The Presence
#0299
Transcript in progress.
Audio is available now.
Shall we pray.
Heavenly Father, we magnify Your great and wonderful Name this morning. Realizing more and more the truth of Your Presence and our identification with You, Lord, and Your identification with us.
How that You have honored us and we Lord in turn honor You, and how You have come to show Yourself to us, as Brother Branham pictured literally wooing the Bride, currying favor.
And that in itself is marvelous to realize that You would do that, the great love You have for Your children. And may we reciprocate that this morning, Lord.
We’re grateful for what You teach us day by day, especially not only that You are here, but why You are here, and You are here in grace and love and mercy to bring us on to victory, Lord, to take the ones waiting out of the grave, and those waiting here into immortality.
Help us to see that this morning, Lord, that we are already in the process, and because of Your Presence and no other reason, Lord, without that Presence we would not have any hope whatsoever.
People do not realize that, but we do realize it, and we thank You Father we have been made aware of the day in which You live, and not only that because millions are aware of that day and then promising even meltdown and great problems coming, but we know Lord, this is the day of victory, when You have judged Your Bride and set her forth as true and virtuous, never having sinned in the first place, recognizing we always were seed, always were saved, and now redemption brought back by the blood, sealed by the Holy Ghost, and going forth into the victory, the final stage is immortality.
We thank You for that and we ask Your mercies, in Jesus’ Name, now. Amen.
You may be seated.
Now, I cannot help but believe you apprehended the spiritual significance in the message last night on Vindication, that God had come down from the heavens and stood before us, even the whole world, and actually all religions, as shown by when Brother Branham was in India, and declared Himself.
That’s He actually led Himself forth by Word, when He proved Who He was, and He proved Himself to be Jehovah Elohim through manifested scriptural identification of Deuteronomy 18.
Wherein we saw the Son of Man ministry of Luke 17, God coming to the Gentiles and doing the same work, or the same things, the same wonderful deeds He did for the Jews, to prove Himself to be their God, that’s the Gentile’s God, even as He proved to be Israel’s God.
And He proved at the time of Jesus that He was the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses, because particularly Moses assumed a far greater place than any of those others, because they were not there at a crisis time with deeds and wonders, at the time of a deliverance when it was necessary.
And now at this time proving to us to be the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, as set forth by Paul the Apostle and Jesus Himself in Matthew 12.
And you of course are familiar with that, but just in case you’re not, I’ll read it and we’ll read it again, where Isaiah’s prophesying, saying,
(18) Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles.
(19) He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets.
(20) A bruised reed he shall not break, and smoking flax he shall not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory.
(21) And in his name shall the Gentiles trust.
And so that is what Jesus Himself said concerning this end time, when God Himself manifested in human flesh would once more be upon the earth, just before the resurrection, the Rapture, and the Great Tribulation.
And not only revealing Himself, which He did reveal Himself as to Who He is, He revealed Himself also what He is doing, which is He is not bringing the Bride into a judgment of condemnation, wiping out anything, but bringing her forth into a victory, which causes us to understand that whatever was wrong would be rectified and whatever was missing would be supplied, so that there would be a perfection.
Now, I hope you’re listening carefully. I could read this again to you if I have to, but I won’t be putting in the same explanation. Or you can play it back on your tape.
And in and through this great event that transpired from 1946 to 1965, and is yet transpiring to this very day, we saw God… We actually saw that God was actually judged by the people to whom He presented Himself, and He was set at naught.
The people therefore crucify to themselves the Son of God, even God in Spirit form, crucified Him to themselves afresh. Other words, going through the same judgment, God judge. You can’t even judge a prophet, but here they’re judging God.
Now keep this in mind for the Presence. And this is essentially the Presence or the Parousia, which we have to speak on this morning.
That God Himself appeared and vindicated Himself to be God through the instrument that He chose, and yet the people at this time, and remember presented to the whole world, especially in India, where all religions of the world were gathered.
And God proved absolutely that He was Jehovah Elohim, and that His Son was the Lord Jesus Christ upon the throne, absolutely, God having come down here.
This is scientific, because in science you must tell what is going to happen and it happens. And it happens every time, and we saw that in Brother Branham’s ministry, hundreds and hundreds of times, that this is the only Message that is scientific.
And science of course comes from the Latin word ‘to know.’ And so therefore we have passed from faith. Faith only believes. Faith looks forward to. We have nothing left to look forward to, this is it; it is finished.
Now you might not believe that, but you’re not sitting on a fence any longer or ready to turn a corner. This is the stupidest thing in all the world, to not believe this Message the way we preach it. Because this is the truth of this Message.
So this we see then, of what we want to talk about this morning, is the Presence or Parousia, and we want to know also immediately that this which is called the Presence or the Parousia, is the Appearing.
Brother Branham illustrated that and we’ve talked about it, literally quoting what he said hundreds of times so you know.
Not only when you see God descend from the heavens, but also telling us that when God sent Moses down to Egypt to deliver Israel, He not only appeared in mighty signs and wonders, but He also Himself appeared in a Pillar of Fire upon Mount Sinai, and He said, “And so today,” and we have His picture which you see on the wall there.
So all right, we are looking then at the Presence which is the literal Appearing of God as is set forth in His Word. Now, when you look at the Greek word, which the Presence is Parousia. It actually means ‘being near’ and in no way does it describe the event of what is to be near.
In other words, when Jesus went to Bethany, Mary and Martha did not know it. And they said, “He is here.” They didn’t know one thing about His coming, as though He was going to come back, they didn’t know one thing about His arrival, as to even the fact that He was there. Now He was there.
And they said, “The Master is here, the Master is present.” And that same word is used in contradistinction to being present instead of absent.
So you have two words, ‘absence’, ‘presence’. They’re distinctly opposite and if you use the word ‘absence’, then you must understand the word ‘parousia’ means ‘presence’.
And so therefore, He has already appeared, and people did not know He appeared until they were told that He was already there and had appeared.
Now, just keep all these things in mind because they’re very necessary to know.
So, it speaks of proximity, which means ‘nearness’ or ‘right at hand’. Now, the word comes from actually two basic words, and the one word, which we have talked about already, is the base word, which means ‘at hand’ or ‘present’, and the other is either a participle, or perhaps it’s even a preposition, I don’t know, or some root word, and it means ‘to exist,’ and only in the singular. It is never used except in the singular.
So, when you’re talking about presence, that word which is mistranslated as coming and has nothing to do with the event whatsoever, and should never be used.
What people did in translating, they should have left the word there without it being translated, the same as you use the word ‘baptism’. But they never did it, they went on, and in using their own thinking, they got it wrong.
And we’ll try to show you this morning, exactly from the Scripture, exactly how they are wrong, and it never should have been done, and shouldn’t have been translated that way, it should have been left as Rotherham said, truly full of the Holy Ghost, when he said, “Look, this is something that is so obscure, we’re going have to wait until it comes into being, and then we’ll know what it is.”
And you know that’s exactly the way God does things. And here’s this man full of the Holy Ghost, saying this, and all the Pentecostals, and all the theologians talking in tongues, climbing walls and screaming and everything else, even raising the dead, don’t have that much Holy Ghost as Rotherham had, and I have no understanding he ever ever thought anything about divine healing or anything else.
He was simply a theologian to the extent that he was a tremendous student in the Greek and the Hebrew and he simply translated the Bible.
But he had enough on the ball to know, and that must have been God Himself in the form of the baptism with the Holy Ghost, that little modicum, giving him that to make him to know, because the scripture distinctly says, “When He is come, the Holy Spirit is come.”
And of course that would be the Person Himself set forth, “He will lead you into all truth and show you all things to come.” And then with you and me, it’s bringing all things to our remembrance, whatsoever has been said.
So, you can see that Rotherham was full of the Holy Ghost, and these people today claiming full of the Holy Ghost, using gifts and things like the devil does, they’re not full of the Holy Ghost. They’re absolutely blind.
As you study Scripture, not Scripture, but you study more or less sacred history in the sense of studying the lives of the men who have made a mark in this world, and I mean credible marks, like Spurgeon, Parker, and different ones, you will have to admit that they were full of the Holy Ghost and the people today are not.
Simply are not, brother/sister, and don’t you believe for one minute they are. They’re merely anointed, absolutely Balaamites. Just anointed.
Remember Balaam went down to destruction fighting Israel and dying in battle, and so will these people die for fighting us.
Now, you mark my word, brother/sister, you can’t go against God. I showed you that last night. You stand up against a prophet vindicated, you’re striking God right in the face.
Face to face and say, “You’re a liar, I don’t believe you, you’re wrong. I’ve got something more than you’ve got. Don’t you talk to me.” And you are a child of hell, a serpent seed of the devil talking to God.
Now I’m not talking to anybody here in this church, these tapes go around the world. Not everywhere, thank God, why should they go? Then someone will get mad and throw them out, and that’s all the better, because then I’m not responsible.
I’m only responsible for people who listen to me, and I take my responsibility right to the Word of God.
So, all right now, the Appearing. So, when Brother Branham said, “Appearing and Coming are two different words, Appearing is now.”
Well, to appear now, He’s got to be here! I didn’t realize that! But I knew if Brother Branham said they’re two different words, there had to two different words in the Bible, or he lied to us.
And I’d looked and I’d looked and I’d looked and I told you before how I finally went to God, and you know I will not go to God and try to bluff.
What I’m going to tell you this morning, I never bluffed my way to at all, I just waited for my answers. And I’m still waiting for answers of course, and I’ll get more when I get to the other side, I’m quite sure.
But I wouldn’t bluff God and try to say, “Now, look Lord, I’m going to tell you what. You’ve got to show me, because I’m looking.”
I merely said, “Lord, look I’m going to look one more time and if You show me, fine, if You don’t that’s fine. I’ll never bother You again. Because the thing is, You don’t want to show me now. And I haven’t got it.”
So I went there and to my utter amazement I found the word ‘parousia’ which means, ‘He is present.’ And if He’s present then He’s appearing. You can’t have something that appears, that’s not there, to appear! Appear means to manifest.
And also that word, ‘appear’ has another meaning to it, which inculcates the thought of… how would you put it? Not just being present but restoring. It also has a basic thought of restoring.
So, if it’s going to be appearing and you use the term, you could also use the term ‘this appears.’ Now that’s not the true term. ‘This appears to be so and so, and it turns out that it wasn’t so and so.’
So now we’re looking at this word to inculcate and bring forth reality. So that you know that you know and your knowledge is correct, as Brother Branham said, “This Message is proven scientifically.”
So therefore, this appearing must have to do with the setting in order of reality, the same One Who said, “I am the way, the reality and the life,” has to now then come and say the same thing to us. That is what you are looking at, brother/sister.
You are looking at the singular person Elohim. Because Jesus said, “He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father.” It was God Who appeared in human flesh. It was not God Who appeared in human flesh, it was God Who appeared in human flesh. Huh?
Well, is there a difference or is there not a difference? Then is there a difference in how you read it and how you apprehend it, or is there not? And does that difference mean anything to you?
Now since last night you should be a changed people, I myself am. My preaching does not usually affect me, like Brother Branham’s gift did not affect him. But there comes a time when these things must affect us.
And you must realize as I read to you this morning on purpose, so you miss nothing last night. To bring it together and I’m doing my best this morning.
All right, listen. The Appearing is not a New Testament doctrine. Presence is not a New Testament doctrine. It is an Old Testament doctrine.
So this is why we will go to the Bible, beginning with the Book of Genesis, wherein we find the word ‘presence’ in the Hebrew, ‘panim’, is always singular, like the other, and refers to the face or the person or presence, so when you talk about presence, you’re talking about face, and you’re talking about face to face.
I want to ask you a question. When you recognize a person, do you recognize that person by the shoes? By the clothes? The hat? The hairdo? Or f-a-c-e? Face. That’s what makes everybody different.
Even to the extent of identical twins if you can’t tell them apart, you still know the faces and then you look for a characteristic, which could tell them apart.
And you got the same thing with the twin spirits at this age, where they are so identical, you have to give them an identity test, and what is your test? It is the Word.
So we go to the Word to the Old Testament, to get the Alpha Presence. And the Alpha Presence is where God turns His face to the people, not as though He had turned His face from them, not beaming His grace upon them, but we’re talking of personally face to face.
As I mentioned last night in 1 Corinthians 13. Don’t wait to meet Him face to face as the Being that He is, when God reincarnates Himself in the body of the Lord Jesus Christ.
If you were taken up and didn’t have the credentials now to recognize Him here, how will you recognize Him there?
Say, “Well, I’m going to be changed.”
That’s not true. You have to see Him to be changed. That’s 1 John 3:1,2. And that’s what it says so you just don’t get away from it. I’ve looked up in various translations and they can’t duck it.
It’s just like the Bible distinctly says, “As many as were ordained to eternal life, believe.” You can hate all you want the doctrine of predestination, but nobody, but nobody, but nobody but nobody, not even the devil himself can get around that verse I just quoted.
That’s the students will tell you and they just go bonk.
“Well, there’s other things Brother Vayle that indicates this much or that much, you know, oh, yes, I know it indicates.” You got your indication plumb from hell.
You know something about men? They don’t ask directions. Women do, why? Eve was the first one to get directions. She got them wrong. Better check everything out.
That’s why the Bible speaks of born ones usually in the male tense as sons of God. It’s really born ones of God. The church can’t give directions.
Only God, singular, male, Jehovah Elohim can give directions. That’s why men head the church. Men of God, prophets, those who are ordained to the ministry get their directions from God.
Women can’t do it. Church can’t do it; organization can’t do it. They haven’t got the spirit for it. They can’t do it.
Because men eyeball men, it comes to a sword fight or death; very few women can eyeball anybody and not get clobbered. There’s no female boxer, no female wrestler, no female judo artist ever touch a male; they can’t do it.
So, don’t women ever, ever tangle with the devil. And men, don’t ever ever listen to anything but Almighty God, and those that are ordained to speak for Almighty God.
They’ll lead you astray; they’re being led astray in every direction. It’s not my job to run out and try to do anything, I can’t do that, it’s not for me.
Now the Old Testament Presence of Almighty God, we start with the 3rd chapter in the Garden of Eden. And there it says in 8th verse,
(08) And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence…
Now why would they bother putting that word in there? If God’s in the Garden and they’re in the Garden, they’re present to each other! It’s a redundancy. No it isn’t. No it’s not. It’s not a redundancy at all. It’s emphatic language. God was present.
He never spoke from heaven, He never sent anybody else. He never said, “You do this and you do that.” Vicariously, forget it! He was there! Right? That’s Alpha.
He was there when He formed him, created him. He was there with His Son, Jesus. Now, Jesus is not there. This is Headship.
I want to ask you a question. Did Jesus ever speak to mankind? In no way, except as a channel.
He said, “My words are not my own words. My thoughts are not my own thoughts. My ways are not my own ways. And what I am doing is not what I would do. Because I couldn’t do it! I’m telling you I am incarnated.” God was not incarnated; He was there.
All right. Let’s go to 4:16.
(16) And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord,
God stood before Cain. So, when God comes down and indwells a prophet, does He merely stand before the good ones, the good children of God? No! By no means!
He stands before all mankind, serpent seed and all. And He presented Himself to Cain. And Cain stood in His presence, just the same as when Satan wanders the earth, and then goes back to the Kingdom of God, the throne of God, and he stands before God, and believe it or not, Satan and God are in a confrontation right now, right down here.
Why not? If that was in Eden, and we are to go back to Eden, there will be a confrontation, absolutely, to keep us out of it. Even as the confrontation was there to get the children out of the Garden, the confrontation must be to keep the children from the Garden.
There’ll be a confrontation with God and His prophet, a confrontation with the devil and his seed and his so-called seers.
We go to Genesis 16, and we see in verse 12. Notice this word ‘presence’:
(12) And he will be a wild man [Ishmael]; his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of his brethren.
He’ll be eyeballing him, like I said last night. Toe to toe, eyeball to eyeball, nose to nose. And he’ll be there grinning and grimacing, threatening, defying.
And you can’t tame him, you can’t get him to do what the brethren are doing, he’s right there as red pepper on an open sore, as kerosene and gasoline poured on a flame, he’ll be right there. He’ll be there needling. Present. Huh?
“Oh, Brother Vayle, that’s just characteristics.” You got to be sick, don’t even talk to me.
Exodus, here’s the good one. Chapter 33, especially verse 14, but we read beginning at verse 9,
(09) And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the Lord talked with Moses.
(10) And all the people saw the cloudy pillar stand at the tabernacle door: and all the people rose up and worshipped, [and] every man in his tent door.
(11) And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face [presence to presence], as a man speaketh unto his friend [eyeball to eyeball, hand to hand, and toe to toe]. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle.
(12) And Moses said unto the Lord, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight.
(13) Now therefore, I pray thee [from what you have said], if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people. [In other words, he wanted a double-blind test. That this wasn’t a placebo.]
(14) And he said [God said], My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.
“I will be with you, get that down flat. I Personally, I Personally as a Person will be with you as man to man, as friend to friend as eye to eye, and nose to nose, and mouth to mouth, and ear to ear, I will talk with you, and you will talk with Me, and we will be together when we go to this land.”
And Moses said unto God, listen, eyeball to eyeball, toe to toe, fist to fist, if it’s not hand to hand.
(15) And he said, If [you do not personally go with me, don’t bother to carry us.]
In other words, you better be there personally, not just using your omniscience and Your omnipotence, but You Personally had better be there. All right? Now, am I reading something into this? Not by any stretch of your imagination.
Come on up here and talk to me kid, we’ll tough her out. Because I’m not bluffing. See, I have a sense of destiny and I can’t help what I have. I believe.
I believe in myself. As a servant of God that I’m getting this right, that I hear from the Spirit in this Word, that I can tell you what the prophet has told us.
Now you don’t have to believe that and most people don’t. They hate me. But the prophet said they would, so it’s okay. I enjoy it. I’d sooner be hated than loved, I can tell you that.
Because, when all men speak well of you, you’d better watch out. When they all speak evil, that’s a pretty good indication if you try to live the life that something is wrong with them and not with yourself.
(16) For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? Is it not that [You Personally go] with us? so shall we be separated [from every other people, and know that we are Your people, and the only ones on the face of all the earth.]
Did you hear what I just read? Then what does the Presence mean to you? “Oh, I got to back away. And these people say, well, you know, they think they’re the only ones,…” Ah, shut-up!
Come on out fighting! Here’s your Presence! Not something else. Oh, I feel so good I can just sing and dance. I’ve been liberated. I’ve been truly charityfied. That’s thoroughly loved.
And He said, “My Presence, I Personally, Personally, Personally, I shall be Present. I will be looking in on you at all time. My eye will never close, for the God of Israel neither slumbereth nor sleepeth.”
You know really, if we had a little more Pentecostal zeal in us, which we really ought to have, we’d be just having the greatest time, laughing and chuckling and screaming to glory to God.
Since the chandeliers wouldn’t hold us, we’re not going to attempt that. We’ll wait for the Rapture to take us above the rooftops. God makes all the difference, whether you’re separated or not.
I haven’t explained this yet, you just don’t worry about it, we’re going to get to it. We may be two hours here, that’s all right.
Let’s go to Job. He’s a good old boy, if you ever saw one, the oldest book in the Bible. The authorities say this and Brother Branham attested to it, and he’d never attest to anything that wasn’t right, because he corrected the errors.
And it says here in verse 12,
(12) And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went [out] from the presence of the Lord. [Satan eyeballed God. Two people. All right?]
(07) So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot to his crown.
So Satan left the Presence of God, the Person of God, and Satan as a person went straight to the person called Job, and smote him.
Now, can you deny that Presence doesn’t mean Presence? That’s the word Parousia there in the Greek. From the Old Testament. And the word in the Bible is Presence.
And you can’t have anything in the new that’s not in the old, because it’s Elohim and Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and forever, is Genesis 18 or 19, I forget what chapter, one of the two, 18, I think.
So how are you going to get away from the Alpha? You can’t have an Omega without it. So we have the Alpha.
All right, Psalm 16: and I really don’t need to go through a bunch of these, I’m going to give you one more and then just leave it.
(11) [For] thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; [and] at thy right hand are pleasures for evermore.
Now, how are you going get that outside the New Jerusalem? Just answer me. You don’t even get that in the Millennium, that full, because after Millennium there’s going to be the White Throne Judgment, the Resurrection and all these things taking place and that’s not the full panoply that this says it is. This has got to be in my books New Jerusalem.
And then Psalm 51:11, and David crying out:
(11) Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
You think God came down at the time of David? You better believe He did. And furthermore Psalms 100:2 and then 114:7, and then over here finally in Isaiah 63.
Now remember, there’s a Presence that you know, God simply in the prophet, and God present by reason of omniscience and omnipotence.
But we’re talking now about the Personal Presence of Almighty God, and Brother Branham used the term Shekinah Glory, which absolutely is defined as the glory attendant upon the Personal Presence of God.
So Shekinah cannot say a referred glory, as when the sun reflects off the moon. Shekinah is the sun itself, as Brother Branham described from the Psalms, “The sun is as a man; a child born early in the morning, married by noon, dying in the afternoon,” and so on.
So you see we have all of our types exactly right and we have the scripture exactly in divine order.
Isaiah 63:
(09) In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them [and the messenger of His Presence saved them]:
So the messenger of the Presence, and God Himself as the present One, He is His Own Messenger, as Brother Branham said, “God is His Own prophet.”
(09) …[and] his love and his pity redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.
You’re talking here about Israel in the Exodus into the Promised Land, and God even then in their disobedience sustaining them, and even knowing He came down as in the time of Elijah, Elisha, and different ones, we find here there is a Personal Presence in the Scripture.
Of course the great one we could look at is in Exodus 33, based upon Exodus chapter 3. And in chapter 3, which we want to read to you, verses 1-6.
(01) Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.
(02) And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire [outside] the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.
(03) And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.
(04) And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush [well, just a minute now. The angel of the Lord in a flame of fire, and God calls out of the bush. And he] said, Moses, Moses. And he said, [What do you want? Who’s that?]
(05) [Moses, don’t] draw nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.
(06) Moreover [I want to tell you something. I’m] the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.
God was there and Moses didn’t know it. God was present and Moses didn’t know it. Moses didn’t know how God got there. He didn’t have a clue Who was there. But God was present.
There isn’t one word about how God came from heaven, what He did to get there, or anything else, it just says, “I’m here!”
Moses said, “Who’s I? What’s going on here?”
And God said, “Moses, I, God am here. I am present. I am eyeballing you and whether you know it or not, you are eyeballing Me. Take those shoes off now. Because you’re on Holy ground. There’s a perimeter around Me, Moses. That you better be careful about the perimeter. Because if you cross it under any other condition, you are in trouble.”
I hope you’re letting it sink in what I’m conveying to you now in an abstract manner, what’s going on right now in this Message and around the world. They will be crucifying to themselves the Son of God afresh.
Now, these verses I read, I do not consider these verses to be set forth in Hebrews 2:1,2. God in the prophet. Although God will have a prophet there. Because somebody must do the explaining.
This is the scripture. But it is God, essentially, God, the great God, the powerful One, whereon we put the emphasis and the soul eye of our spirit, looking at God! Hearing the prophet tell about Him.
You see why people made Brother Branham God? Hah. He isn’t God any more than I’m a horse’s uncle. No, he’s not God, period. William Branham and I and you, are no different whatsoever.
The offices and the place we have merely differentiate us. Some unto honor, some not to so great honor. Sun, moon, stars differ, trees differ, rocks differ, oceans differ, everything differs, all of God.
And those that are elected and brought forth by God, the prophets, they’re the real truly humble ones, I must admit. They are the ones who know God and know their position, and I saw Brother Branham when the Pillar of Fire was in the room. I could not see the Pillar of Fire, but he looked like a hunted, wild beast hiding from destruction. Terror stricken.
When I was in Florida, women would say, “I saw Jesus, hmm, hmm, hmm, smiling and waving from beyond the curtain.”
And even then I said, “If that had been Jesus, you’d have crawled under the tile glued to the floor.” I might have misrepresented that a bit, because he’s loving and kind, but believe me, the Presence of God strikes terror.
Junior Jackson saw that in his dream, I saw that in reality, so don’t you ever believe for one minute that the prophet would ever consider himself to be anything.
Jesus didn’t. Though He and His Father were one, and Brother Branham explained it, he said, “No, no, no, no, no, I don’t have either the works or the Word.”
Now, what I have brought forth as the Alpha is my understanding and to me is the true understanding of the Presence of God upon Mount Sinai with Moses standing there and the people in the outer perimeter.
And this is where we see God in the midst of the people, is not merely a phrase. But it is a reality and when we find ourselves in the New Jerusalem, which is a pyramidal city.
I don’t have the board here, but you can understand. The pyramid comes to a peak. The four sides come to a peak. So that every side can see the Pillar of Fire and the Lamb. And the whole world can.
So therefore, God is in the midst of His people, and if He’s in the midst that way, He’s in the midst this way! You can’t have two languages, not when you’re talking about what I’m talking about this morning.
You don’t find the little sweet missionary lady in China, who used the term, “Children! He’s in our midst.” So they need soap! Or they don’t get a bath. “Children, daughters! He’s in our midst!”
An hour later, boing, boing, boing, “Could you ladies use some soap?”
“Oh, could we use some soap?”
Now, they’re running out of bread! No food! “Children!” And listen, I’m not scorning it; this is the truth. “He’s in our midst!”
An hour later, boing, boing, boing. “We over baked, how many loaves can you use?” Listen, that is true in the midst as a phrase understanding the situation. But that’s not this!
Pete was embarrassed not long ago for a mutual friend when a kooky friend of his put another friend of ours to the test and said, “Well, you believe in the Presence, don’t you?”
“Oh, sure. He’s with all of us.”
Right, Pete? Pete, don’t go out of your way anymore, you know what’s out there. Isn’t worth your while, unless you want to get a kick out of it. It’s okay to try them, but you’re not going to get any other answer, brother.
Talked to this guy in Tennessee, down there, great big church. People running to. “Who came down?”
“The Lamb.”
The Lamb? The Lamb?
What are you talking about? The Lamb’s on His Father’s throne. Revelation 3:20-21.
All right. I’m talking about God present like that. All right, that’s the picture on the wall, the Pillar of Fire above Brother Branham’s head for those who get the tapes without the video.
Now let us remember, Peter and the others who were with Jesus as disciples, were Israelites, who viewed the Old Testament as the basis of their faith in the Kingdom of God, which they were believing in and wanted to inherit.
I have no reason to believe otherwise than when they talked about Presence, that’s the New Testament Parousia now, they were talking about Jehovah Elohim, as did all the books of the Old Testament, especially the Book of Exodus, where very visibly, stood both God and Moses.
Now you tell me that they understood this Word in a different light from that. You can’t do it. Because that’s all they knew. Because that’s the Old Testament.
And Brother Branham, remember, like Paul, though Paul did not use this illustration, Brother Branham did. When he talked about the father of Peter. And the father of James and John.
He would always say, “Now remember, our prophet Moses, and the prophets taught us…” Always Old Testament, right? And the Old Testament is the foundation of the New Testament, or we are not Judeo-Christians.
In other words, we do not have the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and Moses, we have the God of Paul, Who is not the same God.
We go right back to the Garden of Eden, to Adam. And consequently, Eve who was the bearer of the seed which was to come forth, donated by her husband.
Now listen carefully. The Exodus, now listen the Ex-o-dus, or King-dom Journey.
Repeat after me, “The Exodus is the Kingdom Journey.”
Say it. “The Exodus is the Kingdom Journey.”
Now, either you said a lie or you said the truth, what is it? Is it the truth? You bet your life it’s the truth, because the Exodus was a journey to the Kingdom. Never mind how they messed up and completely went haywire.
That Exodus was the journey to the Kingdom. And when you get to the Kingdom, who do you expect to be there, but the King? Who do you crown, except the One who leads you out of your bondage into your Kingdom?
Even your jerk Communists do that, under Mao Sao Tong, and the Stalin’s, and the Trotsky’s, and Lenin’s, and the Chechako’s. The scum of mankind; serpent seed.
Why do you think they crown the pope with three crowns? Because he is over the earth, what is he over? Earth, hell…? No, he’s over heaven, and purgatory, and the earth, or even… maybe there’s four crowns he should have, God knows.
Is he going to lead all the Catholics into the Kingdom? They say he is. They’ve already crowned him. Kingdom Journey, Kingdom Journey, Kingdom Journey, Kingdom Journey, Kingdom Journey, Kingdom Journey, that’s the thought, we’re marching to the Kingdom.
The Exodus or Kingdom Journey was led by God with the prophet as His general, namely Moses. Exodus is Kingdom Journey. Time of Jesus Exodus, and ours today. Both Peter and Paul speak of the Presence or Parousia, in the context of the Exodus to the Kingdom and the Millennium.
Now, this is why I said we’re going to be here awhile. So when you get these sermons, don’t think… I fell four sermons short of twenty-four last year, and I’ll be falling some short this year, because you’ll be getting double doses.
How many tapes you’re going to get, don’t ask me. I’m just going to take my time, keep changing them, and we’re finished, we’re finished.
So, we go to Matthew 24:3, because I’m going to go right into the scripture to see what I can bring up.
As it comes to me, as I merely wait on God to show me these things, I have not tried to look into them as though I could search them out.
(03) And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when these things [shall] be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
Now you notice, previous to that, Jesus had said in a scathing rebuke to Israel, especially the leaders, especially the Pharisees, even more than the Sadducees.
And He said,
(33) Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, [you serpent seed,] how can [you] escape the [condemnation or the judgment, the] damnation of hell?
And He named why they would, because they’d gone completely away from the Word of God, swearing that they had the Word of God, though it was no longer the Word of God, even as Satan came to Eve, and gave a direct revelation that God had not given them, “You’ll be as gods,” perverting the Word!
“You serpent, you child of the devil, you two-fold child of hell.”
(34) Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, wise men, scribes:
From the top down, God in the prophet, bringing the Word, the teachers teaching it, and the others simply writing it!
So it’s all there before you, written, proven it’s by God, and thoroughly explained! And you turn it down. You couldn’t handle it. And those who could handle, you killed.
See, you better be careful if you think you’re going to handle the Word of God and you’re not called, you’re just asking for a downfall, brother/sister. And the first thing you know, you don’t want to go but you have to go. ‘Cause if you want to go, you ain’t called to go.
The best you would be is an elder or deacon, stay right where you are then. But be very careful. I’m not saying this because Lee Vayle said it, I’m telling you what Brother Branham said. He’s the one that said it. I’m just his parrot.
(35) That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.
(36) Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come [to pass] upon this generation.
(37) O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, stone them [that] sent to you, how often would I have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, [but] ye would not!
(38) Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
(39) For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord.
This is an Exodus of Jesus Christ from the Israelites into the Kingdom of God, they turned it down and they died under their usurpers!
And those that are under Rome today will die under their usurpers if they don’t come out, because this is a Kingdom Journey, with God and His prophet.
And the prophet gone signifies we’re under the hand of God alone, and we will go in! Under God, not the prophet! He’s gone. We’ll get tomorrow.
Now, let’s go back to where Matthew 24:3 is taken from. And we’re going to go all the way back to Luke 19. And this is why we’re taking time, and this is where we learn, context. Verse 11.
Now, Jesus has been healing the sick and talking to the people. He’s told them that he’s going to go to Jerusalem, where the Son of Man in him shall be accomplished all the things said by Isaiah, where he’ll be mocked and scourged, and put to death.
He gets the confession from Zacchaeus, he heals the blind man, and in verse 11:
(11) And as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear.
So all right. They sense a Kingdom Journey. They know they’re on one.
And they say, “Well, I think this is the time that he’s going to show his hand, and something is going to happen that is going to really bring us into what we are looking for, because John the Baptist hailed as a prophet said, ‘The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.’”
In other words, it’s in the proximity. It’s right here, present, for the taking. This is reality. And they believe that he was a prophet. So now that he’s just about there, he said:
(12) …A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return.
(13) And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said, Occupy till I come.
(14) [The] citizens hated him, and sent a message after him saying, We will not have this man reign over us.
(15) And it came to pass, he was returned, having received the kingdom, [that] he commanded [those] servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading.
(16) [And the first one came saying, “Well,” he said, “your ten pound got me ten.”]
(17) [He said, “That’s wonderful, rule over so many.”]
(18) And [the second one said, “Five.”]
(19) [“Well,” he said, “You got so much.”]
(20) [And the last one came]
(21) [And he said “I knew you were an austere man, and so I didn’t do a thing with it,” he said, “So there, I just hid it.” Didn’t do a thing, nothing to show for it, here it is back just what you gave me, here it is, take it, take it, take it. I really didn’t want it in the first place.”] [And he said, verse 22,]
(22) …Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, [you] wicked servant. You knew I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping [what] I did not sow.
(23) Wherefore then gavest [now] not my money [to] the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury?
(24) And he said, Take [this pound from that man, and give it to the man that has ten.]
(26) For, unto every one [that] hath shall be given; and [he] that hath not, even that shall be taken away from him.
(27) But those mine enemies, [that] would not that I should reign over them, bring [them] hither, and slay them.
Now, He gave this parable to let them know,
“Look, everything here designates the Kingdom. But it’s not what you think as to the time and the method of how it is eventually going to come in. Because there’s a period of time here, where My saints will go through object lessons. And the church will go through, even those who are not My Own. And those who are not My Own will take what I have and use it or not use it, they’ll just throw it to one side thinking no repute, the others will be competent and they will be the gainers! And what these people do not appreciate and have thrown aside, these who do appreciate will take it all over!”
Now, you show me one serpent seed in the Millennium. Or the Kingdom of God. The original premise was, “Adam and Eve, you have it all!”
And Adam and Eve’s children, they produce the children of God, wise and foolish virgin, they will have it all! And the faithful ones will have crowns of righteousness and gems. The others have forfeited everything, even their own lives.
All right, let’s keep reading.
(28) And when he had thus spoken, he went before, ascending to Jerusalem.
(29) And it came to pass, when he [came] to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples,
(30) Saying, Go into the village over against you; in which your entering [you’ll] find a colt tied, whereon never man sat: loose him, and bring him hither.
(31) And if any man ask you, Why do you loose him? you shall say, Because the Lord hath need of him.
(32) And they were sent their way, and [they] found even as he had said.
(33) And as they [loosed] the colt, the owners said, Why [do you] loose the colt?
(34) They said, The Lord hath need of him.
(35) And they brought him to Jesus: they cast their garments upon the colt, and they set Jesus thereon.
Now, Jesus never told them to do that. But they did it anyway. You notice something? People do things whether they want to do it or not. Because it’s in the will of God.
They’re not predestinated, it’s just written about them and they do it. Their names will be taken out of the book of Life. They’ll be blotted out. But they just can’t help themselves.
(36) And as [they] went, they spread their clothes in the way.
(37) And when he was come nigh, at the descent of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for [his] mighty works that they had seen;
(38) Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh…
You see, they saw the works and as they came nigh to Jerusalem this looked like the real thing, that now the Kingdom would be set up, people healed, people at rest, Israel ruling, everything blessed.
Now that’s what they had in mind. See? And this was to them the Kingdom Journey. And it was the Kingdom Journey but it was turned down. It wasn’t to be the fullness, because the Gentiles were to come in.
See, all of these things you have to weave in there and see them. They were saying:
(38) …Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.
(39) And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said, Master, rebuke thy disciples.
(40) And he answered and said, I tell you that, if these [held] their peace, the stones would cry out immediately.
(41) And when he was come near, he beheld the city, wept over it,
(42) Saying, If thou hadst known even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto [thee… or those things which are yours, contributing to your peace. Which is the Garden of Eden.] but now they’re hid from thine eyes.
(43) For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench [upon] thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in every side,
(44) And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children with thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.
They didn’t know the time of the visitation, the time of the visitation was God come down in human flesh and then the sacrifice of the Son to redeem them. And take them through the remaining ages until the resurrection and all were brought in.
And you know the Catholics are trying to do that and have being trying to do it for years. And they will do it eventually through the pope.
And the poor old pope thinks he’s a vicar of Christ. And he’s muddling around, trying to get a cardinal of colleges to bring in the good pope. He’ll bring in the bad one. It’ll come.
Even the pope knows the antichrist’s around the corner. Even the pope’s got to know in his own heart, “That wicked one can come right and sit on this throne that I the righteous pope, John Paul, will one day vacate. And oh, my I hope the right guy gets it and I’m going to do everything and anything as the vicar of Christ to make sure the right one comes in, oh yeah.”
Come on, where there’s smoke there’s fire. And if you can’t tell the smoke that comes from a piece of fresh pine bough than that which comes from roadkill, there’s something radically wrong with your spiritual smeller.
(45) And he went [to] the temple, and began to cast out them that sold therein, and them that bought; [That will happen in the Great Tribulation.]
(46) Saying unto them, It is written, My house is [a] house of prayer: [and you’ve] made it a den of thieves. [Rich, increased in goods, and don’t lack a thing.]
(47) And he taught daily in the temple. But the chief priests and the scribes and the people sought to destroy him,
(48) And [they] could not…
Now, with that in mind, that this is the Exodus, because Brother Branham said, “The second Exodus came under Jesus,” did he not? Three Exoduses. Okay, this is the Exodus. They blew it. The Gentiles enter into an Exodus.
Now they will blow this one. But every time you’re looking at this from the Alpha precept, it is God Himself, and when dealing with the people as He did deal, and He started with Israel, now with the Gentiles, through election, predestination, it is an Exodus Journey!
Now, the Jews wouldn’t come out, they died. God with Paul brings out Gentiles. Always an Exodus Journey. That’s your premise. It’s coming from something into something.
It’s going from here to there. It’s motivational, it’s going upward. Do you turn it and go down? Do you take it and do you go up? Because we’re going to a pyramid! And the pyramid has the Lamb seated on it and Jehovah Elohim above it. All right.
Now, I want to bring my point. I’m going to go to the Book of Acts,
(01) The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began to do and teach, [That’s Luke, he was not a disciple, he was a historian, a scribe.]
(02) Until the day in which he was taken up, [and] after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen:
(03) To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom:
Now, Brother Branham comes back, or when he comes back, how he comes back, with what he comes back, doesn’t interest me in the sense, I don’t know what that vision of his meant, with the tent, and he never did tell us, and it’s his vision not mine, so I’m not responsible.
But I do know this, if he doesn’t come back, forget it. You and I are gone. And I would say the devil is ruling the Kingdom and God’s been disposed. Because this is how strong I believe, God is here. And it’s not the devil fooling anybody, it’s God doing what He wants to do.
And you see… So what here, He showed Himself alive after many infallible proofs. And that’s what Brother Branham did actually in his ministry, but when Jesus came back upon earth for those forty days, He did have the infallible proof of Who He was, and He spoke pertaining to the things of the Kingdom.
Now there’s no doubt if Brother Branham comes back we’d recognize him. Because we’ve seen his pictures as a young man. And we’d know it anyway.
What would he have left to do? Miracles, signs and wonders? I have no problem with that, what God wants him to do, he’ll do. I’m interested, speaking concerning the Kingdom. Because that’s what really counts. See? Because we believe.
We know the test. If another man came on the scene, he’d have to have Deuteronomy 18, and he can’t have it! That’s for the Jews.
Now,
(04) And, being assembled together with them, commanded them they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which [he said, you] have heard of me.
And what was that? The Holy Ghost baptism. The Cloud coming down, God coming down and dispersing Himself as a Father, you know, bringing to life the seed on the day of Pentecost.
Now listen,
(05) For John truly baptized with water; but [you should] be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
Now, let’s just take a look at John the Baptist. What does the Bible say about John the Baptist? Well, I’ll tell you, because this is the first verse that’s going to come to your mind. “No prophet born of a woman’s greater.” Right?
What comes to my mind? John did not any works at all. Didn’t do one miracle, never had one ‘Thus Saith The Lord.’
Came on the scene and he said, “The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. For He that appeared to me, Elohim, said ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending like a dove and remaining upon Him, that is the Son of God.’”
John never had one thing as to proof. The people heard him and they were expecting without a ‘Thus Saith The Lord’ from a prophet that the Kingdom was at hand.
They felt it in their bones, something was stirring, various things had gone on, like the birth of John, and various things that created an aura of expectation, and John came thundering on the scene! And they just ran toward John. They never gave him the test at all. They believed him.
Now, that’s strange, isn’t it? Never gave one sign and he couldn’t. All he did was testify to Jesus, and they took John to be a prophet. And Jesus one day said, “Was John’s baptism of man or of God?”
And they said, “Now, hold it buddy. If we say of man, the people will stone us, because they think John’s the prophet. We really don’t, but they said he is. And if we say if it’s of God, then he’ll say, ‘Why didn’t you listen?’”
Of course, they could have answered, “Because John didn’t have ‘Thus Saith The Lord’.” Deuteronomy 18.
But you see, they were so far gone from the truth, the truth wouldn’t mean anything. Jesus quoting Deuteronomy 18, “Moses spake of Me.” Boing. You can’t speak to a dead man and get an answer. They’re gone.
So, here’s John. They took him. Zeal. You wonder why they take A.A. Allan with signs and wonders, and Oral Roberts with signs and wonders? And all the delinquents out there, because they got signs and wonders?
Jesus came with the actual truth of Deuteronomy 18, and they killed him. And that’s why they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh and even turn down a John the Baptist and went on their own with the devil. In the twentieth century, after 1946. 1946, was the fateful year of the Lord’s people and all people on earth. 1946.
All right. We were reading,
(06) When they were [therefore] come together, they asked of him,
After his resurrection, after he thoroughly explained everything beyond Luke 19 and Matthew 23. Because Matthew [24:3] is based upon the fact of Jesus’ miracles, signs, and wonders, and saying “This Kingdom of…”
Oh, let’s go back and read the thing, my memory’s so lousy I don’t even try to do anything with it. Okay. Either 24, here.
(03) And as he sat upon mount Olives, [after all these things here, relating to the Kingdom, the parables and everything else, they said,] Tell us, when these things shall be? and [what’ll] be the sign of thy coming [which is the word Parousia], and [what’ll be] the end of the world?
Okay, is that right? I read it to you. All right, now listen. Here’s after He’s risen!
(06) …Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?
“Is this the time of the Presence? Is this the time of the Exodus Journey from our enemy into the Promise Land where You have King David on the throne, the Son of David?” Huh?
Now, this is my understanding I waited for, for a long time. With understanding the Presence.
Why would God come down to lead His people anywhere but somewhere in the designation of His plan, for His Kingdom, for His people, where He is in the midst, and there’s no sin, no nothing, except God all and in all! You tell me.
Get your books out. Dip your pen in the ink and search your scripture and you tell me.
These people had been talking to Jesus forty days concerning the Kingdom, and just as He was ready to go up they said, “Hey, is this the time, is this time that You’re going to take us into the Kingdom? Are You present to do this? Is Your face set to do this? Your face was set, Your Presence for Jerusalem to die! Now You’re risen!”
A risen man can do anything. He can not only walk the pope and all of Rome, he can cause a Vesuvius he can cause comets, he could dissolve the earth with one glance.
Never mind your atomic bombs, your hydrogen bombs, he can diffuse every one and take each in his hand and crush them. What can you do with a Millennial man? Answer me that question please.
(06) …[Will you] restore again the kingdom to Israel?
(07) And he said, It’s not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father [not I, but the Father has] put in his own power.
(08) But you’ll be witnesses unto me [and so on. And he went right up into heaven.]
Now just a little minute here. After we see this great folly committed by the disciples who still didn’t have the understanding they should have had, let’s go after God came down in a Cloud and baptized Peter with the Holy Ghost!
Hear what he says at Pentecost, anointed by God, literally hearing himself talk, I believe.
(14) But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, [You] men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:
(15) These are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.
(16) But this is [as] spoken by the prophet Joel;
Now, listen. He comes right down to your day and to my day. Right down to your day and my day. So this is now an Alpha of our Omega.
The Pillar of Fire returns. God Himself returns. Baptizing people with the Holy Ghost into the body of Jesus Christ. Believers exactly like the foundation believers in those early days.
(17) And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God,… [That’s two days left as Brother Branham said, but this does not occur in those two days, it comes at the end of that day.] …I will pour my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
That’s “I’ll pour My Spirit on your sons, your daughters, your young men, your old men, and on My servants.” You’ve got two groups of people, so don’t rule them out.
This is the Kingdom, and this is the Message, the two vines, the two seeds. The truth and the lie. The real and the fantasy. Built upon a perversion of the real.
(18) And on my servants and my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they’ll prophesy:
(19) And I will shew wonders in the heaven[s] above, and signs in the earth beneath; [and] blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:
That’s the end time! And that’s again when Israel receives a prophet and God comes down! Jesus reveals Himself as that human being that He is. While the Bride is in the Palace. This is end time!
Peter now suddenly knows the question that he asked. “What about Your Presence, what about the Kingdom Journey?”
And the Kingdom Journey does not end with Jesus as the Captain, the General of God, does not end in the New Jerusalem with God and Jesus as His General on the throne, the Lamb, until this takes place. And it requires the Presence.
(20) The sun turned into darkness, the moon [to] blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:
That’s got to take place. And then Peter explains it over there in 2 Peter. And you know what he tells you? With the same revelation and the same understanding that he did not have even before Pentecost?
“What’ll be the sign of Thy Presence? When is this Exodus going to take place? When is it going to all happen, we’re near Jerusalem?
Jerusalem’s the capital, it will be the capital of the world, the Gentiles shall flow in, oh yes, yes. We want the Kingdom! Tell us! What are the signs? What are we looking for now? Is there something else?”
He said, “Forget it. It isn’t now.” They didn’t know the Gentiles were to come in.
And so Peter at Pentecost, even after the resurrection days of Jesus misunderstanding at Pentecost, gets a clear vision, and he said, “This Kingdom now, the Presence.”
He said, “Here, listen to me. That Kingdom Journey we talked about, that Presence we spoke of, is not going to be there until the end.”
And Jesus does not come down here until the end! After the Great Tribulation. And He renovates at least a part of the earth. I asked Brother Branham the question, “Does He renovate the whole earth?”
He said, “Well, at least a part of it,” he said. But I think it more or less renovation is of that whole earth.
So there you see it. And I didn’t read it yet.
(01) This second epistle, beloved, I write now… in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance:
(02) That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets,
What holy prophets? Old Testament. So, when he talks about the Presence, he’s basing it upon the Old Testament! But it’s clarified by the Holy Ghost for the New Testament! But Paul does it, not Peter.
(02) …spoken by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour: [Now he puts the two together, Old and New.]
(03) Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking [in] their own lusts,
(04) Saying, Where is the promise of his [Presence]?
“When is He going to lead us in? When is He going to come and do it? Where is He?”
I want to submit to you that people are going to ask this question and fall away from this Message. The scoffers no doubt are scoffing right now about William Branham as being that forerunner.
“As John the Baptist forerun the first coming of Jesus Christ, your Message will forerun the second.”
I know different ones even in his own kin try to say, “You personally,” that is not what Brother Branham told me; he even reprimanded me for saying that.
So if anybody thinks I’m going to listen to his kith and kin, drop dead, forget it. You just don’t know Lee Vayle, that’s all. I’m a heretic from the religion of the world, and hopefully I’ve got true credentials from God.
But I only believe the prophet, and when I am corrected I take my correction.
I took my correction on marriage and divorce: can a preacher who marries, divorce and remarries, preach? Yes, he certainly can. I don’t agree with that as a human being.
As a child of God, I had to agree with Brother Branham, that’s not the unforgiveable sin, for he said, “Lee, if God cannot forgive a man for that, what can He forgive him for?”
And I said, “Brother Branham, I apologize, you’re right.” He’s my mentor. Not my tormentor.
Where is this Exodus Journey? When is God going to do what He said? Healings? Great! Who really needs them in the long run?
When God Himself said, “Those who rejoiced as though they had not rejoiced, and those who sorrowed as though they had not sorrowed, and those who married as though they had not married.”
Let’s keep reading,
(03) Knowing this, [there’ll] come scoffers,
(04) Saying, Where is [this] promise?
What is the promise today? Rapture! Into His Kingdom, via the Wedding Supper, down here on earth one thousand years, White Throne, them.
And Peter talks about it. Listen to it.
(05) For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
(06) Whereby the world that then was, being over[whelmed] with water, perished: [But it came back! Now let’s keep reading.]
(07) But the heavens and the earth, which now [are], by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto [the] fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
He’s reciting two separate things here! One time the earth is preserved, the next time the earth is not preserved!
Where’s the promise? He said He would do it! It looked like He was going to do it! Why hasn’t He done it? Huh?
Noah is not rapture. He didn’t get raptured. He came down to the same lousy old earth he had. Enoch was raptured. And after Noah came down the earth was completely renovated, right? Huh?
And it’s still reserved in judgment! What for? And it tells you. For fire! For fire! Time does not get over, and sin does not get over, and perdition does not get over, until after the White Throne!
You follow me?
Okay,
(08) But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
(09) The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing any should perish, but all should come to repentance. [Now watch.]
(10) But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, [and] the earth and [its] works shall be burned up therein.
Now, that’s not Peter all mixed up, it’s the people mixed up. They don’t understand the days of Noah, when he come back upon this earth and repopulated it, and there that earth was, in a prime condition, renovated! And that’s the Millennium!
But after that sets in the White Throne, when all hell and the devil’s let loose, and they come against the Holy Encampment, and fire comes down!
Now there’s got to be a purging of heaven and earth. The flames shoot a thousand miles high, destroying every germ and every vestige, the earth goes up in smoke and comes down again. New heavens and new earth.
Now, the Presence demands it. God come on the scene! Time and eternity have blended! This is Peter, time and eternity have blended. What are people waiting for? But I’m not finished. I closed my Bible, that doesn’t mean it’s over. Alpha is Omega. Exodus and the Kingdom.
Now, I want to link Brother Branham with this one hundred percent. So that we know, that we know, that we know that we know.
And we close the Book this morning and say, “I do not open my mind to one more thought.” I’m going to put you on the spot. “I’m on the spot,” like Brother Branham said, why shouldn’t you be on the spot? Are we one or aren’t we one? Matter is, who cares? That’s up to God.
But, let’s look at it now, come on. And we go directly to 1 Thessalonians 4, the sermon of consummation, epitomization of the whole ministry of Brother Branham, and the continuing ministry of Almighty God since the prophet is gone, until the very Rapture takes us out of here.
(13) [Brethren,] I would not have you ignorant, concerning them which are asleep [they’ve gone to their graves, they’re souls under the altar, Gentile], that you sorrow not, as others which have no hope. [Earnest expectation. They can’t expect this but you do. You’ve got an earnest expectation.]
(14) For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
That is they’ve been baptized into Jesus Christ and are part of the body of Christ, and it doesn’t say, “Jesus will bring them.” It says, “God will bring them!”
(15) For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord,
And that’s got to be the Word of God, Lord God, because Jesus does not have a Word. It’s not that He couldn’t, but if He did then He’d be like Satan.
The only Word Jesus got is God’s Word, because that’s all He’s interested in, that’s all He wants, He will never pervert it. Then why should he have another Word? Hah.
Can’t you see the difference between Satan and Jesus when they led in the worship? And understand?
All right, that’s why Paul said, “Even an archangel can’t convince me.” Why? “Because I hear from God! And when I’ve got God’s Word, what about another Word? Forget it, there isn’t any other Word, it’s a lie.”
Tell me when God has to repeat Himself. Paul did, but God didn’t. Paul mentioned his own repetition. The Word of God.
(15) For this [I] say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent […or go before them or actually hinder or anything else] them [that] are asleep. [Now watch.]
(16) For the Lord himself [now this is God speaking. So it’s God Who’s going to do the descending.] shall descend from heaven with a shout [the Kalusma, that’s putting in subjection and order the church], with the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God: and the dead in Christ [that’s the Bride in Christ] shall rise first:
(17) Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: so shall we ever be with the Lord.
Now he’s talking about those that have faith and believe in Jesus Christ as the body of Jesus. What’s going to happen?
And he said, “I’ll tell you, God told me that God Himself is going to come down and God Himself will raise the dead, because the Bible distinctly says, “God alone has power to raise the dead.”” And He raised Jesus, He didn’t raise Himself.
Although He said, “I’ve got power to lay My life down and take it again.”
That was exactly true, in the sense that He could have done it but He didn’t do it. Because He was the obedient Son and He learned obedience by suffering!
You understand? He grew and we grow! He’s got a growth even right now, for the first time He’s on the throne, getting practice to sit on the throne down here.
So the Lord came down, that’s Elohim. He raises the dead, and it says right here, “God will bring with Him!” So, it’s God Who takes us up to meet Jesus our Lord! A lot of people don’t want to believe that.
But I’m going to tell you something. That’s the truth and so we’ll ever be with Jesus. And Peter took it right to the New Jerusalem, and Paul only takes this to the Wedding Supper.
But once you get in that Rapture with Jesus, hey, forget it. Don’t even think. Because at the end of the trail, before they even ask, the answer is there. And that proves the truth.
There is never a question, unless there is an answer. And there is never anything lost, it is only misplaced. When it comes to you and me.
Now, let me just take a look at… let me see if I can find what I want here, now in,
(12) Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this world;
(13) Looking for that blessed hope [earnest expectation], and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; [Two of them.]
I want to ask you a question. Who appears today? God. He’s present. We’re on a journey. There’s a great change. It’s epical. It’s a juncture. Time and eternity have blended.
From now on it is straight to New Jerusalem through the process of the Millennium, the Great White Throne, the fire of God coming down, the children of God caught up to the heavens, so the earth can melt and the atmosphere melt to a steam and be brought back to perfection.
This is what Brother Branham taught. Time and eternity have blended.
Now with that, let us go to Philippians 2:11.
Now listen,
(11) That every tongue should confess that Jesus [the] Christ is Lord, to the glory of God [his] Father.
Two Lords. Now, make me a liar when I quote Brother Branham, “Now there’s two of them.”
Yeah, a young preacher down there in the Carolinas, not so young, I knew one day he was going to fall for Bob Brown. And I knew in my heart.
The next day someone sends me a tape and he’s amening Bob on some stuff that’s absolutely in my books ridiculous, female spirit. Screaming, “Amen and amen.”
And then he turns around and said when I quote now there’s two of them, he says, “See, there you are. Lee Vayle preaching two gods.” He’ll scream at a man who doesn’t quote Brother Branham. Give him a bunch of hogwash. But he negates me when I quote William Branham.
I want to ask you. What side of the fence is he on? People getting this tape will know exactly what I’m talking about. That’s okay by me.
Now the emphasis here in 1 Thessalonians 4, as I’ve already brought out, is on God in the Exodus of His people, His children, His Bride, the prophet is only secondary as the voice!
And he himself said, “I was only one standing nearby when He appeared. I was only a voice that He used.”
The ministry of the Son of Man in Luke 17:30 and in Matthew 12, which I read to you this morning, lets you to know that positively there is only one Person here that we are interested in, because He’s interested in us, and that is God, El, Elah, El Elah, Jehovah, Elohim. Adonai, call Him what you want.
Title after title, He’s got maybe as many as four hundred names, but there’s only one God. And Jesus is not God, he is not a part of Godhead, he is the Son of God, and he has his position as fifty percent of the inheritance and an equal voice to the Father according to the birthright, which Jesus doesn’t even exercise, because he knows he’s still the Son, he has fifty percent of it all.
But I’m going to tell you one thing. When you go to a meeting and there are two people there, and there’s a dispute over the inheritance, and they both have an equal voice, you call in a mediator. God is His Own mediator according to the Book of Galatians.
The Son would never get more than fifty percent, in fact he wouldn’t even want it, and you and I as true servants of God wouldn’t want fifty percent.
In fact, as Brother Branham echoed my own voice that I’d preached years before I heard him say it, when the Bible speaks of reigning and ruling, I said, “Who wants to reign and rule over anybody? Just leave me alone, let’s live in peace.”
And Brother Branham said the same thing. And it made me happy to know that at least my spirit was a little on touch with his.
So the Parousia or Presence has been veiled all this time. It is the Appearing. And what happened is this: that Satan beat the church to the punch.
Back in an Irvingite meeting in London, I believe it was, where they spoke in tongues and women had a great part of the services. I understand the history though I do not know it is really correct.
But the understanding of history is this, that there was a meeting in a hall, which did not even have a light to my understanding. And there a woman fell into a trance on the floor in an Irvingite meeting and she spoke out and she said, “Thus saith the Lord, the Rapture is the Appearing.”
She had it a hundred percent wrong except during the course of the events of the Rapture, the Appearing had to take place. Which is the Lord descending with a Shout.
And God will never, never ever, never ever, ever, ever, ever, never, never, impose Himself upon the people as without the evidence that He is God and He is there Personally with His Own Word, vindicated that it is His Word, according to His Own Word that He set forth as vindication.
That’s why Brother Branham said, “That which is perfect is come.” And Who is perfect but God? And what is God but His Word?
And by His grace we have the perfect Presence; God Himself Personally, God Himself completely revealed, God Himself completely here leading us, the Bride, without spot, without blemish, who didn’t sin in the first place, who was tricked into this, liberated, freed, and that Spirit now, God Himself in our midst, will take us up in the Rapture at the trump.
And when He becomes incarnated to us, we’ll crown Him King of kings, and that will be God once more as He was in Jesus, but this time He will King of kings and Lord of lords; He will be the Son of David, the Son of Man, the Son of God.
He will be Elohim, He’ll be the Rose of Sharon, the Altogether Lovely, the Lily of the Valley, the Almighty God, the Warrior. Name it, every single one.
Why? Because when you have the fullness of the Godhead and that Son there and God Himself incarnated in Him, you have out here in the millions, maybe billions, in the wise and foolish virgin, mostly foolish, it will be a drop in a bucket concerning the magnitude.
And the only reason that Jesus will be able to stand and actually suffer us, as He stands in our midst and leads worship unto God, is because we are of one source. One Father.
So don’t worry about anything this morning, my brother, my sister, except this truth that you have here. I’ve done my best to bring it to you, I have no apologies to make, I am not ashamed of what I’ve said, I stand a hundred percent what I said, because I can go to the Scriptures as I have, there’ll be others who will not believe it, they’ll have a counter irritance, I am not interested in their counter irritance, not at all.
I’m interested only in the Balm of Gilead, the Rose of Sharon who brings us the truth, the Lily of the Valley, the Altogether Lovely that I believe is in our midst today, and Who has come to bring us to Himself, to change us to immortality and get us out of here.
And He is here, He has not left, and don’t for one minute get weary of well doing. Don’t cumber your minds or thoughts. This is not wrong, it is right. Peter gave you the truth of time blending with eternity, it has set in. Don’t get mixed up.
For the first time with God dealing with my own mind through the prophet of God, knowing what he said was true, I can tell you why 2 Peter says, what it says when I picked up every other book and I found no man to give me a clue, and they said, “There you are, the Rapture is pre-Millennial, it is post-Millennium, there is Um-Millennium, there is this, there is that.”
I have told you the truth this morning and I’ll stand with it! God shows me something else and I think I’m wrong, I’ll come back and tell you, but I know in my heart I am right. You do what you want, believe what you want, it’s your privilege.
All right, I’ve preached four sermons in two and so I might get a few more in, I don’t know, I have to be honest with you, that if there was time I could say the spirit is willing and the flesh was weak, but I’ve got to be honest with you, it’s no longer the flesh is weak, but the spirit is weak.
It’s getting very, very difficult to take on any kind of a ministry at all, and I won’t say I won’t be here next time, I won’t say that I will, I don’t know.
I have no word to say to those that supported me all these years, if you find someone else you can support, you’re perfectly privileged to do so, find someone else you want their tapes, you’re perfectly privileged to do so, I have no strings on anybody, nobody owes me anything, whatsoever. If I owe anything at all, I owe to people and I owe to God. And I do have big debts there.
But as for anybody ever owing allegiance or any type of interest in me whatsoever, I have to be honest with you, there’s no claims, no claims at all. I understand that.
Sometimes in some peoples lives, that might be kind of a tough thought. That is a tough thought, but hey, look, that’s the truth. You can do nothing against the truth but for it.
In other words, roll with the punches and one day you’ll find that God is exactly what He said He is and what He would do, and I found that to my satisfaction.
I found two major outcomes of the association with God as a child of God, I wish I had more of the third which is purely healing, the others are absolutely in order. Absolutely in order.
I have no complaints whatsoever on that line, and I glorify the Lord for His goodness to me and He’s been wonderful. I haven’t been, but He’s been wonderful. I look back, life has been good.
There are times I thought it wasn’t, and that’s all I can say. Hey, homeward bound, not too long to go. Whether I’m here or stay, I don’t know, I don’t know what. All I know is that the battle is in the bodies with my wife and I both, it’s very difficult.
But I’m not here to complain, I’m here to laugh at the fact that, my God, I never thought I’d be eighty-four years of age. It seems so utterly ridiculous and stupid. In the light of, you know, just, who wants to or what’s going to be.
But, it’s been good and my wife and I will soon be married sixty years and I ask you, please don’t do anything about it, where people want to come from a distance or anything, because she’s not well.
Oh, she loves attention and she gets it and she’s a wonderful person, she deserves better than just attention, which she has from the Lord. She’s been a fine Christian, much better than I have been, very astute, very good person.
Kind, but it’s just to the place where getting up in the morning and pulling on your socks, like old Art Linkletter says, “Sure I get exercise. I get up in the morning and pull on my socks, and pull on my clothes, and walk downstairs,” that’s about it!
So anyway, that’s the story. I wanted to put that on for the people on the tape hearing this, because you know in your heart and I know that my obligation is to the outside. This is just where I preach a few times.
So the Lord bless you richly, we’ll go out and have dinner after awhile.
Let’s rise and be dismissed.
Heavenly Father, as we go our way we thank You for the time we’ve had together, and we’ve had quite a long time this morning, going into what we believe to be the truth, and the understanding of the Presence.
And I’m satisfied, Lord, that this is what You were dealing with, where I would not even ask You to help me delve into Scripture, but just wait and see if something should come to my mind, and therein I see, Lord, and I believe I have seen correctly, if I haven’t forgive me and correct me for the sake of the people.
But I believe I see 2 Peter and that which was said in Your Word, and so many people have stumbled at, we have not got it by ourselves Lord, as though we’re somebody to know something, but we looked at the students of yesteryears, the people well known of, we read from them, studied the prophet, studied Your Word, Lord, and by the grace of God, You Lord, by Your Own Holy Spirit helping us, we believe that we have the truth of this hour in this day.
Father, may we never, never, never, ever, as Brother Branham felt so sincerely, that we would make the mistake upholding lightly to the Word, and let the cares of life and little things come in, business, entertainment, just socially [inaudible] among our families, just little things creeping in and taking away this tremendous truth, which is so fabulous and which is so jolting when you understand that Peter said, “The earth is reserved from this time to the dissolving fire.” We’re into eternity.
Oh, what manner of people we ought to be, seeking for the eternal verities, and that which where the inner man is being renewed day by day, and the old outer man perishing, looking like a death head, which indeed it is.
Glowing with the power that You give us from Your Own Spirit. Illuminate us as never before. Lord, I am embarrassed, ashamed even to even say that in my prayer, illuminate us. I should be saying Lord, correctly, help me in my unbelief in any way, shape and form.
Any way You can jar me out of myself into the truth which You have absolutely vindicated for us, until that also is the dynamic of the tiepost that I have in this hour. Unto perfection, and the people then can come out of their graves, because they without us cannot be made perfect.
Help us to see that and meet them in the Resurrection. Join with them in glorifying Your great Name and learning more if that is given to us in those days we have upon earth, until all the Bride and all of them have risen and we take our departure to the Wedding Supper.
Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be all power, honor and glory through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
‘Take the Name of Jesus with you.’