The Believer's Position In Christ

Be seated. And thank you lots for your cooperation. These compliments that Brother Joseph, my friend and brother, was just passing, he just loves me, the reason he says those things.

I am sorry we're late. I said last night, we'd be here at three, but I think something happened. When I got over here they told me they was going to be a little late.

So, I heard them announce, giving out prayer cards at six and the other service at seven. So, it's going to be a full afternoon, so I'll hurry right up with my part of the service. So, many of you have to return to your homes, maybe for lunch, or something. And maybe some want to go home, some may stay over, and so forth, but whatever the Lord leads you to do.

[Brother Joseph says, “Brother Branham, if you would prefer the meeting, two-thirty and the people like it just as well, we can have it two-thirty, I think.”] Well, that would be probably all right, in the afternoon then, Sunday afternoon. Yeah, next Sunday afternoon they're announcing it for two-thirty, get us a little earlier, Brother Joseph said. It makes it kind of hard when you have, you know, have to rush.

Now, I was thinking when I come over here.... You know how a preacher do, when you get somewhere and you say, “Well, now,” when you're going to speak, “well, I'm going to speak on a certain subject.” And when you get there, the Lord said, “That won't work.” So you start all over again.

I was sitting back there, and I was going to speak on: The Unfailing Promises of God. And I was sitting back there, and I kept thinking, Well, that'll take me an hour and a half. And I said, “Lord....” Told me I better not do that.

So, I'm just going to turn over here in the Scripture a little bit, teach for a few moments, if the Lord willing. Now remember the service tonight. I want to get out just quick in the next twenty minutes, if I can, the thirty. For that'll give you a chance to get home and get back, and I've got to have a little time to myself, if we're going have healing services tonight.

Say, Brother Joseph was making a mention a few moments ago, that Angel of the Lord.... Tomorrow they'll have a host of those pictures here that was taken of it. And some of the books, for those who doesn't have them. We don't sell them on Sunday, or anything. And we just.... Well, I buy them at forty percent off. And Mr. Woods and Mr. Beeler, sitting right down here, are my agents for those things, and they will take care of them, have a stand, or something Monday. If anyone that likes to have one of the pictures, why, you can just have one, or as many as you want.

Now, tonight is healing service, so be sure to come early, now at six o'clock to receive your number. We call them by number; we give out new cards every day because new people comes in; and if you give them all at one time, they don't get a chance. And many of you knows the regulations of the campaign, we try to run it just as honest and truly before God, as we possibly know how to do it.

And so that's the best way we can find it. Every day, everybody.... If you give out all the cards when you first come in, then somebody come in the second day, they don't have a chance. And if you ... you have to give them out every day—every day, newly. And if you give them to ministers, what we tried for awhile, maybe they would give some outsider a card and one of their people, and then maybe they didn't get to get in the line. And so there you are, it causes hard feelings.

And we just solved it all down in these eight years of travel, till we found out that maybe, handling and giving them out every day ourselves and giving them to the people, just a little bit before the service starts. And we can call, then, whatever the Lord puts upon our heart to call from.

Now how many like Sunday school? I believe we all do, I just love Sunday school. So, we'll have a few moments of Sunday school I'll take my watch off here so I want go too long.

And let's turn over now, in the New Testament in the book of Ephesians for just a few words of exhortation for our Lord Jesus. And we give Him praise for His Word.

Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing of the word of God.

God in his great, marvelous promises: They're just as unfailing, more to be so than heavens and earth is itself. For heavens and earth will pass away, but God's Word will never fail. It has to be.

The main thing is, if we can find where God's Word belongs in our life. God sets times, and time limits, and then it works all to that time. Many of them.... Before the coming of the Lord Jesus, there was many false things raised up and said, “This is the Messiah, and this is....” Many false things taken place, according to the Scriptures, just before the coming of the Lord Jesus.

And people try to do it within themselves; they try to make God's Word fit in their program. But you've got it vice-versa. You've got to fit in God's program. We find that that's true.

Now, Moses, when he was here knowing that God had made a promise that He was going to deliver the children of Israel. Well, Moses, knowing that he was called for that purpose.... Now, when you have a call from God, that doesn't altogether mean that you just jump right out, and you're doing the will of God. You have to find the will of God, and the time of God to do it.

Moses thought, Well, the children of Israel will understand, now, that I'm to be their deliverer. So, he starts out to do so, and he killed a man. And he found out that the children of Israel did not understand.

Then Moses lost all the hopes and all the power that he had, thinking that freedom wasn't for the children of Israel. He had lost all thoughts of freedom, till God met him one day in a burning bush. And then, when God's season came along just exactly, then He revealed His plan to Moses.

Now, the reason that Moses had forgot about freedom, God's promise that he would free them, but God hadn't forgot His promise. Moses tried in himself and failed. That's what the church has done many times. We've tried in ourselves to do things, when we fail to find God's element of time.

God's got a time for all things. He's got a time that He has.... We plant corn. We got a time that we plow corn, then a time we harvest corn. The spring rains come, the drought through the summer, the fall rains, the snows. You just can't say, “I plant my wheat today, and tomorrow go out and harvest it.”

God has times for season. He has seasons for His Word. He has times when the ... in the Scripture here where it said, “And the presence of the Lord was there to heal the sick.” That's when Jesus was ministering, too. At the presence of the Lord was there to heal the sick; maybe at other times the presence of the Lord wasn't there to heal the sick. And we find out that God works everything seasonally. And now when Moses, what he failed to find was the time limit of God.

Then when God revealed Himself to him in the burning bush, he found out then that the very thing that was in the burning bush was the thing that he lacked.

And I think that's a whole lot with us today. That many times we try to do the program ourselves and fail to get what was in the burning bush: the direct revelation of the will and time of God.

What good would it do you to plant some corn out here today? It would rot. There'd be nothing happen. If it had them sprout the cold weather would kill the germ. It wouldn't work. We got to have the season for it.

So then when Moses found out now, the real direct will of God, and the time of God, and the revelation of everything to do.... Now, try to keep him out of Egypt. Right back to Egypt he went just as hard as he could go. For he knew that God had promised deliverance and the time had come for deliverance. For it was directly....

Now Moses was looking first at the Word. The Word of God had promised them deliverance. He knew the time was nigh. Now he had to have a direct contact with God to know how and when to do it.

Now, we as Full Gospel people, I think, have made many mistakes by looking into the Word, and say, “God said this.” And we failed to find the direct revelation of our life to fit in that program. When we find that, then it's got to happen. And I think there's where it has failed.

Many times people go out and see an evangelist, like, for instance our Brother Billy Graham. What good would it do for me to try to be like Billy Graham? I couldn't do it if I had to. I've got a ministry that I've got to take care of. And the next man's got his ministry, and each one has got a ministry. Even to the housewife has a ministry, of ministering the Word of God.

Now, if I tried to impersonate Mr. Graham, I'd find myself in trouble right quick, 'cause he's smart, shrewd, educated, a real preacher. Well, I'm not. Well, maybe, if Mr. Graham tried to find himself impersonating me, he'd be in trouble, too.

So, there you are, so we can't do that. We have got to do what God has revealed to us to do. Brother Graham is doing that, God has revealed to him a worldwide revival, and he's making a good show of it, too. And I appreciate him. And I'm trying my best by the revelation that God has given me to minister to the sick people, to what He told me to do.

Now, if we can find our positions and know that it's God's Word that has promised it.... That's the reason Joshua and Caleb had no fear that they could not take the promised land. Because all the rest of the nine came back ... or, the ten, and said, “We can't do it. Why, those cities walled high, and we look like grasshoppers upside the people. They're so big and they're armed,” and said, “we just can't do it.” See, they were looking at the sense of reasoning.

You can't look at the sense of reasoning, you've got to look at the promise of God. Now, God had already sent His Angel and the Angel was in the camp moving on, and the revelation of God had brought the Word of God manifested. And now they were ready to push into the promised land.

Therefore, Joshua and Caleb had all ... all promises was to them, for God had promised He was going to give them the land. And then they waited all this time, then after awhile the Holy Ghost came down to Moses. A pillar of fire formed over them, and they'd followed it, and here it was, right up here at the promised land, now ready to push over. So, he could believe it because God's promises are unfailing. They are the truth.

How do you think it's been, friends, through these years? Of meeting opposition around the world, in the many different twenty-some-odd different nations that the Lord has sent me into, to visit. And there with critics and opposition and demons and scientists trying to disprove it. And throwed it into every trial that could be tried.

By the grace of God I have never seen one time that I've feared a moment. Why? 'Cause God has promised He would do it, see. And I believe Him. And so, when opposition comes, why, it's not me to take care of it; it's Him to take care of it. It's just me to go wherever He says go. That's right. He'll take care of the opposition.

Now, for a few moments to find out positionally what we are in Christ Jesus.... And I think if the church now can find out what they are, and how to enter, and what to do after they enter, why, it'll be a glorious thing when we learn these things. Don't you think so?

Now, in the book of Ephesians, I want to read Paul's letter just a portion of it. Don't know how far we are going, 'cause I'm timing myself by this watch here.

Paul, an apostle, of Jesus Christ by the will of God,

An apostle: The word apostle means “one that's sent.” I've often wondered why the missionary ever wanted to be called a missionary. A missionary is an apostle. The word missionary means “one sent.” Apostle means “one sent.” A missionary is an apostle.

When people says there is no more apostles and that same church send missionaries and say there is no apostles. I don't get it. But apostle is “one that's sent,” so is a missionary, is one that is sent—sent by God. And Paul, not by desire, not by choice, not by the will of man, or his own humanly desires; but by the will of God, he was an apostle. We need some more, like that.

By the will of God.... He was on his road to Damascus to arrest, think of it, was going to arrest the very group that he was sent to be an apostle of. Now, you can see how up-side-down it looks like in the human element, that God does things. Just the very things that you think that you won't do, that may be the very things you have to do.

When I first seen the Full Gospel people, and I seen a girl, one night, get up on the floor when the music was playing, begin dancing up and down the floor. I never danced in my life, wasn't on a dance floor, and didn't believe nothing in dancing.

Well, selfishness here: Not out loud, but in my heart I criticized the girl. I said, “There's nothing about God about that.” Just a young Baptist preacher sitting there and I said, “There can't be nothing to that, that woman out there on the floor. She's only just making a show. She just wants somebody to see her.” I wouldn't say it out loud for nothing, but in my heart I was thinking it.

Some of them said, “What did you think of the meeting?”

I said, “It was fine.” But in my heart I didn't believe in that.

So, you know one New Year's night, I was sitting in my own tabernacle and they started playing this song: There's Going To Be A Meeting In The Air. And you know what happened? I done the same thing. So, you see why. So just the things that you said you won't do, you may have to do it sometime.

So, I guess Paul said he'd never get down and get in the dust like some of those other people and yell, and scream, and carry on like they were doing, but God showed him he had to do it. So, just sometimes when you say you won't do anything, just be careful. God may make you do it.

All right, he was an apostle then by the will of God. He had no willing into it; God did it, made him an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ.

... by the will of God, to the saints,

Watch! This is not addressed now to sinners, unbelievers. This is addressed to saints, or sanctified ones. Write what the word sanctify means, means “the cleaned and set aside for service.”

The Old testament.... It's a compound word: It don't only mean “clean,” but it means “set aside for service.” See, it's be cleaned and set aside for service. The altar sanctified the vessel, and he set it aside for service.

... to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Jesus Christ:

See who he's addressing this for? Let me read it. Quietly now, listen.

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus ... to the faithful in Christ Jesus:

Now, this letter's addressed to those, not to the outside world, not to.... It's not a sermon. Paul wasn't preaching here to the unsaved. He was preaching it to the saved—the called out, the separated, the set-aside, and the faithful, in the call.

Now, that's who he's addressed it to—in Jesus. The believer's position is in Christ, and Christ will only meet the believer.... The believer can only worship Christ as he is positionally placed in Christ.

I don't believe you get it. Let me go another route. Look, a believer cannot worship and has no right to worship.... No man has no right to worship the Lord, outside of being in the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. Did you know that? If we had time to go back and pick up the laws on that, it would be beautifully. He's addressing it to the believer in Christ.

Last evening I was speaking of the blood, how that God came into the womb of the virgin. And the Creator making Himself a blood cell. And from cell began to press beyond cell, and through that breaking of the blood cell, sprayed, broke the case between ... or, ripped the veil, rather, in two; they cased Him off. And now can bring the believer into fellowship with Him; only through the blood.

They have no right to worship, who has not come through the blood. Look in the Old testament, back there when the believers ... they had a tabernacle. And in the tabernacle no man had a right to do worship, unless he came to the tabernacle.

It was a place where the blood was offered; and without the shedding of blood, there's no remission of sin. No promise of prayer being answered, outside the blood. But the children of Israel come to the temple, a place that was designated by God, for all believers to gather together in one fellowship. See it?

They were all together, every tribe: the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Herodians, publicans. All together gathered in one place of fellowship. How beautiful! 'Cause there.... Why? The lamb was killed, the blood was put upon the brazen altar, and the bodies burnt. And the smoke went up, and all under that smoke, which was a sweet smelling savor unto His nostrils as it left the place, all under the blood had a right to worship.

What did it speak of? The Lord Jesus Christ. For God, then, came to His temple in a pillar of fire. When the temple was made a worship place for all of Israel to come together, the pillar of fire came in over the great seventy foot wings of the angels, went back over along the Angels on the wall, went back to the mercy seat where two great fourteen-foot brass cherubims sat with their wings pitched to one another, and settled.

God coming to His temple, to be worshipped from that temple, where the blood outside made an atonement. Then when Christ came on the earth.... When He was baptized in Jordan as a washing of the Lamb at the brazen laver. Notice, then John bare record, seeing the Spirit of God like a dove coming from above, and it settled on Him and went into Him.God coming to His temple.

God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself. That was His temple. Then that body for sin, our sins, was tore apart; His flesh ripped in two, the blood vessels was broken, and there now, as the Spirit come from His body, then all believers.... Hope you see it. Look, all believers that come through the blood into the body of Jesus Christ, worships God through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, when they are positionally placed in Christ. You see it?

To them that are in Christ, faithful, called, chosen, in Christ. That's who Paul's addressing this letter to. Aren't you happy today you're in Christ?

How do we get in? Wish we had time for it, about six more minutes. Look, how do we get into Christ? By one Spirit. Not even one fellowship, no, not.... The first thing comes first. By one church? No. By one letter? No. By one creed? No. But by one Spirit. We are all baptized into one body. “Not by water, not by power, not by might, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord.” One Spirit we're baptized. What? By the Spirit. Where does the Spirit stay? Where is life? In the blood, coming through the blood of Christ.

First, becoming a believer, outside of Christ, without God, without hope, in the world condemned to die. Then, God by grace, elects us, calls us to Christ. We hear Him inside the blood cell calling to us. Life. You get it? And we come then, confess our sins, and are baptized for the remission of our sins.

Then, taken through the blood till the blood cell.... We come through the spray of blood. Then, by the Holy Spirit are baptized inside this blood cell, and we have fellowship one with another. While the blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, cleanses us from all unrighteousness. Oh, my! There you are.

That's what we need, positionally: Come first to Christ. Through the blood, the shed blood, then positionally we are seated in Christ.

Notice, this now, the next verse. First, before we leave it, notice, all the Old Testament, a shadow of the New. No believer had a right to offer sacrifice of worship outside the temple. In the temple is where the blood was. God forbid it, He said, “Don't do it. Come to the temple to fellowship.”

We have no right to go outside and start creeds and denominations, break people and separate them. We're supposed to come into one glorious fellowship. By the washing of the water by the Word, into the body of Christ through the blood. And we become blood-bought children of God.

Then I have no right to say, “Because you're a Methodist, you're not my brother. You're Baptist, you're not my brother. Or, if you're Pentecostal, you're not my brother.” We are all been made to partake of this one fellowship, after we've come through the blood.

Then we sit together in what kind of places? Heavenly places. How? In Christ Jesus. Heavenly places, heavenly places.

When you're outside of Christ, you don't understand the heavenly place. When you're out there you look and say, “Oh, that bunch of fanatics, they don't know what they're speaking about.”

The reason you don't know because you've never been a partaker of the fellowship of His suffering. You've never laid your hands upon His blessed sacred head, and felt the pains of Calvary for your sins. You never knowed what that was, fellow friend.

You don't know what it means till you once climb to Calvary and see what a price was paid for you. Then, when you realize what it's all about, God through grace takes you through the bloodstream into His own fellowship with His beloved Son Christ Jesus.

Oh, how wonderful! I tell you that makes me just feel so good, to know that we have been privileged to do this: Come into His wonderful fellowship, into Christ.

Now, when you're seated then in the fellowship, and friend outside of Christ now, outside of this fellowship you have no right to say, that the people in the fellowship that believe in the supernatural are all mentally upset, because you have never tasted to see that the Lord is good. You've never come through this into this fellowship.

Oh, you might believe it, you might accept it, you might say, “Yes, I believe the Bible's right. I go to church, too.” But have you ever died to yourself and be born again? Leaving all the outside off and brought through the blood into this fellowship and set in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. What God can do!

How the revelation of God can move through an audience like that, when we've all been partakers of this same fellowship, see.

Now, that's who Paul's addressing this letter to. (And just a moment or two longer.) Paul addressing this letter to them that are in Christ Jesus, you see. And the faithful that's in.... See how we come in? No one outside has a right in, no one without coming through the blood can be in.

Oh, he says, “I'm through the blood.” He's sitting right there said, “I don't get these things.” Certainly not. He's pretending to come through the blood.

But if he ever becomes a son and a partaker, he's your brother. And he's.... What is he? The same Spirit that was in Christ is in you and in him. And you are fellow citizens. Oh, my! That's the word I want. I've been playing around for a half hour to get it. Fellow citizens of the spiritual kingdom. Citizenship: Aren't you happy you got it tonight? Fellow citizens of the kingdom of God, looking for the King to come some day.

Now, we'll hurry right quick.

Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

He's giving this salute ... or, his salutation to the church.

Blessed be ... God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings....

Think of it.

I thought the spiritual blessings only come—the fellowship, the Holy Spirit—only come on Pentecost. This is thirty-two years later. That's blessing the Ephesian church, Gentile church. Blessing us in heavenly places. You can only be in heavenly places when you're in Christ Jesus.

So, if the Holy Spirit baptized them into the heavenly places then, it baptizes them into heavenly places now. Same fellowship. Now, heavenly places in Christ. Now, quickly now, I'll give you my view and then we'll have to go.

According as he has ... as he, God, has chosen us...

Not my desire, not your desire, it wasn't Paul's desire, but....

... he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world...

Did you think of that? He chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we....

... that we should be holy...

Not 'cause I lived right; because He chose me to be that way. He done it, not I.

That's the reason you're holy this afternoon, not because you deserve it, but because He chose you to be that way. When? Before the foundation of the world.

... holy and without blame before him in love:

How could we do it? There had to be a masterpiece do that, and that was Christ Jesus.

Listen, you don't remember it. Neither do I, but, we was, before the foundation of the world. When God made man said, “Let us make man in our own image, let us give them, (plural), let us make man in our own image, spirit man, and give them dominion over the fishes of the sea, and the cattle and so forth.” Genesis one.

God saying that, “Let us make man.” Now, back there before the foundation of the world, God chose you in Christ Jesus to appear holy at the end time; all the way from the foundation of the world. Do you see it?

Now quickly, let's catch the next verse:

Having predestinated, [or elected] us unto the adoption of children by Christ Jesus to Himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

May I speak to you just a moment? God before the world began.... Notice, “No one,” said Jesus, “can come to Me except My Father draws him.” That's Jesus' own Word. Here's the blood cell, here it is broken, here's the spray of blood a moving.

Now, here's Christ inside this blood cell, Christ means “the anointed.” It was the anointed blood cell; here it is in here. Here's God our Father; look at what He's doing. “No man can come through this blood spray to Me, except my Father draws him. And all that comes, I will give him everlasting life, no wise turn him out, and will raise him up at the last day.” Do you see what it is?

Now look. He has chosen us for this purpose, having predestinated (or foreknowledge: he fore understood what it would be, from the being.) God, in the beginning, knowing just what He would do at the end, He predestinated, or could foretell what it would be—foreknowledge, foreknowing to be in Christ Jesus.

Notice, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children. The adoption.... Now we'll take the old laws just a moment again, and then we'll have to close.

In the Old Testament, when a man.... Are you enjoying the reading of the Word? I just love it. Just bear a few minutes longer.

In the Old Testament, when a man had his little kingdom, now, he was the father of this kingdom, a little possession. In Saint John, it's even carried down in the Anglo-Saxon people in Britain years ago, even to the King James translation ... or, version.

You find Saint John 14 said, “In my Father's house is many mansions.” That sounds strange: in a house being mansions. But what it is, in the time of the King James version, at the translation, every man that had a kingdom, a king, he had this domain was his, and he was called the father, and this was called his household—the children.

All of his subjects was his ... his domain was over them and that was called his house. So, they said, “In my Father's....” Now I believe Moffatt puts it, “in My Father's apartment house is many apartments.” I disagree with that. But, in the original, it said, “In my Father's kingdom is many palaces.” That sounds better, doesn't it? That's right.

Now, when a man.... In the Old Testament a Jewish man in Palestine where there was ... whatever he was—the tribe of Joseph, or Ephraim, or whatever it was—he had his own lotted grounds that belonged to him.

The beautiful story of Ruth returning with Naomi, when Naomi had lost all of her inheritance and Boaz brought it back. I believe I preached on that last time I was here. A beautiful picture. That was his little domain, his little kingdom like, his possession. It was handed down, one succeeded the other.

Now, when a father married and when.... This boy inherited what his father had, his children was born. Now, when that boy was born into this little (We call it little acreage, or a little farm.), when he was born there, the father had servants all around, but the child was raised under a tutor, teacher, instructor.

Galatians the 4th chapter, 1 to 5 verses, gives a beautiful picture of it, how that we were under the tutors so long.

But now, when this child was born, he became a son, the very moment he was born in the family. Do you get it?

Now, then there was a tutor over this boy, to educate him and to raise him up. Well, he was no more than a servant, said the Galatian letter, until he came to an age, a certain limited time that was set. And this tutor would always take the father word, “Your son is progressing right,” or whatever it was. And now that's where.... I'm not disagreeing, my dear brother, but, here, take it as from one who loves you.

There's where Pentecost failed to see this, see. If the Holy Spirit maybe, not willing to give it then. Look, when you were born again of the Holy Ghost, you said, “This is it, brother.”

It was, you was a child. You was just as much child as you ever could be; you were born in the family. But yet, the tutor, which is the Holy Spirit, has watched over the church as it's been maturing.

Now, if this tutor, in the natural, went to the father and said, “Now, here, that boy is not going to be very good. I try to teach him, he just won't listen. He's got his own headstrong way and he just won't listen. He's going to be this, or he's going to be that.”

The father realizes right then, that that boy cannot take over his domain. That's right. Because what would he do? He'd run it through.... The return of the prodigal son gives a very beautiful picture of it, see. He could not. What he would do would be mortgage a farm, or sell it off, and drink it up and run it around.

Now, in the spiritual sense, after we were born into Christ, we become children of God. But then, see, God knows best. Now, here's where I say it reverently, disagree with my latter-rain brethren. You think I'm persecuting church? No, my dear brother, no, see.

Now, this boy after he got a certain age, he had to be adopted into that same family he was born into. Any minister knows, that's the placing of a son. He had to be adopted into the family that he was born into. Could you imagine that? But that's the Old Testament teaching, and Paul's referring to it here in Ephesians, the church of Ephesus.

Now, the thing of it is, brethren, we have tried to make each one here, and each one this, and each one that, by laying on of hands and separating, or setting apart. But God has to do that. He's the only One can do it.

Now, when the father became aware that this boy was not worthy, he never disowned him. He was still his boy, but he couldn't put confidence in him. He was too carried about with all kinds of winds of doctrine. That's what the Scripture says, “Be not carried about by every wind of doctrine, be stable, always abounding in the works of the Lord, for as much as you know your works is not in vain.” Quickly! Wish we could stay on that awhile.

But notice, this father then.... The day come when this boy, maybe, had been all right and was a worthy man. He listened to the father, he took instructions, he was a good boy. Then the father taking him out into the public street, and then he put a special clothes on him. And then the father had a ceremony and adopted this his son into his family.

Paul saying here, “Having predestinated us unto the adoption,” see. Unto the adoption: Moses a prefigure of it. And then this son after he came out there, was given no longer ... no longer was he just like the servant under a tutor. He was the boss. Amen. I hope this soaks real deep. Going to leave you in a minute.

Let us get way down deep. This son was no more under a tutor, but he was like his father. And his father give him certain things to do. The father might have told him, “You take care of this field over here or you do this over here, you take care of the slaves, you take care of whatever it was.” He was in full possession. Amen.

For he was adopted into that family, and his name on a check was just as good as his daddy's. Now, what God has done, the reason we see these things, and know that there's something wrong, friend. We see the promises of God, we see it in the Word of God. But God has just begun, to my humble opinion, to adopting His sons: positionally calling them out to one side, giving them a certain ministry, anointing them for that purpose, and sending them out. Watch what happens when He does.

Everything that he give him possession over will take place. God adopted His own Son like that. Jesus, walking as an ordinary man, but one day upon Mount Transfiguration, He taken three as a witness: Peter, James, John—hope, faith, and charity. Called them out. And He separated Jesus from them, and He overshadowed Him. And the Bible said, “His raiment shined like the sun in its strength.” What was it? That special robe. God adopting His own Son.

And they seen Moses, Elijah appear and so forth. Then [unclear word] they seen Jesus only. And when they looked back then, God the Father, after putting the robe on His Son, He said, “This is My beloved Son; hear ye Him.”

No wonder Jesus could say, “All the powers in heaven and earth is given into My hand,” for He was adopted by His Father into the glorious kingdom of God.

Now, sitting in the majesty at the right hand above every archangel and angel. Every star, moon, or every name that's named in heaven is subject to the name of Jesus Christ. For He was adopted by God the Father.

Now, into His church—you that's positionally seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Be humble, brethren. Some day the Holy Spirit will speak to you, call you out to one side somewhere in a little cabin or a hillside, or in the washroom, somewhere. And there will anoint you for a certain service, or certain thing to do.

It won't be the laying on the hand of the presbyters or elders. It'll be the laying on of hands of God Almighty, Himself, to put a new ministry in you, and a new robe on you. And to set you out as an example. And all the demons out of torment will never upset you. God grant, my brethren, that we'll each one receive this blessing. Shall we pray.

O God, our Father. We are grateful to Thee this afternoon for Jesus, how that You took Him up there on Mount Transfiguration, was transfigured before them. You changed Him. And Your voice said as the adoption, “This is My beloved Son, hear ye Him.”

And, God, we're trying our best to hear Him and follow Him in everything that we do or say. Send Him into the building just now, Lord, with a fresh anointing on every minister here and every laity here—Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Catholic, whatever they are, Father. They're here because they love You. And we're groaning, waiting for that time of adoption. And we believe that one of these days the Holy Spirit will move in, not with a new birth, for we've received that through Christ, but You'll adopt Your church then.

Then she'll be clothed in the power of the resurrected Lord. And we pray, Father, that You'll do this quickly, for the days look so dark and evil ahead. We pray that You'll adopt us now, Lord, into Your family. Give us the authority that we need, Father, to make the gainsayer keep still.

No wonder they prayed when they come back, “Why did the heathens rage and the people imagine a vain thing?” Said, truly, Lord, the stretching forth a hand of thy Son to heal the sick. Save the lost in here today, Father. Heal the sick. For we ask it in Jesus' name.

And while we have our heads bowed. I wonder if Brother Ekberg has a song he could give an invitation song just at this time.

How many in here would raise your hand say, “Brother Branham, pray for me.” God bless you, you, you. God bless you everywhere. My sincere humble prayer, God bless you, help you.

I must run along now, to make ready for the service tonight. Prayer cards will be given out in about one more hour and fifteen minutes. Brother Boze, take the platform, now. God bless you, be in prayer while I go to pray.