Spoken Word #10
A
Seed for Every Season
Brian Kocourek
March 2nd, 2008
Let us Stand to our feet in honor
of God’s Holy Word and I would like to read from several Scriptures this
morning for our text.
Luke
12:42 And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful
and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give
them their portion of meat in due season?
Proverbs
15:23 A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth:
and a word spoken in due season, how
good is it!
Psalms
145:15 The
eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them
their meat in due season.
Deuteronomy
11:14 That
I will give you the rain of your land in
his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil. So we see that the Lord has a certain rain
he provides for a certain season, so we need to know what is meant by this rain. And we find our
answer in …
Deuteronomy
32:1-2 Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and
hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. 2 My doctrine shall
drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon
the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass:
Numbers
28:2 Command the children of Israel, and say unto
them, My offering, and my bread for my sacrifices made by fire, for a sweet savour unto me, shall
ye observe to offer unto me in their due season. Now, what if Moses had
come with Noah’s Message? It wouldn’t have worked. And what if John the Baptist
would have come with Moses Message? It wouldn’t have worked. So you See, God as
a message for each season, and a certain rain for each season in order to
produce the intended crop for that season.
Leviticus
26:4 I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and
the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.
Let us pray. Dear Father we come humbly and
reverently to Thee this morning knowing that You are
God and we are but the sheep of your hand. Help us Father to understand the
significance of these words we have read from Thy Holy book this morning and to
realize that as you have given us rain for certain seasons, the early and
latter rain so too you have given us a Word for different seasons, and that You
have liked your Doctrine as the rain and we know there is certain rain earmarked
for certain seasons in order to produce certain fruits for that season. So we
see then that you have a Seed for every season, and we ask that you would grant
us to be the right seed for this season in Jesus Christ’s name we pray, amen!!
Now, this morning I would like to show
forth how that God has a Promise for each season, or a Word for each season,
and He has also ordained a Seed to catch that Word or promise for each season
to manifest that Word and to produce the fruit that is ordained to become
manifested in each season.
Therefore I would like to break down this thought into
5 stages.
#1 ) There is a Seed
for every season.
#2) God has a Word for each season that he sends
like rain to produce the fruit for the season.
#3) When this Seed
manifests who it is, this manifestation of the Seed vindicates that this Seed
was indeed for this Season.
#4) This manifestation
of the Seed life by being quickened by the Word for the season, is the evidence
that the Seed is God's Seed.
#5) All other Seeds
will not be quickened to Life but will reject the Word for the season. Not the
Word but the True understanding of it.
Now, we said point number One is that "There is a Seed for every season" So what do we mean, "a
seed for every season?"
Well first we must ask ourselves what we mean by the word seed. What is
a seed? Webster says it is the "source, origin, or beginning of anything. A carrier of Life. So what is a seed? A Seed is a carrier of Life. And it
speaks of predestination, because everything that seed will ever manifest in it's life cycle it already has in it; every attribute, every
characteristic, every expression. That is why a seed is the purest form of
predestination.
The bride must come to a place where they
have no contrary thought from what was vindicated and revealed to
us." We won't go back to previous
thoughts that were in error, but we immediately go to God’s thoughts"
Luke 1: 19 - 20 And
the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of
God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee
these glad tidings. And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak,
until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou Believest not my words, which
shall be fulfilled in their season.
So we see that there is a Word to be
fulfilled in it’s season. And that is what we want to
study today, so we can better identify the Word for our season.
In John 1: 1 - 4, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All
things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth
in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
Notice
verse 5 darkness does not comprehend it. ( katalambano = to take eagerly, to seize upon and possess,
to apprehend and comprehend. Here we are talking about Life and it says, that darkness will not seize upon it, they won't
apprehend it. And in John 1:14 we read “the word became flesh”, Because they did not comprehend it they missed it.
John 6: 63 - 66 It is the spirit that quickeneth;
the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak
unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. Notice how that just after He informed them Eternal
Life is in His Word, they left.
Genesis 1: 11 And
God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, [and] the
fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed [is] in itself, upon the
earth: and it was so. Now before the Seed was
sown and planted, the ground had to be made ready.
Ecclesiastes 3: 1 To every
thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: So if everything has a season, we
must ask ourselves this question? What
season are we in? What is my season? Why am I here? What is my end?
1 Peter 1: 3 - 7 Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant
mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept
by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the
last time. Wherein ye greatly rejoice,
though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold
temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of
gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire,
might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus
Christ: now
the WUEST translation says, "You who are constantly being kept guarded by the power
of God through Faith, for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in a last season which is epochal and
strategic in it's significance. " and in verse 6 & 7, the trials will produce in you a
crop that is in the image of the Life of the Original seed.
Hebrews 6: 4 - 8 For
it is impossible for those who have been once for enlightened, those who have
tasted of the Heavenly gift and have been made companions of the Holy Ghost
Himself being brought longside and made aware of His
presence, by tasting the goodness of God's Vindicated Word and have been
exposed to the Powers of the coming age,
having fallen away and deviated from the truth, it is impossible for them to
ever come to a change of the mind again, seeing that they have crucified
themselves along with the Son of God, and have subjected Him to public disgrace. Now catch carefully what Paul says right after this...
For the land that
drinks in the rain (doctrine) that often falls upon it and that produces a crop that is
useful to those who have sewn it (And
who did the sewing?, the Son of Man. It is this land which produces the crop
which receives the blessings from God.) But the land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless
to the one who sewed the land and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it
will be burned.
Psalm 1: 1-3 Blessed is the man that walketh
not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in
the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight
[is] in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And
he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his
leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. So we see here that there is a fruit that
is to be brought forth in it's season.
Psalm 145 : 15-16 The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season. Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest
the desire of every living thing.
Galatians 6: 7-9
Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for
whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For
he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap
corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of
the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint
not.
2 John 8-9 Look
to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we
receive a full reward. Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not
in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth
in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.
#2) God has a Word for each season that he sends
like rain to produce the fruit for the season.
1 Peter 3: 18 For
Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might
bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
Psalm 119:25 My
soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou me according to thy word. 37 Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity;
and quicken thou me in thy way. 40 Behold, I have longed after thy precepts: quicken me in thy right-wise-ness.:50 This is my comfort in my affliction: for Thy Word hath quickened me.: 88 Quicken
me after thy lovingkindness;
so shall I keep the testimony of thy mouth.:93 I will never forget thy precepts: for with them thou hast quickened me.:107 I am afflicted very much: quicken me, O Lord, according unto thy
word.:149 Hear my voice according unto thy lovingkindness: O Lord, quicken me according to thy judgment.:154 Plead my cause, and deliver me: quicken me according to thy word.:156 Great
are thy tender mercies, O LORD: quicken
me according to thy judgments.:159
Consider how I love thy precepts: quicken
me, O LORD, according to thy lovingkindness.
Why?
He
says here, so that we might walk in His word, and come
into manifestation of who we really are. Son's and
daughters of God Himself. *The Gene Seed of God will come to fruition and God's Word will not be sewn and then come
up empty in His predestinated Gene Seed because He is Here to bring all His
Word to pass. Phillipians 1: 6
6 Being confident of this
very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: and how
does He perform it?
Unrecognized Presence 6-18-64 "working
for this One purpose: for you to recognize the
Presence of Jesus Christ, See? If He is
Present, then, everything is settled. He made the Word,
He's here to confirm it." And then He said, "If we could realize that He is Appearing
to us in these meetings for one purpose and that's to release our desires that
we have in Him back to us. But we've got to recognize His Presence."
1 Corinthians 1: 4 - 10 Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our
Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God always on your behalf,
for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ; That in every thing ye
are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge; Even as the testimony
of Christ was confirmed in you: So that ye come behind in no gift;(spiritual endowment) waiting for the Unveiling
of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may
be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom ye
were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of
our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no
divisions among you; but [that] ye be perfectly joined together in the same
mind and in the same judgment.
Notice He will confirm you by fertilizing
the predestinated gene seed. This thought on seed is the best and simplest
explanation of predestination that I know, because a seed has everything about
it already predetermined in it. It's
growth rate, it's response to the light, it's full
manifestation of it's attributes and characteristics are already in it by
predestination.
Deuteronomy 11: 14 That I will give you
the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain,
that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine,
and thine oil.
Joel 2: 23 – 29 23 Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and
rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately,
and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the
latter rain in the first month. 24 And the
floors shall be full of wheat, and the fats shall overflow with wine and oil. 25 And
I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and
the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army
which I sent among you. 26 And ye shall eat in plenty,
and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, that hath dealt
wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed. 27 And ye
shall know that I am in the midst of
Hosea 6: 1 – 3 1 Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he
hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. 2 After
two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall
live in his sight. 3 Then shall we know, if
we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and
he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and
former rain unto the earth.
James 5: 7 - 9
7 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the
coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth
for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he
receive the early and latter rain. 8 Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. 9 Grudge not one against
another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth
before the door.
John 12:48 He that rejecteth
me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall
judge him in the last day.
Romans 8: 1 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus
from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also
quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth
in you.
Ephesians 2: 1, 5 And
you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with
Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
1 Corinthians 15: 45 And so it is written, The first man Adam
was made a living soul; the last Adam [was made] a quickening spirit.
John 5: 21 For as the Father raiseth
up the dead, and quickeneth [them]; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.
JOHN 6 :
6 It is the spirit that quickeneth;
the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak
unto you, [they] are spirit, and [they] are life.
1 Timothy 6: 13 I give
thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all
things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good
confession;
Collosians 2: 13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together
with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
#3) When this Seed
manifests who it is, this manifestation of the Seed vindicates that this Seed
was indeed for this Season.
Psalm 1: 1 - 6 Blessed
is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the
ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor
sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight [is] in the law of the
LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a
tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth
forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever
he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly [are] not so: but [are] like the chaff
which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly
shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the
congregation of the righteous. For the LORD knoweth
the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
Noah,
Moses, Paul, Wm. Branham all are exoduses
#4) This manifestation
of the Seed life by being quickened by the Word for the season, is the evidence
that the Seed is God's Seed.
1 John 3: 1 - 3
Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be
called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth
us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we
know that, when he shall appear,
we shall be like him; for we shall
see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth
himself, even as he is pure.
2 Corinthians 3: 18
Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be
called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth
us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we
know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as
he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth
himself, even as he is pure.
Collosians 3: 4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear,
then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
1 John 4: 17 Herein
is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day
of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.
#5) All other Seeds
will not be quickened to Life but will reject the Word for the season. Not the
Word but the True understanding of it.
Notice the comparison we see in Psalms 1:1-6,
the righteous man who is planted like a tree near the water of Life, and the
ungodly who are not.
And in John 3: 19-21 And this is the condemnation, that
light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because
their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth
the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But
he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest,
that they are wrought in God.
1 Timothy 4: 1-2,
Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter
times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and
doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared
with a hot iron;
2 Thessalonians 1: 7-10 And to you who are troubled rest with us,
when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In
flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the
gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting
destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;
When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them
that believe (because our testimony among you was believed ) in that day.
In Genesis 1:11 we see the law of
Life that says, every seed must bring forth after it’s
kind or nature. Therefore if we are God seed we must have God life,
and will bring forth God fruit.
In John 6:63 Jesus said, “My words are spirit and they are Life.”
Therefore, you cannot be born again by spirit only, for His words are spirit
and they are life, and show me a man who claims to be born again and denies
this word, and you will see that man fail time after time, for he is not
baptized into the body of Christ but into a temporary birth.
The apostle Peter said in 1 Peter 1:23, “being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by
the Word of God that liveth and abideth forever.”
So you see the new birth must come by the
Word of God or the birth you have will be a corruptible one. That is why we can
have 1/3 of the world’s 6 billion people, who profess to be Christian. Yes, 1
in every three people, 2.1 billion people today, profess to be Christian, and
yet you can look far and wide to try and find one who truly lives a life that
could be deemed as Christ like. Now, I know there are some, but very few.
And why is that? Because we have replaced
the mission minded church with mega churches. We have replaced the Word of God
with entertainment.
The early Church was called “Christians” by
the Romans as a vulgar term, because they were deemed to be followers of Christ,
because they were “of Christ” or Christ like.
But today, in the churches across
Where is true Holiness among the church
today? The rate of Divorce among church members is no different than it is
among non church goers. How do you explain that to the Muslim or Hindu or
Buddhist? The Japanese have less than 2% divorce rate, and the rates are so low
in Muslim countries that they do not even show results.
So 1/3 of the world’s population
who claim to be followers of Christ have the worst divorce rates in the world.
Why?
I will tell you why, because in 1956
William Branham prophesied that
And why is the divorce rate
escalating out of control? It is a sign to show that the great divorcement is about
to take place. “I used to know you as my wife but I do not know you as my wife any
longer, and God will spew her out of his mouth.”
From his sermon Making a way 56-0304 P:12 he
said, I just feel that we haven't
got much time now. And I'll predict it. I don't say this is the Lord saying
this now, I'm predicting that this year
Divine
love 56-0826 P:15 When I predicted six months ago that this
was the closing year for
50 years ago we had real Christians in this
Country, but where are they today?
Seventy percent of Americans profess to be
Christians, but I do not think they understand what a Christian is? A Christian
is someone who is Christ-like, born of the Spirit of God by God’s Word. Peter
said there are two kinds of new birth. A corruptible one by a corruptible seed, and an incorruptible one by the Word of God. Now, what
birth have you? How were you born again? What seed did
you receive? Word seed or organizational seed?
If you have Eternal Life, then you have
God’s own life living in you because there is only one Eternal Life and that
would be God’s own life. He is the great Eternal One. And if you have a Life that is not a
reflection of His Life, then your life is not eternal, for the law of
reproduction says in Genesis 1:11 “every seed will bring forth after it’s
kind”.
Therefore if you have eternal Life you did
not just get it, but always had it. It’s eternal, and so then where did it come
from? It had to come from God Himself, who is the eternal One.
The problem today is that the church Is not answering the crucial questions of life. “where did we come from, why are we here and where are we
going?”
Instead of teaching a relationship with God
as our Father and His Son Jesus as our Kinsman redeemer, they fill the people
with a lot of programs to keep them busy, and preach a lot of social issues
which have nothing to do with our salvation, nor anything to do with our
relationship with our Father.
But the Apostle Paul tells us where we come
from in the book of Ephesians.
Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ: So notice now, where do our blessings come from? From God. Where do we receive them? In
Christ.
4 According as he
hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, (when did he choose you and I? Before
the foundations of the world. Where were we when he chose us? IN him!!!
We were in Him. Then if we were in Him we were a part of him before the very
creation took place. And if we were a part of Him, and He is
the Word? Then we must be a part of the Word, if we are His Seed. For his Seed is the Word which the Son of Man went forth sowing.)
Now,
remember Jesus told a parable of the Son of Man and how he went forth sowing
seed. In Matthew
13:36 we read, Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house:
and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto
us the parable of the tares of the field. 37 He
answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of
man; 38 The field is the world; the
good seed are the children of the kingdom;
Now
notice that the seed that the son of Man sowed are said to be the children of
Kingdom. In other words, the children of God. but the tares are the
children of the wicked one; 39 The enemy that sowed
them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the
angels.
Now,
in the Book of Luke Jesus also explained this parable as following: Luke 8: 9 And his disciples asked
him, saying, What might this parable be? 10 And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the
Notice, Jesus said He spoke in parables so
that certain ones would have an understanding but all others would not be able
to understand. Now, I didn’t say that He did.
He also said that in Matthew 13: 10 And the disciples came,
and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? 11 He
answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you
to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. 12 For whosoever hath, to him
shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from
him shall be taken away even that he hath. 13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and
hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. 14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias,
which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye
shall see, and shall not perceive:
And again in Mark 4: 10 And when he was alone,
they that were about him with the twelve asked of him the parable.
11 And
he said unto them, Unto
you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, (that word without was translated from the Greek word EXO which
means on the ones on the outside.) all these
things are done in parables: 12 That
seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not
understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their
sins should be forgiven them. 13 And he said unto them, Know
ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all
parables? 14 The sower
soweth the word.
So you see the Word
of God was spoken by Jesus in parables to confound those whom it was not meant
for. Now, that may sound strange but the evidence that you are correctly born
again by the word of God and have been quickened to Life by the Spirit of God
in His Word is that when you hear the Word of God it is alive to you, and you
are alive in it. And you see the Word for the day and hour in which you were
ordained to live.
Now, in getting back
to Jesus parable in Mark 4:11 Jesus said, Now the parable is this: The
seed is the word of God. 12 Those by
the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the
word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. 13 They on
the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these
have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. 14 And
that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth,
and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this
life, and bring no fruit to perfection. 15 But
that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having
heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
So
you see there are different responses that people have concerning their hearing
the Word of God just like each plant has a different response to how much sun
light they can receive. And we know that every seed has a season in which it
can come to germination. We have summer wheat and winter wheat and spring wheat
etc. And there is a seed for every season.
Now,
in getting back to what the Apostle Paul said in Ephesians we had just read
where God had chosen us in Him before the foundations of the world, and blessed
us with all spiritual blessings while we were in Christ.
Now,
the only way we could have been in him is to be in his thinking. That is what Jesus
said in his Prayer to His Father in John 17. 20 Neither
pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; 21 That they all may be
one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee,
that they also may be one in us:
that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. 22 And
the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that
they may be one, even as we are one:
Well what is this Glory? Because we see that this
glory is what will make us one with God as Jesus and God were one. Well that
word glory was translated from the Greek word Doxa which means the opinion, the
assessment or value, and the judgment. So we see that Jesus received God’s
Values, His Opinions, and His Judgment’s and that made Him one with His Father.
And He says here that He gave to us what God had given to Him, His Own word.
And that word, those opinions, assessments, and judgments will make us One with God and Christ even as It made the Son of God one
with His Father. )
Now,
in getting back to Ephesians 1:4 “that we should be holy and without blame before
him in love: Now,
notice this next statement here. 5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus
Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, (predestinated us, What did
he do? He said God predestinated us to be adopted. Not adopted as the world
knows adoption today. But adopted according to Paul in Galatians chapter 4 is
that we are already sons, but until we have the mind of the Father we are not
adoptable or placed as sons. So you see God’s whole purpose is to give us His
own mind, but the world doesn’t want God’s mind. He said in His own word, “Let the Mind that
was in Christ be in You,” but they do not want the mind of Christ. They’d rather have their own mind,
and with that they will most surely perish, for “there is a way which seems right unto man but
that way is the way of death.”
Let’s be real plain here. It was not the prostitute
nor was it the drunkard that crucified Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The Bible
tells us in Luke
23:33 “there they crucified Him”. There, …where?
Paul said in Ephesians 1: 6 To the praise of the glory of his grace,
wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. There you are. You
don’t make yourself accepted. It’s not you choosing Him, it’s His choosing you.
I’ve always said the Baptists have it all backwards. They believe it’s your
choice that is your salvation.
But what good is your choice if He did not
choose you before the foundations of the world. In John
15:16, Jesus said, Ye have not chosen me, but
I have chosen you, and ordained you,
that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and [that] your fruit should remain:
that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
Now, we ought to stop
right here and rest our case. Either this is meant for all believers or it is
not. If it is not, then all believers are not expected to bring forth fruit,
and all believers are not entitled to ask the Father in the name of Jesus and
expect to receive what they ask for. But I say, Jesus is telling us here that
we did not choose Him first, He chose us, and our love toward him, and
acceptance of Him, is only in response to His choice.
In I John 4:19, we hear John tell us, "We love him, because he first
loved us." Now, either this is true or it is not. Then if
this is not true, we must rip it out of our Bible. And if this passage is in
error, then what else is in error. If we believe God wrote the Word, that His
Bible is the Un-adulterated Word of God, then we must accept what it tells us.
Scripture does not fight scripture.
In Deuteronomy 7:6, we
read, "For thou art an
holy people unto the LORD thy God: the
LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all
people that are upon the face of the earth. 7 The LORD did not set
his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any
people; for ye were the fewest of
all people: 8 But because the LORD loved
you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers,
hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out
of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
Again we see that it
was not our choosing but God's choosing that is involved here.
In Proverbs 14:12, we read, ¶ There is a way which seemeth
right unto a man, but the end thereof [are] the ways of death.
This scripture tells us
that man will try to choose what seems right, or the way that he believes to be
the right way, but man's choice will always lead to the way of death.
Therefore, even in our choosing, we need a God who will watch over our choices,
and help us to make the right choice.
In Philippians 3:15 we
read, ¶ Let
us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye
be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.
In the following
scriptures we find God is actively involved with His elect.
Psalms 1:6
The Lord knoweth (yada = to watch over with active
participation) the
way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish. (a’bad = left to ones
self)
Psalms 37:23
The steps of
a [good] man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth
in his way. Here we find the Hebrew
word Kuwn used for "ordered",
and means to set up or establish, to prepare or arrange.
Therefore we see the hand of God actively involved in the steps of a good man
or righteous man.
In Proverbs 16:9 we read, ¶ A man's heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth
his steps. Here we find that
although a man may contemplate and even plan his way, yet God has the ultimate
say so and will direct the very footsteps of that man. Jonah was a classic
example of this. The Lord told Him to do such and such and when Jonah had what
he thought was a better plan, God just took over the situation and produced
exactly what He intended to produce. Jonah had no choice, or at least his
choice meant nothing to what God wanted done.
In Jeremiah 1:5 we
read, Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee;
and before thou camest forth out of the womb I
sanctified thee, [and] I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Jeremiah could not get away from it if he
tried. For this very reason he was born.
We also find in the book
of ACTS 13:48, And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified
the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.
If we are to believe
this scripture, then we must acknowledge that all who are ordained to Eternal
Life will believe. Then those who are not ordained to Life will not believe,
and there is your evidence of election.
I Corinthians
2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden
wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
Ephesians 1:4 According as he
hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be
holy and without blame before him in love: 5 Having predestinated us unto
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good
pleasure of his will,
Now, if God had a word
which He ordained before the world began, and if that word was to produce Glory
in a chosen people, or a people of God's choosing, then there had to be a
people in God's mind before the world began who would at the right season
believe this predestinated Word, and receive the glory it was ordained to
produce.
Now, just as there are
those who were ordained to glory and to eternal Life, we also find those who
were ordained to condemnation. Jude 1:4 For there
are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this
condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into
lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Apostle Paul shoots
the theory that speaks of free moral agency as the root cause for election to
pieces in Romans 9:11 For the children being not yet born,
neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to
election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth; 12 It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.
13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. 14 ¶What shall we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? God forbid. 15 For he saith
to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have
compassion on whom I will have compassion. 16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth,
but of God that sheweth mercy. 17 For
the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee
up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my
name might be declared throughout all the earth. 18 Therefore hath he mercy on
whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
19 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him
that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? 21 Hath
not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonor?
Paul makes it very
clear that our election is not up to you or I, but
entirely up to God. He even goes so far to say, So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth,
but of God that sheweth mercy. Now,
if it is not him that willeth, then your will and my
will have nothing to do with our election at all. It is God who either chooses
to show mercy or not. Therefore, if your will has nothing to do with your being
elect, then neither does your choice for your choice is but a reflection of
your will. You will and then you choose.
Well, let’s just continue on our reading or
we will never get through. Ephesians 1:7 In whom we have redemption
through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; 8 Wherein
he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; 9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his
good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: 10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times
he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in
heaven, and which are on earth; even
in him: 11 In whom also we have obtained an
inheritance, being predestinated
according to the purpose of him who worketh all
things after the counsel of his own will: (so you can’t get away
from the fact that God has either predestinated you or he hasn’t. And if he hasn’t then I do not care how much you study the word of
God, you’ll never get it unless you are ordained to understand it.)
Acts 13:48 says, “as many as were ordained to Eternal Life believed.”
As many. That means either you were or you weren’t. and if you were ordained to eternal Life you will believe,
because if you were ordained to Eternal Life you can’t help but believe. God
ordained you to it.
12 That we should be to the praise of his glory,
who first trusted in Christ.
13 In
whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the
word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, (Notice, not when you believed, but after
you believed. And you believed after you heard the Word of truth…) 14 Which is
the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased
possession, unto the praise of his glory. (So the word of God
seals us in until the redemption of the body is complete. There’s your season.) 15 Wherefore
I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, 16 Cease
not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; 17 That the God of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may
give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge
of him:
(Now notice here that it is God’s intension to give
you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the Knowledge of Himself. Why?) 18 That The
eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope
of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the
saints, So it’s all about
inheritance. Being able to inherit from your Father, but first you must have
His mind to be adopted. Oh, I like that.
His mind, not the mind of the denomination. Not the mind of the church, But His mind and He is
the Word.
Let
us pray…