Questions & Answers
Questions 12 (COD Page 83)
Brother Branham, I want to know the place where I can tie down and say “This man has the Holy Ghost because he did ‘this,’” or “This woman has the Holy Ghost because she did ‘that.’”
153 There’s not a way in the world for you to know it. That’s right. There’s not a way in the world for you to know it. God is the judge, we are not to judge. See? Just preach the Gospel, live...
154 A fellow come to me here sometime ago, I was preaching about what I said the other night. He come up to my house and he said, “Brother Branham, brother, I want-I want-I wanted to be... I want to get rid of my sins. I want to be a Christian.” He set on my porch.
155 He said, “I heard about a great man, an internationally-known man by the name of Billy Graham.” He said, “I went to his meetings and-and-and he said, ‘All that wants to become a Christian, hold up your hand and accept Christ as personal Saviour.’ So I raised up my hand. He said, ‘Now, all stand, we’ll have a prayer.’ So I stayed and prayed just... ” (pardon me) “just as sincere as I could be.” He said, “And, but that didn’t do me any good.”
156 He said, “Then I went down to-to Oral Roberts’ meeting.” He said, “I heard of him, and I heard they all had such joy.” Said, “I went down to Oral Roberts and I asked him, ‘What must I do to become a Christian?’ He said, ‘You get back in there... ’ I told him I had held up my hand at Billy Graham’s. He said, ‘You stay in that inquiry room in there until you’re so happy you speak with tongues.’” He said, “I went in there and I prayed till I spoke with tongues.” Said, “I come out, didn’t do me no good.”
157 He said, “And then I went to another meeting and they told me I hadn’t been sanctified yet, said I ‘Have to get sanctified and get happy and shout, get enough joy.’ So I prayed and prayed till I-I shouted.” He said, “Still... ”
158 I said, “Brother, every one of those things are correct, every one of them are good. Holding up your hand, speaking with tongues, shouting, I believe in every bit of it, but yet that’s not the thing. See, it’s accepting the Person, Christ Jesus.” See? See, it’s not...
159 These things are attributes. Shouting, speaking in tongues, running, shouting, crying, praying, whatever, that’s just attributes that follow. The first thing is to accept the Person, Christ Jesus. See? So there’s no-there’s no evidence that we could say. Because a man cries? I’ve seen man cry and cry, and crying crocodile tears, and he’s still just as big a sinner as he could be.
160 Listen, Jesus likened us unto sheep. Is that right? The shepherd knows his sheep. Anybody in here ever hear a goat cry? Well, brother, you better be a shepherd if you want to know the difference. A goat will cry just exactly like a sheep. Uh-huh. Let a little ol’ billy goat get hung up out there somewhere, and a little sheep on one side “Baa,” and then “Baa,” just the same.
161 And I’ve heard them down at the altar just crying and crying, “O God!” just sobbing away like that, “O God!” and a goat all the time. That’s right. Shouting? Well, my, I’ve seen them shout till they just... and they run across the floor and jump up and down and shout.
162 Now, you say, “Brother Branham, you don’t believe in crying!”
163 Don’t take me wrong. Sure, I believe in crying. But I’m saying that’s not no evidence, see, ’cause they both cry. I’ve seen them shout just as hard as they could shout. Yes, sir. And just carrying on like that, and there’s a long ways, you know what I’m talking about. I’ve heard them speak with tongues, go out and live any kind of a life, just do anything. That was no sign. But you say, “You’re against it.”
164 No, I’m not. I believe in speaking in tongues, it’s God’s gift in the church. If I’d take it out, I’d take a part of God out. If I take my tongue-my tongue out of my body here, I wouldn’t have a complete body. The Body of Jesus Christ has tongues in It. The Body of Jesus Christ here has tongues; and you take it out, you take a part of Christ out. But you still can’t say that that’s the Body, see. See? See?
165 But it’s accepting the Person, Christ Jesus, and these other things come right on in and they fit together. Let every member in this body this morning, let this little group of people, if we could pull the curtains down along on each side and every person in here receive the Person, Christ Jesus, there wouldn’t never be a fuss or there’d never be no argument. There’d just be a perfect love. Yet you’d still believe this and believe that, but it’d just be so full of love you’d just... See? That’s it. Now, Jesus said, “By their fruit you shall know them.” And the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, goodness, meekness, gentleness.
166 Now, I’m going to... I’ll give you my estimation of what I think that the closest thing to an evidence, that a man is a Christian, than anything I know of. You know what it is? It’s travail of soul. A person that’s always so hungering and thirsting for God. They just simply... day and night, they-they just can’t stand it. They-they-they’ve got to do something for God. They-they’re full of love and they’re just... soul-travail, just travailing all the time. The Bible said, “He that goeth forth sowing in tears will doubtless return again, rejoicing, bringing with him precious sheaves.” Is that right? All those things.
167 Now, look, if there... If this church... If I’d say, this morning, that this here group of people and I... And God say,
“Now, look, William Branham, I’m going to make you answer for that group of people, what you tell them. Now, do you want them all to shout?”
“Sure, I want them to shout.”
“Do you want them all to speak with tongues?”
“I want every one of them to.”
“Do you want them all to dance in the Spirit?”
“I want every one of them to.”
168 “All right, well, that’s very good, but what would you rather have them to do?” Uh-huh.
169 “I’d rather have a church that had such a burden on their heart for prayer that they just stayed at this altar and would be here day and night, and everything else; and in their house, was constantly in prayer, and humble, and trying to get people to come to God, and making calls at the hospital and visiting the sick, and trying to get people to come to church and do right. I’d rather have that than all the other put together; although the other is right, it belongs in the church.”
170 But if I had to have it, I’d put that first. Cause if you’ve got that, the other will take place. Uh-huh. See? If you’ve got that, if you’ll just get so hungry for God, shouting will take place. If you got so hungry for God, speaking in tongues will take place. If you got so hungry for God, and you just keep on hungering, keep this up. Go to seeing yourself getting indifferent, just remember, look out, there’s another spirit trying to work itself in there. Stay right before God, humble, with travail of soul. Just be... have a good old-fashioned...
171 I can prove by the Bible that “The first time the Angel of God went over the lands to seal with the Holy Ghost, He only sealed those who cried and sighed for the abominations done in the city,” Ezekiel, the 9th chapter. Is that right? Set a seal upon the forehead of those who sigh and cry for the abominations that’s done in the city.
172 Now, I want to ask you a question, I’ll ask you this question. (Now we’ll close just as quick as I can.) What would take place today if the Holy Ghost went through Jeffersonville, New Albany, and Louisville, to seal those this afternoon who would be at home, “God, send a revival, just so hungry for a meeting. O God, look at the sins of the city. Oh, isn’t it terrible, God? Oh, won’t You please send a revival, God. Send some good preacher, send someone. O Lord, let the Holy Ghost... ” Where, where would He seal? Think of that.
173 Now, “Well, Brother Branham, what do you mean?”
174 I mean this, and I say this now reverent, walking on brittle threads. I believe that day is about finished, them that’s in is in. See? See? The doors are closing together, you don’t have that burden no more.
175 Billy Graham’s had meetings all across the country, and Oral Roberts, and all the rest of us. We’ve cried, and prayed and prayed, and everything else. But, you see, the doors are closing. “Let him that’s filthy,” I’m quoting Scripture, “be filthy still. Let him that’s righteous, righteous still. Him that’s holy, holy still.” And I believe the doors of the Gentiles is closing together. See? The day of the time of the season is just about over, just a few more to come in. The reason you can’t have no kind of a meeting like that, there’s no travail of soul. You don’t-you don’t get that burden.
176 I remember years ago. You always hear them talk about the sawdust trails and things in the tabernacle. That didn’t make it any more, not a bit more. But then it was fresh, God was calling His Church. I’ve seen them sob and cry and lay on the altar all night long. I’ve went to their houses, and you could hear them when you come up, just in their... in their bedchamber, man and women, crying, “O God!”
177 You’d see them walk through the church, and I’d seethe piano start playing, Jesus Keep Me Near The Cross, and the tears flowing down there, you know. [Brother Branham sniffles-Ed.] Walk into this church, then walk down to another church, and hear them there, There’s a precious Fountain. “O God, save my boy. Save my daughter, she’s lost, Lord. Please!”
178 You don’t find that no more. What’s the matter? The Spirit of God is withdrawed. Jesus said, predicted this, that the love... because the love of many... their love would fail. “That because iniquity would abound, the love of many would fail.” See? See, grow cold, go away. The love is dying away. And what they got into it? Just a form; beat the piano up and down, real hard, and yell, “Glory to God! Hallelujah! Amen! Praise the Lord!” See, like that, it’s just a form. Don’t fool yourself, see, just fooling yourself. See, listen, brother, until we... I go like this, I’m talk-...
179 I’m not talking about our tabernacle, I’m talking about what I find around the United States. It’s become just a form, just kind of acting what we used to have. And that travail of soul, it’s just about over. Oh brother, sister, (God, have mercy on us) may God have mercy!
180 Look at these revivals and things just pounding and pounding and pounding, and the Gospel being preached more clear, it’s... Look at it today, just as soon as a revival closes, away they go. You know what?
181 Let me say this. I don’t know why I can’t get away from this. But, look, Jesus said, “The kingdom of Heaven is like unto a man who took a net and cast into the sea. And when he had took in, he took several species of the sea, of course. He took in turtles, and he took in snakes, and he took in crawfish, water bugs, fish. See? And I believe the net...
182 Now, look! Here’s a turtle, and here’s a fish. That turtle can’t help it ’cause he’s a turtle, he was a turtle to begin with. His nature is a turtle and that’s all there was to it. (Now remember, I-I said I was going to pray.) See, he’s a turtle to begin with, he’s a turtle now. If he’s a snake to begin with, he’s a snake now. If he’s a water bug to begin with...
183 And I believe the net has been throwed and throwed and throwed, till just about all the fish has been taken out of the pond.
184 That’s the reason they say, “Well, I had my hands up. Glory to God! I want to be saved. Praise the Lord!” And a couple days later, “Oh, Lydia, you know that stuff is nonsense.” “I guess it was right.” Why? The nature is here is a water bug to begin with; was a serpent, to start.
185 The fish is just about combed out of the lake now. The net will be dried. And Jesus will come, He’ll take His fish in then. See what I mean? Oh, if there’s one speck of Christianity in you, if there’s one speck of desire for you to serve God, hold it just as tight as you can this morning and cherish it with all your heart.
186 “Sons of God taken unto them daughters of man.” Sure they were sons of God. Today they’re still sons of God, but they’re fallen sons of God. Some of them, scripturally, whew! How they can speak the Scripture! They’re sons of God. You know, Satan was God’s right-hand man. You know, he knows more about the Scripture than any-any theologian-theologian in the world today. Talk about... He’s turning seminaries upside down, especially this Baptist one over here saying that that “Jesus Christ was born of a Roman, or a German soldier.” I got a book on that, I want to show it to you some of these days. All right.
187 Quickly, Exodus... Oh, we’d never got that unless we put back. I’ll get them right quick now, I know I’m taking a lot of your time. You all bear with me just a few minutes longer? [Congregation says, “Amen!”-Ed.]
