An Absolute

You can find this sermon at ChurchAges.net

1 Thank you, Brother Hutchkins. Good evening to Houston. I certainly deem this a great privilege of being here again tonight in Houston. It's been many years since I've had the privilege of being here, and I've been sitting, listening tonight to each of these speakers. And the other day when I had arrangements made for something else, another place, and I knew that those children were facing death, I thought if something would happen to those children I would never forgive myself of not coming here to give my opinion; and doing all that I could to help this mother and father, and ... of these children, and to do all that I could for the saving of their lives.

2 And Houston is a memorial place to me. It holds many great memories that I have cherished ever since I first made my visit here many years ago, over here to the Herald of Faith---Brother Kidson ---and then down here to the auditorium, when I was here with Brother Raymond Richey and the ministers of the city.

3 And then, of course, Mr. Ires, Mr. Kipperman, the night that the camera proved that I wasn't telling anything that was wrong, it was truth. And when the mechanical eye of the camera caught the vision of the ... or not the vision, the reality, the Christ that we preach and so love was with us---that He promised to be with us. And the camera took his picture.
Many times I've said, in times past, that I see that light all the time, but sometimes people would be a little skeptic of it---which you could believe they could be that way. But that night it proved it. That was the first time it was ever taken. Since then it's been taken several times: in Germany just recently coming down when the anointing was, and when it went back again. And those things are not to magnify some human being, but it's to vindicate the presence of Jesus Christ among his people. And we believe that that same Lord Jesus is here tonight to help us in this case.
And I believe that He's more interested in us than we could be. And I am certainly in sympathy with the parents of these children, and shoulder-to-shoulder with every man and woman that's trying to deliver them from the jaws of death.

4 And now I understand that this is not a revival meeting, but it's just a series of prayer meetings being held for these souls that's laying in the shadows of death. And so I'm late and I will not speak very long, but I would like to draw a text, or a context rather, from a text that I would like to read in two places in the Scripture. And you who have the Bibles if you would turn with me for just a moment to the book of Philippians, the 1st chapter, and the 20th verse of the 1st chapter of Philippians.
According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but ... with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be ... life, or death.

5 And then also in the book of Acts, the 2nd chapter and the 30th verse. I might read the 25th through the 30th.
For David spake concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved:
Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope:
Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance.
Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day.
Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;
He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither did his flesh see corruption.

6 Let us bow our heads just a moment for prayer. Our heavenly Father, we are grateful to Thee for mercy. And that's truly, Lord, why we are here tonight, is to ask mercy. We would not ask this if we did not have faith to believe that it would be granted to us. Man has flown across the country, and prayers are going up everywhere to Thee that the lives of these that we are earnestly interceding for tonight may be spared. Lord, we would ask for strength for the mothers and fathers of these young people.
And as we understand that this young man has turned his life to Thee, and wants to serve Thee, and as we heard one of the speakers say, that he wanted to become a minister of the gospel, I pray God that you'll grant this opportunity to the young fellow. Forgive us of our sins, cleanse our hearts from evil thoughts, and whatever would be in our way that would hinder our prayer from being answered for these people. As we have read thy Word, we know both heavens and earth will pass away but thy Word shall not fail.
We pray that you'll add to us by the Holy Spirit the context that would take ... that would be your divine will in this case now, as we've heard the attorney and many speaking. And we pray that we will find just what to do next; what is our next step to do? Lord, we're here to do it. Make it known to us, Lord, through thy Word. For we ask it in the name of thy Son, the Lord Jesus. Amen.

7 Reading these few verses, and I realize the occasion is great, because it's concern I would think... When I heard and got that mother's telegram... What if that was my son sitting in that row or my daughter? And I ... we want to put everything that we can to it. Then some might say, "Well, that was just a very small portion of the Word that you read, Brother Branham." Well, that may be true, too. But you see it isn't the size of the amount of words; it's what it means. It's just what it is---it's the promise of God. And I want to draw from this night, from this text tonight, or a text from this, "A Absolute."

8 Now I've chosen this text awhile ago sitting in my motel room, because I think that now we need something positive, some absolute that we can hold on to and know that it's true. Crucial hour like this we must have something that we are positive that's right, something that we can hold to, to know whether ... how the case is going.
Now according to Webster, a absolute in itself is unlimited in power and primarily is an ultimate. And an ultimate is an "amen." It's the absolute as what... That's the end. That's everything. Now every great achievement that's ever been in the world, has been tied to some sort of an absolute. You cannot do anything unless there's something that you can hold to.

9 When a young man is going to get married to a young woman, he must know the character of this young woman. Or the young woman must know the character of the young man, something that she can hold to. Will this man be a just man? Will he make me the right type of husband? Will this woman give to me in life what I expect out of her, loyalty and so forth? And then it's got to be somewhere that they can base their vows upon, knowing that there is something that will hold. And that's the reason we bring them to the church, and to the Word of God, to get this absolute tied.

10 Now Paul here, as we see, he had an absolute that he held to all his life after his conversion: that was a Christ-centered life. And what a place to have an absolute, a Christ-centered life! It was a different life than what he had lived at one time. For he said, "The life that I now live," which was a different from what he had lived.

11 And there come a time that Paul had this experience that brought him to this decision. For Paul was a great mighty man amongst the Jews and a great theologian, but he wasn't too sure of his standing.
But one day on the road down to Damascus a light, pillar of fire, came down from heaven. And Paul, being a Jew, was acquainted that this light, pillar of fire, had been the thing that had ... the God that had led his people out of Egypt. They had followed this pillar of fire. So being a Jew he said to Him quickly, "Lord, who art Thou?" He knew Him as Lord, but "Who art Thou?"
And the voice came back from the pillar of fire, "I am Jesus, and it's hard for you to kick against the pricks." From that time on, Paul knew that the Jehovah of the Old Testament was Jesus of the New. And he had something that he could hold to, and that's how he could write that great book of Hebrews.

12 Now if you ... if in your life you have an absolute, you do things ordinarily you would not do, especially if you have a God-centered life. A God-centered life makes a person do things that ordinarily they would not do---very odd, peculiar. Why is a Christian life so odd and peculiar? It's because that they are looking to God's Word, which is almost foreign to the world today.
Now, we have churches, and we have organizations, and we have religion---oh, much of it around the world. In my seven times around, since I was here with you at Houston, I've accumulated much knowledge on the gods and the religions of this world. But that isn't what I'm talking about. I'm talking about an absolute connected with Christ.
Then it makes you a odd person; you do odd things. Your thinking is altogether different than the thinking you once did, because you have found something that you've anchored a faith in: someone that created the heavens and the earth that ... his very Word itself is creative; a God who spoke the world into existence and there's nothing too hard for Him. So it makes you creative yourself because you take his Word. And a word is a thought expressed.

13 Now, Paul had got into that state to where that he had not a theological experience altogether, but he had a personal witness. He had met God and knew that he was called of God and nobody had to tell him anything about it. He was absolutely sure that God still remained God. If the world could just do that, and if this group tonight sitting here could just remember that God is still God... He's just as able to answer in this case as He is in a case of divine healing or anything else. He's still God. And if we can build our hopes ... not only our hopes, but our positive thought upon what He says, and we know that it is the truth...

14 And people act funny. They seem to just forget about the negative side because they have found an absolute---because it's the Word of God. Jesus said, "Heavens and earth will pass away but my word shall never fail." So if we've got the Word of promise, then there's no failing to it. It cannot fail. So I'm believing that that's what the prayer meetings here... The religious people of Houston are interested in human lives. And that's what we are gathered here for, is to call on a power that's beyond all man-made laws and powers, something who can change the hearts of man like He did Pharaoh in Egypt. And He's God. And we must stop now looking at the negative side and go to looking at the positive side.

15 And before you can have faith, you've got to have something to have faith in. And what more can you trust faith in than you can in the Word of the living God, what's created the powers of the Almighty? What more could we put our hopes in? Therefore it makes you look different, act different. You are looking for God to fulfill his promise.
And when difficulties arise like we have now, it is an anchor. It's something that holds you, something that you're tied to. It's a promise that we have been tied to the Word of God. It's just like the anchor is the absolute to the ship in the time of storm. The ship can be sailing the sea. The anchor is out in the front, it's ... it rests... You people here in Houston, so close to the sea, see the ships come in.

16 And why carry this excess weight of this great mighty anchor?
But you see when the storms come, the raging storms that rips up the sea, and could throw the vessel into the bank somewhere, and crash it, or turn it over in the shallow waters... It gets out into the deep water and lets down this great huge anchor, that's so fixed that it'll drag on the bottom of the sea until it hooks into the top of some unseen mountain. Then let those storms rage if they want to; it's got an absolute. The anchor holds somewhere yonder, but it's tight. And as the ship and the waves whip around the ship, it's got an absolute because it's tied. And that's the way that a man is when he's tied to Christ and to his Word, and believes it. There's an absolute there, something that holds him.

17 An absolute is like the North Star when you're lost. When you've lost your direction and you want to find your way back, the North Star is an absolute. Now there's other stars, but they turn with the world. As the world turns around them, it turns away from them. And you know, the same morning star is the evening star, also, because the world's just turned around. But there's one star that does not move, and it's centered right in the middle of the earth. And therefore, it's a sure star. If you know the North Star you can always find your way around. But, oh, when a man's lost, and he doesn't know just which way to go!

18 Now I know a star. Oh, it's more than a North Star! And to be tied and see his presence, no matter how you're lost or where you are, you can find your way back by his guidance. That's his Word. It's the way out of all troubles, it's the way to peace, it's the way to success. It's the way to life itself is to follow this star---the Lord Jesus. And now if you are tied to that star, the Holy Spirit is the compass that'll only point to the star. The Holy...

19 A compass, it is magnetized to that North Pole. And the only way---no matter how much jungle you're in, or how deep the thickets are around you, or how foggy it is at sea---that compass hand, you can turn it any way you want to, and it'll swing right back and point to the North Star.
And when we're in trouble and trusting Christ, there's one thing sure: the Holy Spirit will point us to the Word that will guide us to the North Star, and to deliverance of everything we have need of. He is our absolute. To the man that's lost in the wilderness, the compass is the thing that guides him to the outward. When we're in trouble, there's only one thing---it's just as sure as the North Star. As long as the world stands in its position and turns around, the North Star will remain in its place.

20 And as long as there is an eternity, Christ will ever be the Saviour, and the way out of every problem, every difference, every trial, everything. And therefore, when we're tied to Him we don't get flusterated and all worked up like the world does. And oh, what will we do about this? What will we do about that? We seem as if we're not even anchored. But a man who's anchored his soul into Christ Jesus, his trust there---knowing that when he asks the Father anything in his name Jesus said, "I'll do it." That settles it.
That settles it. It's the amen, it's the absolute, it's the ultimate. When Jesus said, "Ask the Father anything in my name, I'll grant it." Now that's an ultimate; that's it. "Whatever you have need of, when you pray, believe that you receive it ... you shall have it." That settles it. That's all of it, see, if we're really anchored and believe it and we've made Him our absolute. Because He does... He is the absolute that takes us from all fear. There's no fear when you're really tied to the rock of ages.

21 There's no fear to the sailor---how hard the ship's being buffeted by the waves---as long as that anchor's holding in the top of the mountain yonder. Well, sure. He knows the ship's going to stay up. It isn't going against some rocks somewhere. It isn't going to get in some shallow water and be turned over, because it's got the absolute anchored in the top of some mountain. And when a man can pray the prayer of faith and anchor his soul yonder in the Word of God---where all heavens and earth will pass away, but that Word cannot---there is no fear. Let them come, say whatever they want to. Our faith is in God, God alone. We believe it.

22 There was a time that when the table manners of this nation rested upon the word of a woman. I believe her name was called Emily Post. Now, she was the absolute to table manners. If Emily Post said, "Take and eat your beans with your knife," that was it. That was it, because she was the absolute for table manners. If she said, "Drink your coffee out of your saucer and sup it as you did," no matter how sloppy it'd sound, it was still the absolute. Everybody bowed to it because they taken her to be the absolute of table manners. We've got to have an absolute no matter what we're doing. If we're ever going to achieve anything, we've got to have an absolute.

23 There was a time when Hitler's word was an absolute in Germany. No matter what anybody else said, Hitler's word was an absolute. If he said, "They die"; they die. If he said. "They live"; they live. And if he said, "We go to war," "We do not go to war," whatever we do---his word was an absolute.
There was a time that when Italy had an absolute that was the word of their dictator, Mussolini. What he said do... They said his chauffeur drove up one minute early to get him; he shot him. Why? He said, "I don't want you here one minute early; I want you here on the dot, exactly time." See, his word was absolute. All Italy bowed to it.

24 There was a time when Pharaoh in Egypt was an absolute. But you see... But all these decisions that they made were man-made decisions, and they all fell. Why? Because they were not in accordance with human ... wasn't in accordance with God's Word for human life. I want that, I hope, to anchor. If we expect to save human life, we've got to come in accordance with God's Word and God's plan for human life. And the only way you're going to find this is to find it in his Word and believe it.
Now so them Pharaohs... I was in Egypt not long ago and I think they had to dig twenty feet down in the ground to find the place where Pharaoh was seated as a king of the earth. And great Herods and so forth passing down along the line, we see where their kingdoms has fallen and gone on. But there is one kingdom that's above all kingdoms. It's so high into the heavens till it'll never pass away. There sits a king that when He makes his decision on anything and we believe that decision, that is an absolute. It's going to be that way regardless of what anyone else says about it---it's always.

25 Now, our Supreme Court, it is an absolute---the end of all the trials. Now we have to have it. Sometimes we might not agree with its decision, like they didn't agree with Hitler's and so forth, but yet we've got to have this absolute. And the absolute of the nation and trials is the Supreme Court. Our local courts can try anything and pronounce this, but the Supreme Court rules over all. We must have it. As a nation we must have its decision, because a nation is tied to this absolute of the Supreme Court. All right. Everything must have an absolute.

26 Did you know a common ball game has to have an absolute? What is the absolute of a ball game? An umpire. What if there is no umpire? See, an umpire... No matter where you're standing, what position you look at, and you say, "It was a ball," and he said, "It was a strike,"---that's what it was. It was a strike. Why? Because his word, no matter what the bleachers said, what somebody else said, it's a strike because he called it a strike, and he's the umpire. Now what if there was no umpire? There'd be such a fuss and everything in chaos till you couldn't have the ball game. Therefore, you've got to have a absolute to have a ball game. It must be that way.

27 Now there must be an absolute in a traffic light; a traffic light is an absolute rather, to traffic. What if there was no traffic light? What if the traffic light was out and you run down the street? And one fellow was coming this a-way and he said, "Now, I was here first. I've got to get through there." And said, "I'm late for work." Talk about a traffic jam! You'd really have it. But see the traffic light settles... It's the absolute. If the light is green---go. If it's red---stop. If there is no such a thing as a traffic light, then we would have traffic jams.

28 And that's what's the matter in the Christian faith today; we've got too many traffic jams. Everybody making their own absolute, when we've got one absolute and that's the Word of the living God that settles it forever, no matter what anyone else says. It's almost gotten to a place like it was in the days of Judges. Everybody has their own absolute, but it all fails, like the Pharaohs and so forth. But God's absolute is his Word. He gives it, and "Heavens and earth will pass away but it shall never pass away." I like that.
Now we haven't got much time, so just ... let's look for a few moments to a few people that did come into crisis, and times where death was at hand, like we're standing tonight, and they took an absolute. Let's interview some of them.

29 Let's go back to an old story that's familiar to all of us. In the days when sin had heaped into the world till God got sick and tired of it, and the world was going to be destroyed, and God gave Noah an absolute---that was his Word. And no matter... That absolute was of the saving of the people. Noah knew that the world was going to die. And God gave him the absolute, and that was his Word, now, to save his people from death. Now what was the absolute to save people from death in Noah's time? Was the Word of God that was the absolute, no matter what anybody else said, what science said.
"There's no rain up there. We can shoot the moon with our instruments; there's no rain there. How's rain going to come down?"
If God said that there would be rain fall, God can put rain in the skies if He said so.
Noah went right about his business, relaxed, and preparing an ark for the saving of the people. For there was an absolute given to the people that they would be saved if they took God's provided way for this absolute.

30 So after ... sometimes when we've accepted the absolute... I would like to say this because of the parents of these children of what I want to tell you just in a moment.
Now if the ... sometimes when we have accepted it, we are put to trial to see if we really believe it. We ... God usually does that, and God works... He cannot change his program because his Word is Himself. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God ... And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us ... the same yesterday, today, and forever." So it's always God.

31 When He's called upon a scene to act and the decision that He makes, He has to ever remain with that decision. He cannot change it, because He's infinite. Now I can change my decision, you can, because we're finite. Therefore, we make mistakes. But God cannot change his decision, because He's infinite and his decision is perfect always. He cannot say, "I was wrong here, and I'll change my decision," because that would show God could change, and God cannot change. Neither can his Word change. He's the same always.

32 So God gave Noah a trial after accepting his absolute. Noah went into the ark; God shut the door behind him. No doubt they said, "Now in the morning there'll be black clouds, and there'll be thunder and lightning, and the rains will fall."
But you know, the next day the sun come up just as bright as it ever did. I imagine the borderline believers, that said, "We'll go up. The old man could have been right about that. So maybe science was wrong---that there could be some rain up there."
But remember, it had never rained. But then the second day the sun was just as bright as it always was; third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and even to the seventh day.
But Noah had climbed up in the upper room so he could watch the skies. And on that seventh morning, when there come a time when people had refused God's absolute way of salvation, of saving of the lives of the people, the rains began to fall and the sewers filled up. And the boat began to rise, and it took Noah and them to safety. Sure, because they were trusting in God's word, the absolute, God's Word of promise. No matter how bad it seems like and how dark it gets---still believe your absolute.

33 Moses, why his ... he'd tried to save the life of those poor Hebrews; and they were almost as bad off, or just as bad off, as these two children are that we're trying to save tonight. They were slaves and they killed them just at random, whenever they wanted to. And Moses felt in his heart that that wasn't the will of God. So he tried to do it through education, he tried to do it through his own efforts. And he found out that he miserably failed. He did something himself that wasn't right, because he took another man's life. And that was not right. Then he went into the wilderness and was there for forty years.
But one day he was herding sheep on the backside of the desert and there was a light in a bush. And when Moses got near this light, the voice of God spoke to him out of this pillar of fire laying back in this bush, and said, "Moses, Moses."
And he said, "Here am I, Lord."
And He said, "Take off your shoes, for the ground that you stand on is holy. I have heard the groans of my people. I've heard their prayer meetings. I've remembered that I made them a promise." My, if that oughtn't to set the hearts of Christian believers' afire tonight! "I am God. I remembered I promised it." How scriptural that voice was! And He said, "Moses, I'm sending you down there to deliver them."
And Moses,

34 'course as I've said at the beginning, when you take that absolute of God, it makes you do things that ... well, sometimes ridiculous in the sight of the people. Could you imagine a man that had run from the Egyptians? The next morning after seeing this absolute... This word of God spoke to him positive-witness. Because it was the Word, the promise was there. And a vindication of the great God of creation how he performed a miracle in the presence of Moses and showed that He was a God of creation.

35 And Moses the next morning took his wife and set her on a mule with a kid on her hip, and eighty years old, whiskers hanging to his waistline, his bald head shining, with a crooked stick in his hand, going down towards Egypt, shouting as hard as he could go.
"Where you going, Moses?"
"I'm going down to Egypt to take over."
"Take over?"---a one-man invasion!
Why? He had an absolute. He had something---he had the Word of God he could stand on. A man of eighty years old with a mule, and a stick in his hand. That's all he had, like a one-man invasion to Russia today. But he went down and took over because he had an absolute. He had talked to God. He had heard the voice of God. And the thing of it was, he did it. Right. Why? That was with him all the days of his life---it was an absolute.

36 No man has a right to climb into the pulpit to preach the gospel unless himself has treaded on those sacred sands, where no agnostic or unbeliever can ever explain away the supernatural of God. Jesus would not let his disciples preach. No matter how well they knowed Him, they must go to the city of Jerusalem and wait till they was endued with power from on high. They must have that experience.

37 Moses, knowing that he was a prophet, knowed he'd been raised up for this purpose. But without that personal contact, that absolute, something that proved to him that when he went down there he was going to have deliverance for these people... He was never the same. He went down there because he had the absolute and he did just exactly what God told him to do. There was no fear in his heart when he throwed down the serpents, or, the rods and they turned to a serpent. And the carnal impersonators come up with their type of ministry and throwed down ... and done the same thing Moses had done---just exactly what God told him to do. There's nothing for him to do but stand still and see the glory of God. Then we find out that God taken his serpent and eat up the rest of them. That's the way it's done. He was positive that the God that could tell him to do this, could take care of him in the bad situation.

38 Can't we tonight, upon the basis of that young man giving his heart to Christ, stand upon this absolute, that God can make the impossible to be possible? He can change the hearts of judges. Why do we skip so frantically about other things? Let's take God first. Bring it back to the promise. God promised it, that He would do it.
So remember, Moses was always a different person because he took God's word and believed it. And he had a promise vindicated to him. How many could we call? We don't have time.

39 In writing notes today, I was writing here of Daniel, how that it was... What it was, it was a capital punishment for him to pray to any other God. But he had been in connection with God and he knowed that God was able to take care of him.
The Hebrew children, they'd be throwed into a fiery furnace and would be burned with heat seven times hotter than the furnace had ever been het. That ... Hebrew children believed God. They said, "Our God is able to deliver us from this furnace." Why? They had had an absolute: they had the Word of God. And the God that could deliver them Hebrew children from the death cell of a fiery furnace, how much more can He deliver this little Jewish boy out here that's laying yonder in a death cell? How much more is He...? He's still the same Jehovah God that He always was.
We, like apostle Paul, can realize that same God lives today---yesterday, today, and forever the same. Then Christians can hold to God's unchanging hand and change the whole situation. Prayer changes things. That's what we want to do.

40 How can we say about Joshua? How's he going to cross the Jordan? Seems like God was a strange military man, right in the month of April when the waters was up like that. But He said to Joshua, "Take the ark and go forward." That's all he had to do, and God moved back the Jordan and made dry grounds, and they walked across and was delivered. How it was... No wonder Joshua said, "For me and my house, we'll serve the Lord."
How David, that great patriarch... How we'd like to speak about him. We haven't time. But, in many times, as we heard someone speaking a few moments ago about David and his sin. But when all of it was forgiven, when he was going to battle---we call it in the world, "The chips were down."---and the opposition was great, and David laid there under the tree and sweated it out until he heard the sound going through the mulberry bushes, then it was different. David rose and went on, because he had an absolute, that he knew that was God going on before him.
Can't we pray a prayer of faith that'll send God on to that parole board down there? Sure we can. We believe that we can if we hold to that absolute.

41 How Abraham called things that were not as though they were because he had an absolute promise from God that God was going to give him his ... give him a child by Sarah. And when she was a hundred years old (or he was, and she was ninety), he still didn't stagger at the promise of God through unbelief but was strong, giving praise to God. And we claim to be Abraham's children, when Abraham...
When we've had the Bible wrote since the days of Abraham, and all the witnesses that we've had behind: that Jehovah keeps his Word; that Christ is the Son of God, He's a mediator between man and God, and there's no other mediator besides Him; and promising "If you ask the Father anything in my name, it'll be granted..." And we claim to be the children of Abraham, when Abraham called things that were as though they were not, because he believed God. Absolutely. I believe it with all my heart.
Paul was ... Christ-centered life was his absolute; it tied him.

42 Christ was the absolute of the resurrection, as we read here. He said, "God swore by an oath to David that He would not leave his soul in hell." A oath is the end of all strife. And He swore that He would not leave his soul in hell but would raise Him up; and therefore, He trusted God and was crucified, died, rose again, and ascended into heaven because He believed God.
How much more, as He setting the example, can we take the absolute if Christ could take it upon that one promise there? How much more can we take it with thousands of promises? And with the blood of Jesus Christ there to cleanse our way and bring us across that great chasm of sin that separated us of unbelief from God and bring us right into his presence to talk to Him, how much more could it be?
Yes, we've got to have an absolute.

43 I'm thinking of one right now, as in closing, would be George Washington. When America was young and we were fighting for life, the life of this great nation that we have, George Washington was a Christian. He was a believer. And down at Valley Forge, I'm told that the American soldiers only had ... about one-third of them had on shoes, and the winter was cold and the zero weather, and the river frozen and gorging over, and the British on the other side, and the life of this little nation was at hand.
What did he do? He was a Christian. He goes out in the nighttime and kneels down in the snow and prays until he was wet with snow water up around his waistline. And he stayed there and prayed until he got the absolute, the answer from God, that God was going to give him the victory. And the next day at Valley Forge was nothing to him. He crossed the Delaware, pushed through the ice with half-dressed soldiers---half-froze and their bare feet on the ground in the snow. And he took it when three rifle bullets went through his coat. Why? He was trusting in the absolute of an answered prayer. Amen. The very backgrounds of our nation based upon such a thing.

44 What's the matter with people today who claim to be Christians? Why are we disturbed in an hour like this? Let's not be disturbed; let's be soldiers. Yes, sir. He prayed until he got that answer. Then no clouded river, no bare-feet soldiers, regardless of the circumstance, they could take it because God had said so. A bullet couldn't even kill him from an enemy's rifle. Certainly. Why? He'd had a prayer meeting; he got the answer.

45 How well it was one night when apostle Peter was in the jail and they were going to kill him the next morning. He was going to die under capital punishment, as this little Jew is going to do now. But what did they do? They did the same thing that we here in Houston are trying to do: they formed a prayer meeting at John Mark's house. While they were praying, the angel of the Lord went to the prison and opened up the prison bars, and opened the gates and beyond that, and led Peter out, and come right down to the prayer meeting. I believe tonight that that same God lives. If He isn't the same God then there's something wrong. Certainly. What was it done? by prayer meeting, by faithful Christians who believed, and believed that God would deliver their brother from capital punishment. Them were Christians who stayed all night, laid upon their faces and cried out and prayed.

46 As I heard one of the ministers a while ago saying he was going to cry out all night long... The trouble of it is, today people let down. They get tired, sleepy. They can't even sit through a ten-minute service hardly. It ... it's something wrong. If you love God, well, we should be busy. It should be our hopes, our desires, it should be everything that's in us should be in the love of Christ. Amen. We sit so slothful. We sit so unconcerned when the world's dying under our feet. That's right. Men's lives going out without God, and we sit so unconcerned about it. As long as we belong to the church, that's all we think that makes a difference.

47 I was talking about the coming of Christ a few weeks ago in a certain church. And afterwards there was someone met me in the back of the church and said, "Brother Branham, you scare people to death."
I said, "Why'd I do that? "
He said, "Well, you talking about the coming of Christ. I don't want to hear such things as that. I got a little boy here I got to raise. I got a girl in school."
"Why," I said, "the coming of Christ is the most glorious thing I can think of." Certainly.
See, the Bible said, "...all those who love his appearing." Oh my, for a day that when this old mortal will take on immortality, and this pesthouse that I live in will be changed in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, and a body like his own glorious body! It should be the heart's desire of the church. It should be every man and woman on fire, preaching in the streets and everywhere else, trying to get souls saved. Certainly.

48 I'm wondering if we've really tied to that absolute that we claim to. Are we looking at the right morning star? If we're just trusting in our church and our denomination, our affiliation... As the world changes, it changes with that, round and around. But there's one star that never changes, there's one thing that can never change---that's God. God cannot change, his Word cannot change, his Bible cannot change. And if a man is borned of the Spirit of God with Christ in him, it punctuates every promise with an "amen." That is right. Certainly.

49 Oh sure, a prayer meeting is what we need. We must be Christians. All Christians must use this same absolute, the Word of God. God's Word is the Christian's stay. Jesus said in his Word, "If ye abide in me, my words abide in you, then you can ask what you will and it'll be done for you." Think of it. What more of an absolute would you want? What could you trust more in than something like that?---"If ye abide in me, my words abide in you, then ask what you will."
Then ask for God to work upon the heart of that judge or that parole board, and get that little fellow out of that death cell. If we ask it with faith, believing, in these prayer meetings, we'll get it. That's ... I just believe God like that.

50 My faith that I have in God, that's why I'm here tonight. That's why I canceled out something else and got in here. And I got to drive hundreds of miles tonight back to Tucson, Arizona, because I come to put my faith with yours. That's a man, it's a soul laying yonder, it's someone in need. And we Christians have got to wake up to a reality to real genuine faith. Tie it to the Word of God and plead that promise. Yes, sir. Oh, my! "If ye abide in me and my word in you, ask what you want," and then again, "If the people that's called by my name shall assemble themselves together and pray, then I'll hear from heaven." Prayer meeting, that's it.

51 I believe in talking to attorneys and talking to lawyers, or judges, or parole boards, or whatevermore. That's all right. But, brother, if your hope isn't tied to something than just the carnal man of mind, mind of man rather, you'll sure be sadly disappointed. But if you can tie your faith into such a place that you know, and stay there and pray until God answers back, and you know you've got it in your heart, something's going to happen.
I've seen the dead raised from the funeral home, I've seen the blind eyes come open, the deaf ears unstopped. I've seen cancer-ridden cases of sycomas, cancer, leprosy, healed by the power of the almighty God because they had faith to believe that that God who made the promise would be able to keep his promise. That's real genuine faith like Abraham had.

52 Tie to there, stay there and pray. Not just get down and "God, deliver the poor little fellow and send him home." We'd all like that. But let's stay there until something happens. Oh, when something happens, then that assurance could fall amongst this little handful of people sitting in this auditorium here tonight, could fall among us right here; enough faith and power of God, if we could pray through till we strike that home-line, till that absolute comes down---that same pillar of fire that was taken here in Houston by Ted Kipperman, a camera twelve years ago.
He's here tonight, just as great as He was then, to deliver that boy if we'll just believe it, because He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. I believe it with all my heart. That's why I'm here to offer my prayer with you all that God will spare their life. Then if you could pray through until you've got an answer back, got the assurance back---like Washington had, like John Mark had, like Daniel had, like Moses had---till you've got an absolute, something that you know that you can anchor to... "Then upon this absolute I'll build my church," ... and all the courts in the land cannot resist that. That's right.
Upon that ...

53 the very God that could take a little hook-nosed Jew like Paul, angry and going down there to put all the Christians to death under capital punishment, and could change him and make him a lovely Christian, that same God lives tonight---can change law to grace anytime that He takes a notion to do it. Hallelujah! Going to call me a holy roller anyhow, so I might as well get started into it right now. I believe that God. Amen! Yes, sir.

54 Then Mark 11:22, when He had prayed through He said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, have faith in God. I say unto you if you say to this mountain, be moved..." When that absolute has come to you, when you're anointed with that Spirit that comes beyond all scientific control out yonder... Before there was an atom or a molecule, that one that spoke everything into existence... And when your soul is anchored to that, there's nothing can stop it. That's right. "Say to this mountain be moved and don't doubt in your heart, but believe that what you've said will come to pass, you can have what you've said." If that ain't an absolute to hold to! Certainly it is. That's right, an absolute.

55 Now a nation has a absolute, your home life has absolute, everywhere. If it's ever going to achieve anything, it's got to have an absolute. We appreciate this attorney, we appreciate all the other men, this fine chaplain here from California (and what a marvelous message!) and our brother who tried to take the money and everything, to try to help this poor woman and with her children to deliver them. That's all fine, and we appreciate that, and I'm for it.
But there's one thing beyond that, friends, when we're closing this meeting tonight. We must tie it to an absolute---a prayer meeting before God that'll send the deliverance from the same Jehovah God---just as much God tonight as He was then. Hallelujah! Do you believe it? Let's stand up to our feet then, and tonight form a prayer meeting in here until an absolute takes place. Raise up our hands before God, pray till you strike home---until an absolute falls into your heart.

56 Lord God, send your Holy Spirit down and send ... and free those children yonder, Lord. They're sitting in the regions of the shadows of death. Something's fixing to happen, Lord, and we pray that these prayer meetings will strike fire. I believe You, Lord. I'm accepting it. I believe that you'll deliver those children. Grant it, Almighty God. We, your church, ask it through Jesus Christ. Amen.