God’s Only Provided Place
of Worship # 17
Sunday
Morning January 8, 1994
Faith Never looks at Circumstances
This morning we have a very important mission to
accomplish, and that is we have a very desperate situation on our hands. Eric
& Peggy's little child has been suffering with a pinched nerve in her lower
back. And as I got the story from Don, it sounds as though this could have come
from a fall, but the doctor said it was imminent that this child be operated on
within the next 30 days or there is a possibility that paralysis could take
place. Later, last night I talked with Eric and he stated that the doctor
thinks this could be actually a congenital defect or disorder in the child.
Either way it is serious enough that we need to seek God this morning and
implore His compassion on her, as He can be touched by the feeling of our infirmities. So
I am asking everyone this morning, as we approach this message, to be reverent
and in prayer. I want to build up your faith before we go to prayer. For if we ask anything wavering, our prayer will not be answered.
Yet if we ask in faith, nothing wavering, we know and will have confidence that
He hears our prayer. And that is the part that we have to do. To know that our petition has been heard. Then we can sit
back knowing that our Father God, who is the author of all Life, who made the
child and formed her in her mother womb will also refashion whatever injury she
may have as a result of birth.
You know birth is a very traumatic thing. I gave
witnessed my own children, and to see the pressure that comes upon a little
child as they are delivered through. For months as they develop their little
bodies, they are nurtured in a warm cozy environment. Then when the time comes,
all of a sudden that cozy environment begins to erupt. The labor signs begin,
and the trauma sets in. Without warning her little cozy environment begins to
erupt with extreme pressures from all sides. These we call contractions. Oh,
you mothers feel them, but what about that little child. She is the one who
feels the pressure from all sides. And then as that pressure builds, she is
thrown out of her warm environment into the bright lights and cold sterile
settling of this cruel world which sin has made so.
Many times things happen at birth because of these
pressures and sometimes the child is twisted some way or other and it causes a
congenital disorder. We saw this happen with Jill. She was born with her hip
out of socket and for a few months she was that way. I remember so fresh yet
today that Sunday afternoon, when Randy and Claire brought her up for prayer.
She was to go in to the doctor the next day for her exam and there was a
possibility that they might have had to operate on her too. Knowing these doctor's and all. I would say that because that is all
they know. But we know a medicine that is far much Greater than what any doctor
could prescribe. And that Medicine is spelled F.A.I.T.H. in the W.O.R.D. of
GOD! So we called for the elders of the
church and we laid hands on her and asked our Father to heal her. And do you
know what! We had confidence that He heard our petition, and that is called Faith.
And He did hear our petition and when she went in for her appointment that was
scheduled the next day he pronounced her healing.
God will cause
even the heathen to give testimony to His Word.
And now with that in mind, let's be prayerful this morning and let's
look to the Word of God as we continue our study on Faith as we examine again
this Great Message of God's only Provided
place of Worship. This is number 17 in our series and number
11 in our mini series on Faith.
40
GOD'S.PROVIDED.PLACE.WORSHIP - SHP.LA - V-7 N-4 - 65-1128.1M
I believe
the church is beginning to hear the Message, and beginning to understand.
But friends,
listen, we've got to lay in the Presence of the Son, we've got to be ripened. ( Now before we go further,
I want you to stop and notice how brother Branham is associating the laying in
the Presence of the Son to with the ripening of our Faith.) Our--our faith isn't ripe. Intellectually
we're hearing the Message that God has give us, and seeing
the signs that He showed us, and proving it by the Bible as that;
but, oh, how the church needs to lay in His Presence till it tenders up in
the heart, gets sweet in the Spirit so that it can bathe down. Sometimes
in speaking the Message, you get harsh, have to break
it in like that, because you've got to clinch a nail to make it hold. But
when the Church once gets It, the Elected is called
out and separated, (then in the Presence of God), I know it'll be something
like the people was there when it takes its Rapture.
41 GOD'S.PROVIDED.PLACE.WORSHIP - SHP.LA - V-7 N-4 -
65-1128.1M I was going to speak this morning on the
Rapture [THE SPOKEN WORD, Vol. 5 No.14--Ed.] but I just don't have enough voice
to do it, and so you just bear with me a little while. While, I want to speak
on the subject of: God's Only Provided Place of
Worship.
Now before we continue, notice how He was prepared to
bring us the Revelation of the Rapture, but there wasn't enough voice to do it.
So he had to wait until the right time. Now remember, also that the Rapture
occurs according to 1 Thessalonians when the Lord Himself descends from the
heavens with a shout, a Voice and a trumpet of God. Now we see that picture of
this descent behind me on the wall. We know the Shout is the Message going
forth. And to Shout you have to have enough Voice. And
if He didn't have enough voice yet that means something was missing. And so I
believe that our
Faith wasn't prepared yet to hear this message on the Revelation of the
Rapture. And without being having enough Faith to Receive it, and comprehend it , the Revelation
would not take it's proper effect upon us.
ECCLESIASTES 3:
To every thing there is a season, and a time
to every purpose under heaven. A time to be born , and
a time to die; a time to plant and a time reap. A time to
kill and a time to heal; a time to break down and a time to build up.
....A time to tear and a time to sew; a time to keep silence and a time to
speak; ...
And so we see that the time to speak on the Rapture
was not yet. He had to wait for more Voice. More of the Message to be given to
us that every thing would be in it's perfect order.
Remember, the hat had to
be on the chair before he could pronounce healing on the little
child he went to pray for, because his visions never failed. So brother Branham could not speak on the
Rapture until another Message was preached. And that is this one and one other.
And this message is to build in us a Supreme Faith in God and His Word. The
next message he spoke after this one and before the Rapture is "On the
Wings of A snow white Dove." And in this message he shows how His own
Faith in God struggled yet God brought Him to victory and even healed His own
life long affliction in his stomach. So we see God building up our faith
getting us ready for a Rapture. And remember, he said
the Rapture will be a revelation, so it will take Faith because Faith is a
Revelation.
42
GOD'S.PROVIDED.PLACE.WORSHIP - SHP.LA - V-7 N-4 - 65-1128.1M Now, it's a great big text. So let us pray
now. And out across the lands this morning, wherever you are, bow your heads
just a few moments. Be real sincere now, we're approaching the Word of God,
which is God in a letter form.
Remember, Jesus said, "as
a man thinketh in His heart, so is He! And out of the overflow of His heart He
shall speak." So a man is no more
and no less than the sum of His Word" And so when we approach this Great
Message, let's never fail to remember who came down and spoke it. And out of
the overflow of His heart did He speak. So surely we are witnessing the
Revelation of His own being from His own Voice and from His own Heart. And He
has given us this wonderful opportunity for our own benefit. Remember in Ecclesiastes, He said a time to
sew and a time to reap. A time to plant and a time to pluck
up that which was planted. And He came down in this Hour as the Son of
Man. And we know that most of the parables Jesus told us of the Son of Man is
that He comes forth planting seeds for a great harvest.
43
GOD'S.PROVIDED.PLACE.WORSHIP - SHP.LA - V-7 N-4 - 65-1128.1M Great Author
of this Book, "It is a Seed," we are taught, "that
a sower sowed," so said the Author. Now, we do
realize that a seed will grow if it's in the right kind of ground.
So, Father, will You this morning take all the briars and thistles, and
unbelief, and skeptic thoughts out of our hearts; that the Word of God might
grow freely, watered by the Spirit in our hearts, that we might become the
people of God. Grant it, Father. That's our heart. Not only to we who
have recognized this, but may there be others throughout the country, each
one's heart burning with love and tenderness, will go to try to win the
lost brother, the lost sister. Grant it today, God.
We're looking wholly to You, for You are our guide
and our Lord. So we pray that You'll direct us in Your
Word today, and give us of Thy blessings. Through Thy grace and in Thy Name we
ask it. Amen.
So we see then that this Word is a seed. And a seed is
planted with one purpose, and that is to produce Life or to bring forth into
manifestation the Life that lays in that seed. And we believe that we are
not here this morning by chance but that the conditions and circumstances we
are facing were all part of God's great plan to build up our Faith. Not just
for the healing which will be manifested today, but for a far
greater Glory. The very readying of a Bride for the
Rapture to take place. God uses
circumstances in our Life to direct us and to bring us o the greater Glory.
Where we so often fail is that we look at the unfinished work, and so when the
circumstances fall all around us we look to them and not to the Word of God
which knows the beginning from the end.
If you look at the circumstances only you have no expectation. But when you
know the end from the beginning, you look past the circumstances and see only
the finish. You see only the expectation, and that is Faith.
KJV HEBREWS 11: 1 Now Faith is the Substance
of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Now in examining this scripture we see
the word substance means assurance)
AMPLIFIED Faith is the assurance ( the confirmation, the title deed ) of things
we hope for or earnestly expect,
being the proof of things we do not see and the conviction
of their reality - faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed by the senses.
WEYMOUTH Now Faith is a well grounded assurance
of that for which we hope, and a conviction of the reality of
things which we do not see.
‘REVELATION
is the ASSURANCE of things we EARNESTLY EXPECT
and the CONVICTION of things we do not see.’
And again we should also understand that the word for
substance in the Greek is
Hupostasis and is used in Hebrews 1:
3 as more than just a thought of being sure or confident or assured,
because it is used in expressing the very substance of God Himself.
HEBREWS 1: 3 KJV Who being the brightness of His Glory, and the express
image of His PERSON (Hupostasis), and
upholding al things by the Word of His power....
AMPLIFIED He is the sole expression of the Glory of
God- the Light - being, the out-raying of the Divine- and he is the
perfect imprint and very image of God’s Nature.....
New American Standard And
He is the radiance of His Glory and the exact representation of His Nature..... So
we see then that this word used to describe Faith ( Hupostasis ) is more than just a
mental principle of having assurance, but this word actually deals more with
the Nature of being sure. Being confident. Not just in
a positive sense of the word, but from the aspect of your very nature having or
exuding and air or atmosphere of being confident. Since this word is used both
for the very Nature of God being manifested through His own Son, and is also
used for the assurance that Faith produces in us, then it therefore has to do
with our very Nature, even as it has to do with Jesus Christ the Son of God
reflecting God's own Nature.
Now as we said Sunday, to doubt shows a lack of
understanding with Whom you are dealing. If Faith is
the Assurance of things earnestly expected, and the very conviction or being
convinced of those things which you have not yet seen, then when He is truly Revealed to you, you
are very sure and need no further convincing. Therefore the Revelation stands
on it’s own.
More blessed are you which have not seen yet believe. So it is not a matter of seeing, but of not
seeing yet perceiving and knowing.
HEBREWS.10:22
Let us draw near with a
true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from
an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
ROMANS.5:2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace
wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Now this is where we fail. We are not always so sure
of where we stand. Just like a little
child who knows that when they are the apple of there father's eye, they can
get just about what ever their little hearts would desire. But when that child
knows that is has done something that displeases his or her father, then they don't have the same confidence.
God’s Only Provided Place of
Worship # 17
Sunday Morning January 8, 1994
ROMANS.5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ
HEBREWS.4:2
For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto
them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in
them that heard [it].
Why did they not have faith? Why did they not have
this supreme confidence in God to see them through? Because
they were constantly bickering and fighting with one another. They were
so focused on the circumstance around them that they became embittered in their
hearts and they could no longer see the promise God made to them.
PSALM 95: 1 - 11 (read) They
didn't come forth with joy and anticipation, but they soon forgot all the
victory they had already seen.
PSALM 106 :7
Our Fathers understood not Thy wonders in Egypt; they remembered not the
multitude of Thy mercies; but provoked Him at the Sea, even at the Red Sea.....13.They
soon forgot His works; they waited not for His counsel..... 21
They forgot God their Saviour which had done great
things by the Red Sea.
YOU MUST NEVER LOOK AT THE CIRCUMSTANCES.
ROMANS.4:19 And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now
dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the
deadness of Sara's womb: He staggered not at the promise of God
through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;
HE DIDN'T LOOK AT HIMSELF NOR AT ANY ONE ELSE FOR THE PROMISE ! HE LOOKED TO GOD AND GOD ALONE!
HEBREWS.10:23
Let us hold fast the
profession of [our] faith without wavering; (for he [is] faithful that promised;)
HEBREWS.6:12 That
ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience
inherit the promises.
HEBREWS.11:29 By
faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry [land]: which the
Egyptians assaying to do were drowned. By faith the walls of Jericho fell
down, after they were compassed about seven days. By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when
she had received the spies with peace.
Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained
promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
Jesus was our example:
HEBREWS.12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of [our] faith;
who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising
the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
HEBREWS.10:38
Now the just shall
live by faith: but if [any man] draw back, my
soul shall have no pleasure in him.
ROMANS.1:17 For
therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is
written, The just shall live by faith
JAMES.1:3
Knowing [this], that the trying
of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have it's
perfect work, that ye may be perfect, and entire or complete, wanting nothing.
ROMANS.3:3 For what if some
did not believe? shall their unbelief make
the faith of God without effect? If God said it, it has to happen! He's faithful!
HEBREWS.11:3 Through faith we
understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things
which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
HEBREWS.11:6 But without faith [it is] impossible to please [him]:
for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and [that] he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek
him.
God’s Only Provided Place of
Worship # 17
Sunday Morning January 8, 1994
ROMANS.4:16 Therefore [it is] of faith, that [it might
be] by grace; to the end the
promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law,
but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,
ROMANS.10:17 So then faith
[cometh] by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
James 5: 7 -
11, then 13 - 20 (read)
Let's Pray.... 1
Timothy 1: 12 Sing....as we bring the child up for
prayer!