The Unchangeable God
You can find this sermon at ChurchAges.net
1 ... just a moment for prayer. Our heavenly Father, it is a grand privilege that we have of coming into Thy presence in this attitude of worship and praise to Thee and know that we can call Thee our Father. Being born of Thy Spirit, we are Thy children, and with the privilege of asking what we will and faith will bring it to us. We thank Thee for this, most holy and righteous God. We would ask tonight that You would speak to those, Lord, who are needy, those that need salvation to their soul.
And for those that are sick and in a desperate condition, to the shut-ins, those that are in the hospitals, and they're hospitalized and cannot get to the meeting, O Thou great I AM, go to their bedsides tonight and touch their sick bodies, that they might be able to come from the hospital to serve Thee. Forgive us of our sins as we forgive those that sin against us, that we might have Thy favor in our midst tonight. And speak to us through Thy Word. Thy Word is the truth. Make it known unto us, Lord. Make Thy Word to live among us, for we ask it in the name of Thy child, the Lord Jesus. Amen. You may be seated.
2 Now for just a ... continue the message. I was certainly packed away with standing there listening to Brother DuPlessis bring that message on the apostle Peter being able to walk on the water, something that he never did before. And we can just do many things that we never did before if we'll just listen to His Word and take His Word for it. He never made a promise but what He'll stand behind.
3 Now, what time does the service start Sunday, brethren? Sunday, two-thirty. Well, that means about one-thirty those who want prayer cards should be here, at one-thirty then, so you won't disturb the meetings while they're giving out the prayer cards. And at two-thirty the services begin. And then we'll be out in time for you to go home and have your... Is it dinner or supper here? I'm a Southerner and it's supper to me. If they call that dinner, then what happened to my supper? I miss out somewhere. So, you go home to your supper. That's what I would call it. And then go to your churches. And the strangers in our gates we want to ... visiting here, these fine churches will be having Sunday School Sunday morning and church Sunday night. You find a place of your choice and attend that service. And now, I'm kind of happy about this meeting for many reasons, because I have looked forward to it for some time, of getting back.
4 I wish to just quote a verse out of the book of Job tonight, the twenty-third chapter and the third verse.
Oh that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat!
That's Job 23:3. I'm going to speak for a few minutes upon the subject of "The Unchangeable God," if I should call it a subject.
Job 23:3 Oh that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat!
5 There are many things, and practically all things change. Time changes, people changes, weather changes, nations changes; but God is unchangeable. He does not change. He is the same all times. God is an infinite God. I do not believe that there would be any word could explain the word, or any way to explain the word infinite because it's the infinity. He has never had a beginning, or He'll never have an end. Therefore when God is called on the scene to act, or to make a decision, the way that He acts or the decision that He makes, that is forever the same. He cannot change it because He's infinite, He's perfect.
Now, you and I can say a certain thing, and next year we'll have to change it maybe and do something different, or ... because we are finite. We do not know all things. But He is perfect, and His first decision will have to be ... His second decision will have to be like the first. Or if He makes another decision, then He did not act right when He made the first decision. Then that puts Him finite, like I am or you are. What I'm trying to do before this healing service comes is to instill in you a faith in God, because that's what it takes for healing or salvation. You must have faith in God. And God is no greater than His Word, or no more perfect than His Word, because God and His Word is the self-same thing. You are no better than your word. God is no better than His Word. And your word is what you are. God's Word is what He is.
Now any person knows that if God was called on the scene once to save a man that was lost, and God saved that man by his faith, the next man calls on God, God will have to save that man, if he comes on the same grounds that the first man came on. Then, if there is a sick man and he pleads to God for mercy, and God gives him mercy and healing on the basis of his faith, the next man that comes on them same grounds and asks the same question, God's got to act the same way, or He acted wrong when He acted the first time.
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
6 So you see, we must make God real, unchangeable. Every soul that comes to God seeking salvation or healing, he's got to come on those basis. He's got to come believing that God is, and a rewarder of those that diligently seek after Him.
Did not our Lord Jesus say, "Whatsoever things you desire when you pray, believe that you receive them and you shall have them"? Did not He say, "Ask the Father what you will in my name and you will receive it"? Now that is infallibly the truth. And there's nobody that ever asked God anything but what God gave it to them if they come with an honest heart. Now the thing of it is, God gives it sometimes in the way that we're not expecting it, but God always keeps His Word. There's no way for God to tell you anything and lie about it and remain God. He cannot. He must keep His Word forever. It's the truth.
And when the Bible says that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever, that is the truth. I may not have faith enough to make all the things that He done live again, but I'd never stand in the road of somebody who had faith enough to do it. I would be thanking God for that faith. But just the same, every promise that He made is absolutely truth.
Mark 11:24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
John 16:23 And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.
Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
7 I can go on record for this tonight: if any people will take the right mental attitude towards any divine promise that God ever made, and claim it for yours, God will bring it to pass---if you'll take the right attitude towards it, knowing that if God said so the promise is yours, and it's your personal property. The very minute you receive it that way then it has to come to pass, for Jesus said the Word is a seed that a sower sowed. And a seed, if it's a germitized seed and it goes into the ground, then that seed, under the right conditions of the sun and moisture, will bring forth the life that's in the seed.
And so is the Word of God. If a person can take that Word and place it in their heart and give it the right sunshine, the right temperature---not s-u-n, but s-o-n, and right temperature of faith in there---that seed and promise will live to you just like it did at the beginning to the one it was given to, because it's God's Word and He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He cannot fail.
Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
8 Now the thing is with the people, is the way God appears. Many times we want to make an idol out of God. We ask God to do something, and then He must do it just the way that we ask it, or we'll say He never answered. When we do that, we weaken our faith in God, and we weaken our testimony when we do not take Him at His Word. God always answers. No one never asked... Jesus said, "Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find. Everyone that asks will receive, everyone that seeks shall find, everyone that knocks it'll be opened to them."
Now that's the only way that I've always found it that I can get anything from God, is take Him at his Word and believe it the way He sends it. Now, if we do not take it just the way that we think it is, we build God as an idol. He's got to answer just according to our ways, or, well, it's just no good---He didn't answer us. God answers in many ways, answers in peculiar ways. Times, and everything, is odd.
Matthew 7:7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
Matthew 7:8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
9 We'll take, for instance, Moses. Moses was eighty years old. He was almost, you might think, too old for God to deal with. He was an old man, unexpected in his age to be dealt with with God. Another thing, he was under the Mount Horeb---unexpected place. God met him at a unexpected age, at a unexpected place, and a unexpected way. God didn't meet Moses the way He usually met men. He met Moses in an unusual way---in the way that He chose to meet Moses in. That's the way He answers our prayer: in the way that He thinks is best, and His way is always right.
If we ask for anything and it doesn't happen just the way God ... or, the way we think that God ought to let it happen, then that makes us lose and fall back. Let's ask God, stand firm on the Word, and say it's true, and just receive it the way He sends it. That's the way you've got to believe God. It may come disguised. It may come in another way, a roundabout way. But no matter what way it comes, if we have asked, we shall receive. God said so, and that settles it forever if God says so. Now, when you get to taking God like that and believing it...
10 Now, Moses, what if he'd said, "I prayed for God to make me a military man, and here He is in a burning bush." Don't make any difference how God appeared to him, just so He appeared. That's all that matters here---as long as God comes and answers, as long as we recognize it to be God.
Jacob, another character, he was caught between two occasions. He had done some mean things, some sneaky little tricks to his father-in-law, Laban. And he was running from his father-in-law, going back home to Mama, and when he... Come to find out, here come his brother that he had done some dirty little tricks to, was coming meeting him with an army. Just remember your sins find you out. And then Jacob---all disturbed and perplexed and in trouble---sent his wives across the little brook, went back on the other side. In a unexpected place, in a unexpected time, he met God in a unexpected way. What a way to meet God!---in a wrestling match. But it was God! Regardless of whether it was in a burning bush or a wrestling match, it was God.
11 And the main thing was that Jacob... He had had dreams and visions and so forth, but this was one time he could lay his hand on something and say, "It's God." And he was able to hold on to it until the blessing came. Oh, if we could do that! If we could find the spot to where we could see God---whether it's in His Word, wherever it is---and recognize it's God, and hold on to it until the blessing comes! Wrestle it out with God. God promised to do it. God said if we'd seek, we'd find, ask and it shall be given, knock, it'll be opened. Every word is true! When Jacob got ahold of something that he could look at, hold to with his hands, and seen that it was God, he would not turn it loose.
Matthew 7:7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
Matthew 7:8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
12 Oh, if Christendom could do that! If you could lay your hand ahold of something that's real! Catch a vision of God, and see His presence, and hold on to it until God sends the answer back, and the blessing.
What a revival would break out here in Tulsa if people could do that, could see the power of the living God, something real, no matter what form it comes in. We have our ideas; but God has a way of sending things to us, answering our prayer. There's been prayer meetings going on here in this city for a long time for a revival. I believe if we would just open our eyes and be ready to receive it, God would send it to us in His way of doing it, in His time. God would grant it, but we've got to recognize we have asked, and if we ask, then we shall receive.
And he held on to it---unexpected time, unexpected place, and an unexpected way. But when he realized that it was God, he held on to it.
13 Isaiah, the young prophet, he'd had a wonderful life. He'd leaned upon the good king's arm, and everything come fine. And he'd got all fat and overweight from eating. And one day the king died. And Isaiah was caught in a vision when he seen the train of the Lord. He saw angels flying through the building, with wings over their face, and wings over their feet, and flying with two wings, crying, "Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God Almighty!" And when he seen that and knowed that he was standing in the presence of a holy God, he said, "Woe is me! for I am a man of unclean lips, and I'm living among unclean people."
And the Lord was crying, "Who will go for us?" And the angel took the tongs and got some coals off the altar, and touched it to his mouth and cleansed him. It was an unusual sight for the prophet. It was an unusual way that God dealt with him. But God knows how to deal with men.
Isaiah 6:1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
Isaiah 6:2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.
Isaiah 6:3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
Isaiah 6:4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.
Isaiah 6:5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.
Isaiah 6:6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
Isaiah 6:7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.
Isaiah 6:8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.
14 Isaiah had been educated and at school with the king, and so forth. He had the best that could be given mentally, I suppose, in his intellectual. But God had to make a prophet out of him, by revealing Himself to him, by giving him something tangible that he could see. It was no more so much in literature and reading and writing, but the things that he had read about God and heard about God become manifested right before him. Then he said, "I'm of unclean lips, and dealing and dwelling among unclean people," and God prepared him for his days of prophecy. That's the way God does things. He does it in a mysterious way.
The prophet Elijah, we might think of him for a moment. There he is, laying back in a cave. He had seen the power of God a few days before that. Forty days before he had God's power. He had prayed, and three years and six months it had not rained. And then he prayed again, on the mountain, and fire came down from heaven and devoured the sacrifice. And then he prayed again, and rain come and bathed the earth. And then, by the fear of the threat of the queen, he run into the wilderness. He knowed he was missing something. There was something in him that wasn't right yet.
1 Kings 18:37 Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again.
1 Kings 18:38 Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.
James 5:17 Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.
James 5:18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.
15 When he pulled back in the cave, there come an earthquake outside that shook the cave where he was sitting. There come a mighty rushing wind, there come thunders and lightnings and blowings. And it was all God, but it didn't attract the prophet. It didn't touch him somehow. He knowed what God's power was. He knowed God had shook the mountains, and He'd had rushing winds, and so forth, and sent fire out of heaven. But he waited, and way down inside of him come a little still voice. That attracted the prophet. There was something... He'd seen His power to do things; but this time he felt His presence, and a still small voice speaking into his heart. Then the prophet raised up and went out to the end of the cave.
Sometimes we ask for things; get something vice versa. We make God something that we want to make Him, after the way we think He ought to answer.
1 Kings 19:9 And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?
1 Kings 19:10 And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.
1 Kings 19:11 And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake:
1 Kings 19:12 And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.
1 Kings 19:13 And it was so, when Elijah heard it that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?
Luke 2:12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
16 Israel, there's another case. Israel was looking for a mighty king to come to beat the Romans down with a rod of iron. What did God give them? A baby. Instead of a mighty king, He gave them a baby wrapped in swaddling cloth. Said, "You'll find Him laying in a manger." He didn't come the way that they expected Him to come, and they refused it. It has to come our way or it's no good. They said, "Take it back!"---and He did. That's right. You've got to accept it the way God sends it and be happy about it.
If God anchors a little something in your heart and says, "This is it," believe it, hold on to it---that's God Word. He promised He'd confirm it to you, and if He confirms the Word, hold on to it.
Yeah, they didn't want that baby. "If you can't send us a king, why, we won't have that baby. You can just take it back." See, it's got to be a way that we think it's got to be. We must remember that God does it His way, and His way is always the right way. We've got to believe what God said about it, and know that it's absolutely the truth and stay with it. Hold on to it!
17 Jesus, when He become a man, He was humble. And how could a King of heaven have spit in His face and a rag around His head? And hit Him with a stick and said, "Say, they tell me you're a prophet. Tell us who hit you and we'll believe you." And He never opened His mouth. How could that be? The king that they was looking for was going to beat the world down. But God sent them the King, and because God sent it in His way then they refused to believe it. But God had that way of doing to send it, and He never sent it any other way but what His Word said He would come. But they had their mind made up it had to be some other way. There's where we make the mistake, friends. That's where the trouble lays.
When the forerunner, John the Baptist, came---the voice of one crying in the wilderness, why, the Bible said all the high places will be brought down, and all the low places will be lifted up, and all these things would take place. The mountains would skip like little rams, and the leaves would clap their hands. Why, they was expecting a shaking, of this man coming down out of the corridors of heaven, all dressed in fine linen, and crowns upon his head, or something. What happened? God sent them an old preacher, down on the wilderness with a piece of sheepskin wrapped around him. Looked like a fuzzy worm, his face all full of beard. "Oh, away with such a fellow as that, eating locusts and wild honey! We don't want nothing to do with that! How could that forerun the Messiah?" But it was God's way of forerunning the Messiah.
Psalm 114:4 The mountains skipped like rams, and the little hills like lambs.
Isaiah 40:3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Isaiah 40:4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:
Isaiah 55:12 For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Matthew 26:67 Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him; and others smote him with the palms of their hands,
Matthew 26:68 Saying, Prophesy unto us, thou Christ, Who is he that smote thee?
Luke 22:64 And when they had blindfolded him, they struck him on the face, and asked him, saying, Prophesy, who is it that smote thee?
18 We've got to receive it in the way that God said it, God's pleased with it. That's His way. He's all wisdom, He's all powerful, He's omnipotent, omnipresent. Oh, He's God, the I AM! Not the I was, or will be; but I AM forever the same. He's God and He does things in mysterious ways, but He does it for His own glory. He does it because that it's best to do it that way. We must receive it the way that He sends it.
I'm sure that all of our charts and calendars, and so forth, that we have drawed up---Jesus coming on a cloud, and the next one's got Him on a white horse, and all like that---it'll be altogether different when He comes. It won't be the way that we've got it. And many will fail to see it. Many will fail to see this day that we're living in. Many fails to see the sign of the coming Messiah right now. Many people fail to see it. It's right before them, yet they don't see it.
Jesus said (when He spoke in Luke, I believe it was) and He said, "As it was in the days of Sodom, so shall it be in the coming of the Son of man. As it was in the days of Noah..." Did you notice how He said the morals of the people in the days of Noah---eating, drinking, marrying, giving in marriage. But when He said Sodom, He just left it off. That was the fire that burnt Sodom. It's the fire that catches the earth today.
Let's review that for a few minutes:
Genesis 18:1 And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;
Genesis 18:4 Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree:
Genesis 18:5 And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye come to your servant. And they said, So do, as thou hast said.
Matthew 24:37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Matthew 24:38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
Matthew 24:39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Luke 17:26 And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.
Luke 17:27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.
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 17:29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.
Luke 17:30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.
19 Abraham, sitting out there, not expecting anything. He was in the poorest of the land. It was in the heat of the day, a odd time for something to happen. But he seen a man come walking, three of them. Something in his heart told him it was God, and he held on to it. He wouldn't let them pass by. O God, may that happen here! Don't let it pass by! Hold on to it!
20 "Come in, sit down under the oak. I'll fetch a little water. I'll be a servant to you. Let me wash your feet. I'll bring you a morsel of bread to satisfy your soul, then you may go on. For this reason my Lord has come to me." Yet not too sure, but He knew that there was something sparked in his heart---it must be the time. When that man sat and talked to him, look what He did.
He looked down, He said, "Abraham [A stranger, how did He know his name was Abraham?], where is thy wife Sarah?" He knew he had a wife, and knowed her name was Sarah.
And the Bible said that Abraham told him, "In the tent behind you."
And He said, "Seeing that Abraham is the heir of the world, will I keep anything from Abraham, seeing that he's the heir of the world?" And He said, "According to the time of life, I'm going to visit you." And Sarah, ninety years old, back in the tent behind Him, never seen Him, never knowed nothing about Him (neither did He know about Sarah), and she laughed within herself---perhaps like that, put her hands up to her mouth.
Genesis 18:9 And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent.
Genesis 18:10 And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him.
Genesis 18:11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.
Genesis 18:12 Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?
Genesis 18:17 And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do;
Genesis 18:18 Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?
21 And this angel, with his back turned, said, "Why did Sarah laugh?" Who was that? He little expected that man to be who He was, but when He went to leave, Abraham called Him "Elohim [God Almighty]." What was it a sign of? That God Almighty, in the form of the Holy Ghost, in the last days before this world shall burn, He'll come to His people, and dwell among His people in flesh, making Hisself known to His church just before the fire falls, just before the destruction of the world. Elohim, God, the Holy Spirit, will come in among His people and do the signs that He did then. Oh, He's the unchangeable God.
That's the way He made Hisself known to the Jews. That's how He made Hisself known to the Samaritans, the same way. Many of the church believed him. "Oh, he's a Beelzebub," but those who seen it and recognized it to be God, they recognized who He was.
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?
Matthew 12:24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.
Mark 3:22 And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils.
Luke 11:15 But some of them said, He casteth out devils through Beelzebub the chief of the devils.
John 4:25 The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.
22 The woman at the well, she said, "Sir, Messiah cometh we know, and He'll tell us these things. You must be His prophet."
He said, "I am he that speaks to you."
She run into the city and said, "Come see a man." Unexpected she was to find a man like that. Unexpected was she to find the Messiah on earth dwelling among His people. So is it today. The people don't expect ... they're expecting something else. They're expecting bombs and things to fall, which probably will be. They're expecting some great union amongst the church people. Now, it may be. But in the midst of all of that, God has sent the power of His Son, Jesus Christ, amongst the people, and they're having a new Pentecost. The power of God being poured out, and the same signs and wonders that they did many years ago, is in the midst of the people, as Jesus said it would be. We don't look for a unionize among all the churches and things. We look for an outpouring of the Holy Ghost, and it'll come and do things that we might not be expecting.
I know He's here now. I know the Holy Spirit is here in the meeting. And I know that He promised, "Wherever two or three are gathered in my ... together, I'll be in their midst." Jesus promised that---wherever two or three... That's the power, that's what the early church relied upon: the presence of Jesus. "Wherever two or three are gathered in my name I'll be in their midst. And whatever they agree upon as touching one thing, and ask, they shall receive it." That is true. That's God's promise. He's unchangeable. He's the same yesterday today and forever, and He's here now. Do you believe it?
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.
John 4:26 Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.
John 4:27 And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the woman: yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her?
John 4:28 The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men,
John 4:29 Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?
Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
23 Let us bow our heads just a moment for prayer. Just before we pray---you with your heads bowed---would there be any here would say, "Brother Branham, remember me. Let my spiritual eyes come open that I might see Him, know Him. How I want to see Him, how I love Him!" Raise up your hand and say, "Remember me." God bless you. Lord, bless that sister. May God of heaven be merciful. Someone else back over to my right here. "Remember me, Brother Branham, in prayer." God bless you. The unsearchable riches of Christ, the revealing of His power and His goodness, may the God of heaven give mercy and kindness and grace to you all.
24 Our heavenly Father, we bring this audience to You at this hour, looking around seeing the hands of the people going up. The unchangeable God, working in mysterious ways His wonders to perform. We pray, O God, that Your Holy Ghost, Your Spirit, will dwell in every heart here tonight. Give to them the desire of their heart. Make them have faith, Lord. Put something within them of courage, that they'll know that You're ever-present, ever living to make intercession. You are sitting at the right hand of God Almighty and there at His throne. The precious body of Jesus Christ sits there while the Holy Spirit is on earth.
And He's there as our high priest to make intercessions upon our confession. What we confess that He'll do, that's what He's there to make right---His own blood in the charger before Him, His own garments bloody, sitting there, seeing that God cannot look through that blood and see unrighteousness, because Christ has took our sins and our sickness. O Father God, we pray that, as He being a high priest that can be touched by the feeling of our infirmities, that He will be touched tonight by every infirmity that's in the building. All the infirmities, that's whether it be spiritual or physical, that they'll have a healing, and a revival will take out of this city, oh, souls after souls into the kingdom of God. Grant it, Lord. Hear our prayer. We love You, Father, and we're waiting for great expectations for the Holy Spirit to come in our midst and do that which He promised He would do. We ask it for their sake, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Hebrews 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
25 Do you love Him with all your heart? Are you expecting Him to do the exceeding ... the abundance above all that we could do or to think? He said He would do the exceeding abundance above all that we could do or think. He promised to do it. Now, when Jesus was here on earth how many knows that He did not claim to be a healer? How many knows that He wasn't a healer? You mean you don't know the Bible no better than that? He said, "It's not me that doeth the works. It's my Father that dwelleth in me, He doeth the works. Verily, verily, I say unto you (John 5:19), verily, verily, I say unto you, the Son can do nothing in himself, but what he sees the Father doing that doeth the Son likewise." Is that what He said? St. John 5:19.
When He knowed where a man was laying with an infirmity, laying on a pallet, told him his faith would make him whole, pick up his bed and go to the house. And He was questioned amongst the Jews. And He left thousands of people laying there---lame, halt, blind, twisted. He said, "I only do what the Father tells me or shows me to do." Now ... "I do what I see the Father doing. The Father worketh and I worketh hitherto." Now, that's His Spirit. Now, Jesus Himself did not perform any healings without first God showing Him. That's the Scripture. "I do nothing except the Father shows me first." Not "tells me"; "shows me" first. Then when He shows Him, He goes and does what the Father tells Him.
MATT9:20,22 MARK5:27,28,34 LUKE8:44,48
John 5:17 But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.
John 5:19 Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.
John 14:10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.
26 The woman that touched His garment, now, He never did that. He never said He did it. He said, "Thy faith has saved thee. Thy faith has saved thee." Blind Bartimaeus at the gate, "Thy faith has made thee whole." He had nothing to do with it. The people's faith did that, because they believed that He was the Son of God. She touched Him, the woman did, and she touched His garment. And, now, He didn't feel it physically because the Palestinian garment has an underneath garment and the robe hangs loose. And she touched the border of it, for she said within her heart, "If I'll but touch His garment, I'll be made whole." And she touched Him. And when she did, well, she felt within herself... Because her faith had been if she could touch it, she'll be made well, and she did what she thought that would bring the power of God to her, and she felt that it was all-sufficient. And it was, because she believed it.
Matthew 9:20 And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment:
Matthew 9:22 But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.
Mark 5:27 When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment.
Mark 5:28 For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.
Mark 5:34 And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.
Luke 8:44 Came behind him, and touched the border of his garment: and immediately her issue of blood stanched.
Luke 8:48 And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.
27 Jesus turned, and looked around the audience, and said, "Who touched me?"
Peter rebuked Him, said, "Who touched you? Why, all of them's touching you. Why would you say a thing like that?"
He said, "But I perceive that I have gotten weak ... or, virtue's gone from me," which means strength. "I got weak. Somebody's touched me with a different kind of a touch." And He looked around over the audience until He found the woman, and He told her about her blood issue had stopped because her faith had made her well. Now, that's the Jesus was yesterday, that's the same Jesus today, that's the same Jesus that will be tomorrow, if there is a tomorrow, and will be forever.
Mark 5:30 And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?
Mark 5:31 And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?
Luke 8:45 And Jesus said, Who touched me? When all denied, Peter and they that were with him said, Master, the multitude throng thee and press thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?
Luke 8:46 And Jesus said, Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me.
Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
28 When people think that God makes a promise and don't keep it... Mohammedans, or nothing else---I've held the Bible in one hand and the Koran in the other one, and say, "One of them's right and one's wrong. Both of them can't be right, because they're contrary one to another." I say, "You prove that your prophet is dead---he's in the ground. Our Jesus raised from the dead, and He promised the things that He did, we'll do also." I said, "Now let me see you do the works of Mohammed." Can't do it. But the works of Jesus Christ is done by the Holy Ghost when He comes to anoint the people. Do you believe that? Certainly we believe it. What would keep us from believing? Because, God made the promise, God said so, that settles it.
29 Now, man cannot do that. It's supernatural. It's something that man can't do. While I've just got a couple minutes' time I want to explain that. See, man cannot do nothing; it's God in man. Jesus said, "I am the vine, ye are the branch." Now, as long as the branch is in the vine, it'll bear the fruit of the vine. Now, God always used man for His agent. That's why He used His own Son to unveil Himself. He come down and took the form of man in order to die the death for man. He could not die in the Spirit but He was put to death in the flesh. Then God was in Abraham, God was in Isaac, God was in Jacob, God was in Joseph, God was in David. He was in all those people back in there, them prophets and so forth. It was God working through men.
John 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
30 Now, in this New Testament age the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses His church and sanctifies it, that His Holy Spirit might continue to carry the work of God on through all ages. And He's just the same today. If it isn't, then we're false witnesses of this Bible. If that isn't true, then the Bible isn't true. It's time that men preached the gospel. It's time that the power of God was made known. When heathens trying to step on that Word, we need men like the Hebrew children: "Our God is able to deliver us from this." That's right. It's time. God remains the same.
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.
31 Now, God cannot heal you, because He's already done it when He was wounded for your transgressions, bruised for your iniquity, the chastisement of your peace was upon Him, and with His stripes you were healed. It's a past tense. If He stood here tonight with this suit on that He gave me, He could not heal you if you asked Him. He'd say, "I've already done it. You believe it." He might do something to make you know that it was Him. And that's the way He does today. He makes it known to His people by His people that He is God. Not the man, but God.
Now, He's just as real tonight. I know He's here. How many ever seen that picture of the angel of the Lord, that light? There's many of you. They got it here, I think, somewhere. Boys may have it, Gene and them, got it at the table back there---that light. You remember, if I never meet you again in earth, I'll meet you at that day. That light isn't standing two feet from where I'm standing now. That's right. He promised it, and I believe God. Seen it against tens of thousands of heathens. I've seen it in times when witch doctors on both sides, and see the power of God paralyze them, and sit there. God's either God, or He's not God. Jesus is either the Son of God, or He was an impostor. He is Christ the Son of God! He is not dead, but He's alive, and He lives forevermore! He's the same yesterday, today, and forever.
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.
Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
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.
32 How many believe that? God bless you. How many of you believe that He can appear right... ? We ain't got no prayer cards give out, have we? How many's sick out there and wants healing? Raise your hands. Say, "God, I'm sick, I need healing." Just raise up your hands. Anybody's sick and wants healing, just raise up your hands, and say, "I pray that God'll make me well." Got a loved one you're praying for, raise up your hand. Say, "I'm praying, God be merciful."
There isn't a person in this building that I know, outside of... I believe if ... I'm not sure this is Pat sitting right here, Pat Tyler. I don't know whether you all know him or not, and Brother Gene Goad sitting here taking the message.
33 Men on the platform, I met them last night. Finest bunch of men I ever met in my life, but the only ones that I really know personally is brother right there. He sponsored me the first time I was here. Brother Williams and his son, Brother Borders, Brother David, and Brother Harvey is the only ones that I really know here. But Jesus Christ knows every one of you.
If He is the same yesterday, today, and forever, put Him to a showdown. Is He God? Is it right? He knows every one of you. We are approaching the coming of the Son of God. How did He prove Hisself to be God and to be the Son of God to the Jews? When He told Peter who He was. He told Nathanael where he'd been, when he was under the fig tree, when He saw him under the tree, praying. He said, "Thou art the Son of God. You're the King of Israel." That was the sign of the Messiah to the Jewish nation. The priests walked back and said, "He's a fortune-teller."
And He said, "You say that about me, I'll forgive you; but when the Holy Ghost is come, better not speak against it then, because it'll never be forgiven, in this world nor the world to come."
Watch that ...
Matthew 12:24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.
Matthew 12:32 And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.
Mark 3:22 And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils.
Luke 11:5 And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves;
Luke 12:10 And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven.
John 1:42 And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.
John 1:48 Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee.
John 1:49 Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.
Acts 8:5 Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.
Acts 8:12 But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
Acts 8:15 Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost:
Acts 8:16 (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)
Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
34 there's only three classes of people: that's Ham, Shem, and Japheth's people. That's Jews, Gentile, and Samaritans. Remember Peter at Pentecost? Preached to the Jews, opened the kingdom; to the Samaritans when Philip had went down and baptized them, yet they had not received the Holy Ghost; down at the house of Cornelius. Then all of them had heard it---Ham, Shem, and Japheth's people. The Holy Ghost was then ... they didn't need him any more for that purpose, because the Holy Spirit had went to all the people.
When Jesus come, we gentiles were Anglo-Saxons, which did not look for no coming Messiah. We were heathens, with clubs on our backs. But they that was looking for a Messiah, they was the Jews and the Samaritans looking for the Messiah. When He appeared, what kind of a sign did He do? He done the sign of the prophet that Moses spoke of---it would be a God-prophet. They looked at it, those who were really spiritual led, they seen Him do that sign. They said, "That's Him."
But the others, that had all their intellectual trainings, they said, "This guy's Beelzebub."
35 He went over to Samaria. He had need. A woman come out at the well, and He said, "Bring me a drink of water."
And she said, "It's not customary. We got segregation here. Jews and Samaritans have no dealings."
He said, "Woman, if you knew who you were talking to, you'd ask me for a drink."
She said, "The well's deep and you have..."
What was He doing? He was contacting her spirit. And when He found where her trouble was (we all know what it was, where her trouble laid), He said, "Go get your husband and come here."
She said, "I don't have any husband."
Said, "You've said right. You've got five, and the one you're living with now is not your husband."
She said, "Sir, I perceive that you're Beelzebub"? No, sir. She said, "I perceive that you're a prophet. I perceive that you are a prophet. Now we know, [we Samaritans, we're taught,] we know when Messiah cometh, He'll tell us these things. [That was the sign of the Messiah.] But who are you?"
He said, "I am he that speaks to you."
John 4:4 And he must needs go through Samaria.
John 4:7 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.
John 4:8 (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)
John 4:9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.
John 4:10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
John 4:11 The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?
John 4:16 Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither.
John 4:17 The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband:
John 4:18 For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.
John 4:19 The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.
John 4:25 The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.
John 4:26 Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.
John 4:27 And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the woman: yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her?
John 4:28 The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men,
John 4:29 Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?
36 Oh, my. Remember, not to gentiles did He ever do it. He did not do that to gentiles. Then if He's an infinite God and let them, with an intellectual teaching... As much as we have today, if we go out of this---our dispensation---without the same manifestations, then He done something for them He did not do for us. But He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. He promised He would do it.
What did He do? Many scriptures, but the one I just quoted, "As it was in the days of Sodom, so shall it be in the coming of the Son of man. So shall it be." The same thing will take place just before the fire. There He is, the infinite God. He's here tonight. That's a big thing to say but it's something that the Bible said so, and the Holy Spirit is here to back it up and say it's the truth.
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 17:29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.
Luke 17:30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.
Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
37 Let us pray. O Lord, there's somebody there suffering, no doubt, some people are needy. I pray Thee, Father, to be merciful and just let it be known that Thou art God. Just speak the words, Lord, and I pray that some poor soul in here that's seeking You that they'll be able to touch the high priest that can be touched by the feeling of our infirmities. Just grant it, Lord, at least one or two, that the people might know in the mouth of one or two witnesses, or two or three witnesses, may every word be established. Grant it, Father. I ask it for God's glory, and for the sake of the message tonight, Lord, and Your Word that declares it to be so, that the people might know that the time of unfolding and unveiling is at hand, that You're here, the same yesterday, today, and forever. Amen.
Now, I want you to pray. I want you to believe with all your heart and all that is within you, to believe that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is here. How many is strangers to me out there, that I don't know you? Raise up your hand. All out through the building, no matter where you are. Now, perhaps you have never known this. Now if ... I'll have to follow the Holy Spirit, and if it speaks, you answer. I don't say that it will. I'm just saying I pray that it will, see, that it will. I have no right to say that, only by His Word. And He said that He would grant it, and we believe that it will be granted. Now, you pray. Now, it's your faith. You can do nothing till you touch Him, then He speaks to me. If you can believe. If thou canst believe.
Mark 9:23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
Hebrews 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
38 Yes. Here it is. Just a moment. Right over here to my left, there sits a woman sitting there, kind of heavy-set. She's real seriously sick. She has heart trouble, shadowed by a cancer, spiritual demon depression ... oppression, rather. The lady sits right here, with her head bowed, looking right this way at me. Do you believe, lady, that Jesus Christ will make you well? Do you believe it? Do you? Do you accept it? Lost it. Now, you'll have to beat that. Lord God, creator of heavens and earth, let it be known, that the people might understand, Lord. Have faith in God.
Here's a man sitting right back here, praying for his wife. He's got his wife on his mind. He's praying for her. She's had operations, and so forth, and it doesn't seem to help her any. That's exactly right. That man's a minister. Reverend Nathan, Jacob Nathan. Your wife's sitting next to you. Do you believe that Jesus Christ will make her well? You accept it, sir? Raise up your hand if you accept it. God bless you. Go on.
39 I never seen the man in my life.
Have faith in God. Don't let that pass you. He is God forevermore. Here sits a woman. She bowed her head, right there. She's sitting there looking to me now. The woman's lame somehow. She's got beneath her a crutch that she walks on. Do you believe, lady, that Jesus Christ will let you walk out of here without them crutches tonight? Do you believe it, sitting right there looking at me? Will you accept your healing? Raise up your hand. I never seen you in my life, but if you'll believe it, you'll leave them lay there and walk out and be whole. I challenge your faith to believe it. If thou canst believe.
What about back here? What about you ministers? Do you brothers believe? With all your heart? Now you're every one strangers to me, besides Brother Williams. God loves you. You're His children. I'm here to be your brother. The Spirit of God is here. I've told and said it in Jesus Christ's name. You just have faith to believe. If there's something wrong, ask Him.
40 This man sitting right here, looking at me, it's not exactly you. It's your dad sitting out there. That's right. Do you believe God can tell me what's wrong with him, if you believe it? It's in his feet. If that's right, stand on your feet. There sits his daddy, sitting right there, an old man, kind of bald-headed, sitting there looking right at me now.
Here, look here, don't you see that light? Look at that light over this little woman here. She's praying also. He knows that woman sitting right there, that little woman. Do you believe God can tell me what's wrong with her? Will you believe? It's in her legs. Right. Do you believe God? Do you believe that's the angel of the Lord? The same Jesus, yesterday, today, and forever? He remains God, and there's nothing that can harm, nothing can hinder. Jesus Christ, God's Son, lives forever, ever alive to make intercession. If we will only believe, have faith, God will perform the rest. Do you believe that with all your heart?
Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
41 Now, do you believe that the coming Messiah is at hand? What is those people? I never seen one of them in my life and God knows that to be true. Now you've got it started. Now it's just going all around over the building. Right now is the time, now's the time to receive your healing. Lay your hands on one another, put your hands over on one another and believe now. Now you've got it, now you're coming into faith. O Lord God, creator of heavens and earth, let it be known tonight that Thou art the Son of God. You have made it known, You are God; and let your Holy Spirit fall among this people and prove to them that Thou art the great Jehovah God, that You remain the same, yesterday... Satan, you are defeated. Come out of this people. I adjure thee by the power of the living God that you come out of this people, in Jesus' name.