Awakening Jesus

Good evening. As always, a privilege to be in the house of the Lord. How surprised I was to see this boy here from Arkansas, friend of mine a long time. I believe the last time I seen you was up in California, wasn't it? My. You still in California? Here? Think I'll have to move out. All the east is coming west. And well, everybody happy? That's right. Well, I think this is about our sixth service now, and we got to go on through next week, and up until next Monday night. Now don't forget, Monday night at Tucson, the banquet, and we're expecting a great time down there this coming Monday night.

I was talking to Brother Williams and Brother Rose today, and so I said, “You know, I'm going to start praying for the sick.” I said, “I keep them poor people there every night till about ten or eleven o'clock.” I said, “I feel real ashamed of myself, of doing like that.” And I do apologize for holding you so long, but I don't get to see you too often and.... I can't make that excuse, because I do worse than that at home, see. Sometimes start in of a morning early and preach till that afternoon, and some time, or just whenever we get ready to go home. And we just sit around like, just as thick as we can be. So, just have a good time.

Nice to be here, Brother Groomer. Yeah, I did. He was kind of hid from me. Wasn't I? I was here last year when we come on, wasn't I? I thought so. Remember the place and the church. So happy to be here tonight. God bless all of you.

And now we're expecting the Lord to heal the sick tonight. We're ... kind of changed the program a little, and I'm.... Get into the message of preaching the gospel, or what I try to think my ... very best of my knowledge, and then I get started and I just don't know when to stop. I just keep on going, and I keep you too long. Then, I thought it'd be a good time tonight, after so many nights of preaching, just to try now and pray for the sick. So today we've kind of prepared for it and waited on the Lord. And I began to notice last night the way.... You have to kind of go the way He leads you to go, you know. You feel something move you, and directly visions will break, and you know that it's something coming near then.

Then today I was going out through ... in the ... I was in my motel, and the Holy Spirit said go a certain way. And there was a swimming pool out there, and I thought maybe some little child might have got drowned. I went across there, happened to look over, and I seen some people—they're sitting here in front tonight. They know how that was the Lord who got there, and just what He said is just exactly the thing. So I knew then it was time to start praying for the sick.

And now, we are going to approach Him now by prayer before we approach his Word. And you're such a nice audience. You've been so attentive each night. I know some of you have to get up and go sometimes before.... Now I know that's not because you just want to walk out. You got to catch busses, and you've got to go to work. I realize that. Now let's bow our heads just a moment now for prayer. Now I notice there's just about as many standing back there as there is sitting out here. And we want ... we know that God will answer their requests just the same as He does anywhere. Now do you have a request? Let it be known by an uplifted hand. God will hear.

Our heavenly Father, we are now coming into the presence of Jesus, in the ... in his name. And we're going to the throne of grace to ask for pardoning of our sins, because knowing day by day we do fail Thee. Every hour of our life, seldom one passes without we have to stop, say, “Lord, forgive me. I didn't mean to do it just that way. I should have done it this other way.” Then, we know, Lord, that You're always so full of mercy and ready to forgive your children. You listen to their faintest cry. We're so glad that we have an advocate.

And we pray, Father, tonight for this church, for our beloved brother. All these years around here, knowing him, and finding him, his character, a wonderful servant of Christ—how we thank You for a man like that. I ... it's such a privilege, Lord, to be among he and his people, and to associate with them, and coming together to fellowship with them around the Word of God. We pray, Lord, that You'll move in on the high tide tonight, and will give these blessings. So glad to meet old friends that I knowed years ago in the beginning of the ministry.

And now, Lord, we pray together that You'll bless us as we assembled ourselves together tonight in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. We've assembled for that purpose, Lord, and we pray that You'll meet our needs tonight, and answer our requests to Thee to heal the sick, save the lost, and encourage those who are discouraged. We ask in Jesus Christ's name. Amen.

Now, we want you, everyone that wishes to tonight, to turn in the blessed old Word in the book of St. Matthew's gospel, the 8th chapter. And we want to start reading from ... setting today from Matthew, the 8th chapter, beginning with 23rd verse.

After leaving today from Brother ... or Brother Williams and Brother Jewel Rose leaving from where we were at, my mind fell upon an occasion. And so I just reached over ... because we'd been speaking and the Holy Spirit had drawed real near to us. So just as they left out, I thought, “Oh, my! Now He'll surely speak.” And I picked up in my mind an incident in the Bible, had taken place, quickly turning to it. And I got some little scriptures to go with it, and drew from it a text—wrote down a few notes on it. I'd like to pass these to you.

First let us read now in St. Matthew, the 8th chapter, and begin with the 23rd verse.

And when he had entered into a ship, his disciples followed him.

And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with ... waves: but he was asleep.

And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish.

And he said unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? And he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.

But the men marveled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!

That's quite a striking little text, or scripture. Now I'm going to take a odd text from it—“Awakening Jesus.” Awakening Jesus.

It must have been a hard day for Him. He was tired. His body was worn out. You know, as He went along the people drew God out of Him. They drew their desires from Him, and when they did.... We won't try to go into details to explain that because there is no one can do it. How can we explain things that we don't know?

That's the reason there's no way at all of ever being saved until you are ready to accept what you cannot explain. You've got to believe. “He that cometh to God must believe that He is.” There's no way of scientifically proving that, but you must believe it anyhow. And if you could prove it, then it would no more be an act of faith. And faith.... God has so hid Himself until you have to believe that He is, without seeing Him know that He's there anyhow. Whether you see it or not, you believe it; surely you believe it anyhow.

Now, I think that's marvelous, and that gives illiterate people like me a chance—everybody—to believe it; because we hear it and faith cometh by hearing, and hearing of the Word of God. Then we accept that, and believe that. And upon the basis of our faith in that we are saved, healed, and whatevermore we draw from God comes from an unseen resource. Christians....

The whole armor of Christianity is faith. Everything that we have is unseen. The only things that's real is unseen, unexplained. The things that can be explained are not real. They're superficial and die. But the things that cannot be explained are immortal, the whole realm. Look at the armor of Christianity. Love—what part of you is love? Love, joy, faith, longsuffering, meekness, patience—see? None of those things.... You can't see them. They're unseen, but yet we believe them. Love never dies. Faith is a victory. We believe things that we don't see.

Now, in Jesus was God. God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, and these people believed his testimony. And them that did truly believe it could draw God's blessings from Him. And when they did so, He said virtue went from Him. Virtue is strength. In other words, if we'd say it today, he got weak when the people drawed off of Him. Well, if it worked that way in that human body, it'll work in another human body.

And we create our atmosphere around us, each one of us. You've been with people that were nice people, but you just couldn't hardly be around them. Then you've been with other people that you just loved to be around them. You create that atmosphere. And, oh, wouldn't you have loved to have been around Jesus just a little? Wonderful! See what that atmosphere He created would have been. I imagine it was just one great big bundle of love, and respects, and godly fear.

Now, I have often heard people say....

Many of you, I guess, has already played the tape of that last vision up there (why I'm right here in Arizona now), and that was ... oh, my! If you get it, it's “What Time Is It, Sirs?” And if you get it ... ever bought a tape from us, get that one. Now, they're not mine. They belong to another company that's with us, with the tapes. And they're not mine, so ... but I know the boy has them.

And I never had anything like that to happen. Some of them say, “When you're in the presence of God, why don't you ask Him this or that?” It's different than what you.... See, what many people calls the power of God is only the blessings of God. The power of God's altogether different from the blessings of God. The power of God ... in his presence you just don't know what to do. You just ... you're so scared till you're numb all over. There was two days, even in my back and the back of my head, and up and down my body, I couldn't feel at all. And so, just perfectly numbed with such a fear, when that constellation of angels.... Standing right here, not ... just standing looking at them like I am now. And if you think that would be, “Oh, well....” No, if you're actually there and see it, it's different.

And now, the Lord Jesus, being Emmanuel, must have been tired. Virtue had gone out of Him. And He had a big job ahead of Him the day before, when He landed over on the other side, as we all know, because He was going over into Gadara. And there's where He found this maniac. He thought, perhaps, when the ship was crossing the Galilee—which probably taken quite a little while —He just took the advantage of the opportunity to take a little rest. That's no more than natural—what anybody would do.

They'd entered the ship with Him and brought Him aboard. And they had went across the sea to preach over on the other side, and Jesus saw this glorious opportunity, being tired and weak, because He was human. He wasn't immortal then. He was a man, and He had to die. That's the reason God had to be made a man—in order to die.

Now, there He was, and sleepy and tired. His disciples took up the oars and set the sail.

In those days, they had ... if they had any wind they could tack the ship and it could blow by sail. And sometimes if it was too slow—yet it helped out a little on the pulling of the oars—they'd take the oars and go along with it. And with the sail also they could really make pretty good time. One sat in the back. Usually on a big ship like that, about eight or ten men to oar it, why, they had a rudder, one man taking care of this rudder in the back if it was sailing. Then if it was oaring, of course, they could tie down the rudder and pull with their oars.

Now, let's just think they had the sails up, because there must have been a little wind blowing, from what taken place after a bit. And anyone knows that part of Galilee, or down in there—oh, my! —anything can happen at any time. And so they were on the road, sailing across. And Jesus must have went back in the back of the little boat, and curled up and laid down in a little pile back there so He could just take some rest, and be recuperating from his loss of strength, for his service that laid ahead.

And the disciples must have been rejoicing with one another over what they had been seeing Him do. It must have been a wonderful time for them because they were having a time testifying, maybe, with one another. And maybe they were discussing some things that they had seen Him do.

And now let's stop here just a minute and listen to their discussion.

They might have discussed the place when He had said something like this, “I am that I am.”

When He said.... They said, “Our fathers eat manna in the wilderness and was under Moses,” and Jesus said, “And they are every one dead. [There was only two made the promised land, see —Joshua and Caleb.] They are all dead, but I am the bread of life that come from God out of heaven. A man may eat this bread and not die.” Changed—it was different. How could He be the bread? They might have went through that.

And they might have went through.... Being that there's perhaps strangers here for the healing service, I might say this. They might have said.... Now, that would be one thing that He claimed, that He was that I AM that was in the burning bush. Because they said, “You're a man not over fifty and you say you seen Abraham. Now we know you're crazy [See, mad means crazy.], and you're not over fifty years old [when He was only thirty].” But said, “You're just about fifty years old, and you said you seen Abraham? Now we know you're crazy,” see.

But He said, “Before Abraham was, I am.” Oh, my! Not only had seen Abraham, but “before Abraham was, I am.” And He's just as much I am now as He was then. Now remember, I AM is not I was, or I will be. I AM is constantly, all the time, same yesterday, today, and forever, I AM.

And then they might have said, “Well, now, here's one reason that we know that He was Messiah, because we know [now, He'd done went to sleep now] ... and we know that He's bound to be Messiah because we are told by the Scriptures what this Messiah will do when He comes.” Now that is good philosophy for anyone in good, sound, orthodox doctrine. That's what I was trying to get to last night, up at the other ... Mesa. Always judge not after emotion; judge after the Word. It's got to be the Word. Now, watch the Word and what the Word says, then know that's right, because God said that. That makes it right. Now, and they were judging Him, now, after the Word.

Now to find out whether He was Messiah, you could go back to the man who gave them the law. God gave it to them, of course, but Moses brought it off the mountain from God. And he told them that he'd leave them some day, but the Lord God would raise up a prophet like him—liken unto him, a lawgiver, a king-prophet—and it would come to pass that every one that refused to hear this prophet would be taken from among the people.

And now they noticed that when Jesus come.... And all down through the Scriptures they had a commandment, the Jews did, that “If there be one among you who is spiritual or a prophet, I, the Lord, will make myself known unto him in visions. And what he says comes to pass, then hear that prophet, for I am with him. But if it doesn't come to pass, then don't hear him.” Now, that's just logical. That's just sensible.

Like when there was a man stood up one time—Jeremiah, a major prophet. The Lord told him that Judah was going to be down in Babylon for seventy years. Said, “Don't you listen to a dreamer, to a prophet; or anything that says contrary to that, you put a yoke on his neck.” And Hananiah ... now, Hananiah was a prophet. And not only that, but he was the son of a prophet—his father was a prophet. And he came up under inspiration and took that yoke off of his neck and broke it, and said, “Thus saith the Lord, 'In two years they're coming back.'” The people could clap their hands on that. My, that was good! They wanted to listen to Hananiah; but it was contrary to the Word. It wasn't with the Word, you see.

Therefore Jeremiah, he said, “Hananiah, amen. The Lord grant your words to come to pass. But wait a minute, let us remember there's been prophets before us. And when the prophet prophesies, and he is known....” The prophet is known when his prophecy comes to pass.

I see some Indian friends sitting here. I was reading on their history some time ago, in early Christian days of the Indians, and they had to follow the game to live. And if there come a prophet among them, and he prophesied and told them where the game was, he become chief. But if he prophesied a lie, that was the end of his road. They got rid of him right now. He didn't live no longer.

Well, that was the same basis that God did. God told Jeremiah, “Hananiah has lied. I never told him that. [See, it's contrary to his Word.] And he'll be off the earth within a year.” In the seventh month he died. He took him off the earth. Now, you see, although he was inspired, but it was contrary to the Word. No matter how forceful a preacher can preach, how well he can make it look, if it's contrary to the Word, leave away from it. Stay away from it, clear.

It's the Word that's God's program—the complete revelation of what He was, what He is, and what He will be. It's a continual revelation of Jesus Christ. And the complete revelation of Jesus Christ is this Bible. Anything revealed contrary of Him, telling what He would do, what He is now.... “Oh, that was in days past.” Don't you believe it! It's got to be the same Jesus, see, and that's the Word.

Now. Now we find out that these disciples might have talked of the case. Maybe Peter might have said, “You know, I was thinking myself, and I remember my father telling me that there'll come a great commotion some day. They've always had little upspurts. That there'd be.... Before the coming Messiah there'd probably be false messiahs rise. But he told me, 'Son, remember this one thing. We are Jews. We are God's chosen, and we have a commandment from our heavenly Father that ... and know that that Messiah will be a prophet. And if the prophet is only known when he speaks and what he says comes to pass, so we will know then that that is Messiah.' ”

And when Peter walked up into his presence by the invitation, perhaps, of Andrew, his brother, who had heard Him, and seen the day that when John announced Him, and that was Him.... John, he saw the Spirit, he heard the voice. Nobody else heard it or saw it—just him. All the thousands standing there, nobody saw it but John. It was sent for him. “John bare record, seeing the Spirit of God descending, and a voice from heaven.”

When Paul was stricken down by a light that blinded him, none of the rest of them saw the light. It was so real to Paul till it blinded his eyes. The wise men followed the star from Babylon all the way down. And they kept time by the stars, crossed over every observatory, and not one saw it. It was showed to the wise men. God chooses who He will choose, does what He wants to do. He's God. And He'll never go contrary to his Word—always with his Word.

Now. And Simon might have said this: “You know (while he was [roaring], oaring across this lake and Him asleep in the back of the boat),” he said, “when I walked up in his presence and He said to me, 'Your name is Simon, and you're the son of Jonas,' that settled it for me. I knowed then that that was truly the Messiah, because He told me exactly the truth, never seeing me.”

Philip could've had the testimony of getting Nathanael, and He told him where he was at before he come. They could've talked about the woman at the well. They could've talked about blind Bartimaeus, who touched his garment by ... standing a hundred yards from Him, perhaps, and his faith in God touched Him. The woman who touched the border of his garment.... All these things proved that he was Messiah. What a great time!

Now, then they might have discussed the attitude of the people towards Him (now we're ... they're crossing the lake all the time), towards Him. Some said.... Some believed, some didn't believe. That's the same as it is today. Some people believe it. No, you could.... No matter how plain it would be vindicated, some won't believe it. And there's some of them so spiritual that the first little nod, they get it; and others can be pounded day and night and they never get it.

Let me stop a minute on this and explain something. Seeds that fall in the earth, if they're germitized they grow when the sun strikes it, moisture, conditions. But if they're not germitized, the sun could shine on them—they'd just rot away the same. There's nothing happens. We are germitized. Our names were called and put on the Lamb's book of life before the foundation of the world. No matter how religious we are—that has not one thing to do with it. Sometimes it's against us.

Now, I feel at home with such a fine brother as Brother Groomer here, and these other brothers here. I feel just to say this. Notice Jesus. We know now He was Messiah. And when He come and showed Himself Messiah upon religious people—Pharisees, Sadducees, all from ... priests from the lineage of Aaron.... For hundreds-times-hundreds of years their great-great-great-great-great-great-great (way back) grandfathers were priests, studying the Word, studying the prophets. And the prophets plainly spoke of this. But when Jesus come and performed that, they was as blind as a bat.

Religious to the dot, smart, intelligent, intellectual as they could be (far beyond one of us today), trained in the Word, raised from a child. And when the real truth splashed across in front of them and that light shone, they said, “This man.... We can't figure that out, so He must be a devil, Beelzebub. He has a great powerful mind. He can read the minds of the people.” A telepathist we'd call it today. They didn't understand.

But now look. One day over at Sychar, a little city of Samaria, and Jesus passed through and sat on the side of the wall. And a little woman—ill-famed, bad name—she had a lot of husbands she oughtn't to have. And here she come up to get some water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink. Bring a drink.” She told Him that they couldn't do that. It wasn't right. See, it was an insult for her to ... for Him to ask a Samaritan woman such a thing. And He quickly told her, “If you knew who you were talking to....” (Now she didn't know it.) Said, “If you knew who that it was talking to you, you'd ask me for a drink.”

The subject went on for a moment. After awhile, Jesus, being sent up there to the well, said to her, “Go get your husband.”

She said, “I don't have any.” Still she was blinded, see, because any man can teach a theology, see, or he can make any kind of a statement. He can say whatever he wants to—that still don't make it right.

He said, “Go get your husband.”

She said, “I don't have any husband.”

He said, “You've told the truth, for you've had five, and the one you're now living with is not yours. You told the truth.” Watch that light! Struck that germ of life! The plant went to growing. Quickly, magic, quickly, this prostitute—outscourged, kicked-out.... Not a trained priest; a woman in bad life. But she was predestinated to eternal life, and when that light struck it, quickly she recognized it.

She said, “Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. Now we haven't had one for four hundred years, but yet we know that there's coming a Messiah. And that Messiah will be a prophet, and he'll tell us these things.” See, she knowed a man that told her that wouldn't tell her a lie.

And He knew it, and He said, “I'm he that speaks with you.” She never asked another question, but into the city, and said, “Come see a man....” Look at the difference! See, when that light strikes, it'll either blind or bring to life. It's got to—life, Bible, Scripture.

Now, there could've been many things that people could've talked about. Some of them said like this, “Never a man spake like this man.” Some of them believed. Said, “This man seems to have an authority. He seems to be so positive in what He talks about. We never seen a man that could stand up and just speak things like that. We've heard priests talk. We've heard rabbis, priests, and all, everything, and lectures, and so forth; but this man talks with authority. He knows what He's talking about. Never a man spake like that.”

Some said, “He's Beelzebub.”

It must have been John (a young fellow, you know—thinking fast), must've been him that said, “Just think of it. The one that could take five biscuits and two fish and feed five thousand [Amen!], the one that knows the secret of the heart—He's with us in the ship. We've got Him right here! Brethren, when you're testifying you might have said, 'But the one that we're thinking about, He's right here with us.'”

That's the same thing right now—the one that we preach about, the one that we talk about. What good is a God of Moses if He isn't the same God today? The one that we talk about is here with us. Oh, what a thing to think about!

And then, you see, also they were on a dangerous lake. And what a feeling of security, while sailing the tornadoed lake, to know that one laid with them on the ship! How secure you can be. When the seas are troubled, when they're not troubled—just don't make a bit of difference. As long as you know He's laying right there, what difference does it make? Let come, let go what may—doesn't make a bit of difference. It's there, I know it. You say, “I ... bless the Lord.” Doctors say you're going to die with a cancer, just say, “Glory to God. Quick trip home, maybe.” See, they don't mind.

Talking to a group of doctors the other day. He said, “I read your book on divine healing.”

I said, “I guess you criticized it.”

Said, “No, sir. I admit that you're right.”

I said, “Thank you, Dr. Sheen.”

He said, “Brother Branham, we have record that when we tell a person that's got a malignancy, or something's going to kill him, ulcer ready to burst, or tubercular, it depends on what attitude they take. If they get all tore up,” said, “they die right away. But,” said, “if they take the attitude, 'Well, dying's just part of living. It's all right when I die,'” said, “you know, it almost retards that case?”

Now, I just thought, “If that mental attitude, taken like that, what will it do when the Holy Spirit strikes that inner man? There it is.” I asked him that.

He said, “Certainly, that's right. If you can move into a spot, move up into that....” (One of the best surgeons and doctors there is in the southland.) He said, “If it's.... Mr. Branham, it can be proved. If a man will ... can move up into that spot until even his own mind don't even know he's got it (to think he's got it), and don't even pay any attention to it—that it would do it, see, if he can believe that.”

That's true. See,

the mental attitude you take towards it will bring.... Now the mind won't do it, but if you give that attitude towards something's got life in it, then that life comes down and does it. Not your mental attitude—that only brings you in the presence of Him. That's what you do. Your mind.... The five senses is all right as long as they don't deny God. But when they go to denying God, then you leave them alone. God controls them. That's the Creator.

Now, what a security, as I said—sailing this treacherous sea, knowing that He's laying right in the boat. There's something them disciples was that night like we are tonight: they were enjoying the effects of a meeting—after the revival, feasting on the results of the revival.

Now, Brother Groomer and Brother ... here, and many others —about fifteen years ago we come through this country and there was a revival. My! And you know what we're doing today? Just talking about it. The revival's over. It's been over a long time. We're just living on the results of it, waiting.

And those disciples were doing the same thing—rejoicing, living on what they had seen done, probably the day before, and the week before, and a year before. They were testifying about it, giving, oh, great testimony of it.

How do we know that ... Jesus in their day was resting between revivals. How do we know, maybe He's resting now between the revivals. Yeah. Oh, you say, “Now, wait a minute, Brother Branham—getting a little off the line now. Jesus don't have to rest.” Yes, He did. The Bible said that God made the heavens and earth in six days, and the seventh He rested. Certainly did. He rested. Jesus, being tired, laying on the boat, He was asleep and resting. And maybe after the toil of the revival that's just past, maybe He's resting now like He was then. I hope that's it. And the disciples was rejoicing on what they had seen Him do, see, and knowing that He was with them.

That's kind of like the mind of a man. A mind of a man is always talking about and rejoicing what God has done, and they're saying what He will do, and ignoring what He's doing. (He wasn't asleep exactly—we'll get to that in a few minutes, see.) They'll believe what He has done, and shout about it; they'll talk about what He's going to do, and glorify God; but what He's doing right now, they ignore it. That's just the nature of a man. That's just the way he does it.

Then, while they were enjoying the blessings of their fellowship one with another, and, oh, counting it all up, what they'd seen done, all of a sudden there rose trouble. And that's just about like Satan to do that, see, right when you're having a testimony meeting or something. Many times I.... Here not long ago I was in a meeting, just getting ready to make an altar call, and an old fellow pitched right over in the floor, dead as he could be, see, in a heart attack. And all the place was disturbed. I forget.... It was at Shawano, Wisconsin. And I thought, “God, what can I do?” I looked over here, and I seen the old man in a vision, walking out the door. I knowed what to do then.

Not long ago, with this great sponsor of Oral Roberts, Dr... up there in Philadelphia, what is that ... he's a ... I forget his name now. He's a dentist, and he's a great sponsor of his television program. I can't think of his name. And we—Barton—we were having a meeting, and I was just getting ready to make the altar call. And I noticed a woman acted real funny, and her daughter run over there, begin to rub her face. And I thought, “Well, she's subject to fainting.” And all at once her feet went right out straight, and her hands went back like this.

Dr. Barton run over to where she was, took her pulse. She had none. He looked up at me and shook his head. Well, I tried to keep the people's mind, that was sitting out in that great crowd, keep it off of it like that—just going ahead talking. And so he said, “Go get little Branham.” (That was Billy.) And Billy seen that dead woman. He had nothing to do with that, see. He didn't want that.

Well, just as I started to speak again (now Dr. Barton, as you know him—you might ask him),

started to speak again, I said, “Now everyone, do not be excited. Keep quiet.” Sometimes when you see a demon try to come out of a person, they get so irreverent, the crowd gets tore up. That's the wrong thing to do. “Sit still. Don't get excited. He's here.” And while I was speaking like that—I don't know how it ever happened—but turned over to her and called her name. “Mary, looky here!” And when she did, she come to herself—come to. See, it's that troubled time. Suddenly there rises trouble, right in the time.

Now ... now you might ask Dr. Barton about that. I met him the next day, and he said, “Brother Branham,” said, “that woman had no heart. I checked her down here on her bosom, and I'd taken her heart and in her neck, everywhere.” Said, “She was gone.” And then, they was a real wealthy family and it was the first time she was ever in a meeting like that, and she.... I went.... He'd taken me up to her house, and she said, “I heard you call my name,” and I'd never seen the woman in my life. But it was the Holy Spirit, see.

Now, suddenly, there rose trouble. The ship began to rock, the waves got high, and the sail ... probably the wind just come down with a angry gush and whipped it right off the mast pole. And the ship rocked over, and the big waves whitecapped and throwed the water in on the boat, and the boat began to fill up with water. Trouble! All hopes of survival seemed to be gone. Though they had seen Him do so many things.... They'd seen it, but when trouble set in all was forgotten.

And I wonder if that's just not about the case tonight. We know what we have seen God do in this revival. You ministers know that. You see his power, his ... how He raised the dead—doctor's statement. He foretold the things that happened, on the dot. He's healed the sick. Thousands-times-thousands has been healed around the world. But now while the little lull comes, and then when trouble strikes, do we forget that so quick?

Just like Israel when He had done all the plagues in Egypt, and done the great things He did. Then when they got to the Red Sea Moses had to scream out, “You've seen ten miracles, and still you doubt God?” When they found no water at the old watering hole, they were murmuring, complaining. That's just human beings. They forgot all the miracles that He did, see. We do it too. Perhaps these disciples had got it all because ... time of trouble.

Now when we get a.... They'd got into a trouble that they couldn't find any remedy for it. As long as we can find a remedy we hold right on to it. But they'd got into a trouble that they could not find the remedy, and they got scared. They cried out. They were scared when they had no remedy. (I promised myself I'm going to get the church out of here at nine o'clock, so.... I could stay on that a long time, but I'm trying to just hit the high places where you can see.)

Brother, there's a lot of trouble tonight that we ain't got no remedy for. I have a string of ... list down here—national troubles. They can't solve no remedy. They don't know how to do it. U.N.'s, Leagues of Nations, and all this talk—it gets worse and worse all the time.

That night in Finland, when that little boy had been killed on the street that day.... The mayor of the city's got it wrote up, and I got it signed by his seal. Seen a vision of it years before when I come through Arizona here, telling you about it: there'd be a little boy raised from the dead, and what he'd look like. You all remember it, many of you. Now it happened just that way. I told you it would appear in “The Voice of Healing.” It did it, about two years later, or three, see. Now, all of them disturbed, and all that carrying on, and there was a remedy. God had the remedy, and He healed the little boy.

That night, going down the street in Kuopio.... And when we was going down the street, about six of these little Finnish boys.... They had just had that war. And the little fellows hadn't never shaved. It was.... There was little boys they had to take in the army. Them Russians killed them off. And they were going down there with these big, old, long, saber knives, holding the crowds, while I was going down to the ... what they called Messuhalli where they let about 35,000 in, and they make them go out and let me speak to another 35,000 or forty.

And along the street there stood Russian soldiers, and when I walked by ... with a Russian salute, the tears running down their cheeks. And when I'd passed by, they grabbed them Finnish soldiers and hugged them. Brother, anything that'll make a Russian hug a Finn, or a Finn hug a Russian, will settle wars. They have passed over the thing that settles wars, but they'll never be able to achieve the remedy by man-made achievement. It's already been made. A man died for that purpose.

The church has troubles that they haven't got any remedy for. How's all the Methodists going to get all the Baptists to be Methodist? I just wonder. How's all the Assemblies going to make all the Oneness be Assemblies, or go vice versa? How's all the Pentecostals going to win all the Presbyterians, Lutherans? And how's the Catholic going to take the whole thing? See? They just can't figure it out, which one of them's going to rule, see. They don't know. They haven't got the remedy. All right.

But did you know, they didn't have the remedy how to stop that storm; but the remedy was laying there. And let me say this, brother: tonight, in all of our troubles, we've still got the remedy. Here it is, for He is the Word. It's laying right here, and his Spirit's right here to manifest it. So we've got the remedy, but we try to find other things. We start another organization. That's us, see. We can't master it. It's already been mastered. We just fail to walk in the way that's been mastered for us. But they were troubled.

“If they're going to have a healing service down at Groomer's, well, you know there's something about them people I don't like. They're holy rollers. I ain't going down there.” There you are. That's it. That's just the way it is, see. But Christ is that remedy. He's the thing that can make it. His disciples today get in a lot of trouble and don't know the remedy. That's right. And let me say this: many times his precious saints get in trouble too, physical trouble. But here we got the remedy. Amen! We got the cure.

Thinking of this woman sitting here with lung trouble—this oxygen, hear her breathing in it. I think of how that poor thing sleeps at night. Think of the expense that is. Sister, there, I know the remedy. It's here. You don't have to do that. But you have to use it. Now the disciples get in physical trouble, trouble that the doctors hasn't got the remedy.

Just like those disciples—they had trouble. They were disciples, and they had trouble that the navigators couldn't remedy. No one could remedy it, but the remedy was laying right there.

And you may have a trouble tonight that the doctor can't remedy, but we got Him right here now, right here. He's right here. That's right. We—like those people—we've forgot who this is in the ship. It's just not a church, it's just not a rules that we go by; but it's the Creator of heavens and earth.

He may be resting right now from a revival. He sent one. May be resting. He had another one ahead of Him the next day—a maniac had to be healed—but at that time He was resting. And trouble set in, and He was asleep, resting. But they forgot who it was, see, in the turmoil. “Well, oh, pull on that oar, Simon!”

“Andrew, harder on that oar! What are we going to do?”

See, there it is. What you all flusterated about? “Doctor said this, doctor said that.” Well, maybe he did. Maybe the man's right. That's what he said; but what does this say? That's the next thing, see.

And another thing. After they knowed Him the way they did, they should have known that a man that could tell the thoughts that a man was thinking, and knowed the end from the beginning, knowed it was going to happen anyhow. Amen. Don't miss this. He knew it was going to happen. I doubt very much He was asleep. But He knowed it was going to happen. He was God and God is infinite, so He knowed it was going to happen. And He knowed when it was going to happen, and it only happened to test their faith. Didn't He say so later?

And that's why you're sick tonight, maybe. That's why the lull of the revival is—to see what you're going to do about what you've seen done. Are you going to pick it up and make another organization out of it?

The God that moved on the scene when this sister sitting here.... They brought her into the line down here at that little Mexican church that day, cancer in the heart. Her doctor has the x-ray. Her husband's sitting there. They said, “There's a dead woman in the line.”

I said, “Bring her on.” I was sure that He was there. Sister Waldrop, that's been a long time ago—sixteen years. See, dying with a cancer. Remember, that same God's still in the ship—don't get flusterated. There's a testimony that could turn Phoenix, the Maricopa Valley, or the world, upside down—one, out of the tens of thousands.

He's still here, but we get all flusterated, see, like they did. “Oh, my! Pull on this oar! What we going to do next?” Now, don't think about that. Long as He's in the ship, forget about it. Certainly. Now, He only did it to test their faith, and does not our scripture tell us that these trials are put upon us and more precious to us than gold? We don't think so, but the Bible's right.

Could you imagine Job enjoying being broke out with boils, and all these things gone, losing all of his wealth and his children and everything? It wasn't very easy. But God was proving to Satan that He had somebody He could put confidence in. Maybe He's trying to do the same thing in your case, and the rest of you. “Oh, they'll forsake you. They'll....” Oh, no. Job ... they couldn't make Job do that. No sir.

See, He was only trying to prove them. You remember, in a few minutes, He said, “Oh, ye of little faith. Couldn't you understand about breaking the bread and feeding five thousand? Don't you know I'm the same Jehovah that fed them for forty years out there in the wilderness out of ovens out of heaven, when I poured it out every night? What you so scared about? Don't you know I dried up the Red Sea one day? Don't you know I opened up the earth and swallowed the unbeliever? One day I measured the earth and spurted it off out into space yonder.”

He's in the ship. Now that's not mythical; that's truth. Same now. He tries to prove us and see whether we'll stand or not. Take a revival away and start a argument in the church, just to see what you'll do. Turn Satan loose among you, see how you'll stand. Let him strike you with something, see what kind of a stand you'll take. Job said, “Though He slay me, yet I'll trust Him.” Amen! That's it.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego said, “Our God is able to deliver us from that fire; but nevertheless we're not giving up.”

Sure, but we get all flusterated, you know, like they did, the disciples. We're human, just like they were. And He had proven who He was. And then, still, after He had proved to be the God of creation.... He was the creator. How did He...? Tell me what He turned loose to cook that bread and cook them fish. Well, He not only created the fish, but He cooked the fish the same time. That's the truth. Where did that manna come from out of heaven? Literal food that kept people alive for forty years, bread, fell down from heaven. Where did He get it at?

Where did those crows get that meat and bread to feed Elijah? The intelligence of a crow—to cook some meat, and kill a cow and butcher it, and cook it up and make steaks, and put it on bread and bake it, and bring it to Elijah!

He's God! We don't believe it, then we're unbelievers, that's all. We've got to believe. That's what Abraham done. Called anything contrary to it as though it didn't even happen. No matter how old he got or how much ... he just kept praising God for the promise, went on with it.

Now, He proved what He was by his Word, and the signs vindicated. He said, “If I do not the works that's written of me, then don't believe me,” see. Now there's how you catch it. I trust that you get to thinking real deep here, see. Always watch that Word.

That's what Satan attacked Eve by in the Garden of Eden, and reasoned her out of it, by reason. But when he come back and attacked Christ, He throwed the things right back at him again. He said, “If thou be the Son of God, now I'd like to see a miracle. You know I never seen one. I'd like you to turn these.... You're hungry. Make these stones bread.”

He said, “It's written....” Oh, my! There you are. Upon the pinnacle of the temple, “It's written....” Upon a high mountain, “It's written....” Stayed right with that Word, and put the old fellow right in the place where he belonged.

Now He said to them guys that didn't believe Him—thought He was a soothsayer, or some kind of a Beelzebub, a devil, under spiritualism that He knowed the thoughts of the people's hearts and things, trying to do that—He said, “Which one of you can accuse me of sin?” Said again, “If you don't believe me,” said, “search the scriptures. For in them you think you have eternal life, and they are the thing ... they are they that testify of me. They are the thing that makes my ministry what it is. [See what I mean?] They are they that testify of me. [See, referring what? Right back to the Scriptures again.] They are they that testify of me. They tell you who I am.” Amen! Glory to God!

The Scriptures tells you whether you're a believer or not. The Scriptures tell you whether you're lining up or not. That's how you know a man—by his testimony; not what he says with this, but how he lines with the Scripture. True. That's how you know it.

Jesus invited them to do it. “If I didn't meet every qualification of Messiah, then you tell me where I missed it. [Oh, my! That's good, isn't it?] Tell me where I missed it if I didn't meet the qualifications, if I have done exactly what the Scriptures said that I would do.” Oh, Christian, if we could line ourselves up in there, do what the Scripture says that Christians should do!

They should have known He was the God of creation and could.... He was the very one that created the water and the wind. They should have known that. And if they knowed that He was that, did they not understand that this creation of the creator would have to obey his word? Oh, my! If He created it.... Who's the greatest, the creation or the creator? Like Jesus said, “Who is the greatest, he that is sent, or he that sent him?” Which is the greatest, the creation or the creator? The creator. And they seen, and He proved, that He was that creator. And then if He was that creator could ... would not his creation obey Him?

Let us remember also that He created our bodies. Won't our bodies obey his command? “Spit out that cancer,” He says to the body, and away it goes. You just take that Word and plant it in here and see what happens. Sure. Yes, sir, our bodies has to obey his command. You say you're a Christian. I believe you are. You believe.... What are you resting in? Some day He'll raise our bodies up after they've absolutely, completely, perished.

If you don't believe that why do you go to church? If there's no resurrection aren't we amongst men most miserable? But his word of promise: “He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.” Amen! “I am the resurrection and life.” Amen! “He that eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I'll raise him up at the last days.” My! Why? The body, the ashes, the volcanic ashes that we're made out of, obey his command because He's the creator of it.

The life that's within us is not only a creative life, but it's part of his own life. That's the reason we have the authority to speak to a devil, because it's God's own creative life, if you're anointed, see. Correctly. Not you. It's not you that speaketh, but the Father that dwelleth in you. “Take no thought what you'll say because it'll be added at that time.” Just go on. Stay with it. Oh, I love that!

After the disciples found themselves at the end of their road, it must have dawned on some of them that He was still with them. After they'd come to the end of the road, it must have dawned on somebody, “Well, here, after all, we was here giving this testimony. There He lays, right there. He's just taking a rest between the revivals. And here we are fussing and stewing, and all worried and tore up, and doubting and scared, and everything else; and the creator is laying right here in the boat.” Oh, my! O God, let it dawn on some of us again. Let it come to pass, Lord, that it can be ... it can dawn on us.

That's the very God that took you ... separated you from your mother, the very God that give you the Holy Spirit. He's just as much God right now as He was when He gave you the Holy Spirit. He's just as close to you as He was right then. That's exactly. You must remember, He's always there—always. That's right. It dawned on some of them that the creator was with them in the boat.

I wonder tonight if the sick people—being I'm going to talk to the sick in a moment—if it can dawn on you that the very God that you trust in, the creator of heavens and earth who made your body, is right here. He's just as great tonight as He ever was. He's God. He cannot get any less and ever remain God, as long as He's God. You say, “Is that true, Brother Branham? Is that the scripture? Hebrews 13:8: Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever. He's the same.

So what ought to be our plea tonight, Brother Groomer? Brother Noel? What is our plea? Wake Jesus! If there's trouble around, let's get Him on the scene. Amen. Wake Jesus, for we have Him with us. He's with us. Sure He is. Just the same as He ever was. They'd just seen the scripture word, that God spoke of Him, vindicated by Him. So have we.

You know, on the day of Pentecost, Peter, inspired with the Holy Ghost, stood up there. And the people was all laughing and making fun of that little handful of Jews out there—stammering, and spitting, and slobbering, and acting like a bunch of drunk people—and those big religious people standing there saying, “Why, these men are full of new wine.” And Peter stood up, and they was pricked at their heart when they heard that sermon that preacher preached. He really laid the gospel down.

He said, “You men of Judea, and you that dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known unto you, and hearken unto my words. These are not drunk, like you suppose, seeing this is the third hour of the day. But this [Perhaps? No!], this is that that was spoke of by the prophet Joel. 'It shall come to pass in the last days,' saith God, 'I'll pour out my Spirit upon all flesh: upon my sons and my handmaids and maidservants will I pour out my Spirit; and I'll show wonders in the heaven above and fire and smoke; and upon my maidservants and they shall prophesy, and your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.'” Right?

And they said, “What can we do? How can we get this?”

He said, “Repent, every one of you, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” And we be told by others that that ended it, but they.... That's.... If you'd stop there, that would end it; but go on, what He said. “For the promise is unto you, your children, them that's far off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.” In the face of a cold, denominational world we've proved that's the truth. Amen! If that part of the Word is truth, the rest of it's true. Yeah. They'd seen the Scripture vindicated by Him. We have too.

He was not hard to call on the scene of action. It's very easy to call Him. Watch Him when He comes on action though. That's what I like—to see Him when He comes in to the crowd of the people. Watch Him when He.... They said, “Master, we perish!”

He rubbed his eyes, said, “You of little faith, why did you doubt? Haven't you seen all that I've done? Haven't ... hasn't the Scripture been proved by me? All the scriptures pointed to me, and you've said all along you believed me. 'Yes, Lord, we believe You. We'll do this, that, or the other.' And when the little trouble comes up, then away you go.”

Isn't that us today? Sure is. Right. Yeah. “You said you believed me, but why didn't you? What did you doubt for?”

A woman said to me some time ago.... I might have said that here some time. It'll bear repeating. She was a Christian Scientist. And she said, “Brother Branham, I appreciate your remarks that you say of the Scripture, but,” said, “there's just one fault you have.”

I said, “Thank you. Just one? My!” I said, “I'm ... certainly got grace in your sight.”

And she said, “This fault is that you brag too much about Jesus.”

I said, “Oh, my!” I said, “If that's the only fault I got...! I hope God feels that I only got one fault when I get there. And if that's the only one I'm sure I'm going in.” I said, “If I had ten thousand tongues I couldn't brag on Him enough. No matter what I'd say I couldn't brag on Him enough.”

She said, “But Brother Branham, you make Him divine. You make Him God.”

I said, “He was, and He is. And if He wasn't, He was the greatest deceiver the world ever had.” That's right.

She said, “Oh....”

“Don't...” I said, “don't you believe that?”

She said, “Oh, Mr. Branham, I believe He was a teacher,” and said, “I believe He was a prophet, but He was just a plain prophet like the rest of them.”

I said, “Oh, my! You're so mistaken.”

She said, “I'll prove it to you.”

I said, “How?”

She said, “In the Scriptures, when Lazarus—St. John, the 11th chapter—when Lazarus died, the Bible said that Jesus wept.” And she said, “How could He be divine, and weep?”

I said, “That was the man part weeping—that was the man. The immortal part was inside. That was God in Him.”

She said, “Aw-w-w, nonsense!”

I said, “I want to ask you something. When, that night on the ship.... He was a man laying there sleeping. That's true. He was sleepy and tired like a man. But when He could put his foot upon the brail of that boat and say, 'Peace, be still,' and the winds and the waves obeyed Him.... He might've been a man crying; but when He said, 'Lazarus come forth!' and a man had been dead four days come on up.... He was a man when He come down off the mountain hungering for something to eat, looked on the tree; but when He took five biscuits and two ... fed five thousand, that was a creator. That's right.” Sure—in action. God in action!

Oh, I love that! Not some idol, not some mythical thought of rubbing a statue, not some totem pole—but a real living God in action! Amen! Amen. Not something that was; something that is right now. Sounds silly to the world, but, oh, how gracious to the saint who believes it. How wonderful! Certainly. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever.

You know, He was more than a prophet; and yet He was a prophet. He was a God-prophet, see—because the prophets was the Word. The Bible said the Word came to the prophet, and as long as the prophet was speaking the Word, that He and God was.... The man knowed not what he was doing. He was just speaking the Word of God, see. Not knowing what he was doing, he was prophesying under inspiration, see. Then it wasn't the man's word, it was God speaking through lips.

Now God chose to use man. Now, He could've chose to use the sun to preach the gospel. He could've chose to use the wind to preach the gospel. He could've chose the stars. He could've chose anything He wanted to, but He chose man,

and somebody's going to do it. That's right. Somebody.

Now if He could just ever find Him a man, one man, that He could get in his hand, He'll do it. He's had such a hard time finding one man. I think of Samson. He found a man with plenty of strength, and Samson dedicated his strength to God; but he wouldn't give his heart. He gave that to Delilah, see. God wants your heart, strength, soul, body, mind—all you got. It's the only way He can use you—use the whole man. Yes.

That's what Jesus was. In Him dwelt the fullness of the Godhead bodily. We have it by measure, because when that pillar of fire come down at Pentecost.... Do you notice the Bible said cloven tongues like fire sat upon them. What was it? That pillar of fire separating itself, and dividing Himself amongst his people. What a gracious thing, see. God in you, see, God in his people. Now, notice.

Someone says now, in the church tonight, would say this. People today, if ... would say, “If we only could know He is here with us. Is there any way?” You see, they could look at Him. (Now listen close now, before we call a prayer line.) They could look at Him and say, “There He lays, on the boat. Now, He's there.”

Now, if we only had some way to do something like that. If we could just look at Him somewhere, we could say, “There He is, right there.”

Now, but He is that close. He's even closer, for, “I'll be with you, even in you, to the end of the world.” Isn't that right? He's closer than He was to them, because they had to go across the deck of the boat, and back to the back and wake Him up. You don't have to do that. Oh, my! Whew! Oh, I feel religious right now. I just begin to feel real good right now. Oh! Hebrews 13:8 says He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. And He said again, “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end,”—the evening time, preached on last night. “At the evening time I'll still be there.” Again, “I will never leave you. No matter what the boat's doing, how much rockin' and rollin' they're doing, or anything else, I'll be with you—be with you to the end-time, never leave you.”

You say, “How can this be, Brother Branham?”

St. John, the 12th, the 14th chapter, 12th verse, said that He'd prove it. See, “He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also.”

You say, “I wish you could prove and show me that He is just as He always was. If you could prove it to me....”

Well, here's where He challenged the proof. “He that believeth on me, the things that I do....” In other words, you will be an amateur messiah—messiahette. That's exactly right. For if his life be in you, it ain't you; it's Him. And you are ordained to carry his work on. “He that believeth on me, I'll prove that I am Messiah. And He that believeth on me'll do the same thing.” Now, He can't lie and be what you think He is—and what I know He is, and you believe He is too, see.

You know what He's doing? He's here tonight waiting to be proved. That's right. You know what we ought to do? We ought to do like they ... wake Jesus that's in us, wake Jesus in our own lives. The God that set our souls afire with the Holy Ghost, the God that taken these blinded eyes of mine and opened them up, the God that raised me off of a death bed, the God that I seen bring the dead back after being dead for hours (the doctor pronounced dead and write a statement to it), five different times—waken that God! Waken Him up! We ought to call on Jesus, and wake Him, and call Him on the scene! We have need of Him. Yes, sir.

Then call Him to confirm his Word.

If we wake Him up, get Him stirred up in us, till your own doubts and flusterations have passed away, now call on Him and say, “Lord, You promised a little while and the world would see You no more, and I'm not of the world. You prayed that I'd not be of the world, and I'm not of the world. I'm yours. And You said, 'The world will see me no more, yet you'll see me—you'll see me.' Lord, I want to disturb You. I want to arouse You out of my own sleeping body, my own sleeping heart, of these realities.”

Waken Jesus. “Come to me, then the doubts and fears will cease.”

All the flusterations, and worry about ... “Oh, the doctor said this, and that he's going to do this, and I don't know what I'm going to do. I....” It'll just all cease, because He's God. He speaks, and everything else keeps still.

Now, we could talk on for several more pages of notes, but let me ask you something now, because it's almost ... about ten minutes to nine. 'Course that's two hours earlier than last night, you know, too. But look, let me say this, to stop right now, and I can finish this some other time. Can God fail? Neither can his Word, because He is his Word. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God ... and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.” “Yet a little while and the world won't see me no more, yet you'll see me, for I [and I is a personal pronoun], I'll be with you, even in you, to the end of the consummation, the end of time. At the end-time I'll be there.” The light will be shining at the end-time.

He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. Hebrews 13:8 is written. Do you believe that? Hebrews 13:8—it's written. So if it's written, now let it be done. Amen. Don't be afraid to put his Word to a test. It's there. He's here. The only thing you need to do is wake Him.

You ...

we breathe so much of the unfiltrated spirit, so much to cause us to ... try to remind us of something else, and turn to.... “I'm tired. I'm too weary. I've seen this do....” What do you point to some wreck for? I'll take you.... Said, “I know somebody trusted God and died.” I know millions the same time died under doctor's care, see? Sure. Sure. If the doctor's done all he can do, you haven't got nothing else but trust God. And if you'll believe it....

Now, you just can't say, “Well, I ... I'm going to trust Him.” That isn't it. That's really do it! That isn't it—you've got to disturb Him till you can see Him come in.

Can't our prayers disturb Him? Can't our prayers waken Him from his rest, bring Him on the scene? They did. They cried out, “Lord, we are perishing!” And He moved in on the scene. Now we can do the same thing. Now, you believe that? Then let us pray.

Oh, Lord, this simple little thought—awaken Jesus—Lord, we have not used his Spirit and his faith so long till it merely goes to sleep, as it was, in our souls. Let us shake ourselves tonight. Let us arouse ourselves, and get our own sleepiness away from us, that we can see that He's still in the boat.

Oh, Lord, today I tried to shake my soul. I knowed I had to stand before a little group of people up here tonight, and I shake myself. Lord Jesus, waken, come forth! I've put your Word out before the people. It's brought to a test. Prove to this audience tonight, Lord, that You still live, that You're still here with us. Your words are true: “I'm with you always, even to the end of the world.” You're the same yesterday, today, and forever.

You're still in the ship, Lord, the old ship of Zion that's carrying us across the troubled seas. And when the devil sweeps a storm down upon us, what difference does it make as long as He's in the ship? Be with us now, Father, and may You walk right into the hearts of the people tonight.

May You walk into my heart, soul, body, mind, eyes, lips. Let this dedication of myself be a confirmation of your Word that You promised in St. John 14:12, “He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall you do also.” Then may it go to the audience that they might believe it this way, “A little while and the world seeth me no more, yet ye shall see me.” And when we're sitting in this heavenly place tonight, in Christ Jesus, manifest yourself, Lord. It's your promise. Your words won't fail.

And then, 'course then let it be upon the basis of the faith of the people, that they can receive You then. That's all we can do. I pray, God, that you'll get glory to Yourself. I commit this audience, the message, the seed that's been sown. May the Holy Spirit come in, shine its light. Like I said on the seed of that little Samaritan woman, may quickly—as soon as the light flashes—may the believer see it. May the sick man see it, the sick woman, boy, or girl. And those who are desiring for others, may they see it quickly, and be healed in Jesus' name. Amen.

Do you believe now?

Now, I believe.... Well, I'll try. I can't bring but just a few at a time, so let's start bringing them up, some people, to pray for them. And I know it's pretty crowded. You sit still, minister brothers. I'll back right up here against the ... take your place here. All right.

Now, don't doubt; believe. Will you do that? “All things are possible to them that believe.” That's right. All things are possible to them that believe. All right. Now you must believe. You've got to believe God's Word to be the truth. All right.

Now, let's....

How many can we stand up here at a time? About 8? 10? All right. Let's start from number 1 and get number 1 to about 10 or 15. A, number 1 to 15. Who has prayer card A number 1? I see there's both Spanish and Indian here tonight. They might not be able to understand it. All right, here comes one woman, right over here. Number 2. Right here. Right out here. All right. Number 2? 3, number 3? All right, right over here, if you will. Number 4, 5, 6, 7, 8? Somebody take the little boy there, so he won't get stepped on. 8, 9, 10. Now, it's about ten.

All right. We'll see how we ... kind of ... oh, we're.... I don't know, we may have too many now. All right, 10. That's all right. Let them line right like that. That's fine. How many believes now with all your heart? Now, we haven't got too many here. 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15. All right.

Now, everyone, I want you real reverent. Now I've been right on a hour, or a little better, speaking. What I say means nothing unless God backs it up. And if He doesn't back it up, see, still the Word is right, no matter whether He does or not. He's done it before, see, and He never has failed me. And I know He won't, because He said He wouldn't, see. And I know that He'll do it. But we must believe it. With all of our hearts we've got to believe.

Now so far as I know.... I want you that's in the prayer line, look this way—what all's going to be in the prayer line. I believe that every one of them are strangers to me. I believe all of them are strangers. If that's right you just raise up your hand. If I don't know you all, just raise up your hands like that. All right. Now, I don't know those people. There's not many here.... I know some here in these lines right out here. I'm not sure, I think this is Brother Noel's wife. I'm not sure. It's been a long time, and so....

How's Brother Johnson? I think he's got a stroke, hasn't he? Oh, my. What say? Is that right? Bless her heart. Those people were like father and mother to me when I first started in the meeting—this little group of Arkansas people. I'll never forget Arkansas. No, sir. I've never been in a meeting anywhere unless there's plenty of “Arkies.” How many's here tonight, raise up your hands, from Arkansas? Now, the rest of them's from Oklahoma. You can just depend on that. That's the way it goes. But we're all heaven bound, sitting together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

Sister Jones, Brother Jones, years ago when I come to your church (I believe it was Moark, wasn't it?), and you remember when I come there the only way I'd know to finding the people's trouble was by.... You'd lead them up on the platform and they'd lay their hand on mine. And then I'd wait there just a minute, and then, not try to use my own voice, and it would speak, say, “tumor, cataract....” And I told you that there would come a time—that He told me up there—if I'd be sincere, then I'd know the very secret of their heart, see. That's right. How many remembers that when I first come to Phoenix? Has it happened? See, now remember (watch this tape), we're stepping right up a little higher now, see, going right on up a little higher. Remember, it.... Just remember.

Now, we want to see Jesus. I want to see Him. Now we know that his body will not return to the earth until He comes for the church, because it must remain there for a sacrifice. Is that right? It must be on the altar. He sits on the throne of God tonight, and He must remain there, for by his stripes.... He is the sacrifice, and the sacrifice is on the altar, see. And his body cannot come, but his life returned, that was in Christ—come back upon the church in the form of the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit....

It wasn't that body that did it anyhow. He said, “It's not me that doeth the works. It's my Father that dwelleth in me, He doeth the works.” Now we believe that, don't we? Now if I told you the spirit of a gangster is in me, you'd expect me to have big guns, and mean, see; the spirit of an artist, you'd expect me to take a brush and paint. If I tell you the spirit of Christ, then it'll do the works of Christ. “He that believes in me, the works that I do....” Just like putting the life out of one vine into another—it'll bear the fruit of the life that's in the vine.

Now I don't know that He will do this. I can't say it. But if I, by a gift.... Now, no need trying to explain it. I can't. But many of you know that I've been around the world, been over it several times, before a half-a-million people at one time, 500,000 people, see—with so many different languages I'd have to jot down what I said, to wait till it went through fifteen more interpreters and then come back to the thing I said—and see that Spirit of God go right down there and do just the same thing it does here, see. All nations, languages—they're without an excuse.

Now, remember, it won't go to everybody. When Jesus was on the earth not over one-third of the Jewish race ever knowed He was on the earth. You know that. He come to the elected, and they received Him. That's right. That's where the Spirit goes tonight—to the elected. Now if you can believe that Jesus died for your sins and have accepted Him as your Saviour, and He's took your life and remolded it again, then remember, by his stripes we were healed, see. Now, you was—you're already healed. You believe that? Now the Bible said we were. Is that right? Not will be; we're already, we've already....

The whole sin question was settled when Jesus died at Calvary. You believe that, brethren? See, He's the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. Now it'll never do you no good until you accept your pardon. See, you've got to accept it. And you've got to accept your healing in the same way. If some man come by and say, “I'll heal you,” now, he's wrong. That's contrary to the Scripture. He can show you here where Jesus done it for you, and it's based on your faith. God never can do nothing.... God cannot work against your faith. You've got to believe it.

Now Jesus, when He come to his own people, listen what the Bible said. “Many mighty works He could not do because of their unbelief”—after He showed Himself to be Messiah. Now, He proved it in that day He was Messiah. May God help me to humble my spirit in such a way that I can prove that He's still Messiah, that the same God that was on the earth can take a mortal body surrendered to Him, and work through it exactly the way He promised to do. Would not that be convincing? Wouldn't that be showing that He's.... He's not asleep; He's awake. He's ready for you to call Him in action.

Now what about me standing here tonight? What have I got to do? There's 150 people here, I guess—something like that. Whether it's 150, or whether it's one person, or whether it's 500,000—don't make any difference. Just the same, see. Now, if anybody thinks that this is bogus, and not right, I ask you to come up and take my place and do the same thing. You know better than to try that. Notice. But now, God has to prove whether He's right or not. Now if the Lord God....

Is this one of the...? Give that boy your card there. Come here. Here's a lady a lot younger than I am. I've never seen her in my life. I suppose we're strangers to one another? That's right. We do not know one another.

Now, when you go home you read St. John, the 4th chapter, and you find out if this isn't a ... even a little round place.

Anybody ever in Palestine, up there at Sychar? That little well's still there where that woman was at—a little round place, vines on it. And Jesus sat over against the wall when the woman come up. He was standing in the little panoramic when the woman come up from the street down here, come up and got the water, the end of the street. And she come up there, and now He carried a conversation with her until He found where her trouble was. Then He told her what her trouble was.

And when He did that, she said quickly, “Sir, you must be a prophet,” see, because you'd had to have.... Then if He was a prophet, that was the Word of God coming to Him. But she said, “We know we're looking for the Messiah, and when he comes, that's what he'll do.” How many knows that's Scripture? That's the Scripture.

Now here's my hand over the Bible. Now as far as I know I've never seen the woman in my life, and she says we're perfect strangers to one another. Now, the Word either has to be right or wrong. It's either right or wrong. We can't make it anything different. Now, lady, just to speak with you a moment, like our Lord did to the woman. If He can tell me.... Now, if I'd say to you, “Oh, of course you had a prayer card. You come up here. You're sick,” see.... Well, then if I'd say, “Glory to God [lay my hands upon you], glory to God, you're going to get well.”—it's all right. Not a thing wrong with that. That's exactly what to do, see. That's right. The Bible said they lay hands on the sick, they'll recover. That's true.

But now, you could scratch your head, and study, “Did he tell me right? Am I going to get well?” Now, what if the something that knows your life, what you have been, what you have did, and ... or what's wrong with you—like He told that woman what was her trouble—and if He could tell you them things, well, surely if He knowed what has been, He knows what will be. Is that right? Sure.

Now, if the woman is sick.... She might be standing for somebody else. It might be sickness, it might be financial trouble, it might be domestic trouble—I don't know. I can't tell you. That's true, see. But whatever it is, if He would say it, she'd know whether it was truth or not. She'd know it. She'd know whether it was or not. And then, if it's wrong, then that wasn't the Spirit of God, because the prophet has said so, and his prophecy was wrong; but if it is right, then that was the Spirit of God, see. Now wouldn't that comfort us, and make us feel wonderful, if we knowed that Jesus was here with us tonight? Would it give you faith? Certainly.

Now to heal the woman, I couldn't do it. I can't do that. It's already done, you see. It's done, and now based upon her faith to believe it. Now if He was standing here Himself, with this suit on, He couldn't heal her. He'd say He'd already done it. “If thou canst believe, see, that I've done it, it's all over, see.” That's it.

But now, the only thing He could do, He could prove that He was Messiah yet, that God-prophet was to come. And He promised that his disciples'd do the same thing. So there you are, see. It brings it right back to the Scripture, and that's Scripture, brethren. I know it's all contrary to the modern belief, but it's God's belief, it's God's way, because He said so. There's the Scripture to read for yourself. They just try to twist it up and make something else out of it.

Now, I want to ask you something. The woman is a believer. I want to ... something will happen. You just remember, something will happen. Now, if it does, then how many's going to accept and say, “That settles it for me”? Do you believe that, lady? Do you believe it over there? Rest of you believes it? Let God be the judge.

No more than I said that.... Reason I said that.... How many's ever seen the light, that picture of that light that angel of the Lord, George J. Lacy, you know. That light's right between she and I now. And it's welcoming, and I know she's a believer. What you want me to pray for you about? Sores, sores on your body. Another thing, it's just complications. You have so many things. But wait a minute. I'm in contact with your spirit. You're ready for an operation. That's right. Up for an operation. Now, He said that was in the gallbladder. That's right. Now what do you think? God bless you. Just believe. That's it. Isn't He Christ? Now question the lady if you wish to.

That's.... Now that's Him yesterday, today, and forever. See, your faith has aroused Him now, see. He's on the scene to do things to help you, to bless you, and to give you those things that you long to have.

Now, that one vision has weakened me more than that hour-and-a-half sermon, see. You just feel yourself trembling, getting away, see. Frankly this is the first time I've had a service.... The other night the Holy Spirit struck over in some church I know, and it called three or four people. And when it did, they didn't respond just quickly, and then He was grieved. He went right away, see. He left me right there. You have to answer Him back. Yes, sir. Just remember, He ain't obligated to you; you are to Him.

We are strangers to each other. You saw me once. Here in Arizona? In a prayer line. How long ago has that been? A long time ago.

I remember the longest prayer line I ever had in my life was down here at Phoenix one afternoon over at.... I forget the name of that church, there was a ... used to be a little short fellow had the church. I forget what.... Great big church here in Phoenix. Was it Fuller? No. Brother Fuller, I know him. What say? I remember Garcia, but this is a great big church over there where Dr. Sutton used to pastor, or something. What was the name of that big church over there? It's one of the biggest full gospel churches in the country. Faulkner—that's it. That's it. Faulkner, over at his church.

You remember that line? I started that afternoon, prayed on 'till midnight that night, I believe it was. Just laying hands on the people. I got so weak I couldn't even move no more, hardly.

That before vision came. It would come, but just sparingly, now and then. And then, sometime when I'd be by myself He'd tell me something was going to happen, and I'd come tell you all that He told me something was going to happen. It always happened, didn't it? Now what does He say? Believe it, God confirms it, see.

Now, the lady being many years ago.... I guess I've prayed for two-and-a-half-million people or maybe since then—you know, around the world. Maybe more than that. But I would never know who ... about you, or nothing for it. But now the Bible said that one time....

And by the way, that darkness was over that woman has left her. That's right. I don't.... You feel different, don't you? If you just hold that faith, that's all it takes. Now fill it with joy and faith, because it'll come back with five others, seven others worse, see. Just stay right there, and say, “I believe, and that settles it.”

Now, we being strangers to each other, I just would say for two witnesses.... The Bible said in the mouth of two witnesses (or three, I believe it was, wasn't it?), two or three witnesses, three witnesses let every word be established. I aim to put the rest of my time down here, if I can, on healing line, so I don't want to take too much on discernment—just so you'd know.

By the way, that lady sitting over there having dizzy spells, they won't happen to you no more if you just believe it. Tell me what she touched. I seen that light circle here and go right over in that corner, and I seen the woman holding her head like this in the vision moving back and forth like that. What did she do? She touched his garment, not.... The Bible said that He's the high priest (is that right?) that can be touched by the feeling of our infirmities. That's what she did. See how quickly she responded. There it happened, see. Just believe.

Now that should settle it all. That makes it the truth. Now you see why I'm not running on down the line. Just try to hold myself back as much ... because I want another line tomorrow night. But just that you'd see that He's come on the scene. That's Him. It can't be me. I never seen that woman in my life, don't know nothing about her, see.

It's so simple, till the big intelligent people today stagger right over the top of such simplicity, see. That's the reason they miss it. They try to figure it out. You can't figure it out; you believe it. You just believe it.

That Indian girl having headaches, if she'd just believe it, it'd leave her too. I never seen her. She's not even ... see? See? Touch Him. Just touch Him once, and find out if it's not right. See, those people are strangers. Ask the lady. I never seen her in my life. That's true before God, as I ever knowed. See, He's on the scene if you can believe Him. But just don't stagger at it; believe it. It'll do something for you if you'll believe it. He'll heal you. All of you can be healed if you just believe it. You see, here stands a woman on the platform, and the Holy Spirit moving out there through the audience healing the people. Show that He's everywhere, omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent. Amen! Glory! Wake Jesus inside of you. Let He that come into you in the form of the Holy Spirit move through you.

I don't know you, but God does know you. The Lord God can reveal to me something you're here for, you'd believe me, wouldn't you? All right. You look on me. I mean by that, like Peter and James, you know, said, “Look on us.” Just to get you from.... It's just coming from everywhere. I believe there's going to be a real healing service in a few minutes, see. See.

One thing, your eyes are bothering you. You're almost going blind. Nerves in the eyes are dying.

The first time I caught that in a long time: somebody said, “He guessed that.” I didn't. I didn't. Now, remember, I'm catching your thoughts here by the Holy Spirit. Let's see if I guessed it. Look here, sister. You're a believer. You got trouble with your chest; cancer, skin cancers on the back of the neck. Now do you believe that God'll take it away? You want to go back over to New Mexico, where you come from, believing God healed you? All right, Mrs. Watkins, go back and when you get over there....

... thou canst believe, just have faith.

We're strangers to one another. You've seen me in the meetings, but I mean to know you —just to say I know you, I don't. Now just a little bit. I'm way over my time there, but surely you know He's here. This one woman standing here again, then we'll pray for them. I think that's at least three, isn't it? Oh, yes. That's all out through the audience.

I have no idea. You look healthy and strong to me. I don't know you, but God does know you. But there's something on your heart. It's something you're desiring, and it's for somebody else. I see a young man—no, two young men. They're your sons. No, one of them's a son, and the other one's a son-in-law. And they both have stomach trouble, and they're both got black shadows over them. They're both sinners. That's “thus saith the Lord.” You believe now? How many will believe with her? Let us pray.

Lord Jesus, we believe you now for this request for our sister. I bless her in your name. May she go and receive what she's asked for, for your glory. Amen.

All of you believe now with all your heart? Now, come this way. You believe He can tell me what's wrong? Wouldn't that be nice if that old asthmatic trouble would clear up, and you could go home and be well? Well, if you believe it, it will.

Speak English? Heart trouble, stomach trouble. Believe the Lord Jesus and it'll leave you. Come, lady. Speak English? Hard to get your breath, asthma. Go believe. Breathe, and believe in the name of the Lord Jesus.

Come. Speak English? You believe me to be God's prophet? Your trouble's in your back. Believe—won't bother you no more.

You believe me to be his servant? You're bothered with arthritis. I see you trying to get out of the bed. You can't hardly do it of a morning. Go, believe, and you won't have to do that no more, and you'll be made well.

Do you believe? All your heart? Wake Jesus in you now. Christ is here. He's on the scene. Do you all believe that? Now put your hands over on one another. Just lay your hands over on one another now.

I'm going to quote a scripture. Jesus said, “Go into all the world [Tempe, Arizona], preach the gospel. These signs shall follow them that believe. In my name they shall cast out devils, speak with new tongues. Take up serpents or drink deadly things, it would not harm them. If they lay their hands on the sick, they shall recover.” Now, with Jesus present now.... If you believe He's present, say, “Amen!” The same spirit that was in Jesus Christ is here in this church tonight. Now you pray for the person you got your hands on. Just pray right out. Say, “Lord God, heal this person.” They're praying for you.

Lord Jesus, I pray, God, that you'll send your power and Spirit upon this audience, upon this little woman here, Lord, with this mask over her face. I pray that you'll heal them, Lord. May the devil, the storms, be quietened, and the power of God take over this audience and cast out every evil power and unbelief.