Faith *

Transcript In progress.

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Let’s bow our heads.

Dear Father, again we come to You again this morning in the Lord Jesus Christ knowing that as long as we have You Lord, we have all things Lord. The promise is ours, ‘Yea, and Amen’, in Christ Jesus.

Not at all outside of Him, nor a dependence on any source or factor outside of Him, are they annulled by any source of factor, but all are ‘Yea and Amen’. We have that faith this morning to apprehend, the good things of God which have been made available to us.

So Lord, we magnify Your great Name, but particularly at this time, we ask You to be in our midst by Your Spirit, revealing unto us Your Word. May every thought, O God, be of Thee and every Word to expect It perfectly.

That there not be the thoughts of man to enter in to as though we had any axe to grind, or any words to preach concerning our own or if we had any judgment to make, for all judgment is committed unto Thee.

So Father, we give ourselves unreservedly into Your hands, believing that every thought will be brought into captivity and every spirit under control to the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

You know Lord, this is well able to come to pass, and not to be afraid, and not only well able but It must come to pass because Lord, our faith is in Thee, we’re looking to You this morning.

Unto Thee we give praise in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

I want to read this morning from the 6th chapter of Hebrews, verses 16 to 18 and this message is in a sense a continuation of last night concerning faith in the mind, because this is now concerning faith and confession or what confession has to be in the outworking of our faith.

Now these Scriptures that I’m using as a text will not be understood until I come back to them later and I explain them to you, but they say,

This is a remarkable, this verse, in that you will notice it says that, ‘the oath of confirmation was to them an end of all strife’. In other words, when the people of this day heard a man give his word; that ended it.

We do not understand that here in America because man’s word is no good. You’ve got a rotten system of laws in America that even though our legislature does pass certain laws, we now find the president can veto them but even his veto isn’t very effective, because the judiciary now legislates for us.

So that the word of a man is no good in America as far as our Constitution is concerned. The word is no good anyway in religion, because the Catholics have a right to null and void anything they said to a Protestant, because it’s only good business.

And the Jews have an oath of evocation day, in which they can revoke any oath they made, so they can make new oaths and revoke it with the blessing of their rabbis and their religion.

And we as Protestants, our word is no good either. We like the devil and when we should tell the truth like God, we make promises to our kids, never carry them out, we threaten them, and don’t do that either. We talk and we don’t expect anything to come of it.

So you see, when it comes to the Word of God, how can we have an exalted opinion of It? You can’t; you’re in a rut.

There are people who don’t honor our word or anybody else’s word, consequently we simply have a terrible job taking what God says and, “That’s it!”

Well, how can you? Our attitudes are so completely foreign to accepting anybody’s word and the fact is we can’t even accept people’s word because they don’t mean it.

And now we turn around and say, “I believe God meant what He said and I accept It.” Oh, I just wish it were that easy. That’s the way it should be.

It says here, “It’s the end of all strife.” If it’s the end of all strife: then what? What comes after strife when strife ends? Peace. Huh? We got great peace, wouldn’t we? because God said so.

Now you see, we’re in a terrible age. And it just seems impossible to take this Scripture the way it is written: “An oath for confirmation.”

You can’t even take the paper it’s written on and make it work because you don’t read the fine print.

You can’t even make a will out, but what the law courts have another say upon that. You can’t even have your own mind; somebody’s got to say that’s not what he meant.

Brother, do you see what an age we’re in? Now, with all this, the peculiar atmosphere that’s settled upon us, God said, “You take my Word.” Oh, no wonder, he said, “Will He find faith when He comes.” See, look at the Word.

It says, “An oath for confirmation is the end of all strife.”

“Don’t worry, He gave me his word.”

“Oh boy, He gave you what? His word and you didn’t put in writing?”

“No. Just shook hands.” Huh?

How many crooks are here in the world today? You know what’s happening in America? We honor the crook. When Van Doren got caught in the 64, no the 124th down there, the fact of the matter is, he got caught anyhow, they say, ask the kids in school.

“What do you think of it? They said, “Well, sure, if he can sleep great it’s okay. Because as long as he got away with it.”

An end of strife, simply give the word. Now God though doesn’t look at it that way. God meant what He said. God stands behind His Word. God is His Word.

But it says, “This oath of confirmation ending all strife giving peace.”

Now,

God said, “Here’s my Word, I’ve given It. I mean It, don’t you ever worry about It.” Peace. See?

Now last night, we talked about faith and the mind. I believe you’re well convinced in your own studies that the only earthly creation that can both reason and speak is mankind.

I do not say that animals do not have the power to reason; they do not have the power of man to reason. But animals cannot speak. And if certain ones do speak, they cannot reason. But man is the only truly functioning creation who functions in the realm of reasoning and speaking.

Now we discovered concerning the faith and the mind, that we found the mind, that particularly the thoughts of the mind, were the enemies of God and the destroyers of faith, unless that mind was renewed by disciplined thinking, which thinking was patterned on the Word of God.

Now a man cannot talk without thinking. We often say he spoke without thinking. That isn’t true. The trouble was he didn’t think deeply enough before he talked. But you must think before you talk. Even as every action voluntary and involuntary finds its root in the mind, so every word finds its root in the mind.

In Proverbs 15:28 says,

The Word lets us know that the words of man, the speech of the mouth comes from the mind. But the heart of the righteous studieth, he thinks before he talks. He makes sure that he thinks before he talks, in the sense that it is a premeditated answer, not a flash for an answer off the cuff.

Now here is what talking has to do with thinking and consequently with faith.

You will notice in verse 16, which I read,

Now the Scripture says that God never took counsel with anybody. That God being omniscient, you cannot add one thought to God, nor take one thought from Him.

I want to impress you this morning with that thought. It is God is omniscient then it means that He is all wise and God during these countless ages, these eons has not added to His own mind, one single solitary thought. He cannot if He is omniscient.

If He was simply a great mind and one day, may become omniscient, then that is something else. But the Scripture declares that God is omniscient. He always knew all things. And it is absolutely staggering but absolutely correct.

As Brother Branham said, “He knew every flea on every plant and how many times that flea would bat its eyes.”

You get what I’m driving at? God took counsel with no man. His counsels were already in Him. His thoughts were already existent. But those thoughts simply remain thoughts until He spoke them.

And furthermore, those thoughts were not confirmed until He told them. The counsel of God in the mind of God was merely a counsel and unconfirmed Word, until He spoke them to Abraham. This now constitutes the law of spiritual psychology in the realms of faith.

If you don’t want to confirm your thinking, don’t say it. If you want to confirm it, say it. If you have a fear, don’t express it, or it becomes confirmed to you.

Contrariwise, if you have faith thoughts and want to confirm them, say it! God’s Word was not confirmed as long as it was only a counsel or God’s thoughts. But the minute He said it, it was over. You see what I mean?

Now, let us begin to see faith and confession according to,

It says here, that faith and confession go hand in hand; you cannot have one without the other. You must not attempt to implement the one without the other.

And do not at this moment attempt to take the Scripture that says, “Hast thou faith have it to thyself.” It’s not referring to that whatsoever.

Now, faith, in other words, talks. If you’ve got the measure of the faith of God, it’s a talking faith. There will be words upon your lips, that’s what Scripture says.

Now, the Word of God Itself is very explicit upon what the man says concerning the faith of God. But in order to emphasize it, and to make it clear, even as I might want to illustrate to you or show you an answer to a certain question, I may turn around and ask you a question.

Now, for God to teach the people how they should talk concerning this law of faith He deliberately tells them how they are not to talk. Turn to,

I like Moffatt’s translation. Faith righteousness. But faith righteousness speaketh. You notice it. It talks. Faith talks. Faith righteousness. Faith healing. Faith provision. Faith this. Faith that. I don’t care what it is. Faith talk.

In other words, that gift which is resident in you accomplishes, as you speak with your mouth. So that’s what God’s Word says here.

Now, in other words, God says, “Faith never asks questions.” Oh yes, now of course, you know what the regular church service is like, maybe the pastor or the elder gets up and he says, “God has revealed to my heart today that we must begin to send a thousand dollars to the poor orphans over in India.”

Right away the people say, “How is it going to it be done?”

“Aw, shut-up, you make me sick.” I don’t mean you; I’m talking about a principle now. I’m trying to bring in my mouth your thoughts and what should be your reaction.

If God says it can be done, don’t ask questions! You kill your faith by asking questions. Faith doesn’t ask questions.

Faith righteousness doesn’t say how are we going to get God down, now we got Him down and killed him, how is He going to raise God, now that we killed God? That’s what it says.

Faith doesn’t ask questions. People come along and say, “This lady in this wheelchair can be healed of her condition.” And the nominal church says, “Stand back.”

They that don’t believe in the power of God, they say, “How can it be done?” What do you care how it’s going to be done, as long as God says He’ll do it.

Abraham didn’t stand back when God said, “I’m going to give you a son, out of that which issues out of your own bowels.”

“How are You going to do it, Lord? How are You going to do it, Lord? “

Oh, good night. God said it, confirmed it by an oath.

Faith does not ask questions. You kill your faith by asking questions. Listen to what happened over here in the book of,

And that’s what you and I do when we begin to question God how He does things, instead of just simply saying what God said about it. “Oh, Lord, I got my sufferings, Lord.”

“Oh God! Why did I have to have this?”

“Yes, Lord, what’s the reason?”

“No, God, what’s the …?…”

“Why does it have to happen?”

“Why doesn’t it happen to somebody else?”

Shut-up. I mean, shut-up. That’s the sacrifice of fools. God never took counsel with you and me. He never asked you and me one thing about it and He doesn’t intend to. Huh? No wonder faith goes down the drain.

No wonder there’s no active faith anymore, and here we got the measure of God’s own faith that can move mountains. “Lord, you’re going to move mountains. How are You going to do it?” What’s it to you?

As long as He does it, what do you care? Oh, you wouldn’t care which uncle died and left you ten million dollars. Oh, ho, ho, I wouldn’t care if somebody else got ten million dollars. Huh? Come on, help me out. What do you care how it comes, as long as it comes.

I’d sooner be like the old widow crying in her bed. She got so hungry, no food in the house, and no money. She said, “Oh Lord, send me some bread. God, send me some food.”

Some little kids heard her and they went downtown and brought a few things and threw it in the door and shut it. She said, “Thank you, Lord, for the bread. Thank you, Lord, for the bread and the food.”

And the kids got mad and now they said, “I want you to know we bought that food.”

She said, “Honey, I wouldn’t care if the devil brought it, I know God sent it.” What do you care? Huh? God’s Word and strength It brings peace, He said it, He’ll do it. Don’t ask questions. Huh?

We just taught last night to fill your mind with God’s thoughts on the subject. Well, how can your mind be filled with God’s thoughts on the subject with that same mind now ask questions and that mouth talks it. It can’t be done.

Remember, the women that came to the tomb that early morning. They said, “Who’s going to roll away the stone? Oh, who is going to do it? Oh it’s such a big stone. Who is going to help us?”

The stone was already rolled away. A lot of wasted energy; talking about who was going to do it. Huh? Who’s going to work in God’s kingdom?

The Bible said, “God is. For except the Lord build the house, they labor but in vain.” See, people are organized for protection, and the Bible said, “Except the Lord watch the city, the watchman watcheth but in vain.” You don’t ask questions.

You know how you’re supposed to talk? Well, let’s find out how we’re supposed to talk. Let’s turn to 2 Corinthians 4:8-10. Now we’ll read it the way we talk it.

Oh, this persecution’s got so bad I don’t know how anybody ever takes anything anymore. The stress, I just can’t even sleep at night. Oh, I could… bad way, I mean. Twentieth century reading of the Word of God. First century reading of the Word of God.

We don’t tear our hair and go mental, berserk. Do you think the real seed of God is in an institution for the insane? Huh? Do you think that God deals in mental breakdowns? God’s in faith.

“Think how we’re troubled, but that’s all right, we’re not distressed. It’s all right. It’s an every day thing. We’ve been through this way before. It will be this way again. It’s all right. Oh, certainly, I can’t see how everything is working out, but He said it would so why should I despair.”

It’s God’s job. Certainly I’m persecuted. Who isn’t persecuted? That’s all right. We’re not perfect and the Lord is with me, He’s my helper.

Paul said, “All men have deserted me, but the Lord stood with me. Why I even get cast down? That’s all right, I’ll get up again. Oh, I’ve had my failures, certainly. But that’s all right, I’ll get up again.” That’s how faith talks.

See, faith does talk. Faith has to talk. If you’ve got the measure of the faith of God; you’re going to have to talk, but we’ve got to learn to talk the way God taught us to talk.

I’m going to show you something in Scripture that both Peter and Paul agreed with implicitly. In the 10th chapter of the book of Hebrews, in verse 23, it says,

Paul said that faith talks. Of course, he said that in Romans, didn’t he? So we already know Paul said it in two places. But we want the oath of confirmation in the mouth of the second witness which is 1 Peter, the 4th chapter, and he says here, in the 11th verse,

Now, please note in Hebrews 10:23, the translators made a terrible mistake. In fact they did their best, they made two of them and in one verse yet.

For the word ‘profession’ is not ‘profession’ it is ‘confession’. Con means ‘together’. Means ‘to say the same thing together’. And the word ‘faith’ is not ‘faith’.

Look it up in your concordance, any one you want. It is ‘hope’. Faith, hope in Him. And what is hope? It is earnest expectation. And what is our earnest expectation from God? It is His Word.

So the Bible says, “Say what the Word says, stick with It.” And Peter said the same thing, “If you talk, say what God’s Word said, or don’t say it.”

That’s why you wouldn’t get me to anyone of these conventions where everybody gets up and says here’s what I think or I’ve got some revelation, this and that. I’m not interested. I want to hear God’s Word.

I want to hear the oracles of God or don’t talk or we had better take it all the way and put this, “If God’s Word is not in our mouth, the faith of God cannot work, because that faith is dependent upon your confession and your confession is depending upon the Word, because anything else and that faith will not function.”

Now we’re not talking about you simply getting a healing. I’m talking about, we walk by faith, we live by faith and healing is nothing more or less than the little whipped cream or the cherry or the dressing.

We’re talking about faith’s powerful rules of day by day living and constantly overcoming. And there’s just a minor part of that has to do with miracles and healing. See?

Now faith talks. And it says that we are to confess the Word of God.

Now since hope is what we can’t earnestly expect from God and since what we can’t earnestly expect from God is revealed in His Word, then we ought to always confess whatever God’s Word has said about the subject wherein we are concerned.

In the Book of Psalms, sometimes my illustrations in the Word aren’t as wonderful and clear as I want, but I don’t know the Bible so perfectly, that my mind will just pick up every word. It says in,

Now natural man who says, “I can say what I want. And I’ll say it and it will work.” No sir, the only thing that will work with God is God’s Word. See? So don’t be fooled.

Now, with this in mind, let’s swing back to our text which we read over here, just going into it again in the Book of Hebrews, that 6th chapter, concerning God and His Word and here’s what he said,

In other words, He said it. In other words, when God said His Word that confirmed It.

That’s exactly why you’re told over here in Hebrews 10:23, “Hold fast the confession of your hope without wavering.” You follow it? Don’t waver! Say what the Word says. Now this is an admonition.

Now listen to me! Does God have to admonish you in a place where admonition is unnecessary? Does God warn where a warning is unwarranted? Does God say to beware, if there isn’t a danger?

If you have an involuntary action or reaction toward a certain thing, would God now counsel you to so guide yourself against that action? No. It has to be an involuntary.

Something you’ve got to figure out. So God’s Word says here, “Don’t you dare say anything other than what the Word says concerning that subject. Hold fast the confession of the Word.”

When do you have to hold a thing back? Grab tight? When there’s a pull against it, right? When do you have to hold unto a rope? When there’s a pull, something to carry you away.

So we have this morning, God’s Word saying, “Hold fast the confession of your hope” or what God’s Word has decreed you may earnestly expect from the Lord. And that is what Scripture tells us.

We then come to an outstanding truth on the outworking of faith. And this truth is: that we are to confirm our thoughts with Word, even as God, with words confirmed His thoughts toward us. Notice the word ‘confirm’. When do you confirm a thing?

You say, “Is my ticket on the airplane confirmed?” “Yes.” This makes it authentic. This puts it into motion. You put your faith in motion by saying what God said about the situation. You follow me?

Yes, we are to confirm our thoughts with Word, even as God confirmed with Word His thoughts toward us. Think faith thoughts and confirm them by confession.

We also believe and therefore, we speak. What we believe; think it and say it. There isn’t another law which will take its place. This is a must from the hand of God.

Now further proof of this is found in,

Now let’s read verses 14 and 15, same chapter.

And the word ‘country’ is interpolated, so it could be they desire a better country. They desire a better living. They desire better health. They desire better spiritual conditions. They desire anything the Word of God says they can have.

In other words, that’s the heavenly God behind it doing it,

Like He’s already prepared healing for you. He was a Healer before there was a sick man. He’s prepared righteousness before there ever was a sinner. He had all the needs met before there was a needy one. It’s God doing it and how did they do it?

The Scripture says, “Their faith was activated by thinking and talking what God said about it.” No questions asked.

“Lord, why are You doing this?” Oh, told you in the Word to make you a better Christian, working for you, not against you, give him credit.

Oh brother, remember, the minute I told you about credit counting faith. “You know the Lord told me by vision now, to make a covenant with these people, everybody who gives me twenty dollars will get a covenant and your prayer will be answered.”

Show me that in God’s Word, please somebody. And yet people… and preachers will say it and people believe it. And yet preaching truth like this, “No, no.” They don’t want it.

I’m not saying you don’t want it because I know you do, otherwise you wouldn’t be coming through snowdrifts and all the things you’ve gone through to get here. I know you love the Word.

I believe that’s why the Word is very clear in this area here, God helping us. But you see what I’m driving at? Say what God said about the situation, having taught it, send your hearts and your minds and your mouth with the Word of God, like the 1st Psalm. You see.

Now, it says here, if they had kept in mind that which was contrary to God’s purpose or promise, they would have gone right back to it. See? So don’t talk negatively about anything.

That’s why I’m meaning when I visit the sick, I say now, “I’m here to pray. You listen to me.” I don’t need the sick to talk to me. I know what they want.

I don’t need to go through it unless God reveals something and I can then pray. Then when I pray, I leave the house immediately. Why? Because normally people want to keep on talking, they hold a post-mortem over the corpse and the healing is down the drain.

Dr. Cliff had the right idea. When you pray for every hour on the hour thank God for the healing that’s begun in your body and don’t question it. See?

Now, we saw then in verses 14 and 15 that these people thought and talked and they received the better things of God built upon the promises of God.

Now, let’s examine Scripture just to point you to Scripture, what the mouth does or what talking does. You ready for it? Well, ready or not …?… it’s not a nice thing to ask you, was it? All right. We’re going to go to…

In the Hebrew and the ancient people the belly was signified as that inner man. In fact they talk of the solar plexus mind where people get nervous. Get nervous in the solar plexus and they get nervous in the head.

There’s two places you get nervous. You get butterflies here, they get all distraught here. See. So they talk of the belly as being the inner man.

In fact you’d be surprised that when they talk about ‘bowels of compassion’ I think the word is actually ‘kidneys’ they relate certain parts of the body and they use mystical meanings.

So therefore, when we talk of the belly, it is signifying of the inner person, you see, or what you might call the soulish is part of man.

Now it says here,

Now I always illustrate this way, this little verse. A man went out to catch a fish and by luck he caught a fish. Well, he was a great Izaak Walton or whatever it is that goes out and catches a fish. And he caught a fish this long.

And he went home and he said, “You know I caught the prettiest little trout you ever saw.” It was actually six inches long, but he has an eye for beauty so he said it was eight inches long.

And you know he talked about that struggle that fish gave him beforehand, it was so delicious to his ears, it got down in here and the funny thing was, it was just what the Bible says, “That he shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth.” He liked what he heard.

And in fact it will increase by saying it. So it come out and the next day it was ten inches long, and he put up a terrific fight before he got that fish.

And that sounded so good, it went down here, it came out bigger here next time, it was thirteen inches long and man you should have been there, to see that fight with that fish.

And oh, that was so good, he got so happy because he heard it, you see, it’s what your own ears hear your tongue say that you like it. And it went down inside of him and it came out bigger and it was a fifteen inch fish, and I want to tell you that was some fish.

And it goes on and that’s the way gossip is. Oh, it’s a juicy morsel. And here’s what it will give you. It’s so juicy. And if you just shut-up, it will die, but if you just say it once, is all it takes.

And you hear it and it goes down and you like, oh man, that was so …?… Oh, it kills the other fellow but it’s so sweet. And it goes down here and the funny thing is when you hear it, it confirms it and it gets bigger.

And that feeling that you didn’t want to tell it now comes to where you really want to tell it and it comes out bigger than ever.

And the Bible says, “that you get satisfied with what you talk about.” My mother always talked trouble, and she was happiest in her misery.

Isn’t it strange, like people aren’t happy in God’s Word because they don’t think about conditions, always get the negative at the wrong time. And then you see, it gets bigger and bigger, people are picking on you. Oh, are they? Ha, you’re supposed to be persecuted.

Now, it says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” But there’s only one Word that gives life, “My Words are spirit and life.”

Your words aren’t spirit and life. But the counsel of your heart is not spirit and life. The best that you can say is not spirit and life.

A congregation that’s going to be alive must have God’s Word. That’s why I said I can’t even stand Moody’s sermons; he’s taken the text, he’s parted from it, telling us illustrations.

No wonder it’s said these things for this age here where men don’t want God’s Word, they want to hear stories.

So the best of that raconteurs, can get up and tell stories, until one of the best raconteurs in America, is that filthy Jeb …Jessel(?)… Oh sure, it’s right. People don’t want the Word. Why? It will make them spiritual.

Organization doesn’t want the Word; they want their own dogmas, in case their (?) people leave and they will leave if they hear the Word because it gets spiritual.

If you get spiritual, if you use God’s Word on your tongue because the Scripture says, “Life and death are in the power of the tongue. And they that love it, shall eat the fruit thereof.”

You’ll eat death if you love to talk death. And you’ll eat life, if you love to talk life. It’s exactly what the Bible teaches. And it doesn’t teach anything else.

Proverbs 12:

Proverbs 13:

God said you’re to hear much and say little. Fat ears and a big mouth, we’ve got thick mouths and thin ears. You know I’m telling the truth.

All you got to do is start talking about a few and letting it go, and you’ll like it and people like it and it just gets bigger and bigger and bigger and then He either kills it, He’s got to, because the Word of God says there’s no word gives life but His.

How can any man then have a life of faith by filling his mouth with everything but the Word of God? How can a congregation be built up in faith except the Word of God is preached?

Let’s turn to Psalm 109 and see a couple of verses because I haven’t written them all out, I should have and saved you the trouble, and also get the sermon going a little faster, instead of us waiting on getting the verses. Psalms 109:17-20 and it says,

Notice it! People say, “I’m not blessed. Our church isn’t blessed.” How much blessing have we ever done with our mouths?

And that’s Bible. That’s why our Bible said, “When man…” he said, “Judge not lest you be judged.” It means criticize not, when you’re criticized. Why? Because the man’s own criticism is going to destroy him.

[Brother Vayle’s voice fades.] …or do we take faith in God and try to go on. Huh? Well, if this isn’t a mirror this morning, I don’t know what a mirror is.

Listen,

Proverbs 12:

There’s no truth but God’s Word. My Word is truth. Thy Word twice said that God is truth and Jesus said, “My Word is true.” Your words and my words are not truth because they’re not established. But God’s Words are established.

He stands behind them and before them; therefore His Words on our lips are established truth. And nothing is going to change it.

Proverbs 12:

Did you know that our health depends upon our tongue? Right, it’s exactly right, because it augments it. You hear what you say, it goes in here, it comes out, confirmed and bigger.

You know that you aren’t really afraid until you confess it. The minute you confess it, that thing gets bigger. So we must do the thing with the Word of God.

Psalms 77:

See, you get it? If he hadn’t of said it, he wouldn’t have been overwhelmed. You may think a lot of things; I may think a lot of things; don’t say them!

James, the 3rd chapter, see, we all cut off our noses to spite our faces, by our words so to speak.

In other words, you cannot make your tongue act involuntary or have an involuntary improper reaction. You’ve got to see that it doesn’t.

See, there is no such thing, my brother, my sister, of ever getting a spiritual habit from God whereby you’re just like an automaton, you sit in a group, you got it now, you got it …?.., no matter how it comes. You’ve got it. No sir, no sir, every moment is a moment of guarding it.

You’ll get better and better at guarding it. But you’ll never like your mind to mind then the tongue, they go right together. And they will never be subjected until death and the Resurrection. You got to control them yourself.

[Brother Vayle’s voice fades.] …but it’s the truth.

Now you say, “Brother Vayle, I went to the altar and I got sanctified thirty years ago and haven’t sinned since.” You liar, you sinned a sin right there. I’ll prove tonight, in the trial of your faith there is no such thing in the Word of God as that nonsense.

And Wesley never preached it. I read his book on perfection. Trouble is Wesley didn’t read enough of Luther. He didn’t know what the perfection in God was; which was imputed righteousness by Jesus Christ our Lord is Christ Himself. It says,

So what’s he saying here? He’s saying the tongue has got to be controlled, otherwise, there will never be a true spiritual man come forth. He can’t do it.

Controlling the tongue doesn’t mean to take the oath of the… certain type of… monk that took the vow of silence. You’ve got to speak, but you must speak what God Almighty has said about the situation.

Now, let’s go back again to what we read in 2 Corinthians, the 4th chapter, and we’ll read another verse to compare with it. In the 4th chapter, verses 8 to 10, here’s how a man speaks when he’s troubled on every side, he said,

We understand that always we are facing the fact that we must put our bodies under or as Paul said, “Mortify, kill the deeds of the flesh, and the lust thereof, in order that the life of God may come forth.”

We don’t think what we want to think; we think what God wants us to think. We don’t say what we want to say; we say what God wants us to say. And that way we become the spiritual men and women that the Word wants us to be.

Turn to the Book of Psalms, if you care to do so; in the 118th Psalm. That’s …?… can slip up on you when you think you’re doing your very best. Psalm 118 and it’s in verses 8 to 14. Here is what you say,

That’s what you say. Notice, because this has to do with faith. Say, if you got a lot of good men in your church, I don’t care if I’ve got a lot of good men in the church, my faith’s in God.

Got any rich people? We don’t need money in our church, not that money isn’t necessary, but money will come in. In other words, you don’t look to money.

“Oh, time to run now, Honey. Church is going on the rocks.”

Oh, didn’t you have that here. Oh, I think you’re recovering now, but I’m sure you had it. Oh, when the finance people were going away and finances, “Bless God, there’s …?… We must have done something wrong.”

Oh, you must have got life in you. What are you supposed to think about? “Oh, that doctrine. Oh, they’ve gone crazy. Oh, let’s all go”. I know how it is, because I’ve been a pastor.

Oh, they don’t know what David said. David would have said, “This I could see the people begin to leave me, but I don’t trust man anyway. It’s better to trust God than to trust all the men put together and all the money put together.

Now let all the preachers come in and all those that don’t believe they’re …?… start to fight and call me names.

He said, “They are going to be like …?…, I’ll put them to flight.” Now, that’s the way the preachers are supposed to talk and the church members both.

“Yea, thou hast struck forth, yea, that I might fall, but the Lord helped me.” We shouldn’t go around here… here’s a bad point; I got calling people, dirty rascals, so they stick knives in you.

Sure, they stuck a knife in but the Lord helped me. He did too, I’ve got to admit it, actually talk about the other side. See, the Lord didn’t say talk all about the bad things, just talk about all the good things.

Our speaking concerns us in the right and the wrong paths. Turn to Psalm 140, you’re already in the Psalms, and in the 140th Psalm, we read verses 1 to 3.

See, the man who talked right was established; the man who talked wrong was overthrown. Because violence starts in the mind, concerned by the mouth and it’s thrown into action because the man has stuck his neck out by his mouth and now he’s going to make it come to pass. And he will, too, don’t worry. Oh, we must be careful how we talk.

Remember that song, “Be careful little tongue what you say.” Huh? Should be ‘careful little tongues what we say’ because it seems like they’re bound in the middle and loose at both ends.

Listen, to what the power of the Word on the tongue is seen by Isaiah.

 God’s Word on your lips is a creative Word which God brings to pass because you say it.

When you put the Word of God in the mouth of the Christian becomes the decree of God, God establishes that Word and the light of God shines forth. No other way.

I’m going to tell you a story Brother Branham told. It was a favorite of his about Jack Moore’s cousin. I don’t know if it’s a man or a woman.

But Jack Moore’s cousin was very, very nervous and distraught and could not seem to get any victory. It got so bad that one night, this person, male or female, I don’t know what it was, had a dream at night.

And in this dream that person was all alone in a room, there was simply a table in the room and on the table there was a Bible and as the person looked toward the door, that was closed and there was a little crack under the door and saw a little devil swaggering in.

And he swaggered in and said, “Boo.” And when the devil said, “Boo!” the man jumped back, the person… back and the devil got this high. And so the devil swaggered more and he said, “Boo.”

And the person jumped back and got back and the devil got that high, about four times the devil was up to the ceiling and this fellow was way down on the floor.

So in his dilemma he looked at the Bible, he picked up the Bible, and he said, “This is do or die.”

And he went to the devil and he said, swat, and when he did the devil jumped back and he got smaller, and swat again, the devil jumped back, he got smaller, and by the time his …?… got picked back by the Word of God the devil was back out the door.

That was a wonderful revelation; tremendous in its application. Use that Word of God on your mouth because it will increase what you want and it will kill what you don’t want.

Now I didn’t write the Bible; I just preach it. From these verses we can see how wrong it is to confess our fears. If we confess our fears, we establish and confirm them.

God warns us particularly against wrong speaking or foolish speaking and particularly against foolish praying which I have already brought to you, one, night here, but we’ll go back to it now because it’s in Ecclesiastes, the 5th chapter, and I think it’s beginning at verse 1.

For listen! Don’t you know the angel of God said to Brother Branham, “That man’s thoughts on earth speak louder in heaven, than does his words even many times?” Why? Because, you see, the words are hypocritical, see? thinking one thing, saying another. See.

We’re not talking about a man now that does that. We’re talking about true coincide, if I love, let love come on. Say thoughts of love. If I hate, the thoughts of hate come out. See.

They coincide, I’m not saying I love you and all the while I hate you here. No! We’re not talking about that. See. Now this man is blurting out in Scripture. Now it says,

God cautions us about talking. And that’s the biggest thing today. The newspapers blab. The magazines blab. The telephone blabs, not without people of course, and then the radio blabs. The TV blabs.

Everything, talk, talk, talk, the air is so full of voices, no wonder the world’s confused.

“Get out of Viet Nam. Get into Viet Nam. Bomb them. Don’t bomb them. Do this: do that.” For heaven’s sake, somebody make up his mind and shut-up and do it. Huh?

“Let your words be few,” the Bible says.

Today if we had an Abraham Lincoln for a State of the Union Address, we’d say, “Can’t that guy even talk?” And yet he could put in ten sentences what any president would take in ten volumes, certainly.

And that says in plain English, “It’s better not to pray if you don’t mean it, than to pray and think something will come because it won’t work anyway.”

You know the best place to backslide is right on your knees talking to God. Oh, you don’t think so? Well, it certainly is. It certainly is. That’s why the prayer rooms are a farce. I’m not fooling; I’m telling you the truth. I’m not against praying.

But don’t you dare pray against this Word of God, or not according to God’s Word because the Bible says you go to God and you’re vowing and say, “God, here I am believing You for this answer,” and then you leave this and falter out there. God says, “I’m going to make it rough on you.”

You have any idea what to do? Stop praying until you can make up your minds, the next time you ask God for anything you’re going to believe it and get it or shut-up.

In the meantime, just worship and say, “God, I’m not even worthy to ask You because I’m scared to ask, because I know I haven’t got the backbone to follow through, but Lord, at least I’ll praise You and I’ll honor Your great Name and just praise You.” You follow me?

It’s absolutely God’s Word, you won’t fool with Him. Say, God’s in heaven. There’s too much praying today, the wrong kind. How much praying did they do after Pentecost with the persecution on?

Let’s call a six month time of prayer; they prayed for one minute flat, got up and said, “Let’s go to work. God’s on our side.”

Let’s go to the Book of Job, the 2nd chapter, for a couple of verses, and in Job, the 2nd chapter, verses 9 and 10 and it says,

Daniel, the 3rd chapter, we’ll come to a positive this time now. Right back here in Daniel, one of the hard books to find, thumbing through the pages, in the 3rd chapter, verses 16, 17 and it says this,

Let’s go to Matthew, the 10th chapter, verses 16 to 20, how God warns us.

Now listen! The Spirit of God will never go contrary to this Word because …?… You use that Word right now and you got God speaking in you by His Spirit. Without a doubt we have established the law of the faith life.

That what we want to increase and establish in our lives, we think about and confirm and strengthen and enlarge, by speaking our thoughts, faith thoughts relative to them.

Psalm 145 and before I read this Psalm 145, I’ll read that again, what I just gave to you. I wrote this down.

Without a doubt we have established the law of the faith life. That which we want to increase and establish in our lives, we think about and confirm and strengthen and enlarge, by speaking our faith thoughts relative to them.

Psalms 145:

There it is. There’s a Christian. There’s a Christian, tell by the way he talks. Not a hypocrite. He lives the way he talks.

You know one way to keep out from getting you life messed up? And this is for young people. When young men and women go together, if they’re born again, anyone’s born again, take your stand and say, “I can’t do the filthy things this world does because I’m a Christian. I love God.”

And you know what will happen? You won’t even try to understand or patience for the filthy things the world’s doing right now because you’ve made your confession. That’s what’s wrong; people don’t confess God with words.

What we want to decrease now or reverse by… reversed… you know what is in our lives, we don’t want, we want to reduce our …self(?)… and by words concerning it. So we proved that by the Book of Matthew, the 15th chapter.

Let’s go there in,

Now turn back to Matthew 12:37. And it says,

See, you augment in your life by talking those desirable qualities and things, thinking and talking, and you decrease in the same way; you just spirit right away from those other things that you don’t want.

Once more to see this is a faith principle. We go back to Abraham, the father of faith. And that’s back there in Genesis 17:5,6.

Do you remember how we are applying everything to Abraham? Because it gives us a better insight. Says,

That’s you and me because we’re the seed of Abraham, see, through Christ. Now, it says here that this man shall no longer be called Abram. He can’t be because he’s going to be Abraham, so therefore, he is called Abraham.

People come along and say, “This notable man of today, fine looking man, regal, dignified, they say, he must be the mayor of the city.”

“Well, yes I am, he said, I’m the father of this whole tribe here, all these people,” in the sense that he was the spiritual father, like they would call him the father. High priest, priest sort of thing.

And then they say, “What is your name?”

He said, “My name is Abraham.”

“Oh, wonderful. Father of many children. How many children and grandchildren to you have?”

“Well, he said, the fact is I have none.”

“Hmm, it’s about time you changed your name. Isn’t that time when they …?…”

He said, “Oh, no, you see, I’m going to be a father.”

They said, “Oh boy, he is kooked. Well, what authority?”

“God spoke to me.”

“Oh boy, here, here. Here comes the men with the white jacket.”

“You mean you believe that stuff, that that’s the Word of God? You believe that? That’s full of… mistakes.”

They say, “You can’t believe this.”

But he called himself what God said he was and he became what God already said he was. And it was his testimony, his word and his thinking did it because the Bible said, “He perceived not his own body.”

He didn’t think about it. The word ‘perceive’ means ‘to thoroughly meditate over’. See. Give it a thorough going over. He took it out of his mind entirely what he thought he was, put his mind on the promise of God.

Said what God said about it and be became what God said he was.

And that’s why people don’t get healed these days. They’re too busy taking their pulse. Oh, my pulse is stamped, I must have been …?… and then of course, they have the urine test to see if they’re going to get a cold, you know.

Get litmus paper, if it’s alkaline you’re going to get …?… Huh? Sure. “Who will see to my back problem?”

Thinking about it, thinking about it, thinking about it, never mind what God told you to think, never mind what God told you to say, it’s not going to work.

It’s not going to work. You get healed on somebody else’s faith you’ll regret it. And if you get healed even on your own faith and don’t get to the root cause by following these examples, you’ll regret it.

This fellow had ulcers when he was thirty-eight years of age. And he said, “Look, you got those ulcers,” he said to himself, by factory breaking that …?… on that post, I got it because I’m overworked.

And I sat at that table one day and I said, “In the name of Jesus Christ I will not tolerate you, you get out.”

And they got out. But before I was… left the age of thirty-eight it hit down here in my bladder; I wish I had an ulcer. “Sin not lest a worse thing come upon you.”

You don’t get healed, my brother, my sister, organically from an inorganic thing unless you remove the inorganic.

And if your problem is psychosomatic which ninety percent are, don’t you dare go into a prayer line until you really got things settled with God, because you could come out later on worse than when you went in. You’ll wish you had the old thing back. Don’t fool with God’s Word.

See, Laodicean spirit, it’ll fool you. Oh yeah, we can get fooled by this. “I can think what I think.” Like, “Who’s Branham to tell?”

Yeah, who was he? The prophet of God. When did the sun do the antics, it did as it did in Jeffersonville when the light turned the way it was?

I found out what that purple light was, because I by accident picked up by the lantern with a magnifying glass and looked at red ink through it and, the way a certain light hit it, it was blood.

But blood and purple were hand in hand, the Romans affecting him, don’t worry. The white light took the red that came down from the sun and turned it purple, that’s what it was. It was blood that was on the sun and the moon, around the world. Sure, we’re in for it.

If he comes back, fine, if he doesn’t, it’s still fine because God will still work it out. But don’t think that we can go against that Word. That man was the only vindicated man since the apostle Paul.

And they said, “We want our own vindication.” What is the vindication Brother Branham let the people see? Pardon me for using names, Mr. Lindsey.

I’ll use them, because they said in Chautauqua on the platform, “The man is a prophet in a trance, and out of the trance, don’t listen to him, he’s all a mess up in his thoughts.”

If you men say such rotten things as that, but, they said it, so I used the names this morning, prove that they are vindicated and they say Brother Branham was vindicated, if he says what we say.

What did Mr. Du Plessis say? Mr. Du Plessis said, “The spirit in Rome was the same spirit in him.” Well, I believe that. He said, “The ecumenical spirit was like a breath of springtime.” Where has he been?

That’s why listening to the …?… on the filter, on the filtered cigarette, what is it? Salem? Springtime?

Well one fellow said, “You hear a Salem commercial you wonder what if you don’t smoke cigarettes, you wonder what you got about… against being healthy.”

Where’s… this man been? If the ecumenical spirit is a breath of springtime; I want to know, if you don’t like the sound of my preaching I’m sorry for you.

The man shouldn’t have said it. If he said it in public, it’s a public statement. I’m public, I can say what he said because he said it to hundreds and hundreds in Chautauqua, Ohio.

He said it to hundreds, and that’s what usually brought thousands out there with the name of Brother Branham, two or three times in a row, he was here. What was the man?

He said, “Sure Brother Branham is a prophet if he says what the Assemblies of God say. The Baptist would take him if he said what the Baptist said. The Oneness would take him as the prophet if he said what they said. But a man comes with the Word, now they don’t want it.”

I believe the Word this morning brother/sister. But there isn’t anybody this morning that can fool with God, even talk about healing all you want, and I think, for we don’t… we’re not here to heal the wound of the daughter lightly, we’re here to get healed.

And healing starts in the soul, which has got to have the spirit of God with us, and that’s when it takes the Word of the Living God, because the spirit and the Word are one.

You can’t go against the spirit, and say it was the spirit told me to do it, because it just can’t be done. We want to get help this morning, we must say what God’s Word said, it is a spiritual law. Abraham, the Scripture distinctly said, said what God said, and that was it.

He said, “I am the father of nations because God said so.” What do you say? You say, “I have been healed two thousand years ago and I will manifest it.”

And you keep on speaking God’s Word and as you do it, it becomes enlarged and because the mind and the tongue is controlled on that subject, and you keep your mind and tongue controlled on the other subjects, the day will come when that spiritual curtain will be so spiritual the healing power of God will be there.

I’m not interested in miracles of healing per se, or by themselves, because too many people try to use the gift and bypass the Word of God. You can’t bypass the Word of God by any gift, the Bible doesn’t touch the Bible.

God does not say, “I have placed one law here that you obey, but you see if you’re smart, you’ll see the flower over here and you’ll use this and forget this.” Oh no, my brother, my sister, no, no.

You and I cannot move yet, but what have people done with the gift of revelation when God let them come back to church for awhile?

Everybody who’s anybody with a revelation ministry of the crystal ball, they say, “Run into me.” But I was wise and I fought.

Oh, I know what I mean, people say, “Brother Vayle, you’ve got a good gift of …?… help. You lay your hands on and prophesy… Brother Neville was doing it years after I quit.

And he was so active in prophecies, they’d tape them and everybody would come running, and one day, as Brother Branham went down the road, the vision broke and said, “Go to my servant, Brother Neville, and tell him, “Beware, they are leading him into a trap.”

Because everybody wants that, “Give me this revelation. Give me that and the other thing.”

You see, the Word is your direction here, my brother, my sister. The Word and a people who bypass the Word are not entitled to revelation, because that then adds condemnation. If you don’t believe in this, why would you believe in the other?

The only revelation would be worthy, is “My child, you have disobeyed this course of Scripture, go back to it, repent, and then I’ll do something for you.” But they don’t want to. Huh? Oh, no, no, no. God doesn’t do things like that.

Let’s go to the Book of Romans, and yes, I got to close pretty soon now, and I was going to preach two sermons and keep you here till two but I’m going to forego one, and preach on this one, and Brother Perry will preach the last one tonight.

See, Abraham said what God said. “I am not Abram, I’m Abraham.” And he became Abraham.

Thus we find, now listen carefully, thus we find that a right and proper mental attitude towards any promise in the Word, such attitude being confirmed and augmented by confession of the Word will eventually, give without fail that promise to the believer, and in so doing will become a spiritual butterfly effect.

As Malachi 3:16 said, “Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and thought, thought, thought, thought and talked.

“What else you can’t think without talking, you have to communicate about the Lord. You want to get a great faith life going? You want to use the measure of faith God gave you?

Remember the faith is perfect but the vessel is not. See. Faith doesn’t work automatically, can’t do it; it’s got laws laid down.

What do you do? Whatever the problem, look to see what God’s Word said. Huh? Financial. See what God says. Marital difficulties. See what God says. Child problems, delinquent? See what God says.

Problem in the church? See, what God says. Sick in your body? See what God says. Can’t sleep? See what God says. When God said it, think it, say it, watch for it.

When it comes, I don’t know. I don’t know, but it will come. It took Abraham twenty years, it was worth it. People don’t like to wait for things.

I said I waited two and a half years for my shoulder and I’m done. Doing concrete work and it got kind of locked, about 1955, when I went to Brother Bill’s meetings, I would listen to him and any time anybody had a bad shoulder, I’d raise my hand in faith.

Every single time, any time anybody got prayed for, with a bad shoulder, there I was, still believing God. About two years later, it was all gone. I’m glad to say that I endured with perhaps, not with any great joy but expectation the healing that would come.

I’m glad to say that it came because if I had not gone through that process, I would still have my bad shoulder. I didn’t know when it was going to come but it had to come. See.

If you do not weary and faint, in due season, you will reap. For how am I going to increase this faith? How am I going to work it out and augment it?

Think what God said about the subject. Say what God said about the subject. Apply to yourself in your mind and your conversation because God told you and the day will come when you get it.

Carrie Judd Montgomery was a perfect example. Now I don’t… I can’t see women preachers. But dear old Carrie she wasn’t a preacher but she was all …?… in a chair like this, that old leg was all withered and crippled. And she said in that wheelchair, and she said, “By His stripes I have been healed.”

And they said, “Oh, Mrs. Montgomery, oh Mrs. Montgomery, But if you’re healed, what’s that?” And she said, “That is the devil’s lie.” I don’t know if it quite fit or not but went preaching after and they chided her, but one day that old gal’s leg went… Phttt! and she was healed.

And she stumped up and down America, like a female Finney. You wonder where the Mormons got their… understanding on gifts and all. Mrs. Woodworth-Etter was the one, yeah, that’s the one I meant, Mrs. Woodworth-Etter, not Carrie Judd Montgomery.

Woodworth-Etter was the one got the healing, and went out there to the Mormon people and then they pulled the most beautiful double-cross in history, what organization always does. They said to the Mormons who were born again, I believe they were, they had the Word way back you see, before this last day.

They had something anyway, but they said to the Mormons, the elders came and said, “Look, we believe in that, you don’t have to leave the church, you just stick with us, we like it.” Killed it. See, she was the one who had that faith and she said, “I have been healed.”

You were healed two thousand years ago, so was I. You’ve got the perfect faith to get it, what’s wrong? We’re not using the channels that God said. What did Brother Branham preach a while ago? Rendering a service to God apart from God’s will.

Now you heard a masterpiece. Is it true? It’s true of any sermon every preached. Supposing you a man got the faith of Jesus Christ today that attempted to use outside of his directive channels, is it going to work?

No, God can’t honor …?… So what if you got a problem? Think what God thinks about it. Say, what God says. Relink it, and wait for it, for you’re going to get it. Tonight we’ll tell on the trial of faith exactly how that works.

Then till tonight, we’ll rise and be dismissed.

The Lord bless you.

Father God, again we thank You for the time of fellowship we’ve had over Your Word and in It.

Now Lord, we know that this is a mental concept at this time but nonetheless it is a true concept. Now we need to get it into our hearts and assimilate it until it becomes a part of us.

And You have told us how to do it, by the mind fixed upon Thy Word and the mouth full of It. And in this process we shall increase until this becomes effective and we’ll receive the promise that we desire.

We know Lord, that this is a simple as it could be made because it is simple in Your Word and it is effective, because it is of God.

We have just one problem in that also can be overcome Lord, as we implore Your Spirit Who was given to us, which will bring all things to our remembrance and to teach us and give us a consuming revelation; that He will do that work Lord, now, in our hearts and minds, which we have faithfully set forth as Thy Word and as the work of the Spirit, so that none of us will lose any.

But that it will become so real, the principle of the outworking of faith will be ours. O God, We can do it this morning. If we need any revelation at this moment, perhaps it’s the revelation because we are children, we can and It will be ours.

God grant us this morning, the … …?… you made real to us, by the answer that the problem points us to. And from there we go, to perfect confirmation.

We ask these mercies and blessings, for Thy glory and for our eternal good, in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

‘The Lord bless you.’