WHO IS THIS MELCHISEDEC #17
September 6, 2000
Brian Kocourek
Philippians 2:13. "It is God which worketh in
you both to will and to do of his good pleasure"
Last Sunday we spoke from
paragraph 50 where brother Branham said,
Who is This Melchisedec
pp. 50 You remember how we read the Scriptures,
"Not him that willeth, or him that runneth, but God..." And that
His predestination might stand true, He could choose before anytime who... God's
sovereign in His choosing, did you know that? God's sovereign.
Who was back yonder to tell Him a better way to make the world? Who would dare
to tell Him He was running His business wrong? Even the very--the very Word
Itself, very sovereign... Even the revelation is sovereign. He
reveals to whom He will reveal. The very revelation itself is sovereign
in God. That's how people pound at things, and jump at things, and hit at
things, and not knowing what they're doing. God is sovereign in His works.
So far in our study of the Will human concerning whether God gave us a free or will not, we have examined “The Nature of the Human Will”, and we found that according to Scripture In Romans 9:16 "It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy".
Notice that the carnal man can never understand God. 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.
Then Sunday morning examined “The Bondage Of The Human Will”..
JOHN 8:34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
The word
servant is the Greek word doulos {doo'-los} 1) a slave, bondman, man of servile
condition
1a) a slave 1b) metaphorically, one who gives himself
up to another's will; those whose service is used by Christ in extending and
advancing His cause among men; devoted to another to the disregard of one's own
interests
II PETER 2:19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. The word bondage comes from the Greek word, douloo {doo-lo'-o} which means to become servant or bring into bondage or be under bondage. -- it means given, and if given, then not under it's own power. To make servant in bondage, to make a slave of, reduce to bondage 1a) metaphorically, give myself wholly to one's needs and service, make myself a bondman to him.
It comes from the same same root word as we read earlier, doolos, and means to give oneself over to another's will. That is what servitude is all about. The word overcome is from the Greek word hettao {hayt-tah'-o} to be inferior or made inferior, to be conquered by one, forced to yield to one..
Therefore this speaks of man as nothing more than a debtor, and if a debtor, then he has become a slave to sin, to serve sin. Then if man is a slave to the body of this death, a slave to sin, to serve sin, then we are talking about man, the carnal man is sold under sin. A slave to sin which is unbelief.
Now, when a man is sold into slavery, there are only two ways for him to get out. #1) He must pay the price that is owed, or another pay it for Him. But if that other pays it for him, then it is up to the other to either set him free or else the servitude just changes hands.
#2) He is freed from his bondage when he dies. These are the only two ways out from this condition of bondage.
ROMANS 6:6 Knowing
this, that our old man is crucified with [him], that the body of sin might be
destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. 7 For he that is dead is
freed from sin.
Now, the only way you can possibly be free is that you never were under sin to begin with. You never did do it as brother Branham said, and that is what justification is all about. In fact the word Paul used here in Romans 6:7 For he that is dead is freed from sin., is the Greek word dikaioo {dik-ah-yo'-o} and it means to justify -- freed to be righteous1) to render righteous 2) to show, exhibit, evince, one to be righteous, such as he is and wishes himself to be considered 3) to declare, pronounce, one to be just, righteous, or such as he ought to be.
The word is also used as the word justify or justification throughout the rest of Scripture. Paul spoke of it in ACTS 13:38 Be it known unto you therefore, men [and] brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: 39 And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses. 40 Beware therefore, lest that come upon you, which is spoken of in the prophets; 41 Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you.
There is only one who has a sovereign will, because there is only one who controls all things both visible and invisible. Then is man always a servant? Can man ever come to the place where He is free? And the answer is yes, if the One Who created all that is visible and invisible, who control all powers both seen and unseen lives in you, then you will be free to make a correct choice.
HEBREWS 11:1 ¶ Now faith is the substance of things hoped
for, the evidence of things not seen.
Faith is not seen and yet it is a substance. And by faith you are saved, by faith you inherit the promises, by faith are you born again and receive the very invisible Life of God into your mortal flesh to live itself out in your life. 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.
And if it took faith for God to bring into existence what was not there, and if the Life of God live in you, that is why a man could come along and speak squirrels into existence. Because the author of all visible and invisible power came into him and therefore all power visible and invisible was under his control. That is the only way we could ever be a truly free moral agent, and that is for God to live out His Life in and through us.
This evening I wish to continue our study of the sovereignty of God and tonight we shall examine, the subject of Sovereignty and Prayer.
"If we ask
anything according to his will he heareth us" 1 John 5:14.
Our chief aim throughout
this series on The Sovereignty of God is to exalt God as our Creator and abase
ourselves as the creature. The universal tendency among men today, is to
magnify man and dishonor and degrade God. On every hand it is found that, when
spiritual things are under discussion, the human side is pressed and stressed,
and the divine side, if not altogether ignored, is relegated to the background.
This holds true of the modern teaching about prayer. In the great majority of
the books written and sermons preached upon prayer, the human element seems to
take the preeminence. The conditions we
must meet, the promises we must "claim", the things we must do, in
order to get our requests granted; and God's claims, God's rights, God's glory
are all but disregarded.
"Men today believe God
in his sovereignty has ordained that man's destiny may be changed and molded by
his own will. This is why people think that prayer changes things actually
means that God changes things when men pray. People believe 'There are certain things that will happen in a man's life
whether he prays or not. There are other things that will happen if he prays,
and will not happen if he does not pray'.
To say that "human
destinies may be changed and molded by the will of man" is rank infidelity
— that is the only proper term for it. Should any one challenge. this
classification, we would ask them whether they can find an infidel anywhere who
would dissent from such a statement, and we are confident that such an one
could not be found. To say that "God has ordained that human destinies may
be changed and molded by the will of man", is absolutely untrue. "Human destiny" is settled not by
"the will of man", but by the will of God. That which determines
human destiny is whether or not a man has been born again, for it is written,
"Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God". And as
to whose will, whether God's or man's, is responsible for the new birth is
settled, unequivocally, by John 1:13 —
"Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will
of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but OF GOD". To say that
"human destiny" may be changed by the will of man, is to make the
creature's will supreme, and that is, virtually, to dethrone God.
But what does the Scriptures
tell us?: "The Lord killeth, and maketh alive:
he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up. The Lord maketh poor, and
maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up. He raiseth up the poor out of the
dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes,
and to make them inherit the throne of glory" (1 Sam. 2:6-8).
Almost everywhere we go
today one comes across a sign or bumper
sticker saying, "Prayer Changes Things". As to what these
words are designed to signify is evident from the current literature on prayer
— we are to persuade God to change his purpose. Concerning this we shall have
more to say below.
We had better qualify the
thoughts that would think "there are certain things that will happen in a
man's life whether he prays or not, and
there are other things that will happen if he prays, anal will not
happen if he does not pray'." That things happen whether a man prays or
not is exemplified daily in the lives of the unregenerate, most of whom never
pray at all. If a believer prays in faith and asks for those things which are
according to God's will, he will most certainly obtain that for which he has
asked.
Again, that other things
will happen if he prays, is also true in respect to the subjective benefits
derived from prayer: God will become more real to him and his promises more
precious. That other things "will not happen if he does not pray" is
true so far as his own life is concerned — a prayer less life means a life
lived out of communion with God and all that is involved by this. But to affirm
that God will not and cannot bring to pass his eternal purpose unless we pray,
is utterly erroneous, for the same God who has decreed the end has also decreed
that his end shall be reached through his appointed means, and one of these is
prayer. The God who has determined to grant a blessing, also gives a spirit of
supplication which first seeks the blessing.
The pulpits teach today that
we may twist God's arm through prayer. They say, "The possibilities and
necessity of prayer, its power and results, are manifested in arresting and
changing the purposes of God and in relieving the stroke of his power".
Such an assertion as this is a horrible reflection upon the character of the
Most High God, who "doeth according to his will
in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can
stay, his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?" (Dan. 4:35). There is no need whatever for God to
change. his designs or alter his purpose, for the all sufficient reason that
these were framed under the influence of perfect goodness and unerring wisdom.
Men may have occasion to alter their purposes, for in their short sightedness
they are frequently unable to anticipate what may arise after their plans are
formed. But not so with God, for he knows the end from the beginning. To affirm
that God changes his purpose is either to impugn his goodness or to deny his
eternal wisdom.
The books on prayer today
say, "The prayers of God's saints are the main source of power and
upheaval in heaven which Christ carries on his great work upon earth. The great
throes and mighty convulsions on earth are the results of these prayers. They
look for a great awakening upon earth, and here in America and they fail to recognize
this nation and the entire earth are doomed for the judgments of God. They say,
Earth is changed, revolutionized, angels move on more powerful, more rapid
wing, and God's policy is shaped as the prayers are more numerous, more
efficient". This is pure blasphemy.
In the first place, it
flatly denies Eph 3:11, which speaks of
God's having an "eternal purpose".
If God's purpose is an eternal one, then his "policy" is not being
"shaped" today. In the second place, it contradicts Eph. 1:11 which expressly declares that God "worketh all things after the counsel of his own will",
therefore it follows that, "God's policy" is not being
"shaped" by man's prayers. In the third place, such a statement as
the above makes the will of the creature supreme, for if our prayers shape
God's policy, then is the Most High subordinate to worms of the earth. Well
might the Holy Spirit ask through the apostle, "For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his
counselor?" (Rom. 11:34).
Such thoughts on prayer as we
have been citing are due to low, and inadequate conceptions of God himself. It
ought to be apparent that there could be little or no comfort in praying to a
God that was like the chameleon, which changes its color every day. What
encouragement is there to lift up our hearts to one who is in one mind
yesterday and another today? What would be the use of petitioning an earthly
monarch, if we knew he was so mutable as to grant a petition one day and deny
it another? Is it not the very unchangeableness of God which is our greatest
encouragement to pray? It is because he is "without variableness or shadow
of turning" we are assured that if we ask anything according to his will
we are most certain of being heard. Well did Luther remark, "Prayer is not
overcoming God's reluctance, but laying hold of his willingness."
And this leads us to offer a few remarks concerning the design of prayer. Why, has God appointed that we should pray? The vast majority of people would reply, In order that we may obtain from God the things which we need. While this is one of the purposes of prayer, it is by no means the chief one. Moreover, it considers prayer only from the human side, and prayer sadly needs to be viewed from the divine side. Let us look, then, at some of the reasons why God has bidden us to pray.