23-0623A_THE CHOOSING OF A BRIDE Pt-9 (INDIVIDUAL AFFAIR)
Gen 24:12 And he said, O LORD God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day, and shew kindness unto my master Abraham.
Gen 24:13 Behold, I stand here by the well of water; and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water:
Gen 24:14 And let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink; and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that thou hast shewed kindness unto my master.
Rev 21:9 And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.
*IT'S AN INDIVIDUAL AFFAIR
EARLY.SPIRITUAL.EXPERIENCES_ HAMMOND.IN SUNDAY_ 52-0713A
E-7 …..I've seen it, I know, and God knows as a witness, as I
stand here this afternoon, that is the truth. But,
brother and sister, you better know what you're doing. You'd better be careful.
And you'd better be sure that you understand. Don't walk out there; stay right
where God's called you, until you know what you're doing, for it's a dangerous
thing. See?
Now, of course, there is things that God has revealed, and I'm not wanting you to think that I'm a mystic; I am not a mystic. I am a child of God by faith in Jesus Christ. But there's things in the spiritual world that you can't speak out to people. The closest person to me, I guess, in the world is my son and my wife, as I know of, my mother. And they don't know no more about it, and I've told them no more than I tell you, because it's an individual affair.
*THIS IS A INDIVIDUAL AFFAIR; IT'S WITH
EVERY ONE OF US.
HAVING.CONFERENCES_ CHAUTAUQUA.OH WEDNESDAY_ 60-0608
E-17 I was reading the autobiography
of Charles G. Finney, of how him being an attorney, and he... There's many of
our laws that's based upon the Bible, which caused him to--to study the Bible.
And in there he was reading of wh--where that God made these promises, and he
seen the church, so many of them praying for a revival
and defeated in their prayer. It was because they lacked faith. When you ask
God anything, call Him down, and talk to Him, and don't leave until you get the
answer. Then you know how to work from then on.
And how that he, simple childlike way he went about it,
and made that conference with God, and talked it over, and was one of the
greatest warriors of the age that's been since Saint Paul. Because that he
talked it over with God, and got his grounds, and got where he was standing,
and how he stood with God, and then went on. That's
what we need to do. That's what could be done right here on this ground, and it
would accomplish more then five hundred gatherings outside of it.
E-18 So you say, "Let's let the preacher do it." This is a individual affair; it's with every one of us. The preacher might do it himself. He might pray and get his soul blessed, and stay all afternoon under the anointing of the Holy Spirit to walk into the presence of his congregation anointed, feeling the power of God, but unless that congregation has stayed in the same way... See, it makes a difference. He's got to get it, the congregation under condition. But then if the congregation is ready to meet the Holy Spirit, then I'll tell you: Sinners will weep their way to Calvary. If we can just take it as an individual... You're just as responsible as any of these ministers. God's going to hold you as an individual responsible.
***IT'S AN INDIVIDUAL AFFAIR, NOT OF GROUPS
OF PEOPLE….. THAT YOU YOURSELF, AS A SOLE HUMAN BEING MIGHT, NOTICE, MIGHT
FORSAKE YOUR OWN THOUGHTS.
E-27 My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' Blood with righteousness; when all around my soul gives way, then He's all
my hope and stay. On Christ the solid rock I stand; all
other grounds is sinking sand. All other grounds, every church, every
denomination, ever whatever, all other ground is sinking sand. Whether it's
mother, or father, loved ones, whether it's friends, whatever it is, all
other grounds is sinking sand; on Christ alone I stand. It's an individual
affair, not of groups of people. But it's to you as an individual, that you
yourself, as a sole human being might, notice, might forsake your own thoughts.
As long as you have your own
thoughts, your own ways, your ways are contrary to God's ways. And you cannot be right
and think your own thoughts, for you've got to die to your own thoughts. Do
you know that? Your thoughts, as long as you look at it, you look at it
materially; you say, "Oh, well, that can't happen. It's just not
reasonable. It's not sensible to even think such a thing."
As long as you do that, then
you'll stay in your same condition. [Blank.spot.on.tape. Ed.] You get to a
place where you cannot think your ways, but come into Christ and think His way
of thinking. Take His words. Then things begin to shape different.
For you are dead and your life is hid in God through Christ and sealed by the
Holy Spirit. Romans 8:1, "There is therefore now no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus, that walk not after the flesh (what the flesh
says), but walk after the Spirit. [Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.]
E-28 Isn't that marvelous--God separating us from the things of the world. Nothing we could do. We were dead in sin, trespasses, without hope, without God, in the world, alienated, cut off, going to a devil's hell, a sinner's grave. And in due season Christ died for us all, producing and giving to us the waters of separation. And God, by grace, called us through this waters, separated from our sins and brought us unto Himself, a peculiar people, a holy nation, a royal priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifice, the fruits of our lips, giving thanks to His Name. Shall we pray.
*SALVATION IS AN INDIVIDUAL AFFAIR WITH MAN AND GOD, ALONE, ONE
INDIVIDUAL, "SEARCHING OUT OUR OWN SALVATION WITH FEAR AND
TREMBLING."
THE.INDICTMENT_ JEFF.IN V-3 N-19 SUNDAY_ 63-0707M
106 I tell you, salvation is an
individual affair with man and God, alone, one individual, "searching out
our own salvation with fear and trembling." And
I know no other basis, as a teacher, this morning, or as a minister from
Christ, than to lay it down upon the Word. I cannot place it on anything else.
108 And Christ is God's provided Lamb of Sacrifice. And today there is only one place that God will meet man, and that's under the Blood of Jesus Christ. Anywhere else, it is condemned; God will never hear it. You might do all kind of a emotions, and all kind of isms, and shake, and jump, and have blood and fire and smoke, and everything else; but as long as that life isn't compared with the Word, and God thoroughly identifying that life, then there is no need of trying it, because you're out. And God will never meet it till it comes under the care of that Blood. That's right.
*BUT THIS PLAN OF SALVATION IS AN
INDIVIDUAL AFFAIR WITH YOU.
IDENTIFICATION_ PHOENIX.AZ WEDNESDAY_ 63-0123
153 And the only way that we'll ever
be able to be the images of God, and the sons of God, is for God to reveal to
us, and express Himself through His Word, to us, and us to the world.
That's the only channel. For, Christ was the Image here on earth, that you
could see, God in a Man, expressed Image of God, because God was in Him so much
that they were One. And now when Christ left, He sanctified the Church, that
the Church might take His place and express the Word of God. See?
That's the only way it can be done. Oh, my!
154
Would you be with the popular folks who had the popular
opinion? "As long as I belong to church!" And maybe, "Because I
danced in the Spirit, I'm all right." Maybe, "Because I've spoken
with tongues, I'm all right." Or maybe, "We got a good pastor, and
I'm all right." Now, those things are loyal. I have nothing to say against
that. That's true.
155 But this plan of salvation is an individual affair with
you. Speaking in tongues is a gift of God. Dancing in the
Spirit is the Presence and Glory of God. But for you to let your character be molded into
the image of God, that He projects Himself, and you are--and you are His idol,
walking on the earth, the expressed image of Him.
156 Now, would you be willing to do that in the days of Noah? Or would you been on the critical side, criticizing both the prophet and his God-sent message? Now think of it. Which side would you think, in your present state now, would you took? Now be honest. [Brother Branham coughs--Ed.] Pardon me. There's no need of me trying to say it. You, you got to think it, yourself.
*ON THE ROAD THERE'S ONLY ROOM FOR TWO.
THAT'S YOU AND GOD. YOU...
PRESUMING_ CLEVELAND.TN SUNDAY_ 62-0408
E-10
…Now, Israel made a fatal mistake when they did this. Not
only Israel, but everybody else that does it. It will be a fatal
mistake when you presume to walk with God, when God has not called you to walk
with Him; or when you presume to venture out upon things that's not Scriptural,
thinking it'll be all right. It's not all right.
Eve presumed. She presumed it
would be all right, because Satan presented something looked awful nice. But
she presumed it. It wasn't the Word. You don't want to do that. You want to stay with
the Word. Don't move from that. Stay right there. No
matter if you stand, and...
Remember, men that's ever done anything for God stood alone with God. On the road there's only room for two. That's you and God. You... Men that's ever done anything under the convictions by the Word, stood alone: Martin Luther, John Wesley, so forth, Finney, Sankey, Calvin, Knox, Spurgeon, whatevermore. See? Moses, Elisha, all of them stood alone on the Word of God. And that's the way you've got to do. It's an individual affair. You got to stand on the Word, take God's Word.
* IT'S AN INDIVIDUAL AFFAIR BETWEEN YOU AND GOD, SURRENDERING YOUR BODY,
WHETHER MAMA, PAPA, CHILDREN, ANYTHING ELSE RECEIVES IT OR NOT.
CHRISTIANITY.VERSUS.IDOLATRY_ JEFF.IN V-8 N-2 SUNDAY_ 61-1217
188 We, in His image, a living image
of a living God. What does you... When you surrender yourself to God, and God comes
into you, what does it make you? A living image of God.
Not a dead statue set in the corner, not a denomination up in the headquarters
at Washington in the--in the--in the Confederation of Churches. Huh-uh, no,
that's a dead statue--a dead statue and a dead creed. But a living image, an
individual...
189 Somebody was teaching the other day, or had a little note, and somebody said that if a man wasn't saved, and... "If a man was saved and his wife wasn't saved, would they go in the rapture? The woman couldn't go in the rapture, there'd be no such a thing as a woman going in the rapture 'cause they're one." Nonsense. Jesus said, "There'll be two in a bed, and I'll take one and leave one." It's an individual affair between you and God, surrendering your body, whether mama, papa, children, anything else receives it or not. Amen.
*AND THE WORD OF GOD, WHICH IS GOD, IS
MADE FLESH IN YOU. WHY? YOU'RE SEATED IN HEAVENLY PLACES, TRIUMPHED OVER ALL
THINGS IN CHRIST JESUS.
191 We are made partakers of His holiness. We, in His image, we are living images of a living God. Then dead to self, raised with Him (Now, listen, listen to this.), His Word made flesh again in us. (O Brother Neville...) Look. What is it? Not the mythical, imaginary god setting out there, but the living God... What is the living God? The Word in you making Itself real. Whew. Glory to God. Oh, I know you think I'm a holy-roller. Maybe I am. But, oh, brother, do you see it? Triumph over every denomination, triumph over all paganism, a living God made manifest in a living temple. And the Word of God, which is God, is made flesh in you. Why? You're seated in heavenly places, triumphed over all things in Christ Jesus. Amen. Oh, I just love It. I have to skip something and go on.
*THE WALK WITH CHRIST IS AN INDIVIDUAL
WALK.
E-33
…Next thing what taken place? There was Lot. When God said,
"Separate yourself from everybody," the walk with Christ is an
individual walk. You walk, you stand alone with you and God alone.
Not you and the pastor, you and God alone. Not you and the deacon. Sometimes
you and your wife, you and your husband, but you and God alone. You
stand alone on your convictions. Salvation is not a church affair. It's an individual
affair.
Church is a gathering place where we come in one common grounds and worship God. But salvation isn't because you've joined the church, it's because you've believed on the Lord Jesus Christ and accepted Him as your personal Saviour, and then you have to do more than that now. It isn't just a make-believe.
*YOU'VE GOT TO MAKE YOURSELF READY. IT'S AN INDIVIDUAL AFFAIR.
THE.SUDDEN.SECRET.GOING.AWAY.OF.THE.CHURCH_ JEFF.IN SUNDAY_ 58-1012
E-31
I was showing you the wickedness, and the time would
not--would fail me to go through the ages and show, that each time like in
Babylon on the night of the rioting, and dancing, and drinking, and so forth,
and what happened. And down through the age it's been that way. In every age God's had
thunderbolt prophets, and signs and wonders to condemn the thing in the midst
of all popularity and stand alone for God.
Not only that, but what if I
would speak of the time of little Stephen: not a prophet, not a pastor, just a member of the
Body of Christ, how that this little fellow stood before the Sanhedrin Council
that morning and spoke out to those who were condemning him, and
said, "You stiffnecks, uncircumcised in the heart and ears, you do always
resist the Holy Ghost; as your fathers did, so do you."
He wasn't a pastor. You can't
expect your pastor to do it all. You can't expect your Trustee Board to do it
all, or your Deacon Board. You've got to make yourself ready. It's an individual
affair. And remember, His coming is so sudden
that the Church will go in a twinkling of an eye. And if we see sin on every
hand and judgment pending in the battleships of God's wrath coming, how we
escape this?
E-32
Signs are appearing. Jesus is coming. And great wonders
are being done. Every milepost is pointing towards His soon appearing.
And it'll happen in a moment. How are we standing this morning as we take
inventory? If we should be spoke to this morning,
and the Lord Jesus should descend from the heavens this morning with a shout and
the trump of God, would we be found ready as a church body? Would we be found ready
as an individual to join with those who are raised from the dead, who have
proven themselves ready?
No matter whether we are ready or not, the Lord Jesus will come just the same at the appointed time. We must be ready. And we must do it now. It is no time to wait. We must redeem the time and be ready.
*HE EXPECTS EVERY INDIVIDUAL. AMEN. IT'S
AN INDIVIDUAL AFFAIR WITH EVERY PERSON. IT'S BECAUSE GOD CHOSE ME IN CHRIST.
YOU HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. GOD...
ISRAEL.AND.THE.CHURCH.1_ JEFF.IN IC 1-34 WEDNESDAY_ 53-0325
God elected and chose Abraham. It
wasn't Abraham choosing God; it was God choosing Abraham. Can you see
it? And now watch. Now, as it was then, so is it today. It isn't you choosing
God; it's God choosing you.
44 Now, this may be very strong,
and I want you to notice. Immediately after choice,
election, it's separation from everything else, as soon as He calls. He elects,
calls; then when He calls, He separates you from everything that hangs on to
you. That proves that it isn't a denomination. It isn't two or three
people together. He expects every individual. Amen.
It's an individual affair with every person.
45 It isn't because my mother there
is saved, that I'm saved. It's because God chose me in
Christ. I want you to see it. Not you choosing yourself, not your choice, how much
you prayed, when you turned a new page. You had nothing to do with it. God...
Oh, my, when you get to see what's Truth... You say, "You mean
that--that I--I didn't turn to the Lord?" No, sir. You had no way at all of turning to the Lord. Your whole nature,
your whole makeup was against God. God called you.
It's always been that way.
46 In the garden of Eden when man
sinned, first, look at the nature of a sinner: hiding. But it should have been
Adam calling God; it was Adam hiding, and God calling Adam. You see it? That's the nature of a sinner, hide, run away, get behind
something. But God calling... Oh, my. Grace, amazing grace, God calling.
And now notice, you say, "Oh, that was Adam and
Eve."
It's always, through the Bible, the same. Jesus said, "No man can come to Me except My Father draws him." Is that right? Now, that's the Word. And that's the way we want it, the Word, then you know where you're standing.
*IT'S AN INDIVIDUAL AFFAIR WITH EVERY
INDIVIDUAL. IT MUST BE A PERSONAL WITNESS…
WITNESSES_ PHOENIX.AZ WEDNESDAY_ 54-0303
E-19
No matter how much you go to church, how well your name
is engraved on its stained windows, or whatmore, or on its book, it'll never mean nothing
to you, until you are a witness of the resurrection of Jesus Christ by the
infilling of the power of the Holy Spirit. You are taking somebody else's word.
Why, I'd say...
"Well, Brother Branham, I know that Jesus is the Christ, 'cause the Bible said so." The Bible is right, but what do you know about it? See? It's an individual affair with every individual. It must be a personal witness that every person must have in order to know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, is when His Spirit bears record with your spirit, in the Spirit of the new birth, borned again and you cry, "Abba, Father."
*IT'S NOT A CHURCH AFFAIR. IT'S AN INDIVIDUAL AFFAIR.
DIVINE.HEALING_ JEFF.IN V-26 N-9 SUNDAY_ 54-1219M
15 One of the biggest failures in the world is the church. That's--that's right. Churches has miserably failed. Everything's failed. "But we receive a Kingdom which will not fail: Jesus Christ." It cannot fail. And we're so happy for that, that it's not a church affair. It's an individual affair. It's not whether my church is saved; it's whether I am saved. It isn't whether my deacon's saved, or my pastor's saved, or my mother's saved; it's whether I am saved or not, myself, I must be saved. Then I must tell them. And then, if they're saved, wonderful; if they're not, I must still remain saved. That's... I must retain my salvation. Oh, what a wonderful day.
*THE…SPIRIT OF THE CREATOR HIMSELF COMES INTO THE INDIVIDUAL AND CLAIMS
RELATIONSHIP AS SONSHIP.
THE.LAW.HAVING.A.SHADOW_ BINGHAMTON.NY FRIDAY_ 54-1203
E-28 It's time to clean out and get a hold of something, or somebody who's been in contact with the Lord Jesus Christ, and been borned again. You'll never be able to get them believing the supernatural, 'cause there's nothing in them to believe with. Amen. Now, that's not skim milk. Look, that's right. A man must be borned again by the Spirit of God, and then the [Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.] Spirit of the Creator Himself comes into the individual and claims relationship as sonship. You see it? Then that person is an offspring of God, and God Who spoke the worlds into existence, and this man's an offspring off Him. He can believe anything. All things are possible unto him, for he believes he's a part of God. He's a son of God or a daughter of God.
*NO MATTER WHAT YOUR CHURCH IS, IT'S WHAT
YOU ARE BEFORE GOD. IT'S AN INDIVIDUAL AFFAIR.
THE.SEAL.OF.THE.ANTICHRIST_ LA.CA FRIDAY_ 55-0311
E-83
Listen, let me tell you friends, the time is at hand. I
believe with all my heart. And that's the reason I must preach this a way. I
must, because God's going to hold me responsible. If you believe me to be a
servant of God, if you believe me to be truly from God, then you believe me
tonight. I've told you the truth.
I might've hurt you in your creeds. I don't have nothing against any church. Whether it's any church, I don't care what it is, what name it's got, doesn't matter. But what I'm talking about, is the love of God in that church, the love of God that's in you. No matter what your church is, it's what you are before God. It's an individual affair. You start, and your church will follow you.
*UNTIL IT BECOMES AN INDIVIDUAL AFFAIR WITH YOU, UNTIL YOU BECOME BACK
INTO THIS FELLOWSHIP…
FELLOWSHIP.BY.REDEMPTION_ JEFF.IN V-26 N-17 SUNDAY_ 55-0403
132 …There's where man stands today. That's the reason you see them on the
street, working on Sunday. That's the reason you see them out going fishing,
hunting on Sunday. That's the reason you see them out here horse racing and
automobile racing, why you see them in pool rooms and dives, and so forth. There's something in the
man hungering for something, and he can't find it. And this world can't produce
it. And the church can't produce it on mental theology. They
can't do it.
A man's got to tear the old foundation down, and a man's got to be regenerated and borned again, and come back to God. Not turning new pages, you'll never do it. It might be good. I have nothing against it, the goods works that you do, but that won't do it. Joining church won't do it. Taking your children and going to church won't do it. Until it becomes an individual affair with you, until you become back into this fellowship, then we know we've passed from death unto Life, for our spirit bears record with His Spirit, that we're sons and daughters of God. All the old things has passed away, and all things become new. There we are. Oh, my.
137 There's something beyond the veil yonder that pulls the Christian. He can't explain it. He doesn't understand it himself. But there's something in that fellowship that He has with Christ. Sever him from there, he becomes a wanderer.
IT'S A INDIVIDUAL AFFAIR… THE ONLY THING THEY HAVE TO DO IS ACCEPT THE
SHED BLOOD OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST THAT'S BEEN PREPARED.
LAW_ CHICAGO.IL SATURDAY_ 55-0115
E-21 And in the Old Testament if a man done anything wrong he had to come under the--the blood to be justified again, for without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins. How beautiful, how striking that comes to us today. Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin. No matter what church you belong to, what denomination, what organization, how good a father or mother you had, it's a individual affair. That every man or woman today in order to be saved, doesn't have to study theology; they don't have to learn any certain kind of prayers. The only thing they have to do is accept the shed Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ that's been prepared. Then through the shedding of blood there comes remission of sin, or sins remitted.
IT'S AN INDIVIDUAL AFFAIR BETWEEN EVERY MINISTER.
A.HIDDEN.LIFE_ CHICAGO.IL THURSDAY_ 55-1006A
E-29
That's the reason brethren that we're holding up the
adoption of God, as our difference of life, and fussing, and quarreling amongst
one another, is the reason the veil can't drop behind us and we can go
into that Presence of God. That's right. We're so interested in
our denominations. We're so interested in what the next fellow, what... "What is that to thee, follow thou Me." It's an individual
affair between every minister. How a minister ought to always get alone to
himself, even before he preaches, before he prays. Before he does anything he
should get alone with God in that quiet place, hid away with God. How
that, that veil once coming down...
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