The
Doctrine of Christ no 59
“He that believeth on Me no 13”
Overcomes the World
1 John 5:5
Who is he that overcometh the world, but “he that believeth” (ὁ πιστεύων) that
Jesus is the Son of God?
Now, this scripture may seem to you that it is old
school, and we are well beyond teaching on this, but let me tell you something,
it seems like people need more than ever to learn exactly what it means to
overcome. Not only how to overcome, but what we must overcome. To begin this
morning, I would like to read a very hard statement brother Branham makes concerning
overcoming, because we can get to dowdy and too much into the thinking of just
living a good life, and we will be ok, but we won’t be ok.
I think in this day and age we have a tendency to look
for the easy way out too often. And too many times that easy way out is to
follow blindly our leaders instead of taking a stand for “righteousness”
It seems today, we don't seem to have the "live or die" commitments that we
used to live by. Everywhere today we see how the churches have let down the
bars and as a result the sheep have gotten out and the goats have come in. So,
this morning I would like to examine some statements from Brother Branham that
are hard and cutting concerning our over-coming, and we need to reflect upon
these things he said concerning our own situations to see how we are measuring
up.
As brother Hoffman said
last week, and I taught in the garden of your mind, you must overcome those
five inner senses because that is what Satan will use to deny your faith, and
that is what God will use to lead you into a deeper faith and relationship with
him.
The Apostle Paul said in 2
Corinthians 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every
high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought
to the obedience of Christ;
Brother Branham listed the conscience as one of the
five inner senses of the spirit that man uses to make contact with his soul,
and is used by his soul to bring the body into subjection to the soul.
#1) Imagination
#2) Conscience
#3) Memory
#4) Reasoning
#5) Affection.
Now in these five senses there is only one of them
that actually controls the soul, and that is conscience. Imagination allows the Soul to conceptualize and reason
allows it to weigh out and discern, but the conscience is that seat of control
that actually causes the Soul to either accept or reject the Word and therefore
bring forth a right-wise-ness to the individual. Memory, imagination and reasoning
are all passive, and affection is the outlet that brings the Spirit into an
active state, but the thing that ties the passive together with the active is
the Conscience, because it is the seat or control. No action can take place
until the conscience has filtered the situation and gives forth it's approval.
Therefore the conscience is the most important of our inner five senses.
Wednesday evening we will look further into these five
inner senses, but for today I want to stay on target with our thoughts on
Over-coming. Because as I see it in this hour, we have two major battles to
overcome. The influence of the world and the influence of man, and actually
these can be both thought to be the same thing. Because whether the man is
religious or not, if he is not born again, his distraction and his failure will
be that he will be overcome by the things of this world. And let me tell you
something, that includes being overcome by the influences of man who will rise
up not because of a calling, but by virtue of their being more business savvy,
or their being more outspoken, and these men who rise up to take over the
pulpits will in the end be the real test for the over-comer.
From his sermon Christ Revealed in His Own Word pp. 130e
brother Branham said, “Notice, we cannot; we must not, listen to any other man's
word. We don't care how smart, how educated. The Bible in Proverbs says “we must cast down reasoning”. See? Now, here in this second realm... First realm is your senses of see, taste,
feel, smell, and hear; that's in your outer body. On the inner body, which is the spirit, is reasoning, and thought, and
so forth. We must cast all that down.
Can't reason, say, "Now, wait, if God is
a good God..." And we're told so much
today that He is. "If He is a good God,
then if I be sincere, though I can't see that in that Bible being right, though
I be sincere, I'll be saved." You'll be lost. "If I go to church and just do the things that I believe
it's right and try to hold up for what I think is right, well I..." You're still
lost. “There is a way that seemeth right
unto a man, but the end thereof is the ways of death”. See? You won't be
saved; you'll be lost. See, see?
It must be that inside control man.
So we are
dealing with a quality of absoluteness in salvation that we seldom hear about
any longer. The minds of the church have drifted so far off to sleep that the
church no longer emphasizes the Sovereign power of God and the finality of His
Judgment. The churches have become so lukewarm that God has only one solution
and that is to spue them out of His Mouth.
Revelations
3: 15-21 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold
nor hot: I would that thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm,
and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of My mouth. Because thou sayest
that thou art rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and
knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
Therefore, I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest
be rich; and white raiment , that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of
thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou
mayest see. For as many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore,
and repent. Behold I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice and
open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit
with me in my throne, even as
(which means in the same way or same
manner) I also
overcame, and am set down with My Father in His throne.
So we are
looking at the admonition to overcome that Jesus gives to the Church. He tells
us we are living in a time when the people are deluded. They think because they
are rich and increased with goods, that they have it all, and don’t realize how
despised by God they really are to the point that He wishes to spew them out of
His mouth. And so we are admonished that we must overcome this Laodicean
condition if we are to reign with Him.
So what exactly does it mean to overcome? What is it
and why are we challenged to do it. That’s a good question. This word “overcome” is used in the scriptures 25 times alone in the New
Testament and it means “to prevail and to be
victorious”; it speaks of “the
Christian who is able to hold fast to their faith through testing and
persecution for that faith, and against the power of their foes, even to the
point of death”.
We are promised that the believer, will
be able to overcome the world and the things of the world as we saw in our
text this morning from 1 John 5:5. But before we read this verse we must first
read 1 John 5:4 which
says, “For
whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that
overcometh the world, even our faith.”
Then we can read the next
verse which says, 1 John 5:5 Who
is he that overcometh the world,
but “he that believeth” (ὁ
πιστεύων) that Jesus is the
Son of God?
Therefore our overcoming has to due entirely on our
ability to know our relationship with the Father and the Son. Our overcoming is
due to the fact that we believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, not God
the Son as we see in 1 John 5:5 Who is he that overcometh
the world, but “he that
believeth” (ὁ
πιστεύων) that Jesus is the
Son of God?
Now, since the Scripture tells us that we are able to
overcome by a Revelation of Jesus Christ as the Son of God, then there must be
power in this revelation for us.
And what we can see by brother Branham’s quote is that
our overcoming is not in the five outer senses, but in the five inner senses.
That is where we must overcome or we are lost, no matter how sincere we may be.
From his sermon, Revelation of
In fact we are also promised that the
Power of this Revelation is that there is a life that is much greater than our
own life that comes forth from this Revelation. Jesus Himself said, "My words are Spirit
and they are Life".
Therefore, when we receive the Life that is in the
Word, we receive the power that comes forth from that Life to overcome.
That is why I am so glad to see that the
brethren are really truly grasping the Revelation of Jesus Christ, because when
I get emails like this one from brothers overseas, it shows me they are turning
the corner with me in our relationship to Christ. Because if you do not first of
all have the right teaching, you will never have the right expressing.
In Philippians Paul said, Let the mind that was in
Christ be n you. And if you have the same mind, you will do the same things,
you will live the same life. In fact the NIV says, “let the attitude that was
in Jesus Christ be in you.
From his
sermon We would see Jesus 57-0226 P:21 brother Branham said, ...The things that I do... He that believeth on
Me (
But this result can be possible only through a true teaching as I mentioned in the
booklet “he that Believeth”.
“Not only do we see in the life of Irenaeus the works
of Christ but Br. Branham commented on the people he taught
as a people who seemed to have that supernatural manifestation of the works of
Christ daily due to his profound teaching. So we see
the importance of teaching the Scripture and then
expecting to see results from what we teach.” And that is where our over-coming comes from, The Word
of God only.
Therefore in reviewing the
quote we read from brother Branham this morning, it is not enough to live a
good life, and it is not enough to have a right heart, and it is not enough to
be sincere. We need to be right. Because Righteousness is doing what is right.
The Apostle Paul said in Galatians 2:20 “I
am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in
me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith (revelation) of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”
And the Apostle John said in 1 John 4:4 “Ye are of God,
little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you,
than he that is in the world.”
And again in 1 John 5:4 we
read for our text this morning, “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this
is the victory that overcometh the world, even
our faith.”
Now, we know that the new
birth was not reserved for the last church age alone, but that in each church
age, there were those who were ordained to Eternal Life, and therefore when the
Word crossed their path, they believed what they heard.
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.
Laodicean
Church Age – Church Age Book chapter 9 360-3 A quick look at those
Scriptures which involve the Lord Jesus overcoming
will bring out the truth of this proposition. In Matthew 4, wherein Jesus is tempted of
the devil, He overcame the personal
temptations of Satan by the Word,
and by the Word only. In each of the
three major trials that corresponded exactly to the temptation of the Garden of Eden, 1) the lust of the flesh, 2) the lust of the eye, and 3) the pride of
life, Jesus overcame by the Word.
Eve fell to the personal temptation of Satan by failing to use the Word. Adam
fell in direct disobedience to the Word. But Jesus overcame by the Word. And right now, let me say that this is
the only way to be an over-comer,
also it is the only way that you can
know if you are overcoming, because that
Word CAN'T fail.
Therefore we also find that in each
church age, the promise of over-coming is given to the church
and with the over-coming a reward is offered to those who do so in each of
the church ages.
In the Ephesian
church age, Revelations
2:7 we find the reward for overcoming is that we are granted
permission to eat from the Tree of Life.
In the
In the Third church age, the Pergamean Church
Age, according to Revelations 2:17 we are
granted permission to eat from the hidden Manna and are also given a white
stone with our new name on it.
In the fourth church age, the Thyatirean
church age in [Rev 2:26] we will be given power over the nations, to rule and
we shall also be given the Morning Star which is Christ, who is the Bright and
Morning Star.
Again we see in the fifth church age, the
Sardisean
Church Age in Revelations 3:5 we shall be given new raiment and
a promise that our names will never be blotted out of the Book of Life and
Jesus will confess us to His Father and before His angels.
Sardisean
Church Age – The Promise To The Over-comer 264-3 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 His holy angels." "He
that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment." This is actually a
repetition of verse 4, wherein is made
reference to the few who have not defiled their garments. We used to have a
saying years ago that no doubt was taken from this verse. It was, "Keep your skirts clean."
It meant: don't get involved in questionable things; others will be involved
and you might be tempted to be involved, or someone might even try to involve
you; but stay clear of it all by
steering a course away from it. Now God is going to reward those who follow
this advice. They are going to be clothed in white even as He is clothed in
white. Peter, James and John saw Him on
Sardisean Church
Age – Church Age Book cpt 7 275-1 Revelation
20:11-15, "And I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it, from
Whose face the earth and the heaven fled away: and there was found no place for
them. 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, 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. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the
second death. And whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast
into the lake of fire." There will be both the righteous and the un-righteous in
this judgment. It says so. THESE RIGHTEOUS WILL NOT BE THE BRIDE FOR THE BRIDE
SITS WITH HIM IN JUDGMENT. I Corinthians 6:2-3, "Do ye not know that the
saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye
unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels?
how much more things that pertain to this life?" Revelation 3:21, "To
him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also
overcame, and am set down with My Father in His throne." See, the bride is
with Him in the throne. As she is to judge the world she has to be sitting in
the judgment with Him. That is exactly what Daniel saw. Daniel 7:9-10, "I
beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, Whose
garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head like the pure wool: His
throne was like the fiery flame, and His wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream
issued and came forth from before Him: thousand thousands ministered unto Him,
and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him: the judgment was set, and
the books were opened." See, it is the same scene, for the thousand
thousands who are ministering to Him are the bride, for who ministers to the
husband but the wife?
In the sixth
church age which was the Philadelphian church age, in Revelations 3: 12 the over-comer
shall be made a pillar if the church of our Lord, and are given the promise
that we will never have to go out, and Jesus Himself will write upon us the
name of God and the name of the New Jerusalem shall also be given to us, and He
will write upon us His Own New Name.
Philadelphia Church Age – Church Age Book
cpt 8 287-1 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in
the temple of My God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him
the Name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, which is New Jerusalem,
which cometh down out of heaven from My God; and I will write upon him My new
Name. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the
churches. Revelation 3:11-12,
"Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take
thy crown. Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of My God,
and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the Name of My God, and
the name of the city of My God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out
of heaven from My God: I will write upon him My new Name.” We
don't need to comment on the thought that He is coming quickly. We know that He
is because we are in the end of the last days, aren't we? But He goes on to
say, "Hold fast what you have, that no man take your crown." Ponder
that word, "overcometh". John asks the question, "Who is he that
overcometh?" and the answer comes right back, "He that believeth that
Jesus is the Christ." He doesn't
say that the over-comer is one that believes in `A' Jesus and in `A' Christ,
but believes that Jesus IS THE CHRIST--ONE person--not two. He is the one
who is baptized in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And in the
church of the Laodiceans, the seventh and last church age we are promised in Revelations 3:21
that we shall sit
with Him in His Throne even as He has overcome and has set down in His Father's
throne.
From the Laodicean Church Age – The Over-comers Throne 360-1
brother Branham said, Revelation 3:21, "To him that overcometh will I grant to
sit with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My
Father in His throne." In verses 15 to 18 which we have just studied
lies the true picture of the ripened false vine, false spirit, false church
people. "I know thy works, that thou art
neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art
lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of My mouth. Because
thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and
knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and
naked: I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be
rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy
nakedness do not appear: and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest
see." No words ever spelled out a more
bitter denunciation, and no proud and arrogant religious people ever deserved
it more. Yet in verse 21, "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in My
throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His throne," we find the true vine, true Spirit, true Church
people exalted to the very throne of God with the highest compliment ever paid
to a humble, steadfast Spiritual group. Death had entered. How do we know? Do
we not hear the voice of the Spirit raised in that first age for all who will
hear, as He is calling. "To him that
overcometh will I give to eat of the Tree of Life in the paradise of God." The church had already imbibed too deeply of the tree
of death (or the denominational false vine) whose end is the lake of fire. But
there are no cherubim with flaming swords to guard the Tree of Life now. God
does not now depart from the midst of the church as He departed from
And finally in Revelations
21:7 the promise to the over-comer
is that “he shall inherit all things”.
And that “God shall be our God and we shall be His son”.
In the book of Isaiah we find that there will come
a condition among the people that is so bad that they will not be able to tell
that which is good and that which is evil, and thus they will call evil good
and good evil. Isaiah 5:20-21 Woe
unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and
light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto
them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! And
surely this is an abomination unto God for what good are the Words of His Law
if they were not meant to be kept. Proverbs 17:15 He
that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are
an abomination to the Lord.
And man has come to the place today
that they think just because they are good and go to church they are saved.
Your goodness has nothing to do with salvation. The Bible tells us that they
will have a form of Godliness, but they will deny the Power of the Word.
2 Timothy 3:5 Having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof:
from such turn away. So we see the command of God that we should not
even be near these kind of people, but rather we are to withdraw ourselves from
such.
From Christ Revealed
in His Own Word 132 Brother Branham said, "Well, I spoke in tongues, Brother Branham.
Well, don't you believe in speaking in tongues, Brother Branham?"
Absolutely. "Well, I shouted, don't you believe that?" Yes, sir.
"I live a good Christian life, don't you believe in that?" Yes, sir.
But still that don't mean you're saved. You're a good person, clean, moral,
holy, good person; so was those priests, religious to the core, so religious
till one misconstrued, they'd be stoned to death. The death penalty of fooling
with the Word of God was death.
133 That's what's the matter with our country today. The
reason we got so many loose-leaf things in the earth today, the penalties are
not strong enough. If a man was caught running out with another man's wife,
they should both be taken out in public and castrated right in public and
turned loose. That's right. If a man's caught doing anything wrong down the
road, speeding, he oughtn't to be given less than ten years; he's premeditated
murder. See? You put penalties like that on, you'll slow them down. But when
some crooked politician can get to this one over here, and pass it off, and
say, "Well, he was drinking a little, he was--didn't mean to do
that..." And would kill a man, wife, and a whole bunch of innocent
children, and let the Ricky get by with it, that's politics. That's the world;
that's the devil.
134
God said if a man was caught in adultery or a woman, take them out there and
stone them to death. That settled it. See? If you was even caught picking up a
weight of a stick on the Sabbath day, "Take him and stone him." They
lived by that. And now, see, we don't have them kind of laws today, but the
Christian, the church what I'm talking to this morning, that law of God is in
your heart. See? You have no desire to do it. It's inside here. You want to
keep God's law so perfect. No matter what it is, you want to be just what... If
God needs a doormat at the door, He wants you to be that doormat, you're so
happy to be that. No matter what it would be, you want to be the doormat. See?
Whatever God wants you to do, that's what you want to do, 'cause it's God. Now,
that's where you really find your real, genuine, true love for God.
So what is it then that we
must overcome in this last hour? It
is that organizational mindset that would use peer pressure and the cares of
this world to bind the Word of God so the believer will not be free to be led
by God’s Spirit through His Word. And as a a result the Word will not produce
what it was meant to produce. Read again the parable of the sower in Matthew
13. The seed is sown with the intention of reproducing the life that is in the
original seed. It must bear fruit or it is only food for the burning.
In closing let me share a quote sent to me this week
by Br. Gatchell because brother Branham lays it out very plainly here. From 63-1110E He That
is in You V-6 N-12 187 But
He that is in you is Christ! And if Christ is in you, the works of Christ you will do, if Christ lives in you. He said
so. Saint John 14:12, "He
that believeth in Me, the works that I do shall he do also,"
if you was in Christ, or if Christ lived in you. Then, Christ is the Word. Is
that right? And the Word come to His prophets. See? And if, you, Christ lived in you, the works of Christ
would be done through you, the Life of Christ would be lived through you. The
works He did, the life He lived, and everything, it would live in you; just
like if Shakespeare, Beethoven, or--or whoever it was lived in you. 188 If His Life! But if you're still living your own life, then your
own works you'll do. See? But if you're living the Life of Christ, if
Christ is in you, "He that's in you is greater than he that's in the
world." If your doubts and frustrations about God's promise is in you,
then Christ isn't there; see, you're only worked up. But if the Life, if Christ is living in you, His Word He will recognize and
His promise He'll do. See? He'll do.
Therefore, it is not just the things of the world we
must over-come, but the doctrine of the world as well where men have elevated
themselves to take the place of the Holy Spirit leading you in the inner man.
Brother Branham makes it very clear in the following
quote from the Ephesian church age 60-1205 P:90 Now, Paul's wolves had become
Nicolaitanes. They were trying to form a priesthood like the Levitical
priesthood, which was foreign to the New Testament doctrine. Amen. The word
"Nico," the Greek word "Nico" means "to conquer,
overcome." Overcome what? The
laity, the Holy Spirit: take out of the church the resurrected Lord Jesus with
signs and wonders among the believers, and put men voted in to be a pope, or a carnal, cardinal, or an
overseer, trying to take the Holy Ghost
away from the laity and give it to a order called the holy order of men,
placing them over the laity; not to call them pastors which means
"shepherds," but "father"; which Jesus said, "Don't
you call no man father on this earth." See that evil thing? And what did
we do?
Turning northward 61-0129 P:45 And I think today that many
times in our, not belittling our organizations now, but we end it with a
period. You see, "We
believe this and that's all." If we will end it with a comma,
"We believe this, plus what God
will show us," see, it'll be different, your organization. But when
you end it with a period, there's nothing else to He added. And as the tree is
growing on, I think that the church, really, any church organization, thrives off the life of Christ. I
believe that. Because it's something that's been grafted or added in there.
It's taken the power out of the laity and putting it upon a minister, or a
bishop, or whatever it might be. Like in Revelation there, said, "The
deeds of the Nicolaitanes--"Nico," is "to overcome," and
laity. I think in a meeting like this it gives God a chance to work through
laity. See, the power of God work through the laity.
Messiah the 61-0117 P:55 And he's going to do what?
Call the children back to the faith of the fathers, the Pentecostal fathers. Paul,
Silas, John, Mark, Irenaeus, St. Martin, Columba, all those, those great
martyrs that preached this Gospel and held to it, stayed directly with it and
was pushed out. When the great classical bunch begin to want an organization...
You notice in the Bible there it said, "the deeds of the
Nicolaitanes." Then what was the deeds in one church age, become a doctrine. You know what
"Nico" means? I looked it up. "Nico" means "conquer,
overcome. "Overcome what? The laity,
when all the holiness goes into some man, just some man alone. He's the only one that's holy, and he's the
one... The church can live any way they want to and make confessions to him.
Huh! The Holy Ghost is for whosoever
will, laity and all. It isn't God's will for it to just be a holy man. It's
the Holy Ghost amongst a people that's born again, showing signs and wonders,
that same church. That evening Star will reflect the same Light the morning
Star did.
Let’s bow our heads in prayer.