Shalom #1
A Course in Self Improvement
Heavenly Father, we want
to thank you again for your love, mercy, and grace and the divine compassion
that you have had in your heart for us, in that You have not only manifested
Yourself, Lord, vindicating Yourself, but You have brought Your Word; and we
know that’s the Word, like a two-edged sword, O God, discerning the thoughts
and intents of the heart, separating, dividing, declaring righteousness unto
the righteous and wickedness unto the wicked, and drawing that dividing
line—the fan in Your hand, the great Judge—all things. We know, You are here
and doing Your Will, Father. We know it’s not really real to us yet, but we’re
standing with It, and one of these days, at the right time we know It’s going
to be as vivid to us as It was with the prophet, who already knows that It’s
realer than he ever had It. We thank You for that privilege.
We’re
just going more and more from the negative to the positive. We know that,
Father. We’re so happy to know it in reality, and we’re just plodding on by
Your grace, until one day, we’ll take the wings with the morning and be there
at the glorious Wedding Supper. We cannot thank You enough for it. We praise
You for it, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
You
may be seated.
1. Now
we’re going to start this morning, but first I apologize to Bro. Joe. I forgot
to phone him and tell him we’re going to deal with “Shalom,” the message that
Bro. Branham preached in
And
he’s speaking to a house meeting there, where (Bro. Isaacson was the pastor.)
there was somebody that Bro. Branham knew was ill, had been away or something;
and he doesn’t mention his name, but he starts by saying: [“Shalom”
[1] So glad to see him this
morning. (He’s in the building there.
And then, he says:) Sorry to hear about
this brother that was with us the last time here, that’s got cancer, is in the
hospital. We know that we only have one avenue out of this, and that’s the
avenue of death.
Now,
listen to what a prophet says in the face of Pentecostals and everybody that
teaches divine healing. It’s, you know, a little bit too much that we want to
be like the old… Well anyway, there’s always jokes about black people. Why? I
don’t know. I guess because there’s jokes about Jews and everything else. But
the story is told of the old black doctor that… He had a patient. And that
patient went to him for a long, long time, and the doctor kept averring that
the man was doing just great, and getting healed and doing just fine. So, the
fellow up and died on him.
“Well,”
he said, “there’s one thing I know. The man died healed.”
Which
is true, you know, in a way. You can be healed and still die. But here’s what
Bro. Branham tells us. This person died of cancer, and that was the way that
God wanted him to be taken off the earth. He said, “Something’s got to take you off this earth.” I think, maybe, there
is in this age, too much emphasis on a social gospel that’s amongst the Pentecostals
and the power orientated people, who talk of re-birth and talk of the greatness
and goodness of God; and they‘ve got two things in mind: money and health.
“Well,”
you say, “anything better?”
Well,
[Bro. Vayle laughs.] that’s right, if you want to
look for the world—if you want to miss God.
2. You
know the major concern of people… Dale Carnegie brought it out in his book. The
major concern of the people, number one, is to get along with people. That
means have a nice, social, well-behaved, good flowing life. And the next thing
is health. You can be a millionaire and dying, what good’s your money? The next
thing is health. Actually I think it’s reversed. I think today the number one
question is health, and who cares if you get along with anybody? If you’re in
good shape, you’ll outlive them! Let’s get healthy! Bro. Branham says
something’s got to take you out of here. And being orientated to this, because
it’s in the religious world more than ever, it seems that people literally hold
themselves or others—not in contempt, but would more or less impute something
to them or themselves that would make them to consider themselves inferior,
because they’re sick.
Oh, I
know there’s lots of Scripture that says, “If you do so and so, you won’t get
sick. No diseases. You do so and so, the diseases come upon you.” Well, he said
the diseases of
But
you say, “Well, I wouldn’t get pneumonia!”
You
can get healed of pneumonia. What if you died of pneumonia?
3. I had
TB when I was a kid. I didn’t ask for it; just got it. The doctor did well by
me; he put me on eggnog—quarts of eggnog a day. Lucky my mother knew how to
make a nice fig syrup that she put in those miserable eggnogs. I hate the taste
of raw egg today. She poured it in so I could drink the stuff. And our cow
turned out to have TB! I’m getting TB of the lungs, and the cow’s got TB. No
wonder I had troubles. Well, I got over it. Then, I get TB of the pituitary
gland. If it weren’t for God, I’d be dead. But you see, that’s different. TB is
literally incurable. You can’t cure it! But God can heal it. Yes sir.
We’re
not saying, “Roll with the punches, and don’t have faith.” Look, faith
actually, though in many cases doesn’t overcome cancer; it puts you in a good
position to endure it, if it’s going to get you out of here. Every disease can
be compensated for in many ways that God’s laid down. Like “a merry heart doeth
good like medicine,” and “a broken spirit drieth the
bones.” That’s where the marrow’s made. Never, though, ever believe anything
different from the prophet; but then, don’t take it and run with it!
“Well,
I gotta die. I guess I’ll have cancer.”
You’d
never get cancer. You might be like Sister Belle, the black lady in Bro.
Branham’s church.
“Well,”
he said, “she’d died such a nice easy death. It’s no doubt she had nothing to
account for.”
You
know, it’s like she’d done something where she had something coming back on
her. There are many people who send their sins on before hand; others follow.
In other words, if the life isn’t too good, many times things will come. But
evidently, her life was right up there. Then, on the other hand, like the
apostle Paul, you could have terribly bad eyesight and have your head chopped
off. So, he’s telling us, “Look, diseases take you out of here.” So, don’t try
to make a big doctrine out of this, some great big thing. Just know that you’re
going to be taken out of here. Bro. Branham died in a car wreck. He had
arteries like a sixteen year-old person. How many sixteen year-olds here have
sixteen year-old arteries? My! Want to
make a test? You might flunk it.
4. [1] There’s an
avenue of death… Now listen,
we all have to walk that path, whether we be the most righteous, even the most
holy one of us, we pack one another over one another’s graves.
You go
out there, the graveyards full of graves, people that died, and you’re carrying
somebody over the graves to put another one in the ground. And your turn’s
coming. You know the big thing is: to be ready for it. The thing is: to be
built up in faith in Christ.
Like I
said the other day, and I meant it. I can feel good even when I feel bad.
That’s because of what? Of you people. You’re my contributors, because you sit
here; you come here. Most of you can’t wait for the church door to open. Some,
I suppose, don’t care if it ever opens. That’s your business. You’re the loser.
I’ve been here as I told you this morning, so sick, sweat dropping off my body,
pushing myself to utter exhaustion. You think there’s not a reward? I didn’t do
it to stand up here and be nice. I’d sooner be out there sitting in the sun.
I’m just plum lazy. I admit it. I don’t like to exert myself. Well, I love the
Lord, to a degree, and I know the Lord loves me without degree. And I love
people—to a degree! But mostly to a very good degree. See?
We’re
all going to die. Are we getting ready for it? Daddy Bosworth died. Oh, my!
That old bald headed fellow. He wasn’t very handsome. He was so ugly he was
handsome. He had a certain… Listen, I’ll spill the beans on me more than
anybody else. He had a certain pride about him; he tried to get on Bro.
Branham. And Bro. Bosworth always showed his pictures when he was young and
handsome. And you know why I hated that? Because there was a fellow in
So,
here’s Bro. Branham. He’s getting up in years, and his head’s quite bald, and
he doesn’t look too young, and Daddy Bosworth has him with all these young
pictures. And I said, “Bro. Branham, that ain’t the
way I see it. Let’s get some new pictures.”
5. Brother/sister,
we don’t need to worry about trying to look we were sixteen. I saw a picture
the other day of when I was about that age. I wasn’t too impressed. Then, I
stand before the mirror and someday I say, “You handsome devil; you look
fifty-five.” The next day I say, “You ugly dog; you look eighty-five!”
So, I
add the fifty-five and eighty-five, comes up to a hundred and forty, divide by
two, and I look seventy. I’m only knocking off four years. [Bro. Vayle laughs.] We’re all going to die. What are we doing
about life? What are we putting into it? See? That’s what really counts.
6. Now
this age right here, there’s going to be mass death, as Bro. Branham called it,
“atomic bomb fodder.” Several places
he called it “gun fodder.” Human
lives. Something is going to take us out of here.
Now
look, the sweet Spirit of Christ—that is the Holy Spirit, because there’s only
one Spirit. The reason people think there’s many spirits is because God has one
Spirit; and, because He’s doing a certain thing, He designates what is being
done, and He titles it! That’s why it’s God—Father, Son and Holy Ghost, one
Holy Ghost—manifesting in different ways for certain occasions, certain
reasons. So, when you call the sweet Spirit of Christ, you are talking about
the God that was living in Jesus. See?
7. Now,
that God is Spirit. And it’s of His Spirit He gives us. It’s like, if I was in
position… Well, what if I was a rosebush, and then, I was animate to the extent
that I could manipulate myself and do something about myself with you? I’d
pluck off a rose and say, “Here’s a rose for you, and here’s a rose for you,
and here’s a rose for you!”
I’m
giving you of myself! But I’m still the rosebush! So, God is the source of
life. He’s Spirit, and He gives of Himself. And right here I want to caution
you, when and if you ever pick up what is the Holy Ghost given for, you are
going to sit… I’m going to read your minds this morning and tell every single
one of you what that subject to you means!
And it
means this to you! “Oh, God is giving me the baptism with the Holy Ghost, and
what’s it going to do for me?”
You’re
a hundred percent wrong! It’s God Himself coming on the scene, and what He’s
doing. See? I just threw that in as good measure. Never forget what I’ve said,
though. I’ve just said it. Never forget it. I cautioned you before when we
studied the “Unveiling of the Mighty God,” and I showed you: it wasn’t the
contents of what God was. The contents was ‘how is He unveiled’? You read and
find out for yourself.
8. You’re
going to find God Who came down at Pentecost. That’s what Bro. Branham taught.
The God Who came and visited Paul; the God Who is here now! What is He doing?
It is not that He is giving of Himself to you the baptism with the Holy Ghost.
It’s what is He doing in His Bride. That’s what is happening.
“Well, bless God, Bro. Vayle.
I’ll be sweet and kind.”
Oh will you? How sweet and kind are you?
You’re no sweeter and kinder than I am. You’ll pray like me to be sweet and
kind in the eyes of the world. You’ll pray like me to be sweet and lovely.
“Everybody’s
going to love Bro. Vayle. He’s going to be so sweet.
He’s going to be so generous. He’s going to be so kind.”
And Bro. Branham said, “Somebody’s got to tell them!” He didn’t say, “Oh, sweet Lee Vayle, tell them,” either.
He said, “Rough, old Lee Vayle, tell them.”
You
say, “Well, Bro. Vayle, what right have you got?”
Because
God said so. Because God said so. Not a congregation.
9. One
thing this church has learned, (I hope you’ve learned.) I just preach the Word
and walk out. You do what you want; because, if the Word doesn’t do it,
brother/sister, it’s Lee Vayle building the house.
And I wouldn’t give you a nickel for any house Lee Vayle
can build. I believe like Pete Klassen.
He
said, “The first house you build for your enemy. The second house you build for
your friend.”
But I
disagree on the third statement he said.
“The
third you build for yourself.” Pete! I’d have to build a hundred and fifty
houses and still not want it! But he’s right as a carpenter, and he’s a good
one. So, we see the truth there. All right. Live this life. Yet we all have to
die.
10. Now no
one’s going to stop us dying, because there’s no way we can stop from dying,
except this end time Resurrection’s around the corner. The most righteous one,
the most holy one, (It doesn’t matter who.) appointed unto man once to
die—until God abrogates that Scripture. That Scripture was only put there for
six thousand years! And then, He gave us a type that you could abrogate it!
Elijah and Enoch. Then, Jesus came and paid the penalty, and then, there’s
Enoch and Elijah; you can see that somebody can walk to the Tree of Life and
not die and be immortal. My, that’s wonderful! Now that’s something we should
never forget! In the midst of death there is life, and life is greater than
death! Sure.
11. Now
listen, he said here:
[1] And yet Jesus said, in spite of the fact everybody’s got to die,
“He that believeth in me shall never
die.” But what the “death” is there, of which Jesus is speaking, “never die,” is not what we call death.
[2]
Like when Jesus spoke about Lazarus, He
said, “He sleepeth.”
And they said, “Well, if he
sleeping, he’s got it better than we got it. He’s doing well.”
[3] Then Jesus had to tell
them in the language they knew (See?), “He’s dead.” He said, “And for your
sake, I’m glad I wasn’t there, but I shall go and wake him.”
He didn’t say, “I’m
going to bring him back from the dead! I’m going to wake him up!” He was
somewhere—one hundred percent Lazarus! Now I mean in the spirit realm, one
hundred percent Lazarus. Yes sir!
[4] That’s when He made that
wonderful quotation that we have in Scripture, (and
Bro. Branham paraphrases,) “He that heareth, he that believeth
on me, has everlasting life; shall not come into the judgment, but has passed
from death unto life. I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in
me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth
in me, shall never die.” See? Never die! There’s really no death to a
Christian, because death means ‘eternal separation’.
Okay.
He says up there in paragraph one, “He that believeth in me shall never die.”
But the ‘death’ he’s speaking of there is not what we normally call ‘death’.
See? But we’re no better, because we’re born-again Christians. So, death is
‘eternal separation’.
12. Let’s go
to a second here, to Mt 10:28. This is what he’s talking about. And he said in
Mt 10:28:
(28) And fear not them which kill the body, but are
not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both
soul and body in hell.
Then,
they say there’s no annihilation. How can people be so wrong? You know why?
Because they don’t want God’s Word! They want a doctrine that can scare you! Oh
my! I read the statistics all the time, and they say, “Sixty percent get saved
through fear!”
Find
that in the Bible. I raised kids. I didn’t do a good job. But I had one boy so
stubborn, if I whipped real hard, that didn’t change him. He’d be right down
doing the same thing again.
Now,
come on you parents. Are you forgetting this morning? You know fear doesn’t do
it. I saw the TV on AIDS, the homos stood there, and the heterosexuals are
standing with them; a bunch of delinquents is what they are!
And
they said, “We’re going to do it! And you’re going to pay for it! And you’re
going to cure us!”
Fear?
Fear? How many people are afraid where sex is involved alone? You’re no more
scared than King Nebuchadnezzer was of telling Daniel
to “shut up and bring me my boots and make them clean.” Because, if you want to
do it, you are going to do it. And you know it. And, if you want to drink,
you’ll drink. And, if you want to smoke, you’ll smoke! And nobody’s going to
stop you. And you’re not afraid. Oh, you’re a little scared, maybe. But you’re
not really afraid; neither afraid of God nor anything else.
13. You know
what people are afraid of? They’re not afraid to steal. They’re just afraid of
getting caught. Isn’t that awful, for people to be that way? Yet they try to
tell you that the fear of hell will save people. That’s not in my Bible. The
Bible said, “There is no fear of God before their eyes. Then, why make the
Bible lie? Same junk they tell you.
“If
you don’t get saved before you’re about thirteen, it’s likely you’ll never be saved,
because, you see, the odds will be against you.”
And I
can explain and tell you, (I’ve already told you.) God wants to train you! He
wants you as a child! That’s why most people get really born again when they
are young, so they have some kind of life to give back to God. You tell me
you’re different from me? My wife’s the same way. She wandered the prairies,
picking the flowers, wondering about God. A “deep calling to a deep.” But some
people are really mean like the apostle Paul was. See? Bro. Branham got saved
about the same age I got saved. He wondered as a child.
14 Oh,
don’t try to confuse the Scripture, brother/sister. Just believe the Word.
Death is body and soul in hell. Death is annihilation. Death is an irrevocable
separation from God; we are only dead in our trespasses and sins. Listen, we
are separated from God in our trespasses and sins. Sheep that went astray!
Now
our Savior came and shed His Blood! And God is no longer angry. God’s not even
put out with us. When’s the last time you did something real nasty? When you do
something nasty, you know you’re wrong.
“Well,
God’s mad at me!”
Oh,
children are you full of doubt this morning? Has the virus got in your
computers to change the whole Word of God in your mind and give the devil’s
lie? Are you giving way to your feelings? God is not mad at you! God cannot be
angry. He’s made reconciliation through Jesus Christ, and now the Judge is
here, and there’s no anger in the Judge.
Listen
to these feeble judges in
And He
said, “This is the record. This is the Word.”
15. You say
you believe Jesus Christ came and fulfilled the Word? You believe He was the
Word? God shall judge the world by one Christ Jesus, Who is the Word.
Say,
“I’ve got perfect confidence in Him. He’s that great One!”
That’s
exactly true. Then, let’s stand back and let Him have His way. That’s why this
church must be built upon God Himself, Who is the Word, brother/sister. What
future we have in Christ, what lies ahead of us shortly, the little while
that’s here, while the world’s dying out there, life is springing up within us.
How do you think Paul felt the day his head was going to get chopped off? He
just couldn’t wait.
Peter
says, “Crucify me upside down.”
Those
people had something. You think they had more than we got? It’s impossible.
It’s impossible. This is the mind age. Don’t run back to the calf age, the face
of man, and all those things. We run counter to the man. Everything we believe
runs counter to the man; like Abraham, who reckoned his body now dead to be
alive, considered it not—nor the deadness of Sarah’s womb. But knowing a God
who raises the dead and calleth those things which
are not as though they were, he stood right there, and his faith was made
perfect!
16. You know,
all you‘ve got to do these days… I’ll tell you all you‘ve got to do. All you‘ve
got to do is really believe the Word and be happy to come to church, be happy
to get together, and talk the Word. It’s going to get a hold of you. Then, you
will praise and worship God as did David—with a full heart.
You
say, “Well, Bro. Vayle, I’m of the old school. I
believe in so many hours of prayer.”
Wonderful,
just go right to it.
“And I believe in reading the Bible.”
That’s great. Go right to it. But you know
what my Bible said? My Bible tells me that when you turn your ear away from
hearing the law, God will turn away from hearing your prayer. So, what good’s
all your praying? Bro. Branham exposed The Herald of His Coming and
Brother Moore, right in their homes! It was the best paper
“God
send us a prophet. God, O God, send a prophet! What we need, O God, we need a
prophet!”
Prayed
day and night, and the prophet stood there. “Here I am!”
“O
God, send us a prophet!”
Now
the Pillar of Fire stands here, William Branham’s gone.
“Oh,
Bro. Branham come back. Bro. Branham come back. Oh, Bro. Branham!”
And
the Pillar of Fire, over his head; there it is stands right there and said,
“I’m here.”
Huh?
“Oh,
Bro. Branham, Bro. Branham.”
What
are you looking for? All I know is the Word.
17. Now
listen. I may feel like a hypocrite saying It. I may tell you right to your
faces, “Hey, Lee Vayle talks a good talk, but it
isn’t really a hundred percent.” And you’re sitting here, and you know that
you’re lying in your teeth, if you say it is one hundred percent with you;
because you’re all liars. And I’ll tell you to your faces: you haven’t got it a
hundred percent the way you want it! But the way God wants it is one hundred
percent! You cannot have resurrection faith till the Resurrection is here.
Right now, if any faith you’ve got, you have passive faith in a Word delivered
to you. Oh, I could scream it tonight, because I can get so happy. I could tell
you things. When I look at…
18. Please
understand, I am not here as though I’m a prophet. I don’t have any great
revelation. I’m not going to say, “There’s a wind that’s going to blow the
house down. This is going to happen. That’s going to happen.” But there’s
something in my soul tells me I’m telling you things. And it goes with the
Word, because it is the Word! Contrary to some preachers, this is the Bible.
You think I care what those pontificators say? Bro. Branham’s sermons are the
Bible.
A preacher
I knew was one of the first ones to say, “Look to me. I’m a great apostle.”
If
anybody would ever say, “Look to Lee Vayle; he’s a
great teacher,” I might come down and flatten them. I could bring you up on the
platform here and shame you before everybody. I’m no great teacher, and I’m not
the teacher. I’m none of those
things. I teach the Message as far as I know it, and that’s it. And I’m
responsible for nobody outside of Lee Vayle. I’ll
stand on my feet; you’ll stand on yours. But I know one thing; I will answer,
if I’ve led you wrong. And you will answer, if you haven’t believed and gone
your own way. Sure.
19. What in
the world was I talking about? Never die. Separation, death. Death is in the
land. You know why? Because they turned down the Word of God. What is death?
Well, put it this way: death is dark, and life is light. Gross darkness upon
the people of the world and light upon the Bride, and “Shalom” uses that very
quote—separation in our day. Death means separation. Right.
20. Revelation
21:8, and I’m going to close soon. Time’s gone. I’m overtime. Revelation.
That’s what tells you what the death is. This would be a good place to start on
Wednesday. (Rev 21:8.)
(8) (And) the fearful, and unbelieving, and the
abominable, murderers, whoremongers, sorcerers, idolaters…
Wait
just a minute. What right has anybody got to put a few fearful people in with
unbelieving, abominable, murdering, whoremongering, sorcering, idolaters, and liars? Huh? What about it? That’s
cutting the ice pretty mean this morning isn’t it? That’s laying it on the line
pretty good.
“Here
I am just a little scared! My goodness me, a little thing like fear puts me
with the whoremongers? The murderers? The abominable? Idolaters? Liars? And
you’re going to annihilate me, O God, because I’m fearful?”
Seven
Seal is what? Relaxation.
“Lord,
I’m going to relax. I’m relaxing.”
Oh
yes?
“I am
not afraid of work. I can lie down and sleep beside it.”
Something’s
wrong isn’t it? Something’s wrong. Talk all you want.
21. You know
what? They say dogs can smell fear. I‘m no dog, but I can feel it when people
are afraid around me. Fear. Fear. Fearful. What kind of fearful people are
they? Not those that fear God, in reverential awe. Not those that fear to
disbelieve His Word. But those like Bro. Branham said: they fear to leave their
pensions: they’re fearful of their wives, their husbands, their children;
they’re fearful of their church; they’re fearful of anything—because this is
the revelation of Jesus Christ. They’re fearful of anything in this Message.
This
pulpit proclaims this church to be a cult. That’s not a bad word!
Look,
let’s face it. It’s just like the doctor said, when the woman said, “I have
halitosis.”
He
said, “Bad breath is better than no breath.”
What
if you’re called a cult? That’s bad breath.
“Oh, I’m just a Christian.”
That
isn’t necessarily good breath. That’s no breath at all.
“I’m Methodist, Baptist.”
If
you’re not a believer in the truth, and you’re afraid of something about this
Message… Now, if you’re afraid you’re not lining up, that’s healthy. See? But,
if you’re afraid to the point where you’re not going to make it, and you
believe this, and you’re stuck with it, then you’re wrong!
22. You know
what I’m waiting for? I’ll tell you what I’m waiting for. I’m waiting for the
Resurrection, because only the Resurrection will tell anybody who is right.
When we see William Branham, we know we have made it! Why? Because we’re
resting on what is going to bring him back or not bring him back!
You
say, “Well, Bro. Vayle, what if I don’t see it
right?”
That’s
got nothing to do with it! This is the truth we’re talking about this morning.
Vindicated. God manifested! Reality.
I’m not here pretending I’ve got perfect reality. I‘m not going to pretend
anything. I’m telling you this; I told you already. Look here, this is either
it, or I am sunk. I don’t know… Where’d I go? Where would you go? What would
you do? Tell me. Where are you coming from? I don’t mean way back in eternity.
We put that on the board here. I want to know: where are you coming from this
morning? See? Look at It here. Let’s get rid of this fear!
23. Revelation
2:23.
(23) And I will kill her children with death; and
all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts:
and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.
Now,
what age does He search the heart?
Well,
you say, “Sure it was.”
What
was it for?
“To
vindicate the Message!”
Do you
believe those two things?
“Sure!”
Then,
how could you not believe the Message?
You
say, “Bro. Vayle, I, I, I, I…”
I know
what you’re trying to tell me: you don’t understand it all, so forget it! What
you don’t understand, you don’t disbelieve. You just don’t know. And there’s an
atonement for that. There’s always been an atonement for ignorance; until the
revelation of God comes in, and you turn it down, then you’re finished. There’s
no more atonement.
We
don’t need that, brother/sister. We believe the best we know how. The washer
woman with one tape and three tapes! See? Now you can have this much [Bro. Vayle demonstrates a great quantity.] and miss it; this
much [Bro. Vayle demonstrates a very small quantity.]
and make it! Why? Because this much up here doesn’t believe it. Just talk about
it. But, when your heart puts to God‘s seal that every Word is right, and
you’re trying desperately, in spite of your condition and conditions around
you, to see how it comes out and what it is, that’s not fearing God; that’s
walking with God! Because God is His Own Word. And that’s not turning your back
on God.
24. Now,
what did God say to the church here? This very church He’s talking about. In
(21) I gave her space to repent of her fornication;
she repented not.
What
was that space in this age? The space is a vindicated prophet on the scene!
And, if you can’t have your mind changed by that, it’s over. But listen, then,
if your mind is changed, what are you afraid of? What’s to be afraid of? Death?
You’re going to die anyway, might as well make up your mind to face it. Oh,
some of us won’t die. In the meantime we’ve been brought back to God—bought back.
There is no separation. When we leave here we go to a body commensurate to
what’s in us.
You
say, “Well, what’s in me Bro. Vayle? You see the
trouble is, there nothing good in me… So, I wouldn’t know what I’m getting.”
You
see, there you’re messing the Scripture up again. Paul said, “In my flesh there
is no good thing.” The soul is of God, born of God. The soul came from God. It
never sinned in the first place. The prophet said you didn’t do it! What did it? That spirit that came into a flesh body that could be
tempted. What’s the use of having a body that could be tempted and, then, would
never fall to temptation? Everybody would be Jesus Christ Himself.
25. Now this
thing is open this morning, you realize. You’re getting the picture—God’s
sovereignty. “All that I give, I’ll lose none. Those who are with me in the
beginning will be back at the end.”
I‘ve
got nothing to worry about. The only worry I have is to look at that Word and
keep saying, “Brother, I can do better.” And I will do better. Today, I will
love justice more than I ever did. I will do good. I’ll be less judgmental.
You’re just looking at yourself. And it’s a course in self-improvement, simply
because you want to be a servant of God that people can look at and say, “Well,
I admit that the fellow does act different, but I’d never believe what he
believes.”
See,
they’re not going to believe what you believe anyway. There’s only one little
thing out there. What am I like with people? Can you walk humbly before God,
today? Can you do good to your neighbor? Love justice; show mercy? Everything
else is counted for. How can you fear?
“Oh,
I’m going to make God mad!”
You
can’t make God mad. The righteous cannot make God angry. The righteous won’t
even try to make God angry.
So,
you wake up this morning and say, “I’m going to have a bad mood today. I’m
going to hurt people, and I’m going to fuss at God.”
Now
you may wake up feeling like you might have thought and said that, because
maybe you’re not feeling well, you’re allergic to feather pillows, and you
haven’t gotten rid of your feather pillows. Or you’re allergic to ice cream,
and you won’t quit eating the junk. So, now you wake up, uh, uh, uh. Like a
dead fish just fell into your mouth, as they often say.
What’s
that got to do with God? What’s your feeling got to do with God? Tell me.
Nothing.
26. What is
it? It’s the mind. The mind going to the Word.
“Waking
up early in the morning, my thoughts shall be of You, O Lord.”
Why do
you think God said, “Bind the frontlets before your eyes up here. Put them upon
your arms.” You see? It’s the mind age. It’s what you‘ve got to do. But don’t
give way to those things that evolve some kind of a fear, and there’s nothing
to fear.
It was quoted by one of the ancient
philosophers, who is it? [Someone in congregation mentions a name. No, no, he
quoted it. He just said as somebody else said. That’s the same as—Horace
Greeley[2]—when
he said, “Go west, young man; go west?” He wasn’t the first to say it. He
really wrote what another fellow said. I’ll remember his name later on, too.
[His name is John Babsone Lane Soule.]
But
the truth is, we have nothing to fear but fear itself. In other words, don’t
let anything rise in your heart and mind to give you any trouble when it comes
to your salvation in Jesus Christ. Wonder only this one thing: am I going to
give myself over to God, to get out of the way, where He can direct my thoughts
and my paths? Then, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
though I get sick, though anything else come, though the walls come tumbling
down, a thousand at my left and ten at my right fall, it shall not come near
me, for I am God’s Own child.
27. Brother/sister,
that is all that’s left. Believe me. When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll,
whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say, “It is well, it is well with my
soul.”
We
have passed from spiritual death to life. We have had a spiritual resurrection.
There is now no fear; the die has been cast; the ship has been safely anchored.
“Let the swells come,” Bro. Branham
said, “We shall not capsize!” But
what did Ezekiel say? He said, “There were waters flowing out of the East gate.
Under Luther it went to the ankles; to Wesley it went to the knees; to
Pentecost it went to the thighs.”
But
our age, there’s waters to swim in, and waters to carry us over! It’s no longer
me carrying myself or even carrying this church. It’s God’s Word doing It.
Brother/sister,
I feel so good this morning. I don’t care how rotten I’d feel physically. What
matters is I feel so good to know that we have got the sail set. The Word is
working. And there is a glorious Bride, without spot, without wrinkle, of
which, by the grace of God we’re a part. And we shall see God in the flesh.
Let’s
rise and be dismissed.
Heavenly
Father dismiss us now with Your love, mercy and grace, by which You’ve kept us.
We know, Father God in Heaven, there isn’t anything more wonderful than to know
Your Presence, and even to just talk about It with Your saints—to stir up our
captive minds and hearts which we believe are captive unto You, for the devil
has no part in us. What part has it got in a spotless, virgin Bride?
Lord
God in Heaven, we’re so far beyond the things of this world we just haven’t
even given You credit for it, for all things are in You and You are in us,
Lord. Why should we then ever be cast down or ever say anything other than
that, but stand right up here in Your glorious, wonderful Presence, glorifying
Your holy Name, not walking in fear any longer, but walking in light. And Your
Own Word says by John, “If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have
fellowship, one with another.” You and I, Lord, and, then, every member of the
congregation with You, and every member with each other, having fellowship one
with another, communion of the Blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleansing.
Thank
You, Lord, for healing the sick amongst us. We’re grateful Lord, for the babies
dedicated, children feeling better, happy that Jan [White] got through the
operation successfully. We pray that you’ll give her strength, Lord, and
everyone in this church that has a need, my God. There are those who are
struggling within themselves, [End of side one of the audio tape.] help them
take a vacation from themselves, O God, and rest in the
We
pray in Jesus Name, not that every storm should cease. Let the storms rage. Let
them roll. We don’t care. We’re in the eye of the hurricane. Everything’s at
rest and relaxing, just floating around. Everything else out there is debris
being crushed and driven, but Lord God, we, in the eye of the storm. It doesn’t
matter; we’re going on with You. Thank You for Your peace, Your love, Your
mercy; for all these things. We cannot praise You enough.
So
now, Father, as the prophet always said, may Your sweet Spirit come into the
church, Lord, more and more, until there not be one sick one amongst us. Unto
You we’ll give the glory, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
The
Lord bless you.
“Take
the Name of Jesus With You.”
[The
audio tape continues with a memorial service and a baby dedication that
preceded this message.]
[1] Heb
[2] The
phrase was actually first used by John Babsone Lane Soule (1815 – 1891) in an article in the