A Paradox – William Marrion Branham

It’s strange that He chose a bunch of unlearned people, and sent them up there with a commission at Pentecost—not to go to some seminary, but to wait until they were endued with power from on high. If that man Peter, and John and them, wanted to preach and they were ignorant and unlearned, look like He’d said, “Boys, there’s a fine school right over here.

You go till you learn your ABC’s. Then after you do that, you’ll take your grammar school. Get it all, that through. Then you’ll take four years of high school, then four years of college, and then about four or five years of Bible School. Then you can go out.”

But He said, “Wait in the city of Jerusalem, for I’m going to send the promise of the Father upon you. And then you’ll be witnesses of Me (Luke 24:49), witnesses of Me in Jerusalem, Judaea, Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth.” That’s still His requirement.

67 And I said, that only way they would ever… One time when I was a little boy, there was… Brother and I was out back the farm and there was… We found an old turtle when he was… You know how they walk with their feet like that, funny looking things. And brother and I thought that was the funniest looking creature we ever saw. So when I got right up to him, he went shhhewww [Brother Branham makes a sound—Ed.], drawed back in like that.

Just like, you know, you go to preaching the Gospel and really laying it on, you see them old turtle just want to draw back in a hull. “…?… I’m going.” Yes.

And I went up to him; I said, “Wonder if we could make him walk?” Well, we—we pinched him, and we done everything we could. He—he wouldn’t walk. Pushed him, kicked him around, it didn’t make him walk. Well, I went over and got me a switch, and I poured it on him, and he—he didn’t walk. And I said, “Well…” and I… you… That’s it. You—you can’t—you can’t whip it into them. So then I said, “I—I—I’ll fix him, brother.”

68 We went out to the spring down there and… hole of water. I just stuck him down in there. I said, I’ll drowned him or he will walk. And I held him down there: just a few bubbles come up and that’s all. He was just all right. And brethren, you… water don’t do it.

But you know how I made him walk? I got me a piece of paper and MADE A FIRE and set him on it. Brother, he walked then. Yes.

If there’s ANYTHING that’ll make THE CHURCH WALK RIGHT, DO RIGHT, SHOW ITSELF, IS THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST AND FIRE COMING DOWN FROM GOD OUT OF HEAVEN WILL STRAIGHTEN THE CHURCH OUT, not a fuss about this or a fuss about that, BUT A BAPTISM OF THE FIERY LOVE OF GOD that comes down and SWEEPS THE THINGS OUT OF YOUR HEART, MAKES YOU A NEW CREATURE IN CHRIST JESUS. Women will let their hair grow out and men will quit smoking cigarettes, and I tell you… And ALL THESE THINGS WILL STRAIGHTEN OUT, —IF YOU JUST HET THE FIRE DOWN ON THEM. True.

Now, seemed awful strange to Noah when he was doing this, but he was—heard that certain sound. That’s what he wanted.

69 Now, let’s take another fellow. There was a man by—by the name of Moses, was on the backside of the desert—JUST AS FULL OF DOCTRINE AS HE COULD BE. HE KNOWED ALL THE INS AND OUTS OF ALL THINGS; he could even teach the Egyptians, the smartest people in the world. He could teach them some theology.

BUT ONE DAY out there, he—he saw something on fire, and it kindly attracted him. THAT’S WHAT IT NEEDS TODAY, IS A CHURCH ON FIRE TO ATTRACT some of these Moseses around here somewhere, to attract some of these sinners. IT TAKES FIRE TO GIVE AN ATTRACTION.

You let a—a—a scream go up the street, “a fire,” real… everybody’d jump in their car and try to follow it. THERE’S SOMETHING ATTRACTIVE ABOUT A FIRE. WHAT WE NEED TONIGHT IS THE HOLY GHOST AND FIRE. THAT’LL ATTRACT THE BELIEVER THAT SEES SOMETHING.

61-0315 – An Uncertain Sound
Rev. William Marrion Branham