A Trial

1 Portion of Scripture, and my subject tonight is to... I think that Jesus Christ never had a fair trial in Herod--Herod--Herod's court, before Pilate. I don't believe He had a fair trial. And I think, in the next forty-five minutes, let's give Him a trial, because He's in question again. And now the...

2One of the main things that He's questioned on, is His Word. And I believe that Word. So, I--I'm going to read tonight from the most disputed spot in the Scripture. That's Mark, the 16th chapter.

3And now, if we was pledging allegiance to the flag, or if we was hearing The Star-Spangled Banner, we'd all stand. And I think if we can do that in commemoration of our fine nation that we have, we surely ought to do it to the Word of God. So let us stand, just a few moments, while I read from the Word.

4 Mark, 16th chapter of Saint Mark, beginning with the 9th verse. Let us listen close as we read these verses. Now, we're right at the resurrection time. We're at the time where our Lord had just risen from the dead, and was appearing, too, in different forms, to the people. Now, the 9th verse begins like this.

Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first unto Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils.

And she went and told them that had been with him, as they mourned and wept.

And they, when they had heard that he was alive, and had been seen of her, believed not.

After that he appeared in another form unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the country.

And they went and told it unto the residue: neither believed they them.

Afterwards he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.

And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;

They shall take up serpents;... if they shall drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick,... they shall recover.

So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.

And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, confirming the word with signs following. Amen.

5 Now let us bow our heads just a moment, for prayer. And I'm going to ask, if it's all right, that if a brother, Marvin Smith, who was so kind to us yesterday, and had me in the prayer line with him last night, if he'll ask God's blessings on the Words that I've just read.

6Brother Smith, if you will. [Brother Marvin Smith prays--Ed.] Grant it, Lord. Yes, Lord. Grant it, Lord. Grant it, Lord. Grant it, Lord. Yes, Lord. Grant it, Lord. Amen.

Thank you. You may be seated.

7 So many of my friends here, that I'd like to mention them all, but, just as brother said, we don't have time to do it. Brother Outlaw there, a real bosom brother friend of mine from Phoenix, and Brother Moseley and--and so many different ones that I just can't hardly have time to recognize each one. But I'm sure you understand, I don't want to pass you.

8Now, on this Word, we are confronted tonight. And I just want to say a few things about this Scripture. Everywhere we go, we find this, the most diff-... the... where the unbeliever picks on.

9 Here some time ago... Many of you know Paris Reidhead. He's the president of the Sudan Missions. That's one of the largest fundamental missions in the world. He and Don... Can't call his last name. He's the pastor, one of the big Baptist churches in Chattanooga. Came into my house, in--in Jeffersonville, and said, "Brother Branham," said, "we understand that you were Baptist."

10And I said, "Yes, sir. I was ordained, a Missionary Baptist Church."

He said, "I hear you're associating with the Pentecostals."

I said, "Yes, sir. I'm one of them."

11And he said, "Well, I want to ask something." Said, "They claim to have the Holy Spirit." Said, "Do you think that's the Holy Spirit?"

I said, "Yes, sir."

12He said, "Well, the only thing I can't understand, what all that screaming and shouting and carrying on like that."

13I said, "Well, if you--if you can't put the steam to rolling a wheel, they blow it out the whistle. That's all." I said, "If--if they could... That's why I'm with them." I said, "If you could only get that thing in operation, and that, the enthusiasm, moving out yonder to winning souls, it'd conquer the world." But I said, "That's why I'm there."

14 He said, "Well, when I was little boy," he said, "I had a call from God. And mother washed over a washboard, to send me to school." And said, "I, when, I thought, when I got my B.A.," said, "there I'd find Christ, but," said, "I--I didn't." And said, "Now, Brother Branham, I've got enough degrees and honorary degrees to plaster your wall." And said, "Where is Christ in all of it?"

15I said, "I'm not the one, brother, with the grammar school education, to say the--the teachers was wrong. But," I said, "they were right in what they said, but they wasn't... There is some more of It."

16And he said, "Here is why I'm here." He said, "In the school, we educated a fine Indian boy from India. I think he learned to be a... I think it was, maybe, was civil engineering or--or something, he had--he had mastered in. He was going back to help his people." He said, "I took him to the--to the boat, or the train, where he was to go catch the boat, and he to go back to India. I said, 'Son, while you're--while you're going back... ' Said, 'Now you're all fit, and got your education, go back to your people.' Said, 'Why don't you take a real living God back, and forget that dead prophet, Mohammed, that you worship?'"

17 The boy, being a Mohammedan, "Well," he said, "sir," he said, "what can your Jesus do for me any more than what my prophet can do?"

18"Well," he said, "our--our--our--our Jesus gives you Life. Your prophet can't do it."

19He said, "But he promised to do it." Yeah. He said, "You know, what we Mohammedans are waiting for, is to see you Christians do what your leader said you would do."

He said, "What's that?"

20He said, "Well, your..." Said, "See, Mohammed only promised life after death. But," said, "Jesus promised that the things that He did you would do also."

And he said, "Oh," said, "well," he said, "you see, they did do it."

He said, "They? We're talking about thee, thee now."

21He said, "Well, now, sir," he said, "I tell you." Said, "You've read the New Testament?"

Said, "Oh, many times, through and through."

He said, "For instance, what Scripture are you referring to?"

22"Well," he said, "many places, John 14:12, and so forth," he said, "Mark 16."

23He said, "Well, now," he said, "you see, Mark 16," said, "we learn that, really, some of the Scriptures, that It's not authentic." He said, "Mark 16, from the 9th verse on," he says, "it's not found in the--the oldest of manuscripts." He said, "It's just added."

24 Now, really, I wonder where you get that at, if there happens to be a critic near. Why, I've studied twenty years in Bible history. See? Certainly. Irenaeus and Polycarp, and all of them, recognized It. See? Certainly. It certainly was added. The Vatican didn't edict It. Certainly not. But this, these real writers, said Jesus said This, authentic Writing.

And so he said, "From the 9th verse on, It's not inspired."

25That Mohammedan said, "Well, then, Mr. Reidhead, what part is inspired then?" He said, "I want you to know that all the Koran is inspired, not just part here and part there." What a defeat! So he said, "Well," he said, "well, if--if it's not, if that part is not inspired, how do I know the rest of it's not inspired?" Now, there's a good...

26 He said, "Well," said, "when, Jesus raised up from the dead; and Mohammed is the grave."

27He said, "Has He raised up from the grave?" He said, "He said, if He did, 'He would be in you, to the consummation, and the works that He did you'd do also.'"

28And Mr. Reidhead said to me, said, "Brother Branham, I didn't know what to say."

He said, "Why, Jesus did raise from the dead!"

29Said, "You've had two thousand years to prove it, and ninety percent of the world hardly knows anything about it." Said, "Let Mohammed raise, and the whole world will know it in twenty-four hours." That's right. If you'd been to his grave, some of you missionaries, every four hours they change the guard of the horse there, white horse, that he'll ride it down, the world, when he raises from the dead.

30"But we don't have to wait for Jesus to raise from the dead. He's already raised from the dead."

31So he said, "Prove it. He promised it, if he raised from the dead." So he said, "Well, how do you know?"

He said, Mr. Reidhead said, "He lives within my heart."

32And he said, "And Mohammed lives within my heart." Said, "Mr. Reidhead," said, "Mohammedan religion can produce just as much psychology as Christianity."

33He said, "Then I kicked the dust, Brother Branham, as a defeated Christian. And promised myself that I'd come, talk to you." See?

34 Why, all that Bible is inspired. God watches over His Word. God has got to judge the world someday.

35And if He's going to judge it by the church, what church will He judge it by? If He judge it by the Catholic church (you Catholic would say so), which Catholic church, then, the Greek Orthodox, the Roman, or which one? If He judge it by the Baptist, you Methodist are lost. If He judge it by the Methodist, you Baptist are lost. He judge it by the Pentecost, you're both lost. See? He isn't going to judge it by any church.

36He's going to judge it by Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ is the Word. Saint John, the 1st chapter, said, "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." Therefore, He'll judge it by Jesus Christ, and He is the Word. The Bible said, "He's the same yesterday, today, and forever."

37God being infinite, in the beginning, with His infinite wisdom, His knowledge, divided His Gospel in each age. We find out that the churches get It all messed up, and then God sends His prophet on the scene. "And the Word of the Lord comes to the prophet." How they know it is? It's a vindication of the--the Message of that age. Now, when, what...

38 When Moses came, as was promised that he would come, what if he come with Noah's message? It wouldn't have worked. Moses could not have built an ark for the saving of the people. The Word of God that was promised for Moses' age was the Word that had to be vindicated.

39In the age of every seer and every prophet, it's been the same, but we find the people living in a glare of another light. As Jesus said, "You garnish the walls or the tombs of the prophets, and you're the one that put them in there." See? See, they build up something, over a message, and live in that glare of that light, and refuse to walk in the light that is of the day.

40That's what the reason they refused to know Jesus Christ when He came. That's why Jesus exhorted them, saying, "Search the Scriptures, for in Them you think you have Eternal Life, and They are They that testify of Me." But they had got so many creeds and things, and their traditions, that Jesus said, "You've made the Word of God of no effect, by your traditions." And that's the way it's been in every age.

God will judge the world by Jesus Christ.

41 And many times, you see, what it is, we people try to have our own interpretation of the Word, to say, "Mark 16, from the 9th verse on, is not inspired."

42Why isn't It inspired? God doesn't need any interpreter. He's His own Interpreter. God does His own interpretation. And the Bible said, "It's of no private interpretation."

43God said, in beginning, "Let there be light," and there was light. That don't need interpretation.

44He said, "A virgin shall conceive," and she did. That don't need any interpretation. She did it. Although, when she did it, in the time that she did it, the people were so full of creed till they didn't understand it. It went right over the top of their heads.

45 It's did that in every time, and it'll do it again. Now, we find out, that's right. The people does that. Christ and the church... We find, in this day that we're living, there's nothing different from any other day. Men, the church, is always praising God for what He done, and always saying what He's going to do, and ridiculing what He's doing. That's always been the history of the church, and it's same way tonight. It's because that man-made theories get into It and get It all mixed up. And when the true Word speaks for Itself, see, they're so full of creed, till they are so blinded by that glare, they can't accept It.

46Why, the reason that the Lutherans, that the Methodists, when you Methodist people... This fine Methodist boy, here, just sang a while ago. When that boy, the... What was the reason? See, the Lutherans was living in the glare of Luther, and that's the reason Methodist's message didn't go over well. And when the Pentecostals come along, they was all living in the glare of Methodists, until the Pentecostals come along. But, you see, all this, if you'll just look into the Scripture, watch the church ages and what each one is to do, you'll find out right where we're living. We're living in this age.

47 Now, upon the basis of this criticism, so much, of the Word of God, I want to take this text tonight, and call it: A Trial.

48Jesus didn't get a fair trial in the days of Herod, in the days of Pilate. But, in this day, I want to see, tonight, in this little group of people, if you'll set with me, I want to see that He gets a fair trial. Because, He is still the Word. He is still the Word. How many agrees with that? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.] "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." And the Word is still God. "And He's the same yesterday, today, and forever." So, let's see that He has a fair trial.

49 Now, I'm going to make this like a courtroom, if you'll just suffer with me. I know it sounds kind of unusual, but we're just a little gathering here now, that we want to bring this Word, which I claim is God's Word. And I'm here to defend It. And now, we're going to bring it to a court trial, just exactly like it was in the days when Herod give Him a trial, or Pilate, before Pilate's court. We're going to bring Him 'fore court this Ramada room, this 1964, April the twenty-seventh, 1964.

50Now we're going to make this a court. And you are the judge and the jury; you, court. I'll be the moderator. And we're going to make this like a court trial. And at the end, you make your decision, as any--as any jury has to make up its mind for the verdict. And then your action, from hereafter, will prove what your verdict is. No matter what you say now, your action will prove your verdict. Now, the case is, today, friends...

51 I'm going to act as the moderator, now, and like was in a real court case, and give Him a trial, if you'll bear with me for a few moments and pray for me.

52Now, the case is, the Word of God versus the world, the world that doesn't believe It. And the case is: the Word of God versus the world. The--the cause for the indictment, is, breach of promise. That's, the breach of promise is the cause for this case.

53And now, I understand that in a regular court trial, that the prosecuting attorney always represents state. I think that's right. In this place, the prosecuting attorney represents the world. And the prosecuting attorney is Satan, and he is representing the world in this court here this afternoon.

54And the Defendant is God, His Word, because God is always the Word. See?

And the defense Witness is the Holy Spirit.

55And the prosecuting attorney's witness is Mr. Unbeliever, Mr. Skeptic, and Mr. Impatient. These three comes up as a witness for the prosecuting attorney, which is Satan, that represents the world.

56 Now let's call this court to order. And now let's call the prosecutor, let him call his first witness to the stand, to testify against the Word.

57And now listen close. Now, I might not be able, in hurrying, trying to get this through in thirty or forty minutes, I might run over the top of something. But if I do, may the Holy Spirit reveal it now, as court is called to order.

Remember, you are both judge and jury.

58And now the prosecutor calls his witness, first witness, to the stand, to testify. And he calls Mr. Unbeliever, and he takes the stand, to testify. And Mr. Unbeliever claims that all the Word of God, of God's promises, is not true. That's his complaint, that God's Word cannot be relied upon, all of It. "Part of It is all right. But all of It..." He claims that he is a believer, Mr. Unbeliever. But he claims he is a believer, and he says, that, "All of God's Word cannot be relied upon. It's not true."

59 He claims that he visit a so-called Holy Ghost meeting, where people were claiming Mark 16 to be the Truth. And many people claimed that they had been healed, when, where It says in Mark 16, "They shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover." And this man says that he claimed that he believed God. He listened to this so-called Holy Ghost preacher, and he... this Holy Ghost group that were giving all kinds of testimonies.

60And he had been sick in his body, and he had these people to lay hands upon him at this Holy Ghost meeting. And that was two months ago, and not one thing has happened yet. He's just as sick as he was the time that he had hands laid upon him. He hasn't changed, one bit. He's just as sick as he was. Therefore, he says, that, "God is not just, to put such a Scripture as that in the Bible, when He isn't sufficient to back it up. It isn't right for Mark 16 to be in the Bible," because that he proves that God does not keep His Word. And he wants to indict God for putting such a promise as that in His Word. All right. We'll have him step down.

61 And now we'll have Mr. Skeptic to come up next, to testify. Mr. Skeptic takes the stand. And he says that he'll tell the truth. He claims that he is a believer. And he said he had been sick for a long time, that his ill effects from a great disease that he had had. And then he heard someone testify on the street, of having a godly pastor. And this pastor of this church preached and said that, James 5:14, "If there be any among you, sick, let them call the elders of the church. Let them anoint them in oil and pray over them. The prayer of faith shall save the sick, and God shall raise them up. If they did any sin, it shall be forgiven them. Confess your faults, one to another. And pray one for another, that your effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."

62 And he said that he went up there, as a believer. He wants to tell this court this, that, "I went up there with all sincerity, and I had this so-called godly pastor of this church, that many claimed that, when he anointed them with oil and prayed over them. And the pastor said, hisself, that God answered that Word, and that Word of James 5:14 was true. And there was many testifying that it was true." But he went up, and the pastor, godly man, anointed him with oil, according to James 5:14, prayed over him. And that has been six months ago, and he hasn't had any results, at all. He's just as sick as he was at the beginning.

63So, Mr. Skeptic says that That cannot be true. "Mark 16 is not true, and neither is John, is--is James 5:14. It is not true, because that God fails to keep His Word. If this be the Word of God, then God fails to keep His Word, 'cause, with sincerity, as a believer, he went and let the pastor, that the others claimed they were healed by, anoint him and take him through the same motion that he did the others. And, six months ago, and hasn't had one bit of results of any time. Therefore, he also wants to bring indictment against God, for putting such rashal promises in His Word, that He won't stand behind."

64Getting quite a case here, aren't we? Let him step down, Mr. Skeptic.

65 Now, the next witness is Mr. Impatient. He's a rascal. Now he's going to step up, and he's going to give his testimony. And he takes the stand, that, one day while reading Mark's Gospel, the 11th chapter... Not 16th, now. The 11th chapter, the 22nd and 23rd verse, that it reads like this, "You say to this mountain, 'Be moved,' and don't doubt in your heart, but believe that what you have said shall come to pass, you can have what you've said. And when you pray, believe that you receive what you ask for, you shall have it."

66He said he's been lame in his feet, walked on crutches for about twenty-five years. And when reading this Scripture, and had been taught by his--his pastor, that all Scripture was given of God and was inspired. Therefore, if he said to this mountain, "Be moved," and don't doubt, but believe that what he said would come to pass, he could have what he said. And when he prayed, to believe that he receive what he asked for, it would be given to him.

67 Now, he says he prayed, and with all sincerity. And said that he'd be able to lay his crutches down and walk away from that place. And he, honestly, with all of his heart, he believed that what he had said was right. And he... That would been almost five years ago, and he's just as lame as he ever was. "Now, if God then," he says, "would keep His Word, then why don't He keep his Word?"

68Now, I'm only giving three passages of Scripture there, or three witnesses, but I'm going to let the prosecuting attorney call some more. Now we'll let...

69Mr. Unbeliever, he testified. Mr. Skeptic, he testified. Unbeliever testified; Mark 16. And Mr. Skeptic testified against John, or James 5:14.

70And Mr. Impatience, he testified against Mark 11, Jesus Himself speaking. And Mark 11:22 and 23, he testified against that. Now we're going to ask Mr. Impatience to step down.

71 Now, as we've all, somehow or other, been in courts. Now, the prosecutor has got to nail down his case. So the prosecutor comes up, to nail the case down. The one that represents (pardon me) the world, Satan, he takes the stand. So he claims, to this court, this afternoon, or this evening. He wants... The prosecutor, the devil, wants this court to understand that these men are believers, and that this Word is actually written in the Word, "the Word of God, so-called," he says, that this is written. And he claims that it comes from different places in the Scriptures. And these men are witnesses that it isn't so.

72And he wants to say to this court, the prosecutor does, that he wants this court to understand that God is not just, to put such rashal promises as that, in the Book, for His believing children to accept; and then He's not able to take care of, vindicate what He promised He would do. And he has three witnesses here. And three witnesses is a confirmation, as we know, in all Scripture. And he has three witnesses, from three different places in the Scripture, that God is not justified in placing such things as that in His Word, so His dear children will look upon It, and try to accept It and believe It like He said, and then God let them down, coldly.

73 Also, he--he claims that these children, with all sincerity, is doing this, these people, and they are defeated. "True believing children are defeated by the Word of God, so-called. That they claim these things because it's written in the Book, and somebody else injected them into it, and it isn't the Word of God. And the Bible cannot be trusted. For, here is three different places and three testimonies to prove that It's wrong." Now he's nailing his case down. For, he, the prosecutor, wants to point, to call the attention to this court, that these men here accepted this Word with sincerity, believing it was the Word of God, and God has failed to honor their faith.

74Further, he wants to claim that they are believers, because they say they're believers. Yet, again, the prosecutor wants to turn, call the attention to this court this afternoon. Yet God promises again, in another place in the Scripture, that all things are possible to them that believe. And it's written. That's another case. All things, no matter what it is, all things are possible to them that believe. And these men claim to be believers. I want the court to understand, the prosecutor at the stand now is nailing down the case.

75 "Yet, again, He claims to be alive after His death, that Jesus claims to be alive after His death. And the prosecutor wants to ask this court, have you seen Him after He raised from the dead? Where is the nail scars in his hands? Where is the crown of thorns that was placed upon Him? Where is the marks in his forehead? And where is He at, if He's raised from the dead?

76And then, "Again, He says in Hebrews 13:8, that, His Word says that He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The prosecutor wants this court to remember that. Then at... Where is He, if He is?" He wants to see Him. Again, he claims that it's not so. He claims that Luke 17:23 is not so. He claims that Revelations 3 is not so. He claims that Mark 4 isn't so. He claims all these Scriptures of His resurrection, that it's absolutely false. He wants to point that out, that it's false.

77 "And He also claims that both heavens and earth will pass away, but not one tittle or jot from his Word will ever fail." And the prosecutor wants you to understand, court, this afternoon that he has witnesses here to prove that they're wrong. Now, he asks the court to consider this, while we're thinking.

78Now, we ask the prosecutor now if he's finished nailing down his case, quoting the Scriptures; claiming They're not right, witnesses that They're not right, that They're not inspired. "They're nothing to Them. They cannot be relied upon. They cannot be trusted." He's got witnesses to prove that They cannot be trusted. Now we got quite a case on our hand.

Now, let's let the prosecutor and his witnesses step down.

79 Now we will call the defense Witness, which the defense Witness has a right to testify to the... or for the defendant. And now the defense Witness, which is the Holy Spirit, let's have Him step up, and hear His testimony.

80The first thing, now, as you've heard what the prosecutor has said. You've heard what he, his witnesses said. You've heard the Scriptures. You've heard them read. And here is the witnesses, that They're not true.

81 Now, the Holy Spirit, as I say, which is the defense Witness, He is called. The first thing, He wants to call... The defense Witness, Holy Spirit, wants to call to this court's case, that the prosecutor is not interpreting the Word, right, to you. He wants to call your attention, too, that this prosecutor that's giving you the interpretation of the Word, that's representing the world and unbelief, is the same interpreter that Eve had at the beginning. Uh-huh. He misinterpreted the Word, just a little bit.

82Now, I might stop here, in the court, just a moment, to say this. If God caused all this sickness and sorrow and death upon the earth, if He had to do it because of His justice, to keep His Word, He cannot be just and not keep His Word. He's got to keep His Word, to be just. It's becoming to His holiness. It's becoming to Him. And if Eve, not just...

83 Satan did not, the prosecutor did not, misinterpret the whole thing. He just misinterpreted a Word, or so, and it caused death to strike the whole earth. And every hospital, every siren ever rung, every--every death that ever died, every struggle, every man on the battlefield, every poor, little, sick, afflicted baby, and all, was caused by disbelieving just one Word of God's Word. And if it caused all of this, for disbelieving one Word, how you going to get back, disbelieving one Word?

84Got to be something that God has to judge the world by, and that's Jesus Christ, the Word. We must believe It all.

85 Notice. He said that he, that, "These men has been listening to the wrong interpretation of the Word. The prosecutor is not... interpreting It wrong, is--is interpreting It wrong, to you, just like he did to Eve. The promise is only to believers; not make-believers, skeptics, or impatient people. It's only to believers. And if...

86Let me say this. If there's anybody should know whether these fellows are believers or not, it should be the defense Witness, because He's the quickener of the Word. See? He... Just like your body, your body is a piece of flesh. But unless the spirit is in there, to quicken that body, it's dead. And so is the Word, dead, unless the Holy Spirit quickens that Word. And if He's the quickener of the Word, He should know whether these fellows really are believers or not. I think we've got a good defense Witness. He should know whether It's right or not. Because... He makes a good defense Witness because He's the quickener of the Word.

87 Again, the defense Witness wants to call the attention of the--of the Word that's in question here, that we have just read, that the prosecutor is trying to get a case of indictment against the Word. Defense Witness wants to call your attention, that it never set any certain time for deliverance. He never said when. He just said, "They shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover." He didn't say they'd jump up right then. The Word doesn't say that. James 5:14 said, "When you're anointed with oil," he said, "the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and God shall raise them up." It didn't say they'd jump up right then. It didn't say. Mark 16 didn't say they'll lay hands on the sick and there'll be a miracle performed. He just said, "They shall recover." It promised it.

88Now, see if there's been some of these unbelievers has been misinterpreting the Word to you, saying, "Well, this one was prayed for. Why didn't they get up? I was at the meeting. I never seen nothing happen." See that interpreter they got? See what they're listening to?

89The defense Witness wants to show to this court, this afternoon, that the Word didn't say they would jump up right then. He said, "They shall recover." That's what He promised. He never set any certain time. And that was only to believers.

90 And the defense Witness also wants to call to your attention here, this afternoon in this court, that the Word of God is said, by Jesus Christ, to be a Seed. And a seed can only grow when it falls into the fertile enough ground to quicken the seed. And if this Seed falls into a ground, and it's fertile with faith, it's got to quicken It. But if there's nothing there...

91Just like if you wanted a blood transfusion. You went to a turnip, stuck a tube in yourself and in a turnip, how you going to get any blood? There's no blood there.

92No more can the Word of God ever be quickened in an unbeliever's heart or a skeptic. It's got to fall into genuine faith that believes that heavens and earth will pass away, but that Word shall never fail, like Abraham, that called things which was not, as though they were; hoped against hope. He believed God.

93 Now we find that this defense Witness wants to call this to the attention, that the Word is a Seed that a sower sowed. It's written in the Scripture, that the Word is a Seed. And a seed must fall. And the Scripture says, "Some did fall on stony ground, and the birds of the air taken it away. Some fell just long enough to get enough roots to spring up, and the thorns and thistles choked it out. But some did go in good ground, and it brought forth a hundredfold." He wants to call your attention to that.

94And He wants to say, that, "If this Word, in this Holy Ghost meeting, where people were having hands laid on, it only applies to believers. There is no promise in here but Eternal separation from God, to unbelievers. It's only to believers!"

95Someone said to me, not long ago, said, "I don't care how much. I don't believe."

96I said, "Certainly not. It's not for unbelievers. It's for believers, they that believe."

97 Now, the defense witnesses, defense Witness, rather, wishes to call a witness. He has a right to call witnesses, too. So the defense Witness wishes to call His first witness against this, and for the Word.

98We're going to call Noah to the platform, this afternoon, before this court, to give testimony for the Defendant. Noah was just an ordinary farmer, but he was a prophet. "And the Word of the Lord comes to the prophets." The Bible said so. And Noah lived, wants to testify that he lived in a very scientific age, greater than the one we live in now. He lived in a time where they could build a pyramid, could build a sphinx, which we cannot do. We haven't the machinery to do it with. And Noah lived in a great time, and he lived in a scientific time.

99And then he says that the Word of the Lord come to him, after him being a vindicated prophet, that the Word of the Lord come to him and said, "Prepare an ark, for it's going to rain." And it had never rained, in all the history of the world. And upon his testimony and his witness for God, and said God told him so, "And all that was out of this ark would perish."

100 And the scientists could shoot the moon, in that day, with their radar and so forth, because Jesus said, "As it was in the days of Noah," same kind of an age. He said that they could prove that there was no rain up there, and that Mr. Unbeliever here, and Mr. Scoffer, and Mr. Skeptic, that they constantly haunted at him and made fun of him, for believing such a rashal thing. They were, claimed to be believers back there, but he said, "God didn't say a thing like that."

101Yet, he was a prophet, and the Word of the Lord come to him and told him to do it. And he went, preparing an ark. He got ready, and built the ark. After he had the ark completed; and Mr. Skeptic, and Mr. Impatient, and those walking around the ark.

You see, you say, "Did they live back there?"

102 Listen, God takes His man, but never His Spirit. The Spirit that was upon Elijah, come upon Elisha, and on down, and on down. The Spirit was upon Jesus, come upon the Church, and on, and on.

103And the Devil takes his man, but never the spirit. The same spirit, religious spirit, exists right down, like was on the Pharisees. It's right here in Tucson, Arizona, just as unbelieving, and just as--and just as creedy and--and traditional as that was. Not only here in Tucson; it's world over.

104And so is the Holy Spirit just as real tonight as it was at any time, Jesus Christ.

105 Notice. He wants to say that these people made fun of him, for being such a--a--a--a--a delinquent person, that would have no more mind and no more intelligence than to believe that water would fall from where there is no water at, and never had fell. But, yet, Noah said he held steady and believed that it would rain, because God said so. He knowed that God was able to do anything that He said He would do, therefore he built the ark.

106And after the ark was completed, he set in the door of the ark. "And they said, 'Now, you fanatic,' Mr. Unbeliever, Mr. Scoffer. The defense Witness... Or, the prosecutor's witnesses." He said, "They passed by me. And they said, 'Now your ark is built. Now you got your doors in it. And where is your rain?' But it looked pretty bad," he said, "at times. But, yet, I knowed that God was able to keep His Word. He never said when it was going to rain. He said it would rain. And that's all there was to it. He never said when it would rain. He just said it was going to rain. And I knew that it was going to rain, because He had me to build the ark. And I set steady."

107 And then we find out that, on May the tenth, he went into the ark, one morning, and the door closed behind him, and no one could open it.

108Then Mr. Unbeliever, Mr. Skeptic, they walked around the ark and laughed at him and made fun of him, and said, "Now, you old fogy, you closed that door, and I suppose you expect us to believe that Something else closed it. We know your tricks. You're no more than a magician. And you're just one of these here kind of a guys that tries to play tricks. And it's some kind of a hoax. And you closed the door."

109"But," he said, "in the midst of all that, I was there. I seen the hand of God close the door."

110Then, the first day, we'll say, "We'll see if it rains." First day, it didn't rain. Second day, it didn't rain. Third day, it didn't rain. On, till the seventh day.

111 And I'd like to stop here, on Noah's witness, and let you know this, that there'll come a time that when men and women, the church, will be going right ahead preaching and believing they're getting saved, when the door will be closed just like it was then. If you're not in, you get in now, 'cause God will close the door and there'll be no more mercy. He said, "As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the coming of the Son of man."

112Remember, one time even the disciples said to Jesus, "Why does the scribes say that Elias must first come?" them disciples.

113Jesus said, "He's already come and you didn't know it." And they understood it was John the Baptist; had done been here on earth, and done been beheaded and went up to Glory. And the thing that they were looking for was already in the past.

114One of these days, men and women will cry out. It'll be too far, be too late. The door will be closed. Jesus says it would be that way. "The virgins come and knocked on the door, and said, 'Let us in.' They wanted to get some of the Oil." But they ought to have got Oil when Oil was being given out. They knocked on the door. It said, "They were cast into outer darkness where there'll be weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth." I'm only trying to make that little side line of the defense, to the court now, of the--of the Word.

115 Now, Noah said, "But after a one hundred and twenty years, one morning the clouds begin to rise, and the rain came. God promised it. He never said when it would happen. They thought it was going to happen that same week that He told me. And I had an idea it could happen that week. And I was sure when I got the ark finished that it would happen, but it didn't happen. But I set steady because God made the promise. He never said just the day it's going to rain. He said it would rain." So, he, the witness steps down.

116 Second witness comes up, which is father Abraham. We'll call him. He said, "Oh, yes, I know Mr. Scoffer here. I--I know Mr. Unbeliever, Mr. Skeptic, oh, that Mr. Impatience. I was a prophet, also, in my day. And the Word of the Lord came to me and said, 'Separate yourself from these people, for you're going to have a baby by Sarah your wife.' She was sixty-five years old, and I was seventy-five. She was about twenty-five, thirty years past menopause. I married her. She was my half sister. I married her when she just a girl, and I a boy. Ten years difference in our age, and I married her. She became my wife. We'd lived together all these years, and she was barren and I was sterile. And yet, being a prophet, the Word of the Lord came to me and said, 'You will bear a child by Sarah.'"

117"Well, when I told Sarah that, she went downtown and got some yarn and made the booties, and got the pins ready and everything. And twenty-eight days passed. I said, 'How you feeling, honey?'"

118"Said, 'No different.' But I held steady, because I knowed it was the Word of the Lord." That's right.

119 "We went over to see the doctor, and he run us out of the office." An old man, seventy-five years old; and a woman, sixty-five, going to have a baby?

120You know, when you take God at His Word, regardless of what your condition is, He made the promise.

121And he said, "I went to the doctor, and the doctor ran us out of the office."

122"'An old man like you?' Said, 'Watch him. He's a little funny in his head.' Said, 'There is something wrong with the old fellow.'"

123And the scoffers begin to walk around, say, "Abraham, where is that son that you was going to have by Sarah, after the first month? There's nothing wrong with her, so they tell me." The first year passed. Nothing happened. "Abraham, father of nations, how many children do you have now?" Ten years passed, still no different. Scoffers!

124 "Mr. Impatient, he kept pointing his finger at me, 'See, there's nothing to it. Why, if there is something to it, you'd had it. That's ten years ago. You ought to had that baby, in ten years.'"

125But, he said, "I held steady, because I was fully persuaded, that what God said. God never told me when I was going to have that baby. He said I would have it.

126"But after twenty-five years, when I was a hundred years old and Sarah was ninety, the baby come on the scene." He's a very good witness. "I waited twenty-five years. I never staggered at the promise of God, by unbelief."

127And we claim to be Abraham's children, and can't wait from one night to the other. Just proves we're not. That's right. Watch, we get on the wrong side.

128 "See," he said, "I waited twenty-five years. God didn't tell me, 'Next month Sarah is going to conceive.' He said, 'You'll have the baby.' And I was fully persuaded, no matter how old I got. And I knowed that I would see it happen, because it was to be my child. Amen. Nothing is going to harm me. Old age, sickness, death, or nothing else can do it, till that promise is fulfilled. And I staggered not at the promise, through unbelief."

129"But every day, when Sarah said, 'I feel no better,' I got stronger. Every year when she said, 'Well, I didn't have it this year.' 'Then you'll have it this year.' 'I didn't have it last year.' 'We'll have it this year.' That went on and on, and on and on, year in and out, for twenty-five years. And one day, I seen her turning back to a young woman. I begin to see my strength coming. And the baby was born, twenty-five years later."

130The Word never said when he would have the baby, but said he would have it.

131"Abraham, I know you could testify a lot, but step down. I want another witness." All right.

132 The defense Witness now will call up His third witness. That'll be Moses. And Moses said, "When I was born, I was born a prophet." He wants you to know that gifts and callings are without repentance.

133No matter how many books you read out of these stores, that says that God doesn't do that, the Bible still remains true, that, "Gifts and callings are without repentance." You're born in this world, what you are.

134And now notice. Moses, he had a sign, to go down and show to the people, and there was a voice to follow that sign. Yet, when he went down with a God-given sign. Now, don't fail to get this, court. When he went down with this God-given sign that come from God, Pastor Pharaoh tried to--to smear his God-given gift, by making him say it's magic. He had somebody could do the same thing, some magician. And tried to make his God-given sign a cheap magic trick.

135 All Pastor Pharaohs didn't die in that day, see. "Some kind of mental telepathy, some kind of a power of Satan." And the thing of it was, they called up some cheap magicians and done the very same thing that he did.

136"But," he said, "that didn't shake me, because I know that the Voice that spoke to me was a Scriptural Voice, in that tree. He said, 'I have heard the cries of My people, and I have seen their affliction, and I remember My promise.' And the Voice..."

137Although, it was very odd in that day, for a thing like that to happen. They had all kinds of magic tricks they could do. And God give him something, a sign, that looked like it was some kind of a cheap magician trick, to try His servant. O God! But, he held steady, because the Voice that commissioned him was a Scriptural Voice, and he knowed It was God.

138 And you know, we're promised that same thing in the last days, the same thing to repeat again, them Jambres and Jannes to come back, to withstand the true Thing when It's in operation. But their follies will be made known then. By...

139So he tried to take some carnal impersonator, somebody that tried, went around and tried to impersonate the gift that God give him, to make it look like it was some kind of a cheap outfit.

140But Moses wants you all to know, this afternoon, as he testifies, that no matter how shady that the pastor tried to make his gift look like that it was shady and some kind of a cheap magician trick, he knew it was the Scriptures, because It was the Voice of God that told him. And he stood firm. And he wants you... to let you know, that it was a long time after that, but God kept His Word, and brought him right back to the place to where He said he would come, with the children of Israel.

Moses, step down.

141 Let the defense Witness call another witness. And we're going to call Joshua. Joshua has a wonderful testimony here, that he'd like to give.

142He stilled the people, he said. When Moses called out, one out of every denomination, to send them over to--to the promised land, to--to find out whether the land was really there or not. They just been told that. By faith they had walked that far.

143So Moses pulled out a Presbyterian, Lutheran, Pentecostal, and all. He got one of them out, each one, and took them over to the promised land. And when two of them come back with the evidence, you know what happened? The whole group begin to doubt it. When they seen the opposition was so great, the other side was so great, "Why," they said, "we look like grasshoppers, up the side of them, them Amalekites and--and Hittites, and so forth." And said, that, "We--we, why, we look like grasshoppers. We can't do it."

144 And Joshua wants to testify, "I stilled the people." He said, "Be still," at Kadesh-barnea, the judgment seat. He said, "Keep still, all of you. Let me bring your... this Word, to you. God told us, down yonder, through Moses and through... or through Abraham, that this land was ours. He sent a Pillar of Fire among us, that talked to our prophet here in a burning bush. And what this prophet has said has been true. And God told us He'd already give us the land. We are more than able to take it, 'cause it already belongs to us." He said, "I stilled the people, and got them quiet."

145But you know what? It was forty years later before they took the land. They were only about two-days journey, from Kadesh, they'd been over in the promised land.

146 May I stop here a minute? You Presbyterians, Methodists, and Baptists, or you Pentecostals, fifty years ago we'd have got the promised Land, but you got to fussing among one another, making organizations out from one side, and this one getting this, and this one and getting this, and a new revelation, instead of following the Word. And now we been fifty years this side the full Promise.

147But, remember, it was forty years, but Joshua wants you all to know that God kept His Word, with a brand new generation. He took the promised land just as it was promised, 'cause he stilled the people on the Word of God, to let them know that God made the promise, that this prophet they were following was not a false prophet, because the things that he was doing was exactly with the Scripture. No matter how falsely Pharaoh said it was, how falsely magicians try to say it was, how that they could do the same thing, and everybody do the same thing.

148 And Joshua wants you to know that there was a man in there, want to make an organization out of them. His name was Dathan, and he and Korah. And they raised up, said, "There's more holy men than you."

149God never does deal with groups. It's individuals. He cannot change. What God does, the first time, He has to ever remain that same one.

150Here, look. God's first decision to save a man was by the shed Blood of an innocent One. It's never changed. God never changes. We've tried to build cities for them. We've tried to build towers. We've tried to educate them. We've tried to denominate them. And we get further away, all the time. It's only one place that man can fellowship, that's under the shed Blood of the innocent One. That's the only way we'll ever believe it. Only way we can get together, is under the shed Blood of the innocent. God never changes His way. God, in no time, ever did deal but with one individual. He won't save you because you're a Methodist, or because you're a Pentecostal. He'll save you as an individual, not as a group. He never does do that. He saves individuals, one, just one person He deals with.

151Moses cried before the Lord, and the Lord said, "Separate yourself, Moses. I called you, with this message." And He let the world swallow them up. So Joshua wants you to understand that, also.

152 Now, after Joshua steps down, we'll call another witness right quick, so we won't take too long. I want to call Isaiah. I could call hundreds, but I'll just call these couple more and then quit.

153Isaiah, the prophet, he said, "In my day, the Lord vindicated me as His prophet. And we know that the Word comes to the prophet. And then, everything that I said, God honored it and made it come to pass. From a little boy, up, everything that was said come to pass. I was vindicated amongst the people as a prophet.

154"And then one day God give me the most rashal thing to say, that I could think of. He said, 'A virgin shall conceive. I'm going to give him a super sign. I'll give Israel and the world a super sign. They want signs, so I'll give them a super sign. A virgin shall conceive.' And me, being a vindicated prophet, making such a rashal thing as that, but I know that it was God's voice."

155 And you know, you might say this. Isaiah might testify to the court this afternoon, and say this, that, pretty near every virgin there was in Israel got baby clothes ready, because she was going to be the girl that had it. That's right. She was going to be the virgin. Every one of them got ready. And one of them knowed, the next month she was going to conceive... by the virgin. She going to be a virgin, conceive, because Isaiah, the prophet, was a vindicated prophet. Whatever he said in the Name of the Lord come to pass. And now he says, "A virgin is going to conceive."

156And the women got their little girls, "My daughter will be that one." The other, this, this, the fair, "She'll belong to this group. She'll belong to this group. She'll belong to that group." All these, they, every one of their daughters was going to have this baby, because the prophet said it was.

157And that generation passed. Isaiah died. Promise didn't come to pass, but eight hundred years later. God didn't say when the virgin would conceive. He just said she'd conceive. He wants you to know that, that God didn't say, "In this generation, or at this time, or a certain time, or a certain thing, this virgin shall conceive." He just said, "A virgin shall conceive." It was eight hundred years later, but that virgin conceived. See? God keeps His Word. Do you believe that? [Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.]... any time for her to do it.

158 Now, I could call all kinds of defense witnesses here, with the defense Witness, rather, to give witness. I could call people out of here. But if--if this court will pardon me, may I have the privilege of being the next witness?

159I'm not going to talk about Moses, and something that happened back there, or something happened fifty years ago, or something that happened, hundred years ago or five hundred years ago. I'm going to talk about something that happened now. I want... I believe... And I want to be the next witness, testify today, that, the Word of God that's promised for this day; not the day of Moses, not the day of the disciples, not the day of Luther, not the Day of Pentecost, not the day of Methodist.

160 But, this day, I want to give witness to it, on the stand. And if you'll pardon this personal thing. Because, it has to be a personal witness, and it must be true. Because, I know Who is the One we're defending, and He'll know whether it's Truth or not.

161I believe that we're living in the last days, and the message of another day will not fit this day. It cannot. It's got to be the Message for today, not for it was ten years ago. The Message for this hour, the Message for this generation, the Word speaks it. Then if the Word promises, there has to be something vindicate it.

162And that's the reason they fail to receive Jesus when He first come upon the earth, is because they were living under a tradition. And Jesus told them, said, "Search the Scriptures. They testify of Me."

Said, "We're Moses' disciples."

163He said, "If you were Moses' disciples, you would believe Me, for Moses wrote of Me. Look in the Scripture."

164And those blind, traditional men, yet good men, holy men, no one could put a finger upon them. They were priests. They lived an example. They were men that you couldn't put a finger on, 'cause, if you did, they'd be stoned. They were good men. They were bound to be good men, by law. And they were raised up, from generation to generation, their sons and grandsons, and great-grandsons, all had to be priests, Levites. And yet the men, in them trainings, that never knowed nothing else but seminary and the Bible, and was so blind they fail to see Him.

165 Could it be possible that we enter that again? Remember, the same Scripture said we would, that's exactly right, said we would do it. Now, as a personal testimony... Sometimes we get things so set together, that we're so starched on this, that this is the creed, this is the thing we must do, until we miss It a million miles. And I suppose we'll do the same thing, 'cause the Scripture said we would.

166Now, as something personal, but don't let it reflect. I trust it's just because I'm at the witness stand to this court.

167I believe that we're at the hour of the Coming of the Lord. I believe that these earthquakes and things that we're having, this moon that they're... Up here at the observatory and things, they're watching this moon. It's squirting bloody-looking eruption from the inside of it. Jesus said that the moon would be turned into blood, and there'd be earthquakes all over the earth, in them--in them days before His Coming. He claimed that the day would be setting just exactly the way it is.

168 And I believe, court, I want to say something to you this afternoon, that, I don't see one thing to hinder Him from coming right now. That, the world, if I had time I could prove it to you, is setting perfectly, even by names and position, the way it's supposed to be setting when He comes. When is the hour? I know not. No one knows. But He said, "When these comes to pass, look up." Israel is in her homeland. Everything is setting just exactly right, for His Coming.

169 Now, when I was a little baby. My people, course, being Irish descent, perhaps we were formerly Catholic, but my father and mother didn't go to church at all. In a little mountain home, up in the state of Kentucky; one morning, April the sixth, 1909, in a little old house that didn't even have any windows in it; just a little door like, you went, let the light in. When the Lord Jesus permitted me to come to the earth, being the firstborn of my mother and father; her fifteen, my dad eighteen. And on a little straw tick.

170I guess you people around here never know what a straw tick was. But, us, how many ever know what a straw tick was? Well, what part of Kentucky you from? See?

171So then, a straw tick, on a little straw tick, with a shuck pillow, that one little bed in the room. One little room, and a little kitchen, was just about, the whole thing together, wouldn't be twenty feet, altogether. Little old log cabin, no floor at all, a table is made out of a stump.

172 And there, in that little room, when Jesus Christ permitted me to come to the earth. I can only say this by testimony of my parents, which was not religious. But they didn't have no lights like we have here, not even a coal oil lamp.

173I don't know whether you ever know what a grease lamp was, or not. Take some lard and put it in a can, and put a little piece of flannel in it, and light it, and it'll burn.

174The light, that early in the morning, wouldn't show enough light to let mama see what I was, or looked like. And they opened this little window on the side towards the East, for some robins was setting in the bushes out there, singing, as it breaking day at five o'clock.

175And when they opened up the window, a Pillar of Fire, Light, came moving through the window, and come and hung over the little bed. My mother screamed. The midwife was there. We had no doctor. And the midwife was there. They didn't know what It was.

176 About two weeks after that, I was carried up to a little Baptist church, called Opossum Kingdom. The minister held me in his arms and dedicated me to God.

177The mountain people didn't know what to think about That. They, they told them. They thought maybe mama was just out of her head, or just thought that.

178Three years later, we come to Indiana, and papa got a job. He was a rider, breaking horses for the ranchers and farmers, and so forth. He come out there to break some hackney ponies, for a--a rich man named O. H. Wathen, lives on the Utica Pike. He's a great owner of the Colonels, and also the R. E. Wathen Distillery, and all them in Louisville, and O. H. and R. E. And daddy was breaking saddle horses for him. And then he got hurt, and he went to being a private chauffeur for him.

179 And at the age of about seven years old, I'd entered school. And one September afternoon... I hate to say this, but I'm on the witness stand. My father, being a real Irishman, a strict Kentuckian, he made his own drinks. And I was packing water to this little still that he had, and couldn't go fishing at the back of the pond. I was crying, packing water about a city block, from a barn, where the horses stayed. And I was packing water there, to come up to cool the coils on that still for that night.

180I set down under a white poplar tree, and was crying. Little dirty face, hair hanging down, corncob under my toe, keep it from being stumped, you know, going along like that, coming from school. All the rest the boys was out at the old ice pond, fishing. I was setting there, crying. I thought, "Why do I have to do this? Them other children don't do that."

181 And what it was, a noise came into that tree, like a wind turning, like a whirlwind. And I got up and looked back. And I'm on the witness stand, remember. There was a Voice spoke from that, said, "Don't you never smoke, or drink, or defile your body. There's a work for you to do when you get older." It scared the life out of me. And I went on. Things begin to happen. Things begin to prophesy and taking place. And now, when I was a little boy, then, about seven years old.

182Then, about seventeen years after that, I was, had become a minister, a Baptist preacher, of the Missionary Baptist Church. Dr. Roy E. Davis ordained me as one of the local pastors, give me rights then, by the state, to marry, bury, baptize, so forth. And the Missionary Baptist Church burned down, which I was assistant pastor, at the time. And Mr. Davis come back to Texas, which he was of Davis mountains, and--and down near Van Horn, Texas. That's where they come from. And so, while he was gone, I started to take over the congregation. Got a tent, and I begin to preach in the city, and just a boy preacher.

183 And I had a baptismal service down on the river, on 1933, on the middle of June, about sixteenth or eighteenth of June. And standing out there, it had been so hot, for weeks. Hadn't had no rain for two or three weeks, and the country was burning up, nearly. And there was, I guess, around seven or eight thousand people on the bank. And I walked out in the water, with my seventeenth candidate, to baptize. And when I baptized, started to baptize, I said, "As I baptize thee with water, may the Lord Jesus..."

184When I said that, Something struck me and said, "Look up." And as I turned to look, after the third time It said it, a place about fifteen-feet-square was churning up-and-down in them brassy skies. And down from there came that same Pillar of Light that come in when I was a little baby, that spoke to me in the burning bush, or the bush back there that day, and come into that bush, and come hung over where thousands of people.

185Newspapers packed it all across the nation, plumb into Canada. We got the clippings. "Mystic Light appears over local Baptist minister while preaching, or baptizing."

186And that Voice came down and said, "As John the Baptist was sent forth, to forerun the first coming of Christ, so will your Message forerun the second Coming of Christ."

187 How could it be so? How could it be so? It looked like it would be impossible. Then when It spoke, a few days from that, and said. And I begin to see these visions and things that always happened. It would scare me.

188My brethren said to me, said, "That's of the Devil." My Baptist brethren said, "That's of the Devil."

189I said, "You know, I'll just be standing, and," I said, "the first thing you know, it'll go into like a trance, like, or something." I said, "I see things that always happen. He told me, twenty-two years before that bridge went across there, how far it would go across, when it would go across, and how many men would lose their lives. And it was perfectly, every time."

And then some of them said, "That's the Devil."

190And I got away, and started crying and praying, one night. I said, "Lord Jesus, You know my heart. I love You. Let me die. Don't let me have any... the Devil to have anything to do with me. I'd rather die than be a false witness of You."

191And it was at that time when this Light returned again and showed me the Scripture, that in this day this thing is supposed to happen. Here it is laying right here in the Scripture now. It's been thirty-three years since that time, but I'm a witness that it's the Truth. I'm a witness of these things that it's Truth.

192 And may I call the--the attention of this Scriptural-blind prosecutor. Now, this is going to sound ridiculous. Scripturally blind, this prosecutor is. That, in the Book of Saint Luke, the 17th chapter and the 30th verse, Jesus said, "As it was in the days of Sodom."

193Now, you want to know where this is man, that He's the same yesterday, today, and forever? You want to know where the nail scars and the prints, and things? Any hypocrite could do that.

194The Life of Christ returns in the form of the Holy Ghost, not a nail scar. The--the corporal body is setting at the right hand of God, to make intercessions, but the Holy Ghost has come to carry on His work. I want you to know, in Saint John 14:5, Jesus said, "He that believeth in Me, the works that I do shall he do also." I want you also to know that John, the 14... or the 15th chapter says, that, "I am the Vine; ye are the branches." And how can the branches bear any other kind of a life or fruit than that was in the vine?

195 How can you people say that the apostolic age ceased? Where do you get it? How can a vine come out and bear, today, can go out and bear a orange, and this day bear a pumpkin? It would have to change its life. And in Malachi the 3rd chapter, God said, "I am God, and I change not." What He was then, He is today. And He always was and always will be.

196I want to call you, the attention, that the prosecutor is trying to tell you that He--He said, "I was" or "I will be," but it's wrong. He said, "I am the same yesterday, today, and forever." This prosecutor is misinterpreting the Word.

197 When Jesus commissioned His disciples to go into all the world, in Mark 16 here, and to preach the Gospel to every creature. How far? "All the world," it never has reached it. "Every creature," it never has reached it. "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them to the end of the world. They'll lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover."

198I want you to also know that Peter, on the Day of Pentecost, who had the keys to the Kingdom, when he stood up in Acts 2:38. He said, "Repent, every one of you, and be baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is to you, to your children, and to them that's far off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call."

199When did the apostolic age cease? There is the commission, "To all the world, every creature, and every one that believes." I want the court to understand that, that that's God's promise.

200 I want you to also understand, this blind interpreter to the people doesn't understand the Scripture. He said, here in Mark, the--the 17th chapter and the 30th verse, He said, "As it was in the days of Sodom." Now go back. Jesus was referring to the same Genesis that we're referring to. "In the days of Sodom, so shall it be in the coming of the Son of man." Now go back and look what it was in the days of Sodom, then see where we're at and see what's supposed to happen now. In the days of Sodom, when...

201Abraham, which was a type, he... We, only being dead in Christ, take on Abraham's seed, and are heirs with him according to the promise. Any of you in the court, this afternoon, knows that.

202Watch Abraham. He received all kinds of signs, everything, from the supernatural God in the form of a Light, going between sacrifice. He received Him in a voice, and so forth. But the last sign that Abraham received upon the hill from Sodom, just before the Gentile world was destroyed, was God Himself in the form of a human Being. You understand, court? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.] There was three Messengers come up to him. Three Messengers, and he went out to meet them.

203Two of them, a modern Oral Roberts and Billy Graham, goes down into Sodom and preach the Gospel, and blinded them with their Gospel.

204 But this One that set back there, that eat the flesh of a calf, drank the milk from a cow, and eat bread, and Abraham washed His feet. And He set there, a Man. And He said...

205Now, remember, his name had been Abram, a day before that, and had been changed to Abraham. And Sarai had been changed to Sarah. And watch Him, what He says, "Where is your wife, Sarah?" S-a-r-a-h. "Abraham," A-b-r-a-h-a-m, "where is your wife, Sarah?"

206He said, "She's in the tent behind You." She hadn't come out, like women today do, have to show themselves. But, she, she was in a tent behind.

He said, "I'm going to visit you according to the time of life."

207And Sarah doubted it in her heart, and said within her heart, "These things can't be," 'cause, you see, as family relations had been far from them. He was a hundred years old, and she was ninety. Said, "Me have pleasure with my lord, and him old, too, out there? How could it be?"

208And this Man, with His back turned to the tent, said, "Why did Sarah doubt, saying, 'These things can't be'?"

209And Abraham called Him "Elohim." If anybody knows what Elohim means, "the all-sufficient One." God Almighty Himself manifested in the flesh. How did Abraham call Him that? Because he seen that that Man was the Word.

210 Now, Hebrews, the 4th chapter and the 12th verse, says that the Word of God is sharper than a two-edged sword, a Discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And when Jesus came and performed that miracle, by discerning their thoughts that was in their heart, they called Him Beelzebub.

211But the Word in those prophets always was able to foretell and to discern. That's the Word for that day. That's what identified them as prophets. And remember, He promised that the world would be in that condition, and would receive that sign again before His Coming. Now notice in Luke 17 here, He said, "As it was in the days of Sodom, so shall it be at the coming of the Son of man, when the Son of man is being revealed."

212 Will you pardon me for another minute, let me open something to you here, just a minute, court? Will you permit this, as I'm a witness?

213Did you notice here? He never said, "When the Son of God is being revealed." He said, "Son of man." Jesus come with three titles: Son of man, Son of David, Son of God, all the same Person.

214That's just like the trinity: Father, Son, Holy Ghost. Not three Gods! One Person; the three attributes of God.

215Now, see, just like I am three persons. I am to my wife a husband. I am to my daughter, setting here, daddy. And my grandson, setting there, I am grandpa. Now, my wife only has claims on me as her husband. And my daughter here can't say, "husband," because she's my child. My grandson cannot call me "daddy." Right. He has no claims on me as daddy. He might call me that, but it isn't so. He is my grandson. Yet, I'm the same person.

216It's God unveiling Himself, bringing Himself down, so He can be... He was above, in a Pillar of Fire. Then He was manifested in His Son, Jesus Christ. And now revealed to us, by the Holy Ghost. Watch, when He come.

217 You know what "Son of man" means? Look in Ezekiel, the 2nd chapter, and you'll find, Ezekiel 2:1. Jehovah Himself called Ezekiel, the prophet, "son of man." He called all the prophets, "son of man."

218And why then did Jesus call Himself Son of man? Because He had to come in the way that the prophets said He would come. Moses, in Deuteronomy 18:15, said, "The Lord your God shall raise up a prophet like me." And He come to reveal Himself to the natural seed of Abraham, as Son of man. And they called It the work of a devil.

219So has the royal Seed! That sounds harsh, but it's corrective, and it's love. The royal Seed today has done the same thing; try to call it "mental telepathy, or some devil." It's the Son of man, Christ.

220That was Christ in Ezekiel; Christ in Moses; Christ in David. It was Jesus, the same yesterday, today, and forever. What? The Word being made manifest by these prophets.

221 Listen to it, court, before you make your decision. The Word comes to the prophet. Jesus said that your law says that your... that them the Word of the Lord come to is gods. And Jesus admitted they were gods. He said, "Then, if you can call them and recognize them, your law, as being "gods" who the Word of the Lord come to, the prophets, how will you condemn Me when I say I'm the Son of God?" When, He is the vindicated Word of that hour. They said they believed the prophets, and here was the Word in fullness. And still they didn't believe It, because they had their creed and their tradition.

222Watch now, court, before you make your decision. Let's go just a little farther. Watch. The Son of man, they called Him a devil. But they wanted to make Him king, you know, by force.

223 Look, when blind Bartimaeus run after Him, said, "Thou Son of David, have mercy," he got what he asked.

224But when the Syrophenician woman, a Greek, Gentile, run after Him and said, "Thou Son of David," He never even raised His head. She had no claims on Him as Son of David. He was no Son of David to her. But when she said, "Son of God," or "Lord," which is Son of God, she got what she asked for. See? The Gentiles has no claim on Him as Son of David. He was King. He is Lord, to us.

225And when He revealed Hisself as Son of man, as the Scripture said He would be. "No, sir." They rejected It. "He wasn't no prophet." They couldn't believe It. They hadn't had one for hundreds of years, and they couldn't believe Him be a prophet.

226When He told the little woman about how many husbands she had, and her in that condition, she was ordained to Life. She said, "Sir, I perceive that You're a prophet. I know when Messiah cometh. We haven't had a prophet for hundreds of years. But I know, when He comes, that's the sign He'll do, 'cause He'll be the Word. He knows what's in my heart."

227He said, "I am He that speaks to you." And her testimony caused the whole city to come to Christ. Right. They all believed.

228 Now, look, as Son of David, He was with the Jew. But the Son of God... Now look. Son of man, prophet. See? Son of David, king. They recognized Him not a prophet. They wanted to make Him king. They wanted to be delivered out from under the Roman Empire.

229But then in the church age, He is called the Son of God. Now, anyone knows that God is a Spirit. Is that right? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.] And the Holy Ghost is the Son of God. He's supernatural. Son of man was a prophet, a man; David was a king; but God is a Spirit. And in the church age, He's revealed as Son of God. We believe that. You don't believe He's the Son of God, you're lost. He's the Son of God to the church age.

230 But bear me record. The seventh church age, which is the Laodicea church age! Well, we would admit that this is the Laodicea age? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.] Remember, He, the Word, was put out of the church. Is that right? ["Amen."] Put out of the church! And He was on the outside, trying to get back in, "I stand and knock at the door." [Brother Branham knocks three times on the pulpit.] "And you say that, 'I'm rich, and I have need of nothing.' And knowest thou not that you're miserable, blind, naked, wretched, and don't know it." He was on the outside, the Word.

231What is it? Our traditions. Our Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Pentecostal traditions has rejected the Word, and He can have no cooperation nowhere. Everybody is "hands off of It," and want to call It an evil spirit.

232And do you understand that Jesus said, in the last days before the coming of the end time, that He would be revealed again as "Son of man," not "Son of God"? And that fulfills Malachi 4 and all these other promises of Abraham, the last sign that Abraham received. He was waiting for a coming son, and the last sign that he was receive, was God revealed in a human being. And Jesus said, "As it was in the days of Lot in Sodom, so shall it be in the coming of the Son of man."

233 Now, will you forgive me, for me to make a little, deep statement here. Want to ask you theologians something. Search back through the Scripture, through Bible history. As you been telling me this week, you was a--you was a Scripture-reading men. And also that you was... that the apostolic age is finished, and--and that--that you knowed all the history of the church. I want you to call this to your attention. God forgive me for breaking this out, if it's not right to do it.

234The world is setting exactly time for it. The world never was in such a time as this, as in a Sodom condition. Last week, in Florida, the state of Florida, sixty-something percent of the school teachers was put out of the school, for homosexual. Forty some-odd percent increased, over California, over last year; homosexual. The schools, the seminaries, everything is full of it. And she is setting exactly where it was in the days of Sodom. God will be obligated, if He don't punish this nation and this world for its sins, He'll be morally obligated to raise up Sodom and--and Gomorrah and apologize for burning them. Look at the hour we're living in.

Think now, a minute, court, before you make your decision.

235 Now, Jesus never said, "In the days when the Son of God will be revealed." He was revealed in the church age. But the church has put Him out.

236Then, He would be revealed as Son of man, "When the Son of man is being revealed," God manifested amongst the human beings, like it was then, Son of man, prophetic.

237Malachi 4 is promised, a--a seer to come forth with a voice. Not Malachi 3 now, "Send My messenger." Malachi 4 now. Don't get them confused. Cause, you do, you'll miss it. Malachi 4 was not Malachi 3, "I send My messenger before My face." But, Malachi 4, when this messenger comes, the world is to be burned, and the Millennium sets in. "The wicked is burned, is ashes, and the righteous walk out upon the ashes of them." That never happened in the days of John. See? Malachi 4! And watch, there's to be a sign, and that sign must be a Scriptural sign.

238 Jesus said, "I come from God. I go to God." He was the Pillar of Fire that was in the burning bush.

239They stood there one day and said, "You're a Man not over fifty years old." He might have looked a little older than He really was. His ministry was heavy. And the Bible says there's no beauty we should desire, and probably a little bitty Fellow. He said, "You say... You're not over fifty year. Well, You'll not over fifty years old, and say You seen Abraham?"

240He said, "Before Abraham was, I AM." He said, "I come from God. I was that Pillar of Fire in the wilderness. I come from God."

241He was made flesh, the Son of God. God overshadowed a virgin, created a Blood cell that brought forth His Son. Which, God housed in that Son. "God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself."

"And I go to God," after His death, burial, and resurrection.

242Saul was on his road down to Damascus, and was stricken down by a Light, that Pillar of Fire. You think that Jew would call anything, some--some kind of an illusion, "Lord"? When he looked up and seen that Pillar of Fire, he knowed that's what he, his fathers had follow, followed out of Egypt. He said, "Lord, Who are You?"

243And He said, "I am Jesus." He's the same yesterday, today, and forever.

244 And the Scriptural voice that spoke in Moses' bush, and Moses stood pat on it.

245So was that a Scriptural voice that spoke in the bush, at seven years old. I still stand and say it's the Truth. Because, Moses seen that Word, had to come to pass. I see this Word has to come to pass. "The Son of man has to be revealed," exactly what It said. Notice, it promised that. Not Son of God; Son of man! See? Son of man, Son of David, and Son of God.

246But after the days of the church age, when He's put out, then He reveals Hisself again as Son of man. Cause, "We being dead in Christ, we take on Abraham's Seed. And we are His royal Seed. How many admit that, that the Church is his Royal Seed? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.] Well, you see, what He did to Abraham, He's doing the same thing.

247 Now pardon this. Now, you fellows that say you know history so well, tell me when, in the history of the church, has there ever been a leader that went to you out there, with you Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, whatever you might be? When was there a man sent to you, with the ending of his name with h-a-m, until now, G-r-a-h-a-m? You had Sankey's, Moody, Finney, Knox, Calvin, but never a h-a-m, like Abraham. And G-r-a-h-a-m is only six letters.

A-b-r-a-h-a-m is seven letters, God's Word, perfected.

248Now, remember, this Person that was in the days of Abraham. Now, Abraham was, his, was the elected. He wasn't in Sodom. He was called out of Sodom. That Messenger that visit him never went to Sodom.

But, the ones went down to Sodom, watch what they did.

249 Watch what this One did to the church elected. And Jesus called your attention to the same thing, would happen in the last days, "when the Son of man would reveal Hisself in human flesh," the Word knowing the secret of the heart. As It said, "It's more powerful than a two-edged sword, and a Discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." Like all the prophets did. Like Jesus did, Himself, was called Beelzebub. And rejected here, again, in the last days.

250I wonder if that blind interpreter ever thought of that? I wonder if he'll ever realize that these Scriptures that's been prophesied for this day has to come to pass? How may... Do you believe it must be at this time? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.] God's Word, though It linger! Yet all these things, these church ages passed, and it's been hundreds of years since we've ever had it, but it's promised to be here.

251 He's revealed Hisself as Son of God, Son of God, the Holy Ghost baptized. The Pentecostal church and the churches down through, has brought down signs, wonders, miracles like He did. They seen God in great visions and everything.

252But never has the church ever seen the Son of God manifested in human flesh, that would reveal the thoughts that's in the heart, till this age. And that was the age that seen Sodom burn and the promised son return. I wonder if that blind interpreter of the Scripture ever thought of that? I want the court to remember that. Remember, no longer how, no matter how much it lingers, yet it's got to happen. It's going to happen.

253 These witnesses testify, has absolutely testified the Truth, that it is so. God said, "They shall lay hands on the sick, they shall recover."

254But the outside world wants you to believe, as soon as you lay hands on, you must... and the crippled legs must be straight, and you must jump up-and-down. He never said that. He never promised that.

255He said, "The prayer of faith shall save the sick, and God will raise them up." He never said when. "They lay hands on the sick, they shall recover." He never said when. He said, "When you pray, believe that you receive it, and it shall be given to you." He didn't say when.

256 Now, if we are real, genuine believers, when these Scriptures are ministered to us, there is nothing can tell us any different. There is nothing can say that It's wrong; how many could raise up, how many infidels, how many unbelievers, how many could explain this, that, or the other. God keeps His Word. And Mark 16 is just as inspired as John 3:16. The whole thing is the Word of God. Every Word of It is inspired. All of It is God, if you just read It the way It says.

257I want to call the church to the order of the day, to find out. Before you call anything a devil, you better remember, the promise of this is to be in this day. See? Remember that. Cause, one word against the Holy Ghost is never forgiven in this world, neither in the world to come. And you see the Holy Spirit Himself manifested, doing the same thing.

258 I'm looking at a little woman setting here in front of me. I think she's a Presbyterian. I'm not mistaken. Was at my house, not long ago. She had till Wednesday to live, cancer; setting in the room. I just happened to spot her setting by a friend of mine. And she was given till Wednesday to live, by the medics of the city. They're puzzled now. Here she sets tonight, looking fine and healthy, and still living. You're thankful for it, aren't you, sister? Raise your hand, if that's right. See her setting right here. See? Dying, and given till Wednesday, about several months ago. And now the doctors are amazed, to think. What happened It was THUS SAITH THE LORD. His Words are still true.

259 When, this Scripture says here, that, "These signs shall follow them that believe. If they lay their hands on the sick, they shall recover, if you'll believe. These signs shall follow the believer." They shall. He never said when. And if you're a real believer, there is nothing could separate you from that.

260Listen to Abraham's testimony. Listen at the rest of their testimonies. How many hundreds could I call on the scene today, and show you that God keeps His Word, regardless, if you'll believe It and stand there, and know in your heart that it's going to come to pass.

261 When, this little lady, referring to. Now, somebody was telling me, a few minutes ago, excuse me, was telling me a few minutes ago, coming through the dinner line out there, said, "Brother Branham, don't you remember this little lady here, your prayer of faith to her not long ago? She, years ago, was dying with a cancer." Is that woman setting present? Somebody pointed her out to me. Raise up your hand, if you are setting here somewhere. A little woman coming through the line, some man, gray-headed brother, was pointing her out to me, said she was dying with cancer. And here she lives now. Is that lady in the building here now? She was in the dinner room, a while ago. Pointed over there. Yeah. Yeah. There is Mrs. Waldrop back there, that was stay... and dead, in the line, fifteen years ago, seventeen years ago, with her doctor with a--with a x-ray there, that cancer had eat her heart out. But it was THUS SAITH THE LORD.

262Let the critics rise and say what they want to. I'm a witness that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. What He was then, He is today. He's not "I was," "I will be." He is now, present tense, the same yesterday, today, and forever. And Jesus and His Word is the same. And He is the Word. Do you believe it? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.]

263 What did He say? "These signs shall follow them that believe. If they lay their hands on the sick, they shall recover."

264Before we say this to court, you are the jury. You've heard the case. How many witness could we call? No matter how many other witnesses the--the prosecutor could call, these Words testify against him. He misinterpret the Scripture. How many believes that the Words are true? How many is a believer? Raise up your hand. [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.] All right. The Bible said this, "The prayer of faith shall save the sick. God shall raise them up. If they lay their hands on the sick, they shall recover."

265Now look, each one of you. Through this broken up little message, you've drawed some conclusion. Down in your mind, you've made up your mind, 'cause that's the jury. And the way you act from hereafter, that'll prove what your verdict is. See? The way you live from hereafter will prove just what your verdict is. Now, if you go out and say, "Well, I'm just as sick as I was when I come in," there it shows just what kind of a verdict you've made in this court this afternoon.

266 I think He's had a fair trial He's had, been brought up as the Word. He's been proved as the Word. He's been identified as the Word. And if I die this night, the Words that I've said is true. [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.] The world knows it. The scientific world knows it. That same Pillar of Fire, the same Angel of the Lord! How many has seen the picture of It? It hangs in Washington D.C., the only supernatural Being was ever photographed. If I die this night, I never see you again, what I've said is the Truth. And God has testified of it, that it's the Truth. And here is the Scripture, says it's supposed to be now. Then call it a devil if you want to. That'll be between you and God. See?

267 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and He's identifying Himself as He promised. Much more could we say. In these last days, as Son of man, making Hisself known among His people, in the form of His people. See? Not Son of God, not Son of David, but Son of man. The Son of God was the supernatural.

268Like Abraham, he seen voices, and heard things, and seen lights, and so forth. But just before the promised son come, God revealed Himself as a Man, in human flesh, and read the thoughts that was in Sarah's heart, in the room behind Him. How many says, knows that's the Scripture? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.] Very good.

269 And He said, "As it was in the days of Sodom, so shall it be in the coming of the Son of God coming, when the Son of man shall be being revealed." "The Son of man being revealed," not the Son of God in the church age. He's put out of that. Now He's Son of man revealing Himself. The Word is becoming flesh among us.

270Oh, my friend, open your eyes, court, before you make your decision. Make your decision and believe it with all your heart. He's justified in writing this in the Scripture. He's justified in what He says. I can prove it. I know He's right. God does prove it.

271He needs nobody to interpret, say, "This is that, and This is that." He says He'll do it, and He does it, and that settles it. He is His own Interpreter.

272You believe that? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.] How many is believers, then? Raise up your hand, say, "I'm a believer." I want every believer in here to stand to your feet. Unbeliever, remain seated. Believers stand to your feet.

273 In this court, before it adjourns, I want to thank the Lord that this court has made up its mind. The jury has come to this verdict, that Jesus Christ is justified in putting these things in His Word. When it's truly interpreted in the Light of the Word, it is the Truth. How many of you, court, believe that? Raise your hand, say, "Before God, I believe that it's the Truth. I believe that it's the Truth." Now, how many, as you put your hand down, say, "I am a believer in what you've said. I believe it to be the honest Truth. It's the Word of God"? Raise up your hand. All right.

274 Now I want you, reach right across the table, and lay your hand on another believer. Put your hand right across the table, lay it on another believer. Are we believers? What did He say? "These signs shall follow them that believe."

275Court, have you made up your mind? Say, "Amen." [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.] "My verdict has been reached." Is that right, "Amen"? ["Amen."] That the Word of God is true, "Amen"? ["Amen."] Mark 16 is true, "Amen"? ["Amen."] Then, "These signs shall follow them that believe." They'll have to recover. ["Amen."] He said so, did He not? ["Amen."]

276Now, the way you pray at church, you pray for the person you got your hands on. They're praying for you. "And these signs shall follow them that believe." What will happen? Your action, from this hour on, will prove what your true verdict is.

277Now bow your head, every one of you. Now pray for the person that you got your hands on.

278 Jesus Christ of Nazareth, I call this to Your attention again. These men and women has claimed, by their testimony, that they are believers. They have stood, and they are laying their hands on one another. Lord, we believe Your Word, that in this great day of education, this great day of--of--of going on, of ethics and--and all the educational systems, yet, in the midst of all of it, Your Word remains true just the same.

279And we've called witnesses in this court this afternoon, Lord, to give You a fair trial; not a mock trial, not a mock like Herod give You, or--or--or as one of the others. We're giving You a fair trial here, and proving. And Your people has made up their mind, that the Word of God in 1964, this hour that we're now living, that You're just as much God as You ever was. And every Word that You promised is the Truth. And they've got their hands laying on one another, as believers. They are praying for one another.

280And You said, "These signs shall follow them that believe. If they lay their hands on the sick, they shall recover." You never said when. You said, "They shall recover." Now, them being...

281 As I being the moderator, and these people being the jury, also the judge, they have give witness to this, Lord, by moving to one another's hands, and praying for one another.

282Now, their actions hereafter will certainly prove what their verdict is. May there never be one complain among them, anymore, of ever being sick of this sickness, or whatever bothers them now. May they know that God promised He would do it.

283Sometimes He lingers, as He did in the days of Noah, He did in the days of Moses, He did in all days. But He--He never told the Pentecostal people, "Go up to the city of Jerusalem, in twenty-four hours I'll give you the Holy Ghost." He said, "Tarry there until you're endued with power from on High." He never said, "One day, two days, ten days." He said, "Stay until you're endued with power." Lord, they stayed until the evidence spoke back through them, that it was the Holy Ghost of God.

284Now, may these people, who has their hands upon one another, who stands, this court this afternoon, in the Presence of God, in the Presence of His Word as I've read It. And we testified to this, that we believe that He keeps His Word. And may each one be healed, in the Name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

285 Now, all you that believe that, from this hour, that a believer that stood to their feet as a believer, and you a believer, that you've testified and give witness before this court this afternoon that you believe that He's just and He keeps His Word. No matter how long it tarries, it's got to happen. Do you believe it? Raise your hand. [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.] Do you accept it? ["Amen."] God bless you. I believe it with all my heart.

Now let us bow our heads just a moment.

286 Is there a person in here that's been an unbeliever, a person that's not a Christian? I want to give you the opportunity to walk up here to this, before this court, and make a confession, and say, "I have been a doubter, all my life. But, from this day on, I accept Jesus Christ."

287I know that the Bible said, that, "In the days, as it was, in the days of--of Jonah, was in the belly of the whale for three days and nights."

They said to Him, "Give us a sign."

288 He said, "A wicked and an adulterous, a Sodom generation, seek after a sign, and they'll get it. They'll get a sign. For as Jonah was in the belly of the whale, three days and nights, so must the Son of man be in the heart of the earth." These disciples that we read about, was misunderstanding, when they wouldn't believe those who had seen Him after He was risen from the dead.

289We've seen Him. We know that it's true. He is risen from the dead. We believe it. And we're living in a days like it was in the days of--of Jonah, when the cities were perverted into evil. And Jonah come forth, out of a whale's belly, as one from the dead. And, today, we believe Jesus Christ has raised from the dead and is making Hisself known down through the church age as Son of God, and now filling it, fulfilling His promise in the last days, to reveal Hisself to Abraham's royal Seed, as Son of man.

290 God bless you. With our heads bowed now, quietly and reverently, while we sing one verse, I Love Him. "I love Him because He first loved me." And if you're not a Christian, and you want to become one, and to take your stand tonight with the Lord's despised few, in this evil day like it was in the days of Noah, like it was in the days of Sodom, come forth while we sing, with our heads bowed and everybody praying.

I love Him, I love Him

Because He first loved me

And purchased my salvation

On Calvary's tree.

291Now let us keep our heads lowly, now, as we hum. [Brother Branham begins humming I Love Him--Ed.]

292Think of it. Think of it. Can you shake yourself just a little bit? The very God that made the promise, He is here, making it known, right on earth today, proving it. Here is His Scriptures. Nobody has to interpret it. It's already interpreted. And He purchased my salvation. Won't you accept it?

[Brother Branham continues humming I Love Him--Ed.]

293Now, if you're already a Christian, and you'd like to live closer to God, let's raise your hands while we sing it again, with our heads bowed. Want a closer walk with God; you believe this to be the Truth, that we're living in the last days. "I..."

294God be with you, friend. Don't fail. Don't fail. Believe Him. I love Him. Mean it with all your heart now. Surrender yourself. He is the Word, the Word for this day.

... first loved me...?...