The Handwriting On The Wall

This being Wednesday night, I promised last evening to ... was going to speak, if the Lord would permit, tonight, on the subject of: “The Handwriting On The Wall”. It's a very.... Oh, we could put weeks on the subject, and then never scratch the surface. But I will try to outline just a little of it tonight, by the help of the Holy Spirit. And now I want to read from Daniel, the 5th chapter and the 25th verse. And it reads like this:

And now may the Lord add His blessings to the reading.

And I wonder if our good brother, the custodian here, would just turn these bright lights out. It's beaming right down this way. Thank you, very kindly. I can't see the audience; and when I'm talking to anybody, I like to look at them in the face when I'm talking. It just seems more like it's a personal contact with the people.

Now we are trusting to our Lord, tonight, while we just try to take my time and speak on this subject. I know it's a great subject. And it's an evangelistic service ... subject, and not one for Divine healing. But it's for the greatest of Divine healing. The sickest body that I know tonight is the spiritual body of our Lord Jesus, on this earth; so torn up, and broke up, till it really needs Divine healing.

Now, our subject tonight begins in Babylon. And Babylon was first located, which it is yet, in the Shinar. And it was first called, “The gate of God,” Babel, and later was called Babylon, which means “confusion.” And Babylon appears in the first of the Bible, in Genesis; and it appears in the middle of the Bible; and it appears in the last of the Bible, the last book, Revelation. And being that it's all through the Bible, it must be in existence yet today

And, also, everything that is on the earth today, in the way of spiritual things, such as the Spirit of God and the spirit of the devil, and all the cults and everything that we have today in the world, they began in Genesis. Genesis means “the beginning.” And all those things, yet under another name and under another form, but the same spirit that began in Genesis brings it out. And it's just like a tree growing, coming up to a head, where it will all come to a climax in the end, for the great judgments of God, where He will settle all things. And all that had a beginning will have an end. Just those things which had not a beginning has no end.

That's why the born-again Christian has never an end, because he has eternal life. And eternal life is a part of God's own life, for God is eternal. And the same word, Greek word Zoe that says “God's life,” when Jesus speaks and said, “I give unto them Eternal Life,” that same word is used again. Therefore, a man being born again, his spirit has been changed, and he becomes a part of God, insomuch that he is a son of God. And he's just as eternal as God is eternal, because he's a part of God, by his birth, spiritual birth.

Now, Babylon was founded by a man named Nimrod, who was the son of Ham, a very evil man.

And Babylon was once the capital of the world. When this great city was built there, all the little cities, all around it, paid tribute, taxes, and so forth, to this great city, Babylon.

And in there, if you'll read in some of the ancient books, such as Hislop's “Two Babylons”, and many of the ancient histories, you'll find that they had all kinds of curious doctrines in there. They had a woman in there, I can't call her name at this time, and she would find peculiar roots out of the earth, and make gods out of them. It's believed that that was the gods that Jacob took from his father-in-law, some of those gods of roots and so forth. Just little isms, that out of them things sprung these cults that we see in the world today. If you'll notice the nature of them, and the nature of these things today, it's the same nature.

So, Babylon set just in that great fertile valley there, and it was surrounded and irrigated by the Euphrates River, and the Tigris. And it was a great agricultural center. And Babylon was a great city. And it's, approximately, about one hundred and twenty miles around the city; thirty miles each side: that would make it a hundred and twenty miles around. They say that the streets in the city of Babylon was some two hundred feet across. The walls were eighty foot thick, and practically two hundred feet high. They could run chariot races around these walls, with the chariots. And the gates were made out of brass, and those gates then would be two hundred feet across. And right in the center of the city sat the palace, and the palace was the throne. And through the center of the city came the great river, Euphrates. If you'll notice it, it's the city of the devil, for it's designed after the city of God, as the river of life before the throne. And in this city, they had great, swinging gardens, off the walls, around.

And it was such a great, mighty nation at the time, until it had whipped the known world, and all the world was paying tribute. It had progressed further in science, and it had the latest things that science could produce. It had the latest chariots, the latest designs, the most powerful armors, and best of metals. It was an outstanding to the rest of the world.

And then inside these walls, where King Belshazzar was king during the time of this event that we're speaking on tonight. King Belshazzar, which the Bible says, “Nebuchadnezzar, which was his father,” but truly it was his grandfather that he succeeded: King Nebuchadnezzar.

And many of you remember that Nebuchadnezzar was the beginning of the Gentile kingdoms, the head of gold. And he had went up into Jerusalem, many, many miles away, and had captured the Jews and brought them down into his kingdom, and made them slaves, and they used their scientists and so forth.

Just like Russia did when it went into Germany. And there is why they got the atomic bomb, and so forth they got those German scientists. That's why they're so far advanced today: they captured them and took them back up there. Themselves, they didn't have it, but they went and got those things just like Nebuchadnezzar did the Jews.

And we find out that, during this time, there was a righteous man by the name of Daniel, a prophet of the Lord, was taken in captivity at the time. He had served as a prince over all of the astrologers, and so forth, and the wise men and the Magi, in the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar.

And now Belshazzar had taken over. Belshazzar was a wicked sort of a man. He just didn't care.

And then all the people of Babylon, with such a security as they felt they had! Once inside those gates, and the gates closed, with two-hundred-foot walls, eighty foot thick.... Just think of how secure they must have felt in those walls.

But just remember this: No matter how secure that science has made you, God will find you out when you sin. There is only one security, and that's in Christ Jesus.

Now, as they felt their great importance of being the leading nation of the world, a very typical, modern civilization just like the one that we live in, this fabulous America. And I'm kind of disturbed, myself, that I'm afraid we are taking the same attitude that they took. That we feel because that we have got, what we think, the best scientists, and the best machine guns, and the atomic bombs, and the fastest planes, and we're trying.... Being the leading nation of the world, we have somehow felt our safety without God.

It's a very beautiful pattern. And God never changes. His attitude toward sin is the same today as it was then. And there is no hiding place down here. Only in Christ are you secure.

And in this great city, as they felt there was no way in the world for an army ever to invade that city. The great, high walls, and their modern equipment, and they were blocked off from the outside world. But little did they know that a wicked nation called the Medes and Persians, which are now are the Hindus of India, how little did they know that many miles away was digging a riverbed, to turn the Euphrates river, so that they could march under the walls. When they felt they were secured.... All the time they felt that way; if they did feel that, then they went wading in sin.

It seems like that when man gets to the place that he feels that he is self-sufficient, sin begins to take a hold of him. The church, the nation, the individual, that feels that he doesn't need any help from outside, sin begins to reign in him. That is true. And we would notice, too, that when people begin to feel that superior feeling, usually sin sets in and cankers them.

So when they closed those doors, they thought they were safe. But God looks down from the heavens! And sin is a reproach to any nation.

I wonder, tonight, with all of our great equipment, and our atomic-controlled submarines, and our jet planes that fly many hundred miles per second, that even ... or, minute, that can even pass the sound barrier. But, never forget but what your sins will find you out!

And, in this time, they had closed the gates. And they thought they could just live in revelry as they wanted to, because they were protected. They were the leading nation; all the other nations looked to them for science and for help.

And so, on such a time as that, there was a.... This king thought he would have him a great big time. And he set a date that he was going to have a great big dance, or, as I would say, a modern rock-and-roll; no more to it. And so he set the time, and he invited all the celebrity, all of the soldiers and the captains, and all of the wives and the concubines.

Now, a concubine is just a legal prostitute. And do you see, when man feels self-sufficient, that he starts wading in sin?

And he called in the best liquors that he could find, for this great rock-and-roll party that he was going to have. He thought he was safe. He thought there was nothing could harm him, because he was safe. And he had this great spree in one of these gardens just behind the palace. And while out there in the garden, perhaps they had decorated it all up real pretty, all the tinsel hanging, and got all of the showgirls and many of the women to come to entertain the soldiers, and their beer and their wines! If that isn't a good modern setup of a rock-and-roll party today, I don't know where one would be. It's exactly. And they got everything ready, and they were going to have a big time.

And no doubt but what many married women came. Their husbands was left at home as baby-sitters, while they went out to have a good time. And vice versa, no doubt a mother walked the floor, with a sick baby, while a drunken husband went out to have a big time. It's just six of one, and half a dozen of the other.

And I can see them as they begin to drink and to have a big time. And I would imagine they really struck up the band, and had the music. And the little teen-agers swinging one another. And the soldiers, drunk, grabbing the women and throwing them over their heads, and kissing them and sitting down in the chairs, and hurrahing—thinking they were safe!

Oh, America, the God that looked down on that drunken, rock-and-roll party, is looking on you tonight!

And what a time they must have been having! And I can imagine this here king, Belshazzar, was a modern Elvis Presley; he could do a lot of their fantastics that they had. And all of their carrying on, and not knowing, all the time, that death laid at the door.

So, as the party got into good swing, usually just about like a great setting of a modern Hollywood telecast, they thought they would crack some good jokes about religion (about like an Arthur Godfrey outfit, or something like that modern today, or some Ernie Ford pea-picker) crack some kind of a joke about the preacher. But God still looks down from heaven! But they thought they lived in such a nation that it could not be touched. But you reap what you sow!

Just be aware of that, people. Whether you are a nation, or a church, or an individual, you reap what you sow.

And, why, I can see this king stand up, and said, “Just a minute, girls, let's have a good religious joke on the preacher,” or so forth.

And all the tinsel flying, and the young ladies saying, “Whoopee! Yes, I believe we would like to hear that.”

And the young soldiers carrying on like the teen-agers of today, for this is no more than a modern Babylon. I am an American, but so did Daniel belong in Babylon at that time. But that don't excuse sin.

I said to a girl one time, “Are you a Christian?”

She said, “I give you to understand, I am an American.”

I said, “That don't speak nothing.” Not at all!

I'm glad to be an American, but that has nothing to do to reflect Christianity—not a thing. If we sin, we are going to pay for our sins; just be it assured to you.

They had a prophet there, but they wouldn't listen. They had the message, but they wanted to make fun of it.

If that isn't modern America, I don't know it. They've got the Gospel, the Truth, but they like to make fun of it.

So they said, “Let us go down and get them holy-roller vessels, and bring them up here and have a good joke out of it.”

God doesn't permit sinners to make fun of His people! You'll pay for it, someday.

And they go get the vessels of the Lord, and bring them up into the temple, and they're going to have a good drink out of the vessels of the Lord. And when they poured their Oertel's 92 or Pabst Blue Ribbon, into it, to have a good joke out of it, oh, they tipped the glasses and the vessels, and begin to drink, and laugh and make fun of the religion of the Lord. They were ignorant of what they were doing.

And so is this nation, tonight, ignorant of rejecting the message of the Lord Jesus Christ, in the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and being born again.

Though they were religious.... Now, that drunken party of rock-and-rolls, they were religious, because the Bible said that they praised their gods.

So you can be ever so religious, and still be wrong. That's right. It's not the sincerity. “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof is the way of death.” So they had a great state church, and a religion that they could serve, and they made fun of the holy things of God.

That's very typical of today: making fun of the holy things of God. They call the people that try to live clean and decent, and upright, they call them “old-fashioned” or “holy-roller,” or some kind of a scandalous name. And they call the gifts of the Lord, that He is performing, the working of an unclean spirit, like a fortuneteller or a devil. Oh, how can you escape judgment? The blood of the martyrs call against it! If God doesn't judge this nation for its modern sin, He will have to raise up Sodom and Gomorrah, and apologize to them for destroying them. Right. We are bound for judgment! And these great wonders that you see our blessed Savior doing, they are warning signs, that judgment is at hand and she has combed this nation from side to side, from east to west, from north to south. And they spurn it, laugh at it, criticize it, write it up in their papers as “nonsense.” Think of it: modern Babylon!

Now while they were drinking, tipping their cups in drinking; all of a sudden, when this great movie playboy, by the name of Belshazzar, was just about ready to take a drink from his cup, his eyes seemed to bulge out, as he turned and looked towards the castle, for he saw, coming from heaven, the hand of a man, and it began to write up and down on the wall.

I want you to notice, it wrote on the plaster. Now, perhaps the candlesticks were sitting out from their tinsel, where they were having their modern rock-and-roll, and the lights was flickering against the wall. God doesn't do things in a corner. It's right out under the lights, where God speaks and moves. So His supernatural handwriting was on the plaster of the wall, in sight of them all.

And the king must have saw it first, this modern jokester, good radio comedian, television actor. As he tipped the glass to drink, or the cup, what he had in his hands, his eyes bulged out, and he felt all shook up. I would imagine he did. The Bible said that his bones come loose, out of joint. He surely was all shook up, sure enough. When God begins to show His signs, it's time to get shook up. That's right. And as he noticed, his rock-and-roll song made him shook up.

And then as he noticed this handwriting on the wall, I can imagine the little missus with her lips painted about like I-don't-know-what, and her hair all tinseled up, and flinging her around, and with these drunken soldiers, said, “Wonder what's the matter with the boy tonight?” and as she hiccuped.

And some young man grabbed her, and said, “All right, let's dance this next one together.” And the music stopped.

Oh, this great sinful nation, sometime your rock-and-rolls are going to stop. If you won't listen to the voice of a preacher, you'll listen to the hand of God in judgment someday. But the rock-and-roll will stop, just the same as the bands did, and played “Nearer, My God, To Thee” on the Titanic. Someday you are going to change that tune.

And the music stopped. And they noticed their jokester, their star on the television cast, and he was standing, his knees beating together, as he looked and seen this great thing taking place. “Why,” he said, “all the walls are closed around. I have my guards standing at the gate, my choice men.”

But, you see, God don't have to come in at the gate, the way you think. He comes down from glory. And His hand was writing on the wall.

And quickly, being in a very modern place, the Bible said he called in all of his soothsayers, astronomers, all the bishops, the doctors, and the popes, and the cardinals, and so forth. And said, “Now I tell you, gentlemen, I have given you the privilege to preach and to do what you wanted to do. Now interpret for me, that on the wall.”

But just as it was then, so is it now, they wasn't used to the supernatural. They knowed nothing about it. They didn't know how to interpret unknown tongues. They knowed nothing about a heavenly language. And they were dumbfounded. They knowed nothing about it. And as they all stood there....

Remember, this is the bringing in of the Gentile kingdom. And as it come in under the supernatural, it'll go out under the supernatural.

But these bishops and cardinals and great doctors could not interpret the supernatural. They knowed nothing about it. They looked through all their books of art, and they could not find nothing that would compare with that. You see, spiritual things are spiritually understood. And then they were all disturbed, and they didn't know what to do.

And, finally, a little queen.... Remember, she wasn't at the rock-and-roll party. And the only way that she knew something was going on, word came to her that the king was all shook up and the party had stopped. She would've made one of the good believers. And, somehow or another, she had been one who had not forgotten.

She rushed into the party. And as she seen the modern jokester all shook up, and all of his band, she said, “Oh, king, live forever.” But he didn't know he was dead right then. Said, “Live forever. I know you are all bothered about that handwriting on the wall. And I see the pope and the bishops and the cardinals and the doctors of divinity, and none of them can read it. But, oh, king, let me tell you something. There is a man in your kingdom, that knows about supernatural.”

Oh, brother, when we see the handwriting on the wall today, but there is a Man who knows about it. You might have went through every doctor's office in the city, and they told you, “You've got to die.” But there is a Man! You may have waded in sin until your soul is as black as the smutty walls of hell, and you are ready to commit suicide, without a hope. But there is a man, and His name is Jesus! He knows the supernatural. And He is in our kingdom, for we are the children of His kingdom. There is a man.

Said, “He knows the supernatural, for years ago they found the Spirit of God in him. And he had an excellent spirit. He could interpret dreams, he saw visions, and every one of them was just exactly right. So, don't be troubled; just give me a few minutes and I will get him here.”

There will be one day you'll call on Him! You might not have no room for Him in your house. You're too busy watching television, playing cards, drinking beer, attending rock-and-roll parties. But there is one time you are going to call on Him! That's right.

And so Daniel was brought in. And as he was brought in—a preacher of righteousness, a man of God! I couldn't imagine a man of God living in such a place as that unless he had called out against it. But, you see, the king had paid no attention to it; that's the reason he was in the condition that he was in.

And they brought Daniel, and he said, “Why can't your popes and doctors interpret for you?” They had nothing to interpret with.

So then what taken place? Daniel said, “Oh, Belshazzar, you knowed all these things. They are not hid from you.”

And I say to America—I wish I could make them, at this minute, hear my voice. You are not ignorant to all these things! As the nations before has sinned and done what we have done, we are weighed in the balance and found wanting. What happened to France? What happened to Germany? What happened to the other nations who went “wine, women, and big time”? It always comes out that way, and we are not immune from judgment. God is just.

And he said, “Your father, how God made him a great nation, but he forgot it. And he done the same things that you're doing, and God turned him into a wild beast.” Said, “You are aware of these things, and then you take His holy vessels and make fun of them.” Notice. He said, “The writing has been set on the wall, and this time your kingdom is numbered.” In other words, “Look here, fellow, your days are numbered! Your kingdom is taken from you and given over to another nation, a brutal, godless nation, one that's bad as they are.” God makes sin fight sin. I wonder, today.

Right at that same time, may I say first, when he was standing there, watching that writing on the wall, little did he know that right under the gates, right then, the guards had been killed. And the soldiers were in the streets, slaying the palace guards. They were on the steps. And those women standing there, away from their babies, away from their husbands, and husbands from their wives, all drunked up, listening to some kind of a modern dance and carry-on. And the soldiers was on the steps; in a few minutes the king would be cut down. All that drunken bunch of men would be cut down by an atheistic, devil-possessed nation. And the women would have their clothes stripped off of them, young girls and all, and ravished in the street; then picked up by the heels, and burst their heads around the walls. Chopped them open after they had lived with them in lust; mad, drunken soldiers. It was at the door, for they were weighed in the balance, and found wanting.

And I wonder today, in all of our modern going-on, all the laughing and making fun of healing services, laughing and making fun of the church of the living God, and going on as the Bible said they would do, “Heady, high-minded, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.”

I wonder, in this day when we think we are so secure, and all of a sudden, we find out that Russia is five years ahead of us in science.

We've been to too many parties. We've waded too much in sin. The church is so asleep, it don't care for prayer meetings no more. They're unconcerned. They too put a voice in against the real, true Spirit of the living God; they won't have them. They are so denomination, so dressed up. They have no time for prayer meetings, they are at televisions and picture shows, and gadding around, and at drunken parties and things. That's true.

That may sound old fashion, but it's what the nation needs today. There is too much sissying around with the Gospel, with rubber gloves on. It's got to be handled bare-handed, by the Holy Spirit. Truly!

Billy Graham said, about a week or two ago, in one of his messages, said, “This nation can become a satellite to Russia, anytime Russia desires.” Where are we at?

You will buy Elvis Presley's records, and stay home from church to hear 'We Love Suzy' one of these days. You are weighed in the balance, and found wanting! What's happened? There is a handwriting on the wall.

The Russians put up a sputnik that we can control nothing about it, five hundred miles off of the earth; and could put a half a dozen of them over the United States in the next thirty minutes, and call in and say, “Surrender, or be a bunch of ashes in a few minutes.” They can do it. There isn't nothing that we can do to stop them. It's in their hands, a bloodless, heartless, ungodly communists! That's what God uses to make sin come to light. Certainly is. If you'll read the Bible, Russia has got to do that according to Revelations. You prophecy teachers might differ from that, but just wait till it's over. Russia is put here for that very purpose. The Bible said so.

Now, here she is with a sputnik. We tried to fire one the other night (We thought we was going to do just as much as they did.) rose three foot off the ground, and fizzled out. Too much rock-and-roll and sin! We're weighed in the balance, and found wanting. God, be merciful!

What are we going to do? What would happen if they would send those sputniks up with those missiles, and say, “Surrender, or become a pile of dust in five minutes”? Of course, our government, to save life, would surrender. That's the only thing they could do.

Then what would happen to some of you Americans, all of us in here; not here, but I mean nationally speaking? Nationally speaking!

You little smart-alecks, of girls that run along with your little lips painted up like some kind of a rose bud; and would laugh at a preacher on the corner, preaching the Gospel. And you, little teen-ager, that think you've got more gumption than you've got intelligence to control!

What's going to happen to you, papa, that sits home at night with mama and watches the television, while Junior is in the hot rod, and Sis is down at the canteen somewhere, and she's down there doing her rock-and-roll? And you are watching the television, and making fun of the Gospel!

What's going to happen to you, church member? What's going to be your outcome? You may have your name on every book, or the biggest church in the city; but unless you are under the security of the blood of the Lord Jesus, you will perish with those who will perish; there is no hope for you.

What's going to happen? There is a sputnik up there. And what would happen? The nation would surrender, of course; that's the only decent thing the government could do.

Then what happens? Wave after wave, of ship loads of soldiers; wave after wave, of airplanes; would land in this nation. The women would be ravished in the streets. What would you do? It belongs to them. Kicked out of your home; they'll take it over.

What will happen to you young girls, and you young men, and all of you at that time? Sin has to be paid for! No matter what nation it is, or who it is that does it. Individually, or a nation, it's going to be paid for! And a bunch of brutal, ungodly, whisker-jawed, communistic soldiers would grab your wives and ravish them, your young girls. And you would stand and like it; there's nothing you can do about it.

What causes that? Because you have listened to such stuff as these television programs on rock-and-roll and sin, and some cold formal preacher not able to interpret the supernatural. The handwriting is on the wall! That's right! And we are weighed in the balance, and found wanting.

When could that take place? Before daylight in the morning. Who is going to stop it? Try it. The Bible says it will happen.

But let me tell you, that will never touch the church of the living God; we will be gone by that time!

So, friend, listen. If that thing is so close, and we see the handwriting on the wall, there is nothing can stop this thing from happening now.

America has been preached to, the supernatural has been done, and continually they wade right on over the top of it.

[Blank spot on tape]

Go to a country somewhere and hold a revival, and have forty converts in a week; and go back in six weeks, you don't have four. The old pond has been seined dry. God just has so many He's elected. And when the last one is in, that closes the door and it's over.

Then there's nothing left but judgment when mercy has been spurned. And here we are at the end of the road. The supernatural is being done, it's been laughed at and made fun of. And the last thing, God has come in His own power, in His own beloved Son, to work through His church, and they say it's “spiritualism,” or “the devil.” What else can be left but judgment? And here is the handwriting on the wall.

But, if that is that close, and any teacher knows that the church goes in the rapture before the tribulation sets in. So if that is that close, could happen before morning, what about the rapture? It's closer than that. Oh, blessed be the name of the Lord! The coming of the Lord is at hand. The writing is written, and it is written in the Bible, and we are living to see it.

Will you, by the persuasion of my voice, receive Jesus Christ this hour? “Repent, and be baptized,” said Peter, “every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost; for the promise is to you, and to your children, and to them that's far off. For there is not another name given under heaven among men, whereby ye must be saved.” Unless you are Christ's! You could be Methodist, Baptist, Pentecostal, Nazarene, Catholic; you are lost until you become of Christ, and Christ comes into you. It's the new birth by the Holy Spirit. Receive Him tonight, while we pray.

With your heads bowed. I just wonder this: How many in here that knows that this great thing would happen? You may go to bed tonight with your wife, and in the morning she will be gone. You, father and mother, may kiss your little ones to sleep tonight, and tomorrow morning the little bed be empty. And you'll run down the street to find out what happened to Mrs. Jones; she's gone, too. The rapture is at hand; the Bible has plainly given.

And in this meeting, while you have the chance, as men of intelligence, and women of intelligence, why don't you heed to that call in your heart, and say, “Lord God, fill me with that eternal life.”? Because, if your spirit is still an intellectual conception, you are earth bound. But the Spirit of God, that come out of heaven, comes into your heart and gives you the Holy Spirit, in you. When the tribulation comes, the Spirit (Holy Spirit) goes back to its Maker, and you go with it. No matter how religious you are, it won't go unless there is something in there to take you.

How many tonight, with your heads bowed, in the face of this message, would raise your hands to the Christ, and say, “God, fill me with Your Holy Spirit. And if You should come, I want to go with You”? Would you raise your hands? God bless you, just all over the church. Literally, two hundred, or more, hands up in the air.

Sinner friend, if you've never accepted Christ, would you at this time raise your hand, and say, “Lord Jesus, be merciful to me”? God bless you, lady. God bless you over here, you back there. Someone else? “Just remember me, Lord.” God bless you over here, down here. The Lord be with you. “Remember me, O Lord. My eyes has just been opened. I realize that maybe I have professed to be a Christian for a long time, but I've never known what it is to be born again. I've never received the Holy Spirit.”

“Therefore, except a man be born again, he will in no wise enter into the kingdom, or cannot even see the kingdom.”

Would you raise your hand, and say, “Be merciful to me, O Holy Spirit. And when You come for the church, take me”? God bless you, lady. Would someone else, “Remember me, O God.” Bless you, sir. God bless you, lady. “Remember me, O God.” God bless you here, young fellow. God bless you over there, lady. Back there, young lady, back. And you back there, lady. “Be merciful to me, O God, when I see the handwriting is on the wall. I'm intelligent enough, say, to see that what has been said out of the Bible tonight, that this is a repeat of history.”

We are at the end. There is nothing can help. The thing that's going to destroy the world is in the hands of sinful men.

There is just a few more. You might be the last one that's ordained to come to Christ. When that last one comes, judgment strikes; lacking one thing yet, that might be you. Will you receive Him tonight while we wait?

Some twenty, thirty hands has been up. Now, we have no place here to make an altar call, to bring the people to the front here, because we don't have any place. But I'm going to ask you, surely, oh, be sincere and listen to the voice of warning. Be sincere and ask Christ, right where you're sitting, “Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner, and receive me ere I pass beyond the veil of mercy. Before I sin my day of grace away, be merciful to me, Lord,” and He will do it.

Now, pray like that while I pray with you.

Blessed Lord, we are standing in a terrible condition tonight. As we read Your Word, and know that most any hour the radios could flash, and the rock-and-roll bands go to singing “Nearer, My God, To Thee,” but it's too late then; judgment has struck. Missiles are pointed at us. Destruction, by miles after miles, by tons after tons of earth-sweeping atomic energies, and so forth, that would set the whole world afire. And it's in the hands of sinful men. And the Bible said that that's the way it'll happen. And we see the handwriting on the wall.

O Lord God, I'm insufficient to try to bring a message like this to a people. And I feel how little I am, standing here, to try to handle such a subject, but will You forgive me for my part of not being able to do it? But somehow, from my heart, I ask You to sink the message, the way You would have it, into their hearts, for I do see the hour approaching. And be merciful, God, and save each one, and fill them with the Holy Spirit. And may they be Your children, divinely wrapped in Your goodness, and receive security from the Lord Jesus.

For, our nation is not secure. We've thought we were. So did the Babylonian kingdom think so, but, all the time, there was a wicked nation working. And there had been a wicked nation working, until now we know that they're ahead of us, and we're at their mercy.

Lord, the church is at Your mercy. They will destroy; but You will take Your church. O Lord, take us into Your care, tonight. And bless us for Jesus' sake; and in His name we pray. Amen.

Just softly, a minute. Be reverent.

While we're singing now, take inventory.

[Brother Branham begins to hum Softly and Tenderly.]

Oh, wouldn't it be a wonderful time for it to happen just now? Oh, it's all right, any time He is ready. Amen! I'm so glad to know Him. I'm so glad that this old frail body, that's withering up here, will be changed in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye. I will turn back to a young man again, to live forever.

The old will be young there forever,

Transformed in a moment of time;

Immortal, shall stand in His likeness,.

The stars and the sun they'll outshine.

What an opportunity! Don't turn Him away.

Oh, how you'll want Him to say, “Well done,”

On that eternal Day!

Don't turn the dear Saviour away from your heart,

Don't turn Him away. (Let this be the night.)

How many loves Him with all your heart, and you are ready if He should come? Oh, how thankful! Don't you feel just like you're scoured out now, inside? The Gospel, we are washed by the water of the Word. Just reach over next to you, and shake hands with somebody, say, “God bless you. I just feel real good. God bless you, pilgrim. God bless you, sister, brother.” We are wayfaring men in the road.

Walking in the grand old highway,

Telling everywhere I go,

I'd rather be an old-time Christian, Lord,

Than anything I know.

Now while we're just in this moment of reverence, I believe it's just a little too late to call a prayer line. I believe the Holy Spirit is well pleased, this great number coming to Christ. Now, you find you a church right quick, be baptized and go into that church, a good Spirit-filled church, and there remain as long as you live.

What is the works that Christ promised He would do? He said, “The works that I do, shall you also.” Then, His Presence is here. Then, I know, friends ... I know, beyond a shadow of doubt, that Jesus is here. There is a Man here. It's the same Man that walked in Galilee. It's the same Man that redeemed you by His blood, and healed you with His stripes. And He is here to perform and to do everything He did, because He is the same Lord Jesus.

Now let us pray just a moment, quietly. Just be in prayer while I'm trying to find the mind of the Holy Spirit. [Brother Branham pauses.]

Oh, that beautiful music, how the people in torment tonight would love to hear that! The people who has probably sat in the seat that you are sitting tonight, has heard the Gospel, and has passed on, is in torment tonight; how they'd love to take that seat that you're sitting in; too far gone now.

[Brother Branham pauses.]

Lord, Thou who made the heavens and earth, Thou who sent the blessed Lord Jesus here to the earth; and in Him dwelt the fullness of the Spirit. And Thou hast said, through His lips, “I am the Vine, ye are the branches. The Vine does not bear fruit in itself, but the branches bears the fruit.” I pray, God, that You will manifest Yourself tonight, in our midst, that these people might know that the message that has just been preached, that come from You, that You're warning us to get ready, and the last days are at hand.

There may be sick people sitting here, Lord. Give them encouragement, that they might be healed, for we ask this for God's glory. Now, Lord, as we yield ourselves to You, as the church of the living God; seeing, I suppose, every hand in here went up. And I'm going to ask You, tonight, Lord, to do something special for us. And grant just now that these people can yield themselves in such a way that the Holy Spirit would move through them with such faith, and that I might yield myself to You, and You would work through Your gifts, and prove Yourself among us; that there might be strangers in our midst. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen.

[Blank spot on tape].... for He always shows mercy before judgment. I'm just going to ask the ministers to remain there, and pray. Let us pray.

And now, especially, I've been preaching, and I'm just going to ask maybe you people here in front, or wherever you are, just begin to say this. The Bible says that, “He is the High Priest that can be touched by the feeling of our infirmities.” Well, then, if He is the High Priest that was yesterday, He is the same today; then His same performance that He did yesterday, He will do today if He is the same. Is that right? So if He can be touched now, you touch Him with your feeling of your infirmities, and let Him speak back.

Just think, when He stood around an audience like this one day, there was a man came up, called Peter ... or, his name was Simon. And He said, “Your name is Simon. You're the son of Jonas. But, from hereafter, you'll be called Peter.” Who did he become? The beloved apostle.

When Philip found Nathanael, and he came up, He said, “Behold an Israelite in whom there is no guile,” in other words, “a Christian, an honest person.”

Said, “How did You know me, Rabbi?”

Said, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the tree, I saw you.”

The woman with the blood issue come out. He looked upon the audience.

They thought His works was of the devil, and they said in their heart, “He is Beelzebub.” And He perceived their thoughts. Is that right?

He said, “I do nothing till the Father shows me first. And the works that I do, shall you also.” He has to be, if He works in His church, because it is His Word.

Now I want to ask you: If in this audience, at least two or three people, the Lord will grant that they'll have faith enough to touch His garment, and He will return back in His Spirit and perform just exactly like He did when He was here on earth, would all of you be satisfied to accept Him as your Healer? Would you do it? Say, “Amen,” if you would. May He grant it, is my prayer. Now you just pray. And if you....

How many sick people in here wants to be healed, raise your hand. Just everywhere, all right, sick people that wants to be healed.

Now, if there is anybody in this building that I.... I don't know no one that I'm looking at.

I think this is Rosella sitting here, the little girl that was an alcoholic, that was called out in the meeting somewhere, been an alcoholic, and the doctors had passed her up. She, when she was called by the Lord, the girl knows I never seen her or knowed of her. And the Lord told her all about her life and her condition, and told her she was going to be well. And here she is tonight, a trophy of God's grace. An alcoholic, till doctor after doctor had turned her away, even Alcoholics Anonymous. I know her.

But, otherwise, I am pretty sure that this brother looking at me, sitting right here with the gray suit on, he is the brother that brings us the flowers. I believe that's right. I can't think of his name now. He was down to my house not long ago, with Brother Boze; Shultz, Brother Shultz.

Outside of that, I thought I seen Brother Fred Sothmann just a few moments ago, somewhere in the building, but I forgot where it was at now. However, he's here somewhere.

And I don't know no one else. But God knows you all. If you'll just pray and ask God, test your faith.

And don't no one move around now. Be real reverent for the next few moments. Now, “Only Believe,” if you will. And just as reverently as you possibly can for a few moments, and just sit quiet.

Just think, Christ promised it. “A little while, and the world will see Me no more; yet ye shall see Me, for I.... I, not another.” “I” is a personal pronoun. “I will be with you to the end of the world. The things that I do, shall you, also.” “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever.” Is that true? It's got to be true!

Well, I am very grateful to the Lord. I would.... You can raise your heads if you wish to.

Right here at the corner, there is a lady sitting right here on the corner. It's a colored woman. Lady, I don't know you. God does know you. But there is that light just above the woman now. She has.... If the Lord will reveal to me what your trouble is, and what you're praying about, will you believe that it's the Lord Jesus to help you? You must be in trouble, or something you're desiring, because there it is.

See, friends, you say, “Well, I don't see it.” That's possible that you wouldn't see it. I'm looking right straight at it, see. You say, “Well, Brother Branham, if you can see it with your senses, I can, too.” Oh, no.

Paul saw Jesus in a form of a light, and those who were with him didn't see it. The Magi saw the Star, the light that led them, but no one else saw it. It's just for some. It's gifts.

The woman has sinus trouble. That is right. You also have heart trouble. That's exactly right. Listen. Your name is, they call you Essie. Uh-huh. Your last name is Upshire. You live on North Cleveland Street. Your address is 1264. That's exactly right. You touched something, lady. You know you never touched me.

That girl sitting next to you there, she's praying, too. And she's praying for somebody else, and that's your mother, and she has something wrong in her lungs. And you are some connection with this woman here; you are her daughter-in-law. And your name is Margaret. That's right. And you live at the same place. I see you coming, and going in.

What do you think about it, sir, the next man sitting there? Do you believe that Jesus Christ be the Son of God? You do? If the Lord will reveal to me what your trouble is, will you accept Him? You have stomach trouble. That's right. If that's right, stand on your feet. Correctly. You're a preacher.

Of course, you say, “He's looking at his clergy clothes.”

All right, besides that, somebody expects you to be a Presbyterian, but you're a Pentecostal preacher. That's right. Amen. Your nervousness is what made your ulcer. It's gone. Go home and be well, brother. Amen.

Have faith in God. Just don't doubt.

What do you think, sitting right here? Yes. Do you believe? You believe me to be God's servant? Or, you want something from God? If God will reveal to me what you want, will you believe that the supernatural is being done? You believe it's just exactly what Jesus would say? All your heart? You have a growth, and that growth is on your hip. That's right. And you also have stomach trouble; it's caused from a nervous condition. That's right. Your name is Eva May. Redmond is your last name. You live at a street, 1378 West 13th Street. That's correct. That you might know that I be God's servant, that's your little girl sitting there. You're wanting prayer for her. That little girl has hemorrhages, and they come on her when she gets excited or goes to crying real hard. That's “thus saith the Lord.” That little boy is her brother. That's right. The little boy, also, you want prayer for. He is bothered with constipation, and he has fell off a lot of weight just recently, too. Hasn't he? That's THUS SAITH THE LORD.

The white woman sitting next to you, seems like she is disturbed about something. Do you believe, sister? You believe God has sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to declare to the Gentile generation that He is coming soon? You have a gland trouble you're suffering with, and also a colon trouble, and you're nervous. You're not from this city, either. You're from Detroit. Your number, where you live, is 12134 Fandler Street. That's right. Detroit, Michigan. You're an Italian. Your name is Viola P-o-l-o-m.... Polomba. Uh-huh. Have faith in God, and receive what you ask for.

What do you think, down in this a-way? Do you believe with all your heart?

What about you, little lady sitting there? Do you believe with all your heart, little lady on the end there? Well, either one of you, it doesn't matter. What do you think, you there right next to her? Do you believe with all your heart, little mother sitting, looking at me? What do you think about it? You believe that the Lord Jesus would heal you of those varicose veins that you have? You do? Maybe you would think this, you would believe more if I'd tell you your husband had ear trouble. You wanted him prayed for. That's exactly right. Now do you believe me? You wasn't getting it at first. That kind of woke you up to the thing, because you received your healing then.

You raised your hand, next to her, lady. What do you think about it? You believe that God would make you well? [The woman says, “I know He will.”] You will? All right, then your arthritis will leave you.

What did you think, sir? You that waved your hands. You believe God would heal you of your heart trouble, make you well? Do you believe He will?

You sitting, looking at him there, do you believe, too? You want God.... You had heart trouble, too, didn't you? Yes. And you had diabetes, also. That's right. You believe God will make you well? Then you can have it.

Don't you believe? Have faith in God!

What down in here? You, sir, sitting on the end of the seat, you believe? You should, you just been healed, see. You had foot trouble, didn't you? You believe that the Lord Jesus.... But you are praying for somebody else now; that's your brother. And he's in Wisconsin. He's just had an operation on his lungs, half of it was taken out. That's right. You believe? Then you can receive what you ask for. Oh, blessed be the name of the Lord!

Blessed Lord, we will see You someday coming yonder in the heavens. We know You are here now in a spiritual body; You've declared Yourself perfectly to us. The world cannot read that, Lord. We don't even expect them to, because You said, “They'll not see Me no more.” But we know that You've got children that can see You. You've got children that know You. And we are thankful for it.

And we pray now that You will sweep over this building, with the great Holy Spirit, and heal every sick person in here. Just now get glory to Yourself, Lord. May the people not sit in deadness, but may they rise and shine and give God praise and glory. In Jesus' name.

If you believe Him, stand to your feet and give Him praise with all your heart. And rejoice in the Lord Jesus, for He now heals every one of you, for His great divine glory. The Lord bless you. Amen.