1Ďakujem veľmi pekne. Pomodlime sa.
Nebeský Otče, znovu sme sa tu zhromaždili v Mene Tvojho milovaného Dieťaťa, Pána Ježiša, aby sme znovu vyjadrili svoju lásku v uctievaní Jeho. Modlíme sa, aby sa s nami stretol Jeho Duch a aby nám každému dal porciu toho Ducha, ktorý nám dá trvácnu milosť, aby sme dokončili tú cestu a dobojovali ten boj, ktorý je pred nami, ten boj viery. Udeľ to, Otče! A zlom pre nás v toto popoludnie ten Chlieb Života, aby si nás posilnil, lebo je napísané, „Človek nebude žiť na samom chlebe, ale na každom Slove, ktoré vychádza z úst Božích.“ Nech to dnes popoludní počujeme v Mene Ježiša Krista. Amen.
2Môžete si sadnúť. Čo sa týka brata Carlsona, on ma tu pustil asi o desať minút neskôr, ako mal. Zlepšuje sa. Zhromaždenie ďalšieho týždňa, to len... Asi tu budem už na čas...?... Sme tak radi za to privilégium.
3No, dnes večer je naše posledné zhromaždenie a chcem vás pustiť na čas, aby ste sa stihli navečerať [„supper“ – pozn.prekl.]. Viem, že mnohí z vás to voláte „dinner“ [„hlavné jedlo“ – pozn.prekl.]. Ale keď mám mať „dinner“, kedy potom bude moja „supper“?
4Hovoril som s jedným mužom, on povedal, „Ó, brat Branham, má to byť 'dinner.'“
5„Ó, naozaj?“ Povedal som, „Dokážem ti, že to tak nie je.“ Povedal som, „My neberieme Pánovu 'dinner'; my berieme Jeho 'supper.'“
6A tak my nad tým rozmýšľame ako nad Pánovou „supper“, tá Pánova večera, ktorá bola večer, nebolo to ráno ani popoludnie. On to urobil večer, bola to Jeho večera.
7No, chceme sa vrátiť skoro. A tak nebudeme dnes večer neskoro, brat Carlson ma dnes večer pozve rovno na čas. „Viera je podstatou vecí, na ktoré sa nadejeme.“ A ja neviem, ak Pán dá, možno o tom budem dnes večer hovoriť, ak budem mať dosť času na Odpočítavanie. Je to také trochu vedecké posolstvo, ktoré mi Pán dal v týchto posledných dňoch. A možno, ak Pán dá, možno o tom budem dnes večer hovoriť.
8Mali sme včera večer chválebný čas. Prišiel som a povedal, „Nebudeme sa modliť za chorých,“ a Pán jednako uzdravoval chorých, vidíte. Amen. Niekedy môžeme niečo povedať, ale Pán to jednako urobí inak, tak, ako to On chce. Vidíte, On je Boh.
9Chcel by som teraz rýchlo prečítať z Písma, ako krátky text, ktorý by nám dnes popoludní pomohol.
10Čiže ak ma on pozval načas, tak chcem aj ja zakončiť načas, čiže to by bolo asi štyri-tridsať, čiže asi päťdesiat minút od teraz.
11Obráťme sa do knihy Sudcov, do 16. kapitoly, a prečítajme 27. a 28. verš, ako sa dívame do Slova.
A dom bol plný mužov i žien, a boli ta sídené všetky kniežatá Filištínov, a na streche bolo asi tri tisíce mužov a žien, ktorí sa dívali, keď zabával Samson.
A Samson volal k Hospodinovi a povedal: Pane, Hospodine, rozpomeň sa, prosím, na mňa a posilni ma, prosím, už len tento raz, ó, Bože, aby som sa raz pomstil na Filištínoch za obe svoje oči!
12Znovu sa pomodlime. Pane Ježišu, vezmi tento krátky text a oblej ním cirkev, Pane. Modlíme sa a odovzdávame to Tebe v Ježišovom Mene. Amen.
13Muselo tam byť asi tritisíc Filištínov, ktorí hľadeli dolu z vrchu galérie v tej veľkej aréne, keď ten pár vstúpil v to popoludnie do tej arény. Musel to byť horúci deň. Celý deň tam boli. A v tejto veľkej spoločnosti, na vrchu tejto veľkej arény, ktorá bola postavená v tvare obráteného hríbu, v strede bol stĺp a odtiaľ vychádzalo niečo takýmto smerom a to držalo tie dva stĺpy, ktoré držali všetkých tých divákov dookola; boli tam vyleštení vojnoví bojovníci a ich vyzdobené ženy. Všetci sa počas tejto udalosti nakláňali dopredu, všetci sa chceli dobre pozrieť, aby videli, čo sa tam deje.
14Bolo tam niekoľko predbehúňov, počas tej zábavy. A oni tam mali pravdepodobne nejaké malé opice, ktoré tam predvádzali nejaké triky. A mali tam rôzne veci, ktorými sa zabávali, boj, zápasenie, možno duely, ktoré sa končili smrťou, a mnoho ďalších vecí, ktorými sa celý deň zabávali, lebo to bol veľkolepý deň, ale teraz prišlo to hlavné predstavenie večera.
15Viete, ako my trpezlivo čakáme, zatiaľ čo prebiehajú tie úvodné udalosti. A medzitým čakáme na to hlavné predstavenie, vtedy sa každý postaví a spozornie. Sledovali sme to v našich náboženských bohoslužbách, kde sme mali spievanie, potom svedectvá, kázanie, a tak ďalej; ale to hlavné predstavenie je to, aby sme videli to, čo ide Pán urobiť, aby sme uvideli, kvôli čomu nás všetkých zhromaždil. Všetci sme v očakávaní, aby sme uvideli, aký bude ten koniec, to hlavné predstavenie. Tak isto je to so všetkým. Vždy očakávame to hlavné predstavenie.
16A všetci sa postavili, aby sa pozreli pred seba na to, čo sa dialo, lebo sa začalo približovať to hlavné predstavenie. Čo tam videli? Slepého človeka, ktorého vedie malý chlapec.
17Chodby vytvárali celé popoludnie ozvenu s hlukom opitých a bláznovstvom, ako si tam podávali whiskey a svoje nápoje; a tie ich krásne, vymaľované a ozdobené ženy s veľkými vojnovými hodnostármi, a tak ďalej. Bola to veľká oslava. Oslavovali víťazstvo. Ó, ako nerád toto hovorím! To víťazstvo, ktoré vydobyl ten rybí kráľ Dágon nad sluhom Božím. Reže ma to hlboko vo vnútri, že to musím povedať, ale je to pravda. Oslavovali takýmto spôsobom víťazstvo nad sluhom Jehovu. Čo za hanebná vec! Pitie, vyvádzanie, namaľované ženy, šperky, veľkí hodnostári; ohne horeli v mene rybieho boha. Čo za oslava to musela byť!
18Ale tá zdrcujúca časť toho bola to, ako o tisíce rokov neskôr musíme na takú udalosť takto spomínať, kedy veľký Boh Neba, ktorý zasľúbil vo Svojom srdci, že ten národ zničí, lebo boli pohania, a On poslal človeka, aby urobil tú prácu, pričom tu tá modla rybieho boha slúžila na oslavu víťazstva nad sluhom Jehovu. Jehova vôbec neprehral; o víťazstvo prišiel ten sluha, ktorého On poslal, aby to dosiahol.
19Čo za pohľad, čo za hanebná vec to len bola! Ten chlapec sa tam potkýnal, ten slepý muž, ako prechádzal chodbou k tým veľkým stredovým stĺpom, kde bolo to, čo malo tvar ako obrátený hríb alebo obrátený dáždnik, odkiaľ sa ľudia takto pozerali z tých veľkých balkónov a múrov, ktoré to všetko držali pokope, a stáli na kameňoch, ktoré by ani v dnešnej dobe nebolo možné vybudovať. Nikto to tak nemohol postaviť. Ale čo za veľká vec to bola! A tisíce tých kňazov-celebrít, ktorí slúžili modle s napnutými hruďami a všetkými svojimi ceremóniami a rituálmi okolo svojej modly, že porazili Jehovu. Čo za veľký deň to bol, kedy pili, mali hlučné zábavy a vyvádzali!
20A tu prichádza sluha Jehovu, slepý, potkýna sa, vedie ho na toto miesto malý chlapec, aby tam predviedol nejaké predstavenie. Tá hlavná udalosť bola zábava, aby si robili žarty zo zámeru Jehovu zničiť ten národ. A jednako, ten národ vzal presne tú vec, ktorú tam Boh dal, aby ich zničil, a teraz ho porazili a robili si z neho žarty. Urobili z toho hlavné číslo ich oslavy.
21Či vás to takmer neruinujelen sa na to pozerať? Pomyslieť na to, že tento príbeh sa v skutočnosti nikdy nemal rozprávať. Ale pravdepodobne bol povedaný pre naše káznenie, tak je napísaný. Ponížený, zlomený a teraz porazený rovno medzi dvoma stĺpmi, ktoré tú budovu držali.
22Čo za symbol dnešnej cirkvi to je! Čo za symbol upadnutej rasy ľudí, ktorá sa zapredala svetu a predala práve tú vec, ktorú tu chceme dobyť. Tá cirkev, ktorá predala svoju morálku, ktorá predala Bibliu, predala svoju silu, len tak sa vzdala svojho meča a stojí ponížená v hodine, kedy sa približujú znamenia Príchodu Ježiša Krista, ktorý je blízko; keď mala byť obmytá, bez vrásky a poškvrny, stojac, aby prijala svojho Ženícha.
23Čo za obraz tu vidíme, symbol morálneho rozpadu, ktorý spočíva na národe, na tomto národe. A nebudem sa teraz príliš dlho držať svojho Písma tu, len cez to rýchlo prejdem. Ale môžem to prirovnať k cirkvi, k tomuto národu, k politike a ku všetkému, na čo len dnes môžete položiť ruky, okrem Božej Biblie. Morálne rozpadnutá, samotná ľudská rasa, jednoducho sa nachádza v hroznom stave!
24A tam pod tými ateistami a neveriacimi, ktorí vedia ukázať prstom cirkvi na tvár, ktorá by dnes mala mať to Posolstvo pre dnešok, a povedať, „Čo toto všetko znamená?“ A oni nemajú odpoveď. Nemajú odpoveď. Prečo? Urobili tak ako Samson. Vzdali sa.
25A tak, keby sme ho tam videli, ako tam stojí, povedali by sme, „Čiže toto je ten Samson?“ Predstavme si ho ako veľkého, mocného bojovníka. Vyobrazme si ho. Aké mal široké ramená, skvelú postavu. A tu je tento človek, oslepený, zviazaný reťazami, vedený do stredu miestnosti, ponížený, zlomený, porazený a veľký Boh nebies na neho hľadí. A tam sa naňho zhora pozerajú jeho kritici a opití vojaci.
26Viem si predstaviť, ako tam stáli, že mnoho z tých Filištínov sa celí prestrašili, už len pri tom, ako počuli jeho meno. Samson bolo kedysi mocné meno; rovnako to bolo aj s kresťanstvom, s cirkvou. A ja toto paralelne prirovnám ku cirkvi, túto scénu. Meno Samsona... Ľudia naňho akoby zanevreli, lebo on bol typ človeka, akého nikdy pred tým nevideli. Jeho sila bola viac ako čokoľvek. čo mohol svet ponúknuť. Neexistoval nikto, kto by sa mu vyrovnal. Mnohí, keď na neho hľadeli, ako tam stojí v takom stave, na toto mysleli.
27Mnohí na neho hľadeli z galérií a pamätali si, ako tam stál v takej pozícii. Jedného dňa tam stál s kosťou čeľuste z mulice v ruke a tisíc Filištínov, ako tam okolo neho ležali a tí ostatní utekali ku skalám do bezpečia; on tam len stál a mával im, „No poďte, ak to chcete schytať!“ Ale pozrite sa na neho teraz.
28Mnohí z týchto Filištínov, v ten jeden večer, kedy ho presvedčila cudzoložnica v meste Gáza, oni vzali tie veľké obrovské brány, ktoré vážili tony, obkľúčili ho nimi, chytili ho, poslali vojakov a povedali, „Teraz sme ho chytili. Zamkli sme ho tu.“ Rovnako tak sa to snaží urobiť aj diabol, zabuchnúť ťa do niečoho.
29Ale pamätajte, keď sa Samson na druhé ráno zobudil, alebo v ten večer, uvidel, ako tam bol zabuchnutý. Mohol cítiť niečo na chrbte, vzadu na hlave, astále vedel, že bol Božím synom zmluvy a neexistovalo nič, čo by ho mohlo zabuchnúť. Cirkev raz tiež tak stála. Čo on urobil? Povstal, išiel dolu ulicou, vytiahol brány z pántov, hodil si ich na plecia, vyšľapal na vrch kopca a zložil ich tam na zem.
30Mnohí, ktorí tam v to popoludnie stáli, si tú udalosť pamätali. Ale keď sa na neho teraz pozreli, ako bol oslepený, vysmiaty a slúžil len ako zábava pre svojho nepriateľa. Všetky jeho moci, ktoré mu raz slúžili na jeho ochranu, pre Boží úspech, pre ktorý sa na tento svet narodil, všetko mu to strhla jedna žena.
31Myslím si, že tá istá vec by sa dala uplatniť aj dnes, kedy žena, ktorá predstiera, že je Nevestou Krista, a zakladá svoje učenie na „pohári nečistoty jej ohavností, jej smilstiev.“ Ona priložila vrch pohára svojich smilstiev k ústam Božej cirkvi, ktorá povstala na to, aby ukázala Jeho znamenia a divy, ako to mali urobiť Ježišove posledné prikázania, v Markovi 16. A teraz zisťujeme, že ona vzala Božiu malú vernú skupinu a zorganizovala ich presne tak, ako to chcela, až oni stoja vyzlečení a zapierajú tú Moc, zapierajú Ducha Svätého, zapierajú moc hovoriť v jazykoch, zapierajú Moc Ducha Svätého kriesiť mŕtvych, uzdravovať chorých a vyháňať diablov. A teraz, keď idú Filištínci na teba, čo teraz urobíš, keď to je z teba strhnuté?
Ó, čo len muselo behať mysľou toho človeka!
32Videli sme, čo muselo prebiehať cez myseľ Filištíncov. Oni ho poznali. Počul som, ako sa jeden z nich naklonil k druhému a povedal, „Pamätám si tie časy, keď niekto povedal 'Samson', každý Filištín zmizol ako potkan do diery. Pamätám si tie časy, keď cez púšť pochodovalo tisíce mužov a niekto povedal, 'Prichádza Samson,' všetci pustili ruky a utekali sa schovať najrýchlejšie, ako len mohli.“
33Ale pozrite sa na neho teraz. Je v hroznom stave, je zviazaný, a to len preto, lebo urobil kompromis so ženou. To je to, čo to spôsobilo. Ona ho zbavila jeho moci. Snažila sa zistiť, v čom ležala jeho sila. Vedela, že bol veľkým mužom, ale oni mali tiež svojich veľkých mužov. Ale táto Dalila, to bola skutočná Jezábeľ. Ona vedela, ako naňho, ako ho zviesť a namotať si ho, a hovorila mu, že ho miluje. Ale po celý ten čas, ona ho len ťahala za nos a chcela zistiť, kde sa nachádza jeho sila.
34A to je to isté, čo urobila Jezábeľ tejto cirkvi, ona ju len ťahala, až kým nezistila, kde leží tá sila. A tá sila leží v tomto Slove. „To Slovo je Boh.“ A nakoniec zistila, kde leží tá sila, vzala ho do Nicei, Ríma, a oholila mu vrkoče. A teraz vzali to, čo z toho zostalo, a zobrali to naspäť do Svetovej Rady Cirkvi a znova oholili tie vrkoče. Je to neustále strihanie, vyberú toto a, „Toto neznamená tamto. Dni zázrakov už pominuli. Nie je nič také ako toto, hento alebo tamto.“ Oni zistili, kde leží tá sila, nahradili krsty a podávanie rúk a všetky tieto veci, pre to pravdivé čisté Slovo Božie.
35Toto Slovo je Boh a bolo dané Jeho cirkvi, aby ona porazila svet a diablov a chorobu a vyháňala diablov. Do cirkvi nebola daná žiadna denominácia. To Slovo bolo dané cirkvi; To je jej sila. Ale oni odrezali toto, odrezali tamto, odstrihli tento vrkoč, odstrihli tamten vrkoč, až ona stojí celá oholená.
Ako nejaká katolícka sestra, obstrihaná natoľko, až akceptuje kopu ľuďmi zostrojených vyznaní ako svoje náuky, presne ako prorok povedal, že to urobí. A tu stojí ponížená. Keď si Boh nebies vybral negramotných rybárov, a podobne, a zostúpil dolu a postaral sa a ukázal, že On je stále Bohom a oni nedokážu dať svojmu zhromaždeniu na to odpoveď, pretože to nie je spojené so žiadnou denomináciou. A ona stojí ponížená tam, kde by mala stáť vo svojej sile.
36Ak by cirkev dnes stála tak, ako stála na deň Letníc, ak by cirkev dnes stála tak ako vo dňoch Irenea, ako vo dňoch sv. Martina, ako vo dňoch Polykarpa, kedy by cirkev radšej pochodovala priamo k smrti, ako by mala zaprieť akékoľvek Slovo Božie! Ireneus, Martin, všetci tí ostatní mužovia, ktorí sa držali toho vodného krstu v Mene Ježiša Krista. Každý jeden z nich sa pevne držal toho krstu Duchom Svätým, prorokov, znamení a divov.
37A dnes sa od toho odtrhli. Čo sa stalo? Dalila vedela, kde leží tá sila. Ak by niekedy mohla odtrhnúť tie semináre od toho Slova, len do nejakej človekom vytvorenej teológie, keby to len dokázali, potom by bolo ľahké tých ľudí zviazať a priviesť ich do Svetovej Rady Cirkví, tejto ekumenickej rady.
Poviete, „Nemáš na to žiadne právo.“
38Ja som stále americký občan. Mám právo na slobodu prejavu. Tak veru. Istotne ho mám. Všimnite si, presne to je pravda.
39Ó, ako sa on musel cítiť, čo len muselo prechádzať mysľou toho človeka, ako tam stál a bol slepý!
40No, Jezábeľ vedela, alebo nie Jezábeľ, ale Dalila vedela, že ak by sa jej raz podarilo vyraziť mu oči, tak by bol koniec.
41A to je presne to, čo Dalila tohto posledného veku urobila cirkvi, vyrazila jej oči na Božie zasľúbenie a predala vám nejakú veľkú intelektuálnu denomináciu. Každý rád kupuje... hovorí, „Ja patrím do Prvej cirkvi. Ja patrím k tamtým. Ja...“ Vidíte, pokiaľ diabol dokáže vyraziť tvoje oči na Slovo Božie a to zasľúbenie Božie... Bez ohľadu na to, ako šialene to znie, to je Božie zasľúbenie.
42No, ja nepodporujem kulty, vôbec nie, ale tie kulty sú známe svojimi skutkami. Rovnako je aj Cirkev Božia známa svojimi skutkami. Ale ja sa snažím povedať, čo Dalila urobila Samsonovi.
43No, pozrime sa na stranu Samsona, čo muselo prechádzať mysľou toho človeka, ako tam stál. Všetky tie veľkolepé víťazstvá, ktoré kedy dosiahol, všetky mu určite prebehli mysľou. Tá udalosť sa teraz deje, tá poobedňajšia zábava sa práve začína. Tí, ktorí sa majú zabávať, rozmýšľajú nad tým, čím bol pred tým, ako tam stál, a on tu rozmýšľal, čím kedysi bol. Ale len preto, že nejaká žena ho zlákala, obraz sa úplne zmenil z toho, čo to malo byť. Boh vychoval Samsona, aby zničil ten národ, to bol samotný zámer, prečo ho tam Boh priviedol.
44Ak Boh len dokáže nájsť jedného človeka, to je všetko, čo potrebuje, jeden človek, ktorý sa Mu plne odovzdá. On nepotrebuje armádu; On to tak nikdy nerobil. On používa jedného človeka.
45No, Samson dal Bohu svoju silu, aby ju použil, ale nedal Bohu svoje srdce. On dal svoje srdce Dalile a silu dal Bohu.
46Ale vy musíte odovzdať svoju dušu, telo, ducha, silu, všetko, čím ste, vôli Božej, a stať sa Jemu väzňom. Budete niekoho väzňom. Nepatríte sami sebe. Ste niekoho väzňom. Buď budete väzňom diabla, poznajúc Pravdu a neodovzdáte sa tomu, alebo väzňom Slova, keď sa odovzdáte Bohu, buď jedno alebo druhé. Buď ste diablovým väzňom hriechu, alebo ste Božím väzňom spravodlivosti. Môžete byť buď jedno alebo druhé.
47A teraz Samson rozmýšľa nad tými veľkolepými víťazstvami, ktoré vydobyl. Bez pochyby mu to nejak prišlo na myseľ, keď bol ešte malým chlapcom, ako ho Boh potvrdil, ako povedal jeho matke, ako musí veci robiť; aby nepila opojné nápoje, aby sledovala svoju stravu, lebo má porodiť Nazareja. Ako mu česala vlasy a hovorila mu, „Synu, pomocou týchto vrkočov, je to zmluva s Bohom, bude v nich ležať tvoja sila. Nikdy sa ich nezbav! Nikdy svoje tajomstvo neprezraď. Nikdy sa nevzdaj! Čokoľvek budeš robiť, nech ti zostanú!“
48Ježiš Kristus povedal cirkvi, že, „Nebo a zem pominú, ale Moje Slová nikdy nepominú. A ktokoľvek by z tohto zobral čo i len jedno slovo alebo by k tomu jedno slovo pridal, tomu bude vzatý jeho diel z Knihy Života.“ Cirkev by teraz mala nad tým premýšľať, ako stojíme uprostred tohto chaosu, v tejto hodine modlitby, tesne pred Príchodom Pána Ježiša, ktorý môže nastať každú chvíľu, vytrhnutie.
49Tie veľké víťazstvá, na ktoré môžeme poukázať do minulých dní počas reformácie, dávno v dňoch Irenea a sv. Martina, Patrika a tých, ktorí protestovali proti tým organizáciám.
50A keď prišiel Luther a protestoval proti tej prvej organizácii, katolíckej cirkvi a tej skupine, ktorá ho nasledovala, tá organizácia išla po ňom.
51Keď John Wesley vyšiel z anglikanizmu, akonáhle Wesley odišiel, oni hneď po ňom vytvorili organizáciu.
52A tí skorí letniční vyšli z denominácie. To bolo pre vás prekliate slovo. Ale, „Ako sa pes vracia k svojmu vývratku, ako sa prasa vracia do svojho bahna,“ tak ste sa aj vy vrátili naspäť do toho, čo ste mali poraziť, kvôli čomu ste sa narodili. Haleluja! Aj moje srdce to zraňuje, o to viac, keď sa zamyslím nad tým víťazstvom, ktoré tam Dágon mal nad Samsonom. Vidím, ako Jezábeľ zaujala cirkev. A to je presne ten dôvod, prečo sa každá sila a každé vlákno v mojej bytosti snaží protestovať proti tej veci a vyvolať cirkev do jej miesta pokánia. Vaše matky, vaši otcovia boli z tých organizácií vyhostení. Oni z toho vyšli a protestovali proti tomu a tu sa ich vlastné deti obrátili priamo naspäť a išli späť do toho, z čoho vyšli. Či to len nie je obraz toho, čo Dalila urobila Samsonovi!
53Ako by sme len mali nechať, aby tieto myšlienky prechádzali našou mysľou, tieto veľké víťazstvá. Nemám čas na to, aby som do toho ešte išiel, chcem dodržať slovo, ktoré som vám dal.
54A Boh ho stvoril pre tento účel, aby tam stál medzi tými dvoma stĺpmi, oslepený, porazený a ponížený. On bol stále rovnako veľký chlap, aký bol aj predtým, ale jeho sila bola preč.
55Cirkev je silnejšia, čo sa týka členstva, ako bola kedykoľvek predtým. Ale kde je to Slovo, tá sila, kde je to zamanifestované? Bolo to od vás odrezané organizáciami, ktoré vám odoberajú moc.
56On sklamal Boha. Nie len sklamal Boha, ale on sklamal aj svojich vlastných ľudí. Bol totálnym zlyhaním. Teraz bol väzňom toho národa, pre ktorý ho Boh stvoril, aby ho zničil.
57A tu stojí tá posledná organizácia cirkvi, letniční, dnešné popoludnie, rovnako porazení, ako bol Samson. Možno tomu neuveríte. Ale ak len otvoríte svoju myseľ na Slovo, uvidíte, že to je Pravda.
Oni ho nútili robiť im predstavenie pre zábavu.
58Ako som to nedávno povedal. Títo obchodníci plného Evanjelia, aj keď ich milujem, oni vo svojich časopisoch píšu, „Svätý Reverend Otec taký a taký.“ Vy biedni, slepí letniční, plní ilúzií! Čo sa to s vami deje? Či neviete, že náš Spasiteľ povedal, „Nenazývajte žiadneho človeka na tejto zemi 'Otec'?“ Či si neuvedomujete, že diabol len berie niekoho, kto bol odtiaľ vykopnutý, a robí si z vás terč posmechu? Oni nevchádzajú. Nenechajte si niekým nahovoriť, že vchádzajú.
59Čo sa deje s touto pomýlenou cirkvou? Svet vám prepichol oči. Či neviete, že Ježiš povedal, že sa to nikdy nestane? A keď prichádza tá spiaca panna, aby si kúpila olej, ona to nikdy nedostane. Tu je tá spiaca panna, Luteráni, metodisti, presbyteriáni. Oni to nedostanú. Môžu hovoriť jazykmi a skákať, ale to nič nebude znamenať. Videl som pohanov, ako robili to isté, videl som uctievačov diabla hovoriť v jazykoch a skákať a spievať a kričať; piť krv z ľudskej lebky, vzývať diabla a hovoriť v jazykoch. Nespoliehajte sa na senzácie! Je to Slovo Božie, ktoré nepominie!
60A tu ona je, porazená rovnako, ako bol porazený Samson, a už len robí predstavenie. Ako sa tam satan postavil, zasmial sa na nich a povedal, „Pozrite, oni tvrdia, že veria v Bibliu. Pozrite!“ Hovoril všetkým anjelom neba, „Pozrite, pozrite, oni... Áno, oni sú veriaci v Bibliu, každý jeden z nich, pozrite sa na to, ako sa schádzajú. Každého jedného z nich prevrátim.“ Priamo ich povedie, presne tak, ako to povedali Písma. Musia to urobiť. Sú tam porazení. Dalila; oči prepichnuté, aby nevideli pravdu.
61Ježiš povedal farizejom, „Máte oči, ale nevidíte. Máte uši, ale nepočujete.“ Prečo? Povedal, „Lebo Izaiáš tak povedal.“ On sa odkázal späť na Slovo, na proroka. Sám Boh, Ježiš Kristus, sa odvolával na Slovo Svojho proroka.
62A dnes, Duch Svätý vám prinavracia pamäť. „Tvrdohlaví, vysokomyseľní, milujúci pôžitok viac ako milujúci Boha.“ ženy s pomaľovanými tvárami, nosiace šortky, správajúce sa ako svet, strihajúce si vlasy, a tak ďalej, „majúc formu pobožnosti, ale zapierajúc jej Moc.“ No, vaše vlastné skutky potvrdzujú, že tomu neveríte. Ten Duch Svätý v Slove poukazuje priamo späť na to Slovo.
63„Ó,“ poviete, „Ja to mám.“ Keď beriete na nejakú chorobu liek, ak to nikdy nefunguje, tak musíte zmeniť ten liek, inak zomriete vo svojom hriechu.
64Národ, ten samotný zámer, práve tá vec, pre ktorú bol stvorený, aby ju zničil, Samson bol teraz jej obeťou.
65A tak isto je to s cirkvou! Stvorená na to, aby zahanbila denominacionalizmus a svet v denominácii, ale vy ste namiesto toho išli priamo do denominácie. A tým, že to robíte, nemôžete nasledovať Písma, každý jeden z vás má inú ideu, a tak ste stratili svoju silu. Ten zväzujúci diabol!
66Nechal, aby ho nejaká žena odvábila preč od Slova Božieho. No, poviete, „Brat Branham, to nebolo...“ To bolo Božie Slovo. Dalila vzala Samsona preč od Slova zasľúbenia.
67A tak isto vzala Jezábeľ dnešného dňa cirkev, odvrátila ju od Slova zasľúbenia, od Božej Svätej Biblie. Ó, je to to isté, presne to isté! Čo oni urobili? Nechali Jezábeľ, hovorí sa o tom v Zjavení 17, v Zjavení 17. kapitole, je tam reprezentovaná katolícka cirkev. A oni ti povedia, že to sú tiež oni. Oni ne... Ich vlastná kniha o tom hovorí. Oni si z toho nič nerobia. Koľkokrát čítali svoje vlastné texty? Viete, že to je pravda. [Zhromaždenie hovorí, „Tak je.“ - pozn.prekl.] Oni povedia, že to reprezentuje katolícku cirkev. To je pravda. A pamätajte, „Ona bola matkou cudzoložníc. Ona bola cudzoložnica, matka smilníc. Vidíte, museli to byť cirkvi; nie chlapci, boli to dievčatá, protestantské cirkvi, „matka smilníc.“ A hneď na to, ako sa zorganizovali, urobili to isté, čo urobili tam, vyzliekli sa zo Slova a začali nasledovať to, čo im diktovala nejaká organizácia.
68Viem, že toto nie je populárne, ale je to pravda. Nemám tu žiadne veľké rádio programy alebo televízne programy, ktoré by ma podporovali. Boh mi pomáha, aby som ich nikdy nemal. Ja chcem len jedinú vec a to je podpora Ježiša Krista skrze Jeho Slovo. Len nechať Jeho, aby potvrdil, že to, čo hovorím, je Pravda skrze Jeho Slovo; nie cez nejaké falošné donucovanie, aby mi ľudia verili; ale ten skutočný Sám Duch Svätý, ten, ktorý berie to zasľúbenie tohto dňa a ukazuje, že to je Pravda. To je celé, čo túžim vidieť. Ako Ježiš povedal, „Ak nečiním skutky Môjho Otca, potom Mi neverte.“
69Ako slepí! Ó, poviete, „My nie sme slepí.“ Vy ste slepí! Biblia povedala, že ste. Každý, kto číta Písmo, vie, že to je Laodicejský cirkevný vek. Koľkí z vás tomu veria? [Zhromaždenie hovorí, „Amen.“ - pozn.prekl.] Potom, Biblia hovorí, že, „Laodicejská cirkev bola slepá, nahá, a nevedela o tom.“ To je tá zlá časť, že ona o tom ani nevie. Je na tom horšie ako všetky ostatné cirkevné veky dokopy.
70„Vôl pozná jasle svojho pána alebo stodolu, a mul pozná svoje jasle,“ a povedal, „a Moji ľudia nepoznajú.“
71Slepí, duchovne slepí! Slepí na čo? Božie Slovo. Tak slepí, ako len môžu byť, a nechcú to vidieť. A keď im niečo poviete, povedia, „Ó, áno, ja mám v úmysle to tak urobiť,“ ale nikto z nich to nerobí. Nedokážu to robiť a udržiavať svoje obecenstvo v organizácii; boli by odtiaľ vykopnutí.
72Tam stojí, pričom Dalila mu odstrihla vrkoče. A teraz má krátke vlasy; ako ženy, to isté. Pozrite sa teraz naňho, je tam porazený, presne tak, ako boli predtým oni.
73Kazatelia, letniční poslovia raných dní, vy by ste nikto nespôsobili, že by tí muži verili tomu, že ich deti zorganizujú semináre, ktoré oni sami kritizovali Slovom Božím a z ktorých vyšli. Tak veru. Čo máme skrze tie semináre? Priviedli do cirkvi svet. Jeden starý kazateľ raz zvykol spievať:
Spustili sme závory, urobili sme kompromis s hriechom.
Spustili sme závory, ovce utiekli, ale ako sa dnu dostali kozly?
74Keď spustíte závory, odchádzate od Slova. Keď Eva spustila závory pre intelektuálne rozumovanie satana, prišla smrť; a tie závory, ktoré tam Boh nasadil, to bolo Slovo Jeho zasľúbenia. A my sme to nahradili niečím iným, vyznaním namiesto Slova. Amen. Viete, že to je pravda.
75Čo teraz máme, dnešní letniční? Príliš veľa Rickyov. To slovo, Elvis a Ricky, kedysi ste také mená nepočuli. Je to slovo, je to meno dnešného veku. Ide to spolu. Niečo to znamená.
76Poviete, „Meno nič neznamená.“ Prečo potom Boh zmenil meno Abrama na Abrahám? Prečo zmenil meno Saul na meno Pavol; meno Šimon na Peter? Prečo Sám zmenil Svoje vlastné Meno?
77Prečo zmenil Jákoba na Izrael? Bolo to, až keď zápasil s Pánom, až kým nepremohol. A keď Ježiš porazil smrť, peklo a hrob; Biblia hovorí, „On mal nové Meno.“ A keď Jákob premohol...
78A ak cirkev dokáže premôcť, ona prestane hovoriť, „Ja som metodista, baptista a presbyterián.“ Keď dokáže premôcť svoje vyznania a ten svet, ktorý ju tam dotiahol, vráti sa naspäť do Nevesty Ježiša Krista, pani Ježiš Kristová. Amen.
Čo za smutný pohľad, ako tam Samson stál!
79Ženy s krátkymi vlasmi, ktoré nosia šortky, pomaľované tváre; a letniční, ktorí sa nazývajú kresťanmi, spievajúci v speváckom zbore.
80Nedávno som bol na zhromaždení letničných v jednom veľkom meste, kde žije jeden slávny človek. A tie zhromaždenia boli tak obrovské, že som to musel premiestniť na väčšie miesto, a oni tam vybrali spevácky zbor letničných. A nič netušili o tom, že ja som tam sedel rovno za záclonami a modlil som sa. A každé dievča v tom rade, bolo tam asi tridsaťpäť dievčat a tridsaťpäť chlapcov, spievali tam pieseň Mesiáš, každá tam mala mejkap a ostrihané vlasy. A keď David duPlessis išiel vziať obeť na misie, správali sa tam ako slepý Bartimeus, behali tam dookola, podávali si ten pohár. To sú letničné vnúčatá. To nie je letničný sluha Boží s krstom Duchom Svätým. Duch Svätý si nebude robiť žarty zo Svojho vlastného Slova. Nemôže to tak robiť a zostať Duchom Svätým. Ale tam sa to dostalo. Ó, Samson, zamysli sa trochu!
81Pamätajte, tieto pásky sú nahrávané a posielané do celého sveta. Nehovorím to len tejto skupine tu.
82Samson začal rozmýšľať nad svojimi chybami. Ó! A začal rozmýšľať nad tým, čím kedysi bol.
83Letniční, zamyslite sa nad tým, kým ste boli pred tisíc deväťsto rokmi. Cirkev, katolíci, letniční, zamyslite sa nad tým, kým ste boli pred tisíc deväťsto rokmi, a pozrite sa na to, kým ste dnes. Študujte to chvíľu.
Zostáva mi už asi len osem minút, aby som dodržal svoje slovo.
84Všimnite si, zatiaľ, čo tam stál, on plakal, začal sa zamýšľať nad svojimi chybami, a keď začal rozmýšľať nad tým, čo sa mu stalo... Bol slepý, čiže už ani nemohol vidieť. Prijal niečo iné. Láska k tejto žene, to je to, čo ho dostalo, a ona ho odmietla.
85Ó, o akej pasci by som tu mohol hovoriť, ktorú satan pripravil na cirkev. Ak si len necháte zaslepiť oči pred pravdou, vtedy vás dostal. A ak by ste to len vedeli! V jednom z týchto dní vám Boh dokáže, čo je znamenie šelmy. Všimnite si, len čo zostala oslepená, takto na tom je.
86A tam on stál. A začal sa rozpomínať na tie svoje chyby, kde opustil tú úzku rovnú cestu, kde sa oddialil od Božieho zasľúbenia. A vykríkol, „Pane, vykonaj pomstu za moje oči!“ Prečo to urobil? On vedel, že bola taká možnosť.
A tu chcem, aby ste počúvali.
87Samson sa musel zamýšľať nad tým, kde tú cestu opustil. On už vtedy videl, že teraz je príliš neskoro. On to videl, to, kde opustil ten chodník, a pomyslel si, „Musí byť nejaká možnosť, že by Boh odpovedal.“ On vedel, že ak by mohol činiť pokánie a priviesť Boha do toho, aby videl, že ľutuje svoj omyl, tak je tam nejaká možnosť, aby Boh stále dodržal Svoje zasľúbenie.
88Boh to urobí. On to ide urobiť. Tak isto aj teraz, Boh bude mať takú Cirkev! Nebojte sa, ona tam bude. Duch Svätý sa v tej cirkvi bude pohybovať tak, až ona a Kristus budú ten istý Duch. Luther tam stál na svojich nohách v ospravedlnení; Wesley tam stál v srdci lásky a posvätenia; ale toto už povstalo až ku Hlave; vidíte, je to teraz väčšie. Ona sa stala demonináciou a ten roľník príde a ten vinič oreže. Oni zomreli, ale nikdy viac sa už nevrátili. Oni sa už nikdy nevrátia. Ale stále je tam semeno Života, ktoré tam prichádza.
89Ale všimnite si, Samson si myslel, že musí byť nejaká možnosť. On to uchopil.
90Ale tá smutná časť dnes je to, že cirkev to nechápe. Oni si neuvedomili, že existuje šanca na prebudenie. Oni si neuvedomili tú možnosť. Oni ešte nezachytili to videnie. Oni sa len usadili.
91„Ó,“ hovoria, „brat Branham, čo to teraz robíš?“
92Ó, ja viem, že tlieskate rukami a máte tu veľké zhromaždenia, ktoré sa lesknú svetským pozlátkom. Musíte ísť na najväčšie miesta. Musíte mať tú najlepšiu zábavu. Musíte robiť toto, toto alebo tamto. Váš pastor musí byť vyučený v seminároch a mať doktorát. Ani nedokážete povedať svojim susedom, že váš pastor je len obyčajný chlapík z kukuričného poľa, ktorý bol spasený. To musí byť, „Náš pastor je Doktor LL.D. Taký a taký.“ Pre mňa to znamená len to, že je ešte o to ďalej od Boha. To je všetko, až tak ďaleko, lebo jeho intelekt ho zavliekol preč. Ó, svietite vzdelávaním.
93A ďalšia vec, ktorá sa týka väčšiny tejto dnešnej modernej evanjelizácie od Letníc až po dnes, je skupina hollywoodskeho predvádzania sa. Áno, iste tým žiarite ako to pozlátko na Dágonovi, tom rybom bohu. Ale to pozlátko a vzdelanie a intelektuálne predvádzanie sa s veľkým jasom, aby verejnosť videla tú porážku, a tak ďalej, tie intelektuálne poňatia Evanjelia, a tak ďalej, ktoré neprinášajú Moc Božiu, aby ženy prestali nosiť ostrihané vlasy, aby sa muži správali tak, ako sa majú, aby zaujali svoje miesto v dome a vychovávali svoje deti tak, ako sa to má. Ono to neprináša Ducha Božieho.
Samson tam stál, bol rovnako veľký, ako bol kedykoľvek predtým.
94A cirkev dnes stojí silnejšia v počte členov, ako bola pred štyridsiatimi rokmi, ale kde je Duch Boží? Ó! Kde je v tom Duch Boží? Vidím tam ducha Hollywoodu. Vidím tam ducha tohto sveta. Vidím tam ducha pôvabu. Idem priamo proti tomu, je to už vyše pätnásť rokov, ako proti tomu kážem, ale aj tak sa to stále zhoršuje. Vidím to, vidím tam toho ducha. Ale kde je Duch Boží, ktorý dokáže uchopiť Boha, ktorý dokáže rozpoznať Slovo, kedy je zamanifestované, kedy dokáže rozpoznať Pravdu? Jedine Duch Boží to dokáže. Tak veru. Môžete si vziať pôvab, lesk a predvádzanie sa.
95Samson mal rovnako veľké telo, ako mal kedykoľvek predtým, ale jeho sila od neho bola vzatá.
96Takto je dnes na tom cirkev, letničná cirkev. Myslím, že pred troma rokmi, tí zo Sunday Visitor z katolíckej cirkvi povedali, že mali „milión obrátených do katolicizmu za jeden rok, ale letničná cirkev mala o jeden a pol milióna viac.“ No, čo potom máte, keď toto máte? Radšej by som mal päť ľudí, ktorí odovzdajú svoj život Kristovi. On dokáže viac s piatimi ľuďmi alebo s jedným človekom, ktorý je odovzdaný, ako by dokázal so štyridsiatimi miliónmi, ktorí sú mimo. Čo znamenajú členovia? To znamená len to, že ste zaslepení a pridávate viacej sily tej smilnici. Tak veru.
Všimnite si, cirkev dnes nie je ochotná zaplatiť cenu.
97Samson sa modlil ten správny druh modlitby, „Pane, dovoľ mi zomrieť s týmto nepriateľom.“ Ó!
98Tu to máte. Nechcete zomrieť vašej pýche. Nechcete zomrieť pre veci tohto sveta.
99No, pamätajte, hovorím doslova ku tisíckam ľudí okolo sveta, keď toto hovorím. Vidíte? Nehovorím to len tu v Chicagu. Hovorím to do sveta.
100Nechcete zomrieť, ale to je jediný spôsob, ako mať prebudenie. Oslepili ste Samsona, či nevidíte, že Dalila zaslepila vaše oči? A ten jediný spôsob, ako môžete prinavrátiť tú silu späť do cirkvi, je zomrieť tomu nepriateľovi, ktorý vás zatiahol do spôsobov tohto sveta.
Samson povedal, „Dovoľ mi zomrieť s nepriateľom.“
101Musí sa zaplatiť vysoká cena. Musíte zomrieť tej veci, ktorá vás k tomuto priviedla. Musíte zomrieť tej veci, ktorá vás priviedla, vás, letničných ľudí, tam, kde sa dnes popoludní nachádzate. Musíte tomu zomrieť.
102Samson bol ochotný tú cenu zaplatiť, aby znovu získal moc Božiu späť do svojho života.
103Zaujíma ma, či je cirkev dnes popoludní ochotná zaplatiť tú cenu a zomrieť s nepriateľom. Zomrieť tej veci, všetkej svojej popularite a všetkému tomuto, tamtomu alebo tamtomu, len aby ste znovu videli moc Božiu na sebe a stali sa väzňami Ježiša Krista.
104Ó, počujem, ako niektorí z vás hovoria, „Ó, áno, my máme prebudenia.“ Ale to sú denominačné prebudenia. Jednotári chcú vziať všetkých trojičiarov a urobiť z nich jednotárov. Trojičiari chcú vziať všetkých jednotárov a urobiť z nich trojičiarov. Cirkev Božia chce vziať Cirkev Božieho Proroctva. Jedna chce zobrať tú druhú a urobiť z toho veľkú denom-... Či si neuvedomujete, že takto slúžite len človeku?
105My sme bratia. Nie je žiadna denominácia, ktorá by dokázala oddeliť lásku Božiu. My sme bratia. „Takto budú všetci ľudia vedieť, že ste Mojimi učeníkmi, keď budete mať lásku jeden k druhému.“
Poviete, „Tak potom prečo na nich kričíš?“
106Láska napráva. Ak láska nenapráva, potom to nie je láska. Ak vidíš svoje dieťa na zemi na ulici a nedáš mu trochu stimulácie zadnej časti, potom nie si dobrým otcom. Ale skutočná matka alebo otec ho pozdvihne a dá mu preplesk a povie mu, že musí ísť preč z tej ulice, lebo zomrie. To je skutočná láska. Ale povedať, „Maličký, drahý, no, ja neviem. No, možno by si tu nemal byť v takomto čase dňa, v tomto čase konca, kedy všetky autá idú tak rýchlo...“ Ó, nezmysel, ty zženštilý kazateľ, ktorý nemáš odvahu vziať Božie Slovo a nazvať biele bielym a čierne čiernym, správne správnym a nesprávne nesprávnym! Ale oni to robia.
107Áno, máme prebudenia, ale pozrite sa na tie morálne zásady poza tými prebudeniami. Ani trochu ich to nemení; ide to po celý čas len ďalej od Boha a smerom do sveta. Všimnite si to.
108Samson vedel, čo sa stane, ak bude jeho modlitba vypočutá.
109Ale my sme si ešte nespočítali cenu. Čo sa stane, ak Boh odpovie na tvoje modlitby, aby si sa stal skutočným, naozajstným dieťaťom Božím? Okamžite vieš, že si vtedy preč z denominácie. A tie ženy, s ktorými hrávaš karty, a podobne? Ó, nie! Si z toho von, určite. Najlepšie bude, keď si to ale vopred všetko spočítaš.
110Samson povedal, „Dovoľ mi zomrieť.“ On bol ochotný tú cenu zaplatiť. A on vedel...
111Dobre teraz toto počúvajte. On vedel, že ten jeho prítomný odpadnutý stav by nikdy nezvládol výzvu tej hodiny. Ale jednako, on bol tak isto mužom, ako bol kedykoľvek predtým, čo sa týka svojich svalov. Jeho postava bola rovnaká ako kedykoľvek predtým. Mal rovnako veľké svaly, ktoré mohol na rukách ukázať, ako kedykoľvek predtým, pravdepodobne boli ešte väčšie, lebo veľa drel pri... robil ťažšiu prácu.
112Máme lepšie cirkvi, lepšie budovy a všetko možné, ale kde je naša sila, duchovne hovoriac? Ó, môžme v tomto národe hlasovať. Istotne, mohli by sme robiť tieto veci, ale to nie je to, o čom hovorím. Hovorím o Prítomnosti Božej, ktorá je medzi nami rozpoznávaná. To je to, pre čo by sme mali žiť.
113On vedel, že jeho odpadnutý stav nedokázal čeliť výzve tej hodiny.
114A tak isto to teraz vie aj cirkev. My to nedokážeme urobiť v tomto stave. Nedokážete to urobiť. Denominácie nepotvrdzujú Slovo; oni zapierajú Slovo. Samotná denominácia zapiera to Slovo v tej chvíli, ako sa stáva denomináciou. Tá samotná vec, vy sa len hneď od začiatku dostávate na druhú stranu. Ona zapiera Slovo. Po celý čas...
115Už len minútu alebo dve. Ale všimnite si... Ako sa teraz poponáhľam a dodržím svoje slovo.
116Po celý čas, keď tam stáli, a všetky tie myšlienky, ktoré im behali hlavou; a dúfam, že to isté sa deje teraz aj s vami. Oni si to nevšimli, zatiaľ čo Samsonovi prechádzali myšlienky hlavou. Možno si podali fľašu, možno sa znovu napili. Ich pekné hollywoodske ženy tam stáli s cigaretami v ústach, ak také niečo vtedy bolo; nemyslím si, že v tej dobe išli až tak nízko. Ale vytlačili si vlasy dohora, dali si ďalší drink a kričali, „Ahoj, Jozef alebo Ján, ty tam! Včera večer sme hrali karty a mali sme úžasnú párty.“ [Prázdne miesto na páske – pozn.prekl.]
117„Existuje možnosť, že Boh ma vypočuje. Existuje možnosť.“ A zatiaľ, čo na to myslel, Filištínci si ho nevšímali, zatiaľ čo tento malý chlapec si odviazal ruky a odišiel naspäť. On povedal, „Polož mi ruky na tento stĺp.“ „Existuje možnosť.“ Ó!
118Keby to len cirkev mohla uvidieť. Existuje možnosť skutočného prebudenia.
119Čo on urobil? On pozdvihol svoje očné jamky (nemal žiadne oči) k Bohu. Oni si vôbec nevšimli, ako sa mu hýbali pery a ako úprimne vyznával.
120My nepotrebujeme len také plytké, „Pane, odpusť mne a Jimovi, Joeovi, a nám ostatným. Amen.“ My potrebujeme úprimné prečistenie od kazateľne až po vrátnika.
121Oni si vôbec nevšimli, ako mu dolu z jeho očných jamiek vytekali slzy, kde mal kedysi oči. Oni si nevšimli, ako sa mu hýbali pery. Jeho oči, slané slzy mu vytekali dolu z očných jamiek. On chcel, aby Boh ešte viac potvrdil Svoje Slovo, aby dokázal, ako to dnes hovorím tejto Dalile alebo skôr Samsonovi, že, „Ježiš Kristus je ten istý včera, dnes i naveky.“
122„Ešte raz,“ pomyslel si, „stane sa to. Nie nová denominácia, nie nové sektárstvo, ale potvrdené Slovo od Teba, Bože! Viem, že Ty si stále Boh. Ja som slepý. Ja som sa vymkol z cesty. Nie som hodný toho, aby som žil. Dovoľ mi zomrieť s týmto nepriateľom. Ty si ma pozdvihol, aby som to zničil, ale ja som Ťa sklamal, Pane. Ale existuje tu možnosť, že Ty ma vypočuješ. Ešte raz, Pane, ešte raz!“ S hlbokou vážnosťou sa modlil. On vedel, čo prichádza. „Pane, ešte raz! Ešte raz mi dovoľ vidieť Ježiša Krista takého, aký bol včera!“ Keď sa modlil tú modlitbu a slzy mu stekali po lícach s hlbokou úprimnosťou vyznania!
123To je to, čo cirkev potrebuje. Vyznajte, že sa mýlite! Nezaujímajte sa o to, čo hovorí doktor Jones alebo čo hovorí ktokoľvek iný. Ak ste mimo Slova Božieho, vyznajte to, že sa mýlite. Vykríknite, „Ešte raz, Pane, ešte raz! Ešte raz, Pane, ešte raz! Pomsti moju slepotu na tieto denominácie! A daj mi silu, Pane, aby som zatriasol týmto denominačným svetom s Tvojím potvrdením. Daj mi silu, Pane! Dokáž to ešte raz!“
124On vedel, čo sa stane, ak jeho modlitba bude zodpovedaná. On vedel, s hlbokou vážnosťou kričal, „Ešte raz, Pane!“ A zatiaľ čo sa modlil a robil svoje úprimné vyznanie, každé vlákno v jeho tele začalo vibrovať.
125Ó, Bože, ak by to Telo Ježiša Krista dokázalo stáť ako jedno a každé jedno vlákno a každý jeden úd by znovu začal vibrovať tým doslovným krstom Duchom Svätým; nie s nejakými novými členmi a podávaním rúk alebo nejakým vyznaním.
126Ako sa znovu začala vracať sila do tých veľkých svalov a každé jedno tkanivo sa začalo hýbať. Znovu sa cítil sám sebou, zaprel sa a vykĺbil to. A keď to urobil, ten veľký múr sa zrútil.
127Všetko, čo dnes potrebujeme urobiť, aby sme videli pád týchto denominačných múrov, je byť hlboko úprimní pred Bohom, aby sme uzdravili tie oslepené oči, ktoré boli oslepené pred Slovom Božím.
128To bolo Samsonove najväčšie víťazstvo, ktoré kedy mal, lebo bol ochotný činiť pokánie nad každým nepriateľom, ktorý bol pred neho postavený, aby ho zničil.
129Ó, letniční, postavte sa dnes popoludní na svoje miesto, na svoje miesto povinnosti Božieho Slova. Čiňte pokánie a nahlas skríknite, „Pane Bože, ešte raz!“ Dovoľte mi niečo vám povedať! Bude lepšie, ak zničíte svojho nepriateľa pred tým, ako on zničí vás. Tak veru. Prineste naspäť tie staromódne modlitebné zhromaždenia, to skutočné zbožné pokánie, celonočnú oltárovú bohoslužbu. Ó, letniční, vypočujte ma! Zanechajte, ó, zanechajte toto porušenie, ktoré tu tá Jezábeľ medzi vami spôsobila. Nechajte to, zanechajte to rýchlo a vráťte sa späť do Slova Pánovho, preč od tohto hollywoodskeho predvádzania sa! Obráťte sa celým svojím srdcom späť do Slova Božieho. Obráťte sa späť k Moci Ducha Svätého! Vy, ženy, sa obliekajte ako ženy, vy, muži, sa správajte ako muži, ako synovia a dcéry Božie. Obráťte sa od tohto Jezábeľského systému, ktorý vás škrtí a oslepuje. Nech nám Boh pomôže, aby sme mali to pravdivé pokánie; nie len polovičné, s tým to nejde.
130Ako na to myslím práve v tejto chvíli, kedy môj čas vypršal, mali by sme sa postaviť na svoje nohy a kričať so zdvihnutými rukami, „Pane, ešte raz! Ešte raz, ó, Pane, ešte raz!“
131Postavme sa, každý, ktorý je ochotný to urobiť, aby sme videli prebudenie; to znamená byť pripravený zomrieť tomuto hollywoodskemu predvádzaniu sa; každý, ktorý je pripravený zomrieť, aby sme videli to, ako „tá Moc Božia príde na Sion s radosťou, a neuškodia ani nezahubia na celom vrchu Jeho svätosti.“
132Pozdvihnime naše ruky a kričme, „Ešte raz, Pane!“ Ešte raz, Pane! Ešte raz, Pane! Ešte raz, Pane, pošli Ducha Svätého s mocným ženúcim sa vetrom, ako si to urobil na deň Letníc. Amen. [Zhromaždenie pokračuje v modlitbe a chvále k Bohu. – pozn.prekl.]
1 Thank you, very much. Let us pray.
Heavenly Father, we are assembled again in the Name of Thy beloved Child, the Lord Jesus, to express our love in worship to Him again. We pray that His Spirit will meet with us, and that He will give us each a portion of that Spirit that might give us sustaining grace to finish the journey and fight the fight that's set before us, the fight of Faith. Grant it, Father. And break to us, this afternoon, the Bread of Life, to strengthen us, for it is written, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceedeth from the mouth of God." May we hear that, this afternoon, in the Name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
2 Be seated. Commenting Brother Carlson, he just let me on about ten minutes late. He's getting better. Another week's meeting, we'll just... I'll probably be here on time...?... We're so happy for the privilege.
3Now tonight is our closing night of this certain service, and I want to let you out in time so you can have your--your supper. I know a lot of you call it your dinner. But if I have dinner, then where's my supper come in?
4Now, I was talking to a fellow, he said, "Oh, Brother Branham, it's--it's dinner."
5"Oh, it is?" I said, "I want to prove you you're wrong." I said, "We don't take the Lord's dinner; we take His supper."
6So we--we like to think of it as the Lord, as our supper, the Lord's supper that night, not morning or afternoon. He, He took it in the evening, it was His supper.
7 Now, so we want to get back early. And so we won't be late tonight, Brother Carlson is going to let me on just exactly on time tonight. "Faith is the substance of things hoped for." And I don't know, if the Lord willing, I might try to speak tonight, if I can get a little, enough time, on, The Countdown. The, for it's a scientific, little Message the Lord has give me for the last days. And maybe, the Lord willing, I might be able to speak on that tonight.
8Now, we had a grand time last night. I went over, said, "We're not going to pray for the sick," and the Lord healed the sick anyhow, you see. Amen. Sometimes we can say something, but the Lord can just upset that anytime He wants to. You see, He--He is God.
9 Now I want to read quickly from the Scriptures, for a little text that I--I thought that might be a help to us this afternoon.
10Now, if he let me on on time, I want to try to get out on time, and that would be about four-thirty, which would be about fifty minutes from now.
11Let us turn now over to the Book of Judges, the 16th chapter, and let's read the--the 27th and 28th verses, as we look to the Word.
Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women,... behold while Samson made sport.
And Samson called to the LORD and said, O Lord... remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O Lord, that I might be... avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.
12Let's pray again. Lord Jesus, take this little text, and water the Church with it, Lord. We pray and commit it to You, in Jesus' Name. Amen.
13 There must have been about three thousand Philistines, looking down from the top of the gallery of this great arena, when the couple entered the arena that afternoon. Must have been a hot day. All day long they had been out there. And in this great company, on top of this great arena that was built something on the order of an upside-down mushroom; and the center post in the middle, that went out something in this way, and held the two posts holding all the spectators around; highly-polished warlords and their fine-jeweled women. All leaned forward at this certain event, for they wanted to get a good look, that what was taking place.
14There had been preliminaries, all the entertainment. They probably had little monkeys that--that played little tricks. And they had different things that they entertained themselves with, fighting, wrestling, and--and--and maybe dueling to death, and many other things that--that they had been entertained with all day, for it was a great day, but now the main event come.
15 You know how we all wait patiently while the preliminaries are going on. And they wait for the--the main event, and that's when everybody sets up and takes notice. We watch it in our religious services, of when we have our--our singing, and our testimonials, and the preaching, and so forth; but the main event is see what the Lord is going to do, see what He has gathered us together for. We're all under anticipations to see just what the end is going to be, the main event. It's that way in anything. We always watch for the main event.
16And they all raised up to look forward, to see what was taking place, because the main event was being brought to them, and what did they see but a blind man being led by a little boy.
17 The halls had echoed all afternoon, with drunken revelry, how that they passed the whiskey and their high drinks; and their fine, painted-up and jeweled women, and great dignified warlords, and all. It was a great celebration. They were celebrating the victory. Oh, how I hate to say this! The victory that the fish-god Dagon had got, over the servant of God. It just goes plumb down to the bottom of me, to have to say that, but it's truth. Celebrating such a way as that, a victory over Jehovah's servant. What a shameful thing! Drinking, revelry, and painted women, and jeweled-up, and great dignitaries, the fires was burning under the fish-god, and what a celebration it must have been.
18But the heartbreaking part, as thousands of years later that we have to think back of such an event as that, and when the great God of Heaven, Who had purposed in His heart to destroy that nation because they were heathens, and had sent a man to do the job, and here the fish-god idol was celebrating a victory over Jehovah's servant. Jehovah never lost; the servant that He sent to do it, lost the victory.
19 What a sight, what a shameful thing it was! The lad led the stumbling, blind man across the--the hall, to these big center posts, whereon all the great upside-down mushroom or umbrella-like set, where the people looked down like this, from the great-like pilasters run up and held the thing in order, laid by stone that could not be reproduced again today. No one could build it like that. But what a great thing it was! And thousands of the celebrity priests who had served an idol, with their chests all swelled out, and all their ceremonies and rituals over their idol, that he had conquered Jehovah. What a great day it was, drinking, revelry, and carrying on!
20 And here comes Jehovah's servant, blind, stumbling, led by a little boy, out to this great post, to make sport. The main event of entertainment was to make sport out of Jehovah's ordained purpose to destroy the nation. And, yet, the nation has taken the thing that God had placed in to destroy them, and now they had conquered him and was making sport out of him, their main event at their celebration.
21Doesn't that just kill you, nearly, to have to look at that? To think what could, this story never really should have never had to be told. But it was probably told for--for our admonition, is wrote that way. Humiliated, broken, standing now defeated, right between the two posts that held the building.
22 What a symbol that is of the church of this day! What a symbol it is of a fallen race of people, that has sold out to the world and the very thing that we're here to conquer. The church that has sold its--its morals, that sold the Bible, sold it's strength, so surrendered its sword, and standing humiliated in the hour when the approaching signs of the Coming of Jesus Christ is at hand; when she ought to be washed, not a spot or a wrinkle, standing to receive her Bridegroom.
23 What a picture we see here, a symbol of moral decay that rests upon the nation, this nation. And I'm not going to try to stay with my Scriptures too long, so I can get through quick. But I could symbolize that with the church, with the nation, with politics, and with everything you can put your hands on today, besides God's Bible. Morally decayed, the human race itself, just in a terrible condition!
24And there under atheists and unbelievers that can point their finger into the face of the church, who should have the Message for today, and asking them, "What does all this mean?" And they don't have the answer. They don't have the answer. Why? They did like Samson did. They've surrendered.
25 So see him standing there, and we would say, "So this is Samson?" Let's catch a picture of it, this great, mighty warrior. Let's picture him, this afternoon, that he had wide shoulders, great framework. And here this big bulk of a man stands there, blinded, tied with little strings, and led to the middle of the floor, humiliated, broken, defeated, with the great God of Heaven looking down upon it. Down here, his critics, drunken soldiers looking down.
26I'd imagine, as they stood there, many Philistines had even shook in their shoes, to hear his name. Samson was a mighty name, one time; so was Christianity, the church was. And I'm going to parallel it with the church, this scene. Samson name, people just fainted, for he was some sort of a man that they had never seen a man like him. His strength was beyond anything that the world had ever had. There's nothing they had could match it. Many remembered him as they looked on him standing there in that condition.
27 Many looked upon him from the galleries and remember see him standing in another position. One day, standing with a jawbone of a mule, in his hand, with a thousand Philistines laying around him, when they had fled to the rocks for safety; standing, motion his fingers, "Come on, if you want some of it!" But now look at him.
28Many of the Philistines, that one night he was persuaded in by a harlot and in the--the city of Gaza, they took the great big gates that would have weighed tons, and fenced him in and caught him, and sent out to the soldiers and said, "Now we've caught him. We've hemmed him in." Like the devil is always trying to do, hem you in on something.
29 But remember when Samson awoke the next morning, or that night, rather, seeing he was hemmed in. He could feel back on the back of his head and still know he was a covenant son of God, and there was nothing could hem him in. The church once stood like that, too. What did he do? He rose up, walked down the street, pulled the gates out of its sockets, and put it upon his shoulders and walked up the top the hill and set down.
30Many standing there that afternoon remembered that event. But look at him now, blinded, mocked, just a sport for the enemy. All of his powers that he once had for his protection, for God's achievement that he had been born in the world to do, had been stripped from him by a woman.
31 I think that same thing could be applied today, that a woman who pretends to be the Bride of Christ, and basing her teaching with "a cup of the filthiness of her abominations, of her fornications." She has tipped the cup of her fornications into the mouths of God's church that's been raised up to show His signs and wonders, as Jesus' last commandment was to do, in Mark 16. And now we find that she has took God's little, faithful group and organized them together just exactly the way she did herself, and has got them standing stripped, denying the Power thereof, denying the Holy Spirit, denying the power to speak with tongues, denying the Power of--of the Holy Spirit to raise the dead, and heal the sick and cast out devils. And now the Philistines is upon thee, and what's you going to do now, stripped?
Oh, what must have went through that man's mind!
32 We have seen what must have went through the Philistines' mind. They had knowed him. When, I've heard one reach over to another, maybe, and say, "I remember the time when you say 'Samson,' every Philistine would go like rats to a hole. I've heard the time, you'd say, a thousand men would be marching across the desert, they say, 'Samson is coming,' they would drop their arms and run for safety as hard as they could."
33But now look at him. He is in a terrible condition, bound, all because he compromised to a woman. That's what done it. She stripped him of his power. She kept trying to find out where his strength laid. She knowed he was a big man, but they had big men, too. But this Delilah, she was a-a real Jezebel. She knowed how to work on him, to woo him to her and say that (he) she loved him. But, all the time, she was trying to fish along, where his strength laid.
34 And that's the same thing that the Jezebel has done to the church, it's fished along until it's found out where the strength laid. And the strength is in the Word. "The Word is God." And finally she found where that strength laid, and she took him down to Nicaea, Rome, and shaved off his locks. And now they've took what's left out of it, and taking them back to the World Council of Churches, and got their locks shaved again. It's a constant shaving, taking This out, and, "This doesn't mean that. The days of miracles is passed. There is no such a thing as this, that, the other." They, they found where the strength laid, substituting baptisms and handshakes and all these other things, for the true unadulterated Word of God.
35 This Word is God, that was given to His Church to defeat the world and the devils, and the sickness, and to cast out devils, and no denomination was give to the Church. The Word was give to the church; That's her strength. But they've cut This away, they've cut That away, and they shaved off This lock, and shaved off That lock, until she stands shorn today, like a Catholic sister, shorn off, until she has accepted a bunch of man-made creeds for her doctrine, just exactly what the prophet said she would do. And here she stands today, humiliated. When the God of Heaven has chose the ignorant fishermen, and so forth, and has come down in that and proving It, that He still remains God, and they can't give an answer to their congregation for It because it's not connected with any denomination. And she stands humiliated, where she ought to have been standing in her strength.
36 If the church today stood like it did on the Day of Pentecost, if the church today stood like it did in the days of Irenaeus, and in the days of Saint Martin, or in the days of Polycarp, where the Church would march right into death before it would defy any Word of God! Irenaeus, Martin, all those men, held tight to that water baptism in the Name of Jesus Christ. Every one of them held tight to that baptism of the Holy Ghost, the prophets, signs and wonders.
37And they've got away from it today. What happened? Delilah knowed where the strength laid. And she could ever get those seminaries away from that Word, onto some man-made theology, she had it, then it was easy to bind and lead them into the World Council of Churches, this ecumenical council.
You say, "You ain't got no right."
38I'm still American citizen. I got a right to freedom of speech. That's right. Certainly am. Notice, that's exactly the Truth.
39 Oh, how he must have felt, what went through that man's mind, as he stood there, blind!
40Now, Jezebel knew, or not Jezebel, but Delilah knew, if she could ever punch his eyes out, that was it.
41And that's exactly what Delilah of this last day has done to the church, punch its eyes out, to God's promise, and sold you some great big intellectual denomination. Everybody likes to buy,... say, "I belong to the First church. I belong to down here. I...." See, as long as the devil can put your eyes out, to the Word of God and the promise of God! No matter how foolish it sounds, it's God's promise.
42Now, I'm not endorsing cults, not at all, but them cults are known by their works. So is God's Church knowed by Its works. But I am trying to say what Delilah has done to Samson.
43 Now let's take Samson's side, what must have went through the man's mind as he stood there. All the great victories he had once had, must have passed through his mind. The event is on now, the entertainment for the afternoon is fixing to start. The ones that's to be entertained are thinking of what he was, and here he is standing here a thinking of what he was. But because some woman lured him, the picture has changed, to what it should been. God raised Samson up to destroy that nation, that was the very purpose of bringing him on.
44If God can only find one man, that's all He needs, one man that can fully surrender to Him. He don't take an army; He never did use that. He only uses a man.
45 Now, Samson gave God His strength to use, but he didn't give God his heart. He gave his heart to Delilah, and gave his strength to God.
46But you've got to surrender soul, body, spirit, strength, everything you are, to the will of God, become a prisoner to Him. You're going to be somebody's prisoner. You don't belong to yourself. You are somebody's prisoner. You're either a prisoner of the devil, knowing this Truth and won't surrender to it, or a prisoner to--to the world, and surrender to God, one or the other. You're either the devil's prisoner, to sin, or you're God's prisoner, to righteousness. You're one or the other.
47 And now Samson thinks of the great victories that he had won. No doubt it come to his mind of how, that when he was a little boy, that God had vindicated him, told his mother that how that she must do; not drink strong drinks, or--or watch her diet, that she was bringing forth a Nazarite. How she combed his hair, and told him, "Son, through these locks, it's a covenant with God, that your strength will lay in there. Don't, never give it away. Don't, never give away your secret. Don't, never surrender it. Whatever you do, stay with it."
48 Jesus Christ told the church, that, "Heavens and earth will pass away, but my Words shall never pass away. And whosoever shall take one Word from It, or add one word to It, his part will be taken out of the Book of Life." The church ought to think of that now as we stand in this chaos, in this hour just prayer... prior the Coming of the Lord Jesus, at any moment, for a Rapture.
49 The great victories that we can point back, in the days gone by, in the reformation, back in the days of Irenaeus and Saint Martin, Patrick, and those who protested those organizations.
50And when Luther came out and protested that first organization, Catholic church, and the group that followed him come right back and organized behind him.
51When John Wesley come out of Anglicanism, and, as soon as Wesley left, they organized right behind him.
52And the early Pentecost come out of the denominations. That was a cursed word to you. But, "As a dog goes to its vomit, and a sow to their wallow," you've went right back in the thing that you were born to defeat. Hallelujah! That hurts my heart, too, even more than to think of the victory yonder that Dagon had over Samson. I see what Jezebel has got over the church. And that's the reason that every strength and every fiber in my being, I'm trying to protest that thing, and call back that church to her place of repentance. Your mothers, your fathers, were ousted out of those organizations. They come out of it and protested it, and here their children has turned right back around and has went right back in the thing that they come out of. If that ain't a picture of Samson, what Delilah did!
53 How we ought to let the thoughts go through our mind, of the great victories. I don't have time to get it, and keep my word to you.
54And of God, had raised him up for this purpose, and there he stands between those two posts, blinded, defeated, humiliated. He was still the same big bulk that he ever was, but his strength was gone.
55The church is anything, it's stronger in membership than it ever was. But where is the Word, the strength, being manifested? It's been cut off from you, by your power-shaving organizations.
56He had failed God. Not only had he failed God, but he failed his own people. He was a total failure. Now he was a prisoner to the very nation that God raised him up to destroy.
57And here stands the last organization of the church, Pentecost, this afternoon, just as defeated as Samson was. You might not believe that. But if you'll just open your mind to the Word, you'll see it's the Truth.
Had him doing tricks, for entertainment.
58 How sometime I said, not long ago. These Full Gospel Business Men, as well as I love them, and in their magazine, writing up, "Holy Reverend Father So-and-so." You poor, deluded, blind Pentecostals! What's the matter with you? Don't you know our Saviour said, "Don't call no man on this earth, 'Father'?" Don't you realize the devil is only taking somebody that's been kicked out of one of those there, out here, and just making a laughingstock out of you? They are not coming in. Don't you let anybody tell you they are.
59What's the matter with this deluded church? The world has punctured its eyes. Don't you know Jesus said that that would happen? And when the sleeping virgin come in to buy oil, she never got it. There is the sleeping virgin, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian. They are not getting it. They might speak with tongues and jump, but that don't mean anything. I've seen heathens do the same thing, and devil-worshipers, speak in tongues and jump, and sing and shout; drink blood out of a human skull, and call on the devil and speak in tongues. Don't you rely on sensations. It's the Word of God that don't pass.
60 There she is, defeated, just as much as Samson was defeated, doing tricks now. How Satan stand up and laugh at them, said, "Look, they claim they believe the Bible. Look!" Telling all the Angels of Heaven, "Look, look, they--they--they--they, yeah, they're Bible believers, each one of them, look at them all coming together. I'm going to throw them, every one, over, just exactly." Going to lead them right in, just exactly what the Scripture said. They have to do that. There they are, defeated. Delilah; eyes punctured so they can't see the Truth.
61Jesus said to the Pharisees, "You've got eyes, and you can't see. You've got ears, and you can't hear." Why? Said, "Cause Isaiah said so." He referred back to the Word, the prophet. The God Himself, Jesus Christ, referred back to the Word of His prophet.
62And, today, the Holy Spirit is bringing your memory back. "Heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God," women, painted faces, wearing shorts, acting like the world, bobbing their hair, and doing so forth, "having a form of godliness, but denying the Power thereof." Well, your own works prove that you don't believe. The Holy Spirit, in the Word, pointing right back to the Word again.
63 "Oh," you say, "I got It." When you take medicine for a disease, if it don't show up, you better change your medicine, you'll die in your sins.
64The nation, the very purpose, the very thing that they was raised up to destroy, Samson, is now a victim.
65And so is the church! Raised up to put denominationalism and the world in the denomination, to shame, and you've come right into the denomination. And by doing that, you can't follow the Scriptures, every one of them has got a different idea, so you lost your strength. That blinding devil!
66 Let a lure of a woman take him from the--the Word of God. Now you say, "Brother Branham, it wasn't." It was the Word of God. Delilah took Samson from the Word of promise.
67And so has the Jezebel of this day taken the church, lured it from the Word of the promise, God's Holy Bible. Oh, same thing, same exactly thing! What did they do? Let Jezebel, spoke of in Revelation the 17, Revelation, 17th chapter, the Catholic church is represented there. And they tell you it's them, too. They don't... Their own book says so. They make no bones of it. How many ever read their own writing? You know that that's true. [Congregation says, "That's right."--Ed.] They say the Catholic church is represented. That's right. And remember, "She was the mother of harlots. She was a whore, and the mother of harlots." See, it had to be churches; not boys, it was girls, Protestant churches, "a mother of harlots." As soon as they organized, they done the same thing they did there, they stripped themselves from the Word, and have to follow the dictations of some organization.
68 I know this is not popular, but it's the Truth. I haven't got no big radio programs and television programs, support. God help me to never have. I only want one thing, and that's the support of Jesus Christ, by His Word. Let Him vindicate that I'm telling the Truth, by His Word; not some bogus, make-believe, unscruple thing; but the genuine Holy Spirit Himself, Who takes the promise of this day and shows that it's the Truth. That's all I long to see. Like Jesus said, "If I don't do the works of My Father, then don't believe Me."
69 Now blind! Oh, you say, "We're not blind." You are blind! The Bible said you was. Every Scripture reader knows that this is the Laodicea Church Age. How many believes that? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.] Then, the Bible said that, "The Laodicea church was blind, naked, and didn't know it." There is the bad part, she don't even know it. She is worse than all the other church ages put together.
70 "The ox knows his master's crib, or stall, and the mule knows his crib, and," He said, "My people don't know."
71Blind, spiritually blind! Blind to what? God's Word. Just as blind as they can be, and they don't want to see It. And you tell them; they'll say, "Oh, yes, I'm--I'm intending to do that," but none of them does it. They can't do it and maintain their fellowship in an organization; they'll kick them right out of it.
72There she stands, Delilah shaved off his locks. Now he is--he is bobbed-haired; like the women in it, same thing. Now look at them, defeated, just like they was.
73 Ministers, the pentecostal messengers of the early days, you would have never made them men believe that their own children would organize seminaries, that they criticized, by the Word of God, and come out of. That's right. What, by these seminaries, have we got? They have brought world into the church. An old minister used to sing:
We let down the bars, we compromised with sin.
We let down the bars, the sheep got out, but how did the goats get in?
74You let down the bars, got away from the Word. When Eve let down the bars, to intellectual reasonings of Satan, death come in; and the bars that God had her barred in with, was His Word of promise. And we have substituted something else, a creed, instead of the Word. Amen. You know that's the Truth.
75 What have we got, the Pentecostal people today? Too many Rickies. That word, Elvis and Ricky, you never heard of that in other days. It's a word, it's the name for this day. It goes with this. It means something.
76You say, "A name means nothing." Then why did He change Abram's name, to Abraham? Why did He change Saul's name to Paul; Simon's name to Peter? Why did He change His Own Name?
77Why did He change Jacob to Israel? Not until he wrestled with the Lord, not until he overcome. And when Jesus overcome death, hell and the grave, the Bible said, "He had a new Name." And when Jacob overcome.
78And if the Church can overcome, she will stop saying, "I am Methodist, Baptist, and Presbyterian." When she can overcome her creeds and the world that's drawed her in there, she'll come back to the Bride of Jesus Christ, Mrs. Jesus Christ. Amen.
What a sad sight, as we see Samson standing there!
79 Women with short hair, wearing shorts, painted faces; and Pentecostals, calling themselves Christians, singing in the choir.
80I was in the Pentecostal Assembly not long ago, in a great city where a famous, great man lives. And the meetings got so big, I had to take it over to a big place, and they had the selected Pentecostal choir. And little did they know I was setting right down behind the curtains, praying. And there every girl in that row of about thirty-five girls, and thirty-five boys, to sing The Messiah, was wearing make-up and bobbed hair. And when David duPlessis was taking up a missionary offering, they were acting like they were blind Bartimaeus, running along passing the cup. That's Pentecostal grandchildren. That ain't a Pentecostal servant of God with the baptism of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost won't make fun of His Own Word. He can't, and remain the Holy Ghost. But that's where you've got to. Oh, Samson, get to thinking a little bit!
81Remember, these tapes are recorded and sent around the world. I'm just not only speaking to this group here.
82 Samson begin to think of his errors. Oh! And he begin to think of what he was one time.
83Pentecost, think what you was nineteen hundred years ago. Church, Catholic, Protestant, think what you were nineteen hundred years ago, and look what you are today. Study a little while.
Just got about eight more minutes, to keep my word.
84Notice, but while he was standing there, he cried, he begin to think of his errors, and when he begin to think of what had happened to him. He was blind, therefore he couldn't see no more. He, he has accepted something else. For the love of this woman, that's what got him, and then she turned him down.
85 Oh, what a trap I could speak on here, that Satan has set for the church. Just get your eyes blinded from the Truth, and, that's what, they got you then. And if you only knew it! One of these days God is going to prove it to you, what the mark of the beast is. Uh-huh. Notice, but when once blinded, there she stands.
86And there he stood. And he begin to remember the things of his errors, where he had left the straight, narrow road, where he had got away from God's promise. And he cried out, "Lord, revenge my eyes!" Why did he do this? He knew there was a possibility.
Now is where I want you to listen.
87 Samson must have thought of all where he had left the path. He saw it then, it's too late now. He saw it, where he had left the path, and he thought, "There must be a possibility that God would answer." He knew if he could repent and get God to see that he was sorry for his error, there was a possibility that God would still achieve His promise.
88God will do it. He is going to do it. Same now, God is going to have that Church! Don't you worry, She is going to be there. The Holy Spirit will be moving so in the Church till the Church and Christ will be the same Spirit. Luther stood then on the feet, in justification; Wesley stood in the heartbeat of love, of sanctification; but this is raised up to the head now; see, more than that. She denominated, and the husbandman come along and pruned the vine; they died, they never did come back no more. They never will come back no more. But still there is a seed of Life there that's coming on.
89 But, notice, Samson thought there must be a--a possibility. He caught the idea.
90But the sad part is, today, the church don't catch that. They don't realize that there is a possibility of a revival. They don't realize the possibility. They haven't caught the vision yet. They just set.
91"Oh," they say, "now, Brother Branham, what are you doing?"
92Oh, I know you clap your hands and have great big gatherings, and glittering with worldly tinsel. You have to go to the biggest places. You have to have the most, best entertained. You have to do this, that, or the other. Your pastor must be a seminary scholar with a doctor's degree. Or, you can't tell your neighbors down there that your pastor is some little guy out of the cornfield out there, that got saved. He is, "Our pastor is Doctor LL.D. So-and-so." To me, that means he's just that far away from God. That's all, just that far away, for intellects always takes him away. Oh, you're shining with scholarship.
93 And another thing, about a lot of this modern evangelism today, all the way from Pentecost all the way back, is a bunch of Hollywood showmanship. Yeah, you certainly are glittering with that, as the tinsels in the hall of the fish-god Dagon. But that tinsel and scholarship, and intellectual showmanship with a great bright, letting all the public see any defeat and so forth, all that stuff like that, intellectual conceptions of the Gospel, and so forth, that don't bring the Power of God to make women quit wearing bobbed hair, and men to act like they should, take their place in the house and raise their children like they ought to. It don't bring the Spirit of God.
Samson stood there, just as big a bulk as he ever was.
94 And the church stands stronger in members than it did forty years ago, but where is the Spirit of God? Oh, my! Where is the Spirit of God in it? I see the spirit of Hollywood. I see the spirit of the world. I see the spirit of glamour. Go right through, I've been fifteen years preaching against it, and it's just worsening all the time. I can see it, and I can see the spirit there. But where is the Spirit of God that can grasp God, that can recognize the Word Itself when It's made manifest, can recognize Truth? Only the Spirit of God can do that. That's right. You can take glitter, polish, showmanship.
95Samson had just as big a body as he ever had, but his strength was taken from him.
96 The church, Pentecost today, stands. I believe, three years ago, the Sunday Visitor of the Catholic church, said that they had "a million conversions to Catholicism in one year, but the Pentecostal church had one million five hundred thousand, more than that." Well, what have you got when you got it? I would rather have had five that could surrender their life to Christ. He can do more with five men, or one man, surrendered, than He could with forty million outside. What does members mean? Just means another thing, that you're blinded, and adding more strength to the harlot. Right.
Notice, the church today is not willing to pay the price.
97 Samson prayed the right kind of a prayer, "Lord, let me die with this enemy." Oh, my!
98There you are. You don't want to die to your pride. You don't want to die to the things of the world.
99Now, remember, I'm talking to literally thousands around the world, when I'm saying this. See? I'm just not speaking here in Chicago. I'm speaking at the world.
100You don't want to die, but the only way that there is a possibility of a revival. You blinded Samson, can't you see that the Delilah has blinded your eyes? And the only way that you'll ever be able to bring back the strength to the church, is to die to the enemy that's got you in this worldlyism.
Samson said, "Let me die with the enemy."
101 There is a great price to pay. You must die to the thing that's brought you in this thing. You must die to the thing that's brought you, you Pentecostal people, to where you are this afternoon. You've got to die to it.
102Samson was willing to pay the price to get the power of God back in his life again.
103I wonder if the church is, this afternoon, willing to pay the price and die with the enemy, the thing, all your popularity, and all your this, that, or the other, just to see the power of God back on you again, and become a prisoner of Jesus Christ?
104 Oh, I hear some of you say, "Oh, yes, we, we're having revivals." But it's denomination revivals. The Oneness wants to take all the Threeness and make them all Oneness. The Threeness wants to take all the Oneness and--and make them Threeness. The church of God wants to take the church of God of Prophecy. One wants to take the other, making big denom-... Don't you realize you're only catering to men?
105We are brethren. There is no denomination can separate the love of God. We are brethren. "This will all men know you're My disciples, when you have love one for the other."
Say, "What are you hollering about them then?"
106 Love is corrective. If love doesn't correct, then it's not love. You see your child down on the street, and don't give him a little bit of posterior protoplasm stimulation, you--you're not a good dad. But a real mother or dad will turn him up and spank him, let him know he's got to get out of the street, or perish. That's genuine love. But to say, "Junior, dear, I don't know. You, maybe you shouldn't be out there at this time of day, the end time, when the cars are going pretty fast." Oh, nonsense, you sissified preacher, not the audacity to take God's Word and call white white and black black, right right and wrong wrong. But they do it.
107 Yeah, we have revivals alright, but look at your morals behind these revivals. Don't change them a bit; getting farther from God, and to the world, all the time. Notice.
108Samson knew what was going to happen if his prayer was answered.
109But we haven't counted the cost yet. What's going to happen if God answers your prayer to become a real, genuine child of God? You know you're gone from your denomination, right then. And them women that you play bridge with, and everything? Oh, no! You're gone, and that's all. Better count it up, first.
110But Samson said, "Let me die." He was willing to pay the price. And he knew...
111 Listen close now at this remark. He knew that his present backslid condition could never meet the challenge of that hour. Yet, he was just as much man as he ever was, in his muscles. His frame was as big as it ever was. He was just as big a muscle that ever could raise up on his arm at any time, it was probably larger, because he had been grinding down in the... doing heavier work.
112We got better churches, better buildings and everything, but where is our strength, spiritually speaking? Oh, we could take a vote in the nation. Sure, we could do these things, but that--that ain't what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the Presence of God being recognized among us. That's what we ought to live for.
113He knew that his backslidden condition could not meet the challenge of that hour.
114And so does the church know it now. We can't do it under this condition. You can't do it. Denominations does not vindicate the Word; it denies the Word. The very denomination itself denies the Word as soon as it's denominated. Just the thing itself, you just get on the other side, to begin with. It denies the Word. All the time...
115 I've just a little minute or two, longer. But notice, as I hurry now and keep my word.
116All the times while they were all standing there, and these thoughts was going through their mind; and I hope it sends some through yours. They never noticed while, Samson, his thoughts went through his mind. Maybe they passed the bottle, took a drink again. Their fine Hollywood women stood there with their cigarette in their mouth, if it was such a thing in that day; I don't think they got quite that low in that day. But pushed up their hair and took another drink, and hollering, "Hello, Joseph, or John, or you up there somewhere! We played cards together last night, was out at a big party." [Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.]
117 "There is a possibility that God will hear me. There is a possibility." And while he thought, the Philistines had not noticed him, while this little boy had untied his hands, walked back. He said, "Lay my hands upon the post." "There is a possibility." Oh, my!
118I wish the church could see that. There is a possibility of a real revival.
119What did he do? He raised up his sockets (he had no eyes) towards God. They never noticed the moving of his lips, as he was sincerely confessing.
120We don't need just a little, "Lord, forgive me and Jim, Joe and all of us. Amen." We need a sincere cleaning up, from the pulpit to the janitor.
121 They never noticed the tears running down from them sockets where he once had eyes. They never noticed the moving of his lips. His eyes, briny tears streaming down from the sockets. He wanted God to make His Word once more vindicated, to prove, as I say to this Delilah today, or this Samson, rather, "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever!"
122"Once more," he thought, "it would happen. Not a new denomination, not a new sectarian, but a vindicated Word from You, God! I know You are still God. I am blind. I've got off the track. I'm not worthy to live. Let me die with this enemy. You raised me up to destroy it, and I have failed You, Lord, but there is a possibility You'd hear me. Once more, Lord, once more!" In dead earnest he prayed. He knowed what was coming. "Lord, just this once more! Once more let me see Jesus Christ as He was yesterday!" When he prayed that prayer, and the tears rolling from his cheeks, with deep sincerity of confession!
123 That's what the church needs. Confess you're wrong. Don't care what Doctor Jones says, or what anybody else says. If you're out of the Word of God, confess it, that you're wrong. Cry out, "Once more, Lord, once more! Once more, Lord, once more! Avenge my blindness upon these denominations! And give me strength, Lord, to shake this denominational world, with Your vindication. Give me strength, Lord. Once more prove it!"
124He knew what was going to happen if his prayer was answered. He knew, dead earnest, crying, "Once more, Lord!" And while he was praying, and making his honest confession, every fiber in his body begin to vibrate.
125O God, if the Body of Jesus Christ could stand as one, and every fiber and every member begin to vibrate with the literal baptism of the Holy Ghost again; not with new members, and shaking hands, and some creed.
126 As the strength begin to move into those big muscles, every fiber begin to twist. He begin to feel himself again, and he twisted out. And, when he did, the big wall fell.
127All we need to do today, is, to see these denominational walls fall, is get deeply sincere before God, to heal these blinded eyes that's been blinded from the Word of God.
128That was Samson's greatest victory he ever had, because he was willing to confess, over every enemy first that he was brought up to destroy.
129 Oh, Pentecost, stand at your post this afternoon, your post of the duty of God's Word. Repent, and cry aloud, "Lord God, once more!" Let me tell you something. You had better destroy your enemy before your enemy destroys you. That's right. Bring back the old-fashion prayer meetings, the real godly repentance, the all-night altar service. Oh, Pentecost, hear me! Leave, oh, leave this corruption that Jezebel has worked among you. Leave it, leave it quickly, and return back to the Word of the Lord, away from this Hollywood showmanship. Turn with your whole heart, back to the Word of God. Turn back to the Power of the Holy Ghost. You women dress like women, you men act like men, like sons and daughters of God. Turn, oh, turn from this Jezebel system that's choking you and blinding you. God help us to have a true repentance; not halfheartedly, you can't do it.
130 How I think today, at this very moment when my time is up, we should stand to our feet, and cry, with our hands in the air, "Lord, once more! Once more, O Lord, once more!"
131Let's stand, everybody that's willing to do it, to see a revival; that's ready to die to this Hollywood showmanship; everybody that's ready to die, to see "the Power of God come to Zion, and with joy, all His holy mountains nothing hurt or shall destroy."
132Let's raise our hands, and cry, "Once more, Lord!" Once more, Lord! Once more, Lord! Once more, Lord, send the Holy Ghost, with a mighty rushing Wind like You did on the Day of Pentecost. Amen. [Congregation continues in prayer and praise unto God--Ed.]
1Ďakujem veľmi pekne. Pomodlime sa.
Nebeský Otče, znovu sme sa tu zhromaždili v Mene Tvojho milovaného Dieťaťa, Pána Ježiša, aby sme znovu vyjadrili svoju lásku v uctievaní Jeho. Modlíme sa, aby sa s nami stretol Jeho Duch a aby nám každému dal porciu toho Ducha, ktorý nám dá trvácnu milosť, aby sme dokončili tú cestu a dobojovali ten boj, ktorý je pred nami, ten boj viery. Udeľ to, Otče! A zlom pre nás v toto popoludnie ten Chlieb Života, aby si nás posilnil, lebo je napísané, „Človek nebude žiť na samom chlebe, ale na každom Slove, ktoré vychádza z úst Božích.“ Nech to dnes popoludní počujeme v Mene Ježiša Krista. Amen.
2Môžete si sadnúť. Čo sa týka brata Carlsona, on ma tu pustil asi o desať minút neskôr, ako mal. Zlepšuje sa. Zhromaždenie ďalšieho týždňa, to len... Asi tu budem už na čas...?... Sme tak radi za to privilégium.
3No, dnes večer je naše posledné zhromaždenie a chcem vás pustiť na čas, aby ste sa stihli navečerať [„supper“ – pozn.prekl.]. Viem, že mnohí z vás to voláte „dinner“ [„hlavné jedlo“ – pozn.prekl.]. Ale keď mám mať „dinner“, kedy potom bude moja „supper“?
4Hovoril som s jedným mužom, on povedal, „Ó, brat Branham, má to byť 'dinner.'“
5„Ó, naozaj?“ Povedal som, „Dokážem ti, že to tak nie je.“ Povedal som, „My neberieme Pánovu 'dinner'; my berieme Jeho 'supper.'“
6A tak my nad tým rozmýšľame ako nad Pánovou „supper“, tá Pánova večera, ktorá bola večer, nebolo to ráno ani popoludnie. On to urobil večer, bola to Jeho večera.
7No, chceme sa vrátiť skoro. A tak nebudeme dnes večer neskoro, brat Carlson ma dnes večer pozve rovno na čas. „Viera je podstatou vecí, na ktoré sa nadejeme.“ A ja neviem, ak Pán dá, možno o tom budem dnes večer hovoriť, ak budem mať dosť času na Odpočítavanie. Je to také trochu vedecké posolstvo, ktoré mi Pán dal v týchto posledných dňoch. A možno, ak Pán dá, možno o tom budem dnes večer hovoriť.
8Mali sme včera večer chválebný čas. Prišiel som a povedal, „Nebudeme sa modliť za chorých,“ a Pán jednako uzdravoval chorých, vidíte. Amen. Niekedy môžeme niečo povedať, ale Pán to jednako urobí inak, tak, ako to On chce. Vidíte, On je Boh.
9Chcel by som teraz rýchlo prečítať z Písma, ako krátky text, ktorý by nám dnes popoludní pomohol.
10Čiže ak ma on pozval načas, tak chcem aj ja zakončiť načas, čiže to by bolo asi štyri-tridsať, čiže asi päťdesiat minút od teraz.
11Obráťme sa do knihy Sudcov, do 16. kapitoly, a prečítajme 27. a 28. verš, ako sa dívame do Slova.
A dom bol plný mužov i žien, a boli ta sídené všetky kniežatá Filištínov, a na streche bolo asi tri tisíce mužov a žien, ktorí sa dívali, keď zabával Samson.
A Samson volal k Hospodinovi a povedal: Pane, Hospodine, rozpomeň sa, prosím, na mňa a posilni ma, prosím, už len tento raz, ó, Bože, aby som sa raz pomstil na Filištínoch za obe svoje oči!
12Znovu sa pomodlime. Pane Ježišu, vezmi tento krátky text a oblej ním cirkev, Pane. Modlíme sa a odovzdávame to Tebe v Ježišovom Mene. Amen.
13Muselo tam byť asi tritisíc Filištínov, ktorí hľadeli dolu z vrchu galérie v tej veľkej aréne, keď ten pár vstúpil v to popoludnie do tej arény. Musel to byť horúci deň. Celý deň tam boli. A v tejto veľkej spoločnosti, na vrchu tejto veľkej arény, ktorá bola postavená v tvare obráteného hríbu, v strede bol stĺp a odtiaľ vychádzalo niečo takýmto smerom a to držalo tie dva stĺpy, ktoré držali všetkých tých divákov dookola; boli tam vyleštení vojnoví bojovníci a ich vyzdobené ženy. Všetci sa počas tejto udalosti nakláňali dopredu, všetci sa chceli dobre pozrieť, aby videli, čo sa tam deje.
14Bolo tam niekoľko predbehúňov, počas tej zábavy. A oni tam mali pravdepodobne nejaké malé opice, ktoré tam predvádzali nejaké triky. A mali tam rôzne veci, ktorými sa zabávali, boj, zápasenie, možno duely, ktoré sa končili smrťou, a mnoho ďalších vecí, ktorými sa celý deň zabávali, lebo to bol veľkolepý deň, ale teraz prišlo to hlavné predstavenie večera.
15Viete, ako my trpezlivo čakáme, zatiaľ čo prebiehajú tie úvodné udalosti. A medzitým čakáme na to hlavné predstavenie, vtedy sa každý postaví a spozornie. Sledovali sme to v našich náboženských bohoslužbách, kde sme mali spievanie, potom svedectvá, kázanie, a tak ďalej; ale to hlavné predstavenie je to, aby sme videli to, čo ide Pán urobiť, aby sme uvideli, kvôli čomu nás všetkých zhromaždil. Všetci sme v očakávaní, aby sme uvideli, aký bude ten koniec, to hlavné predstavenie. Tak isto je to so všetkým. Vždy očakávame to hlavné predstavenie.
16A všetci sa postavili, aby sa pozreli pred seba na to, čo sa dialo, lebo sa začalo približovať to hlavné predstavenie. Čo tam videli? Slepého človeka, ktorého vedie malý chlapec.
17Chodby vytvárali celé popoludnie ozvenu s hlukom opitých a bláznovstvom, ako si tam podávali whiskey a svoje nápoje; a tie ich krásne, vymaľované a ozdobené ženy s veľkými vojnovými hodnostármi, a tak ďalej. Bola to veľká oslava. Oslavovali víťazstvo. Ó, ako nerád toto hovorím! To víťazstvo, ktoré vydobyl ten rybí kráľ Dágon nad sluhom Božím. Reže ma to hlboko vo vnútri, že to musím povedať, ale je to pravda. Oslavovali takýmto spôsobom víťazstvo nad sluhom Jehovu. Čo za hanebná vec! Pitie, vyvádzanie, namaľované ženy, šperky, veľkí hodnostári; ohne horeli v mene rybieho boha. Čo za oslava to musela byť!
18Ale tá zdrcujúca časť toho bola to, ako o tisíce rokov neskôr musíme na takú udalosť takto spomínať, kedy veľký Boh Neba, ktorý zasľúbil vo Svojom srdci, že ten národ zničí, lebo boli pohania, a On poslal človeka, aby urobil tú prácu, pričom tu tá modla rybieho boha slúžila na oslavu víťazstva nad sluhom Jehovu. Jehova vôbec neprehral; o víťazstvo prišiel ten sluha, ktorého On poslal, aby to dosiahol.
19Čo za pohľad, čo za hanebná vec to len bola! Ten chlapec sa tam potkýnal, ten slepý muž, ako prechádzal chodbou k tým veľkým stredovým stĺpom, kde bolo to, čo malo tvar ako obrátený hríb alebo obrátený dáždnik, odkiaľ sa ľudia takto pozerali z tých veľkých balkónov a múrov, ktoré to všetko držali pokope, a stáli na kameňoch, ktoré by ani v dnešnej dobe nebolo možné vybudovať. Nikto to tak nemohol postaviť. Ale čo za veľká vec to bola! A tisíce tých kňazov-celebrít, ktorí slúžili modle s napnutými hruďami a všetkými svojimi ceremóniami a rituálmi okolo svojej modly, že porazili Jehovu. Čo za veľký deň to bol, kedy pili, mali hlučné zábavy a vyvádzali!
20A tu prichádza sluha Jehovu, slepý, potkýna sa, vedie ho na toto miesto malý chlapec, aby tam predviedol nejaké predstavenie. Tá hlavná udalosť bola zábava, aby si robili žarty zo zámeru Jehovu zničiť ten národ. A jednako, ten národ vzal presne tú vec, ktorú tam Boh dal, aby ich zničil, a teraz ho porazili a robili si z neho žarty. Urobili z toho hlavné číslo ich oslavy.
21Či vás to takmer neruinujelen sa na to pozerať? Pomyslieť na to, že tento príbeh sa v skutočnosti nikdy nemal rozprávať. Ale pravdepodobne bol povedaný pre naše káznenie, tak je napísaný. Ponížený, zlomený a teraz porazený rovno medzi dvoma stĺpmi, ktoré tú budovu držali.
22Čo za symbol dnešnej cirkvi to je! Čo za symbol upadnutej rasy ľudí, ktorá sa zapredala svetu a predala práve tú vec, ktorú tu chceme dobyť. Tá cirkev, ktorá predala svoju morálku, ktorá predala Bibliu, predala svoju silu, len tak sa vzdala svojho meča a stojí ponížená v hodine, kedy sa približujú znamenia Príchodu Ježiša Krista, ktorý je blízko; keď mala byť obmytá, bez vrásky a poškvrny, stojac, aby prijala svojho Ženícha.
23Čo za obraz tu vidíme, symbol morálneho rozpadu, ktorý spočíva na národe, na tomto národe. A nebudem sa teraz príliš dlho držať svojho Písma tu, len cez to rýchlo prejdem. Ale môžem to prirovnať k cirkvi, k tomuto národu, k politike a ku všetkému, na čo len dnes môžete položiť ruky, okrem Božej Biblie. Morálne rozpadnutá, samotná ľudská rasa, jednoducho sa nachádza v hroznom stave!
24A tam pod tými ateistami a neveriacimi, ktorí vedia ukázať prstom cirkvi na tvár, ktorá by dnes mala mať to Posolstvo pre dnešok, a povedať, „Čo toto všetko znamená?“ A oni nemajú odpoveď. Nemajú odpoveď. Prečo? Urobili tak ako Samson. Vzdali sa.
25A tak, keby sme ho tam videli, ako tam stojí, povedali by sme, „Čiže toto je ten Samson?“ Predstavme si ho ako veľkého, mocného bojovníka. Vyobrazme si ho. Aké mal široké ramená, skvelú postavu. A tu je tento človek, oslepený, zviazaný reťazami, vedený do stredu miestnosti, ponížený, zlomený, porazený a veľký Boh nebies na neho hľadí. A tam sa naňho zhora pozerajú jeho kritici a opití vojaci.
26Viem si predstaviť, ako tam stáli, že mnoho z tých Filištínov sa celí prestrašili, už len pri tom, ako počuli jeho meno. Samson bolo kedysi mocné meno; rovnako to bolo aj s kresťanstvom, s cirkvou. A ja toto paralelne prirovnám ku cirkvi, túto scénu. Meno Samsona... Ľudia naňho akoby zanevreli, lebo on bol typ človeka, akého nikdy pred tým nevideli. Jeho sila bola viac ako čokoľvek. čo mohol svet ponúknuť. Neexistoval nikto, kto by sa mu vyrovnal. Mnohí, keď na neho hľadeli, ako tam stojí v takom stave, na toto mysleli.
27Mnohí na neho hľadeli z galérií a pamätali si, ako tam stál v takej pozícii. Jedného dňa tam stál s kosťou čeľuste z mulice v ruke a tisíc Filištínov, ako tam okolo neho ležali a tí ostatní utekali ku skalám do bezpečia; on tam len stál a mával im, „No poďte, ak to chcete schytať!“ Ale pozrite sa na neho teraz.
28Mnohí z týchto Filištínov, v ten jeden večer, kedy ho presvedčila cudzoložnica v meste Gáza, oni vzali tie veľké obrovské brány, ktoré vážili tony, obkľúčili ho nimi, chytili ho, poslali vojakov a povedali, „Teraz sme ho chytili. Zamkli sme ho tu.“ Rovnako tak sa to snaží urobiť aj diabol, zabuchnúť ťa do niečoho.
29Ale pamätajte, keď sa Samson na druhé ráno zobudil, alebo v ten večer, uvidel, ako tam bol zabuchnutý. Mohol cítiť niečo na chrbte, vzadu na hlave, astále vedel, že bol Božím synom zmluvy a neexistovalo nič, čo by ho mohlo zabuchnúť. Cirkev raz tiež tak stála. Čo on urobil? Povstal, išiel dolu ulicou, vytiahol brány z pántov, hodil si ich na plecia, vyšľapal na vrch kopca a zložil ich tam na zem.
30Mnohí, ktorí tam v to popoludnie stáli, si tú udalosť pamätali. Ale keď sa na neho teraz pozreli, ako bol oslepený, vysmiaty a slúžil len ako zábava pre svojho nepriateľa. Všetky jeho moci, ktoré mu raz slúžili na jeho ochranu, pre Boží úspech, pre ktorý sa na tento svet narodil, všetko mu to strhla jedna žena.
31Myslím si, že tá istá vec by sa dala uplatniť aj dnes, kedy žena, ktorá predstiera, že je Nevestou Krista, a zakladá svoje učenie na „pohári nečistoty jej ohavností, jej smilstiev.“ Ona priložila vrch pohára svojich smilstiev k ústam Božej cirkvi, ktorá povstala na to, aby ukázala Jeho znamenia a divy, ako to mali urobiť Ježišove posledné prikázania, v Markovi 16. A teraz zisťujeme, že ona vzala Božiu malú vernú skupinu a zorganizovala ich presne tak, ako to chcela, až oni stoja vyzlečení a zapierajú tú Moc, zapierajú Ducha Svätého, zapierajú moc hovoriť v jazykoch, zapierajú Moc Ducha Svätého kriesiť mŕtvych, uzdravovať chorých a vyháňať diablov. A teraz, keď idú Filištínci na teba, čo teraz urobíš, keď to je z teba strhnuté?
Ó, čo len muselo behať mysľou toho človeka!
32Videli sme, čo muselo prebiehať cez myseľ Filištíncov. Oni ho poznali. Počul som, ako sa jeden z nich naklonil k druhému a povedal, „Pamätám si tie časy, keď niekto povedal 'Samson', každý Filištín zmizol ako potkan do diery. Pamätám si tie časy, keď cez púšť pochodovalo tisíce mužov a niekto povedal, 'Prichádza Samson,' všetci pustili ruky a utekali sa schovať najrýchlejšie, ako len mohli.“
33Ale pozrite sa na neho teraz. Je v hroznom stave, je zviazaný, a to len preto, lebo urobil kompromis so ženou. To je to, čo to spôsobilo. Ona ho zbavila jeho moci. Snažila sa zistiť, v čom ležala jeho sila. Vedela, že bol veľkým mužom, ale oni mali tiež svojich veľkých mužov. Ale táto Dalila, to bola skutočná Jezábeľ. Ona vedela, ako naňho, ako ho zviesť a namotať si ho, a hovorila mu, že ho miluje. Ale po celý ten čas, ona ho len ťahala za nos a chcela zistiť, kde sa nachádza jeho sila.
34A to je to isté, čo urobila Jezábeľ tejto cirkvi, ona ju len ťahala, až kým nezistila, kde leží tá sila. A tá sila leží v tomto Slove. „To Slovo je Boh.“ A nakoniec zistila, kde leží tá sila, vzala ho do Nicei, Ríma, a oholila mu vrkoče. A teraz vzali to, čo z toho zostalo, a zobrali to naspäť do Svetovej Rady Cirkvi a znova oholili tie vrkoče. Je to neustále strihanie, vyberú toto a, „Toto neznamená tamto. Dni zázrakov už pominuli. Nie je nič také ako toto, hento alebo tamto.“ Oni zistili, kde leží tá sila, nahradili krsty a podávanie rúk a všetky tieto veci, pre to pravdivé čisté Slovo Božie.
35Toto Slovo je Boh a bolo dané Jeho cirkvi, aby ona porazila svet a diablov a chorobu a vyháňala diablov. Do cirkvi nebola daná žiadna denominácia. To Slovo bolo dané cirkvi; To je jej sila. Ale oni odrezali toto, odrezali tamto, odstrihli tento vrkoč, odstrihli tamten vrkoč, až ona stojí celá oholená.
Ako nejaká katolícka sestra, obstrihaná natoľko, až akceptuje kopu ľuďmi zostrojených vyznaní ako svoje náuky, presne ako prorok povedal, že to urobí. A tu stojí ponížená. Keď si Boh nebies vybral negramotných rybárov, a podobne, a zostúpil dolu a postaral sa a ukázal, že On je stále Bohom a oni nedokážu dať svojmu zhromaždeniu na to odpoveď, pretože to nie je spojené so žiadnou denomináciou. A ona stojí ponížená tam, kde by mala stáť vo svojej sile.
36Ak by cirkev dnes stála tak, ako stála na deň Letníc, ak by cirkev dnes stála tak ako vo dňoch Irenea, ako vo dňoch sv. Martina, ako vo dňoch Polykarpa, kedy by cirkev radšej pochodovala priamo k smrti, ako by mala zaprieť akékoľvek Slovo Božie! Ireneus, Martin, všetci tí ostatní mužovia, ktorí sa držali toho vodného krstu v Mene Ježiša Krista. Každý jeden z nich sa pevne držal toho krstu Duchom Svätým, prorokov, znamení a divov.
37A dnes sa od toho odtrhli. Čo sa stalo? Dalila vedela, kde leží tá sila. Ak by niekedy mohla odtrhnúť tie semináre od toho Slova, len do nejakej človekom vytvorenej teológie, keby to len dokázali, potom by bolo ľahké tých ľudí zviazať a priviesť ich do Svetovej Rady Cirkví, tejto ekumenickej rady.
Poviete, „Nemáš na to žiadne právo.“
38Ja som stále americký občan. Mám právo na slobodu prejavu. Tak veru. Istotne ho mám. Všimnite si, presne to je pravda.
39Ó, ako sa on musel cítiť, čo len muselo prechádzať mysľou toho človeka, ako tam stál a bol slepý!
40No, Jezábeľ vedela, alebo nie Jezábeľ, ale Dalila vedela, že ak by sa jej raz podarilo vyraziť mu oči, tak by bol koniec.
41A to je presne to, čo Dalila tohto posledného veku urobila cirkvi, vyrazila jej oči na Božie zasľúbenie a predala vám nejakú veľkú intelektuálnu denomináciu. Každý rád kupuje... hovorí, „Ja patrím do Prvej cirkvi. Ja patrím k tamtým. Ja...“ Vidíte, pokiaľ diabol dokáže vyraziť tvoje oči na Slovo Božie a to zasľúbenie Božie... Bez ohľadu na to, ako šialene to znie, to je Božie zasľúbenie.
42No, ja nepodporujem kulty, vôbec nie, ale tie kulty sú známe svojimi skutkami. Rovnako je aj Cirkev Božia známa svojimi skutkami. Ale ja sa snažím povedať, čo Dalila urobila Samsonovi.
43No, pozrime sa na stranu Samsona, čo muselo prechádzať mysľou toho človeka, ako tam stál. Všetky tie veľkolepé víťazstvá, ktoré kedy dosiahol, všetky mu určite prebehli mysľou. Tá udalosť sa teraz deje, tá poobedňajšia zábava sa práve začína. Tí, ktorí sa majú zabávať, rozmýšľajú nad tým, čím bol pred tým, ako tam stál, a on tu rozmýšľal, čím kedysi bol. Ale len preto, že nejaká žena ho zlákala, obraz sa úplne zmenil z toho, čo to malo byť. Boh vychoval Samsona, aby zničil ten národ, to bol samotný zámer, prečo ho tam Boh priviedol.
44Ak Boh len dokáže nájsť jedného človeka, to je všetko, čo potrebuje, jeden človek, ktorý sa Mu plne odovzdá. On nepotrebuje armádu; On to tak nikdy nerobil. On používa jedného človeka.
45No, Samson dal Bohu svoju silu, aby ju použil, ale nedal Bohu svoje srdce. On dal svoje srdce Dalile a silu dal Bohu.
46Ale vy musíte odovzdať svoju dušu, telo, ducha, silu, všetko, čím ste, vôli Božej, a stať sa Jemu väzňom. Budete niekoho väzňom. Nepatríte sami sebe. Ste niekoho väzňom. Buď budete väzňom diabla, poznajúc Pravdu a neodovzdáte sa tomu, alebo väzňom Slova, keď sa odovzdáte Bohu, buď jedno alebo druhé. Buď ste diablovým väzňom hriechu, alebo ste Božím väzňom spravodlivosti. Môžete byť buď jedno alebo druhé.
47A teraz Samson rozmýšľa nad tými veľkolepými víťazstvami, ktoré vydobyl. Bez pochyby mu to nejak prišlo na myseľ, keď bol ešte malým chlapcom, ako ho Boh potvrdil, ako povedal jeho matke, ako musí veci robiť; aby nepila opojné nápoje, aby sledovala svoju stravu, lebo má porodiť Nazareja. Ako mu česala vlasy a hovorila mu, „Synu, pomocou týchto vrkočov, je to zmluva s Bohom, bude v nich ležať tvoja sila. Nikdy sa ich nezbav! Nikdy svoje tajomstvo neprezraď. Nikdy sa nevzdaj! Čokoľvek budeš robiť, nech ti zostanú!“
48Ježiš Kristus povedal cirkvi, že, „Nebo a zem pominú, ale Moje Slová nikdy nepominú. A ktokoľvek by z tohto zobral čo i len jedno slovo alebo by k tomu jedno slovo pridal, tomu bude vzatý jeho diel z Knihy Života.“ Cirkev by teraz mala nad tým premýšľať, ako stojíme uprostred tohto chaosu, v tejto hodine modlitby, tesne pred Príchodom Pána Ježiša, ktorý môže nastať každú chvíľu, vytrhnutie.
49Tie veľké víťazstvá, na ktoré môžeme poukázať do minulých dní počas reformácie, dávno v dňoch Irenea a sv. Martina, Patrika a tých, ktorí protestovali proti tým organizáciám.
50A keď prišiel Luther a protestoval proti tej prvej organizácii, katolíckej cirkvi a tej skupine, ktorá ho nasledovala, tá organizácia išla po ňom.
51Keď John Wesley vyšiel z anglikanizmu, akonáhle Wesley odišiel, oni hneď po ňom vytvorili organizáciu.
52A tí skorí letniční vyšli z denominácie. To bolo pre vás prekliate slovo. Ale, „Ako sa pes vracia k svojmu vývratku, ako sa prasa vracia do svojho bahna,“ tak ste sa aj vy vrátili naspäť do toho, čo ste mali poraziť, kvôli čomu ste sa narodili. Haleluja! Aj moje srdce to zraňuje, o to viac, keď sa zamyslím nad tým víťazstvom, ktoré tam Dágon mal nad Samsonom. Vidím, ako Jezábeľ zaujala cirkev. A to je presne ten dôvod, prečo sa každá sila a každé vlákno v mojej bytosti snaží protestovať proti tej veci a vyvolať cirkev do jej miesta pokánia. Vaše matky, vaši otcovia boli z tých organizácií vyhostení. Oni z toho vyšli a protestovali proti tomu a tu sa ich vlastné deti obrátili priamo naspäť a išli späť do toho, z čoho vyšli. Či to len nie je obraz toho, čo Dalila urobila Samsonovi!
53Ako by sme len mali nechať, aby tieto myšlienky prechádzali našou mysľou, tieto veľké víťazstvá. Nemám čas na to, aby som do toho ešte išiel, chcem dodržať slovo, ktoré som vám dal.
54A Boh ho stvoril pre tento účel, aby tam stál medzi tými dvoma stĺpmi, oslepený, porazený a ponížený. On bol stále rovnako veľký chlap, aký bol aj predtým, ale jeho sila bola preč.
55Cirkev je silnejšia, čo sa týka členstva, ako bola kedykoľvek predtým. Ale kde je to Slovo, tá sila, kde je to zamanifestované? Bolo to od vás odrezané organizáciami, ktoré vám odoberajú moc.
56On sklamal Boha. Nie len sklamal Boha, ale on sklamal aj svojich vlastných ľudí. Bol totálnym zlyhaním. Teraz bol väzňom toho národa, pre ktorý ho Boh stvoril, aby ho zničil.
57A tu stojí tá posledná organizácia cirkvi, letniční, dnešné popoludnie, rovnako porazení, ako bol Samson. Možno tomu neuveríte. Ale ak len otvoríte svoju myseľ na Slovo, uvidíte, že to je Pravda.
Oni ho nútili robiť im predstavenie pre zábavu.
58Ako som to nedávno povedal. Títo obchodníci plného Evanjelia, aj keď ich milujem, oni vo svojich časopisoch píšu, „Svätý Reverend Otec taký a taký.“ Vy biedni, slepí letniční, plní ilúzií! Čo sa to s vami deje? Či neviete, že náš Spasiteľ povedal, „Nenazývajte žiadneho človeka na tejto zemi 'Otec'?“ Či si neuvedomujete, že diabol len berie niekoho, kto bol odtiaľ vykopnutý, a robí si z vás terč posmechu? Oni nevchádzajú. Nenechajte si niekým nahovoriť, že vchádzajú.
59Čo sa deje s touto pomýlenou cirkvou? Svet vám prepichol oči. Či neviete, že Ježiš povedal, že sa to nikdy nestane? A keď prichádza tá spiaca panna, aby si kúpila olej, ona to nikdy nedostane. Tu je tá spiaca panna, Luteráni, metodisti, presbyteriáni. Oni to nedostanú. Môžu hovoriť jazykmi a skákať, ale to nič nebude znamenať. Videl som pohanov, ako robili to isté, videl som uctievačov diabla hovoriť v jazykoch a skákať a spievať a kričať; piť krv z ľudskej lebky, vzývať diabla a hovoriť v jazykoch. Nespoliehajte sa na senzácie! Je to Slovo Božie, ktoré nepominie!
60A tu ona je, porazená rovnako, ako bol porazený Samson, a už len robí predstavenie. Ako sa tam satan postavil, zasmial sa na nich a povedal, „Pozrite, oni tvrdia, že veria v Bibliu. Pozrite!“ Hovoril všetkým anjelom neba, „Pozrite, pozrite, oni... Áno, oni sú veriaci v Bibliu, každý jeden z nich, pozrite sa na to, ako sa schádzajú. Každého jedného z nich prevrátim.“ Priamo ich povedie, presne tak, ako to povedali Písma. Musia to urobiť. Sú tam porazení. Dalila; oči prepichnuté, aby nevideli pravdu.
61Ježiš povedal farizejom, „Máte oči, ale nevidíte. Máte uši, ale nepočujete.“ Prečo? Povedal, „Lebo Izaiáš tak povedal.“ On sa odkázal späť na Slovo, na proroka. Sám Boh, Ježiš Kristus, sa odvolával na Slovo Svojho proroka.
62A dnes, Duch Svätý vám prinavracia pamäť. „Tvrdohlaví, vysokomyseľní, milujúci pôžitok viac ako milujúci Boha.“ ženy s pomaľovanými tvárami, nosiace šortky, správajúce sa ako svet, strihajúce si vlasy, a tak ďalej, „majúc formu pobožnosti, ale zapierajúc jej Moc.“ No, vaše vlastné skutky potvrdzujú, že tomu neveríte. Ten Duch Svätý v Slove poukazuje priamo späť na to Slovo.
63„Ó,“ poviete, „Ja to mám.“ Keď beriete na nejakú chorobu liek, ak to nikdy nefunguje, tak musíte zmeniť ten liek, inak zomriete vo svojom hriechu.
64Národ, ten samotný zámer, práve tá vec, pre ktorú bol stvorený, aby ju zničil, Samson bol teraz jej obeťou.
65A tak isto je to s cirkvou! Stvorená na to, aby zahanbila denominacionalizmus a svet v denominácii, ale vy ste namiesto toho išli priamo do denominácie. A tým, že to robíte, nemôžete nasledovať Písma, každý jeden z vás má inú ideu, a tak ste stratili svoju silu. Ten zväzujúci diabol!
66Nechal, aby ho nejaká žena odvábila preč od Slova Božieho. No, poviete, „Brat Branham, to nebolo...“ To bolo Božie Slovo. Dalila vzala Samsona preč od Slova zasľúbenia.
67A tak isto vzala Jezábeľ dnešného dňa cirkev, odvrátila ju od Slova zasľúbenia, od Božej Svätej Biblie. Ó, je to to isté, presne to isté! Čo oni urobili? Nechali Jezábeľ, hovorí sa o tom v Zjavení 17, v Zjavení 17. kapitole, je tam reprezentovaná katolícka cirkev. A oni ti povedia, že to sú tiež oni. Oni ne... Ich vlastná kniha o tom hovorí. Oni si z toho nič nerobia. Koľkokrát čítali svoje vlastné texty? Viete, že to je pravda. [Zhromaždenie hovorí, „Tak je.“ - pozn.prekl.] Oni povedia, že to reprezentuje katolícku cirkev. To je pravda. A pamätajte, „Ona bola matkou cudzoložníc. Ona bola cudzoložnica, matka smilníc. Vidíte, museli to byť cirkvi; nie chlapci, boli to dievčatá, protestantské cirkvi, „matka smilníc.“ A hneď na to, ako sa zorganizovali, urobili to isté, čo urobili tam, vyzliekli sa zo Slova a začali nasledovať to, čo im diktovala nejaká organizácia.
68Viem, že toto nie je populárne, ale je to pravda. Nemám tu žiadne veľké rádio programy alebo televízne programy, ktoré by ma podporovali. Boh mi pomáha, aby som ich nikdy nemal. Ja chcem len jedinú vec a to je podpora Ježiša Krista skrze Jeho Slovo. Len nechať Jeho, aby potvrdil, že to, čo hovorím, je Pravda skrze Jeho Slovo; nie cez nejaké falošné donucovanie, aby mi ľudia verili; ale ten skutočný Sám Duch Svätý, ten, ktorý berie to zasľúbenie tohto dňa a ukazuje, že to je Pravda. To je celé, čo túžim vidieť. Ako Ježiš povedal, „Ak nečiním skutky Môjho Otca, potom Mi neverte.“
69Ako slepí! Ó, poviete, „My nie sme slepí.“ Vy ste slepí! Biblia povedala, že ste. Každý, kto číta Písmo, vie, že to je Laodicejský cirkevný vek. Koľkí z vás tomu veria? [Zhromaždenie hovorí, „Amen.“ - pozn.prekl.] Potom, Biblia hovorí, že, „Laodicejská cirkev bola slepá, nahá, a nevedela o tom.“ To je tá zlá časť, že ona o tom ani nevie. Je na tom horšie ako všetky ostatné cirkevné veky dokopy.
70„Vôl pozná jasle svojho pána alebo stodolu, a mul pozná svoje jasle,“ a povedal, „a Moji ľudia nepoznajú.“
71Slepí, duchovne slepí! Slepí na čo? Božie Slovo. Tak slepí, ako len môžu byť, a nechcú to vidieť. A keď im niečo poviete, povedia, „Ó, áno, ja mám v úmysle to tak urobiť,“ ale nikto z nich to nerobí. Nedokážu to robiť a udržiavať svoje obecenstvo v organizácii; boli by odtiaľ vykopnutí.
72Tam stojí, pričom Dalila mu odstrihla vrkoče. A teraz má krátke vlasy; ako ženy, to isté. Pozrite sa teraz naňho, je tam porazený, presne tak, ako boli predtým oni.
73Kazatelia, letniční poslovia raných dní, vy by ste nikto nespôsobili, že by tí muži verili tomu, že ich deti zorganizujú semináre, ktoré oni sami kritizovali Slovom Božím a z ktorých vyšli. Tak veru. Čo máme skrze tie semináre? Priviedli do cirkvi svet. Jeden starý kazateľ raz zvykol spievať:
Spustili sme závory, urobili sme kompromis s hriechom.
Spustili sme závory, ovce utiekli, ale ako sa dnu dostali kozly?
74Keď spustíte závory, odchádzate od Slova. Keď Eva spustila závory pre intelektuálne rozumovanie satana, prišla smrť; a tie závory, ktoré tam Boh nasadil, to bolo Slovo Jeho zasľúbenia. A my sme to nahradili niečím iným, vyznaním namiesto Slova. Amen. Viete, že to je pravda.
75Čo teraz máme, dnešní letniční? Príliš veľa Rickyov. To slovo, Elvis a Ricky, kedysi ste také mená nepočuli. Je to slovo, je to meno dnešného veku. Ide to spolu. Niečo to znamená.
76Poviete, „Meno nič neznamená.“ Prečo potom Boh zmenil meno Abrama na Abrahám? Prečo zmenil meno Saul na meno Pavol; meno Šimon na Peter? Prečo Sám zmenil Svoje vlastné Meno?
77Prečo zmenil Jákoba na Izrael? Bolo to, až keď zápasil s Pánom, až kým nepremohol. A keď Ježiš porazil smrť, peklo a hrob; Biblia hovorí, „On mal nové Meno.“ A keď Jákob premohol...
78A ak cirkev dokáže premôcť, ona prestane hovoriť, „Ja som metodista, baptista a presbyterián.“ Keď dokáže premôcť svoje vyznania a ten svet, ktorý ju tam dotiahol, vráti sa naspäť do Nevesty Ježiša Krista, pani Ježiš Kristová. Amen.
Čo za smutný pohľad, ako tam Samson stál!
79Ženy s krátkymi vlasmi, ktoré nosia šortky, pomaľované tváre; a letniční, ktorí sa nazývajú kresťanmi, spievajúci v speváckom zbore.
80Nedávno som bol na zhromaždení letničných v jednom veľkom meste, kde žije jeden slávny človek. A tie zhromaždenia boli tak obrovské, že som to musel premiestniť na väčšie miesto, a oni tam vybrali spevácky zbor letničných. A nič netušili o tom, že ja som tam sedel rovno za záclonami a modlil som sa. A každé dievča v tom rade, bolo tam asi tridsaťpäť dievčat a tridsaťpäť chlapcov, spievali tam pieseň Mesiáš, každá tam mala mejkap a ostrihané vlasy. A keď David duPlessis išiel vziať obeť na misie, správali sa tam ako slepý Bartimeus, behali tam dookola, podávali si ten pohár. To sú letničné vnúčatá. To nie je letničný sluha Boží s krstom Duchom Svätým. Duch Svätý si nebude robiť žarty zo Svojho vlastného Slova. Nemôže to tak robiť a zostať Duchom Svätým. Ale tam sa to dostalo. Ó, Samson, zamysli sa trochu!
81Pamätajte, tieto pásky sú nahrávané a posielané do celého sveta. Nehovorím to len tejto skupine tu.
82Samson začal rozmýšľať nad svojimi chybami. Ó! A začal rozmýšľať nad tým, čím kedysi bol.
83Letniční, zamyslite sa nad tým, kým ste boli pred tisíc deväťsto rokmi. Cirkev, katolíci, letniční, zamyslite sa nad tým, kým ste boli pred tisíc deväťsto rokmi, a pozrite sa na to, kým ste dnes. Študujte to chvíľu.
Zostáva mi už asi len osem minút, aby som dodržal svoje slovo.
84Všimnite si, zatiaľ, čo tam stál, on plakal, začal sa zamýšľať nad svojimi chybami, a keď začal rozmýšľať nad tým, čo sa mu stalo... Bol slepý, čiže už ani nemohol vidieť. Prijal niečo iné. Láska k tejto žene, to je to, čo ho dostalo, a ona ho odmietla.
85Ó, o akej pasci by som tu mohol hovoriť, ktorú satan pripravil na cirkev. Ak si len necháte zaslepiť oči pred pravdou, vtedy vás dostal. A ak by ste to len vedeli! V jednom z týchto dní vám Boh dokáže, čo je znamenie šelmy. Všimnite si, len čo zostala oslepená, takto na tom je.
86A tam on stál. A začal sa rozpomínať na tie svoje chyby, kde opustil tú úzku rovnú cestu, kde sa oddialil od Božieho zasľúbenia. A vykríkol, „Pane, vykonaj pomstu za moje oči!“ Prečo to urobil? On vedel, že bola taká možnosť.
A tu chcem, aby ste počúvali.
87Samson sa musel zamýšľať nad tým, kde tú cestu opustil. On už vtedy videl, že teraz je príliš neskoro. On to videl, to, kde opustil ten chodník, a pomyslel si, „Musí byť nejaká možnosť, že by Boh odpovedal.“ On vedel, že ak by mohol činiť pokánie a priviesť Boha do toho, aby videl, že ľutuje svoj omyl, tak je tam nejaká možnosť, aby Boh stále dodržal Svoje zasľúbenie.
88Boh to urobí. On to ide urobiť. Tak isto aj teraz, Boh bude mať takú Cirkev! Nebojte sa, ona tam bude. Duch Svätý sa v tej cirkvi bude pohybovať tak, až ona a Kristus budú ten istý Duch. Luther tam stál na svojich nohách v ospravedlnení; Wesley tam stál v srdci lásky a posvätenia; ale toto už povstalo až ku Hlave; vidíte, je to teraz väčšie. Ona sa stala demonináciou a ten roľník príde a ten vinič oreže. Oni zomreli, ale nikdy viac sa už nevrátili. Oni sa už nikdy nevrátia. Ale stále je tam semeno Života, ktoré tam prichádza.
89Ale všimnite si, Samson si myslel, že musí byť nejaká možnosť. On to uchopil.
90Ale tá smutná časť dnes je to, že cirkev to nechápe. Oni si neuvedomili, že existuje šanca na prebudenie. Oni si neuvedomili tú možnosť. Oni ešte nezachytili to videnie. Oni sa len usadili.
91„Ó,“ hovoria, „brat Branham, čo to teraz robíš?“
92Ó, ja viem, že tlieskate rukami a máte tu veľké zhromaždenia, ktoré sa lesknú svetským pozlátkom. Musíte ísť na najväčšie miesta. Musíte mať tú najlepšiu zábavu. Musíte robiť toto, toto alebo tamto. Váš pastor musí byť vyučený v seminároch a mať doktorát. Ani nedokážete povedať svojim susedom, že váš pastor je len obyčajný chlapík z kukuričného poľa, ktorý bol spasený. To musí byť, „Náš pastor je Doktor LL.D. Taký a taký.“ Pre mňa to znamená len to, že je ešte o to ďalej od Boha. To je všetko, až tak ďaleko, lebo jeho intelekt ho zavliekol preč. Ó, svietite vzdelávaním.
93A ďalšia vec, ktorá sa týka väčšiny tejto dnešnej modernej evanjelizácie od Letníc až po dnes, je skupina hollywoodskeho predvádzania sa. Áno, iste tým žiarite ako to pozlátko na Dágonovi, tom rybom bohu. Ale to pozlátko a vzdelanie a intelektuálne predvádzanie sa s veľkým jasom, aby verejnosť videla tú porážku, a tak ďalej, tie intelektuálne poňatia Evanjelia, a tak ďalej, ktoré neprinášajú Moc Božiu, aby ženy prestali nosiť ostrihané vlasy, aby sa muži správali tak, ako sa majú, aby zaujali svoje miesto v dome a vychovávali svoje deti tak, ako sa to má. Ono to neprináša Ducha Božieho.
Samson tam stál, bol rovnako veľký, ako bol kedykoľvek predtým.
94A cirkev dnes stojí silnejšia v počte členov, ako bola pred štyridsiatimi rokmi, ale kde je Duch Boží? Ó! Kde je v tom Duch Boží? Vidím tam ducha Hollywoodu. Vidím tam ducha tohto sveta. Vidím tam ducha pôvabu. Idem priamo proti tomu, je to už vyše pätnásť rokov, ako proti tomu kážem, ale aj tak sa to stále zhoršuje. Vidím to, vidím tam toho ducha. Ale kde je Duch Boží, ktorý dokáže uchopiť Boha, ktorý dokáže rozpoznať Slovo, kedy je zamanifestované, kedy dokáže rozpoznať Pravdu? Jedine Duch Boží to dokáže. Tak veru. Môžete si vziať pôvab, lesk a predvádzanie sa.
95Samson mal rovnako veľké telo, ako mal kedykoľvek predtým, ale jeho sila od neho bola vzatá.
96Takto je dnes na tom cirkev, letničná cirkev. Myslím, že pred troma rokmi, tí zo Sunday Visitor z katolíckej cirkvi povedali, že mali „milión obrátených do katolicizmu za jeden rok, ale letničná cirkev mala o jeden a pol milióna viac.“ No, čo potom máte, keď toto máte? Radšej by som mal päť ľudí, ktorí odovzdajú svoj život Kristovi. On dokáže viac s piatimi ľuďmi alebo s jedným človekom, ktorý je odovzdaný, ako by dokázal so štyridsiatimi miliónmi, ktorí sú mimo. Čo znamenajú členovia? To znamená len to, že ste zaslepení a pridávate viacej sily tej smilnici. Tak veru.
Všimnite si, cirkev dnes nie je ochotná zaplatiť cenu.
97Samson sa modlil ten správny druh modlitby, „Pane, dovoľ mi zomrieť s týmto nepriateľom.“ Ó!
98Tu to máte. Nechcete zomrieť vašej pýche. Nechcete zomrieť pre veci tohto sveta.
99No, pamätajte, hovorím doslova ku tisíckam ľudí okolo sveta, keď toto hovorím. Vidíte? Nehovorím to len tu v Chicagu. Hovorím to do sveta.
100Nechcete zomrieť, ale to je jediný spôsob, ako mať prebudenie. Oslepili ste Samsona, či nevidíte, že Dalila zaslepila vaše oči? A ten jediný spôsob, ako môžete prinavrátiť tú silu späť do cirkvi, je zomrieť tomu nepriateľovi, ktorý vás zatiahol do spôsobov tohto sveta.
Samson povedal, „Dovoľ mi zomrieť s nepriateľom.“
101Musí sa zaplatiť vysoká cena. Musíte zomrieť tej veci, ktorá vás k tomuto priviedla. Musíte zomrieť tej veci, ktorá vás priviedla, vás, letničných ľudí, tam, kde sa dnes popoludní nachádzate. Musíte tomu zomrieť.
102Samson bol ochotný tú cenu zaplatiť, aby znovu získal moc Božiu späť do svojho života.
103Zaujíma ma, či je cirkev dnes popoludní ochotná zaplatiť tú cenu a zomrieť s nepriateľom. Zomrieť tej veci, všetkej svojej popularite a všetkému tomuto, tamtomu alebo tamtomu, len aby ste znovu videli moc Božiu na sebe a stali sa väzňami Ježiša Krista.
104Ó, počujem, ako niektorí z vás hovoria, „Ó, áno, my máme prebudenia.“ Ale to sú denominačné prebudenia. Jednotári chcú vziať všetkých trojičiarov a urobiť z nich jednotárov. Trojičiari chcú vziať všetkých jednotárov a urobiť z nich trojičiarov. Cirkev Božia chce vziať Cirkev Božieho Proroctva. Jedna chce zobrať tú druhú a urobiť z toho veľkú denom-... Či si neuvedomujete, že takto slúžite len človeku?
105My sme bratia. Nie je žiadna denominácia, ktorá by dokázala oddeliť lásku Božiu. My sme bratia. „Takto budú všetci ľudia vedieť, že ste Mojimi učeníkmi, keď budete mať lásku jeden k druhému.“
Poviete, „Tak potom prečo na nich kričíš?“
106Láska napráva. Ak láska nenapráva, potom to nie je láska. Ak vidíš svoje dieťa na zemi na ulici a nedáš mu trochu stimulácie zadnej časti, potom nie si dobrým otcom. Ale skutočná matka alebo otec ho pozdvihne a dá mu preplesk a povie mu, že musí ísť preč z tej ulice, lebo zomrie. To je skutočná láska. Ale povedať, „Maličký, drahý, no, ja neviem. No, možno by si tu nemal byť v takomto čase dňa, v tomto čase konca, kedy všetky autá idú tak rýchlo...“ Ó, nezmysel, ty zženštilý kazateľ, ktorý nemáš odvahu vziať Božie Slovo a nazvať biele bielym a čierne čiernym, správne správnym a nesprávne nesprávnym! Ale oni to robia.
107Áno, máme prebudenia, ale pozrite sa na tie morálne zásady poza tými prebudeniami. Ani trochu ich to nemení; ide to po celý čas len ďalej od Boha a smerom do sveta. Všimnite si to.
108Samson vedel, čo sa stane, ak bude jeho modlitba vypočutá.
109Ale my sme si ešte nespočítali cenu. Čo sa stane, ak Boh odpovie na tvoje modlitby, aby si sa stal skutočným, naozajstným dieťaťom Božím? Okamžite vieš, že si vtedy preč z denominácie. A tie ženy, s ktorými hrávaš karty, a podobne? Ó, nie! Si z toho von, určite. Najlepšie bude, keď si to ale vopred všetko spočítaš.
110Samson povedal, „Dovoľ mi zomrieť.“ On bol ochotný tú cenu zaplatiť. A on vedel...
111Dobre teraz toto počúvajte. On vedel, že ten jeho prítomný odpadnutý stav by nikdy nezvládol výzvu tej hodiny. Ale jednako, on bol tak isto mužom, ako bol kedykoľvek predtým, čo sa týka svojich svalov. Jeho postava bola rovnaká ako kedykoľvek predtým. Mal rovnako veľké svaly, ktoré mohol na rukách ukázať, ako kedykoľvek predtým, pravdepodobne boli ešte väčšie, lebo veľa drel pri... robil ťažšiu prácu.
112Máme lepšie cirkvi, lepšie budovy a všetko možné, ale kde je naša sila, duchovne hovoriac? Ó, môžme v tomto národe hlasovať. Istotne, mohli by sme robiť tieto veci, ale to nie je to, o čom hovorím. Hovorím o Prítomnosti Božej, ktorá je medzi nami rozpoznávaná. To je to, pre čo by sme mali žiť.
113On vedel, že jeho odpadnutý stav nedokázal čeliť výzve tej hodiny.
114A tak isto to teraz vie aj cirkev. My to nedokážeme urobiť v tomto stave. Nedokážete to urobiť. Denominácie nepotvrdzujú Slovo; oni zapierajú Slovo. Samotná denominácia zapiera to Slovo v tej chvíli, ako sa stáva denomináciou. Tá samotná vec, vy sa len hneď od začiatku dostávate na druhú stranu. Ona zapiera Slovo. Po celý čas...
115Už len minútu alebo dve. Ale všimnite si... Ako sa teraz poponáhľam a dodržím svoje slovo.
116Po celý čas, keď tam stáli, a všetky tie myšlienky, ktoré im behali hlavou; a dúfam, že to isté sa deje teraz aj s vami. Oni si to nevšimli, zatiaľ čo Samsonovi prechádzali myšlienky hlavou. Možno si podali fľašu, možno sa znovu napili. Ich pekné hollywoodske ženy tam stáli s cigaretami v ústach, ak také niečo vtedy bolo; nemyslím si, že v tej dobe išli až tak nízko. Ale vytlačili si vlasy dohora, dali si ďalší drink a kričali, „Ahoj, Jozef alebo Ján, ty tam! Včera večer sme hrali karty a mali sme úžasnú párty.“ [Prázdne miesto na páske – pozn.prekl.]
117„Existuje možnosť, že Boh ma vypočuje. Existuje možnosť.“ A zatiaľ, čo na to myslel, Filištínci si ho nevšímali, zatiaľ čo tento malý chlapec si odviazal ruky a odišiel naspäť. On povedal, „Polož mi ruky na tento stĺp.“ „Existuje možnosť.“ Ó!
118Keby to len cirkev mohla uvidieť. Existuje možnosť skutočného prebudenia.
119Čo on urobil? On pozdvihol svoje očné jamky (nemal žiadne oči) k Bohu. Oni si vôbec nevšimli, ako sa mu hýbali pery a ako úprimne vyznával.
120My nepotrebujeme len také plytké, „Pane, odpusť mne a Jimovi, Joeovi, a nám ostatným. Amen.“ My potrebujeme úprimné prečistenie od kazateľne až po vrátnika.
121Oni si vôbec nevšimli, ako mu dolu z jeho očných jamiek vytekali slzy, kde mal kedysi oči. Oni si nevšimli, ako sa mu hýbali pery. Jeho oči, slané slzy mu vytekali dolu z očných jamiek. On chcel, aby Boh ešte viac potvrdil Svoje Slovo, aby dokázal, ako to dnes hovorím tejto Dalile alebo skôr Samsonovi, že, „Ježiš Kristus je ten istý včera, dnes i naveky.“
122„Ešte raz,“ pomyslel si, „stane sa to. Nie nová denominácia, nie nové sektárstvo, ale potvrdené Slovo od Teba, Bože! Viem, že Ty si stále Boh. Ja som slepý. Ja som sa vymkol z cesty. Nie som hodný toho, aby som žil. Dovoľ mi zomrieť s týmto nepriateľom. Ty si ma pozdvihol, aby som to zničil, ale ja som Ťa sklamal, Pane. Ale existuje tu možnosť, že Ty ma vypočuješ. Ešte raz, Pane, ešte raz!“ S hlbokou vážnosťou sa modlil. On vedel, čo prichádza. „Pane, ešte raz! Ešte raz mi dovoľ vidieť Ježiša Krista takého, aký bol včera!“ Keď sa modlil tú modlitbu a slzy mu stekali po lícach s hlbokou úprimnosťou vyznania!
123To je to, čo cirkev potrebuje. Vyznajte, že sa mýlite! Nezaujímajte sa o to, čo hovorí doktor Jones alebo čo hovorí ktokoľvek iný. Ak ste mimo Slova Božieho, vyznajte to, že sa mýlite. Vykríknite, „Ešte raz, Pane, ešte raz! Ešte raz, Pane, ešte raz! Pomsti moju slepotu na tieto denominácie! A daj mi silu, Pane, aby som zatriasol týmto denominačným svetom s Tvojím potvrdením. Daj mi silu, Pane! Dokáž to ešte raz!“
124On vedel, čo sa stane, ak jeho modlitba bude zodpovedaná. On vedel, s hlbokou vážnosťou kričal, „Ešte raz, Pane!“ A zatiaľ čo sa modlil a robil svoje úprimné vyznanie, každé vlákno v jeho tele začalo vibrovať.
125Ó, Bože, ak by to Telo Ježiša Krista dokázalo stáť ako jedno a každé jedno vlákno a každý jeden úd by znovu začal vibrovať tým doslovným krstom Duchom Svätým; nie s nejakými novými členmi a podávaním rúk alebo nejakým vyznaním.
126Ako sa znovu začala vracať sila do tých veľkých svalov a každé jedno tkanivo sa začalo hýbať. Znovu sa cítil sám sebou, zaprel sa a vykĺbil to. A keď to urobil, ten veľký múr sa zrútil.
127Všetko, čo dnes potrebujeme urobiť, aby sme videli pád týchto denominačných múrov, je byť hlboko úprimní pred Bohom, aby sme uzdravili tie oslepené oči, ktoré boli oslepené pred Slovom Božím.
128To bolo Samsonove najväčšie víťazstvo, ktoré kedy mal, lebo bol ochotný činiť pokánie nad každým nepriateľom, ktorý bol pred neho postavený, aby ho zničil.
129Ó, letniční, postavte sa dnes popoludní na svoje miesto, na svoje miesto povinnosti Božieho Slova. Čiňte pokánie a nahlas skríknite, „Pane Bože, ešte raz!“ Dovoľte mi niečo vám povedať! Bude lepšie, ak zničíte svojho nepriateľa pred tým, ako on zničí vás. Tak veru. Prineste naspäť tie staromódne modlitebné zhromaždenia, to skutočné zbožné pokánie, celonočnú oltárovú bohoslužbu. Ó, letniční, vypočujte ma! Zanechajte, ó, zanechajte toto porušenie, ktoré tu tá Jezábeľ medzi vami spôsobila. Nechajte to, zanechajte to rýchlo a vráťte sa späť do Slova Pánovho, preč od tohto hollywoodskeho predvádzania sa! Obráťte sa celým svojím srdcom späť do Slova Božieho. Obráťte sa späť k Moci Ducha Svätého! Vy, ženy, sa obliekajte ako ženy, vy, muži, sa správajte ako muži, ako synovia a dcéry Božie. Obráťte sa od tohto Jezábeľského systému, ktorý vás škrtí a oslepuje. Nech nám Boh pomôže, aby sme mali to pravdivé pokánie; nie len polovičné, s tým to nejde.
130Ako na to myslím práve v tejto chvíli, kedy môj čas vypršal, mali by sme sa postaviť na svoje nohy a kričať so zdvihnutými rukami, „Pane, ešte raz! Ešte raz, ó, Pane, ešte raz!“
131Postavme sa, každý, ktorý je ochotný to urobiť, aby sme videli prebudenie; to znamená byť pripravený zomrieť tomuto hollywoodskemu predvádzaniu sa; každý, ktorý je pripravený zomrieť, aby sme videli to, ako „tá Moc Božia príde na Sion s radosťou, a neuškodia ani nezahubia na celom vrchu Jeho svätosti.“
132Pozdvihnime naše ruky a kričme, „Ešte raz, Pane!“ Ešte raz, Pane! Ešte raz, Pane! Ešte raz, Pane, pošli Ducha Svätého s mocným ženúcim sa vetrom, ako si to urobil na deň Letníc. Amen. [Zhromaždenie pokračuje v modlitbe a chvále k Bohu. – pozn.prekl.]
1 Thank you, very much. Let us pray.
Heavenly Father, we are assembled again in the Name of Thy beloved Child, the Lord Jesus, to express our love in worship to Him again. We pray that His Spirit will meet with us, and that He will give us each a portion of that Spirit that might give us sustaining grace to finish the journey and fight the fight that's set before us, the fight of Faith. Grant it, Father. And break to us, this afternoon, the Bread of Life, to strengthen us, for it is written, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceedeth from the mouth of God." May we hear that, this afternoon, in the Name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
2 Be seated. Commenting Brother Carlson, he just let me on about ten minutes late. He's getting better. Another week's meeting, we'll just... I'll probably be here on time...?... We're so happy for the privilege.
3Now tonight is our closing night of this certain service, and I want to let you out in time so you can have your--your supper. I know a lot of you call it your dinner. But if I have dinner, then where's my supper come in?
4Now, I was talking to a fellow, he said, "Oh, Brother Branham, it's--it's dinner."
5"Oh, it is?" I said, "I want to prove you you're wrong." I said, "We don't take the Lord's dinner; we take His supper."
6So we--we like to think of it as the Lord, as our supper, the Lord's supper that night, not morning or afternoon. He, He took it in the evening, it was His supper.
7 Now, so we want to get back early. And so we won't be late tonight, Brother Carlson is going to let me on just exactly on time tonight. "Faith is the substance of things hoped for." And I don't know, if the Lord willing, I might try to speak tonight, if I can get a little, enough time, on, The Countdown. The, for it's a scientific, little Message the Lord has give me for the last days. And maybe, the Lord willing, I might be able to speak on that tonight.
8Now, we had a grand time last night. I went over, said, "We're not going to pray for the sick," and the Lord healed the sick anyhow, you see. Amen. Sometimes we can say something, but the Lord can just upset that anytime He wants to. You see, He--He is God.
9 Now I want to read quickly from the Scriptures, for a little text that I--I thought that might be a help to us this afternoon.
10Now, if he let me on on time, I want to try to get out on time, and that would be about four-thirty, which would be about fifty minutes from now.
11Let us turn now over to the Book of Judges, the 16th chapter, and let's read the--the 27th and 28th verses, as we look to the Word.
Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women,... behold while Samson made sport.
And Samson called to the LORD and said, O Lord... remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O Lord, that I might be... avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.
12Let's pray again. Lord Jesus, take this little text, and water the Church with it, Lord. We pray and commit it to You, in Jesus' Name. Amen.
13 There must have been about three thousand Philistines, looking down from the top of the gallery of this great arena, when the couple entered the arena that afternoon. Must have been a hot day. All day long they had been out there. And in this great company, on top of this great arena that was built something on the order of an upside-down mushroom; and the center post in the middle, that went out something in this way, and held the two posts holding all the spectators around; highly-polished warlords and their fine-jeweled women. All leaned forward at this certain event, for they wanted to get a good look, that what was taking place.
14There had been preliminaries, all the entertainment. They probably had little monkeys that--that played little tricks. And they had different things that they entertained themselves with, fighting, wrestling, and--and--and maybe dueling to death, and many other things that--that they had been entertained with all day, for it was a great day, but now the main event come.
15 You know how we all wait patiently while the preliminaries are going on. And they wait for the--the main event, and that's when everybody sets up and takes notice. We watch it in our religious services, of when we have our--our singing, and our testimonials, and the preaching, and so forth; but the main event is see what the Lord is going to do, see what He has gathered us together for. We're all under anticipations to see just what the end is going to be, the main event. It's that way in anything. We always watch for the main event.
16And they all raised up to look forward, to see what was taking place, because the main event was being brought to them, and what did they see but a blind man being led by a little boy.
17 The halls had echoed all afternoon, with drunken revelry, how that they passed the whiskey and their high drinks; and their fine, painted-up and jeweled women, and great dignified warlords, and all. It was a great celebration. They were celebrating the victory. Oh, how I hate to say this! The victory that the fish-god Dagon had got, over the servant of God. It just goes plumb down to the bottom of me, to have to say that, but it's truth. Celebrating such a way as that, a victory over Jehovah's servant. What a shameful thing! Drinking, revelry, and painted women, and jeweled-up, and great dignitaries, the fires was burning under the fish-god, and what a celebration it must have been.
18But the heartbreaking part, as thousands of years later that we have to think back of such an event as that, and when the great God of Heaven, Who had purposed in His heart to destroy that nation because they were heathens, and had sent a man to do the job, and here the fish-god idol was celebrating a victory over Jehovah's servant. Jehovah never lost; the servant that He sent to do it, lost the victory.
19 What a sight, what a shameful thing it was! The lad led the stumbling, blind man across the--the hall, to these big center posts, whereon all the great upside-down mushroom or umbrella-like set, where the people looked down like this, from the great-like pilasters run up and held the thing in order, laid by stone that could not be reproduced again today. No one could build it like that. But what a great thing it was! And thousands of the celebrity priests who had served an idol, with their chests all swelled out, and all their ceremonies and rituals over their idol, that he had conquered Jehovah. What a great day it was, drinking, revelry, and carrying on!
20 And here comes Jehovah's servant, blind, stumbling, led by a little boy, out to this great post, to make sport. The main event of entertainment was to make sport out of Jehovah's ordained purpose to destroy the nation. And, yet, the nation has taken the thing that God had placed in to destroy them, and now they had conquered him and was making sport out of him, their main event at their celebration.
21Doesn't that just kill you, nearly, to have to look at that? To think what could, this story never really should have never had to be told. But it was probably told for--for our admonition, is wrote that way. Humiliated, broken, standing now defeated, right between the two posts that held the building.
22 What a symbol that is of the church of this day! What a symbol it is of a fallen race of people, that has sold out to the world and the very thing that we're here to conquer. The church that has sold its--its morals, that sold the Bible, sold it's strength, so surrendered its sword, and standing humiliated in the hour when the approaching signs of the Coming of Jesus Christ is at hand; when she ought to be washed, not a spot or a wrinkle, standing to receive her Bridegroom.
23 What a picture we see here, a symbol of moral decay that rests upon the nation, this nation. And I'm not going to try to stay with my Scriptures too long, so I can get through quick. But I could symbolize that with the church, with the nation, with politics, and with everything you can put your hands on today, besides God's Bible. Morally decayed, the human race itself, just in a terrible condition!
24And there under atheists and unbelievers that can point their finger into the face of the church, who should have the Message for today, and asking them, "What does all this mean?" And they don't have the answer. They don't have the answer. Why? They did like Samson did. They've surrendered.
25 So see him standing there, and we would say, "So this is Samson?" Let's catch a picture of it, this great, mighty warrior. Let's picture him, this afternoon, that he had wide shoulders, great framework. And here this big bulk of a man stands there, blinded, tied with little strings, and led to the middle of the floor, humiliated, broken, defeated, with the great God of Heaven looking down upon it. Down here, his critics, drunken soldiers looking down.
26I'd imagine, as they stood there, many Philistines had even shook in their shoes, to hear his name. Samson was a mighty name, one time; so was Christianity, the church was. And I'm going to parallel it with the church, this scene. Samson name, people just fainted, for he was some sort of a man that they had never seen a man like him. His strength was beyond anything that the world had ever had. There's nothing they had could match it. Many remembered him as they looked on him standing there in that condition.
27 Many looked upon him from the galleries and remember see him standing in another position. One day, standing with a jawbone of a mule, in his hand, with a thousand Philistines laying around him, when they had fled to the rocks for safety; standing, motion his fingers, "Come on, if you want some of it!" But now look at him.
28Many of the Philistines, that one night he was persuaded in by a harlot and in the--the city of Gaza, they took the great big gates that would have weighed tons, and fenced him in and caught him, and sent out to the soldiers and said, "Now we've caught him. We've hemmed him in." Like the devil is always trying to do, hem you in on something.
29 But remember when Samson awoke the next morning, or that night, rather, seeing he was hemmed in. He could feel back on the back of his head and still know he was a covenant son of God, and there was nothing could hem him in. The church once stood like that, too. What did he do? He rose up, walked down the street, pulled the gates out of its sockets, and put it upon his shoulders and walked up the top the hill and set down.
30Many standing there that afternoon remembered that event. But look at him now, blinded, mocked, just a sport for the enemy. All of his powers that he once had for his protection, for God's achievement that he had been born in the world to do, had been stripped from him by a woman.
31 I think that same thing could be applied today, that a woman who pretends to be the Bride of Christ, and basing her teaching with "a cup of the filthiness of her abominations, of her fornications." She has tipped the cup of her fornications into the mouths of God's church that's been raised up to show His signs and wonders, as Jesus' last commandment was to do, in Mark 16. And now we find that she has took God's little, faithful group and organized them together just exactly the way she did herself, and has got them standing stripped, denying the Power thereof, denying the Holy Spirit, denying the power to speak with tongues, denying the Power of--of the Holy Spirit to raise the dead, and heal the sick and cast out devils. And now the Philistines is upon thee, and what's you going to do now, stripped?
Oh, what must have went through that man's mind!
32 We have seen what must have went through the Philistines' mind. They had knowed him. When, I've heard one reach over to another, maybe, and say, "I remember the time when you say 'Samson,' every Philistine would go like rats to a hole. I've heard the time, you'd say, a thousand men would be marching across the desert, they say, 'Samson is coming,' they would drop their arms and run for safety as hard as they could."
33But now look at him. He is in a terrible condition, bound, all because he compromised to a woman. That's what done it. She stripped him of his power. She kept trying to find out where his strength laid. She knowed he was a big man, but they had big men, too. But this Delilah, she was a-a real Jezebel. She knowed how to work on him, to woo him to her and say that (he) she loved him. But, all the time, she was trying to fish along, where his strength laid.
34 And that's the same thing that the Jezebel has done to the church, it's fished along until it's found out where the strength laid. And the strength is in the Word. "The Word is God." And finally she found where that strength laid, and she took him down to Nicaea, Rome, and shaved off his locks. And now they've took what's left out of it, and taking them back to the World Council of Churches, and got their locks shaved again. It's a constant shaving, taking This out, and, "This doesn't mean that. The days of miracles is passed. There is no such a thing as this, that, the other." They, they found where the strength laid, substituting baptisms and handshakes and all these other things, for the true unadulterated Word of God.
35 This Word is God, that was given to His Church to defeat the world and the devils, and the sickness, and to cast out devils, and no denomination was give to the Church. The Word was give to the church; That's her strength. But they've cut This away, they've cut That away, and they shaved off This lock, and shaved off That lock, until she stands shorn today, like a Catholic sister, shorn off, until she has accepted a bunch of man-made creeds for her doctrine, just exactly what the prophet said she would do. And here she stands today, humiliated. When the God of Heaven has chose the ignorant fishermen, and so forth, and has come down in that and proving It, that He still remains God, and they can't give an answer to their congregation for It because it's not connected with any denomination. And she stands humiliated, where she ought to have been standing in her strength.
36 If the church today stood like it did on the Day of Pentecost, if the church today stood like it did in the days of Irenaeus, and in the days of Saint Martin, or in the days of Polycarp, where the Church would march right into death before it would defy any Word of God! Irenaeus, Martin, all those men, held tight to that water baptism in the Name of Jesus Christ. Every one of them held tight to that baptism of the Holy Ghost, the prophets, signs and wonders.
37And they've got away from it today. What happened? Delilah knowed where the strength laid. And she could ever get those seminaries away from that Word, onto some man-made theology, she had it, then it was easy to bind and lead them into the World Council of Churches, this ecumenical council.
You say, "You ain't got no right."
38I'm still American citizen. I got a right to freedom of speech. That's right. Certainly am. Notice, that's exactly the Truth.
39 Oh, how he must have felt, what went through that man's mind, as he stood there, blind!
40Now, Jezebel knew, or not Jezebel, but Delilah knew, if she could ever punch his eyes out, that was it.
41And that's exactly what Delilah of this last day has done to the church, punch its eyes out, to God's promise, and sold you some great big intellectual denomination. Everybody likes to buy,... say, "I belong to the First church. I belong to down here. I...." See, as long as the devil can put your eyes out, to the Word of God and the promise of God! No matter how foolish it sounds, it's God's promise.
42Now, I'm not endorsing cults, not at all, but them cults are known by their works. So is God's Church knowed by Its works. But I am trying to say what Delilah has done to Samson.
43 Now let's take Samson's side, what must have went through the man's mind as he stood there. All the great victories he had once had, must have passed through his mind. The event is on now, the entertainment for the afternoon is fixing to start. The ones that's to be entertained are thinking of what he was, and here he is standing here a thinking of what he was. But because some woman lured him, the picture has changed, to what it should been. God raised Samson up to destroy that nation, that was the very purpose of bringing him on.
44If God can only find one man, that's all He needs, one man that can fully surrender to Him. He don't take an army; He never did use that. He only uses a man.
45 Now, Samson gave God His strength to use, but he didn't give God his heart. He gave his heart to Delilah, and gave his strength to God.
46But you've got to surrender soul, body, spirit, strength, everything you are, to the will of God, become a prisoner to Him. You're going to be somebody's prisoner. You don't belong to yourself. You are somebody's prisoner. You're either a prisoner of the devil, knowing this Truth and won't surrender to it, or a prisoner to--to the world, and surrender to God, one or the other. You're either the devil's prisoner, to sin, or you're God's prisoner, to righteousness. You're one or the other.
47 And now Samson thinks of the great victories that he had won. No doubt it come to his mind of how, that when he was a little boy, that God had vindicated him, told his mother that how that she must do; not drink strong drinks, or--or watch her diet, that she was bringing forth a Nazarite. How she combed his hair, and told him, "Son, through these locks, it's a covenant with God, that your strength will lay in there. Don't, never give it away. Don't, never give away your secret. Don't, never surrender it. Whatever you do, stay with it."
48 Jesus Christ told the church, that, "Heavens and earth will pass away, but my Words shall never pass away. And whosoever shall take one Word from It, or add one word to It, his part will be taken out of the Book of Life." The church ought to think of that now as we stand in this chaos, in this hour just prayer... prior the Coming of the Lord Jesus, at any moment, for a Rapture.
49 The great victories that we can point back, in the days gone by, in the reformation, back in the days of Irenaeus and Saint Martin, Patrick, and those who protested those organizations.
50And when Luther came out and protested that first organization, Catholic church, and the group that followed him come right back and organized behind him.
51When John Wesley come out of Anglicanism, and, as soon as Wesley left, they organized right behind him.
52And the early Pentecost come out of the denominations. That was a cursed word to you. But, "As a dog goes to its vomit, and a sow to their wallow," you've went right back in the thing that you were born to defeat. Hallelujah! That hurts my heart, too, even more than to think of the victory yonder that Dagon had over Samson. I see what Jezebel has got over the church. And that's the reason that every strength and every fiber in my being, I'm trying to protest that thing, and call back that church to her place of repentance. Your mothers, your fathers, were ousted out of those organizations. They come out of it and protested it, and here their children has turned right back around and has went right back in the thing that they come out of. If that ain't a picture of Samson, what Delilah did!
53 How we ought to let the thoughts go through our mind, of the great victories. I don't have time to get it, and keep my word to you.
54And of God, had raised him up for this purpose, and there he stands between those two posts, blinded, defeated, humiliated. He was still the same big bulk that he ever was, but his strength was gone.
55The church is anything, it's stronger in membership than it ever was. But where is the Word, the strength, being manifested? It's been cut off from you, by your power-shaving organizations.
56He had failed God. Not only had he failed God, but he failed his own people. He was a total failure. Now he was a prisoner to the very nation that God raised him up to destroy.
57And here stands the last organization of the church, Pentecost, this afternoon, just as defeated as Samson was. You might not believe that. But if you'll just open your mind to the Word, you'll see it's the Truth.
Had him doing tricks, for entertainment.
58 How sometime I said, not long ago. These Full Gospel Business Men, as well as I love them, and in their magazine, writing up, "Holy Reverend Father So-and-so." You poor, deluded, blind Pentecostals! What's the matter with you? Don't you know our Saviour said, "Don't call no man on this earth, 'Father'?" Don't you realize the devil is only taking somebody that's been kicked out of one of those there, out here, and just making a laughingstock out of you? They are not coming in. Don't you let anybody tell you they are.
59What's the matter with this deluded church? The world has punctured its eyes. Don't you know Jesus said that that would happen? And when the sleeping virgin come in to buy oil, she never got it. There is the sleeping virgin, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian. They are not getting it. They might speak with tongues and jump, but that don't mean anything. I've seen heathens do the same thing, and devil-worshipers, speak in tongues and jump, and sing and shout; drink blood out of a human skull, and call on the devil and speak in tongues. Don't you rely on sensations. It's the Word of God that don't pass.
60 There she is, defeated, just as much as Samson was defeated, doing tricks now. How Satan stand up and laugh at them, said, "Look, they claim they believe the Bible. Look!" Telling all the Angels of Heaven, "Look, look, they--they--they--they, yeah, they're Bible believers, each one of them, look at them all coming together. I'm going to throw them, every one, over, just exactly." Going to lead them right in, just exactly what the Scripture said. They have to do that. There they are, defeated. Delilah; eyes punctured so they can't see the Truth.
61Jesus said to the Pharisees, "You've got eyes, and you can't see. You've got ears, and you can't hear." Why? Said, "Cause Isaiah said so." He referred back to the Word, the prophet. The God Himself, Jesus Christ, referred back to the Word of His prophet.
62And, today, the Holy Spirit is bringing your memory back. "Heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God," women, painted faces, wearing shorts, acting like the world, bobbing their hair, and doing so forth, "having a form of godliness, but denying the Power thereof." Well, your own works prove that you don't believe. The Holy Spirit, in the Word, pointing right back to the Word again.
63 "Oh," you say, "I got It." When you take medicine for a disease, if it don't show up, you better change your medicine, you'll die in your sins.
64The nation, the very purpose, the very thing that they was raised up to destroy, Samson, is now a victim.
65And so is the church! Raised up to put denominationalism and the world in the denomination, to shame, and you've come right into the denomination. And by doing that, you can't follow the Scriptures, every one of them has got a different idea, so you lost your strength. That blinding devil!
66 Let a lure of a woman take him from the--the Word of God. Now you say, "Brother Branham, it wasn't." It was the Word of God. Delilah took Samson from the Word of promise.
67And so has the Jezebel of this day taken the church, lured it from the Word of the promise, God's Holy Bible. Oh, same thing, same exactly thing! What did they do? Let Jezebel, spoke of in Revelation the 17, Revelation, 17th chapter, the Catholic church is represented there. And they tell you it's them, too. They don't... Their own book says so. They make no bones of it. How many ever read their own writing? You know that that's true. [Congregation says, "That's right."--Ed.] They say the Catholic church is represented. That's right. And remember, "She was the mother of harlots. She was a whore, and the mother of harlots." See, it had to be churches; not boys, it was girls, Protestant churches, "a mother of harlots." As soon as they organized, they done the same thing they did there, they stripped themselves from the Word, and have to follow the dictations of some organization.
68 I know this is not popular, but it's the Truth. I haven't got no big radio programs and television programs, support. God help me to never have. I only want one thing, and that's the support of Jesus Christ, by His Word. Let Him vindicate that I'm telling the Truth, by His Word; not some bogus, make-believe, unscruple thing; but the genuine Holy Spirit Himself, Who takes the promise of this day and shows that it's the Truth. That's all I long to see. Like Jesus said, "If I don't do the works of My Father, then don't believe Me."
69 Now blind! Oh, you say, "We're not blind." You are blind! The Bible said you was. Every Scripture reader knows that this is the Laodicea Church Age. How many believes that? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.] Then, the Bible said that, "The Laodicea church was blind, naked, and didn't know it." There is the bad part, she don't even know it. She is worse than all the other church ages put together.
70 "The ox knows his master's crib, or stall, and the mule knows his crib, and," He said, "My people don't know."
71Blind, spiritually blind! Blind to what? God's Word. Just as blind as they can be, and they don't want to see It. And you tell them; they'll say, "Oh, yes, I'm--I'm intending to do that," but none of them does it. They can't do it and maintain their fellowship in an organization; they'll kick them right out of it.
72There she stands, Delilah shaved off his locks. Now he is--he is bobbed-haired; like the women in it, same thing. Now look at them, defeated, just like they was.
73 Ministers, the pentecostal messengers of the early days, you would have never made them men believe that their own children would organize seminaries, that they criticized, by the Word of God, and come out of. That's right. What, by these seminaries, have we got? They have brought world into the church. An old minister used to sing:
We let down the bars, we compromised with sin.
We let down the bars, the sheep got out, but how did the goats get in?
74You let down the bars, got away from the Word. When Eve let down the bars, to intellectual reasonings of Satan, death come in; and the bars that God had her barred in with, was His Word of promise. And we have substituted something else, a creed, instead of the Word. Amen. You know that's the Truth.
75 What have we got, the Pentecostal people today? Too many Rickies. That word, Elvis and Ricky, you never heard of that in other days. It's a word, it's the name for this day. It goes with this. It means something.
76You say, "A name means nothing." Then why did He change Abram's name, to Abraham? Why did He change Saul's name to Paul; Simon's name to Peter? Why did He change His Own Name?
77Why did He change Jacob to Israel? Not until he wrestled with the Lord, not until he overcome. And when Jesus overcome death, hell and the grave, the Bible said, "He had a new Name." And when Jacob overcome.
78And if the Church can overcome, she will stop saying, "I am Methodist, Baptist, and Presbyterian." When she can overcome her creeds and the world that's drawed her in there, she'll come back to the Bride of Jesus Christ, Mrs. Jesus Christ. Amen.
What a sad sight, as we see Samson standing there!
79 Women with short hair, wearing shorts, painted faces; and Pentecostals, calling themselves Christians, singing in the choir.
80I was in the Pentecostal Assembly not long ago, in a great city where a famous, great man lives. And the meetings got so big, I had to take it over to a big place, and they had the selected Pentecostal choir. And little did they know I was setting right down behind the curtains, praying. And there every girl in that row of about thirty-five girls, and thirty-five boys, to sing The Messiah, was wearing make-up and bobbed hair. And when David duPlessis was taking up a missionary offering, they were acting like they were blind Bartimaeus, running along passing the cup. That's Pentecostal grandchildren. That ain't a Pentecostal servant of God with the baptism of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost won't make fun of His Own Word. He can't, and remain the Holy Ghost. But that's where you've got to. Oh, Samson, get to thinking a little bit!
81Remember, these tapes are recorded and sent around the world. I'm just not only speaking to this group here.
82 Samson begin to think of his errors. Oh! And he begin to think of what he was one time.
83Pentecost, think what you was nineteen hundred years ago. Church, Catholic, Protestant, think what you were nineteen hundred years ago, and look what you are today. Study a little while.
Just got about eight more minutes, to keep my word.
84Notice, but while he was standing there, he cried, he begin to think of his errors, and when he begin to think of what had happened to him. He was blind, therefore he couldn't see no more. He, he has accepted something else. For the love of this woman, that's what got him, and then she turned him down.
85 Oh, what a trap I could speak on here, that Satan has set for the church. Just get your eyes blinded from the Truth, and, that's what, they got you then. And if you only knew it! One of these days God is going to prove it to you, what the mark of the beast is. Uh-huh. Notice, but when once blinded, there she stands.
86And there he stood. And he begin to remember the things of his errors, where he had left the straight, narrow road, where he had got away from God's promise. And he cried out, "Lord, revenge my eyes!" Why did he do this? He knew there was a possibility.
Now is where I want you to listen.
87 Samson must have thought of all where he had left the path. He saw it then, it's too late now. He saw it, where he had left the path, and he thought, "There must be a possibility that God would answer." He knew if he could repent and get God to see that he was sorry for his error, there was a possibility that God would still achieve His promise.
88God will do it. He is going to do it. Same now, God is going to have that Church! Don't you worry, She is going to be there. The Holy Spirit will be moving so in the Church till the Church and Christ will be the same Spirit. Luther stood then on the feet, in justification; Wesley stood in the heartbeat of love, of sanctification; but this is raised up to the head now; see, more than that. She denominated, and the husbandman come along and pruned the vine; they died, they never did come back no more. They never will come back no more. But still there is a seed of Life there that's coming on.
89 But, notice, Samson thought there must be a--a possibility. He caught the idea.
90But the sad part is, today, the church don't catch that. They don't realize that there is a possibility of a revival. They don't realize the possibility. They haven't caught the vision yet. They just set.
91"Oh," they say, "now, Brother Branham, what are you doing?"
92Oh, I know you clap your hands and have great big gatherings, and glittering with worldly tinsel. You have to go to the biggest places. You have to have the most, best entertained. You have to do this, that, or the other. Your pastor must be a seminary scholar with a doctor's degree. Or, you can't tell your neighbors down there that your pastor is some little guy out of the cornfield out there, that got saved. He is, "Our pastor is Doctor LL.D. So-and-so." To me, that means he's just that far away from God. That's all, just that far away, for intellects always takes him away. Oh, you're shining with scholarship.
93 And another thing, about a lot of this modern evangelism today, all the way from Pentecost all the way back, is a bunch of Hollywood showmanship. Yeah, you certainly are glittering with that, as the tinsels in the hall of the fish-god Dagon. But that tinsel and scholarship, and intellectual showmanship with a great bright, letting all the public see any defeat and so forth, all that stuff like that, intellectual conceptions of the Gospel, and so forth, that don't bring the Power of God to make women quit wearing bobbed hair, and men to act like they should, take their place in the house and raise their children like they ought to. It don't bring the Spirit of God.
Samson stood there, just as big a bulk as he ever was.
94 And the church stands stronger in members than it did forty years ago, but where is the Spirit of God? Oh, my! Where is the Spirit of God in it? I see the spirit of Hollywood. I see the spirit of the world. I see the spirit of glamour. Go right through, I've been fifteen years preaching against it, and it's just worsening all the time. I can see it, and I can see the spirit there. But where is the Spirit of God that can grasp God, that can recognize the Word Itself when It's made manifest, can recognize Truth? Only the Spirit of God can do that. That's right. You can take glitter, polish, showmanship.
95Samson had just as big a body as he ever had, but his strength was taken from him.
96 The church, Pentecost today, stands. I believe, three years ago, the Sunday Visitor of the Catholic church, said that they had "a million conversions to Catholicism in one year, but the Pentecostal church had one million five hundred thousand, more than that." Well, what have you got when you got it? I would rather have had five that could surrender their life to Christ. He can do more with five men, or one man, surrendered, than He could with forty million outside. What does members mean? Just means another thing, that you're blinded, and adding more strength to the harlot. Right.
Notice, the church today is not willing to pay the price.
97 Samson prayed the right kind of a prayer, "Lord, let me die with this enemy." Oh, my!
98There you are. You don't want to die to your pride. You don't want to die to the things of the world.
99Now, remember, I'm talking to literally thousands around the world, when I'm saying this. See? I'm just not speaking here in Chicago. I'm speaking at the world.
100You don't want to die, but the only way that there is a possibility of a revival. You blinded Samson, can't you see that the Delilah has blinded your eyes? And the only way that you'll ever be able to bring back the strength to the church, is to die to the enemy that's got you in this worldlyism.
Samson said, "Let me die with the enemy."
101 There is a great price to pay. You must die to the thing that's brought you in this thing. You must die to the thing that's brought you, you Pentecostal people, to where you are this afternoon. You've got to die to it.
102Samson was willing to pay the price to get the power of God back in his life again.
103I wonder if the church is, this afternoon, willing to pay the price and die with the enemy, the thing, all your popularity, and all your this, that, or the other, just to see the power of God back on you again, and become a prisoner of Jesus Christ?
104 Oh, I hear some of you say, "Oh, yes, we, we're having revivals." But it's denomination revivals. The Oneness wants to take all the Threeness and make them all Oneness. The Threeness wants to take all the Oneness and--and make them Threeness. The church of God wants to take the church of God of Prophecy. One wants to take the other, making big denom-... Don't you realize you're only catering to men?
105We are brethren. There is no denomination can separate the love of God. We are brethren. "This will all men know you're My disciples, when you have love one for the other."
Say, "What are you hollering about them then?"
106 Love is corrective. If love doesn't correct, then it's not love. You see your child down on the street, and don't give him a little bit of posterior protoplasm stimulation, you--you're not a good dad. But a real mother or dad will turn him up and spank him, let him know he's got to get out of the street, or perish. That's genuine love. But to say, "Junior, dear, I don't know. You, maybe you shouldn't be out there at this time of day, the end time, when the cars are going pretty fast." Oh, nonsense, you sissified preacher, not the audacity to take God's Word and call white white and black black, right right and wrong wrong. But they do it.
107 Yeah, we have revivals alright, but look at your morals behind these revivals. Don't change them a bit; getting farther from God, and to the world, all the time. Notice.
108Samson knew what was going to happen if his prayer was answered.
109But we haven't counted the cost yet. What's going to happen if God answers your prayer to become a real, genuine child of God? You know you're gone from your denomination, right then. And them women that you play bridge with, and everything? Oh, no! You're gone, and that's all. Better count it up, first.
110But Samson said, "Let me die." He was willing to pay the price. And he knew...
111 Listen close now at this remark. He knew that his present backslid condition could never meet the challenge of that hour. Yet, he was just as much man as he ever was, in his muscles. His frame was as big as it ever was. He was just as big a muscle that ever could raise up on his arm at any time, it was probably larger, because he had been grinding down in the... doing heavier work.
112We got better churches, better buildings and everything, but where is our strength, spiritually speaking? Oh, we could take a vote in the nation. Sure, we could do these things, but that--that ain't what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the Presence of God being recognized among us. That's what we ought to live for.
113He knew that his backslidden condition could not meet the challenge of that hour.
114And so does the church know it now. We can't do it under this condition. You can't do it. Denominations does not vindicate the Word; it denies the Word. The very denomination itself denies the Word as soon as it's denominated. Just the thing itself, you just get on the other side, to begin with. It denies the Word. All the time...
115 I've just a little minute or two, longer. But notice, as I hurry now and keep my word.
116All the times while they were all standing there, and these thoughts was going through their mind; and I hope it sends some through yours. They never noticed while, Samson, his thoughts went through his mind. Maybe they passed the bottle, took a drink again. Their fine Hollywood women stood there with their cigarette in their mouth, if it was such a thing in that day; I don't think they got quite that low in that day. But pushed up their hair and took another drink, and hollering, "Hello, Joseph, or John, or you up there somewhere! We played cards together last night, was out at a big party." [Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.]
117 "There is a possibility that God will hear me. There is a possibility." And while he thought, the Philistines had not noticed him, while this little boy had untied his hands, walked back. He said, "Lay my hands upon the post." "There is a possibility." Oh, my!
118I wish the church could see that. There is a possibility of a real revival.
119What did he do? He raised up his sockets (he had no eyes) towards God. They never noticed the moving of his lips, as he was sincerely confessing.
120We don't need just a little, "Lord, forgive me and Jim, Joe and all of us. Amen." We need a sincere cleaning up, from the pulpit to the janitor.
121 They never noticed the tears running down from them sockets where he once had eyes. They never noticed the moving of his lips. His eyes, briny tears streaming down from the sockets. He wanted God to make His Word once more vindicated, to prove, as I say to this Delilah today, or this Samson, rather, "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever!"
122"Once more," he thought, "it would happen. Not a new denomination, not a new sectarian, but a vindicated Word from You, God! I know You are still God. I am blind. I've got off the track. I'm not worthy to live. Let me die with this enemy. You raised me up to destroy it, and I have failed You, Lord, but there is a possibility You'd hear me. Once more, Lord, once more!" In dead earnest he prayed. He knowed what was coming. "Lord, just this once more! Once more let me see Jesus Christ as He was yesterday!" When he prayed that prayer, and the tears rolling from his cheeks, with deep sincerity of confession!
123 That's what the church needs. Confess you're wrong. Don't care what Doctor Jones says, or what anybody else says. If you're out of the Word of God, confess it, that you're wrong. Cry out, "Once more, Lord, once more! Once more, Lord, once more! Avenge my blindness upon these denominations! And give me strength, Lord, to shake this denominational world, with Your vindication. Give me strength, Lord. Once more prove it!"
124He knew what was going to happen if his prayer was answered. He knew, dead earnest, crying, "Once more, Lord!" And while he was praying, and making his honest confession, every fiber in his body begin to vibrate.
125O God, if the Body of Jesus Christ could stand as one, and every fiber and every member begin to vibrate with the literal baptism of the Holy Ghost again; not with new members, and shaking hands, and some creed.
126 As the strength begin to move into those big muscles, every fiber begin to twist. He begin to feel himself again, and he twisted out. And, when he did, the big wall fell.
127All we need to do today, is, to see these denominational walls fall, is get deeply sincere before God, to heal these blinded eyes that's been blinded from the Word of God.
128That was Samson's greatest victory he ever had, because he was willing to confess, over every enemy first that he was brought up to destroy.
129 Oh, Pentecost, stand at your post this afternoon, your post of the duty of God's Word. Repent, and cry aloud, "Lord God, once more!" Let me tell you something. You had better destroy your enemy before your enemy destroys you. That's right. Bring back the old-fashion prayer meetings, the real godly repentance, the all-night altar service. Oh, Pentecost, hear me! Leave, oh, leave this corruption that Jezebel has worked among you. Leave it, leave it quickly, and return back to the Word of the Lord, away from this Hollywood showmanship. Turn with your whole heart, back to the Word of God. Turn back to the Power of the Holy Ghost. You women dress like women, you men act like men, like sons and daughters of God. Turn, oh, turn from this Jezebel system that's choking you and blinding you. God help us to have a true repentance; not halfheartedly, you can't do it.
130 How I think today, at this very moment when my time is up, we should stand to our feet, and cry, with our hands in the air, "Lord, once more! Once more, O Lord, once more!"
131Let's stand, everybody that's willing to do it, to see a revival; that's ready to die to this Hollywood showmanship; everybody that's ready to die, to see "the Power of God come to Zion, and with joy, all His holy mountains nothing hurt or shall destroy."
132Let's raise our hands, and cry, "Once more, Lord!" Once more, Lord! Once more, Lord! Once more, Lord, send the Holy Ghost, with a mighty rushing Wind like You did on the Day of Pentecost. Amen. [Congregation continues in prayer and praise unto God--Ed.]