Now, if you ever notice, how that when the disaster struck Job's home, and the children was all killed and everything-- And all Job had was destroyed. God wasn't rebuking Job. He was only purging Job. Amen.

I like that word, a purge. The branch that bears fruit, then God purges it, that it'll bring forth more fruit. The trouble of it is, we think sometimes God's angry with us. But He's only trying to purge us that we'll bring abundance of fruit, giving us a few trials. The Bible said that they're worth more to you than precious gold.

Did you ever know, that every son that cometh to God, must first be tried, whipped, child whipping correction? It's not easy. When God gives you a whipping, you go out here and say, "Well, I'll mingle around a little bit." God will give you a real old fashion spanking for it. And I tell you, if we had more of that in the natural today, we'd have better children. God wants His household straightened out. So He gives you a little whipping, so you can get straightened up. Makes you love Him more.

My father used to give me whippings, and I thought, "Oh, my." I wished I could call the old gray-headed brother, father of mine, back from the other lands today. I would respect every whipping he ever give me. I never got even as much as I needed. I thought so then, but I don't now, because it corrected me. Though he didn't do right himself, yet he wanted me to do right. Amen.

He wants us to. If the earthly parents wants us to do well, what about our heavenly Parent the Lord Jesus? He has to correct us. And the Scripture says, "If we cannot stand chastisement, or a whipping, child-correction, then we become illegitimate children and not the children of God." See?

If you're really born again, get it now, if you're really born again, there's nothing can separate you from God. That's right. "Neither starvation, perils, trials, suffering, death, nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus."

You say, "Well, I started to be a Christian one time. Everything begin going this way, and that way, and I thought, 'My, I was better off the other way.'" You never did come to God, brother. If you ever really come to God, and got a taste of the heavenly gifts of God, partakers of His Divine nature, why, you could no more become a sinner again, unbeliever, than a stalk of corn could become a cocklebur. That's right.

-- Brother Branham
January 23, 1955 afternoon