Questions & Answers
Questions 121 (COD Page 567)
In case we should have a prophecy or a message in tongues out of order, just how should we correct it?
357 Now, that’s a good case of emergency, see. See? Now, bless you, deacon who mentioned this, ’cause this is a good thing. You want to handle it with rubber gloves. Now, if you give a...If someone comes in in our congregation here and gives a message or a prophecy out of order, there isn’t hardly anything that you can do about it if they’re on the floor. See? You just...They know they’re out of order and it’ll–it’ll...may ruin the service. See? But, if it does, just best thing to do, for the deacons, is just to keep quiet. See? Because the prophet on the platform is the one that actually is...You’re–you’re his protection, you’re his policemen, see, you’re the guards around us. See?
358 Now, if it’s someone in our cong-...If it’s out of our congregation, the person is untrained, see, they’re not trained. That’s what we’re trying to get in here, see, that we–we know what to do. We know how to train our people. But if it’s–if it’s out of our congregation, well, we don’t know how that poor person is trained.
359 For instance, like...Billy remembers this, Costa Mesa, California. Every time when I get ready to make an altar call there’d be a woman jump up, and run up and down them aisles, speaking in tongues, and she’d just tear that altar call to pieces. And I’d just have to walk out. You could see the Spirit done–done grieved, you see. Nothing will grieve the Spirit of God if it’s in order. See? [Blank spot on tape–Ed.]...just before she got ready to start, how she’d get herself ready, ’cause I watched her. Any minister will do that when he sees anything out of order. Then this woman was back there and she told Billy, and Billy told me when I was coming in that night, said, “Daddy, you know that woman that’s broke them–them altar call, two nights?” “Yeah.”
360 Said, “She was sitting out there,” said, “she said, ‘Glory to God, Billy, I got another message tonight!’”
361 Well, now, you see, I watched her down over the audience. There was thousands of people there; that’s when the Reader’s Digest wrote up that about the healing of Donny Morton, you know, The Miracle of Donny Morton. So I watched that woman, and just about the time I started to make my altar call, she...Now, she was just untrained; no doubt, a good woman. But she looked around, she started fixing her hair. She had bobbed hair, see. So, you see, she belonged to the Assemblies or some of them churches that–that permitted that. She was fixing her hair up. She reached down and pulled up her stockings, got ready like that. And just about time I started to make the altar...I said, “Now, how many in here...how many is there present now that would like to come forward and–and give their hearts to the Lord Jesus?”
362 She jumped up. I said, “Sit down.” She started on. I said, “Sit down!” See? And, boy, everybody...I just stopped. She acted like she didn’t hear me, and I squalled it out again. She heard me that time, ’cause I like to shook the building over with that big microphone standing right there. And she set down.
363 I said, “Now, as I was saying, how many wants to come to the altar and give their hearts to God?” And I went right ahead with the meeting, see.
364 And that night when I started to the truck, I was surrounded. And here them bunch of women standing there
like a bunch of chickens, you know, “You blasphemed the Holy Ghost.”
365 I said, “I did?” I said, “How can I blaspheme the Holy Ghost by following the ins-...the declaration of the Scriptures?” See?
366 And this woman said, “I had a message right straight from God.”
367 I said, “But you was giving it in the wrong time, sister.” I
said, “I’m not...”
“You say that wasn’t–that wasn’t of God?”
368 I said, “I couldn’t tell you, lady.” I said, “I–I–I believe it was, see.” I said, “I’ll say it for your benefit, that, ‘I say I believe it was.’ And I believe you’re a good woman, but you were out of order.”
369 And there was her pastor standing there. I knew he was her pastor, see. And I said...I–I said, “There’s only one thing I can say, that either you was in the flesh or you’ve got a pastor that’s trained you that don’t know nothing about the Scriptures.” I said, “He ought to come and talk to us a little while about the Scriptures. That’s wrong, you’re out of order. You lost many souls, night before last, and many last night again, and would have done the same thing tonight.”
370 And this man said, “Brother Branham,” said, “I beg your pardon.”
I said, “What do you mean?”
371 Said, “She had a right to give that message, you was through.”
372 I said, “I was on the platform, and the spirit of the prophets is subject to the prophet. I’m still in the platform.”
And he said, “Well...”
373 I said, “I still had the Message. I was making my altar call, that’s to rake in. I throwed my net out, I’m pulling it now. Don’t throw barbed wire out there or something to upset it, see.” I said, “I was still pulling my net.” And–and I said, “She interfered with the–with the bringing in of souls. The...What good would it do to preach or anything else if you don’t call and get sinners to come up? See?”
374 And he said, “Well, her message was later than yours. Her’s was right off the platform...Her’s was right straight from God.”
375 I said, “‘If any man thinks himself to be spiritual or a prophet let him acknowledge what I say is the Commandments of the Lord. But if he be ignorant, just let him be ignorant. We have no such custom, neither the Church of God,’” quoting Paul, you know. I said, “No, sir, nothing fresh! He...Jesus
said, ‘Let every man’s word be a lie and Mine be True.’ Paul
said, ‘Though an Angel from Heaven come with anything else but what’s Here, let it be accursed.’” I said, “Mister, you are firmly off the line.” I said, “What kind of a church have you got? I bet it’s a big bunch of confusion. See? If you’d let them people do that how do you ever make your altar call? She’s got a ministry, they all got a ministry, but you got times for your ministry, see, that’s given to.”
376 So that’s right. No, and now if that takes place in our church like that, like this, by some of our brethren or sisters here in the church that does speak with tongues, now, the deacons after the church, the board I think should meet them together, and say,
“Let me refer back to you on a tape, just for a few minutes, you see.” See, you’re just...Or–or, the pastor, say, “I–I’m sure the pastor wants to speak to you. Would you just meet us over here in the study a little while, see, brother.” When, then go in there and speak to him real nicely. See? And say...
377 But, now, if they get all out of order and disturbing your pastor, see, if–if they’re disturbing your pastor, then you elders should walk up to him and say, “Just a moment.” And if the pastor motions to you to stop them, then he’s done caught the spirit up there, that it’s...that they’re breaking the spirit of the meeting, you see.
378 So if the pastor stops and reverently bows his head, just don’t say nothing. See? Don’t say nothing; let the pastor. But you watch your pastor. If he motions to you like that, that you should stop it, then walk over with Christian love, say, “My brother, sister,” whichever it may be, “I believe you’re out of order, because you’re disturbing the prophet, you see. He has a message from God. When he gets through with his message, then we’ll see about it a little later.” See, if it’s disturbing him.
379 But if it’s someone out, and the pastor with respect just stops and waits a minute, then he...probably he’ll start right on, you see. So...And if you notice, ninety percent of the time like that, the interpretations, it’s always just quoting some Scripture or something like that, which it’s probably flesh on both ends of the line. You know what I mean like that. See? All right.