Vindication

Our gracious Heavenly Father, we’re so happy to know that You are here with Your Bride, that You have come to head her up, to be her Head; Headstone, Capstone, as Brother Branham said, is here. We had a Capstone ministry, we have the Capstone Word, we have Him Who is our great Seal, the great Seal Himself, taking a Bride away.

And as Brother Branham said, “If we’re not Bride there’s a Bride out there somewhere and by the grace of God, we’ll not get in her way.”

And yet, even as he said to each one of us to believe that we are a part, we would very, very foolishly, Lord, I don’t know how we’d do it, how could we deny we are a part when we have come so far along in this Word, knowing You face to face and knowing the mysteries, the Word of God, and the truth of Almighty God, that we may worship You in spirit and in truth, which by grace through Your Own predestinating power, You have given us and we have now arrived in that position.

So we thank You Lord that we are a part of that great New Jerusalem, and there we enter in, Lord, physically into that place which you have ordained and are preparing for us.

May we, Lord, knowing we shall come to that place of perfection you have granted that we could come to, Lord, and we rejoicing, leave here with great rejoicing, and even more so in Your Presence yonder, at the great Marriage Supper.

Help us to understand Your Word as never before, in Jesus’ Name we pray. Amen.

You may be seated.

Now tonight I’m going to go into Vindication and Presence, not that we haven’t done it before, but no matter how many times you can view the subject, you always find that there is actually more to it as applies to this present hour.

And there again, we find that even though we do come to more viewpoints or more facets of the truth, it is not as though we had not understood them in the sense of having them been revealed to us, but it’s that we see them even more clearly.

And as you see them more clearly, you begin to therefore, through your revelation, your deeper understanding, have a greater faith, a type of faith which is irrevocable, because it has been given by God, and also it is basically indestructible.

Because you can do nothing against the truth but for it. That’s something that most people don’t realize, they think that the truth can be destroyed. The Bible says otherwise. The truth cannot be destroyed.

The truth stands there, and even as the human resources of the mind say that the pen is mightier than the sword, it is very true that word, and that’s the Word of God is truth, “Thy Word is truth,” will endure and only those who are a part of it will endure with it.

And of course the truth gives us who already have the enduring qualities of God, further powers of endearment in the face of problems, which face us.

And so we want to read here first of all in Romans 15, where Paul is speaking of his vindication, as he does in various other places.

So in Romans 15:15-19, he says:

Now, Paul goes on into the Book of 1 Corinthians, which fortunately seems to follow Romans very nicely. And in the 2nd chapter he says,

Now you’ll notice what he’s saying there. He said, “I never came to you, he said, with words. And if I had have come to you with words, then he said, it would have been simply the wisdom of man.”

Now, there’s something you might notice that this happened in America. A man by the name of Joe Smith, formerly a Methodist, told everybody that he had angels approach him, and there he was given sheets of gold with strange writing upon it, which he was able to interpret, which brought out the book of Mormons.

The man was a hoax and full of baloney. Words of man’s wisdom, he appealed to people, tickling their ears, and bringing them speeches, doctrines. He never had one ounce of vindication from God. He had no power whatsoever.

The Word of God does not come through verbosity. It comes through power. Manifestation which is beyond human being. Which no one can produce under any circumstance.

And if trying to produce it, in the face of the vindicated prophet, he could be carried out dead, as we saw in the Scripture, or brought to naught, because you cannot stand up against the power of God. We’ll see this more and more as we go along.

So Paul said, “I never came with enticing words.” He came with dynamic vindication, dynamic words. Words which he could well speak having been vindicated by Whatever and Whoever’s Name he spoke in.

That Person behind him, that God, that Individual, that Force, that Power, that Spirit, invisible; but manifesting through that person, showed there was a Power in control beyond the person.

Now, that is denigrated into a type of foolish spiritism, where spirits take hold of people, and those that observe them think that, “My, this is wonderful. I’ll just touch that person.”

They can go to Haiti, and you can just see it all over the places, that’s the most devil possessed place in the world. Even written up by Seabrook, a very fine author.

And people then will fall for that but there’s nothing to it. See, one is enticing. The other’s words. Tickling the ears, gnosticism, making the people think they know something. This is where you know something!

Understand what I’m saying? Vindication is you know that you know that you know! Never worry about anything else.

And by the way, let’s face it. You show me any place in the Scripture, outside of maybe Hebrews and Galatians, Book of Acts, mentioned in the gospels, but I take you to Paul.

Personally, right off the bat, I don’t know that Paul mentioned Abraham more than four or five times, and I don’t know if he ever said, “God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

What he said was, “The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

So Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are fine! But I’m not interested! I’ve nothing to do with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. I’m not fellow flesh of them whatsoever. I’ve no link to them! And Paul deliberately broke all links to that!

And when he said that he was talking and being talked to by the One Who empowered him, as he brings this out in vindication, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!

And let me say without fear of my critics or anybody here tonight, I have no interest in any God at all, except the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that Brother Branham proclaimed. I don’t know Paul! I never met Paul! I hope to see him, to meet him, and talk with him!

But I have talked with and dealt with and lived with and been a companion and heard William Branham, vindicated by God. And I worship and serve the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ as presented by William Branham.

And if he tells me by vindication this is the same One, the same Pillar of Fire that met Paul and met him, I say, “Hallelujah! Now I’ve got two of them! But I’ve got another link! Now I go back to Moses!”

Because he said, “See Lee, the Pillar of Fire that was with Moses, has not appeared since the time of Paul for two thousand years, till now.”

Now I can take that. Now you see I’m a resident of the Kingdom. I know my pedigree. Fully identified. This is what we’re looking at. This man was vindicated.

He said, “I came not with words, I did talk. But it wasn’t man’s word, they weren’t mine. They were put in my mouth and I brought them to you in demonstration of Spirit even of power. That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”

And when you have the wisdom of men, they’re called sophists. Sort of a pukey term. I don’t give two bits for your wisdom. What’s it going to do for me?

What if you were smart and wise? And you told me something that would be good for me and I couldn’t apprehend it? What good would it be? Your words wouldn’t carry any power.

These words carry power, they’re full of life! And those that receive them are now enlivened with the life within the Word, which is vindicated by God standing behind it, proving that Life, which is God.

So Paul is speaking here with the utmost authority. And he said,

That’s what I told you a minute ago! You could be the smartest person and advise me and talk to me and if I can’t receive it…! If I can’t make it work, what good is it?

This is not something you and I make work, but this is something that worketh within us. For the Word of God is not bound. See, not given in spirit of fear, but of love and courage, and of sound mind. It comes to nothing.

Now, if Joe Smith had have known anything about God, he wouldn’t have written that bunch of stupid books. Wouldn’t have done it. We’ll talk about that maybe later on sometime, how it links up to Brother Branham’s ministry, but not right at this minute.

Because the approach I have here has to do with Paul, asserting that he is vindicated. That everything he says is backed up by God, because it is definitely God’s Word, he not having a part in it, or of it, or by it, but standing there being a voice that God used and that’s exactly what Brother Branham said.

I don’t know if I got that written down here; I did have it written down here, but you know how it is, I lose a lot of things. Yeah, I don’t have it written down. But I read it to you at least a hundred and fifty times, I’m sure.

Where he said, “I have no more to do than nothing, I was just the voice of One standing there.” And that’s exactly true. So all right.

Now, what I want to take you to here, first of all, is Deuteronomy chapter 18, where we see God using the prophet.

Now, he says in verse 15,

In other words, God’s answering their question before they ask it. Like He’s going to do when we come to New Jerusalem, the Pillar of Fire above the throne and before we call He answers.

All right, see? Alpha and Omega situation, the unchanging God.

So it tells you right here, the prophet that God sends is vindicated. He absolutely has to have the manifested power of God bringing to pass what has been said by Almighty God through the prophet, then the Word will follow.

Even as it says in the Book of Acts, “Jesus both began to do and to teach.”

And as I told you many times, I used to read the Pentecostal papers and the Trinitarian dogmas and you know, the nice brethren, and they’re good brethren, approved of God under the old way.

And they would tell you, “See, there you are. You don’t dare tell anybody anything till first of all you live it.” And they say, “Jesus lived it and therefore He talked it.”

Now, they missed Deuteronomy 18 a hundred percent. Just like the Jews! Jesus was a Prophet! I don’t care if He was the Son of God, so were the prophets sons of God, and so were the prophets gods to the people!

So what are they talking about? I mean, here they are, fiddling around while Rome’s burning, they’re going to hell, and they’re splitting hairs and nitpicking! What good does it do you?

My sister-in-law told a good joke, many years ago now, during the war. She used to work as a… she was a very fine cook, and so they had her as the big cook in a hospital.

And with her were a bunch of Danes working around. And so when they talked to Caroline, and say, “Well, you mean you don’t have a word in Norwegian like that?”

She’d say, “No.”

Then they’d talk some more. “Oh, you don’t have a word…?”

“No!”

And so they began criticizing her. And so one day Hitler walked into Denmark. And she said, “I suppose you were sitting around making up words while Hitler walked in.” That’s touché. Words. Words!

Listen, by your words you are condemned or justified. It all depends on what Word you have. And if you have the Word of power for your hour, you’re justified.

But if you don’t have the Word of power, and many people call it the Word of power don’t know what they’re talking about, for their hour. If they have the old Word, it is moth eaten, wiggle worms are in it, and it no longer obtains, because that portion of Word for that hour has passed away.

As Brother Branham said, “The revelation of this hour was spiritual food in due season.” And it certainly was.

Now, all right. With this Scripture here, speaking of the prophet, who comes in the Name of the Lord, and what he says follows identically, makes you to know that, that is the true prophet who is going to bring you the Word of God, because the prophet is one who prophesies, who speaks forth for Almighty God.

The speaking of the future is strictly inconsequential. For the Word prophet, it is consequential only in so far as it sets the ground that this is the man you’ll listen to.

So if he does these things you are to listen, then what you are to listen to is the Word of God, not being foretold, that’s already done, it’s being forth-told, coming forth from his mouth. And his mouth is the mouth of God.

And he is God to the people, even as it says over here in,

Now the previous verse tells you that he is following in the pattern of all other prophets, like Moses and Abraham and the rest.

God in the prophets. Or as Brother Branham brought out so very, very carefully and perfectly, “That the prophet is God to the people.”

Now you notice here, and we must notice very carefully, that as soon as a prophet comes on the scene and he is vindicated, one of two things will happen to each person. So two things happen.

One is: belief sets in; secondly: unbelief sets in. Either you receive or you reject. And a man can receive nothing except it be given him from above. So therefore there is no one but the elect who can receive the Word of God; God in the prophet.

Or as Brother Branham said, “The prophet veiling Almighty God and that prophet being veiled in that tremendous Word of Almighty God.”

Now, with what we have brought to your attention, I am now going to swing to the understanding and the teaching tonight on a little further than what we have got, to emphasize more thoroughly the approach, which I just mentioned, to this Word when the prophet comes.

I believe and receive, or I disbelieve and I reject. In other words, now I have become a judge. I have become a judge of what God has presented through vindication, I have become a judge of the Word that has come forth, I have now become a judge of God, and I am either approving or disapproving.

This is a position that we find ourselves in as a race of people, though what I have said here will not be taken by 99% of the people, and in that 99% I include all the fundamentalists who would say, “Yes, I do go along with that.”

But when the chips are down, they won’t go along with it! Anybody can give lip service. I can find that in all the writings of the country.

Now, we go to 2 Corinthians 3:1, so you begin to understand what I am saying and thereby begin to identify yourselves. Because this is all a process of identification.

All right, 2 Corinthians 3:1, where Paul says here, beginning,

Now Paul says right here, “I want to ask you a question. Who ordained me? Who’s responsible for me? Where am I coming from? What are my roots? What’s my origin? How do I stand?”

Oh, this man was tougher than nails. I mean, he was hardboiled. Independent as a literal hog on ice. You know I’m criticized of being headstrong.

And I am in the wrong way. Sometimes the right way. This man was more than headstrong; he was soul-strong, headstrong, heart-strong.

Now he said,

But he said, “Listen, I’m going to tell you guys, I wouldn’t even be writing to you except for my ministry and my relationship to you and yours to mine through the Word.”

He said, “I didn’t build any man’s foundation.” That’s in the 3rd chapter of 1 Corinthians.

He stood right there and eyeballed him. Because these people were beginning to go astray into gnosticism. Already they were wandering off.

Paul evidently had a better opportunity than Brother Branham did to eyeball people going astray. I think so, I’m not positive. Because I can’t tell.

But from what I’m reading here, although Brother Branham did say very strong things. I don’t know who eyeballed who more. But anyway, you got to know a prophet’s going to be that kind of a fellow.

Now,

“You watch how He stands for me and vindicates me. You want to try me? Brethren come up and put with your Bibles, stand beside me. “Oh-ho, he said, you’re smarter than I thought.”

He said, “Lee, the first one would have been carried out feet first.” I like that.

Some time I’ll tell you a little later on how God would keep the race clean and we didn’t believe Him.

If they stumbled and fell when the Spirit of God came into the temple and the priests couldn’t stand to minister, and that was great, why would the Pentecostals want to stagger and fall around and be knocked over? Huh? They got staggered and knocked over then.

And that was chicken feed alongside of the bullion of gold that God’s got for us today. How can these people say they believe this Message and be fooled by a guy like… what is he, Sheely, the guy? Shelly, whatever it is. Fat little boy from down south? He could produce nothing. All he did was mouth off.

And then when they said, “I believe the Bible, I don’t care who said this,” and Brother Branham said it.

“Amen, amen!”

Come on! Come on, I’m talking to you tonight! If they thought that was great, that ministration, what about this? That was nothing compared to this. I don’t care. The shouting is fine, even dancing.

I don’t mind that, dance unto God and don’t be an idiot, if you really can do it, dance in the spirit. I don’t mind manifestation and demonstration, don’t think for one minute I do, because I do it all the time.

But I’m talking the way Paul talked; I want to get down to what vindication is all about, and Who is behind it. Vindication is actually God! Manifesting in a measure that can be apprehended, absolutely and understood.

And you can either say, “Yes” or “no.” And Jesus said, “If I had not done the works no other man did, they had not sinned, but now they have both seen and hated both Me and My Father. And their sin remaineth.”

Well, that’s your baptism with the Holy Ghost. That’s why Brother Branham said, “The only thing from the Old Testament that could come near the baptism with the Holy Ghost was what a prophet had!” Huh? My words, “Amen,” I’m quoting.

Quoting you the Bible and quoting why Brother Branham said it. You didn’t know it was here, did you? Well, here it is. Huh? Well, come on. Got the same thing Jesus had, doesn’t make you Jesus. You’re a part of a New Testament glorious Bride.

Now,

So you forget that entirely! And Paul said, “I forget everything, I’ve rid my mind of it!”

I should have brought a piece of paper; I forgot to bring it to you. It was a director from Hollywood in Europe, or somewhere, who cares, and he was trained in directing and he said, “What they do, you got to study and do thirty pages this, sixty pages here and thirty here.”

And he said, “When you get through, it just destroys you.” He said, “I’ve been trying for years to rid my mind of those 120 pages.”

And I thought, that’s what Paul did. You learn a lot of bunch of useless nonsense. When God has moved on, forget what has been left behind, move on with God! People can’t understand that.

Brother Branham said, “How much glorious was Luther above the Catholics? How much Wesley above Luther? How much Pentecost above them? But this glory never fades!”

What Paul is talking about here, we have the genuine true baptism with the Holy Ghost, virgin Bride, virgin Word, absolutely going into the Millennium. Well, it better be.

Can’t be otherwise, she’s all glorious within and without, and it’s the washing of the water by the Word, that gives her her Bride-hood recognized. And the garment.

Now listen, when he starts with Alpha, he doesn’t change here, and change here and change here, and change here; add here, and add here, and add here. No!

What Paul laid as the foundation and what was there, moving on, moving on, man slapped it off, slapped it off, kept on moving, moving it, God moving on, took every single thing right up till now! And what he left behind, the life is gone out of. Because you can’t add or take a Word.

What did it say here? See? What remains today? What remains today? I’ll tell you what remains today. What remains today in the entire gospel is the little Bride that’s being child-trained into adulthood, absolutely getting clothed and ready for the Millennium.

Now,

If they could have received Christ, Moses was gone. Oh it’s, “Moses, Moses, Moses, Moses, Moses.” No. No. Christ, Christ, Christ, Christ, Christ! It was Paul, Paul, Paul, Paul, Paul. And it went down downhill.

Luther, Luther; Wesley, Wesley; Pentecostal. Now, William Branham, William Branham, William Branham. You can do what you like about it, but he’s the Seventh Church Age Messenger. Right back to perfection. Right back where the church was.

Because the Cornerstone has become the Capstone! What was laid here is now up here! Yup. And remember, at the top it narrows, but it contains it all.

I ask you a question: did Jesus contain it all or didn’t He? The rest that went before Him were like thieves and robbers.

They didn’t have a right to it. Except in a minor sense of the word. They were just penny ante. Chickens alongside the great eagle. Now, they were children of God, don’t you think they weren’t. But come on, let’s get the magnitude and understand.

See? They can’t get shook up. They were all shook up about Moses and [inaudible] and they couldn’t get shook up about Jesus! Can you imagine that?

They could not get shook about Jesus, as really being the One. “Could it be He?” Let’s find out! Look at this man. “Kill Him! No! He doesn’t agree with us.”

Their words of wisdom were traditions and rotten and dead and it killed them! And their blood flowed in the streets of Jerusalem and it congealed there. Perhaps the dogs, and no doubt dogs licking it up. All Jezebels! Had they believed, they’d have gone on with God.

Now,

Now, he’s talking about the ministration of the Word came with the great signs and wonders of Moses.

And he said, “They are not even to be compared to what God did through Jesus Christ, and brought forth the glory which they should be having.”

So forget Moses! Not that you turn your back on Moses and say, “Moses never existed. He was a bad man or he was this or that.” No! You thank God and glorify God for Moses’ day, but this is Jesus’ day!

And now it’s the day of God Himself! There with the Apostle Paul! And people being baptized in the body of Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 4:

Now, I’m showing you this to show you that Paul was not commended by people! He did not want to be commended by people! He turned down people’s commendation!

In fact as it were, he literally spit in their faces! He called their bluff! He put them down where they belonged! And he kept himself in the ministry of the importance that God gave him!

Oh, boy, do Pentecostals like that. To them the preachers are poor little nitwit jackasses that really belong in some institution where they go boingy boingy in the head while the women tippy-tippy toe along and do everything in disorder in the temple of God, spit in the face of God with their high heeled slippers, their short hair, and their floosy skirts and everything else; come on, I’m calling their bluff tonight, ‘cause I was amongst them.

No more know about God, as Brother Branham said, “Than the Hottentot knows about an Egyptian knight,” whatever that means. He said, “I don’t need your commendation. I don’t need your approval.”

Okay. We could read on, I’m not going to do it. I’m going to go to chapter 5 and verse 12, because I’m going to run out of time.

This man acted like an insane person at time under the presence and power of God! He acted like a nut they might say. “Are not all these drunken people?”

They called Jesus a nut; He was beside Himself! I don’t think it was so much what the man did, to be extraordinarily different in His actions, outside the power of God manifesting, I’m talking about emotions being emitted from him. But what he said!

Agrippa said to Paul, “Paul thou art beside thyself, there’s no way this could be!”

Notice what he said.

“I’m not going through the same thing I went through when I demonstrated God’s with me and I spoke in God’s holy Name, and it came to pass, proving that I am the one that God vindicated as a prophet, that I am God to you. “No,” he said, “I’m not going to do that.” See?

Now, he said the verse above it:

How could a man say that with just talking? Anybody can blab! But do it, that’s what a prophet of the Word does. He comes in demonstration and power of Almighty God.

And Paul now has called their bluff again, and he said, “Listen, I’m not going over this again.”

And Brother Branham said, “Listen you people here, I can do this once in Africa, thirty thousand people come for Christ, I do this over and over and over again here, and you get harder and harder and harder. What do you want more?”

Oh, can’t you see William Branham as Apostle Paul? Hallelujah! I can see him, I like it, because I like Brother Branham. I can match him up with Paul, just like he said he was matched with Paul.

Because I believe him. See? That’s the difference. See? People don’t believe him. They say they do but they don’t. That’s right, I’m not going to pull my punches on that.

Let’s go to… maybe at the beginning here. And Paul is talking, he says,

Paul tells you right here, as a prophet in the office he’ll glory in it and stand right there, eyeball you eye to eye, with eyes of steel.

As a man, he just steps aside and said, “Come on, I don’t have a thing. I got nothing of myself.”

He’s talking to those that came right to Christ through the ministry that was vindicated. They knew it was right, but like Galatians, they began to turn aside and go to gifts and things which were good but in themselves being used wrong were no longer good.

All right, the verse in there I was looking at was verse 12,

A vindicated man but he would not commend himself to them. But he knew he was commended by God to them, but they would not listen.

So, all right. The 11th chapter tells us how that these people were beguiled and turned from the vindicated Word of Almighty God, even as it says in Matthew 7 concerning false prophets.

Line that up with Deuteronomy 18, knowing Deuteronomy 18, knowing the truth, having received it, these people surely had fallen from grace, and they were deceived exactly as Eve was deceived, because the people coming in behind Paul, never had the vindication!

But they commended themselves to them. They walked with letters of appreciation and commendation. Which was a very, very wrong thing.

So all right. We’re looking at commendation; we’re looking at approval. And you can see right here that William Branham did not need commendation from anybody, he did not need approval.

Because he was absolutely verified, identified by Almighty God, and was God to the people, whether people wanted it or not.

Now with this knowledge and foundation, we ask how do we qualify? How are we stacking up? This vindication I’m talking about.

And stressing tonight again, as I have not previously stressed it, although I’ve perhaps used the same scripture but in a far different tone, that you might understand this is very, very serious as it plays upon my mind.

We go to Romans 9, beginning at verse 14, though I could read the rest, because this has to do with Israel, as well as the Gentiles.

Now, that’s Moses vindicated and stand there and says to Pharaoh, “Listen, Pharaoh, every single thing that’s coming to pass, which my God is making come to pass through me, which your gods can try to duplicate through the devil but finally fall flat on their faces, I want you to get and know this truth: you have been raised up by God for this very purpose!”

And Pharaoh says, “Hogwash! Don’t give me that bowl of chop suey.” Which is a bunch of scraps and stuff put together to make it taste good. He eyeballed him right back. Said, “No way. No way. No way with you and your God.” There was a showdown. And the man said, “No way.”

Now Pharaoh’s actually playing out his record upon earth that he has to play out, because he’s defying the children of Israel led by Moses under God.

They say, “Why do you then find fault? Who resisteth his will?”

Now what you’re seeing here is God Almighty has had a Word for the elect, wise virgin, foolish virgin, and the serpent seed.

Now, I want to ask you a question. Do these people have any right to approve or disapprove of God? There you are. Yet vindication will do it every time.

Because the only time you really know God is there and judging you, is if God follows this pattern which God laid out, how He by Himself will do it and perpetrate it upon you and me in the way He wants it perpetrated, and we shut-up!

And become like Nebuchadnezzar. He ruleth in the heavens and all the armies of the heavens and earth must do His will and be obedient to it.

I want to ask you tonight. How much do you approve of God? And I can tell you right now if you see vindication and know that you’re resting upon the truth of God’s Word and you believe with all your heart and soul and you turn no other place and you care to go no other place, then you are approving.

You might not approve the way nature treats you and the way that you have problems in your life, but the first thing is this: are you going to go to that Word the way God wants it, the way God gave it, the way God revealed it and say, “Yes, that’s it?” And you’ve got no argument. You got no fuss with it.

How many can believe this Message and then hear these people come in and preach and people that I know run to churches, they’ve been losers, losers, I’ll name you three but I’m not going to do it, I wouldn’t dare. Because these tapes get out.

But I could name you three losers I warned on… I haven’t warned the third one, I’m not going to bother, because he is a loser. He will always go where it isn’t.

He will always complain. But it’ll be ecumenical. Yet when the chips are down he’s not ecumenical, because he simply can’t take it. Why doesn’t he stay there and take it? What’s in him trying to get some rest and some peace? What’s in him trying to find the truth? We’re not running around.

Now, if you people are hearing a lot of tapes and looking to other people, just do me a favor. Just tell me and don’t get my tapes any more. Because all you’re going to do is get confused.

Please go to hell unconfused, or go to heaven unconfused. One of the two. Because this is the hour of rest.

And it’s not the rest and peace the world gives, don’t think for one minute, it doesn’t come out of a bottle. It comes out of what? The tie post of a revealed Word that’s been vindicated.

I ask you. Are you approving God tonight? God does not need approval. What does He care what Pharaoh says? What’s God got to do with Moses? Or Moses got to do with God?

What have you got to do with anything? What have I got to do with it? Nothing. It is not commending God, it is not approving God, it is not disapproving God, when we stand here, our mouths are shut, God has spoken!

Now let me leave you a picture of Pharaoh and where he came from.

“Thou has done well, but thou hast not rightly divided.” That’s the Septuagint.

But He said, “The sacrifice is there, you can take it.”

He said, “I will not do it.” He went and killed Abel.

You say, “Brother Vayle, he didn’t say that, he said, ‘I can’t bear it.’” I’m telling you what it is in 20th century language: I can’t take it! I won’t take it! You’ve got no right! I don’t like what you’re doing! Hmm?

“If I had not done the works which no other man did, they had not sin but now they’ve both seen and hated both Me and My Father.”

“Oh, no! Brother Vayle, I love Him. Oh! I love Him!”

Brother Branham quoted that verse, as to its place, but I don’t know one time he quoted it out loud. I found it on my own, then I found he read place, chapter, verse, but never the verse to my knowledge.

“Oh! Brother Vayle, I love Him! Oh, I love Jesus!”

What about Brother Branham?

“Oooh! Oooh, I could kill him.”

Hello, Cain; hello, Judas; hello, Pharaoh. Huh? These people that disapprove Moses disapprove God. The people that disapprove Jesus disapprove God. The people that disapprove Paul disapprove God. The people that disapproved William Branham disapproved God.

And when we approve Brother Branham, we did not approve God, we merely said, “Yes, that’s the Word. That’s what God does. That’s how God does it.” Because you cannot approve God, my brother, my sister, and you cannot disapprove Him.

The thing formed cannot say to Him, “Why? Why? Why?” Shut-up and sit down, because you don’t have a think coming. You don’t have an opinion coming.

And if you have an opinion coming, because you think you’re a prophet or born again, you’ll admit the prophet’s Word above yours, every time you turn around, open or close your eyes, or breathe one breath, or tick one heartbeat, it’s going to be what the prophet said, you’re going to find a way to go with it.

Now listen to me. When Paul came on the scene, he was not like the eleven other apostles who had learned face to face with the Messiah.

He never met Jesus, but he met God Himself on the road to Damascus and in the desert Arabia, learned exactly what the eleven knew, and even a further revelation from Jehovah Elohim, the One Who met him.

Now, thus when he broke on the scene how do you think the apostles received him? On what grounds?

Well, Paul came and said, “I have had a beautiful vision. I have witnesses that I was struck off the horse when the light hit me.”

And they said, “Yeah? Hmmm. Tell us more.”

“Well, I never believed in Jesus that you talk about, but I’ve had some powerful inclinations recently that I think maybe this is the One.” Hogwash.

They took him right to Deuteronomy 18, or I’m going to miss my guess. And he took himself right to Deuteronomy 18. Because that’s what does it.

Now when Brother Branham comes on the scene, can he be accepted? No way, except it be God’s way of Deuteronomy 18. But how many ever knew about Brother Branham? Or if they knew about him, wanted to have anything to do with him?

Now, man cannot either approve or disapprove of God as though he is allowed to do so. No matter what, you cannot do it.

So, Brother Branham being vindicated by Deuteronomy 18, being that one whom God has chosen, by way of the scripture and the only way He does it, then you and I cannot approve or disapprove, except on the grounds that we are seed who receive!

And he that scatters not with Me, scatters against Me! He that is not for Me or with Me is against Me! Who is on the Lord’s side? Not who… is God on your side. No way, shape and form.

So, we’re looking at the picture here now, when you turn down Paul, you turn down God. When you turn down William Branham who broke the Seals in order to correct, and remember the Word is correct, you turn down God, because he is the voice piece of Almighty God.

Now let’s see what we can find over here in Romans 8. Now in Romans 8:28-39, which this is a part of predestination:

Now people right there like to get their backs up against God. We all have a problem with our problems. We fail to glorify God in it. Yet Brother Branham was a man like Paul who could do it.

As I mentioned before, a man came to Brother Branham one day, and he said, “Brother Branham, the people are saying terrible things about your family.”

And before he could enumerate them, Brother Branham said, “I don’t want hear them. God knew all about it, He predestinated this, I needed it.”

No matter what happened, Brother Branham like Paul, and he could do it, because caught up into the same place where Paul was, to see and know those things which are now ours.

To bring back revelation that was sealed up even before the foundation of the world, such as how did the Son come into existence? How was it that God by the Son created all things? What is the mystery of the family of Almighty God?

Only William Branham brought that forth and nobody else could do it. See?

So people get very confused. They cannot stick to Deuteronomy 18, when other things begin to rise in their faces. And that’s what happened back in Paul’s day!

When the devil, who could operate any gift under high heaven or produce a lot of his own. You know they’re phonies, take offs. Like fortune telling takes a place of prophet. The real seer.

The man that holds the séance, spiritist, he takes the place of prophet. All right, right there, people will fall for that. See? And when pressures come, and they get fearful, they’ll drift away.

And in that they are approving or disapproving of God or the way that God does things, when the scripture tells you, you and I cannot tell God what to do or how to do it and when to do it and where to do it under any consideration.

We can only take His Word and see where it fits, that we have any claim that He’s given us by His mercy and by His grace.

So I say, who believes Deuteronomy 18? And yet, when we read in Hebrews 1, God in the prophets, which is not now simply an office. But a Person in a person. God in that person.

And in John, over here, 14:11.

Now, He was a Prophet! We always want to forget that He was that Prophet! Everybody forgets it, you know why? The Jews don’t want Him, and the stupid so-called Christians make Him not a prophet, but a second person of the trinity of a Godhead. Hogwash!

He was born of a woman, of a sperm and an egg created by God. We’ll talk about that another time again as we have been talking. And He came forth as the Son of man, He came forth as the seed of the woman, He came forth as the Son of God, He came forth and was that Prophet. And God was in that Prophet.

And He merely fulfilled the role, not merely in the sense, but He perfectly fulfilled the scripture that Moses brought from God, “The Lord your God will raise up a prophet from amongst you like unto me.”

And you can’t change it, you can’t change it, you can’t change it! That’s what God did! Then why don’t they look at it and believe it? Oh no!

They’ll skip over it, “Well hold it, oh this second person of the Godhead, we can’t demean Him by putting Him in that little scripture there. Oh, no. We’re too proud and we’re too sweet and we’re too loyal, we’re too loving, we’re too patriotic…”

Ah, shut-up. You are a liar and the truth isn’t in you. Deuteronomy 18 belongs to Jesus. “Are you that Prophet?” they said. He said, “Moses spoke of Me!” Didn’t say Isaiah did, He said, “Moses spoke of Me!” Quoted Isaiah though too.

“Well, we’re…no, that’s too tiny, that’s too tiny. That’s God being too little.”

Say, aren’t we just stupid bunch of clucks? Huh? When it comes… I mean just a stupid bunch of clucks when it comes right down to reality? Thank God for grace and the influence that Jesus is our High Priest and Elder Brother interceding.

I want you to know something. Brother Branham vindicated by God, and God never took back the vindication. Fulfilling Hebrews 4:12, Brother Branham absolutely said God speaking in him, “When you see God descend from the heavens and stand before groups of men and declare Himself as ever He did and this Bible open before me, that’s God in the prophet.”

“Well, I don’t know if I’ll approve that or not Brother Vayle, hee, hee, hee, hee, you know. You know Brother Vayle, there’s a lot of these con artists come by, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, yeah. And they fool the old folks, they get on the telephone and hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, they just take them for all they got.”

Ah, shut-up, you make me sick and you make God sick. Yet they claim the blessing of God when the wrath of God abides upon them.

Let’s go to 1 Corinthians. I like going to the Bible, yeah, I sure do. That’s my job.

Then why are you relying on it? It’ll be there, but why are you relying on it? How can Shelly come and tell about his grandmother bouncing around, sitting on a red-hot stove? I don’t care if she sits on a red-hot stove or swallows the blasted thing. The truth isn’t in her or in him either.

Like grandma, or mother, like grandma, like son. He’s trying to pretend he’s a Timothy and he’s got a grandma somewhere. Forget it. Forget it! Forget it! If you can fooled by a dog vomit thinking it’s caviar, don’t come to me with your dog puke breath. Huh? Certainly.

I’m not being mean, I’m just telling you.

And Brother Branham said, “Who is perfect but God? And what is God but His Word?” And by the grace of God we have the perfect revelation of the Word for this hour.

Face to face with Christ my Savior, face to face, what will it be? When in Rapture I behold Him, Jesus Christ Who died… What about now before you behold Him if you do behold Him in the resurrection?

Oh, you can sing beautiful songs and I can sing them too, if we were in voice! Huh?

Let’s go to 1 John, the epistle, and I’ve used this many times because it’s the truth, be above it now, that’s chapter 3.

Now it says He’s got to appear, and you’ve got to see Him as He is, to be like Him, to be changed, and that tells you it’s got to be face to face before the Rapture and the Resurrection.

And that’s just… I can read my Bible, people can’t read their Bibles. They say, “The Appearing is when you get caught up to Him.”

My Bible says I’ve got to be changed before I get caught up! Now, their Bible and mine is the same Bible, but you see they can’t read, you know why? Because their brains aren’t baptized with the Holy Ghost!

“Oh,” you say, “Well, Brother Vayle, the brain doesn’t enter in!” Why, I knew that in your case. But not in mine.

I’m eighty-four years old, and I can still shoot a wicked game of pool, and I don’t get stuck behind the eight ball. I don’t know what that means even, all I know is that’s what they tell me! What’s it all about? I don’t know and I care less, but I know the Word of God.

Now just a minute here. It says, “When He shall appear, we shall be like Him.” Now, the word, ‘appear’ actually means, ‘to render apparent’ and has the understanding of restore. So, it has to be with bringing the thing into full view.

So when He shall appear, it will be in full view and face to face, and by the way one of the words and a major word meaning of the word ‘presence’ is ‘face’! The turning of the head and the face.

So, when He shows His face, there’ll be no more darkness, we’ll know as we’re known, this is that hour, the greatest glory of the ages, the ministry by a prophet of God and his name is William Branham. Like unto Moses and Paul.

Came in this last day, brought us the Word with the sword of God to dress a Bride. Lead her in the waters of separation. Right down the line to get her all ready, because that’s the way it is.

And remember, now over here at the same time this is going on.

We are in,

Now just a minute, what’s happened? This Man is on the throne. Now watch very carefully. When this Man is on the throne and He is Joseph. Exactly right.

The brethren that have hated Him are outside because they sold Him down the road for twenty pieces of silver, thirty, whatever they were, little bit of money. See?

So therefore, at this time we have Almighty God putting His Own Son on the throne. The brethren who hated Him, Lutherans, starting with the Catholics, they’re the big ones, Lutherans, Wesley, Pentecostals. Denied Him, kicked Him out, but He’s on the throne anyway.

And now who’s He revealing Himself to? Just the Bride. Just like He’s going to do as Brother Branham described, how He’s going to reveal Himself to the Jews. There isn’t any different. Because this is to the Gentiles.

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock, you’ve kicked Me out, I want to get back in again.”

But He cannot get back to the Pentecostals, they’ve crucified Him to themselves the Son of God afresh. The Methodists don’t know a thing about Him, they couldn’t have Him. The Lutherans, they couldn’t understand.

The Catholics would come very close and then deny it. ‘Cause they’re the smartest ones of the works. I’ve proved that when I preached Brother Branham’s sermon, ‘They Know Better’. I proved that right from their own works.

The Catholic priest said, “When God does these things, it means sit down and listen. I’ve got something to tell you.” So they turned Him down.

Now, this same One is Ephesians 1:17, the Spirit of God coming into the church. And when He does, we revert immediately to 1 Corinthians 14. Because until this time, we have not had a prophet to repeat this to us, or pull this on us, or make us face up to it.

And he says in here,

That is exactly Deuteronomy 18. That is exactly Romans 9:20, the vessel having not one thing to say in approbation or disapproval! In rejection or receiving! He stands there and looks.

And if God be for him, who can be against him? Not even his own nature. Not even his own thinking. Not even his own training. It’ll plague him, until he can burn it all out with the Word of the living God.

But he’ll take every word and say, “That’s right, that’s right.”

And when Jesus said, “Look in the Scripture and see.” He says the same thing to you and me tonight through the prophet.

Look in the Scripture and see this is Paul, and I’m taking you through the Scripture even to the very place of showing you the personality of the two men blending together, and you cannot say that William Branham was not another Paul, or goodbye it was not nice knowing you. Wasn’t nice knowing you. I thought it was.

And I’m being very cutting, and you have to appreciate that, ‘cause ain’t nobody going to tell it like I tell it. Because you’re going to get it the way I tell it, or you’re not going to get it.

Because this is Lee Vayle speaking and the way I speak, and the prophet said, “There’s no way it would change.”

Now you can say, “Well, Brother Branham said…”

That’s fine, I will meet you at the White Throne, honey. I will meet you at the White Throne. I’m one of the few living men that can say that, “I will meet you,” every one of you, I’ll look you all in the eye, I have no problem, I will be there. Quoting what the prophet told me.

Do what you want about it, I know what I’m doing about it. For he’s the one who said, “When you see God descend from the heavens and stand before groups of men, and declare Himself.”

And he said those days would return in Luke 17:30. And he said in Matthew 12, it would be the Holy Ghost that did it.

And instead of destroying the church as He wiped out Israel, except for the few that’s come in through the ages and the hundred and forty-four thousand at the end, they go down in death and defeat!

The Bride goes out in a resurrection and a victory of the Rapture. And meets her Lord and Savior face to face.

Who can reply when God does this? I will tell you, those who belong to the serpent. Those who belong to Cain.

And they have been doing it and they will do it from the 4th chapter of Genesis to the last chapter of the Book of Revelation, over 6000 solid years, how long we don’t know for sure, but there’s six at least in there.

So I hope tonight, in fact I know, you have a new slant and a new understanding of vindication. And you have a new understanding of whether you approve God or you don’t approve God, because you can’t do it.

All you can do is like Jesus, “There is none so blind as My righteous servant,” you blindly follow the voice. And the sheep hear the voice and they follow. And there is none that is lost, no, not one.

And there is none that comes in unless he is a sheep who hears the voice. And the voice today was the voice of William Branham, the one standing there by, and we’ll go into that tomorrow morning if I can get back with you.

Because I’ve missed one half of this message, so we’re going to have to re-title it. It’s not Vindication and Presence, it’s simply Vindication. Tomorrow we deal fresh with The Presence, as the Lord allows it.

Let’s bow our heads in prayer.

Heavenly Father, we want to thank You again for the time we have together Lord. Where we do not come here, Father, to go away as though we have not learned something or learned it even better or to understand our own position relation to You.

For we know there is no place where we have a right to be offended, either commending or disapproving, we stand here, and our whole life is a yes and an amen to You, O God, for Thou art worthy.

And no matter what happens, life and death, persecution, famine, peril, nakedness, sword, it doesn’t matter, it is whatever You want, is what You will have; we know that, because that’s sovereignty.

But may we Lord have the true spirit of God’s grace in us, to be happy, happy, Lord, in Jesus Christ. Like Paul and like others, to bear whatever burden, to suffer whatever is necessary, that You want to put us to bring us forth.

As Job said, “When I come forth, I’m going to be purified by fire, I’ll be in His image. Tried as I am, it’s just to make me what You want me to be.”

And so Lord we give You glory tonight, and thank You that You’ve led us this way. And in spite of the fact with all our scathing condemnation in this Message, which I know it has been, we appreciate and love You and know that You have helped us.

And we are not here to condemn the world, as though this was our Word and we are trying to back up this Word and make something of it, but it’s Your Word, Lord, and we are hopefully fearlessly declaring it and righteously declaring it in the right spirit.

If people must be warned or they cannot be warned when the flood tides of deception have been turned loose on them, they cannot be warned with mere platitudes or soft speaking.

Like Brother Branham said, “Sometimes you have to scream above the roar of the surf, there’s death out there, not just danger.”

And may we understand Lord, and bring us together, as we said previously, in the spirit of love and harmony as those who love each other, anxious to be with each other, happy to be with each other, helping each other, glorifying God in every measure we can, according to the Word and the grace and the strength and power within us.

In Jesus’ Name we pray. Amen.

[Brother Vayle continues with the Communion Service]