Tuesday, October 13, 2015

All things work together for good to them that love God - Romans 8:28

"Remember, he was the son of prosperity. Everything that he did prospered. Whether it was prison, or wherever it was, it come out right. And hasn’t He promised for His children that He’d make everything work together for the good. Whether it was sickness, prison house, death, sorrows, whatever it was, that it would work for the good to them that loved Him. He promised it, and it must be so. It’s got to be there. It’s figurative, spoke to us in Him. He was that perfect Image of God". WMB -The Masterpiece, 1964

 "I said, "You pray wrong. We should never pray to change God's mind; we should pray to change our mind. God's mind don't need any changing. See? See, it's right." I said, "Not what you prayed for..."
I know a young Catholic boy, one time, was had a prayer book, saying prayers, and for his mother to live. And she died, and he throwed the prayer book in the fire. Well, see, I don't go for the prayer book; but, anyhow, see, you take the wrong attitude. You're trying to tell God what to do.
Prayer should be, "Lord, change me to fit Your Word." Not, "Change," not, "let me change Your mind. You change my mind." See? "You change my mind to Your will. And Your will is written here in the Book. And, Lord, don't--don't let me go till You got my--my mind set just like Your mind. And then when my mind is set like Your mind, then I'll believe every Word You wrote. And You said, in there, You'd make 'everything work together for good' to them that loves You. And I love You, Lord. It's all working together for the good". WMB -65-0822M, Christ Is Revealed In His Own Word

"But all things are foreordained of God, that works together for good to them that love Him. It was ordained of God that there should be a heartless king in that day, the bloodthirsty Herod. God knew about that. God knew about the taxes, and how this brutal government did not have no thoughts of the mercy on that poor mother that was just about to be ready to deliver her firstborn Son just in a few days. But he commanded that they all should come to their native birthplace and pay taxes, "No matter what condition she's in, she's got to come, anyhow." God knew all about that. He foreknew all things. And He--He knows all things (See?) and He makes everything work together for good". WMB - 60-1225, God's Wrapped Gift

 "One day when Joshua came down in the month of April, and that was a time if God was figuring out anything, He sure done a poor job. He would've made a crossed over in the fall of the year when Jordan was almost dry. But He turns right back around and crosses Jordan when it's at its highest in the month of April. The snows are melting in Judaea, and the great Jordan is flowing plumb over the plains.
And God brought His people to Jordan when she was raging the highest. Oh, I wished I had some way I could place that into the heart of the people. Maybe you've been brought up against the difficult right in your Christian experience, that you question God, "Why?" But God wants you to stand still just a moment.
The Bible said, "All things work together for good that them that love God." Stand still. Don't be alarmed.

And when the Jordan, in her great muddy waves as she was flashing from the hills of Judaea, God had to speak. And when God spoke, Jordan stood still and listened to Jehovah when He spoke. She walled herself up, and the water stayed. Oh, blessed be the Name of the Lord. When God speaks, something takes place. Nature hushed its mouth. God was speaking". WMB -57-0518, Stand Still.


 "Now, we know that the Bible said in Saint John 5:19, Jesus said, "I do nothing except the Father shows Me first what to do." And now, God had to show Him then what to do, or He'd never left Bethany. So He went out about a day's journey or two, and by and by, Lazarus got sick. And they sent for Jesus to come. But instead of coming, Jesus just ignored the call.
Now, would it not make you feel strange if the pastor did that? It would make you feel like, "Well, he doesn't care about us." But oh, if you would just stop a minute to remember this, "That all things work together for good to them that love God." Nothing in the world can go wrong as long as you're in God. "The footsteps of the righteous is ordered of the Lord."

And then they sent again for Jesus. And He seemingly ignored their call and just went right on. After four days passed, He said, "Our friend Lazarus sleepeth. And for your sake I'm glad I wasn't there." For if He'd have been there, they'd have been trying to get Him to do something that wasn't the will of God". WMB -
57-0407E, Then Jesus Came

  "And we find out here in the previous verse that He upbraiding and telling these people of their sin of unbelief, He said that--spoke of Jonah, and how that Jonah went to a city of a hundred and eighty thousand people. And God sent him down there with a message to those people. And most of us are familiar with the story how that he took the ship to Tarshish. And on his road down a storm came up. Oh, there's many times that we like to say that Jonah was all out of the will of God. And he might've been according to the commission. But God makes all things work together for good to them that love Him.
And He turned that disobedient prophet's journey into one of the greatest blessings that we can read of. As when the ship was about to sink, they tied his hands and feet and threw him out of the ship.
And a big fish come through the water and swallowed him. And anyone knows after a fish eats, he goes to the bottom of the water and there rests his swimmers on the bottom. Feed your little goldfishes; watch them how they go down to the bottom. After they prowl through the water and get what to eat, then they go down and rest their little swimmers on the bottom. All fish does that". WMB -
58-0517E, The Sin Of Unbelief

 "And then again we wonder in the Scriptures, when it's written, "All things work together for good to them that love God." And many times when maybe the lash of His correction is laying upon us, we wonder how that it could be working for the good. But after it's all over, then we look back and we praise Him for it because He knows; we do not. We just act obedient to His Word and to His chastising. He never did chastise us unless we had need of it. And sometimes we might think that we wasn't guilty, but He knows... Maybe we are not, but He knows just how to do it to make it all work good. And what a--a beautiful thing it is just to lay your life in His hands and say, "Here am I, Lord. Just use me now; lead me, and guide me, and direct me in the way that would be pleasing unto Thee." And then don't murmur. No matter what the path is, stay with it anyhow, and God will work it all right. "The footsteps of the righteous is ordered by the Lord." And that Scripture is true". WMB - 58-0112A, His Wonders To Perform

Sunday, October 11, 2015

JESUS, BEING HOLY, WHY WAS HE BAPTISED?

 You might have asked yourself why was Jesus baptized given that He was and is forever holy? The following excerpt from the sermon INFLUENCE (63-0803E) by brother Branham may open up your eyes.


"Now here is a question was asked me the other day. It might come  up in your mind. When Jesus walked into the water, and John said, “I have need to be baptized of Thee, and why comest Thou to me?”

Now, an old Baptist brother of mine, that Doctor Roy Davis, used to tell me. He laid his hands on me when he ordained me in the Missionary Baptist church. He said, “Billy, what happened...” I asked him about that. He said, “Here is what happened. You see, John had never been baptized, hisself, so Jesus baptized John. And then John turned around and returns, baptized Jesus, because Jesus couldn’t baptize John before He was baptized.” Well, I thought that sounded alright.
 

But one day, about two years ago, out in the woods where I was sitting, the Holy Spirit came down, the Light, and then I saw what it was, when He revealed it.

Now here is what it is. See, there was the two most important people on the earth: there was John the prophet; there was Jesus the Messiah. And they, two, of the men that had the Message of the day, met face to face in water, when their eyes caught one another. And John, in humility, did say, “I have need to be baptized of Thee, and why comest Thou unto me?”


Jesus said, “Suffer that to be so.” That is right. “But thus it behooveth us, or it is becoming to us...” Behooveth means “becoming.” “It is becoming to us that we fulfill all righteousness.” Why? Jesus being God; John being the prophet. Quickly Jesus knowed when He said that, John being a prophet to who the Word come to, knowed he would understand it. Because, the sacrifice, according to the law, had to be washed before it was presented. And Jesus had to be baptized before presented. He said, “Suffer it to be so now. That’s right. For thus it is behooving us, becoming to us, to fulfill all righteousness.”

Kick Him Down (SONG)


Meda Ellis & Sisters - Third Exodus Assembly

Lyrics


 CHORUS

Kick him down, kick him down,   }              
Have the devil on the run;           }
A son of God must not be        }
trodden down,                         } 
So kick that  mamba down.  }2x 

Arise and shine, King
Theophany  has come,
Let’s hold to His unchanging
hand.
Praise the Lord, praise His
name and be garrisoned by
prayer;
Don’t let the devil shake your
confidence
Or in your heart put fear.
Don’t you hate your brother,  
That’s the root of bitterness;
We’ve got to walk in that way 
of holiness, of holiness.

Cover your face, cover your feet
With reverence and humility,
Let’s go into action with God-
given ability.
Stand flatfooted in your trials,
Though they may be
sometimes mean;
Always remember to call
Jesus on the scene.
Remember everyday to have
the token on display,
It’s an act of love so follow that
Dove,
That snow-white Dove, that
snow-white Dove.

Unconquered by tradition, in
this day we stand,
Like Joshua and Caleb, we’re
 going to take that land;
But brother it won’t be easy, 
It’s not a flowery bed of ease,
Remember that old devil, 
Will bring on that terrible squeeze;
Don’t let him have you blue,  
Wondering what you’re gonna do:
For we’re on that Seventh Peak,  
So we’ll just speak;
We’ll just speak. 

Saturday, April 18, 2015

AT FIRST THE DISCIPLES HAD THE POWER, BUT NOT THE FAITH TO USE THE POWER: WHAT ABOUT YOU and ME?


Matthew 10:1-8 (kjv)
 

1 And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease. 2 Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother;

3 Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him. 5 These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: 6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

7 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. 8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.



Matthew 17:14-21 (kjv)

14 And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying, 15 Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water.

16 And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him. 17 Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me.

18 And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour. 19 Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? 20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. 21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.



Excerpts from the Sermon 'Perfect Faith 63-0825E' by William Branham Preached at Branham Tabernacle Jeffersonville, IN



"Now, now we see, at first the disciples didn’t have this Perfect Faith. They didn’t have it, because they’d had Christ, walking with Him; but then afterwards, Christ was in them. And so, you see, it’s hard then to have this Perfect Faith without the Holy Spirit; It has to bring it, It does. Now, you say, “The disciples didn’t have Perfect Faith?” No; for they had an epileptic child there, that they were trying to cast this devil out of him, and they couldn’t do it.

52 And the father seen Jesus coming, and he said, “We have
brought my son to_to Your disciples, and they could not cure him.”
See?
53 And afterwards, the disciples asked Jesus, saying, “Why could
not we cure him?”
54 And Jesus said, “Because, of the lack of faith, of your unbelief.”
That’s right. “Because of your unbelief at...”
55 Now remember, they had the power. Jesus had given them power to heal the sick, to raise the dead, and cast out devils, just a few days before that. They had the power, but not the faith to use the power. Now, there’s the Branham Tabernacle! There’s the Church, the Bride, today! The Holy Spirit is here with the power, but you, haven’t got that faith to move it. See what I mean? It takes faith to move it.

56 Here: I got a shell that I hand-loaded. I know what it’ll do by
ballistics, like the Word, but I’ve got to fire the gun. The fire has
to get to the powder. The powder’s got the power, but it’s got to
have the fire to light it off. And the same thing, the powder’s in the
shell, but it needs faith to charge it and throw it out. That’s what it
takes, see, Perfect Faith to ignite the power of the Holy Spirit which we have now, since He’s come upon us; faith to ignite, to see great things, is to.... the faith, something that presents it to you.


57 With a heart full of joy, you walk into the sickroom, knowing
exactly what you’re going to say. Walk in there and know what’s
going to happen, something’s already been revealed, and you know
it. And you walk in, “In the Name of Jesus Christ, rise up from there. THUS SAITH THE LORD!” There you are; that’s Perfect Faith. If there’d be ten million people standing there saying it wouldn’t happen, you know it’s going to happen anyhow, ’cause you know it. It’s going to happen. Regardless of what anybody else says, you’re the one that’s got the faith.

58 Could you imagine, Joshua, he’d call the elders of Israel together and said, “Uh, brethren, we are the servants of the Lord, I would like for you to say a ... ask the Lord if it’d be all right if_if He’d give us a little more sunlight, see, and hold the sun a little while”?

59 Nah; he had need of it (and without prayer, without anything),
he had need of it, and he just commanded the sun! He said, “Stand
there! I have need, and I’m in the service of the Lord, and He sent
me over here to do this job, and I’m doing the best that I know how,
and the enemy is routed, and they’re out in here; if I let the sun go
down, they’ll get together and cause me more trouble. So, stand still! And, moon, you hang there!” Amen; she hung there for twenty-four hours.

60 Now, if the world’s turning and he holds it up, and the sun
stayed in a place and it don’t run, what happened then? Now, you
made yourself an infidel, if you say of this; and then if you don’t,
you sure do fool with science, ’cause they said if the world stopped,
it dropped. So now what? And if you say God’s Word is not right,
then you’re an infidel. See? But it happened, that’s the main thing. I
don’t know the mechanics of it, but it happened!

61 I don’t know the mechanics of the Holy Ghost, but I know It fell
on me. I_I can’t tell the mechanics of It, but I know the blessings
of It. That_that’s all I_I care to know about, is the blessings of the
Holy Ghost. And mechanics, He works them. That’s His secret.
62 This boy could not be healed, because...The disciples had power; Jesus gave them power to heal all manner of sickness, to cast out devils, to cleanse the lepers, and to raise the dead. He gave them power, but they didn’t have faith to operate the power that they had. And then they questioned Jesus and said, “Well, now, why couldn’t we do it?”

63 Now, remember, they had the Word; and the Word was Flesh
then. And the Word told them, “I give you power.” Amen! “I give
you power.” And they had the power, but they didn’t have faith to
operate the Word that was in them. See what I mean? But Jesus had it, He was the Word, and He had faith that what He said would happen. He said, “Oh, bring him here. How long will I suffer you?”
64 He had faith, with His power. How did He? He said, “I can do
nothing in Myself.” Why? He relied upon what He was; He relied
in knowing that He was the Word. And He had faith in God, Who
made Him the Word. He was God (the Word), and they was in Him,
and that give Him faith because He understood His position. He
knowed what He was, because the Scripture had said He was this.
And here every Scripture tied in, to prove that He was exactly what
the Scripture said He would be, and He knew what He was.

65 Therefore, He relied upon what God had made Him. And if He
did that, then can’t we rely upon what God made us as believers?
“These signs shall follow them that believe!” He had faith in what
He was. And if you are a believer, you have faith in what you are:
you are a believer! And if you’ve got faith in God, the Bible says
over here in... “If our_if our hearts condemn us, then we can’t
have faith; but if our hearts don’t condemn us, then we have faith, we have confidence towards God.” If you want to read that, found in Saint John 3:21. I got the Scripture written down there.

66 Now notice, Saint John...I mean First John 3:21. Notice....if our hearts condemn us not, then we have confidence towards God.
67 But as long as you’re doing things that’s wrong, you can’t
have confidence towards God. So, you see, you can...you’ll
automatically know that you’re wrong. You automatically put
yourself back there a sinner, by knowing that you’re wrong. But when your heart don’t condemn you, and you know you are a believer, and there’s nothing between you and God, you can ask what you will and know that it’ll be given, because it’s the Word that’s given to you just like it was to those disciples.

68 Now, the only thing you have to do then, is have faith in what
you are. Have faith in what the Word says you are! And Jesus had
faith in the Word of God, that said what He was, “It is written of
Me.” Didn’t David, in the Psalms; and the prophets, and all of them
speak of Him? “I am the Bread of Life that come from God out of
Heaven.” Amen! “I am that Tree of Life from the garden of Eden.
I am all these things, I AM THAT I AM.” And He knew with that
Perfect Faith, that He was the anointed Messiah, that the Spirit of
God was upon Him. He said, “Now, I, in Myself, do nothing; but it’s My faith in God.” And God was in Him, the Word made manifest. And when the Word of God comes in you, It’s made manifest, for you are a believer. See? And a believer is “the faith of God that moves in you.”

69 You like that? I_I_I like when you...I like teaching of where
the...how to...what faith really is.
70 Knowing Who He was, without a shadow of doubt, He knew
He was the Son of God. He knew it, for the Word identified. The
Word of God identified Who He was. He said, “If I do not the
works of My Father, then don’t believe Me; but if_if I don’t do
them works, don’t believe Me. But if I do, then believe the works,
for they are the manifested Word promised.” Oh, if you could just
wake up to that, a minute! You see, the Word Itself identified Him,
Who He was. And He said, “Who can condemn Me of sin?” In
other words, “Who can show Me that My life and My works don’t
fulfill exactly what Messiah should do?” Nobody could say nothing; for He was. Then He had faith to believe, then; of whatever He said, it would happen.

71 Then He turned around and said, “The works that I do, shall
you also. A little while, and the world seeth no more; yet you shall,
because I’ll be with you, even in you. Take no thought what ye
shall say, for it’s not you that speak, it’s thy Father that dwelleth
in you; He’s the One Who does the speaking. And It’s not Me, It’s
the Father That dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works.” See what I
mean?

72 Now, the identification of a Scripture Christian, these Words
said Jesus: “These signs shall follow them that believe.” Now, how can you call yourself a believer, a people, and deny those Words? How can you call yourself a believer and deny any of this Word? See? You can’t do it. You’re not a believer, therefore signs can’t follow, because you just accept what you want to believe and let the rest of It...you won’t_don’t believe It. But you got to take the
whole thing, and believe It. And when you truly believe (not make
believe, but really believe), then these signs follow them that believe.

73 Oh, could you compare a Christian today with them Christians
of long ago? How them disciples walked in the power of the Spirit,
moved by the Holy Ghost, do it. Just a prisoner, as I preached on
the other night, a prisoner to the Word and will of God; he couldn’t
even move until God moved him. Wouldn’t you like to see a Church rise like that? It’s going to; going back. It’s_it’s got to come. That’s right. It’s go-...It’s on its road now, I believe.

74 For the Word identified, identified Himself, what He was; and
the same Word identifies us. See? “If a man loves Me, he keeps
My commandment. And if he says he loves Me, and keeps not My
commandments (that’s all of them), he’s a liar, and the Truth’s not
even in him.”
75 You say, “Well, I don’t believe all...” Well then, that...you’re
just an unbeliever, that’s all. If the Bible said so, that makes it right,
that settles it Eternally. What the Bible said, is the Truth.
76 Notice where He said to us, “If ye abide in Me, and My Word in you.” Saint John 15, “If ye abide in Me,...” See, have faith in Him. “Ye abide in Me, and My Word abides in you, then you ask what you will.”

Thursday, April 16, 2015

Child Raised From The Dead: A Testimony from Zimbabwe

 
Testator: Str Abigail Makumbe
Date: 01 January 2015


My fellowship in Masvingo South at Zveuru Congregation and our pastor is brother Mundowa. My child fell sick in March 2013, with diarrhoea and vomiting. When I took him to hospital they gave him the sugar and salt solution and we returned home. The child did not improve and after four months we went to a bigger hospital (Masvingo General Hospital) but we were referred back to Chivi Hospital. When I got back home I heard that there was an outreach prayer meeting. The pastor asked me to bring the child but I was hesitant because the child had deteriorated so much. He had lost weight from 11kgs to just around 4kgs. I was now ashamed to carry the baby around in public. However, on the Sunday I attended service. The following day the child improved but on Tuesday he started vomiting and having a running tummy again. I took the child to hospital. On the way I met my sister. She was not happy to see the child in that condition. She started blaming the message for the child’s illness. She really ran down the message. This pricked me to heart. 
 
On my way back home I was desiring that God do something about the situation that His name may not be berated. The testimony of Florence Nightingale came into my mind. When I got home I asked the pastor for the book Prophet Visits South Africa. He gave me and the next Sunday I took the child to hospital again. On the way I noticed that the child had passed on. I prayed to God telling Him that if the child dies the message would be reproached. The child started breathing again. A sister came to accompany me to the hospital. On the way the child would get worse and we would stop to pray. The hospital is about 14km from our village. Finally we arrived and the childs temperature was about 42oc. They chose to admit the child. While they were working on the admission papers I noticed that the child had passed on again. When the nurses came they checked the child and declared that he was dead. They started wrapping him up to take him to the mortuary but I asked them to give me 30 minutes with the baby. They refused and insisted I hand over the child. I could not so they went to fetch the mortuary attendant. I took this opportunity to kneel down and pray. Within minutes the child’s life was restored. When they returned they were shocked to see the child alive. They started to look for the childs veins so that they could put him on drip. They said his veins had collapsed so I too the book Prophet Visits South Africa and put it under his head and the book Souls that are in Prison Now on his hand. I called them to look again. Then they found the veins. After the 4th drip he regained his strength. He began to improve from the on. I stayed in the hospital till the weekend. 
 
On Sunday I was worried I would miss service. Around 9 in the morning I saw someone peeping into the ward. T was not visiting time yet but he came in and greeted me by name. He told me the child will be well and asked me to open my Bile to Psalms 127 and Mark 16. He began to preach to me verse by verse. After he left I realized it was the Lord who had visited me. The child was discharge and is now well.
 
Source:  http://www.eastleatabernacle.org/pages/testimonies.php

Sunday, April 12, 2015

Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.


John 9: 1 - 41 (ESV)


As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud 7 and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.

8 The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” 10 So they said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” 11 He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed and received my sight.” 12 They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”

13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. 14 Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. 15 So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” 16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them. 17 So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.”

18 The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight 19 and asked them,Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” 20 His parents answered, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. 21 But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” 22 (His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.) 23 Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

24 So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.” 25 He answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” 26 They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” 27 He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” 28 And they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. 29 We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” 30 The man answered, “Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. 32 Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” 34 They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out.

35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36 He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” 37 Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” 38 He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. 39 Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind. 40 Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” 41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Did you know that God hates a powerless religion?




"For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.” [I Corinthians 4:20]

“And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”[Mark 16:17-18]


"Now, for instance, what if–if we were going to go back to Tucson this afternoon, now, and each one of us had a–was going to go in a–a big Cadillac, brand new; and all of the seats were made out of–of doeskin (softest of the leather, soft and easy to set in); and the floorboards was plush; the steering wheel were nickel-plated and had diamond studs all over it; and the engine was mechanically tested to be exactly the right engine; and the wheels were–all had bearings and greased up; and the tires were all puncture-proof and blow-out free, that all had been tested scientifically. They had been pushed off the assembly line, both of them, and both of them filled up with gasoline. That's the running power, the gasoline, because in it is the octane. But now, when you're going to start them, although both of them look just alike, but there's one of them don't have any spark, any firing power."Well," you say, "the power is in the gasoline, Brother Branham." But I don't care how much power is in the gasoline, unless there's a spark there to manifest that power, less there's a power there to confirm that that's gasoline, it just might as well be water.  Until… No matter how much theologians claim, how well you got your church set, how much education you got, how much like the Bible, until that wave Sheaf, until the Holy Spirit comes upon that person to quicken that Word (The gasoline represents the Word; It's the Truth.); but without the Spirit it won't move.We've put too much stress on the mechanics and nothing on the dynamics. It needs the dynamic power of God, the resurrection power of Jesus Christ upon the church to manifest and to bring to pass that this is gasoline. It might be in a gasoline can; it could still be water. See? But the only proof of it is put the Life on it, and it'll prove whether it's gasoline or not". ~WMB ~It Is The Rising Of The Sun (65-0418M)


“Paul said, "The Gospel come to us not in word only, but through power and demonstration of the Holy Ghost." Yes, sir. When He said, "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature," He also said, "Demonstrate the power of the Holy Ghost in all the world." Yes, sir. It never come to us through Word only. The Word's got to be quickened and made alive in the demonstration of the power of the Holy Ghost. I said, "Then if you call that the greater things, surely you can do the lesser things then. Go heal the sick. Pray for the sick. Cast out devils. Do those kinds of work." Jesus said, "The things that I do, shall you also." And if you'll do them, He will do them. "The things that I do, shall you do, and greater then this; for I go to My Father." To be greater would be more of you... more of it. Oh, my. Isn't He wonderful? Now, believe Him tonight while we pray.” ~WMB~ Led By The Holy Spirit (52-0727)


"And that's what's the matter with the church today. We're full of theology, without any dynamics in it. That's right. See?In other words, you've got to have the spark to the gasoline, or the gasoline is no more than... It's not even as good as water, as long as it hasn't got the spark to fire it. So that's the way.No matter how well we're taught, how well we'll believe, and how much of the Bible that we say is true, and we believe it all true; it's got to be the--the dynamics has got to be there, the spark, to set that Word afire and make it start rolling. It's got to have that. If you don't, the church sets still, the car sets still, you'll set still. But no matter how much you say, "I sympathize. I believe every Word of That." You've got to have something to spark that off to make that one hundred octane go to firing, and the big Church of God go to moving on. It's got to take the dynamics with the mechanics. Nothing wrong with the mechanics, but lacking dynamics.And I think that's what's the matter with the church today; we're lacking that dynamical power to press this Word and make It live for this day". ~WMB~ God's provided place of worship (65-0425).


"God hates a powerless religion. It's got to be power. Certainly. It's a power to save a man from sin. It's a power that can do signs and wonders and miracles as Jesus Christ promised. They zeroed in on the Word of God back there and believed it, and it hit the target. You zero the same way on the Word of God, and it'll hit the target again. It's got to, because He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. God don't like a powerless religion. God does not want that. God wants to perform. God wants to show Hisself alive. Our very hopes is the resurrection. Is that right? Our hopes of life is resurrection, the resurrection of Jesus Christ". ~WMB~Pardoned (63-1028) 

"God never did ordain us to go out and have schools. He never. He never told us to build hospitals. They're good. He never told us to build libraries. No, sir. He never. He said, "Preach the Gospel." And the Gospel is manifesting, demonstrating the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul said, "The Gospel come to us, not through word only, but through the manifestation and demonstrations of the Holy Spirit." Paul said, "I never come to you with great words of wisdom by some doctor of so forth, but I come to you in power and demonstration of the Holy Spirit, that your faith would not be in the wisdom or knowledge of the men of this world, but in the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ; because He lives, the same yesterday, today, and forever." God help up to believe the same thing, and God vindicate the same thing as He has been doing". ~WMB~God of this evil age   [65-0801M]