E-1 Let us remain standing just a moment, for prayer. Shall we bow our heads. Our Gracious Heavenly Father, we are indeed a privileged people, tonight, that we can look into Thy glorious face and call Thee our Father; knowing that we have passed from death unto Life, because that the Holy Spirit is bearing record with us, that we are sons and daughters of God. And He is our witness, that we have passed over that line; for the things of the world, that we used to love and cherish, is dead now. And we’ve been raised anew, with Christ, and sitting together in Heavenly places, in Him, enjoying His Presence. How we thank Thee for this!

E-2 And, tonight, on this occasion, we would pray that He would visit us in a mighty way, tonight. Bless this little church, to which we love, and the great fellowship and love that we have for it and its pastor, and for all the members, and for those who are fellowshipping with us here in this meeting.

E-3 And we pray, Heavenly Father, that tonight will be a special night, that we’ll long remember His Presence tonight.

E-4 May, if there be some, tonight, here that does not know the Lord Jesus as their personal Saviour, may they find Him tonight, Lord, that One that’s gone out into the wilderness to look for the stray sheep that has not returned to the fold. Grant it, Lord. And may there be mercy in the camp, tonight, for that’s what we plead. In the Name of the Lord Jesus, we ask this. Amen.You may be seated.

E-5 It is so nice to be back in this tabernacle, or church, tonight, to have the fine fellowship. And today I’ve just lived off of the little nuggets from last evening.

E-6 And looking out over the audience, and seeing different ones, and faces that I have met. How I, times past, I’ve wanted to look out and shake hands with them, or something. But, oh, we were a little late, and I just had to hurry up. But I want you to know that there were many here last evening, that I recognized from other meetings.

E-7 And, now, last night when I went home and was telling my wife, I said, “I wonder what it will be when we cross over the line?” Standing there, looking down, and say, “Well, there is Brother So-and-so! And there…” Oh, that’s going to be a real time! And we’re looking forward for that day, and soon, soon. And I don’t know when it will be, but it will certainly be a glorious time. I believe that John, after he had saw the great glories of God, and they had been revealed to him, in The Revelation, he said, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” He seen that it was marvelous.A few, about some two weeks ago, I was in Kingston, Jamaica.

E-8 And many people thought, and do yet, that visions only appear at the platform. My, that’s not even a tenth of them. That’s not one ninetieth of them. They appear all the time, everywhere, and not one time has ever one been wrong.

E-9 And the Christian Business Men, the Full Gospel Business Men, I was visiting, or there as a visitor with the chapter. And two nights had passed, and we had had Gospel preaching; and then, and to kind of get acquainted with the audience, and feeling the spirit of the people. And I said, “I believe it would be sufficient, tonight, if we would give out some prayer cards, and start praying for the sick.” And the Lord blessed us. And the second night passed.

E-10 And then we had walked into the—the dining room at the Flamingo Hotel, where, “court” we would call it here, where we were staying. And everything there is based upon the European plan; when you pay your rent, you pay your food bill; it all goes with the—the rent. And we was having breakfast. And there was great number of the Full Gospel Men there, and with others, also. And the question come up, “Those visions,” they said, “they are wonderful. It just would be wonderful if they would appear anywhere.”

E-11 “Oh,” I said, “they do, most surely.” And I said, “That doesn’t heal anyone.” I said, “If you ever noticed, I ask the people, ‘Will that help your faith, to believe God?’”

E-12 Visions doesn’t heal; Christ has already done that. It’s just to help your faith. It’s just something God added; a blessing that He promised to send, a vindication of the last days. We’ll get into that later, through the week.

E-13 But we were sitting at the table, and I said, “Here now, the Holy Spirit is present now.” And Brother Shakarian, most all of you know him, Brother Demos, and a very bosom friend of mine; and Brother Arganbright, and, oh, so many different ones, Brother Sonmore, the presidents and vice-presidents, and so forth, of the Full Gospel Men.

E-14 And I said, “This boy coming here is sick,” the waiter. And he got up close to the table, and the Holy Spirit begin to speak to him, and told him, said, “Now, you suffer with a heart trouble. Your wife, also, is a Christian. You believe, but you’re afraid.” And that, and begin to tell him who he was, and all about it. And that boy almost dropped the butter dish in my plate.So he said, “That is so true!”

E-15 I, then I told him; not I, but the Holy Spirit told what was wrong with his wife at home, and of their prayer that they had had together that morning before he left, and his intention was to see me that day. Oh, my, he just liked to have fainted!And he said, “I just don’t understand how that’s done.”I said, “Neither do I.”

E-16 The only thing I know is, Brother Shakarian or…Excuse me. Brother duPlessis just was out at the car when I drove up, and Brother Mercier and I were talking about the lovely spirit at this church. We love that, such a fine fellowship. That’s very good, brother, keep that up. That’s very good, our brother, pastor. And that’s good. And we were talking, and I…He said, “Brother Branham, I guess you have lots of hard…”

E-17 I said, “No. The thing surprises me is the grace of God.” I said, “I have exhausted His mercy, many times. But I never can exhaust His grace, and I’m so glad of that.”

E-18 And so while we were talking at the table that morning, then there was a young woman went down with some sheets over her shoulder, going down through the place, to one of the halls, to fix the beds. I said, “Now there is that Light hanging over that girl.” I said, “Just call her back here.” And we called her back. And the Holy Spirit begin to tell her all about her troubles.

E-19 And she was not a Christian; not a full Gospel believer, I might say that. She had made a profession, and, when she was a little baby. And her mother taken her to church, and she had…twelve years old, or something. She had been baptized, but never attended church. That’s the reason I said, “not a Christian.”

E-20 The church doesn’t make you a Christian. The church only helps you to be a Christian, helps you to remain what you’ve been born into, helps you to contain your experience, while you’re fellowshipping together with brethren of like precious Faith.

E-21 And then while sitting there, I was looking. And Brother Demos Shakarian called me out of it, and he said, “What’s the matter?” If he just wouldn’t have said it at that time!

E-22 I said, “Remember, THUS SAITH THE LORD. Someone who is near to me, is fixing to die. And there is going to be some young man that is spitting blood from his mouth.”And I said, “Where is Billy?”

E-23 Many of you know my son, Billy Paul. His mother died when he was just a little baby. And I packed him around. Nighttime, we couldn’t afford enough coal to keep fire, so we’d…I’d put his bottle under my shoulder, like this, and keep it warm for him at nighttime. When he’d wake up, crying for his mother, I’d put the bottle in his mouth. And she asked me, when she was dying, “Always stick with Billy.” And we’ve been real chums. And so everywhere I go, I take Billy, and he’s stuck with me.

E-24 So, then, Billy was fixing to go up to, what they call, “The Garden of Hope” to get some pictures. I called him, quickly. I said, “Don’t go. Something is fixing to happen.”

E-25 Many times, visions say things we don’t know what they are. The prophets of the Bible didn’t know what they were writing about, they just wrote It. And they were vindicated men, inspired.

E-26 And Brother Shakarian said, “Brother Branham, what do you say will take place?”

E-27 I said, “I don’t know. Someone, they didn’t have any teeth, and I seen them gasp twice, and died. And the other person, they said…spit blood from their mouth, looked like a young man; and said, ‘He can’t die, he’s not ready.’”

E-28 And then we watched. And I felt led to go to Jamaica, but not to Puerto Rico.

E-29 So, when we got time, time come to go to Puerto Rico, the same place that that plane fell there in Jamaica and killed all those people. They just looked like hogs hanging down on the safety belt, just the parts of their body just broiled up. And they pushed it off, and we…There, still the plane laying there when we come in. And our plane, coming back to take us to Puerto Rico, blowed the pistons out, on the same place, when they stopped to get us. Billy said, “Daddy, are you sure that we should even take a chance on it?”

E-30 I said, “The Christian Business Men’s chapter said I must come. It’s for the fellowship of the chapter that I go these couple nights.”He said, “You remember that vision?” I said, “Yes.”

E-31 But three days later, when I got…I was standing in the,…a garden (I never seen anything so pretty) at Puerto Rico. And Brother Fred Sothmann (he may be here tonight), Canadian friend, was taking pictures. And this great…you got. It’s pretty here in Phoenix, it’s pretty in Los Angeles, it’s pretty in Miami, but it wouldn’t hold a candle to Puerto Rico. Oh, it’s beautiful, and I never seen anything like it in my life! Them big reefs, breaking out there, my, half a mile out. And flamingos walking around in the tropical parks, and all. And I never seen anything so much like Heaven. Brother Sothmann turned, he said, “Brother Branham, Heaven must look like this.”I said, “Oh, it wouldn’t, it couldn’t hold a candle to Heaven.” He said, “Oh, them, that great sea!”

E-32 I said, “But it’s the rocking of the earth, is making the waves.” I said, “But it will be peaceful There, she’ll be flowing just as quietly as it can. And I said, “It won’t be flamingos walking around in the park, it will be Angels walking around in the park where we’re fellowshipping.”

E-33 And just then I seen my mother-in-law and father-in-law come walking by me. My father-in-law has been gone now for about eight, ten years. And, at that very same minute, my mother-in-law was passing in to meet him. She died at that same time.

E-34 And when two hours later, when I got to Miami, I called to see how everything was at home. My mother-in-law (no teeth) gasped twice, died. Her son, not ready to die; more or less, kind of an alcoholic; burst-ed, a hemorrhage, from a hemorrhage in his stomach, and just spurted blood from his mouth, from every way.

E-35 Brother Shakarian called me the other day. He said, “Brother Branham, I never had anything so to strike me, to hear of that.” See, it was just for him to call that vision at that time, to stop it, so it wouldn’t know who it was, so that it would be something for him to understand. He said, “I believe the ministry is just now beginning to come into effect.” May it be so.

E-36 May, right here in Phoenix, something happen that will inspire everyone, the Holy Spirit come among us and do something that will just cause us to tighten up the armor and get ready for His Coming. The Lord bless.

E-37 Now, not to keep you long, ’cause you’re standing. But you’re such a fine audience, I—I look like I could just talk all night. But I won’t, I don’t guess, but I guess last night you thought I was trying to.

E-38 I’ll just give you a little hint. I spoke on a subject the other morning, at my tabernacle, started in at nine-thirty, and got through about twelve-thirty; I told them beforehand, though; on: Hearing, Recognizing, And Acting. Maybe some Sunday afternoon, or something, we might get on that same subject. For about a year, the Holy Spirit has been dealing with me about speaking it, and finally I spoke it at the church. Forget how many tapes the boys had of it, before we left, to take.

E-39 Let us turn now in our Bibles, quickly, to the 7th chapter of Saint Matthew, and (we) let’s begin reading at the 24th verse.Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:And the rains descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon the house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sands:And the rains descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon the house; and…fell: and great was the fall of it.

E-40 May the Lord add His blessing now to the reading of His Words. I wish to speak for a few moments upon the subject of The Oncoming Storm. And I trust to God that we will be able to yield ourself to the Holy Spirit. For, anyone knows that I’m not a preacher. That’s, there is preachers behind me here. I never got the education to be a minister. But in my old, slow ways, but I…The Lord gave me something else to do. But I love to take a time so I can explain what I know about the Lord and—and about His goodness, and try to tell others about it. And now we are speaking tonight on The Coming Storm. And if I fail, in words, to express what I feel in my heart, I pray the Holy Spirit will reveal it.

E-41 Jesus was speaking here of a coming storm which has got to strike every man and every woman that’s born in the world. There is just no way out of it. That storm will strike you sometime or other. And depends on what kind of a foundation that you have, whether your house will weather it, or not.

E-42 There has been many lives saved because of preparation for storms. And there has been a many of lives lost because of failing to take heed to the warning of storms that’s coming.

E-43 Not long ago, I was told of a story that happened, I believe I read it in a newspaper down in Florida.

E-44 They have many great storms that sweeps through Florida, typhoons that come in off the sea, and brings the water (for city blocks) up into the city, and sweeps out everything. And I’m told that their weather prophets are always on the lookout for such storms. And some way, through the—the elements, that they can contact the changing of the weather and the atmosphere, that, which a way this weather is gathering, that will bring forth one of those storms; because they’ve made it a life study, and by certain instruments and things that science has provided them. And then by calling ahead, and hearing of which a way the storm is coming, how much wind it’s got behind him; which way other storms are coming, them winds, whether it’s able to combat, to shove away the storm.

E-45 I could stop here and preach for an hour on that, that it takes a greater storm that’s coming, it takes a higher wind to turn that storm. And so is it today! And we all know that we’ve got an oncoming storm. And the only Wind that I know, that can turn that storm, will be that rushing Wind that fell on the Day of Pentecost. I’m told that there is men even in the city now, speaking against communism, and they should be. But, just speaking against it isn’t enough, we’ve got to find how to turn the thing. And then there is only one thing that can turn that storm, and, that’s, a more powerful Storm that can beset it and change its course.

E-46 And these prophets of the weather in Florida are pretty accurate with their prophesying. They are set for that purpose, to warn the people.

E-47 I was reading, I forget just now, I believe it was in the newspaper, of a storm a few years ago, that was on its way across Florida, central Florida, and all the regions around Okeechobee was—was warned. I just left there about five weeks ago. And there was a neighbor man who kept in contact with radio all the time, because of these storms, and he was a very renown Christian. And he heard that the great typhoon was coming that way, twisting down trees, and everyone was warned to get to safety.

E-48 And he thought of his neighbor who had a chicken farm, and some light buildings with their chickens in them, their brooder houses, and so forth, and their pens. Where, all that they had in life was tied up with these chickens, of their living. And he rushed quickly, frantically, up to the gate, and stopped his car and jumped out, and said to this fellow, “Take all the chickens and put them in your storm shelter, and you rush over to mine, because there is coming a typhoon or a storm that’s going to twist everything down.”

E-49 And the man stood and looked him in the face, and laughed at him, and said, “Nonsense! I have heard them predict such things before, and it never did happen.”

E-50 And the Christian neighbor was so excited, he said, “But what if it does happen?”

E-51 We hear remarks like that, along the line, “I’ve heard of this is going to happen, and that’s going to happen.” But it is going to happen one of these days! And it behooves us to listen to every warning.

E-52 But this man said, “I have no time for such foolishness. I raise chickens, and I have no time for such.”

E-53 And he cried out! The neighbor said, “In the Name of God,” he said, “leave those chickens alone then, John, and come quickly, you and your family. If you don’t want to believe it, let your family come.”

E-54 And he said, “I will not have my children to be excited over a few radio warnings. My children and I have decided we’ll live as I live. And my wife will listen to me because I am the breadwinner of this home, and she must listen to me. I am boss here, and I will not have my children all excited or tore up about some nonsense.”

E-55 And the neighbor was turned, And he went to his home, into his shelter.

E-56 And, all of a sudden, the clouds was upon him before they knew it! That’s the way judgment strikes. It comes so sudden, you wonder how it can get there so quick. How I have seen cruel men, who once cursed God, fall and scream, and say, “How could You treat me this way?” The whole, every foundation was swept out from under him in a moment. It pays to take warning.

E-57 Oh, you might laugh at the messenger, you might be able even to kill him. But, you cannot kill the Message, It’ll go on just the same. God’s Message is Eternal. His Words will never fail.

E-58 Paul was successful in having Stephen stoned. But all through his life, until he surrendered to Christ, was he never able to get away from that Message, “I see heavens opened, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.” Something got a hold of him. It wasn’t the messenger, it was the Message he had.

E-59 While the storm swept through the country, it caught the chicken house and the farmer, and they never found his body.

E-60 And his wife, frantically fighting. And they lived close to the great Okeechobee Lake, and the waters begin to rise as the typhoon lifted the waters all the way from the bottom of the lake. That’s what makes them so dangerous; they’re shallow, the boats rock, and that’s how the waves come up and turn the boats beneath them. The storms comes and just whirls up the water and packs it for miles. And the water is sweeping, until, the mother knowed there was no hope but to get her children on top of the building. And she got her children, and got them on top the building, holding on to the chimney of the house.

E-61 And then the wildlife, the Cottonmouth Moccasin, I believe, a more deadly snake than your Diamondback Rattler. They was crawling for safety, and they come on the roof with her. And by listening to her husband, not taking heed to the warning, she had to…she stomped and she beat, but she had to stand and watch those vicious snakes bite her children until they died on the roof. And the mother herself was bitten so much until finally she died, that’s the only way we got the story. After the storm had quietened, and the search parties hunting for bodies, and so forth, they found her laying on top of the roof, with her children laying by her side.

E-62 Oh, it pays to take warning! The first thing to do, before there can be a warning, there has to be a preparation made for safety, or there is no need of sending a warning. And the warning is only a voice of one having you to prepare for the danger. There has to be a preparation made first. And then if the preparation is made, then the warning can go forward to cause you to make your decision, whether you want to listen to it, or not. If you don’t want to listen to it, well, that’s up to you. If you do listen to it, there is safety.

E-63 God has the same method. We work on God’s method, in that way. God, in the early days, when the antediluvian world, when people had gotten so wicked and so sinful, that God could not look upon it and be just.

E-64 God is just, and He has laws. When those laws are broken… Any law that’s broken, has no penalty to it, isn’t law. You cannot break the laws of God without having to pay for it somewhere. You must do it. The Bible said, “Be sure your sins will find you out.”

E-65 And what is sin? I’d like to stop here just a moment. Many people think smoking cigarettes is a sin. It isn’t. Many people think that lying is a sin. It isn’t. Committing adultery, that isn’t sin. That’s the attributes of unbelief. You, the reason you do those things is because you are an unbeliever.

E-66 There is only two things, that’s, you are either a believer or an unbeliever. If you are a believer, you do not those things. If you do do them, I don’t know what kind of a profession you have; but, if you do that, “the love of God isn’t in you.” The Bible said so! We’ve got too much profession without a possession of it; too many saying, and not living it.

E-67 I think, even, we have too much practice on sermons, and not living enough sermons. It would be a lot better if we lived our sermon, each one of us would be a minister. It’s better to live me a sermon than preach me one. The Bible said that, “You are written epistles of God, read of all men.” So, it’s best to live the sermon.

E-68 Sin is because you believe not. Did not Jesus say, in the days of His flesh on earth, did He not call…The people that would not lie, that would not steal, that would not commit adultery, righteous men, preachers, priests, He said, “You are of your father, the devil,” because they believed not on the Son of God. “He that believeth not is condemned already.”

E-69 Sometime ago, I made it, making altar calls. I love John 5:24. “He that heareth My Words, and believeth on Him that sent Me, has Eternal Life; and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death unto Life.” He that believeth!Said, “That’s pretty light.”

E-70 No, that’s pretty deep, for, “When you believe!” “No man can call Jesus ‘the Christ,’ only by the Holy Spirit.” When you have the Holy Spirit, then you have believed unto Eternal Life, and have Eternal Life. “He that heareth My Words, and believeth on Him that sent Me, has Eternal Life; and shall not come into the judgment, but has passed from death unto Life.” Preparation, making ready!

E-71 And God seen the wickedness of the world, and seen that wicked and adulterous generation, and His holiness could not stand it anymore.Oh, to this sinful world!

E-72 I stopped the other day, on my road to the grocery, with my wife. And we were talking about a certain young lady of our city. Real cold weather; and with a little chubby coat on, and dressed immorally, with those little shorts on, that they wear in the summertime; and it little skiffs of snow on the ground. And my wife said, “You know that woman can’t be comfortable.”And I said, “No. She is just not in her right mind.”And she said, “Well, you know she goes to high school.”

E-73 Then I said, “She might go to high school, but that still doesn’t make everything right.” I said, “She cannot be mentally right.”

E-74 When we go into Germany. I was in Germany sometime ago, in a great meeting where the Lord was giving us around…around ten thousand souls, a night. And I was so amazed one night when I come from the meeting, and—and down the street to a place where I was invited for a little luncheon. And it was the closing of the meeting, and all the Christians sitting around, drinking beer. Well, America, Canada, and England, is the only nations I know that refuses the Christians to drink. They don’t get drunk; but we Americans. Then when…I didn’t drink it. So, after a while, there come a question around the table, “What was the matter,” that I wasn’t drinking my beer, “was it because it wasn’t good?”

E-75 And Doctor Guggenbuhl sitting next to me, which provided me an interpreter. I said, “What they all murmuring about, to me?”And he said, “They are wondering why you don’t drink.”