Godhead #13

God As Sovereign
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Brother Lee Vayle

Shall we pray.

Gracious heavenly Father, we thank You for Your Presence, Your Love. And we know that You understand us, and we wish that we understood You even better than we do from Your Word. For Lord, at this time, we have much head knowledge, and we have much heart knowledge.

And we pray, Lord, by Your Own Holy Spirit, You will gather this all together in our hearts, minds, and soul, and bring it to full fruition where we really know, Lord, and have that oneness with You as said in the Scripture.

And knowing, not only from the fact, as we said, from our knowledge, but going beyond that, we walk in the depth of the knowledge, which depth we have not had previously, and knowing, even as those who memorize certain items, become very facile at it, having memorized it many times, it just becomes a second nature.

We pray, Lord, that it’ll become, as it were, our second nature, although we really want it as our first nature, but we do not know how far this can be carried in the flesh.

But we do know that we can bring every thought into captivity, and we can put everything to the test by Your Word, and then, walk in that light, because we do have that ability.

Help us, Lord, to ever see that; and we know, therefore then, we’ll bring forth this conduct we love to have, knowing first of all conduct cannot be there, unless there is a life that brings forth that conduct.

So, Father, may we ever more eat this bread of life, ever more receive the life of Your Word, and thereby be strengthened to walk all pleasing unto You and our moderation known unto all men and be as a light to those who do not have light.

In Jesus’ Name we pray. Amen.

You may be seated.

01

Now, going into the subject which we’d gone into on “Godhead” for many messages now, it seems, perhaps, that I have not gone into the subject the way I should’ve gone into it on the grounds that I could have taken a complete series on that subject and started with various definitions that would make us very familiar with what we are really talking about, which is God Himself.

02

Most people do not believe in God as sovereign. This is very true in Christendom, because we have about, close to a billion Catholics; and, if anyone was to teach that predestination was correct—that it was, as they say, if anyone should say that he was foreknown of God and was truly predestinated—let that man be cursed.

And we know, also, that except for a few hard-shelled Baptists and, maybe, a few Pilgrim (not Holiness, but Pilgrim Church)… Pilgrim Brethren, and a few others; they have no concept of a sovereign God. To them, there is no such thing as foreknowledge, except an infinite God would know. And they’re happy to leave it at that.

And, as far as election is concerned, of course, that’s a foreknowledge, where they say, “Well, God knew, but He didn’t do anything about it.”

And, when it comes to predestination, it becomes a most horrific thing, because they simply cannot believe that God predestinates. In other words, when it boils right down to reality, most people do not believe in a God Who is God, and Who is actually sovereign.

03

Now I have a book here by Dr. Pink on the sovereignty of God, and we will get to it as we look into it from his viewpoint, which I feel is perhaps the greatest book ever written on this subject.

And I’m told that, when I gave this to a certain minister many, many years ago, he gave it to Brother Branham, and Brother Branham was purported to have said, “If this man were living today, he would believe my ministry.”

Well, there’s one thing about it: Arthur Pink would certainly have believed what Brother Branham said, because he never understood sovereignty and the predestinating work of God, as did Brother Branham.

Arthur Pink could not take it where Brother Branham took it. But Brother Branham believed, like Arthur Pink, that God is a sovereign God.

04

Now, first of all, you have to understand what ‘sovereign’ means: ‘sovereign in power’, ‘possessing supreme dominion, not subject to any other’. Now this means that sovereign God is without competition, period! There is no one there to compete. None.

Now you say, “What about the devil?”

No problem; he can’t compete! If he could compete, and somehow develop his muscles to the point where he could take over God, he’d have done it a long time ago.

You have to understand, first of all, that God is completely sovereign. He possesses supreme dominion; He rules over everything. He’s not subject to anything except Himself. He’s one Who exercises supreme control. He is in control, period. Well, that’s a sovereign.

05

Now you can take the word ‘sovereign’ to ‘sovereign state’. I think Texas uses the word ‘sovereign state’. It was the only sovereign state in American history. They were all by themselves. They didn’t bow to anybody.

They said, “Nuts to you; we’re it.” I don’t think anybody else did that. That’s where you got these Texans all blowing so hard about everything. Don’t listen to them. I understand that’s history.

06

‘Sovereignty’ means ‘supremacy’, as God is all-powerful, and His dominion is over all heaven and earth as to past, present and future, and all that in them is, in those three periods, and all that will ever be.

Complete control, never out of control, never anything beyond His reach, never anything without His permission.

So, we’ll take some Scripture.

Revelation 4:11

(11) Thou art worthy, O Lord, [and God, they left the word ‘God’ out of there, they should’ve had it in there], thou art worthy, O Lord [and God,] to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

Now, notice. They have the two tenses. They were created, and they are ‘for Your pleasure’, even now… Yes, even now.

07

Next, we go to Colossians 1:15, and we’ll learn a little more here. This is Jesus:

Colossians 1:15-17

(15) Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, or everything created. [Notice, he’s born. So, he’s ahead of everything created.]

(16) For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or power: all things were created by him, and for him:

(17) And he is before all things, and by him, all things consist.

It tells you right there: He created all things, and He maintains everything He created, which means He’s in complete control, He knows everything going on, and He allows everything that is going on.

But remember, as the Scripture says, He makes the wrath of man to praise Him and the remainder of wrath He doth restrain. Nothing ever gets out of control, period. See?

08

Colossians 1:

Colossians 1:18-19

(18) And he is the head of the body, of the church: who is the beginning, the first born from the dead; that in all things, he might have the preeminence.

(19) For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell.

Now this makes people who follow the Jesus-Only line to believe that Jesus is creator, God is the Creator, and so, therefore, God and Jesus are one—the same person.

Let’s just find out if Paul said that. So, to find out, we go over here to,

Ephesians 3:9

(09) And to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ.

So, Brother Branham’s revelation that, when there wasn’t a speck of stardust or an atom or a breeze or anything else… He should’ve said an atom to begin with—and you have to have an atom.

You got to have everything else too, because an atom is almost as big as the universe itself, when you bring it down to what’s in it. Anybody who knows how to study any science at all knows that it’s like a little universe itself.

And, Brother Branham said, “The light formed.” And there’s nothing there to form from. So therefore, that which formed was part of God.

And the question came, “What is the difference between God and Jesus?”

And he said, “Essentially no difference at all, except sons have beginnings.” That’s essentially.

09

So, here we have the Son of God, a very part of God, and Brother Branham told how he stood there as a child… “We’re looking over a banister now, and as a child playing before the father’s throne, Jesus begins to create.”

And the Bible said God created by him. You follow me? So, the Scripture’s reconciled. We’re not Jesus-Only at all.

Now you compare that to,

Genesis 1:1-2

(01) In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. [Then, It said:]

(02) The earth was without form and void.

And it was, and Brother Branham tells how it was. And he said, “Millions and millions, if not billions, of years went by.” And he told how the glaciers formed certain paths and rivers and described how America was formed.

And I think Brother Branham even mentioned the fact of Atlantis, which is a sunken continent, was a great portion of the earth at that time.

10

We go on, and we see Brother Branham’s revelation of the future, which is in,

Revelation 22:1

(01) And he showed me a river of pure water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.

Now you’ll notice in there that It says (Actually, that word ‘and’ could be a preposition, which it could be ‘even’.) “proceeding out of the throne of God, even of the Lamb.”

You say, “Why?”

I’ll tell you why: because Brother Branham put the Lamb on the throne and the Pillar of Fire above the throne. See?

Revelation 22:2-5

(02) And in the midst of the street of it, on either side of the river, was a tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruit, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

(03) There should be no more curse: but the throne of God, even of the lamb, shall be in it; and His servants shall serve him:

(04) And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.

(05) There shall be no night there; no need of candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.

11

That brings us all together where Jesus himself said, “I in the Father, the Father in me, I in you, and you in me.”

And you have this glorious complex in the world; all things are of God.

That’s why, when they get all shaken down, remember, “Thou alone remainest,” which is God, and He is the Word, which we’ll talk about later on again, but not tonight.

So, what we’re seeing here as Brother Branham said, “The Lamb is on the throne, and the Pillar of Fire is above the throne; and, before they call, He answers.”

Now, remember; at this particular time, and perhaps, our particular time—today (I’m talking about now.) and perhaps even in the Millennium, you have the high priest, Jesus, and you have to go through him. And it’s asking, coming through him.

But now it is in such a tremendous, stable, marvelous condition, that everything falls into line, and nobody even has to ask anymore. Like Jesus said, “You won’t even have to ask in my name in that day.”

And that day’s right there, Brother Branham talks about. And, before we call… In other words there’ll never be a need to call. Not at all; no need whatsoever. Every need will be met.

And, as Brother Branham said, “A glorified body can travel with the speed of thought.”

That’s greater than light. What tremendous conditions we live in. And you can see here that God is sovereign. He is in complete control. And we’ll find other Scripture concerning that.

12

So, that’s the sovereignty of God that we’re looking at. And, as I have discussed Him in His sovereign capacity, I’ll do so again tonight. And we’ll look at various thoughts that I have used in order to bring this to more of the definitive concerning God.

God, Creator and Ruler of the universe is eternal, infinite, omnipotent, omniscient, supreme being. That’s exactly what He is. And, of course, we know He’s Spirit. He’s eternal Spirit.

You cannot see God in any way shape and form, except in the form that He decides to use, which is not God Himself, but is that which allows Him a visibility—gives us some way to know Him. And yet, when you see that form, you speak of it being God.

13

Now the word ‘Godhead’ is used in the Bible. I use it a lot. It actually means ‘deity’. That’s all it means. So, ‘Godhead’ means ‘God’, ‘divinity’, ‘a divine person’, or ‘deity’.

Now ‘deity’, of course, comes from the Latin. And you well know, at least I’ve told you on different occasions, that the English language is fifty-five percent from the Latin, eleven to fourteen percent from the French, and the rest is a sprinkling, until it comes to about four percent original language.

So, we get the word ‘deity’ from ‘Deus’, which is Latin for ‘god’, which does not necessarily mean God—Jehovah-Elohim, period. It means simply a person of superiority.

It could mean many, many individuals of superiority, especially those that seem to have magical abilities and also horrible morals, when it comes right down to it. But, anyway, that’s the word we use.

And we have to use it from it’s original use, because we’re stuck with it, and yet, we have to know the truth of the real God, even as Paul said to the Greeks, “The unknown god that you worship, I will reveal him to you.”

He said, “You’re smart.” He said, “You’re clever. You haven’t left anybody out. But,” he said, “I’m going to tell you the one you did leave out, and that is the real, true God.”

And, of course, he proved to those Greeks by vindication, who the true and living God was.

When Brother Branham went to India, he didn’t have that kind of reception, because those people over there believed in God occupying images and people, like a sort of witchcraft, even in a measure greater than what, I understand, Paul encountered (although he might have, for all I know).

And so, when Brother Branham prayed in the name of Jesus Christ, and the blind man with no eyes in the sockets got brand new eyes in the sockets, they knew that God was in Brother Branham.

And he tells you how they tore the clothes off of him—I guess, ripped his shoes off—because they were going to touch God. God was in that person. William Branham was a ‘god’.

And that’s no different from Haiti, where you see people, devil possessed, and going around bleary-eyed and wallowing and almost frothing, everything else; and they’re under the spirit, and people want to touch them.

And anything they touch on the table they can have, for that’s blessed. And so, Brother Branham actually said the truth, when he said the police had to rescue him.

14

So, Paul declared the unknown god. Well now, you and I do not have an unknown god. We positively know God. That’s a picture of the Pillar of Fire above Brother Branham’s head. The Pillar of Fire is not God; God is in the Pillar of Fire, because God is Spirit. That is the Shekinah Glory.

Brother Branham said it was, which is, in the Hebrew, meaning ‘the glory attendant upon the personal presence of God’; God being present, as Brother Branham said, “God is here present in a Pillar of Fire to lead us into the Millennium.”

And it’s all through the New Testament. And, look up the word ‘presence’; you’re going to find it. See?

15

So, what about this God? See? What about it? So, ‘God’ and ‘Godhead’ are the same word.

16

Now the word ‘Godhood’ is not in the Bible, but it’s in the dictionary. And I use the word ‘Godhood.’ And ‘Godhood’ means ‘the state or quality of being a god’. That’s the ‘state or quality of that being’.

So, if it’s ‘Godhood’, or ‘childhood’, or ‘parenthood’, or even a ‘falsehood’, you might say, that’s a state or quality of what you are talking about. See? So, all right.

Remember, as in childhood, it’s the state of being a child. And look over here in 1 Corinthians 13, and we’ll just look at it, because it’s in the Bible; so, it makes a very good example.

In 1 Corinthians 13:11: When I was a child I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child. But, when I came to manhood… Now he’s in another state; so, the quality is absolutely different. He thought as a child, he played as a child, he did a lot of things as a child. When he became a man…

And unfortunately, or fortunately, I don’t know how you’re going to put it, (That’s the bar-mitzvah at age thirteen.) you’ve got to act like a man, not like a little kid. That would be a great thing to have kids growing up at age thirteen and taking responsibility.

I know my brother had to. He was about eight years old, and he drove about eight horses. At age twelve he could do about anything. He had to. He was forced to do it. He had no money. He had nothing.

You know, the Bible says: if you don’t work, you don’t eat. Well, he wanted to eat. We all wanted to eat; so, we all were workers. He was one of the best I’ve ever known.

So, you see, ‘hood’ refers to ‘quality’ and ‘state’. See? The ‘quality’, what is appropriate at that particular time—the ‘state’ that it’s in.

That’s why Brother Branham preached on the becoming God; and yet, God is never changing—never, ever. It’s not a change. It’s God manifesting relative to time and conditions: same God.

17

Okay. Let’s look at something else in Scripture. We go to Hebrews 5:13, and It says:

Hebrews 5:13

(13) For everyone that useth milk is unskillful in the Word of righteousness: for he is a babe.

Now babyhood is fine. You don’t expect too much of a baby. It’s a pity that so many people want to destroy little kids, their childhood, like the little Ramsey [Jon Benet Ramsey] girl.

And women today dress their beautiful little daughters up and make them sex symbols, and they… I have a hunch that the little girl was murdered by a rapist that was in that house.

I can’t say that for sure, but I read enough articles that I believe that one day you’d find out that’s exactly the truth. The little girl was destroyed. And they’re being destroyed all the time, because parents will not treat children the way they should be treated—like children.

And society is doing a bad thing even now, for example with [President] Bush’s speech: they’re all screaming you know, about the need for kindergarten and preschool—why? I never had kindergarten. I never had preschool.

And I could read backwards faster than most people could read frontwards. My kids never had it. Carol could read the newspaper in grade one. You don’t need that bosh and bunk. They’re destroying families and everything else; all in the name of what? Civilization? My foot! It’s gotten worse every time.

The more civilized people are, the more barbaric they are. The more they have brains, the more stupid they are. Why? Because the foolishness of God is wiser than the wisest of men, and wisdom comes from Satan. He’s a destroyer. So, who cares what they do in politics? I gave up on it a long time ago.

18

So, all right: ‘Godhood’. We’re talking about Godhood now. See? We’re looking at a state or quality of being. So, Godhood would be a state and quality or a quality of being God. Godhood speaks of what exactly God is within Himself, so that He will act at any given time and on any given occasion exactly and always according to His essentiality.

The perfect Creator and perfect Maintainer, and, at the end, the perfect Creator-Father having fulfilled Himself. Certainly, because God gives Himself purpose and reason of being according to exactly Who and What He is, and He can’t do it in any other way. God is simply Himself and acting accordingly—presenting Himself as to Who and What He is.

19

So, okay. Let’s just take a look at the word, first of all, ‘essential’: ‘one, of, or constituting, the intrinsic’. Well, we’re going to have to look that word up, aren’t we? ‘Constituting the intrinsic fundamental nature of something’. ‘Basic’, ‘inherent’, ‘absolute’, ‘complete’, ‘perfect’, ‘pure’, ‘necessary to make a thing what it is’, ‘indispensable’, ‘something necessary’… Now the noun ‘essential’: ‘something necessary or fundamental, indispensable, inherent or basic feature or principle’.

The synonym ‘essential’, in strict usage, is applicable to that which constitutes the absolute essence or the fundamental nature of a thing and, therefore, must be present for the thing to exist and function. It’s indispensable. The thing cannot be done without it, specified or implied, or anything achieved. So, all right, that is ‘essential’.

20

So, what does ‘intrinsic’ mean? Well, that’s a good word; I use them both all the time. ‘Intrinsic’: ‘belonging to the real nature of a thing, not depending on external circumstances; essential and inherent’. ‘Intrinsical’, means it’s intrinsic or inherent. ‘Intrinsically’ means ‘naturally’, ‘essentially inherently’.

21

So, when you put the words together, when I call God ‘essentially’ and ‘intrinsically’, I am telling you that this is a pure God, absolutely pure and daunting. You cannot stand before Him. There is nothing can stand before Him. He is it.

And exactly what He is as it, He cannot change it, and it will manifest and come forth. You understand what I’m saying? We’re looking at sovereignty my brother/sister. Put a loving, omnipotent, omniscient God in view of His children, and you have ‘our Father’.

22

So, let’s start over again. I say Godhood speaks of what exactly God is within Himself. You understand what I’m saying? That’s inherent. Basic, fundamental—this is it. Without it there isn’t any ‘it’.

So, you’re looking, now, at pure, pure essentiality. And I’ve doubled the meaning, because ‘essential’ does mean ‘pure’. When I use pure essentiality, I’m saying essentiality in a sense that you cannot use another word; because that’s the word you’ve got to use. Now I’m being a real theologian here, because you won’t find this in books. See?

Godhood speaks of exactly what God is within Himself, so that He will act at any given time and on any given occasion exactly, and always according, to His essentiality.

In other words, as soon as a dog sees a cat, he’s right after the cat. As soon as a cat sees a mouse, he’s going to jump on the mouse.

God can be seen in nature, though you can’t understand Him by nature, but God is absolutely revealed in nature; and Brother Branham told you in nature, it repeats, and doesn’t change. And species do not change. The minute it does, it goes sterile.

23

So, God is God, and He cannot help being God. So therefore, He has boundaries, not that He sets them, but they’re there. God cannot lie; God cannot change. God cannot change His mind about His Word.

Now the more that you listen to me and understand, the more you’ll understand Brother Branham’s depth of insight that he had concerning God.

Even to the extent when he said, “God knew how many fleas there’d be, how many times they’d bat their eyeballs, and how many fleas it’d take to make a pound of tallow.” Now Pink never got that far, because Pink couldn’t take it back to the Creator.

24

So, all right: “…at any given time, always according to His essentiality.” [This statement is in the second paragraph of paragraph 22 above. Brother Vayle goes back to his notes and repeats the statement.] Now, if you’ve got a muscle that can only life 10 pounds, you’re not going to lift 15.

So, the essential muscle is 10 pound weight that it can lift. Tea is essential; water is essential. Water’s essential to life. That’s using it another way. But with essentiality, you are bringing down to what it is within itself: the perfect Creator, the perfect Maintainer. But we saw, when I read chapter 25, verses 1-5, the perfect Father.

Now, thus God Himself is limited and unchanging according to His intrinsicality which manifests in what I call His Godhoodness. (There is no such word, but it’s good enough for me. I make my own words up like Father Divine did. Brother Branham made a few up too.)

It’s a good word: ‘Godhoodedness’ or ‘Godhoodness’. I don’t care what you call it. According to that intrinsicality, see?

Okay, childhood is a child acting out himself. Godhood is God acting out Himself. We don’t expect a child to be anything but a child and bemoan those who try to change that. God cannot be anything but God.

To know this and be born again is how we learn to love Him and walk according to His Word—the faith life or walk.

25

Now, see, this is the sovereignty of God, and this is what people don’t believe. They don’t believe it. And you know why they don’t believe it? Because they’ve got the wisdom of the devil in them.

They think their minds can somehow conjure up and force God of the Bible to be different from what He says concerning Himself. That’s why you’ve got the Jesus-Only bunch, who’ll make Jesus God and make the Son his own father. That’s hogwash. That’s rubbish.

And then, you’ve got the Jehovah Witnesses who make Jesus the agent of creation being the first creation and not the Son of God. Now they’re wrong. See? Sovereignty.

You leave God alone, just the way He is. And you better find out how He is, and leave Him alone in His sovereignty and go on and learn how to benefit by and through this wonderful and only-wise loving God—our Father.

26

So, all right. God cannot be anything but God. Who’d dare to change God or require of God anything except what lies within Him? And only God’s perfect wisdom can perform this.

In other words you leave Him alone; you can’t change Him. If Brother Branham said, “Prayer is not you twisting God’s arm but waiting before God…” or rather, he said, “You can’t pray and make God change His mind, but prayer is where you wait before God to change your mind;” or to put it more Scripturally, “to receive the mind of God,” and “to have the mind of God.”

Now two can walk together—being of one mind—agreeing. Let this mind be in you as it was in Christ.

He has neither shadow of changing (There’s no shadow, no changing. That’s in the Scripture.) and works all things according to His Own purpose, because it is impossible for Him to do otherwise, being Who and What He is. Now, let’s get that flat. This is true; He is unchanging.

27

Now I’m giving you, as far as I know, absolute beautiful theology. Maybe I’m not, but you’re listening to me, sitting here, and I’m doing the best I can.

Now I’m not a good theologian, and I’m not a prophet, but I’m doing the best I possibly can to let you know what the Scripture actually defines as God: God is sovereign—absolutely truly sovereign. Sovereign love, sovereign wisdom, sovereign power—or the outworking of God Himself—doing it all for us, because He is there for us.

He Who is omnipotent is also omniscient. How can you change Him? Knowing Who He is, and with all His ways so perfect, who would want or dare to change Him; and being all powerful, who would dare to challenge Him? And being all wise, your own wisdom would be foolishness. How could you win a debate? You can’t do it. Job sort of tried it.

Thus, as absolute sovereign, we have absolute perfection that we are beholding. He is our King. Let us praise Him, and let Him rule us forever, even eternally. Now see, that’s what we need to know about God.

Now, let’s go a step further concerning the intrinsicality and the essentiality of God. Now this is the most that I believe we can apprehend.

The intrinsicality and the essentiality of God is revealed that that Holy Spirit of love is revealed to us in the Jehovah-complex as Jehovah-Provider, Jehovah-Healer, Jehovah-Banner, (That’s the protector.) Jehovah-Peace, Jehovah-Shepherd, (That’s the great keeper.) Jehovah-Righteousness, Jehovah-Present, Jehovah—the All-Sufficient One, Jehovah—the Sanctifier. That is God, as to His intrinsicality. Let this divine Ruler rule in our hearts and minds and see the stature of the perfect man appear in the born ones of God.

28

Now you can just say God is spirit; and He’s a loving spirit. Very good. If He is that, that can be a god human assessment. But tell me, what God has said about Himself in His omniscient, omnipotent, sovereign position; what has He told me about the intrinsicality of His all sufficiency and His all supremacy, His all superior and supreme ways? God Himself must tell us.

So, this great Creator, this great Fashioner, this great Maintainer, Who has all these things for His Own purpose, (And they are in Him.) reveals Himself by His Word. Having done all this, and we part of the picture, where do we come in to anything that is of benefit to us? What is it all about?

Well, the actual fact of the matter is: God is all about us, whether we want to know it or not. Do you understand what I’m saying?

Because we are His children, and when it is all over, and the New Jerusalem is established, you will have only every redeemed son of Adam, for God was the first man, Jesus the second man made in the image of God, Adam was the third man made in the image of both which was the same image.

But each time it’s a step-down. And Adam wasn’t God, but he became the precursor, he became the progenitor of the human race, the children that God wanted to fill this earth. And now, as in Adam all die, even so in Christ, all are made alive.

29

And so, you see, the final scenes of the Bible, and Brother Branham described it: the Lamb on the throne, the Pillar of Fire above the throne, the Bride in Mt. Zion, 1500 miles square at the base and 1500 miles high; pyramidal city, 144,000 attendants, the archangels there, the four great beasts there, the twenty-four elders there, whatever angels were there; and outside, the other children, every one that died in Adam but not in the Bride.

Call them foolish virgin, call them what you want. They’re all out there, and they’re all around the throne, and they are the children of God. And they have supremacy over every thing in this earth with Christ, because they’re with him in the throne.

So, what is God all about? He’s all about what I just told you. “Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come.”

30

Now, let’s look a little closer, as I read them to you. He is the Provider, He’s the Healer, [That’s in Revelation 2.] He’s the Banner, [That’s there too.] He’s our Peace, [That’s there too.] He’s the Shepherd, [That’s there too.] He’s our Righteousness, [That’s there too.] He is Present, [That’s there too.] He’s All-Sufficient, [That’s there too.] He’s the Sanctifier, [That’s there too.] and every single one is toward us.

And we, having come out of the loins of God are a part of this, even as Brother Branham called the Bride Mrs. Jesus, and Messiahettes. Never forget the sovereignty of God is an involvement with His children. It is there He comes forth in the sovereignty of all His essentiality in love.

31

Now we could stand back and like the rest of the folk do and say, “Well, God is omnipotent, hallelujah, I believe in a great omnipotent God.” Well, fine. What’s that got to do with me? What’s that got to do with me? How do I tap into it? How’s He to become available? What are the conditions? Where does it start? What’s going on? Where does it end?

Now you tell me everything I’ve just told you, and you already know the answer. You are an enlightened people. I certainly hope so, because I’m enlightened. I’ve been teaching for thirty-some years here. And our young kids should know more than most adults.

A fellow was here the other day from another country; a certain brother asked him how did you like the service. Well, he said, it was deep. And Lloyd said, “Well, he should have asked one of our six year old kids.” Which is true. Not boasting; just telling the truth.

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So, all right. We see this great sovereign God here, then, and we understand that the essentiality and the intrinsicality, what God is, what makes Him up, period… It all boils down to the devoted Father.

Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil, for Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory—yep, forgive us, we forgive others, right down the line.

That was the disciples prayer that Jesus taught them. Right down the line. So, all right, we have here then an understanding before us concerning the great unchanging Almighty God, and He is completely sovereign.

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Now, as much time as I have, I won’t take time perhaps to read the whole chapter, but I want to read from Dr. Pink.

And, actually, I used this book many years ago; I preached it entirely, and then, having met Brother Branham, I was able to get to the source of true knowledge, which is seed, the soul a part of God, understand what Dr. Pink never came to and never could, because it wasn’t his hour.

So, God’s Sovereignty Defined… Now some of my thoughts will come from Dr. Pink, from Brother Branham, and in my own thinking.

“Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is Thine; Thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and Thou art exalted as Head above all”

That was said in 1 Chronicles 29:11. I suppose that’s the prayer of Solomon. I don’t know. So, Dr. Pink says:

“The Sovereignty of God is an expression that once was generally understood. It was a phrase commonly used in religious literature.”

“It was a theme frequently expounded in the pulpit. It was a truth which brought comfort to many hearts, and gave virility and stability to Christian character.”

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Remember what Brother Branham said about the African that was a slave? And he said he stood head and shoulders above all the rest.

And he said, “I want to buy that one.”

He said, “He’s not for sale.”

“Well,” he said, “then tell me, why, why… Do you feed him better? Has he got an education? What’s with that guy? Is he better than the rest?” He said, “He remembers who he was. His father was a king, and he was a prince.”

“But today, to make mention of God’s sovereignty is, in many quarters, to speak in an unknown tongue.”

That’s a pretty way of putting it. It’s really blasphemy.

“Were we to announce from the average pulpit that the subject of our discourse would be the sovereignty of God, it would sound very much as though we had borrowed a phrase from one of our dead languages. Alas! That it should be so. Alas! That the doctrine which is the key to history, the interpreter of Providence,” (the understanding of God, the opening of it) “the warp and woof of Scripture, and the foundation of Christian theology, should be so sadly neglected and so little understood.” (I like his phraseology.)

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“The sovereignty of God. What do we mean by this expression? We mean the supremacy of God, the kingship of God, the godhood of God. To say that God is sovereign is to declare that God is God.”

In other words, don’t talk about God unless you know sovereignty. Shut up till you know about it. Now this is something they knew years ago. If you don’t believe it, you start studying the old timers. Get back to the Puritans.

“To say that God is sovereign is to declare that He is the Most High, doing according to His will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth, so that none can stay His hand or say unto Him what doest Thou?”

That’s Daniel 4:35. Nebuchadnezzar said that.

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“To say that God is sovereign is to declare that He is the Almighty, the Possessor of all power in heaven and earth, so that none can defeat His counsels, thwart His purpose, or resist His Will (Ps 115:3).”

“To say that God is sovereign is to declare that He is ‘The Governor among the nations’ (Psalms 22:28), setting up kingdoms, overthrowing empires, and determining the course of dynasties as pleaseth Him best. To say that God is sovereign is to declare that He is the ‘Only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords’ (1 Timothy 6:15). Such is the God of the Bible.”

“How different is the God of the Bible from the God of modern Christendom! The conception of Deity which prevails most widely today, even among those who profess to give heed to the Scriptures, is a miserable caricature, a blasphemous travesty of the Truth.”

(Oh, I love his language.) “The God of the twentieth century is a helpless, effeminate” (Oh, oh, he hit it right there.) “effeminate being who commands the respect of no really thoughtful man. The God of the popular mind is the creation of a maudlin sentimentality. The God of many a present-day pulpit is an object of pity rather than the awe-inspiring reverence.”

This man tells of a preacher who was so taken away with God being rebuffed, the sinner sinning, Satan dominating, that he went around wringing his hands, “Oh, poor God, poor God. I’m so sorry for God, poor God.” Modern sentimentality hogwash, claptrap, and balderdash.

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“The God of many a present day pulpit is an object of pity rather than an object that projects an awe-inspiring reverence.”

“To say that God the Father has purposed the salvation of all mankind, that the Son died with the express intention of saving the whole human race, and that God the Holy Spirit is now seeking to win the world to Christ;” (Of course, you know that’s theology.) “when, as a matter of common observation, it is apparent that the great majority of our fellow-men are dying in sin, and passing into a hopeless eternity: is to say that God the Father is disappointed, the Son is dissatisfied, and the Holy Spirit, God the Holy Spirit is defeated. We have stated the issue baldly, but there is no escaping the conclusion. To argue that God is “trying His best” to save all mankind, but the majority of men will not let Him save them, is to insist that the will of the Creator is impotent, and the will of the creature is omnipotent. To throw the blame, as many do, upon the Devil, does not remove the difficulty, for if Satan is defeating the purpose of God, then, Satan is Almighty, and God is no longer the Supreme Being.”

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I see people don’t want to hear language like that. No, no. They’ll say, “Hold it right there, you see?”

No, I don’t see their tripe. I see this; I see this. You think God didn’t know Adam was going to fall? You take a pussycat and throw him into the boa constrictor’s den, the next morning the cat’s gone.

“Oh, poor pussy cat, what happened to you?”

God, being a Savior, it was necessary that He predestinate a man who would need salvation in order to give Himself purpose and reason of being. And that’s what Paul said in Ephesians. You’ll marvel at Dr. Pink, but the point is, we shouldn’t be marveling at him. This should be common teaching.

“To throw the blame, as many do, upon the devil, does not remove the difficulty; for, if Satan is defeating the purpose of God, then Satan is Almighty and God is no longer the Supreme Being.”

“To declare that the Creator’s original plan has been frustrated by sin is to dethrone God. To suggest that God was taken by surprise in Eden, and that He is now attempting to remedy an unforeseen calamity, is to degrade the Most High to the level of a finite, erring mortal.” (Well, he said it nicely; I’d just put a little more, you know, interesting.)

“To argue that man is a free moral agent and the determiner of his own destiny, and that, therefore, he has the power to checkmate his Maker, is to strip God of the attribute of Omnipotence. To say that the creature has burst the bounds assigned by his Creator, and that God is now practically a helpless Spectator before the sin and suffering entailed by Adam’s fall, is to repudiate the express declaration of Holy Writ, namely, ‘Surely the wrath of man shall praise Thee: the remainder of wrath Thou shalt restrain’.”

(Now, I used that a while ago: Psalms 76:10.) “In a word, to deny the sovereignty of God is to enter upon a path which, if followed to its logical terminus, is to arrive at blank atheism.”

And that’s exactly true. That’s what they did. When they stripped God of His Godhood, it was gone. I wonder if we ought to substitute Godhood for sovereignty as we read, or at least consider the full meaning of sovereignty as we read.

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“The sovereignty of the God of Scripture is absolute, irresistible, infinite. When we say that God is sovereign we affirm His right to govern the universe, which He has made for His own glory, just as He pleases. We affirm that His right is the right of the Potter over the clay, that is, that He may mould that clay into whatsoever form He chooses, fashioning out of the same lump one vessel unto honor, another unto dishonor.” (That’s Scripture.)

“We affirm that He is under no rule or law outside of His Own Will and nature, that God is a law unto Himself,” (And He can’t help it. See?) “and that He is under no obligation to give an account of His matters to any.” (Oh yeah, but the preachers today, they’re going to make God account. Yeah, yeah; yep.)

“Sovereignty characterizes the whole being of God. He is sovereign in all His attributes. He is sovereign in the exercise of His power. His power is exercised as He wills, when He wills, where He wills. This fact is evidenced on every page of Scripture. For a long season that power appears to be dormant, then it is put forth in irresistible might. Pharaoh dared to hinder Israel from going forth to worship Jehovah in the wilderness—what happened? God exercised His power, God’s people were delivered, and their cruel task-masters slain. But a little later, the Amalekites dared to attack these same Israelites in the wilderness. And what happened? Did God put forth His power on this occasion and display His hand as He did at the Red Sea? Were these enemies of His people promptly overthrown and destroyed? No, on the contrary, the Lord swore that He would ‘have war with Amalek from generation to generation’ (Exodus 17:16).”

“Again, when Israel entered the land of Canaan, God’s power was signally displayed. The city of Jericho barred their progress. What happened? Israel did not draw a bow nor strike a blow: the Lord stretched forth His hand and the walls fell down flat. But the miracle was never repeated! No other city fell after this manner. Every other city had to be captured by the sword!”

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“Many other instances might be adduced illustrating the sovereign exercise of God’s power. Take one other example. God put forth His power and David was delivered from Goliath, the giant; the mouths of the lions were closed, and Daniel escaped unhurt; the three Hebrew children were cast into the burning fiery furnace and came forth unharmed and unscorched. But God’s power did not always interpose for the deliverance of His people, for we read: ‘And others had trial of cruel mocking and scourging, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: they were stoned and they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword; they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, and afflicted, and tormented’ (Hebrews 11:36-37).”

“But why? Why were not these men of faith delivered like others? Or, why were not the others suffered to be killed like these? Why should God’s power interpose and rescue some and not the others? Why allow Stephen to be stoned to death, and then deliver Peter from prison? God is sovereign in the delegation of His power to others. Why did God endow Methuselah with a vitality which enabled him to outlive his contemporaries? Why did God impart to Samson a physical strength which no other human has ever possessed? Again; it is written, ‘But Thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is He that giveth thee power to get wealth’” (Daniel 8:18), “but God does not bestow this power on all alike. Why not? Why has He given such power to men like Morgan, Carnegie, Rockefeller? The answer to all of these questions is: because God is Sovereign; and, being Sovereign, He does as He pleases.”

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“God is sovereign in the exercise of His mercy. Necessarily so, for mercy is directed by His Will of Him that showeth mercy.” (Well, sure.)

“Mercy is not a right to which a man is entitled. Mercy is that adorable attribute of God by which He pities and relieves the wretched. But under the righteous government of God no one is wretched who does not deserve to be so. The objects of mercy, then, are those who are miserable, and all misery is the result of sin, hence the miserable are deserving of punishment not mercy. To speak of deserving mercy is a contradiction of terms.”

Now that’s a good thought right there. See? He brings it out that they’re not all deserving. Of course, when you take grace you always want to lump it together and say, “Well, man didn’t deserve it, but he’s got grace.”

But, you’ll notice that grace is extended to the children of God. There again, “I have mercy on whom I will have mercy.” And then, in the same Scripture, “Didn’t I make one different from another?”

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“God bestows His mercies on whom He pleases and withholds them as seemeth good unto Himself. A remarkable illustration of this fact is seen in the manner that God responded to the prayers of two men offered under very similar circumstances. Sentence of death was passed upon Moses for one act of disobedience, and he besought the Lord for a reprieve. But was his desire gratified? No; he told Israel, ‘The Lord is wroth with me for your sakes, and would not hear me: and the Lord said unto me, Let it suffice thee.’”

In other words, shut up and don’t talk any more. So, how much good can your prayer do in the face of a Word that’s against you? See? You’ve got to have God’s Word for you.

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“Now, mark the second case: ‘In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amos came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order; for Thou shalt die, and not live. Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto God, saying, I beseech Thee, O Lord, remember me how I have walked before Thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in Thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore. And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone into the middle court, that the word of the Lord came to him, saying, Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen they tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day Thou shalt go up unto the house of the Lord. And I will add unto thy days fifteen years.’”

Now many people take that as their own promise to themselves that I’ve seen your tears, and I’m going to… I don’t know that you’re allowed to do that. I don’t see that that’s an open promise to everyone. That was to Hezekiah.

The open promise is, “I am the Lord that healeth thee,” and there are certain areas that you must enter into.

“Both of these men had the sentence of death in themselves, and both prayed earnestly unto the Lord for a reprieve, and the one wrote: ‘The Lord would not hear me,’ and died; but it was said in the other, ‘I have heard they prayer,’ and his life was spared. What an illustration and exemplification of the truth expressed in Romans 9:15!—‘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.’”

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“The sovereign exercise of God’s mercy—pity shown to the wretched—was displayed when Jehovah became flesh and tabernacled among men. Take one illustration. During one of the feasts of the Jews, the Lord Jesus went up to Jerusalem. He came to the Pool of Bethesda, where lay “a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water.” Among this ‘great multitude’ there was “a certain man which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.”

What happened? “When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been there a long time in that case, he saith unto him” (not to somebody else), “Wilt Thou be made whole? The impotent man answered Him, ‘Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.’ Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up they bed, and walk. And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked (John 5:3-9).”

“Why was this man singled out from all the others? We are not told that he cried ‘Lord, have mercy on me.’ There is not a word in the narrative which intimates that this man possessed any qualifications which entitled him to receive special favor. Here, then, was a case of the sovereign exercise of divine mercy, for it was just as easy for Christ to heal the whole of that ‘great multitude’ as this one ‘certain man.’ But he did not. He put forth His power and relieved the wretchedness of this one particular sufferer, and for some reason known only to Himself, He declined to do the same for the others. Again, we say, what an illustration and exemplification of Romans 9:15!—‘I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.’”

Now this man his hitting a very, very strong chord here, because, you see, everybody wants blanket coverage. You don’t get it. There’s a blanket coverage in a sense of the word, in the sense of the word that God compassionates who He will compassionate—who He will compassionate—not what you and I say.

“God is sovereign in the exercise of His love. Ah! that is a hard saying. Who, then, can receive it? It is written, ‘A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven’” (from above).

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“When we say that God is sovereign in the exercise of His love, we mean that He loves whom He chooses. God does not love everybody; if He did, He would love the devil. Why does not God love the devil? Because there is nothing in him to love; because there is nothing in him to attract the heart of God. Nor is there anything to attract God’s love in any of the fallen sons of Adam, for all of them are, by nature, ‘children of wrath’. If then there is nothing in any member of the human race to attract God’s love, and if, notwithstanding, He does love some, then it necessarily follows that the cause of His love must be found in Himself, which is only another way of saying that the exercise of God’s love towards the fallen sons of men is according to His Own good pleasure.”

(He makes a note on that:) “We are not unmindful of the fact that men have invented the distinction between God love and complacency and His love of compassion, but this is an invention pure and simple, Scripture terms the latter ‘God’s pity’. He is kind to the unthankful and evil.” (Very good wasn’t it?)

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“In the final analysis the exercise of God’s love must be traced back to His sovereignty, or otherwise, He would love by rule; and, if He loved by rule, then is He under a law of love; and, if He is under a law of love, then is He not supreme. But He Himself is ruled by a law.” (See, that’s very good. See? That’s the truth of sovereignty.) “‘But,’ it may be asked, ‘Surely you do not deny that God loves the entire human family?’ We reply, it is written, ‘Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.’”

“If, then, God loved Jacob and hated Esau, and that before they were born or had done neither good or evil, then the reason for His love was not in them, but in Himself.”

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Now, see; here’s where he misses it. Where Brother Branham said, “By election, God does not choose this and leave the other.” See? The choosing is in God, because they’re already chosen in Him, for they were in Him. See? This is where Pink misses what Brother Branham could have supplied to him. Seed! See?)

“That the exercise of God’s love is according to His Own sovereign pleasure” (That’s true.) “is also clear from the language of Ephesians 1:3-5, where we read, ‘Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: according as He hath chosen us in Him” (How could He choose us in Him, if we weren’t in Him? See?) “before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him. In love having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself according to the good pleasure of His will.”

(Now he’s hitting on all eight cylinders on this one.) “It was ‘in love’ that God the Father predestinated His chosen ones unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, ‘according’—according to what? According to some excellency He discovered in them? No. What then? According to what He foresaw they would become? No; mark carefully the inspired answer— ‘According to the good pleasure of His Will.’”

God did it. And according to Dr. Pink and the Scripture, it was before they were born, before the foundation of the world, even as Jesus was the lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

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“God is sovereign in the exercise of His grace. This of necessity, for grace is favor shown to the undeserving, yea, to the hell-deserving. Grace is the antithesis of justice.” (That means the opposite of justice.) “Justice demands the impartial enforcement of law. Justice requires that each shall receive his legitimate due, neither more nor less. Justice bestows no favors and is no respecter of persons.”

(That’s what it should be. Justice is that, but not American style.) “Justice, as such, shows no pity and knows no mercy. But after justice has been fully satisfied, grace flows forth. Divine grace is not exercised at the expense of justice, but ‘grace reigns through righteousness’” (See?) “Grace ‘reigns’, then grace is sovereign.” (It comes from a sovereign God.)

“Grace has been defined as the unmerited favor of God; and, if unmerited, then none can claim it as their inalienable right. If grace is unearned and undeserved, then none are entitled to it.” (Now, what does he say about that?)

“An esteemed friend who kindly read through this book in its manuscript form, and to whom we are indebted for a number of excellent suggestions, has pointed out that grace is something more than unmerited favor. To feed a tramp who calls on me an unmerited favor, but it is scarcely grace. But suppose after robbing me; I should feed the starving tramp; that would be grace. Grace, then, is favor shown where there is positive demerit in the one receiving it.”

(Well, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. That would settle that for me. But I like the idea of reigning. Grace reigns, because the Bible says so.)

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“The sovereign exercise of grace is illustrated on nearly every page of Scripture. The Gentiles are left to walk in their own ways, while Israel becomes the covenant people of Jehovah. Ishmael the firstborn is cast out comparatively unblessed, while Isaac the son of his parents’ old age is made the child of promise. Esau the generous-hearted and forgiving-spirited is denied the blessing, though he sought it carefully with tears, while the worm Jacob receives the inheritance and is fashioned into a vessel of honor. So, in the New Testament, divine Truth is hidden from the wise and prudent, but is revealed to babes. The Pharisees and Sadducees are left to go their own way, while publicans and harlots are drawn by the cords of Love.”

(Sure, because they were not children of wrath and discredited in the sense of being serpent seed; they were just sheep gone astray.)

“In a remarkable manner divine grace was exercised at the time of the Savior’s birth. The incarnation of God’s Son was one of the greatest events in the history of the universe; and, yet its actual occurrence was not made known to all mankind. Instead, it was especially revealed to the Bethlehem shepherds and wise men of the East, and was prophetic and indicative of the entire course of this dispensation, for even today Christ is not made known to all.” (Now that’s very true.)

“It would have been an easy matter for God to have sent a company of angels to every nation and announce the birth of His Son. But He did not. God could have readily attracted the attention of all mankind to the ‘star’; but He did not. Why? Because God is sovereign and dispenses His favors as He pleases. Note particularly the two classes to whom the birth of the Savior was made known, namely, the most unlikely classes—illiterate shepherds and heathen from a far country. No angel stood before the Sanhedrin and announced the advent of Israel’s Messiah!”

“No ‘star’ appeared to the scribes and lawyers as they, in their pride and self-righteousness, searched the Scriptures! They searched diligently to find out where He should be born, and yet it was not made known to them when He was actually come. What a display of divine sovereignty—the illiterate shepherds singled out for this peculiar honor, and the learned and eminent passed by! And, why was the birth of the Savior revealed to these foreigners, and not to those in whose midst He was born? See in this a wonderful foreshadowing of God’s dealings with our race throughout the entire Christian dispensation—sovereign in the exercise of His grace, bestowing His favors on whom He pleases, often on the most unlikely” (so-called) “and unworthy.” (He’s got a mark on that one.)

“It has been pointed out to us that God’s sovereignty was singly displayed in His choice of the place where His Son was born. Not to Greece or Italy did the Lord of glory come, but to the insignificant land of Palestine. Not to Jerusalem, the royal city was Emmanuel born, but in Bethlehem, which was little among the thousands of towns and villages in Judah (Micah 5:2), and it was in despised Nazareth that he grew up. Truly God’s ways are not ours.”

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Now, that gives you an understanding of sovereignty. And now Dr. Pink goes on, which I am not going to go on, and he gives outlines from this point on the sovereignty of God in creation.

Sovereignty of God in Administration,

Sovereignty of God in Salvation,

Sovereignty of God in Reprobation,

Sovereignty of God in Operation,

Sovereignty of God and the Human Will, (That’ll be a good one.)

God’s Sovereignty and Human Responsibility, (That’s a good one.)

God’s Sovereignty and Prayer,

Our Attitude Toward God’s Sovereignty. (That’s the chapter I want to read to you sometime.)

Difficulties and Objections…

You know, when you understand Brother Branham, there aren’t any difficulties and objections. See, this fellow’s got to go the way of all theologians and scholars and teachers.

But a prophet is a different person. He is God to the people. He’s the living Word of God made manifested, whatever Word that’s to be.

The values of this doctrine, (That’s a good one.) then:

Conclusions with the Appendix:

The Will of God,

The Case of Adam,

The Meaning of Cosmos, (I’ve explained that before.) and others.

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So therefore, you have here an understanding tonight of the sovereignty of Almighty God. And in this sovereignty, we understand, means supremacy as God is all powerful, and His dominion is now over all heaven and earth as to past, present and future, and all that in them is, past, present, future. So, God is in complete control, and He’s revealed His will.

And Brother Branham said, “The truth is out. We know the secrets. We understand. When the seals were opened, it was literally all over.”

And everything we have now, this corrected theology… And Brother Branham was one hundred percent for the sovereignty of Almighty God.

And remember, predestination (after Brother Branham left the scene) was hit with four-by-fours and 15 ton trucks and what have you. That’s the first thing that got assaulted.

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And I wondered today if seed is actually understood amongst the people who claim this Message, because you cannot possibly understand seed without sovereignty and sovereignty without seed. You cannot understand the purpose of God and how God deals with His purposes and how those purposes are consummated—in other words, finalized—as they’re being finalized today.

And you and I, in spite of the fact that we could jump up and down and scream with everybody else, “Oh, the end is in sight! Yes sir, the Jews are back in Palestine.”…

How many are back in Palestine? And how many are Jews? Did you ever stop to consider the bastard couldn’t go to the temple for ten generations? And a bastard is not an illegitimate child. It’s a child of an Israeli man with a heathen wife, a gentile wife.

So, let’s say a little girl is born; she’s got to have a child, got to have a child, got to have a child, got to have a child, by an Israelite until the body is brought back to a Jew or an Israelite. And, if it’s a boy, ten generations down, that one is brought back. Then, tell me, how many Jews are real Jews? They’ve been marrying red, green, pink, God knows what color. God knows what people. And the Jews are a people after the flesh.

They come in as a nation. How many are Jews? Well, there’s fifteen million Jews, 144,000 are Israelites, the elect seed of God, ready to go into the temple, because the temple would be restored in the Millennium. Right? I believe they’ll be there, and we’re only going to be there by the grace of God.

So, all right.

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Right down the line we see the sovereignty of God. And we see Him fulfilling His Will, which is actually fulfilling Himself—God All and in all.

And I say we could be like all the rest of them; we could be jumping up and down saying the Jews are back in Palestine, this, that, and the other, and be off a million miles, because nobody knew the sovereignty of God to lead to this day through a vindicated prophet what the Bride was waiting for; and those that claim to be Bride didn’t wait for it, and they didn’t want it when it came, which was the revelation of the Rapture – shout, voice, trumpet. And we know, it’s in progress. We’re a part of it.

Time and eternity have blended: mortality giving way to immortality. Someone’s got to be Bride. The way I feel most of the time, I could be here waiting for the dead to come up, shake their hands; but, personally I’d like to get away, because most of the time I don’t feel that well.

But see, most of the time, in my spirit, I feel real good, and I feel conscious of things, and I’m happy about things; but oh, the pain in the back and those things that come with it.

All right. We’re going to pray, and we’re going to have Communion.

Heavenly Father, we thank You for the time we’ve had together. And it’s good that You have had a man like Dr. Pink, although he never knew it, and Brother Branham knew to lay out to the people, to let the people here in this building and who get the tapes, to understand there were men who understood this doctrine which has been lost to the world, and it came back with men like Dr. Pink.

But it took Your prophet, You Yourself, indwelling Your prophet, to bring Your Truth to us today, which we understand. And we are so grateful. Where these men of old faltered, though they didn’t mean to, they couldn’t help it; but we, today, are walking in the Light; what a beautiful Light, shines on our path.

Brother Branham used to sing “We’ll Walk in the Light, What a Beautiful Light.” And we’re walking in that beautiful light, and, hopefully, Lord, we’re walking as good solid Christians.

And soon it’ll be over in the sense that we’ll have finished this little part of our journey, and we’re embarking on the great wonderful next thousands and thousands of years, marching toward Zion.

We give Thee glory, because You’re worthy; and we praise You, because You loved us. And we have the surety and the knowledge, the blessing divine, the life of the Word welling up within us, piling Word upon Word.

Surely, Lord, mortality will go into immortality, people sitting here, Lord, and those around the world. And we love You, Lord, because You loved us. May You get glory out of our lives.

In Jesus’ Name we pray. Amen.

[Brother Vayle continues with the Communion Service.]

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