<TITLE>16. Par -</TITLE>L-384-110 The vessels... The tabernacle of the Old Testament, the altar sanctified the vessels, and they were set aside for service. When they were filled, they were in service.
Now, there's where you dear, precious Nazarenes and so forth, left the mark. See? We all... Why are you failing? Why did Pentecost run off and leave you? Because you refused to walk in the Light. That's exactly right. See? That's exactly. The first altar I ever knelt at was at a precious, old Nazarene altar down here. God bless them, good, holy, clean church, but you're so legalistic that you go, "You must do this, and you must do that. You must do this," and don't realize it's the grace of God and you're called by election. It's not he that willeth or him that runneth, but it's God that showeth mercy. See? God predestinated the church before the foundation of the world (We got a question on that in a few minutes. See?), predestinated the church before the foundation of the world.

L-385-112 You cannot, taking thought, add one cubit to your statue. "No man can come to Me except My Father draws him first." See? See, it was God that did the calling, God that did the pulling, God that set the church. Now, now, you say, "Brother Branham, that's pure Calvinism." No, it isn't. Now, wait. I don't believe that God takes a man up and just says, "Here, I'm going to pick you up and..."
All these Baptists and Presbyterians say, "Well, I believe on the Lord, I don't have--don't condemn my conscience." No wonder, you haven't got nothing to condemn. They say, "Well, dancing don't hurt me. Drinking a little sociable drink wouldn't hurt me." Because there's nothing in there to hurt. "Telling dirty jokes wouldn't bother me." Because why? There's nothing in there it'll hurt.

L-385-114 But I don't serve the Lord because I think He'd send me to hell if I didn't; I serve Him because I love Him. I serve Him because there's something in me. If you go out and say, "Well, I have to quit doing this because my church don't believe in it," you're just playing the part of a hypocrite. That's right. But if you do it because that it--you love it, and--and it's a contribution to God, and something in your heart making the love of God so greater to you than these things, now you're on the right line. But if I didn't drink, smoke, chew, cuss, do nothing else, I'd still go to hell. Sure. I joined all the churches, was baptized, and had my name on all the books, and played a good part, and lived a good life: "Except a man be borned again, he can't even see the Kingdom of God." That's right.

L-385-115 Now, these virgins, ten of them slowed up. What stumped the Nazarene people was this: Because the Pentecostals took the initial evidence of the Holy Ghost is speaking in tongues. They got them down at the altar and made them say something or another over and over till they spoke in tongues. A real, true Pentecostal wouldn't go for that. The devil had a lot of things in your Nazarene church too. See? And he's got a whole lot of things in the Pentecostal church, but as far as the baptism of the Holy Ghost, that's the truth. That's exactly the truth.


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