Trees, Books, and Fountains
# 12
(The First-born;
First-fruits
Bro. Lee Vayle
Aug.5, 1989
Heavenly Father, we know that You’re
here in the form of the Holy Spirit tonight.
We realize that; we appreciate it.
We’re like the disciples, the people of old, who knew their hearts were
strangely warmed, although at that time they didn’t know. Then, they knew and they were glad to know
where that warm feeling came from, where that intimacy came from. Something about You, Lord, that made them
feel that there was something in them.
And we appreciate that, because that’s how we are tonight, Lord.
We’re depending on You to help
us. We give You our hearts, our minds,
our very souls, and, trust also, the fullness of our body. Our very lives, Lord, to You, that we might
indeed be tabernacles of the living God; we might do Your will; we might be
living epistles; we might be known, Lord, not so much of men, but known of You,
Father. Although, we would hope that men
might know something also. At least they
would know, as far as they are concerned, that we are very strange people (very
peculiar, very different) from how we worship, O God.
Which we’re very grateful that You
brought us that place of worship just, we know, the same as when
Now, tonight we’re looking at Fountains
again. And last Sunday, you’ll remember
that we read especially from Zech 13:1, concerning “the fountain opened for sin
and uncleanness unto the house of David”.
Now, from this Scripture, dealing from the aspect of the cleansing of
the Blood of Jesus Christ, we went, then, back to the Book of Exodus, to the
shedding of the lamb, which blood was shed in order to escape the death of the
first-born from dying and staying behind in Egypt.
Now, we’ll read, then, Zech 13:1:
(1) In that
day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the
inhabitants of
And in Ex 11:1-7:
(1) And the
LORD said unto Moses, Yet will I bring one plague more upon pharaoh, and upon
And you know, of course, that’s the
plague of death. And it’s typical for
the last hour. The last plague that’s
going to hit is death. We’re seeing
evidence of it, of course, in the physical.
(2) Speak now
in the ears of the people, and let every man borrow of his neighbour (that’s
simpy, ask and get from the neighbor), and every woman of her neighbour, jewels
of silver, and jewels of gold.
(3) And the
LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover the man Moses was very great in the
(4) And Moses
said, Thus saith the LORD, About midnight will I go out into the midst of
(5) And all
the firstborn in the
(6) And there
shall be a great cry throughout all the
(7) But
against any of the children of
Now, of course, you’re looking at a
type, here, of the Exodus. And after the Exodus comes the great Tribulation
where, you’ll notice, the first-born of
And you’ll notice, also, he mentions
the beast. And that’s exactly as Bro.
Branham said to you: that
Now, this reading from Exodus, we
found to be particularly of interest to us for several reasons ( and we’ll just
give you some of those):
#1)
It was given for the purpose of separating one nation under God from the midst
of another nation that was not under God.
You’ll notice that. And remember, we are also a holy nation, a
royal priesthood -- a nation of kings and priests dedicated unto God. And we are under God, and we have a particular
lineage. And our lineage, of course, is
the lineage of Almighty God. And to us
has been given the Pillar of Fire and the prophet. And you’ll notice that the lineage … and
first-born speaks of lineage. Always the
speaking of lineage. You notice, Jacob
spoke of Ruben. He spoke of his
power. And this nation,
Now, because there’s a little
misunderstanding as to exactly what happens at the end-time in comparison to
what happened at the time of Noah and the rejection of God … and that’s not
just a type but a picture of, and a duplication of the type of the very extreme
disregard for God -- going into idolatry, all of these things. People have maybe not got a proper
understanding of what really takes place at the end-time as regards to the
wrath of God coming upon the world at the very time that we have the type of
the Exodus -- or the Exodus being fulfilled unto us -- and at the same time we
have these types of the days of Noah, as well as the time of Moses, Jannes and
Jambres.
Now, in Romans 1 (to just get you into
this thought, here), it said:
(18) For the
wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness (they turn it
down);
(19) Because
that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewd it unto
them.
(20) For the
invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being
understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so
that they are without excuse.
(21) Because
that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful;
but became vain in their imaginations (their reasonings), and their foolish
heart was darkened.
(22) Professing
themselves to be (sophists), they became fools
(23) And
changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to
corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
God gave them over to these vile
affections, and all this terrible immorality that you see today. Now, this does not repeat at the end-time in
the sense of the rejection of God, the exodus, the world going into complete
idolatry and sinfulness. They don’t go
into the worshipping of beasts and images.
Although we have images that are supposed to be representations of the
saints of God, and Mary and so on, like that.
The Catholic Church is full of it.
But, of course, they just tell you what it represents. So, we’ll let that go. But watch what it says
in Col 3:5-7:
(5) Mortify
therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness,
inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
(6) For which
things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:
(7) In the
which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.
Okay, now, you’ll see the immorality
coming upon the earth. So, let’s go to 2
Timothy 3, and see the idolatry that is brought to our attention.
(1) This know
also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
(2) For men
shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemous,
disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
(3) Without
natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce,
despisers of those that are good,
(4) Traitors,
heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
Now, notice in there, you don’t find
one thing about four-footed beasts. You
don’t find anything about very strange types of idolatry. You don’t find that. You’re finding a people who are worshipping
God. But notice what they’re like:
(5) Having a
form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
(6) For of
this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden
with sins, led away with divers lusts,
(7) Ever
learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
(8) Now as
Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of
corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.
So, you’ll notice in here, this is
woven right into our exodus, because it goes right back to Moses. And, you’ll notice, they’re not going to
four-footed animals and beasts and things that they worship that are inanimate;
they go into another area. Now watch, in
2 Peter 2, you see the same thing:
(1) But there
were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false
teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying
the LORD that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
Now, this follows Matthew 24. In Matthew 24, the warning is: there are
going to be false prophets. And a false
prophet is one who was false to the Word of God but could do almost the same
thing that any genuine prophet can do.
Now, he cannot have the vindication of a prophet that God gave to Moses
and to Paul and to William Branham -- he can’t have that. But he can have signs, wonders, and miracles
and gifts. And you notice what happens …
because these people, here (these prophets that are false, in Matthew 24),
themselves cannot be vindicated as were Paul and Moses and Bro. Branham, they,
then, have teachers who vindicate them.
They’ll have the teachers come behind.
(See?) Now …
(1) (They’ll)
bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring
upon themselves swift destruction.
Now, that tells you right there,
they’ll even deny the very Lord that bought them. Now, how in the world are they going to do
that? Because they’re casting out devils
in the Name of Jesus Christ, they’re religious people, they’re very fine
Christians. They’re like James Watt -- what was he? … the secretary of the
Interior under Mr. Regan -- and he got booted out. Now he’s been a very wonderful Pentecostal,
tongue-talking Christian. And he bilked
what? …?… for roughly 600,000 dollars.
Wonderful Christian! You just
can’t beat him. I’m sure they talked in
tongues all the way to the bank. [Laughter]
Listen, I’ve got a bow and arrow for those guys. So, if you have sympathy, I appreciate you
having sympathy. And you should talk
nice, but don’t ask me to. Don’t ask me
to. I know Pentecostals. I know what’s going on. It’s right here in the Bible. [Bro. Vayle thumps …?… ] Do you believe that’s the Lord Jesus
Christ? Bro. Branham said it was. That’s the picture [Bro. Vayle points to
…] What do you think they think it
is? And do you know who backs them up? Their teachers. Their organization. They’re not one bit different from the Roman
Catholic church of which Polycarp said , when from the voice thundered …
actually repeated the voice that thundered from heaven, “Leave her alone
(concerning Ephraim). She is joined to
her idols”. A man in his nineties [who]
went all the way to
Now, anybody can [be] nicer than me,
but you can’t be nicer than God. And
that’s where the whole church is today: they’re nicer than God. Kind old priest … Bro. Branham preached the
‘kind old priest’ sermon. Everybody
thought, “Well, that cantankerous stupid little
(2) And many
shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be
evil spoken of.
“The way of truth”… Whose truth? Jesus’.
“I am the way, the truth and the life”.
Psalm 103 tells you they never did learn the ways of God. They just saw His acts.
(3) And
through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you ( a
million more in ’54): whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and
their damnation slumbereth not.
And then it tells you about the days
of Noah. It tells you about
Then it goes on telling you more. You can read it [2 Peter 2] all to yourself
because it’s the whole chapter, there. That’s
what they go into at the very end-time. Because why? They rejected the blood … now listen: they
rejected the blood which was based upon miraculous vindicated ministry. Just the same as the people today reject the
Holy Ghost, reject the revelation of the Word, because they reject the true
vindication and they take their own. The
separation of
#2) Formerly, in the Old Testament, we saw
the blood offered up for individuals, or a family (like in the time of Job, who
offered for his family). But in this
event, it was for all
Now, if you want to turn in your
Bibles, you’ll see something quite exciting.
It’s over here in the third chapter of Ephesians where Paul is speaking
of the grace of God extended to the Gentiles, as it says, “In Abraham, all the
seed, all the children of God should be blessed”. He’s speaking of Abraham, and his children
which are the Gentiles. And beginning at
verse 13, he said [Ephesians 3]:
(13) Wherefore
I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you (Gentiles), which is your
glory.
(14) For this
cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
(15) Of whom
the whole family in heaven and earth is named.
As you see, the family, here --
So you notice, here, this family … the
great Father, the great Head of the family.
Remember, Bro. Branham had that vision.
When he began to ostracize and criticize in his heart the woman who was
actually a seed of God (as far as we can understand from Bro. Branham’s
vision), and he saw a circle of blood around the earth. And [It] said, “Now, there you are. Except for that circle of blood, you would be
destroyed, too. Why are you criticizing
her?”
So, we see the efficacy and the power
of the Blood. It is not just to the
individual who has the Blood upon his heart (so-to-speak), in reference to your
being born-again -- you receive the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, the Word
of Almighty God knowing therefore you’re a child of God. But now, the whole family … in fact, all the
families of the earth can be taken out of here in a wonderful rapture. It is now to the place of John 17, the
sanctifying Word, the sanctifying Blood, the sanctifying Spirit -- all of it,
three in one -- has now come together in order to get us out of here. The same as God took
#3) It was given to protect the first-born.
We’ll talk about the first-born a
little later on, as we read in Hebrews and come to the resurrection. It was given, therefore, to protect the
first-born, guaranteeing his life, so he would not stay behind the Exodus in
death and fail to replenish the earth or the
So, the first-born were given a
lineage. They’re given the rights to
take the family name and to go down through the generations … and in this
particular case, now, was to enter over into the Promised Land. And you know, whether you want to believe it
or not (and I’m sure you do believe it), you understand that we are the last
ones that are born-again. We are the
last ones in the lineage. And the
strange thing is, we’re going to be standing right here when all our
predecessors will not be, but yet they will be as they come up. And we’ll be going into the Promised Land
together -- all a part of the great first-born of Almighty God who take the
lineage.
Even as Abraham, we take our lineage
from Jesus Christ because, although we have a natural election, it is not a
natural election the same as
#
4) The ceremonial rite was never to be repeated
again except as a memorial.
The ceremonial rite of slaying the
sheep, and striking the blood upon the door-posts and the lintels was never to
be done again. Never repeated. It was only as a memorial that the blood
could be utilized in that respect of the Exodus. Notice: for no king of
Now, we notice that some kings did
make alliances with
Now, perhaps, the most pertinent
information we find, then, is this that we’re looking at: (# 1) the Passover
rite was for the guarantee of the life of the first-born … the guarantee of the
life of the first-born. They, of
necessity, had to come out and then go in.
And the others would follow in their places -- generation after generation. Even as the Church Ages for seven ages in the
Old and seven in the New have done the same thing. It took an initial act of some people of God
in order to lay a foundation to perpetuate what God had in mind. And then generation upon generation, age upon
age, until the final ones were brought in.
It would then constitute the entire
So, you see what we are dealing
with. We are dealing positively with the
first-born. And the first-born, in the
sense now, of course, we look at us, we say, “Well that’s the Life of the Holy
Ghost brought down by the Word”. And
that’s true. It is evident that in the
plan of God, if there were no first-born to go into this land which God has --
His ultimate -- the whole purpose and plan of God, then, would be
terminated. God did not, for one minute,
want to build a city. That wasn’t
it. That’s not true. If anybody thinks that God wanted a city,
that’s not what He wanted. He only
wanted a city for the people. The
ultimate was a people that He
predestinated. And in the
predestination, as a Father, He had the utmost all lined up for them. So, therefore, the first-born had to go
in. There had to be definitely a coming
out of somebody in order to start the ball rolling. That’s exactly why we have a foundation built
upon the apostles and the prophets of the Seven Church Ages. And remember, it is a platform that it was
built upon. The
So, there had to be a coming out. And we are built upon that very thing. Then, if built upon it, it means that
whatever they had as the Life, every successive generation until the last
generation is brought in, and they all go in under the same guarantee -- all
brought under the Blood, all motivated by the Holy Spirit, all kept by the same
God. As the first-born sons were the
begetting fathers’ strength, and the perpetuators of his [their?] seed, and the
possessors of the inheritance, so these must go into the Kingdom for the
Look what it says in Eph 1:3-4 … (you
can see for yourself):
(3) Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all
spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
(4) According
as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world (See, there’s
your first-born -- the first-born from the dead, the first ones to go in), that
we should be holy and without blame before him …
(5) (In love)
having predestinated us unto the (placing) of children by Jesus Christ to
himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
(6) To the
praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the
beloved.
(7) In whom
we have redemption …
And so on, until it gets down to verse
eleven:
(11) In whom
also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the
purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will;
It was God Who said, “I’m going to
have a Kingdom of My sons and My daughters, and here is what it’s going to be
like.” And somebody had to start
it. Now, remember, when Adam fell from
it, it took blood for to get him back on the trail. (See?)
Now, you couldn’t stop the fact he was going to die before he was a
thousand years of age. But it did
restore the fact of the communion that God had with him. Didn’t have it the way he once had it, but
he’s going to have it again at the end-time, just like you and me.
Now, it was the shedding of blood, and
the placing of the blood just prior to the Exodus that was this guarantee. And that’s the way you have it today. Bro. Branham mentions the Token. He said, “You don’t have the Blood anymore. What you do, you have the Holy Spirit
Himself, because our Token is the Lord Jesus Christ”. And so, therefore, we apply the understanding
of what has happened in this hour. We
have faith in exactly what has happened: that God came down to bring forth His
children out of
Now also, we want to notice, here, in
Ex 12:12-13, 26-27 (which I’ll read), that God Himself was present and not only
brought His Own out in deliverance, but He stood watch and guard over them so
that Israel had full advantage of the blood, because the blood was merely a
token. Now, the blood wasn’t the real
thing. The blood was a token. So, let’s go back to Exodus and see that in
here, the 12th verse. And
we’re going to read [verses] 12 and 13:
(12) For I
will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the
firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of
Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD.
(13) And the
blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where (you) are: and when I
see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to
destroy you, when I smite the land …
Now, with that we read [verses] 26 and
27:
(26) And it
shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this
service? (See, it’s a memorial.)
(27) That ye
shall say, It is the sacrifice of the LORD’S passover, who passed over the
houses of the children of
So, what you’re looking at, you’re
seeing God laying down, here, as a memorial.
It couldn’t take place again.
There’s no way, because it couldn’t go on back. And so, we see here … what you’re looking at,
here, is the fact that God Himself was present in order to watch over them as
He was smiting. Now, there you see the
law, again, of the parallelism of Scripture.
With every blessing there is a curse and [with] every curse there is a
blessing.
Now, let’s go to 2 Thess 1:7:
(7) And to
you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from
heaven with his mighty angels,
(8) In
flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the
gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:
(9) Who shall
be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and
from the glory of his power;
(10) When he
shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that
believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.
Remember, Bro. Branham in that great
vision beyond the curtain of time when he saw the people and he was accosted as
to what his actual ministry was, he said, “I preached what Paul preached.” And they said, “We are counting on that”.
Now, notice what I read to you over
here, then, in the 12th chapter [of Exodus]:
(26) [paraphrased] And the children will say, ‘What
does this service mean, this shedding of the blood and the ordinance thereof ?
(27) (And) ye
shall say, It is the sacrifice of the LORD’S passover, who passed over the
houses of the children of
In other words, it is the night that
God stood guard. It’s the night that God
Himself delivered His people. So you can
see what you’re looking at. You have got
to have the mind completely cleansed, reoriented (which is your redemption) to
understand that God never changes. He
always does exactly what He did. And
people don’t understand that God has to come on the scene and do the
delivering. They don’t understand.
That’s why Bro. Branham categorically
placed Jesus as an exodus, to lead the people out. It was by the shedding of Blood. This time it is not by the shedding of Blood, because the blood cannot be shed
again. But the same God comes down and leads His people
out. That’s not strange. What do you want for a spiritual nickel? Do you want to get God to change His mind and
change His Word? There’s no way that God
is ever going to do it. And you’ll see,
right here, that He comes right on and he says, “… with his mighty
angels”. (They’re ministers.) Came right down Himself in order to deliver
His people. God Himself was present, and
not only brought His Own deliverance, but stood watch, Himself, over
You’ve got the same thing right today
-- the Judge. That’s the mighty Judge,
right there [Bro. Vayle points to …]. He
came down and pronounced a sentence upon the world, which He must carry
out. (See?) But He’s got to deliver His Own first. Take them right out. Just as Abraham said … absolutely. He said, “Will the judge of all the earth,
the righteous God, destroy the righteous with the wicked?” He said, “Certainly not”.
Now, from these two particular points
of interest, we can draw a conclusion that the shed blood ceremony of the
Exodus types our day of deliverance.
Let’s take a look at it -- and this is fantastic!-- over here, in
Hebrews 12. Let’s start reading right
through [verses] 18-24, and you’re going to see it:
(18) For (you)
are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire,
nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest …
You’re not come unto that, so forget
it!
“Well, bless God, why doesn’t God do
something like He did back in that day, where there would be a mountain
burning, and this and that?”
Shut up!
He’s not going to do it.
“Well, I want to come to it.”
Well, go to hell!
That shocks you, doesn’t it? Do you think you’ve heard tough
preaching? Then listen to tough preaching. Be my guest, go on. Nobody needs you. You just think somebody needs you. Sit right with the destroyed. You are not going to tell God to duplicate
(19) … the
sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard
intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more:
He said, right there, “If I came on
the scene this way, you would not just turn your back on it, you would plead
with me not to do it!” Think it over …
think it over. You say, “Well, I’d be
different”. Bro. Branham said, “The
minute you say that, proves you would be the one that crucified Christ”. “If I was back there, bless God”… said those
false accusers, those false prophets -- Caiphas and that whole bunch of
renegades -- they said, “Bless God, if we had been back there, we wouldn’t have
killed the prophets”. He said,
“There! You just condemned yourself by
your own words. Fill up the cup of
iniquity, until I blot you off the earth!”
Absolutely. But you’re not come
to that.
(20) For they
could not endure that which was commanded.
And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or
thrust through with a dart: (You’re not given that commandment.)
(21) (Even Moses
was so nonplussed by the sight, that he) said, I exceedingly fear and quake:
(22) But (you)
are come unto
(23) To the
general assembly and church of the firstborn
… (Of the going in, having come out under the blood, led by God Himself!)
So, now you’re stuck. I can’t touch it, I can’t feel it, I can’t
smell it. I can’t tell what God is going
to do. My spiritual senses, my spiritual
integrity -- everything about me is cut off, and I am left as a person
stranded. What am I going to do? I’m going to have to search the Bible and
find out how God ever did anything. In
continuity, going back to the beginning (See?), He used the prophet. So, you’ve got to start looking for a prophet
who doesn’t have all of these things as though he’s going to take you right
there and says, “Feel, taste, touch, smell … this, that”, and lead you right in
where you’re going to stand there and see it all as though you could see it.
Now, notice:
(24) And to
Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that
speaketh better things than that of Abel.
Here …?…
(18) (You) are
not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor
unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, (No!
You’re not come to that).
(21) And so
terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I (quake exceedingly).
So, what is it? You now have Sinai and Moses. Okay, [verse]22:
(22) But (you)
are come unto
(23) To the
general assembly (of) … the firstborn … (in all of it)
Now watch, in verse 25:
(25) See that
ye refuse not him that speaketh …
Sinai and Moses. New Jerusalem and who?
“Aah! Pope … good old Pope John. Must be the Pope”.
Nah.
Un-unh.
“Well, at least the president of the
general assembly of the Assemblies of God -- the great poobahs in
Nah.
Nope … nope.
Don’t you understand? If Sinai deserved a Moses, how much more does
the New Jerusalem deserve a prophet of even a greater caliber ? And hold your horses, right now, because John
the Baptist was even greater than Moses.
Sinai and Moses. New Jerusalem
and who? You can say what you want, but
there’s only one that can do. That’s Rev
10:7. And there’s only one in the whole
Bible that’s ear-marked. And that’s
somebody with the Spirit of Elijah. And
whether you like it or I like it or anybody else likes it, Elijah has to
identify himself. Then [be] witnessed to
by Jesus. That lets out the Pope and the
Pentecostals, and the whole bunch. God
…[in/and]?…His prophet. The first-born,
all under the Blood, and the Headship of the Token, which is Jesus Christ, the
righteous.
Now, let’s go to some Scripture, the
Book of Colossians. We’re going to read
Col 1:12-18:
(12) Giving
thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the
inheritance of the saints in light.
(13) Who hath
delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the
kingdom of his dear Son:
(14) In whom
we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: (The
baptism with the Holy Ghost and all the coming glory of the Kingdom is based
upon the Blood of whom?)
(15) Who is (this
Son of God) the image of the invisible God, the firstborn (the first-born)
of every creature (and first-born means: a whole lot more like him).
(16) For by
him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible
and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or
powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
(17) And he is
before all things, and by him all things (are maintained).
(18) And he is
the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the
dead; that … he might have the preeminence.
First-born, first-born,
first-born. Okay, let’s go to 1Cor
15:20-23:
(20) But now
is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits …
First-born and first-fruits indicate
positively that he was the first one in this particular mode and manner. Nobody came before him, but many more can
come after him, because the first-fruit signifies ‘more to follow’. (See?)
First-born signifies life, giving a genealogy. (Right.)
First-fruit signifies a whole race just like him.
[End
of side One]
(20) …
firstfruits of them that slept (first-born, first-fruits)
(21) For since
by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
(22) For as in
Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
(23) But every
man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s
at his (parousia).
Until He came back, as He did there,
there was no way there could be a resurrection.
No way at all. There could not be.
Okay, now. Let’s go to James (right after the Book of
Hebrews). James 1:18:
(18) Of his
own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of
firstfruits of his creatures.
There you are: first-fruits and
first-born, absolutely one and the same.
Not a different person at all, but only concerning the position of the
person or the events. One has to do with
birth, and one has to do from out-resurrection from the dead. So, what I’m looking at is the first
resurrection, or ‘out-resurrection from amongst the dead’ -- even as
Now, as I said last Sunday, where was
this blood? It was not on the mercy
seat, but on the door posts and on the lintels.
Now, when the blood was on the door post and the blood went on the
lintels, at that time there was no true religion left in
Now, let’s look at Mt 26:28-29:
(28) For this
is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of
sins.
(29) But I say
unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day
when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.
Now, here absolutely was the promise that God gave
concerning this shedding of the Blood, the same as Jesus was in an exodus to
bring his people out. So, Bro. Branham
categorically had his exodus exactly right, though until you see and understand
this, you cannot place Jesus in that exodus.
But he was in an exodus, and he had an exodus. And he brought them out in order to take them
in. And it was the Blood that was
efficacious. And there, there would be a
memorial to it. Now listen: It was at
that particular time that there was nothing left in
Now, listen carefully. And I’m going to now illustrate different
from what I illustrated last week. But you can take Scripture and use it a
hundred different ways. It doesn’t
matter, as long as you’re applying it in the sense of the understanding. Because, we’re not creating a doctrine; we’re
showing you what the Bible distinctly says, “All of these things are examples
to us”. So, I’m using it as an
understanding to help us. Now, listen
carefully: the two door posts are actually two pillars and, therefore, part of
the foundation. Is that true, or is it
not true? It’s true … you people that
build houses. It’s right. The door posts rest on the foundation. As Bro. Branham said, “The pillars of the church are part of
the foundation”. It’s
right. All right … and the lintel is the
beam above the pillars, and carries the weight of the super structure.
Now, we’re not building several-story
houses. We are building a house. And the house of God, what form is it? Tell me.
Is it a two-story house? Does it
have four corners? Does it have
els? It’s a pyramid … it’s a pyramid. Now, when you get so far up … and the lintels
are pillars, that’s what they are. You
can go to your dictionary, go to your Bible.
Forms a door, and at the top is a lintel which now becomes a
flange. And the flange is the place that
seals off the whole structure, waiting for a capstone. Now, I’m talking not about the houses you’re
building. No, not about your buildings,
which are split-levels and tri-levels, and everything under God’s high
heaven. (I’ve got a basement, even, with
subterranean passages.) We’re not
talking about that. We’re talking about
the building of God. And we’re talking
about the pillars. We’re talking about
the lintel. And we’re talking about the
fact of the blood. We’re talking about
the fact [that] when this happens there isn’t any more religion left that’s
worth a plug nickel.
We’re talking about [that] nobody else
is going to come into the promised land.
Foolish virgins do not make the Bride of the New Jerusalem. They bring their glory in, like farmers on
the outside, and workers. You’re talking
of a sealed-off building. So, we have,
then, the door posts which are the pillars and the lintel. And they are positively covered by the
Blood. Absolutely. From the very foundation from the first
person born-again, there had to be the shedding of the Blood, consequently, to
bring about the baptism with the Holy Ghost.
So, we see here in perfect type, the Holy Spirit coming up from the very
beginning right to the top by the Word.
So that Jesus Christ himself, bodily, can sit upon it. But before he does, there must be that
flange, which is the Holy Spirit in the Word of the last day. We’re seeing it a hundred percent in type.
Let’s see this in Ephesians 4; it
tells you that -- speaking concerning the ministry, Holy Ghost coming through
the Word by a five-fold ministry. A lot
of people don’t believe in a five-fold ministry. They say [that] this, that, is taken out. How can you take from the Word of God and not
have your name taken out of the Book?
I’m not telling you that because I’m mad at anybody. This is what bugs me! All the time I hear [that] I’ve got such a
rotten spirit. My spirit would be wonderful
if I kissed people’s feet who disagreed with these -- “Oh yes, you’re
right. Yes, you’re right” -- and compromise
my soul. I won’t compromise my soul, and
kiss somebody’s feet! You…if you want
to, go ahead and do it! I’ll meet you
before God and …?… like meeting you right now.
If I’ve got to have a sweet spirit and deny He’s the Word of God or
toady to somebody who is in sin and fighting the Word of God, you’re looking at
the wrong guy (by the grace of God). It
doesn’t work that way. What’s in the
Book, brother/sister, that’s what counts, and not what I say about what a
prophet says about it.
Now, it says, here [Ephesians 4]:
(12) For the
perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the
body of Christ (That’s the building of it.
They say that’s the Latin ‘edifico’, like the Spanish … the same thing
there, like an edifice)”
(13) Till we
all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God,
unto a perfect man (that’s a mature man), unto the measure of the stature of
the fulness of Christ:
It tells you: “We are coming up”. We are coming up. Now listen: we’re coming up through
Let’s remember the kind old priest
again. Oh, he was kind. He was there to circumcise the little boys,
bless the little girls, and help the people who needed help. And lead them by the hand, and do this. But when it came to Jesus … “That renegade,
do you know what he did? He whipped us
out of the temple. He said awful things
about us. I think we ought to kill him …
(Hee-hee-hee).” Such a jolly spirit when
they killed him. The gamblers had a
hay-day. They shot dice for his
garment. (That cured me of gambling when
I read that.) The soldiers -- the
boozers, the drunkards-- said, “Hah! Let’s get him tight so he’ll at least fall
asleep up there and maybe he’ll help me.
Give him a drink”. While the
bankers went home; paid Judas the money.
…?… was a good deal.
What are you doing tonight about
Jesus? What are you doing tonight in
this church? What am I doing? Has He come, or hasn’t He come? I came out of Pentecost; I came out of
(14) (Till) we
henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro, and carried about …(We were.
Deceived by men. “Craftiness …
lying in wait to deceive”.)
“Oh, they wouldn’t do that”. God said they would. I could be up here making a sucker and a
jackass out of you. Yah! That man [Bro. Vayle points to …] could have
too, except I know God is no fool. He’s
not going to let a man have THUS SAITH THE LORD and back him up. Now, He’ll let you cast out devils. He’ll let you prophesy, like Balaam. But you won’t have THUS SAITH THE LORD stand
time after time. They lie in wait to
deceive. They can’t wait to pounce on
you. And it’s all ‘love’ …[Bro. Vayle
laughs cynically] … love: “Let’s get that Jesus and (Hee-hee-hee) kill
him”. …?… Wake up.
Wake up. You’re not even hardly
born-again, or hardly born dry behind the ears.
You’re too naïve, you’re too nice, you’re too sweet, you’re too
pretty. Do you think they wouldn’t? The Bible says they would. And they know
what they’re doing. You say, “I can’t
believe it!” Shall I spit on it? Got a match I can light on it? Shall I trample it? It’s still true, no matter what I do. But listen:
(15) …
speaking the truth in love …
Yah? … what kind of love? Truth and love, brother/sister. It’s just not truth, and love’s not just
love; it’s a new breed, here. It’s a new
breed, where there’s no more cunning, there’s no more craftiness. It’s just laying it on the line. There’s no more pretending, no more cover
up. I’m talking about the Word. I’m not talking about sweet, nice people,
now. I’m talking to where they come by
the Holy Ghost to this flange at this very top.
(15) But
speaking the truth in love (holding it in love), may grow up into him in all things,
which is the head, even Christ:
(16) From whom
the whole body…
Now listen: all through these dark
ages, all through these troublous times, all through these wicked people, all
through gangs over the years who have known exactly what they’re doing and why
they are doing it, because they’re shysters!
They’re the seed of the serpent.
They know what they’re doing. But
the pillars have been coming up, up, up, up … a little at a time. And as they get to the top, the pillars
narrow. Right. And the flange sits right on top --
Headstone, come on down. Said:
(16) …the
whole body (is now) fitly joined together and compacted by that which every
joint supplieth …(Every Church Age has been supplying the Word and the Holy
Spirit by Almighty God).
Now watch: we are also at Heb
12:22-24:
(22) … mount
Sion … city of the living God … heavenly
(23) … general
assembly … of the firstborn …
Right on down the line …(we’re there)
…speaking of the blood [Heb 12]:20-21: A beast couldn’t touch it; should be
stoned, or thrust through. Nobody dared
to draw near. That’s right. That’s the way it was. Now, over here, right back in 1 Corinthians,
what does it tell you? 1 Cor 15:23:
(23) But every
man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s
at his coming.
Then what?
(51) … I
(will) shew you a mystery; we shall not all sleep…
Nope.
Standing on your feet. Not
drawing nigh to Sinai, but Horeb.
Remember Moses at Horeb; remember God’s prophet under grace. Speaking, you’re coming in. You’re going into the land. You won’t be mortal any more. You won’t be corruptible any more. You’ll be immortal. You’ll be incorruptible, passing right into
the glory land.
So, when the pillars of the house that
God builded come to the lintel or the flange, we are back to the restored
Word. We’re back to being restored
virgins of the Word. We are now one
Word-house of Almighty God. As it tells
us in Hebrews 3 (we’ve come right up to it):
(1) Wherefore,
holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High
Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;
(2) Who was
faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his
house.
(3) For this
man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath
builded the house hath more honour than the house.
That’s right. When you talk about the great architect
…[Wright]?…, they mention some of the houses, but always they talk about
[Wright?]. But when you come to being a
Methodist, you don’t talk about Jesus; you talk about being a Methodist. When you’re in Pentecost, you don’t talk
about … you talk about being Pentecostal.
That’s why it’s dangerous to be called a Branhamite. We do it loosely to identify we follow the
teachings of that man. But I’m a
Christian and I allude to Jesus Christ as my Savior. William Branham could not save me -- no way,
shape, and form. He was sent from the
Savior, from the Deliverer. And the onus
of me getting out of
(4) For every
house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God.
(5) And Moses
verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those
things which were to be spoken after;
(6) But
Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the
confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.
In other words, brother/sister,
exactly what they had back thee we’ve got now in our day at the end-time.
Go to Hebrews 9 … (How much time have
we got? [Someone says twenty minutes]
Good, we can finish it.) Heb
9:11-23. It’s talking about Christ being
a High Priest of good things to come.
And the ‘good things to come’ is the Blood of Jesus Christ. The blood of bulls and goats was sprinkled
way back there over the tabernacle, over the people, over the books (…
everything else), couldn’t reach to heaven.
But we’ve got a Blood of sprinkling that reaches right into heaven
itself, and gives us a new heaven …[on]?… earth bringing us back in Revelation
19 with Jesus Christ to reign and rule.
In Revelation 21, to be a part of the New Jerusalem, to sit upon the
thrones, judging. Absolutely. Why?
Let’s go back and see what
happens. (I’m cutting it very short on
purpose.) 1 Corinthians 15 … look at it.
We read verses 20-23, on first-fruits.
Verse 24 says: