WHO IS THIS MELCHISEDEC #28
December 10, 2000
Brian Kocourek
Last Sunday morning we Took our
text from from paragraph 50 of Brother Branham's sermon, Who is this Melchisedec, where brother Branham
said,
We focused out thoughts on
the breath of God as not just some air being exchanged from God to man, but
Godlife being given to man from God personally Himself. GENESIS 2:7 And the LORD God formed man [of] the dust of the ground, and
breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Now we know that God does
not breathe, as man must breathe to live. Because even before there was one
molecule of air to breathe God was. He is a spirit being. And as such, he is
not confined to the same laws which govern our mortal bodies. But rather we see
that when God breathed into Adam, we are told that God imparted to him Life.
Notice, ", God breathed into his nostrils the
breath of life; and man became a living soul." Notice, it was not air that God breathed into
his nostril, but the breath of Life. That word breath is nshamah
{nesh-aw-maw'} 1) breath or
spirit - breath (of God) - spirit (of
man)
Last week we examined this
thought of God breathed or inspired, and we ended our message speaking of the
pneuma of God. This morning I would like to continue with those thoughts and
try to get through our notes on the subject.
JOB 32:8 But [there is] a spirit in man: and the
inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding.
We already have our own
spirit, but that which we receive from God is His Spirit. We are born into this
world with a spirit which is allowed by God, but then if we are ordained to
Eternal Life, we also will receive the Spirit of God in us. God Life. Adam had already
a spirit before God breathed into Him the Breath of Life, the Holy Spirit. In Genesis 1:26 God had already made Adam a spirit
being.
GENESIS 1:26 ¶
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:
GENESIS 2:7 And the LORD God
formed man [of] the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the
breath of life; and man became a living soul.
But here, after making flesh for him, God breathed
into him and quickened Him to Eternal Life, giving him God Life. The Greek word pneuma is used 379 times in the New
Testament.
The Gospels =
103. The Acts = 70. Paul's Epistles = 157. All Other Epistles =
25. Rev = 24
It is
translated as Spirit, spirit, spiritual, ghost, life, wind. accompanied by the word hagion or holy it
occurs 93 times.
It is used of
God Himself, JOHN 4:24 God [is] a Spirit: and they that worship
him must worship [him] in spirit and in truth.
It is used of
Christ, I CORINTHIANS 15:45 And so it is written,
The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam [was made] a
quickening spirit.
It is used of
the operations produced by the Spirit, JOHN 3:6 That which is
born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye
must be born again. 8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the
sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is
every one that is born of the Spirit.
I CORINTHIANS
14:12 Even so ye, forasmuch as ye
are zealous of spiritual [gifts], seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the
church. Translated here as the word
gifts
BLASPHEMOUS
NAMES 62-1104M 33-3
The Church is the mystical Body of Christ, borned of the breath of God.
Did you get it? The Church of God is born of the breath of God. God breathed
breath into the nostrils, spiritually, of Adam, and he became a living soul.
Did you know the Pentecostals, or the true Pentecostal Church is borned of the
breath of God? Let me read you something just a minute, just on that. Let me
see just a minute. St. John, I believe, is where I'm going to, and we'll find
out whether the Church of God is or not. St. John... Let's see, I believe
that's about 16, 19, 20. All right, Here, I believe we'll have it right here.
All right. Let me read you and see whether the Church is born of the breath of
God or not, like Adam was in the beginning. Watch. And the same day at evening,
being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut and the disciples
were assembled for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst of them,
and said unto them, Peace be unto you. And when he had so said, he shewed...
them his hands and his side. Were... Then were the disciples glad, when they
saw the Lord, And Jesus--And then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you:
as my Father has sent me,... so send I you. Watch. The Father that sent Him
went in Him. And Jesus, when He sends a disciple, He goes in him.
Same one sent...?... And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and
said... Receive ye the Holy Ghost:... (Church borned of the breath of
God.) 34-1 When this statue is molded
itself up there in a condition, God's breath breathes upon them, "Receive the
Holy Ghost." Then you are a son of God. You can join anything you want to,
but you're borned into the--the Church of the living God, born by the breath
of God. God breathed upon them and said, "Receive ye [Brother
Branham makes a breathing sound--Ed.] the Holy Ghost." Oh,
my, there you are. Not "Come and join, put your name on there," and
with your soup suppers and all that goes with it. You join a lodge. You can
join a Methodist lodge, Baptist lodge, Presbyterian lodge, Catholic lodge, or a
Pentecostal lodge, anything you want to join, but you're joining a lodge. But
when you become a child of God, you're born by the breath of God. Amen. Better
leave it alone right there now. All right. 34-2 God's Life is also then in you. Jesus said (just a
minute)--Jesus said, "I am the Vine; ye are the branch." Now look.
What was their fuss with Jesus? Their fuss with Jesus, because He was a Man
making Himself God. He was God. God was in Christ. See? And He told them; He
said, "Don't look at Me. It's not Me; it's My Father, and He dwells in Me."
See? Now, they was looking at that little body that was borned of Mary. See?
That wasn't God; that was the Son of God, but God was in that body. It was God.
He said, "If I do not the works of My Father then condemn Me. But which
one of you can condemn Me of sin (unbelief of the Word)? Which word has God
spoke that hasn't been fulfilled in Me? (Sin is unbelief.) Which one of you
accuse Me of sin? (Sin is unbelief.) Show Me. If I do not the works of My
Father, then don't believe Me. But if I do the works of My... though you can't
believe Me, believe the works that I do for they testify." Otherwise,
"The Father's in Me, testifying of Himself," 'cause God was in Christ
reconciling the world to Himself. You get it? Well now, the same life that's in
the vine is also in the branch. How are you going to join in that? You can't.
HEBREWS
CHAPTER 6 57-0908E 208-254
Your old nature died (the nature of the world), and you become a new
creation. And your desires (that old life that had a beginning when God
breathed the breath into your nostrils when you were born), that life of carnal
nature died. And it had a beginning and it had an end, and it died and was done
away with forever (the old nature). And God came in with the new nature. Then
love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, peace, patience, and meekness,
and kindness, that entered and taken the place of malice, and temper, and
hatred, and--and emulation, strife, and all those things. It took its place,
when you passed from death unto Life. You get it real close now?
Melchisedec, pp. 52 Now, we find Him at the beginning,
His attributes. And now, you were with Him then. Then is when the
Book of Life comes into view. Now, we read over here in Revelations the
13th chapter, the 8th verse, that the beast that comes upon the earth in these
last days will deceive all those people on the earth whose names were not
written in the Lamb's Book of Life before the foundation of the world.
Now, let's look at this
scripture brother Branham is referring here to. REVELATION 13:8 And all that dwell
upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of
life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. 9
If any man have an ear, let him hear.
Brother Branham goes on to
say, Think of it. Before Jesus was ever born,
four thousand years before He came on earth, and several thousand years before
you come on earth, Jesus in God's mind died for the sins of the world, and the
Book of Life was made; and your name was put on that Book of Life before the
foundation of the world. That's the Bible truth. See? Your name was
ordained of God and placed on the Book of Life before the foundation of the
world. You were there in His attributes. You don't remember it, no, because
you're just a part of His life.
I would like to digress now
for a moment, and go back to that scripture in REVELATION 13:8 and read it again… And all that dwell
upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of
life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. 9 If any man have an
ear, let him hear.
Now, I want you to focus all
of your thoughts on what I am going to say next. I want you to notice that this
Scripture is a Bible prophecy that tells us that all, A.L.L., that's
"A" Double "L", that means EVERYONE,
except a small minority are going to be deceived. And the key to that small
minority is that they were in the thoughts of God and therefore in the Lambs
book of Life from the very beginning of that book, which was written before the
world was even framed.
Now, there is only one
"Book of Life", and yet there is a "book within a
book". The Book of life contains all who ever have lived or ever will
live, both God-seed and serpent-seed, but the Lambs
Book of Life is the Genesis chapter of the Book of Life. In it is
contained all the seed of God that ever will be. And if you notice very
carefully it is referred to as that book of life that was written before the
foundations of the world. Therefore, it is a book that contains the names of
all who were in the mind of God, in the Life pool of God so to speak. Notice in Revelations 13 the very specific
language used in describing this book of life that was written before the foundation
of the world. It is called the book of life of
the lamb and it speaks of an elect group of people that were in
the book of Life of the Lamb before the world was framed.
There are 16 scriptural
references to the Book of Life in the Bible. The first to mention this Book of
life was Moses, then David, a man after God's own heart, and Daniel the prophet
who saw the white throne in vision, and finally Malachi who mentioned it as a
Book of remembrance. Then in the New
Testament, we hear Jesus refer to it, then Paul mentions this book, and finally
Jesus again to John on the isle of Patmos.
EXODUS 32:30 ¶
And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people, Ye
have sinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto the LORD; peradventure I
shall make an atonement for your sin. 31 And Moses returned unto the LORD, and
said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold.
32 Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin--; and if not, blot me, I pray thee,
out of thy book which thou hast written. 33 And the LORD said unto Moses,
Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. 34 Therefore
now go, lead the people unto [the place] of which I have spoken unto thee:
behold, mine Angel shall go before thee: nevertheless in the day when I visit I
will visit their sin upon them. 35 And the LORD plagued the people, because
they made the calf, which Aaron made.
PSALMS 56:8 ¶ Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my
tears into thy bottle: [are they] not in thy book?
PSALMS 139:16 Thine eyes did
see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all [my members] were
written, [which] in continuance were fashioned, when [as yet there was] none of
them.
PSALMS 69:28 Let them be
blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.
PSALMS 87:5 And of Zion it
shall be said, This and that man was born in her: and the highest himself shall
establish her. 6 The LORD shall count, when he writeth up the people, [that]
this [man] was born there. Selah.
DANIEL 12:1 ¶ And at that time shall Michael stand up, the
great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be
a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation [even] to that
same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall
be found written in the book. 2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the
earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame [and]
everlasting contempt. 3 And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of
the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever
and ever.
MALACHI 3:16 Then they that
feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard
[it], and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the
LORD, and that thought upon his name. 17 And they shall be mine, saith the LORD
of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man
spareth his own son that serveth him. 18
Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked,
between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.
LUKE 10:19 Behold, I give
unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of
the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. 20 Notwithstanding in this
rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because
your names are written in heaven. 21 In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and
said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid
these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even
so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight. 22 All things are delivered to me of my Father: and no man knoweth
who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and [he] to
whom the Son will reveal [him].
PHILIPPIANS 4:3 And I intreat thee also, true yokefellow,
help those women which laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and
[with] other my fellowlabourers, whose names [are] in the book of life.
HEBREWS 10:7 ¶ Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of
the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.
REVELATION 3:5 He that
overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out
his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father,
and before his angels. 6 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the
Spirit saith unto the churches.
REVELATION
13:8 And all that dwell
upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of
life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
REVELATION 17:8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not;
and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they
that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book
of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was,
and is not, and yet is.
REVELATION
20:12 And I saw the
dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another
book was opened, which is [the book] of life: and the dead were
judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to
their works. 13 And the sea gave up the
dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in
them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 14 And
death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
15 And whosoever was not found
written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
REVELATION 21:23 And the city had
no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God
did lighten it, and the Lamb [is] the light thereof. 24 And the nations of them
which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do
bring their glory and honour into it. 25
And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be
no night there. 26 And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations
into it. 27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth,
neither [whatsoever] worketh abomination, or [maketh] a lie: but they which are
written in the Lamb's book of life.
REV 22:18 For I testify unto
every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall
add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in
this book: 19 And if any man shall take
away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his
part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and [from] the
things which are written in this book.
Now, we have read 16
Scriptures that specifically speak of the Book of Life and yet we see a
distinction is made between; "the Book of Life" in
which your name can be removed, and "the Lambs Book of Life", that
was written before the foundations of the world, in which only those names that
were in the Lambs book are those who will not be deceived by the devil.
Now, I would like to diagram
the book of Life and the Lambs Book of Life for you. If you can picture in your
minds in the very beginning, before even the earth was framed and the milky way
was set into the universe, there were a people, sons and daughters of the most
high God, who were yet in His thinking, and therefore in the Loins of His Mind.
It was at this time that God began to express Himself and wrote His First Book
in the heavens.
LUKE 10:20 Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that
the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are
written in heaven.
HEBREWS 12:23 To the general assembly and church of the
firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the
spirits of just men made perfect, 24
And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of
sprinkling, that speaketh better things than [that of] Abel. 25 See that ye
refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that
spake on earth, much more [shall not] we [escape], if we turn away from him
that [speaketh] from heaven:
ROMANS 1:20 For the invisible
things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood
by the things that are made, [even] his eternal power and Godhead; so that they
are without excuse:
Bullinger in His
Book "The Witness of the Stars" said, How were
His "invisible things," i.e., His plans, His purposes, and His
counsels, known since the creation of the world? We are told by the Holy Spirit
in Romans 10:18. Having stated in v. 17 that "Faith cometh by hearing and
hearing by the Word (the thing spoken, sayings) of God," He asks,
"But I say, Have they not heard? Yes, verily." And we may ask, How
have they heard? The answer follows--"Their sound went into all the earth
and their words (their teaching, message, instruction) unto the ends of the
world." What words? What instruction? Whose message? Whose teaching? There
is only one answer, and that is, THE HEAVENS! This is settled by the fact that
the passage is quoted from Psalm 19, [one] part of which is occupied with the
Revelation of God written in the Heavens, and the part with the Revelation of
God written in the Word.
PSALMS 19:1 ¶ To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The
heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. 2
Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. 3 [There is] no speech nor language, [where]
their voice is not heard. 4 Their line is gone out through all the earth, and
their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the
sun, 5 Which [is] as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, [and] rejoiceth as
a strong man to run a race. 6 His going
forth [is] from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and
there is nothing hid from the heat thereof. 7
¶ The law of the LORD [is]
perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD [is] sure, making wise
the simple. 8 The statutes of the LORD [are] right, rejoicing the heart: the
commandment of the LORD [is] pure, enlightening the eyes. 9 The fear of the
LORD [is] clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD [are] true [and]
righteous altogether. 10 More to be
desired [are they] than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey
and the honeycomb. 11 Moreover by them is thy servant warned: [and] in keeping
of them [there is] great reward.
It is also interesting that
in the book of job considered to be the oldest book written in the bible, and
the heavens and signs of the zodiac are mentioned by name as well as the names
of several stars.
JOB 16:19 Also now, behold, my
witness [is] in heaven, and my record [is] on high.
JOB 38:1 ¶ Then the LORD answered Job out of the
whirlwind, and said, 2 Who [is] this that darkeneth counsel by words without
knowledge? 3 Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and
answer thou me. 4 ¶ Where wast thou
when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.
5 Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched
the line upon it? 6 Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid
the corner stone thereof; 7 When the morning stars sang together, and all the
sons of God shouted for joy? 8 Or
[who] shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, [as if] it had issued out
of the womb? 9 When I made the cloud
the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddlingband for it, 10 And brake up for it my decreed [place],
and set bars and doors,
JOB 38:33 Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst
thou set the dominion thereof in the earth?
ISAIAH 40:25 To whom then will
ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One. 26 Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who
hath created these [things], that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth
them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that [he is] strong in
power; not one faileth.
PSALMS 147:4 He telleth the
number of the stars; he calleth them all by [their] names 5 Great [is] our
Lord, and of great power: his understanding [is] infinite.
God not only numbered the
stars, but gave them names as well. And remember, God does not do anything in
vain. Brother Branham taught us that every name has a specific meaning.
Therefore God was very purposeful in laying out the stars and the planets, and
the entire universe.
In Job 9:9:we read, "Which maketh Arcturus (RV the Bear), Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south." (Marg., Heb., Ash, Cesil, and Cimah.)
Job 38:31,32:
"Canst thou bind the sweet influences (RV
cluster) of the Pleiades (marg., the seven stars, Heb. Cimah), or loose the bands
of Orion (marg. Heb. Cesil)? Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth (marg., the
twelve signs. RV, "the twelve signs": and marg., the signs of the
Zodiac) in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons (RV, the Bear
with her train; and marg., Heb., sons)."*
Isaiah 13:10: ..."the stars of heaven and the constellations
thereof"...
Amos 5:8: "Seek him that maketh the seven stars (RV, the Pleiades)
and Orion."
Then we have the term "Mazzaroth,"
Job 38:32, and "Mazzaloth," 2 Kings 23:5. The
former in both versions is referred to the Twelve Signs of the Zodiac, while
the latter is rendered "planets," and in margin, the twelve signs
or constellations.
Others are referred to by
name. The sign of "Gemini," or the Twins, is given as the name of a
ship: Acts 28:11, Castor & Pollux.
The constellation of "Draco," or the Dragon (between the Great and Little Bear), is referred to in Job 26:13: "By His Spirit He hath garnished the heavens; His hand hath formed the crooked serpent.
Bullinger also states, Thus we see that the Scriptures are not silent as to the great antiquity of the signs and constellations. If we turn to history and tradition, we are at once met with the fact that the Twelve Signs are the same, both as to the meaning of their names and as to their order in all the ancient nations of the world. The Chinese, Chaldean, and Egyptian records go back to more than 2,000 years BC. Indeed, the Zodiacs in the Temples of Denderah and Esneh, in Egypt, are doubtless copies of Zodiacs still more ancient, which, from internal evidence, must be placed nearly 4,000 BC, when the summer solstice was in Leo.
Josephus hands down to us what he gives as the traditions of his own nation, corroborated by his reference to eight ancient Gentile authorities, whose works are lost. He says that they all assert that "God gave the antediluvians such long life that they might perfect those things which they had invented in astronomy." Cassini commences his History of Astronomy by saying "It is impossible to doubt that astronomy was invented from the beginning of the world; history, profane as well as sacred, testifies to this truth." Nouet, a French astronomer, infers that the Egyptian Astronomy must have arisen 5,400 BC!
Ancient Persian and Arabian traditions ascribe its invention to Adam, Seth, and Enoch. Josephus asserts that it originated in the family of Seth; and he says that the children of Seth, and especially Adam, Seth, and Enoch, that their revelation might not be lost as to the two coming judgments of Water and Fire, made two pillars (one of brick, the other of stone), describing the whole of the predictions of the stars upon them, and in case the brick pillar should be destroyed by the flood, the stone would preserve the revelation (Book 1, chapters 1-3).
This is what is doubtless meant by Genesis 11:4, "And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower whose top may reach unto heaven." The words "may reach" are in italics. There is nothing in the verse which relates to the height of this tower. It merely says, and his top with the heavens, i.e. with the pictures and the stars, just as we find them in the ancient temples of Denderah and Esneh in Egypt. This tower, with its planisphere and pictures of the signs and constellations, was to be erected like those temples were afterwards, in order to preserve the revelation, "lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth."
This is
corroborated by Lieut.-Gen. Chesney, well known for his learned researches and
excavations among the ruins of Babylon, who, after describing his various
discoveries, says, "About five miles S.W. of Hillah, the most remarkable
of all the ruins, the Birs Nimroud of the Arabs, rises to a height of
153 feet above the plain from a base covering a square of 400 feet, or almost
four acres. It was constructed of kiln-dried bricks in seven stages to
correspond with the planets to which they were dedicated: the lowermost black,
the colour of Saturn; the next orange, for Jupiter; the third red, for Mars;
and so on. * These stages were surmounted by a lofty tower, on the summit of
which, we are told, were the signs of the Zodiac and other astronomical
figures; thus having (as it should have been translated) a representation of
the heavens, instead of 'a top which reached unto heaven.'"
ATTITUDE AND
WHO IS GOD? 50-0815 E-18 What's He doing? Writing His
first Bible. Notice, the human beings once looked towards the heavens. And He
puts all the stars in the heavens, the zodiac, starting off with the Virgin, ending
up with Leo the Lion. First coming of Christ, the second coming. Came by the
Virgin, come again as the Lion of the tribe of Judah. There He puts the first
Bible. Oh, back in the days of--ancient days, they looked at those things.
Today, He's got His Bible wrote here. But He wrote It in the heavens, that man
would look up and realize that Jehovah the Creator lived above. And then I can
see Him, He looked at that...
ABRAHAM'S
COVENANT CONFIRMED 61-0210 E-37 Now, I believe that God had
three Bibles, if you'll watch. Now, the first Bible He wrote was in the
heavens, the zodiac. Now, I know you can get off on deep ends of that, and you
get off on deep ends of anything else. But truly, if you notice the zodiac, how
did it start? It starts, the first in the zodiac is the virgin. The last in the
zodiac is Leo the lion, the first coming and the second coming of Christ: once
through the virgin, next as the lion of the tribe of Judah. You catch the cross
fishes (See?), that's the cancer age that we're going through. Everything in
the skies declares God. Certainly does. And God's people is to look up,
realizing that God is not on earth, but He's in heaven. He wrote the first
Bible. E-38 Now, the second thing He wrote, Enoch, in the times of the
pyramid, down in Egypt. I've been there and perhaps many men in here and women
has been there. You notice those pyramids, we couldn't reproduce them. They're
too great, too gigantic. They're so geographically in the center of the earth,
no matter where the sun is, there's never shade around them. And they got tons
and tons and tons of boulders up there, that they argued about that once. We
used to debate it in school, how they built it. Well, the fellow of my point
said, "They rolled it up." "Why," I said, "that's--that's...
Why, they couldn't." I know you can't take a boxcar and unload it and set
it out on the railroad track and put enough men around it to push it. It ain't
unloaded, you can't do it. I've seen it tried too many times. You can only put
one line of men. The next line has to push against the next man's back. How you
going to push a--a boulder up yonder, a half a city block in the air that would
weigh a thousand tons. What they had then was the atomic power, just like they
got now, and they built it. And that's what they shook the world out of its
orbit, 'cause away from the sun throwed it sideways and brought the rains
and--and destroyed the world by water. This time they're going to throw the
same thing right straight back into the sun and burn it up again. Just as
perfect as it can be. E-39 But notice in building the pyramid... Now,
watch this. You got a dollar bill in your pocket? I--I think I got one. So if
you notice on the back of your dollar bill, why have they got the pyramid says,
"The great seal?" You ever notice on your American dollar? Uh-huh.
The great seal... Notice on that pyramid also, how it starts at the bottom and
keeps coming up like this, minority, minority. And did you notice, the
capstone's not even on it. Neither is the pyramid capped. Why? The capstone was
rejected, Jesus Christ, the Head of it, exactly right.
Now, notice,
in the Lutheran age, what did we live? Justification, way down here at the
bottom, plating the foundation stones, Luther. Wesley, we believed in
sanctification, to come into the minority. Pentecost, still the baptism of the
Holy Ghost, up in the minority. But watch, the church that goes right out to
the end of it, right out at the end of that, that church is going to have to be
so perfectly like the ministry of Jesus Christ, till when that stone comes, it
sets right smack in the groove. Oh, hallelujah, oh. E-40 If you can catch it and know what I'm
talking about... The very ministry that Jesus Christ was doing here on earth,
when it comes back, the very same ministry at Pentecost will not have to widen
itself out in organization, but shape itself up in Christ until the headstone
and the church will fit one to the other. And them is so cemented, till you
can't even take a razor blade and go around and find a crack where they were
put together. And that's how the church is got to come, so much like Christ.
And look what we got to do then. Cut away and circumcise and chop off, and form
and molded into the image of Jesus Christ until that church and the cap comes right
smack together. Look at my hand on a shadow on the wall. When it's away from
me, it's scattered out. As it comes, it becomes more closer. There's not a
great big fingers, it's getting smaller and smaller and smaller, getting
darker, darker, and darker, until the shadow, the negative and the positive
becomes one. And that's the way it is in the coming, the church has got to
shape itself till it hasn't got a spot or wrinkle in it. Amen. There is that
second Bible.
E-41
The third one's wrote on paper because this is that great educational
age that we're living in. And neither--none of them contradicts one another. So
you see, the great solar system speaks of Christ. Everything that you see
speaks of Christ if you just look at it. Look at the church today in its
condition, weak, backslidden, gone back into the world. That speaks of Christ,
exactly what He said. He'd stand at the door and knock. And that--put outside,
organized Him out, and set Him outside, their creeds and so forth took Him out.
But He still stands at the door and knocking and said, "Everyone I love, I
chasten and rebuke." That's right. Trying to cut them down and bring them
to a spot to where when the great Capstone comes, the ministry that's in the
church when the Capstone is come right straight together like a magnet. They
just seal right in together. Oh, God, help us to have... It'll be there; don't
worry; it'll be there. He said it would be there. So let's us get ourselves to
meet that Cornerstone. Let us love and project our lives in Christ and be
sincere and stay with the Word, until when He comes we just fit right in like
the glove over the hand, like that, with Him. Oh, that's the church that God's
a waiting for. Yes, sir
Dr. Budge, of the British Museum wrote (Babylonian Life and History, and on page 36). He says, "It must never be forgotten that the Babylonians were a nation of stargazers, and that they kept a body of men to do nothing else but report eclipses, appearances of the moon, sunspots, etc., etc."
"Astronomy, mixed with astrology, occupied a large number of tablets in the Babylonian libraries, and Isaiah 47:13 refers to this when he says to Babylon, 'Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now thy astrologers (viewers of the heavens), the star-gazers, the monthly prognosticators stand up.' The largest astrological work of the Babylonians contained seventy tablets, and was compiled by the command of Sargon of Agade thirty-eight hundred years before Christ! It was called the 'Illumination of Bel.'" "Their observations were made in towers called 'ziggurats'" (p. 106).
"They built observatories in all the great cities, and reports like the above [which Dr. Budge gives in full] were regularly sent to the King" (p. 110).
"They were able to calculate eclipses, and had long lists of them." "They found out that the sun was spotted, and they knew of comets." "They were the inventors of the Zodiac." (?) There are fragments of two (ancient Babylonian) planispheres in the British Museum with figures and calculations inscribed upon them. "The months were called after the signs of the Zodiac" (p. 109).
We may form some idea of what this "representation of the heavens" was from the fifth "Creation Tablet," now in the British Museum. It reads as follows:
"Anu [the Creator] made excellent the mansions [i.e. the celestial houses] of the great gods [twelve] in number [i.e. the twelve signs or mansions of the sun].
The stars he placed in them. The lumasi [i.e. groups of stars or figures] he fixed.
He arranged the year according to the bounds [i.e. the twelve signs] which he defined.
For each of the twelve months three rows of stars [i.e. constellations] he fixed.
From the day when the year issues forth unto the close, he marked the mansions [i.e. the Zodiacal Signs] of the wandering stars [i.e. planets] to know their courses that they might not err or deflect at all."
Coming down to less ancient records: Eudoxos, an astronomer of Cnidus (403 to 350 BC), wrote a work on Astronomy which he called Phainomena. Antigonus Gonatas, King of Macedonia (273-239 BC), requested the Poet Aratus to put the work of Eudoxus into the form of a poem, which he did about the year 270 BC. Aratus called his work Diosemeia (the Divine Signs). He was a native of Tarsus, and it is interesting for us to note that his poem was known to, and, indeed, must have been read by, the Apostle Paul, for he quotes it in his address at Athens on Mars's Hill. He says (Acts 17:28) "For in Him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring." Several translations of this poem have been made, both by Cicero and others, into Latin, and in recent times into English by E. Poste, J. Lamb, and others. The following is the opening from the translation of Robert Brown, jun.:
"From Zeus we
lead the strain; he whom mankind
Ne'er leave unhymned: of Zeus all public ways,
All haunts of men, are full; and full the sea,
And harbours; and of Zeus all stand in need.
We are his offspring: and he, ever good and mild to man,
Gives favouring signs, and rouses us to toil.
Calling to mind life's wants: when clods are best
For plough and mattock: when the time is ripe
For planting vines and sowing seeds, he tells,
Since he himself hath fixed in heaven these signs,
The stars dividing: and throughout the year
Stars he provides to indicate to man
The seasons' course, that all things duly grow," etc., etc..