Comments after Bro. Branham’s Death Bro. Lee Vayle - December 26, 1965 Thank you. That would be my prayer as I say that which we ought not to say, or to feel something which we ought not to feel. Our Father, I do not know what to say or what to think. Thou hast told us …? … Our minds are upon Thee. We know our strength does come from You, oh Lord. We ask You at this time to establish our thoughts and our minds then if we do have Your Spirit, may that Spirit in us say those things which are right and proper. Lord, that nothing will be said that ought not to have been said but only those things which are of the Lord and just for edification and do edify. Grant, Lord God, therefore, that every word said, may be from You, the thoughts, Lord Jesus, simply expressed as direct to the Spirit exactly right, so the tone and all be right because we want to be right. We ask this, Lord, only because of Thy mercies in Jesus’ Name. Amen. 1. I think that if not just good to be of one mind to simply say I was agree with this, concur with what the brethren have already said because of what Brother Ruddle said took a great deal of courage. But I think he expressed perfectly the thoughts of my heart concerning my love for Bro. Branham which are…which was not based in the miraculous ministry which he had, though I must admit that that is what shook me years ago when I first saw him in Canada. I was in a backslidden condition because of not understanding the two vines. If Bro. Branham’s ministry had ended with merely the teaching of the two vines I’d say that that is the greatest teaching in all the world that has been hid from our eyes, to understand what a true Christian was. That there were those two vines and they were so close in the last day. And those two vines are so close; it is so difficult to accept. You understand the truth of that doctrine; you could be so badly fooled. But I was fooled for many years ago when I was about twenty…oh, twenty-six or so, because of the two vines. I saw them speak with tongues and I heard them using theological Scriptural expressions which were so perfect and wonderful and I saw them gouge and lying and I couldn’t see any decency and I said, “If this is Christianity, take it; I’m through with it,” and I walked off, for roughly eight, nine years, and then I was prevailed upon to see him in Canada and I wept for two hours; I saw God move. And I knew I would have to make a stand back in the direction since I had gone away. From out of that direction, he came, and it became clear later on as God healed me because of the ministry that Bro. Branham had set into motion, not that he had prayed. I never thought I would ever get to meet the man but ..?.. West Palm Beach at the direct leading of the Lord, God opening the way in a miraculous manner and one Friday night I prophesied and I heard myself say, “Behold, I will send my prophet out of the north and he shall teach the people the things they ought to know.” And I said, “I don’t understand what I said because I don’t know any prophet. There’s none in Canada, that’s north. There’s a man, I understand his name is …?... in Sweden, when he goes to Finland he speaks Finnish, when he goes to England, he speaks English, if he goes to Norway he speaks Norwegian, or to France, he will speak French, he doesn’t know what he says but he talks in the Holy Ghost, maybe he’s going to come to America, and here he is, and we might get to know him.” But I didn’t know that north is north and west is just west if it’s three feet across the road or fifty thousand miles; it doesn’t make any difference. And so a man came to our town and he talked to me for two hours and he said, “You’ve answered every question on the Holy Spirit. I’d like to receive the Holy Ghost to know the fullness of those things which I don’t know.” And I said, “That’s wonderful.” He said, “Do you know Bro. Branham?” “I don’t know Bro. Branham, but I’ve seen him. I think he’s a great man of God.” He said, “I’ve been with him and he is a great man of God. Would you like to meet him? “ I said, “Sure, I’d like to meet him. If there’s somewhere I could meet him; I’d like to meet him.” He said, “I’ve got a friend named Wallis Cobble. He has the Church of the Open Door, on Second Street in Louisville. You go to see him and say that I sent you, mention my name. He has many people that he has gone…taken to Bro. Branham and he’ll take you to him.” Well, I didn’t know any better than to just believe that. So one day I started out not realizing, well, realizing, yes, but not comprehending that Bro. Branham, a man of such stature would be called a thousand places, at a thousand times. So I came up, you remember, the old Tabernacle, and Bro. Cobble brought me over. And Bro. Branham was standing outside …and the great…here was this sweet little man standing there and Bro. Cobble introduced us, and he said, “Bro. Vayle, would like to have some time with you.” And he said, “Yes, I’d be glad to have some time with him.” Then here that was arranged, just that simply. And the next day we had time to do that, and he said to me, “Bro. Vayle, I want to come to you for a meeting.” And I thought again, “Isn’t that nice, here’s this man known all over the world, everybody wants him, and he said he’ll come. Of course, that’s just him being nice. He doesn’t mean it because he would say that to everybody.” But not too many weeks later I had a telephone call, and Dr. Bosworth said, “Is this Rev. Vayle?” And I said, “Yes, that’s so.” He said, “This is Bro. Bosworth.” And I said, “Well, isn’t that marvelous? I’m just so pleased to hear from you; I’ve read your book on “Christ the Healer;” I think it’s wonderful and I’m hearing from you.” And he said, “Bro. Branham wants to know what time you want him to come.” I said, “What did you say?” He said, “Bro. Branham wants to know what time you want him to come.” “Well,” I said, “you mean he meant it when he said he was coming?” “Yes, he did. He wanted to know what time you wanted him to come.” I said, “When would he come?” He said, “When you want him to come.” I said, “I’ll phone you back; we’ll get a building.” And they tell me that those who’ve heard Bro. Branham that he had never taught as he had taught in that meeting in West Palm Beach. You see, God did send him to teach the people the things they ought to know. How it proved Christ some time, my thoughts when that star, that Pillar of Fire fell which I’ve read up in Canada, and I was quite young that the Voice said to him that, “that as John the Baptist was the forerunner of the First Coming of Christ; your ministry is the forerunner of the Second Coming.” And I thought that was wonderful but I was wrong. He said, “It was the message was the forerunner,” and it is the message, the forerunner. Now William Branham is dead and shall remain dead; I don’t know that he will. I’m confused as any man is confused. I’m afraid we’re all little afraid to express our secret thoughts and feelings because we don’t understand this, some were merely symbols, some was reality. We don’t know, but I do know these one things that the angel of the Lord and his… and Bro. Branham’s understanding was that it was this message. They say, “Well, he is dead now.” That’s right. But if life is the vindication, then the Christian Science says, you’re just as vindicated. God warned him it’s just as vindicated. The Catholic is just as vindicated. Anybody is vindicated if they can hit upon right, but you can’t do it because here was a man though he is now dead was vindicated as only a man of God could be vindicated. And if he were to be dead for fifty years and Christ could not come for fifty years; he is still the only man as vindicated in that Word as any man we have known outside of the Apostle Paul. We cannot be thrown from one minute concerning this Word because this Word that he gave is the truth and though many visions, the visions came, which we don’t understand that’s not our due or our lot, perhaps, to understand. The pieces, I believe, will fall in place later on. But he did give us that Word and that Word as much of It we cannot understand It, as far as the future events are concerned and some intricate things are concerned, yet he said some things which are so clear that we can follow them and there is no doubt that in following them then the other things will be clarified too. I can’t remember when he said it but I’m quite sure he did make this statement, “That there would come a time when we would by the Spirit of God begin to know the things which he had taught us and we’ll all know them in the same way together.” Then it may have been that Brother Neville’s revelation of the little particles descending, it may have been that the vision of Brother Jackson of the cloud coming down. All of these things may indicate that it is not too long of a time until we will begin to know the things which we are still in doubt about and perhaps, we’re at variance with each other. Now there’s some things which I’m…I must say this morning, but I’ll not say them because I realize that as long as there are doubts in our minds as to exactly what Bro. Branham did say and exactly did mean, and it will take of his sermon, I think the sermon’s in Shreveport brought out so aptly, in fact, it inspired me to preach a message on the need of revelation of the hour. We need revelation, and that revelation can come only by the Holy Ghost. If Bro. Branham were still here to preach and preached fifty times a day it still would not make it clear unless God gave us the revelation. There’s a tape which has been withheld from you so you did not even get it by telephone, is the first message that Bro. Branham preached that was in Yuma, and he brought out on the Rapture, but the power was so strong of discord there due to an undue influence, that he was not able to preach the sum of his great prayer yet he was desired to do so, and was not able to have the time in which to make himself clear but here is what he read for us in [1] Thessalonians, and it said, [4:16] (16) For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, (and) the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and (those who…) (I’m reading from Lamb’s translation which is almost identical to King James,) (those who died) in Christ (will) rise first: (17) Then we (who) are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet (our) Lord in the air:… When he spoke the meaning of this verse of Scripture, I doubt it very much, suddenly doubted that he was speaking to us exactly right because the human mind is so used to reading in its own channels of understanding, but I have, of course, caught myself and in checking myself I’m willing to believe and accept his interpretation and here’s what the interpretation is in case you were not there or did not hear it. The Lord Himself descending from heaven with a Shout: the Shout is the Message of the Laodicean messenger. It may sound strange. The Shout is over. It could be. The Message has gone forth. Time after time, he said, “The Seals was a masterpiece. That the coming of the Seals was the revelation of all the mysteries being revealed.” In fact, I wrote them on a piece of paper, the book off a …?... going on three years ago. And I said, “Is it not so there are seven major mysteries and these are some which I have outlined.” He wrote back and he saw the same piece of paper and on that piece of paper if I’ve still got it, you can read it, said. “That is true but hold your Feast, the time is not yet.” I don’t understand it yet. Bro. Pearry Green saw it and Roy Borders, perhaps, …?...because it was given to him and also, …?... might pass it on as Bro. Branham was busy and I was not busy, of course, but he was. Notice, it says then, that before… he said, “The Shout is then the message which has gone forth, and the voice of the archangel,” he said, “is as when God calls forth Lazarus, when Jesus called him forth out of the tomb. Then that would be next, and then, of course, the trumpet of God is the trumpet calling the people to the feast.” It could be possible that our redemption is nearer than when we first believed. See, it’s completely true that everything is over in the next few days, could be the consummation of this day. When other words, I’m distinctly speaking to you of the fact of a possibility of his own Resurrection for the dead in Christ shall rise first. They shall rise first but then…?... the changing, it could be he himself could be changing in his atoms. I don’t know perhaps I’m just guessing. Let us just call it guessing, but if the …?... was true, and I believe, that perhaps that…just the same, either the note or the message will be released, if the Shout from heaven is the message and it is gone forth because of the messenger now having expired, which truly he did, and the voice of the archangel then is next a calling forth that this is true, and this will be the calling forth of those from their graves and the changing of the people in the atoms. And the last thing shall be a literal catching up which is the trump of God summoning…us up to the feast by the trumpet which, of course, Bro. Branham has spoken on. These things we do not know but I do, that is to say, I do not understand these, how they will all come to pass. But he did declare, and he went over and over in that Yuma meeting, the thought that this is what it is and he could not do to…stop repeating himself that the Voice was the message, and that is, the Shout was the message, and the Voice was the calling forth, and the Trump signifies the calling together for the feast. How long a time that will take I do not know, I do not understand. Now, we’re just keeping that thought in mind, there, we know, of course, that there are…they’re just difficult to speak of and we’ll not belabor the point but sometimes there have been undue thoughts concerning Bro. Branham as to who he is, the Scripture gives us petitions concerning him that he is a prophet, the messenger to the last day. Some have thought that he was a little more in his estimation of the Son of man description. I wish you to perhaps know at this time that I talked to Bro. Branham two weeks ago this morning in Tucson, because of some undue attitudes of some brethren that I loved sincerely, I thought concerning what is meant when he said, “The Son of man is revealed in flesh,” and I asked him exactly concerning the Son of man being revealed in flesh at this time which, of course, that he said, “the Son of man would be the prophet,” and then, of course, that would be the spirit of prophecy, the spirit of Jesus Christ, and that would be in my estimation, I said, “Am I correct in estimating it thusly, that for you to be accepted, or this ministry to be accepted as the last day Elijah ministry, remember, as John the Baptist was recognized by Jesus Christ, Christ cannot Himself now recognize the Elijah for this day, so therefore, that would be by the Holy Spirit, and that Spirit manifesting of the Son of man, would be the absolute recognition and authority that this is the ministry and the minister.” And I hope you caught that. I’m sort of involved. But if you didn’t we’ll just let it be. And he said, “That is true but,” he said, “all through the Church Ages the Son of man has been revealed in flesh, and the Son of man being revealed in flesh today is being …?... now for awhile.” …?... One man recently said to Billy Paul, he’s a man of repute and renown in the healing ministry, he said, “I’m so confused I don’t know what it’s all about. All I know is I’ve got a ministry, a miracle to take place.” So there was a man who knew what it was all about, a man who knew the Word, a man who had confidence, who didn’t make undue claims. Even if he is gone that doesn’t change the picture. We’re living and what did we… Can we stand vindicated the way he stood vindicated? You and I are here this morning, the fact that we’re living, we’re alive and he is gone; does that make us somebody? No, no, no, but here was a man vindicated by that Word, walking in that Word. And I loved it because William Branham always went to that Word. It was Word. It wasn’t what he said; It was Word. Thank God this morning, help us in all the days to come to stand. I would like this for an (actor?), he said, “You’re my kid.” But this polished preacher wouldn’t say that, if you’re a polished preacher you wouldn’t say that, but an honest preacher would. “You’re just my kids,” he said, “I’ve got to take care of them.” It made him so happy. I remember, a morning, he looked at Brother…called that Brother right up, he was so afraid, …right one, little shawl around him, and there was a man, older than Bro. Branham, many years older, and as I saw him look down, and I saw in Bro. Branham the face of a father to that old man, and I said, “I can see where the Catholics called their priests ‘fathers’ against the Word of God because they can see in men something they’re looking for.” And I thought, “Here I am, I’m not much younger than Bro. Branham, just a few years younger. He couldn’t be my father ...?... imagination. And I could go to him like a kid, just like I’d go to a parent that I never knew and ask him and he’d tell me the answer. What a tremendous person when he sent to see you, there I could …?..., knowing that he had the revelation, I thought like magic. It shook me to the core, and I’ve never failed to wonder at the depth of the man, the quality, there must have been something there that God put in Adam before sin came. There was a revelation in this day when the love of many waxed cold because of unbelief. There was a man whose love did not wax cold, when ours has waxed so cold. God that hath no sin, grave has no victory because a life which is hid with Christ in God is hid with Christ in God, cannot be touched, never to come into the judgment. No, that …?... they cannot arraign you, they cannot arraign you and me because all of our lives are hid with Him. Oh, that we might be a credit to God and His servant Jesus Christ. Father, we just pray now that Lord, I would not say anything which was undue. Now, Lord God, with the same breath, this words also gave ability by Your Spirit to put a guard on men’s mouths, and I believe therefore, Lord God, You have helped me to say the things which might well have been said, and grant, Lord God, in Jesus’ Christ Name that what I have not been able to say or could not even hope to say may Thy Spirit begin to teach it and take it step by step into the full, sweet, simple, because that’s what Your servant said, “God in simplicity.” That sweet, simple truth may be ours, Lord Jesus Christ, to not only take it and to know it but to ask it, in order that Your Name may be glorified and Your inheritance in the saints be ready when You come and we not ashamed of Your Coming. We ask this, Lord, for Your glory and because of Your great mercy. Amen. Comments After Bro. Branham’s Death (0265) Page PAGE \* MERGEFORMAT 1