The Rapture #1

The Rapture # 1

Bro. Lee Vayle Oct. ?/ 1967

[Main message begins on Page 8]

a. Last night we were into the subject of 'Revelation is the True Evidence of the Spirit of God'. Christ said to Peter, “Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but My Father which is in heaven. And upon this, I’ll build My Church, and the gates of hell cannot prevail against It.” The church has taken an opposite view of what the power of God is. The church has thought that to get the power of God, then they would go out and overcome the gates of hell. And they would turn back multitudes of people to God. And they would be able to do a work, predicated upon what God had given them of His power. So that the jurisdiction and the authority lay in the hands of the people, having been imbued with power. But, the Bible does not say that. The Scripture says, “The gates of hell, will not prevail against her.” It didn’t say, she would prevail against the gates of hell. Christ had already done that.

But, when He led captivity captive and made the way of salvation. But, anybody can start anything. See? That’s the thing with organization and with religion. You can start out…people go and start churches, they go to the foreign fields, they’ll attempt to evangelize, to do personal work, and that’s the easiest thing in the world. But, it’s when the showdown comes, whether you can stand up against Satan, is what counts. Anybody can start anything. But the derelicts on the sands of time are numerable. Because the gates of hell overwhelmed them. Now, the Bible doesn’t say what we think It says. It doesn’t say we’re going to be like Samson. Take the gates of Dagan, up the hill. I've always thought how ridiculous anyway. Who wants to take gates up a hill? Of all the stupid clichés the church comes up with. No wonder there’s no power. Cliché, cannot stand, it’s the Word that stands. Let people know that creative Word, maintains us, and there's confidence. But, all these things we have said. The doctrine of men is so puerile. It hasn’t stood.

b. No wonder that Satan is going to take the whole world over. He is, all except for a handful. There’s no great big deal coming in this last day. See? So, people don’t know what the power of the church is. The power of the church, is the dynamism of revelation. When you know from God, that things are not as they seem. And what you do see is not made…or, what appears, is not made of what is seen. And that true substance in heaven, must be illuminated by the Holy Ghost, and that which we know here as substance, is nothing but a shadow. Now, there’s where the power of the church lies. We haven’t believed it. We have done what I said people do, …they make God like steam in a steam boiler. The engineer pulls this lever, …shhhp… they got them talking in tongues, prophesying, and doing a lot of things like that. Pull this lever, [shhhp] you got them laying hands on the sick and healing the sick.

Now, those things are all right. But, don’t try to use God’s power under your own authority. That’s what the devil did. He hasn’t got any power but, what God gave him. And he said, “I’ll take that power, and I’ll exalt myself above the Most High.” And that’s what they did in this age. They took the power of God and said, “Now watch us use It.” As though they had authority, in the sense of the command to execute the authority. In other words, all authority. I use that word ‘authority’ a lot in Scripture where one is authority and one is a command. But, I’m using it now in the sense that authority given to them means; to constitute the supreme authority of God. Sovereignty. Sovereignty has never been vested in the hands of man. Even Jesus Christ Himself, God manifest in flesh, did not exhibit sovereignty. Right? He said, “What I see Him do, I do. And what I hear Him say, I say,” …He never created one thing. And yet, He was the Creator.

c. He laid that aside. That’s why He could speak to the Spirit, and pray to the Spirit. That`s easy to understand one God, simple as a-b-c. He was referring to that part of Him, that He laid aside. While He took upon Himself humiliation. How could a God come down, perfect one God, with all of His sovereign character, and then say, “I’m a God of humility.” He could. Right? The humility of Christ was that He was Jehovah God, manifest in flesh. Everything that God was to man, He put into a body. And that body is what suffered and died. And that Spirit, that soul, went down to Hades, and that Spirit went back to God. But He still prayed to Spirit. Why? Because He never took upon, He never kept, His sovereign authority, His creative authority. If you can understand that, you can see one God. There’s nothing to it. They get all confused because one God prayed to another God? Yet it was that same Creator that did it. He laid aside that part of His life.

Just like, when you get married as a man, you lay aside your son-ship. Certainly. It’s an office. It’s like a figure of speech. People get confused as to what it means to sit on the right hand of God. Well, that’s the most ridiculous thing in the world. If you sat on the right hand of God, you’d flop on the floor. Nobody sits on the right hand of God. It’s a figure of speech. Huh? Certainly, it is. What does it mean? Sit on my right hand, is what the king says to the man who approved himself, and showed himself that he was the great overcomer. Worthy of sitting there. It’s a figure of speech. And no man would dare to sit on the king’s right hand, because that made him bigger than the king. It’s just a figure of speech. You won’t teach people that. They won’t believe anything…except a lie. They wouldn’t believe the truth, they’re going to believe a lie, it’s going to be more, and more, and more.

d. So, to see that the Holy Spirit was given to us, in order to reveal God, and the things of God, which constituted power, is a complete spiritual dictum, and you don’t compare carnal with spiritual. Now, we’ll use our laws. You stick right with the Word of God. See? Spiritual. Only God will move, in God’s ordained channel. And there’s where your power lies. And there’s where the power has always lain…is in revelation. It’s what made Moses what he was. Martin Luther what he was. Wesley what he was. It’s what made William Branham what he was. And you saw it right in John, the epistle, when he spoke upon the anointing. You don’t need a man to teach you. He said, “We handled It.” He said, “We talked to It.” We know It. Now he said, “I want you to have the same fellowship.” On what grounds? The Holy Spirit will reveal him by Spirit, exactly as I knew Him, here in the flesh. And what I saw by Spirit, later.

And if you don’t believe it, then, compare the life of Paul with Peter. Peter and John ate with Him, they slept with Him, they walked with Him, they were taught by Him, and yet their concept actually, was not as mighty as the Apostle Paul, who received the concept of God by revelation. And everything he got about God, was by revelation. What made Paul the man he was? A revelation. See? There’s where his strength was. It lay in revelation. So, to understand the

Word of God then, is to take It exactly the way It is taught us, that the Spirit of God was given that we may know God and the things that are freely given us of God. And also, those things which are laid up for us. As I said last night, what made Christians able to have their goods spoiled? What was it that lead Polycarp to the stake, and made him such a magnanimous person? What is it as you read your history about any man? It is a revelation.

e. The world is not too intrigued by the mighty miracle powers. Because they see it, and don’t understand it. They try to explain it away. But, they will accept the character, or the person himself, who has a revelation of God, which gives him his ability to overcome. And that overcoming ability is what? They slap you in the face, you turn the other side. They take your goods, you rejoice, because it’s laid up in heaven, a treasure. You know it’s there. See? Stability of a Christian, lies in revelation. How much stability is there today, because people have gifts of the Spirit? Ha. I believe my hand is on thousands of people. And the days when I used to deliberately practice to receive a revelation from God, I had yet to lay my hands on…there’s less than one fifth of one percent, who are not nervous jitters. Right? Where’s all this big talk of the God of peace, and everything else?

We have thought, to receive the Holy Ghost, has made us dynamos. Get in there, bless God. The big American executive spirit got a hold of us. The ulcer, spirit. The dog eat dog, spirit. The I’ll show ‘em, spirit. The give him another shot, spirit. You won’t find that in Jesus Christ. Somebody got sold a bill of goods. That’s what I said last night, that this age has the real Holy Ghost…no sir, no man. No Sir. They say they have, but they haven’t. Just an anointing on them. I can give you books by Christian Science, and Unity, which disbelieve the virgin birth of Jesus Christ, deny the Blood. And they will produce more miracles by the Holy Ghost, then faith you’ll see at any meetings that absolutely believe that they are of God, and that they believe in the power of God, and everything else. They got God. The Bible says, “He that believes that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God.”

f. Everybody I know that claims to have any relationship to God, believes that, and they’re all lost. Because no man can call God, “Lord”, except by the Holy Ghost. You just can’t pick up your Bible on a cursory reading, and say, “It is this, that or, another thing.” Tongues, the evidence because they spoke at Pentecost? Don’t be ridiculous. Do you know what the Book of Acts says? Acts 2:4 …it is the historical account of how the Holy Ghost fell. But, it is not doctrine of what He would do when He came. The doctrine was; when I go, I will come again by Spirit, and I will teach you, I will guide you. And this will be your fortitude. You don’t take any historical account. You take doctrine. The Book of Acts is not doctrine, except where Paul spoke. And Peter under inspiration, laid out the Scripture. But, the Pentecostal people like you and I were taught, because most of us have our background there, were given an historical account.

And we swallowed it, hook, line and sinker. Said, “Now, this is It, so therefore, we take the historical book. And we go ahead and my goodness, we’ll be all become dynamos for God. Well, look at little Stephen. He was just one of seven. And look at Philip…he was just one of seven. Then, we’ll all be Stephens and Philips. Hogwash. There were at least five thousand more men, and they weren’t Philip's and Stephen's. Well, come on. Do all speak with tongues? No. Do all have gifts of healing? No. Then don’t take Stephen and Philip, and try to make them the criterion. Take the Word of God! Huh? Well, is that right? The Books of the Bible, have historical accounts in them. And it’s not doctrine. The doctrine is what God is; what He proposes for man; what He wants from man, the history, shows what happened. Well, that’s not hard to figure out. We got sold a bill of goods because that’s doctrine, that’s it.

g. Let me ask you a question now. How many today, if I came in and let somebody turn loose on you, and took your worldly goods. Could you rejoice and say, “Glory to God, Hallelujah, don't mind, because I’ve got the substance, I know It, I’ve seen It.” Well, can you? I can’t. I don’t know if you’d forgive me for what I’ve got. So, what are you doing up there teaching us then? I’m just looking us all over, and seeing if we can’t get somewhere before it’s too late. Because one of these days, the Bible said, “He that is filthy is filthy, and he that is righteous is righteous.” [Rev 22:11] It’s too late to change it. I think the door of the ark is shut already. And do you know, when that door got shut, it was awful dark in there. That twilight, dark. We’re in that day today, too. I’m not too disturbed about it.

But, I’m anxious to know now why I’m anxious since I know to where be right, and I’m anxious to be in that area where rightness really is. So, you can be just as sincerely wrong as a Catholic, or a God knows what, or, a Hottentot, heathen. A lot of those are very sincere. I believe it does take great sincerity to throw your children to crocodiles. I don’t think that’s a sign of whoop-tee-do, asininity. Let’s have a ball. Sacrifice your kids. Hey, bring me your Tommy, bring me your Joseph too, let’s have a ball. We don’t look at things seriously. We’ve been caught up in the Hollywood world. Picnics, and picture shows, and let’s be happy, let’s be gay. My God, that’s a spirit that took Rome in every age over. It’s the same spirit that this age is going to end in. Eating, drinking and all. Where are the people that sigh and cry for the sins of the world?

h. We don’t even cry for our own sins. We just walk around…pffft. That’s what they’re all going to do it, but a tiny handful. We don’t belong in that group. We need revelation. We need the Spirit of God. As I said last night, “Repent.” I mean it. Absolutely, repent. Supposing, somebody left some money in your house, do you think you should spend it? No. You say, “That’s their money.” What if someone had left their piano there, and said, “You’re not to play it.” Would you play it, what’s the difference, if they left it here? That’s the way the Holy Ghost was given. The Holy Ghost was given to give us revelation. Right? You know that Israel had the adoption. (Let me read it to you here.) It said, Israel had the adoption; they had the glory; they had the covenant; the giving of law; the service to God; the promises and the Father. Tell me what else they could’ve wanted. Nothing.

Yet Israel was unaware of what they possessed. And therefore, Jesus said, “You will go down, there won’t be one stone left upon another.” [Matthew 24:2] And that happened in 70 AD,

under Titus, because they did not know the day of their visitation. It takes a revelation to know what we have and are, in Jesus Christ, and to know the time of our day. But, nobody’s interested in that. They’re interested in trying to win the world for God. Now, I’m not against those idealistic concepts and all. But, stick with God and how God would do it. Remember when David tried to bring the ark up. What he was trying to do was perfectly wonderful. But, how he did it was one hundred percent wrong. And we send men out with great big movie cameras, and bicycles, and cars, and everything, we’re going to win the world for God. You aren’t going to win the world for God, with your cars and your great big offerings, and your bicycles, and your picture shows and everything else.

i. You’re going to win a bunch of goats, brother/sister. They’re a million miles from the Word. You say, “How do I know?” Because God’s Word says so, and that satisfies me. If God would’ve done what you and I think this age thinks, they never would’ve done what they think they would’ve never sent Jesus Christ. They would have sent a Hollywood gang with picture shows, film and television shows, and you name it. Huh? They were blind in Israel’s day. They could walk right up to Christ, and

He’d say, “Say, I hear Messiah cometh.”

Oh, they said, “Yes sir. We know all about it.”

"Well, tell me something. Oh, He lives forever and we hear, down here in Bethlehem. And oh, yes, this and that, and then they’d say, …”

Talking right to Him.

But, He said, “I’m that Messiah.”

They said, “You’ve got to be kidding.

Well, you didn’t go to the high priest and introduce Yourself. Knock that old Caesar, off the throne. "You never came and said, ‘Boys you’re exactly right, all we need is more of the same'." Oh yeah. Bro. Branham, don’t tell our women to let their hair grow long. Tell them about gifts. Tell them they’re right, just give them more of the same. Tell them their men are right, just give them more of the same.’ They’re right, all right. They’re right, wrong. Here’s what Israel had, and they didn’t even know it. Now, the question I am posing is this. Can we have from God, these very same things, and without revelation, not know it? Can we have these same things from God, and be like Israel, attempt to prostitute what God has given us, and thereby miss it? I say, yes. I say, yes.

j. The cry of Paul was, …as we mentioned in our prayer last night… he said, the Spirit of God now he’s given in your life, he listened to the end that, “… you (might have the Spirit of) wisdom, (even) revelation, in the knowledge of him:” [Ephesians 1:17] That is the actual, literal,

experiential knowledge, to the end that the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, you may know, experientially know, there is no doubt, there is infallibility here. There is that which the gates of hell cannot prevail against it because you know the hope of His calling. Let me ask you one question. How many of us live in this condition right today, without confusion? Let me see your hand, if you’d dare raise them? I can hold mine. That’s why the Holy Ghost was given. Come on. That’s why He was given. For this end. That a man may be a man of iron, unbending, like the Hebrew children.

Why, the king said, “What’s this God going to do for you?”

“Well, (they said), We don’t know about that, but we’ll tell you one thing, we’re not bending. Don’t worry about a fiery furnace. What is it if we lose our lives?”

I like that Spirit. There’s where reality lies, instead of picking up these two, lousy, dime novels. If you want to read the real novel for the ages, read about God’s men who stood up to the lions, and sawn asunder. Yes, sir. What made Him do it? Boy, we’re going to use the car and get those guys back, Hallelujah, we’ll convert them. You see it’ll never work, converting to Jesus Christ. But, they saw God manifested in people’s flesh. Amen. That to me is reality brother/sister, I don’t know what kind of preaching you’re used to, or anything else. If you think it’s that kind of preaching. But, to me that is God in the Holy Ghost moving. Anything else to me is it’s interesting. But this is it. See? Then, little on the outside, and big in the inside. Huh? Yes sir. A man’s just as big as he is inside. Preach a sermon on that someday.

k. [Ephesians 1:18-19]

(18) …and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

How many of us know that? I’m just a no-good, man, I’m not worth a plug nickel. You know, we run ourselves down all the time. Uh-huh. Introspective, critical of ourselves, critical of each other. Huh? Sure, that’s not Bible. Bible says here, that these people with the Holy Ghost, because they know why He was given, will reveal,

(18) … the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. (Huh?

What does that, talking about? Holy Ghost, Itself. Then It says,) (We) may know…

(19) …the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward, who believe...”

If we get these two, we’re in fit position to exercise and look forward to God using a dynamism in our lives, which is in this line of what’s called; distant manifestation. But, what did we do? We turned It right around. We said, “Well, who needs to worry about that Word, that’s the trouble, we’re all divided on It. So, Bro. Vayle, we’ll just meet around Jesus. Glory to God, and not forget doctrine. Not remember…not talk about doctrine. That’s what a lady said to me in Florida, last January. And I said, “Hold it honey, that’s just where you’re wrong.” All this talk about, meeting around Jesus, and having a great time, being sweet and loving, seeing all the miracles and power, is exactly what the devil wants to fool you on. Because you can’t be anywhere in the Kingdom, without that Word.

l. Because He came as the Word. And He is the Word. And we don’t talk about just laying this Word of God down and saying It doesn’t really matter. That’s what Pentecost did. [Bro. Vayle raps on the pulpit] When Parham [associated with Pentecostal organization], got three boys out in Kansas, and said, “Finally, imagine just talking to youth, and not the seasoned warriors of God who knew the Word.” And said, “Find me the evidence of the Holy Ghost.” They said, “In three places, they spoke in tongues.” Out of five in that city shall believe, that’s it. And he’s

called the ‘Father of Pentecost.’ No wonder, when I was full of the Holy Ghost something said to me, “Oh, God, I thank You Lord that this is real, because there’s something wrong somewhere. What is it? ” And I didn’t know until years later, because they never were in that Word.

They just said, “It’s got to be God, because I see the signs and wonders.” This, is it. And men can live any type of life today, and they’re accepted today. And I’m going to say one thing the businessmen of Pentecost, are some of the biggest perpetrators of this dastardly thing, foisted upon the world today in the name of Jesus Christ, because they backed him up. As long as they could see a miracle, or some little system program going down the road that looked good, said, “That’s it.” Because they applied business rules to God’s Word. Feeney [associated with Pentecostal organization] made the same mistake. You could have a revival any time you want, by applying rules. That’s a lie. If that were the case, then why couldn’t Paul go to Asia on his own and get a revival, when God said, “No,” Macedonia?

m. I don’t care what the theologians say. I heard from a prophet, Hallelujah”. Huh? Who wrote the Book? The theologian, or the prophet? Yes sir. Amen. We’ve gotten off the beaten track. So, the power will come and this is exactly what Bro. Branham said, “When the Bride becomes one with the Word, ‘Thus Saith the Lord’ will be found in her.” And the mighty works, she’ll do. Right? Now, if I’ve preached to you one thing contrary then to what he taught, then, I’m a liar. But, I haven’t done it, I showed you what the Word said. And that’s truth. You say, “Bro. Vayle, are you such a fellow, that you’d check out what the prophet said?” You bet your life I’m such a fellow. When the Pillar of Fire appeared in the room for those seven days when he opened the Seven Seals, he told us he went right to the Bible to check out what the Pillar of Fire said.

I wasn’t there for any Pillar of Fire. I just saw William Branham. I believe he saw the Pillar of Fire, so, I take my Bible and check it out too. Is his revelation, really the power he said it was? Is that the dynamism in the church? I look up in my Bible, and there it is. I find I don’t rejoice when they take my goods and turn the other cheek. I found out why.

I don’t have a revelation. “Well Bro. Vayle, just isn’t the psychiatrist, a psychologist, said, “You know, just get a hold of yourself.” Oh sure, get a hold of yourself. Sooner somebody else got a hold of me now. Why my goodness, if we can get where God says we can get on a sheer force of discipline, who needs God? Huh? He would have lied through His Word, if He said, “I’m here to help you.” He should have said, “Look, I’m here to tell you.” He didn’t just say that. That’s just part of it. Well, that’s revelation.

n. All right, let’s take a little while now, …what time we’ve got left, …and getting into the Rapture. As Bro. Branham taught us in, 1 Thessalonians 4: Let’s bow our heads in prayer, shall we.

Heavenly Father, we ask You again to help us this morning, through the Spirit of Christ, not, Lord, to be hard on anybody. And not, O God, not even to be hard on ourselves. But, Lord, anything to be hard on those principles which are lies, which one day, Lord, will come under Your scrutiny. And it’s going to be a terrible day for those who believed and loved a lie. My God, I don’t want to be critical of people like that. I want to be sorry for them, and help them the best I can. But, help me, Lord, to be honest this morning, and always be firm against it. And not under any consideration will we ever give way to be part of anything, but what is Your Word, one hundred percent infallible. Help us, Lord, today, to have no thoughts and ideas of our own, but just what Your Word said. And to go all the way with It, as we know that It’ll go all the way with us. And present us spotless before Your Throne.

Give us power in this life, by that Word. We know It will. Because you said, “If any man had heard Your Word, and obeyed that Word, then he would be like the house built upon a rock, and no matter what came against it, that house would not fall.” But, Lord, we see today, houses falling on every side. People quivering, inside and out, Lord. Seem to be taken in this great dilemma. And we know, Lord, that your Word has never changed, for you said, “There remaineth a rest unto the children of God.” [Heb 4:9] That rest of faith in the Holy Ghost, Lord. You never took that away. We don’t believe that’s the Millennium. Not for one minute. We believe that’s right today. And, Lord, Your people are hungering for It. They’re looking for It. O God, let the lamps this morning, be full of oil. Every lamp in this place, full of oil, Lord God.

And demonstrating through revelation, that these are the lamps of God, because they’ll produce that very Word, in the very condition that Word must be produced in. Lord, I know that’s the truth. And I believe you heard my prayer. God, we’re going on. We believe we are, we're going to make it through Christ, Who loved us and gave Himself, for us. We believe this, and praise You for It, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

1. In the Book of, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 Paul said;

(13) But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning

them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which

have no hope.

(14) For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also

which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

(15) For this we 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

(See? Pre- …?... which means; go before. In other words, we won’t get there ahead of them) them which are asleep.

(16) For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with

the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead

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: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Now, this is the Scripture that God has set forth in His Word, giving us the detailed account of the Rapture. The catching away of the people of God. Both those that are in the grave, and those that are alive, when the Lord Jesus Christ comes to meet them in the air. Now, many would say. “Is not this, just a part of the account? Is not 1 Corinthians 15: also, a part?” Not really. You see, the question that was asked from the Thessalonians about Paul, in this delineation here in 1 Thessalonians 4: is; what is going to take place as far as Christ gathering His own Elect? And Paul answers the question. But, when you’re dealing with 1 Corinthians 15: the question is this; is there a Resurrection? Most assuredly. What is a Resurrection? A Resurrection, is when bodies that have been corrupted, come out of the grave.

2. Bodies lying there for centuries, that have turned back to the gases even. The very most basic elements, because some were burned in fiery furnaces and perhaps not even their ash was found. People might have been completely assimilated by the atomic bomb. And they have just gone back to not even a vapor, a nothingness. As science says, “When the atomic bomb is through, they used to think there was no such thing as annihilation. But there is because there is a nothingness left.” They don’t understand it. Well now, what about those people, coming out of the grave? Yes, they’ll come out with new bodies. Now, but because it is corruption putting on in-corruption. Well, just a minute now. Is this a fact then, that before the Lord comes, in order to gather His people, there’ll be a day when everybody on this earth will die, and every body will corrupt, there’ll be a period of time go by so God can perform the Resurrection?

No, that’s not it. That’s not it at all. There will come a time when God will come for His own. And there will be people standing upon earth, that won’t die, and their bodies corrupt. But those standing bodies, will put on the same thing that the dead bodies put on, as they come up. See? Now, that is why 1 Corinthians 15: is not the same as 1 Thessalonians 4: Because the questions, are two different questions. See? 1 Thessalonians, is the Rapture.

3. Now, notice this again, he said here in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18

(17) For this we say unto you (Thus Saith) the Lord, that we which are

alive and remain unto the coming…

We will not be caught up in advance of those that are in the graves. The actual fact of the matter is this:

(16) (That) the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with

the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead

in Christ shall rise first:

(17) Then we which are alive and remain…

Go back now to 1 Corinthians 15: shall be changed in the atoms. See? Then, all shall rise and be gathered together in one place in the air. Not in any one place on earth. In the air.

(17) …and so, shall we ever be with the Lord.

(18) Wherefore comfort one another…

Now, Paul in teaching his people on the Rapture, states here that the Rapture is a three-fold event. It has three separate phases. It is not a split second, three manifested affair, as is Godhead. Who is one person manifesting in three offices. But what takes place here that has its final culmination in sitting down at the Table of the Lord, in the Supper, is a series of events. One, two, three…of which, the first part is the putting in motion yet, of the people on earth.

4. You will notice the Scripture says here [1 Thessalonians 4:16]

(16) … the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, …

He is descending. He does not even come to earth. He is not visible upon earth. He is not seen by anybody, except the Elect Bride, who meet Him in the air. For He said, “…(this) world (shall see) Me no more; …” [John 14:19] They won’t either. When He comes, they’ll only see the sign of the Coming of the Son of man. They’ll only see a blaze of glory, and He’ll appear only to the 144,000 on the Mount, when He comes for the Jews…144,000 sealed. Because Scripture doesn’t lie. But It says,

(16) … the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, …

The word ‘shout’ here, has always been translated and in our minds to mean a loud noise. But, according to the original word study in the Greek, or the Aramaic, you will find that it does not refer to a noise whatsoever. Never has, and never will. But it’s the word ‘kleusma’, used only here once in the New Testament, once in the Septuagint, which is the Old Testament in Greek. And it is actually, derived from the word; ‘to put in motion by the word of command’. So, therefore the Shout, is Word. And It puts the people who hear the Shout, in motion. What motion? Momentum, to raise. Enoch walked with God and was not, because God took him. Where did He take the momentum? He was a prophet. So, the word here is never, never, never used as a loud noise. And it is not used just to gain attention. It is therefore, for instruction. It is the cry of incitement or, urging on.

5. It is not just the cry to assemble. Not just a cry to get in motion. But, it’s the cry to keep them moving. Until, they’ve moved right up. So, that’s what It says. I don’t care what your language, and my language says. This is what It says. It therefore, must be intelligible, in order to give instruction to assemble, and to move and keep moving in a certain direction. This will not be one word. Impossible. This word is used in the world of the classics, …it’s classical Greek, …to depict the man, the coxswain [kok′sn] who sits in the boat, and he gives the time (t-i-m-e) to the rower. In other words, this gets them in step, in unison, but, if there were a person to come today, or, if Christ were to come to get us in time, He would first of all have to get us in tune with the time in which we live. Because if we tried to get in step for Rapture, which is not taking place, we might be in difficulty.

We’d try to rise by our own momentum. And we’d turn up like the Seventh Day Adventists who had climbed on a mountain, and couldn’t find Him. The children of Lightning, Canada, went to a cave, and couldn’t find Him. And like I think there could be a bunch of people out in the west, who may find themselves in the same unscriptural predicament. They could be in the east, too. Especially with Christ saying, “No man knows the day and the hour.” [Matthew 24:36] Watch, what kind of time God may be putting His people into. True. In the Septuagint, in [Prov 30:27] It says, “The locust (at the word of command, marched in ranks).” You think one word would do it? No. A general doesn’t take an army and give the word of command and then deserts to the back and says, ‘Let’s forget it.”

6. He has it all mapped out, even as the Bible said, “No man, no king, goes to warfare, except he counts the whole cost, in case he makes a fool of himself.” This, is the same here. It is something which brings us to a successful conclusion. It has to, or this is not the voice of the first phase of the Rapture. Also, the Scripture does not say that this is the actual voice of the Lord. Now, that’s a ‘stumbler’. But, I’m sorry, I didn’t write the Book. And I didn’t write It in Greek, and I didn’t write It in Aramaic. You see, we have our own understanding of our own language, and if we said a certain thing, we would hope the people would understand it, because of our language. Rest assuredly, you know Christ did not have this Scripture written in German. So, we’re going to go like Joseph Smith, and find a bunch of gold plates and write them off. You know, he had the interpreter too. It was from the angel ‘Maroni’ or baloney, or something like that.

Certainly. Something was wrong somewhere. He didn’t have the Bible written in English, so that we could dig It up, and find It. He had the Word of God written in a basic language, of two languages, Aramaic, and the Greek. I have no doubt it was in both. Research has shown that so, no problem. And Scripture says the Bible depends upon revelation, you don’t need to worry about the rules. But, in the original, this is not the voice of Jesus. That’s right. It is not His actual voice. So, it is the Lord Himself descending. It is not the voice of Jesus. Wonder how we could work this out, in Scripture?

7. Let’s just see if I’ve got something to stand on here. That’d be interesting, wouldn’t it? Oh yeah, because the people are so hard headed. They don’t believe anything, even when it is the truth. Not you, or, you wouldn’t be here this morning, if you were hard headed. You’re soft hearted. Maybe soft headed too, if you come and hear me preach. That’s nice. That’s scriptural. A little child. Genesis 18:21-22

(21) I will go down now, (God speaking to Abraham) and see whether

they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come

unto me; and if not, I will know.

(22) And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward

Sodom: but Abraham stood (with) the LORD.

8. He never went to Sodom. But he said, “I’m going down.” You look up in the Greek, you’ll find that the word ‘go down’ is the very same word, meaning; ‘descend’. The word ‘come

down’ is the very same word, meaning; ‘descend’. Now, God says, “I’m going to go down to Sodom, and I’m going to see if the cry is what has come up to Me by investigation.” But, He stayed with Abraham. Two angels went down to Sodom. But, did God go down? Sure. By two angels. As I said last night. You will notice that this is the present day, picture. That the man who stayed with Abraham, was up there in the hill country…rest and relaxing. Abraham was relaxing too, while old Lot was down there, vexing his soul, while Sodom had two visitors, that the world heard all about. But, you don’t hear one thing about God going down there. Of course, God didn’t go down.

The Messenger of God for this Age, never went down to Sodom. He went with the Elect. But, two messengers went down in America here, …they’re world famous names. They’ve gone around the world, they went to Sodom, trying to call out the people…they wouldn’t listen. All right.

9. Let’s go to the Book of Exodus 10:11 …God speaking again of going down. Let’s look at verse 11. See He mentions here, Moses went down, and “Thus Saith the Lord, I will go out from the midst of Egypt.” Thought of going down again. Exodus 3: 7-8

(7) And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;

(8) And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the

Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good

land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey;

(and so on) …

Verse 10, now,

(10) Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that

thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out

of Egypt.

Verse 12,

(12) And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; …

Now notice. God said, “I have descended. But, I’m sending you, and you’re going to

talk. And we see here what this is all about. In 1 Thessalonians 4: because the Scripture says, “The Lord Himself shall descend with a shout.” With the Word. But, it’s not His voice. Therefore, how is He doing it? He is going to have to do it as He’s always done it. Starting with Moses, and every prophet. See? For it’s the voice of the Lord, even as It says in David, “The Holy Ghost spoke by the mouth of David.” [Acts 1:16-19] So, in this day of the Rapture, the initial step is wherein God speaks to His people in the last day, just before He comes, by the mouth of a servant, …has to be a prophet because He reveals by the prophets. And that one, in bringing us a word from the Lord, will start the Bride in motion. Now, is this Scriptural?

10. Let’s go to the Book of Revelation 10:7

(7) But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall

begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as (God)

hath declared to his servants the prophets.

Now, we get confused here, because many of us think this is an angel with a trumpet, because the Word says, “Sound.” But, it’s not so. This is not an angel with a trumpet. Because in chapter 9, verse 13, the sixth angel who sounds the trumpet which starts in heaven and ends upon earth. Which is a cataclysm. Then go over to chapter 11, the 15th verse, the seventh angel sounds, which also sounds in heaven, and is the end of the seven trumpets. So, there’s not six trumpets and a half. That wouldn’t make seven, anyway. The trumpet in heaven, number six and number seven, have nothing to do with Revelation 10:7 It says here,

(7) … in the days of the voice of the seventh (messenger), when he

shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, …

Now notice, [Revelation 9:13] and [Revelation 11:15] is an entrance. It’s a noise. It’s a blast on a trumpet. It takes place in a flash. But, this does not take place in a flash, it takes days, (d-a-y-s). He’s not blowing a trumpet. How do I know it? Because Scripture says,

(7) … in the days of the voice…

Does your voice have a sound? Certainly, it sounds. What is He doing? Talking. What’s He talking? The Word of God. What Word of God? The mysteries of God will be finished, they’ll be brought to the supreme peak. The Word will be revealed. What Word? The very Word that God has declared to all of His prophets. Now, notice again. The Lord Himself, descends from heaven with the voice of the prophet, revealing in the last day, the revelation, the mystery, to be all wound up. Because remember when the Bride goes, the end of the ages have come upon her. This is what God was waiting for. Not the second Resurrection, but, this. This is the crown. This is the climax. This is the peak. This is it. Of all ages, we’ll meet. He’ll bring those with Him that are there, to meet those that aren’t there. This is it. This is what this man will be doing.

Now, if this is the Lord descending in this method, why in the world does He say, “The Lord Himself is doing it, by the voice of this man?” Well, that’s good thinking, let’s find out. We’ll go to the Book of John 6: I say, “I don’t care if anybody accepts this or not, this is what I see.” Not that I don’t care that this is offhand, or facetious, what I mean to say what everybody else may believe, I’m only responsible for what I see, and believe in the Word of God.

11. Let’s see now…let’s just take one verse first of all.

John 3:

(13) And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down…

The very same word ‘descend from heaven’

(13) …even the Son of man which is in heaven.

Don’t try to figure that out. But, it makes one God clear, really. Now, let’s go to,

John 6:33, [38, 41, 50-51, 58,]

(33) For the bread of God is he which cometh down (or descends)

from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.

(38) For I (descended) from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the

will of him that sent me.

(41) The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread

which (descended) from heaven.

(50) This is the bread which (descended) from heaven, that a man may

eat thereof, and not die.

(51) I am the living bread which (descended) from heaven: if any man

eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give

is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.

(58) This is that bread which (descended) from heaven: not (that) your

fathers (ate)…

Now, you’ll notice each of these times that Jesus spoke of Himself as descending, and having descended, it was as bread to the people. What is the bread today? It is the manna, or the bread from heaven, which is God descending by the Word. Because God is revealed by the Word. I’m not preaching over your heads, am I? I like your silence, so you can figure what I’m saying. But, I think sometimes, silence can become oppressive. But, if you show it by your faces that you’re getting it, that’ll take care of it.

12. Now listen, let’s show it to you 1 Samuel; 3:21

(21) And the LORD appeared again in Shiloh: …

In other words, God had formally appeared to Samuel already.

(21) … for the LORD revealed himself (or appeared) to Samuel

in Shiloh by the word of the LORD.

God is the Word. The Word is God. So therefore, the revealed Word is God revealed. And the Lord descending from heaven, is coming down by the Word revealed by the prophet in the voice of a prophet. Now, that would convince you, if anybody has got any understanding. Huh? Certainly, it is. It’s the manna for this age, which is the message of the Seventh Age prophet, because every age has a messenger. Oh, I know the world doesn’t like that. The church doesn’t like it. They are so mixed up, they don’t know that God has a theocracy, with a gradation under Him. God sits on the Throne with the cherubim next, and then, what is there? The seraphim, and the rest of them down, down, and angels carry out, and so on.

Then when He comes upon earth, He sits with the Bride that’s under Him, and under the Bride come the 144,000 eunuchs, and under them will be those who will come up in the second Resurrection. It’s gradation. You say, “Oh Lord, Hallelujah, we know the things.” Oh, shut up and read your Bibles. God’s not a democracy. Read It the way It’s written. Certainly. Tells you right here. Now, this one brings the Word. Now, let us see if this is exactly what we’re saying.

13. We go again to the Book of Revelation 10:1-6, and you will notice the preface.

(1) And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven,

clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and

his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire:

(2) And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right

foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth,

(3) And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when

he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.

(4) And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about

to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up

those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.

(5) And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth

lifted up his hand to heaven,

(6) And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven,

and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer:

Notice, it doesn’t say that time would run out at that moment. But It says whatever has started, would continue to roll until it’s over. That’s why I said this man coming, puts the Bride in step. He gets her in motion for the final motion…which is, us. It’s because when you rise, you’re not in step. How can you tread air? You get in step down here. See?

14. All right. It says, at this time, that there is going to be at the end time, when time runs out. This is the rock carved without hands, from the mountain that begins to roll. Certainly. It’s got to be. That’s when time runs out. This is when the time of the Gentiles comes. Truth is no longer trodden down for the Gentiles. Signifying time’s run out. Right? Certainly, it’s run out for the Gentiles.

Now notice, what is this angel? He is a messenger from heaven. This, in verse 7 [Revelation 10:] is a messenger on earth. This one up here is only voice He’s got is thunder, and this one down here is declaring the mystery. They’re both on earth. Now notice, He came from heaven clothed with a cloud. “Behold He cometh with clouds.” [Rev 1:7] A rainbow was on His head. Who has the rainbow? Nobody but, Jesus Christ. Seven colors in the rainbow. Seven contrasted covenants of Jehovah God, seven compound titles with man. Who ever heard more preached about Jesus Christ being the same yesterday, today, and forever? And Jesus of the Old, is Jesus in the New…than you heard for the last ten to twelve years.

Face, as the sun. Feet, as Pillars of Fire. He had in His hand a little book, open. He set His foot on sea, and on earth. Who has heaven’s footstool, but, Jesus? Who cries with a loud voice, as a lion? But, the lion of the tribe of Judah. Who has the voice of thunders? And the number of completion? Number seven. Seven thunders, seventh age, seventh messenger, …God doing everything in sevens. Then you say, “What about the three... the voice that’s in the shout of the Lord, …the voice, the archangel of the trump of God?” That’s protection, that's God Himself. Sure. Follow me? All right. Now, and this angel lift up his hand there, and swore by God. Nobody can swear by God, but, God. Amen. You don’t even dare swear and lift up your hand just saying, “I’m going to go to town tomorrow.” You’d say, “Blessing of God, I’m going to go to town.”

15. Nobody swears by …?... or, anything else. Haven’t got the power. Only God, can swear by God, so therefore, this has to be a special visitation of God. And notice, how it is, that He is not here manifesting, as showing His hands and His feet. But, He is symbolized here as the Great God of Heaven, the Great Sovereign God, Heaven on earth, is My footstool, and He is visiting the people through the thunders, through His voice. But, God doesn’t use His own voice, it’s not His Shout, being His own throat. It is somebody else. It is a prophet. It has to be because John sealed this up. So therefore, another prophet has got to come on the scene.

So, according to Scripture, there’ll be a prophet appear at the end of the seventh age. The end of the Church Ages. That’s been done by a special visitation, God Himself through special visitation, will defend. But, I showed you last night all these things, if you read the Book of Ephesians 4: It says,

(9) (… who is he that ascended, … it is … he (that) descended …

16. And you’ll read it, you’ll think He came down and went up, but, read It the way It’s written, He came down, He went up, He came down. And He’s here right now as the Holy Ghost. You’ve got the same thing here with this thing, it’s a supernatural visitation where God appeared in Scripture, and He actually, reveals Himself to the people by the Word, that He is the God with the Rainbow. The covenant speaking God, teaching God, that uses the Pillar of Fire, the open Book and all. It’s the opening of the seals by the prophet. The Seven Seals are the Seven Mysteries contained in the Thunders, and the Seven Seals, revealed by the prophet. Everything is exactly what he said would take place.

Now, the next thing arises, if there’s going to be a prophet like this, and it’s actually the Lord Himself, …what kind of a man do We expect to have in this last day? I’m glad you asked the question. Like you’d ask me to play the piano, I brought my piano along, just in case. [laughter]

17. So, let’s turn to Luke 17:20-28

(20) And (notice) when he was demanded of the Pharisees, …

Notice those birds…demanded…oh that attitude…isn’t that a lovely Christian attitude? It’s the same spirit today, we’re going to get in that old clothes closet, lock the door, and make God, bless God, I'll know the answer, hallelujah, oh glory to God. Huh? We had that same rotten spirit, let’s not kid ourselves. Huh? Sure we did, thank God it didn’t work. I’m so glad, that Jesus …?... He lifts me a whole lot higher than I thought He had, too. That’s all the encouragement you can give. He was a man when the Kingdom of God can come, He threw them a curve. He told them the truth, he threw them a curve.

(20) … The kingdom of God cometh (and you won’t see It.)

That’s what He meant. Sure true too.

(21) Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom

of God is (among) you.

There is no kingdom, without a king. And the king stood there as the Creator, He had His kingdom with Him. Don’t worry, it was all wrapped in Him…He was there. So, He threw them a curve so He had to straighten out His disciples, because they heard Him. So, He said,

(22) (Come over here, I want to talk to you.) The days will come, when

(you) shall desire…

18. Now, listen carefully and get this because don’t read It the way you think you see It. Read It the way It is written. And check It out to see if it happened. Say, "Oh, I believe the Word of God , oh, I believe It, hallelujah." Oh I believe there’s a million dollars down there in the bank, and Rockefeller owns the business, just trying to get his hands on it. Sure, and I believe there’s even a crater on the moon. A crater on the moon, Hallelujah, Glory to God. Just keep reading. Stop and think, it’s the Word of God. Concerning the end time, He said,

(22) … The days will come, when (you) shall desire…to see one of the days of the …

"Oh that’s wonderful, I can read that, that means I'm going to want to see Jesus one of these days." It doesn’t say that! It doesn’t read that way! I want to see Jesus one of these days. It says,

(22) …(you’ll) shall desire…to see one of (His) days…

You say, “I want to see Lee Vayle.” No, you want to see one of my keys, maybe. One of my pens, that’s not Lee Vayle, that's one of his pens. Sure. There’s a big difference. Doesn’t say, “You want to see Him.”

(22) …(it’s) one of (His) days. (And It doesn’t say, “You’ll not see Him.” … (you’ll) not see it.

(23) And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after them,

nor follow them.

(24) For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man

be in his day. (And that’s d-a-y)

(25) But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected…

(26) And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.

19. Now, watch please. The question arose, when is this kingdom going to come? When will the Son of David sit upon the throne? And He says here, there will come a time before this one sits upon the throne, that the people involved in the end time will desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and shall not see them. Why do I know? Because the disciples will not be here at the time when the Kingdom comes to this earth. They’ll be brought back with Him. But they will not be here in the days preceding, they’ll be dead and gone. This is not a message of His disciples, this is a message of His day. And I want to show you why it is because you can’t find one place in Scripture, where any of the apostles looked for one of the days of Jesus. They didn’t? When He was crucified, they said, “We thought he was the real one." Sorry. They went off fishing.

And after the Holy… after He came back and they got the revelation given by Him…opened their hearts perfect, opened their understanding by the Holy Spirit. Then they waited at Pentecost, got the revelation, and Peter said, “He’s not coming until such a time as they say, “Ah phooey, where is His coming? Oh my, once the Father... I’m getting tired too.” [inaudible comments] Where do you get that nonsense, the disciples might have gone around looking for one of His days. What about this fact that Paul being so upset that the Spirit of God upon him, that he was looking for Christ to come around the corner. He said, “Watch it.” Watch either a letter, or an expression, or a Spirit. He’s not coming, until the man of sin hath been revealed.

Falling away time, then don’t tell me they were looking for Christ. Something like, “He’s got to come, He’s got to come.” Oh look, no brother/sister, don’t give me any of that hogwash. I got too much of that when I went three months to a Bible seminary, and listened to a bunch of preachers. Never happened.

20. But notice, [Luke 17]:26

(26) … as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of

the Son of man.

So, now, how do you read that? Well, I read it just like I was taught. Just like I read for years. Oh, there’s a Sodomite condition coming on the earth. Oh, there’s a terrible time of degradation, and people turning from God. And oh, there’s a terribly fantastic time of marriage and divorce. And, oh how sin is going to be rampant. And oh, how people are going to turn from God. Blah, blah, blah, blah. Boom! Something is going to come out of the heavens. It doesn’t say that at all. It doesn’t say that at all! It says there’s going to be a time like the days of Noah. Then, at the same time, there’ll be a repeat of the days of Jesus. Because that’s what It says. Now, It says at that time, those… now listen carefully here…because I don’t care if this is on tape and goes from New York to California, and Portland Oregon, down to Key West, or any place else.

21. Hear me, and get back to verse 22. It says they’re going to desire to see one of those days, and they won’t see it. But, these days will come, and they will go. G-o, go, go, gone, finished. And you’ll still want to see some great big manifestation again, and you won’t because the next thing is a blinding flash. In the meantime, a secret Rapture. I hope it’s on tape. I’ll publish it in a book, if you’d like. Because I’m sticking with the Word of God. Not with what people say. But with, what the Word says. It says, “These days would repeat.” [Lk 17:30] The days of the Son of man, when He trod this earth, with a superlative ministry, with an infallible proof, with the Word of God. And I’m going to tell you one thing brother/sister, if Jesus Christ Himself, manifest in flesh…He, Himself, was here, and they crucified Him, don’t think for one minute that when His days do appear, …they won’t crucify that too.

Turned It down, flat. How will He be revealed? By the prophet ministry with the same ministry as Jesus Christ. If you don’t think Bro. Branham was aware of that, read again, 'The Seventieth Week of Daniel' [61-08-06] and you’ll find it three times in three places, that the ministry of Christ is returned to this earth. Because that’s what it means here exactly, to have the days returned, is what Jesus produced on earth, would come back and be here for days. And, if in days of the voice that He brings out God revealed in the Word. Yet, that’s what It said.

22. [Luke 17]:27-30

(27) They (ate), they drank, they married wives, they were given in

marriage, until the day that Noe (went) into the ark, and the flood

came, and destroyed them all.

(28) Likewise, also as it was in the days of Lot; they (ate), they drank,

they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;

(29) But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and stone from heaven, and destroyed them all.

(30) Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.

All right now, there you are. What about that when It says,

(30) Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.

See, that's merely a verse out of conclusion. Paul had said, Jesus had already laid it all out. And He said, “The Kingdom of God, is coming. David’s Throne will be set up. But, I’m going to tell you people, will not even see the reality of it. They’re going to miss it, just like these Pharisees.” Now, I want to warn you, He said, “My days are going to repeat upon earth, just like the days of Noah. It’s going to be a complete repeat. And then, those days are going to stop, and the people must not look for anymore. The next thing is far as I AM coming, it will be an my actual coming to earth, as lightning.

23. Remember, the Rapture does not say, “Ding, ding, ding, it’s a split second.” It is a process. Where as Christ descending to earth, descending out of heaven, on a white horse with His armies, and a sword coming from His mouth destroying those who come against His own.

But, He comes as the Word revealed, in the mouth of the prophet, and the prophet is vindicated by his ministry. And it’s the Son of man ministry, which is a prophetic ministry. It is not Son of David, and it is not Son of God, it is Son of man. And even thus He’s saying, “This is the way it’s going to be.” Not, move out of heaven suddenly a great big shout, and a blinding light, “Hallelujah,” we’re gone. It’s a process that would take days and days. And when the prophet was taken, that ended it. The Message was sealed, and it was all over. The next thing, is when I preach on ‘The Manifestation of God promised in Flesh’, I don’t have time today. I could preach maybe eight hours. Could take six to eight hours, we could take the whole thing. Just, step by step.

We don’t need to do that. Just take different sermons. Now listen, in this day, when God sends His Spirit, especially manifested, so that the prophet is vindicated. You see, indicated in the Word, but, vindicated by God, so that people will listen, or be condemned. Because remember, the signs of God, have a voice. There is no sound given, which doesn’t have a meaning. And remember, you learn more from the eye, than you do from the ear. So, therefore, the signs should have attracted them, and put them right. But, even as every prophet of God has been turned down. This man also, must be turned down. Because the Scripture said, “Behold, I send them, apostles, and prophets. Some of them they shall kill, others they shall persecute.” [Lk 11:49] That’s the Word. Now, at the time when this man comes vindicated from God, the devil will do a prime thing which is allowed by God.

And that is, he’s a spirit in the end days of those who’re not in the Bride, will be very close to the Spirit of those that are in the Bride, in the last day Messenger.

24. Notice, in verse 23, of Matthew 24: Now, this is the end time.

(23) … if any man shall say (here) unto you, … here is (Jesus) Christ,

… believe it not.

(24) For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, …

Now, watch here in Scripture.

(24) For there shall (positively) arise false Christs, (What is Christs?) Anointed ones. For there shall arise false (anointed ones), …

Now, the word ‘and’ here, is not a conjunction. It is ‘kai’ k-a-i, and it should be translated ‘even’.

(24) For there shall arise false Christs, (even, lying prophets) …

Don’t use the word ‘false’. Because a lie is a false thing, but, we want to pin it down. You can have a lot of things that are false. And they tell a lie. But, the word ‘lie’, is the root. Even lying prophets. What does a lying prophet do? He goes against the Word. He tells what the Word doesn’t say.

(24) …and shall (show) great signs and wonders; …

And here again, don’t let your mind trick you. Oh, this mind is very tricky. …I know some of the tricks you see, because I’ve been through them. I read it over here.

25. It says here in 2 Thessalonians [2:] 9

(9) Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all

power and signs and lying wonders,

(See?) Let no man deceive you, and so on.

(7) For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: … (and so on. See?)

(12) (And) they (that) …might be damned who believed not the truth, …

(11) And for this cause, God shall send them strong delusion, …

When? At the end time. So, you see we hook Matthew 24: to 2 Thessalonians 2: we should read It this way; Oh, wow, look at that. Here’s the very same thing He says in 2 Thessalonians. There shall arise false Christ's… "I know what that means, really . Well, won’t get people, claim to be Jesus. That’s it." And Paul saw only two bunches, …false apostles too, and they’ll show great lying signs and wonders, ooh, tricky." Doesn’t say that at all. Doesn’t say that. We thought It did, didn’t we? We read It that way because we read about antichrist, false prophets.

26. And over in Revelation, we thought, “Oh, this is it.” Why that`s the very same thing…it’s not the very same thing at all. This is before that. This is when there will be people with a genuine anointing, genuine signs and wonders, …because, that’s what they are. Doesn’t say that they’re lying, but, they’re genuine.

Done by the power of God, and they’re off that Word. That’s right, they’re lying prophets. You say, “My, oh, God wouldn’t do that.” God wouldn’t do that, why He warned them, in either Deuteronomy 13: or 18: …I don’t know which chapter, it’s one of them…He said, “If a man comes among you, and he has a vision or dream, and a sign that comes to pass. You listen to that man.” I said It. But, He also said, if there come among you, a man with a dream or a sign and a wonder, and it come to pass, and he leads you from Me, get rid of him, because I sent him to you, to test you. Now, what about that? You mean, God would send somebody, give him a genuine ministry, and the man be a phoney? Absolutely. What happened the days when God, when He says, “How are you going to entice Ahab to the destruction, to fulfill My Word?” To fulfill His Word, He said, “Ahab’s got to die, the dogs got to lick his blood.”

27. “How am I going to get this fulfilled?” Said God. “I’ve got to entice the fellow, got to get him on a battlefield, got to get his blood shed. A lying spirit, well that will just be a lying spirit in the mouth of his prophet. “Why, (he said), Sonny, just patted him on the head, and said, “You’ve got the right to go on down there and take care of it.” Now, I talk this way to dramatize it. Just makes the thing get into you. Because God said, It. What about Judas, is he a devil? The Scripture said, “One of you is diabolos”. That’s right, John 6:7. Have I not told you, verse 12? God said It, “Have I not chosen, have I not elected you twelve, …actually not election, in the sense of the Bride…but haven’t I actually picked you out, knowing you even before the foundation of the world?”

Haven’t I got this laid out? Weren’t you My choice, didn’t I bring you in here by My sovereign will? And one of you is a/the devil, one of you is diabolos. But, the Scripture says Judas had the same ministry as Peter had. Because He gave the twelve power to heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out devils. And they all came back rejoicing. And said, “My we had a wonderful time.” Even devils were subject. He said, rejoice, 'not', because devils were subject, but rejoice because your names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, showing that Judas did not have his name in the Lamb’s Book of Life, but merely in the Book of Life. And his name was taken out, just like another two had their names taken out, when they crucified him, as in Psalms 69: says, “Take their names out of the Book”, and that’s exactly what’s going to happen again in this day. Shuck, the shuck will have their names taken out.

28. Now notice, the two spirits will be so close, that the only ones who cannot be deceived, are the Elect. And notice, the word ‘Elect” in the Bible, is not simply what God chooses, it’s those who come out by the Word. If they’re not out by the Word, they’re not out by anything. Not by feelings, not because some preacher preached a lovely sermon on dear old mother, and how she's weeping and praying that you might get there. No sir, it’s because he preached the Word. Why? Because this prophet has the Word for the day, and it takes him out, and puts him in step, in order to bring him higher. This is then the end time when there will be these spirits, these other spirits, and they will be there to deceive the people. But, the very Elect will not be deceived. Now, I won’t take more time on the miracles, and all, because that is self evident in what I’ve said.

29. Now this prophet, mentioned in the New Testament, in Revelation, is the same one mentioned in Malachi 4:5-6

(5) Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the

great and dreadful day of the LORD:

(6) And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart

of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

Now, let us see when part of that took place.

30. Luke 1:16-17

(16) And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.

That’s what He said He’d do.

(17) And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, …

And he leaves out, the part of the children turning to the fathers.

(17) (even) the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

Notice what this man is doing here…the Elijah spirit. The Elijah spirit here, in John, fulfilling, turning the hearts of the fathers to the children, took place before the First Coming of Christ. And verse 16 explains it, with 17 giving full illumination.

(16) And many (not all, but the many, the Elect of God) of Israel

shall he turn to the Lord their God.

(17) (Even by going) before (Jesus) in the spirit and power of (Elijah,

though he didn`t do one miracle) …

Why? Because Christ, the miracle worker, was going to be here and to vindicate this with John. But, Christ will not vindicate the prophet of the last day appearing, when He’s coming. That’d be Mount of Olives, too late. The ministry of the prophet in this day, must be so great to prove that He has the right to turn the hearts of the children to the fathers. Do you follow what I said there? See the reason why John didn’t have to do a miracle. He didn’t need any power. Christ came following. See? But in this day it's secret Rapture, so therefore, the miracle ministry precedes the Word.

31. Now notice,

(17) (Even) he shall go before (God) in the spirit and power of (Elijah),

to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, …

That tells you what it is. Many of the children of Israel, …the many, shall he turn to the Lord their God. Now, what is the reason for him turning the hearts of the fathers to the children? What is it?

(17) …the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; …

Who’s the just? God. What’s the wisdom? The Word. To what end?

(17) …to make a people ready…

If they were only made ready to see Christ by the Word, then, they’re only made ready to see Christ now, by the same Word. I’ll prove it to you. What does it mean to ‘turn the hearts of the children to the fathers’? We’ve got the answer for it.

32. Go to the Book of Acts. Remember, the Bible, is the Bible…it’s the Book we go to. Acts 3:25

(25) (You) are the children of the prophets, …

If you’re children of the prophets, who’s your father? The prophet. Why? Because you were in that Word. That’s right, when the last day prophet opened the Seven Seals for us. And he showed the Book of Redemption. We saw our names by faith in that Book. We saw ourselves. What doing? Having the hearts turned to the fathers, having our understanding opened to what the prophet said. Because he was going to reveal the mystery from serpent seed, to the prophet in the latter rain. You are the children of the prophets. You’re what the prophet said was coming. I hope you caught that, because I’m not going to tip my hand, because, that’s another sermon.

(25) … and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.

Turning the hearts of the children to the fathers, is bringing the people back to the Word. Where their faith is based, and so therefore the heart of faith will be able to express, “Thus Saith the Lord”. Which has appeared in the Bride. That, is in the end time. So, what is it? When, the Lord descends with a Shout. We’ve been having a good time, too. The Lord descending from heaven with a Shout, is the Lord Himself, bringing His Word. He calls it, descending, coming down. Sending His prophet, in order to bring the Word of God to the people, with the Holy Spirit quickened to them. Giving them the revelation, understanding to receive It, believe It, and they thereby get in step, their hearts are now turned back in faith, in order to set them in motion. The step, getting ready for the motion to be caught up. That’s a period of time.

33. That prophet according to Scripture, will come and go. Do you know that old Bro. Bosworth told me in Florida, back in 1953, when Bro. Branham came down there at the ‘Will of God’ in Hurandy? It was back in that day in the fall of ’52 I believe it was, or the spring of ’53…I can’t remember…that we had prophecy in our church, and I, myself prophesied, and heard myself say, “Behold I send my prophet out of the north. And he shall teach the people things they ought to know.” And I said, “I don’t know any prophet,” And I didn’t. I didn’t know Bro. Branham, I’d seen him, I didn’t know he was a prophet. One day a man came by my way, and said, “Would you like to know Bro. Branham?” I said, “Would a cat like a dish of cream?” Man, I sure would. All the others said, “So what.”

Everybody would like to meet him. He said, my bosom friend is Wallace Cobble, he’ll take you to him, because he’s a bosom friend of Bro. Branham. I jumped in the car, away we go. I didn’t know if Bro. Branham might not be home, but, he’s home. He said, “Sure Lee, I want to see you.” He said, “Bro. Vayle, I’m going to come and give you a meeting in Florida.”

I said, “All great men talk that way. He will be here in the next forty-seven years from now, if he ever comes, forget it.” You know, I just thought he was polite. Because if you’re a great person, your time isn’t yours. He’d like to go, but when was he going to go? Everybody wants him. so, who am I?

34. So, one day the phone rings and Bro. Bosworth says, “Bro. Vayle?”

I say, “Yes,”

He says, “This is Bro. Bosworth,”

I said, “Praise the Lord,”

I’d just received from him a real fancy gift, here from Bro. Bosworth, the man whose book I’d read, didn’t know him, or anything else. I was flabbergasted, delighted.

Well he said, “The reason I called, (after my being so surprised) …unexpectedly, is because Bro. Branham wants to know when you want him to come.”

I said, “What did you say?”

He said, “Bro. Branham wants to know when you want him to come, you’re holding him up.”

“Oh, (I said) Brother, let me get a building and I’ll phone you back”

And right on tape he said, “God sent me here, to teach the people things they ought to know.” That prophet. Now,

Bro. Bosworth said, “Bro. Vayle, I prayed for forty years for the ministry of Christ, (not Christ, but the ministry of Christ) to return to this earth. And there It is, in that man.”

35. I want to ask you one question. Can you pray successfully as a true Christian, apart from that Word? No. Because the Bible says, “Who is he that (says), and (it’s to come to pass, if the Lord (has not commanded It)?” [Lam 3:37] I never knew it was in the Bible, that a man could pray for the ministry of Christ to return. But I sure showed you, right in the Book of Luke. The ministry of Christ returned, but not Him. And that is His descent, with that Word, and as He was known as the Messiah, because He could read the hearts of men. Even so, and was turned down, to say he was a cheap fortune teller.

“Anybody could do that. Why, He’s Beelzebub, my goodness.”

But, that’s all He did. What did they say?

“Give us another sign.”

He said, “You wouldn’t believe it anyway.”

No use wasting your time. And that same Spirit of Christ, came back in a man, and he told them their names, and he read their hearts. And they said,

“That’s very amazing, but you know, it’s too bad he doesn’t believe like us, because we’re right.”

36. They couldn’t produce anything. And those who did produce, all went to the golden calf. Well, I want to tell you, that golden calf, can sure make a lot of noise. He makes more noise than God. Because when God spoke to the prophet, nobody wanted to listen. But the golden calf, made them all listen. Even some of my dearest friends, say, “Yeah but, Bro. Branham didn’t have a program. And Bro. Branham you know, didn’t he kind of change towards the end, and he begin to see things different?” No. I’ll go right back to the first sermon Bill ever preached, and you’ll see it all down there. The only thing he ever changed, is when he got one or two little details out of line. But, the basic was all there, because God had to reveal It, step by step, line upon line. The perfect light has come to the man.

But Daddy Bosworth saw, because when he saw him, said, “That’s what I prayed for, forty years.” I remember how it was as I said the other night, here was Simeon and Anna, they were in the temple. Oh, the Pharisees, were looking for Christ, their Messiah, to come. He’d go to the temple you know, and He’d say, “Here I AM.” He’d have a great big sword, and army, and He’d take over. Because they had it all figured out their way. But, it wasn’t God’s way. But here they had it all their way figured out, and Anna and Simeon came in, and they see a little tiny baby. And they say, “Hallelujah Lord, I’ve seen Thy salvation. We can go home and rest now.” Was it in the Bible? “A virgin shall bear a child.” [Isa 7:14] But, they didn’t know that was Messiah. They had it all figured wrong.

37. Right there in the Book of Matthew 24:37. It said,

(37) … as (it was in) the days of Noe were, so shall also (be in the day

…not the coming, but the day) of the Son of man be.

Brother/sister, get this straight, remember the circumstance that is in 2 Thessalonians [1:]

(7) …(it) shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,

Exactly taking destruction with His angels and flaming fire. But, it does not say that in the gospel. He’ll be revealed by the Word in the one place. And you’ll see Him. Those that see Him, revealed by the Word, are the only ones who will be in that Bride. People say, “Well now Bro. Vayle, I don’t have to believe Bro. Branham.” You don't? Can’t believe the prophet? That’s strange. Then why believe in any of it? The Lord Himself descending to put us in motion, depends on somebody, it’s not His voice. It says right in the Book here. Oh, they’ve got their Greek scholars. I’m not a Greek scholar, but, I read what the Greek scholars have said…they’ve cut their own throats on Judgement Day. Because they said, and knowing why it was said, yet they did not look for someone to appear on the scene.

Why didn’t they take time to find how the Lord Himself could come down and send another man? He said, “Come on down for a reason, …go on Moses. I’m descending…go on Bro. Branham.” It says the sacrilegious are something against the Word of God. I’ll just have to bear my punishment on Judgement Day. Because I know nothing else. But, I believe I brought it conclusively, and showed you. What is there? There’s three steps to the Rapture. And the first one is; a limited though extended period of time.

38. Now brother/sister, let’s face this thing…it’s almost over. It says, the days would end according to Revelation 10: And It said, our time was over when Jerusalem was no longer trodden down. It’s no longer trodden down. If the prophet was supposed to come, …Elijah, then, he must have already come. And they missed him, just like John the Baptist, because it’s over.

Don’t tell me it’s not over. It’s over. Don’t tell me the times of the Gentiles is still going on. It’s not going on. It’s over. There’s only one thing going on, for a little teeny bit. And that is, the extended time of grace through the fullness of the Gentiles, until the Mosque of Omar is leveled. And that’s God. Why do I preach this way? Because I want us to be one hundred percent sold, that’s why. You can’t be sold on what Bro. Branham taught, and have your mind full of the old shuck. And the scholars, theologians, and those who didn’t know. The Lord Himself, descends…He’s already started. The next thing, is the voice of the archangel. Amen, the Lord bless you. I hope this answered some questions, rather than compound it any. I hope this sent some illumination to let you know that God could descend, just with He said…it’s His language.

Just like what He said, “Let us make man in our image.” He did not say, “Let us make man in our images.” Our image. The triune God, one God. A Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, all one. One God, manifested two ways. Our, …innate. Plural hour? Singular. How many Gods? …One. Is He, coming? …Yes, that same One is coming, but He already came for the Bride by the Word, revealed. To turn your hearts back, what is the Word? You know what it is now. Faith comes by hearing. Amen. Let’s rise.

Gracious Heavenly Father, we know today that our words could sound just as strange to ears, as the Word we heard others say to us. And yet, they were true. So, baffling, Lord, as when they spoke to me years ago, and they said, “Son how many kinds of eternal life are there?” And I knew the answer, …just one. They said, “Then how could a sinner go to hell, and suffer eternally?” And I didn’t have the answer. I had puzzlements, and wonderings of my faith with it. I had to say something. It just couldn’t be. Someone had misinterpreted. Lord, I know in this day, you sent us a prophet so thoroughly vindicated. The one in this very city here, Chicago, there’s a Ministerial showdown of those who were engaged in the end days, the shuck age. There was none that could stand, but, fall.

Lord, I’m not looking for any further proof. I’m just looking for one thing Lord. That’s Your Spirit to take this in the last days. I’m caught up in what I’ve tried to teach this morning. The one taught. O God, I just want to crystalize, and finalize, and that very thing to become Lee Vayle. Just like the people here, Lord, want that very Message become them. Now, that’s it. Lord, we know, that history has repeated itself. Elijah, has come and gone, just like John. The next time he comes, it will be to the Jews…the 144,000. And then, Lord, the cataclysm that’s on this earth, a sweeping renovation. And the Bride back in Eden, the honeymoon. Grant, Lord, that we may be fully aware of all of this, and its implications. And everyone makes his calling and election sure, if by any means they may be a part of His…that first Resurrection.

Lord, we pray that this morning. We haven’t been here, playing church, O God. We’ve been doing our best Lord, which we know isn’t any good at all. Isn’t even wonderful, except that Your Spirit honor it. So, Lord, we commend everything now to You. And thank You for Your Presence, what You have done, and what You will consummate in these lives. For we know You have begun a good work in us. And will perform it, until the day of Jesus Christ. Now, unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, even our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Be all power, and honor, and glory by us reflecting Him. In His own Name we ask It, Jesus’ Name. Amen. God bless you.