One in a million (1965/April-24)
Los Angeles California
1ª Part (radio broadcast)
1 Thank you, Brother Shakarian. And good morning, friends. Certainly good to be here in Los Angeles again this morning, prior this great convention, and the oncoming meeting of this coming week over at the Embassy Hotel. I'm expecting to see you all over there. And we're all under a great expectations to meet our Lord Jesus, to see Him over there. He promised that He would be. "Wherever two or three was gathered together," He would be there.2 And I'm sure that I met Him this morning as I come up the steps here in this auditorium, when all the people with great anticipations, waiting for the breakfast and the speaking. And it's good to be gathered here with you, and to the radio audience. There is so many in here, they're… I had to go down on the next floor, and speak to a few. And seen so many requests, heart trouble, and different ailments of their bodies, and we're here now to pray for the sick and the afflicted. 3 Just as I got top of the steps… I'm looking at the old gentleman now. He came up to me, and said, "Brother Branham, years ago…" He said he had heart trouble so bad that he… they thought he was going to die. And had prayer for him, and the grace of God healed him. And here he is this morning, way in his eighties, just rejoicing. So that makes us take new hope.4 And now I'm certainly soliciting the prayers of the people out in the radio land, as well as here. After I leave this meeting, I'm going to Europe, down into Africa and around, on meetings. And this is going by a vision, so it's going to be a great meeting there, I'm sure. And I felt for years that the Lord has wanted me to come back. The little humbly, humble ministry that He gave me, I don't think He is quite finished with it yet, over there. Seemed like there might be a soul somewhere that I could catch in the Gospel net, the one that He's give me to seine for the people, the way of in Divine healing, praying for the sick. And I certainly solicit your prayers, both you people here and them who are out in the radio audience. 5 Now I don't have time just take a text and preach, which I expecting to after a few minutes here in the–in the… this auditorium, but just to speaking to–to you a few moments, get acquainted. And to the people out in the land, I'm going to ask prayer for those out there, right away, and in here also. And I'm certainly glad to meet all these fine new friends that I have never met before, just come in contact with them this morning.6 We've been having great times in the services in other places. I don't get out too much anymore, it's so busy. We just try to keep the road hot between Jeffersonville, Indiana and Tucson, Arizona, where we moved out there a few years ago, by a vision of the Lord, that sent us out there, too, not knowing where I was going. And many of you here, at Clifton's, I spoke to you a little before I left, and at Phoenix meeting, of the vision that had come. I seen seven Angels in a cluster. 7 And I know, to the radio audience, perhaps many of you are not full Gospel, and this may seem a little mysterious to you. Which, it would to me, but there is… Anyone who can explain anything, you don't have to accept it anymore by faith. It's things that we cannot explain, that we have to accept by faith. We cannot explain God. No man can explain God. He is sovereign, and He is great and mighty. We just–we just accept it because that we know He is there. And then by our faith, in accepting it, He brings the response back to us, the baptism of the Holy Spirit.8 Which, I'm just going to speak to you about, in a few moments here, on, "God's way, or place of worship." And the only place that you can worship Him, the only place He'll ever meet you, there's got… There is one Church, one place, one time, one people, in all that God meets. And I hope that the Lord blesses the Message to your hearts here. 9 Now, coming to Tucson, it was strange, those visions speaking to you in the Name of the Lord. Not one of them as I ever can recall, will ask anyone else if they can recall anytime, that He ever did say anything but what was the Truth. It always happens just the way He says it will happen.10 And He is supposed to, according to the Scriptures, return to us in this last days, in this type of ministry. That will be after the baptism of the Spirit, and speaking in tongues, and Divine healing, and so forth, these things. The capping of the pentecostal message is what we're speaking of today. This ministry of the Christ Himself impersonated among His people, with the very same things that He did when He was here on earth; in His Body, the Bride, which is part of Him, doing the same things, as Husband and Wife, or King and Queen, just before the Marriage ceremony. 11 This week, the Lord willing, I wish to speak some on that, out in our campaign here, at the–the Embassy Hotel, and kind of get acquainted in my humble way of doing it. The–the time and the hour that we're living, if a person don't know which a way to go, what to do or how to turn, you're–you're not walking by faith anymore; you're just guessing, you're presuming. And presume is to–to "advance without official authority." So if we haven't got the real official authority to know what God said would take place in this hour, how are we ever going to face this hour? And we've got to face it, knowing, by faith in His Word, the things that's supposed to be happening now; and the condition of the nations, the condition of the people, condition of the church, and so forth.12 We've got to know that, and then how to walk out to face it. If you don't know how to do that, you're just–just what we used to call, kind of, haphazardly; just jump in, hoping it will be here, hoping this and hoping that, and "will it be?" But God don't want us to do that. He wants us to know what He has said about this day, and then meet it by faith, because He said it would be that way. Then we–we know you're Truth then, because you haven't got some person's word for it; you got His Word of what we must do. And we're hoping that our Heavenly Father will–will grant this to us this week. 13 Now, I'm sorry that I cut off, of what I was saying a few moments ago, about coming to Tucson. And I thought, myself, that it was the end of my life. I thought no one could ever stand that shock of that condition that happened in that vision that morning, about ten o'clock at home, that would ever be able to live after that. Why, I come to Tucson, making arrangements with my son, for my wife and–and children to go with him after I was gone, because I thought it was my end. And I, in Phoenix and many of the meetings before it happened, I told you just how it would happen.14 Well, a few months after that, I was up in Sabino Canyon one morning, which is just north of Tucson. I was up there to pray. And while I was praying, I had my hand up in the air, saying, "Father, I pray Thee that Thou will in somehow help me, give me strength, for the hour that I'm now facing. And if my work is finished here on earth, then I must come to You. And it's not that I regret coming, but I know that You'll take care of my family. And I–I'm just asking for strength for this hour." And something struck my hand! 15 Now, radio audience, this may seem strange that I've said, but it's the truth. And God is my Judge.16 I looked in my hand, and there was a sword, had a sheath over the handle part. And the handle itself was made of pearl, and just looked like kind of a gold-like guard over the handle part. And the–the knife itself looked rather like it was kind of a shiny like, oh, something like chrome or something glistening in the sun.17 Now, it was about ten or eleven o'clock in the morning, way on top of a mountain. You can imagine how a person (that I feel that I'm in my right mind) would feel standing there with a sword from nowhere, people for miles and miles, holding that in your hand. I felt of it, took and waved the blade back and forth, and, why, it was a sword. 18 And I looked around. I said, "Well, now, how could that ever happen? Here I am standing here, right, here, and no one around for miles and miles, and where did that come from?" And I said, "Well, I–I suppose maybe it's the–the Lord telling me it's my end time."And a Voice spoke and said, "This is the Sword of the Lord."19 And I thought, "Well, a sword, then it's for like a king, to knight." You know, how it used to do in England and different places. I thought, "That's what that is for, to knight." And I thought, "Well, maybe I'm supposed to lay hands on people, or…" I had all kinds… The human mind can be all messed up, you know. You don't know. Our minds is finite; His is infinite. So, and as I was, it… Then it left my hand and I didn't know where it went, just disappeared. Why, if a person didn't understand a little bit about spiritual things, you–you'd go crazy like that. You'd be standing there, wondering what happened.20 And He said, "The vision is not your end time. It's for your ministry. That Sword is the Word. The Seven Seals will be opened, the mysteries of…" 21 And then two weeks after that, or two months, rather, after that, I was up in the mountain with a bunch of friends when it, happened. Seven Angels, just as clear as you're standing here, came sweeping down from Heaven. The rocks in the mountains rolled out and down the hills, and–and people standing there were screaming and going on, you know, and the dust flying everywhere. And when it was, He said, "Return to your home. Now will be, each Angel will be one of the seals of the Seven Seals."22 Which, it's on tape. And the book will be out pretty soon, being now it's kind of grammarized. As you know, my grammar is not very good, and people wouldn't… You just have to be people that love me and know how to understand me on my grammar. But some theologian is grammarizing it for me, and taking out all the–the… Well, maybe I said the wrong word there. I don't even know. So, I heard someone laughing, so I guess that "grammarize" wasn't right. But like the Dutchman, you take me for what I mean and not what I say, really. 23 And it's just three minutes now, I'm told, unto the closing of the program.24 Now, you dear people out in radio land, and you that's sick and needy here in the audience, would you just lay your hands on each other now while we have this word of prayer for the sick. Now, Jesus said, His last commission to the Church, "These signs shall follow them that believe." "Them," them that believe! "If they lay their hands on the sick, they shall recover." 25 Dear Heavenly Father, we are like children today, we're obeying what You said do. We are laying hands upon all these telephone requests. Thou seest them out in the land out there, how they're needy, the suffering. You see those here that are needy, suffering. And we are committing them to Thee, Dear God, with this faith in Thy Word that Thou has said, "These signs shall follow them that believe. If they lay their hands on the sick, they shall recover." Grant it, Lord, in Jesus Christ's Name. Amen. [Blank.spot.on.tape–Ed.]
Brother Branham ends the first radio broadcast–Ed
