Jehovah-Jireh

You can find this sermon at ChurchAges.net

1 Thank you, brother. Thank you, Brother Slater. The Lord bless you. You may be seated. How could you turn down such a welcome as that? I certainly thank you very kindly for that fine welcome, Brother Slater. And I know you was speaking the hearts of the rest of the brethren, when you said that---the association, and all that's concerned. And to the audience, thank you very much.

2 You know, you can always feel more welcome if somebody tells you something. Someone said one time... I had preached, and I was going out. Someone said, "Brother Branham, that was really good."
There was another minister walking by me, said, "I'm glad people don't brag on me." He said, "I don't want them bragging on me."
I said, "Well," I said, "I do." I said, "I like that."
And he said, "Well, I sure don't want them saying..."
I said, "Just only one difference between you and I. I'm telling the truth, and you're not." That's all. Sure.

3 Dad used to make me work twice as hard as I would've done, because he told me I was doing a good job. So, we all like that. We like to be told.
And then, I do appreciate good friendly criticism. When someone says, "Now, you made a mistake there. You did something," then, I know. I'll try to straighten that up, see. I always admire criticism. Don't you, when it's in the right, see? If you're doing something wrong, you don't wish to do it that way. I ... someone said, "Well, I would have told, you but I..." Well, sure. If you're my brother, you should tell me. I want to know it.

4 Anybody want to go to Indiana with me? I just called my wife, a few minutes ago, and there's ten inches of snow. It's froze all over. All the roads are closed. The bridges are closed. But you're sure welcome to go with me. It'll melt off in a few days. It's too late in the season for it to stay very long.
So, we're leaving right after the service this afternoon. Try to get home just in time to walk through one door, and out the other one, almost. Have a couple of days to stay.
And then, we go over in Virginia, about nine hundred miles from home again, and down there on the sea coast with the big Marine base, or Navy base, and so forth. We're going down there to bring the gospel to them---get that ministerial group, and put our seine in with them, see if we can catch some souls somewhere.

5 And from there, we come back then up into Ohio; and then from there, over into Bloomington, Illinois; then Chicago, and the Lane Tech High School where we usually meet there. Nice big auditorium, seats about four or five thousand. And we can... That will be with the Christian Businessmen's sponsorship, of the chapter of Chicago. That will be the last week in April.
Then in May, I'm in British Columbia, and up in Dawson Creek, Grand Prairie, Fort St. John, on and on. You know how it goes.
And so, I want to ask you one thing. I want you to do me a favor. Will you do it? Just when you're praying, remember me. Will you do it? And when I'm overseas, and the witch doctors are standing there, and demon powers from every side, I can remember I got some real friends in here praying for me. That'll make me brave to walk out, knowing that you're holding me up in prayer. I appreciate that.

6 I want to express my gratefulness to this association, all these sponsoring ministers. I had breakfast with them the other morning, I told you. And I believe they've added some more since then. So, I certainly appreciate your fine cooperation, the different denominations that's coming in, breaking down... Just we are brothers, and that's the way to be. I trust that that will never, never leave that place. Just always stay like that. We are brothers.
And by doing so, I think that I have had given to me by God, one of the finest little revivals that I've been in in years, right here. I've never seen people hungering any more for God, than I have right here. I haven't seen it anywhere in the United States, than what it is right in this valley.

7 I go into the business places. A little Catholic girl was making the bed in the motel where I've been staying. And she said she lived next door to some Pentecostals.
She said, "Are you Pentecostal?"
I said, "Yes."
She said, "I'm Catholic."
I said, "I am, too."
And she said, "How can you be Catholic and Pentecostal at the same time?"
I said, "Well, look. Don't the Catholic Bible... Don't you say, you Catholic people, say that the Bible is the history of the early Catholic church?"
She said, "Yep."
"Jesus Christ established the Catholic church?"
"Yes, sir."
"And the disciples were all Catholics?"
"Uh-huh."
"And they wrote the Bible?"
"Uh-huh."

8 I said, "Then I'm an old-fashioned Catholic. I believe what the Bible says," see.
If that was a early Catholic church teaching, then I'm a Catholic, see. Not this new kind of Catholic; the old-fashioned Catholic, see---one that Jesus established. And, by the way, the word "catholic" means "universal" anyhow. So it's just... So, I believe in the universal religion that Jesus Christ established on the day of Pentecost. So, I'm a Pentecostal Catholic. You ever see one before? And so, that's very fine.
We want to thank each one of you people for paying the debts. I guess all was paid up? Did they take a love offering? All paid. They took a love offering. Now, if they haven't, you can put the love offering right in on that, you see. It's all paid up,

9 the brethren just said.
I never know anything about the business of it. The others take care of that. I just give myself over to prayer, and studying God's Word, and seeing where He'll lead me, and what I can do while I'm in the community. And so, they said all the debts was paid, and they took a love offering for me. Now, you didn't have to do that, see. Just as long as you paid the debts, that's all that's necessary.
But, I will assure you, my brother, sister, that that portion of your living---the best that I know how, with all the knowledge that God'll give me---it'll go for the kingdom of God. That's right. And may God reward you for this gallant stand that you've taken, and help to bring this ministry to the valley here. May He bless you a hundred fold.
It's said in the Scripture, "Insomuch as you have done unto the least of these my little ones [that would be me], you have done it unto me," said the Lord Jesus. And so, I pray that God will bless you greatly for it.

10 And now, what... It'll be used for overseas missions, to go into the foreign fields, and preach to the people that hasn't got one penny over there. Missionaries preaching the gospel with no shoes on, no shirt, preaching the gospel. And how could you expect people like that to sponsor a meeting? They couldn't do it. How could they send for me to come over there, and go back? But remember, your money that you put in will go for that purpose, to help save those that Jesus died to save.
And I know, that when it's put into my hands, I'm the steward of that then, from then on. God'll make me answer for it at the day of the judgment, make me answer. So, I want to be a good steward, to do everything that I can.

11 And now ... and for your fine prayer and cooperation. Every night, the place packed out, and people turned away. And we appreciate that. And if it be the will of the Lord... I only try to go just where He leads me to go, see. Just where I feel led, then I go.
And then, when I do, then when I run up against an obstacle, I can stand in the name of the Lord, and say, "Here, Satan. You might as well get out of the way, because this is the will of the Lord, see. I come in the name of the Lord Jesus. And you have to step out of the way."
And if we just watch our ministry like that, and just do what God tells you to do... No matter if it seems wrong or right, if God's leading you, you just keep going on. See, it'll... The first thing to think of, is it the will of God? And then, your motive and objective. If your objective is right, and your motive's right, then say to this mountain be moved, and it'll move. That's right. If it's the will of God, and your objective is right, and your motive's right, it'll have to do it.

12 You've been patiently ... and we thank you very kindly. And now, we also want to thank the trustees of this foundation, or however it's controlled here, for letting us come to this fairgrounds here to have our meeting here. I appreciate it.
I appreciate this fine custodian, or gatekeeper, out here---a very friendly chap. He's always waving, and real nice. And everything ... the music... I heard Sister Pfeifer singing, come over from Los Angeles up here. That's very fine, sister. I sure appreciate that.
And all my friends from around different parts of the country---Fresno, and Bakersfield, and around---that's been in business, we sure thank you with all of our hearts. And if I've left off anything, why, you forgive me. I want you to know that we really appreciate everything that's been done, every effort; and just ask you to pray for us now, as we go on.

13 And now, I see some handkerchiefs laying here to be prayed over. Well, we'll sure do that. And if you didn't get your handkerchief up here, just write me at Jeffersonville, Indiana, Post Office Box 325. And now, you'll get a ... you'll get a handkerchief back. (Thank you.) You'll get ... not a handkerchief, because I can't afford to send them. They cost about fifteen, twenty cents apiece, and thousands of those a month, you know where you'd go. I can't afford it.
But I got ribbon, and little things that sister works up for me, and gets ... cuts them, and fixes. Now, you'll get a ... just a regular form letter from the secretary. And he'll fix it up, because it's a universal prayer going on all the time---tells you what to do, how to use this prayer cloth.
If you want one, and you have no use for it now, send, get one, and put it in your Bible on Acts, the 19th chapter. It'll tell you what to do with it. And then, keep it there. The little baby gets up some night sick, someone gets hurt, take that cloth and lay it on them, and watch what happens. Just believe, see. And that'll be your token.

14 No charges. No charges for nothing. Just send, get it. That's all. Just write us. If you can't think of the number 325, just think of $3.25. And if you can't think of that, just put Jeffersonville, Indiana. Everybody knows me, even to the police. And so, they'll be sure that I get it. So, you just send it, and we'll be glad to minister to you. Yes. They come to my church, many of them. Judge comes to my church, and we have fellowship with all around.
And if any ... about the visions or anything: if any of those things are in question, you wonder just where it ... why don't you come up to Jeffersonville, and ask some of the officials around the city there. See if these visions has always been... See if they ever fail. Or somebody goes in the meetings and watches them, see if they ever fail. Certainly not.

15 Sitting in restaurants, riding on the road, wherever it is...
You just see the miniature side of it here, see, in the lines, because that's you doing it, after all. See, it's your faith that's bringing that on. When God uses it, it's usually a great thing that He tells the end from the beginning.
I was sitting in the room, awhile ago, talking to my precious Brother Arganbright there, and we was talking about how that happened; and how it taken place; how that it can be told before it even comes to pass.
"How do you... ?" He said, "I just don't get it, see, how that you can sit here, and tell things that's going to happen tomorrow, see; how it'll happen next week, where you'll find a person, what he'll be doing, and what'll happen when, and the very questions he'll ask you, and the very conditions you'll find this in."
And, well, it's the Holy Spirit. He promised. He don't tell us all things; He just tells us whatever He wants us to know.

16 Now, if you'd say, "Brother Branham, what is He going to say about me?"
I don't know.
"What's He going to say? Does He tell you everything, and let you bypass troubles?"
No, sir. Many times I walk right into them head over heels. That's right.
What about ... what if my mother was laying here dying, and saying, "Son, I went away from the table many times hungry so you could have something to eat. I nursed you on my breast when you was a little baby. Am I going to get well, or not?" I wouldn't know. I couldn't say. I'd just have to ask our heavenly Father. If He told me, I could tell my mother. If He did not, I could not tell her, because I don't know, see. I just...

17 It's all sovereign. It's in Him. Man has nothing to do with it. So, therefore, I'm so glad that God made it like that, so all of us ... that puts us ... every one. He could speak to you and say the same thing. See, it doesn't matter. So, there is no one of us that is big or great. We're all just God's little children, see. We're every one God's children. And He deals with us differently, but the same heavenly Father that does the dealing.
Now, today, we said we'd pray for all those prayer cards we got out. And I said to Billy, "How many is out?"
And he said, "Oh, about four or five hundred. That's all." So then he said, awhile ago, said, "You know, I had so many to give out, I had to get the boys come and help me give everybody a prayer card.
So, I better get started, hadn't I, or we won't get finished. But we ... the Lord will help us.
I've waited through the five days for this very hour now, to where something will happen, if we'll just let it happen.

18 Now, we know that gifts and callings are without repentance, and we can only do as we'll let God do.
And now, all of us know that divine healing is not something that a preacher packs in a briefcase. Or, it's not something that he's got in his hands. Divine healing is your own faith in a finished work that Christ did for you at Calvary, see. It's something God did for you.
I think Brother Borders read the Scripture awhile ago, Hebrews ... or Romans the 4th chapter, about Abraham. And I want to take a text this afternoon, found in Genesis 22: the 22nd chapter of Genesis, and the 14th verse, and we'll read.
But just before we read, we ought to approach Christ first by prayer. Let us bow our heads. How many wants to be remembered? Raise up your hands, and say, "God, be merciful to me."

19 Our heavenly Father, as we come so humbly in the name of the Lord Jesus, look into this wonderful crowd, and just wondering if we'll ever meet again. I look out upon them, I think, "I wonder if I'll ever see them all again like this." I may never do it. If I should come back again in a year from now, there's no doubt but many here will not be here then.
And I do realize then, that the things that I say will ... I'll answer for them at the day of the judgment. I may not be here myself a year from today. None of us may be. Jesus may come at any time. And when He does, we're going home with Him, because He promised us we could go.
But there's some in here, perhaps, Lord, that doesn't know You, and is not ready to go. That's the one we want to deal with right now. I pray that something will happen this afternoon will turn their hearts to Thee.
I pray for all that raised up their hands. Many of those were Spirit-filled Christians. No doubt the bigger number were, and they're sick, and needy. Oh, great Jehovah God, supply their every need, and that will be faith to believe the finished work has been accomplished.

20 Now, for these last four services, we have tried hard, Lord, to place these people's faith around a finished work that was did at Calvary; and a promise that God made and that Christ made, and the apostles made, and the prophets made about this day. And we're so thankful to You, Lord, that You've confirmed every word of it to be the truth.
Now, we know that You're here. The people are waiting to be prayed for. Now, as we take this text, we pray that You'll make it fruitful. May it accomplish that which it was purposed for. Bless us together, Father, as we wait upon Thee now for the ministering of the Word. We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.
And now, in Genesis 22:14:
And Abraham called the name of the place Jehovah-jireh: as it is said ... In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen.

21 Now, I want to take that one name of Jehovah, "Jehovah-jireh." God has seven compound redemptive names. Jehovah-jireh, the Lord will provide for Himself a sacrifice; Jehovah-rapha, the Lord that healeth thee; and Jehovah-nissi, and so forth, our shield, our banner. And those names are inseparable. If He's Jehovah-jireh, then He's Jehovah-rapha also, see. And so, you cannot separate those redemptive names.
And if Jehovah-rapha wasn't applied to Jesus, neither was Jehovah-jireh applied to Him. So, if He is not the Healer, He is not the Saviour. So, and if He is the Saviour, He's also the Healer. And it's a finished work.
Now, we are speaking on Abraham. And Jehovah-jireh ... and the word "jireh" means "the Lord will provide for Himself a sacrifice." Now, we find in speaking in Abraham, I've got a few different scriptures from Genesis 12, 15, 17, 18, and 20, and 22. I want just to hit the high places of those scriptures, the highlights, and combine it together for a little exodus this afternoon on our teaching, that we might bring it out in real open view so that you could really have faith.

22 And I want every person, especially you that's going to be prayed for, or you that's praying for someone else, to listen closely now to the life of Abraham.
Now, the covenant was made with Abraham. And not only to Abraham, but Abraham and his seed after him. And then, we must remember that we are Abraham's seed. A Jew is not a Jew which is by nationality a Jew; a Jew is a Jew inwardly. He is the seed of Abraham when he takes on Christ. He becomes Abraham's seed, and are in the covenant with Abraham, for the promise was made to Abraham.
Now, how do we become Abraham's seed? When we have the faith that Abraham had. If you notice, as Brother Borders read the scriptures, did this come to Abraham when he was in circumcision? or out of circumcision when he was ... before he was circumcised? So, you see works don't get us anywhere. It's our faith that saves us.

23 And I want you to notice that Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him, or imparted unto him, for righteousness, because he believed God. Now what did he do? Taking the Scripture reading, he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong, giving praise to God.
Now, if we are Abraham's seed... Now, listen close now. It's going to be pinching. If we are Abraham's seed, there's nothing will stagger us away from the promise of God. No matter what comes up, or who says different, Abraham's seed will never leave that promise if you are Abraham's seed.
But if you waver, and get away, and say, "Well, I didn't get it. It must have been for another generation. It just don't work on me," that's not Abraham's seed. Then there's something wrong with your experience.

24 God makes a promise. God has to keep that promise. If He doesn't keep that promise, then He's not God. But if He keeps that promise, the only way it can live is by your faith making it live. The Word of God is a seed. And as God gave Abraham the promise... And we've had thousands of years of experience since Abraham.
But Abraham made the promise to ... or God made it to Abraham and to his seed after him. You understand? Say "Amen." To Abraham and [Conjunction. Ties the sentence together.] Abraham and his seed after him. Not, his seeds, but his seed---the seed of the one that Abraham believed that was coming by faith. Through that come Isaac; through Isaac come Christ; through Christ come you and I, Abraham's seed. Not seeds, like many, but seed: the seed of the promise.
Abraham had several sons: Ishmael, then had seven sons by another woman after Sarah died, besides daughters. So, we find out that it was made to Abraham's seed---the seed that he believed that would come by the free woman, which was barren at the time.

25 Now, let's background it just a little bit. Now we're going to start at Genesis 12, and build up to this Genesis 22:14. Now, notice that...
How many now can understand that we being dead in Christ are Abraham's seed, and are heirs with him according to the promise? Raise your hands. All right. We being dead in Christ---that's dead to the things of the world.
Now, what kind of a character should we have? I wonder what kind of a person should we be if we are Abraham's seed, and are heirs with Christ, with him in the promise? Our character, and the way we act, expresses what we got inside of us. If we say we believe God, and then stagger at the promise, and saying, "Well, I didn't get it," then we are not Abraham's seed.
If we are Abraham's seed, and go out and do the things of the world, we're just professing to be Abraham's seed, and are not Abraham's seed, see. Abraham staggered not at the promise of God.

26 Long years ago, talking about character... They're usually getting after me about how I beat down the character of the church, to be revolutionized and brought up again; because I know when the church begins to lose its characteristics, its character is gone with its characteristics. It goes down. When its character goes, the characteristics goes with it; because when they begin to act like the world, and look like the world, and associate with the world, Christ goes out and the world comes in.
I'm a Southerner. And now, down in the southern states, years ago, they used to bring slaves over from Africa, the Boers did, and sold them in the South for ... like work horses. I certainly believe that Abraham Lincoln was one of the greatest presidents we ever had, by freeing the slaves. God never intended any man to be a slave. His color or his creed, no matter what, he should never be a slave. God made man in his own image, in his likeness. Man made slaves, not God.

27 And they used to bring them slaves over and sell them. And you could buy them like you do a used car on the car lot. Brokers would go by, and buy them up. And they go into the plantations, and swap them. Have a great big heavy-set man, and maybe his wife is a little spindly woman. Why, they just buy a bigger woman, and breed this big man to this big woman to make bigger slaves---like cattle. You mean that would please God? No, sir. No man can be a Christian and believe in slavery.
Some time ago, in a certain museum, I was walking one day. I seen an old colored man with just a little rim of hair around his head, white like the wool on a sheep. And he was looking on, had his hat in his hand. And after awhile he looked over in a little glass thing, and he jumped back real quick. The tears went rolling down his cheeks, and he went... Looked like he was praying.
I watched the old fellow for a few minutes, and I walked up to him. I said, "Uncle," I said, "what's the ... what's the praying about? What excited you?"
He looked at me real strange. He said, "I was thanking God."

28 I said, "Thanking God for what, may I ask?" I said, "I'm a minister. I'd like to know just ... I just watched you."
He said, "Come here." Said, "Look at there."
I said, "I don't see nothing but a dress, a woman's dress."
He said, "But see that stain on there?"
"Yes."
He said, "That's the blood of Abraham Lincoln." He said, "If you could put your hands around my side, you'd feel the marks of a slave belt." He said, "That blood took the slave belt off of me."
I thought, "If a Negro could feel that way about the blood of Abraham Lincoln that took the slave belt off of him, what ought a Christian to do when he sees the blood of Jesus Christ, who took his soul from hell, his soul from slavery, the things of the world? Why would we go back and be the devil's slave again?"

29 They used to buy these colored people with a ... get a deed for them, just like you would ... or a bill of sale. One day, a broker came by a certain plantation. He said ... and this plantation, and said, "Got any slaves to sell?"
Said, "Well, I got about a hundred out here. So, you might look them over, and maybe we can do some trading."
And the people, when they come from their homeland, over here from Africa, they were sorry, and they were sad. They'd whip them to make them work. Take a big whip, and beat them to make them work. They didn't want to work, because they had no courage to work. They were just out of courage.

30 And they noticed, while this broker was walking around, there was one fine-looking, big strong fellow, young fellow. They didn't have to whip him. He had his chest out, his chin up. He was right up and going.
So the broker said, "Say, I'd like to buy that slave.
But the owner said, "He's not for sale."
He said, "Is he the boss over all the rest of them?"
He said, "No, he's a slave."
Said, "Is he a... ?" Said, "Maybe you feed him a little different from the rest of them."
Said, "No, they all eat out there in the galley together."
Said, "What makes him so much different than the other slaves?"

31 He said, "I often wondered too, till I found out about it." He said, "You see, over in the homeland, his father is the king of the tribe. And though he's an alien, yet he knows he's the son of a king, and he conducts himself like one."
If a Negro in slavery could know that his father was the king of a tribe, what kind of a conduct ought a man or a woman that knows that God's our king...? Though we are aliens walking here in this land, pilgrims and strangers professing we're Abraham's seed, we're looking for a city, whose builder and maker is God which will come some day.

32 What ought our conduct to be? Not like the world, but we should act like sons and daughters of God, conduct ourselves like king's children---not like slaves of fashion, and slaves of passion, and slaves of pride, and... We should be sons and daughters of God, and act like it, and conduct ourselves that way. Let our conversations, and everything, be seasoned with God's Spirit.
The covenant was given to Abraham and to his seed. Now notice. The covenant was absolutely grace, completely. There was no "If you will," or, "If you won't," or, "If you do this, I'll do this." He said, "I have already done it." Not, "If you'll do something..."

33 He made a covenant with Adam, and he broke it. Every time man makes a covenant with God, man breaks his covenant. But God was determined to save man, so He made this covenant unconditional with Abraham (oh, here it is), Abraham and his seed.
The covenant is unconditionally given to you. Not, "If you will"; "I have." Therefore, you don't have to say, "Lord, if I'll do this, or do that, will You heal me?" He's already done it. It's unconditional. He's already done it. You just have to accept it. The Spirit of God in you calls out. You say, "God, will you... ?"
Just like this old mother on the cot here, this young handsome-looking boy sitting here in a wheelchair, mother shaking with palsy. "God, what could I do to make You heal me?" He's already done it. The only thing you have to do is just become Abraham's seed. How do you do it? By believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, and being filled with the Spirit. That's it. It's unconditional.

34 "What will I have to do to do that?" Nothing but believe. That's all. Just accept it.
It's laying right before you. The only thing you have to do is reach out, and get it. Say, "It's mine. God gave it to me." And then don't stagger with it, no matter what happens.
After you're prayed for, don't go out and say, "Well, I never felt a thing." Now, when you... If you get that in you, if anything even says that to you, you know it's the devil, because you are healed. Unconditionally you're healed.

35 You say, "Well, I'm not worthy to be healed." No, I'm not either. Nobody else is. But it ain't what you are; it's what He is. Oh, my! Don't look at yourself; look at the sacrifice.
What if back in the Old Testament ... under the laws of the sacrifice, what if a little mule would be born? And that little mule would have his ears dropped down, his eyes crossed, his knees buckled together, his tail sticking straight up? Well, what a horrible looking creature.
If that little fellow could look around, and say, "Well, huh! They'll never feed me. I'm not worthy to be fed (no, sir) because, look at these ears." Now, any mule's got his ears dropped down is a bad mule---cross-eyed, knock-kneed, no good at all.

36 He'd say, "Well, I guess, just as soon as the master that owns me comes out, why, he'll just get a ax and knock me in the head, because I'm not fit to be fed." No, he's not.
But what if that old mother of his could talk, say, "Wait a minute, honey. I want to tell you something. See, you're going to live."
"Why, mama?"
"Because you are my first-born. You have a birthright. The owner will... The priest will never look at you to see whether you're any good or not. But, so that you can live, there'll have to be a lamb, that'll have to be without a blemish, take your place."

37 Don't look at yourself; look at your lamb. God don't accept you; He accepted the Lamb. And the Lamb took your place. O God, can't you see it? Not you. You're not worthy. I'm not worthy. There's none of us worthy.
But is He worthy? God said so. He accepted Him. He said, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. This is my Son. Hear ye him." On the day of the adoption, "This is him."
Don't say, "Well, the doctor says I'll never be well." That's what the doctor says. Now, the man is a scientific man. He looks the way nature is running, and he sees you can never be well. That scientifically shows in there. Well, that's what he's looking at. If you look at the same thing, you'll never be well.
But don't look at what he said. Don't look at how you're diminishing, but look at your sacrifice. That's it. And remember, you're Abraham's seed, and heirs with him. Then if you are, stay with the promise. Accept Him as your healer, and just stay right there.
Abraham believed it, and it taken him twenty-five years before the baby was born. But instead of getting weak, every day he got stronger, stronger. Yes, sir.

38 I can just think... Now this ... hope it don't sound sacrilegious, but, could you imagine, an old man now... He was seventy-five years old when God come to him, met him. His wife, Sarah, was sixty-five. They had no children. She was barren. He was sterile. So, they had no children.
And God said, "Abraham, I'm going to give you a child by your wife, Sarah, and through that seed, I'm going to save all the nations. That'll be ... you'll be the father of many nations." Now, could you imagine an old man that old, going down to the doctor with his wife, sixty-five, to make room at the hospital to have the baby?

39 You know, when you take God... If you're really Abraham's seed, the things of the world is foolish to you; and the world, they think you're foolish---because it's two different worlds.
Here the other day... Oh, last summer, wife and I went over to the store to get some food. I come in off one of my campaigns, and I seen a strange thing in my country. We was going over to the grocery, and I seen a lady had on a skirt. And I said, "Boy, she's old-fashioned, isn't she?" All the rest of them was nine-tenths naked. I said...
She said, "I want to ask you something, Billy." My wife said, "Look. That woman... These people sing in choirs, and they go to church." She said, "What makes them do that?"

40 I said, "They're not of ... they're not of this land."
Now, you go into Africa, and you get a African spirit; you go into Switzerland, you get a Swiss spirit; go into Germany, and you get a German spirit. You come to America, you get American spirit. That's a long ways from being God's spirit. But then, what makes...? You say, "All these Americans act like that?" Yeah. That's American spirit.
But when you are Abraham's seed, then you're not no more... You are living here. This is your nation. You should be thankful for it. But you're really not an American. You are a Christian, and your spirit comes from above. So, it makes you act like they do up there, not like they do down here--- holy, clean, righteous, love, respects for one another, godly love for one another. You're born from above. That's the reason you act different, because your spirit come from up there.

41 Now, Abraham was given this promise. And maybe after the first month, he said to Sarah, "How you feeling, darling?"
"No different."
"Praise God. We're going to have the baby anyhow. Get ready. Go get the Birdseye, and the pins, and the booties and everything. We're going to have it."
No sign of it at all. Waited another twenty-eight days. "What about it, Sarah?"
"No difference, darling."
"Glory to God! It'll be a bigger miracle now than if it did happen last month." See, getting ready for it. "Just keep the pins and everything laying close. It's going to come."
Ten years passed. "How you feeling, darling?"
"No different."
"Glory to God. It's ten years more greater miracle than ever. Going to have it anyhow." Got stronger instead of weaker.
After twenty-five years passed, now he's a hundred years old, and she's ninety.
"What about it, Sarah?"
"No different."
"Hallelujah! We'll have it anyhow."
"Why do you know?"
"God said so."
Now, can you think that about your healing? Can you believe that about your healing, young man? Can you, sister? Can you out there? No matter what takes place, God said so---that settles it. Believe it. That's real faith. That's children of Abraham. Remember, not what you are, what He is. Look at your sacrifice always.

42 Now, in Genesis 15. (I wish we had longer to stay on that, but we haven't.) Genesis 15. The covenant was confirmed to him in the 15th chapter. Now, before this could be done, before the covenant could be confirmed, you have to completely go into obedience. Now, Abraham... God told him to separate himself from his people.
And today, instead of separating from the world, we try to take the world in with us. God wants a separation. The church today, when you vote for your pastor, you really want a ... you want a mixer. Oh, you say, "Our pastor is a good mixer." Well, he isn't of God then. God wants separators. That's right. Separators.
Say, "Oh, he's a good mixer. He'll play a little game of cards with us; and he'll tell a few jokes with us; and he'll go down to the lake and swim with us; and take all the young ladies, and old ones too, and lay down there and get a sun tan. And, you know, he's a good mixer." Yeah. You need a sun-tanning.

43 I got two girls. They may do that, too. I don't know. If they do, they'll sure get a tanning. I don't know whether it'll be from that sun up there, or be from Charles Branham my father's son, me---with a barrel slat, just as hard as I can. They'll get a good tanning, all right. It'll take them a long time. They'll eat off the mantle.
Now, notice. I tell you, we don't want ... we don't want mixers; we want separators. Separate. Separate yourself from unbelief. That one you're running around with that says, "Ah, don't listen to that holy roller bunch. There's nothing to it," separate yourself from it. That's right.
You belong to the ladies' stitch-and-sew party? You know, where they stitch and sew, and sew and stitch, and stitch and sew, and talk about Miss So-and-so, and sit there and say, "Well, now, I tell you. I once believed in that holy roller stuff, too. But..." Separate yourself from those things.

44 Anything that is contrary to God's Word, separate yourself from it. Don't care what it is, come out from among them. Touch not their unclean things. That's good sound sense, spiritual speaking, understanding. The Bible said so. "Come out from among them, and touch not their unclean things and I'll receive you."
Can't bring the world. He just won't do it. No, sir. When you're circumcised, the world is cut off of you. That's right. Then you're Abraham's seed. God has recognized his promise, like He did with Abraham, circumcised him. And that's the same thing it is when God recognizes your faith. Then He cuts the world off of you, and give you the Holy Ghost. And you really believe God, then, for whatever He said. That's right. Until then, you're just a professor, not a possessor.

45 Now notice what taken place at... He said, "How'll I know these things?" Abraham did. I want you to listen real close, brethren, for a minute.
He said, "I'm going to tell you how I'm going to do it." Now, the covenant was made unconditionally, but He said, "I'm going to show you how I'm going to confirm it to you, to tell you how I'm going to do it."
And he went and got a heifer three years old, and a sheep of three years old, and so forth, and cut them apart. And he got a turtle dove, and a pigeon. And then he waited until it come about dark. He kept all the birds run off of them. God promised to meet him.
So when he did, kept all the birds off, went to getting dark.

46 Now, notice what happened. A great darkness come over Abraham, and he fell into a sleep like. Now, that's what's due now to every human being that's born.
Now, watch what He ... watch his covenant, now---how He confirmed it with Abraham. This ought to make the Presbyterian shout. Now, he ... got dark. And then there is dark all around him, and he fell into the sleep of death, it would say. Now that's where every man will do---will die. Man, woman, boy, or child, death lays ahead of you.
But then he noticed beyond that, was a smoking furnace where every sinner, and every man, and every woman, boy, or girl deserves to go, to hell. that was our fall. That was what Adam pinned on us---that we deserve to go to hell because we were born in sin, shaped in iniquity, come to the world speaking lies.
So, we're none of us righteous. So, we can't depend on ourself; we have to depend on Him.

47 Guilty in the least is guilty of the whole; and He calls for perfection. So, how can you be perfected? You can't look at yourself and be perfected. But I looked at One that is perfect, the One that took my place. He's the perfect One.
And now, we notice then, beyond that went a little white light, and they went right in between those sacrifices. Now, if we had time to break it all down ... but we haven't. But I want you to notice what He was doing there.
Now, here's a little piece of paper. I want to use that for a moment. Now, what do we Americans do when we make a covenant with one another? We usually go out and talk it over. And something like this, we'd say ... and I'd say, like to Brother Slater, "Brother Slater, I'll do a certain, certain thing if you'll do a certain thing. Yes?"
"Yes."
"All right, I'll be back next week."
"Yeah, all right."
"Is that agreement?"
"Yeah."
Then we shake hands with one another. "Put 'er here, boy." That's a covenant. We made an agreement.

48 Now, in Japan, when they make a covenant, they stand and talk to one another, and if they make the ... write the covenant, and they make their agreement, you know what they do? They throw salt on one another. See, throw salt. Salt's a savor, see, that contacts. So, they throw salt on one another. That's a covenant.
But, in Abraham's time, the way they made a covenant, they took the parchment, or the piece of skin, and they wrote out this covenant. Wrote it out, what they would do. That's their agreement. And then they kill a beast, which was a sacrifice. They kill the beast, and they stand in between these two pieces. And on this covenant, take an oath, and then they tear this apart. One takes one piece, and one the other. You cannot duplicate it. And when that covenant, when it is confirmed or brought together again, each piece of that paper has to dovetail perfectly, one holding one piece, and one holding the other.

49 Now, what was God saying? That through Abraham's seed, which come Isaac; through Isaac come Jesus... And now at Calvary... When He was here on earth, He was Emmanuel, God with us. But at Calvary, God tore Him apart. He tore Him apart, and He raised up the body, and set it on his own right hand; and sent the Spirit that was in the body, back down upon the church to continue the works that it did in there. There's the covenant confirmed!
So the church that goes to be the bride of Jesus Christ will be baptized into that same Spirit, with the same signs, same wonders. Same Holy Spirit was upon Him will be in the church. It's got to be exactly the same.
So, when that Spirit come down, it come down on Pentecost on 120 believers, and it baptized them into the body of Christ. And the same Holy Spirit was upon Christ was upon the church. It continued on.

50 "Little while, the world seeth me no more; yet ye shall, for I'll be with you, even in you. The works that I do shall you do also; more than this shall you do; I go unto my Father." See, the same Spirit calling Abraham's seed, that through the seed of Abraham come Christ; that He would tear Him apart, and put the Spirit of God upon his church, and take the sacrifice home with Him. Amen.
Brother, that'll make the devil get going. That'll put him in his place. They say, "Oh, you're a bunch of holy... You're not this, or you did this." I don't care what you done. By grace, by God's promise, by the Holy Ghost: not what you are; it's what your sacrifice is.

51 "No man can come to me except my Father draws him. All the Father has given me will come to me." What you scared about? What you afraid?
You say, "Well, maybe I'm just not the right kind of Christian." How can you come to God without God calling you first? And all that He foreknew He has called. Is that right? All that He called He has justified. Is that right? All that He has justified, he hath already (past tense), hath glorified. Amen. It's a finished work from the foundation of the world.
Christians, don't you see? You're living under your privilege. You don't know who you are.

52 I've often said I find two classes of people: one of them is Pentecostal, and one is fundamental. The fundamental positionally knows where he stands, but he ain't got no faith. The Pentecostal's got the faith, and don't know who he is.
It's just like a man got money in the bank, can't write a check. The other one can write a check, and ain't got no money in the bank. If you could ever get them together...
If I could ever get the Pentecostals to recognize that they're sons and daughters of God, and heirs with Abraham, then no devil or thing can hold his people. God promised. If he ain't God, get away from it. If He is God, stay with it. Amen. He confirmed the covenant.

53 Over in Genesis 17 He strengthened Abraham for the miracle. That's what He's doing now, strengthening the church for the miracle. He appeared to him in Genesis 17 in the name of El Shaddai. (Means ... there it says Almighty God. The Hebrew word is "El Shaddai," the strong one; or "shad" means breast, like the woman's breast. But not just "shad"---"shaddai" means breasted.)
Abraham was a hundred years old, ninety and nine. And God appeared to him and said, "Now, Abraham, I made the covenant unconditionally. When you separated yourself, I blessed you. I showed you what I was going to do. Now you're a hundred years old, your wife is ninety years old. Now, I'm going to tell you, here's my name to you. I am the breasted God." Oh, my. Two breasts. He was wounded for our transgressions, with his stripes we were healed.

54 Like a little baby that's sick---its health is gone, and it's fretting and crying. And the mother takes the little baby, and brings it up to her bosom, holds it up there, and the little baby nurses the mother's strength into it.
That's what you are, here sitting in a chair, mother. That's what you are, young man sitting in the wheelchair. That's what you are, out there with cancer, when the doctors give you up. That's what you are with heart trouble, whatever it is. See, you are Abraham's seed, and He's El Shaddai.
Oh, if you have need for your sins, lean over on this promise. Nurse your strength to salvation. If you're backslid, come back. Take a hold of the promise and nurse it until you feel yourself growing stronger. If you need healing for your body, He was ... by his stripes we were healed. Nurse that breast of El Shaddai, that promise, until your strength begins to grow. You begin to feel you're...

55 And not only that, but it's a satisfier. The woman's breast is a satisfier to her baby. And God's promised breast is a satisfier to the believer. As long as God said so, what difference does it make? It's the satisfier, the strength-giver. Oh, my. Not only that, it satisfies the baby. It don't fret and carry on anymore. It ain't altogether strong, but it's satisfied as long as it's got its mother's breast (oh, brother), nursing her strength. Not its strength; her strength. "Not my will; thy will." Not what I think; what You said. Amen. That does it. Satisfy. Satisfier. Leaning on the bosom, nursing.

56 Abraham leaned right on that bosom for twenty-five years, never turned it loose. Amen.
How can a mother keep her baby...? How can a mother keep her baby satisfied if it lets go of her breast all the time, nursing its strength? How can this baby ever get well and get strong, as long as he just acts like it's going to nurse, and then goes away. Won't ... refused it, any more. That's it. Oh, brother. Don't you see?
What a message that was to a man a hundred years old believing on God. Now, the Bible said his ... he was as good as dead, as a man. And Sarah's womb was dead. So, what a promise to say, "Abraham, your strength as a man, it's dead; and Sarah's womb is dead. And you're old. But I am the strong one. I am the breast. You're no more than a baby, but I am the breasted one. I give the promise. I can strengthen you up again." Amen.
Oh, what are you going to do? Get him ready for the miracle that is fixing to take place.

57 Now, I want to go over to Genesis, the 18th chapter, and show what He done. "I am the breasted one." The 18th chapter, the next chapter, remember, he was sitting out before his tent door. He was a hundred years old then. Sarah was ninety.
Now, while he was sitting out in the heat of the day, about eleven o'clock or twelve, things was going bad. He'd taken the way with the Lord's despised few. They probably didn't even have a mission, let alone a air-cooled church. But they were sitting out under the tree, not because he had to, but because he wanted to. He was Abraham. He was God's child. He was ... separated himself from the things of the world, and he was living for God. (Don't forget that, David.) Notice. You might not've understood that, but who I spoke to understood it.
... sitting out under the tree,

58 and they seen three men coming up with dust on their clothes. And notice what they did. We spoke on it the other night. They were three angels---two angels, and God Himself. And they were on the road to Sodom, to the church, the denominational church down there down in chaos, lukewarm, backslidden, supposed to be ... went off in the things of the world. They went down there with the world, so they was going to perish with the world.
That's the way the church will do today. The world that's in the church will perish with the world. They that live in sin will perish with sin. They that live to God shall rise with God.
Now, these angels sitting there... Now, He said, "Abraham, I'm going to get you ready for something." Now, He sent the other two men away, and they went down in Sodom to preach the Word, just like a modern preacher would do. And ... but this one that stayed behind, I want you to watch his actions. He said to Abraham, He said, "Abraham, where is your wife, Sarah?"
Said, "She's in the tent behind you."

59 And said, "I'm going to visit you according to the time of life. I'm going to visit you, and give you that child now."
Now, why did He call Himself ... "I was the one made you the promise. I'm the one. [How could you doubt it being God?] I made you the promise. I'm going to do the visiting. I'm going to be the one that gives the child. [I, personal pronoun.] I was the one that said it. I'm going to visit you according to the time of life."
And that's what made Sarah laugh. She said, "Me, a hundred years old, and my lord old? How could it be?"
Now, notice. I want to tell you what He done to them. Oh, how He got them ready for it! He made a real preparation.
So, notice. Sarah laughed. And the angel, with his back turned to the tent, said, "Why did Sarah laugh?" And Sarah come out, and said she did not laugh. And the angel told her what she said ... what she never said, but what she thought in her mind. What was He doing? He was making Abraham ready to believe ... to believe on Him, for ... to receive his promised son.

60 What has God did? He called you into Pentecost by his grace. He confirmed the covenant to you by giving you the circumcision unconditionally. And now what's He doing? He's showing Himself, the same God, in you. Do you see it? The same One, by knowing the thoughts of your heart getting you ready for his promised Son coming, Christ, our Saviour. He's getting you ready for the promised Son.
He was getting Abraham ready for the promised son. Now, He's getting Abraham's seed ready for the promised Son that we're waiting on. Oh, won't it be glorious to see Him?

61 What did He do? You remember, it was immediately after that, right immediately after that visitation that the son arrived. Sodom was burned. Is that right, Bible readers? That's right. The son arrived that Abraham had waited on, the promise.
The church now, Abraham's seed, is waiting for the coming of the Son of God. And now what's He done? He's brought you through every one of those elements, just like He did Abraham with the confirmation of the covenant: giving you the Holy Ghost, speaking in tongues as the Spirit give utterance, all these different things like He promised; and now, brought you right up, and sent his Spirit among you, giving you divine discernment just before ... to prepare you for the coming Son. Amen. It's the last sign the church will receive.

62 I was talking to Brother Shakarian this morning. Called me up, just been to Washington, how that everybody's alert there. They don't know what to do. Just at any minute, a man standing could press a thing that'll send the world into eternity. Every oxygen, hydrogen will split apart. The seas will dry up, everything else. There won't be nothing but charcoal left on the earth.
But, before that happens, the church is going home. Before one speck of rain fell, Noah was in the ark. Lot was out of Sodom before He could burn the city. The church will be in glory when that bomb's turned loose. And if it might be turned loose before sun goes down tonight, how close is the coming of the Son? I hope you understand.
It's not a man. It's God among us. Like they did in the days of Sodom, so shall it be at the coming of the Son of man. He's never done it to the Gentiles before in all of our lives. The Gentile history's never seen it. Search through the books, the historians, and find out. Never. This is the evening light, the same light that shined in the morning. It's evening time. And He's preparing the church for the oncoming Son of God.

63 Now, notice again. To do that, He had to give him a great strength before he could receive this son. Now, you're going to have to believe me on this, or ... if you want to. I'm going to set aside just a moment.
The Bible is a love letter. You know, the sweetest woman in all the world to me, is Mrs. Branham. She's my sweetheart. I love her, just really love her. Now, there is no legalism among us. We absolutely believe in ... we believe in the grace. We believe in love.

64 Now, when I get ready to go overseas, I don't reach over and get her, and say, "My dear Mrs. Branham, thou shalt not have any more husbands. Thou shalt not make eyes at any other man."
She don't grab me by the collar, and say, "And my beloved Brother Branham, thou shalt have no other wives."
Wouldn't that be home? That's the way you try to make church.
No. We do not do it. I love her. As long as I love her, I'll stay true to her. As long as she loves me, it'll be the same way. We have no bother about that. No. Then we kneel down, we pray. She asks God to help me. She stays home, takes care of the babies. I go out to work for the Lord.
I haven't been home but just a very little bit in fifteen years. She's turned snow white, just staying a young woman, staying home, meeting the public, trying to do her part. A real lovely woman is my wife.

65 Well now, say for instance, what if I was overseas, and I got real lonesome, and some young woman said, "Brother Branham, you want to take me out riding tonight after church?"
I'd say, "I'm awful lonesome. I believe I will."
Well, then, when I went home, I'd have to tell her. Now, I believe she'd forgive me for that. I do. I believe she'd forgive me for it. But, brother, I'd die in my tracks before I done it. Why? I love her too much. I love her. Oh, it'd kill me. I couldn't face her in it.
And if I love my wife that much, what about my Lord? Paul said, "All things are lawful, not all expedient," see.

66 She writes me a letter, "Dear Billy. I'm sitting here tonight. I've just got the children to bed. I've washed today. I've done so-and-so. The phone has rung over three hundred times. People are asking where you're at. I'm thinking much of you." That's what she's writing. But, you know, I can read right between the lines, and know what she means, because I love her.
That's the way you know this love book of God's. The reason it's so complicated to people, you're not in love with Christ. You say, "It contradicts itself," and all this. You're just not in love with the Author. That's all. It's a love letter.

67 Watch what He done to Abraham, and promised it to his seed just before the coming of the Son, the next thing to take place. You know what He done to Abraham and Sarah? He turned them back to a young man and woman.
Oh, you say, "Now, Brother Branham, that's ridiculous." All right. We'll find out.
Now, you notice, immediately after the angel met her ... met them there, they took a long trip, about three hundred miles down to Gerar. That's quite an age ... people to travel three hundred miles, wouldn't you think?
And notice now. Sarah was ninety years old, little grandma, a little bitty cap on, a little shawl over her shoulders, stick in her hand. Here's Abraham, great big long whiskers hanging down, stooped in his shoulders, going along like this.
Oh, you say, "Now, wait a minute, Brother Branham. They lived..."
Oh, no. No, no no. The Bible says they were well stricken in age, both of them,

68 and they went down to Gerar.
Now, I want to show you how silly it would be to believe it the way people believe it. And when they got down there, Abimelech was the king down there in the Philistine country, and he was looking for a sweetheart, with all them pretty Philistine girls.
But when he seen grandma coming, he said, "That's the one I've waited for. That's her. I've fell in love with her. Now, tonight..." He did fall in love with Sarah and... Is that right? And wanted to take her for his wife---a grandma, a hundred years old.
No, no, brother, no. It wasn't that. She was a beautiful young woman. He turned her back to a young woman, Abraham to a young man.

69 After they had seen this great sign, what taken place next then? I can see Abraham say, "Sarah, honey, them wrinkles are going out from under your pretty eyes."
Abraham say ... She'd say back, "Abraham, your whiskers are turning back dark again, and your shoulders are straightening up." See what it was? They were turning back young.
Now, I want to ask you something. If she was unfertile, her womb... Now, remember, women didn't smoke cigarettes in them days like they do today. So, today, when a woman smokes cigarettes, statistics shows that her baby dies, eighty percent of them, within eighteen months from nicotine poison. They have to raise them on a bottle with cow's milk. They take the nicotine. And if they do, they become a neurotic, like Ricky and Elvises out here, you know, running up and down. Just neurotics. That's exactly the way the... Your kid's named that, change his name, see. Now, spiritually speaking, it means Judas.

70 So, now notice. When he was out here... And there they was, stoop-shouldered. God had made ... Now, look. If, before he ... she could have this baby... Let me ask you something. Before she could have this baby, God had to make her womb fertile. Is that right? And He had to do the same thing to Abraham.
Before she could have this baby... They didn't have health- and hygiene-bottles. So she... Them veins, milk veins was collapsed. He'd have to make new milk veins. You know what I'm speaking. And before He did that, how could a woman...? (Oh, forgive me, sisters. I've got to make a statement here.) How could a woman a hundred years old go in labor with that heart? She'd die of heart. Hundred-years-old woman. Forty-years-old, nearly, go in labor, yet she dies. And a hundred-year-old woman, God'd have to give her a new heart. He didn't patch her up. He just made her new. Amen. Oh, hallelujah! See?

71 Abimelech fell in love with her, and would have married her. Oh, I can see him take his bath, and stick his feet out after he said his prayers and went to bed. Said, "That beautiful Hebrew girl. I'll marry her tomorrow, because that's her brother out there, because he said so."
And God said, "You're just as good as a dead man," see. "You're just as good as a dead man." Said, "That's the man's wife, and I won't hear your prayers at all."
He said, "You know the integrity of my heart. I'm a holiness man." Said, "You know the integrity of my heart."
Said, "I know it. But her husband is my prophet. Now, you go take his wife back, and let him pray for you. I'll hear him, but I won't hear you."
Oh, brother! How the sovereignty of God; how He knows his own,

72 Abraham's seed. Do you know what I'm talking about? The church. God...
Where does gifts come to? To the church of Abraham's seed. Look at it today. Where is it at? Where is these gifts of speaking in tongues, and all these other gifts? Where're they at? Amongst Abraham's seed, see. That's right. He recognized it.
"Oh," you say, "they've done many a bad thing." So has Abraham, calling his wife his sister. For a man to do that ... see. Yeah. A thing... Don't matter what they done, they're not looking at their self; they're looking at their sacrifice, see. Certainly.
Now, notice. Immediately after that, the little boy was born. God was showing what? His sign that the son was coming. Then, what was the next thing He did? He got them in condition to receive the son.

73 "We which are alive and remain to the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead in Christ shall rise. We will be changed in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye. And be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air, and forever be with the Lord," that great Son that's coming.
See Him getting his church ready? What's He doing? He's showing them his last sign. The next thing is what? The rapture. The rapture, the Son appears, and we're changed. We can't go to get Him in the air. He's too high for us. But we'll be changed, like Abraham, father, was---in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, and be caught up together to meet Him in the air.

74 This mortal shall put on immortality. This corruption shall put on incorruption. O God! What a hour before us. How the seed of Abraham ought to be happy.
Oh, where does that time get to. Now, I ain't got started yet. I got eight or ten more scriptures here to refer to. But we'll have to let it go.
Remember... Do you follow it now? See how God made those covenants, those promises, and those signs to Abraham's seed?
Now, where did that gift of discernment go to? Did it go down in Sodom? No, sir. Amongst the denominational churches? No, sir. It come to the elected church. They had the gospel preached. Two angels went down there and preached. But this one that stayed behind to the elected called-out church, taken the Lord's despised few.

75 And Jesus Himself, the Son of God, said, "As it was in the days of Sodom, so shall it be at the coming of the Son of man." Can you hear me? Say "Amen." Do you believe it? Say "Amen."
What's the next thing we're looking for? The rapture! Going to meet the coming Son. We'll have to be changed and caught up. You can't be caught up the way you are now. You're too heavy. Oh, but brother, one day, this mortal will take on immortality, and we'll have a body like his own glorious body, for we shall see Him as He is.
Oh, you seed of Abraham, hold to your promise, honey. Stay with it. Don't let no man rob you from that. If you've wandered away out into the world, and you women's got to acting worldly, and you men's got to letting them do it, shame on you. You're supposed to be the boss of the house. You're the ruler. The Bible said the man shall rule. Not a dictator now, a floormat. He made him a help mate, see, a sweetheart.

76 And how these things ... how can you do it? Come on back, won't you? Won't you promise me, today, you'll come back to God?
I've got to meet you sometime. I've got to stay there. I hope He will let me in that day. I'm trying to serve Him with all my heart. I don't want to hurt you. Why, your offering that you give today will help feed my children. It'll do things for me. How could I hurt you? I'd be a low-down hypocrite to do that.
But hear my preaching I'm telling you about, see. Hear the Word of the Lord. Get back to God real quick, honey. Run back real quick. Say, "Lord, I've wandered far away from You. I'm coming home now, Lord. I'm going to let it all go. I want to be a daughter of the King. I want to be the son of a King. I want to stand righteous. I don't care what the rest of them says, I..."

77 It's an individual affair. He ain't going to take ... He just ain't going to take the Foursquare only, or, He's not going to just take the Assemblies only, or the Oneness only, or the Twoness, or the Threeness, or the so forth. He is going to take the true in heart out of every one of them, see. So, being it isn't your church, or organization, it's an individual affair. So, seek God. Come back to Him. Yes.
You'll scatter right on some of the rest of them. Maybe they'll take a notion to do it. Spread your light. That's what we're supposed to do. You don't want them lost. If you do, there's something wrong with your heart. Jesus died that we, his enemy, might be saved. Certainly.

78 Now, close up now, before we... Watch. Immediately after that little boy got twelve years old... (Now, we're going to close and start the prayer line.) Just listen to this now, real close. When that little boy become about twelve years old, God said, "I'm going to show them down at Visalia, that I really keep my promise, because I swore I'd keep it by myself."
He swore to it. Not only to Abraham, but to Abraham's seed after Him. He swore it by you, just the same as He did by Abraham, showing the covenant was with Abraham and his seed.

79 He said, "I'm going to show them that I want them to hold my Word.
One day, I'll have a servant named William Branham. He'll be preaching down there, and he'll have a bunch of sick folks before him. And he'll be right at the end time. So, I'm going to be doing them kind of signs. So, I want to show them to hold on to the Word; because, if it wasn't the Word, I wouldn't be confirming it. But I've already healed them, and they've got to do something. I just can't take and pour it into them. They've got to come get it themselves." Now, do you hear that all of you?
Now, He said, "Abraham [to make it double sure], I want you to take that boy up here on top of a mountain I'm going to show you. I want you to kill him up there. I'm going to make you a father of nations out of him. Out of his seed, I'm going to raise up that eternal seed. And I'm going to make you a father of nations. But take him upon the mountain, and kill him."

80 How is he going to... ? He's already over ... about a hundred and fifteen years old now. How is he going to take his son up on the hill, and kill him, destroying the only hope he had?
But now, notice. He took a servant. He couldn't tell Mama. That would be too bad to tell that pretty little mother of his he was going to take that boy out and kill him. So, he just cut some wood, and put it in a sack, and put it on a mule's back. And he took two servants, and went three-days' journey.
Now, people didn't have gasoline feet in that day. They could walk. I ... when I patrolled, I walked thirty miles a day for seven years. And that ain't very good walking. Any good man can walk, at least a young man like he was then, could, say, twenty-five miles a day. So, that was seventy-five miles back from civilization.

81 Then, he lifted up his head and saw the ... his eyes rather, and saw the mountain far off. He went to this mountain. When he got there, he said... (Watch this. I'm in Genesis 22 now, closing.) He said to the servants that had the mule, said, "You stay here while the lad and I go yonder to worship. The lad and I will return."
How? How is he coming back? You're taking him up there to kill him. Abraham (later, when the divine commentary was wrote of him), he didn't stagger at God's promises. No, no. He knowed he'd received him as one from the dead---he was about ready to die, hundred years old. And he knowed God was able to raise him up from the dead.

82 He said, "The lad and I will return." And he put the wood on Isaac's back. What a perfect type of Christ, with his own wood on his back, the altar. Up the mountain he went.
They got up there. And they fixed up the altar. And went out in the weeds and sticks, and got the rocks, and laid them out, put the fire up there. And Abraham had the fire in his hand, and he lit the altar with fire.
And little Isaac got suspicious. He said, "Father," he said, "here's the altar, and here's the wood, here's the fire. But where is the lamb for a sacrifice?"
Listen to this, brethren. Let it go way down deep in your heart.

83 Abraham looked at him, and said, "God will provide for himself a lamb."
Oh, my. How? How? That's up to God. They're way up on top of this mountain. Said, "Isaac, turn your back, honey." Tied his hands. Watch Isaac, not kicking and hollering, but submitted himself to death, as God, the true seed of Abraham did, willing to take our place. Had his hands tied by his own father, tied his feet. Laid him upon the altar.
Could you imagine Abraham's heart? His sweet little boy, took them little curls, little Jewish black hair, and shoved it back out of his eyes, like that. And thought, "Wonder what mommy'll think now." Throwed it back. No, he couldn't think that. He was thinking about what Father thinks.

84 Pulled the knife out, put his little head back like this, of his own son, his hands trembling, his heart in his mouth, nearly. Raised up his hand in obedience to God, to take his own son's life. And when he got ready to bring down his lick, the Holy Ghost caught his hand. Said, "Stay your hand, Abraham. I know now that you believe me."
And about that time, Abraham heard something. And right back behind him, was a ram---not a ewe, a ram---a male sheep, caught by his horns in the weeds. He wasn't there a few minutes ago. What was he doing up there? He was a hundred miles from civilization. There was lions, jackals, and everything else, wolves would eat him. And another thing, he was up on top of the mountain where there was no water. How did he get there? Jehovah-jireh, the Lord provided Himself a sacrifice. That was Christ.
Now, it wasn't a vision. It wasn't a vision. A vision don't bleed.

85 Abraham got the ram, laid it upon the altar, cut its throat, and blood run out of it instead of his son. Not a vision; it was a ram. Why? He's able to create. He can provide Himself a sacrifice.
How're you going to get well, son? You're past doctor's aid. How're you going to get well, sitting there, little mother shaking like that? How're you going to get well, over there, son, laying there in that ... paralyzed? How're you going to get well, sitting here? How you going to do it? That's not for you to think about. He's Jehovah-jireh.
But besides that, He's already provided a Lamb for you. It's already... Jesus is provided, and He's already done the healing. The only thing you have to do is accept it. Believe it. Do you do that?
Oh, my.

86 Let's bow our heads just a moment. While we're getting quiet before God, I want you to pray. How many in here wants to accept that provided sacrifice of God? Raise up your hands? God bless you. God bless you. Oh, my. All over the building.
Our heavenly Father, they believe the Word. What did they raise their hands for? Because they know that You keep your Word. They couldn't have did that, unless You'd have told them to do it. And they were obedient, just as Isaac was, ready to die out to self thoughts, ready to die to what a doctor might said, or anything else.
They're Abraham's children. They believe they've been borned again. They've been baptized with the Holy Ghost also. They believe You. Sinners raised their hands that they want to be your child also. Receive them, Lord. They're yours.

87 All this week, Lord... This is five straight sermons cutting in on this hour now. It's soon here. We've arrived. Something must do, Lord. Your Word's went forth. Your signs has went forth. You've confirmed your Word. Now, it's up to the people.
Lord, when they pass through this line and be prayed for, may they have faith. May they go off this platform just praising God. If it happens, thank God. If it doesn't happen, it's going to happen anyhow. You said so. You're the God that made the promises, in the building today. Grant it, Father. I ask it in Jesus' name. Grant it to each one of these, for your glory. May it be so, Lord. Amen.
All right. We've got about three or four hundred people to be prayed for. How many believes that the last words that come from Jesus' mouth when He left the earth, the last words that He did, He said this: "...these signs shall follow them that believe ... if they lay their hands on the sick, they shall recover." Did He say it? Now, He promised that.

88 Is there any strangers here that's never been in one of the meetings? Raise your hands. Never been in one of them before, raise up your hands. There's quite a few. You might say to me then, "Brother Branham, you spoke to us of an angel that would be here in the last days, that would be dwelling in human flesh. It would be God dwelling in human flesh. I don't know nothing about these things, but you said there would be. I've never seen Him do that like He did down there, to show that we were at Sodom."
How many is sick out there that don't know me? Raise up your hands. Have a need, raise up your hand. I don't care where you are. Get real reverent.

89 Just before we call the prayer line... In the prayer line, we won't have discernment because we can't. We've got three or four hundred to pass through here. I'm going to pray for them, but not have discernment. We'll have the discernment line now, to you that is out there in the audience.
I don't know a soul out there. I've got a brother here, named Fred Sothmann. I've got one named Brother Tom. I've got one, Brother Evans. They're out there somewhere. Where are you? Are you in the service today, brethren? Where are you? Way back in the back. Way back there. That's all that I know.

90 How many of you men back here, you ministers, has never had a chance at this. I don't know you. I met you over there, but that... I don't know nothing about you. No diseases or nothing. That's right.
Now, there it is. Say, "Brother Branham, isn't that kind of a bold thing?" Yeah, but He promised it. Yes, sir. He promised it. Now, let's see if the Holy Spirit... If He'll do it once more before you pass through this prayer line, so you'll see the anointing is here, will it be all right with you? May God grant it.
I'm just going to try to see if the Holy Spirit will do it. I want to turn my back to each section all the way around me, and that'll get out of each section.
I want to ask you a question. Do you believe that angel of the Lord told the truth? I'm able to do this by the Spirit of God? All right. This section through this way, and then we'll go through this way, then through this way, and around this way, see. Just pray now. And see,

91 now, what was that angel that...? It was God. Abraham said He was Elohim.
Now just pray over in this section. Say, "Lord, the man don't know me, don't know nothing about me." How many in this section through here that knows that I don't know you, but yet you're sick and needy? Raise up your hand. All right.
I'm going to turn my back. You pray. Now, heavenly Father, this is not a show. This is not to make a show, but this is to fulfill your promise. You know my heart, You know my objective, and You know my motive in doing it. I know your grace by letting me do it. And I pray, Father, that You will let it be done again, that the people might know that I've told them the truth. Abraham's seed are heirs with him of every promise. Grant it, through Jesus' name, and all praise shall be yours, Lord.
I've plainly told the people, and they know I'm just one of the humblest of your servants---no education, no ability of no kind. But You come down when I was a little baby boy there in the crib. And somehow or other, you just give me a little gift that I could relax myself, and You could do the talking. O God, let that be.
Help me, Lord.

92 Forgive me of my errors and mistakes in life, as being a man. But look upon the objective of my heart, and the motive. And I pray that it's your will this afternoon to manifest it again before us through Jesus' name. I'll praise Thee, and all of us will praise Thee.
When the people pass through the line, they'll know the very God that knows their heart knows their condition. And then, Lord, may there not be a wheelchair but what'll be empty. May there not be a cot but what'll be empty.
May there not be a sick person in our midst but what... Maybe they may not be completely well again, but like Abraham, they've got the promise. They'll hold to it, and You'll confirm it, Lord. You always do, for You're God. In Jesus' name, I ask it. Amen.

93 Now in the name of Jesus Christ I take every spirit in here under my control, for God's glory, for the working of his Spirit.
There's an evil power behind me. It's black, horrible. It's epilepsy. It's on a woman. She has epilepsy. Her name is Mrs. Campbell. Stand up, accept your healing. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and be made well. You believe now?
There's a woman sitting right here close to me, and she is ... she's suffering with some kind of a kidney trouble, and it's kidney stones. And she's praying for somebody now. It's her husband, and he's got mental condition. Her name is Mrs. Lenz. Raise up, and receive your healing.

94 Do you believe now? Have faith. You believe it's the same angel of the Lord?
Now, what about down through here? Is anybody sick down through here? Raise up your hands. There's a woman right behind me. It's a woman, and she's got a tumor. They're in her lungs. Her name is Mrs. Spangler. Rise up, Mrs. Spangler, and accept your healing. Now you believe? I don't know these people. Never seen them.
By the way, now look this way, now. Mrs. Spangler, do me a favor. Lay your hand on the lady next to you there. She's got kidney trouble and wants to be healed. That's right. Now you lay your hand on the one next to you. She's got kidney trouble and wants to be healed. Now you lay your hand on the woman in front of you, that woman with the red sweater on there, praying for her husband. She's got to go to the hospital for deterioration of her body. She's praying for her husband.
You believe? Then you'll be healed. Amen. You believe with all your hearts. Have faith in God. Don't doubt. If thou canst believe... Do you believe with all your heart?

95 Back in this section I see a young lady. She's praying for the salvation of her father. Believe it, young lady, you will receive it. Don't weep; just believe.
There's another lady comes before me. She's back behind me. She's got liver trouble. (There's two or three there. I feel it, but I see one.) Her name is Mrs. Walker. Believe with all your heart, and receive your healing.
There's a lady behind me, playing the organ. She's got something wrong with her back. There's a minister behind with back trouble, too. Don't doubt. Do you believe with all your heart? There you are. Do you believe Him?
I love Him, I love Him,
Because (you believe it with all your
heart now) first loved me;
..................

96 You're going to believe it down here? Each one of you down here on these cots, you're going to believe it? You're going to believe it, out there? How many knows that the same angel of God is here today? Raise up your hand. Say, "I believe it." See how true He is, how real He is? Now, how many believes if you'd pass through this prayer line, hands would be laid on you, you'd be made well?
How many's got faith in your pastor, believe that he's a man of God? Raise up your hands. I'm going to put up my hands, too. I believe he is also. Now I'm going to ask him to come out here and help me. Each one of you come right out here on the platform. Let's form a prayer line here. Get on this side half of you; some of you on the other side.
All with prayer card number A, stand up, and come over here on this side. A...
On Calvary's tree.

97 Now I want everyone to bow your heads, everybody in prayer while you're singing, "I love Him." I want to come down and pray especially for these that's on cots and stretchers down here, that's convalescent. I want you to be praying with me, all you brethren. I'll be back on the platform just in a minute. All the congregation be praying while I go down.
Abraham's seed, are you ready to receive your healing? Aren't all of them out there? Well, I thought maybe there'd be, well...
... here to anoint us so much that we'll probably not know where we are. I want you to remember, I love you. Bye-bye to you. God bless you. I hope to see you again right away. Until I do, always follow the path that ... Him that keeps the moon shining at night, the stars bright to make going good. Remember me when you're talking to Him. Tell Him I love Him. I want to see you over there. All right.
Is your prayer line ready? Everyone bow your head now, and sing, "I love Him," while the line passes through.

98 Father God, they're coming. All you ministers get up there, and lay hands on them. Now get up there. I want you to stand up there, and lay hands on these people as they come through. Come right on.
[Brother Branham leaves the platform to pray for the sick.] I never seen a meeting like this. I never, I never felt so much faith in one prayer line in my life. That's right. Oh, that's what we've been waiting for. You coming through now, come through praising Him, come through believing Him. That's the way to do. Come believing it when you pass by here ... not by a man. Pass, and you'll know your pastor up here.

99 ... what you call a fast line, and all that I've ever been through, I don't believe that one meeting I've ever felt so much faith as what was right here in this line. I'm just as sure as I'm standing on this platform, you're going to see your brethren ... among these people, something happening. It's been great. You know why? It's because that the pastors believe they're servants of God.
The reason I had these men to come here and pray, that you people might realize and understand, your pastor has the same authority to pray for you that I, or any other man has. And they had their hands laid on you, the same as I had. If you get sick in the future, don't wait for somebody to come by with some special ministry. You see what happens when your pastor prays for you? You get healed, too, see.
So, they're servants of God. They're God's servants ordained to lay hands on the sick, and pray for the sick, just like anything else. If you ...

100 if I've found grace in your sight as a servant of God, believe me. Have faith in your pastor, 'cause he's a man sent from God. Have faith in him. Now he's coming down with some of these pastors with me, to help pray for these people in the wheelchairs. If some of you brethren will come on down off the platform with me to pray for them...