Expectations

You can find this sermon at ChurchAges.net

1 Thank you, Brother Baxter.
Good evening, friends. I'm very happy to be here tonight to worship with you, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. How we love Him---what He is to us. No wonder it was said, "Eye has not seen, ear has not heard ... hasn't entered the heart of man, what God has for them in store that love Him." He's certainly wonderful.
[Brother Branham speaks aside, "Thank you."] It's kind of strange to have a metal flower, isn't it? Well, this is supposed to be something to help me to send my voice out there a little farther. I'm kind of small, and I haven't got very much of a voice anyhow. So, I guess they have to, kind of, step it up a little bit in there to make it go out.
My boy was telling me just a few moments ago that Brother Jackson was with us. Yeah. God bless you, Brother Jackson. I'm very happy to see him here with us tonight. The Lord bless Brother Jackson.

2 Coming up the road when Billy come down and picked me up. He said, "Daddy," said, "Brother Jackson's up there tonight." I was looking for him the other day. And I was thinking of... Brother Jackson and I, when we first met, it was up, I believe, at a revival at his church (I believe it was) when we met each other up in (Is that Kennett, Missouri?) Saxton. Saxton, Missouri.
Well, Brother Jackson, there's a lot of water's run over the dam since then, hasn't it? But the Lord has been using Brother Jackson in a most unusual way. One of the great gifts that's through the church: He prays for the sick with a marvelous success. And not only that, but he has one of the outstanding phenomenals of the day, of the baptism of the Spirit, of laying on the hands.

3 Now, when I first come in the Pentecostal people, I'd hear them talking about seeking, tarrying for the Holy Ghost. I couldn't understand that. Why tarry when the Holy Ghost has been here for some two thousand years? I seen the word tarry doesn't mean "pray." Tarry means "wait." Well, I seen they had to wait until the day of Pentecost had fully come. But after that, there was no waiting. "While Peter spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on them." Paul laid his hands upon them, and they received the Holy Ghost.
Well, it seemed to me like there was a little something different when Philip went down and preached to the Samaritans. They all received the Word and was baptized, but the Holy Ghost had come upon none of them. Paul ... I mean, Peter came down, he and John, and he prayed and laid hands on them; the Holy Ghost came on them.
Well, I thought, That's the way I believe it would be apostolic. That's the way the Scripture says it.
And now, that's just the thing that God has done for our Brother Jackson. I've never seen him ... I've heard of it so much. My boy told me that he was up at Dallas when Brother Jackson was up there, and seen him line the people up somewhere along the altar, somewhere, and went along laying hands on them, and them receiving the Holy Ghost as he laid hands on them. That's what the Scripture says. I just believe it. That's the way the Scripture says it's to be done.
I'm so happy about that, that God has give that to our church just before the coming of the Lord. Isn't that marvelous? Oh, my. We ought to be the happiest people on earth.

4 Use our armor. We've got a armor. God works with us, and gives us the armor. And the whole armor is on the supernatural, see. Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, goodness, meekness, gentleness, patience. It's all in the supernatural. And as you let your faith loose to God's Spirit, it brings your body in subjection to God's redemptive blessings to you.
And anything that Jesus died for, He's sitting at the right hand of the Father tonight, making intercessions upon your confession. Whatever you confess that He's done and believe it, it's your personal property. Every believer, every person that's born again has a right to any of the redemptive blessings.
When you get saved, Jesus just takes and hands you a checkbook that'll last you all through life's journey. And His name's signed at the bottom of every one of them. "Whatever you have need of, you ask the Father in My name; it'll be done." Just sign the check and send it up there. Are you afraid to sign one tonight? Nah. Fill it out, send it up. It's recognized. Yes, sir. It's recognized. He'll certainly bring it to pass.

5 Now, I'm just a little late, so my services... I don't hold them long, as you notice, because it's under vision. And vision makes me so weak; it does anyone. And I just read a little bit here, now, and then we'll go right into the service.
In the second chapter of St. Luke, for just a Scripture reading, beginning with the twenty-fifth verse, we read this:
And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; ... the same man was just ... devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him.
And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ.
And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought ... the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law,
Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said,
Lord, now letteth ... thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word:
For my eyes have seen thy salvation,

6 Can we bow our head just a moment.
Lord Jesus, may we, tonight, as Your believing people that's come together here, looking for the second coming of our Lord to receive us into His glorious kingdom, where there'll be no end to that great age. And now, may we, tonight, as Simeon of old, lift the Saviour in our arms of faith. You've promised us all these blessings. And we believe that we receive them through faith.
Forgive us of our shortcomings, our sin ... trespasses against You, realizing that unbelief is sin. Then forgive us, Lord, of our unbelief. Help us tonight as we've gathered here---different churches, different peoples, different nationalities, but the same God working in all of us. Help us now to receive of Thy blessings. And may the Holy Spirit come take the things of God, and pass that right out to the people, for we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.

7 Just a moment. First thing, if any minister comes to the platform to preach, first he must feel his congregation. You've got to get your spiritual bearing. Then it helps you so much; you can feel out where faith is. I guess Brother Jackson's very familiar with that. Where you have faith.
Now, in the Scripture reading, we find an elderly man by the name of Simeon. We perhaps call him an old sage, with his long, white beard, and hair---somewhere around in his eighties. And he was a very pious, religious person. And the Holy Spirit revealed to him that he wasn't going to die until he seen the Lord's Christ. And he wasn't afraid to go around telling people that he wasn't going to die until he seen the Lord.

8 Now, could you imagine how fanatically that seemed to the people? Why, I can hear some of them would say, "The old fellow's kind of, you know, he's kind of got old and his mind's give away and that's the condition he's in. Why, look, even David looked for Him, and all down, why, it's been four thousand years. And, here, this old man almost ready to go into the grave now says he isn't going to die until he sees the Christ. And here we are all over here, under the Roman empire, under government of the Romans, and, why, we couldn't... Well, the Christ isn't going to come now."

9 But Simeon had a grounds to believe, because it was revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he wasn't going to die until he seen Christ. Now, that's a good way to believe: when the Holy Spirit reveals it to you. Believe it.
There's just a whole lot in this book, much that I don't know anything about, but yet, I believe every word of it. I can't explain it, but I believe it.
And I'm running a series, myself, now, at home, in Genesis, taking Genesis through. Why, my! If you see the inspiration in Genesis. You can take the first chapter of Genesis and weave it through the last chapter of Revelation, through the Bible. Every bit of it inspired. How the whole Word of God sets together. And every word of it's inspired; every bit of it is true. The Holy Spirit has overseen that through the age, that all God's Word is inspired.

10 And in times, the old wheels grind slow, but it grinds sure. It's got to be just the way God said it was going to be. No matter how unreal it seems, but it's going to be that way.
As we talked last night: One time they didn't have electricity, but some man believed there was such a thing; and he kept working tireless hours until he discovered what it was. And same thing by television, by automobile, and so forth. God put all these things here for our benefit.
Now, if we who are acquainted with the supernatural would just take a man, where... The man in his senses is limited to his senses. But a man in his spirit is unlimited. The tree of knowledge can only climb so far, and it breaks back. But the tree of life goes on forever. And how that science has taken man farther with his five senses than we have with his soul. Well we've got untapped resources, for all things are possible. Talk about split atoms, and the waves through the...