The Queen of the South

You can find this sermon at ChurchAges.net

1 God bless you, brother. [Brother says, "We welcome you to Chattanooga with us next year."] Thank you. The Lord willing I will be there. Thank you. May be seated.
It's indeed a privilege to be here tonight, and have this wonderful feeling, and the response of the people. So nice of these brethren to invite me back and you, also, to the next year's convention. And I pray that the heavenly Father will see us through this another year, give us many thousands of souls for our labor. And we'll all meet together again next year in Chattanooga, healthy, happy, praising God.

2 It's been a grand week for me. I've had many private interviews with the people, which seldom take place in a regular campaign, but in this convention it was allotted to do it. And to see the Holy Spirit move into the room and do the works that He has done.
Just a few moments ago, I just left the room of the emergency. And in there, I was so stricken, as going through and talking to the blind, and deaf, and crippled. A man on crutches when I was leaving, walking up-and-down the floor without his crutches.

3 A little boy sitting in a wheelchair from Canada that had muscular something. I forget just what it was called. And he said, "Looky, I can put my hand up." And weeping, his father and them.
And to see a deaf man that was sitting over there, could not hear, hearing. And different ones... And a little paralyzed girl from birth sitting up, raised up in her mother's arms and all of them were just rejoicing.
It just goes to show the mercy of our dear Lord Jesus. I have the Christian businessmen with us also, tonight. My good friend, Brother Demos Shakarian and many others. We're to speak in the morning at the Washington Hotel in the morning. I guess it's been announced.

4 Thank you for your prayers and your cooperation. And I pray now that the continuing of this service, that God's blessings will continue.
And remember, pray for me. I'm the one who needs prayer. Now, before we open His blessed Word, let us just bow our heads a moment.

5 Our blessed Lord, we are grateful to Thee, for Thou has been so kind to us to permit us to gather here in this great number. In spite of the storm, still the people come. We're thankful for them. And they never come out on a night like this to be seen. But they come for what good they could get from Thee.
And as we minister to them in song, and in the Word, and in prayer, may Your Holy Spirit work among us tonight and give us the exceeding abundantly. Bless Thy Word. Thy Word is truth. And may the Holy Spirit take these next few moments of the Word and place it into the heart of those who are so desperately in need. For we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.

6 It is late, and I have several hundred people, I suppose, to pray for tonight after the service. But I think the first things are first: salvation. And the reading of the Word tonight, the Lord willing, I have chosen Saint Matthew's gospel, the 12th chapter and the 42nd verse. And I will try not to speak but just a few moments, so listen carefully.
The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.

7 Our blessed Lord had just met some of His critics. And when they heard His claims, it brings out a mixed multitude. It always has and it always will. Where the Gospel is proclaimed and the supernatural is done, especially, brings a mixed multitude: some believers and some unbelievers.
And in this case, many of the scholars of those days, very cultured men in the Scripture---that is, in their own theology: the Pharisees and Sadducees; not men of bad reputation, but men of good reputation, men that must live lives above reproach to hold their office in the house of God.
They were men who had to be born out of a certain lineage of people, before they could become a priest. And their fathers had to be priests before them.

8 But yet, it is possible for a good, cultured man, very scholarly in his Bible teaching, yet to be an unbeliever. For I do not expect tonight that we have many men in America tonight that could compete with the scholarship of those priests of that day, for they were learned men.
And they had to be found blameless when it come to morals. They knew their Scriptures, just like they know catechism today. But yet, in all this it's possible that men could be ever so sincere, and be ever such a Bible scholar, and yet be wrong in their teachings. For it proves that they could be.

9 And these Pharisees had heard of the great, marvelous works of our blessed Lord. But He seemingly had a new doctrine for them. And the most blessed thing we could think of now, that it was correctly the Scriptural doctrine of the Bible. And God was working with Him, confirming the words that He was preaching. That's what makes the difference, is God confirming what's being said. Men can make statements, but if God doesn't confirm that word, then it isn't so. God always will confirm His Word.
But where the supernatural is done, then it attracts attention of a mixed multitude of people. If we only had time, we could go down into Egypt and see when Moses and Aaron ... while they were in Egypt, the supernatural was done. A mixed multitude followed them in the wilderness, which finally perished in the gainsaying of Korah.
But God has always confirmed His word. And the living God lives in His word and makes His word real in every generation.

10 They had been accusing Him of being a demon---or, Beelzebub, as the Bible states it. And Beelzebub was the prince of the devils. And the reason that they called Him that, is because He was endued with a certain power, that He could look down through His audience and know men by name. He could also tell them the thoughts that were in their hearts.
And a well-trained, elected Jew came to Him by the invitation of one of Jesus' disciples, by the name of Philip. And he found his friend, Nathanael, praying and brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus saw this man, He said, "Behold, an Israelite in whom is no guile."
And he said, "When did You know me, Rabbi?" It astonished him.
And He said, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the tree, I saw thee."
And then, this man who was a staunch Hebrew, knowing the Scriptures in its right light, said, "Thou art the Son of God. Thou art the King of Israel!" because a supernatural act had been done, and he recognized that to be the Messiah.

11 But the Pharisees said, and the scholars and the intellectuals of that day said, "This man is Beelzebub. He does these things through the works of the devil ... or, the power of the devil."
And Jesus said, "If Satan can cast out Satan, then his kingdom is divided."
And as for myself, that satisfies me to know that Satan has no power to heal at all. For healing is creation. And Satan is not a creator. He can only pervert what God has already created. God is the only Creator.
Therefore, there is no healing but divine healing. Medicine does not build ... or, make creation. Medicine kills germs. But operation removes causes. But God does the healing. "I'm the Lord who heals all of thy diseases."

12 Now, we find so much today said about divine healing. We find that the medical doctor will say to the surgeon, "Do not go over there to that butcher. You don't need no operation."
You go over to the surgeon, he will say to the medic ... about the medical doctor, "You don't need sugar pills. You need an operation."
Both will say about the chiropractor, "He doesn't do nothing but pop your bones."
The chiropractor will say the same about the osteopathic, "He only gives you a rub down."
And all of them says, "The preacher is out of line for praying for the sick."

13 And if we look at it in the right light, when you see such attitudes as that taken, it goes to show there's a selfish motive behind it somewhere.
We know that the surgeon does good. We know that the medical doctor does good, the chiropractic, and the osteopathic. And if we have the right feeling for our fellow man, and our motives was right, and money wasn't connected with it, we would put our arms and efforts together to make life more pleasant for the pilgrim as he passes through this way. It's the motives behind it that governs what the man is. Jesus had been rebuking them for this.

14 Now, in all ages God has had His workmen working. Back in the Bible times when a miracle happened, they just thanked the Lord for this miracle. But we're living in a different day. When anybody says something about divine healing, they want to go down and get a doctor, and let him examine it, test it over to see if it's true. That is the very fundamental basis of unbelief. "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." We are healed because we believe that we are healed.

15 What if Moses when he saw the Angel in the bush, burning, what if Moses would have said, "I'll watch that, then I'll pull some of the leaves off and take them to the laboratory to find out what kind of a chemical has been sprayed on those leaves, that they do not burn." God would've never talked to him. But Moses took off his shoes, come up reverently, and talked to the burning bush, and it talked back to him.
That's the way we do God today. We don't try to scientifically this and scientifically that; we just take God at His Word and call the things which were not as though they were.
We don't need any laboratory test. God's Word is sufficient for the test. It's been proven through the years to be right every time. That's all we need.
But in those days people were used to miracles. They never questioned it. But today, it's a constant question, which makes it hard on the believer ... or, the weak believer.

16 Then we notice again, that through every age, God has somebody some place that He can lay His hands on and work through that person. He's never been without a witness since the world began. In every age, He's had witnesses.
And back in the time that we're now facing---in the great, golden age of Israel---God had gifted a man by the name of Solomon. He's known all through the world where the Bible is read as a man of wisdom. He prayed God to give him wisdom to lead the people.
And when a gift is given to the church and the church refuses to hear that gift, then the gift becomes of non-effect. But when the gift is given to the church and the church receives it, then it's a golden age for that church.
Israel was living in its golden age under Solomon. All Israel glorified God because of this marvelous gift. It was perfectly operating. And they could see the results, that it wasn't something that was just a put-on. It was a real gift from God.

17 And then the news... When the pass-bys, coming through the country, would hear of this great gift of God, they would go tell others. That's the way the good news gets scattered: one tells the other.
And then, way down in the utmost parts of the known world, there was a little queen, perhaps a little heathen queen, called the Queen of Sheba. And in her great domain, people would come by and say, that had passed through Israel, and say, "You should see that great gift that God has given to Israel."

18 You know, faith cometh by hearing, talking about it. We don't do enough talking about the good things of God. Tonight, the church of the living God is took up too much on talking about television programs, and some kind of a ball game, or something on that order. You should be testifying to the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and let your whole life be wrapped in that.

19 So as the people came and went, the little queen kept hearing so much about it, until so much hearing caused a hunger to see it. If you keep living the right life and telling the people about how good Jesus has been to you, they'll begin to long to know something about it, something that'll take the place of all this nonsense and worldly pleasures.
As I said last evening: how dare men or women; you have no right to do those things. You are bought. You are not your own. But you're bought with a price of the precious blood of Jesus Christ, and you're not your own to throw your life away and to live the way you do. You have no legal rights to take that life that Christ has bought and sell it out to the devil. You have no rights of doing it.

20 And as I said, that thirsting, that thirst feeling in you, God made you with that thirst. That's part of God's makeup for you. He made you and give you a thirst: a thirst for Him. But you try to satisfy it with the worldly amusements: dancing, drinking, smoking, gambling, lust, trying to satisfy that blessed holy thirst with the things of the world. You have no right to do it, and you're cheating and robbing God by doing so.

21 This little queen begin to thirst. And she knowed that she was hearing something, that if it was only true, she would be willing to do anything if it was only true. So, she decides in her mind that she's just not going to take somebody's word. I like that.
You know when Philip found Nathanael ... or, Nathanael found ... or, Philip found Nathanael under the tree, Nathanael said, "Could there be any good thing come out of Nazareth?"
And I think Philip give him the best answer that anyone could. He said, "Come and see." That's the way to be satisfied: come and see.

22 And the little queen, as she knew she was mortal, and she must go to the dark eternity. If there was some ray of light from the unknown world to her, that would reflect anything towards her eternal destination, she was determined to see it for herself. I would to God that every American citizen would get that desire tonight.
Now, so she made preparations for going. And now, remember what was facing her. The first place, she was a woman. And she had about three months of desert travel, not in an air-conditioned Cadillac, but on the back of a camel.
Sometimes people want Jesus just to come and poke Himself down their throat. He doesn't come like that. You've got to be willing.

23 So when that real faith had set in her heart to see if that was the truth or not, she didn't care what the price was; she was determined to see whether it was the truth or not. I like that.
If this rumor of this meeting in Indianapolis had only a setup a creation of people to come and see whether this bunch of people has the real Holy Spirit or not, to see whether there is such a thing as the baptism of the Holy Spirit... And they would've done it, if they hadn't've choked their life out with some church creed or some worldly amusement. And they're satisfying that thirst with those things, when Christ ought to have the place. That's right.

24 Now notice, crossing that desert on a back of a camel, taking her about ninety days. Measure it on your map how far it is. Not only that but there were dangerous perils in the desert. Ishmael's children was in there, the robbers. And that poor, little woman out there by herself---and a queen---what would her little handful of eunuchs be up beside of the great swarm of Ishmaelites, robbers?
And not only did she say this, "I'll go see for myself." but she said, "I'll take an offering with me. If the thing is right, I'm going to support it with all I got." I like that.
She ladened her camels with frankincense, with gold, with silver. And what a perfect setup for the robber. But she had faith that she'd see it. And if you're determined to see whether Christ has raised from the dead or not, regardless of the price, God will make a way for you to see it. That's right.

25 And she took her offerings, and she placed them on her camels, and she sat there (that little woman), going across the desert, day and night, day and night, determined to see if this great gift of God really operated. She thought, "I've never heard such in my day. But I'll go and see if it's right." She finally arrived at the gates. She didn't come just to stay for one night of the revival. She was going to stay until she was convinced.
Oh, God, I pray that people will get that attitude: stay till it's over; be sure that you know. Don't walk up to the altar, say, "Lord, if You want me to have the Holy Ghost, give it to me. Well, You didn't do it. I'll go back. There's nothing to it." That's the reason you don't receive it.
When you're prayed for, "I don't look any different. I guess there's nothing to healing." Stay till you're convinced.

26 She unloaded the camels. She put her soldiers away. And when she walked over to the palace seat, and she stood at the door, and she seen this great gift of God begin to move upon Solomon, when she seen that discerning of spirit, till there wasn't no one come before him that could match his wisdom... He had a discerning spirit. And she stayed for many days and she watched.
And after she was convinced, she went and unladened her camels, give the great offerings for support. And not only that, she said, "All that I have heard has been right and more than I have heard."
Oh, if the church of the living God could only come to the place that they would stay at the foot of the cross, humbling themselves until they were convinced that Jesus Christ lives and reigns.

27 It is a great hour that we're living, a great day that we're living. And God has sent His Son as a propitiation for our sins. He died in our stead. He was the innocent One that became guilty, that we guilty might be innocent. The story is this (Think of it as you measure your own corruptible life in His Presence.): Jesus became you that you through His grace might become Him.
You who were going to hell, He took your place, that you might sit in heaven with Him at His place. You who were a son of the devil by nature, He took the nature ... or, the sin of your nature that you might become a son of God and sit in the heavenlies with Him. That's the story. And He did not leave us without witness.

28 He said, "A little while, the world will see Me no more, yet ye shall see Me for I (and 'I' is a personal pronoun), I will be with you, even in you to the end of the world. And the things that I do shall you do also. More than this shall you do, for I go to My Father. He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he also."
Now, "I will not leave you comfortless. I will pray the Father. He will send you the Holy Spirit of truth." And the Holy Spirit when He come was to bear witness of Jesus. Now, if that isn't true, then God promised something that He wasn't able to do.

29 But in this great atheotic, infidelic, skeptical age that we're living, I'm so happy that I can challenge the world to the fact that, in the midst of all kinds of heathen gods, and everything else, and idols, and worldly living, there is a real, resurrected, living Jesus Christ, who's just as real tonight as He was when He walked on Galilee. He hasn't failed. He will not fail. And this great Jesus is in our midst now. And He will declare Himself to be alive. He is declaring Himself to be alive. He's omnipresent, omnipotent, infinite God who cannot fail.

30 And I ask of you tonight, my sinner friend, as you're in your pilgrimage here on this earth with your eternal destination before you, you are set before you tonight the right and wrong thing. If you desire to quench that thirst that God has given you to love Him and pulling worldly things into it to try to quench that holy thirst, the God of heaven has raised up His Son and sent forth the Holy Spirit, as a gift to the church in this age, that that Holy Spirit will take and quench every thirst you have and give you blessed peace.
I offer Him to you tonight as your Saviour and the only Mediator between God and man. And while we bow our heads just a moment, I want you to think on those things. Be sincere; be quiet before God just for the next moment or two. Think it over.

31 Has Christ become such a satisfaction to you, that all your desires are all met of Him? Has He become the very fountain of your life? Or are you trying to push Him away and satisfy your longing with the lust of this world? Or in another trick of the enemy, are you trying to satisfy this longing by joining the church and neglecting that great spiritual birth, which is the only remedy that you can be saved by? For the very Author of life said, "Except a man be born again of the Spirit of God, he will in nowise enter in."
If there's such a person, while you're examining yourself, say, "Brother Branham, I have just had a little taste of Christ. But really I've never drank from the free fountain. I still have malice and strife. I do belong to church, but I've never been satisfied, and I want Christ to be my satisfying Portion. I'll admit, I still love to hear them tell jokes, and Arthur Godfrey, and all these other worldly actors."

32 I just read in a newspaper where a commentator has taken two years. Each of those actors have three and four psychiatrists to keep them up. Why don't you come to Christ and receive Him as your sin bearer, as your all-sufficient One? For may I explain to you this, He is the inexhaustible fountain of life. He's God's gift to you.
While we're praying all over the church and thinking it over, would you like to raise your hands to Christ tonight? Say, "God, be merciful to me, and strike my heart tonight with Your Holy Spirit, and give me the satisfying portion that I so desire." Will you do it just before we pray for the sick? God bless you, brother; you, my sister; you, my brother. Just be in prayer, the whole church now.

33 God bless you, young boy. God bless you, my brother here. Someone else? And my sister, my brother back there, and over there, and down here, God bless you all. "Christ, I raise my hand to Thee. Be my everlasting portion." God bless you back here in the middle aisle; brother; and you sister just behind him.
"Thou the stream of all my comfort." God bless you, sister, over here; you, brother, by her side; you over here in the aisle. Aged people with your hands up there, God bless you. What did Crosby say? God bless you, my brother.
Thou, the stream of all my comfort,
More than life to me.
Whom have I? (May I change that
just a moment for this altar?)
What have I on earth beside Thee
to satisfy me?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus. God bless you, sister. God bless you, brother. That's right. God sees you. Remember, when you put up your hand, as I said last evening, you break every law of gravitation. God bless you, sister.

34 You defy the laws of gravitation when you raise your hand. Why? You got a spirit in you. And that spirit has made a decision, that it wants to serve Christ and live. Your spirit doesn't want to die. So by the... To defy the laws of gravitation, which would hold your hands down, there's a supernatural something in you that makes you raise your hands towards your Creator. God sees that. If you'll mean that, He puts your name on the book of life, "and you have eternal, everlasting life and shall never come into condemnation, but has passed from death to life." Saint John 5:24, God's Word.
Is there another just before we pray? "Brother Branham, remember me." God bless you back there, brother. And I see your hands way back in the back. Sure, God does. God bless you here, sister; you, sister; you, sonny boy; you, sister. God bless you there, brother; you, sister; you. Oh, that's wonderful. Forty, fifty hands up already in this little group tonight.

35 "I now want to make my pledge of loyalty to Christ. I now do promise, as I raise up my hands, be Thou my everlasting Portion."
And the gift of God's eternal life, which is the greatest gift in the world, will speak back into your heart. "Yes, child of Mine, I now receive you."
God bless you, sister, here in the reserves. God bless you over there, sister, certainly He sees you. God bless you, my brother. God bless you, brother. God bless you over here. "Thou, my everlasting Portion..." Will you raise your hand again just before prayer? God bless you, sister. You back there, yeah. Some others who hasn't as yet raised your hand and wants to accept Christ, would you do it just now? God bless you, little boy. All right.

36 Just a moment longer. I know our time's getting away. How many in here that maybe has never been in a meeting before, say, "Brother Branham, I have come tonight on this one basis. I've come like the Queen of Sheba. I've come, I've heard about this Christ being raised from the dead doing the same thing here in the Cadle Tabernacle that He did before His crucifixion."? "And if Christ will do that tonight, as I've come like the Queen of Sheba to watch, I too will surrender my heart. Oh, I've been a church member, Brother Branham, but I've never been born again. I still love the things of the world." Oh, you say, "Do you... Is there something make you quit loving it?"
Jesus said ... or, the Bible says, "He that loves the world or the things of the world, the love of God is not even in him."

37 You can't love the filth and modern, world frolic, and still love Christ. It's totally impossible. Bitter and sweet water can't come from the same fountain. Would you raise your hand, say, "If God will prove that to me tonight, I'll be His beloved servant, so help me, as long as I live."? All the church members that feels that way, or sinners, raise your hand. God bless you. Dozens of them. All right, let us pray.

38 Oh, Thou Portion, Thou wonderful Christ, come, O Christ and receive these (by the fruits of this message tonight) has brought God to their heart. For Thou hast said, "No man can come to Me except My Father draws him first." And these are love gifts that God has given to His Son. And You said, "No man can pluck them from My hand, for no man is as great as My Father who gave them to Me."
And I present them to Thee, most holy God. And I pray sincerely with all that is within me, if Thou will keep their heart in perfect peace, and will satisfy every longing that's in their soul, and make Christ so real to them, Father, that they'll never wish to stray again. They are Yours, Father. I give them to Thee in the name of Thy Son, the Lord Jesus. Amen.
I wonder if the organist could give us a little chord. How many love good old hymns? Do you just love them? Oh, there's something about them that's so real.
I love Him, I love Him,
Because He first loved me.
And purchased my salvation
On cold, dark Calvary."
Every believer in here tonight and all that loves God, let's raise our hands as we sing this. Come on now, everyone.
I love Him, I love Him.
Because He first loved me,
And purchased my salvation
On Calvary's tree.

39 Doesn't that just do something to you? Doesn't that just give you a satisfying portion? How many feels that way about it? Say, "It just does something to me." What is it? The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. We cannot trust in our own merits; we only trust in His merits, which God has received Him and we being in Christ... The body of Christ is already judged. We can never come into judgment, because we've accepted Christ as our Propitiation. Therefore, we cannot be judged. God couldn't be just and bring us to judgment. We've passed from death unto life. He was judged in our stead. It would thrill the heart of the blackest heart sinner in the world, if that message could only sink down.
Now, we're going to pray for the sick. I don't know just how well we're going to get along, but that all lays in the hands of God. But I wish you would just give me your undivided attention for awhile. I'll pray for as many as I can. Then we will just start praying a little faster for them.

40 And I wonder tonight, as we stand here as the closing of this meeting, I want to thank Buford Cadle, and the staff of the Cadle Tabernacle from the depths of my heart for the privilege they have given us to come to this great city, and to be in their tabernacle, and be their guest here. May God fill this tabernacle with penitent souls is my sincere prayer.
The beloved pastor here ... (I can't think of his name at this time.) I've heard him several times on the radio, and a wonderful Bible teacher and a blessed brother. And all knows Russell Ford who sang with Mrs. Cadle, the late Mrs. Cadle, a lovely voice. God bless him also. And all that's concerned in this tabernacle, we thank God for them. May the Lord bless them. [A brother says, "It's Reverend Reynolds."] Reverend Reynolds, I believe it's Dr. Reverend Reynolds. We are ... [Gap in the audio.]

41 If it's in the atonement, it's a finished work. Salvation was finished when Christ died. And every redemptive blessing was finished when Christ died at Calvary. And the only way that we do, is to accept it as our personal gift from God through Christ.
First, it comes by hearing the Word. Next, it comes by teachers, apostles, prophets, and different gifts in the church.
Now, Jesus does not have to do these things. Let it be well known. (I'm forty-eight years old. I don't know how much time I got allotted here on earth.) But let it be known this, that God doesn't have to do these things just to prove that He's God, but He does them because He promised He would do them. Jesus said that He did it that it might be fulfilled which the prophet spoke.

42 God does this tonight because Jesus said, "The same things that I do, shall you do. I will be with you, even in you to the end of the world." He must keep that Word. And then, after His resurrection, we seen Cleopas and his friend going down to Emmaus. And they walked with the man all day long, not knowing that that was Jesus.
And many dear people here tonight walk daily. Maybe you've never been a Christian before. But that was Christ who kept you from having that accident. That was Christ who spared that baby's life. You just didn't recognize it.

43 But when He got them on the inside and closed the doors in the little inn, He did something just like He did when He was here before His crucifixion. And their eyes were opened, and they recognized that to be the risen Christ. They went back to Jerusalem light-footed, lighthearted, not to argue their religion, but to say, "The Lord is risen indeed."

44 That's what we're here for: to manifest by the will of God, through the gift of God, the resurrected Jesus. And if He shall come tonight at the platform, and through the audience, and do the things just like He did it on earth here, before His crucifixion... The Bible said, Hebrews 13:8, "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever..."
Now, Jesus yesterday, did He claim to be a healer? No, sir. He said, "It's not Me that doeth the works; it's My Father that dwelleth in Me. He doeth the works." Now, listen to Saint John 5:19. He'd passed a bunch of cripples. He had not healed any of them. He went over to a man laying on a little pallet. And He said, "Wilt thou be made whole?" For Jesus knew that he was in that condition. When the man was caught, he was questioned after he was healed.

45 Jesus said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, the Son can do nothing in Himself, but what He sees the Father doing, that doeth the Son likewise." He has risen from the dead and will do the same tonight.
Now, my boy's give out... What prayer cards have you...? Q's, 1 to a 100?