Faith of Abraham #2

						Bro. Lee Vayle

July 11, 1973

	Kind Heavenly Father, we most certainly need You, and we know without
You, we are nothing and can do nothing, for in You we live and move and
have our being, and our very breath is in Your Hand, Lord. Yet, my God,
sometimes we’re very forgetful of this because we have wills of our
own, we have strength You have given us which You have allowed us to use
at our own discretion, and many, many times we use it in folly. But
forgive us, Lord, for all of our undoings  which we have committed
mostly against ourselves, not so much against You, because we know You
are inviolate and holy, but against ourselves, Lord, we have sometimes
sinned, and against others many times also. We pray You’ll forgive us,
O God, even as You’ve forgiven us in Christ Jesus concerning that
which is against Yourself. And help us, Lord, to be of one mind in the
Spirit this morning to study Your word and to understand what this life
is all about, and what it is, Lord, to search the Scripture and see
ourselves therein, to understand what You desire of us, and how You’ve
set Your purpose for us, O God, that it must be fulfilled. And so, Lord,
we commend ourselves into Your Hands this morning and pray that that
which is spoken shall be exactly right according to truth, Lord. May it
be in such a way as to inspire our hearts and minds. We pray in Jesus’
Name. Amen. (You may be seated.) 

1.	I think maybe last night maybe the majority had a bit of trouble
understanding the first part of the message because I was speaking of
verse 3, in paralleling verse 17 of Romans 4. Now what I was trying to
show you was simply this: that there is no Word of God that is to be
taken lightly and without understanding. In one place you have the word
‘Elohim’ which has various meanings to it because it’s a compound
title, eight compound titles, wherein God has related to man what He is
doing with him and for him, and so on.

	Then the next Word where Abraham believed God, the word is ‘not’
Elohim, and so…rather ‘not’   Jehovah. It is either Elohim or
it’s one of the other words meaning ‘master’. But where Elohim is
self explanatory because there are eight compound meanings in it; the
other word is not. And so therefore there’s a little phrase in there
wherein “God raises the dead and calleth those things which are not as
though they were,” and this is the revelation of God in that
particular area. So if you were to take and simply say the Scripture
says Abraham believed God and then go down to verse 17, the Scripture
saying Abraham believed God, you will automatically lose what Abraham
had to know about God, relative to himself in order to manifest faith at
that time. And where it comes to God raising the dead, that’s what God
defined Himself to be in relationship to Abraham.

	Now right away your minds no doubt go down the road to where God said
to Abraham, “Destroy your son,” and Abraham believed God would raise
him. 

	You’re wrong in your thinking. Abraham didn’t even have a son, and
God was saying, “I’m a God Who raises the dead. Now if you just look
at it closely, what is the raising of the dead got to do with Abraham,
because he was as good as dead and so are we, and yet God will bring
about a private resurrection in us without going to the ground. Now I
hope you caught there what I was talking about. You get it now? All
right. Sometimes you just can’t explain it the way you wanted it so
it’s a good thing somebody asked, “What in the world were you
talking about, because I didn’t get it.” So don’t feel bad because
I had a couple of real smart cookies ask me the question, and one was a
boy that I consider very outstanding and a lady that was formerly a
schoolteacher so the rest of you if you think you’re dumb bunnies… 
I wonder myself what I’m talking about half the time, so don’t you
ever feel bad. I just know it’s right and I’ve got to keep preaching
it until the thing breaks, and once it breaks then it’s all right. So
don’t feel bad.

2.	Now we’re going to continue the subject of Abraham’s faith and
you will find that it lines up with what we taught last night but there
will be quite a different presentation of it because it’s in the 11th
chapter of Hebrews this time. We go to Hebrews 11:8-19:

8	By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he
should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not
knowing whither he went. 

9	By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country,
dwelling in tabernacles (or tents) with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with
him of the same promise: 

10	For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and
maker is God. 

11	Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed,
and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged
him faithful who had promised. 

12	Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many
as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the
sea shore innumerable. 

13	These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having
seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and
confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 

14	For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a
country. 

15	And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they
came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. (The actual
translation is ‘had they’d kept in mind the country they would have
gone back’. See, you want to watch out now if you’re hankering for 
Pentecost…you’re going to go back, see. I think I showed you that a
couple of years ago in “Negative Confession.”)

16	But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore
God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them
a city. 

17	By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that
had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 

18	Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: 

19	Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead;
from whence also he received him in a figure. (You got that, that’s
the same thing, the promise to Abraham before the son came was the same
Word that allowed him to have this faith that would have brought about a
resurrection. That’s exactly why the resurrection faith that we to put
us in a rapture is the same faith that’s going to bring about a
resurrection, because “they, without us, cannot be made perfect,”
and so on. But that’s not my subject.

3.	Now, in this account, verses 8-19, the faith of Abraham we have here
is historical. In other words, it’s an actual life sketch of how he
conducted himself as a child of faith, and yet it is a spiritual study
of the very life that he led as a recipient of the covenant promises of
God, actually, it’s a covenant promise of God. His dedication lay in
understanding what the promise really was. It’s over here in the 9th
verse: It said, “By faith he sojourned in a land of promise.” In
other words, Abraham was promised a land in which he would be able to
reside. Now, how this title deed holder, Abraham, this title deed holder
of the original promise conducted himself is a lesson to all of us who
claim to be heirs of the same promise. Now we must have the same
revelation and the same understanding in order to follow the pattern
because that is  commended us by God; it is not only commended, it is
commanded us of God.

4.	Now this is seen in Galatians, and I’ve many, many Scriptures to
read this morning. Galatians 3:6-9:

6	Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for
righteousness. 

7	Know you therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the
children of Abraham. 

8	And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen
through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee
shall all nations of the earth be blessed. 

9	So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. (In
other words, heir of the same promise.)

	Romans 4:12, which I read last night:

12	And the father of the circumcision to them which are not of the
circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our
father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised. (We are to walk in
his steps.)

5.	Also, in Hebrews 10:38-39:

38	Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul
shall have no pleasure in him. 

39	But we are not of them who draw back to destruction; but of them that
believe to the saving of the soul.

	And these two verses preface, or set the tenor, for all the whole
chapter of Hebrews 11. Now notice carefully in Hebrews 11:8-9: 

8	By faith Abraham, he was called to go out into a place where he should
after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing
where he went. 

9	By faith he sojourned in a land of promise, as in a strange country,
dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the
very same promise.

	Now in verse 8 you’ll notice that he is called to go out into a place
and he would inherit it, but, see, what the actual, how the actual
fulfillment came about…what actually came about as the fulfillment: in
verse 9 he sojourned. See, he was merely a sojourner. According to these
verses, God called Abraham to go out and receive a land of promise, and
he actually got there and he lived in that land, he stayed in there. 

6.	Now hold that in mind and we’ll go to Genesis 12, because only by
studying this can we find out what inheriting the promise is all about,
and what our life’s attitude must be concerning it. Okay, verse 1:

1.	Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and   
    from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, into a land that I
will show thee:

	Now verses 5-9:

5	And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all
their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had
begotten in Haran; and they went forth in the land of Canaan; and into
the land of Canaan they came.

6	And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the
plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was in the land.

7	 And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said unto him, Unto thy seed
will I give this land: and there he built an altar unto the LORD, who
appeared unto him.

8	And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and
pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and
there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the
LORD.

      9    And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south.

	Genesis 13:1-4:

And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had,
and Lot with him, into the south.

     2    And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.

     3	And he went on his journeys from the south even to Bethel, unto
the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and
Hai;

     4	Unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the
first: and there Abram called on the name of the LORD. (Verse 12:)

    12    Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the
cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom.

	Genesis 17:4-8:

4	As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a
father of many nations.

5	Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be
Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.

6	And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of
thee, and kings shall come out of thee.

7	And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed
after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God
unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.

8	And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land
wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting
possession; and I will be their God.

	Now from the Scripture that I have read here it looks as if a promise
has been given and a promise has been fulfilled, that God said,
“Abraham, you go to this land I’ve set before you; I’m going to
give it to you,” but it is not a promise given and a promise received.
Not so. 

7.	Let’s go to Acts 7:2-7, Stephen preaching:

 2	Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto
our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in
Charran, 

3	And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred,
and come into the land which I will show thee. 

4	Then came he out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and dwelt in Charran:
and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this
land, wherein you now dwell. 

5	And he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his
foot on: yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession,
and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child. 

	So it is not a promise that has been given and a promise received. It
is a promise that has been given but is yet to be received. For Abraham
could not dwell in that land; he simply wandered about in it according
to what we read in Genesis.

8.	Now let’s go back to Hebrews again, 11, beginning again at verses 8
and 9:

8 	By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he
should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not
knowing whither he went. 

9	By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country,
dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the
same promise: (which he had ….  ?  first hand.)

10	For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and
maker is God.

	Now there we find the complete truth about God’s promise and those
who are to share in it. In verse 8 Abraham was called out to a place
that he should after inherit—not inherit at the time, but later on. He
obeyed, that is, he came out of the Ur of the Caldees, not knowing where
he was going, or not having any definite knowledge of the land ahead of
him, but he kept on moving. He made his stay in the promised land, but
the promised land was a strange country to him. He could not accept it.
In other words, the country was not acceptable as his inheritance;
neither could the country accept him.

9.	We go to Genesis 3, and in verse 17, notice what It says:

17	 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of
thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying,
Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow
shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life.

	You can see here that Abraham could not accept this promised land as
his inheritance and neither could the land accept him—they were at
variance with each other. This was not the promise of God fulfilled as
many people think it was. He never made a permanent stop, he never built
a city, but the Bible said he was looking for one.

	In verse 10 it tells us that, he looked for a city which hath
foundation. You’ll notice that Abraham had a definite revelation that
his inheritance in the earth was not for the days of his present
lifetime but it was for some later, indefinite date which had not yet
been set. Now that’s the promise.

10.	Now this same revelation was accepted by his heirs who of course
would inherit God’s gifts and promises to Abraham for it says in verse
9 that Abraham and Isaac were heirs of the very same promise. The days
of the sojourn of all the heirs are well defined in Acts 7, which I was
in a second ago and in the 7th verse, the last part of it:

7	And the nation to whom they shall be in bondage will I judge, said
God: and after that they shall come forth, and serve me in this place. 

	It’s well defined. But there is another time that God is going to be
with His people, according to His covenant promise, and then, and only
then, will the land be reconciled to them, and them reconciled to the
land; God reconciled to them, and they reconciled to God; and the
service will be perfectly acceptable. They would serve God as did
Abraham, all of these heirs. They would serve Him temporarily on earth
and later on they would inherit or get the title deed to the possession
that God promised them. See? The same thing I preached last night will
bring it right out again today.

11.	Now then, you see this exactly true by reading Hebrews 11:13:

13	These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having
seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and
confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 

	See, now you can also see that every true Child of God views the
promise of inheritance with Abraham in exactly the same light. Verse 14:

14	For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a
country. (Now remember that’s what we’re promised, that’s our
inheritance.)

	With it, verses 39-40:

39	And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received
not the promise: 

40	God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us
should not be made perfect.

	See? The promise is still sitting there; it’s still standing there;
it is still to be received. The question now arises: what is the promise
of God to Abraham? The promise of God to Abraham is actually verse 10:

10	For he looked for a city which hath foundations whose builder and
maker is God.

12.	Now remember the maker of this universe, fashion-wise, form-wise, is
not God, it’s the enemy. He’s looking for a city wherein dwells
righteousness.  Now what is that place Abraham is looking for, that
he’s been guaranteed by God that he’ll receive? It’s Revelation
21:

1.	And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: and the first heaven and the
first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 

2	And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out
of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 

3	And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle
of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his
people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 

4	And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be
no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any
more pain: for the former things are passed away. 

5	And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.
And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

6	And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning
and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the
water of life freely. 

7	He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God,
and he shall be my son. 

8	But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers,
and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall
have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which
is the second death.  (Well, let’s see that’s what the land was like
when Abraham was living there because the Cannanite was in the land.
See?)

9	And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven
vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come
hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. 

10	And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain,
and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of
heaven from God,

11	Having the glory of God: and the light was like unto a stone most
precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; 

12	And had a great wall and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates
twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the
twelve tribes of the children of Israel: 

13	On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three
gates; and on the west three gates. 

14	And the wall of the city had twelve foundations…

	There’s your city, Abraham looking for the city which had
foundations, Abraham, sojourning in a strange place; Abraham, knowing he
would receive the promise of God which covenant promise of Almighty God
was that the heirs of Abraham would be New Jerusalem. You see it right
here, and you read the rest for yourself. I won’t take time. 

13.	But let’s swing over to Revelation 20 now, and verses 4-6:

 4	 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given
unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the
witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped
the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their
foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a
thousand years. 

5	But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were
finished. This is the first resurrection. 

6	Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on
such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God
and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

	Revelation 5:9-10:

9	And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book,
and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us
to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and
nation; 

10	And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign
on the earth.

	So there you are, the complete picture of the promise of God to
Abraham. Now listen, the promise of God to Abraham and the Royal Seed is
to inherit the earth by means of the first resurrection. God gave
promise to Abraham, and we trace his history and see can see here by
Scripture that by what promise God gave to Abraham was this: that He
would give him a new life in the first resurrection and would place him
in the New Jerusalem and in those things which we now hold very dear to
our hearts but    perhaps don’t understand too much about them.

14.	Now this same earth we inhabit now and by promise actually own
potentially is to be ours according to the Word of God. Let’s go to
Romans 8:19-23:

19	For the earnest expectation of this creation, this earth, waiteth for
the unveiling of the sons of God. (See? Just waiting for us. Now,
reading a little further:) 

20	For the creation was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by
reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, (What is the hope?
Going to be brought back to the original.)

21	Because the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage
of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. 

22	For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain
together until now. 

23	And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of
the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the
adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

	Notice also, not only is it mentioned there but in 2 Peter concerning
that God is going to recreate this earth. Now don’t get mixed up
here…remember, in the millennium, which we don’t have time to
discuss, before the millennium, He merely refines the earth, as in the
days of Noah, to bring us back. Though when it comes to some of these
other Scriptures He dissolves the elements and it’s completely a
re-creation, but it has to do with the same people and the inheritance.
And you don’t begin to get your inheritance until the first
resurrection. The inheritance is merely in figure, it’s a potential.
All right.

15.	11 Peter  3:10-13:

10	But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the
which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements
shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are
therein shall be burned up. 

11	Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of
persons ought you to be in all holy behavior and godliness, 

12	Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein
the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall
melt with fervent heat? 

13	Nevertheless we, according to his promise… 

	What’s His promise? To inherit the earth, see, according to His
promise, let the earth be dissolved. No problem—we’re dissolved.
This earthly tabernacle also must be dissolved. God’s in the process
of dissolution. Now after we’re dissolved and come back, then God
again will dissolve—this time, the earth, and He’ll put an
undissolvable people on a undissolvable world. 

13	…Neverthelss we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and
a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

	The promise of God is to those that inherit will be under the banner of
righteousness: the Lord Our Righteousness. Not this present earthly
situation under the god of this world.

16.	Also, in Romans 4:13:

13	 For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world… (See?
Heir of this earth, not just a little block in Palestine now. That’s
merely a shadow of the real thing. That’s merely where he had to
stay.)   

	Now it says here by revelation God gave promise to Abraham that he is
going to be heir of the world, see. It was not to Abraham or his seed
through the law but through the righteousness which is of faith. In
other words, not something you can work into but something God has
guaranteed to give you and you believe Him for that very thing. 

	Also, notice this same earth is our prison house as we typed in Acts
7:7 where Israel was in bondage to Egypt based upon Genesis 3:17-19
wherein the earth is revolting against us and holds us in bondage even
to the extent that we die and go back to the very ground—we’re in a
prison house, we’re in bondage. But, notice under the Sixth Seal the
earth is purged and this Sixth Seal is prior to the first resurrection
wherein the earth is forced to give up its dead. I don’t say the Sixth
Seal now, I said in the resurrection. It’s forced to give up its dead.

17.	James 5:5-7:

7	Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold,
the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath
long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. 

8	Be ye patient also; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord
draweth nigh.

	It tells you here that the earth cannot any longer be the prison house
of these people who hold them captive in bondage because now it’s time
for them to come forth and to receive their inheritance which will be in
the millennium after the first resurrection of purified earth. And this
purified earth is not hard to understand. It’s laid out in the Bible
for you because it tells you, “As it was in the days of Noah,” and
God purified the earth by a flood, He brought down huge deposits of silt
upon the land, and He turned the land upside down, He opened waterways
and various things like that, and so when Noah came down upon the earth
there were the bones and human waste of mankind was completely covered,
see.

	Now the Scripture said that we shall walk upon the ashes of the wicked.
That’s the very same thing. It doesn’t say you’re going to walk in
them where the ashes puff up around your ankles like the dust out
here—you’re going to walk over them. That’s the way Noah did. See,
now God’s purifying the earth by fire, the volcanic eruptions. They
say the finest land in all the world is where the lava comes down, very,
very fine with the minerals, and then the water’s there and you can
just grow any vegetable under high heaven. It’s just marvelous. Well,
God’s going to do that for us, see, when He brings us into our
inheritance which comes by way of the resurrection, the first
resurrection.

18.	Now notice we’ve taken some time to get around to what this
promise actually is, the promise of inheriting the earth by means of the
first resurrection, but only by doing so can we see that if we are
pressing into the promise we are actually pressing into the
resurrection. That’s what we’re doing. This is our whole life here,
to press into the resurrection, because that’s what it’s all about,
see. Calvary made it available to us but now we’re pressing into what
has been made available. And you don’t stop with Calvary because
that’s the open door. That’s where we’re all misunderstood
concerning this Message. They don’t understand there’s a Word has
been given to us, and that Word, and without that Word, Calvary loses
its efficacy, see. 

	Now, in other words, the promise to Abraham and his heirs is the
promise of the resurrection whereas  in mortal bodies in the image of
God, we go back to even a greater grandeur than the victor of Abraham,
for whereas we were of the earth earthy, rather as to Adam, as to the
earth, earthy, now we are in the image of the heavenly, and it’s a far
grander figure.

19.	Now, it’s a greater figure than being where Adam and Eve was in
the garden of Eden, it’s far greater. Let’s go back and look at it
again. Genesis 1:26-29:

26	The Lord God said, Let us make man in our image, (Now when He made
man in His image this first time, spiritual, they couldn’t fall; when
they were placed in the flesh, they could fall, and they did fall.
We’ve got to get back to that image, the image that cannot fall. Now:)
In the image of God they have dominion because they’re in the likeness
of God. That dominion is over the fish of the sea, fowl of the air,
cattle, the whole earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth
upon the earth.

27	So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he
him; male and female created he them.

28	And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and
multiply, and replenish the earth, ( and so on.)

29	And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, that
is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the
fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

20.	Now that was the beginning, God giving dominion. What’s He going
to do in the resurrection? We go over here to Philippians 3:21, well, we
might as well look at verse 20:

20	For our citizenship that’s in heaven (not our conversation),
citizenship is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the
Lord Jesus Christ: 

21	Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto
his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to
subdue all things to himself. (Even those waiting for their
transformation without death. He can do it, He will do it.) 

	Now when Jesus came back here on earth, what was he doing? He was
eating and drinking. He was in a ….. spirit, not flesh and bone, as
you see me have. He was doing manual things, he was living as a human
being yet glorified. So therefore you can see what lies ahead of us.
They were looking forward to the resurrection to be in the complete
image of Jesus Christ, no longer a spiritual image only that will keep
us in perfect harmony with God, but this time a physical image, having
come out of the ground like unto his body, so there’ll be no
contradiction or discrepancy whatsoever in this kingdom. Now all we know
today is contradiction and discrepancy, but in that kingdom there is
nothing but perfect harmony wherein reigneth  righteousness.  Now after
the millennium we’re going to come back in the New Jerusalem which
Bro. Branham called, “The future home of the Heavenly Bridegroom and
the earthly Bride.” 

21.	Now with this thought in mind that the faith of Abraham in Hebrews
11 is pressing into the resurrection, let’s study it and see that
every verse here that we’re going to talk about has to do with the
understanding that a resurrection was to take place and this was a
supreme promise of God to them. Now let’s understand that because
I’m afraid we’ve lost it in the Laodicean church age. I’m afraid
we’ve got the wrong concept; we’re not battling hard enough against
the criminal attacks of the enemy who would get our eyes off this fact
that it’s press in to the resurrection or miss it, and that this life
that we lead is all about pressing into a resurrection and it absolutely
is nothing else.

	Now we’ll take Scripture by Scripture and in there you will see the
temporal condition of man and the eternal condition of the resurrection
which is set before us. Every verse bears it out. So many men should be
mindful of anything concerning who and what he is in Christ. That
concern of his should be this as paramount, pressing in to the first
resurrection.

22.	Now we’re not going to deal with justification by faith because,
though that’s the first step, because we trust you all are justified,
but going to Hebrews 11 now, notice in verse 8:

8	By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he
should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not
knowing whither he went. 

	We discover here that as Abraham obeyed, Abraham obeyed God, he went
out. Now, let’s go to 1 Peter 1:2:

2	Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through
sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience (You want to identify with
Abraham? Abraham speaks of election. You notice the Bible says that
Abraham went out. It says he obeyed. That’s what it says here.) Elect
according to God’s foreknowledge, (the Spirit of God leading a man. 
What into? Obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace
be unto you, and peace, be multiplied. Now he goes on and says this.)

3	Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which
according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively
hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

	Notice, why was Abraham obeying? In order to come into a resurrection.
It tells you right here: a lively hope, every act of obedience,
especially the initial obedience of coming unto Almighty God in order to
be saved from your sins. Why are you being saved from those things? Why
are you making an approach towards God? Why are you obeying that voice
of the Spirit? It’s for a lively hope. In other words, your
understanding of that which comes from God is this, “I’ll be in a
resurrection in His image.” See? Absolutely. That’s why the
disciples preached the resurrection; that’s why healing testifies to
the resurrection; that’s why Bro. Branham had his great campaign, “A
Resurrection is at Hand,” a man that’s born to die can live again.

23.	Now, we keep reading:

4	To an inheritance,  incorruptible, and undefiled (There’s your New
Jerusalem, there’s your new life on earth that fadeth not away,
reserved in the heavens for you. Is it all up there? No, it’s going to
come down to earth. It’s merely reserved there for you up there until
it comes down here. See? All right. Notice:)

5	Who are kept by the power of God through faith  (What is your faith
all about? It’s to see that you’re in the resurrection, to see that
you don’t fall short of this promise of God, to see that you don’t
miss out in being one of those glorified creatures ready…to be
revealed in the last time, certainly, ready to be revealed. Why? Because
these sons must be manifested. God must bring them all out of the
ground. God must show who belongs to Him. Then will the earth be
changed, then will the earth shake off its death wraps and come out into
a place of liberty. Now notice now:)

6	Wherein ye greatly rejoice… (What is the rejoicing in? The
resurrection.)

24.	Oh, brother/sister, if we could only get this…oh, I just wish Bro.
Branham could preach this sermon because, though I know what I’m
talking about, I can’t put it across with the conviction of experience
that that man could, being here, and yet beyond the curtain of time,
knowing what I don’t know. But I know that I’m telling you the truth
and all you’ve got to do is hear my voice. Remember how Bro. Branham
spoke of that resurrection, “There’s a land beyond the river.”
Then you’ll know what I’m telling you is exactly what he said, that
this is what counts. It’s not what’s down here, it’s what’s
coming down here, and are we able to meet it. Now It says:) 

6.	You rejoice in that though now for a season, (sojourning) if need be,
you are in heaviness through manifold temptations: 

7	That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold
that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise
and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: 

8	Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet
believing, you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: 

9	Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. 

	What’s the salvation of the soul? Something merely here upon earth
for a moment?  No, it’s to put you in that resurrection, to put you in
the millennial kingdom, to put you in the New Jerusalem, to put you
where God wants you, see. Now what is the first step toward the
resurrection? Obedience. Right. He was called, he went out…he went
out. 

25.	Now, let’s look at it, let’s go with those people who went out
with God with Revelations 18:4-5:

4	And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my
people, that you be not partakers of her sins, and that you receive not
of her plagues.

	Now the original ‘coming-outer’ was Abraham. Where was he? He was
in bondage down there worshiping in a false religion. The Word of God
came to him. Where was the Word of God? It was not where Abraham was, it
was not where Abraham was. The Word of God was outside of where Abraham
was for He said, “Come on out.” Now, he came out.

	Now let’s go to Matthew 25:1-6. We want to set a pattern here:

1	Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which
took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.

2	And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.

3	They that were foolish took their lamps, and had no oil with them: 

4	But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.

5	While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.

6	At midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom (Not
‘cometh’ but) Behold the brideroom; (Not ‘go out’, but ) ‘come
out’ to meet him. 

	There’s no such thing in the whole Bible ever said, “Go out.” God
was not saying to Abraham, “Go out.” God said to Abraham, “Come
out.” So therefore if the same Holy Ghost were to say, “Go out,”
He would have been a liar…the Holy Ghost would have done took up
lying, because He can only say what He only said the first time. Now
what He said the first time, He says the last time: “Come out!” See,
it’s a coming out. Now just hold that thought there. 

	Ephesians 5:14:

14	Wherefore he sayeth, Awake thou that sleepest and arise from among
the dead and Christ will give you life. (Come on out from among the
dead.) 

	Okay, let’s go to Galatians 4:19:

19	My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be
formed in you,

20   	I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice; for I
stand in doubt of you. 

21	Tell me, you that desire to be under the law, do you not hear the
law? 

22	For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, (Let’s get this one.)
the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. 

23	And he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh (Just like
Cain was, and all the rest of them); but he of the freewoman was by
promise. (See?)

24	Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the
one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Hagar. 

25	For this Hagar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem
which now is, and is in bondage with her children. 

26	But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is ‘our’ mother. 
(Now you cross out where It says, “ She’s the mother of us all,”
because that is wrong. New Jerusalem is not the mother of the children
of the bondwoman. It’s our mother. Certainly. You can tell that’s a
horrible translation, it wouldn’t make sense for a second. There’d
be no allegory there at all if New Jerusalem owned us all. Right? Right.
Let’s know the Word.)

27	For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not (That’s
Sarah); break forth and cry, thou that travailest not (That’s Sarah.
Now notice): for the desolate hath many more children than she which has
a husband. (Sarah had the husband and didn’t have the children. Hagar
didn’t have the husband and got a whole flock of them. Now let’s
keep watching, I’m still on my subject, don’t worry.) 

28	Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. (Our
mother then is Jerusalem above.)

29	But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was
born after the Spirit, even so it is now. 

30	Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her
son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the
freewoman (Who got cast out of the way of the marriage supper, the man
without a garment. That’s right, who gets cast out? Those that
aren’t in New Jerusalem.) 

31	So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the
free. (Now listen, 5:1):

1	Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us
free, and be not entangled again with that yoke of bondage.	

	Now, what am I trying to show you here? There never was anybody who
ever made the Bride who ever came in the first resurrection but didn’t
come out of something. That’s why you’ve got a movement at the last
day here, preceding the first resurrection, which is a “Come out of
her My people!”

	Now, as there is absolutely no revert?  and no resurrection afforded
any man who doesn’t have a coming out experience because repentance
itself is a change of mind. In other words, you’re in there and
something happens and you say, “Let’s get out.” 

26.	Now Abraham started with getting out of a heathen worship. Then it
must end the same way. Abraham got out of there in order to be in a
resurrection, and then when it says in Revelation 18, “Come out of
her, my people,” it’s for the very same reason. There is a
resurrection to be attended, there is a resurrection which is coming
upon the earth.

	In Haran Abraham’s father was a moon worshipper, be it a heathen or a
Christian religion. I care not if it’s plumb heathen, idolatrous or
whether it’s simply Christianity gone to pot. There has to be a coming
out and there has always been a coming out in every single age, and the
coming out is necessary for a resurrection. Why? Because it types you
coming out of your bondage and your death in creeds and dogmas to the
life and resurrection of Christ, the Word. 

	What was that Word given for, my brother/sister, but to bring forth a
resurrection, and the first resurrection has got to start in here.
We’ve already had a resurrection, Bro. Branham said, from our creeds
and doctrines. The great ……of Lazarus…. has been stripped off by
the Voice of Jesus Christ, “Come out of her!” The first …cry….
of the first age I’ve showed you by Scripture, why did God call
Abraham? He called him for a resurrection. Why did He call you and me?
For a resurrection. Why did He call anybody through the seven church
ages? For a resurrection. What’s He waiting for? He’s waiting for a
resurrection, see. That’s our hope. That’s all of it! I said
that’s all of it! 

	People look for this, and they look for that…they say, “Glory to
God, under Jehovah Jireh I get my provision, under Jehovah Ropha, I get
my healing, and under Jehovah the Shepherd, I get my care.” That
sounds good, and it is good, but you can have all of that and lose this.
See, put first things first. That’s what’s wrong with this world.
They talk about a resurrection but they don’t know it’s right around
the corner. Let me tell you, my brother/my sister, that resurrection
could take place any thirty to sixty days. You say, “Why?” Because I
don’t know how long it’s going to take when that money……  
before the resurrection’s going to take place. And that …..…   
can take place any minute now, and you know it and I know it. Certainly,
the resurrection.

27.	Now, yet when a man comes out, into what does he go? We go to verse
9 over here in the Book of Hebrews (11) and we get our picture:

9	By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country,
dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the
same promise:

	Now God doesn’t have a vacuum, He said, “Come on out.”  What’s
he going to go into? He is in the very same world, right, once he comes
out. He is in the same world but now he is a new citizen and is awaiting
the new earth to come into manifestation. Now notice you will see that
the Bible calls it a sojourn. Verse 9: What is a sojourn? It is a
temporary state, it is a visit. He is allowed to visit only what is his
actual inheritance. There again we see the resurrection and eternal life
as a reality of God for man because He said, “This is yours but you
can only stay here a little while.” And how’s he going to get it
forever? He’s got to live again. I said every verse would show the
resurrection. Here’s one that shows it. You’ve got to sojourn here,
this land is yours, this is your home, I’ve given it to you but
you’re only going to be here for a little while. You can walk up and
down in it, you can work in it, but the land and you are not reconciled.
Then, how is it going to be done? You’re going to come back in a
resurrection. 

28.	Notice it’s called a ‘strange country’. People are not
comfortable in a strange country. Oh, how comfortable Laodicea
is—rich, increased in goods and don’t lack a thing. I want to tell
you, my brother, my sister, thank God for the convicting Holy Spirit of
Jesus Christ that makes us uncomfortable. There was a time I could go to
my clothes closet and I knew what suit I was going to wear because I
either didn’t have one or I had only one. Right now I’m …like…. 
  a woman, like Jack Bell, ...message,… Jack, it’s good for our
soul. You go into the clothes closet, you got so many clothes you start
giving them away…not that you buy them all but people give them to
you, too. I think nearly most of my clothes are given to me. See, the
stuff that I wear was either given or I buy awful cheap or don’t buy.
It’s got to be a bargain because I just don’t believe in throwing
money away, see.

	But, listen, I’m trying to show you something here, we’re so
increased in goods, we really don’t lack anything, we are too
comfortable, see. The goal of this world that signifies authority and
power, which only the Holy Spirit and the Word should signify have
encroached upon our domain until we’re not looking for a resurrection.
Who needs one in the face of we’ve got so much now? We’re not
supposed to be comfortable. I’m going to tell you something: God’s
not going to let us be comfortable. 

	Oh, I know people have an idea that this squeeze won’t come down. And
I know maybe you misunderstood me last night I thought, talking about a
squeeze, you’ve got to wait for something to really happen here or
there. I never preached that, you misunderstood me. I’ve showed you
what we got now but listen that squeeze must come down to get us off of
our perches and don’t think it won’t because the prophet said so.
Don’t say for one minute there’s no squeeze coming. It’s
coming—the prophet said so. 

	We’re too much in hope, we’ve got too much money. The very fact
that you can build a nice place like this proves we’ve got too much
money. I mean it…where’s our store front? I’m not criticizing it,
it’s very good, I appreciate it. As Bro. Branham said, “If you’ve
got that kind of money, don’t let the devil get it, build a
building.” That’s fine, see.

29.	But we’re too comfortable. Where are the days, where are those old
days, not saying now we don’t…shouldn’t be comfortable, just
letting you know something: there’s a spirit of this age, my brother
and my sister. We’ve become blind to the reality that there is a
resurrection, and that’s what this promise is all about. It is not you
and me having such good health, although that’s great; not you and I
having so many fine things, not you and I being able to have to many
prayers answered, say, “Oh, look, how great God is!”

	The great thing is this: there’s a God in heaven Who has promised us
a resurrection from the dead and will put us in His glory to share it
with Him. Certainly that’s the trouble, so don’t misunderstand me
here when I’m talking either. It’s easy to twist a preacher’s
words. It’s on tape, you better hear him again and if they sound
wrong, you write me and I’ll tell you what I really meant if you
didn’t get it.

	Now listen: it’s a strange country, people aren’t comfortable in a
strange country. They aren’t meant to be comfortable in that strange
country. They wanted to get out of it. How many of us really want to get
out of it? See? The sojourn is something we want to get out of.
Certainly it should be, but we don’t want to be without something in
the interim. As Paul the Apostle said in 2 Corinthians 5, he said in
this tabernacle we groan because we’re to be going to be dissolved.
Now he said we’re going to get out of it  but we don’t want to get
out of it and have nothing to go to. Now in the interim God has a little
building in heaven waiting for us, a spirit body, something eternal up
there. When we slide out of this, we go to that one. Then that comes
down and picks up these mortal bodies here and puts us in the
millennium, see. We cannot be comfortable here, we are not meant to be
comfortable here. The Bible said they were heirs dwelling in tents. A
tent means it’s very temporary, see. One might have to leave it at any
time, yet it is ours, that’s all we’ve got. And this again shows a
resurrection because it says it’s merely a tent of temporary mode.
Well, look, if we’re only in a temporary mode now that we’re
citizens of Almighty God think of what’s coming—our
resurrection—to put you in a real one, to put you in the right one,
certainly.

30.	Now let’s go to verse 10:

10	For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and
maker is God. 

	But all the while we look for a city whose architect and builder is
God, all the while we’re here, see, in this dissatified life, in this
life of pressure, as Peter said. We’re tried, and yet in our trials we
have a settled  hope, we have a satifisfaction, we have something real.
Why? Because it’s in the resurrection. We don’t have a permanent
promise here on this earth. Let’s get that now. 

	How many times you’re healed doesn’t mean fap…you’re going to
die anyway unless Jesus comes and takes you away…how many times God
supplies your need, how many times He saves you from embarrassment.
There’ll come a time, my brother/my sister, unless Jesus Christ
descends to take you home, you will still be ashamed because here you
and I claim eternal life and we’re going to go in that    ground.
There’s only one place where the promises of God become real and
eternal, and that’s in the resurrection. And that’s what this is all
about. 

	It’s too bad we missed it, it’s too bad Laodicea is so frivolous.
Laodicea, the name of many women. What’s more frivolous today than
women? One place they take too many clothes off and next day they put
too many on. You’ve got such ferment, dissatisfaction in this age and
yet everybody thinks he’s just right. They’ve lost sight of the fact
there’ll be nothing right until the resurrection, see.

	Now a city with permanent foundations, we don’t have it yet. Abraham
looked for it, we should be looking for it. It’s not here and it’s
got to come. What does it signify? It signifies the resurrection.

31.	Now I’m going to bypass verse 11 because that deals with Sarah,
not Abraham, but it’s fine. We go to the next verse then, 12:

12	Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead…

	There you are, resurrection again. How did Abraham have a child by
Sarah? Because God renewed their bodies. He actually brought forth a
resurrection condition in a figure here on earth, which is now an
allegory concerning you and me, as I said last night, waiting for that
Promised Son. The church cannot bring for that Promised Son because
she’s pregnant with the wrong Word. She’ll bring forth only wind,
which is doctrine and talking and testimony so we have reality. Amen!
And there’s a difference between a woman who thinks she’s pregnant
and one who really is.  You haven’t got that Word of God you haven’t
been with Christ—you just think you’ve been with Christ. Yes, sir,
listen, here’s your resurrection again: 

12	Abraham, him as good as dead, that’s right, there sprang from him
so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is
by the sea shore innumerable. (Here speaking now, and he puts us all in
the resurrection.  See, He comes and says, “Springing from Him are
those innumerable.” Oh, what life must have been in Abraham, what life
was in him if the Spirit of God that raised up Jesus dwelleth in you
that same Spirit will quicken your mortal body and bring you out of that
dust and present you faultless before the Lord of Glory. Yes, sir,
that’s true. Look at verse 13:)

13	These all died in faith, not having received the promises, (Yes, they
did; they had them but they didn’t receive it. They were given the
means whereby they could possess it. Right. What we have today is not
the promise itself but we have the means. Certainly.) They received the
promises having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and
embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on
the earth. 

14	And they that say such things declare that they seek a country.

	     Now, in verse 13:

13	These all died in faith… (All believers are dying in faith, or
they’re not believers.)

	“Well,” you say, “well, sure, they’re believers.”

	Well, I could grant you they’re believers but they’re not true
believers. There’s believers, make-believers, unbelievers, yeah. There
are those who think they’re believers and they come pretty close but
they’ve got a corrupt faith, which is called a reprobate faith because
they’ve got a corrupt mind. There’s no such thing as a true faith
outside of a true revelation. And a true revelation doesn’t come by
simply examining Scripture or anybody can have it. It doesn’t work
that way. 

13	They all died in faith…

	They had checked on dying in faith, none of them received the
manifestation, the promise of the resurrection to inherit the earth.
However they will inherit the earth because of that potential which I
just declared to you from the 8th chapter of Romans, 10-11, “If That
Spirit that raised up Jesus dwell in you, though your body is dead
because of sin, that same Spirit will raise that body into the likeness
of Jesus Christ.” By the revelation they saw the promises, by the
revelation they claimed the promises, It says here. They all died in
faith, they didn’t receive it, but they saw those promises. 

32.	My brother/my sister, I want to say this, and I say to our
embarrassment, and it is an embarrassment to us: when we heard that
prophet we were stunned by his reality in Almighty God. And what was it
stunned us? Because the thing that I’m talking about today was so real
that that man had a policy of “touch not, taste not, nor be involved
with anything but what pertained to the Kingdom. Why? Because there’s
where his life was. He wasn’t worried about this life of sojourn here.
That’s why he could be so sweet with the sickest disposition you ever
saw, I mean physical disposition you ever saw. His own words were,
“I’d would sooner be in a terrible accident and crippled horribly
than to have five minute of the suffering I go through.” The morning
he preached, “The Anointed Ones at the End Time,” and he asked me,
he said, “Did you see something wrong?” 

	I said, “I didn’t see anything, I enjoyed the message.” 

	He said, “I was so sick I could hardly stand up and hang onto the
pulpit.” 

	Yet never was with that man ever offensive to anybody. Why? Because the
reality of God. Now, my brother/my sister, let’s face it: the reality
of Almighty God, based on these promises is the understanding of a
resurrection, which in itself, though not an opiate, can become an
opiate for whatsoever bothers us, whatsoever seems to harm us. In other
words, it’s the balm of Gilead, let me put it that way. The balm of
Gilead…it is the sand, it’s the ointment of Almighty God. Knowing
this that we have in the resurrection, the true hope of Almighty God,
but it’s not here, it’s over there. We can only live in such a way
as to know that our inheritance lies over yonder; let’s live such a
life that we can claim it. That’s right.

	By their confession they made it plain that they were citizens of
God’s Kingdom, which would take place in a resurrection. That’s the
kind of testimony we need so people realize we’re not living for the
present. You say, “Why do you live the kind of life you live?”

	Because there’s a better one coming. Why do you do the kinds of
things you do? Because there’s a better one coming. No problem,
because those people understood which Laodicea does not understand. I
can pick up any book written in any other age, that’s right; I can
pick up any manual that somebody wrote, I can hear a sermon that
somebody preached, and I say in this age, “Where is the reality of the
resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ which brings it all into focus?”
See? Where is the joy? Why, back in the hungry thirties it was more real
than it is today. Sure. 

33.	Now verse 15:

15	And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they
came out, (they would have gone back.)

	 Now It tells you here when God brings you out, what does He bring you
out for? For the resurrection. What’s the way to miss it? Go on back
where your death was. Why did God take you out of your creeds and
dogmas, why did God take you out of Pentecost? To go back to be a
……… Then why are people still worried about having interpretation
of tongues and things on the floor. Bro. Branham said there’s only one
time you can get away from that little building ministry and he didn’t
say you could do it even then. He said, “If it were possible, it might
be allowable at the end of a service to have a prophecy.” Wait until
the end of service when the altar call has been concluded, when every
soul has been dealt with, when they’re ready to shake hands and go
home, then you might say something. 

	Why are we mindful about going back, why are we mindful about wanting
our own little ideas because we thought God showed us something. Let me
tell you something right now: if you and I do that, we’ll never be in
the resurrection because nothing outside of this Message is going to
come to life. We came out because we were wrong, we never came out to
get a breath of fresh air, we came out of our graves not breathing.
That’s right. Something wrong with people somewhere, that they don’t
understand this. It distinctly says they came out.” Why? In order to
be a part of that Bride. 

	Now if you want to go back to the age of which you came out of, you go
back, you’ll never make the resurrection. Let me tell you this:
Abraham would not have made the resurrection, he’d have given his hope
up. Israel, in going back to Egypt, would have given up their hope.
Luther through Catholicism would have given up his hope; Wesley to
Lutheranism would have given up hope;  Pentecost and Wesley would have
given up their hope. And if you and I go back to Pentecost we give up
ours. The very fact that you and I stand clear this morning, stand clear
of our dead creeds and dogmas, show we’re on the risen side with Jesus
Christ because there is no other testimony because we’re standing on a
promise of Almighty God and the promise is at hand. There’s your
resurrection. 

34.	Verse 16:

16	And now they desire a better country, 

	Huh! It’s the only one you know here. Where are you going to get a
better one? There’s got to be a resurrection. Amen! Hallelujah! Glory
to God, Hallelujah! I wish my soul should ring with it, I wish my body
could vibrate with it, I wish my senses could teach it that Bro. Branham
had, “There’s a land beyond the river, they call it ‘the sweet
river’”. 

	There’s something wrong somewhere…I’m not blaming you. There’s
something wrong somewhere that we can’t see what this whole life is
about. It’s the resurrection coming up. It’s not what we are here,
it’s not what we have here. All this is a sham, and what does it
matter if you’re a leader or something else. I can so sick and tired
of the whole thing, I wish I had nothing at all anymore but a glass of
cold water and a crust of bread. I could get my soul fixed on that which
is real because that’s what this is all about—the faith of Abraham.
There’s a resurrection coming, there’s nothing else matters. We
haven’t got one promise here that’s enduring, we haven’t got one
thing for this earth, it’s all beyond the river.

	You say, “Bro. Vayle, are you taking away healing?”

	I didn’t say that, that’s going to die.

	“Are you going to take away prophecy?”

	It’s going to fade.

	“Are you going to take away tongues?”

	It’s going to perish. Let me tell you something: there’s a people
who’ll never perish whose immortality lies in Jesus Christ and
that’s a promise that can only take place in the first resurrection.
Yes, that’s true.

35.	Now listen, verse 15 gave that warning and verse 16 tells us here:
there’s only one place we can look for it, something better, and
that’s in the resurrection:

16	…Wherefore (It says) God is not ashamed to be called their God (Ho!
No wonder God’s ashamed this morning, no wonder He’s ready to
vomit…He’s got a city prepared, this is the apex, this is the
ultimate, this is the whole thing, and the people don’t rise to the
occasion. They’ve got a hundred ideas, they’ve got a million
approaches, and here the Lord God of Glory stands and says, “This is
it!” And they say, “Well, that was pretty nice, but we’ll just
see…..for the time being.   

	“Oh, yes, yes, that’s all right, but over here is something
nice.”  ………

	Listen, that’s the whole thing. God’s not ashamed to be called
their God because they understand this. However I wonder if God’s
ashamed of me this morning, I wouldn’t be surprised. I’m ashamed of
myself. That’s right. He’s got a right to be ashamed. We put so
little value on what is unseen when the Bible says those things which
are seen ….    are that which is unseen. We put so little faith and
importance upon that which is the very type, I mean the very substance,
and we talk about so much of which is a shadow. God, get us out of the
shadow. According to Bro. Branham, he said that hand must become closer,
that shadow must become closer and closer until it’s the real thing. 

36.	Well, thank God we’ve got one hope this morning, if at least
we’ve got a repentant heart, at least we’ve got a cry there’s
something wrong. By the grace of Almighty God we’ll look to Him to see
that He’ll rectify all of those things, that somehow He’ll quicken
us and if it takes the squeeze, then bring on the squeeze. Thank God,
bring it on, and bring it on in a hurry. O Lord, bring it on at Your own
time because I’m not one to tell God what to do. Certainly. Let us
understand how important the things of God are, not these little things
of time which we seem to think are so great. 

	Now listen, they desire a better country, surely. 

	“Aw, let’s just change the Word a little bit, God won’t mind.” 

	They desired the best thing there is, that city, not just something
better, not just something better. 

	“Oh, I came out of Lutheranism because Pentecost was better.
Hallelujah, I love the tongues!”

	“Oh, I came out of Pentecost, glory to God, because the tongues
bothered me. I got something… I got something better.”

	No, I want the best. 

	“God doesn’t mind the change here…., just to give you a little
thought here.”

	 They desired the best. They got tired of it all, fed up with the whole
thing. Now they want what God has for them, the prepared city.
Hallelujah!

37.	Heb 11:17-19:

17	By faith Abraham when he was tried, offered up Isaac he that received
the promises offered up his only begotten son, 

18	Of whom it was said, “That in Isaac shall thy seed be called, 

19	Acounting that God was able to raise him up even from the dead from
whence he also received him in a figure. 

	Now that doesn’t need any explanation. That is the resurrection
itself, nothing there to talk about, the trial of Abraham’s faith, a
type of the resurrection. Nothing matters but the resurrection and God
is going to have one for us, certainly He will, we who walk in the steps
of Abraham. Our whole life and all our friends must center in that
resurrection. We must get ready for it according to what we see from
Abraham’s life. All his life, all our life is a matter of one
important thing: see that we make the resurrection. That’s right.

38.	Let’s go to Revelation 5, again 6-7:

6	And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and one of the four
beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been
slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of
God sent forth into all the earth. 

7	And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat
upon the throne. 

Revelation 10:1-2:

1	And I saw another mighty messenger come down from heaven, clothed with
a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were
the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire: 

2	And he had in his hand a little book open (The same book. The Pillar
of Fire brought down that same book, the same book of redemption.
What’s that book of redemption? It’s time to redeem the earth. Why?
For the Saints of God. It’s time to redeem God’s people. What for?
For a redeemed earth. It all lies in redemption. That’s where it is.
5-6:)

5	And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea (That’s the Pillar of
Fire)  lifted up his hand to heaven,  

And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever.  

     

	Who did that? God did that. Why did He do it? For Abraham when He swore
by Himself to Abraham, “I’m going to give it to you in a
resurrection.” If He’s alpha, He’s got to be omega. Once more He
raises that hand  when election runs out because the purpose of God
stands in election. God is going to have a city based upon election.
That’s right…there’s no election, there’s no city. God makes His
purpose sure, God makes His plan come to pass. “I’m going to have a
people,” and He has it through election. Foreknowledge upon which
election and predestination is based.

	Now He says, “Time will be no longer.” It’s over. The election is
over. In this age, at this time, in the Voice of the prophet’s time,
when the first phase of the rapture is going on, time runs out. That’s
right. Election is over, true. Let me say this: when the last elected
member of that Bride comes in, there’s nothing left but a
resurrection. Why? Because now God can make His promise real that He
gave to Abraham and His seed. He’ll say, “Now is the time to inherit
the earth,” and that’s what that book of redemption is all about.
That’s why Bro. Braham said the opening of those seven seals, now he
said, “Now remember it’s open.” Sure. And he said, “The Bride
would have enough faith to put Her in a rapture.” We have our picture
very, very clear. 

39.	Now quickly, go to Hebrews 6:13-15:

13	For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by none
greater, he sware by himself, 

14	Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will
multiply thee. 

	How could Abraham be multiplied? He didn’t have that many children.
No, it came by resurrection. How? Because when Abraham died, his life
carried over by his son; his life carried over by his son; his life
carried over by his son, and now down through the ages, God, by
election, bringing forth all of Abraham’s children, ready for the
resurrection, putting us in the millennium. There you are: perfect and
beautiful picture. God has done it.

	Now 13-15:

15	And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.

	What promise did he obtain? The promise of the son, but not the promise
of the resurrection and the inheritance, because though he was there,
God would not give him one foot of it, see.

	Now:

16	For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is
to them an end of all strife. 

	Now listen, what was the oath of confirmation? The oath of confirmation
was God raising His hand and swearing. Right. Now listen: when He raises
His hand again, it is another oath of confirmation. What confirmation?
The prophet’s message of THUS SAITH THE LORD bringing us the
resurrection into    immediate view. That’s right. Christ has taken
the book of redemption, see. Those sealed in by the Holy Ghost must now
come out of the grave, and this is the promise of Abraham, to Abraham
and his seed. Time has run out, it is resurrection season. Who knows
when the great earthquake will take place? No one knows. What a
challenge to live like the Bride, like a true Bride in this Laodicean
age, that is so comfortable and has everything but is blind to the fact
of the resurrection. What a challenge to know we own it all, that’s
right, we own it all, and we are about to take possession of it. Surely
that’s right, but the world, the church, carries on. 

40.	Let’s look at the conditions of the church, Revelation 3:17:

17	Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have
need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable,
and poor, and blind, and naked: 

	Let’s go to 1 Corinthians 15, let’s look at verse 19:

19	If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most
miserable. 

	In other words, if you have Christ in your life but you miss that
resurrection, you are a Laodicean and   you’re simply miserable,
though you think you have it all. 

	How many people today have turned down that Word? How many have taken
the Message? Very few. How many had a chance? Multitudes. You mean to
tell me that when Bro. Branham’s ministry first came on the scene that
it didn’t stir the world?  It certainly did. You can’t have a little
town like Jonesboro, Arkansas, swell from six thousand to thirty
thousand in a week and not stir the world. You can’t have those
miracles over there in South Africa and also India and not stir the
world. You can’t have what happened here in Canada and British
Columbia and not stir the world, because the greatest miracle, I think,
on the North American continent, outside of a few, took place right in
British Columbia. But they were turned down because nobody wanted the
man because he wouldn’t identify with their dead creeds and dogmas
because he’d come out of the Baptist Church. No, they didn’t want
it. Where are they today? They have hope in Christ in this life only.
That’s right, because they’re going to miss the hope of the
resurrection, for nothing outside of this Word will come to life.
That’s been proven, that’s been vindicated. Certainly. 

41.	Let’s look over here at Luke 16:14-17:

14	The Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and
they derided him. 

15	And he said, You are they which justify yourselves before men; but
God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is
abomination in the sight of God.

16	The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom
of God is preached, and every man presseth into it.

17	And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away, than one tittle
of the law to fail.

	What did Jesus come here and tell them when John the Baptist came and
Christ with a cataclysmic effect upon their religion, he said, “Press
into the resurrection.”

	What did Bro. Branham come and preach? “Press into the
resurrection.”

	Now this is just such an age as where It is said, “They knew not
until the flood came and took them all away.” They were not acting
like sojourners in the days of Noah and neither are they acting like
sojourners now. In fact, you would think that they are owners, for
they’re building, buying and selling as though they owned it all. 

	Let me tell you this: there’s nothing you can put your hope in,
brother/sister. The economists will tell you there’s nothing but gold
shares worth buying and they’re not worth buying because they’ll
take it away. You’re stuck. And yet the church goes on acting like a
land owner. If Bro. Branham said the way they’re building their
churches and having their big health schemes and public schemes…they
talk about Christ coming, “Why, He’d be a thousand years off yet.”

	And yet here’s the man who came in order, as John the Baptist, to
press into the kingdom. What kingdom? The kingdom of God in power, which
is the resurrection, see.

42.	Today great churches talk about the resurrection but their lives
tell another story. …?…God has called us to a resurrection, to a
marriage supper of the Lamb, to an inheritance of this earth. All else
must fail beside it. This is why men could take the spoiling of their
goods graciously because they had stored up in heaven a better and
enduring substance. Not fooled as this Laodicean age is that thinks that
money and popularity will do the work, see. This is why True Believers
won’t want no authority over them but the dominion of the Word only.
They don’t want organization and somebody trying to make himself
somebody. You know, the  most laughable thing in this world is to see
people jockeying for position in this so-called Message. Can some of you
folks...  You’ve got so many rose-colored glasses on…  I don’t
despise you, but I wonder where you’ve been living the last few years.
Are you really awake to what’s going on. That’s right, I wonder. If
you can’t see the jockeying for position to be somebody, someone who
has a vision with all the men, so he’s the great shot. This one has
something else. 

	Let me tell you something: William Branham put his signature on no man,
and when he went off the scene the Holy Ghost alone is our leader. God
has given you faith for pastors who are your shepherds. That’s right.
Oh, you’re not alone, it’s all over the world, it’s in Europe,
too. It’s all over…somebody trying to be something. The Bride
doesn’t want any authority, save the Holy Spirit, over Her. She knows
who her husband is; the rest might not, but the Bride knows. Certainly.
This is why they die in faith for they know, as Bro. Branham said,
“There’s a land beyond the river that we call the sweet river and we
only reach its shores by faith decree.” But what is that faith?
That’s that faith of Abraham whose whole heart and soul longed for
that city which hath foundation, whose builder and maker is God.

	You say, “Bro. Vayle, do you long for that city?”

	Oh, sure I do, but on one condition, that the builder and maker is God,
He’s there running the whole thing. Amen! That’s what’s going to
make it good. There’ll be no abomination enter there, there’ll be
nothing we take with us shall make anything evil, but only the
righteousness of God. Let us walk through the valley of the shadow of
death, brother/sister, with the full assurance of the faith which we
have been granted in this hour, the full assurance of faith. 

43.	Now the shout has gone forth—that’s your full assurance. To
accept the Message which we have means we’re entering into a
resurrection. How do we know? Because it’s resurrection season. 

	Over here in Romans 11:15 it says:

15	For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what
shall be the receiving of them, but life from the dead?

	   The Bible tells you right here when God allows Israel back in the
homeland and puts His stamp on her that once more she is allowed there.
It says, “What is it?” It’s time for the resurrection, life from
among the dead. 

	Oh, somebody says, “Oh, that’s Israel coming back from the dead!”

	You don’t know your Bible. Israel is blind, not dead. A blind man is
not a dead man. Life from the dead is resurrection season. Israel is
back in the homeland, we’ve had a messenger bring us the revealed Word
of God, there’s only one thing left to do, my brother, my sister,
during that.. ?... takes place, that Message has got to be handed back.
Who’ll do it? I don’t know. No doubt Elijah and folks?…?. will do
it, I don’t know. The prophet said three times in his “Rapture”
tape, “Thus it has been spoken, thus it will be,” He said on that
“Rapture” tape, “Thus it’s been spoken, thus it will be. Before
there can be a rapture, there’s got to be a resurrection.”

44.	Who knows when those dead will come forth…I don’t know but they
must. I know because He rose, we must also rise. All those sealed in
will come forth according to James 5:7, “The earth must give forth its
precious harvest.” Certainly we are in the hour of the resurrection,
we surely are, there’s no doubt about it. 

	Looking at your lamp stands, there’s seven candlesticks, seven
branches. The one furthest away was number four which was the dark ages
and from that time on it’s been coming back, back. Though the darkness
has increased, so has the light because in the fifth age came Luther;
the sixth was Wesley; the seventh age came the Pentecostal restoration
of gifts, and so on, proving that there was a dynamism of the Holy
Ghost, and now we have the revealed Word, which is the token, the
baptism with the Holy Ghost. What for? Ready to be identified as those
that will go up in a rapture, making us now ready for a resurrection.
There is no doubt about it, every sign indicates it, every Scripture
vindicates it, the ministry of God proved it time and time again until
there’s no shadow of a doubt. This is resurrection day. Let us press
into it as the Scripture has said. Let us recall what the prophet said
to those who wanted to be with him in a great tent ministry. They said,
“Bro. Branham, shall we sell all we have and get a truck and join you
in the ministry?” 

	He said, “See that you’re in the resurrection.”

45.	My brother/my sister, let me close by reading Hebrews 11, this great
chapter on the resurrection. This life of faith is what it’s all
about, beginning in verse 32:

32	And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of
Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and
Samuel, and of the prophets: (You know, David’s got to sit on that
throne. Of course it’s a greater David’s going to do it, but you
can’t identify Jesus with David unless David’s there, too. He’s
got to be in the millennium, certainly. Now:)

33	Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained
promises, stopped the mouths of lions, (That’s all wonderful.)

34	Quenched the violence of fire, (That’s great.) escaped the edge of
the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight,
turned to flight the armies of the aliens. (Now that’s wonderful.)

35	Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were
tortured,  (Here’s the best part of all:)  not accepting deliverance;
that they might obtain a better resurrection. 

	Oh, brother/sister, Christ can heal us, I’m all for it, God knows,
it’s wonderful to have a healer, because He said He was Jehovah the
Healer, and He will be. God is our provider. Bro. Branham seemed to
indicate that the spoken Word at the end time would be absolutely
creative in Its power. It may be that someone, when his necessity being
so dire, by the Word of God will speak like Bro. Branham spoke a
squirrel into existence. I don’t know. I only know that it could
happen. I know God’s done it and as far as I know there’s nothing to
stop Him again. 

	But I know something greater than that, my brother/my sister, and that
is this fact, though this could take place, and it can well take place,
let us understand this above all that there’s a land beyond the river.
And then when all these things are here, when you have received people
back in your arms, when you’ve seen them raised from the dead, when
you’ve seen the mouths of lions stopped, when you’ve seen fires
quenched, when you’ve seen armies routed, when you’ve seen wonderful
things take place, that all goes into history which will never be
recalled, as far as I know.

46.	But brother/sister, there is …. an eternal life that’s beyond us
and there is a better resurrection. And what is that better
resurrection? That better resurrection is what Paul the Apostle wanted,
that he said, “That I may attain to the ‘out’ resurrection,” not
the resurrection from the dead. That’s a wrong translation, it’s the
‘out’ resurrection from among the dead that I may come out from
among the dead before the general resurrection and be in that Bride in
the marvelous and inevitable glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, yes,
they obtained a better resurrection.

36	Others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, they had bonds and
imprisonment:

37	They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, they were tempted, they
were slain.

	How come their prayers weren’t answered? Oh, you talk about
dreams…oh, we love to talk about                dreams, and here’s a
man, he comes out of prison, and he gets saved, I hope he was, I don’t
know. I’m not talking about anybody in particular so it wouldn’t
matter, but anyway, he comes out, he gives a testimony, “Oh, thank God
I’m saved, I raped eighteen women. Oh, the grace of God,
hallelujah!”      

	Where was the grace of God for those eighteen women who were raped?
Where’s the grace of God…them screaming and waking up at night as
though another attack were perpetrated upon? Where’s the grace of God
for the husband when his wife was defiled and couldn’t take it and
walked out on her?

	We’d better get down to what the real grace of God is, my
brother/sister, by grace are you saved through faith. That other grace
is wonderful. I don’t want to diminish it one little bit but I’ve
got Bible here this morning I’m preaching. And in this Bible I can see
that though you might have been saved from having been sawn asunder,
though you might have been taken from your testings, though you might
have turned an army to flight, there’s something a million times
greater and that’s to be a part in that first resurrection, to be in
the Bride of Jesus Christ and to be in the New Jerusalem. There’s
something that gives us stamina, something gives us courage, something
gives us power and that’s this fact that all the Word of God and the
promise of Abraham is on down that line, my brother/my sister. The great
and mighty climax is at the end. 

47.	Oh, thank God for daily blessings, thank God that He helps us
overcome in trial, thank God for Jesus Christ who in this life chose? 
his glory, but if in this life only we have Christ is our hope, we are
the most miserable of all because we missed what lies ahead. Oh
resurrection life. That’s what it should be called. That’s why Jesus
said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He put that first that we
might understand this is what it’s all about. Calvary made it possible
that we could be in a resurrection. He opened that door by flooding it
with his blood, rising us on a full…pint?...  of blood to go over
those walls that would keep us out. 

	Oh, I love that New Jerusalem, beautiful twelve wonderful foundations,
but in my own heart I’ve got something better I’m resting on and
I’m resting on that Word of promise of Jesus Christ this morning. What
He said is true and I hope by the grace of God somehow we can rise to
that position to be worthy of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Then
shall we enter that Holy City which is built upon that solid foundation
we talked about because those twelve foundations could never be there
outside of that Word of God. Oh, here is your promise this morning.
Here’s that life of Abraham, here is that faith of Abraham, it is
resurrection. It’s all about it and I see nothing else but that.

37	They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, they were tempted, they
were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and
goatskins; they were destitute, they were afflicted, they were
tormented; 

38	 The world was not worthy: 

	It couldn’t be, because the world hated them, the world is against
them, it brings us thorns, it brings us briers. That same world that was
cursed back there brought forth those thorns that were placed on
Jesus’ head. Back in the garden we understood by the very fact who
that son was, he was a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. Oh the
world has nothing but sorrow for us, the earth system has nothing but
harm to us. There is nothing here that’s worthwhile. 

38	(They weren’t worthy), they wandered in deserts, and in mountains,
and in dens and caves of the earth. 

39	And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, they did
not receive the promise: 

	But they’re going to, brother/sister. We’ve got something better,
let me tell you than a positive gospel, we’ve got something better
than simply a demonstration of William Branham coming on the scene and
showing that there is a great God. I didn’t need to have God proven to
me. I knew there was a God. He didn’t need to tell me God could heal.
I was raised literally from the dead myself on the grounds of what God
for me.  My sister was first, and then I was later on. I didn’t need a
William Branham  to do all these things that people said he came to do.
But I needed a William Branham to come for one reason: to put my faith
in the resurrection because that’s what the Word of God is all about.

48.	Let us not be of those that are miserable, let us not be of those
who have Christ in this life only, because remember, brother/sister, you
don’t have it at the White Throne judgment, you go through on a merit
system. I want to be in that day as Bro. Branham spoke of that man…I
forget what the man’s name was, but he knew that he was born again,
and he knew that he had a Savior, and when he knew his life was taken
from him, and it came time now to go before the Lord, and when he got up
there to the gates of heaven, they said, “What’s your name?”

	And he told them his name. 

	And they said, “I’m sorry, there’s no name here.”

	“Why,” he said, “there’s got to be!”	He was shocked. 

	He said, “I’ve known Christ for most of my life. I’ve been a true
and faithful servant of his. I served as a born again Christian.  

	They said, “Well, we’ll look again…your name’s not in it.”

	“Well,” he said, “there’s got to be some mistake.”

	“Well,” they said, “there’s only one Person who can rectify the
mistake. You’ll have to stand before the White Throne judgment at the
great White Throne.”

	He said, “They took me to a place,” and he said, “I stood before
the presence of a great light, and out of that light, there came a
Voice, …… “Did you ever tell a lie?”

	And he said, “You know, I always thought I was honest, but,” he
said, “when I heard that Voice say, ‘Did you ever tell a lie?’ I
knew that I had been a liar.”

	That Voice said, “Did you ever steal?”

	“I always thought I was a man of integrity, that I wouldn’t do
wrong things, but,” he said, “I knew I wasn’t that kind of a
man.”

	And so it went on until he said he felt nothing but the bottomless pit
and destruction left for him, and suddenly he heard a voice behind,
sweeter than the voice of any mother or father, and he said, “Father,
this man stood for me on earth. I want to stand for him now.”

	And my brother/my sister, this is the key this morning. If we are
looking for eternal life, we’re going to look for it God’s way. If
we want the things of God and what God says is best, then we’re going
to have to believe it God’s way. We can’t have our own ideas, our
own understanding. So when that prophet came, he broke that seal, the
seals were broken to correct the error, to put us back on that path, to
make ready a Bride prepared for her husband.

49.	Brother/sister, I see the faith of Abraham this morning. I see a
resurrection so close, there isn’t as much  I will say about my
revelation, but the resurrection at this moment I see it very, very,
very close. I see it in a matter of months, I don’t know. I could be
wrong. It could be years, I have no idea; it could be days, I don’t
know, but I know one thing: it’s very, very close. The time is at hand
that he that is filthy is filthy still, and he that is righteous is
righteous still. You have an opportunity this morning to get into the
ark. You have an opportunity now to come to Jesus Christ, not by coming
to an altar…no, that won’t save you, not by going to water…that
won’t save you, but by coming to Him Who is the Word, and doing what
He says. And He said, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in
the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins, and you shall
receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”

	Brother/sister, can you come out of what your thoughts were, can you
lay them all down?  I speak to some of you this morning because I’ve
got a personal knowledge of you. I’ve been in your churches, I’ve
been around. Let me say this as sternly and as lovingly as I can: it’s
too late in the day to fool; it’s too late in the day to play around.
I’m not challenging you to make some decision to believe this or to
believe that. I’m telling you to make your decision to believe what
the prophet said, just what he said, nothing added, nothing taken, not
your own ideas, just what he said, and how he said it, because he’s
the one that was vindicated. He’s the messenger. Repent and come to
Christ. 

	Let us pray: Our kind, heavenly Father, this morning, Lord, we’ve
taken a long time, and yet we believe it’s been well taken, that we
should talk about this which is right, and that is the resurrection is
at hand, the promise that you made to Abraham and to his seed. Oh,
we’re sojourners here only, but one day we’re coming back, and it
will be worth it all when we come back. Lord, help your people to have a
rekindling of the glow, to have a realization that the prophet had.
Lord, what I would give to have that realization that he had of that
land beyond the river, that this is what it was all about. Why? Because
the Builder and Maker is God and here is the Lamb in the midst and
there’s no need for a temple. This is it, O God. No wonder all of
these other things pale to insignificance. When we think of those Old
Testament giants…tortured, sawn asunder, pulled apart by wild horses,
fed to lions, thrown in   fire…they didn’t mind. There was a Spirit
on them and that Spirit pointed to reality which was the promise of God
and a coming kingdom.

	O Lord God in heaven, as we look around about us, we’re so sorry,
Lord, we failed You so miserably and been so infantile and juvenile,
babies, in our attitudes and understanding. Forgive us, O God. Lord,
don’t let us leave this meeting, we pray, without a work of the Holy
Spirit in our lives, for You said You sent Him to show us the things of
God. Lord, though there’s so really little said about it, yet
there’s more than enough said about it when we realize that the
prophet said, “Don’t miss it, don’t miss that resurrection."

 	Lord God, I believe he’s coming up in it. In my mind there’s no
doubt, and in my mind there’s no doubt that many more the same age are
coming up with him. Lord, may we be with him also, not because we want
to be with him, we just identify with him because You sent him, for You
said, “Whoever receiveth Whomever I sent, receives Me,” and we know
that You sent him. Lord, help us to identify by the Holy Spirit
revelation in our lives with a man who is now beyond the river and is
one day coming back with You to inherit the earth, the promise of
Abraham fulfilled.

	O Lord, six thousand years have roughly gone by for this promise to
come into existence, and here it is now right on the doorstep. Cleanse
us from Laodicea lest our blinded eyes should miss it. Turn us, O God,
and we shall be turned. Turn us all the way into truth.

	Lord, I pray for those here if there be any that are unsaved. My Lord,
may they not miss the resurrection. May they know that any time at all
it could take place and where do they stand. O God, help them.

	While we’re praying, our eyes are closed I wouldn’t dismiss this
meeting ere I gave you a chance at least to share in our prayers. Is
there someone here says, “Bro. Vayle, I am not born again, I’ve
never been baptized in water, consequently, not having gone even that
far, I’m not full of the Holy Spirit. I’m not one of those who knows
that I can be in that resurrection, but I want to be one of them. I’m
ready to confess my sins, to be baptized in the Name of the Lord Jesus
Christ and to receive the Holy Spirit because I want to be a part of
that great resurrection morning when the first resurrection takes place.
I want to be with Him, blessed and whole. I want what He says that He
can give me.” 

	You raise your hand and put it down again if you’re one of those who
don’t have it yet. You’ve never…all over the place various hands
raised up, you haven’t been truly born again. Listen to me, if you
believe what I said and believe me now, repent and be baptized. In other
words, change your mind. Make up your mind that you want to be in the
first resurrection, tell the world you’re through, tell your church
you’re through, tell your organization, your system, tell it all,
“I’m through, I’m coming out, I’m dropping it all, I’m
finished with it.”

	That’s what we’re asking you to do. Then ask Jesus Christ to
forgive you of every single sin that you ever committed. And He’ll do
it. And the next thing you do is be baptized in water in the Name of the
Lord Jesus Christ. As you come out of that water, you expect God to fill
you with the Holy Spirit. That’s all God requires, nothing more,
nothing less. A wayfaring man, though a fool can do it. If you were deaf
and dumb but you could see, I could teach it to you with even deaf and
dumb language if it were necessary. This morning I’m not speaking to
anyone that’s incapacitated. I’m speaking to those who could hear
me. Then listen: flee from among the dead, leave the world, the church
systems, your creeds, and your dogmas, or whatsoever you are bound in.
Come out. Ask God to forgive you of your sins and be baptized in the
Name of the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall receive the gift of the Holy
Ghost.

	(Bro. Vayle sings:)

		“I can hear my Savior calling, I can hear my Savior calling,

		I can hear my Savior calling, Take thy cross and follow, follow Me.

		Where He leads me, I will follow, where He leads me, I will follow

		Where He leads me I will follow, I’ll go with Him, with Him, all the
way.”

	Think of it, beloved, this morning as we talked about Abraham. God
called Abraham to come on out, and he obeyed Him, and he followed Him,
and where is Abraham? He’s in that first resurrection. Absolutely,
there’s no doubt about it. What must I do to attain eternal life?
Follow with faithful Abraham: come out from your sins, come out from
your self-righteousness and…?. get rid of yourself this morning. Walk
away from yourself—that’s your way of living and your way of
thinking and follow the Voice of Jesus where it will take you to the
water and from the water to the Holy Spirit and from the Holy Spirit
into a resurrection. For if the Spirit that raised up Jesus Christ from
the dead dwell in you, that Same Spirit will quicken your mortal body in
that resurrection. Though you go to the dust you’ll live again. It
pays to follow Him. How do you follow? Come on out. If you never came
out, you never made it. 

	Say, “I’m going to bring something with me.”

	Abraham tried that and it didn’t work.

	“I’m going to have something down here that gives me great
assurance.”

	You’ll never get it. It’s all laid up there. Dying men must commit
their lives to Christ, the only One who has life. There’s only one Man
can cure cancer, and all cancer cases must be committed to the one Man.
And if there’s only one Man can give life, all of life must be
committed to Him. Come on out. Shut    your eyes. 

	If you’re worried this morning that you’re bringing something with
you…oh, you’re not worried? Let’s get down to brass tacks. You
know you are, you know you haven’t sold out but you’ve got some
ideas from the old system that will work…some of your old thoughts
that sounded good by somebody that used to impress you, perhaps your
friendly old priest, sweet, loving, and kind, but wrong…one who
literally placed the nails in Jesus’ hands  by fomenting a riot. They
are crucifying the Word of God afresh at this hour, my brother/sister. 

	Aren’t you one of those who played around the surface? Are you one of
those that think you can have your own church order, your own church
ideas, that you don’t have to lay it all down, that you think you saw
something in Christ and you disagree with the prophet? 

	Let me tell you this, my brother, my sister, you have no vindication. I
challenge you to come beside me and prove you’ve got any vindication.
You can’t do it, you can’t do it. I’ve had as much as anybody of
these. I don’t have any. What I thought I had condemned me.  When we
try to establish our own righteousness, it’s as filthy rags in the
sight of God. Now we are not submitting to the One and Only True
Righteous One.

	I’m making an altar call now, and I’m making it to you. Not you now
that are a little afraid you might   …be lost, your conscience is
still good. But I’m talking to you now in this service, that you’ll
miss that resurrection, you’ll be in that tribulation perhaps if it
comes in our lifetime and most of us aren’t too old, see. And you know
what that prophet taught, but you still somehow think you’ll make the
other work.   The seven church ages were until William Branham only and
it comes off, just like the …the age of John? the age of the Bride.
I’m talking to you. I’m talking to you to join me this morning
because I want every one of my thoughts His thoughts, like the prophet
taught, and I don’t want to be one little bit off of that Word but I
know there are people in this world that they know better than what
they’re doing and they’re making excuses or they’re claiming some
vindication. Where do you stand this morning?

	You say, “Bro. Vayle, look, I’m not going to pretend anymore.
I’ve never really given my mind over to His Word. Paul said, “Bring
every thought into captivity.” Remember Jesus Christ came according to
the Word but not according to their interpretation of the Word. The same
thing today. Come on.

	You say, “Bro. Vayle, I’m going to be honest now that you’re
being very honest and forthright. I’ve not made up my mind to take
everything He said, Word by Word, from the man who had THUS SAITH THE
LORD, but this morning I declare myself. God, help me. I’ll never buck
anything that that man said.” 

	How can you when the Bible says when a man comes with Thus Saith the
Lord, you hear him. Not your own mind, not some other voice but hear
‘Him’.

	Now again this morning, we want to make sure of that resurrection, you
say, “I want to be a hundred percent right. I don’t want to add a
Word, I don’t want to take a Word, but I’m guilty. I’ve only gone
so far. This morning I’m going all the way.” 

	Anybody? It’s up to you. One brother…anybody else? I’m talking to
adults now. Thank you. Just keep raising your hands if you’re in that
category. I’m serious, I want every one of my thoughts His thoughts, I
don’t care what it sounds like, I don’t care how sharp a student is,
I don’t care how astute he is, I don’t care what he thinks he knows.
There is nobody that had vindication except that man. Are you going to
be some little person with fifty cents in your pocket and stand behind
Rockefeller with billions, and say, “Well, Rockefeller, I’m got
some, too.”

	“One side, boy, one side. I can buy you out a hundred million times
over.”

	William Branham had that authority from God that all the world together
didn’t have, and people dare to say, “I’ve got my thoughts.”

	You keep your thoughts and you’ll die with them.  Kill all your
thoughts this morning. There’s a resurrection, my brother/my sister,
“Awake thou that sleepeth and arise from amongst the dead and Christ
will give thee life,” but you got to come out and be joined in the
first resurrection …?… with your creeds and dogmas. You’ll never
make the second if you don’t. Abraham came out, he left Laodicea, the
moon god worship where the temples were crowned and paved with gold. He
was a rich man, he left it all. How many more here say, “I’m going
to get rid of my thoughts. I want the promise. You haven’t been doing
it, you haven’t been doing it, but now you want to do it…that’s
good.

	Now we’re getting somewhere, we’re getting honest. That’s what I
want. I’ve had my battles, you don’t worry. I’d look at one thing
and say, “Well, I don’t know if I agree with that.” I’d find
that he was a hundred percent right. The night he preached that
“Rapture” tape in Yuma, Arizona, when he said that Shout was the
Message, I said, “Oiy, I must…. fold it. I never heard such
stuff.” Suddenly I swung…I said, “When was he ever wrong?” I
said, “Hallelujah, the Shout is the Message.” It’s in the Word, I
can prove it, hands down, a dozen times over. A man can receive nothing
except that he…?… give Him the love.  But brother/sister, you’ve
got to have your hands open. Wipe your spiritual hand across your mind
for the last time and get rid of every creed and dogma then start coming
out to the resurrection.

	We’re going to pray now for those that raised their hand. I’m happy
for you. This decision will do something for you because that’s what
you’ve got to do. Shall we pray?

	Kind heavenly Father, we thank You for those that raised their hands.
By the raising of their hands they made a dedication. They said,
“Lord, I’m ashamed to admit, but I do admit, that I have not
believed everything he said, but this morning I’m going to believe it
because You said when that prophet comes in My Name and the thing that
he says comes to pass, you hear me! So I’m going to do what Your Word
says, and I’m going to stand by him on it because I’ve seen and
heard that prophet.

	Lord, help them at this moment. O Jesus, I feel You’re very near
here, Your presence is with us to help these people, that somehow
they’re going to have such a rebirth in their minds that from now on
everything else will sound wrong except what the prophet said. The
revelation by vindication will flood every nook and cranny of their
minds and fill every part of this old tent they carry about with the
glory of God.

	When I’ve prayed for everyone, Lord, who’s been sincere and has
dedicated their minds and still find it hard, Lord, may the same thing
happen to them. May the full assurance of faith, the rest of faith and
peace from God flood every heart and mind now, making every soul ready
for that hour when the graves will be opened and we shall be changed to
inherit the promise of God, even to Abraham by faith.

	Lord, we’re trying to walk in those steps, but Lord, if You’d only
increase our revelation, it’s so hard, but until you do, may we stand
like Abraham and Sarah, who in their last minute before they were
changed, seemed even more destitute of hope than ever, yet they were in
the very hour when they could receive the son. Lord, I believe we’re
in that very hour now when we can receive the Son, when Jesus can come
and we can meet Him in the air, having been changed, to sit down at the
Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

	Lord, I pray that not one shall fail of the grace of Almighty God, but
everyone, challenged, and with that challenge, a literal strength within
the inner man, rise to the occasion, …like old Samson of old, paid a
price for having turned away from the Word of God, but now in a last
moment of strength, “One more time, Lord,” let your revelation break
across men’s and women’s souls. Make them come forth with the
strength of the Holy Spirit renewed and come into the first and blessed
resurrection. 

	Lord, what that prophet said to those dear brethren, I know he said to
each one of us, “See that you’re in the resurrection.” May not one
fail, God help us, and we’ll ascribe to You the honor and the glory
because we ask it in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

	The Lord bless you. It’s been a blessing to be with you and I’m
sorry I’m not here longer but sometimes schedules, which are planned
months ahead, get in the way. And so I’m leaving this afternoon which
means I won’t have fellowship with many who I wanted to see and talk
with but I trust you understand. There’s one thing we know: as Bro.
Branham said, those first few thousand years we can just drop in and say
“hello”. If we prize our fellowship here and think there’s some
merit to it, how much more when it’s over there. If it’s a bit of
glory here, how much when glory is glory all the way. Oh, what a blessed
hope we have, what a joy in being with each other because each other has
been with Christ.

	    Perhaps as we go we can sing that little song that Bro. Branham
loved to sing so much, “Oh How I Love Jesus.”

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