Stewardship: Q&A # 11

 ‘Obedience of Faith’

March 29, 1998

Heavenly Father, we know that Bro. Branham taught us through Your
infallible Word, by Your vindication that the Spirit of Wisdom and
revelation would come into the church at the end-time to show the church
the hour in which it was living.  And then review the deep mysterious
things of God unto her, which we know that this is that hour just before
the rapture.  This is that special time of grace that has been given to
us.  And this is where time and eternity have blended together.  This is
where Your Scripture is fulfilled: “Elijah must truly come and Jesus
Christ must rise with healing in His wings”.  

All of these things, Lord, we realize, and we ask this morning that You
impress them deeply upon our hearts through the processes of the Holy
Spirit working in the Word, and our spirit, and our minds, that we will
not forget, but hold above all else – even in a superimposition even
as Paul said concerning the Word, we say concerning Bro. Branham –
these things always take precedence over everything else, the hour in
which we live.  Because You are here setting Your church in order.

Help us to know that, Lord, and live daily by it, even moment by moment,
breath by breath.  Because, we know that this hour upon us holds great
problems.  There are great things ahead of us, Lord, that the prophet
did not tell us.  But we know that he affirmed them, in the sense that
he indicated that they were there.  So, we pray that we may be ready …
absolutely ready, Lord, for whatever befalls.  And we know we cannot be
ready outside of the preparedness that You Yourself give us.

So, may we put on that full garment this morning, Lord, the complete
robe of righteousness and be fully armed with Your Word and the
instrument that You have given us, which also lies in the Word, and that
revelation, the strength within us to see it come to pass.  We may know
this, Lord, and stand steady, stand steadfast, for we realize that this
is what counts according to Your Word.  And if we’re counted as sheep
for the slaughter, then that is fine also.  That is what You said, and
that is what You want, Lord.  And we know that whatever comes, there is
grace for it, there is power for it.  Whatever there is, we are more
than able to take the land, to enter into what lies ahead of us.

So, help us in our studies today, Lord, whatever we may glean therein to
give us more strength.  And we give You glory, in Jesus’ Name.  Amen. 
You may be seated.

1.   Now, we’re going to go back and look at some of the things we
said previously just to get you caught up in a little clearer
understanding.  The last two messages, we’ve looked into what I have
called the ‘passive and active’ faith, which is actually, we know
that … as I said, Bro. Branham never used that term, and that term is
not found in the Bible.

I think we came to the realization, the last service we had that, simply
put, faith is simply faith.  When it comes to the truth of the
substance, you cannot change the substance of passive faith to another
substance of active faith.  You don’t have two kinds of faith, any
more than there are two kinds of Holy Spirit.  God is Holy Spirit.  And
for a person to receive the baptism with the Holy Ghost is actually
receiving another portion of the Spirit of Almighty God into the soul
where that seed is, to bring that seed, not only into life as that
Spirit quickens, but also the ability given to receive the Word of God
in complete revelation so that there can never be any stepping aside or
any way that a person could not have a perfect and true worship. 
Because, you know, that’s where Satan lost his ability to have perfect
and true worship.  He [God] says, “Iniquity was found in thee”,
which is a changing or a perverting of the Word.

2.    So, we have this passive faith, that we talked about.  And we have
the same faith in an active manner.  It is one and the same.  You
can’t find two different faiths in the Bible.  You just find one
faith.  And what we’re dealing with is not simply a faith of man,
we’re dealing with the faith that God gives, which Bro. Branham took
from, I believe, 2 Peter 1, which is the basic, to where you go from
faith to virtue, and virtue to knowledge, and knowledge to godliness,
and so on, and so on.

So, receiving faith is simply the term we use of receiving the
revelation, and active faith is simply using that faith which we
received, having received it from God -- perfectly from Him, no strings
attached.  He gave it to us.

So, receiving faith is an arbitrary act of God wherein He in His
sovereign will gives or withholds that faith, which is a revealed faith.
 It’s a revealed faith.  Here is where people simply don’t
understand, unless they really study the Word, that a revealed faith has
to do with God Almighty revealing His own truth to the people, and they
standing in that truth.  And [the ?] stand in that truth, then, as you
stand there … and as Paul says, “Having done all to stand; the loins
of your mind gird up, and you stand there before God, and having all
that you can do, you stand.

3.   Now, the fact of your standing is your greatest active faith that
you can ever produce.  In other words, you believe that revelation,
you’re ready to die for it.  Paul, the apostle, had a revelation; he
died for it.  Peter had a revelation; he died for it.  We know that
Stephen had a revelation; he died for it.  He stood there when the
stones were being hurled at him, and he looked up and he saw the Lord
Jesus standing at the right had of the Majesty on High.  Of course, he
couldn’t see God.  No man can see God.  But, no doubt, he saw the
Pillar of Fire, the same as John did – the One on the Throne, like a
Pillar of Fire.  And his face lit up like an angel’s, and he died very
happy in the Lord.  And Peter, of course, went to the cross and they
crucified him upside down because he was not willing to be in the
upright position that Jesus was.

So, you can see, when you’re talking about an active faith and a
passive faith, you’re actually talking about, “What am I doing with
what I have received from God?  How am I reacting to it?  How does it
influence my life?  What is actually going on?”  

4.   So, looking at that revealed faith, Bro. Branham used, of course,
Matthew 16 wherein He asked them,

(13) 	… Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?

(14) 	And they said, Some say … John the Baptist; some, (Elijah); and
others             (Jeremiah), or one of the prophets.

(15) 	… But whom (do you say) that I am?

(16)	And Simon Peter (was the one that answered) … Thou art the 
Christ, the             	Son of the living God.

In other words, “You are Messiah.  And you are Messiah in a different
way from what we have anticipated.  You’re different from being the
Deliverer, and we’ve always considered Jehovah Elohim, the Deliverer. 
We believe that He was the One that came in a Pillar of Fire to take us
out of Egypt.  And we believe that He’s the One who appeared to the
prophets.  But now we’re looking at you and we are calling you
Messiah”.  And that clicks with Scripture, because Moses said, by
revelation, “There is One coming like unto me, who is going to be
Messiah, and Him you’ll listen to”.

Now, this man spoke without an actual revelation of Scripture in the
sense that there is no way that he recalled that Scripture of
Deuteronomy 18.  And there is no way that he could have possibly known
that this was the Son of God.  Even though we know that he knew from
Scripture (I think, quite properly) that Adam was a son of God.  And
therefore, all those who descended … and he understood serpent-seed,
I’m quite sure, because the Jews understood that.  From John 8 you
understand that.  He would say, “Well, now, look.  I know that you are
in that lineage” … No, there’s no way.  Unh-unh, there’s no way
at all.  This is something he never figured, period.  And as we go on
we’ll find out.  

5.   Matthew 16:

 (16)	And Jesus answered and said … Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona 	 
           	(“Happy are you.  Categorically, you are in a class by
yourself, 	                              	Simon, the son of Jonah”):
for flesh and blood hath not revealed it 	                        	unto
thee.

Now, Peter is flesh and blood.  Everybody around him is flesh and blood.
 Jesus the Christ is flesh and blood.  And he said, “No way did you
get this in any way, shape or form outside of Jehovah Elohim telling
you”.  The burst of inspiration that came to him … actually, I
believe, he blurted it out of his mouth and literally heard himself say
it.  I can’t prove that.  And I’ve had that happen to me.  Bro.
Branham said it happened to him on different occasions.  I don’t
believe he is unique, and I don’t believe I’m unique … for one
minute.  But there is a uniqueness, that unless you’re a seed of God,
forget it, you’re not going to say it.  And if you did say it under an
inspiration, you wouldn’t believe it to the extent you would stay with
it, be willing to die for it.  Because, this becomes your life, right
here.

And he said, [Matthew 16:]

 (16)	… I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock
(you 	                        	know, Peter is “petros” – little
pebble.  And upon this rock) I will 	 		build my church; and the gates
of hell shall not prevail against it.

6.   Now, Bro. Branham brought out what no other theologian ever brought
out, to my knowledge.  I’ve never read it anywhere at any time or
place (and I’ve had many, many articles on the Gospels).  Almost
everybody says, because of Paul, that the church is built upon
…[the]?… foundation of Jesus Christ, the righteous.  But they forget
that He is the revealed Word.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God”, is Jehovah-Elohim.  Bro. Branham said if you make that
Jesus, there are three Gods.  You can’t do it.  But then it said,
“The Word was made flesh”.  God Himself, the complete Word Himself
and all that It stands for, was made manifest in the flesh of the Lord
Jesus Christ.  And they say from that, many would say from Paul, that
Jesus is the foundation.  And in a limited sense that is true.  He’s
also the cornerstone.  That is also true.  But Bro. Branham is correct:
it is the ‘revelation’ on which the church is built, because … and
you trace it right back to Heaven.  Satan stood right there, confused
the Word, and was all gone.

So, therefore, if you can be created by God to the extent that you are
to lead in worship, be the chief cherubim, stand right there with the
Son of God, incarnated in an archangel called Michael, and you can be
literally equal with God (and we’ll talk about that later, how that
works out – an equality, right there) and one word off blows it, then
there is no way that you can possibly have any structure of God outside
of the foundation-Word which is unchanged, which is a revelation. 
Can’t do it.

7.   Now, he says here, [Matthew 16:]

 (16)	And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom … (and so on)

But, with that, I want to read over here in Romans, to show you the
accuracy of Bro. Branham’s statement.  Not that we disregard it, but
every single thing must be taken to the Bible.  Because, Bro. Branham
said, “Just think, how wonderful!  The same Pillar of Fire that
brought the Word to Paul is here revealing it”.  

So, all right.  There’s nothing that William Branham can say
concerning doctrine, but what goes right to the apostle Paul.  And
remember, the same Spirit that gave the scribes – Matthew, Mark, Luke
and John – the ability to transcribe perfectly the thoughts of God
without being prophets, that same Spirit … when Bro. Branham could go
back to any of the Gospels, and it had to go back to the Gospels when it
was pertaining to the fact if God using an instrument to reveal Himself
so that the Son of Man could one day come back to earth (which is a
ministry) where Bro. Branham said, “There is a difference between
those two words “coming and “appearing.  Appearing is now.  He is
appearing now”.  That’s why he said, “My ministry is to declare
that He is here”.  

8.   So, we go to Romans [1:] then, and we’ll start at verse 15,

 (15)	So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you
that are                      	at Rome also.

	Now, this man is stating his active faith. “As much as lies within me
– my whole strength, my whole life, my time, my energy – everything
is given to this revelation”.  Now, this is thoroughly explained in
Galatians.  We’ve read it many, many times.

 (16)	For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power
of God                              	unto salvation to every one that
believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the                     	Greek.

Now, what is that Gospel?

 (17)	For therein, is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to
faith:

	So, if you’re going to find anything in the Gospel which is the
Gospel of Jesus Christ which Paul himself calls “my Gospel”, fully
identifying himself with this which he received from God, just the same
as Moses was given the same title – the Law of Moses.  That’s why
Bro. Branham could say, “Moses, Paul, William Branham” – the
triumvirate, three of them (God working in threes).

 (18)	For therein (this Gospel), is the righteousness of God revealed
from faith                          	to faith.

Now, it tells you there’s a righteousness of God that is revealed. 
So, therefore, this is a revelation.  Now, you notice what we said: the
revelation comes from faith to faith, and there are seven Church Ages
– seven dispensations of the righteousness of God revealed through the
Gospel, from faith to faith.  And it tells you in Ephesians … Paul
himself tells you in the first chapter, having thoroughly vindicated
himself in the book of Galatians and in the book of Romans, and in the
book of 1st Corinthians, that that same Spirit that came in the first
Age would return with a complete revelation of God once more.  That’s
why Bro. Branham said, “The greatest revelation was: there is one God,
and you must be baptized in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ”. 

9.	Now, I ask you a question: Tell me, what did you add to that?  How
did you produce it?  The Oneness people said, “Oh, William Branham is
teaching what we believe”.  Hogwash, he was!  They’ve all ended up
completely away from God.  I’m sorry, but that’s the truth, or
William Branham lied.  He said, “I am not Oneness”.  Well, he was
Oneness, but he wasn’t that kind of Oneness!  Jesus is not his own
Father.  No way, shape and form.  The Oneness doctrine that the Oneness
people teach – the Jesus-Only, that’s what it is – is no different
from the Trinitarian doctrine, where the baby sits on the mother’s lap
( the Babylonian corruption) and the inscription says “The child, or
the baby is the husband of the Mother”.  In other words, he is his own
father.  Forget it – no difference.  You have a trinity in the one,
you have a unity in the other, and both of them are a million miles off.
 Because, in the Trinity scene, you see the baby on the mother’s lap
and a halo above it.  And the Oneness is the same bunch of literal
indecent heresy.

	[Romans 1:]

(17)	For therein (in this Gospel of Christ … and, remember, He is the
Word.  The Gospel of Messiah, if you want to get saved), is the
righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith (It doesn’t talk
about the righteousness of Jesus.  It talks about the righteousness of
God): as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

Now, there you have something given you in every age, whereby you live.

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

10.	What about these people that say there’s no five-fold ministry? 
Oh, they say, “You’ve just got to hear tapes and God will give you a
revelation”.  They’re a part of this system – deceived and
deceiving.  Bro. Branham said opposite to them.  Yet they have people
around them who cannot flee for the sake of their own lives.  They would
sooner go to hell, I guess, or do something, or suffer somewhere, than
listen to the Word of Almighty God that Bro. Branham gave us, thoroughly
vindicated.  These are things I don’t understand about people.  Do
they believe in vindication, or don’t they?  They don’t believe in
any vindication; they just say they do.  Quote him left and right, what
is the difference?

(18)	For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all
ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in
unrighteousness;

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

	How …?… manifested in them?  It’s manifested amongst them, on the
grounds they see the absolute invincible and irrefutable vindication
that God gives the prophets.

11.	So … all right, now we’ll notice, here, that Rom 10:8-11 follows
what I’ve just read in Romans 1.  So, what I’m going to do is read
Romans 1 again:

(15)	So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you
that are                         	at Rome also.

(16)	For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power
of God                        	unto salvation to every one that
believeth;

	In other words, there’s dunamis.  There’s actual power that can be
released in this Word that will bring you right into the revelation of
Godhead, as it must be known from faith to faith.  Because, remember,
you have to start with faith, and you end with faith.  And remember, the
Scripture said, “Shall the son of man find faith when he cometh?”,
which is the body of truth.  Will the revelation be there that was with
Paul?  The answer is, “No, it wasn’t”.  That’s why He had to
send a vindicated prophet, exactly like Paul, and bring the truth to us
again, which is the former-rain prophet in the time of the latter-rain. 
Which is right back to Pentecost, with all the gifts and all the power
and everything else, a baptized small group of people.  

	God appears to bring the Word, to bring the church in subjection to the
Word, to bring them into perfect faith.  And this is the hour of Perfect
Faith because it’s the hour of perfect revelation, and it’s also the
end of it.  Remember, perfection comes in seven, meaning conclusion –
absolutely finished, where you can’t add a Word or take a Word.  You
can’t even scratch it.  You can’t put a pimple on it.  That even
goes for the Bride of Jesus Christ: you can’t take away one member or
add one member.  And you can’t put a pimple on her.  

	So, what are you going to do with all the tattoos out here?  I threw
that in because a lot of idiots or some idiots could be sitting here,
now (you young people) who want a tattoo or something.  Well, go ahead
and get it.  I’m tough.  Don’t come to me later on.  No – I’ve
got no time for you later on.  Listen now.  “In the days of thy youth
while the evil days draw not near” … and you say, “Oh God, I wish
I hadn’t done that … Oh God, I wish I hadn’t done that”.  So,
you had better be listening now.

12.	Now, [Romans 1:]

(17)	For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith unto
faith:                              	as it  is written, The just shall
live by faith.

	So there has got to be a faith in every single Age.  Remember, it began
to wane in the first Age … down, down … the fourth Age was literally
buried.  The fifth Age, they began to come back.  Six and seventh, and
the seventh Age is Perfect Faith.  “They without us cannot be made
perfect” – what ‘they’ was that?  The ‘they’ that began in
faith to cross over.  The first Church Age, Ephesus, has returned.

	Now,

(18)	For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all
ungodliness and 	unrighteousness of man, who hold the truth in
unrighteousness.

13.	Now, let’s go over here, then, to Romans 10 and read verses 8-10.

(8)	But what saith it?  The word is nigh thee even in thy mouth, and in
thy                           	heart: that is, the word of faith, which
we preach;

Now, listen:

(9)	That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt
believe                       	in thine heart that God hath raised him
from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

(10)	For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the
mouth               	confession is made unto salvation.

	What if you’re confessing a wrong revelation of the Gospel?  You
can’t just confess this Word with a wrong revelation.  There are a
million revelations out there.  Who is right?  I’ve got lots of books
I’ve read.  Lots of books in my library.  I don’t read them anymore;
they’re sitting in the back, out there, and sitting over in my house. 
They’re sitting all over.  I’m ready to … I’ve junked just about
everything I’ve got.  I’m not interested, because the revelation is
wrong!  They say the church is built upon Jesus Christ.  You had better
watch it.  Bro. Branham said, “That term means Jesus Christ who is the
Word.”  And it is the truth.  If the faith of Jesus is a faith, and we
have that faith, and that faith is requisite for the revelation (the
foundation, the building), so the superstructure of our lives can come
upon it and Jesus Christ himself had to have it, then He can’t be
other than a cornerstone!  Jesus Christ, the righteous; Jesus Christ,
the Word.  And the same One coming back, and we’ll meet Him in the air
very, very shortly.

	Romans [10:]

(8)	… the Word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that
is, the                   	Word (has been preached)

(9)	(You have confessed … and so on)

(10)	For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the
mouth                	confession is made unto salvation.

(11)	For the Scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be
ashamed.

14.	Now, you’ll notice, in here, that your faith requires a
confession.  Now, what is your faith?  Three gods?  Jesus-Only? 
Everybody’s got a little bit of God? … that’s how He’s present? 
And our love is going to perfect the church?  How many years do we go
through before this nonsense goes out of our heads?  Well, if you’re
not seed, the nonsense will never go out of your heads.  You’ll never
be able to take it.  So, don’t pretend.  Because the more you pretend
the greater wrath of God will be accumulated against you.  Judgment
faces everybody, so don’t try to escape it.  In fact, Bro. Branham
said we’re going through the Judgment.  How often he said, “You sing
nice songs, ‘I’ll go with Him through the Judgment’.”  You’re
doing it now.  Why?  Because the Judge appeared.  If Jehovah-Elohim
didn’t come down and He’s not the Judge, [then] you tell me who is! 
You tell me who that Pillar of Fire is.  Not that the Pillar of Fire is
God; that’s just the Shekinah glory.  That’s just the glory
attendant upon the personal Presence of God.  That fire is not God. 
Although the Bible says He’s a consuming fire, don’t let that throw
you for a loop.  He’s Spirit, and He can consume if He wants to.  In
fact, He annihilates.  

15.	You say, “How can God annihilate?”  People are so foolish.  He
just withdraws His Word, and it’s gone!  Read your Bibles.  Didn’t
the Bible tell you, all things were made by the Word, and all things are
maintained by It?  Then, what if there is no ‘maintainer’?  It’s
gone!  In other words, every single thing right today lives by God. 
Even the rocks, with those slow-moving atoms – moving so slow you
can’t tell they’re even moving.  Let Him remove His Word, and see
what happens.  That’s why, let me and you apply His Word in faith and
see what happens. That’s the thing right there – we’re talking
about active and passive faith.

(11)	For the Scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be
ashamed.

Now, down below, it says in verse 14:

(14)	How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? 
And how                 shall they believe on him of whom they have not
heard?  And how shall they                   hear without a preacher?

	Full five-fold ministry, right there.  Then, how come some people
believe that they don’t …[have to]?… have a five-fold ministry? 
Of course, they think they’re the whole thing.  I’m not a pastor; I
teach.  You can have the rest of it.

(15)	And how shall they preach, except they be sent? (That’s the whole
thing:                    	How many were sent?) as it is written, How
beautiful are the feet of them                  	that preach the gospel
of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things?                      
(Which is the Gospe.)

(16)	But they have not all obeyed the gospel.  For Esaias saith, Lord,
who hath                	believed our report?

16.Now, watch,

(17)	So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

	And hearing means ‘understanding’.  And there is no way, except God
gives you that revelation, you really understand the Word, or how can
you sit here for fifteen solid years and still not understand the
Presence of God?  It’s Jehovah-Elohim Who came down!  And He came down
to a people who were seed.  And He came down at Pentecost to the seed to
fill them with the Holy Spirit.  But I want you to know one thing: If
you’re going to get to the original stage of Pentecost, you are going
to have a seed of people fully baptized with the Holy Ghost, knowing
some of the things of God but in the wilderness concerning doctrine. 
Because, they did not know doctrine until Paul came!  Come-on, come-on
… Bro. Branham said, “We’ve got to get back to Pentecost”.  Are
you back where the Pillar of Fire has baptized a group of people with
the Holy Ghost, led a certain group out?  If you’re part of that,
He’s going to have to come back with a prophet!  So, ninety-nine
percent of the Branhamites want to run around talking in tongues, and
everything else, and calling it God.  Come-on, get your Bible.  Prove me
wrong, come-on.  I’m not a hard guy.  Just get with it; show me.  Bro.
Branham said the Corinthian church was in utter confusion.  The utter
confusion still reigns.  (There’s a question on “gifts”, here. 
We’ll go into that later.)

	[Romans 10:]

(17) 	So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.  
                 (Understanding by the Word of God.)

	The church has only two sources of perfection.  One is the Blood that
scatters sin; the other is the five-fold ministry that preaches the
truth.  Look it up.  Bro. Branham said so, and I can prove [it] to you
by Ephesians 4.  And remember, the book of Ephesians is the book you
want to read, as no other book, because chapter one is the whole
eternity to eternity in a nutshell.  And from there on there’s a
filler that applied only to a local church.  But it still applies to us
because we’re back to the Ephesian Age.

17.	Now …(we read on that portion), so then we go to Hebrews 11.  So
you begin to understand this faith which was once-for-all delivered to
the saints, which was very definitively the body of doctrine.  And
remember, Jesus said, “In vain do you worship me, having the doctrine
(the traditions) of men.”  And the word doctrine means ‘teaching’.
 So, if the teachings are merely traditions handed down -- “I’m
Baptist.  I’m Presbyterian.  I’m Pentecostal.  I had this
experience; I had that”-- I’m sorry, you could be wrong, especially
in this last hour.

	Hebrews 11:

(1)	Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of
things                          	not seen.

(2)	For by it the elders obtained a good report.

	Now, notice that these people had faith.  And it was through that faith
that they had only, that they got a good report.  So, therefore, if you
are in the faith, the revealed faith, that is the only way you are going
to get any credit with God, whatsoever.  So, what if you’re outside
the body of truth?  What if you say … 

	“I don’t believe this vindicated man.  Well, you watch my smoke.  I
tell you, I know what the Word of God says.  He said, ‘Go out and heal
the sick and raise the dead’, and I’m doing it”.  

	He also said, “Depart from me ye workers of iniquity”.

	“Awe, well, they were backslidden”

	How do you know?  The Bible doesn’t say so.  He said, “I never knew
you”.  If they were backslidden, He had to know them at one time.  And
He would have to keep on knowing them.  Because a backslidden heifer …
and the farmer got the rope around her neck, and she puts her feet in. 
He says, “I’m going to pull one [way], and maybe you pull the
other.”  I tell you one thing about it: I’ve never seen a calf win
yet.  So, God puts His seed in, gets a rope around your neck, do you
think that God is going to let go of you?  You’re going to win? 
You’ll choke, you’ll die.  But you’ll get there, because He
won’t lose one.  You say, “I’m the exception.  I’m going to see
that God loses me”.  That’s exactly right.  You never were part. 
You’re a Cain.  You’re spitting right in God’s face and denying
it.  We’ll talk about that this morning (if we get time), too.  It
shows you just how you can worship, and do it that way, too.

18.	So, it says right here, “they obtained a good report”.  Good
things were said about them, written down.  And a book of remembrance
was opened concerning them.  And that’s what it said in Malachi.  The
first thing in that book was: they were God’s jewels, and they were
talking to each other in a certain way.  They were enunciating and
showing forth their faith, which was the revealed Word of Almighty God. 
I don’t talk like a Pentecostal.  I don’t talk like a Baptist.  I
don’t talk like a Jehovah’s Witness.  I don’t talk like anybody
but William Branham.  And thank God!  You can laugh and say, “Well,
you’re a sect”.  Well, fine!  What are you?  You’re an
‘insect’.  [Laughter]  I …?… know what you are; God have pity on
you.  I’ll stand before God with my hand raised, this Bible opened: I
believe what I believe.  I’m standing right here ready for judgment on
what I’m preaching this morning.  And it’s on every single tape, and
there are about over a thousand of them.  Some have been corrected …
that’s okay.  For the Word always corrects the believer.

19.	Now, he says in here, [Hebrews 11:]

(1)	Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word 
                     	of God, so that things which are seen were not
made of things which do 	                   	appear.

	Now, where does Darwin come in on that?  So-called science, where does
it come in on that?  They’re already judged.  How many scientists are
going to go to heaven?  That’s a good question.  I can’t answer
that, but you had better believe, I’m not looking for them.  Unless
they’re like old Doc [Rimmer?].  He was with the federal government
for many years – a highly educated man, an archaeologist – he wrote
many books: Archaeology proves the Bible … that there is a God of
justice and judgment …?… .  Even [Shanefield?], the guy that wrote
“The Passover Plot”, his New Testament is one of the best Testaments
I’ve ever read.  And he said, “The Bible’s right, as far as
history and the literal, actual record is concerned”.  But he didn’t
believe it.  I’m going to tell you something: the Bible distinctly
says to us that people get angry with God, and God allows the wrath of
man to praise him.  And “the remainder of wrath he doth restrain”
[Psalm 76:10].  Here is a reprobate Jew (unless he’s a seed and we
don’t know it, and he gets converted) hurling his anathema against
God, but at the same time admitting the New Testament is correct.  If
you haven’t read it, maybe you can still get it.  It’s one of the
best ones I’ve ever read.  Same as Monseignor Knox, the Catholic.  His
interpretation of the book of Acts is beautiful.  It’s the best I’ve
ever read.  It’s better than a wild west story for being exciting. 
Most Protestants can’t do that well.

 	All right … so, here.  We look here and understand that faith
actually is this revelation that these people walked in.  And it starts
with believing in God, which they do believe in God. 

20.		Now, with that we go to verse 4. [Hebrews 11:]

(1)	By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain,
by                        	which he obtained witness that he was
righteous; God testifying of his gifts,                 	and by it he
being dead yet speaketh.

	Now, here we have two people worshipping according to their revelation.
 One had the revelation of a blood sacrifice.  The other had a
revelation “I don’t need any blood.  I’m exactly fine the way I
am”.  And that’s your serpent-seed right there.  They deny the
Blood; they can’t help it.  They don’t want the Blood.  And if they
do come to the place where they believe there is a Blood, they’ll
pervert it and put it some other place where it doesn’t belong.

	This man was offering a first-fruit offering, because it says “his
sacrifice was excellent”.  So it had to be something in the Bible. 
And if it’s in the Bible, it’s excellent.  But the point is this: it
can’t be excellent in the perfection in the eyes of God for you and
received by God from you unless it is placed where God wants it placed. 
Number 1, comes the Blood.  Then comes the first-fruit offering. 
Because, when you get to first-fruit offering, you’re looking at the
resurrection of Jesus Christ.  You look at your resurrection also.

	You know something: the first early church, Corinth, had people
teaching others the resurrection was over and denying it.  You say,
“How could it be?”  Look around you, and ask the same question: How
can it be?  If you look around today, and you know what is going on, in
the light of the absolutely irrefutable, it’s easy to see how they
could deny a resurrection or deny anything else!  There’s no problem. 
The big problem is so few see this Message.  So few can come along side
of it, even to any degree whatsoever.

21.	Now, let’s go also to Heb 11: 5-6.

(5)	By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was
not                          	found, because God had translated him: for
before his translation he had                        	this testimony …
(he had this testimony), that he pleased God.

	Now, how in the world can God testify to this fellow, unless he first
testified to God, in pleasing God?  Which is:

(6)	[Paraphrased] Without faith you can’t please Him.  You’ve got to
believe                       	that He is.  And He’s a rewarder.

	And you can’t have that without a revelation.  And that’s what
He’s called, in the book of Ephesians, the “Spirit of revelation”.
 Now, if He is a Spirit of revelation then, He had to be a Spirit of
revelation in the beginning; He had to be all the way down the line. 
So, without a revelation you can’t please God, because, first of all,
you don’t even know Who God is.  Now, it said [to] these people over
here, “You’ve got to believe that God is”.  Well, God is what? 
Three Gods, one God, two Gods, four Gods … what?

(6)	[Paraphrased] Without faith you cannot please Him.  Must believe
that                             He is a rewarder of them that seek Him.

(7)	By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved
with                        	fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his
house; by the which he condemned                   	the world, and
became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

22.	Now, notice there, again: “By faith Noah, being warned of God of
things not seen as yet”… That’s a revelation, right there. 
Because, how could Noah by his own faith reach out and say, “Now,
Lord, I know you’re going to have a flood”?

[End of Side One]

	“Lord, You should bring a flood upon this earth.  Now, just work it
out”.  It had to be a revelation.  And the Bible says that it was. 
That God spoke to Noah and said, “Build an ark”.  And what happened?
 Noah believed Him!  That’s all.  So, he built an ark, and [in] doing
it, he condemned the world.  [He] became heir of the righteousness,
which is by faith.  In other words, there is a righteousness which is by
faith.  A righteousness which God gives us, and nobody can do anything
about it, because it is something that is given to us of God.  I think
it’s over here in 2 Cor 5:21.

(21)	[Paraphrased]  For God hath made Jesus who knew no sin to be made a
                             sin-offering for us: that we might become
the righteousness of God in him.

	Now, how do you get that?  You believe it!  On what grounds do you
believe it?  Because it’s a revelation to you.  Most people don’t
even have that revelation, even in this Message, that the Blood of Jesus
Christ perfects and scatters sin till there be no evidence whatsoever. 
Then, how can you make a man a sinner?  How many believe the fact that
Bro. Branham said, “There will come a time when you’ll find out you
always were saved” ?  How could a seed be lost?  There’s no way that
God could lose a part of Him.  Then the body would be incomplete.  It
couldn’t be done.

23.	Now, let’s go further, [Hebrews 11:]

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

(2)	By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange
country …

	Now, here is what you’re understanding about this faith: you are
living in this faith and by this faith.  And when you do, everything
around you is strange to it.  You’re going to say, “Well, how could
God be just, and do this?  How could God be in this?  Why would God do
that?  Oh, don’t tell me these lovely people out here …”  See? 
You aren’t born-again.  You’re not born-again.  I can prove it. 
You’re asking questions.  You don’t ask questions.  Faith does not
ask questions, except to clarify what you really believe you’re
standing on as the true revelation, and you want to know more about it. 
But, if you say, “Well, the shout is not the Message”… you’ve
questioned it – and I’ve explained it so thoroughly, it’s pitiful
– you’re not born-again.  You’re not born-again.  The born-again
says, “This is vindicated”.  You don’t have anything to do with
it, except reject it if you’re not a seed.  (See?)

	“Say not in thine heart, ‘Who shall bring him down from heaven?’ 
Say not in thine heart, ‘Who shall raise him from the dead?’  Say
not in thine heart, ‘How does William Branham know these things?’ 
Say not in thine heart, ‘How does the apostle Paul get so and
so?’”  That’s within the depth of your soul you’re questioning. 
I thought that was a gene from God.  How can God question God?  Now, I
know your mind can get in there, but you’ll throw your mind out.

24.	Now, it said, this fellow sojourned; it meaning it was a temporary
condition in which he was existing.  He said, “I’m not here forever.
 No (he said), I’m not here forever”.  He said, “I’m only here
for a little while, but as in a strange country”.  Now, he was
supposed to be there, but it was strange to him.  Why?  Because he now
is lifted up in the revelation.  That’s like Bro. Branham said
concerning divine healing.  He said, “When it has been revealed unto
you [that] you’re healed, you’re healed”.  That’s why the Bible
tells and warns you: people are going to look at you and they’re going
to wonder why you don’t run to the same extravagance that they run to.
 

	I marvel at people that say they’re full of the Holy Ghost can watch
some of the junk they’re watching and everything else they’re into. 
It’s just chaff. You’ve got no feed in that stuff.  Chance to come
to church, go someplace else.  Fine, go ahead.  Chance to discuss the
Word, “Oh, I’ve got other things to do?”  Fine, go ahead.  You
know, if you think you’ve got a veil over you – some great big
garment like an Arab tent that people can’t look through and see –
I’ve got news for you: everyone’s living a life that’s so
thoroughly manifest in this church.  Hey!  Don’t try to kid anybody. 
You can’t even be a hypocrite anymore.  Everything is apparent.  If
it’s face to face, my brother/sister, then there’s nothing hidden
anymore.  So, let’s not pretend it’s hidden.  Let’s not pretend we
can waltz around something anymore.  You get to the place [where] you
could say, “I’m an aesthetic.  Everything is strange.”  But
you’re not like the nut that was so aesthetic, he couldn’t tie his
shoelace.  He was so wrapped up in God he would forget to tie his
shoelaces.  Well, we don’t have shoelaces anymore, but if he fell and
broke his neck, I’d laugh at him.  He deserves it.  That’s
stupidity.  That’s not being aesthetic; that’s just stupidity.  You
don’t get so wrapped up in God you can’t earn a living.  You’re so
wrapped up in God you can’t do this and you can’t do that.  I wonder
some of the things you would do, and I would do.  We’re not so wrapped
up in God, see.  Pssht!  Just hogwash … hogwash.  

25.	No.  Listen: there is a place where you realize there is vocation
and avocation.  The vocation is the true calling and the avocation is
just what you do for a living.  Our vocation comes from God, to live
this faith, this revelation.  To die for it, if necessary.  Not that
we’re perfect.  If we were perfect, we would not need a Lamb on the
throne, pleading for us, interceding.  No.  We’re talking now about
what God has ordained that you and I are now put in a position of
perfect standing before God.  The Blood scattering every sin. 
Righteous, as righteous as God is Himself.  No longer looking at our
bodies, full of the Holy Ghost, to get us out of the ground.  Looking at
our souls that are completely brought back to God and joined – one
Spirit, and it’s God’s Spirit.  And understanding that.  So, man
says, “I’m as righteous as God is”.  And we had better be. 
Because, if we don’t have His righteousness, what have we got?  [Do]
you see, the pure logic when Paul said, “I have become the
righteousness of God in Jesus Christ”?  If I am not one with Him …
and “He that is joined to the Lord is one Spirit” … did I make Him
dirty or did He make me clean?  Have I been brought back and bought
back?  Or have I not been?

	Now, you’ve got to recognize that you are a sojourner under those
conditions.  Because, every element out here will try to deny it.  But
there is where we stand in our faith and our confession, our confidence.
 (We’ll get that Scripture later). 

26.	So, now let’s keep going, [Hebrews 11:]

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

	Find that in the book of Genesis, and I’ll eat it.  You can’t find
it.  I can go to the book of Acts where Philip is preaching, and he
said, “Though God called Abraham and said, ‘Every place where your
sole of your foot touches, that is yours’, Abraham never got it! 
Nope, never got it.  But he looked for a city … you can’t find that
in the Bible.  Which goes to prove when Bro. Branham said, “Even as
the prophet tells you something you can’t find in the Bible, it’s
true.”  What about it?  See, if you don’t catch these things,
you’ve got … you simply can’t rejoice in this Word and what Bro.
Branham brought vindicated to you.  You haven’t even got a clue to it.
 You’ve got to believe, my brother/my sister.  And that
‘believing’, is not believing in ourselves; it is believing in Him. 

27.	Okay. [Hebrews 11:]

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

	I’m going to tell you something: she never believed until she got
slapped down.  Now, what did Bro. Branham say Heb 13:8 was?  Genesis 18,
right ?  And that’s where she got slapped down, right?  Before the
fire.  And the Bride gets slapped down in this Age.  Because, you saw
what you never saw before, and you heard what you never heard before. 
And you found out you were so wrong.  You weren’t believing bad at
all, you just thought you were believing.  But now you do … but now
you do.  And you believe in the One and the true and the living God. 
And you know that He had a Son, way back there.  And you know I just set
the stage for you to understand when Bro. Branham said, “If the
prophet says it and it’s not in the Bible, you had better believe
it”.  And no man ever told how that Jesus came forth, the
only-begotten Son of God, born of God, except Bro. Branham said, “The
Light formed”.  Hallelujah.  One of the mysteries that was not known
from before the foundation of the world, and we have it.  Now, why
aren’t we screaming, and crying, and running around?  Because we’re
listening, and we want more.  I wouldn’t want to spoil a sacred moment
by getting carried away by emotion, because it’s too deep for
emotions, my brother/sister.  You don’t get this by emotion; you get
it by divine revelation [that] gets in your soul and says, “That’s
right.  I’ve got it.  That’s right”.

28.	Oh, yes!  Now we’re beginning to get somewhere.  Let’s go to
[Heb 11:] 23-28.  This is to begin to let you know that this faith that
you have, you will live it.  This passive faith that you’ve got is a
gift by grace!  It gets a-hold of you.  You begin to move down the road,
as sojourners.  You’re not worried now what’s in this world,
you’re worried about the next and the things of God coming into your
life.

(23)	By faith Moses, when he was born … (and so on)

	He didn’t esteem the riches of Egypt.  He esteemed the treasures of
Christ.  He forsook Egypt.  Through faith he kept the Passover. 
“Ho!” they said, “What a stupid thing … get a sheep and sprinkle
the blood.  Ha!  We’ve got physicians here and they can take care of
any black plague.  We’ve got penicillin, aureomycin, and we use garlic
by the ton.  That kills anything (even the people that smell my
breath)”.  Why, yes … they all died.  Didn’t …?… a joke of it,
don’t worry.  Pastor Pharaoh and his bunch, they all laughed.  They
said, “Ho-ho! Listen.  We brought blood, too.  Look at, there.  We
brought lice, too.  We did this … Ahh, come-on, we can do these
things”.  But they couldn’t stop the second death, my
brother/sister.  They couldn’t stop the death of the first-born.  And
if the death of the first-born means ‘no life’, period … because,
first-born means ‘the extension of life’.  And Egypt was gone.  Yah!
 I’m looking for the first-born from amongst the dead, Hallelujah! 
We’re going to be there. 

29.	Now, read on a little more [Hebrews 11]:

(29)	By faith they passed through the Red sea …

(30)	By faith the walls of Jericho (came) down …

(31)	By faith the harlot Rahab … (she never perished.  Why? Because
she                     	believed. She said, “Hey, these people have
got something. I’d better                          	throw my lot [in]
with them.)

(32)	And what shall (we say? … Gedeon, Barak, Samson, Jephthae, David,
                   	Samuel)

(33)	Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained
                	promises, stopped the mouth of lions.

	And here is where you can see that your passive faith, your revelation,
causes you to live – and you will live – by it, and you will obtain
the promises of God.  You will do what God wants you to do.

	Now, remember, back here I read to you: “By faith Abraham obeyed”
… the obedience of faith.  You cannot obey faith unless you have faith
to obey.  And if you have that faith, you will obey it.  As Bro. Branham
said, “You say you believe me, why don’t you obey me?”  Now, the
same thing goes today.  There isn’t one of us that cannot walk in the
Light of the Scripture.  There is not one of us who hasn’t got Gal
2:20 (I love it, so we read it):

(20)	I am crucified …

	Not “am crucified” … Christ is not crucified.  He has already
been crucified	and risen, never to be crucified again.  They crucify the
Word, now.  “I have been crucified with Christ”.  And Bro. Branham
said it.  He was identified with Him – he died with Him, he paid for
his sins in Him, he arose with Him.  That’s from a man, where God puts
His Words in his mouth.

(20)	I (have been) crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I
but Christ                        liveth in me: and the life which I now
live in the flesh I live by the faith of                          the
Son of God …

	“I live by the revelation!  I live by what He gave me.  He knocked me
down to give it to me.  He busted me and I was glad to be knocked
down!”  And he said, “I have never been disobedient to the heavenly
vision.”  What is the heavenly vision?  Elohim in human flesh!  Yah. 
So …

(20)	… nevertheless I live … live by the faith of the Son of God,
who loved me, and gave himself for me.

	Have you got a revelation of the Son of God?  The Oneness make him the
Father.  The Trinity make him part of a three.  What is your revelation
of the Son of God this morning?  Can you accept that which was given,
not in the Bible, and the mystery from before the foundation of the
world – “Before there was a speck of stardust”, as Bro. Branham
said.  He should have said, “Before there was an atom”.  He finally
got to it.  Nothing to form out of … a light forms.  And there is only
God there to form from it.  A part of God – the First-begotten … the
Only-begotten.  This is the one time that God Himself gave birth.  From
then on, it was Adam and Eve.  Yup, that’s what He did.

	In the Garden, He said, “Let’s make man in our image”.  He was
talking to Jesus, the Son.  Somebody said [that] Bro. Branham said
‘cherubim’.  Find that somewhere.  You know, anybody can say,
“Bro. Branham said … Bro. Branham said … Bro. Branham said”. 
Come-on, bring it out where he said it.  I’ve been told a lot of
hunky-dunky stuff.  It’s ridiculous.  Implausible.  (See?)

30.	Okay.  The obedience of faith.  If you have a true revelation …
and in that true revelation, what will we find?  Well, what I read back
there, in Hebrews 11 … very, very clear.  Now, what did they do?

(33)	Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained
                   promises, stopped the mouths of lions.

	Now, how is there such a thing as “the doing of righteousness”?  In
the worship and the sacrifices!  (1 John 3 … The same Spirit of God
that talked to John, talked to Paul.)  Why did he slay his brother? 
Because his brother’s works were righteous.  The kingdoms of this
world will fall, and we are going to take over.  But, thank God, not
like some people think.  Because, I don’t want to come back and take
over nothing.  I want to start fresh, where we messed up in the Garden
of Eden.  Who wants anybody under anybody?  Don’t look at me.  I am no
leader of nothing.  The best I can do is lead myself to the tough (and I
hope I’ve got enough brains for that), to guzzle with the rest of the
creatures.  Who wants to rule over anybody?

	Ruling and reigning with Christ, my brother/sister, is “subduing the
earth” – raising good gardens, building good homes, living at peace
with your neighbors, learning more of the things of God, rejoicing in
Him, being free from all these encumbrances.  Man!  [If] you think I
want anything to do with you (and you know, except to love you and you
and me be friends), you are so wrong.  Unh, unh … I don’t have an
ounce of anything in me [to] want to take over on anybody.  Just say …
I could say, “Get out of my way” … that’s about it.

31.	Now, I want to look at a couple more Scriptures, here, so we begin
to get a few things lined up.  And one of them is over here in Mt 17:20
… (and when I get through with this, we’re going to quit.  Because,
this is all I’ve got time for).  Mt 17:20, it says here,

(20)	And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I
say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say
unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove;
and nothing shall be impossible unto you. 

	Okay.  Now, let’s find out what the apostle Paul says about that. 
And that’s over here in 1 Corinthians 13.  And what it says, here, is:

(2)	…and though I have all faith …

 	Jesus said, “Grain of mustard”.  Paul says, “all” … so I
could move mountains.  So, now we find there is no such thing as
‘big’ faith or ‘little’ faith.  Because, if a grain of mustard
seed can move a mountain, and ALL faith can move a mountain, then, the
answer is simply ‘faith moves mountains’.  And it hasn’t got a
thing to do with greatness or smallness.  It simply has to do with you
and me using our faith.

32.	Now, let’s go a little further before we get a wrong understanding
of this.  Because, here we are in Romans 12.  Now:

(3)	For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is
among                             you, not to think of himself more
highly than he ought to think; but to                              think
soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure           
                        of faith. 

	So, therefore, if I have the revelation from God, if I have that
measure of faith in me … remember this one thing: I got it from God. 
It’s by grace; I didn’t do a thing for it.  Given it to me solely
because God wanted to give it to me.  Now, He said, “Look, I’ve
given that for a purpose.  The purpose is not only that you’re
born-again, but the purpose is that you obey Me.  The purpose is that
you’ll grow up in the faith.  The purpose is that you’ll become a
mature and a good, fine Christian”.  (See?)  Now:

(4)	For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not   
                              	the same office;

	Now, watch right there: He’s telling you everybody has a measure of
faith.  But he says, “Everybody doesn’t have the same position”. 
Now, watch what he says:

(5)	So, we being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one
                          	of another.

	So that means, whatever faith we have, whatever ministry we have,
we’re all ministering toward what?  The common good.  This is not
communism.  This is spirit.  And it’s not spiritism; it’s not
spiritualism.  It’s a Spirit of Almighty God in the temple, which is
the Body of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Bride.  Okay.

(6)	Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to
us                             	(a free gift … a privilege), whether
prophecy, let us prophesy according                         	to the
proportion of faith;

33.	In other words, here’s the thing: if you are to prophesy, you’ll
simply do it.  How are you going to ask God for a measure of something
that God does not want to give you?  How are you going to ask for a gift
that God doesn’t say is necessarily yours?  (See?)  You’re already
classified.  And you’re already in position.  If you’re an eyeball,
you’re not an ear.  If you’re an ear, you’re not an eye – it’s
just that simple.  Now, everybody is a mouth … to testify and confess
the doctrine of the Word of God.  Now:

(7)	Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on
teaching;

(8)	Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it
with                   	simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he
that sheweth mercy …                           	(and so on).

	And what do you do?  You just do it naturally.  He says, “Do it
naturally”.  Now, that’s the Scripture.  But when you get out of
order and you say, “Bless God!  I’ve been told here, ‘Heal the
sick and raise the dead’, I’m going to do it”.  When Bro. Branham
categorically said, “Everybody does not pray for the sick”.  The
Bible categorically tells you that.  You cannot take one Scripture and
use it against another.  Because, if it’s a body Scripture, it means
it’s going to be in the body.  A gift of the body is in the body.  And
Bro. Branham said, “You may prophesy one time and never do it again. 
And you could speak in tongues one time and never do it again.  You
could have a word of wisdom one time and never have it again.”  I
don’t understand these things.  I only understand this: they are there
and we will use them.  If God has given it to us and wants us to use
them, they are there as we walk in the Light.  Because, it’s body
function.

	My body tells me when I’m hungry.  My eyes tell me what I’m seeing.
 My ears also hear things.  My mouth knows how to talk.  My kidneys can
react.  And there is something radically wrong when my kidneys react
improperly.  Or my mouth flies open improperly.  Our body shakes.  The
body of Christ is somatic, which means ‘healthy’. 

34.	Now, [Romans 12:]

(4)	Let love be without (being hypocritical) …

	Then, there’s a love you don’t have to force.  Unh?  Well, come-on
… this is ‘body’ ministry.  Well, let’s go to 1 Corinthians 12:

(1)	For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members  
                       	of that one body, being many are one body: so
also is Christ.

(2)	For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body (doesn’t
matter) …                        	have been all made to drink into one
Spirit.

(3)	For the body is not one member, but many 

(4)	If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the
body; is it                     	therefore not of the body? (… [right
down the line]?… with it.)

	You see, each and every one has a certain particular part.  And then it
says, here:

(23)	And those members of the body which [we] think to be less
honourable …              	(we think … we think .  We don’t have a
‘think’ coming).

	If God made you a foot, you should be a very happy foot.  Haven’t you
heard about happy feet?  I have.  There’s some ad in the paper
somewhere about happy feet.  It’s a … oh, I know what it is, it’s
a sock.  I bought those socks in Canada – ‘Happy Feet’ socks. 
They have nice little cushions inside.  I love them!  I’ve got happy
feet.  Why shouldn’t my feet be happy?  I’m taking care of them.  My
feet aren’t happy if I don’t take care of them.  My hand is happy if
I take care of it.  Everything is happy if I take care of it.  Well, if
God is taking care of me, we should be a very happy Body of Christ,
shouldn’t we?

35.	Now, [1 Corinthians 12:]

(23)	… we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more
abundantly                  	honour; and our uncomely parts have more
abundant comeliness.

	Now, God says He compensates.  If God compensates, then why does
somebody want to preach when he’s not called?  Why does somebody want
to be what he’s not supposed to be?  Why would he want it if God
compensates?  If God is compensating you, this morning – and He is –
why would you worry about anything?  You’re fully compensated!  Unh? 
Then, why is there all this aggrandizement, as this hogwash that’s in
Pentecost?  Everybody trying to be a leader; everybody trying to be
something.  Hey!  God doesn’t owe anybody anything, because He has
already given us such a super abundance to draw upon, that we’re
trying to bankrupt Him by our foolish ways.  (We can’t even do that,
He’s so good and gracious.)  We have an abundance.

(24)	For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body  
                 	together, having given more abundant honour to that
part which lacked:

	Remember when they went to battle?  Those that stayed home got an equal
share as those that went out and got scar wounds and a dagger in the
ribs and their heads just about knocked off.  And they came back, all
limping and gory and a mess.  And they thought, “Oh boy!  And I’ve
got to give this jerk that sat there, one-third?  And this other guy,
one-third?  And all I get is one-third for going out there and risking
my life and getting all these knocks on my head.  I got my eye
gouged”.  Exactly right.  Sorry about that.  

	So, then, there are no ‘big ones’, are there?  “Oh, I’ve done
great battles.  I’ve done this, I’ve done that”.  You can get guys
coming by [that] say they did things, right today – that Branham
bunch.  And believe me, they haven’t done one thing, except lie …
and been in filthy sins, like homosexuality.  (And that guy will never
live that down, as long as I’m living.  He doesn’t deserve to,
anyway.)  See?

36.	Now, watch,

(26)	And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or
one                      member be honoured, all the members rejoice …

(27)	Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.

(28)	And God hath set some in the Church, first apostles, secondarily
prophets,                            thirdly teachers, after that
miracles, then gifts of healing, helps, governments                     
… (and so on).

	Paul is showing you here, amongst the five-fold ministry and everybody,
there is a common denominator, a leveler where there are no big ones
amongst us.  And William Branham stood right there and he claimed (like
Moses) God was in him.  He was veiling God in veiling that Word.  He was
God to the people.  And he said, “There’s no pope, there’s no holy
one, there’s no big one here, no little ones – just the Holy God”.
 It’s a great leveler.

	So, there is a naturalness in the Body in all of these we’re talking
about.  So we see very clearly in Scripture, that faith actually is a
revelation granted by God.  And that same dynamic revelation is our
faith by which we can apprehend the promises of God as we walk in the
Light, even as He is in the Light.  Even as Bro. Branham said, “When
it is revealed unto you that you are healed, you certainly are
healed.”  All promises of God must be revealed to us or there is no
faith to apprehend them.  Take, for instance, the promise of healing in
the atonement: how many really believe that healing is in the Scripture
and in the atonement?  Not many.  And those that do say …which,
they’re a large number, by the way, but I’m talking really believe. 
The majority of Baptists, sixty percent believe.  The Anglicans, about
seventy-five percent.  Pentecostals, about ninety-nine percent (if not
one hundred percent).  All of us here believe in healing.  We believe
…[it’s]?… in atonement.  There’s no problem with it.  But, then
you get a bunch that deny it, and they say, “Oh, I believe that you
can be healed, but it’s not in the atonement”.  Now, you see, there
you’re wrong … right there.  It is in the atonement!  (See?)  And
there are those that, when God heals, say, “It’s the devil”. 
It’s the Church of Christ.  What about them?  

37.	What about rapturing faith?  Bro. Branham said, “The rapture had
to be revealed to us, because we were not ready for 1 Thess 4:16”.  Do
we believe the rapture revelation – the Lord Himself descending with
the Shout?  And remember, now, the Lamb is on the Throne.  He said,
“The Lamb came from behind the Throne when that great furor of Heaven
… “Who is worthy to open the Book?  Who is going to do it?”  They
looked above.  There was no man below the earth; there was no man in the
earth; there was no man anywhere around.  They looked all around.  And
the Lamb came forward, and what is He?  A man!  “I thought He was
God?”  So, God never came forward.  The third person never came
forward, did He?  The second person – the Son of God—came forward,
in a glorified human body!  No … now, no more and no less.  And he
took the Book out of the hand of the One sitting on the Throne –
that’s Revelation 4.  In Revelation 5, [he] ripped off the seals,
handed the Book, the Father came off the Throne, he climbed on the
Throne.  

38.	So, where is the Lamb?  He’s on the Throne.  Who came down? 
Elohim came down.  The One in Rev 5:1 is Rev 10:1.  Why?  Because He has
got the rainbow; He has got the covenant.  Now, why should He not come
down with the covenant?  He had better come down with the covenant,
because it’s time now to put all things under the feet of His Son to
give Him that Bride in the Millennium – the things … [that are]?…
promised to Him.

	So, God came down with the full promised Word for this hour, for a
Bride.  And the word ‘shout’ is keleusma, which means ‘a
command’.  And the same word keleusma is in 1 Corinthians 15, which
means ‘subjecting’ the Church to Jesus, putting all things under His
feet.  Can you believe Elohim is here bringing the Bride together to be
under the feet of Jesus?  Everyone but God Himself under the feet of
Jesus, to make that glorious physical pyramid that is being spiritual,
…[bold, and]?… now.

39.	Now, if you don’t believe that, I can’t argue.  Because, I can
only say what Bro. Branham said and go to the Bible to find it (and I
found it), you don’t have to believe it.  You can find what you want
for yourself.  But for me, I have no problem.  I have no doubts.  And I
can say this: if this isn’t it, I’m not interested.  When you come
to the place where you don’t want to look, you are willfully blind. 
And my Bible says, “There was none so blind as my righteous
servant”.  Unh?  Come-on, come-on … I’m quoting you the Bible. 
Completely blind to everything but the covenant.

	I feel real good (I don’t know about you); I’ve got great peace in
my heart.  You say, “Bro. Vayle, what if its false?”  What if yours
is false?  [Bro. Vayle chuckles]  Where’s your Scripture?  What are
you doing about it?  There’s a vindicated man. [Bro. Vayle points to
the picture on the wall]  Call him the devil, I don’t care, I don’t
mind.  In fact, that makes me happy.  Do you know why?  Someone has got
to call him the devil.  They called Jesus the devil.  They said, “Is
not this the son of David?”  They said, “No!  That’s the other
guy!”  Do you think they didn’t know Christ and antichrist? 
Come-on!  Certainly!  But when you can’t tell Christ from antichrist
… and there is that possibility.

	If this isn’t Christ, then where is He?  Because, that Spirit has to
come into the church just before the resurrection and the rapture, so we
become part of the second-half of the first resurrection, of the
first-fruits, you tell me, then, what it’s all about.  I’ve told you
what I believe it’s all about.  And I’ve got no fight with anybody
here; I just preach rough because these tapes go everywhere.  I figure,
all told, there are about two thousand, minimum, that hear these tapes. 
And I don’t care if there are two [that] hear the tapes… or two
million; that’s nothing to me.  My problem is with me.  Your problem
is with you.

40.	Now, remember, Bro. Branham said one little thing about this faith
we’re talking about.  He said, “You say you believe me, then why
don’t you obey me?”  And Paul called the faith of Abraham – the
active part of it, where it began to work in your life and work in my
life – he called that, “the obedience of faith”.  And it starts,
this morning, with you believing the revelation Bro. Branham gave. 
Whatever way you believe, that is your business.  And I’ve got news
for you: you will tell people what you believe … you will.  If
you’re like some of them that left here, you’ll say, “Lee Vayle
believes in two Gods”.  You can’t help yourself.  You’ve got to,
because you don’t have the revelation.  And if I sit with you and
write it in iron on tablets of stone and hit you over the head with a
crowbar, I can’t pour it in.  You’ll still say, “Lee Vayle is
preaching two Gods”.  And I will quote you Bro. Branham and go verse
by verse and sermon after sermon, and you’ll still say, “Lee Vayle
is preaching two Gods”.  And if I tell you that Jehovah-Elohim is
here, the Person Himself, the same One that came down and invested
Himself (incarnate Himself) in Jesus Christ, the same One in Paul, the
same One in Moses, the same One in William Branham, you say, “Nah, I
don’t believe the Presence.  No, no, He’s in all of us”.  I’ve
got news: He ain’t in none of you”.  Because, Bro. Branham said,
“There is just one person going to do this.  It’s not going to be a
group; it will be one person”.  

	Can you take Jn 14:12 and believe absolutely, positively, right down
the line?  Talked with Philip, “He that has seen me has seen the
Father”, and “Greater works than these shall he do because I go to
my Father”.  Can you take that as one person, or do you have to
justify yourself and say, “Well, the whole church is going to do it,
you know, really”.  The Bible doesn’t say [that]; it says, “he”.
 (It doesn’t say she, either; it says, “he”.)  So, where is
Kathryn Khulman today?  Aimee Semple McPherson?  Even Evangeline Booth? 
Nothing against them.  That’s up to God.  But they’re forbidden to
handle the Word.  Unh?  What did Cain do?  He handled the Word.  Come-on
… I can show you in Scripture, he handled the Word.  And I can show
you Satan told Eve things that God hadn’t yet told her, right on the
target.  Hunh?

41.	Now, if you don’t love Jesus, now, for sending a prophet, …?…
receiving me.  If you don’t see what we’re talking about, well,
that’s all right, you know, you weren’t meant to.  I’m not here to
slander you or here to fuss at you, any more than I’m going to fuss at
myself because I’m not six-foot-twelve and can play basketball.  No, I
can’t.  That would be the stupidest thing in the world.  And I’m not
going to sing you a beautiful song, you know, … like “Down from His
Glory” as though I’m a Pavaroti or somebody else.  I can’t do
that.  I can’t preach like Bro. Branham, but I did my best this
morning, and that’s all I can do.  So, I trust the Lord will bless
you.  Let’s rise and be dismissed at this time.

	Heavenly Father, we want to close and go our way, at this particular
time.  And as we do, I pray that I’ve made myself really abundantly
clear now.  Took a long time to do it, but then I’m, Lord – You
know, and we all know – I’m not a prophet.  And I’m not an
intellectual giant, as though I can see something in a sweeping
panorama, and get the whole thing.  But, you know, Lord, it comes down
finally to the deadline that we do get the thing in perspective and get
an understanding.  And I believe we have that today, where people can
relax, begin to believe this Word as never before, and just walk in that
Light and see how the promises will begin to unfold before us, and how
we’re laying hold of all these things.

	And the most important thing we know, Lord, is to lay hold of eternal
Life and make that confession of that Word wherein eternal Life lies. 
And understand more and more, how the prophet always, always, always –
never, without a fail – said, “Christ, Who is the Word; Christ Who
is the Word”, just not something else.  Just like the Bible says,
“He sent His Word to heal him”, You sent Your Word to heal us.  The
whole panoply, everything lying in it – integrity, reconciliation,
wholeness.  How beautiful!  How beautiful, that You sent Your Word,
because You’re behind that Word and Your Life is in that Word.  That
Word really makes You … makes us all ‘one’.  

	How precious!  How precious are Your thoughts about us.  And how
precious, Lord, You let us have thoughts about You.  May we never, ever,
ever give it up, or go back on the wonderful testimony which we have in
Jesus Christ today.

	Heal the sick amongst us, we pray, Lord.  Give strength to those who
need strength.  And You know, Lord, most of us here do need strength,
and in more than one way.  And in a lot of ways some of it is just
physical, and some of us spiritual – all of us spiritual, without a
doubt, all there.  But, we do need Your help.  And we thank You that You
have … 

	[End of tape]

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