Influence

I'm happy to be here this morning for this fine gathering of people, and especially for the young people, as I understand that this service this morning is dedicated to the young people of Shreveport. And that's a very fine time in my life, and a highlight, or I'd call it a red-letter, to get to address the boys and girls that will be tomorrow, if there is a tomorrow. So, we're happy for this.

How many different denominations is represented here this morning in this little group of people? I'd say, Methodists, hold up your hands. I just heard him say it was from denominations. All right. Baptists, hold up your hands. Fine. Presbyterian? Just look. Lutheran? Pentecostals? And, oh, Nazarenes? Pilgrim Holiness? Any other denomination I haven't mentioned, raise up your hand. Wonder if there is Catholics in here, let's see them raise up their hands? Yeah, see.

Would there happen to be an Orthodox Jew, let's see your hand? All right, sir. Sometimes, I believe, here not long ago, the last meeting here, we had one of the rabbis here in the meeting, from the Jewish Orthodox, which is really, the mother of all this. See, she brought forth the child, the Orthodox church brought forth the Christian church. Out of Judaism come Christianity.

And so we are very happy to see you represented here this morning, of your church and your stand. And I certainly believe this, that, God, if He should come today, He would not ask that question. If we were all going in this morning, He would just take those who are ready to go.

Years ago, I used to ranch. And I was out there a few months ago again, stood right by the gate, with some of the brethren I see sitting here this morning. Brother Welch Evans, Brother Banks Wood from my church at Jeffersonville, and we passed through this gap where I've talked about so much. And I'd sit there, many morning, when they was driving the cattle up off of The Association . . . was driving their cattle into the forest, the Arapajo Forest. The Troublesome River Hereford Association grazes the forest on this side of the Troublesome River, which is called the East Fork. And then there is the West Fork Troublesome, then the Upper Troublesome River grazes that side.

And now if your ranch can produce, I think, it's two bales of hay now, a year, you can put a cow in for each two bales of hay. And, 'course, the Chamber of Commerce has your brand, and how many cattle your brand takes care of, or your ranch.

And the ranger has to stand there to count these cattle as they go in. And then he is supposed to check them over, what brands goes in. And nothing can go in there except a genuine thoroughbred Hereford, 'cause it's s Hereford Association. Nothing but a Hereford, registered Hereford, because the bulls, and so many bulls to so many cows, and so forth. It has to be that way, 'cause it keeps the pedigree of the cattle right. And it must be a registered Hereford, to go in there.

And, you know, I watched the ranger as he would count the cattle as they went in, checking. He never one time, as I ever seen him yet, look at a brand or examine a brand. There was many brands going in, such as the Grimes' there, the Diamond Bar, ours was the Turkey Track, and then the Tripod, and different brands that went in on that forest. He never noticed what brand they had, but he searched every ear to be sure the blood tag was there. Nothing but a thoroughbred Hereford could go in.

And I've sat there many times, I thought, “That's the way it'll be at the judgment.” He'll never look at our brand, whether we're Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist, or whatever we are, or Pentecostal; but He'll watch for the blood tag, the token. That's what'll take us in, because nothing can come into glory without it's under the blood. A blood tag, that we have accepted what God did for us, in Christ. See, there is nothing that we can do for ourselves, we're a total failure. No way at all. When man sinned, he crossed the chasm between him and God, and left. . . there was no way back at all. But God, rich in mercy, accepted a substitute. And that substitute today, for us, is Jesus Christ. Only that alone will God recognize, the blood of His Son, when it comes to that time.

Now we're having a great time over to the Life Tabernacle. We had a glorious time last evening, to see the Holy Spirit move among us. And we're all looking for that.

Every man is looking to see where he come from, and what's he doing here, and where is he going after this. And we've had many fine books written. I've just read some fine books, in my life, of man's philosophy and things. But, although as good as them books may be, there is only one book that can tell you where you come from, what you are, and where you're going, and that's this Book, the Bible. And the Word is God. Now, we believe in that Book, and that's what we want to stand for, in this day. And it promises in there that we would be made known who we are, where we come from, and where we're going.

I was reading an article not long ago, in the Anderson movement of the Church of God, a historian writing. I believe it was in. . . . I don't remember exactly now what age it was. It was several hundred years after the death of Christ; a missionary come to England, which was then called Angle-land. And he was trying to convert the king of England, to Christianity. And they were sitting by a large fireplace, the lights of the fire was lighting up the patio, as we would call it today. And the saint was trying to convert the king to Christianity. And a little sparrow flew into the light, circled around through the light, and went out into the darkness again.

And I believe that all happenings are to the glory of God. I believe that He promised us that He would make everything work together for good to them that loved Him.

And the saint asked the question, “Where did he come from, and where did he go to?” He came from the unknown, and returned back in the same way. And the saint said, “This Bible holds the question like that, for us, where we come in from the unknown and go back to the unknown.” And the next morning, the king, after studying about it through the night, that the man was right, he and his household was baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of their sins, the next morning. Which, is about three or four hundred years, or more, after the death of the last apostle.

Now, I think this happening this morning, of us coming together, is just not merely to come here to eat breakfast, though we appreciate that. I didn't come because. . . . I was tired, and I didn't get up just at the time. I was too late. But I think this happening is for the glory of God, and for the kingdom of God.

Now let us, at this time, read the text this morning, or read the scripture from the Bible that the Lord seems to put upon my heart for the young and old, together, especially for the young people of Shreveport, who this meeting is dedicated to. Let us read from Isaiah the 6th chapter, if you will, beginning with the 1st verse.

In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high, . . . lifted up, and his train filled the temple.

Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.

And one cried unto the other, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD God of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.

And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.

Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.

Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:

And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this has touched thy lips; . . . thine iniquity is taken away, . . . thy sins are purged.

Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.

I want to take a subject from that this morning, called, “Influence.” You know, as we might not want to believe this, but, everything that we do, we are influencing someone else.

I many times preach funerals. And I never try to say too much about the person that's passed on, because there's no need of saying it. The people . . . the life the man, or woman, whatever it might be, has lived, would speak louder to the congregation than anything I could say about them. I would never change their opinion. Their life told what they were.

And then we never know just what we're doing, what influence, what we're doing is having upon others. The Bible said, “We are written epistles, read of all men.” That is, your life reads so loud to the public, until your testimony, if it's contrary to your life, is without any effect. It's what you are inside of you, that people read; not so much what you say, but what you are, see. You can pin something on somebody, say, “This is that, and so forth,” but your life being different from what they say, your testimony of your life is louder than the testimony that someone could say something about you. So just keep that on mind, that we're bringing influences every day, and the life that you live proves what's on the inside of you. You cannot change that. It reflects. Every person reflects, outside, what he is inside.

And if we take the testimony of being Christians, I think that that is one of the most solemn things that a man or a woman, boy or girl, could do, would. . . . When he takes on the name of Christ, that he is going to be a representative of Christ, you should watch every move you make, because somebody is watching you. And, in this, it reflects what God has done for you, inside of you.

Here not long ago, a bridge was to be built down in Australia, and they sent for men from United States; architects, not architects, but builders, and so forth, bridge men, to come down and see if they could build a bridge to span that strait of water. And they couldn't find a man in America that could take it. No. They said, “The sands, and so forth, it wouldn't stand up.” So they had a universal call for bridge builders, and none of them would take it.

Finally, a fine company of England, they come down, and they took the contract after he had tested all the ground. He said he would take the contract and build the bridge. Why? Remember, his reputation now, as a world-wide bridge builder, rested upon what his work would be in that bridge. No matter what he had done in the past, this job that he said he could do, would reflect really what he was. They say that he tested every bolt, and every piece of metal that went in the bridge; the dirt, and so forth, beneath, and the pressure of the water upon the dirt. And then all the other builders stood around, and said, “It won't stand. It's got to go down.” But on the day of the dedication, the man rode, himself, in the head of the parade, because that he knowed his work was thoroughly tested, and it would stand.

I think that's a great thing that we could look at in Christian life. There had to be a bridge to span the way for the human race to leave this world some day, and there was no one could do it; an angel, archangel, seraphim, or cherubim, nothing could do it. God Himself came down, in the form of a man, and bridged the way and made the way, and crossed the bridge, first, from the grave to glory. And it sure showed the reflection. Every nerve in his body, every thought in his mind, every power that was in Him, was tested by the enemy. But it stood the test, even to death itself, when He conquered it.

This young boy, Uzziah, that we're speaking of this morning, he was Isaiah's hero. Isaiah, the young prophet in the days of Uzziah, was watching this young fellow, because Uzziah was a great man. He come from a fine background. His father and mother, both, were strictly staunch believers in God. And they had raised their boy to serve and to honor God.

One of the great lackings of our day today, in America and the rest of the world, is godly parents, to set an influence upon their children. The parents of this day got away from the principles of the Scripture. They went more to the fashions of the world. And the churches did the same thing. In doing that, we let it loose, and brought the world into the church. And that's the reason we have this great day of . . . if I say it respectfully here before these young people. The reason we got so many hoods, and so forth, as they call it, and bad characters, too much of it is because of the home life that they were influenced by, in their earlier days. I'm still a believer, that, “Bring up a child in the way that it should go, and when it gets old it will not depart from it.”

Now, Uzziah was a boy had been brought up in such a parenthood till it influenced him.

Look at one of our greatest Americans that I can think of, was Abraham Lincoln. He certainly deserves all the credit that's given him, and more. He had a bad start; born in a poor home, had no way of making an education, wrote in the sands. We understand that the only two books that he ever owned in his life, until he was about twenty-one years old, was the Bible, and Pilgrim's Progress or it might have been Foxe's Book of Martyrs, it was one of those books. But, you see, what that man read, it influenced his life.

And that's the same thing it is today. Our markets are loaded with vulgar and filth, to poison the minds of our young children, and then we lay the fault onto them. When, I think, many times it belongs to us. Us Christian people who will not stand up for the thing that's right, and have those things lawed off of our shelves, and so forth. And then in our homes, also, that we let loose and permit all these vulgarities and things to come into our home, to influence the children.

But Uzziah had been brought up right. And he was, we understand now, in II Chronicles 26, you can read the story, that at the age of sixteen he was made king, after the death of his father. And he become king at sixteen. Having had these godly parents, he started right off with his kingdom, to do that which was right. He never catered to popular opinions or politics of that day. He served God.

Now, that is a good man to be influenced by, a man that will take his stand for that which is right, in the time when popular opinion is running contrary, and politics is running contrary; but a man that will sit right straight in the road.

This new President that's just taken over since . . . President Johnson, since the assassination of President Kennedy. When he asked, the other day, that he called for all the clergy throughout the nation for prayer, to help him. I admired that in the man. See, he's calling for God to help him. I understand that he is a believer, and trusts in God. So, we need men like that.

And we find out that Uzziah, in his time his kingdom spread all the way into Egypt and all the countries around about, till his. . . . It was so great until his kingdom become next to Solomon's kingdom. The glory of the Lord was with him.

This give great help to the young prophet, Isaiah, who was watching this man, this young king, because he was brought to the palace during the time of the reign of this young king. And Isaiah being a young prophet at the time, and seeing how God blessed him, and influenced him and gave him the right thing. And we know that all the nations around about paid tribute to him; there was no wars, and it was a great thing, a lesson to Isaiah.

And Isaiah found something else in here, that, how God will bless them that will be true to His Word and His commandments. Uzziah set the example for Isaiah. And what a glorious kingdom it was!

And now here we find, where that a Christian testimony, no matter how great it's been in the past, it must always continue that way.

Uzziah, when he got to the spot to where he thought he was secure, then he got lifted up in his heart. He got to a place that no one could tell him anything.

If that isn't kind of an example of too many today! Even we find it amongst our Christian leaders. They work all their life, nearly, to become some bishop or some great influential man, and, as soon as they get to that spot, they get lifted up. We find evangelists in the field, that God blessed their ministry, and the first thing, they become lifted up till they get to a spot that they feel that they're secured, all around their people. They're just. . . . They've reached that place to where they can do anything they want to, and get by with it.

How many, wonder, we're thinking of just now, of great men, great servants, who God has used, and finally comes to a place till they feel that they know so much about the Word of God, till they don't even have that time off to pray no more. It's always social visits, visit somebody, go out to dinner. And the time that they should be spending with God, alone, alone in preparing to come out in the sweetness of the Spirit before the congregation, they're out somewhere with some entertainment. You can't serve God and man at the same time. God's servant should be an isolated person, to Him only. If we could only let the people see that.

And then they get to a place they make themselves under obligation, as they meet the people. They meet the people, and there is bound to be a want for this and a want for that. And then the man of God gets his mind all tore up, and he is so tore up when he goes to his room. He begins to study, “Now if I don't do this, this man will feel bad about it. And this, don't do this, this man will feel bad about it.” And then when he walks out to the platform, he hardly knows where he is standing, his mind is all tore up, when he ought to have spent that time with God. They're not social leaders. A man of God should be dedicated wholly to the service of God. And we find that that's too bad that we'd have it.

Another great thing that we find, 'cause I realize I'm speaking to ministers this morning. And we want . . . when we come before a congregation, knowing this, that perhaps we'll never meet again like we are this morning. And then the things that you say, God holds you responsible for them. So you must come, praying and asking God what to say, and then depend on Him when you get in the platform for something that will help the people.

We all know of men, in the field today, great men. Some of them gets to a spot, till after they get their congregation all around them, they feel so secure till they think they can even sin and get by with it. We've been known of ministers taking the wrong road. And many times, that's because that they feel secure, that, “Oh, the people will let me get by with anything.” The people might, my brother, but God won't. See, you're going to answer to God. You must never try, as a minister, to try to deceive the ears of your congregation, regardless of how much they could scream or shout, or carry on, or pat you on the back, and say, “The message was wonderful.”

You must be a servant to Christ, to stay honorable with that Word, because that Word will reflect itself through you, and you're going to influence somebody that's watching your life. Young people, likewise. Businessmen, the same way.

The king got lifted up with pride. He thought he was just so secure until God would let him get by with anything.

A young teen-age boy said, not long ago, a Christian, he was doing something, he was admiring a certain rock 'n' roll young fellow that belonged to his church. And I was speaking at a Youth For Christ meeting. And this young fellow said, “You know, I admire So-and-so, I think he is one of the most staunch Christians.” And this boy is a rock 'n' roll king.

And I said, “I think there is only one difference between this young man and Judas Iscariot. That is, Judas got thirty pieces of silver, and this man got fleets of Cadillacs and millions of dollars, for selling out to Christ.”

Said, “How could you say such a thing as that, Mr. Branham? How could you do that?”

I said, “Because it is the truth.”

That influence of singing those Christian songs, and things like that, before the young people, and getting out in the world like that, throws the greatest stumbling block, more than all the bootleg joints and everything else there is in the country. It's a disgrace that that would even be permitted. The church ought to rise up and not even permit those hymns to be sung by people like that. Taking a talent that God give them, and influencing, with their lives speaking louder than what their words are. How can people make such plays as these men does, and then stand and sing hymns and things like that? It's the very heighth of hypocrisy. And we find out that that goes among Christians, believers.

And this young man said, “Well, I tell you what I think about it.” Said, “I think that God loves me so much till He'll let me get by with anything.”

I said, “He never did do that. He never would do it. Even Israel, His nation; even David a man after His own heart, reaped every grain that he sowed. And you'll do it, too.” Each one of us will do that. We know that.

But he got lifted up so much in his heart! Now I want to speak this word to the Full Gospel Businessmen. He got so lifted up in his heart, until he thought he could take a minister's place. He tried to become a minister, which he wasn't called to be. And I think that's a many times that where sometimes men in these ranks, and the businessmen's groups, they get to a spot that God blesses them in their business, and makes them prosperous, and so forth, till they get to a place till they think they ought to preach the gospel, also. And that's wrong. That is wrong. You should always let a minister do that preaching, 'cause, as Oral Roberts once said, “It's hard enough to keep the thing clear, by ministers, let alone by men who is not called for that office.” See, you should have men there that knows, and are ordained for the work.

This proves it. That. . . . We find out that this man, being a great man, a good man, an honorable man, but he took the offering, the censor, and went into the altar of the Lord, to burn incense before the Lord, which is only for a dedicated priest to do so. But he thought, being that God loved him so much, and He had been so good to him, that he could go do that, anyhow. And the priest run after him, and said, “You're not ordained to that office. God forbids that anyone should come in there, only a Levite that's dedicated to that service.” You should never do that.

And that's the way many times, that . . . what I think has got the world today in such a confusion, that men go out and try to take those places which they're not ordained to do. It gets to a spot to where they try to fulfill this office, and they're not called for that place.

Now we find out, though a good man, blessed of God; but, if God blesses you, you stay in the category that God has called you in. If it's a housewife, remain a housewife. If it's in a business, remain in that business, reflecting God. And whatever God has called you to, let it be that. Because, He wants you to be a real housewife, to reflect your influence upon another person that would want to be a good housewife. If you're a good businessman, let your life so be that it will reflect Jesus Christ in your business, with honesty and integrity, and with things that really mean something. Because, somebody is watching your life. You're influencing somebody. God has to have a real housewife. God has to have a real teen-age in school. God has to have a real minister, a real businessman, somebody that will reflect Him. Because, there they see, in you, Christ. No matter what the rest of the world has got to do, that has not one thing to do with you or I. We are responsible to God for our lives, and for our experience with Christ.

Now, we find out that in his trying to take the minister's place, and someone telling him he is out of place, telling him he shouldn't do that, he is out of place, he become angered. Angered, he was so angered until his face turned red.

See, we must be able to stand and take correction. Some of them won't do it. You can't. . . . I've went to meetings and I've sat in the auditoriums, and you get up. And some people come in and sit down just for a few minutes, if you say one word that they don't agree with [Brother Branham snaps his fingers.], gone, see, flying up.

Well, that . . . you know what happened to Hezekiah a-doing that, or Uzziah, rather? God smote him with leprosy. The man died in his leprosy, which is a type of sin. He couldn't stand to be corrected by the Word.

Many times, today, it's the same thing. They say, “Well, my denomination believes this, and I don't care!” See? Take time to search the Word. God will never judge the world by a denomination, He will judge it by His Word. And His Word is Christ, and Christ is the Word. They're the same, yesterday, today, and forever: Hebrews 13:8. But, instead of trying to take correction, they fly loose. They can't stand it. They just. . . .

Now that's exactly what Uzziah done, a good man. You say, “Well, that person was a. . . .” Uzziah was a good person, too, a fine person, a God-blessed man. But no matter what it was, he must always stay in his place. Because, God give him the opportunity to influence others by being a righteous king, not a priest. And the Word forbid him to do that, so he went in and was going to offer. And when he was called down, the Word was give to him, that he wasn't supposed to do that thing; that God had blessed him in his business, and whatever it was, but not to try to take this priest's place. He was out of the Word. Well, he was going to do it anyhow, no matter what anyone said.

Now isn't that the attitude of too many people today? They won't take correction of the Word. And that's the reason we find ourselves wrapped up in a big Council of Churches here, not knowing where we're going, heading into the world. Tens of thousands of members added every year, and we don't see the hand of God anywhere moving. Dead, formal, just exactly what the Bible said they would be, a Laodicea church age, a lukewarm, spurted from the mouth of God. Christ on the outside, trying to get in, and the church inside won't let Him in; sets the picture of today, exactly.

Because men doesn't understand that their position comes from the Word, the Word of God,

and Uzziah ought to have taken that heed. Now, remember, we'd call him today, a Christian that God had blessed. He wasn't just some ordinary man. He was a man that was blessed by God, but he did not want to stand correction. No matter how much the Word said it was so, he didn't want to understand that, because he felt secure enough that God would let him get by with something else.

And that's what's the matter with our people today around the world, that they think that God will let them get by with something contrary to this Word. He'll never do it. We must come back to correction, and stand correction by the Word. And because of his arrogant way he acted. He paid no attention to what this minister had to say. He would do what he wanted to do. Just think, now just stop that in your mind a minute.

How can a child face a father and mother, that's godly; how could a teen-ager look in the face of a godly old mother, with her hair turning gray; and say to this teen-ager, “Honey, mother has raised you different”? And you see back down through the life, what's done for mother. Don't do that, and turn arrogant and say, “Take your religion, and go, I'll do what I want to.” What's the outcome of that teen-ager, what happens to them? It's gone. They're lost, spiritually, morally, many times physically and mentally. They are completely cut off from mercy. Well, then, that would be a horrible thing for a teen-age boy or girl.

Then think about a man or a woman, down in the ministry, or a Christian that calls himself a child of God, and look into the commandments of God, and turn their back, and say, “My denomination don't believe it that way.”

We need influential Christians, influenced by the Word of God. Called men or women, for an influence to the elected church for the last days, is what we need. God, give it to us! And they'll be there. They're going to be.

We find out that Uzziah, because of his arrogance, he was smitten with leprosy. He never did recover. He never recovered. He had to separate himself from the presence of God, and die in a lepers' house.

Oh, that line, demarcation, that line where men and women can so easily cross! That line that a teen-age boy or girl can cross, between judgment and mercy. All of us! The line that the businessmen can cross! Any of us can cross it, between right and wrong. And, remember, God's Word is always the thing that's right. “Let every man's word be a lie, but mine be the truth,” said God.

Now, he was smitten. And when young Isaiah saw this, what a lesson that was to him then! To see that a man that gets out of his place, young or old, the one that gets out of his place must suffer the results. No matter how much God has blessed him, he still suffered the results.

Now Isaiah learned by this, a great lesson. What? That God orders His man to his place.

Man cannot order yourself to a place. God must order your place. Don't forget that. God orders you to your place, and he must not (never) try to take another one's place. Don't try to be something that you're not.

As Congressman Upshaw once said; the one that was healed in the meeting, the Lord let me see a vision over him there in California. He had been a cripple for sixty-six years, and was healed instantly, by the mercies of God. Threw away his crutches, and his old chair and things. He was right here in Shreveport, I think, and testifying. He used to have this saying.

He was a senator, I believe, or something, for many years, and congressman from Georgia. He was a representative of the Baptist church of the Southern Baptist Council. And then he went and run for president, on the dry ticket, and was defeated because of his position. And that night . . . never even hearing of the man, never. Dr. Roy Davis, the one that laid hands upon me for ordination for the Missionary Baptist church, he sent him to me. And when he come in to the meeting, the Holy Spirit there, with thousands of people sitting, called him by name, and told him what he was and told him that the Lord had healed him. And he come to the platform, without crutches, without braces, without anything. Reached down, at the age of about seventy-something years old, and touched his toes, back and forth, completely delivered. An orator he was, and a great man he was. What did he . . .

Here was his expression, “You can't be something that you hain't.” That sounds like me saying that, not a congressman. But that was just. . . . He was a Southerner, and he kind of used his expression because he was a man that tried. And he was a great influence to the people, and a godly man. And died the same way, many years later. When he stood on the White House steps, at Billy Graham's meeting, and sang, “Leaning On the Everlasting Arm,” before people from all over the world. Now see the. . . .

God orders His man, and you can't take another one's place. If you do, you're only producing a carnal impersonation, and finally it's going to be smitten. You can't do it. God orders you to your place. Isaiah seen this, that he could not put his trust in any man. There was the greatest man there was on the earth, at that time, a king that had the rest of the world paying tribute to him; but because he got out of his place, Isaiah seen then that he could not trust in the arm of flesh, and it drove the prophet to the temple, to pray.

O God! If the church . . . if the people that calls themselves Christians, could only see this today, and would drive them to the altar somewhere to pray. You can't be something that you're not.

Then we find at the . . . in the temple, when he was in prayer. Being a prophet, his make-up was to see visions. He was born that way, of course, being a prophet. And he needed a touch from God. And God had ordained him to be a prophet. And the vision at the temple, he saw a real King, in the vision. He seen God lifted up, high above all the heavens, and His great trail [train] filled the earth and the heavens and the skies. He saw a real example. In other words, God said, “Look up this a-way, I am your example.”

And if we could only do that, in our own ministry! I'm addressing the ministers, and businessmen, teen-age. Ministers, if we could only do that! I would like to be a Billy Graham. I wish I had the education and the know-how, to put the thing together as Billy Graham has. But I cannot be Billy Graham, but Billy Graham can't be me, either, see. We, each one, have our place in Christ. And to try to impersonate Billy Graham would be only the same thing that Uzziah did, it'd only result in the same way of a disaster. Just be what you are, what God made you to be.

Now, Isaiah was a prophet, so he goes down to the temple and he saw the real example, God. Note the heavenly Seraphims, as they flew through the temple. Now, a Seraphim is a mighty word there. It's not an angel, but it's a. . . . What it is, it's a sacrifice burner. It's. . . . He has something to do with the atonement, because he offers the sacrifice, to make a way for the repented sinner, to the throne of mercy. What a position, higher than an angel, greater than an angel! For, the angels stand back. But the seraphim goes forward with the offering, right in the presence of God; a burner of the . . . the offerer of the prayer that's been made, the burner of the sacrifice. And here they was, going through the temple, crying, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God almighty.” Think of it, in the temple, before this young prophet!

His heart was broke. His king had tried to fill his place, tried to take a minister's place, and had been totally defeated by God, and stricken in leprosy; and his example that he had looked upon, man.

Don't never trust in some man. I don't care who he is. If he's a holy man, if he's a good. . . . There is not such a thing. Let me correct that. There is no holy men. There is no holy church. There is not such a thing. It's a holy God, not a holy man. It's the Holy Ghost. Peter one time referred, “the holy mount,” on Mount Transfiguration. It wasn't the mountain that was holy; it was the holy God that met them on this mountain. It's not the holy church; it's the holy God in that church. Not the holy man, but the Holy Spirit working in that man. The man will fail. He's a failure to begin with, anybody. The very greatest of men fall. Don't never put your confidence to make some man your example. Look to God. Christ is your example.

And we find that he had taken his mind now from Uzziah, the king that he loved so well. And he looked up and he saw what he must understand, to be a prophet; that God, and God alone, rules in the lives of men and in His church. And we noticed him now, what happened.

We find these seraphims, they had six wings; two over their face, and two over their feet, and two they were flying with; going through the temple, crying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty.” They cried day and night, because they're in the presence of God.

See what God was sending, Isaiah to see? The holiness, the purity of God, and the reverence that we should do in His presence.

Let's check this vision just a few moments, before we close. Each of these creatures, having six wings, we notice. We're going to take these wings first. “With two he covered his face.” Why did he do that? Think of it! Even holy seraphims, in the presence of God, have to cover their holy faces, to stand in His presence; that never knowed sin—never did sin. There is no way for them to sin, but yet, in the presence of God, covered their holy faces.

And then we, mortal, sinful, corruptible men, will try to put something in, and add to His Word and to His purpose, and pass judgment upon some of them who are trying to follow what the Lord said do; no respects of His Word, “I know the Word says that, 'you must be born again,' but I tell you what I think!” You've got no thought coming. God has spoken, and that settles it.

Peter said, on the day of Pentecost, “The promise is to you, to your children, and to them that's far off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.” What was the promise, of what? The Holy Spirit that was poured out. What startled the people? Because they heard them speaking in languages that they knew not, and they were staggering like drunk men, under the influence of the Holy Spirit. And they was mocking, making fun. And Peter said, “The promise is unto you [when they wanted to repent], and to them that's far off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.”

How many? “As many as the Lord our God shall ever call.” Now, the church might call you, your conscience might call you. But when God calls you, He knows how to dress His servant.

Sinful men, scholarly, educated, influential in their denominations, stand in your garb of denomination and try to inject something with that pure, unadulterated Word? Remember, the Word is God. If a seraphim, that knowed no sin, had to cover his face, to stand in the presence of God, how are we going to appear that day; when we stand in the presence of His Word, preached and thoroughly a-vindicated by the Holy Ghost, and still walk away and say, “It's a telepathy or it's something like that”?

What happened to this king, a great man, a believer, a God-blessed man? He was smitten with leprosy, which is a type of sin, unbelief. No cure for it; only Christ. And He died in that same shape.

Now the people doesn't have reverence for Him. Why is it people don't reverence God? Reverence only pertains to God, spoke of twice in the entire Bible, both times pertaining to God. Notice, the reason they don't do it is because they are not fully convinced that it is God. They are not fully convinced.

Neither was Uzziah; he wasn't fully convinced that God kept every word. Because God had blessed him, he thought, “That satisfies me. If I got a blessing from God, I can do what I want to.”

You can't do it. You cannot do it. You, teen-ager, can't do it, no matter how much popularity you are, what a fine girl, a fine boy, nice dancer. How the school all appreciates you, you won your scholarship, that's all fine. There is nothing against that. That's fine, but don't think you can trample on God's Word and get by with it. Don't you ministers think you can do it and get by with it. None of us is going to do it. You housewives, or you businessmen, we're all going to answer to God, by His Word. Isaiah was learning this. They're not conscious of His presence.

How it would pay us, today, to listen to what David said. He said, “The Lord is always before me.” He bound his commandments upon the doorposts and upon his bedpost, and he put them up everywhere. He even bound them in his heart, purposed in his heart that he wouldn't sin against God. He stayed constantly with the Word before him. That's the reason he said, “I shall not be moved,” because, everything he done, he had the Word before him. And that's what we should always do, the order of God.

Now, he covered his face because God is all holy, and he was crying, “Holy, holy, holy.”

Now let's take, secondarily, he had two covers of wings over his feet. What does that mean? Humility in His presence.

That's the hard thing for a man that's got a position. That's the hard thing for the teen-age girl that's pretty. That's a hard thing for the teen-age boy that's popular in school, a star in basketball.

Oh, young fellow, how God could use you, if you'd just let Him do it! Young girl, you in your fine pretty little queenish looks that God gave you, why don't you use that influence to the kingdom of God, to what God gave it to you for, that virtue of womanhood. Use it that way, you're bound to come out right, then. But any other way, you've got to fail, see, you'll be a total failure. God made you, and nobody else can take your place, nobody can fill that place. You must be that way.

Now, humbled in His presence, these seraphims, humbled in His presence.

Like Moses, when Moses was a great, intellectual man, we understand that he could teach the Egyptians wisdom, science, and the great wisdom of Egypt.

We have never competed with it yet, in our science. We don't build pyramids, you know, nowadays. We couldn't place one like it is, in the center of the earth, where, no matter where the sun is, there is not a shadow around it. And we could not build the sphinx, or many of those things. And neither could we make a mummy, today, that would make him look natural after thousands of years. Just a few hours is all we can keep a corpse out. They had a fluid then, they could embalm with, that we don't know nothing about. A color that it never even loses its color; many of the arts that they had, and science, that we don't have it.

Listen, young people, you're living in a college town here, or a town where . . . and I live in a university town. And science is all right, as long as it's not getting out of the Word of God. But, I want to know, science cannot give you life. Science can tell you how that. . . .

And another thing, science has to always take back, usually, what they say to be scientifically proved. You know, I just seen the other day, a professor of science speaking, that now that they have proved that these bones that they dig up, and say is a hundred million years old. Two years ago, they found out that it's the salt water that the bone laid in. There is nothing, nowhere in science or anything, can say the world is over six thousand years old, see. The chloride and stuff in the water has deteriorated the bone in that manner, which would put, make it look like it was a million years old. But it isn't. But you think they'll advertise that? No, sir. They won't take back what they said.

But here is the Bible, my brother, sister, and my young teen-age brother or sister, that God never has to take back what He said, because it's the truth, always the truth. It's always right. When God said anything, that means it.

I was speaking recently at a meeting, and a fellow said, met me on the outside, he said, “You're barking up the wrong tree, fellow.” Said, “You said that 'The world here, is six thousand years old.' ”

I said, “The order of the world is right, six thousand years.”

He said, “Look,” he said, “the Bible said that 'God created the heavens and earth, in six days.' ”

I said, “He did not do that.”

Genesis 1, He said, “In the beginning God created the heavens and earth.” Period! How long He done it, I don't know, nobody else does. God did that. That's period. That's the end of the sentence. “And [when He begin to use it], the world was without form, and void, and water was upon the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the water.” But in Genesis 1, said, “God created the heavens and earth, in the beginning.” That's all. Don't fuss about it. I just believe it. That's all. God created it. It's not my business to know. I'm glad He did it, and let me live here for a while. He's got a new one, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

My hope is built on nothing less

Than Jesus' blood with righteousness.

No creed, denomination, no man's example; I want Christ, and Him alone. That's what we must have.

Humble. Moses, an intellectual man; but in the presence of that burning bush, he took off his shoes. He was on holy ground. Humbled himself! Humility. That's what the covering of the feet was, humility.

Look at Paul, the great intellectual scholar; taught under Gamaliel, one of the greatest Hebrew teachers of his day. Smart, intellectual, college degree, and he thought he knowed it all. “And these bunch of people that was carrying on were nothing but mad people, crazy,” and he had orders from his high priest, to go down and arrest them all, down in Damascus. And one day, on the road down, he come into the presence of that same one that spoke to Moses in the burning bush, a pillar of fire. What did Paul do, Saul, rather? He fell upon his face, in humility; off of his feet, onto his face, in humility.

What did John the Baptist do, the man that Jesus said, “There was never a man borned of a woman like him, or could compare with him, until that time”? That great prophet, ordained of God before the foundation of the world; spoke of, 1207 years before He ever come on, or 712 years, rather, before He came to the earth, by the prophet Isaiah here. What did He do when he seen a man come walking down out of the audience, and he looked up above and saw that fire coming down from heaven, in the form of a dove? He cried out, “I have need to be baptized of Thee.”

“I must decrease; He must increase.” God can't have two on the earth at the same time. Only one has the message, you know. “I must decrease; He is the messenger. I've been up to this time, now He takes my place.” As Elisha, when Elijah went up and throwed back his robe to Elisha; his ministry was finished, Elisha must take up where he left off. “He must increase; I must decrease,” John the Baptist.

Be conscious of your littleness. You're nothing. You're nothing. How I would like to dwell on that a few minutes! But, you're nothing. Let me . . . This sounds sacrilegious and it sounds crude.

And I don't think the pulpit is any place for any minister to crack jokes. It's become a joking, a carry on, Hollywood glamour now. That's what's the matter. Hollywood through television, has took the pulpit over. Our women has bowed to the goddess of fashion of Hollywood, long ago. And then the pulpit got into Hollywood, through singers, and so forth, talented men. Oh, what a shrewd man that devil is. You can't mix oil and water. It won't mix. Notice the great influence that people can give to others. And what you do is an influence.

If you want to find how great you are, put your finger down in a pool of water, or a bucket of water, then pull your finger out and try to find where you put your finger. You're nothing.

God can do without you, He can do without me, but we can't do without Him. We've got to have Him, for He is life, and He alone. Not to know His Book, not to know this, or know that, or know the creed. “But to know Him is life,” know Him as the person, Christ in you, the Word made flesh in you. That's knowing Him. When you and He, becomes one, like I said last night in “The Super Sign.” He's got to come in you. You! God and man must come one. You're conscious of your littleness.

Now, in closing, I might use the other two wings, thirdly. He could fly with these other two wings. Watch! Face covered by the holiness of God, and in reverence; his feet covered in humility; and with two wings he could put hisself in action, to move. God was showing His prophet how a prepared servant ought to be. “Quit looking at Uzziah! Here is your example I've sent before you: cover your face in reverence, cover your feet in humility, and go into action!” Oh, what an example! He had looked at Uzziah so long, and seen it fail, now God is telling him what to do, showing him a prepared servant. He went into action.

Like the woman at the well, went into action as soon as Jesus told her she had five husbands. That woman had been looking for something like that to happen; four hundred years, no prophet. And, all at once, she goes up to get the water one morning, unexpectedly, and there she met something real.

God will place Him before us, somewhere, sometimes, unexpectedly. I hope He does it this morning.

KJVLink 118 He did it to her when she didn't expect it. And when He told her, “Woman, bring me a drink,” and she discussed with Him about the water, and He had nothing to draw with. And He let her know that He had water that she wouldn't come there to draw.

And then they went to talking about what the religious rights was, said, “Our fathers worshipped in this mountain. You say, 'at Jerusalem.'” And Jesus, after a while. . . .

What was He? He was the Word. St. John 1, “In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Hebrews, the 4th chapter, said, “The Word of God is quicker, more powerful than a two-edged sword, cutting . . .” It just don't baby and pat. It cuts, coming and going. See, “. . .cutting to the marrow of the bone, and it is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” That's the Word, the Word made flesh. And here it was, what did He do? He looked upon them and could perceive their thoughts, because He was that Word, and the unchangeable Word. And He's still the same. He doesn't change. Now, notice, in this unchangeable Word, He looked right into the woman's face.

And here she was standing, as we would call her today, a woman of ill fame, a street prostitute, or something, maybe the child had been turned out and let go by parents; and too many of them today. But here was this lovely, pretty, young, maybe teen-age woman, maybe in her eighteenth year, she would be out of high school. And here she had took the road that's wrong, and the morals of her life was decayed. And she had nothing she could hold on to, yet, a pretty girl.

And she goes up to get some water, and she runs into a man there that spoke to her. And she said, “There is a segregation here. You shouldn't speak to me. You're a Hebrew and I'm a woman of Samaria. And, after all, look who I am. Why do You speak to me? What do you want?” See, her motive was wrong.

And, many times, what if that woman would have throwed down the waterpot and walked away, like some people get up and walk out of a meeting before they know? See, it'd never been that way.

But there was something another to that predestinated seed, that there was something interesting in this person, so she talked to Him. What happened? He told her the things that she had done. And when He did that, told her these things, she said, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. You don't know me.” Why did she know He was a prophet? Because the Word had come to Him.

The Bible said, “If there be one among you, who is spiritual, or a prophet, I the Lord will make myself known to him. And if what he says is the truth, then hear him, for he is my representative, he is my Word manifested.”

And she said, “Sir, otherwise, we haven't had a prophet for four hundred years. And I perceive that you are a prophet. Now, we have no scripture saying that we're to get a prophet now, outside of the Messiah. We know Messiah is coming. And this, which that's the sign of a prophet, we know he is coming and he'll do these things.”

And Jesus then, the great sufficiency came, He said, “I am he.” Amen.

What? Immediately not jump up and run away, “I ain't going to listen to it.” She covered her face, “I admit I'm wrong.” Humbly she asked, “Give me this water, Lord, that I come here not to draw.” See the way God 'dresses His people?

Now what? She's ready. Then it's revealed to her that that is Messiah. And immediately she went into action. Stop her? You couldn't do it. Right into the city, and said, “Come see a man who has told me the things I've done. We've been looking for the Messiah, and there He is.” And the Bible says that the men of that city believed because of the woman's testimony. She had something so real that she could display. Her influence, after meeting Jesus Christ and bringing back the direct results that her Bible, that she had been taught, told her that the Messiah would do, she convinced the men that that was the Messiah. Four hundred years, they never had nothing like it, “And here is the man.” And her testimony, yet a prostitute, was convincing.

Oh, young lady, you might not live that kind of a life. But, oh, if you could only meet this one I'm talking about, what your influence will be to your schoolmates!

Young man, like Saul, educated, smart, what an influence he was to the whole Christian world. He was sent as an apostle to the Gentiles, when he met this Jesus in the pillar of fire, that day, knowing that that was the same God that brought his people out of Israel . . . out of Egypt, Israel out of Egypt. You could meet this same God! That's the Bible, manifested, proving that He is God, the vindication of Him right on earth now, that His Word is made known, for, “He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” What an influence you will be to your church, to your community, to the entire . . . everybody you come in contact with. You'll be a changed person. Yes. Yes, sir.

Peter, when he seen and was convinced, that. . . . We find out, he had fished all night and had taken nothing. He was a fisherman. He knowed when the moon changed, and when fish run and when they didn't. But he was kind enough to sit down and listen to Jesus, for a few minutes. He didn't get up and run out. He stood to hear it through. And after the message was all over, and everything, because that he was kind enough. . . .

He had fished all night and got nothing. How many Simons is there in here this morning, how many will listen to this tape? Simon, you've jumped from Methodist, to Baptist, to Pentecostal, to oneness, to twoness, to threeness, to everything, and still got nothing. Why don't you sit down and listen just a minute? Just loan a few minutes of your time to Christ.

Watch the Word come. “Simon,” now He is commissioning him, “let down the net for the draught.”

And when he got ahold of the fish, he said, “Lord, I seined all night. It's beyond my intelligence. I can't explain how.”

Neither can I explain how it works. I don't know the mechanics. Just the dynamics is all I'm interested in. I don't know how He does it, but He does it because He promised it.

He let down the net. Because, He knowed if there wasn't no fish in there, and God said there would be fish in there, he let down the net, anyhow.

You say, “I've been to the altar. I've did this. I've done that. I've tried. I've been up and down. I . . .” Let down the net. That's the commandment.

And when he caught the fishes, what did he do? First, he fell upon his knees, in reverence and respect, and he cried out, 'Depart from me, Lord, I'm a sinful man.“ What is it? Reverence, humility.

What was the word come back? “Fear not, Simon, from henceforth you'll be a fisherman of men.” In action, and he died in action. Oh, my!

The blind man that was healed, he couldn't explain. He couldn't tell just how it was that He did it. He didn't know whether he was a sinner or not; he said, “It's a strange thing to me, that you men here, you priests asking me what, this question.”

They said, “Who healed you?” They asked his father and mother, but they said . . .

They had already . . . priests had told them, “If anybody attended Jesus' meetings. . . ! He's an insane man. If you attend his meetings, you're excommunicated from this church. We'll put you. . . .” That's what the Bible said. “We'll put you right out of the church, if you attend that meeting.”

But, the blind man, see, the meeting come to him, and Jesus healed him.

And then even his parents, afraid of losing their dignity, of being a member of this great church of the city, they was ashamed to say anything about it. They turned it back onto the boy, and they said, “Ask him, he's of age. Go ask him how it happened. We know that's our son, and we know he was born blind, I ain't going to say nothing.” Oh, that lukewarm, borderline, make-believer!

But this man who had his eyes healed; they said, “Who healed you?”

He said, “One called Jesus of Nazareth.” Yes, sir! He had sat in humility. The work was done.

They said, “That man is a sinner. We don't know, we have no school He ever come out of. He don't belong to any of our organizations. He has no fellowship card, ”We have nothing to do with him. We know he's a sinner.“

“Well,” he said, “now, that's a strange thing.” Said, “A man that could open my eyes, which has never been done since the world began; a man, a minister opens my eyes, which it's never been done in the world; and you clergymen who are supposed to know all the ins and outs of the Word, and you don't know nothing about Him? That's a strange thing.”

When, the very Bible said that, when He come, “The blind should see. The lame men would leap like a hart.” They ought to have seen the Word was manifested, see.

But the boy knew; he had been there. What did he do? He was in action. He was ready, before his boss. He was ready, before the priests. He was ready, before the council. He was ready for anything, because he had recognized God, and humbled himself, and went into action with his testimony. See, that's a real servant.

The pillar of fire ought to put us in action today, as we've seen it vindicated in the words of His promise for this hour, this last day. It should put the whole move of God into action.

But, the trouble of it is, our organization says, “Now wait a minute, that didn't come through our group. That's Jesus' Name. That's a renegade. That's a Baptist. That's. . . .” See? Uh-huh. See? See? They just don't see it. That's right.

Sign, oh, the sign of His coming is at hand. And we know there is not a thing on earth. . . .

Science tells us, “It's three minutes till midnight,” told us that several years ago. Then, we must be just about, maybe, a moment from midnight. We don't know what time the powder is going to light in the keg. Look at this election coming up here tomorrow. That's all it would take, just light one. When that radar screen picks up that atomic bomb, every one of them is going to turn loose, but the church will be gone before that time. So if that could happen any minute, and the church has to go before that happens, how far is it off?

And the very things that He said would happen, His ministry and what would take place in the last days, we watch it night after night, and day after day, saying the time is at hand. Oh, we ought to humble ourselves and get in humility and get into action. That's right. Word fulfilled, should put us all in action.

We, like the prophet Isaiah, has seen the outcome of self-exalted people, who says, “Well, now, if it's going to be anywhere, it's going to be in our denomination. If it comes through the trinity, all right. Or, if it comes through the oneness, all right. Or, if it comes through the Church of God, the Methodist, the Baptist, the Catholic, or the Presb. . . It's all right.”

I was interviewed here in Mexico. Brother Jack was with me. The little baby was raised from the dead, after dying that morning at nine o'clock. And it was raised up from the dead, that night at eleven, on the platform, by a vision. Brother Jack was there. I sent him to pray for the baby. The lady holding the baby in her arms, like this. Raining, pouring down, and he had on Brother Arment's coat. And Billy said, “I've give out. . . .” This Brother Espinoza's friend, I don't know what . . . I called him, “Manana,” because he was so slow. And so I said. . . . He give out the prayer cards, and Billy just stood to see that he didn't sell one. And he give them all out. And this woman had the dead baby. And she said . . . Why, Billy said, “I ain't got enough ushers to hold her back.”

And I said, “She would never know me. She don't know me.” The night before, that blind man had received his sight. And far as across this platform, just ricks of old coats and shawls, and things, poor people. And I said, “Well, Brother Jack, go down and pray for the baby.” I said, “She'd never know the difference between me and you.” And she just run under them men's legs and jump up on top of their backs, and walk with that dead baby. A little, pretty little girl, just about this high, maybe her first baby. And she looked to be in her twenties, very attractive girl. And so I said, “Go pray for her, Brother Jack, because she'll never know who is who.” And me standing back there speaking through an interpreter, she wouldn't know whether I was the one praying for the sick, or he was.

Brother Jack started down there. And I looked out in front of me, and there was a vision, this little baby sitting there. I said, “Never mind. Bring it here.” In a few moments, that baby was alive. Laying hands upon it!

She went into action, right quick, to her doctor; with a statement signed, that baby died in his office that morning, with pneumonia. And eleven o'clock that night it was back to life again, because she was persistent. She had to press in. There was something real. If a blind man could receive his sight, her baby could be raised from the dead. I like that. God, give us more people like that.

And her, a Catholic, coming up with her beads in her hands, I told her, “That wasn't necessary,” no disregards to that young fellow. No disregards to that, but that ain't necessary.

It's God we believe in; not any form, not a Methodist prayer, or a Presbyterian prayer, or a Pentecostal shout. It's God we believe in; not a Catholic bead, or whatever more. We believe in God, the living God, by His Word. And His Word is God. And it's bound to produce, because it's a seed.

Now, the prophet then seen what self-exalted denominations did. He seen they could not take the place of the office. They lose their hold, with their creeds, and so forth. In expectancy of the creeds, they accept that and think that's it. And we find out that men like Uzziah try to take the place of the anointed office, and they fail. Many of them turns out neurotics, drunkards, and so forth; trying to take the place of an anointed office, trying to impersonate. Instead of having what they're talking about, and called of God to do it, and ordained of God to do it; they run off in great big swarms and build big organizations, and intellectual men, and great big things, and flashing, and like Hollywood; and preaching, “The coming of the Lord is at hand.” We've seen men lose their hold, because they try to take an office they're not ordained to, just like Uzziah. We've seen the churches proselyte. We've seen, in our Pentecostal assemblies, every oneness trying to get the trinity over, the trinity trying to get the oneness over, the Church of God trying to get this over, and all these others trying to get one another; proselyting, impersonating, trying to do something they're not called to do.

God said, “Preach the gospel. Demonstrate the power of the Holy Ghost. These signs will follow them that believe.”

Not, “Go make organizations, have schools, and so forth.” Nothing against it, but that don't take this office's place. And we see now, that men and women who try to take that anointed office, when they're not ordained to do it, we see what happens to them.

There is your example, ministers. We see it in the teen-age life. We see it everywhere. That's . . . don't watch man. Watch God. Take your eyes from man and put it on God.

Not influenced, say, “Oh, glory to God, the Lord tells me. Thus saith the Lord, do so-and-so,” and it never happens. See, you are trying to impersonate something that you know nothing about. Don't do that. It's dangerous. You'll be stricken with spiritual leprosy, unbelief, your denominations; trying to build up, get a feather in your hat, to be a presbyter.

Be like David, “I'd rather be a doormat at the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents with the wicked.” Yes, a doormat. Wherever You call me, Lord, let me be the best doormat You ever had. If the people have to wipe their feet on me, let me be a real doormat. I'll clean feet, if nothing else.“

That's what Jesus did when He come to the earth, He become God's doormat, His own Son. Who are you, bishop, state presbyter, when Jesus become a foot-wash flunky, a doormat at the house of the Lord? Oh, my! And then we think we're somebody, because we got a doctor's degree, we went through college. Look at your example, what He did. Don't look to what the bishop before you, presbyter before you, whatever like that. He might have been a good man. That doesn't matter. It's you, look at God.

When he seen the effects, and then seen what taken place. Now I'm closing, one more thing I say. His feet and hands . . . His wings covered his face in reverence, his feet in humility, and then his two wings put him in action. Just think of that, the effects of the vision upon the prophet! What did it do to the prophet? It showed him that no man, no man. . . .

Don't put your confidence in a man. When that man leaves the Word of God, you leave the man. See, you leave the man. Stay with God. God is the Word.

Watch what the effects did. Now, minister brothers, I want this to go down in your hearts, all of you. What happened to the prophet? It caused that prophet, ordained to an office before the foundation of the world. . . . Gifts and callings are without repentance. It caused that prophet. . . . What about a minister, bishop, which is nothing like a prophet; teacher, pastor, or evangelist, what ought it do to them? But to see the vision of the Lord, it caused the prophet to confess he was a sinner.

He didn't walk out and say, “Yes, glory to God! Hallelujah, that's good enough for me. Praise God, I'm going out.” Or, he didn't go up and say, “I'll not listen to that. I had a mental allusion. It isn't according to what the priest says.” No.

He took lesson to it. He saw what God was trying to show him. Why? The spiritual seed was already in him, like it was in the woman at the well, like it was the others. They were ordained, foreordained to this, and he saw the reason. He saw Uzziah in the leper house, a great man who tried to impersonate something. He saw God sitting there, and he saw how God dressed His servants and how He sent them out. 'Caused him to say, “I am a sinner.” Then it come the time for the cleansing, after confession, “I am a sinner.”

The prophet, a man who had been in the king's palace, known to be a prophet. Do you hear me? Caused this ordained prophet . . . the vision of the Lord caused him to cry, “Woe is me! I am a man of unclean lips. I live among people that's got unclean lips. And my eyes have seen the order of the Lord.” Oh, minister brother, can you see it? “My eyes have seen the order of the Lord.”

Then come the cleansing. Here come the cherubim with a coal of fire off the altar, that he had took with his tongs, the tongs from the altar, put it in his hands. And shook back Isaiah's head, because he was ready to confess, and confess that he was unclean, because he had looked to some bishop or somebody for his example, instead of looking towards God.

Instead of looking towards the Word, he looked towards a creed, still puts you back, “a man of unclean lips.”

And the angel come with fire, placed it upon his lips, and said, “Now you're clean.”

Notice the order. He never brought him a book—a catechism. God doesn't prepare His servants by books and catechism. He prepares His servants by fire, cleansing fire, fire from the altar.

And he cried! When he cried out and said, “Woe is me, for I've done wrong; I've put my example, my trust, in a man. And I see the order of the Lord.” And he cleansed him with the coal of fire.

Now, isn't it wonderful how the man recognized himself being a sinner? And look how God did as soon as he recognized he was a sinner. He confessed to being a sinner, confessed to his wrong. And he saw what God did and how He did it, how He cleaned him by a coal of fire. Not a declaration of creeds, not a bunch of beads, not some historical affair. He cleansed him with, present tense living fire.

And the Bible said that “The promise is unto you, and to your children, to them that's far off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.” This same Holy Ghost, this same Jesus that come in the form of the Holy Ghost, on the day of Pentecost, is the only cleansing process God knows anything about cleansing His servant.

He seen the order. He seen what God's servant prepared, how he was to act. He seen the way God got His servant ready, how He set him in order.

Notice then the following, after the cleansing, after, the commission. After he had did this, followed, then what? The commission. After confession and cleansed, it was then that the clean Isaiah answered when the Lord said, “Who will go?” Said, “Here am I, send me.”

Young man and woman, your life before you, let's you and I go down to the altar, this morning. Let's go down to the house of God for a few minutes. Businessman, housewife, minister, let's go down to the house of God.

There is something wrong somewhere. You've had too much more, and so much carnal impersonation in the world of Christianity. Young folks, I feel sorry for you. You don't know which way to turn. One says this, and one says that, and one says it's a “Hail Mary,” and the other one says it's something else, and one says join this church, and join that. It's all wrong, for God has thoroughly showed that the thing is dead.

Now let's go down to the house of God, in our heart, the altar, let's look up and see what Jesus looks like, which is the Word. And then we can answer, “Here am I, send me, Lord. Send me to the house, to be a better wife. Send me to school, to be a better teen-age girl. Send me to school, to be a better teen-age boy. Send me to the pulpit, a different minister. Send me to my business a different businessman. When you see your example, Jesus Christ!

He said, “Here am I, send me,” after his humility, after he seen the order, how God puts His servant together. How He commissions him; before He commissions him, he has to be humble, reverent, and in action. And therefore when he seen that, the cleansed Isaiah said, “Here am I, send me.”

Let us bow our heads just a moment. [Prophecy is given from the audience.]

When the coal of fire had touched the prophet,

Making him as pure as pure can be;

When the voice of God said “Who'll go for us?”

Then he answered, “Master, here, send me.”

Speak, my Lord, speak my Lord,

Speak, and I'll be quick to answer Thee;

Speak, my Lord, speak, my Lord,

Speak, and I will answer, “Lord, send me.”

[Brother Branham begins humming.] Think of it now, teen-ager, while they're humming that song. Think of it, minister, businessman, housewife. We're down at the house of the Lord now. Look above you and see your example, the cherubims. Just think, you're at the end of time now. Time will fade into eternity, maybe today. We don't know just when. Think of it.

There's millions now in sin and shame,

are dying.

(Look on the streets.)

Listen to their sad and bitter cry;

Hasten, brother, hasten to their rescue;

Quickly answer, “Master, here am I.”

Oh, speak, my Lord, oh speak. . . .

Mean it from your heart now. Isaiah, where are you?

. . . and I'll be quick to answer Thee;

Speak, my Lord. . . . . . . .

Methodists, Baptists, Pentecostals, where you at?

Lord, speak, and I will answer, “Lord, send me.”

Do you really mean it? When He speaks to your heart, will you mean it?

Speak, my Lord, oh, speak, my Lord.

If He's speaking to you while they're singing it, “will quickly answer,” will you raise up your hand, say, “Me, Lord. Me, Lord”? God bless you.

My Lord, speak, my Lord,

Speak, and I will answer . . .

“Let me be an influence, Lord, to others. I can't do it till You cleanse me. Send the angel now, Lord.”

Speak, my Lord; oh, speak, my Lord;

Speak, and I will answer, answer Thee;

Oh, speak, my Lord; speak, my Lord,

With your hands up now. “And I will. . . .” It shows He's speaking. Now may the fire come and cleanse them.

Speak, my Lord, speak, my Lord.

Lord Jesus, as the song is sang, “Speak, and I will quickly answer Thee,” literally dozens of hands are up in here, Lord, amongst the teen-age, and amongst the old, ministers, businessmen. Surely, Lord, You're still speaking! Send the angel now with the coal of cleansing fire. Prepare Your servants right, Lord, for the task that lays before us.

Isaiah knew, to be a prophet, it taken more than what he had, to meet the answer of the day. And so does it take more than we've got, Lord, today, to meet the answer. It takes the person of Christ within us. It takes Jesus, Himself, to answer the question. Grant, Lord, grant that the Holy Ghost, in the person of Christ . . . or Christ, in the person of the Holy Ghost, may come into every heart just now. Cleanse us, Lord, from our unbelief. Cleanse us from our creeds and our foolishness of this world. Cleanse us from it, Lord, and put Your Word in our hearts; and meditate on it, day and night. May the answer come, Lord, as soon as the hearts are cleansed. Grant it, Lord. May the angel of God touch each one of our hearts now, with that coal of fire, as we're waiting upon Him. Grant it, Lord.

Now with your heads, and your arms, your hearts, your everything, turned to God, right here in the temple of God, where the Holy Ghost is, and His train fills the building. The presence of His being is here. Let's just accept it now, if you can feel God touching you now, as we sing this song again.

When the coal of fire had touched the prophet,

Making him as pure as pure could be.

Let's, as our heads and hearts bowed before Him now, sing that again. And just let the angel of God cleanse our hearts from all filth and all the glamour of the world. And you little girls and boys, from high school, in here, little teen-agers of Shreveport here, you good old Southern people here that used to have the old-fashioned gospel down here, you see there's something that the church don't provide for you today, but God has got it for you. Won't you let Him cleanse your heart now? You dwell among people that dance and everything else, and call themselves “church members,” and you see the filth and things that's in our churches from everywhere. From Catholic, plumb . . . the first organized church to the last one. That's Pentecost, every one of us is guilty. Every one are guilty, without any exceptions.

You see where we've got ourself? Our great schools to educate our ministers and things, and the thing that they twisted us up in, out there. Let's throw the thing aside. Do like Paul of old, “None of these things move me. I am persuaded that there is nothing present, nor nothing future, nothing can separate us from that love of God that's in Christ. And forgetting those things that are in the past, I press towards the mark of the high calling in Christ.” Oh, my! Believe it, now, as we close our eyes and open our hearts to Him, and sing.

When the coal of fire had touched the prophet,

Making him as pure as pure can be;

When the voice of God said “Who'll go for us?”

Then he answered, “Master, here, send me.”

Oh, speak, my Lord, speak.

Now let's just raise our hands to Him, and believe it.

Speak, (Speak, Lord,) I'll be quick to

answer Thee;

Speak, my Lord; speak, my Lord.

Speak, and I will answer, “Lord, send me.”

Yes, Speak, my Lord.

Pray now. I'm going to ask Brother Don to come here and pray with us.

Speak, and I'll be quick to answer Thee.