Satan’s
Eden no 53
Twins
part 3- Definitions
June 26, 2022
Brian
Kocourek, Pastor
Last week
we spoke on the three main principles that brother Branham taught and how
important they are to weave into every sermon we preach. As I mentioned, brother Vayle had told me that
when I put together a sermon to always show the Alpha and Omega principle,
Vindication, ie God has a One Man Message through a one man Messenger, and
parallelism of Scripture, which is also known via other titles; ie.
Blessing vs
cursing, righteousness vs unrighteousness, light vs darkness,
children of light vs children of darkness, elect to righteousness vs
elect unto condemnation, life vs death, revelation vs law, God’s
True ministers of light vs a Satan’s false ministers of light, Good tree
vs Evil tree, Etc.
The list
of parallelisms is quite replete throughout Scripture, but all can be summed up
in the study of the Two Laws of Deuteronomy 28,
where the first 14 verses speak of the blessings that shall come upon you and
overtake you by simply taking heed, and hearkening to the voice of the Lord our
God which is His Word. Notice 7 x 2 is 14, and the entire blessings of God are
complete which is 7 and doubly lessed times 2. 7x2 comprises the entire
blessings of God.
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.
The last 53
verses from 15 through 68 contain the curses that will come upon those
and over take those who do not hearken, nor take heed to the voice of the Lord
our God.
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: And then we see
in these 53 verses the entire curses
that will come upon and take over the lives of those who
will not pay close attention, nor hearken to the voice of the Lord our God.
So you see
the main thread running through both the Blessing and cursing is and your
attitude you take towards it. That is what he Voice of the Lord our God is,
it’s His Word.
Brother
Branham said in his sermon Seed shall not be heir
65-0429B P:25 Now, if you'll take Saint John
5:24, listen to this, "He that heareth My Word, and believeth on Him that sent Me,
has Everlasting Life." Now, how would
that be so much different from many of our theologies? Now, I could walk out
here and say to a drunkard, "Do you believe?""Sure."A
man with another man's wife, "Do you believe?""Sure.""Did
you set in the meeting last night to hear the Word?""Sure.""You
believe It?""Sure." He's just saying that.
But the original interpretation of this Word, "he
that understandeth My Word, and will believe on Him that sent Me... He that understands," that is to who It's made known
to. Jesus said, "No man can come to Me except My Father has
drawed him. And all that My Father hath given Me, they will come. My sheep, My
doves, hear My Voice. A stranger they will not follow." And what is the Voice of God?
Is the Word of God.
What's any
man's voice but his word? It's the Word of God; they'll hear the Word
of God.
Notice he asks the question, And what is the Voice of God?
and then he answers, Is
the Word of God. What's any man's voice but his word? It's
the Word of God; they'll hear the Word of God.
And the
whole parable of Matthew 13:10-17 tells
us that some are ordained to hear and understand while others are not.
Matthew
13:10 And
the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? 11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the
kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. 12 For whosoever is made in such a way as to echo,
to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath
not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. 13 Therefore speak I to
them in parables: because they seeing
see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. 14 And in them is
fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see,
and shall not perceive: 15 For this people's heart
is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of
hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should
understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should
heal them. 16 But blessed are your
eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. 17 For verily I say unto
you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have
not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and
have not heard them. 18 Hear ye therefore the
parable of the sower. 19 When any one heareth the word of the kingdom,
and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in
his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side. 20 But he that received
the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with
joy receiveth it; 21 Yet hath he not root in himself, but
dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the
word, by and by he is offended. 22 He also that received
seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world,
and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. 23 But he that received
seed into the good ground is he that
heareth the word, and understandeth
it; which also beareth fruit,
and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some
thirty. 24 Another parable put he forth unto them,
saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which
sowed good seed in his field:
You know
we have millions who will go to some godless school to get their understanding,
but won’t set two minutes in Church to get God’s understanding. And some say,
“you don’t have to understand it, you just have to believe it.” And I think
that is a cop out, because how can you believe what you d not understand? And
how are you going to justify that in light of all these scriptures that speak
of a people who do understand are the ones who will receive the promises of
God. Course if you do not have the Holy Ghost you must believe unto receiving
it. But once you receive it you will understand the things of God.
But one side
shows the blessing that come upon those who hearken to the Voice of the Lord our God
while the parallel side shows the curses that come upon those who will not take
heed nor hearken to the Voice of the Lord our God. It is that simple. Hearken to the Word
of God and Live, or do not hearken to the Word of God and die.
Your reward lays in your lap this morning, my brothers and sisters. Which
reward will you will receive? Blessings from God, or cursing. And it all depends
on your attitude toward God’s Word.
From his sermon Time of decision
59-0418 P:18 brother Branham said, “And that's what you've got to do tonight. You've
got to make up your own mind. You can't take the mind of what
somebody else has said. It's going to be your attitude towards the message that you hear.
You can't take what... If the doctors turns you down. He said you're going to
die...Now, you've either got to believe what he said... The mother says if you
go down to that Angelus Temple and get mixed up with a lot of that stuff they
got there on baptism of the Holy Spirit and all this religion, why, you're
going to lose your mind. Maybe she belongs in some of the great societies here.
Or maybe your father discourage you. But you, as an individual, have to make up your own mind.
It's not what anybody else says, it's what you think when you hear the message
that Christ heals the sick. It's your own attitude your decision.
Queen of the south 60-1127E
P:34 The promise of the Holy Ghost is an assurance to you that you'll get It
if you receive it that way. It depends on your attitude towards the Word. The
Word is not the paper; it's just a Book, but it's Christ made manifest
on paper. That's what it is. God... "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God, and the Word was made flesh, and dwelled among us." See?
And His Word's are Spirit
and Life. We just receive His Word just like it was He
Himself. When I see His promise to me, that's Christ; I
embrace It. He can't lie. To me that's exactly the truth. See? I might not
know how to take a hold of It, but It's the Truth, and I hold right with It
because It's Christ to me.
Too many
people think they are going in because they have a good pastor, or they sat
under a good teacher, or because they believe God sent a prophet to this age. And
the teacher might even be the best teacher, yet that has not one thing to do
with you. It is true there is something about where you go to church and who
teaches you, but if you do not have the internal teacher, which is the Holy
Spirit, it won’t make one bit of a difference what church you attend or who
teaches you. But if you d have the Holy Spirit in you, what church you attend
and who teaches you will have great benefits to what reward you receive.
Hebrews Chapter 3 - 57-0901M There's something about where you go, what
church you go to, and what teacher
teaches you. Do you know that? It’s got something to it. Therefore, we ought to seek out the very best that we
can find, so we're getting the best; not because it's sociable and so
forth, but the real Bible teaching.
Now, it is
important to attend church where the Word of God is being taught as we just
read above where brother Branham said there
is something about where you go and who teaches you. But most people want to be entertained and so they seek out a church
with a lot of music, so they can worship, instead of seeking out a church that
really teaches the Word of God.
Jesus, in speaking
to a Gentile in John 4:23 said, “the Gentile worships what He knows not”, and then
Jesus went on to say, 23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the
true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24 God is a Spirit: and they
that worship him must worship
him in spirit and in truth.
And from the Church Age Book
Chapter 4 - The Smyrnaean Church Age P:109 brother Branham
said, “Now when
God is silent we had better be silent. But where He has spoken we had
better speak, too, and say what He has already said.”
Now, that in
itself voids the “only push play” doctrine. Read it again, … “Now when God is
silent we had better be silent. But where He has spoken we had better
speak, too, and say what He has already said.
Then brother
Branham goes on to say, … “He told us the evidence, or what would happen after being
baptized with the Holy Ghost was that we would have the Teacher come and teach
all truth. But that Teacher was an INSIDE teacher, not an outside teacher.
If the Spirit wasn't inside, you wouldn't hear the truth and
receive it by revelation if
you heard it every moment of the day. That was the
sign of the indwelling Spirit in the days of Paul. Those who were filled with the
Holy Ghost heard the Word, received it and lived by it. Those
who did not have the Spirit heard it only as carnal men, put a wrong
interpretation on it and went into sin.
So you see that
you can set under the best teacher for the age you live and still miss it,
unless you have the inside teacher to teach you so you can understand what is
being said, because, if you do not understand what is taught then you do not
have the same spirit as the Holy Ghost who is teaching through the teacher.
From his sermon 63-0120M - The Voice Of God
In This Last Days 26 brother Branham said, “And, today, one reason that the church is in
the condition that it’s in, is because there is so many voices, so many
other voices to attract the church from the Voice of God, till it’s very doubtful that
many would hear the Voice of God though It spoke right in their midst.
They perhaps
wouldn’t even understand It, because It would be a foreign thing to them.
They have got themselves so much centered on the voices of the day!
And from the Church Age Book
Chapter 4 - The Smyrnaean Church Age P:110 In every age, (and
every age is the age of the Holy Ghost for the true believer)--I say, in every
age the evidence was the same. Those who had the Spirit, the Teacher,
heard the Word, and that Spirit in them took the Word and taught it
(revealed it) to them; and they were of the group that heard the messenger and his
message and took it and lived it.
So when he
says there are so many voices, he is saying there are so many who are not
saying what the Holy Spirit taught through the Prophet Messenger. He is not
saying there can only be one voice saying it, but he is saying there is only
one Word of God.
From the Church Age Book
Chapter 4 - The Smyrnaean Church Age P:140 In every age we
have exactly the same pattern. That is why
the light comes through some God-given messenger in a certain area, and then from that messenger there
spreads the light through
the ministry of others who have been faithfully taught. But of
course all those who go out don't always learn how necessary it is to speak
ONLY what the messenger has spoken.
(Remember, Paul warned the people to say only what he said, I Corinthians 14:37, "If any man think himself to be a prophet or
spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments
of the Lord. What? came the Word of God out from you? or came it unto you
only?") They add here, or take away there, and soon the message is no longer
pure, and the revival dies down.
How careful we must be to hear ONE voice,
for the Spirit has but one
voice which is the
voice of God.
Paul warned them to say what he said, even as Peter
did likewise. He warned them that EVEN HE (PAUL) could not change one word of what he had given by
revelation. Oh, how important it is to hear the voice of
God by way of His messengers, and then say what has been
given them to say to the churches.
Now, this
takes us to the study of “Twins” or what brother Branham called “The Two Vines”
The
doctrine of Twins is not well received among the so called Christian world
today, because it does not speak well of the masses of humanity that live in
the world today who call themselves Christians, but by their life they are
anything but Christ Like.
After all,
Paul said in his Epistle to the Galatians, "Many more are the
children of the desolate than she which has a husband." (This
meaning: The bastard born, outnumber the genuine born). And so has it been the
case throughout the history of the church. The religious, yet unsaved, have
always controlled the church. One need only to look at every revival that has
sprang forth throughout church history to know this is true.
Then why would we think anything
different would spring forth from the revival
we have seen in this last hour? Why would we think that the So called Message
churches would be any different. When a vindicated prophet of God said there
are three kinds of believers in every church, we would anyone not believe him?
From his sermon What
shall we do with Jesus 64-0126 96 brother
Branham said, “And, today, Pentecost has organized and set
right down like they did; it's exactly
the same thing. And the Word's moving on,
and It's moving right away from them.
That's exactly right, 'cause we get so stiff and so starchy. We let our churches get in any kind of
condition, go right on. Long as we got members, that's all is necessary,
'cause we got more than we ever had." We blow about that. Let me tell you
something that's an old proverb, that, "The devil counts his crowd, but God weighs His."
That's true too yet today. God weighs you by His Word, see if you're found wanting or
not. I don't care about
crowds, how many's, how unpopular It is. It's God's Word being made
manifest for this hour. Exactly right. I don't care about crowds, and
who comes and who doesn't. It's God's Word's at stake, like it was there in
Pilate's judgment hall. Weigh It, and see what we have found, where we're found
wanting. Yes, sir. We believe that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today,
and forever.
Therefore
doctrine of twins actually comes forth from the true and complete understanding
of Election and Predestination. You cannot fully understand, nor appreciate the
doctrine of predestination and election, until you understand there are two
parts to the equation. There is a true vine, and there is a false vine.
There is an Election
to glory, and an election to condemnation. Therefore, we will
address both sides of Election as we present go further into this study.
In the
Bible. the doctrine dealing with “Two Vines”, was set forth first of all by
Jesus Christ Himself. Then the Apostle's Paul, Peter, John, James and Jude also
speak of this doctrinal understanding of Election. Last but not least, God's
End-Time Prophet William Branham restored this doctrinal truth in this
hour.
We know that God wrote His first
Book in the heavens. Therefore, the 3rd
sign of the Zodiac is “TWINS”. It represents 2 children. We know this
constellation as Gemini. Pollux is the brightest of the
Two stars, Castor is the second brightest. We also know that ancient mythology was a
perversion of the True Doctrine which God established to reveal Himself. Thus,
in Mythology these Twins known as Hercules (the earth born son of
God) and Mercury (the light bearer or messenger of light).
Throughout
this study, we will find the following attributes and characteristics found in
the doctrine of the Two-Vines and each will be linked to a more exhaustive
study: Since this Doctrine deals with so many aspects of the Godhead and the
plan of Redemption, I feel it is best not to lump the entire study together
into one gigantic work, but rather, present the doctrine of TWINS in 4 more parts
beginning with DEFINITIONS, then moving onto SOURCE, and from
there we will study how this life is propagated through SEED, and then
identify the characteristics of the life or nature in each SEED. Our Last Study will be the OUTCOME or DESTINATION
of each seed.
We shall begin this study of Twins by first
examining 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 whose 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 counsellor? 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 forever.
Amen.
Now, in order for anyone to understand the things of
God such as predestination, election, and foreknowledge of God, they must first
receive the holy Spirit, or they wil never understand the things of God. This
is what the Apostle Paul teaches in 1 Corinthians 2
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 (God’s Spirit, for there is only one THE SPIRIT and
that is THE SPIRIT of God) So we see that God’s
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 (or in the same manner) the things of
God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God
knows.
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.
Thus the theological mind of man says, 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
choose right, 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 there understanding is wrong to begin with and fall into error.
Years ago I attended a seminars of the greatest
Apologist in the minds of the Fundamentalists. He is considered one of their
most brilliant scholars. His name is Dr. Norman Geisler and
in his seminar which I attended, he placed Predestination this way; by using a
story he said.
“If you were up
on top of a building looking down and saw two cars heading toward the same
intersection, and based upon their speed and distance from the intersection you
knew they were going to crash, would you be responsible for the crash?
Well, he says, “that
is how predestination works. God knowing all things, knows
who will and who will not choose Him and so He doesn't shove you through a tube
and then hold you responsible. He just knows your end from the beginning.”
Now, that might give you a warm fuzzy feeling about
God, but it doesn’t hold up in the court of God's Word. In order to
believe this you must be willing to throw out entire passages of Scripture and
you must be willing to believe that man is capable on his own of making a
correct choice.
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,
or destiny. It
means “To mark out before hand, your destiny. Therefore,
predestination
is the path you are destined to take.
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
here that we did not choose Him first, He chose us, and our love toward him, and acceptance of
Him, is only in response to His choice.
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. Therefore,
if this is not true, it is a lie, and we must rip it out of our Bible. And if
this passage is in error, then what else is in error. See what a sticky mess
you end up when you turn down just one thought from God’s Word? 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, because 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.
From Brother Branham's sermon Divine
healing 54-1219M P:49 he
made it clear that our election is sovereign and left to the choice of God and
not ourselves.
He said, “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
I hope you are seeing him teaching the parallelism of Scripture 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, (fully equipped and full maturity) be thus minded:
and if in anything 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 his
destiny if he tried. God said, “For this very reason
you were born.”
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 are destined to believe. That is our destiny. Then
those who are not ordained to Life will not believe, and that is there destiny,
no matter how hard they may try like Esau. 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:”
Ephesians 1:4 ‘According as he hath chosen us in him before the
foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without
blame before him 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,
I know that some denominations teach that the church is elect, but not the
individuals in the church. And that is completely unscriptural seeing God spoke
of several persons by name and spoke of their destiny, even unbelievers like
Cyrus whom God spoke of by name in the Book of Isaiah 158 years before he was even
born.
Isaiah
44:28 That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure(that
speaks of future tense) even saying to
Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be
laid.
And
when he came in and conquered Babylon, Daniel knew the Scripture and set his
face for Israel to be set free to return home to rebuild the Temple as we see
in Daniel
chapter 9 concerning
the restoration of the Temple. Cyrus had become King at that time.
Our
prophet taught us, “Where there is a deep calling there has to be a deep to
respond.” Therefore,
if God has 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 has 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.
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.
Now, let’s look at the definition of TWINS: Twins is
defined as 2 Children having the same mother. And remember and never forget, that woman always represents the church in
Scripture.
Hearing Receiving And Acting 60-0607 E-16 So
we find out, that in every revival
that's ever been borned in the world, it
produces twins. That's right. Every
revival has twins. They have a bunch in there that's carnal believers and a bunch of spiritual believers. Every
revival produces that: an Esau and Jacob. And as they go along, first thing
you know, the carnal begins to think, "Well, these guys are getting off of
the deep end. I better separate myself from them." They go back to the intellectual part.
They
want a pastor that'll speak to them of pleasant things. They don't want that Spirit-filled
pastor, that'll obey the Holy Spirit from the platform, just preach the Word
just like It is. As John said,
"Lay
the axe to the root of the tree and let the chips fall where it will."
Most of the churches today will vote that out of their pulpit. That's right.
It'll come a separation, always does that. It
did it in the Methodist age; it did it in the Baptist age; it did it in the
Pentecostal age; it'll do it in every age.
Now, as I read the next few quotes remember that
brother Branham taught us a parallelism of Scripture. So keep that in mind as
we read his comments.
In his sermon Ephesian
Church Age 60-1205 90 he said, “Now, we find out that they wanted to start and get into a
form of godliness. Now, I could stop right here and say something: believe I
will, Did you notice that every revival...
Now, minister brethren, you check this. Every
revival produces twins, just as Isaac and Rebekah produced
twins. Their father was holy; the mother was holy; but they had two boys born:
Esau and Jacob. Now, both of
them was religious. But Esau, when
it come to works and deeds, as a good
legalist, he was probably a better boy all the way around than Jacob was. Did
you know that?”
And again from Ephesian
Church Age 60-1205 113 “Now,
as I said to begin, 'fore we start off on this again, every revival produces a pair of twins. One is a spiritual man; the
other one is a natural man of the earth, "I joined the church; I'm
just as good as anybody." And that's what this revival
produced. That's what, every revival. That's what Luther's
produced; that's what Irenaeus' produced; that's
what Saint Martin's produced; that's what Columba's produced;
that's what Wesley's produced; and that's what Pentecost produced. Just exactly. You see how they've gone to seed,”
Mark of the Beast 61-0217 E-31 “Now, therefore the great
church making itself ready. We find out that Esau and Jacob, before either
child was born, God said He loved one and hated the other. And remember, they
were twins: same mother, same father. Get it? Twins. Every revival produces twins. Certainly does. There's twins born in natural man and the spiritual
man. It was back in the garden of Eden,
Cain and Abel, the same thing. Started from there, just keeps coming on down.
And look at the church, Jesus the Pastor, Judas the treasurer, brothers, out of
the same tribe, so forth, right in the same group, same church. One the Pastor, and the other one the treasurer. One a devil and one God. That's the way it goes. Jesus
said, "In the last days the two spirits would be so close it would deceive
the very elected if it was possible." Amen. If it
was possible, but it isn't. And it... They'll
never do it. All right.”
Now, the next word we must understand is the word Foreknowledge: What is it? The
word foreknowledge is made up of two words. Fore being a prefix meaning
beforehand, and knowledge meaning to know, hence to know beforehand.
I Peter 1:2 Elect
according to the foreknowledge of
God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and
sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be
multiplied.
That word foreknowledge was translated from the
Greek word prognosis {prog'-no-sis}
1)
foreknowledge 2) forethought, pre-arrangement
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.
497-124 … And before one of those planets ever turned (Hallelujah.), God chose us in Jesus Christ. Now, how
great Thou art. Yes, sir. Before
there was a world, before there was a planet, before there was a sun, before
there was a moon, before there was light, before there was anything, when
it was still God, God and His thoughts, the eternal thoughts of God chose you
by predestination, by foreknowledge, to know that you would be on the earth, to
know there would be sin.
497-127 Which is it? A Angel's
a servant. We're sons and daughters. Which is the most thought of, your servant
or your son or daughter? Oh, my. Prayer
from a saint will go a million times higher than an Angel (Yes, sir.),
because he's a son. Oh, whew, that's right, my brother, sister. You
don't... The church, I don't believe this side of eternity how we'll ever
realize that what you are, the position
that you are, that God has placed you, you Spirit-filled people. You're sons of God.
Why, Angel's a servant. You're
a son. An Angel can only bring you a message, but you have to act. Amen. You're
the actor on the scene. You're the
son. The Angels are servants to bring you the message. Said here, "I brought you this message for you to do
so-and-so. This is from Father. I bring it to you." Yes.
That's all it is. Amen. You're sons and
daughters of God. Predestinated
us... Now, watch just a minute. According as he has chosen us...
(Now, we didn't choose... How could I
choose Him? Four hundred billion, million, billion, trillion years ago, how
could I have chose Him? But He chose me. Amen. Oh, Brother Wood,
that's it. See?)... chosen us
in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy... (Now, don't try to make it yourself, 'cause
you can't.)... and without
blame before him in love: Oh, brother, that will
answer a question I seen in here just a few minutes ago. Somewhere I seen it just... Oh, yes. You said, "How could a man live above, live so close
to God he would be without sin." Listen to this: ... holy... from the
foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in
love: 498-129 His love did it. His love paid for my sins. His
love taken it away. Love is the most powerful force there is.
Why Cry Speak 63-0714M 7-4 Many
times when we look at the Scriptures in our own way of looking, it seems very
hard, but if we It study a little while,
we find out that the all-wise God knows just what He's doing. And He knows how
to do these things and how to deal with men. He knows what's in man. He knows
him. We don't. We only know from the intellectual side. He knows what's really
in the man. Moses was born in this world as a gifted boy; He was born to be a prophet, a
deliverer. He was born with the
equipment born in him, as every man that comes into the world is born with this
equipment. As I firmly believe in
the foreknowledge of God, the predestination, not that God is willing that
any would perish, but all might come to repentance; but
being God, He had to know, and does know
the end from the beginning. See? If He doesn't, then He isn't infinite; and
if He is not infinite, He isn't God. So He wasn't willing, certainly, that any
should perish, but He, knowing who would perish
and who would not perish...
Hebrews 6:17 Wherein God, willing more abundantly
to shew unto the heirs of promise the
immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: 18 That
by two immutable things, in which [it was] impossible for God to lie, we might
have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope
set before us:19 Which [hope] we have as an
anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and
which entereth into that within the veil;
The next word we must understand is the word Election: which
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 speaks of God’s DOXA
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 Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have
surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.
Isaiah 65:9 And I will bring forth a seed out of
Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains: and mine elect
shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there.
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.
Psalms
139:15 My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret,
and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. 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. 17 ¶ How precious also are
thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is
the sum of them!
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 chapter
6:37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that
cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. 38 For
I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent
me. 39 And
this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given
me I should lose nothing, but should
raise it up again at the last day. 40 And
this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and
believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last
day. 41 The Jews then murmured at him, because he said,
I am the bread which came down from heaven. 42 And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose
father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I came down from
heaven? 43 Jesus therefore
answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves. 44 No man can come to me, except the Father which
hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. 45 It
is written in the prophets, And they
shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath
learned of the Father, cometh unto me.
John 8:23 And he said unto them, Ye
are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world…38 I speak that which I
have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father. 39 They answered and
said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham. 40 But
now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard
of God: this did not Abraham. 41 Ye
do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of
fornication; we have one Father, even God. 42 Jesus said unto
them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded
forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. 43 Why
do ye not understand my speech? even
because ye cannot hear my word. 44 Ye
are of your father the devil,
and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning,
and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh
a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. 45 And
because I tell you the truth, ye
believe me not. 46 Which
of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? 47 He
that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them
not, because ye are not 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.
Job 38:4 ¶ 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?
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,
I Thessalonians
1:2 ¶ We give thanks to God always for you all, making
mention of you in our prayers; 3 Remembering without
ceasing your work of faith, and labour of
love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and
our Father; 4 Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God.
II Thessalonians
2:13 ¶ But we are bound to give thanks alway 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.
Lamentations 3:37 ¶ Who is he that saith,
and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it
not?
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.
The last word we
must understand is the word Predestinate..(greek) Proorizo =
predetermine, determine before ordain, predestinate, to limit in advance.
Romans 8:29 For those whom He has
known beforehand He has also pre-destined to bear the likeness of His
Son, that He might be the Eldest in a vast family of brothers; 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.
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 in love: 5 Having
predestinated us 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 in the beloved. 7 In whom we have
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: 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:
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.
Mark 13:22 For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were
possible, even the elect.
Romans 8:33 Who shall lay anything to
the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.
Colossians 3:12 ¶ Put on
therefore, as the elect of
God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind,
meekness, longsuffering; 13 Forbearing one
another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even
as Christ forgave you, so also [do] ye. 14 And above all
these things [put on] charity, which is the bond of perfectness. 15 And
let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also
ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. 16 Let the word of
Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another
in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to
the Lord.
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;
I Peter 1:2 Elect according to the
foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto
obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and
peace, be multiplied.
I Peter 2:6 Wherefore also it is contained in
the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a
chief corner stone, elect,
precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.
II John 1:1 ¶ The elder
unto the elect lady and her
children, whom I love in the truth; and not I only, but also all they that have
known the truth;
haireomai {hahee-reh'-om-ahee} AV -- choose (3) 1) to take for oneself, to
prefer, choose 2) to choose by vote,
elect
to office
Pre-Destinate: pre meaning before, and destine meaning destiny. To Pre-determine. To determine beforehand. Pre-destiny. Again
we see that to predetermine 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 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 in stone.
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.
Romans 9:9 For this is the word of
promise, At this time will I come, and Sara shall have a son. 10 And
not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father
Isaac; 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 honor, and another unto dishonor?
22 What
if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make
his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to
destruction: 23 And that he might make
known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore
prepared unto glory,
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 predetermined our destiny, even before we had a chance to do good or evil as Paul
speaks of in Romans
9.
Let us pray…