<TITLE>28. Par 149-157</TITLE>L-149 I remember the first sermon I preached. I got up there, and I--I thought I did real well, and all of the old ladies set around and they cried a little bit, you know, and said, "Oh, what a wonderful boy."
The old pastor, Doctor Davis, was an old lawyer. I went down, and he said, "I want to see you down at the house."
I said, "All right." I walked in next day, you know, all swelled out. I said, "How did I do, Doctor Davis?"
Said, "The rottenest I ever heard."
I said, "What?"
He said, "The worst I ever heard."
"Oh," I said, "Brother Davis, everybody was crying."
He said, "Yes, they cry at funerals, cry at births, everything else." He said, "What it is, Billy, you never quoted one bit of God's Word. You talked about some mother that had done gone on, or something like this, and got everybody to crying." Said, "You're not borned again upon things and sensations of this earth; you're born by the Word." Said, "Billy, I..."
Oh, he cut the wind right out of me. I'm glad he did. See, see? Not jumping up and down, hollering, that isn't it. It's the Word that makes alive. The Word's quickened, not experiences; the Word.

L-154 He said, "I remember the first case I tried, Billy." He said, "I beat on the rail," and he said, "I said, 'Look at this poor woman.'" Oh, he said, "'Look how she look, and her husband's mistreated her.'" And said, "I cried a little and picked up my handkerchief, and I acted just like the rest of the lawyers." Said, "I thought I'd go through the same emotion." Said, "Judge, your Honor, why don't you give her a divorce. Look at there. She says her husband beat her back across the back." He couldn't even see it, under her underneath clothes. "They beat her across the back." And said, "Why won't you give her..." The old judge just set there, looked.
Directly the old attorney setting across on the other side had growed up; he said, "Judge, your Honor, how much more will--of this nonsense will your court stand?"
Just a lot of carrying on, that's the way too many people do: too much carrying on without enough Word behind it to back up. Grow up. "Oh, he danced in the Spirit last night, Brother Branham; he's all right." No, that don't make him all right to me. No, sir. Got to grow up, be proved, tested, growing up to Him, seasoned.

L-157 I was reading in the histories not long ago. Am I taking too much time? I was reading in the history of the church. I believe Sister Arnold back there "amen'd" me the other day on something about the history of the church, that she had been reading it. I seen where one night there was a boy in a monastery in the days of Saint Martin, that he said, "The Lord made me an old prophet out of the Old Testament. See? I am one of the old prophets." Well, I cannot call the bishop's name there of this little school, just a little group like this here. I cannot call his name at this time, but he was trained under Martin. It didn't sound just right, so the rest of the brethren just let him alone. Directly he prophesied; he said, "Tonight God's coming down and going to give me a white robe to set among you, and you'll know that I'm one of the prophets of the Old Testament." So that night, twelve o'clock, actually it happened. Voices was heard, people moving around, and the boy got a robe, they said just as white as it could be. He comes out, said, "Didn't I tell you?" Said, "Now, all of you take orders from me. I am the Old Testament prophet."


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