Oneness
You can find this sermon at ChurchAges.net
1 Thank you, Brother Orman, the Lord bless you. Good morning, friends. It's nice to be here in the Tabernacle again this morning. And was just standing back there listening as I come in, and hearing the prophecy go forth in the way of speaking with tongues, with the interpretation. And I said to the folks that that room is full also, so I said, "I don't know; I haven't spoke to this man." That was Brother Higginbotham, if I've got the man right, for a long time; it's been months since I've even shook his hand. But that's exactly what I'm speaking on, what he said this morning, exactly what I'm speaking on. He didn't know it. I didn't know it myself till just awhile ago, what I was going to speak on. And that's just it, what he said right then. So we are happy to know that we are assembled in the Name of the Lord Jesus, and under His protecting wings.
2 Now, I see many are standing up, place filled and jammed, and we just hate to see this. And as soon as we can, we're going to make it different here, a bigger tabernacle. Now, I want to report from Phoenix just quickly.
I was here last Sunday night and spoke on the subject of Communion to the... before the communion service. Communion is not taking bread, "commune" means "talk to, commune back, talk with someone."
And now, this morning, if I get a little too lengthy, why, someone change seats with those who are standing up, and it'll be appreciated, let them set down for a little bit. I--I am concerned of this time that we're living in. I am very, very much concerned. When I see the things happening that I see taking place, there's something within me that's stirred. And I am wanting to just take my time and try to...
3 This morning's message I'm speaking on the subject of "Oneness." And I--I want to take my time and try to make it just as... lay it out just as perfectly as I know how. And I desire your prayers as you have gathered.
And now, I want you to turn, if you have a Bible and like to read with me, to the 1st chapter of Hebrews, first. And I want to read the first three verses of the 1st chapter of Hebrews, and then Genesis 1:26 and 7 to tie that together. And no man can say anything that's worth saying unless God helps him say it. And--and that's along the message this morning too, of the oneness of the people and God.
Now, in Hebrews the 1st chapter we read this.
God, who at sundry times... in divers manners spake in times past unto the fathers by the prophets,
Hath in this last days spoken unto us through his... by his Son, whom he has appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
Who being in the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
And now, over in Genesis the--the 1st chapter and the 27th, 26th and 27th verse, I read this.
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowls of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
4 Now, let's bow our heads just a moment as we pray. And I'm sure that there's many requests in the audience of this size, so perhaps we just raise up our hand to God, who has a request, and let him by this make it known that we have something that we want prayer for. God grant to each one of you.
Lord, we have assembled under the roof of this Tabernacle, and we are thankful to have the roof over us today, but our coming together was for a greater purpose than this. We feel that by the promise of God we have assembled under the wings of the Almighty. That He, as a hen would cover her chickens, would protect us from all that we are desiring Him to protect us from. That He would hover over us, and nourish us, and would give us today our daily bread, both physically and spiritually, that we might have the sustaining strength of body to walk about upon the earth, and the sustaining power of the Holy Spirit to bring the Word of God to a hungry people. And to leave here with It upon our lips and in our hearts, with such fresh anointing Oil that we'd be able to tell others of the day that we are living, and the condition of time. God, we are fully trusting in You. There is no other place left that no one could go to. We feel as Peter did that day when Jesus said, "Will you go also?"
He said, "Lord, where would we go? Thou alone has the Words of Eternal Life." And that's why we gather in Your Name this morning, because Thou alone has the Words of Eternal Life. And we pray that You'll make this so real to each of us today that our hearts will burn within us, our souls will be strengthened, our bodies healed, our spirits healed, our souls made anew, created after the fashion that God would have us.
5 Father, I pray that You'll give strength to those who are standing in the rooms and around the walls, and in the vestibule and around. I pray that You give them strength. And knowing this going on tape that'll go to many different nations out into the lands and the tribes of the earth, God, we are trusting wholly in Thee. Just give us the strength and the--the Word and the anointing, that it might be just the way You would have it for this hour. We commit ourselves to Thee now, our listening, our voice, our attention, all that we are we commit to Thee, that Thou would move in us. Work through us and manifest Your great Presence with us. For we ask it in Jesus' Name, Thy Son. Amen.
6 The word "oneness" means "to be one with: oneness, united," And now, this is quite a subject, and it--it deserves a lot more attention than I'm able to give it, and more than most any person on earth could be able to give. But I would like to express to you my opinion of it, and with what God will give us. Now, in this it's teaching doctrine. And to the brethren who may hear this tape, I trust that it will not be an offense, but it will be to cause you to take this very considerably, under consideration, rather, that you would study it prayerfully, carefully, and weigh it out in the balance of God's Word to see whether it be of God or not.
For I believe that that's the way we should do always: weigh things with the Word, because the Word is the only Thing that will be able to remain. Jesus said, "Both heaven and earth will pass away, but My Word shall not pass away." That's why I believe It, and to believe It to be God's program. I believe that that is the finished work of God wrote out in Word. Therefore, that if anything would be contrary to that Word, it could not be God or God's plan. I believe It is the program. Now, the Spirit of God in the Word makes the Word live Itself, act Itself out. It brings the Word to life like a seed.
7 Now, the first man and first woman in the garden of Eden was in perfect harmony with God, so much that God could come down at any time He desired and talk lip-to-ear with Adam and Eve. Now, that is perfect oneness: God and His creation, God speaking lip-to-ear with Adam and Eve. And they were so perfect in harmony with God till they were one with God. God and His family was one.
Any man and his family, a correct, good, noble, obedient family is one with another: any family. And if there's something in the family that moves them apart, then it's not right; the family's broken somewhere. They should all be one: father with mother, mother with father, children with parent, parent with children, all in agreement. And when you see that, you'll see one lovely picture.
8 That's God's purpose. And His purpose as Father supreme, was to be one with His family, earthly family, Adam and Eve. And the only way that they could be one with the family, or with God, was because God's nature was in them. So that made them with God's nature in them, then with each other and God, they become all one. Isn't that a beautiful picture, God in His family, Father over all, supreme, no death, no sorrow, no heartaches, no nothing, just joy unspeakable: never to be sick, never to have a heartache, just one with God. What a picture. Because the very nature of God was in these people. And therefore, what they did, they followed just in line with God, and God with them made them one.
9 Now, Jesus prayed in John the 17th chapter and the 11th verse, to you who put down these Sunday school texts. I have many of them this morning. John 17:11, Jesus prayed that the church and He would be one like He and the Father were one. That the church, we as members of the Body of Christ, would be one together just like He and the Father are one. And at that day we would know that He was in the Father--or Father in Him, and He in us, that together we were one. What a union, a oneness that would be to see God in His church, till every member is just perfectly in harmony with each other and God. That's the church that Jesus is coming for. That's when His prayer will be answered, that we will be one.
10 And it is the only grounds of fellowship that God has ever laid down for Himself and His church, is the oneness of Himself in the people. That's the only grounds of fellowship. And the only way that you can have those grounds is by a union to be united with Him forever. Just like when you unite with your husband, the woman to unite with her husband, it is a vow until death. Now, then when you unite with God, it's the same thing that the church united with Christ, it's until death we part. And then if you never sin or do anything wrong, you'll be eternally united with God. And only death can take you away from God, and not physical death, but the sin of death. Sin is death, and that takes you away from God. So to be united with Him in the Spirit of His power is Eternal Life; you're eternally united with God. Oh, I want to get to that after a bit. United eternally with the eternal God, perfectly in harmony with Him, perfectly united together, a church that all, both God and His church is one, united together.
11 And if you'll notice how that Eve was united with Adam; she become part of him. God, did you notice in Genesis 1:27, He created man male and female, created He them. Now, the man was a--a--both male and female when it come to being in the spirit of feminish and masculine. Then God took from his side a--a rib. Did you notice, the body part was a byproduct, but not the spirit? The body part of the woman was a byproduct; after the creation had been finished, God took from the side of Adam a rib and made a woman. But not the spirit, the spirit was part of Adam, for he was both man and woman, fem--spiritually speaking both masculine and feminish.
12 Now, don't you see the great picture? We in flesh are different. We're like a byproduct, a created being by holy wedlock. But in Spirit we are sons and daughters, not some other spirit, but the Spirit of the living God. We are in His likeness, in His unity, in the perfect image of the living God, because we become sons and daughters; not separated, but the same Spirit, the same God, the same Person, joined in wedlock to the eternal. See how God planned it that we should be, not a different, but Him, not some other being of some other tribe, but a real union and offspring of the Almighty done by a holy union. Now, the body comes from mother and father, but the Spirit come from God, God separating Himself as Adam was separated.
13 On the day of Pentecost we find the Holy Spirit, the Pillar of Fire, separating Itself and setting upon each member of that church: God putting Hisself together. Then with that group of people together, what does it do? Brings back the unified Body of the Lord Jesus. Coming together...
And today in this great separation that we're living in, denominational differences and things, what a pity, what a disgrace.
14 Joined in heavenly wedlock to the eternal God, part of Him, part of God... In flesh I become Branham because of my father, Branham. You become part of your father and mother, but in spirit we become... When union with God is part of God... That's the reason that the spirit cannot die. "He that believeth on Me has Everlasting Life. And in the image that he is here on earth, and in his likeness, I'll raise him up in the last days." Not a spirit being, for we'll have a body like God's glorious Body, the glorified Body of the Lord Jesus, raised up in that Image.
15 Jesus said, going to the grave of Lazarus, "I am the Resurrection and Life. He that believeth in Me, though he be dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die." "Believeth in Me, not on Me, but in Me." Being in Him, believing. "If ye abide in Me and My Words in you." In Him, believing... Oh, my. I hope the Holy Spirit gets that right down to you.
Now, you're the little flock; that's why through the week, praying and asking God, I chose this text to show you where we stand. Believing in Him, you cannot believe in Him until you come in Him, or, He comes in you, then you're believing in Him, then you have Eternal Life. You're believing on Him until you receive Eternal Life, then Eternal Life is God's Life in you, then you're believing in Him.
"Ye in Me, I in you, that they might be one, Father, even as You and I are one." God in Christ, Christ in the church... See? "Just as We are One, so they be One." Then how can you be one? "If ye abide in Me, My Word's in you..." See, abide... "My Word's in you, then ask what you will." For it isn't you no more, it's the Word that's in you, and the Word is God.
16 Now, the Word of God is a Sword. Hebrews the 4th chapter says so, Hebrews 4:12. Now, It is a Sword. And a sword is perfect dormant if it isn't yielded by a hand or a power. And it... But it takes a hand to hold the Sword. And the--take... The hand that holds this Sword is the hand of faith.
Now, that hand of faith, it depends on how strong it is. This hand of faith might just be strong enough to cut a little hole through the darkness and say, "By faith I'm saved." That's a great cut, but then if that's all the stronger that hand is to yield that Sword, that's all it can cut. But if it's a strong hand, it'll cut plumb through everything the devil can put out there, and make every promise of God shine forth in the power of His resurrection. If it's a strong hand of faith, "The days of miracles... Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever," cut its way through. It depends on the power of the hand behind the Sword.
17 And the Sword is plenty sharp. Hebrews 4 said, "It's sharper than a two-edged sword that cuts both coming and going, and even goes to the--the marrow of the bone, and in the joints, and a Discerner of the thoughts of the heart." Goes beyond the physical; it goes into the spiritual realm and picks up the thoughts of the heart and reveals them. The Spirit of God, the Word of God...
Now, that Word will cut in there if there's enough arm behind It to push It in, It'll find Its place and cut every promise out and give It to you, if you just got the strong enough arm behind it. The Sword, pick It up in an arm--an arm of faith. Grip It tight; hold onto It and walk into the face of the enemy. How can that uncircumcised enemy ever stand in the Presence of the eternal God? So you take the Sword of the Word, and every promise belongs to you. Pick It up in a strong hand of faith; walk forward. If you need healing, cut it out with the Word, "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever." If you need salvation, every promise in the Bible is yours. It's laying back in there, and Satan's trying to hide it; but take the Sword and push through the darkness until the Light of God shines in upon your soul and you have the promise. He'll do it.
18 Adam was a part of--or Eve was a part of Adam; she was flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone. And that's what the correct union is. That's what the correct union of the church is: Spirit of His Spirit, Word of His Words, never deviating from the Word. The real true believer will not compromise on any Word. Remember, it was just one Word that Eve compromised on: one Word. But the true believer won't compromise on any Word. It'll hold the Sword of the Faith with--in faith, rather, the Sword of the Word, and claim every Divine promise God made. That's it.
19 They were God's examples to us, what we should be, then ever present, never failing. When they spoke, God answered. He watched them daily. Night, when they'd lay down to sleep, He watched over them. In the daytime He guided them, fed them, loved them, communed with them constantly all the time. They were in God's image, and God was in them. That's what makes a fellowship. That's what makes the union is God in His church. That's the union. Much could be said, got many places to go.
United with Him is Eternal Life. And the only way we can unite with Him is to come every bit of His Word (That's right.), take every promise and believe it.
20 Now, Eve was united until she broke one Word, or, doubted one Word being true. That separated her. Every Word, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word." So we can be in God, united, because Adam and Eve, before the fall, afore the disbelieving of the Word, was an example of what we could be in Him. To be united with Him is Life; to be separated from Him is death. Now, if we follow His commandments...
21 We know we make mistakes, but you mustn't look at that. It's not your mistakes, because you're always going to have them. But, you see, it's following His rules, following what He said do. Stumble and falling doesn't have one thing to do with It. A real true servant, if he'll stumble, he'll get up again. If he wobbles, God pulls him right back in the path, as long as he's in the path of duty. But if he's off of the path of duty, God's not obligated to him. But as long as he's in the path of duty, God's obligated to him, knowing that he's just a man or a woman. He's obligated to that person as long as they're in the path of duty.
22 Now, the church now is engaged to Christ for the wedding. The wedding has never been performed yet; it will be at the wedding supper of the Lamb. So we see that the church is now engaged, like a man engaged to his wife. What does he do while they're engaged? He's just bestowing all kinds of things, sending her presents, making her feel good. Well, that's what Christ is doing to His church. He's sending us gifts of the Spirit. How can you be engaged then when you're denying these gifts exist? It's the very love tokens. It's God's token to the church. Jesus said so, "These signs shall follow them that believe."
23 Now, keep those things in mind. The church must believe every Word, every promise, every iota, and claim It for themselves, and exercise themselves in It. If I was engaged to a girl, and I was a single man, and I'd send her something, an engagement ring, and she wouldn't wear it, then that shows she doesn't believe me. She--she--she doesn't want to be my bride. And if Christ sends His church the gifts that He promised, and they refuse them and say they're not so, they don't want to be the Bride of Christ. They are espoused to some other lover and not to Christ, the Bridegroom. So the real church keeps the promise, and keeps all, and accepts the gifts that God sends. All right.
24 Now, the first human beings disfellowshipped themself from believing God by disbelieving His Word and listening to a lie of the devil. Now, that's the first thing that disfellowshipped this wonderful union. Now look, Adam and Eve in a position to never die, in a position to never be old, to never be sick, to never have a worry...
You say, "I sure wish I could be like that." Let me... I got news for you; you are in the same position. God places that to every creature on the earth in the same position.
25 What was the agreement? "If you'll keep My Word. If, My Word, if you'll keep It, believe It and act upon It..." But the very first time that Eve disbelieved took one Word away from what God said, it broke off fellowship with that great union. And the minute that the church disbelieves any one Word of God's Bible, and places It somewhere else, then they break off that wonderful fellowship that's offered to them, and to be separated. As soon as she did that, death set in her mortal being, not only her mortal, but her spiritual being. She broke off relationship with God the minute she disbelieved. And no man can believe...
Here it is. No man, no woman can--can believe the devil's lie until they have disbelieved God's Truth. No one can believe the devil's lie until they have disbelieved God's Truth. So, you see, Eve, Adam, where it places us this morning.
26 Now, let's think seriously, because we never be able to think any more after this, after this mortal life is over. Your thinking is now. You cannot choose after this; you must choose now, for this is the day of choosing, making your choice. Now she... One Word, not a whole Decalogue, just one Word, she questioned God, because it was presented to her in that light that that Word was questionable. God's Word cannot be questioned; He meant just what He said. But she questioned it because it was presented to her, "Oh, God surely didn't mean that." But He did mean that. God means every Word He says. And It doesn't need any private interpretation. It's just the way He said It.
Well, you say, "How do you know about the Bible?" I believe that my God has guided this Bible; He watches over His Word. He knowed that atheists and infidels would rise in the last days, so He's watched over It. This is exactly the way God meant It. It's the way It's to us now. Now, we must believe It. One Word off of It, and we lose our fellowship, go off into--to death, eternal separation from God, just as Adam and Eve did. We must believe God's Truth.
27 Let me make that again. Do not disbelieve any Word of God's Bible. But just don't say, "Yes, I believe It," say, "but..." No, there's nothing about that. You believe It; you'll accept it. If you lay It aside, say, "Well, my church don't believe It that way," then you do not believe It's God's Word, and you'll walk away under the same condemnation that Eve went away under. You separated yourself from the Eternal when you had a chance to be united with Him. Now, remember, that cannot be questioned, because it was one Word that--in God's Word...
28 And now, if God had just a--a few Words there that people must obey, and in them few Words one of them was misrepresented, caused death, look at the Words we got today. See? We must receive every one of them, hold onto them, and enter into them as promises from God. And a true wife of God will do that, true engaged espoused one. Now, I hope these little things go down deep now so we can catch them.
29 What was the first thing that caused Eve to disbelieve God's Word? It was because Satan promised her more wisdom, "You will be wise." Now, you see, the human race is always reaching after something. And Eve was reaching after more wisdom.
Now, let's stop just one minute. Isn't that the condition of the world today? They want more wisdom, better class, higher educated, wanting something that's different, more wisdom. That's what Eve wanted. But let me say this also, that there is no wisdom can surpass God's, yet it--it's in such a humble form that people miss it.
Satan, as I have said many time, he shines, but the Gospel glows. Oh, there's quite a difference between shining and glowing. Hollywood shines, but the church glows with the power and love of God. Hollywood shines: quite a difference between glowing and shining. We do not want to shine. We want to glow.
30 Today... (It's too bad to think this.) But the churches try to lean upon their own understanding just exactly like Eve did. She thought, because it was presented to her, it looked so real... Oh, don't fail to get this. It looked so real, something that could be added to what God said. It looked like that she'd have something that God hadn't told her just how far she could go. God hadn't give her the boundary line like He set the sea and it cannot pass because the moon watches it. He thought... She thought that Satan had something on the ball, as we say, that she could still be in union with God, and yet be smarter, she would have a better education. But God had 'lotted her just exactly what she had need of.
And He's 'lotted to the church the same thing. That's not a twist of a seminary, or comment or twist out of a--a Bible school, but It's exactly what's written, and THUS SAITH THE LORD. You cannot change It. But the churches lean on their own understanding. They--they think maybe it's a--that--that there's something fixed to them, and it's deceiving.
31 I'm just got to wait here a minute. The whole world's based on that. The whole economy of this nation is based upon false conception. Tell you a little joke on myself; it isn't a joke. But you know all of us love our wives, or, we should. And I was looking at a program here sometime ago out west, been a long time ago, about three years. And in my room one morning I got up, and there was a television setting in the room. And I thought, "Look like bad weather." And I thought, "Well, at eight o'clock they ought to have the news." And I got the little manual; it said news at a certain time.
I turned the news on, and when I was hearing the news, then I noticed that in the middle of the newscast they broke off to advertise some kind of a goods, some kind of a detergent. And said, "You don't have to wash your dishes any more, lady. The only thing you do is stick it right down in the water and let it set there a couple minutes, raise it right up and put it on the drain board; it's all over."
I thought, "I'm going to be a hero when I get home." I put the name of it down, this certain stuff. I said, "I'll tell my wife, 'Look what I can do.'"
So I went and got a bottle of this such-and-such of stuff, and I squirted it all in the water, told her to continue on sweeping the house, I'd fix it up for her. So I got the children's plate and raked out the crumbs, and so forth, and the egg sticking on it, and dropped it down in the water, and let it set a few minutes, and picked them out, and set them up there. There's just as much egg on them as there was when I put in there. See, I--I'd have lost... My wife would lost confidence in me by that time.
32 You see, why does the nation, why does these--this nation let the people be deceived? That oughtn't to be allowed to be said like that. That ought to be against the law. About the modern cigarette advertisement, what a disgrace, "Not a cough in a carload," all kind of... Well, that oughtn't to be allowed. What is it doing? It's deceiving. There's death in every one of them. There's death in the drinking of whiskey: rape, murder, insanity in the bottle. But yet we're allowed to put it on our programs and advertise it as "The kind that grandfather drank. More joy out of life," certain kinds of beverages of beer and alcohol. What is it? It's deceiving. It's placing something before the public to kill themselves with. And we're allowed to do it.
33 And let me turn that right back over. And the churches through man-made dogma, man-made creeds is presenting a great front to the people, and they're falling for it, which is death. No church will clean your soul. No creed can clean your soul. Only the Blood of Jesus Christ can cleanse your soul, God's remedy. It's backed up.
So it's just false, but people lean upon the understanding of the wise, and they die by it. And people today are leaning upon the understanding of--of creeds and denominations, and millions like slaughtered pigs are plunging their way into a bottomless pit of hell. What a shame it is. We are forbidden to lean upon our own understandings. We cannot try.
34 You say, "Oughtn't the council of men be able to say more about it than one person?" Not if that one person says the Word of God. There was four hundred prophets one time come up before two kings, and they leaned upon their own understanding. But there was one who stayed with the Word of God, and it proved out he was right: Micaiah. It depends on whether it's the Word of God. Anything contrary to the Word is wrong, comes in death. No wisdom can surpass God's wisdom. He's the smartest of all smarts. He's the--He's the Fountain. He's the only resource of wisdom. Every man's word is foolishness and a lie, but God's. If it's contrary to God... Now, if the person's saying God's Word, then it--it's not the man's word no more; it's God's Word. See, it isn't the man's understanding.
35 Satan will make you all kind of promises, but he has nothing to give you, because he don't have nothing. He don't have no salvation. What is Satan? Anything contrary to the Word. He doesn't have salvation. He doesn't have Light. His kingdom is darkness; the end thereof is death. Darkness and death is Satan's kingdom. "Brother Branham, repeat it again. What is Satan's kingdom?" Anything contrary to the Word of God.
Now, that's cutting, but it's time for cutting. See? The branch, the tree, if it's going to bear, must be pruned. It's time.
Anything contrary to the precepts of God, the Word of God, is not God. What is it? What is sin? Righteousness perverted. What is death? Life perverted. What is the kingdom of Satan? Anything that's setting something to take the place of the Word, anything, any teaching. One word, just one word. You might believe every bit. Eve believed every bit of It to that one Word. That one Word's all she needed to disbelieve. That one Word is all you need to disbelieve.
36 Now, let's look at it. The only way to stay in Divine fellowship was keep that Word. God said, "Thou shalt do this. Thou shalt not do this. Thou shalt do this, and you can do this and do this. But don't do this." Now, just one little piece of a commandment that she disobeyed, and started the whole thing... Because she did that, made every hungry child that was ever in the world, every pain of death, every sorrow, every heartache. She did it right then. What a horrible thing to disbelieve God's Word. Every person that groans in pains of every death that ever was or ever will be, she did it right then. Every little unwedded child, she did it right then, every child born under--out of wedlock. Every sin that was ever committed, she caused it right there by keeping every Word right down; but one little place here she--she reasoned. She just... She didn't know it... She knowed it, but she just--she was enticed to do something better, because she was promised a better class of people, better wisdom, know more about it if she'd do this. "Our ministers are better educated. We have a better class."
There's no better class of people in the world than those who keep God's Word. That's the best. That's the only class that God looks at. Just a little while and maybe God will let us get into it.
37 His kingdom can promise nothing but death. That's all he has. He's the author of death. He can promise lies because he's the father of lies. He can't give you Life. He can't give you heaven, he has no heaven to give you.
Think of it. One word, to disbelieve God through a promise of the devil or his machinery, one word sends you into torment. That's the way it started. And if God, in His mercy as He is, would send this mass of hell upon the earth, and cause little hungry children, all kinds of afflictions, and starving people, and death in the earth, because one word at the beginning, could not He have looked it over and s--kept from having all this mass of suffering? Could He not have done it? Then if He didn't excuse one Word there, knowing that this would be the results, how much more will He not excuse one Word there, when the individual's going to be the sufferer alone, who disbelieves. Think of it; it's a tremendous thing.
38 Now, when Adam and Eve listened to the lie of the devil, the holy image of God left them; and their--their fellowship was broken with God. Their fellowship of oneness with God was broken. The very minute they listened to the lie of the devil, that broke their fellowship. And the very minute that you listen to the lie of the devil, it'll break your fellowship. That's the very minute that you go out from the Presence of God, like she did, is when you failed to take God's Word just as It is.
39 Now look, I want to ask you something. We all know there's a God. And if God is so correct with His Word, and so determined that He'll judge the people by His Word, then He's got to preserve a Word somewhere to judge the people by. This Bible's It. Don't you forget that. It's the Bible that God will judge the people by, for it said in Revelations 22, "He that'll take one Word away from It or add one word to It..."
See, not just say, "Well, I--I go to church. I believe. I--I--I believe God." Why, every devil in the hell believes Him. Every one of them's religious, every one.
40 But it just takes one word; that breaks the fellowship right there. A chain is no stronger than its weakest link. The more your weakness is on disbelieving God's Word; there's where you want to put a new link, strong with the rest of it. If you believe Jesus Christ saves; then you must put a link in there that believes He heals. If you believe He was, you must believe He is. Hallelujah. If you believe He was, and wondering whether He is, that link will break, then you're lost. See what I mean? It's stern it's hard, but it's the Truth. You must believe Him, every Word, everything that He said.
41 Now, you say, "Well, now, Brother Branham, what about these denominations?" Well, now listen. If they are with this Word, all right. But if they deny that Word, then it's not right; it's the devil again. See?
"What about this certain-certain church?" I don't know what about that church. Only thing I know about is this Word. Now, how you going to believe a church when there's nine hundred and something different denominations, and each one saying, "our denomination has exactly the Truth"?
Now, where would you go to? You've got to have faith in something. Well, you say, "I have faith in the Methodists, in the Baptists, in the Presbyterian, in the Lutheran, in the Pentecost, in the Catholic," whatever it is. You got faith in that organization, and if it's contrary to the Word, you're doing the same thing Eve done. That's exactly. You're doing exactly the same thing she did, taking God's Word and making It...
42 "Well, there's a better class of people goes here. It's a bigger building. They're smarter men." That don't have one thing to do with it. Satan was much smarter than Eve. She didn't--wasn't even in the picture. But she wasn't supposed to be smart; she was supposed to be obedient. We're not supposed to be smart. Jesus said the children of this world, or, the kingdom of this world is much smarter, the children of darkness than the children of Light. We are likened to sheep. Sheep can't even lead themselves; they've got to have a shepherd. God don't want us smart, He wants us to lean on His understanding (Amen.), just where He leads. Amen. You see the picture? Don't lean upon your own understanding. Proverbs 5, 3. Don't lean upon your own understanding, lean upon His understanding. No matter how contrary it seems, and how big the bright lights look out here, don't pay no attention to it. Just lean on His understanding, what He said is the Truth.
43 Now, the oneness in fellowship was broke between God and His children the minute she disbelieved one little paragraph, one little Word of God. Everybody get that, say "amen." [Congregation says, "Amen!"] Not a Bible; say, "I don't believe the Bible at all. I believe half of It." She had to believe all of It, every bit.
Not only that, but the oneness between husband and wife was broken. I don't believe there's any marriage can be what it ought to be without a union between husband and wife and God. That's right. They'll bring up children in the world, and make them illegitimates, give them cigarettes, whiskey, play cards in their sight, drink liquor before them. No matter how loyal they are to their marriage vows, that's sexually; that's flesh. But there's a spirit in there, that spirit of a sinner papa and mama, no matter how loyal to their children, will come wrong.
44 Well, you say, "I know men and women that didn't teach their children that, and wasn't Christians." The very thing of not leading them to Christ was the wrongest thing they could ever do besides the other: not to lead them to Christ. See? So you can't have a correct union without it. The fellowship broken...
Then as soon as the fellowship was broken between Adam and Eve... As soon as their fellowship was broke between God and them, then their fellowship between each other was broke.
Listen. Any time a church breaks its fellowship to throw itself into an organization, the fellowship of the believers is broke. We've got to believe with one heart, one mind, and one accord. That's the way they was before the union was ever made on the day of Pentecost; one heart one mind, and one accord. And when you throw a church into an organization, you're going to get all kinds of fractions in it. Because some of them children in there is going to believe in God; they're going to hold to the thing that's right; and the others will go the other way. So you have no fellowship. Yes.
45 What? Her thinking changed. Oh, yeah, her thinking changed. Her fellowship with her husband wasn't right. They begin to pass the buck. See? Her thinking was actually changed. Why? She had the life of the devil in her. It's exactly. As soon as she disbelieved God's Word, she accepted the life of the devil, because she accepted his teaching.
I can make this awful strong right here, but it's on tape. I'm sure you understand: the church.
She disbelieved God's Word and it disassociated her from God, because in her right then was the life of the devil. She had believed his lie, said, "The fruits is good," and she'd partake them with him. That's right,
46 I ain't going to hold this. I'm going to let It come anyhow. Just can't... The other day in California; I mean in Arizona, I was teaching in a church. I've never said nothing under inspiration that I ever had to take back. So many of the ministers got after me about the seed of Satan, the serpent's seed. "The woman, it was eating an apple." Huh. That... Why, Cain thought the same thing; he brought the fruits of the field in. You see? It wasn't no apple. How'd she realize she was naked? We've been through that. It was actually a sexual affair. Certainly it was; she realized she was naked. And she had a child by the serpent, which was not a reptile; he was the most subtil of all the beasts. He was the next thing to a man. Man can find monkeys and chimpanzee--chimpanzees, and so forth, but they can't find that link that connects man and beast together. There he is. God cursed him so far he can't come back again (That's right.), for this evil act that he did. He was the only seed that would mix.
47 Now, the other day, standing preaching, there was a bunch of Catholic people in my audience, and I said, "You Catholic people that call Jesus, or call Mary, rather, the mother of God, how can God have a mother when He's eternal? He can't have a mother. Jesus was not even anything to Mary, but He was just... She was an incubator that hatched Him."
Well, they always believed, and I had an idea of it myself years ago that the--the immaculate conception was that God overshadowed her and put a blood cell in there, but the egg come from the woman. If the egg come from the woman, there has to come a sensation to bring the egg through the tube to the womb. See what you do with God? You make Him in a sexual mess. God, Who created the blood cell, created the egg also... Doctor, there has to be both male and female pollen. That's right.
48 Well then, if this woman produced the egg, then how could David say, "I'll not leave My Holy One see corruption, neither will I leave His soul in hell"? Then if the woman egg was in Christ, then the person's got something to do with His part in the resurrection, when it's wholly complete with God. Why did God raise up a sexual part of a person? In the resurrection, why didn't He leave His body see corruption? Because He was holy. And how could He be holy if He'd have had a conception with Mary, and the pollen had come from Mary, the egg down through the tube into the womb? There'd a-had to be some sensation to bring the egg down. Then the woman would be...
Well, you say, "The egg might've been laying there. Could've been possible." But that, if so, then look what happens here, then He wasn't altogether God. He wasn't God, inasmuch as He was human. But then if that be so, the woman had something in it. And the--the actual seed that come from Mary, which come from her mother, and her mother, and her mother, was something human mixed into it, with a human desire. Couldn't have been. No, sir. I said, "He... she was only..."
49 Just like you take the eagle and let it lay an egg, and put it under the hen; the hen will hatch the egg; she's only the incubator. But there isn't one speck about it, the eagle, that's a chicken. No, sir. The hen was the... You could tie a little pup down over the top of a--a bird egg, and it would hatch a bird, the pup would. It's the warmth of the body that hatched the egg.
And that's the same way it is with Jesus. Mary was just the incubator. God used her like He does any other woman. She was a virgin; she'd had no children. He come into a virgin womb, but God the Creator made both egg and germ: created it. Therefore, it was immaculate conception.
50 When I come out, of course, you know the brethren waiting for me. They said, "Brother Branham, I want to ask you something. You made a mistake. Now, we got you caught."
Said, "All right, that's what I want to be caught."
And said, "You made the mistake by saying this, when you preached the serpent's seed. Now, you say that--that the egg belonged... God created it, the egg. What happened, we find out here that in Genesis the 3rd chapter, God said to Mary, 'I will put enmity between your seed and the serpent's seed.'"
I thought, "Oh, my." I never preached anything in my life under inspiration I had to take back, 'cause I don't depend upon my own understanding. And if my understanding is contrary to God's Word, then my understanding's wrong. It's got to be God's Word. If it isn't, leave it alone; it's not right. But now tear It down is the thing to do. In my heart I said, "Heavenly Father, You help me. I don't know what to do here. The man has the Scripture; he's pointing his finger at it: 'I'll put enmity between your seed and the serpent's seed.'"
51 Now, here it is. The Holy Spirit moved over. I believe the same One that could overshadow Mary, that could create, He can also put a Word in their mouth. I depend on Him daily. And it's always His Word. He can't say the--something contrary to His Word. Then if you say you're anointed and preach against the Truths of God, then it's not the anointing of the Holy Ghost. 'Cause when the Holy Ghost overshadows you, He brings the same thing, 'cause It is the Word.
52 Listen. What happened? I said, "All right, I want to ask you something. The woman has no egg. She has no seed. He said now, He said not an egg; He said, 'thy seed.' And she had no seed."
It takes a union to make a seed. Is that right, doctor? Has to be. If you got a whole lot of pulp out here, didn't have no life in it, and planted it out here, it--it wouldn't never come up, lay there and rot. And you couldn't plant the life without having the pulp. So, you see, the whole thing is a union. I'm trying to tell you now about Christ and the church. It's a union. See, if the woman is the seed of herself then she doesn't need the male, she can have her baby herself. But she can't be a--she can't have the baby until she's been with the male, because it takes the two together to make a seed. Is that right? Plant a seed with no life in it, and see what will happen.
Like they got this saying this woman giving birth to these dogs here. See, it couldn't be live, couldn't be, 'cause (See?) the pollen won't mix.
53 Now, notice this now. The--the woman was not a seed. Therefore, He said, "I will put enmity between thy seed and the serpent's seed." Telling her that He was going, Himself, to give her a seed, not through a intercourse, sexually. He was going to create in her a seed. Well, you say, "Would that be His seed?" Yes. It would belong to Mary then after He give it to her. This is my eye; He give me this. It's my eye, but He give it to me. This is my hand; He gave it to me. This is my voice, but He give it to me. See? And the seed that was in Mary had nothing to do with Mary. It was something God did Himself.
54 So the seed that was in her then was a union of a unlawful act, which was death. She was already pregnated with the serpent's seed, 'cause she had lived with the... And she turned and said, herself, "The serpent beguiled me." That's right. And immediately, Cain come on.
Oh, we know she said she got a child from God. Certainly, every child that's born, illegitimate and anything else, has to come by an act of God. He's the only One Who can make life. Certainly. That is right.
See, she was already to be mother. And that never--only what it did was clear up the thing of the serpent's seed. "The seed that's in you now is by concepted, your unlawful act against My Word, with this thing here, and you are now got the serpent's seed. But I'll give you a Seed by immaculate conception, and His Seed shall bruise the serpent's head, and his head shall bruise the heel." Amen. Just let God have it; if it's His Word He'll bring It to pass.
55 That's the reason you've got to be in union with God. That's the reason that Peter said on the day of Pentecost, after Jesus said, "Baptize them in the Name of the Father, Son, Holy Ghost" Peter turned around and said, "Baptize them in the Name of Jesus Christ," because the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost is the Lord Jesus Christ. See that? It takes a union.
Paul had never seen Peter, but the same Holy Ghost, in that same union (Glory.) caused him to say the same thing. "Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed?"
He said, "We don't know whether there be."
Said, "How was you baptized?"
Said, "Unto John."
Said, "You have to be baptized over again in the Name of Jesus Christ." And they received the Holy Ghost.
What was it? The union, saying the same thing God says. And that's the confession. "Confess" means, "say the same thing." And He's the High Priest of our confession, to act upon what He has said. We say It's the truth, and He acts upon it. Oh, my. There you are. There is the conception.
56 Now, watch how she--she--her union between her and her husband was broken. See, quickly, as soon as God said, "Adam, how'd you do this?" Instead of taking up for his wife, he passed it on to his wife. "The woman Thou givest me." Union broke. See?
What did she do? Instead of loving her husband and telling the truth, she lied. She--she--she--she should've said, "He's innocent; I gave to him." Amen. The Bible said, "She gave to her husband." She should've said, "The man's innocent. I gave to him and then he did eat, but I was the one that give it to him." Instead of that, she passed it on to the serpent, closest bypass.
57 That's the same thing they try to do today. See, the husband, wife, the union broken. Husband and wife, fellowship was broken between them; the oneness of them was broken; the oneness between them and God was broken. The whole thing was marred. Why? Because one Word was disbelieved. Oh, brother, my. Yeah, she should've told the Truth. The oneness with her and her husband was gone, and the oneness with them and God was gone. And every church that doesn't take the whole of God's Word, the same thing happens. I love It, don't you?
58 Watch her firstborn Cain, a murderer, a lie, a deceiver, jealous, jealous of his brother. His brother kept the commandments of God; God had made an atonement by killing an offering and offering it for them. Watch the ignorance of that now, of Satan, trying to substitute something. God, the Bible said went and made them aprons out of skins; to get skins, something died. Adam tried to make hisself some aprons out of fig leaves. It wouldn't work, botany life. Life, moving life had to die. So He killed a lower form of life, and saying in there that "Someday My Own Life will be give for you, the real Life that'll draw in this union again." Now, we'll get to it in a few minutes, God willing. "See, here's a lamb's life. Now, you put this around you and hide your nakedness." "You mustn't eat apples!" Nonsense. See? "Put these skins around you." He had to kill something.
59 And Satan's son, they didn't come the way he wanted it--he did. Anyway you want to say it, but it was Satan's son, 'cause that purity of Adam to God could not have brought that kind of a thing. Notice, then Satan's son, trying to make an atonement, come back with the same thing that most of the people say today, a bunch of apples and fruits of the land to offer for an atonement, an antidote.
And what did righteous Abel do? He knowed that it wasn't no such a thing as eating apples. He was the blood of his mother and daddy, the life of Adam. So he brought a lamb, just like God did. Hallelujah. He kept the Word of God, and Cain was jealous with him.
Same thing today. Come in that blood-offering... That Word of God, just exactly what It says, stay right with it. A lot of them would believe that blood-offering, sure, but say--something else in the Word, they say, "Oh, no, I don't believe that. Uh-huh, that--that's for another day." Same old devil, same old trick... Wait till we get through with it. Notice, he come right down the same way.
60 But Cain in his stupid ways, not so stupid, but in his cunning ways, deceived, and brought in fruit. Adam kept the... Abel kept the Word of God; he brought in a lamb. God said, "That's right, Adam, you've kept--or, Abel, you've kept My Word." "Cain, you knowed it wasn't... Where'd I... did I take some fig leaves like your daddy tried to do? You got a bunch of figs, or grapes, or apples, or whatever you got here. And now your daddy took the leaves off the tree to try to make an atonement, and here you try to bring the fruit off the tree." It wasn't that. It was blood from life.
61 Oh, God brought it down, said, "Here it is." And Abel offered the right one. Then he--his brother was jealous at him. Look what he did; he killed his brother. God raised up another one; like death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. Watch. God then, His... What did He tell Adam and Eve? "Go on and multiply and replenish the earth." Scattered the human race all over the earth, so He could deal with them individually till He could bring them back together. Dealing with the people, individuals, each person. But they didn't want it that way.
Don't miss this revelation. God, let it happen. May you see it the way I'm looking at it.
62 See, it wasn't that; God don't deal with a person in a group. God don't deal with you in an organization. He deals with you as an individual, an individual. Individually we are baptized with the Holy Ghost. Collectively we are baptized into the body when we're baptized with the Holy Ghost, individually, each one baptized with the Holy Ghost, God dealing with each one. That was His purpose, scatter them across the earth so He could deal individually with them.
But instead of that, what happened? God had to separate Cain's people from Seth's people. He sent Cain away. He separated them so He could deal with His church. Watch. Cain was separated. Now, watch. God separated Eve's evil Cain from Adam's holy Seth. Oh. Did He do it? Through a unlawful act, this woman living with a--somebody else and brought a child, God separated that child and his generations from this righteous and holy man, his children.
It's the same thing today: separating, separated, found them, they were not in unity. They could have no unity. Can night have unity with day? Can a believer have unity with an infidel? Can a man who believes in all the Word of God have a unity with them who just believes part of the Word of God? God wants separators.
63 Now, Cain was Eve's son; she said, "I have gotten a son." But Seth was Adam's son. And God separated them, because he couldn't let... Why, they'd corrupt one another. Cain's evil children would corrupt Seth's good children. That's right.
Now, watch. And the same old devil that caused Eve to disbelieve one Word of God, and told them to separate themselves from one another and to live different, each one, that same devil got among them and brought them together again. Did you get it? Say "Amen" if you did. [Congregation says, "Amen"] He brought them together again under a false union, an act of--against God's plan. What happened? How did he do it? "The sons of God," said the Bible, Genesis, "seen the daughters of men." The sons of God, Seth's children, saw the daughters of men, Cain's children, how pretty they were. Uh-huh. And what did they do? They fell for them. And they united themselves together again because of beauty, that they were fair to look upon.
64 Same thing today. Here you are, brethren. You Pentecostal weaklings, who God separated you and sent you out to be an interdenomination. You can't denominate Pentecost. Sent you out to be His people. But you seen the big fine churches and the theology; you got yourselves a lot of big schools and things. And what did you do? You've united God's people again with organization, which the very foundation of it is Catholicism. Pretty, big churches, fine-dressed people, the mayor of the city and all the rest of them comes, best dressed, best educated, high theologians, knows how to come to a place where everybody wears the very fanciest of clothes, and the pastor stands just so perfect in place. What is it? You're looking at the things that God condemned. And you've took the Pentecostal church (God, let it hit the tape.) and have united it into an organization. God never did want it united; He wanted it separated, never united with the world.
65 The same old devil that caused Eve to disbelieve the Word of God and done her evil, come right back around and took the children of Seth and let them see these pretty women of Cain, and they united again. And they was not infidels. They were not communists. No, no. They were believers. They said, "Now, perhaps maybe the Lord might do something." Or, oh, all this like that. They--they were... They thought that they were doing what was right. And what did God have to do? Wipe the whole thing off, had to wipe the whole thing off. Under false union... He had to send a flood and destroy the whole bunch. Judgment come on for that false union. Judgment struck Eden because of a false union. Now, did the serpent has a seed? Shame on you.
66 A false union brought judgment on the earth to Eve and Adam in Eden. And a false union brought the floods of God's judgment on the earth because that the daughters of Cain flirted with the sons of God, and they fell for it and united together again. There you are. False union, "Nothing could happen." What did God do? He destroyed the whole thing, all but precious old Noah and his family. He... They got together.
And again after that, after the death of Noah, and that spiritual family of Noah, first thing you know, the children of men begin to look to one another again. What did they do? They said, "Now, we're not infidels; we all believe in God." So they got a fellow, by a leader, some great archbishop by the name of Nimrod, and they built a tower. They wasn't infidels. They believed there was a heaven. They believed there was a hell. They believed in judgments. But the children of God with the daughters of men again, and they made themself a union, falsely, and built a great big cathedral, a great big organization, and all the other places was to--to Babel, was to pay tribute to it.
67 And they said, "I'll tell you what we can do. You know we're smart." Where'd they get that wisdom? From the devil. That's exactly. They got it from the devil like--like Eve did. Got it from the devil. So they said, "We'll build ourself an organization; we'll please God. And I'll tell you what we'll do; we'll have little stair steps. We'll run up and sing and enjoy with the angels, and come back down here and live the way we want to." That devil's still living. See? It was against the commandments of God. They didn't keep His commandments. What did God do? Well, they built a tower of Babel, false again, so God confused them and separated them.
68 God separated again and He sent out good old righteous Abraham, said, "I'll just take you and make a nation out of you." God separated him. "Come out from among them, Abraham, leave everything behind." And God never blessed him till he left everything behind; Lot was the last. "Come out, Abraham, separate yourself from them unbelievers. And I'm going to take you and make a nation out of you. I'll make a people that'll keep My commandments. I'm going to give them another chance."
Good old Abraham went to sojourning in a strange land. That's what every Abraham does, sojourning in a strange land. What? Believing a promise that was impossible, humanly speaking. What do you think them modern Cain's doctors would've said that day? "Whew, my, an old man, hundred years old, going to have a baby by a wife, ninety? Oh, what a ridiculous thing." But Abraham believed God's Word. And anything contrary to It, he called as though it wasn't.
All these false baptisms, false sensations, false stuff that's going on today, say it's not there, believe God's Word and keep on going. It's only a stumbling block to keep you from reaching for the real. That's right. Move right on, children. God's Word, God keeps His Word. I don't care how many bogus things the devil throws out there, God's still got a true Word and He keeps It.
69 Abraham called anything contrary, wrong. Romans, the 4th chapter, if you're putting it down. Abraham called anything contrary to God's Word, as though it wasn't. That's right. He believed in God, was strong, no matter how weak his body got, how impossible it seemed that it wasn't going to happen, Abraham kept on believing it. Now, he didn't have to get down at the altar and say, "If don't come right now, I'm going to do... I don't know whether to believe it or not." Abraham stayed with it for twenty-five years before it come, but it got there. It always does.
70 Abraham, come Isaac; Isaac, come Jacob; out of Jacob come the patriarchs; out of the patriarchs, went into Egypt, in Egypt, growed a nation. Then when He got His nation growed up, His achievement, what did He do? God separated them again. Unbelief and faith can't go together. No, sir. He separated them again for His Own. What did He do to them to be sure that they was led right? Listen close now; we haven't got too much more time now, maybe another fifteen minutes. He led them close. Watch, He raised up a nation, put them under tutors and things. They were beat and crying, and crying and going on. But God was looking down; He remembered every promise He give Abraham. One day He--He thought... What did He do to them? What did He do when He separated them? He give them a law and He give them a prophet; He give them a Pillar of Fire. What did He do? (Oh, God.) He set His church in order: a Pillar of Fire, Spirit to lead them, a prophet who would tell them the truth of His Word. They were ready for the journey then. Isn't that wonderful?
71 Out into the wilderness they went, performing signs and wonders, opening up the Red Sea, calling the plagues of hell down on Pharaoh. Oh, my. A Pillar of Fire moving before them (Amen.), led them by the night and by the day. Hallelujah. A prophet, true to that Word, standing there keeping them lined up. Amen. He was ready to take His children then. That was the first time they was ever called a church. It was a type of what He's going to do in the last days. We'll get to that again just in a minute. He called them out, give them a law, give them His Word; He give them a prophet; He give them a sign; and He sent them into the wilderness, separated them from the rest of the world.
What did they do? Saw the pretty women of Moab, a lukewarm church with gods and goddesses and everything else. What did they do? Went for them, married in among them. That's right, it's exactly right. I imagine those pretty little Moabite women were really beautiful.
72 I got a prophecy laying at home, one of these days I'm going to read it. And you wonder why I rap at women the way I do. Thirty years ago... I've got THUS SAITH THE LORD. Thirty years ago when I entered the ministry, He told me that the strain of women would come so immoral and imputed, in the last days they'd be the most defiled thing on the earth. Right. She started it at the beginning and Satan use her at the end. And look what is happening, look down through the years, Said, "She'll continue to strip herself." And said, "There'll just be a little tiny group, of the very elected that's predestinated will escape that."
When that vision come, I was worried then. I thought, "Women..." I turned back over in the Bible to Isaiah the, I believe the 5th chapter, and It said, "The branch that has escaped from... The daughters of Zion in that day will be beautiful to the Lord."
73 A woman wrote me a question the other day; she said, "Brother Branham..." Or, no, it was a man, a minister. He may be standing here this morning. He's just from Ohio. And he said, "We want to say the same thing you do, but we found something on your tapes that's not right." So Billy brought the letter to me. Said, "Something on your tapes," says, "is very contradictory, Brother Branham, to the Word of God. And we want to--we want to say the same thing." Said, "One question I want to say to you; that's I Corinthians the 11th chapter, and it says that about the head covering for the women, and the men not to have covering." Said, "We believe that. The women should wear hats in the church, and the men should take their hats off in the church." Said, "We believe them head coverings, and so forth." And said, "Then another question is that the people come to us and say the Angel of the Lord speaks everything to you. Every word that you speak is from the Angel of the Lord. And, Brother Branham, it's so hard to fight against something like that," said, "in my church." Said, "We want to say the same thing. Now, Brother Branham, don't you believe that you was a little in error there?"
I wrote back, "My precious brother, I'm not in error. The I Corinthians the 11th chapter, said a woman should have her head covered, and why? Then the 15th verse said her long hair is given to her for a covering, not a hat." That Catholic spirit's dominated the church long enough. Her long hair is her covering. Don't nature itself...
74 And look, and then the question come back, somebody asked me sometime ago... I'll explain it while I'm at it. He said, "Well, the Bible said that she should have long hair because of the angels. What's the angels got to do with a woman?"
I said, "What is an angel? It's a messenger." What's Paul saying? If a true messenger, an angel from God comes by, you'd better have long hair. He'll condemn the thing. That's right. How many's got--knows that an angel is a messenger? Exactly right. A messenger sent from God will condemn it. Said, "You'd better have long hair, because of the angels." Them messengers sent from God comes by will condemn that thing. Yes, indeedy, because, a real messenger from God, an angel is connected with God, and His Word can't fail. That's exactly. right. Saint Paul said there, that if a--even an angel from Heaven come taught anything else, let him be accursed. That's right. Now, we find out that that's true; she should have long hair; that's her covering.
75 But I imagine these pretty Moabite women were very beautiful; they might have been fixed up some like some of the modern Jezebels of today. But however, not all women. I think a woman that's genuine is a jewel. Praise God for a real woman. They're God's handsmaids. But a real woman is like a real man; they'll follow the Word of God regardless of what the devil says or any false thing.
And saying, "Our pastor said it's all right to do this." I don't care what your pastor said. If it's contrary to God's Word, let his word be a lie, and keep God's Word. Care what denomination it is or what he is, if he's got anything to say about it, tell him to look into the Word of God. Exactly right.
76 Oh, how we could go on down and see God separating them. We're going to have to stop just a minute. I got some Scriptures here I want to just bypass it to get a--hurry up to get to the end. Then when... What happened when He taken place there, when the Moabite women? God had to separate them again. What did He do?
Then came Jesus. Now, where we're coming somewhere. Then came Jesus, the expressed Image of God, the woman's Seed, conceived by God Himself. The great Architect built Himself a body. He didn't have to borrow any timber from anybody, from woman or man... He built Himself a house. Oh, my.
77 I think of Stephen on that day when he stood, said, "You uncircumcised in heart and ears, you stiffnecks, you always resist the Holy Ghost; like your fathers did, so do you." Said, "Solomon built Him a house, but howbeit the Most High don't live in houses made with hands, but a body has Thou prepared Me."
Didn't have to borrow any timbers anywhere. Hebrews the 11th chapter, I believe in the 2nd or 3rd verse says that the world was framed by the Word of God, the things were made out of things that don't appear. God just said, "Let there be," and there was, He didn't have to go over and say, "Mr. Moon, would you loan Me a little timber? Mr. Star, would you let Me have some calcium?" God don't do that.
78 He didn't have to say, "Mary, you loan Me a egg; I want to make a body so I can dwell in it." God the Creator spoke, and she was a mother right then. She wasn't a mother; she was just a woman bearing His Seed. That's right. Remember, she was not Jesus' mother. The world said so. Find me one place in Scripture ever He called her mother. Now, come back to the Word. "Mother of God," shame on you. See?
One day there was some people said to Him, said, "Your mother's outside looking for You."
He said, "Who is My mother?" Looked on His disciples, said, "They that do the will of My Father is My mother."
She wasn't His mother; she was a incubator. God could've used something else, but He wanted to take the very lowest and show what He could do with it, raise it up, and make something out of nothing, that's God.
The expressed Image come, Jesus, the immaculate One, the lovely One, the Fairest of ten thousands, the Lily of the Valley, the Rose of Sharon, oh, the Morning Star. What was He? What did He come for? (Listen close now.) To re-establish oneness between God and man. Oh, do you see it, brother?
79 All their towers of Babel and all their other things back there didn't work. All their fruits of the gardens and everything else displeased God. So God came down and was conceived in the womb of a woman, by His Ownself made Hisself a body, and become Immanuel, God with us: neither Jew nor Gentile, but God. He wasn't Jew; He wasn't Gentile; He was God. And the Gentiles was just as much to Him at any time, only He tried to separate a Jew for a nation. He tried to do everything to get it back, and the only way He could establish it was come back to an individual like He was at the beginning. That's the way it is today to an individual: not to a denomination, not to an organization, not to a group of people; but to an individual. Notice, to re-establish oneness between God and man...
80 He was a real sin-offering. Sheep, goats, and so forth, could never take away sin. But the life... Because when the sacrifice is killed and the life of a lamb, the most innocent thing, could not come back, that life, upon the believer, because he was a human being with a soul, and the sheep has no soul.
See, nothing has a soul but man. God put... He's an animal form (That's true.), but He put a soul on him. That's what made him different from the animals. He knowed right from wrong when his soul come on him. But he... Remember when God created man in His Own image, and then he became a living soul... See, he became that, knowing right from wrong.
81 Now, notice. But now, in this, Jesus came and He was God. Not only the life of another man could come back on another man, but the very Life of God, making him a child of God, putting him back into the same union he was before the fall. Now, we're getting to real oneness.
People, somebody says to me, "Brother Branham, aren't you oneness?" Not the organization oneness. But I'm oneness with Christ (See?), but not the organization oneness.
He paid the debt of sin, now, in order to get oneness between God and man. Jesus could not do it as long as He was here in a body of flesh. So He had to become the complete sin-offering to take away the guilt of the believer (See?), take it away so that the Holy Ghost could come into man, and make man and God oneness again. See, there had to be something to re-establish.
82 Now, what could re-establish? When God's commandment is fulfilled. Could an Angel fulfill it? He has no blood. Could God have fulfilled it? He had no blood. And God became flesh and blood in order that He could pay the debt correctly and take away sin, because that's the only way. Towers of Babel separating them across the earth, everything else, organizations and things had failed in every way; they get mixed up together, the world and everything else; but this was going to be a total separation. Glory.
Now, I feel religious. Well, I feel like I can take My text now and start preaching right now. Just getting warmed up now to where I can get started right here, and it's time for me to stop. Hm. Maybe I'll finish it later sometime, the oneness of God and man. Do you understand? All that understands, say "Amen." [Congregation says, "Amen"]
83 See, that's the only way that man could be back in his original state again, is for that penalty of sin to be paid. The penalty of sin is what? Death. "Wages of sin is death." And God said, "The day you eat thereof, the day that you have this affair, that's the day you'll die." And when it did, it broke his relationship, fellowship and everything from man, and could not come back any more until that penalty was paid. And nobody was worthy to pay it, because everyone fell with the human being, 'cause every creature's under the human being, and he was fallen. Glory, Oh, brother.
84 Brother Mac, I didn't see you setting there, God bless you. We believe this, Brother Mac. "Come under the penalty of death..." Brother Mac here used to be pastor here at the Tabernacle when I left. Yeah. Now... Another good old Baptist, Missionary Baptist down there that got the Holy Ghost... See?
Notice now, they come into the oneness with God.
85 Now, when we see this... See, the penalty must be paid, and no... The highest form of animal life is a human being, and the human being fell itself. So how can one human save another? It taken God. And God, in Spirit, could not die. So, "God had to bring Hisself a little lower than the Angels," Hebrews the 1st chapter, the 1st verse. Had to make Hisself lower than the Angels in order to take death to pay the penalty to bring the oneness between man and God again, so the Holy Ghost could come back.
The debt of sin was paid. Jesus had to do this to send the--the--the Holy Ghost back upon to unite people again like it was in the garden of Eden. The debt was paid when Jesus died. That settled it. Amen, brother. If I could only get it to soak in. See?
The debt is paid. Hallelujah to the Lamb. The debt is paid. And every man and woman hearing me this morning, or will hear me by the tape, your penalty is paid. Don't you disbelieve God's Word again. Come back to the Word. Don't believe it... He was the Word. Glory. I feel like shouting, honest I do. The penalty is paid. It's all over. No wonder Angels screamed and sang, and the anthems of heaven rang out. Yes, sir, the lost sheep was found. A propitiation was made for him to be restored again, the waters of separation, God's Word that washes him from His iniquity, when the Word died in my place and was resurrected again and become preeminent in my life, in my heart. Amen.
86 The penalty's paid. It's over. We are redeemed, not by a Catholic church, although we are the correct catholics, the apostolic catholic. Yes, sir. Not Roman Catholic with their dogmas, they deny this Word with their dogma; everything's your dogma, not the Word. Methodists, Baptists, shame on you, lovers of iniquity more than lovers of God. Lovers of pleasure, world seekers, pleasures, slaughtered pigs for the pen. The devil's sending his instruments out there choking that stuff down you like Satan did in the garden of Eden. "Well, all our ministers have got an education. They got the Ph.D., LL.D." That don't mean a thing. If you deny that Word, it's still the trick of the devil. I've proved it to you by the Word this morning; it'd be up to you from now on.
87 The disciples, even walking with Jesus, they didn't have no oneness. They didn't have any unity. No, they argued, "Who's going to be bishop after this. Who's the greatest among us?" They couldn't even believe Jesus. They couldn't understand Him. "Thou speakest in riddles. Tell us plainly what You mean." There was no unity between Jesus and the disciples, or disciples to Jesus, and the disciples among one another.
No matter, that goes to show you, brother. Listen close now; I want this to stick real deep down in your heart. See? God's got a plan. Outside of that plan, I don't care how much wisdom's behind it, how many fine millions of dollars of buildings, how many schools of theology, how many holy men and holy this, and holy, holy, holy, makes no difference at all; if one Word of God's Bible is denied, it's of the devil. Now, I've proved that to you by the written Word of God from New to Old Testament, and I'll bring her on down to the day if you'll just set with me a few minutes...
88 The disciples who walked hand and hand with Jesus, slept with Him, eat with Him, watched His miracles, and associated with Him, close as any brother could be, and yet they didn't have it. They wasn't fit to preach the Gospel. Jesus said, "Don't you preach any more; don't you even try. You wait up there at the city of Jerusalem. I'm going to send the promise, that's been given you, upon you. That'll unify you then."
"Now, Father, I pray that they'll be one just as You and I are one. And I... As My Father has sent Me to preach the Gospel, so send I you."
And the very Father that sent the Son, came in the Son. Unity is one. He said, "If I do not the works of My Father, then don't believe Me. But if My works that I do speak so loud, you're perfectly deaf, dumb, and blind if you don't see it." Oh, brother, whew. Said, "You hypocrites, you can discern the face of the skies, but the signs of the time you can't discern. If you would've known Me, you would've knowed My day. Well did Isaiah speak of you. You got ears, and you're so deaf you can't hear. Eyes, and so blind you can't see..."
Well did the Apostle Paul said, "In the last days they'd have a form of godliness and deny the power thereof," and Scripture after Scripture, what would take place in these organizations in the last days. Then they wonder why I cry out against that man-made system of the devil. See them precious children lured out there like sheep going to a slaughter... Bring them out, Lord.
89 Yes, disciples had no unity. They could not understand Jesus. They said, "Aw, who can understand these things?" See, God wasn't in them yet. They were just associated in fellowship. They just associated with Him. That's many a good man today. They didn't drink, lie, steal, nothing, but they didn't have that oneness of God. They wasn't one with God yet. See, they couldn't be. Oh, they done miracles. They cast out devils. That ain't a--that ain't a...
I read an article in the paper the other day about that, about casting out devils. People say, "Oh, brother, I'm telling you, that's it." That isn't it. A man that casts out a devil and denies God's Word, is a liar. Yes, sir. He says he casts out devils. They claim they do that. He cannot do it if he's not with God's Word. Jesus said so.
90 Now, then came Pentecost; God made them one again. Oh, my. Then they had oneness with God. God was in them. Now, Acts, if you're putting it down, Acts 4:32, the Bible said that they were with one heart, one soul, and one mind. Oh, brother. Why? They had been restored back to the original again. The only thing that they had left to be disposed of was an old city, or they lived in here, an old body called a city or a temple, that they lived in here, that had to rot, because it has to die and corrupt. But in spirit, and life, and in purpose, and in vision, and everything, they were one with God.
Oh, Adam, my dejected friend, don't let Satan tell you his lie again. Don't let that happen. Don't let Satan tell you that the Word don't mean just what It says. That's right. The Word means... Yeah, here not...
91 I was talking on the Name of Jesus Christ baptism. That's right, a revelation of that come. That's the Truth. But what did a bunch of people do? Gathered it right out here and put a denomination out of it, made another tower of Babel, same thing, throwed it right into it. Certainly. Luther done the same thing. Wesley done the same thing; John Smith done the same thing, Alexander Campbell done the same thing. Pentecost done the same thing. God deals with individuals keeping His Word. God's only plan to bring believers to Himself in a true oneness is receiving the Holy Ghost. Then here's how...
You say, "Well, Brother Branham, I spoke in tongues. I shouted. I did this." If you still got that kind of a spirit and deny the Word of God, you haven't got the Word of God in you; you haven't got the Spirit. If you'll set and hear the Truth preached, and look It up in the Bible, and see It's the Truth, and then refuse to do it, that's not the Spirit of God. I don't care how much you spoke in tongues, how much you shouted, how much churches you belonged to, or how many times you was baptized, or anything else. The Word is truth. That's what vindicates the truth. If you got all these other truths and then with the Word (Amen.), then you know you're coming home.
92 Can... How can the very God that wrote the Bible turn around and substitute something else for His Word? You Catholic people who said that Peter was buried in your church, and his spirit gives you the rights to remit sins and things, how could Peter, a Jew, ever stand to have idols in the church? How could Peter ever refuse to say that the baptism of the Holy Ghost come, and he spoke in tongues, and all those powerful things he done, and turn back around and says take a little wafer, and God's in that wafer? Oh, it's ignorance, spiritual ignorance.
Well, now you Protestants the same thing, walk up and shake hands with the preacher, and say, "I accept Jesus as my personal Saviour," and go back and live any kind of a life out of it, and go right on living with the world, another tower of Babel.
93 We're coming down to the end now. Watch. God sent the Holy Ghost, and the Holy Ghost is God Himself. He's the One that'll make the oneness between God and man. Let's find out. Now, let's... Now, I want your undivided attention for the next five minutes or so. Watch.
Man under the devil's plan has tried to denominate the church into oneness. They have tried to educate the church into oneness, you know that, through education, through denomination. They're trying right now, the World Council of Churches, going on to try to bring all the Catholic and Protestants together and make them a one. What is it? A plan of the devil.
You say, "You're mighty little to say that." I'm mighty little, but my God's Word is great big, I'll tell you that. Heavens and earth will pass away, but It won't. It ain't he that says it, it's He that--He that--He that said it first. I'm just saying what He said; I'm confessing His Word.
It's under the devil. It's proved in the Word here, right this morning before you, that it's of the devil. Any of those organizations are.
94 Men under the devil's plan try to denominate people to oneness. "All you come join the Assemblies of God. Join the oneness. Join the Church of God. Join the Methodist. We're all one." You bunch of hypocrites, having a form of godliness and deny the power thereof. And the Word of God shook right before you, and you're scared to attack It. Why don't God show Hisself then, if you be with God? Why don't you do the works of God? How can you have that form and go around, and denying Him, and call the real works of God a Beelzebub? It shows, you educated bunch of church members. Jesus said, "You're of your father the devil." Right. I'm sure you understand what I mean. Certainly. Why don't somebody attack it? You know God's behind it. God will move with His Word.
95 Man does that. It builds another tower of Babel. What does he do? They try to show... Look in this World Council of Churches now. The Anglican, the Roman Catholic, the Methodist, the Presbyterian, the Pentecostals, and all of them united together, Christian Science, and many of the cults that even deny the virgin birth, that deny the Deity of Jesus, make Him three people, try to worship a three gods, deny the virgin birth. Some of them deny the Blood. Some of them deny His miracles. All of them do, nearly. And then--then try to unite such as that together, how can you do it? It's a man-made tower. It'll fall like Babel did.
96 But God said, "Not by power, not by might. By My Spirit, saith the Lord, that's how I unite My church. Not by organization, not by education, not by theologians; but by My Spirit, saith the Lord, I'll bring My sheep together." Oh, my. And when He does, what happens? And His signs will bear record of the same. That's how Israel could say, before they got mixed up with Moab. There was a Pillar of Fire over them. Yes, sir. What will He do? He'll bear record, the same kind of a record. But after they got disassociated and so with God, separated their oneness between them and God, and got in with Moab and them, the victory all failed. They stayed in the wilderness for forty more years, till God raised up another group to go over and complete His plan. That's exactly what they did.
97 Now, look. But when God brings a church together with His Spirit, they'll have His signs of the living God among them. What kind of a sign? When God separated Israel from Egypt, God gave Moses and Israel a sign of a Pillar of Fire (That right?), a prophet. When He separated Abraham from Lot, there was an Angel came to him, that could discern the thoughts and the intents of the heart: sign. Hallelujah.
Now, these denominations that caught up in this church, try to make a oneness like in Egypt, like down in--in Eden, and so forth, under this great influence they are...
But look. I want to ask you something. When God separated Israel, He give them a supernatural sign, a Pillar of Fire. He give them a prophet. What did He do to Abraham? What does He do every time? Show me a God-appointed prophet among them. He set His church together by apostles and prophets and teachers and evangelists. Hallelujah. There you are. A church again, like He called Israel out. I told you I'd get back to it. Yes, sir.
No God-appointed prophets among them (No, sir.) like they was with Israel and them. What is it? A devil's tower again.
98 Now, the coming is so imminent, the second coming of Jesus, He's gathering His elected together. I believe that. Oh, they'll come from the east and west. Where the carcass is, the eagles will gather. Oh, my, what is it? He's got His oneness, His true oneness, showing Hisself among us; out of every denomination, bringing His elect together from all kinds of churches, from everywhere, bringing out His children, falling right in line with His Word. What?
Now, the coming of the Lord Jesus is so imminent, the coming of judgment, He's calling His elected together in oneness with Himself, with the same kind of a ministry He had. You know how I shaped in the church ages here not long ago, about the--the big tower that was built, called the pyramid, but the headstone was never put on it. Remember how the Lutherans came, then the Wesleys in the minority, and then down to Pentecost. And now what He's doing, calling from that. What did He do? He called out the elect to make the Lutheran; He called out the elect out of the Lutheran to make the Wesleyan; He called out the elect out of that to make the Pentecostals; now He's calling the elect Pentecostals out to make the headstone to come into it, the very same kind of a ministry dropping right in on it, calling His children from all denominations and all walks of life.
99 What has He done? He has placed with them a true teacher, true prophets who stay with His Word, the Bible. "My sheep hear My Voice," said Jesus. If that was His Voice then, it's His Voice now. Anything contrary to that Voice, it's not sheep food. They won't follow it. Oh, brother. From east, from west, out of every denomination, out of every organization, they've come from the east and west, gathering together.
We'll feast with the King,
To dine as His guests,
How blessed these pilgrims are.
Beholding His hallowed face
Aglow with love Divine;
Blest partakers of His grace,
As gems in His crown to shine.
Jesus is coming soon,
Our trials will then be over. (Hallelujah.)
What if our Lord this moment would come
For those who are free from sin?
Then would it bring you joy,
Or sorrow and great despair?
But when our Lord in glory comes,
We'll meet Him up in the air. (Hallelujah. Yes, sir.)
100 What is it? With God-sent teacher that'll stay right with the Word to the real church, not move one iota no matter what an organization says; they're not connected with it. Prophets; not make-belief, so-called, but a genuine prophet has THUS SAITH THE LORD, and right on the dot every time. That's what He's sent in His church. That's what He said He would do. Believes the Word; not the creed, not the dogma, but the Word... And by doing this, He shows Himself in them by confirming His Word, making the same life that He lived once, live over again, bringing His Word to pass. Oh, my.
101 Listen closely. I Corinthians 4:20 says the Kingdom of God is His Word made power. If you want to put that down, I Corinthians 4:20. The Kingdom of God is God's Word made power. What is the Kingdom of God? Is within you. The Kingdom's in you. And when the Word comes in there, what does this Word begin? It turns Itself into power, making It say just exactly what It said.
You can't say "It says this; It says this," and make It work. You got to say the same thing It says. That makes a confession. Not saying, "Well, It's polished up a little here, I'll have more wisdom, I'll be in better standing over here."
You stay with the Word. There it is. See? And It makes It power, "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever." Jesus said in St. John 14:12, "If ye abide in Me and My Words in you." No, I beg your pardon, that wasn't what He said there. He said, "He that believeth in Me, the works that I do shall he do also. If ye abide in Me and My Word in you, you can ask what you will and it shall be done unto you. If ye abide in Me and My Word in you..."
102 What is it? You've got to get with the Word, get yourself killed out. I'm persuaded that many of us, friends, have received the Holy Ghost, but we just receive enough Holy Ghost in us to make us to a place where we don't want to lie, we don't want to steal, we don't want to do anything. But God wants to fill every fiber of His church; He wants to fill your thinking; He wants to fill your mind. He wants to fill every bit of you, just make you completely, totally dead to yourself or to your thinking, just so surrendered in God till His Word's just living right through you. You don't know nothing else but God's Word; just stay right with His Word; It is Life. "My Words are Life," said Jesus. He's placed with them, teachers believing the Bible, prophets that say the truth, that say, show the same prophecy that they've always did down through the age. What's He done? He's showing Himself alive among them, confirming His Word. His Word, the Kingdom of God is God's Word made power.
103 While these denominations rely on human reasoning, upon human reasonings... Listen close now. They... We are not to rely upon human reasonings. Proverbs the 3rd chapter, the 5th verse, said, "Rely not upon thy own understanding." See? Don't do it, no matter what God's Word seems like.
You say, "Well, it seems like it's just as good this way."
That ain't what It is. It's God's Word; take It the way He said It. Eve said... Satan said to Eve, "I know God said that, but It really don't mean that. It means this." And she believed it. She believed it. That broke up the oneness; that broke up the fellowship; that broke up the union; that broke up the world; that broke up life; that broke up everything.
And the person that disbelieves one Word of God's Word, it breaks the whole fellowship and all. Right. We believe It or we don't believe It. Let's stay with It. God said so, and let's stay with it. Lot of things I got to skip here, 'cause it's already past time.
104 Like in past times, in past times when man done this, it brought God's judgment to the world. The tower of Babel, the union of Cain's children with Seth's children brought judgment. It always brings God's judgment to the world. See? Oh, the true oneness with Him will rise in the judgment, above it, like Noah did in that judgment with his family. Righteous Noah and his family went above the judgments. What did they do? They went...
Brother Lee Vayle, if you get ahold of this, here it is. That's the only question we disagree on; he believes the church will go through the judgment. I don't see it. I don't believe it.
Noah never went through no judgments; he went above the judgment. Abraham never had no fire; he was out of the fire. Israel wasn't in the judgments of Israel; it was separated out of the fire, out of the judgments. The church will ride above the judgment in the Ark of the Holy Ghost, raised up from the earth.
105 This thing of this Council of Churches is nothing else in the world but a--a stir of the foolish virgin, to be left here on the earth for a picking for the antichrist. But the real church of God will float like old Noah did, and go on into glory just as sure as I'm standing here. That's why He's gathering them together. That's what the Voice is speaking forward today. That's what God's a-doing, is gathering one from Los Angeles, and one from Philadelphia, and one from Georgia, and so forth, gathering them together, His people that's willing to believe the Word of the living God. "As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the coming of the Son of man, wherein the few was saved, just a very few." All right, our Holy Ghost ark will float right above the judgments of God, 'cause we're already judged, as we've confessed Jesus, and He took our judgment.
106 These denominations, though, are so headstrong, they're like Eve: she wanted her wisdom regardless of what God's Word was. Nimrod wanted his tower, regardless, Scriptural or not. They were headstrong. Eve knowed better. Seth knew better than to fall for them beautiful women. Israel knowed better than to get out there in that adultery. So do you. But some are so headstrong, Scripture or not Scripture. "Bless God, my mother was Presbyterian. I'm going to be too." Go on, go on is the only thing you can do then. God be merciful to your sinful soul. How are you going to escape it, when you know it's the truth? And if you see God's Word, and still don't think It's the Truth, then there's something wrong with your spiritual discernment. That's exactly right. Look across the nation and see where these things are happening. We're at the end time, friends. Have we just got through the church ages and know what's going to happen in the Laodicean church age? Haven't we just come through that? You see what I mean? We're at the end time.
107 God's gathering the elect from the four winds of the earth. He said He'd send angels and gather them. Is that right? Gather them together, separate them from the tares. Amen. The tares will be burnt, not the wheat. That's right.
But they're so headstrong; they're going to have it or not, don't make any difference. Oh.
But God's chosen Ones are commanded to come out from among them. "Be ye separated," saith God, "and I will receive you. Touch not their worldly things, and I'll be a Father to you, or God, and you'll be My sons and daughters. Yoke yourself not up with unbelievers, but come out of it." God wants separation from the world. He wants to be unionized with you, Himself. And no man-made scheme of organization, denomination, or any man-made theories will ever stand. It'll take God, the Holy Ghost in you to unite you to God. And how do you know you got It? The Holy Ghost that wrote the Word will bear record with every Word; and the same things that the Holy Ghost did in the Old Testament, It'll do in the New Testament: will do now just the same, because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And you're not yoked with organizations and the world. You're not yoked with them. Yoke yourself not up among them, but come out from among them. Ye are yoked to Christ, yoked to the Lord Jesus Christ.
108 The Bible says, in the last days there'd be churches, another tower of Babel like; they'd have a form of godliness, and to deny God's Word and power, the power of His Word. And what is the Word? What is the Kingdom of God? We've got to belong to the Kingdom before we can ever be subjects of the King. How many knows that, say "Amen." [Congregation says, "Amen"] Well, how do you get in the Kingdom? The Kingdom of God is the Word of God made back in power (Amen.), made power, taking away sin, giving signs. What kind of signs? If It's the same Word that brought Moses out, It'll bring the same sign.
The same thing that separated lukewarm Lot... Now, we know Lot was lukewarm, and Jesus said that'll be the sign of the end time. Lukewarm Lot setting yonder, he was religious, sure, him and his wife. And they belonged to all kinds of parties, and he was the mayor of the city, and, oh, there's a whole lot of things went on. He was very religious. He could entertain the evangelists and all of them come by, he was all right that way. But, oh, brother, he wasn't that elected.
109 Look what happened. Why? The same God that separated and come to Abraham and showed him the vindication of his separation... Hm. O God. How I wish I could--wish I could just could do something to let you see it. God showed Abraham, being that he had separated himself, He showed him the a-vindication of it, that He was with him and right in his midst. And Jesus said the same thing will take place in the last days. Not a nation was Abraham; he was in the minority; but God was with him. He'd separated him then. We're supposed to separate ourselves in this last days.
And if God gave a sign to Moses, to Israel, anointed prophet, a Pillar of Fire, gave a sign to Abraham... He--He gave a sign to Israel. He gave a sign to the disciples: Same sign, every time, same sign, Pillar of Fire.
Paul, when he was on his road down to Damascus, there shined a Pillar of Fire before him, that even put his eyes out, knocked him to his knees. Nobody else saw It. Everybody standing around, they didn't see It. And a Voice said, "Saul, why do you persecute Me?"
He said, "Lord, Who are You?"
He said, "I'm Jesus." A sign... And what was he? The apostle to the Gentiles. Amen.
110 Here we are in the end time, coming from the east and west, north and south. What are we doing? Getting ready for that rapture, getting ready for--holding ourselves steady for a few minutes till every fiber is filled with the Holy Ghost. Then she'll go up. Oh, my. Calling His people together to Himself in the true oneness with Himself, because it's His one Holy Spirit. "By one Spirit are we all individually baptized into one body, collectively, the Body of Jesus Christ." And Jesus Christ living with His Spirit in our flesh is serving the church and doing the same things He did as a--as a sign, as an ensign to the world, that we're in the last days, getting ready for the rapture. Oh, I love Him, don't you?
111 I got a book here yet, but I just can't go it any longer; we're getting too late. Might pick it up some other time.
We are in the end. Oneness... Are you so one with God? That's the way you're going to have to be. Yeah. We're going to have to be one with Him till... Let the mind that was in Christ be in you. Then Christ, His Own mind in you will recognize every Word that He wrote. It did in the apostles, rightly dividing the Scripture, which is the Truth (See?), the Holy Spirit. If It is the Truth, then He'll bear record of It by bringing the same sign that He give to Moses, same sign He give to Abraham, same sign He did by Christ, same sign He did by Paul. We're in the end time. He said that that would be. We're in the end time. The church collectively is getting together in a union, one here and one there, making up...
He said, "There'd be two in a field, I'll take one." One... Look, "Two in a field," that's in the daytime, harvest, "I'll take one and leave one. There'll be two in a bed," the other side of the world, "I'll take one and leave one," at the coming of the Son of man. And it's so imminent, it's so close at hand.
112 Don't. Don't, Adam. Adam. Eve, Adam, let me cry out to you; don't listen to a lie of the devil any more. Stay with God's Word; It's THUS SAITH THE LORD. Stay with His Word. To separate from It is breaking your fellowship with God, God's oneness by the Holy Spirit. Then if you say you got the Holy Spirit and it's not in agree with the Word, then you're not oneness with God.
This is God's oneness, when you--the--the spirit that you got agrees with this Word, and manifests this Word and makes this Word power to act the same way It did there.
Let's say it together. Oneness. [Congregation says, "Oneness"] with God ["with God"] is to have ["is to have"] God's Spirit [God's Spirit"] in you ["in you"] agreeing ["agreeing"] with the Word ["with the Word"] all the Word ["all the Word"] the whole Word ["the whole Word"] and to make It ["and to make It"] manifested ["manifested"] in power ["in power"].
There you are; that's oneness with God. When that power works in me, works in you, we are one. Amen. Brother Kidd, when the power of the Holy Ghost in me works in you, there's no disagreement, the Word's there. It works. Amen. It makes It what It is: God made flesh in you by His Word, the Word made power among you, every Word.
113 Now remember, the devil takes a whole lot of that Word, pretty near ninety-nine and ninety-nine percent of It. Ninety-nine hundredths and ninety-nine percent of that hundredths, he'll make It just exactly right, but then he'll jump off here, and that's the one that causes death right there. That breaks the chain right in the middle; down you go.
Every Word. What did Jesus say? "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word." Not by a few of God's Words shall he live, not by ninety-nine and ninety-nine percent of God's Word. But by every Word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God, man shall live by That.
Satan took Him up there and said, "It's written." See, just like he said to Eve, "It's written. It's written."
Jesus said, "And it's also written..."
He said, "It's written, 'He'll give the Angels charge over Thee.' The Bible said so." Boy, he's a scholar. "It's written, 'He'll give His Angels charge concerning Thee lest Thou dash Thy foot against a stone, and bear Thee up.'"
He said, "It's also written, 'Thou shalt not tempt the Lord Thy God.'"
114 They said, "We got the Scripture," Acts 19, "we've been baptized by John."
Paul had something else; he said, "that don't work no more." See? "John only baptized..." He didn't disbelieve John's word. He said, "I'll tell you what John said. John said he baptized unto repentance, not for remission of sins." The Sacrifice hadn't been killed. See? He said, "He baptized unto repentance, saying you should believe on Him that was to come." And when they heard this, they were baptized in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul laid his hands upon them so full of the Word, and the Holy Ghost came upon them. They begin to prophesy, speak in tongues, magnify God, and what a time. Oh, my. How big a church was it? Twelve. Oh, yes. Oh, God don't deal in big numbers; He deals in honest hearts. Let us have that kind of a heart. Do you love Him? Let us pray.
115 Oh, my beloved wanderer, have you looked at the daughters of Moab or have you seen the daughters (I'm talking of churches.) of Cain, how far off of the Word they stray? Have you, my precious friend, have you noticed in the last days that these things has come to pass? Have you been noticing recently about how the Word of God is being made manifest, how that the revival that did once strike has quietened down, there's not much left? What is it? It's a lull before the storm. The judgments are ready. Have you been denoting these things? Have you compared Scripture with Scripture, Bible Word with Bible Word, evidence with evidence? Have you compared the Word of Jesus that He said that the devil in the last days would be so close like the real thing, till if it was possible he would deceive everyone except the elected, the Elected One.
Just think, that Scriptural teaching is going to be so close. "Oh, we believe in the Holy Ghost; bless God forever. We got the Holy Ghost; we speak in tongues." And then turn around and deny the Word? Yeah. Will deceive the very elected if possible...
116 If there is someone in here that's not right with God, if there's someone here that's sick or afflicted... There's handkerchiefs and things laying here; I'm going to pray over. them. I don't care what you have need of. Every promise in the Book belongs to you. It's yours.
Now, I've brought you the Word, brought It from Genesis plumb down to this day that we're living in, just hitting the places and showing you. Many hundreds of places I could've hit besides that, I don't have time. But surely, in that, you can see that this organization stuff is out. It's a false conception of the devil, trying to organize man with the unity of their own mind and thinking. When it's the Holy Spirit that we're joined to God as one by. And the Holy Spirit agrees with the Word of God. See, the Bible said... Jesus said that they'd even confess it, you see, "Deceive the very elected if possible." You see where we're standing?
117 Now, pick up this Word of God in that hand of faith. What do you have need of this morning? You have need of water baptism in the Name of Jesus Christ? The pool's open. You have need of the baptism of the Holy Ghost? He's trying to press His way into you. You have need of healing? Why, the very Holy Ghost Himself, the Word that's been made power, is right here now, the very power of discernment looking out upon this audience here now and seeing that Light whirling around like a glow. Have I ever told you anything wrong? Have I ever?
As--as the prophet said to Israel before they got them a man-made king, he said, "Have I ever told you anything... Have I ever took your money? Have I ever come down and begged you for money and--and ride around and live in great big palaces and build great big things and take your money from you? Have I ever asked you for a penny? "Never."
Have I ever told you anything in the Name of the Lord but what God brought it to pass? Have I ever spoke in His Name but what it was so? Have I ever told you a vision over the audience but what was exactly the person raised up, stranger or whatever he might be, but what he said, "That's the truth"? Have I ever told you anything wrong? Then let me tell you now, THUS SAITH THE LORD, receive the Holy Ghost, the Spirit that will take the Word of God in them hands of faith, move out yonder. The whole Kingdom belongs to you. It's yours, children.
118 Why do you come from Georgia, from across the country, from Ohio, from Kansas, everywhere for a little meeting? I think the tape's off now, so I can say this. See? Why you coming like this? What makes you do it? What is it? I see people here from Arkansas, from hundreds of miles away.
Last night, coming plumb in from Kansas City, a little Polish brother standing back there, come, led, said, "Brother Branham, since I first heard of you back yonder in Canada many years ago, the things that you'd seen and done, I've checked them right through, right back and forth, up and down," and said, "not one of them has ever been wrong." He's probably a Polish Catholic, and here he comes, taking the tapes, going out and playing them, meeting opposition, ministers who ought to be with me and helping us, but denying the power thereof, denying the Truth of the Word, and claiming to have the Holy Ghost.
I have not called myself a prophet. You've done that. But if it is so, then where does the Word of the Lord come from? How do we know whether it's true or not 'less there's something to back it up? That's God's Word here, the written Word. And then if the written Word is backed up, then it's God in that Word making that Word true. Paul said, "Follow me as I follow Christ."
119 Now, if you've got a need of God for sickness, for salvation, what... or get rid... Some of you women that hasn't got the grace enough to let your hair grow, some of you men that hasn't got grace enough to quit smoking cigarettes, some of you preachers hasn't got grace enough to accept the truth of the water baptism in the Name of Jesus Christ, some of you sick people that's sick and sick to die, why don't you take this Word this morning. I'll tell you now; It's flesh among us. Take that Word in your hand.
Here hangs a picture on the wall of the Angel of the Lord, the same One that led the children of Israel, same One that met Paul, the same One that was in Christ. And the same Holy Spirit is in you, in you, uniting you as one. What makes our hearts draw together for hundreds of miles? There's nothing like it in the country. They're coming to the Word.
120 "There is a fountain filled with Blood, drawn from Immanuel's veins, where unbelievers plunge beneath the flood, and lose all their guilty stain. Ever since by faith I saw that stream Thy flowing wounds supplied, redeeming love has been my theme, and shall be till I die."
121 Our heavenly Father, laying here is a bunch of handkerchiefs, gloves; they may go out in the mail. I don't know who laid them here, maybe Billy, maybe the people here in the audience. I just feel to do this now, Lord. There's nothing in my hands, nothing in me as a human being. I couldn't rely upon my own human understanding. I don't understand why this is so, but I'm following what You said. "They took from the body of Paul, handkerchiefs and aprons, and evil spirits went out of the people." It wasn't because he was a great man; it was because that God was with him in Word and power. And he never consulted the apostles, but found out when they met together that the same Gospel, the same form of baptism, the same everything that they were doing was eye to eye the same.
122 Now, I'm asking, Lord, for these precious people that's believing You, that You'll heal them. Them in the audience, heal them, Lord. May their faith just reach up and get ahold of that Word right now, and say, "Tumor, sickness, evil, you might as well leave; I'm cutting with the Sword of God. I'm believing. My faith is strong; I'm pressing the Sword deep. Move out of my way. I'm rising from my seat to be well." "I'm laying my hand upon my father, upon my sister, and my child, upon my neighbor. I'm believing. Your Word is Truth. I'm in oneness with You. The works that You said that You did, we'd do also. Lord God, I believe every Word. And I'm coming forward, coming forward to claim it, to pick it up this morning."
123 O God, how I could think when the church was on the move, when Moses got a little scared down there at the sea, he begin to cry to the Lord. And the Lord said, "Why are you crying to Me? What for you cry to Me? Speak and go forward. Haven't I commissioned you to the job? Speak." Speak what? The Word of God that's in you. "Speak and go forward. Don't cry unto Me. Go forward."
And, Lord God, today I come in the Name of the Lord Jesus. I come yielding this Sword of faith, claiming the oneness of God and man by the Holy Ghost, through the mercies and sacrifice of Jesus Christ His Son. I defy every devil that's bound anybody in any way in this building, whether he be boy or girl, man or woman. I defy every sickness. I defy every doubt. I defy every fear. I defy everything that's ungodly; leave this audience in the Name of Jesus Christ. Come out of this audience, that we can be one with God and can serve God without sickness or fear. May the power that made us one with God... How can that devil squawk hisself around the anointed? How can that devil stand out there and squawk hisself like a Goliath? When David come into the camp, and said, "You mean you let that uncircumcised Philistine stand there and defy the armies of the living God?"
O God, make men and women rise in the power of the Spirit. Let that unconverted, that dejected devil that's harmed the human race down through the age, stand here and defy the church of the living God? Satan, come out, and leave, in the Name of Jesus Christ.
124 Now, you that's got strength enough to yield a Sword, now that you've got understanding enough in God's Word to claim It to be your personal property, who can pick up the Word of God now in your hand, hold It out in the hand of faith, and say, "I take my side with the Lord. I'll be oneness with my God from this on. I'll yield this Sword of the Spirit in this Word, and I'll cut the devil 'till every promise that God promised me."
If you believe that with all your heart, I ask you then sincerely with all my heart, in the Name of Jesus Christ, stand to your feet and accept it. Do you mean it? Are you sincere? Is the Word in your hand? Is your hand your faith? Raise your physical hand to God, say, "God, by this, by my uplifted hand I pledge all my life. I pledge my soul; I pledge my thinking; I pledge everything to the Word of God. Let the Holy Spirit take my faith now and give to me the thing. Cut every doubt away from me. And by faith I receive the promise that I asked for this moment..."
If you believe it, say "Amen" now. [Congregation says, "Amen"] Say, "Amen" again. Amen, and amen, and amen. Then if you mean that with all your heart, in the Name of Jesus Christ, I promise you what you asked for. Amen. You believe it with all your heart. God bless you. Brother Neville.