The
Known God #2
“Who Is God?”
Jehovah-Elohim of Old and New Is the Same One
Let
us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your
Presence, and we truly believe You are here, and we know that we are in
position to define the Spirit by the Word, because You are in Your Word; and
that is so true.
And
we pray You’ll help us to study tonight from Your Word to know You as we are
supposed to, which is face-to-face, even as You said, “The end time, that the
children will know their God, Who is their Father.” We are not interested in
exploits, Lord, unless You give them to us that we should do them and fit in
according to Your plan, but we really want to know You, Lord, have faith in
You, love You as You loved us, and show forth Your praise somehow in these
lives, lest they be destitute, and having been here in vain.
So,
our Father, we commend ourselves to You and thank You
for this time of fellowship and rejoice in the good Word of God. In Jesus’ Name
we pray. Amen. You may be seated.
1. Now
I don’t know if I’ll get to that peculiar drawing you have up there. [A picture
describing various characteristics of God is placed on the easel behind Bro.
Vayle. He does not refer to it again during the preaching of this message.]
It’s very good, but you understand that’s a drawing that was put out by the
Jesus-Only people. I don’t know just how deep all were into it, but they’re
deep into it, at least most of them were. And it’s my purpose to take a great
deal of that and to show you where Bro. Branham differed from them, because he
was different from the Trinitarians and the Oneness. It wasn’t that he wasn’t
‘oneness’ himself; he just wasn’t ‘oneness’ in organization. And you’ll notice
he said, “When they organized, they lost
out with God.” That of course is true, because organization is not of God.
It’s
very strange that so many people that break away form the old traditions and
come into the light which God has shed upon their paths, always declare so
firmly that they are walking in the light, and they must never organize,
because that means that they have come to the place where there’s no further
light. And so, then, if there would be a further light, they will be remiss.
They will miss out.
But
you will notice how they go ahead and organize, and when they do, they organize
usually in the sense of an error, because if they weren’t in error, they
wouldn’t organize. See? Error brings forth errors. The Bible says, “Can a clean
thing come out of an unclean thing?” [Job 14:4] Well, certainly not. It can’t.
Neither can an unclean thing come out of a clean thing. Like kind begets like.
2. So
we’re going to continue tonight with the study of Godhead, which is “the known
God,” or “God that is known.” So I’ll read quite a bit here, and we’ll go to
the Scripture and see how we make out.
In
my last message, which I preached here, I was very careful to point out with
many Scriptures that the invisible God of the Bible can be known intimately by
His children as to Who and what He is; that is, what He is essentially and
intrinsically, and that as He reveals Himself to us by vindicated prophets, we
actually know God, we understand about Him, and we, by knowing, have to admit,
if you really understand the Scripture now, that God is actually a Father, not
only of the Lord Jesus Christ, but He is the Father of all of those who were in
Adam.
3. Now
Paul the Apostle starts many of the Epistles, or he uses what they might call
‘hymns of praise’, and in there he’ll give a little eulogy to God: “Blessed be
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,” and of course he’s doing more
than one thing there—not just simply admitting that God is our Father—but the
fact is that he pointing out that God is the Father of Jesus Christ on the
grounds that this is the one God that is the True and Living God. There isn’t
any other.
So he wouldn’t be saying, “Blessed be the God of Isaac, Abraham and
Jacob,” though he can say that, that’s perfectly fine. There’s no
problem there. But when you come in contact with Jesus, as did Paul, who lived
in that particular day, (Though he denied Jesus, he was part of those that
certainly would be part of the crucifixion of Christ and the destruction of the
Bride of Christ.) he comes along, and he said, “Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
And
so he’s picking out God as the Father of Jesus Christ. And that means that if
God is the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, you have to then worship that One
Who is that one’s Father. And you know, John does the
same thing: “He that hath the Father hath the Son; he that hath the Son hath
the Father.” “He that doesn’t have the Son doesn’t have the Father, and he that
doesn’t have the Father doesn’t have the Son.” [1 Jn
2:23; 2 Jn 1:9]
4. So
you’re looking at Paul here in a very wide-eyed and understanding way, that
this is exclusive. Like the Bible says that He is the God amongst the gods.
Well, there are not any other gods. You know that’s stupid except in the sense
that you can have a lot of spirits that are controlling things, and a lot of
things that are out there in the spirit world and certain types of
demonstrations, but there’s only one God.
But
we have to know if we are right in attributing our worship to this God: one
God, not several. You’ve got several gods in the Roman Parthenon and the Greeks
and the Norwegians, the Swedes… You go any number of places, and they’ve got
any number of gods in the world, but of course there’s only one God. All the
rest are imitations of the devil. So he’s picking this out here, giving you an
understanding that you can actually know God, even as Paul knew God, and he
said, “The Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,” but he said, the Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ.” He puts Him there.
So
what Paul is really saying here is that the God and Father of Jesus is actually
his God and Father too, and he had the commission to bring this understanding
of God, the only one God, to the Gentiles, because the people of Israel, the
Jews, had turned away from the truth.
5. Now
we’re going along here: as God reveals to us the depths of His Own sovereign
being, He does so by means of revealing His purposes and plans through the ages
and signifies our part and position in all those plans. Now you can’t possibly
have an actual understanding of God, unless there is a relationship. And that relationship
must be absolutely maximized so that you will understand that that relationship
is there, what that relationship is, and how it came about, and what are God’s
purpose and plans, and you’re included in it all, and this all goes into
worship.
So,
when God reveals Himself, it isn’t just enough that He brings a revelation
concerning His Godhead, as to His great ability. Now with this God of ours
here, which is Elohim, we know He’s omnipotent, and
you know mythology has the gods all fighting to see who comes out on top. But
it’s not enough for anybody to know that there is a God, and you can see that
in creation, that there is some kind of a supreme being. That’s not enough. Even though you might know that, that’s not enough. You have
to know the purpose and plan of God, and that reaches decisively and
experientially to those who are going to worship him.
6. Now
I know the Bible says, “Let the trees clap their hands,” [Isa
55:12] and “Everything that has breath, praise the Lord,” [Ps 150:6]…look, that’s
fine. That’s just what you may say is a little admonition that makes you to
know that if the trees clap their hands, it’s the same as Jesus said, “If these
people weren’t praising me and screaming ‘Hosanna to the highest,’ the rocks
would start talking.”
Well,
that’s good; that’s fine. I have nothing against that. What I’m trying to get
you to understand is: what is that all about, especially for the worshippers of
God? Do you see where I’m trying to get you? So the purpose and plan of God—and
what those who worship Him have in it from Him so that they can partake in it
and on what grounds they do have, and how it is all worked out—has to be a part
of this revelation. Otherwise, you know, where would you be? The Message would
not be intimate—a loving relationship revealed.
Well,
let’s face it: when
Well,
come on. And what happened? They were a mess! An absolute mess, and the only
way that God could do anything at that time was to send a prophet in order that
the people would know the true and the living God that they knew in the sense
of a mental conception. But what a conception they had. If one person had two
little silver idols, and one had a little carved stump,
and one had some little thing over here… Well now, where is that worshipping
God? See? There’s a real problem if the people don’t come to some consensus.
See? They’ve got to have something, and that would have to come from God
Himself.
7. So
we talk about “the known God,” that God can be known, that God must be known,
that God is known. You are actually referring to a knowledge
of the person of God as to His essentiality and intrinsicality,
and also what He is doing absolutely in relationship to us, and where does it
all end?
And
so that’s why I said these things which I have said here. As God reveals to us
the depths of His Own sovereign Being, He does so many times by revealing His
purposes and plans through the ages and signifies our part and position in all
those plans. Now that’s logical, isn’t it?
Now
you can’t read Ephesians 1 and not know what I’m talking about. Now where would
you be today if you didn’t have what I’m talking about? It’d be hit and miss.
And maybe someone would say, “Well, I think I worship the true God.”
Well,
there’s only one, real true God.
“Well…well
now, I think that’s logical—one true God, because I don’t see any fights going
on in the heavens, so there’s likely one true God all right. I could accept
that.”
Well
now, just a minute. Who is He? What is He? What has He done? What is He doing?
Where do you fit in? How does this affect me? And, you know, you might as well
just put it plain out—not only what part do I have in this, what do I get out
of it in the sense that I am looking for the grace and abundance of God?
All
this is God’s Own doings in His sovereign will, because He’s a sovereign God,
and He says many things about Himself that we take to heart—and of course, we
wouldn’t if we weren’t His children—but we have to know these things. And that’s why the Bible, especially Ephesians 1 is from
eternity-to-eternity, God Himself personal, His plans in order to reveal
Himself and glorify Himself by our worship, and then positionally
place us in this eternal plan, which lay in the eternal God. Now that’s
beautiful, if you really believe and begin to see how this is a predestinated
work of the Father.
8. Now
the Bible reveals God Himself in His Own historical ages. And there are
historical ages. You can’t doubt that for one minute. Bro. Branham said there
were Seven Church Ages in the Old Testament. He never did explain it. I wish he
had, but it wasn’t relative anyway, I suppose. And then he talked about our
Seven Church Ages, went through them as historian, and then went from eternity
to eternity and blended time and eternity and took us plumb beyond where time
goes out of existence and eternity is right where it started—the beginning of
God’s plans.
So
the Bible reveals God Himself in His Own historical ages, in which we are the
recipients of His loving grace through Jesus Christ, His Only-begotten Son,
even our elder brother. Now right away we have begun to reveal to you a plan.
Now that was God’s purpose and God’s plan—that part of it.
9. Now,
that God can and will be known personally as God and Father to us is seen in
such Scripture as 1 Cor 13:9-12. So let’s go into the
Scripture. I’m continuing where I was from last time, and I believe it’s
necessary, because I want to get some thoughts in here—where I stand anyway.
What you do is, you know, what you want to do.
Now
1 Cor 13:9-12, and he says:
(9) For we know in part, and we prophesy in
part.
(10) But
when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done
away.
Now
that tells you simply: when Perfect has come means there’s
no more parts. Now if you had perfect parts, and the machine took seven parts,
and they were all perfect, and they came together in exactly the right way by
the super mechanic, you’ve got a perfect motor or machine. Right?
That’s simple as A-B-C. Now if one part is missing, it’s not perfect, because
‘perfect’ means ‘complete’.
10. Now
there are Seven Church Ages—seven complete messages. And at the end time the
seventh part in position will bring completion. There isn’t any more, period.
No more children, no more grace, no more baptism with the Holy Ghost to the
Gentile church age. Then it goes back to
And
I hope I have a little part in that through the Church. I’ve been sending a
little money to the rabbi, The Eagle Wings, you know, where they’re
taking some Jews back from
He
said, “No, no. Don’t be afraid. It was for a purpose. We had to go to the
Gentiles; you Jews were blinded.”
11. Now
how come these people are still fighting for Jewish converts.
The Baptists made this great, big proclamation: “We are going to go gung ho to
get all the Jews in.” And everybody got angry. Now if they would have listened
to me, who listened to my prophet, I could have quelled all their fears and
said, “Hold it! Hold it! Hold it! They only come in as a nation. You’re
blinded.”
And
here’s the tough part of that: the Gentiles who know that’s written in the Book
of Romans don’t believe it, and they’re still trying to open eyes that God
blinded. How dare anybody try to open an eye that God blinded? Now I’m talking
of grace and the ages. I’m not talking about God maybe blinding someone like
that man born blind for the glory of God. Forget that. Or somebody got his eye
put out and God knew all about it and gave him a new eye. Like the time when
Bro. Branham…that fellow over in
12. So that’s what you’re looking at. We want to talk about this
now, going on:
(10) But when that which is perfect is come, then
that which is in part shall be done away.
In
other words, when the Perfect comes, it’ll all be gone. The
day of grace to the Gentiles—gone. No more coming in—gone. Okay. No more
repentance—like Billy Graham, I agree, after the Rapture takes place, there’ll
be people, and he might even have a tent meeting. I don’t know, they’re coming
to the altar and getting nothing.
Now,
he said:
(10) But when that which is perfect is come, then
that which is in part shall be done away.
(11) When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I
understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put
away childish things.
(12) For now we see through a glass, darkly; but
then face to face: now I know in part; (Now you could say…then the rest of It
says:) but then shall I know even as I am also known. (When it comes
face-to-face. For all we know is a part.)
Well,
you could say, “Well, Paul knew a part, and he’s waiting for the Resurrection.”
I
could agree with you, but here’s the thing: when that which is Perfect is come, and Paul could only tell about it, and that
which is Perfect is now. We have a revelation of God, I believe, that’s as
complete as any revelation you will ever, ever get, outside that you are
changed to immortality, taken up to the Wedding Supper where that Spirit that’s
in our midst becomes incarnate to us, and we crown Him King of Kings and Lord
of Lords, and that will be…what? Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, Son of man, Son
of David, the Son of God, the Rose of Sharon, the Altogether Lovely. In other
words there’s going to be a reincarnation. You keep that in mind, because some
time later I want to talk about that, because what I have just said is so
important, so very important.
13. We
go now to 1 Jn 3:2, and that’s a good favorite one
right here. This, to me, is one of the great puzzles of all ages, that people
who really believe their Bibles—They say they do!)—Oh, they’re theologians. Oh man, they’re into everything in
the book, knowing their doctrines; but they don’t know what It
says here. 1 John 3:
(1) 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 not him.
(2) Beloved,
now are we the sons of God, and it doth not now 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.
Now
the Bible says, “The only begotten hath declared him,” [Jn
1:18] which is to lead him forth by words, and since God cannot be seen by you
and me, we only know that He can manifest Himself, and then we have to listen
to the man like Moses that saw him…right? And we’ve got to know Him by words.
In other words our ears are our eyes. You don’t hear with your ears any way.
You don’t see with your eyes. You know as well as I do. You have a nerve
impulse that goes to the brain, and that does the whole thing for you.
And
then people, you know, they get mad at me especially, because they think I’m
such a mechanical guy. My brains were baptized with the Holy Ghost. See? They
don’t know that. Well, I know it though. I’ll prove it to you. I’m not fooling.
I’ll prove it to you. Before the night’s over I will
show you something you’ll not find in any textbook under high heaven, unless
Bro. Branham himself were to tell you. Just telling you.
So all right.
14. It
says right here: at the time of the Appearing we shall see Him as He is. And
‘Appearing’ is different from ‘Coming’, and it takes a vindicated prophet to
prove it. ‘Appearing’ is now.
Let
me ask you something: how clearly have you seen God and His Son? How clearly
have you see him who said: “It’s the Father in me that doeth the works,” and
“He who sees me sees the Father”?
How
clearly have you seen that the Word revealed is the Name of God? How clearly do
you know that the Name of God is ‘Lord Jesus Christ’?
I’m
not trying to scare you. It’s an open book (See?) taken from Bro. Branham’s
sermons.
15. Now
let’s go to Acts 17. And as usual, we’ll be here till
(22) Then
Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, You men of
In
other words their understanding and worship of God was simply superstition. Now
then, if you are a Trinitarian, are you any less than superstitious?
Say,
“Oh, I don’t think it goes that far, Bro. Vayle.”
Well,
Bro. Branham said it was idolatry. He said, “Methodist, Baptist witchcraft.” How far do you want me to go? As far as the prophet? Well, I just did. Well, not really,
but I just did a little bit.
16. Now:
(23) For
as I passed by, I beheld your devotions, (your worshiping) I found an altar
with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore you ignorantly
worship, him declare I unto you.
Now
look it: if that ‘Unknown God’ was the real God, what would it matter? It
wasn’t really, because they had a dozen others, and Paul just took that as an
example. You see, “In vain do you worship me, having for doctrine the
traditions of men” [Mt 15:9]…something handed down from some Pentecostal woman
that got goose pimples. Oh listen. I’m kidding in a way, but I’ve been all
through this stuff.
I’ll
never forget the woman down in
I
said, “Now He’s ‘God of the goose pimples’.”
Yeah,
I know it’s kind of silly and facetious, and I know it might not seem right in
a service like this to bring it down to that level, but listen: that’s the
level people are on. And they don’t even know they’re on that level, which is
very, very dangerous. All right.
17. The
final revelation of knowing Him and His plans come into manifestation in Rev
4:2-3 when John was caught up during the Rapture and saw that Great One on the
throne with a rainbow around Him, the same One in Rev 5:1, the same One in Rev
10:1-2, coming down to earth, and then over in Rev 22, which I’ll go to read.
I’m skipping these, because you’re familiar with them, and you can read them
yourself. Revelation 22 says here:
(1) And
he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of
the throne of God and of the Lamb. Notice it’s a throne of God and of the Lamb.
Okay. Joint posession, so to speak.)
(2) In
the midst of the street of it, (That’s New Jerusalem) either side of the river,
was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her
fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the
nations.
(3) And
there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in
it; and his servants shall serve him:
(4) And
they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.
(5) And
there shall be no night there; and they have no need of candle, neither the
light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for
ever and ever.
(6) And
he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the
holy prophets (So now: the God and Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ can’t mean
one thing to any of us, until He’s the God of the prophets—the holy prophets.
Then it comes on down to us.) sent his angel to show unto his servants the
things which must shortly come to pass. (And so on.)
And
so there you see the picture and you enter into the plan of God as He has it
outlined in the future. Bro. Branham, being a prophet—a holy prophet, by the
way—gave us a little further insight because he said this is the pyramidal city, New Jerusalem, on Mount Zion: 1,500 miles
at the base, and 1,5000 miles high, all terraced, and
the Bride is there, and the 144,000, and the Lamb on the throne, and the Pillar
of Fire above the throne, and before they call, He answers. So God becomes
All in all, and the foolish virgin, which they’re called that, but they’re the
children of God—all from the same bolt but not of that pattern—and that’s up to
God and predestinating.
You
say, “Well, why would God do that?”
Well
then why would God do, as It says over in the Book of
Romans: He’ll compassionate whom He will compassionate, and He’ll judge those
whom He will judge? [Rom
And
then somebody says, “Well, just a minute, why does God…? What’s God complaining
about?”
He
said, “Shut up and sit down. Who are you to reply against God?”
18. Now
I like that, because that’s sovereignty. You cannot talk about God except in
sovereign principles. That’s why people believe that Jesus is Deity. He is not
Deity! He is the Son of God. As much as I love him, I would never besmirch his
great and holy name by making him ‘God’. He would literally throw me out.
“What?
Would that happen?”
A
woman fell down at Bro. Branham’s feet. She said, “My Lord and my God.”
And
he said, “The people, Lee, have made me
an antichrist.”
Well,
if William Branham is that sharp—which he’s not very sharp compared to
Jesus—how definitive would be Jesus and how definite in knowing where he stood?
You know he does get worship, but not as God. As I said before, he gets
worship—not for whom he is—but for what he did. And he never would have done
what he did except for who he was.
So
that’s what Bro. Branham told us about
19. Now
here in this day we had a vindicated prophet according to Deuteronomy 18 which
you well know: “When that prophet comes, and the thing he said come to pass, you fear him.” That’s over there in
Ecclesiastes also: that God does everything the same way, that you fear him. [Ecc 3:14] And if the people would have done that, known
what a prophet really is, when Bro. Branham came on the scene, they’d have
feared him.
What
do I mean by ‘fear’?
They
would have been afraid to come against him, because he stood for God and as
God, and God was in him.
20. But
let’s go to Numbers 12 now, because Numbers 12 is very interesting, because It has to do with a very, very special prophet. Bro. Branham
always loved to quote this, Num 12:5-10, and It says here:
(5) And
the LORD (That’s God Almighty here.) the LORD came down in the pillar of the
cloud, and stood in the door of the tabernacle, (That’s why they call it the
‘Pillar’.) and called Aaron and Miriam: and they both came forth.
(6) And
he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD (That’s
Jehovah.) will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him
in a dream.
(7) My
servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house.
(8) With
him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, (That means He’ll manifest
Himself in a visible way.) and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the
LORD shall he behold: (So he’s going to see something and it’s going to be God
there, like He stood there in a pillar of cloud, in the Pillar of Fire.)
wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses? (Now that
actually was ‘a Bro. Branham’, just the same as with the Apostle Paul. Yes,
indeed.
21. If
you go to Hebrews 6, I think you’re going to see the very same thing there,
which is the end time that people don’t want to recognize, and It says here:
(4) For
it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, (That means ‘once for all
enlightened’. Now ‘once for all enlightened’ means it isn’t going to happen
anymore…that’s the end of it: that’s the seventh church age, Perfection has
come, it’s over, it’s finished.) and have tasted (Now watch:) have tasted the
heavenly gift, were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, (Do you realize that’s
the Pentecostals…the anointed ones at the end time? Absolutely.)
(5) And
have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,
(Creating squirrels and seeing a resurrection of a fish.)
(6) (Not)
If they shall fall away (Having fallen away), to renew them again unto
repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves (They can’t crucify the Son of
God, they crucify) the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
(7) For
the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth
forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God:
(How many times does the earth receive rain, which is the Word? Seven times.)
(8) But
that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing;
whose end is to be burned.
What
is that? The tares spring up from the soil, they
rejoice in the sun, they rejoice in the rain, and they mature just exactly like
the wheat does. And remember, it takes the Holy Spirit to mature them also
because “Many will come in that day and say, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not
prophesied in thy name, cast out devils…’” [Mt 7:22]
“I
never knew you.”
So
there you are. You had here manifestation of two orders. And those orders would
have to be in a time of crisis or a juncture, as Bro. Branham would call it. So
there was Moses, there was Paul, there was William Branham—juncture prophets,
whom God made Himself apparent to, as in Numbers 12.
22. Now
according to his own words, he declared unto us a vindicated and infallible
truth. This is Bro. Branham: “Jehovah of
the Old Testament is Jesus of the New Testament.”
Now
let us first of all consider ‘Jehovah’. Now that is absolutely a Name of God.
He said, “I was not known by my Name, Jehovah. I’m known by my Name, Jehovah, now: I’m revealing It to you. [Ex 6:3]
Now
“Jehovah,” as Bro. Branham said very
correctly, “means ‘the Self-Existing One’.” And
‘Self-Existing’ means ‘He is, because He was’. He had no beginning, such as a
father and mother—no way. He needed, or does need or will never need anyone’s
help. Because why? He is the One that gives it. See? He always was and shall
be.
23. But
wait. Before you speak of ‘Jehovah God’, you must go back to Gen 1:1, because
Jehovah is not mentioned in Gen 1:1. And of course that says:
(1) In
the beginning God…
And
that word, we know, is ‘Elohim’. “In
the beginning, Elohim.” There we simply read
by vindicated revelation, Moses got it, that God created the heavens and the
earth and all that in them is. That’s according to the Book of Revelation. What
is His Name? His Name is ‘Elohim’, which is ‘The
Strong One Bound by an Oath’. Now we’ve said that many, many times, but it’s
the truth. Elohim itself is a sort of combination or
coming forth of the word ‘El’, which is God…you know,
the ‘El Elah’ are lines of
Here
then is ‘The Strong One Bound by an Oath’. This then is an omnipotent and
omniscient God. ‘An omnipotent God’ means ‘omnipotent force’, ‘omnipotent
ability’, and signifies absolute control over creation. And so therefore,
creation is of Him and by Him and for Him. And God answers to no man. None whatever. Nobody. This is
sovereignty, which now means in plain talk that God is in complete control of
Himself and His Kingdom, and all therein. And all is at His disposition
according to whatever He desires, or that He must even do, according to Who and what He is and Himself within His purposes.
24. What
He desires is definitely known as foreknowledge and predestination. Now you
might think different, but you’d be wrong, because He does all things after the
purpose of His Own will. And that goes from the little speck of fly to the big
elephant, or anything else. It goes all the way from the weakest saint to a
great and tremendous Daniel, the three Hebrew children, all the way over to the
Only-begotten Son. God does what He wants, and when He says, “The Only-begotten
Son”—that means ‘uniquely born’. There never was one since, and never will be
another. He stands all alone. And how God did that: Bro. Branham described the
‘virgin birth’. It was absolutely amazing. Never, never again will it happen.
Whatever
He desires He will bring to pass, and His desire is bound up in two words:
foreknowledge and predestination. Of course foreknowledge is His wisdom;
predestination is His power.
25. Now
with this we might consider Elohim is not only
omnipotent, but that He Himself is so constituted now…you’ve got to forgive the
phrase there, but that’s the best I can do, because we’re talking about
essentiality…what is there that would make up God? Now I’m applying very
liberally crass knowledge, getting it from nature, and how we ourselves do
things. So we must consider that Elohim is not only
omnipotent, but that He Himself is so constituted that His great power is
absolutely channeled and manifested according to His Own wisdom or Word, for He
is “The Strong One,” that’s the Rock, the Boulder—formidable, unchanging. He is
guided or bound by an oath.
So God has, as it were, defining lines which He Himself is bound
by. And I’m going to be honest with you: I can’t prove this, but I
cannot believe for one minute that God worked on Himself. Now He could bring
His thoughts together and plans and everything else. But supposing you were
here, and you have certain things, and only certain things, to work with. Well,
that’s all you could work with. And I believe God, telling us what and Who He
is, His nature and His plans, His desires, His function and operation, and His
great government, His kingdom…I believe He does that only because it’s within
Him. As Bro. Branham said, “It was in Him
to be ‘Father’.”
Well, where did that come from? It was there. In Him was to be
Son, and be Holy Spirit…the Jehovah complex. Did He sort of figure that out?
Well,
I’m not saying that I’m perfect on this, but my own thinking is that this is
exactly a picture of the true God as you see the Jehovah-complex and the
various things that God’s holy prophets have been given by vindication to give
to us so that our faith may stand in the Word of God, not in anything else—and
God is the Word.
26. I
see here that His great power is absolutely channeled and manifested according
to His Own wisdom or Word for He is ‘The Strong One Bound by an Oath’. The
Strong One can act only according to His Word. Now there again we have those
who would like to think you can twist God’s arm to change His mind, to get Him
to do something that’s outside of His Word. I can’t accept it.
He
is bound by His Word. His Word defines Him. Now, see, this book here I hold has
definition. Well, God has, but you can’t hold it up like a book. But if He’s
bound by His Word, which is His oath, then God is defined. That’s exactly why
Jesus could declare Him, which means ‘to lead Him forth by words’. Thus when God acts, it can only be in accord, and one with His
Word. Well now watch. Listen: so God is in His Word. Right?
Right. Now if He’d only act according to His Word,
He’s in His Word. And the Word manifested—and remember,
revelation comes with manifestation—is the Name of God, which is Elohim.
27. You
have a Word and the prophet brings that Word vindicated. And all that’s in that
Word vindicated comes forth in God’s people. God then is the strong One,
manifesting in and through His Word. And that Word is revealed therefore, as
Bro. Branham said, by God manifesting It, which would be Himself. The people catch it. And
that’s the Name of God, and that’s exactly what I’m talking about—Elohim, The Strong One Bound by an Oath, the strong One
Whose omnipotence does not allow Him to act in an indiscriminate way under any
consideration whatsoever. All His ways are perfect, and His judgment is past
finding out: Elohim.
28. Now
recall to our minds but only what was said in Gen 1:1, which is Elohim creating at the time when Elohim
is desiring. I want to put it this way: in Gen 1:1 you
see Elohim, and you don’t know any more about God
than He’s Elohim, and that’s good, but now we want to
get a little more personal.
Well,
why would God get personal until He had His children? So the minute God gets
over here from Genesis 1: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the
earth,” and so on, we run over here to Genesis 2 and read along in there,
beginning at verse 4:
(4) These are the generations of the heavens
and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God…(Now that
the LORD God… Now He’s called ‘LORD God’ which is Jehovah-Elohim. So this gives
you a clue—not much—but a clue. And a clue has to do with now that the heavens
and earth were all done, what next? And It says: )
(5) And every plant of the field before it was
in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God
(That’s Jehovah-Elohim.) had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there
was not a man to till the ground. (That’s the secret right there: we’re coming
to the man. So now before man gets there, He’s Jehovah-Elohim. And that’s going
to be a big surprise because Jehovah, as we later on find as we go into God’s
history, has nine tremendous, significant divisions to His Name. So He comes
out as ‘Shepherd’ and ‘Peace’ and ‘Banner’ and ‘Redeemer’ and ‘Sanctifier’ and
right down the line—nine of them.
29. Now It says here:
(7) And
the LORD God (Ho! Ho! There it is!) The LORD God formed man of the dust of the
ground, and breathed into his hostrils the breath of life;…
Now
Bro. Branham said categorically, “That
wasn’t artificial respiration.” God breathed into Adam the Holy Spirit, and
that made him a living soul. So he now had a soul-body and a spirit-body, and
the spirit-body was just the two of them in one, as a spirit. That’s all. Now
this body here of clay is the soul-body. Now, you see, the soul wasn’t allowed
to have the body it should have had, which would have produced itself, which is
eternal. We bypassed it. It’s waiting for us up there.
And
so now he’s got to have this body. You’re put in here to be tested, but when
the Holy Ghost comes on you, giving you a double portion, as it were, seed
inside and watered by the spirit on the outside, then it’s commensurate to that
Word-body.
And
so right on down the line here you find that, with the advent of man, God
revealing that He couldn’t even begin to put man on the scene until He was
prepared to come forth as Jehovah-Elohim. And He sure
did, because as Bro. Branham described predestination as what would be a human
inclination for parents to provide for their unborn children, every single
thing in a magnitude which would show forth their concern and grace toward that
child, how much more would God do it?
Well,
He couldn’t possibly do anything like that until He came forth as Jehovah-Elohim. And so you see right away He prepares the Garden of
Eden, and does everything wonderful to have these children in the very best
atmosphere and prospect possible.
30. Now
Jehovah is a very wonderful Name, and God lets us use that Name. And it’s
derived from two words, where we learn part of the Name signifies “The
Self-Existent One” Who brings us into this life so that God alone is our
Father. And that is Scripture, because It says over
here in Jn 1:12:
(12) But
as many as received him, to them gave he authority to become the sons of God,
(The children of God.) even to them that believe on his name:
(13) Which
were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but
of God.) Predestination.
Now
there’s no other way you can read that, because there’s not
one of us was not born from sexual desire by the will of the flesh, or
we wouldn’t be here. Plain and simple.
Then
how come you’re born of God? That means you’re begotten of God. Adam was a Son
of God, and therefore, every one in Adam had to be a Son of God. What brought
it about? God breathed into him the breath of lives, he became a living soul,
and it has passed on down. You were in God; you were in your father. Figure it
out. You don’t have to be an Einstein or a ‘rocket scientist’ to figure that
out.
31. Also,
we could go to Luke 3, and that’s a very good One, because his genealogy is
included in there. And It says in Lk
3:38:
(38) Which
was the son of Enos, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.
Now
that’s as plain as A-B-C. Animals have pedigrees, and Bro. Branham said that: “the thoroughbred has a pedigree”—a
thoroughbred horse. The mule out there ain’t got much
of a pedigree; and you know, he’s got nothing at all
really. He’s kind of a hybrid, mixed-up thing.
Now
the thing is this: what pedigree was Adam? Now he was actually sired, as it
were, begotten by God. And you can’t deny it, because he was. And God said to
Adam, “Plenish,” not ‘replenish’. That’s an absolute
mistranslation. People have an idea that there was some kind of devastating
flood or something upon the earth, and everybody got wiped off. And now He
said, “Replenish.” It doesn’t. The Hebrew says, “Plenish”—fill up the earth.
“Now
Adam, you do that.”
Then
He gave him a wife, whereby he could do that. Now if Adam was a son of God, and
we’re going by pedigree or genealogy, then any child that Adam had by Eve had
also to be a child of God. That’s sensible. See? That’s the trouble with
people. They don’t believe the word ‘children of God’ by birth. They think
we’re children of God by creation. Not at all! The devil is a child of God, as
it were, by creation—if you want to put it that way.
Well,
I’ll tell you what: I‘m no angel. I don’t want to be an angel. I don’t believe
in spook or spirit, no. I’m not interested. I’m happy to be a child of God by
human procreation, handed down, so that the virgin birth looks pure, plain, and
simple along side of the effort it took for God to get me here on earth. Now
that would make our head swell, if we weren’t sensible people. So all right.
32. Let’s
go to Gen 1:27-28 to follow this same thing through:
(27) So
God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and
female created he them. (For the purpose of plenishing.)
(28) And
God blessed them, and God said, Be fruitful and multiply…
Now
you have here a creation in the image of God, that something was created. The
next step was God formed something out of the ground, to which He said, “Adam,
you came out of the ground, and to the ground you’re going.”
And
Adam was fully identified by his body. But that still wasn’t Adam. It was a
part of Adam. And Adam has to come back in that body—same body—look the same
way—original masterpiece, but glorified.
(28) Be
fruitful and multiply, and plenish the earth, and subdue it… (And so on.)
33. Now
in Acts
(24) God
has made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and
earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
(25) Neither
is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth
to all life, and breath, and all things;
(26) And
hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the
earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their
habitation;
(27) That
they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him,
though he is not far from every one of us:
(28) For
in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets
have said, For we are also his offspring. (His children.)
(29) Forasmuch
then as we are the offspring of God…
There
you are! That’s not God coming down and having intercourse with females and
bringing forth these crazy things that they call ‘demigods’ and junk like that.
This was the Life, the Holy Spirit, that God breathed
into Adam that became the breath of lives. And that’s when he became that
living soul, because the soul had to have a body, having bypassed that one up
there. He didn’t get the last one, but good enough. The times of his ignorance
God winked at, but now come in with all men ever ready to repent.
Now
listen. You know why Paul would say that to these people? Because he knew there
were sheep there, and no one but the sheep would say,
“I’m a child of God; I understand that.” A lot of people out there call
themselves ‘children of God’, but they wouldn’t take this Message if you gave
them a million bucks. They wouldn’t have the fortitude to do it, of course.
34. Now
let’s go over here also in Acts 7, and in there you’ve got Stephen, and he is
preaching away. And he says from verse 47:
(47) But
Solomon built him an house.
(48) Howbeit
the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet.
(49) Heaven
is my throne, earth is my footstool: what house will you build me? saith the
Lord: or what is the place of my rest?
(50) Hath
not my hands made all these things?
(51) You
stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy
Ghost: even as your fathers did, so do you.
(52) Which
of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? And they have slain them
which showed before the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have now been
betrayers and murderers:
(53) Who
have received the law by the disposition of angels,…(So on. They certainly
didn’t like that, did they?)
35. Now
1 Cor 6:19-20, Paul speaking concerning the human body, and he said:
(19) What?
Know ye not your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost? (Well, wasn’t that that
God breathed into Adam the breath of lives and started the procreation?) which
you have of God, and you are not your own?
(20) Now
you are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your
spirit, which are God’s.
Now
“you do it.” That’s got to be the soul, and the whole thing comes together as
one product, and you can’t get away from it. And in the Resurrection you will
come up, and you will be you.
You
say, “Well my soul is me.”
No,
your body is you. You can’t get away from it.
Mary
said, “My soul doth magnify the Lord. My spirit hath rejoiced in God my
Savior.” [Lk 1:46-47]
Who’s me? Paul said, “In me,” that’s my flesh, “there
dwelleth no good thing.” [Rom
When
Jesus rose from the dead and the angels stood there, and the people came
looking. They said, “Why seek ye the living amongst the dead?”
You
show me that Jesus ever died. He didn’t die. His body went to the grave, and
that body is a hundred percent identified as Jesus. We always identify a person
by the body. That’s why God and His Word are identified one hundred percent.
That’s why It’s called ‘Word’. He is the Word; He is
in the Word. See?
36. Also,
in Eph 1:4-6… We’ve read this dozens of times, haven’t we?
(4) According
as God hath chosen us in God before the foundation of the world, that we should
be perfect and without blame before God in him.
(5) In
love having predestinated us unto the adoption of children (The placing of
children.) by Jesus Christ to himself…
In
other words all we like sheep went astray, and it took Jesus to restore us to
the status that we had. That’s it! Like Bro. Branham said, “There will come a time when you realize you
always were saved.” That is very true, and it accents the fact that we are
seed.
And
that’s what John said. He said, “That which is born of God cannot sin, because
his seed remaineth in him. [1 Jn
3:9] It’s right there.
Paul
said, “Because you are seed God hath sent for the Holy Ghost in your hearts
whereby you cry, ‘Abba Father’.”[Rom
37. Now
a part of Elohim comes from the word ‘Yaweth’ which means ‘to become’. Now looking at Jehovah
now, the Self-Existent One, becoming… And this is not some transformation or
some kind of… Oh, what would you call it?…the body
changing metamorphosis. This is God becoming what He is; coming forth at the
time it is needed; God waiting there to express Himself. As Bro. Iraneus said it so perfectly, “God, being a Savior, it was
necessary for Him to predestinate a man who’d be a sinner to give Himself”
(That’s God.) “reason and purpose of being.”
So
there’s a part of Elohim comes with Yaweth, which is ‘to become’. So it is The Self-Existent
One is also the becoming God. You remember I preached on that? [“The Becoming
God and the Crucified Christ;”
38. Now
here’s what I’m coming to: if indeed Jehovah of the Old Testament is Jesus of
the New, or Jesus of the New is Jehovah of the Old, we are talking about the
God of Gen 1:1: “In the beginning Elohim…” Who is the
same God in Gen 2:4: Jehovah-Elohim. It’s the hyphenated joint name for God. See? Let us view
God, not as a thing although we might just sort of look at it that way, but as
a person: who?
Then
you say, “Who? Who?”
Well,
if you said, “What?”
God’s Spirit.
“Tell
me more.”
“Well,
that great Spirit is defined by the hyphenated word ‘Jehovah-Elohim’, the Strong One Bound by an Oath, to absolutely
bring forth everything within Him, of Himself, for His Own selves: little
children, you and me, running around.” See?
You
know, brother/sister, the Bible distinctly says, “The children do not lay up
for the parents, but the parents for the children.” [2 Cor
39. So
He’s the same God of Gen 2:4, which is Sovereign God Creator, revealing Himself
to mankind with the purpose that one day He Himself will reveal Himself in
human flesh. Uh huh.
(14) And
unto the messenger of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith
the Amen, (That’s from Isaiah. That’s God.) the faithful and true witness, the
beginning of the creation of God…
Right
there Bro. Branham said, “That’s when God
started creating Himself in the form of human flesh.”
And
I want to read it again:
If indeed Jehovah of the Old Testament is Jesus of
the New Testament, visa versa, we are talking about the God of Gen 1:1, which
is Elohim, Who is absolutely the same God simply revealing more of Himself,
calling Himself ‘Jehovah’, which is Sovereign God Creator that’s revealing
Himself to mankind with a purpose that one day He Himself will reveal Himself
in human flesh, and He did it: “Unto us a son is born. Unto us a child is
given.” [Isa 9:6] “And he will be called Immanuel,” [Isa
And
when Moses, many, many years ago wanted to see God, God said, “All right,
Moses. I’ll hide you in a cleft of the rock and put my hand over your eyes, and
I’ll pass by.”
And
Moses saw the back of a man. And Bro. Branham said, “It was a bleeding back.”
“What
does that mean?”
God
was in that Son. True. And we explained the virgin birth on various occasions.
40. This
God Who appeared to Abraham in a Pillar of Fire in Gen 15:17… Yeah, way back
here. I should have this all written out to save time. Gen 15:17:
(17) And
it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, it was dark, behold a smoking
furnace, and a burning lamp (Pillar of Fire.) passed through those pieces.
(Bro. Branham said so. All right.)
He’s
a man in Genesis 18. Absolutely.
(1) And
the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door
in the heat of one day;
(2) And
he lift up his eyes and looked, and three men (One was God; two were angels.
Okay. And that was Jehovah That came that time.
And
I could read on and on, like verses 1-4, part of that. And then over here in
verse 14:
(14) Is
any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee,
according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son. (That’s Jehovah Who
said that.)
Gen
18:17:
(17) And
the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do…
Why
is He ‘Jehovah’ there? Well, because He’s through with the ‘Elohim’
part. He’s got His man there. Now He wants to bring forth children through him.
He wants His plan furthered, and He’s dealing now as the great Father, all
those wonderful redemptive titles in there. See?
41. Now
then: Gen 25:26:
(25) That
be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the
wicked: and the righteous should perish as the wicked, be that far from thee:
Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? (And what is the Judge? He’s
called the ‘Lord’, which again is Jehovah.)
(26) And
if I find so many?… (And you go on and on, and every single time, you find this
great Jehovah dealing as a man.)
Gen
14:18…going to slip back a little bit here. And we find here:
(18) And
the King of Sodom went out there to meet Him after the return from the
slaughter from the Cheddarlomer? And the kings that were with Him in the
42. Over here in the Book of Hebrews [Heb 7:1-4]:
(1) For
Melchisedec, king of
(2) To
whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King
of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace;
(3) Without
father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor
end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.
Of
course everybody says, “Well, you see, what it means there: no father, no
mother. Then there’s no genealogy.”
Bro.
Branham said different. He said, “That
was God: God ministering as priest to Abraham,” and Bro. Branham said, “He never came back in the flesh until the
flesh of Jesus, and He’s our Great High Priest,” and right on down the
line. So all right.