God Identifying Himself By His Characteristics

1 I was just kind of surprised to see my friend, Joseph Boze, there, and I turned around and took a little of the time to shake his hand.

2Let us turn now in the Word of God, to Hebrews, the 1st chapter. I want to read, for a portion, the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd verse, for to draw a text for the night.

God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in times past unto the fathers by the prophets,

Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he has appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;

Who being in the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had... sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

3 Let us bow our heads now for prayer. And now in His Divine Presence, if you have any request that you would like to be made known to Him, would you just raise up your hand, and that's your request, that God will...

4Our Heavenly Father, we are coming now up before Thy throne, by faith in the Name of Jesus Christ, Thy Son. And we have been given this assurance, that, "If we ask anything in His Name, it'll be granted." And Thou knowest our desires and our needs, and Thou has promised that You would supply all that we have need of. So, Father, we would pray as You taught us, "Thy Kingdom come. Thine will be done in earth, as it is in Heaven." That our request, tonight, might be according to Your desire to give it, and grant to us these privileges. Anoint the Word, Lord, and all the speakers and the hearers, and may the Holy Spirit come in and be the doer of the Word, tonight, among us. For we ask it in His Name. Amen.

You be seated.

5 Tomorrow morning, I understand, is the Full Gospel Business Men's breakfast. Usually, where they have a chapter, I have the privilege of speaking at their breakfast. To this time, that's the only organization, which is not an organization, but, the only group that I--I belong to, is the Christian Business Men. And now I just speak for them, internationally.

6Now, tonight, we're trusting that this gathering will not be in vain. I've come to you, tired, a worn-out throat, and received a little bronical from...

7I come from Tucson where it's really good and dry, and I come here and it's really good and wet, so there is quite a contrast. If you all got all the water over here, if you'd just send it over our way, we'd appreciate it. But you can't do that, of course.

8But I tell you one thing, there is a parable there. All of our--our--our things in Arizona, our trees, is full of stickers. Everything has a sticker. It's because it's dry. Now if that same bush growed over here, it'd be a nice lovely leaf. See, it's without water, that's the reason it becomes a sticker.

9And when the church becomes without the Water of Life, it gets dry and sticky, too, sticking and punching at everything. But where the waters of Life flows, it opens up the leaf and makes it tender, mellow and sweet, holy and acceptable unto God. So may the Lord God water us, tonight, that we won't be stickers; but we'll be fine leaves that the wayward people might sit down under the tree of our shade and find rest to their souls.

10 Now I want to take the text, tonight, if the Lord willing, and I'm pulling this little microphone just as close as I can, because of a lack of voice. I want to, from the reading here of Hebrews 1:1, I want to take a text of: God Identifying Himself By His Characteristics. May I repeat that again, because I know these acoustics is bad here. God identifies Himself by His characteristics.

11Now, most anything is identified by its characteristics. And I have a few Scriptures here that I would... and note, that I would like to refer to. Now, a characteristic of anything identifies what it is.

12Now, like in all nature, flowers are identified, many times, by their characteristic. If they're close together, of one specie to another, the characteristic of that flower will identify what flower it is. And in wildlife, many times...

13 I, I'm a hunter. And you have to know the characteristic of the animal that you're hunting, or sometimes you can be certainly deceived. For instance, like the Stone Sheep way up in British Columbia. I was just under the Yukon this last fall, a couple of brethren here now was with me, and we were hunting.

14Now if you didn't know the difference, when you was tracking a sheep or a deer, you couldn't tell the difference 'less you was a shrewd hunter. Because, they make the same kind of tracks; they bound when they run away. And then you see one standing at a distance, with his head hid, why, you--you would hardly know the difference. They're about the same size across the rump part; it's white, just like the deer. It'd be very hard to tell them. But his horns identifies his characteristic, by them horns. The sheep has a horn that rounds, and a deer has prongs that run out. And another thing, a deer wouldn't go quite that high, to feed.

15And then the goat, walking, also, there is a characteristic in a goat, and a sheep, that you would have to know the difference in them, when you were up high, because they both dwell high in the mountain. You have to know the difference. But if you notice, a--a goat stumbles himself as he walks; where, a sheep sits his feet down like this, as he walks. The characteristic of the way he makes his track. You identify your game by the characteristics of what it does, and how it acts, and what it feeds, and everything. It identifies itself by its characteristic. And then you jump one, and watch what it happens, you can tell the way they go. You can tell by that characteristic of different animal.

16 Then did you ever notice, I don't know whether you have them here or not, yellowhammers; well, flicker is the right name for them, and a jay bird. A jay bird is about the same size of a yellowhammer. And you see the two flying, they're both about the same kind of bird. If you can't see the color, but just watch them, you can tell which is the yellowhammer. The jay bird flies, more or less, in a beeline. But the yellowhammer, flopping his wings; as he flaps his wings, he goes down and then up, down and then up. See, he makes hisself in a bound, like that, and you can tell that's the characteristic of the yellowhammer, the way he flies.

17If you notice the--the quail when he comes out, the way he comes up. And then watch if you're in a swamp, where quail might be, and a--and a snipe. You hunters know that. The Wilson's snipe and the jacksnipe, they identify themselves by the way they come out and the way they go. They identify by their characteristic of flying, of what kind of a bird they are. Therefore, if you just heard them, you can just tell what it was, the way he went out, what he is, by the characteristic of his flying.

18 Like a man and a woman. They're both human beings, but a woman has a different characteristics to a man. I was reading here, some time ago, about Solomon and the queen. I've never got around to preaching my little Message here, to you, on the queen of the South, coming up to see Solomon, and seeing that gift of discernment. I was reading about that, here not long ago, and they said, that, "One of the puzzles that was put before Solomon, was, this queen took a woman, or women, rather, and dressed them like man."

19Now, that was foreign in that day, but it certainly is up-to-date, today. And--and you know that's wrong. The Bible said that a woman shouldn't do that. "It's an abomination for a woman to put on a garment pertains to a man." And the unchangeable God said that, so that is true.

20So we find out that Solomon, no more than watched them, he had them to walk or do something, and immediately says, "It's women." See, he could tell by the characteristic of that woman, the way she handled herself, that she was woman and not man.

21 And then most anything that way, with its characteristics. Just like many people are left-handed, and right-handed. They are characteristic of the way they handle themselves. You can tell whether it's a right- or the left-hand person, by the way they conduct themselves, the way they reach out always with that left hand or right hand.

And remember, Jesus had something like that, that...

22Two hands are just almost... They are the same. They got the same kind of thumbprints, fingerprints, five fingers; small, index, and so forth. Just as the right hand and the left hand has the same kind of fingers, normally, same size hand, just exactly. And the only difference there is, in them, is one is left and the other one is right. That's the only difference you can tell. One is left, the other one right.

23So then in that, Jesus said... I might drop a little point here. Jesus said, in Matthew 24, that, "The characteristics of the Spirit would be somewhat alike in the last days, so close that it would deceive the very elected if it was possible." See, they would just...

24You take your hand and just hold it up. See, if you don't notice, one of them looks like the other, in every way, but one of them is left and the other one is right.

25That's the way the spirits are in the last day. They are somewhat alike, but they have a characteristic that identifies them. One is right, and the other one is wrong, and it can be identified by its characteristic.

26 The Spirit of God can be identified by Its characteristic. See? The Spirit of God, and the spirit of the church. There is a church spirit, and a Spirit of God that's absolutely not like the church spirit, at all.

There is a denominational spirit.

27There is a national spirit. There is a spirit of the nation. Every nation, when I go into, you walk in there, you find a different spirit. I went into Finland, fine people, but there was a Finnish spirit. I go down into Germany, there is a German spirit.

28 Here not long ago, I was going with the wife, when we still lived in Indiana, a couple years ago, over to the little supermarket. I just come home. We had to go get some food. And on my road over there, we... It was the summertime, you might not believe it, but we found a lady had a dress on. And it was so strange, I... It shocked me. I--I said, "Look at there, that looks strange, that woman is wearing a dress." The rest of them was wearing clothing that didn't... not becoming to the woman. And--and she said... I said, "Well, that's just the American spirit, see, the spirit of America."

29Now, spirit of America, it's a... supposed to be a Christian nation, but the spirit of this nation is not Christian. It might be called a Christian nation, but it's a million miles from it, in characteristic. So, this woman, I said...

She said, "Well, aren't we Americans?"

30Said, I said, "No. We live here. This is our country. We... We--we stay in it. We love it. It's the best nation in the world. But, yet, we're not Americans." I said, "We are born from Above. The Holy Spirit come down, and we belong to a Kingdom. It's not of this world." I said, "That's the reason that our sisters wear dresses, wear long hair, don't wear make-up." See, their characteristics identify them as 'holiness unto the Lord,' from Above."

31 Therefore, we are seeking a Kingdom. We are seeking a King to come and receive His subjects to His Kingdom. And they are identified by their--their characteristics, that their treasures are not of this earth or of this nation. It's of above, in Glory. Therefore, they, "They look for a City Whose Builder and Maker is God." They are properly identified.

32Wish I had enough voice to preach to you some night. But I--I get off of that. Now, identified by its characteristics.

33 We find a good example here in the time of Israel, come into the promised land. And God had called them according to His promise. He told Abraham that, he would, "His seed would be in this strange nation, for four hundred years, and then He would deliver him with a great mighty hand. And they'd go to a land, then, was promised, was flowing with milk and honey." And then when the time of the promise drew nigh, there come a--a Pharaoh who didn't recognize Joseph's great ministry that he had among them.

34And, this, God raised up a prophet named Moses. And the man was taught in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. No doubt but what he was a great, smart, intellectual man, for he could teach the Egyptians wisdom. Looked like a properly fit--fitted man for deliverance.

35But, you see, what we call deliverance, and what God calls deliverance, is some difference.

36Now watch this man with all of his ethics. He knowed he was born to deliver the children of Israel. Yet, with all of his education, that's all he knowed about, and knowing that he was called of God to do the job, he had all of his... He had his Bachelor of Art, and his Ph.D., and LL. D., and so forth. And he went out to deliver Israel, and was a total failure.

37Now notice, looked like, him being with his foot on the throne in Egypt, to become the Pharaoh, that he could have delivered the children of Israel after he become Pharaoh, because he was next in line for the--for the throne. But, you see, that, in doing it that way, wouldn't identified God's characteristic in delivering His people.

38He said He would deliver them. He would "deliver them with a mighty hand," not Moses with a mighty army, but God with a mighty hand.

39 We find that this prophet run away and was in the wilderness for forty years. It taken Pharaoh forty years to drill an education into him, and took God forty years to drill it out of him. So we find, one day, that he, on the backside of the desert, meet the Lord God in a burning bush, in the form of a Pillar of Fire laying in a bush. And he was asked to take off his shoes, that, the ground he was standing on was holy. Now look at this fine, cultured, educated man, that had been, watch the changing of his characteristics after he met God. He done the most...

40Sometimes God does things in such a simple way, and such a foolish way, to the carnal way of thinking. Notice a man who had been a total failure; with all Egyptian armies and everything around him to do the will of God, with all of his education, at the age of forty years old, in his prime. Here he is, eighty years old, the next morning, with his wife sitting straddle of a mule, with a young'n on her hip, and a stick in his hand, going down to Egypt, to take over. You talk about a ridiculous sight! But that was displaying the characteristics of God, because He had a man who would believe His Word. That's all. The thing of it was, could you imagine a one-man invasion going to Egypt, where, an army had failed? But what was it? His characteristic, his tactics was changed. He was going in the Name of the Lord, "I AM THAT I AM." The thing of it was, he took over. He did, because he was going in the Power of the Lord.

41 On his road, leading Israel out to the promised land, he come in contact with his brother, his denominational brother, Moab. Now, Moab, by no means, where heathens. That was Lot's daughter's children. One of their children had--had sprung Moab.

42Now, up there, I want you to notice these two nations, in contrast. Here was Egypt, a little, scattered about, no nation to go to, no executives or no king, or nothing, or any dignitaries among them, just a people on their road to a promised land. And here they had to go through the land of Moab. It was right in the line of promise.

43And Moab, also, was a believers in Jehovah, and they had a prophet. And Israel had a prophet. Both of them had prophets.

44And now notice, they had come to the place that the prophet of the organized nation was coming down to curse this other nation, because it was just a drifter, not having no certain place to stay. So they come down and watched those two prophets. When it comes fundamentally speaking, both of them were exactly right. Because, notice, Balaam, the bishop, told them, "Now you build me seven altars."

45Seven is the complete number of God, representing the Seven Church Ages, the seven days of creation, so forth. Now notice, seven, God is completed in seven.

46 "Seven altars, and on each altar put a--a bullock." Now that's exactly the same altar they had down in Israel's camp. There they are down in Israel, with the same altar they got up here; and the same sacrifice, a bullock and a bullock; a prophet and a prophet. Two nations, at contrast.

47A very perfect example of the day we're living, if we had time to go into it! Notice God doing this in parable, that we would find out, paralleling.

48Now, also, Balaam required a ram on each altar. That was speaking of his faith in a coming Messiah. A ram, a he sheep, that's the same sacrifice they had down in Israel; down in the camp of Israel, up here by--in Moab. The fundamentally, they were both right, but, notice, fundamentally in doctrine.

49But one prophet down in Israel's camp had the characteristics of God. And, the Word of God, he stayed with the promise of God for that age, because he was in a line going to the promised land. See?

50Now, as far as the fundamental part, Balaam, Balak could be just as identified as Moses was.

51 But, you see, Moses, being the correct prophet of God, not only had the fundamental parts, but had the identification of God. See, he was in line of duty, exactly what was promised for that age; not for the age of Noah, but for the age then. "I will take you to a land that's flowing with milk and honey." They were on their way, and Israel was identified with their prophet, Moses, with the Message of that age. God characteristics identified in Moses. A Pillar of Fire was following him. He also had the atonement in action; not speaking of it, but had it in action. Not what will be; what is right now!

52Notice, he had a brass serpent that had been lifted up for the sickness and diseases of the people, therefore Moses was practicing Divine healing. He had the atonement, the brass serpent symbolizing that God was in the camp, and the people were looking on that brass serpent and being healed.

53He also had a smitten Rock following him. And that was identifying God, to keep the Waters of Life among them, joy and salvation, that they would not perish but had everlasting Life. It was a type of... That smitten Rock in the wilderness was a type of Christ being smitten.

54Then, they were traveling in the line of promise. That was another identification, to showing God's characteristic. No matter how fundamental this other one was with the Word; he had the fundamentalism, plus the identification, and the characteristic of God among them. God identified Himself. Two prophets, both of them prophets, and both of them fundamental; but God identified His characteristics in Moses, because he had the characteristics of God with him.

55 Now, again, God's characteristics is always supernatural, because He is supernatural. God is supernatural. It's unusual, always, to the modern trend of thinking of the day. You know that. God has always has upset the apple cart, for the--for the religious groups in every age that's ever passed.

56And not one time did ever a person or a group of people ever organize theirself together upon a message but what they died and went on the shelf and never raised again. There is no history. The Lutherans, the Presbyterians, the Methodists, the Baptists, the Pentecostals, and so forth, never raise again, when they go to grouping It.

God deals with individuals.

57Notice, He is so unusual to the way of thinking. See, we get off in a trend, and we have to believe It this way. And then God comes around with His Word that He has promised, and identifies Himself in that Word. This group can't go to It, because it don't believe in It. See, it's done cut itself off from It.

58 Like Joseph, he was a son of David, and a good man, Joseph the husband of Mary. He was a good man, and no doubt read the Bible, the scrolls, continually, because... and was looking for a Messiah to come, and should have knowed what the Scripture said that would take place. Isaiah said, "A virgin shall conceive."

59Well, now, he was going with this young girl, Mary, probably eighteen years old, and he was probably a bit older. And then when they were engaged to get married, she shows up to be mother. Now that was kind of hard for Joseph to kind of settle on that. No doubt but what Mary told him the visit of Gabriel. But we notice, the way his character was leading him, he doubted it.

60Now she was found to be mother before they were wed. And, in the Bible, that punishment is death, by being stoned. A unwedded woman being becoming mother, she had to be stoned. There was no prostitution in Israel. It was put out. So we find out, in Deuteronomy, it tells us that.

61 Now we find that, Mary, looked like she was trying to use Joseph just for a shield of some act that she had done. Because, if she was found already to be mother before they were married, then she must be stoned, and she must have someone now that could stand as a shield for her. And that looked, whole lot, like it was what she was trying to do.

62But Joseph looking into her big pretty eyes, and she would say, "Joseph, Gabriel said to me, 'The Holy Spirit shall overshadow thee, and this Thing that will be conceived in thee--in thee is of the Holy Spirit. It's God. That's what it's going to be called, the "Son of God."'" And, Joseph, he--he--he wanted to believe that, but it was so unusual. That never happened before.

63 And that's just the way today. If we could only... If I had some way of getting the people to see that the unusualness of anything, if it's identified by the Word, then its characteristics proves what it is. It's God in action.

64Joseph should have knowed this. He should have knowed, "A virgin shall conceive." But he was honest about it. He didn't want to put her away, privily, but he--he was thinking on doing it.

65And then the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. Did you ever wonder why He appeared in a dream? There was no prophets of them days. Their dream was so simple, it needed no interpretation. Said, "Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost." See, then, that settled it. See, He come to him in a dream, secondarily. But, you see, there was no prophet there to identify that Word, that, "This is the virgin that shall conceive." See? So, therefore, He appeared to him in a dream, because he was honest and just and a good man.

66And I believe God will come to any good man, in some way, and identify His doings to that good man, for the age, if that man is called of God for that age.

67 Now, but it was so unusual, they just could not hardly grasp it. But, always, the appearing according to the promised Word for the age, all this unusualness.

Now there is some people might go around, and say, "Well, this is unusual, that's God. This is unusual."

68But, you see, it has to be identified by the Word, and the Word is God. See? And then the characteristic of this identification identifies who it is, 'cause God said, "this would happen," and it happens. See? The characteristic of it is God's Word being identified by the characteristic of what's going on.

69He said in the last days He would pour out the Holy Ghost. He did it. The characteristics of it identified that it was God, His Word promised. See, it always identifies itself.

70Now, always, every time, corrects the word, when the Word is said wrong. Did you ever notice? It was in the days of Noah, that corrected that scientific age, that God was going to bring water down out of the heavens. It was Moses, see, that corrected when they was all settled down in Egypt, and so forth, but God's Word had to come to be identified. And the Truth of the Word corrects the error.

71 Let me ask you something. We may go a little deep here. I'm not supposed to preach teaching or doctrine, but let me just ask you one thing.

72Jesus was the Word. We know that. The Bible said it was. Saint John, the 1st chapter, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us." He is still the Word. Then when He could perceive their thoughts, they ought to have knowed that that was the Word, because the Word of God said that's what He would do. He was the Prophet.

73 Now notice, we find out that when He was born, about twelve years of age, He went up to the feast of the tabernacle. And they had went up there to the Passover. And, on their road back, they had went three-day's journey and they missed Him; perceiving, thinking, rather, presuming that He was out among their people.

74We could make a lesson out of that. That's so much today! Now you Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Catholic, whatever you are, see, you are doing that same thing. You are perceiving because that Wesley had a great revival, Luther had a great revival, or Pentecost had a great revival, you are perceiving that He is among the people, when, sometimes He isn't there.

75They went to find Him. Where did they find Him? Where they left Him, at Jerusalem. And when they found Him, what was He doing? A little boy, twelve years old, probably had never entered school no more than what His mother taught Him; and here He was in the temple, debating with those priests, about the Word of God. And they were astonished at the wisdom of this Child. Why? He was the Word. Now watch.

76 And now not dishonoring you Catholic people that call Mary the mother of God, but just let me show you a little error here. If the church is built upon Mary, watch what happened. Now she come up and she said, "Oh, Your father and I have sought Thee, with tears." Watch that statement, she then condemned her own testimony. She said, "Your father and I have sought You, with tears."

77Watch that Word. He was the Word. He said, "Know ye not that I must be about My Father's business?" Watch the Word correct the error. Right there before those priests, she ruined her testimony. Said she was conceived by the Holy Ghost, and here she said Joseph is His "father." See that Word catch it right quick? He was the Word. Now, you know a twelve-year-old boy wouldn't do that. He was the Word. He was the spoken Word of that age, so therefore the identified characteristic of God was in Christ. He corrected the errors. He said...

They said, "Why, we are Moses' disciples." See?

78He said, "If you was Moses' disciples, you would know Me. He wrote of Me. Moses said, 'The Lord your God shall raise up a Prophet like me.' You would know Me if you knew Moses."

79And, see, the Word always corrects the error of the day. But the people don't like to believe it. They just hang right on, just the same.

80 But Jesus corrected His own mother. And His mother was in the wrong, 'cause she had already said that that was a child conceived in her by the Holy Ghost, and here she turns her testimony around and said that Joseph was her "father," was the father of--of Jesus. Now if--if Joseph...

81If He was the son of Joseph, if He had have been about His father's business, He'd a-been down in the carpenter shop.

82But He was about His Father's business, up there in the Temple, rebuking those organizations. See? He was about His Father's business, just a twelve-year-old Lad. "Know ye not that I must be about My Father's business?"

83Did you notice when Jesus was tempted by Satan? His characteristic there, when He was in His temptation, identified Him to be God, because He stayed with the Word. See? "It is written," said Satan. Jesus said, "It's also written," stayed right with the Word.

84 "God, in sundry times," we read here. "God, in sundry times," that's old times, "divers manners," many ways, "identified Himself to His prophets by visions." That was the characteristic of a prophet, was when he foretold things and it happened. Now that was his characteristic of his identification, that God was with him. Then that give him the rights to interpret the Word for that day, because, "The Word of God come to the prophets," the characteristic of the prophet that He foretold.

85The Bible said, "If there be one, and what he says comes to pass, then you hear him; but, if it doesn't, don't believe him, don't fear him, but My... if--if My Word is not in him. But if it does come to pass, then My Word is in him." That's his identification. That's the characteristic of a prophet.

86Now, God, in sundry times, that's how He showed His characteristics of identification of Himself to man, by speaking through a man that was called to be a prophet. Now, the Bible says that, "God, in sundry times, divers manners, spoke to the fathers through the prophets."

87 We also read, over in Second Peter, that the whole Word of God was wrote by them. "Man of old, moved by the Holy Ghost, wrote the Bible." They were prophets. The Word come to them and they wrote It, wrote it down, under inspiration. First they were identified prophets, then they--they wrote the Word of inspiration, and they had the interpretation of the Divine revelation because it was God in the man.

88Now that's the way He showed Himself in His characteristics of identification, their visions being a vindicated, was God's characteristic in them, making Himself known to the people.

89Now, that's the only way He was in Christ. A prophet was just a little speck. Christ was the fulness of God. And God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself. And His characteristics identified Him, what He was, insomuch that He said, "If I do not the works of My Father, then don't believe it. If I don't have the character of My Father, then don't believe Me, don't believe My claims. If I haven't got the character of My Father in Me, then don't believe it, at all."

90 Now, His characteristics never changes. God cannot change His character, no more than--than a--a lamb can change its character, or any other thing can changes its characteristics. Because, as long as it's in its original, it's original. And if you change anything, then you've changed it from its original.

91It's just like you can take a--a hog, and you can wash a hog and--and put that paint on its toenails, like the women does, and fix it up with lipstick, and put it on a nice dress. Turn that old sow out, she go right straight to the wallow, and wallow again. Why? She is a hog, that's all. But, and, but, you know, you wouldn't make...

92A lamb wouldn't do that. He won't even get in that mud. He don't want nothing to do with it. It's the characteristics of it. See? You might dress him in the same kind of clothes, but he sure won't, he sure won't go. The outside doesn't matter; it's the inside. Now, God being the source of all life...

93 Don't fail to get this. I'm trying, of all which is in me, to get you to see something. See? It's to your good, friends. It's for your be--behalf. See?

94I didn't come here just to be seen. I didn't come here, there was no other place to go. I come here because I felt to come here. I felt that the ministry the Lord had give me must be showed amongst the people here, and I'm trying to get you to see what God really is now. He is His promised Word. He always is the Word, and He identifies Himself by the characteristic that He promised. A certain character would rise in a certain time, that's in the Word, then the characteristic of this person that's supposed to rise identifies that that is the person.

95That's the reason Jesus had to be Who He was. They should have seen it. No wonder they were blind. The thing... Said, though He had done so many miracles, yet they could not believe, because Isaiah said, "They got eyes and can't see, and ears and can't hear." See? Each age, not only His age; but every age, how, "God, in sundry times, divers manners," still they just couldn't get it.

96 Now, His characteristics never fails. It always is the same. Now, remember, His characteristic, the characteristic of God, cannot fail. If it does, then God has failed. And the Bible said, in Hebrews 13:8, that, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." Therefore, He is the unchangeable God. What ever character He was at the beginning, He is still that same character. Every way He worked, anytime He ever done anything, He does it the same way every time. If He doesn't, it's His character has changed, see, and His characteristics would display something that wasn't of God. See? So we wouldn't know where...

97 Like Paul said, "If the trumpet gives an uncertain sound, who will know to prepare for battle, if the trumpet gives an uncertain sound?" Now if the trumpet is supposed to sound "retreat," that's what we got to do, retreat. If the trumpet sounds "charge," that's what we're supposed to do, is charge. But what is the trumpet? Is the Word of God. It identifies God, whether it's--whether it's "go up, sit down, retreat, stack arms," whatever it is. It's God's trumpet sound.

98And an uncertain sound, when the Bible says a certain thing is supposed to happen; somebody say, "Oh, that was from another day, that." Then there is an uncertain sound there. Then you don't know what to do.

99Jesus said, "I have power to lay My life down and raise it up again." No uncertain sound there.

100The woman said, "We know Messiah cometh; and when He cometh, He'll tell us the things like He did."

101He said, "I am He." No uncertain sound there. "I am He." Uh-huh! Amen.

They said, "Our Fathers eat manna in the wilderness."

102He said, "They're, every one, dead." He said, "But I am the Bread of Life that come from God out of Heaven." No uncertain sound. "I'm the Tree of Life, from the Garden of Eden." No, no uncertain sound about that. Certainly not. Nothing uncertain about it. He was certain in everything that He did.

103The Bible don't give an uncertain sound. It identifies the characteristic of God in its sounding.

104Jesus said, in Saint John 10:37, "If I do not the works of My Father, what... and I don't have that character of My Father, then don't believe Me. They are the one, They identify His character in Me, His characteristics."

105Because, the Father is the Word, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God," and the characteristic of God is displayed by His promise for that age.

106 Now if He'd a lived in Moses' time, it wouldn't have worked. And if Moses would have lived in His time, it wouldn't have worked. If He'd have lived in Noah's time, it wouldn't have worked, or if Noah had lived in His time. Noah was prophesying of things for that day, and his characteristic and what he done identified him with the Word of God. Moses did the same thing.

107And here Jesus come, and the Word was promised for that age was identified in Jesus Christ by the characteristic of the Word, which is God. Amen.

108 The pouring out of the Holy Ghost, in the last days, upon the common people, has identified God's characteristic with the people. He promised it. It's the Word. He said He would do it. Nobody can take it back. He said He would do it.

109So all these things that He has promised, that's what He does. It identifies His characteristic. Yes, sir. "Don't believe it, don't believe My claims, if My characteristic isn't that of God."

110Now notice in John 14:12, "He that believeth on Me," He said, "has My identification, My characteristic. He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also." That identifies that the character of Christ is in him, displaying the characteristics of Him. Amen.

111 I feel pretty religious right now, if I am hoarse. Yes, sir. Oh, my! See, there is no mistake about It! His Life! "He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also." See, that identifies the characteristic.

112Same thing He said, "If My character doesn't identify Myself, God in--in Him, then (he) don't believe Him." Now He also said that He would be identified in that. Then, that, if it doesn't identify Him, then he isn't what he says.

113And, today, if Christ doesn't identify Hisself, the characteristic of Christ identify us as being of Christ, believing the Word... Jesus was the Word, so He had to believe the Word. And how can we say that we are of Christ, and deny any Word of that Bible? The Holy Spirit of Christ is God in you, and It'll punctuate every promise with a "amen." The Bible said, "These signs shall follow them that believe." The Spirit of God said, "Amen." See?

114One of them don't say, "No, that was for another age; that was for disciples only."

115"Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. He, anywhere in all the world, that believeth, these signs shall follow him, same thing." "Same yesterday, today, and forever," the characteristic being identified.

116 That makes Hebrews 1:1, "God of sundry times, speaking to the fathers by the prophets," identifying Christ, resurrected today, by the same characteristic that He did in sundry times. Did you notice? God never changes His way.

117In the old Bible, when a dreamer dreamed a dream, and there was no prophet in the land to see if this dream was right or not, they had another way of finding out. They took that character, ever who dreamed the dream, took him down to the temple. The breastplate of Aaron, who was the high priest, hung on the post. And this dreamer told this dream. No matter how good it sound, how real it sound; if there wasn't a supernatural Light flashed on those stones, which is called Urim Thummim, (Bible readers understand); then, I don't care how real it sounded, it wasn't so. The unusualness of God, the character of God, had to display His characteristics in the supernatural, to show that He identified Himself on the message. Amen.

118I say the same thing tonight. The old Urim Thummim is gone, but the Word is still the thing that identifies the characteristic of God, the promise of the hour that we're living. There is God's characteristics identified by the promise of the hour that we're living in.

119 That makes God the same as He was. "In sundry times," look, "in divers manners, He spake to the fathers by the prophets." "And the law and prophets were until John; since then, the Kingdom of Heaven." Notice, "But in this last day," speaking the same thing He did then, "through His Son Christ Jesus." "God, in sundry times, divers manners, spake to the fathers through the prophets; in this last day," doing the same thing, "speaking to the people (the fathers) through His Son Christ Jesus." Has raised Him up from the dead, and He lives within us, identifying Himself and foretelling us things, that He's a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever! "God, in sundry times and divers manners spake to the fathers through the prophets, but in this last days through Jesus Christ His Son." The Scripture cannot be tampered with. It's exactly.

120 As I have said before, God don't need anybody to interpret this Word. He interprets His Own Word. When He says anything, it happens, that's the interpretation. See? He don't need anyone to say, "Well, I believe it means this." God identifies it by His Own interpretation, His.

121If the promise is for that day! We can't live in the light of--of--of Luther. We can't live in the light of Wesley. We can't live in the light of any of those. We got to live in the Light that's promised for this day.

122 What if Moses would have went down in Egypt, and said, "Well, we're going to build a big ark. We're going to float out of this country. The Nile is going to come up"? They'd a looked back in the scroll; there is no promise of that. That's right. But, you see, he identified himself as God's prophet, for what he said come to pass, then they knowed he had the Word of the Lord. Pharaoh had spears, but Moses had the Word. So when they got to the sea, the spears all went under the sea; and Moses took Israel across the sea, on dry land, because he had the Word, and he was the Word of that hour. Moses was the Word made manifest for that hour.

Elijah was the Word made manifest for that hour.

123Christ is the Word made manifest, and the promises that He made. "A little while and the world seeth Me no more; yet ye shall see Me, for I'll be with you, even in you, to the end of the world. The works that I do shall you do also." He promised these things. What is it? It's the characteristic of God displaying His Word, like He did in all ages.

124 Malachi 4, He said, "Before the great and terrible day of the Lord shall come, behold, I send unto you Elijah the prophet; and he will restore the faith of the children back to the fathers again, before that day comes." He promised it.

125Jesus said, in the 17th chapter of Saint Luke, "As it was in the days of Sodom, so shall it be in the coming of the Son of man, when the Son of man is being revealed." When the revelation is unfolding itself, in the days when the world will be like Sodom, what will it be? The characteristic of that Scripture being fulfilled. God identifying Himself by His characteristic, characteristics that He has always been. He cannot leave that.

126 The last days, He identified through His Son. Notice how God does these always at the--as He al-... He never changes His way.

127These three man that talked to Abraham, as we was just speaking there, at the days of Sodom.

128Abraham was a man who believed God. He took God at His promise. Sarah, his wife, was sixty-five years old, Abraham was seventy-five, when God called him. He said they was going to have a--a child; Abraham would have a child by Sarah. It might sound a little ridiculous, but I imagine she got all the--the little booties and pins, and everything, ready, because they going to have this baby.

129After the first twenty-eight days, why, Abraham might have said to Sarah, "How you feel, darling?"

"No different."

"Glory to God, we're going to have it, anyhow."

"How do you know?"

"God said so."

A year passed. "How do you feel, dear?"

"No different."

"We're going to have it, anyhow. God said so."

Five years passed. "How you feeling now, dear?"

"No different."

"We're going to have it, anyhow. God said so."

130 What was it? He had the promise of God. He believed God, and he acted like God: he held onto the promised Word.

131Twenty-five years passed. The booties had done turned yellow, but she still held unto them. Now he is old, and stooped over, and he's in a terrible shape; and Sarah's womb as good as dead, and he is sterile. And what a condition they're in!

132"How you feel, Abraham, father of nations?" his make-believer friends would say to him.

133"Well, glory to God, I feel fine. We're going to have that baby, anyhow." Because he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong, giving praise to God, for he was fully persuaded that what God said, God is able to perform. Amen. There is the characteristic of a believer.

134What about you? See? What about we, the children of Abraham? Are we identified with the Word of God, as a promise, and our characteristic identifies ourself, that we actually believe It? Or, do you just hem-haw, jump from here, and over here, and down here, and guess, and hem-haw around, about It? Then, we're not Christians, we're just making belief.

135But, when we really stand to that promise, tow It right there and stay with It! Abraham did.

136 Now we find out, one day he saw three man come, walking. The Bible said here, "It was in the heat of the day," must have been about noon. These man walked up and was talking to him. We understand that two of them went down in Sodom. I believe we spoke on it the other night. One of them stayed with him.

137Watch this Man that he called... that stayed with him, what the Man did. One was identified by His characteristic, that He was Elohim.

138Elohim, the very first word in the Bible, "In the beginning God..." Now, any of you scholars know that that word God there means, in the Hebrew, is "Elohim," which means, "the Almighty, the all-sufficient, the self-existing," needs no help from nobody, needs nobody's interpretation; does His Own. He is the all-sufficient God, omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent. He is God.

139 There He was. And Abraham now, this patriarch who had a hold of the Word, looked at this Fellow. And when this Fellow had His back turned to the tent, He said, "Where is your wife, Sarah?"

Said, "She is in the tent, behind You."

140Said, "I'm going to visit you according to the time of life, and you'll have this baby that I promised you."

141And Sarah laughed about it. And the One was talking to him, told him what Sarah said in the tent, behind Him.

142Now, in Genesis, you'll read that. We find out that then, Abraham, after this Man had identified Himself...

143What was it? Hebrews, 4th chapter, the 12th verse, said, "The Word of God is sharper, more powerful than a two-edged sword, a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."

144He knew that this was the Man. He knowed there was no prophets in the land but him, and therefore the Word of the Lord had come to him. And he was the prophet, and here the Word come to the prophet.

145 Same thing with John the Baptist. There had not been a prophet for four hundred years. I remember...

146Maybe old Doctor Davis is sitting here, tonight, the old Missionary Baptist preacher that baptized me in the Faith. He used to argue with me. He said, "Billy, you're just a kid now. You got to listen to me."

I said, "All right, Brother Davis, I'm listening."

147He said, "You see, John was not baptized. So he had been baptizing, but hadn't been baptized; nobody was worthy to baptize him." That's good Baptist theology. "And here come Jesus, and said then... John said, 'I have need to be baptized of Thee; why comest Thou unto me?' And He said, 'Suffer it to be so.'" He said, "And then when he 'suffered' Him," said, "you see, then Jesus baptized John. And when He went out of the water, then the heavens opened and He saw God in the form of a dove, coming down and going on Him, said, 'This is My beloved Son, Whom I'm pleased to dwell in.'" But, no, not disagreeing with Doctor Davis, but he was wrong.

148 See, John was the prophet, and the Word always comes to the prophet. So if the Word was made flesh, It had to come to the prophet, anyhow; 'cause, he was testifying of the Word, and his very characteristic identified him that. Here comes the Word, now what happened? As soon as he walked into the face of Jesus, John said, "I have need to be baptized of Thee; why comest Thou unto me?"

149Jesus said, "Suffer it to be so, for thus it is becoming to us (behooveth us) to fulfill all righteousness." John being the prophet; Him being the Word. He was the Sacrifice, and He was fixing to enter His earthly ministry, and the Sacrifice had to be washed before it was presented. And John baptized Him, 'cause he knowed. "Suffer that to be so, for thus it's becoming to us to fulfill all righteousness." The Sacrifice had to be washed before presented, and so John baptized Him. It was not Jesus baptizing John. John baptized Jesus. "Suffer it to be so."

150 Notice, here was Abraham, and he had the Word of the Lord. The Word of the Lord come to him. He was the prophet. And now here comes the Word. He called him, "Abraham," not Abram.

151A few days before that, his name was Abram--was Abram, now it's Abraham. His wife was Sari, now it's "Sarah," not S-a-r-r-a; S-a-r-a-h. Not (A-b-r-a-h-a-m) A-b-r-a-m, but A-b-r-a-h-a-m, Abraham.

152And this Man identified Himself, when He said, "Abraham!" Oh, my!

Abraham said, "Elohim!"

153There is the Word and the prophet, together, both characters identified.

154Elohim, He said, "Where is your wife, Sarah?"

155Said, "She is in the tent, behind You." And the... Then the miracle was done. Elohim! Abraham called Him, "the all-sufficient, Almighty, omnipotent God."

156Jesus said. When He was on earth, He did the same thing that Elohim did. That identified His characteristic as being God.

157And He said, before, "In the last days, just at the coming of the Son of man, when He is being revealed, this setting will take place again, like it was at Sodom." Elohim among His people, the Almighty God! That's what the Scripture says. Elohim among the people!

158 For forty years He has been baptizing us with the Holy Ghost, Elohim, God! And the church...

159Look, Abraham seen one sign, another calling; a sign, a calling; a calling, a sign; waiting for that promised son. But the last sign that he saw, the last appearing, the last visit of God before the promised son arrived on the scene, was Elohim in human flesh. Then the promised son come.

160And Abraham's Seed is waiting for the promised Son, Jesus Christ. And they've seen signs, the pouring out of the Holy Ghost, speaking in tongues, Divine healing, and so forth. But when the Son of man is being revealed, Elohim will return back to the royal Seed of Abraham and show that same thing that He showed in that day, amen, Elohim, as it was! Why? It will be the characteristic of God.

161Now, if Christ was God, "Yet a little while and the world seeth Me no more; yet ye shall see Me, for I'll be with you, even in you, to the consummation, the end. The works that I do shall you do also."

162 Jesus said that in--in Luke, the 17th chapter. All right, when we believe and see these last days, this setting is to be reacted again.

163Therefore, Hebrews 1:1, "God, in sundry times by the prophets identified Himself, in this last days has identified the resurrection of His Son from the dead," by giving the Church the same characteristic that He had, making Hebrews 13:8 exactly right.

164No feathers can be picked out of that. That's eagle feathers. They stay tight, because they're heavenly bird. [Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.]... they feeds them eagle food.

165 Now we notice that, "In the sundry times, divers manner, He spoke to the fathers through the prophets, in the last days through His Son Jesus Christ, by raising Him up from the dead." And here He is among us, after two thousand years, the same Jesus, not one of the prophets; Jesus, hallelujah, the resurrected Son of God!

166Jesus said, one day, He said, "A wicked and adulterous generation seek after a sign, and they'll get a sign." A wicked and adulterous generation. When was the world any more wicked, or adultery and perverted, than it is now?

167"As it was in the days of Jonas, as Jonas was in the belly of the whale for three days and nights, so must the Son of man be in the heart of the earth three days and nights."

168Then, "a wicked and adulterous generation" was to receive a sign. What kind of a sign? A sign of the resurrection. And we have it today, after two thousand years, He is still alive. He is among us, tonight, the same yesterday, today, and forever, identifying Himself by the characteristics of God, manifesting the Word in this day that He promised to do. Amen.

169There is the Word. Now will you believe the sign, is the next thing, last days, His identification by His Son? Notice.

170 God spake to Moses in sundry times. In the Deuteronomy 18:15, said, "The Lord your God shall raise a Prophet likened unto me." Now watch. That's the Word. That is the Word. That was God. That wasn't Moses. How would Moses know that; he was a man? But God, speaking through Moses, said this. Do you believe that? All right.

171Now notice Jesus, watch how His--His characteristics identified this promised Word true. He certainly did. He was identified by this characteristic that Moses said He would be.

172Many of them, like today, they want to see some great leader. "Oh, this is Doctor Ph. So-and-so. He's out of Hartford University. Or, he's out of some great big somewhere like that." That's no identification of God. No, no. Not a thing about it. The Word is what identifies God. See?

173Jesus was not a scholar, neither was He a priest, neither was He a rabbi, to the world. He was a renegade, to the world.

174But God was confirming His Word through Him, which made Him Emmanuel. That was His identification. Now, here, Jesus meeting this exactly what God in sundry times said He would do, through Moses, what He would do.

175 Now watch when He met Peter, as we dramatized it the other night, when He met Peter and told Peter what his name was. This sign identified His Messiahic claims, to Peter, for the Word had said, "The Lord your God shall raise up a Prophet."

176And Peter come up, which was Simon then, come up where He was at. And Jesus looked at him, said, "Your name is Simon, and you are the son of Jonas." That identified the character of Christ to be that Word that Moses promised. Peter recognized that that sign identified Jesus as Messiah. "God was in Christ," the anointing for the last days. To Nathanael... Remember, He told Simon his name.

177Now, watch, to Nathanael He told what he had done. "You were under the tree when I saw you." That identified Him Messiah.

178Said, "You are the Son of God. You are the King of Israel." He was identified by the characteristic of the promised Word that he was to be the Messiah. "The Lord your God shall raise a Prophet."

179The little woman at the well, He told her what she was, and that identified Him as this promised Messiah. See?

180His character, His characteristics, was the Word being identified. Was His characteristics showing that the Word was God, so that was God being identified in Christ. Now watch it. Note.

181To Peter, He was identified to Peter by calling his name. He was identified to Nathanael by telling him what he done. He was identified by the woman, by telling what she was. What he... who he was; what he done; and what she was. He identified His Messiahic characteristic that was to be the characteristic of the Messiah.

182 Look at the little woman say the same thing. "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. We haven't had a prophet for hundreds of years. We've had plenty of church, plenty of fusses and denominational difference, but we haven't had a prophet for hundreds of years. We know that when Messiah cometh, this is what will identify Him."

183He said, "I am He, that speaks to you." Nothing uncertain about it, "I am He." That identified Him.

184The woman with the blood issue, identified Him the Word. How? By what He done when her faith touched Him. He turned around and said, "Who touched Me?" He knowed something happened. That identified Jesus as Messiah.

185She believed it, and she said, "If I can touch His garment, I'll be made well."

186So as soon as she touched, He turned, said, "Now who touched Me?" And they all denied it. But His Messiahic characteristic...

187 Amen! I hope you see that, the congregation. Listen, as we're closing.

188There she touched Him. There was hundreds, maybe, trying to touch Him. Peter even rebuked Him, said, "Well, all of them is touching You."

189He said, "Yes, but somebody touched Me different." That's that different, that faith touch. See? Said, "Somebody touched Me. It was a different touch. I got weak. Strength went out of Me. Virtue has gone from Me." Now, there He stands.

190Now, even His Own disciple saying, in other words, "You sound--sound like You were some delinquent person. Why, people, everybody is touching You."

191Watch His, watch His identification now. He turned around, looked through the crowd. He singled her right out. She couldn't hide herself any longer. He told her of her condition, and said, "Her faith had made her well." She knowed, by this.

192That, Hebrews 4:12, "The Word discerns the thoughts, its intents of the heart." His characteristic identified Him to be "the Word of God made flesh and dwelling among us." Amen.

193I think the same thing tonight identifies Him, the resurrected Jesus Christ living among us tonight, the same yesterday, today, and forever. Now, as Hebrews 13:8 is true, His character will identify Him today, as it did then, the same manner.

194 Look at Cleopas and them, after the resurrection. Jesus identified Himself the way He broke that bread, that He done it just the way He did it before He was crucified. And they... That identified His characteristic, 'cause that's the way He did it.

195Now if He was here tonight, how would He identify Himself? Just like He did yesterday, for He's the same today, and will be forever. It's the identification. Hebrews 4, four-... 14 and 15, "He is now..." Says, "He is our High Priest that can be touched by the feeling of our infirmities." He is our High Priest right now. After His resurrection, after His death, after His burial, after His resurrection, after His ascension, amen, He still remains the same yesterday, today, and forever, a High Priest that can be touched by the feeling of our infirmities. Amen. He is that, right now, to every man and woman here that'll believe it. He is our High Priest, same yesterday, today, and forever.

196He ever lives. Do you believe that? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.] His characteristics continually identify Him the same as He was when He lived on earth. He is still living here, tonight, in the form of the Holy Spirit. He ever lives. And His characteristics follow Him, just as it always did, if He is still a living.

197I'm thankful, tonight, that, "God, in sundry times and divers manners spake to the fathers through the prophets, in this last days through His Son Jesus Christ."

198 My, I didn't know I talked that long. I forgot about it being like that. I'm sorry. I'll just... I'll stop.

Let us pray.

199Heavenly Father, great merciful God! Lord, I--I... maybe I talk too much. I pray, God, if I did, You'd forgive me. But, Lord, I cannot ask forgiveness for what I said. I said just what You've said in Your Word here.

200Now just a word or two from You, Lord, maybe everyone here will see it tonight. The little, sick people will be healed when they see that You are still our great High Priest. I pray, Lord, in these next few minutes, that You'll make this Message live again in reality. To what I've said by Word, may Your characteristic identify You among us, tonight, that You are the same yesterday, today, and forever, for it's in Jesus' Name we ask it. Amen.

201 Just a moment now. We, I--I'm just a little late, but would you all suffer long enough to have a little prayer line for fifteen, twenty minutes? If you will, hold up your hand, say, "We..." All right, thank--thank you. I promised to let you out at nine-thirty. It's that time now; it's twenty minutes till. So if you'll just give me about ten minutes, I'll hurry right up.

202Let's see, what did prayer cards they give out today? [A brother says, "O."--Ed.] O? What, where did we start the other night, one, one? ["I think it was one."] Yeah, uh-huh.

203 And then we, last night, we just... the Holy Spirit... I was listening today, and repeating what was said. Some of them French names, I was... The Holy Spirit; only way I could do it, just wait and see.

204See, sometimes when you see a vision, it's got to be turned around and translated. It's interpreted. A vision, like you'd--you'd see a--a sheep, that might mean wool. See, you have to have also the translation of it, see, and turn that vision around and translate it.

205And I noticed last night, I--I couldn't pronounce those French names, I had to spell it out.

206In Africa and around those Hottentots and heathens, and things, It would have a spell their name right out, tell them who they were, spell it right out in their language. They, they would know what it was, soon as you spelled it out. But, see, but He knows all languages. He is the Eternal God.

207 Let's start tonight from, let's say, seventy-five, to a hundred, in O. Is O, is that what he said? I... [A brother says, "Yes. O."] O, O. Yeah. All right. Who has got prayer card seventy five, let's see it? In O, prayer card O, seventy-five, raise up your hand, ever who has it. O's. All right. Come right over here. Seventy-five, eighty, eighty-five, ninety, ninety-five, a hundred, come this way if you will. All right, it's, line right up over here, right quick, 'cause we won't have time. I'm going to just trust that you'll do it.

208Look at your prayer card. Look at your neighbor's prayer card. What a... And if somebody is crippled up, move them right up in the prayer line. So if they got O, like just O, seventy-...

209Seventy-five to one hundred, line up right over here, if you will. Wherever you are, in the balconies, wherever more, come right down, and come to the line as quick as possible, if you will, so to save time.

210Now the rest of you here, that does not have a prayer card, will you raise your hands and say, "I haven't got a prayer card, Brother Branham, but I believe"? Raise your hands.

211 Now remember, I'm going to talk to you about the High Priest. "He is a High Priest that can be touched by the feeling of our infirmities." He is Jehovah-Jireh, "the Lord's provided sacrifice." He is Jehovah-Rapha, "the Lord that heals all thy diseases." Do you believe that? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.] He is Jehovah-Manasseh. A buckler, a shield, our peace, He is still. Well, how many believes that all those redemptive names of Jehovah was applied to Jesus? ["Amen."--Ed.] Sure, He had to be. If He--if He... Why, they're inseparable, so He had to be all of them. And if He is still Jehovah-Jireh, He is Jehovah-Rapha. If He's Jehovah-Jireh... He's Jehovah-Jireh, is "the Lord's provided sacrifice for salvation," then He's Jehovah-Rapha that "heals all of our diseases." Amen. Healing can only come by God.

212 All right, while the people line up; I haven't got time to see who they are and what they are. But now, all out there that knows that I don't know you, raise up your hand, say, "I have a need of God. But you don't know me, Brother Branham, but I have a need of God. I'm just going to raise my hand."

213Now if you'll just settle for a few minutes, watch, be careful, be quiet. Now I don't mean, when I say, "be quiet,"... If the Lord does anything, you'll want to praise the Lord; that's worship. But what I mean, "just run around, get up," you know, that's irreverent. See? And the Holy Spirit is very timid, very timid. See? Just anything like that, just leaves me, and I just have to battle then, again, see. But if you'll listen!

214You remember His first promise? "Get the people to believe you, and then be sincere, nothing will stand before the prayer." You remember that? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.] That's right. And that's... I haven't seen it fail yet, and it won't fail. It's God.

215 Now we'll hurry with the prayer line, so we get as many through as we can, on account of the people. But you that's got prayer cards and not called tonight, hold your card, we're going to get you. All right.

216Now you out there without prayer cards, remember. Or, you out there, whether you have prayer cards or not, just believe that He is like Hebrews the 4th chapter here. "He is the High Priest that can be touched by the feeling of our infirmities." See if He remains. See if Jehovah has represented Himself among His people, like He did at the days of Sodom. All right.

217 All right, sir. Now let's pray, now, be real reverent. Now remember, a word from God is more than anybody could say. Now, this man here, I--I don't know him. And I guess he's... You're a stranger to me, are you, sir? [The brother says, "Yes."--Ed.] You're a stranger. We know one thing, that we've both got to stand in the Presence of God someday; as man, we've got to meet There. This is our first time meeting.

218Now if you come here, if you are sick, I don't know; it might be something else, see. But if I--if I laid hands on you, say, "Praise the Lord! Go, get well." That's all right. You could believe that. But what if He tells you what's wrong with you? Now, see, that's different, then you know that identifies His characteristic. See, that wouldn't be my characteristic. I'm a man; I wouldn't know nothing about him. I just told him, "I don't know you." He don't know me. But what would that do? That would identify the characteristic of Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever. Knowing that it couldn't be me, couldn't be me, 'cause I don't know the man. I'll raise my hand; here is the Word. See? I don't know him. He don't know me. But the characteristic of Jesus Christ...

219 If Jesus was standing here; and he is sick. If he would say, "Lord Jesus, heal me." What would Jesus say to Him? "I've already done it." Is that right? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.]

220"He was wounded for our transgressions; with His stripes we were healed." All the redemption that we ever can have was settled at Calvary. From there on, it's faith, to believe the finished work. Is that right? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.] All right.

221Now, now if Jesus is alive, and I have talked of His Word... There you are, back to that simplicity and faith, believing His Word. When He met me that night, He said, "You'll come to pass that you'll even know the secrets of their heart. They won't believe that first sign of the hand, they will have to believe this one. See? They don't do that, then blood curses the earth."

222Just like it did in Moses' time. Said, "Won't believe them two signs, then pour blood upon the earth. See, pour water upon the earth, it'll become blood."

223 Now just to find out. If I can just see what your trouble is, that would satisfy and make you believe, wouldn't it? [The brother says, "Sure."--Ed.] You know it would have to be the characteristic of the Person I'm talking about, Jesus Christ.

224The man, as I just looked at him, moves back. He is shadowed. There isn't a thing that medicine would ever help the man. He is in a dying condition. That's right. He has had an operation, and the operation was a prostrate operation. And it's cancer, and the cancer is scattered all through you. If that's right, raise up your hand. Only God can heal him. [The brother says, "Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!"--Ed.] But, look, I want to say something to you, sir. That devil might have hid from the doctor's knife, but he can't hide from God. Do you believe that? Do you believe it? ["Oh! Oh!"] Then I pray, that, in the Name of Jesus Christ, may the thing leave him, may the man live. Nothing; just got weak. All right.

225 You and I are strangers to each other, a man and a woman meets. Now, as a man, I don't know you. And perhaps, as a woman, you don't know me; no more than you just seen my name, or picture, or something like that. But we don't know one another. That's our characters. We don't know one another's character. But the characteristic of Christ, He is the Word, and the Word is promised for this day. You heard me speak of it. Then His characteristics would identify Him here. Not me identify Him. I don't know you. You understand. Our--our congregation understand that? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.] See? I'm--I'm a man. I'm just your brother.

226Like the woman at the well, say something that's wrong, something is wrong with you, or what you want, or what you're here for. Let God be the judge of that. You are suffering from anemia condition. That is right, isn't it? [The sister says, "Yes."]

227I--I constantly hit that, somebody thinking I guessed it. I don't guess that. No. Every once in a while, I feel that, somebody. You can't hide your thoughts now. Now there is about, I know, two real bad skeptics sitting here. See? So now remember I can call your name, too, God can, so you quit thinking that. Let me show you.

228Look here, lady. Look at me. I don't know what He told you, but I--I know what He is. And that's His characteristic identified. Yes, it's anemia condition, the blood, water.

229Now, here, here is something. See if they think this is guessing. Got a child you are praying for, that's here. [The sister says, "Yes."--Ed.] That's right. It's got in its throat, ["Yeah."], tonsils, adenoids. It's up for an operation. Isn't it right? ["Yes."] Take that handkerchief and put on it, and believe. ["Yes."] Don't doubt. It won't need an operation. Now believe with all your heart.

230 How do you do? The thing is, for this woman here, that you are scared about something. You're afraid that a birthmark has turned to cancer. [The sister crys out, "Oh!"--Ed.] Now go, believing, and it won't be that way. Just go, believing with all your heart. Characteristics, not of me; of Him!

231Do you believe now? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.] That should make everybody believe. ["Amen!"]

232Now, I don't know you. I'm a stranger to you. God knows you. Do you believe that? You know that I don't know you, and you know you don't know me, so do you believe that this Spirit that's speaking cannot be my spirit? Because, me, as a man, I don't know you. But the characteristic of the promised Word is the Word that's sharper than a two-edged sword, and discerns the thoughts and intents of the heart.

233You are very sick. You had a woman's trouble, which was a womb, and that womb had cancer. And you went and taken some sort of a treatment, it was a radium treatment, and the only thing it done is scatter it all through you. And you'll--you'll die if God don't heal you. That's true. Do you believe now He will heal you? [The sister says, "Yes."--Ed.] May the God of Heaven rebuke that devil that's hide from the doctor. ["Oh!"] He might have hide from radium, but not from the Holy Ghost. Go, believe Him, now, sister. Don't doubt at all, but believe. ["O God, heal me!"]

234 Do you believe that God can heal that asthmatic condition, and make you well? [The brother says, "Yes."--Ed.] You believe it? Then go on your road, rejoicing, saying, "Thank You, Lord. I believe my asthma is done."

235How do you do? You're nervous. You been nervous for a long time. In there, it's caused a peptic ulcer to come in your stomach, which makes you--your stomach trouble. And you want... You want to eat your supper? Will you do what I tell you to do? Go, eat, in the Name of the Lord Jesus.

236Do you believe with all your heart? [The sister says, "I do."--Ed.] You're a mighty-fine young lady, looks to be. Do you believe me to be His servant? ["Amen."] Do you believe His characteristic could be here, too, the Word, Itself, and the promise of this day, "The works that I do shall you also"? ["Amen."] I can't heal. He has already did that; but His characteristic displays Him, can tell what's wrong with you. You got a lady's trouble, female trouble. ["Yes, sir."] Do you believe that God heals it now? ["Yes. Amen."] Go on your road, it not bother you no more. Believe with all your heart.

237 Do you believe me to be His servant? [The sister says, "Yes, sir."--Ed.] If God will tell me what's your trouble, will you believe it's the characteristic of Jesus Christ? It's in your back. It isn't no more. Go, believe with all your heart. Believe.

238Come, lady. You also have stomach trouble. Believe with all your heart, and go eat your supper. Forget about it. Jesus Christ makes you well.

239Come. Your trouble is your blood. You're a diabetes. Do you believe that God will make you well and heal you of that? Go on your road, and say, "Thank You, Lord Jesus," makes you well. Go, believe with all your heart.

240Come. Your back, do you believe that God will heal the back and make you well? Go on your road, and rejoice, and say, "Thank You, Lord Jesus."

241You also had something wrong with your back. Just keep on walking, saying, "Thank You, Lord. I'm healed." Believe it with all your heart.

242You also had back trouble. What do you know about that? Believe with all your heart now, and go on your road and be made well. Believe Jesus Christ makes you well. "If thou canst believe, all things are possible." All right.

243 What if I didn't say nothing to you; just passed by and laid hands on her, do you believe she would get well? They see what's wrong. Do you believe she would? Come here. I resent this devil, in the Name of Jesus Christ. May the power of God heal the child. Amen. Don't doubt, don't doubt at all, and she'll get well. Believe with all your heart.

244If God doesn't heal you, you'll be on a crutch someday, with arthritis. But you believe that God heals your arthritis? Then go, say, "Thank You, Lord. I'll believe You, and You make me well." All right.

245Come now. It's really your age. You're real nervous. Get real nervous, late of the evening. When you work and everything, you're real nervous. You believe now? It won't bother you no more then. Go on your road, saying, "Thank You, Lord Jesus."

246Come, sir. Do you believe that God heals heart trouble? [The brother says, "Yes."--Ed.] Will make your heart well? Just keep on moving, saying, "Thank You, Lord. I believe with all my heart."

247 God heals TB, and makes well, too. Do you believe that, sir, with all your heart? [The brother says, "I believe it."--Ed.] All right. Go on your road and rejoicing, saying, "Thank You, Lord Jesus."

248What about you out there, do you believe? How about the audience? Some of you in the audience now believe.

249This man sitting right here, with bronchitis, do you believe that God will heal the bronchial trouble? All right, you can have what you've asked for, then. Amen.

250High blood pressure, sitting right behind him there. Do you believe that God will heal your high blood? It left you, sir. I don't know him, never seen him in my life.

251 Say, sir, do you believe that them spasms in your muscles, nervous muscle spasms, do you believe that God will make it well? You do? Raise up your hand if you believe. All right.

252Your wife sitting there, she is bothered with sinus trouble. Do you believe it leaves you, too, sister?

253The lady sitting right behind us there, has neuritis. Do you believe that God will heal your neuritis, lady?

254Here is a lady with a little coat, red coat on, here. She is sitting there. She has sinus trouble, too. Do you believe that God will heal your sinus trouble? Raise up your hand, if you believe it.

255 Anybody in here that believes that the characteristics of Jesus Christ is among us, tonight, raise up your hand, say, "I believe it." [Congregation rejoices and says, "I believe it!"--Ed.]

256All that's in here, will accept Him as your healer, stand upon your feet, and say, "I believe it." Raise up. Stand up, out of your chairs, whatever it is. Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever. I give Him to you, in the Name of the Lord God.