Why are "Christians" so stuck on denominations

[Minister Moore]

I enjoy service no matter what church I attend. However, I do keep in mind that some churches are are little more upbeat while some of them are a lot more calm. The major division that I have seen during the course of many visits is whether or not women should preach the Gospel and whether or not one must be Baptized in the name of Jesus only. I would really enjoy intelligent conversation without argumentation, because I truly believe that God does things decent and in order. So if you would like to talk with me about this, I welcome the discussion because one can always agree to disagree. I do not believe in arguing points of scripture because the Word of God is capable of speaking for itself. Lets talk!

[Minister Moore]

I agree with you brother. I just love God. For me it is all about God getting the glory.

[James Pierce]

because of Hosea 4:6.

[Minister Moore]

Well said brother, I am so sorry that it took me a while to respond.

[Evangelist Altha Fugett]

I am blessed to belong to the Body of Christ, Im not all about denominations, however I want to know what a church believes in. If more individuals knew the Word of God and asked what a church they are joining believed in, there would be no being led astray.

I belong to a tongue talking church, but a pastor standing and "demanding tongues?" would be a red flag to me, that someone was in self and not being led of the Holy Spirit. Jibberish I'm sure is what you heard.

We must know the word for ourselves for wolves in sheep's clothing are forwarned to us, If I go to hell, it will NOT be because I was led there.

[N'ZI Amani Germain]

WHY I'M AGAINST ORGANIZED RELIGION.

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This Message by Brother William Marrion Branham called Why I'm Against Organized Religion was delivered on Sunday evening, 11th November 1962 at the Branham Tabernacle in Jeffersonville, Indiana, U.S.A.
The tape, number 62-1111E, is 2 hours and 54 minutes, and consists of 2 cassettes. This message is available in book format (Volume 12, Number 1).

This text was taken from the 1999 Infobase, provided by
Voice Of God Recordings
P.O. Box 950, Jeffersonville, Indiana 47131 U.S.A.
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Many thanks to Br. Neil Halava and his team for their hard work.

The sermon MP3 (as linked above) is supplied by
Brother David Mamalis.




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

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

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

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

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

6 Now, with all the faith that I have, I'm coming to pray for you. And I--I'm not coming as just haphazardly. We never want to approach it that way. No, that's not right. We're coming believing that we're going to receive what we've asked for (See?), knowing that God has promised it. And we're coming with assurance in our heart that Christ made the promise, and you brethren has tried to put your faith on the altar, done all you can, I'm coming to lay mine with you tonight. See?
And now, we have a great altar that stretches across the skies, and on that altar lays our Sacrifice the Son of God. See? It's that bleeding Sacrifice. God can't look over that without respecting It (See?), for That's His Word, "This is My beloved Son; hear ye Him."

8 I'm going to ask Brother Neville, our elder, if he'll come forward now with me as we go. I want all the church... What if this was your brother, your husband, your son, your father? It's somebody's, remember. Let's, with all the sincerity that we have, approach God now for these brethren. Let's bow our heads.
Gracious heavenly Father, we are bringing into Your Presence now, by the altar of grace, though we stand by a little wooden bench, as it was, here on earth, but our faith has lifted up to the great burning altar yonder, where Jesus, the sweet smelling Saviour before God, the Blood Sacrifice from Calvary, Who triumphed over every sickness, every disease, death, hell, and the grave, and rose again, and ascended into heaven to set at the right hand of His Majesty... And we by faith come, lifting ourselves up there in the grace of God to say over this altar to the great Creator of heavens and earth, "Receive us, Lord, as we approach in the Name of the Lord Jesus."

10 Here is our brethren, one of them from up above Fort Wayne, here in the states, and the other all the way from Canada down here, come for this most solemn moment. It's between death and life, Lord. Here's two men, yet young, much service left in them for You, Lord, two soldiers, Christians who believe You. And the enemy has shot a dart, and that poison dart has struck somewhere into their body, and they've come back, retreated back to the hospital of God's grace for reconciliation, for healing, that they might approach the front again with the shield up, and going to the battle. They've come to join the forces of prayer with us, Lord. And we go to meet the enemy.
In the Name of Jesus Christ, turn them loose. We adjure thee in the Name of Jesus Christ, let them go.
They're warriors of the battle. And as Your servant, I go forward now to lay hands upon them, with faith, believing that these signs shall follow them that believe, said our Lord, our great Chief Captain of the battle. "If they lay their hands on the sick, they shall recover."
This I do in the Name of Jesus Christ. May the power of sickness that binds this brother's body turn him loose, in the Name of Jesus Christ. The power of sickness that binds this brother's body, turn him loose, in the Name of Jesus Christ. May it be...?...

14 Almighty God, Creator of heavens and earth, Author of Everlasting Life, and Giver of every good gift, bring Thy blessings upon these who we have blessed. And it is written in the Scriptures that, "If you say to this mountain 'Be moved,' don't doubt in your heart, but believe that what you've said will come to pass, you can have what you've said." I believe that the sickness has gone from their body. Now, it has been spoken. Now, let it be done. Amen.
In the Name of the Lord Jesus I believe...?... In the Name of Jesus Christ I believe you to be free. Amen. Does the church believe likewise? Then let it be done.

16 Now, would there be others in here would just like to be remembered in prayer, that would you raise your hand. All right, let us approach Him now as you lay hands on one another out there. "These signs shall follow them that believe."
Most holy God, by faith we see Jesus; we believe Him standing present. He watches over His Word. And He said, "Wherever two or more are assembled in My Name, I am in their midst." Now, heavenly Father, let the power of Almighty God touch these people, Lord, as they have hands joined with one another, laying on one another. The last commission You said to the church, "These signs shall follow them that believe. If they lay their hands on the sick, they shall be..." They'll recover. You promised it, and we believe it. So now, it has been done, and we praise Thee for it, in the Name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
And in the Name of Jesus Christ may the power of God anoint these handkerchiefs to the sick and the needy. And as they are sent out and laid upon the sick, may it come to pass that they'll be healed. We read in the Bible that they took from Saint Paul, handkerchiefs, aprons; unclean spirits left the people, and diseases were healed. And, Father, we know we're not Saint Paul, but we know that You're still Jesus. And we pray that You'll grant this request for Your glory. Amen.

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

20 And now, I would like to read some of the Scriptures. If you people would like to read with me, I want to read from I Samuel the 8th chapter, and we want to begin with the 4th to the 10th verse, and then to save time, 19th to the 20th. And I have several sheets of Scriptures and reference wrote out here, that if you people have a pen and pencil, or something, paper, that you would like to refer to these or keep them down, you may have them, or, Mr. Maguire will have the--the--the tape.
And I want this tape dedicated to ministers, my brethren, ministers who has misunderstood me, especially the brethren of the denominational churches. And most all are denominationals.

22 And my subject tonight is: "Why I'm Against Organized Religion." And I'm going to read now for a background, or a Scripture reading to make it certainly Scriptural; I want to read from I Samuel 8:4-10, then 19-20. To my visible audience, I trust that when you go home that you'll write these Scriptures down and read them carefully. And to the brethren who will be listening to the tape, I trust that you also will not just stop the tape when something's said maybe that you wouldn't agree with, but will seek God in it, see if it's Scriptural. I think we owe it to ourselves and to the Message of the day.
I believe that all churches has Christians in them, and I certainly do not speak against Christians. But the reason that I have did what I have done, and said what I have said, is because of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit on the Word.

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


Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel at Ramah,
And said unto Him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons not walk--walk not in the way: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.
But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD.
And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.
According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee.
Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and shew them the manner of the king that shall rule over them.
And Samuel told all these words of the LORD unto the people that asked of him a king.
Now, the 19th verse and 20th for the conclusion...

Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us;
That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go... before us, and fight our battles.
The Lord add His blessing unto the reading of His Word. Now, as a Sunday school class, I would like to say that we want to try to be as--as attentive as we can to the Word.
27 And we know that--that sometimes things are said (and certain churches), that stumble someone who has been taught contrary to what they have--are hearing. For instance, a man told me the other day, who is a friend of mine setting present now, he said, "When you said, Brother Branham, as much faith as I've had in you, and believe, when you said there wasn't no eternal hell," said, "I like to have fell out of my seat. And I said, 'Surely the man is wrong.'" And then said, "You let us stand for quite a while. And then you said, 'There is only one form of Eternal Life, and that comes from God.'" And that's what we all seek. See?

28 And there's no Scripture that says there is an eternal hell. 'Cause eternal never did begin, neither does it ever end. So the Bible said, hell was created for the Devil and his angels, so it isn't eternal. There was a time when it wasn't, and there'll be a time when it's not again. But they may be punished in there, through fire and brimstone, and the pits of fire, for aeons of time, but it finally will end because hell is not eternal. And if there was an eternal hell, you'd have to have Eternal Life to live in an Eternal hell. And if it was eternal, it always was, and you always was in hell and you'll always be in hell. See, so there is no such a thing.
So, you see, "eternal" is "never had a beginning or an end." And there's only one form of Eternal Life, and that is in God, comes from the Greek word "Zoe," which means "God's Own Life." And when we are borned again of the Spirit of God, we become eternal with God, because we have part of His Life, which makes us sons and daughters to God, then we have Eternal Life. And the Life that is in us, God will raise up the body with the Life at the last day; but it's the Spirit of God that's in us that raises up, because it is a Spirit of Christ that was in Christ, that quickens our bodies and raises us up also with Him to set in--in--in glory and reign with Him.

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

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

32 And now, to begin with, the reason that I haven't belonged to them and have spoken against it, is first, is because I do not believe that organization of Christianity is Scriptural. I believe it's unscriptural. And that's what I will try tonight, endeavor by the grace of God to prove to you that it is unscriptural, unorthodox to have any organization.
Now, the first place, we call it religion. The word "religion" is a "covering," means "to cover something." Now, Adam had a religion, but he certainly made it himself out of fig leaves, and it didn't work. He made his own theory and tried to make a way of escape to find salvation in something he had done himself, and God rejected it from Adam to the order of the last organization. Never been, and by God's grace we'll prove it today through the Bible. Religion was a covering. Adam made himself a covering out of fig leaves, made it himself, to try to do something himself. But God required death, an atonement.

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

35 If He's God at all, He has to be infinite. And if He's infinite, He cannot be infinite without being omnipotent. He cannot be omnipotent without being omnipresent. He can't be omnipresent without being omniscient. So, you see, all that makes Him God.
So He knowed the end from the beginning. He knowed who would and who would not, and He knowed there was many who would, so He sent Christ to make an atonement for those who would come. Now, nothing we do can have anything to do with it. Jesus said, "All the Father has given Me, (hath, past tense), will come to Me. And no man can come unless My Father draws Him." See? Now, see, it's all in God's knowledge.

37 You say, "Brother Branham, am I in?" I don't know. I'm hoping I am. We work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. Now, the Church is predestinated to meet God without spot or wrinkle. Now, if we are in that Church, we are predestinated with that Church. Now, examine yourself by the Word, then you can check up how far along we are.
Now, now, organizational Christianity can never give that assurance. No. Some of them said, "You come up and confess that Jesus is the Christ, be baptized in the church." The Devil does the same thing. He believes himself, that Jesus is the Christ and trembles. See, that's right.

39 God never commanded, nowhere in the Scripture, for there ever to be any organization. There's no place in the Bible for that. Adam started one and it failed. And then Nimrod tried to make an organization. If you're a historian, and you know the history of Babylon, read Hislop's "Two Babylons," you'll find a great lot of light, that Nimrod, this man of sin took Babylon and all it's little sister church, or places around, which was a type of--of this last day apostasy Christianity, and made one great big place and all the rest of them played--paid tribute to it. And in there he built a tower and tried to organize men together, but it failed. It failed. That failed.

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

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

44 Korah, I believe he was sincere in his act. I believe the man didn't--didn't mean to do wrong. I believe it was the ignorance of the man that didn't see the hand of God moving and know the Scriptures, and that's the reason he just brought it to reasoning.
And that's just about ninety percent of the trouble today, that we try to inject into the program of God our thinking. And we're not supposed to think at all. He does our thinking. We're supposed to surrender our thinking to His will. See? You understand now?
Korah, with good intent went around with a false doctrine, telling these brothers, and showing them by reason, that God hadn't only blessed Moses, the prophet, the messenger, and had only blessed him, but, "The whole congregation was holy," he said, "and now, the whole congregation has a right to do this, and the whole congregation has a right to do that." And so they got good men, Levites. Now, that is God's choice, which would be called today the ministers; Levite was the minister of the temple. Did not Moses call them down for it?
And here he never went at it un--irreverent. He told them to take censors, and put holy fire in it, and put the incense over the top of it, and to wave this holy incense, which was the command of God. And they come up to make a group of men to control the church, where God had commanded one man to do so.

47 And when they did that, Moses fell on his face for he knew that God had commissioned him to that work. And God said, "Have them to bring those censors up here before the tabernacle." And so when they begin to wave their censors full of fire, and the incense a-going, God said to Moses and Aaron, "Separate yourself from them. Come out from among them." For later He called them sinners, unbelievers.
And sin is unbelief in the Word of God. You steal because you don't believe; You lie because you don't believe. You commit adultery because you don't believe. If you was a believer, you wouldn't do such. There's only two roads, that's either faith or unbelief; you're controlled by one or the other.
Now, God in the beginning was the Word, and He was made flesh and dwelled among us. He was the Word; He is the Word. And when God dwells in you, it's the Word of God dwelling in you, where you can punctuate everything He says with an "Amen." That's God dwelling in you.

50 Now, if you notice these innocent men with censors in their hand, holy fire in their hand, God opened up the earth and swallowed them up, and separated them from Moses, because Moses separated himself from them. And Moses warned the congregation, "Don't fool with that kind of a group. Get away from them." Now, you know the Scriptures; read the 16th, 17th, 18th, even, chapter, and you'll find it. "Separate yourself from these sinners, unbelieving sinners. Come out from among them, for they're headed for destruction, and everything that they have." And when they--the earth followed and fell with these men holding this holy fire: innocent men deceived by a man.
Same today. There's a many innocent man falling into the trap of tradition, holding the holy Word in his hand, and supposingly to be preaching from It. I seen an expression come across a minister's face just then, a Methodist minister, was a Methodist minister till last Sunday night. And when he looked, I suppose it means a whole lot to you, brother, to be out.

52 Now, see, holding censors, fire burning sweet smelling savour before God, and those hands holding that, yet perished with the censor in their hand, because they were trying to do something in sincerity, yet, against the Word of God, trying to make an organization. Said, "You take too much upon yourself. Who are you to say that you've got all the Word of God?"
They failed to see that Moses was the--the messenger of that hour. See, he had THUS SAITH THE LORD. There was nobody on earth like him. He had the message, and the people failed to see it. And Moses was exactly with THUS SAITH THE LORD. Sure. All right.

54 Now, we find the same thing today, good men, great men, precious men trying to preach the Word of God in their hand through some manmade tradition: cutting out here, and cutting down here, and making it this, and "Come join the church and change your membership," and spiritually die with that Word in their hand. See?
They could not believe God's messenger or His message of that day. They couldn't understand why a great God wouldn't work with a whole group of people, and just put it upon one man.
How many of them have I talked today, "What will we do, Brother Branham? We know you're right, but what will we do? The organization'd put us out, we'd have no other place to go." I feel sorry for them; but there is a place. You say, "Well, we'd starve to death."
David said, "Once I was young, and now I'm old, and I've never seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed to beg bread."

[N'ZI Amani Germain]

58 That's exactly on the same basis that they refused Jesus. They were so wrapped up in their denomination, and holy priests and holy buildings, and holy churches and holy temples, they failed to see God in His human temple. Uh-huh. "You, being a man, make yourself God." See, they were so wrapped up in it. These men were so wrapped up that Dathan and them were right. Nimrod was so wrapped up that he could achieve something that would take the people above the wrath of God. Adam was sure that if he covered his nakedness, God couldn't see it. You can't cover it; God has to cover it. See, see? God's program covers it, not yours. It's always been that way. They fail to see Jesus in His temple, God manifested in flesh.
Today it kinda makes me feel bad when I see that the Words of the Bible has been so cut up by traditions. And honest-hearted people who stand there and hear that Word, and they know It's the Truth, but they're daresn't to take a move, because their tradition teaches them different. Wash the pots and pans then, brethren; go ahead. But for us, and for me and my house, we take Christ the Word. See?

60 Let's take John 3 just a moment, Nicodemus, a master and ruler of a great denomination called the Sanhedrin. They had brought themselves together, and they made their traditions. The--the one of the Pharisees and one of the Sadducees, and they had their denomination then, their differences, and so they... This man was a master, a ruler of this great Sanhedrin, a marvelous man in teaching. He knowed the Scriptures; he thought. He knew it by their tradition. Did not Jesus say, "You have, by your tradition, made the commandments of God of non-effect"? See, because of their traditions...
What is that? Placing their own interpretation upon the Word instead of leaving It alone what It says. They say it doesn't mean this. Did you notice, that's the same voice that the Devil used to Eve to start the first organization. See? "Surely it would be this way. God wouldn't do that, you know." See, it's the same thing. It's the same thing today.

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

63 Now, we notice that Jesus was a manifestation of God. Now, "No man can do these things except God be with Him." They knowed that there was something different in that Man. He was the Light of the day. He was God's Witness.
So did Korah see the same thing in Moses. They didn't have a man that day like Moses. He was God's Divine witness of that day to the power of God. Korah and his group saw it in Moses. They understood that it couldn't be Moses. Moses could not open up a Red Sea. Moses could not send plagues upon the earth. It was God in Moses, and because God that represented Himself in a witness or a light of the day, they failed to see It. Korah wanted to make a whole group of men, bring in anything.

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

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

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

68 Trying... Korah was trying to make an organization to get into it. And Nicodemus had been in it, trying to get out of it. Nicodemus was accepted and came out. Korah perished in it in his effort, he perished in his own effort. Oh, my.
The organization that Nicodemus was in knew that Christ was sent of God; said so. Nicodemus, in the 3rd chapter here, confesses it, "Rabbi, we know that Thou art a Teacher sent from God, for no man can do these miracles that You do except God be with Him." And the same group, because of their organization, called Him Beelzebub, because of His power to cast out devils, and said, "He deceives our people by His doctrine." It's the same thing today. Deceiving what?

70 Jesus said, "I only do that that pleases the Father. I only keep the Words of God," because He was the Word. He couldn't do nothing else but the Word.
But because of their organization, because of their way they had men tied up... In their hearts they knew it, but their organization wouldn't let them keep it. Then to make a way of escape to keep the people from leaving the organization ("all men goeth after Him"), to keep the people from leaving the organization and following God's Truth (which He was Truth: "I am the Truth, the Light"), to keep them from following That, they said that He was deceiving the people. Think of it. A man, that in his heart knowed that He was God, that God was in Him ("No man can say these things or do these things unless God be with Him."), knowing that and saying that and confessing that, and then turning around and calling Him Beelzebub, and a deceiver of the people, their people, by His doctrine... Oh, my.

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

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

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

76 You say, "Oh, people set down and learn that Bible and all the Greek words, and what the definitions are, and the punctuations and so forth." And know no more about God than nothing. See? No. He that has--he that has the--the--the form, he that has the plan? It's he that has the Son, that has Him, the Person, he's the one that has Life.
Nicodemus knew that He knew about Life, but he never knew that He was Eternal Life. That's what the Man that he was talking to, the Messenger, the Light of the day, the Light of the world, "The Light shineth in darkness and the darkness comprehended it not. He was sent to His Own and His Own received Him not." Why? Why? Because they were so organized, setup with washing pots and pans, and traditions, that they failed to see the Word made flesh.

78 It's repeated. It's repeated again. History repeats itself every so often. Yes, He knew that He had--He knew about Life, but Nicodemus didn't know that He was Life. That's what it is today. So many people try to make Jesus, oh, a great Teacher; they even try to say He was a Prophet. But when you try to say He was God, that's too much. See? But He was God, and He is God, and He always will be God. That's all. That's right.
Notice, He never told Nicodemus, now, when he come to Him, He never said, "Now, Nicodemus, I have great respects for you, that you are a--a--a master in Israel. I'll tell you what; you're searching Eternal Life, perhaps you ought to polish up on your scholarship. You don't say your words right" (Nonsense.), "or maybe you ought to seek a higher office in your denomination to have Eternal Life."
That's what so many people try to do today (Uh-huh.), a higher office, they want to become from a--a pastor to a state presbyter, or--or to some bishop or something like that. That has no more to do with God than nothing.

81 Watch what He did before such a person. He rebuked him for his not knowing the hour he was living; "You mean to tell Me that you're a master in Israel and can't understand these things," when He said a man's got to be born again?
"Why," he said, "me an old man, enter into my mother's wombs?"
He said, "And you are a bishop, a cardinal, a state presbyter in the Pentecostal church," or somebody else, "some great guy in the organization, and you don't know the Scripture?"
"Oh, we got Moses."
"If you'd have knowed Moses, you'd have knowed Me, because he was the one that spoke of Me." See? But not according to their traditions, their--their organization, that was different. But Moses did speak of Him, and He was that One that Moses spoke of, and yet they didn't know it. Why? They got theirself so bound down with traditions; they didn't know it.

85 And my brethren that read, that takes this tape, don't turn it off now. Just a minute. Let's look this thing right in the face. I love you; you're a shepherd. And I'm not trying to be a know-it-all. If I'm making that impression, then you stop the tape and pray for me. I'm only trying to bring to you something that's truth. Don't let it get by you.
Now, I respect the order of men, and so forth; but when you make these organizations... Look at the Pharisees, would have nothing to do with the Sadducees, because the Sadducees didn't believe in--in neither angel, or--or spirit, or resurrection, or anything, and the Pharisees possessed both, and they were at war with one another. Now, the oneness believes one thing; the trinity believes another, and the Methodist another, and the Presbyterian another, and you draw little lines. And what have you got? A separation of brotherhood. By way, we'll find that place in the Bible in just a little bit, what it is, and what God says it is.

87 Now. No, He never told him to polish up. He was just rebuking him for not knowing the real thing. "Art thou a master in Israel and know not these things? If I have told you earthly things and you can't understand it..." Think. "A master, a high order in an orthodox church, bishop, cardinal, and you can't even understand the baby form of natural things that I tell you, how are you going to understand spiritual things from heaven?"
But a ignorant old fisherman who couldn't even write his own name understood It (See?), and was made the head of the church at Jerusalem: Peter. See? Oh, "All the Father has given Me, he will come." See? They see it. They believe it. They act on it, knowing nothing's going to hold them.

89 Just like the farmer... It's not pleasant to put a joke, but to make an illustration. They said a farmer set a hen, and he didn't have enough eggs, he put a duck egg under it. When the little duck was hatched, he was the funniest-looking thing them chickens ever saw. He had a long funny face, and he went along quacking instead of clucking, and--and the chickens all eat and pecked in the barnyard. And that wasn't his diet, exactly. So one day the old hen led him out behind the barn to catch some grasshoppers, and over the hill was a--a lake. And the wind happened to come up off the lake, and he smelt the water. It's just his nature. The old hen said, "Cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck, come back."
He said, "Quack, quack, quack," right to the water. Why? He was a duck to begin with. No matter how much the hen clucked, he was still a duck.

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

92 Yeah, He rebuked him for not knowing. "Thou art a master in Israel and know not these things? You must be borned again."
Now, the natural man, I want you to notice something here, "You must be born again." Now, natural life, if we have natural life in order to be active in this natural life, in natural things, we have to have a natural birth. They don't just jerk you off of a tree somewhere (See?), stick you out some way. They tried it, but it didn't work. It's got to be an actual birth, natural birth, to make you active so you can have the five senses, walk, talk, see, taste, feel, smell, hear, move around, so forth, because you're then a human being, and you're--you're subject to all these things, because they go into the natural life.

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

95 "Oh, It doesn't exactly mean that." When a man says that, get away from him. See? God watches over His Word, you know, the Bible said. It's wrote just the way It should be. See? Now, It's put in such a way to deceive, or to make the wise stumble over It. It's so simple; that's the reason they stumble over It. See? All right.
All this wisdom and things that they can accumulate, yet, but it is from... That birth is from beneath, this earth. It's from the earth, and it is against the Spirit of God. The first birth to make us active here, makes us mortal men. Because of the sin act at the garden, made man come into the world by a woman. And a man that is born of a woman is of a few days, but a man that is borned of Christ is eternal. Job said, "A man that's born of woman is few days and full of trouble." Notice, but a man that's born of Christ, has to be born from above. Now, but a man that's born of the earth, become wise and can almost outsmart...

97 Look how shrewd the Devil was, he fooled every priest that come on the earth. He sure did. He fooled... He's still doing it. Yeah, sure did. He was smart, but he come up against his match one day Who defeated him. And the only thing we have to do is just lay against Him; He's already defeated him. See?
But it's from beneath, and it--this wisdom that men accumulate to prove and show all these things why man should do this and man should do that, it's contrary and enmity (the carnal mind) to God. The Scripture says so. Right. No matter how smart, they can twist it around. I want somebody to show me where God ever had an organization or ever commanded one, but what condemns it here in the Bible. No matter how smart they can try to be, it's contrary. How the wisdom can stand and out-argue to you, and make you feel that little by telling you about it, but it's contrary to the Scriptures.

99 Somebody said to me, "Brother Branham, there's one thing I got against you." Said, "You're Jesus Only."
I said, "I am not. I don't belong to any organization."
A presbyter of a certain state sent the other day, and said, "Someone told me you were Jesus Only, Brother Branham."
I said, "That is contrary. That is wrong."
Said, "They told me that you believe in "free love," that men should leave their wives and hunt..." Now, see, that's just lies of the Devil. You know that.
I said, "I absolutely am against such unscriptural things. I believe in holiness and purity. I believe that man is bound to his wife as long as they live." You shouldn't take her without praying first.

103 And Jesus Only, the Jesus Only group, nothing against them, they're just as good as any group to me. But they baptize wrong; they baptize to regeneration. I believe that we're regenerated by the Holy Spirit, not by water. I do use the Name of Jesus Christ in baptism, and there's not another Scripture in the Bible to back--to make it contrary. There was nobody in the Bible ever baptized in the Name of Father, Son, Holy Ghost. I want somebody to come show me one place one person was baptized like that. Then if it's unscriptural, quit doing it.
You say, "It doesn't make any difference."
It did to Paul. He commanded them to be baptized over again in the Name of Jesus Christ and then receive the Holy Ghost. And Paul said, "If an angel from heaven (Galatians 1:8) come, taught any other Gospel than that he had taught, let him be accursed." See, it's tradition.

105 I talked to a great man not long ago. Said, "Brother Branham, I can't. I know that's right," he said, "but what can I do about it?"
I said, "Obey it."
He said, "Why, I--I have a prestige amongst our people."
I said, "But I want a prestige with God; so obey His Word. You've got to take your choice, will you serve God or man?"
But they get their organization, set these declarations in them, follow right down. The first time that was ever used was in the Roman Catholic church. That's right. I want somebody that'll show me something different. I read history too, you know. So remember, that's a Catholic baptism, and everyone that's baptized that way is baptized into the Catholic fellowship. I'll prove it before the night's over, if the Lord willing. Uh-huh. That's right. That's the reason you must come back. Not to Jesus Only...
Now, there's plenty of fine men in the Jesus Only church, plenty of fine man in the Assemblies of God, the Church of God, Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, and Catholic. But there's none of them the Church, not a one of them. There's individuals in there belongs in the Church. But it ain't that denomination they got that makes them the Church, like men try to make it that way. It's wrong. Just a minute we get down giving you some Scripture in a few moments.

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

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

111 Now, you see where your denominations has got to already (We ain't started.), wise in the worldly wisdom but dead to God's plan. Now, let's view back, stop here just a moment.
Adam was contrary to God's plan, 'cause He'd disobeyed the Word, tried to make hisself a covering, a religion. It failed, and it's always failed, what man tries to do. Nimrod was wrong. Korah perished. What were they trying to do? Make an organization.
And after that, when they finally organized themselves, Jesus found them dead. Said, "You got eyes and you can't see. You got ears and you can't hear." See? Said, "You're blind, leading the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, don't they both fall in the ditch?" He said, "Thou art a master in Israel, and can't even understand what the new birth is? When, if you would've kept away from them traditions, and held onto the Word, you'd have knowed that I was coming to give men new birth. You'd have knowed My day. If you'd have knowed Moses, you'd have knowed Me. Moses spoke of Me, and he said I would come, and here I am. And if I don't do the things that Moses and the prophets said I would do, then don't believe Me. If I don't do the works of God, then don't believe Me. But if you can't believe Me, being a Man, and if You can't believe Me because I'm a Man and doing the works of God, believe the works, for they testify of the things that I'm doing." See?

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

116 When Divine healing was first represented, everybody had a feeling in their hands and could smell diseases. Oh, my. why? They had to do it; their organization was in the back race. See, you've got your organizations ahead of the plan of God; you think is it. But God has His Church going on just the same, the mystical Body. You don't join that; you're born in it.
Wise in wisdom of the world, but dead in God's plans... Tell me then. Tell me then. You can tell them and prove to them that they are wrong by God's Word and promise, and still they won't see it. I can set right down, and take the Word, and show you that denomination is wrong. I can show you that creeds that you have today is wrong (See?), these church creeds. Show it's wrong, and they'll say, "Well, we've been taught to believe this." You see? To my opinion, it's--it's fodder, if you know what I'm talking about, cannon fodder. Yeah, that's right. They can't see. Jesus said, "You--you--you can't see, that you might come to Me and have Life."

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

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

120 Well, you say, "I'm borned again." And deny the Word? How can you be? Your own life gives you vindication of it; your own group that you're joined with, birds of a feather... See? Wait till we get down to those things in a few minutes. See?
Comes by the Spirit. How can you tell people things of the Spirit that's not born of the Spirit? You have to be born of the Spirit to understand the things of the Spirit. The... Jesus said, "The wind bloweth where it listeth; thou cannot tell which way it comes or where it goes?" See? So is everyone born of the Spirit; they can't tell you. A man that's born of the Spirit don't take no thought; he lets God do the thinking.

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

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

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

125 Could you think of a businessman... Now, here's how far our church is behind. Could you think of a businessman that started up a business down here a... It's really a thriving business, and he's got to get some help right quick, and he'd go to a bunch of dead men, corpses, and saying, "Would you come work for me?" They'd be no benefit to him.
That's the reason the organization never rises again. See? A bunch of dead unbelief congregating themselves together like Nimrod, like Korah, like down through the age. How can... He never did use it, never did use a organization. He can't do it. It's already out of the will of God; it's passed beyond that. It's out of reach; it's out of search.

127 How could you go to a man that couldn't move, paralyzed head, hand, and foot, tell him you want to run a foot race for you, run this race with patience, lay aside... See? How could he do it when the man can't move; he's paralyzed? You've got to get the paralytic off of him first, then he can run.
That's what the organization needs is a Divine healing. Oh, my. I hope I don't find--sound critical. See? I'm not criticizing it, but if a nail isn't clinched it pulls out easy. See? That's why the Holy Spirit can't use a denomination. As soon as it...

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

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

131 What good's a historical God if He isn't the same today? What's good is the God of Moses if He isn't the same God today? What's good of a God that could save a man on a cross that couldn't save one the same condition today? As I've always said, "What good does it do to give your canary bird good seeds and vitamins to make him have good strong wings and fine feathers, and put him in a cage?" I don't get it. Try to tell him about a God of power and things, and stick him into a organization that don't even believe in such a thing. See? It's all out. That's the reason it fails; he's dead. You can't use it. God never used it.
Just think, the Holy Spirit never did at any time use a organization, nowhere Scripture or nowhere historical. If anybody on this tape, or present, can show me where the Holy Spirit took an organization and made a move in the earth, come tell me. I want you to tell me the history book it come from. You know it's not in the Scripture, so I want you to show me the history it come from. God never used anything like that. He uses an individual, always.

[N'ZI Amani Germain]

133 All right. To be born of the Spirit... Now, to be born of the flesh, and have wisdom of the world, the wisdom will obey its fleshly teacher. To be born of the Spirit is to believe and obey the teaching of the Bible by the Holy Ghost. And a man that's born of the Spirit will obey God's Word regardless of what any tradition tells him. It's just it. You're reborned. That's the reason (You see?) to belong to an organization, put all your hopes in that...
Now, I don't say people in the organization is not born again now. I'll get to that in a few minutes, the Lord willing. Sure, they are, but they're individuals. Not the organization is borned again; the individuals in there are born again. But the organization only breaks him away from God; that's all it does: separates you. All right. Regardless of the flesh, denomination teaches the flesh, it's always contrary to the will of God.

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

136 As I've often said, me and my wife here not long ago went over to get some groceries along a few months ago, and we seen a woman that had on a skirt. And it was the strangest thing we'd ever seen in a long time.
Well, this morning, I don't say this sacrilegious; I heard one of the great famous organizations. And my daughter and I was listening to the radio as we went to dedicate a church. And a song they sang, some kind of a something another about so-and-so, some of that classical singing that sounds to me like women holding their breath till they're blue in the face, and then think that's singing. That's squeaking. I like good old Pentecostal singing, right from your heart. You couldn't carry a tune in a coal bucket, but yet you're singing, making a joyful noise to the Lord. I think that's spiritual. I like it. But that holding your breath till you're just blue in the face, and die away and then come back, who... You don't even know yourself what you're singing. How you expect anybody else to know? That's it. Jesus said, "We speak them things we know." That's right. That's right. What we ought to do is sing what we know in our heart, what we feel.

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

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

141 That's the reason Jesus said, "If I do not the works of My Father, believe Me not." Oh, certainly. He said, "No man has ascended up to heaven but He that come down from heaven." Watch Him fix Nicodemus here, when Nicodemus... You know, they thought, Him being a Man, He couldn't be God. And He said, and--and there He said, "No man has ascended up to heaven but He that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is now in heaven." That was too much for him. How could He the Son of man come down from heaven, come down from heaven, was the same that ascended up to heaven, and the same One that's standing here on top of this house talking to Nicodemus, is now in heaven? Well, he ought to have seen that it was God. He's omnipresent, everywhere. See? But he in his traditions didn't know that. He wasn't spiritual-minded. The carnal mind, and couldn't catch it...
He says, "Who does man say I the Son of man am?"
"Some says, well, 'He's the Son of David.'"
He said, "Then why did David in the Spirit call Him Lord, say, 'The Lord said unto my Lord, "Sit Thou on My right hand till I make Thy foes a footstool"'?" How that He is both Root and Offspring of David; He was before David; He was David; and after David. See? He is the Root and Offspring of David. The Bible said so, both Root and Offspring of David. How could He be His Son then? How could He be His Lord? The Bible said, "From henceforth they asked Him nothing." I guess it was a good thing too. Yes, sir. All right.

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

145 Now, I was coming up today, looking at the great beautiful trees out over the forest, the big hills, brown, yellow, evergreen dotted in them. I said, "You know what that is?" I said, "We just had death, and God has put His bouquet out, sticking them up on the hills. It's the funeral flowers. The life has gone back into the dust. God's just buried all of His seeds out of the flowers and things, buried them back, and He's just bloomed out His bouquet. He's looking up over the earth because it's funeral flowers. But when the sun rises again, that seed shall take life again." Amen. All right.
The Spirit is interested in vindicating the Word. And if you've accepted tradition instead of the Word... Now, you say, "Well, we believe It all, but, Brother Branham, I know we don't believe this." Then right there's where you stop.

147 Chaplain told me one time that he--that a--a captain said, or I believe it was a major, said, "Chaplain, go over there; there's a captain dying. He's been machine-gunned."
He went over there, and the captain was struggling. They pulled him into a Red Cross tent, and he said, "Captain."
He looked up through the gurgles of blood, and he said, "Yes, sir." And he said, "You're the chaplain."
"Yes." He said, "You're dying, Captain."
He said, "I know it."
He said, "Are you a Christian?"
He said, "I used to be."
Said, "Where did you leave Him, Captain?" He said, "You'll find Him right where you left Him." Correct.
Captain said, "I can't think."
The chaplain said, "You'd better; you haven't got but about a couple more minutes, the way you're struggling." Mouth coming open, the blood coming from his mouth and ears, and machine gun bullets across him. Said, "You'd better hurry, your lungs are filling up."
And the captain begin to wonder, laying there as he struggled. A smile come over his face, said, "I know now."
Said, "Where did you leave Him? Start right there."
He said, "Now I lay me down to sleep." That's where he left Him, that's where he finds Him.
When your organization teaches something contrary to the Word, you leave Him right there. Come right back, because He's active in vindicating and making that Word true. That's what Jesus was, always doing the will of the Father. See? All right.

155 So, see, Nicodemus' organization understanding meant nothing to God. Now, no matter if he was a big shot, as we call it in the organization, a master in Israel, all of his learning and understanding didn't mean that [Brother Branham snaps his finger--Ed.] when he stood before Christ, only a rebuke to him. Now, I imagine all the people say, "Holy father, Nicodemus, holy father, Nicodemus, we bow to you, sir." But when Jesus, he stood before God, He rebuked him for his ignorance. So you see what all that goes to; forget it. Come on, let's go to God. That's right. All right.
Neither did Korah's great understanding mean anything, or Adam's, each denying God's vindicated Message. Now, let's listen close now; we're going to get in some high waters in a minute. Uh-huh. See, each one of them, the reason that they got in trouble, Nicodemus, Korah, Nimrod, and so forth, is because they didn't recognize God's messenger with the vindicated Word of that day. Now, anyone knows that. Now, I... We could stay on that a long time. But God predicts and says a certain thing will take place; man makes organizations, gets men set just exactly. They believed there was a coming Messiah. Oh, them Jews, oh, my, sure. But when, Jesus come the way He did, they said, "That can't be Him." They fail to understand the Word. Now, Jesus didn't come contrary to the Word (Did He?), but He come contrary to the organization's interpretation of the Word. Moses didn't come contrary to the Word; he come exactly with the Word; but Korah failed to see it. And all down through it's been that way.

157 Now, look. This Message of the day just can't be something saying, "We got the Truth and we got this, that"; it has to be, foretold in His Word. And then after the Word is brought forth, it has to be properly vindicated by the Word.
Jesus was properly a-vindicated of God by the Word. He said, "If you'd have knowed Moses, you'd have known My day." Well did the prophets speak of Him, well all the prophets said what He was. And yet it blinded them; they couldn't understand it. See? But Jesus was... Now, don't...
I want to say this for the tape and for you too. See, the messenger with the Message of the day...

160 Now, if you go, the Seventh-day Adventist say, "We got her, just keep the Sabbath." You show me that in the Scriptures. Miss Eddie Baker said she had it. Show it to me. Jehovah Witness said they had it. Show it to me. See? Methodist say they got it. Show it to me. Baptist say they got it. Show it to me. Show me any organizations. I'm proving to you that they're every one, out of the will of God, every one of them contrary, teaching traditions of men instead of the Word of God. I don't know a one of them that would accept the things that's really written in the Bible the way It is. That's right. But when somebody comes by and said, "I got the message of the day," he must properly be seen first and foretold to come.
When John the Baptist walked out there, they said, "Are you the Christ?"
He said, "I'm not."
Said, "Are--are--are you the Elijah?"
And he said, "I'm not."
He said, "Who are you?"
He could identify himself; he had the message of the hour. He said, "I'm the voice of one crying in the wilderness, as said the prophet Isaiah. Now, if my birth and life didn't compare with that, don't--don't receive me."

163 When Jesus come, was the same thing, same thing. The messenger with the message, must be a foretold message by God. And then God, speaking through this messenger, a-vindicates that it's the truth. Do you hear it? Do you understand it? Understand it. It must first be THUS SAITH THE LORD foretold. And then the messenger with the message must be exactly what God said would take place at that time.
That's the way Moses was. That's the reason he fell on his face before God and said, "God, You sent me."
He said, "Separate yourself from that bunch."
See what I mean? It's always been the thing that twisted men's mind, got them off the will of God. Now remember, foretold by His Word and properly a-vindicated by His Word. Now, Jesus said, "If I do not the works that--of God, then don't believe Me. See, if I miss... Say, who of you can condemn Me of sin? Who of you can show Me that I'm an unbeliever?"

166 Nicodemus said, "We know You're... Rabbi, You come from God, 'cause nobody could do those things 'less God was with Him." See? So it showed He was a believer..
Now, we who know church history... Now, put on your thinking caps. It's not late yet (See?), so just listen real close now and I'll try to be just quick as I can. Now, I want... Listen close to the tape.
Now, anyone who's ever read church history knows that the first time that Christianity was ever organized was the Roman Catholic church. Now, if there's any times before that, I want somebody to bring the history and show me. I'm a bosom friend of Paul Boyd, many great historians. I've got in my study there, "The Post Nicene Council," "The Nicene Council," "The Nicene Fathers," all the sacred writings of the church, that I know of. Thirty-three years I've studied them, looked over them. There was never an organization... The Catholic church is the mother of organization. We know that that's the truth. Never was the church organized, had a denomination, until the Catholic church. And the word "catholic" means "universal." And they've made a state church religion, and made it over all the dominion of Rome, and it had about the--the best part of the world conquered at that time. It was the state church, and those who would not obey it was put to death. The Nicaea Council, fifteen days of bloody battle, when real prophets of God, when they stood up there on those...

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

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

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

171 And the Catholic church said, "We were the beginning." That's exactly the truth; the catholic church begin at the day of Pentecost. But here's what got her out; she organized and injected (from the Word) dogmas. And the latest dogma, you people over ten years old can remember the latest dogma, the ascension of Mary, about ten years ago. Another dogma added to the church. Instead of Scripture, it's dogma. And they'll give you to understand right now, they don't care what the Scripture says, it's what the church says.
They, that priest told me, said, "God is in His church."
I said, "God is in His Word."
He said, "Well, that Bible's just a history of the early Catholic church."
I said, "Then I'm an early Catholic." I said, "That makes me more a Catholic than you, being a priest." See? I said, "If that's it, then I am that." I said, "You see, I believe exactly what the apostles taught. You believe what man has injected into it." And that's exactly the way it went. Sure, it was. It went that, exactly that way.

174 Now, notice history. Then they begin to add dogmas, dogma. And when Paul came over, we know, according to history, that he did not even visit that first church, because he could not stand idolatry. And he visited the second church which they had established, second church of Rome.
And when that Nicaea Council come, where Constantine seen the idea to unite his kingdom: the very same thing Ahab did with Jezebel, marrying down there... See? And when he seen a chance to unite his people and make a great powerful nation out of it, he thought they'd get their religion, so he made them a church-state religion. And when they had that Nicaea Council, and these questions come up whether there was one God or three; whether they should baptize in the Name of Jesus Christ, or Father, Son and Holy Ghost; all these other questions brought to--to a showdown in there. And when it did, some of them old prophets come up out there with nothing but sheepskin wrapped around them and eating herbs. Right. But them big dignitaries had already worked their way in the church, shut them up with worldly wisdom. But they had THUS SAITH THE LORD. She went into pagan darkness for about a thousand years.
But she broke forth again to bloom. That's right. You can't kill it. "I will restore, saith the Lord, all the years these things eat."

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

178 There's no such a thing as organization. Jesus never said, "I commission you to go into all the world and make organizations." No, sir, no such a thing. To do this, is to reject the sacred Scriptures. When this was done, it was changed from church by birth to church by dogma and creed. Not church, let me apologize; lodge. You're born into the Church, but you join a lodge. It isn't Baptist church, Methodist church, Pentecostal church. It's Baptist lodge, Pentecostal lodge, and Methodist lodge, you join them. You can't join Church. There's no such a thing. You're borned into It. Nicodemus was told that. So you see where you're at? Oh, my.
That's why I'm against it. Not against the people in it; the system that I'm against. 'Cause they can't... One of them elders or something another, one of them churches preach something that's in the Bible that's contrary to that doctrine, that charter that they have in that church, he's excommunicated right like that. Yes, sir. Some of them so nasty as they won't even let a revival come to another church unless it be one of their own men. Why, they're so...

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

181 Do this... to reject the Scriptures... When this is done, it is changed; then when you add dogma and join an organization, you have automatically accepted your first dogma, 'cause it's not Scriptural, so it's something added. And a dogma is something added, "take place of"; it's taking place of the birth. When you accept a denomination, you have added dogma. All right. When this is done, then it's changed from church by birth to lodge by dogma or creed. For, see, it's dogma in itself, not being Scripturally.
Now, Jesus never said, "Go into all the world and make denominations, go organize the people together." He said, "Go make disciples." You believe it? Amen. So you see you're altogether out.

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


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

185 And they in those groups, the people say, "Why, he's a Methodist and do this. He's Pentecostal and does this. He's Presbyterian and does this." They do everything on the calendar, you know that. And what is it? It's names that ought to be Christ-like and be called by the name of Christian, and it's blasphemous names. They're not churches. They're falsely called church. They are lodges. Now, you see why I'm against organization? Not the people, the system of organization (See?), be blasphemous names (Watch.) of lodges, falsely called churches. Methodist church, Baptist church, Presbyterian church, Pentecostal church, Lutheran church, United Brethren church, there's no such thing. That's unscriptural.
There's only one Church, and you can't join It. You're borned into It. You're predestinated to It. The mythical Body of Jesus Christ--The mystical Body, rather, of Jesus Christ here on earth, with the Word being made manifest. Sons and daughters of God, they belong to none of it. "Come out from among them," He said. Yeah.
Watch, quickly now. I don't want to tire you, but if you just give me a few more minutes now, I'll go as quick as I can, but I want you to be sure to get it so that you won't miss it. See?

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

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

191 See, she's the mother of every one, because she was the first one to take away the writings of the Scripture and add dogma, because she rejected anointed prophets who had the vindicated light with the Word. For their intelligence, smart men, Roman Emperors, and so forth, that had accepted Christianity, but want to accept it in their own way. See? That's right. They want it in their own way.
Naaman wanted to get rid of his leprosy in the waters of his own country; he didn't like the muddy waters of Jordan. But if he ever get rid of his leprosy, he had to walk out there in that mud just exactly like the prophet told him. See? God don't have respect of persons.

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

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

195 Now, here the other day... Zella Braitman, are you here tonight, Zella? She brought; it's in the room in there now, "Our Sunday Visitor," the Catholic paper. And the Catholic paper was answering a minister. Said, "Did you say, reverend, that did the... In the Roman numeral over the Vatican, or over the Pope's throne is written, Vicarius Filii Dei, which it means, that it in the Catholic diocese there, that that is the--the number of the beast of the Apocalypse?"
"Why," he said, "certainly it is. It's exactly, spells out six hundred and sixty-six; it's exactly." And the Roman diocese admit it that it does. But here's their answer, smart, full of wisdom, said, "But, you know, your name in a certain language might spell out the same thing."
This man said, "Mine, almost the same thing in some language." He spelled it out. Said, "See, I'm almost six hundred and sixty-six too." Said, "There's been hundreds of them." Said, "Every time anything raises up, somebody's got a six hundred and sixty-six." And said, "Reverend, did you know in one language your own name might spell out antichrist?" Said, "Why do you look at such things?" Now look at the wisdom.

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

199 So how can your wisdom and your new birth from above ever compare with these things here on earth, these--these mighty magicians in it? Why, they know every little crook and corner. How could Moses stand when he followed the commandments of God to throw down his stick and it turned into a serpent, and here come the magicians up and done the same thing? But Moses stood still, knowing he'd followed the Word of God, and his serpent eat the rest of them up. See? So when you've obeyed and got... What could he do when he led them to the land of promise, and there was the Red Sea bottling them in, but God's path went right through it. Amen. Said, "Stand still and see the Glory of God."
When it's in the path of duty of following the Word, stand there and watch it open up. Amen. I'm fifty-three years old, been serving Him for about thirty-three years, wish I had ten million years to serve Him. I've never seen Him fail yet, when His Word is kept. That's right.

201 Now look, immediately after her sin, her secrets was discovered. We've had that a long time ago; we know it.
Now, the next chapter, look at Revelation 18. May I just turn to it just a minute. It might be a good thing; it won't take us but just a few minutes longer, and it might mean a little something to you. I hope it does.
Now, we see here in the 17th chapter, the 5th verse.


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

And I saw the woman... (church)... drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus:... when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.
See, seeing her, she was such a great beautiful thing. And she was the mother of prostitutes, prostitute religion, denominations, exactly what she did (See?), 'cause they injected dogmas just like she did. Now look, look at Revelation now, that's the 17th chapter, ends up with the 18th verse.
205 Now, watch.


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

[N'ZI Amani Germain]

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


... after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, with great power; and the earth was lightened by his glory.
And he cried... with a loud voice,... Babylon... (confusion)... the great is falling,... and is become the habitation of devils,... the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every clean and hate... unclean and hateful bird.
And all nations have drank of the wine of the wrath of her fornications, and the kings of the earth... committed fornications with her, and the merchants of the earth has waxed rich through the abundance of her desolance.
207 Look, immediately after her mystery was made known, who she was, what she was, who her daughters was, the mystery has been made known, then God sent an angel, a messenger to what? Call out. "Come out..." the Message of the hour.


Come out of her, my people, that you be not partakers of her plagues...
He's going to curse her. Watch.
"Come out of her." God sent a many--mighty angel, or, a messenger. And his Light wasn't in a corner; It scattered over the earth. "Come out of her." What? Her, and her sisters too... To lighten the earth, and call His people out of her... Now, you know that's the Truth. A messenger was sent from heaven to call God's people out of Babylon. And his Light lighted the earth, great Holy Spirit.
209 Notice, the Bible said she is a cage, and has caught hateful, unclean birds, not eagles, now: no, no, no, no: vultures. Unclean, hateful birds, that's what she's caged up around her. She is a cage full of them, a whole cage full with what? "Blasphemous names," contrary to the Scripture. II Timothy 3 said, the Holy Spirit speaking, "In the last days they will depart from the faith and give heed to seducing spirits." It also said, the Holy Spirit spoke that in the last days they'd be heady, high-minded, hateful: "Bless God, you belong to us, or you don't have your name on our book, you're lost." Hateful, unclean... I hope I'm not hurting; I hope I'm doing good. Hateful, unclean birds, she caged them.

210 Remember, God is an Eagle. He called Himself an eagle. And He called Jacob an eagle. And we are His eaglets. Amen. He called His prophets eagles. And this angel come down to expose and to call out.
Like my little message on "The Eagle Stirs Her Nest... That little old eagle had been following that old hen around in the barnyard all the time, clucking around, but he couldn't eat that stuff that she had: socials, and painted-faced women, bobbed hair, and shorts. He couldn't do that. But he didn't know nothing else but the cluck of that old hen. But one day the mother eagle found him. She screamed, calling him out, said, "Son, you're not one of them. Come out of her."
Said, "Mama, what can I do?"
Said, "Flop your wings and start." The first jump, he hit on a post, right in the middle of a organization. Said, "Son, you'll have to come higher than that or I can't catch you. Got to get your feet off the ground." She's going to take him on a flight. He found out he could fly. She come to call him out. That's right.

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

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

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

216 What did this angel say, "Come out of her." Yes, sir. This angel came to the earth, and he come to bring the Light, and he shined the Light around the world. He was a mighty angel. And he come to proclaim the message of "Come out of Babylon. Touch not her unclean things."
Got a whole cage full of them, said, "She's the cage of every hateful bird." Yeah, she got a cage full of them now, the World Council of Churches, or lodges. She's got the whole bunch caged up now; they're all coming together. She become a cage, all right, full of hateful birds. That's right. Try to talk to one of them one time; just try it, boy, smart in the world's wisdom, but know no more about God than a rabbit does about snowshoes. That's right. Just, that's just it (See?), just all they know is some wisdom they can put this and do that in there. But when it comes to knowing Him? Huh. Yeah, got caught in her cage with her dogmas. The Protestant churches begin the same and come her daughters, caused this by denying the Word of God. That she does. She denies the Word. And when you accept something else instead of the Word, you deny It yourself. And when you join up in one of them, you've also denied the Word. God don't want you that way, no place of it for the Scripture.

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

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

220 Notice, the 19th chapter is the next, "After these things..." Did you notice here in the 19th chapter, "After these things..."? Watch what? After what? After the message of come out of her. After these things (Watch.) is the shout of the Bride saints with the Bridegroom, going to the marriage of the Lamb. How close are we then, brother? What's the last call? Come out of Babylon.
Now, my brethren, that's the reason I'm against it; it's unscriptural. It's unorthodox. It's been proven to be false. God is not in it; He never was; He never will be. Now, I ain't saying there's not people in these organizations, that's where the church was made up of. But as long as you stay into that system, you're a part of it.

222 If I stay in the United States, I'm an American. As long as I'm a citizen or a member of this United States, I'm part of it. If I go to Germany and deny my membership here or my citizenship, I take out citizenship in Germany, I'm no more an American; I'm a German. And if I go to Japan, or wherever, Russia, I become a citizen there.
And when you join up with a citizem--a system and become a citizen of that system, you're showing what you are. And in this last days, God is calling the people out of it. The Bible said so: "Come out of her, that you be not partakers with her, and I will receive you. Touch not her unclean things (See?), and I will receive you. And you'll be sons and daughters to Me, and I'll be God to you." See?

224 That's the reason I have spoke against the church, the--the lodge. I can't call it a church. There's only one Church; that's the Church of the Body of Christ. But these lodges that's called church, my Bible tells me that they are blasphemous names, all of them, all organizations. What are they blaspheming? "Blasphemy" is "to be contrary to," or, "speak against." When God says, "come, be born," and they say "come, join." See? When the baptisms of the Spirit is falsely took over for a wafer in the Catholic church, a handshake in the Protestant church, and an emotion in the Pentecostal church, instead of the Person of Christ coming in with all that pyramid building we had the other day.
Add to your faith, virtue, and so forth, all this in I Peter the 1st--or II Peter, I believe, the 1st chapter, where it's all added to your faith, all these things, godliness, and purity, and holiness, and everything, and then you're sealed by the Holy Ghost.

226 But it's just like somebody they--people claim to have this when they haven't, because they've been falsely taught. The Methodists get a funny feeling, used to, and shake a little bit, or--or dance in the Spirit. The Pentecostals speak with tongues or--or do something emotional. I believe those things, certainly, but those things without these others is no good.
As I said the other day, it's like a peacock--or a blackbird trying to put peacock feathers in himself, or a buzzard trying to use dove feathers. They never growed there; he pushed them in hisself. They're planted; they're denomination. But when God puts anything in there, it's natural. You make yourself say, "I joined church last night. I can't go no more. I can't drink no more. I can't do this. I joined church." See, you're trying to put peacock feathers in your buzzard carcass. That's right. See, see? You've got to be born again. You've got to receive Christ. And when you receive Christ, you can't receive Christ without receiving His Word, because He is the Word. And when you have a form of godliness, and deny that, then I wonder. See? And you can still belong to all the organization you want to and have a form of godliness, and still don't have it.

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

229 And you go into a denomination, they say, "I know; we don't believe in This. Our bishops in our church teaches we are one of the oldest churches. We don't teach..." I don't care what they don't teach. If the Bible teaches it, the Holy Spirit in you, It'll feed on the Word. No matter how smart a man is and how he can try to explain it away, they can explain away. A infidel can take the Bible and explain God away from you.
Therefore, no man has any right to preach the Gospel unless he's been like Moses, back yonder on that sacred sands where him and God alone stood, until a man's born again and stands there face to face with God, and knows. There's no infidel; there's no psychology; there's no explaining; there's no scholar in the world can take that away from you. You were there when it happened. Yes, sir. You know what taken place.
Then you say, "I had that kind of experience, and I got a spirit on me." And if it denies the Word in any way, you got the wrong spirit. You say, "I--I can't go for this stuff like this, I know, but our church..." Oh, oh, there's a wrong spirit. There's your mark of identification. Cain, you're marked. Yes, sir.
Eve just doubted one little Word, not all God said, just one little Word, and it caused every heartache and heartbreak, and death, and sin, and battles, and everything else, every grave, every ambulance ever screamed, every hospital was built for the sick. Her one little doubting one little Word of God caused all of this. And she was put out, when this never would've had to happen. How are you going to get in, doubting one Word of It? Say, "I know It says that, but It..." It means just that.

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

235 And if God is going to judge the world by a church, as the Catholic says, then what Catholic church is He going to judge it by? There's several of them; there's one Roman, one Greek; and, oh, there's all different kinds. Which Catholic church He going to judge it by? Or, maybe He's going to judge it by the Lutheran? Well, then, and maybe He's going to judge it by the Presbyterian? See? What's He going to do? He isn't going to judge it by a church. He's going to judge it by His Word. Well then, He never...
See, He can't keep a group of people, as the sister's vision the other night, the Holy Spirit poured in, It went right through that box. Sure, nothing holds That. It's an individual. It's give to cleanse the church, but it can't hold It. No organization can hold It. That's all. It just can't do it. You got everything in there--in there; you can't do it. The organization can't do it. But it's the individual that has the Holy Spirit. Now, notice.

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

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

239 Exactly what Samuel said... Israel had a King, and that was God. And they said, "Samuel, you're getting old. Make us a king; we want to be like the rest of the world. We want to be like the other nations. We want a king to take us to war; we want a king that can fight our battles." And it displeased Samuel.
He said, "Have I ever took anything from you? Have I ever took your money from you? Have I ever asked you for an ox or anything? Have I ever asked you for anything?"
They said, "No, you never asked us for nothing."
Or says, "Have I ever spoke anything to you in the Name of the Lord but what come to pass?" Is that right? He said, "Then don't receive that king, because it's going to mean chaos to you."

242 Now, I want to ask you something, the Branham Tabernacle. You're fixing to grow into a big Tabernacle now. I may be away for a while. I may go somewhere: hard to tell where the Lord will call me; maybe off the scene, maybe back into the field; maybe He might call me into the wilderness. I don't know where He'll call me till Jesus comes. I want to ask you something. Did I ever ask you for anything? Did I ever beg you for money? Did I ever tell you anything, of the thousands of things that I have told you in the Name of the Lord, but, didn't it come to pass? Then don't never join an organization. It's against the Word of God. Come out of it if you're in it, and be ye separate and receive the Word of the Lord. Let's bow our heads.

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

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

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

246 We thank Thee, Lord, that our little church, this little sacred shrine... Many years ago, thirty some odd years, I knelt in the pond here full of weeds and moisture, and we dedicated this ground to You, this little structure. And yonder in that Tabernacle corner lays that vision. It's come to pass exactly. Still there. They're not going to tear it down, Lord, they're just going to... it's getting old, and they're just going to preserve it by putting one over the top of it. God, grant that this golden Gospel that's recorded in the pages here, may It never leave this little church until Christ comes. May every member, every member of the Body of Christ, they come in here from across the nation and around the world, may every one of them receive the Light, the Gospel, and walk in It then and receive Christ.
And may it be so real that His Words will come to pass, "The works that I do, shall they do also. He that heareth My Words and believeth on Him that sent Me, has Eternal Life." And when Eternal Life comes in, they're born from above, and the works from God manifest themself, because it's the same Life that was in Him. It cannot do anything else.

248 So, Father, let this church never rest their eternal destination upon a sensation, upon an organization, upon anything less than Christ Himself living in them, vindicating His Word through them and His promise. May, from the least little child here tonight, until the oldest person, receive this experience. And may every man or woman, boy or girl, who hears this tape, may it be so with them, Lord, and give them the understanding that I'm only trying to warn and call out, for this hour is later than we think.
And we see Babylon, the mother whore, and all of her prostitute daughters assembling themselves together. God, we realize that the Scripture says that the tares out of the wheat field will be bound first in bundles. And they have bound in bundles, calling themselves blasphemous names that really doesn't pertain to them; it's not pertaining to the Church either; it's lodges, not churches. There's only one of them, Father, and that's the one You died for.

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

251

I love Him, I love Him
Because He first loved me
And purchased my salvation
On Calvary's tree.
I'm going to ask the question. How many tonight in this visible audience here of this nice big church of people, or house of people, rather, in this place of worship, that believes with all your heart, your life measures up with the requirement you--of God and the Bible, and you believe that by looking at your own life, and seeing the way the Spirit's moving in you, that It believes every Word the way It's wrote and keeps It? Do you believe It? God bless you. May He ever keep His Spirit upon you.
And to my friend on the tape, I wish you could've looked here in this audience tonight, I guess at least ninety percent of the people had their hands up, that they have believed and watched the Bible, not what the church says, what the Bible says, not what the lodge says, what the Bible says; and they see the Life of Christ reflecting in It.
253 You know, in the old days before they had smelters, the--the goldsmith used to beat the gold with a hammer. I guess you've heard of it. Before it went to the smelter, they beat it. And gold is the heaviest material; it's heavier than lead. And so I've done a little prospecting, and you can take in the sands in the wash in the deserts, and rub your hands over the sand, and then (whoosh) blow like that, and the dust and everything will fly away, the rocks, but gold is so heavy it lays there. And then when you pick up that gold, it's rolled through so much dirt until it's accumulated a lot. And through the volcanic ages as it accumulated up, it got sludge and everything, iron pyrite and other materials mixed with it. The beater used to take this lump of gold and beat it and turn it, and beat it and turn it, until he beat all the dross out of it. And you know how he knowed that he had all the dross out? He could see his own image reflected in it.

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

255 When they put a rag around His face and hit Him on the head, said, "Now, they tell me that you're a prophet." Now, jerked the rag off of Him, and one of them holding the stick, said, "Which one of us hit you? Prophesy and tell us, in otherwise, then we'll believe you are a prophet." He never opened His mouth.
When you hear a prophet rising that's got all the answers to every gimmick that you can bring up, remember, he's not a prophet. Yes. Today they've got to know everything, when you're going to have a toothache and when you're going to have a tummy-ache, and everything else, and tell you all about it. That isn't the nature of our God. Watch the prophets; watch Jesus.

257 Look at Paul, when he could smite a man blind, and let the coppersmith run him out of the country, "I guess he lost his power to smite blind."
Jesus, Who could raise the dead, and yet said a drunken soldier spit in His face, and hawk and spit and jerk beard out of His face, and hit Him on the head, with a rag around Him, said, "Prophesy and tell us who hit you."... And opened not His mouth.
Don't watch all these gimmick workers. But remember, they're only speaking... A bogus dollar only speaks that there's a real one somewhere. When you see this organization stuff growing and prospering, as it said, "Craft would prosper in his hand," just remember, there's a little Church of God somewhere, really is Holy Ghost filled, genuine, that's moving up the ladder. Don't look at the big organization.

260 What greater church is spoke of in the Bible than the Ephesian church age? And when Paul passed through the upper coasts of Ephesus, and comes to this church, there was twelve men in it. That's right. And they all was good people, shouted and have a great time, but had not received the Holy Ghost yet. Paul said, "You haven't received the Holy Ghost since you believed?"
They said, "Why, we didn't know there was a Holy Ghost."
He said, "Then how was you baptized?" If it didn't make a difference, what did he say to that church there?
They said, "We've already been baptized by one of the greatest men that ever stood on the earth, John the Baptist, who baptized our Lord. Ain't that baptizing good enough?"
He said, "No, sir. You've got to be baptized over, 'cause the Kingdom is sealed to anything else." And when they heard this... Said, "John only baptized unto repentance, not for remission of sins, saying that you should believe on Him to come, that is, on Jesus." And when they heard this, they were rebaptized in the Name of Jesus Christ. That's right, exactly. They followed the Scripture.

264 You know, in the dedication this morning, Moses followed the pattern that he saw in heaven and pitched a tent to represent it. When Solomon built the temple, he (What did he do?) followed the pattern that Moses, by the tent, keeping the Scripture in line.
And when God come to His Temple for the last days, this Temple, the Holy Ghost, "a body hast Thou prepared Me," the Holy Ghost fell on the day of Pentecost, the message was, "Repent, every one of you, and be baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, for the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to them that's far off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." If you want to call your minister a doctor, Doctor Simon Peter wrote a prescription, an eternal prescription. That's what cures the sick...?...

266 Let some of these quack druggists, trying by denomination to fill it some other way, that's the reason they got... You know, if you don't add the--you add too much to the prescription, you might--too much of the poison, you might kill your patient. If you don't put enough in it, you--not for the antidote, if you don't, it won't do your patient no good. Your physician knows just how to write the prescription.
And Christ, the Holy Ghost, is the Prescription Writer, and He wrote It. Don't add to It or take It away from It, just take the Medicine the way she is. It's the Cure for all ailments. God bless you. You love Him? Amen.


I love Him, I... [Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.]
Because He first loved me
And purchased my salvation
On Calvary's tree.
268 Now, while we hum it, now turn around and shake hands with your neighbor there. Oh, he's a pilgrim too, passing through.


I love Him, I love Him (...?...)
Because He first loved me
And purchased... vation (...?... Thank you, brother.)
I love Him, I love Him
Because He first loved me
And purchased my salvation
On Calvary's tree.
I love Him, (Let's sing it now.), I love Him
Because He first loved me
And purchased my salvation
On Calvary's tree.
269 Now, let's bow our heads, close our eyes, lift up our hands and our voices to God now, as I commit you to the pastor. We're glad to have you here. We're no denomination. We have no law but love, no creed but Christ, no book but the Bible: no membership; just fellowship through the Blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses us from all unbelief.
All right, all together now.


I love Him, I... (God bless you. Come back and visit us again.)
Because He first loved... (All right, Pastor...?..., God bless you.)
And purchased my...


SOURCE: http://www.nathan.co.za/message.asp?sermonum=888


Blessings,

Bro. Germain

www.tagworld.com/srobouay

www.myspace.com/wawesan

[N'ZI Amani Germain]

WHY ARE WE NOT A DENOMINATION?


Sermon details
Save (download) this sermon MP3
This Message by Brother William Marrion Branham called Why Are We Not A Denomination? was delivered on Saturday, 27th September 1958 at the Branham Tabernacle in Jeffersonville, Indiana, U.S.A.
The tape, number 58-0927, is 2 hours and 46 minutes, and consists of 2 cassettes. This message is available in book format (Volume 11, Number 7R).

This text was taken from the 1999 Infobase, provided by
Voice Of God Recordings
P.O. Box 950, Jeffersonville, Indiana 47131 U.S.A.
Phone [phone]
Fax [phone]
Many thanks to Br. Neil Halava and his team for their hard work.

The sermon MP3 (as linked above) is supplied by
Brother David Mamalis.




1 Privileged to be back here at the pulpit again after about, I guess, almost three months absence. The squirrels has had a hard time, so have I. Oh, it's relaxed though now, and you feel more like entering into the service again. And expecting now to start this coming week, this coming Wednesday night, for a--a revival right here in the Tabernacle. And if God's willing, I have kind of, the Lord has promised me a different and new type of ministry. And if He pleased to do so, I hope to begin that--that new type of service this coming week here at the Tabernacle for the first place.
And then I have no scheduled meetings, but just Australia and New Zealand for this coming January. And then Brother Osborn is calling for a joint meeting that I kind of promised him here sometime ago in Tulsa, but a little later on, but we're not sure of that yet.

3 It was certainly good, Brother Jeffreys, to get to shake your hand back here, and also to hear your boy sing that song, and you play. I kind of like that, father and son. Don't you like that? "Bring up a child in the way that it should go." That's right, Mr. Guenther, you--you know that that's right, both of you. "Bring up a child in the way that it should go, and when he gets old it'll not depart." And that's true. There may be some times that he may depart from it, but it won't depart from him. See? It'll--it'll always stay with him. That early training and whatever he's been brought up to do, it'll--it'll certainly stay with him. Now, this is...

4 I met Brother Jeffreys out there, and I said, "Brother Jeffreys..." I thought, you know, I'm always glad to see any of my visiting brethren in, but such a night for a visiting brother to come... This is the night of just the folks that comes to the Tabernacle, just prayer, this revival, this is the night. We want to take tonight, and tomorrow morning, and tomorrow night, just on what we believe here at the Tabernacle, to--to rehearse it over again. We have some awful odd beliefs, very strange, but somehow or another we find them in this Bible. They seem to be there all right.

5 And now if there would be a strange brother or sister in, that belongs to a--a certain denomination, or--or disagrees, just setting in on this for tonight, we want you to know that you're perfectly welcome. See, you're just as welcome as you can be. But now, I hope... And we make this pretty rough. So if--if it seems that you don't agree with it, well, now, and you do that like I do when I'm eating cherry pie. And when I'm eating cherry pie, which is my favorite, I always, when I'm--when I eat the pie, if I run into a seed, I don't throw the pie away; I--I just throw the seed away and--and just keep on eating pie. So, or like eating chicken, now, all of you all like chicken. See? And when you hit the bone, you don't quit; you just go around the bone and keep eating chicken. Well, that's the way you do tonight, what I'm saying here; you just--when you eat something, you say, "Now, I--I just don't... I'm just setting in this as a little church doctrine for these next three meetings; they're just kind of rehearsing what they--what they believe, and going over it."

6 And the only way you can nearly make a person believe It, is drive it home so hard till they'll have to know that that's the thing that's right. That's the only way you can make it stick. And just like a friend of mine, Mr. Woods I've been with, if--if you just drive a nail halfway in, and the board's all loose, the wind will blow it down pretty soon, but you got to drive her in and make it stick hard. So now, if I just make this real rude on some of these places, to you visitors tonight that's setting on, I'm not--I'm not trying to throw you off; I'm just trying to drive home to this church what we believe. All understands that now real good, say "amen." [Congregation says "Amen!"--Ed.] All right, that's--that's okay. And I'll get this off of my hands. And then--then the--the... They're recording it, and so forth, that later on if they wanted to find out then what we really stand for, and what the grounds that we stand on, these recordings will tell it. And then we do this every so often, 'cause there's new people comes in and--and we go ahead. And now we won't be able to go over all the church doctrines, but just some of them that we want to--to speak on. And now Wednesday night though, starts...

7 Now, Monday and Tuesday, I'm going away to pray, get ready for healing service. And you can get on the phones, or wherever you wish to, and bring in anybody that you want to for this coming revival. And tell them not to come in a hurry now, not come, say, "Well, now I'm going to run in and be prayed for tonight, and tomorrow night it's all..." You don't do that. You come in and listen awhile, 'cause we want to take our time and lay that Word out so close that the Devil won't even have one little speck of room to ever move.
And then when you let your faith run out to its end, till you begin to believe, then let your subconscious go to acting, then the faith of God will back it up; then you'll go right on out. See? 'Cause your faith won't do too much; your subconscious has to move in the direction that your faith is moving, and then God's faith moves in behind and confirms it all. See? But if it's your faith, "Oh, yes, I got it right now"; and even your subconscious rolling back here, saying, "I wonder if it'll work on me." It--it won't do it right then. See? So we want this to be a real healing service. And before I get anyone into the rooms and so forth for the healing, or this new services, I want them to really understand what they're coming there for.
So just remember, and come and visit us, and we'd be glad to have you.

8 Now, remember now, in the morning we're going to continue on with the church doctrine, and tomorrow night the same way. Now, you're welcome to come, and anybody can come. We're always glad to see anybody. But now this tonight is just directed home to the people that's of the Tabernacle here, that--that's raised up in this doctrine. For, out in the fields, the evangelistic fields, we just take the real fundamental evangelical doctrines of the Scriptures. But here at the Tabernacle, we got our own thoughts and our own beliefs, as a--as a--as a church, and that's what we're to go over tonight.
And before we open His blessed Word, then can't we just bow our heads for a moment of prayer.

10 Almighty and powerful God, Who, before the world ever started whirling on the first atom, You were God. You haven't changed a bit. And when there is no more atoms to hold it up, and there's no more world to be held up, You'll still be God. You're for everlasting, and from everlasting Thou art God. You never had a beginning of days nor ending of life; You'll always be.
And, Father, You being infinite, and we finite, then we ask for Your Divine mercy, God, realizing that this spirit of ours is to blend into the eternity out of this time element into eternity. Therefore, Lord, we're here to check up on our salvation, to see how we're standing in the sight of Thy Word, and to see how we are situated in our experiences. Are we living that which is pleasing to Thee? Does our spirits bear record with Your Spirit? And does our teaching bear record with this Bible? And, Father, may we examine both closely in these next three coming services. Grant it, Lord.

11 Bless the pastor here, the deacons, the trustees, and all the laity, the people who come to this church. Since my days here, Lord, there's many, many that I don't even know their names or where they come from, but I'm sure that You know all about them. And we're here for that one purpose tonight, Lord, to fellowship around the written Word. And give us the Holy Spirit in our lives, that we can set peacefully and soberly and in the fear of God, and examine our lives by His Word. Grant it, Lord.
And in this building tonight, Lord, there is my brethren of different phases of the--of the church. And, Lord, I'm so thankful that they are here to fellowship. Maybe we might disagree upon little principles of doctrines. But in that one great major principle, we're standing as united brethren in a front that, O God, may it strengthen our--our fellowships, and our--and the bonds of God's grace and love rest upon us richly.
Now, realizing, Lord, that this is too much of a job for a man to do, because we have here under consideration tonight the destination of souls that's eternity bound. So we pray that the Holy Spirit will get right into the Word, and will lay It out, and explain It in His Own way to us, the things that He would have us to know. Grant it, Lord. And when the three--the times of service is over, may we go as a strengthened church, as a united together to put our hearts and our aims all together, with our fellow citizens of the Kingdom of God, and move forward like never before.

13 I want to thank You, Lord, here in the Presence of the church and--and of the peoples that's here, that You gave me now several weeks of good rest. I feel wonderful tonight because of Your Presence and Your blessing. And, O God, we pray for brother here, our brother that's going overseas, way down into those dark, dingy countries, where his very life lays as--as a target. And, O Lord, bless our Brother Jeffreys as he goes, and his son, and his wife, and give him great increase. May he cut holes through the darkness until the Gospel Light will shine far and wide. Hear us, Father, for we ask this petition in the Name of the Lord Jesus, Thy Son. Amen.

14 Now, tonight reading in my small Scofield Bible... I've just passed twenty-five years old recently. And I can still read it, but it gets pretty dim, so I've got me a pair of reading glasses when I study. And I'm going to see how it works tonight for my first time. Now, I have subjects like this, that, "Must the Church..." Oh, many things, if we can get to them. One of them, Why are we called the church? Why are we not a denomination? Why--why do we believe in the eternal security of the soul of the believer? Why do we condemn women preachers? Why do we baptize by immersing? And will the church go through the tribulation? And many of those subjects here, I guess I got fifteen or eighteen of them for the next few nights.

15 So I'm thinking tonight to begin with, to start with, it seems to be the Lord lays upon my heart just for this subject, the--"Why Are We Not A Denomination?" The reason that... Now, we have nothing against other people who are denomination. We have nothing against them, but I want to explain why that we never went in with any denomination. I was ordained in a little Baptist church, as you know. And the Baptist is not a denomination, wasn't till just recently, and now it's becoming just as much denomination as the rest of them. But the reason that we never become a denomination...

16 Now, we are an organization. We are an organization, recorded here in the--in the courts as an organization, a group of people that's organized together to worship Christ, but we're not in a denomination. No one is going to dominate over us. You see? It's not a denomination. It's--it's just an organization of fellowship amongst Christian believers. People come here to the church, and this becomes their home church, if they wish to come as long as they live.

17 And they can come here and disagree with everything that we preach. That's perfectly all right. You still, as long as you are a Christian, you've got fellowship and a hand out just the same as the rest of them. See? If I said I believe in baptizing by immersing by water, and you believed in sprinkling, and stayed right on it, we'd still be just the same as we was if we both agreed. We might not be able to see eye to eye alike, but as long as you are a Christian brother or sister, you're perfectly welcome (See?), everybody.

18 So we don't have any denominations, because I think that denomination separates brotherhood. Some of them say, "Well, we ain't got nothing to do in that revival; that's a Methodist revival. Well, that's Baptist; we ain't got... We're Methodists; we ain't got nothing to do with that." Brother, if Christ is in it, we got--we got all to do with it. We got to put our... It--it's the body of Christ that is--is suffering. And I see that so much in the lands today, to how that we have...
Now, Christ never did at any time ever organize any denominational church. Now, just let that be well assured.

19 Now, now, I'm going to ask you tomorrow night, if any of these things you want to know, like some history that I'm quoting, or something another, I don't have time just to drain that through, I won't get to another subject, 'cause you could spend weeks on that very same subject... But if you want to know the place, anything, just ask me and lay it up here on the--on the desk, and I'll get it, answer it for you.

20 Now, the oldest denomination, and the first denomination church that we ever had, is the Catholic church. And it was organized three hundred and something years after the death of the last apostle. And that's right. You get it in the early Nicene Fathers, and you get it in this writings of Josephus, and, oh, many of the--of the great historians. See? And as far as in the--the--any of the church ages, down through until the death of the last apostle, and three hundred years the other side of the apostles, there was no denominational churches. And the Catholic was the first denomination of a church.
And the Protestant church are the denominations who has pulled out of a denomination. The first reformation come was Luther; after Luther come Zwingli; after Zwingli come Calvin, and just on down like that. And down to the Wesleyan revival, and on down to Alexander Campbell, John Smith, and whatmore (See?), on down. And the last movement that we have up now is the different phases of the Pentecostal age.

22 And I believe that God has dealt in each age. But did you ever notice that every time a church ever fails, and as soon as they denominate they start failing right then? And whenever they fail, God never raises that church again. It goes right straight to seed. Now, you just... If you want to know the history on that, we--we can produce it, that--that no church, not ever in the history of churches, has any denomination ever fell that ever rose again. Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Luther, and whatever it may be, when they fell, they are gone. Now, that's right. Now, this, I--I told you now, put on the jackets, 'cause we're going to make this stick. See?
There has never, at one time, when a man come out as an individual and organized a church, it started...

23 God deals with individuals, not with denomination. God in no age ever dealt with a denomination. He's always dealt with an individual. In the Old Testament He dealt with individual. In the New Testament He dealt with individual. In any age He's always dealt with individuals and not denominations. So therefore, if God isn't in the denomination, what's the use of me having anything to do with it as a denomination? Now, I'm not talking about the people in that denomination; I'm talking about the denomination itself, 'cause God's people's in all those denominations.

24 Now, God never lets anything happen unless He gives a warning to it. I don't believe there's anything that...
Now, like we have issues that comes out of the churches, such as we've had one recently about blood and oil, and so forth, and you know the "Dear Brother Branham" letter, and so forth. But the reason that I stood against that, because it's not in the Word. And that's the reason that I'm against denomination, because it's not in the Word. And it has to have something we have to base our faith upon. And if we can't base it upon some denomination, we've got to base it upon God's Word. For That is the only Foundation, is God's Word.

26 And then if God's Word doesn't speak of a denomination, but speaks against the denomination, then we must speak with the Word. Regardless of what bishop, what anyone says, what anyone thinks, what a good man says, what anything says, if it's not according to God's Word, then it's wrong. See, it must be; the Word must be the last thing. God's Word must be the final Amen.
Now remember, I'm not unchristianizing anyone (you understand that) in denominations. There's tens of thousands of precious souls in all those denominations, who are God's children. But to separate them and segregate them, I'm against it. And God's Word's against it.

28 And I believe that there isn't an "ism" that's in the land today, there isn't an "ism" that's ever been in the land, but what that it was foretold coming by God's Word. I believe that God's Word supplies everything that we have need of, right here in the Word. From the--our beginning to the end, it's found right in God's Word. And then I--I believe that if it's in God's Word, then we should... It foretells. And God's Word is a warning.

29 Now, you don't read God's Word just like you read a newspaper. You read God's Word by the Holy Spirit (See?), because the Holy Spirit Itself speaking through Christ... Christ thanking God that He'd hid these things from the eyes of the wise and prudent, and would reveal them to babes such as would learn. So, you see, there's no way of ever being educated; there's no way of ever denominating; there's only one way to get right, that's be led by the Spirit of God, and that experience you had must cope with this Word (See?), then you got it. See?

30 Like when we get down here in a few minutes now, we're dealing with people who are--are--some of them are radical Calvinists, some of them are radical Arminians, and--and different ways. Now, there's always, no matter how thin you slice it, it's got two sides to it. That's exactly right. And they've both got arguing points. But the thing of it is, where lays the truth of it? That's where we're coming to, where we think, by the grace of God, we can show you the truth of it. Now, let's just take... And this is just where I got some of these church doctrines wrote out.

31 Let's turn in your Bibles just a few minutes, all of you now, and let's get over to Revelations the 1st chapter, or Revelations the 17th Chapter to start with. And let's just start reading and find out now where these churches begin at and what--what started it.
Now, the Bible forewarns everything. It forewarns the days that we're--we're living in. And now, Revelations the 17th chapter, if you will. I said 13th; I didn't mean that, that's on the... We get that after while too, that's in the prophecy of the United States. But listen real close now.


And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying... Come hither; and I will show... thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
Now remember, this sounds mysterious. Now, this ill-famed woman... Now, if we're going to teach this, you got to find out first what these symbols mean. Now, a woman, in the Bible, represents "church." How many knows that? We are a Bride; the Church is a Bride.
33 "Come here and I'll show you the judgment." Now, there's going to be a judgment spoke upon the great whore, the unclean woman that sets upon many waters. Now, the woman symbolizing, a "church," and water symbolizes "people." Now, if you'll notice it, also look at the 15th verse while you're there, 15th verse, the same chapter.


And he said unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore setteth, are peoples, and multitudes,... nations, and tongues. See?
Now, this great church, great woman, now remember she is an ill-famed woman. And if woman represents the church (and Christ's Church is a Bride, a holy Bride), then here is an unholy woman. Then it would have to be an unholy, pretended to be, bride. See? Now, and what does she do? "She sets upon," or, "to be above" means "to have the governing over many waters." In other words, she's got power through all the nations and tongues and people. She's a great person, this woman is.
35

Now, whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication,...
"For the kings of the earth have committed fornications," rich men, great men have. How would you commit--how would a king commit fornications with a church? It's spiritual fornication: spiritual. What is fornication? It's, well, it's like a woman living untrue to her husband; she's living with another man while she's got a husband. And this church then is--is pretending to be the Bride of Christ, while she's committing fornication with the kings of the world, with her unclean living, unclean profession. Oh, it's deep and it's rich; I just love the Word.
36 Now, notice.


... whom the kings of the earth have committed fornications, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
Her wine is what she was giving out, her stimulation: "We are the church. We're the one that's got it." See? Now, just draw that in your mind now. All right. So he carried...
Like the angel told John, "I will show you this judgment that's coming to this great church." Now, watch.

So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman setting upon a scarlet coloured beast,...
"Scarlet," in the Bible, represents "royal." The color "scarlet" means "red." And "beast" represents "power." Did you notice the beast come up out of the sea; that was in the Revelation the 13th. And when you see the beast coming up out of the sea, it's meant that this power was raising up among the people. But in Revelation 13, when this lamb came up, he came up out of the earth, no people: United States. But then after he had two little horns: civil and ecclesiastical powers. And then he received power and spoke like the dragon did before him. So you just got to mark it down; we are coming into a religious persecution with the same things that they did in pagan Rome many years ago, for it's THUS SAITH THE LORD. Now, what is it, "setting upon a beast, a power."
39 Did you notice Rebekah, when Eliezer found her, it was in the evening time, and she watered the camel. 'Cause Eliezer said, "If the damsel that comes and waters this camel, that will be the--and gives me, a drink, that will be the one that You have chosen, Lord, to be the bride of Your servant, Isaac." And while he was yet in prayer, Rebekah come and drawed water and give him a drink, and watered the camel. Notice, the camel was a beast. And that same beast that she was watering was the one who packed her to her bride, Isaac.

40 And today, the power of the Holy Ghost, that the church is watering and worshipping, is the thing that'll pack it from this earth to meet the Bride. Sure, Isaac was out in the field in the evening. We don't meet the Lord up in glory. Ephesians the 5th chapter said that we shall meet Him in the air. Oh, that makes the Methodists get ready to shout. Think of it. See? The Lord...
Isaac had come out from his father's house, and was out in the field when he saw Rebekah coming on the camel. And she loved him at first sight, and jumped off the camel, and run to meet him. That's right. That's where we meet the Lord. And the very camel that she watered, packed her to her husband. And the very power that the church is worshipping, that the world's calling fanaticism, that the church is worshipping, will be the same power that'll take the church up in the air to meet the Lord in the air: the Holy Spirit. See? There it... And, look, Rebekah was a virgin.

41 And this woman is a prostitute, we're speaking of here. Now, you get what the power is now? The--the power, what the--means that the beast, she was on a scarlet. Now, what kind of a beast would it be? Scarlet, that would be a "rich power." What kind of a church is this she's going to be now? She's a rich church, and she's a great church, and she's a powerful church, and she--influence sweeps the multitudes and people. And the kings of the earth have committed spiritual fornications with her; that's the great men of the earth. Now we're going to find out who she is just in a minute, and find out about these denominations.


And the woman was arrayed in purple... (kingly),... arrayed in purple and scarlet colors,... decked with gold and precious stones... pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of the abomination and filthiness of her fornication:
What'd she have in her hand? Her doctrine, what she was holding out to the people, "We are the church. We are this." And she's made the kings of the earth become drunk with her like that. "We are this. We're the great powers. We sweep every nation. We're the greatest church there is. Come on, drink of our... Here, pour out a little bit of it; you take it; you take it." There it is (See?), "and she had in her hand a cup."
43 Look.


And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colors,... decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of the abomination and filthiness of her fornication:
Now, friends, we're not reading a daily newspaper; we're reading God's eternal and blessed Word. All heavens and earth will pass, but that Word will remain. That's right.

And upon her head was written a name, was a name written... (rather,)... MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS, THE ABOMINATION OF THE EARTH.
44 Now, here sometime ago, I don't think to the church here, but I preached on a subject, "Handwriting On The Wall," and give the historical standing of Babylon. Now, every "ism" that's ever come up, every religion and every "ism" that there is in the world today begin in Genesis. Now, if you'll get Hislop's "Two Babylons," if you want to chase it in history, or some of those fine books, you can even find every "ism" that you want to find. I'm going to take you back there in a few minutes on women preachers (See?), and show you just where it first started from (See?), back in Genesis. And on these different things, just how they come up out of Genesis. "Genesis" means "the beginning." How many knows that that's right? Genesis is the beginning. So everything that is, had to have a beginning.

45 When I look at a tree. I've been in the woods for a couple, three, about two months. I see a tree, how pretty it is. I see it, it goes down; another one comes up in its place, perpetual life. And I think of that. But somewhere that tree had a beginning. It had to have a beginning. And the only way it could be designated to be a tree, or to be an oak, or a beech, or a poplar, or a palm, or whatever it was, there had to be a Master Intelligence behind it. Or if there just one, been one oak tree, everything in the world been all oak tree. But Something great Master Intelligence had to set it in order. Blessed be His holy Name. He's the One Who sets the moon and the stars in the solar system. He set everything in its order. And He'll set His church in order. It'll turn just like He wants her to turn, east, west, north, or south, or whatever it is, when we can get these denominational ideas out of our mind and throw ourself wholly into Calvary. He'll set it in order if we are just as submissive as the trees and His other creation. You never see the moon saying, "I ain't going to shine tonight; some of you stars shine in my place." But we, no, we're different. You see?

46 Now, Babylon, watch how Babylon appeared. It appears in the first of the Bible. It appears in the middle of the Bible. And it appears in the last of the Bible. Now, there's something... Now, it begin with Nimrod. Nimrod founded Babylon in the Shinar valley, right close between the Tigris River and the Euphrates, and the Euphrates passed through. And--and how that every road through all that country led straight to Babylon. And each one of those gates were about two hundred feet across, those gates made out of brass. And when you got inside of the city of Babylon, every street led straight to the throne.

47 Now, you can go to Rome today, and every road will lead to Rome. And there's a little virgin Mary setting on every corner, in the turn of the road, with a Christ child in her hand, pointing that way towards Rome. See? It appears in the first of the Bible; it appears in the middle of the Bible; and here it is in the last of the Bible. Now, I just want to read on just for a few minutes, so you get the background of this. See? All right.


And I saw the woman... (Now watch the church, when you see woman just think of church. See?)... I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints,...
Now, where does the word "saint" comes from? The word "saint" comes from "sainted one" or "sanctified one," sainted. All right.
49 I saw her drunk with the blood of the saints,...
Now, if this woman is the church, she's persecuted the saints. And she's the greatest church; she has power all over the earth. She's over many waters, and she... The kings of the earth commit fornications with her. Well, who is she? Kind of a mystery. Now the Spirit's going to... You know, there's supposed to be nine spiritual gifts in the church, to wisdom, and one to understanding, and one for healing, and one for so forth.


... and with the blood of the Martyrs of Jesus:...
Looked like they didn't care much what Jesus said; it was what the church said. That's right. And that's correct too.
51

... and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.
"I wondered with admiration. I... It was a--a marvel thing about her, how that I wondered how that she..." Now, let me take John's place and try to open that up a little bit. See? John said, "There she sets. She's pretending to be a Christian church. She's got all the access to the moneys of the world. She's got the kings of the earth in at her feet. She's a rich and colorful thing, and how can she be drunk with the martyrs of Jesus? How can she persecute the saints? How can she kill those martyrs of Christ, and yet she's claiming to be a Christian herself, a Christian church?"
52 Now, watch.


And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman... and of the beast that carrieth her, and which had... seven heads and ten horns.
Now, this is just common reading here now. You catch this, this'll be very easy.

The beast which thou sawest was, and is not, and shall descend out--ascend out of the bottomless pit, and shall go into perdition: and they that dwell upon the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they see, when they--when they beheld the beast which was, which is not, and yet is.
Now, now, this has got to pinch, so here it is. He said, now notice, that when all, not just a few, but all that dwell upon the earth shall wonder, all of them will wonder. The whole world will wonder about this woman. There's just one group that won't be wondering about it, and that's those who had their name in the Lamb's Book of Life.

[N'ZI Amani Germain]

54 Now, I just might as well squeeze this in right here, 'cause we're going to get into it in a few minutes. See? When was their names put on the Lamb's Book of Life? From when? The last revival they attended? The night they went to the altar? The night they joined the church? I'm not trying to hurt you, but I'm telling you, the Bible said their names were put on the Lamb's Book of Life since the foundation of the world. It's exactly. When God, in the beginning saw that He'd send His Son, and He'd take a sinners place, when God's Son's Blood was shed, the Bible said His Blood was shed before the foundation of the world. How many knows the Bible says that, that the Blood of Christ was shed before the foundation of the world? When that Blood was shed, every member of the Body, whose names was written with that Blood on the Lamb's Book of Life at the foundation of the world. What you so scared about? Oh, brother. That unlocks the doors, doesn't it?

55 Well now, let's just read this right here and see if what if that says right. See? "And the angel said unto me, 'Wherefore didst...'" I believe it's the 8th verse.


And the beast which thou sawest... (All right, that's it.)... The beast which thou sawest is, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit,... (Now, we're coming back to that, but I want to get this other, 'cause we're getting on it.)... and shall go into perdition: and they that dwell upon the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world,...
There's going to be a bunch on the earth, in other words, that's going to be deceived, for he deceived them. And there was only one group that was not deceived, and that was the one that had their name on the Book of Life since the foundation of the world. We get in that a little later.
57 Now, notice the woman, the church; she was Mystery Babylon. We see her appear by Nimrod. What was Nimrod's purpose? Nimrod founded a city and caused all of the other cities to pay tribute to this city. Could we see such a thing today? Is there such a place today? Is there a church that has domination over every nation in the world? Certainly. Is there a place today that makes every nation pay tribute to it? Is there a place? Let's go ahead and read the rest of this, just a little bit, so you get the whole picture of it. All right.


... which seen the beast which was,... is not, and yet is.
And here is the mind that has wisdom.
Now, how many knows that wisdom is one of the gifts of the Spirit? Now, what kind of a group's He talking to then? He must be talking to a group of people that has the--the gifts of the Spirit operating in this church.

... here is to the mind that has wisdom.
59 Now, you stop, find that all through these church ages here, pulling out. The Holy Spirit speaking out how those gifts would be working in the last days. Now, we've got gifts of healing working. Oh, it's--it's going good. Well, brother, there's other gifts. That's just one of them. That's just a little minor thing. Why, here's a far greater gift right here. Which would be the best, the gift of the Holy Ghost of wisdom to put the Word of God together and to show the church where we're standing, than just to get somebody healed? We all want to be well; but I'd rather have my soul well, than my body well anytime. Oh, my. Hear the Holy Spirit speaking through John on Patmos, said, "Here's to the wisdom, let him listen to This." Now, we're getting a picture drawed out here.

60

Here is, and here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.
There is only one city that I know of in the world, there's two cities that I know of, that has seven or more mountains in it. Cincinnati is one of them, which is supposed to be the fiction story of Cincinnati, some other wolf, you know that, so forth. But it has more than that in it. But there's no one church dominates Cincinnati. There's only one place in the whole world that has a church setting on seven hills, that dominates the entire world. Now, I've just come from there. All those things... And I seen there where it said, "Here's to wisdom." Revelations 13, "Let him that has wisdom count the numbers of the beast, for it's the number of a man." Not a bunch of men, a group of men, but a man. "And his number is six hundred and sixty-six."
61 I've often heard that over the throne of the pope of Rome, it's wrote, "Vicarius Filii Dei." I often wondered if that was true. Draw a line, and draw it up in figures in Roman numerals, and see if it is. It's exactly the truth. I stood that close to the triple crown of the pope in a glass: Jurisdiction of hell, heaven, and purgatory. See? So, those things, I've just come from there, just come from Rome and know it's the truth. Now, we know it's pictured out.


And here the seven kings: five are fallen... (which was at that time),... and one is... (That's the one that come now, which was Caesar.),... and another is yet to come... (which was Herod, which was wicked);...
Now watch, watch how perfect it is.

... and when he cometh, he must continue for a short space.
Does anybody know how long Herod reigned? Six months. Pulled his mother through the street on a single tree of a horse, and burnt the city, and laid it onto the Christians, and fiddled on the hillside while they were--while they were burning the city. Six--six months. And see, "And the beast..." Now watch, look what a rascal that he was. See?
64 Now, watch.


And the beast that was, and is not, even... is the eighth, and is of the seventh... (the nature of the seventh),... and goeth into perdition.
Anyone knows what "perdition" means, is "hell." And watch where he ascended out of: hell. What is it? The bottomless pit. There's no foundation for a Catholic doctrine. There's no Bible for Catholic doctrine. There's no such a thing as any Bible for any Catholic doctrine, not at all. They don't claim to be. The priest said up there, this little priest up here at Sacred Heart Church come over there, he said, "Oh, he..." I was telling him about baptizing Mary Elizabeth Frazier. He said, "Oh, you baptized her according to the way the early Catholic church baptized."
I said, "When was that?"
He said, "In the Bible, your Bible."
I said, "Did the Catholic church baptize that? Is that the teaching of the Catholic church?"
"Yeah.
I said, "In the infallibility of the Catholic church, why has it changed so much?" See?
He said, "Well, you see, you all believe the Bible. We believe the church. (See?) We don't care what the Bible says; it's what the church says." That's exactly right. If you ever come to a showdown to it, try it once. You see? They don't care what the Bible says. That has nothing to do with it; they care what the church says. See?
But we don't care what the church says. We believe what God says. For the Bible, it's written, "Let every man's word be a lie, and Mine be the Truth." That's why we're not denominations.
69 Now watch, listen to this just a minute. "Five kings, which it was fallen, five kings." If you want that on--on--from the history, I'll show it to you. "And one is, and one's to come." Now watch, "the beast." Now, the beast wasn't a king. He was one which is, which is not; and yet he is, and is not; yet he is, and is not. What is it? Succession of the popes, a power, a beast ruling. That's when pagan Rome was converted to make papal Rome. Pagan Rome was converted, and then it become the papacy, which, they had a pope in the stead of a king, and the pope is the spiritual king. That's the reason he's a crowned spiritual king, claims to be the vicar of Jesus Christ. There you are.

70 Now, notice. And we're going to bring that Catholic doctrine out of there and show you how it's weeded right down into the Protestant churches (See?), how she's still laying right in the Protestant church, lot of it, contrary, exactly, to the Bible, absolutely contrary.
Now, "a beast which was, which is not." Now remember, all of them will be deceived upon the earth, whose name was not written from the foundation of the world.

71 Let's see.


And the beast that was, and is not,... (the 11th verse)... and yet is the eighth, now the seventh, and goeth into perdition. (He'll continue on until he hits the bottomless pits at the end of the road.)
And the ten horns which thou saw are ten kings,... (Now watch here. If you want to see something striking, watch this.)... are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
They're not crowned kings; they're dictators. See, they never was crowned king, but they received power as kings one hour in the reign of the beast. That's just in this little shadowy time right now where dictators are rising up (See?), "Received power as king one hour with the beast." Now, all right.
72

These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them:... (Glory.)... for he is Lord of lord, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, the chosen, and faithful.
Wish I could preach a sermon right now on that, the chosen before the foundation of the world, and abiding faithful in their calling. Hallelujah. That's it. They are called the chosen and the faithful. "And's" is a conjunction. See? The chosen and faithful, they shall overcome him, no matter how great they get.
73 And this great communism--communism move we got today, don't worry about that. That's working exactly into the hands of God. I can prove it by this Bible. He's going to make her suffer for every martyr she ever killed. Yes, sir. You watch these kings all agree together and will hate her. And the whole nation, the whole world sweeping communism. Why, it's got to be a move of God to punish it. You say, "Wait a minute, Brother Branham, communism a move of God?" Absolutely, certainly, it is a move of God. The Bible said so. But it's moving in to pronounce judgment upon a ungodly and disgracefully illegitimate people. What's left in this world? What have we got?

74 Here the other day... I'll stop on my subject just a minute if it's possible. I was reading in a piece of Scripture where that a illegitimate child will not enter the congregation of the Lord for fourteen generations. How many knows that? That's right, Deuteronomy 23, an illegitimate child. If a woman is caught in the field, that's away from the protection of man, and a man overcomes that woman, that man will have to marry her. And regardless if she becomes a prostitute, he has to live with her till he dies. And if this woman marries him, pretending that she is a virgin, and she isn't, then she can be killed for it. And if a man and a woman which are married, and they bring forth a illegitimate child, that--the congregation of the Lord he'll not enter to fourteen generations; and forty years is a generation, it'd be four hundred years before that seed ever gets out of Israel.

75 God hates sin. How do you expect to wade over the holy Blood of the Lord Jesus, just because you belong to a certain denomination and expect to go in? You're going to come God's grounds or you're not coming at all. That's right. Deacon, preacher, whatever we may be, has nothing to do with it. You come on God's term.
Fourteen generations... The person is setting present now who was discussing that with me. Said, "How do we know who would ever be saved then?"
I said, "There's where you ought to be a good Calvinist." Your name was put in the Book before the foundation of the world. God takes that blood stream; that's up to Him. See?
"Well, what's that got..."

78 Listen, you young people today. I don't know whether you come to this church, or where you come, you young boys and girls. Did you realize, the things that you're doing, if there is another generation, your children will be judged for what you do? Haven't you no respect or decency? You girls that's out here wearing these little old shorts and things around, you know, that's reflecting on your daughter. Did you know your grandmammy was a--a flapper, and your mammy a chorus girl, and that's the reason you're a striptease today? It's certainly. What will your children be? Yes, sir. God said He'd visit the iniquity of the parents upon the children and their children, to three and four generations.

79 And did you realize, my brother, every time you do that which is right, that'll be visited on your children?
Look here, let's take Hebrews the 7th chapter. The Bible said, when--when Melchisedec met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the king, and blessed him, and said... Now, Levi, is talking about paying tithes. Said, "Levi had an order from the Lord to receive tithes from his brethren." And Levi who received tithe paid tithe, for he was yet in the loins of Abraham when he met Melchisedec. And Abraham was his great-grandfather. Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, Jacob begot Levi; Levi, father, grandfather, great-grandfather. And while Levi was in the loins of Abraham, the Bible said he paid tithes to Melchisedec. Hallelujah.
Don't let nobody tell you that any kind of a move in the world can ever interfere with God's great cog; she's moving right on. It was planned back there in the beginning. There ain't a devils or enough devils can interfere with His program.

82 Now, the Bible didn't say potentially he paid it; the Bible said he paid tithes when he was in his great-grandfather's loins. Glory. That's my Lord. Oh, He knowed it even before the world was ever formed. He knowed everything. And in Abraham he paid tithes.
And sister, brother, how can you run out here, and people live and run around with men's wives, and wives breaking up homes, and--and living the way you do, what do you expect another generation to be? Here's what it is: it's become now nothing but just a bunch of illegitimate, messed-up-born bunch of corruption. And there's one thing left for it, and that's the atomic day that we're living in. That's exactly right. We're at the end time.

84 Setting this morning, way back yonder in the hills of Kentucky, a little old boy, you couldn't hardly get in ten foot of him, making sorghum molasses, probably didn't know hardly which was right hand or left, when he heard... I had got over on a posted grounds. I didn't know where I was at; I was just in some of the hollows. And I--I was just go to go squirrel hunting. And when I set down up there, got talking to him, and this boy said he was going in the Army. And come to find out, we got to talking about the Lord, and he said, "Preacher, don't you believe that we're at the end time?" Way back up there in them mountains...
I said, "Sure, we are. Sure, son, we're at the end time."

86 Here we are. This is the hour that we're living, brother. We're in the place. Can't you see how that mothers back yonder, and daddies, how they lived, and grandpa and grandma? Can't you see how papa and mama has lived? No wonder we're in the corruption today. No wonder you could preach your head off; they'll wear shorts just the same and spit in your face. They'll smoke cigarettes, and blow it right at you, and say, "Tend to your own business." Why? Because that's the tribe they come out of. I'm going to get to that directly. The seed of the serpent we'll find out where she moves in, see why they act like that. They're the Devil's children since the foundation of the world. That's right. And we're nothing in, left for it; just--just judgment's the only thing is left. Can't have nothing else but judgment. God will just wipe the whole thing out, and man has done it themselves. God didn't intend it to be that way, but He knew it would be that way. That's the reason he said He would deceive all that lived upon the face of the earth, except those whose names were put in the Lamb's Book of Life before the foundation of the world.

87 Let's what--read a little further now. Now, I believe we're on the 12th.


And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
These shall have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
And these shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lord, and King of kings: and they that are with him are--are called, the chosen, and faithful.
And he said unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore setteth, are peoples,... multitudes,... nations, and tongues.
... the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore,...
88 Watch that now, these ten horns, these ten kingdoms. See, that's everything falling in, what these dictators are. Watch the way dictators lean to. Where's it leaning to? Just--just look--tell me a dictator that doesn't lean towards communism. See? And they shall what? "Hate the whore," the woman, the church. But watch. Watch what's going to do it.


... these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.
89 They'll blow that thing off the map, just as certain as I'm standing here. We just had time to take up that subject there of that church, and run it on down through the Scripture, where It said, read, "all the kings of this earth, and all the shipmasters, and all wail, for great Babylon met her desolation in an hour." One hour, her time had come. And, oh, how he said, "Rejoice, you saints, and all you holy prophets, for God has revenged the blood of the saints and your brethren upon her." See, that's right.
Sure, communism playing right into the hands of God. Just like King Nebuchadnezzar played right in the hands, to come take them Jews when they walked away naked.

90 And sin can kept corrupting, righteous seed can remain in there and seed can keep corruption, and corrupting and corrupting till after while it runs out. It gets to a place because their mothers and daddies and so forth has lived so before us, and by--and that, until there's nothing left for us. And you know what Jesus said? If He didn't cut the work short, there'd be not even any flesh saved.

91 Can you see? Can you see why we got these (I'm not making remarks.) Arthur Godfrey's and everybody, you know, being Elvis Presley's, and--and hips down with overalls and hair hanging down their neck, and all these way the teen-agers are acting? What does it? What is it? Because it's coming out of a bunch of 'fore-lived, illegitimate people, nothing less Oh, they'll stand up and sing "Nearer, my God to Thee," like pea-picker Ernie and all those others like that, sing some kind of a hymn, and so forth like that. Brother, you know what? That, that's absolutely a hypocrisy. Yes, sir.

92 Man has got no business in this pulpit that gets out there and rock-and-roll and booglie-wooglie and all that kind of stuff. He hasn't got one speck of business behind here. This is to the priesthood, the called of God. God's called ministers belong behind here, and don't belong back here for such as that. That's what's the matter with it today, they've made the church no more than some lodge. Lodge is all right, if you want to do that, that's up to you. But let me tell you; there's a lot difference betrying--between a lodge and a church. Yes, sir. You want to do those things in a lodge, and have all them kind of parties and so forth, that's up to you. But, brother, the church ought to be swept from the pulpit all the way to the basement. That's right. I don't mean swept by the new windows and so forth. I mean with an old fashion, God-sent revival that'll scatter the thing from one side to the other. Yes, sir. Like turning a light, electric light on a bunch of roaches around a cob of an apple. Yes, sir, they'll scatter when the light flies.

93 Now watch, "They have one mind, give their power." I'm below that now. "The ten horns..." Yes, now.


For God has put in their hearts to fulfill his will,... (There you go.)... and to agree, and give their kingdoms unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.
Now,

And the woman which thou sawest is the great city, which reigns over all the kings of the earth.
Now, there's not no need of pushing around; we know that is the Catholic hierarchy. There's no need of anybody... I--I believe that just as firm as I believe that I have receive the Holy Spirit. I believe that just as good as I believe that I'm a Christian standing here today, that that Catholic hierarchy is the--the... The Vatican city is the--the city that sets on the seven hills. The hierarchy of the church is the beast which was, which is not, and she's Babylon. It's everything pictured just exactly, just perfectly all the way through the Scriptures [Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.]... the Catholic church.
95 Now, now here's your shocking point. You say, "Well, you ain't hitting me, Brother Branham." But let me just ask you something. Let's go right back now to the 5th verse.


And upon her head was... written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF ABOMINATIONS,... (or)... THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
What was she? W-h-o-r-e. And she was a m-o-t-h-e-r. What? M-o-t-h-e-r, she had begotten something. A mother of sons? Of harlots. What is a harlot? Same thing as a--as a whore: immoral woman. What made her immoral? Her doctrine. She was pretending to be a Christian church, but was giving out manmade dogma. And here she said that she had... If she was the first organization, then seems like there's some organizations come out of her. She was the mother of harlots. Is that right? A mother of harlots. Couldn't be a mother now of boys. Couldn't be a mother of... It had to be mother of women. And if they were women, they were churches. Now, let's find out. What come out of the...
97 What was the first organization? Catholic church. What was the second organization? Luther. What was the third organization? Zwingli. What'd it come on down to? Calvin. And then it come into Anglican, and the Anglican on down into Methodist. The Methodists, what'd the Methodists produce? Out of there come Alexander Campbell. And out of Alexander Campbell come John Smith; out of Alexander Campbell was the Christian church, then they had four or five Church of Christ and all those other little isms run out. Then here come the Baptist church, it had a lot of little pull outs. And out of the Methodist church come--out of the Methodist church come, first come, the Wesleyan Methodist, then they broke off four or five times. Then they come to another type of Methodist, and then they come off again, then they come to the Free Methodist. And--and then they come from that to the Nazarene. And from the Nazarene to the Pilgrim Holiness, and the Pilgrim Holiness on down. Just little "isms" running out like that, keep running on down, each one of them little--little starters back there, come right on down. And what did every one of them do? They finally wounded up in Pentecost.

98 And what did Pentecost do? The same thing their mammy did; they went right back and organized. And what'd it become? A--a denomination. Walk into one; the first thing, "What's your doctrine?" Boy, they comb you with a fine-tooth comb (See?), to find out what you are, what you believe. And if you don't just tally right up with them, brother, you're excommunicated right now. And that's right.
And don't think just because you say you're Pentecostal that you're secured. Brother, there'd be just as many Pentecosts off the road as there is on the road, I'm sure. See?

100 Now, all those organizations, if they'd just left the Pentecostal blessings go, not organize it, just keep it in a brotherhood and let the Holy Spirit do the segregation. The Holy Spirit segregates. Ananias, Sapphira come in one time said so-and-so, and the Holy Spirit said, "Why did you lie?"
But we say, "Now, that's Brother Jones, don't you say nothing bad about him now, he's the best payer we got in church. I know he got the Holy Ghost; I heard him speak in tongues and I've seen him shout in the Spirit." That don't have no more than pouring peas on a dry cowhide. See? Not a thing to do with it. God does the say. He's got to say whether he is or is not. Absolutely. "But we took it over to our denomination. Well, we kicked him out of the--out of the Assemblies, the Oneness picked him up." The Oneness carries him awhile, and then they kicked him out because... They carry him over there and the Jesus Only picks him up. Jesus Only packs him awhile, and then the next thing picks him up is Church of God, picks him up. Church of God of Prophecy picks him up, and the Tomlinson move gets him. Oh, my. Brother, if we haven't got run out. That's in Pentecost, the last revival. And now, they got the blue fame, and they got the oil worshippers, and the--and the blood in the face. And, oh, mercy, I don't know where they gone to now. Just one thing after...

102 The whole thing has become corrupted. Did you know the Bible said it would come corrupted? Did you know the--the Bible speaks that this day will be here, when even the tables of the Lord will be full of vomit? And said, "Who can I teach doctrine? Who can I make understand it? For precept must be upon precept upon precept, upon line upon line." Who can He teach doctrine? Those that are weaned from the breast, the mammy. See?

103 Now, there isn't--there isn't a woman, a ornery woman in this town but what could bring forth a virgin daughter. She is when she's born. Now, and she can go good. But if you don't notice that her mother has been of that nature, that girl, nine times out of ten will act just exactly like her mother does. Now, you know that's right.
An old woman that runs a house of ill fame, could bring forth a little girl, and she could be sixteen years old, just as clean and moral as any living, but if she remains that way... But the thing of it is, she goes right back and acts like her mother.

104 Now, the Catholic church was the first old prostitute that's come up with doctrines that she made up of herself, superstitions, which, the Bible said, "She come out of the bottomless pits and will go back to perdition." The Bible said that. Now, they teach that it's wrong. It's wrong according to God's Word. And then here comes the Methodist church which was borned out of her, a beautiful young lady, but what did she do? She turned right back around and do the same things that her mammy does: Lets her congregation wear shorts; let them smoke cigarettes; let them carry on and act just like they should. There ain't nothing said about it. The little old half baked pastor back behind there, the pulpit back there, is afraid he'll run out of salary someday, or a pan of biscuits.
Let me tell you, brother; I'd rather preach the Gospel and eat soda crackers and drink branch water, and tell the Truth about it. If every one of my congregation got up and walked out, I'd tell them the Truth. Yes, indeed.

106 What's the matter? Oh, it's a meal ticket, "Well, you know, I'm the pastor of the biggest church there is in the city." You Baptists and Methodists, listening to a false prophet. Now, that's rough, but anything that teaches contrary to this Bible is a false prophet. I don't care how polished it may be, it's false prophecy. That's right.
"Oh, everything's all right as long as you got your name on the book." You might have your name on a dozen books; if it ain't on the Book of Life, you're lost. You can be ever so good; you can be just as loyal and clean and moral as you can be; that won't have one thing to do with it.

108 Esau was twice the guy that Jacob was when it come to being a man, taking care of his old blind daddy and everything else. And Jacob was a little shyster hung around his mother's apron, little old sissy boy. But God said, "I love Jacob and refuse Esau," before either boy was borned. Romans 8 says so. That's exactly right.
God knows what's in man. And He knows what's in the church too. We live by the Bread of Life, the Bread of the Word of God. Now, that's why we're not a denomination.

110 Now, I want to give you another little... I want to give you a little illustration I had wrote out here. "The great..." Now, in Revelation 19:2, I got something marked out here, I want to look and see what it is now.


For true and righteous are thy judgment: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornications, and has avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.
That's the ending of the Catholic church.
111 Now, we also want you to notice, also here, that a denomination, that a denomination is also found out in the Scriptures here, that the... And the Bible never speaks of a denomination. The denominations come from the Catholic church. She is the first mother of denomination and each denomination has come right down.
Now, this is going to be just a little pinchy; it's going to get a little pinchier all the time. See? But I--I want you to see that denominations wasn't borned or ordained of God; it was ordained of the Devil.
God's church is a... We are not divided; all one body we. One hope and doctrine, one in charity. That's the Church of the living God. Regardless of what they, them things, we're one together. That's right. Whether he's Methodist or Baptist, brother, if he's borned again and filled with the Holy Ghost, he's my brother, we're walking shoulder to shoulder. Right. Yes, sir. Don't make any difference.

113 Moses... Sometime might look around and say, "You know that bunch of fanatic Pentecostals, Brother Branham, why'd you ever go out of a bunch like that for?" You know what? Moses looked upon the children of Israel, he looked out of the same window that Pharaoh looked out of. Pharaoh looked at them as a bunch of mud-daubers, but Moses looked out upon them as the chosen of God. He knowed they had the promise. Why? He knowed it by the Word. And by faith with his foot on the throne to be Pharaoh, with all the world laying at his feet, set there and pour wine in his mouth, and beautiful women to fan him, as the emperor, or the dictator, or king of the world, young Moses at forty years old had in his hand, when he looked out upon that bunch of mud-daubers; but he knowed he was one of them. Hallelujah. That's it. He knew he was one of them. And by faith alone he chose...

114 Everybody's got to make a choice. You got to make a choice. You're going to make a choice now. You're going to make a choice in the morning. You're going to make a choosing tomorrow night, if you live. You've got to choose sometime. Brother, a long time ago I chose this Bible was my dictionary; this Bible was my Book of Life; this Bible was the Word of God. The Bible is what I live by. This Bible is what I'll stand by.

115 Therefore Moses looked out upon the children of Israel, and not only did he say, "Oh, they're wonderful people. I have nothing against them. Oh, no, I wouldn't speak one word against them." That's the way a lot of people do today. "Oh, those Pentecostals and those people that's got the Holy Ghost, and those people who believe in Divine healing, oh, I--I--I ain't got nothing against it." But that wasn't Moses. He forsook Egypt and became one of them, he went out among his brethren. He was one of them.

116 Brother, that's where I take my way. I'll take the way with the Lord's despised few, if it's a handful or whatever it is. They got a promise, and I see their names in the Lamb's Book of Life. They're my brethren. That's right. Take your choice and stand with them. Right or wrong, stand there anyhow. If they're wrong help them to the right. That's right. You never make them any better by kicking them around. See, try to pull them out.

117 Charlie, like they said about Brother Allen about the fire they--the blood in the hands. I said, "Never, never did I disregard A. A. Allen." I said, "If I could preach like A. A. Allen, I'd never even have a healing service." Now, when it comes to disagreeing upon blood as being the evidence of the Holy Ghost in your hands, I'll disagree with that. But when it comes to brotherhood, he's my brother. I stand shoulder to shoulder with him in the battle. That's right. If he's wrong, I'll try to help him. And if he's not wrong, if I'm wrong, I want him to help me. And that's the way we'll get it--get along.

[N'ZI Amani Germain]

118 Now, watch here.


... she was MYSTERY, BABYLON... THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS...
Now do you see how the church today, friends, can you see how these churches today just live any way they want to live? "Perfectly all right, go right ahead," hog eat hog, pay no attention. "Why, there's no harm in doing that. Why, you just try to be old fashion." Now watch, their doctrine. Now, I want... Now, now watch. That's their habit. Do you see that a few years ago that the Catholic church was the only one who was permitted to go to a picture show? The Methodist church wouldn't think of such a thing, all them denominations, "No, that's the works of the Devil." Well, I--I wonder what happened. Yes, sir.
119 And you know, you'd take them young Catholic girls, they come out with these little... (Now, some of you old boys is as old as I am.)... come out and go to this little thing where they had the knee-high. That guy, I guess, is in hell tonight. I don't know, I'm not his judge. But when he made that first little dirty song that slipped out on radio, without being censored, that "Roll 'em, girlies, roll 'em; roll 'em down and show your pretty knees." How many remembers that when that first come out years ago? That was the first slip-up right there. That's right. And when they got this fellow from Texas, and take them women out there and use them underneath clothes to make them look like they were something that they wasn't, and such things as that, and let them get by with it... And now what do they do? It went to creeping in. It's a spirit.

120 A man was talking to me the other day; said, "I don't know what I'm going to do. I had a good honest boy, and that boy's getting so he takes what he put his hands on."
I said, "Why?"
"He's associating with a thief."
You hang around with somebody that's a thief, you'll be a thief yourself. My old Kentucky mammy used to say, "If you lay down with a dog that's got fleas, you'll get up with fleas too." You take a--you take a woman that's no good, and let a girl, and put her with a--a good decent boy, and the first thing you know he's as ornery as a pup. Turn it right vice versa. You're knowed by your company. Separate yourself. "Come out from among them," said the Bible, "be ye separated." That's right.

122 If their denominations go back to such corruption as letting their people... Well, here the other day, a big fine Baptist church, they had to dismiss. Only could to preach twenty minutes, the man could, 'cause the pastor had to smoke. The congregation all went outside. All of them stood out there and smoking in chains, and come back again, pastor and all of them. I went to a Congregationist Church, there a man set, a big long robe on, standing there, said, leaned on the pulpit like this, talking about some kind of a flower he found up on the hill. That's about all there was to it. And went back down, and his fingers was yellow with cigarette smoke. Yes.
And talking about that the women, that the man was going to play... What's this German game they play with that, so much you--you deal out cards, you know? It had... Oh, I thought I'd remember it. Pinochle, they was going to have a pinochle game. I think that--that it's where you deal, it's regular playing cards. A pinochle game in the basement... My, goodness. That's where its foundation is. No wonder. What do they do that, and then holler about the Catholic church out here at these rotary places and playing lottery. Why, you Protestants are just as filthy as they are, so what can you say about it? Pot can't call kettle dirty. Certainly not. And you do, and that, they'd say, "Well, I'm a Presbyterian. I'm a Methodist." You're nothing till you're born again. That's right. And when you do that, you know there's something within you tells you those things are wrong, and you'll come out of it just as sure as you're knee high to a duck. You know that's the truth. Certainly. Yes, sir. That stuff go along that, why?


... THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS...
123 One of these days old mother is going to say, "You know what? After all, honey, we're both the same." And you know what it is then? The Confederation of Churches are going to all unite together as they are now. And you know what's going to happen to a little group like this? You're going to pay for it, boys. That's exactly right.
But don't worry, the Lamb shall overcome him. For He's the Lord of lord and a King of kings, and God will go to leading His church, instead of a denomination. He'll pour out that golden Oil of the Holy Ghost upon that church, brother, Fire will fall from Heaven, with signs and wonders will take place like you've never seen before. Yes, sir. "Fear not, little flock, it's your Father's good will to give you the Kingdom." Yes, sir. "He that endures to the end..." There you go. Keep right down the road; keep your head towards Calvary. This Bible's right. Don't worry.

125 Now watch, there's some of the habits they have. Some of the morals that they have. We could just go on. First thing you know, it leaked into the Protestant churches. Then the Catholic women begin to... "Why, it wasn't no harm to put on little shorts, as long as you went to church and put a little handkerchief over their head," some kind of tradition. "Don't eat any meat on Friday." And, oh, where'd you ever find putting a handkerchief on your head to enter church? I want you to show me the Scripture. It's false prophecy. Where is it in the church you're supposed to wear a hat in the church? When you wear a hat on your head, you dishonor Christ, that's right; man, I'm speaking of. Women, you do have a covering, but I'll challenge anybody to show me where it's a hat or a handkerchief. It's your hair. And you've cut it all off. Now, what about that? Oh, they say, "That's old fashion." If it is, it's the Bible. God's Word's right.

126 Speaking here not long ago of the woman that washed Jesus' feet, and took her hair, you know, and--and wiped it with it. I said, "The only way a woman could do that, is stand on her head to get enough hair down there to wash His feet and to wipe it." That's right. Oh, it--it's--it's a disgrace to see the way you... Here, freezing weather, walking around with a little chubby coat on like that, and their naked body showing.
Why, say, "Why you picking on women?" You need to be picked on.
And you men that let your women do that, brother, I--I don't know what to think about you. Now, that's right.
And you pastors, I don't guess you're here. But if you see the guy, you tell him to come tell--see me. See? If he's got no more respect for Christ than to let his congregation get by with that without... Now, he... They might do it out there behind him, but if he don't tell them about it, he's not a fit servant for Jesus Christ. That's exactly right. He is not fit to be a servant of Christ. A servant of Christ should be fearless; it's a cause that comes to the Bible. Certainly. But there they are; they go out and they do it anyhow.

130 And then, the first thing you know, the Protestants had to pick it up. You good Methodist, and you Baptist, and you Presbyterian and Nazarene, Pilgrim Holiness, and all of you. Same thing, got right out, six of one, and half a dozen of the other. There you are, "mother of harlots." Your denomination, "As long as they started at headquarters, what difference did it make?" See? Makes a whole lot of difference. They never started at that Headquarters. Might start at your headquarters down here, but not that One up there. Depends on where you're from. That's true.

131 Now, I don't think we have time to get this other one, maybe I better leave it for in the morning. All right, let's just take this little short one. We got here baptism in water; we also got predestination, and, oh, many things. So let's just take this-- this little short one of women preachers, and get this one.
Now, now, lady preacher, I don't want to hurt your feeling, but I want to tell you something. You haven't got one speck of Scripture, not one in the Bible. Yeah, I know where you're going to, and I've done had all your... Yeah, "And your sons and daughters shall prophesy." Now, if your pastor don't know what the name "prophesy" means, he--he don't know, ain't got very much business behind the pulpit, trying to tell you to be a preacher. See? 'Cause it absolutely, it's condemned from Genesis to Revelation. Now, let me show you here. See?

133 Now I want you to turn with me to I Timothy 2:11. Just turn over here and we'll find out it's the Scriptures. Now, and we'll get that here, also your Acts 2. And just--just listen here what the Scripture has to say about this subject.
Now, somebody kept saying, "Well, Brother Branham, you're just an old woman hater." I'm not no woman hater. I'm a... I just don't like to see women trying to take a place that they don't belong in. You remember at Howard Shipyard over here, one of the most successful shipyards there is on the Ohio River, they put a woman over it, look what happened. They give the woman a right to vote; look what happened.

135 Let me tell you right now. Not just skinning women; I'm wanting man to understand you're in on this too. But let me tell you something, brother; this nation is a woman's nation. I'll prove that by you, by the Scripture, by anything that you want to prove it by. This is... What appears on our money? A woman. Where's she found out in Revelation here, you see her? She's number thirteen, also, everything she started. Thirteen stars, thirteen stripes, thirteen colonies, thirteen, everything was thirteen to begin with. She appears in the 13th chapter of Revelation, a woman, thirteen.

136 And in 1933 when the Lord, when we was having meetings over here where that Church of Christ is standing now, the old Masonic home, the vision of the Lord came to me up here and predicted that, Germany would rise up and have put that Maginot Line there. Many of you remember. And how they'd be all fortified in there, and the Americans would take a great beating right there at that line. It also said what would take place, and about Roosevelt and them things, how he would run and make that fourth term. Perfectly, just exactly the way it come to pass. And also said that cars would keep getting more like an egg, until the last days they'd be just in the shape of an egg.
Now, I said, "It'll come to pass that those cars will not be run by a steering wheel; it'll be something another run." It's them cars they're bringing out right now, remote control, for safety. Correct. You won't be able to enter into a city then, a twenty-mile zone, you can just go twenty mile. You can't hit another car, because it's remote control. See, it's going like that right now.
And I said, "Remember, in that day, before the end time comes, before the end time comes, that a woman... Now, you all keep this wrote down. There'll be a great powerful woman raise up, either be President, or dictator, or some great powerful woman in this United States. And she'll sink under the influence of women. Now, you remember; that's THUS SAITH THE LORD."

137 See, and she's wrong. And what is it given away to? Let me tell you. Be spiritual; let's open up, look. Why is it doing that? To give the Catholic church a place to come in. See? You worship these movies stars and all these other different things out here. Remember the sermon I preached (Margie, you remember it.) years ago on the--the invasion of the United States and overthrow the American Government? And how that I said he raised up in Paris after we saved them over there from that women, wine, and big time, and he lit right down in Hollywood. Now, instead of us sending to Paris to get models, they send here to get models. What did it do? It got...
We--you wouldn't let your children go to the picture show, but it got right into the television, moved right on out and contaminated the whole thing, run her right on out. And here we are today, all the little girls and boys all like some kind of these television actors. What is it? It's making a way.
Boy, one ill-famed woman can send more people to hell than all the bootleg joints you could put in a city. That's right. Watch her go down the street with her clothes all stripped down, don't care who the man is, if he's a healthy normal man, when he looks at the woman he's bound to have something to pass over him. Now, just be honest.

138 I don't care. I've had the Holy Ghost for years. You can't look at a woman and her half dressed... I--I carry a little cross in my car; many of you seen it. Somebody said to me, "Are you a Catholic?" Where did the Catholics ever get an option on the cross? The cross means "Christian."
Them little old Saint Cecilia's and things is the mark of Catholicism. We don't believe in such stuff as that. We believe in Christ. They have all kinds of dead people they worship. It's a high form of spiritualism. It's all it is, worshipping the dead. No such a thing, no.

140 I asked that priest, I said, "Why did any... If Peter was the first pope?"
He said, "That's right."
I said, "Then why did Peter say, 'There's no other mediator between God and man but that Man Christ Jesus.' And you've got five thousand dead women and everything else you're making mediators. Now, what's happened?" There you are. They ain't got an answer for that. That's right.

142 And now some of their doctrine, their false doctrine, a bunch of false Protestant prophets has come around and teaching that, and you Protestant people are swallowing it. That's exactly right. Denominations, and forms of baptisms, and different orders and things that you're going through, which is absolutely not Scriptural, it's against it in the Scripture, yet you knuck right down to it. It's the truth.

143 Now listen to this about the women preachers. All right, first thing would be, I want the--the I Timothy 2:11. Now, listen what it says here.


Let your women learn in silence with all subjection.
But I suffer not a woman to teach, or to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.
I'm not responsible for putting it in there. I'm responsible for telling you it's in there. See, see?

Let your women learn in silence and be in all subjection.
If you ever went into an Orthodox church and watch them... See, see?

But I suffer not a woman to teach, or to usurp authority... (be a pastor, deacon, or anything like that)... over the man... (See?)... usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.
For Adam was first formed, and then Eve.
145 Did you know... Now listen, women. You good righteous Christian women are the best thing that God could give a man or He'd give him something different. Yes, sir. See? A woman was not even in the original creation. The woman is not a created product of God. She's a byproduct of a man. God made the man both man and woman. And He separated them. After the man had already lived on the earth and named the beasts and lived here a long time, He took a rib out of Adam's side as a byproduct and made a woman to it. "Adam was first formed, and then Eve." Now, watch.


And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.
146 God took the man; the Devil took the woman. Look at it right straight in the face. What's doing it today? Look at the real Church of God, will say, "Jesus!"
The antichrist will say, "Mary!" Watch them spirits (See?), there they are. "Hail, Mary, mother of God, blessed art thou among women, and pray for us sinners now in the day of our death. Amen." Mary prays? Oh, my, goodness. See, there you go, "Woman," the Devil's subject. Christ, the object of worship, and the only One... There you are; there you are.

147 Adam was first formed, and then Eve. Adam was not deceived. And how could you have a woman pastor, deacon? Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived. She was actually... She didn't think she was wrong, but she was. The woman being deceived was in the transgression. Because they're... Every time that a--a funeral goes down the street, a woman caused it. Every time a baby screamed out, a woman caused it. Every time someone died, a woman caused it. Every gray hair, a woman caused it. Everything, and death, a woman caused it. Everything that's wrong, a woman caused it. And then put her head of the church, pastor, oh, bishop sometimes. Shame on us.

148 Now, let me turn you in just another one, just in a minute. See? Now, let's turn to I Corinthians 14:32 there, and see what Paul says over here, and then we're going right over to some more just in a minute. And then we don't want to keep you too long, so you'll be so tired in the morning you can't come back. All right, I want to read. How many believes that Paul was an inspired teacher? Now, remember, Paul wrote this to Timothy also. See? That's... Now, I Corinthians 14:32. Now let's start right in here and start reading here, 14:34, I believe.


Let your women keep silent in the churches:...
Did you hear what he said?

Let your women keep silent in the churches: for it's not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience,...
Have you got a marginal reading on that? If you are, run it back and see if it don't take Genesis 3:16, when God told Eve, because that she had listened to the serpent instead of her husband, that he'd rule over her all the days of her life. How can the woman come and rule over a man, be pastor or deacon, when the Bible said let her be obedient just like it was in the beginning when God... God can't change. You can't make the Word say one thing here and another thing over here. It don't do it. It's the same thing all the time. So in the beginning, that's where...
151 Before this is over, if I get a chance, I want to straighten out that marriage and divorce case for you. I've never done it in this church yet. Watch this double covenant. One says she can marry, and the other said he can't marry, and this one say this, that, or the other. Just wait a minute and see what the Bible says when we get to that. See? All right.

152

Let your women keep silent in the churches:... it's not permitted to them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law.
Then in the Old Testament they wasn't allowed to speak, 'cause Paul said here they wasn't. Is that right? "Let your women keep silent, it's obedience." Now, if you want to run your margin reading there, it'll take you back to Genesis 3:16. See? All right. "Under, as under the law..."

And if they... learn any thing, let their... ask--ask their husbands at home: for it's a shame for a woman to speak in the church.
What?
153 Now, look at that question mark on each one of your Bibles, on that "What?" What caused Paul to say that and to act it like that? Now, if you'll ever get the letters that the Corinthians wrote to Paul (Now, you can get them in any good library. See?)--that the Corinthians wrote to Paul, they wrote and told him. After these women who was converted... They had a--a goddess over there was called Diana, and she was of Ephesus also. And the Corinthians worshipped the same, 'cause it was a heathen worship. And they found a rock out in the field one day; it looked like a shape of a woman. They said, "God is a woman, and she dropped her image down to us." And their temple was far beyond the Solomon temple, they said, the historians. Oh, it was all marble, inlaid with gold; where, Solomon's temple was made of cedar and inlaid with gold. See? And it was far beyond it. And that, then, if God was a--a woman, why, sure, she could have women priests. Sure, if God is a woman, then the woman preacher's right. But God is a Man, the Bible said He was a Man. He is a Man. See? And if God was a Man, then it should be men.

154 Now notice here, "What?" Now, some of them women priests, when they was converted from paganism into Christianity, they thought they could maintain their office as a preacher, just come right on over. If they preached over there about Diana, they come over here and preach about Christ.
He said, "What? Came the Word of God out..." Just listen to this. Brother, how can ministers do that? 36th verse.


What? came the word of God out from you? or came it unto you only?
If any man thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual,... (don't even have to be a prophet; just a spiritual thinking man)... let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord. (You believe that?)
But if he... if any be ignorant, just let him be ignorant.
Now, that's just as flat as I know to put it. See? He said, "If a man is a spiritual man, or a prophet, he'll acknowledge that what I write here is the commandments of the Lord." But said, "If he--if he's going to be ignorant, just let him be ignorant." See, it's the only thing you can do. If they want to go on to it, you just have to let them go, 'cause he seen it starting there.
157 And some woman told me, she said, "Oh, Paul was just an old woman hater."
He was no woman hater. You know, Paul was the apostle, and to the Gentile church. Look here. Did you know Paul... How many believes that's what Paul preached? Is that what he--he said here? And Paul said...
You say, "Well, wait a minute now, Brother Branham. Just a minute. Now, our bishop says that's all right. The general overseer, the assembly says it's all right. The oneness bishop says it's all right."
I don't care what they say, it's false! And I told you we was going to stick this hard. And false prophets would say so. For the Bible said, "If any man thinks himself to be a spiritual, or a prophet, let him acknowledge that what I say is the commandments of the Lord." And if his spirit don't bear record with that Word, he's a false prophet to begin with. I'd rather be a woman hater than a woman lover to go such stuff as that, to put up with such stuff as that in the Church of God contrary to the ordinances of God. And Paul said, get Galatians 1:8; Paul said, "If an angel from heaven would preach any other Gospel than that what I preached unto you, let him be accursed." Now, what are you going to do about that?

161 Now you say, "What about where It said, 'Your sons and daughters shall prophesy,' in Joel, and--and where Peter quoted on the day of Pentecost?" That's exactly right.
Did you know, in the Old Testament that the only way, and the only way now, that anybody can come into the covenant through, by... Abraham was the one was given the promise, and the--the seal of the promise was by circumcision. How many knows that? That was God confirming.

163 Like a Baptist brother, he said, "Brother Branham, why, we Baptists have received the Holy Ghost."
I said, "When did you get It?"
Said, "The hour we believed."
I said, "Paul said, 'Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed?'" See? I said, "Now, you Baptists come get some of That, and we'll talk some eternal security with you," I said.
"But, well, where do you get it like that?" See?
He said, "Have you received It since you have believed?" They were believers, and having shouting and joy and everything else. They hadn't received the Holy Ghost yet; Paul said they hadn't. See? "Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed?"
They said, "We know not whether there be any Holy Ghost."
Said, "Then how was you baptized?"
They said, "We been baptized." But falsely (See?), so he had to be baptized over again. All right.

167 Now, notice this now, that these women preachers, when they come in, they thought they'd take their authority. But it's absolutely not permitted by God to do so. And let... Just while we're right on this subject here, this women... (See?), And he... Now, It said, "If there be any man among you who's spiritual, or a prophet, let him acknowledge that what I write is the commandments of the Lord. But if he's ignorant, just let him be ignorant." And that's why the--this Tabernacle does not stand and ordain women preachers, women deacons, or anything for a woman to do as an office of this church is because this Scripture lays here and it's naked.

168 Now, the Bible did say, "Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy." Now, what does the word "prophesy" mean? Look it up. It's to "tell something, under inspiration," or "foretell something." It's a compound word.
Just like "sanctify" means to be "cleaned, and set aside for service." See? Or, it's not... It's a compound word meaning more than one thing, like we got so much of it in the English here.
Like we say the word "board." Well, what would board mean? You say, "Well, he means he paid his board." "No, he never, he meant he bored a hole." "No, he never, he meant he bored him." Or, you see, just a word, and you have to know what you're talking about. See?
And that's the way it is this, this compound word, where, "Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy." Now, the only way that God...

172 This Baptist said, "Well, we have received the Holy Ghost." I said... "then when we believed it." I said... Now (See?), he said, "God give Abraham the..." He said, "Abraham believed God." That's the way he put it. He said, "Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness." How many knows that's the truth? Now, watch how--how easy Satan can slip that on a brother. See, just as easy... Now, that's Scripture.
Brother, I'm telling you, in this, in up here, you should be anointed before you enter this. You should enter into a secret place and pray. People say, "Why don't you go out and see the people?" Brother, if you're going to talk to the people, or teach them, you'd better stay to yourself with God for a while 'fore you enter that pulpit. Certainly (See?), 'cause Satan is shrewd, very shrewd.

174 He said now, notice, he said, "Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness." That's right. He said, "Now, what more can Abraham do but believe?"
I said, "That's all he could do."
He said, "How much more can you do or anybody else do but believe?"
I said, "That's all we can do. But look, brother, then God reconciled, or recognized Abraham's faith. He give him the seal, a sign of circumcision as a seal of the covenant. See, He give him... He said, 'Now, Abraham, I recognize your faith, so I'm going to give you a sign now that I have received you.'" So he circumcised Abraham, and that was a seal of the covenant. And now in this day...
Now, a woman could not be in that covenant: only a married woman. Find out, couldn't circumcise a female; so it had to come in, so her and her husband are one. They're not no more two; they're one. How many knows that? The Scripture says so. So her being married, then she--she become one. And go on down here and look over here in Timothy, said the same thing, said, "Now withstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if she continues in faith and holiness with all sobriety."

[N'ZI Amani Germain]

178 Now, but then, the circumcision of the Old Testament was in the flesh, but in this New Testament, Joel said, "I'll pour out My Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy." Now, the word "prophesy" does not mean to teach. The "prophesy" means to either "tell an experience, under inspiration," or "foretell something that's fixing to take place." And we know that there was prophetess in the Old Testament. They never could speak out in the building, speak out in the church, in the congregation, as a teacher. But, see, Anna and many of them in the temple, they were prophetesses, and Miriam was a prophetess or something like that. She had the Spirit on her; that's true; but she had her limitations of place.
Women can be prophetess today, absolutely; but not teachers, and so forth, behind the platform here. If you do, you make--you make the Bible contradict Itself. The Bible can't say one thing here and another thing over here. It's got to say the same thing all the time or It isn't the Word of God. See? So, "Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy," means that they shall either "foretell" or "testify." Now, you look that up, and you get the Bible dictionary and see if that isn't right. "Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy."

179 Now, the Bible also speaks of a woman who pretended her, or--or claimed that she... This would work both for the Catholic church, and would work also with the--with this little subject we're going to speak of now. Let's turn over to the Book of--of Revelations, and let's get about the--the 2nd chapter and the 20th verse, just while we're right here close to it, that you might notice here and just see how the devilish that thing can be, by speaking in this last days what will take place, how that these, what this woman would be. Remember, the Catholic church is a woman. We just read it, haven't we?
Listen to this now, how It says, Revelation 2:20, "Now withstanding..." He's speaking to this Thyatira church (See?), "now withstanding," which is a middle age church there, went through the dark ages.


Now withstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calls herself a prophetess, to teach and... subdue my servants, and commit fornications, and to eat things sacrificed to idols. See?
180 Now, if you ever notice, watch these church ages; then we'll close. And then in the morning we're going to pick up these other things. Watch. In the... Under the--the golden candlesticks of the Jewish tabernacle in the inside, of the shewbread and so forth, there was seven golden candlesticks. All of you know that. See? There's seven church ages. That speaks of seven church ages alike.
Now if you notice in Revelations 1, we find Jesus standing in the seven church ages, the seven golden candlesticks, when he turned and saw One like the Son of man standing clothed with a... How it was, it was a Bride standing in the candlesticks drawed out.
Now, in the Old Testament, they would take these, this one candle and light it, take the other candle and light off of that one, light off of that one, one off the other one like that, till they made the entire seven candlesticks.

182 If you'll notice at the beginning, when God begin to deal with the Jews, and they went through the golden age. And then the darkest age of the Jewish dealings, God had with the Jew, was in the reign of Ahab. And if you'll notice, reading those church ages there, He gets right back to it again. He said, now, a few things ago, and said. Now, right in that dark age, fifteen hundred years there, or the time of Ahab, first, and the Jews, the darkest age they had, when Ahab married Jezebel and brought idolatry into Israel, and made all the people worship after Ahab, after Jezebel's god. You remember, they took, put up the groves, and took down the altars of God. And Elijah cried out he was the only one, and God had seven hundred who'd never bowed their knee to Baalim yet. You remember that? That's that type of that elect church coming out. See there, see how it is?

183 Now, in this church, if you'll notice the first church, the first church, the church of Ephesus, was a great church. He said, "You got light yet." And if you notice each church, it begin to dim out, dim out, dim out, until it got to Thyatira, then the fifteen hundred years. Then He come out on the other side, "And you've got just a little light. Strengthen that which you have got, lest your candlestick be removed." And it come on down then to the Philadelphian church age, and then into the Laodicean church age.

184 Now, here's the beauty. Oh, my, I just love this, Brother Smith. See, look at this. Now, in this church age, as we went through... Now, watch this. The first church age was the Ephesus, the Ephesian church age. Now, each one of those church ages, till it got to this fifteen hundred years, if you'll notice... Read it now when you go home tonight, if you have time, or early in the morning 'fore you come to church, on the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd chapter of Revelations. You'll find out, each one of those church ages, He said, "You have a little strength, and you haven't denied My Name," until He got to this fifteen hundred years of Thyatira, the dark age. Then He come out on the other side, and said, "You have a name that you live, but you are dead."

185 And these, none of these other church ages, that or the Philadelphian church age, never did pick up that Name again, never got that Name, 'cause it went out during this time. Now, oh, how we could lay that on to them false teachings now, right there, show you it's a mother, the Catholic church the mother of all of it, how she's "Mother, Mystery, Babylon." And that's that... Look, this church age here when she come out, she had a little light, then she went getting dimmer, dimmer, and then she come into an organization back here, this fifteen hundred years. And she come out now, not as a church of the Lord Jesus Christ, but as the Catholic church. What did Luther come out? As the Lutheran church. What did the Baptist come out? As the Baptist church. Not His Name, not His Name; another name: "you have a name." For there's not another name given under heaven whereby you may be saved, only the Name of Jesus Christ. "You have a name that you're living, but you're dead," that's with that denomination.

186 "Oh, I'm a Presbyterian," and you're dead.
"Oh, I'm a Baptist," and dead. You're only alive as you come alive in Christ Jesus. That's right. And your false baptisms in water, false baptism, sprinkling, pour, instead of immersing, using "Father, Son, and Holy Ghost" instead of the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ... All those false things coming right down, the Bible speaking, like pouring it into it just as hard as it can. And here we tolerate right along with them, "Well, my church believes it this a-way." But the Bible says this. See? No such things, there's no such a thing.

187 And no place in the Bible did they ever stick out their tongue and take the holy eucharist, and the priest drink the wine and call it the Holy Ghost. Never in the Bible did they ever shake hands and give the right hand of fellowship and call it the Holy Ghost. Never did anybody raise up and say, "now I'm a believer," and receive the Holy Ghost. If it did, here's the way that Acts 2 would have to read, "And when the day of Pentecost had fully come, down the road come a Roman priest, and he had his collar turned around. He walks up, and said, 'All of you stick out your tongue now and take the holy eucharist, first communion.'" Wouldn't that be some way to read Acts 2?

188 Well, you Protestants are as bad. Come back there and say, "Now when we walk up to you Methodists, put them on the right hand, give them the right hand of fellowship, and six months on probation." Where do you read that in Acts 2? See? Where you getting that? See?
See, it said, "When they were all in one place and in one accord..." There never come up no bishop and done this, and there never come up no priest and done this. "But there came a sound from heaven like a rushing mighty Wind, and It filled all the house where they were setting." There's the way they received It (Yes, sir.), as a rushing mighty wind coming from glory, not up the road or from some denomination. "You have a name that you're living, but you're dead."

190 See, your creeds and denominations has barred God away like that, till... "We believe this, and we believe the days of miracles is past." It's a false prophet that says that. It's a false prophet that tells you that you can shake hands and receive the Holy Ghost. It's a false prophet that tells you you receive the Holy Ghost when you believe. It's a false prophet that tells you you should be poured and sprinkled instead of baptizing. It's a false prophet that tells you to be baptized in the Name of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, when there's no Scripture for it in the Bible. That's right. There's not a Scripture in the Bible tells you to be baptized, where anybody was ever baptized, only in the Name of Jesus Christ; only part--John's disciples, and they had to come and be rebaptized in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ to get the Holy Ghost. That's right. Now, that's not Jesus Only doctrine; I know Jesus Only doctrine; that's not it. That's this Bible doctrine. That's right.
But there you are. What do you do with it? There's your mammy. There's the mammy of those creeds...

192 Now, if you look right back in the Bible and tell me where anybody was ever sprinkled. Methodist, Presbyterian, Catholic, tell me where one person was ever sprinkled in the Bible. Tell me where one was ever poured in the Bible for remission of sin. Mention it. Can you find it? If you do, come to me, and I'll walk down this street with a sign on my back, and say "a false prophet, I been wrong." Or you find one place in the entire Bible where anybody was ever baptized in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, the way eighty percent of you has been baptized. Find me one Scripture where anybody was ever baptized that way, and I'll put a sign on my back, "false prophet," and walk down the road with it like this. And show me where anybody was ever baptized in the new church, that didn't have to come and be rebaptized over in--not in the Name of Jesus only, but in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's right. See if that isn't right.

193 And here, what is it? She was a mother of harlots. What was made her a harlot? What made her a whore? Her doctrine. What made them a harlot? Her doctrine.
And that's the reason we don't tolerate with their denominations and their dogmas. We stay clean with this Bible. I don't know how well you live it, but you're taught It, anyhow. That's right. That's up to you. I can't make you live it. I can only tell you what's the Truth. That's why we're not a denomination. I wouldn't--wouldn't want to defile ourselves to get into such a stuff as that, have to knuck down to some kind of a dogma. I'd rather take the way with the Lord's despised few. I'd rather stay clean and pure before the Word and God, and stand there, and say there's no man's blood upon my garment. That's why we stay at the Branham Tabernacle. That's why we're not Assemblies. That's why we're not Oneness. That's why we're not Jesus Only. That's why we're not Methodist. That's why we're not Baptist. It's just a--a little tabernacle here. We don't have no denomination at all. We're free in Christ. That's why we stay the way we do. And God has blessed us and God helping us.

195 Now, we can tell you why we take communion, tell you why we take feet-washing, why we won't let the members take it if we know they're in sin. And that's why this last two or three weeks I've been going from one member to the other one, where you been having your little fusses around too: going around, one wouldn't speak to the other, pass one another on the road and turn your head, shame on you, who's took the blessed cup of God across this, the altar here, and 'cause you brothers and sisters and them get on the telephone and gad off about one another, you're not fit to be called Christian when you're that way. Right. You keep off them telephones, if you can't talk good about somebody, don't you talk at all. Remember, God's going to hold you responsible. As long as that kind of spirit's in you, you know you're not right with God. And if you don't feel...

196 If a man's in the wrong, go to him and be reconciled. If you can't be reconciled, take somebody with you. No wonder God can't discipline His church, 'cause you're not doing it right. Instead of getting on the phone and talking about this one, what taken place, and little cults and so forth, around like that. Instead of doing that, why don't you do what the Bible says? If some brother's been overtaken in a fault, go to him and see if you can't get reconciled with him. "Well, now he did me..." I don't care what he did, go to him anyhow. It didn't say for him to come to you. You go to him if he's wrong. You say, "Well, he was in the wrong, he ought to come to me." That's not what the Bible said. The Bible said for you go to him. If he's wrong, you go to him.
And then if he won't listen to you, then take somebody with you as a witness. And then if he won't see that witness, then, say, now I'll take your pastor. Then you tell him, say, "I'm going to tell it to the church, and in thirty days from now, if you brethren haven't made that up... This brother here's willing to be reconciled. You won't do it. And if you won't make that up within thirty days, then what's going to happen, you're no more one of us."

199 The Bible said, "If he won't hear the church, then let him be unto you as a heathen and a Publican." You see, as long as a brother is under that protection of the church, the Blood of Christ is protecting him. That's the reason we don't get the church rolling on the way it does. Now, I... This is the doctrine of the Baptist--of the Baptist church, or the Branham Tabernacle here, if you'll do it. See, why can't...

200 You get here and say, for instance, two man, say Leo and I Well, you have to... And I say, "Well, you know, he wronged me." That don't make any difference; I'm supposed to go to him. Well, he's a member of this church. He--he's become a Christian. He takes the communion here at the rail with me. And we've been baptized in the Name of the Lord Jesus, walked upright as brothers before each other, then something happened.
It ain't the man; ninety percent of the time it's the Devil got between the people. It ain't the people; it's the Devil. And as long as you let the Devil doing that, you're harming your brother. That's right.

202 Well, something's wrong with Leo and I; let's go make it up. And if you see there's something, it's your duty to come to us, and say, "Both you boys come here and get together; we're going to straighten this thing up." Now, then if it comes to there... And there, come to find out then, here we are. I say well, first thing, if we--we can't agree, then you come to the church like that.
And then if as long as you don't do nothing about it though, the Blood of Jesus Christ protects us both. See? But then that--that old cancer will start another cancer, and that cancer will start another cancer, and the whole thing will be sick all over the whole church. Then you get to a place you come into church, and just as cold, you'll have to have the janitor come break the icicles out 'fore the congregation can get in. Now, you know that's right. And cold... Somebody set around, you know, and just don't say nothing. "We used to be so spiritual." Well, what happened? You did run well, what was the matter? See, your sins separate you. God will hold you responsible for it, brethren. Now straighten this thing up.

204 Nothing's been wrong with me, nothing wrong with Leo; it's the Devil got between us. That's right. Get the thing straightened out. Go to him. Then if he won't listen, or I won't listen, whichever way it is, then tell it to the church. If he don't come be reconciled to that church in thirty days, then he's brought from under the protection of Jesus. We loose him. That's exactly right. Then watch what takes place. Let God do the discipline then. You got your hands off. You done the best you could. Then let God have him for a little bit. He'll turn him over to the Devil. He will come then. If he don't, his life is just a short span.

205 You remember in the Bible where there was a brother that wouldn't get right with God? How many remembers the case? He lived with his foster mother, and they couldn't get him straightened out. Paul said, "Turn him over to the Devil, for the destruction." You find out, in II Corinthians, he got straightened out.

206 I've got a brother, a good friend, I like here to call his name. He's a preacher brother, and this preacher brother, his name's Brother Rasmusson. Many of you ministers setting here tonight, his name's on your papers. It's that interdenominational out of Chicago. And look, He had a boy, minister, and he went and married a Catholic girl, started off like that, and he was going to do this, that, and the other. And--and what all, got in some trouble. And his daddy went to him, said, "Now look, son, are you going to be reconciled to daddy?" He called their church a bunch of holy-rollers, his daddy. He said, "Now look, are you going to straighten that thing up with this church?"
He said, "Now, daddy, you're my daddy, and I don't want to get in any trouble with you."

208 All right, went and got one of the deacons and went down to his house. Said--said, "Wesley, I want to talk to you." Said, "Are you going to straighten this thing up with the church?" And he give him a short two-answer like that. Said, "Remember, Wesley, I'm the pastor of that church. I'm your daddy, but I'm going to do what God says do. I'm giving you thirty days to make that right with that church, or we'll excommunicate you from the Presence of God. You're my own son; That's my Saviour." Said, "I love you. You know I love you, Wesley; I'd die right now for you, but you got to come straight with God's Word." See? He said, "I'm the pastor; I'm the shepherd of that flock. And if you're my child or whoever you are, you've got to line up with God's Word. If you don't do it, then I'm not fit to be His shepherd."
Boy, that's a pastor. That's a man. Don't you think so? That's a man. He told his boy that. It hurt him, he said. But said Who you going to hurt, the man or hurt your Saviour?"

210 So he said, "Then we went on."
And said, "He wouldn't do it. And we... I told the church, and said, 'My own son, Wesley, he refuses to hear me in this matter. He refuses to hear the deacon. You're a witness of this, Brother So-and-so?' 'Yes, I am.' 'All right, at eight o'clock next Sunday, four weeks from now, if he hasn't made that right with this church, we turn Wesley, my son, over to the Devil for the destruction of the flesh; this Blood, the Blood of--of Jesus Christ and this church protect him no longer.'"

211 And that night come, stood on the pulpit, said, "He's got two more minutes." The time come, he said, "Now, as my son, Wesley Rasmusson, said to this congregation and to You, Almighty God, we've done all we can do, according to Your Words and instructions of Your--of Your Son, our Saviour, has left us, we now... I turn my boy, and this church with me, over to the--to the Devil for the destruction of his flesh, that his soul would be saved." That's all was said. Nothing went on for a week or two, maybe a month or two.

212 One night old Wesley took sick. And when he got sick, he kept getting sicker. He called the doctor. The doctor come up and examined him. He had a fever of a hundred and five, couldn't find no reason for it. He just kept getting sicker. Doctor said, "Boy, I don't know what's happened to you." He didn't know what to do. Said, "We'll call a specialist." They called a specialist and the specialist come in there. They took him over to the hospital, examined him, everything else, he said, "I just can't tell you, the boy's just--just looks deathly." His wife standing there, crying and everything like that, and the children standing around the bed, and everyone like that. He said, "He's going, that's all." Said, "His pulse and respiration's just going down all the time."
He said, "Call daddy." Oh, yes, that's the way to do it. That's it. "Call daddy." And his daddy run out there to the hospital real quick to see him. He said, "Daddy, I can't now, but God hears my words. I'll make everything right. I'll make it right. Yes, I will." Yes, sir, brother, right then his respiration begin to come back normal.
And the following Sunday, he was up before the church; he said, "I have sinned before God in the presence of this church. I refused to hear the pastor's words. I--I refused to hear the deacon here." And said, "I 'm asking this church to forgive me for the evil that I have done like that." Said, "God has spared my life." I tell you; he lined up right. Yeah. That's what it's got to be. See? See? You, if you'll just do it God's way... See?

215 Now, see, the way we do, we have a board meeting, and we say, "Well, now, should we keep..." I don't say the Tabernacle, but I mean us Protestant people: we have a board meeting, "And what do you think about Jones? What do you think we ought to do with him? I think he--he'd make the Methodist a better member than he does us." There you are. That--that's wrong. That's the reason we don't have to follow their traditions and some bishop we have to call him, ever some, what is it you call them, district man in this Pentecostal Church, District Presbyter, call him in to see the conduct of this man.
The Bible tells us what to do. That's the reason we don't fool with their denominations. We stay free from that thing. Amen. Not mad at me, are you? Don't you do it. I'll probably get some awful good questions tomorrow night, but we are... That's right. See?

217 Remember, no, I say this now. You people that's here from different denominational churches, your denomination... And, brother, I'm not saying that you're not a Christian. I'm not saying your denomination isn't thousands of lovely Christians in there. I'm trying to say the reason that we are not a denomination. 'Cause I just wouldn't stand for that. No, sir, I sure wouldn't. They try to tell you what to do. If God called me to preach the Gospel, then I preach it the way God tells me to do it. That's just the--the way it's wrote here in the Bible. If it don't line up with This, then it's--that's... God will judge me for it. But if I--if I--if I see the wolf coming, or the enemy coming, and I fail to warn them, then God requires me. But if I warn you, then it's up to you then. See?

218 Remember, there in the last days, that perilous times shall come, men shall be lovers of themselves, boasters, proud, blasphemers (See?), blasphemers, "Oh, they're a bunch of idiots. The days of miracles are passed. There's no such a thing." He's an old false prophet. "Now, we know that our women has just as much sense as our men." I'm not disputing that a bit, but God's Bible said keep her out of the pulpit. That's--that's good enough for me. See? That's right. All right. See? And said, "Well, now, our denominations, we got just as many nice people as you got over there at the Tabernacle." I don't say that a bit, but the Bible condemns denominations. That's right. And so, I ain't saying you ain't got fine members in your church. That's wonderful. They are fine people. Some of the finest people, I meet them in all of them, Catholics and all through, all of them; I meet fine members.

219 Now, the way we're going to bring this now, friend, if the Lord willing, in these next couple studies, maybe I'll let you know tomorrow morning whether we have to run tomorrow afternoon or not (See?), to get it out. The reason we're trying to do this, I want to bring it down to a spot now. Now, if you want to bring someone with you, you're perfectly welcome to do it. But remember now, don't--don't go away just trying to find faults, or come here. I'm just talking to my--my congregation. You see? I don't teach this outside my congregation here, 'cause that's the other man's business, that he's the shepherd of that flock. And I'm just the... [Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.]

220 Right back to Genesis, he'll pull it right through and see where it's at. Now, we're going back to Genesis to find out why that a illegitimate child would not enter the congregation of the Lord for fourteen generations. How it take... That'd be four hundred years for that sin to run out. How we're going to find out how that the--the righteousness of the parents is visited to the children and children, how that started in Genesis, and so forth.

221 And then you'll see how that, go all the way back, that God, before the foundation of the world, before one atom ever bursted back there before there ever was a light, meteor ever come into existence, God knew every creature and everything that'd ever be on the earth. Is there anyone here, you could not explain what the word, and break it down, and say what the word of "infinite" means? Just like turning your camera to--to infinity, it just--it's just from there on. That's all (See?), infinite. And we can't, in the finite mind, ever comprehend what the infinite mind could conceive. See, we can't do that. You--you can't do it. See? But if--if you'll just watch, hold in the Spirit, you can feel it way off there, and--and then get back here in the Scripture, and you'll see now (See?), way before the foundation of the world was ever laid.

222 Now, the Bible said that Jesus Christ was the Lamb of God. Now, listen real close, so if some of you won't be in tomorrow to hear it finish up. The Bible said that Jesus Christ was the Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world. Is that right? When was He slain? From the foundation. That's the world, if it's made out of a bunch of broken up atoms, pulled off the sun yonder, before it was that. Then before there was an atom ever first broke in the sun, if this was a meteor off the sun, which would be a hundred billion trillion trillion trillions of years back before there was even one light meteor, Christ was slain. When God's great mind settles on one thing, it's a finished product.
When God said, "Let there be," it's already finished if it taken a hundred billion years to run out, it's already finished as soon as He said it. And when the Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world, the same Bible, the same Spirit wrote and said, our names were put in the Lamb's Book of Life before the foundation of the world.
So the man that wrote the song, "There's A New Name Written Down In Glory," he had good meanings, but he was unscriptural. See? That name was wrote down in glory when the world--when before the world ever begin. When the Lamb was slain, our names were put on the Lamb's Book of Life.

224 Let--let me just get you one little Scripture, just... Will you--will you hold on just one minute? It just comes in my mind now. I think I can turn right to it. I'm not sure. And now, I'm sorry to keep you this long, but I told you it'd be midnight; it ain't quite that bad. But I--I just like to--to get this, just one Scripture to that. Turn with me now to the Book of Romans, and I want to--to read this with me now. Now, let's see, Romans, if I can find it, just about right here. Now, let's get Romans 8 and--and let's start 28th verse of the 8th chapter of Romans, and I want you to just read it prayerfully with me now. Listen here just what God said now.


And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are... called according to his purpose.
For whom he did foreknow,...
That give ye... can you read with me? "For he..."

For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate... (All right.)... to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
226 From the foundation of the world, when God looked down... Now, God don't run His office, say, "Well, now, I'm going to... Oh, what we going to do now?" See? There is nothing...
Remember, unrighteousness, sin is righteousness perverted. The Devil cannot create. Does all--all understand that? That's a doctrine of this church. The Devil cannot create. He can pervert what God has created. Now, what is perversion? Here, you all look like adults, mostly. Listen to this. We're married people. And you married men and you married women can live together as husband and wife, and them women are just the same as they never was... They're virgins as long as you stay with your husband. That's right. Now, that's legal and lawful, and it's all right; it's ordained of God to do so. Another woman can do the same act of your wife. One of them, you're righteous in the sight of God; and the same act to another woman, you're condemned before God to death. What is it? Righteousness perverted (See?), righteousness perverted.

228 Now, the Devil cannot create, but he perverts what God has already created. What is a lie? Is the truth perverted. Somebody said, oh, "It was Saturday night, nine o'clock, yep, Bill Branham was in Jeffersonville (Correct.) down at Anthony's saloon, drunk." A lie. What was it? I was in Jeffersonville; that's true. It was the righteousness perverted to a lie. See what I mean? See, a lie perverts right. It's something that told where I was at. Now, if it said, "At the church, preaching." Correct. That's righteousness; he told the truth. "At the tavern, drinking." A lie. Perverted (See?), truth perverted. See what I mean? All unrighteousness is righteousness perverted.

229 Death, what is it? Life perverted. Sickness? Health perverted. You're supposed to be a good strong man. All right, if you're sickly, what is it? Your health is perverted. See? That's all there is to it. What is it? You used to be young beautiful women, and strong beautiful men; now you're wrinkling and getting old, what is it? Life perverted (See?), coming right back around again. See? And it has to come back. Blessed be the Name of the Lord. God has promised to bring it back. And just as sure as it... And if it is, we know it's here; so just as sure as it is, God's going to bring it again. He promised it and swore He'd do it. That's what gives us...

230 Now, how--what kind of people ought we to be? Now, notice how these things take place. Now, those who He foreknew, He called; those who He called, He justified; those... When? Before the foundation of the world, before the world ever began. Now, if we could take this Scripture and really justify it, we'd take hours on it, but we--we don't want to do that. But all this unrighteousness here, is righteousness perverted to unrighteousness. That's what the Devil does.
Now, when you come to the age of accountability, and you know what's wrong and right, you're supposed to turn from your wrong. Because you're born in sin, shaped in iniquity, come to the world speaking lies, that you're--you're actually born as a sexual desire, and then you must be borned again in order to receive a new birth to enter into Heaven. Because this kind of a birth you have here...
You see where the Jehovah Witness would be so far wrong there, to think that the new birth is the resurrection of the body. You see? It couldn't be. See? It's got to be something...

232 You, you're in a time space, and the only thing that's eternal is something that had no beginning or no end. Anything eternal never had a beginning, or it never will have an end. See? So if you're a part of God, the Spirit that's in you never had a beginning or it never will have an end, and you're eternal with the Spirit that's in you. See? Like the--the--the agapao love, then it comes down to phileo love, and then down to lust love; it just keeps going on down and on down, perverting on down till it's become to just conglomeration to what mess. Well now, the only way, Jesus came down that same ladder down here to pick up and take back again to the highest form: from the lowest form, from death unto Life, from sickness unto health, from unrighteousness to righteousness. See? He become from the highest to the lowest, that He might bring the lowest to the highest. He become me that I might through His grace become Him, an heir of the throne in glory. See what I mean, those things?
Now look, way back before this world started in them atoms back yonder, when God seen what was going to take place, right there He saw you, He saw me, He saw every flea, every fly, every frog, every gnat, everything that would ever be on the earth, He saw it right then. Sure He did.

233 Now, He never said, "I'll send My Son down and let Him die, and maybe somebody will have pity on Him. And it'll be such a pitiful case, they... perhaps maybe somebody might get saved."
He foreknew who would be saved. Yes, sir. He said, "Esau I hate, and Jacob I love," before either one ever had a chance to prove what they was, because He knowed what they was. He knew. He knows everything. He knew what you'd do before you was born, and when the world began.