DEWITT TABERNACLE TEACHING SERIES

 

 

“GOD’S WAY IS THE ONLY WAY TO THE RAPTURE”

 

 

By C.W. Wood                                                                       August 2011

 

 

 

A PERSONAL NOTE TO OUR READERS: For the last eleven years now, the Lord has seen fit to lead this writer through times of trial and tribulation. This has included physical sickness and the loss of loved ones. It has been my boundless duty to continue my work as pastor and writer as best I could. Today, August 31, 2011 , the trial of sickness continues as I bend over my desk trying to stay up to prepare this sermon. As I look back, I see some great changes the Lord has made in my character. I have no complaints to make because I know that His dealings with me as an individual is my only way to be ready for the Rapture. We are very near the time for the Trumpet to sound, it’s leaving time. Dear readers, my heart goes out to each of you for your continued financial support and your prayers that have played such an important role in my life’s work. I love you each one. See you soon. Amen.    Br. Wood.

 

          It is this writer’s opinion that one of the lessons our Father is now in the process of teaching His Elect is to, “LET HIM BE GOD.” Let him have the right to deal with everyone of us in the way that He sees we should be dealt with. Let Him take up any portion of His Word that He sees fit to bring to pass in our individual lives while we continue to steadfastly trust Him. In a word, our attitude must remain right toward God while He deals with us in ways that are geared to benefit the character of the individual. Many of these ways will be opposed by our flesh, therefore, the need to relinquish our own self-will and learn to delight in the performance of the Divine Will.

          God has a plan for each individual life and a pathway already marked out, “That we should walk in it.” (Eph. 2:10) No two people will walk down the same path, but each Elected One will be led the way that will result in God “Finishing the work He started in us.” (Phil. 1:6) Our part in this glorious and powerful work of God is to “Let Him Be God and Trust Him Anyway.” We must not expect Him to deal with each of us the same. To watch the life of someone we admire and expect the same kind of circumstances to always fall our lot, will result in confusion.

          Perhaps we have misconstrued the Scripture that states, “For there is no respect of persons with God.” Do we suppose this means that God will deal with all men alike? The natural mind may assume this to be the meaning, but the overall teaching of the Bible does not bear this out, as we will see. This writer had rather believe that the above Scripture means that God will not accept the world’s evaluation of our person, neither our own, but rather He will look at the REAL US and deal with us accordingly.

          Our God is great enough to be an INDIVIDUAL God to each of us. He never confuses the needs of one with the needs of another. His timing and His way of meeting each individual need if PERFECT. The way in which He handles our individual affairs cannot be improved upon. A true recognition of these facts will cause all our murmuring to cease. It is natural to complain against afflictions and losses and to complain when we are deprived of those things upon which we had set our hearts. The natural man feels that he has a right to success after hard and diligent work. He feels that the money he has earned is his to do with as he sees fit and that no power should come into his family and strike down a loved one. If the loss of money, property, health or the death of loved ones does occur, then it is the perverted instinct of the human heart to cry out against God.

          But, in the Bride of Jesus Christ, there is a work of grace being done that is causing her to recognize the PERFECTIONS that are in the character of her Bridegroom. She sees that He cannot make a mistake. He is not a man that He should lie, neither the Son of Man that He should repent. He is faithful in all His ways and His Holiness never fails. His knowledge is total and complete and His Perfect Wisdom directs Him as how to use such knowledge. She knows that He has never done a wrong to any man and never shall. From these revelations there is coming into the heart of the Bride and entire abandonment of herself to this PERFECT BEING.

          The Bride is confessing her Bridegroom’s perfect right to do with her as He sees fit. She is bowing to His good pleasure, and acknowledging His absolute right to do with her as it seemeth good unto Him. She understands that He has WORD for all that He does, and WORD for those things that He refuses to do. In years past many of us have tried to confine our great God to a few of our favorite scriptures, avowing that He will ALWAYS ACT according to the program we have laid out for Him. But, we are now learning that such a Great Being as our God cannot be confined to the little pens that we build for Him.  

          If He chooses to send us a sickness, He has WORD for that. Just as His Word promises to heal us. “The curse causeless shall not come.” (Pro. 26:2) David said, “I know O Lord, that Thy judgments are right, and that THOU IN FAITHFULNESS HAST AFFLICTED ME. “ (Ps. 119:75) If He chooses to send poverty, He has Word for doing so. In reviewing the circumstances of some early Christians, Paul said, “They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins, BEING DESTITUTE, AFFLICTED, TORMENTED..” (Heb. 11:37)

          We must learn, as did the Elect of earlier ages, that though our hearts be broken and our flesh torn, we can look up with perfect faith and say, “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Gen. 18:25) There will be a “ Battle in the Mind” as our Prophet said because the carnal mind remains in us to the end of our earthly journey. But, though the battle of the mind be raging, to the one who has truly yielded himself into the hands of the Perfect One, there will sooner or later come His Voice saying, “Peace be still, all will be well, I knoweth the way that you take, I am ordering your steps, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.” It is then that the battle in the mind subsides and though pain may remain, and the eyes be filled with tears, the heart is lifted up to Him and says, “Thy Will be done.”

         What an example of this Godly submission has our Lord left us in the story of Job. God Himself had said that Job was a man that feared God and hated evil. Yet, how did Job’s God deal with him? For a while the blessings of God overflowed him. He had great possessions, family, land, herds, and health. But suddenly, in one day’s time, the blessings of God were withdrawn. The sunshine of God’s love was hidden behind great clouds of darkness. It is most glorious to read of Job’s reaction to the dealings of His God. “The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away.” Then he added, “Blessed be the Name of the Lord.” (Job 1:21 )

          We have stated that God does not deal with each of His Elect in the same manner. This is not at all to say that certain basic principles do not apply to each, just that we are not to expect the circumstances of another to always fit our own need. Let us cite some examples of God dealing individually with His beloved ones. It will encourage us to believe that He is doing the same by us today. How often did Brother Branham say that our experiences with God are individual affairs!

          In Acts 12, God sent an angel to deliver Peter from prison before he was to have his head cut off the next morning. But, in Acts 7, God allowed the religious people of the synagogue to bash Steven’s head in with stones after he had faithfully preached the Gospel. Do we understand the difference between God’s dealings with His two beloved men? No! We don’t understand, but we can trust in the fact that God was being a FAITHFUL God to each one.

          King David was allowed to take Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba and commit adultery with her, but when Abimelech took Abraham’s wife and would have committed the same act, he was warned in a dream that to do so was to sign his own death warrant. Yet, God was being faithful to both men!

          King Hezekiah was sick unto death (II Kings 20:1) and God sent the Prophet Isaiah to tell him, “Set thy house in order for thou shalt die and not live.” But, the king turned his face to the wall and prayed unto the Lord, “I beseech Thee O Lord, remember now how I have walked before Thee in truth and with a perfect heart and have done that which is right in Thy sight.” God gave him 15 more years in answer to his request.

          Yet in another instance, a man named Moses, who was said to be the meekest man on the face of the earth and a man that God spoke mouth to ear with, was told not to even pray about the matter of his pronounced death because it was a settled thing. He was to die for striking the rock. God was God to Hezekiah and He was a perfect God to Moses.

          God delivered the three Hebrew Children from the fiery furnace, yet allowed hundreds of others to be burned at the stake by the Roman Church. He delivered Daniel from the lion’s den, yet many of His children were torn apart and devoured by hungry lions in the arena at Rome . How do we explain these things? We do not attempt to do so. We trust the Holy One of Israel who can do no wrong! We let him be God.

          Peter denied the Lord three times in one night and when he repented in bitter tears, he was forgiven. But, when Esau denied the Lord one time by selling his birthright, he was never forgiven “though he sought it carefully with tears.” (Heb. 12:16-17) Achan stole a wedge of silver and hid it in the ground in his tent. God witnessed the crime and caused him and his whole family to be destroyed. The priests in the temple at Jerusalem had been stealing from the poor people concerning the price of the animals for sacrifice and apparently it had been going on for a long time. Yet, they were only driven from the temple with a whip of cords. God will be God and who can question Him?

          Paul said in Rom. 11:33 , “His ways are past finding out.” Nevertheless, we are told “The statues of the Lord are right.” (Ps. 19:8) “The Lord is righteous in all His ways.” (Ps. 145:17) “My ways are higher than your ways.” (Isa. 55:9)

          God said to His Prophet Hosea, “Go and take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and bear children of her. So he went and took Gomer.” (Hosea 1:2-3) Hosea had to let God be God. He was to marry a whore. He had heard God’s voice!

          God was being an individual God to all these people. He dealt with each one as He saw fit. There is no council that advises Him and no man nor devil can deter Him in His ways. He “worketh all things after the council of His own Will.” (Eph. 1:11) “Who is like unto Thee O Lord, among the gods? Who is like Thee, glorious in Holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?” (Ex. 15:11)

          Oft times a failure to study the scriptures about the attributes of our great God has resulted in a lack of revelation concerning His character. To some, He remains “The Unknown God.” An unknown God cannot be loved and trusted. We must know Him in order to allow Him to be God. It is to His will that we must bow. It is for Him to say what the circumstances of our lives will be. It is for him to say whether we walk in health or sickness, wealth or poverty. He will allot us our days on Earth to some three score and ten plus, to others; they are cut down in their youth.

          As we have said, the Bride is now in the process of learning how to let God be God.

          There is a story the Prophet told in the message, BE CERTAIN OF GOD, 01-25-1959 , JEFF that is truly encouraging in our times of trial. It took a man who himself had been through places of great trial to understand the experience the Widow of Zarephath was having. Brother William Branham, through the grace of God and the experiences God had led him through, had attained to a high form in the School of God . He had learned to “Let God be God and Trust Him anyway.” To really learn this lesson is for the Bride to also reach this high form in God’s training school.

          QUOTE: BE CERTAIN OF GOD, PAGES 6-8, “And then we find that no doubt she’d prayed night after night, all night, as she begins to see that meal barrel going down, down, down. And it must have got to the place till there was not even another cup full of meal in the barrel….death was coming right in to the gate at her door, for there was no way of getting anymore. The whole nation was starving.

          And, the oil was just a spoonful left in the little container. Just that much oil and that much meal lay between her and death. She must have got real sincere about her prayer! You let that strike your home; it’ll be a little more sincere than we are here this morning... when we know that death lays at the door.

          And I believe maybe we’d think perhaps this, that she’d prayed all night long, for one more day settled it. She could look at the pale lips of her little boy of about three or four years old and she could see her own bones dwindling away, as the flesh was going from them. And it must have been a terrible thing as this mother, seeing these things going (on), and yet with her hands before God praying day and night.

          You know, it’s a strange thing. MAY GOD LET THIS SOAK INTO EVERYONE OF YOU IF YOU NEVER HEAR ME PREACH AGAIN. IT’S STRANGE, MOST STRANGE, THAT SOMETIMES GOD DOES THING THAT WAY….And we’ve confessed our sins and we’ve made all the wrongs that we have done right, done everything that we know how to do, every requirement that God had made or asked, we have met that requirement that God had made or asked, we have met that requirement, AND YET HE LAYS SILENT, HE JUST WON’T ANSWER US…I’ve been there many times myself. When I’ve went back and traced my life and turned over every stone, and I’d find that I did something wrong. I’d go confess it say, “Lord God, I’ll make it right.” And go do so.

          Then come back again and say, “Now Lord, Thou art God, You’ll answer me. Surely, I’ve met every request that you required me to do. And every requirement, I have met it. AND STILL HE WON’T MOVE. SEEMS TO BE SILENT. THAT’S WHEN YOU’VE GOT TO BE SURE HE IS GOD.” (End of quote)

          That is to say, that’s when we must “Let God be God.” The heart’s understanding of how to let God be God and trust Him anyway produces something more than just a sullen acceptance of things we can’t control. Many Christians in this hour know nothing better than to make the best of a bad set of circumstances. Not so with the Bride. It is causing Her to say with the Psalmist, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless Holy Name.” She obeys the Word in Eph. 5:20, and “Gives thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

          To let God be God, we must learn that following Christ will to prevent our having earthly sorrows, sicknesses, distresses, and troubles. Faithful service to our Lord does not lift us above the reach of trials and tribulations. To suppose such is to yet lack training in God’s Holy Ghost School . The Bible teaches that a man may be God’s chosen servant and yet have to go through many a hard trial and at times endure pain and suffering, humiliation, and distress.

          If we are true Believers, we must count on having our share of sickness and pain, of distresses and tears, of losses, of deaths and sorrows, of vexations and bereavements, of partings and separations. The Lord has never promised that we shall go in the Rapture without these. As ministers and witnesses of God, we can offer the people Eternal Life if they will accept it. We can offer them pardon for their sins, and peace in the midst of trouble. We can promise them that the grace of God will follow them and hold them up always, but we dare not offer them freedom from all sickness. God, in His faithfulness, afflicts us according to our need. No, we cannot promise that they will never meet with a storm. We well know that the Church Nominal does not receive Christ on these terms. They preach Christ and no sickness, Christ and wealth. Christ and no deaths in the family. Christ and no cares and every morning dawning with no clouds. But, they will not receive Christ and the Cross, Christ and tribulation, nor Christ and the howling storm. Tribulation is often the only thing that will burn away the dross that our hearts are full of and trouble is God’s pruning shears that he employs to make us fruitful. The harvest of His fields is not ripened by sunshine alone. The Prophet said it takes the ragged, jagged skies and the thunder bolts and lightening to bring the soft drops of water that produces life.

          The Lord is entreating us in this hour to take Him on His own terms. We must make up our minds to meet with our share of crosses and losses. Then we will not “think it strange.” For lack of understanding this, many do seem to run well for a season, but soon their ship sinks during a storm.

          In the beginning of our training, when the fact dawns on us that God’s will is irresistible and unchangeable, our hearts may be filled with fear. But, once the revelation comes that God only wills that which is good for us, then our hearts are made to rejoice. Our attitude becomes one of Godly fear, obedience and unreserved submission. We will be found saying, “Even so, Father, for so it seemeth good in Thy sight.” We bow before Him in adoring worship. We will let Him be God and trust Him anyway. Amen!

 

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