MASTERPIECE No. 9
The Purpose of God
Sunday, June 12, 2005
Rev. Brian Kocourek
THE
MASTERPIECE 64-0705 5 Bless Thy Word this morning, Lord. Thy Word is the Truth. And we assemble
here now in the church. We pray for Brother Neville, and for Brother Capps, and
Brother Collins, and all the rest of the ministers, and the trustees, deacons,
and all the laity, and the strangers in our gates. May this be a day that we'll long remember because of Your Presence. 6. We're here
under great expectation this morning, Lord. Just momentarily notice, called
together... We feel that it's for a
purpose. May Your purpose be
achieved, Lord. For we ask it in Jesus' Name, as we submit ourselves. Amen.
This morning I would like
to focus all of our thoughts upon just one word that brother Branham said in
the closing of his opening prayer. Notice he said, we’ve been called together
on a moments notice and we believe that it is for a purpose and we believe that
Your purpose will be achieved. Now, this
word purpose, we will want to examine what he means by God’s purpose being achieved
in this meeting. Notice that he said it would be a day of remembrance because
of God’s Presence. And then he said he believed the Lord had called the people
together that the purpose of God might be achieved.
Now, we know this sermon
deals with the Masterpiece of God which is the Life that God lived out in His
Son and that Life in the Son of God was an example of what the Life of God is
to be in Sons. And he said we were called together on short notice in order for
the purpose of God to be achieved.
So what is the purpose of
God any way? First let me read several Scriptures that speak of the Purpose of
God and then we will sort them out and see how that purpose as defined by
Scripture is to be achieved in this gathering together of the saints to hear
this sermon on the Masterpiece.
Acts 26: 16 But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have
appeared unto thee for this purpose,
to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast
seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee;
Now, I want you
to notice something here. God is speaking to the Apostle Paul and he is telling
the Apostle Paul that His Appearing to Him was not something that was to be considered lightly. God
doesn’t just do things for the sake of doing them. He told Paul here that He
had a purpose in Appearing to Paul. God is telling us that he has a purpose
behind His appearing. And that purpose was to make Paul a minister and a
witness both of these things which he had seen, and of those things in which
God would appear unto Him.
Now, what then
does the word purpose mean? According to Webster’s dictionary, the word PURPOSE
means: “something that one intends
to do, in other words, it speaks of the intent or intention, resolution
or determination, the object for which something exists or is done, in
other words that which exists or is done with the end in view, or with a specific end in view, not something
done accidentally, but something done by design. In other words purpose speaks
of doing something or planning something with a specific result in mind.”
And so we see
that when God purposes anything, we must keep in mind His end product., or
His specific outcome that He has in
mind. His end view.
Again, the next
time we see this word purpose used is in Romans 9: 17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised
thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be
declared throughout all the earth.
In one instance
we se where God had a purpose to show forth Himself through the apostle Paul as
His witness to testify of God’s great Power and Glory. And then in this
scripture we find also God achieving the same purpose but with a totally
different plan. Here he speaks of a vessel of dishonor, and yet getting the
same result from it. So whether you are ordained to Life or ordained to
condemnation, God will bring about the same result and that is to magnify His
own name above all the earth.
Again we see
the purpose of God in Romans 9: 11 (For the children being not yet born, neither having
done any good or evil, that the purpose
of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that
calleth;)
So we see here
that the purpose of God stands in election. Now, if you do not understand what
election is, then you will not understand what God’s purpose is either. For he
said, that the purpose of God according to election might
stand, not of works, but of him that calleth. So
we see that election consists of but one thing. God’s calling. God’s choosing.
Not anything you can do but what God has chosen to do even before you came into
this world. Either God chose you in Him before the foundations of the world or
He did not. And if He did not, then no matter how much you claim to be a
believer, no matter how much you can recite the Word of God, no matter how much
you do in His name, it won’t do you one lick of God. God’s purpose stands in
His election, His Choosing.
That is where
so many do not understand where they are in Christ. They do not understand that
God is Sovereign, and in being Sovereign He is also Solitary. He does not need
anyone or anything. He existed for an eternity without anyone, and thus is in
need of no one. And being sovereign He answers to no one, and is completely
independent. Thus God and God alone is Sovereign. He alone is all knowing, and
he alone is all powerful. Now, to be Sovereign you must be all powerful and all
knowing for if you are not, then the person that is more powerful can influence
you or the person that is more knowledgeable can persuade you, and thus you
would not be sovereign any longer.
But no one can
persuade God against His purpose. No one can talk God out of His judgment. He
alone is sovereign, and in His sovereignty He has made a choice and that choice
is called His elect. And then God sets
that Elect on the path to its outcome or end. That is God’s purpose, that is
His plan, and that plan is called pre-destination. The destination preplanned.
Therefore when we are talking about the purpose of God we are speaking of His
foreknowledge.Most Christians do not understand the difference
between Foreknowledge, Election and Predestination. Many people today,
especially the Fundamentalist and Evangelical differ greatly on exactly what
Election and predestination are all about.
The main issue however, has not been whether God predestinates or not,
as much as the issue of choice, or rather who makes the choice.
Men want so bad to be in control of their own lives that they have
placed free moral agency as the ultimate in a man's experience with God. Men,
it seems, would rather have the ability to choose God, than allow God to do the
choosing Himself. Thus, they try to explain away election by using foreknowledge
of God, as their excuse to place man's ability to choose above God's Own
choice.
ROMANS 11:33 ¶ O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom
and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past
finding out! 34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or
who hath been his counselor? 35 Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be
recompensed unto him again? 36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all
things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.
Now,
we are talking about purpose this morning, but man in his own religious nature
wants to feel that he is doing something for God. Let men tell you something,
there is nothing that you can do for God that is of any good unless it is something
that God has asked you to do. Jesus the Son of God, said, The Son can of
Himself do nothing but what he seeth the Father do, that doeth the Son
likewise. John 5:19 and 5:30.
Today
there is a book called the Purpose driven life, but it does not speak of God’s
purpose but in you having a purpose. Yet what good is it for you to be purpose
driven if it is not God’s purpose that is driving you. That might sound real good, and that kind of
talk can take an ordinary salesman into an extraordinary salesmen, but God has
not called us to be salesmen. He has called us to be obedient sons.
In Isaiah 1: 11 we read, To what purpose is the multitude of your
sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams,
and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of
lambs, or of he goats. In other words, God is
questioning their own purpose for all their sacrifices.
And in the Book
of 1 Samuel 15: 22 we see where King Saul
had disobeyed the command of the Lord.
He was told to destroy everything from a certain place and not to bring back
any spoil, but when he returned from that war, he brought back much of the
spoil along with the King from that country. When Samuel the prophet saw this
he was so angry with Saul for disobeying the Command of God, that he took the
kings own sword and struck off the head of the conquered king, and then told
Saul, And
Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
as in obeying the voice of the LORD?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
and to hearken than the fat of rams.
So that day Saul lost His anointing from
God, and God determined to have the Prophet Samuel anoint another to be King
instead of Saul. So let me tell you, God doesn’t care two bits about how much
sacrifice you can do for him. If your sacrifice is from your own purpose, and
not from His purpose, then it means nothing to Him. If you go because you want
to do God a service without it being His will, then you go without the
anointing of God upon you. Then you might as well not even go. So much then for
a purpose driven life. If it is not God’s purpose driving you, and His will for
you to do it, then you had best not go until he says go. If I had any inkling
that God did not want me to go to these places that He has had me to go, then I
would not go.
I made a pact with God several years ago.
I told him I did not wish to go to Africa or
The brothers have told me when others come
from America and Europe to preach to the people, the people might talk about it
for a couple days at most, but the talk about those meetings we held back in
2001, 2002 and 2004 have so stirred the people that they are still talking
about them for several years now, and what was taught in those meetings is
burning like a brush fire across their countries and into every corner or their
countries, and spilling out across their borders into neighboring countries as
well. Now, these are not my words, those
are the words given to me by the brethren in
I CORINTHIANS 2:9 But as it is
written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart
of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 10 But God hath revealed [them] unto us by his
Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. 11
For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in
him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of
the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that
are freely given to us of God. 13 Which things also we speak, not in the words
which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing
spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man receiveth not the
things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he
know [them], because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But
he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.
16 For who hath known the mind of the
Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
Now,
we are talking about the purpose of God this morning. And yet most people who
claim to be Christian do not even believe in a sovereign God who has a divine
purpose. They say, God being omniscient, and knowing the end from the
beginning, knew who would and who would not and based upon this foreknowledge,
God then elects those to Glory who chose the right thing, and He elects to
condemnation those who do not choose right. In believing this they place man's
ability to choose above God's sovereign will, and thus they fall into error.
God
knows your end from your beginning because He pre-destined your end. That is
what the word predestinate means. It means to pre - destine. To mark out before hand, your destiny.
Therefore, predestination is the path you are destined to take. And that is
what the purpose of God is all about. Purpose with the end-in-view.
Let's
turn to the Word now and examine the very scriptures that must be relegated to
the trash heap in order to prove free will has anything to do with election.
In JOHN 15:16, Jesus said, Ye have not
chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and
bring forth fruit, and [that] your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye
shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
Now, we ought to stop right
here and rest our case. Either this is meant for all believers or it is not. If
it is not, then all believers are not expected to bring forth fruit, and all
believers are not entitled to ask the Father in the name of Jesus and expect to
receive what they ask for. But Jesus is telling us that we did not choose Him
first, He chose us first, and our love toward him, and acceptance of Him, is
only in response to His having first chosen us. In I JOHN 4:19, we
hear John tell us, "We love him, because he first loved us." Now, either this is true or it is not.
Then if this is not true, we must rip it out of our Bible. And if this passage
is in error, then what else is in error.
If we believe God wrote the
Word, that His Bible is the Un-adulterated Word of God, then we must accept
what it tells us. Scripture does not fight scripture.
In DEUTERONOMY 7:6, we read, "For thou [art] an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the
LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all
people that [are] upon the face of the earth. 7The LORD did not set his
love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people;
for ye [were] the fewest of all people:
8 But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath
which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a
mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of
Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9 Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he [is] God, the
faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep
his commandments to a thousand generations; 10 And repayeth them that hate him
to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he
will repay him to his face.
Again we see that it was
not our choosing but God's choosing that is involved here.
In PROVERBS 14:12, we read, ¶ There
is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof [are] the ways of
death.
This scripture tells us
that man will try to choose what seems right, or the way that he believes to be
the right way, but man's choice will always lead to the way of death.
Therefore, even in our choosing, we need a God who will watch over our choices,
and help us to make the right choice.
In PHILIPPIANS 3:15 we
read, ¶ Let
us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye
be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.
In the following scriptures
we find God is actively involved with the choices His elect take.
PSALMS 37:23 The steps of a
[good] man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way. Here we find the Hebrew word Kuwn
used for "ordered", and means to set up or
establish, to prepare or arrange. Therefore we see the hand of God
actively involved in the steps of a good man or righteous man.
In PROVERBS 16:9 we read, ¶ A man's heart deviseth his way:
but the LORD directeth his steps. Here we find that although
a man may contemplate and even plan his way, yet God has the ultimate say so
and will direct the very footsteps of that man. Jonah was a classic example of
this. The Lord told Him to do such and such and when Jonah had what he thought
was a better plan, God just took over the situation and produced exactly what
He intended to produce. Jonah had no choice, or at least his choice meant
nothing to what God wanted done.
In JEREMIAH 1:5
we read, Before I formed thee in the belly I
knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee,
[and] I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Jeremiah could not get away from it if he
tried. For this very reason he was born. That’s the purpose of God in election.
We also find in the book of ACTS 13:48, And when the
Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as
many as were ordained to eternal life believed.
If we are to believe this
scripture, then we must acknowledge that all who are ordained to Eternal Life
will believe. Then those who are not ordained to Life will not believe, and
there is your evidence of election.
I CORINTHIANS 2:7
But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom,
which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Now,
look, either God purposed it and ordained it before the world for our Glory or
this scripture is full of lies. Then if God purposed it and ordained it which
means he planned out the way it would happen, then is God in charge of our
destiny or are we in charge of our destiny.
And
in the Book of EPHESIANS 1:4 Paul tells
us that even before the worlds were framed we were chosen in Him, and our destiny
was planned out for us. According as he
hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be
holy and without blame before him in love: 5 Having predestinated us unto
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good
pleasure of his will,
Now, if God had a Word
which He ordained before the world began, and if that word was to produce Glory
in a chosen people, or a people of God's choosing, then there had to be a
people in God's mind before the world began who would at the right season
believe this predestinated Word, and receive the glory it was ordained to
produce.
Now, just as there are
those who were ordained to glory and to eternal Life, we also find those who
were ordained to condemnation. JUDE 1:4 For
there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to
this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into
lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Apostle Paul shoots the
theory that speaks of free moral agency as the root cause for election to
pieces in Romans chapter 9. ROMANS 9:11 (For [the children] being not yet born,
neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to
election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) 12 It was
said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. 13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but
Esau have I hated. 14 ¶What shall we say
then? [Is there] unrighteousness with God? God forbid. 15 For he saith to
Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. 16 So
then [it is] not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that
sheweth mercy. 17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same
purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my
name might be declared throughout all the earth. 18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will [have
mercy], and whom he will he hardeneth. 19 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth
he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? 20 Nay but, O man, who art
thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed
[it], Why hast thou made me thus? 21 Hath not the potter power over the clay,
of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?
Paul makes it very clear
that our election is not up to you or I, but entirely up to God. He even goes
so far to say, So then it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. Now,
if it is not him that willeth, then your will and my will have nothing to do
with our election at all. It is God who either chooses to show mercy or not.
Therefore, if your will has
nothing to do with your being elect, then neither does your choice for your
choice is but a reflection of your will. You will and then you choose.
Divine healing 54-1219M P:49 Listen. It's not him that wants to get saved,
that's saved. It's him that's saved by
God's choice. Esau wanted to get saved too. He wept bitterly, and couldn't
find no place to repent. He wanted to get saved. It ain't 'cause you want to
get saved. God said, "I've hardened who I will harden. I have mercy on whom
I want to have mercy." That's right. He said, "Before Esau or Jacob,
either was born, not knowing right and wrong," God said, "I love
Jacob and hate Esau.'" And Esau tried to get right with God and couldn't.
Pharaoh tried to get right with God and couldn't do it. So it's not you, not what you want. It's what God has ordained for
you to do. That's right. Paul said in the 9th chapter of Romans there,
"Hasn't the potter got power over the clay to make an honored vessel or a
dishonored vessel, to show His glory to those who He has honored?" You
didn't know that, did you? That's what the
Scripture says. Pharaoh tried his best to repent. He was kindhearted. He said, "Sure, I'll let you go. Go on.” God said,
"No, you ain't. I'm going to harden his heart so you can't do it."
'Cause God's Word has to be fulfilled. And if we're living
in this day when formalities and things has broken the church down, broke
away; why, it's God's Word being fulfilled. As sure as God said, "These
signs would follow them that believe," as sure as God said these
churches would be like they are now, God
also said this opposition would meet it. So the same God that ordained signs and wonders, ordained that these
should be persecuting against It. So there you are. If you're on the other side, I feel sorry. And I want you not to be
that way, but maybe you can't help it. See? God might've fixed it that way.
Now, to place foreknowledge
and election and then predestination in their proper place, we must first know
the definitions of each. Therefore, since most people wish that foreknowledge
is the preeminent principle behind election, we will start with this point
first.
FOREKNOWLEDGE: What is it? The word
foreknowledge is made up of two words. The word “Fore” which is a prefix
meaning “beforehand”, and then the word “knowledge” meaning “to
know”, hence “to know beforehand”.
In
I PETER 1:2 we
read, Elect
according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, Therefore our election is by the foreknowing of
God.
Now
the word for foreknowledge was translated as such from the Greek word prognosis
which means 1) foreknowledge 2) forethought, pre-arrangement.
William
Branham said concerning this foreknowledge from the sermon QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 59-1223 496-123 Before there was
a world you were in God's thoughts to give you the Holy Ghost, because He knew
that you'd be wanting It; and He chose you Himself because you desired... He
chose you in Christ before you or Jesus, any of you, was on the earth. And He
sent Jesus to die to prepare the way to send the Holy Ghost, to bring you to
Himself. Oh, that's just... I know I may... This is the church, so I'm at home
now. See? Oh, that is so rich to me. To think it's not what I wanted; it wasn't
my desires; it wasn't my will; it wasn't my choosing; I had not one thing to do
with it. But before the world ever started, God saw us and put our name on the
Lamb's Book of Life before there even was a world. Talk about God. Whew.
We
must also understand what ELECTION means: It means to Select out, to choose,
to appoint, hence to make a choice, To choose involves as process of previewing or showing forth, then an
assessment opinion or judgment is expressed and the selection then is made
based upon the assessment, opinion or judgment which is the DOXA of God.
ISAIAH 42:1 ¶ Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth;
I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
ISAIAH 45:4 For Jacob my servant's sake, and
ISAIAH 65:9 And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of
ISAIAH 65:22 They shall not
build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my
people, and mine elect shall long
enjoy the work of their hands.
JOHN 15:16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and
ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and [that] your fruit
should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may
give it you.
In John 6 & 8, we find a great
debate between Jesus and the Pharisees concerning the Election of God.
John 1:12-13 But
as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God,
[even] to them that believe on his name: 13 Which were born, not of blood, nor
of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. So we see that our will had nothing to
do with our being born again. It was God’s choosing. His Election.
MATTHEW 25:34 Then shall the King say unto them on his
right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation of the world:
I PETER 1:20 Who verily was foreordained before the
foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
II THESSALONIANS 2:13 ¶ But we are
bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord,
because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through
sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:
I JOHN 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it
doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear,
we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
PSALMS 65:4 Blessed [is the
man whom] thou choosest, and causest to approach [unto thee, that] he may dwell
in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, [even] of
thy holy temple.
Now, we must understand that
Purpose also deals with predestination. To plan out before hand with the end in
view. The word Predestinate..(comes
from the Greek) Proorizo = which means to pre-determine, to determine beforehand,
to ordain, or predestinate, to limit
in advance. Now,
the word limit means: The point, edge, or line beyond which something cannot or
may not proceed.
In other words, DNA
comprises the limits of the genes that set forth the principal properties or
characteristics in the individual. They define
the boundaries of that individual, and so does the Word of God in
pre-destination. It sets forth the limits, the boundaries, the
Romans 8: 28 And we know that all things work together for good
to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. (notice, not
just those that Love God, but those who are The Called according to God’s
Purpose, and notice further that those whom he called, or elected, he also
ordains their path) 29 For those whom He has known beforehand He has also pre-destined to
bear the likeness of His Son,(you see He set the
limit in advance) that He might be the Eldest in a
vast family of brothers; (You see, Jesus the eldest brother in a
vast family of brethren) 30 and those whom He
has pre-destined He also has called; and those whom He has called He has also
declared free from guilt; and those whom He has declared free from guilt He has
also crowned with glory.
Now, notice that this election was in
Him before the foundations of the world were even framed and this is what Paul
called the Purpose and Plan of God. EPHESIANS 1:3 ¶ Blessed be the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
4 According as he hath chosen us
in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and
without blame before him…(Notice
then, if he declared that we should be holy and without blame then he had to
predestine us to that condition. ) 5 in love having
predestinated us (notice those words are all past tense) unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself,
according to the good pleasure of his will, 6 To the praise of the glory of his
grace, wherein he hath made us accepted (notice these are past tense
as well) in the beloved. 7 In whom we have (notice these
words are present tense) redemption through his
blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; 8 Wherein
he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; 9 Having made known unto
us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath
purposed in himself: (so we see this purpose of God stands in His
election, His choosing) 10 That in the dispensation
of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ,
both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; [even] in him: 11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance,
being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things
after the counsel of his own will:
God’s
purpose looks in view of the outcome. MATTHEW 24:31 And he shall send his angels with a great
sound of a trumpet, and they shall
gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to
the other. And where are they being gathered to? Into Christ,
the Word.
TITUS 1:1 ¶ Paul, a
servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's
elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness; 2 In
hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world
began;
PRE-DESTINATE : pre meaning before, and destine meaning destiny. To
Pre-determine. To determine beforehand. To pre-determine means to mark out and
determine beforehand. Therefore, chance is negated altogether. Design becomes
supreme. Choosing beforehand is essential and indispensable. The word determine not only implies influence
but the power necessary to control or enforce the outcome desired. We can see by all these words that a Design,
and thus a Designer is evident. Nothing is left to chance, which is chaos
theory. Nothing is left to coincidence, nothing is left to self will, nothing
is left to the strength of the pre-destined, nothing is left up to the
abilities of the predestined ones, but all by a great design is planned out and
back by a power to ensure it through it's final outcome. Hence all is under a
continual enforcement and control of the One doing the predestinating.
Therefore, a plan is involved, and a destiny is set as sure as god is God.
ISAIAH 55:8 For my thoughts [are] not your thoughts,
neither [are] your ways my ways, saith the LORD. 9 For [as] the heavens are higher than the
earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your
thoughts. 10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and
returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and
bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: 11 So shall my
word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but
it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper [in the thing]
whereto I sent it.
JOHN 10:27 My sheep hear my
voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28 And I give unto them eternal
life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my
hand. 29 My Father, which gave [them] me, is greater than all; and no man is
able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
I CORINTHIANS 3:7
So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that
watereth; but God that giveth the increase.
Then
knowing we have a God Who is Sovereign, One Who changes not, and Who chooses
right (Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?) One Whose Word is
Eternal and immutable, One whose first choice is His best choice, then it is
This One Who has Chosen. It is this One Who has planned out the destiny of all
man. It is This One Who has determined our destiny, even before he framed the
world. Then what are we afraid of? Shall not the judge of the earth do right?
Then I hope you can see how sure God’s purpose is to us today. And as brother
Branham set forth that the purpose of God in this sermon the masterpiece is to
show us, yes to insure to us that our destiny is as sure as the destiny of the
Son of God was sure. For if we were in Him before the foundations of the world,
and if he set forth His glory to be revealed in us, and if he hid that Glory
for the purpose of revealing it to us in this end time, the how can we not be
secure in this time knowing God has come with a shout, and Has made known to us
His great plan and purpose and in election, our election, He has shown forth
His own Purpose, and that purpose was revealed in Christ.
Ephesians 3: 11 According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in
Christ Jesus our Lord:
Ephesians 1: 11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the
counsel of his own will:
2 Timothy 1: 9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy
calling, not according to our works, but according
to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the
world began,
1 John 3: 8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the
devil sinneth from the beginning. For
this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works
of the devil.
Let us bow our hearts in prayer. Dear
Father, we know by what we have heard from Thee this morning, that you have
everything under Your complete control. Therefore, Father it is our hearts
desire to be conformed to the image of your eldest Son that we might relfect
Thee as Sons with Your own Life living out in us. Help us to be obedient as you
said that you desire obedience even gmore than sacrifice. You told us in Your Word
that your Son Jesus learned obedience by the things that he suffered. Help us
Father to have the mind that was in Christ, and may our Lives reflect that Life
and that Mind for we ask it in jesus Christ’s name thy Obedient Son, Amen.