Choose You This Day

14 Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD.

15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

~JOSHUA 24:14-15

God gives you your choice. 
"Choose you this day who you shall serve."
In the garden of Eden there was a tree of knowledge and a Tree of Life. Man was given the privilege to choose either one he desired. And so is it today; you're given your privilege, as free moral agents, to choose whatever you want to choose. My advice to you is, don't look at the modern things around you, and the popularity, and the glamour that you could be, but choose rather, by faith Him, that give the promise that someday He will come and will right all wrongs, and will give you Eternal Life, and raise you up. No matter if you take the despised way with the Lord's few, make that choice.


If there is troubles in the hand... If there's troubles in the land, if there's troubles in the church, if there's troubles in the home, no matter where it is, make your choice, "By faith "I'll serve God. I'll humble my heart in His presence. I'll take the way with God's children. I see them despised, and rejected, and drove out, and made fun of, but I'll still take my post of duty. I'll stay right by them, and when they cry, I'll cry with them. And when they're sorrow, I shall sorrow with them. The way they live, I'll live."


Like Ruth said to Naomi, "Your ways be my ways; my ways be your ways; where you live, I'll live; where you go, I'll go; the God that you serve, will be my God." Take that choice, though it pulls the very skin off of your conscience, of thinking that you're somebody. Skin yourself down and take your way with the Lord's despised few, and stay loyal on the field of service and at the post of duty.

~Bro. William Branham -BY.FAITH.MOSES 58-0720M 

More Precious Than Gold

That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory

 at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

~1PETER 1:7

Why do we come to these troubles? What makes these things come? Why should a Christian ever be perplexed? Why wouldn't not everything just run perfect for a Christian? But it doesn't, and we know it.
And sometimes we have more troubles when we become a Christian than we did when we were sinners. 'Course it is written, "Many is the afflictions of the righteous, but God delivereth him from them all." God promised many afflictions, strange feelings, and strange things that would be beyond our understanding, but it's always done for our good. Just can't understand it, because if we did, then it would not be of faith to us; we would go with an understanding. But we do it, and we have it, and we believe by faith His Word, that it's going to work some good thing for us. If we could grasp that today, on this morning. If we could grasp that all of our troubles... And there's none of us immune from them. And if we could realize that those things are for our good...

It is written in one of the Scriptures in the Bible, that, "Trials are brought upon us, are more precious to us than gold itself, for it is God giving us these trials." After we become His property, our confession, and our baptism, and our promise to walk in life for Him, then every trial that comes upon us is to perfect us for His glory. It's to bring us to a place where God can make Himself more real to us than He was before the trial come.


I want to join in this morning with Job to say that I've lived long enough to know that's the truth. I have seen it in my own life, that every time a great situation rises, that I can't get around it, or under it, or over it, God makes a way, and comes out glorious. I just wonder how His grace ever does it, but He does it.
And remember, in all these things Satan tries to make us nervous, and upset us, to get us to think, "Oh, why did this happen? Why couldn't I have been like this?"....

...It's those crucial hours that press us on to those sacred sands. It was in the Bible. And remember, no matter how great the distress is, Satan cannot take your life until God has finished with you. There is nothing can happen to you unless God permits it. There is no evil can come unless God permits it. And it's for your good He's working that.

~Bro. William M. Branham  - I KNOW 60-0417s

The Word of GOD

Heaven and earth shall pass away,

 but my words shall not pass away.

~MATTHEW 24:35

The grass withereth, the flower fadeth:

but the word of our God shall stand for ever.

~ISAIAH 40:8

"All flesh is grass, the breath of God blows upon it whether it's flower, grass, how beautiful, it's withers away; but the Word of our God stands forever," Isaiah 40 was prophesying of the coming of the Messiah, said that. All our creeds, denominational systems, educators, genius, and everything else, will perish, but the Word of God shall remain forever. "Upon this rock I'll build My Church; the gates of hell can't prevail against it."
~Br. W.M. Branham - FALLING.APART.OF.THE.WORLD_ 62-1216

 The Word of God:

Generations follow generations - yet It lives.

Nations rise and fall - yet It lives.

Kings, dictators, presidents come and go - yet It lives.

Torn, condemned, burned - yet It lives.

Hated, despised, cursed - yet It lives.

Doubted, suspected, criticized - yet It lives.

Damned by atheists - yet It lives.

Exaggerated by fanatics - yet It lives.

Misconstrued and mistated - yet It lives.

Ranted and raved about - yet It lives.

It's inspiration denied - yet It lives.

Yet It lives - as a Lamp unto our feet,

Yet It lives - as a Light unto our path,

Yet It lives - as a Standard for childhood,

Yet It lives - as a Guide for youth,

Yet It lives - as an Inspiration for the matured,

Yet It lives - as a Comfort for the aged,

Yet It lives - as Food for the hungry,

Yet It lives - as Water for the thirsty,

Yet It lives - as Rest for the weary,

Yet It lives - as Light for the heathen,

Yet It lives - as Salvation for the sinner,

Yet It lives - as Grace for the Christian.

To know It is to love It,

To love It is to accept It,

To accept It means Life Eternal! 

 ~ Author unknown

Commune With The Lord

And Jesus answered him,
 saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone,
 but by every word of God.

- LUKE 4:4

 

Now, our bodies need food and drink each day to survive, our physical body. If we don't take food each day and drink, then our body weakens. There's something in us that we must have food. One day's food will not last for the next day. You've got to have food each day to strengthen your mortal being. You can live over, but you're weaker. And the second day, you're still weaker. And the third day, you're getting tremendous weak.

Well, that's what many times that we do in the spiritual realm. You see, each day we've got to commune with Christ. We've got to talk to Him each day. We've got to settle it with Him each day. Paul said, "I die each day. (See?) Each day, I die; yet I live, not me but Christ lives in me." So if your physical body needs food each day and drink each day to survive, your spiritual body needs spiritual Food and communion with the Lord each day to survive. Yes.

Jesus said, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." So each day we've got to study the Bible. Some people doesn't study It at all. Some picks It up every two or three times a year. But a real, real believer that's really spiritually built up, he reads his Bible every day and talks to the Lord. That's right. He has to. "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."

Bro. William M. Branham - COMMUNION_ 62-0204

Set Your Affection On Things Above

1  If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.

2  Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

3  For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

4  When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.

~ Colossians 3:4

You want to belong in heaven. That's where your affections ought to be, on things above. Jesus said, "Set your affections on things above, not on things of the earth. They're going to fail." Stay with God. Stay with realities. God is a God of reality. He's always been in all ages. Any time that man ever walked with God, God become a reality that performed signs and wonders and miracles with His people. It's God's purpose to do so. Surrender all.

Right here in Louisville, Kentucky, not long ago, there was a very nice family of people. They had a sick baby; called to pray for it. The doctor walked out of the hospital. "And what about the baby?"

He said, "That baby's dying. There's nothing else can be done for it." Said, "It's got leukemia." Said, "The baby has to die."

Thought, "O God, You ain't said that yet. You never witnessed that." I went and talked to the parents, and the parents was crying and sobbing. Their baby was gone, as far as they knowed. But what did they do?

The doctor was right. Everything that he knowed to do, he'd done. Leukemia's a killer, and nothing can stop it. Said, “The baby is going to die.”

The old grandfather of that baby... You all know the case. And the old grandfather of that baby come along. When he heard me speak about the baptism of the Holy Spirit, he said, "I used to remember years ago, when an old preacher said there'd come a time that people would receive the Holy Ghost again, and signs and wonders would be done." He went off in a little room to himself. He wouldn't stay with his son or his daughter-in-law no more. He stayed in there, crying and praying. When the old fellow walked out of there, the sweat hanging across his bald forehead, his eyes glistening, said, "That baby will live."

Said, "What?"

He said, "Doctor, I respect you as a man of science. I respect you and your intelligence that you've learned through medical research." But said, "I prayed and I prayed, and I prayed until I surrendered everything I had to surrender, and the Holy Spirit said, 'The baby will live.'" It did. Why? He surrendered everything he had.

~ Br Branham - UNFAILING.REALITIES.OF.GOD 60-0626

My Time Is In His Hands

5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Proverbs 3:5-6

Do as David did, put your future into His hands. Don't look to anything else, ... David said here, he said, "My time is in His hands." You notice here in the Psalms where we read it in 62, "My time is in His hand. He's my Rock." What is He? "He is revealed to me. He's the revealed Truth. My time is in His hands." Amen. Oh, my. There you are.
My time belongs to Him. I am His. I'm in His hand because He holds the time. I don't know what the future holds, but I know He holds the future. So He Who holds the future holds me...
I just put myself in His hands, walk like David did, "My time is in His hand," knew that God held the future. David didn't know what the future was, but he knowed God had the future. I don't know what the future is, none of us do. But we know He holds the future.

Br. William Branham - SHALOM 64-0112

Thirsting For God

As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God

-PSALMS 42:1

Now, being acquainted with the outdoors, and in Africa, and in the jungles, and the eastern countries where this Book the Bible was written, they have over there great herds of wild dogs, wolves. And David was acquainted with these animals.

And a little deer, when these wild, savage dogs run into a herd of deer... They have long fangs, and one of their choice spots is to grab the deer is just behind the ear, sink those fangs in, and then swing his weight. When he does it, he rips the deer's neck. That's all of it. The deer goes right down.

And if the deer, he cannot catch him in the jugular vein here, as we call it, he's got another choice place. He grabs him right in the flank. And he will grab it with his teeth like that, and when he swings his weight, he throws the deer off his feet. And the dogs cover that deer and rip him to pieces just in a moment.

Now, many times the deer, when the dog grabs him in the side or up here, if he gets too tight a hold, well, sometimes the swinging of the deer will make the chunk of meat pull out. Then the animal has the meat in its mouth, and if there's no other dogs standing to cut it off, it can sometime escape. But it's bleeding. The blood's a pouring from the little fellow.

Now, if any hunter here knows anything about hunting, if a deer can get to water he can live. If that deer can't get to water, he's dead. And David knew that. And he said, "As the hart panteth for the water brook, my soul thirst after Thee."

Could you imagine, the hounds has just grabbed and pulled a big chunk out of his side, his blood's life is running out. The little deer stands sniffing for water, the hounds are just behind him. He’s got to find water or he will die.

David said, "That's the way my soul thirsts for Thee. Oh, I must have You, Lord, or I'll perish." If you only knew, sinner friend, that the hounds of hell is right behind you, crippled and wounded by sin, and you've got to find Christ or perish. When that sort of a desire gets into a man's heart, he will find Christ, when you get in that shape.

"As the hart panteth for the water brook. I must have it. I'm wounded. If I don't have it, I'm gone." And when you get to a place that you want Christ so bad, you must have Him or perish, you can't sleep at night; you can't eat; you've just got to find Him; blessed are you when you hunger and thirst after righteousness, you'll find Eternal Life.

May God help you this afternoon to have that thirst for that Life, for there's only one Life that'll last forever; that's Eternal Life, and given only by knowing Jesus Christ in the forgiveness of your sin. "He that heareth My Word and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath passed from death unto Life, and shall never come to the judgment." You've done passed from death to Life.

Bro. William M. Branham - GREATEST.GIFT.IN.BIBLE- 57-0811A

A Humble Heart

And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

- MATTHEW 23:12

No matter how much teaching you got, you can drum that into you. God's not in big words; God's in a honest heart. You might sing or speak big words, like I don't know what; that doesn't bring you closer to God. You can stand and practice how to repeat your sermon and say these things; that don't get you closer to God. You could learn dictionaries till you sleep with one, and it still wouldn't get you closer to God. A humble, submitted heart, in the simplicity, is what brings you to God. That's true. Amen. A humble heart, God loves. Now, no matter if you don't know your abc's, that don't make any difference. Just a humble heart, God dwells in a humble heart, not in education, it's not in schools, not in theology, seminaries, not in all these other different places, not in big words, or not in classical places. God dwells in human hearts. And the lower you can break yourself down, the more simple, you can become greater in the sight of God.

Bro. William Branham  DEMONOLOGY.2.RELIGIOUS- 53-0609A

Faith Is Our Victory

4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

- 1 JOHN 5:4

When you come to Him, don't come as a floater. "I'll go up and try it and see if it works." You'll never get nowhere, but when you come with this kind of a determination, that you have sold out lot, stock, and barrel... When you're tired of the world, and sin, and unbelief, and flusterations and doubts, and come to the living God with a anchor surely tightened in the Rock of Ages, the Holy Spirit's here to pull you into the Presence of the living God, that will give you a faith that'll overcome anything there is in the world: sickness, disease, and even death itself.

You say, "You said death, Brother Branham." And that's what I meant. Death.

Was not it, Lazarus, who was laying dead in the ground, and had already corruption set in, when Jesus said to Martha, "Where have you buried him? And if you won't doubt you shall see the glory of God."

"Did not I tell you not to doubt," He said to Jairus that day? "If you'll only believe, you can see the glory of God."

Then faith overcomes death. Faith is the victory over death. Faith is the victory over sin. Faith is the victory over sickness. Faith is the victory over worry. Faith is the victory over flusterations. Faith is the victory over the world.
You say, John, when he wrote that, he did not have my troubles. He did not have to deal with the folk that I deal with. He did not have to go through the things that I do. That's right. He may not had to deal with the same folk. He may not had to overcome the same thing, but he never excluded them. For he said, "This faith is the victory that overcomes the world, the whole thing."

How is it? It's faith in it. Ride above it. When we have the written Word of God laying before us, and the Holy Spirit here performing and showing the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, with the Divine promises written here, that, "whatsoever thing you desire when you pray, believe you receive it, and you shall have it.", what do you have to do then? Have faith, not just floating faith, not just a make-believe faith, but a real faith.

Now, faith is a conqueror; faith is an overcomer. It just isn't a peace maker, it overcomes. Faith is the victory that overcomes the world. What does it do? What is faith? What is the conqueror? Conquer and victory is the same. To conquer, it means to beat down, to override, to handcuff, to throw into prisons. It means that the sin, that once ruled you, you rule it now. It means that you have overcome it, you've whipped it. You're greater than it is.

Br. William M. Branham - FAITH.IS.OUR.VICTORY 58-1004

Faith - The Sixth Sense

1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

2 For by it the elders obtained a good report.

3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

~HEBREWS 11:1-3

"And it depends on how you, what you yield these senses to, will be the way that your life is controlled: the way you yield those five senses... What you see, what you hear, what you taste, smell, or feel, whatever those senses are yielded to, they will dominate you.

And we are grateful to God that we have the five senses, but by no means was these five senses given to you to guide you. They were given to you for earthly contact. But there was given you the sixth sense, and that sixth sense belongs only to the Christian. And you cannot have this sixth sense until you become a Christian, is the only way that you can ever have any more than the five natural senses for the natural person. The sixth sense is better known, to the Christian, as faith. It's the one that governs and guides you, and it is superior to all the other senses. It's a superior to all of the senses, the other five senses.

Now, I would not say that because that we receive the sixth sense that the five senses are no good no more. Yes, they are. Those five senses were given to you by God, and they are to be used. But when the five senses act contrary to the Word of God, then they are lying...

...And the super Sense is the Holy Spirit, the faith of God that dwells in you. And if you'll let the five senses be yielded to the sixth sense, it'll guide you and bring all the other five senses under control of that super sense. For it's so far above the natural sense, as the spiritual man is above the natural; it's as far and as high as the heavens is above the natural man and his five senses. It makes you believe things that you cannot see. It makes you act where you do not think the five senses would ever think about it. The devil can get into these five senses and lie to you, but he cannot touch that super sense. That's far beyond his reach. That come from God. It's called faith. Faith is that great thing.

And the five senses does not control the sixth sense, but the sixth sense controls the five senses. The super sense controls the natural senses. And the five senses is see, taste, feel, smell, hear. And the super sense is something that'll make you believe God's Word, for that's the only thing it'll speak about. And it'll make you believe for things that you can't see, taste, feel, smell, or hear, 'cause it'll take God's Word. And it will deliver that Word to you, and make you walk contrary to any other thing there is but God's Word. By faith, faith does it.

Now, in giving this illustration of the senses, the natural man is borned with these senses, so they are nature-given senses. And that's really only thing he'll ever know about it in his intellectual thinking. He can only think as a man; he can see as a man; he can understand as a man; he can hear as a man; but when he becomes governed, or regenerated, or we would call it borned again, then that sixth, super sense takes a hold of him. And in doing so, that super sense raises him up into a spot to where he has faith to believe things that he could not hear, things that he could not see, understandings that he could not understand. He believes it anyhow, because he's governed by that sixth sense, that super sense. Oh, how marvellous it is to know it, and to think how simple it is to believe it.

Br. William Branham - SUPER.SENSE 59-1227E

Prayer Changes Things

We hope you're having a good day and that this post will be a blessing!

1 In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live.

2 Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, saying,

3 I beseech thee, O LORD, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.

4 And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court, that the word of the LORD came to him, saying,

5 Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the LORD.

II KINGS 20:1-5

"...Prayer is the most vital force that God ever put into the hand of mankind. The most effective force that's known to man, is prayer. Do you believe that? It is. It's prayer that changes things.

Look at Hezekiah... the prophet went up and said, "All right, Hezekiah, you're not coming off the bed. God's done said you was going to die right there where you're at."

And Hezekiah studied it over, if he just had fifteen years longer... Now remember, you've got to give God a cause, a reason. Now, he didn't say, "Just because I can get out there and ride around in a chariot, and show the people I'm a king." No, he wanted to rebuild the altars of the God; and a few things had to be done to get the kingdom in order right.

And he prayed that God would give him fifteen years longer, and he wept bitterly, just wept to God. He said, "God, I beseech You to consider me. I've walked before You with a perfect heart."

How many of us can say that tonight, we've walked before Him with a perfect heart?

"I've walked before Thee, Lord, with a perfect heart. And I ask You to consider me. Now, I want..."

And God Almighty, Jehovah, reconsidered that man's case, because he prayed. Think of that. Almighty God, that had pronounced death upon the man, reconsidered His case. My, that's too much for me. Great Jehovah, to a mortal, to one of the earth, would reconsider His Word that He'd said to him.

Now, God has ways of doing things. Looked like He would have spoke right back and told him, "But I considered your case, again; I'm going to let you stay for that, if you'll do that." But He didn't. He spoke to the prophet, and sent the prophet all the way back up there again to tell him. Said, "All right, God heard your prayer." See, God revealed to the prophet what was going to happen; he come back, "Your days is considered, and you're going to come off the bed now in three days." You got some poultices and so forth, put on him. And Hezekiah come off the bed and was made well.

Now, see what prayer does? Prayer is not exactly bringing God down to man. It's bringing man up to God. See? As you pray, you lose sight of these earthly things. You sway out into somewhere else, way beyond, and on and on and on, till you be come into His Presence. And then a faith that you have laid it out before God, said, "Now here, God, here it is. And I want to get well for, this cause." Or, "I want You to do this for me, for this cause. I want You to heal me from this cancer, or this TB or this anaemia condition," or whatever it is. "I will walk before You, I will do everything I can. I will give this testimony everywhere I go. I will be happy to do that, Lord. And I will use my life, not for myself. I will use it for Your glory, to help others to see You."

Bro. William M. Branham THOU.KNOWEST.ALL.THINGS - 52-0716

He Careth For You

6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:

7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you

I PETER 5: 6-7

Oh, cast your cares on Him; He careth for you. Now, He cares for you, now we know. Let's ask a few minutes if He cares for us.
All right.

He cared for the leper when He was here on earth. There set the leper. Did you ever see a leper? Oh, I've seen many of them, hugged them in my arms, them white with leprosy. Looks like a seed wart turned inside out. Setting where nobody would touch him, down in the slime and dirt and filth of the street, about as low as he could be, where everybody was afraid to get around him. He was a outcast. He was cast away from the society of the city, from the society of the church, from the society of everything there was in the city. No one wanted nothing to do with him. If they done anything, they'd pitch him a piece of bread and let him get it out of the dirt. They wouldn't get near him. But Jesus cared for him. He walked right down with him and set down. I can just see Him lay His hands upon him and said, "I will, be thou clean." Oh, He cared for him.
When nothing else could care, He cared. When nothing else will care for you, He still cares.

There was an old blind beggar, with his sleeves all torn, whiskers all over his face, and not nothing to eat, sit by a gate side one day, begging. And the Son of God, on His way to Calvary, to be crucified with the sins of the world on Him; but one screamed, "Thou Son of David, have mercy on me."
Would a man of that caliber, would a man, would a President, would the mayor, the governor of state, one on the police force, stop for such a thing as that? Seldom you'll find it.
But Jesus cared. He cast his cares on Him, and He cared. He said, "What would you that I would do for you?"
Said, "Lord, that I might receive my sight."
He said, "Thy faith has saved thee." He cared for him.

There was an immoral woman one time, like an alcoholic or a prostitute, so immoral till the women of the city wouldn't touch her. She was an outcast. She come out to get her water; she had to wait till noontime. She couldn't come with decent women. Nobody'd have anything to do with the woman. She'd been married, and had a bunch of husbands, and living common law then. Nobody cared for her. They were too stiff and starchy. Nobody cared.

But He cared for her so much that He told her the secrets of her heart, and forgive every sin, and put Something in her, that she run into the city, saying, "Come, see a Man that's told me the things that I've done."

See, that's what makes Him great to me. He isn't a stuffed shirt. He was God's grace to the people. He was God's love expressed in human flesh. No matter how little or insignificant, He cared; immoral, drunks, alcoholics, whatever it was.

Now, the question is for us tonight, do you care? He cares. But now do you care? If you do not care, then He can't help you. But if you care enough, or care enough about yourself... I've heard people make this insane remark, "I don't care what becomes of me." Oh, my. I sure care what becomes of me. Sure, I do. I care. And I believe any person in their right mind cares. I want to know what's going to happen to me. And if I know He loved me, there no one else could love like that. He cares for you. He cares for you. No matter how little you are, how insignificant you are, how poor, how indifferent, how many times you've tried and failed, He still cares. His love still knocks at your heart's door. But are we ungrateful for that?…

Bro. William M. Branham  - HE CARETH FOR YOU 60-0301

Shepherd Of The Sheepfold

We pray that the 'Sunday Scriptures and Quotes' will be a blessing to you!

 7  Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.

 8  All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them.

 9  I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.

10  The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
- JOHN 10: 7-11
~

"One time when I was over in the orient, I learned a great lesson in Saint John, I believe the 10th chapter, where He said, "I am the gate to the sheepfold," or the door to the sheepfold. I often wondered how could He, being a man, be a door? But then when I was over there I learned what it meant. The shepherds drive their sheep into the sheepfold, and they got a arch that they go in at, and when he drives them all in there, then after they're all in, then he counts them. If there's one lacking, he will go out and get it. He has to bring it in. Every sheep has to be accounted for every hour of the day.

Oh, what a Shepherd He is. He gives an account for every sheep every hour of the day. No matter where you're at, He knows where you're at. He knows all about you. That's the reason He can stand here at the platform through yielded people and reveal and tell and talk; He knows. He knows where you was at a year ago. He knows where you was at all the time. He has to give an account for His sheep, and especially they're all renumbered again after they're gathered into the fold. I thought, "What a beautiful picture, gathering them into the fold and numbering them."And then after he gets them all numbered and they're all bedded down, the shepherd goes down by this hole where the sheep come in at, and lays himself down across the hole. Then no wolf can come in, no thief can come in, no harm can come in, 'less it comes over the shepherd first.

What a picture of Christ laying Hisself down for us, that nothing can harm us unless it comes over Him. So if you're sick and you say, "Brother Branham, sickness crossed over Him." But it was for the glory of God. That's right. He wants to maybe give you a testimony. As the fellow said one time, he seen a shepherd packing a sheep. And he said, "Well..." Had his leg all bandaged up, and he said, "... What's the matter, did it fall off a cliff?
Said, "No," said, "I broke its leg."
"Oh," he said, "you must be a cruel shepherd to break your own sheep's leg."
Said, "No, the sheep wouldn't mind me, so I had to break her leg in order to hold her, pet her, and love her, and give her a little special food, so that she would love me and follow me."
And so sometime God has to do that to us. Let the doctor say, "Oh, it's all over; nothing could be done."
And then God takes you up in His arms and pats you a little bit, says, "Child of Mine, don't you know I love you? Don't you know I'm the Lord that healeth all of thy diseases?"
"But Lord, I was taught that the days of [miracles was past]..."
"I know you was, but I just had to let this happen so I could just show you a little special favor. Now, don't you love Me just a little more now I'm going to let you get well."
Did you ever have that just come to you? I have many times. Let something happen, just to check me down a little, to let Him express His love..."

Br William M. Branham - SHEPHERD.OF.THE.SHEEPFOLD 56-0403