here and hug It. Huh? Do you feel that way in your heart? If you don't, friend, be careful. You're on dangerous ground, see, if there's not some real love in there, something, "I love Him." Not just a song, but a reality. He first loved me. Where would I have been, today... I'm fifty-five years old. My life will soon be over. See? And what I... Purchased my salvation... Brother Trow, what'd you...? [A man speaks from the congregation--Ed.]
L-225  You heard that testimony, "Saved."
Saved by His power Divine,
Saved to new heights sublime!
Life is now sweet my joy is complete,
For I'm saved!
L-226  How do you know? My Spirit bears record with His Word that I've passed from death unto Life.
L-227  Thank you, dear Christians. That does me good. I like to come in a place like this where you feel at home. It's hard for me to get away. I just keep thinking, look at that clock; and--and I see my daughter setting there, shaking her head at me, and looking down like that; and--and my son, setting up here, saying, "What--what you holding here for?" I don't know. I just like to set around... you know. I don't know. I like fellowship. You know, I don't get it too many places (you know that), getting less all the time. But I know I'm drawing closer to there. See? And someday I'll preach my last sermon, close the Bible the last time. I'm going to take a little trip then. Come to visit me sometime when I do. Come up, and we'll just set down forever, and talk like Brother Carl said, and live forever.
L-228  Now look, friends, I'm going to ask you something I want you to do. Now I've kept you out of your dinner. See? And now, Brother Outlaw did something a while ago... He very seldom does anything that I don't like. But--he took an offering up for me, see. I wonder if one of them will go back, and take that offering back there, and stand at the door. And you go take it and buy your dinner with it. That's a present from me, back to you. See? You do that. See? That'll be fine. He's a sweet man. He always... He never... I never go anywhere or anything less he--he wants to do something to help me. That's his way.
L-229  There's some man standing here; I--I'm afraid to call their name, might hurt their feelings. There's a precious brother that's just gone on to Glory, went quickly. His desire... He knowed I liked the woods, so he wanted to buy me a jeep. I wouldn't let him do it. Then after he went, his little wife wanted to do it, and I wouldn't let her do it. But the rest of the boys got together and went over here... And--and there's another brother comes to this church, said, "Brother Branham, I make sand wagons." You know, buggies; or what you call hacks. And said, "I'll make you one of them." I wouldn't let him. You know what these boys done? They made a--a jeep and a sand hack together. I never seen one like it.
L-230  From the Tucson meeting that night, they drove it up in my yard, and said, "This is a present from the people of--of Phoenix." See, wouldn't even include just theirselves, just said, "Oh, it's all of us together, you see." That's... Oh, I--I'm just know if I can ever get to Heaven, I'll live with people like that. That meant so much to me, you know, just something like that; these little... something.
L-231  That makes me feel that way to Brother Outlaw here. Say, "Well, Brother Branham, I just..." Go up here to some... just get someplace till you just get to love you, and talk to you, and talk about Jesus. And--and the people of... Well, you know, "Birds of a feather." You know, they kinda like to get together and talk about things, fellowship together.
L-232  And I--I appreciate that, but I--I didn't want the offering, brother, sister. I... my church gives me a little salary of a hundred dollars a week and I do fine on that. So I--I appreciate it. Now if any of you wants to get your dinner, well, someone will be back there at the door and you get your dinner on me. You see, it'll be just fine. Some of you, I've kept you away from your dinner. You love Him? Then you got to love me 'cause I'm part of Him. See? Amen. That's the reason I love you. Lord bless you.
L-233  Let's stand up now. Don't forget our coming meetings. Anytime you're around, just remember, come in. You're always welcome. Will you pray for me? I--I'm the person that needs prayer. Will you pray? How many can realize the burden, what I got to do, and the things that lays before me? And I know what's coming, right out yonder. You see? I can see it just the same as I see other things coming. I know what's coming. See? But no time to talk about that. Let's talk about what's going on right now. Tomorrow will take care for itself. See? Do you... will you pray for me? Now, did you raise your hands you'll pray for me? All right.
L-234  God bless you now. I'm going to turn the service back to your lovely pastor, Brother Jimmy Outlaw. God bless you, Brother Jim.

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