God's Provided Way

Our Heavenly Father, we come to Thee tonight in this usual way of singing hymns, reading the Word, then speaking. Knowing that the rest of the service now must be Your guiding help or it will be totally a failure. And we believe that Thou art here, and You know all things and are working all things together for good to them that love You.

Now here in my hand I hold some letters and some handkerchiefs, going to the sick and the afflicted. I recall from the Bible, that when Israel got cornered after leaving Egypt, the Red Sea was before them and the desert and Pharaoh's army pursuing them, that one of the writers said, “God looked down through that pillar of fire and got angry with the sea because it had shut off the path that His children were walking in to the promised land. And the sea got scared and rolled back and made a dry path for Israel to cross on.” Now You're still the same God.

And now I'm holding these handkerchiefs and maybe some poor old dad sitting out here around the everglades somewhere, an old blind mother with a stick in her hand beating around on the floor trying to find her way around, or some little fevered child laying somewhere. A mother waiting frantically for the handkerchief to return. Thou has made a way of escape.

And I pray that when these little tokens that we get from the Bible that they taken the handkerchiefs off of the body of Saint Paul, we realize that we're not Saint Paul, but we know You're still Jesus. And we pray God, that when these little tokens are laid upon their sick bodies in commemoration of this prayer of faith that we're praying, that God will look down through them eyes again and may the enemy that's bound them get scared and move back. And may they cross into the land of the promise of good health. Grant it Lord. May there not be one of them but what will be healed.

And grant the same thing here tonight, may the Holy Spirit take over this meeting and get into the meeting, get into the people, wind His way into the hearts of the people and may there be great things accomplished tonight because of His presence. For we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.

Praying for the sick, sending handkerchiefs, I get the greater part of my testimonies come from handkerchiefs. They do, so many things that the Lord has did because they can reach more people. We mail out perhaps maybe a thousand a day from Jeffersonville. And so we send them. Any time you need one, why, don't need it now, put it in your Bible and put it on Acts 19. And then I just wish that time would permit of how many things that's happened. Sometimes you take it, lay it on Acts 19 in the Bible, if you don't have any use for it now, leave it there. When emergency arise, why, just take the handkerchief and lay it on the child that's got the croup or whatever it is. Watch what takes place. It's just been marvelous what our Lord has done.

The only thing it is, it's just a little point of contact that.... Now when I send these out, it'll be a regular form letter. At the same time, I ask everyone to pray at nine o'clock at morning, twelve o'clock at day, three o'clock in the afternoon. And that's the world around. And people get up at midnight in the night, in old countries, see, keep that prayer chain at the same time. Literally, tens of thousands and thousands of thousands are praying at the same time. God's bound to hear, you're just storming Heaven with prayer, you see, so He's got to hear.

Just think how many faithful people in that. And they're praying one for the other. Everyone praying. They laid them on them and prayed. I have so many glorious testimonies of those things that our Lord has done.

Now, I am just about as badly worn as I've ever been to stay on my feet. This is several weeks for me and it's been much visions. And so the Lord has helped me to which I am very, very, grateful for His loving kindness, of course, we are. And we just trust that He will be with us tonight, and help us tonight.

And now, I'm going to speak just a few moments on a text, if it would be called a text, I'm not very good on taking a text because I very seldom ever stay with it. And I just, I thought I'd just maybe read something. I think, “Now when I go down to church tonight, I'm going to speak on this.” Now I have did this all my life. And just as sure as I go to thinking I'm going to do this, I get in alone and the Lord tells me to do something else. And I never try to announce what you're going to speak on, just go ahead and do what the Lord says do and that's all there is to it. And I just have to, as He gives it to me, why, give it to the people. And sometime it's oh, kind of rough, but it'll do you good. It saved me and it's kept me happy all these twenty-three years now, that I've been very happy in Jesus Christ preaching the Gospel. And there's only one regret that I have in my life, that is that I didn't know Jesus Christ and the forgiveness of my sins when I was just a little baby boy.

And I tell you parents, you put the right kind of a home before your children. That's the thing to do. Because if I'd had a Christian home I'd been reared in, perhaps I'd have been farther along with our Lord Jesus tonight and more people had been saved. But my people was not a religious family. And God just had by His amazing grace, to save me.

And then, since then, I've led several of them to the Lord. I baptized my mother, my father gave his heart to Christ, died in my arms. My grandfather, I baptized him at nearly ninety in the river. Some of my brothers and so forth. And my boy here, and then my little girl is seven. My other one's too young to be baptized yet, she's only two, so I trust if she lives, why, when she's old enough to be baptized, I will do that. She's already been committed to the Lord. We call it dedication. So we just dedicate the baby to the Lord. Try to follow the Scripture just as close as we can. We never did see where Christ, or any place in the Bible, they ever baptized babies. They just brought them to the Lord and that's the only Scripture I can find. He took them up in His arms and blessed them. Said, “Suffer little children to come to Me.”

You want to sprinkle them, baptize them, that's okay. Just like taking these handkerchiefs, many people anoint those handkerchiefs with oil. That's good. That's very fine. That'll be all right to anoint them with oil, as long as God's blessing, that's all right, see. But now, if you'll just think of this and bear with me a few minutes, Paul never anointed with oil, they took off of his body. Was that right? They took from the body of Paul.

Now Paul knew that what he touched, it was blessed that he'd get the people. You know where I think Paul got that Scripture from? You remember when the Shunammite woman, when her baby was dead and she got to Elisha trying to find out why the baby had died. And Elisha had a stick in his hand, he told his servant, Gehazi, I believe it was, said, “Take this stick and go forward, if anybody speaks to you don't speak to them, just go lay it on the baby.”

Now Elisha knew that what he touched was blessed, that God was in him, but if he could get the Shunammite woman to believe that. But she didn't believe that, she knowed God was in His prophet, but not in the stick, so the stick didn't do the work. The stick would have done the same thing if the woman would have believed it. Don't you think so? Sure. And so....

But when Elisha come, the only thing he done was just lay his body upon the baby and God give it its life back. Is that right? God was in His servant and that's what the woman believed and that's just what had to happen.

I see them coming to the platform when I call the prayer line. I start to pass them by, and the first thing you know, why, I could tell they don't want that, they want me to pray for them, lay my hands on them or something. It won't be until that happens. That's just the way they're looking for it.

One woman, one person in the Bible, Jairus said, “Come lay Your hands on my daughter.” Well that was Jesus' hand. But a Roman said, “I'm not worthy that You come under my house, just speak the word,” see. It just depends on which way you believe, that's what it'll be.

Now, if I would call this a little text to talk to you tonight, I'm going speak on: God's Provided Way. Now, reading of this text will be of Elijah, this great prophet of God. And then, about how that we're to call the sick and when the sick, or call the elders, rather, and anoint the sick with oil and pray over them. The prayer of faith shall save the sick. And he said, “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man.”

Now a righteous man is not a sinless man. For you notice he said, “Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are.” He had his ups-and-downs and his differences and the Scripture of his life proves that he had his ups-and-downs like we do. And he had his times of wondering and his times his temper got away from him, and he had a lot of things that went wrong. But he was still a righteous man because he confessed his unworthiness and believed in God. So that's what made him righteous.

We're not righteous within ourselves, we're righteous through Jesus Christ. I cannot be sanctified within myself, I am sanctified through Jesus Christ who stands in the presence of God in my place. It isn't my holiness, it's His holiness. My holiness won't work at all, but His does. Because God's done accepted Him. And in accepting Him He had to accept me because I'm in Him. Amen. That's what makes it real, isn't it? Then we don't have to depend on ourself.

Now that doesn't make us say we can sin, but brother, if you sin, you're just away from God, that's all. There's only one thing to do, is confess it and get right with God. As long as you desire to sin, the desire of sin is still in your heart, then it's time to stay down at the altar till that thing's taken out. Now you will sin, you're bound to sin because you just can't help it. But not willfull sin. “He that sins willfully after he's received the knowledge of the truth,” see, “there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin.” But every day you're bound to sin.

And you're bound to be backsliding constantly so it takes a constant prayer to God. Paul said, “I die daily.” And if Paul had to die daily, how much more am I...? I'm going to have to stay there till I die, if Paul had to die daily to stay right with God. And so, we will all have to do that, just die out to ourself. And that's getting God's way.

Now there's only two ways of anything, that's the right way and the wrong way. And them ways are your ways and God's way. And you can't be in your way and God's way at the same time. You've got to forget your own way to get in God's way. And you got to get out of your own way to get in God's way, for as long as you're in your own way, you're out of His way. So forsake your ways, forsake your thoughts, forsake everything and just rely on one thing, on “Thus saith the Lord.” That's all. Then you know you're right.

Though you can't see it, none of the senses will say it's right, every one of them will say it's wrong, but you know it's right because God said so, that's what makes it right. Now, His provided way has been His Word, it is His Word. God's provided way for the human to live is not by your senses, it's by His Word.

Now God put man first in His own image, which was in the image of God, and God is a supernatural Being, He was a supernatural Man. And then He put him in five senses, and none of those five senses declare his heavenly home. Those five senses declare his earthly home. And God give him five senses to contact his earthly home, and not to contact God.

His sense, these five senses control the human body, and two senses control the inside man. That's faith and unbelief. And you possess one or the other tonight.

Now, in the garden of Eden there were two trees. One of them was the tree of knowledge, one was the Tree of Life. And men can never know God by knowledge. So, no matter how well you get educated, how smart your pastor is, how many degrees he's taken, you can't ... God is not known by education, neither is He known by scientific research. The only way God is known is by faith. No matter if you don't know the difference between split beans and coffee, if you absolutely, by faith, accept God it's bound to be an act of faith.

And when man was eating on this tree of life, he had eternal life. But when he left that tree of life and went on the tree of knowledge, the first bite he took, he separated his fellowship with God and every time that he bites off of that tree of knowledge he destroys himself.

Here some time ago when they had a great strike on and I was going along the road and I seen a load of coals coming up the road and I said, “Well, praise the Lord, the strike is off, I guess the miners went to work.” I thought, “Should I praise God for that? Well,” I thought, “electricity go off and things.”

But you just remember friends, that every bit of knowledge.... Now the first thing man bit off of this tree over here, the tree of knowledge, and every time he bites off of that tree he just pulls himself that much farther away from God. And when you think that you can get all your education ... I've had men to come to me that had all kinds of degrees and everything else and say, “Brother Branham, I'd like to get saved.” That's right. Men who is doctors of divinity with DD double-LD. That's right. What does that mean? Nothing. Just means you got a lot up here, but what about down here? See. That's where....

God is not known by knowing genealogy, it by kneeology, where God knows. You don't find God by studying books, you find God on your knees.

And the first time, now look, he bit himself off gun power. What did he do with that? That was knowledge, the tree of knowledge, he kills his comrades. The next, he bit him an automobile. Automobiles kills more then all the wars put together—knowledge still. He's got himself a hydrogen bomb now, I wonder what he's going to do with that? See. He's constantly destroying himself by eating off the tree of knowledge. So just forget about knowledge and all your puffed-up knowledge, and just remember it's “Thus saith the Lord,” and that's what God wants you to believe, is His Word. That's right. That's God's provided way for man and always has been.

And every man that's ever took God at His Word, and every man that ever amounted to anything in the world, was men who took God at His Word. That's right. You just run back through George Washington and Abraham Lincoln and whatever you want to, great Americans and on down through the history of great men, you'll find out they were men who trusted God. And that's God's way for it.

Now when man.... Well, God was taking care of man over here, but when he went to shift for himself, he found out it was a hard job. So he found out that he couldn't stand in the presence of God without having a covering, and God provided him a covering. And He made some skins and put over him, so he was covered up so he could meet God. That was God's provided way.

Now man tried to make himself a way by knowledge. He said, “Now look, I'm naked.” So he sewed some fig leaves together and made him some aprons. But they found out that wouldn't work. So they had to take, not their way, but God's way.

And men today are trying to make themselves a way. They say, “Well, now I go to church. And I do this, and I'm a good man.” Well, there's nothing wrong with that, but still that's not God's way for you. God's way, He had to kill something for you. That was His Son, Christ Jesus. And the blood has, was, is, and will always be God's provided way of escape for any person that's a sinner, or any need. It's through the blood. It's the only way in the world God has a way provided, is through the blood of Jesus Christ.

Here not long ago, when one of the great famous churches, many of their members sitting here tonight. When I got an article out of the newspaper where they even wanted to take blood out of their hymn books. Blood, the blood songs out of the hymn books. Said, “We don't have a slaughter block religion, we want something nice and pious.”

Well, that down on the equal of Buddha, or some of those others. Listen, you take the blood out of there, you got no more salvation. That's all. Because blood only, or salvation only comes through life and life is in the blood stream and the blood was offered and only through the shedding of the blood is there remission of sin. I like the old-fashioned blood-strewn religion, that's me. Because God looked upon there as He suffered it, and that blood was shed for us and we've got to accept that.

And then, just by accepting it won't only do, God's got to vindicate back, that He has accepted you. That's the thing. You can accept Him, but then if He accepts you. Stay right there until He does accept you. And then when He does, He seals you into His kingdom by the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Then you have, you're secure until the day of redemption. That's right.

“Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you're sealed until...” the next revival? Unh-uh. “...until the day of redemption.” Is that right? There's no ups-and-downs, ins-and-outs, you really get into God. If you're really in Him, not just impersonating something, but you're really in Christ, your one alternative, your whole heart's sold out, every bridge is burnt behind you, and you got your affections set on things which are above, and you run the race with patience that's set before you. Amen.

Notice, God making a way. He makes a provided way. He called a sheep. I always wondered why we was likened unto sheep in the Bible. I don't know whether there's any sheep raisers here or not, but I've herded a few sheep, was raised partly in cattle herding and everything, in practically the biggest part of my life. In and out on ranches for, well, since I was a boy.

But if you ever seen anything helpless, is to get a sheep lost. When a sheep's lost, he just simply can't find his way, that's all. He will just stand right there and bleat till the coyotes get him or something, he's just lost. He's helpless.

And that's the way a man is when you're lost brother, I don't care how much reforming you try to do, you're absolutely helpless until the shepherd comes get you. You can't save yourself, there's no way at all that of doing it. A leopard could lick his spots just as hard as he could, you could scrub him with sal soda, anything you want to, it'll only brighten the spots. So there's no way we can reform ourself, or lay aside this, or turn a new page, there's only one thing left for us to do, that's accept what the Word said do, be born-again, or lost. That's true, now. Jesus Christ said that, “Except a man be born of water and of Spirit, he will in no wise enter into the kingdom.” Whether he's little, big, ignorant, or whatever he is, he's got to meet those conditions. Jesus said so.

And you know what a birth is? It's a regeneration, a new creation. A man becomes a new creation in Christ. And by accepting His Word.

Now we can think of the time.... And always, the man who takes God's provided way, is always a man who is looked down upon as a fanatic. He's always, through all ages, considered by the world a fanatic. Never, never, in any time, was God, religion and salvation of this earth ever popular with the people of the world. He said, “If you lo...” The world knows their own. That's right. “If you love the world, the things of the world, the love of God's not even in you.” So it's always been a hard struggling way, walking by faith. But it's not hard struggling to the man. It's the world looks down upon, say, “Well, these people must be crazy, they act silly.” And it's always been that way because he's accepted the way out that God has provided for him.

In time of the antediluvian world, could you imagine a father Noah, out there when he, perhaps, come home one afternoon from his work, he was a farmer, told his wife, “The Lord spoke to me today and told me to go build a big ark.”

“Why,” she'd say, “Noah, how could you build an ark? You're a farmer. How could you ever make an ark?”

“Well, God said it was going to rain and it was going to flood the whole world over and everybody was going to be drowned. And He told me if I follow His Word, I would escape it.”

And I tell you, that's the way we always escape, is following God's program. That's the only way we will ever be able to do it.

I can see Noah out there building away on this ark setting out in the middle of a big dry field where there'd never been a drop of rain fall from Heaven. Never had there been anything come out of the heavens as rain. Never been a cloud in the skies. And yet, Noah, out there building away on an ark. Could you imagine how silly that looked? Why, to the carnal mind that man was insane. I could hear the people coming home from the work in the afternoon, down in the city, saying, “Say, do you believe that rain story they're telling out there? What do you think about that old crank? Why isn't that the craziest guy you ever seen? Out there building away on an ark saying that water's going to fall down from Heaven. Why, the man's crazy, there's nothing up there. God's always watered through irrigation, down here like this. There's no such a thing.”

But God told him that was the way of escape and that's the way he was building away. As Jesus said, “As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the coming of the Son of Man.” There'd be a program on earth that would seem just that crazy to people. That's right. Just that foolish. But yet, it would be God's program. Because it would be taking God at His Word. And they'll be building away on an ark. And that ark is Jesus Christ. That's right. That's right, trying to get converts in to Him.

Now, God told Noah that that was the only way of escape there would be. And it was the only way. And he preached for a hundred and twenty years. And the people ignored him, laughed at him, made fun of him, mocked, scoffed. As it was in the days of Noah, eating.... What kind of a world was they having? Eating, drinking, marrying, giving in marriage. All kinds of different things, just as they're doing now. They had a civilization even was greater than what we've got now. If you don't think that's so, let us try to reproduce the pyramid down there. Let us try to build that. Or the sphinx, or something on that order. Let us try to make a mummy like the Egyptians did in their embalming, find out how far we are away from the civilization of that day. We're far, far away from it.

In a day of a greater civilization than this, a man, out there building on an ark. Said it was going to rain, and it had never even been a cloud in the skies for two thousand years since the world had been in existence, there'd never been a cloud, a clap of thunder, lightning or nothing else. But yet, God told him it was going to do it. Because His great Spirit was going to push this world out of its cater, out there and lean it back and cause clouds to come. If God said so, it's going to be just the way God said it was going to be.

And Noah built right away, pitching the ark, putting the tar in it just the same as the thing was setting in water. Not only wasn't going to rain, but it was going to come a flood that was going to wash the whole world over. And Noah believed God. Warned of God, moved by faith, and built the ark, working in God's provided way.

My! Oh, I can just imagine as he's beating away at the last part was on, the people standing around laughing, saying, “Hey, what you going to do with that big old thing?” Making fun of him, everything. He just built away, stood on the end of it preaching just as hard as he could.

And then finally, there come a day when God got tired of it. And I can just imagine seeing the funny feeling coming over the earth. Just about like there is today, everybody restless, “What's fixing to happen?” You go out on the street and talk to any sinner you want to, you could go into a barroom, and everybody knows that something's fixing to happen. Right! Something's fixing to happen. Judgment is on the world, and they see it.

Could you imagine a lamb out here eating in a field. And the poor little fellow can't see nothing, but he begins to feel restless, there's something fixing to happen. Crouching over yonder in the bushes is a lion coming up. It's just something about it he could tell it, there's something fixing to happen. He can't see that lion, but he knows there's something wrong.

That's the way it is today brother, there's setting a scene today with all this conglomeration of blackness and darkness and sin and things that's going on in this world, they're setting a stage for the greatest drama that was ever acted out in all ages: the coming of Jesus Christ. And man cannot, we cannot have the last day until people gets in the Spirit of the last day.

We cannot have a healing service here until people gets in the Spirit of a healing service. We cannot have a filling of the Holy Ghost until people gets in that kind of a atmosphere. And the people was in the atmosphere in that day to bring judgment upon the earth. And they're in the same atmosphere today: eating, drinking, marrying, giving in marriage, and all this kind of a thing like that. And the glory of God is being preached and demonstrated in the power of the Holy Ghost setting forth an example of the resurrection of Jesus Christ that's going to take the church into glory, just as certain as I'm standing here. That's right. And men are ignoring it, paying no attention to it, walking away from it. Because they're in the spirit of the last day.

The world's got to get like this. God would be unjust to pour His wrath out upon a just people. They have ignored Him and walked away and Satan's captured them. And there they're standing in that time. But God has a provided way today. A way of escape. That way is Jesus Christ, by being born again.

I can see, the first time a lightning come up and flashed across the skies, Noah said, “Come on, honey.”

His boys said to their wives, “Come on.”

They got in the ark. Why, people said, “I wonder what happened? A flash went off somewhere.”

But I tell you, there was such a pull till even the animal creation knew that something was wrong. I can see the old mother bird setting up there, and the father bird just singing away. That first clap of lightning, the first time that signs and wonders begin to happen, I can see father bird say, “Mother bird, come on, let's get right straight to the ark, because that's exactly what Noah said was going to happen. That's the Spirit of God moving in us, let's go to the ark.”

I can see the old mother camel out there eating on the side of the hill, and the father camel over here. When the first bolt of lightning went through the sky and the signs and wonders begin to appear, I can hear father camel say to mother camel, “Come on, that's it. Something's tugging on the inside of here, something's moving me, I've got to get into the ark.” I tell you, God had ordained that they'd come into the ark.

And I believe that today when the signs and wonders are appearing everywhere, the coming of the Son of God, I believe that every man or woman that's ordained of God to hear the voice of God, hears that tug, they shove to the ark as fast as they can go, get into safety, for God's provided way for man to escape. That's right. You see signs appearing, wonders appearing, mysterious things happening. Sure, flying saucers through the air and everything else. Jesus said, “There'd be signs in the heaven above and in the earth below, pillars of fire and vapors of smoke, it shall come to pass before the great and terrible day of the Lord shall come.”

He spoke all these things, the sea a roaring, tidal waves breaking, and everything. Men's hearts failing. Greatest time of heart trouble we've ever had. Fear, perplex of times, distress between the nations. Oh, my! How the prophet said, “That horseless carriages here that race in the broadways, and seem like torches and run like lightning.” Everything that was spoke of, we're looking in the face of it today.

What is it? It's God's warning to you people, “Prepare to meet God.” Get ready! “Why should I prepare to meet God, Brother Branham?” Brother, you prepare for a wedding, you prepare for anything else, when you see these things coming, you prepare to meet God. Every time you see a gray hair in your head, that means you better prepare to meet God. Every time you pass an undertaker's establishment, that means, prepare to get ready to meet God. Every time a baby's born, remember, prepare to meet God. Every time a funeral procession passes, prepare to meet God. Every time you hear the Gospel as a warning, prepare to meet God.

God has a way of escape, get into Jesus Christ now, where you're safe. Each one of those animals went right in, two by two, into the ark. God always makes a way for those who are really wanting to escape the wrath of God. Come on down, we can think of many things, I can think of Job, one of the oldest books in the Bible. I can think of Job standing there, broke out in boils. Sometimes people said, “Well, Job had sinned.” Lot of times.... Someone said today, “Well, because this person had this happen and this had this happen, that shows they're sinners.”

That doesn't show they're sinners. Not at all. Sometimes God does permit sickness to come. But if you know in your heart like Job did, that you were clean and clear before God, Job had some comforters to come too, and set with their backs turned to him for seven days, accusing him to be a secret sinner. [Blank spot on tape.] “Thou speakest like a foolish woman. The Lord gave and the Lord taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Brother, he knowed one thing, that God was the alternative, God was all he had to hold onto. So, “Blessed be the name of the Lord.” Said, “I come into this world naked, I will go out naked, but blessed be the name of the Lord.”

A man in that condition, a man that's willing to hold on to God's Word, God's under obligation to send him something. God's under obligation to take him to Him.

Tonight you people are sitting here wanting divine healing, you believe that there is such a thing as divine healing? If you believe it with all your heart, God's under obligation to introduce it to you. Amen. Because God's Word teaches it.

There was a prophet. That's right. And there was a prophet back there, he didn't know just exactly what the will of God was for him. He waited, he didn't know what to do. So the first thing you know, when everything seemed to go wrong, his comforters wouldn't comfort him. And then God was under obligation. Down from the east come a little fellow, Elihu. Elihu stood to him, said, “Now look, we put it in child-like form, Job said, ”Now look, I see the trees when they die, they live again. The flowers when they die, they live again. But man layeth down, he has to give up the ghost, he wasteth away. His sons come to honor him, but where is he? O that thou would hide me in the grave,“ and so forth, he spoke.

And Elihu said, “Now wait, Job.” (I like this.) Said, “Wait, Job, you're accusing God wrong. Now that flower hasn't sinned. God has a provided way for that flower to live again.”

Up in the north country where I come from, we raise.... The ladies up there like flowers like you do. And them little flowers will be pretty in the summertime, then the frost will come along, some of them are young, some are old, but when the frost comes along, bites them, that's death. They bow their little heads, first thing you know, the pedals drop off, a little black seed drops out, then they have a funeral procession for them.

The fall rains come across and they go to crying down, and it buries the little seed in the ground. Cold winter comes along, I guess it's froze, four or five inches up there now. Now the little petals are gone, the bulb's dried up, the little old seed has bursted open, the pulp's run out.

Now that'll go on through December, January, February, March, April, May. Now May comes along, last of April the first of May. The seed's gone, the pulp's gone, the petal's gone, the stalk's gone, everything there was of that flower is gone, that can be seen.

Is it gone? No. God has a provided way. There's a little germ of life laying there somewhere, just as sure as that sun rises yonder in the east and begins to shine warm upon the ground, it lives again. Why? God provided a way for it to live again. If God made a way for a flower to live again, what about a man that's made in His image? How God has made a way for us to live again.

But Job speaking, seeing that man was cut off from God because of his sin, his transgressions. And Elihu begin to explain it to him. How that his transgressions had took him away from God. Then Job begin to think of it. I can imagine, see him stand, and after while Elihu said, “But there's coming One, a Just One, One that'll stand in the breach, put His hand on a sinful man and a holy God, and then the man will rise again out of the ground just like the flower rises out of the ground.” Said, “Now you watch the flower come up in the spring of the year, but you say man layeth down and giveth up the ghost, where is he? Because he got out of God's provided way.”

But there's coming One who's going to put him back in the way. Hallelujah! Oh, when I think of that, my innermost being screams out, “What can I do to get this to man?”

“Yeah. There's coming One who will place him back in the way where this form will stand, He'll put his hand on this gap of sin here, and He will go in and take sin upon Himself and bridge the way back that man can come out of the ground again.”

Job begin to see it, being a prophet, he begin to listen to this little prophet Elihu. And the first thing you know, Job raised up, God put His binoculars down over his eyes, he looked a way down four thousand years, he said, “I know my Redeemer liveth, and at the last days He will stand on the earth: though the skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: Whom I shall see for myself, mine eyes shall behold, and not another.”

Yes, he saw the resurrection of Christ, he said, “My eyes shall behold, and not another.” He seen Jesus. He knowed he was in God's provided way, he had life in him, he said, “I know I will raise at that day because I'm believing in Him.”

At the last day Jesus was to stand and to bridge that way for man. How God has always made a way of escape for those who believe.

I can think of Moses, the children of Israel down there in Egypt, when they were way down in Egypt, hit and beaten by those Egyptian taskmasters. God made a way of escape. He sent a fellow down by the name of Moses. And before Moses could bring them out, they had sinned and got away from God. And the only way Moses could do, was to obey God. And God sent him down there and told him to take a lamb and to make a sacrifice and to place the blood upon the lintel of the doors, upon the door posts.

I want you to notice how beautiful that is, the lintel, the top of the door, and on the door posts. Not on the bottom. Blood of Christ isn't to look down at, it's to look up to. Right, perfectly in the door, the shape of the cross. Every father in that day was a priest of his own family. And it was up to each individual family to kill a lamb. The lamb was to be kept up fourteen days, tried. Perfect type of Christ, tried before all of His accusers. Yes, there wasn't a blemish on Him.

Let's take a little look and see if they could find any blemish on this Lamb of God. Course you know, His friends would testify of Him. Let's look at His enemies. His arch enemy Judas Iscariot, when he looked at Him hanging there, he said, “I have betrayed innocent blood.” Throwed the money down at the high priest's feet, went and got a rope and hung himself.

Let's look at the Roman centurion, when he felt the earth shaking and going on when Jesus died, he put his hand over his heart, said, “Truly that was the Son of God.”

The Father Himself shut off the visions of Heaven, it turned midnight dark in the middle of the day, according to what the prophet said would take place. God said, “That's My beloved Son.” Certainly, He did.

Look at that Pilate, that great fellow sitting out there on the judgment seat. Got him out early in the morning, he was all stewed up in his mind, all bitter anyhow, and kind of hated this fellow. They brought him out there and set him on the judgment seat, early in the morning to make a judgment. And they brought Him up and he wanted Him to do some miracles for him, or please him some way.

And notice, he's just ready to condemn Jesus, I hear something coming down the road just as hard as it can come. What is it? It's a horse coming from up at the palace. A man jumps off the horse, runs up there. What is it? It's one of the palace guards. He takes a letter out of his pocket, falls down before Pilate, hands it to him. He picks it up, opens it up. He's standing there in his fury ready to condemn Jesus. He begin to read, his hands begin to shake, his knees begins to beat together. What is on that letter that would cause that cruel emperor to change in a few minutes? What would take place to make a man like that and him ... or their emperor, what would make him do that? Let's look over his shoulder just a minute and find out. It's coming from a pagan wife, “Have nothing to do with this just Man, for I've suffered many things today in a dream because of Him!”

He said, “Bring me some water, I'll wash my hands. I have nothing to do with it.” Hallelujah. God was making a way for Him there, if He'd only accepted it. That's right. Yes sir.

He's made a way for you tonight. Are you going to do the same thing Pilate did, wash Him off of your hands? You'll never do it! A lot of people justify, Pilate? No, sir. Pilate was not justified by washing his hands. If Pilate was justified, you can be the same. You here see it every night here, you could wash your hands, say, “Well, I will have nothing to do with it. I will return back.”

You can't get it off your hands. Right. You know the end of Pilate, he plunged himself to death up there near Norway, Sweden. And every year yet, people go up there to watch that blue water come up the same that he washed his hands from Jesus. Might be a superstition, but they gather there to see it anyhow, every year. No, sir, you can't wash it off.

And when down there in Egypt, God told him, said, “Call out now....” I love this, He said, “I'm going to make a difference.” God does make a difference. “I'm going to make a difference between the Egyptians and the Israelites. And this difference is going to be by the shedding of blood of a lamb.” Called out, separated. God always calls for separators. Lot of people in the church say, “We want this young fellow, he's just got out of college and I tell you, he'll take a social drink and oh, he's a good mixer.”

God don't want mixers, He wants separators. “Separate me, Paul.” Separate yourself from the things of the world. God have mercy, give us some old time preachers that'll preach the unadulterated Gospel of Jesus Christ, call black black, and white white, and lay the Gospel where it will. As John the Baptist said, “The ax is laid to the root of the tree.” Give us some more preachers like that! We'll get back to God's way about things then. Amen.

All right, I want you to notice, then he said, “I want you to take the lamb and kill it in the evening.” Perfect type of Christ, killed in the evening. And then the whole assembly of Israel was to witness the death. They did at Christ. And the blood was to be put on the door for that night. The death Angel was going to ride the land. And everywhere there wasn't blood, was going to be death.

And I tell you brother, if there ever was a time that the death Angel is riding the land, it's tonight. He comes to the church door where the priest stands. And a church that's denying the blood and the power of Jesus Christ, there's wrote on “All the glory of God has departed.” The death Angel goes in and that settles it! They become formal and dead and denying God's power. And the first thing you know, death is all over the whole group of them. You'd never get them to believe anything, they can't believe it.

Now watch this death Angel. I can see the father. Now they was supposed, when the sun went down and darkness set in, they once come under the blood of that lamb, they had to stay under there until marching orders was given. Brother, this is good for you Nazarenes now.

Look, coming under the blood. Once under that blood, put it on the lintel of the door and on the post. But every time a man come through that door into this home, he stayed there until marching orders come to go out of Egypt. I like that. Stay there!

I can see the young ladies going to the party that night, to the young Israelite girl, saying, “Come on, Rebekah,” so forth, “come on out, we're going to...”

“I can't do it.”

“Why?”

“Well, we're under the blood.” Oh, oh, my! “We're under the blood.”

“Oh, come on, let's go. Nonsense, that old crazy religion you're daddy's got there.”

“But look, something in my heart tells me that I mustn't go beyond that blood.”

And on they went to their big parties and so forth. Then along about midnight there begin to come a strange feeling. Just like coming over the world again now, we spoke of awhile ago. Something's wrong, great, howling darkness set upon the earth. Winds begin to blow. I can see the little boy just home, here where we're going to go. Look at him, he says, “Say, what is that? I kind of feel funny. I see all the young girls is at the dances, they're hurrying up home.”

Oh my, too late to pray then. Now, the first thing you know, he begins to look around. I can hear the little boy say, “Daddy, did the Word say that the elder son was going to be killed in the home?”

“Yes.”

“Well, daddy, what about our home?”

“Son, we're just as safe as we can be.”

“How do you know you're safe?”

“We've obeyed God's Word. We're under the blood.”

I can hear him say, just a little later, after a while, I look out the window, little boy does, look, there comes two big black wings moving through the air. That's death. And if there's any time that the black wings is shook the country today, we've had earthquakes, we've had pestilence, we've had all kinds of things that could come to this land, and all like they did in Egypt. But the last plague that hit Egypt before destruction was death. And the last plague that's hit the church is a spiritual death! Right. That's the last thing.

They're dying, the churches are dying out. Oh, we're having protractive meetings, but no revival, no revival. They said the great revival in America, tell me where it's at. Where's it at? We haven't even struck the first phase of a revival in America. The reason of it is, that we're trying to teach men theology and things, instead of bringing them back God's provided way by the baptism of the Holy Ghost and send them back to God by the way of Calvary. We're trying to get them into the church and join them into the church and baptize them into the church and shake their hands into the church and pack their letters into their church; but they got to be born in the church of the living God. And that's the reason we haven't got no revival.

What we need is an old-fashioned stirring again where an old time John Wesley revival where they stood and preached all night long and the power of the Holy Ghost falling over the audience. That's what we need again. Amen! I kind of feel religious right now. So listen friends, let me tell you something. When I think about the great need of this nation, we don't need more seminaries, we don't need more preachers, what we need is what preachers we got filled with the Holy Ghost. That's what we need. True as I'm standing here, that's the truth.

Now, I want you to notice something else. That little boy.... Then we watched these wings go down. When it hit a home, he heard a scream come. But I hear the little boy say, “Daddy, are you sure that that blood's on there?”

I can see him walk out and look over there, said, “Yes, sir, son, she's covered.”

These wings start towards that home, but when she starts to come down like this, it sees the blood. He said, “When I see the blood I will pass will pass over you, I'll go over.” That's right. On over. God's provided way of escape.

God's provided way tonight for you to escape this cold, formal, indifferent, ungodly condition that's existing in America today called in the name of Christianity, everything that Christ told them not to do, they do it. And do it in the name of Christ. Only Christ said, “Heal the sick, and raise the dead, and cleanse the lepers, and cast out devils,” and they deny that. And they educate their preachers and send them out with theology. Just exactly what He said not to do. Then do it in the name of Christ. Amen!

Brother, that's the truth. I may not be able to say it the way I ought to say it, but I say it the way it's in my heart. It may be barefooted, but it's time that men handled the Gospel, not sissified, with a pair of rubber gloves on. Tell them the truth! That's right. They might hate you here, but they'll love you at the Judgment Bar. That's right. We're not sissying around. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is not sissified, it's the greatest thing that a man ever done.

God never judges a man.... Somebody say, “Isn't he a man?” He's got shoulders that wide and arms that big. He might be a brute, but he might not have a ounce of man in him. That's right. You don't judge men by muscle, you judge men by character. I've seen men that weighed two hundred pounds and would throw a baby out of a mother's arms and ravish her for his own beastly lust. That's right. You don't judge a man by the callous in his hand, but by the bags in the knees of his pants where he's been praying. Hallelujah! That's what we need today, some more men like that. Got real godly old-fashioned Holy Ghost conviction.

I'd rather have a man like that with my boy if he didn't even know his ABC's, to stand out yonder by a stump somewhere in a broomsage patch and pray for him till he come through with the Holy Ghost, than have all the teachers there is in the world trying to poke theology in him. Amen! Brother, that's the truth. What we need today is get back to God's provided way for sinners.

There down there, when they marched out over there they didn't have.... They got marching orders, they started out. When they crossed the bridge, went across, God made a bridge through the bottom of the sea for them. When they got over there, when they needed something to drink, the water's all run out, there was a pool there. But the water was bitter, they couldn't drink it. God had a provided tree. He just walked over there, cut the tree down, throwed it into the pool, drink all you want to. God has a provided way.

We're in a journey and God's got a way for everything we got a need of. Hallelujah! God have mercy. Sure there's some way to crack this city here for the glory of God, if we could only find it. That's right. What can we do? What can I do? God just reveal it.

Now look, there was a way, there stood a bush on the side of the hill. Moses cut the bush down, throwed it in there, said, “Drink all you want to, it's good.”

After a while when they needed water again, they was way out in the desert, God said, “Go smite the rock.” The rock, after they'd seined through every, probably every little old place they could find, every oasis, got under every place and raised up the rocks, everywhere, where there was a spring. No water at all. And then, God done the ridiculous. The driest thing there was in the desert, said, “Go speak there, there's where the water's at.”

How it seems today, when you think divine healing, and power of God, and the baptism of the Holy Ghost ought to come out of Vatican City or something. God takes a bunch of little holy-rollers down on the corner maybe don't know their ABC's, and there's where the water lays. Right! He don't deal in pomp and things like that. He has mercy on the ignorant.

Peter and John was ignorant and unlearned men. The Bible said they were absolutely ignorant. But they had to take notice to them, they'd been with Jesus, that's the main thing. That's right. They had enough faith to heal the man at the gate called Beautiful. Peter had enough power of God in him to tell Ananias, “You're lying!” That's right. “You kept back that money. And Sapphira, you did the same thing.” Scared them so bad they had a heart attack and died. They packed them out and buried them. Amen! That same God lives today. That same program is God's program for the day.

God moving through the wilderness yonder. Come a time they needed something to eat. When they needed something to eat, God just rained manna down out of heaven. God's provided way.

“How are we going to eat? We're out here with no bread, there's no wheat, there's no corn? What are we going to do?”

Don't make any difference, God said, “Come out here, I'll take care of the rest of it.” And manna rained down out of heaven. Isn't that glorious? Just rained manna down. All you have to do is go out and pick it up. But don't pick up too much of it at one time. Because you try to get enough tonight to make it last tomorrow night, it got wiggletails in it, rotten.

That's about what's half the matter with the church tonight. Stagnated with what we call in the south, up there, wiggletails. That's what's the matter with a lot of people's experience today, say, “Well, I—I got blessed way back yonder, ten years ago.” What about now? How are you prayed up now?

Reminds me of a little Irish mother coming across from Ireland. She was going over to New York to meet her daughter. On the road over, they sent a SOS, the ship was about to sink. They was playing some kind of a jazz music down on the floor and all of them dancing. The captain, the skipper, come down there and said, “Just a moment, everybody,” said, “change your music, if we can hold out thirty minutes we'll be there, if we don't we're going to the bottom of the sea.”

And everybody begin to play: Nearer My God To Thee, and everybody fell on the floor and begin to pray. Little old Irish mother in a little old dress hooked up around this way and her long sleeves, she said, “Glory, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.”

Well, the skipper said, “Madam, what's the matter with you?”

Said, “I'm happy.”

Said, “You misunderstood me.” Said, “Did you know I said in thirty minutes from now we may be in the bottom of the sea.”

Said, “I understood you.”

Said, “Why don't you pray?”

She said, “I'm prayed up, don't have to pray.” Right. “I'm prayed up.” Said, “Oh, glory, praise the Lord.”

He said, “How can you do that, lady? What are you shouting about if you're prayed up?”

Said, “Well, you said in thirty minutes from now, if we held out we'd be in New York.”

“That's right.”

“And if we didn't hold out, we'd be in the bottom of the sea.”

“That's right.”

She said, “Glory!” She said, “I got a daughter in New York I'm going to see. And if we don't hold out I got one in Glory.” Said, “I'm going to see one in thirty minutes. Hallelujah, praise the Lord.”

That's the way you want to live. Hallelujah! Right! Prayed up and ready to go. Amen! Walk in God's provided way, ready for any minute. Amen. For you don't know what minute He will call you to come in His presence.

There I can see the Israelites as they went through. First thing you know, they didn't have any remedies out there, Dr. Moses couldn't get a hold of the right kind of a serum, so they had some snake bites. So God provided a way. That right? He made a serpent, made it out of brass and put it on a pole. And the only thing the people had to do, was go and look at that pole, that serpent on that pole, and believe that God put it up there, and they got healed. Someone said, “Well, I'm going down here to see if I can get some snakeroot and see if I can put it on.”

The other one said, “Oh, John, where you going?”

Said, “I'm going to get some snakeroot and put it on here see if it heal it.”

Said, “I'm just going to take God's provided way, just look at the serpent and live.”

And he lived, the snakeroot failed. Amen. God's got a remedy tonight! Hallelujah! That remedy is Jesus Christ is come by the baptism of the Holy Spirit. You think I'm crazy, maybe I am. I am, I'm happy. Say, “I'm more happier this way then I was the other way. So I'd rather be like this,” see. So I'm just feeling wonderful.

All right, yes, sir, God had a provided way. One time there was a fellow named Elijah. The Lord told him, said, “This country's so sinful,” said, “I'm going to send judgment upon it. But Elijah, I'm going to make a way of escape for you.”

“What are You going to do, Lord?”

“I want you go up there and set down by the pool of Cherith, up on top of that mountain yonder.”

Elijah walked through the streets, said, “Well, it ain't going to rain till I call for it. I'm going up yonder and sit on the mountain.”

And when the drought come ... Could you imagine those people come along saying, “Look at that crazy old crank up there. Sitting up there by a little old spring on top of that mountain when you know the water ain't up there.” But God kept it running. I'm so glad He does.

Here, sitting up on top of the mountain ... said, “I bet that old guy's dried up, up there.”

No, no, no, he's doing just—he's taking God's provided way. God said, “You go up there and sit down, because I've already commanded the crows to feed you.”

They said, “That poor old crank sitting up there starving to death.”

Well, he was doing better off. I bet he's better off than a lot of you are here tonight. He had some colored servants to wait on him. I bet you haven't got that. Yes, sir. Crows come by and waited on him. Is that right? That's right. He had colored porters, and half of you haven't got that. They come by and waited on him, the crows, as they passed by.

Some preacher said to me not long ago, said, “Billy, do you mean to tell me that you believe them crows brought that fellow food?”

I said, “That's what the Bible said, I believe it.” Yeah.

Said, “I want to ask you something.” Said, “How in the world did those crows get them sandwiches and bring it to Elijah?”

I said, “I don't know.” I said, “The only thing, the crows got it, the crows brought it, Elijah received it, that settles it.” I said, “Just exactly like now, I can't tell you what makes me act like this, only thing I know, God taught it, the Bible said so, the Holy Ghost brought it, I received it, and I just have a good time.”

I don't know how it comes, it's just here. Hallelujah, I don't know. God said so, so I just eat it. Holy Ghost brings it, I say, “Yes, Lord.”

“

Well, they're going to call you a holy-roller.“

I don't care, Lord, I just love it, it feels good, I just keep on eating. Send it down. Amen. Just give me a bigger bite of this sandwich, that's all.

I can hear them say, “Oh, my, standing around there trying to find...” And that old preacher sitting up there, was supposed to be the fanatic, sitting down, not worried about a thing, see. Set there all day long. Said, “O Lord, I love You, praise the Lord. God, I just praise You.”

Crow come by, said, “Elijah, here they are.”

Take this great big sandwich, said, “Oh, my!” Them fellows I anointed come. Just get right down at the brook and drink all you want to. And yet called crazy.

That's the way it is, brother. They think that we're crazy because we got the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Brother, we're drinking from a fountain that never runs dry, of the everlasting waters of life that springs up through Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Sure, it's God's provided way. Certainly, it is.

Don't try to join your church and shake hands with your preacher, get right with God! Hallelujah. That's the way to do it. God's provided way for you to do it. He will make a way every time of escape if you just believe. You believe it? Yes, sir. He made a way of escape for Elijah.

Then when it finally come to a time, there was no rain. God told Elijah, “Go get ready for things. Well, Elijah got ready for the revival in Israel.” Then he said, “I tell you what I want you to do. I want you to go get me twelve stones and roll them here together.”

Now that was setting things in order, he was doing God's provided way. He went and got a stone for each tribe of Israel. But you know what's the matter today? We try to roll up a Pentecostal stone, say, “This is it.” The Methodists roll up a stone, say, “This is it.” But God wants us to roll them every one together and have an old-fashioned Holy Ghost pouring out on the whole church everywhere. Oh, brother, did that go home, I felt that. Yes, sir.

That's what we need today brother, bring every believer together and preach the Gospel, don't hold anything back, but preach the full Gospel of Christ until the baptism of the Holy Ghost is poured out upon all the church. That's the only way to have a revival.

Elijah said, “Now get everything together. Get me a stone here to represent each one of them.” Put his sacrifice upon it. Walked out there, he said, “Now Lord, let it be known that Thou art the God of heaven and I am Your prophet.” And the fire begin to fall.

Brother, when the Methodists can forget that they're just the only people on the earth, and the Baptists they're the only, Pentecostals, they're the only, we can all get ourselves together and say, “Lord, send the fire,” we're going to get somewhere. That's right.

When the Oneness Pentecost, and the Twoness Pentecost, and the Threeness Pentecost, and the Fiveness Pentecost, and all of them, can get their heads together. When all the Methodists can forget about sprinkling, or whether you're baptized, or whether you're to pour, or whether you do this, and everybody get together and forget about all them little old things, and say, “God, send the power.” Everything will take care of itself. Get the heart right with the Holy Ghost and the Holy Ghost will take care of the rest of it. Yes, sir. Amen. I believe in that kind of revival. Get God's provided way.

Roll up the stone of salvation, I believe that. Roll up the stone of speaking in tongues. I believe that. Roll up the stone of interpretation. I believe that. Roll up the stone of Divine healing. I believe that. Brother, get ready for the fire now. That's yours. “Now, I'm just going to forget all about a theology Lord, I'm just rolling up these stones. I'm going to lay myself right across, and say, 'O Lord, burn me up.'”

He will do it, don't worry, He'll get you.

That's the way you want to do, brother, take everything out of your mind and let God's Word be the provided way. Not the Methodist ritual, not this ritual, or that ritual, or this theology, or that theology, let the Bible be right. God said, “Let My words be true, and every man's, a lie.”

“In the last days I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh,” Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Catholic, Lutheran, everybody else. “I will pour My Spirit upon all flesh.”

“Come out from among them My people, you should be not partakers of their sins. I will receive you.”

Now sin is not just moral habits you know. Somebody said, “Well, this man smokes, that's a sin.”

No it ain't. It ain't smoke for him to lie—it ain't no sin for him to lie, for him to steal. That's not sin. That's the attributes of sin. He does that because he's a sinner. If he wasn't a sinner he wouldn't do that. But because he's a sinner, he does that. Now you say, “Well, glory to God, I don't smoke, I don't drink.” That don't make you a sinner, that's just the attributes of a Christian. You don't do it because you're a Christian. That's the way it is. And if you do do the other, you're not a Christian, if you do believe, you are a Christian. So that's the difference. It's God's provided way.

Jesus said, “He that heareth My words and believeth on Him that sent Me, has everlasting life, and I will raise ... [Blank spot on tape] People profess to have it, but their lives prove they haven't got it. You know them by their fruits.

Now, now Elijah. I can imagine him coming off the hill there. I know another fellow one day, that come down, he had some leprosy, his name was Naaman. He got down there and he got ... “Oh, my!” He heard, “Faith cometh by hearing, isn't it? Hearing by the Word of God.” And he'd tried all the doctors there was over in Syria, and there was none of them could cure him of leprosy. So he heard that there was a little girl got captured. She probably had a good Christian experience, a good experience of salvation. She said, “You know, there's a fellow over in our land practices divine healing, by the name of Elijah. Far as I know, there ain't nobody healed with leprosy yet, but I believe if you go over there and let him pray for you, you'd get healed.” Oh, my, we need some more of them little girls. That's right.

All right. Said, “Well, I believe I'll just saddle up and watch the man.” He gets so many changes of clothes, so many pounds of silver, and so many pounds of gold, take down there.

Now he wanted divine healing the way he had made up in his mind, “This is the way I'm going to get it.” So he goes up there and drives up before Elijah, down there.

And Elijah sits back here, I can imagine, in a little old chair, sitting back in his little mud hut down there, reading some of the Scriptures. Here comes Gehazi in, he said, “Oh, Master.”

“What do you want?”

“Well, there's the great Naaman the captain of the host of Syria out there, he's got leprosy.”

“Tell him to go dip in the Jordan seven times.”

Said, “Well, aren't you going out to see him?”

“No, I ain't got time, I'm talking to the Lord now.”

So he says, “Why, he's reading the Scripture, he's in prayer, he won't come up.” He said, “Go dip in the Jordan seven times.”

And oh, did he blow up! Oh, my! Just about like people do now. “Oh, I will never go back to that old place again. Hmmm! I will never have nothing to do with that bunch of holy-rollers.” Blow up like a frog eating shot and go around like that. “Oh, I'll never have nothing to do with that no more, I just can't believe in that, no, no, no.”

That's the reason you're in the condition you are right now. That's right. The Word of God has laid out the way.

“Me dip in them old muddy waters, no, sir. Well, the waters up in Syria is better than they are.”

I heard a person say the other day, “Go on down there and cry and carry on like the rest of them people down there, and boo-hoo and cry.”

I said, If you want to get saved you will.“

“Oh,” he said, “I will just never do that.”

I said, “Go ahead the way you are then.”

I was preaching here, a woman, she was crying. She raised up her hands and started shouting. Little old boy, Baptist teacher, come up to me, and he said, “Billy, when are you going to get away from them holy-rollers?”

I said, “Them what?”

Said, “Them holy-rollers.” Said, “I was enjoying your message the other night, till that woman raised up and started crying with her hands up in the air crying.” Said, “Didn't that interrupt you?”

I said, “No, if she didn't do it, it would.” I said, “That didn't interrupt me.”

He said, “You know what?” Said, “That just made chills go up my back like a window shade.”

I said, “Boy, if you'd ever get to Heaven you'd freeze to death.” I said, “Just go up one side and down the other. That's right. They're crying before the Lord, ”Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,“ day or night [unclear words]. Amen. Yes, sir. God's provided way.

You say, “Brother Branham, you're teaching that new kind of religion.” Unh-uh, I just got a brand new case of the old time kind.

“That kind of religion that has screaming and crying and going on?”

“Yes, that's right.”

God told Job, said, “Where was you when I laid the foundation of the world, when that old time religion was first put in existence?” Said, “When the morning stars sang together, and the sons of God shouted for joy?” Whew! Oh, brother. God's provided way, that's all. Just doing what God said do.

All right, the first thing you know, Naaman, I can see him. He goes up the road, puffed up, “I'll never go back there again.”

One man had enough salvation about him to say, “Now look father, if the prophet would have bid you some hard thing to do, give you all this money and pay for your healing, well, you'd accepted it. But just because he told you to go dip in the Jordan, why, you don't want to do it.”

I can see him, “Well, maybe I ought to try it.” And here he goes down you know, and he goes down, and he looks at that muddy Jordan, “Mm-m, that bunch of ho...” It's like.... You know what I mean. “Do I have to go down there to that place.” All right, keep your leprosy then.

So then, he goes on down yonder. I can see him get off his high horse, like a lot of people do, you know. “If I have to degrade myself to get down to that bunch of people like that.” So, I see him get out there in the water, um-m, you know, holding his nose like this. Come back, say, “Oh, I told you there wasn't nothing to it. I still got my leprosy.”

“Unh-uh, the prophet said, 'seven times,' just keep on dipping till the seven times is over.”

“But Brother Branham, how long do I have to dip?”

“Until.”

“Until what?”

“Until you get it,” that's what Jesus said. “Wait in the city of Jerusalem until you're endued with power.”

“Two days?”

“Until.”

“How long?”

“Until. Until you're endued,” that's right. Just stay there until, that's the Word of the Lord.

All right. One time there was a fellow by the name of Jehoshaphat that went tromping out into the wilderness. And as they went out, they forgot to take a compass with them and [unclear words] of serving the Lord and they got in trouble. You just talk about serving the Lord about something, you get in trouble too. So, they got in trouble.

And they found out, they was out there seven days, they didn't have anything to eat, water was all dried up. Sure nothing for them to eat or drink. There's one of them happened to think, “Well, God's got a provided way for this.” They said, “Wasn't there a prophet somewhere that they could consult the Lord?” They said, “Yes. There's Elijah down there. We could go up and see what Elijah thinks. Oh, [unclear words] Elijah is a real prophet.” So they went out to him.

So here comes the prophet [unclear words] sun coming up, so he kind of got blowed up, and said, “What are you coming to me for? Why do you come to me for?” Oh, he got really riled about it, you know, kind of tore up. Said, “What have I to do with thee?” [Unclear words] “If I didn't respect the presence of Jehoshaphat, I wouldn't even look at you.” Now he got all stewed up, said, “Play us some music.”

So they got to playing the music, the tambourine. Now, if you can't be the prophet, you can be one of the instruments that play the music to bring the Spirit down on the prophet. You know how [unclear words] instruments and all begin to beat and play [unclear words].

There will be a meeting in the air,

In the sweet, sweet, by and by,

God's own Son will be the leading One,

At the meeting in the air.

The prophet was beginning to get into the Spirit. And the first thing you know, when he got in the Spirit, things begin to happen.

That's what's the matter, we can't get anywhere. We just can't get in the Spirit of it! That's it, right. [Unclear words]. You got to get in the Spirit of it. They begin to [unclear words] having a good time. They see that the Spirit of God was in the power of the prophet. The Spirit got on the prophet, then he begin to see things. You'll go to seeing things when you get in the Spirit.

They begin to get in the Spirit, just now getting in God's provided way to see what's going to happen. He said, “Go out yonder, you start digging some ditches.” [Unclear words].

Oh, my, now look something here, all of us. [Unclear words]. Just kick the thing out and keep on digging. [Unclear words]. “I don't see any sign of healing, I don't see this.” That's what's the matter. That's what's the matter with [unclear words]. Take a shovel, dig a ditch. You ain't going to see any sign. You ain't going to see any rain. There ain't going to be any [unclear words]. Hallelujah!

What I think tonight, what we need is a good old Holy Ghost revival sweep from one side of [unclear words] to the other. Preachers around here that [unclear words] get right with God, and you'll have an old-fashioned revival. Amen. That's right.

Brother, that's what this church needs today, and what this country needs, today is for jealousy and it's petty [unclear words] to get out. Amen. Right! Come back to God. [Unclear words].

When I was a little boy, we used to pull with mama, have to boil meat skins in a pan to get the grease to make our corn pone, we just had to live off of corn bread and molasses and so forth, we didn't have the lard, so she had to get old meat skins. And every Saturday night, I never.... She had a big old tea kettle and big old cedar tub, and it pour a tea kettle full of hot water in there and I'd have to take a bath. Every Saturday night it was a bath, then take a big dose of castor oil. I never will forget that. After you eat such food as that, and I used to take it and mama would come, I'd hold my nose, I'd say, “Mama, mama, please don't. Oh,” I said, “the thing makes me so sick.”

She said, “If it don't make you sick, it don't do you any good.”

So I mean that tonight, if it don't make you right good and sick, preacher don't do you any good, but it'll stir you up a little bit. Get your bifocals on the full Gospel. Hallelujah. Amen! You have to take God's provided way. That's right, it'll fix you up, make you feel better tomorrow. Just swallow right on down, say, “Yep, I guess that's right, I'm going over and shake hands with the man, make up with him then. After I'm going to cooperate in the meeting, I'm just going to do everything I can to see the glory of God move on.” You're going to get somewhere then. Whew! [Unclear words] he's got something. All right. But it's God's provided way. That's right.

All right, I can see them, they got the water, they got their ditches filled up. And the first thing you know, they never only drank all their water from it, they went over and took a rock and stopped up all the old cold formal wells they had over there. And if you'll just dig real deep tonight, till this building is filled with the baptism of the Holy Ghost and the people are healed and filled with the Spirit and out on the streets a screaming and praising God, walking down to these barrooms tomorrow and giving testimonies and everything, for the glory of God; we will stop up some of these old cold formal wells around here with some of these stones, that's right, of testimonies. Amen! That's right. I believe it with all my heart. God has a provided way.

One time there was a woman, she had a blood issue, in the Bible. Oh, my, it was very bad, the doctors couldn't do nothing. So she'd heard about a Man was healing the sick. So the first thing you know, one night ... He knowed that, He toiled all night across the sea in a big storm. The next morning that little boat pushed into the willows down there. She was sitting up there on the hill, she looked at it, and something told her in her heart, “God has a provided way for me. If I could only touch that Man's clothes, I'm going to get well.”

Here she goes down. And when you try to follow God's provided way, like it has been in all ages, you'll find conflict everywhere. I can see her come up against the pastor, he say, “Now where do you think you're going?”

“I want to touch His garment.”

“Nonsense!”

She pressed right on by him.

Next thing, she come up there, she come with Brigham Young and all of his bunch.... Why, she come the next [unclear words], “Well, the days of miracles is dead.”

She just moved right down moved between their legs and went right on. She didn't play with the world. She had the alternative, that was to do what God told her to do in her heart. Amen. That's what we need tonight, follow God's provided way. She moved right through and touched His garment. Lot of people hugging Him and everything, said, “Oh, Master You're....”

Said, “Who touched Me? Who touched Me?”

He looked around to see where the vision was. Just the same as He does now. Said, “Thy faith has saved thee, go in peace.” Amen!

What was it? A lot of them was saying this, that, and the other. Peter said, when He said, “Who touched Me,” he said, “Master, the whole crowd's a touching You.”

He said, “I know but somebody has touched Me.”

That's the kind of a touch we want to have tonight. That's God's provided way for every one of you tonight. God's touch! It's His provided way. Look and live! He's got a provided way. Said, “Lord, I believe it!”

Like the lady going out there now with that baby. She believes that that baby, going walking out. Lady, you with the baby, turn around this way. Do you believe with all of your heart for that baby? You believe that condition's going to leave it? You believe that diabetes is done gone from it? It has, so go on your way. That's the way you go. God's provided way. Amen! Hallelujah! God's provided way!

Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, is God's provided way for every sinner, every man that believes can have it right now. Do you believe it? God's provided way.

There was a man one day, who had lost his little daughter. Jesus provided a way. Come laid His hands on the girl. She got well.

There was a little old man one day, by the name of Bartimaeus, touched the hem of His garment, as it was. And called for him. And he accepted God's provided way and was made well. Do you believe that? Look! Hallelujah! Brother, I feel good. Now you're getting into the atmosphere. Now you're getting things right [unclear words] stir your minds. Say in your heart, say, “God I accept it. I believe it with all my heart.”

God's right here now to make every person well. You believe that? It's God's provided way. That woman with that little baby, just as she started out wondering in her mind, she got all crippled [unclear words]. What was the matter? God had a provided way. That's right.

Let me tell you something brother, the church got all formal and indifferent a lot of times. The church got just about like it is now. Everyone having a creed, everyone having a denomination, everyone having this, one had this and one had that. But there come a time then when Jesus came along. He was God's provided way. Is that right?

A woman touched the hem of His garment. There is a time when Jesus had gone up to Heaven and God had a provided way. Peter, the apostle, they laid in his shadow and was made well. Is that right? God's provided way.

They had another man named Paul. Is that right? And he couldn't even pray for them all, so God had a provided way, He took handkerchiefs off of Paul's body and unclean spirits went out. Is that right?

The church got to a place where it's kind of cowardly, they climbed up in the upper room and stayed up there until ten days and nights. And suddenly there came a sound from Heaven like a rushing mighty wind. Not a preacher walking up the road, saying, “Now we're going to take you in by membership.” No cowardly priest, to say, “We will you a holy eucharist.” The Fire came God's provided way. The Holy Ghost come down from Heaven like a rushing mighty wind, it filled all the house where they were sitting. They didn't walk up and say, “I want to put my name on the church book.” They repented God's provided way. They begin to run, screaming, speaking in tongues, jumping around, around, around, around, shouting and praising God. Then there come a church. Whew! God's provided way!

It's still God's provided way. God hasn't changed a bit. For, “This Gospel must be preached to every kindred, tongue and nation for a witness unto Me.” Then He will come again.

“Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; he that believeth not shall be damned and these signs shall follow them that believe.” God's provided way.

“Pray for the sick.” God's provided way.

“These things that I do.”

“I see vision.”

“Ever what's in your heart, do these things.”

“These things that I do shall you also.” God's provided way.

This will be a witness to me of my resurrection, Palm Beach, Florida and all the world, God's provided way. Hallelujah!

Oh, how I love Him. Oh, how His provided way is here. His provided way for every sinner. His provided way for every seeker of the Holy Ghost. His provided way for all things, whatever.

Lady, you sitting there with that checkered dress on, you don't have a prayer card, do you? Sitting right there, that lady. You don't have a prayer card, you were praying. That's right. But you have something wrong with your side, don't you? You want to get healed of it. Do you believe God will make you well? Do you believe God will heal you? It's in your left side, isn't it? See you when you're trying to get out of bed, holding your left side. Isn't that right? All right, it's gone from you now. You've accepted God's provided way. He's here to make you healed. God bless you. May you go, and God's eternal peace and grace rest upon you. Amen!

Do you believe Him with all your heart? Look this way and live, believe.

What do you think lady, sitting there? You believe with all your heart? You sitting there with the hernia, you believe God will make you well of that hernia? Do you believe it? Do you believe He has done it? Will you accept God's provided way? God's provided way is that Power that you feel coming on you right now. If you'll open up your heart, that Angel of God standing right above you there, will make you well. You believe it? If you can, you can be healed. God bless you.

What do you think about it, sitting there with the high blood pressure, lady? You believe ... or the heart trouble sitting right there. Isn't that right? Do you believe that power of God's moving on you now is making you whole? Stand up, your heart trouble has left you. It's God's provided way! Hallelujah!

Have faith in God! Amen! Get to believing.

I see a lady coming from Miami, moving up here. The woman has, she has low blood pressure, and she's anemic, she's sitting right there. All right. God bless you, sister, go back home and be well, in the Name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Lady sitting right next to you, got high blood pressure, too. God bless you, you can go home and get well, too. Thank the good Lord. Hallelujah! Amen.

The Angel of God's here, my whole body's just so numb I can hardly feel my hands, a mashing them.

Got something wrong with your lungs, sitting back there, haven't you, sir? All right, stand up, Jesus Christ healed you. God bless, you. You can go home now and get well. Amen!

I challenge you to believe God Almighty.

I see a man sitting there, just out ... somewhere in there, just a minute. The man's got arthritis, he's got hemorrhoids, too. That's it. That's your wife sitting next to you, isn't it? Is that right? Stand up, lady. I seen that same lady standing in a vision. Just a moment. Reverent. I believe, yes, sir, you have a gall bladder trouble. And you got something like, in your nose, something caused your nose to run, it's hay fever. Isn't that right?

Say, isn't your name Joe, or don't they call you Joe, or something like that? Or Joe Stone, or something on that order? Isn't that right? I thought I heard that when I heard that doctor was examining you. Go home, sir, you're from Miami too, aren't you? Never seen you in my life, but isn't that the truth? Isn't that right? Put your hand over on your wife, wife put your hand on your husband. And you all accept your healing because you go home well! Hallelujah!

You may think I'm crazy, man, I know I what I'm speaking of, the baptism of the Holy Ghost is here for every man, healing's here for every person. Amen! You think I'm beside myself, I'm not! I know what I feel. You're in the right atmosphere right now for everyone of you to be healed. Will you believe it?

God, who is my judge, goes all around over this building right now. Seems like one big yellow bank with streaks, hanging down, everywhere. It's you believing, friends. Oh, take God's provided way by taking His Word and saying, “Lord, it's the truth,” and accept it. Will you do it?

Oh, my! Every spirit in here is under my control now through Jesus Christ. That's right. That's true. If you'll believe me to be God's prophet at this time, there'll not be a feeble one among you. That's right. If you'll believe it. I can only say it, and God's here to confirm it and back it up and say it's the truth. Bow your heads. Let's pray.

Lord, I don't know what else to do. I see it moving over the whole entire audience now. O Father, please God, while You're here in this great power and move, may You heal every person here. May the Holy Ghost now, while this great power is moving over this audience, may the Holy Ghost move right down. This is Your provided way! For everyone was healed that laid in the shadow of Peter. While Peter spake these words the Holy Ghost fell on them.

Lord, I pray that in the name of Jesus Christ, that the Holy Ghost will drive back every gloomy spirit, every doubting spirit, and may the witness of Jesus Christ, which is now present to prove that He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. Break down the walls of this devil of doubting, ungodly spirit, that would move around over here and may every person be healed.

Oh, thou devil, I charge thee by the Son of God, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, that you turn these people loose. Come out of them! Every person, may be free. Some sitting there with arthritis. The woman sitting there bound with the power of the devil. That woman sitting there losing her mind, by menopause.

Everyone of you are absolutely healed right now, in the name of Jesus Christ, if you'll accept it and rise to your feet. Claim your God-given victory. This is the time to shout. And the walls of Jericho, as it was, the enemy that's keeping you out, will fall to the ground and every power of the devil will be broken, in Jesus Christ's name.