Well, Brother Pat, to the best of my knowledge…Now, we’re starting off on demonology to start with. Now, demonology is a great thing. (Now, some of you watch the clock and don’t let me go too long on one question.) But those demon powers, those spirits was in a man called Legion first. Isn’t that right? And because his name was Legion, because Legion in the Hebrew means “many.” See? There were many of those.

And those spirits that was in that dear man had drove him insane. And if anyone ever seen an insane person or had to deal with them, they’re many times their—their—their strength, because they are so possessed of the devil. If you was ever around where a—a person lost their mind, oh, it takes several good man to hold them. And they are twice or three times their power.

Now, when a person is crippled and the Holy Spirit gets ahold of them, if the devil’s got that much power to make a man three or four times his human strength, how much power can God put in a man? See? That’s what comes upon him to make him walk in the strength of God, where he’s been laying crippled for years. His bones come out straight; and his hands goes straight; he walks, and like a young new man, because the power of the Holy Spirit is on him.

Now, these was so evil until they wrapped the man in chains, and he could break them. And they said he plucked them asunder. And there was no—nothing could bind him. He was really a real bad case, because he had a legion of demons in him. And then, when he…Jesus crossed over and come into Gadara and started down by the tombs…And he was so evil, not the man (see?), the man was all right.

It’s not the man. When you see a person like that, don’t never think that it’s the man; it’s the devil that’s in the man. Now, that maniac on the platform that night, was going to kill me, up in Oregon. That man, I—when he come to me, instead of…him spitting in my face and calling me a “snake in the grass” before nearly ten thousand people, well, it wasn’t that, it wasn’t the man. He’s a man that eats, drinks, sleeps, perhaps with a family, and loves, and—and just like I am or you are. But it was that devil in him that was doing that. See?

And you never cast a devil out by the wrong attitude. It takes love to do that. And love is the most powerful force that there is in the world. Now, if you notice, a devil is always hate. Hate is of the devil. And when people hate someone, remember, it is a terrible devil to despise or dislike. You mustn’t do that.

You remember that the—the…Jesus said in His sermon that when you pray, “Our Father Who art in Heaven,”…And when He come down, He said, “If you don’t from your heart forgive every man his trespasses, neither does your Heavenly Father forgive you your trespasses.” See? You mustn’t do that.

But now, where the devil creates a power of hatred (see?) to run out on the platform to kill me, which he physically, he was more than able, many times more…He could have held me up, perhaps, in his two fingers, right up by the belt like that, because he weighed two-sixty or two-seventy; he was better than six foot and a half or seven foot tall, great big fellow. And just…He just hit a preacher down the street with his fist, broke his collar bone and jaw, and injured him, and put him in a hospital. He just hated preachers. And then, he just run right up there to kill me. See?

Now, in that man was some of these spirits that was cast out of the swine in Gadara. Some of those poor people are out here in the insane institution, beating their heads against padded bars, cells. Remember, devils never die. Devils always live, but there will be a time where devils will have to die. They will become totally annihilated. But now, they are alive, and they work from generation to generation upon human beings. Some of them is in the form of cancer; some is in the form of epilepsy; some is in the form of tuberculosis. They get into the flesh, but seemingly, they are powerless until they can get into a person. They have to operate through a person, which brings to another thought, that the Holy Spirit is—covers the earth, but It is almost helpless until It gets into you and to me.

God is depending on you and I. See? The Holy Spirit…The earth is full of the Spirit of God, but It’s poured out. But It—It cannot operate until It comes into us, we human beings, to operate.

And the devil wants to take us over to operate under him. So when he gets the mild form, he starts in sin. If he can hold him just in a righteous man, a good man, and just let him go ahead and try to be good like that; if he can hold him like that until he’s dead, that’s just what he wants to do. He’s got him, because no matter how righteous you are, how good you are, how moral you are, how clean you are, how honest you are, you’ll never get to Heaven until you’re borned again. Jesus said so. So there’s no…It…You’ve got to be borned, you’ve got to be regenerated, or there’s not a way in the world for you to ever enter Heaven, or ever—or ever come to Christ.

Now, I said a few moments ago, which may rise into your thinking another question, that I—that I’ve taught, and that is on—on…That I do not believe that there is an eternal…I don’t believe the Bible teaches an eternal, burning hell. It doesn’t, because if hell is eternal and people that go there will be punished eternally, the only way they could be eternally punished, they’d have to have Eternal Life. And there is only one form of Eternal Life, and that’s in God. See? So they have to come to annihilation (see?); that is, their physical part becomes annihilated, and then their spiritual part becomes annihilated. That’s completely consumed; there is no more to it. “Neither root nor branch,” the Bible calls it. They are completely done away.

And then, I can prove that there is degrees in Heaven, that they’ll not all be on the same equal, but you’ll have equal Eternal Life. But the Bible said that the kings of the earth bring their honor and glory (Revelation 22)—bring their honor and glory into the city. That proves that there will be kings in the new earth, kings and rulers. Jesus told His disciples…They said, “What will we have after we have left father, and mother, and all to follow You?”

He said, “Verily, I say unto you, you’ll set upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel in that day.” See, it’s another, it’s a earthly system that’s coming up that’ll—that’ll be far supreme to anything. In that they’ll be no sin, but yet they’ll have rulers and so forth in the cities, when everything will be carried on in the way of Eternal Life.

But the wicked shall be punished for their sins according to the deeds that’s done in the body, and then will become completely and totally annihilated. Now, just remember that. You that’s taking down notes, remember that.

And put me on record of that, that there’s only one form of Eternal Life, and we are seeking for that; and God alone has Eternal Life. There’s no two types of Eternal Life, one Eternal Life, and that’s all that lives. And remember, put this on your note too: Everything that has been made, that had a beginning, has an end. Everything that had a beginning has an end, and only that that had no beginning has no end. And there’s only one thing that never had a beginning, and that was God. And that’s the only way you can rise in the resurrection, is to have that Eternal Life within you. See? That’s the only way that you ever come back, is something that had no beginning. And when you have received the Holy Spirit, in you dwells a Life that never did start and never can end; and you possess that Life in you, then you got Eternal Life and are sons and daughters of God. See? And you can no more die than God can die, because you are a part of God.

We got the question here a while ago, in here somewhere, of predestination, brings it right to that same thing. You come a part of God; and if God divided Himself in that great Pillar of Fire, and those little licks went out over each one of those persons, and It does yet the same thing today. We can prove it by the experience that we have, by the teachings of the Bible, by scientific research, picture to show that’s That, that God divides Himself among His people. “And because I live, ye live also,” Jesus said. We cannot die. There’s no such a thing as death to a Christian; “For he that believeth on Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth on Me shall never die.” See?

“Die,” the word death means “separated.” Now, physically, we separate from our physical side, because that’s still sin, but our spirits is of God that can never be separated from God, because we are a part of God. We are—we are bringing…We are brought back into that thought of God. Everything that God does is perfect and eternal. And when God’s very thoughts went out for a kingdom of people who would worship Him, them very thoughts is eternal. See? They can no more perish. Every word of God is Eternal. Jesus said, “Heavens and earth will pass away, both heavens and earth may pass away, but My words will never pass away.” See? They’re eternal with God. And “If ye abide in Me and My Word in you…” See? We become a part of His Word, part of His Life, for we are flesh of His flesh, and bone of His bone, and life of His Life. Then we can no more perish than God Himself could perish. That’s what the Holy Ghost is.

A little fellow has left here from Georgia, Brother Evans. He’s been everywhere across the country. And he’s a great supporter of my good friend, Oral Roberts; and he—he supported all of his television casts down in there, and a lot of things he did. But he said to me the other day, he said, “Brother Branham, I went over to Brother Jagger’s school. I went everywhere; I stayed out there for three months. I was hunting; I went to the places, each one of them, and bring it back to the same thing. I could never get a place where I had any assurance (you see?), if I do this, or if I do that, and what might I do here, or am I, or am I not,” said, “till I heard your teachings.” Said, “Then that settled it once for all.” “For the worshipper once purged from his sins has no more conscience of sin.” He’s passed from death unto Life, and he’s got Eternal Life inside of him dwelling there and can no more die than God can die. Exactly the Bible. See? He’s eternally taken care of, because he’s got Eternal Life.

Now, that don’t mean that you can sin and get by with it, for when you sin you are punished for your sins. Exactly right. But as long as Eternal Life is in there, you live forever. Jesus said, “He that heareth My Word (Saint John 5:24)—he that heareth My words, believeth on Him that sent Me, has Everlasting Life, and shall never come to the judgment, has—but has passed from death unto Life.” See? All…“No man can come to Me except My Father draws him first; and all that comes to Me, I…And all that My Father has given Me will come to Me.” That’s right. “All that He has given will come, and none of them will be lost. I’ll give them Eternal Life and will raise him up at the last days.” Saint John 6. Oh, what a blessed assurance! See? Then you don’t have to go about scared to death and wondering.

God has give us the perfect assurance that we are His children. And as His children, He corrects us just like I correct my children, you correct your children. When in the wrong, we correct them. If—if my children does wrong, then it’s my duty as a father to correct them. And then, if God’s children does wrong, it’s His duty as a Father, and He will correct you. Just remember that, you’ll be corrected. But as long as you’re His child, the world better keep their hands off of you (that’s right!), for He said, “It’s far better for you that a millstone was hanged at your neck and you were drowned in the depths of the sea than even to bring an offense upon one of these little ones that believe in Me.” That’s right. What is that judgment going to be?

Now, Brother Pat, back to your question. The spirits that went out of that man, that drove him like a maniac (see?), does the same thing today in people. See? It’s them spirits, thousands times thousands. And the devil comes in with just like a little opium. It’s just like they take a little school girl; the first thing they will do is get her to smoke a cigarette. See? That gets her started. And the next thing they do, they’ll get a little stronger. And then, the first thing, it ends up into marijuana; and then from that, on into the real dope habit. What does it do? It drives them insane. They just go crazy, and the devil’s got them. See?

So the devil is in smoking cigarettes. That’s his little mild form. Now, if he sees you’re pretty smart and going to catch that, he’ll never let it go any farther than cigarettes. See? As long as he can just hold you there long enough, till he can take, get your life snapped out, ’cause he knows that you can’t go until God has said so. But you’ll hear sermon after sermon, message after message, and punch after punch on it, and warning after warning on it; and if he can just keep you warded off and keep your mind on something else, as being a popular person, or you’ve got to have it, or something like that, then he just holds you there until he gets you out. Or if he can just let you to join church and say, “I’m going to be a good fella. I’m going to turn a new page. I’m going to get…I—I’m going up the church and join church.” If he can just keep you under that, that’s all he has to do. He’s got you yet, because you…Jesus said, “Verily, verily (that’s absolutely, absolutely), I say unto you, except a man be borned of the water and of the Spirit, he will in no wise enter the Kingdom.” Let me just show you something. I was talking to a brother this afternoon, Brother Wood, when we were on a journey, just out, try to relax my mind, keep from talking to get enough voice to talk tonight.

Now, notice! We’re going down here and get a nice big grain of corn. It’s the most perfect grain of corn there is in the country. And I’m going to…Well, corn or ear, whatever you want to call it. I’ll—I’ll take it over here to the Clark County Fair, and I’ll win a blue ribbon on it. It’s the best grain of corn, the most perfect corn there is, ever seen. I’ll get a blue ribbon on it. I’ll take it down to the Floyd County; I’ll take it on to the Harrison County. I’ll take it to the state, and I’ll take it to the nation. And it wins every blue ribbon. It’s the most perfect grain of corn. And the scientists with their great glasses, they look through it, and they examine it, see the…It’s a perfect amount of potash, and a perfect amount of calcium, and—and a perfect moisture. Everything that goes in that grain of corn is just exactly perfect. Now, you say, “I’m going to plant that and get me another perfect grain out of it.” And you plant that in the ground. Unless that corn, that perfect grain, has the germ of life in it, it’ll lay there and rot, and that’s the end of it. It’ll never rise again, no matter how perfect it is. It—it’ll never rise until it’s germitized with a new life in it.

And you can take a man…Now, I don’t mean this to hurt feelings, I just…This is church, this is my tabernacle, and I’m as free as a bird. See? Now I want you to remember, that in this, that a man can be good; he can pay his tithes; he can be honest; he can help the widow; he can help the orphan; he can be a church member. You can’t find one flaw about that man. Every time something is to come up, right down in his pocket, get the last penny he had and give to the poor. He’ll—he’ll stand by you through thick and thin. He’ll be your buddy when even a lot of the so-called others will turn you down and everything like that; and that man is still outside the Kingdom of God unless he’s been filled with the Holy Ghost, Eternal Life. That’s right! That’s how important it is.

That’s the reason I’m trying to get my church to see this. And I—I pray that you don’t think that I’m just trying to act smart about it. I—I’m trying to tell you that the devil is so deceiving, that he’s so deceiving till he’ll—he’ll make you act like a Christian. He’ll do something and impersonate Christ right down to the very Elect. The Bible said they’d be so close together. You’ll be a good man. You’ll have…

Now looky here, let me show you examples to be sure now. We want to keep it in the Scriptures while we’re on these spirits. Esau was a far better man in every way you wanted to take it than Jacob was. Now, Esau (God forgive me for this remark), he was just a little sneaker. That’s all. Now, if you notice him, what was he? A little tattletale and a big liar. Now, if—if I’m saying wrong, God forgive me, but he did lie. And a cheat, there never was one like him hardly. When he took them speckled sticks even and put them in the water to cause those pregnated cattle and sheep over there to bring forth speckled sheep and speckled cattle, to get them on his own—own hands…What did he do? He put Esau’s coat on him and a piece of sheepskin and everything else, and went up there, and impersonated Esau before his blind father which was a prophet. That right? Why, he was a little shyster; he really was. And Esau was a…I oughtn’t—maybe I oughtn’t to have said it that way. See? I don’t mean it that way. I—I’ll take that back. He—he wa-…he—he was a…I don’t know; you know what he was. See? You just think in your mind; I’ll…He was a—he was a great man of God, and I don’t want to say nothing bad about him (you see?), but I’m just trying to point out a little—little things that he did. Just look how sneaking he was. Liar? Sure, he was just—he was terrible. But what was he trying to do?

Look at Esau. Esau was a good man, moral, a good church member today. What did he do? He was a hunter. He went out…Course then, that’s how they made their living. He’d taken care of the herds for his father. His daddy was blind. A prophet, a prophet of the Lord was blind and deceived by his own son, a prophet, Isaac; through him come Christ. You can call him prophet, Bible said he was. And was blind? Why didn’t he heal himself? And why didn’t he know that that was Esau—that that was Jacob instead of Esau? See? God don’t tell His prophets everything. He just tells them what He wants them to know. See?

God was working out a plan then, and he had to work in it. God…If you’ll submit yourself to God, God will make you work right into His plan.

Now, notice what he did, what this fellow did. Esau went out and tried to take care of his poor, old, blind daddy; and Jacob, seemingly, he didn’t care what happened to him. But there’s one thing Jacob wanted, that was the birthright. Regardless of what come, how he had to get it, what level he had to come on, that birthright was all he cared for. And Esau, the Bible said, despised his birthright; the Bible said that. And the Bible said, “Except there come some vain fornicator among you, like that evil person Esau who despised his birthright and sold it for a mess of pottage…”

Now, what is a birthright? It’s the right. That’s what I’m trying to tell you now. This Holy Spirit is your Birthright; that’s your Birthright. That’s your God given right. Now, people say today, “I’ll go to church. I’m just as good as the next fellow. But me, act like one of them holy rollers? Not me.” Well, you Esau! See? It’s just the same thing, despising the birthright. Why, he swapped it for a mess of pottage. And you sell it ma-…I don’t say you, but the world sells it for a lot less than that.

Esau was hungry. But, you see, if goodness would be counted…If somebody…If we walked up there and stayed around the tent for a—a few days, we’d find out that Esau was…We’d have picked Esau. See? But in his heart he wanted that birthright. He didn’t care about anything else; he wanted that birthright. That’s all he wanted.

And Esau wanted to be a nice fellow, and take care of everything, and do everything just right, and make everything just as…He was a real good legalist; Esau was. He wanted everything just right. And Jacob wanted one thing, and that was the birthright, and that’s all he cared about. And Esau…You see what happened to both boys. See? And even out of Jacob come the twelve patriarchs which brought forth, well, the twelve tribes of Israel, out of Jacob. And he called—and God called Jacob His own son. Do you see what I mean?

That Holy Ghost ought to be more important to you than everything else there is in the world, your prestige, your life, your job, your anything that there is. You should not cease until you have It. You must receive It. It must be the most…And you say, “Well, I’m afraid they—they at my work. I’m afraid that my husband, my…” Don’t be afraid; let That be first place. Let everything else go. Let That be first. “Well, I expect to get It one of these days, Brother Branham.” Not one of these days, now! This is the time. “Let It be first before I—before I do anything else. Let me have It now!” Desperate! That would help answer our question. You’re ju-…when you get desperate for It, really got to have It or die (see?), then is when you’re going to get It.

A little Jew used to be here in town. I don’t know whether you knew him or not. He’d been healed of cancer. They give—turned him out. And when he was baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ, then they really turned him out, put him out in the yard. And then he went and joined the Methodist church. And they found out that he was baptized in the Name of Jesus, and they set him out in zero weather, about ten below, in Ohio; put him a bed out there (Brother Fleeman, you oughta remember Brother Vance, oughtn’t you?)—put him out, out there, and a pump of water out there, and said, “There’s enough water for you to be rebaptized in Jesus’ Name, I guess.”

However, he was telling me a little story once. He said that when this certain peoples, his wife—they were staying with…And he had gathered all his old stuff up in an old broke up truck and started out of town. And his wife said, “Did you know what? I ought to have got a drink of water before I left that place.” Said, “I’m thirsty.” Well, he said, “Honey, there’s a hydrant.” Said, “Well, go on till you hit a better place.” You see? And he went on a little farther, and he said, “There’s another hydrant.” Said, “Well, just go ahead.” You see?

But said, “Then, when she got out into the country, there was no pump.” Said, “She was just fighting for a—for a drink of water.” And said, “After while, way over in the field was an old country pump, way out in the field, plumb across through a bunch of cattle; and she was afraid of the cattle.” But he said, “She said, ‘Levi, I just got to have a drink!’” So they—he stopped the car. And said, before he could even get the car hardly stopped, she was out and had that cutting across the fence. She had to have water. And when God becomes that real to you, when you thirst like that, that it’s either God or you’ll die, you can’t stand it any longer, then something’s going to happen. It’s got—you get to business then with God. That’s when you take—it takes place.

Now, these evil spirits deceive people. And of them spirits, many times are very religious. Now you say, “You mean, religious?” Yes, sir! Even teach the Scriptures, the Bible. They sure do.

Now notice! Jesus came to a bunch of man that was holy priests; and they kept the laws to the letter; and they were very, very religious. And Jesus—John called them, said, “You generation of vipers (that’s snakes), who’s warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” When Jesus saw them, He said, “You are of your father the devil.” That was God saying that. Just as religious as they could be.

Remember, when—the devil takes his man, but never his spirit. God takes His man but never His Spirit. See? The Holy Spirit comes into your life and sanctifies your spirit, lives through you, and gives you power to live. But when—when your spirit goes on, your spirit is kept with God; but the Holy Spirit was on you comes on somebody else, and somebody else, and somebody…

This Spirit that was upon Elijah come upon Elisha, a double portion of It; seven hundred years later or eight hundred years later come upon John the Baptist, made him act…Look how Elijah, look how Elijah was: big old hairy man, whiskers all over him; sheepskin, looked like a fuzzy worm, his face out like that, stomping down through there with a big piece of leather around, his girdles like—girdles around his loins, like this. If you would have…If he would have walked up to your house you’d say, “Ooo, my! Call the police right quick. Such a fellow standing in front of my door.” But that was a prophet of the Lord. Sure was! And then, when he died, a double portion of his Spirit come upon Elijah; and then eight hundred years later come upon John the Baptist and made John act just exactly like they did, because It was the spirit of Elijah.

Now, if the spirit of Elijah upon John would make John act like Elijah, the Spirit of God upon you will make you act like Jesus. Now, there’s where you find the Holy Spirit. See? That’s what the Holy Spirit does. It makes you meek, makes you humble, makes you forgiving.

Could they pull whiskers from your face, if you had them there, jerk them out and spit in your face, when you had the power to call a—legions of Angels? Could you do that for the love of the people that was spitting in your face? Could you do it? If somebody just walked up to you and said, “Hey, you hypocrite!” and smacked you on one side of face, could you pray for their forgiveness? Now, that’s where trust—test whether you got the Holy Spirit or not. See? When somebody says something evil against someone, sometimes that claims to have the Holy Spirit, “I’ll get even with her if it takes me my last day.” See? Now, there’s where you check about your Holy Spirit. See? “Blessed are you when man shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for My Name’s sake.” But you go get even with them? No! “Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” See?

When someone says evil about you, say something good. If you can’t say something good about them, then don’t say nothing. Just let it go. See? And then, when you get to yourself, pray for them.

If there’s one thing in my life that’s helped me to understand that the Holy Spirit came into me down there that day, has been that. I was hotheaded, fiery, Irish on both sides. And I always could never eat hardly at all, my mouth was always mashed where somebody mashed it, jumping up where I shouldn’t jump up. I’ve got some of my teeth broke out now and filled where I—I spoke where I oughtn’t to have spoke (you see?) and said things…Always in trouble. And I said…Somebody said to me, my teacher at school, she said…I said, “Lady, I—I—I can’t help it.” See, I’d get in trouble all the time. And I said, “I can’t help it.” Poor old Mother Temple, she just went to Glory the other day. And she said, “Well, look Honey.” She got me upon her lap, and she pulled me up in her arms and started crying. First time I had ever had love like that from somebody, an old woman. She just cried over the top of me. She said, “Billy, I am going to do something for you, Honey; I’m going to give you a little piece of string.” And said, “If any of the boys jumps on you…”

Called me “corn-cracker,” ’cause I was from Kentucky, you know, and—and…I was—I really was terribly dressed. And they’d make fun of my hair, hanging pretty near as long as it is now, and all down over my face. And I was just having an awful time, you know. And—and they would beat me around and slap me. Anytime anybody gets their temper up, they’d walk around, and just get ahold of me, and slap me down. And here I’d come. See? And a—so then—and a fight. And we got—we got even, I even had knife fights and everything else.

And took a Winchester rifle and tried to shoot it, pump it right into four or five boys, from beat me till I couldn’t hardly stand up. Would’ve killed every one of them if it hadn’t been for God. Picked up the shells off of the ground, put them back in the gun; they was just shooting as good as they ever did. See? I’d been a murderer of five man, probably, or five boys.

Was only about twelve years old, high tempered! And teacher said, “You take this little string, Billy, and whenever you get mad, you just stop and tie nine knots in that string.” Said, “When you do that, then you bring the string to me. I’ll bet your temper will be over.”

I said, “Mrs. Whalen, I sure think you’re so nice.” I said, “I—I’m going to try it.” See? (Or Mrs. Temple; I’m saying Mrs. Whalen. I said Mrs…Mr. Whalen was a teacher up here once.) So I—I put the string in my pocket. And I hadn’t been out in the yard five minutes till somebody popped me one. Well, I went—started on them, you know. I reached down and grabbed my string; and I started to tie one knot; I throwed the string down, and away I went. See? I just couldn’t do it. See?

And I said, “I could never be a Christian.” But let me tell you, that night down yonder on Ohio Avenue when the Holy Spirit came into me, that settled the temper. That was over. I said, “I could never do it. I could never be a Christian, ’cause I’d never get over that,” I said, “something that’s borned in me.” I said, “Boy, my daddy was hotheaded; and—and my mother, half Indian, enough temper to fight a buzz saw.” I said, “Me? Oh, I…Boy, anybody that jumps on me is going to get it; that’s all.” I said, “If I have to climb up on a step ladder to hit them,” I said, “I’ll sure do it.” See?

But now, you could drag me out there and wallop me and…See? Why? Not me! What am I trying to make a point here? Something happened. That old power, that old William Branham died, and Someone else come in. [Blank spot on tape—Ed.] And It makes me feel sorry for my enemy. When anyone does anything wrong to me, I never pray against them, I pray for them. And that’s where the Holy Spirit give that test the other night in New England, before this happened down here. When that—when He gave power, said, “Just speak what you will to them people.” The way they had done…And I looked down there, and I said, “I forgive you.” That’s exactly what He wanted. See? Forgive your enemies. See? These are the spirits that make you evil. Watch them spirits.

Here come somebody by. He was up there in a tomb. Somebody come by, he’d run out and overcome them, the Bible said. No one—he was so dangerous till nobody could pass that way. But one day there was a stronger Power passed. He was possessed with hatred, malice, devil, legion of them walking around, big fellow. They’d go out there, and take an army, put him in chains; and he’d break the chains loose. And the devil was in him. There he was. He was something. He’d been a—he’d been a real idol for the Jeffersonville High School. Sure would! There he was, all this big…Or some of these teenagers, you know, “Oh, he’s real man.” I’ve seen man that weighed two hundred pounds didn’t have a ounce of man in them. That’s not man, that’s brute. See?

But there was a little bitty, stoop-shouldered fellow come down the road one day, kinda bent down (the Bible said there was no beauty we should desire Him, thirty years old and pass for fifty), walking down the road one day. And he run out to meet Him. Said, “I’ll just take that little fellow and wind him around.” But, oh my, when he met that One, he fell at His feet. Them devils so possessed him…Now look. That day…He was so possessed with the devil…

Now this, I want to put this in to—for you. He was—that man was so completely yielded to the devil, till the devil used his tongue to talk. Now, you can be so completely yielded to God till God can use your tongue to talk. That’s right! That’s what I claim. Any sermon that I ever preached that had any meaning to it, is when I got yielded, got William Branham out of the way, and Christ could take in and start talking. See? And He can speak in language.

Now notice. He was so possessed of that evil spirit, and that spirit had him so close till…Them demons knowed their time had come, because they had met love. See? And they said, “We’ll try him.” And all…Now, notice what taken place. He said, “Why, we know who you are. Why you in that little bitty body like this, little frail-looking fella?” Said, “Why are you coming like that?” Said, “We know who you are. You’re the holy one of Israel, and why do you…?” (Now watch! If you don’t believe that there’s a future torment for devils, listen to these confess it.) “Why comest thou to torment us before the time comes?” They know there’s a future torment. “Why comest thou to torment us before the time comes?” See? And Jesus said, “What’s your name?” He knowed; He wanted them to confess it. Said, “We’re Legion, for there’s many of us.” He said, “If you’re going to cast us out of this man…”

Look, a little frail fellow like Jesus standing there (see?), and a man that could whip almost an army; chains couldn’t even hold him. See, it isn’t physical strength. That isn’t what counts. It’s the power of the Holy Spirit that’s in your life that counts. See?

He said, “Don’t torment us before the time comes; but if you’ll cast us out…(Look at the meaness of them, the wickedness.) If you are going to cast us out, don’t let us just go free out into the world, ’cause hard tell where we’ll get into somebody else. If you’ll cast us out…We want to be in somebody; we want to do something; we want to do some more meanness.” That’s the devil. “I’ll get back with him. Hmm!” See? That’s the devil. “I’ll get even with him.” See? Just remember, it’s your brother standing there, but the devil got on him. See? “Let us do something mean. We can make these Gadarenes over here suffer for this,” might have said the head, one of them. Said, “Let us go down in that herd of swine.”

Jesus said, “Take your leave. But come out of him!” Oh, my! Little bitty guy like that speaking to that big legion of devils. “Come out of him! You have your leave.” And they got into those hogs, and they had fits, run them hogs into fits. And down the way they went to the river, and drowned in the river, choked themselves in the river. Isn’t that right?

Now, when they did…Of course the devils went out of them, ’cause it killed the hogs. It just run them into a fit. They had a fit just like anyone. Did you ever see a person have a temper fit? Well, that’s just—that’s just what it is. That’s just them devils. That’s what happened to them. You ever see one of them having a temper fit, you say, “Uh huh, I know what happened in Gadara now.” See? That’s just exactly. Just a few more come in there, run him completely insane; ’cause the medical doctor will tell you that temper is the first stage of insanity. That’s what Mayo says, the first stage of insanity.

Brother Pat, that might have been rude. That’s the best I know, just unexpected. All right.

Questions and Answers, 1959-12-23, Jeffersonville, IN, §31