His wonders to perform

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1 Thank you, Brother Joseph. Let's bow our heads just a moment for prayer.
Lord, we are grateful to Thee indeed for this grand privilege that we have of coming to Thee this afternoon, calling Thee our Father, knowing that in Thy Word that it is promised by Thy Son; if we would ask anything to the Father in His name, it would be granted unto us. We would ask for mercy then, Lord, forgiveness of our sins and our trespasses; asking healing for the sick, joy for those who are sad, hope for those who are hopeless. Grant it, Father. We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.

2 You may be seated. [Someone speaks to Brother Branham.] That's all right. I am just a bit disappointed myself of Brother Osborn not being in this afternoon, but somehow he felt that he had to hurry back on a call back to Tulsa, Oklahoma. And I was looking forward, just as you are, for Brother Osborn. And it was just told me, and I had to rush right over and take his place. And, oh, I couldn't take his place, but I come over to speak in his stead. So, we are very grateful for the visit that we had with our precious brother last evening.

3 And I was so happy to get to see the movie screen show, because it gives some kind of an idea to the people what you face when you hit those countries. Now, that was very sickening to look at. But if you'll take my word, that's minor, Africa is, to India. So, you know what we have to confront.
And when a person is going in the fields, not just going to visit, but going into the fields as a missionary, you don't know what they have to put up with and face. Now, round in the big cities you don't see that. You have to go back into the jungle where they live.

4 And when I was over this last time, it almost made me discouraged to see all the missionaries just around the city and living in the fine hotels with nice big automobiles, and going out to the compound once in a while and watch the natives dance, and pass out some tracts. That's not the David Livingston missionary. No, sir. We want to get back into there where the heathen worship is still in existence, and there preach the unsearchable riches of Christ.
And Brother Osborn is one of those kind. He goes right into the field and preaches Christ to those people who have never heard the name of the Lord Jesus ever spoke. So, I'm happy that you got to see some ... have some conception now, of what it is to hit the mission fields, for the Lord Jesus.

5 Now, we're just a little late; and when I heard I was going to have to speak in his place, I felt myself go right down and I thought, "Oh my!" The audience watching for Brother Osborn to come in and here I had to come out. And then with nothing in my mind, so I just thought of a scripture that I would like to read to you and comment on it a few moments.
And the boys will be giving out the prayer cards, I heard Brother Joseph say, at six o'clock. And then tonight we are expecting the exceedingly abundantly, tonight in the closing service.

6 I want to thank those boys that just got through playing with that trumpet and singing and this Brother Johnson. I have always said to the audience, "When you want to find me when we get over in glory, you know where the river of life comes down by the throne of God? Well, you turn a bend to the right. And then the angelic choir singing, over on the hill, all the time, because there is no day and night. There's a little bush sitting over on the other side of the hill. I want to be sitting under that, just listening all the time."
I love good singing, oh, and music. And trumpet is one of my favorite instruments, as the young man just got through playing. And I want even my girls to take up trumpet. One of them is taking piano, and Joseph (I don't know) I want him to be a preacher, if I can. I called him a while ago, but he had already taken his little nap for the afternoon getting ready for the service tonight, they are.

7 Now, hurry back as soon as we can get finished here just to speak some of the Lord's words, or at least to read them. And He will add His blessings to them surely. I wish to read from Saint Matthew's Gospel, the 2nd chapter:
Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,
Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and have come to worship him.
This is altogether a very odd and peculiar text. It seems like it would be a Christmas text. But anything in the Bible is God's Word. And God does things peculiar. He works in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform. Did you catch that? He works in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform. Oh, I just love that. And how that He does it in such a way sometime that it absolutely cannot be explained.

8 And then again we wonder, in the Scriptures, when it's written, "All things work together for good to them that love God." And many times when maybe the lash of His correction is laying upon us, we wonder how that it could be working for the good. But after it's all over, then we look back and we praise Him for it, because He knows; we do not. We just act obedient to His Word and to His chastising. He never did chastise us unless we had need of it. And sometimes we might think that we wasn't guilty, but He knows... Maybe we're not, but He knows just how to do it to make it all work good. And what a beautiful thing it is just to lay your life in His hands and say, "Here am I, Lord. Just use me now; lead me and guide me and direct me in the way that would be pleasing unto Thee." And then don't murmur. No matter what the path is, stay with it anyhow, and God will work it all right. "The footsteps of the righteous is ordered by the Lord." And that Scripture is true.

9 Now, in the beginning when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, there's a few things right there that I'd like to just settle on for a few moments. How mysterious it was, and at that day unto scholars and men who should know that His coming was drawing nigh. And there was great things beginning to heap up, like it is in each junction of time, as we were speaking the other night.
Just before great judgment strikes the earth, God always sends an angel of mercy. In the days of Noah, the days of Lot... Moses went into Egypt to call out Israel to Goshen. And just before the great advent of the Lord Jesus, angels appeared, prophets rose on the earth. Great signs and wonders, which was disbelieved by the majority. But God is just to show those things: mercy, before judgment.

10 And if you'd just notice how it could've happened in another time. How God in His great, wise providence, how that He moves every cog just to hit at the right time! And that gives us faith sometime. When we think, "Oh, everything's all topsy-turvy and there's no way out." Don't think that. God is making it work just exactly according to His time program.
And how that in this great time before the coming of the Lord Jesus to the earth, this little couple of ... young couple, of Joseph and Mary, being engaged, and something had happened in the life that Joseph saw that Mary was to be mother. And he was thinking on these things, and the Angel of the Lord appeared to him. See, the supernatural begin to work. And said, "Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit." And how that Joseph understood and then went right on with the marriage. And in those days if there would have been another king, maybe a good-hearted king, this could not have happened. But it had to be that murderer, heartless, blood-thirsty Herod had to be on the throne. It just had to happen that way. The prophet had said that there would be a cry in Rama: Rachel crying for her children, and would not be comforted, because they were not. And what the prophet said under inspiration had to happen.
And if every precept of God's eternal Word has to happen according to His time schedule, don't worry; Jesus will be here just on time. And the church will be ready just on time. And it has to happen that way.

11 And there would've never been a taxation of all the people in that day. They had to come up to their home towns to be taxed. And now, Mary was to be mother at any time. But looked like that she couldn't've made that long trip up into Bethlehem. And remember, she didn't have an ambulance to go in, neither a fine coach. She had to sit on the back of a little donkey, beating along the hard paths, stumbling over the rocks. But it was the king's orders, no exceptions. They had to go. But the blessed thought is this: No matter whose orders it is, if it's God's program, it'll have to work out right---just has to come right.

12 And then there was another danger: This little company, just a young man and his little newly-married wife, going along the road, many robbers was in the land in those days, like Barabbas and so forth. And what a parade that would have been to them to see just a little man walking along with a little woman, to be mother, sitting on a little donkey and with a little stick in his hand for a group of wild, mean men to ride down and throw her off of there and do evil.
But you know, if God is leading the way, what difference does it make? God will protect you to your destination. There's no dangers when you're walking with the Lord. I would believe easily that there was a host of ten thousand angels walking along there with that man and that little donkey. She was just as safe as she could be.

13 But perhaps little did she know these things. And little did, maybe, Joseph know, that all this was just about to happen. But we don't have to know everything. We just believe by faith and walk on. God doesn't have to tell us all His plans, just how He's going to make the morning star shine in the morning and... Just move on anyhow. God takes care of His own.
And when you're prayed for, being sick, you don't have to worry just how God is going to move that cancer, how God is going to make that cripple limb to come straight. Just go forward in faith. That's up to God to take care of that. You don't have to worry whether you'll keep your job if you accept Christ as your Saviour. You don't have to worry whether the boss will be angry or your neighbor will turn you down, or your mother will say that you've lost your mind, or your dad turn you away from home. Just go forward. God will take care of the rest of it.

14 And as I see the little company moving along, it must have been they were traveling by night, because it would be cooler. And then another thing, what if that little mule would have stumbled and had fallen, packing that precious treasure. Oh, the greatest treasure the world ever had, and it was set on the back of a mule.
Then you wonder sometimes that you have to have a great church that costs millions and millions of dollars, when God comes to a little mission somewhere. Sometimes they have the message. We look for things with great shining lights around it. God dwells in humility, always.

15 And we see them as they come along through the night, because it would be cool. And we imagine that if that direct rays of the Palestinian sun, in those days, would have been hard upon the little woman. And as they were traveling by night, let's say it's getting along nine or ten o'clock at night, on that great memorial night. And as you... The road that they travel lays west of Bethlehem. And standing on this road, which is just about a mile out of Bethlehem, you come down sort of a hill like, and you make a turn and then go into Bethlehem. The same little road's there today.
And just as you make this turn, there's a great heap of rocks laying there. And let's just imagine, in our story now, as this couple comes by this rock, that Joseph, in his tenderness, says, "Sweetheart, we are looking over the city." And he picks her up in his arms gently, and sets her down on the side of the rock. And they begin to talk about childhood days, how they used to play in the streets of Bethlehem. And I can hear Joseph say, "It was just over here, Mary, that my mother used to talk to me and brush back my hair and tell me of the great stories of the Bible."

16 And as they talked, Mary looked up and said, "Joseph, it seems to me that the stars are just a little brighter over Bethlehem tonight." You know, there's something strange about it, that when God is just ready to do something, there seems to be a peculiarity.
As I was saying the other night, in India, just when we arrived, we seen a picture, a piece in the paper; I have it in a clipping. That before the great earthquake struck, the day before, all the cattle and the sheep, and the little birds out of the coves of the roof, flew out into the wilderness. The sheep and the cattle got out in the middle of the field. There was nothing physically or materially to run them out there. But it was God who was protecting. And by instinct, He put upon those beasts of His to get away from those big high walls before they fell.

17 And usually, when God's fixing to do something, the whole audience just seems to be spellbound. I remember, over in Finland, that when two years before, a vision (many of you still have it wrote in your Bible) that was telling about a little boy was going to be raised from the dead. And we was up at Kuopio, looking over at the iron curtain. And when we come down, about thirty missionaries, I said, "I feel real strange; something's fixing to happen."
And they said, "What would it be, Brother Branham," as you've read it in my book.
I said, "I don't know, but it seems that the presence of His holy Being is so near."
And at that very time the little boy was dying down on the road below us. After laying there for a half hour, and our little party come down and found him. And the people standing around, and the main man of the city, which is equivalent to a mayor of our nation. And I walked over to look at the little fellow, and walked back. I was thinking of Billy Paul, my boy. And I'd been away from home for quite a bit. And how would I feel if that was my boy? And how that little mother and dad was going to feel after they'd come out of their farm to see their little darling laying there dead. Only a parent can have that feeling. And I was so tore up.

18 They raised the little coat off his face and let me see him, and I started to walk away. And something happened. I turned to look at the boy again. And the manager, who was standing there... I seen it was the very description of the vision. And then was when the Holy Spirit begin to move. There before five hundred people I could, surely, with the assurance that God keeps His Word, could say to them, "It's 'thus saith the Lord,' that little boy will be on his feet living in the next five minutes." There was everything that the Lord had showed in the vision two years before, which many of you still have it in your Bible. Something foretold that would come to pass---the grace of God to us.
And then when praying for the little lad, and his bones broken... He was thrown thirty feet in the air, after he'd been rolled under the wheels and slammed into the middle of the street, with his blood from his mouth, his ears, his eyes set, and no heart beat for over thirty minutes. In five minutes time the little lad was jumping and racing around, praising God. It was the presence of the Lord upon the hill, saying, "Something's fixing to happen."

19 And in this day that we're now living, the believer can say, truly in his heart, "There's something fixing to happen." We know it. I believe it's a calling out of the church of the living God to separate them from the unbeliever. He's calling now in mercy to the church, but He will speak to the world in judgment. And the guilty shall not suffer with the ... the innocent shall not suffer with the guilty.

20 And as they looked at those stars---Mary and Joseph---way far into the east, many hundreds of miles away, I would like this afternoon to express something that was taking place in that far away land, way across into India. And as I read this text once, and seen these Magis coming to worship the Lord Jesus, I wondered, "What has a Magi got to do with the Lord Jesus? What part would that man ... or, those people, have to play in the Gospel?"
Then we see that they were led by a mysterious light that they called a star. And a star is only an object of light. It's in no certain shape, just a missile in the air. And as they were led, this thought come to me: "And the children of Israel were led by a mystic light." In Exodus 13 we read it, that there was a pillar of fire that went before them to lead them to the promise that God had given them.

21 And as I got back into some of the ancient history, such as Hislop's "Two Babylons," and many of the other ancient writers, to study, what was these Magi, because I thought maybe someday that question might be asked me. And I find out that the Magis in India were really the Medo-Persian that we were speaking of the other night in Belshazzar's big rock-and-roll party, when the Medo-Persians took over the Babylonian kingdom. And they had immigrated and got up into India.
Now, the Indian is called the untouchable. But the Hindu is the Medo-Persian. And in there they still have these arts of the wise men. Now, I find that these Magis were not these type of fellows today that take the stars and tell fortunes, but they were scientific men who watched the heavenly bodies and could look ... knowed every little star that was visible to the human eye. And any little move, it meant some spiritual significance.

22 And we know yet today that those things are the truth. God, when He made His solar system, He put the moon as a guard with a gun over his shoulder. And He set the boundaries of the sea. And that moon, if it would ever move from its orbit, this entire earth would be destroyed with water. That moon holds the sea. And oh, how I've stood by its banks and watched its angry waves trying to lick out. But the moon says, "Hold your peace. God set your boundaries and I'm the guard." And when the moon begins to look sideways to worship Jehovah, then the tides start slipping in and the moon comes back, and it slips back out again, because those bodies have a meaning.

23 And then another thing: It's written in the book of Acts, the 10th chapter the 34th and 35th verse, that Peter said, "I perceive that God is no respect of person or nation: but He accepts such as will worship Him in righteousness." Something on that order. No matter who the person is, what nation they are, what color or creed. If they worship God in righteousness, they will be led to the light.

24 And as these Magis... When I was in India recently, at the great meeting where we estimated some five hundred thousand attended the meeting... And it was unknown how many the Lord Jesus did bring into His kingdom that night. When the blind man was brought to the platform and a challenge, with a Bible in one hand and the Koran in the other, and said, "One's right and one's wrong. Let the God of creation speak who made the human eye. And we challenge any Mohammedan to come here and to give him his sight." He was a worshipper of the sun, blind twenty years.
When the Holy Spirit would tell what their troubles was, the Magis and so forth was saying, "That is telepathy." But when the blessed Lord God Jehovah, in His mercy, His infinite mercy, showed the vision that the man was going to receive his sight, that settled it. None of them could come. I said, "You can't, you Mohammedan priests. Neither can you Buddhist priests, or any of your other priests. And neither can I. But the God of heaven has raised up His Son, Christ Jesus, who has just showed a vision that the man is going to receive his sight." And then when I prayed for him, he screamed and grabbed the mayor of the city, and thousands times thousands of them surrendered to the Lord Jesus. Passing tracts will never do it, although as good as it is. And it's played its part. It's paved the way. But now the God of glory is revealing Himself to confirm what the tract has said about Him.

25 So these Magis in the east, when Billy and I would go out on the streets, they would be sitting, squatted down with the turbans on their heads, butting their heads together, in the daytime waiting for the night to come. And one of the ancient historians said, "They were not kings, but they were worthy to be called the servants of kings."

26 And it was up in the mountain where this great event taken place, and they had a great temple up there in the mountain, in India. And each night, they would have their ceremonies and their feasts, while they slept through the daytime. And in the late evenings they would go out on the plaza, and from there climb up the steps of an observatory and get way up in the watch tower and sit all night watching those bodies. And until it was real dark, when the twilights of evening was still falling, they had a way of getting themselves into the spirit of their astrology ... or, astronomy ... or, astrology, I think was the right word. And as they looked, they would read the old manuscripts and discuss things, of the failures of their fathers, and the failures of the things. And doing so, then they would worship one true God. They were not idol worshippers. They believed in one true God.

27 And the Mohammedan today believes in one true God. And they say, "There is one true and living God, and Mohammed is his prophet." And we say, "There's one true and living God, and Jesus is His Son." That's the difference. They come through the children of Ishmael; we come through the children of Isaac. "Being dead in Christ, take on Abraham's seed and are heirs, according to the promise." Not Jew outwardly, but Jew inwardly, by having the faith that Abraham had, who takes God by His Word and calls those things which are not as though they were because God said so. There's many profess to be that, that doesn't have faith to lay hold on the Word. But those who are able to take God's Word and call everything else contrary to it, as though it was not, that's Abraham's children.

28 And as they sat there, and they would gaze at the stars. And on this certain night, while they were gazing, they brought out the old manuscripts and they begin to talk about, oh, certain kingdoms had risen, fallen and risen and fallen again, and so forth, and how the empires had failed. And then when they begin to speak about, "Wonder if there will ever be a day when we will have a kingdom that'll not fall no more."
And it was about that time till one of the brethren of their association brought out the readings of Daniel. Now, Daniel certainly knowed something about them, because he was made their chief in the Babylonian kingdom. I'm sure that all Bible readers know and are aware of that, that Daniel was the chief of the magicians. He was the master of them all. And him being their master, they kept his writings. So the manuscript was presented for study that night. And while they were looking upon this manuscript, they fell onto these words: "And Daniel said, I beheld until I seen a stone cut out of the mountain without hands. And it subdued all the kingdoms of the world. And it raised up and become the great ... covered the whole earth." While they were reading this, watching up, and knowed every star there was in the solar system, that human eyes could see, it was about that time that the stranger appeared.

29 Oh, friend, I hope the little lady doesn't take this too personally, but it's my daughter-in-law, who's sitting present now. This has been the greatest week of her life. Last evening while we were sitting together waiting for Billy to bring the car back, in the lobby of the hotel, and on the ballroom floor they were having a rock-and-roll, or some kind of a amusing dance. And little children, little boys no more than twelve years old or less, smoking cigarettes, and little girls. And the little lady looked at me, and she said, "Billy, pray for me." All week over in her room, I've heard her singing songs. I heard her singing last evening before she went to church, my favorite song, "Down From His Glory." She started reading the Bible, and she's pretty near read the Bible through this week. You go to singing hymns, you start reading the Bible, and that stranger will appear to you too. Meditate on His Word.
It was while those who went to Emmaus, along the road, begin to talk about Him, that He stepped out of the bushes and walked with them through the day. The reason we don't have the spiritual blessings, we have too much time to watch television, too much time to read the newspapers or listen to some thing that we ought not to be listening to. And we are not redeeming the time, but we're giving it to the things of the world instead of our time to the Lord Jesus. And Bible said that "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God." Christians live on the Word.

30 And as they were reading, and the sacred fire was burning, they worshipped the one true God by a sacred fire. They watched the licking of the blazes, for they knew that the one true God dwelt in light. And that's true. God dwells in light. When He was on earth manifested in flesh, He said, "I am the light of the world," because God was manifested through Him. And He was the light, the pillar of fire, that led the children of Israel. He was the light that struck Paul down on his road to Damascus. He was the light that come into the prison with Peter. He's the light that's on that picture. He's the light that's in my heart. He's the light that's in this church. He is the everlasting light. And in Him is no darkness.
And "They who walk in the light have fellowship one with another, while the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all sin." Walking in the light. You have fellowship with the Baptist, you have fellowship with the Methodist, you have fellowship with the Pentecostal, you have fellowship with God's children in every denomination, if we're walking in the light. Don't worry, the light will lead you.

31 One time I got through preaching, way down in the mountains of Kentucky, where I was born. And as I stepped outside the door of the church, there was a man standing there, which was a trapper across the hills, a great big chew tobacco in his mouth, that when he... He'd met me the day before, and I was squirrel hunting, and he was sitting there on the log talking, and they were talking about a little baby that been healed the night before, which they said had the jerks (palsy). And they didn't know I was in the woods.
And this great big fellow, with the hat on, made out of limb bark. I guess there's not a person here ever seen a limb bark hat. Take hickory bark and scale it off and make a hat out of it, weave it together. And then, sitting there on that log, they'd stopped sawing, and the Winchester rifles on the trees---feuding. And when he was talking, he had a big chew tobacco in his mouth that he spit, and the leaves would fly up. He said, "I saw that young'un stop shaking."
And I heard them getting pretty rough talking. I thought, "I'd better make myself known." I didn't want to be a stranger going up through those bushes. And I said, "Good morning, gentlemen." That rough bunch of men who would kill you at the drop of your hat, jumped to their feet. And this big fellow with that long neck and his Adam's apple sticking out, he looked at me. His eyes pushed out, he jerked off that hat and swallowed that chew tobacco, and said, "Good morning, parson."

32 Oh, if Christ is presented in the right way, the world will respect it, if there's any respect in them. Certainly it is, if it's brought in the way of divine light.
That night when we left the church, he had a lantern in his hand. He said, "I'd give anything, Parson, if I could only believe that God would forgive me of my sin." He said, "I've killed two or three men, and I know that I'm a guilty sinner. But when I seen them things happen in that little church, I'm aware that there is a true and living God."
I said, "He will forgive you. And He wants to forgive you. And the very hunger in your heart means that He's working on your soul."
He said, "If I could only feel it."
I said, "You'll feel it."
He said, "When I feel it, I will believe it."
I said, "Believe it and then you'll feel it."
He said, "I wish I knowed how to do it."
I said, "Where do you live?"
He said, "Across the mountain about two miles."
"How do you get there?"
"Up over the ridges and through the paths."
I said, "It's very dark."
He said, "But I got a lantern."
I said, "You can't see your house with your lantern."
He said, "No, that's right."
I said, "Then how do you know you're going to get there?" I said, "Just take the lantern in your hand and you're standing in the light. You walk in the right direction, every step you make the light will light up the road." I said, "That's the way you find Christ." Stand in His light. Stand in His blessings. Stand in His power. If you're sick, how you going to get well? I don't know, but He promised to do it, and the Holy Spirit is a witness of His light and His resurrection. Just walk in the light and go the right directions towards Calvary; it'll lead you to your healing and to your blessing. Just take the light with you as you go.

33 God dwells in light. And those Magis knew that. And as they stood in the light of the fire and looked towards the solar system, there was a stranger. It was a different one than they'd ever saw before. They never spoke for quite a long time. They wondered.
Oh, what it is to once step into the light! It's something you never knew before; it's something you never thought of before. But to once realize that you're in the presence of the eternal light of God, that His Word being made manifest right here among you. What a feeling! Oh, you can't speak. You've watched them this week on the platform, and at other times, how when the Holy Spirit goes back and gets those sins and brings them up, and those things that's been hidden for years. They stand and turn white around the mouth. They hardly know what to do.

34 Last evening there was a colored lady who slipped back there and she said, "Give a little ticket." And the girl, perhaps, is in here now. That this woman was on the platform, the last meeting here, and the Holy Spirit told her who she was, where she'd come from and said, "Down in Arkansas you've got a loved one," a sister, I believe it was, "that was insane, a raging maniac, in a hospital of insanity." But said, "It's 'thus saith the Lord,' and the woman will sit in this audience tonight," if she's not right here now. She was healed at that very same time. They said she'd be here tonight.
Oh, that's one of the thousands that you know of. A little girl there with heart trouble, standing back there last evening, when I slipped off to one side, after watching those dear people accept the Lord Jesus, hear her say, "I laid with the heart trouble." And how the Holy Spirit had done a similar thing to her. Oh, He is the everlasting and eternal light. Walk in Him while you have a chance to walk.

35 After awhile they begin to discuss, "What is this strange light? It must be something." And the only way that I know how to say, the Lord must have give them a dream, because later on we find out that they were warned in a dream. And the Lord must have give them a dream that the baby king was being born. That was the same time that Mary and Joseph was looking eastward. God makes every cog come right to its fitting place.
While they thought on these things, then they had to get together their little group, and they wanted to worship Him; they wanted to do anything they could. So they took gold, frankincense and myrrh. And they straddled their camels and started on hundreds times hundreds of miles of journey. It just wasn't over night. It taken two years for them to get there. And some of us won't walk two city blocks to get to Him, or from the middle of the tabernacle to the altar to get to Him. Then we holler, "Oh, them old Magis." They were wanting to find Him. "Blessed are they that do hunger and thirst for righteousness; they shall be filled."
They had an awful journey. They come down over the mountains, sloped off to the west side, followed the great Tigris River on down till they hit the land of Shinar. They crossed by the ford perhaps, down there in the River Euphrates, journeyed on through the Sahara. They probably had to travel by night because it was so hot in the daytime. And then again, they had to follow the star. And it was only shining at night.

36 And finally they came to Jerusalem. And when they hit Jerusalem, they knowed He was a Jew, and they thought that surely He'd be born among the celebrity, if He was to be king. And surely, if He was to be religious, He would come to the great Vatican City, as it was: the great temple of Solomon.
But notice (oh, bless His holy name), as they entered Jerusalem, the star went out. God doesn't dwell in the fantastics of this world. And down through the city they went, these wealthy men, those eastern camels all decorated up. Great tassels and tapestries hanging from them. And these royal-dressed Magis crying through the night, "Where is he that's born King of the Jews?"
Notice. Then holler about the Magi. The scholar, the teacher, the college professors, the priests, the rabbis, they had no answer. And so is it today. They had no answer for them. And as they went, it must have got a row stirred. They said, "But we have seen his star in the east, and we've come to worship him." Two years' journey through the deserts and swamps and valleys and mountains. "We've come to worship him, oh, tell us where he is."

37 So is it the cry of the hungry hearts today, "Where is that Jesus that's the same yesterday, today, and forever? We have felt His Spirit on us and we've come to worship Him."
The big schools and colleges doesn't always have the answer to this question. They didn't that day, and many doesn't today. The great high towering steeples, the great plush seats, you know, let's find Him somewhere down in a little mission somewhere.

38 But notice, as they come, that stirred emotion in Jerusalem. And finally, day and night, up and down the crooked streets, everywhere, seeing if they could find Him on Hallelujah Avenue. He wasn't there. They went over to the Signs and Wonders. He wasn't there. They tried every street, and He wasn't there.
You don't know Christ by hallelujahs. You don't know Christ by dancing in the Spirit; that's an attribute. You know Christ by knowing Him as a person that's come into your heart in the form of the Holy Ghost, and taken your sins away and planted an undying faith in a resurrected Lord Jesus. That's the only way. Not by an intellectual conception, but by a new birth to change you. And you're changed from the creature that you once was. That's how you know Him. Then you dance in the Spirit. Then you can clap your hands, as it was, or whatever emotions that the Lord puts upon you. That comes afterwards. But you can have that without having Him. There's the trouble, see. Be sure that it's right. And you'll know it by what kind of life it makes you live, by the love and the faith that's in your heart to Him. If you're Abraham's child, you'll have Abraham's faith, for that's what made him a servant of Christ.

39 Now, as we're closing, watch. All through those great denominational streets, they went back and forth crying, "Where is he? Where is he? He's born King of the Jews, we long to see him." But they couldn't find any consolation, neither could anyone tell them. And as soon as something inspired them to go out the east side of the gate ... or, the west side, rather, towards Bethlehem, the star lit up the road. Saint Matthew 10:10 said, "And they rejoiced with exceeding great joy."
They were going down Hallelujah Avenue, they were going up the Signs and Wonders Street, and they could not rejoice. But when the star appeared, the light come back, then they were hallelujahing, they were rejoicing with exceeding ("exceeding" is abundance, a whole lots of it) great joy. There was the star. And when Christ reveals Himself to you as the resurrected Son of God, there's an exceeding abundance of great joy in your heart. You found a treasure, you found the pearl that you'll sell everything you've got to possess it. [Gap in the audio.]
It is true.

40 And it led them to Bethlehem. And as they begin to notice, they kept going and it hung over this little room where the little one was. And they noticed it begin to get slower, slower, descending, descending. And they begin to say, "Oh, look, it's close; it's almost here. It's getting closer all the time." And after awhile it slowed up until it completely stopped.
Off the camels they went real quick, grabbed their gold, frankincense and myrrh. Because they brought that, they were going to worship a King. Little did they know maybe at the time, but gold represents a king, a crown. Frankincense is a perfume. And that's what He was, a crowned King with a sweet smelling savor, to whosoever will come to breathe in of His aroma of His goodness; to stand in His presence that all the stink of tobacco and whiskey and everything, die away. Blessed be His... I feel like shouting now. If you don't think Baptists shout, you're mistaken. Oh, my! To get into His aroma of the sweetness of His Spirit. He is the rose of Sharon, the lily of the valley, the morning star, a sweet smelling savor who takes away all my sin and heals all my diseases. A sweet smelling savor, they brought Him frankincense. Then you would say to me, "Preacher, why did they bring Him myrrh? Myrrh is bitter." Myrrh represented the death that He must die and become marred. And the sins of the world, He will have to drink the bitter cup of Gethsemane. That's why they brought Him myrrh. Gold for a King, frankincense as a savor, and myrrh for the bitterness He must die for you and I.

41 How can we, this afternoon, when the morning star of His blessing has descended from the heaven with the signs and the wonders of His second coming, and how can we ever sit and let it pass by us without opening up our hearts in everything within them and worship Him as our King? We surely should be as thankful as the Magis. Let us bow our heads just a moment, while you think on those things.

42 Are you in this audience this afternoon, sinner? God hates sin, but he loves the sinner. He loves you so much that He gave His only begotten Son, that He might drink the bitter cup for you. Remember, He became you that you might become Him. He become a sinner, separated from the Father, when He screamed, "My God, why hast thou forsaken me?" He was separated from God in His death that you in your death might have God's presence. He become a child of sin---your sins, not His own, yours---that you might become a child of obedience. He took your place as a time creature that you might take His place as an eternal son and daughter of God.
Has the morning star shed any light on your path? Would you love Him, and would like to be remembered in prayer, would you raise up your hands and signify, "I love Him."? God bless you, ladies, and you down here, over here, back there. That's good. Up in the balcony, God be with you. Raise your hands right now. God bless you, lady. God bless you over here, lady, you, you down there, sir. You back there, lady. Certainly, the Lord... You sister, you, you down here, God bless you, little fellow, you young man, yes.

43 God loves the sinner. And everything that's on earth will praise Him someday. Someday you'll bow to His knee ... to your knee at His feet. You'll bow as a reconciled by His works of reconciliation as you accepting Him as your propitiation, and been washed by the water by the Word in the waters of separation, and become altogether a child of the living God; you'll worship Him in peace. Outside of that, it'll be a fearful thing. "For if the righteous be scarcely saved, where will the sinner and ungodly appear?" And that might happen to you before you leave the door.
Will you be reconciled this afternoon by believing on Him and accepting Him as your personal Saviour? One hand again before ... how many hands, rather, before we pray? Think of it, accept Him. God bless you, little fellow. That's good, a little boy raised his hand. You say, "He's too young." Oh, no, he isn't. Jesus said, "Suffer little children to come to me." Yes, sir, honey boy, you're welcome. Bless your little heart, God save you. May Mommy take you to the church and be baptized and call upon the name of the Lord. Or, as little Samuel, you remember, not much older than you, that was called a prophet. He heard the voice of the Lord, the first open vision for a long time in Israel.

44 Someone else now, wants to be remembered in prayer, just now? May God be merciful. God bless you, lady. God bless you back there too. God bless you, little girl. Bless you, lady. Another, just now, we're going to pray. All right. Wonder if our brother, while we got our heads bowed, would just hum ... or, play that song softly, "Just As I Am." Now, that's your plea to the Lord Jesus.
"Brother Branham, can I be assured that that morning star is here?" Yes, dear friend. "Wherever two or more are gathered in my name, I will be in their midst." That same lovely One is here now. You raised your hands, and you that did not raise your hands and yet believe you should, won't you now, just in your heart say, "Just as I am, Lord, without one plea, but that Thy blood was shed for me, and because I promise (with my hand up) I believe, O Lamb of God, I come! I come!" Will you do it while we pray?

45 Lord, Thou hast said in Thy eternal Word, which Jesus said the Scriptures cannot be broken, "No man can come to me except my Father draws him first." Oh, how lovely that is to think that the Father is in here today. The Holy Spirit is drawing. And literally dozens have raised their hands. The Holy Spirit is drawing. God the Father, giving to His Son love gifts in commemoration of His great, all sufficient sacrifice which pleased God to forget sin. If Jesus was so willing to do all of that, the Father's heart was so broken up till He was willing to forget all about sin. And now He speaks to the sinner, saying, "Child of My creation, I would like to lead you to My Son today. I would like to put you in His custody so that He can guide you into eternal life."
May that penitent man, woman, boy, girl, and even little children, may they now come to that place where the Morning Star is hanging at the cross now. May there, with deep contrition, break down every barrier, throw away all self, and surrender, that one supreme surrender, to the Lord Jesus. And go back like the Magis, rejoicing as they go to their home to bring the message that the King has been born in their heart. The King that will rule their life from today on. Grant it, Father, as we wait on Thee. Through Jesus' name, Thy Son, we ask it. Amen.
With your heads bowed...
........ without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
Because Thy promise I believe,
O Lamb of God, I come!

46 Do you really mean it now? If you do, every person in the building that means that you're now surrendering all to Him, will you just raise your hand while we sing again? Raise up your right hand. Any person's in here that loves the Lord Jesus, whether you've been a Christian, whether you haven't, right now, and you say, "I will surrender my whole life. Let the morning star, the light of God, lead me to my eternal destination."
...............receive,
To Him, whose blood can cleanse
each spot,
O Lamb of God, I come! I come!

47 While we hum it now... Everybody. Now, I want you to shake hands with the one sitting by your side, to right and left, before you and behind you, and say this, while that lovely music's a playing, "God bless you, fellow citizen of the kingdom. God bless you, pilgrim stranger; I'm glad to sit with you in heavenly places today in Christ Jesus." That's it, just in front of you, behind you, and to your side. Methodist, Baptist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Catholic, Jew, altogether, "I'm so glad to have fellowship with you here in the presence of the Lamb." Oh, isn't it wonderful? How many feels real good? Can you just feel that something's present? That's Him, the Holy Spirit.