The Parables of Christ no. 20
The
Cursed Fig Tree
Rev. Brian Kocourek
Last evening we began to examine the parable from Luke
chapter 13 concerning the barren fig tree, and we came to the place where we
saw that this parable was actually enacted out by Jesus in the Gospel of
Matthew.
MATTHEW
We examined the fact that Jesus cursed this
particular tree although we found in several other verses of Scripture that He
and his companions knew that this was not the season for figs yet. Therefore we
were left with the question, “why did Jesus curse this particular fig tree?” And
we found our answer lay in the fact that this tree did possess that substance
by which all fig bearing trees possess. Therefore, it might as well be dead,
because it was of no use to any except for perhaps fire wood. Notice what we
find in the Book of Mark as we read this story.
MARK 11:12 ¶ And on the morrow, when they were come from
Bethany, he was hungry: 13 And
seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and
when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet. (Now as we stated last night, the author of this book
makes special mention here that it was
not yet the season for figs to be on the tree. We found out what Jesus was
actually looking for in the Tree, when we read of the author edersheim, and his
interest in this verse of scripture and this episode in the Life of our Savior.
“Around 1881, Edersheim was writing
about Jesus thrusting his hand into the branches of a fig tree and withdrawing
it without fruit. Putting a curse upon the tree. It occurred to Dr. Edersheim
that Jesus was tried and crucified in the spring, and that the fig tree did not
bear fruit until the early days of summer. Edersheim was certain he had caught
the Messiah in a poorly devised example. He put his pen away, packed his bags
and took a steamer from
Notice, Jesus was looking for evidence that this fig
tree was capable of bringing forth fruit. And
the Book of Jeremiah we read an allegory that God used to type
JEREMIAH 24:1 ¶ The LORD shewed me, and, behold, two baskets of figs were set before the
temple of the LORD, after that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away
captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, and the princes of Judah,
with the carpenters and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to
Babylon. 2 One
basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first ripe:
and the other basket had very naughty
figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad. 3 Then said the LORD unto me, What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said,
Figs; the good figs, very good; and the evil, very evil, that cannot be eaten,
they are so evil. 4 Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 5 Thus
saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Like
these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of
Judah, whom I have sent out of this
place into the land of the Chaldeans for
their good. 6 For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring
them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I
will plant them, and not pluck them up. 7 And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole
heart. 8 And as the evil figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so evil;
surely thus saith the LORD, So will I give Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his
princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, that remain in this land, and them that
dwell in the land of Egypt: 9 And I will
deliver them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth for their hurt,
to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt
and a curse, in all places whither I
shall drive them. 10 And I will send the sword, the famine, and the
pestilence, among them, till they be consumed from off the land that I gave
unto them and to their fathers.
In other words, we are to bear what we are ordained to
bear. Every seed must bring forth after its own kind or nature. Therefore, by
our nature we bear what we bear, and we can not bear anything other than what
we were made to bring forth. Therefore we must look at the fruit to know the significance
of this parable. And we must understand that God doesn’t go around cursing as a
whim. He gave very strong reasons for being cursed, and that is in Deuteronomy
chapter 28, the Book of the Two Laws. Now it is not as though God has two laws,
but the Two laws are the law of blessing and the law of cursing. And we find
that it all boils down to what we do with the Voice of God. If we hearken to
it, we are blessed, and that blessing will come up upon us, and before we are
fully aware of what is happening, it will take over our situation.
Brother Branham
taught us that the right mental attitude toward any Divine Promise of God will
bring it to pass. From his sermon God
in His Word 57-0323 P:35 You believe God is in His Word? The Bible
said that the Word of God is like a seed
that a man sowed. Now, you people here in
Now in the Book of Deuteronomy which is the Book of
two laws, God tells us the same thing. He tells us Blessings and cursings all
depend on our attitude. And how do you
suppose these blessings are given and the curse as well? Let’s read Deut 28:1-2 DEUTERONOMY
28:1
¶ And it shall come to pass, if thou
shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe [and]
to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God
will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: 2 And all these blessings
shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of
the LORD thy God and now
notice these blessings in contrast to verse 15 DEUTERONOMY 28:15 ¶ But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not
hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his
commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these
curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:
You will notice the blessing and the curse are both
dependent upon our response to the Word of the Lord. What we do with it is what
result we shall reap. If we plant it in our heart we shall reap all the
blessings from it. But if we say no to it, then we shall not only not receive the blessings, but we shall
receive the curse as well. And if you follow through and read the blessings,
for each blessing listed, there is a curse to match which is just the opposite
of the Blessing. Now, I believe that
this both the blessing and the curse is an anointing upon which you enter, and
not only do you enter into this anointing, but the anointing actually takes you
over as we see in these scriptures. The Blessings speak of life and growth and
abundance while the curse speaks of what life is there being drained out, dying
off and decaying, rotting, death. In fact we read in [Deut
28:45] 45
¶ Moreover all these curses shall come
upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed;
because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his
commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee: That the
curse will overtake thee until you are destroyed which is destruction taking
place. Now the word curse is a word which means to treat with contempt. And it
comes from a root word which means to be consecrated to. Therefore, anointed to
a certain thing. And that thing is destruction as we see in verse 45.
DEUTERONOMY 28:1
¶ And it shall come to pass, if thou
shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe [and]
to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God
will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: 2 And all these blessings
shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of
the LORD thy God as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the
commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways. …
and; if that thou hearken
unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe
and to do [them]: 14 And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I
command thee this day, [to] the right hand, or [to] the left, to go after other
gods to serve them.
Now, I want you to notice that for every blessing God
has promised and every thing or circumstance that we are to be blessed in, God
has also set to be cursed in those things. It all depends on what you do and
your attitude towards the voice of God.
DEUTERONOMY 28:15
¶ But it shall come to pass, if thou
wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his
commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these
curses shall come upon thee, and
overtake thee: The word
overtake is like when you are running a race and you don’t see the man coming
up from behind you and all of a sudden when it is too late he has passed you
and over taken you, or shall we say has taken over you and your life in the
case of blessings and cursings.
Notice, they shall come upon thee and overtake thee.
That means they take over, and you are sitting there in wonderment asking your
self either of two questions, How is it that I am so blessed? or how is it that
I am so cursed? You didn’t see it coming, and one day it has taken over your
life. And now your life is completely being controlled by either the blessings
of God or the curses of God.
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Blessed [shalt] thou [be] in the city, |
Cursed [shalt] thou [be] in the city, |
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blessed [shalt] thou [be] in the field |
cursed [shalt] thou [be] in the field. |
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Blessed [shall be] the fruit of thy body |
Cursed [shall be] the fruit of thy body |
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the fruit of thy ground |
The fruit of thy land, and all thy labors, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and
crushed always |
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the fruit of thy cattle |
Thine ox [shall be] slain before thine eyes, and thou shalt not eat thereof |
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the increase of thy kine |
the increase of thy kine |
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the flocks of thy sheep |
the flocks of thy
sheep shall be given unto thine enemies, and thou
shalt have none to rescue them |
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5 Blessed [shall
be] thy basket |
Cursed [shall be] thy basket |
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thy store |
thy store |
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Blessed [shalt] thou [be] when thou comest in |
Cursed [shalt] thou [be] when thou comest in, |
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blessed [shalt] thou [be] when thou goest out |
cursed [shalt] thou [be] when thou goest out. |
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The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: |
The LORD shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: |
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they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before
thee seven ways. |
thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth |
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The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy
storehouses |
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in all that thou settest thine hand unto |
The LORD shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, |
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he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee |
and the fruit of thy land, |
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The LORD shall establish thee an holy people unto himself |
and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me |
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And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of
thee. |
The LORD shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a
fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish. The LORD
shall bring thee, and thy king which thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation which neither
thou nor thy fathers have known; and there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone. 37 And thou shalt become an
astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all
nations whither the LORD shall lead thee |
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the LORD shall make thee plenteous in goods |
Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather [but] little
in; for the locust shall consume it. Thou shalt plant vineyards, and dress [them], but shalt neither drink [of]
the wine, nor gather [the grapes]; for the worms shall
eat them. 40 Thou shalt have olive trees
throughout all thy coasts, but thou shalt not anoint [thyself] with the oil; for thine olive shall cast [his fruit]. |
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in the fruit of thy
body |
And ye shall be left few in number Thy sons and thy daughters
[shall be] given unto another people Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but thou shalt not enjoy them; for they shall go into captivity
and thine eyes shall look, and fail [with longing] for them all the day long: and [there shall be] no might in thine hand |
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in the fruit of thy ground |
Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: thou shalt build an house, and thou shalt not dwell therein: thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not gather the grapes thereof.
|
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in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers to give
thee |
All thy trees and fruit of thy land shall the locust consume. |
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The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season |
LORD shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed |
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to bless all the work of thine hand |
thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only oppressed and
spoiled evermore, and no man shall save [thee]. |
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thou shalt lend unto many nations |
and thou shalt not lend to him |
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thou shalt not borrow |
He shall lend to thee, |
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the LORD shall make thee the head |
he shall be the head, |
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and not the tail |
and thou shalt be the tail |
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thou shalt be above only |
The stranger that [is] within thee shall get up above thee very high; |
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thou shalt not be beneath |
and thou shalt come down very low |
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The LORD shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it. |
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thy heaven that [is] over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is
under thee [shall be] iron |
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Also every sickness, and every plague, which [is] not written in the book
of this law, them will the LORD bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed |
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thy carcass shall be meat unto all fowls of the air, and unto the beasts of
the earth, and no man shall fray [them] away. 27 The LORD will smite thee with the botch of the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed. The LORD shall smite thee with
madness, and
blindness, and astonishment of heart: And thou shalt
grope at noonday, as the blind grope in darkness, thine ass
[shall be] violently taken away from before thy face, and shall not be restored to
thee:. |
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So that thou shalt be mad for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.
35 The LORD shall smite thee in the knees, and in
the legs, with a sore botch that cannot be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head |
We have gone off the chart by now, but let’s continue
to read the curses because with the blessings God was not so specific in detail
as to how you would be blessed in those areas of your life, family, and
possessions, and health, but in the curses God is very detailed as to how the
curses will come upon and overtake you, and so the Scripture gives us many,
many verses of detail concerning the curses. It would seem that there are many
more curses than there are blessings, just as the children of the desolate have
many more children than she that has a husband. And in this world there are
many more weeds than there is wheat, and so too the specifics of the curses are
manifold times the specific of the blessings as we shall see.
45 ¶ Moreover all these curses shall come upon
thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because
thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his
commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee: 46 And they shall be
upon thee for a sign and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever. 47 Because thou servedst not the LORD thy God
with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all [things];
48 Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the LORD shall send against
thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all [things]:
and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee. 49
The LORD shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth,
[as swift] as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not
understand; 50 A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the
person of the old, nor shew favour to the young: 51 And he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle,
and the fruit of thy land, until thou be destroyed: which [also] shall not
leave thee [either] corn, wine, or oil, [or] the increase of thy kine, or
flocks of thy sheep, until he have destroyed thee. 52 And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates,
until thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trustedst, throughout
all thy land: and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy
land, which the LORD thy God hath given thee. 53 And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own
body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the LORD thy God hath
given thee, in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall
distress thee: 54 [So that] the man [that is] tender among you, and very
delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his
bosom, and toward the remnant of his children which he shall leave: 55 So that
he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat:
because he hath nothing left him in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith
thine enemies shall distress thee in all thy gates. 56 The tender and delicate
woman among you, which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the
ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the
husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter, 57 And
toward her young one that cometh out from between her feet, and toward her
children which she shall bear: for she shall eat them for want of all [things]
secretly in the siege and straitness, wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee
in thy gates. 58 If thou wilt not (There’s
that one word not that satan
added to what God said, and notice how that one word comes back to haunt man. ) If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this
law that are written in this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious and
fearful name, THE LORD THY GOD; 59 Then the LORD will make thy plagues
wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, [even] great plagues, and of long
continuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance. 60 Moreover he will
bring upon thee all the diseases of
62, whereas ye were as the
stars of heaven for multitude; because thou wouldest not obey the voice of the
LORD thy God. 63 And it shall come to pass, [that] as the LORD rejoiced over
you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the LORD will rejoice over you to
destroy you, and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the
land whither thou goest to possess it. 64
And the LORD shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of
the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which
neither thou nor thy fathers have known, [even] wood and stone. 65 And among these nations shalt thou find no
ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the LORD shall give
thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind: 66 And
thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night,
and shalt have none assurance of thy life: 67In the morning thou shalt say,
Would God it were even! and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning!
for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the sight of
thine eyes which thou shalt see. 68 And the LORD shall bring thee into Egypt again
with ships, by the way whereof I spake unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more
again: and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen,
and no man shall buy [you]. 29:1¶ These
[are] the words of the covenant, which the LORD commanded Moses to make with
the children of
Now, remember that in the Book of Jeremiah we saw God type two types of figs to
two kinds of people in
John 1: 1 - 4, In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with
God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that
was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the
light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. notice verse 5 darkness does not
comprehend it. ( katalambano = to take eagerly, to seize upon and possess,
to apprehend and comprehend. Here we are talking about Life and it says,
that darkness will not seize upon it, they won't apprehend it.
Now always remember this, When ever this Bible speaks of a Bible
principle it will always speak of it in terms of Twins.
Cain and Abel, Blessings and
Cursings, corruptible and incorruptible,
Life and Death. And here in the Book of John as well as in 1 Peter we
see Life and death. Twins. Children of
light seek Life, others death.
In the Book of John
we see on the One hand children of the Light coming to the Light, but on the
other hand we see children of darkness fleeing from the Light.
Now, as we began with 1 Peter 1: 23 this morning, I want to focus on this thought of
corruptible vs. Incorruptible life seed.
Now our English word for
corruptible comes from the Latin Vulgate Corruptiare which is actually the
Latin word for vexation or curse. So when we are looking at this thought on
corruptible we can not fail to see the tie with the actual word curse. And
therefore incorruptible vs. Corruptible is the same as blessings and cursings.
So again we will study the effects of the Word of God
upon us. Life to those who receive it and death to those who do not. Blessings
to one and cursings to the other. Now, as we brought out in our study on faith
and the testing of our faith, the tests that God sends our way are actually a
blessing to us because they are a sign that he has already approved us. Can you
see that?
76 GOD'S PROVIDED PLACE WORSHIP
65-1128.1M Now, the
word Deuteronomy, the word itself means "two laws," the word
Deuteronomy. And God has two laws.
The two laws: one of them is disobedient
to the Word, and die; and the other one is obedience to the Word, and live. That's the two laws, and
Deuteronomy means those two laws. They have both been absolutely displayed to
us in the Scripture. One of them is death, the other one is Life; Life and
death. God deals only in Life, Satan only in death. And these was displayed to
the world publicly, openly before every eye, and there's no excuse for it. One
of them was displayed on Mount Sinai when the law was given, which condemned
the whole human race to death; the other one was give on Mount Calvary, that
brought the whole human race to Life, when the penalty was paid in Jesus
Christ. The two laws of Deuteronomy was fulfilled in these two great things.
Now, we covered this a week ago Wednesday night. We
examined Deuteronomy 28 where we find
blessings and cursings, Life and Death! To believe God's Word is Life and to
disbelieve is death. In Numbers 5 we see
the law of the jealous husband. If the
husband was away and when he returns he suspects his wife of being unfaithful,
he would take her to the priest who is also the judge, and the judge would give
here a potion to drink. If his suspicions were right, then after drinking this
drink the unfaithful wife would suffer in her body. Her belly would swell and
her thighs would rot. And she would surely die. But if she was innocent, then
she would be able to conceive a child which is a blessing from the Lord. So in
one instance it was death and the other brought forth Life. And notice, by
drinking the same drink.
In JOHN 7: 37 Jesus said, "If any man thirst,
let Him come unto me, and drink. " So from one cup comes forth Life and
Death. To drink is life to reject it is death.
Now, we know in Deuteronomy we have the Book of Two Laws which are
Blessings and cursings. And we know that both, blessing and cursing come forth
from the same Word. But our motive toward that word is what determines whether
we receive the blessing from it or the curse. Now, keep this in mind as we
examine further why Paul would ad this thought into his dealing with the faith
issue.
At thy
word 53-1204 P:50 You don't know how you'll get up out of
that chair, and get away from there tonight. See? You don't know how you're going
to do this, and how these other diseases are going to be healed, "But at
Thy Word, Lord, I'm going to let down the net.” At Thy word, Lord, I'm going to
rise up from here. I don't know how I'm going to do it, but at Thy Word,
Lord." That's it. Take God at His
Word, and God's spoken Word must, will materialize and produce just exactly
what It says It will. Listen. The
right mental attitude towards any Divine promise of God will bring it to pass.
I don't care what it is. If you plant, if you want corn, you plant corn,
water corn, leave corn alone. It'll produce corn. Is that right? Wheat will
produce wheat. The promise of salvation
will produce a Christian. The promise of the Holy Ghost will bring It to you.
The promise of Divine healing will make you well. Any Divine promise of God...
And the Bible said that the Word of God is a Seed. Is that right?
And I would like to
add, that if the Word of God is a seed then all it takes is for you to plant it
and water it and allow the Light of God’s Glorious presence to shine upon it,
and then watch it materialize right before your very eyes. It will come upon thee
and before you know it, it shall over take thee. It will take over your life…
Awakening
Jesus 63-0117 P:34 That's true. See, the mental attitude you
take towards it will bring... Now, the mind won't do it, but if you give that
attitude towards something's got life in it, then that life comes down and does
it. Not your mental attitude that only
brings you in the Presence of Him. That's what you do. Your mind... The
five senses is all right as long as they don't deny God. But when they go to
denying God, then you leave them alone. God controls them.
Just always remember, it’s not your mind that you want, but His mind,
“Let the mind that was in Christ be in you, and if you be any otherwise minded
God will reveal it to you.” Receive His Mind and if you say to this mountain be
moved and don’t doubt in your heart, but believe that whatsoever you shall ask
shall be given, then claim your children, claim your household, claim your job,
claim your inheritance, claim every Divine promise that God has given. YOU need
to confess it, and how do you confess it? You say God said it, I believe it and
that settles it.
Blind
Bartimaeus 56-0407 P:40 That's what people get who try to figure
out the Bible. You just believe it. When God says it, just say, "That's
right, God." What is confession? "Say the same thing." If I make
a confession, I say the same thing. If the Bible said, "I'm the Lord that
healeth thee," I say, "Amen. That's right. You're the Lord that
healed me.” Said, "He was wounded for our transgressions; with His stripes
we were healed.” I’d say, "Amen. He was wounded for my transgressions;
with His stripes I'm healed." That settles it. That's confession. Said,
"Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever." I will say the
same thing. That's all. That's confessing, confessing every word, not just part
of It. If part of It's wrong, all of It's wrong. But every Word is God's holy
eternal Word. And there's not one precept shall ever fail. It'll work, when
faith is put with It to work It with.
Let us pray.