L-1 Come first, and study the Scriptures, so he could compare it and would see whether it was the Truth or not. He took it, the Truth, by the Old Testament. Now, Paul was an Old Testament scholar. How many knows that? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.] He was taught under one of the best scholars of his day, Gamaliel, outstanding scholar. And Paul knew the Old Testament. And I think his first shaking, as I said this morning, when he witnessed the death of Stephen. Something must have got a hold of Paul, because all through his writings he kept referring to it, "I'm not worthy, because I persecuted the Church unto death. I'm the least among them." [I Corinthians 13:9]

L-2 Oh, but God had a different thought of it. He was one of the mightiest men of the day.
See Saint Paul, the great apostle

That great Day when I see him receive a martyr's crown, a martyr reward!

L-3 I stood, with a little old pen, here not long ago, where he wrote these Letters. And then they chopped his head off. And pitched him over into the sewer, to wash down the sewer. And this little Jew there, he said, "I bear in my body the marks of Jesus Christ. I've fought with beasts at Ephesus, but I've fought a good fight. I've finished the course. I've kept the Faith. And henceforth, there is laid up for me a crown of righteous, that the Lord, the righteous Judge will give me at that Day. And not only me, but all who loves His appearing." How I love that! Oh, I want to be numbered with those! We used to sing a song: [II Timothy 4:7-8]

L-4 I want to be one of them. Now the writer goes ahead, saying:
As we taught on that, this morning, 2nd verse deals, "If..."

L-5 What do we find the angels to be? Prophets. "God spoke in sundry time..." Now, you have to make, not our own idea, but the Bible. Now the 1st chapter, of 1st chapter, the 1st verse.
God, who at sundry times... in divers manners spake... to the fathers by the prophets, [Hebrews 1:1]

L-6 Now he goes over here, and say again.

And what does an angel mean? "Messenger." If God anointed messenger..." And then if we be anointed, we are God's messengers. We are messengers to the world, an ambassador of Heaven, professing that we are pilgrims and strangers. We're not of this world. But we seek a City to come, whose builder and maker is God. We lay not up treasures on this earth, where thieves break in, and moths, rust, and corrupt. For, our treasures lays in Heaven, where Jesus sets at the right hand of the Majesty. Oh, what a glorious and marvelous thing, to know that. [Hebrews 11:10, 13]

L-7 How Eddie Perronet wrote that song, in the times of persecutions!

L-8 Christ begin His work. What did He do? We watch Him, how He... humble, lowly, how He wasn't a great noted man as a theologian. But He was humble, meek, gentle. He wasn't a mighty preacher. His Voice wasn't heard in the street. [Matthew 11:29]
But John went forth as a roaring lion. He was a preacher. [I Peter 5:8]

L-9 Jesus come forth, not as a roaring lion, but God working with Him, confirming the Word. God was with Christ. Peter said, at the Day of Pentecost, "Ye men of Israel, and you that dwell in Judaea... Jesus of Nazareth, a Man approved of God among you, by signs and wonders and miracles, which God did by Him, in the midst of you all, which you all are witnesses." Watch how he pinned it down on them. "You should have known Him." [Acts 2:14-15], [Matthew 11:29]

L-10 Jesus said, "You hypocrites." Said, "You go out and look at the sun, and you... It's red and lower, and you say, 'It's going to be foul weather.' And if it's bright and sunny, or so forth, you say, 'It's going to be fair weather.'" Said, "You can discern the sky, but the signs of the time, you cannot discern. For if you would have known Me, you would know My day." [Matthew 16:2-3], [John 8:19]

L-11 Oh, what He'd scream tonight. How His Spirit screams through His preachers, "The hour is at hand!" [Revelation 1:3], [Revelation 22:10]
We discern. We watch the atomic bombs. We know who is going to take Clark Gables' place, and who is going to do this, that, or the other; or who will be the vice-president. We're interested in that, but we cannot discern the signs of the time. We're at the end. [Acts 16:3]

L-12 What is it? We're so interested in, "What's the next chapter of television? "What's Susie going to do?" or what that woman's name is. "And where Arthur Godfrey is going to? What kind of a joke is he going to pull the next time?" We, as Christian, gam our mind full of such tommyrot, when we ought to be in prayer somewhere, and study the Bible, to know the signs of the time we're living in.

L-13 What does that, of our time, is weak pulpits, that's right, that don't get down and bring the Gospel Truth. We're going to have to answer for that in the days to come. We must not neglect anything. And the people, as we are here at this Branham Tabernacle, to see the signs and wonders, and the power of the resurrected Christ; and then to know that we would place our--our times upon other things, and neglect to hear the Voice of the Lord Jesus, "How shall we escape, if we neglect such a great salvation?" [Hebrews 2:3]

L-14 The 3rd verse, or the 4th verse. Here is where we ended, on the 4th verse, this morning.

What is divers miracles? What is diver? Diver means "many." "With many miracles, God bore witness." O God! I trust that It'll soak into your hearts. Listen.

L-15 I'm one of your pastors, with Brother Neville here. I want you to take It to record. The Bible said, "If there arise one among you, and he says such-and-such, and it doesn't come to pass, don't hear it, for I haven't spoken. But if he speaks in My Name, and what he says comes to pass, then hear It." Amen. "For I am with that prophet, or preacher, whatever it may be. If what he says comes to pass, then hear him." [Deuteronomy 18:18-22]

L-16 Now, friends, let's hear Him, the Holy Spirit speaking in our midst, showing divers miracles, and signs, and wonders. Let's just not pass over It as just common happenings. Let's remember that It's Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever; confirming His Word. We must do it. Oh, please do it. Take heed. Let every other thing be secondary, even your home, your husband, your wife, your children. Whatever it may be, put it second. Place God first. You say, "Brother Branham, over my children?" Over anything. Place God first. Let Him be first. [Hebrews 13:8], [Hebrews 2:3-4]

L-17 Elijah come off the mountain, one day. He was an angel, a messenger, God's messenger, anointed. And he found a widow woman picking up two sticks. He said, "Go, bake me a little cake, and fetch me a little water." [I Kings 17:10-11]

L-18 And she said, "As your soul liveth, I have but just enough cakes, or enough wheat dough, to make one little pancake. And I just have enough oil to go in, to mix it up, for shortening. And I'm picking up two sticks." The old-fashion way was, it's the Indian way, of crossing the sticks and burning it from the middle, and keep pushing it in. Made a many a camp fire like it. Said, "And I'm going to cook that little cake for me and my boy, my baby. And we're going to eat it and die." There had been a drought for three years and six months, no water nowhere. [I Kings 17:12]

L-19 That stern, old prophet, looked that woman in the face. He said, "Go, bake me a cake first." What a command, for a man to tell a widow woman, starving to death, to feed him first. What did he say? "For THUS SAITH THE LORD, the barrel will never go empty, nor the cruse dry, until God sends rain on the earth."
First, God. She went in and baked that little cake, and come give it to the prophet. Went right back and baked another one, and another one, and another, and another. And the barrel never went empty, or the cruse dry, until God sent rain on the earth. She put God before her children. She put God before anything else. She taken the Kingdom of God, first. [I Kings 17:13-14]

L-20 God must have first place in your heart, first place in your life, first place in everything that you do or what you are. God must be first. He doesn't want the second place. He doesn't deserve the second place. He deserves the best, and the first, and all that we've got. He deserves it. Blessed be His holy Name!

L-21 Not what men say, what the church said, but what God's will was. Oh, we need to seek the will of God, not the favor of your neighbor, not the favor of your children, not the favor of your husband or your wife. But, seek the will of God, and do that first. Then everything else, the will of the wife and the will of the children, will fall right in with it. But, place God first. [Matthew 6:33]

L-22 Watch, now.

L-23 Otherwise, the great Angels that ministers in the Heavens, Gabriel, Michael, Woodworm, and the tens of thousands times tens of thousands of Angels of Heaven; or the tens of hundreds of prophets that's been on the earth, every one of them; He's never put any of them to have control over the world to come, that we speak of. Not a one! He never said, "Isaiah, you'll control the world." He never put the world in subjection to Elijah. Neither did He put it to Gabriel, or any angel, any ministering spirit. [Hebrews 2:1-2]

L-24 Watch what he said, Paul, still magnifying Christ, whereof we speak.

Now, if you want to read that, it's the Psalms 8:4-6, David speaking. Now what did he call David here? That settles it, right there, whether was right this morning, on the prophet. [Psalms 8:4-6]

L-25 He said, "For one of the angels said in a certain place." David, the messenger of God, was an angel of God, for he was the messenger of God. The angel said, David said, in the Psalms, "Thou did make Him a little lower than the Angels of Heaven." An angel said that God made Him lower than an Angel, that He might crown Him; and He might suffer and taste death, to be exalted up again. That He might make Him the... inherit all the things of the world. [Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.] [Psalms 8:5], [Hebrews 2:9]

L-26 Now, in--in Matthew 28:18, we read these. After He had been crucified and rose again on the third day, he met with His disciples and commissioned them to go into all the world, to preach the Gospel to every creature. He said, "All powers in Heaven and in earth has been given unto My hands. All the power in Heaven, all the power in earth, has been given unto Me." What was it? Man and God had united. The Logos had been made flesh and had been killed, and rose again for our justification, and was then the anointed Emmanuel forever and forever. God changed His dwelling place, from a Throne in the spaces yonder, to the heart of His Son, Christ Jesus, to live and reign forever. "God was in Christ." He's the final resting place of the Spirit. [Matthew 28:18-19], [I Timothy 3:16]

L-27 The Spirit stayed in a tabernacle, one day, you know that, under tent. "And Solomon built Him a house. But, howbeit, the most High dwelleth not in houses made with hands." "But a body has Thou made Me." [Acts 7:48], [Hebrews 10:5]

L-28 Over in the Book of Acts, the 7th chapter, when he was speaking, he said, "All of them foresaw It. They built tent for Him, Moses did, had a tent, and put the ark in there, for God was on the Mercy Seat. He didn't dwell there." All right. [Acts 2:25]

L-29 Then, "A body has thou made Me," the body of the Lord Jesus Christ, made lower than the Angels to taste death; and none but the very highest of High, Christ; the Prince of Peace, the King of kings, the Lord of lord, the Creator, every star in the universe. [Hebrews 10:5], [Hebrews 2:9]

L-30 O God! He became lower than His creation, that He might redeem man (homeless, helpless man), and give them a home in Heaven. He left the glories of Heaven. He left the highest Name that could be called. And when He was on earth, man give Him the lowest name that they could give Him, said, "He was an illegitimate baby, to start with." Born in a manger, wrapped in rags off the back of a yoke of an ox. No place to go, had no home to go to. And was called, "Beelzebub," the chief of the devils. He was mistreated. He was spit on. He was made fun of. He was rejected, and went to the lowest pits, and stooped to "The vilest of prostitutes." That's what man done to Him. [Luke 11:15], [Mark 14:65], [Hebrews 2:9]

L-31 But God raised Him up so high that He'd have to look down to see Heaven. Man give Him the lowest seat, give Him the worst place, the lowest name. God raised Him up and give Him the highest Seat, and the highest Name. That's the difference what man done with the Son of God, and what God done with the Son of God. [Hebrews 2:9]

L-32 He stooped, that we might be lifted. He become us, that we through His grace might become Him. He come to the homeless, and became homeless Hisself, that we might have a home. He came to the sick and was made sick Hisself, that we might be healed. He came to the sinner, "and made sin, Himself," that we might be saved. [Hebrews 2:9]

L-33 No wonder He was exalted. No wonder He is who He is tonight. God has exalted Him, and all the powers in Heavens and earth is give to Him. [Hebrews 2:9]

L-34 When His earthly work had been finished, here on earth. He came to the earth, as soon as He did, the morning star declared Him to be the Son of God. He shook every devil that He come in contact with. Blessed be the Name of the Lord! Devils trembled and shook, and begged for mercy, in His Presence. Yes, sir. All hell knowed who He was.

L-35 Walked humble, He had not a place to lay His head, on a rainy night. The very animals that He created, "The birds of the air has nests, and the foxes have dens, but the Son of man doesn't have a place to lay His blessed head." Sure, He was. [Luke 9:58]

L-36 He became sin, became low and forsaken. But the devils knowed who He was. They pleaded for mercy. They said, "Why do You come to torment us before our time come." And while the preachers was calling him, "Beelzebub," the fortune teller; the devils was calling Him, "The Son of the living God," and begging for mercy. [Matthew 8:29]

L-37 Oh, how we could only stop just a minute! Who are you, anyhow? What does that job you got mean? Or what does that little house we own mean? What does the car we own mean?
Pretty little girl, you little sassy thing, what does that little look that you have now? You young men with a shiny, slick hair, straight shoulders; you'll bend down someday, when stooped with age.
But, blessed be the Lord! You've got a soul that's born again. You'll live forever and ever, because He become you, that you through His grace might become Him, and make a place for you.

L-38 Oh, we who think that we got a change of clothes, and a few groceries in the house, what are we? God could take it in a second. Your very breath holds in His hand. And here in our midst to heal the sick, to proclaim and profess, and to foretell, and every time perfect. And even concerned enough to bring a little, dead fish back to its life again, in the midst of us. Jehovah around us, Jehovah in us, the great and mighty I AM.

L-39 When He died, they thought they had Him. He ascended into hell. When He left the earth that day when He was crucified, He went into the regions of the lost. The Bible said, "He went and preached to the souls that were in prison, that repented not in the long-suffering, the days of Noah." When He died, and His spirit left Him, He become the Logos again. He, I see, said, "I came from God. I go back to God." [I Peter 3:19], [John 13:3]

L-40 And God was that Pillar of Fire that led the children in the wilderness. And when He was here on earth... And when He died, He turned back to a Light again. Paul saw Him, and He was a Light. None of the rest of them saw Him. They seen Paul fall. Something struck him, and It was a Light. Paul said, "Who is It that I persecute?" [Acts 9:4-5], [Exodus 13:21-22]

L-41 He said, "Saul, Saul, why persecute thou Me?"
Said, "Who is It?"
He said, "I'm Jesus, that you persecute, and it's hard for you to kick against the pricks." [Acts 9:5]

L-42 Then he went and studied that Light. Paul went back in the Bible, to find out what that Light was. And he wrote this Letter. He's the same Jehovah. That same Light was in the wilderness with the children of Israel. And when Peter was in the prison, He was a Light that came in and opened the doors. [Exodus 13:21-22], [Acts 9:4-5], [Acts 12:5-8]

L-43 And by His grace, so none will have any excuse... Oh, if they could forget the illiterate messengers, and remember: it's not the messenger, it's the Message. He's come down again, with us, in a form of a Pillar of Light. And He moves with His same miracles and signs, nothing out of the Bible; staying right with the Bible, holding it under subjection, bringing out His glory, showing His power. Blessed be His holy Name! [Exodus 13:21-22]

L-44 I know you must think that I'm crazy; but, oh, that blessed Eternal Rest that's in my soul. Though storms may wave, my anchor holds within the veil.

L-45 And to see Him when He died, till, the moon took a nervous prostration. The sun went down in the middle of the day. And when He went to the regions of the lost, [Brother Branham knocks four times on the pulpit--Ed.] knocked on the door, and the door swung open. The Bible said, "He preached to the souls that were in prison, that repented not in the long-suffering in the days of Noah, after He had deceased on this earth. My brother and my sister, when He deceased, His earthly work was done, but He was still working. And He is still on the job tonight. Amen. [I Peter 3:19]

L-46 He knocked at the doors of the lost. The Bible said He did. And He witnessed, "I am the Seed of the woman. I am He that Adam spoke of. I am the One that Enoch said would come with ten thousands of His saints. I'm the Son of the living God, and you sinned away your day of grace. But it was prophesied to you, by the angels, Enoch, Noah, that I must come to fulfill every Word of God's Bible. I'm here as a witness in this 'land of the lost.'" And He preached to them.
On down into hell He went, right down to the doors of hell, knocked on the door. The Devil opened the door, said, "I got You now." [I Peter 4:6]

L-47 Jerked them keys from his side, said, "You Devil, you've held the bluff for a long time." Here it is, right here in the Bible. I get to it in a minute. "You've held the bluff for a long time, but I come to take over." Grabbed those keys and kicked him back in, and shut the door.
Come through and picked up Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. On the third day He arose, and those that slept in the grave arose with Him. Oh, hallelujah! No wonder the poet said: [I Peter 4:6]

L-48 Blessed be the tie that binds our hearts with Christian fellowship, the love of God. When He rose, He wasn't finished, yet. He had some more work to do. [I Peter 1:4-6]

L-49 The Bible said, "He ascended on High and give gifts unto men." There was an atmosphere hung over the earth, of darkness, of gloom, of death, and weary. The prayers couldn't come up, because the Atonement wasn't made. But, He broke through that veil. He opened up the way. He broke the veil of sickness. He broke the veil of sin. He broke the veil of weary. He broke the veil of depressed. He broke every veil, and made a highway for the wayfaring man, walking up the King's highway. Oh, my, when He passed the moon and the stars, on and on! [Ephesians 4:8]

L-50 Following, behind him, come the Old Testament saints, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They went right on up into the heavens of Heaven. When they were way away from the City, I can see them lift up their eyes. Abraham said, "That's the City that I longed to see. Oh, come here, Isaac. Come here, Jacob. Oh, we were pilgrims and strangers of the earth, but there's the City. There's the One we've waited on." [Hebrews 11:13]

L-51 And the Bible said they screamed, "Lift up, ye everlasting gates, and be ye lifted up, for the King of Glory is coming in." [Psalms 24:7]
And the Angels behind the gates screamed back to these angels back here, and said, "Who is this King of Glory?" [Psalms 24:8]
And the angels out here, the prophets, said, "The Lord of Hosts, the Mighty in Battle." [Psalms 24:10]

L-52 And they pressed the buttons and the big door swung open. Right down through the middle of the streets He come, the Conqueror, triumph, with the Old Testament saints walking behind Him. Set down on the Throne, said, "Father, here they are. They're Yours."
He said, "Climb up here and set down, until I make all Your enemies Your footstool." As we read, we find that on here in the Scripture. All right. [Matthew 22:44]

L-53 Listen now. And we're on the 8th verse.

L-54 Look here, friend. Don't, never forget this. When Jesus was going, walking up the hill, death was buzzing around His head.

L-55 Let's take our picture to Jerusalem, two thousand years ago. And how could you reject It? I hear a sound coming through the street. What is it? It's a bumping of something. It's an old rugged cross coming down, going out the gates of Damascus, bumping over the cobblestones. Them big cobblestones are still there. Bumping over these big cobblestone, bumpity-bump. I see the spatting of the Blood on the street. What is it? It's a Man that's done no harm; nothing but good. The people were blind. They didn't know Him. They didn't recognize Him.
You say, "Blind? Could they have their sight?" [Matthew 15:14], [Luke 6:39]

L-56 You can still have your sight and be blind. You believe that? The Bible said so. Remember Elisha down at Dothan? He went out and smote the people blind, said, "Now follow me." They was blind to him.
And people are blind tonight. A certain church that don't believe in Divine healing, walked up to me one time, and said, "Smite me blind. Smite me blind." It was at Brother Wright's house. Said, "Smite me blind." Said, "Paul smote a man blind, one time." Said, "Smite me blind."
I said, "Friend, the Devil has already done it. You're already blind. Sure, you are."
He said, "Heal this little girl and I'll believe you."
I said, "Save that sinner and I'll believe you." Certainly.
"Oh," he said, "he has to believe."
I said, "Same thing here, it has to come through the sovereign grace of God." [II Kings 6:13-18], [Matthew 15:14], [Luke 6:39]

L-57 The Devil, the--the god of this world, has blinded the eyes of the people. "They've got eyes but they can't see," the Bible said. [Jeremiah 5:21]
Here He was, going up the street, dragging out the Bloody footprints on the road up. The bee of death was stinging around Him, buzzing at Him, "Just a little while and I'll have You." He was getting weak, thirsting water.

L-58 I was shot once, laying up here in the field, blood just pouring from me. I screamed for water. And my buddy run, took his cap and put it down in the water; old stagnated, wiggletails in the water. Come over, and I held my mouth open; he squeezed that. Because, the blood was spurting like a fountain, where I was shot to pieces with a gun. Thirsting!
Then I know what my Lord must have been, after bleeding all that morning, from nine o'clock up to three o'clock in the evening, losing all that Blood. I see His robe, first, like little bitty spots on it. And all them spots begin to get bigger and run together, make one great big Bloody splotch, hitting Him on the leg as He walked around. That was Emmanuel's Blood. Oh, the earth wasn't worthy of It.

L-59 But as He goes up, this bee stinging around Him. What did it do? It finally stung Him.
But, brother, anyone knows, that an insect or a bee, if it ever stings you once, that finishes the stinging business. It can't sting no more. Because, when it leaves, it pulls its stinger out.
That's the reason God had to be made flesh. He took the stinger of death into His flesh, and He pulled the stinger out of death. Blessed be the Name of the Lord! Death can hum and sting, but it can't hurt you.

L-60 Paul, when he felt that bee humming around him, death was coming right on. He said, "O death, where is your sting?" He could point to Calvary where it was left in the flesh of Emmanuel. "Where is thy victory? But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." Yes. [I Corinthians 15:55]

L-61 We don't see all things.

The only way He could become the Captain of our salvation, He had to suffer.

L-62 Listen to these beautiful Words here now. Now listen.

L-63 Man always feared death. Christ became sin, made low, to take death upon Himself. And He's not ashamed to be called our "Brother," for He was tempted just like we are tempted. And He can make the... be the right kind of an intercessor, 'cause He stood the same kind of a temptation that you stand. And He took your place, knowing that you couldn't take it yourself. [Hebrews 2:16-18]

L-64 So, don't you see, brother, sister? The whole thing is grace. All of it is grace. It's not what you do, anyhow. It's what He's already done for you. Now, you can't do one thing to merit your salvation. Your salvation is a gift. Christ became sin, that you might become righteous. And He's the right kind of a Chief Captain for our salvation, because He suffered just like we suffered. He's been tempted just like we're tempted. And He's not ashamed to be called "our Brother," because He knows what we go through with. Oh, blessed be His Name!
For verily he took not on him the form of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. [Hebrews 2:16-18]

L-65 Oh, my! He didn't become an Angel. He become the Seed of Abraham. "And we, being dead in Christ, take on Abraham's Seed, and are heirs according to the promise." See? He never took on the form of an Angel. He never become an Angel. He become a Man. He become the Seed of Abraham, and took the sting of death in His own flesh, to reconcile us back to God, and now sets there for an Intercessor. My, how could we reject It, friend? [Hebrews 2:1-18]