3 Ye that put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near;
4 That lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall;
5 That chant to the sound of the viol, and invent to themselves instruments of music, like David;
6 That drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments: but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.
7 Therefore now shall they go captive with the first that go captive, and the banquet of them that stretched themselves shall be removed.
Amos 6
So he went to sleep, and I went speeding down the road, about fifty-five miles an hour, in the truck, over the mountain, coming on towards the—the border, down to… Coming home to Arizona, but I was coming now into Utah. And as I got there, coming down from the mountains, about twenty miles out of the city, just as if… You’ve heard it, as I told you about the morning about the squirrels, and all these things, how something… Somebody went to talking to me, a Voice just the same as you hear mine. I know it sounds neurotically. But as I’ve got through expressing, “Have I ever told you anything but what was right?” And a—a Voice got to talking. I was talking to Him.
It said, “Carry out your plans and you’ll be like that.”
I said, “Lord, I don’t want to be like that.”
Said, “Your wife will go, too. She won’t live up there in them hills like that. And you’ll become a bum just as the dream showed you you would.”
I said, “I don’t want to be that, but the… I—I—I don’t want to have to live like that. I—I want to do something different. But I—I was told that—that You had called me to be a—a prophet, and I want to live in the wilderness like the prophet.” But I was using my own excuse so I could hunt; my own good.
And He said, “But that was the prophets of the Old Testament. You’ve been called to be there in a much higher office than that.” He said, “You have more gifts besides that. You was called to pray for the sick and to preach the Gospel. And in the apostolic form, you know of—of greater things, many great gifts.” He said, “Why do you wait for Me to move you every time you move? Where is your reward?” Then I seen. And then said, “Do you remember?” I told you…?… “Do you remember what Brother Roberson told you in your dream, in his dream, or vision? That you had done like Moses. You’ve forgot the feeling of your people. You forgot the call that I called you to.”
I let the sick lay. I want the Lord to tell me where to go and not to. That’s wrong. I had built myself a complex, because the people didn’t hear my Message. And if you’ll… And God forbid that I’ll try to compare the life of now like Moses, but it’s exactly what Moses did. The people wouldn’t listen to him when he come to deliver them, so he just left them alone and went into the wilderness, but God turned him around. And he had long forgot the suffering people.
And then I said, “Lord, if… How could I, that’s right, with no education, with a grammar school education, be able? And the people would stand in rows and everywhere, to hear the simple Gospel.” It’s more, it’s greater now than it was under the Old Covenant. He ascended on High and give gifts unto man. See? Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever. Then I was talking, and I heard It talking to me. And It left me.
And He said, “Return! Did not I tell you, in the beginning, to do the work of an evangelist? When I called you, down on the river, did not I say, ‘As John the Baptist was sent forth to forerun the first coming’? Wasn’t John more than a prophet? Jesus said so, Himself. ‘What’d you go out to see, a prophet?’ Said, ‘More than a prophet.'”
Then it all begin to come to me. I begin to—to wonder. Then He reminded me again of the—of the people. How, doing what Moses did, how could Moses reach the people in the wilderness? And how could I reach the people in the wilderness? Exactly the same thing. Then it come to this, Second Timothy 4. Remember when we dedicated the church that morning, thirty years ago, some of you old-timers, when He showed me them trees and I planted them on both sides? Remember that? You remember the vision. It’s all wrote in books and on tapes and everything. Been years ago, how I seen these and I—I never crossed up the Oneness and the Trinity. I stood between them and planted these trees, and they were the only two trees that had fruit. And I… All the trees grew up about thirty feet and stopped. These went plumb into Heaven; broke off of the same branch. See? One on one side and one on the other, and I broke them. You remember the vision. See? It’s wrote in books and it’s in my life story and all. And they went plumb up into Heaven like that, quickly. And He said, “Hold out your hands for the fruit.” And then I found the same fruit in the cross, when I run down there. And He said, “‘Do the work of an evangelist. Make full proof of your ministry. And the time will come when they’ll not endure sound doctrine.’ Don’t quit them then. Keep going.” That all come into my mind.
I am returning to the field. Amen. Old or young, live or die, I’ll obey God until death shall set me free. I have failed the Lord, not willing. Whether I make… I’ve tried… Let me insert this. See? Some more tape left? Let me insert this. I have wanted, I have wanted to see Jesus Christ manifested without one flaw. And let the brethren who hear this tape, and this church remember, from this day, the reason you haven’t had no flaws, and the reason that all these years you can’t say one thing that ever said or done but what it happened. I challenge anybody to bring any of the thousands of things on the platform, and the discernment, and the prediction of what would happen; it’s happened exactly to the letter. Now, the church believes that, say, “Amen,” so that… [Congregation says, “Amen.”—Ed.] There’s not a person in the world can show one. But be it known to the church here and to the church hereafter: if God pushes a man through a pipe, and he don’t move at all until God tells him, there is no faith connected with it. It’s God pushing you to something. And it’s built the ministry to a place to where there is nobody can say one word against it. But from henceforth, let me first speak to you in the Name of the Lord, before you listen, because I must go out by faith. I must do it by faith, whether I think it’s right or wrong, or what. I do the best of my choosing, and then go do it. Because it hasn’t been wrong, is because I’ve waited till He told me to go do it. I’ve waited for Him. So it wasn’t me; it was Him.
But, you see, even the great Saint Paul got between the straits one time. And many times that God has did things or let His servants do it, that was mistakes, in order to prove these things. Now, we know that human beings can make mistakes, but God can make no mistake. But now if I get into the field of preaching, and going the way I—I do, then I have to set up meetings ahead and—and get things lined up. And perhaps this is that great time coming that we been looking for. And surely if “This in itself is a tremendous thing that will bring to pass, and make come to pass, the tremendous victory in the love Divine,” and that’s the verb before adverb, then it’s Divine love, which is God. See? And then it takes the love of God to dash out there on the front line and stand in the gap for the people.
And these Rickies and Rickettas, that have so sassed the words, and I’ve called them “Ricky” and “Ricketta,” God give me to understand I shouldn’t do that, because that’s many of them are still His children. I’m a… They can’t help because they act so much different. Some of these old, cold formal churches has got them, that spirit upon them, and they’re in much in—in prison as Israel was in prison, just as much as Moses went down to deliver them from slavery. Human beings that loved Jesus Christ, would serve Him if they only know what to serve Him by. And they’re in bondage under denominationalism that tells them, “Don’t you do this, and don’t you do that.”
But the call of God must come, “Whoever wants to march towards the promised Land, let him march.” We’re on our road to the promised Land. Amen. Let them come, march. We’re on our road to meet Christ at the end time. And I wanted to bring this to you so that you would see, and show you that, the mistake that a man can make, yet being sincere.
Moses lost the feeling of his people because they wouldn’t listen to him. And, Brother Roy, you see your dream? And now I cannot go, with a ministry like that, until I feel different in my heart about it, no matter if God did tell me. But that is that change that Brother Roy… that seen coming. Something’s got to change me, because I, in my heart, if I go out there feeling the way I do now; I still feel that they ought to have heard that Message, they ought to a-done it. And I don’t have the feeling for the people that I should have. Until I can get that feeling, there is no need in me going, because I’d be a hypocrite.
And all these years I’ve tried to serve Him with a true heart, and I won’t go out there being a hypocrite. I got to feel that, that it isn’t Ricky and Ricketta, and it isn’t this bunch. It’s God’s children that’s in bondage, and I must go to them. Until I can feel that way, I’ll just have to loaf around, preach some conventions and things, but wait.
“Standing In The Gap”, 63-0623M, William M. Branham
Eleventh Hour Productions 