God Hiding Himself In Simplicity

Thank you, brother. Good evening. It's a privilege to be here tonight in this fine time of fellowship. Just seems so real, to get to hear the testimonies of other people who are enjoying this fine blessing that we are sharing together, our experiences of tonight. And now, I do want to thank Brother Shakarian and many of the ... this Brother Danny—and many others that's here that I can't call their names—of inviting me to this fine chapter here at Albuquerque.

I think that if we would.... Sometime, when setting up your next chapter, if you'd send someone in, and kind of run around through the churches in a little revival—get them praying, and waiting, and under anticipation in the churches, and the Spirit of God all moving—and then get into one of these, then you just really have something.

But you got a potential here. You've got some fine people. I find wherever I go.... I've been around quite a bit now, for the last few years around and around the world, preaching. And I find out that everywhere God has fine people. [Unclear word] this wonderful experience.

I go way out into the jungles in Africa, and India, and the Islands. I find people that doesn't even know which is right and left hand, never heard the name of the Lord Jesus, know nothing about it at all. And the strange thing, when they receive the Holy Ghost they act just the same way you do. That I know. They ... you can see it's really something. And God loves them, and heals them.

Now this Businessmen's chapter—that's the only thing that I'm affiliated with, as far as organization of the world. It's ... because of that.... I was once sitting under Brother Crow, and I was speaking about our Baptist backgrounds. I was ordained in a Missionary Baptist Church. But then, of course, when the experience come along (of the Holy Spirit), well, that settled that right now. And so, we ... I ... not nothing against those brethren. I seen some fine men out there in that place, amongst all the churches, the denominations, but.... We appreciate them greatly. This has been a great time for me. This Businessmen has been the thing that I ... has give me a place to speak from.

Now, when I heard the name Pentecost, why.... I'd heard the name, but they told me it was a bunch of holy rollers, rolling up and down the floors, slobbering, and everything. But I found out that that wasn't so.

And then, but ... when I got ... come among them they were broke up in as many different organizations as we Baptists were, just.... They were just ... I thought they was just one group. But I come to find out they was just all kinds of groups, fussing with one another just about as bad as we Baptists, and the rest of us. And we're just about the same.

And then, instead of coming in and joining either the Assemblies, or the United, or the Church of God—and all them very fine men, all the groups—I just stood between them and say, “We are brothers. Don't argue one with another.” Now, if Satan can keep us fighting at one another, he don't have to fight, see. But when we train our guns on him, and away from one another, go to loving one another and fellowshipping with one another, then the millennium will start.

But.... That's been my purpose in.... The Christian Businessmen's Full Gospel group here has been an oasis for me to come together, because ... and they sponsor many of my meetings. And that way the people, to save their face, has to come in, you see. So it's made a great thing for me here in this nation, in this United States.

Now the 5th, 6th, I know I've got.... (Is it all right to say something about these meetings?) There was a ... 5th, 6th, and 7th ... 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th of June, we have a campaign at Tucson at the place where they hold a banq... a Businessmen's banquet—Ramada Inn. It seats about twenty-five, thirty-five hundred, all air-conditioned. And now, as a speaker, anyone that knows me knows that I'm not a speaker. I only have a grammar school education and that's a small one—only got to the 7th grade. And so I....

As far as saying “a preacher,” you know I'm not. But I just make a joyful noise unto the Lord, and then try to share what I've learned about Him with others. My calling in life is prayer for the sick, praying for the sick. That's what the Lord has blessed me with—great meetings, leading people. Greatest number I ever had at one time in one single meeting was in Bombay—500,000 at one meeting.

And then in Africa, I believe, when we counted the converts of blanket natives—heathens, didn't know which was right and left hand—had thirty thousand of them at one time receive Christ as Saviour at one time.... of a crippled blind boy, was not even mentally right—the fifth person on the platform. And when the Holy Spirit....

And I seen medical doctors, as this fine medical doctor a few moments ago.... If I was in this city and sick, and I had to have medical attention, I would want a man like that to work on me—one that believed in God. If I had to have his assistance of medicine, I'd certainly want a man that believed in God like that, a real.... You're fortunate here in the city to have a doctor like that —a real God-fearing man, and trust God for his hand in surgery or whatever he does. I have confidence in a man like that. I've seen medical doctors come forth and give their hearts to Christ, and become missionaries out in the jungles. And I certainly appreciate....

Now, here at home in America, I travel around, and have a little healing service, pray for God's sick children. I appreciate the opportunity so much. So, if you're in around near Tucson June the 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th, the chapter there will sponsor (now that's as far as we know), and all the Assemblies of God. I think there's five or six, seven Assemblies of God. And many of the others—Church of God, and so forth—they're all coming in for union fellowship for this meeting. Now, if you ... I think it's advertised. The Ramada Inn is where it will be. Brother Stromei (I don't know how to spell it), but he's a.... You see it in the “... men's Voice” there. He could enlighten you more about it as the time goes on.

I'm going now, right away, into Alaska to organize a chapter up there at Anchorage. And so, then I'm going up into the Yukon about another week or ten days, and up in the little way away places—where ministers like ... great men like Brother Oral Roberts, and Tommy Osborn, and some of those men who have those great outstanding ministries, they can't get to those places. They can't afford it. They just can't take that much time.

Well, I've tried to keep what little ministry the Lord give me humble. I don't ... I never took an offering in my life. I don't have no programs to sponsor, I don't have nothing to sell. I just want to keep it so if the Lord wants me to go to preach to ten, I can go; and if He wants me to go overseas He'll sponsor it. So I can go anywhere He leads me. I kind of like it that way, and I don't have to have a lot of money or nothing. I just want the blessings of the Lord. So you just pray for me, if you will.

I was thinking when I.... Not long ago I was invited by our precious, gallant soul, Brother Oral Roberts, and I was standing in his place there. I believe he said it cost about three million dollars —the building, or something. Oh, my! I've been in Hollywood, I've prayed for King George in the palace, and Gustav up in Sweden, and different places. And I've been in lots of places, a privilege of being there, and I've seen much—but I've never seen a building like that. And when I went in, there was so many people at the door the police had to take me around and bring me out the back way, waiting to come out for prayer for the sick. And when I went out the back way (Brother Fisher'd taken me out after he'd showed me through the building), when I was standing out there and looking up at that great, mammoth building....

I'd just come from Brother Tommy Osborn. Both those boys say that they come to the meeting, and was inspired. I thanked the Lord, then, for letting me have a little part in the ministry. And how Brother Osborn—how he'd come there that night, and saw that maniac run to the platform to kill me, and throwed his arms out and said, “I'm going to break every bone in your body.”

I said, “Because you've challenged the Spirit of God tonight, you'll fall over my feet.”

He spit in my face, said, “I'll show you whose feet I'll fall over.” And he raised back his fist to hit me.

And I said, “Satan, leave the man.” He whirled around and around and fell over my feet, and the police had to roll him off.

Tommy Osborn said, “If God can do that for one man, He can for another.”

And so, Tommy Osborn—a gallant soul, a real man.... I'd been down to his great place there and seen his great building, come over and seen Brother Oral Roberts. Then I went out to the back, and they was going to come around and pick me up. And I was looking at that great, mammoth building.

I thought, “Oh, my! Look at Brother Tommy, Lord. How you've blessed him.” I looked over here and I seen Brother Oral. I said, “Just think of what God can do for one little humble man. Oral Roberts, born in a dug-out, I think, out there, one little old poor boy; and could give him millions of dollars into his hands, and things.”

And something said to me, “Well, what about you?”

I thought, “Well, no.” I thought, “Boy, I'd sure be ashamed for one of them to come to my place. I got one typewriter setting in the end of the building. Brother Oral had, I believe, five hundred IBM. machines on one floor. I thought, ”Everything never even touched with human hands, this high.“ I thought, ”Oh, my! If he'd come into my place and say, 'I'd like to see your office, Brother Branham,' “Oh,” I thought, “I'd feel ashamed of myself.” I thought, “Well, Lord, maybe you couldn't trust me. Maybe I ... it wouldn't do for me to be that.” I said, “No, Lord. You're infinite. You know I haven't got that much intelligence.” And I thought, “Look what they inherited.” I thought, “Well, I guess I haven't got very much.”

And something said, “Look up!”

So I was pretty much satisfied then. I'm looking for a city whose builder and maker is God. Now, I'm ... not nothing against these brothers who God can trust like that. But I love them, and I thank God for doing that for great men like that.

But for me, that would worry me to death.

If I had to have twenty or thirty thousand dollars a day to operate a business.... If I get enough for my three children, and my wife, and myself to eat, and a place to sleep, that's good enough for me. Then if the Lord wants me to go somewhere to these little humble places, then I can go. Maybe He kept me that way, see.

I couldn't meet men that they meet. I haven't that intelligence; I haven't the education. So I go pray for his sick children, and hoping that some day in the palaces above that we can all meet again—where there'll never have to be sick, no more prayer meetings, or no preaching to the sinners. Until that time I'm your brother in Christ.

Now, the tapes that's being made here, they're ... you can have them. They're (Mr. Sothmann over here), they're already made up. Just immediately after the service you can have them. You don't have to wait for them. They are right there, you can have them. Now, pray for me.

And now, tonight Brother Shakarian told me he is going to let me on early. I guess that means get out early. And I'm going to do my very best to do that. And this being Good Friday, and I thought this morning.... [Brother Shakarian speaks.] Brother Shakarian, I didn't mean that that way, see. I.... [Brother Shakarian speaks.] Thank you, thank you.

I ... sometimes in speaking, if I mix my words all up.... This reminds me of a little story I heard one time, of a little boy. A minister was coming up a lane, and he heard a little boy over in a corner saying the alphabet, “A, B, C, D,” and he listened at him. He had his hands up toward heaven. He said.... After he got through with that, he raised up, and put his hat on.

And said, “Son....”

Turned around and looked.

Said, “I'm a minister. I heard you on your knees, holding up your hands, saying the alphabet.”

He said, “Sir,” he said, “I was raised in a Christian home. Father and mother was both killed suddenly. I was taken out.” Said, “The man that I'm living with is so cruel to me,” said, “I was just praying for him. I don't know how to pray.” He said, “I was just saying all the alphabet, and thought maybe God would understand how to put it together.”

So maybe ... I ... you just think the same thing of me. Maybe He'll understand it, and put it together in such a way that you'll understand from the objective that I have in my heart towards what I say.

I've never been prone to try ... to be flusterated among men, because I've been among men. I only have one thing that I see, and that's Christ and Him crucified. I see a church that I love that He died for, and I'm very zealous of that church. And I do the best I can to keep it what I think is right, in order, in line with God's Word. And I'm looking some day to spend a ceaseless eternity with you over in a land where we'll sit around like we was tonight.

As many times I look upon ... when we're having breakfasts, and suppers, and things like that.... Now, I'm a Southerner, and it's still “supper” to me. They talk about this here breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I can't do that. I ... what becomes of my supper, see? I just ... I got to have supper. Lunch ain't going to do me no good. I got to eat three times a day.

But, so ... I was thinking, as I looked, and I was shaking hands with some of the men here—aged ministers that was probably on the field when I was still a sinner—and I look at them, and I think of ... (seeing the gray in their hair) and I think “My! Them men was out there fighting before I was even converted. I have no business standing on the platform speaking to such men as that.” And I look out....

Well, only thing they done, they prophesied and said these things would come.

And I want you to know, brethren, I think you just laid the foundation stones for the ... broke the fields—you Pentecostal brothers who stood out here with a tambourine in your hand when you didn't have a church to go to; when the people laughed and throwed rotten eggs at you; and you laid in jail all night; broke corn on the railroad tracks, your children went hungry. God bless your gallant soul. You should be here, and not me.

But you said that there'd come time when these things would happen. I'm glad to see you live to see it happen. The half has never yet been told. And I appreciate you.

As I look down the table, see you different ones, I think, “I may never eat supper with you again here on earth. But some day when life is all over, we'll eat supper again [that's right], up there in Father's house, when we look across the table and see one another.”

We're on the battlefield now. We got to hurry away. But I just imagine what it will be when I look across the table and see all the redeemed sitting there, reach across and get a hold of your hand. We start crying; we got to. Then the King will come out and wipe all the tears from our eyes, say, “Don't cry, children. It's all over. Enter into the joys of the Lord that's been prepared for you since the foundation of the world.” Our little differences will fade away then, and there'll be one great eternity. I want to spend it with you. Let us pray now, as we bow our heads.

Our heavenly Father, the great, mighty Jehovah—who thundered forth in the beginning and said, “Let there be light,” and there was light—oh, thunder again, Jehovah. Throw light upon our paths tonight. Throw light upon thy Word, throw light upon the day that we're living in. Send the light. Grant it, Lord.

Bless thy people everywhere around the world where revival fires are burning on the hillsides in the heathen lands around the world. We pray that you'll bless every God-sent minister. O God, inspire their lives. Just think at right this same moment people are receiving the Holy Spirit around the world. People are being healed this very minute around the world.

How we thank Thee for this great universal blessing, that was made possible by the death of thy Son some nineteen hundred years ago this afternoon, as we've celebrated this Good Friday. We pray, Lord, that his Holy Spirit will come among us now, and will give to us a portion of the bread of life that we have need of; that would sustain us for the further journey, as we've come aside out of the field for these few days to sit in the shade of the tree of life, to enjoy each other and our fellowship together. We thank You for it. It's been refreshing.

Now grant it once more tonight, Father, and fill our souls.

Heal every sick person that's here. How we thank You for your healing today of our sister with that short limb and short foot, that condition. We're grateful, Lord. We thank You. It shows that the living God is dwelling among us.

We thank You for the sister that was healed of the goiter on her throat. We maybe don't even know yet what all You've done. It's remarkable, Lord, to see how You do things. We're grateful to You. Now bless us further. Bless the reading of thy Word. Hide thy servants now. Circumcise the lips that will speak and the ears that will hear, for we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.

Let us turn now for a text to read, or for a Scripture reading, rather. I want to read from two places out of the Word. And that is from Isaiah, the 53rd chapter of Isaiah, I want to read from 1st verse until the ten ... to the 10th verse, rather. And then we want to read Matthew 11:25 and 26. Now, let us read.

Who has believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?

For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and out of the root out of ... dry ground: he has no form or comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, ... acquainted with grief: ... we hid as it were our faces from him he was despised and we esteemed him not;

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; ... the Lord laid upon him the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he was brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth.

He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off from the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

And he was ... and he made his grave with the wicked, and in the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was there deceit in his mouth.

Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he has put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, and he shall see his seed, and shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

Of course he's speaking of Jesus here, our marvelous and wonderful Lord.

Matthew, the 11th chapter and the twenty ... 25th and 26th verses:

And at that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and has revealed them unto babes.

Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight.

Now, if the Lord willing, I want to draw from this a text to speak on just shortly, as quick as I possibly can; and then sit down to listen at some more testimonies. I want to take this subject here, “God Hiding Himself in Simplicity.”

You know, God is so great. He hides Himself in simplicity, and then reveals Himself in the same thing He hides Himself in. And God is so great, He can make Hisself simple. That's what makes Him great. So many miss Him in the simplicity ... simple ways that He hides Himself. Now, we know that man cannot do this. Man cannot make hisself great enough to be simple. Now, what makes God so great is because He can be so simple; and God does not reveal Himself in greatness, as we call greatness.

Now, as we read the Word and study the Word of God, we find out the way God does things He cannot never change his program. But what God says.... He can never go back on his Word. When we do anything.... I can do something, and this year I think this is right. Next year, or maybe next week, I can see where I'm wrong. But God can't, because He is infinite. His first decision.... If He's ever called upon the scene to act.... And the way He acts on that decision, that's the way He must act every time that decision has to be made again. Because if He did not.... If He acts a certain way on this decision, and the same subject comes up again, and if He doesn't act the same way He did the first time, then He acted wrong the first time.

Therefore, if a man ever come to Him for salvation and He saved him upon the basis He saved him upon, He has to save the next man upon the same basis. And if a man ever comes to Him for healing and He healed that man upon a certain basis, if the next man comes He's got to heal him on the same basis. He cannot change. He must ever be the same.

God made a program when man sinned in the beginning. Back ... he tried to find a way of escape for himself. He tried to make himself a covering—fig leaves and so forth. It'd never work. But God did make a way that man could fellowship with Him again, and that was under the shed blood of an innocent substitute. And that's the only way that God ever did meet man. And that's the only way God ever can meet man—is under the shed blood of an innocent substitute.

Now, we're here on Good Friday. And the world today, in the Catholic denominations, they crawl up the steps, and, oh, so many different ways that we make traditions, and rub bones. And there's some nineteen absolutely proven nails that they took out of the hands of Jesus, they claim. Each church has got one. What difference does it make, whether it's the nail, or whether it's the cloak, or whatever it is? We have the Holy Spirit. That's what Christ left to the church—not some coat, some piece of the cross, some nail or something. He left us a memorial, and that was the Holy Spirit that He left for the church.

Now. Now, that was what He left to the church nineteen hundred years ago this afternoon as he died at Calvary. He commended into the hands of God his Spirit, and it was sent back to the church on the day of Pentecost. Now, God in the beginning.... When man sinned it showed the nature of man. He's always trying to hide from God, and make hisself a way that he can feel justified—a religion. That's ... “religion” means a covering. So he tried to make his own religion.

But God made his decision on how that He would meet man: that was upon the shed blood. And that's the only way. No matter how much we try any other way, that's the only place that God will meet man for fellowship—is under the shed blood. God only met Israel under the shed blood. The only place that Israel could worship was under the shed blood.

And today we have tried organization, we've tried denomination, we have tried education, we've tried scientific achievements, and everything, to try to bring men into a unity for fellowship. And it's failed, every one of them. Now there's one place that men can meet and fellowship with God, and fellowship with each other. That's under the cross when each man accepts the blood of Jesus Christ. I don't care ... in all of his peculiarity, he can still reach over and put his hand in the next man's hand, and call him “brother,” when we meet at the cross where Jesus died.

We are becoming a scientific age. Everything must be proven scientifically. We're living in the age of science as was predicted by the Bible—weaker and wiser as predicted. And we're living in that age. And ... more we probe into science, further we get away from God. You'll never be able to scientifically prove God. And the whole Christian armor is absolutely supernatural. There's nothing natural. If you could prove God, than there's no more need of faith. But he that cometh to God must believe that He is. It's by faith. The whole Christian armor is faith.

Dr. F. F. Bosworth, one of my first managers, wrote a book called “Looking at the Unseen.” Now, many of you has read it, no doubt, and it's a very fine book—of looking at the unseen. The Christian looks at things he does not see.

Now let's just take the armor of Christianity, and see if it's supernatural: love, joy, peace, faith, longsuffering, meekness, gentleness, patience. Everything's supernatural. Love—go down to the drug store and buy me a quarter's worth of love. I need it. See, you couldn't do it. Buy me a dollar's worth of peace. You couldn't do it, see. Everything's supernatural. The whole armor of God is supernatural. His church is supernatural. It's not an organization; it's a supernatural body that men and women are born into by the Holy Spirit.

And it's ... simple way.

God doesn't make things complicated of so many rosaries, and so many this, and join this, and so much education, so much theology. Why, we get ourselves farther and farther away from God all the time by doing so. Today, we're so scientific till we can tell how many molecules it takes to make an atom, how many electrons, and so forth; and split that atom, and tell you how it's done; and make an atomic bomb. And then we can explain how we done it; but walk over a blade of grass that we cannot explain....

God in simplicity. God manifested Himself in simplicity. He makes Hisself simple so that the wise will not understand. Jesus said, “I thank Thee, Father. Thou hast hid this from the wise and prudent, and will reveal it to babes such as will learn.” Don't never try to educate yourself to God. When you do, you educate yourself away from God, see. God's not known by education; God's known by faith. And the first stroke that the devil took was on the educational program, and man lost his fellowship with God. That's exactly. He must know God by faith—not what he can explain, but what he believes that he can't explain, that.... We just vice versa the picture.

Now today everything's an educational program. Yes, we walk over a simple little blade of grass. We send our children to Bible schools, and to colleges. Now remember, I'm not condemning that. I'm not supporting ignorance. But I'm trying to tell you the folly of it. And there's where we make.... You know there's something wrong.

And it's like in my meetings. Most times when I get meetings I find those that fails over at the other fellow's meeting, because.... Many times I've watched Brother Roberts. Someone said, “Brother Roberts, Brother Branham, will pray for five hundred while you pray for three.” That's right. Certainly. He'll get twice the testimonies. Certainly. Fifty times the testimonies, see, because you'll.... After all, it's based upon the faith of the individuals being prayed for.

But the ones that fails in there, then they come over to the meeting, because....

Here, a doctor sitting present.... If a doctor.... If you go to the doctor's office and say, “I'm sick at my stomach, and got a headache,” and so forth; and that doctor just writes you out a little prescription of aspirin, or a tranquilizer or something, he's never diagnosed that case. He's just trying to get you out of the office, see.

Now, if he's got you upon his heart and he's interested, he'll diagnose that case until he finds the cause.

And when a man is sick (or a woman), and something's happened, there's only one way to correctly get that. That's go back and find the cause —go back till we see what we've done.

In the meetings, watch them stand on the platform. The Holy Spirit say, “Ten years ago you was at a certain place, and you done a certain thing, and you did this, and certain....” You've heard it, many of you in the meetings, see. “You did that. You've got to make that right first.” And then, if they've promised to do it, then you'll hear it come forth, “Thus saith the Lord....” Mark it in your books. Did you ever see it fail? Certainly not. It doesn't; it can't. What is it? See, you ... the first thing, you've got to find the cause before you can produce the cure. You've got to find the reason for it.

And now, today we are trying to educate people to that ... to the scientific approach to God, and you can't do that. God is known not by science; but by faith we know God. And I'd say this: that a man can sit down and look at a bunch of flowers, a bouquet, and study that thirty minutes sincerely with all of his heart, and know more about God than he did if he had all the degrees that a Bible school could give him.

For God reveals Himself in the flower. We see it die, and rise again—resurrection. We see two or three different colors in the same species of flower. Where did that coloring come from? Explain it to me. How did it get there, where does it go, and how does it get back again? How does that seed have to die and rot, and come back again?—God showing Himself in simplicity, then hiding Himself again in death, to show Himself again in resurrection, see.

It's just ... you don't have to know a whole lot. The only thing you have to know is to have faith in what you're looking at, what you're believing, see. Believe ... one hour would really prove it, would teach you more about God than all the degrees that you could have.

God is so great He can make Hisself simple. Now that's what makes God great to me—is how He can make Himself simple; and that, for doing Himself, He hides Himself from the smart and wise. Now just think of that!

ISA35:8

He hides Himself from the smart people, and reveals Himself to the humble people. The Bible said, in Isaiah 35, even though a fool, should not err in the way, it's so simple. And as you try to figure it out, and study it out, you just figure away from God. Every time you do that, you just get yourself farther and farther away. Quit trying to figure it out. Just believe what He said. That's all there is to it—just believe it. And then, hides Himself from the wise, and shows Himself to the simple.

Man can't be that big.

A man, as soon as he gets hisself a degree of some sort, he knows more than the next fellow. You can't tell him nothing. The churches today like to brag on their pastor, because he's a student of certain, certain seminary. He's got a B.A., he's got a D.D.L.D. Well, that don't mean one thing. That don't mean ... he might have a B.A., a D.D. and a LL.D. and not even know split peas from coffee. That doesn't mean.... (Excuse that remark. This is no place for jokes, you see. I don't mean that, certainly. You forgive me.) I mean this: that that don't have one thing to do with it.

You know God by faith, and that alone. That was proved when Jesus come to the earth. And those Pharisees, and so forth—the highest of degrees, smartest, most holy living men that we had.... Even one flaw against them, they'd be stoned without mercy. And Jesus said, “You are of your father, the devil, and his works you'll do.” Who could point a finger at them and say... ?

We call sin committing adultery, telling a lie, smoking cigarettes, chewing tobacco. That's not sin. That has nothing to do with sin. That's the attributes of unbelief. There's only one sin. That's unbelief. “He that believeth not is condemned already.” When a man will deny that the Word of God... , that's the sin, right there.

Jesus said when He was on earth, “Who can condemn me of sin? Who can show me that I didn't fulfill everything that was prophesied of me? When I come, I was supposed to do certain, certain things. Who can prove that I didn't do just exactly what the scripture says I'd do? Search the scriptures; for in them you think you have eternal life: and they are they that testify of me. [See?] Who can condemn me of sin?”

Now, those people there ... oh, they had to wash their pots and kettles, and wash before eating, and all these regular traditions they had to go through. But Jesus condemned them all, and set them aside, and told them they were devils. Could you think of such a thing?

Do you believe He'd do the same thing in the churches today? He most certainly would. We've twined ourself around traditions and things, until we got ourself in the same mess we was then. And now when God displays Himself in simplicity, then they don't recognize it at all. It's above their way of thinking. They got it all fixed up the way that they think it ought to be, and if it doesn't come that way they won't receive it. That's the only way—that's what's always been the trouble. Remember, the way up is down. Now, that's right. “He that humbles himself shall be exalted.”

How do you know whether it's ... which is up and down? If the world's standing in space, is the North Pole up or the South Pole up? Which one is it? See? And you say, “Oh, the morning star, and the evening star.” It's both the same star. See, the same light ... was given in the morning is the same evening star. The world's just turned around, that's all. See, so it's not so complicated after all. It's just simple faith to believe God.

Notice. The way up, I said, is down. We must believe God. We must take him at his word. We must not try to figure things out, but just whatever God says, the real true Spirit of God will punctuate every word of God with an “Amen.” The Holy Spirit wrote the Word. And if the Holy Spirit wrote the Word, and the Holy Spirit's in you, how can it say, “Well, that was for another age.”? How can it say ... when it says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever,” and you try to place it all in some age back there, or some age to come?

Man is still the same. He's always thanking God for what He has done, looking forward for what He will do, and ignoring what He's doing. That's exactly man always. And he does the same thing today. He always, is that ... that's a man. And you've got to get out of that. You've got to let the mind that was in Christ be in you.

God dealing with man has always been in humility. He never does deal with man is great big theological terms. Tell me one time He ever did. He never does. He makes Hisself simple; and man wants to make it complicated. He makes Hisself great by making Hisself humble.

Now, when a man gets a little bit of education, or a few degrees, he knows so much that you can't tell him nothing. But if he could just keep on getting great enough till he could make hisself little, till he knows nothing, then it'd be all right. But he can't get that big, see. He just can't get that big.

And God is that big. He's so big till He can make Hisself humble. But we can't get big enough to make ourself humble. That's the difference.

And so God hides Himself in humility, and simplicity. And man-wisdom of the world looks right over the top of it. No wonder Isaiah said, “Who has believed our report? To whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?”

Jesus said, “I thank thee, Father of heaven and earth, that you have hid this from the eyes of the wise and prudent, and will reveal it to babes such as will learn.” Humility, simplicity.

Just watch how God makes Hisself simple. Look. Look at Eden. Just believe his word was all they had to do to live. Now, God never said, to this first cause, that you've got so many degrees of college you'd have to have. He said, “This is my Word. Believe it, live; disbelieve it, die.” Now, Eve never disbelieved all of it. She just disbelieved one little phase of it.

Now, I want to ask you a question, brethren, sisters. If God let all this happen because Eve disbelieved one little phase of the Word and caused humanity to get to the place it's in, do you think we'll ever get back disbelieving any phase of it? Think of it. If God could see little babies suffering, wars and troubles, famines and starvations, sickness and murder, and all these things that's taking place, all because one little phase of his Word was doubted, do you think we'll ever get back doubting one phase of it? If it cost all of this, would He let you back free? Let you go anyway?

Say, “I don't ... can't understand it. I don't believe it anyhow.” No, you've got to believe all of it. No matter how humble it seems, believe it anyhow.

Say, “Well, I don't understand it.” Believe it, anyhow. You're not supposed to understand it; you're supposed to believe it. Just believe it, anyhow. Now, that's the way we are today. The same thing that God....

Just like an army going to fight. We got spies in England; England's got spies here. The spies are in and out around the world. Why? They're searching out our military secrets. When we find some kind of a military secret, as soon as they can find it they take the same thing or something to combat it. It's a warfare. The greatest warfare's going on is a spiritual warfare.

Now. When God knowed this was going to come to pass, He did for his children just like the United States does for their army. We give a man a helmet to wear because we know he's going to use it. We give him a spade to dig in. We know.... It's a big ... pound—about a ninety-pound pack on his back, some little rookie packing it. He's ... certainly is a hard thing for him, but the army knows they've got to train him for that because he's going to need it. Every piece of equipment, he's going to need it when he hits the battlefront.

That's what we ought to do today, friends. We got to take the whole Word of God 'cause we're going to need it. We've got to use every word that's in there. It's “thus saith the Lord,” and we've got to use the full gospel—all of it.

Now, when God had fortified his church He fortified it with the best thing that He could find, because it's his own children. And He fortified the church by the Word, his own Word—just ask them to believe his Word. That's all there was. And Satan by his wisdom caused Eve to break down that barrier just in one place. Satan admitted every bit of the Word was right, but said, “Surely....” That's all he had to know. “Surely you won't die.” Now, that was a loophole. He got Eve from behind that Word with one little doubt.

That's exactly where he gets the church today, the same thing. Just that one little doubt brings you on this side. And now there's no way to ever try to think that God will ever spare you through belonging to a church, belonging to an organization, or a group, or whatever it is, or any sensation. You've got to believe his Word and act upon the same. Right. That's the only way. That's God's program at the beginning; that's God's program down through the life; that's God's program now—is the church must stay behind the Word. That's the only way that you can be saved.

Notice. Noah in his days (we spoke of it this morning), in his days it was a great intellectual time, and men were smart. And Noah and his great intellectual age, God came down to save the elected people. Do you believe God has an elected church? Certainly He does. And He comes to save that elected. The rest of them, it's just common cannon fodder. But He knows that there's going to be so many of them saved because He put their names on the Lamb's book of life before the foundation of the world. That's exactly according to the Scripture.

And the anti-christ in the last days will deceive every one whose names were not written on that book before the foundation of the world. The Bible said so. The antichrist so close, it'll be Pentecost to the dot, see. But it'll deceive those whose names are not written on the book of life from the foundation of the world when the Lamb was slain.

Notice. Now we find that Satan, that great agent, he only was able to get the church the first time by making them accept his wisdom of the world, and get away from common faith that God told them to have in his Word. That was his first program. He succeeded there, and there's where he's done it every time. Oh, if we could only see that that's it! And when he can get you from behind that Word, that's all he has to do—you're in his hands, right then. Notice. Just believe his Word and live.

Now. Eve, that wasn't enough for her. She had to have some of the wisdom of the world. That's the way we do today. We've just got to have some doctor, Ph.D., LL.D., to tell us about it. Brother, if it's contrary to this Word you leave it alone. I don't care if it's the pope of Rome, or if it's a ... any hierarchy, or the archbishop of Canterbury. I don't care who it is. You believe God's Word, and let every other word be a lie. If anything's contrary to the Word.... I found out this one thing: live by the Word. If God makes a promise, He's got to keep that word. If He doesn't keep that word, then it's not God.

Now, if ... God's going to have to judge the world by some standard some day. Now, if He's going to judge it by the standard (as the Roman church tells us) of the church, then which church is it? There's some nine hundred different organizations. Which is it? The Baptist says theirs is the standard. The Pentecostals says theirs, Catholic says theirs. To me, neither one of them. The Word is the truth. “Whosoever shall take one word from this or add one word to it, the same will be taken from his part out of the book of life,” see. It's the Word of God, God will judge the man by.

Noah's great generation there when they were so smart, God sent them a message. And when He did, He never sent an archangel; He sent a farmer with a simple little message. But it was showing them. Now, do you think they received it? No, because it was too simple. If it wasn't ... been so simple, they would've received it. If it'd been some great something ... you could have told them how to build a pyramid that was greater than the ones that they already had built, and so forth, they might have received it. But He sent a simple man with a message that it was going to rain. That didn't meet their scientific education. Why, they could shoot to the skies with radar, or something, and prove there's no rain water up there.

But Noah said, “God said there'd be water there. And if God said there'd be water there—though there's none there—he can put it there, because He's a creator.” That's it! No matter what anybody else says, God said so; and God's able to keep his word. And that simple little message condemned the world in his day, and saved his own household. That's right. Of a simple.... Nothing radical. Just simply walk in the ark. That's all there was necessary. Believe and walk in.

God saved the world by simplicity, showing Himself so humble. That was ... what was it? God hiding again, from the real smart, educated.

And anyone knows that the antediluvian people were smarter than we are today—farther advanced in science and so forth than we are today. Why, they can dig up mummies back there, and we couldn't have a mummy today. We couldn't petrify a body like that. They had coloring that we can't match today. They built pyramids and sphinx, and so forth, that we couldn't match if we had to. We haven't the stuff to build it with. We don't have the power to lift it up there. We could not build it; but they built it. Why? They were smarter than we are.

And in that fine, educated, smart, intelligent race of people God sent a message so humble that it just stumbled them right down to the bottom. They refused it, and rejected it. And God's justice required judgment that rejected his message. And He condemned the world and sunk it beneath the earth by a flood; and saved Noah, the righteous, who believed by a simple little message that God gave. What was it? God hiding in simplicity. Oh, yes. Yes, sir. Usually, as they always do.... They believed it.

Another time when there's a time for deliverance at hand, God sent a simple man out of a simple family. He never taken any renowned family ... Moses' family. We find out that he was just a simple man, a common family of the tribe of Levi, I believe. And he brought them out, this family. He let Moses go in and be the highest educated man in all the country. He could teach the Egyptians wisdom. He was a military man, we're told by history. He knowed all the ins and outs, how to do it.

And God let him get trained like that, and prove that you cannot accomplish for God in that manner. His military, all of his genius mind, all of his education—he bitterly and miserably failed by it. God let him do it, let him be educated and be smart. Then it took Him forty years to educate him; and then forty years to beat it out of him before He could use him. That's right. That's right. Took him out on the backside of the desert, and got rid of all the education he had.

Oh, the only thing is, the trouble today we're always trying to pack up for the coming. We ought to be emptying up for the coming. There's got to be a space there. There's got to be something hungering. We're trying to persuade and pull—we oughtn't to do that. If a man's hungry for God, there's a place empty for him. That's all. But until then we can't smother God into a place.

We might make him have isms, and chills, and so forth, and act strange. But it certainly won't work until that man, himself, wants God. Yes, sir. So our man-made programs are no good. Get in God's. That's exactly right. Join church, shake hands, forms of baptisms and rituals, and do rosaries, and so forth. Nonsense!

It's a birth.

God ... “Blessed are they that do hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” That's right. You've got to have an empty spot. What makes men hunger? What makes men go out here, and do the way they do? What makes these women, out on the street walking with these immoral clothes on? What are they trying to do? They're trying to satisfy a hunger. And what do they hunger for? Is because they were created to hunger. But that hunger....

How dare any person to try to hush that holy hunger that God made you to hunger for Him, and try to satisfy it with the things of the world! You don't have a right to do that. How dare any person to try to put bingo games, and dances, and things in the church, and soup suppers, to pay your pastor—some kind of a carnal entertainment—and call yourself religious; and things like that to hush that holy hunger, when you ought to be having an upper room there, praying for the baptism of the Holy Spirit to fill that congregation of people. You have no right.

But it's too humble; it doesn't meet your requirements. Your education's gone above that, see. You're too smart. You want to educate the people into it. You don't want a pastor that knows the Holy Spirit. You'd [unclear word] him away from your pulpit. You don't want that because he can't show his card, he can't show what school he was from. Do you think Moses could have showed it? Do you think any of the prophets could have showed it? Could Jesus show it?

They said, “What school ... where did he get his education? Where'd this come from?” We don't have a record of Him ever going to school a day in his life.

What about John?—that old wooly, fuzzy-worm face, coming out of the wilderness like that. (His father was a preacher and he come out of a school. He was a priest.) We don't even have any record of him ever going to school. He went into the wilderness at nine years old. Why? He had an important job to do. Why didn't he follow his father's trait, just like was customary for them to do? Why, that seminary down there would have got him into so many scruples, they'd had.... Now, if.... “You know you're to announce the Messiah. Now, you know Brother Jones meets that.”

He went out in the wilderness and he waited on God, until the Lord told him, “Upon whom thou shall see the Spirit descending and remaining, He's the one's going to baptize with the Holy Ghost and fire.” His ministry was too important to get an education. Certainly it was. He had to have the power of God. Now if you've got your education plus the power of God, wonderful. But don't put that education above the power of God, see. Truly.

Now we find out that Moses.... Now, when he was out there he'd.... Forty years he'd trained himself, knowing, by his mother, that he was to deliver the children of Israel. He thought surely when he killed that Egyptian that the brothers would understand it, but they didn't. So through all of his schemes he failed, and miserably failed. But in five minutes in the presence of a burning bush out there, God put more into him than the seminary did down there in forty years.

Now, I'll admit one thing. When you learn God, a God in humility.... What about a bush? What if Moses said, “Now wait a minute. My education's very high. So I think I'll go over and try to gather some of them leaves off the bush, take them down to the laboratory and examine them, and see what chemical that that was sprayed with to see if it's a fire, and don't burn. See, he would have never found the secret. But he walked up to Mother Nature, took off his shoes, knelt down, and begin to talk to it. And it talked back to him. That's the way.

Don't try to educate yourself into something. But get right down before Jehovah God. Speak to Him; He'll speak back to you again. That's just how humble it is. “Ask and you shall receive; knock and it'll be opened; seek and you shall find; ask and it'll be given.” That's just that simple.

I know one thing: that whenever you really find God it makes you act peculiar. You notice Moses. The next day after.... He'd run from ... he'd already run out of Egypt, and been out there and married Zipporah, and had his little son Gershom. And here he was, already forgot about the bondage of the people. But when God appeared to him there in the burning bush, the next day he had Zipporah sitting straddle a mule with a young-un on her hip; and a white beard hanging down to his waist and his bald head shining, and a stick in his hand, going down through there. “Glory to God!”—his eyes looking over.

“Where're you going, Moses?”

“We're going down to Egypt to take over”—a one-man invasion. Oh, it'll make you act funny. But that's all right. As long as you know which way you're going, that's all right.

“How do you know you're going to take over?”

“God said so.” That settles it. That settles it—“God said so.”

“Oh, you're eighty years old. If you'd have done that when you was forty....”

“But God said, 'Go now. This is the time.'” One-man invasion going down to do it.

God makes you act funny, even to look like a weather vane standing on top of a building. But as long as it's God doing it, why, all right. What difference does it make? It might take some of the Baptist theological training out of you, but as long as God's doing it He reveals Himself in simplicity. That preacher knowed more about God coming off the top of that house than learning all the years he went to school. Amen! God reveals Himself in simplicity and shows Himself in power. Amen! Hiding Himself, then showing Himself. Wants to see how simple you can get—not how smart you can get; but how simple you can get.

God makes Himself known in simplicity; not in smartness and shrewdness. That's of the devil. Follow the training. Where did Cain's children, what happened to his? The devil's kids, what happened to them? They all become smart educators, scientists, and so forth. Follow Seth's children—humble peasants, sheep raisers, and so forth. At the end of the world, what happened? At the end of the antediluvian world, what happened? They were all lost. They were religious, too. Certainly, they were. But you see, God sent Noah. Caught the humble, simple, and taken them up; and Cain's children was destroyed.

Same thing it is today. That smart, shrewd.... See, that's how Satan deceived Eve in the garden of Eden. That's how his children's done all the way down.

Look at Moab—that great, fine organization standing up there on top of the hill. My, what a great place. Now don't.... They worshipped the same God, because they went and got their bishop, Balaam. He come out there and put up seven altars, seven sacrifices—the same altar, the same sacrifice. Everything exactly like Israel done, the little wanderer down there. And then tried to curse their brother, see, to keep him from passing through the land. They didn't want one of them there holy roller revivals among their people.

What happened? God went right on through anyhow, because they were promised to go to the promised land, and nothing would stop them. God dealt with them. God hiding Himself in simplicity. That's the way He always does, and they usually miss it.

Moses was a dedicated servant of Christ and God at the burning bush. He knowed more about ... Moses knowed more about God when he left that burning bush than all the forty years he studied of Him down in Egypt. We know that's right.

In the days of Ahab the world had got to such a place—politics had played such a part (as we talked on this morning), until Ahab come on the scene. Now, Ahab was no bad guy. He was just a lukewarm, backslidden Israelite, and let his wife lead him around. She was the neck that turned the head.

And that's the same thing we've got right here in this United States now. Certainly. I don't say “Our President So-and-so....” He might be a good man. But it's that old system behind it—that's what's a-doing it.

You watch it. You just mark.... You think I'm just standing here saying something and I don't know what I'm talking about. You remember what I've told you. That's right.

I'm getting to be an old man. I haven't got many more days left on the earth, if Jesus tarries long. I'll be gone pretty soon. But this'll be taped, and you'll play it over and you'll find out that it was right. You're living in the shadows. There's no hopes left at all. Now remember, me knowing, an old man as I am, and standing here and knowing the time is fleeting on. And you're done, the nation's done, everything's done. That's right. The only one thing, save yourself from this onward generation 'cause she's done. That's right.

Ahab.... In that day that Jezebel come in, got all the women acting the way she was, and I guess the things that she went to, Ahab let the things.... And all the preachers got worldly.

But in that same time, God raised up a mighty man. We don't even know where he come from. We don't know who his father and mother was. He come from nowhere, but he went to glory. We don't know who his father and mother was—no days of him ever going to school. He was a wilderness man. We don't know how he come. He just come on the scene strangely, went off the scene strangely. And he come on there, and He shook down that generation in a simple man. What do you think the theologians thought of him in that day? What do you think they said to Elijah? They said “He's an old crank.”

Jezebel said, “I hate him.” And everybody hated him. But he had the Word of the Lord for the salvation of the nation. But they wouldn't believe it.

A simple sort of a person Elijah was. And he served God's purpose so good—that simple spirit was in Elijah—until God used it in three other men already, and promised to use it again in the last days. Right. So simple, that would just stand and tell the truth. He used it in Elisha after him, used it in John the Baptist, promised again in Malachi 4 to restore the faith of the children back to the faith of the Pentecostal fathers and the original gospel. He promised it, and He'll do it! That's right—that simple spirit—not smart, not intelligent.

Elijah wasn't no scholar. He wasn't no well-known world figure. Even ... we don't even know where he come from. But he just had sense enough to believe God. Simple, that's it. That's the kind of people God works ... hides Himself. God hid Himself in Elijah.

Could you imagine a man like Moses, an ordinary man doing the things that he did? Could you imagine that Elijah—an old, wooly-looking fellow with hairs all over his body and a piece of sheepskin draped around him—could you imagine God taking a thing like that? when there stood priests, and clergymen that was robed, and polished in their theology, just as smooth as they could be. But God bypassed every one of them. He always does. Tell me one time He ever did it. Never. No, sir.

He bypassed the whole thing to come down to some simple form. He reveals Himself, and works in simplicity, real simple so that everybody will understand it. That's what makes Him great. He becomes simple, simplifying it.

And now He bypassed....

Although the world was full of great scholars in that day, but not a one of them did He use. He found a simple sort of a fellow. But remember, this kind was in that age. But you see, the spirit that he come in was too simple for their education. They already had it figured out what could come. They was so highly polished until they missed the simplicity of it, and sometimes walk over the top of it, make fun of it.

It reminds me of the old proverb, “Fools will walk with hobnailed shoes where angels fear to trod.” A man will see the works of God going on, and know that it's the works of God, and stand and call it the works of the devil.

Jesus said that's blasphemy. “If you say a word against it—I, the Son of man—it shall be forgiven you. But whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost will not be forgiven them in this world, neither in the world that is to come,” see. But we walk with hobnailed shoes where angels fear to trod.

We're so smart, we're so polished. That's what's becoming of our America. We're too smart. We're educating ourself away from God. Our schools are sending our preachers ... like an incubator chicken.

I always felt sorry for an incubator chicken. He was hatched out under artificial light. And the first thing you know, he'd “chirp, chirp” for a mammy because that's his nature. But he ain't got no mammy; he was hatched out by an incubator. That's what I think a whole lot of these degrees make—an incubator chicken chirping. It ... you don't know what you're talking about. That's right. When you have a form of godliness, and deny that Word, and deny that the Holy Ghost isn't the same today as it was the day it was poured out on Pentecost....

They said that was just for the disciples. Jesus said, “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. These signs shall follow them that believe.” How long? Till the end of the world and to every creature, these signs shall follow them. Certainly.

I'll show you where He give the power to the church; you show me where He took it away. It isn't there. No. But you see, we get so smart we educate ourself away from that. We get terminologies and things that we work on. “Well, it reasons....” That's just the same thing.

“Well, now look. We have fine physicians,” we say today. “Why do we need divine healing?”

Look what that fine doctor said a while ago. He comes to the end of his road, then he trusts God. There you are. That's it. Science is all right as long as you climb on the tree; and when you get as far that you can't go no further, step over on the tree of faith and just keep on walking, see, because it has no end to it. “All things are possible to them that believe.”

Science is all right as far as it goes. Your five senses is fine and dandy as long as it agrees with the Word. But when the five senses condemn the Word, then get away from it. No. I wouldn't believe my feeling, wouldn't believe my hearing, wouldn't believe my seeing, nothing else, if it's contrary to the Word.

A fellow said to me some time ago, said, “I don't care how many people you Pentecostals could prove that had been healed, I don't believe in it.”

I said, “Certainly not. You're an unbeliever. It wasn't for unbelievers; it's for believers.” That's exactly. Certainly. It wasn't sent to unbelievers. It was sent to those that believe.

Jesus come right in the day of unbelief. Never stopped Him. He just preached right on just the same. God worked miracles just the same, in that great educated world. We're living in a great educated world today, splitting atoms and making bombs and so forth; and flying to the moon, and astronauts and everything else around the earth. That's true, we're doing that. That's fine. But still, there's people who believe that that baptism of the Holy Ghost is just the same as it always was. They can't explain it; but they know they got it. That's just the only thing it is. Don't have to explain it, as long as you got it! Amen! Amen means “So be it.” I'm not amening myself, but I just ... I like the word. So be it. I know that's true.

God makes Himself so simple that He just goes plumb over the top of them. The wise are so smart—that little peanut brain, you know—they've got it all figured out, and you can't tell them nothing about it. The world can't rise, the sun can't shine, the world can't turn without their knowledge of it, you see. But God just moves right over the top of them, and just let's them sit there. That's just He way He always does. Yes, sir.

All the way from the garden of Eden the Messiah was prophesied that would come. “Thy seed shall bruise the serpent's head, and his head shall bruise the heel.” Oh, my! It told ... the prophets foresaw Him, and they told just exactly what He would be—where He'd be born, how He'd be born, what kind of a work He would do, what his Messiahic sign would be. The Scripture just lined it all the way through.

But the theologians had it all figured out their way, and they missed Him a hundred miles. But He never come contrary to the Word; He came according to the Word. But why didn't they receive Him? Because He didn't come the way they thought He ought to come. That's exactly the way they missed Noah. That's the way they missed Moses. That's the way they missed it all down through the age.

They failed to see the simplicity of God doing something, see.

God hides Himself there, and He just goes over the top of the wise and prudent because He's so big, see. You take two objects coming together like this, and when they pass one another.... See what I mean? That's the way God can do. He can be so simple till He can go so far away from somebody, till they can't even find where He's at. Amen! I like that. I'm glad He made it that way. Then I can accept it, because there's some scholarship I wouldn't know what to do with it. But He made it so simple people like me could understand it, or believe it. So I'm so thankful for that.

Now the Messiah was told—how He would come, where He'd be born, what He would do, what his ministry would be, and what time He would arrive. But by the time He arrived those ministers and clergymen of that day had so many traditions, and they thought just exactly how He would come.

And the Pharisees says, “If He ever comes, He'll be a Pharisee.”

The Sadducees says, “Nonsense. Not with that bunch of self-righteous. He'll be a Sadducee.”

But when He come, He was neither one. He never asked their.... God didn't have to ask their ... a part of their wisdom how to send his Son.

He sent Him in the way that He said He would do it. He come according.... And He brought ... and when you talked about their Messiah being announced in a stable, over a manure pile in a cow barn! Could a polished-up bunch of Pharisees—self-righteous, highfalutin hypocrites—expect such a thing as their Messiah to come in a stable?

Well, what was it? It was Jehovah, little Jehovah crying as a baby. Could they expect that terrible Jehovah that thundered off of Mount Sinai, that set the mountain on fire, that opened the Red Sea, become a baby in a stable? Oh, their theology couldn't swallow that! No, indeedy—not their Messiah.

They said, “When God sends a Messiah, no doubt He'll lower the corridors of heaven down. He'll have a ten-million angel salute come down. He'll come right to the temple that [Moses] left for us or, that Solomon built for us here. And He'll come right straight to this temple, and He'll accept us right here. And our high priest that we have chosen, our chief man, our state representative [or whatever it is], He'll come to him, and say, 'I have arrived. Here I am. This is me—I'm the Messiah. Don't you recognize me? See the corridors I've come down? I come from heaven.' ” That's the way they had it figured out.

But when He come He was in a barn, born by a mother that ... and a father that ... had a illegitimate background to it—seemed to be, as they thought; wrapped in swaddling clothes they tell me was off the yoke of a ox—that poor; the God that created heavens and earth, and made everything by Christ Jesus.

And here was the very creator God who made the very heavens and earth, laying in a stable in a bunch of straw that He'd created Himself—the creator of heavens and earth humbling Himself to become the lowest. The highest becoming the lowest, that's what made Him God. That's what made Him what He was. See, He humbled himself.

Man couldn't do that.

You put a man up, just give him a little pull in the organization, brother, you can't get by him. That's all there is to it. He's just the boy. He's puffed up like a frog eating shot. You couldn't do nothing with him.

But you see ... but God can humble Himself because He's so great. He's got beyond what we call great. He's on the other side. And He's so great that He can make Hisself humble. “I thank Thee, Father of heavens and earth, that Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent.” As I said, we split an atom and can't explain the life in a blade of grass, see. Walk over it. The very thing that declares God we walk over the top of it.

That's the same thing we do today. Yes, sir. Walk over the top of this which is God in letter form (that's right), and accept some man's creed or dogma instead of it—selling your birthrights for a mess of pottage, for a popularity, for a church that'll let you wear bobbed hair and shorts and send you to cocktail parties and things like that. And then call yourself a Christian. Shame on you! Right.

I'm not scolding you; but through Godly respects and love (that's right), get away from such a thing as that. Come back to God and his Bible. Come back to the gospel truth. Yeah. Let some organization wrap you away from the things of God—don't you never do that. You come back to God's simple way. Just fall on your knees and say, “Lord God, I don't care how You give it to me, but I'm here for it.” Watch what happens.

Be sincere about it.

He's more anxious to give it to you than you are to receive it. You don't have to tarry, and tarry, and tarry. There's no such a thing. “While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on them that believed.” The trouble of it is we don't want it enough. We're not ... we don't want to humble ourselves. That's right.

I was preaching here not long ago, and there was a lady got real happy, and she got to shouting. And there was a boy that plays baseball in the city, he said, “Billy, I was standing on the outside. Couldn't get in.” He said, “I was enjoying your message till that woman started crying, and going on like that.” He said, “All them people then started screaming, and carrying on.” He said, “That just run cold chills over my back.”

“Oh,” I said, “you didn't believe that?”

He said, “No.”

I said, “If they didn't do it, it'd run cold chills over my back,” see. I said, “I wouldn't know where I was talking ... what I was talking about,” see.

And so he said ... (he was a baseball fiend.) and I changed.... He said, “Well, who in the world ever heard of such a thing as that?” (Belonged to the same organizational church that I come out of.) And he said, “Well, now, your message was all right, what you was talking about. But who could hear you?”

I said, “Wasn't nobody to hear then. The Holy Ghost was there. He done took over,” see. I said, “It's time for me to shut up when He comes, see, and He got amongst the people.”

And he said, “Aww, Billy,” said, “you're just a fanatic, that's all.”

I said, “Well, maybe I am.” I said, “If I am, I'm one of the happiest fanatics you ever seen,” see. And I said....

He said, “Well, I want to tell you....”

And I got talking to him, and

I said, “Say [the baseball park's not far from the house],” I said, “what in the world was that taking place over there the other night?”

He said, “You ought to've seen it!” Said, “You know Charles Nolen?” And said, “Three men on base... ,” and he just got all excited.

I said, “Well, you bunch of unholy rollers! I never heard such a noise in my life.” I said, “If I'd been there I wouldn't have said very much about it. I'd have just stood and looked.”

He said, “You're not ... you don't care for baseball very much.”

I said, “Certainly not.” I said, “I don't care for baseball. Therefore I'm not interested in it.” I said, “If I'd been interested in it, I'd have been acting the same way you do. And if you was interested in my God, and the coming of the Lord Jesus, and the power of God, you'd act the same way when the Holy Ghost strikes into a building. It depends on what kind of a Spirit that's in you, what you're feeding on. Your life is feeding on something.”

And I said, “Don't be a vulture eating the dead carcasses of the old carrion of the earth. Feed on the heavenly things, the Word of God.”

Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Feed upon his Word.

Therefore, when Jesus come, they had it so figured out till they had Him so great. They couldn't see how a great person like this could ever be born in a stable. They couldn't see how a great person like that could ever be so simple. That's the same thing today. The people thinks that religion—Christian religion—has to have a great big church, great big building, great big million-dollar pipe organ, fine plush pews.

Was you ever in Ireland? Did you ever notice St. Patrick? who you Catholics called a Catholic. He was just about as much as I am. So, did you ever go up there? He wouldn't even have a crucifix hanging in his place. He protested the Roman Church as hard as he could. He wouldn't even let the people sit down; he let them squat down on a piece of old board—not board, but rock in the building. The building still stands there. He taught them the baptism of the Holy Ghost.

St. Francis and St....

Those great early reformers and men back in those days—how they taught the baptism of the Holy Ghost; how St. Martin, Irenaeus, those great men taught the baptism of the Holy Ghost. They wouldn't let their people be comfortable, and sit around in plush, and things like we do today. And yet we call that a prosperous church.

Man calls prosperity, sometimes, religion. It was said in California that a man's not spiritual till he can own three Cadillacs. To my opinion, that's when he gets away from God. That's right. The Pentecostal church today is certainly acting different from what the early Pentecostal church did.

I was speaking to the Christian Businessmen one time down there. I don't know how they ever had me back. I guess 'cause they love me. But I don't.... I tell them just what I know the Lord says. I don't say it to be smart. If I do, I need to be down there at the altar. I say it because I love them, I respect them.

One night down there testifying, before Businessmen of the world, how many Cadillacs they had, and what their little business.... I said, “Them men don't want that. Tell them about the humility of Christ.” And I said, “You're so much different from the early Pentecostal church. They sold everything they had, and give to the poor, and went out preaching the gospel.” And I said, “You people trying to say how much you prosper, and how much you got. Not how much you got; how much you can get rid of.”

(I thought ... that fellow last night speaking of the same thing.) And a certain little Pentecostal brother, from Chicago, raised up. He said, “Brother Branham, I'd like to call your hand.”

I said, “Call it.”

And he said, “That's where the church made the mistake.”

I said, “The Holy Spirit make a mistake? It can't.”

He said, “It did there. See, when the persecution rose, they didn't have any home to go to.”

I said, “Exactly the will of God. Then they went everywhere, scattering the gospel 'cause they had no other place to go.” You can't beat God. Yes, sir! God just sold everything out from under them, so they didn't have no place to go, and they just went preaching everywhere—the only way God could get them to go.

But today we like to smother down, you know, and we sit comfortably. And if the pastor says anything we don't like in the Assemblies, then we move over to the Oneness. When he says anything we don't like, well, finally we'll wind up in the Baptist, or Presbyterian, or somewhere where we can do anything we want to. That's us. Then call ourselves Christians!

You want some ...

you vote for your pastor, lot of you in your church, and when you do you want the highest polished scholar so you can tell the neighbors, “Our pastor has a doctor's degree, our Doctor So-and-So....” Oh, my! You're getting away from God. God reveals Himself in simplicity. Listen. That was too much for the high, scholarly, education ... educated people of them days—God hiding Himself in simplicity in a little baby.

Watch. When they crucified Him, oh, that hit the nail. Nineteen hundred years ago this afternoon they crucified the prince of life. When them high priests, who'd wondered when they seen Him doing the miracles that He did, and knowed that He condemned their organizations.... He stripped them down, He shook the hide off of them, and He told them they were nothing but a bunch of devils, and to repent. And they.... “God's able of these stones,” said John, “to rise children to Abraham. Don't think you're God's children because you're borned a Jew,” and so forth. He said ... called them there “snakes in the grass” and everything.

Then when He stood there on the cross, they said, “Now, if you are the son of God, if you be the son of God, why don't you come down off the cross? and we'll believe you.” See, the same thing. When they could think of this man doing a miracle, then they couldn't deny that. But to see Him standing there, the very God of creation....

Now I know this modern trend today, how to make Him some other person. But He was no other person but God Himself. That's right. Today, the modern trend said He was a great teacher, He was a prophet. He was a great teacher, and He was a prophet; but He was more than a teacher, He was more than a prophet. He was God—nothing less than God. God was in Christ reconciling Himself to the world.

Jesus said, “It's not me that doeth these things. It's my Father and He dwells in me. It's the Father in me.” He was God manifested in flesh.

Some woman of a Christian Science.... (Excuse me, I didn't mean to call that name, now. I'm sorry I said that.) But she said to me, she said, “Mr. Branham, I enjoy your speaking.” But said, “You brag too much on Jesus.”

I said, “Thank you. And if that's all I do that's too bad,” I said, “then I'm sure of heaven. I said, ”I wish I had about a million more languages I could brag about Him.“

She said, “Well, you make Him something He isn't.”

And I said, “He's everything to me.”

And she said, “Well, now, I can prove to you, you make Him God.”

I said, “He was God. If He wasn't God, He's the greatest deceiver the world's ever had.” I said, “He was God. He's nothing short of God. His own blood was God. We're saved by the blood of God.”

He wasn't Jew; neither was He Gentile. A male sex produces the hemoglobin. Doctor knows that. A hen can lay a egg. But if she hasn't been with a male bird, it won't hatch. It's not fertile. That's right. See, it's got ... the blood cell comes from the male sex. And in this case Jehovah God was a male. He created a blood cell in Mary.

And you Catholic people call her the mother of God! How could she be a mother of God, and God's infinite, eternal? She wasn't no mother of God; she was an incubator that God used to bring his Son here. Certainly. But say, “She was the egg?” No, sir. If she'd had, she'd have had to have a sensation. Then look what you make God. He was absolutely the created God—God of creation being created in a form of a man. That's exactly right. And when He did....

She said, “Why, I can prove to you by your own Bible that He wasn't nothing but a man.”

I said, “Do it.”

And she said, “When He, in St. John 11, He went down to raise up Lazarus.” And said, “When He went, the Bible said He wept.” And said, “It showed He had to be mortal or He couldn't weep.”

I said, “That argument's thinner than the broth made out of the shadow of a chicken that starved to death.”

I said, “Don't try to tell me that.” I said, “I want to tell you something. When He went down there to the tomb, it was true He wept. He was a man weeping. But when He held his little thin body together, and said, 'Lazarus, come forth!', and a man that had been dead four days stood on his feet and lived again, that was more than a man—that could call the dead. That was God in his Son.” That's exactly right.

It was true, when He come down off the mountain that night hungry, looking for something to eat. Looked on that tree and couldn't find nothing to eat, and cursed the tree. That was God, hungry. But when He taken five biscuits and two pieces of fish and fed five thousand, that was the creator God in his Son. He was a....

He was a man laying on the back of that ship that night, when ten thousand devils of the sea swore they'd drown Him. That little old ship tossed about like a bottle stopper out there. He was a man laying there asleep; virtue had gone out of Him. But when He put his foot upon the brail of the boat, and looked up and said “Peace. Be still.”, and the winds and the waves obeyed Him, that was more than a man. That was God speaking through Him. He was a God-man.

They couldn't see it. And on the cross they said.... “If thou be the Son of God, save yourself,” said the thief to Him.

And, “If thou be the Messiah, come down off the cross. Show us. If you're the King of the Jews, if you're the one who was ... come down and show us.” That would've been showing authority. God was humbling Himself in simplicity, taking on the form of death. God, the highest form of life become the lowest curse of life, a sinner—to die to bring forth resurrection. Oh, my! God hiding Himself in death, to show Himself in resurrection; God, the highest form, eternal life, making a man a body for his ownself to dwell in; become the lowest of life, a human being cursed by God; and taking on the curse upon Himself and die, hiding Himself from those educated scholars.

When the devil took Him down there, and they put a rag around his eyes, and hit Him on the top of the head and said, “Now, they tell me you're a prophet. You prophesy now, and tell us who hit you. We'll believe you.”, and they passed the stick one to another, He never opened his mouth. When they spit in his face, jerked handfuls of beard out, they said, “Aw [that devil said], if that was God, we had Him, that's all.”

Oh, look at Him there. Oh, He was God. When He was going up.... Let's take our camera and turn it back to that dark afternoon, nineteen hundred years ago this afternoon. Look at Him going up the hill. I hear a thumping. What is it? It's an old rugged cross going up the hillside. It's dragging out the bloody footprints of the bearer, as it bumped over those rocks as it went down through the street.

I look all over his back at little specks all over that robe without a seam—the God of creation packing the very cross that He created. There Emmanuel's blood is beginning to show through the back in spots.

As he goes up the hill, them spots begin to get bigger and bigger. All at once they all go into one great big splash of blood. And against this little humble weakly legs they begin to spat. What was it?

He dropped. His shoulder, his human strength.... What was that? God—God hiding Himself in simplicity. That was God packing that cross. Here He goes up the hill stumbling, there the blood running out of Him. He fell. Simon picked up the cross to help Him with it.

As He goes on up the hill, the devil said, “You know what?” Said, “I know now he's not God. I know he's not. He'd never do that. I've got him now. I've conquered every man. I've got him. So, I know that ain't God.”

So he sent the bee of death to sting Him. And as the bee begin to hum around Him.... You know bees, insects that have stingers. And death has a stinger. But you know, if an insect ever stings deep, it pulls its stinger out. So if it ever anchored in a man, an ordinary man.... If he'd been just been an ordinary man, a prophet.... He'd stung a many prophet, and he died. But when he stung that one, he lost his stinger. He didn't have no more stinger after that. God. He anchored his flesh in Emmanuel, and He pulled the stinger out of death.

A few years later, when they was going to kill one of his apostles, the great St. Paul, he screamed and said, “Oh, death, where is your stinger? Grave, where is your victory? But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Yes, sir! What was it? God humbled Himself.

Oh, when man sinned he crossed a great chasm put between him and God, leaving his way back none. And then God took a substitute—offered a substitute and accepted it. Then if man would accept this substitute for his place, then he could cross back into fellowship with God, as I said at the beginning. And then men for years went about through the blood of goats, sheep, and animals. They could never take away sin; it only covered sin.

But then what happened? What happened? One day there come something that could remit sin—the blood of his own Son. And He remitted sin.

Now here not long ago ... now I won't know.... There may be scientists sitting here. I'm going to make a remark, and I'm just going to call it something. It doesn't mean that at all. But I'm going to say.... We used to ... we'd get.... Like one little simple drop of ink, God can hide Himself in that, see. If it's a drop of ink, it had to be something before it was a drop of ink. Let's see what it is.

The first, it's a drop of ink. What is it? It's chemicals. We break it back. Where did it come from? “Well,” you say, “then, from ... it's water.” That's H2O, formula, that's part of it. Then it's got a chemical in it of color. Where did the color come from? Now, there's only one original color, and that's white. We know that. All other colors are made off of white.

So then, we find out, how did it ever come? Where did this ever come from? Now, let's follow it back. First thing you know, “Well,” you say, “it becomes an acid.”

From the acid, then it becomes what? Next thing it comes back, “Well,” you say, “then it comes from a light.”

What is light? Come to so many molecules and now let's say molecule one, molecule four, molecule eight come together, and made atom one, times atom four, times atom six. Now, if it'd been atom four times atom five, it would have been white. But if it happened to be six, what determined that? But what am I...? Getting the chemical together to make that color black ink, see. All right.

It all formed. Then where did it come from? It had to come from somewhere else. It had to come from a creator because it's a creation. A creation has got come from a creator. So then it come into ink. It was for a purpose. It can write your pardon, could write John 3:16, and save your soul. And then also it could write your condemnation, and send you to the death cell. It's here for a purpose. Now, all these years it's become what it has, determined by something to be made what it is. Now, how you ever going to get it back there?

They manufactured a stuff called bleach. You women use it, Clorox. Now, I've got a tub of Clorox sitting here, and I drop that drop of ink into that bucket of Clorox. Now find your color. What happened to it? What happened? The first thing it did, it hit the water, hit the Clorox. That chemical was so great till it sent all the way back. You can't see any fumes of it, or nothing else. It's gone. It'll never be no more, because it's turned back to the original place to where it come from.

And now that's exactly what the blood of Jesus Christ does to sin—the blood of Jesus Christ. Confess your sin upon the blood of Jesus Christ. It will mix. It puts it in the sea of forgetfulness and to be remembered no more against you at all. Now where is the church today, brethren? If we are born to be sons of God, and Jesus Himself said, “If your own law said ye are gods [amateur gods with control of the earth]....” He said, “If they call those gods who the Word of God came to [which was the prophets. The Word of the Lord comes to the prophets], and if you call them gods, how do you condemn me,” He said, “when I say I am the Son of God?”

Now, if the blood of bulls and goats could give a power to Moses to go out there, by the commission of God, and stretch forth that rod and say, “Let there come flies,” he had the word of God; and he spoke that word. And when he did, it become from God's thought. A word is a thought expressed. And so, then when God thought it, and put it in Moses' mind, and he spoke it, it become a word.

And Moses turned around and went back—maybe not a fly in the country. In an hour from then maybe one old green fly began to buzz around. In a half hour there was ten pounds per square yard. What was it? The creative word of God that was spoke by the lips of a mortal man. God uses man. God could've used the sun to preach the gospel; God could've used the wind to preach the gospel; but God chose man to preach the gospel.

What's the matter with the church today? There's something wrong. In my opinion we're not coming with that sincerity to the right thing. For if God could do that by the blood of goats and bulls that only covered sin, and made a propitiation for the sinner—but the sin was still there, only covered over—what can He do through the blood of his Son that omits sin?

And God has not manufactured, but He created a blood that takes away all sin.

And Mark 11:24, “Whatever.... You say to this mountain 'Be moved,' and don't doubt in your heart ... but believe that what you've said will come to pass, you can have what you've said.” Where's the Pentecostal church at today? Amen! You don't realize that confessed, truly confessed sin, omits sin. If there's no omit to it.... It builds a bridge across this chasm that takes man back in the presence of his creator, and makes him a son of God. Amen.

“He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also.” Amen. There you are. “Verily I say unto you, if you say to this mountain 'Be moved,' and don't doubt in your heart, but believe that what you've said will come to pass, you can have what you've said.” Glory to God! It's God revealing Himself in humility, see.

God's taken a humble sinner, and cleansing him by his blood, and dropping that confessed sin into that Clorox bleach of the blood of the Son of God, and putting his own life into that man by the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Then, if we have the genuine baptism of the Holy Ghost, what's wrong with us?

When the type.... When Elijah dropped the robe for Elisha, he got a double portion of it. Jesus said, “The works that I do you shall do also; and greater than this shall you do; for I go unto my Father.” What's wrong, church?

Now you've called us a Beelzebub of visions, and things like that. Get off of my back, brother. Get down to the cross. Get to the gospel. We don't have to impersonate. Why would you take an impersonation? Why would you take some false conception of it? when the skies are full of genuine Pentecostal power, that makes a man or a woman a son or a daughter of God, that takes him back into the presence of God. Amen! There you are, God revealing Himself in humility.

You've got to get away from your own thoughts. You've got to let the mind that was in Christ be in you. You've got to stay there till every sin of fear, every sin of doubt has gone from your heart. And if you're there, if God doesn't take and omit your sins, and send you into the presence of God, there's something wrong with your experience.

I don't care how many degrees of doctor you have, how much big church you are, what kind of a big wheel you belong to, how many organizations or whatever it is ... has nothing to do with it until your sins are confessed. And in the blood of Jesus Christ you stand unadulterated, a borned-again son and daughter of God, with the life of God in you to speak a word of creation—“Let this mountain be moved,” and it'll mind you. Amen! God revealing Himself in humility. He picks up them kind that has no education. He picks up them kind that'll just believe that. “I thank thee, Father, creator of heavens and earth. Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and....” [blank spot on tape]

... is smitten and stricken. And yet we did esteem Him smitten and stricken, sure, of God. But He was wounded for our transgressions. The Clorox came. “He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with his stripes we were healed.”

What did He do? Humble Himself to death on Good Friday afternoon, that He might rise on Easter Sunday (Amen!), to send back the Holy Spirit upon the church with a double portion of it, that we might do the same things that He (do), that He did. He promised these signs'll follow them that believe, and how far we get away from Him by our traditions. There you are: God hiding Himself in humility, revealing Himself in power. That's the way God does it. That's God's program of doing it (yes, sir), that He may bring sons across this chasm.

In closing I might say this—God hiding in death, to come again in resurrection.

I want to tell you a little story that I read not long ago, in closing. It said.... In time of the first World War, I had ... my father's older brothers, their ... my cousins was in that war. Many of them got killed. But in one place there, they had a whole regiment of soldiers—American soldiers—pinned down. The German army had them pinned down. And the machine gun fire, and the big cannons and whatever they had, and mortar fire (whatever it was) had them pinned down. They couldn't get out, and there was no way of getting out.

There was a whole regiment of soldiers perishing right there, because they was on every side. They had planes. Daresn't to send one up; they'd shoot it down. A man tried to get out ... well, they was just every side. There wasn't nothing.... Their fine guns had failed. All their military strategy had failed. They were pinned in by the enemy. There was no way of getting out. There wasn't nothing.

And finally one little soldier come up. He found a pigeon, one of those homer pigeons. That was their only hope. They wrote a message, and thought if this pigeon can only get through, and back to the main headquarters where it come from, and take this message.... Was a message pigeon, a messenger pigeon, and that's the only thing they had—a simple little pigeon.

All the military things had failed, but they got a simple little pigeon. They wrote the message and tied it to his little leg, and turned him loose with a blessing and a prayer that he'd make it. Of course, the Germans seen that white pigeon going up, and they fired on it, and everything else. One bullet went through its wing, and knocked the feathers out; another stripped around its neck and cut its craw off; another one struck its leg that had the message on it. But the little pigeon kept flying, trying to get the message in. He must—it was life at stake. Finally with his struggles, and flopping in the air, and turning and finally falling, he fell in the barracks of the camp where the soldiers was.

One soldier picked him up and looked at him. And this little fellow said, “He's been shot.” He opened, looked at his little leg—on his little bruised leg—and there was a note. They read the note. It was covered with blood. Though it was covered with blood, the message got through. It got through. They sent reenforcements quickly, and saved the whole regiment of soldiers.

... the little pigeon hadn't have got through, all them men would have perished. What a disaster that would've been! That would've been a horrible thing. And that was a great thing for that little pigeon to do, though it cost his blood. His blood was on the message.

That was a great thing. But not half as great till one day when sin had the sons of God pinned down. There was no hopes. There was nothing that they could do. All hopes was gone. But there came, not a pigeon, but a dove, nineteen hundred years ago this afternoon, in simplicity. He'd been born in a manger, dying on a cross. But He reached heaven with the blood of his own self on the message, and he delivered the sons of God. And now we can be again sons of God and daughters of God, to live in holiness and purity, to live in his presence.

I'm so thankful for that dove that came down from glory, that took the message that I was in need and He flew back to heaven with it. And it was bloody all over, where the sins of the world had done. But today I'm liberated. I'm free. I'm so glad.

And yet the simple can understand it. I'm glad I'm simple enough to understand it. Aren't you glad for that? Aren't you thankful? God hiding Himself in simplicity. He become esteemed in reproach. We esteemed Him reproached and afflicted. We hid as it was our face from Him. He wasn't the great soldier that they thought He would be. He wasn't the gallant military man that they looked for. But they hid their face from Him. They was ashamed. But yet, He was wounded for our transgressions; bruised for our iniquity. What was it? God hiding Himself in simplicity; Jehovah becoming man, that He might die for man to take the message back with his own blood—God's requirement that the price was paid—and we are redeemed.

And today, as humble as it may be.... You don't have to be smart, you don't have to have an education; just believe that message, God's Word. And you, too, can be saved and be a son of God, to stand in the presence of God and do the works of God.

Let us bow our heads just a moment, while we ask God's blessings on these things. I want to ask you something. Today, as radios has went on, papers.... I seen a paper this morning where they was going through an act—a man packing a cross. They have all kinds of things. On Easter morning the whole church will be decorated with lilies; the altars will be filled with lilies; the Easter rabbit taking the place, the chickens. I wonder what that has to do with Easter? A rabbit, an unclean animal in the sight of God! They was even forbidden to eat them, or touch them, in the Bible times. And the chicken same thing, ducks. But yet it took the place of the resurrection. Santa Claus took the place of Christmas. Oh, my!

What's the world come to, friends? Where are we at? See where we're gone? We're headed right straight towards the pit. That's right. We're pinned down by sin, and creeds, and dogmas.

But a messenger got through nineteen hundred years ago this afternoon. The requirement was reached: God's Son, made in the likeness of sinful flesh, born in a manger. “...no beauty that we should desire Him.” He was a man of reproach. We didn't desire Him. We hid our faces from Him. We still do the same thing today.

You say, “Oh, I wouldn't have done it.”

Oh, your attitude today proves you would have done it. You're doing it now. Won't you take your way with humility? Say, “Lord God, I don't care what it costs me. I don't care what it is. I'm finished with sin.”

I don't say you're bad. I don't say you smoke, drink, or anything. But you don't believe the Word.

If you believe the Word say, “I don't care, Lord, what it costs me. If it costs me my denomination, if it costs me my sewing party, if it costs me my club, if it costs me my popularity amongst my friends, I don't care what it costs, I'm going to accept the message of Calvary. I'm going to be humble, and I'm going to humble myself from this time on. I know if I let my hair grow out [the women], they'll call me old-fashioned. I don't care what they call me. I'm going to be a lady. They tell me I look like I'm pale and dead. I am dead in Christ. I'm going to do it.”

Men: “I don't care how much dogma and creed they try to poke into me. From now on I'm accepting God's humble message. I'm going to believe it. I'm going to stay there until my sins are gone. I'm going to stay there until the Holy Spirit pours into me faith for every word of God that's written. He promised it to me. And if I'm ... got that chasm across there bridged by his righteous blood, then I can stand as a son of God. I believe the whole gospel. I'm going to do it.”

Would you like to do that? would you like to make that consecration just now? If you would, raise up your hand to God, and say, “Remember me, Brother Branham, as you pray. I want God to do it.”

God bless you. That's right. All right. He sees your hand.

Our heavenly Father, the humility, humbleness of believing You, how You reveal yourself in humility, how that we find out in these days, and all days, that the church will get itself in that condition. Then You'll stoop right down into the gutter, from nowhere, and pick up something, anoint it, send it out, and it'll be rejected—then judge the world by it.

God, we see today that for fifty years the precious Holy Spirit —who the people has tried to accept through dogmas.... And yet, You've brought it out in its power and its manifestation. A poor humble bunch of kicked-out, despised people accepted it, believed it. You've magnified yourself in them, Lord. And now we see them in another generation trying to become grandchildren to God. O God, what a horrible thing! May men and women flee quickly to the humility of believing the gospel. Grant it, Lord.

Many hands went up here, tonight, many men and women. And Lord God, I pray that You'll bless them. I pray that this very night will find the peace of God in each one of their hearts, that they'll be so filled with your Spirit that they'll have faith to perform miracles, faith to live a godly life, to live a life so sweet that when they're spoke evil of they speak not back evil; that they can return a kiss for a slap, that they can return good for evil. Grant it, Lord. Make men to be humble. Make men to come to know You in the power of your resurrection. May your death not be in vain to us in this generation.

We pray now that You'll raise up your church, Lord. Glorify it, and magnify it. Send it home to glory. We believe these things, Father. Make many here tonight who seek God to find Him in this hour. We ask it in Jesus' name.

And while we have our heads bowed,

I wonder now, if you would want to make another step towards that, if you'd like to stand up and say, “I'm not ashamed, though I belong to church. I'm Methodist [Baptist, or Pentecostal, or whatever you may be]. I'm not ashamed. I realize that I have trusted a whole lot in what I know. But never have I got to a place where I could fully believe the full gospel, and to make it work in my life. I've seen things. I believe they're promises. I want to believe it.

“But he told me if I did believe it, this would work. So there's something wrong with me. It don't work. I've tried to make it work, but it don't do it, and I'm ashamed of it. And I want the world to know, I want the people here to know, that I'm sincere and I want it in my life. I want to be a true witness for Christ with the full gospel manifesting itself right in my life.” Would you stand to your feet, and say “I want to be a witness. I'm seeking God.” God bless you. That's right.

See, Jesus said, “If you're ashamed of me before men, I'll be ashamed of you before the Father.”

Now as these people that's Pentecostal, or Methodist, or Baptist, has these true things...? Have you crossed that chasm until you know positive that you're standing in the presence of God a redeemed son and daughter of God? and the signs and wonders—not a make-believe—but the genuine article of God, the Holy Spirit, burns within you? and what you say to this mountain, it moves? Do you believe that? If it doesn't, now's your time.

“How do you know it's my time?” you say. “I've stood before.”

Well, if you're really hungry for God, you'll keep on standing till it comes. There's no end to it. You're persistent, like the Syrophenician woman. She couldn't take “No.” She wanted it, really. Are you ready to stand, any more, before we pray?

That beautiful song: “He was nailed to the cross for me, on the cross crucified. There He died for me.”

“I want it, Brother Branham. I want it, God. I really want it. My life—I want it changed. I've lived a guess-so. I've lived a hope-so. I want something ... I want it. If those apostles could hit the zero mark every time, so can I.”

That's what I say. If it worked for the apostles, it works now. If it once happened, it happens again. If He was ever God, He's still God. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. That's my campaign theme. If your denomination don't believe in it, let your denomination believe what they want to; you believe the Bible. You believe it. Will you stand? About eight or ten more stood up then. God bless you. God bless you. More standing, more standing. “I'm really sincere, Brother Branham. I want it.”

Something happened the other day. You read the ... or heard the tape, the seven thunders, “What Time Is It, Sir?” It happened the other day. You know these things.... The time is at hand, church. The time is at hand. Don't wait any longer. See, how do you know the rapture's not going on all the time? First thing you know it'll be past—one disappearing here, and there. It'll be gone the first thing you know, and you'll ... judgment will strike the world.

You say, “Well, I thought this....”

“It's too late now.” Remember, they didn't know it until the day they entered into the ark, and then it was too late. The foolish virgin didn't know, until she come back and found the wise virgin gone. Then she was left for the tribulation period.

No good teacher believes that the church, the bride.... The church goes through the tribulation; but not the bride. The church goes through for purification, sure, under the sixth seal. Right. Israel does the same thing, for the 144,000. But not the bride. The bride's forgiven. She goes straight to glory in a rapture. That's right. She's ... my opinion, the last member will be caught up one of these days. It might come, and you wouldn't know nothing about it. Remember, it's a secret, secret catching away. He'll come an hour that you think not. You won't know nothing about it—she'll be gone. It'll be too late then.

You say, “I wish I would've stood.” If you ever intended to make a stand, let this meeting in Albuquerque, let this be the time that you made the stand.

Now, if you really feel secured by Christ—you feel that you have got the Holy Spirit, and the blood of Jesus Christ, all the signs and promises is at your command, and you see them manifested and working in your life, and you know they're true—if you sit there like that, and you believe it, I'll take your word for it. That's up to you. If you don't, you should be on your feet. But if you believe that, and know that those signs and wonders that Jesus ... the vindication of the Messiah speaks to you.... If it isn't, then you should be on your feet. God bless you. That's right.

I'm a stranger to many of you. Many of you has regarded me to be a seer. I've said nothing about that. You know that. I've kept that ... it's not the hour yet. But you believe me now. You believe me, as God's servant. Have I ever told you anything in the name of the Lord but what come to pass? If it's so, say “Amen.” It's never failed. By the thousands of things, never one time but what it's been true. You know that, the world around.

Though you disagree with me, many in theology.... I'm not a theologian; I only speak what I hear. And then when I hear it, I look at the Bible. If it ain't according to the Bible, I wouldn't receive it; but not one time has it ever been contrary to the Word, but with the Word. That's the reason it's confirmed. God vindicates it.

Now, you hear me then.

If you believe me to be a messenger sent from Christ to you, you believe me: if you're not in the kingdom of God, you better press right quick. It will not get better; it will grow worse all the time. Now just mark that down. Just remember. See whether that's right or wrong. You see if it's going to be right or wrong. It's not going to get better; it's going to get worse. It's going to get harder all the time. The revival is gone. You're only gleaning in the fields. She's over.

Now, you say, “I disagree with that.”

Fine. It's okay. If you do, that's all right. That's my conviction. That's my hearing from heaven. I believe the Laodicean age is the Pentecostal age, where she comes to the place of lukewarm, and God spews her from his mouth. There's where she's come right now. The Pentecostal movement has come to that place: lukewarm, not red hot, not ice cold. You're not cold and formal; neither are you hot. You're in the spewing stage, and you're going....

Jesus, the only age He stood on the outside of the church.... Their dogmas have put Him out—knocking, trying to get back in the door. “Lo, I stand at the door and knock. If any man will hear my voice....” I'm glad you've heard tonight.

Now I can only ask you to stand. He's looking at you. Jesus said that “wherever two or three are assembled in my name there I am in the midst of them.” If that isn't so, there's no God, there's no Bible, there's no sunrise, there's no sunset, there's no flowers, there's no trees, you're really not here, you're in a dream, life is not real, you're not a human being. So, it's impossible for that to be; so, it's impossible for Him not to be here. And if you'll “ask anything in my name,” faith believing, He'll grant it to you.

Now that's you now. You stood for a witness that you want Him. Now, in your own way, the way that you pray, the way that you want to, I want you to say, “Lord God,” in your heart. Now, don't pay any attention ... the campaign here will give you plenty of time for this, all the time you want. Now in your own way, in your own way.... Now, I know it's customary that one man stands, and another one stands, the other one kneels down this way —but whatever way you want to—I don't care what it is.

Don't say, “Lord, let me do this, let me do that”; say, “Lord, fill me. Fill me with the Holy Spirit. I'm sincere in this. I mean it.”

Now, if you do mean it, it's got to come. It's impossible for it not. He promised it, and He's trying to press into your heart.

The only thing, you just open a little bit and say, “Come on the inside and stand here, but don't go around and fool with my private life,” see. He wants you. He wants all you are. He wants every compartment of your heart. He wants your private life. He wants all your life. He wants to be your Lord. Lord is ownership. He wants to own you so He can guide you, direct you, take you, use you. Are you willing to do that? If you are, He's wanting to come in, or you wouldn't be standing there, see. So now's the hour for you to receive it.

Now it's up to you.

Now, if you'll believe with all your heart, it'll be settled from right now. This'll be a memorial night. They probably won't close these doors tonight; you'll stay all night in here. But if you do like this, say, “Lord, I'm standing on my feet. Until You fill me according to your promise I'll never move from where I'm standing.” You mean business with God, He'll get to business with you.

But until you do, you're hammering, “Lord, will you give me the Holy Ghost tonight? I don't feel nothing. Well, maybe I'll try tomorrow night.” You're not going to get anything from God like that. You've got to come desperate, dying. Then you get it. That's right. He promised it. If it isn't, what are you using your time for? If them promises is not true....

That's how these things happen. That's why I can stand and say to the world, “Has the Word ever failed?” God promised me back there as a kid. That's the reason....

You say, “Aren't you afraid of failing?”

I'm never ... I'm always a failure; He never does. I don't speak my words; I speak his. That's the reason they're always right, see. That's the reason I ask the world, “Show me one time it didn't come to pass. Show me one time.” Of the thousands of things that He said, not one time did it fail. And it never will, because it's God; not man.

So God is here now. Christ is in our midst. He's willing to give you the Holy Ghost if you're willing to accept it. Not pay the price—the price is already paid. The price was paid this afternoon nineteen hundred years ago, if you're willing to accept it. If you are, let your heart go now. Open it up. Take out all fear, all doubt. Raise up your hands to God. Say, “Lord God, here I am. I stand here. I stand in the name of Jesus Christ.” I'm going to pray for you. You pray too.

Lord Jesus, in the way of humility, in the way of humbleness, I offer You this congregation that's on their feet. I offer them to You because they have stood in response to the call. They're seeking deeper things. They're seeking more life after hearing that the blood of Jesus so thoroughly cleanses that there is no more nothing; that the complete Word of God rests within them; that the very command of their own voice is creative power, because in them is the Holy Ghost. And this Holy Ghost is a creator. He makes things come to pass, because He speaks the Word. And the Word spoken becomes God in action.

And Lord, I pray that You'll send the Holy Ghost upon every one of them just now, and deliver unto them, Lord, in the power of the resurrection of Christ, the things that they are desiring in their heart—a better life, the baptism of the Spirit.

Lord, may it be so that this audience will be illuminated, the hearts of the people will see the vision and be filled with the power of God. I commend them to you, Lord, in the name of Jesus Christ.

Now, just keep your hands up, keep your head praying, keep your heart filled, just saying, “Lord, I believe You.”

........... Fill me! Fill me! Save me.

Spirit of the living God, fall fresh on me.

Bring your song leader here now to lead the song “Fall fresh on me, Holy Spirit.” Just keep....

“...don't care. I'm going to stand right here, Lord. I'm on your hand—like the unjust judge. I'm right here.” Just stand there. “I'm going to stand like a statue. I'll stand like that preacher did the other night on the roof. I'm standing here, Lord. I don't care who's looking at me. I don't care—my pastor here, I don't care who it is. I'm here. I'm looking for something. I want something to happen to me. You promised it. I'm here to receive it. If it'll work for others, it's going to work for me. I'm here to receive it. I'm not going to sit down. I'm determined.” ...?... Oh, I'm sorry...?...

333 [Someone on the platform says, “One song, brother. They like it. He wants you up here. Right?”]

That's it. Stay right with it. Just keep praying if you really mean it, if you really mean it. Amen. If you really mean it, stay right there. He's standing by you. Stay right with it. “I'm here, Lord. I ain't going to move. I'm going to believe You. You promised it. I'm not going to take an imagination. I want the real Holy Spirit on me. I want You to fill me right now. I'm here waiting.”

Don't stop. Just keep praying. Don't pay any attention to the music. Just keep praying. That's the trouble with us today. We listen to music, we listen to one thing and another. We're supposed to be listening for the voice of God. Keep listening. He promised it, and if He promised it He'll do it. Amen.

How many times have I seen the eyes of twenty and thirty thousand people come open! How many times have I seen...? There in Durban, South Africa, I seen 25,000 outstanding miracles at one time—people standing right like that. So they took seven big van loads of crutches and wheelchairs from.... Blanket natives, who didn't know right hand from left, stood right up there and accepted Christ, and walked away—crippled, blind, deaf, dumb. If it'll do it for a black African, what will it do for you, who are supposed to be living in a time, in a church, in a place where the Holy Ghost is being manifested? Amen!

Humble, humble yourself. “Lord, I'm believing. I know it. I....”

Now there's something wrong. There's nothing wrong with God. God promised it. So help me, I could stand right here and go down aisle after aisle and tell you every one where you're at, and what you've done. I say that in the name of the Lord Jesus. You know that's true. And I see you're afraid to turn yourself loose. You're scared of something. There's something wrong. God don't make a promise, then go back on it. It's the truth. Right here.... If you want it, it's up to you. It's your death. It's your burial. It's your acception.

There's the Word. So help me, the Holy Spirit's here. So help me, Jesus Christ is in here. Have I ever told you anything wrong? He's here. But there's something.... I'm standing here watching that.... See that light circling—clear across the building here, almost—just back and forth. My, my! There you go! That's it. That's the way. Struck a little lady over here. That's the way! Struck another one. There you go! There it is. Now's there's the time to accept God. Glory! Surely He'll strike somewhere else. Praise be to God. There you are! Amen! That takes it! There it goes over on somebody else here now. Another, another! Praise the Lord!

See, He's truth. He's the way, the truth, the light, life. Accept it while it's falling on others, while it's on others. Accept it. It's falling, around, around, and around the place. I'm not excited; I'm telling you the truth. Glory! That's right.

Stay right with it. Stay right with it. Just stay right there. You haven't been standing there five minutes yet. Stay right there. “You promised it, God. I'm here to receive it.” All right, there it is. Reach right out, say, “I receive it. Here it is, Lord. I want it. I stood up here. I'm sincere, I mean it. You promised it to me.” Amen.

Glory, hallelujah! Just keep believing. Keep believ... you've said you believed me. The Holy Spirit, that light, just keeps moving around over the building. What is it? It's hunting somebody that'll open up. I tell the truth. Amen. Try raising up your hands, and praising Him, saying, “Lord, I thank You. You've give me the promise. I'm going to hold to the promise. I thank You, Lord. Thank You.”

I'm looking right at it. Praise the Lord.

Stay right with it. Stay there. “Lord, I'm going to stay right here. I don't care if it's in the morning, I'll be standing right here praising You. I know You're going to send it. This convention's ending tonight, and I'm here without the Holy Ghost. I'm going away from here filled with the Holy Ghost, so help me. You promised it. I'll stand like a weathervane, I'll do anything You want me to do, only I want the Holy Ghost. I'm determined to get it.”

When you surrender fully, He'll come in fully. But until you surrender, He can't come in fully. Surrender. Surrender your thoughts, surrender your thinking, surrender your life, surrender your all, surrender your prestige. Surrender everything to Him now, and He'll come in and fill you with the Holy Ghost. That's what He's here to do. He's already struck two or three here in the building. There's more than that wanting the Holy Ghost. Just keep believing. Glory to God!

Humble your own thinking. Humble your own ways.

Just stay right there, say “Lord, I'm right here now. If You give it to somebody else in here tonight, You're going to give it to me, too. I'm going to stay right here until He comes.” As you lift your voice, your arms, your life....

I can hear my Saviour calling,

(Raise your hands and sing that to Him.)

I can hear my Saviour.....,

(If he's calling you to the Holy Spirit

surrender now, surrender your all.)

I can hear my Saviour calling,

“Take thy cross, and follow, follow Me.”

(Now here you are.) Where He

leads me I will follow,

(You led me this far, to my feet.

Here I stand.)

Where He leads me...............

Where He leads me...............

I just showed Brother Demos. The angel of the Lord passed over, and I said, “Watch that woman.” When it passed over her, she raised her hands like that. We just showed ... Brother Demos seen it as it went past just now to a woman right here. I said, “Brother Demos, can't you see it? It's just moving right around through the building.” I said, “Watch it as it passes here.”

The little lady threw her hands up. It's the little lady standing with the checkered-like thing on. Something just struck her a few minutes ago. She raised her hands up. That right, lady? right here with your hands up? right here behind the lady with the blue dress on? There it is, see. Why, He's over.... I'm looking right at it!

Now, if I've ever told you anything wrong, tell me when. It's here!

Friends, you got to get away from that starchy Pentecostal way. You've got to really die! You've got to really mean it! You've got something ... you got a partial hunger, but not a real hunger. You've got to make it genuine. “While Peter spake these words the Holy Ghost fell on them that heard.”

Try closing your eyes, and bowing your head. Think it over. Is there something wrong? “Lord, take away my unbelief.” Now, here with mortal eyes.... The angel of the Lord, whose picture is among us—been taken by scientific proof—the same pillar of fire that followed the children of Israel.... That was Jesus.

When He had died, buried, ascended back to God, Saul on his road to Damascus was struck down by that same pillar of light. Said, “Lord, who are you?”

He said, “I'm Jesus.” Jesus said, “I come from God and went to God.” Here He is today, the same Jesus, seen among us with eyes, caught by a camera, manifested in the Spirit. Oh, brother, sister, what more can God do? The hour of grace....

I want to believe you're sincere. I believe you are, but you close yourself up. You're not sincere enough to receive it. So help me, it's right here in the building. I lie not.

While you're quietening yourself just a moment, has anybody in here felt they did receive the Holy Spirit? Wave your hand back and forth. I seen it all around over the people. Bless. Bless. Lord bless. Amen. Two, that's three. All right. Four. All right. There's four received the Holy Ghost during that shower. Four people received the Holy Spirit during that time. Praise the Lord.

Now just a few moments ago it was traveling. A light come from over this way, come back this way, went over here and come back again. I said to Brother Shakarian, “Come here, come here, come here. Here, see it, coming right here? Now watch it as it passes over. There's a little lady there.” Just as I said, “It's right over that little lady,” about at that time she throwed her hands up, and began screaming. There it was, see, just passed right on, and went right over in that corner. Come back around this way. I don't see it now, see. That's actually the truth. I tell you the truth. Here it is, see. Four received the baptism of the Holy Ghost.

Now, if you want it, it's yours. It's yours if you're willing to just open up. Now you have a conception of what you should do. You have kind of an idea, “Well, now, if I stand up here, this....” No, no. That doesn't.... You can sit down. Don't make any difference where you're at, but where you'll open yourself up. And then the Holy Spirit'll strike.

Then, when sometimes it begins to anoint you, then you won't just lead on through with it. You get a little scared. You're afraid, you pull back. Just surrender yourself. Surrender yourself to the Holy Spirit. Don't be afraid of fanaticism. If it is the devil acting, don't you think we'll know it? Yes, sir! He won't come around. Don't you worry that. No. He won't bother you. You just surrender yourself to the Holy Spirit when you feel that glorious.... Like this little minister said he did that night, standing up. Something warm come over him. If he'd just have knowed how to surrender himself right then.... That's all. Just say, “Lord Jesus, I believe You. I accept You.” Then something'll start taking place, see. Mean it from your heart—then it takes place.

Oh, do you love Him? God be with you. God help you. I want you.... How many more in here wants the Holy Ghost? Let's see your hands. One, two, three, four. My, my. No need of going without it. There's eight or ten here, eleven, 'bout eleven ... twelve, maybe, in here needs the Holy Ghost yet. I know we may be running late—maybe nine-thirty or something like that. But we got plenty of time. We just got plenty of time. We want you saved, friend. We want you filled. Remember, you are saved, of course. When you accept Christ you're saved. But you're not converted until you receive the Holy Ghost. Now you know that. That's right.

Jesus told Peter the night of the betrayal (he was already saved) said, “Now, after you are converted strengthen your brethren.” That's right. Sure. You accepted Christ as your Saviour. But when you are converted is when you're really changed. That's right. He wasn't changed yet. He cursed before the Lord, denied Him, and everything. But after his conversion.... “After thou art converted, strengthen your brethren.” That's right. Is that right? It's what the Scripture says, anyhow. And that makes it right. Jesus told Peter (that had followed Him, and cast out devils, and done miracles, and everything), said, “You're not converted yet. But after you're converted, then strengthen your brethren.” Right. It's true.

Now why don't you ...

how could you turn down such an invitation as that? It's for you. I don't want to see you leave here without it, brethren. We may never have another convention. We don't know. We don't know what lays ahead. We might not never have another one. If you want to sit down, and pray a little while, it's up to you. It's whatever you want to do. If you want to sit down, or you want to remain standing, we're going to pray again. Do every little thing you want to do. But I want you to receive the Holy Ghost.

Now it's for you. Why would four receive it right here, and the rest of you not? See, you just got to humble yourself, open up your heart, and really believe it.

I may not be a good instructor in this. My ministry's praying for the sick.

Where's there a Pentecostal preacher here, somebody a Pentecostal preacher? Raise up your hand. What about this fellow here, pray for the sick? One over here. Come here. Here's a man.... I was borned out of season in the Pentecostal ranks. But here, I want this man here to pray for you. I'm going to stand by his side. God bless you, brother.

[Brother: If you would let the Holy Ghost come upon you, raise your hands. Brother speaks in tongues.]

Be reverent now. He's gone down to lay hands on someone, see. Just be real reverent. Don't ... don't look around. Keep looking up, looking up, looking up. You keep praying, keep praying now.

God bless you, Brother. You know how to do this better than me. I'm going to stand here and pray. You give them more instructions.