Principles of Faith #09 *

Transcript In progress.

Audio is available now.

Brother Vayle sorts out technical problems.

Preamble:

Now, I will review a little tonight but not too much because I want to finish the section on the principles of faith and then be able to go into a couple, one, two, three, four or so topics.

Now I don’t know just what we’re going to do here as concerning the future and that is next week, I think I could finish a basic study of faith by Sunday night.

However, I would not be able to go into the greatest faith in the Bible, faith that controls, faith of Moses, faith of Sarah, and different ones which we use as an illustrative material to bring out the rules and principles which are set forth in the Word of God on the use of thy faith.

Now I used to take two weeks at a time and I find people get tired these days, even the fellow that preaches gets tired. Used to be easy at one time, preached two weeks, in fact I was kind of insulted if I didn’t go to a place for two weeks, because I wasn’t able to cover enough material.

But it seems it’s not so easy to have a two-week meeting and I get a little worried about people coming every night, and although I try to get you out early, you stand around the back and talk quite a bit, too, so I’m not going to take all the blame for this… Adam tried to put all the blame on Eve, while Eve tried to put it on the serpent.

I think it was kind of a community affair. And at least I try to get you out each night, I get away early, but I just don’t know what to say about… meetings longer than Sunday, maybe if you feel all good by Sunday, maybe such a thing as a few more days, I don’t know. I just don’t know how I’ll feel led myself.

I just preach along, preach along sort of, let the Lord order the way and circumstances and all those things that work out.

But we’re coming along anyway in the basic principles of faith and I think we’ll have had a good understanding before the week is over.

Let’s bow our heads in prayer.

Father, we come to You again tonight, through Jesus Christ our Lord, knowing my God, that where two or three are gathered in the midst, together, there art Thou in the midst.

We know Lord, tonight, that You said, “If two be agreed upon anything as touching Your kingdom, it should be granted them.” We are agreed tonight Lord, that we need revelation.

We need Your Word Lord, we come slowly You to us, but we do become that living Word and as Your servant said, “That the Son revealed in flesh, the Son of man revealed in flesh, was that Bride or that people who are the elect, chosen, and faithful for that day.”

And Lord, we would want to be in that position where we have not only sung, but people can truly see Jesus in us, and they will see it because that we do not deviate from that Word, even as the Son of man came to fulfill that Word.

So Lord, tonight we humbly give ourselves over to you, asking my God that every thought, and every word be exactly right from Thee, and it be heard exactly right as well as being expressed exactly right.

O Father, help us tonight; bring every spirit of man in subjection, above all, every thought into captivity, to the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Lord, Your Spirit was given to this end, we believe that is true Lord.

We’re trying hard to take every Word of God, factually as it has been written. Knowing that every Word of God has power, and this Word particularly tonight has power to us Lord, that Your Spirit was sent to guide us into all truth, to show us things to come, take the things of God, and make them real to us.

So Holy Spirit do come in to such a way and minister in our lives, such a reality be ours, that people will know that we have been with Jesus.

Grant Lord, tonight this which is so important to us, because we need it so desperately in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.

Now last night we brought you the first reason as to why this perfect gift from God failed. Now no one can deny that we have been dealt the measure of faith that is the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was prophesied as the faith of God.

It is a measure of faith. In other words, every single person has an exact measure. No one has any more than anyone else.

However, in ministering in the realm of the Spirit, there is a proportion of faith and that proportion of faith is that proportion whereby the Holy Spirit is caused to manifest in a peculiar or particular manner, such as we illustrated that tongues is very simple, and would take the minutest proportion of faith.

But when you deal in miracles, you’d be dealing in the greatest proportion of faith that has ever come to any man.

When we consider this age in which Brother Branham lived and you know that he had the greatest ministry without doubt since the Apostle Paul.

I make no apologies in saying this, but it is my studied opinion having read as much as I have been able to read, that Brother Branham’s ministry eclipses in number all the phenomena that has taken place since the time of the apostle Paul to this present day.

Because his visions were by the thousands, his miracles were by the… and healings by the hundreds of thousands and nowhere in history since the time of Peter have we had the magnitudes of healing lines where Brother Branham would take as many as two thousand at one time and never have one miss.

A man who could stand up and say, “Give me your worst case of cripples, no matter who it is, I will guarantee healing.”

Who could look at a congregation and say, “Bring me the twenty-four worst cases, I will guarantee all healed, or you may have a fast line and at least sixty percent will be healed.” You never found anybody could say a thing like that.

What a tremendous proportion of faith for a gift of healing and miracles is greater even still, if it were dealing as Moses dealt. Imagine the faith of that man to simply say, “Let there be flies.” And stretch forth that rod.

Oh my, I don’t even know that looking at myself, I don’t want to downgrade me or anybody else but, I wonder if I could see the sun rise and in hindsight say, “Let the sun rise.” I just wonder if it might hit an eclipse just about that time.

But here’s what man, Moses, “Let there be flies.” And they came. “Let the water turn to blood.” And it came. “Let there be death in the land.”

And death came. Lining them up by the thousand. That’s a proportion of faith as in contradistinction to the measure of faith.

And everyone has been given a ministry by the Lord Jesus Christ so there isn’t one of you who is in need tonight, you have the measure of faith which will give you every promise in the book, because remember the promise is sure because of faith.

And then you have the proportion of faith which makes you an able minister. As Paul said, “Who is able for these things, thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Now if you look in the Book of Luke with me for a few moments in chapter 19, I believe it is, and 15 through 27, you will notice that Jesus is likening His second coming to this particular parable. For in verse 11 it says,

Now you will notice in this illustration here, this is not the illustration of the talents, where God gave several talents to one man, less to another and still less to another man.

But this is the parable where each person got the identical measure which is the pound, and you will notice the pound represents faith because he said, “Thou hast been faithful.”

Now every one of us is given the measure of faith and God demands that we use this faith.

And remember I said the other day, that God is not pleased with those who do not use faith. Why? Because God cannot be God to a man who does not use faith.

Faith is resting with God doing. Faith is allowing God to work in your behalf. It’s fighting your battles.

It’s letting Him take the brunt of it. It’s letting God provide the way of escape and God doing multitudinous things which will give us peace.

Remember that the Scripture speaks of faith being a rest, you see, and to rest means ‘to cease’. And we’ve not learned that, though we’ll talk about it tonight quite a bit.

But here you’ll notice that God has given each one this certain particular measure. And there’s no place in the Word that I can find that describes anybody getting one certain particular measure except the measure of faith. God demands that we use faith.

Now notice what He does, He takes from the person who could have used his faith all which would have accrued to him and He gave it to another one.

He doesn’t cast him into outer darkness. He doesn’t destroy him. He rebukes him, but the enemy He destroys. This man is not an enemy.

He’s his own enemy because he hasn’t used the wonderful gift that God gave him. So we see here an admonition tonight, one that we ought to learn and that is that God is not pleased, in fact there is the evidence here of a judgment which is the placing of rewards when people will not use this God given faith.

You know it’s exactly what James said, “Faith without works is dead.” In other words, put your faith to work. Make it count.

You can’t be like the old lady in Chicago, I know you must have read of her because she got in all the newspapers across America, they found her starved to death in the garret and she died of malnutrition.

And somebody noticed a slit in the mattress, so they reached in and pulled out wads and wads of money. And here over multiplied thousands of dollars, the woman had died from malnutrition, because she would not use what was there for her to use.

You say a person like that would have to be mental. Well, let me say this, a person who doesn’t use his faith can hardly be spiritual. See, spiritual minded people lay up treasure in heaven. “Lay not up for yourself treasure on earth.”

Many man has a business acumen and the ability to lay up treasure on earth, then his heart follows it. But there aren’t many people who really go all out to laying up a treasure in heaven. And the only way you’ll ever do it, is on a faith premise.

Because to lay up treasure in heaven, is as Paul said, “You took joy the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourself, you had in heaven, a better and enduring treasure.” See?

Jesus said, “Blessed is a man who leaves his father and mother, sister, brother, and lands.”

He said, “I’ll give him a hundredfold in this life and the life to come life, life everlasting.” In other words, he’ll glorify. You see? So we must remember that, by using this measure of faith which God has given us.

Now we discovered last night, though this faith is perfect the vessel is not perfect. That’s the trouble. There’s nothing wrong with your faith. There’s nothing wrong with the Holy Spirit. There’s nothing wrong with the various experiences you had as a Christian.

There’s nothing wrong with the good gifts God’s given you. There’s nothing wrong with the gift of tongues in Corinth, except they began to use them in a manner which was not becoming to God’s children. There’s nothing wrong with anything.

All things are pure to the pure in heart. That’s the whole trouble. We get too many folk who aren’t quite too pure, and therefore, the operation of the thing involved becomes deteriorated.

So don’t ever look at your faith and say, “Well, I…just don’t think this faith is right.” That faith will pull down any stronghold. There’s nothing wrong with it.

Nothing wrong with your faith, it’s a perfect gift of God. What it is the vessel is fallible. And the vessel doesn’t know the laws of faith that which will hinder and that which will augment.

And the first law we learned was this, that until, or unless, or until you come to the place where you know that God is a good God you’ll never use that faith because you see, faith reposes in God.

But if He’s not a good God how can you expect something good? And that’s what you’re looking for.

I said the other day, “Nobody expects to get sick if he’s well.” Or did I forget to mention that? Well, if I didn’t I’ll mention it now. Would anybody like to go up the building here and break a leg?

You say, “Heavens, no! I want to get rid of my rheumatism now; what are you talking about?” Oh, well, then you don’t hope for a broken leg, that’s fine. Does anybody here hope to go out and lose your pocketbook?

You say, “My goodness, no! Certainly not! I’m hoping to get out of debt, let alone get worse in debt.”

Well, do you hope to go home and have a scrap with your family?

You say, “Nothing doing. I have some scraps now and they’re no fun. I’m trying to get out of these scraps.”

You see, you’re looking for something better. As I mentioned last night, that these people committing suicide, look for something better than they got. That’s why they kill themselves. You see?

Now if this faith has as its object God, and the use of that faith is to the end you’ll get something better than you got now, then God can only deal in good things always or He might double-cross you.

Now he knew exactly how I’d be preaching down here in this twentieth century; so He put in the Word of God, “Make the tree good and its fruit good or forget it.” Because the briar tree doesn’t bring forth figs and the fig tree doesn’t bring forth briars. So God is all good.

David oppressed in battle, hunted as a partridge, he could of said, “Oh, oh boy, this religion. It’s taken me a long time to smarten up to this thing that Samuel pulled on me, saying that God anointed me because if I were king I should be home in the place. I should be leading the armies instead of being chased by them. I should be home with my wives. I should have people serving me. I should be looked up to. They should want my pleasure, but they all turned against me trying to kill me.” Now he didn’t talk that way.

He wasn’t a Christian Scientist who said, “Saul, isn’t looking for me. My wives are here but you can’t see them. The kids are playing around too, in the bushes somewhere back there. And there’s no army out there, that’s for sure, because you know there’s no sin and there’s no sickness.” He didn’t say that.

He said, “I know these conditions. They look exactly wrong. They look exactly bad. It’s a hundred percent contrary to what you think would be in the face of God anointing me His king with His blessing on me.”

But he said, “And I would have fainted, except I believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.”

Job understood it. He put it this way, “What? Shall we not receive a blessing and evil from the hand of the Lord or troubles?”

He knew that God was a good God. And Paul putting it in the language that you love so well, “All things work together for good to them that love the Lord, to them that are the elect, the called, the chosen, according to His purpose.”

And what’s His purpose? That after you have suffered awhile you will enter into the kingdom of God. You see?

Now listen to me. We’re not naïve and we’re not babies. We all have to work to earn a living. The Bible says that he that doesn’t work; can’t eat.

Now that’s an awful good… that sounds awful bad but it’s awful good. Do you realize what that means? It means God’s got to give you a job.

You say, “Lord, if I don’t work I can’t eat. You got to give me a job.” You don’t mind the statistics and all these things that tell you there’s no jobs. I don’t care if there’s a depression in the neighborhood.

What’s that got to do with God? God owes you a job, because He said if you don’t work you can’t eat. Say now look. We’re talking about jobs.

I’m not far away from my thought; you need to work to get a paycheck. The roads this morning were pretty slick. I didn’t get up to find out. When I did get up I didn’t go to find out, but I know that they were slick.

The point is this though, you get in your car and take a calculated risk and you go down that road because you want your paycheck. That’s all there is to faith, too. That’s all there is to faith.

God has said this is the way it is and that’s the way it is. He knew what he was doing for David.

And David was such a deep scholar in the spirit that when Shimei cursed him, he said, “Let him curse; God told him to curse.”

You say, “God told him to curse?”

“Yes sir, God told him to curse.” Just like God told that wicked spirit to go down and to lead Ahab astray.

You say, “Then God knows my daughter has got epilepsy.”

Absolutely, God knows your daughter has got epilepsy. God knows your husband is dying of cancer? Absolutely, He knows. No doubt about it.

But you can be like David who said, “I had fainted except I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” That’s not heaven.

But no matter what his condition was, he knew that God was a good God and in spite of what seemed to be a hundred percent opposite to the promise he would yet gain that promise. And I’ll tell you how Abraham did, tomorrow night, maybe even tonight.

Now, notice what it says here in the Book of,

Psalm 119:

And Hebrews 9:

God is a good God. You must come to the place where like Paul you have become persuaded. Now look, you don’t be persuaded tonight He’s a good God and tomorrow He’s not so good.

Look, let’s just take this microphone here, let’s just say that I cover this microphone with water and I pour glue on it and I pour acid on it.

Let’s say it can resist it, except of course, not trying to debilitate it, but just say it has this power of immutability, doesn’t change, it’s a microphone.

And I can pour some flour and water mixed together on it, and I can pour some concrete on it. And if it’s really resistant I can light a match to a fuse and break it all off of it. Then start all over again. It doesn’t change the fact that that’s a microphone.

See, you say, “Well, that’s simple. I can figure that out. I’ll accept that. You say, “I wouldn’t care, Brother Vayle, if they took that thing with a bomb and blew it up; I’ll still say it was a microphone because that’s all it was.”

Why can’t we say the same thing about God? God’s a good God.

God doesn’t blow hot and cold. God doesn’t change. “In Him there’s neither variableness, nor shadow of turning.”

You say, “But there are wars and God could stop them.” He’s still a good God whether He starts, stops them or anything else. He’s still a good God; nothing to do with it. You say, “I’ve seen people destroyed. My own life has been unhappy.”

That hasn’t got a thing to do with it. God’s a good God. You see, look, there’s no man dares to judge God, except according to God’s Word. Remember Sarah judged God faithful.

Every day we’re judging. We’ve got to make up our minds. Is God a good God? Go back in your lives for awhile; some of you had a pretty rugged childhood, didn’t you? Now as adults you didn’t fare too well. It’s been pretty shoddy, pretty spotty. Think it over.

Now you sure sitting here tonight, you got to make up your mind, is God a good God in spite of it? It’s up to us. But I know one thing; you’ll never use this perfect faith, perfectly until the vessel lines up with the Word. Can’t be done.

You’ve got to come to the place where God is a good God. Even if everything seems senseless and ridiculous and all men around are falling in despair, never mind, God’s a good God.

“Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.”

“Counted as sheep for the slaughter, killed all the day long,” He’s a good God.

Let me illustrate a little more. Supposing I said to you, you’re in pain and I said, “Look, I’m not going to break your bone, but I’m going to put it in a vise, with a pillow, and then I’m going to twist this arm for two minutes.”

Now for one minute you think you’re going to die, and the next minute you hope you will die. But after it’s over, you won’t be bothered with that bad arthritis again; it’s going to cure.

Oh, you’d bat your eyes for about… just a minute now, start feeling the pain, you say, “Okay.” You grit your teeth, close your eyes, say, “Twist her!” Why don’t you do that about God? The Great Physician may need to twist your bones.

And if you think I’m kidding, you should have had my bursitis. You should have had it, right, instead of me. I should give it to you. And it locked, and when I raised it up, this was raising up. I couldn’t raise it.

But Dr. D… in Lima, Ohio is a very fine osteopathic manipulator and he prays when he works, and he went through all the muscles and I knew what he was leading to.

And he said, “This is going to hurt.”

And I said, “Sure, it’s going to hurt. What do you think it’s doing now?”

But I said, “Rip it off at the socket, Doc, if it will work.”

And rather than feeling, oh, …?… oh, ho, and …?… of it. But look at it, fine. Oh, I’m glad, that that’s healed up. This shoulder froze years ago, took me two years to believe God, but I move around, the shoulder is fine. See, I’m glad. That’s what I’m trying to get across. God’s a good God.

You may not understand the process which leads to His goodness. Like the person born blind, healed for the glory of God. But God is a good God.

Now you’re getting the point, because I can feel the tension breaking. For awhile, you see, you were kind of scared I was leading you down a wrong path. But you see what it is?

Paul said, “He was assured, he knew, that the weight of glory which was to be revealed was so great that it was folly to compare the suffering to the glory which should be revealed.” God is a good God.

Why did He let sin in the world? He’s still a good God. Hasn’t got a thing to do with it! Look, I can take a diamond, throw it in a cesspool, take it out of the cesspool, throw it in the fire, and I can grind it underfoot, it’s still a diamond. Still a diamond!

Think what man may think of God by judging Him from what goes on around about you. That hasn’t got a thing to do with it. God is a good God. Tonight if you walk out of here, and a lightning bolt smites you blind and you get glaucoma.

God’s a good God. Hasn’t got a thing to do with it. You go out here and suffer the torments of a hell. That’s nothing to do with it. God is a good God.

“You see your thoughts and my thoughts are not like His thoughts.”

That’s why He gave us the Bible, to make sure we’d get His side of it. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so are God’s thoughts and ways above our thoughts and our ways.

What’s the best thing to do to get rid of an enemy? Kill him. God says, “No, love him.”

What’s the best way to teach a fellow not to slap you in the cheek? Haul off and hit him so hard he’ll be dead before morning. No, turn the other cheek.

What’s the best way to get ahead in this world and …?… Get all you can and save all you can. Or can all you can. No, it’s to give and it shall be given unto you. You can’t figure God out.

What if I were to say to you tonight, we have four children. And my wife wasn’t here, to bring the lie to that, you wouldn’t know if we had four children, ten children, one child or no child, no children. You’ve got to depend on what we tell you, what I tell you.

If I said we had two boys and a girl, you don’t know if that’s true or not. You got to take my word for it. And if I said we had two girls and a boy you still wouldn’t know. You’d have to find out for yourself.

You got to listen to me. It’s amazing how we’ll listen to somebody give what you call a poor bad language, a cock-and-bull story, and get swindled by it. So why not believe God’s Word about God and get glorified by it?

Because God’s a good God—Huh?—He says He is. You can’t deny it. “All things work together for good;” life, death, life, death, slaughter. Oh, you don’t know it now but you will know later on. Huh?

Why did Jesus suffer? Because of the joy that was set before Him. You see, that’s the part of God, raising the dead. Have your hopes fallen in ashes to die, because you wanted one thing but God wanted another?

Oh, how blessed you’re going to be in the kingdom because you went God’s way. Suffering all things lost that you may gain, the excellency of the knowledge.

Our knowledge is not excellent, because we refuse to see God as a good God, simply because He said so. Your confidence in God is to believe what God said about Himself. If I said I am five foot three, blond; you’d know that was a lie.

But if I stood behind a curtain and here a door, and you didn’t know me, and I say, “Well, folks you don’t know me but I’ll tell you about myself. I’m six foot two. Weigh two hundred and eighty pounds. I’m blond. I got two sets of teeth, might have one in the cupboard. You wouldn’t know, you’d have to take what I said.”

Huh? You haven’t seen God. You haven’t heard Him. You never talked to Him. Then believe what He said and say, “That’s that.”

And then if you got to go so far as Oral did, and say the devil is a bad devil, I’ll throw that in for good measure. Maybe it’ll help you to say that. God’s a good God, and the devil’s a bad devil.

That’s fine, you go ahead if you want. I just leave it all up to God, because He’s running the universe. He kicked the devil out once, and He’s going to do it again and again, till it’s all over.

I just say God’s in the driver’s seat. He’s sovereign. I’ve no problems there. Whatever comes, God knows all about it. And if God is my Father, then He’s not letting the devil get turned loose on me.

There’s nothing makes me madder and you madder to find somebody slapped our kid. “Pow!” You’d slap him right back, because that’s my kid. Keep your hands off of him.

And that’s the way God does it with the devil, too. You don’t get God turning over His children to the devil. God deals with us, the Bible said God deals with us. Do you believe that?

Well, I’m glad you said, Amen. You sounded kind of anxious so I’ll prove it to you just the same. In case your anxiety is a little bit nervous.

Let’s get into it here. It says here now, and…

Who’s doing it? God’s doing it. Even if He sends the old devil around and hits you with a club; it’s still God doing it. Because He’s going to tell the devil just how hard he can hit and where he can hit. Right?

Why certainly, that’s how He did it with Job. Do you said, “You mean to tell me I’m going to come out of this thing in a glorified wonderful state?” You’re going to be just like Jesus because He said so. Job knew that.

They said, “Job, how can you keep saying ‘God’s a good God’?”

“Well,” he said, “because He is a good God.”

“But Job, what if you die?”

He said, “So what,” he said, “I’m going to go further and let the skin worms eat this body and I’ll still see God in the flesh and I’ll see Him for myself.”

Won’t have to come and have you come and say, “There he is.” I’ll know Him, don’t worry. A little bit… snide there, getting back at those boys, see? real Holy Ghost derision. “I’ll know Him for myself, too.” Huh?

You think you won’t know Him? Ho, ho, listen. How do you think that Peter and John knew Elijah and Moses, standing with Jesus? You’ll just know them; that’s all.

You say, “I believe… do you believe that dear old Brother Jones from way back?”

You’ll say, “Brother Jones!”

You’ll know him. God give him a new name, you’ll know that one, too. Certainly, God’s a good God. Never mind the conditions… I’m not… a thing to do with it. Get confused if you look at the thing the wrong way.

So, Abel and all these great men knew that God was a good God and therefore, they could look for His goodness to come to pass and it would. God’s never failed. And He was never in the failing business.

Now, let’s look at the next part of our… another thought here, having to do with faith as a conviction of things unseen. Faith is a conviction of things unseen.

Now to begin with unseen things cannot mean only those things unseen due to their spiritual nature but they also mean the things which you do not yet see in your possession.

Now to prove that we’ll turn to the Book of Romans, the 8th chapter; and verses 24 to 25.

Now, for we are saved by earnest expectation, but earnest expectation that is seen is no longer to be earnestly expected. For what a man now has seen, he doesn’t expect it anymore. He’s got it. See?

But if we earnestly expect, what we do not yet see in our possession, then we wait, and we get it. I can prove that’s exactly right if I don’t forget later on down the line, when I begin to talk about patience and faith. It says right there.

Now, it says in the Scripture which we have read, that faith is conviction of things not yet seen in your possession. In other words, it is the conviction of the reality of God delivering what His promise said that It would.

In plain English, you cannot have opposite convictions on any one thing at one time. You cannot be convinced you are going to be healed, at the same time you are convinced that you won’t be healed. Can’t do it; you cannot be.

Like the woman I told you about, she was convinced because the doctors said she was going blind, that she would be blind.

And I said, “When you are as thoroughly convinced that you are going to be better as you have been convinced you will be blind, you will surely be healed.” And that is exactly right.

Her conviction was the doctor said she was going blind and she took it. There was no way you could pray for her and get her healed, because she was convinced that she would go blind, and she had to turn around and be convinced that she wouldn’t go blind.

Now, how is she going to be convinced she won’t go blind? How are we going to be convinced of this we do not yet see in our possession? But believe for it and we’ll get it. All right.

Faith is my conviction. If I have faith I already have that which gives me the conviction of a good God giving me good things. Listen carefully because you got to get this.

If I had that which can give me a conviction of the good things which I do not yet see in my possession then I must have a sublime disregard for that which I do not now want to have as my present conditions. You get it? I’ll illustrate it.

Let’s say I got a large checking account in the bank. And the bills keep coming in as long as I have the money in the bank; I have no fear of the bills coming in, because I have got what it takes to take care of those conditions by the bills which I don’t like.

You have a sickness in your body. You have some condition in your life that seems unbearable. Now remember you’ve got in your possession that which is so deep and so strong, that you can utterly disregard what is against you, because you’ve got so much going for you.

Did you ever stop to think of that? That’s exactly what the Scripture says.

Turn it back to Romans, and see it illustrated by this man Abraham; the 4th chapter, 17 to 25. Abraham is going to get this promise of becoming a father.

How could he be weak in faith? He had the faith of God. You may be weak in the pocketbook. Weak in the knees, even weak in the head, but you’re not weak in faith if you got God’s faith. Huh?

How much are you? You can’t say you’re weak in faith if you got the faith of God. How can you? That’s the one thing you most certainly know you’re not weak in. You’d be a liar if you said you were. You’d make God a liar and that’d be twice as bad.

Because God said, “His gift from above was perfect.” And it works. But it’s not repentance. Never takes it back.

In other words, he got the desire of his heart. And this of course, is based on Genesis 17, where God said, “See, I have made thee the father of many nations, and I will multiply you.”

Now you will notice here that Abraham gives his whole attention to what he does not see. And he doesn’t give any of his attention to what he does see.

What does Abraham see in the natural? First of all he sees a man that’s too old to have a child. He’s way up in years and speaking seminally; he is dead. Seminally speaking, he is dead. His wife’s womb is dead.

When God Himself appeared as a man to Abraham, and said concerning them, that they would have a child, she said, “We haven’t even had conjugal relations for a long time.”

They were incapable of the act even. But Abraham had perfect rest, because he had the faith, the measure of faith. And that’s what we’re talking about tonight, the Scripture mentions to you and me this rest of faith.

What are you lying awake at night puzzling about? The conditions of life. What’s against you?

What you’re having a struggle over, and yet all the while you have in your spirit, locked up inside of you here, a measure of perfect faith that gives you the ability to cease from struggling and stop thinking and doubting yourself with these mental thoughts, worrying, straining, just stop.

Because this faith is so great, that it’s the conviction of what you don’t yet see in your possession that’s yours and what’s against you, therefore, doesn’t matter.

The Scripture says here concerning Abraham, he considered not his own body now dead. The word ‘consider’ means ‘to thoroughly perceive’.

Have you ever stayed awake night after night and day after day, and put down all the facts and figures, and mulled over this and talked over that, tossed over this, growled over that, worried over this, and felt lower and lower?

You wasted your time. All you’re doing is destroying yourself. Don’t even look at it. God made a promise about you. And you’ve got what it takes to get to bring into your possession what God said.

That’s the rest of faith. Remember it’s the meek shall inherit the earth, not the go out and struggle and work for it and kill for it.

And that’s exactly what David said, “I would have fainted except I believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” He knew everything what was against him but he knew something else, that God had said something was for him and gave him what it took to get it.

And he said, “How can I faint? How can I faint? Sure the things are rough. I admit they’re going against me but I can’t lose. I’ve got what it takes to break into my possession what I don’t yet see is mine but God said it.” Like the man cried out in the Psalm. “I shall live and not die!”

As Paul said, “Who dares try to arraign me, God says I’m righteous.” He bristled right up. See? He knew what God had given him. He knew God was a good God. He knew his faith was real.

David said, “Sure there was evidence that things were exactly opposite to what God said.” But he said, “I wasn’t convinced by them. I wasn’t convinced by them.”

“Well, David, what were you convinced of?”

“I was convinced of what God said.”

Now you can’t have two convictions at one time in any one subject, it can’t be done. Can’t do it. “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” You’ll never get it from God. We’ll talk about the mind later.

David said, “God said, ‘I was a king.’ I’m a king.” How about if you and I begin saying, “God says, I’m an overcomer and in fact I’m a surplus overcomer. I’m more than conqueror. So what do you know about that Mr. Devil, so, ha, ha.”

Nobody ever thought of that, did they? “Yes, Mr. Devil. Yes, Mr. Devil. I know God says I’m righteous but you and I know better, don’t we?” Shake hands and say, “You’re right and God’s not. Oh, yes sir.”

He says, “Got you right there.”

Then you go sneaking up toward glory in the Resurrection and say, “Oh, please God, please God, You were right. Yes, God. Yes, Lord. You are right after all, I’m righteous.” Get out.

Isn’t that how God would just about do it? Huh? Well, come on now. Oh, come on, let’s be honest tonight. This is one place we’ve got to be honest, we’re in church. We’re here for being honest, in other words.

Well, come on, isn’t that right? “Yes, Mr. Devil, yes, God’s not right, I’m just what you said, and I’m not what God said. God said, ”I’m His righteousness,” but we know better than that, because you see, after all, we live around here, don’t we? Oh yes.

“Because you see I know what you’re like, oh, you’re a dirty one, and you know what I’m like, because I’m a bad one, too.”

But suddenly on that day we’ll want to say, “Oh, God, yes Lord, yes Lord, You were right. Oh God, You were right.”

Oh, doesn’t work, Honey. Paul… Saul tried it and it didn’t work. God said, “I rejected you.”

You say, “You’re not talking about the elect.” No, I’m not.

I’m only throwing this at you to get a picture of faith, because I don’t believe any of us is going to crawl up there if we’re really elect, because we believe Him and we’re seeing what Christ has become to us. And I’m using this illustration to help you to see.

You can’t have a double conviction, you don’t go against what God said, because God’s true and every man’s a liar. Remember the truth is not in us. He alone is that truth.

God said to David, “David, you are a king.”

And David said, “I’m a king.”

The devil came around and said, “David, you’re hunted.”

He said, “I’m a hunted king.”

“Sure, David, you’re running.”

“Yes, but I’m a running king.”

Never, never did David let that guard down. Why? Because he had something. See? And you know what? Saul died and Jonathan died and the whole family of Saul was killed.

But David produced Jesus the Christ who’ll reign on the throne forever. Oh brother, we’re not dealing with little things, brother/sister, we’re dealing with reality.

Let’s turn over here to 2 Corinthians, the 4th chapter, and in verses 17 to 18, which we know.

See, awhile ago you might think conditions were against you. “David, aren’t these conditions against you?”

“No sir. I can’t figure it out, but they’re for me.” You know what this running did for David? He became the foxiest, smartest king in history.

Not a man could lick him. Even when his own son turned and they did their best to destroy him, they said, “Listen, don’t you know your dad is like a bear out there, a whelp, he’s like a fox, he’s too cunning?” David, the fox: David, the cunning one. All things work together for good.

Listen, what Ecclesiastes 11:4 said,

Now that’s a homely illustration. In the East they used to scatter the seed, broadcast it. And now you go out and say, “Well, ha, I got an idea. This wouldn’t work today. I think there’s too much wind.” He won’t sow. He’ll never get a crop. Never!

And that’s the way Christians are. You’ve got to disregard what’s against you. Why? Because it’s not against you anyway, God will turn it right around. You don’t have to fuss about it. Keep your eye on the promise, until you get it, because you can have it.

Listen!

Now listen! It says here, “Curseth is man that puts his trust in man and his heart of faith goes away from God.” It says that that man will not see when good comes.

Good will come but he won’t see it. It will come but he will not even know it’s there, because he’s all the time looking at these conditions against him. He hasn’t got his eyes on the promise. See?

What did Jonah say in Jonah 2:8? “They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.” If you look at symptoms, that’s all you’ll get, is symptoms.

In Numbers 21:8 “He that looketh on the serpent …?… That word ‘to look on the serpent’, means ‘to keep gazing at him’, don’t take your eyes off of him. No matter how many times you’re bitten.

Hebrews 12:

Did you hear what was said? Jesus endured the contradiction that which went against Him. Well, what was He doing while it went against Him? Looking to God!

What did you do when the chips are down and in trouble? Do you look at your conditions? Or can you like Abraham tear your eyes away from it?

Right now somebody said, “Well, Brother Vayle, you see it’s not half bad, you know, if it’s just yourself but you ought to know my wife.”

Well, I don’t want to know your wife. But I want to tell you the story about Abraham, brother, the Scripture says that Abraham’s wife was barren and he didn’t look at her either. She didn’t bother him. He just kept on believing God.

And that goes for the women, too. You may think your husband holds you back. Hasn’t got a thing to do with it. Because it says, “Sarah, herself believed, and though she called her husband, ‘Lord.’”

Which is a whole lot more than most women I know ever called a man. “Hey, you!” Not all, some of them. She had such respect, she called him, “Sir and Lord.” But she still had to believe for herself.

So you see, I don’t care if man or woman, hasn’t got a thing to do with it. You’ve got a marriage that’s rough, hasn’t got a thing to do with it. You’ve got children that don’t behave right; hasn’t got a thing to do with it.

You’ve got a boss that gives you trouble all day long; hasn’t got a thing to do with it. You’ve got a government that’s making it rougher; hasn’t got a thing to do with it. You’ve got something better than anything. You’ve got that measure of faith. See?

Let’s go back to Deuteronomy, 20th chapter. Just keep your eyes on God; you see that’s what does it. Deuteronomy 20: now,

I told you the revelation of God to Abraham was, “I am your Protector and your Provider.” What more do you want? Couldn’t get any more than that.

2 Kings, 6th chapter, I believe, 15 to 17.

I can just see that poor guy looking for a hole to crawl in, and someone to look to help him. You can imagine, this old bald-headed prophet out there, maybe a little spindly boy, might be a little bit tubby by now in old age and he said, “Don’t be afraid, son.”

“What do you mean, don’t be afraid? I’m just a young fellow; I’m too young to die. You’re old.”

“Don’t be afraid; it’s all right. More with us than with them.” “Oh,” he said, “there’s two hundred thousand out there.” More for us, oh brother!

Now don’t tell me that wasn’t a tough time. What would you be like if maybe twenty thousand or so men out there, I don’t know how many there were, well, let’s just be real modest. What would we do if two hundred men walked in here tonight? There’s still more for us than of them.

We may, we may not, because some of them were put to the sword. Some were thrown to the lions. But they were more than conquerors.

Listen, don’t you realize the glory of dying for God, that they could stand up in violence and get killed, that’s more than the devil and all his gang can do, because they don’t die. For all their hostility, they’re still scared, barren out there of the truth.

Let’s go back to the Book of James, 1st chapter, verses 1 to 8 and it says,

In other words, you can’t have two convictions about the things of God. It’s one conviction and that is God is doing it. He’s a good God and everything’s going to be all right, because everything works for my good. You say, “God said so.”

“Abraham, do you mean to tell me that you’re going to have a son?”

“Yes sir.”

“You’re too old.”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“Sarah’s too old.”

“It still doesn’t matter.”

“What are you going to do? Adopt one?”

“No sir. Going to have him myself.”

“You must be crazy.”

“No sir. Even changed my name.”

“What was it?”

“It was called ‘high father’, now it’s ‘father of nations’.”

“Oh,” they say, “Oh boy. How far can you go?”

“All the way with God: going to have a son.”

Just like Moses, going over to take over Egypt. “Oh, brother.” Don’t brother me, that’s exactly how the men of God are in the Word. The Shunammite woman. The women are the same way.

Well, how’s your son?”

“Fine, too.”

“Your husband?”

‘Everything is just good.”

They took him by the feet, and said, “Now man of God we’re getting down to business, where’s that son?” Sure.

Sure, I’m not saying things aren’t against you. Just trying to get you the true picture. What if it is against you? The world’s against all the men of God. God took them through.

Now, death is bringing us to the heart of the truth that I want to get to you. And I want you to see exactly from the mind of God why it is, that this is the process of faith, the outworking of our faith.

I want to show you why it is according to the Book of James, that the Scripture teaches us, we can count it pure joy when we fall into divers testings, or the conditions of life are such that we need God to fulfill His promises in the face of conditions which are very, very rigorous indeed.

How can any man count it pure joy when he falls into divers temptations and testings?

Now listen carefully. I’ll illustrate it by asking you a question. Was God a Savior before He died on the cross? Or was He just God, and became a Savior after He died and rose? Think it over.

Was He a Savior before Calvary, or after? I need to ask that, because I know everybody… yet people if they don’t know the answer, they get kind of panicky and they sit on the fence. They won’t raise their hands. Will somebody… just volunteer… I’ll close my eyes and you volunteer and answer it.

The first one is: was He a Savior before He died and rose again? [Someone from congregation says, “Before.”] Before. You’re right. He wasn’t a Savior after.

Because, you see, God can’t change. If He wasn’t a Savior before He died, He wasn’t a Savior after He got up. See, He never changes. God is God. He’s a Savior.

Now listen! God being a Savior, now remember, He always was a Savior before there was a speck of stardust, God was a Savior. Is that correct? Absolutely!

God being a Savior it was necessary that He predestinate a man who required salvation in order to give Himself a reason and purpose of being.

You see God has no meaning apart from man. Did you know that? Think it over. God has no meaning apart from man. Absolutely none.

You say, “God has the angels.” No sir, the angels are ministering spirits for mankind.

You say, “What about the archangels?” They only worship Him. But man is different.

Man gives God a reason and purpose of being. That’s why God won’t lose any of us. Don’t worry. He’s too smart. He’s too smart. See, you’re not fooling with kindergarten theology; we’re going for the real meat tonight.

God’s no fool, brother/sister, He’s shrewd. All the wisdom of the devil doesn’t mean that much. He takes every advantage and just wheels it around.

“The wrath of man He maketh to praise Him.” Cuts it off the middle, there’s enough there.

God being a Savior, it was necessary that He predestinate a man, mankind, who would require salvation in order to give Himself a reason and purpose of being. Before there was ever a sinner, there was a Savior.

That is why your names are already in the Lamb’s Book of Life, before the foundation of the world. Before there was ever a sick man, there was a Healer. Before there was ever a sheep; there was a Shepherd.

Before there was ever a need; there was a Provider. Before there was ever strife; there was a God of Peace. Before there was ever a war; there was a God who was Banner.

Before there was ever sin; there was a God of righteousness. Before there was ever a problem; the answer was already there.

Remember years ago, I used to just let a preacher whoop you up and he’d run around the building screaming. Huh? I told you something tonight that ought to make you in orbit if you’re emotional.

But you see the difficulty, if you run around and scream, if you did, I’d say, “Please don’t do it here because you’re bothering somebody.” But you get the thought? Before there was ever a problem; the answer was already there. Huh?

Well, wasn’t that right? Isn’t He Provider and Protector? Wasn’t He always Provider and Protector? Didn’t He always have the answer? Wasn’t the answer already there? Huh?

Before there was a sinner there was a Savior. Before there was a sheep, there was a shepherd. Before there was a patient; there was a doctor. See.

Before there was a need; there was a Provider. Before there was a problem; the answer was already ahead of it.

Listen! Therefore the answer is everything and the problem is, let’s say it, nothing. The problem is only necessary. You say, “Well, why we got it?” Because the problem is necessary to point you to the answer. Huh?

If anybody here never known a school in your life? Sorry, I don’t want to embarrass you. It’s nothing to be embarrassed about. I wanted to make my point, look.

What I’m going to do then is talk to you who have been in school; did the teacher ever at any time give you a problem that didn’t have an answer? The answer is “No.” Because then it’s not a problem.

You say, “Just a minute, the teacher said to me, ‘Which state, I mean, which state is Indianapolis in’?” And then the teacher answered it by saying it was in California.

You see, there’s no problem, because you see there was no answer to that one. See? Well, the answer was… Indianapolis is in Indiana. If she turned around and said it was in California, there’s no answer there, so there’s no problem.

You had to wipe that right out. See? Because it didn’t jive. You follow me? There never was a problem without an answer.

And the only reason the teacher gave you the problem was because there was the answer, or she would never give you the question in the first place.

And before there was ever a problem in this world, there was an answer and the necessity of the problem is, it’s to point you to the answer. The only reason that God gives us problems, is because He has the answer and that problem is to draw us to God for the answer.

You know, a man who was very wise once said, “When you go to the bus depot, and you see a sign that reads, ‘To the buses’; you don’t jump on the sign and ride it, you go to the buses.” Then why do you ride your problems; they’re to point you to the answer. See?

Didn’t I tell you that God has no reason of being apart from man? Well, how can He be God if He doesn’t make it so He can be God? He’s got attributes in Godhead.

You don’t say, “Well, I think I’ll make a God to my liking.” Oh, don’t you try it because He’s God, He can’t change. Your thoughts are so inferior, you’d only mess it all up. You can’t do it. You just be still and know that He is God.

God says, “I’m a Healer.” Somebody’s got to get sick. Well, it’s the truth. God said, “I’m a provider.” Somebody’s got to have a need. God says, “I’m righteous.” Somebody’s got to be a sinner.

God says, “I’m interceding.” Then the elect are in danger of sinning and even do sin, but they’ve got an Intermediator or Mediator between God and man. See? God gave us the problems to point us to Himself.

Now if you know the truth and the truth sets you free, and you know you’ve got this faith in here, this assurance, this conviction, then surely we can enter into rest.

People are taking sleeping pills, pep pills, barbiturates; God knows what they’re taking. They don’t need them. Jesus will give you rest.

He said, “Take my yoke upon you and learn.” The yoke of God is learning. Learn of Me, who I am.

“Lord, You’re a Savior.” Then I got to be a sinner. “Lord, You’re a Healer.” Then I can be sick. “Lord, You’re Provider.” Then I’ll have a need.

“Lord, You’re a Shepherd.” Well, then I’m a dumb sheep and I haven’t got enough brains without You. I’ve got to depend on your care.

“Lord, you’re a great lawyer;” then I’m a poor captive who needs someone to help me. “Lord, You’re Peace,” then there’s going to be problems and distress come my way, but it’s all right, it’s going to turn me to God.

You see, folk, we don’t need to admire these great people of God who learned these things. We can learn them ourselves. Why isn’t this faith working? You just never knew these things, that’s all.

Now that you know them, you got to put them to practice. That’s all. Nothing wrong with your faith; you’ve got what it takes now, to give you rest. Cease from yourself and your problems.

Let’s get a picture of how God provided. This isn’t a real picture but it’s the best I can find in the Bible. It’s Psalm 139. I know you all love that Psalm, but what I’m going to show you tonight, it will be different.

In other words, “God, You had all the answers before there was even a speck of stardust made.” It was all there.

Now, you can see how it is the faith of Abraham was able to buoy him up and give him the serenity and call things which were not as though there were because they were. See?

Do you follow that? God calleth things which are not as though they were. Why? Because they really were. There was no problem with Abraham.

The God that made him could rejuvenate him, there’s no problem. That is any big problem; any overcoming problem, any compelling problem.

The problem was only there so that God could be glorified and be God and Abraham said, “I understand that Lord, I’ll be glad to go to old age and then have that son.

Your Word says so, it’s all right.” Now God didn’t give that promise in the book to you and me. There’s not a word about you and I having children in our old age. That was Abraham specifically.

But the process of getting the promises of God made evident and real in our possession, the principles were the same. Today you may be struggling, because you have a tendency to earaches, endocytosis…

I don’t know what your problem may be. It’s the same as Abraham. The answer’s already there! Pray. Put it in the past tense. Get your eyes off it. Then hold them on to God. You say, “Brother Vayle, I’ve heard of people who died doing that.” So have I.

Let me tell you about a man that was dying in Seattle, Washington, well, near Seattle, with cancer. His lower colon was so thoroughly infected, the doctor said, “You won’t live two months. You’ll be dead.” She phoned me and said, “Brother Vayle, will you pray for Clarence.”

And I said, “Sure, I can pray but why don’t you bring him to Lima? Brother Branham’s coming to me for a meeting. Bring him there.”

She said, “But I don’t think we can do it. The doctor said he’s dying.”

I said, “So let him die on the road.” I’d sooner know I’d die trying to trust God, than stay at home and did die without trusting Him.”

She said, “That’s it.” Slammed up the receiver, put her husband in the car; drove to Lima. First man in the prayer line that night was Clarence Yarber. You could tell he was dying. All the symptoms of cancer were there.

Brother Branham looked at him, went into a trance, and he shook his head and I don’t want to tell you the look on his face, would have inspired me to believe God for anything. He looked so far away, and so funny, and so almost not disgusted, but foreboding.

When he said, “The shadow of death, cancer, will be dead in two months, unless God heals.” Never gave him one word of encouragement. Staggered forward, took him by the hands and said, “Oh, Jesus, heal this man.”

That night he went home and passed liver like chunks of substance, the first good bowel movement without pain that he had in weeks. Next day his cheeks had a little tinge. Within the four days, or five by the time, his cheeks were getting pink, and that man went on to perfect health. Certainly!

Fear and faith don’t live side by side. You’re going to die anyway, die with your boots on. Certainly, that’s no secret. Anybody knows what I’m talking about.

God’s a good God if you died trying, what more do you want? They died trying in the arena. All the Bible is full of men and women who died trying. Go on, use your faith, you’d be surprised it’ll work.

You know the biggest death you’re going to die anyway, is the death that you’re dying when you learn to use your faith. That’s it. Do you dare to step out and believe God?

Don’t you think I died the day when God made me go preaching? I didn’t want to preach. I wrote a little article and I said, “God, I do not want to go preaching. Now I will be a good elder in Your church and do what You tell me, but I do not want to go preaching.”

And I knew that Jacob had made a covenant with God for the tithe, I said, “I will tithe and I will give and do this and that, but I don’t want to go preaching.” God wouldn’t listen.

The day came when I knew I had to go preaching. I was disgusted. It’s the funniest thing when you obey God, even though you don’t want to obey God.

A funny kind of peace will come in your heart, just the same. I don’t know it is, can’t understand it. It might just be that fact of decision, that you made a decision cause you to feel better.

But I said, “All right, I’ll go.” And not knowing where I was going to go and how I was going to get there, because I had no money, God gave me everything I needed and I got there.

And I died a thousand deaths as it were. But you know something; you’ll never learn to trust God except you see what I’ve been driving at. God raises the dead. If you’ll die, He’ll raise you up. It’s hard. It’s hard.

Like the secret of giving if you’re going broke, don’t pray for God to give you money. You’re wasting your time. Start giving. You say, “But Brother Vayle, I got so little now.”

“Give it anyway.”

You say, “Are you going to pass the offering plate?”

“No, I don’t pass the offering plate. You haven’t heard me ask for money. I’m thankful for what you’re giving, it’s certainly more than I deserve. But the fact is that’s not how I do it. I give and it was hard to learn to do it.

When you’re getting down to where those last few dollars are… I take a deep breath and give some. Sure. God raises the dead. You don’t need to worry about a problem I don’t, remember, the answer was there before the problem.

If there is anything in this life that you need and God can’t supply it, He’s a liar and He’s no longer God. But when I put it this way, God never made you, if you’ve got a need, God can’t answer. There isn’t one need. There isn’t one problem.

And there isn’t one need for anybody here to ever go to bed and toss and turn. I’ve done it and you’ve done it. But God’s not in it. He doesn’t want that doctrine; He wants rest.

You know that car that you say you need right now. You know that car is already here. You say, “Yes, but I won’t need it till next year and I want to get a ’67.” That’s fine. What are they going to put in that car that they got to create? It’s already here in the ground.

It was here millions of years ago. What is it you need tonight that isn’t here? Not a thing. It’s already here. The answer already was here. There’s no problem. But the problem pointed to the answer.

What do you need tonight? I don’t know what you need. I don’t know what I need particularly. But I know one thing, that that problem merely let’s me know there’s an answer and God wants me to have it and ‘I’ve got this right now, I’ve got the ability to get it, because faith is my assurance.

I can have what God said I can have, and now that’s that and that takes care of it. There’s no problem there, but it’s also my assurance of rest. I don’t have to worry about it, I don’t have to fuss about it, because you see I’ve got the conviction of what is not yet in my possession.

So I don’t have to look at what’s against me. If it’s a lack of money, forget it. God never said He’d give you money. He said ask any thing in my name.

And money isn’t everything, although everything is money. God never said a common denominator, He’d give, give you money. “Lord, I need a coat.” Give you money? No. God will give you a coat. You believe that? That’s the truth.

People get an idea. They say, “Brother Vayle, it’s easy to talk if you had my trouble. I only work forty hours a week and I only get so much per hour.” Listen kid, you’ve got it easy along side a preacher.

I’m not here with a tent and a money racket. You got it soft to have a forty hour week and get a wage along side what a preacher goes through.

You talk about living by faith, we do live by faith. I never had anybody behind me all my life except… when one or two do get behind me, and some money here and some money there. All I’ve ever known is just trust in God.

And I never hurt one little bit. Forty hour week, and I get two bucks an hour that makes eighty dollars, is that the end of it? Don’t be ridiculous. Hasn’t got a thing to do with it.

If you get eighty a week and need a hundred sixty, my God shall supply your needs. It may not be in dollars but it could be in a coat, or a car, or heaven knows what. Or some business deal you got to do.

Smarten up and begin to trust God and get your eyes off yourself and your condition. Begin to see it in your possession. It’s division; the problem is nothing except to guide me to God. Then when it’s guided me to God, forget it, huh?

When the old snake sheds its skin, it doesn’t want the old one. “Oh, what a lovely skin. I think I’ll dance around it.” He just leaves it and crawls off.

When you pray to God your problems, shuck them. You know something, you really want to know something, I want to tell you.

Do you know the Bible says, what is the chaff to the wheat? Huh, do you know it says that? No chaff, no wheat. Right? Did you get it?

You’ve been hearing the message, “the shuck shall not be heir with the wheat.” Is that right? The seed. Well, what is the chaff to the seed? Everything, no chaff, no seed.

Yet the Bible says, “When the seed is gathered the chaff will be burnt up.” Right? Because you see the chaff was necessary to perfect the wheat. Is that correct? Huh? All right, You got some chaff called problems.

Now what are you going to do? You say, “Brother Vayle, if I’m real wheat I’m going to be raptured.” Oh no, you’re not.

You’re going to say, “Oh, chaff, chaff, I can’t do it without you. Chaff, chaff, chaff, just got to have you.” Huh? Feel kind of silly, don’t you? I’m …?… Then why do you do that with your problems?

You say, “Because I’m in pain.” So, what if you’re in pain; you can get healed. Certainly! The problem points you to God and that’s where it ends.

Abraham went to God with the problem. He said, “Oh God, I don’t have a son. I’ve got a need. I need a son.”

And God said, “A son you’re going to have.”

He said, “Well, wonderful, hallelujah.” That ended it.

He got older and older and older. He didn’t look at his own body. Why bother? God said you’re going to have a son. Dig him out of the mulberry bush, for all he cared. God [said, I’m] going to have a son.

Go back to the Garden of Eden where God blew upon dust, didn’t bother Abraham.

He said, “A son I’m going to have.”

Then God said, “Out of your own bowels with Sarah, you’re going to have a son.” Well, that’s different.

“Well, look at your body now, Abraham, you’re too old.”

He said, “Nope. It’s still God’s problem. I gave it to Him.”

He said, “What do you need Abraham.”

I told Him so; let Him take care of it. You say, “That’s a factious way of doing it”.

No sir, that’s the only way to do it.

You end up like the old lady that had a dream, she had the most peculiar girl, woman, in the neighborhood, seen her in church. She was always stewing and always fussing, and always frantic.

And one day she came to church and she was sweet as could be. They thought, “Well, that’s the strange, I wonder what happened to dear old auntie.”

Went on for weeks. And one day the preacher asked, you know, he was curious. I don’t blame him.

He got so curious, he said, “What in the world happened to her?”

So he said, “Sister, I’d like to know what happened. Why have you changed?”

“Oh,” she said, “haven’t I told you?”

He said, “No.”

“Well,” she said, “it was this way; I was out in the garden in a dream. And in my dream,” she said, “I had little cords around my neck with bundles called trouble.”

“And the Lord was there and He was snipping flowers and He saw me so He snipped off my… little problems. And as He did, I quickly picked them up and tied them back on again.”

And she woke up realizing what she had been doing. She gave her problems to God and left them there. Take your burden to the Lord, and don’t pick them up again. Is that what the song said?

Take your burden to the Lord and leave them there. Why? You don’t need them because they served their purpose. They took you to God. See. Now, go on.

You say, “But the problem hasn’t gone.” Disregard it. But I can’t afford to. Yes, you can afford to, because the answer was there before the problem.

I’m not teaching you to be slovenly. “But I believe, Brother Vayle, that’s sure good. You see, I owe Mr. Smith some money, I’ll just forget it.” Oh no, you don’t. Oh no, you don’t. Oh no. You pay your debts.

You go to God and you say, “God, I’ve been a rotter. And say, “Mr. Smith I’ve been trying to gouge you, as you well know, and I’m sorry. My family will eat but I won’t eat so well, nor dress so well, you’re going to get yours back.” Huh?

I’m not here teaching you unlawful things. I want to show you the truth.

Well, the Lord bless you, took a lot of time tonight, and I hope we’ve got to our point, see, remember God’s a good God. And now you know He’s a good God because the problem only points you to the answer.

And if you should go beyond the Curtain of Time, to get the full benefit of the answer, that’s all right. It’s that much better.

Let’s rise and be dismissed. Tomorrow night; Faith and the Mind. Faith and the Mind.

Father, we thank You for Your Word, it’s been so good to be in this Thy House, oh Lord, with Thy people, and Lord, as I pray tonight, that You would take every thought and every Word and by the Holy Spirit give it and help the reception thereof, the people may receive it and know and be set free.

Now Lord, I pray that it’s up to You to do it. In each one, oh God, that is good ground tonight, let thy Word bring forth…

[Tape recording fades away.]