Hebrews, Chapter 2, part 1

You can find this sermon at ChurchAges.net

1 Was here in the class and enjoyed the... [Gap in the audio] And now the first Book of Hebrews, is Paul, we found, or we believe. The theologians are at end; they don't know just which, or who wrote It. But, I believe, anyone with a little spiritual discernment would see it was Paul. It's--it's believed, by the most of the writers, to be Paul. And how that he...

2 In the 1st chapter, we found that it was exalting the Lord Jesus. Oh, how he brought down, to show by the--by the experience that he had had on his road to Damascus. Now, Paul was, to begin with, a real theologian. Paul was taught under Gamaliel, one of the best teachers of that day. And he was smart and intelligent, and was a real shrewd Bible scholar.
And I found this, when he was on his road down to Damascus, with letters in his pocket, to arrest all those that were in the blessed old Gospel way, and the man was sincere. But, I've always believed that since Paul seen Stephen die, I think that must have got right next to him. When he consented to Stephen's death, and held the coats of those who stoned him, then Paul was guilty of the blood of Stephen. And he confessed, and said, "I'm not even worthy," said, "because I shed the blood of His--of His, the martyr, Stephen. Cause, he witnessed to it.

3 And if you witness to anything, you're just as guilty as being a partaker of it. So if we witness, say, "Oh, yes, they oughtn't to have done this, this so-and-so." Be careful what you say, because you're guilty the way your judgment goes. If you can't decide, don't say nothing, just leave it alone. Then when you testify that you are a Christian, then you're guilty. See? You're guilty of being a Christian, and you must live to that. And when God makes a--a promise in the Bible... I see a man here in a wheel chair. When God makes a Promise, He's guilty of that Promise unless He brings It to pass. God is guilty when He makes a Promise. And the Scriptures are guilty until they are fulfilled. See? They're--they're right there as a--as a statement that God has made. And It's got to be fulfilled or God is guilty. See?

4 And so Paul, being a teacher, and coming on his road down to Damascus that day, about, long about noon time, I suppose. There was a great Light shined out of the Heavens, and It blinded him, and he--he fell to the earth. And he said he wanted to know Who it was. He said a voice spoke, and said, "Saul, Saul, why persecuteth thou Me?" I believe the 8th chapter of Acts.
He said, "Who is It that I persecute?"
And the Voice came back, and said, "I'm Jesus." Oh! "I am Jesus, and it's hard for you to kick against the pricks." And what was Jesus then? Jesus, He was the Light, just a big Light shining bright.

5 Now to encourage us and get a basis here. How was He a Light, when He was a Man? Now, no one...
There was a bunch of soldiers with Paul, temple guards, going down to put under arrest. Paul was the chief captain. And they were going down to arrest those people, for their campaigns and so forth, and for their religious hope that laid within them.

6 But, now, here was Jesus as a big Light. Now, if you remember, in the beginning, Jesus was a Light. Jesus was the Logos that went out of God. And He was the... He was the Angel of the Covenant that led the children of Israel through the wilderness. And He was the Pillar of Fire that they looked at. And He was... And when He was here on earth, He said, "I came from God, and I go back to God." So if He came from a Pillar of Fire, into a Man, then if He went back to where He was, He went back to a Light again. And there He was when Paul saw Him, He was a Light.
Now, all those soldiers that was with Paul did not see the Light. Then is it possible that one can see It and the others won't see It? Certainly. All right. He, Paul, saw It, but the rest of them did not see the Light.

7 Now, when Peter was in prison, we find out this Light came in the jail, opened up the doors. And he was... That Light blinded the rest of the guards, as they walked out, Peter going. And when he got to the door, it just opened itself, quietly, closed behind him. From the inner jail, he went to the outer door. It opened by its own self, closed quietly. And then he went to the gap, went out into the city street. And he rubbed his eyes, as if to say, "Was I dreaming?" He didn't know what had happened. But, the Angel of the Lord, the same Angel that was the Pillar of Fire that walked Moses to the sea and spread her forth, oh, and the Dead Sea... the Red Sea walled up on both sides, and Israel passed over.
And when they come to the swelling Jordan, He did not make Hisself visible there. But He was there, 'cause He just opened it up. And they went across in April, when the plains are all full of the water. And He stayed the spring, and He stayed the snow from melting, 'cause it didn't wall higher and higher; it just stopped. That's our Jehovah. That's our Lord Jesus. Just stopped; and they walked across on dry land.

8 Now, God promised that He would take care of them, so He was obligated to His Promise. Now, Paul, ware of these things, and knowing them, he was privileged, because God was speaking directly to Paul. He wasn't speaking to the soldiers that was with him. He was only speaking to Paul.
Now, when the--when the Angel of the Lord came down, in the form of a star; and the star-gazers, the wise men of India, when, they saw that Star and followed It for hundreds of miles. And It went over every observatory, 'cause they kept the time by the stars. And no one saw that Star but the wise men. Oh, my! Doesn't that thrill you? [Congregation says, "Amen."]

9 Then, you see, God doesn't deal with organizations. He doesn't deal with groups of people. He deals with individuals. He reveals Himself to individuals. And now--now to say this, not this... God knows my heart. And not to say this for own person, personal praise, now; just to be there. But, did you know, that same God, that same Jesus, is with us this morning? Do you know, each one of you has a little, individual witness of it right now, that He's here? And is... He's done something for us in this day that He didn't do in the other days; He had His Picture taken in this day. We got It hanging right there. See? The Pillar of Fire, the same Lord Jesus.
Watch how He works now. If He's the same Lord Jesus, He will do the same things, for the Bible said, "He is the same yesterday, today, and forever."

10 Now, before Paul would announce anything, whether this was right or wrong, he first went down into Egypt and spent three years, to find out if it was Scriptural or not. Did you ever know that? After Paul's conversion, he went to Egypt for three years. There he abode, and there is where he learned this great wisdom.
Now, not in any comparison at all, I'm just giving you how the Holy Spirit still remains the same. Now, my church here remembers, years ago, when this Angel would appear and would show things. I was a little skeptic of It. All of you know that, you old-timers. If you... If that's right, raise up your hand, when you've heard. Yeah. Look, look at the church, yet, from the old-timers. See? I was skeptic, because preachers told me It was of the Devil. And I kind of believed it, but I waited. I wouldn't say nothing about It.

11 But, oh, blessed be the Name of the Lord! One night, yonder, He come down, an Angel, and revealed It in the Scriptures, that He was. And when I seen It in the Scriptures, then to blast across the world with It, the Message.
From there has went Oral Roberts, A. A. Allen, Tommy Osborne, Tommy Hicks, and what more. See? It's a Message to the people.
And Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Is Scripturally, He's the same. He does the same. He is the Same. And He works the same. He manifests Hisself the same. And He's here, this morning, the same. Now we may see Him; we may not. Whatever it is, we got a witness right now that He's here.

12 Now, we find now that, Paul, upon this experience, and writing these letters, most of them, from jail, he had compared the Old and New Testament. Now remember, the last writer of this Bible, by inspiration, God came down and told him, "If any man shall add anything to It or take anything away from It, the same will be taken out of the part of the Book of Life, for him." So we'd be daresn't to add one thing to It. Oh, It must stay as It is, mustn't be anything added to It. And we must contend for everything that's in It. I don't want any more, and I don't want any less. I want just what It says.

13 Now, this Book of Hebrews, the reason I've chose It; one purpose, one thing; this letter, "Dear Brother Branham," and so forth. And, I--I, we want to stay with the Word.

14 Now, the 1st chapter, was exalting of Jesus, so He's the main One. And Paul let us know, the other night, that He was in the great beginning. And we found out that He was nothing less than "Melchisedec, the King of Salem," the Great of the 7th chapter.
And now, this morning, we approach Him from another, another standpoint, from the 2nd chapter. Now, after Paul giving us this great, marvelous Message, of exalting Jesus, "And even made the Angels to worship Him." And I think, over here, like the order types old, "And He will fold it as a vesture, but they shall perish, but Thou remaineth."

15 And over in the 2nd chapter, the 2nd verse, I believe it is, "Has He these days spoken to us by His Son." And, look, "Sundry times and divers manner He spoke by the prophets." We went through and found out what the prophets was, and how God brought His Message by the prophets. "But in this last day He's spoken through His Son, Jesus, by the Holy Spirit. He spoke through the prophets, then." Then we got back and found out, all those prophets had the Spirit of Christ in them.
We went back to Joseph and found out he perfectly typed Christ. Went back to Moses and found he perfectly typed Christ. Then we come down then to even David. And when David was rejected in Jerusalem, not knowing why, but went up over the hill and looked back on the Mount of Olives, and wept over Jerusalem because he was rejected. Eight hundred years from then, the Son of David was rejected as King, in Jerusalem, and set on the same hill and wept. Oh, the Spirit of Christ, dealing with individuals!

16 Now, Paul starts off, to say:
Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard,...
2nd chapter, now, we're starting.
Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest... any time we should let them slip.
Oh, may God drive that home in this tabernacle this morning. I pray the Holy Spirit will sink that so deep into your hearts. "We ought to give the most earnest heed to the things which we've heard." What type of people ought we to be, when we see the great Jehovah come down and do the things that He does, and see them compared, Scripture by Scripture, that they're the Truth? And we sit around sometimes like a warts on a log, and just so unconcerned. We ought to be busy, every minute, trying to get people to Christ. We ought to be lively stones. We should never be slothful like we are. We'll go up to church, and we'll see the Lord Jesus do something, or--or bless us in such a way, and then we'll--we'll go back out and say, "Very nice meeting."

17 Now, the preaching of the Word, we enjoy it, but that's not the main thing. That's not. We should not worship the Lord just after we get through preaching the Word, as we usually do, just worship Him. That's wonderful. But we should worship Him every hour of our life. When we're at work, we should worship Him. Every time the opportunity presents itself, worship the Lord by testifying of Him.
If you see, some of you ladies, see a woman in the wrong, worship the Lord by taking her and saying, "Sister, there's a better life than this."
You men at your work, when you hear a man using the Name of the Lord in vain, get a chance to one side and slip over, and take him by the hand, and say, "You, there's a better life than this. You shouldn't use those words." And tell him in a meek, gentle way. All those things is a worship.
And when we see someone sick, and the doctor says there's no more can be done, we ought to worship the Lord by telling them, "There's a God of Heaven that answers prayer."

18 And then when we see those things take place, that we do see take place enough, we should never let these things slip. We just let it go through our fingers. That's what's the matter with the great Pentecostal church today. They've let the very cream of the crop slip through their fingers, when they had it in their hands. But, look what they done, they done like the rest the churches. "They've run in the gain, in the way of Korah, and perished; and the way of Cain, and perished in the gainsaying of Korah."
They've organized. Instead of having a brotherhood where we could all be one, they've organized themselves. Made little organizations and little isms, and sprung up from there and just broke up brotherhood. And if you don't watch, the Baptist and Presbyterians going to pick it up, 'cause, "God is able of these stones to rise children to Abraham." And we've--we've let it slip away from the hands by being disunified.

19 How did the Indians lose this country to the white man? Is because they were disunified. If they had made one big forefront... But they were fighting one among each other. They would have held their grounds if they'd have all come together.
How are we going to lose it? Because we're disunified. How we lose our experience with God, is because we disunify. We set up one, and call this the--the Methodist, and this the Baptist, and this the Assemblies, and this the Oneness, and this the something-else, and the church of God, and the Nazarene, the Pilgrim Holiness. We disunify the Body of Christ. We should never be divided. We might differ in ideas, but let's be heart-in-heart brothers. God wants us to be. He died for the entire Church of God. And we do not want to be disunified.
Now we ought to give the most earnest heed... lest any time we should let them slip.
For if the word spoken by angels were stedfast,...

20 You hear It? "If the word spoken by the angels..." Now, angel is the "messenger." The word angel means the "messenger." And just got through, in the 1st book here, "God, in sundry times and divers manner, spoke to the fathers by the prophets." That was God's messengers. And they were--they were God's messengers. They were God's angels. A messenger is an angel; or an angel is the messenger, rather.

21 A messenger! You are a messenger, this morning. You're... You are a messenger of good news or a messenger of bad news. Oh, isn't it beautiful, to know that we are ambassadors, that we are angels, the messengers of the resurrection? And we are God's messengers to the sinful world, that Christ lives. In our hearts, He lives. In our spirits, He lives. And He brings us from the low debauched life of sin, and exalts us up, and gives us a "hallelujah" in our soul, and makes us new creatures. We are messengers, angels of the Covenant. How wonderful!

22 And now, in the Old Testament, "If--if the word spoken by angels were steadfast," that way it had to be right. In the Old Testament, before a prophet's word could be made manifest, it had to be examined and proved. They wasn't loose with it, like we are today.
Just go out and have any kind of a sensation, or anything else, "Oh, glory to God, that's it!" You're mistaken.
The Bible said, that, "In the last days, the Devil will impersonate Christianity, so close, till it'll deceive the very Elected if possible." That's right. So, we must test it.
And how did they test it in their day? To the Urim Thummim. The breastplate of Aaron, that had those stones in it: carbuncle, jasper, diamond, ruby, sapphire. All those stones, that represent the birth of these twelve patriarchs, was in the breastplate of Aaron. And when a prophet prophesied, and that sacred Light flashed over it, God said, "That is the Truth." But, no matter how real it seemed, if it didn't flash on that, it wasn't the Truth. So, that Urim Thummim went with that priesthood.
But this Bible is God's Urim Thummim today. And when a prophet prophesies, it must absolutely flash with the Bible. Then, God says, then He comes down and proves It.

23 Oh, how I can glorify God today! I'm thinking back of another Sunday morning, about like this, when I was leaving the tabernacle. And you people were weeping and asking me not to go. But, when, I preached on David and Goliath, and how you going to face that cold, indifferent world that says the days of miracles is past.
I said, "There's one big giant, and as soon as we can slay him, the rest of them will take courage." And the Lord granted that. And then there was an Oral Roberts and a Jaggers, and so forth, pulled the Sword, and we fought the enemy out of the land, shut their mouths. They can't say that miracles don't happen, 'cause here they are. Sure. God's Word is Eternal. It flashed on the Urim. Flashed on the Word, that's His Urim Thummim. And when it flashed on That, it was positive.
And to anybody that's needy, if you're a sinner, you want to know how to get saved, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ."

24 Today, we got so many things you have to do. "Have to turn new pages. You have to do this and do that, in order to get saved."
I think of the Philippian jailer, when this jailer asked Paul, "What must I do to be saved?"
It'd been you or I, we'd have told him the things he ought not to do. "You ought to quit drinking. You ought to quit your gambling, your gambling. "You ought to quit this. You ought to quit that."
Paul never told him that. He just told him the things he ought to do. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shall be saved."
Now, "He that heareth My Words and believeth on Him that sent Me has everlasting Life." That's the Urim Thummim flashing, Saint John 5:24. "I'm the Lord that heals all thy diseases." James 5:14, "Call the elders, anoint in oil, prayer of faith shall save the sick." The Urim flashing. See? That's God's Eternal Word.
I don't care how many atheotic, infidelic, agnostics, skeptics rise up. God will stand by His Word. He promised He would do it.

25 "And we ought to give the more earnest heed to these things which we've heard, lest any time we let them slip. For if the word spoken by angels (the prophets) were steadfast..." Were they? We could spend a week on this.
Was it steadfast when Moses spoke? [Congregation says, "Amen."] It sure was.
How about Elijah, setting up on top of the mountain? The Lord told him, "Get up there, Elijah. I'll stay there with you; want some fellowship." God likes to fellowship with His people. But we won't stand still long enough for Him to fellowship with us. We're so busy skipping about, from place to place, and so much. "Set still, Elijah." He wanted three years and six months of fellowship. We can't give Him three minutes, hardly. Three years and six months of constant fellowship. Oh, I love that! Said, "Don't worry about the cooking; we'll have that already fixed up. The crows is going to feed you. And everything is going to be all right. I just want some fellowship." This old prophet, Elijah, setting up there on top the mountain.
While he was fellowshipping with God, why, the captain said, "I believe I'll go up and get him." Now, don't you never try to break that fellowship.

26 So, the captain come up, with his great army of men, of fifty. And he said, "I--I--I come to take you, Elijah."
And Elijah stood up. Watch out, here's the prophet of the Lord! He said, "If I be a servant of the Lord, let fire come from heaven and devour you." And down come the fire. The captain said...
"Oh, you know what?" The king, rather, said, "That was probably a--a thunderbolt, just some lightning just passing over, and it struck them. I'll send another fifty."
Elijah stood up, one of the angels. His word is steadfast. He had to be a just recompense for everything that was done wrong. He said, "If I be a servant of the Lord, let fire come." And the second fifty burned. All right. Every recompense!
For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedient received a just recompense...

27 Now, here is the great thing, the next verse.
How shall we escape,...
"How shall we escape?" If Elijah's voice brought destruction, because he was an angel of the Lord, how will we escape when the Voice of Christ speaking through? Or, how can we fail when you're prayed for, if It's the Voice of Christ? If Christ ordained His Church to pray for the sick, and the Church does what He says He... for them to do, then how can It ever fail? It can't. You can fail, but It can't fail. And as long as you keep It, It'll take you through.

28 If you fail, you failed by yourself. You just get away from the Word. But as long as you stay with the Word, It can't fail. For the word of the prophets did so-and-so, how much more will the Word of Christ be?
How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which is at the first begin to be spoken unto us by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;
Think of It, spoken by the Lord. How many times could we go back? Where could we stop, right here for an hour? When Jesus came, He's the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Now, remember, first begin to be spoken by Jesus, Himself, and then was confirmed by the ones that heard Him. Now listen at Him.

29 When He came to the earth, He didn't claim to be a healer. He said, "It's not Me that doeth the works; It's My Father that dwelleth in Me. He doeth the works. The Son can do nothing in Himself, but what He sees the Father doing," Saint John 5:19.
Watch when Philip came to Him. Nathaniel... After Philip's conversion, he went over and got Nathaniel. Said, "Come, see Who we found: Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of Joseph."
And he said, "Could there be any good thing come from Nazareth?"
Said, "Come, see." That's the way to be convinced: prove It. Come and see. Oh, that's the best I ever heard. Come and find out for yourself. Don't stand out and criticize on the side line, But, "Prove all things, and hold fast to that what's good. Come and see.
Along the road they went, talking. When he walked up in the presence of the Lord Jesus, He said, "Behold an Israelite in whom there's no guile."
It took all the skin off of him, nearly. He looked around, said, "Well, Rabbi, when did You ever know me? You never did see me. How do You know me?" Philip said...
"Before, when he call..." Said, "Before Philip called you, yesterday, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you." Amen.
He said, "Thou art the Son of God. You're the King of Israel."

30 A woman walked into His Presence, and He said, "Go, get your husband."
She said, "I have none."
Said, "That's right. You got five, and the one you're now living with is not yours. You told the truth." Think of it.
She said, "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. That, we know that when the Messiah cometh He will tell us all things."
He said, "I am He, that speaks to you."
And she run and told the men of the city, "Come, see a Man Who told me all that I did. Isn't this the Messiah?" It was spoken by the Lord.

31 What happened? Jesus said, before He left, "The things that I do, shall you also." That right? [Congregation says, "Amen."] The things that I do shall you do also, even more than this, for I go to the Father." Oh, I can see them as they went forth, everywhere. Mark 16, "Went forth everywhere, preaching; the Lord working with them, confirming the Word."
And here, Paul, giving the same thing. He said that the--the Gospel begin to be preached by Jesus, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him. That's the Foundation Stone. Oh, blessed be the Name of the Lord! That's the Foundation Stone.
And to think, two thousand years has passed. Athiests has raised, and infidels, and skeptics, and agnostics. But, today, that same Jesus confirms His Word in the same manner by those who hear Him. "Hear Him," don't mean just to hear a sermon. That mean, hear Him. Yes.

32 How shall we escape? Where is our escape? Oh, you say, "Bless God, I belong to the Methodist church. I'm a Presbyterian. I'm a Pentecostal." That doesn't have one thing to do with It. And you get on a side-line and want to call It "spiritualism, or some mental telepathy, or some devil," or something. Shame on them!

33 "If every word was steadfast by the angels..." Jesus said, "It's not... Little while, and the world won't see Me no more. Yet, ye shall see Me, for I'll be with you, even in you, to the end of the age." And when we see Him come down, to continue to confirm His Word, how shall we escape if we sucker to some church, or some organization, or denomination, or some little pet theory of our own? You better turn loose. "For every sin received a just recompense under the angels, how much more when the Son of God is speaking from the Heavens, to make manifest His Word! How shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation?" Oh, my! "God also..."
4th verse:
God also bearing them witness,...

34 Watch this. The Lord bore witnesses. Oh, I am so happy for that! The Lord bore the witness.
Look. When Elijah set on the hill, and he said, "If I be a man of God, let the fire fall from Heaven and consume you." God bore witness that he was a man of God.
God always bears witness. Your life will bear witness. I don't know what your testimony is, but your life speaks so loud, your voice can't be heard. But, your--your living, your every-day life will testify what you are. God bears witness. Yes. The Holy Spirit is a seal, and a seal takes both sides of the paper. They see you standing here and see you when you go away. Not only in church but at every-day work. You're sealed on both sides, inside and outside. By the joy that you have, and by the life that you live, you're sealed, in and outside, that you know you're saved and the world knows you're saved, by the life that you live, for God bears witness. Blessed be His Holy Name! My, I feel religious!

35 Think of it, brethren, there. Oh! "My sheep hear My Voice, and a stranger they won't follow." Oh, how that our names are on the palms of His hands! It's before Him, day and night. His Word is always before Him, His Promise. He can't forget it. And He loves you.
Now, He will bear witness of His own. You don't open your mouth and say a word, the world will know something has happened to you.
... bear witness, both by signs and wonders, and by divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?

36 Let us take just one Scripture now before closing; on the Day of Pentecost, when they received the Holy Spirit. About four days later, Peter had passed through the gate called Beautiful; he and John. They said, "Look on us," to a man. And he said, "Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have I'll give you. In the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk." And the man looked up and never questioned nothing about it. He just stood up and went walking. They were ignorant and unlearned men. But the Bible said, "They had to take heed to them, for they knew they had been with Jesus."
Brother, when the world knows that you've been with Jesus, when you can live such an unadulterated life in this present world and in this darkness, that the world knows and can see that you've been with Jesus; when a rugged, old vulgar prostitute of the street can become a lady, washed in the Blood of the Lamb; God is bearing witness that He lives.
Take a drunkard, who is so low down that he would run around on his wife, that he would mistreat his children, and take the food from the table, to spend on a prostitute. Let him get with Jesus once. You'll see him returning, like Legion, who was in his right mind and clothed, to his babies and to his wife and to his loved ones. Certainly.

37 Some time ago, about forty years ago, when the religions of the world met, and the different ones got up and spoke. And the Mohammedan spoke for the Mohammedan religion. The Jains spoke for the Jains; the Buddhist for the Buddha. And the little doctor, I forget what his last name was, just at this time. I did know his name, but I have forgotten it. He spoke to represent Christianity. And he told the story of Lady Maccabee of Oklahoma, in America.
She was so ornery and so low-down, till even when they went to kill her, they wouldn't even put their hands on her, she was so vulgar and vile. They had her arrested on a charge: smoking a cigar; driving a stagecoach; and broke the--the--the laws, the records in Oklahoma, when she passed through the street, driving four head of horses. And she was so vile and so dirty until society wouldn't even get around where she was at; so much, till when the executors was going to execute her, they wouldn't hang her. They just poured tar and feathers on her, to kill her.
And when this little preacher give her story, in such a way, till he had the people setting on the end of their seats, listening what would be next. When he got down to that: very vile, dirty, low-down, till the laws wouldn't even want to fool with her, she was so low. The very Devil in hell would reject such a person, nearly, the way he told the story. Then he said, "Gentlemen, of the religions of the world, has your religion got anything that would clean the hands of Lady Maccabee?"
Everybody set still. Then he clapped his hands together, and jumped up in the air. He said, "Glory be to God! The Blood of Jesus Christ won't only clean her hands, but It'll clean her heart and make her His Bride." Tell you:
Amazing grace! how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now I'm found,
I was blind, but now I see.
It's grace that taught my heart to fear,
It was grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed!

38 Certainly. "How shall we escape, if we neglect such?" You neglect to eat, you'll die. You neglect to turn a corner, you'll wreck. You neglect to milk the cow, she'll go dry. You neglect your teeth, you'll have to have them all pulled out. Certainly. You pay for your neglection.
O Branham Tabernacle and you visitors, let me tell you something now. You neglect to testify of the glory of God, you neglect to give God the praise and glory, you'll find yourself cold, formal, and backslidden, one of these days. You give God praise. "How shall we escape, if we neglect such a great salvation?"

39 Getting late. I just happened to notice, Brother Toms had walked in back there. We'll close and continue this tonight, the Lord willing.
Let us pray just a moment.
Our Heavenly Father, to Thee be blessings, and praises, and honor, and glory, and wisdom, and might, and power, for ever and ever. Oh, to that Lamb that set on the Throne, dominions and kingdoms and everything was given over to His hand. When He raised from the dead, for our justification, He screamed to the world, "All power in the Heaven and earth is give into My hand. Go ye, therefore, into all the world and preach the Gospel."
O dear dying Lamb, Thy precious Blood
Shall never lose It's power,
Till all the ransomed Church of God
Be saved, to sin no more.

40 Help us, as ministers, to seeing that we are requiring so much; how we must have a church, we must have this, we must have everything.
Our women, before going to church, is yet calling themselves Christians, will have to have a certain kind of a dress, or have to be dressed so daubly.
And preachers will have to have so much money before they'll come, and everything has to be so-and-so.
O Christ, when I read here, "How they wandered about, in sheepskins and goatskins, lived in the dens of the earth, and caves." They wandered about, under vile persecution, and, yet, obtained the Faith, under the ministry of angels. How will we escape, when the Lord Jesus has give us fine homes, and cars, and clothes, and food? And we murmur. We set around. We're lazy. We never try to get out and do something about it. How will we escape, God?
Oh, I pray that You'll burn old-fashioned conviction into every heart, this morning, Lord, that the people might be up and at it. Let us work while the daylight is shining, because the sun is swiftly sinking. And civilization is going, and there'll be no more time. It'll blend into Eternity.
O God, grant today that we go with fresh vision, with wisdom, with understanding, to know how to approach sinners and bring them to Christ. Hear the prayer of Your servant, Lord.

41 I ask, if there be any here, that doesn't know Christ as their Saviour, would you raise your hand and say, "Remember me, Brother Branham"? Would you just raise your hand, say, "Remember me. I want to be a Christian. I don't want to neglect it any longer"? God bless you, back there, sir. Someone else? Say, "I want to raise my hand, Brother Branham. And I want to accept Christ, as my Saviour, I've neglected, all the time. Oh, I go to church, sure, I belong to church."