[...] Now, many of you, in your Bibles I want you to turn to the Book of Jonah. It's a... We always talk so much about Jonah being a backslidden and everything. I've always took up for Jonah. I do not believe that Jonah was backslid. I--I do not believe that. I believe it's just that we just sometimes use it, say, "He's a Jonah." But if we... I've already spoke on it in another way, in telling how that I thought Jonah, what took place.
Now, the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
Arise, and go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.
But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.
Isn't that a sad ending? "A Man Running from the Presence of the Lord," and that's my subject.
Now, first we want to think of this. Jonah was... The reason, the principal reason that I believe that he did this great thing here was because Jonah was a Jew, and he was asked to go to a Gentile city to cry out against it, thinking that he would not be received; because the Gentiles would think, "What's this Jew got to do with us?" But you see, another thing, it gives us a great thing here to see, that God not only is God of the Jew, but He's God also of the Gentile. He's God of all people. He just chose the Jews.
The Jews was called God's chosen people. They were chosen for a specific cause. And that cause was to give to them the law. And they could not keep it. And He just showed by that people, that the law could not be kept. And if He was a--a--a God of righteousness... And the law demanded righteousness, but there was no grace in law to bring a man out; no penalty was paid by the law. But it taken grace to pay that penalty unto where the law put us under.
And Jonah here was called on--as this, one of the minor prophets of the Bible, to go down to this city. And here we find an example of all of us. Every one of us, we always are running from something. We run from troubles; we run from responsibilities. We--we're all prone to do that. We--we are--we're more prone to run than we are to stand and face it out. See? We just--we--we find ourselves running. Sometimes we find ourself prone to run from work. We don't want to--we don't want to work. Some people just think they can make their living without working. But I think Solomon, it was, that said we could find here the answer in watching an ant.
You know a little ant, they tell me if that--every ant doesn't work and lay in, that ant doesn't eat that winter either. So everybody has to--to work.
We got so many things we have to do, so much responsibility that we have to face. Everybody's got to face a certain responsibility.
When you--when you come to--to choose your wife, to get married, or choose your husband, you--you've got to take a responsibility. And then you must remember... Maybe you build a home; it's a nice pretty home. And then remember, as a married woman you got to think of the responsibility of raising children. And you got to think that them pretty slick walls is going to have little, dirty hand prints all over them. Then you got the responsibility of educating your children. You got the responsibility of clothing and feeding. Everything is a responsibility. And so easy when responsibilities face us to shirk from them. And we find out that marriage is a responsibility in all manners.
Even many times we find--this is hard to say, but it's true--that ministers many time shirk a responsibility for standing for the true Word of God when they're confronted with It. They'll shirk that responsibility. When Truth of the Word of God is brought face to face with we human beings, we have--we're prone to shirk back until the last resource.
I just got through talking to my little nephew up there. He's a Catholic, and he... And I baptized that boy in the Name of Jesus Christ here a few years ago, and he got with some little girl and turned Catholic. And I held his mother's hand while she was dying over there. She said to me, the last words, "Take care of Melvin." And he's just been dreaming dreams. He just can't... Every--everyday the last week he's been dreaming dreams. Said, "I'd walk into your church, Uncle Bill; you was standing there preaching; I'd run up to start to make a confession; I'd wake up." He said, "I--I been wrong."
I said, "Melvin, you don't need no interpretation for that. Your place is down there where you belong." And that's right. See?
But to face up to responsibility, sometimes it takes the very hide off of us to do that. As a father to face up the responsibility to give your child a whipping. Them little fellows, you don't want to do that. But as a father or mother you've got to face the responsibility of raising that child, because the Bible said, "Spare the rod and you'll spoil your son." And that still stands good in the sight of every psychologist there is in the world. That still remains God's Truth. If there'd been more of that practiced, we wouldn't have had so much juvenile delinquency and stuff, and the rot that we got in the world today. But the old golden rule of the home's been broken long time ago, and they let the kids do whatever they want to.
But even as I said, ministers, they'll come face to face with Truth, and then walk away from it. See, they're--they're just have--just seems like there's something that they--they don't want to face up to it.
Many time out there people come, say, "I know that's right, Brother Branham, but if I did that, they'd kick me out of the church." What of it? If you don't, they're going to kick you out up there, so you--you got to be kicked out somewhere. See? So you might as well face up to it. Instead of running from it and say, "Well, I'll go over here; I won't go back." Go back, sure, listen to some more of it. Search the Scriptures. Jesus said, "Search the Scripture for in Them you think you have Eternal Life, and They are They that testify of Me." But we find that people won't face up with that.
Being brought to--into the Presence of God and see when God made a promise, and God is obligated to that promise, and when He brings that promise to pass, then people are afraid to face up to the responsibility of coping with the Message of the hour. We find that everywhere.
How about you Lutherans? How many Lutherans was afraid to--people was afraid to face up to Luther's truth when he come forth with justification? Look what it cost you, maybe your own life to come out and confess Jesus Christ and--and become a--a Lutheran.
Looked at you Methodists, how it used to be you all were called holy-rollers; I guess you knowed that. And they'd get under the Spirit and jerk back and forth. And they said they--they had the jerks. The Meth... That... No, that ain't Pentecostals; that was Methodists longs years ago. And they jerked, and shook, and fell under the power of God. And they throwed water in their faces and fanned them with fans, thought they'd passed out. And now, you were considered a bunch of holy-rollers. But you had... Your mothers and fathers had to either accept it, face up to the truth and facts, or turned her down.
What about you Pentecostals that received the restoration of the gifts? When the baptism of the Holy Ghost come out with speaking in tongues and the gifts of the Spirit coming back in the church, why the Methodists wanted to kick you out, and they did do it. But you had to face up to it. It's something you had to do.
What about the issue when it come out about the baptism in the Name of Jesus Christ and you saw it was the truth? You have to face up to it or do something about it. You've got a responsibility; everybody has. And you must face up to these things. All right.
And when you see then in this day now when the Word of God has made these promises of things that we see happening now, then we've got the responsibility to either face up to it or get away from it. You have... You just can't stay neutral; you've got to do something about it. Said... Some move's got to be made. You can't come in that church door and go out the same person you come in. You're either further away or closer to God every time you come in or go out there.
Oh, how easy it is for people to shirk these things. And I want us to think of these when we start into the official services tomorrow night, that I want you to notice when something is confronted, if you--if there's a question about it... If there's a question about it, there's got to be an answer.
Say for instance I said I was going west, and you pointed me this a-way. Well, the first thing you know, I run plumb a-passed my target. And I'm too--I'm northwest. Well, what if somebody points me down this way, and I go that way. I'll pass my target again; I went southwest. Well, as long as there's a question of which was is west, there's got to be a direct answer somewhere. And when these questions confront us about the Bible truths, there's got to be the right answer somewhere. That's right; it's got to be there.
And when we see something presented, I think instead of just running away, say, "Oh, nonsense, I couldn't believe a thing like that; I couldn't believe that," why don't you take the Bible and set down and face up to it. Study It. You're here in the meeting now; just look it over. Check it out yourself with the Word; check the Word by the Word. That's the only way to make It tell the Truth. And It must tell the Truth from Genesis to Revelation.
Christ is the revelation of the whole Bible. In Him, Christ, all the Fullness--fulfilling of all the prophecies of the Bible is met unconditionally in Christ Jesus, 'cause He was God manifested in the flesh.
Now, when we find these things though, when we're confronted and come into a meeting, and see the power of God moving and doing things, and doing supernatural works, and see it performed, and look in the Bible and see that it's promised for this hour; then when we see those things, then we are confronted with a responsibility to either accept it, I mean, as for ourselves...
Now, many people sympathize; many people say it's right. But that don't--that don't make it what--that ain't the thing that you're responsible for.
As I've said... What if I--if I was a young man and looking for a wife, to be married, and here stood a girl that met every qualification that I thought it took to make a woman, why, morally she was a queen, and lovely, and--and a fine personality, a real Christian, everything that I could think of to make me a good wife; no matter how much I think she's perfect, she's exactly right, she isn't mine till I accept her and the responsibility of her being my wife.
That's the same thing the Message is. You might say it's right or this, that, or the other, and say, "I sympathize with it; I believe it's the Truth," but you've got to accept it; and it's got to become a part of you and you a part of it. You've got... Then it's yours.
When you marry this certain woman that you have chosen you are--you are one then. And that's the way you are with Christ. When you see Him manifested and made real, then you are part of Him, and He's part of you; and together you're part of the Message.
Oh, how many denominational ships have we got going down to Tarshish for the Jonahs of these days: nine hundred of them, something, a ship that takes the easy route. Don't want to face up to it. Jonah didn't want to face up the thing of going to the Gentiles. He didn't want to take that cruel message over there: "Within forty days you'll perish if you don't repent." He hated to do that, and he thought, "Them Gentiles, it's hard to tell what they'll do to me." But he had to face up to it. See? But he took a easy ship and went down to Tarshish, went down in the hull of the ship and went to sleep: took the easy route, the easy way.
It's a popular way with the people. It's easy to take the way where everybody can pat you on the back and say you're a good fellow, and, "This is So-and-so, and certain..." and the world will look upon you. It's easy to go the popular way. But when--when you have to do something different, when you have to stand to your conviction of what you know to be the Truth, there's where the hard part; that's the rub comes, right there.
Oh, as we've often sang that old song:
How easy while sailing this sea and its calm,
To trust in the strength of Jehovah's great arm;
But, oh, let the waves begin to blow; let--let the wind blow and whip up the waves, then what do you do?
Something like I was told one time that the lady said back in the horse and buggy days that--that said. The horse run away with her going from church. Said, "What'd did you do?"
Said, "I trusted the Lord until the lines broke." Well, that's the time to trust the Lord, after every--after the lines is broke. You're trusting in the lines until they're broke. Yes.
And so we find out that we have many easy ways to go, ships going down to Tarshish, for it's easy. The unresponsibilities, it just flows in; you have everything coming, everybody likes you, and everybody--nobody disagree with you, you disagree with nobody; now, if that ain't a dishrag (That's right. Yes.), push over, flop over. Why, anybody, I don't care who you are and what you're standing for... Actually, decent thinking people will think more of you if you'll stand for your conviction of what's right. That's right.
Don't care... You take a woman, she might be ever, not very attractive and whatever she is, but you let that woman stand for principles of womanhood, let her stand like a lady, and if a man's got a ounce of man about him, he'll take up for her. Absolutely, we appreciate something that--that somebody's got that they believe that it's the truth and will stand for what they think is right.
How wishy-washy, that's what. Too many Christians today are so soft-soaped and everything until they think all they do is join a church, go in somewhere, put their name on a book, or do a little something, jump up-and-down, shout or--or something like that and call it Christianity. Christianity's a everyday, rugged life living for God in the--this present world. It's a constant burning of the fire and love of God in the heart that sets you afire and puts you out yonder with the people and making converts to Christ.
Responsibility... But it's easy to go the way the world goes. It's easy to flow down the stream. Go out there and set down in the river with your boat. You get your oars and start pulling up against the current; you don't make much time and it goes hard, but you just once let loose the oars and watch how fast you pass trees going down. But look where you're going. When things are floating easy, remember, you're going towards a--a great cataract down there of some sort; you're going towards the falls. And it won't be long till you'll be going over that falls, just floating with the world, easy, the way it goes. You don't want that. No, sir. But you must accept your responsibility.
Now, you believe it and you--you think it's the Truth...
And the responsibility that God has given us in this day to bring this Message... And as I get older and I know my days are shortening up, I feel the responsibility greater than I ever felt: press it on. We must do it. We must get down to it in our--everywhere we go and tell the Message and--and tell the people that Jesus Christ is coming, that He's God and He's coming soon. There's not a--not a hope left in the world but the coming of the Lord [...]
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