A Passover Message

We pray, Heavenly Father, the great Apostle Paul was brought in question because in his day and his hour he believed in the resurrection from amongst the dead, Jesus Christ the Lord. Today, Lord, we know that we are brought in question also by the fact that we believe that you are the same yesterday, today, and forever, and arisen from the dead, and proved it by the fact that you are now doing in the form of the Holy Spirit in the pillar of fire, which you did when you were here in flesh, Lord, and you have shown conclusively. that you have appeared, you have descended, and you are amongst us, which many don't understand. We people here tonight, how many we don't know, upstairs, downstairs, but are a testimony to that truth, that we know that you have come in the form of the Holy Ghost, the prelude to the great hour when we shall rise to meet you, and you shall be incarnated to us in the body of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we shall be at the wedding supper of the great God of glory. At that time you will be kingly king and Lord of lords. Son of God, Son of Man, Lily of the Valley, the Rose of Sharon, the Altogether, the Lovely One, Jehovah, Great God. And so we stand here believing that tonight, Lord, and thank you for this testimony we have just by our presence alone. And ask you, Lord, that you may anoint every single one of us, Lord, and all the churches represented to such a degree that there will now be one amongst the people, O God, because of your goodness and mercy. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. You may be seated.

Now the message tonight is, a Passover message. And literally, we're going to look at what you might call the reason for the cross or the philosophy behind the cross. And we'll start reading in Matthew 10, just skipping various verses. 10 and 38 says, And he that taketh not his cross and follows after me is not worthy of me. And then in 16 to Matthew 24 to 25, Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it, and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. And then in 27, 35 to 44, we have the literal story of Christ. And it says, And they crucified him and parted his garments, casting lots that it might be fulfilled, which is spoken by the prophet. They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots. And sitting down, they watched him there, and set up over his head his accusation, written, This is Jesus, the King of the Jews. Then were there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand and another on the left. And they that pass by reviled him, wagging their heads and saying, Thou that destroyest the temple and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. Likewise also the chief priests mocking him with the scribes and elders said, He saved others. Himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him come down from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusted in God, let him deliver him now. If he will have him, for he said, I am the Son of God. The thieves also which were crucified with him cast the same in his teeth. And over in Peter, 1 Peter, and of course the first chapter, and verses 18 to 20, For as much as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as a lamb, without blemish and without spot, who verily was ordained, foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you. And also just a portion of a verse in 1 Corinthians, the 7th chapter. I beg your pardon, it will be the 5th chapter. And the last part of verse 7, For even Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed for us. Now, Paul informs us, as does Peter that Christ is the sacrificial lamb of the Passover which we are looking back in 33 AD where Christ Jesus paid the price of his life by the shedding of his blood to lead Israel out of corrupt Judaism and the bondage of a rabbinical synagogue order in Jerusalem which Revelation 11 and 8 calls spiritual Sodom and Egypt where Jesus Christ was crucified. So just going over that again, you'll notice that there are three exoduses Brother Bran spoke of. One was the time of Moses, and you understand, of course, very thoroughly that one. The next exodus he spoke of Christianity coming out of Judaism, wherein they were bound under the laws of man and the tradition of man, not the laws of God. They came out into Christianity. And that was the second exodus, of course, Brother Bran spoke of. Now, the original Passover, which was the first and great exodus, was introduced by God himself, who declared to Moses, and then Moses to the people, he said, When I see the blood, I will pass over you. And, of course, the Passover is when God himself stood guard to deliver certain people from God's own sentence of death. Now, you must remember the devil did not do the sentencing. Death and sin came by him. But you'll notice that God did the sentencing on the ground, he said, in the day of the eating of dying thou did surely die. And now he is going to destroy the firstborn of Egypt and whosoever is not under the blood. So God stands guard on the first Passover. I will pass over you when he saw the shedding of the blood. The blood that was to be shed, and which was shed by the Israelites, was to be and was the blood of an innocent lamb, one without spot and one without blemish. And it was proven to be so by taking the lamb up and holding it and watching it for 14 days. And you'll notice that Jesus, the Passover lamb, was also brought before the people to be judged, and he was proved to be the perfect lamb. And nobody could lay a finger on him. Everything they said was lies. Even Pilate had to wash his hands of the whole affair. And he stood there completely inviolate because he was that perfect lamb. Then, of course, they whipped him until a human being would have died. And he did not die, showing that the lamb was a perfect lamb worthy of the sacrifice to shed his blood for mankind. Now, the point we're making at this time is that Though the Passover, or the divine intervention and preservation of God, demanded the shedding of blood, by reading Exodus 12, we find that there were no rules laid down how the blood was to be shed. Now, I won't bother reading it. There's about seven or eight verses we could read. But you'll notice nothing is mentioned as to how the blood was to be shed, but was mentioned how the blood was to be used. Now, the throat could have been slashed. That perhaps is the way it was done, and we believe literally that's how it was done. Even as Abel was sacrificed by Cain unto death, we believe a jagged rock severed his jugular vein. A knife could have been plunged into the heart of the little lamb as it lay there bleeding. We don't know. A blow to the head could have been administered, and then the blood drained from the body. Now, we don't know how it was done, but when Christ, our Passover, died, It was prophesied perfectly in the Word as to the exact manner in which it was to be done and how he was to die. And that way was the only way that his blood could be shed and be acceptable to God. Now that's something that we understand or will understand tonight. It had to be a certain specific way that his blood was shed and it could not be done any other way but this very one way. And you can see some of the scriptures, though there are many, we're not going to go into them, in the book of Psalms, the 22nd Psalm, and 16 to 18. Brother Brannan used this a lot.

For dogs have compassed me, the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me, they pierce my hands and my feet, I may tell all my bones, they look and stare upon me. They part my garments among them and cast lots upon my vesture. And then over in Zechariah, it'll book there close to the back. The

Bible's like mine, it sticks together there. 12th chapter, and the 10th verse, And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of the Spirit of grace, and the supplication. And they shall look upon me whom they have pierced. That's from the pierced side, not just the pierced hands and feet, because they wounded his side also, remember, prophetically. And it was done truly. And they shall mourn him as one.

Now,

of course, this is at the time he makes himself known to the remnant of Israel, but it already has been done to him according to what the Scripture says. Now, what I'm saying is this, that Jesus had to die upon a cross, and in no other manner could he die. And the point I want to make as to the substance of this message, is that his death upon the cross was not only prophesied and thereby had to come to pass, but because the cross alone truly met the requirements as the instrument of death and no other means could have met the conditions that are in the Bible that must be met through the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, this is quite a stunning statement, but it is true that his death must be the death of the cross. As it was prophesied and is brought out in Galatians, the third chapter, and 13 and 14, Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, for it's written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree, that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Now, then because of this, we ask the question, what is a cross? Because you have to know what a cross is. in order to know the philosophy or the principles behind it as to exactly why it was a cross. Now, essentially, as we view the cross of Christ, it is an instrument of death made out of two planks of wood, one of which crosses the other, and it is nailed together and set up in an upright or vertical position so that usually the cross member or the horizontal bar is nearer the top than the center. And the key phrase of this description is, crosses another. That's what we are looking at. One plank crossed another. It did not bend. It did not go around it. It did not butt up against it. But it went right over the other in a very direct manner. And that's what forms a cross. Now you'll notice that what I'm actually bringing out here is that the noun is also the verb. You cross something, you get a cross. And two members... two articles, two planks, crossed each other, and thereby made the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. The philosophy then of the cross is this, or the principle. The cross then certainly suggests or types adversarial precepts and consequent suffering for taking a stand for those principles or beliefs, because that is why Jesus Christ died. He was contrary to what the people believed. Paul was beheaded. Peter was crucified. Andrew was crucified. Many people were destroyed. And it's the principle of the cross, the laying down of the life, because adversarial principles are at force at work at that particular time. So the cross then suggests, it doesn't just suggest, but it is true. The philosophy behind the cross is adversarial principles make it so. and there is a consequent suffering for a stand of the principles that people believe. So let's begin to look at the book of Luke, and beginning at the, that's just one book, of course, the 11th chapter and 53 to 54. And Jesus, of course, has come against the lawyers and the Pharisees and the scribes, and he's telling them exactly what they are, where they came from, and where they are going. And 53 says, And he said these things unto them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to urge him vehemently, and to provoke him to speak many things. They literally goaded him to say the things that they wanted him to say that were 100 % contrary to what they were saying in order to kill him, laying wait for him, and seeking to catch something out of his mouth that they might accuse him. So we go to John. The tenth chapter.

And beginning reading at verse 30, I and my father are one. Right away the Jews took up stones to kill him. He answered them, Many good works have I showed you from my father. For which of those works do you stone me? The Jews answered, For a good work we do not stone you, but for blasphemy. And because thou being a man makest thyself God. Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I say to your gods? If ye call them gods unto whom the word of God came, that's the prophets, as Brother Branham said it. The scripture cannot be broken. You can't break it. Say ye of him whom the Father has sanctified, deliberately set aside and proven, and sent into the world, thou blasphemies, because I said I am the Son of God. If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. But if I do, though ye believe me, believe not me, believe the works, that ye may know and believe that the Father is in me and I in him. Therefore they sought again to take him. See? Adversarial precepts. One came against another. There was no blending. There was no moving around. You know, there's many figures. I suppose there are six major figures plus one. Major figures in the universe, you've got various ones. You've got triangles and you've got rectangles. You've got circles. You've got ovals. You've got a compound curve. And then you've got a cross, which you make number seven. The number seven is distinctly different. And you see here, he's forming an actual pattern of the cross by their understanding and their wills being crossed. Then going back to Matthew, to chapter 27, 15

to 25. Now,

at the feast, the governor was wont to release unto the people a prisoner whom they would. He was in the habit of doing that. And they had then a notable prisoner called Barabbas. Therefore when they were gathered together, Pilate said unto them, Whom will ye that I release unto you, Brabus or Jesus, which is called Christ or the Messiah? For he knew that for envy they had delivered him. Now here's a rank old heathen knowing more than the Christians or the so -called. For he knew that for envy they had delivered him. And when he sat down on the judgment seat, his wife sent him saying, Have thou nothing to do with this just man? For I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him. But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas and destroy Jesus. The governor answered, saying to them, Whether the twain will ye that I release unto you? And they said, Barabbas. Pilate said to them, What shall I do then with Jesus, which is called Christ? They all said unto him, Let him be crucified. Now you notice that these are the common people that heard him gladly. They're not so happy anymore. You can see a direct parallel with Brother Branagh's ministry today. Now people don't want to recognize that, but I'm sorry for them. It's still the truth.

The governor said, Why, what evil hath he done? They didn't answer the question. They said, They cried out to Morris, saying, Let him be crucified. And Pilate saw he could prevail nothing. But rather a tumult was made. He took water, washed his hand before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person. See you do it. Then answered all the people and said, His blood be upon us and upon our children. Now, let's go again to the epistles, reading a little more. In 1 Corinthians 1, 17, 18.

Galatians, the 5th chapter, the 11th verse.

Then is the offense of the cross ceased. You see, there again, they didn't want the cross, the cutting off of life, as represented of Christ upon the cross, which is not just representation, it was truth. But circumcision was a figure to a degree. He wouldn't preach circumcision. He preached the circumcision of Christ, which was the cutting off of a life for the people. Then in 6 and in 12 Galatians, as many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh, They constrain you to be circumcised, only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. Then you notice in there, there were those who claimed that they believed in the cross. But when the argument came up and they need to take up their cross because of the cross, they said, oh no, we believe in circumcision. It's a perfectly good thing. And that's exactly where we find that Barnabas and Paul got separated. The Holy Ghost had said, separate me, Paul and Barnabas, for the work went to have called them. Then it came to the Judaizers. who attempted to bring about circumcision, which Paul says, if you go that way, then you deny the circumcision of the cross, the cutting off of Christ. And Barnabas evidently fell for it. And Paul said, I'm finished. And you never heard of Barnabas again. Now, this is something that you hear me talk about because I feel very strongly when it comes to ministry. You live and die that ministry. And anybody gets in your way, you're finished with them. You say, oh, Brother Vail, don't ever Brother Vail me. I'm sorry. You know me better than that. I'm a nice guy to get along with. But here's one place I stand because I've got to answer to God, not to you. I answer for you. You see where Paul stood? The adversarial precepts are in the cross. It takes an adversary. It takes a confrontation. It takes an actual bucking and a crossing over when you talk of a cross. Look at Philippians. So

these are serious matters when you talk about the word. You do not go into legalism and these things which many people are still bound up in. They say they believe this message. They're still just as bound up as they were back there in the days of poor old Paul. Now, Paul says here in Philippians 3 and 18, For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and tell you not even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly. whose glories are shame and mind earthly things. And you know, that's what America did in 1948 when they had the great conference, I think it was in San Francisco, the great peace conference. And there everybody could come with their religion and nobody was allowed to stand up for the cross of Christ. And don't think for one minute hanging one around your neck and being a Roman Catholic or something else is going to do it. Anybody can drift like a dead fish with the current. You don't know what a cross is until you stand up against something or somebody. It's got to be, see. So you can understand we're seeing it. Let's go to Hebrews, the second chapter.

Twelfth chapter, beg your pardon. The second verse, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross. Now watch the cross. Despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. In other words, no cross, no crown. It's exactly true. You want a crown, there's got to be a cross. All right. Since you can easily see what I'm saying, We're going to enumerate some of the clashes or the crosses found in the Word of God, because that's why we say there's got to be a principle behind the cross. Why was it a cross? Because it crosses. See, it's adversarial. You're coming against something. All right, where are the clashes? What happened in the Bible? What is set forth? All right, first of all, the cross or the clash is found in the Word of God. many, many places, and it's from the very beginning. And these set the principle of the cross and make it a cross of redemption and restoration, undoing the crises of rebellion that have occurred. So let me say that again. These crosses, these clashes we see in the Bible, set the pattern of the tenor and bring us to understand what we're saying, that these set the principle of the cross. and make it a cross of redemption and restoration and glory, undoing the crises of rebellion. Now, the first case, it doesn't do that, because the first clash was in heaven between God and Satan, and only the heavens were purified, but Satan is not purified, and he never will be restored. You may not know this, but Jimmy Jones, the one that had the big massacre down in South America, I talked to him on this very subject. And he said, Lee, there's one thing I'll admit. He said, I can talk to you like I can talk to no other person. He said, because you listen and you don't throw fit over it. And he believed in restoration. And he laughed and he said, but it's strange that everybody believes that. It goes too far. And he went insane and took hundreds of people with him. The doctrine of restoration of the devil that even Booth Clibberin, I understand, preached. Where Christ and Satan will go down the streets of glory and hand in hand is a lie. from the pit of hell. There is no restoration on those grounds. The restoration lies in the cross that the blood purified the heavens. Now let's read it. It's in Isaiah 14.

Just a couple of verses all we need.

And it's 12 to 14. How

art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning? How art thou cut down to the ground which did weaken the nations? Now you'll never be restored. For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will be like the Most High.

If that's not the credo of the modern popes, I want to know what is.

If that's not the credo of Protestantism, I want to know what is. And if you want to know where the Protestants and Catholics are entrenched today, just read the names of all the Protestant big shots that meet with the Pope. And there's not one that doesn't. And don't say the Pentecostals aren't there because they are there. I just forget his name, but I got the book at home and I'll bring it to read it to you if you want it.

Hebrews, the ninth chapter, tells you exactly what happened in the heavens.

And we're not here to fight with anybody. We sure want the record clear because, look, I'm going to tell you, one day we may die by it. And if we're going to die by it, we better live by it. And on verse 22 of chapter 9, almost all things are purged, are by the law purged with blood. They're burnt right out, clean. Without the shedding of blood is no remission of sin. It was therefore necessary that the pattern of things in the heavens be purified with these. But the heavenly things, that's just the pattern now, purify the blood of bulls and goats. But the heavens itself were cleansed with better sacrifices. In other words, every remnant of uncleanness. has been even taken away out of heaven, purged completely by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ where the first clash came. The next cross or clash is seen in Eden where Satan in the serpent's body crossed the word of God to Eve and she fell into sin as it says in Genesis 3, 1 to 5. And we all know what that is, but we'll go back and read it.

Now the serpent was more subtle than any of the beasts of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, Yea, hath God said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden. The woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. Now she should have known, it's very strange that this beast here would begin talking to her, but she just took it every day. So her guard was down before she even knew it was down. You don't fool around with the devil. And the serpent said, You shall not surely die. For God doth know in the day ye eat of, then shall your eyes be opened, and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. You notice right there, he didn't say there wasn't any God. He just misinterpreted the word to her completely. Now, the doctrine of the hour was, you are going to die. And what did Satan do? He twisted the doctrine. Now, she had known the doctrine and stood with the doctrine. Any quote he gave would have been nothing. And that's this message today. If you don't know the doctrine, you'll die. Because anybody can quote anything. I went through a whole series. The pastor's a spiritual husband. And we finally found out by reading it, he never even said that. He said, spiritually speaking, that is a mighty big difference.

Satan hasn't lost his cunning. If you think Satan is not around this message, let me tell you something. I wonder if you're born. You're

certainly not dry behind the ears if you can't figure this one out.

I take a strong stand for the Word in this church, and if the Word doesn't do it, I'm not even interested whether you and I make it. I'm sorry. I've got to take my stand. That's why I say I don't book any interference in this pulpit. My stand is with this Word. If the Word, the life, is not released in this Word in us, there isn't any of us got a chance, my brother, my sister, because it's adversarial. Everything is adversarial. I don't care what it is. You see the cross all the way through. You can see that Satan's word in the serpent crossed the word of Almighty God and she allowed it to stand. She became the goat, as it were. Now watch what happened and see this word cross with a very peculiar meaning from Genesis, the third chapter, in the 13th verse. And the Lord God said to the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me. He literally seduced her. In copulation is what happened. And you will see that at this point Eve cross -breeded or hybridized the human race. And that's a cross again. Look in the book. You'll find it right in the dictionary. To cross is to hybridize. And so there was a hybridization. So you can see we now have a cross -breed race when we should have a genuine good race. Watch where this cross -breeding goes. What happened? See it in Genesis, the fourth chapter, 8 to 10. And Cain talked with Abel, his brother, this hybridized individual, this serpent seed. And it came to pass from the field that Cain, the serpent seed, rose up against Abel, the true son of Adam and Eve, and he killed him. The Lord said unto the serpent seed, Where is the true seed, thy brother? And he said, I don't know. When did I get ever any charge over the true seed? I'm sort of rigging this scripture a bit to make you think.

You true see to God, then all you want is the Word of God. And what comes out of that Word? And if it doesn't come out of the Word, the prophet says, stay away from that stuff. Like the little girl in Jack Bell's church. She said, I'd sooner die than go to a false anointed for healing. And I will too, my brother and my sister. Because life isn't that important. I would sooner be like Solomon. Not Solomon, but poor old Samson. Who after got in a bit of debauchery, especially the sexual kind, decided it was best to serve God after all. And in one fell swoop, he took the whole bunch with him. It

took a long time for the man to get back to the Word. But he got back to the Word. Let's just take a little look at this. Well, let's read verse 10. And God said, What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries unto me from the ground. Let's see this crossbreeding. Let's see this in the church over here in 1 John.

We've been to this many, many times. The

third chapter, verses 11 to 13, for this is the message you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one and slew his brother. In other words, a brother after the flesh. He was not a genuine brother. Anybody knows if it's one man and another woman and another man and the same woman, it's a half -brother.

Or vice versa. Same man.

The man being the same, having two wives. They're half -brothers. See? Love one another. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil and his brother's righteous. He was doing the right thing in a wrong way, trying to worship God. The Scripture says, Thou hast rightly offered, but thou hast not rightly divided. And the Bible categorically states that you've got to rightly divide the word or you're not acceptable.

Where will this church be without the Word of God? See where we stand, brothers and sisters? Don't try to fool yourselves. You've got to get right down in the dirt where the cross is. And the cross in this message is the Word. Because people don't want to let their thinking and their minds go. Well, see, I had this. Listen, when I was first saved, I told you many times, this wrist, I'd fallen on it like a toothache day and night. To sleep at night, I pinned it under my body and dared not move or I'd wake right up. The minute I got saved, I said, Lord, tomorrow morning it won't be there. That's over 50, well, it's going on 60 solid years. Let

me tell you something, brother, sister. You can die of cancer. That's not the worst thing in the world. But you die in the malignancy of a false revelation.

So therefore, we're bound to the precepts we stand for. Let the cross appear. Let them fuss. Let them fight. And this is negligible as far as the real suffering is concerned, except there is a hurt to it. A bit of an inner hurt. Let them say what they want about what they believe. And say, well, he's here, so what? And

tell me they understand who is the king down. When he descended, what did he do and what is he doing? I want some answers. Can't

give me the answers outside of the prophet's message. So here, why did he slay him? Because his own works were evil. What was the evil work? Worshiping God contrary to Revelation.

Where does that put this church tonight?

Bad shape if we're not according to Revelation.

John 16.

One to two. These things have I spoken unto you, that you should not be offended. They shall put you out of synagogues. Yea, the time cometh that whosoever killeth you will think they're doing God a service. Now he said, I'm telling you the truth now, the real revelation, so when the chips are down, you won't be offended. In other words, it will not constitute a cross to you. My words will not constitute the cross. They will constitute the cross coming against you, but my word will take you over. And we'll see that shortly how the cross does it. Because we talk to restoration. We can see the conflict going on in the Old Testament. Until we come to Genesis, the sixth chapter, one to seven. And of course, these are where the sons of God saw the daughters of men, and they're getting all messed up the same as he got messed up in the garden, until there's not one person left except dear old Noah. And he is the only true, legitimate human being. He was perfect before God in the word, and the Hebrew means genetically perfect. So that proves serpency.

Well, I'm not going to blast it, so let's just be nice. I got an ass to pick with these big -mouthed Pentecostals. They shoot their faces off and know nothing and cover up by speaking in tongues. Well, you and I spit on the floor, we're going to hell, but they can commit adultery right up in public and be caught, and it's okay, hell do you. And don't think I'm negative, anybody sitting here, because I hit these things and you've got some prettier words in your mouth.

I get sick and tired of these self -righteous people. Too

legal. You'd be the same kind.

Every plant's being manifested. Everything's being exposed. And if I've got that in my soul, before I die, you'll see it from this man, Vail, in the pulpit too. And I'll see it from you. So

let's not be pretty, pretty anymore. Some of your records will fill books of stink. Same as mine. So

let's not be too nice.

Especially, Brother Vail, I love you. All

right, it came to pass that men began to multiply in the face of the daughters. The men were born of them. The sons of God saw the daughters of men. They're fair. And they took them wives of all which they'd chosen. The Lord said, My spirit and all strive with man for that which is also flesh. He's flesh. Yet these days be 120 years. There were giants on land in those days and so on. And what did they come from? The hybridization. Serpent seed. God saw the witness there is great in the earth. The imagination of their hearts. That is their actual thinking, their reasonings. Everything tended to be immoral.

Isn't it strange? 240 million people roughly in America. I put at odds with the homosexual society of maybe what? What? One out of every ten males? Something like that. How many? A few million. We lose all our liberties to take care of theirs. That's the law of America. And don't tell me it's not. Because I study where you don't study.

Don't think I'm telling you a lie. Every reasoning is rotten.

Contrary to God. The heart evil continuously.

Isn't the shadow knows what evil lurks in the heart of men? It's God who knows what lurks in the heart of men. And every born -again Christian ought to know from the Word of God right here. And repented God that he made man on the earth and agreed him at his heart. The Lord said, I'll destroy the man that I've created in the face of the earth, both man and beast and creeping things that follow the air, and so on. There you can see it right there. The conflict coming on until the flood came. And what did the flood do? The flood was another cross. Where the will of man and the will of God came in direct conflict. But what happened? By the cross of the ark. They were lifted up above the flood and they were saved. We go to Genesis 11 chapter and there we see the Tower of Babel. Once more we see man crossing the will of Almighty God. We could go on and on from all this. We can see the cross moving larger and larger and the great gulf fixed getting greater and greater between God and man. It is ever widening. Man has crossed. and contradicted God, even as Satan did. And now, by the man and his cross, God uncrosses man and gets man back.

Hear what I said?

Now, God, through the man and the cross,

uncrosses man and gets him back. Let's go to Romans, the fifth chapter. First

verse. Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. What does the other verse say in verse 10? For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son on

the cross and no other way. See, they couldn't kill Him when they beat Him, tried to beat Him to death. They couldn't kill Him when they tried to push Him over the brow of the hill. They could only kill Him when He hanged on the cross. And the Bible said they both crucified and killed the Lord Jesus Christ. All right. For if we, when we're enemies, we're reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. See? Notice what the Bible tells you there. That's what the cross did. Now, who was that man and his cross? The man and his cross, of course, is Isaiah, the 53rd chapter. And it says, Who hath believed our report, and whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, as a root out of dry ground. He hath no form to come. And when they shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. So let's kill him. He is despised and rejected. A man of sorrows, a man of sorrows acquainted with grief. We hid as our faces from him. He was despised. We esteemed him not. Surely he had borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. Esteem him stricken. They said that's what he should be. He should be killed.

And that's what they'll say about us if we live long enough here. It's going to have to come.

because that's the cure for the scourge. And we are the scourge.

You might as well understand it.

Don't worry how much it's going to hurt you. Maybe you might wonder where it's going to hit.

You ever driven down a road fast and something's going to come towards you? A car began crossing a median one time and I wondered just where it was going to get me.

It wasn't too much to fear. It wasn't too much there at all.

Life is a funny thing. Don't try to guess it. Just live it. Just as it comes along. Sure, it is born. I've reached care of this source. We have seen the strictest men in the God and afflicted. He's wounded for our transgression. Bruce and Nicholas. chastened our peace upon him, his stripes were healed. All we like sheep have gone astray, and so on. He was oppressed, he was afflicted, he opened out his mouth. Take him to prison in judgment. See? Never even had a proper judgment. They wouldn't give it him. Who should declare his generation? He never had any children. He was called the land of the living. For the transgression of my people was his trickery. Made his grave with the wicked, the rich with his death. Because he had done no violence, he was any deceit in his mouth. He had the peace of the Lord to bruise him. He had put him to grief. And thou shalt make his soul an offering to him. He shall see his seed. Notice? The cutting off gave him children. Dead men do not have children. This dead man did. See the cross all the way through. He shall see the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify the many. There's only many. For he shall bear their iniquities. Not everybody's. Therefore I divide him in portion with the great. It's limited atonement. You can say what you want. It's limited atonement. And he shall divide his poor with the strong because he hath poured out his soul unto death and with numbers of transgressors he bare the sins of many and made intercession for the transgressors. Alright, who is this one in Isaiah 53? The one in Isaiah 53 is the same one over here spoken of in Revelation the third chapter. Verse 14. The beginning of the creation of God. God beginning to and finalizing His efforts by transforming Himself into human flesh. The beginning of the creation of God. God creating Himself in the form of human flesh. And that goes back to Luke, the first chapter, 26 to 35. And it says,

and shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus. Exactly what you're talking about. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest. The Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his king there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How is this thee seeing I don't know a man? The angel said unto her, She wasn't Mary, you see, to Joseph at that time. And the angel said unto her, The Holy Ghost come upon thee, and the power of the highest overshadow thee. Therefore also the holy thing be born, and thou shalt be called the Son of God. And behold, thy cousin is this. She hath also conceived a son of old age. This is six months of her is called barren. For the very presence of God, nothing shall be impossible whatsoever. And notice with that the Philippians, the second chapter. We've got to get another picture of this to see exactly what we are looking at. And the fifth verse beginning to about verse 8. Let this mind be new. This is also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, in other words, entirely human, entirely spirit. thought it not a robbery or a thing to try to be grasped and retained, but made himself of no reputation and took upon the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of man. And being found in fashion of man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death, even the death of the cross. Now, God crossed the gulf of sin by the body of his own life.

Now, that's what you understand. He crossed the gulf of sin by his own life. Being transformed into a body because that's all it is. You put the life there and you give it the required elements, something's going to form. Can't help it. So God crossed the gulf of sin and by the body of His own life shed His own blood on the cross. That's how Christ was the blood of God and God can shed blood. And thereby paid the price of redemption making a way to send back that same life upon the believer. It was one, a life spent. He spent it for us. Secondly, it was a life shed. back upon us by the Holy Ghost. The life was given first for sin and then given for life to those amongst the dead. That's right, that's you and me. It is the double cure for the guilt of sin and the bringing forth of life. So first we lay the principle here now of what the cross. It had to be a cross because of adversarial principle. It had to be definite. And that which is against another forms a cross. And when man's will crossed over God's will and crossed over God's way, then God had to do something, and it's just the same as a snake bite. They took and made a cross and put the serpent on the cross, and as they looked at the serpent, they were healed. Homeopathy has the same thing in mind. It's the proper cure. In other words, when you see the symptoms, you treat the symptoms by the very thing that would bring that symptom. And the thing disappears. So you take a cross to uncross what man has crossed him. See? Now, quickly let us notice. This one upon the cross who himself, now listen carefully, this one upon the cross who is, as it were, a cross in himself, because he is completely rejected and alone from all that he is actually a part of, yea, the owner of. and the prime mover of the principle of, as

says the word, and in that rejection spells out a perfect cross. I hope you caught what I said. Let me read it again. This one upon the cross who himself is, as it were, a cross in himself, because he is completely rejected and alone from all that he's a part of, as says the word, and in that rejection spells out a perfect cross.

That's right. Now, I'm not going to use my own words, but I'm going to read from a man that I greatly admire, E. E. Mitchell, which I think was the greatest student of the cross that ever lived. Perhaps, I'm not sure, but I consider him one of the greatest. And he's asked these words, Where does he belong? Which line shall we associate him? With which line shall we associate him? Does he belong to heaven? Sure, he left heaven. But no, he left heaven. He set aside his position in glory. Does he then belong to earth? No. Jesus said the Son of Man has not where to lay his head. He said more than men heard. He meant infinitely more than a shelter from the storm or a cupboard for the night. In other words, he has no place here. He's excluded. To whom does he belong? To God? No. God has given him. He is delivered to another. Does he then belong to men? No. He came to his own and his own received him not. Does he belong on that cruel, unclean, iniquitous line of sin? No. It doesn't belong to the sinners. He walked in righteousness before man and God perfectly ever holy. The Bible says there is no sin.

Is his place then with God on that straight line of righteousness to companion with all divine excellencies and perfections? It would be, but no. All of his excellencies and perfections are given to the credit of another. Vicarious.

What he is in himself is stripped from him and given to another, as was his vesture. He is naked. He is alone. He saved others. Himself he cannot save. He paid a price. That price was himself.

His price was himself to get back himself.

This man, his virtues, his perfect life amongst men. All that he is as God's man is passed over the counter of spiritual exchange to be credited to another. In his nakedness, he is to be clothed. in the rags of others. He is to grow, to have no place, to come to an end, to be actually discontinued, having no generation. He has identified himself with our fallen race perfectly. He came as the last Adam, born of the seed of woman, and born under the law. As such, now listen, here's your law. He assumes all liabilities, pays all penalties of the law, and actually absorbs the sin of the world. and pass us out with it.

The Christ of the flesh is gone. As Paul said, we once knew him after the flesh, we know him henceforth no more. All mouths are now stopped. Heaven can say no more. Hell can utter no protest. The law is satisfied. The victim is dead. We have come to a strange place. We are facing again the great contradiction. The only man who deserves to live and have a place, that's to live there, is condemned to die and be discontinued. What is the answer? The answer is this is God's sign and wonder, is what it is. God, by the cross, bringing back the crossed up people who crossed up God.

In other words, all confrontation has now been voided. We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. It is the blood of the covenant. You cannot... Disassociate one thing that Christ is and stands for from the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Neither can you disassociate that which he purchased from the purchase price. So therefore, as Brother Branham categorically said, the blood of Jesus Christ scatters sin until there be no evidence of it. How then can you make a man a sinner? From his advent as the son born of a virgin. to a sacrificial death on the cross. Christ's life was a continual sign and wonder. This is God dealing with the inconsistencies of utter and absolute contradiction. So the cross was an absolute contradiction. And that's why men cannot see it. That's why to the Greek it was foolishness. To the Jews, they wanted a sign. They said, no way. Therefore, you begin to understand when you look at the Scripture tonight, how many people really have set to their hearts the reality of the cross of Christ. So there it is. This message is just a part, of course, of the whole story of the cross. It's just to get you acquainted with the philosophy behind it, why it was the cross. And it's not over yet. For he who said, All power in heaven and earth is given unto me. The judge of all the earth is standing humbly at the door trying to get back into his church. And he is crucified afresh by men unto themselves in this very hour. The cross is still not gone. Men still rise up against the word of God.

They contradict as Satan did. And that brings us to a thought. What does the word contra mean? Against. What does deco mean to say? To say against. As soon as God said a word, Satan said against it. When Adam said a word, Cain said against it. When a prophet said a word, the people said against it. When Christ spoke a word, the people spoke against it. When Luther came against the Catholic Church, it was spoken against. Now they weasel out of it, saying, well, if Leo was not the Pope, and John XXIII was, Luther never would have left the Church. Oh, slimy,

exotic

sin is no different from rough sin

of sin. The Catholic Church, every church, and that's just an example, is against everything at any time. A man of God comes on the scene. Let's prove it. The Lutherans went against Wesley. And the Wesleyans went against the Pentecostals. And the Pentecostals stand condemned today as I've never seen anybody condemned in my life. Trying to tell a preacher, you're okay when we give you our probation and our seal. Like they tried to move a guy to Fort Wayne when he got caught in adultery. And they're going to absolve the whole thing if he goes to Texas. So now jog if he makes the difference.

Let him talk in tongues. Let him heal the sick. Let him raise the dead. I have no confidence in anything they say under any consideration. We have the cross once more today formed very, very, very, very strong. He who said, I can call for and get twelve legions of angels and did not call for them but suffered the cross just as humbly and paradoxically waits for man to hear his voice today.

But the church will not hear. So what does he do? He quietly sets his church in order. and goes about establishing his kingdom, and even people around this message say, well, he's here, so what?

He's not here setting this church in order, getting this church ready to raise the dead. He raising the dead. You don't even know what this message is all about.

Why do you bother sitting and listening? It's not going to do you any good.

Tell you, we're not living by painted fires today, brother. Don't you realize his fan is in his hand, and he thoroughly purges his floor, and he binds the tears. And now I'll bring, I wish I'd have brought that article. And I'll read you every eminent theologian of every department, consorting and meeting the Pope that says, I am the vicar of Christ and he is a liar.

He is anti -Christ. For

his Protestant henchmen, God

give us strength to die on the cross or in the fire, to take what we say tonight. Because there's a hotter fire. And you will get a very special body for that fire, my brother and my sister, if you're not born again. And you fail the test at the white throne. You'll have a special body, something like asbestos, only more durable.

It'll last how long? A trillion years for all I know.

And there's no purgatory where you'll get out of it. You'll finally be annihilated when you've paid your price. You say pay a price and then annihilation? Absolutely. You and I make fool, but God doesn't. The

cross bridged the goal. Quietly he sets his church in order and goes about to establish his blessed holy kingdom. Tonight he's waiting. I believe he's still waiting, maybe for somebody here, to come the way of the cross and enter into the eternal life which he has for us. You

have to come by the cross. I have to come by the cross. There's only way one can come. Because it was the only way that he could die for our sins and then give that life back to us in the baptism with the Holy Ghost. There is no other way. Mary Baker Eddy could well say as far as she is concerned and her gang of so -called Christian scientists. that there's no more blood, efficacy in the blood of Jesus Christ than the blood of a rooster. And that is true for her and her gang there isn't. And to reject the cross and to simply say, well, he could have shed his blood another way is a lie because he could not shed his blood any other way than by the cross. And let me tell you something. Nobody has a patent on the cross. I like what Brother Branham said. Nobody's got a copyright on it.

Not that we revere the cross more than the one who bore the cross. It was nailed to the cross. But we have to see it was a cross and only a cross that could be the weapon of death or the instrument of his demise. You might be here tonight as a sinner. I don't know. Far away from God. But the Bible said we had been made nigh by the blood of Jesus Christ. And that blood was shed in a specific way. And had it been shed any other way, it would not be efficacious. No, it wouldn't. It wouldn't have been. It had to be the cross. The question arises, how close can the blood of Jesus Christ make us unto God? The guarantee of that blood goes all the way from what kind of a sinner we are to the saint that God wants to make us, and that's by the baptism with the Holy Ghost. In the book of Hebrews, the 10th chapter, in verses 14 to 18, we read these words, for by one offering, remember, He was offered. He was offered by God for the sins of the people. And the people had to reject him in order for him to be offered for sin. So you see, the will of man was still against the will of God.

And in forming a cross, he himself had already a cross formed within him. Because he was from heaven and he left it. He was despised and rejected of men. He hanged upon the cross. The heavens did not take him and the earth could not receive him. And the son hid his face in shame. He was there. upon a cross, and it could be no other way than the cross. And by that one offering he hath perfected forever them that have been put in that particular category by God, because God is the sanctifier. Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us. In other words, the baptism with the Holy Ghost is the sure sign that the blood of Jesus Christ has become effective for you and for me. No Holy Ghost, the blood is not effective. Say, how can I know it? There's only one way. As the Spirit answers to the blood, the Word will answer to the Spirit and the Spirit answer to the Word. They've got to be one. This is a covenant I'll make with them after those days, said the Lord. I will put My Word in their hearts. That's the law, the Word of God in their hearts. And in their minds will I write them. Now listen, this is the mind hour.

So if any time... The sacrifice will be completely and marvelously efficacious. It's going to be in the renewing of the mind which brings about the transfiguration. And he stands outside the door and he's knocking and he said, Now will you take up the cross of repentance? It's a cross of repentance where our wills and our minds, our understanding crosses the understanding of a prophet.

Now, the blood of Jesus Christ becomes effective to clear those brains, those cobwebs and all that stuff out of there. We can come with a perfect mind that the Lord Jesus Christ gave to the prophet because we believe the word. Understand everything. You don't have to.

See, that's what happened to the white throne. You've got preachers. They just want to throw their hands up. I've given you the secret for years. All you've got to do is believe the prophet and he'll show it to you. But if you go wandering around and thinking just maybe you've got some input. Yes, you've got input, people. Your input is what? unbelief and sin. Did

he make a bunch of heathen idolaters look like little bits of dough with their corrupt buzzard shenanigans?

Why do you think these big shot preachers are falling like tin pins?

Because they had their input.

The input of Satan deceived was illegitimate child. They went absolutely sexual. You've got the same thing right there. Come on, face up. We're not babies anymore. The prophet said, flee for your life because it's closing in. All right, he said there. In your minds? And he said, at that time, sin I will remember no more. It's appointed unto man once to die. Why? Because the wages of sin is death, and the body is dead because of sin. But the spirit is life because of righteousness. And at this time and this hour, when they crucify him to themselves of flesh, and remember, it's a contradiction. It's a coming against wills. The

man who can let his will go and says, I will believe.

I can lay down my thinking. It's not as hard as you think. I don't stand here as some mystifying person with some little tiny gift. All I had to do was say, when was he ever wrong?

I might have added sincerely, when was he ever right?

Every one of us had our problems. But in this hour, that

one who came in

flesh to be our Redeemer shedding his blood, that same one now here in the form of the Holy Ghost, is here to bring us to a special place of perfection and is going to cost us just one thing, and the prophet said it, the battle of the mind. And that's where the cross is. If we take up our cross, it

will be a glorious victory.

Because as we lay down our lives, He gives us His life. Now I want to close because this is communion service tonight. We don't have to bear any longer. Just have communion foot washing. I want to read in 1 Corinthians 10, 1 to 4. Moreover, brethren, I would not that you should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud and all passed through the sea. We're all baptized under Moses in the cloud and in the sea. All ate the same spirit you meet. All drank the same spirit you drink. For they drank the spiritual rock that followed them. And that rock was Christ. With many of them, God was not well pleased. They were overthrown on us. 16 and 17. Now, the cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? In other words, are we fellowshipping around the fact of the blood? The life is in the blood. The bread which you break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? In other words, doesn't the wine speak of the blood? And doesn't the bread speak of the flesh? Doesn't bring us into communication with God? What does it mean? See? They say the life of Christ was offered upon the altar of the body of Jesus. Those words are very nice. I don't know that they're 100 % in the Scripture, but I think they're quite consistent. But I do know that Jesus Christ was offered upon a cross.

And I know when he was. And he said, take, eat, this is my body. Broke me. They said, no way.

He said, this is my blood. If you drink it, he said, you've got a life. They said, no way. They couldn't take it.

See, the cross was there. The cross, brother, sister, can never, ever be taken out of our lives. We will always have a problem with ourselves and the things of God. But the very minute we allow that cross to have its way in our life, the cross overcomes.

God used the cross to bring man over, to cross over to man. to eliminate the cross we had against Jesus of the conflict.

Now let's just put it to use tonight as you begin thinking in terms of communion. Is this not a communion? Communion is a speaking back and forth. It's a molding together. It's an association of spirits. It's an understanding. It's a fellowship. So we enter into the fellowship of the suffering of Christ, which the great battle of the mind is what's going on now, to first of all accede to Him and what He has said. And if there's something to do, to do it. And Brother Brandon did not set a lot of order of laws in the church. He said, just when the seventh season opens, just be good and kind. He said, sweet. Like it says in Micah. What has required you, O man, but to do good. And show mercy and walk humbly before God. Not a great deal to do. But enter into this understanding. Lord, I believe.

A great price was paid for me. And I know that being one of the last day people, there's a cross for him. Your word has come against what I've always thought was right in my word. But tonight your word is right and mine's wrong.

Your way is right and my way is wrong. Whatever you ask, I know is the right way. And the only way that I can be right is by being your way. That's what I believe a lot tonight. We're talking about as we take at the table, Lord. You see, when his body was broken, it was because of the will of man coming against the will of God. The power of sin and darkness lay in there. But that made a way that you and I can escape the life of bondage that we've had to adhere to, that's been pushing us around. Day by day, as we grow in this word, this life, you find your life is not being pushed around as it once was. You find you're growing up in Christ. God has allowed that. And the blood is seeing we're going to get it. So, brothers and sisters, as you partake tonight, never let us forget the philosophy that lies behind the cross. He had to die upon that cross because Satan's will, man's will, was diametrically opposed to the will of Almighty God. And he simply gave us his life. The

lives that came against his, he laid down his life that we might live for him. How then can any man live unto himself? That's the thing, you know, that we're all fighting with, we're all worried about. Why do we live unto ourselves? There's nobody lives unto himself. You know, man can't. I don't care who you are, who I am. We just perhaps think we are. that we can live to ourselves. No man can do it. So it's good to smarten up tonight to get the wisdom of Almighty God in our hearts, minds, and lives and dedicate ourselves tonight on the principle of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ because out of that cross, as we give our wills over to Him, there is going to be light. Brother Branham once said so truly. I've always said it many times. He said, don't try to convince God. In other words, I say, don't try to twist God's arm. Don't try to get God on your side. Stay before God until you go on God's side. That's what I believe communion means quite a bit to us tonight, is realizing this cross, the life that he shed, comes back upon us. It's a big debt that was paid, and it's there particularly because we were in bondage against God. Today the bondage is gone. I know it's hard to say some of these things when you're preaching other subjects, but this is the night we're taking to understand the death of Jesus Christ. We want to understand what the shed blood is doing for us. The shed blood has sanctified us. and is now setting us free from our own wills and our own desires. If we claim it tonight, which we certainly can, because it's a precept of faith, let's rise at this time. We'll ask the deacons to come forward. And as usual, when the communion service is over, we'll have foot washing, and then you're just dismissed not having to come back again.

Lloyd, you might as well come up. You're ready, too.

Praise the Heavenly Father as we're assembled here, not only to hear your word, but to partake of these emblems which... communicate to ourselves, to our brothers and sisters here, to you and to the world, that we believe that what was done on that great Good Friday, your crucifixion, dear Lord Jesus Christ, wherein the life that formed your body shed forth the life that was in that bloodstream, in that very body, shed for us for the remission of sins, and now has come back upon us. removing the cross of the ages where man crossed you and you crossed back to us. So now you're reconciled to us, Lord, and by your grace we're reconciled to you. Help us, Lord, to realize that, that we can be thoroughly reconciled by removing our part of the cross, Lord, taking away that rough timber that comes against the timber of God, our thoughts, Lord, that come against your thoughts. Lord, we see that our own crossing up They're crossing up our ancestors that brought nothing but degradation, destitution, all of those things, Lord, which actually we hate. We don't want them, Lord. We want them out of our lives. May the blood of Jesus Christ tonight cleanse each and every one with a special cleansing, Father God, as never before, because we know there's a cleansing operation going on daily in our lives. But let this be, Lord, a monumental day where somehow decisions are made within the soul and the mind. and your Holy Spirit, Lord, overshadowing us to the extent that those decisions are of you, and they are empowered and they are enforced by you, O God, so that we're learning more and more, Lord, how to get out of the way and let you have your way, Father. May this be a glorious time of coming together. As people came in expectation, Lord, let it be a receiving of an expectation that they didn't really expect, though somehow they wanted it, O God. That these lives here, I'm talking about myself and everyone in divine presence. I'm not excluding anybody, Lord, not one single person. But the divine expectation of God be manifested in each heart. For we walk in the light, Lord, as you're in the light. We have that fellowship one another, the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleansing us. The love of God forming that cloud that Brother Branis spoke of. Coming more and more in this church, Lord, and every church represented. Until the sick are healed amongst us, O God, there's not one. Let it be the Lord. We're asking, Father, for what the Passover brought. Knowing it's the blood of bulls and goats to do what it did back there. How much more, Lord, will the blood and the word of the everlasting covenant now perform what the prophet said in this last day is set before us. Now, Father, we don't understand it all. We haven't got it all in our hearts and minds sorted out. We don't. But we pray tonight, Lord, that in this little faith that we set before you at this moment, That we just rest with what He said and know that the bride will receive it. And there's going to be a bride get out of here, Lord, standing on her feet. And she'll be immortal and glorified because we know the cross has paid for that glory. Father, it'd be just so nice tonight if we could just, and we can, Lord, just rest in it. And rest in it. And rest in it, Lord. Until this is the rest of the Lord. Now, Father, bless your people as they come one by one. And each one, Lord, realize the responsibility that you laid upon yourself for them. And in gratitude, Lord, leave here with a measure of the Spirit of God in consecration as never before in the closing off in these last days when perhaps we will never have the opportunity to celebrate, as it were, another Good Friday. and a resurrection morning. And we give you the glory in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.