Death and Life Chapter 12
Congregation sings
“Only Believe”.
Let’s us pray
again.
Precious Lord, we
humbly bow our heads in Your presence this evening. We know, Lord, that there’s
been so much that has come among the little assembly here in the past few weeks.
It’s just been one thing after another. Lord, we have our hope and our stay set
upon You. And we know, Lord, that there’s no way that Satan can defeat Your
purpose. You’ve already purposed it in Your heart and You’ll carry it out Lord.
And we know that Your children will survive. We know that Satan can’t step in
and destroy the work that You’ve already started. We know that apostle Paul said
that, “I am persuaded to believe that He that has begun a good work in us, He
will continue it, until that day of Christ.” And I believe, Lord, that You are
with us tonight. I believe that Your Spirit is guiding and helping us Lord. We
thank You for this Word that You’re opening up to us and letting us see a little
bit more deeper understanding of the things, Lord, that have occurred down
through the six thousand years of man’s generation. And we know, Lord, that You
have watched over it this far. And I believe that You’ll bring it to that
perfect realization to everyone of Yours and let us all cross over into that
beautiful place that we’ve all longed to see so much Lord. And now we believe
that we’re nearing that border. We believe that we’re coming close to that time
now. It seems like that everything is shaping up and we want to be ready Lord.
Help us everyone to search our lives and to make sure all preparations are made
and there’s no trash on the line, there’s no water in the gas, Lord, but
everything is ready and we’re ready to take that trip. Have mercy on those Lord,
tonight, that can obtain mercy. Continue to be with Brother Tiny and raise him
up in a speedy way Lord. We ask in Jesus’ name, the Son of Man.
Amen.
You may be
seated.
It’s so good to be
here tonight and have this privilege. And we have a lot of empty seats back
through here. And so we know that, as I said... I’m not going to give Satan any
credit for nothing. I’m not going to give him no credit. You know why? Because I
believe that through every bit of this, every bit of it that has happened, and
is happening, that He’ll receive glory. Because that’s exactly what the
Scripture says.
How many of you saw
on the news, where the marshals, U.S. marshals, seized a church in Indiana over
taxes? Did you see that? The first time in the history of the United States of
America that a church has ever been taken over be federal men. The first time.
I’m not going to take time to read this. And put it on the bulletin board back
there, and if you want to read it, you can. But that really shows us where we’re
going now. And the independent churches, they don’t like that. They don’t like
independent churches. They, you know, Brother Branham said, “that there would a
boycott come.” So we need to be ready for it. And we need to be ready to accept
that if this thing happens, that we’ll just have to get together in homes or
wherever we can, you know, and continue to work right on for the Lord until it’s
all over, until we’re gone. But we really understand that this thing is closer
than some people think. And this may be the man. This may be the man because he
is a very religious man. And being so religious as he is, he might also lean
toward that world council of churches. And so we don’t know exactly what he’s
going to do. We know the other one wouldn’t have helped any, I mean, if he had
got in.
And to see what the
last one did before he went out, is really pitiful. It’s really pitiful to see
what he done. It shows that he would have sold this country, if he hadn’t
already done it, down the river for a dollar. He would have did it if he hadn’t
already did. We don’t know how much he’s... We don’t know how much secrecy of
our secret government that’s suppose to be held in secret, we don’t know how
much of it has been sold by that Clinton administration. Because a man that
would pardon a fugitive like he did, for a million dollars, he’d do anything.
There ain’t nothing that he wouldn’t do. Nothing. Yeah I believe. You all
remember the video that we saw back here years ago when he was going into
office? You remember where this man was a witness to things that had happened
when he was governor? And how that these people were missing and it wasn’t a
coincidence? I believe he’s a murderer. Absolutely I believe he’s a murderer. I
believe he’s got blood on his hands all the way. Amen. And I believe that he’s
living in a short order now. I’ll tell you right now, I mean, I wouldn’t give
two cents for his life. That’s right. Imean, and just think what’s going to
happen after this life is over.
Look at what
happened in Waco, Texas. Look at what, and knowing that people have been placed
in certain places. Look how Brown went out in that plane crash. They know that
something was done! There’s so many things that’s happened to people. Look at
that lawyer up there that they claim committed suicide and did away and shredded
all the papers before they had a chance to prove anything. And claimed that he
committed suicide. There’s so much been done in the last eight years. I’ll tell
you, this country is headed for disaster. You can depend on it. It’s headed for
disaster. Amen. Alright.
So now tonight
we’re going to talk about something better than that. Amen. We’re going to talk
about “The Robe”. It’s good to have Brother David back with us. And we have
really prayed for him in his time of bereavement and the loss that he has
suffered. And we know... We can’t comprehend it just like we should, because
we’ve never been along that road, that part, but we do know that that is a hard
thing for him. Young man, I guess what, about twenty-five? Twenty-four years
old. And so he’s gone on, not have an opportunity to live his life like some of
you will or have had. But anyway, we know that God knows what He’s doing. And
that’s the way I’ve tried to console Brother David, that God don’t make no
mistakes and He knows what He’s doing. And to one’s own master he stands or
falls. And we have nothing to do with predestination. We have nothing to do with
election. God already settled that in His heart before there was ever a molecule
or anything created upon this earth. It was all settled, exactly how it’s going
to come out. And we accept that. We accept that God knows what He’s doing.
Alright.
Tonight I want you
to turn with me, back again to Exodus, and we’re going to go back into that 28th
Chapter again. And we’re going to look at Verses 31 and 32. Verses 31 and 32 of
Exodus 28.
And
thou shalt make the robe of the ephod all of blue.
Now here we have
that word, ephod again. It seems like it keeps popping up, popping up, popping
up everywhere, don’t it? So everything seems to be tied into that. Everything
seems to be associated with the ephod in the priestly order. Well, wonder why?
Because that’s where the names were. See? In the ephod. Alright. Notice the
blue, the color.
And
there shall be an hole in the top of it, in the midst thereof: it shall have a
binding of woven work round about the hole of it, as it were the hole of an
habergeon,...
I don’t know if I’m
pronouncing that exactly right or not. I looked it up to see what it meant and
I’ll tell you what it means in a little while. It actually means a coat of
armor, a breastplate of armor. It’s strong, that’s what it means. It means
strength and power. So now.
...that
it be not rent.
In other words, you
could not tear it. Where it was put on it was so strong, the hole where it was
put over the priests head, and it was just one piece. The robe was made out of
one solid piece. It was woven by special men that were chosen by God to do it.
They were chosen by God to do this. Alright. So now, we want to try to get into
this and I saved my quotes until Sunday, and I’m also leaving things open for
Brother Don, when he gets ready to finish talking to us about some of the things
from India, or whatever the Lord lays upon his heart. I know he wasn’t feeling
at his best when he come back. We put him right up here. And so, it’s open for
him when he gets ready. When I say Sunday, I’m saying that is if he don’t come
and say, “Well, Brother Holmes, I’m ready.” If he does, then we’ve got time
after that.
Alright. The robe
of the ephod. Now that ephod is where the names were, we know that. It’s the
shoulder-pieces. The ephod, the shoulder-pieces, fastened to the breastplate,
fastened to the girdle. Now we got the robe of the ephod, the robe of the ephod,
coming on, which is the garment. This is a garment of special dignity. It is a
special type garment and it carries with it a special dignity because there’s
only one person can wear it. Nobody else can wear this robe. Only one person.
Alright. And that represents the office which he holds. In other words, this
robe is an office robe. It’s a robe that nobody else can wear unless they are
appointed to that office.
Now back in the
beginning of the priesthood, when a high priest was made priest, he was high
priest for the rest of his life. He was never to change. In other words, he was
there for the rest of his life. The Catholic church types that with their pope.
They very seldom ever... They won’t take a pope out. When they put one in he’s
there until he dies. And if they don’t like him, like Pope John Paul the 1st.
You remember what happened to him? He was a much younger man that most of them
that are appointed as pope, but he didn’t want to be worshiped. He didn’t want
them to pick him up and carry him and wait on him and all, and so, what did they
do? They got shed of him. They got shed of him the way that they always do when
they don’t like what’s going on. Just give a little bit of poison in there and
everything’s alright. Then they replaced him with another one. Alright. But what
I’m trying to get you to see is, as the years went on, time went on and the
priestly order begin to get contaminated like the churches did, you know. When
it begin to get contaminated, then they begin to appoint one here and appoint
one there, and take that one out and put another one in, which was never God’s
order. It was never God’s order to do that. But this priestly robe was
actually... it represented dignity. It represented the office of the high
priest. The color of it, of course, represented the color of the heavens. We
understand that the material was not specified, it didn’t say what type of
material it was made of.
But now I want to
read a little bit tonight in the Bible and I want to go to Psalms 45. You notice
I’ve been reading a good bit in Psalms during these services and these messages
that we’ve been bringing. Now this is talking about the dress of the king, the
great King. I want you to place a special notice to Verse 8 as we
read.
...My
heart is inditing a good matter: I speak of the things which I have made
touching the king:
(I speak of the things
which I have made touching the king.)
my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.
Thou
art fairer than the children of men: grace is poured into thy lips: therefore
God hath blessed thee for ever.
Gird
thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty.
And
in thy majesty ride prosperously because of truth and meekness and
righteousness; and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things.
Thine
arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies; whereby the people fall
under thee.
Thy
throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right
sceptre.
You know where
we’re going tonight. We’re going to talk about the High Priest. We’re going to
talk about the shepherd of the sheep. We’re going to talk about these things
that’s real. The Prince and the power of the Almighty God.
Thou
lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath
anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
Now watch this 8th
Verse.
All
(of) thy garments smell (as) of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the
ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad.
Kings'
daughters were among thy honourable women: upon thy right hand did stand the
queen in gold of Ophir.
Hearken,
O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people,
and thy father's house;
So
shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy Lord; and worship thou
him.
And
the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift; even the rich among the people
shall intreat thy favour.
The
king's daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is of wrought gold.
She
shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework: the virgins her
companions that follow her shall be brought unto thee.
With
gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought: they shall enter into the king's
palace.
Instead
of thy fathers shall be thy children, whom thou mayest make princes in all the
earth.
How about
that?
I
will make thy name to be remembered in all generations: therefore shall the
people praise thee for ever and ever.
Now that’s talking
about the great King. The great King of Kings and Lord of Lords, in the Psalms
there.What I wanted you to notice was, in this needlework of this robe, there
was all of this good smelling ointment. Things that the priest wore. We’ll get
into the anointing in another service or two and you can see something. The
color, actually, within itself, it carried with it all of this good smell. It
was woven in there. These men that wove this, they were ordained of God to do
so. Now, If you’d like to read that you can turn to Exodus 35, Verses 30-35. I
read it several times to make sure that I was right on this. One of these men’s
name was... Let’s just read it. We’re going to take time because we’re not going
to get done tonight anyway. We’re not going to get done as long as we live, I
don’t guess. It just keeps getting bigger and bigger. Alright, so in Chapter 35,
we want to look at Verse 30-35.
And
Moses said unto the children of Israel, See, the LORD hath called by name
Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah;
Now, if you’ll
notice, he was called by name. The Lord called him by
name.
And
he hath filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in
knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship;
So what we’re
looking at is not just a bunch of types, but it’s the hand of God. See, that’s
what I’m being so emphatic about, is to see how God works these things, and to
see how that they type things on over in the New Testament, and then even in the
Bride age. See?
And
to devise curious works,
(Devise
curious works,)
to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass,
And
in the cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of wood, to make any
manner of cunning work.
And
he hath put in his heart that he may teach, both he, and Aholiab, the son of
Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan.
Them
hath he filled with wisdom of heart, to work all manner of work, of the
engraver, and of the cunning workman, and of the embroiderer, in blue, and in
purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen, and of the weaver, even of them that do
any work, and of those that devise cunning work.
So these men were
filled with the Spirit of God and it was put into their heart, the knowledge,
the wisdom to do these things. This man was called by name. So this was not just
a fly-by-night thing, you see. It was something that was real. And something
that, actually was to be acknowledged as, not for just that day, but something
that we need to look at and see that it continued right on. The high priestly
order. Alright. So then, we find out then, that the true High Priest, which is
Jesus Christ, we know that. Then His Name, of course, is Prince of Peace. Right?
That’s one of them. Then we find out that He’s also named the Lord of Peace.
Right? He’s the Prince of Peace, He’s the Lord of Peace. As we were talking in
the home there, the other day, in our home, that peace is the most valuable
thing in a person’s life. You could be a billionaire and not be at peace. Or you
could be a pauper and be at perfect peace. See? Money won’t give you peace. See?
Fine things of this life won’t give you peace. You have got to have peace from
God. That’s the only way that you’re going to have it.
Amen.
And everything has
to be exactly in order. See? So when He wears this priestly robe it shows that
He’s not only the Lord of Peace, the Prince of Peace, but He’s also the King of
Righteousness. Wasn’t He called that? He’s called the King of Righteousness.
He’s also called the King of Peace. The King of Peace. Alright. So now how did
He obtain this? How did He obtain it. He obtained this through His own Blood, by
giving of His own Blood. That’s exactly the way He obtained this honor and was
established in this particular place. This great Prince of Peace. The priest
back there was just a type of what was to happen. They couldn’t give their life
for a man. They had to take the blood of a bull or a goat, or a lamb or
something, and offer it. They couldn’t offer their own blood. See? But this
great High Priest that we’re talking about takes His own Blood and enters into
the sanctuary, and He does this once. See?
He makes one
sacrificial offering of the blood upon your heart. He does not come periodically
and offer that blood upon the heart. When that blood is applied upon the heart,
that means that you are sealed until the day of your redemption. That simply
means that the Holy Ghost has absolutely accepted you, which is God. The Spirit
of God, the life of God has come into you and you are never again, never again
to be lost. Never. You can never go astray from God. You might backslide, you
know. We do that many times daily by some of our actions of the flesh. But as
far as our understanding and belief and revelation of Jesus Christ, it cannot be
taken away from you. See? You know who He is. Amen. He is that Great Shepherd of
the sheep. Amen.
He earned this
title by giving His blood which would bring about an everlasting covenant. See?
The blood that was given on Calvary... I got scolded one time for saying that He
spilled His Blood. That poor little brother, he looked and looked and looked to
try to find something, I reckon, through the messages that I had preached.
Finally he found one thing and he said, “Brother Holmes, I found something that
you said that is not in the Word.” I said, “Well brother, tell me about it.” He
said, “There’s no such thing as Jesus spilling His Blood. He didn’t spill His
Blood.” I said, “Oh my.” He said, “Brother Branham never said that.” I said,
“Well, I apologize brother, I apologize for that.” Alright. It’s like that meant
a whole lot. But anyway, the little brother was trying to find a way out anyway,
so he worked his way out. Alright. So now, anyway, you know, we can find fault
with any little thing we want to, if we want to. If we want to find fault, we
can do that.
But this is an
everlasting covenant. This everlasting covenant that was given, it gave the one
that gave His Blood for this covenant, it gave Him the title. The title. That
title of being the Great Shepherd of the sheep. You ought to study the book of
Hebrews and you’ll see how Paul speaks of this. It seems to be that whole
priestly order, all the way through, of Christ. This great priestly order of
Christ, that it’s represented in Hebrews there, it is saying that He is not only
Priest, but He is King, amen, and He is Prince. He’s all of this. He reigns in
righteousness. His reign is a reign of righteousness, so that makes Him King of
Righteousness. He has the domain over righteousness, and also peace. He being
that Shepherd that loved His sheep so much that He gave Hisself for them. He
gave Hisself for His sheep. Therefore they are His. See?
And now, in the
10th Chapter of John... let’s just turn over there and read a little bit in the
10th Chapter of St. John. Like I said, I know I’m not going to get too far
tonight, but I’m going to establish what I’m trying to say if I don’t get very
far with my notes.
Alright. In the
10th Chapter of John.
Verily,
verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold,
but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.
And I’ve heard this
misquoted hundreds of times. People will say “...As a thief and a robber.” It
didn’t say that. He said they are. Anybody that climbs any other way is a thief
and a robber.
But
he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
(The one that enters in
by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.)
To
him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own
sheep by name, and leadeth them out.
So, this great
Shepherd of the sheep, He goes into the door as the porter opens the door, and
then He calls His sheep by name, everyone of them. When He calls them in He
leads them out then, into green pastures. See?
And
when He putteth forth His own sheep, He goeth before them,
(See? He goes before
them,) and the sheep follow Him: for they know His voice.
Now what is His
voice? (Congregation replies, “The Word.”) What Word? The Word of the hour. Well
then, this gets pretty close, don’t it? Huh? If He goes before them, Brother
T.B., and they know His voice, then there’s not going to be no nine-hundred and
sixty different ideas of what He said. “My sheep know my voice.” My Word. Amen.
Alright?
And
a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the
voice of strangers.
Amen. So this Chief
Shepherd, then, He is on His job as the Priest, as the King. If you’ll notice in
that 45th Chapter, that I read there, in the Psalms, this King held the sceptre.
That is the authority, that proves that He is the King. That proves that He’s
all that He says He is. Amen. Alright.
So now, He has the
shepherd robe on, and of course, it’s a robe that covers Him completely. From
head to foot He’s covered in that. Then He is established, this High Priest that
we’re talking about tonight, He is established by God, by raising Him from the
dead. See? In other words... How many times have you heard Brother Branham talk
about, ‘If He had not come forth, if there had not been a Easter.” See, that
death on the cross would have been of no avail if there hadn’t been a
resurrection. So there had to be a resurrection to establish His title. It had
to be established in the blood of the covenant. He had to come back. Alright.
This made it an everlasting covenant. Thru this covenant, is where Brother
Branham felt at liberty to preach “True Justification”, and that you never did
it. See? Because of the blood. Because of that, he said, “I will forgive their
iniquity and I will remember their sin no more. Absolutely no more! Not
remembered.
A covenant is
always a covenant of present tense, not a covenant of past or a covenant of
future. It’s a covenant of present tense, right now. Right now the covenant
stands, and will stand. As long as a man is working and earning his living by
the sweat of his brow and a woman is having babies through pain and sorrow and
the serpent is crawling and eating dust of the earth, that covenant still
stands. The Blood Covenant still stands, amen, because we are still in the flesh
in so many permissive wills of God in the flesh, but not in the spiritual sense!
In the spiritual sense it has become perfection because the Word has come, which
has done away with that which is in part. Amen. That which is in part is to be
done away when that which is perfect is come. That which is perfect has come.
But we are still in a tabernacle, a fleshly body. Alright.
So alright now, so
this High Priest, the dress that is called the robe of the ephod. Now. So now,
if He carries our name, if He leads us out, if He’s the one that spoke the Word,
then, He is going to have to be our Counselor. He’s going to have to be the one.
I can’t say, “Brother Gerald, I want you to show me the way to Eternal Life.”
Brother Gerald will say, “I can point you to the Chief Shepherd, that can show
you the way of Life.” See? I cannot show you the way of Life. I can tell you
what the Chief Shepherd said. See? I can tell you what He said and it’s up to
you whether you can see that . It’s really not up to you because somewhere back
there, you made your decision, before this world ever was, whether you were
going to accept it or not. So God made not provisions of them that would not
accept it. No sir! There is no provisions for those that turned it down in His
mind. Amen. In eternity. So I want you to know that He’s not hitting and
missing. This is a priestly order that’s absolute. Amen. Brother Branham
preached a message on, “Absolute”. Remember?
So then, being this
wonderful Counselor, Prince of Peace, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, then He
has this... If you notice where we read there, these men, they embroidered
curious things. He has this curious robe upon Him, see? It gives Him a special
title, which gives Him a special ownership. That ownership is those that He
purchased.
If I bought
something, it’s mine. We were riding along the other day and talking about the
old car we’re riding in out there, and got about 36,000 miles on it in about a
year and a half. I said, “Well, you know, we won’t
nothing like get it paid for by the time,
probably, it gets worn out. So Adam said, “I thought it was paid for. How can
you drive it and not being paid for? How can you drive this car, daddy, and it’s
not yours?” I said, “Well, as long as I make the payments on it, it’s mine.”
See? As long as I make the payments on it, see, it’s mine. But, you see, this
was one that was paid for in one payment. Amen. It wasn’t a long drawn-out time
of payments, but He paid for it. And He bowed His head and said, “It’s
finished”, and gave up the ghost. It was finished. Amen. Because in the mind of
God that is what it took. That is what it took to settle the score with Satan.
Amen. It took an innocent man to die upon the cross or some way. He had to die
and give His blood to bring man back in relationship with God again, and bring
peace to the world.
The Lord Jesus is
our Counselor and He is the Prince of Peace. Yes sir! And so, the reason God
made Him this is because that Satan had so disturbed everything. And by this,
now let me tell you something. By this peace, Brother Don, by this peace that He
gives us, not by some great move or some great action or some great warrior that
we are, but by this peace that God has given us, Brother David, it brings Satan
under our feet. It’s the peace. See brother? It’s the peace that passeth all
understanding. See? What was the first thing that Jesus spoke to His disciples
when He entered behind closed doors, after His resurrection? “Peace be unto
you.” That’s right. “Peace be... I paid for it. I paid for this now and you have
this peace now. Don’t you worry no more. See? Don’t you get upset about things
no more, because this peace is going to bring Satan right under your feet.”
Amen.
And that’s exactly
the only thing that’ll do it. As long as the devil can keep you upset about
something, and worried about something, and stirred up about something, you are
not really putting him under your feet. See? But he is under our feet. Amen.
That’s exactly what it said. I get happy when I get to thinking about this.
Because you know what, the devil just lost everything. He just lost it all.
Amen. Now he makes you think that he hadn’t, but he has. He’s lost
everything.
Let’s just look in
Colossians 1:20, and let’s read that. Alright. I want to... I hadn’t looked at
my watch yet, I’ll look in a little bit. I’m not going to try to keep you too
long. Colossians. I had something in II Thessalonians too, I wanted to read, but
I want to get Colossians first. 1:20, and I know all of you done got it by
now.
And,
having made peace through (What?) the
blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say,
whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
See? So that peace
was brought by the blood of the cross to bring all things, all things, whether
it be in earth or in heaven under that peace. Amen. That peace. That’s where the
church really is lacking, I believe, some things, because they are like Martha,
you know, or Mary, whichever one it was. One of them had a desire to be with
Jesus. Didn’t make any difference whether the house got dirty, amen, or whether
the biscuits burned. You know, some men is so hard to please, their wife can’t
even... Listen now. Uh-oh. You women, you pat me on the back a little bit here.
Ok. Some men are so set in their ways until they think their wife has got to
wait on them, you know, with a silver platter and everything. Every time they
hollar they want their wife to run. You ought to be ashamed of yourself. Amen.
Sure she’s your helpmate, but she is not your servant. She don’t have to...
There’s some things you can do yourself. See?
And you know,
sometimes they might would have a little more time to study and pray, if they
didn’t have so much to do. And, you know, one of these sisters, she was
determined that she was going - she was after that most important thing! I’m not
saying, you sisters, don’t you wait on your husband, I’m not saying that. But
what I’m saying is, you husbands don’t go to the extreme. That’s what I’m
saying. Don’t go to the extreme. I mean, be reasonable. Amen. Some people can’t
even make a cup of coffee. Oh well, I’ll get off of that. I mean, it’s the truth
isn’t it? Huh? Why, I don’t mind going and making a cup of coffee. Not at all. I
don’t mind saying, “Honey, you want a cup of coffee?” You ever do that? Yeah.
Amen.
Well, the other one
was so incumbered. Now she didn’t have time. She had to make sure the house was
spic and span. And I like a clean house, you know that. I like for things to be
in order. But you know, you can run your legs off. And I’ll guarantee you, if
you’ve got children, about as fast as you straighten it up, they going to come
along and mess it up. Huh? You say, “Well, if it was mine, I’d straighten them
out.” You ain’t going to make them nothing but a child, I’ll guarantee you that.
You’re not going to make them grown people, you know? They’re children. Amen.
You can make them a paranoid. What is a paranoid? Huh? They get to the place,
brother, where they don’t know what’s right and what’s wrong, and then after
awhile they say, “Well I might as well give up. I can’t do nothing right anyway.
Everything’s wrong.” See? It’s the truth ain’t it? But you see what we need... I
have to put a little bit of this in once in a while, you know, because it takes
all that to measure out to a full meal, you know. I mean, we have to look at
some things sometimes as adults. And wonder what we were like, sometimes when we
were back down there? Or do we ever think about it?
Alright, so now,
Lord of Peace, Himself. He’s Lord of Peace. You can be so concerned about all
these things until you absolutely... It takes all the peace away from you. I
mean, be at peace with God, regardless of whether you’ve got a biscuit or not.
Be at peace with God. Amen. That’s what I want. See, He’s King of Salem, He’s
King of Peace. See? And His power, His power is, actually, to give peace. That’s
what He said. “My peace I leave with you.” My peace! Not the peace of the world,
not the peace of some fanatic or something, but my peace I leave with you! Amen.
“Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” Amen. “Let not your
heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” Amen. So, every... Look, and I’m
going to try to close now. Every attack that the enemy brings upon us, everyone
of them, and I’ve got some down here, that I’m going to try to read, some of
them. I try to think of everything, Brother Don. I thought about old Brother
Tiny. I thought about Sister Juanita. I thought about these children that lost
their mama the other day. I thought about all of it. Brother David losing his
boy. I thought about it all. And I got to looking and seeing how many of these
things, how many of these things do we think that Satan has attacked us on? Did
you get what I said. Did you get the phrase, “We think that Satan has attacked
us on.” Amen. Alright. I’m going to read some of them.
Alright, now. Well,
in all circumstances we can have peace. In all circumstances. And regardless of
the scene or regardless of what it means, we can have peace. When he attacks us,
it is not to end our peace, or when we think he’s attacking us. But, actually,
the very temptations of Satan and the weaknesses that we have, that Satan works
on constantly. Actually, if we’ll let it, it will establish more peace if we act
on it like we’re suppose to. See? If we say. “Lord...”
Now what if I made
a mistake. Yesterday I made a mistake. I made a mistake with this boy right
here. I made a mistake with him. Well, what did I do? That thing got to
bothering me so bad I couldn’t stand it. See? And I couldn’t hardly wait. I’d
carried Darlene and the little girl to music, and I couldn’t hardly wait to get
back to tell him I’d made a mistake. See? I jumped on him too quick. See? You
say, “Well, now wait a minute.” When you get checked over something, I don’t
care how much you are ruler over that; if you get checked on it , you didn’t
handle it right. You see? You didn’t handle it right if you get checked. Amen.
So the best thing you can do is go get it straightened out. Amen. Because you
ain’t going to have no peace until you do, if you’re a child of God. If you’re a
real child of God, you ain’t going to have no peace until you do.
Amen.
So I got that thing
straightened out. Amen. I sat down and had a talk with him. I took his hand in
my hand like a man, amen, and I told him, I said, “I love you buddy.”Amen. I
said, “I love you and we’re together and I made a mistake. I jumped on you too
quick.” I said, “I want you to forgive me.” Amen. Are you too big for that? Have
you grown too big for that? Listen. We have to acknowledge sometimes that we get
too quick. Amen. That’s not what God wants. He wants us to use the right
tactics, amen, the right way to do things. You say, “Well you being a preacher,
certainly you wouldn’t do that.” I’m a human being just like you are. Amen.
Sure, certainly. Yeah. You see?
Alright. But now
watch this. Now. He can make the sorrows and the trials which, actually, seem to
be getting us down so, he can make them turn around into blessings for us. You
believe that? Yeah. He can make those things a blessing and make it come around
to perfect peace. Amen. He has that power. And, of course, He is able to confirm
in our hearts, whether we have made a mistake or not. See? Amen. If we get so
callused, if we get so big, if we get to where we know so much until God can’t
tell us, “You’re wrong,” there’s something wrong with us. There’s something
wrong with us because He’s the Chief Shepherd of the sheep. And what is He? He’s
the leader of the sheep. And if He’s the leader, He said that He’d put some
for... He goes before them and He gives them His Word. He talks to them and they
won’t follow another one. They know His Voice. Amen.
So, it might not be
just, you know, patting you on the back all the time and saying “Oh, you’re such
a good boy”, you know, and everything. It might be, sometimes, that you might
have overstepped something. Huh? You might have had a little falling out with
your wife and went to work without pulling her in your arms and telling her,
“I’m sorry honey, I didn’t mean it that way.” You say, “But I did mean it that
way.” Well how did you dish it out. Did you dish it out like Christ would have
dished it out? Did you dish it out like the Chief Shepherd would have did it?
You say, “Let’s go home, Brother Holmes.” Oh, no, let’s talk about this a little
bit, ok. Let’s talk about it. See, I talk about these women all the time. I’m
talking about men tonight. I’m talking about you men tonight, see? Amen. We get
to the place, sometimes, where we think the woman is suppose to wash our feet
and everything else. That’s alright if she wants to do it. That’s fine, there’s
nothing wrong with it. But, I mean, sometimes, you know, we get so overgrown and
so overpowered until we just want to push them all the time, and not step out
there and say, “Come on honey, follow me.” Amen. “Follow
me.”
When the head is in
full obedience to the Word of God, and the wife is under that, it won’t be near
as hard for the children to see something and understand that there’s something
real. Amen. Amen. It starts up here. Amen. I thought about, so many times, the
Lord has helped me and was easy on me when He could have been much harder. Amen.
He could have been much harder. So it don’t make no difference what comes along,
sickness, death, suffering, what-not, God can turn that around and make it a
blessing to us if we believe that He is what He says He is. If we believe that
He is, and that He is a rewarder to them that diligently seek Him.
Amen.
So, we know that
we, as believers, have got to be, or should always be at peace with the Lord. We
should always be at peace with the Lord. And at peace with one another. At peace
with one another. Don’t hold a grudge. Don’t pout. Huh? If your wife burned the
bread, or if your wife didn’t do just exactly like you thought she ought to, and
then you pout and don’t want to speak to her for about two or three hours. Hmm?
Ain’t you ashamed of yourself? Say, come on now. You say, “Well, we don’t do
that Brother Holmes.” That’s good. I’m so glad you don’t. Some people do. And
some of the little sisters, they’ll get to pouting, they’ll pull off in a
corner. I’d rather them just come right out and blast and tell me what they’re
thinking about and get it over with. Amen. And let’s have a prayer meeting and
go on. Amen. Don’t sull. Don’t pull off in a corner. Did you hear me?
Amen.
We used to sing
that old song, “This Train Don’t Carry No Jokers, This Train.” This train don’t
carry no jokers, no snuff-dippers and tobacco smokers. This train I’m bound for
glory, this train. Amen. There’s something in there about the pouting and about
all of this, you know. I used to know the whole song. If I did, I’d sing it
tonight, but I forgot it. But it’s really something. This train that we’re on,
we ain’t got troubles. We ain’t got no time for that. This train don’t have no
time to stop and fuss, you know, and carry on. Amen. We’re going somewhere. And
we ought to be so happy about this trip that we’re making, until all we’re
talking about is, that we’llsoon be at our destination.
Soon be there. Amen. It won’t be long. Amen. I’m on my way. Amen. Something is
happening among the body of Christ. Something is taking
place.
The few little
remarks that I brought to you tonight, the little things might seem like
correction. I don’t intend it for it to be that way. I just intend it to be...
just look at it. Just kind of look at it and see, how do I conduct myself? See?
How do I act? See? Ever how I act under the worst circumstances, that’s what I
am. See? That’s right. It don’t make no difference how stormy the clouds get,
there’s a sun above them clouds and it’s going to come out. When we’re going
through all of these things, if we can just smile and console one
another.
You know, if this
boy didn’t do but one thing that I was proud of a day, if I ain't got guts
enough to take him and say, “Son, I’m so proud of you, for you done that.” If
I’m not careful, I’ll mark down all the bad marks and I’ll remind him over and
over and over of those things. See? Instead of searching close to see them good
qualities and say... Like I did yesterday, I looked him right straight in the
eye. I said, “There’s a whole lot of good in you, boy, and it’s coming out.”
Amen. “And I’m standing with you to see the end of it.” Amen. That’s right. You
say, “He ain’t...” No, I’m just telling you, I just had a little squabble with
him, and I acted too quick. That’s right. See? Well, he can’t help hisself. I
can do what I want to, to him. See? See, he can’t help it! But what about me?
I’m under a ruler too! Amen. How do I want Him to treat me? See? Do unto others
as you’d have them do unto you. Amen. And don’t let the sun go down on your
wrath.
May God bless you.
I love you. Come on Sister. Oh, I’m so happy. You know, I’m not going to let
nothing disturb my peace if I can help it. That’s right, Brother Kenan. I mean,
you might say, “Well Brother Holmes, you’re always talking about some of the
failures.” Well, I have a lot of them. Amen. But you know, I’ve got a lot of
victories too. Amen. Victory is ours. How about that robe? That thing was so
strong in the neck here, until nothing, nothing could tear it. The power of God
is so strong and so powerful, if we will humble ourself under that, He’ll break
every fetter and every chain. Everything that Satan comes to you with, He’ll
break that if we’ll come in the right attitude and the right frame of mind and
worship before Him. Amen. “Where Will I Shelter My Sheep Tonight?” Let’s stand.
You know the old song; we sing it a lot.
Congregation sings,
“Where Will I Shelter My Sheep Tonight?”
Amen. That’s the
place. Right at God’s door. There’s peace like a river. Peace in the time of
trouble. Peace in the midst of the storm. Amen. Let’s hit that key... Drop it
down about two steps. (Brother Holmes sings, “There’s Peace In The Time of
Trouble.”) I want to get it. See if you can find me, ok? I’m not with you.
(Brother Holmes continues singing.) Now I’m going to get him. Sing it with me.
Satan didn’t want that.
Congregation
sings.
“Upon His
shoulder”, Brother Branham said. He said he was walking along over in the
eastern country, and he said he saw this shepherd that had picked up the little
sheep. He said, “There wasn’t nothing wrong with the sheep, little lamb, you
know. He picked it up and put it on his shoulder.” Said he asked the shepherd,
“Well what’s wrong with it?” He said, “There’s nothing wrong with it.” He said,
“There’s something wrong with the mother. She won’t listen to me. She won’t
watch me when I’m trying to lead her.” And he said, “If I pick up her lamb, she
won’t take her eyes off of me.” Amen. “She’ll watch me and she’ll listen to me.”
Oh my! What a lesson! Amen. Think of the Chief Shepherd tonight.
Amen.
Brother Holmes
sings, “Go Feed All My Sheep”.
Who’d He tell that?
Old Peter, after he’d backslid. He said, “Do you love Me, boy?” He said, “Yea,
Lord, I love You.” He said, “Go feed My sheep.” He said to him the second time.
See, he denied Him three times, “Do you love Me?” He said, “Yea, Lord. He said,
“Go feed My lambs.” The third time, He said, “Peter, do you love Me more than
all of these?” He said, “Yea Lord, You know all things! You know I love You!” He
said, “Then go feed My sheep.” Amen. So if you love Him, go feed His sheep.
Amen, amen! Alright.
I’m just having
myself a time. It’s alright, I am. I’m rejoicing. I’m so happy that the Lord has
stepped in for Brother Tiny. He’s on the increase. We’ve got so much to be
thankful for. So much. Amen. The devil is losing the battle and everything’s
alright. Amen. Everything. Brother T.B., come on up here and dismiss us in a
word of prayer. Don’t forget this one thing, hold to God’s unchanging hand. Man
will fail you, denominations will fail you, your job will fail. Everything will
fail, but there’s one thing that won’t, and that’s God. Just hold to His
unchanging hand. And when you get in trouble and you get in need, He’ll hold to
yours.
Brother T.B. closes
service with comments and prayer.
Listed
below are the Scripture and Quotes that were taken from the Message of our
Prophet for the basis of this sermon.
JOHN 10:1 - Verily,
verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold,
but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.
JOHN 10:2 - But he
that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
JOHN 10:3 - To him
the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep
by name, and leadeth them out.
JOHN 10:4 - And
when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow
him: for they know his voice.
JOHN 10:5 - And a
stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the
voice of strangers..
EXODUS 28:31 - And
thou shalt make the robe of the ephod all of blue.
EXODUS 28:32 - And
there shall be an hole in the top of it, in the midst thereof: it shall have a
binding of woven work round about the hole of it, as it were the hole of an
habergeon, that it be not rent.
PSALMS 45:1 - To the
chief Musician upon Shoshannim, for the sons of Korah, Maschil, A Song of
loves. My heart is inditing a good matter: I speak of the things which I have
made touching the king: my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.
PSALMS 45:2 - Thou
art fairer than the children of men: grace is poured into thy lips: therefore
God hath blessed thee for ever.
PSALMS 45:3 - Gird
thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty.
PSALMS 45:4 - And in
thy majesty ride prosperously because of truth and meekness and righteousness;
and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things.
PSALMS 45:5 - Thine
arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies; whereby the people fall
under thee.
PSALMS 45:6 - Thy
throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right
sceptre.
PSALMS 45:7 - Thou
lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath
anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
PSALMS 45:8 - All
thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces,
whereby they have made thee glad.
PSALMS 45:9 - Kings'
daughters were among thy honourable women: upon thy right hand did stand the
queen in gold of Ophir.
PSALMS 45:10 -
Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own
people, and thy father's house;
PSALMS 45:11 - So
shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy Lord; and worship thou
him.
PSALMS 45:12 - And
the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift; even the rich among the people
shall intreat thy favour.
PSALMS 45:13 - The
king's daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is of wrought gold.
PSALMS 45:14 - She
shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework: the virgins her
companions that follow her shall be brought unto thee.
PSALMS 45:15 - With
gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought: they shall enter into the king's
palace.
PSALMS 45:16 -
Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children, whom thou mayest make princes in
all the earth.
PSALMS 45:17 - I
will make thy name to be remembered in all generations: therefore shall the
people praise thee for ever and ever.
EXODUS 35:30 - And
Moses said unto the children of Israel, See, the LORD hath called by name
Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah;
EXODUS 35:31 - And
he hath filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in
knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship;
EXODUS 35:32 - And
to devise curious works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass,
EXODUS 35:33 - And
in the cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of wood, to make any
manner of cunning work.
EXODUS 35:34 - And
he hath put in his heart that he may teach, both he, and Aholiab, the son of
Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan.
EXODUS 35:35 - Them
hath he filled with wisdom of heart, to work all manner of work, of the
engraver, and of the cunning workman, and of the embroiderer, in blue, and in
purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen, and of the weaver, even of them that do
any work, and of those that devise cunning work.
COLOSSIANS 1:20 - And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.