Hebrews, Chapter 2, part 2

You can find this sermon at ChurchAges.net

1 Come first, and study the Scriptures, so he could compare it, and would see whether it was the truth or not. He took it the truth by the Old Testament. Now, Paul was an Old Testament scholar. How many knows that? He was taught under one of the best scholars of his day: Gamaliel, outstanding scholar. And Paul knew the Old Testament. And I think his first shaking (as I said this morning, when he witnessed the death of Stephen), something must have got ahold of Paul, because all through his writings he kept referring to it: "I'm not worthy because I persecuted the church unto death; I'm the least among them."
Oh, but God had a different thought of it. He was one of the mightiest men of the day.
See, Saint Paul, the great apostle
With his robe so bright and fair,
(the poet said)
Oh, there's sure to be some shouting
When we all meet there. (That great day
when I see him receive a martyr's
crown, a martyr reward.)

2 I stood, with a little old pen, here not long ago, where he wrote these letters. And then they chopped his head off, and pitched him over into the sewer, to wash down the sewer. And this little Jew there, he said, "I bear in my body the marks of Jesus Christ. I've fought with beasts at Ephesus, but I've fought a good fight. I've finished the course. I've kept the Faith. And henceforth, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, that the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me at that day. And not only me, but all who love His appearing." How I love that. Oh, I want to be numbered with those. We used to sing a song:
Oh, would you be numbered as one of His fold?
Would you be numbered as one of His fold?
Be spotless within, be watching and waiting
that sight to behold;
He's coming again.

3 (I want to be one of them.)
Now, the writer goes ahead and saying:
Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we've heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. [As we taught on that this morning.]
Second verse deals:
For if the word spoke by angels ... [What did we find angels to be? Prophets. "God spoke in sundry times..." Now, you have to make, not our own idea, but the Bible.]
Now the first chapter, the first verse:
GOD, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake to the fathers by the prophets,

4 Now he goes over here and says again:
For if the word spoken by angels were steadfast ... [and what does an angel mean? "Messenger."]
If God anointed messenger... And then, if we be anointed, we are God's messengers. We are messengers to the world, an ambassador of heaven, professing that we are pilgrims and strangers. We're not of this world, but we seek a city to come whose builder and maker is God. We lay not up treasures on this earth where thieves break in; and moths, rust can corrupt; for our treasures lays in heaven where Jesus sits at the right hand of the Majesty. Oh, what a glorious and marvelous thing to know that:
Our hopes are built on nothing less
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness;
When all around my soul gives way,
Then He's all my hope and stay.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other grounds is sinking sand,
All other grounds is sinking sand,

5 How Eddie Peronet wrote that song in the times of persecutions.
Now if the word spoke by angels was steadfast, [When the messenger of God spoke the Word, it stood!] and every reward ... received a just recompense of reward;
How shall we escape now ... [if we don't hear Christ, who speaks from heaven. Now watch]
How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; [Think of it!] which in the first begin to be spoken by the Lord...

6 Christ begin His work. What did He do? We watch Him, how He was humble, lowly; how He wasn't a great noted man as a theologian. But He was humble, meek, gentle; He wasn't a mighty preacher. His voice wasn't heard in the street. But John went forth as a roaring lion; he was a preacher.
Jesus come forth, not as a roaring lion, but God working with Him confirming the Word. God was with Christ. Peter said, at the day of Pentecost, "Ye men of Israel, and you that dwell in Judea... Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you with signs and wonders and miracles, which God did by Him in the midst of you all, which you all are witnesses." Watch how he pinned it down on them, "You should have known Him."
Jesus said, "You hypocrites." Said, "You go out and look at the sun, and it's red and lowring, and you say, 'it's going to be foul weather.' And if it's bright and sunny and so forth, you say, 'it's going to be fair weather.'" Said, "You can discern the sky, but the signs of the time, you cannot discern. For if you would have known Me, you'd know My day."

7 Oh, what He'd scream tonight! How His Spirit screams through His preachers, "The hour is at hand." We discern, we watch the atomic bombs; we know who's going to take Clark Gables' place, and who's going to do this, that, or the other; or who'll be the vice-president. We're interested in that, but we cannot discern the signs of the time. We're at the end.
What is it? We're so interested in what the next chapter of television... "What's Susie going to do?"; or what that woman's name is; and where Arthur Godfrey's going to... "What kind of a joke is he going to pull the next time?" We, as Christians, gaum our mind full of such tommyrot, when we ought to be in prayer somewhere and study the Bible to know the signs of the time we're living in.
What does that of our time is weak pulpits (that's right) that don't get down and bring the Gospel truth. We're going to have to answer for that in the days to come. We must not neglect anything. And the people, as we are here at this Branham Tabernacle, to see the signs and wonders, and the power of the resurrected Christ; and then to know that we would place our times upon other things and neglect to hear the voice of the Lord Jesus: "How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?"

8 The third verse ... or the fourth verse. Here's where we ended, on the fourth verse, this morning:
God also bearing them witness [Oh, my!] God ... bearing them witness [Listen to the Word.], both with signs ... wonders, and with divers miracles, ... [What is divers miracles? What is diver? Diver means "many." With many miracles God bore witness. O God ... I trust that it'll soak into your hearts.]
Listen! I'm one of your pastors, with Brother Neville here. I want you to take it to record: The Bible said, "If there arise one among you, and he says such-and-such and it doesn't come to pass, don't hear it; for I haven't spoken. But if he speaks in My name, and what he says comes to pass, then hear it." (Amen.) " For I am with that prophet, or preacher, or whatever it may be. If what he says comes to pass, then hear him."

9 Now, friends, let's hear Him, the Holy Spirit speaking in our midst, showing divers miracles, and signs, and wonders. Let's just not pass over it as just common happenings. Let's remember that it's Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever, confirming His Word. We must do it! Oh, please do it. Take heed! Let every other thing be secondarily. Even your home, your husband, your wife, your children---whatever it may be---put it second. Place God first! You say, "Brother Branham, over my children?" Over anything! Place God first. Let Him be first.

10 Elijah come off the mountain one day; he was an angel, a messenger, God's messenger anointed. And he found a widow woman picking up two sticks. He said, "Go, bake me a little cake and fetch me a little water."
And she said, "As your soul liveth, I have but just enough cakes ... or enough wheat dough to make one little pancake. And I just have enough oil to go in, to mix it up for shortening. And I'm picking up two sticks." The old-fashioned way was the Indian way of crossing the sticks and burning it from the middle, and keep pushing it in. Made a many a camp fire like it. Said, "And I'm going to cook that little cake for me and my boy, my baby. And we're going to eat it and die." There'd been a drought for three years and six months, no water nowhere.
That stern, old prophet looked that woman in the face; he said, "Go bake me a cake first." What a command for a man to tell a widow woman, starving to death, to feed him first. What did he say? "For thus saith the Lord, 'the barrel will never go empty nor the cruse dry until God sends rain on the earth.'" First, God! She went in and baked that little cake and come give it to the prophet. And went right back and baked another one, and another one, and another one, and another one. And the barrel never went empty nor the cruse dry until God sent rain on the earth. She put God before her children. She put God before anything else. She taken the kingdom of God, first.

11 God must have first place in your heart, first place in your life, first place in everything that you do or what you are. God must be first. He doesn't want the second place. He doesn't deserve the second place. He deserves the best and the first and all that we've got. He deserves it! Blessed be His holy name.
For God also bearing ... witness, [He gave testimony] both with signs and wonders, ... divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to His own will ... [Not what men say, what the church said; but what God's Will was.]
Oh, we need to seek the will of God, not the favor of your neighbor, not the favor of your children, not the favor of your husband or your wife; but seek the will of God. Do that first. Then everything else, the will of the wife and the will of the children, will fall right in with it. But place God first.

12 Watch, now:
For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak.
Otherwise, the great angels that ministers in the heavens: Gabriel, Michael, Wormwood, and the tens of thousands times tens of thousands of angels of heaven; or the tens of ... hundreds of prophets that's been on the earth, every one of them, He's never put any of them to have control over the world to come that we speak of; not a one! He never said, "Isaiah, you'll control the world." He never put the world in subjection to Elijah, neither did He put it to Gabriel, or any angel, any ministering spirit.

13 Watch what he said, Paul still magnifying Christ whereof we speak:
But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou would visit him?
Thou has made him a little lower than the angels; thou hast crowned him with glory and with honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands:
Now if you want to read that, it's Psalms 8:4 and 6; David speaking. Now what did he call David here? That settles it, right there, whether it was right this morning on the prophet.
He said, "For one of the angels said in a certain place..." David, the messenger of God, was an angel of God; for he was a messenger of God. The angel said (David said) in the Psalms, "Thou did make him a little lower than the angels of heaven." An angel said that God made him lower than an angel, that He might crown him; and he might suffer and taste death to be exalted up again. That He might make him inherit all the things of the world.

14 Now, in Matthew 28:18, we read these. After He had been crucified and rose again on the third day, he met with His disciples and commissioned them to go into all the world to preach the Gospel to every creature. He said, "All powers in heaven and in earth has been given into My hands. All the power in heaven, all the power in earth, has been given unto Me." What was it? Man and God had united! The Logos had been made flesh and had been killed, and rose again for our justification; and was then the anointed Emmanuel forever and forever. God changed His dwelling place from a throne in the spaces yonder, to the heart of His Son, Christ Jesus, to live and reign forever. God was in Christ; He's the final resting place of the Spirit.
The Spirit stayed in a tabernacle one day (you know that), under a tent, that Solomon built Him a house. "But howbeit, the Most High dwelleth not in houses made with hands; but a body has Thou made Me."

15 Over in the book of Acts, the seventh chapter, when He was speaking, he said, "All of them foresaw it. They built tent for Him, Moses did, had a tent and put the ark in there. For God was on the mercy seat, He didn't dwell there."
All right then, "A body has thou made Me." The body of the Lord Jesus Christ, made lower than the angels to taste death; and none but the very Highest of high, Christ: the Prince of peace, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the Creator of every star in the universe.
O God... He became Lord of His creation that He might redeem man (homeless, helpless man) and give them a home in heaven. He left the glories of heaven. He left the highest name that could be called. And when He was on earth man give Him the lowest name that they could give Him, said he was a illegitimate baby to start with. Born in a manger, wrapped in rags off the back of the yoke of an ox. No place to go, had no home to go to. And was called "Beelzebub," the chief of the devils. He was mistreated. He was spit on. He was made fun of. He was rejected. And went to the lowest pits, and stooped to the vilest of prostitutes. That's what men done to Him.

16 But God raised Him up so high that He'd have to look down to see heaven. Men give Him the lowest seat, give Him the worst place, the lowest name. God raised Him up and give Him the highest seat, and the highest name. That's the difference what men done with the Son of God, and what God done with the Son of God.
He stooped, that we might be lifted. He become us, that we through His grace, might become Him. He come to the homeless, and became homeless Hisself, that we might have a home. He came to the sick and was made sick Hisself, that we might be healed. He came to the sinner, and made sin Himself, that we might be saved.
No wonder He was exalted! No wonder He is who He is tonight! God has exalted Him. And all the powers in heavens and earth is give to Him.

17 When His earthly work had been finished here on earth... He came to the earth, as soon as He did, the Morning Star declared Him to be the Son of God. He shook every devil that He come in contact with. Blessed be the name of the Lord! Devils trembled and shook, and begged for mercy in His presence. Yes, sir! All hell knowed who He was.
He walked humble. He had not a place to lay His head on a rainy night. The very animals that He created: the birds of the air has nests and the foxes has dens, but the Son of man doesn't have a place to lay His blessed head. Sure He was.
He became sin, became low and forsaken. But the devils knowed who He was. They pleaded for mercy; they said, "Why do You come to torment us before our time come." While the preachers was calling Him "Beelzebub," (the fortune-teller) the devils was calling Him "The Son of the living God," and begging for mercy.

18 Oh, how we could only stop just a minute. Who are you anyhow? What does that job you got mean? Or what does that little house we own mean? What does the car we own mean?
Pretty little girl, you little sassy thing, what does that little looks that you have now...? You young man with the shiny, slick hair, straight shoulders; you'll bend down someday, when stooped with age.
But blessed be the Lord... You've got a soul that's borned again, you'll live forever and ever because He become you, that you through His grace might become Him, to make a place for you.

19 Oh, we who think that we got a change of clothes and a few groceries in the house, what are we? God could take it in a second. Your very breath holds in His hand. And here in our midst to heal the sick, to proclaim and profess, and to foretell; and every time perfect. And even concerned enough to bring a little dead fish back to its life again, in the midst of us. Jehovah around us. Jehovah in us. The great and mighty I AM.
When He died, they thought they had Him. He ascended into hell. When He left the earth that day when He was crucified, He went into the regions of the lost. The Bible said, "He went and preached to the souls that were in prison, that repented not in the long-suffering in the days of Noah." When He died and His Spirit left Him, He become the Logos again. See, He said, "I came from God. I go back to God."

20 And God was that pillar of fire that led the children in the wilderness. And when He was here on earth... And when He died, He turned back to a light again. Paul saw Him, and He was a light. None of the rest of them saw Him. They seen Paul fall. Something struck him, and it was a light. Paul said, "Who is it that I persecute?"
And He said, "Saul, Saul, why persecute thou Me?"
Said, "Who is it?"
He said, "I'm Jesus that you persecute. And it's hard for you to kick against the pricks."
Then he went and studied that light. Paul went back in the Bible to find out what that light was. And he wrote this letter. He's the same Jehovah. That same light was in the wilderness with the children of Israel. And when Peter was in the prison, He was a light that came in and opened the doors.

21 And by His grace, so none will have any excuse... Oh, if they could forget the illiterate messengers, and remember: it's not the messenger; it's the message! He's come down again with us in a form of a pillar of light. And He moves with His same miracles and signs: nothing out of the Bible, staying right with the Bible, holding it under subjection, bringing out His glory, showing His power. Blessed be His holy name!
I know you must think that I'm crazy; but, oh, that blessed eternal rest that's in my soul. Though storms may wave, my anchor holds within the veil.

22 And to see Him when He died ... till the moon took a nervous prostration. The sun went down in the middle of the day. And when He went to the regions of the lost [Brother Branham knocks on pulpit.] knocked on the door, and the door swung open. The Bible said, "He preached to the souls that were in prison, that repented not in the long-suffering in the days of Noah, after He had deceased on this earth. My brother, my sister, when He deceased, His earthly work was done. But He was still working. And He's still on the job tonight. Amen.
He knocked at the doors of the lost (the Bible said He did) and He witnessed, "I am the seed of the woman. I am He that Adam spoke of. I am the One that Enoch said would come with ten thousands of His saints. I'm the Son of the living God and you've sinned away your day of grace. But it was prophesied to you by the angels Enoch, Noah, that I must come to fulfill every word of God's Bible. And I'm here as a witness in this land of the lost." And He preached to them. On down into hell He went, right down to the doors of hell. Knocked on the door. The devil opened the door, and said, "I got You now."

23 Jerked them keys from his side, said, "You devil! You've held the bluff for a long time." (Here it is right here in the Bible. I'll get to it in a minute.) " You've held the bluff for a long time, but I come to take over." Grabbed those keys and kicked him back in, and shut the door. Come through and picked up Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. On the third day He arose, and those that slept in the grave arose with Him. Oh, Hallelujah! No wonder the poet said:
Living, He loved me; dying, He saved me;
Buried, He carried my sins far away;
Rising, He justified freely forever:
Someday He's coming---oh, glorious day!
Blessed be the tie that binds our hearts with Christian fellowship, the love of God. When He rose, He wasn't finished yet. He had some more work to do.

24 The Bible said, "He ascended on high and give gifts unto men." There was a atmosphere hung over the earth, of darkness, of gloom, of death, and weary. The prayers couldn't come up because the atonement wasn't made, but He broke through that veil. He opened up the way. He broke the veil of sickness. He broke the veil of sin. He broke the veil of weary. He broke the veil of depressed. He broke every veil and made a highway for the wayfaring man, walking up the King's highway. Oh, my, when He passed the moon and the stars, on and on...
Following behind him come the Old Testament saints: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They went right on up into the heavens of heaven. When they were way away from the city, I can see them lift up their eyes; Abraham said, "That's the city that I longed to see. Oh, come here, Isaac. Come here, Jacob. Oh, we were pilgrims and strangers in the earth, but there's the city. There's the One we've waited on."
And the Bible said they screamed, "Lift up ye everlasting gates and be ye lifted up, for the King of glory's coming in."
And the angels behind the gates screamed back to these angels back here, and said, "Who is this King of glory?"
And the angels out here, the prophets, said, "The Lord of Hosts, The Mighty in Battle."
And they pressed the buttons and the big doors swung open. Right down through the middle of the streets He come (The Conqueror! Triumphed!) with the Old Testament saints walking behind Him. Sat down on the throne, said, "Father, here they are. They're Yours."
And He said, "Climb up here, and sit down until I make all your enemies your footstool." As we read, we find that on here in the Scripture.

25 All right, listen! Now that we're on these ... eighth verse:
Then has he put all things into subjection under his feet. For ... he put all things in subjection under his feet, he left nothing that is not ... under Him. But now we see not ... all things put under him. [That's death. We don't see death, yet ... because we're still dying. We see death.]
But [ninth verse] But we see Jesus [Amen! Listen!], we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. [Why was He made lower than the angels? So He could taste death. He had to die. He had to come, to die.]

26 Look here, friend. Don't never forget this. When Jesus was going, walking up the hill, death was a-buzzing around His head.
Let's take our picture to Jerusalem, two thousand years ago. And how could you reject it? I hear a sound coming through the street. What is it? It's a bumping of something. It's an old rugged cross coming down, going out the gates of Damascus, bumping over the cobblestones (them big cobblestones are still there). Bumping over these big cobblestone, bumpity-bump. I see the spatting of the blood on the street. What is it? It's a man that's done no harm, nothing but good. The people were blind. They didn't know Him. They didn't recognize Him.
You say, "Blind? Could they have their sight?" You can still have your sight and be blind. You believe that? The Bible said so. Remember Elisha down at Dothan? He went out and smote the people blind, said, "Now follow me." They was blind to him.

27 And people are blind tonight.
A certain church that don't believe in divine healing... Walked up to me one time and said, "Smite me blind! Smite me blind!" (it was at Brother Wright's house) Said, "Smite me blind!" Said, "Paul smote a man blind one time," said, "Smite me blind!"
I said, "Friend, the devil's already done it. You're already blind. Sure, you are."
He said, "Heal this little girl and I will believe you."
I said, "Save that sinner and I will believe you." Certainly!
Oh, he said, "He has to believe."
I said, "Same thing here, it has to come through the sovereign grace of God."
The devil, the god of this world, has blinded the eyes of the people. "They've got eyes but they can't see," the Bible said.
Here He was going up the street, dragging out the bloody footprints on the road up. The bee of death was stinging around Him, buzzing at Him, "Just a little while and I will have you." He was getting weak, thirsting ... water.

28 I was shot once, laying up here in the field, blood just a-pouring from me; I screamed for water. And my buddy run, took his cap and put it down in the water; old stagnated, wiggletails in the water. Come over, and I held my mouth open, and he squeezed that; because the blood was spurting like a fountain, where I was shot to pieces with a gun. Thirsting!
Then I know what my Lord must have been, after bleeding all that morning, from nine o'clock up to three o'clock in the evening; losing all that blood. I see His robe, first, like little bitty spots on it. And all them spots begin to get bigger and run together, make one great big bloody splotch, hitting Him on the leg as He walked around. That was Emmanuel's blood! Oh, the earth wasn't worthy of it.

29 But as He goes up, this bee's stinging around Him. What did it do? It finally stung Him. But brother, anyone knows, that an insect or bee if it ever stings you once, that finishes the stinging business. It can't sting no more, because when it leaves, it pulls it's stinger out. That's the reason God had to be made flesh. He took the stinger of death into His flesh and He pulled the stinger out of death. Blessed be the name of the Lord!
Death can hum and sting but it can't hurt you. Oh, when he felt that bee humming around him, death was coming around him, he said, "O death, where is your sting?" He could point to Calvary where it was left in the flesh of Emmanuel. "Where is thy victory? But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

30 Yes, we don't see all things:
But we do see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for ... suffering of death...
For it becometh him, for whom are all things, that by whom we have all things, in the begin ... many son ... to be made the chief captain of our salvation ... through suffering.
The only way He could become the Captain of our salvation, He had to suffer.
Listen to these beautiful words here, now. Now, listen:
For both he that sanctifieth and they that are sanctified are all ... one: [Oh, don't you see the vine and the branch there? All one!] for which cause he is not ashamed to be called ... brethren,
(See? Why? Listen to the next verse.)
Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praises unto thee.
And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which thou has given me.
Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him which has the power of death, that is, the devil;
And deliver them, who through fear of death were all ... subject unto bondage.

31 Men always feared death. Christ became sin, made low, to take death upon Himself. And He's not ashamed to be called our Brother, for He was tempted just like we are tempted. And He can be the right kind of an intercessor, because He stood the same kind of a temptation that you stand. And He took your place, knowing that you couldn't take it yourself.
So don't you see, brother, sister, the whole thing is grace. All of it is grace. It's not what you do anyhow. It's what He's already done for you. Now, you can't do one thing to merit your salvation. Your salvation is a gift. Christ became sin that you might become righteous. And He's the right kind of a Chief Captain for our salvation because He suffered just like we suffered. He's been tempted just like we're tempted. And He's not ashamed to be called our Brother, because He knows what we go through with. Oh, blessed be His name!
For verily he took not on him the form of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.

32 Oh, my! He didn't become an angel; He become the seed of Abraham. And we, being dead in Christ, take on Abraham's seed and are heirs according to the promise. See, He never took on the form of an angel; He never become an angel. He become a man! He become the seed of Abraham and took the sting of death in His own flesh, to reconcile us back to God, and now sits there for an intercessor. My, how could we reject it, friends?
Listen:
Wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. [That He might be the reconciler]
See, there was enmity between God and man. And no man... They sent the angels (the prophets); they couldn't take your place because they had to pray for theirselves. They couldn't take the place.

33 Then He sent the law. The law was a policeman to put us in jail. It couldn't bring us out. He sent the law. He sent the prophets. He sent the righteous. And everything ... could not make an atonement. But He come down and become one of us. Oh, my!
I wish we had more time right now, I'd like to take you to that law of redemption; but we haven't. But just for a moment... The beautiful picture is in Ruth and Naomi. If you'll see there, the reconciliation: How that the husbandman, the man that was to redeem the lost and the fallen estate, had to be kinfolks to the person who had lost the estate. That's the reason Boaz had to be a ... was a kinsman to Naomi that he could get Ruth. And then, he had to be worthy. He had to be able to do it, to redeem the lost. And Boaz at the gate gave a public testimony by kicking off his shoe that he had redeemed Naomi and all of her possession. And he had to be kinfolks.

34 And that's the reason that Christ, God, had to become kinfolks to us. And He come down and was a man. And He suffered temptation. And He was laughed at, and made fun of, and persecuted, and ignored, and called, "Beelzebub," and scoffed at, and suffered death under capital punishment. See, He had to be kinfolks to us. He had to be falsely accused, because you're falsely accused. He had to bear sickness, because you're sick. He had to bear sins because it was your sins. And He had to become kinfolks. The only way He could redeem us was to be kinfolks to us. And how He become kinfolks, is by taking on the form of sinful flesh and becoming one of us. And in that, He paid the price and redeemed us back into the fellowship of the Father. Oh, what a Saviour! Words couldn't express it.
For in that he himself hath suffered being subject, ... and able to succor them that are tempted. [succor means to "sympathize"].

35 That's the reason He become this, that He might be sympathetic with you who are ... have your ups and downs and your little ins and outs, and your temptations get so great you can't hardly stand it. He knows how to sympathize with you. He sits there to make intercessions. He sits there to love you. And though you go astray, He won't forsake you. He will still come after you and knock at your heart. There's not a backslider in the building but what know that God knocks at his heart daily. And He will do it as long as you're a mortal on this earth, for He's loved you. He redeemed you.
Poets has tried. Authors has tried. Men have tried to express that theme of love, and it cannot be found in human expressions. One said:
Oh, love of God, how rich and pure!
How fathomless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure
Saints and angels song.
If we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made;
Every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry;
Or could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.

36 You'll never understand. There's no way for us to understand how that that great sacrifice that He did ... came down and reconciled us back to God. Then He went back and said, "Now, I will not leave you comfortless. I will come again and be with you, even in you, to the end of the world."
And here we are today, living in the end-time, with the same Jesus, the same things, same signs, same wonders, same salvation, same Spirit doing the same things, same Gospel, same Word, same illustrations, same manifestation, everything! It behooves us not to neglect this great salvation, for we will have to give an account someday with what we do with the Son of God.

37 He's on your hand tonight, sinner, backslider. What are you going to do with Him? You say, "Well, I will put it off." But remember, don't you do that. There's no way at all, if you're a sinner, that you can leave this building and be the same. You can't do it.
Pilate, one night, tried to do it. He called for some water and he washed his hands. Said, "I ain't got nothing to do with it. I just the same as never seen it. I never heard of the Gospel. I want nothing to do with it." Could he wash it off of his hands? He couldn't!
Finally, you know what happened to Pilate? He lost his mind. And way up in Switzerland where we was at last year, preaching the Gospel... Now there's an old legend that said that there's a pool of water where people come from all over the world to watch every year at the time of the crucifixion. Pilate, he plunged hisself to death by committing suicide and jumping into this water and drowning himself. And every year at that same day, blue water boils up out of that pool, to show that God rejected the water. Water can never wash the blood of Jesus off of your hands or your soul. There's only one way to do it, that's accept it as your personal pardon and be reconciled to God. Let us pray:

38 Heavenly Father, we thank Thee tonight for the Word, "For faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word." We thank Thee for Jesus. And as we see this great day that we're living in, how that signs and wonders, how we let these things slip by. God, open the eyes of the people in this Tabernacle, tonight, that they might see and understand that we're in the last hours. The time is fleeting. We haven't got much longer to be here, and we will have to see Jesus. And we will have to be counted traitors, for there's no excuse this morning. When you gave that great, mighty vision of that man coming here from way in the country yonder ... and to see him, beyond a shadow of doubt, rise from that wheelchair, receive his sight; his legs become strong ... down through the building, rejoicing and praising God. It shows that God's still able of these stones to rise children to Abraham. To see the visions ... like Jesus said, "I do nothing till the Father shows Me. I can do nothing."
The blind man followed Him, and said, "Have mercy on us."
He touched their eyes, and said, "According to your faith be it unto you."
Now, Lord, we see Jesus. We don't see all things. We see we still ... take the sainted of us to the grave, and walk over each other's graves. But we see Jesus, who made the promise. We see Him with us. Not Jesus in the grave, not Jesus two thousand years ago; but Jesus, tonight, that's with us. We see Him manifested in all of His power and signs and wonders.
God, may we never neglect this great salvation; but may we embrace it, and accept it, and be reverent, and live by it until the day that Jesus comes to take us home. Grant it, Lord. We ask it in His name.

39 And while we have our heads bowed, I wonder if there's a person in the building tonight, under the divine presence of the Holy Spirit, would say, "Brother Branham, I'm convinced that I'm wrong. I'm convinced that I'm wrong. God has revealed to me my sins. And I know that I'm wrong. I will raise my hand to Him and ask for mercy, tonight. God be merciful to me, I'm wrong." Will you do that?
While we wait just a moment, if there's a person here that wants to... There's a baptizing going to take place just in a moment. And if you're a sinner, I would repent. How can you reject such matchless love of One who died? The holy God of heaven became a sinful man, not because He sinned, but because He had your sins and bare them there to Calvary, and you won't accept that pardoning. Won't you do it tonight? While we have our heads bowed, someone say, "Remember me, Brother Branham, I raise my hands to Christ and say, 'Be merciful to me. I am wrong, and I want to be reconciled to God.'" Would you raise your hand? All right, if everyone's Christians then, let us pray:

40 Father, we thank Thee tonight that everyone in here are Christians, that they have witnessed the same by a remaining silent, that their sins are all under the blood; and I'm so grateful for that. Bless them, Lord. Oh, I'm so glad that they have found reconciliation through the offering of the blood, by hearing the Word. The washing of the water by the Word, it cleanses us, it brings us to a greatest place, where the sinner in his vile darkness is made white as snow. The scarlet stains of sin has been washed away and we are new creatures in Christ. How we thank Thee for this. Now the baptismal service comes up. I understand that this young lady, tonight, is to be baptized down here, in the name of her Lord.
O Heavenly Father, we pray that You'll bless this young woman. How my mind goes back to just a few days ago, coming up in Henryville and seeing that lovely little girl walking around down the street. And tonight, she's a mother---a lady---she's accepted You as her personal Saviour. Life has been hard for the child, Lord, O God, but a heaven is sure for her. And we thank Thee for that. We pray, God, that You'll bless the young woman now. As she comes to be baptized with water, may You fill her with the Holy Spirit of God. Grant it, Lord. May her soul be just so thrilled into the heavens. Grant it for Your glory. We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. [Gap in the audio.]

41 I want to read from Acts the 2nd chapter: Peter speaking on the Day of Pentecost; the first baptism that was ever performed in the Christian church; Peter rebuking the Pharisees and the blind people for not recognizing the Son of God; speaking of how that God had raised Him up, and proved His works in great signs and wonders. Listen to this; as he spoke, he was exalting Jesus.
Every Christian's spirit exalts Jesus, not only by your lips but by your life. Your lips can say one thing, your life do another. If you do that, you know what it is? It's hypocrisy. And I'd rather face heaven as an infidel than a hypocrite. I'd take my chance better, I believe, in heaven as an infidel than to be a hypocrite. I certainly... If you testify for Jesus and say, "He's the Saviour," you live like that, because people's going to expect it out of you. That's right. You live like a Christian ought to. We went through that this morning.

42 Now, Lord willing, tomorrow night ... or Wednesday night, we're taking this third chapter, which is a marvelous chapter. And now, be sure to try to come Wednesday night. How many's enjoying this book, of Sunday School teaching? Oh, thank you very much, that's fine.
Now, I want to read now from Acts the second chapter, beginning at the thirty-second verse:
This Jesus has God raised up, whereof we ... are witnesses. [They knew it.]
Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, He has shed forth this, which you now see and hear.
Now listen at him speak about David, one of the angels:
For David is not ascended into ... heaven: but he said himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand,
Until I make thine enemies thy footstool--- [David couldn't go up; He was under the shed blood of heifers, and goats, and sheep. But now he can raise; He's under the blood of the Lord Jesus. For they only answer to that blood when it would come in force. When the blood of Christ come in force, all those who had died in good favor, rose. That's right, and ascended into glory.]
Now, listen:
Therefore let all the house of Israel know [Listen to this] ... that God has made this same Jesus, whom you ... crucified, both Lord and Christ. [What about that? Is He a third person of the trinity; or, is He the entire trinity? He is the entire fullness of the Godhead, bodily.]

43 There's no such a thing as three Gods: God the Father; God the Son; and God the Holy Ghost. That's not even in the Scriptures; nowhere, nowhere is it. Nowhere was we ever commanded to baptize: in the name of the Father; and in the name of the Son; and name of the Holy Ghost; not nowhere in the Scriptures. It's a Catholic creed and it's not for the Protestant church. I will ask anybody to show me one Scripture where any person was ever baptized any other way than in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Come and show it to me, and I will put a sign on my back: "a hypocrite, and a false prophet, and a false teacher," and go through the streets. There's no such a thing. Never was anybody baptized that way! It's a Catholic creed, and not a Protestant doctrine.
Matthew 28:19, you say, "Jesus said, 'Go ye therefore in all the world, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.'" That's correct! But not in the name of the Father; in the name of the Son; and the name of the Holy Ghost. The name of the Father... The name, not names, of the Father... Father's not a name. How many knows that? How many fathers is there here? Raise your hands. How many sons is here? Raise your hand. How many humans is here? Raise your hands. All right. Now, what's your name? Not father, son, nor human.

44 A woman said to me one time, who was a strict tri-theist, she said, "Brother Branham, but the Holy Ghost is a name."
I said, "The Holy Ghost is not a name. The Holy Ghost is what it is. It is the Holy Ghost, not a name." That's what it is. I'm a human, but my name's not human. My name's William Branham. So if He said, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."

45 Then Peter, ten days later said, "Repent..."
Now here, listen to this: "And when they heard this, they were pricked at their heart, and said unto Peter and ... the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, every one of you and be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."
Then did Peter do what Jesus told him not to do? He wasn't confused! We're the ones confused.
On Acts 2:38, the Jews were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ by immersing. In Acts the 8th chapter, we find out that Philip went down and preached to the Samaritans, and baptized them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ; the Samaritans. In Acts 10:49, Peter commanded the Gentiles to be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

46 Paul, Acts 10:5, he passed through the upper coast of Ephesus, he finds disciples. They were Baptist disciples. They was, every one, Baptists. They were converted under a Baptist preacher by the name of ... let's see, Apollos. And he was a Baptist preacher, and was proving by the Bible that Jesus was the Christ. Paul said, "Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed?"
They said, "We know not whether there be any Holy Ghost."
Said, "Then how was you baptized?"
They said, "We've been baptized by the same man that baptized Jesus, in the hole of water out there, that's good enough."
Paul said, "That won't work now. You have to be baptized over again." And Paul commanded them to be baptized over again, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Laid his hands on them, and the Holy Ghost come on them. Correct. Yes, sir!
It'll be light in the evening time,
The path of glory you shall surely find.
In the water way, that's the light today,
Buried in the precious name of Jesus.
Young and old, repent of all your sins,
The Holy Ghost will surely enter in.
The evening light has come,
It is a fact that God and Christ are one.
That's what the Bible says. That's right. It's the hour; it's the time that we should repent.
Holler when you're ready in the pool, and we will... You're ready? All right, then pull the curtains.
The Lord bless you now, as the brother ministers the baptism. Can you all see?
[Brother Neville baptizes believers.]