Shalom #2 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 Lake of Fire. [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 reallytalking 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 specieit 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 ofChrist 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 mybrethren, 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 Ohio River, and he heard a voice! And he said, “I’m to forerun this and that.” But the press only came to William Branham in the Ohio River! for hundreds saw what went on. 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 tryto 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 1:17; he’s always going back to the Godhead; he’s always talking about God. How can he do otherwise? This is the hour with a revelation, not something else. The Pentecostals got some foolish idea. 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 Lot was down there in the sewers—although Abraham was good to Lot; rescued him, fought his battles; everything else. Why do you think the foolish virgin’s not getting killed off at this point? Because the Bride’s still here. That’s what you’re looking at. Okay. 28. Now Heb 13:8, Gen 18, Jn 14:12, though also of this we go to 2 Cor 3:2-3. Because Bro. Branham mentions It, I’m going to talk about It. (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 10:25 we find: (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 Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; (the) glory (which) was to be done away: (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 Israel could not steadfastly look to the end of that which is abolished: 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 gotto 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. 41. I couldn’t tell if one single person has got God or not. You could fool me, and I can fool you. But there is a Word test. There is a Word test. And he said, “You believe the Word?” And he said to people in his own church, “You say you love me? Then why don’t you listen to me and obey what I tell you?” Certainly there’s a fruitage there. But your fruitage gets you nowhere, if you don’t have reality of a vindicated Word, because God’s spoken. And remember, Hebrews 12 said, “This one from heaven comes down and speaks one more time!” And It said, “That’s the time of New Jerusalem. That’s why you see the White Throne. Timeand eternity have blended. Everything is in the now. We’re like Abraham; we believe in a God who raises the dead and calls those things which are not as though they were. He said, “You’re under White Throne right now.” 42. Brother/sister, I’m going to tell you. Are you on God’s side and God on your side, or are you just looking around? We’re giving the acid test tonight. Have you the spiritual gumption, as Bro. Branham would say, to stand there and call those things which are not as though they were. I don’t care what anybody else said. And let me… I’m going to tell you something. I tried to tell you a long time ago how this works. I went to Bro. Branham and said… Because look, when I was in Florida, I prayed hour upon hour on my face at night. I studied that Word of God. Every sermon became more powerful and more powerful and more power… I was in a groove. When Bro. Branham, I saw him minister, and on these things coming in his ministry, I said, “Bro. Branham, I want to talk to you.” I said, “You’re a prophet, there’s no doubt. In the ministry you’ve got an office, there’s no doubt. But, tell me if I’m not right in this: you have been so long in this ministry and sought God and gone this way until you’re now in a groove—not a rut, but you’re in a groove—and you’re moving, because the thing is moving you.” And he said, “You got it, Bro. Vayle.” 43. I want to tell you, we’ve piled Word upon Word, in this church here. That’s what I do—Word upon Word. We pile Word upon Word, (Let me tell you.) the Word of the living God, and God is in His Word! They’re synonymous, and that Word is piled Word upon Word. You’ll see greater things yet than you think you’ve seen. That sweet Spirit of Christ can only come in this way. Let me tell you something, before very long I will show you something in here you never dreamed of. I read it hundreds of times, and I never dreamed either, but I’ll show you exactly the truth! Why we are who we are, under Bro. Branham’s ministry by the Holy Ghost. I’m not boasting. You know I can prove it, Scripture by Scripture, Word upon Word, till the sweet Spirit of Christ comes out of that Word. There is no conduit for the Spirit of Christ outside the Word, and there is no conduit for the Word, outside of you and me. One day it’ll have to come forth. 44. I’m not looking for great healings and this or that. I’m just looking for God to bring His Word to pass. And you know something? As time goes on, we know more and more, and it’s got to come to pass, because God is in His Word, not in His church. And the Word better be in the church. And, if the Word is in the church, and God’s in His Word, you’ve got the church of the living God, living epistles read and known of all men. Not some works this and there. Certainly, we should be kind and loving, more this and that. But you can be the kind old priest and condemn your soul and somebody else’s, and you can look pretty rotten to somebody else. But the true love of God shed abroad in your heart, you’ll have the right compassion, because that’s doing the will of God. Don’t get carried away with dogma, brother/sister. Let’s get out of it. Let’s stand and be dismissed. Heavenly Father, be with us as we go tonight. Lord God in heaven, give us journeying mercies. We know the road’s slippery. You know as far as I’m concerned I don’t like being out on the road, but know one thing, is far better to be here and take chances somewhere else than to take chances and not be here. We feel good in Your Presence. We feel that You never let us down, You never let this people here go astray, You never let them have anything but hope and anticipation and faith when they come here to see, to know that Your Word will be revealed, Word by Word, O God, as You gave It by vindication. We know that. We don’t glory in ourselves. We glory, O God, in the fact that it is so, because You made it so, and we appreciate it. We’re looking for more and more of Your Word, to pile Word upon Word. Help us not to be impatient; help us to be more bearing and forbearing in all things, O God, till Word upon Word is piled, and the life in the Word, then, becomes loosed at the proper season. And whatever comes forth, Lord, we’re happy for healings or whatever it is. We know we love healings, Father, and You know that we love them. But Father, You know we don’t strive for them. Maybe we should, I don’t know. But Lord God in heaven, one thing we want is Word upon Word; and there as the prophet said, we could make our great mistakes: we don’t pile Word upon Word enough, moment by moment with It. It’s so good when we come to church. We don’t know what it’s like out there. Maybe we ought to be in church more. But I know one thing, Lord: Your Word is true. And as Bro. Branham said, we say with him, “If we’re not Bride there’s a Bride out there somewhere, and by the grace of God,” and this is the tough part, “by the grace of God,” and It will be by Your grace, Lord, “we won’t stand in her way.” But Father, by grace tonight we also count ourselves a part of You. Otherwise, why are we where we are under a vindication? Something men cannot see, reason bypasses entirely, everything goes by the board. But Lord, somehow we know, if this isn’t It, what is there? But this is It! Are we a part of It? Are we a part of this great It? Father, if we didn’t believe It, (But we do believe It, when others turned It down.) then, Father, we look by Scripture and see the thing come out. And we commend ourselves to You tonight and say, “Father,” we believe we can really call You “Father,” with Jesus our big brother, that we are a part of You. And one of these days, we’ll all get together as that great unified, wonderful body, because it’s in process now, and they’re here just waiting around for the bodies to come out of the grave, the last part of redemption. Be with us, therefore, tonight, O God, and whatever we need, we know that You’ve already supplied It. There’s no one looking down the road; It’s here already. Help us by faith to understand that and walk through life with It all. Bless every home here, Lord, all the little children, little babies that are sick. We pray my God, You’ll heal them. We don’t want to look upon these things, little thing here and say, “Well, this is a little childhood disease.” Father, we’re not looking that way anymore. By Your grace we’re looking for healing, for help, for everything, O God. In this last hour we’re looking for a Noah condition, Lord—“Get in that ark.” We don’t believe he crawled in the ark, miserable, and so You had to help him over the sill, Lord. We don’t believe those animals were in such a shape, either, that the elephants had to help each other, and giraffes had to help other giraffes. We believe they walked up there, strong, healthy, Lord. By the grace of God, of the hour, Father, we believe also we have the same privilege of Your help in this day, and we’re looking forward. Help us to walk in such a way, running the race with patience. We could pray all night, Lord. We know that’s not necessary. You’ve heard our prayer, and we thank You for Your grace and goodness and mercy. Now we go our way, and You with us and with each other, to come again for the Word of God. In Jesus Christ’s Name we pray. Amen. “Take the Name of Jesus With You.”
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