QUESTION:
Is believing God’s Word the evidence of the Holy Spirit baptism?
ANSWER:
"If I want to go back to Ephesians the 1st chapter, Paul preaching... Now, the Corinthians, each one had a tongue and a song. You notice the other churches didn't have that trouble. He never said nothing about it. Did He ever mention tongues anywhere in the Ephesian church, the Roman church? No. They had tongues and everything just like the Corinthians did, but they had it set in order. The Corinthians just couldn't get it in order. See? But Paul went down there and set the church in order.” [Questions And Answers On The Holy Ghost, Jeffersonville IN, 59-1219]
“‘Oh, I can't believe that.’ You're sinning. See? You're sinning. And he that's borned of God, of the Holy Ghost, don't say those things. And if he says he's got the Holy Ghost and says those things, that's the evidence he hasn't got It. I don't care what he done. If he don't believe in Divine healing, don't believe in the power of the resurrection, don't believe in the Holy Ghost being poured out upon us just exactly like It did in the first age, just the same God yesterday, today, and forever, the same things the apostles done happening right now, speaking in tongues, and rejoicing, and all these other things; if they don't believe that, he's not borned of God. For whosoever is borned of God does not commit those kind of things. That's how to tell whether they're born of God.” [Questions And Answers, Jeffersonville IN, 59-1223]
“So does God when He finds a man that He could put enough trust in him to reveal His Word to him, that he will stand, stand on the Bible conviction and say, "Prove it to me." That's right. Then you take God's Word, every Word just the way It's written and preach It just the way It's written, God's obligated to come right behind there confirming It with signs and wonders first, as He said He would do it. Not stop on one evidence, there's more evidences. There's homes; there's places; there's gardens, milk and honey, good foods, and many things, waters flowing from the mountains. Everything's good over there, just not a bunch of grapes. But that's where we stop. "Bless God, got the Holy Ghost, the evidence of speaking in tongues." That's all right, shows somebody went over there. But why do you stand at this borderline? See? "Made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted of the power of the world to come. (See that they'll fall back into that same old rut that the Methodists did, the Baptists did, the Presbyterian did), and crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and bring Him to an open shame." And we find in the Laodicean Church Age that He was on the outside of the Pentecostal church trying to get back in. "Bring Him to an open shame." O God, have mercy, brother. If you disagree with me upon these things, search the Scriptures. Find out the day that we're living in; see where it's at.” [The Church Choosing Law For Grace, Middletown OH, 61-0316]
“Don't watch your organization; watch the way the Spirit is leading. And if the Spirit is leading you, It'll never lead you contrary to the Word. It'll never misbehave Itself uncommonly, long as It stays in that Word. What did God do? He left them there for forty years in the wilderness. That's exactly what He done to Pentecost. We had the initial evidence, speaking in tongues. Oh, said, "We've had Divine healing." They did too. They had a brass serpent; they had a smitten rock. Oh, sure. "Oh, Brother Branham, let me tell you, we Oneness, we Assemblies, we so and so, we shouted; we danced in the Spirit." Oh sure, they did too. But they stayed out of the promised land forty years. Did you ever think of what they done? Oh, God blessed them, didn't He? He said He did. They raised good crops; they had good families; they stayed there; and they was blessed and prospered. Why, some of us Pentecostals are--boy, some of them, why, we're worth millions of dollars, lot of them. Sure, we--God's prospered us.” [The Church Choosing Law For Grace, Middletown OH, 61-0316]
“God takes those organizations and they're every one fallen. Look at them, worldliness creeping in. Look at their women; look at their men; look at their condition. I could point you Assemblies of God people that's got deacons on their board that's married two or three times."
Preachers carrying on, women with their hair cut, wearing shorts, makeup, and still professing to have the Holy Ghost, depending on the evidence of speaking in tongues or jumping up-and-down or shouting. They failed that still small voice of the Word. That Word keeps you bound to the cross. That's where it lays.” [And Thy Seed Shall Possess The Gate Of His Enemy, Phoenix AZ, 62-0121M]
“Oh, my beloved wanderer, have you looked at the daughters of Moab or have you seen the daughters (I'm talking of churches.) of Cain, how far off of the Word they stray? Have you, my precious friend, have you noticed in the last days that these things has come to pass? Have you been noticing recently about how the Word of God is being made manifest, how that the revival that did once strike has quietened down, there's not much left? What is it? It's a lull before the storm. The judgments are ready. Have you been denoting these things? Have you compared Scripture with Scripture, Bible Word with Bible Word, evidence with evidence? Have you compared the Word of Jesus that He said that the devil in the last days would be so close like the real thing, till if it was possible he would deceive everyone except the elected, the Elected One. Just think, that Scriptural teaching is going to be so close. "Oh, we believe in the Holy Ghost; bless God forever. We got the Holy Ghost; we speak in tongues." And then turn around and deny the Word? Yeah. ‘Will deceive the very elected if possible.’” [Oneness, Jeffersonville IN, 62-0211]
“And you say, "Well, Brother Branham, wait a minute. Bless God, I've seen them go out there and heal the sick." Oh, sure; so have I. "Oh, I've seen them speak in tongues." Yes, sir. So have I. And I've never believed, and there's no one can prove it by God's Word, that the initial evidence of the Holy Ghost is speaking in tongue. I want the man to come do it. I've challenged that all along. I believe in speaking in tongues. Yes, sir; but I've seen devils speak in tongues, witches and wizards speak in tongues and interpret it, denying there was such a thing as Jesus Christ. I've seen men speak in tongues living with another man's wife. Stand and look me right in the face and a vision before him, call him out to one side and made him a witness to it. And you call that the Holy Spirit?” [The Spoken Word Is The Original Seed, Jeffersonville IN, 62-0318]
“No matter how many patriarchs they'd have, popes, or whatevermore, God cannot be with them until He proves Hisself with them. And as long as they're off of His Word and denying His Word, how can He be with them? No signs of the living God amongst them. How can God be amongst the U.N., when two can't walk without they agree? Now, looky here. There's the Church of Christ, so-called, joined up with the Pentecostals. The Pentecosts say they believe in speaking in tongues; they believe in the evidence of the Holy Ghost, speaking in tongues. They say they believe in this, that, and the other; they believe in signs and wonders. The Church of Christ laughs at them and said, "You bunch of ignoramuses; that was in the days gone by." How can two walk together 'less they be agreed? And they joined together. What they doing? They are seeking safety with one another. Away with such stuff. My safety's in Christ and in His Word, for His Word is Hisself.” [The Way Of A True Prophet Of God, Jeffersonville IN, 62-0513M]
“There's got to be something happen that makes you have this--this evidence, this confirmation. Now, if God said, "It's going to be raining in the morning," it wouldn't be hard for me to make ready for the rain, because I know it's going to rain. Now, if we can change that around from seeing a vision, or hearing the audible voice of God... But to change it around to... The initial way of having faith is by hearing the written Word of God. Now, when God comes into our midst and proves Hisself to us, in giving us the Holy Spirit, speaking with tongues and giving interpretation, sending gifts among us, like that; or prophecy that stands at a certain place, and says a certain thing, and does a certain thing and proves it time after time, that it never fails, that should build us into a place that would give us a hold on that Word, that wouldn't let it loose. It ought to be a evidence right there. As long as God said so, that settles it.” [Confirmation And Evidence, South Gate CA, 62-0621E]
[Answer provided by Bro. Ken Andes, Minister, Lynden, Washington, USA]