Shalom #2
Declaring
God
Destination:
Resurrection
Shall we pray. Heavenly Father, we’re very grateful tonight,
that You have accepted us and have proven it by Your Presence, a revelation of
Yourself, manifesting Yourself, giving us Your Word. We appreciate that so
much. We ask You, Father, that You will help us tonight to understand more of
the truth as it is set forth in this last day, because we know that grace and
truth came by Jesus Christ, and we know that Jesus is here in the form of the
Holy Spirit in the Pillar of Fire, but also, absolutely one with His Word, so
that there is no difference. We thank You Father, because we know we can feed
upon You in spirit and in truth, and know It is the living Word of the living
God, the living God Himself. May we never forget It, Lord, but rather live in
the presence of It and the reality of It, until the life of that Word overtakes
and becomes our very life, as Paul the apostle said, “Nevertheless I live; I
live by the faith of the Son of God Who loved me and gave Himself for me.” We
commend ourselves to Your Presence tonight. In Jesus’ Name we pray. Amen.
You may be seated.
1. Now last Sunday we barely got into the
prelude of Bro. Branham’s sermon, “Shalom.” And you’ll notice that he begins
his dissertation by not mentioning a brother’s name, but mentioning that this
brother is in the hospital dying of cancer, and then, he begins to speak upon
death. And so, I’m just going to read those first four paragraphs, and then,
we’ll go on.
[1] So
glad to see him this morning. (Someone that he
had already evidently indicated; then he said) I’m sorry to
hear about this brother that was with us the last time here, that’s got cancer,
and he’s in the hospital. We know that we only have one avenue out of this
life, and that’s the avenue of death. Like
Bro. Branham said, “You’ve got to have something to get you out of
here.” We have all got 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 grave. And
yet Jesus said, “He that believeth in me shall never die.” But that “death”
that is there, what that death is, is not what we call death.
In other words there are two kinds of death we dwelt on, and
one’s physical, merely called sleep; the other is separation in the
[2] Like
when Jesus spoke about Lazarus, He said, “He sleepeth.”
And they said, “He does well if he
sleeps.”
[3] Then
Jesus had to tell them in language they knew, “He’s dead.” And He said, “For
your sake, I’m glad I wasn’t there, but I go to wake him.”
In other words, bring him out in a resurrection. And
remember, He also said that God is not the God of the dead but the living; He’s
the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. So therefore, Lazarus was somewhere, the
same as Jesus was somewhere when he went into the lower parts of the earth, and
his body was in the grave. So then, Jesus was there to wake up the body. Not
the soul. The soul was aware of everything. He’s going to bring back Lazarus in
a resurrection.
2. All right, paragraph 4.
[4] That’s
when He made that wonderful quotation we have in Scripture that’s from John 11,
“He that heareth, he that believeth on me, hath everlasting Life; and shall not
come into the judgment, but has passed from death unto Life. I am the
resurrection and 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 is really no death to a Christian.
And you’ll notice in there, that in “Who Is This
Melchisedec?,” Bro. Branham spent a lot of time referring to 2 Corinthians 5,
wherein the Christian who departs this life, the truly born again child of God
(and only the child of God, true child of God, can be born again) will go into
that body which is commensurate with the soul that he is. Not that the soul
that he has, although you can use that terminology… We try to be very, very
strict in everything we say, yet understanding we will say some things that
seem to contradict, because language… I don’t think anybody, no matter how
smart he is or how anointed, can ever get the language completely perfect. God
alone could do that. That’s why there’s so many so-called errors in scripture
and contradictions. It’s because things are expressed in different ways, and
you’ll find that one just seems to go against the other, but it really doesn’t.
When you understand, it all falls into place. But it is quite a problem.
3. And he says, “Death means ‘eternal separation’.” Now, going to paragraph 5:
[5] Now,
when we die, like in the physical body as we are now, we are separated one from
another. But it’s really this body is the only thing that identifies us to each
other, because we are bound in five senses: see, taste, feel, smell, and hear.
And as long as we can see or feel one another, why, we have evidence that we’re
here. If you’re blind and can’t see, then you can feel one another, or we hear
one another. And the earthly senses declare one another.
[6] But,
really, frankly, we’ve never seen each other. Did you know that? We have never
seen one another. You hear something speaking out of a body here that
impersonates whatever it’s on the inside. So then when we talk to each other,
we’re really not talking to the body. It’s the spirit inside, but the body is
the thing that identifies the spirit that’s on the inside. And therefore, when
we speak to each other, we quickly can understand right away whether we are
Christians or not, because there’s a fellowship in the spirit that we talk
from. It vibrates to one another that whether we are Christians or not.
Therefore, we have not seen each other.
Now,
going over that, you’ll notice that Bro. Branham talks about the person living,
even though the body ceases to be animate. It’s gone, it’s dead, there’s no
feeling, no sensation, nothing left there. And yet, that body was necessary by
the five senses that we have—which he mentions—to declare one another, to
communicate to one another, to actually by the communication which is in word
and in deed, to let you know exactly what kind of a person is in that shell
that you’re viewing, which shell identifies you.
4. Now, look at the term there, “And the earthly senses declare one another.”
Now you go back here to John 1, you’ll find that Bro. Branham
is, I believe, using that verse 1:18, the same that John used it, where he says
here:
(18) No man hath seen God at any time; the only
begotton (who) is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
Now, to declare, then, according to what Bro. Branham said,
and we’ll see more of this as we go along here… To declare, then, would be to
literally act out the character or to deliberately manifest, to give an
understanding of what that person is inside. So, as we are—like Bro. Branham
said in “Melchisedec”—come like Jesus, and being sons like He is, yet not the
great Son as He was, we will literally manifest, declare, and show, who and
what we are, just the same as Jesus did. But remember, He literally declared
God, which you and I don’t declare God as He did. Now we’ll look at that later
on, if we get to that tonight, because that’s over about maybe paragraph 7 or
8.
But he’s giving us the understanding here, that the
declaration through the senses is the ability for someone therefore, to reveal
himself, and the other person to whom he is revealing himself, to catch the
revelation, to know. Because he brings out later on down here in paragraph 6
that you can know if that person’s a Christian or not.
5. Now he says: [6] “Frankly, we have never seen each other.”
Now that’s exactly true. Yet, when you see the vehicle, or
the conduit, the shell, the body, you literally see that person, because there
cannot be a separation from the individual within the body and the body itself.
You simply cannot separate. Now we’ll see that also in paragraph 7 and 8 as we
go along there. But it is true, for the record, we have not literally seen, nor
can see, the person within the shell.
6. Now he said: [6] “You hear something speaking out of a body here that impersonates…”
Now the word ‘impersonates’ is a word that Bro. Branham uses
that always bothers me because of the modern implication of that word. It’s a
matter of semantics. We say that a man impersonates another man, and that
happens to be, pretty well, the definition of that word in the twentieth
century. But according to the dictionary definition, it actually also means
‘embodies’. And that’s the term that Bro. Branham constantly used: ‘to
impersonate’, wherein we’re looking at an impersonation—we’re looking at the
body imprisoning this individual, so that you cannot make a distinction. You
simply can’t.
7. Now you could make distinctions, perhaps,
as to say “what was the person’s motive.” And you might want to be very kind.
But it ends up like this rapist that I dealt with, and he really had an
Oedipus-complex but would never admit it, and he was a completely mental
person. I think he’s in jail right now for murder now, not only this violent
rape that he was always committing.
And he always said, “Well, the devil made me do it.”
Like Flip Wilson and those guys, you know. Oral Roberts even.
“And this spirit made me do it.”
So, I asked him; I said, “Did you enjoy it?”
He said, “Yes.”
I said, “You did it.”
Get my picture. You don’t separate yourself from your acts.
Now, if you’re fully devil possessed, yes. The next question is; how did you
get that way? I don’t know, but it’s a good question. See? There’s a
responsibility.
8. So, Bro. Branham uses the term ‘embodies’. “You hear something speaking out of the body here that impersonates,” that’s
embodies, “whatever is on the inside.” There’s an embodiment of
that person.
And there would never be any way for anybody to ever have any
communication outside of a body, because, even when we die, we go to a body.
And Bro. Branham said, “Up there, it was
beautiful, youthful.” You could hug each other, kiss each other; but there
was an absolute lack of anything which was sexual in its application of a man
to a woman. Evidently they retained their sexuality, but it was not functioning
in that particular area, which was very, very good.
[6]
“So then, we talk to each other, we’re
not really talking to the body.” That’s
right. If you think that’s not truth, talk to a corpse sometime, especially
maybe one minute after it’s dead. Try to get a response, because the spirit
goes while even the soul lingers for a little while. You can’t do it. “It’s the spirit inside.”
9. Now I want to look at that word for just a
second, because I don’t believe that Bro. Branham is telling you,
unequivocally, that that is only the spirit, that which Bro. Branham said is
allowed of God but not of God.
Now Bro. Branham categorically said that, “The soul is the nature of the spirit, giving it an atmosphere.” So, what he’s
saying then, the soul is giving the spirit, that life of the person, a nature.
It is bringing out an atmosphere.
Now also, when he said, “Who
is the real you?” he called it ‘a soul’. So, my understanding of this word
‘spirit’ here does not literally mean the spirit that you get when you’re born.
I believe it refers mainly to the soul, although the spirit is also involved.
Because, as long as you’re living, it has to be involved. Otherwise the body
would be kicking muscles and nerves at that particular time, with the blood
flowing through from the umbilical cord. But the cord’s got to be cut after the
baby comes down. The baby’s got to start breathing on its own and all. There’s
a spirit that enters in there. Bro. Branham defined it.
10. Now he
said:
[6] “It’s
the spirit inside, but the body is the thing that identifies the spirit that’s
on the inside.”
In other words you know exactly what specie it is. Because, although all flesh is
not the same, we understand that flesh is flesh, and there is a certain
similarity, especially in mammals. That we are mammalian, of course, there’s no
doubt about it.
But he says here, [6] “The
body identifies the spirit that’s on the inside.” In other words the form,
the actions, and the responses. It’s not just a matter of knowing by shape and
all… And many people are so brilliant and so clever, that they hear you speak,
and they know where you came from.
My wife and I were in a store one day, this man, after we
talked to him, (He’s a salesman. I guess he was a salesman at some store. I
forget where.) he smiled, and he said, “You are from Edmonton, Alberta,
Canada.”
And I said unequivocally, “So, how do you know?”
He said, “I lived up there, and I can tell.”
Actually the fact is, I was born in Southern Alberta, but
there’s no problem understanding the way I speak that I come from the West. I
clip my words, although I don’t think I say ‘about’ [Bro. Vayle pronounces it
‘a-boot’] as many of you try to tell me I do. I say ‘about’. And I may ‘ou’ it,
but I don’t ‘oo’ it. So, watch your language.
Now there are those also who are so clever in understanding
features of people, (I guess they call it physiognomy.) that they can pretty
well tell what race and background many people are from.
11. So, you see the body, with its abilities in
the realm of projecting, manifesting, acting, responding, and so on, gives
people a real good idea, a real understanding; actually, I would say, oh, in a
very high degree, So, the percentage is very, very high, that it isn’t hard for
anybody with a little understanding to figure another fellow out (or woman)
just where they are. So, you see the body that person embodied, he’s in this
figure, like you and I have, and that tells you what that person is like.
Now Bro. Branham, who is speaking, also says here:
[6] Therefore,
when we speak to each other, we quickly can understand right away whether we’re
Christians or not, because there’s a fellowship in the spirit we talk from. It
vibrates to one another that whether we’re Christians or not. Therefore, we
have never seen each other.
Now I’m going to just not argue with Bro. Branham, but I
don’t think he’s talking so much about us. He’s talking about himself. Remember
how he stood in the prayer line, and he said, “You’re a Christian.”? He said, “I
feel a welcoming spirit.” See? Other men stood in the line, and he saw a
black cloud, and he saw they’re complete sinners. See?
So, let’s understand this. Though there’s a welcoming spirit
that Bro. Branham positively could pick up on people, (And there was also, as
he stood there in the line, the ability to catch the spirit.) I don’t think you
and I have that. But we have something else that Bro. Branham had, and that’s
the Word test.
12. So, I don’t go too much by, and I wouldn’t
suggest that you try to go too much by, a certain empathy or certain feeling
you have towards somebody; because, I remember years ago, I sat in a friend of
mine furniture store, and there was a loveliest Church of Christ preacher, and
I didn’t know who he was. And he radiated the most beautiful Christ-like
spirit. How can a Church of Christ
person be born again and, then, say God doesn’t heal but the devil does? You
tell me.
Well, I would just say this: forget your spirits, as though
you can pick something up and go to the judicious—which the Judge is already
here and given us His Word! We’re not interested in debate anymore; we know the
answers. So, I would suggest you don’t take this too seriously, as though Bro.
Branham was telling you that I can stand back and do so and so. Because, I’m a
little afraid some of you would try it. I don’t want to be rough tonight,
because rough storms are outside; it’s rough enough already. But look at it.
Don’t, don’t, please don’t for your own good, try anything foolish. You will
end up in a mess. Give them the Word test and walk off!
Eve played the fool by playing around with a guy’s spirit.
What do you think that miserable crook in that beast wanted to do? Well, he
just plowed her under. If she’d have said, “Hey, listen, back off, and shut
your mouth right now. I want to tell you something. We’re under the vindication
of God’s Word. And we don’t listen to you.” But she had fellowship with
darkness on the basis of a seducing spirit! That’s right. We’ll talk about more
of this; we won’t talk too long tonight, but… Now, let’s go to paragraph 7.
13. Paragraph 7 is where Bro. Branham takes us
from Melchisedec, the Melchisedec principle that he talked about: “we come like
Jesus.” Now watch what he says in paragraph 7.
[7] Jesus
said, “No man has seen God at any time, but the only begotten of the Father
hath declared Him.” See? (Now he said,
“We declare ourselves.” Now, watch here.)
…the Father, declared Him. See? In other words, God was identified. The Person
of God was identified in the Body, the Lord Jesus Christ, so He was the
expressed image of God. Or, God expressing Himself through an image (See?),
through an image, man. God expressed Himself to us, and He was God. Not a third
person or second person; He was the Person—God. He was God Himself, identifying
Himself, so we could feel Him.
All right. Let’s analyze it. Jesus said, “No man has seen God
at any time.” That’s absolutely correct, and I don’t think anybody can ever see
God at any time, unless He impersonates Himself, which means embodies Himself,
same like you and I had to be. “But the Only-begotten of the Father,” the only
one-of-a-kind of the Father. Now, let’s look at the one-of-a-kind of Father.
14. Before we move on. Hebrews 2. Now you all
know that. So, if I was to ask you, where do you find the one-of-a-kind
identified with the many-of-a-kind, but all of the same source, would you tell
me Hebrews 2?
Now, listen. It says, verse 12: [Heb 2:12]
(12) Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church
will I sing praise unto thee.
See? Verse 11:
(11) For both he that sanctifieth and they who are
sanctified are all of one (source): for which cause (this sanctifier in the
midst of the brethren) is not ashamed to call (these) brethren.
See? The one-of-a-kind. See? As in Heb 2:12. Hath declared
Him! Now, notice, Bro. Branham defines from the Holy Spirit, the language which
God gives him, what the word ‘declare’ means in Jn 1:18, and he combines it, as
I have been doing all along, not knowing he really did this, although in my
subconscious I could have, with Heb 1:3 and on. So, let’s look at it.
Now, if you want, you’d be ahead to take this and run it off
on a duplicator and paste it somewhere as something which you should know. This
is your instruction. This is the identification or the actual meaning, not a
matter of semantics now, but the definitive meaning, definition of ‘declare’.
“The Only-begotten of the Father hath declared Him.” In other words God was
identified. What does it mean when Jesus declared the Father? He identified
Him. How? Through embodiment. Impersonation.
15. Now watch:
[7] “The Person of God was identified in the Body.”
Now see: “the Lord
Jesus Christ.” He doesn’t say ‘through the body of the Lord Jesus Christ’.
He was identified “in the body.” That
term, that noun, is an apposition to the phrase, Lord Jesus Christ. Like John,
the barber. This is body, Lord Jesus Christ, or Lord Jesus Christ, the body.
You follow what I’m saying? That’s why Bro. Branham categorically said, “He raised the body up and set it on the
right hand, on the mercy seat.”
What is the body? It’s that man, the Lord Jesus. Let’s keep reading.
[7] The
person of God was identified in the Body, the Lord Jesus Christ, so (Jesus then, the body,) was the expressed image
of God; (Now that’s Hebrews. You got Jn
1:1, you got Jn 1:1, Jn 1:18, Heb 1:3.) or God expressing
Himself through an image. (The word ‘image’
is an icon, which is ‘an exact production of what is there’.)
Now you couldn’t make an image of that candlestick, unless
the candlestick was there. Now, if you had an idea of a candlestick, and you’re
making something, you’re not making an image; you’re making a candlestick. An
image has to have a precedent. You work from it. It’s not a prototype. A
prototype is when you’re inventing or doing something. Now the minute you have
something tangible, you can have an image; now, even in the spirit, because a
spirit is tangible. If you think the spirit is not tangible, then how in the
world did Lazarus get raised from the dead? The spirit is very tangible. That’s
why people aren’t getting too far, because they don’t understand the
tangibility of God in the form of the Holy Ghost, how He operates through man
and brings Himself into perfect vindication and manifestation. All right.
16. [7] The Person of God was
identified in the Body. (The body is)
the Lord Jesus Christ. So, (Who was Jesus Christ?) He was the expressed
image of God, (In other words, what was He
doing? As the image, He
was expressing God. Actually, there
was a substance there) or God expressing Himself through an image, (See?)
through an image, man.
So, all right. The body is the Lord Jesus Christ. And the
Lord Jesus Christ is a man. He is the literal image of God. Now you can’t see
God. So, all right; God has actually made a prototype in Jesus Christ. And it’s
called His Own image. Now that’s a bit difficult to understand, but you just
accept it the way it is. And that was a man, here.
17. [7] God expressed Himself to
us, and He was God. Not a third person, a second person; He was the Person,
God. He was God Himself, identifying Himself, so we could feel Him.
Now, all right. Jesus was the body to which God lived amongst
men, as man, and thereby did visibly what lay in Godhead, showing He was God.
As they said, “No man can do what you do.” And He said, “If I have not done the
works no other man did, they had not sinned.” Then, he also said in Jn 14:12,
he mentioned to the brethren, “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.” And
He said, “The works that I do,” he said, “don’t you understand, it’s the Father
in me doing the works?”
18. So, here you find what Bro. Branham said: the
body is a vehicle to express the unseen. And you cannot separate the two of
them. So therefore, how can you separate Jesus from being God in the sense of
the manifestation? You can’t! You can’t. You can’t separate it. But we know
that Jesus, the man, was a man. We know God can’t be born; God cannot die.
So, we see here, who was the Lord Jesus Chris,t as they
understand, the one that was born to the virgin Mary? That was the vehicle that
God Himself used in order that He could be handled and felt and known through a
people who needed that; because we are also those who need to be handled and
felt and seen and so on.
19. Now, looking at this picture here that Bro.
Branham drew from having explained to us that somebody is living in a house:
that’s you; that’s I. We have our own bodies, and you cannot separate them. And
the vehicle is given for the expression. We go back and think in terms of what
would it have been, if we hadn’t had this means of expression but had another
means of expression? Well, of course that would have been a theophany. What
would it have been like, if we had not gone directly to a human body, but we
had gone to another form? Well, that’s a good question.
Let’s read paragraph 8, and we’ll go back to the question
asked up here.
[8] 1
Timothy 3:16, “Without controversy, that’s argument, (any discussion,) great is the mystery of
godliness, for God was manifested, or made known, in the flesh.”
Well, God was manifested and, thereby, in the flesh was made
known. But He wasn’t made known any other way. Now He was made known other
ways, but not this way, which is the way. See? Now let’s keep that in
mind: God in the prophets. See, God in the prophets.
[8] “…
for God was manifested, or made known, in the flesh.” (Not another way.) Isn’t that wonderful?
God! And we could never understand God as He moved through a Pillar of Fire,
and so forth, as He did. But we understood Him when He became one of us, (See?)
when He became man. Then, He could talk to us, and we could feel Him, handle
Him, touch Him, and everything. And as the Scripture plainly says that “we have
handled God,” (See?) with our hands, touched Him with our hands.
Now that’s over, of course, in 1 John 1. We read It many
times.
(1) That which was from the beginning, which we
have heard…
Now, notice. Remember now, we, in the vessel, by senses, can
pick up the other person in the other vessel, through his senses, by means of
receiving. See? Transmitters and receptors. It all depends on whether you’re
transmitting or receiving. But you’re both. Like your nervous system,
something’s going to come and go. The synaptic connections work. It works the
same coming and going. So, all right. We’re receivers; we’re
senders—transmitters.
(1) That which was from the beginning, which we
have heard,
See, now formerly, in a theophonic form, you couldn’t hear, you
couldn’t see, you couldn’t handle. That’s why He had to lay that one aside. Now
that’s the Only-begotten one of the Word of Life.
20. Now, notice. He could hardly be called the
Word of Life until this time, because it was only at this time that He took
upon Himself the form of a man—full identification with us, although He always
was that. He never took it on Him till that time.
(1) (For the life was manifested, and we have
seen it (with our eyes, see?), bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal
life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)
(2) That which we have seen and heard declare we
unto you (we make a thorough exposition of it and tell you), that (you) may
also have fellowship with us: truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with
his Son Jesus Christ.
Now, what does it really mean, then, to you and me when we
talk of what Bro. Branham is discussing? God was manifested. Now Paul the
apostle says, “Whatever makes manifest is light.” Well, that light up there
makes manifest; it shines down. But I told you before, I could make manifest
that that’s glass; I can break it. Not another substance. Now it’s a non-glare
glass. I can make that manifest by shining a light on it and, then, on another
piece of glass, and you will see that that shines far less than the other,
because it’s a non-glare. The same with the window back there in the nursery.
It really should be one-way, but it’s not. But, if it was one-way glass, you
could look like a mirror, not see through it, somebody else… See, look; that
makes manifest. Anything that can be applied to your senses to give you an
understanding is light. Never forget that, because that’s what Paul said: it
makes manifest.
21. So therefore, God was manifested, or made
known; which means, God shed light upon Himself, thereby giving us a
revelation. Now, most people don’t want that revelation. They try to excuse
Jesus cleansing the temple, when He became very angry. He was mad. See? They
don’t like the idea, to really literally know, that in this hour we could have
a perfect manifestation of God. [Bro. Vayle points to the picture of the Pillar
of Fire over Bro. Branham.] They’re
not interested. See? Or the reason is, He’s not their Father, or they would be.
Now then, let’s go a little further. We couldn’t find God too
much in that Pillar of Fire. It wouldn’t be too much good with the cloud and
angels, either. Something else has got to come to us. But, what is it all about
that God took on Himself a physical form; we, having bypassed the body of the
spirit or the Word body, (theophonic form, as Bro. Branham called it,) took on
this physical? So, here’s what I understand what he’s showing us. When we
cannot visualize what it was to have bypassed that form and be put here, this
spells out the question that our destiny was not to be in that form. Our
destiny was to be in a physical form, which requires a resurrection.
22. Now, don’t ever think that I’m giving you a
lot of talk here and trying to talk like a Philadelphia lawyer, because by now
you should understand 1 Corinthians 15 absolutely perfectly. For It says now,
verse 12:
(12) Now if Christ be preached that he rose from
the dead, how say some among you there is no resurrection of the dead?
(13) If there be no resurrection of the dead, then
is Christ not risen:
(14) And if Christ be not risen, then our preaching
(is) vain, and your faith is also vain.
(15) Yea, (we’re) found false witnesses of God;
because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not
up, if so be the dead rise not.
Now, look; he’s getting very powerful here, very edgy—very
firm.
(16) (But) if the dead rise not, then is not Christ
raised:
(17) And if Christ be not raised, your faith is
vain; (you) are yet in your sins.
Now you see, he does not refer back to Christ in the
theophonic form. He refers to Him now as that man. And he said, if there is no
resurrection… What does he say?
(17) (Then) if Christ be not raised, your faith is
vain; (you) are in your sins.
(18) Then they also which are fallen asleep in
Christ are perished. (There’s nothing left.)
(19) If in this life only we have hope in Christ,
we are of all men most miserable.
In other words, what I’m looking at here is that the destiny
of man is the Resurrection. And there is no other destiny apart from it.
23. Look at it again, over here in 2 Cor 5:16.
(16) Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the
flesh: though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet henceforth (now) know
we him no more.
He is telling you now, not about the man that was raised from
the dead; he is talking about the pre-incarnate One that went back to a Pillar
of Fire. So therefore, as you look at the whole picture here, how that God
absolutely came in view. He has come in view for one reason, and that is for a
resurrection.
Now listen to me. Up until this time the people believed in a
resurrection. Up until this time they didn’t have a resurrection. But now they
have a resurrection. Job has come out of the ground. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,
Sarah, Rebekah, the chosen ones of God have risen. Daniel, David, all those
great ones of God have gone up. See? There is a resurrection, based on the fact
that Jesus is risen.
Now they came and said to Paul, “Well, there’s no
resurrection.”
He said, “You now have nothing left except a vain religion.”
24. Now, what am I talking this way for? He’s
appeared once more. [Bro. Vayle points to the picture of the Pillar of Fire.]
What for? The prelude to the Resurrection! Now, listen; if that’s true, there’s
got to be a resurrection—and not too far away. See?
Now, let me tell you this: if that doesn’t hold good, then
there isn’t any resurrection, because God lied. Oh, you’ll hear people will
say, “Well, William Branham, he just followed a guy named [William] Sowders who
was with the school of the prophets. And Sowders was a great apostle.”
I want to tell you Bro. Branham categorically told me he was
not with that bunch, and God forbade him to go to the conventions. And yet,
they’ll say Sowders stood in the
I’m sick and tired of these mealy-mouthed, double talking
individuals. Don’t you give way for five seconds to your faith. If you go to
hell, go to hell. Stand like a man or a woman. You show me anybody who’s got
vindication. If this is not a preface to the Resurrection, then what does it
mean? [Bro. Vayle points to the picture of the Pillar of Fire.] See? God spoke
out of turn somewhere. They’ve annulled the integrity of Almighty God.
As I’ve said many times, somebody will come and say, “Well,
Lee Vayle said he’s going to give each one of you a hundred dollar bill.”
And you say, “Well, I want my hundred dollar bill.”
Say, “Well, what do you mean?”
“Well, there’s an old fellow named John Bush that said that
you’re going to give us a hundred dollar bill.”
I said, “John Bush is a liar. You‘re not getting a hundred
dollar bill. In fact, you’re a nuisance; so, get out of here.”
25. Do you think I’m going to let you take my
name and use it over a lie? Do you think that God will allow His Name over a
lie? You better have your ears unplugged, brother/sister, your brains picked
and your heart bathed in the Blood of Jesus Christ. You are insane and devil
possessed. Let me tell you now: you don’t know the first thing about God. You
can curse His Name, and you can get by with it—until the Judgment Day.
A lot of things you can do. You can be offended. You can
rape. You can murder. You can destroy. You can lie. You can pillage. You can
act like a good fellow and be nothing but a miserable hypocrite! But you try to do what William Branham did in the
Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, let me see you do it. They make me sick. I could
vomit. Something’s wrong, and it’s not with us.
Oh sure, they call us a cult and zealots, as though we got to
say these things to protect their own faith. I don’t say anything to protect my
faith. God protected His Own faith. Didn’t have a thing to do with it. I can’t
understand people. This is the age where you understand God. That’s you’ll
notice Bro. Branham was always going back to Eph
26. Listen, “God
is in man,” paragraph 9.
[9] God is in
man. (Now watch this. This is another tricky one: “God is
in man.”) And He’s identifying Himself today in His church. (Now you see, the tricky part is the next line.)
In the borned-again Christian, God identifies Himself, that He remains God. And
the outside world will only know God as they see God in you and me. That’s the
only way that they’ll know God, is when we are written epistles, epistles of
the Scripture, we are read of all men. And the life that we live reflects
what’s on the inside of us. A man is identified by the works that he does. So,
our works should be good (See?), always good, because we are representing our
Lord Jesus Christ.
Now you can take that and say, “Well, there you are right
there. Bro. Branham is putting Christ at the disposal of everybody; and see, he
was not literally ever to be what people claimed him to be, because he puts it
all back in the church.”
Nonsense. Don’t ever believe that nonsense. “Heb 13:8,” categorically, Bro. Branham
said, “is Genesis 18.” That’s that!
That’s that! [Bro. Vayle points to
both pictures: the Pillar of Fire and the Cloud] Not you and not me.
27. Not us. No sir. It’s also Jn 14:12, “Greater
works than these shall he do.” Not ‘they’ do, but ‘he’. “He that believeth.”
And it’s going to be a special kind of a believer. Why was Abraham a special
kind of believer? Because God chose him! He didn’t choose anybody else, and He
knocked everybody else away from Abraham. Abraham couldn’t get going for God,
until He knocked everybody off. His uncle and everybody else had to die and get
out of the picture. And
28. Now Heb 13:8, Gen
18, Jn
(1) Do we begin to commend ourselves? or need
we, as some others, epistles of commendation to you, or letters of
commendation?
(2) (You) are our epistle written in our hearts,
known and read of all men:
(3) Forasmuch as (you) are manifestly declared
to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with
the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of
the heart.
Now that’s what he’s quoting from. He said, You are the
living epistles read and known of all men.
29. Now he says:
[9] See, our
works should be good. We’re identified by our works. We’re representing Jesus
Christ, our Lord.
All right, that’s all very good. But now, let’s go back and
read Matthew 10 and get some Scriptures lined up. Now Paul said, “You are our
epistles read and known of all men.” Now remember, he said, “You may have many
teachers, but you’ve only got one Father, for I have begotten you in the
Gospel.” So, the ones that are written epistles of Paul are those begotten in
his Gospel. And it was his Gospel that was fought. So, in Mat
(25) It is enough for the disciple(s) that he
(shall) be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the
master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his
household?
Now Jesus is telling them right there, “If they call me
Beelzebub, and you identify with me, you are the devil!” Now, Paul the apostle
says the same thing. “They call me of the devil; I’m a heretic. Then, they’re
going to call you heretics!” Now then, if they call William Branham of the
devil and a false prophet, then you and I are of the devil and false prophets.
So, I don’t care what you do. You can go lick their boot straps, you can kiss
their toes, you can fondle them like a dog on his belly, and say, “Woof, woof,
woof” for your tidbits! As long as you believe what you believe, you‘re nothing
according to them.
So, if they call William Branham this, what are they going to
call you? Don’t think for one minute, brother/sister, that you are identified
anywhere else but except in William Branham. You say, “I’m identified in
Christ.” Are you? I agree, from what channel? What’s your wavelength? How you
coming in? that you can say these things? that you’re identified? There’s only
one way: that is by vindication. All right.
30. Let’s go to John 15. There’s some good news
also in John 15. The Book is just full of this good news; I’m talking about
tonight. In fact it’s loaded. Jn 15:18-21:
(18) If the world hate you, (they) know that it
hated me before it hated you. (God and the prophets.)
(19) If (you) were of the world, the world would
love his own: but because (you’re) not of the world, but I have chosen you out
of the world, therefore the world hate(s) you.
(20) Remember the word that I said unto you, The
servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will
also persecute you; if (they’ve) kept my saying(s), (they’ll also) keep your
(sayings).
(21) But all these things will they do unto you for
my name’s sake, because they (knew) not him that sent me.
Now what is a sent person? He’s a messenger! So, they turned
down the Message. Remember the man that kept sending the emissary? He sent the
emissary to the men that he left his kingdom to, and they beat him up, and they
killed him. “Well,” he said, “I’ll send my son.” And they killed him, too. For
every good letter of good news they destroyed it and sent and murdered the
person involved. All right.
31. Now, let’s go even further. We’re going back
to 2 Corinthians again. That’s a good place to go to. Let’s read
about it. It’s in 2 Cor 3:1-18. But we read the letters, he said, “Your letters
in the fleshy tables of the heart,” he said, “You’re my letters.” [2 Corinthians
3]
(4) And such trust have we through Christ to
God-ward:
(5) Not that we (think) sufficient of ourselves
to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is (with) God;
(6) Who also hath made us able ministers of the
new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth,
but the spirit giveth life.
Now, what’s he talking about? The mistranslation of the Old
Testament as pertaining to Christ in the New! That’s what he’s talking about.
(7) But if the ministration of death, written
and engraven in stones, was glorious, (See, that’s what we’re looking at.) the
children of
(8) How shall not the ministration of the spirit
be (even more) glorious?
(9) For if the ministration of condemnation be
glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.
(10) For even that which was made glorious had no
glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth.
(11) For if that which is done away was glorious,
much more that which remaineth is glorious.
(12) Seeing then we have such plainness of hope, we
use great plainness of speech: (Notice, he’s back to talking.)
(13) And not as Moses, which put a veil over his
face, that the children of
In other words they didn’t want to know when the glory left
Moses, so they put a veil on his face! Put it in the hour today!
32. Pentecost and denominations have put a veil
on the revelation of God that they had, and they said, “This is it.” Yet they
know it’s not going to bring the true glory. They know what they’ve got is
faded. They’re looking at Pentecost right now, and the Roman Catholics say, “We
boo-booed.” The Lutherans say, “We boo-booed.” Methodists say, “We boo-booed.”
When are they going to say, “We boo-booed?” When it’s too late! See, they’re
doing the same thing. They don’t dare look to where they were going.
Would you tell a Lutheran, “Hey, you that started…?”
He said, “We’re the start and the finish, bless God.”
You talk to Methodism. “We’re the start and finish, bless
God.”
Pentecost. “We’re all of it.”
They don’t understand. They can’t see what we’re talking
about.
33. Now, verse 14:
(14) But their minds were blinded: for until this
day remaineth the same veil untaken away in the reading of the old testament;
which veil (was) done away in Christ.
(15) But even unto this day, when Moses read, the
(veil’s) upon their heart.
(16) Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord,
(That’s the mind and the heart.) the veil shall be taken away. (But they can’t
do it.)
(17) Now the Lord is that Spirit: where the Spirit
of the Lord is, there is liberty.
(18) But we all, with open face beholding as in a
glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to
glory, as by the Spirit of (God).
And Bro. Branham talked about the glory of Luther and of Wesley
and of Pentecost, but this glory doesn’t fade, because we don’t put a veil on
it! We just keep going on and on and on, piling Word upon Word! One day, when
we’re completely saturated by this Word, the spirit of life will take hold,
there will be a resurrection, there’ll be a people changed. If you and I don’t
make it, somebody will.
34. Let’s keep reading. [2 Cor 4:1]
(1) Therefore seeing we have this ministry (of
doing this very thing)…
Now he’s talking about living epistles read and known of all
men! Then, there’s got to come a
time when immortality strikes this earth! Absolutely. If you’re going to be
living epistles, read and known of all men, whether they can read or not, you’d
better be the epistle. How are you going to be, when it comes time for this?
Got to get all the things out of your mind—all the channels unclogged.
(1) (Now we’ve) received this (ministry), we
faint not; (We’ve got the mercy.)
(2) But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty,
not walking in craftiness, (not) handling the word of God deceitfully; but by
manifestation of truth…
God Himself proving the truth. Only through this do we say we
commend ourselves and say, “Brethren, listen to me.” Did Bro. Branham ever say,
“Listen to me?” as though listen to
him?
Have I ever said, “Listen to me” as though “Listen to me”?
That’s not it at all. There is a manifestation that struck
the land—a vindication that tells you, “Listen, get in or get out. It’s your
business.”
35. Now, watch.
(3) But if our gospel be hid, (it’s) hid to them
that are lost:
(4) In whom the god of this world hath blinded
the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of
Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
(5) For we preach not ourselves, but Christ
Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.
(6) For God, who commanded the light to shine
out of darkness, hath shined in (to) our hearts, to give the light of the
knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
(7) But we have this treasure in earthen
vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
In other words Paul said, “You know I couldn’t produce this.
No man could do what’s being done.” William Branham, the same way. Jesus, the
same way. Moses, the same way. Right through history; it’s been a vindication
by God to prove who has the truth!
36. Then, who is the epistle? Let’s find out. 2
Corinthians 11.
(1) Would to God (you) could bear with me a
little in my folly: indeed bear with me.
(2) I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: I
have espoused you to one husband (the espousal of the living epistles), that I
may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. (You’ve got one Father, but many
teachers. Now, listen:)
(3) But I fear, lest by any means, as the
serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds (like Eve’s mind)
should be corrupted from the simplicity (that’s) in Christ.
The Gospel that will give you immortality! They lost It! Then
they got to get back to It! All right.
37. Let’s go to Acts 24. Bro. Branham used this
Scripture also. Acts 24:14 here:
(14) But this I confess unto thee, that after the
way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all
things which are written in the law and in the prophets:
But he said, “I don’t have a veil upon my mind. I don’t have
the traditions there. It’s been ripped off. And I can see the truth.”
Now, what am I trying to tell you here? Let’s go back to
Matthew 7, which is also Matthew 24, so we have it. [Mt 7:15.]
(15) Beware of false prophets, which come to you in
sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
(16) (You) shall know them by their fruits. Do men
gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
(17) Even so every good tree bringeth forth good
fruit; (and) a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
He’s talking about false prophets who bring you a false word.
Many will come in that day and say, “Haven’t we done all of these things?”
“Everything you have done I admit and positively endorse
everything that was done, because it was done by my Spirit, but I do not
endorse you! I never knew you.” All right.
38. Let’s go to 1 John 3. I’m going to
bring the whole thing together and quit. If you don’t know what I’m aiming at,
you should, because you’ve heard me teach many, many years. 1 Jn 3:11:
(11) For this is the message (we) have heard from
the beginning, that (you) should love one another.
Don’t mistake that Cain was ever a brother. Now he’s talking
about brethren. But he knew there was wise and foolish virgin. He knew there
was false ones amongst us. They all knew that. Now watch:
(12) Not as Cain, (Brethren, don’t do what Cain
did.) who was of (the) wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he
him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.
Birds of a feather flock together! The serpent seed will kill
the righteous! The serpent seed will hate the Word of God revealed! The foolish
virgin ignore it! One who doesn’t have the Word, never had a part of the Word,
doesn’t want a part of the Word, is a pretender and a mocker. The foolish
virgin is saved, but she hasn’t got the Word that will hold the oil! That’s her
trouble; she doesn’t have the Word.
39. Now, let’s go back to Bro. Branham now. Let’s
read it again.
[9] God is in
man. (What man?
Well, the one) He’s identifying
Himself in His church (in the church and to the
church). In the borned-again Christian God identifies Himself,
that He remains God.
Does He really? Can you buy that from a blank statement Bro.
Branham made and not understand what I’m trying to show you, which tape after
tape showed the same thing: that nobody had what William Branham had? And he
didn’t try to make himself anybody. He just had what God gave him! And he’s
going to stand up and declare it—tell the people what he had. They made him a
false prophet, but was he? Hah! God has such integrity to back a false prophet
like William Branham and, then, let these other wonderful people down?
Incredible.
If Rockefeller had an open purse, and I saw his son going
around with John’s signature on it, cashing great, big, fat checks, and
somebody else with run down shoes, runny nose, straggled hair, say, “I’m John
D’s son. Look at me; look at me!”
I’d say, “Get out of here you cheap crook! I’m going where
the money is.”
They can’t produce anything, but they claim they’re somebody.
Forget them, brother/sister. Listen, it’s going to get rough before it’s over.
Don’t worry. The squeeze will come down. You just give yourself a bit of time.
You know what? Their deeds are evil. What deeds? Worshipping
God apart from a true revelation! He said to Cain, He said, “Your sacrifice is
good. Sure, you offered well. But what happened to you? You didn’t divide the
Word of God,” and to be approved of God you must divide the Word of God,
because God said so. And Bro. Branham said, “There’s
a Word for every age.” You think people want to believe that? No. You think
the Lutherans want to believe it? the Catholics want to believe it?
Brother/Sister, let me tell you, they are so dead it’s pitiful. You know why?
We’re right. The prophet of God alone was right and said, “If we’re not Bride, there’s a Bride out there somewhere.” That’s
the difference between pride and ignorance and humility. See that’s the
trouble.
40. Let’s keep reading again.
[9] The
outside world will only know God as they see God in you and me.
Well, they see God in these people here that are doing the
same works that Bro. Branham did! What is it all about? The Word! And the Word
is here, and He’s the Judge. It’s the judging Word! “God in His Word,”
synonymous. Will this church learn that? Or be deceived like churches around us
who let this one come in from Chicago and talk about “The Rhema and the Logos.”
Then, he tries to lead them by the nose, making Bro. Branham wrong.
Let me tell you, the Rhema and the Logos is one and the same
thing, except Logos is Rhema in a manifestation. And as soon as the
manifestation’s over, you treat Rhema the same as the Logos; (Right!) the way
the prophet read the Word and handled It.
You can be fooled, if you want to be fooled. I know what the
prophet said.
And I’m not contradicting William Branham. I’m trying to show
and explain to you: William Branham never ever did say to anybody to try to
follow his footsteps. Leo Mercer had a dream or a vision. He saw Bro. Branham
on the top of a mountain, and he climbed above it. Then he saw, when he got
there, there’s like a flying saucer, great light, and Bro. Branham in there,
and Leo tried to come. He said, “Leo
don’t do it. It’s foreordained who’s to come up here. You cannot come up here!”
And he spoke of those prophets: those men who tried to follow Moses, the
king who reached out his hand as though he’s a priest, and so on. He condemned
every one.