Shalom #4 Shall we pray. Heavenly Father again we want to say we’re grateful to be back in the house of God, the place You provided for us to come together, to not have fellowship, except to fellowship around the Word; to be corrected thereby, because we know that’s what we are to have at this hour. We must have a zeal for repentance, for a change of mind, for an understanding of that Word, Lord. We pray that we’ll have it today. May we follow Word by Word what the prophet said, and may we pile Word upon Word, until there is a fit dwelling place, even the proper mechanics for the blessed Holy Spirit to take over our hearts, minds, and lives, as the prophet said, in order to be “living, moving, statues unto God; living epistles, read and known of all men.” We know of ourselves, Lord, we cannot do this. So truly said. We cannot get revelation by prayer. We cannot possibly get truth that way either, unless we are predestinated to it, and then, it’ll come to us, even though without prayer, we know that. We weren’t praying for what came upon us, Lord, but we certainly are grateful it was in Your sovereign Will that we have it. But now we are praying, Lord, that more and more of this revelation will be ours, and we’ll be faithful to it. And we’ll give You the praise, in Jesus’ Name. Amen. You may be seated. 1. Now we’re in number four of “Shalom,” and, of course, we haven’t even got past the introduction. Bro. Branham is speaking in Sierra Vista to the little group with Brother Isaacson. He mentions that a certain brother had passed away or was in the hospital about to pass away with cancer. Then, he spoke of how death comes; and then, he later on swung into the subject of the Godhead. Then, just before he makes a break to pray and, then, to go into the message, he mentions to the folk that they’re going to have dinner together. He felt that that would be nice to see them all there, together. 2. Now he says in paragraph 17 on page 4. And he said: [17] I feel that my Message this morning is addressed to the church of the living God, (See?) and which I believe this is a portion of it sitting here this morning. And now, before we come to that solemn part, let's bow our heads just for a moment of prayer. Now, of course, we all have the same understanding that Bro. Branham has. We believe that we’re a part of the Message, a part of the Word, a part of God and, therefore, a part of the Bride, not the church, but the part ofthe church, which is the Bride. And, as he said one time, I’ll never forget it, I think he was praying, he was talking to the Lord, and he said, “If we’re not Bride, there’s a Bride out there somewhere. And by the grace of God, I’ll not stand in her way.” And another time he said, “With thoughts of grace, I count myself with you,” because he was speaking to those he considered were the elect. And I like Bro. Branham’s humility. There never was a man more humble, and yet humility is always based upon our attitude toward our faith in God concerning what He said. If Bro. Branham had denied that he was the voice of God in the last day, he would not have been a humble person. He’d have been a liar. And a liar is never a humble person, and a humble person is never a liar. A humble person is an honest man. It means he can relate to the conditions and stand right there and say, “Yes” or “No.” That’s a real humble person. So, when we deny what we are in Christ, we’re not humble. We’re actually very, very foolish. And we wouldn’t even qualify as the foolish virgin, I don’t think, under those conditions, to deny what we’re looking at today, piling Word upon Word. And so, he said, “I believe there’s a part sitting here/”. And then, he’s saying, “Look, I’m looking at you all. I consider you all a part of the Lord Jesus Christ,that Bride,” knowing that he also preached in every group there are three kinds of believers. But, what it is, remember, all judgment is left to God, and as the Word so clearly said, “The foundation of God standeth sure, having this Seal, the Lord knoweth them which are His.” 3. So, we consider this morning, in perfect faith and peace, that every single one of us is pressing in to that Kingdom in the way that has been vindicated by God to press into, which is Word upon Word upon Word. You just simply can’t get by the fact that every single Scripture, every Word the prophet speaks, is really the Bible. Now I know I’m criticized. A certain man in Canada held up his Bible one time. He said to a certain fellow, namely Joe—not the one from Idaho, but our Joe [Raczkovy], from St. Catherine’s; he said, “I tell you what, your trouble with you is…” “The trouble with you is,” he said, “you hold Bro. Branham’s sermons the same as the Bible.” He said, “It is the Bible!” I may shock you this morning, but I just want to let you know this morning, this to me, “I’m going to take Bro. Branham’s sermon, just like it’s the Bible.” If it isn’t the Bible, I’m in trouble, because I don’t know the answers. I’ve seen a vindicated man.
[18] Our heavenly Father, we are so grateful to You, that we can even be privileged to address You as our Father… That’s wonderful, for a man to say that. Anybody can say it, but to know the depth of the intensity of the reality of that man, a very humble person. Within himself he would have a lot of misgivings. Within himself he looked back at his drunken father: the marriage was a poor marriage; the family was a poor family. People didn’t like him; they wouldn’t associate with him. This man is not saying, “Our Father,” because nobody else likes me. He said, “There was a time,” when he said, “I didn’t have any friends. Now I’ve got too many of them.” It’s nice to feel that way. I don’t say I feel that way. I say it’s nice to feel that way. See? Just so many of them. He said, “Time.” He said, “I couldn’t have…” Well, he told that little kid who’d got a nickel of how he’d spend it; just kind of break it up in cents. You wouldn’t understand that, you people! You‘ve got to be my age to understand what a penny could do. You know they’re even talking of taking pennies off the money market. Good idea. “Back in those days,” he said, “I didn’t have anything. TodayI could take the whole church out to dinner.” See? “Anybody need a motel,” he said, “I’d get it for them.” The man was desperately poor. And he’s not saying, “Our Father,” in the sense, “Well hey, you people, I can relate to God.” He wasn’t saying that at all. This was a man who understood his relationship to God—absolutely; positively—with a heart full of love and appreciation. 5. Now, look. He had his troubles like you and I have our troubles. Remember that time he was going to pray for that fellow, the preacher at Topeka, Kansas, where they were building the church and the wall fell on him? And they called Bro. Branham. I think they thought the kidneys ruptured and the liver and all those things. And so, before he went to see the man, he was called to breakfast, and he said, “Lord, in the old days, you’d just go, and they’d be healed right away.” And he said, “Often myself, under the anointing lay hands on people, and they would get healed.” But he began thinking about his miserable hands. And the voice said to him, “Aren’t they the same hands…?” He went right down and prayed for the man, took him right out of the hospital like that. Humble person, Bro. Branham. But humility does not denigrate your position with God. It does not take advantage of gifts of God, but stays in the proper relationship. This was a humble man. And, when he said, when he spoke to his Father, “…so privileged,” he says, to call You our Father, for Father means that we have been begotten of the great God that created the heavens and the earth.” And this man understood that. In fact, without following his messages and having read theologians, not too many, but I read my share of that gutter stuff. Look, I would never have known the things that I know concerning “Who Is This Melchisedec,” and the great fact of what we were before our separation from Him, what we bypassed, what we’re going to. None of those things would have been brought out except for this man who knew that he was that child of God in the position that God put him. That’s humility! 6. We’ll just keep reading, you know. Oh, it’s marvelous. If I ever get past the first paragraph… All right. [18] We’re so happy for this privilege, that we can think in our hearts, that we are sons and daughters of Yours. And then to see (Now, watch.) You strictly identify Yourself in the midst of us, that You are our Father, changing our thoughts from the things of the world, and changing our motives and objectives and attitudes, and every phase of us, to love You and to believe You, and know that Your promises are true. You know something? You never even heard what I read. I read here just now, and I am not critical, I just do that to draw your attention to the fact of how tremendous it is: what this man said. Let’s view it. All right. What is he actually saying here? He is saying that we are actually living epistles, manifested by the power of the revealed Word. 7. Now, let me go over it again. “Then, to see You strictly identify Yourself in the midst of us.” There it is right there. [Bro. Vayle points to the picture of the Pillar of Fire over Bro. Branham.] “THUS SAITH THE LORD.” Never changed. A message to come back. The Seven Seals open. Vindicated—proved it. Now watch. “It is vindicated, Lord, that You are the One Who is doing all of this in the midst of us.” Now look. It is not in us that is being done, but that One there [Bro. Vayle points to the same picture again.] is in the midst of us. Now the baptism with the Holy Ghost, Christ in William Branham, would never do what that is doing. That’s why people still fight the message of the Presence, as we preach It here. They’re still going back to a Pentecostal fundamental understanding, not knowing that God Himself in the form of the Holy Ghost is there with His picture taken. Now that’s not the picture of God, per se. That is the light—the Shekinah glory. “And the light caught the cameras,” Bro. Branham said. Yet God is light. But not high bright vibration like lights we see here. They don’t understand it. Like I said the other day, when you pick up Bro. Branham’s sermon or hear it, “What is the Holy Ghost given for?” Right away you say to yourself, “Well, why was It given? For me.” It’s not that at all. It’s God the Holy Ghost, Himself. As Bro. Branham said, “Just think, God has given us the gift of His Son, in the form of the Holy Ghost, in the midst of us.” Not in William Branham, but over William Branham. [Points to the same picture.] 8. Now, when William Branham brought the Word, of course, the Pillar of Fire went inside the man—just like Moses. And when the Word was completely given, It came out. This stumbles people. It doesn’t stumble me at all. If I had to rely on anything less, I’d faint in my heart. I could not cope with this age of deceit. 9. Listen, let’s keep reading. It said, You “in our midst” and “You are our Father,” (Listen.) “changing our thought…” Come on. Rev 3:19. (19) As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Be constantly changing your mind—God changing our thoughts, our mind, from the things of the world. You say, “Well, that’s just the blessed Holy Spirit sanctifying me; and, you see, Bro. Vayle, I used to have my mind on booze and card tables and all those things.” You listen, brother/sister. Get to your Bibles. Let’s go over here to 1 Corinthians 2, and we’ll begin to find out what he’s talking about. He’s not talking about getting your mind off of booze and card playing and all that kind of stuff. He tells you right here in 1 Cor 2:9: (9) It is written, Eye hath not seen, nor heard, neither have (the hearts) of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. Then, what is in there? It’s… what is in there is by sense knowledge that you gain out here in the world! So, God bypasses the sense knowledge. Now, watch. The things that God prepared, nobody has a clue. (10) But God hath revealed them (to) us by his Spirit: Look at the Ayatollah. He claims he’s got a message from Mohammed, which God gave Mohammed, and it wasn’t his. And you know the best heaven they got? You go in the resurrection; every man’s got a bunch of wives. That’s all they know about heaven is sex. In other words God, then, has rejoicing in the loins of a man or the legs of a man, as the Bible says He doesn’t. You want filth? Join the Mohammedans. You want filth? Join the Mormons. You want filth? Go on down where our brother comes from. Or, do you want God? That’s a good question. 10. Listen to what he says: (10) But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. (11) For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man (that’s) in him? That’s the best we can know, the spirit that God has given us, to put in our flesh, to contact the world. But oh, to get like Mary, who could say, “My spirit doth rejoice in God my Savior.” A spirit that’s alive unto God, not just the soul. That germ of life that came right from God, a part of God Himself. But the very spirit rejoicing, because it can differentiate! This woman could take the prophecy and say, “I’m not having a man by a man. I’m having a man by God! The Holy Ghost came upon me. The sacred thing in my womb right now is not my egg and is not a man’s sperm, but it’s that which God created and will bring forth His Own Blood.” Now you tell people right today that are fundamentalists, and you’ll find they never even heard that God created an egg and a sperm. Come on, show me the book of theology. You can’t do it. I don’t care how many books you read. Read Eric Sauer; he’s one of the best: From Eternity to Eternity. He’s a wonderful theologian, but he’d be a million miles from this. “Blessed Holy Spirit come into my church, but only on the grounds of my word. Or get out.” That’s their attitude. Blame it on the devil, if you can’t agree and, then, contend you are of God. 11. [18] Changing our thoughts from the things of the world, and changing our motives and objectives and attitudes, and every phase of us, to love You and to believe You, and know Your promises are true. Now, let’s look at the Word of God and begin to see something here. This again is the “Omega Reflection” that I taught a long time ago. We go to 2 Corinthians 3. Let’s look at It. He’s speaking here now. It’s 2 Cor 3:6: (6) Who hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. (7) But the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, But, if it was… And it was. Why? Because God gave it for a time and occasion. He gave it in order for man to know that he was undone. How many times have you seen people going down the road, just looking, trailing behind in your car, and you can see under their car the muffler going up and down and down, and they don’t even know the muffler’s going to fall off? That’s just a simple thing. They don’t know. See? 12. Now, listen. It was given in order to let the people know their folly, what they were really into. But they didn’t understand anymore than the poor guy driving his car, until somebody honked his horn and said, “Hey, your muffler’s going to fall off.” I remember going down the road one day, and I saw this lady; she just slammed the door on her coat, and I could see what was going to happen to her coat. She slammed that door. I honked the horn, went by her, and began pointing. So, she pulled over. And then, she waved to thank me, because she realized her coat had been caught. See? My wife went through that one time. What was it? I think she dropped part of her belt outside the car, and it was rainy weather; and you should have seen what that belt looked like by the time we’d gone a hundred miles. And I thought, here’s this poor woman with this lovely coat, she didn’t know. But the minute I made her aware is when she got the message. Now, therefore, it was a good thing that I did! Not that I’m boasting about it, but I’m just letting you know by Scripture now. So, God did a mighty fine thing here in letting them know concerning the ministrations of that law, pointed out death, but there was a Lamb they were looking to. And that Lamb took Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the prophets, and David, out of the ground, when Jesus came out. May God let us understand how great this is. There’s nothing wrong with it. Paul just said, “It’s me that’s sinning, not God.” 13. Now: (7) For if the ministration of death, written, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: (8) How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious? Now what’s the ministration of the spirit? To bring the Word! See? To bring the Word. That’s why He’s here. Why do you think He’s here? [Points to the same picture again.] To bring the Word. Now: (9) For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. (How righteous is at this end? Man can walk to the Tree of Life and live forever!) (10) For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth. (That’s coming down the road. There was a great glory back there.) (11) For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious. That’s true. Survival of the fittest. The old “survival of the fittest.” You know something? If you wanted a wheel that lasted longer than another wheel, you’d get a better substance than just iron, because iron won’t hold up as long as other substances. So, It tells you right here: this was good and from God, but it wasn’t meant to hold up. 14. Now, let’s keep reading. (11) For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious. (That’s rather as even greater glory. Now:) (12) Seeing then that we have such hope, (we’re going to) use great plainness of speech: (We’re going to draw a conclusion and show you something.) (13) Not as Moses, which put a veil over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which (was) abolished: Now I know everybody decides to interpret this as saying his face shone so greatly—and it really was true—that they couldn’t stand it. But you get into the actual literal tearing down of the Greek, and you’ll find out that somehow they knew that that glory would fade! So, rather than facing the fading glory, they put a veil over it. They stopped any further communication! Haven’t denominations done it? Didn’t the Catholic Church do it? Didn’t the Lutherans do it? Didn’t the Wesleyans do it? Didn’t the Pentecostals? Come on, I want to ask you: didn’t they do it? They knew down the road it would fade. Wesley knew it would fade. He said, “I do not fear that the name of Methodism will leave the world, but I fear that the Holy Spirit Dove that brought the truth will flee us.” Words to that effect. He knew. Bro. Branham categorically said, as a prophet, that Luther looked for the Pillar of Fire, Wesley looked for it, and Pentecost thought they had it. Now we’ve got it. 15. Now, let’s keep reading. Now listen: (14) But their minds were blinded: (They knew it was going to go, their minds were blinded.) for until this day remaineth the same veil untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which veil is done away in Christ. (15) But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart. (Now, watch. This is what we’re getting at.) (16) Nevertheless, when it shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away. What turned to the Lord? The mind. Everybody wants to make it the heart. How can you make it the heart? Without a mind, your heart is useless in a relationship to God! Listen, if I’m not telling the truth, let me go to some insane institute, and I’ll produce very spiritual people. So, you know that doesn’t work. You could reach the comatose with Christ, then. Why do people pray earnestly concerning their children in a motorcycle accident, when their children might be comatose? “Oh God, let him have his senses back. Just let him have his mind back, so I can talk about Christ.” Well, talk to his heart! Don’t be ridiculous. See how foolish it is when you analyze the thing very simply? Come on. The veil is upon the mind. And then, it’s upon the heart, absolutely. Your hearts become darkened only after the Word has appealed to your mind. Read it in Romans 1. Their foolish hearts were darkened ‘after’. Not ‘before’. (16) Nevertheless, when (it’ll) turn to the Lord, the veil will be taken away. Get the mind lined up, and the heart will line up. You don’t think that do you? But it’s true. Psychology even proves it. God can’t go against real psychology, and real psychology doesn’t go against God. 16. All right, truth is uncontestable. Verse 17: (17) Now the Lord is that Spirit. There it is right there: the Lord is that Spirit. [Points to the picture of the Pillar of Fire again.] That’s why the Lord descended from heaven with the Shout! Jesus said, “The Father speaks in me.” You say, “Well, that’s a paraphrase.” Your right, it is. He said, “What I hear my Father say, I say. And the Father doeth the works.” So, we’re looking at it. (17) The Lord is that Spirit. The Lord descended from heaven with a Shout, brought His Own Message! That’s why He’s here, and that’s why we preach the Presence! And I feel no compunction, pointing my finger at anybody who says they believe William Branham’s message and don’t believe that he himself told the truth when he said, “My ministry is to declare that he is here! If he’s not here, there’s something wrong. I can tell you that. You know where it starts? Right with William Branham. Not me. I’m just quoting him. I’m banking everything in my life upon it, and I thank God for this tremendous, wonderful Message, brother/sister. It’s given so much and will give so much more to us. 17. Now, listen. He said: (17) Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. What’s liberty? We have been freed from what? Any law whatsoever, save the law of theWord in which the Holy Ghost resides! And that’s a law in itself. And it’s not a law, “do this, do that, or don’t do this or that;” it’s a life! That’s right. It’s a life, because God is life. He’s the living God and in Him is life. (18) But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord. It’s an enigma—looking at a riddle. We’re looking at it, Paul says. Listen, Paul talks of that! And in another breath he tells us that this will not exist at a certain time. There won’t be a riddle! That’s right. It’s exactly what the Bible says here. It’s an enigma. We all, looking in this glass darkly… That’s what he says over in 1 Corinthians 13. Now we’ve been looking in a glass darkly, but here, we come to the place where it is not a dark glass. Up here it was. Let me get my thoughts exactly across to you. Why am I talking about looking in a glass darkly at the same time we’re talking about a glass that is not dark? Because up here, under “do this, and don’t do that,” under a period where the Holy Ghost had not come Himself to bring us the revealed Word, which is the stored Word, we were looking in a glass darkly! And we still are, as far as chronology’s concerned in the world. For you and me it is not. Now, look at it. Since the Spirit is come, the Shout, we are looking… (17) (And) beholding in a glass the glory of the Lord, (and) are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. 19. Now this is what I preached years ago on “The Omega Reflection.” Up here Paul is talking about Moses. His face was completely radiant—the Shekinah Glory of God—as the man had the Word within him. Now, if they had not put a veil up, had received the Word, the onflowing Word, it would have gone back to Moses, where it would have gone back to the Pillar of Fire, where the Pillar of Fire would have reannointed until, like a cyclotron, the blazing power of God would have transformed a nation and taken them into a promised land. But it couldn’t happen. But it will happen! It will happen where, through a prophet, the Word of God received will be ministered back to God. And, in turn, He ministers again and again, in an ever widening, increasingly in-depth, powerful, revelation, until a man is one hundred percent Word Christian. 20. Now you say, “Bro. Vayle, I’m struggling.” I’m not. I’m not. I gave up struggling. If God doesn’t do it, it’s not going to be done. I have no keys of Scripture to tell you how it’s going to be done except follow what Paul said. [2 Corinthians 4] (1) Therefore, seeing we have this ministry, (What ministry? The ministry of God Himself in a man.) as we have received mercy, we faint not. How could that man stand there and look down the road, and tell us that somebody was going to have it? Because he was a man full of the Holy Ghost, and not only full of the Holy Ghost, but God was in the man giving him the very Word that you and I have today, so that there would be a man here, William Branham, [Points to the picture of the Pillar of Fire with Bro. Branham.] in whom God was, to give us the Word that would transform us to the very image of God, immortality at last. 21. Let’s keep reading. Now, watch what Paul says: (2) But (we) have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, (not) handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. What is Paul saying here? In plain English he is saying this: “If I wanted to be crafty, if I wanted to fool you, if I wanted to do something to fool you, I’m going to tell you something; no way could I fool you, because I had ‘THUS SAITH THE LORD,’ and God is a person of integrity.” How could William Branham have “THUS SAITH THE LORD” and God be a God of integrity, if William Branham could handle the Word of God craftily, or with deceit, or in anyway try to fool us? You tell me. If this is not relaxation under the Seventh Seal, I don’t even know what I am talking about; I don’t know what William Branham said; I don’t know about anything. This has got to be the hour brother/sister, where we are absolutely dependent upon God and His Word, and the Life that’s in the Word, which is God Himself. Now, what was ministered back in the days of Moses? A Word—vindicated. What was in the days of Paul? A Word—vindicated. What is in our day? A Word—vindicated. Did It do the job in Moses’ day? Yes It did. Did It to the job in Paul’s day? Yes, It did. Will It do the job today? Yes, It does. Then, what’s the great prayer people should be uttering? “God, just help me to pile Word upon Word. Help me to remember what the prophet said. I could be so taken up in the things of this world, this fooling around, this and that and the other thing, that I might not take time to pile Word upon Word upon Word.” That’s what you and I have got to learn to do. 22. Now, listen. He said: (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. (The image of God—he is the complete declarer of God.) (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 our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. It tells you right there what God’s going to do. He is going to produce a manifold group of little Jesuses, because he is the big brother, and we are the little brothers. And what God is doing is producing a God race, genetically. That’s why people don’t understand the oneness of the Godhead. Jesus is not God; he is the Son of God. Why don’t they smarten up? There’s a race, brother/sister. Are we part of the race? William Branham right here called himself a part of that race. See? Now I’ll just let that go, and we’ll get back to it later. 23. Let me read it again. [18] And then to see, You God strictly identify God Yourself in the midst of us, that You are our Father, changing our thoughts…? Who’s doing the changing? God is. Granting repentance, changing our motives… How do you get your motives changed? The same way everything else is changed. The attitudes; it all comes by the Word. And you know something? It’s not like you and I think. No! Bro. Branham talked about the kind old priest. Oh, he just stuck out there like a star-studded thumb, in all his beauty and glory, your kind old priest. And Jesus stood out there like a sore thumb too! “This renegade Jesus, that threw all my good men out of the temple, that called us, your fine fathers, a bunch of hoodlums; why, he doesn’t stack up with us.” But that was God manifesting. You know something? The God of the Old Testament, Who said an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, hasn’t changed just because He said, “I no longer say that. If any man smite you on the cheek, turn the other;” because He said, “vengeance is mine; I will repay.” One time God had men who took destruction for Him. Now God takes His Own destruction. Just sit back and wait. Just sit back and wait. The Judge has already come and pronounced that we’re righteous. The same time the Judge will pronounce us as righteous, He has to condemn the world, because He’s come to judge the world also—the Judge of all the world. True. 24. Listen, paragraph 19. [19] We have assembled here this morning in this place that we call, "the backside of the desert," or I call it that, (And he’s praying.) thinking that. Reason I say that, Lord, is not to reflect anything upon this little group of people, but, of anything that would be of the nature of being small. In other words, we’re a small people, Lord. Like he said, “There’s no big one amongst us. There’s no great ones. The great One is here.” Now remember, like I told you, the time down in Florida, when I was with Bro. Branham, (He was with me. That was my church down there.) this man wanted to see him. And he said, “I’ll have you know,” he said, “I’m not just some little church on the corner. I’m a very important minister.” And Bro. Branham said, “Well Lee, then we can’t see him.” And I said, “Why not Bro. Branham?” “Oh,” he said, “He’s too big for us. We’re so little.” Yes, praise the Lord. Bro. Branham had a good sense of humor. Don’t think that he wasn’t the kind of man to have a sense of humor. I liked that one. It just rocked me right on my heels when he said, “Lee, well, we can’t go then.” 25. Paragraph 20. [20] But I'm trying to think that it was Moses, (Now, listen; listen carefully.) But I'm trying to think that it was Moses, Your servant, who was at the backside of the desert, maybe just he and his sheep, maybe his wife, Zipporah, Gershom, his son, they might've been along. That I do not know. But it was there that he had an experience that changed that prophet, from a runaway coward, to the service of God who had ordained him for the job, on the backside of the desert. Now, listen. The change took place on the backside; the ordination was before he was born. Before he left his own father, which is God, the loins of his own father, he was already ordained. You don’t think that’s true? Don’t you think for one minute that that little sperm and egg that got together, it wasn’t already ordained exactly what your eyes would be like, and your hands be like, and your hair would be like—if you would have any even? Would you be born right or not? Everything shows the glory of God. [20] It was there that the Pillar of Fire was made manifest for the first time in human life, that we know of. Now, if Bro. Branham said it, I agree with it. I used to think it was back there in the time of Abraham when the fire rolled through, like a fiery furnace, and took up the offering. So, I made a mistake on that. I stand corrected. 26. [20] That Fire was laying back in a little desert bush, and the bush burnt not. But it was the glory of God reflecting Itself through that bush; and Moses the prophet taking off his shoes, drew nigh unto It, and was commissioned by God to deliver a nation to God's people. [21] May it be so again today, Lord, on the backside of the desert that we now take off, as it were, our shoes, our hats, our all, and lay it down beneath the cross of the Christ, and say, "Here am I, Lord, send me." All right. I took two paragraphs together on purpose. Now Bro. Branham says here, it was the glory of God reflecting Itself, back there in the desert. I want to ask you a question, would it be any different from that? [Points to the picture of the Pillar of Fire.] Absolutely not. Would it be different from the apostle Paul? Absolutely not. Because remember, Heb 13:8 is not basically that Jesus is a great Healer. It is that God, being God, never changes what He does and how He does it! And Bro. Branham took us strictly to God bringing us the Word, which was by the prophet, and how it was done through the field of vindication. So, we see that. 27. Now he said it was “the glory of God reflecting Itself.” Bro. Branham often called this the Shekinah Glory. As I’ve explained before, having read a little bit on this subject—not very much—the word ‘Shekinah’ is not even in the Bible. But it’s a very good term. And it means, ‘the glory which is attendant upon the Personal Presence of Almighty God’. So therefore, the glory of God is not God Himself. It is a manifestation. So, Shekinah glory, and particularly this glory, is a manifestation, not of the Person Himself, but a sign of the unseen, personally present, Presence. We speak of the Presence. That is a picture right there, proving the presence of Almighty God. God invisible, proving His reality and Presence and in it, revealed Himself, revealing Himself to the degree He so desires to communicate at that particular time. 28. Let’s just take a look at the little word ‘glory’ here; then, I’m going to close with this, because our time’s going to be gone pretty rapidly. At least I think I’ll be able to close with it. We’re going to go back to Genesis 31, and we’ll see something here, and we’ll see It in verse 1. And this is where the sons of Laban are criticizing Jacob. And they say: (1) Jacob hath taken away all that was our father’s; and (all) that was our father’s hath he gotten all this glory. Okay. Then we go over to Genesis 45, I think it’s what I want, I wrote down here anyway. Gen 45:13. (13) And (you) shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and all that (you) have seen; and (you) shall haste and bring down my father (t)hither. Now in those two passages you can see the word ‘glory’ means his power—what you’d call weight: w-e-i-g-h-t. Say, “Is that man of any substance? Does he carry any weight? What’s he really good for? Can he produce?” Listen; I want to tell you about that man. There’s nobody going to stand up to him. That man stands there, and brother, if he speaks, you’d better believe that you’re going to have it on the line. And, if you’re going to get punched, believe me you’ll be punched. But, if he opens the door and takes you in, you’ll be treated like a king. This man’s got weight. That’s what this word ‘glory’ means. You get to the Greek, you’re going to find, like ‘doxa’, ‘doxology’, you’re going to find it has to do with Logos—which the word means, ‘assessment’. 29. Now nobody can assess God outside of God Himself, manifesting, [Points to the picture of the Pillar of Fire.] drawing your attention, showing something weighty is there in “THUS SAITH THE LORD;” then, as the prophet talks, you get a true understanding of glory, and you say, “That’s my God.” How can anybody share in the glory of God and know a thing about the glory of God, unless they’re wise to it in understanding? Now, look. We’re not in the generation of dark minds anymore, brother/sister. I love Bro. Branham, because he was even further out than I am! I open my mind up to everything but the devil. Maybe I’ve done that many more times than I want to admit it. But I can open my mind up to any theology, theosophy, anything in this world. What is the difference? If I have the filter, it isn’t going to take. Only the real Word takes. Bro. Branham could open himself up; he could look at anything, anything at all. That’s why God could use the man! He already had it in him, so that he could be opened up to the things of God and never be afraid. People get so scared, they run away from things; like, “Where were you before I laid the foundations, when all the morning stars sang together, all the sons of God rejoiced?” And Bro. Branham takes you right back there and shows you were a child of God, though you don’t know a thing about it, because you didn’t have that certain form you had to have at that time. People say, “Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness!” Well, don’t ‘oh my goodness’ me. I love it. This is my bread. Manna from heaven. 30. Let’s go to Exodus 16, now. That’s going to be over here in the Exodus part of Scripture. And that’s beginning at verse 7. God is talking here, now, because Israel is grouching. (20) In the morning, then (you) shall see the glory of the Lord; for that he heareth your murmurings against the Lord: (That’s verse 7, chapter 16.) and what are we, that (you) murmur against us? (21) And Moses said, This shall be, when the Lord shall give you in the evening flesh to eat, and in the morning bread (in) the full; for the Lord (heard) your murmurings (and so on). Now, notice what it is here. It is from the psalmist. Can God provide a table in the wilderness—in the desert? [End of side one of the audio tape.] Can God literally furnish us in the desert where there’s nothing here? And he said He sent them bread from heaven. He sent in the quail. He took water out of a rock. In other words the glory of God does not stop there with the picture. [Points to the same picture again.] Something’s got to come from the Presence to indicate and vindicate whatever is there. Where’s the weight? Did you ever see Bro. Branham ever fail on “THUS SAITH THE LORD?” Oh, I wish they’d have had a picture that time out there in Seattle, I guess, where that devil possessed man came in to break up his meeting. He’d broken up everybody else meeting. A man powerful, built like a giant, spitting and hissing like a snake, brandishing his fists under Bro. Branham’s nose, and saying, “You hypocrite, I’ll demolish you like I demolished the rest,” and everybody scattered. And Bro. Branham just stood right there, and he said, “Satan sent you as a child of the servant of the most high God.You’ll fall across my feet.” And the man looked funny, and began weaving like a snake, and fell across Bro. Branham’s feet. It took two heavy cops to pull him off. Let me see somebody else do it. Come on, brother/sister. Look, I believe in vindication, or forget it. Look, I’ve got the faith of less than a grain of mustard seed, less than a grain of sand. Yet, I’ll stand up here and rip and tear, because I have got at least some little thing to work on, because nobody’s come back from the dead! We haven’t seen Jesus yet either, but we’ve seen the manifestation. He’s risen from the dead. He’s conquered sin, hell, and the grave! And better still, He’s going to conquer human flesh and bring it into subjection, so that you and I will walk out of here by the grace of God, in spite of how we feel inside. It hasn’t got a thing to do with it. We’ve opened our minds and our mouths to the Word of God, and that’s what counts! You say, “Bro. Vayle, that makes you a hypocrite.” You’re the hypocrite sitting here, not me. You’re the unbeliever, not me. You know something? It works. It works. Oh yes, it works. Yes sir, brother/sister. Now, let’s go to Hebrews. I love Hebrews. I love all the Bible. Sometimes, see, Hebrews becomes my favorite at certain times, because of its certain parts. 31. All right. Look at Heb 1:3. (3) Who being the (effulgence, the outraying) of his glory… The outraying! When God wanted to put Himself on the line, He did it through Jesus Christ! And they couldn’t take It. They said, “Crucify Him. Get rid of Him.” I’m going to preach a Good Friday message. Here it is right there. You think they don’t want to get rid of Him? You think they don’t want to get rid of the Judge that’s already condemned them? That Pillar of Fire is the Judge, Bro. Branham categorically said, under The Exposition of the Seven Church Ages. That blew my mind every time I read it. And the same thing in the Seals: the Judge, the Judge, the Judge. They said, “Get rid of Him.” They say the same thing today, “Get rid of Him. Get rid of the Word.” This is the clue, brother/sister, to the White Throne. We’re in it right now. And, when Satan comes out, with his gang at the end of it, they say, “Get Him; kill Him again.” They killed Him back there. They try to kill Him now. It won’t work, and they’ll try to kill Him again. God does everything in threes. Don’t ever disbelieve the prophet, brother/sister. He taught us that. The express image of his person—the expression of It. Upholding all things by the Word of his power. Did he prove it? You say, “Well, I wasn’t there when Bro. Branham said ‘God created squirrels’.” I was there the day the cord was wrapped around his feet two times, my eyes fastened on that cord, hoping would to God he wouldn’t trip on it. And I didn’t blink, my brother/sister. And suddenly the cord was no longer wrapped around his ankles. It was lying on the floor. You know, God did that for me especially, because I cannot believe too much in a miracle of creation. I will accept it. That’s right. I’ve got a problem with a lot of things. I’m not perfection standing up here. If I was perfection standing up here, I wouldn’t be standing up here. No. I’d be on the biggest merry-go-round you ever saw, kicking up dust somewhere. But knowing my limitations, I tell you the truth. I saw what I saw. I don’t need creation. I don’t need this or that. I saw what I saw. And I haven’t blinked my eyes once as I’ve been talking to you. You see me blink in the meantime? No, you haven’t. Not one of you. Because I’ve been holding them very steady. I blink now, though, because I’m a blinker. All right? 32. Well, you all know Jn 1:18. The Only-begotten hath declared Him. Now, listen. Look at what he says here. “The glory of God reflecting Itself.” God putting Himself on display. Somehow God, manifesting His strength—manifesting that He’s got power that must be reckoned with. Where do you place people like the Church of Christ and these people who can’t believe in healing and calling it of the devil? That God can’t do miracles. That God can’t do this and that. I don’t understand it. When God… Or as they say, “Truth is always on the scaffold.” When did not God put Himself on the spot? Then, there’s a bunch of people who say, “Now Lord, if You’re really Lord, do this or do that.” Hogwash. Get back to what God said He would do and how He would do it. That’s what Bro. Branham taught us. That’s why… Heb 13:8 and Alpha and Omega. God put Himself to the proof. 33. “The glory of God reflecting Itself.” God personally showing that it is He Himself Who is doing it, though you can’t see Him—commissioning Moses. And he says, “May it be so again today, Lord, on the backside of this desert as we now take off, our shoes, and our all.” William Branham had consecrated himself to the Seven Seals opening in 1962, and they opened in 1963. And the man was still consecrating himself to the reality. And though he would consecrate himself, it doesn’t mean that it would come. I can consecrate myself this morning and pontifically say, “God, I am here as your servant, hallelujah, and let me lay my hands on the people, and none be without healing. I’m here Lord, come on, do it.” First of all, I don’t have that kind of faith. I don’t think, if God gave me a gift of healing to heal every one of you, I’d have the kind of faith to put it into operation. I’d just kind of doubt it. And knowing you’d have a part to pull it out of me, I don’t think you could do it either. What would be the use of this church consecrating itself to something that God hasn’t ordained? Come on; tell me. Ridiculous. What God hasn’t sanctified is of no use. What’s it going to do for you? 34. So, Bro. Branham is now consecrating himself to what he’s talking about! The glory of God continuing to manifest in the midst of the church! And then, He’s not gone. Some of you think he’s gone away. Do you think the Pillar of Fire’s gone away? [Points to the picture again.] That’s to lead us in to the Millennium. It’s not gone away. He can only go away when the dead are raised and we’re changed; and then, He takes us with Him. And that Spirit that’s in the midst of us becomes incarnate to us, and we crown Him King of kings and Lord of lords, Son of David, Son of God, Son of man, the Altogether Lovely, Rose of Sharon, Father, Son, Holy Ghost, you name it. Four hundred and some titles, I think. What’s he talking about? He’s talking about Lk 17:30. Oh, I love the Luke chapter. My, my, my, my. What fantastic food. (30) Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. What day is that? Matthew 12. Matthew 12. Let’s go back and look at it. Let’s look at verse 15. (15) But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all; (16) And charged them that they should not make him known. Hah! How could they make Him known? They didn’t even know Who He was. I think what He’s saying here, “Don’t talk too much about the ministry, unless you really know who the minister is—unless you can place it.” Bro. Branham came and placed it, and he said, “There’s no such thing as a true healing revival, unless a new message follows it.” So, he said, “Listen, be careful what you say here.” Of course, you know what they did. They talked all the louder. “Oh, come see this great man who could do great things!” But, when the great man who could do great things began saying great things, they said, “Kill him, kill him, kill him!” Bro. Branham was as popular as a skunk at the garden party the minute he preached serpent seed, and told women to quit preaching and stop cutting their hair. Oh, the women despised him. 35. You know what I like about our church and the Branham message? Men come! And most of them have faithful wives who come with them. We have a preponderance of males in the church that are even single. Hallelujah! I’ll hate the day if it ever comes where we got more women, and they start flocking together, and talking, which they will. I will walk out. Uh, uh. I no more want to be around that. I know we would have blown it somewhere. Not against sisters. Let’s get that flat. I love my sisters. You know I do. I’ll fight for you. I’ll do anything I can for you. But in the church is another thing. In Christ, and in the church, are two different things entirely. There is no office for women in the church. Women hated William Branham. Could never stand it. And men went right along like the puppy dogs that they are. Then, they call themselves men. 36. Listen. [Matthew 12] (17) (“Don’t make me known,” he said.) That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, (18) Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles. Now, listen. Let me tell you something right here. It says that these people here could not have made know unto them what is to be made known to the Gentiles. Huh? Well come on, read It. He healed them all and said, “Now, don’t say a thing,” because a certain Scripture: (18) Behold my servant, (They didn’t know who he was that served them.) whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: (That’s God talking about this Son.) I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles. So, what you saw up there was the Alpha to the great Omega in our generation. Now, watch: (19) He shall not strive, nor cry. But he did it in Jerusalem. You think he didn’t? Come on, the great day of the feast, he cried with a loud voice saying, “Come unto me all ye that thirst…” See, what was that, Jn 7:37-39. Read It for yourself in there. The great day of the feast, Pentecost. The Holy Ghost was not yet given. And he cried with a great voice, to the people, and he strove with them. He kicked them out of the temple and beat up on them. (19) (No) man hear his voice in the streets, (Didn’t they back there? He had to preach in the streets.) (20) (The) bruised reed (he) shall not break (Didn’t He? He certainly did break it. That’s what you leaned upon, destroyed it, the) smoking flax (he didn’t) quench, (He did quench back there. He said it’s all over. You’re blind; it’s finished.) till he send forth judgment unto victory. (21) And in his name shall the Gentiles trust. 37. It tells you right there: there is going to be a people at the end time who know that One there, [Points to the picture again.] in the form of a Pillar of Fire, they could not know previously, and they will know Him, and His name, and it will be a clear issue of God in our midst. And “He’ll vindicate,” as Bro. Branham said, “doing the same things He did back there.” That’s Lk 17:30. Sure it is. Verse 22. (22) (They) brought (a man) possessed with a devil, blind, dumb: healed him, insomuch the blind and dumb both spake and saw. (23) All the people said, Is not this the son of David? (24) The Pharisees (when they) heard it, said, This fellow (is not the son of David, He’s the other son.) They ought to make… Now, come on. You say, “Brother Vayle, you’re reading something in there.” I am not reading in there; if He wasn’t that Son, then who’s son is He? William Branham is either a prophet of God or a prophet of hell. You can’t sit on the fence. Oh, I love that. I don’t like riding horses, motorcycles, bicycles, or fences. I love the plushest car I can ride in. I’m riding good this morning. Oh brother/sister, you don’t know how tender I am at my age. Yes siree. Oh, I don’t sit on the fence. I know William Branham was of God. I’m banking everything on it. (24) When the Pharisees heard it, they said, This (is) Beelzebub prince of devils. (He does it.) (25) Jesus knew their thoughts, and said, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: Which I’m going to tell you about this right here. Look, just give me a little time. I told you at one time I was teasing Bro. Branham. You know I’m terrible at doing things I shouldn’t do. And I hope I learned—I learned with him. I can tell you that. I was in his home one day, and he said, “How’re you doing Lee?” Well, I said, “Not too bad. How’re you doing?” “Oh,” he said, “very good.” I said, “Great, because you got them fooled.” I didn’t mean he got them fooled. I was kidding, like saying, “Hey, man, you’re the tops.” And that’s a horrible way to say things, but I’m that way. You know me in this pulpit long enough to know I can do things like that. I can be absolutely rotten to you, but I don’t mean it. It’s a twisted, perverted nature I got; put it that way. See, I’m not come clean yet. He looked at me, and he froze. He looked right through me for over one solid minute. And there wasn’t one thought he didn’t know in my heart and in my mind. When he knew I was kidding, he drew his breath in and relaxed and didn’t say one more word; and believe me, I didn’t either. [Bro. Vayle and congregation laugh.] I’m telling you the truth here! The same God that read these people, the same God read me, brother, and I’m telling you, He read me. When he said, “You couldn’t hide if you tried,” you couldn’t hide if you tried. And remember, it’s White Throne. I want to keep telling you that, because many people who say they believe this Message don’t believe that; and they lie at the drop of a hat, because, you see, they’re liars to begin with. (26) Satan cast out Satan, divided against himself; how (could) his kingdom stand? (27) And if I by Beelzebub cast out… (And so on, right down the line.) 38. And then, he says here. Verse 31: (31) Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven (of) men: but (to blaspheme) against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven (of) men (And Jesus was not in the form of the Holy Ghost at that time.) (32) Whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, in this world, (or) the world to come. (Now, watch.) (33) Either make the tree good, his fruit good; or make the tree corrupt, his fruit corrupt: (tree’s) known by his fruit. (What’s He talking about? Matthew 7, which is the Word.) (34) O generation of vipers, how can (you), being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. Then, listen. Bro. Branham said, “Fill every channel to your soul with the Word of God, then it will reverse.” Listen, I’m going to tell you something. This business of talking the Word, brother/sister, is more important than I’ve ever let you know, because that’s the best I’ve done, is to let you know. Talk the Word. Mal 3:16, talk that Word. Let it be your answer to every question and your strength for the day. (35) A man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: an evil man bringeth forth evil things. Then, what makes a difference between you and me and the world? The Word. We’ve got the right Word; they’ve got the wrong Word. What makes you evil this morning, if you’re evil? You’ve got the wrong Word. What makes you good, if you are good, this morning? The right Word. Cain had the right Word. Wrong revelation. That was his evil deed. Sacrificing to God, and the Bible said it was a good sacrifice. “But you misdivided the Word, therefore hast thou not sinned?” Now, turn around and listen to the revelation. They won’t do it. Hey, look. We’ve got to get smaller and smaller brother/sister. As much as we’ve got a nice sized church, and we love people coming and all, I trust everyone is Bride this morning. I wouldn’t wish anything upon anybody sitting here outside it being one hundred percent with God and a child of God. Like for myself, I wish the same for you, desire the same. But look, this business of trying to win everybody to Christ at the end time. Bro. Branham, before he died said, “They have told me there’s ten thousand people believe this message. I must shake them off.” Today the records are suppose to be over a quarter million or something, I don’t know, maybe Barry [Coffee], you know a whole lot more than I do. I’m not a statistician, but I heard a long time ago maybe a quarter million. God knows, I can’t tell you. (36) But I say (to) every idle word that men shall speak, (they shall) give account in the day of judgment. 39. When are they going to give account? In the day of Judgment. When is it? Now! White Throne now. What’s he talking about? Blaspheming the Holy Ghost in this hour, judgment, the White Throne. “Away with him, we don’t want him.” Satan does the same thing at the White Throne, when he comes back to want to take the world over again. Brother, don’t you understand, sister, we are living in the great now, eternal of God? Time and eternity have blended. You know something? I wish we could bring enough food here. We have the bathrooms. Enough blankets. Don’t even bother shaving. Just to be here for about thirty solid days, and nothing but Word, Word, Word, Word, Word, Word, and Word. You know something? We’d wear out. The old carcass would wear out, but the inner man would begin to glow. Why was Bro. Branham’s outer man dying? On the road, day after day, dying—with his nerves, ministering to people, like a scared animal before God, knowing he could fail God. Like a scared animal before men, knowing he could fail men. And the picture taken showed the inner man coming forth as the outer man was perishing. What was doing it? The Word. You tell me something else. You say, “Well, it’s a spirit, brother.” Don’t give me that nonsense! A spirit cannot come except where the Word is, and where the Word will be. And it’s predestination. 40. [Matthew 12] (36) …In the (hour) of judgment. (37) For by (your) words (you’re) justified, by (your) words (you’re) condemned. (White Throne.) (38) …Certain scribes (then said) Master, (we’d) see a sign from (you). (39) (He said, you wicked, adulterous generation, you’ve got your sign.) They impugned the integrity of God. “THUS SAITH THE LORD” meant nothing. If God ever let Satan come on the scene with “THUS SAITH THE LORD,” you and I are finished, and God isn’t God. Because instead of being the enemy of Satan, He is in collusion with Satan. You think that God would uphold a perverted Word? No way. But do you think the righteous would die because of a perverted Word? Yes, and who will kill them? The perverters. When John calls Satan the murderer in the beginning, I want you to show me one person that you can actually prove that Satan actually killed. You go back to Cain. Satan in a man; God in a man. The lines of demarcation. They wanted their own way. That’s exactly what they wanted. 41. [21] May it be so again today, Lord, on the backside of this desert as we consecrate ourselves… William Branham was talking about himself in a full consecration as that man, that prophet of God, God in the prophet, man veiling the prophet completely; and yet the believers knowing that God is in that man, bringing forth that Word, hardly able to place it; but the prophet according to God must explain It all and lay It out here. As I say again, what he said to Hickerson. He said, “Brother Hick,” he said, “I’m up here, and you’re down here. When I’m taken off the scene, you’ll be up there.” Day by day the Word of God, brother, brings about a constant levitation. Oh, yes. It makes our days lighter, our feet lighter, our flesh lighter, day by day, till one day that spirit of levitation, which will be God Himself, will get us out of here having changed us in our mortal members. What’s going to do it? The Word; nothing but the Word—spirit-filled Word. 42. People sing about Jesus… Remember years ago, been about the forty’s, the minister down there, this lady said, “Well, Bro. Vayle, the thing is you know,” she said, “if they just stop talking about the Word, and don’t argue anymore, and just come around Jesus, it’ll be fine!” And I said, “Sister, that’s the biggest trap of the devil, and you’ve fallen for it.” No way, shape and form. Everybody’s got a different Jesus. Come on; let’s be honest. I’m going to close. We’ve got, what, seventy, eighty people, (I don’t know.) barring the little children. Except for the definitive revelation that Bro. Branham gave concerning God, and you’re doing your best to cope with It and understand, so that you get his thoughts the way he had them, and they become your thoughts… Now, isn’t it true, except that you believe in a vindicated Message, you already had your own thoughts, and they weren’t his thoughts. True. True. Now we’ve got some vindication. And it’s beautiful, because God doesn’t lie. And He hates liars. If this man were a liar, [Points to the picture again.] and God allowed His name in that man’s mouth and vindicated that man’s mouth, then God loves liars! And, if He sends liars to the Lake of Fire, He’s got to go down there and minister to them, because He’s part of it! Now that’s sounds pretty rough, but I’m a rough preacher. 43. See look, if we’re going to sew the thing up, let’s sew it up. How can you find God lying? Listen, it’s bad enough if I lie. I’m not going to lie to you. In this pulpit, no, outside… I won’t lie to you outside, either. When it comes to this Word, brother/sister, there’s only one Word, and that’s the vindicated Word, (I do not care what anybody else said.) and that is the Message of this hour. And that is what Bro. Branham was saying, when he said, “I’m going to bring you my New Year’s message, and I am saluting you, in the New Year: ‘Shalom’!” That was in January of 1964. In November of 1965, he said “Shalom!” again, to a Bride, and that “shalom” was: “You’ve been united by the Word. The mystical union has taken place. What I greeted you with in 1964, as peace, relaxation under the Seventh Seal, today let me tell you, you are a part of it.”—because he was talking to the elected lady in both cases. “Shalom!” That’s the introduction. That’s part of the prayer. Let’s rise and be dismissed. Gracious Heavenly Father, we want to again thank You for Your kindness to us, Lord, which You’ve given us, by the strength You’ve given us, the fellowship we have around the Word, Lord. It’s so good to be with Your people, O God, there isn’t anybody we’d sooner be with. It’s kind of an idle dream to believe we could just all stick around here for thirty days, something like that. But it’s a beautiful thought, Lord, to know that, how we could be in heavenly places just constantly, constantly, Lord, in love with, enamored by and energized by the life of the Word. Oh the joy, Lord, that comes from this Word. And the power of It, O God. I can see what You meant to Abraham, in Your visits to him, how that that one day, he believed, as he’d never believed before, the full assurance of faith. It came before he was changed, which could symbolize our resurrection. It came before the Son was made manifest in flesh upon the earth. It came before Sodom and Gomorrah burned. It came because You were there, and, as Mary said, and her presence was said by the angel, archangel Gabriel, with the personal presence of God, “All things are possible.” And now, Lord, all things are possible that we can come to that place of perfect faith. Absolutely, Lord, right there with Abraham, and take on our change. O Lord God, we know that no man has ever had this devolve upon him, until this age. Abraham had it back there as one man, but now, Lord, there’s a group of people going to get out of here. I trust this morning, Lord, we are a part of that group, every single one of us, not one failing. And yet say with the prophet, “If we’re not Bride, there’s a Bride out there somewhere. We’ve seen enough to know there’s a Bride out there somewhere. And, help us by the grace of God not only to not get in her way, but, if we can help her, Lord, may we help, because at least then, we could stand at the White Throne, and You’d say, “You did it to the least of these, My brethren, you come on into the Kingdom that’s been prepared.” Father, bless each one this morning. As the prophet often said, may there not be one sick amongst us. I’m believing for that, Lord, in my own little foolish way, you might say, my ignorant way, Lord, I know it’s not foolish, it’s more ignorant, and I don’t want to believe beyond myself, Lord, if that wouldn’t be for my day and hour. But I believe, Lord, it is, because the prophet said it himself, and he was here with us, and that’s going about twenty-five years ago now, Father. A long time has gone by—twenty-four. And we’re looking at it, Lord, in the light of the fact that he said, “not one feeble one amongst us;” the sweet Spirit of Jesus Christ coming out of this Word, doing it. Grant it, Lord, we pray. Bless our fellowship together after service, this fellowship we might have together. Where we might go and do, may it be unto You, Lord. May we be more serious and more sober, more yielded to You than ever before, like the prophet—and more consecrated. In the Name of Jesus Christ we pray, Amen. “Take the Name of Jesus With You.”
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