Elijah and the meal-offering



1 Oh, isn't that true! "Lord, I receive." Receive what? Every promise that He made, it's mine.
Now, before we are seated, let us bow our heads just a moment so that I won't forget to pray over these handkerchiefs here.

2 Our Lord, we are grateful to Thee tonight for the songs of Zion, for the old-fashioned gospel that cleanses our hearts from evil, and for the most gracious promises in the Bible is ours. By faith we receive them. And we know that God is no respect of person. And in the generation that Paul lived in, the people, so many were sick. They brought to him handkerchiefs, aprons, that he might put them on his body, and then taken from his body to the sick and the afflicted. And the Scriptures tell us that unclean spirits went out of the people, and afflictions left them, because of their faith in the Lord Jesus. God, Paul has been gone for almost two thousand years, into Your presence. That generation passed with him, but You are God of every generation. Now the people tonight has believed on Thee, and we are committing to Thee tonight these handkerchiefs and little parcels of goods; and believing with all of our heart that You will answer our prayer and they shall be healed. Grant it, Lord. We send it to them for the glory of God, in the name of Jesus, His Son. Amen.

Acts 19:12 So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.

Romans 2:11 For there is no respect of persons with God.

3 You may be seated. And those who put these up may come get them just immediately after this closing of the service.
I am so happy tonight. I've been out across the mountain there ---today, as soon as I got through with the interviews that I had to have---and went over to pray. And every time I get in this desert sun it kind of makes me want to come back more. But one thing that I'm happy about tonight, my wife... As much as we have been together, and she's seen the great visions of God manifested and come to pass... She was down at the river that day at Jeffersonville when the angel of the Lord made his first appearance. It was packed on the Associated Press across the nation. It was 1933. She was standing there, but ... she heard the voice but didn't see the light, where even the newspaper photographers saw the light. But she was quite young then, about twelve years old, and she never seen the light. She was watching the people---many were fainting. And it just stayed there just about one minute, and then went right straight back up into the skies again. And the newspapers put a great article, "Mystic light appears over a local Baptist minister while baptizing." Went all the way into Canada, got on the Canada press.

4 And then, about three or four years ago when I was in Phoenix last, I believe it was Brother Jack Moore was with me, that he kind of... My wife is very timid. And so he called her to the platform, unexpected, and she liked to fainted. And she come after I had already gotten on the platform, and the anointing was there for a healing service; and she said first time she was ever in that presence like that. And night before last she saw Him on the platform, for the first time she's ever saw Him, when it was here standing at the platform. And when I met her outside, tears was in her eyes, and she said, "Billy, for the first time in my life, I saw it." She said, "You was praying for a woman," and said, "I seen it just come right before her, and stood there just a few moments, moved around where you was at. And then, as soon as you stopped talking, it went away." So I'm happy for that, that it come before her eyes. That little lady has a lot to go through with, and so I'm glad and happy for it.

5 Now, tomorrow night is healing service. You know, we've been saying this week that healing services would come Friday night. Now, come tomorrow afternoon or early in the evening, about six o'clock, so you won't interrupt the rest of the service. And Billy, Leo, Gene, and them, will be here with the prayer cards, to give you a prayer card. That's when we bring the people on the platform and pray for them. Now we are... I have to carry the American meetings in the way the people has been taught: laying on of hands. Now, that's Scripture, but that's a Jewish tradition. That isn't for the Gentiles, but the Gentiles carry it over. The Gentile was, "I'm not worthy that you come under my roof. Just speak the word and my servant will live." That's right. But the Jew, "Come lay your hands upon my daughter and she'll live." See, that was their tradition; it was not for the Gentiles.

Matthew 8:8 The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.

Matthew 9:18 While he spake these things unto them, behold, there came a certain ruler, and worshipped him, saying, My daughter is even now dead: but come and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live.

Mark 5:23 And besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live.

Luke 7:6 Then Jesus went with them. And when he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord, trouble not thyself: for I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof:

Luke 7:7 Wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee: but say in a word, and my servant shall be healed.

6 Night after night, and hour after hour, through day and night, the Holy Spirit comes, revealing, going through the building, speaking the secrets of the hearts. You see it all the time. That's to let you know the presence of the Lord is here. Now, if you would just accept it, you'd get healed right then, because all the healing could ever be done for you is already finished. It has been for nineteen hundred years. All the salvation that you'll ever receive has already been paid for. It's yours, just to receive it. It's been nineteen hundred years or more since it was become salvation for you. But, now, you notice me, on the meetings I say, "Will it make you believe?" See, signs and wonders are not for healing or salvation, but it's to let the people realize and understand that the presence of God is here. Then if He ... how ... it would be...

7 It's more of a miracle. We are simply just now beginning to see miracles. Now when it comes to a person, there's been several of them get up off of stretchers and wheelchairs and things, and go out. That's not exactly a miracle. No. See, even Christian Science has that. It could be a mental condition, that you could change your way of thinking. Now, we don't believe it was, because I believe it was faith. But yet...

8 I was at Alsace-Lorraine, France. I was at Paris. And I went down to a place where they had a dead woman laying in there. She was buried. And they rubbed a rock there, and people went in there with ... crippled, crutches, and laid them down and walked away, from rubbing that rock over that dead woman. She's dead, and she could no more intercede than... There's only one mediator between God and man, and that's Christ Jesus. Coming out of a Catholic family, I know that they believe in the people that die, that that's ... their spirits are interceding for them. Different ones, some for politics and some for other things. To me, it's spiritualism. I ain't hurting your feelings, I hope, but I must be honest. See, anything that intercedes with the dead is spiritualism.

1 Timothy 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

9 They asked me that in Mexico, said, "What about Jesus?"
I said, "He's not dead. He raised again. He's alive forevermore." See? He isn't dead; He's living. The rest of them has passed beyond, which, the Scripture says that they that are there cannot come here, and these that are here cannot go there. No man has ever crossed or ever will. So that settles it, if Jesus said so.
But we find these things operating. So, now, and each night the Holy Spirit is trying to get to you the presence of His being here. Not the presence of a man. A man can only humble hisself. By a gift, he can submit himself into a certain realm of the Spirit that can open God to you. But it will never work until you yourself believe it and accept it; and then it works. See, if you'd sit there and every one of you would be disbelieving, don't believe a word of it, it would never work.
Jesus, when He went to His own company, His own country, many mighty works He could not do because of their unbelief. And if He could not do it then, He cannot do it now, because of unbelief. See, it's your faith.
So it takes you and I together with the Holy Spirit to bring these things to pass; to let me rejoice, to let you rejoice, that God is here that keeps His Word.

Matthew 13:58 And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.

Luke 16:26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.

Revelation 1:18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

10 But when the Holy Spirit can come into the meeting, fulfilling exactly to the Scripture what He said would take place in the last days, and go out over the audience like He did when He was here, and discern the very secrets of the heart, and the thoughts, the intents of the heart and the mind, how could anyone doubt? See, there's a perfect miracle. More of a miracle than a cripple walking, because it's impossible for that to happen without spiritual power. It has to be a spiritual power to do that. So, then you see it, it's just exactly what the Bible promised and what we believe. It's more of a miracle than shouting. It's more of a miracle than speaking with tongues. Paul said so. Even genuine Holy Spirit gifts of speaking in tongues, it's more of a miracle than that. We're on the last miracle. It's predicted that way by the Bible.

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

11 So, tonight... You don't have to wait till tomorrow night to come through the line, to be laid hands on. Now, laying hands on you will not do no more than the discerning of the thoughts of the heart---not as much, to me. Then you can just receive it, hold onto it, it's yours. You believe it with all your heart.
But tomorrow night, if you... The Scripture does say, "Go into all the world, preach the gospel to every creature; these signs shall follow them that believe," all the signs. And then, at last, He said, "If they lay their hands on the sick, they shall recover." That's true. That will follow the believers. All right. Now, we are believers, so that way we have night after night of laying hands on the sick, and God has worked great miracles with them. We've had great miracles with praying over the handkerchiefs. We've had great miracles with the discerning of the thoughts of the heart. See, all of it together works to God's glory. It isn't for man, it isn't for church, it's for God's glory. God's glory!

Mark 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

Mark 16:16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

Mark 16:17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;

Mark 16:18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

12 Now, before we open the Word now for the night... Oh, we can turn back the pages like this, but God has to open it; because the Scripture is no private interpretation, but the Holy Spirit that wrote the Scripture is the interpreter thereof. So let us bow our heads now while we pray. And how many would like to be remembered in the prayer? Would you just let it be known by your hands lifted, whatever it is. O God, look. We all need, don't we? I'm needy, too, friends. I got my hands up.

13 Heavenly Father, humbly and quietly and reverently we come into Thy great august presence, knowing, before that one thing happens, You are here because You promised to be. You said before Your going away, "Wherever that two or three are gathered in my name, there I'll be in their midst. And if they shall agree upon any single thing, as touching one thing, ask, they shall receive." Lord, to bring Your promise to this---the purchase of Thy blood---I ask that every man, woman, or child that raised their hands tonight, You know their heart, may they receive what they're asking for. Grant it, Lord.
We are a needy people. We're walking in a dark world, with a great enemy of Yours, that we could not combat with him at all if it wasn't for Your Holy Spirit. Therefore we are trusting, believing, and acting in faith that He'll go before us and make the way clear. So many pitfalls along the road set for our weary feet, but we are trying to follow the bloody footprints of Him who overcome death, hell, and the grave.
Guide us tonight by Thy Holy Spirit, Lord, to the words that should be said, then guide the words to the heart that is needy of them. Then, Lord, may, at the end of the meeting and we start to our different homes, may we be able to say again, like those who came from Emmaus, "Did not our hearts burn within us, as He talked to us along the way?" For we ask it in Jesus' name, and for His sake. Amen.

Matthew 18:19 Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.

Matthew 18:20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

Luke 24:32 And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?

14 To you who are keeping down the scriptures, turn with me now to the book of I Kings. I wish to read a portion of the seventeenth verse ... seventeenth chapter, rather, and I'm going to begin at the fourteenth verse. Read the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth verses of the seventeenth chapter of I Kings:
For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day ... the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth.
And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.
And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Elijah.

1 Kings 17:14 For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth.

1 Kings 17:15 And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.

1 Kings 17:16 And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Elijah.

15 It must have been almost daylight when she was awakened. She turned her weary head on the pillow when she heard a mournful little cry across the room. And she had not been able to sleep all night. She was tossed about because of this great tragedy. The little boy had wakened again, not being asleep over twenty or thirty minutes, and I can hear his little voice say, "Mama, won't you go out and look in the pantry again and see if there isn't just one little piece of bread? I'm so hungry! I just can't sleep."
And as she looked in his little face, with his little sinking cheeks, and his little eyes turning yellow, his long hair hanging down from failing to be cut, his little ragged nightshirt, the big tears from her eyes spat upon his little face as she patted him on the cheek and said, "Darling, try to go to sleep and understand."

16 There had been three years there had been no rain on the earth. She knelt down on the floor. I can see her as she cried out to God. She said, "O Lord God, Jehovah, Thou art the God of our fathers, who has fed Thy children and cared for them through the years, and I've tried to live true and upright to Thee. And now I am here seeing my little boy crying for something to eat, and nothing to give him. For many weeks now we've been allowancing ourselves up to a place of one meal every three or four days, and now it's all gone but one little handful of meal and just a spoonful of oil. And I'm trying to hold it off until daylight, that we'll not have to die while it is in the night. What have I done, O God? I, your handmaid, has lived true. My husband was lost in battle, the battle for the Lord, and I've been a widow for several years now. And I've tried to live right and keep Your commandments. And if it's my time to go, I don't mind; but my little boy, it just tears my heart to pieces to hear him beg for something to eat, with nothing to give him."

17 When she had got finished praying, she raised up. He had gone back to sleep again for a few moments. And she had her arms up, and the ragged nightgown that she was wearing was just about gone. She goes to the window and looks out, and it's just about to break day. Oh, it was so hot!
The hot winds of judgment was blowing upon a nation that had forgotten God. That was during the reign of Ahab, Israel's most cruel and wicked king. And he married a sinner, Jezebel, which was an idolater, and a mixed wedding like that never is successful. It just can't be. Either the woman will come the man's way, or the man will go the woman's way. And she was a very attractive little woman, and Ahab, just kind of a lukewarm believer, had give in to her ideas and said, "Oh, well, religion is nothing for me. I'm a king." And long had they tore down the altars of God and put up the altars of Balaam ... or Baal, rather. And the cry had been so much against the true religion till the ministers, under the great strain, had given away.

18 Some time ago I made a remark about ministers, or something another, in this day, and a group met me and said, "Brother Branham, our congregations just pulls onto us!" That's what causes it. The congregation will walk out if the minister don't please them.
And so long had the ministers fell under the impact of the king. Because sin was permitted, there was no limits. It's a very good picture of today. Because the nation had endorsed these things, the people wanted to be popular. They thought as long as the nation said so, it was all right. That's the way they say today, "As long as the nation says it's all right to sell beer, then it's all right to drink it. If the nation permits our women to half-dress on the street, and the law won't run them in, why, it's all right to do it." That might be all right to the nation, but in God's great books you're responsible, and will have to answer before God. But they had fallen, had to give away under the load.

19 And the nation was prospering, and they thought that prosperity was a sign that God was with them. That's not altogether the truth. God comes to you...
There's an old proverb, God-dishonoring proverb, that says that God helps those who help themselves. That's dishonorable to God! God helps those who cannot help themselves. He is the God of those who needs mercy, and He is a merciful God. And that proverb that says that He helps those who help themselves, if you can help yourself, you don't need His help. But He helps those who cannot help themselves.

20 But the nation had thought as long as they were eating good and were well-clothed that everything would be all right.
But there was one who still was old-fashioned, that believed that there was a God that was old-fashioned, believed that there was a God that kept His Word, believed that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was holy and required complete surrender to His holiness. But Jezebel and her modernistic crew hated him. He was their pastor, but they didn't believe it. So he had to hide for his life.

21 And God had sent him up on the mountain, and said, gave him a message and said, "Go down and tell that old wicked king, 'Thus saith the Lord, "It's not going to rain, or even the dew will fall, until you call for it."'" Give it into Elijah's mouth to call for the rain when it was time for it. But ... he had the keys of heaven. He could close it or open it. And He said, "I want you to go up out of the wilderness ... into the wilderness, rather, out of this chaos. Get out from among them. You've preached to them and they won't listen to you, and they're continually getting worse. Go on up into the wilderness, and there sit down by the Brook Cherith, and I've already commanded the ravens to take care of you." Oh, if the people won't, God's got crows that can do it!

1 Kings 17:1 And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.

1 Kings 17:3 Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.

1 Kings 17:4 And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.

22 John said, "God's able of these stones to rise children unto Abraham."
Jesus said, "If they hold their peace, the rocks will immediately cry out."
God can do what He wants to. He said, "I've commanded the ravens, and they're going to feed you." And they brought him flesh and bread.
Someone said one time, "Where did they get it, Brother Branham?"
I said, "I don't know. The only thing I know, they brought it. They got it from the same place that Jesus did when He took five fish and ... or, five biscuits and two fish, and fed five thousand. It come from the same creative hand of God Almighty." They brought him fish and bread, the crows. Set down and handed it over to Elijah, and he ate it, and stooped down and drank from the fountain. God was resting His prophet.

1 Kings 17:4 And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.

1 Kings 17:6 And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook.

Matthew 3:9 And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.

Matthew 14:19 And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.

Matthew 14:21 And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.

Luke 3:8 Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.

Luke 9:14 For they were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, Make them sit down by fifties in a company.

Luke 9:16 Then he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed them, and brake, and gave to the disciples to set before the multitude.

Luke 19:40 And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.

John 6:9 There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?

John 6:10 And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.

John 6:41 The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven.

John 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

23 Oh, I'm so glad that God has a way of escape! And when... They thought he was crazy, that old prophet. An old kill-joy, always trying to take the joy out of their little happy parties they were having, telling them that it was sin. And him following God's commission, went up into the mountains and sat down on the high place---the driest place in the country, but God kept the brook running. And they were down there gnawing their tongues for water.

24 You know, God has a way of answering prayer. This little woman had lived true. She had not remarried again. She was staying single to meet her husband in glory. She was an honorable woman. And for weeks the barrel had been going down, down, and her continually praying, and still looked like there was no hope in sight nowhere.
You know, there we could get a lesson from that. That if you have prayed, and met all the requirements that God requires you to meet, and still He's silent, He doesn't say anything, and yet you've met the requirements, now, what happens then? If you know that you have met His requirements, and you've done all that you know to do, then faith doesn't waver. It just sits still and thinks positive. Faith takes its everlasting grip around the Rock of Ages, and doesn't move.
That great fellow called "faith"! I've often said, "Faith's got hair on the chest." When he speaks, everything else shuts up. When faith says, "Shut up!" then everything stops, because he's the boss.

25 And she had met every requirement. She had lived clean, she had lived decent, she had lived honorable, and she had met all of God's requirements; but looked like He was silent. God does that sometimes to test you, to see what kind of a reaction you'll have. Don't forget it!
If you pass over the platform, you're prayed for and hands laid on you, and it seems like nothing happens, that doesn't stop faith one bit---you have met God's requirements. Now, if you have met them... Now, if you're holding back on God, you know your heart condemns you. And we know "If our heart condemns us not, then we have..." Now, but if our heart condemns us, there's no need of coming across the platform. There's no need of asking God for anything, because you don't have faith to receive it. But when you have met every requirement that God requires, then faith steps out there and says, "God is God! I've met the requirements."

1 John 3:21 Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.

26 The Scripture says, "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as an eagle, they shall run and not be weary, walk and not faint." As the song says, "Teach me, Lord. Oh, teach me, Lord, how to wait." Get my soul washed in the blood of Calvary, meet every requirement, burn all the bridges around, and say, "Now, Lord, nothing in my arms I bring; simply to Thy cross I cling. You promised it, Lord." That's the kind of condition ... the reason people think that I am an isolationist. But in the room, or over on the side of the desert, that's the condition you've got to get into before you walk into this pulpit here. Because Satan's always dropping in little imps to try to upset something, and you must be right holding onto the cross. Not trusting your own ability, your own thoughts; just leaning on the everlasting arms. Claiming no intelligence, claiming no mind of your own, you're just opening yourself and let the Holy Spirit speak. That's the condition God wants His church in, getting that condition.

Isaiah 40:31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

27 God tries you. Every son that cometh to God must first be tried, chastened, to see if he can stand chastisement. If we walk up and say, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that He died for my sins and rose again the third day. He was wounded for my transgressions, bruised for my iniquities. The chastisement of my peace was upon Him, and with His stripes I am healed," when you say that, with a confessed ... all your sins and your iniquities, and your abilities and all that you have, lay on the altar, then, there with nothing in your arm, Satan's going to shoot every dart at you he can. But then if you turn aside from that, and say, "Well, maybe I didn't get saved. Maybe I didn't get healed," then turn away from that, the Bible said you are illegitimate children, and not the children of God.

Isaiah 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

28 God tests every son of Abraham like He did Abraham, for we are Abraham's seed. By being dead in Christ we are Abraham's seed, and are heirs according to the promise. Abraham's seed. That's the spirit that Abraham had. He had the promise given. And if our father trusted God and took a promise, an impossibility, and held on to it for twenty-five years before it was ever manifested, getting stronger all the time, his seed is just like the father. No matter what happens, when we're prayed for, it's settled---when we get everything out of the way, met all requirements, get everything out of the way, then ask God, and stand there, knowing you're going to receive it.

Galatians 3:29 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

29 God tested Job like that. When Job asked for mercy, offered a sacrifice for his children... The only thing that that prophet had was a burnt-offering, but that was all God required.
God doesn't require an education and a lot of nonsense, He requires a surrendered heart to His will. He doesn't ask you to dress in a certain way, or go to certain things or out of certain colleges, or degrees. He asks for a humble, contrite, broken spirit, and a willing heart to receive Him.
He tried Job, and see what kind of a reaction He would find in him. But when He took his sheep, and took his ox, and took his camels, and took his children, "I'll see what Job says now."
And he said, "The Lord gave and the Lord taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord."
He found what He had told Satan He had in Job, "None like him on the earth."
Then the thunders begin to roar, the lightnings begin to flash. The Spirit come upon the prophet, and he screamed, "I know my redeemer liveth, and at the last days he'll stand on the earth. Though the skin worms destroys this body, yet in my flesh I shall see God: whom I shall see for myself, mine eyes shall behold, and not another."

Job 1:8 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?

Job 1:21 And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.

Job 19:25 For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:

Job 19:26 And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:

Job 19:27 Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.

30 He tested the Hebrew children to see what kind of a reaction they'd have. They had confessed among the heathens that there was a living God, there was a Jehovah God, and that He was God of heaven and God of earth, and He held every soul in His hand. So God let them be tested. And they had met all the requirements. They had prayed up and got everything out of the way. And they would not bow down to the king's image. And he het the furnace seven times hotter than it ever was. And no doubt that Satan was trying to tell them, "This is the end of the road." I like the way they talked. "Our God is able to deliver us from that fiery furnace, but, nevertheless, if He does not, we'll not break God's commandments! We'll stay true! Let our faith ring out through the years to come, that we stayed true to the promise of God."

Daniel 3:17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.

Daniel 3:18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.

Daniel 3:19 Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: therefore he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated.

31 "My God is able to heal me from this." Or, "My God's able to take me from this wheelchair. My God's able to do this. But I've accepted Him as my healer. I've confessed my sins, my unbelief, and confessed that I believe that He is my healer. Let come, let go, what may. If I'm not well today, I will be tomorrow; if I'm not tomorrow, I'll be next year. The Lord gave and the Lord taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord!"

32 Oh, there it was! And when they walked into the fiery furnace, under trial, under a test, they held true to the end. But God was there just in a spare of a moment, and He delivered them. They knowed that they were prayed up, their sins were confessed. They knowed they had met every requirement, and yet He seemed to be silent. He's only silent to test you, to see really what you are, what's on the inside of you, see if you really mean from your heart what you're saying with your lips. Let that go deep. We can say with our lips, but is our heart saying it?

33 Now, when ... this little woman knowed that she had met all these requirements, and still God was silent, seemed like He didn't even care for her, He didn't care whether she lived or died. But all the time God was working. She didn't know about it, but God told Elijah. He dried up the brook, reached out His hand and stopped the brook from running. And Elijah said, "Lord, why did it stop?"
He said, "I've commanded a widow woman to feed you." He had already commanded her---she didn't know it.

1 Kings 17:9 Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.

34 He might have commanded of you a testimony of your healing. You might not know it, but just hang on. When you are sure that you've met all the requirements, when you know that you've done everything that you know to do, and laid yourself before God, there's only one thing to do, is, hang on to His promise then. Stay there! God promised to answer, He'll do it. You don't know what He's commanded, what angel or what to do. It may be this night, before the healing service starts tomorrow night. God might have seen your condition today, He might have heard your prayer.

35 I felt so sorry for these deaf and dumb people. I want to lay hands on them and pray for them. Started to stop last night, but I said that wouldn't be right for the rest of them. But how do I know that somewhere in the silence, God who knows the heart, these people has met their requirement of God, and they're ready, and there's an angel here tonight to deliver them from all their affliction? How do I know? God might have commanded their deliverance tonight. Whether I pray for the sick or not, they'll get it because God has required it. Be sure of God, and then hold on. Meet His requirements. God knows how to do things that's right, knows how to do it in the right way.

36 Now, it's a very strange thing that God would send His prophet to a widow woman's house. What a place! But she must've been a real virtuous woman or He'd've never sent His prophet there. Oh, if a person was worthy ... would have to be a worthy person to entertain a man like Elijah.
You remember, it was Zechariah, in his house, that he had been loyal and true, waiting for God to give them a child, and the angel Gabriel come to the house. It was virgin Mary who had lived clean and pure, and waiting for a promise of God, that He sent an angel to.

37 Talk about running around with the world and flirt with the world, and then expect to see angels and have miracles done? It's out of God's program. You must live right. Clean up the house, clean up your habits, clean up the things of the world, get rid of your cards and your worldly association, get ready, and then the angel of God can speak and say, "Fear not, it is I." Then things take place.

38 The little woman was down praying, not knowing that walking down the mountain come the prophet. He had had a vision where to go to. God don't lead His people blindly; He tells them where they're going. He was looking into the city. Oh, it was terrible. People were starving to death, and screaming for water, and hungry people. It's a reflection of immorality. It's a reflection of sin.
And this nation's in for it. You can't... The balances, even the law of nature would not let it be, when we're wasting money with riotous living and half of the world's starving to death. They're all human beings to which Christ died for.

39 That's the reason the mission fields is on my heart. You have wonderful ministers here in Phoenix, and all around over the United States and places, churches on every corner, great men of God, healing services, great men like Oral Roberts and other great men, preaching. And there's people over yonder, dying by the thousands every day, that never heard of the name of Jesus. Poor little dirty, hungry Negroes, way down yonder in Africa; and over in India, little fellows laying on the street, dying, don't even know what God means. And then we argue about our little differences of religious belief. Oh, it's not just exactly right, I don't think, friends---if it's on your heart to see that.

40 Now, notice this poor little woman, after she had looked out the window and saw that it was about to break day, little did she know what was waiting for her. She was thinking it was death for her and her little boy. So while she's asleep, let's just look at her for a few minutes. She goes, after she prays, and she strokes his little hair back out of his eyes, and said, "Darling little fellow, you look so much like your precious sainted daddy. How he trusted God! How he gave his life for the cause of Israel out on the battlefield! And you look so much like him. And, Honey, I don't know why the innocent suffer with the guilty, but they do."
This nation, Christians, will suffer because of unrighteousness in politics, make the whole nation suffer.

41 Now I can see her go in and say, "I'll fix a little cake now. I've got just enough for one little cake of bread left. And when we eat it, then we'll die." So she goes into the room, and takes the meal out of the meal barrel. I can see her just dusting it, with that little bony hand, as she strikes across the little keg that it was in---beating it out, every bit of dust. And she finally got just enough for one cake. Goes over to the little cruse, and holds it up and drains every bit of the oil out of it, about a spoonful.

1 Kings 17:12 And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.

42 Now, the meal, all those things, has a meaning. Meal represented Christ. Christ was the meal-offering. When they ground the meal for the wave-offering---for Christ, which was Christ in the wave-offering in the Old Testament---they ground it with a certain type of burr, that every little piece of meal must be cut just the same, because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.

43 Do you remember when some of the schools up there didn't know the difference between gourds and peas, and throwed some wild gourds in a pottage of peas, to cook, and they cried out, "There's death in the pot"?
Elijah got a handful of meal, cast it into the pot, and said, "Eat!" What did the meal do? The meal in the pot changed it from death to life, from a death-giving resource to a life-giving resource.
That's the same thing it is tonight, when there's death in your vessel. Christ, throwed into your vessel, saved you from death unto life. Christ makes the difference. Coming into the human heart, oh, He gives a peace that passes understanding. And also it gives life eternal: "He that believeth on the Son has eternal life, and shall never perish."

2 Kings 4:40 So they poured out for the men to eat. And it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out, and said, O thou man of God, there is death in the pot. And they could not eat thereof.

2 Kings 4:41 But he said, Then bring meal. And he cast it into the pot; and he said, Pour out for the people, that they may eat. And there was no harm in the pot.

John 3:15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

44 Now, she got the meal, which represented Christ. And Christ is the Word. "In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God ... and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us." Christ, the meal-offering. Then she went and got the oil and the oil represents the Spirit. So she put the Word and the Spirit together, and began to mix it up.
Oh, something has to happen when that takes place! Let it be tonight that the Word that I am preaching falls into your heart. Then let the Holy Spirit get in there and go to mixing that up. Watch what takes place when you put the Word and the Spirit together. Jesus said to the woman at the well, "Woman, I tell you, the time is coming, and now is, when God requires worship in the Spirit and in the truth." And He is the truth!

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

John 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

John 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

45 The meal ... look what she did. She mixed the Word and the Spirit together. Many people have the Spirit without the Word; some has the Word without the Spirit. But you take ... put them both correctly in their place, there's a cake on the road! There's something in the making.

46 Poor little widow didn't know what she was doing, but God said to Elijah, "I have commanded her."
And Elijah is on his road over the cobblestones, coming down to see his vision fulfilled somewhere. And here she is standing there, tears she's wiping with her old ragged sleeve, and saying, "O Jehovah God, my faith has never failed, and it won't fail. Somehow or another, I don't know how all this is, but we are taught that all things work together for the good." She was mixing this little meal up. She got the little cake all fixed out and patted up. She said, "Now it's time for me to go out and get some wood." She goes back and opens the door, and said, "O Lord, that poor little hungry belly laying there, and I haven't eaten for two or three weeks. I've give him my piece of cake."
That's a mother, a mother's love for her baby. There's nothing like it, only God's love. "A mother may forget her suckling babe, but never can I forget you. Your names are engraved on the palms of my hands." How can He forget you? "I'll never forsake thee, or never leave thee. I'll be with thee always, even to the end of the world."

Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

Isaiah 49:15 Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.

Matthew 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Hebrews 13:5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

47 There she looks at her baby. Maybe she slipped back and kissed his little forehead. What if she fainted and died on the outside? She goes out. It's just begin to kind of ... sun begin to rise over the Judean hills. And she looks as the sun begin to peep up. Way down the street she hears cursing and going on. And she goes out in the yard and notice, she picked up two sticks. Not an arm load---two sticks. What is it? The cross.

48 Now, anyone knows, any of my Indian friends here know, or any hunter, the correct way of making a fire to last, is cross two sticks, two logs, light it right in the middle, and just keep pushing the ends in. It'll last all night. Many a time have I laid in the wilderness, with two sticks no bigger than that, and keep warm all night. Just enough to keep warm, keep it going right in the center of it.

49 Now what's she going to do? Light these two sticks. And the Word and the Spirit has brought the self-sacrifice on the cross ready for duty, ready for life. Putting the Word and the Spirit, that's her faith in the Word of God by the Holy Ghost, leading herself to sacrifice anything else to the cross. And when she got the stick under her arm, two of them, and started back ... she started back and there was a voice came from the gate, "Lady..."
Just before that, an old ... maybe baldheaded, and gray hanging over his whiskers, and his hair hanging down, a little stick in his hand, an old sheepskin or something wrapped around him, walking down the street, saying, "Lord, it's a certain little white fence. There'll be a lovely-looking young woman [she must have been young, the boy was young] out in the yard. You told me that was the widow that was to feed me. Now, where is she at? I'll keep walking." The Spirit leads him this a-way, then turns him. Oh, it's so wonderful! Sons of God are led by the Spirit of God. No matter how silly it sounds, they are led! He goes down one street and up another, down one street and up another.
After a while, the Spirit said, "Look to your right."
And he looks to the ... around like that. Just like He does here at the platform, night after night---oh, God's still the same! "Look to your right, to your left, there's someone praying who needs it."

50 And he looked to his right. "Say, there's a little white fence. That's just right. I just won't move from here, because there's the old tree standing there. And there's everything just the way I saw in the vision." The door opens, a little thin woman comes out.
Now, remember, she's just going to pick up two sticks. She couldn't have picked up three---takes two to make the cross. She picked up two sticks and put it on her arm and she started back, thinking, "I'll have the little cake done when Sonny wakes up. And then I'll feed it to him. I won't eat any myself. And I'll put my little boy in my arms, and there we'll sit and die." And she started into the house.

51 She heard a strange voice across the gate, said, "Woman, would you fetch me a little drink of water in a vessel?"
And she turned, and she thought, "There stands a kind old man at the gate." She looked at him real close, and maybe wiped the tears from her eyes. It was quite early yet. You know, God does things so strange. She was willing to sacrifice. Water was a scarce thing. It hadn't rained for three years and six months.
"Would you fetch me...?" Maybe God told him to say that, see what she would do, trying her reaction. "Would you fetch me just a little drink of water in a vessel?"
And she looked at him. "He sounds different. There's something about the old man that I feel sorry for."

1 Kings 17:10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.

52 Any believer in God will share to the very limit with another one. Yes. That's one thing about Pentecostal people---they'll give the shirt off of their back for the cause. That's right. It's the truth. That's one of the great things with them. They're the greatest givers in the world, because they know that this earthly goods amounts to nothing. They lay their treasures up in heaven, because they're going up there some of these days.

53 And so this woman, she said, "I'll just share my water. We're going to die, so I'll sacrifice my drink of water, and give it to the kind old gentleman standing there, because he looks thirsty and tired." She said, "I will bring it." And she started walking on.
And again she heard a voice say, "And in your other hand, would you fetch me a little morsel of bread?" Oh, my! Now, now what?
Her last hope of the life of her child, the last hope that they had ---and the bread would be gone, the oil gone, everything would be gone now. But she looked back, and she wondered. She said, "I just have a little bit of meal left in a barrel. I've got just enough oil that I've dampened it, and I've already dressed it ... or, I've mixed it. [I've got the Word and the Spirit mixed together in there. I've got the cross here to lay it upon, to make it into a cake to give life.]" And that's when the Spirit and the Word get together on the cross, it makes a life loaf for you. That's right. "And I've got it together, and I'm going in now to bake it, and give my little dying boy in there that's cried all night for something to eat, I've got to give it to him. I'm going to sacrifice mine and I'm going to give it to him. And then I'll take him up in my arms, and we'll both wait for death."

1 Kings 17:11 And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand.

1 Kings 17:12 And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.

54 He said, "But you make me a little one first." Isn't that strange that a man would ask a widow woman, dying, for the last bit of meal she had in the house, with a dying child? God does things so strange! Said, "Make me a little one first!"
She studied, "You know, the Bible says that we have entertained strangers. We've entertained strangers---they were angels---not knowing what we were doing. Well," she said, "I'll do it."
And as she turned, he said, "For..." Oh, my. There it was, the greatest consolation that any believer ever listened to, "For thus saith the Lord!" That's the word she was waiting for. "Thus saith the Lord, the barrel will not go empty, neither will the cruse go dry, until the day that God sends rain on the earth."

1 Kings 17:13 And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son.

1 Kings 17:14 For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth.

Hebrews 13:2 Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

55 What do we get there? Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness; all other things will be added. "How do I know, Brother Branham? How do I know?" The only thing I know, put God first and move on. Sacrifice! Mix the oil, mix the Word and the Spirit together, lay yourself upon the cross, and say, "Here I am, Lord." Put God first in everything.
"For thus saith the Lord, The cruse will not run dry, neither will the barrel go empty, until the day that the Lord God sends rain upon the earth." She knowed then that was the prophet of God speaking to her. Oh, how her heart must have jumped! She ran in and made that little cake and brought it to him, with the water, trembling hand over that old sunk-in cheeks. She knew that God had come to the rescue, over a little piece of bread.

1 Kings 17:14 For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth.

Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

56 Oh, you just take that one little promise of God, and get everything right and out of the way, watch what takes place! Get that heart, the unbelief away from it. Just take that little belief that you've got, and lay it onto the cross, and say, "This is all I got, Lord. Take it." Watch the turn, "Thus saith the Lord." Oh, He's just the same today as He ever was. That's what she was waiting for.
Maybe it looks awful dark now, but, you know, sometimes we're taught (and I preached on it the other night) it's always darkest before day. It's at the darkest hour of the night when the morning star shines. It's reflecting the coming of the sun.

57 In Germany they've got a picture, they call it "The Cloud Picture." It's a competit' to this great picture of the crucifixion at Forest Lawn in Los Angeles. The great picture is as wide as this building is across. They had to build a building around the picture. Many of you have seen it. But this in Germany is called "The Angel," or "The Cloud Day," I believe it's called. And when you get off from a piece from it and look at it, oh, it looks hideous. Looks like angry clouds a-mixing around one another, like that, as the lights reflect on it. And looks like the clouds are moving, as the way the picture's made to reflect the lights, makes it look like the clouds, a angry storm, coming to tear up everything. And then you are told by the guide, "Walk closer, and just keep watching it." And when you get real close to it, it isn't clouds; it's angels' wings a-beating together, rejoicing. It's a blessing in disguisement.

58 Maybe your sickness tonight, maybe your sacrifice to come out here, was just a blessing in disguisement. The angels of God are here present to join their wings together and rejoice, because it's written in the Scripture that the angels of heaven rejoice when one sinner repents. Think on that. For thus saith the Lord, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." His grace cannot be exhausted. And He's willing to give to you anything your hearts desire.

Luke 15:7 I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.

Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.

59 Now let us pray for a moment. While we have our heads bowed in prayer---and I do hope that you stay in a prayerful attitude---is there someone here now (with your eyes closed and your heads bowed towards the dust that you were taken from; and, if Jesus tarries, you're turning back to the dust) and you're not saved, would you just raise up your hand that much and say, "Brother Branham, my life has been a misery too, and I'm not saved. Remember me in your prayers tonight, brother. I'll raise up my hand"? Is that person in here---boy, girl, man, or woman---that's not saved? I won't ask you any farther, just to raise up your hand now so that I can pray for you.

60 To my right, God bless you, God bless you, God bless you, and you, and you. Somewhere else, way back in the back, somewhere here in the middle aisle, just raise up your hand. No one looking, just let me and the Holy Spirit do this looking. Now, God bless you, God bless you. That's good.
Someone else in the middle aisles, raise up your hand, say, "Brother Branham, I'm not a Christian. I've wearied the Holy Spirit so far away from me till He doesn't even bother me no more. But, really, I know that I'm wrong. I know I've never been born again of the Holy Spirit. I know that I'm not fit. I haven't got all my things confessed. I haven't met all of God's requirements."

61 Maybe you're sick. It won't do no good till you meet God's requirements. "Brother Branham, I've confessed Christianity for a long time, but really I've always doubted divine healing. I've just kind of wondered if this Holy Spirit was right." Oh, sister dear or brother dear, you can never get nothing from God like that. No. You've got to meet every requirement, and then be sure that you're right with God. Then take His promise and hold onto it.

62 To my left, would there be any over in there? Some of you young people back there, just as much, if you're not a Christian, raise your hand and say, "Remember me, Brother Branham." God bless you, I see your hands, way back there. And back in the back, I see you, lady. Back here, yes. Over, way over here, yes, the little girl. Yes, the Lord bless you all along there. That's good.
Now, I promised you, I said that's all I would ask you, just to raise your hands. Now we're going to pray. Before we do this now (after we got the sinners with their hands raised, some twenty or thirty), how many's sick, would raise your hand and say, "Remember me, Brother Branham, in your prayers, that God will have mercy on me and heal me"? I guess there's two hundred or more of them. All right, let us pray.

63 Our heavenly Father, it's so gracious to come to You with these requests. [Gap in the audio.] "... and to Me, I'm your Creator." And they put up their hand, then that shows that spirit is greater than science. Father, You said, "No man can come to me except my Father draws him first. And all that comes to me, I'll give them everlasting life." Now they're Yours, Lord. Give them life, right now, where they're sitting in their seats. May they have eternal life. May You raise them up at the last day, present them to the Father God of heaven as jewels in the crown of the church. Grant it, Father.
I pray for these that are sick and afflicted. Many of their hands went up tonight because that they seen that a woman that really needed God, she seen those crucial hours a-coming. No doubt there's many sitting here in that same way---that must die, but God's already commanded His prophets and everything's all right. It'll work just fine. If they're sure that everything is all right, then they're sure of God, they're sure that He keeps His promise, then, Father, we pray that You'll deal with them tonight as your loving, sick children, and will heal their afflictions, and give them power and grace and faith. Do, Father.

John 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

64 Bless all the ministers that's here tonight, your precious prophets. We pray that You'll anoint them, Lord, and may they be the one who will bless the homes of these people, that there'll be bread of life in their homes as long as they live. May their cruse never go dry, or the barrels be empty. May there be spiritual bread in every church throughout this land, Lord, that'll feed the hungry that's needy. Grant it, Lord.
We love You. And we know that You loved us first, for when we were yet sinners Christ died for us, the innocent for the guilty, to be the propitiation of our sins, to reconcile us back to God when we were lost and undone, without God or His Son---from the garden of Eden, from the transgressions of our fathers, brought us into the chaos of sin. And Jesus so loved us that He came by the will of God and redeemed us back to God, through the offering of His own life at Calvary. Thank You, Father, for all Your goodness.

Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

65 We're living in the shadows of the end-time. There may not be a tomorrow night. I don't know, Lord, that's to You. But while it is yet possible that some could enter in tonight, Father, I pray that You'll send the Holy Spirit.
You said, "As it was in the days of Sodom, so shall it be in the coming of the Son of man." In the days of Sodom they had three classes of people: the sinner, the lukewarm church member, and the elected called-out; Sodomites, and Lotites, and Abraham (called out of the world). The Sodomites received two ministers with a great message. And Abraham's group received a sign. And the sign was a man, with dust on his clothes, who knew Abraham, being a stranger. Knew his wife, Sarah, what her name was; and told Abraham, with his back turned to the tent where Sarah was, "Why did she laugh?" O God, may the church wake up and see, as Jesus said, "As it was in the days of Sodom, so shall it be at the coming of the Son of man." That same God would appear in the flesh of His church, and would show the same sign. Grant it, Lord, again tonight. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen.

Genesis 18:13 And the LORD said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?

Luke 17:28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;

Luke 17:30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.

66 I love Him, I love Him (now just
worship Him sweetly in the Spirit)
Because He first loved me;
And purchased my salvation
On Calvary's tree.
Oh, after a message, don't you feel all scoured out, the Holy Spirit just cleaning your heart from all unbelief, putting you right back in track with God again? Oh, now is the time to worship Him. The message is over, so let's just worship Him once again in this song as we sing "I love Him." Everyone, just quietly and sweetly now. Close your eyes and just look with your spiritual eyes towards Him, see what He done for that widow. You are as dear to Him as that widow. He's preserved your life, too. Don't you love Him?
I love Him, I love Him
Because He first loved me;
And purchased my salvation
On Calvary's tree.
The Great Physician now is near
The sympathizing Jesus
He speaks the drooping heart to cheer
Oh, hear the voice of Jesus.
Sweetest note in seraph song,
Sweetest name on mortal tongue,
Sweetest carol ever sung,
Oh, Jesus, precious Jesus.

67 While he chords it on the organ, softly... [Brother Branham begins humming "The Great Physician."] When I hear that song it brings one thing to me. Some time ago at Fort Wayne, Indiana, there was a little Dunkard girl sitting playing the piano. She was not Pentecostal, but she had long beautiful hair done up in the back. And I was going to pray for the sick, and the first one in the line was a little boy. He was crippled, a polio case. And I picked the little boy out of the sister's arms, and held the little boy, and I said, "Truly, the great Physician is here, knows the secrets of all hearts." I said, "Do you believe that?" to an audience of several thousand people.
"Yes," they all believed it, but they were kind of holding back. The first night of the meeting, and they were ... the message was hard for them to understand.

68 And I said, "Do you believe that the Lord Jesus can tell me who this little boy is, and what his name is? Would you believe? Would that be the same angel that met Abraham, that knowed what Sarah...? Would it be the same Jesus who knowed Nathanael when he came, who knowed Peter and called him by name, told the woman at the well, and all these things? Would that be the same Jesus?" They all raised up their hands, they thought it would be.
And the Holy Spirit begin to reveal this. And when He did, the little boy jumped out of my arms, run down and jumped off the platform. The mother fainted in the chair sitting right in front of the little boy. And the little boy running up and down. The Amish girl, or Dunkard it was, playing the piano, she turned real white, jumped up in the middle of the meeting, and her hair fell over her back. She was dressed in a white dress. She looked like an angel. And she began singing that in an unknown tongue. And when she did, the piano never missed a note, playing:
The great Physician now is near,
The sympathizing Jesus,
He speaks the drooping hearts to cheer,
No other name but Jesus.

69 The people flocked down around the altar, and weeping, and falling in the aisles, and screaming, "God, have mercy on me!" Oh, what a meeting there was!
That great Physician is still here. He hasn't failed. He never can fail. Now, how many in here believe that solemnly with all your heart, and you're here tonight with expectations of being healed by the power of God?
If there's anybody in the building I know, outside of these right here, these boys sitting here, three of them that I talked to the other day on an interview, from Arkansas; Brother Pat Tyler, which is a converted gangster; Brother Williams sitting right there; and as far as I can ... and Brother Gene Goad, my chum, sitting right here. And I guess that's all that I see in the building that I know at this time, but this way I know these people sitting here.

70 Now, I have stood with the Koran in one hand and the Bible in the other one before a hundred thousand, and say "One's got to be right, and the other one wrong." And the Christian religion is the only one among all the religions; and the Full Gospel is the only group among them that can prove that Jesus Christ still lives. The rest of them has theology, and they'll tell you about it. "We got just as much psychology," the Mohammedans say. "We got just as much psychology. We can shout just as loud over our prophet as you can over your Jesus. But our prophet never promised us nothing. Your Jesus promised you that He would raise from the dead, and the things that He did you'd do also because He'd live in you. Now you say our prophet's dead, out there in the grave, and you've got a resurrected Jesus. Let's see Him act." They'll put ... don't...

John 14:12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

John 14:20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

71 You can play around here with some of these theologians, on some Greek words or something that you're all confused about yourself, but don't you never try to bring it to a showdown with some of them people. You better have what you're talking about. You'd better know. That's the reason it's hard to get missionaries over there. They know what they're talking about. And you'd better know, because they're going to call your hand on it.
But I'm so thankful tonight to know, friends, that our Jesus, and every promise that He made, is the truth. If I could heal anyone here, I would do it. If I wouldn't do it, I'd be a hypocrite. But I can't.

72 But God has given a gift to the church, that He promised that... During the days of Luther we lived by justification. During the days of Wesley we lived by sanctification, the church become in the minority. In the days of Pentecost we've lived down through the baptism of the Holy Ghost and the restoration of the gifts. Now we're really in the minority, the coming of the Son of God. Here they believed by faith; here they shouted under sanctification; here they spoke in tongues as a gift; but now the negative is positive, and the cap's coming on the pyramid, and it's the end-time, when Christ and His church is so much alike till it's going to call the dead from the Methodist, Lutheran, and all those back there, and there'll be a resurrection. Them that fell asleep in the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh watch will rise one of these days to meet Jesus in the skies. The hour has arrived, friends. The coming of the Lord is at hand.

73 We look at Jerusalem and see that the Jews was blinded for our sake, the fig tree's putting forth its buds. He said, "and the other trees..." Billy Graham has caused a revival among the nominal people. Oral Roberts has caused a revival amongst the Pentecostals. And now Jesus, the Son of God, has come into this remnant, to pull the people for the capstone, to bring back the Son of God, to complete the thing for the coming of the Lord Jesus. He said, "As it was in the days of Sodom, so shall it be in the coming of the Son of man."
I shall turn my back to you, not ... just so that you'd see. Now remember, it was not the man. The man sitting there was just some calcium, potash, and petroleum, sixteen elements of the world that God had went "whew," blowed together, and stepped into it, and was living.

Luke 17:28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;

Luke 17:30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.

74 Jesus Christ was the same thing. He was the Son of God. He was God manifest in the flesh, but His flesh was man, His Spirit was God. Then He promised in the last days that He would come into His church. "A little while and the world seeth me no more; yet you'll see me, for I'll be with you, even in you. The works that I do shall you do also." See? Now that great Physician is here.
He said, "Now, the sign of Sodom and Gomorrah..." Now, what is it? Look at our papers. Homosexuals, perversion, is on the increase of 40% over ten years ago. Earthquakes in divers places, all kinds of signs of the coming, the church falling away, the end-time here.
Now God's showing His signs, too, as we've been preaching about. Now, if this Bible is true, which it is, I'm ready to die for that purpose. The Bible is true. Jesus Christ lives. We are His church, filled with His Spirit, then His life in us will produce the same life that He lived in the Son of God, if the Holy Spirit---the Holy Spirit of God---lives in us.

Matthew 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

John 14:12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

John 14:19 Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.

75 For God's glory, and for the sake of the church, and for your sickness, you that's sick and afflicted, touch the hem of His garment and see if you can cause Him to say through me, as His servant, call you like He did the woman that touched His garment. May the Lord grant it. Would it make you believe grace, and accept your healing? How many believes they could accept their healing if God would call you like that, or see Him call? Raise your hand. The Lord grant it. (Keep that "Great Physician" playing, will you? I feel led to do that.)

76 I'm going to turn to my friends here tonight again, just to look at you. Brethren, I'm not trying ... God's my witness, Brother David. Just as... I've surely made it plain enough to the people that it's not me. I have nothing to do with it. I'm just ... God had to use someone. No hands are worthy; but God makes them worthy. See, He chooses before the foundation of the world His purpose to be done; and it must be done, it must be carried out.

77 The church is going to be there without spot or wrinkle. The grace of God will do that. It'll have to---it'll take grace. Like He talked to Abraham when Sarah doubted. Well, right then He would have slew Sarah right then for doubting, because that's the worst sin there is, is unbelief---and the only sin. And she doubted and laughed within herself when the angel discerned her through the tent. Is that right? But why couldn't He take Sarah? Because she was a part of Abraham. He'd have to take Abraham too. And we are part of Jesus when we're in the body of Christ. Our unbeliefs are excused if we do it ignorantly like she did, for she was scared.

Genesis 18:12 Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?

Genesis 18:13 And the LORD said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?

Ephesians 5:27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

78 Do you believe that something is appearing on the platform? Oh, I wish I could explain this. I must turn. I see a woman that has a skin irritation. You touched Him. It'll leave you, because it's all light around you. "If thou canst believe, all things are possible." Now believe.
So that you'll see it's not psychology, reading your mind, I'll turn my back to you. How about up in this section? This was done once in the Angelus Temple, sister. Brother David, you remember. Now I'm just ... so that you'll see---I'm talking to you, that shows that I have no contact with people there. Surely you under... I know you understand, see. But I'm asking the grace of God to do something that the people might know.

Mark 9:23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.

79 Yes, I see a young person, young girl. She's from away from here. She isn't from this country. She's from a country that's rainy and got a lot of trees and moss. She's from Oregon. She's got epileptic fits. She sits out there. Do you believe that Jesus Christ will make you well? Do you accept it for her? Stand up, sister. Go home, and I rebuke the devil. Do you believe with all your heart? All right.

80 In the center aisle here, someone have faith. Don't doubt. I'll talk to you, Brother Shore, so that you can see that I'm talking to you. I'm letting someone there... There's no prayer cards, so it's just simply ... not to bring anyone up but that they might see.
Yes, there's a thin-like woman. She's got cancer. She was due at the hospital today. She's sitting in the front here, kind of a thin woman. Her name is Miss Peterson. All right, lady, have faith in God. May the God of heaven kill that devil till it won't even be seen by no one else. Do you believe on the Son of God? Do you believe Him with all your heart? Just have faith in Him, that's all you have to do.

81 All right. You all ready to believe over this a-way? Let me talk to this minister here. Do you believe with all your heart? I hope somebody over there does too. That you might know that I'm talking to you. But see the power of God overshadows all mental things, goes into the realm of spirit.
Yes, behind me is a woman, and she doesn't know what's the matter with her. She is... Oh, that poor woman! She's had one, two, three, four, five operations. They don't know what it is. The doctors don't know what it is. She's been sent here to Arizona for a rest. She's from Louisiana. Her name is Mrs. Pierson. All right, Mrs. Pierson, somewhere behind me, raise up, look at me. Do you believe me to be God's prophet? I don't know you. If that's right, wave your hand. We're strangers to one another. What was said is true. Is that right? The doctors don't know what's the matter with you. It's your nerves. Get real quiet, have faith, and you'll go home well. Have faith in God! Do you believe the Son of God raised again?

82 Now, what about somebody in this section? You all ready to believe back here? Pat, are you glad you're a Christian? Isn't it wonderful to get out of the life that you was living and be a Christian?
Here's a lady. It's a woman, a man, and a child. The lady is contacting God. She's behind me. And she's got some sort of a stomach trouble, and she has a weakness afterwards. She's not from here, either. She's from a desert-like country but ... she's from Kansas. Her husband is a minister. That's her sitting right there. I don't know you. If that's right, lady, wave your hands like this. All right, sir. All right, go home, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and get well. Do you believe on the Lord?

83 All around the building now, do you believe on the Lord? Sure, He's here! Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever. The same God who could show Elijah where that widow woman was, the same God can show me where you're at, sitting praying, because it's the Spirit of Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever. Do you believe it? Let every person in here put your hands on one another while I pray for you generally, right here, and believe, so that you'll know that you got something in it, each one of you. You are believers, aren't you? If you are, say "amen." In the presence of God, in the infallible proof of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, put your hands on one another and pray for one another.

Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.

84 Our heavenly Father, I give to You this waiting audience. May all these people who's repented of their sins find a good church home. May those, Lord, who are sick be healed. May the power of Satan be broken over their lives right now, as I rebuke the devil and ask that the power of Jesus Christ will come upon this audience and take every sickness, every disease, every affliction, every doubt. Drown it from them, Lord, and heal them. In the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, I ask it.


“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.” — 1 Corinthians 16:23