Stewardship
#10
Evil and Good
Stepping Out of the Way
Father,
we praise Thy Name this morning for Your goodness and mercy to us. Your grace
by coming down, Lord, to associate with a people who had gone astray, who were
entirely off the Word, off the mark entirely. But we know that You came down in
order to get ready the prepared people, they might be taken away in the Rapture
according to the last great mystery which shall come upon the Bride. Amazing
grace, the fulfillment of Your Word, men and women standing here, children who
shall not taste death but shall enter strictly into the Rapture, into the
Wedding Supper, the Millennium, and those glories which lie ahead.
And
we thank You, Lord, that time has literally run out and even mingling with
eternity. And we see the last great sign at hand, Lord, as the people
themselves say, they profess to us that this August we shall see the fifth
vision completely fulfilled, wherein Bro. Branham spoke before the last two,
the terrible wicked beautiful woman rising up in America and, then, utter
destruction.
So
we know, Lord, whatever time is left is very short. Whatever time there will be
certainly whatever squeeze will come, Your Bride will be more than able and
willing to go through it knowing the glory which is right at hand, having
actually seen and been a partaker of this last fifth day event, the great and
wonderful vision, Lord, that You gave in this world that’s so industrialized
and so taken over with money, taken over with gnosticism, taken over, Lord,
entirely by the enemy. And we see his end product, a simple mechanical device
where people are not in control but machinery is in control.
We
see, Lord, Your Spirit leaving this world, being—we’re being caught away with
Him in order that there might be not just a great translation, wedding supper,
but a reincarnation. All these things we thank You for, Lord, knowing that we
are privy to them, and we appreciate them so much. Teach us this morning from
Thy Word, O God. Establish us; make us steadfast; fill us with Thy glory, Lord.
We pray in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
You
may be seated.
1. Now
last night after certain people get the tape that we’re putting out, I’m sure
there’ll be people who will say, “Well, there you are, Lee Vayle has finally
gone to pot. He’s become a deity cult man.”
Well,
I’m not deity cult at all. The fact that I said that “I shook hands with God,
and I hugged him, and He hugged me,” can [maybe] throw people. But the point
is; if you claim that the church is the body of the Lord Jesus Christ, what are
you going to do about a man who actually is a prophet and God is in him? [Are]
you going to say, “Well, because of so and so, and so and so, I can’t make the
claim that I am part of the body of Jesus Christ, a living actual reality?”
What are you going to do about a prophet?
Now
I don’t believe that Bro. Branham was God per se. I certainly believe that, as
Bro. Branham spoke of “The Unveiling of the
Mighty God”, and brought out the fact that Moses was Moses, until he was
veiled with the Word, and then, he came forth veiled with God the Word, and
delivered himself, that he was actually God before the people, and he would
have to be. And yet, if you lose your respect for Moses in between that time
and the time that Word comes forth again, you’ve lost an awful lot.
2. So,
my main thrust has been, and always will be, God incarnated in a prophet, the
measure of the Word, measure of God in that one. And he is God to the people;
but God remains God. Just that same as Jesus is not God. He’s the Son of God.
But, when the disciples came in contact with him and they sat and ate with him
there in the boat, and they handled that Word of Life as John himself said,
“They handled God”… You can do what you want about it, but I find that people
are just a little bit messed up in their thinking.
You
get back over here to the Book of John and we get into John 1, and It says here
in verse 14, “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, (And we beheld his
glory, the glory of the Only-begotten of the Father.) full of grace and truth.”
And that’s explained over there, actually, when John quotes the words of Jesus
in John 12, “He that has seen me has seen the Father.” [verse 45, Jn 14:9] And
he said, “How come you see me, and you say you haven’t seen the Father? Don’t
you understand that the works that I do are not of myself but God in me? And
the words that I say, they are the very words that God gives me.” He was the
voice of God.
3. And
a prophet is the voice of Almighty God. Bro. Branham said, “I was not
anybody particular, wonderfully standing thereby. I was just one that stood
there when He appeared. I wasn’t the one that appeared.” And he… “It wasn’t
what I said. It was simply my voice that He used.”
And
so, when you see those things, you begin to understand a depth of realization
of God dealing with mankind and also, now, dealing with us, because, if we had
not seen that dealing in our day, of God dealing with a prophet, and thereby
dealing with us, there wouldn’t be one person here who would have rapturing
faith. Forget it.
So
you see, I’m not deity any more than you’re deity. But the point is, maybe I go
a whole lot further in standing with God in His prophet than ninety-nine
percent do.
4. That
brings me to the thought [of] the Parousia having been taught for many years.
In 1979, beginning—I believe—it was in March, I preached my first message on
it. I had sought God wondering about the fact that Bro. Branham said, “Appearing and
coming are two different words.” And so I’ve sought the word study
for many times in the Bible, and you remember, I told you that for the last
time I said, “Lord, I’m going to go to Your Word. I’m going to look into the
Greek, [and] follow those words right through. And if I can’t see what I’m
supposed to see, and I cannot find what satisfies me, by Your grace I’ll never
look for it again. It’s something shut up to me. It’s something that doesn’t
belong to me.”
I’m
going to leave it alone, because of secret things belong to the Lord our God.
But those things that are revealed to us belong to us and our children for a
thousand generations. And, if there are secret things that belong to God, I’m
going to leave it there, because that’s only the logical thing to do. Otherwise
I begin presuming, venturing where I have no authority to tread, and I come
away with a devil-ation not a revelation. And the devil’s only too happy to
take that Word. And, believe me, he can quote It exactly right and he can put
It in the right spot even and then twist It. We saw that last night.
5. So
all right. I looked at that word and then I came across the peculiar word that
And
so, I taught on the very presence of God, which was Elohim Himself coming down,
(which is Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever, Hebrews 13
translated into Genesis 18: one hundred percent what Bro. Branham taught.) not
realizing I was teaching that perfection. All right.
6. Since
then I was very greatly criticized for teaching it. And people said, “Well,
He’s been always with us. We’ve always…so and so.” This is the most ridiculous
thing in the world. But now the latest word I had is very peculiar.
A
certain brother heard me preach on the Parousia. He said, “There’s not one
thing I can see that you preach wrong. There’s not one thing I could not agree
with one hundred percent.”
Now
they tell me all over the country they’re preaching ‘parousia’. [ ] I won’t
mention where it is. I won’t mention the names, but they’re preaching it.
And
so another friend of mine said of this person who heard me preach it, and this
other brother has heard my tapes for many years, and I’ve known him since back
about 1966 or 7, somewhere in that period, maybe ‘67 or ’68 [ ]. I don’t think
it’d be past that particular time. And he’s heard the tapes. He’s been in touch
with me in a very minor sort of way and now in quite a strong way. And so he
phoned this person who was talking to him about the one who having heard me,
and he said, “I’ll tell you what, they’re preaching it here. They’re preaching
it there.” And he named the places. And he said, “I heard Bro. Vayle preach the
Parousia, and they’re not preaching what he preached.” And I’ve said that for
many years.
7. Many
people say [they]’re talking the presence, but they’re not understanding the
reality. Don’t you understand? Man is the head of woman, the head of man is
Christ, and the head of Christ is God. And it was God that came down to bring
His Church in order, in order that it might be presented to Him without spot
and without blemish, having been washed in the waters of separation which are
the Word, which we’ll see this morning again.
8. So,
I thought I might bring these things to your attention, before we get back to
our studies in “Stewardship”. And I know
you’re finding with me the many things that we’re seeing in this study, these
studies, that we did not anticipate. There are portions of Scripture brought in
which I did not have any idea at the time I resolved to look into this study,
that these things would appear before us. And they’ve come now to the place
where we realize that stewardship is a very remarkable picture.
It’s
a picture that I studied years ago in the sense that I said, “When you go to
the Bible, you will find God in His great creation and dealing with man. That
God set forth certain principles wherein He wanted to instruct men in order
that men may receive those principles and deal with them and live those lives.”
That’s exactly what you set forth.
Then,
you see how man received them, and what he did with them, and how he went
astray. Then, how God responded in that particular situation, and on up down
the line. And we see a history, then, of God dealing with man, setting before
him a premium, setting before him principle, setting before him reality and
perfection, and man abusing it. And yet God, by grace, coming right behind and
making sure that His seed is secure, brings them into the eternal land where He
wants them to be.
9. But,
in the meantime, the path every one of us must tread as Christians is this
Word-path of faith, and deal with the substances that God has given us that we
might present that, which He says, “My Word shall not return unto me void, but
It will accomplish,” [Isa 55:11] and, “the sower went forth to sow; he got
thirty, sixty, and a hundred”… [Mt 13:8] All of these things are in
stewardship, whereby we are living the lives even that God gave us of Himself,
to present those lives multiplied and full of the beauty and goodness that lies
within them, if we take this Word and do right by it.
10. That
is your picture, and that is stewardship this morning, what we’re talking
about. And we’re going to get into some rougher moral issues before we’re over
by the grace of God. And we have to face them at this end time and begin to
come back to reality--not sensuality, but reality. Sensuality is fine if you
simply employ the senses where God wants them. But the minute they go outside,
then you have death, and there’s nothing you can do about it, because you’ll
never be able to do anything about those things once you’ve sowed them. You
have to face them, and you’ll take them to eternity with you.
And
also the very positions and things we have here in life, many people lose those
positions. Many people lose them. Thank God the four and twenty elders don’t. [
] You look at the four and twenty elders, Bro. Branham said they were the
twelve sons of Jacob--the patriarchs. Turns around and says the twelve
apostles, and he sees them. You look into their lives. Those men did not have
very wonderful lives any more than David had. But there’s one thing about it;
they believed God. And no seed will ever disbelieve. He’ll disobey, yes. But
he’s not a child of disobedience; he’s a child of God. Disobedient, but
nonetheless a child of God. And God brings him through.
11. So
all right, we look at “Stewardship #10”. And in our study of stewardship we
found the very profound principle that, though God honors us greatly by
entrusting us with gifts and positions that are freely given to us by grace, we
are required of Him to be responsible to Him in their usage according to the
purpose for which they were given and the manner of their usage as we’re using
them. It’s laid out.
In
other words, whatever and whoever we are, whatever our position, whatever our
gifts, they’re all in the Bible there. And each of us, with whatever we have,
we must conduct ourselves according to the Word that is laid down concerning
us, and we must use what God has given us according to what God has laid down
in the Scripture.
12. So
therefore, [if] you speak in tongues in a meeting like this, and [if] you
prophesy, and [if] you do so and so, you are wrong one hundred percent; and
you’ll stand before God condemned, even though you raise the dead and heal the
sick and do a multitude of things. You have to stay within the framework of it.
There’s nothing you can do about it. You are bound to it. And the beautiful
thing is, when we’re bound to it, and we walk in that straightjacket (so to
speak) we come forth absolutely burnished and beautiful, all the things of our
lives that shouldn’t be there are burnt out. And they will be on Judgment Day.
Don’t you worry.
But,
how about those that stand there with far less to have burned out than those
which merely save their lives by the skin of their teeth?
13. There’s
an abundant entrance for us, if we want it. And it’s not too late. We can still
be like Samson, as Bro. Branham preached “One
More Time Lord”, just one more time. He gave us that opportunity in this
hour where the reaper catches up with the sower, where those that were in the
harvest get the same penny that those that worked all the day long.
This
age is a marvelous age of promise and capabilities. And not only capabilities,
but of fulfillment, and we can have it. No wonder Bro. Branham said, “If I were to
chose an age, this would be the age.” I didn’t agree with him for a
long time, but believe me, I’m so happy I was put within it. All right.
14. Now
never ever forget that whenever stewardship comes to mind, so does
responsibility. And we instantly think of the fact that we will have to account
to God for whatever He has given us. Length of days, opportunities, valued
gifts, valued associations, all of those things are there. And there never was
a brighter day than this day for everything I am mentioning.
Whatever
He has given us according to how we employ it and to what end. And we saw that
over here in 1 Corinthians 4, which is so important. And in the second verse,
Paul the apostle speaking of himself as a steward says, “Moreover it’s required
in stewards that a man be found faithful.”
Now
he said, “Let people account of me (And it’s true.) that I am the steward of
the mysteries of God.” In other words he said: “To me, and to me alone, was
given the true revelation for the Gentile Church for the two thousand years
that we have enjoyed and now is being summed up back again to the original.”
And he said, “I am a steward of that.” And he said, “The big thing about it is
that I am faithful to it.” And that’s the thing you’re looking at.
15. What
have you got from God? What have you been given? What do you know about
yourself? Bro. Branham said, “Everybody can find himself in the Bible.”
Where
has your introspection taken you in the presence of Almighty God? That you know
exactly who and what you are, and we can know, there’s… Just look around you
and see the influence; see where you’ve been placed; see what you’re doing; see
what you can do. It’s a normal Christian life. As the flower out there growing
in the soil, it takes from the soil, lifts its face to the sun and to the rain
and develops itself. [It] takes in it’s environment--what is around it. And
that flower there can bloom amongst thistles.
16. I
was so happy to look out in our kind of little junky patch out in the southwest
corner of our yard, in the back there. And I was sort of in my heart, wanting
these nice single petal pink roses; they’re the flower and the emblem of
I
praise God those roses were put there for me and my wife.
You
say, “Well, I don’t think so.”
Well
you can think what you want. You’re kind of kooky. You see, you’re out there,
miserable. I’m not. I’m happy, and my wife is happy. And we see them, and Sarah
and Jessica go out and look at them, and Pete, and our boy Don goes out, and
daughter Carol, and they marvel at the quality. There’s the light ones, almost
white; there’s the little pretty pinky ones, and then, there’s the dark pinky
ones. And the whole thing is a thing of beauty. And those roses out there—what
about them? Why they’re fulfilling their purpose just naturally. Why? They’re
for my wife and me. They’re… And that’s what the church is.
17. Every
gift and every thing is not for ourselves; it’s for somebody else. Bro. Branham
couldn’t use his gift for himself. I bemoan the fact that what I have in my
mind into my heart from this Word here, I’m a very lousy example. So was David.
(See, I’m going to hide behind David’s skirts; they did wear skirts in those
days.) Not that I want to use them as an excuse, but the point is, that’s life,
and that’s the way it is. But He, with his position, could’ve risen above it.
He blew his… He had a nice house, but I want to tell you something, God
wouldn’t let him build the temple; He wouldn’t do it. He had a chance. He could
have, but he blew it.
People
blow things. It’s too bad, because as Bro. Branham said, “Why do you look for these things out
here?” (talking to Pentecostal people. It’s so carnal. He said) “When the skies are full of reality.” See?
There’s a natural-ness Bro. Branham said we would come to, and I believe it. My
heart is set on it.
18. I
see positively, and I’ve understood this for years, as we grow in grace and the
things of Almighty God, we get into a channel. And if you don’t get into that
channel, you’re going to be out of luck. You’ve got to be in that channel. And
there’s a natural-ness, and we just find ourselves in that channel.
And
if your heart longs certain things that you be more Christ-like, you want
certain things in your life. Let me tell you, you can have them if you set your
heart upon them in order to glorify God and be compassionate and edifying and
helpful in the church, you can have it. You say, “How you going to do it?” By
just lifting up your heart to God.
Well
I could tell you a little story about myself, but I won’t bother. The point is,
I know what I’m talking about. It doesn’t matter. If you want to show more
love, you can show more love. You want to show more compassion, you want to be
more generous, you want to be more kind, you want to be more considerate, you
want to do more to be helpful to people; you can do it. And you don’t have to
let anything stand in your way. There’ll be a pinch. Sure there’ll be a pinch.
Character always has a pinch, but you can do it.
19. Remember
one thing: no man putting his hand to the plow and taking it off is pleasing to
God. That’s one thing I learned. When I went back preaching I said, “God, I
will die. I’ll starve. I don’t care what it is. What[ever] it takes me.” I had
to face all those issues, because I was real scared, real stupid, but I learned
to face them.
And
I learned that one thing: you will become that Word in that position, that
part, that you set your heart upon. “Thy Word have I hid in my heart,” said
David, “that I might not sin against thee.” [Ps 119:11]
And
there’s absolutely that power of overcoming and being, a Word Christian; Word
upon Word, as you set you heart. But, if you let your heart get skinny and
flinty… I’m going to tell you one thing: don’t think I can’t tell when people
around you… There are those of us who have determined on maturity and believe
me it’s there.{Ed note: Listen to that last sentence again}Not that we’re all
that perfect. No, no, no. We can backslide a thousand times a day. [We can] sin
a thousand times a day. But you can set your heart with the Word of Almighty
God, and you become that Word, that portion of that Word.
20. So
all right, we see here we’re stewards of the grace of God, the Word of God,
Paul was that steward. And he said, “It’s required to be faithful to it.” And
we read the context, which we won’t bother reading today. But there is a
stewardship granted to every single one of us, and the Bible is full of it,
whatever God gives us. In Rom 12:3, we read a few verses in there to show you
the stewardship again devolving upon all of us, Paul speaking of the measure of
faith given to every one. And then, he speaks of a proportion of faith.
So,
as you read the Scripture, in your heart, a steward that you want to be [is]
that type of a minister. And let me read about that ministering: It says,
“Prophecy, you have a proportion of faith, or ministering, you wait on your
ministry, or teaching…” [Rom 12: 6b-7a] See, he’s mixing the whole group up.
Every single person with a five-fold ministry, there’s nobody that is not a
member, in particular, that’s not gifted of God, that does not have a supply
from God, that does not have the ability to manifest God.
21. Now
we’re not Pentecostals, “We’re going to manifest God, bless God, speaking in
tongues,” that doesn’t manifest God. That’s simply a gift from God; they’re not
full of the Holy Ghost. We’re different. We are full of the Holy Ghost. The
devil can take the very things that those Pentecostal people talk about.
Listen,
I’ve been in Pentecost for years and years, so don’t tell me I’m slighting
them, [or] I don’t know what I’m talking about, because I do. I was too many
years with them not to know what I’m talking about. They took the things of God
and prostituted them. You can’t do that. You have not a right to do it. You’ll
answer to God for it. They sell God for a billion dollars, and they don’t
recall that God’s going to want His share back on Judgment Day. You can’t do
those things and be right.
22. So
the whole thing is lumped together, and the quality thought is to edify each
other. What can I do for somebody?
Everybody’s
going around, “Do something for me, do something for me, do something for me.”
Have
we ever enlarged our vision to realize, “Let me do something for somebody.”
I’m
having a whale of a job, right now. And sister phoned me just yesterday and
asked where can she send some money. Yeah. I’m looking for men that I can trust
and know to send money.
People
send me money here. I don’t necessarily take that money; I take a portion. I
don’t take a little percentage or some big percentage and send out a small
percentage. I’m making up checks right now for roughly $50,000 for the second
half of the year. That’ll be $100,000 for one year. I’m not buying a
Mercedes-Benz or fancy things or this and that. I’m not interested. I’ve got
plenty to live on. I’m told in my Bible with food and clothing therewith be
content.
And
I’m finding old age makes you content with food and clothing. I’m finding old
age makes it where you don’t even want so much food and clothing, and you’re
still content. See? You’re able to. Not as though you’re stuck and need a bunch
of Pentecostals come by with their latter rain, little dogma, and lay hands on
you and tell you a bunch of lies. You don’t need that stuff. You’re already
positioned in Christ. You open your heart to the Word of God, and in the spirit
you’ll be led.
23. And
you don’t do it for vainglory. You don’t do it for self-seeking. You do it
because you want to trust God. And you don’t want to prove God as to test Him.
I
remember a guy years ago, he told me that when he got saved or born again or
full of the Holy Ghost, whichever he called it. I don’t remember. God took
[his] away smoking. And, oh, he was so happy that God could do anything.
One
day he told the people, “Look,” he said, “God could take this cigarette out of
my mouth.”
So
he put a cigarette in his mouth and puff, puff, puff. I think he died with a
cigarette in his mouth; puff, puff, puff. I never found the guy ever delivered
from that time on. The worst thing was he went behind the barn and behind
people’s back to do his snitching.
That’s…
you know that’s the thing that drove me wild when I was first—when I was first
saved. We had a deacon in the church and I liked his preaching. Man the guy was
pretty top, good preacher. He sounded so sincere—sincere and everything else.
Then, I find he’s out behind the barn snitching a smoke.
And
here I’m a kid that swore like a trooper. I could steal the gold out of your
teeth. But you never found me drinking; you never found me smoking. I don’t say
that made me better than him. But I’ll tell you one thing, when I kicked the
stealing and the swearing and everything else, I was a lot better than he was
as a Christian, because he was still [ ] snitching his smokes. Now don’t be a
hypocrite. If you got a problem take it to God. Just walk before the Lord
softly, and the Lord will help you.
24. And
over here in 1 Corinthians… Now I’ve read this here, ministry, and look what It
says, “He that exhorts, on exhortation.” [Rom 12:8a] Now a lot of people just
love that, even women. [Bro. Vayle makes a sound of disgust.] I’ve had women
preach my sermons back to me, not too often, but it’s done. I’ve had men preach
my sermons back to me; they should’ve been doing it to somebody else. Now you
can give God’s Word back to Him in faith and grace, but you don’t preach
sermons to Him.
Now
here’s one fellow right here, he gives in simplicity. [Rom 12:8b] You don’t
find his name blared on the air. Like a certain brother sitting in the
congregation this morning, he heard his boss’s name blared on the air, because
he was a big giver. Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho; the trumpet blew. He had his reward.
“He
that ruleth, with diligence.” (Here’s one of the best ones.) “He that showeth
mercy, with cheerfulness.” [Rom 12:8c]
Old
sour puss guys, “I’ll forgive you this time; don’t you try it again.” If you’re
offended seventy times per day you still got to forgive. Do you know why?
Because, if you don’t you’ve got problems. Not the guy that does the mischief.
Then It says here, “Let love be without hypocrisy,” [Rom 12: 9a] and so on down
the line.
25. So
we looked at 1 Corinthians 14, and I’ve got to move as fast as I can to get
through here, because I want to finish up a certain section. In verse 12 It
says here, “Even so ye, for as much as you are zealous of spiritual gifts, (or
spiritual things, and not just gifts, any spiritual energy, [but] the spiritual
[thing]s) seek that you may excel to the edifying of the church.”
26. Now
I look back in Pentecost, I wonder how many times I spoke in tongue. And I
believe they were genuine. How many times ]did] I interpret? And I can’t figure
that one; I think it might have been just inspired utterance of some
description. Now the prophecies were right. I’ve got that proven. They were
definitive. But how many times was I trying to edify the church? Well let’s say
that I had it one thousand times. I’d say one half of one times out of the
thousand.
Well,
maybe a little more than that, because I remember we were praying very
sincerely for one girl that had a terrible time in carrying a baby, the doctor
was going to take it away. And as we prayed that morning, I did speak in
tongues, and I literally almost heard myself say that the words from the Lord
that, “I will heal Evelyn.” And man, I was shocked out of my skin.
Now
I shouldn’t have been, because I was praying for God to do something for the
girl. In other words, my faith was cold turkey--just plumb cold turkey.
Personally, I really didn’t have any. I had ‘hope so’ and ‘want so’, but faith
is different from that. Faith is meaningful. And I was meaningful in that I
wanted the poor girl helped, and faith does work by love. And being a
Pentecostal radical in the sense that I was all keyed up with all this other
stuff, the Lord was gracious and let me speak in tongues and interpret, and God
did heal her.
27. But
how many other times I really prayed, and really wanted something manifest, (I
can say this.) to edify the church; whoa brother, you talk about a lean soul.
I’m like the guy who’s a preacher. [A] fellow in the congregation said to his
preacher, “Look fellow, I’m going to tell you something: I don’t pay any tithe,
because I believe that your pay is souls.” And he said, “You get souls. That’s
your pay.”
And
the preacher said, “Well,” he said, “Bless God,” he said, “If my pay is souls,
it would take at least twenty like yours to butter a slice of bread.”
[Laughter.]
28. I
want to tell you the truth. Do you know the Bible said that, if you seek God for
gifts out of order, He’ll send you these gifts and things, and leanness to your
soul? I was as about as lean-souled as anybody could get until I bit the
bullet. Talk about a bunch of lean-souled Christians. It’s just not the way it
should be.
So
he says here, “Seek that you edify.”
29. Now
we went then back to the beginning, in heaven, where Satan was leading in the
worship, and we saw a very, very gifted individual in Ezekiel 28. Now here’s
where the whole thing starts. [ ] And we see where the whole thing started with
God giving a magnificent creature, without a doubt the greatest creature,
because even the archangel could not rebuke him. [He] couldn’t do a thing about
it, because this one had stature. And he still has stature. Now lets not forget
that.
And
It says here in the twelfth verse, “Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom,
and perfect in beauty.” And then, he’s allowed to go down to
30. And
then, It says:
(13b) The
workmanship of thy tabrets of thy pipes was prepared thee in the day thou was
created.
(14) Thou
are the anointed cherub that covereth; I have set thee so: thou wast upon the
holy
(15) Thou
was perfect from—in thy ways from the day thou was created, till iniquity was
found in thee.
In
other words he was absolutely perfect for the job. He was perfect within
himself. He was the sum total of what God could do and wanted to do at that
particular time with nobody superceding him except God’s Own son, and God. No
other—no one’s superceding him.
And
then, It says here again:
(16b) O
covering cherub, from the midst of stones of fire. (In verse 16.)
(17) Thine
heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou has corrupted thy wisdom by
reason of thy brightness:
31. Now
just a minute: God gave it all to him. That’s why you get in the Romans 9 where
Paul, speaking of predestination, the man lifts his head and said, “Then why
does yet God find fault?” [Rom
So
these are in, wrapped up in God, in order to bring forth the Godheadedness of
Almighty God, which has a perfection that far surpasses anything that God ever
produced, creature-wise, by creation. Huh? It’s exactly right.
32. Now
God has a purpose in this. And He said, “I made you everything in perfection.
There wasn’t anything you could complain about. There wasn’t anything that
anybody could complain about. There wasn’t anything that wasn’t in order. There
wasn’t anything that was in disorder. Yet [ ] you sealed up as a sum. But one
thing: you never listened to the Word. You took everything I gave you, and you
went outside the framework of the Word.”
And
that’s exactly where Pentecost is today; wretched, miserable, naked, blind, in
spite of the fact they claim they’re rich, increased in goods, and don’t lack
anything.
“Hallelujah,
we got Jesus.”
Come
on, that’s exactly what they say. And that’s what all fundamentalists say,
“Hallelujah, we got Jesus. We don’t worry about the Word and your little
nitpicking here and there. Hallelujah, we got Jesus.” That’s a lie from the pit
of hell.
Oh
they happen to exploit him all right. But the point is; does he have them? And
that’s what Bro. Branham brought out when he talked about the little girl in
And
she said, “Yes, but does the queen see me?”
Yeah.
Who is he mediator for? Who is he intercessor for? Only [for] the seed and
nobody else.
33. So
all right. We see here this one here, this fellow Satan took exactly what God
gave him and used it wrong. He used it for his glory. He did not use it to
edify the people in heaven. And we were there somewhere in the thoughts of God,
but we weren’t manifested in the spirit body. But all the angels and archangels
and cherubim and seraphim… If they’re different from cherubim, I don’t know.
They could be. But anyway, they were all there, and Satan had the chance to
edify them all in the presence of Almighty God in a marvelous worship. And he
took the opportunity to edify himself.
And
that’s what I said to a young preacher, a kid, when I was twenty-three years of
age myself about twenty-two, twenty-three, a little older I guess, maybe
twenty-four, twenty-five. And he wanted to be a minister. And being Pentecostal
and knowing Pentecost as I knew it, but not as I knew it later on. You better
believe that. I said, “Son, what do you want to be great for God for Les Petry
or great for God for God?”
Now
see, that’s the thing right there.
34. Does
your left hand know what you right hand is doing? If it does, why? Done this and
done that or seen this and seen that. Heard this and heard that, manipulated
this, manipulated that. Now I’m talking in a good sense now. In other words you
had the ability, what was—what was your motive? Bro. Branham constantly
preached motive.
And,
as I sit with Sister Meda back in the First Cafeteria there in Tucson, the
tears rolling on the table, almost in little rivulet, and she said, “Lee,” she
said, “One thing, I never knew a man had love like Bill.” And she said, “One
thing he always taught me: ‘Meda, watch your motives, watch your motives, watch
your motives.’”
Isn’t
that what a good husband [is] to a good wife? Isn’t that what a good husband
does to the bride? The good husband Jesus Christ; watch your motives. Watch
your motives.
35. Remember
Jesus there, ready for the crucifixion, in the
There
is the great thing. And where do you find the will of God outside the revealed
Word? You’re not going to find it brother/sister. There’s no way under high
heaven.
36. Okay,
now It says, “You were in
Don’t
you see where Pentecost is? The devil comes in, and he says the great
restoration at the end time is gifts. Even Aimee Semple McPherson preached it,
and she was nothing from nowhere. From what I understand, she was unscrupulous.
But she was anointed, and Bro. Branham kindly said concerning her, when they
said, “Well Aimee McPherson said God called her to preach.” And he said, “I don’t have
any doubt He did, because He knew she was going to do it anyway.”
Not a snide remark, no. Not a sarcastic remark, but a very insightful,
intelligent, spiritual ascertation.
And
he said, “She
was going to do it anyway.”
And
I read her sermon. She preached it in
And
Bro. Branham said, “We want to get back to Pentecost.”
And
that is true. So we do. But what do we want to get back to Pentecost for? For
the Pillar of Fire, God Himself, to be here baptizing with the Holy Ghost. Not
some doctrine and some creed, and a bunch of gifts that have gone haywire and
used by others, when God Almighty wanted those gifts to be used. See?
37. So
the devil handled the Scripture.
Now,
[in] the first place, he tells a lie, and [in] the next place he uses it, and
he mishandles it; that’s what Cain did. Cain wrongly divided the Word, and ever
since then, you’ve seen people wrongly divide the Word, because they’re outside
the shelter of God.
So
Satan very cleverly used one Word of God against another Word of God in
At
one time Satan said, “Now just a minute now, it’s written, ‘You dash your foot
against a stone God will raise you up.’ Come on, jump off the temple.”
And
Jesus said, “It is also written, Thou shall not tempt the Lord thy God.” [Mt
4:7]
Don’t
try to use the Word of God outside of the framework where God placed it. And
don’t try to ever use it to have a sideshow or make a spectacle or make
yourself somebody. See, this is the worst thing in the world. And when you
think you’re going to be somebody, you’ll find yourself shot down.
38. A
friend of mine visited me from Europe not too long ago and he told, he said,
like he was doing me a very great favor, honoring me with such great honor, and
he said, “You see Bro. Vayle, I left this certain meeting… the last couple days
to come and see you.”
And
I thought, “So what? If that’s the way you feel go back to your meeting.”
A
year goes by, roughly, and he writes me in a letter. In his letter he said,
“I’m sorry,” he said, “I’ve always loved you and I’ve always stood up for you
in
Now,
but he turns around and tells me he visited a man in
He
didn’t leave the women alone. So what am I going to do? Am I going to write the
guy? Tell me. [End of side one of the audio tape.]
The
question is, where do we go from here? Well, if I do I’m going to say, “Just a
minute, you’re from the frying pan into the fire.” So all these things come up.
Self aggrandizement.
39. But
Satan [is] taking the Word and using it for a purpose other than to edify the
Bride.
I
know the way I preach some time people think I don’t edify any Bride I just
club her down. That’s a lot of lies. I don’t club any Bride down. I preach this
Word hard, and I don’t necessarily hit people here, as far as I’m concerned. I
do hit certain ones out there that I know they’re lying.
And
I find that right in Scripture names are named. My names named all over the
country, so what’s the difference? But you see I refrain from using names this
morning. I’m not too interested in all that thing, you see.
40. But
all right now, he did the same thing to the original Bride, he went there and
he got the Bride to believe in a different gospel, a different Jesus, a
different spirit; how far can you get wrong? And everybody reads It today, and
they say, “Well that was back there, and those guys were kooky. Oh they were
terrible. But we’re different, we just got the right Jesus, we got the right
Father, we got the right gospel.”
And
they haven’t; they’ve got a Trinitarian god. They can’t even read the
Scripture. They can’t read the Scripture. And the Bible said there’d come a
day.
“Here’s
the book, read it.”
And
he said, “I can’t.”
Say,
“Just a minute. You had pre-Kindergarten, you had Kindergarten, you passed
Harvard with honors, and you can’t read it?”
He
said, “Yeah, and I’m not so stupid that I can’t admit it. I can’t read it. It’s
just ‘blecchhh’ to me.”
But
the Pentecostals and Christians today, they don’t say that.
“I
can read it.”
And
every time they read: ‘There’s one mediator between God and man, the god Christ
Jesus.’ That’s exactly what they read.
You
say, “I don’t read it that way; I read it that way.”
Oh
yes you do, because your Jesus is the third person of the Trinity, and he
shouldn’t be called a man. He should be called God, because God said, “I am not
a man.” And, if I were a man, I’d change my mind and you sons of Jacob would be
consumed. And they’re going to be consumed too, the ones that aren’t the true
sons of Jacob. Yeah, right down the line, you see the whole thing in distortion
here. All right.
41. If
one word off is Satan’s kingdom, what about all the word off, where they are
today, on the Godhead alone? So all right, they’re doomed, just like Satan in
the
Number
one: we saw Satan, a religious spirit being, (See?) a cherubim leading in
worship, getting out of order, yet unchanging as to his being according to
creation, and then, creation going astray.
Do
you realize that Satan hasn’t changed one tiny iota from the beginning in
heaven to the garden to challenging Jesus in the desert to going to the Bride
and coming here right today? He’s very, very religious; and boy, can he peddle
love. Now the reason I know he can peddle love is because… Let’s go back to Romans
12, and I want this to soak into your consciousness like I’m preaching now so
you understand the two spirits; you understand the whole thing is religion, as
Bro. Branham said; you understand the church is going to take over; you
understand the devil is going to take over; you understand there’s going to be
Armageddon; you understand there’s going to be a great massacre upon earth; you
understand the earth is going to be cleansed for a while; then, the Bride’s
going to come back for a thousand years here. Yep, you understand what’s
happening. It’s going on right now.
42. Romans
12, so, in the first eight verses, then verse 9: “Let love be without
hypocrisy.” “Let love be without hypocrisy.” You can show love and be a
hypocrite. You can do anything and be a hypocrite. So, if you think the devil’s
not in charge today, doing what he did in heaven, leading the created angels
and all astray, in the Garden of Eden and leading them astray, leading them
right down the primrose path to destruction, giving us the chaos we have today,
all the time touting religion, you’re wrong.
43. Let
me tell you about good and evil. Good and evil and the Tree of Life stood
there. And here’s what evil means, derived from the basic word meaning ‘to
curb, as a restraining halter; by implication, the jaw and a bridle’. In other
words: ‘no freedom, bound by sin, harassed by death’. The good that I would do,
I can’t, because evil’s with me. I’m a mess. The word ‘bad’, or ‘evil’:
‘adversity, affliction, calamity, displeasure, distress, evil favored,
exceeding grief, harm, hurt, heaviness, ill-favored, mischief, misery, naughty,
noisesome, not pleasing, sad, sore, sorrow, trouble, vex, wicked, wretchedness,
wrong’. Do you like that? That was there.
And
Eve said, “I’ll go for it.” “I’ll go for it.”
And
we’ve been trying to get out of it for two thousand—for six thousand years.
44. What
about good? Good comes from the root word meaning ‘to be’ or ‘to do’, (That’s
good.) or ‘to make good or well in the widest sense’. In other words, it’s
limitless. To do good; no limit. No limit [to doing good]. ‘Be or do better’,
‘cheer’, ‘be good’, ‘make goodly’, ‘please’, ‘please to be’, ‘to do’, ‘to go’,
‘to play’ (it means ‘wellness’), ‘good in widest sense’—‘good’. That means
‘good man’, ‘good woman’, or a ‘good thing’. ‘Beautiful’, ‘best’, sometimes
just better because you’re making a comparison. ‘Bountiful, cheerful, at ease,
fair, favored, fine, good, goodly gracious, joyful, kindly, kindness, to like
best, merry, most pleasant, most pleasing, pleasure, precious, prosperity,
ready, sweet, wealthy, welfare, be well favored’. Which one do you like?
To
bad you’ve got a mixer. She sold out the Word of God for this. She sold out all
the good for the evil. What a mess! And the world still goes for it.
45. So
we saw him way back there. We saw him in
Now,
“For he was numbered with us, and had received part of this ministry.” [Acts
46. Bless
God, I don’t have a pain in my back right now, but I just challenge anybody,
and I’ll give even a thousand dollars (I’d be happy to give you more than that,
because I’ll end up giving chiropractor more than that) take care of my back.
Come on, be a good fellow, you’ve got the gift of God. You claim you’re above
Bro. Branham. [You] claim you don’t need a vindicated prophet; you’re somebody
from somewhere. Come on, prove it.
You
know there’s an old saying, “It doesn’t pay to advertise, if you don’t have the
goods.” Satan’s got away with it.
47. Satan
is building a Christian era church, a New Testament church, even as he had
built an Old Testament church. And what we saw in 2 Cor 11:13-16 concerning his
headship of his own church and the priesthood that he had, false prophets,
false apostles, false shepherds, false everything, false evangelists, all in a
row. He’s got them right today.
Paul
went out of his way to show an allegory. There’s a New Jerusalem which is from
above and there’s one which is from below. And the one from below is absolutely
not of God, because the one from below is
48. James
also sides in, and James tells of the wisdom which is from below and the wisdom
which is from above, and he said, “I’m going to tell you something, there’s no
way that you can tame your tongue. There’s no way you can take a horse and put
a bridle in his mouth.” What does that sound like? That word ‘evil’ means ‘bridle’.
You
know our tongues are bridled till God sets them free? “Oh, we just think we
just have free tongues,” that’s a lie.
You
have a tongue that’s bound by evil and good. You’ll say one nice thing today
and a rotten thing tomorrow. We’ll say one thing nice about a person and, then,
criticize them the next time round about.
And
he says, “Hold it, my brethren, can a fountain bring forth sweet water and
bitter water at the same time? It can’t do it.” He said, “Can a vine [ ] bring
forth a fig?” No way.
And
now you go back to what Jesus said. He said, “Beware of false prophets.” He
said, “They’re ravening wolves. They look like sheep; they got sheep clothing.
And he said, “Can a bramble bring forth a fig?” He said, “You can’t do it.” He
said, “Can a good tree bring forth corrupt fruit? You can’t do it. Can a
corrupt tree bring forth good fruit?” Vice versa, evil tree bring forth good
and good bring forth evil? He said, “You can’t do it.”
49. So
Paul and James and Jesus are all saying the same thing: you need to have the
Word of God in your heart and from your mind to your spirit to your heart
coming through your mouth.
And,
if you have the word of the prophet, you are a good tree with good fruit saying
the right thing, and you don’t have to worry about saying a wrong thing. That’s
why I preach dedication to the prophet, Word by Word, and say nothing but what
he says. And, if you get your Bible in a word study, listen to what Bro.
Branham said. Trace it in the Bible. You’ll find everything here the prophet
said. And I’ll show you something else he said, and it’s very simple. Oh yes,
simple for me, because I have a gift. And it’s simple for me with a gift,
because I want to tell you about it. And it’s simple for me, because I need to
know it, because I’m looking for it, and I’ll tell you about it just in a
second or two here. So all right, it all lines up.
50. Now
we also read in Matthew 7, when Jesus finished his dissertation upon the true
church and the false church, which he said, “Depart from me, I never knew you,”
well-gifted people had genuine gifts, raised the dead, healed the sick,
everything else--just like Judas. Listen, is that strange in the light that God
made the devil perfect and gave him perfect gifts? “Well you see, the devil is
such a person. The devil could not have a gift from God, oh the devil could
not…” Oh, shut up, merciful God have you been hearing me for the last thirty
years or not? I just quoted to you from Ezekiel 28, and I quoted last night
from Isaiah 14 also. “You sealed it up, and you ruined it all, because you
wouldn’t listen to the Word.” Now [are] you going tell me that it’s any less
today? You mean he can’t take gifts of the Holy Ghost and use them in people?
Huh. You better smarten up, or you’ll be taken in the devil’s land rover
instead of Elijah’s chariot.
Sure,
he didn’t use all these gifts. Anointed correctly to gifts but not to the Word
and that was the tricky thing, because, you see, that’s where Satan blew it.
Lucifer, son of the morning, a great creation, he took everything God gave him,
and he said, “I’m going to use it this way.”
51. I
talked to a man one time: I apologized. I said, “Sir, I think I maybe... In
fact I feel bad, because I said some things I shouldn’t have said. I
understand, somebody told me, you had microphones in your pew to pick up the
tongues and interpretations and prophecies.” And I said, “I don’t even know if
you have them.” I said, “I’m sorry I even said a thing about it.”
“Well,”
he said, “Bro. Vayle, the fact of the matter is we don’t have those microphones
in the pews but,” he said, “but the thing that worries me is not what you said
about it, but the thing that worries me we’re not getting any tongues,
interpretations, or prophecies.” And a woman and a man sat there knew the man was
lying, because the microphones were there. They left his church.
52. I
don’t care if you talk about Bro. Branham, you talk about the Presence, you
talk about vindication, you talk about this, you talk about that. Look, if you
can’t even set the church in order concerning gifts of which we hardly know
anything… And Bro. Branham himself couldn’t do it. The church didn’t want it.
They turned it down flat. And I don’t know anybody standing at that door …?…
room and say, “I have the gift of discerning of spirits.” If you’ve got it,
listen, I’ll take a chance with you. I’m not going to blow my life for a gift
of tongues and this and that. I’ve had that in my life. I discerned when I
shouldn’t have discerned even. [It] wasn’t my job, you see. I cut in where I
didn’t belong.
You
know when my soul started to get fat? As I preached the Word. And I preached
the Word the more; discernment fell away. And it fell away. I went to Bro.
Branham, and I said, “Bro. Branham, I’m a little alarmed about all these
things.” I said, “I used to have these gifts operating, I don’t anymore. Is it
possible that the age of gifts is over?”
He
said, “Bro.
Vayle, the age of gifts is over.”
But
it’s not over in the sense that those gifts aren’t there. You’re now in the
mind age. [Your] mind quickened by the Holy Spirit and by your spirit going to
your soul and your soul bringing it past through your confession, saying the
same things. Stand fast with your confession, you see?
53. Now,
I want to keep going here. Now before…
So,
we saw the end of the two churches. One church built upon the rock of
revelation; one church built upon sand. And what is sand? It’s usually rock
pulverized. So they pulverize the Word of God and made it what you call an
amorphous heap. ‘Amorphous’ means ‘no shape’. How would you like to see a Bride
without shape? Man some of them are so heavy set now, I’d hate to see one
without shape. Pardon my little snide remark, but I want you to catch it.
How
would Jesus love a Bride without shape--like a blob? Nothing against stout
women; nothing against them at all. Even stout women aren’t blobs; they have
shape and form. The church is a blob today. It’s sand; it’s amorphous. It’s a
pitiful, pitiful situation. All right.
So,
the end was destruction.
54. Now
before we go further, we want to go back to 1 Corinthians 12, where Paul starts
setting the church in order. And watch what he says in 1 Cor 12:1-3. Now I want
you to watch this carefully.
(1) Now
concerning spirituals (the spirituals, that’s energies, that’s not gifts, it’s
really energies, those things that the Holy Spirit has within Him that are able
to be received), brethren, I would not have you ignorant. (Now watch:)
(2) You
know that you were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye
were led.
How
they were taught inspired in them an ability to be like whirling dervishes, to
be like Satan-possessed people who desired spirits to come in. And as the
spirits came in, they were controlled. And under that control, if you read a
book by Seabrook, The Magic Isle,
where he was down in
Now
Paul says, you know, that you were under spirits that were evil. You know
positively that you were carried away. You knew you entered into a state or a
trance, which was beyond you. And I’ve been in that, so I know what I’m talking
about. START HERE 31AUG02#*%()#*$@#$#4
55. I
could go under a hypnotist and very easily… I went to a man one time, because I
was nervous and all, and I wanted to be hypnotized. And I started to go under
so rapidly. In a trance I said, “Hold it,” and backed right out. Never again.
See? Your spirit part of you is two-thirds against your one physical, body,
soul, and spirit. And you could very craftily be led by the devil into
spiritism.
So
I knew a group in
56. Now
listen [to] what Paul says. “Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man
speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed, and no man can say ‘Jesus
is Lord’ but by the Holy Ghost.” [1 Cor 12:3] And then, he tells them later on;
“the spirit of the prophets is subject to the prophets.” [1 Cor
What
this man is doing here, (And I never caught it until just yesterday.) is that
he is speaking his vindication, because this, literally, is tantamount to
Deuteronomy 18, where a man comes in the Name of the Lord, and he’s under the
complete control of his sensibilities, knowing exactly what’s going on, with
God speaking through him. He’s absolutely subject to his own spirit, and his
spirit is subject to him, and he let’s himself open, because he’s ordained of
God to be this messenger.
And
Paul here is declaring his vindication, because, evidently, there are people
going about, even gnostics and different ones, saying that Jesus was accursed,
because of the death on
57. Anytime
then you see these particular qualities, you better believe… Now listen, I
don’t think one person here has not seen “Deep
Calleth to Deep” and the “Twentieth
Century Prophet.” If you see Bro. Branham, (And please get the film out
again and look at it.) you will find Bro. Branham in perfect control. Although
he’s under the complete power of God, he knows everything going on. And you
can’t even move, but he looks.
My
faith was so strong when I first met and had Bro. Branham in a meeting in
I
was not one of those who wanted the body edified; I wanted this carcass
edified. I was a dirty dog. I never have pretended I’m a nice guy. I’m just
spilling the beans to you because, hey, you’re going to know it on Judgment
Day. Merciful heaven, if you hide it now, you ain’t going to hide it then.
And
I had a taste of that, right under Bro. Branham, reading my heart. He looked at
me for about three solid minutes. I told you about it, maybe up to five. And I
tell you; I died. And I never ever dare [did] it again--say anything really
facetious--and never dared to say a thing against the ministry or anything
else. I was just kidding, of course, and he didn’t know I was just kidding. He
just whirled and …?… and then he relaxed, he never said a word, and I didn’t
say a word either, (You better believe it.) except “Thank you Lord, let’s get
out of here.” Not exactly get out of here.
58. So
Paul here is speaking of vindication. And when he speaks of vindication, he’s
putting the church in order, and he settles these verses by saying, “If any man
thinks he’s a prophet, seems to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge
the things I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.” [1 Cor
If
the church could come together, honestly, before God, and desire gifts for one
reason, not to be curious, not to be different, not to be somebody, not to be
peculiar; but honest before God, [and] said, “Lord, people need help. I’d like
to be able to help somebody. And, if there’s any gift that I can use in a
meeting, that Bro. Branham spoke of; I’m willing to be that person. But, if
it’s not for me, I’ll understand.”
And,
if you get really neutral, I’m going to tell you something: it will happen one
hundred percent, if God is in it.
59. I
got neutral when I went to
A
brother said, “Bro. Vayle, I like your ministry, I believe…”
He
flattered me, and you should never flatter me, because I don’t take flattery
too easy. I get very, you know, get kind of upset.
And
he said, “Your ministry is as close to the apostle Paul I’ve ever seen.”
Now
he didn’t see Bro. Branham. I was discerning and praying and preaching and
doing things like that. He said, “I’ve got this brand new house you can have it
as long as you want.”
I
said, “Brother Henning, I sure appreciate that, but I haven’t heard from God.”
I said, “I don’t know what to do about that house.”
I
couldn’t take it. The people in
They
finally said, “All right, is you is, or is you ain’t. Are you coming, or aren’t
you?”
I
said, “Well, I’ll give you an answer right away.”
I
was preaching for a young preacher named Billy Hash and his wife. They’re the
loveliest kids. I tell you what, you talk about a beautiful, beautiful young
couple and lovely girls, man that house was like a paradise. And I talked to
her one day, and I said, “Just a minute Audrey,” I said, “You don’t sleep at
nights. You’re bothered like you hear voices. You’re… It’s strange.”
She
said, “All my life.”
I
said, “You don’t have to have that,” I said, “that’s got to be an evil spirit.”
And
I was able to discern the spirit, cast it out of her. I… Well, God did; I
didn’t. Slept like a baby from that time on. She was fine; everything was
beautiful for her.
“Well,”
they said, and this, you see, what really took me into their hearts. They said,
“Lee, you don’t have to go to
I
said, “Look kids, I don’t know what God wants.” And I said in the heart, “Lord,
tomorrow morning I’ll know, the first thing I open my eyes I’ll know, because I
don’t care if I go or if I stay. It doesn’t make one bit of difference. What do
You want?” I opened my eyes, I jumped out of bed. I’m going to
Perhaps
you haven’t had your eyes opened to it. You haven’t gone through enough
suffering. You haven’t gone through enough this or that, to really know. You
haven’t looked back, and you haven’t looked back. But things are going on, and
they’re wonderful.
60. So
all right, Paul’s talking about his vindication her. And he certainly is
vindicated, because he wants a church that is built upon “THUS SAITH THE LORD,”
the real Word of God.
Now
what I’ve just said here about vindication and the gifts and about the prophets
and the people who are full of the Holy Ghost will certainly believe that Paul,
vindicated, had every authoritative right. And he was God to the people. Now
these remarks lead us to Ephesians 4 where we find the perfect order of all the
members of the Bride, in true order, at the time of the Resurrection.
And
at the time of the Resurrection, there has to be a true, positively restored
five-fold ministry. There can’t be otherwise in spite of what teachers try to
tell you, because Bro. Branham categorically said that
61. So
all right, Ephesians 4, and he talks about Jesus ascending, the Holy Spirit
coming back, setting the church in order with Paul and the apostles and the
five-fold ministry. And he says, in verse 12, they are, “For the perfecting
(That’s the equipping.) of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the
edifying of the body of Christ.” Now any minister that’s five-fold has one
thought in mind: “What can I do for the Bride, whether she’s born again or not.
Doesn’t matter. If I’m an evangelist, I’ll go out there and get them.” Then the
pastor takes over. I’ll teach them. The teacher takes over, then too, and he
teaches. Right down the line, every single five-fold is going to contribute
something from the Word, or he can’t be called of God. Why? Because he’s a part
of the Word with a special designation.
“Until
we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God.”
[Eph 4:13a] Notice that; “the knowledge of the Son.” First time we really
learned about him, Bro. Branham preached “Who Is
This Melchisedec,” and we really got the impact. Unto a perfect man:
that’s a mature man.
(13b) Unto a
measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ:
(14) That
we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, carried about with every
wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they
lie in wait to deceive;
62. Now
who is he talking about? He’s not talking about a true five-fold ministry. He’s
talking about a true five-fold ministry coming against a false five-fold
ministry. And a true five-fold ministry will make you rock solid with the Word
and with God, with yourself and with your community of brethren, Bride,
members, with whom you live. You’re solid. There are no rock-and-roll,
undulating bunch of people here. They’re rock solid, and they can’t be fooled.
“But
speaking, or holding, the truth in love,” [Eph 4:15a] and Bro. Branham said, “How can you
not love each other you that love this message?” So that shouldn’t be any problem.
63. Now,
if the devil’s convinced you you don’t love people, then you’re convinced by
the devil you don’t. Bro. Branham said you do. Then, it’s something you can’t
help. A rose can’t help being a rose. A horse can’t help being a horse. I’m a
born-again child of God in the Bride, so I can’t help loving. Right? Well
that’s… Well make up your mind; it’s all in the mind. That’s your controlling
interest up there. All right.
(15b) May
grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ. (Oh, that’s
marvelous to actually have that stature.)
(16) From
whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every
joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every
part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
And
it tells you right here at the very end time, there’s going to be a Bride ready
to take on the complete headship—physical—meeting Christ in the air at the
great Wedding Supper. And notice, they’re going to have at this time, you’re
going to find the whole body is compacted with every member.
64 Now
this is my hope and faith: that we see this: that every single person
naturally, as Bro. Branham said it’s going to be like a natural growth, a
natural thing; every one contributing to each other, even as our organs and the
elements that our organs need in our body; all contribute together, from the
life forces within us, to bring forth this beautiful Bride. And Bro. Branham
said, “If
we’re not Bride, you better believe there’s a Bride out there somewhere.”
And that is one hundred percent true from the word go. So all right, you’re
looking at this beautiful perfect Bride at the end time, and she is certainly
there.
65. Now,
with this, we go to Ephesians, and we’re going to miss the in between part
because… And remember, when you go home, you read verses 17, all the way down
to verse 32, and then continue in chapter 5 to verse 18. And you’re going to
find it all links up from that perfect ministry. God Himself ordaining the
prophet, the prophet giving the ministry of the Word to the five-fold minister,
everybody now under God Himself, Who is the Word. And we find here:
(19) Speaking
to yourselves (in verse 19) in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing
and making melody in your heart unto the Lord;
(20) Giving
thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ;
For
the first time in the exigencies that have fallen upon me. I thank God for
every little thing He sends my way. And that should have been a common factor
all of my life and in every one of the Bride, to be thankful. Satan wasn’t
thankful for what he had. He just wanted to exploit it. See? Now watch:
(21) Submitting
yourselves to one another in the fear of God. (Now that’s the key. Now watch:)
(22) Wives,
submit yourselves unto your own husband, as unto the Lord.
(23) For
the husband is head of the wife, even as Christ is head of the church: and he
is the saviour of the body.
Now
he’s bringing in a natural topic here of bride and groom. This is not simply
directed at a woman. It’s directed at everybody, because remember, the head of
the man is Christ, and he is only titular or representative in the marriage
union now. And therefore, if he’s a true, perfect, godly man, perfectly godly,
in the message, he will treat his wife as his own body and want everything for
her even above what he has, because Christ had his own life and gave it for a
bride. [It] talks about that. See?
66. Now,
“Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, let the wives be to their own
husbands in everything” as subject to Christ. Bro. Branham had to preach on
what was going on amongst men and women in the privacy of their own rooms and
the act, which we know to understand to know all about.
Many
people said, “Well is Bro. Branham trying to say men must refrain now from
these things, a natural act which is righteous and given by God?”
So
my wife went to Sis. Branham, and I’m going to just tell you exactly what the
conversation was. And so she asked, “Was Bro. Branham trying to tell us that
this was not a community affair anymore, husband and wife?”
And
she said, “Oh no, Sister Vayle, but you don’t know the terrible things some men
are subjecting their wives to.”
Now
you men sit here and think over what it could be. And, if you’re vulgar and
blamable, you’d better smarten up. You’d better… You’re not animal… You’re not
a true mammalian; you’re more of a kind of a beast. This is why there is a
human cry right today against homosexuality in anybody that has an ounce of the
seed of God. But they’re going to win out. Don’t worry, they always have, and
they always will. But the Bride will be gone. Praise God!
(25) Husbands,
love your wives, as Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it; (Now
watch,)
(26) That
he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word.
Doesn’t
say ‘blood’ now; doesn’t say ‘blood’. It says ‘word.’ Same washed in the blood
of the lamb. What about washed in the Word? See?
67. This
is an end time separation that we must be separated, totally, from unbelief.
And the only way you can be totally separated from unbelief is by believing
this Word by having the perfect faith. And we took a whole series on that. And,
if you don’t know what “Perfect Faith”
and what that sermon’s all about, get the series I preached, and you’re going
to find out that which is perfect has come, and we have a perfect faith:
revelation.
“That
he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle,
or any such thing; that it should be holy and without blemish.” [Eph 5:27] Now
It tells you right there, as John the Baptist came to make ready the prepared
people, even so God Himself descended with His Word, put the church in order,
segregated the Bride entirely unto the Word and unto Rhema-Logos, (That’s God
Himself.) separated them, and now they have been washed and cleansed by the
Word. It is a Word proposition; the Blood has already done its work.
Now
is the time for the Word to go into effect and that Word must go into effect,
because it was blood that stopped Adam and Eve from being totally destroyed.
Only their bodies died--future generations come, they couldn’t get to the Tree
of Life for immortality. And now we can get there. So the Blood has done the
work. The Blood has done a finish work for the Gentile Church.
So
all right, now… That’s as far as we need to go.
68. So
now Eph 5:21 is not isolated and to be used apart from 22-24, which I read to
you, “submitting yourselves in the fear of God.” Don’t just take that and leave
it there in a separate text. We took the whole thing and we showed you that the
relationship of man and woman, married, symbolizing the union of Christ and the
Bride, she would come under her head, which is Christ the Word, and she’d be
separated by that Word and cleansed. See? So, now she’s no longer in adultery.
She’s no longer in fornication. She’s no longer in idolatry. She’s the pure,
righteous, virgin Bride of Christ, because she went off the Word in 2
Corinthians 11, and she’s back on the Word in Ephesians 5, which comes after
the restored five-fold perfect ministry of the Ephesian Church, which could
have had a rapture but didn’t, because the Bride wasn’t all in. Now she’s in.
And vision number five is next month.
I’m
happy, vision number five next month. Grace runs out. The church will take over
like nobody’s business. The squeeze will come down, but we’ll make out all
right. We’re children of God. Yeah, we’ll make out somehow. Talk to Frankie
[Proctor] sometime; let him tell you the hell he went through amongst a lot of
white people that tried to get him. He survived, and he’s right here this
morning. No malice, no problem. Left it all in God’s hand, and their walls are
tumbling down. [Bro. Proctor comments.] Yeah, walls are tumbling down Frankie.
We’re ready to leap over those walls by the grace of God too.
69. All
right, now, here we see the Divine Order of submission: submission to the
vindicated Word, submission to Christ, to be led in our individual membership
and gift ministries. And Bro. Branham made a very marvelous, cogent, deep
statement when he said, “I’ve a little gift,” and he said, “My little
gift; I know how to get out of the way.” And I thought now, and I’ve
been thinking, “Now that’s nice, he has the little gift to get out of the way.”
Now
how do we get out of the way? There’s got to be something in the Bible that
gives me a clue. And I can tell you what that clue is, and I’ll show you. It’s
beginning in Gal 2:20; “I have been crucified with Christ: (I’m dead.)
nevertheless I’m alive.” (I was kicking around here). It’s not ‘I am
crucified;’ it’s “I have been.” Bro. Branham explained that; he didn’t even
know the Greek. “I have been crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet
not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh, I
live by the faith of the Son of God, (Not his own faith now, but the faith of
the Son of God. God’s faith in him making him His apostle.) who loved me, and
gave himself for me.”
Now
the realization of that is the number one position William Branham had to take.
And there’s no way he didn’t take it, though he didn’t quote it, because that’s
the position Paul took. Right? Huh? And being another Paul, same Pillar of
Fire, how wonderful, just think, “How marvelous, the same Pillar of Fire that brought
the Word to Paul is here revealing it.” Right? So there he is. There
He is right there. [Bro. Vayle points to the picture of the Pillar of Fire.]
70. Now
the second thing is in Eph 3:20.
(20) Now
unto him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly all we ask or think,
according to the power that worketh within us,
(21) Unto
him be glory in the church by Jesus Christ through all ages, world without end.
Now
the motive is there. The motive is there. I’ve been given the Spirit of God.
I’ve been given ministry by the Spirit of God. I’ve been given gifts by the
spirit of God. I’ve been given all of these things. And here I am now. He’s got
my body. It’s my life. I know it. I can make decisions, oh yeah, but I prefer
to let Him live His life, His Word, His decisions. I’m looking to that. And
Bro. Branham said, “I always do what I want to do. I always want to please
Him.” Do you catch what I’m saying?
71. Now
watch here: this literal translation means, in verse 19, “To know the love of
Christ, which passes knowledge,” and he does, fully understanding it, knowing
it. And I want to glorify God in the church. I want to help my brothers and
sisters. That’s what I’m here for. Absolutely. Now watch. He says, “Now unto
him that’s able to do the exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think,”
now that’s putting it right there.
As
Spurgeon said, “It’s my job to believe God for the impossible and leave the
results up to Him.” And I found too late in life that Bro. Branham always
believed what he prayed for. He never wavered. He always believed it. Whether
you and I got it or not was up to us, he believed it.
72. Now,
“According to the power that worketh in me.” And that literally means,
‘according to God Himself, exercising His own power within you’. That means
Bro. Branham, like Paul, stepped out of the way.
Now,
just sit here this morning and think, “Can I do that in my own little capacity?
In my own little place, in my own little life, I can do exactly the same thing.
I can.” You can be a woman. You can be a man. It doesn’t matter who and what
you are. You don’t have to have the supernatural like we always wanted in
Pentecost.
73. I
remember dear old Sister Tiehearst. She was a sweet little old lady. Her
husband was a real old bum, but he was good to her in a way. And she was a
spiritual-minded lady, and she always prayed and prayed and prayed; and I liked
that about her, because the Pentecostals are a bunch of praying people. They do
more praying than doing; they give more praying than giving. They’re like the
Bible, [where] James said, “Don’t say to a man, “Be ye warmed and fed, and
don’t give him anything,” that was Pentecost, “Be ye warmed and fed, and if you
got something to warm and feed. Let me give you some of mine; give me some from
you. Right Frankie? Pentecostal preacher, same as I was; bless our pea-picking
hearts. [Bro. Vayle chuckles.]
Anyway,
one day she hears this word in her ear, “McCloud, McCloud, McCloud, McCloud.”
Now McCloud is a little town about a hundred miles south of Calgary where Sister
Tiehearst was. And she [was hearing], “McCloud, McCloud, McCloud, McCloud.” So
she gets on the train and goes to McCloud. Well, she gets off the train. She’s
in McCloud. So she asks the Lord, “Well, what will I do.”
So
she has nothing to do but she begins walking the street. And as she starts
walking the street the word comes, “Bread, bread, bread, bread, bread, bread.”
“Well
bread is bread; I’ll go and buy a loaf of bread.” So she keeps walking down the
street. And suddenly she feels, “Hey, this is the door to turn in,” and she
walks up the stairs, and she knocks on the door. And a very feeble voice says,
“Come on in.”
So
she comes in, and here’s a lady, actually dying and starving. She’s emaciated.
She’s got a little box under her chin to hold her chin up, and she needs help.
And Sis. Tiehearst prays for her and gives her the bread.
74. “Oh,”
you say, “I want to do that.”
Don’t
you bank on it. That wasn’t your ministry; she already had it. You going to be
a copycat? I thought my Bible says every member’s different, and every member
got something different? And every leaf out on every tree is different from
every other leaf and every other tree and every snowflake. So He’s going to
come by and give Frankie and me the same thing, and give Bro. [Laurie] Hudson
the same thing as John? Come on; come on. Hey, where’s the variety?
Even
the Tree of Life has twelve manner of fruits, one for every season. Hey, bless
God; we’re in business with the King of kings.
Look
how He dressed up Satan, and Satan fell. Look how He’s dressing us up, and
we’re not going to fall. Everyone… Hey, listen; I’m getting to the point where
you realize these things that Bro. Branham said. He said, “They’re just simplistic.” I’m
beginning to see their simplicity, and I want to walk in them. Yes I do; yes I
do.
75. Now,
if you want to read further… We don’t have time. Our times already shot. What
are we on another tape already? Huh? Well, five minutes over, we’ll keep on…
Who cares about five minutes? Then, I can finish this and get back to something
else—[actually] the same thing.
So
all right. We saw this, now we go to [ ] 1 Cor 14:23.
(23) If
therefore the whole church come together in one place, all speak with tongues,
and come in the unlearned, or unbelievers, they’ll say you’re mad.
(24) But
if all prophesy, and there come one believeth not, or one unlearned, convinced
of all judge all.
Now,
how would you be judged of all, unless something right there, to actually make
that person to know that you had contact with God?
76. Let
me tell you something that happened to me. Now this is not Scriptural, hey?
Understand now, I’m going to tell you what happened; and I’m not proud of it,
but I’m not, you know, not unproud of it, not too ashamed of it.
All
right. I’m in this church, and this woman sits there, and she wants to be
prophesied over. Well, I’m a Pentecostal latter rain boy at that time,
whatever, rain barrel, who cares what kind of rain it is, puddles, what have
you, I’m one of those boys, and she wants a prophesy. Well, I was trained a
little bit in how you do these things, you just open your mouth, the Lord will
fill it or it will come to your mind. And so this woman’s name was Mrs. Glass.
(Remember her, Frankie?) Sister Glass.
And
she was very enamored with a certain religion; I didn’t know a thing about it.
And so she said, “Well, Bro. Vayle, I’d like something from the Lord.”
So
I laid hands on her, and I literally hear myself, although I know I’m saying
it, say, “All angels are not of God, because some angels are fallen and they’re
seducers,” and so on. And I thought, “Merciful God, what am I doing saying this
to this woman?”
The
preacher began laughing out loud. He said, “Lee, don’t be worried. She was
contemplating joining the Mormons,”—started by a fallen angel.
77. Now,
let’s just, for one minute anticipate that I was in church order. I didn’t have
a clue; I only wanted to help her. Now, maybe she got the help wrong, but she
got the help. Now that doesn’t justify it. I’m trying to show you this: there is
truth in what I’m teaching from this Word. If you and I really want to edify
the body of Christ, which is the central theme of the whole Word of God, God
the Father and all His sons, beginning with the Only-begotten, bringing forth
this beautiful Bride, elect, bringing forth the other seed, which are, what you
call foolish virgin, into the great beyond of the New Jerusalem and the ages to
come of infinity. .. You know something, we’ll be led of God. You don’t need to
worry.
And
I don’t believe we need to have a special separate meeting. Bro. Branham,
remember, commended the woman who felt led of the Lord to go and pray for a
baby [that was crying]; and she thought, “I can’t do that. [It’s] Bro.
Branham’s meeting. Bro. Branham should pray for the baby, I simply can’t do
that.”
And
like an impelling voice forcing her, almost force, “Go and pray, go and pray.”
She
said, “I can’t do that.”
Finally
she did. [I] understand the healing was beautiful, and Bro. Branham spotted it.
He put his mark on it. See? Right motive. Word of God. I want to be right; I
want to help somebody. Hey, who needs a smile today? Who needs a phone call?
78. There’s
a certain woman I admired [to] no end, she always wrote down people’s birthdays
and anniversaries and sent cards. And I thought, “Boy that’s nice.” And we
backslid, instead of doing it ourselves. We never caught the glow. Remember, I
told you many, many times the little song--even [Bob] [Bob] Brooks sang it here
one time:
If you’ve had a kindness shown, pass it on.
It was not meant for you alone, pass it on.
Let it travel through the earth,
Let it wipe another’s tears,
Until in heaven the deed appears,
Pass it on.
Pass
it on. Sowing seed. Remember that book Sowing
Seeds in Danny by a woman MLA in Canada? She was a Christian, and
she wrote a whole book on the family sowed the seeds in their little boy that
he might be a thorough-going Christian, we’ll talk about that later on, get the
family, haven’t got that time today. But there it is. See? Right down the line,
all the way up.
79. We
don’t have to go any further than that, but we go down here to verse 32, “And
the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.” [1 Cor 14:32]
Everybody’s spirits subject to him. You can tune in to God. You can go to the
Word. You can believe. You have that power. You have that ability, because the
mind hears it, goes by the spirit, down into the soul. The soul brings it forth
through the mouth a good confession. It grows; it multiplies; it makes you
strong. Right on down [the line].
80. I’m
not going to read the rest there, see, except I want to show you what I said
just a minute ago by reading a prayer that was in Bro. Bosworth’s book. And I
knew Bro. Bosworth very well. It was in his Bible. And here’s what he wrote.
And here’s the same thing that Bro. Branham could’ve written. It’s written in
the Bible, and here’s what Daddy Bosworth said. He was an eloquent, eloquent
preacher. He knew the doctrine. He’s the man who always wanted to get his hands
on somebody in a meeting, first thing, who had a radical mastoid, (no ear
drums) because he knew—he knew—they’d get a brand new ear drum--brand new
bones. [It] never failed. Didn’t fail in Cuba, didn’t fail in Japan, didn’t
fail anywhere. And Daddy Bosworth, I can see him in my mind right now, just
chuckling, [Bro. Vayle makes the sound of Bro. Bosworth chuckling in
anticipation] and he’d be so happy up there on the platform, going to lay hands
on that person, show them the mighty power of his mighty God.
And,
listen, let me tell you his attitude, here it is right here: First, he prayed
to God:
“God do abundantly above all I ask or think
according to the power that worketh in me.” (I read it to you, didn’t I?) “Let
Thy glory be seen in me while I preach. Fill me with Thy compassion for the
people while I preach to them. Work in me [thy] will and to do of Thy good
pleasure. Make me Thy voice, Thy transmitter, to the people. Create in me the
suitable emotions, which the truth I preach deserves. Make me more than a
conqueror in all things while I am preaching. Make me strong in the grace that
is in Christ while I am preaching. While I’m preaching, manifest the gift of
prophecy.”
“Let my… Let…” (Whatever that is, that’s fine by
me. He prayed it, and I think God did it.) “Let my preaching be by the glory of
the Father and in the likeness of his resurrection. Give me power over all the
power of the enemy in every service. Exhibit in me the virtues of him who has
called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. Make known to me and through
me what is the riches of the glory of the mystery, Christ in me, the hope of
glory. May my preaching be in demonstration of the spirit and of power. Lord,
be the strength of my physical heart as long as You are willing to let me serve
on earth.” (Sure true too.) “Quicken my mortal flesh every day.” (That’s
Scriptural.)
“In my weakness, let Thy strength be made perfect.
Manifest in me and through me the quietness, the unshaken faith, and the deep
peace that pervades the Godhead.” (Peace of God govern your heart and mine.)
“Fill me with the love that believeth all things.” (And he had it. I can
testify to that.) “Give me the spirit to worship while I am preaching.” (Oh,
isn’t that good?) “Give me new and direct inspiration and revelation while I am
preaching. Father, let Thy Word in my lips become Your living, life saving,
faith producing, inspiring voice. Let Thy Word in my lips heal the sick and
break the power of demons. Let it be Thy Word in my mouth that cannot return
unto Thee void. Lord, help me to be under Thy full control tonight. Let there
flow from me rivers of living waters. Make me as much like Jesus as possible.”
(He didn’t say, ‘Make me like Jesus and watch my steam.’ Isn’t that the way
most of us are?)
“Give me the joy of descending thoughts. The
thoughts poured in from above. Let heaven light up my lips. Tonight, exhibit
not only Thy goodness, but Thy greatness. Let Thy infinite mind think through
my finite mind and cause me to share the ideas and powers which rule the
universe. Harmonize my life with Thy Mind and Thy Will.”
81. Now
you study Bro. Branham’s life and know him like I did, every single prayer was
answered in Bro. Branham. The same man who prayed all this prayer said to me,
he took my coattails and shook it and he said, “Bro. Vayle, I’ve prayed for the
ministry of Christ to return to this earth for forty years, and there it is in
that man.” Tell me; tell me if this man’s prayer wasn’t answered. Where do you
find in the Bible anybody has the right to pray for forty years for God’s ministry
to come back to earth? He didn’t know Luke 17. I never ever heard him talk
about Matthew 12.
Well,
oh, did I read and finish my notes? I can’t remember now. Well let’s find out.
Okay. So I just about finished them, I think, here.
82. So
now, at this time we conclude this portion of the study of “Stewardship”
wherein we have found the basic truths relative to what is true body ministry
that is so widely and loudly proclaimed in the Laodicean Age, and the so-called
Pentecostal Church, especially latter rain and the neo-Pentecostals. It is
certainly not a meeting described in 1 Corinthians 14, where all come together
and end in confusion, or taking the Lord’s supper as in 1 Corinthians 11 and
going away in worse shape than when they came, instead of better.
83. So,
in the studies we will look at stewardship as it concerns our more daily or
common life. Remember, this day above all days since the first century, we are
found in Jn 15:15[1],
and he said, “I don’t call you servants anymore. I call you friends, because
servants don’t know what the master’s doing, but friends do.” And in Isaiah
41:8,[2]
It tells of Abraham, the friend of God. In Chronicles 20:7,[3]
it talks about Abraham as the friend of God. It does. And in James, it talks
about Abraham who was the friend of God. [Jam 2:23] And that friend of God,
Abraham, was standing there when God came down in Genesis 18 and revealed
exactly what He was going to do and whispered the secret of the coming Son in
flesh.
And
the same thing we have today, as Bro. Branham so beautifully put it, as the
groom whispers sweet secrets of love to his bride, so Christ today has given
us—whispered the secrets of—and the truth and the beauty of the invisible
union.
84. And
so we are today, as we find ourselves, and this is my closing Scripture so you
don’t need to get too worried about me saying anything more, in Philippians,
unless I decide to preach a sermon on it. In Phil 2:12-16:
(12) Wherefore,
my beloved, as you’ve always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much
more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
(Prophet’s gone just like Paul left that church.)
(13) For
it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
(14) Do
all things without murmuring and disputings:
(15) That
you may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the
midst of a crooked, perverse nation, among whom you shine as lights in the
world;
(16) Holding
forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have
not run in vain, neither labored in vain.
85. When
Bro. Branham was behind the curtain of time, and the angel said to him, “You’ll
be judged by what you preach.”
And
he said, “I’ve
preached what Paul preached.”
And
everybody screamed, “We’re resting on that.”
Well,
there you are. We’re resting on the prophet’s message. I hope it’s done us some
good. Personally I always feel good when I preach. And I feel extraordinarily
good when I know that I’m in the Word. And I feel good when I believe in my
heart that there are those who have taken the Word even beyond what I’ve taken,
and live those lives which are blameless as sons of God, holding forth the Word
of Life. All right.
Let’s
rise and be dismissed at this time. And as Bro. John said, there’s no service
until about Friday. And we have Bro. Steven Robinson coming. And we go from
there.
Heavenly
Father, as we depart, time of a little fellowship around the table which we
will have spread before us, may we never forget the Word which we’ve learned
today: that we’re all members of Him who liveth, who has His Own beautiful,
particular body, but by grace has allowed us to call ourselves the body—His
body here upon earth. That we may have His thoughts and His life flowing in and
through us, that we have the power, the ability, to lay aside our own thinking,
and get out of the way as Paul and Bro. Branham did, knowing we have everything
in our favor to do it and there will be no excuses on that day.
We
can do it, even as Paul said You—You promised that You’d give some money to the
poor, now You said you’d do it, lay it aside so there won’t be any fumbling and
fooling when we get there, we’ll just pick it up. And that’s the way we want to
be Lord, when You—it’s time to rise in the rapture, time to be transformed to
immortals, may there not be one sad thought, no fumbling, no—no… standing right
here, glorifying Your Name because we know we have fought a good fight, we have
kept the faith, and we’re going onward and upward to him who is our great example,
Jesus Christ our saviour, our great intercessor, our great mediator. Falling in
the steps of Paul, falling in the steps of Bro. Branham, following in the Word,
right to Jehovah-Elohim Himself. He our leader here.
Oh,
we’re a blessed people, Lord, we do not deny. Greatly blessed, Father, and our
boasting is in Thee, our boasting is entirely in Thee, Lord. For of You we are,
and that is what we claim and we enjoy.
Heal
the sick amongst us, O God. Comfort those that have problems and sorrow. Be
with Sister Dellie [Green] particularly, Robert (her son) having deceased,
Lord. We just ask You to comfort her heart Father. Let the Spirit of God give
her the balm of Gilead, the opium as Bro. Branham talked about, shed forth
through Jesus Christ, Christ her comforter. These things, Lord, we believe,
knowing that You do hear our prayer.
Now
Father, let us believe as one group today that we know You’ve heard our prayer
and because we know You’ve heard our prayer, we know we have the petition we
desired of You, because that’s what John said in the Holy Ghost. Now unto the
King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only Wise God, be all power, honor and
glory, through Jesus Christ our saviour. Amen.
Well,
don’t you love the Lord this morning? [Amen.] Amen, we love the Lord. We
cherish His Word, and everything He does for us. Now we can go singing “Take the Name of Jesus With You,” and let us
try to remember what that Name embodies. It means ‘Jehovah-Savior,’ and it’s a
complete and marvelous salvation of which we see the end in this hour.
Remember,
vision number five—vision number five. Doesn’t that make you want to scream?
Well you can do it, if you want, it’s okay by me, I’ve got no problem. Bro.
Branham ran around the tree stump screaming when he heard the eagle scream. We
have no problem. People just don’t understand us. We have an inner scream;
maybe it’s best to keep your… I don’t know. But just love Him with all your
heart. That’s what counts.
“Take the Name of Jesus With You.”
[1] Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
[2] But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend.
[3] Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever?