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PART 5 – THE TRUTH ABOUT PREDESTINATION …………….......... 49
God's Foreknowledge* The Fall of Man* A Permissive Will* Jesus Died For The Elect* How Can The Pot Say To The Potter?* The Gospel Is Hid To Them That Are Lost* Not Everyone Shall Enter The Kingdom* Quotes on Predestination*
Predestination
Chapter Five
Did you know that God foreknew all things from the very beginning and that He foreknew each and everyone of us even before the foundation of the world?
Yes, the Bible said that God is infinite and omnipotent that He foreknew every gnat, every fly, every sparrow, and every man that will ever be born upon the face of the earth. And that included YOU and me. The Scriptures say that God can hear your prayers even before you open up your mouth; the hairs on your head hath He numbered; and that He hath engraved your name on the palm of His hand.
GOD’S FOREKNOWLEDGE
Ephesians 1:5-6 states that God hath “predestinated us according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise and glory of His grace.”
Romans 8:30 further emphasizes this election saying, “Whom He did predestinate, THEM He also called; and whom He called, THEM He also justified; and whom He justified, THEM He also glorified” (past tense). And “their names were written in the Lamb’s Book of Life before the foundation of the world” (Rev.13:8)
If you are a true child of God, you are foreknown of God even before there ever was a star or moon in the entire universe. Jesus said, “All that the Father has given Me will come to Me and NONE of THEM will be LOST.” The Bible says, “All things work together for good to them that love God”, and that “the footsteps of the righteous are ordered by the Lord.” Surely, you have to recognize yourself today whether you are God’s predestinated or not, for if God has elected you to eternal life, “nothing can pluck you from out of His hand.”
THE FALL OF MAN: A PERMISSIVE WILL
Did you know that it was God’s permissive will for SIN to come into this world? Strange, but true. He permitted sin in order for Him to display His great attributes of being a SAVIOUR and a REDEEMER. He allowed Adam and Eve, our first parent, to be deceived by the serpent in order to make way for His great redemptive plan of salvation. God Himself wanted to be glorified. He could not have been glorified as a Saviour if there was nobody to be saved in the first place. There had to be sinners first, before He could ever display His attributes of being a Saviour. In the same manner that He had to create sons and daughters in me and you first, so that He could become a Father. Man’s existence and fall, therefore, had made God both Father and Saviour to us, and a Blessed Redeemer, too.
In order to be God, He knew from the very beginning who will be saved and who will not be saved. God was not willing that anyone should perish, but that all might come to repentance. But He, being infinite, knew the end from the beginning. And therefore, He knew who would accept and those who would not accept His provided way of salvation. He knew who would go to heaven and those who would go to hell. If He didn’t, then He isn’t God. But God is unlimited. He is infinite and He makes no mistakes. His works are perfect; and He knows all things. He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.
JESUS DIED JUST FOR THE ELECT
God sent Jesus Christ for only one specific purpose : that’s to save and redeem those who God foreknew will be saved; and not the rest of the world. Yes, sir. Notice Jesus in His prayer to the Father in John 17:9-10, “I pray for them: I pray NOT for the world, but for THEM which Thou hast given Me; for they are Thine. And all Mine are Thine, and Thine are Mine, and I am glorified in THEM.”
To “REDEEM” simply means to “TAKE BACK” what was originally God’s own. Jesus, as a Redeemer, was to take back only those who once belonged originally to God but were trapped in sin by the natural birth. Jesus shed His precious Blood only for those who had been foreknown of God, and for those whose names were written in the Lamb’s Book of Life before the foundation of the world. Jesus could never redeem the Devil’s children, for they are not of God. They were simply predestinated unto eternal damnation, and were basically created for that purpose. Yes, though this might seem to be a hard saying, but the Scriptures support this truth.
HOW CAN THE POT SAY TO THE POTTER?
Don’t you realize that even sinners and reprobates are predestinated by God? Yes, In 1 Peter 2:8 and it says, “Even to them which stumble at the Word, being disobedient: whereunto they were appointed.” Jude 1:4 says it, too: “Who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of God into lasciviousness”.
Talk about Judas, Cain, Pharaoh and Balaam - all these men had played their significant part as God’s adversary in God’s greatest drama series, the Bible, without them even realizing it so. “How can the POT say to the POTTER, ‘Why hast Thou made me thus?’ Hath not the Potter power over the clay to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?” (Romans 9:21), these words pertain to predestination. God raises evil to fulfil his glorious purpose of greater good. God said in Isaiah 45:7-”I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.”
THE GOSPEL IS HID TO THEM THAT ARE LOST
Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit (Luke 10:21) saying, “I thank Thee Father, O Lord of heaven and earth, for Thou hast HID these things from the eyes of the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes; even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Thy sight.” This blessed Gospel is, therefore, revealed only to His elected ones. God hid His truth from unbelievers.
Did you know also that one of God’s permissive will has been to allow sickness to afflict mankind? Yes, He sometimes permit sickness and diseases in order for Him to manifest Himself as a Healer. Exodus 16:26 states, “For I am the Lord that healeth thee”. Isaiah 53:5 states this also: “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes, we are HEALED”. Doctors simply make the stitches and give us prescriptions, but it’s still God Who does the real Healing, which is multiplication of new cells in the body, which is creation by nature. God truly foreordained all His godly attributes to be displayed unto men and all these attributes were finally fulfilled when God Himself became MAN through His Son Jesus Christ and took the penalty for our sins so that by believing in Him we may be justified and forgiven. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life; no man cometh unto the Father except by Me.”
Your salvation and my salvation, therefore, is truly dependent upon God’s choosing and approval. Romans 9:16 states, “It is not him that willeth or him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy”. For God saith unto Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” God hath even declared, “Jacob have I loved, and Esau I have hated”, even before the two children were born from their mother’s womb, not having done neither good nor evil. That only proves God’s election to us.
The apostle Paul finally concluded, “But if our gospel be hid, it is HID to them that are lost” (2 Cor. 4:3). Truly, in this day, “Many will be called, but only very few are chosen.” Sincerity and being just religious is not enough. The Pharisees and the Saducees were so sincerely wrong. They spent all their lives studying God in the synagogues yet when the very Messiah-God came to them, they dubbed Him as “Beelzebub” to the extent of crucifying Him on the cross.
NOT EVERYONE SHALL ENTER THE KINGDOM
“Not everyone that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven,” saith Jesus in Matthew 7:21, “but he that doeth the will of My Father.” The Bible says that we are not saved by any of our good works nor by any of our own personal merits. We are saved by faith alone in the finished atonement of Jesus Christ. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: NOT of WORKS, lest any man should boast” (Eph. 2:8,9).
Only God’s ELECTED few will be able to receive the full understanding of these mysteries in the Scriptures. Others who are not, will simply continue to hold to man-made dogmas, creeds, rituals, and religious traditions to merit their own salvation. “In vain you do worship Me, teaching for doctrine the commandments of men”. That’s what Jesus told the Pharisees. “There seemeth a way that’s right to a man, but the end thereof is the ways of death.” It’s always death to trust in the sinking sands of man’s ideas. The elect will only walk in the way of God’s Bible. The elect of God will hunger and thirst only for the fresh manna of the Word that’s revealed in the age that they are living in. And this is that Word. Receive it.
BROTHER BRANHAM SPEAKS ON “PREDESTINATION”
“And "predestination" is a hard word among a congregation of people, because predestination... Really "foreknowledge" is a better word. And predestination looks back to foreknowledge, and foreknowledge looks on to destiny. That God, being infinite, in the beginning knew the end from the beginning, therefore He knew what people would do, so He could foretell what would take place, for He knew what would be. Therefore He... Before Esau or Jacob, either one was born, God could say, "Esau I've hated, and Jacob I've loved," because He foreknew what they could be. He never made Esau the way he was. He wasn't willing that Esau would be that way, but Esau, by choice, God knew would take that way. So that's how He knows us today. He knows your heart. You might be able to fool your neighbor; you might be able to fool your pastor; but you'll never be able to fool God, 'cause He knows your heart. (FAITH.OF.ABRAHAM.title SAN.FERNANDO.CA 55-1118)
“It’s the elected who God, before the foundation of the world seen every one of them. And He sent Jesus to redeem that people, not the whole world. He wanted to, but He had to make a way for those. And the only way He could do, was to send Christ, that He might come the propitiation of our sins, that those who’ve been elected, He could bring to Him in glory…Now, if God did that, predestinated us before the foundation of the world, and knew every one of us by name before the foundation of the world, and elected us to Eternal Life, and sent Jesus Christ to redeem us, that six thousand years ago He saw us, that we might appear to His praises in glory, how can you ever be lost? Now, if you’re saved, you’re saved. If God saves you tonight knowing He’s going to lose you ten years from today, He’s defeating His own purpose. The infinite, almighty, eternal, everlasting wisdom God doesn’t know enough then to know that, whether you will hold out or whether you won’t. Then when He saves you, you say, “Well, I’ll give Him a try; I’ll see what He’d do,” then He does not know the end from the beginning. God knows what He’s doing; don’t you never worry about that. It’s you and I stumbling along. God knows what He’s doing. And He knew we’d—whether we’d hold out, or what we would do.” (HEBREWS.CHAPTER.6.title JEFF.IN HEB 57-0908E)
“He came to die for those that God had ordained to Eternal Life. See, see? By His foreknowledge He saw them, not by His own will. His will was that none should perish, but by His foreknowledge He knew who would and who would not. Therefore as long as there was one name hadn’t never yet been clared— declared in earth, Christ had to stay there as an Intercessor to take care of that name. But as soon as that final name had been splashed in that Clorox or bleach, then His intercessory days was over. “Let him that’s filthy be filthy still. Let him that’s holy, he’s holy still.” See? And he leaves the sanctuary, and then it becomes a judgment seat. Woe unto those outside of Christ then. (FIRST.SEAL.THE.title JEFF.IN 63-0318)
“All these things is God’s foreknowledge. When He spoke of them what would be, He foreknew it. Now, God, in order to be God, at the beginning He had to know the end or He wasn’t the infinite God. God’s not willing that any should perish, certainly not. He doesn’t want anyone to perish. But at the beginning of—the beginning of the days, the—the world, God knew just exactly who would be saved and who would not be saved. He didn’t want the people to be lost, “It’s not His will that any should be lost, but
it’s His will to save everybody,” but He knew from the beginning who would and who would not. That’s the reason He could foresay, “This thing will happen. That thing will happen,” or, “This will be that. This person will be that way.” See? And I believe that God knew before the foundation of the world, chose His church in Christ, and slayed Christ before the foundation of the world. The Scripture said so, “He was the Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world.” See? And Jesus said that He knew us before the foundation of the world. Paul said that, “He—He knew us and predestinated us unto the adoption of the children by Jesus Christ before the world was ever formed.” That’s God. That’s our Father. See? So don’t worry, the wheels are turning just right, everything’s coming just in time. The only thing is, get in the turn. And that’s the—that’s the good part about it, then you know how to work when you’re getting in the turn.” (HOW.THE.ANGEL.CAME.TO.ME.title CHICAGO.IL FOOTPRINT.BOOK 55-0117)
“And if you’re ordained to Eternal Life, Jesus said, “No man can come to Me anyhow except My Father draws him.” That’s right. And if you’re ordained to Eternal Life, to see and believe, you will. If you won’t, it’s just like pouring water on a duck’s back. It’ll do no good at all. No matter how much you try to explain it, those who God has chosen before the foundation of the world... And if you are chose in God, you were chosen not here, you were chosen before the world began.” (BEING.LED.OF.THE.HOLY.SPIRIT; MINNEAPOLIS.MN 56-0219)
“Now, remember Jesus came to be a witness as a Saviour of the world. Why, there was just people after people after people after races after people that never even knowed nothing about it, went right on just like the world knowed nothing about it, but all the time, that was going on in the world. See? Why didn’t He let them know? He came and the ones that was predestinated to Eternal Life was the ones that received Him. It’d been no good to say anything to the rest of them, because He could not have redeemed them, because they wasn’t even redeemable.” (QA.ON.THE.SEALS.title JEFF.IN 63-0324M)
“So has the Messenger, the Holy Ghost of God, in this last days, seeking out the Bride. He’s had to deal with the church that calls itself the mother, the Catholic; and the brother, the preacher. That’s exactly. He had to deal with those two. They was the one that kicked up a fuss about it. And today, if that Light of God, that Holy Spirit ever strikes a—a predestinated seed, whose name was put on the Lamb’s Book of Life before the foundation of the world... The Bible says that. That’s right. The Light will shine. You can preach to some, and it seems like it’s just like water on a duck’s back, falls off.
But let it once strike that seed, and watch what happens quickly, something’s there right now. Why? It’s predestinated seed coming forth. It’s got to come. And when that Light, the Gospel, strikes it, they get it. The rest of them will get up and walk away; it’s not for them. The Bible said that men were foreordained to condemnation: Book of Jude. All Scripture’s by inspiration. (SUPER.SIGN.title GRASS.VALLEY.CA JJ 141 62-0708)
“God hid it from the eyes of the wise and prudent and promised to reveal it to the sons of God in the last days, when the sons of God would be made manifest. When God’s sons that rejoiced with Him before the foundation of the world, when the great revelation of the Godhead and things would be brought down in the last days, He would manifest these things to the sons of God. You know the Scripture teaches that. And here we are. That’s the reason that God is opening these things to us. God is bringing His sons into manifestation.” (SERPENT’S.SEED.title JEFF.IN V-2 N-4 58-0928E)
“Your prayers, your fastings, your repentances—no matter what you present to God—none of that will gain you the privilege of sitting in that throne. It will be granted only to the WORD Bride. As the throne of the king is shared with the queen because she is united to him, so only they who are of that Word even as He is of that Word will share that throne.” (361-1 LAODICEAN.CHURCH.AGE - CHURCH.AGE.BOOK.CPT.9)
“No. Nothing will be saved, only those whose names were put on the Lamb’s Book of Life before the foundation of the world, Jew or Gentile. See? That’s all; the Book holds that mystery, and the Book is only unfolding it now, not each one’s name, but what the mystery of the Book is while it’s calling those names. There might be thousands saved. I don’t know. I hope everyone of them is saved (See?), but I don’t know. But here’s the way I want to believe it: I’m that one. You believe the same for you. If you don’t, then there’s something wrong with your faith. You’re not sure what you’re doing.” (QA.ON.THE.SEALS.title JEFF.IN 63-0324M)
“There were two million people come out, sung, shouted, done everything.. and give God glory, and danced up and down the sea, and done everything that all the rest of them did. But there were only two went into the promised land: Caleb and Joshua, only two. That’s one out of a million. It’s one out of a million in natural birth. Everyone of them had the same blessing. Oh, you Pentecostals, I hope you don’t wake up too late. One out of a million. Look, there’s supposed to be five hundred million so-called Christians in the world today. If Jesus would come, there would only be five hundred go with Him then, if that statistic would run true.” (INVISIBLE.UNION.OF.THE.BRIDE.title SHP.LA V-2 N-15 65-1125)
“You were in Christ before the foundation of the world. He came to redeem His own, His own that was in Him (Hallelujah.), His children, that was in Him. He never came to save the devil’s children. They never will know it. And they are so shrewd in the ways of their intellectual learning, that you can’t compare with them at all. You can’t out-talk them. But by faith you see it.” (KNOWETH.IT.NOT.title JEFF.IN V-2 N-10 65-0815)