A Man Running From The Presence Of The Lord

Let's bow our heads. Dear God, we are happy this afternoon for this privilege that we have of assembling ourselves together once more. And You alone, Lord, knows how our hearts has yearned for this hour when we could stand before Thy people again here and bring this message that we so vitally feel that it's so urgent in this hour. Thou has allotted us these few days now, and we pray, dear God, that Your hand of mercy will be upon us to guide us and direct us. And give us those things which we have need of, Lord, for our hearts yearn to know You better.

We see the great harvest field white, ripe, and know the grain is ready now for the great threshing time. Dear God, we pray that You'll open back the shucks from around us, let us lay in the presence of the Son now these next few days and ripen to the kingdom of God.

Bless every song that'll be sang, bless every prayer, and answer every one that'll be prayed, Lord. Save all the lost. Call back to the house of the living God and to fellowship those who've wandered away.

We pray, God, that You'll heal every sick person that comes under our roof. Grant it, Lord. May there not be a feeble person among us at the end of these meetings.

And dear God, then for ourselves, we who claim in this hour to be the church, the called-out, those around the world who have come from out of Babylon to be partakers of this wonderful fellowship in this last day, we pray God that You'll bless our hearts in such a way. We're truly hungry, Lord, and emptied out from all the things of the world that we know of, Lord. We've laid aside every weight that so easily beset us, and now let us run this race with patience, that's set before us. Grant it, Father. And may we be fuller, stronger, better Christians at the end of this service than we were when we entered. May God get all the glory, for we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.

I think this is a grand privilege tonight that I've waited on for some time. The other day I was telling my wife, I said, “I get so nervous waiting to get to the Tabernacle.” I just ... I have other friends, of course I do, around the world, but there's something or other about this Tabernacle here. I was took out of this dust around here when God gave me life here on the earth, and I guess if He tarries, I'll be buried here somewhere. When He comes, He'll find me here somewhere.

But looks like there's something when I go to thinking about Jeffersonville. The other day I got so lonesome. I said to my wife, I said, “I'm homesick, and I don't know what I'm homesick about, unless it's those people praying for me.” I said, “Well, I'll.... Only thing I know to do is go back and have a few days of meetings, see if we can't find something from the Lord. Maybe He wants us to know something.” And the great vital subject that we got before us now is “Marriage and Divorce.” And if there is a question, there's got to be an answer. There can't be a question unless there's an answer. No matter what it is, there's got to be an answer. And if the Lord willing, I want to try to speak on that Sunday morning.

And then tomorrow night I think we're to be up here at the.... What is that school called? Parkview auditorium. What, sir? Parkview Junior High. How many knows where it's at? Well, I guess they'll have signs out, won't they, Brother Neville? It's just above here about three-quarters of a mile. There'll be a sign. You turn back off the road. It's a nice, elevated building. It's got places where you can lay your arm out and take notes of what you want to write, and things. And I'm sure you'll enjoy it a little more than you will be kind of crumped-up in the meetings here in the Tabernacle. There'll be plenty of room, plenty of parking room.

Now, I think they have a little regulation we had to promise to abide by: that was not to come on the ground until about 6:30. I believe it'd be a good idea for us to get there at 6:30. Now, they got another auditorium here in town that seats six thousand. If we be real good, maybe someday they might let us have the other one sometime for a big meeting, maybe sometime this summer when I get back from overseas.

And so I think we can seat up to.... How many can we seat up there? Four thousand. So, you see, we'll have plenty of room, there'll be no rush. And so come up at 6:30. And then everybody can come in at the right time, everybody together. And I'm sure you'll have a good seat. And it's elevated like this, and a place here where you can write, and take notes down, and so forth. And that'll begin, if the Lord willing....

I think now tonight, this being Wednesday night prayer meeting, we got.... The place is just about filled up, so I think maybe we better start tomorrow night. We rented it just in hopes that maybe that if we would be enough to have an overflow here we could go up there. But I believe it'd be best to go on up, don't you think so, Brother Neville, to go on up tomorrow night? And how many thinks that'd be a good idea? And then you can have plenty of room. It's already rented. It's paid for by some brethren here in the church. It just cost us fifty dollars a night, which is very, very.... Wish I had that everywhere, could seat that many for fifty dollars a night, a brand new building, fine stage. But we're....

Of course we will take up offerings, I suppose. And we don't want them men to pay for that themselves, we'll pay them back. But when we get our expenses and things, well, then, of course, we stop taking offerings. We don't....

If there's any strangers with us, we've made that a policy to never beg, bum, push people for money. We pass the collection plate, which is just.... That's a religious act. I've tried it many times not even to pass the collection plate at all, but it don't work, see, because giving is a part of our religion. It's a part of our duty. No matter if it's just a dime, or whatever it is, or a penny, it's all....

So, you remember Jesus seen a widow passing by one day where the rich men was putting in much of their treas... in the treasury. This widow passed by, maybe a couple little hungry children walking by her side, and gave everything she had, three pennies. And Jesus said, “Who paid the most?”

Now, if I'd been standing there, I'd've said, “Don't do that, sister. Look, we got plenty of money.” But He never stopped her, see. He knew He had something greater for her down the road. So, see, after all, she had a home in glory that she was going to. He never stopped her. He let her put her three pennies in, because it was just.... She wanted to do it. She had to want to do it, with children, and a widow, and only three pennies to live on. She had to want to do that. So, you see, when people want to give, you've got to give them the opportunity to do so.

But I think of these standing, and people saying, “Who will give fifty dollars? Who will give twenty dollars?” I think that's detrimental to your intelligence. I think that the people realizes that it takes money to run a meeting. And I never would let them do it, the managers. I said, “Whenever you have to do that, then it's time for me to return back to the Tabernacle so we won't have to do that.” But I do think that we have to pass the offering plate in order to make it a complete religious service.

And so they probably will pass a little offering plate each night, say something like, “Well, we'll take up the offering now.” And they'll pass the offering plate, and that'll be the end of it.

And each night, if the Lord willing, I think the Lord has laid upon my heart a very definite message for the Church. I've been several days in prayer. And I won't go into that, because a great phenomena happened the other day that was really great, and I'm anxious to tell you about it. And now, the main subject, I suppose, which most all of them, Billy said, had been calling, was on the marriage and divorce—which, it is a great subject. And I didn't know how to approach it. And I went up to pray about it, and the Lord met me. And I know that I, by.... I don't have it, but God has given to me ... I have it now. God has given to me the correct answer, see, and I know that it's true.

And so, I don't know just exactly yet, maybe Sunday I might ask our sisters just to omit the meeting themselves, but I don't know. It depends on if the married women wants to come with their husbands. There's some real vital things has to be told the truth about, and how.... And so, we want to absolutely lay it out as “Thus saith the Lord,” then you got.... You know just what is truth then. And I'm trusting Him to do that.

And now, I was up here at the restaurant the other day eating, and Jerry and all of them looking for you all. They said, “Well, we....” One of the boys was up, said, “This fellow said, 'I'm going to come out pretty good this week.'” Said, “These next two weeks....” Said, “They got a meeting here, basketball or something or other,” then said, “Branham is down there going to have a meeting.” He said, “I'll feed a whole lot of people.” At the Ranch House, one of those places up there, and they were ... been really nice.

And I appreciate you all, for they certainly did brag and say nice things about you.

The manager up there at the Ranch House met me the other morning. I got in about two-thirty, from Arizona, and he said, “Well, Brother Branham,” said, “I hear you're going to have another meeting, so I got some extra help,” he said. And said, “Then I want to say one thing, that those people that come from down there,” said, “they really are nice people.” Now, that made me feel real good about you, see. Because after all, I kind of feel that you're my kids, and I ... or, children, rather. And so, I.... Kid refers to a goat, and you're not a goat. You're my lambs. You're the Lord's lambs that He's let me feed. And I trust that He'll let me do that. We're going on down the road....

And about this marriage and divorce, I've wanted to speak on it ever since the time of those Seven Seals. You know, all mysteries was supposed to be made known in opening them Seven Seals, all mysteries of the Bible. And I'm thinking now, getting kind of old, I think I ... I thought I'd better at least put it on tape where if something would happen to me, then the church might wonder, “Wonder what he had on his mind, what would he say?” And all those subjects that seems to be so hard, I think by the Lord's help I'm going to try to bring them to you. And then if something happens, if I happen to go before He comes, you'll have it on record then.

I think we got some new books out. I see Sister Vayle. I don't know whether Doctor is here or not. Is he here, Sister Vayle? He's probably in the meeting. I don't see him, but.... Oh, yes, way in the back. And Brother Vayle has wrote a book, and it's a ... I thought, I believe they said today, two, Brother Vayle, Is that right? You have two here now? Two books. Now, I don't know, the way I understand, that each person gets a copy. So, if you.... That's the way I understand. I may be wrong in that.

And then The Seven Church Ages has been finished (is that right, Brother Vayle?), and on print now. And I know you'll want to get them, because they answer a lot of questions that's been in your heart. And then after that, well, we're going to try to get the “Seven Seals” opened, you know, in the book so that each one can read in form that they want to ... can understand and study it. I think when it's wrote out, if it....

First we took it right off of the tape the way it was written ... or, spoke. And, you know, you can preach a sermon is one thing; and then write a book is another. See, like I'd happen to touch on a subject, like I'd say to you, you'd understand. I'd say, “Now the serpent's seed....” See? Well, now, the reader of that book, if you took it off, would wonder, “What is the serpent's seed?” See? And they wouldn't know. If that happened to go into such a place like Princeton or somewhere ... and they'd think we were unintelligent people. So, I got Brother Vayle to kind of help me with this, and keep the line of the same thought and give it grammar. And I'm sure my grammar, it would be a mystery to them, sure enough. So, Brother Vayle's really good on that, so he's as a....

And in that, I think our precious brother must have picked up a little extra inspiration somehow, and he said he was going to write a couple of books of his own, off of them, like. And, so, he wrote one called, I believe, “The Twentieth Century Prophet,” and another one, “Laodicean Church,” I believe, or something like that.

And Billy told me tonight that, I believe, several thousand of them arrived today. Somebody brought them from Texas. And, so, they'll be here. And they'll announce it, I think, whatever they are. I think they're sponsored. I'm not sure. And if they are, they'll be given away to you, see, free. And we hope you enjoy it. And if you do, shake Brother Vayle's hand back there and tell him how much you appreciate it. I've never read them myself. If I'd read them I might change my mind about that, so I'll try to read them this week while I've got a chance, if I can.

Now, being Wednesday night, our meeting officially begins tomorrow night. But I think in being here among you, I just couldn't stay up there at the house and know that you all were down here. Just like, you know, like some of your kinfolks come in, you know, and you run down to the end of the lane to meet them, you know. And I thought I'd just run down and welcome you to Jeffersonville. And, so, this last week I was ... about ... no, I beg your pardon, it's been about three weeks ago, I come home. I'd been out trying to ... been on some meetings through Arizona there. And I come back to try to relax, and I went on a hunting trip, and I got the Arizona state record lion. I run him through twenty miles of timber to get him.

But then to think, though, that I never thought when I was a little boy.... Just to show how these things happen—a little place that the Lord has given us up there for the months that we're out there, and school for the kids ... when I was a little boy.... I guess Jimmy Poole is here tonight. Maybe his dad's here, big Jim. We went to school together. And I remember sitting there as a little old ragged kid, and shoes ... tennis shoes on, toes out of them, borrow a piece of paper from one and a pencil from another.

I used to write poetry. Mrs. Wood here had me recite that this afternoon on tape about my old Ford, you know, and it's a good one. She said, “We ought to send that to Mr. Ford.”

I said, “There's too much truth of it,” about a rattle in the front and a grind in the rear and a Chinese puzzle for a steering gear. But I always said, only thing I had to do is count four tires and shake it enough to get it to start and then get in it. I said, “It was good when I'd start up the hill with it, just go pulling real slow, saying, 'I think I can, I think I can, I think I can'; then start at the other side, saying, 'I thought I could, I thought I could.'” That's the way we pull this hill, like “Pilgrim's Progress.”

I had a little poem I wrote, something like this. It said.... Now, just think, I was only about twelve years old. And standing up the other day looking up that canyon, and thinking that lion will be sitting right here in this den room looking out the window in a glass window, I was thinking of a little poem. I went back and picked it up, something like this.

Just think how God.... Do you believe God is in all inspiration? God has to write a song. You believe God's in songs? Jesus said so. He referred back to David. “Don't you know what David said in the Psalms?” you know. “Has not it...?”

Look at the very crucifixion. David sang it in the twenty-second Psalm. “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? All my bones they stare at me. They pierced my hands and my feet,” you know. And that was a song. Psalms is a song.

And in this poetry, just watch how it come to pass. Standing there a little old kid with a borrowed sheet of paper, I said:

Forty years later I'm sitting right there at that canyon, that lion looking me in the face. Oh, God! There's a land beyond the river somewhere, friends. It's just ... it's got to be there, see. There's too much speaking of it. All these things are not just myths; they're real. They're realities. I'm so glad to be here tonight to be with these people that I'm expecting to live over there forever with, where there'll be no more sickness, or death, or separations, and travel will be nothing to us then.

Now, I think no meeting is complete without reading the Word and having a little.... Brother Neville, I just walked up here. Billy said you wanted me to speak. Was that right, Brother Neville? I may be taking a little too much for granted, but I just felt so good about it. So, now, you that's got songs and things, you see Brother Neville when you're going to sing, and then just have it up there, and have just about a half-hour preliminary, and let's get right into these real deep messages and see what we can see the Lord will do. And I just trust....

I believe we have truth. I'm satisfied with that. And I believe the wheat is absolutely ... the shuck's pulling away from it. You know? And see, I may give a little prelude on that tomorrow night, see, how the shuck's pulling away from the wheat. But the wheat has to lay in the presence of the sun to ripen. And that's what we're here for, friends. Stay in the presence of the Son till our little group of people here, till it becomes so ripe to Christ, that it becomes bread on His table. That's what I want it to do.

And now before we approach the Word—after reciting poems and so forth—let's pray again. Then we're going to take a text.

Dear Jesus, help us tonight now in these few words as we wait upon Thee. And we pray that your grace and mercy will be with us, Lord. And tender our hearts. Move back all the shucks, the thorns, the thistles, let the blessed sunshine of God fall in upon the Word, Lord. And may we have such a great meeting till there will not be an unsaved person among us, all the children will be in the kingdom of God. And those without the baptism of the Spirit, may they receive it, Father. May all the great mysteries that we are supposed to know at this age, Lord, be unveiled to us and we'll see the plainness of God, so that we'll know how to behave ourselves and act, correcting ourselves and bringing the members of our body into discipline to the Word, that we might know how to live in this present day at the approaching of the Lord Jesus.

As I read of thy Word tonight, Lord, I might, by a partial education, be able to read some of the words, and maybe mispronounce others; but, Lord God, You alone can pull the context out of there. You're the only one that can do it. There's no way for a human being to ever do it. It lays in Your hands, Lord. So, give to us each night them things that's hid in thy Word, that we might be better Christians and live, according to the time that we're living in, as examples of Christianity. We ask in the name of the Lord Jesus. Amen.

Now, many of you, in your Bibles I want you to turn to the book of Jonah. It's a.... We always talk so much about Jonah being backslidden and everything. I've always took up for Jonah. I do not believe that Jonah was backslid. I do not believe that. I believe it's just ... that we just sometimes use it, say, “He's a Jonah.” But if we.... I've already spoke on it in another way, in telling how that I thought Jonah ... what took place.

Isn't that a sad ending? “A Man Running from the Presence of the Lord,” and that's my subject.

Now, first we want to think of this. Jonah was.... The reason, the principle reason that I believe that he did this great thing here was because Jonah was a Jew, and he was asked to go to a Gentile city to cry out against it, thinking that he would not be received because the Gentiles would think, “What's this Jew got to do with us?” But you see, another thing, it gives us a great thing here to see, that God not only is God of the Jew, but He's God also of the Gentile. He's God of all people. He just chose the Jew.

The Jews was called God's chosen people. They were chosen for a specific cause. And that cause was to give to them the law. And they could not keep it. And He just showed by that people that the law could not be kept. And if He was a God of righteousness.... And the law demanded righteousness, but there was no grace in law to bring a man out. No penalty was paid by the law, but it taken grace to pay that penalty, or to where the law put us under.

And Jonah here was called on, as this ... one of the minor prophets of the Bible, to go down to this city. And here we find an example of all of us. Every one of us, we always are running from something. We run from trouble. We run from responsibilities. We're all prone to do that. We're more prone to run than we are to stand and face it out, see. We just ... we find ourselves running. Sometimes we find ourself prone to run from work. We don't want to work. Some people just think they can make their living without working. But I think Solomon it was that said we could find here the answer in watching an ant.

You know a little ant, they tell me if every ant doesn't work and lay in, that ant doesn't eat that winter either. So, everybody has to work.

We got so many things we have to do, so much responsibility that we have to face. Everybody's got to face a certain responsibility.

When you come to choose your wife, to get married, or choose your husband, you've got to take a responsibility. And then you must remember.... Maybe you build a home. It's a nice, pretty home. And then remember, as a married woman you've got to think of the responsibility of raising children. You got to think that them pretty slick walls is going to have little dirty hand prints all over them. Then you got the responsibility of educating your children; you got the responsibility of clothing and feeding. Everything is a responsibility. And it's so easy when responsibilities face us to shirk from them.

And we find out that marriage is a responsibility in all manners.

Even many times we find—this is hard to say, but it's true—that ministers many times shirk a responsibility for standing for the true Word of God when they're confronted with it. They'll shirk that responsibility. When truth of the Word of God is brought face to face with we human beings, we have ... we're prone to shirk back until the last resource.

I just got through talking to my little nephew up there. He's a Catholic, and he.... And I baptized that boy in the name of Jesus Christ here a few years ago, and he got with some little girl and turned Catholic. And I held his mother's hand while she was dying over there. She said to me, the last words, “Take care of Melvin.” And he's just been dreaming dreams. He just can't.... Every day the last week he's been dreaming dreams. Said, “I'd walk into your church, Uncle Bill; you was standing there preaching. I'd run up to start to make a confession, I'd wake up.” He said, “I've been wrong.”

I said, “Melvin, you don't need no interpretation for that. Your place is down there where you belong.” That's right, see.

But, to face up to responsibilities, sometimes it takes the very hide off of us to do that. As a father to face up to the responsibility to give your child a whipping, them little fellows, you don't want to do that. But as a father or mother you've got to face the responsibility of raising that child, because the Bible said, “Spare the rod and you'll spoil your son.” And that still stands good. In the sight of every psychologist there is in the world, that still remains God's truth. If there'd been more of that practiced, we wouldn't have had so much juvenile delinquency and stuff, and the rot we got in the world today. But the old golden rule of the home's been broken long time ago, and they let the kids do whatever they want to.

But even as I've said, ministers, they'll come face to face with truth, and then walk away from it. See, they just have ... just seems like there's something that they don't want to face up to it.

Many times I've had people come say, “I know that's right, Brother Branham. But if I did that, they'd kick me out of the church.” What of it? If you don't, they're going to kick you out up there, so you got to be kicked out somewhere, see. So, you might as well face up to it. Instead of running from it, say, “Well, I'll go over here; I won't go back.” Go back, sure, listen to some more of it, search the Scriptures. Jesus said, “Search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life, and they are they that testify of me.” But we find that people won't face up with that.

Being brought into the presence of God and see when God made a promise, and God is obligated to that promise. And when He brings that promise to pass, then people are afraid to face up to the responsibility of coping with the message of the hour. We find that everywhere.

How about you Lutherans? How many Lutherans was afraid to ... people was afraid to face up to Luther's truth when he come forth with justification? Look what it cost you—maybe your own life—to come out and confess Jesus Christ and become a Lutheran.

Look at you Methodists, how it used to be you all were called holy rollers. I guess you knowed that. And they'd get under the Spirit and jerk back and forth. And they said they had the jerks. No, that ain't Pentecostal; that was Methodist long years ago. And they jerked and shook and fell under the power of God. And they throwed water in their faces and fanned them with fans, thought they'd passed out. And now, you were considered a bunch of holy rollers. But you had.... Your mothers and fathers had to either accept it, face up to the truth and facts, or turn 'er down.

What about you Pentecostals that received the restoration of the gifts? When the baptism of the Holy Ghost come out with speaking in tongues and the gifts of the Spirit coming back in the church? Why the Methodists wanted to kick you out, and they did do it. But you had to face up to it. It's something you had to do. What about the issue when it come out about the baptism in the name of Jesus Christ and you saw it was the truth? You have to face up to it or do something about it. You've got a responsibility—everybody has—and you must face up to these things. All right.

And when you see then in this day now when the Word of God has made these promises of things that we see happening now, then we've got the responsibility to either face up to it or get away from it. You just can't stay neutral. You've got to do something about it. Some move's got to be made. You can't come in that church door and go out the same person you come in. You're either further away or closer to God every time you come in or go out there.

Oh, how easy it is for people to shirk these things! And I want us to think of these when we start into the official services tomorrow night, that I want you to notice when something is confronted, if there's a question about it. If there's a question about it, there's got to be an answer.

Say, for instance, I said I was going west, and you pointed me this a-way. Well, the first thing you know, I run plumb apast my target. And I'm too ... I'm northwest. Well, what if somebody points me down this way, and I go that way. I'll pass my target again—I went southwest. Well, as long as there's a question which way is west, there's got to be a direct answer somewhere. And when these questions confront us about the Bible truths, there's got to be the right answer somewhere. That's right. It's got to be there.

And when we see something presented, I think instead of just running away, say, “Oh, nonsense, I couldn't believe a thing like that. I couldn't believe that,” why don't you take the Bible and sit down and face up to it. Study it. You're here in the meeting now, just look it over. Check it out yourself with the Word. Check the Word by the Word. That's the only way to make it tell the truth. And it must tell the truth from Genesis to Revelation.

Christ is the revelation of the whole Bible. In Him, Christ, all the fulfilling of all the prophecies of the Bible is met unconditionally in Christ Jesus, because He was God manifested in the flesh.

Now, when we find these things though, when we're confronted and come into a meeting and see the power of God moving and doing things and doing supernatural works and see it performed, and look in the Bible and see that it's promised for this hour, then when we see those things, then we are confronted with a responsibility to either accept it, I mean, as for ourselves....

Now, many people sympathize. Many people say it's right, but that don't make it what.... That ain't the thing that you're responsible for.

As I've said, what if I was a young man and looking for a wife, to be married, and here stood a girl that met every qualification that I thought it took to make a woman? Why, morally she was a queen, and lovely, and a fine personality, a real Christian, everything that I could think of to make me a good wife. No matter how much I think she's perfect, she's exactly right, she isn't mine till I accept her and the responsibility of her being my wife.

That's the same thing the message is. You might say it's right or this, that, or the other, and say, “I sympathize with it. I believe it's the truth”; but you've got to accept it, and it's got to become a part of you and you a part of it. You've got.... Then it's yours.

When you marry this certain woman that you have chosen, you are one then. And that's the way you are with Christ. When you see Him manifested and made real, then you are part of Him, and He's part of you; and together you are part of the message.

Oh, how many denominational ships have we got going down to Tarshish for the Jonah's of these days? Nine hundred of them, something—of ships that takes the easy route, don't want to face up to it. Jonah didn't want to face up to the thing of going to the Gentiles. He didn't want to take that cruel message over there: “Within forty days you'll perish if you don't repent.” He hated to do that, and he thought, “Them Gentiles, it's hard to tell what they'll do to me.” But he had to face up to it, see. But he took a easy ship and went down to Tarshish, went down in the hull of the ship and went to sleep. Took the easy route, the easy way.

It's a popular way with the people. It's easy to take the way where everybody can pat you on the back and say you're a good fellow and, “This is So-and-so, and certain....” And the world look upon you. It's easy to go the popular way. But when you have to do something different, when you have to stand to your conviction of what you know to be the truth, there's where the hard part, that's the rub comes, right there.

Oh, as we've often sang that old song:

Something like I was told one time that a lady said, back in the horse and buggy days, that said the horse run away with her going from church. Said, “What'd did you do?”

Said, “I trusted the Lord until the lines broke.” That's the time to trust the Lord, after the lines is broke. You're trusting in the lines until they're broke. Yes!

And, so, we find out that we have many easy ways to go, ships going down to Tarshish, for it's easy. The unresponsibilities, it just flows in, you have everything coming, everybody likes you, and everybody ... nobody disagree with you, you disagree with nobody. Now, if that ain't a dishrag! That's right. Just push over, flop over! Why, anybody ... I don't care who you are and what you're standing for.... Actually, decent-thinking people will think more of you if you'll stand for your conviction of what's right. Right!

Don't care.... You take a woman, she might be ever ... not very attractive, and whatever she is; but you let that woman stand for principles of womanhood, let her stand like a lady, and if a man's got a ounce of man about him, he'll take up for her. Absolutely. We appreciate something that somebody's got that they believe that it's the truth and will stand for what they think is right.

How wishy-washy, that's what! Too many Christians today are so soft-soaped and everything until they think all they do is join a church, go in somewhere, put their name on a book, or do a little something, jump up and down, shout, or something like that, and call it Christianity. Christianity is a every day, rugged life, living for God in this present world. It's a constant burning of the fire and love of God in the heart that sets you afire and puts you out yonder with the people and making converts to Christ.

Responsibility! But it's easy to go the way the world goes. It's easy to flow down the stream. Go out there and sit down in the river with your boat. You get your oars and start pulling up against the current. You don't make much time and it goes hard, but you just once let loose the oars and watch how fast you pass the trees going down. But look where you're going! When things are floating easy, remember, you're going towards a great cataract down there of some sort. You're going towards the falls, and it won't be long till you'll be going over that falls. Just floating with the world, easy, the way it goes, you don't want that. No, sir! But you must accept your responsibility.

Now, you believe it and you think it's the truth....

And the responsibility that God has given us in this day to bring this message.... And as I get older—and I know my days are shortening up—I feel the responsibility greater than I ever felt. Press it on! We must do it. We must get down to it everywhere we go, and tell the message and tell the people that Jesus Christ is coming, that He's God and He's coming soon. There's not a hope left in the world but the coming of the Lord.

Looking back there at some friends that was with me up there when the angel of the Lord.... These boys sitting here, I believe they found the place where it happened up there. And just remember what the Lord said that day to Brother Wood when we was walking up the hill. And he was kind of weeping because of his wife being sick. And the Lord said, “Pick up that rock and throw it up in the air and say ”Thus saith the Lord.“ And I did that. And Brother Wood is sitting as a witness.

And I said, “Brother Wood, it won't be long till you're going to see something happen.” And the next day when we were standing there, all of us together.... And a bunch of the men standing right here tonight....

A young preacher was there, and he was a ... I noticed. I just met him the night before. He was in our camp. He come up to be with us. And he said to me, he said, “Brother Branham, do you ever see visions out like this?”

I said, “Yes, sir. But I come out here to get away from it, to kind of rest a little bit.” He said.... “Well,” I said, “of course He shows me things out here.” And I said, “Just over the hill here where the seven angels appeared down in there.”

He said, “Yeah, I understand.” Said, “I was one of the sponsors on your meeting over in California.”

I said, “Well, I'm certainly glad to know that.”

And while standing there, just then I looked around and I seen kind of a heavy-set doctor looking into his eyes, and I heard him say, “You're going to lose that eye, because there's a allergy in there. And I've doctored it for two years, and you're going to lose that eye.” I said, “Reason you ask me that, because your doctor told you the other day you was going to lose that eye.”

And he said, “That's right.”

And he looked around like that, and I seen his mother take off one of her stockings and hold her foot out with little tumors hanging down between her toes, up and down her leg, and said, “If you see Brother Branham, tell him to pray for this.” And I said, “Your mother stuck her foot out like that and said she's got little tumors all over her toes and like that, and said, 'Have Brother Branham pray.'”

He said, “Brother Branham, that's the truth.”

I looked back. When I did, I seen him standing there looking at me like that, with his eyes just as bright. I met him this fall—he had better eyes than anybody in the camp. The Lord had healed him and made him well.

While I was standing there, the Lord showed me what was going to happen: “Judgment's fixing to strike the West Coast.” And He said, “Get over there beside that fireplace.”

And I had a shovel in my hand, walked over there.... Brother Roy Roberson, all of us know him here. He's not here tonight as I know of. He's in Arizona out there. He's the chairman of the trustees here. And I knowed him being a veteran. And something was going to happen. A real pretty, still morning about ten o'clock in the morning, and the boys all around there, ten or twelve of us, letting down tents, and skinning out pigs, and things. So, I walked around, said, “Roy, hide quick! Something is fixing to happen!” I couldn't tell him no more. And just the time I got over there.... And coming down from the heavens come the whirlwind of God and clapped like, shook the hill, run inside of that mountain, cut a streak plumb around it about five feet above my head, and cut all the tops of them trees off as the rocks went down; went up in the air and come down again with another big baptism and struck across the mountain and throwed the rocks out like that. Did it three times, then went up in the air. Then Brother Banks come over to me, said, “That's what you said yesterday.”

I said, “Yes, sir. That's exactly it!” See? And then two days after that Alaska sunk, almost, up there. And up and down that West Coast has been the thunders and pushings and everything happening. One of these days she's going to slide beneath the ocean. That's right! What is it? We're living in the hour of the coming of the Lord.

When we see isms and things rising up and all these different things, we know there's got to be a true answer to this. There's people out yonder in the country now going into caves and things. “On the 16th of March (you've read it in the paper) the Lord's coming.” You know that isn't so. Jesus said no man knows the minute or the hour.

When we see all of these things and things taking place the way they are, there's got to be a true answer somewhere. There's got to be a truth. There's one east and one west, but there's ... one southeast and northwest or something, but there's got to be a true answer somewhere to the problem.

Shirk this? We must tell the people that we're living in the hours of the coming of the Son of God. We want to watch and God.... Be on the move all the time, ready to give a man a correct answer.

It's always been that way. There's been ... men has shirked and went away from God ever since Adam in the garden of Eden. When Adam was in the garden of Eden, when he come to the responsibility to make his choice—would he stay with God or go with his wife—he had to make that.... The responsibility was up to him. He either had to take what his wife said or what God said. And when he chose to go the way of his wife, and when he did that, then he lost his original condition and brought the whole world subject to death. When he had to take the responsibility of either accepting a new light that his wife had found which was contrary.... Oh, God! Think of it. God only give them about eight or ten words to keep: “But of that tree thou shalt not eat.” That's all they had to keep. And even with just that much word, they broke it. Then Adam had to face up: “Will I do as my wife has said do, or shall I do what God said do?” Then he walked out with his eyes open. He had to take the responsibility. That throwed the whole human race unto death.

Then there come that other Adam, which was Christ! Not another one like Him! Somebody say He wasn't God! His uniqueness proved He was God. There never was a creature lived like Him. He lived in a world to Himself. He was born outside of the realm of the natural [unclear words]. Hallelujah! He was the creator Himself made flesh. Who could ever stand where He stood? Who could ever talk like Him? Who could ever say the things that He said? Who could ever do the things that He done? His uniqueness proved He was God. There wasn't a prophet or nothing else could do what He done—who could call the dead back from the grave, and who could stop the skies and do anything He wanted to do. He was God! Who could ever stand in his place? What could He be but that perfect, immortal God made flesh and dwelt among us.

Nothing ever compared with Him. He lived in a world to Himself. No man ever spake like Him. When He just opened his mouth, there was something about it that was different from anybody else. Somebody said He was just an ordinary man. I defy that. He was God—that's what He was—for no man ever spoke like Him. No man could speak like Him; because He was the living Word itself made flesh, the manifestation of the fullness of God.

I will admit them prophets had their message. They had them then; they have them now. But there was the fullness of the Godhead bodily manifested there. He was the unique one, and He was the one that had to face the issue with all of his great powers that He had. And He could've absolutely been the king of the world. He will be and He ... to his saints He is now.

He stood there. What man would be poor, didn't have a place to lay his head, that even knowed where a fish swallowed a coin. What man could take them big jugs of water and turn them into wine—and not have a place to lay his head? He had to face up to the responsibilities that had been given into his hands. What man that could raise a man out of the grave after he'd been dead four days and rotten? Could He not have saved Hisself? Sure, He could; but if He did, He'd have not saved us. He had to face up to the responsibilities. And because of his obedience to the Word, where Adam's disobedience.... And he took the short cut, the way down to Tarshish; but Jesus took the way to Nineveh to the Gentiles to get Hisself a bride. I'm glad that He did it tonight. And we ought to face up to the facts that we belong to Him and take the world away. Amen!

Every man had to face up to that, has got a responsibility before God. We just take for instance Noah, he had.... Noah, Moses, Elijah, and all the rest of them of every age, had to face up to the responsibility. And they had to do it. But that's the reason they were sent in the hour....

Look at Noah in his scientific age, how he had to face up to a thing that was so unscientific. Why, there wasn't a reason why it couldn't be unscientific, see. It was unscientific, rather. Why, they said it's going to rain out of the skies. It never had rained a drop out of the heavens. Well, now, he had to face up to it, God said it was going to rain.

And then he.... Then faith without works is dead. If you say, “I believe it!” and don't make no act.... Just like the message. If you say, “I believe it!” and don't make an act, what good does it do, see? Noah went to work with his hammer and built an ark to confirm what he was talking about. That is what we have to do, too. We have to go to work and prove our faith by our works. Our works proves our faith.

Moses had to do it, and Elijah had to do it. Every prophet in his age had to stand up and face these responsibilities. But many of them didn't do like Jonah. He run; they didn't.

Notice, “Cry out against it.” Oh, my, there it is. That's the subject. Cry out against it! There's the check part. He was going to have to tell those fellows, “Say, I come to join up with you guys. You know, I believe.... I'll tell you what I'll do. I've got just a little thing here, I believe I can bring us all together, and do this, that, or the other,” but it was cry out against it! When you have to cry out against something.... Now, he had to cry out against everything that was down there: cry out against the city, cry out against their work, cry out against their church, cry out against their prophets, cry out against their ministers, cry out against their priests. Cry against it, the whole thing, cry out against it.

Noah cried out against his age. Sure he did, up against the churches of his age. Moses most certainly did cry out against his age —the people, the priests, and so forth. He cried all the way through the wilderness. In every junction he cried, continually crying to the people. Elijah was very unpopular in his day because he cried out against that age. Certainly was.

John the Baptist was very unpopular in his age. He cried out against his age. He said to the king, the potentate of the land.... He had married his brother's wife. He had to preach on marriage and divorce one morning. So, he cried out against it. He said, “It's not lawful for you to have her!” It cost him his head to be cut off later, but he cried out and he stood to his post of duty. He never took a ship to Tarshish and said, “Well, I'll agree with you, Herod. It's all right. As long as you think she's a nice woman, she's making you a nice wife, go ahead.” Oh, mercy! Them dishrags! You see? Just every little thing.... Why, it's nothing but to clean dirty plates with.

But notice, John wasn't that way. He faced right up to it. He said, “It's not lawful for you to have her!” Yes, sir, and he stood out against it.

They never run. John didn't. They stood and faced the fact. Moses tried to run one time like Jonah, but God brought him back. Many of them tried to get away from it. They'd start.... But look, if God has called you and you are sure that God's in the message, there's nothing going to turn you back. It didn't turn Jonah. No, sir!

Amos of old cried out, said, “The lion has roared; who can but fear? And God has spake; who can but prophesy?” Who can but prophesy? When you see God speak and said a certain thing will happen, and there it is....

A lion roars, everybody's scared. Yes, sir! If you ever heard one roar in the jungle.... You hear these meowing around these cages out here, them tame lions, but you ought to hear a real wild one roar one time. The rocks will fall off the hill five hundred yards away. I don't see where all that belch comes out of them lungs that.... He throws his head down, throws that fur up—I never heard anything.... Like a cannon going off when he belches out that big roar in his lungs. Who couldn't be scared? They say if you're ever killed by a lion, it's painless. He scares you to death before he gets to you. You don't notice it. He scares you with that great ferocious roar, and here he is on you in a split second.

He said, “The lion has roared; who can but fear? And God has spoke; who can but prophesy?” When you see God doing something.... You say, “I might not be a prophet....” Jonah said.... “I might not be a prophet or the son of a prophet; but God has spoke, who can but prophesy?”

I might not be a prophet, I might not be this, that, or the other; when I see God doing anything and I see in here in the Word, and He promised it, who can hold their peace and keep still? Sure, He's done it.

Neither can we hide behind creeds and all these here fellowships, and down to Tarshish. We don't want to go with them fellowships.

But many, like Adam, do the same thing: try to make a substitute in some way, try to find a way out and make a substitute to face God after they know in the wrong. Faced up to the truth, went on with his wife and did exactly what God told him not to do. He went right ahead and did it anyhow. Then he found hisself naked, she and he both in the garden of Eden. Their eyes come open. They knowed what was right and wrong then. And then he tried to find a substitute to kind of cover himself up with it. Now, that's just about the way we do today. An excuse, say, “Well, I tell you, if it was here, or if this, or if, if, if.” That's just ... see. But you must face up to it. It's either right or wrong. And if it's right, let's stay by it. If it's wrong, get away from it. That's all. Find out what is right. You don't want to wait any longer. Let's find out now what's truth and what's right and stay with it. We know that that's truth.

Now, we find today that our people are so.... It seems like all the sincerity has gone out of the churches.

We're living in a house there of a precious sister that comes to this church. She's probably sitting here tonight. And she rents it out to the people, and she's just been so sweet to us about that place, about letting us have that place. And, so, I'd call her name, but she might not want me to do it. And she's been so sweet to us, well, we certainly wouldn't want to expose her. But she's been a very, very dear woman. And in the house there was a television over on one side. We got a little two-duplex. I got a big family, a bunch of young'uns, and you know ... and they have to have beds and plenty of them. And everything piled up on top, and we have to walk through this and through that to get in and out.

And then over there they had a television. And in this television, these kids got to watching on Sunday morning some kind of a hymn singing that come on. And you know, it would almost make you ashamed—if there wasn't a genuine Christianity somewhere that you could put your hands on—to see what's called Christianity. Why, it seems like all the sincerity is gone out of it. Why, they don't seem to.... Why, it's just terrible the way they stand there and draw their fist and fight one another on there, and try to sing hymns and everything like that, and pull jokes that hardly a sailor would pull, and then say all kinds of things, and kid and go on. You know the sacredness of Christianity has seemed to lose its place.

Now, I go to church and see the pastor get up there and announce that there's going to be a swimming bee. All the women with these bathing suits, they're all going out there. They're going to have a contest, these women, swimming. And they're going to have a party of some sort, and they're going to fry up a lot of chicken and play bunco, and all these things like that. To me that takes the genuine sincerity out of Christianity—just get by with anything.

I seen, coming up here.... We find out, you know, we find more of our sisters wearing shorts up here in this cold country than you find out there in that hot country, see. It's true. Out there where it's really hot, there's not too many of them that wear them; but here where it's cold, they do it. See, they don't realize it's the devil doing that, see. Now, if it was to be comfortable, if it was to help yourself, it'd be different. Be men. I think it looks sickly on a man. But.... You wouldn't pay no attention to a man. But the lady, her body is sacred, and she must keep it that way. And to see old....

You can see people today.... There's two spirits. And one of them is the Holy Spirit; the other one's a unholy spirit. And one's governed by that, and both of them religious. Now, that's the strange part—they're both religious. And just like Esau and Jacob was, both religious; like Cain and Abel was, both religious; like Judas and Jesus was, both religious. And we see it today, both sides religious. See, it's the same spirit. The people die, but the spirit doesn't die. It goes right on. Both religious. One of them is possessed with the Holy Spirit that lives the kind of life that they should live and walk godly and honest. They wouldn't beat you out of a penny. And they'd do everything honest that they could to help you, just as nice as they can be. And the others, we find out it's just vice versa. And yet both of them are religious spirits—two of them, one Holy Spirit and the other a unholy spirit. And if you notice, even though claiming religion, they'll make fun of you and call you a holy roller. They do anything they can, ignoring the unchanging Word of God as though it never had been written, see.

You can say, “Now, looky here, if the baptism ... I have the Holy Spirit.” And stand there with that cigar in your hand, smoking? “Yes, I have the Holy Spirit. I don't think it's wrong to take a little drink. I don't think it....” See? And did you notice, “I don't think”? But God thinks different, you see, according to his Word, see. See, they just simply as much as spit on it. That's exactly right.

Just as much as this little, old, crippled guy that crawled out that time when David was being excommunicated from his throne. He was going up on the Mount of Olives, going out, weeping as he went up, looking back. And this little old fellow crawled out, there and was spitting on him. That guard said, “I'll let that dog's head stay on him, he spit on my king?”

David said, “Let him alone!” See, they spit on him. About eight hundred years later they spit on his Son Jesus Christ, too. And today they spit on Him again, as if there wasn't even.... Irreverent, unconcerned, just turn up their head and walk away from it and laugh in your face. Why is it? They're on a ship to Tarshish. That's exactly.

Because a God.... You got to cry out against evil, cry out against sin, cry against the things that's wrong. Now, remember, it'll be....

(Say, you know, this time, you know, I'm two hours difference. In Tucson it's just ten minutes after 7:00. I'm getting kind of out of my place here. All right.)

Now, remember, we're going to have to answer for it. Remember, those who spit on Christ answered for it. When David returned back from his exile—when he was a fugitive—and when he returned back, remember this fellow fell on his face and cried out for mercy. He spit on David going out, but he was almost ready to bathe his feet with tears when he returned back. And someday those who pierced Jesus will see it, and those who are piercing Him today will see it also. Someday it'll come back. Remember Revelations 22, He requires us to keep every word that He has written—every word.

Now, we know his presence is here. It's vindicated. We are having it. We're trusting in this coming week it'll continue to be vindicated among us, the sick will be healed and great things will be taking place. We don't want the popular idea; we want the truth. And we don't want to face up to nothing but what God has said is the truth. But be sure that your sins will always find you out. If it doesn't here, it'll get you at the judgment. So, it's going to catch you somewhere.

But if you are a true Christian, truly called like Jonah was, God's already got your fare paid. Get off of that ship going to Tarshish, anyhow. God predestinated you to this life. Yes, sir. If you're a true, called child of God, come to Christ. Come into the fullness of Him. Your way's paid to where? It's paid to Nineveh, not to Tarshish. You're predestinated. Your ship ... there's a ship leaving right now on its road. So, there's only one thing to do is get on it. And if you was like God.... You'll never have no peace.

Like my little nephew awhile ago. About ten years now he's went from pillar to post. Some morning he goes to this church—this Catholic church down here—and take this one because what some holy father talks about over here, and some other over here, and some over here. What does it all amount to, see? And know he's still hungering and thirsting. I said, “Your place is at the altar down there, son.” See, there's no way of getting out of it. When God ever takes out after you, you just might as well give up and go on, that's all.

Remember God was in the boat, God was in the storm, God was in the fish. Everywhere he turned, God was there, see. God's there! And He'll just keep haunting at you. So, why do we wait any longer? Let's just start this revival right. That's right! What you waiting on? We believe that the coming of the Lord is at hand, and He's going to have a bride, and it ready. And we don't want no ships to any Tarshish; we're going to Nineveh. We're going to glory. Amen! That's right. We're going where God's going to bless, and that's what we want to do.

Lay out in the presence of God then with our hearts (not our hands so much), but our hearts before God until He's seasoned us through and through like that, with the rays of his glory, and baked into us his goodness; and ripened that which we have got into reality, see, to where we can show others that Jesus Christ lives. Oh, my! We want to believe that.

And remember, where Jonah went, God was in the boat, God was in the storm, God was in the fish. He went on being right along with Jonah until his perfect will was done. That's right! And if He's ever after you, you might dodge over here and dodge over there, but you'll be miserable until you come back and do the thing you started out for Him to do at the first place, see. Don't go run from the presence of God. Face up to it. You believe it's the truth; then let.... If it is the truth, it's worth living for and dying for, anything else. And if He's ever vindicated it to you that it is the truth, then we can't run from it nowhere; He'll be right there just the same. You can't do it.

By his provided prophet, the one He ordained to go down there and call that message. Now, looked like He could've sent another prophet, but He ordained Jonah. And even Elijah wouldn't have done, Jeremiah wouldn't have done, Moses wouldn't have done. It was Jonah had to go to Nineveh. That's all there was to it. He commissioned him and told him to go. And when He says go there, “Jonah, go to Nineveh,” nobody else can go do that but Jonah. And when God tells you something, you've got to do it! Nobody else.... See, we just have to face up to it and go do it.

We believe that we're living in the hour that when God is a-doing something. We believe that we're living among them now. I believe tonight I'm preaching to that congregation that's laying, waiting out there, just to get ripe. I really believe that with all my heart. I would say it's the same now as it's always been.

Now, we believe that the hour has come that St. John 14:12 must be fulfilled. We believe that Malachi 4 must be fulfilled. We believe that Luke 17:30 must be fulfilled. We believe that all these prophecies that He said would come to pass in this day, we believe they must be fulfilled. And we believe we're seeing them fulfilled right now. That's exactly right.

Stop running. Don't get out of his presence; just move up into his presence. That's right. And I know that's what you're desiring to do, because I seen license out there from Texas and Louisiana and everywhere. That's what we're here for, is not to run from his presence, but to run into his presence. Come back, get off [break in tape] ... if you've been a Jonah, if you've been wondering which way to go or what to do, come on, get on the ship with us tonight. We're going down to Tarshish to cry out ... Nineveh to cry out. We're letting that Tarshish ship go on down if they want to. We've got a duty before God—that's a message that we're responsible for.

So in this coming week, just a little prelude tonight to let you know, when I'm crying out I'm solely responsible for a message, brethren. You ministers sitting here, I'm not here to hurt your feelings. And you women and men on this marriage and divorce case coming up, I want you to remember tonight—I've said all this to get this to you—that I am responsible only to God. And then again, I'm responsible to you to tell you the truth. And I'm not going to tell you nothing but the truth as long as God lets me know what truth is. Until I know the truth, I won't say nothing about it. I won't say nothing about it. But I do believe that God shows me the truth on marriage and divorce, and I trust that He'll let me bring it out.

And other messages I aim to have this week is: “Who Is This Melchisedec?”, “Where Did God Choose To Put His Name?”, and a few of those things like that, which are messages coming up. And “Birth Pains,” and a few things that's on that order, and complementary to a man choosing his wife, and a few things of them messages I want to bring up this week. But I just want the congregation ... for if there be a minister here.... I'm not here, my brethren ... I don't want you to....

Some of you members go back to your church and say, “Brother Branham said thus and thus.” I am duty-bound to a message that's been given to me from Almighty God. As I stand here tonight—and God knows that's true—that right down on this river.... There's people perhaps sitting here, when that angel of the Lord come down there and told me what He did, right there in 1933, right down this Spring Street here. If you're a stranger here, drive right on the corner of Spring Street there where you hit the river—there's where it happened. That's been in 1933. It's probably been about thirty-two years ago. Oh, it's been thirty-two years ago. And how that He's brought that right down, everything.... And we've went out, bringing the message; and seen the sick healed, the blind, and the crippled, and lame, and halt, everything; and then see even the dead, that we know that's been verified, raised up from the dead. There's people die and raise right back to life again, and all these things.

If a message goes forth, there's signs and wonders, and you still see that same old school of thought that you come up with, that didn't come from God. God don't just have to.... God is trying to get your attention attracted to something!

And then, when Jesus went down there, He started healing the sick and doing great works and things. He always ... Jesus did it. And Moses and Jesus done it, and the rest of them. And when He was here, He did it; and He's doing the same thing today. When He sends forth a meeting like that—revivals and starts a meeting in the earth—and starts a-moving along with these great signs and wonders, and then you see come back to that same old school of teaching, there's something wrong there somewhere. There's something new coming forth.

When Jesus came out, after when ... “He's a fine rabbi.” He could go to any pulpit and preach when He was healing the sick. Oh, they liked to have Him over there. But one day when He sat down and said, “I and my Father are one,” brother, He wasn't so popular after that. When He said, “Except you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life in you; but he that eats my flesh and drinks my blood has everlasting life, and I'll raise him up at the last day,” then He wasn't so popular from then.

Said, “This man's a vampire.” “This man's a Beelzebub.” “That's the way he done them things. He could tell fortunes. He looked through their minds and perceived their thoughts. He's a fortune-teller.” But what was He? He was the Word of God made manifest for that hour, and He was duty-bound. He said, “I do always that which is pleasing to my Father.” God help us to do the same thing, do that which is pleasing to the Father.

And I hope you all understand. If you disagree with me on these messages and things, that you'll remember ... at least have this respect: that I have a responsibility, and I'm not going to Tarshish. I'm on the road to Nineveh. I got to cry out. The Lord bless you all.

Let us bow our heads now just a moment. It's almost 9:30. I don't want to keep you, but I want to find this, if I can tonight. Is there some here that just isn't exactly where you should be in Christ, but you'd want to be and you desire to be, would you just raise up your hand, say, “Brother Branham, pray for me.”? God bless you. Just look at the hands. “I'm here, Brother Branham, to get closer to God.” If your head was raised ... my hand's up, too. That's what I'm here for. I'm hungering like you are.

But, oh, the other day one of the most grandest things happened, and I know now what to do. And I pray that God will give you that clear understanding. It's there. If there's a question in your mind, there's got to be an answer somewhere to answer back to that question. My prayer is: God let you see that question answered during this time.

If you're sick, may God heal you. We're going to have healing services, I guess, practically every night, and we're going to pray for the sick. We're going to do anything that we can to help you. And you do everything you can to help us. And we'll work together, trusting God will give us a great meeting.

Now, Father God, these few little cut-up words ... but they're in your hands now, Lord, they've been said. I'll have to meet it. Just like ... them words can never die. They're going around and around the earth on a record. Someday I'll have to face it right back again. I realize this, Lord, and I say it with deepness of sincerity.

I pray, dear God, tonight for each one of these, your children. And, O God, I trust before the week is over they'll understand that the question that's so great in their mind tonight will be settled. Grant it, Lord.

There's some here who doesn't know You, Father, as Saviour yet, or maybe has never been filled with the Holy Spirit. May this be that night.

Lord, I cannot fill nobody with the Holy Ghost, neither can I save anybody. I can only tell them what You said: “Blessed are they that do hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” And I pray God that You'll create such a hunger in their hearts. Many, Lord, they've got to be hungry. How would they drive these hundreds of miles through ice and everything, and over rainy mountains and across deserts to come to a little old place sitting here on the corner. Then I think again, You said where the carcass is the eagles would be gathered. Feed us, Lord, upon thy divine manna. Give to our souls that what we really need. We're thirsting for You, Father. We're in your hands now.

And let the great Holy Spirit that come down on the mountain the other day up there, I pray that He'll saturate every heart in here with his goodness and mercy, with understanding. We realize, Father, that's what we need, is to understand. For if we do not know what we're doing, then how do we know how to do it? But we must have understanding. As Daniel said, he had understanding by the prophet Jeremiah's writing, and Father, we have understanding by the Holy Spirit's writing, as He will reveal it to us in this hour. Give to us, Lord, the desires that we have for Thee. Tenderly we ask this, Father, for your glory in the name of Jesus Christ.

Now, with our heads bowed, as our sister is chording that, “He will give me grace and glory, and go with me all the way,” I want you just to silently pray now and ask the heavenly Father that He will grant to you tonight that what you have need of....

Brother dear, sister dear, He's just as close as your arm is to you. You've believed me in other things; believe me in this. He's here to give you whatever you have need of.

Oh, for the last few weeks I've been so hungry, so thirsty, so homesick to see you. That's the reason I said, “Billy, let's go home.”

Mede said, “What do you want to go back there in that cold country again for, Bill? You always get a sore throat and everything. You always come out ... and head cold, and you're hoarse, and you can't hardly talk.”

I said, “Well, I don't know.” I said to her (I see my friend Charlie Cox sitting back there), I said, “I'm just anxious to hear Charlie say, 'That little squirrel ”clim“ that tree over there.' I just get so hungry to hear it.” I just want to be around you.

I know my Brother Banks got real sick. And I saw a vision of him here not long ago. And he was laying on his back, and I know he come pretty near going from us recently. I look at the different ones of you....

I come in the other night to the Christian Businessmen's meeting, International. Old Pop Shakarian, Demos's father, he used to sit there and just keep looking till I come in. Then he'd smile, and that little wave, he'd wave at me. He wasn't there; he's gone. Then I had to come to that family with “Thus saith the Lord,” their daughter's going to die, too, Florence. I saw her in a vision, saw her go. And I know she's going. And I said, “Pray, just pray. You know, there was a prophet one time was told to go tell a king to put his house in order. And he prayed, and He spared his life fifteen years longer.” I said, “Pray, but....”

You look.... And I come back, I sat over here in a restaurant the other day eating. A man walked up to me and said, “Aren't you Billy Branham?”

I said, “Yes.” He probably didn't know me, because over this bald spot on my head I was wearing this little piece of hair to keep from getting a sore throat during this meeting. He walked up to me. He said, “I thought I knew you, Billy.”

I said, “Yes.” I said, “Who are you?”

He said, “I'm John Warman.”

I said, “How's Dip?”

He said, “Billy, he died.”

I was coming down through the courthouse, went down to pay my taxes. Coming down through the courthouse and a lady hollered at me, and she said, “Did you know John's gone?” or some name. It might not have been John—Ed, or something. And I said.... I didn't know the woman. I felt embarrassed. And come to find out.... I didn't know who she was. She said, “Do you remember one dark night when the river was up over the banks out here, and houses washing away over on Chestnut Street, and you risked your life to go into a place to get a woman and some little children out?”

I said, “You her?”

She said, “I'm the lady.” She begin to scream for her baby—you know my story. She said, “That one that I called my baby is married and got a family,” see. Here she is old and gray, and here I am, too. One by one our cards go out of the rack, as it was.

And we have meetings, and I miss this one, miss that one. We all got to come up missing one of these days, but brother, sister, there's a gathering place. Let's be sure now that we're right, will you? Don't let all our understanding of God, and so forth, go in vain. Let's believe.

Father, they're in your hands. I'm in your hands, Lord. We're only here in dedication now, prior to the coming meetings beginning tomorrow night. Will you help us, Lord? May our conversation be constantly upon Thee, may our hearts and minds be stayed upon Thee. You said You'd keep us in perfect peace. It's also written in the Bible, “Lean not to your own understanding.” O God, we don't want our understanding; we want your understanding. Give them to us, O God, and may the revival come within our souls till this pack of people will be just one heart and one accord. Grant it, Father. Grant these things while we pray in Jesus Christ's name.

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[Brother Branham begins humming.] O God! If there's any of you feels like you'd like to come up and kneel down around the altar, if you'd just like to come, say, “I'm not where I should be, Lord; I want to make a reconsecration. I want to do it tonight, Lord,” you're welcome to come. We'll be here to pray with you.

Let's just pray, each one in your own way now. Just forget time. Let's just bow our heads in His presence. This little lady here crying out, “I love You, Jesus.” You remember when you got saved many years ago? Remember how sweet that was to you? He's just as sweet tonight. Let's pray. Everybody in your own way now, let's just all consecrate ourselves to God, just dedicate ourselves over to the Lord.

Dear Lord Jesus [blank spot on tape]. “Thou the stream of all my comfort, more than life to me. Whom have I on earth besides Thee? Or whom in heaven but Thee?” Dear God, we pray now that your mercy and grace will be sent upon each and every one of us, Lord. We're here around the altar. Many could not come up; You'll meet them at their seat. Whatever we offer, Lord, You're willing to receive. If we just offer You our time, You will receive it; talent, You will receive it. But, Lord God, tonight we're going beyond that; we're offering all we are. All that I am, all that I ever expect to be, all is in You, Lord. We pray that You'll take this, our prayers, into thy heart, Lord, and give us of the great deepness of the Holy Spirit, that our lives will be changed, for we see that we're near the end now. Can't be too much longer. And as we see our loved ones dropping day by day, young and old, we know soon it must knock at our door. And tonight, Lord, while we're in our right mind—sitting here, or kneeling here, standing here, whichever position we're in—receive us, Lord God.

Take me, Lord. I ain't nothing; but whatever I am, Lord, if You can get any use out of me, I dedicate myself to You.

I pray, dear God, for each one of these, these dear people that I stood yonder, in the mountains in Arizona, and cried about. And here they are, knelt around the altar with us tonight, praying, consecrating our lives. We love You, Father, more than our own lives. We love You more than our families. We love You more than wife, children, father, mother, sister, brother, husband, wife. We love You, Lord Jesus. Make that so real in our hearts, Lord. Pour in the oil of gladness this week, Lord, in our souls. Give us a bathing, a washing of the Word, by the water of the Word, dividing unto us truth.

Many here tonight, Lord, and will be here, that's confused on these subjects that's vital. O God, open that fountain in the house of God that's for cleansing us. I pray, God, that You'll wash us and cleanse us in thy blood and make us new creatures, and give us grace and strength to bring forth the Word of truth in its divine revelation of the being of Jesus Christ. May He appear before us, Lord. May He come and heal our sickness, forgive our sins, fill our hungry hearts with good tidings of great joy, the gospel made manifest in our life. Bless every pastor, every song leader, every Sunday school teacher. Bless us all together, Lord, for truly we love You. And now we're Yours, Lord, in this dedication. In the name of Jesus Christ use us now according to thy own will.

Does that make you feel good? How many likes to sing them old songs? I just love them, don't you?

Now, let's stand up now as we sing it, shake hands with one another.

Let's raise our hands up now to God!

Doesn't that make you feel wonderful? My, my! Oh, let's just raise our hands and just praise Him in our own way.

Lord Jesus, Thou rose of Sharon, lily of the valley, the bright and morning star, the fairest of ten thousand to my soul, Thou, the stream of all my comfort, more than life to me, how we love You. [Praying continues.]

Somehow or another I just feel we're going to ... something laying right ahead for us. Now, just remember.... I believe I'm prophesying. Great joy waits for them that believe in Him. Many saddened hearts will be made.... Great mysteries will be made clear, and people who are sad will be turned into joy.

As John of old, when he got too old to preach, he would just sit and scream (they tell me) with all of his might, “Little children, love one another.” Love one another. Don't let nothing come among you, see. Keep all, everything away from.... No matter what it is, face up to it. We're on the road to Nineveh, see. Don't get on that old ship of Tarshish that takes you out of the company. Let's move right on up the stream of God's blessing. I believe we're going to have it. I believe our Father.

Feel better now, sister? That's fine. That's the way I like to see children born. I can just think of years ago, right on these grounds, how many thousands has been born into the kingdom of God right on this ground. How little did we know when we was standing with eighty cents in our pocket to build a church with.... Oh, He said, “I the Lord hath planted it; I'll water it day and night.” And He's done it. He's done it. God bless you!

Now, when we bow our heads.... Now, tomorrow night, remember, the services will be held up at the school auditorium here, and if.... We will have somebody posted here now to show the people how to get there, because new ones will be coming in.

Do you love Him say, “Amen!” Oh, isn't He wonderful?

I was standing down here on the bank and sang that old song:

(Think, that's been thirty years ago ... thirty-three years ago.)

And many I baptized that evening are over there now. When they stood there and witnessed that morning star coming down out of the heavens, circling around like that, said, “As John the Baptist was sent forth to bring ... to forerun the first coming of Christ, your message will forerun the second coming.” How could it be thought? But all God's words are true—all God's words. We're living in the presence of the great King. God bless you!

While we bow our heads, I'm going to ask Brother Neville, our precious pastor, to come here, and dismiss us in prayer. God bless you, Brother Neville.