The Christian & His Attitudes #1, Pt. 1

Bro. Lee Vayle

January 15, 1978

	Shall we just remain standing for prayer: Heavenly Father, again we ask
You to be with us, Lord, we know that this Message and this Word and
this Life is far beyond us, that it’s impossible for us, of ourselves,
in any way, Lord, to accomplish anything whatsoever, but we know that we
can believe with the Apostle Paul that we have been crucified with
Christ, nevertheless we live, yet not we, but Christ lives in us. A
replacement, Lord, is what we long for, and here how You have answered
us already, it is the replacement. 

	And we pray that the Christ within us may have the preeminence in all
things, make us very humble this morning, not only humble and grateful,
but also very obedient to what You have set forth in Your Word. Grant It
might come forth, Lord, according to how You’ve put It. May we receive
It as Spirit-filled people. In Jesus’ Name. Amen. You may be seated.

1.	Now this morning I’m going to bring a message that I was duty bound
to bring to a church in order to help them in a time of crisis. Now you
don’t have any crisis here, but it’s always good to know what is
incumbent upon us under certain conditions, and so this message this
morning is “The Christian and His Attitudes.” And the subject, of
course, would develop into a series…it would be impossible for anyone
to just take one message on it, unless he was a genius, or literally was
able, like the Spirit of the Lord in Christ, to give the sermon on the
mountain, and that’s just not possible. 

	Of course, when we talk about attitudes, we don’t leave out conduct,
because it’s not just what a person feels, or how he is supposed to
feel, but the Scripture is very thorough, lucid, in expressing how you
deal with those feelings, or what you do with those feelings, or how you
react to your feelings. 

2.	 The Scripture we’re going to start with this morning is in Mt
5:25-26:

(25)	Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with
him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the
judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.

(26)	Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence,
till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.

	Now this Scripture is a real puzzler because it actually sounds like a
corrupt court of law in a rotten society. That’s just what it sounds
like…it sounds like America, twentieth century, if you want to know
the truth, for here is the victim jailed and punished instead of the
criminal, because that’s what it seems to be literally saying, because
it says here: “Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in
the way with him, lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the
judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be cast into prison.”

3.	And this is what we see in America: we see favor bestowed upon the
criminal and the victim seems to have to take everything with no
redress. But that’s not actually what this Scripture is saying, so we
must examine carefully to find out what it is saying. And you’ll
notice the Word at the very beginning is, “Agree with thine
adversary.” That is the first word to look at: “agree.” So we’re
going to examine the words, hopefully, one at a time, and then we’ll
try to put them together because that’s the best thing is to analyze
and synthesize. If you can analyze, it’s not so hard to put it
together so you know how you stand.

4.	Now this word in the Greek, ‘to agree’, literally means ‘to be
well-minded’, or ‘well-disposed’, well minded or well disposed. It
says here, “Get well-minded or get well-disposed to your adversary.”

	Now the two words here, of course, there are two words that make up the
word ‘agree’, which we’ve just said one is ‘mind’, and the
other is ‘well’; and the word ‘well’ here is the word
‘well’, as opposed to being sick, or strained, or in some way not
right. And you know a strained mind, a sick mind, mental case, that’s
what it’s actually hitting at here, but what it’s really telling us
in plain English is right attitude—get a right attitude—that’s
what it means. Now be sure that you have a right attitude. 

5.	The next word is ‘adversary’, and basically this is an opponent
in a lawsuit—now that is the next thing to see. Get a good mind, get a
good attitude, get a right spirit towards the man that is your opponent
in a lawsuit. Now we’re going to go to Lk 18:3 to see this adversary
who is really an opponent, and we’re going to talk about him, and here
it says:

(3)	And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying,
Avenge me of mine adversary. 

	See? She went to the judge and so this is really legal terminolgy that
has its setting in a case of law. So the opponent is an opponent in a
lawsuit. And so therefore we understand that if this person is in a
lawsuit, he has to have legal reason for legal redress or it cannot come
into court. Now that’s the first thing to understand here.

6.	Many people feel with the system of the courts that you have a right
to go to court over anything and everything, anytime you feel. That is
an error—you simply can’t do that. Really, every case in court
should be based upon a preliminary hearing in a chamber by a judge and
those in authority of the law, to see if you have a right to be there.
And if there’s no right to be there, you haven’t got a case. So what
we’re looking at here is that this person must have reason for legal
redress. Now the case I read over here in Luke, the woman comes to court
and she says, “Avenge me of my adversary, I’ve got a case.”

	And you’ll notice in here that this was an unjust judge that he’s
talking about—not a just judge. A just judge would have said,
“Woman, I know you’re a widow, and I’m sorry for you, God love
you, but you haven’t got a case.” See?

	But the old, unjust judge, he said, “Well, this woman is haranguing
me, she’s gotten on my nerves, I’ve got to do something about it.”
See?

	Then God turns around and said, “If you get a fellow here that’s
going to dispose of the case illegally, how much more will God dispose
of cases that are based upon His Word and do something about it? See?
Now get your picture…mustn’t get all…Bro. Branham said, “Your
lines tangle up in times like these.”

	So this fellow here is legally entitled in his case that he’s got
against you or me…there’s something wrong. And the Bible said,
“Now you better see that you get a right attitude toward that person
that’s right,” and he’s coming against you with illegal redress.

7.	We’ll go over here to Matthew again, 5, and just read that first
part of the 22nd verse to get a good picture:

(22)	But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother
without a cause shall (himself be judged for the very thing)…

	So, you see, there’s got to be a cause, there’s got to be a
legitimate reason. There simply can’t be somebody shooting his mouth
off, like something imaginary, or something to be picky. One cannot
surmise or draw conclusions apart from hard facts of conduct which have
been produced. So therefore nothing can be developed upon hearsay or
imagination, or putting two and two together and come up with eight.
See? So now…we’re talking here in hard legal terms. 

8.	So we see an individual here in Matthew 5 has made an opponent, or an
adversary, who takes a stand against him, for something that is defined
by law as to be wrong; or something as to be defined in the Word of God:
you should not have done it—you did it—and you know that you did it.


	Now what happens the first thing in a case like that? Runs off mad,
tries to slip the church, or goes out and starts the prayer meeting to
justify himself: absolutely an abdominal attitude. The attitude that
person is supposed to have, and if you and I are in that position—and
ten to one, we’ve been in it several times, and may be in right at
this moment—is to take a right attitude, which means to have just a
good spirit toward the whole thing.

	Now it doesn’t mean that this individual has made an opponent on
purpose, or he has deliberately done something which is wrong, set his
heart to do something wrong—it might not be through a premeditated
act…in fact, if you’re born again, I would challenge your thinking
that not one time out of a hundred thousand would you deliberately do
anything wrong. So it doesn’t have to be even a deliberate act because
amongst Christians it shouldn’t be a deliberate act. If it is a
deliberate act, you better believe the fellow hasn’t got the Holy
Ghost or he lost Him somewhere down the trail. As Bro. Branham said,
“You act like a wolf, the dove takes flight.”

9.	Now it might not have been even a spiteful thing; it might not have
been an intended thing; it could be carelessness or
thoughtlessness…like, you know, you’ll hear on the radio going down
the road, and the person is saying to the other person, “Well, I
didn’t mean to do it—it sure wasn’t my fault,” concerning a car
accident. Well, it doesn’t matter whose fault it is, you both got
bummed up. 

	Now, it wasn’t my fault the other day…I was coming in from going to
Baton Rouge over to Walker, and the people of the highway department had
done a very stupid thing—and anything the government does is always
stupid—now I’m not critical, I’m just telling you a fact, because
the government is established for one thing: to run law courts which are
legal and correct and we haven’t got it. But you can interfere in it.

	Now listen: they made a big hole in the road, and at evening time, when
that traffic was going to run, did that department, which has all the
material, did they bother to put the heavy one in sheet of steel over it
so cars could travel? No…oh, they wouldn’t do that, no. They put a
barrier, and let people get killed. And yet, my brother/sister, if you
took it to law court, you couldn’t do a thing—there’s something
wrong…something very wrong, see? 

10.	Now that reaches it right to the church here now. If there’s going
to be any opponent bringing anything against anybody, it’s got to be
based on the reality of the Word. See? Then if that person who has done
the wrong thing is shown that, that person has no defense except a right
spirit. He’s got to come right around, you see. Just even
thoughtlessness, see, must be cared for, then taken care of, in the way
the Scripture says. 

	But now here in this Scripture we find a problem and according to my
understanding here, according to the Bible—so it’s not my
understanding, it’s the Word of God—the problem is legitimate. Two
people are involved and one is accused by the other. Now we have to see
something carefully here, because the offender is not pushing it. He has
not come around and said, “I’m sorry; I’ve got to undo this
thing.” No, sirree. He’s like the person involved in an
accident—“Wasn’t my fault—I didn’t see you coming.” See?
He’s not doing anything about it. It’s the offended one who is
pushing the case because something should be done about it.

	Now the offender may be hopefully trying to get out of a confrontation.
He may try to wiggle out of it—that’s not right. You try to wiggle
out of anybody dragging you to court…you can’t get out of that. You
refuse to come to court, they’ll issue a subpoena, they’ll drag you
in there, and you’ll be in trouble. So you can’t wiggle out of it.
See? 

	Now the offender, as I say, may prefer not to face a showdown, but the
offended one is pushing for a showdown. Now although those words are a
little bit rough, it gets the picture across. If somebody is saying
something’s got to be done. Now he may not want, nor should he want,
personal revenge—this person that’s pushing it. Now he may not want
personal revenge, nor should he want it, but a simple righting of the
wrong lets a precedence be set in the church. You follow what I’m
saying now? 

11.	Now we go and look at life in the raw out here. Now, what did one
man once say? He said, “All it takes is people, good people, to turn
their backs on injustice, and the whole thing’s rotten.” 

	A church that refuses to deal with situations that arise is setting a
precedent to induce all foul, rotten birds of conduct in its midst, and
the church will be nothing but nothing. That’s why there must be a
rule within the church: “Obey those that have the rule over you,”
and that rule is by the Word of God, for it says, “Obey those that
have the rule over you, who teach you the Word of God.” [Heb 13:17]

	Bro. Branham said, “God must judge, and God must judge by…” What?
“The Word.” But God also rules by the Word because “by the Word
all things were made, and by the Word all things consist,” and if
there isn’t any Word, everything falls apart into nothingness. And so
if the Word is not obeyed in the church, the church falls apart into
nothingness. And you can see exactly why it was that Paul said, “I am
fearful lest you, as a virgin church, go down, down, down, until I’ve
got nothing to present to Jesus Christ, because you got off the Word.”
[2 Cor 11:2] So you can see the importance then of what we’re talking
about. 

12.	So we are given a sermon on this very situation by Jesus Christ
Himself, the verses which I read, but that’s the sermon. So therefore
nothing could be better than to follow his advice. What do you do in
conflict within the church? What is the right thing? How do you conduct
yourself? What is to be done?

	Well, that’s exactly what we’re talking about. First, agree—that
is the first and only thing to do is to keep on agreeing. See? What does
‘agreeing’ mean? It means to become well disposed in your mind
toward the opponent, to get in a frame of mind, and keep it that way,
which is to be dispassionate and objective in the attitude.

	Now I realize that’s a tough situation because feelings arise. One
fellow that’s done wrong, he thinks he’s going to get picked on. He
already knows that he’s guilty, the fat’s in the fire, the soup’s
poured over on the stove, and you know you can be fooled that heart
rolls around, and the heart rolls around, the stomach begins to roll
around, and the eyeballs begin to roll around, and you know it’s a
pretty lousy condition to be in. Now the Word of God says…and people
get involved, people always like to take sides: “Well, I don’t think
it was so bad.”

	Who said it was? See? Taking issue. There’s got to come a place where
people will become objective and dispassionate…doesn’t mean you
don’t have passions and compassion, but a person must become
dispassionate, he must become objective. That person has got to get the
mind under control with the Word, see and have an absolute Word
attitude.

13.	Now, first of all, now we’re talking first of all about the fellow
that’s done wrong, and he’s got to face up to it, and I know by the
Scripture here he’d sooner not face up to it, because the Lord says
here, “You’d better face up or something’s going to happen to
you.” See? Now the first thing in facing up is remembering that he is
your brother, so you’ve got to start by thinking and saying all the
good things possible about that brother, and this is the tough thing
right here. 

	Now, of course, you understand I’m preaching to myself up here, which
makes it very, very uncomfortable. But I’ve always said that if
I…being I’m human, all I’ve got to do is bring up my own faults
and point a finger at me, and I can kill you dead in a do-do—because
you’re in the same boat I am. You’re human and it’s hard—that
old thing to humble down and admit guilt, to take the position of a
lowly brother, and have a right attitude.

14.	Now this fellow is being pressed. See? And that’s what we do—we
get pressed, and let’s face it: we’re our own enemy—ain’t nobody
caused any trouble but ourselves. I just heard a preacher this morning
on the TV, and he was saying, he said, “Sure,” he said, “you’ll
blame your grandmother, your grandfather, or your father, your brother,
your sister, the teacher, but,” he said, “you’re the guy that’s
wrong!”

	That’s right…I’ve told my kids that and I know it myself. I get
involved sometimes blaming somebody else but it comes right down—I did
it. You know, Pharaoh was predestinated to be a sinner, or
ordained—the word ‘predestination’ is not a good word—he’s
ordained. See? Now, let’s face it: that fellow was a sinner but he
didn’t have to murder. You and I are by nature children of
wrath—we’ve got a dual nature system. Within us is the power to
believe or not believe, be right or to be wrong. It’s every man shall
bear his own burden, stand on his own two feet. Now the Word is clear on
that. Like the old song said, “It’s not the deacon, but it’s me, O
Lord, standing in the need of prayer.” Of course, it’s good to pick
on the deacon, but at least he said true: “It’s me, O Lord,
standing.”

15.	So we’ve got to change our thinking about the person and stop
thinking of anybody as an adversary, and to get him in the perspective
of a brother. Now if it’s just somebody out there accusing you… Fap!
Who cares? I’ve got no problem…bunch of birds out there yakking. Why
they yakked at Jesus Christ himself, in fact, they killed him. So we
don’t care about those fellows—we’re talking now within the
church, amongst ourselves.

.	So therefore this person, in order to bring an accusation, or to be
offended, would have to be one of us, an ailing member in the
congregation, which would be ailing because there’s something wrong
with the man, you know. So now we have got to remember that that person
is a legitimate brother and to think and to say good things about him
because, as Bro. Branham said, “The saying of good things even casts
out devils.” The reason therefore the devils linger in a church or are
in human bodies is because something hasn’t been said right to
overcome that which has been perverted.

16.	Now there is only one Word, and the attitude or how It is used makes
the difference as to whether the Word is of God or whether It’s
perverted. That’s why Bro. Branham mentioned the handling of the Word
of God and trying to serve God, and I hope you caught what I’m saying:
there’s only one power, all power is of God. There is only one of
everything, it’s what you and I do with it, and there’s only one
mind we’ve got—it depends on what we do with it. There’s only one
life we’ve got—it depends on what we do with it. So therefore
there’s the ability to speak, and the words that I use will either
destroy or mend. 

	So therefore the thinking which precedes the speaking must always be
well disposed toward the individual so that nobody is an enemy. See?
That’s the first thing to understand right here. We’ve got to start
thinking good things and to get the devil out of the picture; we have
got to begin saying the good things. In other words, strange as it may
seem, we become the advocate of those that pressure us.

17.	Now remember, it’s not illegal, it’s a legal thing…that person
that’s in the wrong must now begin to think very nicely of the person
who is against him or charging him. See? Because, listen, in the church
there will be charges laid, and there have to be to keep the church
clean. Now if we become an advocate, just like Jesus Christ… Jesus
Christ was an advocate of the men who were against him illegally, then
how much more must we be under subjection, with an advocate spirit, to
those who have something legitimate. And you look at your life, and I
look at mine, let’s face it: there are lots of things in there that
can cause legitimate opposition, see? which would demand legitimate
correction. We must never, ever say, and we’re so prone to say, “He
had no reason to do what he did,” or “I did nothing wrong.”

	Now that is usually what happens amongst us. We try to defend
ourselves, and put ourselves in a good light. Consequently, it’s
necessary then to put the offended one in a wrong light and say,
“Well, he didn’t have any reason. It wasn’t what he thought.”
See? 

	All of these things go by the board. What we’re driving at here then
is the constant attitude of facing up to what has been done. Just
don’t try to weasel; don’t try to get out of it; don’t try to
defend; don’t try to put a façade on it; don’t try to cover it
over; it’s to say, “Look, I understand, and I’m not going to be in
contest with the one who is legitimately able to come against me,
because he is legitimate.”

	But we are to put ourselves in his shoes and try to get his point of
view, to understand exactly his opposition. Now, remember, his
opposition can be personal, or his opposition can be even more correct.
It’s something must be done, lest one apple rot the whole barrel. 

18.	Now, remember, also that we are a democracy. Now here’s something
we should remember at all times—this is on the same subject: so many
people see things different from other people, and here’s where it
stops us from getting involved in charges against each other, and in
church fights, which are ridiculous. All right. 

	Let us say for one minute that the people are looking at a certain
individual which I had the experience to run into, and one person should
not have said it, but as a democracy, he had every right to believe the
way he believed, and he said, “This brother, as far as I am concerned,
is no apostle.”

	Oh, boy! You should have seen the sparks fly! I’m glad I wasn’t
there. Another fellow jumped up, and he was ready to start a fight.
Well, he says, “He is an apostle.”

	Well, I’ll tell you: if you’re a self-declared apostle, and people
think you are, you had better have the signs of an apostle, which Bro.
Branham said was a ‘missionary’ that goes overseas and places, and
then doesn’t sit for the rest of his life, but he starts a work and
comes home, putting it in the hands of the people where the work should
be.

19.	Well, the people got pretty hepped up about it. I said, “Look,
I’m going to tell you something: this is a democracy, because Bro.
Branham said so. Right? Bro. Branham declared the church was democratic,
it had a vote, and our society was democratic, and you have no right to
impose your thoughts upon me, and I have no right to impose my thoughts
upon you. But being a free country, we have every right to speak, and be
respected, just as long as you are not venomous, or you’re trying to
hurt somebody, or anything else.” 

	Now this is one thing that church could not learn, and as far as I
know, still has not learned, and I must say that I don’t know a church
that has learned it. That’s right, we are a democracy. Now you see
what I’m talking about? The right attitude, the right mind. If I’ve
got a right mind toward my brothers, and they have right minds towards
me, then we can sit down at any time under high heaven and I don’t
care what is being discussed, it can be simply discussed and left there,
rather than personality being involved or somebody wanting to take
authority over somebody else. This is one of the roughest things I see
in this Message. There are so many people who guarantee themselves the
right that they are going to take you in tow, and if you believe what
they believe, you believe right.

20.	A brother…I love this brother…but he keeps on saying, “Bro.
Vayle, oh, what a thrill I have, and how great it means to go to Luke 24
and see where that Jesus Christ himself, “Oh fools and slow of heart,
to believe ‘all’ that the prophet said.”

	I said, “Brother, read the rest of it and begin….” [End of first
side of tape and beginning of side 2, words missing]…conclusion from
his attitude is this: if I believe the prophet, all the prophets said,
I’ve got to believe it his way.

	I don’t gotta believe the prophet his way, and you don’t gotta
believe the prophet my way. You see what I’m saying? There’s got to
be a right mental attitude toward anything and everything within the
church or we’re no better than nothing, and that attitude is by the
Word of Almighty God. See? 

	It’s a democracy, and no matter when anything is said or done,
you’ve got to learn to draw back and look at it. Now the prophet was
most adept at doing this…of course, he could, because he was a
prophet. If I was a real, genuine prophet and could read your heart, and
didn’t have the compassion, well, fap, what good does that do? Where
has grace gone? See? 

21.	The prophet even went so far when he could have revealed sin, and
saw the muck and the mire, he would not reveal it. Now he sure got hot
under the collar one time when he told me about it, down there in
Southern Pines in South Carolina…he said, “Lee, and to think those
Pentecostal preachers had the nerve to come before me, knowing that I
could read their hearts and knowing they were living with other women
than their own wives.”

	Well, he didn’t get up and blast them…no; he didn’t get up and
reveal something. You know, people often think they’ve got
revelation—and maybe they do have something—but if you start…you
know…making a revelation public in order to harm people, that’s not
the same spirit the prophet had. See? It’s the spirit that goes with
everything that counts. 

22.	Now, never forget that we brought out here that he is legally
opposing, though we have to go into Scripture with him to make sure that
the problem is handled correctly. And here is where we need people who
will be impersonal. This is why the pastor is an impersonal person. The
main requisite of a pastor is the ability to sit down between two people
having a row and favor neither, but to hold the hands as a daysman and
cause them to both come together by the Word. 

	Now I don’t know what you think and I haven’t discussed it with
Bro. Bell, and he has every right to disagree with me…say, “Bro.
Vayle, I don’t believe that’s the most important thing for a pastor
to be able to do.”

	Now I didn’t say the most important thing in the pastor’s life, I
said “able to do.” The most important thing in his life is to have
the Holy Ghost, which is constantly revealing the Word to him—that’s
to him personally, but Bro. Branham stressed it, that the great thing
about a pastor was to remain impersonal. Now he said, “The spirit of
the pastor gets on the people.” 

	So therefore if a congregation is to remain impersonal and stay with
the Word and be duty-bound to stay with the Word and, remember, this is
especially pertinent in our day when the Shout is a military command.
See? To get in step with the Word. And the Word demands an impersonal
attitude toward anything and everything that is done. It’s just like
Christ looking at us through the Blood, see, it’s no longer thrown
upon the person, but it’s brought into the legal view ..?…
impersonally. You see, though there’s a personal aspect here, because
He’s dealing with it, but remember: He does not deal with it after our
iniquity. He deals with us as people, see, in a reality, so we must
recognize each other as real individuals of Christ and never let that
personal spirit come in—we have got to remain neutral.

23.	Now let’s just take a look at this and see if I’m telling you
something that’s a lot of Scripture or a lot of non-Scripture, so we
got to 1 Corinthians 6, and I’ll just read five verses:

(1)	Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before
the unjust, and not before the saints? (Now it tells you right here: any
matter in the Church must come before the Saints. Now what’s the
Church going to do? If the Church is the Word, then the Word’s going
to be applied.)

(2)	Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? and if the
world shall be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest
matters? (Now Paul says right here: don’t let anything go unobserved.
Don’t let anything spring amongst you. Positively make sure that
everything is settled.)

(3)	Know you not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that
pertain to this life? 

(4)	If you then have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set
them to judge who are least esteemed in the church. 

	Now that’s good right there: it said when a thing starts to get out
of hand, he said what you’ve got to do is to take the person least
esteemed, because why? The most esteemed person starts to throw his
weight…you bet he does. Listen, I’ve been in church fights, and
there’s one thing, thank God, that I don’t take sides, and if I did,
the people never would know it, because I’m going to be as fair as I
can when something comes up, and I’ve done it, where the church has
been saved because of an impersonal view of the matter. 

	I’ve had people come to me and thank me afterwards, and say, “Bro.
Vayle, I appreciate what you said because I was wrong,” even in the
case where the man did right, but the church didn’t understand it. I
said, “You were wrong for what you did. Did you realize you caused the
whole church to fall into suspicion, because you don’t do it that
way.”

	I had to rebuke a pastor, and you know what? The whole church was
solidly then with me and actually then with the pastor because he at
least said, “I was wrong.” You see? Very important. 

	Now, of course, being a minister as I am, I wouldn’t qualify here in
the sense of being the least esteemed—they brought me in because they
respected me—and not that this man isn’t respected, but it’s he
doesn’t throw his weight—he’s got no weight to throw. See? It’s
not a personal thing. Do you follow what he says here then?

	So this man doesn’t have attitudes, he’s not puffed up that he can
do something, and he’s not impressed by being something—he’s just
a good, old farmer here with suspenders…hasn’t even come to the belt
age yet, with his old galluses, and he’s just a fine old…a fine old
boy. So he comes in and then he’s going to bring the two together, and
say, “Now, look, you can’t act that way.” So this is what we’re
looking at. 

24.	Now he said

(5)	I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among
you? 

	And what’s a wise man of Scripture? The prophet brings the Word, the
wise man handles the Word. Haven’t you got a man in there who handled
the Word? See? How could you judge between brethren without the Word? So
this is what we see here. Very legal, very right, the thing that must be
absolutely done. 

	Now, there is a wise man then amongst us. All congregations have people
who can be useful and they must be utilized—they’re the humble,
sweet ones, and they must be in the sense of the least esteemed as
Scripture member, which mans the finger is not merely to be compared to
the eye—that’s what he’s sayng here. See? We understand that. Now,
we must always try to never, ever oppose the man who is bringing the
charge, which would mean to think bad thoughts but to keep our spirit
the way we’re supposed to. 

	And let’s get some Scripture on that so we know what we’re talking
about. We go over here to the Book of Proverbs, is the first one I want,
nestling in here in chapter 16, and in verse 32 it says:

(32)	He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; (You know a
mighty man with a quick temper gets into a lot of problems and he
destroys himself.) and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a
city.

	So you see that man we’re talking about, that simple little fellow,
always has a very calm nature—you don’t get him excited. He keeps
his spirit down—that’s why he’s that simple little fellow—and
his spirit is never pushy so he’s not a big guy, but a fellow that
keeps his spirit, he is a great one in the sight of Almighty God.

25.	Over again in Matthew 5:5:

(5)	Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

	And again, in Galatians 5, not Matthew now, Galatians 5:22-23:

(22)	But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
gentleness, goodness, faith, 

(23)	Meekness, temperance…

	Look at those in there. Of course love is a world leader, joy is
fantastic, but watch those ‘p’s…?…peace…?, longsuffering,
gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Do you realize the
majority of that, those thoughts in there reflect upon the person’s
own spirit, his ability to keep it and to stand back, to come to grips
with life as it is, and then not give himself away, selling himself into
bondage of passions which bring corruption, but to look at the person
objectively, and say, “Yep. Yes, sir, I’m going to just stay right
here in the right spirit, no matter what comes, and we’re going to see
the thing through.”

26.	You know, that spirit is tremendously important in people,
especially those in the realm of the deacons and the elders and the
pastors. I know one man in this ministry that I guess I’m thankful for
him as a brother in Christ that has come into this Message, and he has
had his church ripped to smitherines, he has had people do all matter of
evil against him until he’s pretty well on the brink of destruction,
as far as the church is concerned, but you cannot find that man say one
word of evil against anybody, and he keeps his spirit so that anybody
who ever came to him can never come back and say, “Brother, you did so
and so… You acted such and such…” and even at this hour that man
will wake up in bed, shaking with laughter, and wake his wife up. I’m
telling you: a man that can appreciate a joke so much at night as to
just shake the bed and wake his wife up has got a spirit under control.
And remember: that fellow doesn’t laugh and scream like an idiot
because things go wrong—he is hurt, and I mean hurt. But I want to
know anybody who can come back and put a finger on him—you can’t do
it. They’ll lie about him, and they better, because it’s all they
can do. Now that’s quite a testimony. Of course I wouldn’t tell him
that to his face, but I’ll tell him behind his back. Heh, heh.

27.	Hebrews 12:14-15:

(14)	Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall
see the Lord: (There’s your sound doctrine again.)

(15)	Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any
root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be
defiled;

	Let it not be said that defilement is in any church because here is
where it comes from. It is a non-objective spirit where people don’t
keep themselves under control. 

	Now, let’s see something else about agreeing: under no condition am I
allowed to split with that person, I am obligated to be a part of him.
Now notice if you’re in a court of law, you’re a part of that man,
whether you want to be or not. See? So therefore the Word of God is
always used to hold the people together, and the person that can’t be
held together by the Word, what is he? Remember how Bro. Branham placed
that: he said, “It shows exactly what you are.” So we’ve got to be
careful here…

	You say, “Bro. Vayle, what about Mt 18:15-17?” 

28.	Well, let’s go to Mt 18:15-17 because that’s something, and Bro.
Branham said that Matthew 18 is in preeminence in this hour, so let’s
look at it, 15-17:

(15)	Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell
him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou
hast gained thy brother.

(16)	But if he will not hear thee, then take thee one or two more, that
in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.

(17)	If he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if
he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man
and a publican.

	Now that’s before the church, not the individuals. The individuals
are duty-bound to attempt to recover every vestige of lost brotherhood
and come back to a spirit of sanity and of love, and when that cannot be
accomplished, then the split comes and not before then. See? It only can
come at a certain time. 

	Notice: 21 and 22 in the l8th chapter: 

(21)	Then Peter came and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin
against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? 

(22)	(And he said, No, till) seventy times seven.

	In other words, the spirit has got to be maintained at any cost. See?
There has simply got to be. Now, we’re not talking about what you and
I would like, due to our nature. We’re talking about the Word of God
this morning, and this is what we’re looking at in order to see if we
can come to this place and indeed we can come to this place. This is the
thing we’re looking at. See?

29.	Let’s go to Mt 6:12-14 and then 15; 6:12, it says:

(12)	And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

	Fourteen and fifteen:  

(14)	For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will
also forgive you: 

(15)	But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your
Father forgive you.

	Now you say, “Well, I’m going to miss the Rapture.”

	No, sirree. 

	Say, “I’m going to miss heaven.”	

	No, sirree.

	It means you’re going to pay for it right here. That’s what we’re
talking about—you won’t come out of that prison until you pay the
debt because you took a wrong attitude towards the man that confronted
you with what’s wrong. What happens to people when the preacher
preaches the truth and they run out? Trouble, misery. See? Confrontation
is not with individuals; it’s with the Word. If there’s a
confrontation of individuals, something is sick, and we’ve seen some
sickness amongst us, and you’ve seen a lot, not too far back.

30.	Now see, just remember what we’re talking about this morning as we
have experiences in the past, and you’ll have in the future, and it
says right here that confrontations are inevitable because as long as we
are in the flesh, we lack perfection. See? And as Bro. Branham said,
“You backslide a thousand times a day.” He brought out a lot of
things in the sort of almost exaggerated, and yet not exaggerated, in
order to get a point across. See?  We can have our problems, but the
main thing is not get involved in personalities, see? Because, remember,
as one of another. This is the saddest thing that I watch in this end
time, especially the five-fold ministry, have denied their member one of
another, but set themselves in opposition—some try to lord it over
each other, which becomes a miserable, stinking, hierarchy.

	Now I preach this way, and I’m not condoning sin, I’m admitting to
sin. For what reason? To protect the people of God and the congregation,
the poor Sheep that suffer, because I have nothing against any Sheep
whatsoever—I would try, at all expenses, to help the poor Sheep of
Almighty God.

31.	Now let’s go back to Mt 5:25-26 again, and see what more we can
glean out of our picture here:

(25)	Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with
him; (In other words, strike while the iron is hot, don’t put the
thing off, do something about situations.) lest at any time the
adversary deliver thee to the judge…(Unless it comes to the place when
something has got to be done about it, and it’s going to be done in
such a way that you will pay a price. See?)

	Now you get that right mind, and get that mind right now, get the thing
lined up, start looking into the right way. See? In other words,  you
become, as it were, a minor advocate, putting yourself in the fellow’s
shoes. Begin to realize where there’s smoke, there’s fire.

	I remember an old deputy sheriff told me that years ago. I said, “I
don’t believe anything…”

	He said, “Lee, let me tell you something flat: I’ve been deputy
sheriff for”—so many years, thirty or forty, whatever it was—and
he said, “Why, I learned one thing: where’s there’s smoke,
there’s fire.”

	I found that to be true, too. Do you realize the ancient people
understood this so thoroughly in the days of Jesus Christ, why they
scourged him, because they said, “Where there’s smoke, there’s
fire"? When anybody brought an accusation, they said, “There must have
been something there to bring it, or it wouldn’t have been brought.”
That’s why they scourged him, and that’s why they were legal in
doing it, according to their own stupidity.

32.	So, you see, we must never, ever attempt to feel that something
could not be there. That’s why marriages go to pieces, churches go to
pieces, because somebody gets blinded, and refuses to recognize that
something could be there. You see? How many times have I dunked my head
in the sand because I had confidence in brethren and refused to believe
the thing would come to a head—but it did—never has failed.
Therefore somebody comes and says, “Look, there’s something a little
bit wrong here.”

	Don’t blow off in smoke. That’s okay if you’re a magician, like
Simon the Sorcerer. But if you’re a Christian, you get the Spirit.
See? You understand now…we’re dealing with it. All right.

33.	God demands reconciliation, and He must judge, and we must come
under His judgment of the Word, or He will exact a penalty. That’s
what we looked at…saw.

	So we go to Mark 9, and we go to 43-50:

(43)	If thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter
into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire
that never shall be quenched: (Now if you believe for one minute that
that’s going to happen? You’re going to cut a hand off? You don’t
cut a hand off. Now:)

(44)	Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

(45)	If thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter
halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell…

(46)	Where their worm dieth not, (And so on.)

(47)	If thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to
enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be
cast into hell (See? Now:)

(49)	Every one is salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted
with salt.

(50)	Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith
will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with
another.

	He’s telling you right here: look, when it comes to life, you have to
compare giving up certain personal advantages and things you’d like to
do many times, and certain attitudes, especially attitudes to indulge
yourselves in fits of passion, misunderstanding, gloating, or self-pity.
It’s better to give it up, though it might cost you tremendous things,
but whatever you have to do to keep the right spirit, give it up,
because you’ll pay for it here on earth and lose rewards in heaven.

34.	So we’ve got to understand that: that this is the purging God is
talking about, and here’s further purging over here in Hebrews 12.
See, when people don’t do what’s right, God has got to do something
about it. It says: 

(3)	Consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against
himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. 

(4)	You have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. (Now
none of us have done that. There’s none of us has sweat blood fighting
ourselves to be right. We have a propensity to give way, but Jesus never
gave way. Then he said:)

(5)	Have you forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto
children, My son, despise not thou the training of the Lord, that
chastens and rebukes nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: 

(6)	For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourges every son that
he receives. 

	Now you know that God is not just taking a Bang! Bang! Knocking the
spots off of you. You don’t know a father or mother that’s got an
ounce of sense or anything that wakes you in the morning with a cup of
cold water in your face, and hits you over the head with a club, and
says, “Let that be a warning to you.” 

	Children are corrected for misdemeanor—they are taught how to keep
out of further misdemeanor. God is in a program of teaching us and
helping us in order to come into the adoption which the fullness is in
the Resurrection where a trained Bride takes over the Millennium, and
can’t flub the dub as Adam and Eve did. See? Adam only got to the
first base in his adoption. If he’d have carried the whole program
through, he would have inherited the entire program of Almighty God in a
state of immortality, but he couldn’t do it. But God is not going to
make any miscues at this time. This is why the training is going on, and
part of that training is so necessary that we are to be taught to keep
our spirits right, because if we don’t, it is going to catch up to us.

35.	Now it says here:

(11)	No chastening for the present seems joyous, but grievous:
nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness
unto them which are exercised thereby. (See, it tells us here that
it’s a strain upon us. Certainly it isn’t fun when we are confronted
and have some type of a showdown because of things that have been done,
and we expect the brunt of it.) 

	Now I’m going to add something here, and that is: let us say an
adversary illegally rises against us. What if this fellow doesn’t have
something just, what if his accusation is way overboard, what do you do?
You do exactly the same thing. Otherwise, the same danger of a root of
bitterness arises, like it says in Hebrews [12]:

(12)	Follow peace with all, and holiness,without which no man shall see
the Lord:

(13)	Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God, lest any
root of bitterness, springing up, trouble you, and thereby defile many.

	So what happens if something illegal arises? What is you are accused
unjustly? The same thing always applies—to keep a right attitude—and
that’s a tough one. It’s really tough because nobody likes to be
accused unjustly; nobody likes to put himself in the shoes of the other
fellow and say, “Why does he do it?”

	The farthest I’ve gotten right to date is: I cannot understand the
spirit of leadership. To me it is so foreign as to just…what is
this… Look it, I can no more chew this microphone and enjoy it than
nothing. Now if you hit my face in such a way I’d be forced to chew
it, I wouldn’t enjoy it far less even then, I’d try it by myself.
It’s so foreign that I’ve got to try to remember what Bro. Branham
said, when he said, “Lee,” he said, “put yourself in the shoes of
the other fellow, he’s likely got some kind of a complex.”

	You see now what we’re talking about? No matter what comes, there
must be a proper spirit. In other words, a spirit that just lays right
down and looks at things. See? And doesn’t try to figure them as
though the figuring is in the human element, but it’s to apply the
Word of God, and the great thing to apply the Word is the right spirit,
because if the right spirit is not there, it’s simply going to work a
hardship on us.

36.	Now there is an open door of hope to all of us who would get
embroiled in personality clashes. Now let’s go back to Matthew 5
again, and verse 25:

(25)	Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with
him…

	See? That’s the first thing. The first thing is to check yourself,
and say, “Look, I refuse to get embroiled. I will not allow my spirit
to rise, I don’t care what happens. Not many people do, and they call
it ‘righteous indignation’, and it’s no more righteous indignation
than nothing—although it’s a mighty nice title, if you’re trying
to squirm out of something…you know, really. 

	Now there is such a thing as a righteous indignation, where Paul said,
“Be angry, and sin not.” In other words, you rise up against a thing
that is wrong without implicating people, and saying, “This cannot
obtain, and I don’t care who or what says it, or who does it. It’s
immaterial. It is not the people involved, it is the thing.” Now,
that’s righteous indignation, but let me tell you: the only people I
know can do that are those that stand back and are not involved. But the
ones involved…the indignation is…let’s face it: absolutely
unrighteous, you know. It’s like putting mustard on a cake…really
silly.

37.	Now Matthew 5:44-46, and it says:

(44)	But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you,
do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use
you, and persecute you; 

(45)	That you may be the children of your Father which is in heaven:
(Not to say that you aren’t, but that you may be. What would that
imply…show? That it may be manifested that you are such,) for he
maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on
the just and on the unjust.

	In other words, God treats both of us impartially in certain areas, and
we also must learn to be impartial in certain areas, and the fact is:
how do you know but what God’s going to do something good for that
person. And if God can do something good for a person that’s strictly
legal and illegitimate, then what about you and me, who are to follow in
the steps of our Father, proving we’re His Children? You see?

38.	Now it says:

(46)	For if you love them that love you, what reward have you got?

	Well, scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours. Well, that’s a
pretty nice feeling, I must admit. What reward do you have, really?
You’ve already got it. There’s nothing to look for, nothing to look
ahead: no treasure's laid up.

(47)	If you salute your brethren only, what do you do more than  the
publicans? 

(48)	Be you therefore perfect, (Now if there’s a perfection outside of
the Blood, the only perfection I know is: though we can’t be God, we
can attempt to think like God, and try to have a Spirit like God, which
is the Spirit of Beneficence that “all this is My creation, and these
are My Children,” and something good can be done. See?)

39.	Now let’s go to Luke 6, and here we’re taught in Matthew to
pray: first of all, get a right mind, then pray, then Luke
9:62—here’s a good one right here—and you know I’ll tell you: I
don’t like to name names but, you know, my little buddy, Francois
Lepecard…?…, over there in France, is greatly misunderstood because
he is French and he is European, and I know it’s difficult maybe to
sit and listen to Francois sometimes, but the reason that I love that
boy is for my own personal reasons that I have seen what he has done in
Europe, and I don’t believe that anybody can put a finger on that kid.
You’ve got to learn to know Europeans like they’ve got to know us.
We are pretty hokey according to them, and I guess they’re pretty
hokey according to us. For you see that’s where you get your spirit
now. But I’ve watched that boy, and I want to tell you: when he had
trouble by a brother from America, splitting his church in two…say, I
wish I’d have kept the letter—maybe it’s in my desk. He said,
“Lee,” he said, “I could have got really upset, and for a while I
was, but then I began to look and say, ‘Well, Lord, I understand why
this was done. We were just too comfortable. Little eagles in the nest
sitting on the feathers and so happy that we were so un…?…. [End of 
#1,1]		

40.	You can get a fresh vision and start over. I’m going to tell you
something: if you’ve got that spirit this morning, if you have a
Francois Lepetard, he’s a million miles ahead of all of us. 

	Now I’m going to say good things about the brothers that I know to
say good about. A thought of mine...?…. I haven’t got as far as
I’m preaching this morning, but I’m going to tell you flat: I know
that boy. When the poison pen artists of Europe, and he’s had his
poison pens, come into your church—if you haven’t, I don’t know
how he got off the list—write letters Francois…?… 

	“Lee,” he said, “here’s what the brother says, but here is what
is …?… Now he said, “If you know, forget it.” Everybody forgets
it. 

	You know, I’m going to tell you something: the prophet…I’m
paraphrasing, the prophet said, “If you let that Word in you, and you
let that Word out of you, see, you are Gods bringing that Word to
pass.” I’m paraphrasing, but that’s what it’s all about. See?

41.	Now I said over here in Luke 9:62, and it says here:

(62)	And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough,
and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

	What’s the third check? Persevere! Get the right mind, pray,
persevere. Don’t pull back. Then the next thing is to commit it all to
God in faith because “casting all your cares upon him…he cares for
you” and committing to God—that’s a Scripture [1 Pt 5:7], and then
we know we are to treat him as a brother, is what we mentioned right
here, because these things must be done in a spirit of brotherhood.

42.	Now that we’ve come this far, we cannot bypass what is incumbent
on both sides and that is forgiveness. Now what does ‘forgiveness’
really mean? Well, I think you’re well aware that forgiveness
encompasses four distinct, basic, basic thoughts, and I won’t belabor
them. First of all, it is to bestow a favor unconditionally. 

	Now you say, “Well, when he cleans up, we’ll do something.”

	You’ve got to forgive before he cleans up—it means
‘unconditional’, no conditions laid down.

	Now you say, “Just a minute, Bro. Vayle, you said there were
conditions to the Word.”

	That is true, but your spirit must be one of unconditional. No matter
what happens I’m going to forgive him. It’s got to be unconditional.

	It’s to completely cancel. 

	You say, “Oh, that’s right, we will when the Word’s fulfilled.”

	That is true from God’s viewpoint and the church’s viewpoint but
the individual must completely cancel because that is Christ’s
viewpoint that is never brought up again in the “sea of
forgetfulness.”

43.	Third: it excludes all ideas of future judgment or punishment, which
means perfect restoration. Now that’s the thing right there: let it
die. I’m going to tell you: there was a church fight up in Canada, and
one brother, and I’m ashamed to say it, took a stand with this man who
was causing trouble and he blamed the church. I got them all together
and I said, “Now, listen, if you’re going to get this thing
dissolved, don’t sit here and rehash, because under rehashing,
you’ll get a worse spirit than ever. Just realize there’s been a
booboo. You know what’s wrong! You ain’t babies and dunces. Just
say, “Look, let’s forgive and forget.” They said, “That’s the
thing to do.”

	But somebody came right behind and the guy that was the troublemaker,
he got all fouled up because he never really cleaned up, the last thing
he did, he came with a gun on the pastor and the church, and said, “I
want my nine-thousand in tithes back,” and I don’t know if he paid
ninety bucks in that church, but they gave him nine thousand.

	He took like a dagger thing and actually caused one man to bleed and
threatened emasculation to the pastor right in the pastor’s wife’s
face.

	Now listen: I’m telling you what I’ve run across and what I know:
and I’m going to say that the preacher involved, not the pastor, had
better do something because he took sides, and you people beware, and
Lee Vayle beware. The taking of sides is death.

44.	When this German brother, and you know him, was up in Goose Lake in
Canada at a certain meeting, he was offended because your good brother
and mine, Sombar Tesamedow…?…, made an analogy or an illustration,
and that brother stood on the platform and refused to pray. They went in
a restaurant and defamed the Name of Jesus by arguing in public before
sinners. And because he was German, another German brother said, “I
will take sides with Bro. So-and-So,” and Harold Marconda, God bless
that Italian brother, he’s a real American Christian, he said,
“Brother, you had better take sides with Jesus Christ.”

	Brother Harold Marconda was not even a pastor at that time. Shame on
the pastor, shame on him, to sit there and take sides and not rebuke
him.

45.	Now listen, that goes on in the best of us and the worst of us, and
it’s got to stop. It’s got to stop, period. This is one reason,
though I have hated leadership and advised you time and time again: you
stick to your pastor. I am nothing to do but a brother, and if I am a
member of your pastor, and thereby can become you, I am more than
gratified, for you have done more than I can do for you by opening your
church and giving me a living. At least I’ve got that much of the
Spirit, and I don’t go beyond that I’m still remiss, I’m pretty
confident of this, but at least, thank God, I’m trying, and have made
a little bit of a stride. But this is no time to take issue, or to take
sides except for Jesus. See? The constant putting down and out is so
ridiculous as to be nauseating and remember: this is the age where
Christ’s stomach is upset…he wants to vomit…he’s nauseated. And
if I get nauseated, what about God? But I’m anything but pure…you
know that as well as I do, let’s not belabor that one.

46.	Exclude all ideas of future judgment or punishment. What kind of
spirit would that put in a church? Fantastic. That’s when Bro. Branham
said, “Oh, That Spirit moving amongst you. The gifts, as it were, (He
didn’t say ‘they were’, ‘as it were’) were put on the
shelf.” 

	In other words, your church order would be simply in the process of
love and you’d be doing correctly in that correct place all these
things, and watch how God would move. See? 

47.	Fourthly, it deals with the guilty as though innocent, as though
they’d never done it. Now that’s what forgiveness really means.
That’s the attitude that must be adopted in the one who has done it,
and the one who is bringing to issue. Now, remember, if anybody brings a
thing to issue on a personal basis, rather than what is truly correct,
that person himself must have something brought against him. You see?
That becomes like pointing two fingers—it would no more hold up in
court than nothing. It’s got to be legitimate.

48.	Now that is real agreement, a real, healthy agreement which is in
the Mind of Christ, as it says over here in Ephesians 4 and in verse 32:

(32)	And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one
another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

	The tenderheartedness, the openheartedness, is the greatest thing that
anybody can acquire. Now when the Scripture says, “Love believeth all
things,” it doesn’t mean that love believes the Book of Mormons, and
believes Christian Science, and believes lies—it just says that love
stands there in a position and keeps his heart open to believe the very
best. See? To believe the good. But we mustn’t pervert the Scripture.

49.	Now, remember again that Jesus requires this because it’s taken
from his own sermon. Let’s go to Colossians 3:12-16. And, personally,
I don’t like this kind of preaching because I get too condemned…and
I’m not just joking either, though I get kind of…gets a big relaxed.
Listen, 12-16:

(12)	Put on therefore, as the elect of God, (Now he said “Elect of
God.” Here’s how you do it:) holy and beloved, bowels of mercies,
kindness, humbleness of mind (Right mind), meekness, longsuffering; 

(13)	Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have
a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do you.

(14)	And above all these things put on love, which is the bond of
perfectness. (See? In other words, it glues it together and keeps it.)

(15)	Let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also you are
called in one body (Now you take away one Word, what happens? Add one
Word…right? The same with the body because we’re the Body of Truth.)
And be ye thankful.

(16)	Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom (Not just
dwell in you richly, but in all wisdom, the proper handling and
understanding); teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns
and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 

	Now how is this teaching an admonishing? This ministry is correcting
us—it’s to be done as a melody, a symphony, bringing us closer to
Christ. Now look, that’s what the Bible says, I didn’t write them.
You don’t think I’d write that for one minute, and I wouldn’t
preach it either, except it’s the Word of Almighty God. If that’s
what the Scripture requires and if it requires it, it can be done. As
Bro. Branham said, “Be ye perfect,” he said, “God requires it, so
therefore Jesus must do it.” And Jesus in our hearts can do it, and it
starts with the right mind—bringing the mind down. See? So it’s no
longer exaltation itself.

50.	Now how can I do it? We’re talking about it…the answer is as we
see in 2 Corinthians…let’s take a look at it. The second chapter, I
believe it’s what I’m looking for, and in the tenth verse:

(10)	To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave any
thing, (listen:) to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in
the person of Christ.

	Bro. Branham told this verse flat, he said, “Nobody can forgive
anybody; it’s the Christ within that does it.”

	Now there’s your picture. As yourself, you cannot do it; as myself, I
cannot do it; it has got to be Christ. See? So therefore this is the
understanding: it is Christ within us. We do not obligate ourselves to
do it, but we rely on Christ. See? It is the getting out of the way, as
Bro. Branham said. See?

51.	Now then see again, in the eleventh verse how Paul puts it:

(11)	Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant
of his devices.

	What is the way that Satan ruins the Church? He ruins it by getting an
unforgiving spirit within the Church, and he starts it all out by
something which is a little haywire. And then, instead of a
confrontation, in the right mind, to restore and to bless and see the
Body of Christ …?…, then people begin to take sides and issues, and
yakkidy-yak it goes, until the church is split and the devil…he just
gets so happy…man, I want to tell you: he plays all the drums and
flutes and fiddles and gets all the devils out of hell—well, they’re
not there, but they should be there—and they just have a ball. And
then people start dancing to the same music. You see? 

	Now he warns us: where does Satan get advantage over people? The
advantage comes in the spirit of the person. You see? The advantage
Satan gets is by taking a person’s spirit. See? Then people like
sheep, will begin taking sides and issues. And Bro. Branham said,
“It’s the goat that leads the sheep to the slaughter.” And it’s
that old goat spirit that leads us right down the rotten trail to
imperfection.

52.	Now, and of course this goes right back to what we read in Hebrews
12, where it tells you what happens to a church that gets fooled by this
very thing. And I want to read it because it’s so important. It says
here:

(14)	Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall
see the Lord: 

(15)	Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest the
root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be
defiled.

	Defilement comes every single time because something arises—that bit
of smoke to bring the bit of fire, and then if the spirit is not
dampened right down…say, “Just hold it, we’re all fallible, but
there’s a Word here to deal with it.” 

	In the compassionate and the objective viewpoint, will win us all back
to God. There is a great price for God’s Children disobeying the
admonition: agree instantly; get the proper attitude in any situation,
difficult or otherwise, because that alone is going to win us the
battle. Otherwise, the personal root of bitterness can spring up and
imprison many, and ….?…warfare and defile the whole church, and harm
the whole move of God. As Bro. Branham said, he said, “One sin in the
church”—and this is the worst of the whole bunch—“will stop
anybody getting healed.” You see? That’s why it says, “Confess
your sins that you may be healed and also your neighbor.”

53.	Now you will have noticed that this topic deals almost exclusively
with the man who was wrong in offending a brother and the offended
brother wants regress. In other words, it doesn’t mean a personal
thing—the man’s doing—although in many cases it is. But someone
could even stand back and say, “Look, this has got to stop, because
this is what is wrong.”

	Now what about that man, that wants a regress, the man that brought it
to a head, brought it to court? His attitude, as I said, is no different
from the attitude set forth in the entire case. It’s what do you have
in mind when you are doing it. What did that man have in mind pressing a
charge? What did that man have in mind making the correction? Was that
man solely interested in the good of the people, or was he trying to be
somebody?

	I don’t know, I can’t answer those questions. The question I answer
is the blanket answer: that unless our spirits are right in however we
move and do with each other, or as Bro. Branham said, “Watch your
motive,” it’s wrong. I don’t care what anybody does; I don’t
care how good it looks—if the motive is wrong, see? 

54.	Many a person can…like just dealing with the five-fold ministry,
how often have I seen a pastor deal with an iron fist? Like one person
takes very strong Bro. Branham’s statement, not one, but many
perhaps—takes the statement Bro. Branham made about Sister Lot, coming
out of Sodom with Brother Lot, and there she was disobedient, and turned
around and became rejected. And Bro. Branham said, “Do you realize
that the pastor is the spiritual husband to the church?”

	That’s true, but how far are you going to take it? Are you going to
take it to the point that if he’s the spiritual head, then therefore
if the church is the woman, she’s got to be subject to that man? Why,
Bro. Branham turned right around and said, “Church, be subject to your
pastor, and, pastor, subject to your church.”

	Show me one Scripture where the Bible says a man is subject to a woman.
See? He was talking in spiritual realms and terms, until I understand in
some places a woman wants to visit her mother, she’s got to consult
with the pastor…whether she can go. What nonsense. Want some Oneness
spirit amongst us, that clubs people over the head? I don’t know if
you know ‘Oneness’ spirit, but it’s a Roman Catholic spirit of
popery in the Oneness church. They take the tithes, they own the
building, they own the man, they own everything, and it’s all theirs,
and there’s no accountability. And you step out of line one time,
they’ll clobber you right down flat.

55.	Now I’m not speaking about all Oneness, I’m speaking about some
Oneness where that spirit is that Bro. Branham disassociated himself.
And why shouldn’t it be that way when you realize they baptize in
water unto remission of sins? How can you baptize in water unto
remission of sin and get the true baptism with the Holy Ghost and not
just come away with some anointing? Why, it’s off the Word a million
miles. There is no place for that kind of a spirit in the pastor, or
anyone in the five-fold ministry or in a deacon or in an elder or the
man that passes the plate or the fellow that stands outside the door and
parks the cars or something. That’s foreign. It’s time to get the
spirits under…my spirit, especially, because I’ve got a strong
spirit. I’ve always been the type of guy that if a mouse crossed a
bridge, it was a herd of elephants. Yes, sirree. Now, I’m not like the
fellow that likes the louse on the elephant that said, “My, we sure
did shake that bridge!”

	No, I don’t go for that. You’ll find me very, very conservative in
that, but I am too demonstrative, so when I see a thing very loudly and
strongly, just write it off as a personality trait, and pray for me, and
take it one tenth as strong as I say it, unless I say, “This is one
thing you’ve got to take strong.”

56.	Now let’s face it: in this case, this one who is bringing a charge
and we’re looking at him, if he is now to be looked upon as the
superior or strong brother, because he is not one who has fallen and
done the wrong thing. So, therefore, if he is the strong brother, then
his attitude must be even more charitable than the fellow that fell.
See? Let’s find out about that. Let’s go to Matthew 7:1-5, and see
if I’m right:

(1)	Judge not, that ye be not judged. (That word is really
‘criticize’.)

(2)	For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what
measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

(3)	And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but
considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

(4)	Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of
thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in your own? (A mote is a little, tiny
thing, like a speck of dust, and a beam is like a toothpick. How’d you
like to have a toothpick in your eye? Man, I’ve had little bits of
dust and that’ll drive you crazy.) 

(5)	Thou hypocrite (See? Now here is this man that’s bringing a
charge. See? Now this, of course, in this case, he’s hypocritical, but
the theme runs true in principle. We’ve got to watch it.), first cast
out the beam that’s in thine own eye; (In other words…we’ll read
what it really means over here, what I’m talking about.) and thou
shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye. 

	In other words, grow up! Sit up there where you really are, strong in
the Lord. 

57.	Now let’s get this clarified what I’m talking about, so nobody
misunderstands me. In Galatians, what I want to get is 6:1-3 verses:

(1)	Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, you that are spiritual
(stabilized, strong) restore such a one in the spirit of meekness; and
consider yourself…

	…Buddy, because you’re born, but you’re not dead… you’re
still not in the Resurrection, because you can be tempted too. And the
minute that you point your finger, unless it’s an absolute, genuine,
understanding…you follow me? In other words, there’s something real
real there, you better be careful because you’ll fall in the same
trap. In other words, if any person dares to be superficial about what
he is claiming, and thereby saying, “I’m protecting this church,”
or “this person must answer,” let that person be real, or he’s
going to fall flat on his face—kerplunk. 

	And I’m going to tell you something: I’m vindictive. I shouldn’t
laugh, but I have—that’s not love, and I’m not going to guild it.

	You say, “Bro. Vayle is a real nice guy.”

	Bro. Vayle is not a real nice guy. Now if you ever think you’re going
to follow me or something, you’re very foolish, but I’m going to
tell you: if I hit the Lake of Fire, I will not hit it, having deceived
you, or tried to preach against this Word. I will tell you everything I
can, that hopefully, if I can’t make the grade, you will. See? 

58.	Now he says right here: “You watch, and even ye, that are
overcomers, and strong in the Lord, you better keep that spirit,” that
you’re not saying, “I’ve overcome, I’ve got it.”

	Like a brother or sister may say, “We are overcomers, we have what
you’re talking about up here, love, and then fall flat on their face
with calumny and vituperations. Look, if you start blowing,
brother/sister, someone is going to call your hand, and I don’t know
anybody more qualified than God, and to call it quicker than God does,
because you will get those …?… 

(1)	…Keep your spirit, meekness, consider yourself… 

(2)	Bear one another's burdens (Therefore, you don’t simply lay a
charge, you help the person overcome, you see? This is not something of
a theory, this is something of a ‘do’.) 

(3)	For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he
deceiveshimself.

	In other words, he says right here, “Look, if you think you’ve got
there, and you haven’t got there, you’ve deceived yourself, and
someone’s going to pull a little pin on you that activates you. What
is that pin? It’s called an action that brings about a reaction. 

59.	And, oh, brother, if you’ve got something in your heart when
you’ve been talking so nice, and that thing is in there, someone’s
going to pull the pin—God Himself will do it—and you are going to
come apart. Yes, sirree. If you think you are the musical box that’s
playing, “What the world needs is love, sweet love,” and I’ve got
it, but that little music box in there is “I hate the world,”
you’ve got something against somebody, let me tell you: that music box
one day is going to play the real thing that’s in your heart. I’ve
said it, and I’ll say it again concerning Lee Vayle and everyone in
this church: you can’t hide if you tried, and it doesn’t take the
prophet. Just you stick around long enough with me and I with you, and
something will come out that lets both of us know who is exactly what.
Yep, it gets the spirit…?…it gets the spirit right. See? That’s
what we’re talking about.

	Now even before this person makes a charge, he must be in line with
Galatians 6:1, as I have said, and be in line with 1 Cor 6: 7, which we
read, and 2 Cor 2:10-11, which we read, which, in other words, is a
right and proper spirit of humility. As one man said, “There go I, but
for the grace of God,” when he saw a drunk man stumbling in the
gutter. In other words, we must realize that these people are part of us
and because they’re part of a body, the body will suffer until the
proper medicine has been applied to strengthen the joints, and
restoration is that program.

60.	Now let’s go back to Hebrews 10…I didn’t read these other
verses—you can get them yourself—but let’s read over here where
there are a few more and we’ll get out just about in a nice time, I
think it’s about ten to twelve right now. We should be finished in a
couple minutes, within the ten. 34-36:

(34)	For ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the
spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that you have in heaven a
better and an enduring substance. 

	In other words, it tells you here: just because somebody walks on you,
don’t make a case out of it…let them walk on you. See? David said,
“You cause people to walk over my head.” See? In other words, people
get very jumpy and they don’t like to take persecution, but
persecution is necessary, however, it will not come by any Bride in the
Church; it will come by people on the outside. These things are going to
happen to us. People are going to do wicked things to us…they’re
going to despoil our goods; they’re going to take what we have. 

61.	Now, listen: if we don’t have a proper spirit in the church,
how’re we going to have a proper spirit outside the church? Just
can’t do it. Be like the kid that was supposed to go out and save and
baptize the Holy Ghost in a Pentecostal church—I’m going to put it
there, because the joke was told about the Pentecostal church, by a
Pentecostal preacher—and he said the kid pretty soon left town and
went up where the loggers were, and he came back a month later and he
said, “How’d you make out?”

	And he said, “Just fine.”

	“Well,” he said, “didn’t anybody bother because you were a
preacher?”

	He said, “No, I didn’t let them know, and I didn’t act like
it.”

	That’s true, that’s exactly true. How in the world are you going to
be any different out? Because, look, we are what we are. See? In the
home where the mother eagle is, the nest is pretty nice, but you let
ol’ ma eagle stir the nest…first of all, she kicks
like—hoop!—kicks the feathers out. And you get to sitting down on
briars…not a very happy feeling. Stir the nest up. 

62.	You see, the church is where all these things must be brought out in
a training way, so now we can meet the world. How does a young man
become a pastor? Does he simply sit in church and then get kicked out,
or go through some stupid seminary? No! He should get his training in
the church and that training is where he is brought up from maybe a
trustee to a deacon to an elder. He goes through the process to gain the
advantage because he’s got a call in his heart. He goes out, he’s
not stumbling around. 

	Where does he get his training? In the church. What is that elder like?
Blameless. Oh, everybody says, “Oh blameless! That means he’s a
goody-goody”

	Hogwash! He’s a goody-goody—that’s a technical term in fighting.
He’s a man who can parry a blow, seeing it coming, he’s a trained,
skilled boxer in warfare. Where does he get his training? In the church!
What for? Outside. How in the world can we meet the world head-on and be
stalwart, beautiful Christians unless something is done to us here in a
training period, the spirits all humbled down and sweet and people
loving each other. Man, alive! Brother/sister, let’s just face it, it
can be done. If I can’t lift five pounds today…ten minutes later,
I’m not going to lift ten. The church is a training period, see?
We’re looking at these things.

63.	Now…let’s go to…just keep your finger there in Hebrews if you
want…we go to Jude, the little tiny Book, before the Book of
Revelation, and let’s see what it says here to us, in 20-24th verse
here. This is the stuff that scalds me, and if it scalds you, we’re in
the same boat. Let’s get out of the boat, get ….?…better

(20)	But you, beloved, building up yourselves in your most holy faith,
praying in the Holy Ghost, 

(21)	Keep yourselves in the love of God (It says, “Keep yourself in
the love of God,” something you and I can do.), looking for the mercy
of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life (Knowing there’s a great
thing lying ahead of us in the Millennium, and it says:)  

(22)	And on some have compassion, making a difference: 

	And that’s not because…I tell you, I was reading in…some preacher
preached a sermon where it means, “Have compassion on those poor
Jonas’ that are running around and don’t know how to believe me
because I’m preaching this message.”

	Oh, come on! That’s not what he says, that’s a self-exalted
opinion. “Have compassion…are you going to agree with me?” That
has nothing to do with Lee Vayle or you and me. Compassion is a real
force and entity that goes beyond all those things. See? Real compassion
makes a difference. See? Watch carefully, see, that you might possibly
help somebody.

(23)	And others save with fear, 

	In other words, it hasn’t got a thing to do with you. They’re
looking beyond these things, looking with the grace of God, the mercy of
Christ in hearts, try to save… [Tape runs out on side 1] …The fellow
in the garment, he just hates the garment; love the man. 

64.	Now listen, watch carefully how this lines everything: you that are
put on guard to do something for your brothers that are wrong…you see,
not to let it slide by, and not to make issue, but with the grace of God
in your heart, try to help somebody. Do you know what that would do for
us, brother/sister? It would revolutionize your church, if we had Godly
care over each other—not picky-picky-picky, and “You’re wrong;
look at me.” …?… That’s Pentecostal hogwash. Get out of that
stuff.

	Now: 

(24)	Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling (The One
That’s keeping you) able to present you faultless before the presence
of his glory with exceeding joy,

(25)	To the only wise God, be all glory and majesty… 

	What he’s saying right here is, listen: we’re involved in the glory
and dominion and majesty of Almighty God. We’re revealed in Him,
representing Him, therefore it behooves us, all with the same ministry
and mercy of Jesus Christ, bowels of compassion and tender minds, to
help each other. Say, “I know you’re wrong, you don’t even know
you’re wrong; let me help you.”

	 “Get out of my way, bum.” Then a club.

65.	Attitudes, attitudes, attitudes. See? I think we can end here on the
thought in this conclusion, given to us by Bro. Branham, “To be right,
and yet have a wrong spirit, is far worse than being wrong and having a
good spirit.”

	And here is this poor old guy sitting here and, yes, he’s wrong, but
he’s got a good spirit, and he says, “I’ll be corrected. Yes, sir,
I’ll come along and make things right.”

	And this old boy says, “You know you better be, you dumb bunny. You
sure pulled a deal this time. Yeah, I’m  going…”

	Oh, come on! Like the Bible says, “Showing mercy as children.” Are
they selfless …?… “Now, don’t do it again…don’t do it
again…”

	Your mercy ain’t worth a plug nickel. You watch that guy fall
flat…you watch him fall flat…he will…not because Lee Vayle wants
him to fall flat—oh, I sure do.   …?…stand up here and tell him
different from that…?   He might sin in a moment so I’m not going to
want him to fall flat. But for one flash, I could say, “Forget it,”
but Love would say it doesn’t rejoice in iniquity if used and
something bad happens. No, use it,  but we better get those spirits
down. That’s what Bro. Branham said, “Wrong doctrine… right spirit
is better than a right doctrine and a wrong spirit.”

66.	This morning we’re looking at ourselves, saying, “Listen here,
we’re all in the same boat. We have made trouble for others, and
others made trouble for us. Every day is a confrontation with the Word
of Almighty God. Can we take It, or do we just dish It out? Now there is
only one way: we are to dish it in the Spirit and we are to take it in
the same Spirit. See? That’s the real thing, that’s what the prophet
said.

	So it would appear that the Word of God challenges our motives far more
than our deeds, because It does. I repeat: God’s Word challenges our
motives far more sincerely and puts us to the test greater than the very
deeds …?… Otherwise, why did the angel stand before Bro. Branham and
said, “Your thoughts speak louder in heaven than your deeds on
earth,” and I can show you in the Bible where it absolutely fits with
the things that were said to Bro. Branham, because it does.

67.	So therefore, brother/sister, it is not what we do, although that is
important, it is how we do it, and our relationship with each other is
not buddy-buddy and goody-goody-good, and have a nice time, hail-
fellow-well-met, we’re a happy crowd, but it is our spirit toward each
other, that when the right thing must be done, it will be done in the
right spirit. Now Bro. Branham said this was the age of brotherly
kindness, and believe me, Bro. Branham was a man who epitomized
brotherly kindness. So I just can’t see that at this moment we can
have a higher representation among ourselves in brotherly kindness,
where Bro. Branham continually made the circle bigger to draw them in. 

	Remember when the man came, he said, “William Branham, you no more
got the Holy Ghost than nothing; you’ve got a devil.”

	And William Branham sat down with the man and by the time he was
finished, the man said, “Bro. Branham, I’ve got to admit one thing:
if anybody has the Holy Ghost, you have.” There was no argument, there
was no fussing, there was no fuming. The same man could say, “I’ll
be glad to go to the lake of fire and love Him just as I do now if I had
the same Spirit that I’ve got now.

68.	So this message was maybe kind of involved and kind of long, and
maybe even kind of boring, it’s all right by me, but I’m going to
take every opportunity I can to get across to you and me both,
brother/sister, it’s our spirits that count, and that’s why the
prophet said it. The right spirit—you never need to worry—no, even
if you’re wrong. As Bro. Branham said, “Wife, you let your husband
make decisions even if they’re wrong.” See? That’s right. 

	Let us always be aware of our spirits. And you know, brother/sister,
what’s going to happen? It won’t be long until the right spirit will
always make the right decision. We may fumble a while, because we’re a
little ignorant, see, but the day will come when it works. You know why?
I believe because the Bible says so. 

	So the Lord help us all this morning to begin to inculcate into our
lives the proper attitudes, and I don’t know any attitude better than
what I’ve set this morning—get that spirit down, get that spirit
down. Brother/sister, listen: how hard is it for me to preach to people
whose spirits are so uppity, on this Word even, the children can go home
to parents and say, “You believe like we say or you’re out of the
Bride,” that I’ve had some …?… say to a congregation of two
hundred and some, “If you’re going…I believe you are…could you
possibly take me with you? When the prophet could weep before the people
and say, “We.” And he said, “You notice I said ‘we’? By
thoughts of grace I include myself with you.” What a spirit. That’s
what it’s got to be. See? In everything. So the Lord help us. I
don’t know what we’re going to do about it, but work on it day by
day. As I mentioned, there were four things there, bring the mind into
obedience quickly, without playing like a house on fire, keep it up,
just go on. So the Lord bless you. Shall we rise at this time?

	Heavenly Father, it is easy to see this morning that “except the Lord
build the house, they labor in vain that build it,” that this is
something, O God, that though we are committed to do, it will of
necessity begin in Thee because our strength must be in Thee, Lord, that
this might be accomplished. 

	And, Father, we know that You’ve so thoroughly manifested Yourself
through an hour of sober decision, and that sober decision, Lord, is
here this morning in my life, and the people’s, and I don’t want to
go away a hypocrite, I don’t want to go away from here, Lord, as one
man who can simply mouth a thing off and then not do it, because
that’s real condemnation. For what right would I have to tell people
and then not do it myself? It would be the same as: what right would You
have and You not do it, and yet we have right in Scripture this same
Mind in Christ, that for Christ’s sake we will forgive, and it’s not
even ‘we’, but it’s Christ. And, Lord, if we can’t bend
ourselves to let You do in us, what You can do, then, Father, it is
certainly true that we won’t come out until we pay the uttermost
penny, the farthing, and we’ve got to come with it.

	So I only pray, Lord, that if this is the way it’s got to be done,
that there will come a time, and I believe it better be pretty soon,
that I’ll finally be smart enough to catch on, that I’ve had enough,
that I’m going to just step to one side and let Christ in me do it.
And, Lord, I know at this moment, confessing in my prayer and publicly,
that it certain would have to be You doing it, and I, somehow Lord, and
I hope it’s a hundred percent—no hypocrisy, Lord, with You. 

	And where I’m not willing, Lord, I want You to make me willing, and
I’m putting maybe too much on You, but do want to have my motive a
hundred percent correct, so that my eye cannot be jaundiced. I know,
Lord, because I’m not a fool…I know I am a fool in many ways, but
I’m not going to stand here and lie to You, Lord, and before this
people that I don’t know that there’s a little part of me that
doesn’t want to knuckle down, in that they want the reservation, and I
pray, Lord, that there’ll be a sign hung on every room of my mind:
“Room Occupied By Christ,” and not this other junk which isn’t
worth having anyway because it’s just going to mess things up for You
and me both, and especially for me.

	So I pray this morning, Lord, that You would just help us now, to cause
every little cell, every little thought now to come into captivity to
the Word of Christ, and we’ll go through the motions which are
incumbent upon us to follow through in this what we’ve learned this
morning…not that we didn’t know it before, but perhaps good to bring
to our attention. I know it’s necessary for me, especially.

	So, dear Lord Jesus, will You please just look down upon us in Your
compassion. Keep away the cobwebs, just exterminate those things that
are in us this morning. As You said in Your Word, “Mortify, kill them
dead.” Lord God, we want these things killed dead, Lord. Just no more
time for comparing ourselves because that’s ridiculous, that’s the
pomposity of a degenerate mind…no more comparison—that wouldn’t
work anyway. 

	But, God in heaven, come right down to the …?… this morning, just
facing it. Jesus, come alive within us. You become the Big One. You’re
spiritual, Lord, we’re not, and Your Own Word said, “You that are
spiritual, restore those that aren’t,” and this morning, Lord, I’m
feeling unspiritual, unspiritual, to The One Who is spiritual. Restore
me this morning, O God, and if I’ve never been in that place, Lord, to
be restored to it, I would believe that that could be the real thing.
Then, Lord, bring me to this place that I might joy in God, where the
peaceable fruit of righteousness can come forward, because that’s what
we’re going to end up in—no more roots of bitterness. 

	I’m looking to You, Lord, we’re looking as a people, and where
we’re missing it, whatever You must do, bringing us down, or whatever,
we give You permission for the greater glory and good, and we do, Lord,
this morning. We’re witnesses now, and I know we might quibble later
on, and try to crawfish, but Your Own Word says that “You that had
begun a good work will continue and see it through.” So this is it,
and now, Father, may You get glory and honor, may Your Name be exalted
above every name, and may this people who want to honor Your Name be a
true gem in Your Crown. We give Thee praise and glory forever and ever
in Jesus’ Name. Amen. The Lord bless you. Let’s sing that song,
“All to Jesus I Surrender”—I guess I’m never in voice, but Jack
[Bro. Bell] is, and you know that song.

	“All to Jesus I surrender, all to Him I freely give,

	I will ever love and trust Him, in His Presence daily live.

	I surrender all, I surrender all.

	All to Thee, my precious Savior, I surrender all.”

	You know it’s very strange that some songs are written for this hour,
like the songs about there being one God, and the song, “Amazing
Grace,” but do you know this song just said, “In His Presence daily
live,” and for the first time He is in us, and amongst us, and over
us, and it’s His Presence is here. As Bro. Branham said, “Whether
you see Him or not, I tell you by vision that He is here,” and He is
here identifying Himself as the Bridegroom, but then how much more if we
just realize it and identify with Him, can we be ever conscience of That
Presence, and be subject to Him as the woman is to her husband. 

	“In His Presence daily live.” If I could have, and I believe I will
have—if I am Bride, I will have—that revelation of His Presence, I
believe, brother/sister, that the depths of God will become deeper until
it becomes that water that carries us over. If Luther’s age could
produce water to the ankles, and Wesley’s age water to the knees, and
Pentecost: water to the loins, then this age must produce the waters
flowing from the temple—it’s the Life of God—to carry us over. For
the same camel that Rebekah gave drink to was the camel that took her
there. The same Word that we receive and nourish is the same Word
that’s going to take us there. That same Word is the flesh of That
Holy Spirit of this hour, and He is present.

	Little kids and little children, let’s face it…?… When our
parents were right there, we never put our hands in the cookie jar. The
temptation was there, but the hand never went in. Look, as long as
we’re here, there’s going to be temptation—let’s face it. If you
think you’re going to see perfection this side the Resurrection, you
never heard what the prophet said, because you’re not going to have
it. Abraham who is a type of the Resurrection actually made his wife
lie, and she lied, and got into one whale of a mess. I’m not saying
‘perfection’, I’m just saying this: if Abraham had a gone forth,
recognizing the Same Presence he recognized that day at the tent, he
would not have lied, nor had his wife lie. The cookie jar could be
there, but the fingers don’t go in the cookie jar.

	Now we’re talking about a cookie jar this morning, and putting your
hand in, and I’m putting my hand in, but if we really saw that He is
here, there’d be no more cookie jar. Why would you bother?…?… When
Bro. Branham said, “See, I kept my word, so I’m not going to shoot
you,” a Voice said, “If you kept your word, how much more have I
kept Mine?

	And he said, “Lee, from that moment, I have no consciousness of
guilt.”

	The cookie jar could be there, but it didn’t mean anything. The
retaliation could be there, but what would we use? Courage…?… The
rebuff could have been there…what’s the difference? See? Because the
Presence we recognize…?…

	I’m looking for the dynamization of that. If I want anything to be
healed—and I want several things—this is one thing I want real to me
because this is real this morning—that He’s here.  So let’s sing
that again, “All to Jesus I Surrender,” and especially remember in
His Presence freely live—no problem could be there.

	[Congregation sings:]

	“All to Jesus I surrender, all to Him I freely give. 

	I will ever love and trust Him, in His Presence daily live.

	I surrender all, I surrender all. 

	All to Jesus, precious Savior, I surrender all.”

	We’re going to go after this illustration…it came to my mind as we
were singing…then we’ll sing, “Take the Name of Jesus With You.”


	A certain missionary lady—I can’t remember her name—but she is
world honored, who, when the Communists invaded China and the girls
needed certain things they couldn’t have, like they needed soap. She
said, “Girls, do not worry—the Lord is present—we will get our
soap. They got their soap. No matter what was the problem, she said,
“The Lord is present,” and the Lord always honored her faith in Him
being present.

	And then one day the Communists came, and you now how they ravaged the
girls and all, and make a terrible mess of things. That little girls’
school, protected by her, and she said, “Remember, girls, the Lord is
present,” and not one girl was touched, and they went on by. They were
afraid to, because the Hand of God was there. 

	If that could happen back there before He was present, then what about
when He is present, brother/sister. And we’re not guessing now,
we’re not guessing any longer—we’re telling the truth. There was a
time when He was only present because, “I’ll not leave nor forsake
you”—the Holy Spirit, but when we talk about Him present today, as
the prophet said, “I tell you I see in vision what your eyes cannot
see—He is here,” and He is…He is. And remember: He is Hebrews
3:12-13, That Sword, That Word, That exposes all, and it says “all
things are open to His eyes,” they’re naked before Him with Whom we
have to do. It’s not up to us any longer, brother/sister, to have
faith or make decisions, for faith has come to knowledge and the
decision is made. And God help us if we don’t recognize that He
appears.

	The Lord bless you. Shall we sing a song going then? “Take the Name
of Jesus With You.”

	

	

	

	

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