First Breath, Last Breath, Next Breath
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To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; A time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; A time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; A time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose; A time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew; A time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate; A time of war, and a time of peace.
He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.
Introduction.
Introduction.
(Welcome Bro. George and family)
(Bro. Harold Hildebrandt)
When you came into the world you had nothing to do with it.
You did not plan it, your parents may not have planned it, but it was planned. God knows you, and planned for you. Trust in that.
Some moments are so difficult we wish we were never born.
All they that see me laugh me to scorn: They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,
He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him: Let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.
But thou art he that took me out of the womb: Thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother’s breasts.
I was cast upon thee from the womb: Thou art my God from my mother’s belly.
For thou art my hope, O Lord God: Thou art my trust from my youth.
By thee have I been holden up from the womb: Thou art he that took me out of my mother’s bowels: My praise shall be continually of thee.
I am as a wonder unto many; But thou art my strong refuge.
Let my mouth be filled with thy praise And with thy honour all the day.
Cast me not off in the time of old age; Forsake me not when my strength faileth.
O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me.
Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, Thou understandest my thought afar off.
Thou compassest my path and my lying down, And art acquainted with all my ways.
For there is not a word in my tongue, But, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether.
Thou hast beset me behind and before, And laid thine hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain unto it.
Whither shall I go from thy spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
Even there shall thy hand lead me, And thy right hand shall hold me.
If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; Even the night shall be light about me.
Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; But the night shineth as the day: The darkness and the light are both alike to thee.
For thou hast possessed my reins: Thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.
I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: Marvellous are thy works; And that my soul knoweth right well.
My substance was not hid from thee, When I was made in secret, And curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; And in thy book all my members were written, Which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.
How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them!
If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: When I awake, I am still with thee.
Your birth here was preplanned. ...Did you know that your being here never originated just at a myth or a thought? Everything was all preplanned by God, before the foundation of the world, that you would be here.
The infinite God knowed. And to be infinite, He had to know every flea that ever would be in the earth, and how many times it would bat its eye. That’s infinite.
You, our little minds, cannot fathom what infinite means. The infinite God, He knowed all things. Therefore, there’s nothing out of cater. 65-1205 - Things That Are To Be
The New Birth is the same way. Paul talks about his conversion.
But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace,
To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood:
Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus.
For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
Our last Breath is similar.
Man that is born of a woman Is of few days, and full of trouble.
He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: He fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.
And dost thou open thine eyes upon such an one, And bringest me into judgment with thee?
Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one.
Seeing his days are determined, The number of his months are with thee, Thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;
Turn from him, that he may rest, Till he shall accomplish, as an hireling, his day.
David tells us what those boundaries are.
The days of our years are threescore years and ten; And if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, Yet is their strength labour and sorrow; For it is soon cut off, and we fly away.
We are told that life passes quickly.
Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; And mine age is as nothing before thee: Verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah.
Man is like to vanity: His days are as a shadow that passeth away.
Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:
Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
Jesus tells the story of the rich man.
And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:
And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?
And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.
And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.
33 But now, until that time, until He comes, we want to live each day like He might come the next minute, because it might be the end of your life at that minute. You don’t know when you’re going. This may be some of our last breath, we have it in us now, so you want to live like it is. 62-0601 - Taking Sides With Jesus
The Bible says “Occupy till I come”.
11 Had rather a wonderful afternoon this afternoon, talking to a famous doctor in Louisville, his nurse. They heard about the glorious things of the Lord. And her father was a doctor. And she came over and set in my room most the afternoon, just come in, dropped in.
A wonderful person; rather a little hard, you know, kind of a staunch, real Presbyterian to start with, but left with tears running down her cheeks. Oh, I…God’s got them just sticking everywhere, in doctors’ offices, in nurses.
I don’t believe there’s a nurse in Norton’s Infirmary Hospital that I didn’t testify to about having the Holy Ghost, and asked her if she was baptized in the Name of Jesus. Not a doctor that I come in contact with, anywhere, or noth-…See?
12 Tell them about It. We ain’t got much time, brother. No matter how hard it seems here, just wait till you cross that last breath yonder and see, then you’ll wish you had done it. Yes, sir. Don’t wait till that time, let’s do it right now. This is the hour.
Oh, they might disagree, and fume and fuss a little about it, but they don’t mean it. They really don’t mean it. They’re all right. They go to fussing at you, just remember, they don’t really mean it.
They don’t mean it. They just maybe been taught something and they just hang to that, so you can see their idea. Don’t fuss with them, don’t fuss with no one, but just love them right into It. Then pray for them. 60-0522E - Adoption #4
The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; And he that winneth souls is wise.
When the time comes, you want something real.
And you’ll find out, my dear friend, that man-made theories will not stand when you’re coming down to the last breath of this body and this life. It’s good to live by those things, but you can’t die by them.
And I guess for my age in the ministry, I’ve probably stood by as many dying people as anyone of my age, because I’ve been much called-on to the dying.
(Two young ladies. Non-believing church, makeup-Jezebel, venereal disease)
(Pastor told her she was going to heaven because she was a Sunday school teacher)
And the pastor stepped out to smoke, out in the hall. And when death struck the girl, she begin to get hysteric, she said, “Where is that girl?”
They said, “What girl?” She said, “Here’s all of your class.” She said, “I’m not talking about them. I’m talking about that girl that (called her name), that’s from up there at the tabernacle, that used to speak to me about my soul.” Said, “Go get her.”
15 They went to the pastor, and he came running in. He said, “Now, honey, listen.” Said, “We’ll call the doctor and give you a shot. You’re getting a little hysteric.”
She said, “I’m not hysterical.” She said, “You deceiver of men. I’m lost and going to hell because you taught me that.” And the girl died and went out to meet God, lost, crying for the girl that had tried to tell her what was right. 50-0827A - Prodigal
You can’t do anything about when your last breath is, but you can do something about where your next breath is.
Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
(Bro. Branham had been dreaming and he raised up and sat against the headboard, thinking about how half of his appointed time was gone.)
130 And I looked. And I heard Something, kept saying, “You’re just starting. Press the battle. Just keep pressing.”
133 And there It come again, said, “Just keep pressing. If you only knew what was at the end of the road!”
135 And I heard Something say, “Would you like to see just beyond the curtain?” I said, “It would help me so much.”
136 And I looked. In just a moment, I…one breath I had come into a little Place that slanted. I looked back, and there I was, laying on the bed. And I said, “This is a strange thing.”
139 And I looked. And young women, maybe in their early twenties, eighteen to twenty, they were throwing their arms around me, and screaming, “Our precious brother!”
140 Here come young men, in the brilliance of young manhood. And their eyes glistening and looking like stars on a darkened night. Their teeth as white as pearl. And they were screaming, and grabbing me, and screaming, “Oh, our precious brother!”
141 And I stopped, and I looked. And I was young. I looked back at my old body laying there, with my hands behind my head. And I said, “I don’t understand this.”
142 And these young women throwing their arms around me. ...Men cannot put your arm around women without a human sensation; but it wasn’t There.
There was no yesterday nor tomorrow. They didn’t get tired. ...I never seen such pretty women in all my life. They had hair way down to their waistline, long skirts to their feet. And they were just a hugging me. It wasn’t a hug like even my own sister, setting there, would hug me.
...It was something that I have not got the vocabulary, I haven’t got the words to say. “Perfection” wouldn’t touch it. “Superb” wouldn’t even touch it, nowhere. It was something that I never…You just have to be There.
(Hope)
146 And I heard a Voice then that spoke to me, that was in the room, said, “This is what you preached was the Holy Ghost. This is perfect Love. And nothing can enter Here without It.”
147 I am more determined, than ever in my life, that it takes perfect Love, to enter There. There was no jealousy. There was no tiredness. There was no death. Sickness could never, in There. Mortality; could never make you old. …They could not cry. It was just one joy.
148 “Oh, my precious brother!” And they took me up, and set me up on a great big high place. 149 I thought, “I am not dreaming. I’m looking back at my body laying down here on the bed.”150 And they set me up there. And I said, “Oh, I shouldn’t sit up here.”
152 And then that Voice that was speaking, from above me, said, “You know, it is written in the Bible that the prophets were gathered with their people.” And I said, “Yes. I remember that in the Scriptures.” Said, “Well, this is when you will gather with your people.” I said, “Then they’ll be real, and I can feel them.” “Oh, yes.”
153 I said, “But, there’s millions. There’s not that many Branhams.” 154 And that Voice said, “They’re not Branhams. Them is your converts. That’s the ones that you’ve led to the Lord.”
And said, “Some of them women there, that you think is so beautiful, were better than ninety years old when you led them to the Lord. No wonder they’re screaming, ‘Our precious brother!’”
155 And they screamed, all at once, said, “If you hadn’t have went, we wouldn’t be Here.” I looked around. I thought, “Well, I don’t get it.” I said, “Oh, where is Jesus? I want to see Him, so bad.”
156 They said, “Now, He is just a little higher, right up that way.” Said, “Someday He will come to you.” See? Said, “You were sent, for a leader. And God will come. And when He does, He’ll judge you according to what you taught them, first, whether they go in or not. We’ll go in according to your teaching.”
157 I said, “Oh, I’m so glad. Did Paul, does he have to stand like this? Does Peter have to stand like this?” “Yes.”
158 I said, “Then I preached every Word that they preached. I never divvied from It, one side to the other. Where they baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ, I did too. Where they taught the baptism of the Holy Ghost, I did too. Whatever they taught, I did too.”
159 And them people screamed, and said, “We know that. And we know we’re going with you, someday, back to earth.” Said, “Jesus will come, and you’ll be judged according to the Word that you preached us.
And then if you are accepted at that time, which you will be,” and said, “then you will present us to Him, as your trophies of your ministry.”
Said, “You will guide us to Him, and, all together, we’ll go back to the earth, to live forever.” I said, “Do I have to return back now?” “Yes. But keep pressing on.”
160 I looked. And I could see the people, just as far as I could see, still coming, wanting to hug me, screaming, “Our precious brother!”
161 Just then a Voice said, “All that you ever loved, and all that ever loved you, God has given you Here.” And I looked. And here come my old dog, come walking up. Here come my horse, and laid his head upon my shoulder, and nickered.
Said, “All that you ever loved, and all that ever loved you, God has given them into your hand, through your ministry.” And I felt myself move from that beautiful Place.
163 And I thought, “O God! Oh, help me, O God. Never let me compromise with one Word. Let me stay right straight on that Word, and preach It. I don’t care what comes or goes, what anybody does; how many Sauls of…sons of Kish rise, how many this, that, or the other. Let me, Lord, press to that Place.” All fear of death…
164 I say this, with my Bible before me, this morning. I’ve got a little boy there, four years old, to be raised. I got a nine-year-old girl; and a teen-ager, that I’m thankful for, that’s turned the way of the Lord. God, let me live, to bring them up in the admonition of God.
165 And above that, the whole world seems to scream to me, ninety-year-old women and men, and all kinds, “If you hadn’t have went, we wouldn’t been Here.”
166 And, God, let me press the battle. But if it comes to dying, I am no morose. It would be a joy, it would be a pleasure, to enter, from this corruption and disgrace.
167 If I could make, up yonder, one hundred billion miles high, a square block, and that’s perfect Love, each step this way, it narrows, until we get down to where we are now.
It would be just merely a shadow of corruption, that little something that we can sense and feel that there is something somewhere. We don’t know what It is.
168 Oh, my precious friends, my beloved, my darlings of the Gospel, my begotten children unto God, listen to me, your pastor. You, I wish there was some way I could explain it to you. There’s no words; I couldn’t find it; it’s not found anywhere.
But just beyond this last breath, is the most glorious thing that you ever…There is no way to explain it. There’s no way. I just can’t do it. But whatever you do, friend, lay aside everything else till you get perfect Love. Get to a spot that you can love everybody, every enemy, everything else.
169 That one visit There, to me, has made me a different man. I can never, never, never be the same Brother Branham that I was. Whether the planes are rocking, whether the lightning is flashing, whether the spy has a gun on me, whatever it is, it doesn’t matter.
I’m going to press the battle, by the grace of God. For, I’ve preached the Gospel to every creature and every person that I can, persuading them to that beautiful Land yonder.
170 It may seem hard. It may take a lot of strength. I don’t know how much longer. We don’t know, physically speaking...
...But, oh, that wasn’t it. That isn’t it. It’s something within here. This corruption has got to put on incorruption. This mortal has got to put on immortality. 60-0515M - The Rejected King
Conclusion.
Conclusion.
Last breath of my father. We wasted so many breaths fighting.
What a Day that Will Be
I’m Going Home
