God’s Only Provided Place of Worship # 48

Brian Kocourek, May 14, 1995

The Old Testament School Master

Psalm 26: 2

Psalm 139: 23 Prayer

Last Sunday we examined brother Branham's statement where he said, " The Lamb was tested".... "He was tested to see where He was standing, see, tested in every manner, tested like we are tested. But there was no giving in to him at all. No, sir! That was the Son of God. James 1: 2 - 4 Joy?

We saw the importance of His Testing us. And why the scriptures tell us to rejoice when we are tested.

1 Peter 4: 12 - 13 Rejoice "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you , as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings: that, when His glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy."

I.CORINTHIANS.10:13

There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: (Then if this is so, why do we think it strange when we are put to the test, Sometimes we act or think as if no one else has ever gone through what we are experiencing, but this is not the case, He said think it not strange or unfamiliar, well it may be to you but he is letting you know that we really have no tests that others have not gone through. The though is what he says next)... but God [is] faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear [it].

I.PETER.1: 3 - 7 Read ( especially verse 7)

Wuest : In which last season you are to be constantly rejoicing with a joy that expresses itself in a triumphant exuberance, although for a little while at the present time if perchance there is a need of it, you have been made sorrowful in the midst of many different kinds of testings in order that the approval of your faith, which faith was examined for the purpose of being approved, that the approval being much more precious than the approval of gold which perishes, eve though the gold be tried with fire-testing, may be discovered after scrutiny to result in praise, honor and Glory at the time of the Revelation of Jesus Christ;

So we see then that God only tests us or puts us to the test with the Purpose in mind of Approval.

This word tempted here is a Greek word, PEIRAZO which means to : To try, or to make a trial or test for the purpose of ascertaining the persons quality, or what he thinks or how he reacts during the trial.

So we see here that God uses the test as we do our children in school. After he spends much time teaching us then we are tested to see if we have mastered the level we have been instructed in. As I said before, you don't teach for algebra is the child doesn't even know there ABC's. In fact, Brother Branham so often said, "How do you teach them algebra if they don't even know their ABC's" . So if you can't even teach algebra until they know their ABC's then how could you expect them to be tested for it? So as we see, our being tested by God has a prerequisite, we must first be instructed, then once our Tutor, His Holy Spirit feels we are more than able to pass the exam, then He personally allows us to be tested. And remember the story of Job. We saw how God will only allow us to be tested to the degree that He permits. That is why 1 Cor 10 says, but God [is] faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear [it].

Then as we saw other illustrations, including His only begotten Son, that after the test we are told to come up higher, we passed the exam. This is just like we do with our own children in school. We train them in 1st grade, then when we feel they have mastered their ABC's we test them in it and say come up higher.

Now Wednesday night we continued in this study of brother Branham's sermon on God's Only Provided Place of Worship and we read from PP's 169 through 171 where he said,

The Old Testament only bears record of the New... It's only a schoolmaster,

We went to the scripture to show you that God's changes not. That's Hebrews 13:8 & Malachi 3: 6 . We know that He is the Word and Heaven and earth will pass away but not one jot or tittle of His Word will fail. And we examined just why many people consider the old testament to be dead and of no consequence any more. But as brother Branham said, they are so very wrong. He said, it is not dead, but it was just a "schoolmaster" showing us or pointing us to the Light. He said, "it bears record of the New."

We examined 2 Corinthians 3: 1 - 18 where Paul explained the old Glory being excelled by the greater Glory which is this hour. So just because one is called the lesser and the other is called the greater, it does not mean it is dead. On the contrary we see that it was and still is necessary as any story is not complete without a beginning and end. Thee has to be an Alpha if there is to be an Omega. So we see then that the old testament is that which pointed forward to Christ and the new testament then focuses in on the one Who had been looked forward to. There then is really no difference of sorts then if we see it in this light. But the main thing I want to bring out on this point is this. If you have been given a promise of something, then once that promise has become a reality to you because it has become material or you have received and possess what was promised, then you need not any longer look to the promise with anticipation, or with earnest expectation. Why? Because it would be useless, because you already have what was promised. So in this sense and this sense only is the old testament without power or Life any more. Not that it is to be done away completely, but that it has served it's purpose in bringing you up to that which it promised, and that is Christ.

Now to understand this further, we must realize that a testament is a promise, a contract or covenant. So when we have the old testament, it is the promise in it's raw state of looking to, or anticipating what is promised. But then when it is fulfilled, it is no longer a promise, or covenant, because the contract is complete upon receipt of the merchandise. Unless of course we have a service Clause involved. And that is really what the new testament is. We have received the Promised Son. So now the first covenant is complete and now we have entered into the Second covenant, we call the New covenant, or the New Testament, which is the portion of the contract that can come into effect only after receipt of the first part. So we see then that this New Covenant, we call the New Testament deals with the service portion of our contract. The entire New and Old testament then as we can now plainly see is a contract between God and man. And the first part was fulfilled when the merchandise, His own Son was delivered up to be crucified and died for our sins. Then the second or New Covenant takes over, and that is the Obligation on the part of our Father to see to it that what was made possible by the shedding of His Son's blood will continue to be of value and work on our behalf. So we see the service part of the contract become effectual and take over.

Hebrews 9: 15 => 17 (read)

NIV "For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance - now that He has died as a sort of ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant. In the case of a will, it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it, because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living."

AMPLIFIED "Christ The Messiah is therefore the Negotiator and Mediator of an entirely new agreement, testament or covenant, so that those who are called and offered this agreement, may receive the fulfillment of the promised everlasting inheritance, since a death has taken place which rescues and delivers, and redeems them from the transgressions committed under the old or first agreement. For where there is a last will and testament involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. For a will and testament is valid and takes effect only at death, since it has no force or legal power as long as the one who made it is alive."

So then what we see here is that the old testament established our inheritance and our Eternal position with our Father, but it actually took the death of Jesus to set in motion the reality of it. Now as I said Wednesday night, it is necessary to look to a promise only up until you receive what was promised. Then you no longer look to the promise but you look at the thing in your possession that is the Promise. Before my seventh birthday, I longed for a bicycle. My dad promised me a bicycle. And I looked forward to that day when I would have my own bicycle. I could hardly wait. I got all full of energy and anticipation and I had no patience at all because I was really excited about what He promised me. Then when my birthday came, I know longer looked forward to a bicycle, I had it. I used it. I road it. It was mine. I no longer was anxious to receive the promise. I had received the promise and it was all mine. And so then I entered into a condition of becoming one with the promise. I road my bike from sunrise till sunset. Where you saw my bike , their I was also. I became one with the promise. It was real, and I was a part of that reality because it affected me. I entered into service with my bike.

And that is the new covenant from our Father as well. He has delivered on His promise and we are entering into immortality. Time and Eternity are blending together. He confirmed His first Promise, and by it we are obtaining the second.

Romans 8: 26 - 39 (read) it's then a done deal. Signed sealed and finished. Finished before it even began because God said it and He is not a man that He could lie. There's our service contract or covenant at Work.