If You Only Knew Who I Am PRIVATE  

November 30, 1985

1. 	It’s certainly a privilege to be here and to see all you folk.
And, though I don’t see the ones upstairs, I imagine they’re sort of
looking down at us, which is their privilege; because, when you’re up,
you can look down. And it’s also a privilege, when you’re down, you
can look up. So, it works both ways. We can’t maybe see through the
ceiling up there; but, if we had a monitor, we’d be able to see them
also. So, we’re all one tonight and rejoice in the goodness of the
Lord Jesus Christ.

2. 	Now I want to bring a message tonight. It’s entitled, “If We Had
Only Known Who He Was.” And, of course, I’m quite certain you’re
aware that I got my subject from something Bro. Branham said on more
than one occasion when he made the remark, “If you only know...or knew
who I am.” I think he used the words, actually saying, “If you only
knew who I was,” but I’m changing it to, I think, a little better
and sound structure grammatically. “If you only knew who I am, you’d
all be healed.” 

3. 	Now, evidently, the people did not actually know who he was, to the
point where all would be healed, for it did not happen. Now you
remember, Jesus had a ministry where they were all healed, and Bro.
Branham came on the scene, and he said, “If you only knew who I am,
you would all be healed.” And remember, Jesus could not do many mighty
works because of unbelief. And the unbelief was actually concerning his
own person, as you well know. They could not contest the miracles. That
is the record. Right? All right.

4. 	Now the closest they came was under a gift of healing, where that is
where they are all healed, which I told you many times happened back in
1947 in Canada, and Bro. Branham had said at that time: “Now all of
you have prayer cards, you vote because,” he said, “usually sixty
percent get healed when they go through the prayer line; but, if you
prefer otherwise,” and I’m quite sure he said, “I’ll take
twenty-four or twenty-five of the worst cases, and I’ll guarantee
healing for all.” Well, of course, nobody took up the challenge, with
the result that we never saw the twenty-five miracles; but, as God is my
judge and my memory is, I don’t believe, faulty, I saw literally
hundreds of people go through the prayer line, and there wasn’t one
person who wasn’t healed. So therefore, we did have a parallel there,
but that’s the closest it ever came to anything in my knowledge where
the people were healed almost en masse, though one by one. 

	Now, during the great meetings in Durbin—to my knowledge—there were
thirty thousand healed at one time. They had prayer line there; but,
again, there was no record of a mass healing. And yet, the prophet
categorically said, “If you only knew who I am, you would all be
healed.” 

	And, of course, you say, “Well, maybe that would be one at a time
strung out.” 

	That could well be true, but he was speaking to an audience, and
everyone present was able to receive that. So, there could have been a
mass healing.

5. 	The fact of the matter is also that, except for a gift of healing,
and his ability to bring faith to the people, there were very few that
have been healed in Bro. Branham’s ministry. And I speak again
concerning that which I am aware of, where he could go to a place where
perhaps there was a convocation due to the pastors of the area bringing
him into their assemblies, and they may bring in a whole school of deaf
and dumb and maybe thirty-forty-fifty-sixty, and every single one
healed. And this was done, not because of the pastors’ faith or the
people’s faith. This was done because of a gift of healing. And you
notice that Bro. Branham, when he would pray for the sick back in those
days, say like the deaf people… And always you see on television and
in the meetings you’ve been to, where if someone prayed for the deaf,
they’d go, [Bro. Vayle snaps his fingers.] you know, “Snap,” and
see the person… Bro. Branham never did. He didn’t have to do that. 

	I saw him in a prayer line where he would just say, “This person has
a deaf spirit.” 

	He just knew. 

	And he’d say, “I adjure you in Jesus’ name. Come out.” He’d
say, “He didn’t come out.” He wasn’t... [Bro. Vayle snaps
fingers three times.] He didn’t have to… He said, “Come out.”
And he said, “I adjure you in Jesus’ name, come out of him.” 

	He didn’t come out. 

	“He’ll come out this time.” And just like the man became a giant;
he said, “In the name of Jesus Christ, you come out of him.” 

	He said something, and the man looked around.

6. 	So, see, they took that gift of healing. And I want to show you that
that lay there, and the evidence was there that when he said, “If you
only knew,” he was not just giving them something that was an
enticement but was very legitimate. And we go actually a step further,
and we say this: “Except for the sovereignty of God in this man’s
ministry, which was demonstrated in ‘THUS SAITH THE LORD,’ we would
have seen even far less healed, because ‘THUS SAITH THE LORD’ had
nothing to do with the person, as to his faith, as to his compatibility,
as to his walk, as to anything. It was sovereign, which nothing could
possibly stop that from happening.” 

7. 	Now I realize that many people would stand up and say, “Well,
look, this must be,” and “that must be.” That’s wonderful. You
have all your ‘must be’s’ all you want. You just listen to me. It
had nothing to do with the person, as though he had anything to do with
it, to get to Bro. Branham. It was a sovereign act of God. And you could
be the rottenest, no-good whatever and maybe and will be. Now it may be
held against you at Judgment Day. But, if you think for one minute that
it had anything to do with the person intrinsically, you are desperately
wrong. And even discernment had nothing to do with it, because I’ve
had people come to me after a meeting where discernment was in progress
and say, “Reverend Vayle, what did he mean?” And that man was picked
out of the audience, and nothing happened. Something was wrong
somewhere. It wasn’t with the prophet. We’d have seen even less
healed, if it hadn’t been for that manifestation under sovereignty.

8. 	So, the world and the church and the Bride missed the glory of mass
healings or tremendous individual healings, which would have amounted to
massive healings. They missed the glory of it, because they not only did
not know, and did not bother to actually find out, exactly who he was.
Evidently, the ears had been pierced in the year of jubilee so they
could remain in bondage, slavery, under dominion, of not what this man
stood for, but what something else in their lives they were standing
for, or perhaps the ears had been completely plugged. The spiritual ears
had been completely defiled by a doctrine which was contrary. At least
we know this: that everybody at the time of the prophet, when he made
that statement, everybody was marching to the tune of a different
drummer. It is not that they did not care for healing. They wanted
healing. It is that they missed the key. Now, listen carefully. It is
that they missed the key that would have given them the faith and right
to healing. Follow me? 

	You say, “Well, Bro. Vayle, I believe healing is under the
atonement.” 

	I never said it wasn’t. 

	“I believe it’s this.” 

	I never said it wasn’t. I said, “They missed a key,” and we know.


	And I, for one, know above all of you, and all of you put together. And
I’m not boasting now. It’s just a simple fact; because I was with
him many hours and saw many, many, many, many things. And that statement
has been in my mind for a long time, “If they only knew who I actually
am.” And that was the key, whether you would want it or not. That was
the key to liberate you, whether it set your faith on fire or gave you
the faith you did not have, I do not know. I’m not a prophet, and
I’m not privy to these things. All I know is that this is the truth.

9.	Now, listen. Their interests—that is, the people’s: the world,
the church and the Bride—their thirst, their faith attitudes, their
search of the Scripture, their zeal, all of this was aimed at healing,
when it should have been aimed at the answer to the question, “Who is
this man with so great and wonderful a ministry?” Now let that sink
in, because you see, you’re thinking otherwise. You’re back in your
old dead traditions. You’re back in your denominations. You’re back
in your own thinking. 

	You say, “Well, Bro. Branham said a lot of things, like so and so.”


	That’s fine. That’s very good. So, you’re telling me that what
you know that he said in other places annul this, and so, therefore,
he’s categorically a fool. Why would you quote the rest, if he was so
stupid to quote this, and this doesn’t bind? If I’m spiritually
imbecilic one place, I would hardly qualify to be spiritually sound in
another place. For the Scripture says, “He hath not given us a spirit
of fear but of love and of courage and a sound mind.” And a prophet,
above all else, would have a mind of God. 

10.	So, he said, “If you only knew, you’d all be healed.”

	So, something was above and beyond anything that the world or the
church or the Bride possessed or needed to possess and lay in one little
statement which, in itself, though small, the content was tremendously
great—something like the power that lies in the atom; so then, when
it’s split, it could almost destroy a universe. 

11. 	Who is this man—That’s what they should have been
saying!—with this so great and wonderful ministry? Had they found that
answer according to the man who was sent from God, they would have
gained their ultimate desire. Knowing who he was would have brought what
they wanted. It reminds us of the Scripture where Jesus said, “Seek
you first the kingdom of God and all things should be added unto you.”


	And I submit to you tonight that this generation is going to find
itself in deep problems, even as they are now; and they should become
greater, because they turned aside the simple little formula that Bro.
Branham brought to their attention: “If you only knew.” 

	Now he didn’t say, “You cannot know.” That was not what he was
saying. He was letting them know that they could know exactly who he
was. 

12. 	Now today, as always, we are very critical of Israel, because they
missed both John the Baptist and Jesus the Christ. And we are well aware
of the judgment that followed. But still, we always want to feel
surprised that Israel could miss something so clear, so evident, what we
see so clearly. Now, let that soak in. Hindsight is not just 20-20. It
is everything; but, unfortunately, it also is nothing. Anybody can tell
what Monday was on Tuesday morning. Did it rain or didn’t it? We are
well aware of the judgment that followed when Israel missed John and
Jesus. I wonder if we are aware, (And I know the church isn’t.)
because a certain great man who brought Pentecost into ecumenism and
mixed up this latter day following of God with Rome and made her a
filthy prostitute like her forbearers, he scoffed and scorned Bro.
Branham in his death, and sneeringly said, “Judgment came upon the man
who judged.”

13. 	I’ve noticed Chihuahuas always tackle the St. Bernards. However,
though Israel missed John and Jesus, I wonder if they weren’t more
alert to their hour of visitation than we are to ours. And I think
Scripture bears this out. I know It does. But we wouldn’t be too prone
to agree with It. And I’m going to read in Mt 12:22-23, “They
brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb, and he
healed him, insomuch as the blind and dumb both spake and saw. And all
the people were amazed, ‘Is not this the son of David’?” They were
asking questions. They were looking for the Son of David.

14. 	We are supposed to be looking for the return of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Wasn’t there something in our day to excite us to that end to
make us wonder? Well, someone could say, “I don’t think I know any
Scripture for it.” But you’ll notice that Israel was alert. Israel
wanted to know. Furthermore, we go to John 1—that was concerning
Jesus. 

	Let’s take a look at Jn 1:19-25: “This is a record of John, when
the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art
thou?” 

	See, they came, and they said, “Who are you?” 

	We’ll learn about our attitude later on. 

	“And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the
Christ. And they asked him, ‘What then? Are you Elijah’? And he
said, ‘I am not.’” 

	But he was. But he wasn’t. He was literally only typing the Elijah of
this hour, and the One to come; because, though he was the messenger
that foreran and introduced the Lord Jesus Christ, the emphasis is upon
the burning, the One that is in that hour. So, truly he was Elijah. 

15.	You notice he said, “No, I am not Elijah per se.” But he had to
know that he was in the spirit of Elijah, because his own father knew
it, and John in the desert would have to know that. 

	“He said, ‘I’m not.’ 

	‘Art you that prophet?’ 

	He said, ‘No.’” 

	That prophet, of course, would be Christ. 

	Then they said, “Who are you that we may give an answer to them that
sent us. What do you say of yourself?” 

	He said, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Make
straight the way of the Lord, as saith the prophet, Isaiah.”

	Now, he said, “I’m not Elijah per se. I’m not Jeremiah. I’m not
Isaiah.” But, he said, “I’m a portion of the Scripture. I’m
identified therein, and I’m that one of whom it is spoken in Isaiah. I
am the voice of one crying in the wilderness; make straight the way of
the Lord,” as saith the prophet, Isaiah. 

	“And they which were sent of the Pharisees, they asked him, and said,
‘Why baptizeth thou then, if thou be not Christ, nor Elijah nor that
prophet?’” 

	Now they had in mind another prophet other than Christ. 

	“John answered, and said, ‘I indeed baptize with water’” and so
on.

16. 	Now, notice in Jn 8:24-25: “And I said therefore unto you, that
you shall die in your sins: for you believe not that I am.” In other
words ‘he’ is interpolated there; it’s interjected—interpolated.
He is not in there... ‘I am’. You won’t believe that I am, which
is Jehovah, you shall die in your sins. 

	“Then, they said unto him, ‘Who art thou?’ 

	And Jesus said, ‘Even the same that I said unto you from the
beginning.’” 

	Now you notice in there that they were alert to the fact that they
should question these two men that stood before them. 

17. 	Now there are two things I want us to notice:

	(1)  They were anxious to know the mystery of Messiah, and if it were
possible that their generation would be the generation to receive that
Messiah. Now they wanted to know that. They wanted to know about
Messiah. They wanted to understand. They wanted to know if they were the
generation to receive Him.

	Now, first, you notice that I mentioned ‘mystery’, the mystery
Messiah. Now I used ‘mystery’. I should, perhaps, use the word
‘mysterious’ more than ‘mystery’, because there was much said
about Messiah on both sides of the page to the extent that one was
referring to His First Coming and one to His Second. And there is much
more referring to the Second than to the First. And the First Coming is
veiled in mystery wherein He was a dying Lamb to die as the atonement
for the people. And that could not set with the people, because how
could He die as a sacrifice, or one that was sacrificed, and still be
the One who would rule and reign? They could not understand it.

	Then, I mentioned ‘their generation’. You see, they were alert to
see if it was their hour. And every generation through every church age
has actually looked for our Messiah to come, even as Israel did. They
went through Seven Church Ages, also--all those ages. But this
generation was alert to it, whereas I cannot see much evidence that
anybody in our generation was alert to anything. They only knew that
something lay out there somewhere, but they could not place it, nor
would it seem they were too anxious to place it. Nor were they willing
to question anything which might possibly be categorized as any type of
authority or insight or the ability to gain an insight as to the very
hour in which we live.

18.

	(2a)  Now the second thing I want us to notice is: they went right to
John. And then, they went right to Jesus, and they asked outright,
“Who are you? Are you the Messiah? Tell us plainly exactly what is
so.” 

	But you notice this generation has not done so. We have not done it.
Now, according to Matthew 12, and we won’t read it, Christ has to
appear to the Gentiles, and this has been a completely hidden mystery,
wherein the theologian has said, “Well, this is the Holy Spirit on
earth today. This is what came back, as the proxy or the vicar of the
Lord Jesus Christ. He came back as the Holy Spirit.” It’s been a
hidden mystery with misinterpretation and misplacement.

	(2b)  According to Lk 17:30, the Son of man must be revealed again. But
again, the theologians have shaken their heads and said, “Well, you
see, it could be a misplacement. What it is...sometimes the Bible does
not run in continuity. It could be that those that copied the Word were
not too careful, and something’s a bit out of cater. We’ve got to
get better manuscripts and understand more, and, perhaps, we’ll get to
the root of this.” 

	But, for them to realize it was Son of God, Son of man, Son of David...
There’s no way they understand that. And you won’t find that in any
book of theology. Now Bro. Ungren, if he were here, would have to attest
to that. He’s been through far more books of theology than I have, and
there isn’t anybody found that one. They haven’t done it.

19.

	(3)  According to Matthew 17 and Acts 3, and, oh, of course, Matthew
17, that’s where Jesus said, “Elijah must truly come and restore all
things.” And John was already an Elijah for his hour, which Jesus
affirmed, and we know to be true; but He said there’s also to be a
restoration, because Elijah would restore. And you’ll find that over
in Acts 3. We’ve read it many, many times. It’s one of my favorite
portions—where It says, “When times of refreshing shall come from
the presence of the Lord: Even He (That’s God.) shall send Jesus,
which was appointed unto you: Whom the heavens must retain until the
restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all the
holy prophets since the world began.” [Acts 3:19b-21] And we know
categorically there that there is no such thing as anybody taking this
restoration to its conclusion except Elijah. Elijah has to come and
restore. 

	But again, these Scriptures have been misplaced, and you’ll find
people right today say, “Well, look; this business of Elijah coming is
nonsense. He has already come. That was fulfilled.” 

	Now, how can they be so gross, when they know positively there must be
a burning? They simply bypass one for the other. Even Scofield was not
that grossly ignorant. 

20.

	(4)  According to Malachi, Elijah and Jehovah—that’s both in the
form of the Spirit, because Elijah will not come back literally; it’s
going to be the Spirit of Elijah; because, remember, the Spirit of
Elijah came upon Elisha; and that Scripture says, “He shall go in the
spirit and power of Elijah of old…” Absolutely, that’s John the
Baptist. So, the third time coming (which was in John) it’s going to
be in the Spirit. And the fourth time, it will be Spirit again. And the
fifth time, it could be the person himself; that is something the
prophet did not utterly settle for us. All right.

	According to Malachi, we know that Elijah and Jehovah, the Spirit of
old, is to come back and get a Bride ready to get her out of here. And,
of course, we said this has been misplaced by the people. Now, I know
that you know exactly, or should know exactly, what I’m trying to get
at. And that is: if Israel was alert in her hour of judgment, what about
us? Should we have not been also alert, and thereby bypass the judgment
of God. Or, because we were not alert, and we did not rise to the
question, will we also be judged? 

	What delegation of one person out of one denomination ever came to Bro.
Branham and asked him, “Who are you? Are you Elijah? And, Is this the
hour of the return of Jesus? What are you all about anyway?” 

	They even called him “a man sent from God,” and one great servant
of God said at a eulogy, “We saw Christ live again when we saw William
Branham.” 

	Yet, he did not come, or did anybody come and officially ask, “Who
are you? Place yourself and this great ministry. What is going on?” 

21. 	So, the prophet had to prompt us. He tried to inspire us to act or
to ask. He knew how much sickness was in the world, and how great it
would be to get us free from sickness. And you notice, that’s
absolutely true. William Branham always played up healing. He always
prayed, “Let there not be one sick person amongst us.” He always
looked forward to people being helped. He said, “My ministry is to
come and pray for the sick.” He wanted us free from sickness, even
cancer. So, he dangled the loaded question under our noses, “Do you
want to all be healed? You do? Then ask me, ‘Who am I?’” 

	Now I said that’s a loaded question: “Who am I?” For was Bro.
Branham referring to himself, or was the Holy Spirit speaking through
Bro. Branham? Now the answers we don’t know positively—or we could
say we don’t. But, when the people came to John, he said, “I am not
the Messiah.” So, it seems very apparent that the question was
concerning himself, that is, John the Baptist. It was. And the question
would be concerning William Branham, “Who exactly is William
Branham?” And he would have told us the same as John the Baptist, “I
am not Jesus, the Christ, but I am thus, and I am so.”

22.	And, instead of the people coming right out and asking the prophet,
“Who are you?” they just sat back and listened and watched that they
might catch something. But you see, there was danger in mishearing,
because the longer you sat back and didn’t go right to William
Branham, the more your own imagination would come into play, and the
more the thoughts of other people and denominational understanding would
bear upon you; and then, you’d be in great danger of turning down the
man that you should have come to and said, “Who are you?”

 	And, like Jesus, he began to reveal his ministry and purpose of being,
and their eyes glinted, and they said, “‘Because, when he preached
about himself and who he was… He thinks he’s Elijah, the prophet.”


	That did it right there. You know why? Because there’s a record of
Elijah, the prophets, even in America, through a man like Dowie. 

	They came to Dowie one day, and they said, “You have got to be
Elijah.” 

	And he said, “I was horrified and very angry, and I scattered them
from my presence. But,” he said, “the longer I thought about it,”
he said, “you know, the more I began to realize that I was.”

	He was not Elijah, the prophet. Now people get afraid of Elijah,
because there’ve been so many misnomers. There have been so many
mishaps. There have been so many foolish things done, like Elijah’s
garments, Elijah company, and Elijah this and Elijah that. But that does
not obviate the truth that Elijah must come—because the Bible says so.

23. 	So, they said, “He thinks he’s Elijah, the prophet, and there
are no prophets, and especially, there are none to the Gentiles. There
is no Gentile prophet. Try to find us one.”

	Now that’s a little ridiculous. See? And they use Heb 1:1. I tell
you, this is the most amazing thing in the world, to show the gross
ignorance of mankind in this hour, of what they think is this fantastic
enlightenment, that they have by way of their great educational systems,
especially in the theological seminaries, where you have all manner of
tremendous input into you of the cultures and the great literature and
all the fine things of life, so that when you use the Word of God, you
may be the most meticulous and blessed person in using the Holy
Scripture. But here’s as far as they’ve come.

(1)	God, who at sundry times and divers manners spake in times past unto
the fathers in the prophets, 

(2)	Hath in these last days spoken unto us (in the) Son, whom He hath
appointed heir of all things, by whom he made the world. 

	And they say, “That’s it. There’s no prophets. He was the last
one.” 

	And they don’t even know that he was a prophet. They skim over that
so lightly, as I’ve shown you in many messages.

 	“No,” they said, “there is no such thing, especially a Gentile,
and Hebrews proves it.” 

	Others said, “He thinks he is Jesus Christ.” 

	And they laid traps for him how to destroy his standing with the
people, and put his doctrines to confusion. But they would not come and
ask, “Exactly who are you in the Bible, if you are indeed in the
Bible? What are you all about? Where do you fit in? What is going on?”


	My, if they had only listened and asked him, “Who are you that we all
might be healed?” See, they didn’t believe that. How could they
believe that? It’s too strange! Too foreign! 

	Just like a person says, “Well, you can have light, if you just press
a button on the wall.” 

	They say, “Ha!” (If the person didn’t understand about lights and
things.)

 	Man doesn’t seem to learn, that is, what he should learn. But, if
they had only listened and asked him, “Who are you that we might be
healed?” 

24.	You know, Israel came to Jesus and said, “Well, what about this
bread? How can we get it?” They said, “Who are you?” 

	Israel was very alert compared to us. You understand what I’m saying?
Gross darkness shall cover the people. People don’t want to believe
they’re in gross darkness. They don’t want to pull the curtain and
say, “Hey, this age gets burned.” 

	Now, I’m not as rough as people think I am. I’m rougher! Just
wanted to throw that in there. Look, I’ve got a heart for people. I
came out of Pentecost. Pentecost has been the cream of the crop and the
thing that looked the closest to the original seed that went into the
ground. I agree with Bro. Branham; concur heartedly. But you realize
something, brother/sister? The chaff, which is Pentecost, gets burned.
Do you understand what I’m saying? I’m not a monster to say that,
and you’re not monsters to listen. Do you understand that’s the Word
of God? Got nothing to do with you and me! So, denude your minds of your
stupidity. 

	You been asking for years, “O God, let the Holy Ghost come in to burn
off the dross.” 

	Let it burn out that dross!—your denominational corruption, the
inability to hear the true Word of God, because there’s another seed
standing there. It’s the truth.

25. 	Where do you fit in? What’s going on? We want to know, because we
want to be healed. 

	Now I’m going to tell you something right now. The word ‘healing’
actually is a form of restoration. It’s a form of reconciliation and
restoration. And this world is so abusive, and the Bride was so far
gone, that God had to institute a form of reconciliation and
restoration. And healing is where members of the Body are reconciled and
restored in functional use to each other, so that under an Intelligence,
they move beautifully and in harmony. And that’s what we’re looking
at. So, you see, it becomes a great type.

26. 	But, because of unbelief in his statement, and not, perhaps,
unbelief, so much, as the complete overlooking it—missing it—not
hearing it at all, what would have been the great proof of his ministry
and the great blessings of Almighty God upon the people, were lost. Very
simple. 

	Remember Naaman, who wanted healing one time? A little girl got the
prophet, Elisha, in trouble. 

	She had said, “Well, if you were just back there in Israel,” she
said, “under my king—your king’s a pretty good ol’ boy. I can
see that. He’s a pretty powerful ol’ fellow and you’re a great
general. But,” she said, “You’ve got nothing going compared to us,
because our king’s got a prophet. He’d just strike that leprosy
‘wham-bam’, and it’d be gone.” 

	Well, Naaman, at that point, was... He was on his toes. He said, “You
really mean to tell me?”

	“Why,” she said, “sure.” And she named him some experiences, no
doubt. 

	He said, “I think I better go see the fellow.” 

	Well, don’t you know, Naaman went there, and Elisha wouldn’t even
come to the door. He said, “Well, hey, just tell the fellow to dip
seven times in the River Jordan.” 

	Oh, he blew his stack! 

	“Well,” he said, “those dirty, filthy rivers down there,” he
said, Abana and Pharpar—they’re beautiful...clearer.” He said,
“I...I...why don’t you go and tell me to go and do some big thing?
Something...why...worthy of my dignity!” 

	And the servant said, “Hey, Master, hold it; hold it; hold it.” 

	See, there was a simple guy along side of a complex guy. 

	He said, “Look.” He said, “If he’d of told you some big thing
to do, you’d have done it. Then, why not do this simple thing, and see
if it works?” 

27.	Everybody came to get their faith built up—a big thing or a great
thing there or a great something; and the prophet said, “If you just
knew who I am. Why didn’t you come and ask me who I am, and I will
tell you, and you will get this healing”—which is the great
symbol—the great proof of the Resurrection, the great sign of the
Resurrection, is what it is, and they’d have seen it, and it would
have blown their minds; and in blowing their minds, it would have killed
their doubts, their unbelief and their foolish dogmas and tenets and
creeds, which are an abomination. That’s what he wanted to get to. 

	And you can’t get to the understanding of anything, unless you go to
that thing and find out from that thing itself. In other words you do
not know all about a cow by studying a horse. How would we know
anything, and get that which is pertinent to the prophet, where the
Bible says, “A friend of the prophet receives a prophet’s reward.”


	Now he laid it right out here, clear. He said, “Look. You’ll be
healed.”

28. 	Now, awhile ago I mentioned the mystery that attended the doctrine
of Messiah, which in plain English means that there is a mystery
concerning that doctrine. One school said, “It’s this.” One school
said, “It’s that.” Another school said, “It’s something
else.” And they’re still doing the same thing in Israel. No one
really knew the truth. No one understood. As I mentioned, there’s two
‘Comings’—the First and Second. And that got them all confused.

29. 	It was like the Seals were for us. They were probed at and guessed
at, but no one knew for sure. You see, when you put a seal on a book,
what you’re doing, you’re covering up part of the writing. And then,
you can see part of the writing, and you guess at what you don’t see.
Now then, if you just guess, the whole thing becomes wrong, because
it’s not a guessing game. But that’s what we do to the Seals. Now
there weren’t seals on them per se so that you couldn’t read the
Bible. The seal was on the revelation, because there’s a time element
involved. See? So, they could not know at that hour.

	So, like the Seals to us, the Messiah doctrine was a mystery—probed
at and guessed. But no one knew for sure. Denominations had their own
interpretations of it all, and they’d plugged the loopholes by their
traditions and by their guesswork—because that’s what it was. But
they weren’t so sure that they dared not ask. Now that’s Israel.
They weren’t so sure. See?

30. 	Now, in our day, just as in Jesus’ day, they would not come and
ask. Though they asked in Jesus’ day, they won’t do it in this day,
when He’s here in the Holy Spirit. Now, in Jesus’ case and in
John’s case, they showed their wisdom by coming to them, for they knew
in themselves this thought that who knows better about himself than the
man with the ministry? If you really want to know, you better ask him.
Certainly, John should know who he was. Jesus should know who He was.
And they did know who they were, and they told them. And only the
election got It. Nobody else got It.

31. 	So, they at least asked, but they could not accept the answers
because of traditions that they had for their doctrines. So, how far is
our Christianity gone when we couldn’t even ask? And we never did. But
the point is this: who should know better who he is than the person
himself. So, John told them who he was, and you’ll notice it was
scriptural. He took them right to the Scripture. Jesus said who He was,
and He gave them the law and the prophets. And He proved He was their
Messiah and challenged them to prove by the same Word that He was not,
when He said that He was. 

32. And just as surely, William Branham said who he was, and quoted the
Word, and that’s the main thrust of this message tonight, which I’m
getting to: what William Branham said about himself. He told us who he
was and what he was. And what he told us was so far from our
understanding of Scripture that we could not place the description of
himself with the Bible. Now some of the things he brought out we felt
were, perhaps, acceptable, until the actual definition was presented to
us according to his own understanding and interpretation. Then, that
acceptation collapsed. 

	Now there’s not one person who hasn’t gone through that. Very
fortunately, the estimation, if it is correct—and it will be when the
elect begin to understand who he was—does not collapse. It gets very
sticky at times and very steamy, because the mind becomes enflamed,
because it’s already got too much in there now that doesn’t belong
in the Word. And, if the Spirit of God’s going to burn up the dross,
It’s going to burn up that misword in there, and that’s going to
cause friction. It’s going to cause steam. It’s going to be a
conflagration. You’ll get steamed up! Don’t worry. If you’re a
child of God, you’ll simmer right down. It’ll burn out, and you’ll
say, “I can take that.” 

	Now I’m not leading up tonight to see everybody healed. I’m just
telling you what was missed. So, don’t get expecting beyond what the
message is going into.

33. 	Now, to get what I mean, we take the first and obvious thing he
said about himself—an office that people knew that he absolutely had
to possess. 

	(1)  He was a prophet. That he was a prophet is so evident that to deny
it was the mark of gross spiritual ignorance. His enemies called him a
‘false prophet’, of course, but they, at least, recognized an
office. And he let them call him a prophet. They did. They called him a
prophet. But he, himself, spoke of himself as being a seer, which is a
‘see-er.’ S-e-e—e-r, a man with visions who could tell the future.
What he said future-wise never failed. It always came to pass. People
loved his “THUS SAITH THE LORD.” Oh, they did. To them, it was icing
on the cake, for here was now a prophet who was a prophet of a very
special kind. He could do a super job. Not like others with the gift in
the assembly, or even ministers. This man was extra super. He had
“THUS SAITH THE LORD.” Other men said they did, but this man could
bring it right out into the open, and it came right to pass. 

	Remember that time he was in Phoenix? I think it was Bro. Shakarian’s
sister. What was her name? Florence. And he said she’d be dead in the
morning, and the convention got all steamed up Pentecost-wise, so they
thought like the prophets of Baal (Now I will not take that back.) that
they could dance and shout and scream and do this and do that and the
other thing, and she would not die. So, somebody said, “THUS SAITH THE
LORD: she will not die but live.” 

	So, they told Bro. Branham. 

	Billy Paul said, “Daddy, what about it?” 

	He said, “All I know is: He said she would die. Watch the clock.”
Two o’clock in the morning she was dead. 

34. 	I want to ask you a question, “How come that convocation—that
great assembly—did not come together and apologize? How come that man
was not put on the spot?” Oh, they were willing to believe that. Oh,
they wanted to believe that. See, they wanted what lay there to deliver
the girl, but they wouldn’t say, “Who are you?” 

	And you know why they wouldn’t say, “Who are you?” Because they
didn’t want to find out. Come on, let’s be honest. I’m not stupid.
You’re not stupid. They didn’t want to know. There are lots of
things I didn’t want to know. There are things today right now I
don’t want to know. That’s not one of them. Now, if you’re sitting
here and telling me that you’re tens steps ahead of me, you could well
be. But I would just laugh at you and say, “I doubt that very much.”
Not that I’m ahead of anybody. I’m not saying that. I’m just
saying, “Come on. You’re all down here with the chickens.”
You’re eagles, but you’re just potential in the sense that you
haven’t got out of here yet. But cheer up! We’ll be getting out of
here one of these days. 

	Oh yes, he was a special kind of a prophet. They liked that. How they
loved to get “THUS SAITH THE LORD,” because faith or no faith, life
or no life, they received what the prophet said would happen. They ate
it up. I sat there wanting “THUS SAITH THE LORD,” too.

35.

	(2)  On top of being a prophet he had a gift of healing that operates
actually without your faith, though the faith of the people can bring It
into action. The last time I know that took place is back in about 1957
in Lima, Ohio, when I had Bro. Branham in there, in the Allen County
Memorial Auditorium. The gift of healing went into operation that Friday
night, and there were fifty miracles in fifty minutes. And I don’t
know that it ever operated again. It was the faith of the people in
prayer and believing. But it was not the prayer line. It was the people,
because faith was so high. I know the secret of it, but the number one
secret is, you have to have a man with a gift. Oh yes, I can get water
out of the well, but I must have a bucket. Sure. 

	(3)  On top of that he had a sign in his hand. I could have mentioned
that before, and that sign was the fooler. They all ran for it. And I
told you, and I’m not smart, but I was sitting there backslidden. But
a backslidden elect child has more on the ball than the smartest
non-elect who isn’t backslidden. He never slid in the first place,
that is, forward. 

	And I said, “Just a minute, why is the sign in his hand, if a Voice
has to tell him where the cancer is? Let the Voice tell you what it is
and where it is.” 

	I was one hundred percent on the ball, because right on his tapes
he’d tell you that was to fool the people. So, everybody began to have
sensations and smells and deviations and fibrillations, and heaven knows
what. Really, what it was, they’d come to menopause and didn’t know
it. That wasn’t snide. Think it over. They weren’t bearing God’s
children. No-o-o. There was no spiritual intercourse. No-o-o. Wasn’t
any use. They were barren.

	(4)  Furthermore, he began discerning, and that was incredible. With
all these incredible, unknown ministries, or not known previously, it
had to be admitted that William Branham had something no one else had.
That’s right. On one tape he tells you. On another he says, “Why
don’t you let the man carry the ball that’s got it? Why don’t you
run interference for him instead of against him?” 

	How’d you like to stand up (It’s very complimentary.) and hear a
great man of God like William Branham say, “Bro. Vayle, you’re the
only man that ever set me forward in my entire ministry as a manager.”


	Tell me, in the name of God, why wouldn’t you set him forward? Where
do you think you stood? Have you no sense of humility? I would trust you
would tonight—every one of you. Isn’t there something in man’s
heart to recognize greatness? We hear them sing about the “rolling
thunder,” and “the majesty of God,” and it’s all going to be
destroyed and dissolved. But William Branham will stand there above it
all, with all the saints of Almighty God immortal. There’s no
dissolution for the saint of God. Let it be in nature.

	(5)  Credibility: A man came back from Africa—former business
manager. He preached for Bro. Branham. He let the people know that it
was his ministry that made Bro. Branham credible—credible for the
people. Or he’d be just too unique. They’d have turned it all down.
[End of the first side of the audio tape.

36. 	So, they knew that Bro. Branham had something no one else had, that
this was not an asset to gaining the knowledge of who he was. The reason
was that others sprung up with other gifts and ministries that began to
manifest the healings that the prophet had promised: “If you only knew
who I am, you’d all be healed.” Then, who needed that now? We can go
elsewhere. We can go to Bro. Roberts. We can go to Bro. Osborn. We can
go to Jaggers. Go to Paul Cain. I’m not running these men down. I’m
just mentioning names. We can go to literally dozens, if not hundreds.
If we don’t find them in America, we can go to Canada. Find them in
Europe. Find them in Mexico. Find them down in South America. There’s
the Hicks. There’s the Ericksons. There’s the McKays. There’s any
number. So, why would we come and ask, “Who are you anyway? We’re
not particularly interested. You’re simply a phenomena of some
description. But beyond that, what is there to know?” 

37. Healing was before us as a part of the atonement. And a very
different kind of a man, that we called the prophet, put himself right
on the record that a certain knowledge of him (That’s the man.) would
activate the efficacy of Calvary’s procurement of healing from
sickness. 

	“Well,” they say, “that’s blasphemy. Why, that lowers Jesus.”


	Not if Jesus sent him! 

	“Well,” they say, “I doubt if Jesus sent him.” 

	Oh, Jesus sends a lot of people. I’ve no doubt about it. He sent Mrs.
McPherson. He knew she was going to preach anyway. No problem there.
That’s the prophet who said that about her.

38. 	An outflowing of grace and mercy was lying in a certain revelation
that could be had. And that revelation was about a man. Who is he? We
have to know who he is, and what he is. But, what one person ever came
and said, “Bro. Branham, you openly declared that there was something
about you that, if we only knew it, there’d be no way that we could
not get healed. I want to know that, because I want to be healed.” 

	You say, “Could a person go to Bro. Branham and say that?” 

	Based on what he said, you could. Or why did he say it? A prophet
better be pretty careful what he says, especially a man like William
Branham.

39. 	Now I want us to be real careful to see something here. The
challenge that Bro. Branham put before us was not an obscure beam of
light that flashed past us, not to be emphasized, over and over again
and with the idea that if you missed that challenge, which I only know
of in two places. Forget it! Forget it. It was something special in two
or three meetings. No way is that the truth! It was not a one-time or a
two-time or a few-time challenge. Time after time, after time, after
time, after time, under the anointing. And you can dispute what source
the anointing came from, if you want to. But time after time under that
anointing, hundreds of times, he said, “Do you believe me to be
God’s prophet?” There it was. Hundreds of times in the prayer line,
under the anointing, under the discernment, he said, “Do you believe
me to be God’s prophet?” If you only knew me to be “God’s
prophet”—not just a prophet in the economy of God… That could be
anybody. But God’s own prophet? God’s own prophet! That is
different. “Do you believe me to be God’s prophet?” Not a prophet
of God. Not a prophet from God. God’s prophet. 

	Like Jesus one day said, “I’m the Son of God.” And according to
the original extended Greek, he was saying, “I am a Son of God in a
manner that nobody else is a Son of God.” And that’s exactly what
Bro. Branham was saying: “I am a prophet in a manner which nobody else
is a prophet.” That’s exactly what he was saying. You say what you
want. I’m telling you exactly what he was saying. 

	You say, “Well, you’re just Lee Vayle.” 

	Exactly, and I have a spirit of prophecy. The prophet said so. I
don’t expect a picture of the flame of fire. I’m not interested.
There’s a difference. He was God’s prophet. 

40. 	Now arises this thought: who, even one person, who ever thought of
God having His Own prophet in the hour of the Resurrection and the
Rapture and the Second Coming? And the answer is: nobody, except very
vaguely and obtusely. 

	Do we have Bible for a prophet for the Day of the Lord? That’s it.
See? They can’t put it together. The mishandling or the misplacing or
the misinterpretation of Scripture is death. They could not put it
together. And that is that the Day of the Lord encompasses the
Resurrection, the Rapture, the Wedding Supper, the Tribulation, the
Coming Back and the Taking Over. 

41. 	Watch now. He asks, “Do you believe me to be God’s prophet? If
you only knew who I am...God’s prophet.” Put them together and
recall the scores or hundreds of times under discernment that he spoke
to those in the prayer line—those seeking healing—and he asked,
“Do you believe me to be God’s prophet?” That happened in Macon,
Georgia, as I recall. It could have been some place else. But my mind
goes back to Jack Palmer. And Jack Palmer sat there with a condition
that was just destroying him because of stomach problems. 

	He looked up, and he saw Jack Palmer, and he said, “Jack, you believe
me to be God’s prophet?” He said, “He used to...you still do.
You’re healed!” 

	And he was healed. No more pablum. Really Bro... Only God could speak
through a prophet and tell a kid, eaten up with cancer of the bowels,
who could no more take solid food than nothing, “Go on, eat all the
hamburgers you want!” Greasy, rotten meat. And then, he had the nerve
to talk about the African eating rotten meat in the jungle and getting
by with it, and we can’t. Oh, that was kind of a joke thrown in there.
Bro. Branham didn’t have to have nerve for that. It’s the truth.
Their immune system was working. Not like ours. He said to that boy,
“Go on and do it.” He said to Jack, “You believe me to be God’s
prophet? Sure, you used to. Sure you do.” See? 

42.	Now, listen carefully and get the thrust of this message. People
admitted that he was a prophet, even a more versatile and talented and
gifted one than all the others, for:

	(1)  He had “THUS SAITH THE LORD.”

	(2)  He had discernment that never failed; his “THUS SAITH THE
LORD” did not.

	(3)  He had a gift of healing like nobody else.

	(4)  He saw visions and could even pattern after Joseph and Daniel, who
could interpret dreams and recall dreams that were lost, and then, tell
them exactly what it was. I saw that happen, especially with a dream
that a man remembered but didn’t remember it quite correctly.

	(5)  He had a sign in his hand, which was to fool the people literally
and cause all these to run out.

	(6)  He could produce miracles in a physical realm. Remember the girl
that was lying there with appendicitis, and, if they moved her, the
appendix would rupture? 

	He said, “Do you have faith?” 

	She said, “All the faith in the world.” 

	He said, “If you had all the faith in the world you wouldn’t be
lying here dying. But,” he said, “would you believe now, if I make
that chandelier cord go clockwise and, then, counter-clockwise?” 

	She said, “Yes.” 

	He said, “All right, chandelier, go begin clockwise.” 

	The girl jumped out of bed healed.

43.	Do you know the same man had power to reach into his pocket and pull
out either twenty-five cents or fifty cents whenever he wanted to, but
he never did it. How’d you like to sit all day long and pull out
quarters out of your pocket? 

	You say, “Well, that’s got to be the devil.” 

	Well, I’m glad you worship the devil. If that’s got to be the
devil, why don’t you just get in league with him, then? Seems you know
a lot about him. Pull out quarters out of your pocket. I’ll tell you
how long you’ll pull out quarters, devil or no devil—long as you got
quarters. That’s the extent of your ministry. Right? Not meaning that
personally. That’s just the truth--certainly the truth. He had
miracles around the physical.

44.

	(7)  It was documented by scientific photography that a light did
appear to him exactly as he said it did.

	(8)  He could even make a challenge and see it happen. He said, “I
challenge you: bring me your worst case. I guarantee healing. And the
child was healed. It happened near the Mexican border.

	(9)  Oh, yes, he was a prophet and very unusual, and on top of it all,
he claimed creatorial acts, like Moses, in his own ministry. He said two
times at least squirrels were created. 

	And I’ve told you that was a bit of a stumbling block to me, till one
day I realized, when he had the first meeting with me down in Florida,
how that the microphone cord--like this cord here--made three turns, was
wrapped around him, then two complete times and one-half. 

	And I stood there, and I thought, “O God.” 

	The exact thing Billy Paul said, “Don’t let it happen, because
Daddy hates those cords on the microphone.” 

	And I stood there, and I thought, “Well, maybe a little pull will
just get it out of the way.” 

	I pulled, and it fell right around his ankles. Now you know the law of
the fulcrum. Oh, brother! You know how they tell you in boxing: Don’t
ever put your two feet together or the first little push, or you’re
down flat on your back or your face. You’ve got that one foot
balancing the other, and you’ve got to stand in such a way that you
can’t be thrown out of balance. 

	And I said, “O my Lord, now one step and ‘whammy,’ he goes.” 

	I was not sweating blood, because I didn’t have any blood to sweat. I
don’t know what I was doing. I looked there with my eyes riveted, and
I thought, “O God,” and suddenly the cord was straight beside his
feet. 

	That, to me, is just the same as squirrels. No difference at all. 

	You say, “Well, Bro. Vayle, you could have blinked your eye.” 

	How fast could he have moved? My eye blinks (Bro. Vayle blinks). You
can’t even... Fap! Oh, listen. Don’t be... Don’t be foolish,
brother/sister. Settle down in your souls and understand something has
gone on in our day, brother, that’s going to bring condemnation to
this earth—destruction, the chaff to be burned; and a Bride to get out
of here. Yes, sir. Like the Bible said, “Be careful how you listen: in
faith or unbelief.”

45. 	But to them he most certainly was not the kind of prophet that his
preaching inferred that he was. They knew all these things, but they
could not believe that he was the prophet he inferred that he was from
Scripture, all the while disclaiming that he never called himself a
prophet. It was the people that did it. They could not understand it.
But, what was he saying? “Look, you people, you called me a prophet,
and you all know exactly the extent of my ministry. So, if I am a
prophet according to you, can you see what you’re actually making me,
based on the reason you call me a prophet?” 

	Now they didn’t analyze that. They said, “You’re a prophet.” 

	And all they could think was, “The man could see visions. The man
could tell things. He could prophesy, and it came to pass.” 

	But here was an entire, whole ministry before the people—a tremendous
ministry! So, when they made him a prophet, what kind of a prophet in
the light of what he produced? Now, it’s just as simple as A-B-C. You
got a Guernsey cow, and you got a Holstein cow. Now the Guernsey will
outproduce the Holstein when it comes to butterfat; and the Holstein
will outproduce the Guernsey when it comes to milk. It all depends on
what you want. But a Guernsey is not a Holstein. And a Holstein is not a
Clydesdale. That’s a horse. And it’s not a Shropshire, because
that’s a sheep. I’ll forget about the hogs, because I kind of forget
how that’s... Ask Gregg [Sleutz] about that, because I plumb forgot
some of those names we used to know about...some kind of a black one...a
red one. I don’t know. 

46. 	But you can see, there’s prophets and prophets. The people
don’t want to believe that. That’s the way nature is. That’s the
way... Everything runs in continuity. 

	Now they say, “Well, what do you mean? A prophet’s a prophet.” 

	No, a prophet is not just a prophet, because one day Paul said to the
Corinthian church, “Any man that thinks himself to be a prophet, he
had better admit that what I say is the commandment of God.” 

	So, there are prophets and prophets. 

47.	Jesus himself testified to the greatness of Moses, yet he stated
that John the Baptist was the greatest prophet born of a woman. It is
not that prophets are not all great figures in God’s economy, but the
Scripture does mention the singular greatness of Moses, Elijah, and
John. But Jesus was the greatest of all. And, when it comes to a
“five-fold ministry prophet,” there is no comparison to the prophet
to whom the Word comes and stands as God before the people. William
Branham was one of the greatest prophets of the ages. He stood with
Moses and Paul. William Branham was not just a five-fold minister
prophet as in Ephesians 4.

48. 	He was not that kind of a prophet. And the people never made him
the kind of prophet that his preaching inferred that he was. 

	He said, “Look, you people, you called me a prophet. You all know
exactly the extent of my ministry.” 

	They did. When the rest were wrong, he was right. Never made a mistake.


	“So, if I’m a prophet according to you, can you see what you’re
actually making me based on the reasons you call me a prophet? Look in
the Bible with me. Let’s study together and place me as to what kind
of a prophet I am, and then see what such a prophet might appear and in
what hour. Just look and find out. Now you look at the whole picture.”


	He said. “You call me a prophet, and I’ve demonstrated it to you.
Now let’s go to the Bible and find if there is such a prophet that
contains these elements for a certain predestinated hour.” 

	And that’s exactly the truth. 

	“When would that prophet appear? What’s going on.” (All right?)

49. 	We’ve previously stated that, if anybody knew who John the
Baptist was, it would have to be John the Baptist himself. The same goes
for Jesus. The same goes for Paul. The same goes for Moses. The same
goes for Samuel. The same goes for William Branham. And, what did he say
he was? Categorically, he said that he was God’s prophet. That,
unequivocally, is Mal 4:5-6. So, let’s go back there. We’re going to
settle the question, “What did Bro. Branham want us to know?”

(5)  	Behold I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the
great and dreadful day of the Lord: 

(6)  	And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and
the heart of the children to the fathers, lest I come and smite you with
a curse.

	He tells you right there: a ministry by Elijah, the prophet, would be
upon this earth at the time of the day of the Lord, the integration, and
that day of the Lord be present. And, except for that prophet, there
would not be anybody saved. In other words the Day of the Lord would be
completely failed. The promise of immortality, as set forth by the
apostle Paul, in 1 Th 4:16, as set forth in 1 Corinthians 15, could not
come to pass. There would be no way. Every single person would have to
die and, then, be raised. The Scripture would be fulfilled. 

	However, It says, “It is appointed unto man once to die and after
that the judgment.” It would be fulfilled. It could not be fulfilled,
as It said way back in the Garden, “lest he put forth his hand and
take of the Tree of Life and live forever.” That could not be. God had
to restore that condition so there’d be people living right in this
hour. And this is the hour that people are going to do it. They’ll
stretch forth their hand. 

	And the stretching forth starts with, “Who are you, man that stands
before us? What’s going on? You’re an answer to something. Tell me
about yourself.”

50. 	Now, we read It. Notice in verse 5: “I will send you Elijah, the
prophet.” God’s Own prophet. Remember, they called Elijah, ‘man of
God’? Prophet. You’re the prophet of God. You’re the man of
God—Son of man’s prophet. Put them together. Get that word ‘man’
in there. Prophet. Prophet of God. Elijah. And that coming is going to
be the difference between preservation and destruction. 

	And, notice that verse 5 places that prophet as God’s prophet of the
Day of the Lord. And to see it rightly, we begin reading in Malachi 4:
“For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the
proud, yea, all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that
cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts. It’ll leave
neither root nor branch. But, unto you that fear my name, shall the Sun
of righteousness rise with healing in his wings.”

51. And the prophet said that was immortality. “If you only knew who I
am, you would be immortal.” 

	You say, “Bro. Vayle, that carries it too far.” 

	You see, it’s always carrying it too far. Jesus carried it too far.
John carried it too far. Paul carried it too far. Luther carried it too
far. That’s always the devils cry, “Too far!” You bet it’s too
far. Too far for those birds. Certainly. They’ll never see it.
Chickens can never see what eagles see. Eagle screams and rise above the
storm. Chickens run to the hen house. Daughters run back to mother.

52. 	“You shall tread down the wicked; for they’ll be ashes under
the soles of your feet in the day that I do this, saith the Lord of
hosts.” 

	That’s your chaff. 

	“Remember the law of Moses, my servant, I commanded him in Horeb for
all Israel with statutes and judgments.” 

	That’s the second time the law was given, and was all grace, grace,
grace. And, remember; the headstone is brought forth with cryings of
“Grace. Grace. Grace.” I would destroy everybody, but I will
intercede, and I will do it my way, which is by a prophet. 

	And everybody sings, “Jesus paid it all. All to Him I owe. Sin had
left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow.” 

	Who needs Elijah? Praise God! See where you’re at? Now, come on.
You’ve got to see where you’re at.

	I know this sounds superficial—facetious to many. I know it sounds
completely out of whack. That’s exactly the way the devil wants it.
And when so many people today have a spirit upon them looking for great
big things, that’s just too little. William Branham did the job. I
don’t need to do it. The job was done. I just need to believe It. He
said right here, “I’ll send him.” He said, “That’ll take care
of it.” Destruction stares us right in the face. He’s sending
Elijah. That’s going to take care of it.

53. 	Notice Mal 4:6 carefully: “He shall turn the heart of the fathers
to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I
come and smite the earth with a curse.” Let’s go to Lk 1:17. Even
Scofield saw this. I didn’t know he did. 

	When Bro. Branham said it, I said, “Bro. Branham, where did he get
it?” 

	He said, “I wouldn’t have known that, Lee, except He told me.” 

	He didn’t have to read Scofield himself. Let’s read about John, Lk
1:16: “Many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their
God.” It tells you right there. “And he shall go before them in the
spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the
children”

	It said nothing about the children back to the fathers. So, he
doesn’t do it. Only half—John did one half. John and Malachi 3 did
one-half. That’s Elijah of Malachi 3. Elijah of Malachi 4 does the
second half. 

	Now, what is the “turning of the hearts?” It’s simple as A-B-C.
“Even the disobedient to the wisdom of the just in order to make ready
the prepared people of the Lord.”

54. Now ‘disobedient’ does not mean ‘a willful act’. It means
those who ‘don’t understand’. “William Branham, who are you?
John the Baptist, who are you? What are you doing? What is your purpose?
What is this all about?” 

	“I’m glad you asked, and I’ll tell you. And here’s what will
happen to you. You are going to have your heart of faith turned in the
right direction. That’s what Elijah did on Mount Carmel—the Mount
Carmel showdown.” He said, “This is the hour of turning the
hearts.” 

	Israel had to be judged, because the heart was turned. Look at old
Ahab—a wicked heart. But the minute he softened, God said, “Hold
back, we won’t judge today. Watch how he treads softly. I’ll put him
down the road.” The day came when Ahab didn’t have any heart, any
left to repent...Like the anti-Christ, the heart turns to a beast.
What’s to save? Nothing. 

	So, now the heart of man has gone worldly-wise. The harlot has made her
bed for her daughters and brought them in...the ecumenical move...the
charismatic...even the most outstanding Christians have fallen for the
one world church: ‘love’. ‘Love’ to turn on God. ‘Love’ to
be sweet to your brother. ‘Love’ to even die in the name of Jesus
Christ and turn against God through an ecumenical program. 

55.	No wonder I preached seven, maybe twelve times on love. I still
haven’t maybe finished it. I don’t know. It’s still hard to get it
across, even to my thinking. And I preached all those sermons on it.
Love isn’t what you think it is. It’s what God says it is. Doesn’t
have a thing to do with you and me. That “love shed abroad in our
heart by the Holy Ghost” is not some thing that we have of ourself.
It’s getting rid of our junk by what He puts in there by His goodness.


56. 	So, they didn’t understand. They came, and they said, “What is
this all about? Who are you, John?” 

	And the Elect immediately said, “Great.” 

	John said, “He’s standing among you. You don’t know Him. I’ll
know Him. I’ll see that Dove come down in a Flame of Fire. It’ll be
at rest upon Him. It’ll fill Him. That’s Messiah.” 

	They said, “Great! Wonderful! When you get to know Him, let us know
Him, too.” 

	He said, “Sure will.” 

	That’s right. Because all but a few disciples turned towards Jesus
Christ. John had some left. See? There’s always a mixed multitude. 

	There’s always three kind of believers. Let’s not fool ourselves.
But, let’s get this understanding here. Who are you, John? “I’m
the voice of one crying in the wilderness. I’m the one who’s going
to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, bring the
understanding of the prophets to the sons.” Because, remember; this is
the hour of Sonship. It’s still the hour of Sonship. It’s not that
God isn’t still Father. He’s still Holy Ghost. He’s still King.
He’s still Judge. He’s all of those things, but this is the hour of
Son. It started right back there. Sure, let’s understand these things.
That’s why He’s Son of God. He hasn’t left that position. But
He’s still Father. Nobody’s going to deny that. He’s Judge. He’s
all of It. 

57. 	It is just the same today. What are you doing? 

	“I’m turning the hearts of the children to the fathers.” 

	That’s exactly what it is. It’s Acts 3:19-21, which I read to you.
It’s Mt 16:28. Let’s go to that one. We haven’t read It. It’s
actually Matthew 17, but verse 16 says, “There will be some that shall
not taste death, till they see the Son of man come in his kingdom.”
And, of course, after six days, Jesus took them apart. There was a
transfiguration. They came down again after seeing Elijah there, Moses
there, Jesus there. 

	And His disciples said, “Why, then, say the scribes (verse 10) Elijah
must first come?” 

	And Jesus said, “Truly Elijah will first come and restore all
things.” 

	He didn’t say, “Hey, he’s already come,” (Though he said he was
in John.) “so, don’t bother looking for him. The scribes are
entirely wrong.” 

	He said they were talking concerning the kingdom, which they saw as the
true kingdom, in its pure state, which is glorification; not this stuff
you have here, where trees die, animals die, people get sick, bugs come
in and molest you, robbers break in and thief and steal. No, it’s an
immortal kingdom. All the carnal has been burnt up. It’s come back now
in a purified state. Not even germs around the place. All that stuff is
gone that was brought in here, not in the original.

58. 	“Now,” He said, “That’s the kingdom, and,” he said,
“Elijah’s going to come before that in order to bring it in.” 

	And God, Himself, says in Malachi—and Christ cannot be contrary to
God, because He is God in human form—“Elijah must first come and
restore, or I’ll just destroy it.” He categorically described what
kind of a prophet Elijah would be:

	(1) 	Without education, without denomination, with a wilderness spirit
who’d denounce the system of traditional theology. He said, “Just a
minute. Where’d you get that?” He said, “The axe is laid to the
root of all trees” and bam-bam-bam. He cut them all down. He said,
“You soldiers...”He said, “You Pharisees, you bunch here.”
Nailed them all down. There wasn’t one that got off the hook. Not one.

	(2) 	The prophet would be a prophet of the Word, and though he could
not add one word to the Bible, he, alone, could interpret It. Oh,
listen, that cooked him right there. The prophet said the very truth. He
said originally your prophet meant ‘revealer of Word’. Of course, it
meant to reveal the Word, because he got the Word, and then, he revealed
It. He had to know the things of the past. 

59.	Let’s go to 2 Peter there and just take a look at It. Let’s find
out, but they’re not going to believe this. Only people like you and
me believe this—which is our duty and our joy.

	Peter, speaking in 2 Pet 1:18, and he talks about the excellent voice
of the excellent glory: “And this voice which came from heaven we
heard, when we were in the holy mount. We have a more sure Word of
prophecy”—that’s the Word of prophecy made more sure. More sure
than what? More sure than the vision. Something greater. It’s
something greater. If you’re convinced that that back there was
greater, then you go there. It’s just that simple. Now, if I’m
speaking out of turn, at least I’m getting emphatic, and that’s
always good. If it’s a good thing, then it’s a good thing.

	He said, “This is sure; whereunto you do well to take heed, as unto a
light that shines in a dark place.” It’s going to be awfully dark
when this really takes place. They just saw a preview. That’s all, and
Peter’s not even there yet. He’s still someplace pretty well in the
same kind of category that Bro. Branham is, in with the First Age group.
See? Now, in this dark, dark age, which is Laodicea, “a light that
shines in a dark place until the day dawn and the day star rise in your
hearts,” turning the hearts to the fathers. See? “Knowing this
first.” This is the big thing. This is the primary principle: “that
no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation. For prophecy
came not of old times by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as
moved by the Holy Ghost.” And he tells you right there, there’s a
prophet connected with this. What’s it for? To give you the true
revelation. 

60.	Now, how are you going to make it without the true revelation? How
do they get to Jesus without John? See? In the minds of people they can
always go back and criticize the Jew. And I say the Jew was ten million
miles ahead of this generation. They had it all over us. As a nation
they can be born in one day, and God will do what He wants, and He’ll
sure do it with Israel. But this nation is finished. You watch and see.
This nation is done gone. She’s blowed. She really has. So, there you
are.

61.	“What is this?” Peter is saying. He’s telling you about Mal
4:6, based on Lk 1:17. There will come a man who will tell you all about
this. About what? What had happened to him. He’d got caught up in a
rapture. The Lord carried him up to the Mount of Transfiguration, and
there they had a vision. But reality is a billion miles ahead of vision!
Right. Many people know many visions, and they die. But the people in
this vision will not die, because there’ll be a prophet. 

	And always people say, “Why does God have to have a prophet?” 

	Because that’s what God wants. And what God wants, God gets! 

	Oh, they can sing the song, “What Nola wants, Nola gets,” and
everybody happy little Nola’s gonna get it. You’re going to get it,
little Nola, don’t worry. Right on the back of the head before it’s
over. You’ll find out you weren’t so smart. 

62.	I’m going to tell you: God gets what God wants, and no preacher
like Lee Vayle, or any preacher you sit under is going to stop God from
doing it. And I can say anything I want to try to stop God, and it’s
not going to stop it. 

	And now, then, people can say anything they want about this, and
they’re not going to stop it, because the next verse said, “As there
were false prophets,” letting you know, right after this comes the
false prophets. And there cannot be ‘false’, unless there is
‘true’, as Bro. Klassen brought out so beautifully last night. It
cannot be done.

	Oh yes, this is what this man does: he turns the hearts back. As Bro.
Branham said, “rapturing faith.” You see how you got “rapturing
faith,” because you know who the prophet is, what he is, what he’s
doing, what he’s done, what it’s all about. And if you know that,
what more do you want? 

		“Well, Bro. Vayle, I’m going to help it.” 

		Please, when you do, let me know how you do it. I’ll be so anxious.
That’s what Herod said. He said, “When you’ve worshipped, come
back, and I’ll worship with you.” “Oh,” said foxy-loxsy. Oh,
yes, let’s not be naive. The word is stupid, but I will use the word
‘naive’.

63.  [continuing from point #2 in paragraph 58]

	(3)  They hated him, for he believed in one God. See? They couldn’t
stand his doctrine: baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the
full revelation of the sovereignty of grace, where he believed in
foreknowledge, and election, and predestination and said, “You’ll
really believe sovereignty when you realize that God knew how many fleas
there’d be, how many times they’d bat their eyes, and how many it
would take to make a pound of tallow.” 

	“Oh,” you say, “Oh, horrors, I cannot believe that God
would...” 

	God would. No, you don’t believe God at all, period. You just deny
that. You don’t believe in sovereignty. You just have some imagination
of your own. You have some system you got worked out. You’re a
theologian but not a saint of God. 

	For a long time my theology always went to the fact, that I’d say,
“God’s got two things: knowledge and power. How can you foreknow a
thing, unless you got power to do it?” That is true in a case. But
then, I got to thinking, “How much more wonderful to know a God who
wouldn’t use His power, but still knew anyway?”

	See, I don’t know that it works that way. Exactly how it does, I’d
be confused. I couldn’t tell you. But I can tell you one thing: God
knows. And I don’t have to know as long as I know that God knows. If
God knows my name is on the Book, and I believe that, and my knowledge
is from what I know from what He says in Scripture, and, when I see a
vindicated prophet, (Because that’s what the ministry of William
Branham was all about was vindication—to speak for Almighty God.)
then, I know that I’m right. 

64.

	(4) 	He revealed the true baptism with the Holy Ghost and put the gifts
in order.

	(5) 	He revealed the Seven Seals, and therein, brought to light all the
mysteries of the Word, using Rev 10:1-7, where God, Himself, comes down
as His Own great Messenger in the Pillar of Fire, and the prophet of Rev
10:7 is Malachi 4. Certainly! He revealed them all. 

	Oh, people want to say, “Well, the Seventh Seal isn’t open.” 

	How come He said It was? The only part that’s not open is that Coming
where we’re going to meet Him in the air, because that is the Coming.
It’s our going, too. And to prove He was able to do all this, which He
did, He used a vindicated ministry based on Deuteronomy 18 and Numbers
12. He categorically said It. And then, with all of this: 

	(6)	He established and emphasized the truth of Heb 1:1, that God always
did use prophets and always will use prophets, as long as His plan of
redemption goes on. 

	And He closes out with two prophets: Elijah and Moses. If not the two
men themselves, then with that same Spirit and ministry upon them.

65. And, when this began to be fixed in the minds of the people that the
prophet of God was God to the people, He let it be known that God was
His Own Prophet and that He used a man; and that man, through the Holy
Spirit ministry, was God in human flesh, God in a human form. That’s
right. You heard what I said: Deuteronomy 18, where a man stands up, he
says, “When you see God descend from heavens, stand before groups of
men and declare Himself as ever He did.” That’s exactly what he
said: the “Rapture” tape. 

	You understand that God, in human form and human flesh, is when that
man stands before groups of men and says, or groups of anybody, publicly
declares, that which only God, Himself, could say, because the words of
man will not do that: that is, God in human flesh in human form. That is
not the Bride; it is a member of the Bride. People get very confused
there, because Bro. Branham used singular and plural both.

66. He revealed Lk 17:30 and explained his part in it. They said,
“Bro. Branham, somebody said you’re the Son of man. I thought the
Pillar of Fire is the Son of man.” 

	He said, “I am not He. The Pillar of Fire is not He. I’m just the
Son of a man.” He said, “It’s in the form of the Holy Spirit.”
And he said, “The Son of man...”He said, “The prophet is not the
Son of man. He reveals the Son of man.” He made it abundantly clear
that all this gave him by vindication and infallible revelation, and
that revelation was not a new patch on an old garment, but a new Message
which was the Word of promise for this hour made manifest. Now that’s
a mouthful, but it’s true. 

	What is the Message? It’s the Word of promise for this hour made
manifest. He was given that. He made it clear that he had the right of
an infallible revelation, and we have a right to believe an infallible
revelation that, if we believe what he said, and understand what he
said, we know that we are right, and we know that our hearts have been
turned.

67. 	Now, brother/sister, if you’re not going through the agony of a
turned heart, I just doubt if you’re born again, because I want to
tell you this: we can talk all we want, and it’s true, about the Holy
Spirit purging all the dross out of our hearts, getting rid of all the
phoney pudding and all the unreal. But I’m going to tell you, Bro.
Branham said the big battles were right in the mind. That’s the
Armageddon right there. That’s the big one right there. Get rid of all
that old doctrine. Don’t try to understand the prophet in a glare.
Understand him in a light, which is a new Message. 

	And Bro. Branham said, “There’s no such thing as a true healing
revival unless a Message follows it.” And he said, “If it’s the
same, tired, old message,” he said, “It’s not a true healing
revival, because God does not belabor putting something over you that
you‘ve already got.” 

	Why would He come in and say, “Hey, you people, I want to give you a
pound of apples to eat, when everybody’s already got a pound of
apples?” See, it won’t work. It’s just as simple as A-B-C. It
won’t work. 

68. 	And just before he left us, he brought exactly what we had to have:
the truth of the Rapture, the truth of the Appearing. What’s the
Appearing? Everybody believes in the Appearing. It’s fundamental. But
they think it’s a rapture. It’s not. It precedes the Rapture. The
Rapture is the going away and embraces the Second Coming, because He
comes down immortal, and the Spirit that’s amongst us becomes
incarnated at that Wedding Supper; we crown Him King of Kings and Lord
of Lords, and the tribulation sets in for three and a half years, and we
come back and take over with Him. Sure. 

	Now, let me start closing off by running down, and I hope I can get
finished very quickly now. So, there it is.

69. Who was William Branham? And I haven’t begun to really cover...
You know, that’s a 250 page book, close type material. It is evident
he was Elijah which was to come, which was the prophet of God, which was
vindicated by God, Himself, to introduce the Church to, and make known,
Eph 1:17, which is “a spirit of revelation and wisdom in the knowledge
of Him” that brings about the Resurrection and the Rapture into glory.

	It is the truth of Matthew 12, the One in the form of the Spirit, Who
comes to the Gentiles to do in the Spirit what He did when He was here
in the flesh. And He is the voice of Rev 10:1 as stated in Rev 10:7.
He’s the one that stood by. And he is the same one that Paul spoke of
in 1 Th 4:16. He is the voice, for the Lord, Himself, shall descend with
a voice; and it is known in the Greek, It does not say It is the voice
of the ‘One’ that descended.

70. 	To be responsible for the blood and life of the Bride, as her
teacher, that she does not fall into the antichrist trap, he fulfills 2
Th 2:10, wherein It says, “And with all deceivableness of
unrighteousness in them that perish; because they receive not the love
of the truth, that they might be saved.” He’s the one that brings
the truth. “For this cause God shall send them strong delusion that
they should believe the lie: That they might be damned who believe not
the truth, but have pleasure in unrighteousness.” And that is what?
The unrighteousness of Cain that offered sacrifice and worshipped God
under a wrong spirit and a wrong revelation. “But we are bound to give
thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God
hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation, through sanctification
of the Spirit and belief of the truth: Whereunto you were called by our
Gospel.”

71. 	In Paul’s day, It was Paul’s Gospel. In Moses’ day, It was
Moses’ law. In this hour, It’s the Branham Message. You do what you
want with It. I cannot bandy words and fool with people. I just got to
lay It out there as It is. Bro. Branham has gone on. He, like John,
decreased. He said that he would. But the One that appeared in the
positive in Revelation 10, to join time and eternity, is here, as the
head of the Church, (That’s Jesus Christ, Himself.) to raise the dead,
because the prophet said so. And that same Spirit in our midst will take
us to the Wedding Supper; and He will be incarnated there to bring us
back to earth to reign and rule with Him a thousand years.

72. 	I’m going to close now with reading what I always enjoy reading
from the back of my Bible. I’ve written in here, posted in here from
“End-Time Evangelism” and “The Anointed Ones at the End Time:” 

“See, same thing today, when you see his work. Now, we have already
seen and are witnessing the appearing of the Lord.” He said so.
“Remember, ‘appearing’ and ‘coming’ are two different words,
‘to appear’ and then ‘to come’. Now is the appearing, He has
already appeared in these last days. Right here with us in the last few
years. Now it’s the sign of His Coming. He’s appearing in His
Church, in the form of the Holy Spirit, showing it’s He, because
people cannot do these things that you see the Holy Spirit doing; so,
that’s the appearing of the Lord. Now, remember; it’s spoken both
places, ‘appearing’ and ‘coming’.”

	Now he’s telling you that neither he, nor any of the others around
about him can do what he’s talking about. And he’s talking about
that Appearing right there. [Bro. Vayle points to the picture of the
Pillar of Fire over Bro. Branham.] There it is, right over the man’s
head--up in the clouds. Just can’t be done. Now, remember; he said
that, when Moses went down to Egypt, God did not appear just in signs
and wonders. He literally appeared in a Pillar of Fire. 

	He categorically told us what was in here, and that Pillar of Fire, was
three times in history—Moses, Paul, William Branham. You can’t deny
that. See? Scientifically proven, scientifically proven. 

73.	Now, listen to what he says here:

“Now, you...I want you to know this is sure. And you that listen to
this tape, you might have thought today I was trying to say that about
myself being I was preaching this Message. I have no more to do with it
than nothing, no more than just the voice.” That’s 1 Thesssalonians
4. “And my voice, even against my better judgment. I wanted to be a
trapper.” Just skin skunks and coons and things. “But it’s the
will of my Father I declare to do.” See? Wilderness man. “I’m
determined to do it. I wasn’t the One that appeared down on the river;
I was only standing there when He appeared.” Did He or did He not?
“I’m not the One that performs these things and foretells these
things that happens as perfect as they are, I’m only one that’s near
when He does it.” But you see, “I’m not the Son of man; Pillar of
Fire’s not the Son of man. It’s in the form of a Holy Spirit.” God
manifest in flesh just the same, because words of man won’t do what
those words do. Those words come to pass. See what was going on here?
God and His prophet, the prophet and his God. Like I said years ago,
God—prophet; prophet—God. [End of the first audio tape.]

“I wasn’t the One, it wasn’t what I knew; it’s just what I
surrendered myself to, that He spoke through. It isn’t I. It wasn’t
the seventh messenger, oh no; it was a manifestation of the Son of
man.” There you are. See? That’s the manifestation, what was said,
proving it was by coming to pass. There’s your manifestation—Son of
man. The day’s returned again. The prophet revealing Him.”I am not
He; Pillar of Fire’s not He. It’s in the form of the Holy Spirit.”
Watch how He’s moving. It wasn’t the messenger—his message—it
was the mystery that God unfolded. That’s Revelation 10. It’s not a
man. It’s God. He’s just using a man. The messenger was not the Son
of man; he was the messenger from the Son of man. He’s a prophet, see?
The Son of man is Christ. “He’s the One you’re feeding on.
You’re not feeding on a man. A man, his words will fail.” But,
notice; Bro. Branham’s words never fail. So, they weren’t his words.
“You’re feeding on the unfailing, Body-Word of the Son of man.”

74. 	You are feeding on that which gives you life and, in this case, is
immortality. And, what more does a person want? 

	You say, “Well, the thing is, Bro. Vayle, I do think that’s very
nice, and we certainly appreciate eulogizing the prophet, but, you see,
I got Jesus.” 

	I submit to you, my brother/sister, you wouldn’t know Jesus if you
met Him tomorrow morning in your porridge. That’s an old Scotch
saying. I’m sorry about that. I don’t want to be facetious, crude,
or anything else, but that’s the truth. 

	You say, “Why?” 

	Because I’m talking about vindication. I’m not talking about
‘smarts’. I’m not talking about what you might think you
know—what I might think I know. I’m talking about what came to pass,
is documented, is known. Not strictly anecdotal, or little testimony,
but it’s true. Like John said. 

75.	Let’s look what John said, brother/sister. We’re not off-base to
what John said in his first epistle there, and I’m not going to read
Chapter 3, just the first part of the first: “That which was from the
beginning, which we have heard, which our eyes have seen, which we’ve
looked upon, our hands have handled, the Word of Life; for the life was
manifested, and we have seen him, and bear witness, and show unto you
that eternal life, which was the Father, is manifested unto us.”

	You mean to tell me we haven’t seen it? Certainly. No, we couldn’t
handle the man in flesh, because He’s not here in flesh. No way. But,
what was done was just as much God. So, the prophet could say, “He had
more success with His ministry in my life than He had with His Own.” 

	You say, “Well, that’s boasting.” 

	That’s not boasting. That’s putting exactly all the glory in God.
See? 

76. 	So, there’s the picture we have tonight, brother/sister. He said,
“If you only knew who I am.” Do you know, tonight, who he is? Sure,
he’s the prophet of God. 

	You say, “Well, Bro. Vayle, could you not mistake it or oversimplify
it?” 

	Could well have been. Not going to say anything to the extreme. But,
what I said tonight was true. And the thing is this: we did not know
this, because we were too anxious to hear something we wanted to hear,
to get what we wanted, thinking, if we heard that, we would get what we
wanted; then having missed what we should have heard, we’re still
going to get the immortality. But we won’t recover the mass healings
except, perhaps, as Bro. Branham said, “When that sweet Spirit comes
into the Church, that love and that sweetness, the gifts of the Spirit,
as it were, on the shelf, there’ll be healings. Everyone healed all
over the place.” I love that, but I recognize this: that every single
person here, if the Lord tarries, will get sick, will get better; and
one day what takes us off of this earth, will take us off this earth.
Some will go suffering; some will go without much suffering. Those that
don’t suffer are very fortunate. It could be that you paid a price
already. It could be that you have no price to pay, because you’re not
one of them anyway. Nobody knows the answers to those things, unless
you’re a prophet. That’s not necessary.

77. 	We’re all going to die, unless, by the grace of God, some
standing here shall not see death. And that’s true. That’s true.
We’re young enough here to not see death. I got a friend, she’s way
up in her eighties, and I pray every day that she’ll be standing here
for the Resurrection. Not that she can’t go, and not that she
shouldn’t go. But I think the hour of the promise is that immortality
is here. And I’d hate to see her go. She’s a lovely, lovely
Christian, and I believe it’s a great testimony that one of her age
live long, like old John, and just God take him out of the picture.

78. 	So, the question came up, “Who was this man?” Prophet of
God—and whatever prophet of God entails, which is, literally, Malachi
4. There’s your answer, and, as I say, “If you don’t get healed,
that’s not the big issue. The big issue is this: there is a land
beyond the river and the shores are coming closer to us, than we going
closer to it.” Although in some cases, it may be we are nearing the
shore. In other cases the shore is nearing us. I trust for everyone of
you sitting here tonight, it’s the shore that is nearing you, instead
of you nearing that shore, because you know the truth. You know the
hour. You know Elijah. But best of all, you know the Lord God of Elijah,
which will see you through.

	Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you tonight for grace and mercy
extended to us, the love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy
Ghost, and these things, Lord, which are assuredly true. We thank You,
Lord, that You gave them to us, and we know better now, we trust, than
we’ve ever known before, because we have been able to coordinate some
of these things that the prophet tried to show us, what went over our
heads, and what didn’t go over our heads. But, Lord, we realize that
more and more did go over our heads, but now, Lord, we want it into our
hearts. May it become ours as never before, a part of us that we are
actually feeding on now because of His ministry, the Body-Word of the
Lord Jesus Christ.

	Father, tonight we know more than ever how true it is that we must get
rid of all unbelief, as the prophet said, “All unbelief must go.”
Father, I don’t know if concerning what we’ve got into tonight, if
our faith is where it should be concerning this subject. I hope it is,
Lord. And I don’t know my own heart like You know my heart, but I know
this one thing, Father, that I wouldn’t know where to go apart from
this Message, because the warning has already been out; too true. There
is no use looking any further, because the Real has come. And to look
any further is to go for the counterfeit, and to go for the lie. 

	So, Father, we cannot do that tonight. It’s just... I don’t believe
we could do it, Lord. I believe that somehow, though we certainly
don’t have the evidence of what the apostles had back there, as far as
their lives and ministries and those gracious elements of Christian
grace. I realize we don’t have that, and yet with them, as the prophet
said, we can say, “Live or die, sink or swim. There is no place else
to go but this,” because this is It. 

	So, Father, tonight we trust by knowing who William Branham really was
and is in Your sight, because prophet never changes, even as Samuel came
up… He was still that prophet in his prophet robes and all. We know,
Lord, that the prophet is Malachi 4, certainly real, but You are even
more real, Lord, because it was not the prophet sent from God. It was
God’s Own prophet: God and the prophet. And we believe, Lord, that now
that he has decreased and left the scene, that You will increase more
and more. And You will increase, Lord, in our lives. We’ll ripen and
mature by being in the presence of the Son, as the prophet taught us to,
and we know, Lord, also, that this maturity may not be according to our
thinking. 

	So, help us, Father, to get into the real groove, in the realm of Your
thinking, so that we will know these things that we have not known
hitherto, and, thereby, grow up as calves in the stall, truly, and Lord,
not of our own desire to walk on the ashes of the wicked. That is not of
our own desire, but in your program, Lord, because we are not trying to
‘out-righteous’ You, Lord, or in any way have our desires to
supersede Yours. We are in fear that we are so carnal that we cannot
actually let Your desire supersede ours, and that’s what we want. We
want all these things done away with which are not of You. That’s
where the prophet came to now, and we don’t want to just necessarily
be where the prophet came, but, Lord, we want to follow in those steps.
And You know our hearts, so You understand what we’re saying.

	So, Father, tonight, though there may be some of us here still looking
for healing, may go on to the kingdom looking for healing, we know one
thing about it, Lord, that now that we know more than we ever did
concerning who Bro. Branham really was, we have the true healing—that
restoration, the heart turned back, in order that now that, if You so
let us live, we will not die, but we’ll be changed in a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye, to stand with those who are already resurrected,
and rise to the Wedding Supper.

	Father, we appreciate that tonight, and pray Your rich blessing upon
every one tonight. May the soul be well fed, and the hearts and minds
glorify You forever. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen. The
Lord bless you.

[Communion service follows. Bro. Vayle goes to 1 Cor 11:23 and on:
discerning the Lord’s Body by seeing the prophet.] 

 Matthew 12:18-21

(18)	Behold my servant whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul
is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall show
judgment to the Gentiles.

(19)	He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice
in the streets.

(20)	A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not
quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory.

(21)	And in his name shall the Gentiles trust.

 Luke 17:30 – Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is
revealed.