New Year’s Message 1989

            'Faith and Truth'

            Bro. Lee Vayle   -   January 1, 1989

	Shall we pray.  Heavenly Father we thank You that You’ve spared our
lives to see not just a dawn of another day but the dawn of another
year, Lord, knowing it’s already built upon that which is past, and
therefore we know that the glorious things since 1963, the opening of
the Seals, Lord, become progressively greater.  And now Lord, we know
that time is shortened that much more.  And we pray Lord, that as You
have given us all that which is necessary to put us into a Rapture, that
we will apprehend it, Lord, not only in Your due season which we cannot
do otherwise, but apprehend it in every measure of our bodies, bodies,
soul, spirit, mind, until we become thoroughly saturated with the Word
of God, every channel, as Bro. Branham said, to the soul, with the Word
of God filled and then knowing that that same Life in that Word, that
same Word come back to be living epistles read and known of all men.  We
know Lord, that many people have believed that is true in their
sanctified lives, and we have seen great men in the past and even now,
fine men of God with sanctified lives, living a life which everyone
would say glorifies You, at least in some measure if not in a great
measure, but never till this time, Lord, is there a people who will be
changed in their mortal being, having been already dressed and being
dressed by the Word of God in the inner man, that inner garment, putting
on immortality, Lord, never was until this time.  We believe this is
that hour, and we thank You for it Lord.  We just pray we’ll be more
serious in this coming year than ever before, and 1989 Lord will be a
time, a real sobriety, a real dedication, Lord, to the Word of Almighty
God, sanctifying ourselves as vessels unto You, to this Holy Word.  Help
us today Lord, and we’ll give You the praise.  In Jesus Name, amen. 
You may be seated.

1.	Now, we have already some questions in that we didn’t get last
Wednesday, but before we get to them, I want to bring a little message
perhaps suited to the New Year, on “Beginnings.”  On
“Beginnings.”  And of course it’s, when it’s a beginning, is
something new.  Now in the book of Exodus, the 12th  chapter, we want to
read about maybe the first 13 verses.

And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,           
      saying,

This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be       
           the first month of the year to you.

So evidently, this particular time, it was set forth in the land of
Egypt, unto Moses and Aaron, that a new year would start with that
particular month, which of course was April.

Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth      
                day of this month they shall take to them every man a
lamb,                          according to the house of their fathers,
a lamb for an house:

And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his        
              neighbour next unto his house take it according to the
number                            of the souls; every man according to
his eating shall make your                            count for the
lamb.

Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: (and)     
              ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:

And (you’ll) keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month:   
                   and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel
shall kill it in                   the evening.

And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts   
                and upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall
eat it.

And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and        
         unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.

Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire;   
                his head (and) his legs, with the pertinence thereof.

And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which
remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire.

And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your    
           feet, and your staff in your hand; and (you) shall eat it in
haste: it                        is the LORD'S passover.

2.	Now, this great beginning of God dealing in grace and mercy of course
was the type of the great prototype, as set forth in the gospel of John,
in the first chapter, verse 29, which is in the context of 28 to 34.  So
we’re going to read John [verse] 28 to 34, chapter 1.

These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John           
      was baptizing. 

(And) the next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and (said),        
        Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. 
                 (Now this is the Passover Lamb, and the One spoken of
in the                     garden, that would bruise the enemy’s head,
while the enemy                    would bruise His heel.) 

This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is               
       preferred before me: for he was before me. (You’ll notice, he  
                      calls Him a man, and pre-existant. After all,
Jesus was born six                        months later I think it was
than John the Baptist. But he’s talking                  about the One
that was ahead of him, that was with up there when                   
all the morning stars sang together.)

And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel,
(wherefore I am) come baptizing with water. 

And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from          
         heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. 

And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water,          
              the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit
                    descending, remaining on him, the same is he which
baptizeth                          with the Holy Ghost.

And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.

In there we see the humanity of Jesus and we see the Divinity of God,
because we know that it is God who sends forth the Holy Ghost, Jesus
having paid the price for it.  Now, these verses here, that you see
which we read concerning John speaking of this one, who was to be
baptized in water, the Holy Spirit coming upon him, descending like a
dove out of heaven abiding, the same one to send forth the Holy Spirit,
the Holy Ghost, upon people.  Now, you’ll notice he does not separate
the two, making it simply one person.  Like I and my Father are one.  

3.	Now, these verses are the literalization of  John    1 to 23.  So
we’ll read them.  

In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and               
          the Word was God.

Now that’s a plain statement of fact that God determined to bring
Himself into manifestation.  And when He was brought into manifestation,
He was still God, He was not another person.  It was not a second
person, or a third person, of a trinity, it was that same God.  As Bro.
Branham said, if you make Jesus the Word, you make three Gods.  See,
you’ve got to be very careful here, that you’re not beginning to
consider this as the one that is down here, and the Holy Spirit is
coming upon him, the one that was born of a woman.  Because this is not
how God brought forth Himself into manifestation at this particular
time.

(1)	In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the       
      Word was God.

The same was in the beginning with God.

(Now) all things were made by him; without him was not any              
         thing made that was made.

In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

The light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

(And) there was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all     
               men through him might believe.

He was not that Light, but (he) was sent to bear witness of that Light.

That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into      
             the world.

He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world       
       knew him not.

He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the        
         sons of God,(or actually, it wasn’t to become, it was
literally that                   they might be granted that authority to
be manifested as such), even                to them that believe on his
name:

Which were born (now watch), not of blood, nor of the will of the       
     flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

4.	Now, you’re looking at here in the comparison.  There is blood, and
will of flesh, which is simply sexual impulse or also the desire to have
children, which is fine.  And there is that which is entered into
willfully, they positively want to procreate, to bring forth children,
and they’ll bring it of the flesh, they’ll bring it some way.  But
when you’re born of God it brings forth what we’ve been bringing in
Melchisedec here all along, it’s… to be born of God means to issue
forth from God.  And that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit.  And
there’s a part of us that is definitely the Spirit of God.  Then it
says,

And the Word (became) flesh, (the same one up in verse one here,        
           this Word literally, God wanting to manifest Himself in this
particular form now, He becomes flesh.) dwelt among us, (and we beheld
his                  glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the
Father,) (Now what’s                  he talking of here?  He’s
talking of the manifestation.  God in manifestation.) 

John bare witness of him, cried, saying, This was he of whom I          
            spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for
he was                     before me. (Now notice, John is making that
same statement                         again, as he made over here.)

And of his fulness (we) have all received, and grace for grace.

For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by             
              Jesus Christ.

No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which          
             is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests (unto        
              him) and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?

And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, (and said) I am        
              not the Christ.

And then down in [verse] 23, 

He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make           
         straight the way of the Lord…

Now, what we’re looking at here in Exodus 12, and then in John
proclaiming the ministry of Christ as Redeemer, seeing how that God came
down, residing in human flesh, having started out in the beginning, as
becoming the Manifestor of all that which manifested – was manifested,
is now manifesting here in a human form, as a Redeemer in order to
redeem His own.  

5.	Now watch the verses I’m going to read here.  In verse 16 is what
we’re looking at.  And 17.  And 18.  Well 17, especially.

And of his fulness have (we) all received, and grace for grace.

For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by             
           Jesus Christ.

Now, reading that again.

(For) of his fulness have (we) all received…

And he’s in here speaking of the fact, all things were made by Him,
without Him was not anything made that was made.  That was made for us,
because the whole world was standing here in a perfect creation before
God made man, and then produced him in a physical form, and produced the
wife in a physical form also.  

6.	Now it says, [John 1:]

In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

	So, here we see God’s Word speaking to us, 

Of his fulness (we) have all received…

Which is very, very, true.  And we’ve received of His fullness in the
Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, but the thought I like best here is,

…and grace for grace.

For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by             
        Jesus Christ.

7.	Now, back in the beginning we had a type here.  And this type showed
forth, in a beginning, let me take you back to Exodus again. And it’s
the 12th chapter, the 2nd verse.

This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall          
              be the first month of the year to you.

Now, I’ve looked in a lot of places in the Bible, checking out the
word ‘new’, checking out the word ‘year’, trying to see what
lined up with what we have as tradition, which unfortunately is simply
lackadaisical desire, to change our ways, and we make resolutions which
are only broken, and I guess meant to be broken.  Like all laws, always
been broken.  But this new year here, has to do with the grace of
Almighty God, a type for us, as no grace has ever been given to us.  So
we see here reading John and putting Exodus together, is to be
especially noted from these verses in John, that they’re a scriptural
description of the great Beginner Himself, back here now, let’s look
at that.  

8.	Revelation 3: and verse 14.

Unto the angel (the messenger) of the church of the Laodiceans          
         (these things) write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful
                      and true witness, the beginning of the creation of
God;

John’s description here of the great Beginner Himself, and the great
beginning, of the fullness of redemption.  So this is the picture that
we see in the Bible, as setting forth a true new year.  Now, it’s not
just a new day, although a day with God could be limitless, he specifies
it perfectly as a year.  This is a new year to you.  And the new year
was of the grace of God extended to mankind.  The Redeemer, the great
Beginner Himself.

9.	Go back to Genesis 1:

In the beginning God created the heaven(s) and the earth.

God does all the creating.  John 1.

In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the               
        Word was God.

The same was in the beginning with God.

All things were made by him;

Then over here in Revelation chapter 21, verse 5.

(5)	…Behold, I make all things new.  And he said unto me, Write:      
               for these words are true and faithful.

	So we have a perfect picture here of whatever is going to be new. 
According to God, whether it would be a new year, a new day, a new age,
or new wine, new garments, new kings, new authorities, new heavens, new
earth, whatever is new must come from God Himself, the Great Beginner. 
Because everything new is suggested, suggested, suggesting a beginning. 
Now it must not necessarily be a creative act, whereby you are going to
receive something that wasn’t there before.  It could be a beginning
wherein something is already there, but you could start fresh with a
dedication.  Now notice, the Great Beginner Himself, sets forth in type
in the book of Exodus, and fulfilling, not fulfilling but further
stressing, augmenting, and illustrating deeper that type in almost, yes,
in every single book of the Bible.  Where God Himself is making
reconciliation, even reconciling Himself to mankind, reconciling man to
Him, every single thing actually must start with God, and will end with
God. 

10.	Now you saw that in the very beginning.  We have a complete heavens
and earth, we have a complete beautiful Eden, we have mankind all ready
to embark upon a journey of perhaps thousands of years, would be six
thousand years is what it would be.  Of mortality, and yet living in
health under the Presence and Wisdom of Almighty God, seeing that Great
One bring that into existence, going right back to the very end, we see
New Jerusalem, new heavens and a new earth, we see Jesus Christ the
Lamb,  a man upon the throne, all the subjects of New Jerusalem which is
Bride -- wise virgin of the Old and New Testament -- all outside are the
foolish virgin, those that were not aware of a reality, they never
fought reality, they just didn’t have it.  They never fought the
people of God they had confidence in somehow;  or bypass them in some
way, were good to them.  And there that great people stand there, live
there, pastural lives, evidently pastural lives right within the City,
because Bro. Branham suggested it’s all terraced, 1500 miles high,
1500 miles wide and so on.  Three dimensional, great pyramidal City, all
terraced with the Tree of Life and people living on the land, and
outside somehow, because the government of God, bringing their glory and
their beauty and everything into that Holy City to worship God, how many
times I don’t know, but God…  It’s all lined up in the future will
know about, there’s very little in the Bible.  But you see, it ends
there.  See, it ends there.

11.	So what I was saying was, the Great Beginner is the Great Finisher! 
And notice, what everything that God had in mind, in the very middle of
it,  which is not perhaps the number of pages, would not be the number
of pages.  But in the middle of it, and I say middle because we’re
looking at the time that grace starts to the time where at the end of
the Millennium, is just almost the middle, even chronologically, that
you find this one suggested, prophesied in the Garden of Eden, typed in
Exodus 12, literally told how he would die, in Isaiah, right in the
middle.  Then, a few hundred years down the road, we see him transformed
into human flesh.  In other words, the literalization of every single
thing that is in this universe starts in Jesus Christ.  It always has
and it always will.  And when he died upon Calvary, you’ll notice as
John said here, of his fullness we have all received, and grace for
grace.  It is the grace of God that we must understand as never before. 


12.	So many people in their anxiety to put a burden upon man, saying,
“Now look, God’s done it all, all you’ve got to do is accept it,
and that is grace.”  What if it’s not in your heart to accept it? 
What if it’s not in your heart?  See, many people don’t have it in
their hearts to accept it.  Pharisees stood there, Israel stood there,
they saw a manifestation that you and I never saw, we saw actually the
same manifestations that Christ performed.  But we never saw Him
manifest in flesh.  And it isn’t for us to see Him manifest in flesh. 
But they actually saw Him stand there, prove that He was their Messiah,
and they turned Him down.  But the grace of God was manifested.  And
when John was speaking that we have all received the grace of God, it is
true that there is no one that hasn’t received some measure of grace
from God, the fact the he’s living here today.  It’s true, that is
very true, there has been a measure of grace.  But the grace of God is
manifested to you and me, because you’ll notice, the next statement
says, we’ve received, that the law was until John, but grace and truth
came by Jesus Christ.  Now let’s begin to put them together.

13.	All right, grace came by Almighty God.  God so loved the world, He
gave His only begotten son, He wasn’t wanting any to perish.  So the
son dies upon Calvary, that is God’s wish, that is God’s desire, God
bringing it to pass.  When the sacrifice was completed, and the Holy
Ghost was poured out, how come only five thousand people and three
thousand  people…  That was the greatest mass people which numbers the
same as the feeding of the three thousand and five thousands loaves and
fishes, and from that time on they never came on mass.  So you better
believe that when people come on mass to God, you might not see too much
out of it.  And it won’t happen very many times.  If it’s absolutely
genuine, it won’t happen very many times.  It’s a one by one.  Why? 
Because men as individuals must come to the truth.  Grace and truth came
by Jesus Christ.  It’s not enough to say He shed His blood.  People
are going to keep telling you that.  And I believe in the shed blood,
nobody believes it stronger than I do.  Well, perhaps somebody does, but
I just kind of doubt that anybody does.

14.	I’ve always risen up against anybody who dares to preach doing
away with the blood.  I cannot see that for one minute.  Because it is
grace we’re looking at, but when you look at grace, you do not despise
truth, because it is the grace that brings you to the truth.  It was
wrong for Adam and Eve to listen to the serpent.  It was wrong for them
to leave the truth.  It was the grace of God that He shed the blood of
an animal and gave them skins to dress in.  Gave them something for a
covering.  But ever since then, man has always sought truth, but has
never known where to get it.  And truth can only come through Almighty
God.  Truth can only come in the manner which Almighty God has indicated
and vindicated that truth is going to come.

Now, from Alpha to Omega, there is no beginning like the event of the
thirty-three and a half years of Messiah, wherein three and a half years
God was in Christ reconciling the world in order to begin the ultimate
creation.  There never was a time like that.  That time of course
happened two thousand years ago.  And the effectiveness of the
sacrifice, and the effectiveness of the grace, has been proven through
the Seven Church Ages, that God has always sent a man.  He’s been
called a messenger, called an angel, the word in the Greek is
‘angelos’, which also is ‘messenger’, which is the better
terminology.  He has sent a messenger to every single Church Age.  All
during those ages someone has always usurped the authority that lay in
the messenger.  Paul the Apostle’s authority was usurped on every
hand.  Even amongst his colleagues, and those in the Galatian Church or
whatever area that was.  After having received him as an angel of light,
and he said, “You’d have plucked your eyes out for me.”  Now we
say, “Given us the shirt off our backs.”  There’s nothing they
wouldn’t have done.  When they heard the grace of God, people always
rejoiced in the grace of God!  But it’s too much like a lottery
ticket!  Wasn’t I lucky I bought a lottery ticket?  Wasn’t I lucky I
was the fiftieth person in line because I got a basket of groceries. 
Wasn’t I lucky to be there when Brinks truck, the door opened and all
the money scattered and I got my handful?  Wasn’t I lucky?  

15.	Oh, people always like the grace part.  And you will find that
people always move to the grace, and churches will always preach grace,
the minute the truth comes up, they’ll swing you away from grace! 
Come on, face it, brother/sister, grace and truth came by Jesus Christ! 
You cannot have one without the other.  The law was given by Moses!  But
grace brought truth!  That’s why Bro. Branham was that great preacher!
 Because he knew we had to have the Word restored!  Look it, come on.  

Ned ?Iverson? sat beside Billy Graham on the airplane, just very
fortunate.  He introduced himself to Billy, of course Billy wouldn’t
even had looked at him anymore than he’d look at, you know, a turnip
or a rhubarb, except he said, “Well, I’m Dr. Dan ?Iverson’s?
son.”  Well, you can’t turn down Dr. Dan ?Iverson’s? kids.  He’s
the man that literally created – now just pardon the expression
because I’m going to be out of my gourd on this one, but I’ll use it
anyway.  He literally created a revival that went around the world by a
chorus that he’d composed on the Holy Spirit.  ‘Breathe on me,
Breathe on me.’  So when he introduced himself, they began talking. 
And as they talked, Ned said, “Well, there’s one thing,” he said,
“hasn’t been done yet.  The Word has not yet been restored!”  And
according to Ned, Billy Graham said, “That’s right, It hasn’t,”
and my question is, what has he done about it?  You say, “Well, he
should have done something about it.”  I don’t think so.  I don’t
think so.  It wasn’t him to preach the truth.  As it is in Christ
Jesus.  He’s a hundred percent trinitarian.  He’s a million miles
away from the understanding the Word of Almighty God.  He still sees a
fountain of one God spouting forth into three Gods.  Absolutely
ridiculous.  You cannot find it.  There is one God Who had a Son.  Those
things are mysteries, sure.  But what I’m pointing at is this, that
there… when you talk about grace, and you talk about the Lamb, and you
talk about the life of Christ, and you talk about the shed blood, you
are in a dangerous, dangerous position, if you do not talk about the
truth of the hour.  

16.	Listen, brother/sister, we had a New Year start as never a New Year
ever started back in 1963, continued on until 1965, when Bro. Branham
preached his final sermon.  And I believe the great and final sermon was
out there in Yuma, Arizona, in December the 4th, 1965, when he preached
on The Rapture.  Showing us exactly what we needed to know.  Now that is
the great truth of the hour, and grace and truth are hand in hand.  And
as I say and said many times, you can never talk of the sacrifice, you
can never talk of the blood, unless you talk of the truth.  The
scripture distinctly tells us in Hebrews 10, that when you trample
underfoot, rather when you deny or rebel against, transgress the Law of
Almighty God, which is the Word of God, you trample underfoot the Blood
of the Covenant.  God Himself said to the people, “You that turn away
your ear from hearing My Word, even I will turn away your prayers and
I’ll not hear them.”  God said, “I stand behind My Word to perform
It.”  The scripture distinctly said there is no Word of God void of
promise.  There is not one.  

17.	Every year you will notice, and I notice, we are going deeper and
deeper into this Word.  Every year, based upon the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ, the bleeding sacrifice, which enabled God to send forth
the Holy Spirit whereby we were sealed unto Him, and given the ability
to be taught of God.  And the Bible distinctly says that every child of
God is taught by God.  If you get a bunch of people of this, “Well, I
got the Holy Ghost, I don’t need anybody to teach me.”  Well tell
me.  You might ask them many questions.  And say, “Here’s another
brother said he’s got the Holy Ghost.  Here’s a sister got the Holy
Ghost.  Here’s a congregation, here’s millions got the Holy
Ghost.”  Bring them all together and tell me what it is.  What is the
Word for the hour?  What’s a Laodician Church Age?  Was this because
John did eat too many peppers after all?  And Bro. Branham’s 
supervisor ?Banyam? was right, John had too many peppers.  Too many
jalapeños.  Or maybe worse than that, got mixed up with some of the
Indian peppers, made a Mexican thing.  You want to eat red hot rivers,
just try what they got. Maybe John had too many, he was in right close
to the East, there.  Asia Minor.  Ask them what it means.  Oh, they say,
“It’s historical.”  That means it’s already taken place. 
Another man says it’s not historical.  It’s taking place!  Then tell
me all about it.  Tell me about the Seven Seals.  Tell me about the
Seven Thunders.  People disclaiming the Seven Seals and the Seven
Thunders and still believing in a Rapture, tell me how it’s going to
be?!  

18.	Look it, I’m going to read it to you.  Let’s just not play
footsie here and be foolish.  We’ve had a lot of new things in these
days.  We’ve got a new year.  It’s based upon the sacrifice, the
grace of God, upon truth!  And you can’t separate them.  1989 will
accomplish you nothing unless you progress in the truth.  You want the
truth to heal you?  Listen brother/sister, I’m telling you, I’ve
stood on this, until something’s beginning to happen.  You go any way
and do what you want, but I want your minds to get this and understand
it, Bro. Branham said, “Take this message for your healing,”  he did
not lie!  Well, all it means, it means just what it says.  

19.	Every year, a progressing in truth, or the church is standing still.
 And it’s not latter rain, that something is being brought to our
attention, that someone’s got a great revelation, it’s already in
the sermons!  We got verbatim.  It is a matter only of understanding the
more, and the more the understanding, the more the life comes up.       
 I realize people say, and I’m not going to quote you who says this,
but he shouldn’t be saying it.  He’s always saying, “Well, Bro.
Branham said you don’t have to understand it.”  That’s in the
beginning.  You don’t have to understand how He came down to Bro.
Branham.      [Bro. Vayle points to the picture of the Pillar of Fire 
over Bro. Branham]    

You don’t have to understand a lot of things as far as the
understanding when you first start!  But if you don’t  understand 
what  Bro. Branham  preached,  then how you going to believe it?  
Because you don’t know what you believe!  John the Baptist came to
give understanding, he came to bring truth.  Then I said Revelation 10. 
Just hold your finger there. 

20.	Let’s get back to Revelation 3:  

…These things (said) the Amen, the faithful and true witness,         
             the beginning of the creation of God;

All right.  Who’s the Amen?  The God of Truth.  It’s what He is in
the book of Isaiah.  Truth and grace.  The amount of grace in your life
and mine is going to depend on believing the Word in this hour.  And
we’re going to need a lot of it.  That’s a bulwark, that’s a
sanctuary we got.  

Now, I’m reading over here, and I’m taking you back to chapter 10,
because I haven’t lost my thought, don’t worry.  I was talking about
these men that don’t believe in the opening of the Seals.  

21.	Now let’s go to verse 8.  [Revelation 10:]

And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again,            
             and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the
hand of                        the angel which stand(s) upon the sea and
earth.

And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little        
             book.  And he said unto me, Take, and eat it up; and it
shall make                   thy belly bitter, (and) thy mouth sweet as
honey.  (Be in thy mouth                  sweet as honey.)

And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, ate it up; and it 
                  was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had
eaten it, my                 belly was bitter.  

Now you can take that to mean like something bitter in the belly.  But
this is a book of symbols.  And this word here, in my understanding, at
least my thinking in a sort of a vague way, is that would cause a great
deal of problems to anybody who already had a set pattern of thinking. 
Because you don’t put books in your belly, you put them in your head! 
Come on, even a cookbook doesn’t go in your belly.  If you like, I got
about forty cookbooks, some are 700 pages.  I’ll bring them here, and
you eat them.  And as you get to barbecue chicken, you just say,
“I’m eating barbecue chicken.”  Are you?  …?…  to be nuts,
you’re reading it, r-e-a-d, not e-a-t.  So you don’t eat books. 
Gingerbread men, yes, but not books.  You talk about what?  The mind. 
The battle.  A complete battle of the mind at this time.  

22.	Now,

He said (watch what he said) unto me, Thou must prophesy                
       again before many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings.

After the Seven Seal is opened, and the Thunders thundered, it’s got
to go out to the world!  That’s before the Rapture.  Then how can
Billy Graham and these men – I’m not fighting him, see, look, I’m
sorry for them and I appreciate them.  How can they be partaking of a
grace that’s going to allow you and me standing here, in the face of
the Word, it is appointed unto man once to die, and after that the
judgment.  Paul cleared it up.  Paul preaching on the resurrection, the
question then comes up, “Well, Paul, I guess we all die.”  Then he
said the body deteriorates, we get a new one.  He said, “I’m going
to show you a mystery!”  Now what is the mystery?  

23.	Go to 1 Corinthians, 15th chapter.

…Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God;

You’re standing right here.  The dead come out of the ground.  What
happened to these birds?  What about these people?  It’s explained in
1  Th 4:16, “The Lord Himself shall descend with the Shout to the
living!” [Points to the Picture] Now you can do what you want with it.
 Why aren’t they preaching it?  You know why?  Because the Appearing
to them is the Rapture!  The Appearing is not the Rapture!  The
Appearing precedes the Rapture.  They can’t even read the Bible.  

24.	1 John 3 tells us this, absolutely distinctly. 

Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it (hath) not appear           
             what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear,
we                             shall be like him; for we shall see him
as he is.

That means you’ll get a glorified body!  Now you can’t get caught up
without a glorified body!  So therefore you got to see Him down here. 
God manifesting Himself.  Using every type and shadow.  Then doing it
through Jesus Christ.   And from that point on, working in a church. 
And the last days, working in a prophet.  And the prophet told us the
truth, the same as Paul. 

25.	 [1 Corinthians 15:]

…Flesh and blood cannot (walk into) the kingdom of God.  

(I’m going to) shew you a mystery; (you don’t have to die to        
                  get changed!)  

(But) in a moment, twinkling of an eye, the last trump: for the         
         trumpet shall sound,  

Now notice the double emphasis: at the last trump, for the trumpet shall
sound.  Now listen!  This trumpet cannot be the trumpet that summons you
upstairs, ‘cause it tells you that your change has to do with the
trumpet sound and the trumpet sound is where?  Rev 10:7.  When He shall
begin to sound, right here.  Now what is it?  

(52)	…The dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
 

What’s going to do it?  The Shout does it.  Even for the dead, because
without us they cannot be made perfect.  That’s why Paul said,
“Listen you people that are living, when you’re standing here at
that great time of the Appearing, know this, you have no special
pre-eminence, it’s the grace of God!”  Now tell me how many get the
grace outside of truth, you tell me.  1989 can be the most marvelous
year in our history, brother/sister, as we go, not trying to dig into
things, not thinking we’re somebody, not to get an expanded brain; oh
God, help us to understand!  This is of grace and faith and sovereignty,
humility!  Like the prophets of old said, “I don’t know what God’s
going to do.  I’m just going to stick around here till he does it.” 
I was with Bro. Branham too much of the time not to know that, you
didn’t get him all flighty.  You could go to him with the walls
tumbling down, the fountains breaking up, a hurricane coming, he just
sat there and looked at it.  Up there in Topeka, Kansas, the day the
hurricane, the tornado came.  Everybody was very upset.  He simply
walked outside the motel and looked at it and that was the end of the
tornado.  Say, “Well that just happened.”  Well, so is the fact that
you’re here, it was very unfortunate that that ever happened.  I
don’t like to be crude and rude, but I am, I was born that way.  And
I’ll stay that way.  I don’t want to frustrate the grace of God and
put you in it or me in it, see, you can’t believe that.  

26.	Listen: 

For this corrupt(ibility) must put on incorrupt(ibility),

And that is an actual inner garment.  An inner garment.  Something that
is done at the last trumpet.  And Bro. Branham said, “I believe I’ve
been called to dress a Bride.”  He didn’t know anymore about this in
the Greek than I know about speaking Afghanistani or whatever it is.  I
wouldn’t have a clue.  He didn’t know it.  He said, “To find that
Bride of such character, that she’ll stand still in the waters of
separation (I’m putting his quotes together), that she might be
dressed.”  Now you tell me, that grace resides alone without truth. 
You can’t do it.  Always over the ages -- and I started this way back
in the beginning of the message -- over the ages since man drifted away,
they said, “What is truth?  What is truth?  What is truth?  What is
truth?”  God has always been on the scene with grace and truth but
people don’t want the truth, they want the grace.  That’s why they
want a Catholic church.  And a pope.  And a Greek Orthodox.  And a
Metropolitan.  And an Anglican.  And the priest, and the archbishops. 
‘Cause they want to come in for the grace of God.  Kiss my ring, kiss
my toe, say a “Hail Mary”.  Go home and do a nice thing.  Put some
money in the poor box.  Oh, they want the grace, they want the grace,
they want the grace, they want the grace.  But they don’t want the
truth.  And they do everything to stop the truth, the Bible says so.  

Come on, let’s find out why God’s going to curse this world here. 
Oh listen, if you a want a new year’s message, you better go up town
and get it.  I’m giving you the real new year’s message today.  Get
the understanding, there’s no grace without truth!  It’s grace that
brings the truth.  

27.	Over here, listen, Rom 1:18.

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness    
      and unrighteousness of men, who hold (back) the truth (They hold
it)            in unrighteousness; (Actually, hold down the truth.)

Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them;             
         for God hath shewed it unto them.

Do you think the truth is actually manifested in them?  It’s
manifested to them.  And they got it.  They know it’s there.  They
know something is there.  Listen, do you think for…  Look it, way back
in the days of Father ?Chinaki?, when he blew the whole ball of wax on
the Roman Catholic church, fought the Catholic Church to a standstill,
by quoting the Father as  brilliant, brilliant, man.  At that time he
admitted many of his colleagues were atheists, priests.  And I worked
with a little Catholic girl that told me her priest told her that you
could believe in evolution, as long as you believed the original seed
came from God.  Not interested in truth, not interested.  [End of side
one.]  Hold it down, destroy it.  

28.	Now watch,

For the invisible things of him the creation of the world are clearly   
          seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his
eternal        power and Godhead; they are without excuse:

Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God,        
     neither were thankful; became vain in their (reasonings), their
foolish heart was darkened.

Professing themselves to be (sophists), they became (utter) fools,

And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made       
    like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and   
         creeping things.

In other words, their God is evolution, and Darwin.  That’s all. 
Evolution.  Now you know that evolution hasn’t proved one thing in
thousands of years, and never will.  I like what Sapphire said, Joseph
Sapphire.  He said, “I was taught evolution, I went along with it.” 
One day I stopped and thought, ‘Where are all of those mutations they
talk about that brought us here?’” He said, “There isn’t one.”
 Science so-called.  No, there is ample evidence in the world that there
is a God.  Now listen.  There has been ample evidence that William
Branham was a prophet of God.  Did those men who knew of his ministry
come near him?  No they didn’t.  There is no way that Laodicea can
receive the grace of God on mass.  The grace of God was manifested right
there. [Points to the picture of the Pillar of Fire] That is the grace
of God.  That is the grace of God.  [Points to the picture of the Cloud]
What did they know?  They held their noses, lest the stench of the truth
of God permeate their nostrils.  What Paul considered the zephyrs and
breezes of heaven, that which came out of the ivory palaces.  The
fragrance of myrrh.  The beauty of the rose.  They who called Him the
great Messiah, born over a manure heap, and eulogized His humble
beginnings, now make Him the stench of a manure pile.  Times have
changed, haven’t they?  You talk about liars and hypocrites, filling
the world, the churches.  

29.	If 1989 is going to be a new year, and I’m not hoping, I’m just
talking through my teeth, and trying to be, work up something amongst
you, that’s a bad thing entirely.  The thing to work up amongst us is
one thing, to appreciate this Word as never before, because Bro. Branham
worried about this as nothing else, he said, “I’m afraid that the
church will let down on the  Word.”  The cares of this world will take
it from her.  And it’s so easy!  I’m from the age way back when my
mother scrubbed over the washboard, and I was in my twenties, I helped
my wife do the diapers and kids clothes, and our own clothes over a
washboard.  Then pretty soon we got a few bucks to get a washing
machine.  We never had any more time.  For the washing machine.  We have
a washing machine, we have a dishwasher, we have everything to cook
with, money to go to restaurants.  We still run out of time.  There’s
something wrong with everybody.  

30.	Bro. Branham said, “There ought to be a spirit, just making us
scream to get in these doors.”  Where is it?  I’m going to lay it on
the line.  1989.  Where is it?  See?  We’ve tried to build a church on
fellowship, and so we should have brother/sister.  And it’s been good
for us.  I look at you all, I look at me, I look at my past, I look at
my family.  I try to break down everything I’ve ever had toward
anybody.  And it’s working.  I suppose for sixty-two solid years I
could have murdered certain people.  Oh yeah.  I wouldn’t have really
killed them, but I thought some very killing thoughts.  I thought maybe
hell fire wouldn’t be too bad.  If it lasted a least several million
years.  Of course, you’re nice people, you never think anything like
that, so I’m going to confess before you.  I begin to thinking,
“Well, look just a minute, it might not have been the way I thought
it.”  All the years of stress, all those things I could have got after
you, about your complexes.  Look it, I tell you, you got to lick your
complexes, that’s a bunch of junk from the devil.  Don’t you play up
your cotton-picking complexes, get rid of them.  After sixty-two years,
I can look certain things in the face.  This is necessary to give the
Word of God pre-eminence, because brother/sister, the grace of God has
been manifested, everybody wants it, but nobody wants the truth.  Except
a little tiny Bride.  

31.	But grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.  Not just grace,
brother/sister.  God help you if you’re in that position, begin to see
what this message is all about.  You had all your grace!  You went to
confess them, you did this, you spoke in tongues, you did the other
thing!  Where did it get you?  Tell me.  Where’d it get you?  Tell you
something, brother/sister, five-cents worth of truth is worth more than
a billion dollars worth of grace.  You know why?  ‘Cause all the grace
in the world won’t get you one thing without the truth.  Preachers
talk to me, people talk to me, say “My pastor.  Don’t understand it.
 I hear him preach, I’m getting nothing.”  Something’s wrong with
that pastor.  I’ll just tell you flat, I’ll tell you what’s wrong;
look.  You get what Bro. Branham said, and start searching this
scripture.  See it lay in here and see it come out.  I don’t care who
you are.  Something’s going to happen.  Something’s got to happen. 
Because when you combine grace and truth, and the grace has been
manifested… 

[Points to both pictures – Pillar of Fire and the Cloud]

32.	Now let’s get to the truth.  Did they come and say to William
Branham, “Hey man, this ministry of yours really gets me excited! 
What is behind you anyway, boy, what’s behind you?”  They saw
manifested grace, “Hallelujah!  [Points to the picture of the Pillar
of Fire]  We can have what he has and more of it, and better!”  And
they proved it, so to speak.  Jesus Christ came.  He raised the dead, He
fed the multitudes!  And they said, “Hallelujah, that’s wonderful! 
What makes you work?”  He said, “I am that One.”  Oh God, did they
get sour stomachs.  Shoo.  Oh my, you talk about a sour stomach.  They
said, “You liar.”  They said, “Moses is the one we believe in.” 
And then they tell you, “You might have given these people out here
some food, but Moses gave us manna, from heaven.”  He said, “I am
the true bread that come down from heaven.  And if you’d have known
Moses, you’d have known Me.”  And they got a sour stomach still. 
And their stomach got so sour, that they killed the Prince of Peace. 
And this message is so sour to the grace people.  Better change the name
of our church.  Got so sour to the grace people, preaching their tongues
evidence and their ‘come and get it, shake my hand, hallejuah, you
believe God, you got to be right.’  They crucified to themselves the
Son of God afresh, and put Him to an open shame.  

33.	You say, “It hasn’t taken place.”  Then why did Bro. Branham
preach Indictment?  He said to the women with long hair, “Wear your
crowning glory with pride.  Show your Nazarite vow.”  We say to the 
whole congregation, “Wear the Word of God with pride!”  Not that
you’re somebody.  As though you got something on your own.  But you
know the grace of God in truth.  Because brother/sister, a lot of
people… most people know only the grace of God in ?prophet legacy?  
They don’t know the grace of God in truth.

34.	If 1989 brother/sister, can be a year…  and I’m glad for 1988. 
I’m happy for it.  We had a good year as far as I’m concerned.  Must
have preached what, eighty-one or two or three sermons this year. 
That’s a lot for me, I would have preached more if I would have been
here.  We had visitors and what have you.  Out of what, possible 104
sermons?  Fifty-two weeks in a year, two sermons…  We covered some
mighty good sermons.  And then to see a book open like Who is This
Melchisedec?  And see from eternity to eternity, and to have a glimpse
of understanding, which I admit isn’t still there the way it’s going
to be.  But there’s a foundation for ’89 to be more wonderful than
ever because we have come to this understanding:  though we do not
understand the intricacies, and every single truth the way we’d like
to understand it.  This one thing we know, we believe what the prophet
said as per the doctrine.  That’s one thing we do know.  We know the
doctrine.  Might not know everything about it, like Bro. Branham says,
“We don’t know how He’s going to do it, we know He’s going to do
it.”  He stood right back and told us, I’m with Bro. Branham on
that, I don’t know how a lot of things are going to happen but
they’re going to happen.  

35.	But I know that 1989, based upon the shed blood, and furthermore,
the shed Life of the Word, can be the greatest year we ever had.  And
we’re off to a good start, because we know where it all starts, it
starts with the Word.  And this Grace Gospel Church, it’s good, it’s
a good name, because it’s ‘Gospel’.  We could actually rename the
church, ‘the Grace Gospel Church’ or the ‘Grace Gospel Truth
Church’, you could call it what you want.  But we have the actual
Gospel for this hour.  Delivered by a vindicated prophet.  And we are
not here to ostracize the world.  We are called a cult, I appreciate it,
we are a cult to them, it’s no problem.  We are heretics, no problem,
to them we’re heretics.  No problem.  I’m not trying to evangelize
them, they don’t bother me.  If I feel led to talk to somebody, I’ll
do it, if I don’t I won’t.  I’m fine.  No problem.  I’m not a
war with anybody, this church is not at war, except with Satan.  The
spirit of evil, the spirit of error.  We are called the spirit of error,
we’re mocked.  That doesn’t matter at all.  We still have no ax to
grind.  We simply must stand for the truth as we understand, which is
vindicated.  

36.	And let me tell you something, brother/sister, study your Bibles and
study history.  When did anybody ever make any waves?  You say, “Well,
Luther made a great wave.”  Come on, come on.  How many were born
again in Luther’s day?  Come on.  You say, “Well, Wesley sure made a
wave.”  Did he really?  The number of millions, how many were touched?
 How many Lutherans did he get out?  Five or ten maybe, handful.  He had
to go out and get others.  What did Pentecost do?  Out of the billions? 
“Well bless God, there’s four million of us Pentecostals.”  And
five billion people.  Five billion people in Noah’s day, eight got in
an ark.  Six billion coming up right now.  The Bride is one out of
eight.  That would be seven foolish virgin, and one wise, right?  How
many are there?  How many are there?  

37.	Bro. Branham, I never heard him make this statement, I believe he
made it.  I can’t find it on any tape, of course I haven’t heard all
the tapes.  But it is said Bro. Branham mentioned to a friend that
there’d be more Bride in America than any place in the world.  Now
that’s common sense.  That’s common sense.  Because that’s always
where the sheep are, when God sends a shepherd.  Jesus did not go to the
world, He went to one place, Israel.  Wesley did not run around the
world.  Paul got further than Wesley.  Wesley came to America and went
back.  Paul did better.  Where did Luther go?  There is no record of
Luther, in my book, I understand him going to France, or to England, or
to Sweden.  Might have gone to Switzerland, I don’t know.  I don’t
even think he went to Austria.  He was a German, he stayed in Germany. 
Why didn’t he run around?  Where did Martin go?  If he was a church
messenger, I believe he was.  Where did Columba go?  Huh?  You only got
one person, in the beginning Paul made extensive journeys, William
Branham made extensive journeys.  Now they said, “Paul, you cannot go
to where you want to go.  You must go to Macedonia.”  Paul could not
go where he wanted to go.  Tell me, how come William Branham never went
to Australia, to New Zealand?  He didn’t go to Austria, he didn’t go
to China.  He went to India.  One little meeting.  Why?  Elect.  Not
millions.  Grace and truth.

38.	This church, for years we’ve stood with the truth as we understand
it.  And we’ll continue to stand, and by the grace of God, and I trust
we’re not just talking in generalities, we’re not just talking to
please you or try to please God, or work something up.  But the actual
truth of the matter is, by the grace of Almighty God, and it will be
grace extended, because it has to be by truth.  The real grace of God is
truth.  Right.  Too many years we’ve been without it.  But this is the
time to get back to it.  Lord bless you, let’s rise at this time and
be dismissed.  We’ll get with questions and answers on Wednesday.

Heavenly Father, again we thank You for Your kindness and mercy to us,
Lord.  Knowing this, O God, that we are beginning a new year.  And Lord,
it’s really not going to be any different from any other year as far
as the solid rock revelation’s concerned, except by faith because of
Your grace extended.  We will grow in knowledge and in stature of our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, through the Life of the Word that has
been released to us and is in us.  And Father, we cannot thank You
enough, in these trying hours and especially my own testimony, Lord.  I
cannot thank You enough knowing myself, cannot thank You enough, Lord,
for a vindicated prophet.  Because, Lord, if I’d a gone back preaching
and simply stayed in Pentecost, I’d end up nothing but a politician,
or quit preaching and gone off in sheer disgust.  Because it just
wasn’t there.  Not against the people, Lord, you know my heart.  But
that Word, Lord, that reality.  That’s something to stand on in the
face of all the scholars, and on the onslaught of this end time.  This
age of the mind, when Satan is quickening minds, with every diabolical
cunning, and every answer, and every reason.  Yet Lord, You quickened
our minds.  And I’m so glad You did it because now I can stand Lord,
and the people can stand, we know this congregation there are people way
smarter than I am, Lord.  And they’re not depending on any of their
thoughts either, they’re depending on Your thoughts.  

Now Father God, if there is some way that we can receive a little more
grace to open up our hearts and our minds, and our entire bodies as
temples of the Holy Ghost to the Living Word of God, Lord this morning
we stand here hopefully available to it.  And for it, O God.  That there
won’t be one of us miss that measure of truth that’s required for
each one of us in this hour.  And Father, You made a wonderful statement
through John.  And that is, if we walk in the Light as He is the Light,
we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ will
be cleansing us.  Lord, we’re in that light we believe, that You
brought in this end hour, we taught by the prophet.  And we believe
Lord, we’re walking in it, living in it. 

 Father, we know that we might be living in it a whole lot more than
we’re walking in it, so Lord will You just help us to catch up with
the walk.  Because we need it, I need it, we know there’s nobody here
that doesn’t, Lord, because we’re still in this flesh.  Being
sanctified daily by Your goodness, Father.  So help us Lord, to come to
this full stature we’re looking forward to.  Now catching up to
Abraham in full assurance of faith.  Walking and talking with our
blessed Lord, having fellowship in this Light, the blood cleansing. 
Moving right on down.  Let Sodom be destroyed by fire.  Let them fall at
our left hand and our right.  We know You who showed indisputably, that
You are the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  And no man can come any other
way but this.  And Father this morning we raise our hand toward You, and
say, “By this we come O God, the best we know, Lord.”  Forgive us
for every error, Lord, of the past.  Strengthen us Lord, for a greater
walk of Light and Life in the future.  A blessing to all mankind, Lord,
or anyone that might cross our path.  Help us we pray, O God.  Let the
spirit of Jesus Christ within us pray as never before, that we might
walk this path, 1989, unto the glory of God.  In Jesus’ name we pray,
amen. 

 ‘Lord bless you, just take the name of Jesus with you.’

New Year’s Message 1989   -   Page   PAGE  1