Tonight I wish to read from the book of the Revelation of the Lord Jesus, in the 6th chapter, the first two verses: "And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. And I saw, and behold a white horse; and he went forth conquering, and to conquer." My subject for a few moments tonight will be The Mighty Conqueror.

I believe with all my heart that the rapture will take place before the tribulation. Now there are many teachers who will disagree with that, but I have no education and I just study the Bible in types often, and how the types are shadows. And if we understand the shadow of anything then we have a general conception of what the positive looks like. Like the flood in Noah's time: not a drop of water had ever fallen until Noah, and all that would be saved from the flood, were inside the ark and the door closed. And we see that before one lump of fire could fall upon Sodom and Gomorrah from heaven Lot had to leave the city and be free from the judgment to come upon these cities--for the righteous judge would not judge the just with the unjust because the believer has already been judged when Christ was judged in his place. Therefore it would be unjust that a Holy God would judge one of us again after He has already accepted our judgment in Christ. Now to our subject The Mighty Conqueror. Man likes to conquer, and it is a great thing to conquer. A conqueror is one who has overcome his enemy--that is the reason, I believe, the scripture says "We are more than conquerors" for He has conquered for us. And men in these great times, when they are moving forward and conquering, often have a great celebration afterwards.

We are told that when the late German leader, Adolph Hitler, conquered France, he took his seat at the Arch of Triumph and watched his great army go by, his tanks rolled by, and his planes roared overhead till they darkened the sky. But... it didn't last because if a man will be a conqueror his objectives must be right, and his motives must be right--and if you don't play the game fair you will lose, no matter how much conqueror you are. You have to be true to be a winner, no cheater wins a game. But Hitler never followed the rules, he wanted all the power to himself, all the glory to himself. Therefore he was wrong in his objective--and any man with the same motives and ways of Hitler will end up just as he did.

We are told that the great Constantine when he was on his road to Rome had a dream just before the battle was to take place. He was worried that evening before he went to sleep as to the outcome of the battle he proposed to fight in the morning. That night he dreamed a dream of a white cross, and a voice said, "By this you will conquer." So he got his fellow soldiers up in the night and they painted on their shields a white cross, and he did conquer.

I am now thinking of another man: a few years ago I stood in Waterloo, Belgium where a man named Napoleon met his defeat in blood and disgrace. As I stood there someone handed me a little book, and I began reading the history of this great man. He began a great warrior, and he had conquered the entire world at the age of 33, but he too had the wrong objectives... he wanted power to himself, and he wanted everyone to fear him. At the age of 33 the whole world trembled at the thought of Napoleon--he was a bad man, a murderer. He started out a prohibitionist and died an alcoholic. You can't conquer by wrong. Only right will conquer.

You will never conquer by building up one denomination above another--you will only conquer as you let down the bars, and let the Holy Spirit come into the entire body of Christ. We will never conquer with selfish motives. God hates sin, and He will not let it triumph over wrong. Napoleon died at 33 as the conqueror of the world, and sin had conquered him--but oh there was another man who died at the age of 33 who conquered the world, and conquered Hell, and conquered death, and conquered every enemy to the human race. That was our blessed Lord Jesus, the Mighty Conqueror. He did not come to conquer for Himself--His objective was to do the will of God who sent Him. He did not fight for Himself, He gave Himself. At the cross He said, "I could speak to my Father and straight-away He would send me legions of angels." But He came to conquer for Adam's fallen race, and He conquered every enemy of Adam's fallen race, and they were put under His feet.

I can see the Mighty Conqueror, our Lord, when He was here as He stood by a man who was chained and bound by demon power. No army could hold him for his might, and often he broke the chains asunder. None could conquer him, and the evil spirits drove him from among mankind, and he made his home out in the tombs, and whosoever passed his way he would conquer them. But one day there came a little man down the road--the Bible said "There was no beauty that we should desire Him"--and this demon thought, "Here is the time that I'll overcome that little fellow "--and they possessed the man, and out into the road they went to meet Him. And when they ran to Him to conquer Him, He raised His eyes and they changed their tune. Instead of trying to conquer Him they said, "Thou holy one of God, why do you come to torment us before the time comes?" They knew they had met their match--the great Mighty Conqueror of heaven was standing present. He was not physically big enough to break chains, He was not physically able to hold a man who was demon-possessed, but in Him was the power of Almighty God to whom demons had to bow. And He conquered this enemy that Adam's race hereafter who are bound by such a spirit has the privilege of taking the name of this great Mighty Conqueror and casting him out.

I can see Him, our Mighty Conqueror, as He comes into the room of Peter's mother-in-law, lying sick with a fever--He doesn't say a word, He just walks up and touches her hand and the sickness was conquered. He conquered sickness for Adam's race. One day when His close bosom friend had died and He was four days journey away, by the time he got there the skin-worms were crawling through his body, and the hand that he had shook, and the shoulders He had embraced now were conquered by corruption and death. I can see Him standing by Lazarus' side, His eyes full of tears as He spoke, "Lazarus, come forth," and corruption gave back its victim, and death delivered the soul of the man, for the Mighty Conqueror had spoken. This He could do for all Adam's children. I am so glad He is also my friend, for sometime, if Jesus tarries, that is the way we will all lie.

One night when He was crossing the sea, the mighty elements of the earth became disobedient. He had been resting in the back of a little boat as the winds became violent and upset the sea greatly. Soon the little boat took on much water and the disciples feared greatly and they hurried to awaken Him. When He awoke He rebuked them saying, "Oh ye of little faith--where is your faith?" In other words, "You've seen me do all these things day after day: you've seen the maniac delivered and set free, you've seen the fever leave your mother-in-law, you've seen the dead raised! Where is your faith?" Then He put His foot on the brail of the boat and looked up and said, "Peace, be still." And all the waves hushed like a baby in the arms of its mother. The winds and the waves obeyed Him.

On the other side of the lake where they were going, there lived a little woman who had spent all her money to be made well, and still was ill with a blood issue. The doctors who took her money had tried hard and faithfully to help her, but they did all they could and still the blood issued forth. She heard Jesus was coming her way so she departed for the seashore--on she struggled through the crowd until her strength was gone. But her faith was set to but touch the border of His garment, and this she did. Upon touching the Mighty Conqueror the disease that had defied the doctors' medicine obeyed the will of the Mighty Conqueror and the blood issue ceased.

Remember when death struck the home of Jairus? His little girl twelve years old had taken very ill, and they came and bade Jesus to come; but as He was nearing Jairus' home the messengers met them again saying, "Don't trouble the Master for the daughter is already dead." It's all over now--that's the way we get sometimes--we think there is no hope. But He is still the Mighty Conqueror--when all hope is gone He is still the same. Sure, they thought it was all over, but the precious eyes of our Lord turned to Jairus and said, "Don't fear, only believe, and thou shalt see the glory of the Lord." And Jesus went into the death chamber where only the end of time could reveal the outcome of Jairus' little daughter. But do you realize the Beginning and the End was standing beside her? And He took her by the hand and said, "Maid, arise," and death was conquered, and she rose to her feet and lived. The greatest enemy man ever had was death--to all men--and He went to Calvary one day and there on the cross He bore--one time, for all--the victory for all mankind; He conquered the greatest enemy man ever had--He conquered death--for us all. Then when He died that did not end it, He still had to be the Mighty Conqueror, so the Bible said He went and preached to the souls that were in prison, those who had rejected the message of Enoch, and of Noah, and those in Sodom, and they who had rejected the prophets. He witnessed to them that He was the answer to every prophet's message, the Mighty Conqueror, but they had passed between death and life, crossed over the separating line, and there was no hope for them. He went into the regions of the devil--demons--and He scattered them, and right to the very pit of darkest hell He went, still in existence though His body was quiet on the cross. He was still the great and Mighty Conqueror, and after 1900 years have passed He is still the Mighty Conqueror, and He will forever be the Mighty Conqueror. When He reached the very doors of hell (we'll use a little drama here) I can see the devil step out and say, "So I finally got you--so you finally arrived! I tried to destroy that seed all along. I thought I had you when I destroyed Abel; and I was sure I had you when I destroyed the prophets; and when I got John beheaded I was certain I had you. But NOW here you are, you are in my kingdom, and you're under my dominion, and you're in my power, for you died as a sinner." Oh I can hear Jesus say, "Satan, I am the virgin born son of God, my blood is still wet on the cross, I have met every just requirement for Adam's fallen race, and I have come down here to conquer, and to take over!" He reached over to the devil, grabbed the keys of death and hell, hung them on His own side, and kicked the devil into the pits where he belonged! Still the Mighty Conqueror!

He started back to the earth, triumphant over death and hell, to win the victory over the grave. But as He went up along the great paths He heard some hymns being sung, and He knew He was coming near gates of Paradise where those who heeded the message of Noah, and those who heeded the message of the prophets were waiting, because they could not go up, there was a mist of sin hanging over the earth, and the blood of bulls and goats and sheep could not atone for the human. Therefore they were kept in a place called Paradise. There was a mist of sin over the earth and they could not ascend up--only He who had come down.

He walks up to the door of Paradise and knocks lightly upon it. Father Abraham opens the door and he stands spellbound for a few seconds, then he cries, "Sarah, come here just a moment. Isn't that the same one you baked the cakes for? Isn't that the one who sat under the oak tree that day?" Sarah says, "That is the one who had His back turned to the tent and He perceived my thoughts when I laughed in my heart after He said I would be with child in my old age." Jesus spoke and said, "Children, I have come to take you now--I have conquered that horrible thing called sin." And just then there came up a man behind Abraham, and as that man looked closer over Abraham's shoulder he too stood spellbound--it was the prophet Daniel, and he cried, "That is the stone I saw cut out of the mountain without hands that would destroy the kingdom's of the world." Just then another man came up--it was the prophet Ezekiel, and as he beheld Jesus he said, "There is the wheel in the middle of the wheel that I saw turning high up in the air." Each one had seen Him in the form they had preached Him in. Then three men came running up and they sped past Abraham to look up the Lord--they were Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, and they cried and wept aloud, "This is the man who stood with us in the fiery furnace when Nebuchadnezzar threw us in."

Oh my friends, tonight we have sung of Him, we have praised Him, and we have told His story to nearly all the earth, but what will it be when we see Him as the rose of Sharon, the lily of the valley, as the fairest of ten-thousand to our souls, the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the King of Glory!

And the Lord said to them, "Follow me," and He started with all the Old Testament saints to the earth above, He leading them, and with His vesture dipped in His own blood He conquered the atmosphere above. Blessed be His name! He cut through the fog of hell surrounding the earth until He'd cut a space in the sky in order that all Adam's lost children could pray through to the victory. He conquered the atmospheres, He conquered sin, He conquered death, He conquered hell and the grave, and He rose triumphantly--on beyond the highest stars, beyond the moon and the sun He rose with the Old Testament saints. Oh what a grand march that must have been with a REAL Conqueror! After while they came in sight of that glorious city, and Abraham said to Sarah, "Come here, honey," and she called to Isaac to come, Isaac called to Jacob, Jacob called to Joseph, and as they came up to Abraham's side he said, "That is the city I saw whose builder and maker is God. I walked about the earth looking for this city, never finding it, but now we are coming near the great gates." Although great men that they were, yet it took the Mighty Conqueror to conquer sin, and lead them to this beautiful city. The light from within the city was great and bright, the pearly gates all aglow, and there was Jesus in the forefront marching on. Soon all the angels were ascending to the tops of the buildings and looking down upon the great marching hosts. And as they neared, the Old Testament saints give a mighty shout, "Open up ye everlasting gates, and be ye opened, and let the King of Glory come in--the Mighty Conqueror." The angels screamed back and said, "Who is this King of Glory?" And the Old Testament saints called out, "The Lord of hosts, mighty in battle"... and the gates opened... and He placed at the gates the old rugged cross so that every man or woman who ever comes through that gate will have to bow before that cross and recognize Him as the Mighty Conqueror.

And the angels, thousands, and many times ten thousands of thousands, screamed and shouted and praised the Lord as this great mighty warrior led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men, marched down the street of this great city. Not at the Arch of Triumph like Adolph Hitler, but in the realms of glory the angels sang and praised the Morning Star as He moved down the streets as the Mighty Conqueror who had conquered the sins of the world, and brought forth the righteous triumphantly. On down through the city they went until they came to the throne--there upon the throne sat the mighty Jehovah--and as Jesus came to the throne He fell to His knees and said, "Father, I have finished that work which you gave me to do: I have paid the debt for sin, I have the keys of both death and hell, and your enemy is defeated, and these are your children who have waited patiently for this hour." And I see the Father as He says, "Climb up here on my throne, my Son, and sit here until I make every enemy Your footstool--and there He sits, the Mighty Conqueror! Trusting in His word, believing everything He says, trusting Him as my all, as my breath, as my life, as all that I have, tonight I fully surrender myself to Him--body, soul, and spirit--looking for His second coming in glory. When I am sad I trust Him, when I am glad I trust Him, when I am sick I trust Him, and when I am lost I trust Him--whatever befalls me I trust him!

A little incident that happened some time ago comes to my mind. I have never told this in public before. I had been hunting up in the Adirondack Mountains. My mother is part Indian and I love the woods, you know that even my conversion never has taken it from me--I love the woods and the mountains, they are my recreation. And I was telling my wife the other day, I said, "Honey, God has helped me in everything I have ever done. I am a poor fisherman, yet I have caught some national records in the most mysterious places where a fisherman would never go. It's the Lord! I have made shots of 600 and 700 yards--altogether out of reason with a rifle, and have hit the object 33 times in a row when I'm a poor shot. It's the Lord!" I thought I was just a little too good a woodsman, I could never get lost. I had just got married, and Billy was a little boy then--his mother had been dead about five years--and I had taken Meda my wife, and Billy my son, 'way back into the Adirondacks, and we were in a little lean-to, I was waiting for the ranger to come up, and I said, "I believe I'll go out and get some venison. You wait here and when the ranger comes Meda he will open the cabin for you." So I left them in the little lean-to, and started for the woods. Down through the mountains I went--I had thought I knew the Adirondacks so well I knew every tree--but when you get to a place where you think you know something, then you don't know anything you ought to know. On I hunted deeper into the forest, following this track, and then that. Finally I came upon the big buck deer I had been tracking, and I shot him. It was early, near my time to be getting back, as I promised Meda I would return around two o'clock--so I dressed my buck and headed for the cabin. As I started out I noticed a fog had lowered into the valleys, and snow, but I kept on walking. Finally, after a long time I came right back to my buck. This troubled me but I started again, and again I returned to my deer. The Indians call this the death walk, you're walking in circles.

By this time the winds were high, and anyone knows that in the mountains when that fog came down you can hardly see your hand before you, and the only thing to do is go in somewhere, hole up, get something to eat if you can find it, and stay there until it is over. But I couldn't do that, I had a wife and baby in that woods and they'd die in that storm, so I couldn't do it. I had to try again and after I'd gone as far as I thought I should go, I thought, "Well, I'm lost!" Then I thought, "Wait a minute Bill Branham, you're not lost, you just think you are. Sit down a minute and get your bearings." And as I started to sit down, the snow blowing and the winds twisting the trees and laying them over, I thought again of my wife and baby. Meda was never out of the city in her life unless it was just to ride out into the country and back. What would she do with me lost in the mountains? She'd go wild, she'd die before morning, she and my baby. But I said "Oh, you're too good a woodsman to be lost. Now you know instinct tells you to go right this way, because the wind was in your face when you came up the hill and it has to be at your back going down the hill." So I started out again and as I did something began to speak--"I am a very present help in time of trouble." I said, "Now I am getting beside myself, I think I can hear a voice speaking to me." I shook my head and said to myself, "Come on boy, pull yourself together, keep going--you're headed straight for your camp." But I was wrong, I was headed straight for Canada, not knowing it--and that voice kept speaking, "I am the Lord, I'm a very present help in time of trouble." And it spoke deeper and deeper within me until finally I stopped and rested my gun against a tree, I laid my old hunting cap on the ground, and knelt down and said, "Lord, I'm not a woodsman--I'm a lost, miserable, wretched boy. I am not worthy to live, but please have mercy on my wife and baby." I'd thought I could conquer any storm, I could conquer any woods, but I found out I was NOT a conqueror, and as I prayed I felt real good about it. I rose to my feet and started out again, and as I did I felt the Mighty Conqueror put His hand on my shoulder and I stopped, startled, I'd thought I was alone in the woods. I turned about to see who'd put their hand on my shoulder, but there was no one there--but as I looked backward I saw the tower on the mountain, a landmark I always used in these woods. The rangers and I had put a telephone wire up to that tower, and I knew the way well along that wire as I'd helped lay it. Looking at the tower again I realized I had been going to my death, not knowing it, but He is "a very present help in time of trouble." What was it? It was His mighty hand rolling back the snow to let me see the tower. It was He who conquered the wind and waves for His disciples--and now He was conquering this storm for me, stopping a mighty storm to save one lost wretch such as I. I set my face toward that tower, keeping a straight direction--it grew very dark but I did not change my face from the direction of the tower. I knew that I now would hit the wire that went from the tower to the cabin, and by the cabin was a lean-to where I would find my wife and son.

As I walked I kept singing, "I am trusting in my Lord, I am standing on His Word," and I thought, "Oh. if I could just feel that telephone wire," and I kept on walking with my hand raised up in the air so that if I should pass under it I would hit it. I had just about given up hope when my hand hit something--it was the wire! I wouldn't turn loose the wire, I threw down my gun, took off my hat, and there in the dark wept like a baby for I knew God had helped me, and at the end of that wire my wife and baby waited for me. I held onto the wire all the way down the mountain and was brought safely to my loved ones.

Brother, one day when I was lost worse than that, I heard a voice speak to me and say, "I am still the Mighty Conqueror who can clear away all your sins," and I laid my hand on the power of Almighty God that shook me from the top of my head clear to my feet. I will keep my hand on Him, for at the end of this road my Saviour waits, and my loved ones. I will hold to the wire that leads from the cross to glory, and trust Him till I die, for He has conquered all my enemies, He has conquered my sicknesses, He conquered my sins, and He has made me "more than conqueror in Christ Jesus." Who conquered all for me.

Oh, sinner friend, if you're lost--if you need to lay hold of His hand that will lead you to safety--now is the time! The storms of this life will overtake you and you will be lost forever--reach up and lay hold of Him while we bow our heads and pray...

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My sincere appreciation to Leo Mercier and directors for their labor and willingness to work with me and bring you this little book, which I pray will be a blessing to you and will further the Kingdom of God--

William Branham.