DEWITT
TABERNACLE TEACHING SERIES
TESTED
UNDER
GREAT
PRESSURE
BEFORE
“ADOPTION”
By
C.W. Wood
May 2009
A
PERSONAL NOTE TO OUR READERS:
With all our heart, we love our readers. God
bless those of you who write us and comment on the sermons. May He return to you
pressed down and running over the financial support you send. When we cannot
send a personal thank you to all, please know our heart goes out to you and we
are truly thankful to you.
Br. Wood
Romans
8: 18-23,
“For I reckon that the sufferings of this
present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be
revealed in us.
19
For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the
sons of God.
20
For the creature was made subject to vanity, not
willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
21
Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of
corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
22
For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together
until now.
23
And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the
Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to
wit, the redemption of our body.
Notice
Verse 23, “We ourselves (the Bride)
groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit (or, which
is, our body change) the redemption of our
body.” Can we see what is meant here? The body change can not come
until we have been thoroughly tested in our faith. This process is called adoption.
God adopts us when we have learned to love Him, and although most of us in the
End-Time Message are familiar with three
steps of Salvation, our Prophet, William Branham, actually taught a fourth
step to round out the Bride’s faith for the Rapture, a
fourth corner to turn, so to speak. He called this fourth step
“Adoption” and preached sermons on the subject in1960. They are recorded in
a book entitled “Adoption”. On page 43, he made a key statement concerning
his teaching on adoption.
QUOTE:
ADOPTON, PAGE 43,
“Now what is “adoption”? Now let me get this now, I
don’t know whether…I won’t have time to get through this, but I’ll hit
it. Then, if there’s a question, you can ask me a little later on
sometime in the message….?...Listen. Your adoption
is not your birth. Your adoption is your placing. When you were borned
again, John
Now,
now here we are. Now, this is what hurts Pentecostal a little. They say, “I
got borned again! Praise the Lord, got the Holy
Ghost!” Fine. You’re a child of God. That’s
right. But yet that ain’t what I’m talking
about. See, you were predestinated unto adoption. Adoption, it’s placing a
son.” (End of quote)
Notice
what he said, “Your Adoption is not your Birth!” We understand
Justification, Sanctification, and The Baptism of the Holy Ghost, but do we
understand “Adoption”, which is a step past the New Birth, or a step past
the Infilling of the Holy Ghost?
Many
times in the “Adoption” book he said, “Adoption is your placing.”
He meant being placed in a position of authority above that which we had before
we are adopted.
QUOTE:
ADOPTION, PAGE 54 (TRIED BEFORE ADOPTION),
“Oh, that’s My son! That’s My
boy. Well, You think He’s well matured?”
Yep.
Sure do,” said the Holy Spirit. I’ve give him tests. Boy, tried him this
way, tried him that way. I’ve throwed
him down, sick, I’ve put him under. I stomped him, I let the Devil do
everything to him he could do, he come right back up again. He come
just the same. See, come up again. I made him sick. I done
this. I throwed
him in the hospital. I took him out here and I done this,
I done that. I turned his wife
against him, I turned his neighbors against him, I
turned everything. That didn’t make a bit of difference. Said, “Though He slay
me, yet I’ll trust Him.” I killed his family. I took this,
I did this, I done all this,
I did this, that,
other. Still he stood right up,
“Though He slay me, yet I’ll serve Him! He’s
mine!”
“Oh!
Well, I believe We ought to call him out somewhere to
a little special place and have an adoption.”
Now,
when the father, in the Old Testament, understood that his son was come of age,
and had been seasoned out unto adoption, Unto!
They’re borned a child, but, when
they’re a son right then. But then they’ll never be no
more than just a child, just an ordinary son, until they mature and show what
they are. Then, he calls him out then.
Now
here we are, church. Are you ready? Now it’s a little bit late, everybody bite
your finger, pinch your soul, and pluck your heart, just for a minute. See? Now
we’re going to place the church. Now when the church gets to that place, He
says, “Manasses, you belong over here. Ephraim,
you over here.”
Then
he takes them out to a certain place, the father does, and he sets him up on a
high place like this, and he has a ceremony, and they all come around. And he
said, “I want everyone to know this is my child, and I adopt my son. And I
want anyone to know, from henceforth, that his name….I dress him up, a special
dress on him. And I want you to know that his name is just as good on any check
as my name is. He’s my child, I adopt him into my
family, although he’s been my son since he was born. Since he received the
Holy Ghost, he’s been My son. But now I’m going
to place him positionally in authority. What he
fires is fired, what he hires is hired.
“And
verily, verily, I say unto you, if you say to this tree, if you say to this
mountain, ‘be moved,’ and don’t doubt in your heart, but believe that what
you’ve said will come to pass, you can have what you’ve said.” See? There
you are; there you are. See? He’s my son. How many knows that the Adoption,
that the…they adopted the son after he had proved to be a…Anybody ever read
the Bible, placing a son.” (End of quote)
We
have been looking for a Bride Revival and I do not say it is not already in
progress, but we do believe it will pick up in tempo. We have looked for
miracles of all kinds, and it is very scriptural for these things to happen.
However, our Prophet said, “We need a good “killing” before we can have
real revival. Not that our heart should stop beating, but that our
“flesh-man” our self, must be crucified.
How
many of us knew that this “killing’ must take place before the true revival?
The testing of our faith, through manifold tests and trials, must come before
our name will be as good on the check as our Father’s.
CONTINUING
THE QUOTE: ADOPTION, PAGE 54 (TRIED BEFORE ADOPTION),
“Anybody ever read the Bible, placing a son.
Now,
God did the same thing to His Son when He took Jesus up on
Then
as soon as Peter looked back again, and the glorification was off of Jesus, they
seen Jesus only, and a Voice come from that cloud, and said, “This is My
beloved Son, hear ye Him! His Name’s just as good as Mine
now. Hear ye Him!” That’s it, adopted, or a placed son.
Now,
there’s where God is trying to get the Pentecostal church in the Book of
Ephesians. See? Do you, do you understand? We got to close because it’s
getting too late, see, the kiddies getting sleepy. And I wanted to get down here
to this verse right here, but I can’t do it, till the—the 13th
verse, see, the last part, “sealed by the Holy
Ghost of promise.” We’ll get that Sunday, see. Look. Now, how, what brings
us in, and how we’re keep by This.
But
now to “place,” how are you? You are first born into the Kingdom by the Holy
Ghost. How many know that? All right. The next, you
are predestinated unto the what? Adoption. What is
that? You are predestinated unto the placing.” (End of quote)
Now,
to get to the point of the sermon.
In my own personal experiences, and from listening to the testimonies of others
around the nation and over seas, I have come to a conclusion. The corner we have
turned, which is to enter into the Adoption Age, has brought us into trials such
as we have not before experienced. As we have said, we have been looking for the
Bride Revival, but as for this writer, I did not understand what must go on
before said Revival could come!
As
the Prophet and Paul said, we must experience the crucifying of our flesh-man.
Brother Branham called it “a good killing.” And the Scripture declares that
this can only be accomplished through suffering of the flesh.
II
Cor. 1:3-10,
“Blessed be God, even the Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;
4
Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we
may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith
we ourselves are comforted of God.
5
For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our
consolation also aboundeth by Christ
6
And whether we be afflicted, it is for your
consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same
sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your
consolation and salvation.
7
And our hope of you is
steadfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers
of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation.
8
For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in
Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we
despaired even of life:
9
But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that
we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth
the dead:
10
Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that
he will yet deliver us.”
The
prophet said “a squeeze” would come! The Bride must be squeezed
into God’s mold; we must be once again in His likeness and in His image. The
rough edges must be trimmed away, all our desires
must be directed toward our Jesus. We must be made Christ-like and have a
God-like hatred of this world (Satan’s
This
can only be accomplished through suffering. Part of this suffering has to do
with going on for God when all our good emotions have been held back. God does
that in order to build into us true God-like faith. When we learn that we can
not depend on our emotions, but on Word only, then we can be adopted!
We
have now entered into the time frame when we must pay strict attention to the
warning of Peter in:
I
Peter 4:12-19,
“Beloved, think it not strange concerning
the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto
you:
13
But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when
his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.
14
If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of
glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he
is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.
15
But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evil doer, or
as a busybody in other men’s matters.
16
Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him
glorify God on this behalf.
17
For the time is come that judgment must begin at the
house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that
obey not the gospel of God?
18
And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner
appear?
19
Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping
of their souls to him in well-doing, as unto a faithful Creator.”
Not
only was Peter speaking to the Bride of 2000 years ago, but also to the
trembling Bride of the year 2009. Some of us have been made to wonder what news
we will receive next when we answer the phone, or the door! It would seem to us
that all hell has been unleashed and given directions to our door. “Judgment
has begun at the house of God (the Message Churches)”
and if it first begin with us, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? So
let us who suffer according to the will of God commit our souls to Him in well
doing.
QUOTE:
SHALOM, PAGE 35,
“Suffering for His Name’s sake see, is growing pains of His grace. Yes, sir!
Just remember, it’s the grace of God has been given to you. Oh my!
Like
Paul said, hallelujah, he had an infirmity, something was bothering him.
He’d….The Devil would—would buffet him, blow after blow. And he consulted
the Lord three times, to take it away from him, said, “I don’t want this,
Lord. Take it away from me!”
And
then one night the Lord spoke to him, said Saul, or, “Paul, my grace is
sufficient.”
He
said, “Then I’ll glory in my infirmity. I’ll glory in it. I know You’re
the Healer. I’ve seen You heal the sick, raise the
dead, and cast out devils, open the eyes of the blind. But if I’ve consulted
You, and You tell me it’s Your grace is sufficient, then this Devil that
bothers me is—is the growing pains of Your grace. Then I’ll glory in my
infirmities. Why? If lest I get exalted above the abundance of the
revelation.” See?
See,
he—he had something the other disciples didn’t have, he saw Him after His
death, burial, resurrection, and ascension. He saw Him. Some of them say,
“Well, I walked with Him.” So did everybody on the street. But after He was
dead, buried, rose, and ascended up, and returned back in the form of a Pillar
of Fire, He talked to Paul. That was more than any of the rest of then had.
Amen.
He
said, “Except I get exalted and want to build great big seminaries and
everything else, and great big something another, lest I get—get exalted above
the abundance of this revelation, God let a messenger of the Devil keep me beat
down.” He said, “Then when I’m weak, I’m strong.” Amen. Amen. Growing
pains of grace! Amen. We could stay on that a long time; an hour and forty-five
minutes has passed, and—and we’re suffering His grace pains.
Oh,
He may permit crossroads. He may permit crossroads to try us, to perfect us for
His service. He may permit that now, church, both here and on tape. He may
permit the crossroads for our service.
Like
He did Daniel.
He give Daniel a little crossroad one day. You know,
he was a great man down in
Let
the Hebrew Children go into the fiery furnace. They was
determined to stand for His Word!” (End of quote)
This
is a message that has not been much preached in our churches, yet we have turned
a corner and the Adoption of the Bride is
on. To preach “Come to the Lord and suffer” is not a message that is liked
by church natural. Neither does the flesh of any man like it, but it is most
important for the Bride in this very late hour. It is the “strong meat” that
Paul spoke of. It is the squeeze Brother Branham spoke of! It is for those who
have been weaned from the milk who are chosen to leave very soon in a
Rapture. The suffering must take place before the Adoption, as the
Prophet taught!
God
is leading His Bride through different kinds of suffering. He knows every detail
about us all and is in full control of every trial He leads us through! We are
being asked to trust Him by raw faith, often with no good feeling to help us
through the trials. It is one thing to trust God when His joy is flowing in our
hearts, but quite another thing when our joy (good emotions) has been with-held!
Real
Bible Faith is that Faith that will stand and trust God when His Promises are
all we have left! When all good feelings are gone, it is then that the real test
of faith is on.
In
the
The
Bride is now making her final decision to suffer the crucifixion of her flesh
also. It is a crucial time in the Bride’s life. We can hardly bear the cross
that we are being asked to carry. In fact, were it not for Grace, we would fall
under the load.
This
writer believes that the final trying of our faith is now in progress! It will
be a short, but powerful revival that God is producing in His Bride. Though we
do not even like to think about it,
it is the suffering that will soften our hearts, give us compassion for the lost
and dying, and produce the God-kind of faith that we need for this short but
powerful Bride Revival.
The
faith produced by suffering, which will cause the Bride Revival will also give
us our body change and catch us up to be with the Lord. We pray hourly for His
Grace to hold us up. We have His promise, “My
Grace is sufficient for thee for my strength is made perfect in weakness.”
(II Cor. 12:9)
The
time of the resurrection is upon us. Our separation from our Lord and our
loved-ones because of our flesh is now very temporary! Any day now we will meet
them face to face again. We will know them and hold them and there will be a
time of rejoicing such as we have not seen before. Perhaps we will be on Earth
30-40 days before we all go up. What a day! What a time! We believe we will be
ministering to people during this time period! If not, God knows. He already has
it worked out.
We
say with the Love of God in our heart for the people, we say to the lonely, to
the depressed, to those whose joy has been held up by the Lord Himself, hold on,
hold on tight to His Promises, it is about over! God loves us and will beyond
any question prove it.