FOREWORD
The
sermons in this book are the result of truths gleaned from what is, without a
doubt, the most significant Bible Message of our modern times. I refer to the
sermons preached by the Prophet, William Marrion Branham. He has brought his
hearers step by step down through the Church Ages to this present hour. His
sermons will draw you closer to God, as you see God’s Love and concern for His
Children, and how He has watched over His Word to perform it over the past 2000
years. You will see a sweeping view of Church history, with staggering proofs of
what God has done in our day.
Focusing on the
basic issues of the Christian walk, Brother Branham’s sermons will unveil
before your eyes the work of the Holy Ghost in His last day Bride, as He
produces in them the character and the faith needed to leave in a Rapture. Our
world is very near a great crisis. Some recognize this, but only a few
understand the details of what God has prophesied is about to happen. There is a
tremendous amount of comfort in the fact that God has explained these things in
His Word, ahead of time, and then revealed them to His Last Day Prophet.
No matter how
hard the winds of adversity may blow in the days ahead, there is one who has
promised to keep us safe through it all, our Bridegroom, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Do you want to know what is ahead? Would you like to know how to prepare to meet
it? May I plead with you to study God’s Message as it was preached by the
Prophet, William Branham? This little book contains only a few sermons of my own
that came from the vast storehouse of God’s Message given to the Prophet.
Often we hear
it said, by those who do not have revelation of God’s program, “I do not
believe in prophets for today.” This statement shows forth woeful ignorance of
God’s plan to send Prophets ever since the days of Moses. When God, Himself,
spoke to the Israelites from
God heard the
request of the people, and from that day to this, He has sent prophets to speak
for Him. Amos 3:7, “Surely the
Lord God will do nothing but (before) He
revealeth His secret unto His servants the prophets.” When we hear a
person say, “I do not believe in prophets for today,” it reminds us of a man
drowning in the ocean. A ship passes by and throws him a life jacket, but he
cries out, “Get that life jacket away from me, I do not believe in life
jackets.” God has thrown the modern day churches a life jacket in the form of
His Word Prophet, but they cry out, “Get away from me with this talk of a
prophet. I do not believe in prophets.” Be careful, dear friend, if you
persist in this attitude, refusing to investigate, God will sooner or later heed
your request, and your ears will be stopped up for good.
The sin-loving
multitudes in the churches today are terrified at the thought of living the
holy, sanctified life that Brother William Branham preached, and so they soothed
their fears by denying that God still sends prophets. Many of the ministers, who
were interrupted in their way of sanctioning sin in the church and seeing their
money gains endangered, were enraged and rallied to come against this solitary
figure who stood so boldly against their wrong doings. Yes, this restorer of
truth had bitter accusers to face; some charged him with being a star-gazer, and
of the Devil. Others accused him, as some had accused Moses, of supposing he was
the only one God spoke to. But, even as in the days of Moses, these rebellious
ones learned, and are still learning, that God did choose to use this voice.
Though Brother
William Branham had been moved by the Spirit of God into his ministry of
restoration, he was not to finish the work without severe conflicts. The
reproaches of his enemies, their misrepresentations of his purposes, and their
malicious talk against his character, came upon him like an overwhelming flood.
Even so, the One who had ordained him as a prophet from his mother’s womb
constantly raised up a standard against the false accusation.
Again and
again, Brother Branham declared, “The work God has called me to, cannot be
effected by the counsel of man, it is the counsel of God, who has taught me by
an Angel and by visions.” Now this mighty prophet is taking his rest, but
there is a vital lesson to be learned by those who feel led to continue his
Message. The truths God revealed to the Prophet, and now is revealing to the
Bride, will stir the enmity of Satan, and of men who are in the churches of
Satan. So, in the conflict, something more than intellect and human wisdom is
needed. There must be an infilling of God’s Spirit into our inner-most soul.
This is far more than what some had in Pentecost. It is not just a temporary
anointing on the spirit to speak in tongues and operate some gifts. It is the
nature of God, Himself, imparted to us, which in turn, supplies us with
spiritual strength and revelation with which to repulse every attack of the evil
one! To enter this life or death conflict without this New Birth is to be
overcome. Jesus said to the great church leader, Nicodemos, “You
must be born again.” (John 3:7) This is more than human intellect
and wisdom; it is God in human flesh.
When his
enemies appealed to church customs and the traditions of the Elders, the Prophet
met them with the scriptures. In the Bible were arguments against their teaching
that they could not answer. Therefore, the slaves of denominational systems
clamored for his downfall, even as the Jews had clamored for the downfall of
Jesus. He is a heretic they declared, it is a sin to allow him to come into our
churches and confuse the people. But Brother Branham did not fall prey to their
wrong spirit. God had a work for him to do and Angels from Heaven were sent to
watch over him.
Brother
Branham’s teaching, which has been rejected by the masses, nevertheless, has
attracted the attention of thoughtful minds throughout the world. From his
sermons came beams of light called revelations
which have awakened a group of people called The
Bride of Christ. A living Faith has now replaced the dead formalism in which
many of these had been held. The Word of God, by which Brother Branham tested
every doctrine and every claim, was a two-edged sword, cutting its way into the
heart of every honest man.
Across the
earth, there has been awakened a desire for righteousness and spiritual growth
as has not been known for ages. The eyes of some people, whose eyes had for so
long been directed toward human theology and reasoning, were now turning, in
repentance, to the crucified Christ. This wide spread interest aroused still
further the anger of the denominational leaders. But God’s Prophet refused to
leave the position in which God had placed him. His challenge was, “Come and
bring your Bible and stand with me, and disprove, with God’s Word, what I
teach.”
This writer
makes no claim to having the knowledge or the anointing that held God’s
Prophet as a solid rock before the hordes of Hell. But, it is our calling to
help God’s Bride to a better understanding of what has already been brought.
Forty years of study has revealed how very little we know of the Message God has
sent, nevertheless, we struggle to share the revelations we do have.
As for this
writer, I have never seen nor heard of a man who preached Jesus Christ as did
this humble, uneducated Prophet, William Branham. Because of God’s Message
through him, we now know that the denominational systems of the world are
anti-Christ in nature. True, God is calling some out, but the masses have
already rejected the Message of Christ for this age! From God’s Message
through this Prophet, we also know that a Pope of Rome will be the anti-Christ,
and that this great, harlot church has denominational daughters, who are even
now joining back up with the Roman Church Mother.
Friend, if you
are one who desires a popular religion, and if this little book has fallen into
your hands, I know the arguments that are urged against those who dare to preach
so-called “New Doctrines.” You say, “Who are these unlearned and few in
number people? Are they not of the poorer class, yet, they claim to have the
truth! They claim to be the chosen people of God, but they are deceived!” You
say, “How greatly superior in number and influence are our denominations. How
many great and learned men are in our churches? How much more power is on our
side!”
These arguments
may have a telling influence upon the unregenerate in the Church world, but they
are no more effective on God’s little Bride than they were against His Prophet
of our age. If the sermons in this book move you to desire more of God’s Plan
for our end-time age, I urge you to seek out the Prophet’s own sermon books
and study them diligently and prayerfully, comparing them with God’s Word.
Those who open their hearts will never be sorry they did so, for it will have an
eternal effect on each one. Amen!
INTRODUCTION
In November of
2004, it will have been nine years since our first monthly sermon was sent out
by way of a small mailing list. During that time, we have published six books,
four of which contain sermons that have already been mailed to our readers, in
the form of monthly sermons. At this time, July of 2004, book number seven is
almost ready for the publisher. It too will contain sermons that have been
previously mailed as individual, monthly teaching.
Again and
again, we have returned to the messages of one who had mastered the spiritual
secret of unbroken fellowship with his God, our Brother William Branham. As has
been our goal from the start, we have sought to fit the teaching of the Prophet
into the Holy Scriptures, and not isolate scripture in an effort to make them
fit his Message. In so doing, we have only followed the Prophet’s own
instructions. He said, “If I ever tell you anything that does not fit the
overall Word, don’t you believe me, you believe the Word.”
There are today
thousands who profess to be Christians, who can give no other reason for their
belief, other than that they were so told by their religious leaders. They have
no testimony of a day and hour when sins were forgiven, nor of the infilling of
the precious Holy Ghost. They seem to overlook the Savior’s teaching
concerning the experience of the New Birth, and place full confidence in the
words of their ministers. The following statement is not being made to condemn,
but rather to set forth a little understood truth.
Here is the
statement. Many ministers, in these last days, have only chosen the profession
of minister out of their own natural mind. Some of these men are Christians, but
unfortunately, some are not! Even though some have been saved, this does not
prove they are called to the Ministry. No doubt, some have chosen the pulpit to
escape manual labor and as an easy way to make a living. How can we trust our
souls to these men unless we know for certain they are carriers of God’s
revealed truths?
A lack of moral
courage to step out of the beaten paths of “Religion,” causes many to
content themselves with the husks of denominational teaching. By their refusal
to investigate for themselves, they are becoming hopelessly fastened by the
chains of error. Some see that the modern day events brought to pass through the
ministry of a Prophet do actually fit the scriptures, yet they allow the
opposition of the clergy to turn them away from truth. These deluded souls dare
not think differently than their paid ministers. Therefore, their eternal
destination is placed in the hands of the pride and prejudice of another.
Many are the
snares that Satan is allowed to use in leading people astray, but without
question the most deceiving of them all is the leadership of unsaved clergy!
Ignorance of God’s Word becomes sin after God has made every provision to
bring us His truths.
The provision
we speak of is the sending of a proven Word-Prophet, with “Thus Saith The
Lord” for all who have ears to hear. What a burden is brought to bear on the
hearts of those who have been enlightened, and who strive to share life-saving
revelations with those still walking in darkness. All around us is suffering and
misery and our hearts are grieved as the multitudes go on with their efforts to
arrive at truth with out the aid of God. They only become more entangled in the
snares of Satan.
We are living
in the most solemn period of this world’s history. The destiny of Earth’s
teeming millions is about to be decided. Our own well being and the salvation of
other souls, depends on the preaching and witnessing of the true Gospel.
One part of
this true Gospel is to be found in Revelations 18:1, 2, 4. “I
saw another mighty Angel come down from Heaven, having great power, and the
earth was lighted with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice,
saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of
devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and
hateful bird. And I heard another voice from Heaven, saying, Come out of her My
people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her
plagues.”
Do we dare to preach
who this great
In
other words, this woman (Church) had daughters that had their start in her and
then at one time came out and PROTESTED her anti-Christ doctrine. Every
denomination had its start in the Roman Church. During the great reformation in
Martin Luther’s day, many protested and came out, receiving the name of
“Protestants”. Sad to say, but in this hour they are one by one returning to
the Mother Harlot, the Catholic Church.
In the
preceding scriptures, the terrible condition of the religious world is
described. With each rejection of Truth, the minds of the people have become
darker, their hearts more hardened, until they are entrenched in error. But
thanks be to God, we have a most glorious promise in John 7: 17. “If
any man will do His Will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of
God….”, saying that if any man will obey God and walk in all the Truth that
God has given him so far, then he will continue to be shown more and more Truth.
C
H A P T E R 1
HOW
FAR
SHOULD
GOD
BE TRUSTED?
The
question needs to be asked in our Message Churches, “Can we trust God too
much?” Is there such a thing as going TOO FAR in the matter of trusting God?
Do we have any scripture where God ever rebuked any of His Saints for trusting
in Him too much? When the physical lives of His people were at stake, and it was
their choice to either maintain their testimony or turn back, were they ever
rebuked for laying their life on the line? How far should our Creator be trusted
anyway? Is there a place, or a time, when we have gone far enough in our trust
so that it would be scripturally right to stop trusting? Where does the Bible
say the line can be drawn? Or, is there such a line?
These are not
idle questions that can be read and then easily forgotten, but they are of
utmost importance! In view of what our Prophet said about our Faith needing to
be made PERFECT we must, with all honesty, answer the above questions
personally.
QUOTE:
PERFECT FAITH, PAGE 33, “I did this for a purpose, I am working out
something. It’s taking this charge of faith and going right back to begin, and
come in, see. To kind of raise faith in a bracket where you have never noticed
it that way before. Not just “A” faith but a PERFECT FAITH, built up
in here (the heart). And watch a perfect God with a perfect heart, keep a
perfect promise, by His perfect Word, which is sharper than a two edged sword,
and a discerner of the thoughts of the heart. And what? We are coming now to the
perfection, because the people has to come to this in order for the Rapture.
That’s what is holding it away right now, is waiting for the church to come
into that PERFECT RAPTURING FAITH” (End quote)
QUOTE:
PERFECT FAITH PAGE 24, “When Satan tempts us we are to resist him IN A
PERFECT FAITH, in a perfect Word, like Jesus did. The Word of God is perfect. We
are to have PERFECT FAITH in this perfect Word.” (End quote)
Our Prophet was
only teaching what Paul taught!
I Thes.
3:9-10, “For what thanks can we
render to God again for you, for all the joy wherewith we joy for your sakes
before our God; night and day praying exceedingly that we might see your face,
AND MAKE PERFECT THAT WHICH IS LACKING IN YOUR FAITH.”
Paul said that he
had been praying night and day that he could visit these Thessalonians, so that
he could, by further teaching, make them PERFECT in their Faith. In all ages,
God has seen fit to lead His Bride to places of laying their life on the line
for His sake, but he had also brought them one step at a time to the place where
they, “Loved not their lives unto the
death.” (Rev. 12: 11) Their Faith was a thing of steady growth.
Jesus said in Luke
22:23, “I prayed for thee that thy Faith fail not.” A Faith that never
fails is one that never finds a place to stop trusting, and here the Lord prayed
that Peter would come into this Perfect Faith. James said, in James 1:6-7,
“But let him ask in Faith, nothing
wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, driven by the wind and
tossed.” Verse 7, “For let
not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.”
Our Prophet, William
Branham, spoke of how God tested Abraham to that final point (of plunging the
knife into the heart of his beloved Isaac).
QUOTE:
POSSESSING THE ENEMY’S GATES PAGE 7, “Then if He let Abraham be tested
to that final point, He’s got to test you and me to that final moment,
that time of decision when everything is away from you. You have to stand alone
there. Hallelujah! That’s it!” (End quote)
And Brother
Branham received more than one test to that final point himself. Let him tell
about when the Lord took his wife and baby.
QUOTE: AND
KNOWETH IT NOT, PAGES 25-26-27, “I said, ‘Doc, I ain’t got no more
strength. Couple hours of calling for my baby, Sharon, run her out there…Just
to see her in spasms—it wouldn’t stop. They put a needle in the spine; they
punctured it, brought the sign up—tubercular meningitis…..
I said,
‘What’s the matter?’ He said, ‘You can’t see her. She’s dying,
Bill.’ I said, ‘No, Sam, not my baby.’ He said, ‘Yeah.’ He said,
‘Don’t even ask for her, Bill, if she would ever live she would be
afflicted. She would always be drawed up, and she would be afflicted all of her
life.” He said, ‘She’s got meningitis. Don’t go around her. You’ll
just kill Billy by doing it.’
I said, ‘Sam,
I have got to see her.’ He said, ‘you can’t do it, Bill, I forbid you.
Now, you know how much I think of you. You’re my buddy and everything; how
much I think of you and how much I believe you, Bill, but don’t go to that
baby. If you do that, that meningitis is on her. She’ll be gone in a few
minutes, and we’ll bury her. Bill, I just feel so sorry for you.’ He called
the nurse over and gave me some kind of medicine. He said, ‘I don’t see how
the man’s standing up.’
I stood there a
little bit. He brought the medicine in and I sat down in the hall. He said,
‘Sit,’ and the nurse said, ‘I want you to drink this, Brother Branham.’
I said,
‘Thank you, just set it down there a minute.’ When she left, I poured it
over in that spittoon; set the glass back down. I said, ‘Oh, God, what have I
done?’ You’re a good God. Why did you let her die and letting me holding her
two little arms like that; begging Him for her? Why did You let her go?
There’s Billy laying there dying, and here she is dying! What have I done?
Tell me! Well, I might as well go with them.’ I opened the door and no nurse
was there and I slipped down in the basement. That was before the hospital was
fixed. Screens, no screens, on the windows hardly; flies on her little eyes. Had
a piece of mosquito bar, we call it-netting- put over her face. I shooed the
flies off; laid there. Her little eyes, she was suffering so hard ‘till they
were crossing.
Then, Satan
moved up by the side of me, there. He said, ‘Did you say He was a good God?’
I said,
‘Yeah, I said that.’
‘Did you say
He was a Healer? Well, why did your father die in your arms over there, and you
called him a sinner….calling for his life. Why did your brother die in your
other brother’s arms, out there, and you standing in the pulpit preaching a
few weeks ago? Then why didn’t He answer you? You said He loved you. He saved
you.’
You couldn’t
tell me there’s no God because I already seen Him. But he was telling me, He
didn’t care for me.
He said,
‘There lays your wife; your babies will be there pretty soon. Your daddy’s
buried. Your brother’s buried. Your wife’s going to be buried, now,
tomorrow, and here’s your other baby dying. He’s a good God. He’s a
Healer. You made a sap out of yourself. What did it do?’
It was
working from the outside, now, to this first man.
‘And you were
liked amongst the people; but what are you now? A religious fanatic.’
That’s right.
I was. See, these things begin to move together. The outside reasoning and the
Spirit moving these things together. ‘That’s right, Satan.’
‘Then, did
you say He was a Healer?’
‘Yes,
yeah.’
‘And you
begging and crying and the people telling you it wasn’t so, that you’re all
off the line. Your own turns you out for this. Your own
‘Yeah.’
‘Your daddy
buried; your brother buried. Your wife lying there to be buried, and here’s
your baby just about 15 minutes longer, and she’ll be gone. And He’s a
Healer? Your own flesh and blood; one word from Him would save the baby’s
life. ‘He’s the Healer,’ you said. The people tried to tell you. Their
preachers told you, you were all messed up; you were all insane. You’ve become
a religious fanatic, and you said He loved you. Could He love you?
Everything he
was telling me was the truth. Everything that he would say would fall right in
line. See, here? I was just then about ready to say that, ‘That’s the way He
has to act, then I won’t serve Him.’ Just as I said that there was
something came from somewhere else. Way down on the inside said, ‘Who are you
to begin with? The Lord gave, and the Lord taketh away.’
See,
that’s that inside man. Don’t reason at all. I looked back and I
thought, ‘How did I get on Earth? I came from a bunch of drunkards. How did I
get here? Who gave me life? Who gave me that wife? Who gave me that baby? Where
did my wife come from? Where did my life come from?’
I said,
‘Though He slay me, yet I’ll trust Him.’ I said. ‘Get away from me,
Satan.’
I laid my hand
over on the baby, I said, ‘
The Word of God
shall never fail. It’ll triumph no matter what that is. Then I knew there
was something inside of all these things…something inside of all emotions,
everything else like that; there was an inside man that held in that hour,
nothing else could have done it. Every reason, everything that they showed,
everything proving it was wrong, and I was in the wrong, but the Word of God
that was predestinated before the foundation of the world, held on the inside.”
(End quote)
To the
Prophet’s natural mind, it seemed that he had gone far enough in trusting God,
but the Holy Ghost that lived in his soul came to his rescue and strengthened
him, showing him that there is never a right place to stop believing. The
Prophet is now with his family that passed on before him, but even before he
moved into that dimension himself, he knew that God’s “NO” in answer to
his prayers was the right way. To Perfect Faith, God’s “No” is just as
good as His “Yes.” Though our hearts be broken, and our lives seem not worth
living, we can stir up that real Faith and know our God is “Just” in
all that He does.
The more we
catch the revelation of His total Perfection, the more we will trust in His
judgments. He has never made a mistake; he has never done anything, nor allowed
anything, that will not work together for good to those who love Him. The Tie
Post that the Christian life is fastened to is “Trust in God.”
Gen. 18:25,
“…..Shall not the Judge of all the
Earth do right?”
Psalms 19:8,
“The Statutes of the Lord are RIGHT.”
Psalms 111:7,
“His works are faithful and Right.”
Psalms 119:75,
“Lord…..Thy Judgments are RIGHT.”
Psalms
119:127-128, “Therefore, I esteem all Thy precepts concerning ALL THINGS to be
RIGHT, and I hate every false way.”
Pro. 4:11,
“I have led thee in the RIGHT paths.”
From these
scriptures, and many more that could be listed, we see that whatever He has
willed to come to pass is the absolute perfect way. The thoughts of man can
never improve upon the way our God handles the circumstances of our lives.
Someone may ask how we explain all the evil we see happening in the Earth. The
answer is we don’t attempt to explain it! We just take His word that promises
that it will all work together for good to those that love Him and trust Him.
(Rom.
Without Faith
in God, the unbeliever accuses Him of many things, but the Believing Bride
trusts Him in all matters. If not now, they soon will, because He is giving them
many opportunities to do so. One trial over, and with our Faith strengthened by
having seen Him deliver us from the hand of the fowler this makes way for a yet
more severe test, until at last we understand that there is no circumstance that
can separate us from His great Love. (
How far can we
go in the matter of trusting God? The answer is, “We can go as far as He
requires us to go!” It is not for us to REASON with God about His Word, it is
our business to believe it and obey it. When God ordered Abraham to offer his
son as a sacrifice, Abraham had much room for “reasoning and arguing” about
that command. To Abraham’s natural mind, it was not in line with God’s
promise which said, “In Isaac shall thy seed be called.” Surely, the
question was in Abraham’s mind, “How far can I go in the matter of trusting
and obeying God?” We can know that the enemy brought that question. The Bride
must answer it.
We can thank
God today that Father Abraham decided that there was no right place to stop
trusting his God. He obeyed the command and left it up to the Lord how He would
keep His promise! His choice earned for him the title “The Father of Our
Faith.” Over and over in the scriptures, God has shown us that it is perfectly
safe to obey Him, even when we cannot understand. Joseph continued to love and
trust His God while he sat in a dungeon for several years, falsely accused of
rape. Do we suppose he understood what God was doing? I think not. To understand
everything is to do away with the element of Faith.
Paul, crawling
out on the shore after a terrible storm had wrecked his ship, was bitten by the
most poisonous snake on the island. After all he had been through, don’t you
suppose the thought was brought to him, “This is the final blow, now you will
die!” But Paul knew that even then there was no right place to stop trusting
his God. So, he flung the reptile off into the fire and kept walking and
trusting.
How far should
the Three Hebrew Children go in their trusting the Lord? They had refused to bow
to the false image. They had heard the death sentence concerning the fiery
furnace. They had been bound and were being carried toward it. Do you believe
they were praying as hard as they ever did in their life? Put yourself in their
place, they were human just as we are. We know they were praying for the Lord to
stop the men from actually throwing them into the furnace, but they suddenly
found themselves sailing through the air towards its open door. Was this the
time to cast their Faith aside? What if they had done so? Then the flames would
have devoured them in a moment! With their lives on the line, they found no
place to stop trusting!
When Daniel
refused to stop praying according to the king’s law, he was sentenced to the
lions den. Don’t you know he was praying, “Lord, You wouldn’t let them
throw me in there would you?” How would you have been praying? But, he was
lowered into the pit just the same. What if, on his way down, he had decided,
“This is far enough to trust the Lord.” Then he would have been devoured by
the lions. How far should we go in trusting our God? As far as He requires! We
will never loose by it, even if He takes us out of this world.
Gideon was told
by the Lord to take 300 men and attack an enemy army who were camped in a
valley, the number of which were like grasshoppers for multitude, and their
camels were without number, as the sand by the sea side for multitude. (Judges
In the days of
Queen Esther, when King Ahasuerus had made a decree to kill all the Jews in the
land, Esther put her life on the line for her Jewish people. Disobeying a strict
law of the King, she appeared before him without having been called. The penalty
for such an action was death, unless the King chose to grant a pardon to the
guilty person. Standing in the court in the king’s presence, and without his
permission, Esther waited. If the King accepted her presence, she would
intercede for the Jews, if he rejected her bold intrusion, she would die. She
had decided to go al the way in trusting the Lord. Her testimony was, “If
I perish, I perish.” (Esther 4:16)
Stephen,
accused of blasphemy, nevertheless, preached the Holy Gospel to those disputing
him. At the end of his long discourse to them, he took his life in his hands and
said, “Ye stiff-necked and
uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost, as your
Father’s did, so do ye. Which of the Prophets have not your Father’s
persecuted? And they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the
Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murders.” (Acts 7:
51-52)
For his
obedience to the Gospel, they gnashed on him with their teeth, and stoned him to
death. Did he go too far in trusting his God? No! For his faithfulness, he
looked up, even as the stones fell, and saw the Glory of God, and Jesus standing
on the Right Hand of God. (Acts
In the
scriptures, we find story after story of the Elect and Called of God placing
their lives on the Altar for the Lord’s sake! It was God’s choice to
confront them with such decisions. Was He asking them to go too far? The carnal
mind concludes that such treatment is unjust, but the spiritual mind knows that “All
His precepts, concerning ALL THINGS are RIGHT.” (Ps. 119:128)
How far has the
modern church come from “The Faith that
was once delivered unto the Saints?” Listen to the testimonies of some who
are in our glorious Message, and we see that they suppose the most dangerous
thing that can be done is place their total being in God’s Hands. No Friends,
that is not the most dangerous thing. Far more dangerous than that, is to be
found placing some part of our lives into the hands of men.
Jer. 17:5,
“Thus saith the Lord, cursed be the man
that trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from
the Lord.”
James 1:8,
“A double minded man is unstable in all is ways.”
Ps. 118:8,
“It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.”
Isa. 2:22,
“Cease ye from man, whose breath is in
his nostrils, for wherein is he to be accounted of?”
How far should we go
in the way of trusting the Lord? There must be no stopping place for the Bride.
Let the rest reason and falter, but let the Bride, “Love
not their lives unto the death.” (Rev. 12:11)
C H
A P T E R 2
THE
GREATEST NEED
IN
THE
CHURCHES
TODAY
Without question, the greatest need in the churches today is the
infilling of the Holy Ghost! Those of us, who are old enough to look back and
remember 65-70 years ago, know well enough that Spiritual Power in the churches
has decreased year after year. In spite of huge sums of money spent on great
buildings, in spite of thousands of new workers, and in spite of all the fleshly
activities, spiritual power has waned.
Why? Because, there is a grieved and quenched Holy Ghost in our midst.
The Gift of the Holy Ghost to an individual is the crowning Mercy of God. The
foundation of Christianity is the Holy Ghost sent to indwell the individual. It
is this Spirit of Christ in the people that elevates Christianity above every
other form of religion. This is the central element; it is the vital need of the
soul of man. There is no spiritual good brought to any of us except by God’s
Spirit. This same truth applies to those who sit in Message Churches and believe
that God sent an End-Time Prophet. We must have the Token!
The flood gates of heresy are broken up in
We can get so occupied with trying to convince the people of a Prophet
that we forget that they first need to have the Holy Ghost Teacher. When He
comes in, He will lead them into all
Truth. How often have we changed the thinking of some precious people, so
that they can see intellectually, that God sent a Prophet, and then when they
line up with the teaching we indicate that this BELIEVING has placed them in the
Kingdom. But, this intellectual believing can take place without the Holy Ghost life!
Can we face the solemn fact that the greatest need in our Message
Churches is the Holy Ghost? If we could somehow convince 50 times more people
that Brother William Branham was God’s prophet, the churches would be no
better off spiritually unless God should grant a fresh outpouring of the Holy
Ghost. No church is strengthened by the increase of its unconverted members.
Countless books and tracts of the Prophet have been distributed world-wide, and
God knows we are not against that, but are the church members more Christ-like
now than a few years ago? Has the standard of personal holiness been advanced?
Are they more separated from the world than the last time we visited them? If
not, then we can only conclude one thing, they do not have the Holy Ghost Token!
There is a grieved and quenched Holy Ghost in our midst, and until the
people seek His infilling there will be no improvement. In
In verse 17, Jesus said, “He
dwelleth WITH YOU and shall (at a later time) be
IN YOU.” In verse 26, Jesus said, “I
will not leave you comfortless, I will come to you.” Here He made
reference to the Upper Room, where He would come back to Earth in Spirit form,
and actually enter into the hearts of the 120. In verse 26, He said, “The Comforter is the Holy Ghost….and He shall teach you all things,
and bring to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you.” In John
15:26, Jesus said, “But when the
Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of
Truth…He shall testify of me.” In John
But,
in spite of the Lord’s repeated references to the Holy Ghost Spirit, it seems
that His teaching on the subject is met with much neglect and perverted ideas
about what the New Birth is. Multitudes in the denominations have set out to
serve the Lord without having had a new nature placed in them. And may I
respectfully say that some in our beloved Message have done the same thing! Why
do some, who believe that God sent us a Prophet, fail to believe in Holiness and
separation from the world? The answer is simple; the Holy One has not yet taken
up His abode in them! If He was there, He would teach them the truth about His
Holiness Laws and separation from the world.
Without the infilling of the Holy Ghost, a Justified Christian will
remain worldly. Sins forgiven and believing the End-Time Message does not
necessarily mean the Holy Ghost has come in. In Acts 19:2, Paul asked
some believing Disciples, “Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed?” They
replied, “We have not so much as heard
there was such an experience.” Today, a Message Believer has heard that
there is a Holy Ghost, but too often is told that if he believes the Message, he
has Him. Dear Friends, that is only a part of the proof needed in order to know
we have a new nature. Religious knowledge, even if it is concerning God’s true
Message, is not at all the same as Spiritual Life. A Prophet said, “Without
that LIFE, we cannot be Bride and go in the Rapture!”
How desperately we need to get back to the old time preaching of
Salvation. Do we suppose that we are so good natured within ourselves that we
are easily persuaded to become Christians? If this were true, then there would
be no need for the Holy Ghost to put forth His mighty power, to do for us what
we can do for ourselves! If Salvation consists merely of believing I am lost,
that Christ loves me and died for me, and that all I have to do is accept Him as
my personal Saviour and rest upon His finished work, then any man can be saved,
at any time, by exerting his own will power.
It is true that we must accept these powerful truths, but many a good
person has mentally accepted these truths, who are not converted. Why is this?
It is because in many cases there was no supernatural working of the Holy Ghost
to bring a heart-felt CONVICTION. Man tries to make Salvation something he can
do for himself, but the Lord God has planned it otherwise! That is why the Lord
Jesus said, “No man can come to Me except the Father (by His spirit) draw
him.” (John 6:44)
Dear Friends, it takes more than just a decision of our own will to
become a Christian, though that is part of it. Without the Holy Ghost doing His
work, we all have minds that are “Enmity
against God,” (Rom. 8:7) and “There
is none that seeketh after God.” (Rom.
There is no better proof of the New Birth than when one believes the Word
for his age, then lives a holy, clean life, separated from the world. And there
is no better proof that one is not yet converted when he loves the world and its
programs and bypasses certain of God’s Laws.
QUOTE: DEMONOLOGY PAGES 78-79, “Like a little baby. I noticed my
little baby back there, his mother trying to put his little jacket on him this
morning. He wanted to get his little arm in the sleeve. He couldn’t put his
arm in there, he don’t know how. You’ve got to guide his arm in there, but
he’s just beating all around it, he never gets to the sleeve. He knows he’s
not in the sleeve.
And so do you know you’re not right with God, when you’re still
backbiting, lying, doing everything. You can’t be right with God, I don’t
care how many churches you belong to, until your soul becomes converted.
Brother, that’s old fashioned, but that will boil down and put soup in your
soul. Right!
Try to put his arm in, he’s got to have someone to direct him in, how
to put his arm in. Then when he gets his arm in the jacket, he knows he’s
alright. That’s the way it is with ever Born-Again Christian. When he really
gets into God, he watches his life with God’s Word, and he realizes he is
lined up with every bit of it. He’s got long-suffering, gentleness, meekness,
power, faith, love, joy, peace. He ain’t tossed about like the troubled sea.
He ain’t worried about every little thing. He ain’t jumping here and there,
like a bottle stopper on a windy ocean. He is set. His heart is pure. His
thoughts are pure. His intentions are pure. His alternative (motive) is
right…..All Hell can’t move him, he’s lined by the Word of
God………he’s abstained from the things of the World, they’re dead to
him, he don’t want them anymore . Why,
you couldn’t make a Holy Ghost girl put on a pair of the ungodly looking
clothes, and get out there for nothing. No Sir!
CONT. QUOTE: “Now there is no need to go and tell her she is
wrong, because she won’t believe you, because that’s all she knows. That’s
her joy. The woman puts on those little things to get out of the evening, just
when their men come home…..and tell me that’s right? Woman, I don’t mean
to say you’re evil. I don’t mean to say you’re immoral. But, you don’t
realize, Sister, that’s an unclean spirit that’s got a hold of you.”
CONT. QUOTE: PAGE 79, “Your church puts up with it. Your
preacher is afraid to say anything, afraid that you won’t pay in your tithes
any more. That’s the reason. That’s the trouble. My goodness! How you going
to preach to a bunch of buzzards, less you get them converted and right with God
to begin with? They’ll root their nose in dead stuff all the time. What you
need is a dumping out, an old fashioned revival sweep from coast to coast, and
get men and women right with God…….If you love the world or the things of
the world, the love of God is not even in you.” (End quote)
According to a Prophet, and the scriptures, where many have gone wrong or
that is to say “missed Salvation,” is that they have given a mental assent
to the Scriptures, supposing that a man can make himself a true believer
whenever he pleases. In doing this, the supernatural element of the Holy Spirit
is many times not waited for. But, salvation God’s way is much more than just
mentally agreeing with scripture. The soul has to be supernaturally quickened by
the Holy Ghost, and made aware of its awful lost condition. We must realize that
nothing we can do on our own, without the Power of God working in us, can bring
us to that Divine resting place that we call Salvation.
The Faith we need for the saving of the soul is a Diving Gift, delivered
by the Lord Jesus Christ. (Eph. 2:8-9) it is not a work that the creature can do
for himself. It is “The operation of God.” (Col. 2:12) The same God that commands
us to believe, (I John
Cannot we see, Dear Friends, how impossible it is for a person, using
only his own will power, without the supernatural work of the Holy Ghost, to
place in himself the Nature of God. The New Birth is the Nature of God coming
into the soul and the Lord Jesus Christ is the only person who can accomplish
this greatest of all miracles. It is very true that He is grieved by our
supposed “SELF ABILITY” to “Receive Christ as our Personal Saviour.” Do
we really believe the words of Christ when He said, “No
man can come to me, EXCEPT the Father which has sent Me draw him.” (John
6:44) When we come to the place of truly believing this statement, then we will
understand that until the Spirit of God CONVICTS us, we cannot even repent, and
without true repentance there is no forgiveness, and without forgiveness we are
still in our sins and have not even been Justified.
In the statements above the Prophet said, “There is no use to tell her
she is wrong (for dressing immorally) because she won’t believe you, because
that’s all she knows.” How many times have we been discouraged by trying to
cause a lost person to see and admit their sins? We have used our own words and
arguments without results, and the lost person continues blindly in their lost
condition. There is only one way to win the lost to Jesus Christ, and that is to
preach His Word that will convince them they are LOST, and then trust in the
Word to CONVICT them for remaining in that state.
The Word of God is Spirit and Life. When read out of the book, or quote
it, the Spirit of Life flows out of the Word. Though we do not understand it,
there is power in His Word to convince of sin, then convict of the same. Our
duty is to preach the parts of it that pertain to salvation, then pray and
believe the Lord that His Word will never return void. It will both save and
condemn, but it will not return without accomplishing God’s will for it. It is
not our place to condemn the lost sinner, God reserves that time and place for
Himself. We are to pray for the ability to love them in their rebellion.
A Prophet said, “Love is the strongest force on Earth.” Is that not
what pulled you and me out of the muck and mire? Love lifts up, and draws and
pulls the sinner, while to condemn him drives him further into the mire.
In our quest for the souls of men, we must have more, much more, than
just enticing words of our own in order to pull them away from the world they
were born into. It does not enter into the lost sinner’s mind that he should
be in the world, but not part of it. They are not strangers in the world; they
love it, with all its shiny baubles. They greatly desire to be accepted by its
society. They want to have its treasures stored up for themselves, ready to be
used to satisfy the lust of their flesh. Their treasure is not above, as is that
of the Born-Again man. They are of the world, and therefore, this world
satisfies them.
These things being true, we will not be able to change them, apart from
the supernatural workings of the Holy Ghost. Unless the Lord places His Spirit
in them, they will always prefer the world ahead of spiritual things. The things
that we preach and witness of, such as everlasting life, peace in our hearts
from knowing and obeying Jesus Christ, Divine Healing and all our material needs
met, by One who is invisible to their blinded eyes, seems to them to be fairy
tales.
At the same time, if they should be told of a great business opportunity,
in which they are certain to make a fortune, or of a way they can be honored by
the world’s society, they are at once all ears. In their unredeemed state,
these things are worth seeking after, but the things of God are of no importance
to them. So, we should be able to see what we are up against in trying to bring
them to Christ apart from the power of the Holy Ghost. They cannot be talked
into leaving the nest of the world for such far away things as Heaven and peace
with God.
In some places, even in our Message, we have apparently decided that if
we can’t get the people to Christ the old fashioned way, the New Birth, then
we will take them in the new fashionable way, which is on the grounds that they
believe in our Prophet, go to church two or three times a week, live as good as
you can, support your pastor financially, and above all, believe every word
Brother Branham said, and you are ready for the Rapture.
But, you can do all these things and still not have the LIFE that comes
with the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost, Himself, is LIFE. In HIM is the Faith to
believe all His Word. In Him is the ability to separate from the world and its
KNOWLEDGE and live holy, clean lives. When He comes He makes you to be a radical
to those around you who do not have Him. Does not the scripture say that the Mal.
4:5 Prophet was to restore the Faith of our Book of Acts Fathers? This is
His promise, and we say again that the greatest need in the Message Churches
today is the Holy Ghost. It was the Holy Ghost in the Prophet who spoke the
following statements through his mouth.
QUOTE: GOD OF THIS EVIL AGE, PAGES 20-21, “And the world today
is dedicating themselves to the knowledge which came by Satan, and man’s day
is glorified, not by the Word of God, but by the knowledge that he has. Now
think, let that soak in. and when you play this tape back, ON THIS POINT HERE,
STOP FOR A WHILE AND THINK. His works are exalted above God’s Word and
manifested works. The wisdom of Satan which he gave to Eve at the
beginning….now listen, don’t miss this. The wisdom of Satan is exalted to
the Throne of Worship in man, above the vindicated Word of God for the hour. Our
churches prove that by their seminaries, schools of learning, that’s learned
more than God’s Word knows about it, they think. And there, Doctor so and so,
and Teacher so and so, and Professor so and so has exalted their own knowledge,
so-called, from Satan, truth above the vindicated promise of God, made clear
right before them. And man fall for it. See? (End quote)
QUOTE: GOD OF THIS EVIL AGE, PAGE 23, “Now, we know that
Satan’s gospel is a Gospel of Science and Progress. He preached it in
QUOTE: GOD OF THIS EVIL AGE, PAGE 24, “And notice, he preached
that kind of a scientific, social, educated, progressive gospel to Eve, and
Adam’s bride believed it. AND HE HAS SUCCEEDED IN FILLING THE SO-CALLED BRIDE
OF CHRIST, THE CHURCH OF THE SECOND ADAM, WITH THE SAME ARGUMENTS. THAT’S
RIGHT. (End quote)
Yes, it is true, even in our beloved Message many have believed Satan’s
gospel, neither will they confess that they have been deceived. When the Third
Pull Message is preached, only one here and there believes it, and is pulled out
from the mass of so-called Message Believers. There is coming a day when the
line between the regenerate and the unregenerate will be clearly drawn. The
catching away of the regenerate will settle the question forever! The Born-Again
will leave, and those without the Oil will go into Tribulation. (Matt. 25:8)
The new plan in some Message churches seems to be to bring the world and
its programs into the Church. In this way, we can include a far larger number
that many are believing will be raptured. But, God’s way has always been to
sever a people from the world, and separate them unto His Word. God’s plan has
not changed; He is still calling those whom He did predestinate; a people who
will bring Him Glory by perfect Faith in His Word. And we say clearly and
definitely, that without the Holy Spirit coming in to transform the soul, such
faith is impossible!
C
H A P T E R 3
HE
THAT BELIEVETH
ON
HIM
IS
NOT CONDEMNED
John 3:17-18,
“For God sent not his son into the
world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved.” Verse
18, “He that believeth on HIM IS
NOT CONDEMNED, but he that believeth not is condemned
already, because he has not believed in the Name of the only begotten son
of God.”
What
a powerful and wonderful word that is in verse eighteen. Notice
the text; it does not say that on the Day of Judgment we will not be condemned.
It does not say, “He that believeth SHALL NOT be condemned, but it
says, “He that believeth IS NOT condemned!”
He that believeth is not condemned NOW! From the moment we first
believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, we were NO LONGER CONDEMNED! If we should
live 100 years believing in God’s plan of salvation, we would still not be
condemned! God’s word is not limited by time as man counts time, His word is
eternal.
To believe in the Cross and the sacrifice made there, is to be out from
under condemnation in the Eyes of our God. Past
sins, present sins and future sins are gone.
We stand before God as though we were without spot or wrinkle or any such
thing.
QUOTE: INVISIBLE
But you say, “I still sin!” Yes, that’s true, but our sins are not
laid to our charge. Rom. 4: 8,
“Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute (Charge) Sin.”
Our sins were laid to the charge of Jesus Christ. Does the Bible say they
were? “For He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew No Sin, that we might
be the righteousness of God in Him.” (II Cor. 5: 21) NOW, in the present
tense, “He that believeth on him is not
condemned.” God would
never lay our sins on the Lord Jesus, then turn around and charge them to us
also.
In our worldly courts of law a verdict of “Not Guilty” means the
prisoner is at once released and the charge is removed from the records.
This is exactly what the gospel teaches about the court of Heaven! It
says, “He that believeth on him is not
condemned.” The moment we believe on Him, the not guilty verdict is handed down, and we are free from
condemnation. Of course we
understand that, “A pardon is not a pardon unless it be accepted as a
Pardon.” A verdict of “not guilty” is held out to every Believer.
A Prophet said the Lord Jesus Christ became our Judge, our Attorney, and
our Jury, and asked, “How can we lose the case?” He watches for those who
believe in the plan of the Cross and the shed Blood, and pronounces them, “NOT
GUILTY!”
In Lev.16: 5-10, we read the story of how God commanded the priest
to bring two goats, and one of them was to be a scapegoat.
The high priest laid his hands on the scapegoats head and confessed the
sins of the people. The sins were
then gone from the people and laid on the head of the goat. The goat was turned
loose into the wilderness, to be seen no more. What a glorious type this is of
our sins being laid on the Lord Jesus Christ! Were there then any sins left on
the people?
Do we believe this was the
plan of God for the Old Testament Saints? Do we believe it only typed the New
Testament plan of our sins being laid on the Lord Jesus? Do we believe that
before the foundation of the world, God saw every sin we would ever commit and
laid them all on Jesus Christ? It’s true friends, that is the word of God.
Our sins were all transferred to Christ and then God drew his great sword
of justice and slew that Holy Thing that was born of Mary.
Though He was innocent in His Holy Person, He had agreed to have our sins
laid on His precious head. The Father then punished Him as though He were the
guilty one.
He’s suffered for six, long, terrible hours, one second at a time,
until every sin of all his Elect had been legally paid for. Only then did He cry
out, “It is finished.” He’s suffered until every stain of sin had been
paid for. Now, it is a fact that our
sins could not have been laid on Him, and yet remain on us also. They cannot be
in two places at the same time! Our sins could not have been carried to the
Cross and yet remain on us.
As soon as a man believes on the Lord Jesus Christ his sins are gone from
him forever. They are blotted out
forever. This does not mean we no
longer have to repent; a Born-Again Believer walks daily with a repentant heart.
He cries out for forgiveness when convicted. (Notice, the word here is convicted not condemned.)
“He that believeth on him is not
condemned.”
What
if a man had owed ten thousand dollars and a representative had come from the
business to collect. But, the man who had owed the bill produced a receipt
showing the bill had been paid. The receipt had been signed by a co-owner of the
business, and was legal in all respects. Then
it would be evident that there had been a mistake made on the books of that
business, or else they had set out purposely to cheat. Is not this exactly what
the enemy tries to do to a Born-Again Christian? He well knows that our sin-debt
has been paid, yet he brings us a bill for them in the form of condemnation.
This is a deliberate attempt to try and cheat the Believer out of his
justification.
But, thanks be to God, the Word of Promise remained steadfast, “He
that believeth on Him is not condemned.” A
word of warning at this point, we do not say that we will not FEEL the fiery
darts of condemnation. The Lord allows them to be fired at us, but we are
told not to believe the feeling of condemnation when it comes.
I John 3: 19-21, “And
hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him.
For if our heart condemns us (And, it often will when the enemy
comes), God is greater than our hearts,
and knoweth all things.” Saying
God is greater than the feeling of condemnation that the Devil brings, and that
we must ignore it, for He that believeth
on him is not condemned.”
Though
we still commit sin, our debt was paid before we were ever born and our receipt
was signed in blood by the Lord Jesus Christ.
He reached into his spear-torn side; got some blood and wrote,
“Pardoned” by our name in his book. The
scripture says God has cast are sins into the depths of the sea. (Micah 7: 19)
If they are in the depths of the sea, they can’t be here on us too. Isa.
38:17, “For thou hast cast all my
sin behind Thy back.” Jerm. 31: 34, “I
will forgive their iniquity,
and I will remember their sins no more.”
If
God says He will not remember our sin, that means they are gone for eternity. Ps.103:17,
“But the mercy of the Lord is from
everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him and his righteousness unto
children’s children.” Again He says, “As
far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from
us.” (Ps. 103: 12) So we see that when we believe in the plan, and the
Blood of the Cross, we are no more sinners in the eyes of the Lord.
We are accepted as if we ourselves had kept all the Law.
We are still sinners within ourselves, but we are washed in the Blood of
God. The promise of righteousness is
not just for a period of time, it is for eternity.
There is not one single sin in God’s book against those that “Believe
on Him.” Eternal, or everlasting redemption, has been obtained for us. Heb.
9:12, “Neither by the blood of
goats and calves, but by His own blood he entered in ONCE into the
Do we suppose that this holy state of being out from under condemnation
is for those who are able to keep the law constantly? Or, perhaps it is only for
those who are able to do so to a very high degree?
Not so at all, in fact, just the opposite is true.
The provision of the Blood was made because God knew that no man But
Christ could ever keep His Holy Law, and so He declared, “If
righteousness come by (keeping) the law, then Christ is dead in vain.” (Eph.
2: 21) Righteousness comes by faith only!
We are still sinners within ourselves, but we are washed in the Blood of
God! Only the Lord knows how long
are days will be, but our justification will last unto our last day, and then on
into Eternity. If we could live as
long as Methuselah, it would still be written in the Word, “He
that believeth upon him is not condemned.” Our Prophet said, “We will
come up the same way we went down.” One meaning of this is that all who died
without condemnation will come up without condemnation, and all who died under
condemnation will come up still under condemnation.
Only those who died without condemnation will appear in the Resurrection
we are now waiting for. Those who died under condemnation will not come up until
the Second Resurrection, and will have to appeal their case to the White Throne
Judgment. We cannot be half condemned and half accepted. There are no white-
blackbirds, no drunk-sober men, and there are no half-saved sinners!
When we believe on him we are totally righteous. God’s Word is either
true or false. Not only does God say our sins are gone, they are gone!
How can the Judge, who came down Himself and paid such a terrible debt,
ever look upon us as unforgiven? How can God not save those whom He has justified?
(Rom.
When we ask for more faith, I wonder if we realize we are asking for more
tests of the same. If we have been given an abundance of faith, we will need
every ounce of it before the Lord is finished with us.
We will not have an ounce of it to spare.
God does not give us faith so it can lay up and rust.
But, when our faith is exercised by hard trials, that does not mean we
are under condemnation. We
will have many hard trials, but the Word remains constant, “He
that believeth upon Him is not condemned.”
We
will be buffeted daily but we are not under the curse of the Law.
We mean by this, that we are not cursed when we fail in the Law. We are
delivered from the curse of not being able to keep all the Law.
When we speak of being without condemnation, we are actually giving the
definition of true Bible faith. I John 3: 20-21, “For
if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all
things.” (Our heart will condemn us, God will allow the enemy to fire his
darts of condemnation at us, but He says He is greater than any feeling of
condemnation that can come to us. His word is still true no matter what our
emotions are telling us.
Verse 21, “Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, THEN HAVE WE CONFIDENCE TOWARD
GOD.” This is one of God’s definitions of faith. It is to be standing
before Him, trusting in the verdict that He, Himself, has handed down to us from
the high courts of Heaven, “He that
believeth on Him is not condemned.” If we are not condemned, it is because
He has given us the faith to believe we are not guilty in His eyes!
We always see ourselves as being guilty, and we fall on our knees and
repent, and this is what we should do. But,
in the midst of our guilt, God’s plan for our justification never falters or
fails.
Our Christian faith can get very low at times, but the Lord never looks
at us except as He sees us “In
Christ.” Rom. 8: 1, “There
is therefore now no Condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, Who walk not
after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” (Believing the Word)
If we are not condemned, it is because we have been declared not guilty,
and if we are not guilty in God’s eyes, we are no longer in line for
punishment. Punishment follows judgment and is for the unrepentant and lost
sinner. Judgment is the end of grace
for those who hardened their hearts and will not come to our lovely Lord.
To receive punishment is to feel the wrath of God, and this can be
terrible indeed. But, for the
Christian who is Born-Again, and believes on Him, he is therefore not guilty, he
is to understand the difference between judgment and chastening.
Chastening is given in love, with the thought of correcting the Family of
God.
Pharaoh, after many warnings and having an abundance of grace offered
him, yet hardened his heart, and was destroyed in the
We cannot make the Word lie. If our sins are forgiven and done away with,
and if God has cast them into the sea, and if He remember them against us no
more because He laid them on Jesus and punished him, then He would deny His own
words should He punish us also. Thank
God He will always correct His Own, with much love, but punishment is reserved
for the hard, unrepentant hearts. The
chastening rod is as much a gift of Grace as the Blood of the Cross
that saves us from condemnation.
What kind of people should we be who have the revelation that we are not
condemned? Should we be grumblers
and complainers? Should we be
cast down with long faces? Should we be without joy, robbed of it by Satan? He
can make us feel that we are being mistreated. A favorite trick of Satan is to
cause Christians to see God’s chastening as punishment for sins that were long
ago paid for. If he can
convince us that our Father is angry with us, then we fall back under
condemnation.