And Thy Seed Shall Possess The Gate Of His Enemies

1 Let us remain standing and just bow our heads for a word of prayer. Our gracious heavenly Father, it is again that we approach Thee, asking forgiveness of our sins and trespasses, and praying that You'll be merciful to us, Father. We would pray, Lord, that You would pardon all of our transgressions, would lead us into the paths of Light and Life. And make us, Lord, so salty that others would long to be Christians in whom we contact. We know that salt is a savour if it contacts. And Father, we pray that You will make us the strength of the salt, and may we be so desirous to contact the outside world, that's dying, that it might be a savour to them.

We are told that we are written epistles, read of all men. And Father, we pray that our lives will so be, as we profess to have this great experience of Pentecost, that it will be such a--salty to the world, that they'll long to be that way also. Give us of Thy Holy Spirit, Lord, that we might show to the world, that our faith in our Saviour is confirmed, that He is not dead, but He's a living with us day by day, guiding us and directing us, feeding us, walking by the still waters and the shady green pastures.

We pray that You'll bless us tonight in the Word. Heal the sick and the afflicted; save the lost. Get glory unto Thy great Name, for we ask it in Thy Name, Jesus Christ. Amen. You may be seated.

2 We are indeed--deem this a grand privilege to be back again tonight here at the church, to minister again the Word to the people. And this has been a great day. I'm so glad to meet Christians, to meet real borned again people. I hope you don't think that I, expressing and saying the things that I do, that I think that California has all the sinners. They're all over the world. And now, I have...

Last evening when I was approaching... I'd been down in the city in the afternoon, and I noticed some of the people, how they were doing, just like they are in other parts of the world.

And I come in last night. And the nicest little girl from the platform here, from the choir, I believe it was, walked back there. She was a Canadian, real nice little lady, clean looking, and a real, just a real lady. I hope my Rebekah's like that when she gets her age. A Canadian girl... Then tonight coming in, standing out there by the side of the wall stood a little lady, standing out there, when my son and my daughter-in-law come up, and I, from Arkansas, waiting out there in the cold just to shake hands with me. Said she'd remembered when I was in Hot Springs many, many years ago, the Humbard family. And just see people like that, it just makes life worth living.

3 You know, when we live to serve, and to do what we can for those people, and to try to help others that maybe doesn't know the joy of living that life. Some people think that when you become a Christian that it take--just takes all the joy out of life. It's just vice versa. I--I have lived both ways.

This is thirty-one years I've been preaching, and I have... I would not trade this life if there wasn't even any heaven to go to at the end of it, if there wasn't any Jesus to see. I have more joy living this way than I--one day, than I would ten years any other way, if there wasn't nothing after. But... That's really from my heart, as your brother and God's servant. There's such a peace and a satisfaction, knowing that when you lay down, if you never wake again, what difference does it make? See? You're--you're--you're saved, that--that anchor that holds within the veil somewhere out there, something that tells us that the good's just the other side.

4 Billy said last night to me when I left; he said, "Daddy, do you think you could ever make it sometime you'd get out at nine o'clock? "

I said, "I hope so, sometime." But I... You're such a nice people to talk to. And you... There's no place to stop.

And he said, "Well, the first thing, you talked about thirty minutes before you ever started on your sermon."

I said, "Now, Billy, I'm going to--I ain't going to do that tonight. I'm going--I'm going to start right straight into the sermon right quick, so I can let the people out."

5 We got a--still a full week. And then, we've got to go from here then up into Visalia, and right straight from there to Ohio, back in the snow, and down in Virginia where I think they got seventeen inches of snow in there now. Then, back over in Illinois, Bloomington, up Chicago. And then all the way up in northern British Columbia, where it's really snowing. And then, I hope that, if the Lord willing, sometime this summer, to--to get overseas again, because there's where my heart lays. That is true. You would, too.

You think, "Well, you don't love us." Yes, I love you. But you're already anchored in Christ, and those people over there, just so hungering and thirsting. And now, if I was working for you, and I could pick... I was picking berries. On one side of the road over here, I could pick fifty gallon a day. On this side of the road, I could pick two quarts a day. Now, which field should I work in? Certainly. You know what I mean.

6 But one thing about having meetings here. The American people has the money, and they're the ones that have to sponsor. Those people can't even eat over there but what... And it's just so terrible. You'd never realize what it is. Won't strike your heart until you stand in the street sometime, preaching, and seeing a little mother with her little baby, and his belly swelled up that high, dying from hunger, and trying to hand you the baby. She knows she's going to die too, starving. Well, what if you take that one? Here's one over here, and one here, and one here, and one just everywhere. See? And it's a pitiful thing.

Then you come back, and think that we rake in the garbage can enough to feed those people. And there's just something... The economics of the world is not balanced right somewhere. It's just not right. And we can't do nothing about it. You can see it, but (See?), I'm just one American. And that's--and just one Christian. And we could come back and tell the stories.

And it's truth that many missionaries tonight are eating one or two meals a week, and without shoes on their feet, just an old pair of ragged trousers or something wrapped around them, going into the jungles preaching the Gospel, this Gospel that we're preaching right here. It just isn't right, it just doesn't seem right, although they don't complain. They go right ahead doing it anyhow. Just almost breaks your heart to see. I say, "That fellow there..."

"He's a missionary."

When we Was in Durban, South Africa, that's where I had, I guess, the largest altar call the Lord ever gave me. We registered thirty thousand converts at one altar call. Just think of that. Thirty thousand blanket natives received Christ as personal Saviour when they seen taking place, just like you seen here last night. They're hungering and thirsting. And when they see something's got a reality to it... But see, we here in America, we just have all kinds of evangelists. If one don't please us, we just drop him off, get another one. And you know, we just have such a variety. And the--and the first thing you know, why, it all becomes so common to us till we just forget about it. Those people are really craving God.

7 I seen little black boys stand like that, little children, never knowed what a suit of clothes was. Never knowed... Well, we had some homemade ice cream, and one of them would come up. And I put it in his hand. He dropped it, and screamed out. I asked Mr--or the man was standing with me, "What did he say? "

He said, "Boss, it burnt me." It was cold, you see. He never had felt nothing cold. See? He said, "It burned me." See them down there, when they go to get their drink, and the crocodiles chew them up. And see them coming for as many as two months ahead of time, when they heard I was coming over there to pray for their sick. They'd go along packing their loved ones on homemade stretchers, boards, and whatever they could have. And when they would--a lion would come, they would shinny them up a tree somewhere till the lions left, then bring them down. Such a sacrifice, down through the jungles. And then to see them laying at least four or five city blocks deep, till you can't even see the end of them like that, laying there, just...

8 And when they seen one man healed at the platform... I turned, and through fifteen different interpreters... You just have to write down what you said last. But when I asked them had the missionary told them what this great Jesus was? "Yes," but he'd also told them that the days of miracles was past.

I said, "Now, what was He then? Whatever He was then, He remains the same if He's a living." See? And when they seen that proved that He was, I made just a prayer, a congregational prayer, and Dr. F. F. Bosworth (Did anybody ever hear of him? Most everybody. One of the grandest old saints I ever met in my life.) he estimated between twenty-five and thirty thousand spontaneous miracles taken place at one time.

9 The next morning, Mr. Sidney Smith, the mayor of--of--of Durban called me, said, "Watch the window towards the seashore from your hotel room."

I said, "What is it?"

Said, "I will see if I can get there in time. It's on its road." Well, I was sitting there. I wondered, what did the mayor mean? And just that night, there'd been a woman had died over there that day, a friend of his. Prayed for her, she'd come to life. The papers given big headlines about it. And I went up...

See, where people really humble themselves, and forget everything else and just believe on the Lord, just everything takes place. And then... But you have to believe it. That's all. Just... Not--not just strain at it, but just simple believe it (See?), just like...

10 And so, they called. And I heard something making a noise, and I went down the street. Now, they have--they have tribal wars among them. But when I walked to the platform... There was fifteen, I know, different tribes there, all in there with their witch doctors, and the chiefs, and so forth. And they all stand with one accord, about nearly two hundred thousand, and sang each one in their native tongue, all blending together, "All things are possible, only believe."

Brother Bosworth said he had trained symphonies, and went to the Madison Square Garden with a hundred and something piece orchestra, and he said never... Said some of them would be an octave high and an octave low, trained voices. But said there--there was just every one. And them, wouldn't know which was right and left hand, just perfect music. I can just see him yet as he took off his glasses, and begin wiping his eyes. He said, "Brother Branham, this is my coronation, to hear that."

I said, "That's the Holy Spirit. It's the only thing that could make them sing."

11 The next day, when I went to the window and looked out, I thought my heart would jump from me. I looked. Coming down the street there come seven of those big African vans. They're just about long as from here to the--oh, across this building almost. Got some four to six wheels under them. And they were piled just as high as they could be piled with old boards, and clubs, and things that those people had walked on the day before. And the ones that had walked on them was walking behind, for city blocks. Six of those bi--seven of those big van fulls, like that, coming down that street with their hands up in the air, was crippled the day before singing, "All things are possible, only believe." I tell you. You see why--what I mean? It's just... It... Your heart just bleeds to get to them again, you see, just jumps to see what you could do for them.

And I got a paper, one of the Durban papers, that said that one tribe, the Shangai... I forget how much that they brought back weeks later. And they was... And when they'd come back, they was through with sin, bringing back firearms, and watches, and what they'd stole from the--living out in the compounds, you know, when they'd come into the city and steal.

12 Now, you pardon me, my sisters, for this rude expression, and do not think that I'm trying to make something--pushing it hard. But I just want to ask you one thing. We're supposed to live in a land of civilization. And this baptism of the Holy Spirit that we talk about... I've seen people receive the Holy Spirit that didn't know right and left hand. And you know what they do when they receive it? They act just like you do when you receive it, do the same thing. And they don't know which is right and left hand. And standing on that ground were women standing there, just no clothes, no more than they was borned in. And there they stood there, young and old, and all alike. And I asked them, I said, "Now, I want you... Would you receive this Jesus that's made this man that was all crippled up to stand up straight and walk, where it told him..." And I said, "I... As your witch doctors thought I was reading his mind." I said, "Now, it shows the God of heaven has made him well." I said, "How many wants to receive Him as personal Saviour?" And they raised up, thousands.

13 Brother Baxter and them said, "I believe they must have meant physical healing."

I said, "Start it through the interpreters again." I said, "I did not mean physical healing. I meant to receive Christ, Someone who loves you. And I realize that you got a raw end of it here, just like our American Indian got over there, where God placed him in the land. But," I said, "you--you got a bad deal out of it. But there's one that will give you justice. That's the Lord Jesus, and you want to receive Him as your personal Saviour, you can go home to heaven." And I said, "Raise your hands. Them that's packed idols, break them on the ground." And they broke their idols, and raised up their hands. Thirty thousand blanket heathens. I said, "While you have your hands up, receive Jesus for the baptism of the Holy Spirit." And when they did that, them people... Some women standing there naked, just a clout... You know what they done to walk away from there? They folded their arms to walk away.

14 Now, what's the strange thing to me, that a woman that don't know right and left hand, and as soon as Christ comes to her heart she realizes she's naked, and she will try to hide herself; and we, who are supposed to be a Christian nation, continually taking it off. Can you explain it to me? I--I just want to ask that question. I... And all... I don't mean that to joke. This is not no place to joke. This is the desk, the pulpit of God. See? But isn't that true? It... Can you make sense out of it? A native that knows nothing about God, and as soon as Christ comes to their heart they realize they're naked. And we who are supposed to be Christians, constantly each year, just as much as the law will keep from running you off the street, taking it off every year. Something's wrong, somewhere. Maybe it's... It might be me. It just might be me that's wrong. I don't know. If I'm wrong, then the Word's wrong. I like to stay with the Word.

15 Now, forgive me, Billy. I did it again. I believe I had Brother Borders to read some... I got some announcements here, but I will just get them a little later, 'cause it gets too late. And I'm going to try to get out at nine o'clock, if I possibly can.

Now, I want to take from that Scripture reading out of Genesis, the 22nd chapter, and the last ten verses of the 17th verse:

And thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies.

16 Now, we've been studying on Abraham, and how that God was with Abraham, and what He did for him. And last Saturday night, we left Abraham, you know, where God had turned him and Sarah back to a young man and young woman. Did you like that? Do you believe it? Went back, and she had the baby. And we've proved that by the Scripture that Sarah was a young woman, because it was a young king down there, Abimelech, that fell in love with her. And I got a little note on it, said, "Brother Branham, they just lived longer in that day." Someone little disagree. 'Course, that's just all right. But I would like to make that clear to you, my brother.

You notice, the Scripture said, "And they were both well stricken in age." See? They were old. And so, He turned them back to a young man and a young woman, showing what He's going to do to all the seed of Abraham. Now, we see those great promises that He gave.

17 Then we find out that Abraham was sterile. Sarah per--perhaps, was barren. Perhaps Sarah was the one that was barren. But after... Abraham being his own body, as the Bible said in Romans 4, as good as dead, and we find out that yet forty years after that, when his wife died and he married again, he had seven other sons besides his daughters after that. So you see, it just... You... In between the line, you see, God just done something for them. That's right. He just turned them back, and made them a young couple again.

I'm so glad that I have the opportunity, and can bring one of the greatest treasures to the people that there is in the world, to tell them that we are heirs with Abraham of this promise. We are Abraham's children. How do we do it? By joining the church? No. By being dead in Christ, receiving the Holy Spirit. Then we are Abraham's seed, and are heirs with him according to the promise. Don't fail to get it, Christian friends. Stay with it.

18 If I do a little whistling like while I'm speaking... All of you know that I used to be a pugilist. I used to box. I had three state championships. Never lost but one fight in my life. And I smiled at a guy one time when he--he hit at me and missed me, and he smacked me right in the mouth. And it knocked two teeth loose there, and broke the corner off one. And just the other day, I lost the filling out of it. So I--I do a little bit of whistling at times.

I was thinking one time how bad that was. And I remember Mrs. Graham, for the noted evangelist Billy, said that the--one of the great times of his life that... He's got one tooth out in front, you know, and he wears a partial. And he lost this tooth, and it was just about time for him to go on the broadcast. And he said, just whistles terribly, and he just--and he had to stand by the microphone. She said, "Oh, Billy was really doing some praying," and a porter, and everybody looking through--the bellhops a trying to find this tooth, where it was at. Come to find out, it fell out of his trouser pocket and was in his shoe. Somebody found it down in one of his shoes. And--and she told it on him while she was in Louisville. And so the thing he did, he would take a towel after taking a bath, and throw it over the top of the door like that, and make a big dirty streak. And she was too short to get up and wipe it off, you know. So we all have our faults, you see, all of us, even to the best.

19 So we find that Abraham and Sarah now had received this little one. At the age of about twelve years old, he was taken--asked by God, or--to take his own child up on the mountain and sacrifice him, take his life. And Abraham did not disbelieve God, because he knew that if he--that if he obeyed God like he had, waited for twenty-five years, that he received him as one from the dead. Now, what about that? Were they old or not? As receiving him as one from the dead, knowed that he was fully persuaded He was able to raise him up again from the dead. See? Because he was just as good as dead, his life within him, as the male was dead, and Sarah, the womb was dead and she was just... He had just received him as one from the dead. So, he knowed that God could raise him up if He kept His promise.

Then we see when full obedience come, then when he was about to take the life of his own son, the Angel of the Lord called from the skies, and held his hand. And there was a ram behind him. And he took the ram that had been caught in the weeds by his--or the vines by his horns, and offered the ram instead of his own son. And we discussed that. Where did this ram come from?

Now, Abraham was three day's journey, and then lifted up his eyes far off and seen the mountain. He was at least seventy-five to a hundred miles from civilization, and up on top of a mountain where there's no grass or no water. And he'd rolled the rocks around, and fixed the altar, and there was no ram there. And if a ram would be up there, animals would've killed it long ago, straying out like that. And that's the reason he called it Jehovah-jireh, the Lord will provide Himself a sacrifice. I believe God spoke the ram into existence. And we find out that it wasn't a vision. A vision don't bleed. He killed the ram, and the blood run out of the ram, and he offered that instead of his own son. You know who that ram was? The Lord Jesus Christ. That's exactly. That... In figurative speaking, that was Him.

20 Then God was so pleased with complete obedience. God had tried his patriarch. He had tried his servant. And every son that cometh to God must be what? Tried. Chastened. That's where that many fall away, because we can't stand that trial. A person come to the altar in time of revival. And you'll watch just a little while, and the hot trials begin to come. Jesus plainly taught it, said, "The sower went forth sowing seed. Some fell by the wayside, some fell into stony ground, and amongst thorns and thistles, and the others fell over in good ground." And He said that's the way the Word went, goes out. Some hears the Word, go out; birds come along, pick it up. See, they don't--don't do no good at all. Others come up overnight. Oh, they're going to do great things. But when the trials begin to come, it chokes them down. But some goes all the way over into good ground, and that brings forth a hundredfold.

21 Let's be the hundredfolds. Let's go way over, sell out everything from the world, and look to Christ, and believe Him with all of our hearts. That's how these things happen. That's how visions come. That's how power the--of God moves among us, is when we're... No roots of bitterness, and everything's cleaned out, and the Holy Spirit can work through us, then we become a channel. What if there was a short in this speaker tonight? You'd never be able to hear me. It'd be all full of static. You wouldn't know what I was saying. Well, that's just like we are. That's a--that's a mute, until something makes a noise in it. It cannot speak itself. And that's the way we are. We know nothing about the heavenlies. But it takes the Holy Spirit to come down and use our eyes for visions, our lips for words and prophecies, and--and--and speak the words, and watch the things happen. "Ask what you will in My Name, it shall be done unto you." See? "If ye abide in Me, and My words in you, ask what you will, and it'll be done unto you. Verily I say unto you, if you say to this mountain, Be moved; and don't doubt in your heart, but believe that what you have said will come to pass; you can have what you've said." Saint Mark 11:22 and 23. Now, we know that those things are true.

22 Now, we find that Abraham first was tried. And after he had endured the trials... And what does the Bible say that we are if we cannot stand the chastisement of God? Then we become illegitimate children, so-called children, but not real children of God. The children of God knows exactly where they stand. They know where they've put their hope, their faith, their trust. Nothing will ever shake them from it. "All the Father has given Me will come." That's right. And now... "He that comes to Me I will in no wise cast out. He that heareth My words, and believeth on Him that sent Me, has Eternal Life, and shall never come into condemnation; but has passed from death unto life." There's the Scripture. See? Saint John 5:24. They believe it. They've accepted it. There's something happened to them. They become a new creature. They're a new nature. They're--they're a new being, a new creature there. The Greek word says "new creation." It's a new creation. You have been recreated again from what you were, to the image of a son of God and a daughter of God. It's just such an awe... It's the greatest miracle that ever happened when a sinner can be made to become a Christian.

23 For instance, here's a thorn tree growing. It's--it's life, this thorn tree. And it's got thorns all over it, and it's got a funny looking leaf on it. Now, you see, it takes something besides any human work to change that thorn tree, and make them thorns go off of it, and just unfold, and be real pretty smooth leaves, and bear oranges. Now, you see, what would have to take place? You'd have to transfer the life of an orange tree into that thorn tree, and then it would actually bear oranges, because the life inside of it is orange. Of course, you couldn't do that naturally. It won't--it won't cross that way.

But that's what we are. Like, we--we are now a--a wheat, a grain of wheat in God's garner, when we was a cocklebur. And God changed us from a cocklebur to a grain of wheat. It makes the fruits different, changing your own mind, your own ideas. It's the greatest miracle that ever happened, when a man or a woman is borned again of the Spirit of God, and becomes a new creation in Christ Jesus.

24 Now, we find then that God told Abraham, "Because you have did this..." And give the patriarch this great trial, He said, "Your seed shall possess the gates of the enemy." Of his enemies, enemies--it's in the plural. "They shall possess the gates of the enemy." Now, his seed. Now, who's He talking about, the seed? The seed is the Church.

How do we come to Church? Not by joining it, but by being borned into it. You see, I--I believe that we have our organization, our denominations, and them things are all right; but that don't put us in the Church. We could join every one of them, and still not be in the Church. You don't--you're not joined in the Church, you're borned in the Church. You become the family of God. Now, I've been in the Branham family for fifty-one years, and they never did ask me to join the family, because I was a Branham at birth. I was born in the family. I--I be a Branham by birth. That's how you become a Christian, by birth. When you're borned again, you become a new creature, a new creation in Christ Jesus, and all old things has passed away, and all things has become new again. What a wonderful... I'd like to ask the church one thing. What greater treasure could you find in earth tonight? What could you find that you would swap for this hope? Why, there couldn't be nothing that would no way touch it any way, for this great hope.

25 Now, but remember, "Thy seed shall possess the gates of his enemy." The seed shall possess. Now, He's talking now of Abraham's seed. And how do we become Abraham's seed? By being dead in Christ, Galatians 3. We, when we're dead in Christ, we become Abraham's seed. See? We--we're dead to the things of the world, and begin a new creature in Christ Jesus. Then the Holy Spirit that was in Christ is in us. And that makes us Abraham's seed, and gives us Abraham's faith. See? That's the reason people say, "Oh, I wouldn't believe in Divine healing."

I was talking to a certain minister. Nothing against the man, he's got a right for his ideas. He's an American the same as we are. And he said, "Brother Branham, I don't care if you could produce ten thousand miracles. It's still... I do not believe in healing."

I said, "Certainly not. It--it wasn't for unbelievers, it was just for those who believe." See? That's right. It's--it's not for unbelievers. It was only meant for believers. That's all. This Holy Spirit is to them that believe. Divine healing is for those who believe. Not unbelievers; it's believers.

26 Now, you know they... Jesus came right at the time they were preaching against it, and everything else, but He went right on healing just the same. And no matter how much they talk about there's no such a thing as the Holy Spirit, the people go right on receiving it just the same. See? They might not be able to explain it. They can't explain how many molecules there is to an inch, or how many miles it is to the moon; but they know they received something, and they're enjoying it.

And this is not a joke, but it was told in the Christian Businessmen recently, at one of the meetings. There was an elderly colored sister wanted to testify. She said it kind of in a Southern way. She said, "I's want to give my testimony." She said, "I's not what I want to be. And I's not what I ought to be. But still, I ain't what I used to be." So I think that's the way the church might be able to say it tonight. We might not be what we want to be. And we might not be what we want to be, but--and what we ought to be. But we know something has happened, we're not what we used to be. I know that, because you have passed from death unto life. There's something has happened, and we know it. Something taken place down in our lives. That makes us Abraham's seed, because we are in Christ.

27 Now, his seed... Now, Jesus said about the seed, He said this, that, "It would be far better that a millstone to be hanged at your neck, and drowned in the depths of the sea than even to offend this seed of Abraham. The least of these that believe in Me, it would be a..." And God told Abraham, "Whoever blesses you I will bless them, and whoever curses you I will curse them."

Now, a little later on in the week now, I'm going to get the seal of God, and the mark of the beast, and di--divide two nights on that. I want you to be sure to get it if you can. You hear so many charts and things. But watch how simple it is when the Bible brings it out, just how easy it is to see it...?... The pro and con of it.

28 Now, if you'll notice, He said that He would bless who Abraham--who blessed Abraham and his seed would be blessed, and He would curse ever who cursed Abraham. Now, you just watch that in the Jewish people, see what's happened. Watch that amongst Christians, see what's happened. Always that way. So you see, he will possess the gate of the enemy.

Let's go back and find some of the man of Abraham's seed under the Jewish covenant, then bring it down into the Gentiles when we were drafted over from the Jewish age to the Gentile age, to take a people for His Name. Now, let's take some of the man who was the seed of Abraham, and see if they possessed the gate of the enemy.

29 Let's take for instance... Now, let's speak a moment upon the--when the children of Israel had been carried away captive down into Babylon. There come a time, first, that there had to come a trial. There's always trials. It's always darkest before day in--in nature. And you'll always have trials before you have victory. If there's no war, then there's no victory.

And now, the Hebrew children down there had been brought on to a spot where the king had made a--a declaration, that anybody would not bow down to this image would be throwed into a fire of furnace, furnace of fire, rather. And then when they...?... purposed in their heart that they was not going to defile themselves. They were going to live close to God. Now, the three Hebrew children, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they were the seed of Abraham. They had the promise of God that his seed would possess the enemy's gate.

30 Now, I'd imagine when a trial come up... What's the first thing a child of God has for refuge when a trial comes? The greatest weapon was ever put in the hands of mankind: prayer. It even changes everything. It even changed the mind of God one time. God told His prophet go up and tell the king he was going to die. And the king turned his face to the wall, and said, "Lord, I beseech you to consider me. I have walked before you with a perfect heart. I need fifteen years longer." And God spared his life fifteen years longer. Prayer changes things.

Then we notice then when these Hebrew children come to a prayer meeting that night, "What are we going to do?" There had to be a--a gathering, and a decision had to be made. No doubt they prayed all night long. And the decision was unanimously, because they were deciding that they could not afford to go back on God in the time of trial. Wouldn't that be good for the whole church now? When the decision is made, "Shall I turn to the things of the world? Shall I go like the rest of them go?" That decision comes to every Christian. It comes to you daily. How are we going to do it? You've got to make your decision.

31 And they made their decision, that regardless of what taken place, they wasn't going to turn away from God, that's right, because they had the promise of God that they were Abraham's seed, and they knowed their position, and knowed where they was standing. And they told the king, they said, "Now..." They said, "We're going to throw you into this fiery furnace if you do not bow down to this god."

And he said, "King, live forever. Our God is able to deliver us from that fiery furnace. He's able to do it. But if He doesn't, we're still not going to bow down to that image. We've made up our minds. We've took the way with the Lord's despised few, and we're going to stand true to it." Oh my! That's what the church needs.

32 Now, you must take that same initiative when it comes to Divine healing. When it comes to anything that God has promised, take the initiative and stand there. God made the promise. He's obligated to his promise. As long as you're Abraham's seed, He's got to answer. Now, don't get any doubts in your mind. Keep them doubts away. Just stay right straight on the cross now. Look right straight to the One who made the promise. I've never seen Him fail yet, and I've never read of Him failing. And you never will, because He can't fail, He's God. He made the promise. He made it way back here in Genesis. That's the seed chapter. "And your seed shall possess the gate of the enemies. Not "a enemy," "the enemies." Every one of them. All of them.

33 Now, this enemy was the fiery furnace. So, I could imagine that morning... Let's just dramatize this just a little bit. It seems real good to my heart when I see... You know, after they had made their decision... I believe God hears, but God don't always have to answer prayer right then. See? God answers in his own time. If you asked Him, and believe Him, then He will answer in His own time. So, I ima--imagine in glory there was... When they was praying, I can see the angels standing around the throne of where God was setting, saying, "They're in prayer, they're under strain."

"Yeah, but they'll hold out true. I've got confidence in them. They're My servant Abraham's seed. So they'll hold true."

34 Well, the next morning, the king might have said, "Have you decided now that you're going to bow down to my god?"

Said, "No, we're not going to bow down."

"Well, we just..." It raged his indignation in him, he heat' the furnace seven times hotter than it ever was heat'. And he took some big strong men. They started walking up to drop off into the furnace. And as they walked up close, looked like that the dark hour was there.

That's the way it looks to Christians sometime when somebody... The young lady, when she's been persuaded by a boy that she really loves to take her first cigarette; when she's forced, maybe to take a--a drink for her first time, have her first cocktail at the party of the boss that she works for: or the man who's got a wife and family at home, when the immoral woman tries to make love to him... You've got those barriers at the gate. But if you'll just... Look like God's forsaken you. Just keep walking steady. Watch Him. Just keep moving on.

35 And they walked right up. And you know, we're the one that gets nervous. What about you accept your healing night after night? Well, you think, "Oh, tomorrow... I--I'm--I'm still coughing. My hand's still crippled." That don't have one thing to do with it. When you have really, honestly, from the depths of your heart accepted that as a finished work that Christ did for you, it's finished. That's all of it. Yes, sir. Just stay right with it.

Now, they kept walking. I can imagine Shadrach looked over to Meshach and said, "You're sure we're prayed up?"

"Yeah." Walked right on, furnace getting hotter and hotter, till almost the skin coming off of their face. Even the Bible said that the man that throwed them in there, the intense heat of that furnace killed the men that throwed them in. Looked like it was the darkest hour. They was walked right up to the edge of the furnace.

But you know, it--sometimes God lets it get that way to try you. You can never... Abraham would have never possessed the gate of the enemy until he was tried first. And you'll never possess the gate of the enemy until you go through the trials. "Some through the waters, some through the flood, some through deep trials, but all through the blood." God leads his children. See, you must first be tried. Oh, then the illegitimate falls in the trial; but the true child of God stands true. He knows where his possession lays. He knows where he's standing. He knows what's happened to him. He knows that he's passed from death unto life. And he knows that God answers prayer.

36 Now, we see them going up. Just one step from going into the fiery furnace. Looked like that they were completely defeated.

It may be down... I've seen cancer cases come to almost their last breath. A brother laying with arthritis recently had his hands laying like this. The Holy Spirit told him, said, "THUS SAITH THE LORD, you're healed." He went home and got worse. He said, "I can't help it. That man didn't know me. He never seen me in his life." Lived in Phoenix. He said, "He never seen me in his life. How could he tell me who I was? I know by the man's talk he's no educator. I know that there was something supernatural. And I... Something happened." They couldn't even move the pillow. When they moved the pillow for his hands, he'd say, "Oh, wife, wife, be careful." Oh, just screaming.

And she said, "Honey, aren't you afraid you're bringing a reproach upon the very religion that we believe?"

He said, "I cannot. I believe it in my heart that it'll happen." And it got so bad. He laid back, and his little girl was trying to put a wet rag on his face. He felt fainty. And he looked up there, and he said he seen Christ come before him on the cross. And said... When He bowed his head to die... He thought his breath was going, he couldn't breathe no more. The arthritis was all through him. And when he bowed his head to die, he seen Christ bow his head there. All of a sudden he give a big leap, and out of the chair, and around and around and around the place he went...?... why? He possessed the gate when He went to the cross. But first, you must possess. You must take the trial.

37 The Hebrew children was at that place. Sometimes we think it's real dark. But remember, it's in the darkest of hour when Jesus comes by. It was Mary and Martha, the little sisters of Lazarus, Christian family had left their synagogue to believe on the Lord Jesus, and it was their darkest hour. They'd come out of their church. They couldn't go back no more. Ever who professed to be a follower of Jesus was excommunicated from the church because he was a--a radical, somebody going around tearing up their churches. And they didn't want that, so they said, "Anybody that tries to follow him, why, we will throw you out of the fellowship." So they were out of the fellowship. And they couldn't return back to church. They would--become heretics.

And then, the very man that they come out for, the Lord Jesus--very man they come out for, they sent for Him to come pray for their brother when he was laying dying with hemorrhages. And they... He refused to come. They sent the second time, and He refused to come. Oh, how dark the hour was then. Finally, the midnight hour come, struck, and the boy died. They put him in the grave. He was there four days. Corruption had already set in his body. Skin worms was in him. Bugs from the ground was crawling into his flesh. The darkest hour they ever seen. It was at that time when Jesus came by, just at that dark hour.

38 Oh, a woman that--said not long ago, said, "Brother Branham..." I was talking about raising Lazarus. Said, "You don't mean to te... You brag too much about Jesus being Divine."

I said, "He was Divine. Yes."

She said, "Well, I will prove to you by your Bible He wasn't."

I said, "Go to it."

And she said, "Well, the 11th chapter of Saint John said He went to the grave of Lazarus, He wept."

I said, "That didn't--that didn't have nothing to do with it. He was both man and God." I said, "He was a man truly, when He was weeping. But when He stood by the side of a man's grave that'd been dead four days, and his nose already fell in, the bugs eating in his body, said 'Lazarus, come forth,' that took more than a man." Yes, sir.

39 He was a man when He come down off the mountain that night, looking around for something to eat on that olive tree, and they found nothing there. He was a man when He was hungry. But when He took five biscuits and two pieces of fish and fed five thousand, that was more than a man. Yes, sir. That was God in that man. Yes, sir.

He was a man laying out there on the back of that little ship that night. Devils, forty thousand of them of the sea, swore they'd drown Him, that little old ship like a bottle stopper out there, flopping around. The devil said, "We got him now. He's asleep. We will drown him." He was a man, tired and weary, laying out on the back of that boat there, with a pillow somewhere, asleep. But brother, when He once arose, oh my, put his foot upon the brail of the boat, looked up, and said, "Peace, be still," and the winds and the waves obeyed Him. That was more than a man. That was God in that man.

It was a man that cried for mercy on the cross. That's right. "My God, why hast thou forsaken Me?" He died crying for mercy. That's right. But on that third morning, when He broke death's seal, and rose again on the third day and ascended on high, He was more than a man. Everybody that's ever amounted to anything believed that. That's right. Poets, authors, prophets, whatevermore, believe that.

40 Now, the Hebrew children who, going through their trial. They was right up to the last moment, and they was just ready to step into the furnace. You know what? Sometimes we watch things going on here on earth, but there's something going on in heaven all the same time. We might not be able to see it, but it's going on anyhow. [Brother Branham coughs--Ed.] Pardon me. Let's turn our camera now towards heaven. I can see Jesus sitting on the throne, coming daylight. Smoke's raising way up in the skies from the furnace. I see Him setting there watching down, see what they're going to do. That's what He does to you and I when we're tried. He promised that the seed of Abraham would possess the gate of the enemy. I believe that.

41 I see Him watching. All at once, a great Angel comes up to his right side, stands at attention, puts his hand on his sword--Gabriel. He said, "Father, have You looked down there? They're the seed of Abraham. They're--they believe in You. They've prayed all night. And they're going right into their death. Let Me go down there. I will change the scene." I believe He could have done it. That's right.

He said, "That's right, Gabriel. You're a good Angel. Just stand there."

Here comes another one up. His name's Wormwood. He's the--he's the Angel over all the waters. I can see Him stand at attention, said, "Father, have You looked down in Babylon?"

"Yeah, I've watched them all night." Oh, his eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me. "I've watched them all night."

"They're fixing to burn three men up down there this morning, seeds of Abraham that's took You by your Word, and standing gallant on it. You know one time You told me to turn loose all the waters. I have the control. You let me go down. I will wash Babylon off the map." He could have done it.

I can hear Him say, "That's right, Wormwood. You're a wonderful Angel. You--you did just exactly everything I told you to since you created--I created you. You did too, Gabriel. But you know, I'm going down Myself. This is My job." Oh my!

42 Just when they was ready to take their last step, I can see Him stand up. His priestly robes drop around Him where He's setting tonight, they're bloody, making intercession upon our confession, for He died to bring to pass anything that we ask. Where is our faith at in Him?

There He stands up, motions that way, and here comes a big white cloud by Him. Steps up on it, calls the east wind, north wind, south wind, and west wind, to drive them like horses. Reach up and get a hold of the zigzag lightning, and crack it across the skies. Before they could ever step in there, He was in the furn--fiery furnace with them. He stood in there with a big palm fan off there somewhere by the Tree of Life, fanning the fiery blazes off of them like that. Said, "I just want to talk it over with you children. I know that you're the seed of Abraham. I gave the promise, and I'm here to answer it," keeping the fire blazes off. Oh, yes. They opened up. Said, "How many did you put in there?"

Said, "Three."

He said, "There's one more in there, and He looks like the Son of God." He was. Why? They--after they was tried, they possessed the gate of the enemy. Amen.

43 Daniel was brought to the same thing after he was put through a trial whether he'd pray or not. He raised the curtains back, throwed up the shades, and knelt down and prayed just like he always did. Yes, sir. Prayed just like he always did. And what happened? They went through the trial. They said, "We will feed you to the lions," and they'd been starved for weeks. He said, "My God is able to deliver me from them lions." But after he had went through the trial, what happened? He possessed the gate of the enemy. Why? He was true to God.

Moses, after he had been true to God, come through the trials, and brought the children of Israel right in the path of duty. All nature screamed out against it. Here was the mountains on one side and the deserts, Pharaoh's army pursuing, and the Red Sea blocked them off. Why, they was trapped. Looked like God was a poor military man to push them right into that corner there and let them perish.

44 God loves to do that. God loves to show his hand mighty. Yes, He does. He likes to show His power. He's waiting tonight to show it in you; to take that sinner and turn him around, take that woman of ill fame and change her to a godly saintly woman, take that girl that's taken the wrong road, that boy the wrong road, bring them back to the place and make sons and daughters of God out of them. He's ready to take that man dying with cancer, that one with the heart trouble, that one that's blind, that one's afflicted, if he will just place his faith in there it'll turn him around from death unto life, start him off with a testimony. He's waiting to do it. He puts you right in the trap to see what you'd do. He put them right down in that trap there. Looked like nature itself was hiding its face. Yes.

One writer said one time, that when they got in that place, wondered what Moses would do. He had one command, "Go forward." If you're in the line of duty, no matter what stays in the way... The greatest experiences I've ever had is to come up against something I couldn't get over it, or under it, and just stand there and watch God make a way through it. That's the way to do it. Just move. Keep moving. Press your nose against it. Just keep moving on. Just keep going on. God will make a way.

45 The old colored man down south carrying a Bible, they said, "What are you carrying that Bible for, Mose? You can't read."

Said, "I believe it."

Said, "Well, how--how do you know it's right?"

He said, "Well, it's... I believe it from civer to civer, the civer also." Says, "It's got Holy Bible wrote on it."

Said, "I guess you believe all that's in there."

Said, "Yes, sir."

"I guess you believe whatever God would tell you to do, you'd do it."

He said, "I'd do it."

Said, "What if He'd tell you to jump through that wall, that stone wall? How are you going to get through there?"

He said, "If He'd tell me to jump, I'd jump. He'd make a hole when I got there."

So that's right. So that's the thing you have to do, is take God, and believe it, and jump anyhow. If you know you could explain it, understand it, then it wouldn't be faith no more. Your faith is what you believe that He has done for you. "And faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." You don't see it. You can't figure it out. There's no way to figure out God. You just got to believe Him, and keep walking on. He said so. That's how I stand in the pulpit for the visions. That's what... He tells me go do certain things that seems humanly impossible, and you all know that. It is humanly impossible, but He said do it. Just go on. He's the One to take care of it. And He will do it. Yes. How great Thou art.

46 When Moses was trapped in this place here, now, he's right in the line of duty, right in the line of duty. God led him right down there. What's He going to do? The Red Sea, a trap set exactly. But Moses just marched forward on. One writer, I believe, said that God looked down through that Pillar of Fire with angry eyes, looked down at that Red Sea that was trying to cut off his children in the line of duty. And said the sea got scared, and rolled back, and just made a path for them.

Well, if He could look through a Pillar of Fire and do that, what would it do when He looked through the Blood of His own Son? Had a confessor standing there with a promise that God swore He would take care of it, and swore that He would--that his seed of Abraham should possess the gates of the enemy. Sure. He's duty bound to do it by the Blood of His own Son laying on the mercy seat tonight. Oh, if we could get away from this earthbound ideas, and look up yonder, see who made the promise, the very God of creation. Yes.

47 Joshua also, after he'd had a trial at Kadesh, come back and ninety percent of the ministers said, "We can't take it."

Joshua said, "We're more than able to take it," him and Caleb. And he was--the only two out of the two and a half million people that went over. What did he do? He come down to Jordan, holding him out of the promised land. But he possessed the gate of the enemy. Why? Because He took God at His Word. He'd had a trial, and he believed it. He knowed God kept His Word. So he possessed the gate of the enemy.

I could go on and on, but I'm overtime. All these great warriors, every one of them, they done great things, they--they--great miracles, and wandered about in sheepskins, and deserts, and was destitute, and some sawed asunder, and all different things. As Hebrews 11 says, all these great warriors all come down to die. Every one of them come down to die.

48 But one day, one glorious day, that royal seed of Abraham come, borned of a virgin. Yes. When He walked the earth, He was the true seed of Abraham. He walked the earth, he possessed the gate of sickness for the people. He possessed the gate of affliction. All... In the garden of Gethsemane, in the court that morning, He possessed the gates of temptation. Upon Mount Transfiguration, there He proved Himself. When the devil took Him up to another mountain, He possessed the power over the enemy to show that He could do it. "If thou be the Son of God, turn these stones into bread. He didn't have to do it. He said, "It is written, man shall not live by bread alone." He took the Word of God 'cause He was a true seed of Abraham, and possessed every blessing that God promised. Yes, sir.

Stood there under temptation, said, "I'd speak straightway to My Father, and He'd send Me twenty legions of angels." What could one do? Twenty legions of Angels. They could change it if they wanted to. That's right. But He had to be tempted in all manners like we are. Standing there with handfuls of beard jerked out of His face, and the blood and mockery, drunken spit from the soldiers hanging in His face. They put a rag over His head like this, and hit Him on top of the head with a reed, said, "Now you said you was a prophet, you can read the mind of the people. Tell us who hit you. Tell us who hit you." He could have done it. But He would've been listening to the devil. He possessed the gate of the enemy. He stood the temptation. O God, for such a One. That's right.

49 Then when He died down at the cross, hell taken His precious soul. The Bible said His soul descended into hell. That's exactly right. Hell captured His soul and took Him down there. But brother, on that third day He possessed the gates of death, hell, and the grave and rose up the third day, and overcome it all. He took sickness, death, hell, the grave, and everything. I believe He jerked the gate plumb off the hinges of them, and took them out, rose on high, ascended on high. And tonight, you are more than conquerors. His seed shall possess the gates of the enemy. Yes, sir. He possessed every gate. He conquered every sickness. He conquered every sin, He conquered every temptation. He conquered death, He conquered hell, He conquered the grave. He possessed the gate of all of them. And we in Him are more than conquerors, hallelujah, 'cause He conquered for us. Oh, we would ever know what that true seed of Abraham was, what it really meant to us.

50 The devil doubted Him. The devil... That was one time he had the wool, as we call it, pulled over his eyes. When he took Him up on the mountain, as I was speaking of a few moments ago, he said, "Could that be? That man's just a prophet. Could he be the Son of God?" He said, "If thou be the Son of God," showed he doubted it. "If thou be the Son of God, command these stones to be made bread, because you're hungry. You been fasting forty days. Eat."

Jesus said, "It's written, man shall not live by bread alone." Took Him up on the pinnacle of the temple, said, "Cast thyself down; because it is written, he'd give angels charge concerning thee, lest at any time dash thy foot against a stone, they'll bear thee up."

He said, "Yes. And it's also written..." Everything, He met him with the Word of God, because He was the true seed of Abraham.

51 He possessed every gate of temptation. Oh, how He did. He was a man. He was a man like you are, like I am. He had a right to be married. He had a right to have a home. He had a right to the things that we have. He had a right to have clothes. He could have done it. A man that could turn water into wine, that could know where a coin was in a fish's mouth, why, He owned the heavens and earth. But yet He abstained from those things.

The sweetest words in the Bible when He said, "Father, I sanctify myself that I might sanctify them." What was He trying to do? Set an example. He was sending twelve man out with a Gospel that would conquer the world, and He's depending on you and I to do it. If He could sanctify Himself like that, why ought we to set aside every failure, and every doubt, and everything else, and sanctify ourselves? For we are the seed of Abraham through Him, that are more than conquerors through Him. Yes.

He had a right to be married. He had a right to have a home. He had a right to lay his head on a pillow. But "The foxes has dens, and the birds has nests; and the Son of man don't have a place to lay his head." Why? "I sanctify myself, Father. For their sake, I do it." For their sake--not because He had to, but for their sake, He conquered every enemy.

52 Standing there in the courtroom that day, or the courtyards, when He'd been tried and falsely accused... The only thing they found against Him was breaking the Sabbath day. He said, "I'm Lord of the Sabbath," and He was. "And making Himself God," and He was God. And there, all those false accusings and things, and false witnesses they had against Him. Finally, beaten with a big lash till His ribs was showing through, and the little robe He had on His back, they took it off. Beat Him to a post. What was it? That was the true royal seed of Abraham.

That's where we stand tonight. "My faith is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness; when all around my soul gives way, then He is all my hope and stay. For on Christ, that solid rock, I stand; all other grounds is sinking sand, all other grounds is sinking sand." There's where I take my hope, right there on that solid rock.

Abraham's seed. He possessed every gate, even to death and hell. See Him there. Had a mockery... That woman trying to wash His feet again. Put a rag over His face and said, "If you're a prophet, tell us who hit you, we will believe you." On the cross they said, "If you are the Son of God, come down and we will believe you." They wouldn't believe Him anyhow, no matter what He done. He didn't mind them.

53 Let's take a little look at Him this morning, or tonight. It was a terrible morning that morning. We're back in a room. Let's just... I'm going to take this congregation--I want you to look at something. Let's go over to the window. I hear a howling mob. What's the matter? Raise up the curtain and look out. I hear something bumping, and coming down the street. What is it? It's a cross dragging around down the street, bumpety-bump, over them old cobblestones, going up to Golgotha. That's the seed of Abraham. There goes the second Adam.

In the garden of Eden when God had--to his holiness and true to his Word, when Eve and Adam had done evil, when God, Himself, running up and down through the garden, hollering, "Adam, Adam, where art thou? Where art thou, Adam?" If somebody wants to know where--who this man was, Jesus, who was He coming hunting His first lost son? Did God send an Angel? He come Hisself. He came Himself. That's how He come. You want to make...

54 [Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.]... justice. And if there's not justice, there's no law. If you don't have justice, judgment, to go with it, there's no need of having law. What's the use of having a law that says, "Ten dollar fine to run the stop light," and then don't--say, "Don't run the stop light," and no fine behind it, no penalty to pay, no judgment. Without judgment, there's no justice. So justice was to die. So, it was the only thing He could do.

55 And then when He seen Eve standing there, that beautiful little woman; that real masculine man standing there, those big brawny muscles, and the blood running off his arms from that old bloody sheepskin; little Eve standing there, the most beautiful woman ever was in the world, because she was created by God's own hand... Her eyes was like the stars of the heaven. She didn't need Max Factor's stuff to make her pretty. And when she had--over like this. And there she was standing there, and the blood running down her beautiful little body standing there, looking in the face of God, in that big light hanging there in those palm trees. "Depart out of My Presence."

Now, watch Adam as he starts away, and across his legs them old bloody sheepskins, beating like that across his legs. He couldn't stand it, He's a father. Said, "Just a minute. I will put enmity between your seed and the serpent's seed."

56 Where was it? Here it was at Calvary. Here He goes up, this second Adam, God Himself come down and made man, going up the hill. The devil always did hate that Word, but that's right. Yes, sir. He was more than a prophet. People today with this socialized religion, saying that Jesus was just a good man, a--a philosopher, it's good to hear his teachings. If He wasn't God, if that wasn't Emmanuel's Blood, then He was a man like I am, that's right, and we're lost. He was God. God, the Holy Ghost, overshadowed Mary and created a blood cell that brought forth not a Jewish blood, not a Gentile blood, but God's own blood. Blood comes from the male sex. And this is a created blood, no sex into it at all. And that was God Himself, going walking up the hill there.

Let's look at Him. He had a little robe throwed across his shoulders. It was wove throughout without seam. I notice as He goes walking... I'm looking at Him by faith, showing Him to you all by faith. There's little red dots all over the back of that coat. What makes that like that? As He goes farther up the street, and the cross a rubbing on his shoulder, I notice them little dots begin to get bigger and bigger. What are they? What's the matter? All at once they all become one great big bloody splash. Then I hear something else beating against his leg: second Adam, going up the hill with a bloody garment beating against his leg.

57 You know, Satan said, looked around, said, "You know what? I don't even believe he's a prophet now. I know that can't be God. God would never act like that, let that mocking bunch of drunkards run over Him like that, let them call Him holy-roller. (I'm talking to you.) Let them call Him old model, something like that. 'You're an old fanatic.' He'd never do that."

But it--He was God. His Kingdom was from above. His delegates is the same thing. Their Kingdom is above. They act like from up there, they talk about up there. Where their treasure is, there their heart is also. They're talking about that.

58 As He walks on up the hill, I can see that death. Satan sent that death sting down there. Said, "Go down and get him now." Said, "Go down and get him. Now is the time to get him." That bee, like a big old bee of death, begin to buzz around Him, humming around and around Him, saying, "Yep, look at Him bleeding. Look at Him, spit all over his face. Look at them all laughing, making fun of Him."

I see a little woman run out and say, "What did He do? What evil has He done? What did He do but preach us the Gospel? What did He do but heal your sick?" Somebody smacks her out of the way. Said, "Would you listen to that crazy woman instead of your priest? Go on up the hill with Him." They beat Him again. He goes on up the hill. The bee says, "I will get him after awhile when they hang Him on the cross."

59 You know all insects, bees and things, has a stinger. And death is a bee. It has a stinger. But you know what? When one of them bees ever anchor his stinger real deep, he pulls his stinger out. Brother, when he socked his stinger into that flesh, that wasn't a man. He anchored his flesh in Emmanuel. And when he did, he pulled his stinger out. I tell you, to Abraham's seed now, he can buzz and make a noise, but he can't have no sting. One of them coming to his death said. "O death, where is thy sting? Grave, where is thy victory? But thanks be to God, Who gives us the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ."

Yes, he can buzz, and make a big noise, and fuss, and pull hospital--into a hospital, and tell the doctors standing there, and a bunch of them mourning and crying; but you look him in the face and say, "Death, where is thy stinger? I can point yonder to the royal Seed of Abraham, Whose Blood I was born by. He pulled that stinger out of death. So death, you have no stinger for me. Grave, I will mold you someday. Where is your victory? But thanks be to God, Who gives us the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ, and His seed shall possess the gates of his enemies, possess the gate of all of his enemies.

And when He come, He possessed every gate: the gate of sickness, the gate of death, the gate of hell, the gate of temptation, the gate of the grave. He possessed every gate and freely gives it to us, and makes us more than conquerors through Him that loved us, and gave Himself for us.

60 Let's bow our heads just a moment while we think about that. I wonder tonight if by chance, how many is in this building here that doesn't know Him as your Saviour, and you know that your life is not right with God, would you raise up your hand, say, "Pray for me, Brother Branham. In this closing prayer, I want you to pray for me." God bless you, back over in the corner. God bless you way back there, lady. But would there be some more? How many more up in the balcony? Can I see some hands up there? All them people, God bless you back there. God bless you here, lady.

Would someone else just raise your hand? It won't hurt you. My, just raise up your hand, say "I..." You know yourself. Say, "Brother Branham, I'm not Abraham's seed. I belong to church." God bless you here, sir. "I--I'm not Abraham's seed." God bless you, lady, right here. The Lord be rich to you tonight. Over to my right, yes, the Lord bless you.

Somebody else? Say... raise up your hand, and just raise up your hand, say, "Remember me, Brother Branham, in your prayer. I want to... I want to be Abraham's seed." Because remember, if you're not Abraham's seed, you're not in the promise.

61 Now, you may belong to some church, and that's all right. Yes, sir. I have nothing against you belonging to church. I think that's a good thing. But, brother, sister, that will not help you one bit at the hour of your death, or at the coming of the Lord Jesus. You'll have to be Abraham's seed.

And the only way you can be Abraham's seed is to deny your own self, and die to your own self, and be born again of the Holy Spirit, because the Life that was in Christ makes us Abraham's seed. We take on his seed by the Holy Spirit which was given to us by the promise of God. "And 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."

62 Eight or ten hands has been up. Would there be some more with honest sincerity? Just be honest with yourself. If you're a church member, we're not asking you to come join this church. No. We just want you to be Abraham's seed.

Brother, sister, I may never lay eyes again on you in this life. But there at the judgment bar, I'm going to have to face you. See? Now, remember this night, the 13th day of February, 1961. When this day rolls up there on the canvas of the skies of the judgment, this meeting will come to your remembrance.

God bless you over against the wall there. "I want to believe on Jesus. I want to become Abraham's seed tonight." Now... The Bible said that which is outwardly is not Jew, but that which is inwardly. His--his seed shall possess the gate of the enemy.

We got the enemy on the run now. Ten or twelve hands has been up already. That... We show that we got the enemy on the run. Would there be another one join our ranks tonight, and raise your hands and say...? God bless you, sir. God bless you. Would there be back there? God bless you back there. Yes, my brother, up in the balcony, the Lord bless you. Yes. Join our ranks. We got the enemy running now.

63 Last night we got him started on from the sick people. Just look at the cancer cases, and all, was delivered here last night. The enemy's a moving now. Last week we just battled, and cut, and everything we could. But we got the enemy moving. See?

Now, many's coming up, coming out in the ranks. Taking... filing right in. There is... Won't you come join with us tonight? Join your hands with God tonight, become dead to the things of the world and accept Christ as your Saviour. Will you raise your hand before we pray? Say. "Remember me." God bless you back there in the back there. I can see your hand up way back. Just another?

What about somebody up close here, not a Christian? Say, "I want you to remember me, Brother Branham. Just pray for me while you're praying. Just remember me in your prayer." I will do that. All right. Now, let's keep our heads bowed.

64 Now, heavenly Father, there's none of us know that we will be here tomorrow. This may be the last night on earth that we spend. There's someday I will close this Bible the last time. Sometime I will close my eyes, and bow my head for the last time. And each person in here will do the same. We don't know when that time's coming, Lord. We know there's a great big dark chamber setting before every one of us, every human being. It's called death.

And as we think of the writer of the "Thanatopsis," every time my heart beats, we get one beat closer to that chamber. Every time my heart beats, and that clock ticks, we're just one beat closer. And someday it's coming to its last beat.

God, we do not desire... I'm pleading for these people. We do not desire to enter into that chamber screaming, and crying, and wishing for more life, and a few minutes to repent. God, we want to come in there with a boldness. We want to come in there as Abraham's seed, the promise in our hearts, knowing this, that we know Him in the power of His resurrection; that someday, when He calls, we will come out from among the dead and rise, and go to be with Him, to ever be with Him.

65 I pray for these who raised their hands, Lord. Many raised their hands. They're sincere, God. They--they didn't do that on their own power. There had to be a given power for them, and that was Your power. And they raised up their hands that they were sincere in it.

God, it is written in the Word that the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man... Now, there's none of us righteous, but we are accepting His righteousness. And we're bringing His Blood before You. We're bringing His Word before You, like He said, "Ask the Father anything in My Name, I will do it."

Now, we're bringing there people, by faith, right up before You, Lord. There they are. They've sinned. They've done wrong. They're wanting forgiveness of their sins. They raised their hands to You that... and for me to pray for them that they're sorry that they did that. Lord Jesus, forgive them. May they find that real sweet peace that passes understanding--understanding that God so loved the world that He gave His Son, that--that they might have the courage to raise their hands.

66 And let them have this understanding too, Lord, that they were chosen, or they would've never raised their hand. For Jesus said, "No man can come to Me, except My Father draws him first." Let them know that God, the Father, is standing by their side, speaking to their heart, and they've made this choice. He also said, "He that heareth My Word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, has passed from death unto Life, and shall never come to the judgment; but's already passed from death to Life," got Eternal Life now. Father God, You wouldn't turn one down.

And I pray that You'll be merciful to these. And I pray that You'll help them, and to give them boldness now, after I've quoted this Scripture, that it was You that made them raise their hand, for You said so. "No man can come, except My Father draws him; and all that the Father has given Me will come."

And let them know, upon that confession right there proves that You forgive their sins. Now, may they not be ashamed of it. May they stand boldly, and say, "Yes. I now accept it upon the basis of His Word, that I will never go into the judgment of the damned, because God spoke to my heart, and I raised my hand that I would accept Him as my Saviour. I wanted to be remembered in prayer." Grant it, Father.

67 Now, with our heads bowed, I ask each one that raised their hands, if you believe what I'm telling you... Christians, pray. God said this. Jesus said, "No man can come to Me, except My Father draws him first." Now, what made you raise your hand? It's the Holy Spirit there telling you, convicting you that you're wrong. "And all the Father has given Me (or spoke to), will come. (And you did--raised up your hand. 'I'm a sinner. I want forgiveness. I did wrong.'); I will in no wise cast him out... give him Eternal Life, raise him up at the last day."

Now, there's one more thing I want you to do. "He that will confess Me before men, him will I confess before My Father and the holy Angels." Now, I'm asking you to do one thing in the goodness of God. Just think how good He was to let you raise your hand.

68 I spoke to a young girl when I was yet a Baptist preacher. I was down in Nashville, Tennessee. And I felt led to tell her that I believed God was giving her a final call. She met me outside the church that night. And she said, "Don't you never embarrass me like that again."

Said, "I never embarrassed you. I hope not." She was a deacon's daughter.

She said, "I'm young. And I've got plenty of time to do that."

I said, "Lady, I would've never pointed my finger to you if I didn't feel that it was right. Never would made an altar call if I didn't think..." And she just bawled me out terribly.

69 About two years later, I was down there with my old friend, Brother Morrison, the Baptist church, to have another meeting. And when I did, I walked down the street. And she was a nice young lady. She was walking down the street (it's been twenty-five years ago, and her underneath skirts hanging low. Oh, how foul she looked. I thought, "That can't be that deacon's daughter.") And she spied me. She kinda smiled and turned her head sideways. I walked over close to her.

She said, "Hello, preacher."

I said, "How do you do?"

She stood there on the corner a little bit, said, "Come go with me to my room?"

I said, "Thank you, I'm kind of a bit... hurry."

She reached in her pocketbook and said, "Have a cigarette?"

I said, "Now, aren't you ashamed to say that?"

She said, "Maybe you'd take a drink with me. I will pay for it if you'll take it."

I said, "Shame on you, lady. Wouldn't you be ashamed to ask a servant of Christ a thing like that?" I started to walk away. I said, "I will be praying for you."

She said, "Just a minute. There's no need."

I said, "Why?"

She said, "You remember that night standing there by that rosebush, by the side of that Baptist church?"

And I said, "Yes."

She said, "My father's still deacon there." Said, "You can tell this wherever you go to, wherever you go, if you want to." She said, "That was my last call." She said, "You know, since that time," said, "I used to always feel a calling in my heart to come to God." She said, "But since that time," she said, "I've got harder and harder."

Now, this is the statement the girl made. She said, "My heart is so hard against God, and against the church, and everything," said, "I could see my own mother's soul fry in hell like a pancake and laugh at it." See?

70 Now, He's merciful to you. He knocked at your heart, and you raised up your hand. "Yes, Lord, I'm wrong." That was the Father. Now, will you confess Him enough... would you just stand up to your feet? I won't ask you to do nothing else, just stand to your feet so the people can see that that was God knocked at your heart? Now, remember, real true children," God knocked at my heart. I want to stand to my feet, just let the people know." God bless you, sir. God bless you, young man. Someone else stand up. That's right.

All right now. "I now believe." Just stand up just a moment, just a moment. Please, just stand up just a moment, every one. That's fine. Would there be another want to stand just at this time, say, "He knocked at my heart. Never raised my hand, but I'm going to stand for Him right now. I will stand right now. I believe I will stand for Him right now, because He knocked at my heart. I never want my heart to get in that bad condition like that. While it's tender, I will raise."

71 Now, I say this to you upon the authority of God's Word. If you stand for Him here, He will stand for you at the judgment." He that confesses Me before men, him will I confess before My Father and the holy Angels." I would ask you people, you dear Christians that's just now become Christians in Christ, just got the--the invitation to be Abraham's seed, find some good church and be baptized. God bless you, sister, for standing up like that. That's very fine.

Now, just remain standing. I want to pray for you again. And find some good church, be baptized in Christian baptism, and seek the baptism of the Holy Spirit. There's young people standing, young men, and would make ministers and missionaries. God bless your royal life.

Now, you that have your head bowed, I want you to open your eyes and turn and look to see who it is. And I want you now, when we stand, to offer them the right hand of fellowship, as Christian believers. Say, 'Welcome." Invite them to your church or something. Now, let's all stand on our feet. While you shake hands with them, say, "Welcome into the Kingdom of God tonight," say, "my blessed pilgrim brother." Turn around, each one of you, and shake hands with them people now as we sing.

Just as I am, without one plea,

But that thy blood...

That's it, Christians, be real sweet. I'm looking upon the balcony. Young men crying, people shaking hands.

And that Thou bidst me come to Thee;

O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

72 Brother Buntain says there's a prayer room downstairs. How do you get to it, brother? Just right through the gates, if you'd want to go down just in a moment. And I will turn the service to him.

And maybe some of you hasn't... How many hasn't got the baptism of the Holy Spirit, raise up your hand, and are seeking. You want to be...

God bless you. "Whosoever will, let him come." Is that right? Now, aren't you happy, you that's raised up and professed Christ tonight? If you feel real good about it in your heart, raise up your hand so the people see, you that raised your hand. You that... Look at there, every one of, a hundred percent. Yes, sir. That's it. How many of all of you are glad you're Christians tonight, raise up your hands.

73 What does the Bible say? His seed shall possess the gate of the enemy. Amen. We conquered tonight in Christ, our great Conqueror. We broke down the walls of sin, broke down the walls of indifference, and souls marched into the Kingdom of God to rise up in the resurrection at the last day. Aren't we happy?

All right, sister. "I love Him, I love Him, because He first loved me." Everybody now, all together.

I love Him, I love Him

Because He first loved me

And purchased my salvation

On Calvary's tree.

Oh, don't you love Him? Now, don't leave now. I want you to do something for me. Now, when we sing it again, I want you to shake hands with somebody in front of you, somebody behind you, to the right and left, and say, "God bless you, pilgrim brother, or sister. Glad to be here in the house of God with you." Let's do it now while we sing it.

I love Him, I love Him

Because He first loved me

And purchased my salvation

On Calvary's tree.

Now, let's sing it to Him as we raise our hands to Him.

I (...?...) love Him...

I give you to your pastor.