Countdown

You can find this sermon at ChurchAges.net

1 Thank you, Brother Neville, the Lord bless you. Always kind of in a hurry, I just got in. Brother Moore had me on the phone about coming down there for their Pentecostal fifty-year jubilee. I was trying to make out dates with the businessmen over at the other place, and I said ... turned the phone up, said, "Hear that 'Only Believe'? You know what that means." And I just turned him over to Billy, and run out the door. So I don't know how they'll come out back there, but it's... I really love to go down in Louisiana, though, to those people, them good old Southerners down there. But then I got to be, around that same dates in Florida, at the regional convention of the businessmen, and it makes it kind of complicated when you try to tie them together just in a moment like that.

2 We're all happy to be here this morning, and be alive and among those who can say "Amen." That's right. Now, I'm sorry that we're all jammed up in here. And said some of the people come up and just drove away. But it's just the best we can do at the time. You understand, I'm sure. Pardon me. Can you hear better out of this one or out of this one? This one here? Good, just get it right around here so I'm close. (This recording here? All right. All right, sir.)

3 Well, did you enjoy last night? We sure got her, and the Lord blessed us. Just so many more thing could be said about the message there, but I thought maybe you could study it, you know, and you realize, and between the lines, the hour we're living in. We're right at the end time. And I believe that. 'Course, every person has thought that, I guess, since Jesus promised to return. But, you know, one of these days He's going to come, anyhow, see. So I just don't see nothing left to happen, only the rapturing of the church.

4 Now, just before we approach the message I want this morning, on the subject of the "Countdown." And tonight, remember tonight's service now, is "Living In His Presence," see. And we'll try to be quick, hurry, so you can get away so you can get to work again for Monday morning. And we are grateful for all of you. I just don't know what we would ... what I would do without you. I just couldn't get along without you.

5 And I want to give a special thanks to that Sister Williams, I guess I don't even know the woman. When I got up this morning, my, Brother Charlie Cox was there, and the doorstep was sitting full of food, canned goods and things. How that poor little woman must have sweated it out this summer, a-canning that stuff, the tomatoes and things of food. Now, that means so much to me. And Sister Williams, I believe they left your Bible there to be prayed, said to pray that God will... I prayed this morning in the room when I was studying for the message, that God would take the contents of that Bible and place it in your heart. And I pray that God will bless you. Wish I could pay you for that, sister, I know you sure went through a lot to sweat that out. And I thank you so much! It's so little to say, but let me give you a Scripture where we know, as I said last night, won't fail. Jesus said, "Insomuch as you have done unto the least," and that would be, see, "the least of these little ones of mine, you have did it unto me." And may it return to you just the way it would be if you'd give it right over into His hands. God bless you for that.

6 Thank all of you. When you're here, I find out on the tithings and things that you pay, that's your confidence in us, that it'll go for the kingdom of God. Now, we are responsible for that, see, and got to give an account for it. So we want to watch everything that we do, to make every move just as perfect as we can, the way our Lord would want it, because we don't know what time He's going to call on us to answer and then give an account for everything that's come our way.
That's the reason I think Paul, last night, only had one coat, see. He could have had more, but he didn't. One coat's all he could use at a time, so he just kept that one. Now, I don't think he cared for the riches of the world. I don't think he cared for the popularity, you know what I mean, everybody in their great religious moves as it is today. And so many people...

7 I know this is being taped. And when I say things here, I realize I'm not only talking to this congregation, but across the world. And because these tapes go out to many, many nations, and they take them even back in the tribes in Africa, back in there, and sit there, and the minister takes it and interprets those tapes to the people, back in where they don't even know which is right and left hand, see. Way back into Australia and through there where people are. Don't even... The only thing they eat is... The way they get sugar is take a little shell and dig out a bunch of ants and bite the back of them off like that. That's how they exist on getting their sugar. And they don't have clothing, they don't have nothing. They take an old kangaroo and throw him up on a fire, insides in him, entrails and everything, and scorch it a little and then eat it. And that's... It's terrible.
And remember, these tapes are played back in there. The message you're listening to here is played back in there, by hundreds of missionaries taking these tapes and playing them back in there, and interpret it to the people. So, you see, when I get there on the day of the judgment, you see what's going to be resting upon my shoulders? What if I mislead somebody? See? There you are. Just think of one of those souls, and if I mislead them to the wrong thing.

8 Therefore I've got to hear my brethren in these organizations. And many of them are fine men, most of them, I'm glad of that. But some of them become so ... and usually leaders comes to a place that they have to tie right in and make it like, oh, like a political affair. They play politics in it. And, in that, they get off of the Word of God.
And I must remain on the Word. I must stay there. And it just has to come to this. And I just have to move with it, that's all. So ... you know, we sing a little song, "We're floating down the stream of time, we have not long to stay." You've heard it. "The stormy clouds of darkness will turn to brighter day." That's right. "Let us all take courage, for we're not left alone." That's right. "The lifeboat soon is coming to gather the jewels home." That's the time where I expect then to have the coat that won't never wear out, that's it, the eternal one. And I must be true to God, not paying attention to things here on earth until we get over there. And then we'll ... that's the ones that's going to last.

9 So I ... in these thirty ... going on thirty-two years of ministry, I have tried to stay true to the Word. I don't know of one thing I've ever had to alter on, because I just read it out of the Bible, said just what the Bible said, and let it go like that. And so I haven't had to take back or rearrange, because I just said it the way that the Bible says it. And, I find out, if God has spoken anything, then we must go with that Word in order to make it be fulfilled. We seen that, as I told you last night, of a vision just recently, see, that I had to be there, and warning to be there, and telling me six months before to be on that spot, and stand there saying, "Go down there, three times with them." And I just walked on with the other men. And the vision passed right through exactly, God's part, and I was left standing. So we want to remember, you've got to stay on the Word, just stay right with the Word. Where the Word leads, you go right with the Word, and it'll bring you out all right, I'm sure.

10 Now, I know you've been in here since eight o'clock, and it's probably ten o'clock right now. It is. So let us pray now to our Lord. Is there any special requests? I see a lot of handkerchiefs laying here. Raise up your hands for the requests. God bless you. Now I've known Him long enough to know this, that He sees every hand and knows every heart, and the only thing left to do is just ask Him. And you believe it, and it happens. Now, you believe as we pray.

11 Heavenly Father, we are now approaching the great mighty throne of God, as mortal beings in a natural body, yet our voices speaking out the words that's coming into that great throne somewhere in the other dimensions where God sits. Because, Jesus said, "You ask the Father anything in my name, I'll do it." And He asked us not to doubt, but, when we pray, to believe that we receive that what we ask for, and it would be given to us. Said, "Even you could say to this mountain, 'Be moved,' and don't doubt in your heart, but believe that what you have said will come to pass, and you can have what you've said." Father, we know that that is so true. We watch it day by day, and there's no fault in Your Word. It's because we can't be at the spot, sometimes our faith won't move us up there, we flusterate and doubt. But, this morning, we're trying to come, Lord, with a new hope, holding onto the lifeline of Christ and His promise. And we're coming into the presence of God through Jesus' name.
Lord, I'm sure that You know all the requests that was made known under the hand this morning that raised up. Mine also was raised up, and it's constantly up to You, Lord, because I am a needy person. And I pray that You'll grant every request. Look upon them, Lord, and answer their requests, from the youngest to the oldest, from the least of requests to the greatest request. Then, Father, answer them, every one. I ask it in Jesus' name. Then remember mine, Lord.

12 And I pray and thank You for giving us good rest in our bodies, and for the knowledge that we have of Your Word, and the understanding we have of the Spirit, and constantly praying that You'll give us greater understanding so that we might not be a vain, puffed up people by it, but a humble people, in order that the Holy Spirit might be able to use us to the fulfilling of the Word of God, and to place us positionally where we need to be at this hour. For we must be at the right place for it to happen. And we want to be, Lord. If it's a housewife behind the table, if it's for a factory man with a wrench in his hand, and a testimony, if it's for the minister in the pulpit, or the deacon or trustee, or for the child at school, the teenager in the discussion at the class, wherever it is, Lord, let us be there at the right time. For we know You've promised it, and it's going to happen because You said so, and our faith is built there.

13 Now, Lord, we feel that we haven't got much longer. The time is coming, and we can feel the fog from the outer space as it moves in. We know that the judgment and wrath of God is ready to fall. We can feel the effects of it already. And we pray, Lord, that You'll help us.
And now help me, Lord, on this little message this morning, of about thirty minutes, called "Countdown." Help us, Lord, to understand right where we're at.
And sanctify us now, Lord, taking away our sins and trespasses. And may there not be one person here this morning, lost. May everyone be ready, be in that great circle when we meet at the other side. When the roll is called, may I hear the name after name, "present." That's what we're looking for, Lord. And the old will be young there forever, transformed in a moment of time, immortal, shall stand in His likeness, the sun and the stars to outshine. As Daniel said, "Those who have turned many to righteousness shall shine as the stars forever." But we hear what You said to the prophet, "Go thy way, Daniel, for thou shall rest in thy lot, but in that day you'll stand."
O God, let us be counted worthy through the blood of Jesus, no merits of our own do we claim, but through His merits may we be worthy to stand at that day as we confess our wrong and desire to stand in His righteousness, with the great prophet Daniel and all those who will stand when the rewards are given. Until then, Lord, make us instruments in Your hands. Make our ears instruments this morning of hearing the Word. Make my lips instruments to speak it. For we ask it in Jesus' name, and may our understanding understand the will of God. Amen.

14 It's so hard to get started. It looks like there's so much you could say and want to say, and seems like there's such little time to say it. Maybe before I leave, I said last night, we might get a chance to maybe run one of the books of the Bible, this fall or winter, before leaving. I want to go overseas, the Lord willing, right after Christmas sometime.

15 Now I wish you to turn this morning for the reading, to Hebrews the 11th chapter. And now listen real close to the reading. I want to emphasize on the 3rd verse.
Now faith is the substance of things that hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
For by it the elders obtained a good report.
Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
Now, that's kind of an odd text for a background for the text that I want to use. Things were not made of things which do appear. Now I want to use this subject this morning, "Countdown," because I want to make a parallel in the way of prophetic. Last night I wanted to teach a little on the Scripture; this morning a prophetic message; and tonight an evangelistic message.

16 Now, things that were made of things that do not appear. Now, I have learned through all these years that all things that are natural are types of spiritual things, everything that's in the natural. And now just remember, that when you see anything in the natural, it is typifying a spiritual thing, see. All things are made after things which do not appear. See, the natural then has reflected the spiritual.
Now, as I was studying a few days ago, and I believe I mentioned it last night, slightly, that I was reading where ... or hearing on the radio, coming in from Canada, of where that a doctor here in the United States had made a statement that man was fourteen million years of evolution. They dug up a bone over in Italy, in 1800, somewhere in the 1800's that this bone was supposed to be a human bone that was been ... might by the... While they do it, to tell how old it was, and this doctor is an old man and has put all of his life on studying on this bone. And he says, "This bone is the bone of a man that's fourteen million years old."

17 Now, how nonsense that is! How a man has throwed his life away for nothing, trying to disprove the Word of God, and he's got nothing but just an endless destination out of it. And anyone knows that if you would bury a bone in the ground, within twenty years that bone is turning. Within a hundred years that bone's about gone, just pieces of it, and no matter what condition you'd put it in, see. And then within a thousand years what would that bone be, ten hundred years? Well, what would be ten times that, would be one million? Then fourteen times the million. Oh, my! It's just... It's not even sensible to even think of such a thing. A bone would not last fourteen million years under any condition. Anyone knows that. He might have picked up something that looked like a bone or something. And then how well could they tell it was fourteen million years old? See? After all, God made man on the earth six thousand years ago, and that settles it.

18 Someone was discussing it with me sometime ago, on one of my meetings. I was speaking on the evolution of man, and said he was only six thousand years old. And this man said, "Well, Brother Branham, we can prove that the world is millions of years old. So the thing that you're talking about, you're all wrong."
I said, "Don't you believe the Bible?"
He said, "I believe that man wrote the Bible."
And I said, "Truly the hand of man formed the letters, but the Holy Spirit was behind the hand. See, formed the letter, 'cause the Bible said so."
And he said, "Well, you've got to admit that they're wrong on the world."
I said, "The Bible's never wrong, never wrong."
He said, "Well, the world," said, "you can see the mountains how they was pushed up from volcanic."
I said, "But you just..."
He said, "And God made that world in six days."
I said, "Now, the Bible didn't say that. You just thought it said it." I said, "Let's just go back now to settle your argument. The 1st chapter of Genesis said, 'In the beginning God created the heavens and earth.' Period! How long He was doing it, I don't know. He didn't tell us. But, 'In the beginning God created the heavens and earth.' Period! Then, 'And the world was without form' " That's when God started to use it, see. So they just beat their brains out for nothing, see. See?

19 God made the world. He might have been a hundred trillion years making it; I don't know how long He was, but He made it. And He didn't say how long He was, and it's none of our business how long it was. He just said, "In the beginning God created the heavens and earth." Period! That settles it. That's all of it. How long He was doing it, that's up to... Then the creation begin to spring up now in the other time, when He begin.
And I believe, that in there, that everything on earth reflects heaven. I believe that. Because that you see everything struggling for life is because that there is a life that it's reflected from. And I believe that when God made the man, He started reflecting the smaller things such as the animal life, and then the next thing He created was something different. That's just exactly the way the Bible says He did it. He made first the trees and the botany life, and He made man. And then the last thing that ever come from the earth in the form of creation was a man, nothing higher ever come. Because why? It was a perfect reflection of the highest in heaven, which, God is a man, see. God is a man, so therefore it proves it. And when God came down to dwell among us, He was a man, see. A man, so it shows that the perfection of evolution was God, which is a man.

20 And then you take a tree, (you take the grass and so forth), take a tree, it reflects the tree of life which is in heaven. All these things are struggling for perfection. And everything in the natural, as Hebrews says here, was made of things which do not appear. Other words, they are supernatural. And the supernatural is reflecting the natural, see. Now, then the natural was eternal, or is to be everlasting with the supernatural, but sin perverted the natural. So, and if that is so, which I believe it is, then everything that's happening on earth is a type of spiritual things that's happening, see. It's got to reflect something, the achievement of man.

21 Now, we find out, like the natural body, here's a natural body, and the body was made to reproduce itself, which was children. And now the natural body, in the natural birth of a baby, we find out the first thing comes forth is water, then blood, and then life. We find out in the spiritual body of Christ, the first thing is water, and blood, and life; justification, sanctification, baptism of the Holy Ghost. See how it reflects, all the natural things reflecting the spiritual things. The natural birth.
We take, for instance, the marriage for union. We find out that the marriage; we find the courtship, and the agreements, and then the marriage. Then it should settle it for all the time. Now, that's the same thing it is with Christ and the church, see. A courtship, God calling to our hearts; we surrender; the marriage ceremony, and the bride takes the bridegroom's name, see. See? See? There it is, that makes the bride. Now, always the bride takes the bridegroom's name.

22 There's so many things that we could speak of here. I got a list wrote down that'd take me two hours to get through it, nearly, and Scriptures to back this up, like if you want some of them here to back it up. Like I John 5:7, shows the natural and the spiritual birth, and so forth, "water, blood, and Spirit." And three in heaven, "Father, Son, and Holy Spirit," these three are one. There are three that agree in earth, they're not one, but they agree in one, in the earth, that's "water, blood, and spirit." See, "water, blood, and spirit," like the natural birth type it.

23 So if a man sits on the thought of "just justification is all you have to have," he's wrong, he's wrong. He's got to be wrong. And then if the church who believes, like many of the Pentecostals, that the Holy Ghost is it, "that's all, just repent and get the Holy Ghost," that's still wrong, because you've got to get sanctification in there to cleanse it before the Holy Ghost comes in. If you don't, you leave out the blood, see. And the new birth, as people talks that the baptism of the Holy Ghost is the new birth. Now, that's wrong. The baptism of the Holy Ghost is different from the new birth. The new birth is when you're born again. But the Holy Ghost is when power comes into that birth for service. That's exact, see. The Holy Ghost is ... baptized into the Holy Ghost.
JOHN5:24

24 The new birth, you have the new birth by being ... believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, see. By having faith and accepting Him as your Saviour, that's birth, see, because you've passed from death unto life. Now, if you want to back that up, take St. John 5:24, "He that heareth my words and believeth on Him that sent me, has everlasting life." See, he's got life because he believes. And that same group had to go to Pentecost to be baptized with the Holy Ghost. Exact.
Holy Ghost is power for service. So when a fellow go out, "You got to be born again," and applying that to the Holy Ghost, many of the Methodists and so forth are wrong there. It cannot... It just won't cope through the Scripture here. You get the thing sideways. It's got to take it the way the Scripture's got it placed out here, see. And the Holy Spirit is a ... "You shall receive the new birth after this"? What? No. "You shall receive power [Acts 1:8] after this the Holy Ghost is come upon you," see. And they had already believed to eternal life, and so forth, but they had to have the Holy Ghost for power. "You shall be witnesses unto me after the Holy Ghost is come upon you," because the Holy Ghost is a witness of the resurrection, showing that you have become an adult in Christ.

25 Now, the natural. All things spiritual, all happenings and so forth pack or type the supernatural, or the natural is a type of the supernatural.
Now, I went to the World's Fair when we was right up close to it there in Spokane, and I thought I'd take the family.
Because I was only at one World Fair in the United States, that's when it was in Chicago, years ago, Hope and I went up. And we didn't get to stay there but about one day, the pickpockets, and everything. She had a pin that my cousin had give her, and I walking right along beside of her, somebody got the pin off. It was just terrific. And so we stayed one day and come back.

26 But the World's Fair, I taken the family and went over. It was no more than the Louisville Fair right over here. You seen the Space Needle they talked about, it was nothing else but go over here at the Elsby Build... or the Brown Building or somewhere, and go up about eight or ten flights on an elevator and come back down. That was it. And I think that General Electric was the one who had that there. But there was one thing that was outstanding to me. Now, Germany had their display, Russia and all the other nations had it, because it's a World's Fair. The German, French, and those little displays was not much bigger room than this pulpit would be right here.

27 But the scientists had their achievements, and the main thing they were exercising on, was the use of tobacco. And if any man who smokes cigarettes and walked in there, and come out and smoke again, there's something wrong with the man's mind. I seen them with my own eyes take a cigarette and place it in a machine, and pull the tobacco smoke from there and puff it through a tube of chemicals, and the white cancer was just filled with it, with one cigarette. And then he said, "Many people say, these worldwide, highest achievement on it," said, "many people say, 'I don't inhale it.'" And the scientists took the cigarette himself and puffed a puff of it in his mouth, not blowing it through his nostrils, or however they bring it down their lungs, but just put it in his mouth and then blowed it into the same chemicals, there was none of the cancer in it. Said, "Where did it go? In my mouth. When I swallow, it goes into the stomach, course." He said, "Now..."

28 Then the thought come up, "Why does doctors say that cigarettes are not harmful?"
He said, "Any man that would sell his birthrights! A doctor make a statement like that can retire, 'cause them cigarette companies will give him enough to retire on." He actually sells his birthrights, 'cause he swore not to do a thing like that. But they do it anyhow.
And he said, "Here is the machinery now. We will prove it to you by scientific achievement." And they had Yul Brynner, you know, the movie star in there. And when that little teeny parcel of nicotine ... he said, "Now they say 'filter tips.' " He said, "A man that does that, just shows his mental condition. For if you haven't got any smoke, you haven't got any tar, and tar makes smoke. And if you're smoking a filter tip cigarette," said, "it'll take about three or four to satisfy what one of them ... because it just take that much more tar to satisfy." If you don't get no smoke, there ain't no tar. Have to have tar to have smoke. So that's it. Said, "If you're going to smoke it, smoke one that hasn't got no tip on it. Just one cigarette will satisfy where it takes three of the others, 'cause you're just pulling that much less tar."
It's a sales gimmick! That's all the nation is full of is sales gimmicks, and filth and everything else.

29 And there then he took that and showed how that one little parcel caught into the throat or into the lungs. And first it's white, then it turns pink, and then from pink it turns purple. The particle of the little cell looked that big through the glass, but, 'course, you'd take a powerful glass to even see the cell. Then he said, "When it turns purple, you have cancer." He said, "A man that'll smoke one pack of cigarettes a day has seventy percent more chance of dying with cancer than the man that doesn't smoke it." And it seems silly to take such a chance.

30 Now, and then he took another thing and proved it, he brought out a white rat. And he took a cigarette and put it in a machine, and pulled it across some kind of a something like white marble, and took a swab, and took the nicotine that was out of one cigarette and painted it on the rat's back. Every seven days they had another rat coming out. And they'd have to have each one for the lesson of that day. And put that rat in for seven days and brought it out, cancer stood that high on the rat's back. Some of them don't even live the seven days out. The rat couldn't move. I couldn't eat for two or three days, to looking at that nasty-looking thing, standing there with the cancer, and it running down over his legs and things like that. A great big high cancer swelled up nearly a half-inch on the rat's back, of nicotine out of one cigarette. And you think that stops them? A big fellow sitting by me there, and the sweat run off his face, said, "Kind of striking, isn't it?"
I said, "Do you smoke?"
He said, "Yes, sir, I do."
I said, "Well, then you ought to stop." But that's it, achievements, what they can prove that it does it.

31 Now, I predicted that the world stands and if civilization exists, back in the time of prohibition when there was such a fine to sell a bottle of whiskey, it'll be ten times that fine to sell a pack of cigarettes in a few years from now, if civilization exists. It's ten times worse than whiskey. It sure is. It's a killer, that ... And you can tell the people about it, they don't pay a bit more attention to it, "He's a holy roller preacher," and let it go. You see, that's it, they don't notice.

32 But, my point is this, what scientific things has been able to achieve. They were there at the World Fair, showing by scientific research what science has been able to achieve in the natural things. Now, we are here showing by spiritual research what God has been able to achieve with people who will believe His Word. Now, to achieve scientific things, you've got to work in scientific lines. To achieve spiritual things, you've got to work in spiritual lines. Now, you think that rat looked horrible, which it did, you should have seen it. Wish I had a picture of it, even, to've showed. If I could have got it, I would, but they wouldn't let you have it. But notice. 'Course, the rat just lives a few more hours, some of them don't even live the seven days out. But think of it!

33 You think that looked cankered, you ought to see what a soul looks that's turned down the gospel. You ought to look what a hideous-looking thing they are. How a devil gets ahold of a man and can pervert a son of God into a hideous-looking thing, like he is in the eyes of God. Oh, he might be six-foot tall, and shoulders like I don't know what, and curly hair and what, that don't mean nothing. It's the inside of the man that's lasting. The outside's dust, anyhow.
So it's achievement, and then they would show, had this space needle and everything, what they showed to achieve, what they had been able to do, and explaining all their atomics and so forth. They had a prediction of what the Chevrolet would be. General Motors had it on display, what the ... in the next century, what the twentieth-century Chevrolet would look like. It looked to me like a gas pipe with a hood over the top of it. Now, they showed how it would work and would fire by an atomic power with some sort of a wing that would lift up over one another and control. That would be a great advantage.

34 But I wonder if we could turn back in the pages of God's book, this morning, and see what the church will look like at that time, see the achievements that God has made. Oh, how happenings always in this earth are representing something that comes from somewhere else; but when it strikes the earth, it's usually in a perverted condition because it is in the world of darkness and sin, see. But then there is a true representation in the spiritual realms of the other dimension. From being in the three dimensions, then the sixth dimension has its representation. I'm so glad of that.

35 Now, let's just take the achievements now that we've been able to do in the last few years. Now, let's start on something that's happened. I won't keep you long, the Lord willing, but I want you to see this quickly. And, oh, when it come to me, I felt like flying away. Now notice, now, a few years ago the transportation was by horse and buggy, not too far ago, long ago. I done my driving around in a horse and buggy, and on a saddle. When I was a boy, fifteen years old, sixteen, I rode a horse, and I went to town in a horse and buggy, driving right by this church here, a muddy road out there, and a swamp here full of weeds as high as the building, almost, with a horse and wagon, delivering butter beans and things off the farm.
Now I pass it in a souped-up car. What a difference!

36 The horse and buggy day, then the automobile day.
And then the airplane day come along, that went from the earth into the air. Now, if you'll watch, as sure as that achievement was by science, if the person will have a spiritual mind and understand, it represented achievement of God's economy with His church. Now the days...
And, remember, the messenger always comes at the end of the message. We know in the church ages there how we got that.
Now, the horse and buggy days was who? That was the ending of the Lutheran age. See, horse and buggy days. They believed in justification. God bringing the church from Romanism, Catholicism, He brought it into its first spiritual achievement, that, "The just shall live by faith." That was the horse and buggy day, as they come from the ... to the horse and buggy days, that ended.

37 Now, the next achievement man had in the way of transportation was the automobile. And, you notice, that automobile increases all the time, in its power.
Now, at the end of the Wesley age, brought in by spiritual achievement, sanctification, which means the church raised from a justified state to a sanctified state.
Now, I want you to remember this is we go along, that the church called "church" is not the church. The church is church-spiritual! Tens of thousands times thousands of Lutherans that joined the church, knowed no more about justification than a hog knowed about a side saddle. They knowed nothing of it. And in the Wesley age, how the tens of thousands professed sanctification. They knowed no more about sanctifying power of God than a rabbit does about snowshoes. See, they absolutely didn't know it.

38 But there was a people who achieved it. Hallelujah! You see where I'm getting to. There was somebody knowed what "justified" meant in the sight of God, "having peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." There was some of those Lutherans who were loyal. They believed it. No matter what the Catholic church said, they believed God's Word and stood on it because the messenger of that age preached "The just shall live by faith," and they believed in a justified state. And they was able by the grace of God to achieve justification, have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

39 Now, we notice again, along came the Methodists with sanctification. There was many of those Methodists was actually sanctified. Now, there's a lot of them claimed it that knowed nothing about it. The Methodist church taught sanctification. They said they got down and cried and got back up, said, "Glory to God, I'm sanctified!" And they went right on living like they always did. But some of those men and women was actually sanctified from the things of the world, and lived a consecrated, set-aside life. Why? That was the automobile age which took in more horsepower. Automobile, the old T-model was probably fifteen or twenty horsepower. See, had fifteen or twenty horses bottled up in a little engine like that. Sanctification! When science achieved something by the natural, God is achieving something by the spiritual. See, something's going on all the time. And then after the sanctified age...

40 Now, we take men like old Beverington. Men, who would have been a greater man than old Brother Beverington? And look at John Wesley, George Whitefield, Finney, Knox, many of those old Methodists who sweated it out. They went through hell on earth, torment, because they believed that God's Word taught sanctification, the second step of grace, and they stayed with it, and they believed it, and they done wonders with it. Just the same as Henry Ford and them done with the transportation of the old model-T Ford up beside of the horse. He moved on and above the horse day. And Wesley moved on in above the Lutheran day.

41 And then along come Pentecost. And as science of the world was able to achieve an automobile motor, (the Wright Brothers that created or made, manufactured rather, the airplane) the flying machine was far above the car on the earth, because he took to the air. Now, the Wright Brothers, through their achievement, was able to take science and pattern something here on earth, to show that there was a great spiritual thing fixing to happen. And when the Wright Brothers was able to achieve to get a man's feet off the ground, Pentecost fell and took to the air with the spiritual gifts, with the baptism of the Holy Ghost. He took to the air! Oh, hallelujah! Got his feet off the ground so he could swim around, got up in the air! Oh, how far he was above the horse and buggy! How far he was above the automobile! He was up in the air. He was knocking and puffing and banging, but he was flying. See, what man achieves on earth, for they're made of things which do not appear. God was able to achieve something by a Spirit-filled people who were hungering and thirsting, and those that would stay with the Word.

42 Now, if Wesley hadn't've stepped out on the Word and got a bad name behind him, was called a crazy man, and everything else, he would have never been able to achieve. But Wesley was one of God's great scientists. Luther was one of God's great scientists. They didn't care what the churches said, what the organizations said. Luther didn't care what the Catholics said, he believed the just shall live by faith! Hallelujah! And he took God's chemicals of the Word and put it together, and the church moved by faith. Wesley put it together by the blood, and proved it by the blood, and the church got sanctified. The Pentecostals believed that the baptism of the Holy Ghost, that the promise is to you and your children and them that's far off, and they put the chemicals together out of the Word, and they moved into the air. Hallelujah! They moved out, because they were able to accomplish such.

43 Now, why did these men do this? Why did Luther find it? Why did Wesley find it. Why did these others? Because the material was laying here on earth that could make a T-model Ford. There was electricity that could make a car to run. There was gasoline in the earth, there was pistons and so forth, all the mechanics, carbon for the generator, and everything they had to have to create this stuff, and notice it started ... manufacture rather, not created God's the creator, He had it laying here. But men who believed it in the scientific realm, of the natural, probed into it, and they wouldn't take "no" for an answer. They believed it. It was a revelation in their heart, and they stayed with it until they proved that it was right.

44 That's how that John Wesley proved sanctification. The material was laying here, the Word of God that brought it. He believed it! No matter if the whole church, the Anglican church and all turned him down, he stayed with his conviction and he proved it. And the Pentecostals come around and proved, because they had the material, that the Holy Ghost was right. And they took to the air.

45 Did you notice, one of those scientific achievements accompanied the other one, complimented the other one. It was only a higher form, see. The automobile was a higher form of transportation than the horse, and the airplane was a higher form of transportation than the automobile, but they accompanied one another. Horse power! Amen! If that's horse power, what about God power? What about the Holy Ghost and power? The Holy Ghost power that can justify you, the same Holy Ghost power can sanctify you. The same Holy Ghost power that sanctifies you, can fill you with His presence. And little science, that didn't know their ABC's, found it. Why? They were spiritual scientists. Amen. They seen the thing, they believed it. Man did it by education, the natural scientist. The spiritual scientist done it by revelation. One by education, the other by revelation. Oh, if we can just open up. There's all kinds of material laying here. That's right.

46 Now we notice how it goes, how God was able to achieve that. In the Pentecostals, taken to the air. How they... Then was restored back to the church, healing, speaking in tongues, revelation, gifts of the Spirit. That Luther knowed nothing about it, neither did Wesley. They never taught it, they knowed nothing about it. It was out of their age.
Why, what would Henry Ford knowed about an airplane in them days before the Wright Brothers? See, they wouldn't have knowed it. And the same thing that the men back there driving a horse and buggy, five hundred years ago, wouldn't know nothing about a horseless carriage, only the Bible said it would be there. So they was able to achieve it by a scientific research. And when it happened on earth, God represented it with an achievement by His church. "For things which do appear, was made of things which does not appear." See, the reflection of it.

47 Now, now the Pentecostal age, for the last fifty years, has sent a revival around the world, with all kinds of everything in it. And they have had healings, and sickness being healed, cripples healed, blind had their sight restored to them. Do you think the world believed it? No, sir. They didn't believe Luther. They didn't believe Wesley. They didn't believe the Pentecostals. But God took the Bible, in his research, a man who was willing to do it, took the Bible and proved to it that it was right. Amen. Now we got to remember that, we got to believe it, seeing those things were a type. Now we've lived up to Pentecostal age. The Pentecostal age, as I have proved over there, goes out into the Laodicean age.

48 But now something else has happened. We got an astronaut now. John Glenn was our first astronaut. And we find out that that's so far above the airplane, airplane can only go as far as its pressure and so forth. But this is by an atomic power, a greater power that presses him so much higher than an airplane, an airplane even isn't in it. That's right. He's been able to do that. All right. Now we got an astronaut, natural age.
And, remember, the messenger comes at the end of the former message, always. We've proved that there. Now we're on the astronaut line. Amen and amen!

49 Science has been able to prove that there's an astronaut that can go so far till you couldn't see it with your natural eyes, and it can go whether there's any pressure there or not. He can just go on out because he's in a pressurized tank, and he can go up there and sail around and see the worlds around. An astronaut! Oh, my, what an age that that is coming. Yes, sir, go beyond any natural things at all, and sweep plumb on out into yonder.
What does it represent? A spiritual age, a spiritual time to where God's going to have spiritual astronauts. Amen! They're here right now! Hallelujah! The eagles of the air that can go beyond any other bird, sail above everything, spiritual astronauts (glory) that can take the Word of God and prove that He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. A spiritual astronaut! Oh, my! Glory! That makes me feel good, living in this age! Now what a wonderful thing for a spiritual astronaut! See? What is it? What did the natural scientists do? Has been able to achieve that. And God, through men who would stay with the Bible and say that "He's the same yesterday, today, and forever," and not afraid of the promise regardless of what anybody said, stay with it. What is it? You become an astronaut that can go so far it's beyond denominational thinking. It's beyond anything else. It's beyond the things of the church. Out yonder with God and Him alone you stay. Astronauts!

50 And, remember, in order to be an astronaut, they had to get in a tank, and they can't control themselves. It takes a radar power, an atomic power to lift him out beyond space, and then he's controlled by a tower. Glory! God's spiritual astronauts is the same! They come into a tank, into a place, into a body, and that body is the body of Christ. Then, it's not them, it's not. It wasn't John Glenn, it was the tank that he was in. It was the machine. He just sat there, he didn't do nothing. He just had the real pure courage to get up there and say "it's right," because science had proved it.

51 God wants men who can come into Christ and believe that He's the same yesterday, today, and forever, and don't take their own thinking, move out into space, controlled by the Holy Ghost. Amen. Astronauts! Whew! How far it is back to the horse and buggy! How far it is even from the airplane! How far it is from justification, sanctification, baptism of the Holy Ghost! They're coming to eagles. The first, they were lizards, then they become chickens, then they become crows, but now they're eagles. No one can follow them!

52 An eagle is a special bird. He can go higher than any other bird. He's prepared to see, keep his head level when he gets up there. And some people can jump way up and don't know where they're at after they get there, 'cause he can't see no farther than what he's jumped. But there's some that can look back and see what's going on. That's the eagle. He can stand there till he looks it over, and wait till he hears a message that tells him what to say. That's the astronaut of God, see. It's followed all the other achievements, why won't it follow this achievement?

53 Astronauts for Jesus. Amen. Don't even leave by his own power. He's fired out. Only thing he does is get into it. That's all you have to do, is get into it, God will do the shooting and the placing. It ain't gasoline power no more, neither, some church creed. It's God's atom power that pushes you plumb out in space out yonder. Amen. Oh! Why, what is it in these astronauts? They've got the... They never just took the word justification, just the word sanctification, he's got into the whole Bible. Amen. He's got into all of it, because that he knows that God is able to perform every promise He ever made. He just sits there and waits. Oh, my! The Word's bound to manifest itself. If you're sick, and an astronaut, just remember, get in Christ and wait the countdown. That's all. He'll fire the bullet, don't worry. Now, been able to achieve it because God promised it.

54 Now, how much greater is the astronaut, these things now, from the old horse power, automobile power, and the airplane power! You see, the astronaut, he's so high that he can see things that a man in a horse and buggy couldn't see. He's so high he can see things that a man in an automobile couldn't see. He's so high that he can see things a man flying in an airplane can't see. He's done went plumb out of reason. Amen. Glory! That's it. He's done went beyond any achievement man could think of, the organization, the denomination, "You have to be Methodist, Baptist, or belong to this one, the oneness, twoness," or whatever it is. He's an astronaut, he's sailed off plumb out into space. Amen. How thankful I am!

55 And, remember, the astronaut is controlled by a radar power. You seen them bring John Glenn in. I looked down there at Cape Canaveral and seen that great big radar thing, and you couldn't even see him nowhere, but you could tell where he was by the way that radar was pointing. That's where he was at, see. And we got a radar, too, it's prayer. Prayer is the radar power that directs the astronaut. "Ask the Father anything in my name, I'll do it," see. Just watch the way the prayer's going, you can see the way he's pointing. Amen. Just watch the way the church is a-praying, you can see the way the missiles will fly. You can tell it by ... the way the astronauts are traveling, by the way the church is praying.
He prays, "Lord, 'course we don't believe in these things." Uh-oh! That's astronaut's coming down. That's all. Oh, brother!
But when all things are possible, "Lord, pour out Your Spirit upon the church and give it what we have need of. Pour upon us the Holy Ghost, and just take us out of every reason, and believe that that Word's right and we're going to stand right by it." Watch the screen then begin to raise its head like this, see. The astronaut's going on and on, way up in the air. Wonderful! Goes beyond any denomination, goes beyond any creed.

56 Now remember, justification is lotted to a creed, that's right, you believe justification like somewhere like the Lutherans and any of their satellites. That's what they are, satellites, but they ain't off the ground. You take sanctification and their satellites. Say, "What is the satellites to the Lutheran?" Well, church of Christ and that bunch there. "What is the satellites to the Wesley, to the Methodist like that?" Nazarene, Pilgrim Holiness, their satellites? And then the Pentecostal and their satellites, the airplane, sure, the oneness, twoness, threeness, fourness, all these, Foursquare, Church of God, all still creeded in denominations.

57 But the astronaut breaks the sound barrier. He just goes right on through. He don't hear nothing. Oh, my! He just goes beyond all of it. He's way up in there where all things... He's living in the presence of God. Yes, sir. He promised it, His Word says that He's a high priest. You see that great big radar sitting out there moving? Watch Him in the meeting. You can watch when the Holy Spirit comes down in the form of a pillar of fire like He promised. A man's not going to be sitting there trying to reason it out with science, a real believer. What is He? He's a radar screen. Watch Him. He begins to point around. Amen. And it catches that one there, the astronaut. "You have cancer. You have so-and-so. You are So-and-so from such a place. The Lord Jesus make you well." Hallelujah! He sails off. Astronauts! Oh, my, what a church it should be! It's here.

58 The achievement's been proved by science. They've showed it right there at the World's Fair. We got it. Amen. It's been proved everywhere, astronaut age we're living in. See, "It was made of things which do not appear." See, it was made of something out of heaven. It's God Himself here in that sixth dimension. It's the power of God. We've been in such a place till we have been lifted up into that dimension, beyond this thing of going to the grave and weeping, this thing of putting the crape on the doorknob and saying good-bye forever. Hallelujah! We done got in the astronaut, and sailed off out yonder and seen where it's at, and returned back. Glory! We're going to the home beyond the sky yonder, beyond the reasoning of man. How the old will be transformed in a moment of the twinkling of an eye. We shall see them there, old men and women, young again. "How do you know?" The Bible teaches it! And, God shot an astronaut up in there, we know what it's all about, come back. There's no worry about dying. Dying's nothing. Sure, it's living. Yes, sir. It's just getting your feet off the ground so we can go. Oh, how wonderful!

59 He's promised all these things in His Word, for Hebrews 13:8 said, "He's the same yesterday, today, and forever." The things that He was able, God could achieve by one man who would surrender himself to it, to the Word of God, because, as I said last night, He always stood with the Word.
Now, do you know, why, astronauts is really no new thing. What about Elijah? If he wasn't an astronaut, I never seen one. He went where John Glenn never did think about going.
Well, you know, they had one took off in slow motion one time. His name was Enoch. He just walked on up, but he was an astronaut. Sure. He was pressurized, he didn't have to be changed, nothing. He was already pressurized when he started walking. He just walked right on out of all the dimensions and everything, walked out into the presence of God.
And so one old fellow was tired and couldn't walk very good anymore. He had fussed with Jezebel, and her short hair and paint and everything, until God just sent a chariot down, said, "I'll just let you ride up through the clouds this afternoon." Astronaut!

60 One time one come to die for the rest of us, and God raised Him up on the third day. And five hundred men stood there and seen Him being taken up into the clouds, with a voice saying, "I will come again." An angel come back and said, "This same Jesus that was taken up, the Master astronaut, will return again in like manner, in the same kind of an apartment that He's in, a body, immortal." Hallelujah! "And we'll have a body like His own glorious body, for we shall see Him as He is." Oh, hallelujah! He broke all the sound barriers, all the reasoning barriers, and went beyond reasoning, went beyond anything else.

61 And any man that ever lives for God will have to go beyond any five senses, he'll have to go beyond any education, any achievement that man's been able to do, and believe God, break everything and lay it aside, and sweep up into the heavens. Amen. Oh, what astronauts and so forth has been achieved in the natural, God's been able to do it by His church, by the spiritual, by a spiritual people who will believe. Any man or woman who will dare at any time, any time to take God at His Word, it's an astronaut.
They'll say, "Oh, that isn't reasonable. Hear those people crying, shouting, here this? Oh, that's not even reasonable." That doesn't understand.

62 Somebody told me, said, "You had a dream, Brother Branham, when you seen that place." I never had no dream. I was standing up there looking down where I was laying on the bed. I might have been dreaming on the bed, but I was up here looking down at myself. Oh, He just give me a little astronaut ride that morning, show where to go to. And it shows that your radar will point it out, exactly where it's at. Now, it isn't me, it's Him. It's your spirit in you believing that message, and it's the Holy Ghost standing here where I'm at, and you believe it like that and it contacts; and here it comes right back, their answer. Astronauts! Amen. Oh, how wonderful! Yes, sir.

63 Great, science has done a great thing. And, you know, they've done it so great until they're getting scared of theirselves. That's right. They got so much greatness till they're afraid of theirselves. You know, they said here about two years ago, it was three minutes before midnight. They're scared. What are they doing? Now, man has been able, after his natural in a natural astronaut, now he's been able to achieve this astronaut. And he thinks now that when Russia ever starts to blow this country up, or some other country, he's going to sail off to the moon.

64 I seen the little cutest thing the other day, it really was cute. There was two little Indians standing, talking to one another, little potbellies, you know, like that, and a feather up behind their head, and just shaking one another's hands, patting one another. Said, "Bro'der, we'll soon have the country back to ourself, white man's going to the moon." Said, "We'll soon have our country back again, white man's going over on the moon so we'll have our own country again." It's all right.

65 Oh, now they're all wanting to make a whole lot of these astronaut cans so they can get into it. And the atomic age comes, they're going to bust up the world, they just pull this and all go over on the moon, taking a trip to the moon, and have it all over with, and so they'll just make them another economy on the moon. They ain't going to get there. I don't believe, with all my heart, they'll ever get there, see.
But, at the same time, the real true believer in Christ has entered his astronaut. Amen. "By one Spirit we're all baptized into one astronaut." Oh, one body! It can stand any kind of pressure. They've tried it in a fiery furnace, it'll stand fire, so it can't burn up; seven times hotter. They've tried it, and everything comes out all right. So the spiritual scientists have been able to prove that they can stand anything. So the real spiritual believer has accompanied himself and got into God's astronaut, Christ, believing all things; laying aside his creeds, the Pentecostal creeds, the Baptist creeds, the Methodist creeds. He's just got into the astronaut, saying, "Lord, when's it ready?" Oh, my! What's He doing? He's coming to little meetings, listening to the countdown of God's Word.

66 You know, when John Glenn sat there that morning, they was listening to the countdown. "Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, zero," see. And now he's got to a spot to where it says, "It's just three minutes till something's going to take off." They don't know what it is. "Three minutes until we have the zero hour."
Now notice, the real believer is in Christ. No condemnation to them that's in Christ. Preach the Word, stay right with the Word. I don't care what the denominations say, they're going to believe it. They'll stand right there, because it's the Word. The denominationals kick up a big fuss and excommunicate them, run them out, and say "They're crazy," everything like that. But they stay right with that Word. As long as God promised it, they stay there because they're astronauts. They believe the Word. And there's no way to get rid of them. They're going to leave you anyhow, so just let them alone a while.

67 But they're in there, sitting in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, listening to the countdown, the "Church Ages" and so forth. Glory! Makes you feel good, don't it? Listening to the countdown! What's the countdown? "All these things that's promised, here's where it happened. All these things is promised, here's where it's happening. Where a promise is, here's where it happened. The achievement that He promised today, here it is right among us." What are they doing? Listening to the countdown. How far has it come? All the way from Luther. The countdown! "Justification, sanctification... Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two..." Ooop! What are they doing? Waiting for the takeoff, the zero hour, Amen.

68 This great orbiting that the church is getting ready to do, and the great time of the countdown, I'd like to explain to you what I think the countdown is. I think we've just been through it in the church here. And now you notice that, when the natural astronaut is getting ready to leave the earth, there is a countdown starting from ten back to zero. Now, I haven't tried to break this message down and give it a spiritual application, as it would take too much time this morning. But I want to try to explain this to you, that ten is a number of worldliness, man. But seven is the number of God's perfection. Six days He made the heavens and earth, and the seventh He rested. And six thousand years the world is to labor against sin, or the church labor against sin, and the seventh is the millennium, the sabbath.

69 Seven is God's perfect number. And now He has given us the correct countdown, and His countdown is not ten, but seven. We've just been through it in the seven church ages. Now we find out that over in Revelation, the first countdown was the first age. The second countdown, the second age. And on to the seventh countdown. And here visible before us, as the picture's drawed, that we had this countdown. The first number counted was Ephesus. The second number counted was Smyrna. Then Pergamos, Thyatira, fifth was Sardis, sixth was Philadelphia, and seventh was the Laodicean, the last church age. Then it's the zero time for the church to leave, after the church ages has served their term. Now, we know the Thyatira age has come and gone, and the Ephesian age has come and gone, the Philadelphian age has come and gone. And we are in the seventh church age, at the end of it, the Laodicean age. And that is the countdown.

70 If you notice in our previous lessons of the churches, He held in His hand seven stars, which we found to be "seven ministers of the seven church ages." Each one of them is perfectly identified as God took His countdown. Since the time He left, until the time He comes back, He's gathering together a people for His name's sake. Started at the day of Pentecost. The first, the Ephesian church, the star and messenger of that church we believe to be St. Paul. He has come, and number one has been counted off. The second church age, which is Smyrna, was Irenaeus, the great saint of God who led that church age at the end. The third church age, which was Pergamos, was St. Columba which was a great saint of God. During the time of the Dark Age, in the persecution, the fourth age in the fourth count, St. Martin of Tours the great saint coming from France. The fifth church age, and its messenger was Martin Luther on the countdown. The sixth age was John Wesley on the countdown.

71 Now we're in the seventh age, the Laodicean church age. And we are looking for that great messenger of the second appearing of Elijah, on the countdown. And as soon as that appears, then it's zero time and the church takes its way home, goes out into space, into the heavens, on beyond moon, stars, everything else, and meet Jesus.
Where did this come from and where did they go? Into this Astronaut. How did the people get into the Astronaut at the first place? That's the way they'll have to get into it in every place, every time. That's right. Have to come in by the same way the first did, because this great orbit of a great body of people. That in Noah's time, there was only one door, and that door was the only door of entrance. Everything that come in, no matter if they went to the first floor under justification, second floor, or third floor, they all come in at one door. They all come in the same way.

72 And it's the same thing in this day of astronaut. We have to come in the same way, come by the same way, by the same message, by the same Christ, by the same power that they received on the day of Pentecost. The same way! It has been all the time the same one, because it's the same door. And how do we get into this body? By the door. And Jesus is the door to this body. So we come in and are born into the kingdom of God, through the door, Jesus Christ. And now the door is just about to close at the Laodicean, last countdown, and the church is fixing to take its orbit above all tribulations, all everything, and soar its way into the heavens of heavens, carrying the church to the bosom of God. Amen. [Gap in the audio.]

73 Amen.
The morning that John ... this Glenn took off down there, everybody was on their faces, crying and praying, wondering what he was going to be able to achieve. And the first thing, the fire begin to spread from them atoms as that great big missile lifted off there at Cape Canaveral, going up into the air like that, and people screaming and crying and wondering what would happen to their astronaut that was going up. Oh, but the church, glory, she's spreading some fire too. Amen. The countdown's coming! Amen! "Justification, sanctification, baptism of the Holy Ghost, Laodicean church age," we're at the end! Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever! What's the matter? "Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two ... zero!" They won't be crying, but they'll be singing and shouting and praising God, as the church takes its astronaut move into the skies to be with Jesus Christ. Amen.

74 In the natural achievement, they're taking off to the moon. In the spiritual achievement we're taking off towards heaven. Amen! The natural astronaut's trying to find him a place on the moon. We already got a place in heaven all ready. "In my Father's house are many mansions. I'll go and prepare a place for you, and send an Astronaut back to get you." Countdown's on! Do you believe it? Amen. Countdown! "Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, zero!" The fire begins to spread, the ministry's crowned in glory. Hallelujah! And the old rocket begins to take off, not pointed towards the moon, but pointed towards glory. Yonder she is, the fire of God spreading. The power of the Holy Ghost lifting her up and beyond the moon and stars, beyond anything that could ever be achieved by man. The church will take her flight to the bosoms of God in heaven, one of these mornings. Friends ... and men has been able to achieve what they have by their natural things, and God (I proved it here) has typed it by the spiritual.

75 Let's get in the astronaut, quickly! The door's will be closed after while. The countdown's on! Science says their countdown is three minutes. Ours may be ahead of that, it might be "one" ready for "zero!" Let's come in. Do you believe the countdown is on? Let's bow our heads then just a moment.
Father! "Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two..." God!
Nations are breaking. Israel's awakening,
The signs that the prophets foretold;
The Gentile days numbered, with horrors
encumbered;
Return, O dispersed, to your own.
What a day! The evening light's a-shining. O God, we pray that every unbeliever will quickly lay aside all of his educational thoughts, all of his ideas that's contrary to Your Word, and this morning will get into this glorious astronaut, because we're born into it, in there to become a part of the astronaut.

76 I pray, heavenly Father, that in this great body of Christ, that You will baptize believers today with the Holy Ghost. May the pool be filled with people this morning, confessing their sins and being buried in the name of Jesus Christ, and boarding the old astronaut, Lord, that's going beyond the moon and stars, going beyond creeds, denomination. We've done had the countdown. You told us what would be, there'd be three stages of this. You've told the church ages, how they'd go. The first church age, second church age, third church age, fourth, fifth, sixth. This count is seven. And after seven, this age, we're already in it, the last church age. And now the countdown is on. The ages is done counted for, the Lutheran age, the Wesley age, the Pentecostal age. And now, Lord, gathering into the astronaut, with a great magnifying glass in front of it, we can see glory, see Jesus, see Him in all of His power, see Him in all of His promises. Everything that He promised is reflecting upon us. We thank You for this.

77 God, may the church today quickly get into the safety zone, for soon comes the zero hour and the door of the great astronaut will be closed, the astronaut plane. And we will go like Noah did when he got in his astronaut, as it was, he floated in and above all the waters of judgment. Father, we want to get into You that we might be able to float through the streams of time, on past Mars, Jupiter, Venus, over the Milky white Way, on and on and on, where the natural astronaut knows nothing about. But we see that You're letting him do that for a sign, that we might be ready to go. We're moving from the earth. Grant it, Lord. Through Jesus Christ's name, I ask it.

78 Here lays handkerchiefs, Lord, laying here, that sick people has sent. They believe, Lord. And may they become full-membered astronauts this morning. May the power of Almighty God who reflects His Bible upon this, that they taken from the body of St. Paul, handkerchiefs and aprons, and the sick and afflicted was healed. May the astronaut believer, when that touches him, take off, Lord. Sickness behind! May every sick person here right now, Lord, get right into Christ Jesus, to His Word, His promise. And saying, "Ask the Father anything in my name, I'll do it." May they start to count, "Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two ... zero. Go on off, Lord!" May they rise from cots, stretchers, whatever it might be. May they rise from their shackled-down sickness, to go out yonder in outer space where doctors, scientists, none of them knows anything about. Where the power of God has promised by the scientific research of the Bible here, or the spiritual research, rather, of the Bible; to show that God ever was God, still remains God, He'll always be God, and He is the infinite, omnipotent, almighty, omnipresent being that can keep His word. He can do all things, and promised us all things are possible to them that will believe. God, grant it.

79 May that wayward man or woman, boy or girl, this morning, that's not in there listening to the countdown of God's Word, knowing that we're right down, done counted the last thing off. She's ready to holler "zero" at anytime, and the church to go. We see the message ending up. We see the persecution rising, as we've talked of last night. We know that the time is at hand. The countdown is over. You've helped us here at the platform to bring the church ages down, and take everything else and prove it, that right now that most anytime it can happen. God Almighty, who created the heavens and earth, send Your mercies upon the people and give to them that what You have for them stored up. For we ask it in Jesus' name.

80 And every man and woman with their head bowed. If there be some here that don't know Christ as their Saviour this morning, and would like to know Him and enter into this astronaut condition of God's grace, to go in the rapture, would you raise your hand and say, "I'm ready ... want to be ready for the rapture, Brother Branham. Pray for me." God bless you. God bless you, you. God bless you, and you. Outside, inside, wherever you are, just raise your hand. By this, say, "God, take me in." God bless you. "I want to hear the countdown. I want to hear it. I want to know that I'm safe, that when the fire goes off I'm not going to be sitting down here in a horse and buggy. I'm not going to be in a church riding in an automobile. I'm not going to be in one that can just get his feet off the ground long enough to jump and have a lot of noise. I want to be in something that's going to take me beyond the moon and stars. I want to listen to the countdown; not some creed, some organization. But I want to be in Christ, where I can sail beyond anything that's reason among men. I want to go."

81 Is there another before we pray, is there? God bless you, young lady. God bless you, young man. God bless you, and you back there. I see your hand, and God certainly sees it. And you, my brother, you brother. "I want to be in the countdown. God, let me lay aside every weight." God bless you, brother. "I want to lay aside every sin. I've got a temper, Brother Branham. Oh, I couldn't go in like that. Pray God take it away from me. Brother Branham, I drink a little bit. I don't want to do that. Pray that I'll lay it aside. I smoke. I don't want to do that. God knows I don't want to do that. The thing's that's got me bound down so, I just do it, I just can't get away from them. I know it's wrong, and I shouldn't do it. I won't! Another thing, I've been doubting the Word. I've just been wondering if it really was right. Help me, God. Let me, let me just remember all that's right, and I believe it. I want to listen to the countdown. I want to a place where every time I see the Word of God say anything, I want to punctuate it with an 'Amen,' and say, 'It's You, Lord.' " Now all... God bless you. God bless you, every one of you.

82 Is there some here now that's sick, and say, "Brother Branham, this morning I am a Christian, but I'm ... I've got the Holy Spirit. I've stepped off the plane now, I'm ready for the countdown. I've come out of all kinds of denominations and everything else, listening to the countdown. But now I want to say this one thing, Brother Branham, this morning, I'm sick. I got some work to do for the Lord yet. I'm listening to the countdown, but I want to be well. I'm stepping over on it this morning, listening to the countdown." What's the countdown? The Word of God. It's counted right down. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. "I want to hear Him as my healer this morning. I want to raise up my hand and say, "Pray for me, Brother Branham.' " God bless you. Step right in now. Step right in. The altar is full and around over here, piled up in the floor. We couldn't run a prayer line. They're standing around the walls and everything. We just have a conglomeration. You don't have to do that. You're in the ... You're an astronaut.

83 You are an astronaut. You're going beyond Luther. Luther don't believe in it all. Wesley laid on hands. The Pentecostal anoint in oil. You're an astronaut, gone beyond anything reasoning. Just because the Word said so, I'm going on. Well, you say, "Didn't Luther believe? Wasn't that the Word?" Yeah, but Wesley went on above him. "Well, Wesley anointed with oil or something another. You believe that?" Yes, that's right. "The Pentecostal casts out devils." Yeah. "Laid hands on, had healing in hands and everything else." Yeah, I know that's right, but go on. Go on! Wesley don't look back to Luther, Pentecost don't look back to Wesley. Neither do we look back to Pentecost. We're astronauts. We're beyond that. Let's go on. Christ said so!
How do you do it? "Come lay Your hands on my daughter and she'll be made well," said the Jew. Jesus went and did it for him, that's right. But when it come to the Roman, the astronaut, he said, "I'm not worthy that You come under my roof. Just say the word, Lord." And He's already said it. That's it.

84 Now let's raise our hearts to God. Let's raise our hands to God, our hearts to God. For whatever you have need of, salvation, sanctification, baptism of the Holy Ghost, divine healing, whatever it is, hold your hands up and hold your heart right in the presence of God, and realize that you're sitting in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, and you are an astronaut of that faith. What? Here comes the count! "Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two..." O Jesus, come now! We're placing the power of His name. And as we seen last night, Paul smote a man blind, let another one run over him. And we see that Jesus could do whatever He did, all kinds of miracles, and yet was right at the end of His road, seeing He was beat down and spit on, and everything else. The people don't understand it. They realize that God does it to confirm that it's right, and then tests the people's faith.

85 Lord, we have stood here and seen total blind receive their sight, sickness; cancers that would shadow people, healed. We have seen those who were dead and laid out for hours after hours, and come back to life again. We know that it's our great Christ to which we are an astronaut in His body. And now the countdown is on, and we're going to believe this morning for our healing, for our salvation, and for everything that we have need of. Because when we ask it in the name of Jesus Christ, He promised, "Ask my father anything in my name, I'll do it." And that's all we need to do now is call His name, and it's got to be done. We're listening to the countdown.

86 Lord, some of them that's been sinners, raised up their hands. They're waiting for the countdown, when there will come a change in their heart, that'll take all the old vile corruption out. There's many smokes cigarettes, that's ready to lay them down. Many that's done things that they ought not have done, and they're ready to lay it down, because we ask God Almighty in the name of Jesus Christ to take away everything that's hindering the church this morning, from sickness to sin, and let this church be free. In the name of Jesus Christ, may the power ... and the power of the great gospel, the Holy Ghost fire begin to scatter, and the great astronauts of God take off to the desire of their heart today. Grant it, Almighty God. They are Yours. And may they receive their healing, their salvation, and whatever they have need of. I commend them to You, and commit them to You with my prayer, on the altar where the blood of Jesus Christ lays fresh this morning. In the name of Jesus Christ may they receive what they've asked for. And the people said [Brother Branham and congregation say "Amen."]

87 So, believe it! So be it! I believe it. I believe. Amen. I know that He's God. I know that we're ready for God's great achievement. What is His achievement? To leave the earth. The astronaut goes to the moon, another earth. And God's church (from airplane, from horseback and so forth) is leaving as an astronaut, to another world, which is heaven. The countdown is on. Amen. Do you love Him? Then let's raise our hands and sing. "I love Him, I love Him because He first loved me..." Praise the Lord! And God bless you till tonight when I see you.