Hearing, Receiving, And Acting
60-0607, Hearing, Receiving, And Acting, Miami Valley Chautauqua Campgrounds, Chautauqua, OH, 85 min




Last evening, I believe that David duPlessis... I don't see him. I thought I'd look around first and see if I could see... Here he is. I believe he did this congregation a injustice when we were on the road home. We got in the car together, and I looked down; I said, "Oh, it is almost ten o'clock." I said, "Brother David," I said, "I suppose I kept those people too long."


But now, each day there's services out here, and I know you're all having a wonderful time. How many people here that's not from Ohio, let's see your hands, people not from Ohio? Wonderful. That's fine. I guess over half of the congregation is from out of the state of Ohio. We're sure happy to have you here. Pray that God will multiply His blessings to you. May you go home, back to your home state rejoicing, happy, praising the Lord.

And not only this; but--but when Rebecca also conceived by one, even by our Father Isaac;
(For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to the election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)
It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.
As it is written, Jacob have I loved... and Esau have I hated. [Romans 9:10-13]
(For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to the election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)
It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.
As it is written, Jacob have I loved... and Esau have I hated. [Romans 9:10-13]
I would like to take a text from that, on about three words: "Hearing, Receiving, and Acting."

And as we are hearing tonight, as coming on the ground, the testimony of doctors, speaking of those who were going to die a few weeks ago, and now the place is healed up. Doctors and nurses sending in word: "Have them to pray for us." That makes our heart feel real good, Lord. And we pray for them doctors and them nurses, who is willing and recognizing that the hand of God moved in on this person when they had passed him by to be dead, or was going to die. And now, he's alive and well. How we thank Thee for this.

We'd ask tonight that You'd bless the reading of the Word. And may You give us the context of this text tonight. Let the Holy Spirit come and interpret this Word to our hearts. May we now pull down the curtains all around us from the outside world and just live with our hearts turned towards Thee. May our hearts be opened, and may the pressure of the Spirit be so great in this building tonight till He will move Hisself in every crack and corner of our hearts, filling every fiber that is clean and ready for filling. May You heal every sick person that's here, save every lost soul, and fill every hungry heart with the Holy Ghost. Grant it, Lord.

And if we are lacking anything today, Lord, which we know we are, we pray that the Holy Spirit will give us that tonight which we are lacking. Help we ministers, Lord, that we might be able to serve Your people with a pure conscience and a clean heart. Grant it, Father. We ask this most humbly in the Name of Thy Son, the Lord Jesus. Amen. [Luke 10:35]

Now, the remarks that I have to say, and some Scriptures I have written here, and so forth, I want every one to know that when sometimes I refer to a condition of church, or a denominational, or something, many times my brethren mistake me when I say that. I'm not referring to Spirit filled men who stand as shepherds and feed the flock of God, that's ordained by the Holy Ghost to do so. I'm talking about carnal believers, who try to take the place of these men. [Genesis 25:23-26], [Genesis 24:64-67]

But Esau well represented that group of being religious, "And I'm just as good as the next one, and my religion's as good as yours, and I'm well satisfied." [Genesis 25:27], [I Corinthians 6:20]

When the disciples were asked, "Who do you say, I the Son of man am?" Peter, without hesitation, burst forth like a man speaking in tongues, said, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God."
Jesus said, "Blessed art thou, Simon, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you. You never learned this through any intellectual educational program, but My Father which is in heaven has revealed this to you. Thou art Peter, and upon this rock (Not upon Peter, not upon Himself, but upon the spiritual revelation of Who He was), upon this rock I'll build My Church, and the gates of hell can't prevail against it." Showed they would be against it, but it'll never prevail. So the Church will--spiritual Church will move right on into eternity, just as sure as there's a God that ordained it to be there. [Hebrews 11:4], [Matthew 16:15-18]

Jacob it meant so much to him, but the birthright meant nothing to Esau. Frankly, he despised it. And I say this with all reverence: His children still does. That's right. He despises it. "What do I... What do I have to do that for? Why should I receive the Holy Ghost? I'm as good as you are. My religion's as good as yours. Why should I go through all of that there? I'm just as good you are. I go to church; I got my name the book. I'm just... I'm so-and-so." That--that's what you are, but what are you in the sight of God? You got to be borned again, spiritually minded.
So it didn't mean anything to Esau; he despised it. And the carnal believer today still despises that birthright. And the birthright is the Holy Spirit; we are--we know that. And the carnal believer despises that. Oh, he said, "Them days are passed. There's no such a thing as receiving the Holy Ghost any more. That was in back in the apostles' time." [Genesis 25:31-32], [Genesis 25:34]

So at the end of the service, I come around to shake hands with this great man. I said, "I want to compliment you on your message this morning, doctor." I said, "I'll agree with you that Pentecost was the scaffold work. And as long as we're building on it, we still have to have the scaffold." That's right. The scaffold's the last thing to take down. Till you put the--the end of the spire upon the top--tip top, you still have to have the scaffold." I'm glad tonight, to be working on the building, standing on the scaffold then, aren't you?

You can call them anything you want to. You can tell them they've lost their mind, gone off on the deep end, bunch of holy-rollers. I don't care what you call them, they're seeking for that birthright, and that means more than anything else. They are after that birthright; no matter how they have to get it, they're ready to get it. [Genesis 25:31-32]

They want it. And as soon as they get it, it sets up the same reaction it was in that family. Finally, it'll come to a place till there come a separation. A man will have to obtain, if he obtains this birthright, he will have to separate himself from the world, just as Jacob had to. [Genesis 25:31-32]

But Esau, that birthright... He was carnal like the world, so it didn't make any difference to him. He thought he was religious, and his papa and mama was religious, and that was good enough for him. [Romans 8:14], [Genesis 25:31-32]

And as they go along, first thing you know, the carnal begins to think, "Well, these guys are getting off of the deep end. I better separate myself from them." They go back to the intellectual part. They want a pastor that'll speak to them of pleasant things. They don't want that Spirit-filled pastor, that'll obey the Holy Spirit from the platform, just preach the Word just like It is. As John said, "Lay the axe to the root of the tree and let the chips fall where it will." Most of the churches today will vote that out of their pulpit. That's right. It'll come a separation, always does that. It did it in the Methodist age; it did it in the Baptist age; it did it in the Pentecostal age; it'll do it in every age. [Luke 3:9]

And there was one of these officials of the Anglican church, great huge man, saw John coming, and he was a small man. So this big fellow just blocked hisself right in the way. Mr. Wesley walked up close to him. And he couldn't get around him; he said, "Pardon me, sir. Would you step aside, so I can go by?"
This man said, "I never get out of the way for a fool."
Mr. Wesley politely tipped his hat, stepped around him, and said, "I always do." So I think that just about settles it. He always does. [II Timothy 3:12]

And it always come to a place where there had to be a--a time of separation. Abraham and Lot started out to find the city whose Builder and Maker was God. Lot was a carnal character. And it finally come to a place that Abraham and Lot had to be separated before they could ever--Abraham could ever obtain the promise. They had to separate, one from the other.
And so is it tonight; you've got to separate yourself from the things of the world. You've got to walk with Christians. I'm a great believer in Christians fellowshipping with Christians. Yes, sir. You cannot walk together unless you're agreed. And you agree first with Christ. And every man agrees in Christ, will agree with you. [Hebrews 11:10], [Amos 3:3]

Therefore, the church needs a good cleansing. What we need today is some old fashion revivals, some sweeping revivals, some power of the Lord. We need men and women who's willing to sell out to everything in this world, to burn every bridge behind them. We need to take the world today, we ministers, like the old Norwegians used to take a country. When they went in by ship, they hit the shore and set the ship afire and burned it behind them. They had no way of escape. That's the way we ought to do: Burn every bridge and every escape. Sell out everything for the Kingdom of God and keep moving on. There's no place of stopping. There's no place of compromising. [Genesis 12:1-2], [Genesis 13:14-15], [Genesis 13:11]

God wants separators. The church wants mixers. They want a pastor who will not be so hard on them, and--and tell them good things, and not dig right down, and just rake the hide off of them. Brother, that's what we need.
Here a few weeks ago in a certain place, I had a vision. And there was a little kitten laying on a--a pillow. And I was raking him like that. And he was just purring, and I noticed above him he had a name. And I thought he's the cutest little fellow, and he was just purring away, like he was sleeping away. And the Spirit said, "Rake him back the other way once." When I raked him back the other way, all the snorting and squalling you ever heard, them green eyes shining, he was the horriblest looking monster I ever seen. Oh, as long as you can let people just go any way they want to, they will give you some catnip, all right, but when it comes to a place... We don't need catnip. We need the power of the Holy Ghost back into the church and back into the building, the resurrected Life of Jesus Christ that cleans us up, makes us new creatures. We need strong wines, not catnip. That's for babies.

Oh, sure, it's a hard fight. But I believe if you been ordained to Eternal Life, "All the Father has given to Me, will come to Me."
Now, you say, "Well, I'm just as good as you are." But, brother, you're going to be judged by the works you've done. You're works is going... It proves what you are.
A man said to me sometime ago, said, "If I am judged by my faith, I'm saved. If I'm judged by my works, I'm lost."
I said, "Your works proves your faith." That's right. If you love the Lord, you'll--you'll go right in with everything God says and you'll stay right with it. [John 6:37, 44, 65]


Let me tell you, Pentecostal friends, you'd better get on your toes, "For God's able of these stones to rise children unto Abraham." God is going to move. He's going to have a Church without spot or wrinkle. He's going to have something He can put His hands on and say, "They are Mine. That's My Church. That's My people. Have you beheld My people?" Like He said to Job... "There's none like them on earth; they are perfect. Certainly, they live for Me; they don't care about the things of the world; they settled that a long time ago. I can tell this one, 'Go,' and he will go, and this one, 'Come,' and he will come." [Matthew 3:9], [I Peter 1:19]

The carnal mind say, "Well, in a way He is."
The spiritual mind will say, "In every way He is."
Jesus gave a commission: Go into all world, preach the Gospel to every creature. These signs shall follow them believe..."
The carnal mind say, "That was for the Apostles."
The spiritual mind will say, "He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. Into all the world, I am part of it." Yes. [Hebrews 13:8], [Mark 16:15-17]

Now, we find out that these revelations come, and a man hears it. He recognizes it to be God. Then he acts on it. The carnal mind hears it, and said, "Foolishness," and walk away from it. [I John 2:15]

Could you imagine Noah going up and say. "Well, maybe perhaps I'd better build me an ark, because it might rain." No. The Word of God was revealed to him. Why, if he'd just took it like that, the first scoffer come by and said, "Well, look at that old holy-roller." He'd have throwed the whole thing up and said, "My, let's quit."
That's the way people do when you say, "I got started; the devil--the devil made me go back." The devil didn't do it. You did it yourself. Every one that comes to God has got to be tempted and tried. They certainly do. A real believer has heard the Word of God. He's recognized It to be the Word of God. He will act on it.
So now, Noah... Certainly not. The scoffers come by and made fun of him. He pounded away on that old ark. Why? He was positive that that was the Word of God that he heard. He recognized it to be God, and he acted on it. He was acting, and it come to pass, because God said so. Certainly. [Genesis 7:4], [Genesis 6:12-13]

Did you know that Moses was a missionary? And you know that a lot of churches today... I just heard that before a missionary goes over, the church will send him over, he has to be examined by a psychiatrist to see if he's got enough mental powers, to see if his powers is right in mental attitudes before he can go over. Could you imagine Moses saying, "I better go down here somewhere and find me a psychiatrist now, to find out whether I've got the--the right mental powers to go down in Egypt or not."

God calls a man and makes a missionary out of him. The Bible said the first thing is apostles; that's missionaries. Second thing is prophets, teachers, pastors, evangelists, and so forth. God set in the Church, not the medical association, but God's Holy Spirit set in the Church, missionaries, and prophets, pastors, teachers, and evangelists. God put them in Church. They didn't have to stand before any psychiatrist, never did, never will. [Ephesians 4:11]

You go to England and start down the street, have a message on the King's business, every policeman will direct the traffic, everything else, 'cause you're on the King's--Queen's business. That's right. Any country that has a king, as long as you're on their business, you got the right-of-way. I tell you; we ought to have tonight, the right-of-way. And let me tell you something, brother, whether they want to recognize it or not (Here it comes.), we got the right-of-way. Amen. That's right. The Holy Spirit gives the right-of-way, if you'd only stick out your chest, and up your head, and march on. Amen.

Oh, Joshua hushed the crowd and said, "Stand still a minute." This bunch of borderline believers here, already tasted the grapes of Canaan, then 'fraid we can't take it. "God promised us down yonder four hundred years ago, that we could take it. We're more than able to do it." On into the land they went and took it. Not any of them that murmured ever did go in the land. And Jesus said, "They are dead." Dead, that's eternally separated. Said they're... He said, "Our fathers ate manna in the wilderness for forty years."
He said, "And they're all dead. But I'm the Bread of Life that come from God out of heaven. If a man eats this bread, he shall live forever." Amen. What different food we got today. With this food that we're getting, ought to give you a backbone like a saw log and put plenty of knowledge of the Gabriel into your soul. [Numbers 13:30], [Joel 2:28], [Joshua 3:8], [John 6:49-50]

You say, "But, Brother Branham, I just can't throw these cigarettes down." No, you just haven't hit meet... hit... got the right remedy yet. You just haven't got the cure of it, yet. You just get the Holy Spirit in there and see how you can do it then.
Say, "I just can't keep from doing this."
Oh, you just haven't got--you just haven't got the right thing yet. Like David in the Old Testament, you know, he said, "There is honey in the rock." [Deuteronomy 32:13]

Now look, brother, I've got a whole script bag full of it here, and I'm going to put this honey here on the Rock, Christ Jesus, not on something else, but on Christ Jesus. And you sick sheep go to licking. I'm telling you, while you are licking on the honey, raise up your hands and praise Him. That's the way you do it. And in there, you'll get some of the limestone. You'll get some of God's healing virtues. You'll get some of the sins forgiven, not some, but all of them. And you'll get the Holy Spirit. While you're licking on that honey, something will happen to you; it'll separate you from the things of the world and it'll call them as nothing," that you might live for Christ, and do for Christ. Certainly. Yes, sir.

So he begin to hear a voice coming out of there, saying, "I've heard the cries of My people. And I've remembered My covenant, and I've come down to deliver them." First thing he did, he heard, and he recognized It was God, because It was the Word.
Now, when we see things going on, examine it by the Word. If God makes a promise in the Word, God will send that to back it up. Amen.
Oh, brother, oh how I like that. That hit me. I got the honey that time. Yes, sir. Oh, how He does it. He--He'd promised to Abraham's father--or Moses' father Abraham, rather, He said that his people would sojourn in a strange land for four hundred years, but He would bring them out again. And Abraham knew that God would do that. And now, here was Moses, hundreds of years later, and he heard that Voice, and the Voice was speaking to him, was purely Scripture, so He was in action. Amen. There you are. Amen. [Exodus 3:2, 7], [Genesis 12:9-10], [Genesis 15:13]

Peter said, "Repent, every one of you, and be baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your 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." Hallelujah. I see a church speaking in tongues, shouting, praising God, prophesying, and doing great miracles and signs. I look down the Scripture; it's a promise. Then I heard; I recognized; and I went in action. Amen. I've been in action for thirty-one years, brother. Glory. I feel good, feel very religious. Amen.
It put me in action. That's what the Holy Spirit does. You don't say, "What will I have to do?" Just surrender; He will take care of the rest of it. I got in action. Moses was in action. It makes you act funny sometime, sure does. [Acts 2:38-39]

"Going down Egypt to take over." How ridiculous to the carnal mind.
They say, "Poor old Moses. I guess the sun got too hot on him. That's all." No, the sun might've not have got too hot (the s-u-n). The S-o-n got close to him; that's what it was. That Pillar of Fire was in the burning bush. You remember Jesus said He was that Person: "Before Abraham was, I AM." That's right. [John 8:58]

But the thing--that looked like a one man invasion going down to Egypt, like one man going over to take over Russia. Why sure, that's the same thing. But the strange part of it is, he did it. Why? He had heard the right voice; he recognized; and he obeyed.
And you say, "I can't do it." Yes, you can. If God speaks to you, recognize it to be His promise. Go into action and see what God does. We'll take over.
The crippled says, "I can't walk." Yes, you can, Jesus said so. Amen. That's right. "Whatsoever things you desire when you pray, believe you receive them; you shall have them."
Maybe the man that's got cancer says, "I can't live." Yes, you can, God said so. [Mark 11:24]

"I'm going to take it anyhow."
"What's kind of a--what kind of a weapon you going to use?"
"This stick." An old crooked stick... Oh, my.
"What kind of a weapon you're going to use?" Why, certainly. The thing of it was, God said so. That did it. When God says so, the spiritual mind catches it, and that's all they need. He didn't have to have an examination by a--a medical doctor or psychiatrist to see if he was able--had mental powers to do it. God told him so and that settled it. So he went on. That's the way every believer is. They just believe what God tells them, if it's in the Word, the Bible said so.

What is it?" Huh. It's not burning down; it's burning up. Amen. The Pentecostal church is on the move; most conversions. "The Catholic Sunday Visitor" had it here not long ago, that they had more conversions than any other church there was in the world in one year's time. What is it? Men on fire, men has been by the burning bush, men that's heard, recognized, and acting on His Word.
They don't care what they're called; it's a birthright. They don't care what the--whether they have to preach. If it's in the street corner, or out in the barnyard, or wherever it's at. They'll preach the Gospel, because they've heard and recognized it to be God. And they acted on it, and the Holy Ghost came. Their hearts are burning with zeal. They must go, young or old, or whatever it is, he hits the fields, because why? God called him. God said so. That settles it. [Exodus 3:1-6]

He said, "Kill me some ox and lay them upon there." And got all the water poured on there.
They might've thought, "Well, that poor old fellow. You know, something's wrong."
Maybe Elijah, if--if God hadn't have spoke to him, he might've said, "Now, wait a minute; I'd better be sure of this. Maybe that fire won't fall." Oh, if you can imagine Elijah saying that. 'Cause God had told him so. He recognized it was the voice of God. He said, "Bring me barrels of water. Pour them barrels of water on top of it. I know the fire is going to fall." Why? He had to get things in order. He had heard, he--he received; and he was acting on what God said do. [I Kings 18:23, 33]

But now as long as you say, "Well, it might not be it. It--it might be maybe that preacher's telling me something wrong. May I..."

Why, brother, you don't even know what a prophet means. What did the Word of the Lord come to? The prophet. What does the prophet mean? It doesn't altogether mean a--a foreseer, or foreteller, or forthteller. A prophet means this, that that is given to him to a vindicate that he is an interpreter of the Divine Word. Absolutely. Glory. How can you be so dogmatic? It shows you're carnal, when people do that.
They got a little bit of creed or something that they hold on to; that they'll go read this catechism or say something another, but when it comes to the Word of God, brother, they don't know no more about it than a Hottentot knows about a Egyptian knight. Now that's right. [Amos 3:7]

That's the reason Methodists and Baptists are coming out; God's called them. "All the Father has given Me will come to Me." Hallelujah. I feel like traveling on. Yes. "All the Father has given to Me will come to Me." That's right. God knocks; you just answer. [John 6:37]

"Mama said if I went to the meeting again, she'd run me away from home. Papa said he'd come over and jerk me out of the meeting and stomp me, but Lord here I am. I hear; I recognize; I'm acting." That's it. Amen.
"Husband said he'd run me away." "Wife said I couldn't come back home no more." What difference does it make? You hear; you recognize; and you're acting. Amen. I don't care what the neighbors says, what anybody else says. Hear it; recognize it; and act on it. Amen. [I Kings 11:37-38]

You just get things ready. You hear the Word of God and know it's a promise of God.
God promised Elijah he would do that. There's not--there wasn't enough priests in that country to talk him out of it, not enough--not enough kingship in Ahab to ever fool him with it. He knowed God had... He had heard God. He recognized it was God. He was acting exactly what God told him to do. That's the way you've got to come. That's... [I Kings 11:37-38]

Oh, if you could only recognize it's God's promise: "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel. These signs shall follow them that believe." No matter what the intellectual world says, you--you don't associate with that. You heard; you recognized it was God's Word, because it's in the Bible. Then you act upon it. [Joel 2:28], [Acts 2:17], [Mark 16:15]

I said, "There's a whole big world here, to act like that in," so I--I took off. Sure. I had the Holy Ghost, something burning in my heart. I had heard; I believed it; I received it. I recognized it was God's promise: "And I'll pour out My Spirit... These signs shall follow them... The promise is unto you and your children... (That was me.) Whosoever will let him come..." That was me.
I wore great big thick glasses. My head shook all the time with astigmatism. I was only just a boy like, but I believed Divine healing. Why? I heard it. I recognized it was God's promise. [Joel 2:28], [Acts 2:17, 39], [Mark 16:17]

He said, "What do you want with anointing oil?"
I said, "I want to be anointed."
Said, "What for?"
I said, "I'm sick."
"What's the matter with you."
I said, "I can't--my eyes is bad. I can't hardly see. Take these glasses off, and they'd have to lead me around: astigmatism.
"Oh," he said, "Billy..."
I said, "That's right. You ain't got any; I'll bring you some." And I went down and got me some oil, and prayed over it, and come up and handed it to him. He anointed me with oil like that. I said, "Hallelujah." Here I went. That was it.

Now, mama set me out some barley water and prune juice. And that's all I had--been eating that, and graham crackers for about a year. And mother said, "You're not... What's you going to eat?"
I said, "Some beans and corn bread and give me a piece of that onion."
And--why she had thought I'd lost my mind. She called up the doctor. The doctor said, "It'll kill him. Just as soon as that goes in his stomach," said, "it'll kill him. It'll--it'll give him acute indigestion; he will die."
I said, "The doctor said that, but I have heard. I believe. I have received. And I'm going to act on what I believe." Hallelujah. That's right. I heard it.
I recognized this to be the Word of God, this Bible. It come out of the Bible: "The prayer of faith shall save the sick... Ask the Father anything in My Name, I'll do it." That's what He said. I recognized it was God's Word; it was God speaking to me, so I went into action. Oh, my, what took place. [James 5:15], [John 16:23]

John the Baptist, after he'd been a--recognized as a prophet amongst the people... Oh, you know, they thought John was a good prophet too, until he recognized Jesus and said He--that that illegitimate born Child (so believed among the people), that that Fellow was the Messiah.
Why, Jesus got out there and begin to lambaste them priests and everything, and... Why, he said, "Why, John, you'll have to take that back." Said, "Well, that Man's just tearing down all of our community here. Why, He's saying there's going to be a baptism of Spirit come and all those things like that. And the sacrifice is going to be done away with, and all those kinds of things."
And John s--answered this: "He that said to me in the wilderness, 'Go baptize with water,' said upon Whom thou shall see the Spirit descending and remaining on, He's the One that'll baptize with Holy Ghost and fire." Amen. He said, "That's all I'm doing. I heard that Voice in the wilderness. I recognized it was God. And I went and baptized. When I seen that Spirit come down and remain on Him, He's the One that'll baptize with the Holy Ghost and fire. I'm only acting on what God said do." Amen. Yes, he seen. He heard. He recognized. And he went into action. [Matthew 3:3, 11], [John 3:16]

That's what's the matter with the sick. Last night here, well the Holy Spirit was baptizing the place over. I said, "Put your hands on one another. You--how many believers?" Everyone put up their hands. "Lay your hands on one another." Then you ought to go into action after that." Praise God, just step right out and say, "This is it." Go into action. That's all.
You say, "Well, I--I had to take so many pills." Oh, well, you did, but not now. See? Go into action on it. Believe it with all your heart; just keep on going, no stopping place.

"I never seen it on any of you priests. I never seen anything like that. Never... I never heard no voice speaking out of heaven over you all saying, 'This is My Beloved Son, Whom I am well pleased. Hear ye Him.' I--I never heard nothing like that over you. And that's the One that said it, and that's the reason I recognized Him to say He is the Son of God. I'm only acting on what I have heard and I've recognized to be God." Amen. [Matthew 3:16], [John 1:33], [Matthew 3:17], [Matthew 17:5]

That's why He went up around--had need go by Samaria; He found that women there. How did He go by Samaria when He was on His road to Jericho? See, why He went by Samaria... why? The Father said, "Go up to Samaria. Set down there. Wait." That's all He knowed to do: set there and wait.
Here come a women up. The Father said, "That's the one I want to talk to. Now, let's speak to her." He went to speaking to her, and finally He found what her trouble was and said, "Go, get your husband."
She said, "Don't have any."
Said,"That's right; you got five. And the one you're living with now, is not yours." See. He heard. He knowed it was the Father, and He was acting exactly what God told Him to do. Amen. Mmmm. If we could only do that. [John 5:19], [John 4:4, 16-18]

"They're fasting."
"I don't see the grocery boy going up there." Oh, no. They were fasting. They were waiting. And said, "What do you know, they're up there, Why? Why, they--they're--they got the doors all barred. A fellow couldn't get in there."
Go up this little old steps up here at the top of the temple--just about one man at a time can go up to that room. And we get up there, why, you can't get in. So what was... "Just might as well let them stay up there, I guess, and starve to death if they want to."
Why? The carnal mind. Yet they were religious. They were all up there at Pentecost and they were very religious, the Esau bunch. [Acts 1:15]

"Lord, You called us. Isn't that good enough?"
"Yes, that's all right."
"You give us power to cast out devils. Is that all right?" "Yeah, that's all right, but I want you to go up there and wait." They heard God say it. They recognized that He wasn't some illegitimate person; He was God made flesh among us. And he knowed that was, so they went up to Jerusalem, because God said so. They went up there and waited. They recognized it to be God. And all at once they went into action. You know what the results was. They staggered like drunk men. They spoke in tongues. They... Oh, the awfullest outfit you ever heard in your life till people said, "These men are full of new wine." No... [Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.] [Luke 24:49], [Acts 1:4, 8], [Acts 2:13]


"What's the matter Paul?"
"Be of a good courage. Go ahead and eat something. You ain't eat for too long. Been fasting too long now. Eat yourself something. Be of good courage; nothing's going to be lost."
"What you so sure about Paul? What's happened to you? Have you gone out of your head? Maybe you have fasted so long till you become delirious."
"Oh, no. No. Last night the Angel of God, Whose servant I am, stood by me and said, 'Paul, don't you get scared.'" Hallelujah. "He said, 'There's not going to be any life lost.' And I believe God. It'll be just as He told me." What? He heard. He recognized it to be God. And he was in action, before anything took place. [Isaiah 41:6], [Acts 27:21-25]

Paul heard, recognized, and went into action. Said, "Hallelujah. We're as good as sitting right on the bank right now." Why? God said so. It was all over. God said so. I'm on my road. So, that's just the way it was. That's the way it always is: hearing, acting, and believing. [Acts 27:21-25]

Looky here. Let's take for instance, politics, politics in our nation. Brother, if something takes place on this next one, it'll just need about one more wave and that's all. Hm-mmm. That's all. The carnal mind... Oh, my, how that they can do it... Everything's shaping right up exactly according to Scripture. Politics is rotten on every side.


It's heading up in two great things, coming to the end time: the mark of the beast, and the seal of God.
And the Seal of God--any minister knows--that the Seal of God is the baptism of the Holy Ghost. It's exactly right. Ephesians 4:30 says, "Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed until the day of your redemption." Amen. Oh, I know you think I act funny, but maybe I--I feel good. Oh, my, coming towards the end...
Now, remember what is the mark of the beast? The mark of the beast is a carnal Esau to reject that birthright. Didn't Esau weep bitterly, trying to restore that birthright again, but there was no place of repentance? When you reject the Holy Ghost you seal yourself outside of God's mercy. Amen. [Ephesians 4:30], [Genesis 25:34]

Receive the Holy Ghost and you're marked. Amen. That's right. Receive it once and see what takes place. Receive it once. That's the Mark of God, and you're sealed to your eternal destination. Like a car out on the road, the inspector comes by. Now, some of you didn't get the Holy Ghost last night, that went in there. Check up tonight. The Inspector of the Holy Ghost is here, kindy inspecting you over.
I used to work for the Pennsylvania Railroad. We'd load a car, maybe with cans and so forth. And the inspector come around; he'd shake everything, see if there was any looseness.
That's the way God does His Church: shake it, see what's the matter with it. See if there's any looseness in you, 'fore He pours His Spirit into you. And if the church is a little shaky, He won't pour His Spirit into it. If you still love the world and want to do the things of the world, you'll never get the Holy Ghost upon that. You might get a confusion; you might get a stammering lip; you might get--or you might speak with tongues--but still that don't mean you got the Holy Ghost. When you got the Holy Ghost, you're sealed by God to your eternal destination. That's right.

And when God sees that you're really sold out for Him, and He fills you with Holy Ghost, you're sealed by the Holy Ghost until your destination...?... "Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby you are sealed until the day of your redemption." That's exactly what the Scripture says. So don't get scared; just keep on moving. Receive the Holy Ghost. It's all winding up into that. [Ephesians 4:30]

Why would you take a substitute, by shaking a preacher's hand, and be sprinkled a few times or something like that? Why would you take a substitute of theology of some man-made creed, when the skies are full of Pentecostal power (Amen), the real genuine Pentecost?

Be real fanatically about it. Just move on. A fanatic is a over enthused person. I'm an--I'm an--really a fanatic. I'm over enthused about my Lord. How did He ever save me? How did He ever give me the Holy Ghost? Why did He ever let me preach? How did He let me love people and people love me? Oh, I'm so thrilled over Him, I just keep reaching with all that's in me, stretching my skin to try to get to him, just moving with everything that I've got. That's what we should do.

Now, like a certain church was on a... Somebody called me, here not long ago... A great church (and it was on the television)... A fellow called me, said, "Come here, preacher. Come down here a minute. Want you to see a television program." And there was one of our great denominations, in the church, had some of the things covered over (My, this wasn't a Catholic church; this was a Protestant church), covered over the things and was practicing this rock-and-roll. And they said that long has the church forsaken and overlooked the beautiful art of rock-and-roll. If that ain't a perverted spirit, I don't know what it is...?... Rock-and-roll is of the devil. I don't care how many religious songs people can sing, rock-and-roll, and boogly-woogly, and that kind of stuff come out of the jungles of Africa. That's exactly right. It's the devil.

I tell you, we need a good old Holy Ghost washing, all the way from the pulpit, plumb to the janitor. That's exactly right. A Holy Ghost washing, cleansing our people... Men, Pentecostal men, saying, "I just can't keep from smoking." A man married two wives and be a deacon in a church... Kick him out. Certainly, that's the thing to do. You got to get things... The Bible said that the deacon should be the husband of one wife. that's exactly right. Some of them have two or three in Pentecostal ranks. Brother, we can't have a revival, till we get this thing cleaned up. How can you build upon a foundation that's not right?

I heard a certain minister the other day, bring a little child to the phone--or the microphone (four or five of them), and stood there after he said there was no such a thing as some great Bible teaching. Brought that little child there, and took a salt shaker, and throwed three drops of water on their head, and said, "I baptize thee, in the Name of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost." And passed that little child on to be a member of the church, not six months old yet. Why, the poor little fellow hasn't got a chance. He got started on the wrong foundation to begin with.
That's not even in the Bible. That's a heathen trait. It's not even in the Scripture. Brother, we'll never get started till we get on the foundation and start right: build by the Holy Spirit upon the Word of God. That's exactly right. No one in the Bible was ever sprinkled. No such a thing. The greek word "baptize" means "to be covered up, buried, hid away." That's exactly right.
Now, but what do we do? We get a bunch of creeds and things, go to living by them, and all such stuff as that. "Doctor so-and-so said so."
Well, I want to know what the Bible says. I want to hear and recognize it to be God by His Word, then let me act upon it.

I went to a place, here in this very state, where they was having a convention. And I never was so embarrassed in all my life. There's a great big fellow setting up there with a big hat on, all flowered up like this, and all kinds of robes, and things on. And the little boys and girls of sixteen, seventeen years old, sleeping together in the hotel room. The next morning, all of them coming down, bowing down and "Father So-and-so..." Oh, my, just to think; perverting them poor children's mind into such stuff as that, when God raised them to be sons and daughters of God, to be pure and holy, sanctified by the power of God, washed in the Blood of the Lamb.

These people'd go out and drink and carry on. But one young man they noticed. That young man, he didn't carry on like that. He lived clean; at nighttime he come home and went to bed. He lived like a gentleman should live. And one day the old caretaker said, "I like to take a walk with you, son."
He said, "All right." They started up the hill, walking together towards the setting of the sun.
And he said, "Young fellow, you came over with that bunch of Americans, didn't you?"
And he said, "Yes, sir, I did."
He said, "I want to ask you something."
He said, "All right."
He said, "Why is it that you don't go out, and drink, and carry on and lay out with the girls, and things, all through the night, and come in the next morning the way they do?"
He stopped, put his arm around the old man. He said, "You see the way that sun is setting yonder in the west?"
He said, "Yes, sir, I do."
He said, "Beyond that setting of the sun, there's a certain state, in the New England states." And said, "In that certain state is a certain city. And in that certain city, is a certain house. And in that certain house, is a girl. And that girl, I vowed before I come here, to be true to her that when we--I return, we're going to be married. She made a vow to me, a promise. Therefore, sir, all of my attention is attracted, as far as it comes to women, towards that girl at that place." And he said, "I live today, for tomorrow to come." What a testimony. [I Peter 1:16]

Oh, you can say, "Beyond a certain star, there's a certain city. And in that certain city is a certain Person. Hallelujah. Oh, I live for Him, for He died for me. And someday He's coming. And I live for that Life that is to come."
Oh, brother, believe me; I tell you the truth. I tell you what is the truth. God knows that I'm telling you the truth. You just believe me with all your heart. Maybe you can't understand this about the coming of the Lord, and the carnal church, and so forth. And i...
Some of you, right from this state, wrote me a letter and said, "When the anointing is on you, you can discern spirits." Said, "Then, of course, we, then we believe you're a prophet." (Now, I never said I was a prophet. You said so. See?) But you say, but then you say, "But in your teaching, Brother Branham, about all that fantasticism about receiving the Holy Ghost, and all this stuff, and living, we can't believe that. And all this other stuff about you were eternally before the world, elected, and..." That's what the Bible said you was. I never had nothing to say about it. The Bible said that. I'm just saying what the Bible said. Yes, sir. [John 10:28], [John 12:25], [John 17:2-3]

I'll tell you, the Spirit of God is here. And the Sp--if the Spirit of God can tell me in the secret of your heart, the Spirit of God can recognize His Word, and come right back, and preach the Word. I've never preached nothing else yet, but what was in this Bible. I stayed right with it.
I believe in the baptism of the Holy Ghost. You said, "You was a Baptist." I'm a Baptist that received the Holy Ghost. I received the baptism of the Holy Ghost. I believe in the second coming of Christ. I believe every Word that's wrote in that Bible and preach it just the way it's wrote. I don't turn one thing or spiritualize anything. I just say it is wrote. That's the way I believe it. I hear It, recognized it to be God, and act upon it. Amen. [Revelation 20:15], [Revelation 17:8], [Revelation 13:8]

I believe that He said, "Wherever two or three are gathered together in My Name, I'll be in their midst." You believe that? That's what He said. I believe that.
I believe He's here right now, don't you? He said, "The works that I do, shall you do also." Do you believe that? [John 14:12, 19], [Matthew 28:20], [Matthew 18:20]

We're going to have a healing service one of these nights and bring the people up. I got a new ministry that's been given to me. That was my old ministry.
Say... No, there isn't any prayer cards, is there? No one's got a prayer card, 'cause we don't--haven't give out pray cards. All right. If you believe this message come from the Holy Ghost, how many sick people's in here, raise up your hands, that you know that I don't know you? All right. You have faith and believe. You believe with all your heart. We'll see whether the same Holy Ghost that preaches the sermon, is the same Holy Ghost that knows the secret of the heart. We'll see whether the Word comes, the Word of God comes to the prophet or not. And I'm not the prophet; He is. He's the One. You believe; have faith. May the Lord God of heaven grant it for His glory. [Mark 5:27, 30, 33-34], [Hebrews 4:14-15]

This man sets here, you raise your hand a few minutes ago, sir? You raise your hand? You believe God knows you? I'm a stranger to you, is that right? I don't know you, but God does know you. Do you believe that God can heal you? If I tell you what's wrong with you, you believe it? It'll have to be the truth if it is. You believe if--if God will tell me, that you'll accept your healing? You will? You think the ulcers will be gone? Think you'd get well of them? All right. Got bleeding ulcers. That's right. You've been lot of places for them. You went to Mayo Brothers: I see you going to Mayo brothers. That's THUS SAITH THE LORD. That's right. That's right. And they turned you down, but God don't turn you down. Do you hear it? Do you recognize it? Will you act on it? Then in the Name of Jesus Christ, go home and be well.

There's another ulcer case setting right out there, man with no shirt on: black mustache, or the mustache, out there, no shirt. Collar open, I mean, here at the top, no necktie on his shirt. You believe me to be God's prophet? We're strangers to one another, but you have ulcers. That's right. And you want to be healed don't you? You're not from this city. No, you're from Cleveland. That's right. Let me tell you something else. You got two handkerchiefs in your pocket that you're wanting to get a hold of me, for me to prayer for that for two loved ones at home. If that's right, wave your hand like that. Take it and put it on them. They'll be well, too. THUS SAITH THE LORD. Do you believe? [Acts 9:12]

The heavy set lady setting behind her there, has got high blood pressure, setting right back out here by the post... If you believe with all your heart, believe that breaking out on you will leave you? All right, then you can have it. Amen. Put your hand over on her. That's right. God bless you, sister. Amen.
You love him? Way back in the back of the building, a man back there, you're praying for your--your daughter. I mentioned a accident awhile ago. She was in a accident, too. She hurt her spine. That's right. You got a sister-in-law has got trouble with her neck and head also. You believe that God will heal them? Mr. Golden, will you as--will you recognize God being His voice speaking to you? All right, sir. Stand up on your feet, then. All right. Go home and find them well in the Name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Lord Jesus, we bring these people to You in the Name of Jesus Christ. May Your power be sufficient, Lord, to grant this. And may every power of the devil turn loose in this building tonight. And may the people be healed. I cast out you, Satan. I come against you on the charge that you're a deceiver. I come in the Name of Jesus Christ as His servant. I pray over these people, while the Holy Ghost is anointing them. They hear. They recognize it's God. They're going to act upon it. Come out, Satan, in the Name of Jesus Christ. Flee these people. And be healed, every one of you. Amen.
Turn this service... [Hebrews 13:8]