<TITLE>07. Par 20-22</TITLE>L-20 Jesus met those people in His days and He said, "In vain they worship Me, teaching for doctrine the commandments of men." In vain people worshipping... Someone say, "Well, Brother Branham, if you worship God truly is that--surely, He'd accept it." He didn't accept Cain. And Cain worshipped Him in just as much reverence as Abel did. Cain built an altar; Cain made a sacrifice; Cain worshipped, built a church, made his offerings, everything else, just as religious as Abel was, but he come the wrong way.
God's got a way. And we must toe the mark to that way. And this Bible is the way. No textbook, creeds, or nothing outside of this Bible. If it's contrary to this Word, I do not believe it. But if it's with the Word, amen.

L-21 So man takes and builds churches and puts creeds in them. When Jesus came to the earth He found precious people trying to find salvation in the church. What was they getting? Ceremonies, pouring of water, washing of plates, and wearing of clothes. That's what they had, ceremonies. They didn't get salvation; salvation is deliverance. So they did not get salvation; they got a bunch of ceremonies.
If He'd come today what would He find? Just about the same. The people are looking to the church for salvation and getting a bunch of creeds. What we need is the Holy Ghost, not creeds. Power is what we need. The Church is based upon the new birth and the Holy Ghost. He'd say the same thing today as He did then. When we say, "Well, we--we recite the apostle's creed," He'd say, "It wasn't so from the beginning. Show Me where the apostle's creed is found in the Bible." It never was in the Bible, there's no part of it the Bible. It's a man-made creed. If the apostles had any kind of creed, was to repent. If there's any kind of a creed that the apostle called on, "Repent, and be baptized; you will receive the Holy Ghost." If they had a creed it would be that.
But they preached the Gospel. And the Gospel came not through Word only, but through power and demonstrations of the Holy Ghost, 'cause them signs could not follow the believer unless the Holy Ghost did demonstrate it. So preaching the Word was only the Seed. When It fell in the heart It brought forth new life, and the signs followed the believer.

L-22 Now, Jesus said, "In vain they worship Me, teaching for doctrine the commandments of men." And they look to the church and they got ceremonies. You know, Jesus said, called them I believe there, "whited walls," how it was that they washed their hands oft, and they had traditions, and they were just as religious to that, just as pious as they could be; but when Jesus come He turned the thing completely around. And He preached something else to them. And the churches was against Him. And they cried out, "Well, why does the elders say this?"
Jesus said, "It wasn't so from the beginning."
God runs His church. God lives in His church. We should never diminish one bit. And today when we come to receive the Holy Spirit, and people want to walk up and shake hands with the pastor and say, "Now, I believe I have received the Holy Spirit."... Some of them take communion and say they've received the holy eucharist. Listen, brother, the holy eucharist never come from eating communion. The Holy Spirit come like a mighty rushing wind from heaven, and It filled all the place where they were setting. And the Bible promises, not something like it, but this same Holy Spirit would be for every person that God would call into His church. "For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to them that's far off, as many as the Lord our God shall call," even to this night, not something like it, but the same Holy Spirit, the same blessing, with the same signs, with the same wonders.


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