The Trial

1 For a Scripture reading, this afternoon, out of the Book of Mark, the 16th chapter of Mark. And I want you to stand, with your Bibles, as we read God's Word. Mark 16, beginning with the 9th verse.

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 unto other forms, of two... (Pardon me.)

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...

After, 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.

2 Isn't that a picture today! They don't believe you're a witness such.

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.

3That just makes the line, one side or the other.

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; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay their 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,... preaching every where, the Lord working with them,... confirming the word with signs following. Amen.

Let us bow our heads.

4 Lord, we believe this to be the last commission to the church. We believe that the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. And we believe that any man is no better than his word, therefore we believe that this Word is You. And we believe that it is You, which, the same yesterday, today, and forever. Come, today, O Father God, in the form of the Word, to us, and let the people see that Thou art the risen Christ, and raised in this last day, in the form that You said You would be in, the manifested Word. When You were on earth, You were the prophesied Word, manifested in a human form. And the Word is prophesied for this day. Come, Lord Jesus, and bring It to us, today, the Word. Do Your interpretation of the Word, that we might have "joy unspeakable, and full of glory." Insomuch that we have found You pleasant, and found Your Words true and confirmed in our hearts, that we have passed from death unto Life.

5We all who are born of that one tree in the garden of Eden, that was forbidden to be touched, the woman, for in her there is no life; she only is an egg. The life come from the Man, which was Christ. And we have been born of woman, and, as the Bible tells us, "of few days, and full of sorrow and trouble."

6 Father, we have also been born of the Life-giving, from the Man. The male comes to the female, and the germ is from the male; as Your Spirit overshadowed the virgin, and in her womb was created the Blood cell; the Blood cell, not Jewish, not Gentile, but God, created Blood. In that Blood, we have our hopes. It was not of a woman, neither of a man; it was of God.

7So we pray today, Lord, as we have see ourselves partakers of the woman-tree, and we all must die because there is no life in the woman, now also, Father, we've been given the privilege to partake of the Man-Tree, which was Christ. And now, through Him, we have Life, Life, the Word, be made Life among us. Grant, Lord, that these things will become such a reality to the Church, that they will see, and we'll understand the hour we're living.

8Heal the sick and the afflicted. May there not be a feeble person among us, this afternoon, when this service closes. May it be so long remembered amongst the people! May Your servants, the--the pastors, the shepherds, may they just be so inspired until their churches will be revolutionized and the great services take place, and start an old-fashion revival right here in this city, among them, that'll sweep state and nation, and even world-wide. Grant it, Lord. You hold the keys of this prayer in Your hand. Help us, we pray, in Jesus' Name. Amen.

You may be seated.

9 God must bring judgment upon the earth. And God has to have something here, a standard, to judge the world by, because it would be unjust, in God, to judge the world, and the world knowing no standard to go by. How many believes that's true? If the church is the standard, which one is it? The Word, God said He would judge the world by Jesus Christ. He is the Word. "In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us." "The same yesterday, today, and forever."

10 Now I want to speak to you this afternoon on a very strange subject, it might be to you. But, in this subject, I'm going to give my Lord a--a just trial. I don't think He got the right kind of a trial before Pilate's court. I--I don't believe He had--He had the right trial, therefore they found fault with Him, and condemned Him and crucified Him. But we're going to act, this afternoon, as in this trial.

And you say, "Could you give Him a trial?"

11If He remains the Word, we can give Him the trial, because He is the Word yet. And we can give Him a trial. And I want to see that in this court, this afternoon, as we take this building to represent the court, that we want to see that He gets a just trial, whether it's for Him or against Him. We want to give both sides. And then, in this case, I want to try Him, which is the Word.

12 Now, this Scripture that I have just read, Mark the 16th chapter, even Doctor Scofield here says, "From the 9th verse on, is not found in two of the oldest manuscripts." It's commonly believed among people, that, our teachers today who want to believe it that way, that it's been injected in there by the Vatican.

13But I find that Irenaeus and many of the early writers refer to Mark 16. As you other people who study history, Bible history, know that them early apostles, and even after Jesus' death, and when Polycarp, and Irenaeus, and Saint Martin, and Saint Columba's, and all of those, referred back to this Mark 16. So it must have been authentic, or they would have never referred to it. And Saint John was the one who set the epistles together, and Polycarp was a bosom friend and help him to do it, according to the history.

14Now we find out that today they don't believe that. They are trying to get away from the reality of God being real; instead, just of a declaration or a creed. The real God, this chapter would prove it to be, and every proof that they can get.

15 Like a certain great teacher, president of the Sudan Missions, my little wife over there was present when he came to my place, Paris Reidhead. And he said, "Brother Branham, I understand that you was a Baptist."

I said, "Yes, sir, that's right."

16And he said, "Well," said, "I want to ask you something." He said, "When I was a little boy," said, "I had an experience. And my mother washed and everything, to send me to school. And I thought, surely, that when I got my B.A., that I would find Christ." He said, "That, when that was given to me, I didn't find It. When I got my Doctor's Degree, I thought I would find It. When I got my LLD, I thought I would find It." He said, "Brother Branham, I got enough degrees, both literal and--literal and also honorary, that I could plaster your walls with them. But where is the God of the Bible?" He said, "Was the teachers wrong?"

I said, "Who am I to say that the teachers was wrong?"

17 He said, "Well, here is what I understand, that you turned Pentecostal."

18And I said, "Well, I don't say I... I believe, when I was born in the Kingdom of God, I automatically was pentecostal," I said, "because pentecost is not an organization. They've tried to make it, but it isn't. God will fill a Presbyterian, Lutheran, or whoever you are. See, so it's an experience and not an organization. You can't organize it. It's an experience."

19And he said, "Well, I want to tell you what happened." He said, "From India, in these days, they're sending people over here for their education." Said, "In our school, there was a fine Indian boy that come over here and he got his education. And when he went back..." I think he was to be, I think, electrical engineer or something. He said, "But when we..."

20 They got a school just like Brother Oral Roberts has up there. They teach engineering and whatever.

21So he said, "On the way back, I with another minister, said to him, 'Now, going back to India... '" And you know the--the Indians worship Mohammed. And he said, "'Why don't you forsake your old dead prophet, and receive a resurrected Lord Jesus; and take a real God back to India with you, tell your people?'"

22He said, "Sir," he said, "what could your Lord Jesus do for me anymore than what my prophet can do?"

23And he said, "Well, my Lord Jesus can give you Eternal Life. It's a promise in the Word."

24He said, "My prophet, Mohammed, promised the same thing, in his word."

25And he said, "Well, you see," he said, "my Lord Jesus is raised from the dead. Your prophet is in the grave."

26He said, "Did He raise from the dead?" Said, "You've had two thousand years to prove it, and eighty percent of the world has never heard about it." He said, "Let Mohammed raise from the dead, and the whole world will know, it in twenty-four hours."

27 Now, he said, "Well, look," he said, "Jesus is raised from the dead." Said, "I can prove it because He lives within my heart," said the Christian.

28And the Mohammedan said, "And, sir, Mohammed lives in my heart."

He said, "But, you see, we got power and joy."

29He said, "Sir, the Mohammedan religion can produce just as much psychology as Christianity can." And that's truth.

30I've seen them lay in the street and holler, "Allah," and get in such a condition, they could take... Billy and I stood and watched a man run a sword right under his heart; and a doctor got up there and poured water through it, and it come out; pulled it out, and it never hurt him. See them take splinters, and take under their fingernails and run them through, and run hooks up through their nose, and never even feel it or bleed a drop. They can produce more psychology than Christianity can.

31And Mr. Reidhead said to me, said, "I knowed I wasn't talking to some overnight boy. And he said, 'We Mohammedans are waiting.'"

32 Like they did to our gallant brother, Billy Graham, you read it in the paper, when the Mohammedan come to Mr. Graham, and said, "You take thirty sick people, and I'll take thirty sick people; and you heal your thirty, and I'll heal my thirty by Mohammed," see, Mr. Graham run from the scene. He wouldn't answer him.

33I don't believe I would have done that. I'd have been like the Hebrew children, "Our God is able to deliver us from this." Why didn't he send, get Oral Roberts or somebody? If he didn't believe That, send to get somebody that did believe It. But, you see, by denominationals, oh, they'd throw him out right then. He's got a work to do.

34 However, then he said, "When we, over in India, see you--you Christians produce what Jesus said that you would do," said, "then we will believe you." He said, "He said He raised from the dead, and the people would know it because you would do the same works that He did."

"Well," he said, "we do greater works."

35He said, "I never said 'the greater.' I just want to see the works that He did, first." Why, you talk, you know you're not talking to some little fellow down on the corner, when you talk to one of those theo-... them and their theology. So he said, "We want to see the works that He did."

"Oh," he said, "perhaps you're referring to Mark 16?"

36He said, "Yes, sir. That's one of them, His last commission to the church."

37He said, "Well, now, you see," said, "a lot of people fanatically believe that chapter." He said, "But we learned, better scholars in school, that Mark 16, from the 9th verse on, is not really inspired."

38He said, "Why, Mr. Reidhead!" He said, "What part is inspired then?" He said, "Maybe the rest of It isn't inspired. All the Koran is inspired. What kind of a book are you reading, called the Bible?"

39He said, "I've made in my heart I was coming to talk to you. Yeah, I was going to talk to you."

40There you are. If This is not inspired, then what about the rest of It?

41 It reminds me of a lady in Chicago. Her boy went away to a seminary, to learn to be a minister, some Bible school and seminary. And while he was away, the old mother took real seriously sick. And so they sent word for the boy to 'stand by,' his mother with such a high fever, she had pneumonia, and said that (she) it --it might be an emergency call. So the boy packed his clothes and got ready. Finally, the next day, he never heard no word through the night, and the next day, said, "All is well."

42So about a year later, he returned from the school in the East, some great school of teaching. And he came home and he greeted his precious mother, and he said, after talking a while, said, "Mother, I never did get the chance to ask you what happened." Said, "One night they told me to 'stand by', and the next morning, said you were 'well.'" Said, "What drug did the--the doctor use?"

Said, "Honey, the doctor didn't use nothing."

He said, "Well, how did you do it?"

43Said, "You know where that little mission is down here on... almost to the loop, there at the square?"

"Yes."

44Said, "There was a lady. They was having a prayer meeting down there, one night, in this little mission, that poor little humble bunch of people, and," said, "one of them was inspired to come up here and see me. And two women came, and they asked me if they could bring their pastor up and--and pray for me, and anoint me with oil, and--and," said, "and lay their hands upon me, that I'd be well." And said, "You know, I told them 'sure.' And they brought the pastor up, and he laid his hands upon me, and prayed." And said, "Honey, he read it right out of the Bible, Mark the 16th chapter, said, 'These signs will follow them that believe.'" And said, "You know what? The next morning, the doctor was so puzzled, he didn't know what to do. There was no fever in me."

45 "Oh," he said, "mother, you didn't associate with that group, did you?" Said, "See," he said, "we in the school, we learned that Mark 16, from the 9th verse on, is not inspired."

She said, "Glory to God!"

46"Why," he said, "mother, you're beginning to act like those people."

47She said, "I was just thinking something." Said, "I've been reading the Bible, all the way through, and other promises in other places, too, similar to that." And said, "I was just thinking, if God could heal me with the uninspired, what would He do with that really is inspired?" That's right.

48To me, it's all inspired. God, give me faith to believe it and confirm it!

49 Now we're going to change now, for just a few minutes, of a court case. Now, remember, we're going into a court room, to bring Jesus, God, on the scene here, and give Him a fair trial. He is still the Word, even of this day, (do you believe it?), just the same as He was the Word then. [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.]

50Now, this case, the cause of it, is the--the Word of God's promises versus the world. Now get the set real right or you'll never catch it. The cause for this indictment, is breach of promise, "God not keeping His Word." It's a breach of promise. You know what it is.

51 Now, always we find out that the prosecuting attorney has to represent state, I think that's right, the prosecuting attorney. If there's a lawyer sitting here, I hope I got this right. The prosecuting attorney has to represent state. So the prosecuting attorney in this case is the devil, prosecuting God's Word.

52The Defendant of this Word, is God Himself, because He is the Word.

The Defense Witness, in this case, is the Holy Ghost.

53And the--the prosecutor has some witnesses here this afternoon. And these witnesses, one of them, is Mr. Unbeliever, the next one is Mr. Skeptic, and the next is Mr. Impatient. They'll be brought to the platform, and sworn in, and tried.

54 Now you got the setting of the court, God is indicted by the world, because, "He don't keep His Word." And the prosecuting attorney represents the state, which represents the world. And the prosecuting attorney is the devil, that denies that the Word is right.

55And the prosecuting attorney, for his witnesses, brings three witnesses against the Word of God. And to prove it, he is going to prove it to you, this afternoon, that, "God doesn't keep His Word, and It's not--It's not to be tampered with. It's just not true. There is nothing of It true."

56And the Defendant is God, which is the Author and the Word, for this day, the same as that day or any other day.

And the prosecuting attorney has his witnesses.

57 Now you say, "Where is the jury?" I'm speaking to them. You are the jury, and also you are the judge. Now bear that in mind, you're both jury and judge, on the case. I'm just the spokesman.

58Now we got the court set. Now order is now called by the prosecutor. An order is called in the court room, this afternoon, to bring this case to a--a showdown.

59Now many people has told you that, "The Word of God isn't reliable. You cannot depend on It," and so forth, and you've heard all this. Now let's bring It to a true trial. How many is willing, raise your hand and say, "I'd like to hear; and Jesus Christ, which is the Word, get a fair trial"? And in our court, this afternoon, we're going to give Him a fair trial. Just let the enemy take the enemy's words, and whatever he's got to say, and see if it's right. Let's dig it down and give Jesus Christ, the Word, a fair trial this afternoon.

60 Now, court called to order, the first witness that the prosecutor wants to bring to the stand is... to the stand is Mr. Unbeliever. He takes the stand to testify. Now remember, Mr. Unbeliever. Don't miss these characters now, or you'll miss something, you might miss your healing.

61Mr. Unbeliever comes to the stand, to testify. His complaint is, that, "All God's Word of promise is not true. It isn't true." He claims that, in Mark 16, was ministered to him--to him in a so-called Holy Ghost meeting. And he had been having stomach trouble for some years, and he went to a place where they was, what they call it, "a Holy Ghost meeting," and was believing that this promise of Mark 16 was true. He had hands laid upon him according to God's promise.

62 He has nothing to say against the minister; he read it right out of the Word. He isn't prosecuting the minister; he is prosecuting God. Because, it isn't the minister's fault, the minister is only reading what God said do. And God truly said, in Mark 16, "These signs shall follow them that believe; if they lay their hands on the sick, they shall recover."

63And he says he is a believer, and he come to such a meeting as where they was preaching Mark 16 to be true. And the minister, with the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, was claimed to be a believer and a minister sent for the business, he laid his hands upon him. And that's been two months ago, and his stomach is just as bad as it ever was. Therefore, he claims that God is not just, to put such a thing as that in the Word, when it isn't true.

Now let him get down. He testified.

64 Next to the stand is Mr. Skeptic. He wants to give a testimony. Mr. Skeptic says that he had been bothered with--with TB, for about fifteen years. But he wasn't retired yet, it just kept breaking out, just kept--kept going on. He'd get just a little better, and then go on. And he heard of a place in the city where there was supposed to be a godly preacher preaching, and people were claiming to be healed according to a promise out of God, found in James 5:14, where in the Word of God it says, "If any sick among you, let him call for the elders of the church; and let them anoint them in oil and pray over them; the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and God shall raise them up."

65And him being sick, and a believer, he goes to this meeting where all these people claim that they were being healed by this godly pastor. And he was ministered to, according to James 5:14. And the pastor ministered just according to the Word, anointed him with oil and prayed for him, a prayer of what the pastor said was "the prayer of faith," that he believed. And that has been almost a year ago, and he has never had one results from it, therefore that Mr. Skeptic claims that God is unjust to put such a promise as that in the Bible and then not stand behind it.

Now, remember, I'm reading full Gospel promises here.

66 The next witness will come to the stand now. The prosecutor calls his next witness, before he nails the case down. His next witness is Mr. Impatient.

67Now these are supernatural characters that dwell in characters. See, now, they do.

68So Mr. Impatient comes, and he claims that he one day was reading in the Bible. He didn't go to churches, but he was... he was a believer. So one of them went to an evangelist, and the other one went to a pastor, and this fellow was just a secret believer that stayed home. And he went and was reading in Mark the 11th chapter, the 22nd and 23rd verse; if you're writing those Scriptures down. Where, Jesus Himself, claiming to be God, Emmanuel, made this statement with His Own lips, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, whosoever shall say to this mountain, 'Be moved,' and don't doubt in your heart, but believe that what you have said will come to pass, you can have what you have said." And He said also, that, "When you pray, believe that you receive what you ask for, and it shall be given to you."

69 He says he has been lame in his feet, for about twenty-five years. And five years ago, while sitting in the room, feeling that he was inspired to read the Word which he claims he believed, and with all of his heart he believed it. And he then said, with his own voice, "Crippleness in my legs, in the Name of Jesus Christ, leave me," he said. And that's been five years ago, and he's just as crippled as he ever was.

70So, therefore, Mr. Impatient wants to put his testimony against the Word being the infallible, wants to put it against the Bible being the inspired Word, and says that this promise is not true; he has tested It, and "It wasn't true." Mr. Skeptic said he tested It, and "It wasn't true." Mr. Unbeliever said he tested It, and "It wasn't true." All these three witnesses give Scriptural readings, Scriptural promises, and says that this promise reads this, you can read it out of the Bible, and they are a witness that "It is not the Truth."

71Therefore, the Bible is to be throwed away; 'cause, if one part of It, one verse of It cannot be trusted, I couldn't trust any of It. It's got to all be the Truth, or none of It's the Truth. A chain is only its best at its weakest link. You know what I mean.

72 Now the prosecutor comes up now to bring the prosecution and to nail the case down. He wants to nail it. Now watch what he says. "God is not justified in putting such rashel promises in His Word, for His believing children to test their faith by, because they are not true." He has witnesses here, to prove that this Word that God has promised in His Word to be the Truth, he has got witnesses sitting here, and can show by doctors' proof and by testimony, that they've been sick, they've been this, they've been that. "And they have accepted these Divine, supposed to be, inspired Scriptures, and put them to the test, and they are not true." He's got witnesses to prove it, that, "These Words are not true, for He failed each one of them then."

73 Now, now notice again. "And He failed. God failed to make these believers, that believed in His Word, took it just exactly, went through the routine, exactly what He said, and then God never moved a finger towards doing anything towards His promise; years and years has passed." Then he said, "What if the other Scriptures, like being baptized, 'he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved,' then there is nobody saved? What of these Scriptures that promised that He would return? There is none of them right. Because, these are not right, and that's not right. It's just a Book to fiction. And these man are believers. Yet, He, God, promises all things are possible to believers, and these are believers.

74 "Yet, again, He claims to be alive after His crucifixion. The Bible says, that, 'He has raised up from the dead, and remains the same yesterday, today, and forever.' And no one has seen this Man with nail scars in His hands, walking amongst the church, and so forth. And Hebrews 13:8 is not so. He isn't the same yesterday, today, and forever, 'cause He never was no more than a man. He cannot keep His promise. He has proved, by these witnesses, He doesn't keep His promise, therefore the Book should be throwed into the trash can and forgot about. There is no such a thing."

75 Now, remember, I'm using the voice of the prosecutor, nailing his case. "All right, He said at Luke 17:30, where He said, 'In the last days, the Son of man would be revealed,' God would reveal Himself to the Seed of Abraham," as he heard a fanatic preacher preach one time and say that He would reveal Hisself again in human beings, called the Son of man.

76"Revelation 10, He says that He claimed the last angel's messenger, according to the church age in the Laodicea, which was to be the lukewarm, that Jesus would be (which was the Word) put out of the church. He claimed that in these dispensations that there had been things that hadn't been revealed to the reformers in the early days, but in the last days, that, the end, the seventh angel's, seventh messenger's Message, that all these Scriptures would be made real and made manifest. There is no such person on earth, never was and never will be," he claims.

77 He claims that, in that, God claims in His Bible, that the church would get formal and get away from itself, that in Malachi 4 He would send again a prophet, which He has sent already, twice, Elijah and John the Baptist. He would send a prophet by the... and he would be in the power of Elijah. And his ministry, his actions, everything, would be Elijah. And then in his ministry, he would be calling the people from this formal condition, back to the real genuine Faith of the apostolic fathers. And there is no such thing going on.

78"And He also claims that both heaven and earth will fail, but His Word will never fail." And he says he's got proof here, this afternoon, to show that It fails. "And who is this Jesus that raised from the dead? You're all worked up in a bunch of mental psychology. And there is no such a thing; you're trusting in a false hope."

79Now, I think that's about enough for him to say. I think he's took the whole Bible in. Now let him sit down, the prosecutor. Now let the prosecutor's witness step down also. They step down off of the stand.

80 And on the platform now, we will call the Defense Witness, the Holy Spirit. He comes to speak. I hope you see the way the prosecutor has got his case nailed down with the Scripture. Now, the Defense Witness, which is the Holy Spirit, comes to defend the Defendant, the Word. I think they couldn't have got a better one.

81The first, He calls the attention to this court, that the interpreter of God's Word, to the people, the prosecutor, is the same interpreter that interpreted God's Word to Eve. He wants the court to understand that, that the interpreter is Eve's interpreter, which says every bit of It was all right but just one Word. And He wants you to know also... He was the One, remember, Who wrote the Bible. He also wants you to know, that, in the beginning, that one word away from God's Word, caused all death and sorrow and sickness. And He wants you to know that God also said, in His Word, at the last chapter, the same as the first, that, "Anybody that'll take anything out of Here, or put anything else to It, his part will be taken from the Book of Life." It must be the Word, and That alone. He wants the court to know who done all this hard nailing down now, it's Eve's interpreter.

82 He wants you this... call this court's attention again, that is, the Defense Witness, He wants to call to this court and show you that the promises is only to believers; not make-believers, impatient, or skeptics. Changes the picture doesn't it? It's only... Not to what people that call themselves believers; it is to believers only, not to who say they are believers. Satan says he is a believer, too, you know. It's not to them. It's only to real believers.

83And this Defense Witness ought to know whether these man are believers or not, because, after all, the Defense Witness is the--the Quickener of the Word Itself. He knows whether you believe or not. He is the One that's been given by God, to make It come to pass. Hallelujah! He is the One that proves that. He is the One what makes It come to pass. He is the One Who knows whether It's fell in the right place or not, this Defense Witness for the Word. Notice, He wants to call again to the believers, the Defense Witness knows whether it is or not, He is the Quickener of the Word.

84 And again He calls this court's attention to the Word of promise that's in question. He never set any certain time for these things to happen.

85See how they can misread the Word to you? Now these guys that say, "Let me see this happen," you see, they don't even read the Word right. That is, if the man is a true believer, He still never set any time limit.

86He also wants the court to remember that this Word is written, and Jesus Christ, the Word manifested, said, "The Word is a seed that a sower sowed." And the seed can only produce itself, produce its promise, if it's in the right kind of a ground that will quicken the seed. Amen. Kind of changing the--the case, aren't we? It's got to be in the right place.

87 A grain of seed laying on this desk will never grow a harvest. A grain of--of corn on here, in bluestone, will do nothing. A grain of corn has got to fall into the ground that's been fertilized for that grain of corn, or it will not grow.

88And God said that His Word is a seed that a sower sowed, and it must fall in the right kind of soil. That soil is faith. It's a seed, and it must fall into this ground, or it cannot be quickened. In other words, the Holy Spirit, Defense Witness here, says that He can't even come to it until it falls in the right kind of soil. He is the Quickener of it.

The Defense Witness calls his first witness.

89 I think if the prosecutor could call witnesses, here on earth, that it prove that the Word was wrong, I think the Defense Witness has a right to call witnesses who can prove It is right. Because, the question now is between believers and unbelievers, with the Word, as the Word grow.

90The Defense Witness wants to introduce to this court, this afternoon, the first witness, is Noah. Noah said that he lived in a very scientific age. Noah wants to testify. And he said he lived in a day when people had got away from miracles and things. And then he heard the Word of God tell him that He was going to destroy the world by water, and the water would come down from above. It would rain, which it never had did it before. But he says that the--the Word of God, him being a prophet, the Word came to him, and he went to preaching that the Word was going to come to pass, because It was God. And he wants to also let this court know that Mr. Unbeliever, Mr. Skeptic, and Mr. Impatient, tempted him all along. But being a prophet, knowing that God could not lie, he held onto the Word, regardless.

91 They come to him and said, "Now, Noah," Mr. Unbeliever said, "how you going to prove there is any rain up there?"

92"I don't know where it's at. But if God said so, that--that settles it."

"How is it going to rain when there is no rain up there?"

"I don't know. But God said so, and that settles it."

93Mr. Skeptic come around and said, "If it would be such a thing as rain come down there, then He is going to have to come down here and get rain and take it up there. How is He going to do that?"

"I don't know." "And after I built the ark..."

94 First he wants to say, that when he made this statement, being a prophet among the people, everybody laughed at him, and said, "I don't see any rain."

95Well, when he went to work on the ark, they said, "Maybe after the ark..." Mr.--Mr. Impatience tried to tell him, "Maybe after the ark is built, then it'll come a rain." But when the ark was completed, it still didn't rain.

96It never rained the next day, it never rained the next week, it never rained--it never rained the next month, the next year. And when he completed the ark, it still didn't rain.

97 And then he said, one day the Voice of God come back to him and told him that he would see a supernatural sign amongst nature, that the birds and animals would be going into this. And then Mr. Unbeliever laughed at him and said, "It's become a habitation of birds. He made a roost, instead." And all laughed and made fun of him.

But, one day, God spoke to him, and said, "Go in the ark."

98And Noah stood in the door and said, "You're getting your last call. Come in!" And nobody come in but his own family.

99So he says he went in the ark. And he said to his lovely little family, now, this is prophet Noah, "Oh, in another hour, no doubt, the rain will be falling."

100And when he went in, the door supernaturally closed behind him. He said, "You see now, honey," to his wife, to his daughter-in-laws and his sons, "we are locked in with God."

101 "Now we got a window up here. Run up the steps, real quick. Don't miss it. Run up, real quick, and go up here now. It's fixing to rain, no doubt."

102And some of the people out there that heard him preach, said, "Wonder if that old fanatic could be right?" Mr. Unbeliever, Mr. Skeptic, Mr. Impatient, they all come around, said, "We'll find out." Said, "Noah are you in there?"

"Yes."

"Open up, we'd like to look around."

103"God has closed the door. I can't open it. There is no latch in here to open it with."

104Now they said, "The old crank, he went in there and closed that door, and trying to make us think... It's a hoax. He is trying to scare us."

105 And there is the witnesses of the prosecutor, sitting there, listening to all of this, for they're guilty of doing it. The Bible said so, "Scoffers!"

"And they scoffed at me, made fun of me.

106"And even, myself, I was looking for the rain. All day long, there was no rain. The next day, there was no rain. The next day, there was no rain. Four days, no rain. Five days, no rain. Six days, no rain. But God didn't tell me when it was going to rain, He just said, 'It's going to rain.' He never set any time limit. He just said, 'It's going to rain.'"

107 He never said, "As soon as you lay hands on the sick, they're going to jump up and run around the floor," like the skeptic wants to make you think. He said, "They shall recover." He never said when, how. "They will!"

108He said, "The prayer of faith shall save the sick," in James 5:14, "God shall raise him up." When? He didn't say. He just said he would.

109Mark 16, He said, "Say to this mountain, 'be moved,' and don't doubt in your heart, but believe that what you have said will come to pass." He didn't say when. He said it would! Hallelujah!

110See that false interpreter of the Word there? Then you say, "Well, let me see you make this man, he's been in the wheel chair a long time. Let me see. He says he's got faith." That devil! See who he is?

111Jesus never said they'd jump right up and get at it right then. A lot of Pentecostal people has thought the same thing, but the Bible never said that. He said, "If they believed it, they would get well." And He's got His witnesses here to prove it.

112Noah said, "After a hundred and twenty years, then it rained." But, it did rain. Noah knowed that he was going to see it in his generation, because he built the ark, was ready to go in.

113Now, now we find out that that was true. Now that's Noah, the first witness.

114 Now, the second witness, we'll call up. Let's call up Abraham. He said, "I was a prophet, and I prophesied under the inspiration of God. And He told me that my wife, being sixty-five years old, and me seventy-five, at the age, at the time, that I was going to have a baby by Sarah. Yet, sure, she was... I was sterile; she was, her womb was dead. She was twenty years, or more, past menopause. I had lived with her all these years, and there had been no sign of children. She was, her womb was dead. And, but God told me I was going to have a baby by her.

115"And you know, Mr. Unbeliever, Mr. Skeptic, and Mr. Impatient, after the first twenty-eight days, when nothing happened to Sarah, they laughed at me and made fun of me. The first year, they come to me and said, "How many children do you have now?'"

116 "But, after twenty-five years, the baby come on the scene. It happened. God didn't say, "You're going to have a baby next week, by Sarah." He never designated any time. He said he would have a baby by Sarah. He never said when. He just said he would.

117So Abraham said, "And I staggered not at the promise, through unbelief. But as it lingered on, I got stronger all the time. And seeing as I got weaker in physical, which was the hindrance of the baby coming, instead of getting weaker in faith, I got stronger in faith, for I knowed that God was able to keep His Word.

118"So one day I was sitting, talking with Sarah, and the Angel of the Lord came up. Three man, two of them went to Sodom; One stood by me and talked to me, and told me the things was going to happen. And I was old and stooped in my shoulders, and Sarah could hardly get around. And, you know, the very next day, I begin to see that hump come out of my back. And my hair begin to turn black, and Sarah's cheeks become red."

119 Now you say, "Radical, Brother Branham!" Just a minute, see if he did. Notice, they turned back to a young man and woman. Now you say, "Oh, Brother Branham!" Now, God hides His Message between the lines. The seminary will never know It. That's right. No, no. It's a love story.

120My wife over there, she writes me a letter. And she says one thing upon the letter, but I can read between the lines. I know what she is talking about, 'cause I love her, I know just her nature. I know what she means. "I'm sitting here tonight, Billy. The children is in bed. I'm thinking of you." Oh, I--I know what she is meaning, see, see, 'cause I love her.

121And if you're in love with God, and God's Spirit is in you, the Holy Spirit Himself is the Interpreter of this Word.

122 Notice, they were well stricken in age now, the Bible said so. Quickly now, we come to an end. Then he said, "I turned back to a young man. She turned back to a young woman."

You say, "Oh, Brother Branham!"

123Listen, in order to get that baby... Her womb was dead; his life stream was dead. Now to get... He would have to make her another womb. Would He have to do it? And then they didn't have these bottles they stick in the baby's mouth, so the mother can run around everywhere. Them days, it had to be a wet mother. So in order to do that, the milk veins was dried up, so He would have to make new milk veins, and so forth, to feed the baby. And another thing, a woman a hundred years old, going into labor? He would have to make her a new heart. See? So He just didn't patch it up. He showed, in him, what He's going to do to all of Abraham's Seed, they'll turn back new, get a new body for to receive the coming Son that we're looking for. I still believe the promise.

You say, "Radical!"

124 All right, just a minute. Watch, they took a trip, three hundred miles from where they was at, down in the land of Philistines, to Gerar. And down there was a young man by the name of Abimelech, he was king, and he was looking for a sweetheart, and all those beautiful Philistine girls. Here come little grandma, Sarah, now, with her shawl on, and Abraham. And Abraham said, "Dear, I want you to do me a favor." Said, "You're so fair to look upon, when that king sees you, he'll take you for wife." And when the people saw her, she was so pretty! Grandma? She was so pretty, until, Abimelech took her to be wife.

125And then He appeared to Abimelech in a dream, and said, "Her husband is My prophet. You touch her, you're as good as a dead man." That right?

126He is showing there what He is going to do to all of Abraham's children. Said, "He didn't say when He would do it, but He said He would do it." That's all right, friend, just let it move on. He'll do it anyhow. He promised it. Now, but twenty-five years later, Sarah had the baby, from the time of the promise. The Word never said when she would have it, but said she would have it.

127 Let's hurry up with these witnesses now. Third witness, Moses. He said God gave him a sign to do, to prove that that was the Word for that age. He took the Word, with a sign and a Voice, and went down before Pastor Pharaoh. And Pastor Pharaoh said, "Huh, that's a cheap magician trick. I got man here who can do the same thing." And they did it. Impersonators! He said, "If I wouldn't have been a prophet and knowed that that was the promised Word, I would have said, 'There is nothing to it, 'cause these impersonators out here is doing the same thing I'm doing.'" But he knowed it come from God, so he held steady.

128God said he would deliver the people and they'd come to a mountain. He expected maybe they'd come back that day. But, it was years later, but they come back. They got to the mountain. God fulfilled His Word. He taken them to the promised land, as He said. He had believed God's Word.

129 Now right quick I'm going to get another witness, the fourth witness, is Joshua. He said, "When God give us the promise, and we went over to..." It's only about forty something miles. "And when we got to Kadesh-barnea, Moses sent out witnesses to find out whether we could take it or not. And, oh, the Amalekites, and those great giants, and high walls," said, "we couldn't take it, at all, it looked like."

130But somebody went over and brought back some evidence that the land was good. So he said, "All the rest of the tribes, they said, 'Oh, we can't take it.'" He said, "I stood up and stilled the people, and let them know it wasn't the size of that thing out there; it was the promise of God, and God would do it." He said, "After I got the people quietened, He never took us over, the next day, the next week. Forty years later, He took us over. But He didn't say when He was going to take us over; He said He would take us over, so we went over."

131 I'd like to have Isaiah to come just for a moment. Watch Isaiah. He said, "I was a vindicated prophet amongst the people. Everybody believed me. From the King Uzziah, all down, they believed me. I was a vindicated prophet. What I said, God made come to pass. He--He made my words, that I said, come to pass, because I spoke them in His Name, Jehovah." He said, "One day, Jehovah spoke to me and said, 'I'm going to give them a sign, a virgin shall conceive.' And I did, I just spoke it like Jehovah said."

132Said, "And want you to know that, this court, that every Hebrew girl got the booties and everything ready to have this baby. A virgin was going to conceive. And went on, months, it didn't happen. Weeks, it didn't happen. About eight hundred years later, it happened, but a virgin did conceive and bear forth a child." Jehovah never told him it was going to happen tomorrow, some virgin in your age. He just said, "A virgin shall conceive," and that settles it. He didn't say when. He just said she would.

133 Now, if it pleases the court, may I be His next witness? I'd like to witness for Him, next witness. The promise of the Word for this day, is what I witness to.

134At birth, as a little boy in Kentucky, you see it on the prayer cards and everything, that Light stood there. I told my mama and my papa, all down through the age. Hope this don't sound personally, but I'm just standing for a witness before Him. This is Him in Word form. I didn't know what it meant; no one knew. Back there in those mountains, in a little old... Didn't even have a window glass like you all got now; you had a little old door you pushed open for a window. And that morning, a Light came in.

135I'd tell the people, tell mama. Things I'd tell, they'd always happen that way. They didn't believe it. They said, "It isn't so." But about thirty years later, God proved it by scientific proof, that it was so. It was so, 'cause it's a promise.

136 At the tree, at seven years old, where the Voice spoke to me and said, "Don't never smoke, chew, or drink, or defile your body."

137And me in a bootlegger's home, didn't even know what a Bible was, no more than just a word. We might have been able to found an almanac, but not a Bible in our house. Nothing but a bunch of... Not talking against my people, but God knows all about it. There was no way at all, my people before me, back behind that were Catholic. They had all married away from church and gone away, and there wasn't no religion at all. We didn't even pay any attention to it.

138But He--He told me what was going to happen, that I was to not to smoke, or drink, or defile my body in any way, there would be a work for me to do when I got older. Well, it was years and years after that. How did I know I'd be a minister? I hated the thought of a preacher. But it happened, anyhow. It goes to show He keeps His Word. Seventeen years after He appeared to me there in a bush...

139We find out, next day after that, He showed me a bridge crossing the river, spanning it, showed sixteen man drop off of it. I told mama. Sitting against a tree, looked at it. She said, "You went to sleep, honey."

I said, "No, I never, mama. I watched it."

140Exactly seventeen years from that day, the Municipal Bridge at Jeffersonville spanned over to Kentucky, and the seventh... And the sixteen man lost their life on it, just exactly like it said. Ah, so did Mr. Unbeliever has tempted me all along!

141 And may I just call the attention to this blind prosecutor, about Jesus being here with nail scars in His hand. He never said such a thing as that. He said, when He turns from Heaven, that, "Every knee should bow, and every eye would see Him, and every tongue would confess." He only promised to turn in the power of the Spirit and vindicate His Word, of Mark, and to what He would do. He just don't... They just don't get it.

142 Now, upon the basis of this discussion, this afternoon, and us living... Which, I'm going to have to omit, you see me turning these pages of text and things, I've got to bring it out, but I think we're close enough now to get it.

143Now still they won't believe it. Jesus promised that, "As it was in the days of Noah, and as it was in the days of Lot, it would be in the last day." We've got it. It's here. It's already vindicated, just how many Scriptures! In the Sodom age, what happened to Abraham, would return back again to Abraham's royal Seed, which is in Christ; Christ returning in the form of the Word, working in human beings, and showing the signs that He promised it would sign, it would do. He promised that He would do it. God promised it. And God will keep His promise.

144 And now, a few years ago, I told you that He spoke to me and said, "There would be three stages of this ministry. And one of them would be by taking the people by the hand, and would know what their troubles was." How many remembers that? Sure. Did not I tell you, "If I'd be sincere," that He told me, "it would come to pass that I would know even the secret that was in their heart"? Did I tell you that? How many remembers that? Did it happen? It never happened the next day, it was years later, but it happened.

145And He spoke down on the river, He said, "As John the Baptist was sent forth to proclaim the coming of Christ, at the end of his ministry, Jesus came. And as John was sent, so will your ministry forerun the Second Coming of Christ." And there's been a universal revival amongst the people of God, throughout the world, in the last fifteen years; the longest revival. Any historian knows that no revival lasts over three years. And this is fifteen years. And look at the church today, it's cooled off. We're waiting for His Coming. He is a vindicating Himself, showing.

146 Now, all these things has happened. He promised in there, that, "You'd know the secret of the heart."

147Now the third stage is just breaking in in the ministry now. I won't take time to go in there, 'cause I think I oughtn't. But many of you here know about it, see, of what's taken place.

148 Now, when I told you, when I first come to Kansas City down here, and down in Arkansas, that these things would happen, and here they are. We are living witnesses that they have happened. [Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.]... God has said will come to pass. It didn't say it would happen right then. He said it would come to pass.

149Mark 16 said, "These signs shall follow them that believe." If I'm not a believer, then why has this Word been vindicated the Truth?

150If you're not believers, then why did God give you the Holy Ghost? You might have all kinds of demonstrations, you might run, speak in tongues, and do things like people that does have the Holy Ghost; but if that's not a genuine something in your heart, it'll never bring that Word to life. But if it's a genuine thing in there, "heavens and earth will pass away, but that Word can't fail."

151 "These signs shall follow them that believe; if they lay their hands on the sick, they shall recover." And you see others recovering. He didn't say they would recover right then. He said, "They would recover if they believed it."

152How many that hears, that's the Truth? How many believes that still the Word of God is right? It's just misinterpreted to the people. Don't you believe that? It's just misinterpreted.

153 Now, not back in the days of Luther, not back in the days of Paul, not back in the days of Noah and these other witnesses, not fifteen years ago when I told you these things would come to pass; but today in Topeka, Kansas, this day, this hour, this minute, let's call the Word of God to a showdown. He promised this would happen in the last days.

154Now do you believe He keeps His Word? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.] He must keep His Word, in order to be God. He has to do it. He must keep His Word.

155 Now, did He promise, "As it was in the days of--of Sodom, it would be the same thing in the coming of the Son of man," that He would be--be revealed in the last days like He was to Abraham and his Seed at Sodom? Did He promise that? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.] Luke the 17th chapter, 30th verse, you can read it. Now, He promised that. He said it would happen. Jesus said all Scriptures must be fulfilled, all He promised.

156Did He promise in Malachi 4, what He would do in this last days? And immediately after this would come fire, and burn up the unbeliever, and the righteous would walk out upon the ashes of the unbeliever. That's right. Well, we're right here at the door.

157 Now, just before the great flood came in, what'd He promise? Just before coming out of Noah--of Noah... or Moses coming to bring the children of Israel out, what happened? Just before the coming of Jesus, what happened?

158John, we didn't bring him to witness. We had him down here, but not to a witness, how that he was called away from all the theology of that day, to go into the wilderness, because he was to identify, he had to identify the Messiah.

159Well, if we'd have went down to the school, to his father. Said, "Now, I'm a great friend of your dad. Oh, he was a great old man. I love him. And I know... Now isn't Brother Jones that Messiah? Now you know, John, he is."

160See, he separated himself. At the age of nine years old, he went into the wilderness, because he was a wilderness lover. The Spirit of Elijah was upon him. And the Spirit of Elijah; wasn't Elijah, he was a man; it was the Spirit of God with that Word in that day. And he went into the wilderness. Then when he come out, he--he had to identify the Christ, not the good man, but, "Upon Whom thou shall see the Spirit descending." Not the man was the best teacher, not the man was the most precious person in the land in that day, but, "Upon Whom the Holy Ghost Himself identified as the Word." The very Word Itself identified the Word.

161 Now He promised that in the last days. Jesus would do, be the same yesterday, today, and forever. Do you believe it? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.]

162Now let us bow our heads just a moment. Have faith. Don't doubt. Believe.

[A sister speaks in another tongue, and then gives an interpretation. Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.] Thank the Lord.

163All right. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. You believe it? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.]

164 Now what did He promise to a vindicate Himself? In a man, a human flesh, like He did to Abraham, "When the Son of man..." It would be the Son of man, not--not--not--not the Son of God now; the Son of God in a Son of man. In Ezekiel, the 1st chapter, the 2nd verse, Jehovah called Ezekiel the Son of man, exactly what Jesus called Himself. You understand that, through the teaching of the week. Now, see, what is the Son of man? Prophetic. What was Malachi 4? To be a prophet. What was these things to happen in the last days? Now, He never said when. He said they would happen, and they did. Now, you, if He is still the Son of God, the Son of man; ready to be revealed in the last days on the throne of David, as Son of David. See, watch, then if He... If that's right, He promised that, He is obligated to that Word. He is obligated to that Word.

165 Now you touch the border of His garment with your faith. And I have made these claims. If it's of God, it'll come to pass; if it isn't of God, it won't come to pass. And that's only what's true, see if this is, we're among believers or not. Now you have to be a believer, the same as I'm a believer. You have to believe this to be the Truth. If you believe it, it will happen. Now pray, each one of you, believe in your own way.

166Let's start from one side, just concentrate on one side. And just, I want this side over here against the wall, somewhere, you believe. Have faith. Don't doubt. Just believe, say, "Lord!"

167Don't look at me now, see. You can look at me, but, look, let your faith look beyond that. You can look to me with physical eyes, but look at Him with your eyes of faith, that He is that Word. And--and He has just changed His mask, see, from what could not be seen to what is absolutely declared, the Word made flesh. Have faith.

168 Now don't move around now. Be real quiet, reverent. You can move around, in a moment; but be real quiet, reverent.

169Now, it's, what is it? It's a gift. A gift ain't to take, like a sword, and go, punch and jab and pull. That isn't it. A gift is just getting yourself out of the way, so the Holy Spirit can work in a human body. Don't try to say, "Glory to God, I got a gift! I got a gift, hallelujah!" You'll never get it. If you just know how to let yourself go!

170It's like pulling a gear. See? Change yourself into faith, from unbelief, just jerk a little gear back there, say, "Well, I've always kind of been skeptic, but really, now, I believe now." Now watch what happens then. Just do it once and see what happens. Just pray.

171 And I try to get myself from the message, into a gift. A gift, to, that the Word might make Itself known by--by, as Hebrews 4:12 says, "Discern, know the thoughts in the heart."

172Pray for whatever is wrong with you. Pray, and just say, "God, I--I'm needy. The man don't know me, but I'm needy."

173In the Name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, for the glory of God, and according to the Word of God that I've just got through preaching, I take every spirit in here under my control.

174Now, no matter what happens... There might be something happen just in a minute. There is a critic sitting here, and I'm just thinking something is fixing to happen. See? So just be real reverent. If anything gets disturbed, you just sit still. You set real still, let that person do what they're going to do. Watch what happens. Let them make the move, and see what happens. You'll see whether He is God or not. You ought to see Him in battle. You've seen Him in healing; watch Him in battle. Satan is trying his best to do it. But just--just let him do it once, see what happens.

175 There is another person sitting over here that's been suffering, sitting right down here, a man and his wife. She is praying. He is praying for her. It's a nervous condition, nerves in the face. She is kind of a heavy-set woman. Her husband has a white shirt on. She is laying his hands upon her. That is true. Raise up your hand, if that be true, if that's what you're praying about. Don't worry. It'll stop. It's a promise, if you would believe. You touched His garment.

176There is a lady sitting right back here on this side, she is suffering with a female trouble. I hope her... O God! Mrs. Reed, you know I don't know you. But that's true, isn't it? You were praying, "Lord, be merciful to me." He has. It's going to leave you now. You just believe with all your heart. Don't you doubt. You have faith.

177 Here, here is a lady sitting right here at the end, a little dark-looking hat on. She is praying about... It's trouble. She has got trouble. Don't you see that Light hanging over her there? See? She has got her head down. She has got trouble with her knees. She hurt her knees. She fell and hurt her knees. See? I don't know her; God knows that. But that's true, isn't it, lady?

178Here, lay your hand over on that next lady setting to you; come right straight to her. She is suffering from a nervous condition. And that nervous condition has... She has got eye trouble. And the eyes was operated on, which caused it. That's right, isn't it? Raise your hand. If thou canst believe!

179This other lady put her hand up right there by the side of her, kind of thrilled her. But the reason, if you'll... You believe that God can tell me what your trouble is? It's in your ankles. If that's right, wave your hand like that. All right.

180What did He say He would do? "He is the same yesterday, today, and forever." Do you believe that?

181 Here is a man sitting in front of me. He is suffering with arthritis. He really... I don't know whether he is going to get it or not. He is kind of a man about my age. He suffers with arthritis. He is not from here. He is from Kansas City. Do you believe that God will heal you? Do you believe God can tell me what your name is? Mr. Francis. You believe with all your heart. He was trying to rob you from it, sir. And he--he... You was thinking I was meaning another man, but it was you. And when I said that, a real funny feeling come over you, real sweet and warm. If that's right, wave your hand like this.

182Also, your wife sitting there, she is Mrs. Francis. She suffers also with arthritis. And she has got trouble with her eyes, and trouble with her ears. Is that right? That's right.

183 The lady sitting next to her, right next to her there, she is suffering with varicose veins. Right. She has something wrong inwardly, some kind of... It's a bladder trouble. She has bladder trouble. She is also from Kansas City. Mrs. Gregg. That's right.

184If I'm a total stranger to you people, raise up your hands like that, so that, I mean, to these people here that was called, raise up your hands, you people that's just called then, if I'm a stranger.

185What is it? The same God Who came down in human flesh, and eat meat and drink milk. And Jesus said... And Abraham said, rather, that He was "Elohim," God manifested in flesh. Jesus said, "As it was in that day, that Jehovah, the Son of man again, in the form of prophetic, like He was, would return again at the last days," just before your bodies is going to be changed. We, we couldn't... See, Sarah couldn't receive that baby in that body, could she? Abraham couldn't, in his body. His body had to be changed. So does ours, to receive the Son. Take the Word, and He is the Son. It is the Word. Do you believe it?

Now bow your heads just a moment.

186 Thoroughly, with all your heart, is God justified in making these promises? Do you believe His Word is the Truth? Do you believe that these witnesses are only false witnesses, that they didn't have the faith to believe it in the beginning? You are the jury and you are the judge. Every jury has to make up its mind, the judge has to pass the verdict. Have you made up your mind that God's Word, of Mark 16, is the Truth? If you have, raise up your hand. I've brought witnesses on the scene, that come in the same way as this in the last days, and proved that God's Word was right. And God's Word promises this in the last days. And I'm here, and you are here, before you, to prove the rest of them, every one of you. Each one of you could be called, one by one, like that, if you believe it. Ask these people, talk to them, where the Holy Spirit has called.

187 "What are you doing now, Brother Branham?" Trying to get away from It. It just keeps happening everywhere in the building; you just see it flashing.

188See, with that, I'm trying to get you to believe it. Have faith in God. Believe it. He is justified in writing this. He has confirmed it, and proved that it's the Truth. He prophesied it, thirty years ago, and proved it today. He said it, two thousand years ago, and proved it today. His Word is the Truth. And every Word of God is inspired, and all of It is the Truth. And Mark 16 said, "They shall lay their hands on the sick and they shall recover."

189Jury, what is your verdict in this court this afternoon? Is Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever? Raise your hand. [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.] Are you fully convinced that Mark 16 is the Truth, the Word of Jesus Christ, "If they lay their hands on the sick, they shall recover"? Raise your hands. ["Amen."]

190Then, Satan, you've got to go. Mr. Unbeliever, you have no business among us any longer. Mr. Skeptic, or Mr. Impatient, I don't care how long it takes it, it's going to happen.

191 Do you call me a believer? Raise up your hand if you do. I'm a believer. I'm going to pray for you, lay hands on you. Do you believe that your pastors here are believers? Raise up your hands. How many believing ministers are out there? Raise up your hands.

192I'm going to ask the believing ministers to come here just a minute. Is that all right, pastor? Perfect. I want every minister in this building, that's a believer, come here and stand with me just a moment. I want genuine believers now. Remember, we don't want make-believers. We want genuine believers. Come here and stand on the platform. Going to see something happen now. "I believe you told me the Truth."

193 Now remember, real quiet just a minute, as these ministers are coming, I want to say something to you. Now what, what will happen? Your action, from your action... Somebody slipped. It's alright. Your action, from this on, will be your verdict. How many believes that, raise up your hand.

194Now everybody that's got--that's got a--a prayer card, stand up over on the right-hand side here, get over on this side. You, each of you in your aisle, stand out in the right-hand side of your aisle, in the right-hand side of your aisle.

195Now them on the other end over there, will have to come out this a way. All right.

196All of these on this side, with prayer cards, stand up in this aisle; like this, on the right-hand side. That would be the left-hand side. I'm sorry. This side over here would be your right-hand side. That's on your left-hand side. Now come right around like that, form your line.

197Now all you ministers come here and make a double line, right across this way, two lines right up this a way; right around here and right around here, each one of you.

198 Now how many of you believe? Raise your hand, say, "Now again I want to show God that I absolutely believe that Mark 16 is the Truth," raise up your hand. "I now accept it."

199How many out there that won't be in the prayer line, will be praying for these that's in the prayer line, and the whole group of us together will be praying as believers? Raise up your hand.

Now let's pray.

200 Lord Jesus, Thou art God. Thou art the great "I AM," not the "I was," or "I will be." You are "I AM," present tense. There is no power that can stand in Your way. You are God, and there is none like You. You make Your Words to be confirmed. You've proved it to us, through the witnesses this afternoon in this trial; this jury, and also this court, and the judges that will be.

201We have give the trial, fair. We taken what the enemy said. We taken what the prosecutor said. We've taken what his witnesses said. We brought it back with the witness of the Defense Witness, and He has proved that God is justified in making these statements, because He does bring it to pass, to believer, by many more witnesses than the unbeliever can produce witnesses. Now we know that it's true. It only lays if the people has judged It to be right, the Word of God to be the Truth.

202 Grant, Lord, that everyone passing through these line here... Father, these man standing here. After I'm gone, someone might say Brother Branham laid hands on them, but I want the people to know that these pastors has just as much right to lay hands on the sick as anybody does. They don't have to wait till some special-time evangelist comes through, but their own pastor has the right to lay hands on them. God, grant that, every person that passes through this line of hands here today; that's been called and ordained of God, to lay hands on the sick.

203We know we have no holy hands, but we don't look at ourselves. We look at our sacrifice, Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever, Who is bleeding before the throne of God now, to cleanse us, to carry out His commission. Grant, Lord, that every man, woman, boy, or girl, that passes through here, will go off of this platform, rejoicing, just the same as if they were normally and well and sound. Grant it. May this jury's verdict, that they claim it was, He was justified, and may now the judgment that they pass will be their action from hereafter. Help us, God, in Jesus Christ's Name. Amen.

204 Brother Roy Borders or some song leader, if you'll come here just a moment and lead. Now with your eyes closed.

205Now just fall right in line, as your line comes along. Come through here. We prayed, each one of these man. Why I put them up here, was this. Now you over here will have to come down this way and fall right in line with these, with these here, as they come out, see. Right. Now just wait till they... Wait till they go away. Wait till this line comes out; then you, lady. Right here, sister, wait right there. See, wait right there, see. Ushers, some of you help them there, see. See, you got to let this lines come out, these lines come out, and this line follow them, see, coming through.

206Now if you're coming through here just presuming, just guessing, stay out of the line; might make you worse. But if you come through here, believing, there is nothing going to take it out of you. How many knows that from this, this is the settling time? You that's in the line, say, "This is it. I believe it. No more to complain about it. It's over, right now. I've accepted the Word of God." If you don't, don't come in the line, now. You believe with all your heart, and come.

207 God has vindicated Himself by Word, and the witness and trial, present right now, "the same yesterday, today, and forever." There is nothing left but to lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. Here is your pastors. You know they're believers. They're your shepherds.

208And I don't want you to get the impression that me, Oral Roberts, or somebody else, is the only person that's ordained to do this. Every minister is ordained to do it. Every believer, whether he's a minister, or not, is ordained to do it. Every person that believes, has a right to lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

209 I don't say your pastor or anybody would be taking the gift of discernment. They don't have to do that; that's not their calling. That's not their calling, to do that. That's to be one in an age.

210But--but we find out, that you are called, as a believer. "These signs shall follow them," it don't point out any person, "them that believe." You believe it with all your heart now.

211Brother Roy, you lead the song, Only Believe. Everybody in prayer. Ministers, as they pass by, lay hands on them. And laity and friends, when you pass by here, don't you have one doubt in your mind; just pass right through the line, going out here, say, "It's settled."

212 Now remember, you have been the jury on this case. You raised up your hand that you had your verdict. Everybody understand, say "amen." [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.] You've had your verdict. Now what you do hereafter will prove whether you told the truth or not. Your--your judgment will be passed by what you do from hereafter. That'll be. You'll be the judge and jury. If you truly believe it, it's got to happen. If you're make-believing, it won't happen.

213Cause, it's proved by the Word, by the Presence of God, by everything that there is. Is anything left to be done? If He would come right here, this afternoon, could He heal you? No, no. He has already done it. See? He's all... There ain't a thing left to be done now. He has vindicated Himself here, by the Word, proved everything. The only thing you have to do... You've made up your mind, you heard the trial, you've passed the verdict, now come and show your judgment. Amen. God bless you.

214 All right. [Brother Borders begins leading the congregation in singing Only Believe--Ed.]

215Be praying now, brethren. And let every one of the ushers let the people come through. Stand up a little closer now. Every man touch that child, touch everybody. Every man touch them people, with faith now. Close your eyes. [Brother Branham and the ministers pray and lay their hands upon the people. Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.]

Only believe,

All things are possible, only believe;

Only believe, only believe,

All things are possible, only believe.

216Now can you sing it this a way, "Now I believe, right now I believe it"? You have? Raise your hand, say, "I really believe it." "These signs shall follow them that believe!"

All things are possible, now I believe;

Oh, now I believe, now I believe,

All things are possible, now I believe.

217 Sometime ago, about fifteen years ago, I remember one night being called to a hospital, to a boy dying with black diphtheria. There was... the heart had went bad on him. And the father kept coming to the meeting, to--to get me go pray for the boy. And the boy was about fifteen, sixteen years old. And I was just so busy, I couldn't do it. And finally... If--if--if--if you take it to one, then it's the other, you know. So the father just kept holding on, waiting till the time. Finally, one night after service, I went to the hospital. Well, the doctor told me that I could not go in. He said, "Because, the--the boy has got the diphtheria on him, and you're a married man and you can't go in and take that germ."

218 Well, I asked him, "Just please let me go in." The man was Catholic. And I said, I said, "Are you a Christian?"

He said, "I'm Catholic."

219I said, "If a priest was standing here and trying to bring--bring the last rites of the church to the boy, would you accept it?"

220He said, "That's different. That's a priest. You're a married man."

I said, "If I sign a paper, take all responsibility?"

He said, "I can't do that, sir."

221And I said, "Please." I said this, "I'm just as much to them people as a priest would be to you."

222Finally, he dressed me up like a Ku Klux Klan, with all that white stuff, and take me in, and I went to the boy. He had been unconscious, two or three days. His heart was just barely beating. I forgot what the respiration; very small, just barely bleed, beating. And the old father and mother was standing there.

223 And I just knelt down, and just a simple little prayer, laid hands upon him, I said, "Lord Jesus..." I used this Scripture. "You said, 'These signs shall follow them that believe.' Here is father and mother, they wouldn't be persistent and holding on for me to lay hands upon that boy if it hadn't have been that they believed it. And, Lord, I wouldn't have come here as a mock. I believe that what I've said and taught is the Truth." And I said, "I bless the little boy, in the Name of Jesus Christ; let him live."

224 And when I raised up, the old father and mother begin to hug one another, and say, "Isn't it wonderful, mother! Isn't it wonderful!" The boy hadn't changed one bit; just laid there. And I--I looked at them.

225And the little nurse standing there, she was a special nurse, a graduate, and she was over there watching the boy. And she said to the mother, she said, "How can you act like that, and know your boy is dying?"

226And the old father, like he was about, oh, I guess, he was fifty-eight, sixty years old, he laid his hands over on her shoulders, as an old dad would. He said, "Child," he said, "that boy is not dying," he said.

227"Mister," said, I don't know what this was, some kind of a cardiogram or something, said, "his--his respiration has went so low, and with this disease, it's not known in history, if it ever gets in that condition, for it to ever come back again."

228 And the old patriarch brushed off his eyes, and looked at her. I'll never forget this. He said, "Honey, you are looking at a chart. That's what you're trained to look at. I'm looking at a promise that God made. 'They lay hands on the sick, they shall recover.'" The boy is married and got three children, a missionary in Africa. It depends on what you're looking at.

229Now there might be some here, that got here, that didn't get a prayer card. I asked the son down there. He said, "There is no doubt but what there is plenty back there, daddy, that didn't get a prayer card."

230How many believers are here then? Raise up your hands. Will you do this while we sing, "Now I believe"? Now God was good to you. Won't you, as a believer... It doesn't make any difference whose hands it is, as long as it's a believer. See? Will you just lay hands on one another, and we'll sing this song together, "Now I believe." And until I meet you, God be with you!

Now I believe,

That's right, lay your hands over on somebody near you.

Now I believe,

All things (no matter what's wrong, all things are possible) is poss-... (In Jesus' Name, bless these.)

Now I believe, oh, now... ("Now I'm not kidding. No, this, now I do.")

All things are possible, oh, now I believe.

231 Now all that believe it, raise up your hands like this, "I now believe it." God bless you.

Till we meet!... meet!

Till we meet at Jesus' feet; till we meet!

Till we meet; till we meet!

God be with you till we meet again!

Now with our heads bowed.

Till we...

232May God be with you, truly, smite death's threatening waves before you, take you from victory to victory. Someday, may our bodies be changed and made like unto His Own glorious body, where we'll pray no more for the sick. Until then, may God be with you, till we meet. [Brother Branham hums--Ed.]

Till we meet!

God be with you till we meet again!

233Now let's bow our heads for the closing prayer. Who is going to pray? [Someone says, "Brother Gibson. Brother Gibson."--Ed.] Brother Gibson now, while we have our heads bowed.