Trees, Books and Fountains #9
#5 Book of Confessions
Brother Lee Vayle
- July 23, 1989
Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we’re grateful that you
came on the scene to manifest yourself, to let us know that you are that God
which truly lives. We appreciate that,
showing us the way to true worship. And
we also believe you’re here, Lord, to teach us the Word at this end time. For you said, all thy children shall be
taught of God. You’re here Lord, to
differentiate for us, to show us the truth and error, that we might walk in the
truth to take the good and shun the evil.
So we pray you’ll help us this morning as we study your Word, that we
might know that which is for this hour, Lord, that we have the light to walk by
and definitely walk in it having fellowship with you, with each other, the
blood of Jesus Christ cleansing us.
Lord, we ask these mercies and that is all we require. In Jesus name, Amen.
Now, this morning we are going to contemplate what I
call the Book of Confession, or the Confession from the Book. And in the study of the Book of Confession,
we will see how the original or passive faith, (that’s one of the things we’ll
see, maybe the main thing in this study), we’ll see how the original or passive
faith was the true basis for a God approved active faith. Now I want to read that again to you, because
that’s kind of a startling statement. In
the study of the Book of Confession, we will see how the original or passive
faith was the true basis for a God approved active faith. The initiating of receiving the promises of
God, with God’s approval, is a lesson taught us under the seals. Again that’s a pretty rough statement. The initiating, in other words, the starting,
doing that which you would do on the grounds of faith to receive a promise of
God, can be approved or disapproved.
Now, everybody seems to believe that you’re terribly remiss if you don’t
just go in and grab every promise. I
have news for you, that you can be highly disapproved of God, even by using
your faith in contradiction to the scripture that says, “without faith, it is
impossible to please God.”
It comes to us under the seven seals, as Brother
Branham taught us. The first century
church had a great deal of trouble understanding and doing this, as is seen in
the Epistle of James. James, of course,
demanded of the people that they have works to manifest their faith, which is
logical, which we have no argument with.
But that’s not what we’re dealing with.
Again the Apostle Paul warned that people on different occasions, when
they were making serious mistakes concerning the outworking of their faith, for
they had left the true doctrinal passive faith for mere works. They weren’t at all lacking in labors, as
John the Apostle was given to understand by God, in the Book of Revelation. But they weren’t getting very far with it.
Now, the Apostle John as a scribe, took a message from
God, who told the Ephesians church age, “Do the first works”. Evidently, the structure of the church was
already teetering from a lack of a proper foundation, as to the valid
outworking of faith based on truth, and not power apart from works, apart from
truth rather, or works apart from truth.
So he said, “Do the first works over”.
There must have been something wrong with the way they were doing what
they were doing, which they were doing right in the beginning, and then were
failing to do as they went on. In fact,
from the garden of Eden to the millennium, we see man’s great problem is with
the Book of Confession.
Now, to set the problem straight and enter into the
divine principles of faith, we go where this book is mentioned primarily in the
Book of Joshua, chapter 1:8-9.
(8)
This book of the
law shall not depart out of thy mouth; thou shalt meditate therein day and
night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein:
for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shall have good
success.
(9)
Have I not
commanded thee? Be strong and of good
courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with
thee whithersoever thou goest.
Now, there it is.
The Book of Confession, or the Book we confess, which is the revealed
Word of God of the hour. Now this is
very important to realize this, because you will notice that God specifically
mentioned Moses. As Brother Branham
said, “God did not tell Moses to build an ark and float down the Nile and
across the
(1)
Now therefore
hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgements, which I teach
you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the
Lord God of your fathers giveth you.
(2)
Ye shall not add
unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it,
that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.
So, the Word evidently was absolutely and finally
fulfilled.
Now, even then, the command was not given until after
the forty years of wandering, when all the old Pentecostals had died off. And even Moses, the Prophet, was taken from
the people showing clearly that there wasn’t any more message, because the
prophet was gone. And now that the
people had finally settled down to the Word, with all the old Pentecostals
dead, because they were finally settled down, to live, die, sink, or swim; we
are going in. Moses had the truth. We’re not looking for any more. This is it.
God then called Joshua to lead
(1)
And after these
things I saw another mighty messenger come down from heaven, having great
power; and the earth was lightened with His glory.
(2)
And he cried
mightily with a strong voice, saying,
(3)
For all nations
have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the
earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are
waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
(4)
And I heard
another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not
partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
(5)
For her sins have
reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
(6)
Reward her even
as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the
cup which she hath filled to her double.
(7)
How much she hath
glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her:
for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no
sorrow.
(8)
Therefore shall
her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be
utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.
Verse 23,
(23)
And the light of
a candle shall shine no more at all in thee (in
(24)
And in her was
found the blood of the prophets,
So you can see here, there is absolutely
no word of God in the last day church.
And they’ll be using the same Bible we’re using. Then over here in Rev 19:7-10.
(7)
Let us be glad
and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and
his wife hath made herself ready.
(8)
And to her was
granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine
linen is the righteousness of saints.
Now how did she make herself ready? She made herself ready by washing her
garments, according to Rev 22:14.
(14)
Blessed are they
that wash their garments, that they may have right to the tree of life.
And he said unto me. Right.
Blessed are they which are called.
“Come out of her my people, unto the marriage supper of the lamb,” which
is also come out of her, “come forth to meet the bridegroom.” And he said unto them, “these are the true
sayings of God.”
All right.
Rev 21:9-11.
(9)
And there came
unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven
last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the
bride, the Lamb’s wife.
(10)
And he carried me
away in the spirit to a great and high mountain and shewed me that great city,
the holy
(11)
Having the glory
of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper
stone, clear as crystal; (and so on).
All right. Now
with that, we’re going to go back to Dan 2: 44-45.
(44)
And in the days
of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be
destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall
break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.
(45)
Forasmuch as thou
sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it
brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the
great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and
the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof (absolutely) sure.
Now we see that in Revelation 19, beginning at verse
11.
(11) And I
saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was
called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
Now if you want to know who that
particular person is, you go back here to the 3rd chapter of Revelation.
(14)
And unto the
messenger of the church which is of
In other words, thus these
things saith the Amen. The God of
Truth. That’s it, the God of truth;
that’s the one you’re looking at right there.
The beginning of creation of God.
Notice what he’s doing. He’s
coming back incarnate because he has a crown on his head, his eyes aflame, he
doth judge and make war. Rev 19:12.
(12)
His eyes as a
flame of fire, and on his head were many crown; and he had a name written, that
no man knew, but he himself.
(13)
And he was
clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called the Word of God.
(14)
The armies which
were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and
clean.
Maybe that’s the bride.
(15)
Out of his mouth
goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall
rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress with the fierceness
and wrath of Almighty God.
(16)
And he hath on
his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
Okay, back to Dan 12:1-10.
(1)
And at that time
shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy
people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was
a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be
delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
Now that’s the great
tribulation, the sealing of 144,000. At
that particular time, he’s talking about the end time.
(2)
And so many of them
that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and
some to shame and everlasting contempt.
(3)
And they that be
wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament: and they that turn many to
righteousness as the stars for ever and for ever.
(4)
But thou, O
Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many
shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.
And knowledge is increasing
at the rate of doubling itself about every year or so, or even less than that.
(5)
Then I Daniel looked, and, behold, there stood other
two, the one on this side of the bank of the river, and the other on that side
of the bank of the river.
(6)
And one said to
the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, How long
shall it be to the end of these wonders?
(7)
And I heard the
man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up
his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and swear by him that liveth for
ever that it shall be for a time, times, and a half; and when he shall have
accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be
finished.
(8)
And I heard, but
I understood not, then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these
things?
(9)
And he said, Go
thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the
end.
(10)
Many shall be
purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly and none
of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.
Now, you can see in there, that there are
two things being discussed. One is
concerning the Jews, and one is concerning the Gentile kingdom. When’s it going to be? When’s the stone going to come down and crush
and grind to fine powder? What is the
end of
Well, the end of
Now, go back to Revelation 22, and
beginning at verse 10. It says the book
is “sealed up.” So therefore, the
mystery to the Jews is sealed up. The
mystery to the gentiles is sealed up.
When is this thing going to be?
Alright. It’s going to be
according to Revelation 10, when the mighty one comes down to earth, bringing
in his hands the book that was sealed up in heaven and opened in heaven. And the silence in heaven, there could be
nothing said concerning it, till you come down and see the seventh seal in
Rev10:1-7.
Now the book is opened when it comes down,
though it is not allowed to be revealed.
And that’s exactly what the seventh seal is all about, bringing out the
seven thunders. Okay, now it says it’s
open. And he said, “ seal not the
sayings of the prophesies of this book, for the time is at hand.” Now watch.
“He that is unjust let him be unjust still, he that is filthy, let him
be filthy still.”
Now, back in Daniel it tells you. It says here, Dan 12: 10.
(10) Many
shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly;
and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.
So, you’ve got the scripture
very, very clear here, that when the seals are open, divine revelation will
suffuse the Elect, and darkness will completely take over the non-elect. Even to the extent of the foolish virgin,
though they are not allowed to understand, they will die. Because they simply do not have the Word that
will contain the life. It’s only the
Word that contains the life. Now he
which is filthy, is filthy still, righteous, righteous still, holy, holy still,
behold I come quickly my reward is with me to give every man according to his
works shall be, I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and end the first and the
last, blessed are they who wash their robes, that they may have the right to
the tree of life. So therefore, the
washing of the robes is the putting on of the clean linen, which the Bride
comes back in. Which, of course, is
Ephesians 5. That he may present to
himself his holy, sanctified, and wonderful bride.
Now, it says for without are
dogs, whoremongers, sorcerers, idolaters, and so on. “I Jesus, have sent my messenger to testify
unto you these things in the churches. I
am the root and the offspring of David and the bright and morning star. And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst, come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of
life freely.” (Up to that point.) “For I testify unto every man that heareth the
words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God
shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book. And if any man shall take away from the words
of the prophecy of this book, God shall take away his part out of the book of
life, out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this
book.”
Now you notice what he says,
“Behold I come quickly to set up my kingdom.”
So, what you’ve got here, as we looked in the book of Joshua, a perfect
picture of a Book of Confession. After
everything was delivered according to the Word that was necessary previous to
the going in. Now, had that Word, or the
Message of the hour, not been delivered they would not have gone in. Now this is the simplicity of Brother
Branham’s teaching, but listen to me.
The human mind cannot take it.
The so-called Christian cannot take it.
There is nobody but an honest to God, born again, true believer,
Branhamite, who will ever go in, according to scripture, or somebody (if
Brother Branham was the wrong person).
Now you can have your own thinking all you want. I’m sorry for you, but you simply don’t
understand Word. And you haven’t got
what it takes evidently to read the Old Testament and apply it to the New,
which was written for our example.
Now, here we have a Book of
Confession that was not given at the time of the Exodus. It was not given to be confessed even as the
Word came forth. It was not given even
to be confessed in the wanderings. It
was only to be confessed after the mixed multitude, or that bunch of old
Pentecostals had died off. And the
people’s minds were no longer filled with anything at all. The minds were now open for a Word, which was
given by Moses, thoroughly delivered, absolutely wrapped up, with no other word
to be added to it, or be taken from it.
Now, let’s go back and look
at that again in the Book of Josh 1:8-9.
(8) This book of the law shall not depart out
of thy mouth; but thou shall meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest
observe to do according to all that’s written therein: for then thou shalt make
thy way prosperous, then thou shalt have good success.
(9)
Have I not
commanded thee? Be strong and of good
courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord your God is with
you.
Now, we’ve got to look at the context. We start reading then, chapter 1:1.
(1)
Now after the
death of Moses the servant of the Lord it came to pass, that the Lord spake
unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ minister, saying,
(2)
Moses my servant
is dead; now therefore arise, go over Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto
the land which I do give to them, even to the children of
(3)
Every place that
the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said
unto Moses.
(4)
From the
wilderness and this
(5)
There shall not
be any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with
Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
Now, he didn’t say that you’re
going to be my prophet. He said, “Moses
my servant, the Prophet is dead. But I’m
going to be with you identically as I was with him.” So therefore, you can understand this, that
as God was with Moses, so he will be with Joshua and the people of
But, he will not be a
prophet. No way, shape, and form. Now he said in Josh 1:5,
(5)
be strong and I
will not fail you nor forsake you.
(6)
Be strong and of
good courage: for unto this people thou shalt divide for an inheritance the
land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them.
(7)
Only be thou
strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the
law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand
or to the left, that thou mayest prosper
whithersoever thou goest.
(8)
This book of the
law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and
night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written
therein. For then thou shalt make thy
way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
(9)
Have not I
commanded thee? Be strong and of a good
courage, be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with
thee whithersoever thou goest.
Now, we might go a little further, taking 16-18. This is the people.
(16) And
they answered Joshua, saying, All that thou commandest us we will do, and
whithersoever thou sendest us, we will go.
(17) According as we hearkened unto Moses in all things, so
will we hearken unto thee: only the Lord thy God be with thee, as he was with
Moses.
(18) Whosoever he be that doth rebel against thy
commandment, and will not hearken unto thy words in all that thou commandest
him, he shall be put to death: only be strong and of a good courage.
Now, you notice in
there, that the reason that they backed up Joshua one hundred percent was
because that Joshua positively, was giving them exactly what was given Moses,
and they understood that.
Now, with
these scriptures we find that God ordained life of faith lived by various
elect, recorded in God’s memorial book, as illustrated in Heb 11:1 and so
on. Now, the reason I’m bringing this in
here at this particular point, is to show you that there never was any hero of
faith, who wasn’t one hundred percent true to the revealed Word that God gave
him. He simply did not take a promise
promiscuously or his own will, and work out a principle of faith thereby
(though that can be done).
So let’s go back to
the 11th chapter of the Book of Hebrews and we’ll try to get this together for
you.
(1) Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the
evidence of things not seen.
(2) For by it the elders obtained a good report.
(3) Through faith we understand that the worlds were
framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of
things which do appear.
(4) By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent
sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God
testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.
Now in there was
involved a revelation. The beginning
revelation is this: that there has to be a God.
And being there is a God as known by creation, that things are made of
things which do not appear. That they
are positively created by the Word of Almighty God. That’s what they were. Now that’s a great basis right there. That God created by speaking. So therefore, the Word of God is a very, very
powerful Word in the minds of the people, as it should be in their worship of
God. So therefore, Cain receives a
revelation, and from the revelation, he proceeds to act according to his faith.
Now, Cain did not
receive a revelation, a true revelation of the Word, but he proceeded to act
upon the same Word without a revelation and was condemned by God. Now that’s what we are looking at here to get
some understanding. In other words, I
say this. Now with the scripture, we
find that God ordained life of faith, lived by the various elect. And you will find that by faith Enoch was
translated. How was he translated when
the rest weren’t? By faith Noah was
warned and built an ark. How come he was
warned, and he went ahead and did it? By
faith Abraham, when he was called to go out to a place, which he should after
receive for an inheritance, he obeyed.
He went out not knowing where he was going, but
Now, let me say
again. These scriptures, with the
scripture I read, showing you the basic revelation of God. The true Word. There is a faith that goes with it, a
revelation, an understanding which many people do not have. And therefore, taking the scripture as
non-elect begin to work out a principle of faith, and they are in
contradistinction to Heb 11:1, through the rest of the chapter down to verse
40. And they arrive at their destination
in Mt 7:15, we read this many, many times.
(15)
Beware of false
prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening
wolves.
Now, they are quoting the
word of God with a total misapprehension of what that word really means to the
end that they will positively destroy with it, and it goes on until it says in
verse 21.
(21)
Not every one
that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he
that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
And the will of the
Father is positively to cast out devils, to prophesy, to do wonderful
works. And you notice that they are
doing them, and they are right with the Bible in doing them. And he said, “depart from me, you that work
iniquity, you are identical to Cain. The
work that Cain did, though it was a legitimate sacrifice,” (as I understand the
Word of God) “thou hast rightly offered but thou hast not rightly divided. Hast thou therefore not sinned?”
The work that Cain did
was called iniquity and an evil work.
Now these people that are doing this, do not kill as do Cain, but they
stand up and they spiritually destroy the souls of men who listen, like Oral
Roberts, Tommy Osborne, and a whole bunch of trinitarians. You don’t like me mentioning names, do
ya? Well, I’m sorry for you. But that’s the truth or Brother Branham lied
and we are a bunch of fools and that’s a bunch a hogwash and “Thus saith the
Lord” don’t mean anything…but who knows anything? We came from gorillas, let’s act like
gorillas. God pity the poor
gorilla. Right here. I will confess to you, I never, ever knew
you.
Let us go to Psalm 106
and see just exactly how deep you can go. Verse 15.
(15)
And he gave them
their request; but sent leanness into their soul.
What is the context of this? Let’s begin at the 1st verse.
(1)
Praise ye the
Lord. O give thanks unto the Lord; for
he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.
(2)
Who can utter the
mighty acts of the Lord? Who can shew forth all his praise?
(3)
Blessed are they
that keep judgement, and he that doeth righteousness at all times.
(4)
Remember me, O
Lord, with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people: O visit me with thy
salvation;
(5)
That I may see
the good of thy chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, that
I may glory with thine inheritance.
(6)
We have sinned
with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly.
(7)
Our fathers
understood not thy wonders in
Listen. They didn’t understand vindication. You hear what I said? They didn’t understand vindication. That’s why I say, listen, I preached
vindication like Brother Branham. Eighty
percent of my messages, one hundred percent with his. In other words, he preached eighty percent of
the entire message was on the presence of God and vindication. I preach one hundred percent along the same
line and I don’t fool myself for one minute.
I keep on telling you. We don’t
believe vindication as we ought to believe vindication! We got to get to the place where Brother Branham
stood and said, “If God tells me to raise Abraham Lincoln from the dead, I’ll
stand down there and I’ll raise him or let the armies of the earth come and
shoot me down if I can’t do it.” See?
Nevertheless, He saved
them for His namesake that He might make His mighty power to be known. Why?
Because He had future generations in their loins, because God was dealing
with a nation. He rebuked the
They soon forgot His
works. They waited not for His counsel
but lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert. They could not wait for God to fulfill His
Word, as God wanted to in His own time.
So what happened? He gave them
their requests, but sent leanness into their soul. They envied Moses, also in the camp, and
Aaron the saint of the Lord. The earth
opened and swallowed up Dathan and covered the company of Biram. The ministry didn’t understand. Now you think it’s going to be different
today? You gotta be kidding. That’s why I stand here so tough all the
time. They think Lee Vayle - he’s just
mean as a snake. Well, I’m not denying
that. The Bible says, “Be wise as
serpents and as harmless as doves.”
Well, you say, you got it reversed.
How do you know I got it reversed?
Maybe you’ve got it reversed.
Maybe you’ve got it reversed, not me.