<TITLE>07. Par 23-25</TITLE>L-23 Now watch, now they're... In a way we're standing tonight, we've got--we are commanded by God's Word to earnestly contend; that's the only place in the Bible, that I can find, that we're supposed to contend. We're not supposed to have contention, like when we contend for the wrong thing. We contend that the Methodist church, the Pentecostal church is right; and the rest of them's wrong. See? That's wrong contention. See? But we should contend for the faith that was once delivered unto the saints, the faith that was once delivered.
Well then, if each one of us claimed that that's the faith of our church... Now, there's only one way to rightly settle it in our hearts and minds. And if you'll bear with me (I'm watching the clock.) for the next twenty minutes, we'll try to start the prayer line exactly nine o'clock so we can be out by nine-thirty. That'll give you plenty of time to be home.
Now, I don't want to preach, because I--I've been praying all the afternoon and so forth, for the anointing of the Holy Spirit. You all know it's a different anointing, and it's something that's... I can't explain.

L-24 Now, right now, if we're going to find out what faith we're to contend for, and that faith is the one that was once delivered unto the saints, we'll have to go back to that time and find out what kind of a faith they had. And then, we can tell whether we're really contending for that faith, is that fair enough? We go back in the Bible. And now remember, I'm a Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Pentecostal, all, I--I--that's all me. See?
Now, let's go back and find out what's right and what's wrong. The Bible ought to be the solid foundation. Don't you believe that? And I believe with all my heart, that this is the unadulterated Word of God. And I believe that's anything that's contrary to This, is in error. Everyone understand that? I do not believe that there's any person in earth today that has power to heal the sick. I do not believe it. I do not believe there's a person on earth today can forgive sin as God would.
And God doesn't forgive your sins now. And God doesn't heal you now. He has already done it; it's a finished work at Calvary. And our faith rests in what God has already done for us.

L-25 Now, Jesus healeth, He said, "By His stripes," said the apostle, "we were..." And were is a past tense. We were already healed there.
You say, "Brother Branham, I got saved a year ago." No, you got saved nineteen hundred years ago; you accepted it one year ago. See?
And you were, every one of you here tonight that's sick, is every one healed back yonder, nineteen hundred years ago when Jesus died at Calvary. The only way that--thing you can do tonight, is to accept what Jesus has already done. And if Jesus has already paid the price, what good would it do--what could I do about paying price?
Now, we're living in the day when there's much fanaticism hooked to the Bible, both in spiritually for your soul and healing for the body. There's many fanatics. But fanatics only prove that there's a real one. If I picked up a dollar and it was a bogus dollar, then I know if it's bogus, there's got to be a real one it was made off of. See? So a fanatic only proves that there is a real genuine somewhere. That's true.


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