23-0120P_THAT DAY AT CALVARY (PERFECTION)

Mat 27:23  And the governor said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified. 

Mat 27:24  When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it. 

Mat 27:25  Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children. 

Mat 27:26  Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. 

Mat 27:27  Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers. 

Mat 27:28  And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe. 

Mat 27:29  And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! 

Mat 27:30  And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head. 

Mat 27:31  And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him. 

Mat 27:32  And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross. 

Mat 27:33  And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull, 

Mat 27:34  They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink. 

Mat 27:35  And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots. 

Mat 27:36  And sitting down they watched him there; 

Mat 27:37  And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS. 

Mat 27:38  Then were there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand, and another on the left. 

Mat 27:39  And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, 

Mat 27:40  And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. 

Mat 27:41  Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, 

Mat 27:42  He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. 

Mat 27:43  He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God. 

Mat 27:44  The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth. 

Mat 27:45  Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. 

Mat 27:46  And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? 

Mat 27:47  Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias. 

Mat 27:48  And straightway one of them ran, and took a spunge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink. 

Mat 27:49  The rest said, Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him. 

Mat 27:50  Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. 

Mat 27:51  And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; 

Mat 27:52  And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, 

60-0925 - That Day On Calvary Rev. William Marrion Branham 

33 Let us bow our heads just a moment for prayer.

34 Lord, we know that Thou art God. And it…After reading this sacred and holy Word, we can still see that Your nature has not changed. You are always God. And it seemed like that Jesus was not going to have any help, that He was taken by wicked hands and was hacked to pieces, and spit upon, and mocked, and hanging on the cross, bleeding, dying. And seemed like there was no help, nowhere, till even He cried, Himself, “My God, My God, why has Thou forsaken Me?”

35 But, You act in the moment that when nothing else can act. We are given to know, Lord, that if we have any rivers that we cannot cross, if we have any mountains we cannot go through, God specializes in doing things that others cannot do.

36 You are a specialist, on the job, for You knowed the reason of that day on Calvary. You, being God, the infinite One, knew this hour must come. But when it was fulfilled, then You showed You were God. You showed Who was boss. You shook the earth, and the saints that slept in the ground come out. You blackened the sun in the night, as the darkness of night, showing that You were God. But You seemed to be silent so long.

37 Let us, from this, draw this conclusion, that, as long as we are walking in the Spirit, led by the hand of God, no matter what seems to be wrong, yet we are facing Calvary; God will speak in the right hour, at the right time.

38 Now, Father God, we would ask forgiveness of our sins and our trespasses. We would ask for Your Spirit to lead us. Lead us, as the Dove led the Lamb. Let us be obedient to whatever may befall us, knowing this, that God works all things well, and know that it’ll be all right.

39 Be with us today in this service. We pray that You’ll save those who are in condition to be saved, and are seeking for salvation. Fill those with Eternal Life, who are seeking such. We pray that You’ll heal those that are sick and afflicted, that have come, seeking healing. And we’ll praise Thee for it. We ask it in the Name of Your Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.

40 Now, in the speaking this morning, we wish to call your attention to the text I’ve chosen to speak from: That Day On Calvary.

41 It seems like it would be a little out of season; this should be on Good Friday. Calvary should be remembered every day. And we’ve heard so much about it, read so much about it. Preachers has preached on it, since the beginning of time. Singers have sang of it, through the ages. Prophets foretold it, four thousand years before it ever happened. And the prophets of this day point back to when it did happen. It’s such an important day! It’s one of the most important days of all the days that God ever let dawn on the earth.

42 And if it’s so important to the human race, Calvary, I think it’s good for us to go back and examine, see just what it means to us. For, I’m sure, at this late hour that we’re living, we are seeking every importance of God that we can know. And all that we can find out, we are here to learn of it, to see what is for us, and what God has done for us, and see what He’s promised to do for us. And that’s what we come to church for. That’s why the preacher preaches, that’s why he studies and meditates in the Scripture, and seeks for inspiration, is because he is a public servant to God’s people. And he’s trying to find something that will…that God would have to say to His people, something that would help them. Maybe, it might be, condemn them in their sins, but would be a help to raise them up, that they might forsake their sins and then raise up to serve the Lord. And ministers should seek these things.

43 And this day, being so important, one of the greatest days, let us look at three different things that day meant to us. We could take hundreds. But, this morning, I have just chosen three different, vital things that we want to look at, for the next few moments, that Calvary meant to us. And I pray that will condemn every sinner that’s present; it’ll make every saint go onto his knees; that’ll make every sick person raise his faith to God, and walk away, healed; every sinner, saved; every backslider come back, and be ashamed of himself; and every saint, rejoice, and take new hold and new hope.

44 The one great, important thing that Calvary means to us and the world, is, it settled the sin question, once for all. Man was found guilty of sin. And sin was a penalty that no man could pay. The penalty was so great until there wasn’t anyone that could pay the penalty. I truly believe that God ordained it that way, that the penalty would be so great that no man could pay it, so He could do it, Himself. Now, the penalty of sin was death. And we were all born in sin, shaped in iniquity, come to the world, speaking lies. Therefore there wasn’t none of us that was worthy, or, they could find no one on earth that was worthy.

Gen 2:16  And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 

Gen 2:17  But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. 

Gen 2:18  And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. 

Gen 2:19  And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. 

Gen 2:20  And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. 

Gen 2:21  And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; 

Gen 2:22  And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. 

Gen 2:23  And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. 

Gen 2:24  Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. 

Gen 2:25  And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. 

Gen 3:1  Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 

Gen 3:2  And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 

Gen 3:3  But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. 

Gen 3:4  And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 

Gen 3:5  For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. 

Gen 3:6  And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. 

Gen 3:7  And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. 

Gen 3:8  And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. 

Gen 3:9  And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 

Gen 3:10  And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. 

Gen 3:11  And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? 

Gen 3:12  And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. 

Gen 3:13  And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. 

Gen 3:14  And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: 

Gen 3:15  And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. 

Gen 3:16  Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. 

Gen 3:17  And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 

Gen 3:18  Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 

Gen 3:19  In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. 

Gen 3:20  And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living. 

PERFECTION

8 God requires perfection. We want to bear that in mind, that there is nothing just part way can go in the Presence of God. It must be perfect, our worship, everything.

9 Now, in the garden of Eden, God had Adam and Eve in the garden. And they sinned and transgressed the laws of God, by sinning, disobedience. And when transgression comes, disobedience is the transgression of the law. And the law of God, Him being holy, just unadulterated holy, therefore no spot of unholiness can ever stand in His Presence. So, if sin came in the world by transgression, then sin must be dealt with before the sinner can ever stand in the Presence of God.

10 Now, if there is no law, then there is no justice. But law required, or, justice requires a law. And the law, when it is—it is called on, it projects justice.

    57-0419 - The Perfection Rev. William Marrion Branham

11 Now, by the law, no flesh is saved. Now, the law cannot save us. The law was just the thing that put us in jail, but it has no redeeming power. The law only showed us that we were sinners, and condemned us. That’s what law is to do. It’s to bring condemnation, or to show you where your mistake is. So the law, in itself, could not save. It could only prosecute.

12 And God, being holy and just, He had to have a prosecution. He had to prosecute the sinner because he had overstepped the boundaries of grace, and had become a law-breaking citizen. Then, he must be dealt with.

13 And every law has a penalty, for, the penalty of transgressing God’s law is death. And it had to project death to the human race. And all of the human race is under the penalty of this law.

14 Now, when Adam and Eve had sinned, there was no way, no other remedy that they could ever stand in the Presence of God again, except this sin be dealt with. And no man can commit a sin of any type, no matter how little or how big, that individual sin has to be dealt with before the one who committed it can ever stand in the Presence of the Holy God.

15 So, therefore, when Adam and Eve had sinned and had transgressed the law, they were subjects of death. And the law had to be executed, therefore it put all the human race under the penalty of death. Now if we can only settle down for a few moments now, in our thinking, and look at this great picture, and remember that every person here is included in this. Every man and woman, child, is included in the penalty of death, by the transgression of the head of the human race, Adam; by his transgression, every one of us fell victim to sin.

16 And sin must be dealt with. And so, God, in His great infinite-cy and His great love…The law was to separate the sinner from his Maker; then he become annihilated, and totally annihilated, there would be no way for him to ever come back unless that sin was dealt with. And it would be very easy then to believe in a total annihilation of a sinner at the end, for he is completely, forever separated from the Presence of God.

17 Now notice this sin. And how God, being just, and He could do nothing else but be just, for He is the resource of all justice, then there would be nothing else for Him to do but to place the penalty for this transgression. And the penalty was death, for He said, “The day you eat thereof, that day thou shall surely die.” Now, it’s a dark picture we have here.

18 But then if we go back just a little further, and find out the very attributes of God, the Bible plainly tells us that “God is love.” But yet, being love, He has to be just. So, love does not mean just a thing that can be petted and played with. Love is the justice of God.

19 Now, when God seen that His children had transgressed His law, and that they must die the death, then sovereign love stepped in to make a way. For, God seen that these children was to be absolutely, totally annihilated from His Presence. There was nothing else to be done, for they had transgressed His law, and the penalty of His law was death.

20 And then love of God went out for His subjects. And when Divine love is projected, sovereign grace produces the object of the love. And God, by foreknowledge, when He loved His race so well; yet, with the penalty, He caused the substitutionary death to take place in the garden of Eden. That was, He substituted an innocent creature, a little lamb that knowed no sin, and it went for a substitute, to work and to die in the stead of the guilty sinner. And it was a lamb, slain, to hold the life of His subjects.

21 All through the Old Testament they offered the blood of lambs and goats, sheep, bulls and heifers, a substitutionary death. But, all in the great economy of God, there was back in His mind the real Object coming, which would be…Them were shadows of the real Object that was to come. And the real Object was to come, was His only begotten Son. All the lambs that died was only a shadow. And a shadow is only the negative side of an object. And they only spoke of Calvary coming.