<TITLE>12. Par 16-17</TITLE>L-16 Here not long ago in the coliseum where that dress lays and his blood from the assassination... I was in that coliseum, I seen an old darkie, little rim of hair around the back of his head, white as wool, walking along with hat off like that, stooped way over. He seen something and jumped back. I seen him bow his head and the tears running off his black cheeks. I seen he was saying a prayer, praying. I stood near him till he got through praying; he raised up his head, and said, "Thank You, Lord."
I touched him, I said, "Uncle?"
He said, "Yes, sir," he said.
I said, "I--I'm a minister." I said, "I was wondering while you were saying the prayer. What was the matter?"
He said, "Look over there." I couldn't see nothing but a dress.
He said, "On that dress lays the blood of Abraham Lincoln, who took a slave belt off of me." Said, "Do you see why I'm excited?"
I said, "Yes, sir." And I thought, "O God, if the blood of Abraham Lincoln would excite a slave that was took from slavery, what ought the Blood of Jesus Christ to do to a borned again man or woman?"
I said, "Drinking and so forth is wrong, and someday I will hit that." I'm still on the battlefield. I'm putting every wage against it I can, everything that I can. I know what it does to homes.

L-17 Look. All through life those things come and went. Finally the calling of--to the ministry. Now, I want you to notice. Before I was a Christian, confessing Jesus Christ as my personal Saviour, that gift was there just the same. When I was a sinner, an alien, far from the commonwealth of God, that gift was there just the same, saw visions just the same way. God, Who is my Judge, that I stand before today, knows that's the truth. Was it I merited it? No, sir. And the Bible absolutely confirms and backs that up to be God's way of doing things: Gifts and callings are without repentance.
Then when someone told me about Jesus and His love for me, and I knew I realized then I was a sinner, an alien from God, I accepted Him as my personal Saviour. And then, God led me around to some folks that taught me in the Scriptures, and I received the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Then It begin to come to me all the time.
I consulted clergymen. First when I was ordained in the Missionary Baptist church, you know what they said to me? Now he... Here I want you to get this. How many love me? Put your hands up now that you're going to believe me. I hope you all do. I'm going to tell you something here that I don't tell people publicly. But I want you to know this. They...
I talked to clergymen; I said, "Why, there's something that takes place in my life." I said, "Since I've been reading the Bible, would you think it would be something of God?" I said, "There's... I--I see visions, and--and things that they tell, and different things predicting that flood, when I stood there on the wall, since I was..."
I was a Christian then, a Baptist minister. I stood there, I said, "Why, there's going to be... I seen a vision, and there's going to be twenty-two feet of water over that street down there."
I seen some of the boys go along, say, "Billy's kind of getting a little bit off. He's getting too religious." See?
I'd tell my clergymen, my--the bishops and the pastors, so forth. They said, "Billy, be careful what you're doing. The devil lays on that line."
I said, "Oooh, my!"
"Sir, the devil lays around there, be careful. See, your mother tells me that you were born with a Light over you. See, you might be possessed of a demon hanging near you."
I said, "Oooh, my! Hum!" I said, "Well, I... Sir, will you pray for me?"
"Yes, we--we'll pray for you, Reverend Branham."
"Thank you, sir. You pray for me." I'd say, "Oh, God, oh, God, a devil near me. Keep it away, Lord. Don't let it get around me. No, I don't want to see no visions or nothing; I don't want to see nothing. I just want to study the Word here, and pray and preaching the Word. I don't want none of that stuff. No!"


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