Why I'm Against Organized Religion

1 Thank you, Brother Neville.

May be seated. First, I've been so busy today till I've missed some sick calls. There were some people on private cases to be prayed for, that I was supposed to meet. But now some of the... one of the parties, I believe Billy said was from Canada, two or three different places. Now, they come in here, you know, and stay in hotels and motels constantly all the time. And I go meet them, meet them and pray for them coming in from everywhere from around the world, and Asia, Europe and everywhere. Day by day, when we're here, people are coming in. There's better than six hundred on the list, waiting for private interviews, and so it makes it kind of hard. But the people that's real sick and emergencies to be prayed for, why, I try to meet them.

2 Just, well, since I been in there with the trustee board, on a little hearing with my board of trustees here at the church, we had to meet a few moments ago. And during that time it throwed me off about an hour and a half, and there was some people supposed to be here at that time to be prayed for. If they are here, I would like to have prayer for them at this time. So, if they will, those people that were supposed to be prayed for, well, if they'll just come up now while the pianist, ever who it is, will come and--and give us a little chord of "The great Physician now is near, the sympathizing Jesus." Now those who are to be prayed for, if they will, how many there was I don't know. And you are the brethren, I suppose. Brethren, I've suffered much in my own body. Jesus bore in His body, suffering, that He might be the right kind of a Mediator, because He being God made flesh so He could suffer. He could feel the pains of infirmity. And that's why He come to make an atonement. And in this He commissioned His Church to continue His work.

3 And I have--I have high regards for medical profession, surgery and so forth, who--who with the talents that God has given them to do certain things to the body, to operate and remove teeth that's got bad, and so forth. I appreciate that. But there comes a time when they are beyond their--their knowledge, they--they don't know what to do. See? And I think, then, we have a perfect right, as we would in the natural, if we went to our family doctor, maybe a--a doctor out in the country, some good old doctor that pack a lantern and walk through the field of a night, to find you, to doctor with you. And if he fails to know, he'll go to someone just a little bit higher than he is. He'll send you to a specialist. And now if the specialist don't know, I--I'm glad we got another resource, the great Physician.

4 And He doesn't fail, this One doesn't, because He's the Creator Himself. And He's made a way for us. Now, if there was any healing power within myself to do it, I--I'd come there and do it. I--I would just be glad to. But, as healing power, I have none, no other man has healing power. But we are commissioned, see, from Christ, to pray for the sick, Who has already put on deposit the healing power. See? And we're only coming, as it was, to write a check on that. "And whatever you ask the Father in My Name," that's the blank check, "whatever you ask the Father in My Name, that I'll do." What a promise! Just can't fail. And I have helped my brothers and sisters, around the world, make these deposits... or make these drawings on these notes in God's Bank, on the Blood of Jesus Christ. And it's been very successful. He's always paid off, and because the deposit's already there, you see. "He--He--He was wounded for our transgressions, with His stripes we were healed." See, it's all over. And we're happy tonight for your faith.

5 I believe Billy was telling me one brother comes all the way from Canada or somewhere. And is that right? You the brother from Canada? And--and where you from, brother? [The brother says, "Just north of Fort Wayne, in Kendallville."--Ed.] Kendallville, Indiana, from Fort Wayne. I was married in Fort Wayne. I well remember. Had many meetings there at the Rediger Tabernacle. I guess you know where it's at. And I remember, as a little boy, sitting at the feet of Paul Rader, in the Rediger Tabernacle, as just a young student minister. He's a great man, Brother Paul was, and so was Brother Rediger, men of faith. Their soul rest tonight. And now, as I was a little boy, I'm trying to carry on what they left, what Jesus left for His Church all the way down.

6 Now, with all the faith that I have, I'm coming to pray for you. And I--I'm not coming as just haphazardly. We never want to approach it that way. No, that's not right. We are coming, believing that we're going to receive what we've asked for, see, knowing that God has promised it. And we're coming with assurance in our heart that Christ made the promise, and you brethren has tried to put your faith on the altar, done all you can, I'm coming to lay mine with you tonight. See?

7And, now, we have a great altar that stretches across the skies, and on that altar lays our Sacrifice, the Son of God. See? It's that bleeding Sacrifice. God can't look over that without respecting It, see, for That's His Word, "This is My beloved Son, hear ye Him."

8 I'm going to ask Brother Neville, our elder, if he'll come forward now with me as we go. I want all the church... What if this was your brother, your husband, your son, your father? It's somebody's, remember. Let's, with all the sincerity that we have, approach God now for these brethren.

Let us bow our heads.

9Gracious Heavenly Father, we are bringing into Your Presence now, by the altar of grace, though we stand by a little wooden bench, as it was, here on earth, but our faith has lifted up to the great burning altar yonder, where Jesus (the sweet smelling Saviour before God, the Blood Sacrifice from Calvary) Who triumphed over every sickness, every disease, death, hell, and the grave, and rose again and ascended into Heaven, to sit at the right hand of His Majesty. And we, by faith, come, lifting ourselves up there in the grace of God, to say over this altar, to the great Creator of Heavens and earth, "Receive us, Lord, as we approach in the Name of the Lord Jesus."

10 Here is our brethren, and one of them from up above Fort Wayne, here in the states, and the other all the way from Canada down here, come for this most solemn moment. It's between death and life, Lord. Here's two men, yet young, much service left in them for You, Lord, two soldiers, Christians who believe You. And the enemy has shot a dart, and that poison dart has struck somewhere into their body, and they've come back, retreated back to the hospital of God's grace, for reconciliation, for healing, that they might approach the front again, with the shield up, going to the battle. They've come to join the forces of prayer with us, Lord. And we go to meet the enemy.

11In the Name of Jesus Christ, turn them loose. We adjure thee in the Name of Jesus Christ, let them go.

12They are warriors of the battle. And, as Your servant, I go forward now to lay hands upon them, with faith, believing that, "These signs shall follow them that believe," said our Lord, our great Chief Captain of the battle, "if they lay their hands on the sick, they shall recover."

13This I do in the Name of Jesus Christ. May the power of sickness that binds this brother's body, turn him loose, in the Name of Jesus Christ.

The power of sickness that binds this brother's body, turn him loose. In the Name of Jesus Christ, may it leave.

14 Almighty God, Creator of Heavens and earth, Author of everlasting Life, and Giver of every good gift, bring Thy blessings upon these who we have blessed. And it is written in the Scriptures, that, "If you say to this mountain, 'Be moved,' don't doubt in your heart, but believe that what you've said will come to pass, you can have what you've said." I believe that their sickness has gone from their body. Now it has been said; now let it be done. Amen.

15In the Name of the Lord Jesus I believe you're free. In the Name of Jesus Christ I believe you to be free. Amen.

Does the church believe likewise? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.] Then let it be done.

16 Now, would there be others in here would just like to be remembered in prayer, would you raise your hand? All right, let us approach Him now as you lay hands on one another out there. "These signs shall follow them that believe."

17Most holy God, by faith we see Jesus, we believe Him standing present. He watches over His Word. And He said, "Wherever two or more are assembled in My Name, I am in their midst." Now, Heavenly Father, let the power of Almighty God touch these people, Lord, as they have hands joined with one another, laying on one another. The last commission You said to the church, "These signs shall follow them that believe. If they lay their hands on the sick, they shall be... they'll recover." You promised it, and we believe it. So now it has been done, and we praise Thee for it, in the Name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

18And in the Name of Jesus Christ may the power of God anoint these handkerchiefs to the sick and the needy. And as they are sent out and laid upon the sick, may it come to pass that they'll be healed. We read in the Bible that they took from Saint Paul, handkerchiefs, aprons; unclean spirits left the people, and diseases were healed. And, Father, we know we're not Saint Paul, but we know that You're still Jesus. And we pray that You'll grant this request for Your glory. Amen.

19 I don't know whether there's... the tapes are on yet, or not. Are they on? If not, I would like for them to turn them on at this time. I believe the switch is up. Now, I hope that I do not tire you tonight. I'm beginning about a half hour or thirty-five minutes early. And now, it's a Sunday school lesson, and I have thought that perhaps maybe that it would do good if I had this taped that's on my heart. And we're fixing to go into a--a new phase, new tabernacle, all new.

20 And now I would like to read some of the Scriptures. If you people would like to read with me, I want to read from First Samuel, the 8th chapter, and we want to begin with the 4th to the 10th verse; and then, to save time, 19th to the 20th. And I have several sheets of Scriptures and reference wrote out here, that if you people have pen and pencil, or something, paper, that you would like to refer to these or keep them down, you may have them, or, Mr. Maguire will have the--the--the tape.

21And I want this tape dedicated to ministers, my brethren, ministers who has misunderstood me, especially the brethren of the denominational churches. And most all are denominationals.

22 And my subject tonight is: Why I'm Against Organized Religion. And I'm going to read now for a background, or a Scripture reading, to make it certainly Scriptural, I want to read from First Samuel 8:4-10, then 19-20. To my visible audience, I trust that when you go home that you will write these Scriptures down and read them carefully. And to the brethren who will be listening to the tape, I trust that you also will not just stop the tape when something is said maybe that you wouldn't agree with, but will seek God in it, see if it's Scriptural. I think we owe it to ourselves and to the Message of the day.

23I believe that all churches has Christians in them, and I certainly do not speak against Christians. But the reason that I have did what I have done, and said what I have said, is because of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit on the Word.

24 Now let us read in First Samuel, the 8th chapter, beginning with the 4th verse, and reading the 10th, inclusive, first.

Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel at Ramah,

And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons not walk... walk not in the way: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.

But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD.

And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.

According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee.

Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and show them the manner of the king that shall rule over them.

And Samuel told all these words of the LORD unto the people that asked of him a king.

25Now the 19th verse and 20th for the conclusion.

Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us;

That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go... before us, and fight our battles.

26The Lord add His blessing unto the reading of His Words. Now, as a Sunday school class, I would like to say that we want to try to be as--as attentive as we can to the Word.

27 And we know that--that sometimes things are said, (and certain churches), that stumble someone who has been taught contrary to what they have... are hearing. For instance, a man told me the other day, who is a friend of mine sitting present now, he said, "When you said, Brother Branham, as much faith as I've had in you, and believe, when you said there wasn't 'no Eternal hell,'" said, "I like to have fell out of my seat. And I said, 'Surely the man is wrong.'" And then said, "You let us stand for quite a while. And then you said, 'There is only one form of Eternal Life, and that comes from God.'" And that's what we all seek, see.

28 And there's no Scripture that says there is an Eternal hell. Cause, Eternal never did begin, neither does it ever end. So the Bible said "hell was created for the Devil and his angels," so it isn't Eternal. There was a time when it wasn't, and there'll be a time when it's not, again. But they may be punished in there, through fire and brimstone, and the pits of fire, for aeons of time, but it finally will end because hell is not Eternal. And if there was an Eternal hell, you'd have to have Eternal Life to live in an Eternal hell. And if it was Eternal, it always was, and you always was in hell and you'll always be in hell. See, so there is no such a thing.

29So, you see, Eternal is "never had a beginning or an end." And there's only one form of Eternal Life, and that is in God, comes from the Greek word Zoe, which means "God's Own Life." And when we are born again of the Spirit of God, we become Eternal with God, because we have part of His Life, which makes us sons and daughters to God, then we have Eternal Life. And the Life that is in us, God will raise up the body with the Life at the last day, but it's the Spirit of God that's in us that raises up, because it is a Spirit of Christ that was in Christ, that quickens our bodies and raises us up also, with Him, to sit in--in--in Glory and reign with Him.

30 Now to the subject, now, I have been through these years, and this tabernacle has stood. Though, I was ordained in a Missionary Baptist church, by Doctor Roy E. Davis, about thirty-three years ago, here in Jeffersonville. Now I, since then, I was in the organization just a short time, a few months, until something come up that was unscriptural by the church, and I told him I could not go that. And so I was, course, asked to "do it or else," and I elsed. So that was one thing that I believe, that this is God's Word. And I said to the man which was a--a master teacher, "If you will show me that in God's Word!"

"But it was," he said, "that's our teaching."

I said, "But I want it out of the Word, see, God's Word."

31 And not because that I do not belong to an organization that I have been against the organization, because I am grateful to my brethren, to which I am speaking today, that I have invitations to, I guess, pretty near every denomination, especially in the Full Gospel ranks, and even in many of the other churches. I have been asked to come into their fellowship and join with them, but I have stayed independent. Because, what influence that I have, I do not wish to place it upon one group of people. I wish to place what God has given me, a prayer for the sick, to be benefited by all God's children in every organization. He has never questioned to me not to pray, or for this one because they belong to Such-and-such, God judges the heart of man.

32 And now, to begin with, the reason that I haven't belonged to them and have spoken against it, is, first, is because I do not believe that organization of Christianity is Scriptural. I believe it's unscriptural. And that's what I will try, tonight, endeavor by the grace of God, to prove to you that it is unscriptural, unorthodox to have any organization.

33Now, the first place, we call it "religion," the word religion is "a covering," means to cover something. Now, Adam had a religion, but he certainly made it himself, out of fig leaves, and it didn't work. He made his own theory and tried to make a way of escape, to find salvation in something he had done himself, and God rejected it, from Adam to the order of the last organization. Never been, and by God's grace we'll prove it today through the Bible. Religion was a covering. Adam made himself a covering out of fig leaves, made it, himself, to try to do something himself.

34 But God required death, an atonement. Now, there's a quite a vast difference between religion and salvation, see, salvation. Religion is a covering. See? Salvation is a Birth, a gift of God. Salvation is a Birth, a gift of God, and it cannot be achieved by any man or any group of men. It's an individual that God brings this gift to. And these gifts of Eternal Life were ordained of God to each individual before we even had a world, according to the Scriptures. The Bible said, in Revelations, that the antichrist that was to come upon the earth, would deceive all that dwelt upon the earth, whose names were not written in the Lamb's Book of Life before the foundation of the world. See? God, by His foreknowledge, saw who would come and who wouldn't come, Christ came down to make a way for those who would come. See, knowing the others.

35 If He's God, at all, He has to be infinite. And if He's infinite, He cannot be infinite without being omnipotent. He cannot be omnipotent without being omnipresent. He can't be omnipresent without being omniscient. So, you see, all that makes Him God.

36So, He knowed the end from the beginning. He knowed who would and who would not, and He knowed there was many who would, so He sent Christ to make an atonement for those who would come. Now, nothing we do can have anything to do with it. Jesus said, "All the Father has given Me," hath, past tense, "will come to Me. And no man can come unless My Father draws Him." See? Now, see, it's all in God's knowledge.

37 You say, "Brother Branham, am I in?" I don't know. I'm hoping I am. We work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. Now, the Church is predestinated to meet God without spot or wrinkle. Now, if we are in that Church, we are predestinated with that Church. Now examine yourself by the Word, then you can check up how far along we are.

38Now, now, organizational Christianity can never give that assurance. No. Some of them said, "You come up and confess that Jesus is the Christ and be baptized in the church." The Devil does the same thing. He believes, himself, that Jesus is the Christ, and trembles. See, that's right.

39 God never commanded, nowhere in the Scripture, for there ever to be any organization. There's no place in the Bible for that. Adam started one and it failed.

40And then Nimrod tried to make an organization. If you're a historian, and you know the history of Babylon, read Hislop's Two Babylons, you'll find a great lot of light. That, Nimrod, this man of sin, took Babylon and all its little sister church, or places around, which was a type of--of this last-day apostasy Christianity, and made one great big place and all the rest of them played... paid tribute to it. And in there he built a tower and tried to organize man together, but it failed. It failed. That failed.

41 Korah, in Numbers 16:1, if you'd like to read, Korah tried the very same thing. He got all the Levites together, and he got the... some of the celebrity, the high man, great man, holy man, and him and Dathan got together and said, "It's not right, one man trying to be over us all." And so they tried to get an organization started together, and they come up before Moses and Aaron, who God had chosen for the work, and told them they took too much upon themselves, that the whole congregation was holy, and they had a right to... "In the multitude of counsel there's safety," of course, they say. That doesn't apply to Christianity. That's in war. Notice, a whole lots of difference.

42You can take a Scripture, and say, "Judas went and hung himself" and "you go do likewise," if you want to, but that don't make it right.

43 God had chosen Moses and God had chosen Aaron, and it was the message of the day. And no matter how good the other side looked, it was contrary to God's thinking. And we've got to let God's thinking be our thinking. "Let the mind that was in Christ be in you." And this Bible reveals the mind of Christ. And the whole Book of Revelations, called the Apocalypse, is the Revelation of Jesus Christ. And we can see how He condemns the thing, how He takes it to one side, and we'll get to it after a bit. All right.

44 Korah, I believe he was sincere in his act. I believe the man didn't--didn't mean to do wrong. I believe it was the ignorance of the man that didn't see the hand of God moving and know the Scriptures, and that's the reason he just brought it to reasoning.

45And that's just about ninety percent of the trouble today, that we try to inject into the program of God, our thinking. And we're not supposed to think, at all. He does our thinking. We're supposed to surrender our thinking to His will. You understand now?

46Korah, with good intent, went around with a false doctrine, telling these brothers, and showing them by reason, that God hadn't only blessed Moses, the prophet, the messenger, and had only blessed him, but, "The whole congregation was holy," he said, "and now the whole congregation has a right to do this, and the whole congregation has a right to do that." And so they got good man, Levites. Now, that is God's choice, which would be called today, "the ministers," Levite was the minister of the temple. Did not Moses call them down for it? And, here, he never went at it un-... irreverent. He told them to take censers, and put holy fire in it, and put the incense over the top of it, and to wave this holy incense, which was the command of God. And they come up to make a group of men to control the church, where God had commanded one man to do so.

47 And, when they did that, Moses fell on his face for he knew that God had commissioned him to that work. And God said, "Have them to bring those censers up here before the tabernacle." And so when they begin to wave their censers full of fire, and the incense going, God said to Moses and Aaron, "Separate yourself from them! Come out from among them!" For, later He called them "sinners, unbelievers."

48And sin is unbelief in the Word of God. You steal because you don't believe. You lie because you don't believe. You commit adultery because you don't believe. If you was a believer, you wouldn't do such. There's only two robes, that's either faith or unbelief, you're controlled by one or the other.

49Now, God, in the beginning, was the Word, and He was made flesh and dwelt among us. He was the Word, He is the Word! And when God dwells in you, it's the Word of God dwelling in you, where you can punctuate everything He says with an "Amen." That's God dwelling in you.

50 Now if you'll notice, these innocent man with censers in their hand, holy fire in their hand, God opened up the earth and swallowed them up, and separated them from Moses because Moses separated himself from them. And Moses warned the congregation, "Don't fool with that kind of a group. Get away from them!" Now, you know the Scriptures, read the 16th, 17th, 18th, even, chapter, and you'll find it. "Separate yourself from these sinners, unbelieving sinners. Come out from among them, for they're headed for destruction, and everything that they have." And when they... the earth fallowed and fell with these men holding this holy fire. Innocent men deceived by man.

51Same today! There's a many innocent men falling into the trap of tradition, holding the Holy Word in his hand, and supposingly to be preaching from It. I seen an expression come across a minister's face just then, a Methodist minister, was a Methodist minister till last Sunday night. And when he looked, I suppose it means a whole lot to you, brother, to be out.

52 Now, see, holding censers, fire burning sweet smelling savour before God, and those hands holding that, yet perished with the censer in their hand, because they were trying to do something in sincerity, yet, against the Word of God, trying to make an organization. Said, "You take too much upon yourself. Who are you to say that you've got all the Word of God?"

53They failed to see that Moses was the--the messenger of that hour. See, he had THUS SAITH THE LORD. There was nobody on earth like him. He had the Message, and the people failed to see It. And Moses was exactly with THUS SAITH THE LORD. Sure. All right.

54 Now we find the same thing today, good men, great men, precious men trying to preach the Word of God (in their hand) through some man-made tradition. Cutting out here, and cutting down here, and making it this, and "come join the church and change your membership," and spiritually die with that Word in their hand! See?

55They could not believe God's messenger or His Message of that day. They couldn't understand why a great God wouldn't work with a whole group of people, and just put it upon one man.

56How many of them have I talked today, "What will we do, Brother Branham? We know you're right, but what will we do? The organization will put us out, we'd have no other place to go." I feel sorry for them; but there is a Place. You say, "Well, we would starve to death."

57David said, "Once I was young, and now I'm old, and I've never seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed to beg bread."

58 That's exactly on the same basis that they refused Jesus. They were so wrapped up in their denomination, and holy priests and holy buildings, and holy churches and holy temples, they failed to see God in His human temple. "You, being a man, make yourself God." See, they were so wrapped up in it! These men were so wrapped up that Dathan and them were right. Nimrod was so wrapped up that he could achieve something that would take the people above the wrath of God. Adam was sure that if he covered his nakedness God couldn't see it. You can't cover it, God has to cover it. See? See? God's program covers it, not yours. It's always been that way, they fail to see Jesus in His temple, God manifested in flesh.

59Today it kind of makes me feel bad when I see that the Words of the Bible has been so cut up by traditions. And honest-hearted people who stand there and hear that Word, and they know It's the Truth, but they're daresn't to take a move, because their tradition teaches them different. Wash the pots and pans, then, brethren, go ahead. But for us, and for me and my house, we take Christ, the Word. See?

60 Let's take John 3 just a moment, Nicodemus, a master and ruler of a great denomination called the Sanhedrin. They had brought themselves together, and they made their traditions. The--the one of the Pharisees and one of the Sadducees, and they had their denomination then, their differences, and so they... This man was a master, a ruler of this great Sanhedrin, a marvelous man in teaching. He knowed the Scriptures, he thought. He knew it by their tradition. Did not Jesus say, "You have, by your tradition, made the Commandments of God of none effect"?

61See, because of their traditions! What is that? Placing their own interpretation upon the Word, instead of leaving It alone, what It says. They say it doesn't mean This. Did you notice, that's the same voice that the Devil used to Eve, to start the first organization, see. "Surely it would be this way. God wouldn't do that, you know." See, it's the same thing. It's the same thing today.

62 Now we notice this ruler came to Jesus. The first thing, now, he come in search of Eternal Life, he come in search of salvation. Yet, a man of his standing, a master in Israel, but a master in Israel come to a Man that we have no record ever had a day in school. An old aged man, old priest, sage, come to a young Fellow. Aristocrat they were, rich man come to a Beggar that didn't have a place to lay His head, to ask Him the way to salvation and Life. The first place, they of that Sanhedrin, so confessed Nicodemus, they had seen something in Jesus that other men of their organization didn't have. They seen that there was something in Him, because he said, "Rabbi, we know Thou." "We," yeah, they wouldn't confess it, because they'd get kicked out. See? "We know Thou art a Teacher come from God, for no man could do these things that You do except God be with him. We know that!" Oh, my! Organization!

63 Now, we notice that Jesus was a manifestation of God. Now, "No man can do these things except God be with him." They knowed that there was something different in that Man. He was the Light of the day. He was God's Witness.

64So did Korah see the same thing in Moses. They didn't have a man that day like Moses. He was God's Divine witness, of that day, to the power of God. Korah and his group saw it in Moses. They understood that it couldn't be Moses; Moses could not open up the Red Sea, Moses could not send plagues upon the earth. It was God in Moses, and, because God that represented Himself in a witness or a light of the day, they failed to see It. Korah wanted to make a whole group of men, bring in anything.

65 That's what the organization is good for, bring in every riff-raff there is, and call it "Christianity." Send a boy to school that knows no more about God than a Hottentot would know about an Egyptian night, send him over there and give him an education and learn him psychology, and give him a Ph.D., and a doctor degree or bachelor of art, or something or another like that. And send him away to preach the Gospel, that's never even been saved, that will deny the virgin birth and the resurrection, deny Divine healing, deny the Power of God, deny the very principles that Jesus died for, deny Mark 16 to being inspired, deny "these signs shall follow them that believe" when Jesus said the Words Himself, deny Acts 2:38, deny any of the rest of the Scriptures that's inspired. And try to take a tradition of man that they know nothing about, and harp on it. And when you tell them the Truth and show them the Truth, they're ashamed to move, because their organization.

66 Korah did the same thing. He seen God in Moses. He seen that it was God's Agent working through him. And Nicodemus saw God in Christ, "No man can do these things except God be with him." Nicodemus was already in the organization, trying to get out. Korah was out, trying to make one to get into. That was the different. Nicodemus was trying to find salvation, to get out of the thing; he had been in it since a boy, he was tired of it. He wanted to get saved. But Korah was trying to make him a--a place where he could be a big shot.

67 That's the way with the people today. That's the trouble with Christianity, we got so much false impersonations. And our Pentecostal people, excuse the expression, is lousy with it, carnal comparison! Let God raise up a man and give him something, and everybody in the country will try to impersonate that person. Don't you realize you're killing your own team? When you're playing football... "And the grace," as Paul would have put it, "let us run this race with patience." The man that's got the Ball, don't take it out of his hands, try to guard him. But instead of that, because he don't belong to your organization, you try to take It away from him. Some man that's so clumsy, he couldn't, he'd stumble over the flowers in a rug, and then try to take It away from you. That's right. Now, spiritual speaking, I mean. Excuse me, I... Well, he'll stumble over a little thing like Acts 2:38, he's sure to fall. If he ever stumbles over Mark 16, how is he going to make it? See? Very chief lessons of Christ. And the very thing that was discussed at the Nicaea Council, they still stumble over it after all these years.

68 Trying, Korah was trying to make an organization, to get into it. And Nicodemus had been in it, trying to get out of it. Nicodemus was accepted, and came out. Korah perished in it, in his effort, he perished in his own effort. Oh, my!

69The organization that Nicodemus was in, knew that Christ was sent of God, said so. Nicodemus, in the 3rd chapter here, confesses it, "Rabbi, we know that Thou art a Teacher sent from God, for no man can do these miracles that You do except God be with him." And the same group, because of their organization, called Him "Beelzebub," because of His power to cast out devils, and said, "He deceives our people by His Doctrine." It's the same thing today. Deceiving what?

70 Jesus said, "I only do that that pleases the Father, I only keep the Words of God," because He was the Word. He couldn't do nothing else but the Word.

71But, because of their organization, because of their way, they had men tied up. In their hearts they knew it, but their organization wouldn't let them keep it. Then, to make a way of escape, to keep the people from leaving the organization ("all men goeth after Him"), to keep the people from leaving the organization and following God's Truth (which He was Truth "I am the Truth, the Light"), to keep them from following That, they said that He was deceiving the people. Think of it! A Man, that in His heart knowed that He was God, that God was in Him ("no man can say these things, or do these things, unless God be with him"), knowing that and saying that and confessing that, and then turning around and calling Him "Beelzebub, and a deceiver of the people," their people, "by His Doctrine." Oh, my!

72 Nicodemus knew He was a Prophet. Now, that was one in the organization that loved God enough and feared God enough, and recognized by the Old Testament that this Man had the qualifications and was proven and vindicated, a Prophet sent from God. The man, I'll honor him if he did come by night, he got there. He's a lot better than a lot of our teachers today, they won't come at all. Nicodemus finally arrived. So, don't condemn him, if you haven't arrived yet. Nicodemus knew that He was a Prophet, so he feared God. He wouldn't let that Man get away from him, the Light of that day. No matter how much It was contrary, how much his organization said It was contrary, he seen God vindicating that Man and he knew He was a Prophet. And if He was a Prophet, the Word of the Lord comes to the prophet, and He knowed what He was talking about. See? So he went to Jesus, he wanted to know how to get salvation. If this Man was a Prophet, the Word of God was with Him, and He would know the way of salvation.

73 But what Nicodemus had to learn is what many people today, of the denominations of this day, has to learn. What Nicodemus ought to have knowed, is what the people today ought to have knowed, of these denominations. He was more than a Prophet. He come to Him to find, tell Him to tell him which a way to Life, and Jesus Himself was Life. He that has the Son has Life. So he didn't, mustn't come to try to learn a teaching, he must come to accept the Person. That's what it is tonight! The Chief Cornerstone is rejected again. What is the Chief Cornerstone? It's the Word, of course. Christ, He is the Word.

74He had to learn something. He thought, "Well, now, this Man is a Prophet, He's just a Prophet."

75 So, did you notice, Jesus never answered his question, He just rebuked him for his blindness. More than a Prophet, He was the Word and the shining Light of the Word! He was God shining through an instrumentality, proving that it was God in the Man. He was the Word. First John, the 1st chapter... Saint John, 1st chapter, rather, says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." And here was the Word of God shining through this little frail frame of a Man, and it blinded the organization. But He come to get individuals. More than a Prophet, He was the Word! He is Life. Not... He didn't have to teach you of some Life to come, He was that Life Himself! He was Life. He was Light. He was Life. He was Eternal Life, was in Him, and He alone is the Giver of Eternal Life. "He that has the Son has Life." So you have... you can't just have the Word teaching of Him, you've got to have Him.

76 You say, "Oh, people sit down and learn that Bible and all the Greek words, and what the definitions are, and the punctuations, and so forth." And know no more about God than nothing! See? No! He that has--he that has the--the--the form, he that has the plan? It's he that has the Son, that has Him, the Person. He's the One that has Life.

77Nicodemus knew that He knew about Life, but he never knew that He was Eternal Life. That's what the Man that he was talking to, the Messenger, the Light of the day, the Light of the world. "The Light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. He was sent to His Own and His Own received Him not." Why? Why? Because they were so organized, set-up with washing pots and pans, and traditions, that they failed to see the Word made flesh.

78 It's repeated. It's repeated again. History repeats itself every so often. Yes, he knew that He had--He knew about Life, but Nicodemus didn't know that He was Life. That's what it is today. So many people try to make Jesus, oh, a great Teacher, they even try to say He was a Prophet. But when you try to say He was God, that's too much. See? But He was God, and He is God, and He always will be God. That's all. That's right.

79Notice, He never told Nicodemus, now, when he come to Him, He never said, "Now, Nicodemus, I have great respects for you, that you are a--a--a master in Israel. I'll tell you what, you're searching Eternal Life, perhaps you ought to polish up on your scholarship. You don't say your words right." Nonsense. "Or, maybe you ought to seek a higher office in your denomination, to have Eternal Life."

80That's what so many people have tried to do today, uh-huh, a higher office, they want to become from a--a pastor to a state presbyter, or--or to some bishop or something like that. That has no more to do with God than nothing.

81 Watch what He did before such a person. He rebuked him for his not knowing the hour he was living, "You mean to tell Me that you're a master in Israel and can't understand these things, when," He said, "a man's got to be born again?"

82"Why," he said, "me an old man, enter into my mother's wombs?"

83He said, "And you are a bishop, a cardinal, a state presbyter in the Pentecostal church," or somebody else, "some great guy in the organization, and you don't know the Scripture?"

"Oh, we got Moses."

84"If you would have knowed Moses, you would have knowed Me, because he was the one that spoke of Me." See? But not according to their traditions, their--their organization, that was different. But Moses did speak of Him, and He was that One that Moses spoke of, and yet they didn't know it. Why? They got theirself so bound down with traditions, they didn't know it.

85 And my brethren that read, that takes this tape, don't turn it off now. Just a minute, let's look this thing right in the face. I love you, you're a shepherd. And I'm not trying to be a know-it-all. If I'm making that impression, then you stop the tape and pray for me. I'm only trying to bring to you something that's True. Don't let it get by you.

86Now, I respect the order of man, and so forth, but when you make these organizations... Look at the Pharisees, would have nothing to do with the Sadducees, because the Sadducees didn't believe in--in neither angel or--or spirit, or resurrection, or anything, and the Pharisees possessed both, and they were at war with one another. Now the oneness believes one thing, the trinity believes another, and the Methodist another, and the Presbyterian another, and you draw little lines. And what have you got? A separation of brotherhood. By way, we'll find that place in the Bible in just a little bit, what it is, and what God says it is.

87 Now, no, He never told him to polish up. He was just rebuking him for not knowing the real thing. "Art thou a master in Israel, and know not these things? If I have told you earthly things, and you can't understand it..." Think! "A master, a high order in an orthodox church, bishop, cardinal, and you can't even understand the baby form of natural things that I tell you, how are you going to understand spiritual things from Heaven?"

88But an ignorant old fisherman who couldn't even write his own name, understood It, see, and was made the head of the church at Jerusalem, Peter. See? Oh, "All the Father has given Me, he will come." See? They see It. They believe It. They act on It, knowing nothing's going to hold them.

89 Just like the farmer. It's not pleasant to put a joke, but to make an illustration. They said a farmer set a hen, and they didn't have enough eggs, he put a duck egg under it. When the little duck was hatched, he was the funniest-looking thing them chickens ever saw. He had a long funny face, and he went along quacking instead of clucking, and--and the chickens all eat and pecked in the barnyard. And that wasn't his diet, exactly. So one day the old hen led him out behind the barn, to catch some grasshoppers, and over the hill was a--a lake. And the wind happened to come up off the lake, and he smelt the water. It's just his nature. The old hen said, "Cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck, come back!"

90He said, "Quack, quack, quack," right to the water. Why? He was a duck, to begin with. No matter how much the hen clucked, he was still a duck.

91 And that's the way it is of a man that's predestinated to Eternal Life. When he sees the Light of God, there ain't enough organizations in the world to cluck him back into it. No. Why? It's his nature. He might have been dieting with them a long time, and eating their trash and socials, but he comes to a place he's found something different, so he knows it. "My sheep know My Voice," said Jesus, "a stranger they'll not follow." They might be following something strange, but down in them there's something different. Let them hear the Truth one time, and watch them. "All the Father has given Me will come."

92 Yeah, He rebuked him for not knowing. "Thou art a master in Israel, and know not these things? You must be born again!" Now, the natural man, I want to... you notice something here, "You must be born again."

93Now, natural life, if we have natural life, in order to be active in this natural life, in natural things, we have to have a natural birth. They don't just jerk you off of a tree somewhere, see, stick you out some way. They tried it, but it didn't work. It's got to be an actual birth, natural birth, to make you active so you can have the five senses, walk, talk, see, taste, feel, smell, hear, move around, so forth, because you're then a human being, and you're--you're subject to all these things because they go into the natural life.

94 And, in such a birth, sometimes we become very wise in worldly wisdom or the affairs of the world, become Presidents and--and great scholars, and master mechanics and scientists, and so forth. And you always know, from the very beginning, it was Cain's children that had that kind of wisdom; not Seth's, they were humble sheepman. But Seth's children were godly people. But Cain's children was always smart, high, science, doctors and great man. That's right. The Bible said so, you know, That teaches that. And very religious, but perished at the end. We become wise by going to school, taking scholarship, and so forth, we become very wise, smart, and can do things and say things, and sometimes out-talk a man that's Spirit-filled. Didn't Jesus say, "The children of this world is wiser than the children of the Kingdom"? Sure, 'cause they, by their intellects that they can--can talk and outsmart and outtalk, and take the Scriptures and twist It to make It say things that It doesn't.

95 "Oh, It doesn't exactly mean that." When a man says that, get away from him. God watches over His Word, you know, the Bible said. It's wrote just the way It should be. See? Now, It's put in such a way to deceive, or to make the wise stumble over It. It's so simple, that's the reason they stumble over It. See? All right.

96All this wisdom and things that they can accumulate, yet, but it is from... that birth is from beneath, this earth. It's from the earth, and it is against the Spirit of God. The first birth, to make us active here, makes us mortal man, because of the sin act at the garden, made man come into the world by a woman. And a man that is born of a woman is of a few days, but a man that is born of Christ is Eternal. Job said, "A man that's born of woman is few days and full of trouble." Notice, but a man that's born of Christ, has to be born from Above. Now, but a man that's born of the earth, become wise and can almost outsmart.

97 Look how shrewd the Devil was, he fooled every priest that come on the earth. He sure did. He fooled, he's still doing it. Yeah, sure did. He was smart, but he come up against his match, one day, Who defeated him. And the only thing we have to do is just lay against Him, He's already defeated him. See?

98But is from beneath, and it, this wisdom that man accumulate to prove and show all these things why man should do this and man should do that, is contrary and enmity (the carnal mind) to God. The Scripture said so. Right. No matter how smart, they can twist it around. I want somebody to show me where God ever had an organization or ever commanded one, but what condemns it here in the Bible. No matter how smart they can try to be, it's contrary! How the wisdom can stand and outargue to you, and make you feel that little by telling you about it, but it's contrary to the Scriptures.

99 Somebody said to me, "Brother Branham, there's one thing I got against you." Said, "You're Jesus Only."

I said, "I am not. I don't belong to any organization."

100A presbyter of a certain state sent, the other day, and said, "Someone told me you were Jesus Only, Brother Branham."

I said, "That is contrary. That is wrong."

101Said, "They told me that you believe in free love, that men should leave their wives and hunt..." Now, see, that's just lies of the Devil. You know that.

102I said, "I absolutely am against such unscriptural things! I believe in holiness and purity. I believe that man is bound to his wife as long as they live." You shouldn't take her without praying first.

103 And Jesus Only, the Jesus Only group, nothing against them, they're just as good as any group, to me. But they baptize wrong, they baptize to regeneration. I believe that we're regenerated by the Holy Spirit, not by water. I do use the Name of Jesus Christ in baptism, and there's not another Scripture in the Bible to back... to make it contrary. There was nobody in the Bible ever baptized in the name of "Father, Son, Holy Ghost." I want somebody to come show me one place one person was baptized like that. Then, if it's unscriptural, quit doing it!

You say, "It doesn't make any difference."

104It did to Paul. He commanded them to be baptized over again, in the Name of Jesus Christ, and then receive the Holy Ghost. And Paul said, "If an angel from Heaven," Galatians 1:8, "come, taught any other Gospel," than that he had taught, "let him be accursed."

105 See, it's tradition. I talked to a great man not long ago. Said, "Brother Branham, I can't. I know That's right," he said, "but what can I do about It?"

I said, "Obey It!"

He said, "Why, I--I have a prestige amongst our people."

106I said, "But I want a prestige with God, so obey His Word. You've got to take your choice, will you serve God or man?"

107But they get their organization, set these declarations in them, follow right down. The first time that was ever used was in the Roman Catholic church. That's right. I want somebody that'll show me something different. I read history, too, you know. So remember, that's a Catholic baptism, and everyone that's baptized that way is baptized into the Catholic fellowship. I'll prove it before the night's over, if the Lord willing. That's right. That's the reason you must come back.

108Not the Jesus Only. Now, there's plenty of fine man in the Jesus Only church. Plenty of fine man in the Assemblies of God, the Church of God, Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, and Catholic. But there's none of them the Church, not a one of them. There's individuals in there belongs in the Church. But it ain't that denomination they got that makes them the Church, like men try to make it that way. It's wrong. Just a minute we get down giving you some Scripture in a few moments.

109 Yes, to be active on earth, you have to be born natural to be active, and such a birth makes us wise as I have said. See? And we become smart, intelligence, our intellects gives us that. But remember that that birth, the very beginning of it, is contrary. It's earthly and contrary to the Word of God, foolish to God and to His plan, ignorant to God's plan. If it wasn't, Nicodemus would have knowed more than Jesus knowed about It. See? "Art thou a master in Israel?" See? See where your denominations go, where your great smart man who meet together and draw up their plans, and set?

110 Let me tell you this. Every time God sends a Light on the earth, on something on the Scripture, they run right away with it. And as soon as that man's gone, they make an organization out of it. And as soon as they organize it, I want to ask any historian (here present now, or it's on tapes) to come show me. At any time that man ever organized a church, it died right there and never did raise again. It's contrary to God. It's contrary to the Scriptures. Therefore I'm against it, anything that God's against. If God's in me, then I'm against what God's against. His enemy is my enemy. His Church is my Church. His Life is my Life. He gave His Life, He become me that I through His grace might become like Him. See? We changed places. He become a sinner like me and died for me, in my place, so that I could be a son of God like He was.

111 Now you see where your denominations has got to already? (We ain't started.) Wise in the worldly wisdom but dead to God's plan! Now let's view back, stop here just a moment.

112Adam was contrary to God's plan, 'cause he had disobeyed the Word. Tried to make hisself a covering, a religion. It failed, and it's always failed, what man tries to do. Nimrod was wrong. Korah perished. What were they trying to do? Make an organization.

113And after that, when they finally organized themselves, Jesus found them, dead! Said, "You got eyes and you can't see. You got ears and you can't hear." See? Said, "You're blind, leading the blind. If the blind leads the blind, don't they both fall in the ditch?" He said, "Thou art a master in Israel, and can't even understand what the new birth is? When, if you would have kept away from them traditions, and held onto the Word, you'd have knowed that I was coming to give men new birth. You'd have knowed My day. If you'd have knowed Moses, you'd have knowed Me. Moses spoke of Me and he said I would come, and here I am! And if I don't do the things that Moses and the prophets said I would do, then don't believe Me. If I don't do the works of God, then don't believe Me. But if you can't believe Me, being a Man, and if You can't believe Me because I'm a Man and doing the works of God, believe the works for they testify of the thing that I'm doing." See?

114 But then, as today, if He had lived on earth today, the Assemblies of God would have one, the Oneness would have one, and everybody would have a Jesus. Sure, their denomination's got to pack the ball. See? If it isn't going, then they're not. Separating brotherhood.

115I remember a little boy named "Little David." He's a man, married now, I guess got a family. I remember when he first started. I went to St. Louis. I've heard of little boy preachers, that he'd get up there and say, "Jesus, a little boy, born in a manger. Mommy, what was the rest of that?" But not that little boy. He throwed off his coat, took a text and preached. But what was he? He happened to be a Jesus Only. His father, Mr. Walker, belonged to Jesus Only. Why, the Assemblies couldn't stand that. They had to get them a little David. Why, the rest of them had to get them a little David. And one time when the little boy was holding a meeting down in Florida, he called for me to come down and help him. And Brother Moore and I read the two pages of the front part of the paper, with nothing but little Davids, every church had a little David. Oh, goodness! Why, if a bunch of the elders of God had have recognized the gift in that little fellow, he would have swept thousands of souls into the Kingdom, see, till he forget his tradition about man and this like that. God had a gift in his life, use it!

116 When Divine healing was first represented, everybody had a feeling in their hands and could smell diseases. And, oh, my! Why? They had to do it, their organization was in the back race. See, you've got your organizations ahead of the plan of God, you think it is. But God has His Church going on just the same, a mystical Body. You don't join That, you're born in It.

117Wise in wisdom of the world, but dead in God's plans. Tell me, then. Tell me, then. You can tell them and prove to them that they are wrong, by God's Word and promise, and still they won't see it. I can set right down and take the Word and show you that denomination is wrong. I can show you that creeds that you have today is wrong, see, these church creeds. Show it's wrong, and they'll say, "Well, we've been taught to believe this." You see, to my opinion, it's--it's fodder, if you know what I'm talking about, cannon fodder. Yeah, that's right. They can't see. Jesus said, "You, you--you can't see, that you might come to Me and have Life."

118 There was Nicodemus, an honorable man, a great man, a bishop in his church, renown man, loved by everybody, and come to Jesus and knowed no more about life than--than nothing did. He was very ignorant of It when Jesus rebuked him for it, but he was sincere enough to come. The rest of them wouldn't even come. They stood off with the high priests and with the Bishop So-and-so and So-and-so. See? They stood off with them, rather taking their traditions of their elders than to hear the Word of God.

119 Now, you can tell them, they won't listen to it. You can just exactly... Could you imagine... I want to ask you something. I don't mean this sacrilegious. Now, brethren listening to the tape, I don't mean this sacrilegious. Could you imagine me going out here, and--and a knot on the tree could ask me, "How in the world do you walk around like you do? I got life, I'm a knot on this tree"? He can prove he's got life, but it's the wrong kind. If he wants to walk around, the only way he'd ever be walk around, see, taste, feel, smell and hear, if he could talk and say to me and ask that, the only way, he'd have to be born the same way that I'm born. Amen. He'll never understand it any other way. But if he's born the same way that I'm born, then he'll know the things that I know. Amen. Oh, my! Yes, sir. You can't tell a knot on the tree how we move about and be active, it would have to receive our kind of life to understand it. Same with the Spirit! The same thing is with the Spirit, or you can't understand It. There's no need of trying to figure It all out, just come to Him first. For, "Except a man be born again, he can't even see the Kingdom," He said, that's, "understand It." You've got to be born again in order to know It.

120 Well, you say, "I'm born again." And deny the Word? How can you be? Your own life gives you vindication of it, your own group that you're joined with, birds of a feather. See? Wait till we get down to those things in a few minutes, see.

121Comes by the Spirit. How can you tell people things of the Spirit that's not born of the Spirit? You have to be born of the Spirit to understand the things of the Spirit. The... Jesus said, "The wind bloweth where it listeth, thou cannot tell which way it comes or where it goes." See? So is everyone born of the Spirit, they can't tell you. A man that's born of the Spirit don't take no thought, he lets God do the thinking.

122 Do you think I could stand on the platform here, take a thought and tell a man back there, "His name is John Doe and he come from so-and-so a place, he done this. And he married another woman back there, twenty years ago, and he had children by this woman. He has to take this thing back, and do that," do you think, taking thought, I could do that? [Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.] No such wisdom in this birth here on earth for that. It's beyond that. It has to come from Above. Then when you're born of the Spirit, Above, the Life that was in Him Who did do those things, said, "The works that I do, shall you do also."

123 Your birth has to be changed. You've been deceived. You might have spoke in tongues, you might have jumped up and down, you might have shouted, you might have done all this, that, the other, you might have been a--a loyal member. So was Nicodemus, see, but he lacked the birth. And when you deny the Word, try to place It somewhere else and do something to It, and scatter It away like that. Then Jesus said, "These signs shall follow them that believe. Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature." Long as the Gospel's being preached, these signs shall follow. Tell me the place where He ever took it away from the church. Show me the Scripture where He said, ever said, "just for so long." He said, "Unto all the world and to every creature!"

124 Yes, you'd have to receive the kind of Life that He had, in order to live His Life. And when you see His Life, then you will know His Word. That's right. "When He," personal pronoun, not a thought, not an imagination, not a sensation, but "when He, the Holy Ghost, is come, He will take these things that I've told you, and reveal them to you, and will show you things that is to come." That's the birth. That's the vindication that It is Word. And when a man says he's got the Holy Ghost, and deny the Word of God and place It somewhere else, how can the Holy Ghost deny His Own Word? Now show me an organization in the Word. There you are. See? All right.

125 Could you think of a businessman... Now here's how far our church is behind. Could you think of a businessman that started up a business down here, it's a... it's really a thriving business, and he's got to get some help right quick, and he'd go to a bunch of dead men, corpses, and saying, "Would you come work for me?" They'd be no benefit to him.

126That's the reason the organization never rises again. See? A bunch of dead unbelief congregating themselves together like Nimrod, like Korah, like down through the age. How can... He never did use it, never did use an organization. He can't do it. It's already out of the will of God, it's passed beyond that. It's out of reach, it's out of search.

127 How could you go to a man that couldn't move, paralyzed head, hand and foot, tell him you want him run a foot race for you, run this race with patience, lay aside... See? How could he do it when the man can't move, he's paralyzed? You've got to get the paralytic off of him, first, then he can run.

128That's what the organization needs, is a Divine healing. Oh, my! I hope I don't find... sound critical. See, I'm not criticizing, but if a nail isn't clinched it pulls out easy. See? That's why the Holy Spirit can't use a denomination. As soon as it...

129 Remember, I believe that Martin Luther had the Holy Spirit. Absolutely. Maybe not in the portion It is today, 'cause It wasn't given out. We've been through this, you people of the tabernacle, here on the blackboard. But he did believe to God, "and he that believeth has everlasting Life." I never thought there was a person believed that like me, till this morning, I heard Charles Fuller as I was going down. He believes, too, that the new birth is not the baptism of the Holy Ghost. The new birth is being born. The Holy Ghost is the baptism. See? All right.

130 Now we find that this man has got to be born again in order to be active. All right, to be born of the flesh, then you have wisdom of the world. And wisdom of the world obeys its fleshly teacher. Right. That's exactly why a man that don't have the new birth, and tell him the Word of God, they'll obey their bishop, their presbyter or their organization, instead of the Word of Life. Why? It knows nothing else but that. "Why, you know, someday I might be a presbyter." Why, Nicodemus was a master. That was beyond a presbyter, that was beyond a--a--a pastor, that was beyond, that was a master in Israel. See? Yes, and he was a great man, he belonged to this group and knowed no more about God than nothing. See? All he knowed was some history.

131 What good's a historical God if He isn't the same today? What's good is the God of Moses if He isn't the same God today? What's good of a God that could save a man on a cross that couldn't save one the same condition today? As I've always said, "What good does it do to give your canary bird good seeds and vitamins, to make him have good strong wings and fine feathers, and put him in a cage?" I don't get it. Try to tell him about a God of power and things, and stick him into an organization that don't even believe in such a thing. See? It's all out. That's the reason it fails, he's dead. You can't use it. God never used it.

132Just think, the Holy Spirit never did, at any time, use an organization, nowhere Scripture or nowhere historical. If anybody on this tape, or present, can show me where the Holy Spirit took an organization and made a move in the earth, come tell me. I want you to tell me the history book it come from. You know it's not in the Scripture, so I want you to show me the history it come from. God never used anything like that. He uses an individual, always.

133 All right, to be born of the Spirit. Now, to be born of the flesh, and have wisdom of the world, the wisdom will obey its fleshly teacher. To be born of the Spirit is to believe and obey the teaching of the Bible, by the Holy Ghost. And a man that's born of the Spirit will obey God's Word regardless of what any tradition tells him. It's just it. You are reborn, that's the reason you see. To belong to an organization, put all your hopes in that...

134Now, I don't say people in the organization is not born again. Now, I'll get to that in a few minutes, the Lord willing. Sure, they are, but they're individuals. Not the organization is born again; the individuals in there are born again. But the organization only breaks him away from God, that's all it does, separates you. All right. Regardless of the flesh, denomination teaches the flesh, it's always contrary to the will of God.

135 To be born again means be "birthed from Above." Again means "from Above." I guess you know that, see. To be born again means to be "birthed from Above." Now, you'll see, you can study it if you want to, the lexicon. See, means "a birth that's come from Above." Because, you've been born here, now to be born again you have to be born from up Here, to be born again. Then that Kingdom is so much higher than this kingdom, so much greater than this kingdom, till this kingdom is foolish to That, and That's foolish to this.

136 As I've often said, me and my wife here not long ago went over to get some groceries, along a few months ago, and we seen a woman that had on a skirt. And it was the strangest thing we'd ever seen in a long time.

137Well, this morning, I don't say this sacrilegious, I heard one of the great famous organizations. And my daughter and I was listening to the radio as we went to dedicate a church. And a song they sang, some kind of a something another by So-and-so, some of that classical singing that sounds to me like women holding their breath till they're blue in the face, and then think that's singing. That's squeaking. I like good old pentecostal singing, right from your heart. You couldn't carry a tune in a coal bucket, but yet you're singing, making a joyful noise to the Lord. I think that's spiritual. I like it. But that holding your breath till you're just blue in the face, and die away and then come back, who... You don't even know yourself what you're singing. How you expect anybody else to know? That's it. Jesus said, "We speak them things we know." That's right. That's right. What we ought to do is sing what we know in our heart, what we feel.

138 And when they got through, my daughter studies music, and she said, "Brother," she said, "that was really a classic."

139I said, "Yes, but how many out of that choir of about fifty people do you think that had cigarettes on their breath? How many of that choir you think, last night being Saturday night, didn't have a little social drink? How many women in there had bobbed hair? How many had paint on, when the pastor of the church said a few days ago, 'God made a prettier world when He invented paint'"? When, we know that there's one woman in the Bible painted her face, and God fed her to the dogs. And we, anybody that knows anything about the church and about heathens, knows that paint is a heathen trait, always been. And, yet, women do it. And man smoking, drinking, carrying-on. And standing there and sing, voices like that. We'll get to it in a few minutes right here. All right. Belong to an organizational thinking, when, there's going to be the disappointment at Judgment, in my opinion.

140 To be born of the Spirit, is to believe and behave yourself in the Spirit, is to understand and believe with your heart that Jesus is Christ and This is His Word, that no other words can be added to It or taken away from It without your name taken out of the Book of Life. That was a strong one. If you add one thing to It, in your tradition, or take one thing from It, well, Christ said, Himself, "Your name shall be rubbed off the Book of Life." Now, find organization, denomination in the Bible. You'll run from it! All right. Regardless of the flesh, denomination teaching is contrary to the Bible. Yeah. Born again means "a new Birth from Above; birthed from Above." Then we are active in the things from Above. Oh, my! For It is Himself acting in His Word through you, His branch, to the Vine.

141 That's the reason Jesus said, "If I do not the works of My Father, believe Me not." Oh, certainly! He said, "No man has ascended up to Heaven but He that come down from Heaven." Watch Him fix Nicodemus here, when Nicodemus... You know, they thought, Him being a Man, He couldn't be God. And He said, and there He said, "No man has ascended up to Heaven but He that came down from Heaven, even the Son of man which is now in Heaven." That was too much for him. How could He, the Son of man, come down from Heaven; come down from Heaven; was the same that ascended up to Heaven; and the same One that's standing here on top of this house, talking to Nicodemus, was now in Heaven? Well, he ought to have seen that it was God. He's omnipresent, everywhere! See? But he, in his traditions, didn't know that. He wasn't spiritual-minded. The carnal mind, and couldn't catch it.

He says, "Who does man say I the Son of man am?"

"Some says, well, 'He's the Son of David.'"

142He said, "Then why did David in the Spirit call Him 'Lord,' say, 'The Lord said unto my Lord, "Sit Thou on My right hand, till I make Thy foes a footstool"'?" How that He is both Root and Offspring of David; He was before David, He was David, and after David. See? "He is the Root and Offspring of David," the Bible said so, both Root and Offspring of David. How could He be His Son then? How could He be His Lord? The Bible said, "From henceforth they asked Him nothing." I guess it was a good thing, too. Yes, sir. All right.

143 Born again from Above. Then we are active, active in things from Above, and, for His Life is in us, which is His Word vindicating the Word Itself. The Spirit that's in you is the Word made flesh in you. The Spirit minds the Word, and is active in vindicating the Word.

144Now, the Spirit is not active in any denomination. It's not interested in making organization, because the Spirit Itself is contrary to the organization. The organization are looking for worldly things, the mind of the world, and they make big temples and polished things, and great polished organizations, polished preachers, and so forth like that, and the best class in the city. Where, the Spirit is trying to find honest hearts where the Spirit is anxious to manifest and prove that every Word of God is True. How can you, how can the Spirit work in an organization when it's denying, taking creeds instead of the Word? Can't do it. So, you see, it's dead. God don't go to them kind of places to find His, a--a group of man to work for Him, 'cause they're already dead. They're unbelievers in the Word, or wouldn't be in there. See? Now, we are active in the things from Above. Now, the Spirit minds the Word. Now, that's right, 'cause the Spirit gives the Word Life. See? "The letter killeth; the Spirit giveth Life."

145 Now, I was coming up today, looking at the great beautiful trees out over the forest, the big hills, brown, yellow, evergreen dotted in them. I said, "You know what that is?" I said, "We just had death, and God has put His bouquet out, sticking them up on the hills. It's the funeral flowers. The life has gone back into the dust. God's just buried all of His seeds out of the flowers and things, buried them back, and He's just bloomed out His bouquet. He's looking up over the earth because it's funeral flowers. But when the sun rises again, that seed shall take life again." Amen. All right.

146The Spirit is interested in vindicating the Word. And if you accepted tradition instead of the Word... Now, you say, "Well, we believe It all, but, Brother Branham, I know we don't believe This." Then right there's where you stop.

147 Chaplain told me one time that he... that a--a captain said, or I believe it was a major, said, "Chaplain, go over there, there's a captain dying. He's been machine-gunned."

148He went over there, and the captain was struggling. They pulled him into a Red Cross tent, and he said, "Captain."

149He looked up through the gurgles of blood, and he said, "Yes, sir." And he said, "You're the chaplain."

"Yes." He said, "You're dying, captain."

He said, "I know it."

He said, "Are you a Christian?"

He said, "I used to be."

150Said, "Where did you leave Him, captain?" He said, "You'll find Him right where you left Him." Correct.

Captain said, "I can't think."

151The chaplain said, "You'd better, you haven't got but about a couple more minutes, the way you're struggling." Mouth coming open, the blood coming from his mouth and ears, and machine gun bullets across him. Said, "You'd better hurry, your lungs are filling up."

152And the captain begin to wander, laying there as he struggled. A smile come over his face, said, "I know now."

Said, "Where did you leave Him? Start right there."

153He said, "'Now I lay me down to sleep.'" That's where he left Him, that's where he finds Him.

154When your organization teaches something contrary to the Word, you leave Him right there. Come right back, because He's active in vindicating and making that Word true. That's what Jesus was, always doing the will of the Father. See? All right.

155 So, see, Nicodemus' organization understanding meant nothing to God. Now, no matter if he was a big shot, as we call it, in the organization, a master in Israel, all of his learning and understanding didn't mean that [Brother Branham snaps his finger--Ed.] when he stood before Christ, only a rebuke to him. Now, I imagine all the people say, "Holy father, Nicodemus. Holy father, Nicodemus. We bow to you, sir." But when Jesus, he stood before God, He rebuked him for his ignorance. So, you see what all that goes to, forget it! Come on, let's go to God. That's right. All right.

156Neither did Korah's great understanding mean anything, or Adam's, each denying God's vindicated Message. Now let's listen close now, we're going to get in some high waters in a minute. See, each one of them, the reason that they got in trouble, Nicodemus, Korah, Nimrod, and so forth, is because they didn't recognize God's messenger with the vindicated Word of that day. Now, anyone knows that. Now, we could stay on that a long time. But God predicts and says a certain thing will take place; man makes organizations, gets man set just exactly. They believed there was a coming Messiah. Oh, them Jews, oh, my, sure! But when Jesus come the way He did, they said, "That can't be Him." They fail to understand the Word. Now, Jesus didn't come contrary to the Word (did He?), but He come contrary to the organization interpretation of the Word. Moses didn't come contrary to the Word, he come exactly with the Word; but Korah failed to see it. And all down through it's been that way.

157 Now look. This Message of the day just can't be something saying "we got the Truth and we got this, that," it has to be foretold in His Word! And then after the Word is brought forth, it has to be properly vindicated by the Word.

158Jesus was properly vindicated of God, by the Word. He said, "If you'd have knowed Moses, you'd have knowed of My day." Well did the prophets speak of Him, well all the prophets said what He was. And yet it blinded them, they couldn't understand it. See? But Jesus was... Now don't...

159I want to say this for the tape, and for you, too. See, the messenger with the Message of the day!

160 Now, if you go, the Seventh-day Adventist say, "We got her, just keep the Sabbath!" You show me that in the Scriptures. Miss Eddie Baker said she had it. Show it to me. Jehovah Witness said they had it. Show it to me. See? Methodist say they got it. Show it to me. Baptist say they got it. Show it to me. Show me any organizations. I'm proving to you that they're, every one, out of the will of God. Every one of them contrary, teaching traditions of man instead of the Word of God. I don't know a one of them that would accept the things that's really written in the Bible the way It is. That's right. But when somebody comes by and said, "I got the Message of the day," he must properly be seen first and foretold to come.

161When John the Baptist walked out there, they said, "Are you the Christ?"

He said, "I'm not."

Said, "Are--are--are you the Elijah?"

He said, "I am not."

He said, "Who are you?"

162He could identify himself, he had the Message of the hour. He said, "I'm the voice of one crying in the wilderness, as said the prophet Isaiah. Now, if my birth and life didn't compare with that, don't--don't receive me."

163 When Jesus come, was the same thing, same thing. The messenger with the Message, must be a foretold Message by God. And then God, speaking through this messenger, vindicates that it's the Truth. Do you hear it? Do you understand it? Understand it! It must first be THUS SAITH THE LORD, foretold. And then the messenger with the Message, must be exactly what God said would take place at that time.

164That's the way Moses was. That's the reason he fell on his face before God, and said, "God, You sent me."

He said, "Separate yourself from that bunch."

165See what I mean? It's always been the thing that twisted man's mind, got them off the will of God. Now remember, foretold by His Word and properly vindicated by His Word. Now, Jesus said, "If I do not the works, that of God, then don't believe Me. See, if I miss... Say, who of you can condemn Me of sin? Who of you can show Me that I'm an unbeliever?"

166 Nicodemus said, "We know You're... Rabbi, You come from God, 'cause nobody could do those things 'less God was with him." See? So it showed he was a believer.

167Now, we who know church history. Now put on your thinking caps. It's not late yet, see, so just listen real close now and I'll try to be just quick as I can. I--I want... Listen close to the tape. Now, anyone who's ever read church history, knows that the first time that Christianity was ever organized, was the Roman Catholic church. Now, if there's any times before that, I want somebody to bring the history and show me. I'm a bosom friend of Paul Boyd, many great historians. I've got in my study there, The Post Nicene Council, The Nicene Council, The Nicene Fathers, all the sacred writings of the church, that I know of. Thirty-three years I've studied them, looked over them. There was never an organization. The Catholic church is the mother of organization. We know that that's the truth. Never was the church organized, had a denomination, until the Catholic church. And the word catholic means "universal." And they've made a state-church religion, and made it over all the dominion of Rome, and it had about the--the best part of the world conquered at that time. It was the state church, and those who would not obey it was put to death. The Nicaea Council, fifteen days of bloody battle, when real prophets of God, when they stood up there on those...

168 The Catholic church, why it first started, why, we all know it, I've taught it here. How, really, Aquila and Priscilla was the pastor, Aquila was the pastor of--of the Roman church. When the Holy Ghost fell on Pentecost, it fell on the Jews out of every nation under heaven. But a few days after that, Peter had a vision on the housetop, to go up to Cornelius', a Roman, a just man, and he prayed and the Holy Ghost fell on him. After a while the dignitaries begin to receive it. Aquila and Priscilla went into--into Rome and they organized, or, never organized, but set in order the first Roman church. And, when they did, they had their--their brethren and sisters.

169 And Claudius, in his reign, excommunicated all Jews from Rome. And that's the very time that the Roman Catholic church said Peter was in Rome. Show me one Scripture where Peter ever was in Rome, or any history that says he was. He wasn't, according to the Word of God, and That's what I believe. And how could Peter, a Jew, ever put up with idolatry and stuff that they have, of worshipping idols and things? Where... See? How would he go against his own teaching here? Nonsense. No more than that than the Protestant is too. Wait, we'll get to it after a while, by and by, the Lord willing. Notice. Notice now, we find out that the very time that the church says that Peter was in Rome, the history says that Claudius (and the Bible said also) had ordered all Jews out of Rome.

170 And Paul passed through Ephesus and come to the upper coasts there, he finds these disciples, and there he had been up there visiting Aquila and Priscilla. After their going away, then the Roman brethren in this church begin to form their own ideas, and they added idolatry. And then in Constantine, which his mother was a real Christian and hoped her boy would be, but he was a politician. And he saw that most of Rome, or a big part of it, of the poor class, had already accepted salvation through Christ. And then they were begin to come very popular, because they were taking down Venus and putting up Mary, and taking down Jupiter and putting up Peter, and so forth like that and--and the disciples, and it was a very popular religion. And they were gallant. They, them Christians would die!

171 And the Catholic church said, "We were the beginning." That's exactly the truth, the Catholic church begin at the Day of Pentecost. But here's what got her out, she organized and injected (from the Word) dogmas. And the latest dogma, you people over ten years old can remember the latest dogma, the ascension of Mary, about ten years ago. Another dogma added to the church. Instead of Scripture, it's dogma! And they'll give you to understand right now, they "don't care what the Scripture says, it's what the church says."

They, that priest told me, said, "God is in His church."

I said, "God is in His Word."

172He said, "Well, that Bible is just a history of the early Catholic church."

173I said, "Then I'm an early Catholic." I said, "That makes me more a Catholic than you, being a priest." See? I said, "If that's it, then I am that." I said, "You see, I believe exactly what the apostles taught. You believe what man has injected into it." And that's exactly the way it went. Sure, it was. It went that, exactly that way.

174 Now notice history. Then they begin to add dogmas, dogma. And when Paul came over, we know, according to history, that he did not even visit that first church, because he could not stand idolatry. And he visited the second church which they had established, second church of Rome.

175And when that Nicaea Council come, where Constantine seen the idea to unite his kingdom. The very same thing Ahab did with Jezebel, marrying down there. See? And when he seen a chance to unite his people and make a great powerful nation out of it, he thought they'd get their religion, so he made them a church-state religion. And when they had that Nicaea Council, and these questions come up whether there was one God, or three; whether they should baptize in the Name of Jesus Christ, or Father, Son and Holy Ghost; all these other questions brought to--to a showdown in there. And, when it did, some of them old prophets come up out there with nothing but sheepskin wrapped around them, and eating herbs. Right! But them big dignitaries had already worked their way in the church, shut them up with worldly wisdom. But they had THUS SAITH THE LORD. She went into pagan darkness for about a thousand years.

176But she broke forth again, to bloom. That's right. You can't kill It. "I will restore, saith the Lord, all the years these things eat."

177 Them denominations added dogma. And to do this, to add dogma, the only way that any church, the only way that any denomination can ever get away from the Word of God, is to add dogma instead of the sacred Scriptures, is to try to make your tradition or the doctrine of your church, though it be contrary to the Scriptures. Then how can you condemn the Catholic church, when you're doing the same thing they did? Do you understand? All right. When, now just think, the Scriptures can't fail! Dogmas is a lie, to begin with. And when you accept a denomination, you've already got a dogma, because it's something added. It's not in the Scripture. It's not in the Scripture.

178 There's no such a thing as organization. Jesus never said, "I commission you to go into all the world, make organization." No, sir, no such a thing! To do this, is to reject the sacred Scriptures. When this was done, it was changed from "Church by birth" to "church by dogma and creed." Not church, let me apologize; lodge! You're born into the Church, but you join a lodge. It isn't Baptist church, Methodist church, Pentecostal church. It's Baptist lodge, Pentecostal lodge, and Methodist lodge, you join them. You can't join Church. There's no such a thing. You're born into It. Nicodemus was told that. So you see where you're at? Oh, my!

179That's why I'm against it. Not against the people in it; the system that I'm against. Cause they can't... One of them elders or something another, one of them churches preach something that's in the Bible that's contrary to that doctrine, that charter that they have in that church, he's excommunicated right like that. Yes, sir. Some of them so nasty that they won't even let a revival come to another church unless it be one of their own men. Why, they're so...

180 Somebody one time was going to give a preacher... Right here in this country, a little old preacher standing down here on the street, crying and begging for a repentance, and saying, "Come, receive Christ, be filled with the Holy Ghost," and things like that. And someone out of a Pentecostal organization come up and give a man a dollar in his hands, and had to go repent because he committed adultery against his church. Talk about Catholic! That's right. And you know where I'm talking about, too; or this church does, anyhow. All right.

181 Do this, to reject the Scriptures, when this is done, it is changed then when you add dogma and join an organization, you have automatically accepted your first dogma, 'cause it's not Scriptural, so it's something added. And a dogma is something added, "take place of," it's taking place of the birth. When you accept a denomination, you have added dogma. All right. When this is done, then it's changed from "Church by birth" to "lodge by dogma or creed." For, see, it's dogma in itself, not being Scripturally.

182Now, Jesus never said, "Go into all the world and make denominations, go organize the people together." He said, "Go make disciples." You believe it? [Congregation says "Amen."--Ed.] Amen. So, you see, you're altogether out.

183 Listen, watch here. Let's close it on something another here, drive something down tight right at this time. How many has a Greek lexicon, the Emphatic Diaglott from the old manuscript, Greek? All right. Read it, get any scholar that you want to. Get into the library and get the lexicon, Greek lexicon. Read Revelation 17, and when you read there, the King James Version here says, and this, "He carried me away in the Spirit; and I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet clothed beast, full of--of names of blasphemy." Now, that's what the King James said. But the original interpretation said:

... carried me away in the spirit... and I saw a woman... full of blasphemous names,...

184 There's a whole lot of difference between "names of blasphemy" and "blasphemous names." Now watch. We all understand and know that that was the Roman church sitting on seven hills, controlling the powers of the world. And she was called a "whore," and she was a "mother of harlots." Watch! What is a harlot? Could it be a man? It has to be a woman. So if it's a woman, it has to be a church; she was the mother of harlots, the same as she was. And look, watch, "In her!" Let it soak. "In her was blasphemous names." What is it? Now, ministers here and on the tape, let's hold your peace. What is those blasphemous names? Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Pentecostals, so forth. Blasphemous names, because it's organizations, whoredom to God, just like she was.

185 And they, in those groups, the people say, "Why, he's a Methodist, and do this. He's Pentecostal, and does this. He's Presbyterian, and does this." They do everything on the calendar, you know that. And what is it? It's names that ought to be Christ-like and be called by the name of Christian, and it's blasphemous names! They're not churches. They're falsely called "church." They are lodges! Now you see why I'm against organization, not the people? The system of organization, see, names, blasphemous names (watch) of lodges, falsely called churches. Methodist church, Baptist church, Presbyterian church, Pentecostal church, Lutheran church, United Brethren church, there's no such thing. That's unscriptural.

186There's only one Church, and you can't join It. You're born into It. You're predestinated to It. The mythical Body of Jesus Christ... the mystical Body, rather, of Jesus Christ here on earth, with the Word being made manifest. Sons and daughters of God, they belong to none of it. "Come out from among them," He said. Yeah.

187Watch, quickly now. I don't want to tire you, but if you just give me a few more minutes now, I'll go as quick as I can, but I want you to be sure to get it, so that you won't miss it. See?

188 Remember, mother Rome, was found in her, full of blasphemous names, a mother of harlots. Then, if they are harlots, what is a harlot? What is a whore? Same thing as a harlot. It's a woman that lives untrue to her marriage vow. And any church that claims to be the Church of Christ, and denies God's Word, she's untrue to her marriage vow! Then she commits adultery by adding dogma, whoredom with the world and her wisdom, instead of accepting Christ and the power of His resurrection, power of the Holy Ghost. And she's the mother of harlots that done the same thing. Pot don't call kettle "greasy," you know; see, six of one, and half a dozen of the other. Some of these people run along just making fun of the Catholic, and belonging to one of the same thing themselves. She was the mother of the false baptism in water. She's the mother of the false evidence of the Holy Ghost, and you follow right along with her. Now let's see.

189"Is that true, Brother Branham?" Hold your peace just a moment.

190 See, she is the mother of blasphemous names, of lodges that the people has joined, and bring a reproach, live any way, wear shorts, women with bobbed hair, painted up, sing in choirs, smoke cigarettes, take communion, all kinds of filth of the world, and it's a stumbling block to the unbeliever. Didn't Timothy speak of it, the Holy Spirit? Watch. See, she, Rome, is the mother of every one of them. See? You did exactly in your organization just like what she did, inject dogmas instead of the Word, because a group of men set it together, the presbyters and the bishops and so forth said it had to be this way, and that's exactly what took place at Rome. And you try to, my pastor brother, accept the full Word of God, and, look where you'll go, right out the door! Now we'll see if God told you to, or not, in a few minutes. See? All right.

191 See, she's the mother of every one, because she was the first one to take away the writings of the Scripture and add dogma, because she rejected anointed prophets who had the vindicated life, with the Word. For their intelligence, smart man, Roman Emperors, and so forth, that had accepted Christianity, but want... accept it in their own way. See? That's right. They want it in their own way.

192Naaman wanted to get rid of his leprosy in the waters of his own country, he didn't like the muddy waters of Jordan. But if he ever get rid of his leprosy, he had to walk out there in that mud just exactly like the prophet told him. See, God don't have respect of person.

193 Notice, she was the first denomination. Look at her daughters, had done the same thing, added creeds and dogmas instead of the Word. Don't tell me; show me one that's not off of It. Show me one pastor that'll accept the Truth, that they won't turn you out on it, unless you're so popular that, you know, they have to hold on to you for your popularity or something. It's all right.

194 Now look at Revelations 18, just for a few minutes, the next verse over, the next chapter, after Revelations 17 had explored and--and had showed the mystery of this Miss Babylon. The 17th chapter of Revelations explains that she is a church that sits on seven hills, the Vatican City, that rules all the kings of the earth (that's exactly what's right), and the Presidents too, and so forth. Uh-huh. So, but she is there, holding the wealth of her world in her hand. That's exactly. "Who's able to make war with her?" That's right. We all know that. But why would you belong to something that's connected with her? Now notice in the 18th chapter, the very next chapter after her mystery has been explained. "Sits in the temple of God." Now, here, the other day...

195 Zella Braitman, are you here tonight, Zella? She brought, it's in the room in there now, Our Sunday Visitor, the Catholic paper. And the Catholic paper was answering a minister. Said, "Did you say, reverend, that did the... In the Roman numeral over the Vatican, or over the Pope's throne, is written, 'Vicarivs Filii Dei,' which it means, that it in the Catholic diocese there, that that is the--the number of the beast of the Apocalypse?"

196"Why," he said, "certainly, it is. It's exactly, spells out six hundred and sixty-six. It's exactly." And the Roman diocese admit it, that it does. But here's their answer, smart, full of wisdom, said, "But, you know, your name in a certain language might spell out the same thing."

197This man said, "Mine, almost the same thing in some language." He spelled it out. Said, "See, I'm almost six hundred and sixty-six, too." Said, "There's been hundreds of them." Said, "Every time anything raises up, somebody's got a six hundred and sixty-six." And said, "Reverend, did you know in one language your own name might spell out antichrist?" Said, "Why do you look at such things?" Look at the wisdom.

198 But the Holy Spirit knows better. Watch. That might be, my name might spell out six hundred and sixty-six, but I don't meet the rest of the qualifications. I don't sit upon a hill. I don't say these things. I'm not a governor, you see. That's right. That's the one He's talking about. So your worldly wisdom comes to nothing, sir, that's right, in the Presence of the Holy Spirit. I don't meet the rest of it, but he does. "Sits in the temple of God, showing himself he is God, and sits on seven hills." I don't sit on seven hills, if it does spell six hundred and sixty-six. I don't meet the rest of it, but he does. See, there you are. See? So just rely on the Holy Spirit, "Take no thought what you're going to say, because it's not you that speaks; it's the Father."

199 So how can your wisdom and your new Birth from Above ever compared with these things here on earth, these--these mighty magicians in it? Why, they know every little crook and corner. How could Moses stand when he followed the Commandments of God, to throw down his stick and it turned into a serpent, and here come the magicians up and done the same thing? But Moses stood still, knowing he had followed the Word of God, and his serpent eat the rest of them up. See? So when you've obeyed and got... What could he do when he led them to the land of promise, and there was the Red Sea bottling them in, but God's path went right through it. Amen. Said, "Stand still, and see the Glory of God!"

200When it's in the path of duty, of following the Word, stand there and watch it open up. Amen. I'm fifty-three years old, been serving Him for about thirty-three years, wish I had ten million years to serve Him. I've never seen Him fail yet, when His Word is kept. That's right.

201 Now look, immediately after her sin, her secrets was discovered. We've had that a long time ago, we know it.

202Now the next chapter, look at Revelations 18. May I just turn to it just a minute. It might be a good thing, it won't take us but just a few minutes longer, and it might mean a little something to you. I hope it does.

203Now we see here, in the 17th chapter, the 5th verse.

... upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS, THE ABOMINATION OF THE EARTH.

And watch.

And I saw the woman (church) drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus:... when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

204See, seeing her, she was such a great beautiful thing. And she was the mother of prostitutes, prostitute religion, denominations, exactly what she did, see, 'cause they injected dogmas just like she did. Now look, look at Revelations now, that's the 17th chapter, ends up with the 18th verse. Now watch.

... after these things, after her mystery was discovered, after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power;...

205 Now, here comes another messenger coming down, next chapter, her mystery was discovered. Now, this is now the discovery of her mystery and her children's mystery. See, we understand now exactly what made her a harlot: because she committed adultery against God's Word. And that's what made her an organization. She couldn't stay a Bible church and accept that. And neither can any organization that don't take every Word of It (the way It's wrote) ever be a Bible church. And there's none of them that way, that I know anything about, not a one. So there, see, as soon as she organizes the things she does, (both by the Scripture and by evidence) she dies right there, she accepts the dogma. Now look, now that's what happened.

206 God sent, in this 18th chapter, a mighty angel, after that mystery was known, a mighty angel, or, a messenger. Watch here.

... after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, with great power; and the earth was lightened by his glory.

And he cried... with a loud voice,... Babylon (confusion) the great is falling,... and is become the habitation of devils,... the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every clean and hate... unclean and hateful bird.

And all nations have drank of the wine of the wrath of her fornications, and the kings of the earth... committed fornications with her, and the merchants of the earth has waxed rich through the abundance of her desolance.

207 Look, immediately after her mystery was made known, who she was, what she was, who her daughters was, the mystery has been made known, then God sent an angel, a messenger to (what?) call out. "Come out!" The Message of the hour!

... Come out of her, my people, that you be not partakers of her plagues...

He's going to curse her. Watch.

208Come out of her! God sent a many... mighty angel, or, a messenger. And his Light wasn't in a corner, It scattered over the earth. Come out of her! What? Her, and her sisters, too. To lighten the earth, and call His people out of her. Now, you know that's the Truth. A messenger was sent from Heaven, to call God's people out of Babylon. And his Light lighted the earth, great Holy Spirit.

209 Notice, the Bible said, "She is a cage, and has caught hateful, unclean birds." Not eagles, now, no, no, no, no. Vultures, "unclean, hateful birds," that's what she's caged up around her. She is a cage full of them, a whole cage full. With what? "Blasphemous names," contrary to the Scripture. Second Timothy 3 said, the Holy Spirit speaking, "In the last days they will depart from the Faith and give heed to seducing spirits." It also said, the Holy Spirit spoke that "In the last days they'd be heady, high-minded, hateful ('Bless God, you belong to us, or you don't have your name in our book, you're lost'). Hateful! Unclean!" I hope I'm not hurting, I hope I'm doing good. Hateful, unclean birds, she caged them.

210 Remember, God is an eagle. He called Himself an eagle. And He called Jacob an eagle. And we are His eaglets. Amen. He called His prophets "eagles." And this angel come down to expose and to call out!

211Like my little message on The Eagle Stirs Her Nest. That little old eagle had been following that old hen around in the barnyard all the time, clucking around, but he couldn't eat that stuff that she had, socials, and painted-faced women, bobbed hair, and shorts. He couldn't do that. But he didn't know nothing else but the cluck of that old hen. But one day the mother eagle found him. She screamed, calling him out, said, "Son, you're not one of them. Come out of her!"

Said, "Mama, what can I do?"

212Said, "Flop your wings and start." The first jump, he hit on a post, right in the middle of an organization. Said, "Son, you'll have to come higher than that or I can't catch you. Got to get your feet off the ground." She's going to take him on a flight. He found out he could fly. She come to call him out. That's right.

213 But this Mother Babylon had caught herself a bunch of chickens, slick chicks, painted up, bobbed hair, call themselves "Christians." She got a cage full of them. You preachers that stand in the pulpit and let them women get by with that, shame on you, to make your denominational more. God will require that of your hand. Come out of it! "My sheep hear My Voice." A cage of hateful, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, would rather be like the world than to be like Christ. When you see a woman with a lot of makeup on, it goes to show she's empty inside. She's false inside. That's exactly right. If the woman... I seen one the other day, with a green hair, that's right, of all that green stuff there in their eyes.

214 Now, if you--if--if you didn't have any hair, and--and you wanted to wear some hair, it'd be all right, but, wear one that looked like human. And if you didn't have any fingernails, and--and you wanted to get some fingernails, don't get them like hulls off of navy beans, get--get real fingernails. If you haven't got any of these things, it's all right. If you haven't got any teeth, get you some if they make you some, get them. But don't pull your God-given teeth out just because they're a little crooked, and they're good teeth, to get some. Don't dye your hair, or something, and look like something that come out of some mire somewhere. Don't! If you're colorless, and you want to make yourself look like you got some color, it's all right, I imagine. But don't make yourself look like Jezebel, like a barn somewhere being painted.

215 And you Pentecostal brethren, letting them women cut their hair, when the Bible said that's her glory! And it's even uncommon for her to pray with her hair like that. And yet let her come up in the pulpit and preach the Gospel, sing in a choir, teach a Sunday school. Shame on you! You ought to be ashamed of yourself. Why am I against organization? You think I could ever cater to something like that? I know the reason you do it, brother. You know better, but if you'd teach against that, you'll be turned into the headquarters, and they'll excommunicate you. Bless God for your courage if you'll do it. That's right. God will honor you.

216 What did this angel say? "Come out of her!" Yes, sir. This angel came to the earth, and he come to bring the Light, and he shined the Light around the world. He was a mighty angel. And he come to proclaim the message of "Come out of Babylon! Touch not her unclean things!"

217Got a whole cage full of them, said, "She's the cage of every hateful bird." Yeah, she got a cage full of them now, the World Council of Churches, or lodges. She's got the whole bunch caged up now, they're all coming together. She become a cage, all right, full of hateful birds. That's right. Try to talk to one of them one time, just try it, boy, smart in the world's wisdom, but know no more about God than a rabbit does about snowshoes. That's right. Just, that's just it, see, just all they know is some wisdom they can put this and do that in there. But when it comes to knowing Him? Huh! Yeah, got caught in her cage with her dogmas. The protestant churches begin the same, become her daughters, caused this by denying the Word of God. That she does. She denies the Word. And when you accept something else instead of the Word, you deny It yourself. And when you join up in one of them, you've also denied the Word. God don't want you that way, no place of it for the Scripture.

218 Notice, this is the angel of Light, remember, the last angel, it's the angel in the church age to the Laodicea. It's the Laodicea messenger, that, it's the last, because the very next chapter is the 19th chapter, which is the coming Bride. And this is, in the Scripture, the last angel that came to bring Light before the coming of the Bride to go meet Christ. It was the Laodicean Church Age, then. What was the Laodicean Church Age messenger? Calling them out of Babylon! Look! Churches caught in her cage with her, with her dogmas, denying the Word and accepting dogmas. This is the angel of Light to the Laodicean church that had rejected Christ and His Word, for dogma, and had put Him outside. And He stood at the door, knocking, trying to get in. [Brother Branham knocks on the pulpit--Ed.] See? The church age had rejected the Christ, and Christ is the Word, and had rejected It, and He was on the outside. The only church age that we have of Christ on the outside, knocking, trying to get in. [Brother Branham knocks on the pulpit.] And this angel's Message, messenger come from God, was echoing his Message on the earth, to "Come out of Babylon! Come out of the organizations!" The Holy Spirit today, the manifestation of the Holy Spirit is that angel trying to get the people back to the Word, 'cause the Holy Spirit will only vindicate the Word. It can't vindicate dogmas, there's no life in them. He's Life. Notice, the Laodicean Church Age had denied Him, rejected Him, and they put Him on the outside.

219 Notice, this angel is the last messenger before the coming of Christ in the 19th chapter of Revelations. The messenger's Voice! If we notice, when he gave his Voice on the earth, there was a Voice echoed again in Heaven. 4th verse, if you want to read it. All right, 4th verse, the 19th chapter. This messenger on the earth was so inclined with God until, when he spoke it on the earth, God echoed the same thing out of Heaven. What is that 4th-verse translation? What does it mean? God's Voice speaking to His predestinated people, saying, "Come out of her!" Just exactly what the Voice was! He's got people all out in there, all out through Babylon. "Come out of her, that you be not partakers of her sins," yes, sir, out of that dogma and creeds, to the Word made Spirit and Life. Amen.

220 Notice, the 19th chapter is the next, "After these things." Did you notice here in the 19th chapter, "After these things"? Watch what? After what? After the Message of "Come out of her!" "After these things," watch, "is the shout of the Bride saints, with the Bridegroom, going to the Marriage of the Lamb." How close are we then, brother? What's the last call? Come out of Babylon!

221Now, my brethren, that's the reason I'm against it. It's unscriptural. It's unorthodox. It's been proven to be false. God is not in it, He never was, He never will be. Now, I ain't saying there's not people in these organizations, that's where the church was made up of. But, as long as you stay into that system, you're a part of it.

222 If I stay in the United States, I'm an American. As long as I'm a citizen or a member of this United States, I'm part of it. If I go to Germany and deny my membership here, or my citizenship, I take out citizenship in Germany, I'm no more an American, I'm a German. And if I go to Japan, or wherever, Russia, I become a citizen there.

223And when you join up with a citizen... a system, and become a citizen of that system, you are showing what you are. And in this last days, God is calling the people out of it. The Bible said so, "Come out of her, that you be not partakers with her, and I will receive you. Touch not her unclean things, see, and I will receive you. And you'll be sons and daughters to Me, and I'll be God to you." See?

224 That's the reason I have spoke against the church, the--the lodge. I can't call it a church. There's only one Church, that's the Church of the Body of Christ. But these lodges that's called "church," my Bible tells me that they are blasphemous names, all of them, all organizations. What are they blaspheming? Blasphemy is to "be contrary to," or, "speak against." When God says "come be born," and they say "come join." See? When the baptisms of the Spirit is falsely took over for a wafer in the Catholic church, a handshake in the Protestant church, and an emotion in the Pentecostal church, instead of the Person of Christ coming in with all that pyramid building we had the other day.

225Add to your faith, virtue, and so forth, all this in First Peter, the 1st... Second Peter, I believe, the 1st chapter, where it's all added to your faith, all these things, godliness, and purity, and holiness, and everything, and then you're sealed by the Holy Ghost.

226 But it's just like somebody they... people claim to have this when they haven't, because they've been falsely taught. The Methodists get a funny feeling, used to, and shake a little bit, or--or dance in the Spirit. The Pentecostals speak with tongues, or--or do something emotional. I believe those things, certainly, but those things without these others is no good.

227As I said the other day, it's like a peacock... or a blackbird trying to put peacock feathers in himself, or a buzzard trying to use dove feathers. They never growed there, he pushed them in hisself. They're planted, they're denomination. But when God puts anything in there, it's natural. You make yourself say, "I joined church last night. I can't go no more, I can't drink no more, I can't do this. I joined church." See, you're trying to put peacock feathers in your buzzard carcass. That's right. See? See? You've got to be born again! You've got to receive Christ. And when you receive Christ, you can't receive Christ without receiving His Word, because He is the Word. And when you have a form of godliness, and deny That, then I wonder. See? And you can still belong to all the organization you want to and have a form of godliness, and still don't have It.

228 Now, there you are, friends. There's the whole thing. God bless you. God help you. I don't say this to be different. I'm explaining myself. This being armistice days, I'm not signing a treaty of peace with you ministers, not at all, I think you ought to come sign with me; not with me, but with God, the Word. That's right. That's right. Say what the Bible says, say It the way It says It. Because the Bible said, "Who shall take away or add to the same." And you see, organization is unscriptural, and when you receive the first dogma you just might as well go all the way back, 'cause that you cross the line right there. When you come back to the new birth, then you will walk into the Scripture.

229 And you go into a denomination, they say, "I know, we don't believe in This. Our bishops in our church teaches we are one of the oldest churches. We don't teach..." I don't care what they don't teach. If the Bible teaches it, the Holy Spirit in you It'll feed on the Word. No matter how smart a man is and how he can try to explain It away, they can explain away. An infidel can take the Bible and explain God away from you.

230Therefore, no man has any right to preach the Gospel unless he's been, like Moses, back yonder on that sacred sands where him and God alone stood, until a man's born again and stands there face to face with God, and knows. There's no infidel, there's no psychology, there's no explaining, there's no scholar in the world can take That away from you. You were there when it happened! Yes, sir. You know what taken place.

231Then you say, "I had that kind of experience, and I got a spirit on me." And if it denies the Word in any way, you got the wrong spirit. You say, "I--I can't go for this stuff like This. I know, but our church..." Uh-uh, there's a wrong spirit. There's your mark of identification. Cain, you're marked. Yes, sir.

232Eve just doubted one little Word; not all God said, just one little Word, and it caused every heartache and heartbreak, and death, and sin, and battles, and everything else, every grave, every ambulance ever screamed, every hospital was built for the sick. Her one little doubting one little Word of God's, caused all of this. And she was put out, when this never would have had to happen. How are you going to get in, doubting one Word of It? Say, "I know It says That, but It..." It means just That!

233 Now look. God's got to judge the world by something. You cannot have judgment unless you have first a law. There's got to be something, you got to break something in order to be judged. See? And then there cannot be judgment, correctly, without penalty. Now, see, you can't have a law in town that says "five-dollar fine for running a red light," and the next law say "no, he can go free." See, you can't do that. So there can't be two laws in existence at one time. And there's one law, one God, one Book, one Christ. That's all. One Faith, one hope. That's all. That's the Bible, Christ.

234Notice now, in this, if there is to be something added to This, it's got to be added by man. It can't be no more than...

235 And if God is going to judge the world by a church, as the Catholic says, then what Catholic church is He going to judge it by? There's several of them; there's one, Roman; one, Greek; and, oh, there's all different kinds. Which Catholic church He going to judge it by? Or, maybe He's going to judge it by the Lutheran? Well, then, and maybe He's going to judge it by the Presbyterian? See? What's He going to do? He isn't going to judge it by a church. He's going to judge it by His Word. Well, then, He never...

236See, He can't keep a group of people, as the sister's vision the other night, the Holy Spirit poured in, It went right through that box. Sure, nothing holds That. It's an individual. It's give to cleanse the church, but it can't hold It. No organization can hold It. That's all. It just can't do it. You got everything in there, and you can't do it. The organization can't do it. But it's the individual that has the Holy Spirit. Now notice.

237 Then if God is going to judge the world by His Word, then He certainly has watched over It and kept It in condition. Or, if It's all scrupled up, how is He going to bring judgment? See? It's got to be something. And He never said, "Whosoever, by the church." He said, "Whosoever shall take one Word away from This, or add one word to It, the same will be taking (his part) out of the Book of Life." So, to me, it's God, His Word and the judgment. Now, if I judge and accept the Word, and see that Christ died for me, then I'll ask for His Life to come in and guide me. And if His Life is the Word, and He wrote the Word, how can His Life be in me, and me claiming to have the Holy Spirit, and adding a dogma instead of the Word? It just wouldn't work. How can I add a denomination when He's against it, and proved it, and showed it through history, that every time they denominate they die, spiritually? Oh, they grow members, sure. That's right. They grow members. But, spiritually, they never go nowhere. Show me, tell me in the history where ever a church that... After it organized, it died right there, the Holy Spirit left it. There's no more miracles and signs, and she just went right on into chaos.

238 That's exactly what happened to our Pentecostal churches. They did exactly what their mother did. At the beginning, they come out, a people that rejected denominations. Now, some of you brethren listening to this tape, some of you old men, know that years ago, forty, fifty years ago, if they had talked to you about an organization, you'd have said it was blasphemy. But today you belong to the thing that you thought was blasphemy. You women that bob your hair and paint your face, your mother was against that, that good--good old pentecostal saint. What happened to you? Paul said, "You did run well, what hindered you?" See? Back there you was free from that stuff, but you wanted to be like the rest of them.

239 Exactly what Samuel said. Israel had a King, and that was God. And they said, "Samuel, you're getting old. Make us a king, we want to be like the rest of the world. We want to be like the other nations. We want a king to take us to war, we want a king that can fight our battles." And it displeased Samuel.

240He said, "Have I ever took anything from you? Have I ever took your money from you? Have I ever asked you for an ox or anything? Have I ever asked you for anything?"

They said, "No. You never asked us for nothing."

241Or says, "Have I ever spoke anything to you in the Name of the Lord but what come to pass?" Is that right? He said, "Then don't receive that king, because it's going to mean chaos to you."

242 Now I want to ask you something, the Branham Tabernacle. You're fixing to grow into a big tabernacle now. I may be away for a while. I may go somewhere. Hard to tell where the Lord will call me; maybe off the scene, maybe back into the field, maybe He might call me into the wilderness. I don't know where He'll call me till Jesus comes. I want to ask you something. Did I ever ask you for anything? [Congregation says, "No."--Ed.] Did I ever beg you for money? ["No."] Did I ever tell you anything, of the thousands of things that I have told you in the Name of the Lord, but, didn't it come to pass? ["Amen."] Then don't never join an organization. It's against the Word of God. Come out of it if you're in it, and be ye separate and receive the Word of the Lord.

Let's bow our heads.

243 Great God of the prophets, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, add virtue, Lord, to this little chopped up Message that's been on my heart for a long time, to go to my brethren. Many of those out there, Lord, has the wrong impression of me. They think that I want to be different. They think that I am trying to be a know-it-all. They've told the people that I deceive the people, especially on such subjects as the water baptism in the Name of the Lord Jesus, and upon the serpent's seed, the great harlot, and many of those tapes that's went out with nothing but unadulterated Truth. And I've asked them, "Some of you come and show me where I sin, or disbelieving or misinterpreting the Word." And none has showed up. I pray Thee, Father, let these men know that they are missing the hour. They are going to wait too late, if they don't watch. May they, every one...

244 Lord, I am sure of this, my heart would break if this Scripture wasn't real to me, when You said, "All that the Father has given Me, will come. My sheep hear My Voice." Then, Lord, I guess the Kingdom is truly as You said, I know it is, it is like unto a man that took a net and went to the lake, cast in the net and pulled every kind. There was, no doubt, scavenger fish, there were turtles, water spiders, serpents, everything that the Gospel net caught. But finally, by and by, the crawfish backed into the water again, the turtle pulled away, the serpent hissed and took back to the mudhole, like a dog to its vomit or a hog to its wallow. But there was real fish there, Lord. And I have this consolation, of knowing, that even before the net went over them, they were fish then. They were born, predestinated fish. And so is the Gospel net that catches out into the revivals. You know Your Own. The only thing I'm responsible for, Father, as far as I know, is stay true to this Word. You are the One Who do decides which is which. And I know that no more than the turtle could become a trout, so could a man or a person, that has deaf ears to the Gospel, ever understand the Truth. For the Father has foresaw this, and You have promised that all that He give You would come.

245 Heavenly Father, I pray Thee that every person that hears this little Message, that the Light that it's been preached in, and the meaning that I have in my heart towards my fellow man, people who You died for. And men, some of them out there, Lord, like in Korah's bunch, genuine men, falsely led, with a holy censer in their hand, but perished. Why, they wouldn't even let the censer of fire go in with them; Aaron's son, Eleazar, had to gather it up. And they made a banner for the altar out of those kettles, a shield, to show, and to be a memorial of that awful thing, that Korah tried to form an organized party against the messenger of God. Far be it from us, Lord. May the Holy Spirit always protect us.

246 We thank Thee, Lord, that our little church, this little sacred shrine. Many years ago, thirty some odd years, I knelt in the pond here full of weeds and moisture, and we dedicated this ground to You, this little structure. And yonder in that tabernacle corner lays that vision. That's come to pass exactly. Still there. They're not going to tear it down, Lord, they're just going to... it's getting old, and they're just going to preserve it by putting one over the top of it. God, grant that this golden Gospel that's recorded in the pages here, may It never leave this little church until Christ comes. May every member, every member of the Body of Christ, they come in here from across the nation and around the world, may every one of them receive the Light, the Gospel, and walk in It then and receive Christ.

247And may it be so real that His Words will come to pass, "The works that I do, shall they do also. He that heareth My Words, and believeth on Him that sent Me, has Eternal Life." And when Eternal Life comes in, they're born from Above, and the works from God manifest themself, because it's the same Life that was in Him. It cannot do anything else.

248 So, Father, let this church never rest their Eternal destination upon a sensation, upon an organization, upon anything less than Christ Himself living in them, vindicating His Word through them and His promise. May, from the least little child here tonight, until the oldest person, receive this experience. And may every man or woman, boy or girl, who hears this tape, may it be so with them, Lord, and give them the understanding that I'm only trying to warn and call out, for this hour is later than we think.

249And we see Babylon, the mother whore, and all of her prostitute daughters assembling themselves together. God, we realize that the Scripture says that the tares out of the wheat field will be bound first, in bundles. And they have bound in bundles, calling themselves blasphemous names that really doesn't pertain to them, it's not pertaining to the Church, either; it's lodges, not churches. There's only one of them, Father, and that's the one You died for.

250 And I pray, Father, as we see them all being bundled now for an atomic fire soon, I pray, Lord, that You'll let the wheat be full and heavy. Grant it, Lord. May we grow and shine Light, and be like Jesus, "If I do not the things that God required Me to do, then I have no Life in Me. But if God speaks and shows His Life, then That speaks for Itself." Grant it, Lord. I commit this Message to You, and that You watch over It, and bring tens of thousands, Lord, or, all Your predestinated children to the Gospel. In Jesus Christ, Who is the Word, in His Name I pray. Amen.

I love Him, I love Him

Because He first loved me

And purchased my salvation

On Calvary's tree.

251 I'm going to ask the question. How many tonight in this visible audience here, of this nice big church of people, or house of people, rather, in this place of worship, that believes with all your heart, your life measures up with the requirement (you) of God and the Bible, and you believe that, by looking at your own life, and seeing the way the Spirit is moving in you, that it believes every Word the way It's wrote, and keeps It? Do you believe It? God bless you. May He ever keep His Spirit upon you.

252And to my friend on the tape, I wish you could have looked here in this audience tonight, I guess at least ninety percent of the people had their hands up, that they have believe and watched the Bible, (not what the church says) what the Bible says, (not what the lodge says) what the Bible says, and they see the Life of Christ reflecting in It.

253 You know, in the old days before they had smelters, the--the goldsmith used to beat the gold with a hammer. I guess you've heard of it. Before it went to the smelter, they beat it. And gold is the heaviest material, it's heavier than lead. And so I've done a little prospecting, and you can take in the sands in the wash in the deserts, and rub your hand over the sand, and then (whoosh) blow like that, and the dust and everything will fly away, the rocks, but gold is so heavy it lays there. And then when you pick up that gold, it's rolled through so much dirt until it's accumulated a lot. And through the volcanic ages as it accumulated up, it got sludge and everything, iron pyrite and other materials mixed with it. The beater used to take this lump of gold and beat it and turn it, and beat it and turn it, until he beat all the dross out of it. And you know how he knowed that he had all the dross out? He could see his own image reflected in it.

254 And that's the way God does the Church. He beats every creed, every denomination, every man-made dogma, until He sees His Own Life reflecting in you. "If I do not the works of My Father, believe Me not." See? If what is purposed to the Church, the Life that was in Christ isn't reflecting in you, don't you stand still if you haven't got patience, virtue, all these things, and temperance, and--and things, and godliness, and brotherly kindness, and all these things that's required of you. No matter what you've done, no matter how much you've shouted, how many churches you've joined, how many feathers you've pinned into yourself, don't do it. Wait till genuinely, from your heart, you can forgive, till in your heart you have brotherly kindness. No matter if they pull a handful of beard from one side, you can turn the other cheek with sweetness, see, until those virtues, no matter what they say to you.

255 When they put a rag around His face and hit Him on the head, said, "Now, they tell me that You're a Prophet." Now jerked the rag off of Him, and one of them holding the stick, said, "Which one of us hit You? Prophesy and tell us, in otherwise, then we'll believe You are a Prophet." He never opened His mouth.

256When you hear a prophet rising, that's got all the answers to every gimmick that you can bring up, remember, he's not a prophet. Today they've got to know everything, when you're going to have a toothache and when you're going to have a tummyache, and everything else, and tell you all about it. That isn't the nature of our God. Watch the prophets, watch Jesus.

257 Look at Paul, when he could smite a man blind, and let the coppersmith run him out of the country, "I guess he lost his power to smite blind."

258Jesus, Who could raise the dead, and yet said a drunken soldier spit in His face, and hawk and spit and jerk beard out of His face, and hit Him on the head, with a rag around Him, said, "Prophesy and tell us who hit You." And opened not His mouth.

259Don't watch all these gimmick workers. But remember, they're only speaking, a bogus dollar only speaks that there's a real one somewhere. When you see this organization stuff growing and prospering, as it said "craft would prosper in his hand," just remember, there's a little Church of God somewhere, really is Holy Ghost filled, genuine, that's moving up the ladder. Don't look at the big organization.

260 What greater church is spoke of in the Bible than the Ephesian church age? And when Paul passed through the upper coasts of Ephesus, and comes to this church, there was twelve men in it. That's right. And they all was good people, shouted and have a great time, but had not received the Holy Ghost yet. Paul said, "You haven't received the Holy Ghost since you believed?"

They said, "Why, we didn't know there was a Holy Ghost."

261He said, "Then how was you baptized?" If it didn't make a difference, what did he say to that church there?

262They said, "We've already been baptized by one of the greatest man that ever stood on the earth, John the Baptist, who baptized our Lord. Ain't that baptizing good enough?"

263He said, "No, sir. You've got to be baptized over, 'cause the Kingdom is sealed to anything else." And when they heard this... Said, "John only baptized unto repentance, not for remission of sins, saying that you should believe on Him to come, that is, on Jesus." And when they heard this, they were rebaptized in the Name of Jesus Christ. That's right. Exactly. They followed the Scripture.

264 You know, in the dedication this morning, Moses followed the pattern that he saw in Heaven, and pitched a tent to represent it. When Solomon built the temple, he (what did he do?) followed the pattern that Moses, by the tent, keeping the Scripture in line.

265And when God come to His Temple for the last days, this Temple, the Holy Ghost, "a body hast Thou prepared Me," the Holy Ghost fell on the Day of Pentecost, the message was, "Repent, every one of you, and be baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you and to your children, and to them that's far off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." If you want to call your minister a doctor, Doctor Simon Peter wrote a prescription, an Eternal prescription. That's what cures the sick.

266 Let some of these quack druggists trying, by denomination, to fill it some other way, that's the reason they got... You know, if you don't add the... you add too much to the prescription, you might... too much of the poison, you might kill your patient. If you don't put enough in it, you... not for the antidote, if you don't, it won't do your patient no good. Your physician knows just how to write the prescription.

267And Christ, the Holy Ghost, is the Prescription Writer, and He wrote It. Don't add to It or take It away from It, just take the Medicine the way she is. It's the Cure for all ailments. God bless you. You love Him? Amen.

I love Him, I... [Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.]

Because He first loved me

And purchased my salvation

On Calvary's tree.

268 Now while we hum it, now turn around and shake hands with your neighbor there. Oh, he's a pilgrim too, passing through.

I love Him, I love Him

Because He first loved me

And pur-... -vation.

[Brother Branham speaks with someone--Ed.] Thank you, brother.

I love Him, I love Him

Because He first loved me

And purchased my salvation

On Calvary's tree.

I love Him, (let's sing it now), I love Him

Because He first loved me

And purchased my salvation

On Calvary's tree.

269 Now let's bow our heads, close our eyes, lift up our hands and our voices to God now, as I commit you to the pastor. We're glad to have you here. We're no denomination. We have no law but love, no creed but Christ, no book but the Bible. No membership; just fellowship through the Blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses us from all unbelief.

270All right, all together now. "I... I..." God bless you. Come back and visit us again.

Cause He first loved...

All right, pastor, brother. The Lord be... God bless you. "And..."