<TITLE>17. Par 131-138</TITLE>L-131 He can save a wretch like me. And He did. What is it? Grace. William Branham, a drunkard's son: that don't make any difference; the grace of God saved me.
"Me, I'm a woman's daughter that was no good." Don't make any difference, the grace of God saved you. It's sovereign, has to ask nobody nothing. Amen. I'm so glad of that. Hallelujah.
Can take the vilest sinner and make him white as snow, don't have to ask anybody about it. Oh, it can do it because it's sovereign.
Listen, quickly now. That was proved at the cross, when there was a vilest thief; he deserved to die. God had never come across his mind. He never thought nothing of it. There on the cross when, through those bloody lips, in between the groans there came a sound, "Lord, be merciful to me."
And there came another One back through Blood, tears, agony; grace took ahold and said, "Today shalt thou be with Me in paradise." Grace did that. How could that thief help himself? No more than Adam could help hisself, no more than Eve could help herself, no more than you can help yourself, no more than I can help myself, when no more we could jerk ourselves up the Milky White Way with our bootstraps. We couldn't do it. But the grace of God can do something about it, and it does it. The grace of God, the sovereignty of the grace of God come to that dying thief, "Today shalt thou be with Me in paradise." Oh, think of it. That's wonderful.

L-136 Think of it. Love and grace is sisters, twin sisters. You can't have grace without having love. They're twin sisters. That's exactly right. Before you can have grace, you have to have love. Before you can actually show somebody a favor, you love them; right or wrong, you have to love them anyhow, or you can't. See? So love and grace is the same thing. They're just twin sisters (That's all.), love and grace. They were... We can't see one without the other. "God so loved the world, gave His only begotten Son." He shed His grace abroad in our hearts through the Holy Ghost. See? There's just nothing you can do without working one with the other. Grace, grace of God this is what saves us.

L-137 Now, we find out that grace, there like that dying thief, no wonder it's inspired poets when they seen it. One poet said:
That dying thief rejoiced to see
That fountain in his day;
There may I, though vile as he,
Wash all my sins away.
Ever since by faith I saw that stream
Thy flowing wounds supplied,
Redeeming love has been my theme,
And shall be till I die.
Then in a nobler, sweeter song,
I'll sing Thy power to save,
When this poor lisping, stammering tongue
Lies silent in the grave.
Grace, amazing grace... Hallelujah. One wrote it:
Oh, love of God, how rich and pure!
How fathomless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure,
Saints and angels song.
If we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made;
And every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry;
Or could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.

L-138 That's what it is: grace, the grace of God. The grace of God has brought forth and shed a... God brought grace into our lives by His love for us. Here's something else grace can't do: grace cannot be bought; grace cannot be sold. It's grace. It's by a sovereign One. Yes, sir. You cannot bargain for it. You can say, "God, I'll do so-and-so if You'll do so-and-so." You can't do that. God won't do it. You can't pull nothing out of God. God gives it to you by His grace. Oh, oh, oh, my. "Not he that willeth or him that runneth, but God that showeth mercy." That's right.


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