Questions & Answers on The Holy Ghost
Questions 100 (COD Page 448)
Brother Branham, please explain Hebrews 6:4 to 6
161 That’s one time it really... See, now you’ll have to watch here on our faith, grace, security of the believers, perserverance of the saints, perseverance, rather, of the saints. Hebrews the 6th chapter, 4 to 6. Now, as soon as it... finish this, then I hope that God will help me make it real clear to you. I’m sorry, I-I got my Message for tonight; maybe I’ll preach the same thing in the morning at the-at the service. Then I’ll be going.
162 Now, this is a real sticker. See? Now, you have to watch. Now remember, we believe and teach at this church, not that everything comes up and shouts, everything that speaks in tongues, everything that shake hands with the preacher, has got Eternal Life. But we believe if you’ve got Eternal Life, if God has give you Eternal Life, you’ve got It forever. See? Because look. If it didn’t, Jesus is found a false teacher. In Saint John 5:24, He said, “He that heareth My Words and believeth on Him that sent Me has Everlasting Life, and shall never come to the judgment, but has passed from death unto Life.” Now, argue with Him. “All the Father has given Me... No man can come to Me except the Father draws him. (I’m quoting Scripture.) All that comes... No man can come to Me except My Father draws him first. And all that My Father has given Me will come to Me. (See?) And all that comes to Me, I’ll give them Everlasting Life (Saint John 6), and will raise him up at
the last days.” That’s His words.
163 Now look. If I want to go back to Ephesians the 1st chapter, Paul preaching... Now, the Corinthians, each one had a tongue and a psalm. You notice the other churches didn’t have that trouble. He never said nothing about it. Did he ever mention tongues anywhere in the Ephesian church, the Roman church? No! They had tongues and everything just like the Corinthians did, but they had it set in order. The Corinthians just couldn’t get it in order. See? But Paul went down there and set the church in order. Now, he... I believe, as Oral Roberts says, “God’s a good God.” Don’t you believe that?
164 And you say, “Well, what about the Pentecostals with the tongues then, Brother Branham?” I think they got the Holy Ghost. Sure they did. All right, why? Look. You believe He’s a good God? Thomas said one time, “You know, Lord... ” All of the rest of them believed Him. Said, “Oh, we know He’s real!” “Oh,” Thomas said, “no, no, I don’t believe it. The only way I’ll believe it, I’ll have to have some evidence. I’ll have to stick my fingers in His side and in the prints of the nails in His hands.” He’s a good God. He said, “Come on, Thomas. Here you are.” “Oh,” Thomas said, “now I believe.”
165 He said, “Yes, Thomas, after you’ve seen Me, and felt Me, and put My hand... your hands in My side, you believe. But how much greater is their reward who had never seen and yet believe.” He’s a good God. He gives you the desire of your heart, of course. Let’s just believe Him. That’s the-that’s the-that’s the death stroke to Satan. When a man takes God at His Word, brother, that’ll kill Satan every time. That’s the hardest hitting that Satan can get, when a man will take God at His Word. Yes, sir. As I said, “Man shall not live alone (Jesus, the other night), but every Word that proceedeth out...”
166 Now, notice this. Now I’m going to start the first verse:
Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on to perfection;...
(Now, the first thing I want you to know: who is Paul talking to here? Hebrews. They say, “Hebrews,” at top, the Book of Hebrews. Is that right? The Jews that had rejected Jesus... Can you-you catch it now? He’s talking to the Jews, showing them the shadow of the law being a type of Christ. All the old things a type of the new. Now watch.)
... leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on to perfection;...
167 Now, he’s been talking to them about the doctrines. Let us go and talk about the perfected things. Now, you are perfected in God when you’re sealed by the Holy Ghost until the day of your redemption. “He that is borned of God (First John) does not commit sin; for he cannot sin, for the Seed of God remains in him.”
168 A man that’s filled with the Holy Ghost, not thinks he’s filled, but he that’s born of the Spirit of God does not commit sin, for the Seed of God is in him, and he cannot sin. See? Does the Bible say that? So there it is. You are... Not what you do, what, is what, not what the world thinks of you, it’s what God thinks of you. See, see? You cannot... How can I have an order written by the mayor of the city, that I can run forty miles an hour through the city, and any policeman arrest me? I can’t. How can I sin when there’s a blood offering before God constantly, where He can’t even see me; when there’s a bumper on the-on the... before me and God, a shield of Blood? For we are dead, and our life is hid in Christ through God, sealed by the Holy Ghost. How in the world can you do anything wrong in the sight of God? “If we sin willfully (Hebrews 10) after we received the knowledge of the Truth, there’s no more sacrifice for sin.” In here it’s impossible (see?) to sin willfully.
169 Now, let’s go ahead and read. All right.
... perfection; not laying again the foundation of-of repentance from dead works, and... faith towards God, Of the doctrine of baptisms,... laying on of hands, and of the resurrection of the dead, and... eternal judgment. And this... we do, if God permit. (Now here’s where they wanted to start, from the 4thverse.)
For it is impossible for those... once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted of the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,
If they shall fall away, to renew-renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
170 Now, now, that looks like, from the way that you’re reading it there, that a man could receive the Holy Ghost, and then backslide and be lost. But it’s impossible for him to do it. See? He can’t do it. If he did, Christ lied. See? It’s impossible for those once enlightened. Now, watch here. What’s he speaking to? He’s speaking to those borderline Jews. He never said a man being filled with the Holy Ghost; he said, “If he has tasted the Word of God.”
171 Now, let me just give it in a parabolic, so that you’ll see and won’t miss it now. Now, he’s writing to these Jews. Some of them are borderline believers. See? He said, “Now, we’re going to leave these works and go on to talk about perfection.” Said, “Now, we’re talking about baptisms, and resurrection of the dead, and laying on of the hands, and everything; but let’s go ahead now to talk about perfection. Now, we’re going to talk about when you come into the Holy Ghost. Now, you’ve been hanging around the meeting a long time... ”
172 And you’ve seen those people. They’ll stay around; they won’t come in or go out. They appreciate the Holy Ghost. They’ll come around. And maybe the Holy Ghost do something and, men, they’ll get up and shout, and jump up and down the floor about it, but they never want to receive It themselves. No, no! See? And they’ll say, “Oh, yes, that’s good. Oh, I don’t know about that now.” See, see, see? Borderline believers. Just so close till they can taste It, but yet they don’t receive It. See? Now, they hang around like that so long till after while they drift completely away. I can call the names of many was at the tabernacle, done the same thing. Fall all the way away again, to renew themselves unto repentance, there’s no repentance for them. They just grieved the Spirit away from them. They’ve been so close till...
173 Here, if you would turn with me (you don’t have time, I know, now) but if you would turn to Deuteronomy the 1st chapter and read it, you’ll get the same thing. Marking it down now, Deuteronomy the 1st chapter. Now, and begin at the 19th verse and read through to the 26th. Deuteronomy... You’ll find out... Now look. All of Israel... What them people do, they come to Kadesh-barnea. Oh, I see something! This tabernacle, this Pentecostal world is at Kadesh-barnea right now. That’s exactly right, Brother Neville. We’re at Kadesh-barnea, the judgment seat of the world (was the judgment seat).
174 And spies went out. Joshua said here, “Now, I sent spies,” or Moses, rather, “I sent spies, twelve, one of, one man out of each one of your tribes. I sent them to spy out the land and bring back a report.” Is that right?
And when they come back, there was nine out of the twelve said, “Oh, it’s a good land, but oh, mercy, we can’t take it. Oh, my! The Amorites are there, and we look like grasshoppers up the side of them. They’re armed men. Their walls are big. Oh, it’s too... why, I wish we’d have died down yonder in Egypt instead of you bringing us out here.”
175 But, little old Caleb and Joshua jumped up there and quietened them; said, “We’re more than able to take it.” Yes, sir! There’s the one. Now look. What happened? Caleb and Joshua knew that God gave the promise of it: “I don’t care how big it is, how much the obstacles are, how high they are, how great they are, that don’t have nothing to do with it. God said so, and we can take it.” And do you know they were the only two people that, out of that two and a half million, that ever crossed into the land? Because they held their faith in what God said to be the Truth. Amen!
176 The tabernacle, right now, stands at Kadesh-barnea. Look, them people was so close till they even tasted the grapes out of the land. They eat the grapes. When Caleb and them went over and brought back the grapes, them fellows pulled off some and eat them. “Oh, they’re good, but we can’t do it.” “They that have tasted the good work of God, have tasted of the Holy Spirit, seen the goodness of It, tasted of It, has tasted of
the Word of God... ” See that? None of them men, not one of them ever was permitted to go over. They perished in their own land, over here in the wilderness. They never went over, yet they was close enough to taste It, but not enough grace and faith to take It. That’s what it is.
177 Now. Now listen to that dear person that wrote this letter. Let’s just read the next verse. Watch just a minute. Watch Paul. Now let’s read the 7th:
For the earth... drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meats for them to whom
it is dressed, receiveth blessings from God:
But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.
178 Now, see what he says? Now watch. There was this question here; now, and then we’ll close... This thing liked to killed me for years.
179 I went to a meeting one time where people were speaking with tongues at Mishawaka, Indiana. Now, I’m before my own crowd. You’ve heard them people... heard me tell my life story, and about the colored man that said, “Here he is. Here he is.” Now, I told that.
180 But the rest of it: I seen two men. They were... One would give a message, the other one interpret it. The other one give a message, and the other one interpret it. And brother, they was correct. Just this... I thought, “My goodness! I never seen anything like that.” I said, “I’m amongst angels.” I thought, I never seen anything... One would speak, and the other one...
181 And I sit back there, as a little old preacher, you... [Blank spot on tape-Ed.]... both man sometime and shake their hand. I never seen such men in my life. They’d speak a message, and the other one would interpret it. And my, my! It was wonderful! One, would speak and the other one interpret. Both... And they’d just turn chalky white when they’d raise their hands up. I thought, “Oh my, my, where have I been all my life. This is the thing!” I said, “My, Pentecostals are right.” That’s exactly right.
182 I never seen much but just what was right down around in here, where the... Maybe a couple of women with a mission somewhere. And they’d be fussing; and one calling the other, “buzzard roost,” and, you know, just like that, kinda fussing at one another. Not no disregarding to the women now or nothing, but just... It-it was on the low ebb. If any of you... You remember, Brother Graham. You was just a little boy at that time. And so, that’s the way it was. And I listened to that, and I thought, “Oh, my, I’ve hit angels.”
183 One day coming around the corner of the house, about the second day, I met one of the man. I said, “How do you do, Sir?”
He said, “How do you do?” He said, “Are... What’s your name?”
And I said, “Branham.”
He said, “Where you from? Here?”
And I said, “No, I’m from Jeffersonville.”
He said, “Well, that’s fine. Are you Pentecostal?”
I said, “No, sir, I’m not.” I said, “I just don’t accept the Pentecostal way of receiving the Holy Spirit,” I said,
“however,” I said, “I’m here to learn.”
184 He said, “Well, that’s mighty nice.” And talking to him, catching his spirit (like the woman at the well), he was a real Christian. Brother, I mean he rung out all right. He was good. Now, you all... How many’s been in my meetings and see those things happen? You see? And the man was perfectly all right. So then, I-I thought, “There! My, how wonderful!”
185 About that evening, afternoon sometime, I met the other one. I said, “How do you do, Sir?”
He said, “How do you do? What’s your name?” And I told him. And he said, “Have... Are-are you a Pentecostal?”
I said, “No, sir, not exactly Pentecostal, I don’t guess.” I said, “I’m just up here to learn.”
He said, I said, he said, “You ever got the Holy Ghost?”
I said, “I-I don’t know.” I said, “According to what you all got, I guess I haven’t.”
And he said, “Ever spoke in tongues?” I said, “No, sir!”
He said, “Then you haven’t had It.”
186 And I said, “Well, I-I guess that’s right.” I said, “I don’t know. I just been preaching about two years, less,” and I said, “I don’t know too much about It.” I said, “Maybe I don’t know.” I said, “I can’t understand... ” Cause what, I was trying to hold him there (see?), to catch it. And when I did, if I ever met a hypocrite, there was one of them. His wife was black-headed; and he was living with a blond-headed woman, had two children by her; and speaking in tongues, interpreting it just as perfect as it could be. And I said, “Now, Lord, what have I got into?” From angels, I didn’t know what I was into.
I said, “I-I-I’m fundamental; it’s got to be the Bible. It’s got to be right. There’s something wrong somewhere, Lord. How could that be?”
187 I went to meeting that night, and that Spirit would fall; and brother, you could feel It, that It was the Holy Spirit. Yes, sir! If It wasn’t, It bore record with my spirit that It was the Holy Spirit. And I was just a young preacher, and didn’t know how, much about a discernment of spirit. But I was setting there. And I know the very God that saved me, that was the same feeling... Felt like I was going through the roof, it was such a wonderful feeling in that building. And I thought...
188 About fifteen hundred of them there. And I thought, “My, oh my!” Two or three bunches of them had met together. And I thought, “Say, my! How can it be? Now, that great Spirit in this building falling like that; and here, look at this going on up there, them guys speaking in tongues, interpreting, giving message perfectly-and one of them a hypocrite and the other one a real man of God.” And I thought, “Now, I’m all confused. I don’t know what to do.”
189 Well, immediately after it, a good friend of mine, Brother Davis (you know), started saying I was a puppet. That’s a girl’s toy, you know. And so, I was single, and so I... He started carrying on with me, and then going on, kinda joshing with me.
190 And we was having a little... And your mother and all of us was having little meetings around different places. The tabernacle wasn’t-wasn’t going at that time, and we were having little meetings different places. And finally one day, after the tabernacle had been built, many years later, I went up to Green’s Mill to my cave to pray, because Brother Davis had said some horrible things about me in the-in-in his paper. I loved him. I didn’t want nothing to happen, and I-I went up there to pray for him. And I went up there, and I got in the cave. And I stayed in there about two days. And I said, “Lord, forgive him. He-he don’t mean-mean that.” And I thought, “You know... ” I just happened to think of a Scripture.
191 And I went out. And there was a log (that log’s still laying there, was on it here not long ago) down off the mountain and lays across a little path that comes around from the creek. And I just straddled the log, looking across the mountains way back-back there, and laid my Bible out like that. I thought, “You know... ” I was thinking of a Scripture: “The coppersmith, he has done me much harm, and said things.” You know... I thought, “I believe I’ll just read that.” I opened up the Bible, and I said, “Well... ” Wiped my face off, and the wind blowed, and it turned it over to Hebrews 6. “Well,” I said, “that’s not where it’s at.” And I laid It back like this. And the wind blowed again and turned It back again. And I said, “Now, that’s strange, the wind blowing it back like that.” So I thought, “Well, I believe I’ll read it.” And said:
For it is impossible for those which were once enlightened,... made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and tasted the... Word of God, and the thing of the world to come.
I thought, “Well, I don’t see nothing with that.” Read it on down, the rest the chapter. Nothing in it. I said, “Well, that’s-that settles that for that.” And I-I saw it like this, and back it went again. And I picked It up, and I thought, “Well, what is that?” I kept reading it, and reading it, and reading it,
I said, “Well, I can’t understand.” Then I kept... And I read on down:
... is impossible for those which are once enlightened,...
It come on down here to a place here where it said:
And the earth... drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, to bring forth herbs meats to them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessings from God:
But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and... nigh unto cursing; whose judgment is to be burned.
192 I said, “Wonder what that means?” I’d just... Now, I wasn’t thinking about nothing up there. Just thinking that.
And just then as I was setting there, I thought the Lord would give me a vision about Brother Davis and them down there. And I was setting there; I looked, and I seen something turning out across the hollow in front of me. And it was a world turning. And I seen it was all broke up, just looked like it was all plowed over. And a Man went forth with a-a-a great big thing in front of Him full of seed, and He was casting the seed all the way across the earth as He went. And He went around the curvature of the earth, and He went out of my sight. And as soon as He went out of my sight, here come a man real sneaky-looking, dressed in black garments, going around like this, going [Brother Branham makes sounds to illustrate-Ed.] throwing bad seeds [Brother Branham repeats the sounds-Ed.]. And I watched it, and as the earth kept turning around...
193 After while wheat come up. And when the wheat come up, out of there come briers, and thistles, and thorns, and stink weed, and everything growing up, milk weeds, and everything growing up in the wheat. And they was all growing together. And there come a real, bad drought, and the little wheat had its head over like that, and the little brier, and thistle, thorns, they had their head over. Each weed just [Brother Branham makes a panting sound-Ed.] breathing like that. You could just hear them. And they were calling for rain, rain.
194 And after while, along come a great big cloud, and the water just gushed down. And when it fell upon there, that wheat jumped up and begin to holler, “Glory, Hallelujah, Praise the Lord!” Up jumped the little stink weed and hollered, “Glory, Praise the Lord, Hallelujah!” The thorns and all of them, dancing all around over the field hollering, “Glory,
Hallelujah, Praise the Lord!”
Well, I said, “I can’t get that.”
195 The vision left me; then I fell back on that again: “The briers which is nigh unto rejection.” Then I got it. Jesus said, “The rain falls on the just and the unjust.” A man can set in the meeting, can speak with tongues, can shout and act just like the rest of them with the genuine Holy Ghost and still not be in the Kingdom of God. That’s exactly right. Didn’t Jesus say, “Many will stand in that day and say, ‘Lord, have not I cast out devils in Your Name; have not I prophesied (preached) in Your Name; have not I done many mighty works in Your Name?’” Jesus said, “Depart from Me, you workers of iniquity, I never even knew you.” How about that?
196 Here’s exactly what it means here. See? They tasted the good rain from Heaven. But to begin with, they were wrong. To begin with their objectives wasn’t right; their motives wasn’t right. That, you can’t tell. The... You know, in the harvest he said, “Shall I go forth and pull all them out?”
197 He said, “Let them grow together, and at that day these thorns and thistles will be burned together, and the wheat will go to the garner.” Now, how you going to know which is a thorn, or which is a thistle, or which is a wheat? “By their fruit you shall know them.” You see, brother, sister, a good tree cannot bring forth bad fruit. No matter, somewhere along the road, it’s going to catch up with you. So, you in seeking the baptism of the Holy Ghost... I’m glad ever who wrote that. See?
198 Now, them borderline believers back there, they was right with them. They were circumcised with their circumcision. They went right over to the land that God promised, right to the edge of it. A many a man walks up to that edge. He’ll walk right up to the baptism of the Holy Ghost and reject it. He don’t want to give it up. He’ll walk right up to the Scripture baptism in the Name of Jesus Christ, and turn his back, and reject it to keep from seeing it.
199 There’s not one Scripture in all the Bible where anybody was ever baptized in the name of Father, Son, Holy Ghost, not one Scripture. The Catholic church started it, come out in Luther, down in Wesley, and has pulled on through to here. That’s exactly right. But the Scriptural order is the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. That’s apostolic baptism. You can’t do that and stay in a denomination. That’s right.
200 Now, you see those things? The baptism of the Holy Spirit, the gifts of the Spirit, the things that God brings forth... The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, long-suffering (oh, you say, “But Brother Branham, bless God, I’m longsuffering.” It seem like it. I went up to Ohio here not long ago, and somebody asked me, wrote a letter down here and asked me if I baptized people in the Name of Jesus Christ. I never said a word. They found it out anyhow, and sixteen cooperating ministers pulled away. That’s long-suffering isn’t it!)-long-suffering, goodness, meekness, gentleness, patience, and the Holy Ghost. See?
201 Oh, brother, sister, we’re-we’re at Kadish-barnea. You’re tasting now. Last night the Holy Spirit fell upon us, come in us, in like a rushing wind. It settled upon many of you. Today ministers have been visiting homes here and there, laying on hands and praying for them that’s seeking the Holy Ghost. Don’t you take a substitute. Don’t you take some kind of a noise. Don’t you take some kind of a sensation. You wait there until God has molded you and made you a new creature, made you a new person. You’re tasting It now, just tasting It, but let the Dove lead you right to the table, and-and the Lamb and Dove set down together, and feast forevermore upon the Word of God. For It will stand when there’s no heaven or earth; the Word of God will remain. That is true.
202Please don’t think that I’m radical. If I have been, I didn’t mean to be. If I... I hope I’ve answered these questions; I have, the best of my knowledge.
203 And therefore, in Hebrews 6, if you’ll see, Paul’s talking to Hebrews that said, “Well, we’ll go along with you so far.” They’ll come up. You see? Said, “Now, you’ve...” Them that comes up and has tasted.
204 I just happened to look back in the building. To show you the evidence of a Living God. I hope I don’t make this person’s conspicuous. I come in from a meeting not long ago, and come here, and announced to you that a good friend, a personal buddy of mine, a hunting partner, a man had been good to me, a man that had been to my church, and had been my brother; I called him Busty. His name is Everett Rodgers; lived in Milltown. How many remember me coming here to announce it? He was laying here in the hospital; the doctors operated on him, opened him up, and so full of cancer they just sewed him up. Said, “He’ll dwindle right away; in a few weeks he’ll be gone; that’ll be all there’ll be to it. He’ll be finished, that’s all.”
205You remember how I stood here on the platform, prayed for him? Went down there and went into the room, something eating in my heart. I walked into the room, and as soon as I got everybody out so I could... Brother Everett was laying there. And you’ll remember this. I walked in; I said, “Brother-Brother Busty.” (I called him Busty.)
206 Long ago when we was having brush arbor meetings down there, all them Methodists back over there on the hill (Gertie, one of them), slipping around, was peeping through the grape arbor to see what I was going to say, and like that, afraid that the Methodist church would excommunicate them. And then, I went and had a vision there, and I seen meat all piled up in a can. I caught a bunch of fish and strung them on, put-put them upon these stringers, and I tied the stringers up. And when I looked... And it was all in a vision; I’d left-left a bunch of people standing under the brush arbor that night and went up on top of the hill at Brother Wright’s. And they couldn’t even find me the next morning. I said, “Don’t none of you...”
207While I was standing there preaching, here come that Light; that Pillar of Fire hung right here before me and said, “Leave here and go to the woods; I’ll talk to you.” It was that same day, the next day when they found me up on the hill. And I’d been up there; I hid my car in the weeds, and had been up on a mountain praying all night and all the next day. Some of them come up there, found the car and come up there... That was the day that Brother Graham Snelling, here, received the Holy Ghost and the call into the ministry.
208 Up there on the hillside were I’d been laying there, and He-He told me different things to do and what the communication we’d had together. He give a vision of seeing these fish strung up, said, “This is your Milltown church.” And four or five of them flopped off; and I said, “Who’s that?” Said, “One of them is Guy Spencer and his wife. The other one is another Spencer there, and theirs.” And He told the different ones, what would flop off.
209 I told them; I said, “Don’t none of you eat.” My wife and I wasn’t... It was before we was married; and she went home to stay all night with Sister Spencer, a wonderful woman. Wonderful man, Guy Spencer is just as nice a man as stood in shoe leather. And he-and he went down there, and Opal said, “Now, look... ” To Meda, she said, “Now, Meda, I believe Brother Bill.” She said, “But when Opal gets hungry, she has to have ham and eggs.” So she goes over there, and fries her ham and eggs, and sets down to eat them, and starts to say the blessing, and leaned over the table, crying, couldn’t touch it. Then they come hunting.
210 And up there on the hill that day, He told me exactly what would happen. He said, “These’ll leave, and then these’ll leave.” But He had a big bunch of canned-up meat. He said, “Keep this for farther use for the Milltown people.” And the other night when I heard Brother Creech... He was setting here last night. I don’t... Brother Creech, are you in tonight? When Brother Creech come to me, called me up, and Sister Creech, crying; her daddy was laying there. Said, “Brother Bill, don’t tell him. He’s dying.” Said, “He’s eat up with cancer; the doctors opened him up, and he’s just as full of cancer as he can be.” And Will Hall (and all of you remember him), when the same doctor opened him and he was so full of cancer... I started to go squirrel hunting that morning, and I seen them apples hanging in the room. (You remember that story of it?) And there the man’s living today. That’s been years ago. He and Brother Busty were friends.
211 And I went down to the hospital, the new hospital (I forget what they call it, out there in New Albany) the new hospital. And I went out there to see Busty; and when I went in the room, I said, “Brother Busty.” He said, “Brother Bill.” Gripped my hand with that big old handshake; a veteran of the First World War, not saying it in his presence, but just as fine a heart as ever beat under an old blue shirt. He got a hold my hand. I’ve been in his house; eat in his house; slept in his house, just like I was his brother. His kids and all, we’re just-just blood brothers like. Fine man.
212 And he... But he never did come on with the Lord deep. He... I baptized him in the Name of Jesus Christ. But that day when that Methodist preacher said, “Anybody that’s baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ, get out from under my tent.” That was okay. George Wright and them walked out. That afternoon I went down there to baptize in the Name of Jesus Christ at Totten’s Ford. His whole congregation walked in the water and was baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ. So I just went on. That was all right. God be for you, who can be against you? I don’t even know where the man went, what happened to him.
213 However, I walked in the hospital. There was Busty laying there so full of cancer, the doctors wouldn’t even, didn’t do nothing but just clamp him back together. Busty said to me; he said, “Brother Bill, this is for a purpose. Something happened.” I said, “Yes, Busty.” Begin to feel that Spirit like that rushing wind I been talking about, you know, coming in. He said... When I walked in here, there was a rainbow in that corner, standing in that corner. A rainbow is a covenant; God’s covenant. God made a covenant with me on that mountain that day. Put my hands over on Brother Busty and prayed for him. The doctors says, “He’ll dwindle away. He’ll just go down. There’s nothing do... He’ll be gone just in a few days.” And Busty Rodgers... That’s been weeks and weeks and weeks ago, and Busty Rodgers, setting right back here in the church tonight, healthy and stout as I ever seen him look in my life. Stand up, Brother Busty. There he is. Let’s give God praise, everybody.