Preparation #16 (Motherhood)
Brian
Kocourek
This morning we shall continue to examine a few words
brother Branham spoke from his sermon Preparation. In PP. 017
In the garden of Eden there were
two trees: one was Life, one was
knowledge. Man left the Tree of Life
to eat off the tree of knowledge. And the first bite he took, he separated himself from God. And every time a man bites off of that tree of
knowledge, he destroys himself. He bit off gun powder, kills his comrade.
He bit off automobiles off the tree of knowledge, kills more people than all
the wars. He's bit off himself a hydrogen bomb now. What's he going to do with
that? Everything, he destroys himself by
knowledge, and knowledge always climbs so far and falls back. But this Tree of
Life is endless and goes right into glory.
018 So, Don't
depend on your knowledge, and don't never try to figure anything out that God
says. If you could figure it out, or I could figure it out, or any other
preacher could figure it out, we would be equal with God. We are not supposed,
and never will be able to figure it out, because when we can figure it out,
it's not faith any more. We've got to accept it by faith. Is that right? God
said so. I don't know how. I can't tell you how He's going to do it, but He's
going to do it 'cause He said so. That's the basis. God is going to do it
because He promised to do it. He's God, and He can't break His promise, how it
is. And some of God's preparations has
been so ridiculous to the people who depend on the tree of knowledge. God's
preparation has been absolutely ridiculous to the natural mind, 'cause the
natural can't conceive the things that are of God. Because they are
foolishness to him, and he just thinks it's horrible to think. "Why, God
would do..."
I
CORINTHIANS 2:1 ¶ And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not
with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of
God. 2 For I determined not to know any thing
among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. 3
And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. 4
And my speech and my preaching [was] not with enticing words of man's
wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: 5
That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power
of God. 6 ¶
Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom
of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: 7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a
mystery, [even] the hidden [wisdom], which God ordained before the world unto
our glory: 8 Which none of the princes of this world
knew: for had they known [it], they would not have crucified the Lord of
glory. 9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen,
nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God
hath prepared for them that love him.
10 But God hath revealed [them]
unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all
things, yea, the deep things of God.
11 For what man knoweth the
things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of
God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
12 Now we have received, not
the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the
things that are freely given to us of God.
13 Which things also we speak,
not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but
which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual
things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither
can he know [them], because they are spiritually discerned. 15
But he that is spiritual judgeth all things,
yet he himself is judged of no man.
16 For who hath known the mind
of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. Let us pray……
Now, this morning, seeing this is mother's day, we are
going to take our thoughts of what brother Branham is speaking of here and
apply them to this day and it's mothers.
Now, in most churches in the world today, the minister
will get up to his pulpit and he will extol the virtues of motherhood. And yet
if you were to look around in his congregation, you will hardly find a real
mother. A lot of women, yes, but real mothers and motherhood, it seems to be
left for only the very elect.
I will not, and can honestly tell you that I have
never been one to follow the same course as others do. I have always followed a
different drummer, and I will do so today. Instead of extolling the virtues of
motherhood and laying on the syrup, I think we ought to use this day to take an
inventory as to our motherhood, I'm talking to you sisters here.
I want you to pay close attention to the things we
read from the scriptures, this morning and from the words of God's prophet,
William Branham to see where you measure up.
Now, in order to do so, let's go to the Word of God and let's see what
God says about motherhood. What
attributes has God placed in his Elect Seed to be manifested in his daughters
concerning motherhood. For I am not at all interested in what the world
considers a good or great mother, but what God considers a great mother.
And I would hope that you will feel the same way.
Therefore, after we finish with this message this morning, I hope you will have
the tools to work with. I hope you will by God's grace be able to self reflect
upon these word and where you fall short, remember, that he said, "If you
be any other wise minded, God will reveal it to you". Now, this message,
since it is addressed to our sisters, does not mean that you men have the day
off. Apply these thoughts, and see whether you be in the faith. Glean from this
what you may and remember, fathers day is right around the corner, and your day
of reckoning is fast approaching.
Preparation. In PP. He said, 016 Now, "Preparation..." God,
before He does anything, He always prepares for it. …. And God always prepares the people for the events
that's just about to happen.
Sister Haddie Wright was the
kind of a mother that you women should all aspire to be like. Brother Branham
said, EXPRESSIONS 62-0313 022 And her never-failing plea for her
children... I don't believe I ever met her, or left her, without her asking a
request for those children. That showed real motherhood, knowing that life is merely a preparation place for her children. She
wanted to meet them in a land beyond here, where there would be no more hard
times. She constantly would say to me (she called me "Brother
Billy"), she'd say, "Brother Billy, pray for my children, none of
them will be lost." If that isn't expressing real motherhood... A mother
who's interested in her children, interested in her neighbors, her husband, her
loved ones, it's God in the woman, expressing eternal things.
Notice he said, she viewed life as only a preparation
place for the next life. For the life to come. And when you view this life in
that way you make your whole life here a preparation for that one. The the goal of a Godly Mother. To prepare her children for the
going home. We're still talking about
preparation. And that is the main role of a mother, is to prepare her children.
Now, the first time we see the word mother used in the
scriptures, it speaks in terms of a man who takes unto himself a wife, and it
tells us that he must be willing to leave his mother, his father, and now focus
himself and his attentions on his wife.
GENESIS 2:24
24
Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave
unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
Now, this means that there must comer a time in a
mothers life that she must let go, and allow her son to depart. Now, this tells us then that motherhood is
not a permanent thing. It tells us then that there is a time when this
motherhood must be performed, because when the son leaves, and takes a wife, it
is too late then to try to do what you should have done when you were given the
charge, and stewardship of that young man.
GENESIS
24:67 And Isaac brought her into his
mother Sarah's tent, and took Rebekah, and she became
his wife; and he loved her: and Isaac was comforted after his mother's
[death].
This Scripture here tells speaks of a specific role
that Rebecca will fulfill in the life or her husband Isaac. Notice he brings
her into his mother's tent. I believe this is a symbolic gesture on the part of
Isaac showing that he is leaving the only woman in his life, for the only other
woman in his life. The tent is a
covering, it is a place of refuge from the storms and tempest, a place of rest,
and place of comfort, a place of familiarity in a time of wandering…it is
symbolic for a home. Remember, these people were nomads. They moved with their
flocks with Abraham, Pilgrims and strangers, seeking a city to come, whose
builder and maker is God. And the tent was the only piece of stability they had
in their journeys. And it was Sarah's job to make the tent their home, their
place of familiarity, their place of stability, their refuge. And Rebecca is
now to come into this home and take over this role, and make this tent into the
place where Isaac's children will feel the comfort and refuge that he did when
his mother controlled the atmosphere that dwelt within those four walls.
Therefore, we see through the Scriptures here that the
role of mother is to make a house a home. It does not matter what that place
looks like, be it a tent or a cottage,
or a palace. There are two main roles of a mother that the word of God speaks
of and these are #1) to create an
atmosphere or environment where the children can have rest and a place of
refuge away from the stresses that this world places among them. And #2)
to train up that child in the way
it should go, that when it grows up it will not depart.
Proverbs 22:6 ¶ Train up a child in the way he should
go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
We see how this is to be done in Deuteronomy chapter 6:1
¶ Now these [are] the commandments, the
statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you,
that ye might do [them] in the land whither ye go to possess it: 2That thou mightest
fear the LORD thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I
command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy
son's son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged.
3 Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe
to do [it]; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily,
as the LORD God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey. 4 ¶
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God [is] one LORD: 5 And thou shalt love
the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy
might. 6 And these
words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: 7
And thou shalt teach them diligently (incisively, that means to
make them clear and unambiguoua) unto thy children, and shalt talk
of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when
thou walkest by the way( derek,
during your course of life), and
when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. 8 And thou shalt bind them for a sign (or
token) upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine
eyes. 9 And thou shalt write them upon the posts of
thy house, and on thy gates.
The problem we have today is that the word needs to be first in your heart before it can
enter the heart of your children. The Amplified version says, "And these words which I am commanding you
this day, shall be first and foremost in your own minds and hearts, then you
shall whet and sharpen them, so as to make them penetrate, and teach and
impress them diligently upon the minds and hearts of your children, and you
shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way,
and when you lie down, and when you rise up.
And you shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets
between your eyes. And you shall write them upon the door posts of your home
and on your gates…
PRESUMING 62-0610M. In a
fall of a nation, as soon as motherhood
was broke and womanhood, that
nation's backbone was broke. Talk about morals in our country, I got a
piece out of the paper on the Associated Press, that when our boys went
overseas, that four out of every six was divorced by their wife that stayed
home before they were over there six months. And there was more illegitimate
children born in the State of New York during-- the war in one year, than there
was soldiers killed in the entire four years of war: presuming that's all
right. 059 Women
put on little sexy clothes, and walk out on the street. Say, "Yes, I'm a
Christian." They're presuming that's the thing they should do. Now,
please, sister. I'm your brother. If your mother was the right kind of a woman,
she'd tell you the same, or your daddy, or your husband. And any man will let
his wife get out on the street in them shorts and things like that, it shows
how much man's in him. Let his wife set there and smoke a cigarette before him,
and know that that thing... What's his
children going to be? Don't worry about communism whipping us. We've done
whipped ourselves. It's our own rotten morals. And where did it start from? Because
the Gospel was let down at the pulpit, where it began: sissified preachers,
with not enough real baptizing of the Holy Spirit in their soul to stand and
tell the Word of God. Don't spank the child for juvenile delinquency; spank the
parents. It's parent delinquency. They
let them get by with it.
Last week on the Mike McConnell show on 700 WLW they
talked about how these strip clubs are filled with girls who started out as
cheerleaders. One woman called up and said she was a grandmother and she had been
a cheer leader years ago, but she said she would never let her children be one
today. She said, just watch their movements, it's all hip gyrations, and the
clothes they wear shows their underpants every time they kick up their legs. And what would be in the mind of a parent who
would let them do such?
You say, the parents are tired of fighting with their
kids. That may be true, but if that parent has any backbone in them, they fight
the good fight, and they will hold fast to that which is good.
EXODUS
EXODUS
EXODUS
LEVITICUS
19:1 ¶ And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2
Speak unto all the congregation of the children of
LEVITICUS
20:9 For every one that curseth
( To trifle with, or treat with contempt)
DEUTERONOMY
5:16 Honour
thy father and thy mother, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee; that thy
days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the
LORD thy God giveth thee. his father or his mother
shall be surely put to death: he hath cursed his father or his mother; his
blood [shall be] upon him.
DEUTERONOMY
21:18 ¶ If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son,
which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and
[that], when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them: 19
Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out
unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place; 20 And they shall say unto the elders of his
city, This our son [is] stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice;
[he is] a glutton, and a drunkard.
21 And all the men of his city
shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from
among you; and all
DEUTERONOMY
27:16 Cursed [be] he that setteth light (TREATS LIGHTLY OR WITH CONTEMPT) by his
father or his mother. And all the people shall say, Amen.
PROVERBS 1:8
My son, hear the instruction of thy father,
and forsake not the law of thy mother:
9 For they [shall be] an
ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck. 10
¶ My son, if sinners entice thee,
consent thou not.
PROVERBS
PROVERBS
PROVERBS
PROVERBS
28:24 ¶
Whoso robbeth his father or his mother, and
saith, [It is] no transgression; the same [is] the companion of a destroyer.
PROVERBS
29:15 ¶ The
rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left [to himself] bringeth
his mother to shame.
PROVERBS
30:17 The eye [that] mocketh
at [his] father, and despiseth to obey [his] mother,
the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it.
MATTHEW 15:4 For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. 5
But ye say, Whosoever shall say to [his] father or [his] mother, [It is]
a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by
me; 6
And honour not his father or his mother, [he
shall be free]. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your
tradition.
EPHESIANS
6:1 ¶ Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for
this is right. 2 Honour thy father
and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) 3
That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.
ISAIAH 49:15
Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she
should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet
will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of [my]
hands; thy walls [are] continually before me.
The girls want to be popular they say. Popular for
what. Don't you know that if you dress in such a way that a man or boy looks
after you to lust, you have committed adultery with him? And you parents that haven't the back bone to
stand for righteousness? You will have to give an account one day. And what
will you do when your little girl becomes a strip tease down in Newport? Oh,
you say, not my little girl. That will never happen. If she is a cheerleader,
dressed in those scanty little clothes, she's already a striptease, wakeup!
Before it's too late, if it isn't too late already.
343-4
LAODICEAN CHURCH AGE - Now I know that the women don't set the
styles. Hollywood does that. But listen ladies, they still sell yard goods and
sewing machines. You don't have to buy what's in the stores and then use that
as an excuse. This is a deadly serious
matter that I am going into. Have you not read in Scripture that when a man
looks on a woman and lusts after her in his heart, he has already committed
adultery with her in his heart? And suppose you dressed in such a way as to
cause that? That makes you his partner
in sin, even though you would be absolutely unaware of it, being a true
virgin with no such desires. Yet God
holds you accountable and you will be judged. Now I know you ladies don't
like this kind of preaching, but sister, you are dead wrong in what you are
doing. The Bible forbids you to cut your
hair. God gave it for a covering. He gave a command for you to wear it
long. It is your glory.
When you cut
your hair you signified that you left the headship of your husband. Like Eve
you walked out and went on your own. You got the vote. You took men's jobs. You
left off being females. You ought to repent and come back to God. And if all
this wasn't bad enough, a whole lot of you took the idea that you could invade
the pulpits and the church offices that God reserved for men and for men only.
Oh, I touched a sore spot then didn't I? Well, show me one place in the Bible
that God ever ordained any woman to preach or take authority over a man, and I
will apologize for what I have said. You can't find that I am wrong. I am
right, for I stand with the Word and in the Word. If you were Spiritually rich
you would know that is true. There is nothing true but the Word. Paul said, "I
suffer not a woman to teach nor to usurp authority over the man." You
can't possibly take a place amongst the five-fold ministry of Ephesians 4 and
not take authority over men. Sister, you had better listen to that Word. It was
not the Spirit of God manifesting in a Spirit-filled life that told you to
preach because the Spirit and the Word are ONE. They say the same thing.
Somebody made a mistake. Somebody was fooled. Wake up before it is too late.
Satan fooled Eve, your mother; he is fooling the daughters now. May God help
you. "I have need of nothing."
Now when anybody says, "I have need of nothing," he could very well
be saying, "I have everything", or he could be saying, "I don't
want any more as I am full now". You can express this any way you want, and
it all adds up to the fact that the church is complacent. She is satisfied with
what she has. She either figures she has it all or has enough. And that is
exactly what we find today.
RESURRECTION
THE 53-1205 038 And all these miracles and
signs, and then still didn't believe that that was their God Who was doing the
same thing. That's the way it is today. It's a failing of the church when we...
Theology and such and education has took the place of the old fashioned
mourner's bench. We used to have a mourner's bench. You took that down in the
basement. We don't use it no more. That's the truth. And we... All the fire we
ever had on the altar, we put it in the stove. What we need today... You say,
"Well, Brother Branham, I'm afraid you'll get a little fanaticism, a
little wild fire." I'd rather have
a little wild fire than no fire at all. Sure I would. I can put up with a
little fanaticism before I could put with something that's so icy, and stiff,
and starch, and ungodly. How can God move into a place like that? Go into a
place and the spiritual thermometer registering hundred below zero.
Somebody say, "Amen," and everybody stretch their neck, and look
around, and see who said it. Preacher said, "You interrupt me."
039 A little old woman one time lived
up in Kentucky. Her boy come out there to Indiana and joined a nice, big
church. …And he went down to a Methodist church. It was a great, starchy
church. She come out of a little old fired up Methodist church. She went down
that morning where her son and them was going to church at. And she walked in.
Why, the man at the door didn't even want to let her in. She had on a little
old calico dress, or gingham, or whatever you call it up around her neck like
this, and little old laced up shoes, and long sleeves like that. And come
walking, tripping like a little mammy, you know, ought to, walking in the
church, and the doorman looked back at her like that, as to say, "What are
you?" And it had embarrassed her boy. Brother, if you got a mammy like
that you ought to thank God for somebody... What we need today is some more old
fashioned mothers like that. 040 She
was so happy to get to church, and setting in the church. The preacher said
something another about the Blood of Jesus Christ. She said, "Amen."
And everybody stretched their neck like a crane to look around and see who it
was. And the preacher lost his text. He said, "Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm."
He didn't know what had happened. Why then, she set there just... She didn't
know she was out of place. She was setting there... Look. Listen. Brother, she might not have had her name in
"Who's Who," but... She
had her name on the Lamb's Book of Life. And I'd rather have my name there, than all the "Who's Who's" of this world. That's who's to my opinion
who is. God's Who's Who. I'm glad my name's in it. You know that famous book
they got out, "Who's Who" of the the four
hundred millionaires, and so forth, all the dignitaries of the world. Let this
world have theirs. Our name's written in heaven on the Lamb's Book of Life, and
that's who's God's Who Who is. Might be silly to the
world, but their name's on the Lamb's Book of Life. She was sitting there with
her arms folded just as bright as she could be. And the preacher said something
else after while and She said,
"Amen." And everybody... And you know what? The usher come and put
her out of the church. She was interrupting the pastor; he couldn't preach his
sermon. Talking about falling from grace. Oh, my. That just goes to show the
difference. Yes.
EZEKIEL
16:44 ¶ Behold, every one that useth
proverbs shall use [this] proverb against thee, saying, As [is] the mother, [so
is] her daughter.
If the mother is a Godly woman and she raises up her
child according to the Word of God, that child will be a Godly child.
INFLUENCE 63-0112 014
Now, we find that Uzziah was called to be king
at the age of about sixteen years old after his father's death. And his father
was a great believer, and his mother also was a very fine woman. And this young
king had been crowned at a young age, and quickly he taken the road that was
right, because of the influence of a godly father and a godly mother. And I
think that's a very fine example for we parent today, is to set an example
before our children. Now, you'll live your best and your worst at home. And I
think that our lives... Though the children might not just exactly act like
they're noticing it, but they are noticing it. Don't you never think that they
are not, because they're watching. Not only the children are watching, but the
neighbors are watching. Not only the neighbors are watching, all that you are
associated with watch you. The people at your church watch you. The people that
you do business with in the markets, they're watching you, after your
confession. And we should always try to reflect Christ in everything that we
do. 015 I know a little motto that I
had hanging in my house many years ago. And I kept it until it just fell apart.
It was something like this. "Go no
place you would not be--want to be found if Jesus should come," and,
"Be saying nothing that you would
not want to be saying if Jesus should come." And it went on with many
things saying what you... In otherwise,
whatever you do or say, or whatever action that you're performing, do not do it
if you would not want to be caught in that position when Jesus come. If we could only do that, I'm sure we'd be
a great influence upon our associates. …to my opinion, the greatest
president that we ever had in this nation was Abraham Lincoln. Now, not because
he was a Republican, but because he was, a godly man. And he was raised, to
serve God. And he said, "If there's
anything that my life was influenced by, was a godly mother who taught me to
pray and to know Jesus as my Saviour." Oh, your family's what you are. You raise your
child in a certain environment; it's got a ninety-eight per cent better chance
to go right than it has to if you bring it up in the wrong way. "Bring
up a child in the way that it should go, and when it's old it'll not depart
from it." Be brought up right, teach your children to do right, to be
honest, to be square and fair even when they're in school.
PROVERBS
31:1 ¶ The words of king Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him. 2
What, my son? and what, the son of my womb? and what, the son of my
vows? 3 Give not thy strength unto
women, nor thy ways to that which destroyeth
kings. 4 [It is] not for kings, O Lemuel, [it is] not for kings to drink wine; nor for
princes strong drink: 5 Lest they
drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted.
EXPECTATION
55-1001 029 The first preacher that ever gets a child
is a mother. There's four, five Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and mother.
And a mother should be a Spirit filled
woman, who can teach her children, and teach them to pray and to know about
God, and so forth. Instead of that,
they give them to a babysitter and run all night long. And then go to Sunday
school on Sunday morning and call themselves Christians. I better get off
of that, hadn't I? 'Cause I just an old sassafras type that believes the truth
about these things. That's right. And I'd rather scorch you now than have you
be burnt after while, that's true. So
you just remember; it's the truth; it's the Gospel truth. And they go to the church.
And this woman, she went into the church out there. She done a very good job;
she was a piano player. And after while, she begin to notice the women in her
neighborhood begin to dress immodestly, how they get out and mow their yards
with them little old clothes on. I hope there's none of them here tonight. And
it's a disgrace to you, sister. God be merciful to your sinful soul. What else
would do that but an evil spirit full of lust. You don't want to think that,
but that's exactly. The only person that ever stripped their clothes in the
Bible was a maniac. That's right. Put on your clothes and act like a lady. Your
husband ought to be whipped for letting you do it in the beginning. So then the
first thing... Now, she thought she'd go get by with that, 'cause the rest of
the women in the church was doing the same thing. She thought she would do it.
So she started to doing it. That led on till they begin to smoke cigarettes, so
she thought she'd smoke cigarettes. And she continued playing. There's was nothing
said too much about it around the church. 031
That's what's the matter, pastor. What's the matter, our people will go
to hell is because you let down the Gospel in the pulpit; that's exactly what
it is. If you keep those little old rosary things out of the pulpit and preach
the Gospel, the power of God unto salvation, have an old fashion altar call and
have people cleaned up in their life, it would be different. It would be
examples set forth in Christianity. That's right. But we've let down the bar
somewhere. A good old Methodist preacher friend of mine, he used to sing a
song: We've let down the bars; We've compromised with sin; We let down the bars; The sheep got out, But how did the goats get in? You let down
the bars; that's just simple. That's the only thing it is. They could join
church today and live any kind of life or anything. But I tell you one thing;
you can't be borned again and live any kind of a
life. You'll live for Jesus Christ when you're borned
again. And you'll act like a man. And you'll conduct yourself as a real
Christian, if you're borned again of the Spirit of
God. 032 So this woman, finally, she got--fell in
love with a man, neighbor. And she left her husband, and run off, and married
this man, and continued playing the piano in the church. And after while, she
left him and married another one. And she thought she was doing all right. And
then finally, ended up as a common law wife. What was it? Her soul told her in
the beginning, "Don't do that." But she reasoned, "Now, if the
rest of the woman can do this, why can't I do it?" But down in her soul
was a Spirit that said, "Don't do that; keep away from that; that's not
right." But yet, she fought against that, and cast that aside, and she
went to reasoning. Don't you see? Don't reason, just believe. Believe God's
Word; don't try to reason it out. Just what God said is the truth. And believe
that to be the truth. And don't go to your reasonings;
go to your experience, to Christ in the heart and compare it with God's Word.
033 Now, she went on. And after while,
she was called, or the pastor of our church was called to her bedside to pray
for her. Well, she was laying there smoking cigarettes and everything, living
in the house, a common law wife, and he said, "Sister, is everything all
right with your soul to die?" She said, "Everything is at
peace." Now, she believed it. She had went so long with her intellect,
until she had grieved the Holy Spirit from her. It no more spoke to her; she
didn't know which was right. She had reasoned it out. She had a--a mental
conception, that if she went to church and did what was right, why, she would
go to heaven. That went on down till the very hour of her death. But when her
reasoning power... When you die, your brain breaks up, of course, when the
spirit leaves you, and then what's left? Here's your soul that you've neglected
back here, which comes to you then, when you're dying. And this mental
reasoning breaks up; you don't reason no more. It's your soul that's been in
your heart, that you've grieved away; then it caught up with her. And when she
did, she screamed, "My God, I'm lost." Too late then; the soul that
had been grieved away.. 034
Now, the doctor can shoot a hypo in her arm and keep you from screaming.
"Oh, she's excited"; said the pastor, "she's not lost. Give her
a hypo." He give her a hypo, and she,
Sure, quietened her down. Oh, preached her
funeral and said, "The sister's in heaven." That I cannot say. But
let me tell you; that hypo can quieten those lips,
but it'll never quieten that soul that'll haunt her
through eternity. That's right. Don't you let that be your state. You mind God.
Be borned of the Spirit of God, and quit reasoning
things, and just believe what God said to be the truth. Be filled with God's Spirit,
and then God will lead you, and the Holy Spirit will lead you in the paths of
righteousness. And you see yourself conducting yourself unlike a Christian; you
know that that's wrong; then go back and check up with God, with His Word here
and with His Book; and get right with God.
THIRSTING
FOR LIFE 60-0304 That's
what breaks up homes; that's what spoils children; that's what makes neurotics;
that's makes teen-age delinquency is when motherhood and fatherhood is broke.
040 In the Africa there's a tribe of
them back there, that if a woman isn't married by a certain time, she has to
get out of the tribe. And if she is married, and before she is married she has
to be tested for her virgincy. If she be found
guilty, she has to tell the man that's done it, and they kill them both
together. Be a lot of killing around the United States if that took place,
wouldn't it? Think of it. Heathen, it's a disgrace. It's a stain on that flag
that our forefathers fought for. It's a disgrace to our nation. And when the
womanhood is broke, and motherhood, in any nation, the backbone's broke. God
give us old fashion mothers again. 041 I
got a piece in the paper that was in our paper there, our local paper, that
showed that three out of every four soldiers that went overseas during the
other war was divorced six months after they were there by their wife. Went to
work in powder plants, so forth like that... Now, if a man is sick and his wife
can't work, I mean, he can't work, I don't blame; his wife got to make a living.
That's right. But if she's just out working to have a little extra money, you'd
better keep her away from that scalawag bunch that's she's working with out
there. Her place is home. That's it. Here she's--she's supposed to be at home.
And mister, you might call yourself ever so good, but if you've got lodges and
other things that calls you away from her at night, you ought to be ashamed of
yourself. God gave you a home to--for cherish and comfort and things like that,
and it's a shame to see the way man does their wives, and wives do man. The
womanhood and fatherhood of the nation is tore to pieces, divorce courts piled
full. Jesus said it would be that way, "As it was in the days of Noah,
they were marrying and giving in marriage until the day that Noah entered into
the ark." It's a sin and a disgrace. Don't call me that kind--I don't...
HE WAS TO
PASS THIS WAY 57-0727 Eighty
percent of the mothers that give birth to babies in this United States,
cigarette smoking mothers, they can't raise their babies as they should to
their breasts; they have to give them the bottle because they take nicotine
poison and never reach eighteen months of age. The Fifth column,... It ain't
Russia that's going to hurt us; our morals are rottening
ourselves. It isn't the robin that pecks on the apple that hurts it; it's the
worm at the core. America is defeated by
her own immorals. That's right. And when motherhood is broke, the backbone of
the nation is broke.
Brother Branham told us stories about the mother Deer
…. Burt …Lizzrd eyes led to Christ by the genuineness
of a Mother Deer.
Story of the Oppossum that came to brother Branham's porch, and while it
lay dying would not let anyone get near her little ones who were nursing in her
pouch. He contrasted that to the woman who through her baby in a sack over the
bridge.
We've got the same today. They kill the child for
convenience sake, they have abortions because they don't want stretch marks.
One woman called into to Doctor Laura and said, I used to work full time and I
had a very good career, but I stay home now, and it is the hardest job I have
ever had, but that's ok because it's the most rewarding job I ever had also.
Many of these woment work out of convenience. It's a
lot easier to go to work and drop off your children somewhere, and work a job
than to try to raise up your child. But it's wrong, and this nation is
producing a whole generation of neurotics because of the selfishness of the
mothers who work for the extra's. Those kids don't need extra's, they need you.
They need your love, and your affection.
Those kids didn't kill those students in columbine because they needed
things. They drove a BMW. But what they died for was and were willing to kill
for was because they wanted love and couldn't find it. The prostitute doesn't become a prostitute
because she enjoys it. She is searching for love the only way she knows how.
She thinks that if she gives her body to some guy, she will get love and caring
in return, but that isn't what the man wants. He just wants instant
gratification.
INVASION OF
THE USA 54-0509 108 Now, to you mothers that's mothers, just a
word to you before going. God bless you. You bring your children up right.
109 We'll pick up this invasion; we got
to go into the homes yet, and a lot of places, the schools, and out in places
with it. We'll pick it up. But the invasion of the United States, the Devil has
took her over. Don't be afraid of Russia. Russia ain't got nothing to do. We're
doing it ourselves, our own rottenness right among us. That's right. You know,
the United States has more divorce cases than all the rest of the world? More
divorces, think of it. That horrible? The motherhood has been broken. Mothers
don't stay at home no more with their children, like they used to. They got to have
a job. 110
Here the other day, a certain grocery man in this city, was talking to
me about it. These women working in this public plants, these young married
women with a bunch of little kids, they got babysitters taking care of their
babies to work these public places. Said, "There was two of them standing
in a... When they got laid off at their public works, 'Don't worry. We'll make
it anyhow.'" 111 Oh, such an hour of prostitution at hand.
Sure. The Devil's done told them that they're the boss of the house. They'll
make their own way. They'll do what they wish to. And you get it out of them,
if you can. There's only one thing can get it out of them, that's the altar,
before Jesus Christ, an old fashion, tear-streaming religion that'll break their
hearts and tear them to pieces, and make them what they ought to be. That's
right. 112 They may think I'm just an
old fogy. But the day when you're dying, my brother, sister, you'll realize
that I told you the truth. That's right. She's on, the invasion; the hour is
here. Now, yes, an hour of decision too, a hour of decision; not to come to
church, but an hour of decision whether you're going to serve Christ or stay
lukewarm in your church. And that's right.
113 There's plenty of church
members. If all the mem--or the people of America
that profess to be Christians, would be real Christians, borned
again Christians, brother, we'd be as safe as you'd be in heaven almost from
mortal troubles. Yes, sir, diseases would leave the land, everything else. Wouldn't
it be nice to come down the street and see where a lady come by and men,
"How do you do, sister? Good morning, brother?" Walk down, there's
not... You don't have one worry in the world. Everything is just fine and
dandy. And the fellow come to the street corner; instead of trying to run over
you, he'd stop, "All right, brother. All right, you had... Oh, you before
me." You see, just prefer... Wouldn't that be wonderful? We're going to
have it, but that's in the Millennium, brother. The day...?... coming. That's
right. So now we're not... 119 To you
little mothers here this morning, that's been real mothers, and I know there's
many of you; I think, every one of you. Let me tell you something. God bless
you. You're the fifth Gospel, I think. Let me tell you what's in there for your
children, just a little thing. Remember, when Moses was a little boy, it was a
mother who give him his instruction. It was a godly mother who took little
Moses on her knees, and said, "Moses..." taught him all. He was her teacher
or... She was his teacher, rather, under Pharaoh, and said now these things.
Said, "Moses, someday you're going to deliver the children of Israel.
You're the boy that's called. Keep yourself pure and unspotted from the world,
for you're the one. You're the one." No other place do we know where he
ever went to any seminary, any teaching at all, he ever got. He stayed right in
Pharaoh's palace, which was a heathen; but his mother taught him. That's a real
mother. She taught him the precepts of the Lord. She told him how he must be
holy. She told him how and what he must live, and how, what God must do, would
do for him. And it stuck with Moses all the days of his life. And any good,
true, loyal mother that'll take her little babies, instead of send them to
picture shows and dances, and so forth like that, and she'll put them on her
lap and teach them about the Lord Jesus Christ... 120
Here the other day, I was talking to a mother on the telephone. And the
mother said, "Oh, Brother Billy," she said "my poor boy's in
trouble." Said, "Oh, what a trouble he's in." I said, "Yes,
I know about it, sister, dear." And she said, "He may be wrong. I
don't know." Said, "One says this and one says that. I don't
know." But said, "no matter whether he's wrong or right, I love
him." There you are, "I love him." He said to his mother, said,
"I've been so deceived by this and that." Said, "Mother, I
believe you're about the only sweetheart I really have, a woman that's true to
me, and sticks to me." That's mother's love. That's a real mother that'll
put her arms around her baby, regardless whether he's right or wrong, she goes
right on to him. And if God... If a mother can think that of her baby, how much
more will God think that of His. You see? You stay right with Him. Go right...
121 And now let me just tell you
another mother, right quick, in the Bible, before we close. There was a mother
called Herodia. She taught her daughter to tap dance.
She wanted her to be popular. And she danced before the king, and required the
head of John the Baptist. We have record of seventy of her offsprings,
this damsel that danced before... Herodias' daughter
danced before Herod; seventy of her offsprings, they
either died prostitutes or on gallows. One mother taught hers the things of the
world; the other mother taught hers the things of God. One became a great
leader and a conqueror, immortal among men today; and the other is botched and
in hell, and taken thousands times thousands with her. See what I mean?
"Bring up a child in the way it should go." 122 And I certainly sympathize with you poor
mothers setting here with your white roses on. There's a heaven that a mother's
gone to, today, where a good old fashion mother that lived for God, probably
has passed beyond the veil. She's waiting for you to come. That's right. I
respect and honor you there with your red roses on. Your mother, if you want to
do anything for her, do it three hundred and sixty-five days a year. Go to her
house and offer prayer, and live for God. That's the thing to do. And bring up
your children. And when your children come up, they'll call you
"blessed," after you have passed on beyond the veil. That's the real
spirit of motherhood, and the real spirit of mother's day. Mother's day is
three hundred and sixty-five days a year.
INVASION OF
THE USA 45 022 Ahab was more or less that type of a person.
Every way the wind blowed, Ahab had his sail set, if
it was on this side or that side. His marriage got him all messed up, with a
little woman which was a little princess, a king's daughter, a Jezebel. Very
pretty to look at, very beautiful woman, but in her heart she was wicked. And
she was an idolater, and she caused all Israel... 46
023 Now, how I would like to
border there just for a few minutes, as it was, and getting into the core of
this on motherhood (See?), there. And when a man starts to get married, the
type of a girl, woman that he... It's more than just look at beauty. You've got
to get somebody, both soul and body joined together, somebody that's really
going to be your friend and pal, that'll stick with you through thick and thin.
Q &
A COD
54-0103M 81-134 054
And the backbone of any nation is womanhood, when it comes to morals.
And you break motherhood, you've broke your nation. We've got to a place today
till our women smoking cigarettes, and things like that, and drinking whiskey,
and carrying on, and it's--it's disgraceful. A young man to try to find a wife
that's even a virgin, that's moral, he'd have to go around some good little old
Holy Ghost church almost to find one; and that's exactly right, where a man
just kept her in and things like that, and got a little decency about her. You
might think that's crazy, but, brother, you look it over and find out, and see
if that isn't the truth. It's a disgrace. All right.
MOTHER'S DAY 59-0510M 019
But I might pass this on to the young people. Do you know Abraham
Lincoln never owned a book in his life, until he was after twenty-one years old
but the Bible and the Foxe "Book Of The Martyrs."
See? what you read molds the character that you are. No wonder we got a bunch
of neurotics today. Little old fiction magazines, and vulgar, and nonsense is
placed upon our newsstands. He owned the Bible and the Foxe
"Book Of The Martyrs." Look what it made him. But in the face of all
that, one day he made a statement like this. He said, "If there could be
any good thing found in me, it's because of a godly mother," that reared
him to serve the Lord. 020 You see, a
child listens to its mother; some little touch about that mother, that a child
will listen to. When it's hurt, it'll go to the mother for consolation before
it'll go to the father. Because she was first with it, you know. And there's
some gift that God gives a mother to be that way; I mean a real mother. Now, I
believe that mothers are honorable and godly. 021 But I believe, such as Mother Days, like
this, is a racket, make a lot of money out of flowers and things. But mother's
day should be every day, not to send her a bunch of flowers on Mother's Day,
but to love her and care for her three hundred and sixty-five days and nights
through the year. But of course, the commercial world has a great hold in
things like this, and it--it--it depreciates mother. "Oh, well, last
Mother's Day I sent her a bunch of flowers. She'd appreciate a whole lot more,
just set down and talk to her just a little bit, write her a line, pat her on
the shoulder, kiss her on the cheek, tell her you love her. It'll go a lot
farther than all the flowers that you could buy from the florist. That's true.
022 I believe it was in the "Ten
Commandments," the late Cecil DeMille, that
wrote and put on the screen one of the masterpieces of the movie world. And
before it was put on the scene, or let out, Cecil DeMille
called Oral Roberts, and Demas Shakarian, and a bunch
of the Full Gospel ministers, and took them into his own studios, and showed
the four hours of the "Ten Commandments," and asked them their
opinion of it. God rest his gallant soul. And when I seen it, was looking at
it, and a little remark always stuck to me. If many of you who did see it, it
was when the daughter of Pharaoh... After Moses had found out that he was a--a
Hebrew, and he had decided to go dwell with his people, and there sat his once
beautiful mother, faded out, with her gray hair and her wrinkled face, setting
in old armchair, a typical mother... And the Pharaoh's daughter came in. And he
said, "Whose son am I anyhow?" And when it was brought to light that Jochebed was his real mother, the daughter of Pharaoh, with
her paint and so forth, and all fixed up, she said, "But look. He may be
your son," but she said, "I give him wealth and splendor. You
could've give him nothing but the slime pits." But the aged gray-headed
mother said, "But I give him life." That makes the difference.
"I gave him life." And God gave him Eternal Life. How true, mother...
TOKEN THE 63-0901M 48-5
151 That's what they did in
Egypt. That's what they did in Jericho. If you want to read another one? Acts
16:31. Paul told the centurion, "Believe; I'm the messenger of the hour.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, thou and thy house shall be saved." Is
that right? Believe for your house. Bring them all under it. Now, you've seen
the God of heaven perform a miracle, just before judgment. You believed it.
"Yes, what can I do?" He said, "Rise and be baptized." Paul
took him out and baptized him, said, "Now, believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, and thou and thy house shall be saved." Believe what? Believe the
Lord Jesus Christ for you house. Apply the Token to your house. Then what do
you do when you apply It to your house? Move all the trash out. Get all the
short skirts, and the shorts, and the cards, and the cigarettes, and
televisions, and whatevermore, and kick them out the
door. You're going to apply the Token, won't stand still for it. Yes, sir. Take
it all out. All the dances and the parties, and rock-and-roll, and old vulgar
newspapers, and the stuff that's of the world, kick it out the door. Say,
"We're cleaning out this place around here." 152 Like Jacob did. He said--told his wife and
all of them, said, "Wash your clothes and everything. Put away them
gods." Amen. You know what Joshua said 'fore crossing over? He said,
"Wash your clothes, come not at your wives, and so forth, and get ready.
For within three days we'll cross Jordan." Amen. He was getting ready.
They was applying the token. Amen. That's it. Get ready. Apply it. Believe it.
Clean up. Let your children, let your family, let your loved ones see it in you.
That's right. It'll take effect. Yes, sir. Then apply the Token in prayer
with--with--with consideration, with believing. Apply it with such love and so
forth, you know it's--it's going to take place. That's all. Apply it in
confidence, believing it's going to help. When you talk to that child, when you
talk to your husband, talk to your wife, talk to this loved one, believe that
it's going to help, and stand there and say, "Lord, I've claimed them;
they're mine. I'm getting them for You, Lord." 153
Apply it, create that atmosphere around you, that they'll just drop
right into it. See? Oh, you are--you are--if you've got the Token, you create a
spirit around you of power, that when you walk, people know that you're a
Christian. They love for you to say something to them. They believe your word;
what you say, they hold on to it. See? That is it. Apply the Token; then walk
with it. Claim your household. You must do it now. This is evening time. Now,
you've been listening a long time; now this is evening time. It's applying time
now. The wrath will strike one of these days; it might be too late then. See,
see? Apply the Token with confidence.
MOTHER'S DAY
59-0510 014 Mother is so great. You know, the first one
that receives you in this life is your mother. No one can touch you, because
you're conceived, and she bears you under her heart. And she is the first to
know you, and the first to, in this life, to--to hold you. Then when you're
born, she is one of the first hands that touch you and wipes back the tears out
of your eyes. She's the first one to pat you and to love you, and to coo over
you, in this life, is your mother. Now, I think that there is not enough honor
that we could give to a mother. Mother is first with the child, and she's a
great responsibility of what that child will be, will be based upon the way
that mother starts that child on the path that it must travel. Mother has the
responsibility from God to place that child on the right road. And I think
that's why mothers has a special little touch.
TRUE EASTER
SEAL 61-0402 007
Now, friends, I know them's, each one, is the
prettiest baby in the world. I know that. I know better than to say anything
else about that. That's right. And that's the way you should feel. They're
little treasures that God has given you the responsibility of raising. And I've
always said and made this kind of a saying to mothers. We know, written of four
Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. But there's a fifth Gospel, unwritten;
that's mother. She gets them before Matthew-Mark-Luke-and-John's teaching gets
them. So the responsibilities is placed upon you mothers and you fathers to
raise these children to the--for the Kingdom of God. And I'm sure that's your
heart's desire.
MAN RUNNING
FROM PRESENCE 65-0217 53
029 But to face up to
responsibility, sometimes it takes the very hide off of us to do that. As a
father to face up the responsibility to give your child a whipping. Them little
fellows, you don't want to do that. But as a father or mother you've got to
face the responsibility of raising that child, because the Bible said,
"Spare the rod and you'll spoil your son." And that still stands good
in the sight of every psychologist there is in the world. That still remains
God's Truth. If there'd been more of that practiced, we wouldn't have had so
much juvenile delinquency and stuff, and the rot that we got in the world
today. But the old golden rule of the home's been broken long time ago, and
they let the kids do whatever they want to.
54 030 But even as I said, ministers, they'll come
face to face with Truth, and then walk away from it. See, they're--they're just
have--just seems like there's something that they--they don't want to face up
to it. Many time out there people come, say, "I know that's right, Brother
Branham, but if I did that, they'd kick me out of the church." What of it?
If you don't, they're going to kick you out up there, so you--you got to be
kicked out somewhere. See? So you might as well face up to it. Instead of
running from it and say, "Well, I'll go over here; I won't go back."
Go back, sure, listen to some more of it. Search the Scriptures. Jesus said,
"Search the Scripture for in Them you think you have Eternal Life, and
They are They that testify of Me." But we find that people won't face up
with that. Being brought to--into the
Presence of God and see when God made a promise, and God is obligated to that
promise, and when He brings that promise to pass, then people are afraid to
face up to the responsibility of coping with the Message of the hour. We find
that everywhere.